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hey, hey. Woo! I see. I see. Yeah. Wo. Oh yeah. Yeah. Hey,
Heat. Heat. N. feeling. Cool. Heat. Heat. Here we are. Come on. Hey. Hey. Happy holiday. Down.
Welcome to today's schoolboard workshop. This workshop of the school board of Brower County, Florida is now called to order. To ensure a safe and productive environment, please note the clearly marked emergency exits. Do not block the exit doors and all attendees must be seated except for media. Once the room
reaches capacity, attendees will be directed to the overflow area. If the fire alarm sounds, exit the room calmly, continue outside the building, and remain there until authorities give clearance to return. Thank you for your cooperation. Board member Hixon will now introduce
her school to lead us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. >> Thank you and good morning. I am very excited to introduce Westchester Elementary under the leadership of Principal Frame Germaine to lead us in
the pledge of allegiance this morning. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. Thank you. Board member Sea has requested a moment of silence. Mr. Seivera. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. On behalf of the
school board is with heavy hearts that we share the very sad news of the passing of uh Lucas Eduardo Salazar, a beloved second grade student at Indian Trace Elementary School. Lucas's life, though far too brief, touched the hearts
of his family, his classmates, his teachers, and all those who had the privilege and knowing and caring for him. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Lucas's family, his mother Jessica, his father Carlos, and his older sister Luciana. We also extend our
heartfelt support to the Indian Trace community as they grieve this profound loss. Please keep Lucas's family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. At this time as a community, I ask that we stand together in compassion and solidarity, honoring
Lucas's memory and the love he shared with those around him. Please bow your head with me for a moment of silence in Lucas's honor. Thank you. Thank you. As we begin, we reaffirm our vision. 100% proficiency for all
students. As an A-rated district, we remain committed to sustaining this achievement and supporting every student to reach their highest potential. Our theme this year is believe, empower, achieve, one Broward. Just as a reminder to my colleagues, we do have a special school board meeting scheduled at 1 p.m.
Um, at that time, I will recess the workshop if we are still in discussion, open the special meeting, and then come back to the workshop. Are there any questions about that? We will now proceed with the agenda.
Today's workshop will operate in accordance with schoolboard policy 1020 and the board will review the items as advertised and presented by the superintendent. You may notice that the room is set up differently today to accommodate maximum public participation and to facilitate an efficient and safe
meeting. As a reminder to everyone who is here to do public comment, please make sure to sign in so that we accurately capture your name and know that you will have one minute to speak. Additionally, once uh public comment uh begins, you will
have the the sign up for public comment will uh suspend 15 minutes into public comment. So, if you would like to do public comment today, if you would like to speak today, please ensure that you sign up um im immediately. Policy 1020 allocates a total of 30
minutes for public speaking with three minutes per speaker, but also allows the chair discretion to extend the 30 minutes for public speaking and reduce minutes per speaker. I've used that discretion today to allow every single person who is here to speak the opportunity to speak. Again,
uh sign up for public speaking will cease 15 minutes into the public speaking time. So, we have extended that deadline today. I ask that the audience maintains decorum during the staff presentation, public speaking, and board deliberation
so that we can conduct a respectful, safe, and efficient government meeting. Today's agenda topic is the proposed 2627 organizational chart. I now turn it over to the superintendent for the presentation. >> Madam Chair, point of order. Um, I'd
like my objection noted on the record as far as the reduction of the speaker time. Uh I feel like this is a very important topic that brings many many members of the community here today. I see a full um gallery here. I think we have some overflow in both rooms and I
was a little disappointed to hear that the people who took time out of their days to come and speak with us about this very important issue are having their time cut down to one minute. I understand you have the ability as chair to do this. I would just like my objection noted on the record that I think these individuals should be given
their full three minutes as opposed to the the short changing and only giving them a minute. So I just like my objection noted on the record. >> Thank you. Your objection is noted and again the reason for reducing uh the time and this has been noticed since Saturday. I asked staff to put this on
the website is so that everyone who is here to speak has an opportunity to speak. So thank you uh for those of you who understand. Go ahead. Uh Dr. He with your presentation. >> Thank Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, board uh public at large and those that we have actually in attendance in uh
both rooms. Uh today is about stewardship and the future of BCPS. Stewardship of a school system that is performing at a high level, stewardship of public trust and stewardship of the long-term strength and stability of Broward County Public Schools. I've been
superintendent for two years, and during that time, Broward County Public Schools has demonstrated extraordinary academic progress and earned significant statewide and national recognition, including back-to-back a district ratings. Zero DNF schools for two consecutive years for the first time
since 1999, actually the first year of the accountability system in Florida. Highest graduation rate in at least 25 years. Recognized as a Cambridge District of the Year for large districts, named as an academically high-erforming school district by the Florida State Board of Education,
outperformed Florida's other large districts in most tested areas on the 2025 FAST PM3 assessment, and also ranked number one in Florida for industry certification and attainment and many other accolades that I haven't listed here. These accomplishments are
not incidental. They reflect the work of our principles, teachers, staff, and students, and they make clear that this district is delivering results. At the same time, I recognize this this there is more work to do, especially on the business side of our organization, and
we're continuing to make improvements in that area. But strong outcomes do not eliminate hard decisions. They make responsible leadership even more important as it relates to our current budget reality. And make no mistake, this is driven by decline in student
enrollment. We have already implemented significant cost-saving measures. However, additional action is also required. More than 80% of our budget is tied to personnel, which is why this organizational chart is necessary. We must also ensure that we remain above
the 3% fund balance threshold which falling behind that leaves the district at risk of losing local control of our financial future with decisions potentially shifting to the state. And it is important to recognize that the situation we find ourselves in is not
unique to Broward. Districts across Florida and the nation are facing similar challenges. Nearly every day when I read the paper or go online, there's a report of a school system reducing staff and adjusting programs in response to the declining enrollment and rising costs they're experiencing. With
that context, let me explain the why behind today's proposal. The challenges we are addressing did not happen overnight. Enrollment decline has been ongoing for years and has recently accelerated, compounded by rising cost of doing business, including increases in employee benefits, utilities,
transportation, and overall operational expenses. Over the past decade, our district has experienced a significant and sustained uh decline in student enrollment. Nearly 40,000 students lost, including about 10,000 stu students just this current school year, with another
10,000 projected for the upcoming school year. That's equating to 20,000 students declining over a two-year school school year period. As enrollment declines, so does our funding. Quite simply, fewer students mean fewer dollars coming into our system. At the same time, our
staffing model had not been fully aligned to reflect that reality. This proposal is about right sizing our organization, aligning our staffing and structure with the students we serve today, not the system we had 10 years ago. It's about ensuring long-term financial sustainability while
protecting what matters most, classrooms, instruction, and direct services to students. At a high level, this plan reduces duplication and streamlines operations, aligns departments into more coordinated, efficient service models, shifts resources closer to schools through
regional integrated support systems, leverage data, technology, and innovation to improve decision-making, and aligns our central office structure with peer districts validated by an external review. This generates approximately 40 million in savings with more being realized
throughout the spring and the summer. This proposal includes the reduction of approximately 862 positions, making it among the largest reductions enforced in recent district history and reflecting our effort to better align staffing with enrollment and peer benchmarks. We were
tasked with identifying reductions closer to 10,000 positions, and I want to address that directly. This proposal reflects a deliberate and disciplined approach. It achieves substantial cost savings and structural alignment without compromising the core systems that support teaching and learning. At what
point do additional cuts begin to impact our system and ability to sustain student outcomes? That is the line we have tried carefully not to cross during this process. The work is not done as we continue this work alongside the board during the spring and the summer. We
anticipate we anticipate identifying approximately 200 or more positions for reduction primarily through attrition consolidation of functions and continued efficiencies reviews including a focused evaluation of non-instructional and and unarmed safety staff staffing
allocations. We work we will work to continue our hiring freeze with a priority on staffing our schools over the next few months. It is important to note that the majority of any additional positions identified will not be new positions in a traditional sense, but rather the result of continued
consolidation of functions, elimination of duplication and restructuring in which multiple roles can be combined into more efficient models. It is also important to note that the current reductions are furthest away from our classrooms and the majority of teachers
currently assigned to district positions will have the opportunity to return to school-based vacancies. Throughout this process, we have been intentional ensuring that these reductions do not jeopardize the academic progress we've made as a district. Maintaining an A rating is not simply about a letter
grade. It reflects the strength of our system, the quality of instruction in our classrooms, and most importantly, whether our teachers and schools have the support they need to help students succeed. This plan is designed to preserve those supports and protect our core business, teaching and learning.
Before we go further, I want to acknowledge something very important. You're going to hear a lot of numbers today, positions, percentage, uh, reductions, but behind every number is a person. They're a member of our BCPS family. Individuals who have dedicated
their time, talent, and careers to serving our students and community, many who have kids in our system right now. These decisions are not about performance. They're driven by student enrollment declines and funding realities. That is why we have made a deliberate effort to handle this process
with compassion, professionalism, and respect. Notifying employees earlier, providing support service, and ensuring they have time to plan their next steps. I want to address a concern I know may exist in the community. There have been a perception that reductions are focused
on rank and file employees with similar changes not occurring at the cabinet level. These leadership functions remain essential to operating the system effectively, safely, and in compliance with state and federal requirements regardless of enrollment changes. I understand these concerns. However,
compared to to similarsized district, we maintain a lean cabinet structure and it's important to note that approximately 16% of the reductions are at the director and above level. 15% are on the chart, which are men and senior level, and 13% are below the chart.
Before I turn it over to my cabinet team, you'll first hear from MGT, our external consultant, who will present their findings. It was important that this work was done was not done in isolation, but rather guided and validated by an independent external entity, ensuring that our approach
reflects best practices and is benchmarked against similarsized districts uh within our state and around the country. Following that presentation, cabinet members will walk through their respective areas of the organizational chart, the proposed changes, and how they will continue to
deliver services effectively within this new structure. Uh, Mr. Sullivan, if you can have Beacon start that presentation, and I'll turn it over to Mr. Sullivan to get us started with the review of our organizational chart proposal. >> Yes, I believe uh MGT is on the line. If
you guys can speak to make sure we can hear you and we'll display your presentation. Good morning. Can you all hear me? >> Yes, we can hear you. Um, so just let us know uh when to uh switch the the slides and we'll go ahead and control that from here.
>> Okay, great. We currently cannot see those slides. >> Amazing. Good morning uh board and uh broader public. Thank you for having us this morning. Um my name is Stephanie Routti. I'm a project manager at MGT. MGT is a
social impact consulting firm. Um, and I serve on our K12 team. I'm a former teacher and district leader and have had the pleasure of leading the team and working with Dr. Heburn and his cabinet over the past six weeks on this
analysis. Um, and I'm joined by two colleagues today. First is Jamie VanDeral, um a VP at MGT and a former chief portfolio officer of Indianapolis public schools, as well as Olivia Cohen, who's a senior consultant at MGT and
also an alumni of Broward County Public Schools. So, our team focuses uh on K12 education. That's our subject matter expertise. We've got a strong understanding of district level operations and change management. And as
Dr. Hepern said, Broward County is not alone in these challenges. And so we have had the opportunity to guide districts through similar work both nationwide and in Florida. So today we are going to present a data driven
central office staffing review um and our externally validated path forward uh that we are recommending. And as Dr. Heer noted, "This work is focused on both financial sustainability while protecting those really strong student
outcomes that you all have worked over recent years in order to achieve. So, we will walk through uh the historical data and some of the data that the benchmarking shows from peer districts uh as well as explore our recommendation
and potential future next steps and go ahead and move on." Great. So, this was a fast but comprehensive and rigorous process. Uh, we benchmarked Broward County Public Schools against five peer districts. We did a deep
review of Broward's HR and financial data. We engaged with over 70 department leaders uh to get their input and worked closely and interviewed and validated data alongside the chiefs. We also
worked within clear guard rails. We knew that you all wanted to identify at least one scenario that reaches a thousand position reductions. You will see that uh scenario today. Additionally, we were tasked with
protecting students first. So services that are closest to students were guarded to the best of our ability. Um and then of course we wanted to ensure full legal and union compliance. So we believe that the recommendation that we're bringing today strikes the balance of being realistic, defensible um and
also implementable. So what did the pure benchmarking tell us? First of all, um Broward is above the pure median in terms of central office staffing and spend. So Dr. Heburn's instincts were correct. there
is a need uh to rightsize the central office staffing both from a monetary standpoint and a people standpoint. So currently Broward sits at 20% of central office as a percent of total
staff. The peer median is at 17%. So, if proceeded with um if we proceed with 800 to 1,000 cuts, that puts Broward right at the peer median of 17%.
Um, which is what we would want. We will talk, however, about uh the timing and phasing of those reductions and some of the risks of doing that all at once. It's important to note a couple of other things here. The first is that Broward
does not appear to have a topheavy leadership structure. Uh there are less chief level roles and superintendent direct reports than the peer median. So you will still see recommended cuts at
kind of that top level. Um but uh based on pure benchmarking alone those did not appear to be essential uh in order to be aligned with the pure benchmarking. So some of the takeaways uh from this data the first is that uh we identified
that there is potentially middle layer density. So rather than being topheavy, there appeared to be this kind of middle layer, which is managers and managers of managers that uh appeared higher uh proportionally at Broward County than
it did in other places. Um and so you'll see we worked with Chiefs in order to really focus on that layer uh specifically and ensuring that cuts were happening both at the top, definitely at the middle, and also at the lowest level. Additionally, we see some
fragmented functions. So, in other districts, we're seeing um that folks have made changes in order to share resources across departments um to consolidate functions, etc. And we'll talk about some of the next steps
that Broward may take in order to address those fragmented functions. Additionally, um as noted, we did see a heavier non-instructional footprint. Um and so we see that peer districts have consolidated more services, simplified
structures, and so this uh leads us to believe that this is an opportunity not just for cuts but potentially for broader structural redesign um with which the chiefs have thoughtfully been working on and we'll present to you today. So all of this data led us to develop
two different scenarios uh which we will talk through. The first is the superintendent recommendation which we have externally validated and are standing behind uh and presenting to you today. The second is that maximum action reduction and this does hit that
thousand position threshold. However, due to the variety of risks that we have uncovered, this is not the recommended path forward that we are bringing to the board today. So, the superintendent recommendation
uh our approach was to first start uh per the superintendent's directive, chiefs identified reductions of 15% or more by division. So, every single division um was tasked with reaching that 15%. Additionally, as noted, this
scenario prioritizes reductions that are furthest away from students, including safety and security, which we know is um super important to the district, the public, and the board. This scenario complies with all the legal, structural, and union
obligations. And then we spent time closely evaluating a subset of positions and those are vacant and unfilled positions, positions that have the highest potential for AI integration or automation in the future, um, and any
outdated programs and initiatives. The difference between this and the maximum action reductions is that the maximum action reductions do cut some studentf facing functions and so that includes safety and security. There are
some bus drivers, student support services, cafeteria facilities. Those things had to be on the table in order to meet that 10,00 position thresholds. And again, we'll we'll walk through some of the risks of cuts to those types of positions on this quick of a timeline in
a little bit. Additionally, we reviewed even more greater positions for automation um and even greater cuts to vacancies. So let's next look at uh the superintendent recommendation externally validated in detail.
So it's important to know that this work is in progress and so as Dr. Heper noted things are changing every day. This is a living and breathing district. folks are resigning, folks are retiring. Um and and chiefs are cons continuing to
evaluate their departments uh and divisions over the next uh spring and summer. And so these numbers will continue to adjust. Um we anticipate that they will go up rather than down, meaning additional positions will be
identified. um and uh some gains or some additional savings rather will be added to the general fund cost savings. But this is where we're at as of um today and the dates that you see reflected here. Currently, there's been 803
positions identified for reduction. And all the way on the right side of the screen, you'll see what that means in terms of general fund savings. As of now, that's 27 million um in general fund savings.
on the lower left hand side in in the light blue you can see highlighted what those reductions are by level of the organization and so directors on above uh those cuts were 16% of all staff at
that level reductions to organizational leaders was 15% and then organizational executors was 13%. Um so reductions were identified at every single level of the organization. They actually were identified at a higher rate um at the
top of the organization rather than um at the executor level. As noted, this is the maximum action reductions. We do hit that $1,000 1,000 position uh number rather. And we
anticipate that this would generate potential general fund savings of an additional 7 million. Um, and you'll see the breakdown of cuts in the in the gray on the left hand side uh does show that this would cut more at the bottom levels
of the organization than at the top. Um, so that's one important thing to note here. Um I think additionally we know that this would require cuts to studentf facing roles and includes a higher execution risk um especially for the
kind of limited additional savings that this has to offer. So it does meet that $1,000 threshold uh but at a much higher cost to the system. looking at some of those risks in detail. Um, first of all, I think there
is a high risk of impact to student outcomes and experience because studentf facing roles were touched during these reductions. And so when we start to play around with roles that are student facing, you potentially put at risk the the really incredible academic outcomes
that you all have worked to achieve in recent history. Additionally, we can see a breakdown in school level service model. Um, and without the thoughtful time to plan for implementation and change management, execution throughout the district
becomes at risk. Um, additionally, AI and automation are real. Your district is taking steps uh towards ensuring that you are maximizing the impact of those innovations. However, they do take time and are not immediate. And so cutting
too much too quickly, particularly in those positions that are right for automation can be a real risk to this the ability of the district to to serve students and families effectively. We think that those cuts can happen over time and should be planned for. Uh but
cutting too much too early uh is a huge risk uh to the ability of the district to deliver. So although that maximum action scenario would provide that $1,000 1,000 position
uh number uh it is not recommended to be pursued all at once. And so what that means is that uh the superintendent and his chiefs have worked really hard to identify parallel initiatives that would
support uh further savings in order to reduce the deficit. And so you'll see on the left side that pink central office staffing optimization. That's the work that we're talking through right now. Um, and then on to the right of that you'll see us other parallel initiatives
that the chiefs have been working hard on in order to identify additional savings. And so imagine they'll talk through some of that later today, but we know that redefining our schools has hope will hopefully lead to approximately 3.5 million in additional
savings. This is school budget reductions that are related to enrollment changes. So right sizing the school budget based on the amount of students uh that are expected for the next year and the following years after that. Additionally and similarly
transportation efficiencies um can also be found because of adjusting for upcoming enrollment numbers. And then on the right far right side you'll see a variety of other initiatives in including adjusting staffing allocations uh reviewing
contracts and consultant uh work and uh looking at overtime controls. And so the cab believes that all of these initiatives together will hopefully drive up to 80 to 90 million in savings.
Um and uh CFO Johnson will be able to speak more in depth to the things that you see on the the right side of that slide. So as noted earlier, we do think that additional cuts will be needed in future years. So the recommendation is to
proceed with the 800 plus cuts uh this fiscal year and we know that additional cuts will be needed in order to get to that peer benchmark and also to plan for a sustainable future as enrollment is expected to continue to decline both in
Broward County and in a lot of other places across Florida and the nation. Before making additional cuts, there's additional analysis and planning that our team would recommend that the board uh take on. The first is a comprehensive
central office reorganization. This work looked at cuts from a division by division perspective. We talked about those fragmented roles earlier. What a central office redesign would do is look kind of across the horizontals. Where
can chiefs uh share resources better? where can functions be combined etc and would allow for really thoughtful implementation planning based on the cuts that you all have already identified. When we cut people there's still work to be done. They all had jobs
and duties etc. And so there's a lot of work to be done um in order to think through how does that work continue? how is it structured across the remaining folks um on teams etc. Additionally, there's some other
recommendations here. The second is for a compensation study. There's currently some misalignment between roles and bands and um position titles etc. uh that h that happens in districts over long periods of time. And so taking a
really close look at that and ensuring equitable and sustainable uh compensation would be a recommendation of ours. Additionally, governance and process documentation and taking a closer look at the service model. So how
are school how is the central office supporting schools um and what's the relationship between those two functions? That is a whole another stream of work that could require um some deep analysis, its own pure benchmarking etc. uh to ensure that you
all have the most efficient and effective system there. And then of course more stakeholder engagement and implementation planning to ensure that uh all of this is sequenced in a way that is most supportive to the outcomes
that you all are pri prioritizing. To close, this is an illustrative path of what um this work could look like over the next few years. So again, if we if you all proceed with moving forward with the 800 positions, we know that there are additional positions that will
need to be identified over the next few years, this is the path that we would recommend in order to thoughtfully um identify those future reductions uh and plan for a sustainable future. And so this maps out things like that central
office redesign, that implementation work, um looking at the service model, etc. over the next few years in order to get to that thousand threshold in a more sustainable way, um and potentially beyond that based on your enrollment
benchmarking. So that concludes our recommendation for this. Um, again, I think this is meant to balance preserving your really wonderful student outcomes um, and reaching for financial sustainability. So, I will transition it
back to Dr. Heepburn uh, for the remainder of the presentation. Thank you, >> Mr. Sullivan. >> Uh, yes, good morning. Thank you, Superintendent. Good morning, chair, board members, and to the public. I will be presenting pages two and three of the organizational chart which reflects
changes at the superintendent level and within the office of chief of staff. Um Beacon if you can put page two up. >> I'm just giving Beacon a moment to transition to the >> chair. While while that's coming up, will the MGT team be available to answer
questions uh later from the board? >> Yes. >> Thank you, chair. >> Okay. So, I'm going to again begin on page two. The primary change here is to elevate the chief facilities officer to report directly to the superintendent. This adjustment was made in response to
board feedback and is intended to strengthening direct oversight and accountability of our capital programs, improve coordination and execution of major facility projects, enhance our ability to recruit and retain a highly qualified leader in this role. Given the size, complexity and visibility of our
capital program, this ensures facility remains a top priority with clear executive level oversight and alignment. Uh now moving on to page three. The office of chief of staff has undergone a strategic restructuring focusing on uh these key areas strengthening executive
leadership and alignment improving communication and stakeholder engagement enhancing datadriven decision-m and execution. As part of this, the role has been redefined from chief of staff and communications to chief of staff while still maintaining oversight of communications. This allows for a
stronger focus on enterprise alignment and execution. Um the office of chief of staff is going from 96 positions to 70 positions with most of those being reductions. We have eliminated and consolidated several positions to reduce duplication and improve efficiencies
including realigning family and community engagement into strategy and in innovation. Transitioning partnership functions to the Broward Education Foundation. Streamlining communications staff to eliminate overlap and elevate key functions. Implementing operational
efficiencies within our beacon. uh department which eliminates middle management positions such as the manager two of productions, manager two school services and supervisor one of print services. These changes reduce um redundancies and ensure resources are
focused on high impact work. At the same time we have made targeted adjustments to strengthening core functions establishing an executive director of communications to centralize elevate messaging transparency and responsiveness. added a manager of marketing and a manager of mass media
and community relations to strengthening digital engagement and stakeholder communications. This is in direct response to the board's priority to improve communications across all audiences. Realign enterprise analytics and intelligence under the chief of staff to ensure leadership has direct
access to timely and actionable data along with a unified governance structure that leverages AI to ensure we no longer operate in silos. also centralized project management functions to improve coordination and execution across all divisions. Importantly, all these changes were achieved through
reallocation of existing funds, making this a costefficient restructuring within the division while still contributing meaningfully to the overall cost savings. The overall impact of this realignment is a structure that is more coordinated, more data-driven, and more responsive. It strengthens our ability
to execute priorities, improve communication, and ensure accountability across the organization. With that, I would turn turn it over to Dr. Fulton. Madame Deputy, >> good morning and thank you, Mr. Sullivan. Despite enrollment decline, our responsibility remains unchanged to
ensure that all of our students remain supported, every teacher is equipped to deliver highquality instruction all day and every day. And also to ensure that every school leader is developed and supported to lead their school communities effectively.
So within our regional offices, we have eliminated three director positions. These are director of teaching and learning. These leaders play an important role in developing principles, supporting school improvement, and holding our leaders accountable for
student performance, ensuring that every school has strong leadership and the support needed to improve student outcomes. In addition to these staff reductions, we are aligning how support is delivered by bringing our academics
department and our student services, which includes ESC, mental health, and other student supports into a regional support hub model. This will create one co coordinated unified system of support
with wraparound service that will will be deployed from our regional offices. Currently, support services to our students are centralized, sometimes unintentionally resulting in services being uncoordinated, duplicated, and
providing a very slow response to our schools. A regional support hub will address that by providing one coordinated team, one message, one voice, better duplication, and avoiding conflicting guidance, better aligned
supports, but most importantly, faster, more responsive services to all of our schools. This model will create a clear accountability where each region will own student outcomes and delivery of support for our leaders, our teachers,
our students, our parents, and the broader community that they serve. Ultimately, this proposal is about protecting what matters most, strong schools, strong support, and strong student outcomes. By operating leaner with greater
alignment and clear accountability, BCPS will be well positioned to sustain excellence and build on the historic academic progress that we have achieved over the past two years. And with that, I'll turn it over to Dr. home to
continue with academics. >> Good morning everyone. Today I'm presenting the academic organizational realignment which is a critical component of the district's broader effort to rightsize our organization while strengthening academic outcomes.
We reduced 85 positions going from 427 positions to 346 positions. Can you hear me? >> Yes. We repurpose for existing positions resulting in a consolidation and
streamlining of crossf functional work attributing to the development of new job descriptions. And this is not simply about reducing positions. It's about redesigning how we deliver academic services to schools in a way that is more efficient, more coherent, and more
impactful. The challenge we addressed is that historically the division of academics operated through multiple independent departments. professional learning and development, applied learning and innovative learning. While these departments contributed meaningfully to
the work, the structure did create some fragmentation across the system, some overlapping responsibilities and some disconnection of professional learning with limited alignment between innovation and core instruction. This structure restricted our ability to
scale effectively practices and deliver consistent support to schools. Simply put, we had strong work that was happening, but not always in a unified system. And so what we changed is we addressed it through intentional elimination of consolidated positions,
including the director of professional learning and development, the director of applied learning, the director of innovative learning, and additional supervisor and support roles. These decisions were not about removing work. They were about removing duplication.
And what we recognized is that teacher development already already existed across all academic departments. Innovation needed to be embedded not separate. And innovation in applied learning needed stronger alignment to core academics. So instead of operating
in silos, we re red we re redistributed and strengthened the work within a unified structure and at the same time we repurpose key positions at no additional cost to meet evolving needs. So we redesigned positions such as
director of AI and digital learning on page seven, the director of leadership development and teacher support on page six, and we repurposed two supervisors to assistant directors to provide greater oversight and strengthen execution to scale. These
are on page six and page seven. And we also consolidated two supervisory positions, the curriculum supervisor of social studies and the curriculum supervisor of civics into one consolidated position called the curriculum supervisor of writing, civics engagement and interdisciplinary
studies. And this provides greater opportunity to provide crosscurricular instruction. This is a costneutral efficientbased redesign that increases impact. And on page seven, you will see a critical strategic shift to the
director of AI and digital learning. One of the most critical academic decisions in this realignment was the creation of the director of AI strategy in digital learning, which consolidates two director level positions, the director of applied learning and innovative
learning into a single unified vision. And this is not about technology. It's about transforming teaching and learning for the 22nd century. It ensures that artificial intelligence, extended reality, virtual reality, and digital tools are embedded into instruction, not
treated as separate initiatives. It ensures that teachers are prepared to leverage AI to personalize learning, increase engagement, and accelerate outcomes. And more importantly, is for students to develop skills required for a rapidly evolving workforce, including
critical thinking, problem solving, and AI literacy. And this positions Broward not just to adapt but to lead in how public education evolves in an AIdriven world. And this is this was a strategic consolidation that moves us from scattered innovation efforts to a
coherent systemwide approach to future ready. And so this new academic model now allows us to operate under a coherent academic service model built on three interdisciplinary pillars. instructional excidence, excellence in real world application, educator
development and innovation and future ready. And this creates a coherent academic ecosystem where instruction, teacher development and innovation operate as one system. And so how does this impact our schools and our regional alignment? So for
schools, this changes the experience significantly. And instead of having multiple departments operate independently, schools now receive one coordinated system of support, stronger instructional coaching, more aligned professional learning, integrated
academic innovation supports. This also strengthens alignment with our regional offices, ensuring that services are more responsive, communication is clearer, support is consistent across schools, and ultimately, but more importantly,
this is how we look at results. It's about continuing the path of improved student outcomes for all scholars. Even during a significant restructuring, our fast PM2 data results show we are on track to maintaining an A rating and we are projected to exceed last year's
performance. So this reflects stronger instructional systems, focused teacher support, and now greater alignment across the district. And this model positions us to accelerate achievement across all student groups, close performance gaps, improve teacher
efficacy, uh, and reduce duplication. And so now it provides us with stronger teachers, stronger instruction, stronger student outcomes. I now pass this next section to of the chart presentation to Sah Simone Hollingsworth, chief student
services officer to review her chart. >> Good morning. Thank you. I want to begin by acknowledging what many in our community are feeling. The roles of EOC counselors and school social workers, to name a few, are deeply valued and the decision to reduce positions was not made lightly. This was not a decision
about the importance of these services, but a necessary realignment in how we deliver them in response to declining enrollment, school closures, and current budget constraints. Over the past two years, the district has experienced a significant decline in student enrollment, which directly impacts
funding and staffing allocations. In response, we conducted a review of our organizational structure, case loads, and service delivery models to ensure we continue to meet all local, state, and federal requirements, including the provision of a free appropriate public education for students with
disabilities. For example, it is important to clarify that while counseling services may be included on a student's IEP, the positions of ESC counselor and school social worker are not statutory required roles. What is required is that services are delivered by qualified professionals in Florida.
That includes school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists. As a division, the majority of our staff are direct service providers who work directly with students. Those who do not carry a defined case load serve in a critical support role for students, schools, and
families. These individuals are deployed in response to needs brought forward by schools, families, and the community. supporting areas such as academics, behavior, independent functioning, communication, and social services. This structure ensures that resources are
responsive and targeted where they are most needed. As a result of this review, we are moving to a more integrated school-based model of support. What does this mean for students in schools? First, services are not being eliminated. They are being redistributed. We are strengthening a team-based approach where school
counselors, school psychologists, social workers, and ESC staff work together as a unified system of mental health and student support providers. School counselors will continue to provide direct academic and resiliency support. School psychologists will provide evaluation, consultation, intervention
planning. School social workers will support students and families through key functions such as attendance, crisis response, and connecting families to resources while also monitoring student needs through ongoing check-ins and data informed practices. A significant component of the social worker role will
continue to include the development of psychosocial reports which are critical in understanding student needs and informing interventions and supports. Second, services are embedded within and aligned to schools to provide direct and responsive support at at the site level. As reflected in the redistribution of
resources, social workers will continue to be aligned to schools and embedded within school-based teams. In addition, our staff are aligned regionally, strengthening the connection between district support and the specific schools and communities they serve. This allows for more consistent
communication, quicker response to student needs, and a deeper understanding of each school's unique context. Embedding services within schools will strengthen collaboration with school teams, improve identification of student needs and interventions, and enhance school level ownership and accountability. It is also
important to note that all departments contributed to this realignment. decisions are made with a clear priority, minimizing impact to students, maintaining required services, and ensuring ongoing compliance with all legal and statutory requirements. Our district mental health team will provide ongoing training, guidance, and coaching
to school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and ESC staff to support consistent implementation across schools. In closing, while positions have been reduced, our responsibilities to students has not changed. This realignment was done thoughtfully, equitably across departments and with a
focus on maintaining compliance, strengthening, coordination, and continuing to support the whole child. This is not a reduction in commitment. It is a shift in how we deliver the commitment to ensure sustainability moving forward. I want to walk through several of the key changes reflected in
the organizational structure. On page 8, the executive director of ESSE position was eliminated to reduce a layer of management. These responsibilities did not disappear. They have been distributed across directors. To support the increasing complexity of compliance requirements, an existing coordinator position was reclassified as an
assistant director of ESC. This was not a new position, but a strategic adjustment to ensure continued focus on timelines, legal mandates, and regulatory expectations with no financial impact. The positive behavior specialist positions have been removed as a formal chartered role. However, the
individuals in the work remain. Responsibilities have been redistributed across teams, reflecting a shift from a single position model to a shared implementation approach. Behavioral supports will continue to be delivered. Additionally, clinical nurses have been aligned with ESC specialized instruction
to better support students with complex and instructional needs, ensuring stronger coordination between health and education. On page nine, the director of coordinated student health services position was eliminated as it has been vacant since January. The work has been realigned to ESC
specialized instruction supporting the clinical nurses supported party clinical nurses and contact experts. This strengthened the connection between health services and instructional needs. The coordinator of prevention programs and specialist of outreach support positions were eliminated with responsibilities redistributed across
existing teams. These services continue. The coordinator of attendance position is also being eliminated. Moving from a centralized model to a shared responsibility approach. Attendance will be led by school social workers, supported by wellness teams, and implemented at the school level, recognizing that attendance is connected
to resiliency, family stability, and student engagement. Finally, the service manager position was eliminated as it has been vacant for over a year. The work has already been absorbed by the school counseling department, and this action aligns with the organizational structure with current practice. The
total reductions are 201 for the division, 18 on the organizational chart, and 183 non-chart positions. I now turn the presentation over to Chief Noswis to review safety and security. >> Good morning.
For the safety and security division to better align with re our resources, sorry, with operational needs, we are implementing two targeted staffing adjustments within emergency management and safety and security operations. One area security manager
position will be transferred from the emergency management division to the safety and security operations department. One area security manager coordinator position will be reduced within the emergency management position. Resulting structure will be safety and security operations will have
eight area security managers and the emergency management department will have six safety managers. Collectively, these changes optimize the deployment of existing resources, enhance accountability and consistency across campuses, and improve operational
effectiveness without increasing staffing or expenditures. And then at this time, I will pass to Dr. Wanza. >> Good morning. The operations division will be explained by three chiefs. In its totality, the division has 2,650
positions across food and nutrition services, student transportation and fleet services, facility planning and real estate, procurement and logistics operations, physical plant operations, capital programs, the building department, and the chief fire official. I along with Mr. Dorset the task
assigned chief operations officer and Miss Johnson our chief financial officer will explain the approaches we took to realign work streams realize greater efficiencies and reduce the total position count to 2,12 positions for a
division uh total of 548 position reductions with the repurposing of six schools. The Food and Nutrition Services Department reduced an area supervisor position and an assistant director position. Support for school locations will not be compromised by
these actions. As the board is aware, the Council of the Great City Schools recently conducted a tabletop review of this department. As we work to implement many of their recommendations that we received just last Friday, additional opportunities to enhance productivity and outcomes through alternate staffing
models may be realized as well. The student transportation and fleet services department continues its work to align resources and realize efficiencies to improve its overall fiscal stability and direct services it provides to students and families. The supervisor of special needs
transportation position has been eliminated. It's been vacant since September of 2025. These duties have been assigned to the assistant director for transportation operations and special needs. This will eliminate silos in the department and ensure direct attention is given to all
students. Additional reductions in the department include several vacant bus operator, transportation specialist, route planner, relief operator, bus attendant, laborer, mechanic, stock room clerk, and stock room assistant positions. There
were also reductions in clerical positions, operational specialists, and training specialist positions. Lastly for me in this area, the facility planning and real estate department is currently under review to determine whether shared opportunities with Broward County government can be re can
be realized. With the steady declines in student enrollment over the past decade, managing growth is no longer a district priority. The planner for growth management monitoring position has been eliminated or is proposed to be eliminated. Additional staff reductions in this department also includes the
clerical position and a real property analyst. The overall reduction in these three departments garner cost savings for the district in three financial areas. The general fund, the food service fund, and the capital fund. At this time, I will turn it over to Mr. Dorset.
>> Good morning. This realignment represents a deliberate and disciplined effort to improve operational efficiencies, strengthen coordination, and enhance service delivery across the district. The approach has focused on simplifying an organizational structure,
clarifying roles and accountability, and enabling more consistent and timely execution of district priorities. position elimination was were concentrated in areas where duplication overlap and opportunity streamline
functions were identified. On page 11 within the chief fire official function, the senior plans examiner inspector position was eliminated with the responsibility consolidate consolidated under the chief fire official within the
chief office of capital programs. The ADA accessibility specialist position was eliminated and the duties were assigned to the ADA manager within the chief building official function. The the assistant chief building official
position was eliminated with the responsibility absorbed by the leadership level in physical plan operation division. There were 39 filled non-chard trade position eliminated of which 10 were clerical assistant f four
positions. The manager of build business process and performance improvement and warranty asset coordinator were eliminated and the functions were have been absorbed by the facil the facility support service manager.
The PO training specialist and EHNS training specialist positions were both reclassified and realigned to non-chart positions within the environmental health and safety department. The manager of environmental conservation and utilities management position was
eliminated with responsibilities distributed across each existing roles. The pro project manager 2 guarantee and uh energy performance positions were replaced with energy and sustainability coordinator to align with the
responsibilities and improve alignment. On page 13, the office of capital programs strengthened the structure through additional through the addition of the director of capital budget enhancing
financial oversight and alignment under executed leadership. In closing, the summary, this alignment enhance operation efficiency while preserving stability and position the district for a more disciplined, responsive, and
sustainable execution moving forward. And with that, I will turn it over to ISD and Trey Davis. >> Good morning. Trey Davis, chief information officer. I'll be summarizing organizational changes in the information systems division. To support
the district's realignment and sustain gains from last year's transition to a composite and value centered structure, we consolidated additional functions across the division. These changes include a reduction of 28 positions in our project management office, information security and assurance, data
intelligence, application services, infrastructure services, and technology support services. Additionally, we further refined our administrative pool concept to ensure clerical support delivers maximum value divisionwide in a composite manner, not
functionally constrained to an individual or department. As evident on page 14, project and security assurance remain paramount to project and program success districtwide, helping mitigate risk from performance inefficiencies to
external threats. While positions were reduced among administrative and technical staff, our commitment and capacity to deliver exceptional services to our schools and divisions remain unchanged. As we continue operationalizing at scale, ISD is leaning on our investment
in artificial intelligence and other automation to augment our capacity. For example, on page 15, assistant director technology support center, the function responsible for managing client support districtwide is being absorbed within the technology support services
department, while AI agents will monitor critical KPIs such as time to resolution for help tickets and assist users with common questions. ISD will continue focusing on a holistic approach to cost containment, never at the expense of
innovation and improvement. This includes cost efficiencies gained from our methodical and purposeful allocation of resources to operational divestments, alternative funding, and concessions from partners. ISD is a world-class
organization with extraordinary people committed to advancing our district through innovative and fiscally sound technology initiatives. I'll now pass to Dr. Lozano for updates in human resources. >> Thank you, sir. Dr. Lozano, chief human resources officer. And as the a human
resources department, we are proud to be and serve the largest employer in Broward County. Um, and as the largest employer, we continually look to realign to make sure we support all our employees at all times. So, our current
HR organizational realignment continues our current work of shifting our division from a fragmented structure to a unified district-wide service model with clearer accountability across the employee life cycle from recruiting and
on boarding through ongoing support and supporting our employees who transition out of the organization. The structural changes include eliminating several positions and consolidating responsibilities to reduce
redundancy and streamline decisionmaking. The executive director of professional practices labor relations role is removed and reorganized under a realigned director of labor relations. One compliance administrator three
position and one coordinator evaluation position are also being eliminated with duties absorbed. The coordinator of non-instructional development role is being eliminated as other other departments already manage the
development of their own non-instructional staff. The manager of compensation role is being eliminated due to technology advancements and stronger coordination with HR and the budget office. The director of HR
operations role is being removed to reduce a management layer with oversight shifting directly to the executive director of talent management. This rationale for this reorganization is to reduce staff while building a more
flexible workforce and removing roles that can be simplified or automated. Work that is increasingly supported by technology and standardized data will shift into existing structures and be overseen with fewer handoffs. At the
same time, the realignment diversifies roles by creating a consolidated specialist of human resources designed to flex across HR functions during peak demand. This will broaden skill sets and
improve coverage without adding headcount with clearer labor relations and EEO ADA supervision under one leader and tighter alignment between talent acquisition, talent management, and HR operations. Human resources will
continue to provide consistent contract and policy application, faster coordination, and a smoother employee experience while maintaining timely service and strengthening our long-term talent pipeline. I now pass it over to
our chief financial officer, Romaner Johnson. >> Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Dr. Lozano. I'll be presenting the or chart revision for the finance division. The finance division has undergone a strategic realignment to improve
operation efficiency, strengthen accountability and better align financial function on the CFO. The procurement and the budget support system was moved from the CEO division to the chief financial division to create a more integrate leadership model
for budgeting, procurement, grants and related support service. The finance division has proposed a reduction of over 45 employees. This realignment was developed to ensure clear decision making stroll strong
cross department coordination and more efficient use of staff resources during a period of fiscal constraint. Several positions were eliminated, consolidated or realigned as part of the restructuring effort. This action was taken to streamline operations and
reduce unnecessary lay layers of supervision while ma maintaining essential service. On page 17, the executive director procurement and logistic operation position prehouse and procurement was repurposed as the executive director budget. This position
now provides oversight for budget department, business support centers, grant administration, capital department and indirect finances for food service and transportation financials. In the procurement, the manager of contract administration was transferred
for physical plant operation into the procurement department. Now report directly to the director of procurement and logistic operations. The directors of budget and the business support centers were eliminated. responsibility associated with the positions were realigned to vacant
assistant director position with respective departments in accounting and financial reporting. The vacant assistant director position which have remained unfilled since last year was eliminated and duties were reassigned to the director. The county five position was eliminated with
responsibility to redistribute among existing staff. The economic development the coordinated position was eliminated and the manager is is currently assuming those responsibilities. On page 18 in payroll the senior payroll
analy position was reduced and the benefits department assistant director benefits position was eliminated at the remaining unfilled for over a year. In work miss comp the division was realigned to report to the director of risk management and the director level
position were reduced to assistant directing role. These changes establish a more cohesive effective leadership structure across the finance division by consolidating related functions under lines reporting lines. The direct the direct the
district is better positioned to support sound fiscal management, improve oversight, ensure more efficient execution of financial operation. Now I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Wansa, chief of strategy and innovation division. >> Good morning again. The strategy and
innovation division is comprised of departments that provide direct and indirect services to schools as well as leadership and support for major system priorities, namely the strategic plan, redefining our schools, 21st century grant administration, Florida high
school athletic association compliance, magnet schools of America grant administration, charter school monitoring and compliance, and before and after school care programs. Additionally, many of the departments interact with various community agencies, the business community and
government offices. A thorough analysis was conducted to align staffing models, redistribute resources, and maintain a cost-savings approach to personnel realignment. Currently, the division has a total of 78 positions. 11 positions were eliminated. However, nine positions
from another division, as Mr. Sullivan noted um were realigned to this division for a new net total of 76 remaining positions. Most noted is the strategic initiative management department. The executive director position has been eliminated to reduce a later a layer of
management. The director of performance management position has been expanded to director of strategic initiatives and performance management. This position will now be a direct report to the division chief. Additionally, the position of director of enterprise of
the enterprise management office um has been restructured to an assistant director position. The other assistant director position in this office has been realigned to the executive director of enterprise analytics and intelligence under the chief of staff. The entire
division will support this department in the development and monitoring of the district's strategic plan as well as performance management services. The family and community engagement department was realigned from the chief of staff to the strategy and innovation division. Family and community
engagement and before and after school care will now report to the director of before and after school care and family community engagement. The newly comprised department will coordinate and deliver district-wide family and community involvement activities as well
as provide leadership and oversight for the district's before and after school care programs. The administration of the 21st century grant and the coordination of summer programming will be major components of their work. Other position reductions in the division include
instructional facilitators, program specialists, a computer operator, and some clerical roles. The division will continue to operate as a unified body clearly aligned to the district's priorities. our crossf functional work will continue to be will continue to be
coordinated through a lens of collective accountability. And with that, I will turn the presentation back over to Mr. Sullivan. >> Uh thank you uh to all the cabinet. Uh page 20, the last two pages are uh page 20, which is the chief auditor. He has no changes and the board already
approved general counsel's uh changes on the org chart. And with that, um I'll turn it over back to you, superintendent. >> Um thank you, team. Um, I want to emphasize again that this work is ongoing. It is not done. Um, we've brought this process to the board
earlier than normal. Um, this this usually happens in late May and and early June, right before graduation, but we wanted to uh provide our impacted staff the opportunity to transition appropriately with the right support. Um, they have great transferable skills.
um uh that would lend itself um to helping any organization in the in the county or the tri county area. I do want to give a public um shout out to Career Source Broward who's been walking alongside us uh for probably since January just to ensure that they can
support our impacted employees with resources um and and other strategic um things that to help them uh secure opportunities um outside of our district if if uh certain roles within our district um folks aren't eligible for. Um, also the further reductions will
occur throughout the spring and the summer through consolidations, restructuring, new staff models for safety and security while maintaining a strict hiring freeze resulting in attrition to meet or exceeded um the initial target set. Um, I look forward to the board's input and feedback on
this plan as we work to finalize the organizational chart for next week's vote. Uh these are difficult decisions, but they're necessary, responsible, and focused on long-term strength um of this district. Our obligation is not only to the students we serve today, but also to
ensure that Broward County Public Schools remains strong, stable, and a high performing district for those we serve in the years ahead. Uh one thing I want to mention too, the ORC chart, it is a fluid chart. It's it's it's a fluid document. Um and also the the positions
outside of the chart are fluid. we have uh consistent attrition, people leaving and um um and coming. Um but with that said, we've listened um so many of the changes that I want to make, we couldn't make uh just for the for the sheer being published and and doing some deep dive
research and and really um thought partner with the team. Um as a result of that thought partnering um and you know the expression that this is a fluid document that right now uh we're going to bring back uh two uh employee groups
filled positions only after listening to the community after listening to uh u board members in my oneon um and also sitting back with the team and really u doing a a cross- examination and evaluation and talking to some school-based leaders and also some of these folks in in this group the ESC
program specialists. Those five filled positions we're going to take off the table and the ESC family counselors, the 17 filled positions will take off the table, resulting in bringing 22 positions back. We will continue to absorb the vacancies um of those
positions um which would result in about a $1.6 million um impact on our cost savings. Uh but as I said before, this is a fluid document. Um there will be opportunities for us to meet our target throughout the
spring and the summer and also identify cost savings in other areas which we constantly do every week. Uh with that uh madam chair I turn it back over to you. Thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Heburn. This is the time of the workshop where we will hear from our registered public
speakers. We ask that decorum be maintained and civility and respect be shown during public comment which is expected when a government agency conducts official business. Our general counsel will assist the chair in maintaining decorum during this
period. We also want to remind our public speakers of the rules and expectations regarding the public comment portion of the workshop as well as board policy. As was noticed publicly on our website on April 18th, due to the number of public speakers, we will
reduce the speaking time to one minute in order to ensure that we hear from everyone who is here to speak. Attorney Dri Bruno Bruno, please explain the rules of public comment. Thank you, Madam Chair. Public comment is governed by school board policy 1020 and is
intended to provide input on the board's duties, decisions, and the overall operation of the school district. The school board is viewpoint neutral during public comment. Per school board policy 1020, speakers must state their name, city of residents, and whether they are
lobbyists before beginning their remarks. All remarks must be directed to the board as a whole. The board will not respond to or engage with speakers during public comment and no action will be taken unless the item is on the
agenda. The chair may adjust the order of speakers as she's done today. recognize speakers and enforce all time limits. She may reduce individual speaking time or establish a total time limit. Again, the time per speaker today is one minute. A visible timer will be
used and the microphone may be turned off when time expires. Speakers must limit their comments to matters related to school board business for agenda items must remain relevant to the specific item. Comments may not
address matters that are pending in litigation, quasi judicial proceedings, active investigations, or administrative hearings. Solicitation and lobbying activities must comply with applicable school board policies.
Abusive language defined as profanity, threatening, or name calling, as an example, is prohibited. In addition, clapping, hissing, booing, shouting, yelling, or other disruptions from the audience is not allowed. Speakers who
fail to follow proper decorum in the chambers will be ruled out of order by the board chair. Failure to comply may result in the microphone being turned off or a recess being called. After a warning, the chair may also direct removal from the meeting or the building
by the officers. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. I will call five speakers at a time. When you hear your name, please line up behind the podium with only one person at the podium at a time. Please follow the staff's directions when lining up and
approaching the podium. When your one minute is up, please yield the mic and exit the podium and follow staff's direction. Please be advised that any individual who disrupts the meeting, refuses to follow the chair's directions, or interferes with the orderly conduct of this meeting will be given a first
warning, and then they may be asked to leave the boardroom or removed from the building to ensure the safety and integrity of the proceedings. We recognize that this is an extraordinarily difficult moment for our school community.
The decisions being discussed today affect colleagues, friends, and families who have given so much to our students and our district. These are the hardest decisions we face as a board, and they are far more difficult for those whose lives and
livelihoods are directly impacted. We understand the fear, frustration, disappointment, and sense of uncertainty many are feeling, and we do not take that lightly. At the same time, the reality before us
is a significant budget deficit that requires immediate and responsible immediate and responsible action. Like many school districts across the state and the country, we are facing financial pressures that are not unique to us, but are no less painful.
Our obligation as a board is to ensure the district's long-term stability so that we can continue to serve our students now and in the future. The need to reduce staff is not a reflection of the value, dedication or commitment of the individual is
affected. Our employees have given so much of themselves to this community and these deeply difficult decisions are driven by financial necessity, not by a lack of appreciation for the work being done in our schools. We are committed to handling this
process with fairness, transparency, and respect, and to supporting those impacted as best as we can. We also recognize the intense public interest and advocacy surrounding this issue. There is a reason there are so
many people here today and why so many have reached out to us. We thank our community for speaking up and engaging. Your voices matter and your advocacy challenges us to examine the issues carefully, consider new
perspectives, and make the strongest decisions possible. As we move forward today, it is important that our discussion is grounded in clear objectives and shared facts. We have seen a range of narratives and differing claims around
cost savings, position reductions, and impacts. To have a productive and honest conversation, we need clarity about the specific options before us. What each option entails, how many positions are affected, the financial implications and
the benefits and drawbacks of each choice. We owe the public transparency and we owe it to ourselves to ask the difficult questions and leave no stone unturned. We also acknowledge the concerns raised by our union partners and respect their
right to advocate on behalf of their members. We remain committed to engaging in good faith, listening carefully, and working through these challenges together wherever possible. Today, we want to hear from our community.
We ask that comments be shared with respect and understanding, recognizing that while we may not agree on every aspect, we are united in our commitment to our students, our staff, and the future of this district.
These are not easy decisions, but they are necessary ones. Our focus remains on preserving the strength, trust, and sustainability of our schools so that we can continue to provide a high quality education for every student we serve.
With that, will the following individuals line up? Melanie Berkin, Amelia Gonzalez, Abrao, Zyra Clims, Leness, Dennis Waters, and Brooke Bordy.
Good morning. >> Good morning. Uh, my name is Melanie Berkin. I live in Davy, Florida, and I am not a lobbyist. >> Stand with you. >> Oh, my time started. I Wait, start over, please. I did make it one minute. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Good morning. My name is Melanie Berkin. I've served as a school social worker in Broward School since 1999. Thank you for allowing me to speak. I'm asking you to reconsider. >> Please stop the clock. Please uh pause for just one moment. There is Please follow staff's direction. There should be only one person at the podium at a
time >> and the the five individuals I called should be lined up behind uh that line. >> So every meeting I stand with people now I can. >> So Miss Fusco, this is your first warning. >> Of course. Of course it is. >> I'm sure I'll get more.
>> And that's our teacher chair. Please restart Miss Miss Berkin's time. >> Thank you. Oh my gosh. All right. Thank you again. My name is Melanie Berkin. I've served as a school social worker in Broward School since 1999. Thank you for allowing me to speak. I'm asking you to
reconsider eliminating studentf facing M's level mental health professionals, including 24 school social worker positions. School social workers are not central office staff. We are school-based, have a teaching certificate, and a master's or higher
degree. My first year, I covered three schools alone. Today, those same campuses have more support because student needs have grown. Even as many of us are still split across multiple schools, students do not schedule their crisises. Cutting staff will while
expanding responsibilities reduces our ability to respond quickly. Fewer students does not mean fewer mental health needs or fewer attendance barriers. School counselors, psychologists, family counselors, and social workers function as one team. Cutting any role weakens the safety net
for all. The budget pressure should not come at the expense of student well-being. >> Thank you. Next public speaker. >> Thank you. >> Sorry. Good morning. Good morning, superintendent and uh schoolboard members. Let me tell you what the
assessment does not capture. Our students daily mental health needs and the consistency they rely on. ESSE counselor serves students. My youngest student is 5 years old and my oldest one is uh in 11th grade. The most vulnerable population, many facing emotional
challenges that impact their ability to learn. This role exists because the students need mental health support to function, engage, and succeed. For many of our students, counseling is what makes learning possible. This work cannot be reduced to a system. We provide direct services with fidelity as
outline in their IEP, supporting students who feel overwhelmed, shut down, or ready to give up. Because of the consistency and continuity, something powerful happens. The student who once walked out begins to ask for a break. The students who shuts down begins to try again. The student who
felt defeated begins to believe in themselves. But what? But when consistency is removed, the impact is immediate. Students may become frustrated, more an >> Thank you, ma'am. For the record, for the record, could we get your name, please? >> So, Brew, I'm the second one.
>> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you. And we're very passionate because that's what we do for student. Next speaker. >> Hello. >> Good morning. I'm Brooke Bour. from Plantation and I'm here as a concerned parent. We all know that the proposal
defies every direction that the board gave knowing that today's conversation must start with the board's previous consensus and not with the proposal. The procedure here, including posting documents on Friday afternoon, is legally deficient and designed to
deprive the public and even this board of an opportunity to develop a thorough response and counter proposal. Because of that, the first order of business today should be to schedule a second workshop. Turning to substance, MGT was contracted to determine the best way to
downsize central staff, not to assess or provide a recommendation contrary to this board. However, in reliance on MGT's report, staff have developed a parallel initiative to balance the district's budget on the backs of our teachers and children. This parallel
initiative is buried in slide 10, just a casual reference to a massive $40 million staffing allocation adjustment. I encourage this board to bite into that piece today. >> Thank you. The next the next five names,
we will have decorum in the audience, please. Mr. Puno. >> Yeah, we're just going to ask that you please be in line with board policy 1020. Madam Chair has already given her first warning. Could I have the next five people line up? Melanie Taylor,
Cynthia Dominique, Kirsten Hope, Adrienne Clark, and Thomas Hanberg. >> Go ahead. Next speaker. If you've heard your name called just you can approach the podium. >> Hi, my name is Dennis Waters. I am BTU
negotiator and also a stewart. I'm here on behalf of TSP and all the representatives of TSP. I've looked over your organizational chart. Um at best um it is a shuffling of cards. It is not
taking into consideration um all the aspects that the board has directed and requesting. I think that we need to look at this with open eyes and also with understanding that when you're shuffling one from a one position to another
position or you're eliminating position because it's been open maybe you should look at that why is that position left open maybe because it was not advertised correctly it's not been done correctly as far as through the contractual agreements it's not it's been shadow
boxed so that that money can be diverted to another location. So I asked the board to look look at what's being done. It's an impact for everyone everyone that I represent and I don't usually speak but this is I've had the
impactment from our board. So I request the board to look at it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker >> Tom Hamward. I see among the cuts are school psychologists and social workers. At a time when students are more lonely than ever, more stressed than ever, at a time when the struggles of families are
worse than any of us can ever remember, worse than any day except tomorrow, the board has opted to remove psychologists and social workers from the lives of students. This is emblematic of what's happening. Saving money today on support staffs ensures greater costs for tomorrow, more referrals, more burnout, more crisis, more high need support. The
board isn't making uh tough choices to solve a problem with austerity. The board is paying today's bills with tomorrow's damage. It's a Ponzi scheme. You're raising the organization, raiding the organization, liquidating capacity so that you can say that you've solved today's crisis and then pretending that
the resulting breakdown is the unavoidable consequence of right sizing. Hopefully, after you've reaped your reward and moved on to better things when the bill is due. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Hello, my name is Kirsten Hope and I'm from Davyy. Despite limited time to
digest this proposal and to speak today, I oppose this chart for the the first the board's directives were clearly not followed. Reducing studentf facing positions directly impacts quality and safety, especially ESE, behavioral and mental health positions. Needs are not
being met already. These cuts are delusional and will erode enrollment even more. 119 of the 300 filled positions were cut from student services. 40%. That's unacceptable. Second, transparency, including 344 prior
vacancies to this year and sneaking in the 40% in inflation 40% group to inflates the reduction percentages to the top. We're with no clear breakdown of staffing allocation adjustments, 40 million, half of the savings, we assume
more school level positions. Third, please consider having a costsaving reduction to ineffective edtech programs and reinvest in highly trained educators and their support. Thank you. Thank you. Will Nikki Watkins, Carol
Cissoon, Stephanie Gopian, Victoria Trujillo Cortez, and Lisa Maxwell please approach the line. Next public speaker. >> Good morning. My name is Melanie Taylor, district school counselor. Thank you for this moment to speak on behalf of the thousands of students my school
counseling department serves and the level mental 11 mental health professionals I'm beyond proud to call colleagues that were abruptly recommended for termination last Wednesday. I want to share a day in the life of a district school counselor. We are all assigned two to four schools that we report to daily boots on the
ground. Our day ranges from providing mental health services such as brief counseling, facilitating small groups, conducting risk assessments, creating safe spaces to academic support such as promoting academic success, helping students create goals, visiting classrooms to promote life skills and wellness, college and career life readiness, and promoting school
counselor visibility. I have served this county proudly for 14 years. The past 5 years supporting the incredible Marjgery Stoman Douglas community ready for whatever the school needed for me has been the greatest honor of my entire career. If you remove myself and the additional district school counselors, it will lead to a reduction of high
quality student support. Please put the mental health of our students first and vote to maintain excellence in supporting the mental health of our students. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Next speaker. And just as a just before you start, just as a reminder, unless you have called your
name for public speaking, you must be seated. Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning. My name is Nikki Watkins, Davey, Florida resident, parent, staff chair at Western High School and Central area legislative representative. I urge the board to preserve school-based school-f facing positions, not only in
the org chart, but also in the staffing allocation model. If staffing allocations are treated as an afterthought, schools are not truly being protected. Western is already overcrowded. says, "My daughter's chemistry honors class has 40 students and she couldn't take an AP chemistry
class because funding cuts impacted her AP diploma pathway. Gifted students are also at risk of losing services when schools like Western lose the funding used to pay the staff who provide them, creating yet another unfunded mandate. I'm also concerned about process.
Revised workshop materials were added on April 17th for today's April 21st workshop, while written comments were due yesterday at 1:00 p.m., leaving little time for meaningful public review. Broward already has two strikes. The state is looming, and students are
leaving. There are no more chances at the plate. Consistent with prior board direction, choose students, school staff, and school-based supports first. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> My name is Carol Sassoon. I live in
Hollywood. I've been providing uh in the district for 34 years. And I'm thanking you for um pausing to consider the reinstatement of the ESC family counselors who provide an essential service to students and to schools to keep them safe, to keep them regulated,
so they could graduate high school, so they could be a a fullyfledged uh productive member of society. And um it's important we work with students. We work with staff. We work with families who depend on us uh to take care of their children while they're in school
to provide them with a safe comforting environment so they could we can help them to regulate their emotions and regulate their fears, anxieties, and frustrations. We keep them safe. We keep them successful. And we thank you again. >> Thank you so much. And just as a reminder, uh we're running uh out of
time for public to sign up for public speaking. So please if you have not signed up for public speaking but you would like to please make sure that you sign up. Welcome. >> Good morning board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Victoria Trillo Cordilli and I am an
instructional technology facilitator. It says it in the name. I educate students. I support over 22 schools since my department has been decreased. And all I have heard here is that the people that have direct impact with students would not be affected. I am affecting students
directly. Right now, I'm supposed to be leaving a second grade classroom and going to a fifth grade classroom. I work with them on reading. I document all of my data in BCPS central when I work with students, teachers, staff, administration, and the educational
leadership during leadership academy. I have also spent my time here 28.6 years according to FRS. And I heard that we were supposed to be respected during this time. I was reminded of reaching the 30 club.
My position is about to be eliminated. Handing me my papers and I was told, "Welcome to the 30 club." That's not respectful. So, please, board, direct your staff on how to properly address them when they're eliminating them. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Will the following individuals please approach the line? Kathy Neves, Joy Haber, Cynthia Tapia Rodriguez, Naveiv Sed, and Alan Jablanoitz. Mr. Pri Bruno Bruno,
Madam Chair, we're going to ask that the officers ensure that the rules are being followed. If you're not in line to speak, please have a seat and please respect the boundaries so the person that is speaking has the ability to speak uninterruptedly.
Thank you. Next speaker. >> Oh, please restart our time. And the mic is not on. Can you >> Can you hear me? >> Now we can. Yes. Thank you. >> My name is Stephanie Gapan. I'm an ESC counselor. I've been working with Broward County Schools since 1994.
We provide specialized services. We are not duplicative. We are not repetitive. Um, we provide I'm so sorry. We provide services to the most vulnerable students. students who rely on consistent individualized support. If we
increase our case load, it means reduced time in schools, less individual support, and being forced into group sessions that don't meet best practices for students with complex and differing eligibilities and needs, less progress towards IEP goals would be um a result missed identification of mental health
concerns, possibly more behavioral incidents, and a increased risk of dropout. I've seen students go from crisis onto graduate because they had a consistent support, someone to help them build their skills that they needed not only to be successful academically, social, emotionally, and in life. Um,
this is what we do and this is our heart. This is why I'm so emotional. Our students come to us, they are struggling. Please don't take that away. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning. I'm Lisa Maxwell. I represent the principles and the assistant principles in Broward County.
The school allocation changes that are before you today are beyond draconian. Your principles do not support this recommended model. And they do not support it because even
in schools where enrollment is projected to increase, they are losing staff. And they're not not just teachers, they're losing support staff as well. What that means is class size is going
to go way up. So you're going to start to see in core classes 45 to 60 students in a class. I've had high school principles tell me, I don't have classrooms large enough where students
can actually sit. What am I going to do? Principles were not consulted. it it's really nothing new but they have not been consulted at all so please >> thank you
next speaker >> good morning my name is Alan Jablanowitz and I am a proud Broward County teacher for the past 36 years in the ES realm in many different capacities let me tell
you where I am today. Um, I went over the 108 pages of the organizational chart. I'm certainly not an expert, but I see a lot of shuffling going on, and I don't know how much reduction is there. Um, we're an A
district. I'm in an A school. I'm at Maplewood Elementary, and we're very proud of that fact. It takes a lot to get an A school going. And right now I'm concerned that with reductions the staff
is a I'm a steward. I'm nervous. I'm sorry. Uh I'm I'm a BTU steward. I have 13 seconds. And mismanagement of the budget has brought us where we are today. Okay. We hope that things get
better. We really really do. Everyone's nervous. >> Thank you. Next speaker. Good morning. My name is Navidid Sed and I have served Broward County Public Schools since 2015. I began as database researcher
then transition to facilities in 2016 as manager of database administration where my work helped reduce recurring costs by approximately $250,000 annually. In that role, I supported Ebuilder for general obligation bond and
school-based construction projects, contributing to oversight and accountability for those initiatives. I also served as the district's only certified ebuilder administrator, helping reduce reliance on external consulting support. In 2024, I
transitioned to IT, supporting infrastructure efforts across schools and departments, including identity and access management support. As a district addresses budget challenges, I respectfully ask that employees with demonstrated cost savings and
specialized expertise be considered for reassignment before positions are eliminated. I remain committed to supporting the district in any cap. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning. My name is Cynthia Tapia Rodriguez. I live in David. After 22
years with Brow County Public School, the board has decided to eliminate my position as a family counselor. I do the overall substance use prevention for the district and violence prevention. I understand that this decision ends my role. However, it also undermines
tickets of commitment and service to our school. I am proud to say that I have made a district-wide impact through our prevention work by securing hundreds of thousands of dollars for prevention programs not funded by Brow County Public School. As a result, this work
has helped improve the overall school climate by reducing drug use and a and a school violence. I do not have the time to list everything I have done and honestly what I have personally given to the district is not what matters most. What
matters is the lives that had been impacted. Therefore, I encourage you to review my work and its impact. It is ironic that at this time that I have been selected as a staff of >> Thank you. Next speaker.
>> Hello. My name is Kathy Neas. I live in Fort Lauderdale. I'm an ESC counselor. I want to thank you for rescending the ESC positions. I love my job. I've been doing this for 25 years. I make an impact on students. I see students from kindergarten to 12th grade. I see them graduate. At the end of the day, that's
what we do. We teach them coping skills so they can cope, so they can manage their um education, so they can do well in school. At the end of the day, the greatest joy I have is seeing my 12th graders graduate. I work them real hard. Get your points. Get your points. Let's go. Let's graduate. So, at the end of
the day, that's what we do. So, thank you very much. We love our students. Again, I love I mean, I go to work every day. I say I love my job. I enjoy my students. And I welcome any of you to come take a walk with us for a day and see what we do. We do make an impact on our students. So, thank you very much
for listening to our letters, reading our letters, and hearing our voicemails and everything else that we um have sent to you all. So, thank you very much for your time. >> Thank you. Could I just get your name one more time, please? >> Sorry. My name is um Katherine Neas and I live in Fort Lauderdale. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh would could the next five
speakers approach the mic? Um, Judy Trunzo, Judy Millian, Venice Jackson, Joshua Jameson, and Ernest Dean Ramirez. Next speaker. >> My name is Joy Haber. I'm an ESC counselor. I live in Oakland Park. Um, for me, I'm going to borrow some words
from Mr. Rogers from when he stood before Congress to explain and defend what he did when his funding um was threatened to be cut. This is what I give. I give an expression of care every day to each child to help him realize that he is unique. I end the program by
saying you've made this day a special day by just your being you. There's no person in the world just like you and I like you just the way you are. I feel that if we can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for
mental health. Whether or not I agree with your decisions, I say to you all, you made this day special by just your being you. There's no person in the world like you, and I like you just the way you are. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker.
>> Good morning. My name is Judy Millian and I'm a ESC counselor for the past 28 years and uh I'm working for the past five years in uh uh ESC EBD cluster and like everybody actually have been mentioning before uh you know all the
things that we do that impact the life of the students because we are the few of the with the mental health uh professionals that actually do uh bring uh hope and uh to our students. that they feel heard and they feel a sense of
belonging, a sense of pride and confidence. So I'm here today to support our group of ESC counselor who provide vital services to the ESC population where a small team of professional mental health counselors deliver essential support to the most vulnerable
students in the county. Any c would severely limit our ability to maintain the same level service. I cannot envision our program continue to effectively service students, teachers, and school staff without every counselor currently in place. We need Thank
>> you. Next speaker. >> Very nervous, so excuse me when I mess up. Um, my name is Judy Trenzo. I live in Water Hill. I am support staff for an awesome principal named Wy Howard at Wooden Rogers.
And um I'm speaking for me, everybody in here, everybody out there, and everybody that didn't have transportation to get here. We matter. Our families matter. Our students matter. And that's why each
one of us get out of bed every day, whether we're in ready or not. to help our kids. So, um I don't think anybody should be eliminated. I don't have that power. God does. So,
I'm hoping he fixes this. And um I didn't agree with him taking away our medicine because that was against our contract. It's also discrimination against the people that need it.
And I guess that's about all I got to say is thank you and please reconsider. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Morning. Josh Jameson, BTU field rep. I'm the TSP rep. I'm also an Army
veteran. Did unit supply. We had a saying in supply that said mission first, people always. Meaning we focus on the mission and we deliberate on the people. I don't believe that this is deliberate because if it had been deliberate, you deliberately laid off or targeted a 100% disabled veteran for
layoff. You deliberately targeted stewards. You deliberately are targeting individuals that are highly specialized that you think are going to come back and do the same work for less money. The only thing I think you did deliberately was deliberately outsource this so you deliberately wouldn't have to deliberate
on the people. Thank you. >> Thank you. And I'll read the next five names. Eric Anderson, Latoya Richards, Moren Ruther Roth, Valerie Blackwell, and Ke Tyler. So, if you heard your
name, please approach the line. Welcome. Hello. My name is Venice Jackson. I'm from Myar, Florida. I am the training supervisor with the training department. And I just want to say that in the training department, there is no assistant to the training supervisor. I don't have a secretary. It
is the trainers, the portables, the buses, and me. I process every single document that comes through the training department and I I scan it, process it, disseminate it through the district so that they have that information. Okay? When I am out, there is no backup. If
I'm not there to answer the phones, that it doesn't get answered. When I am absent, all of that paperwork is waiting for me upon my return. There is no one that knows how to do everything that I do in that department. The one person that did went ill earlier this year and she will not be returning. So I am
solely the only person in the transportation department that knows how to do everything that I do. While someone may be able to list to you the responsibilities, I can guarantee you there's nobody that can do everything that it is that I'm doing and keep us in compliance and keep us out of being red
flag with the district. And after 25 years with the district to get laid off within a brink of my retirement is disgusting. Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning. My name is Ernestine Ramirez. I am a program supervisor for
the before and after school childcare department. On Wednesday, I was informed that my position along with my colleague and my director was eliminated. Our department oversees and supports over 240 programs across the district, ensuring safety, compliance, and quality for our students and the families we serve. Reducing our team from five to
two not does not reduce the number of schools, students, or expectations from the county or state. It reduces the district's ability to effectively manage them. With this recommendation, the department cannot effectively serve all schools in the county and maintain safe, compliant, and quality programming. This is not just an operational concern. It's
a major concern for student safety in the before and after school programs. Before and after care generates millions of dollars to the district, supports working families, and provides students with a safe place after school and before. I respectfully urge you to sit with my director, Eric Anderson, which was also let go, to reconsider to
reconsider the recommendation for our department to develop a plan for safer safer for our students. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Hi everybody. Good afternoon, good morning. Uh, Superintendent Heeper, board members, board chair, and board
attorney. I'm Eric Anderson, a Broward native, a product of Broward County Public Schools, 36-year veteran and director of before and after school child care department. I'm here to advocate to maintain the position of director of before and after school childcare department. I don't mean for
me, I mean for Broward schools. Um and and I asked for less cuts to the department because it's in the very best interests of the district. The department is not a cost center to the district. It is a revenue producing and risk reducing operation for Broward schools. Through provider fees, this
department returns funds directly to schools and to the district while ensuring programs operate safely and in full compliance with board and state policies. The director's role is essential into securing 21st century grants and other grants, managing
contracts, protecting revenue streams, delivering training, enforcing quality standards, and reducing exposure to liability through rigorous. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning to all. My name is Latoya
Richards, the city of Lauder Hill. I would like to thank you for this opportunity to speak this morning. I recognize the school board has been faced with difficult decisions regarding reduction and realignment of staff. However, all mental health professionals are needed to effectively move students forward. As a social worker, I want to
emphasize the significance of the difficult work we are challenged to execute daily in supporting the mental and emotional well-being of our scholars. The impact of social workers direct work with students goes beyond the classroom. Social workers are in hallways, safe spaces, home and
communities having sensitive conversations to safely navigate students emotions. Understanding the complexity of their lives, all with non-judgmental language. This daily effort is to minimize truency, increase social emotional safety and awareness to
name a few. Attendance counts all day, every day, and we need social workers, our attendance warriors, to continue to navigate this process, provide case management, therapeutic services, and the varying needs on school campuses as they arise. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Next speaker, Madam Chair. >> Um, my name is Maren Ruther Roth. >> Sorry, ma'am. There's a point of order, so just one second. Is it possible if if someone doesn't have enough time to say what they need to say if they can email their entire comments to the board?
>> Yeah. So, if you did not hear Mrs. Alhadf's request, if you um have not gotten the opportunity to say your entire comments, please email those comments to the board. Thank you for that request. >> Thank you. >> Go ahead. My name is Maren Ruther Roth.
I work on the team responsible for PBIS and despite supporting almost 40 schools, I along with my team was deemed not critical to student well-being. Your decision to decimate our department, school culture, and student support
marginalizes our most vulnerable student population continually. This morning, we heard the line, "The work will continue." How will it continue when it is not functioning optimally now despite all current hands on deck?
Before you fracture our department, I urge you to go into classrooms and see what behaviors our teachers face every day in efforts to impart academics. Behavior is just as critical as academics. Be leaders.
Fight for the students you serve and seek solutions that afford them a genuine opportunity for success. Allow them and our v valuable teachers every resource to make that success a reality. We claim to be the best. Why are we
settling for giving our >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Valerie Blackwell, Oakland Park. One of the PBIS specialists eliminated PBIS is not simply a program. It is a framework grounded in data prevention and equity
that supports safe, structured and productive learning environments. PBIS implementation has contributed to improve student behavior, school climate, reduced discipline referrals and suspensions increased instructional time and state recognition for model
schools. The removal of specialists directly threatens the sustainability of these outcomes. Without specialist, school teams lose critical coaching and guidance in implementing tier one, two, and three supports with fidelity. Teachers and administrators will face increased behavioral challenges without
proactive support, and students, especially those most in need, will lose access to consistent interventions. The reduction of PBI support may lead to increased suspensions, widening disparities in discipline outcomes, teacher burnout, and a decline in school
climate and student engagement. These outcomes impact not only students but also district performance and community trust. >> Thank you. Could the next five people approach the line? Vonda Palmer, Sonia
Johnson, Anna Fusco, Lily Liliana Ruido. Welcome. >> Good morning. Kee Tyler, also a PBIS specialist. And in addition to what my colleague just shared, our schools need proactive systems, not reactive
solutions. PBIS specialists play a vital and important role in ensuring that our students are supported, teachers are equipped, and schools remain safe and structured environments where learning can thrive. This is not just about positions. This is about people prevention and long and the long-term
well-being of our school communities. In Broward County, we have experienced firsthand devastation consequences when systems fail to adequately support and respond to the student needs. We have a responsibility to strengthen not reduce the supports that help prevent an event
such as Marjgery Stman Douglas tragedies from occurring. And it's a school in which I do support. We are asking that you respectfully um go back and we're urging the school board to reconsider their decision to remove PBIS specialists, explore
alternative funding options, and we encourage you to work with PBIS leaders and school teams. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. And an additional five, Dr. Jennifer Bluth, Maria Podesta, Christine Brown, Terry Pric, and Anthony Matanga.
>> Is this the next five? >> So, the first five that I read were Vonda Palmer, Sonia Johnson, Anna Fusco, Liliana Ruido, and then the next five are Dr. Jennifer Bluth, Maria Podesta, Christine Brown, Terry Pric, and Anthony
Matanga. >> Are we waiting for >> So if you heard your name, you can go ahead and speak. >> All right. Anna Fusco Brower, teachers union president, I stand before you to sit and and nail that org chart down to the ground, get some great input in it.
Everybody here is going to be listening to what all nine of you have been listening to. All nine of you that I've reached out to and had my personal conversations with. All nine of you that Lisa Maxwell spoke to. All nine of you that Pete Tingent, all nine of you of
Dan Reynolds and Dorothy Davis, all union labor groups have come together to say that this is a travesty. This is deplorable. This is unacceptable. I clearly heard almost every one of you say, "Don't impact schools. Don't touch
teachers. Don't touch educators." You want to get this group, by the way, first time ever they turned around and looked at speakers to sit here and and give little semantics of what a teacher is. Speech pathologist, ESC facilitator, guidance counselor, family counselor,
whatever you want to call them. They're all teachers. You need this revamped and revamped fast. I know we need cheese positions. Keep >> next speaker, please. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Maria Daniel, thank you for turning around and looking at us because we're human. If we're truly committed to students well-being, equity, and achievement, we must invest in our professionals, our ESC teachers, our guidance counselors. They help our students with trauma, anxiety, crisis
every single day. I can't even believe I had to take a day off from my classroom to come here and beg and plead with everybody here that we need all of our people. We are all making a difference. Please don't cut these positions. Maybe
look within these people here and how we can make a better impact for our students. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Hi. Um hello. I'm Jennifer Bluth. Uh Dr. Bluth. Um from Hollywood, Florida, a
Brower County Public Schools person. I mean child. I went to Okay. Starting. Okay. Hey, I'm reading on behalf of Chanel Gelanu. As an ESC counselor of almost 25 years, I know what we've poured into this district. Work that has shaped students lives in ways that can't be measured on a spreadsheet, captured in a budget line, even the possibility
of not having our positions would be devastating to students, families, and community who rely on us every single day. We have been the steady hands guiding students through challenging times, the voices advocating for families who often feel unheard, and the bridge between classrooms, homes, and the broader community. We help students
regulate emotions, rebuild confidence, reconnect with learning, and feel safe enough to grow. We support teachers, collaborate with teams, and strengthen our department with your with expertise, compassion, and commitment. We want students to know that their voices matter, their stories matter. Our community deserves better. Thank you for
recognizing this and for standing on the right side of history. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good afternoon. My name is Anthony Matanga. I am a resident of Davyy, a member of the Broward Teachers Union, and a Broward County educator for the
past 25 years. I understand the district faces real fiscal challenges, and I am not here to dismiss that. But the bo but as the board makes difficult decisions, I ask that every choice be measured against one question. What does this mean for the student sitting in the
classroom? Students need consistency, stability, and qualified educators who know them. When experienced teachers and support staff are cut, it is the child that pays the price. In larger classes, fewer resources, and adults stretch too thin to give them the attention they
deserve. I urge this board to pursue consolidation through attrition and redeployment, preserving the quality educators and support staff that Broward students depend on every single day. Let the students guide the decision. They are why we are all here. I am asking for
that commitment today. Thank you. >> Thank you. And could the next five people approach the line? Robin Sloop, Eva Rothel, Diana Cebu, Christopher Pierce, and Denise Wilson. Welcome.
>> Hello. My name is Terry Lopez Price. I'm the vice president of the Broward Teachers Union. I've been a resident of Broward for over 40 years and a businesswoman in both Dana and Hollywood. I just want you to know that I am absolutely disturbed and disgusted. I don't know who the count uh
consultants were who said that we're not topheavy. Sorry to all of you, but um it seems to us that we're topheavy and superintendent, you were highly recommended by your predecessor with whom we had good communications or had begun so anyway. Um I feel as if you and
your team and these consultants that I don't know why we keep hiring consultants. We should know what we need to do ourselves, but a lot of money goes to those consultants and to those programs that teachers don't want or need and you should be able to handle. Nevertheless, it seems to me that you
have taken a wrecking ball to our people. A wrecking ball. And it seems that whoever made these decisions is not aware that there are three different contracts in the Brower Teacher Union and you are violating them by taking people who are here.
>> Thank you. Next speaker. Who? >> Liliana Reo at Brower Teachers Union. Um, I'm going to ask you to double check double check the letters that you're sending to our employees getting fired.
Double check uh the positions that you are cutting up. Double check every time you tell us that you care about the students, but yet you're letting so many guidance counselor leave. That's one thing. The other part is I'm going to
ask you to double check with the message that you are putting out there for the employees. I am a teacher of 20 and plus years and I never seen anything like this. And I'm going to ask you, I always
ask you actually to reflect. But today I'm going to ask you to doublech check because this is people's livelihood. This is people's job and people have rights and don't tell me that you send a
letter to those teachers or guidance counselor or anyone who is in that level that's been in the system for >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning. I'm Christine Brown with Beacon TV under TSP and I live in Lauder
Hill and I thank you for the opportunity to speak today. What I'm asking is that the board take a look at chapter 295 laws relating to veterans and general provisions also
sections 07 preference and appointment and retention. and I'm a service connected disabled veterans and there are others out there not just me but this statute it says the state and its political subdivision shall give preference and appointment and retention in positions of employment to those
disabled veterans who have served on active duty and in any branch of the United States and it says a lot more but one minute won't give time to it we all stood and we raised our right hand put it over our heart and within the pledge
it said justice for for all. I'm asking that you serve that justice for all for those service connected disabled veterans. And I enjoyed bringing the pledge before you and telling stories to make sure that people know we're an A-rated school district. Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you so much. Next speaker. >> Hi, my name is Robin Sloop. I'm a teacher, BTU steward, and proud parent. I've been a teacher in Broward for 26 years. I hear a lot about the enrollment declining, but guess what? I am one of
those parents who unenrolled their child. I have an ESSE child and due to the mental decline my daughter had in third grade due to the excessive testing and third grade retention criteria, I moved her to a private school where she
did not have to take the tests. And guess what? Her mental health improved, her confidence improved. There was a whole school there of parents who were disgruntled, who enrolled their children because of the pressure of the testing. Had we felt
more supported, perhaps you would get more parents to come back to Broward. My daughter is excelling at Broward College, and if you didn't treat every child the same way with the same tests, you might get parents to bring their children back. Cutting ESC staff is not the answer. The whole system needs to be
changed. Thank you. >> And you should be asking parents. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> That one. That was pretty good. Uh my name is Eva Rothel and I am a Weston resident. Um I'm here today to speak about the direct and immediate impact
that eliminates uh student support services that has on both students and teachers in our classrooms. While budget decisions are always difficult, removing essential support positions ultimately shifts critical responsibilities onto the classroom teacher.
When these positions are removed, those needs do not disappear. Instead, they go unidentified, unsupported, and often escalate. More students are identified with a BMP or behavioral management plan or a progress monitoring plan who are
identified with less than 10 percentile in reading and are not on track academically. Teachers are trained to deliver instruction, manage classrooms, and support diverse learners. However, without student support staff, teachers are expected to simultaneously serve as
interventionists, behavior specialists, counselors, and case managers. And on top of their existing responsibilities, this is not sustainable. It reduces instructional >> Thank you. Could the next five individuals approach the line? Erica
Han, Monica Garcia, Mark Carr, Morin Mchugh, and Jackie Liskum. Welcome. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Staff Sergeant Christopher Pierce. I've been in the Army now 21 years. The most fulfilling time that of those 21 years
has been the last six years in which I've worked in the Florida National Guard Counterdrug Program, drug demand outreach. So, substance use prevention principally among youth across the 11 counties is what I do. So this morning I'm here on behalf of the student uh culture or excuse me school culture and
student support department specifically Cynthia Tabia Rodriguez. Um I haven't heard much said today about substance use prevention within Brower County Public Schools in the 11 counties that I cover. Um I
think a lot of times that is left to the to the uh the back burner. Uh Cynthia has done a lot of great work for the district. In those six years that I've been on board, I've come to know her. She's brought a lot of organizations together. Um I also think that we're we're not thinking about the third order
effect several years down the line of not providing substance use prevention education to our students. So I ask that you please consider any effects that are these changes are having on that department. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Next speaker. My name is Denise Wilson, Davy resident.
In a world where everyone wants to be heard, I believe the true difference maker is choosing first to understand before being understood. This morning, I heard statements such as services closest to students are guarded and the priority is all of our students remain
supported. Respectfully, eliminating M's level mental health professionals contradicts that commitment, especially at a time when data shows an alarming and significant decline in student mental health. As a district school counselor, I'm part of a
team that has supported over 50 schools this year. We provide direct services every day, crisis intervention, grief counseling, and support for students with high needs. This work is directly tied to student safety, attendance, and academic success. When students seek
attention, they're seeking connection. Mental health professionals are the core systems that support teachers, students, and learning. Please put the mental health of our students first. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> speaker. >> Um, before you put the time on the
clock, it's Mary Carr, not Mark Carr. Sorry for my writing. >> And I'm so not yet. Just give me a minute. All right. Okay, I think I'm ready. All right, so first uh let me mention that the Aremis mission reminded us that astronauts
would not reach the moon without teachers. Every success story begins in the classroom. So why are we here? Why is Broward County teachers and support staff being treated this way? Why are you having to make so many cuts? Well, we know why. It's your inability to
manage the organizational budget. We are underpaid. We are underappreciated. We educate, mentor, support, and give beyond the school day. Yet, many of us struggle with the rising co cost of living. It is also a shame that teacher positions and social workers are being
cut because of the financial mistakes. As a parent with a child with a disability, that is deeply concerning. Meanwhile, administrative salaries are robust while teacher pay remains far too low. Stop correcting your mistakes on the backs of the teachers and support your staff. That means us. We are asking
for fairness, respect, and pay that reflects the value that we do every day. >> Thank you. Next speaker, >> Buenos Diaz, school board members. My name is Monica Garcia, a Coral Springs resident and a bilingual master's level
school counselor with 12 years experience, proudly serving Broward County for the past four years. Every day I sit with students in their most vulnerable moments. I see the anxiety they hide, the trauma they carry, and the quiet struggles that never make it
into the classroom. For many of our students, schools are their only safe space. The only place they are heard, supported, and understood. Cutting school counselor positions doesn't just reduce staff, it removes a lifeline. It
sends the message that mental health can wait. But our students are telling us it cannot. When students are struggling emotionally, they cannot learn, grow, or succeed. As a bilingual counselor, I also give a voice to families who might otherwise go unheard. When positions
like mine are cut, those voices don't get quiet, they disappear. This is not just about a budget. This is about children's, families, and futures. Please, Porf, don't take away the support our students desperately need. Thank you. >> Thank you. Will the next five people
approach the line? Annette Bowden, Vicente Thrower, Kimberly Burke, Dr. Natalie Lynch Walsh, Dena Lero. Welcome. Jackie Luskan, parent ESSE advisory
chair. I spoke to seven out of nine of you in recent days. Thank you and I appreciate those who have lobbied effectively. Um, yes to regional hubs. Good move. make one director in each region a director of public accountability and customer service because we lack both. Yes to removing a
layer of ESE hierarchy and f refocusing that wisdom on compliance that uh currently has too many critical points of failure. No to slashing ESE counselors. Thanks for reversing that. But honestly, what was anyone thinking? Please also reverse the social workers,
the school psychologists or the support service prep positions. Um and clarity is important please on the DHH and visually impaired positions being cut too. Um most importantly saying that student enrollment is down um is a false argument for ESSE because enrollment of
students with disabilities is actually up four to 5,000 in 8 years. They need more not less. Behavior support behavior management must be built up not eroded and is already one of your weakest areas. The high freeze is already affecting our students. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Next speaker, >> Marin McHugh, 36-year veteran teacher in Broward County. That was a great smoke show this morning. Screenshot. Um, I heard a lot of reorganizing, not necessarily removing. I'm going to be direct. The organizational chart is
topheavy and a backward plan. Cuts are being made at the lowest paid levels. The people supporting the teachers and those closest to the students, while top administrative roles remain largely untouched. Meanwhile, essential school-based support like counselors,
mental health staff, behavior tax, and teachers are not being protected in the same way leadership positions are. If reductions are necessary, start at the top, not in the schools. At the same time, district micromanagement, please hear us, continues to increase
through layers of directives and compliance requirements that drain time adds little value to instruction but fosters toxicity in the schools. Now paper is being rationed, pushing students further onto laptops all day while classroom resources are being
reduced. Teachers shouldn't have to decide between following the very limits or delivering effective instruction. Thank you. Could the next five >> Could the next five people approach Trudy Germanovich, Tequila Robinson,
Carolyn Harvey, and Sabrina Brandt. Welcome. >> Good morning. Dr. Natalie Lynch Walsh, Plantation, Florida. I came prepared with handouts. I hope they got handed to you. One of them is from the former general counsel because sometimes school
boards are confused and think that the ORC chart and job descriptions are the superintendent. They are not. They are yours. I believe these were given to Mr. Sullivan to hand to you. So if you don't have them, it's hard to miss. There's some yellow highlight. The other one are my suggestions. Um let's try to do this
in 40 seconds. This is about the 3% fund balance and maintaining it at all costs, even at the cost of destroying the district. You need another workshop. That should be obvious, but I just thought I'd say it. and the witness protection program for friends because that's what a lot of these boxes and saving people is about. I agree with
Lisa Maxwell's letter and I support all the unions that came here today to tell you these are bad recommendations. First concern, lack of underlying supporting data needed for sound decision-making, especially from MGT. For 150K, you should have some data. No cuts being made at the top. I got plenty starting
with the deputy superintendent. Move public records to general counsel or get rid of the guy that runs it. And I have more and lots of handouts if >> next speaker please. My name is Dr. Trudy Germanovich. Uh
what you say today will be remembered by voters. The bottom line is, do you value the frontline worker or do you listen mainly to those making over $100,000 on this org chart? Make it explicit today for the public to regain confidence in
this board. Say no one rece who receives over $100,000 and who does not work directly with students on a daily basis should be exempt from having their job eliminated. So from the written comments, reduce all salaries above pay band D to show
everyone is affected by these cuts. Eliminate the chief of staff position and add these duties to the deputy superintendent. The board was unanimous when they said that people who provide services which are vital to students should not be touched by this
organization. Do your job. >> Thank you. Next speaker. Hi, my name is Sabrina Brandt. I'm a Broward County navidid and CEO of Students for Change Foundation. I've had the privilege to work with Cynthia Tapia Rodriguez. Cynthia is just selected to
receive the staff of character award presented by the superintendent, the first district staff member to receive it, making her the last person who should be laid off. Her programs operate with the best practices of youth engagement, building a culture of community, agency, and leadership, and
positive personal beliefs. Data also supports her impact. There are reduced incidence reports and incredibly low rates of substance abuse. Any doubt on the credibility of the data presents an opportunity to reinvest in the programs, creating incentives for honesty rather than any untrue positivity. But in the
meantime, there is no evidence of inaccuracy, and removing these leaders would only make these challenges worse. These programs are what the board should be investing in, and the leaders of these programs should be celebrated. I'm so proud of Cynthia as both a partner and a community member and I hope the board reconsiders her elimination and
allows the community to benefit from her critical work. Thank you so much. Thank you. Could the next five people approach the line? Carolyn Harvey, Cisco Olivivera, Dan Reynolds, Paula Mitchell, and Chris Nelson.
Welcome >> members of the board. I am Carolyn Harvey and I stand before you not as a teacher, as only a teacher and a speech pathologist, but also as a proud member
of the BTU. I'm an advocate for special needs students and our students and specialized instruction deserve top tier education and we need stability to provide that. As the cost
of living rise, we are struggling. As union members, we stand together to ensure our voices are heard. I urge you to protect these jobs, not just for us, but for every student and for the future of this community. We stand on legacy of
greatness. School board of Brower County has a legacy of greatness. Think about your education or the question is who taught you. >> Thank you. Next speaker and if you heard your name announced before, please
approach the line. >> Happy Tuesday. I'm Jquila Robinson, PMPO Beach, Florida resident. I serve as a teacher on special assignment in the suicide prevention department. Let's be clear, we cannot prioritize student safety while cutting the very people
doing the r the work in real time. Our team in schools are training staff, responding to crisis, and building relationships that allow students to speak up before it's too late. While coordinator roles remain stable, they cannot replace a teacher on special
assignment. The field interveners structure without direct service does not save lives. These positions are not supplemental. They're essential. We are often the first line of defense when a student is struggling, suicidal, or in
crisis. If you remove the teachers in the field, you are not st you're not streamlining. You're creating gaps where students will fall through. I urge you to reconsider this proposal and protect the roles that directly protect students. Thank you and thank you for allowing me to serve. Thank you. Could
the next five people approach the line? Pete Tingum, Kimberly Mohorn, Lorraine Morris Vashan, Felicia Alvarez, and Dileia Ford. Sorry, I didn't hear my name. I'm Paula Mitchell and I'm here representing the
13 budget support specialists from the budget department. You are eliminating all of us. We handle every facet in the processing of all the paperwork of almost every grant in the district including the two largest title one and
idea. We also have three employees who do are the first level of school communication with every school and every principal including budget transfers, position control. Uh we also handle in addition to those other two grants, we handle 150 others. The grants
are going to start liquidating in July. We will be gone June 30th. I'd love to know who's going to be handling the liquidation. We range from 2 years to 30 years. We wanted you to see our faces instead of just seeing our job title and personnel numbers, but they won't let
them in. But they are out there in the outer room to support me. And thank you for your time. And hi Val, wherever you are. >> Thank you so much. Next speaker. >> This way. >> Hello, Felicia Alvarez, Coral Springs,
Florida. Um, if there's one thing that I'm noticing is this is not an effective way of communication. What's lacking is communication with the school-based employees. Um, students are the reason that we're here and teachers are the ones in front of students and
school-based employees support teachers. Where is the support right now? I see a lot of directors. I hear a lot of managers. I don't see a lot of support. Again, this is not an effective way of communication. We need to communicate with schools, not speak to you and not
have you speak to us, but open communication. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. >> Hi, good morning. My name is Dileia Ford and I live in North Lauderdale, Florida. I'm an ESP that works with um in the SVE
setting and that is specialized varying exceptionalities. For those of you who do not know, we are not only employees, we are parents, we are teachers, we are confidants, we are nurses, we are doctors, we are counselors, we do
everything. And I'm here to in support of all the ESPs whether they're elementary, high school or middle school that do the job that we do without getting paid to do the job that we do. And I think it's just unfair to hear that ESPs who cannot even afford to live
some of them whom lives in their car with their families have to be cut and have to be reduced because you know the board can't budget themselves. And I feel that those that do not support us, we just need to vote out and just get new members in. Thank you.
Thank you. And before the next speaker, I'm going to read the names of the individuals who I've called but have not uh that we have not heard from in case they didn't hear their name or they were in the restroom. So, I'll read um Annette Bowden, Vicente Thrower,
Kimberly Burke, Dena Lero, Diana Cebu, Erica Han, Vonda Palmer, Sonia Johnson, Zyra Clims, Lentus, Cynthia Dominique,
and Adrien Clark. So, if you heard your name just now, please approach the line. Welcome. Greetings, district leadership. My name is Lorraine Morris Vashan, BTU Stewart. My adult children and I are proud products of Brow County Schools, and I
have dedicated 34 years of service to educating and supporting this this community. I am speaking on behalf of the Broward Teachers Union Stewards, advocating for our members as as we consider the proposed 2026 27 organizational chart and the anticipated
layoffs at the end of the school year. We understand that difficult decisions must be made, but we want to acknowledge the human impact behind them. These are dedicated educators who have invested deeply in their students and school communities. We ask that this process be
handled with compassion, transparency, and respect. Our members deserve clear communication, fair practices, and meaningful support as they face this uncertainty. The Brow County School, the Broward Teachers Union stands with our members and remains committed to
ensuring that they are treated with dignity every step of the way. I would like to re reiterate, M. >> Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Welcome. >> Hello. >> Chris Nelson, Fort Lauderdale. And um
you're moving to lay off 200 teachers, janitors, bus drivers, clerical staff, and therapists while we're sitting in a hundred million dollar building. I mean, sell this building. I mean, this thing I think Dr. Zean had a great uh suggestion about that. But I have some research here that I really want you to look into
that um we're talking about laying off teachers to save like 8 to10 million while an elite group of administrators um the million-doll club are draining the reserves through a hidden 8-year pension bonus system. Really look into this that there are 2,142 elites, many
of them sitting in this very room right here, who are uh set to collect a staggering $65 million in pension bonuses. Okay. um these bonuses 39% only go to teachers. The majority of them go to the elites who they make the or chart. So of course they're not going to
remove their positions they're going to remove the teachers. We should not be removing face-toface um uh people that are the core of our district and um by clear cleaning house in here and um hiring young energetic people.
>> Thank you so much. Next speaker please. Good morning school board members. Annette Bowen, city of Margate resident, concerned parent of three children in Brower County Public School with one who receives direct services within the school setting. As a parent, my primary
concern is simple. Any restructuring should protect and ideally strengthen the services that directly support our students. Unfortunately, what is being presented appears to do the opposite. We were told positions would be eliminated without impacting schools or student
services, but that is not what this reflects. Instead, we're seeing cuts to the people who directly support our children. While higher level positions remain untouched for families like mine, these positions are not optional. They are essential. The individuals who provide support services are often the
difference between a child thriving and falling behind. Any reduction in these roles will have real immediate consequences in the classroom settings. I also want to be very clear. We strongly oppose any elimination of SRO contracts in the city of Margate. Our SRO's are not just officers. They're
mentors, protector, and trusted figures in our schools. >> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning, school board members and superintendent Hepern. My name is Dina Lanero, music teacher at Silver Palms Elementary, union steward and proud par parent of three Broward County Public
School students, including two graduates. Thank you for listening to our input today. I've been with the district for 15 years, and I'm here to represent the deep concerns myself and those who could not be here today have with this reorganization chart. Eliminating 3,000 positions is not right
sizing. This decision will inevitably remove some of the very people and critical resources our students rely on to feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. These are not just positions. These are the counselors students go to when they're overwhelmed. The social workers who help when there's no food at
home. The specialists who make sure every child has a chance to succeed. I see these needs every single day in my classroom. And I have to ask, what do you expect happens to those children when those supports are gone? You say this is about budget and enrollment, but
families are already leaving because our schools feel stretched and under supported. Cutting these roles will not fix that. It will make it worse. Thank you. Next speaker. >> Good morning, school board members. My name is Erikica Han. Um I've been
teaching in this district for 21 years. I think it's a shame that you guys are cutting jobs. You've cut our insurance benefits. you've cut our medicine. Um I just feel like where does the buck stop? There are so many of us that have to work more than one job just to make ends
meet as it is. And now you're saying, okay, so you have you're cutting that, too. So, um hopefully people can, you know, not lose their jobs and and uh continue to to work for the district and hopefully get paid a livable wage where they don't even have to work a second
job. you have more of a quality educator that's going to work rested and healthy and ready to serve your a district and continue to produce um you know results and and maintain that. Thank you. Thank
you so much. Next speaker. >> Good afternoon. My name is Sonia Johnson. I serve as a BTU steward for school culture and student support. I'm writing to formally express my concerns regarding recent elimination of my position along with seven of my colleagues who serve as the teacher of
behavior support. Our roles were closely aligned with the district's commitment to teacher success. As a teacher of behavior support, I work directly with teachers and address behavior challenges, implement intervention strategies and f and foster a positive and inclusive school environment. These
supports are critical to ensure that all students, particularly those with the greatest needs, are able to assess instruction and strive academically and socially. The removal of these position rise significant concerns about how the district will continue to meet the behavior and emotional needs of our
students and teachers as well as well as support teachers in maintaining safe and productive classrooms. Our work has been instrumental in dis in reducing disruptions, improving student out student outcomes and strengthening
overall school culture. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Next speaker. >> Um before you begin, Mr. Tenjent, I'm just going to read the names of again the people we've called but have not uh that we have not heard from in case they didn't catch their names. >> I did not hear my name.
>> Okay. Well, thank you for for coming up. Um, so I'm just going to go ahead and read those names. Kimberly Mohorn, Cisco Olivea, >> Kimberly Burke, Vicente Thrower, Diana Cebu,
Vonda Palmer, Adrien Clark, Cynthia Dominique, and Zyra Clims Lentes. Welcome. >> Good morning. My name is Pete Tingum. from resident plantation and rep and and the executive director of ESMA.
I'm very concerned about the direction the schoolboard is heading. We're gutting a lot of the positions of people that actually do the work. We're losing institutional knowledge. We're not attracting quality candidates because of the instability of the board. We also
are not looking at revenue first and seeking what can we do to help that uh increase our revenue. and you're creating positions by realignment which make the task impossible. I suspect that this compression of jobs that you're
adding to people is also going to hurt our ability to attract people to replace those other people. I just would make a suggestion that you really need to add a person in the benefits department to retirement
counseling because I think you're going to see a significant number of retirements coming forth and a modest proposal put on the ballot a reduction of nine to five elected school board members. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Next speaker. >> Hello. Um, my name is Cisco Olivera, um, journeyman plumber at zone 2. Um, so I'm here in a last attempt to keep my position as a plumber of 16 schools that
I service, one of them including Beare Middle, which um, was on the verge of being shut down. And in no due small part, I restored a shower that was boarded up for 16 to 15 years.
And um another part is uh with these outside vendors. Um I spent one whole year trying to fix everything that they've done wrong. Uh misusing the bond money that you guys um are paying for new
valves, valves that I've already fixed. So you talk about saving money. I mean that's the best way you know keep the work internal and I thank you for your time. >> Thank you so much. >> Welcome.
>> Hi. I'm Dan Reynolds. I'm president of the Federation of Public Employees. Madame Chair, vice chair, board members, and superintendent. Uh we represent the workforce that keeps the system going. The maintenance facilities people, bus drivers, food
service, clerical, and security. They are the people that show up and do the work. What I didn't hear in any of this is that from 2009 to 2015, all of these units were downsized as much as 40%.
We have uh less people doing the same amount of square footage of maintenance and facilities work. The clerical have been downsized and a lot of outside vendors have come in.
So you can't cut the bone beyond what it is. And when you close a school, it still needs to be maintained and and facilities need to be there. And lastly, if this becomes a cynical effort to privatize these essential services,
there will be a >> Thank you. I'll read the names that we haven't heard from one last time. Kimberly Mohorn, Vonda Palmer, Diana Cebu,
Vicente Thrower, Adrienne Clark, Cynth Cynthia Dominique, and Zyra climbs lunches. Okay, that concludes our public speaking. Before we move to board
discussion, I do want to remind my colleagues that uh we have a special school board meeting scheduled at 100 p.m. and I would like to know what the will of the board is in handling that. Um, would you like to complete this
workshop uh before we move to the special or would you like to recess the workshop um go to the special, complete the the order the the order of business for the special and then come back to the workshop? Miss Rupert,
>> um I had a a question on this. Um did did we did any of the items get pulled in our special school board meeting? for a special school board meeting, all of the items are pulled automatically >> because we don't know ahead of time if the board members are doing it. Um, I'd rather finish the workshop before we moved on.
>> Miss Thompson, >> Miss Bowman, >> like to finish the workshop. >> Same. >> Okay, >> complete the workshop. >> All right, Miss Dri Bruno, if you could. So, we will uh open the special meeting
and immediately close it because it's it's notice for 1 pm and then we will continue with the workshop. So, we'll just we'll the order of business per the recommendation of our general counsel is that we'll briefly recess the workshop to open the special meeting,
not deal with any of the items, recess the special meeting, and come back to the workshop. Okay. Okay. Um the first uh board member who would like to speak is Dr. Hoes >> on the workshop. Correct. Okay. Great.
All right. Um I just like to thank all of the members of the audience who gave their response and and feedback. And I can tell you um that as board
members, we appreciate your input. Um you know uh this board directed the superintendent a few weeks ago to cut approximately
1,000 positions this year and up to 1,000 but not less than 500 for two additional consecutive years. Uh why did this board, including myself, make that decision?
Well, we have dire financial constraints where we are currently experiencing an $80 million shortfall. Our reserve is at approximately 3.08%. And in the past, Dr. Zean had mentioned
that this is about $1.6 $6 million away from falling below 3%. If we should fall below 3% that would begin the path for possibly state receiverhip.
Now I had mentioned before that the longstanding misalignment of staff in levels particularly among non-instructional personnel
and declining student enrollment has gotten us to this point. In the past, we have not reduced the same number of non-instructional
upper leadership middle management staff as it would align with declining enrollment. We have done that with teachers and over the last 10 to 15 years, we have continued to reduce the number of teachers based upon declining
enrollment. We have unfortunately not done the same with some non-instructional staffing as well as leadership, upper leadership, middle management.
And because we have not done that as a board and as a district over the last 10 to 15 years, we are now faced with the situation that we have today. It's unfortunate for our current staff
who will not be renewed. This resulted from many years of district leadership not aligning non-instructional staff with decline in student enroll enrollment as was done every year with our teachers.
I asked myself the same question. How did we get here? And I saw clearly for the last 10 to 15 years, our district has been experiencing significant student decline. And while
it reacted to reduce the number of teachers, it kept the same number of instructional, mid-management, and upper management staff. As board members, whether you just got here or you've been here for a while,
we now own the problems and we own the responsibility to fix them. You know, uh, as a small business owner myself, it is a formula for failure if you're
losing customers and over time you did not progressively reduce your staffing. um and kept the same level of management. So instead, we should have progressively
reduced the number of staffing over many years based upon the continual student decline. That would make sense for not only the school board of Broad County, but for any business. When you're losing customers, you reduce your staffing. You revise
your product. You make your product better. You adjust your marketing strategy. You revise your customer service approach and you adjust the appearance of your business. We have not done that effectively with
Broad County Schools and we intend to fix it as a board. We frankly over 10 to 15 years were slow to act. Today inaction is unfortunately not an
option al although I wish it was. So Dr. Heburn I have a few questions. I want to talk about the concerns express expressed by many as far as us not taking action. it
appears on the readjustment of the org chart as it pertains to upper upper management such as our chiefs. Um so I have a few questions based on that. Um regarding our chief positions,
Dr. Herpurn, is there any chief position that we could consider at the very least to um re sort of arrange it to executive
directors such as chief of student services, chief of strategy or whatever chief we can do to make those adjustment where we can bring it down a notch to executive directors because I believe that as a school board we have to have
the same approach we have for middle management for those on the ground as we need to have for our upper upper management which include our chiefs. So my question is, is there any chief
position that you can identify to the public and to this board that we can bring it down a notch to executive director as opposed to chief of whatever? >> Yes. Um before before I start, um Beacon, I just want to make sure you're
ready to pop up any of the presentations, especially the org chart and MGT's presentation because I'll be referring to some of those during the questions. Um if you can pop up the org chart page two uh with uh my direct reports. >> Thank you. Um to answer the question,
yes, Dr. Hoess, um there's opportunities especially to consolidate as well. Uh one of the positions that we actually elevated to a chief that um as a direct report to me um was the chief facilities officer as well. Uh we actually elevated
that due to board feedback um and consensus of making sure that reports directly to the superintendent. It wasn't a direct report. Um it was a combination position um previously um um with our previous COO who uh actually had the duties of the chief facility
officer as well and then we actually uh broke out the chief facilities officer and made that a direct report to the chief of operations. So we can certainly consolidate that um we can bring back to the team to evaluate the additional U chief roles and and um bring back something that may be comparable to u
board needs and asks. So I I'll look for consensus uh for next steps on on any other thing. >> Okay. So Dr. Hern as a board member and to make this equitable across the board. I would like
to see at least two of the chief positions be reconsidered for executive directors and at least one of the chief positions to be removed. Is that doable? >> That is noted. Um and we'll review it.
>> Okay. So you mentioned the chief of facilities uh possibly um that emerged as a position um as a result of board direction.
Can the chief of facilities be combined with the chief operating officer? And I know we are on the hunt for a chief operating officer. And I'm hoping that as a board and as a district, we will get the best in the nation. But if we should get rid of the chief of facilities and put those
responsibilities under the chief operating officer, is that something that's doable? Should this district attract a very good chief operating officer? >> Um, yes. I I think probably combining it uh because we're in the midst of interviewing for chief for chief
facilities officer and chief operations officer. Um, I can tell you this. Um, there's not many people that want to do cabinet level work for school districts. It's not a Ber County issue. It's a it's a public school district issue. Um, the
pay is definitely not comparable to what um the level of work and leadership uh these folks demonstrate outside in private sector or in federal government work. um to recruit top-notch. You could combine it. Um but definitely the pay
would need to be increased to to attract people to want to pick their families up and move somewhere with a level of certainty. Um and certainly the pay would be a a good attractor for a quality candidate. >> Okay. So if we remove the chief facilities,
the chief of facilities, how much would we be saving? >> Um if you remove that um uh Dr. Lozano, what would be the um average savings if we combine it and removing the the chief facilities officer? >> So when you look at that position with
probably a average salary of about 225 um plus fringe and salary, you're probably looking at about 275. >> Okay. So if we remove the chief of facilities, we will save $275,000 approximately. Is that correct?
>> About salary and salary and fringe. Yes. >> Salary and fringe. Okay. And if we were to try to attract the best in the nation chief operating officer by changing the the the band of pay, I believe they're
currently on Sband. >> Correct. >> And if we change that to Tband, I'm assuming that we would probably get the best in the nation for maybe an additional 15$20,000 increase. So if we should change from the Sband to the Tban
for the chief operating officer and get rid of the chief of facilities where we'll save 275,000, what would be the difference in pay scale from Sband to Tban for the chief operating officer? So again, we we would have to look at
comparative salaries of combining that position, but you'd probably look at a increase of 25 grand. >> Okay. So for an increase of $25,000 for the chief operating officer, we'll be able to probably secure the best in
the nation or among the best in the nation for that position. and we would eliminate a position that cost 275,000 and pay an additional 25 to get in the top in the nation to take on those responsibilities. That makes a lot of sense to me.
Dr. Burn, do you have any comments? >> Um, no, makes sense. Like, like I said, it is those positions COO and chief facilities officers are hard to recruit. Um, and especially in in public school districts. outside of public school districts, these folks are are making
5075 $100,000 more than what we pay. So to drop what they're doing with a level of expertise and bring it to a school district is going to is going to cost. We have to raise the pay if we want um the best to encourage those folks to move to this area um um and be able to
do that work for us. >> Okay. So So Dr. Heburn for the record then I am recommending that we remove the position of chief of facilities that we change the position of chief
operating officer from uh pay band S to pay band T and to to uh make every effort to recruit the best in the country uh for chief operating officer. Note it.
>> Okay. So I am going to and Dr. Heburn um also for the record please note my prior comment that we look at the current chiefs that are in place and see who can be re reduced to executive directors so all of us can bear the brunt of the
financial constraints that we have and not just those um you know that are middle management and below. >> Dr. Hoes one second. Yes. Um since that you know that is a very clear directive I'm wondering how my colleagues want to to deal with those
kinds of suggestions if you want to go around now and give consensus around those recommendations. >> Okay. So Madam Chair um I can go around now to get consensus and then if I can >> Well I want to ask how we want to deal with these they come up first. Um so Mrs. Alhadov
>> yes I do not like that idea at all. I I think >> it was a >> Let me Let me back up. Do we want to deal with >> Yes, I would like to deal with it now. >> Okay. Um Mr. Sea. Yeah, Dr. Zean, >> I I don't and let me just explain for a minute. Um I certainly wanted to talk
about that specific item and maybe some of my colleagues did as well. Um, so I'm just trying to if if we're going to propose ideas, okay, >> um, and then discuss them and and and get consensus, you know, at that point because we're in a workshop, you know, uh, I think that's fine, but it's going to take a long time if we do it that
way. A shorter way would be to collect those and then at the end maybe we can go through it after everybody. >> That's how we we usually do it. I just saw you flagging me down uh, while he was stop talking to get it straight whether or not we do A or B. I like Better than A. >> Yep. Dr. Holus,
>> I agree with Dr. Zean. Yeah, I'd rather us have the opportunity to give our own thoughts, too. I agree. If we stop at every single thing, we're going to be here way longer than >> Miss Bowman. >> I agree with that. >> M.
>> Yes. >> Okay. So, I've noted your uh your recommendation and we can move on. >> Got it. Okay. So, Dr. Hburn, I'm going to move on to my second concern. I have some questions on the afterare position because I did hear one of the speakers
uh apparently in that position made mention that that position bring in money for the district and with removing the individual from that position and replacing that position with a new person that there's going to be a learning curve that can impact the
amount of funds that we get as pertaining to that position. So, can you provide comments? Um, because I don't want us to be in a situation where we're saving a penny and we're losing hundreds. So, if you could explain to me or or give us confidence that removing
the director of afterare um what kind of impact will it have on getting funding through grants for those programs and the kind of learning curve that would be required for someone to take that position? >> Yes. U Thank you for the question, Dr. Holdness. It it is a um a decent re
revenue generating um program for especially for our individual schools. Um as we consolidate um this function into a different director uh comparable leadership will uh be able to quickly learn uh the strategies that are
necessary to carry out the the functions of of of all those duties and responsibilities. Um, in addition, we have a robust grant writing team that does an excellent job in writing grants, bringing in a lot of money for this school district, not just for that uh specific function, but a lot of different specific functions. We we have
a good runway of time just to make sure we dot all our eyes and cross out our tees for anything that we that needs to be known. Um, any spec specific strategies and tasks that are carried out. um as well as the um the current chief um um of that area um and past
chief understand intimately um the actual task that needs to be carried out in the responsibilities. >> Okay. So you mentioned that we have a robust grant writing team. So I guess my direct question then is because I want to make sure we're not going to impact our district as far as getting funding
in a timely manner and there's a learning curve. If this individual is removed and a new person comes on, can that robust grant writing team with that new individual hit the ground running on day one to have the same level of
efficiency and and um success as the person that's currently there? >> Yes, that's a confident yes. Um it's not a new person coming on. It's consolidation. So the person that will assume those duties are very familiar uh with grants um that are particular to
staffing programs and things like that. So they already work with our grant grant writing team as well. >> Understand. And do you believe that some level of overlap in terms of the person coming on uh uh shadowing the current person who's there for uh 6 months or a
year would be necessary? Do you believe that would be necessary? >> I don't think so. I think the amount of time um up to uh midsummer is sufficient. >> Okay. All right. I'm going to move on to teachers. Are we removing any teachers? Dr. Hburn.
>> No, we are not removing any teachers. We We've been very specific. If I can finish Thank you. Let's have in the concerns. I just want to clarify. Um we have been very specific about not touching schools, school-based budget personnel that are tied to those
schools. um and and on their specific budget. That has been our charge and our task and been very careful about um how we approach any any reductions and it has not um been on the backs of our school budgets and the positions that
are currently at those schools. These are all district positions. um various functions um across all of the positions that have been recommend recommended or proposed for cuts are on district budgets and they provide various levels of service to departments uh provide
various levels of services to schools um and other functions across the district. >> Okay. So those who were involved in instructional intervention and working from a district level that would be equivalent to being teachers.
those individuals will be placed in an instructional role at some specific school-based site. >> Yes. Um absolutely. We have so many um instructional vacancies between now and July. Um for instance, on average this
time of the year, we have about average of about 200 225 teachers that aren't doing the things that they need to do to complete their certification. Um and so we have we have to u let them go. Um, in addition, we have about 850 teachers um
that either resign, retire, or terminated for whatever specific reason, but more more so for for the uh for the former. And that's 850 teachers. So, you combine the two, we have over a thousand teachers that we expect that will be leaving our system for some specific
reason between now and actually July. So, we have plenty of opportunities to place um the impacted district instructional staff um to ensure that they have a place to land um inside of our schools. >> Okay. So, were there
um teaching staff or instructional staff on the district level that intervene in schools that were given letters? >> Yes, we have um we have district instructional or teaching staff that are doing various functions that actually supplemented some services at schools. >> Okay. So when we and they've been given
letters of non-renewal, is that correct? >> Correct. Uh go ahead. Um uh Dr. Lozano, just to be specific because we have different letters for different groups. >> So again, right now we're in the very early stage of this and we are talking positions, right? And we were coming
today to identify positions that have been recommended. So, prior to the positions being shared publicly on Wednesday, we wanted the staff that sit in those positions to be aware that their position title was coming as a
recommendation. But a position doesn't equate to a person. And so those individuals received the letter and different through the collective bargaining agreements. There's different rights and processes for each group of
employees. Um, my team and the collective bargaining leadership teams work together collaboratively through collaboratively throughout this process to ensure as our board chair said, leave no stone unturned that we do best by
every single employee hopefully to be able to find a place for every single employee. prior to July 1, which is the effective date of implementation. >> Understand? So, Dr. Lozano, for the sake
of the public, what I hear you're saying is that we are removing certain instructional positions, but we are not removing teachers. So, if they were in specific positions, they will be reassigned to
certain other teaching roles. Is that correct? So we're again as you talk classroom teachers, there's also in that instructional group social workers and a lot of the individuals we spoke of today that are not certified as classroom
teachers. So that's a different process and I'll pass it to our executive director to provide a little more detail. >> Good morning. Susan Rocklman, executive director, talent management. Um yes, we have different um different
employees that have been impacted in the instructional bargaining unit. The instructional bargaining unit is made up of social workers, counselors, school psychologist, science, math teachers, literacy coaches, um program development specialists. There's a variety of
position titles that belong to that instructional bargaining unit. those that are certified and hold a Department of Education certificate in a specific subject area, we I am confident that I will be able to place them in a position
um in one of our schools. I'm anticipating, as Dr. Hepern explained, um close to having 800 positions needing to be filled by August. >> Understand? So, Dr. Hepern, I want to make it clear and I believe this board um agrees with that because we stated it
clearly before that certified teachers will be placed somewhere even those who may have been given a letter regarding the position that they're in that it doesn't equate to not having a position in the upcoming school year. >> Yes. Uh we have plenty of need. plenty
of need as u uh Miss Rockman said uh she anticipate 800 but the trend uh tells me that it's about a thousand every year. So that trend is is is not changing um year after year. So we have plenty of need um and we will still have to go out
and recruit and hire teachers even when we place these specific instructional personnel. We still have to rec go out and recruit and hire teachers to fill the needs that we have at our schools um during the summer. So, um, what we have as far as, uh, the the current cuts is
certainly not going to fill our needs at all. Probably about about 10 to 15% of our needs will be filled by them. >> Understand? So, for uh, for the public, what I've heard is that we are not cutting certified teachers. Okay. Um, I'm going to move on Dr. Eren
to ESC. I appreciate the changes I've heard with the numbers in ESC because the ESSE population is actually increasing and with the ESSE population increasing which are are students with learning challenges then it's important that they have the required support. I
myself is a parent of an ESSE child and I understand the depth of support that our ESSE children need and I am very uh much um uh happy to see the the the adjustment you've made uh in not um uh
removing 22 of our ESC staff. um ESC students will continue to increase as many of the entities to which our mainstream kids are leaving to. They are not as they are not as effective in servicing
the needs of ESC students as Broward County Schools. And so we see that population increasing and we should not decrease those staffing. In fact, we should figure out ways to increase those staffing because their their needs uh will increase as we continue to
experience increase in population. Dr. Heburn, regarding mental health and counselors and madam chair, I'm almost done. Um we are cutting our mental health and and counselors. Um what impact will this have on the district?
Because I know we recently uh proposed a referendum to which we are including funding for mental health. Um but here we are removing mental health um counselors. So can you help the public to understand what we're doing here? >> Yes. Um thank you for the question. So
these particular uh two categories of jobs that you mentioned do not directly support students. They directly uh support admin teams u provide that type of level of support. the leadership teams um with certain strategies um um assisting with building capacity. Um
that work will will uh still continue to be spread out through some of the coordinators within um some of those departments to uh help with those functions. But again, I just want to emphasize that these aren't individual uh individuals within these roles that actually go out and directly support students.
>> Okay. So based on this including included in the org chart and having a referendum to increase to to to allocate funding for mental health. Um can you explain why we were we are going to need
support through a referendum for mental health services? >> Well the support for mental health services helps to um maintain or enhance the direct services to students. All right. And so if we need additional direct services for students um and if
the board sees fit with the mental with the referendum dollars to to do so, we can do so. But in addition to uh we talk about technology um le leveraging all the innovative strategies um that are out there right now. And so we're trying to leverage technology as well to really
pinpoint where the need is for specific kids so we can so we can be more proactive instead of reactive in many instances when our students are having any mental health crisis. um if we can identify a trend and hop in and support that student way before they take a drastic measure um or having an out um
you know some type of outbreak that um from their situation that's that's going to create better efficiency and effectiveness. >> Understand? Removing the director of strategic partnerships on page three of the summary um will this have any impact on our ability
to benefit from partners? >> No, it won't. Um we're we're uh um leaning on BEF um and that strong partnership that we have with them to really shore up our partnership efforts. Um we're actually uh potentially going to help support an additional position
with them by probably paying for half of that position uh so we can bolster up any of their efforts. We have some specific goals that we're trying to meet as a district when it comes to um philanthropy support um partnership support um that we've been working um um
closely with BEF for the past couple of weeks um as we started this conversation. >> Okay. So, Dr. Heburn in in closing there were concerns about communication in whereby some individuals who received letters such as those in teaching instructional role maybe at the district
level uh were not aware that they would be placed in positions um at maybe the schoolbased level. So the letter seems to emphasize not being renewed but it creates some level of panic because they weren't aware that they would likely be
placed somewhere. So I would say in the future if that happens and the the the concern came to me but if that did occur in the future if we could look at how we communicate to make sure that we're not leaving essential information out that
would be relevant to to um individuals so it doesn't create undue stress on themselves and their families. >> Thank you Dr. Hol that's noted. >> Okay. So I believe in learning from the past and looking ahead. We are a team. We will adjust the plays and we will
win. We will win for our students. We will win for our parents. We will win for our teachers and staff. And we will win for our district. All of us are accountable and all must work to fix it. We will look back, I am hoping, at our
pain today as a necessity that will lead to our success of tomorrow. The board will work together to fix to to fix the issues. No one of us here must say it's not me, it's you. Because
we all accept to sit in this seat and therefore we accept the past, current, and future problems and we will work together to fix them. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Miss Thompson. >> Thank you, chair, and thank you everyone
who came out to speak, took the time to email us, or submitted public comment. Before I begin my comments on the organizational chart, I think it's very important to ground this conversation in the reality that school districts across the state of Florida are facing. Orange
County is eliminating nearly 300 jobs, including 84 safe coordinators, social workers, psychologists. Pasco County is cutting 180 positions. Sarasota County is reducing by 260 positions, including 180 teachers and
approximately 80 district staff. Bvard County is facing a 7% workforce reduction. This is something that is happening across the state of Florida, not just in Broward. While better budgeting and staffing adjustments and even school closures may help stabilize
our individual systems in the short term, the broader reality is this. School systems across Florida are going to eventually break under the current state funding model. You simply cannot pay $500 worth of bills with a $100 of
funding. So, not only as a schoolboard member, but as a mom with children in our public school system, I will continue advocating for increased funding for public schools. I will also continue pushing for greater transparency and accountability for taxpayer funded
voucher programs that divert billions of dollars away from our kids in our public schools each year. And I hope those here today and those watching online will continue to advocate for strong public education, not just by having this conversation with us, but by mobilizing
across the state and making Tallahassee truly take care of the children of Florida. So now on to my comments about the ORC chart today. I would agree with Dr. Holes that there needs to be a combin combination of chiefs. I would agree
with the chief operations officer and the chief facilities officer being included. I would like to say on page three um what is the manager of media and community relations?
>> Mr. Solomon. >> Yes. So that was uh made possible with the elimination of one of the communication specialists going from two to one and it elevates it to uh manager to capture the board's expectation of increased communications across uh
different audiences along with also now u managing uh some of the uh functions that were um currently under the director of strategic partnerships. Um so that's why that change was made. And then on page 19, we talk about family
engagement. How does this position differ from what family engagement does? Z, you want me to go? >> Oh, go ahead. M was trying to get >> uh so family engagement really works directly with our families. the media uh
the manager of uh media and community relations uh really deals more with uh external partners but not really families. So um the uh the merging of the director position with um family engagement. Uh that silo will really be
uh think about the events we do for our parents out in the community. they really are managing that and then the other is really managing external uh partnerships and uh doing our other work as it relates to caliber our community um involvement awards and events such as
that. >> Thank you for clarifying and I do think it's important for us to communicate to the public because it does seem like a shifting of of boxes and potentially could seem to the public that we are protecting different people. So to
explain the rationale for all these positions I think is important. So thank you for that. >> Thank you for the opportunity. >> Um so moving on to page seven. Um I would like some further explanation on those three new positions
included the director of AI and digital learning, the assistant director of AI innovation and digital learning and then the program manager technical support. >> And I'm going to ask Beacon to please put up uh page seven of the org chart. >> Yes. Um, thanks for the question, Miss
Thompson. Um, this definitely propels the work when it comes to innovation in academics. Um, and I I don't want to steal Dr. Con's thunder. Um, so go ahead, Dr. Con, if you um want to uh the left side of page seven, uh, the the
consolidations, um, and the enhancement of some of those positions to really propel the work that we're trying to do at B County Public Schools, uh, when it comes to innovative learning in um, academics. >> Sure. Thank you for the question, Miss Thompson. So this is uh this position
helps to consolidate all of our AI XRVR initiatives. As you recall our initial bar powered by AI workshop that happened with students uh we started to gain a lot of traction not only with the uh implementation of the contract with Microsoft but also with the uh huge
donation through the wieners the $2 million as well as some additional uh uh agreements that we're going to be engaging in. We have a large contract also with Prisms. And so this really is to take two existing departments that were fully functioning doing some of the
same work uh differently but converge them into one unified system and approach to launch AI VRXR together uh while also bringing some of the other uh AI tools and other departments together under one umbrella to be able to deliver
quality instructional materials to our teachers and to our students. uh where we start to launch next year our student interfacing component of our student AI as well as our teacher interfacing uh component of our AI. It's also going to be part of our redesign efforts uh in
some of our schools in phase two and phase three uh using AIXRVR uh as well as some other new initiatives that we already have planned. So it's a huge initiative that needs to be streamlined and focused around some leadership efforts to really uh promote it.
>> Yeah. And just to add um this gives more of a composite effort for a composite execution and our focus on innovation at the academic level to to change the student experience um and a student engagement in our classrooms has caused other entities to contact us to talk
about offering us grants or partner with grants to continue to help excel this work. Um, so it's it's definitely been a plus. And then just to create a structure like this where it's more is prioritizing these efforts on the academic end for the purpose of of better student experiences, student
engagement, and student agency um is helping people understand what we what we're trying to do in Broward County Public Schools and garnering more outreach to us to support grants and things like that. >> And so I appreciate the comments. I would argue that we should be putting
more of that funding into our actual school system with the people that are going to be working with our students and our teachers to do this innovation and that having an assistant director and a director aren't necessary. So I would like to see some consolidation on that front.
Um >> Thompson, could you just repeat that so I can capture that? >> Yes, absolutely. >> So I would like to see a consolidation of the director and assistant director. So probably just not having an assistant director on page seven
which is AI. Thank you. All right. So moving to page nine if Beacon can put that up. Thank you Beacon. So almost a year ago, this board had contracted with Innovo Health to review our mental health
system and give us recommendations on how to improve this system. They recommended breaking down silos and also increasing the number of ESSE support staff, school social workers, and school counselors. These proposed changes do not meet those recommendations. And if
we go out and spend money on consultants, I think it would be wise of us to heed the recommendations. Since being on this board, I have consistently advocated to increase school social workers. And I recognized during that time that we had funding
concerns and that having one social worker assigned per school would take some time to come to fruition. But never did I imagine that we would be cutting school social workers at a time where it seems like our students have reported that they finally feel at ease
and they are supported with their mental health. When we have limited resources for something as vital as mental health, we need to make sure that the vast majority of our funding is going directly to our schools. So, I have some questions over some of the different positions and then
I'd have some recommendations that I would like my colleagues to weigh in on for the coordinators of suicide prevention. Are these positions that actually go into the school and are they the ones that are providing suicide prevention curriculum? >> Um, thanks for the question, Miss
Thompson. For uh suicide prevention, um they don't uh directly support students. They're a teacher on assignment. they offer lessons to schools um around some of that. So these are this is required instruction. So what's going to happen is that
coordinators within the division are going to pick up uh some of those task but schools are already doing some of that task have to do some of that task anyway for required instruction and there's only um uh I want to say there's only four across the whole entire district for 230 plus schools. Um so
it's it's better to maximize our efforts with the people who are in school already doing this work to provide the required lessons um and provide any any additional support um for PD and things like that for for leadership team and staff. They don't directly support students.
>> So for clarification, the coordinator provides the training to staff or provides like assemblies like what are these positions doing in our school? So I'll uh get Miss uh Miss Hollingsworth if you can provide some details. >> Good I think afternoon Simone
Hollingsworth, chief student services officer. Uh yes, Miss Thompson. Those individuals are to Dr. Hepper's point more supporting the school. They can go in and do assemblies. They are monitoring and supporting with the SRASS, but it is more of a administrative role, not direct student
services. So, I would argue that the majority of our mental health professionals are doing suicide prevention and can take on that task as well. And to again put funding into a district position that
could be done with boots on the ground or coordinated through school social workers that have social school social worker supervisors. That is something that could be improved. and then every single student has the suicide
prevention um accessibility to the a person that does this otherwise putting it in the district. Um so that would be my recommendation to >> Can you can you can you I've lost you on that one. Can you repeat it please? I'm sorry. So to shift the responsibilities
of the three coordinators of suicide prevention back to the school level. >> So no changes to the or is what you >> no to cut that >> so that we can fund those services. >> Gotcha. >> Because we would still meet state requirements as long as they're still
being done. >> Correct. >> On page nine. um >> page nine all the way to the right. >> Okay. >> Three boxes down. >> Cut those cut that those three positions and uh >> with the expectation that the school
social workers and the school counselors would not be cut because they would take on that responsibility. Okay. Which will be the bulk of my recommendations for cuts to this >> district. I'm trying to follow you. Cut the three positions um on the org for
coordinator suicide prevention. uh utilize those dollars for an upcoming recommendation of funding so school social workers is what I'm >> and counselors. I have a couple more. >> Okay, gotcha. >> Yeah. All right. Um there in that same
line there are two boxes that say supervisor of mental health services. The top one says four. The bottom one says two. Can someone walk me through why we have two boxes that are exact same title and what they do? Thank you.
the same page. >> All right, I am capturing what you just said on the last one. Bear with me. I think I typed like 20 20 words per per minute, so I'm not that fast. If you can I'm sorry, Miss Thompson, if you can repeat. >> Sure. So on page
>> on the far right, there is a box that says supervisor mental health services. We've reduced that by one position. >> Correct. But then if you go down to three more boxes, there is a supervisor of mental health services and that is two positions. Could someone walk me
through each box and what they do? >> I can. >> Go ahead, Dr. Lozano. >> Thank you, Dr. Lozano. Chief human resources officer. So, it was a title change on the box above. So, we didn't want to remove that without the public seeing. The current title of that box is
coordinator mental health services. So the title was changed to supervisor. So once once if this org chart is approved, it will be one box with six people in it.
>> Could someone walk me through what each of those positions do and who they oversee? >> Miss Hosworth. >> Yes. Thank you. Um so yes, thank you Dr. Lozana for confirming that we were trying to consolidate. It was seven. We had somebody that was vacant, so that's why we reduced it from six to seven. And
then also I do have Miss Winter here as well. Those coordinators or supervisors, whatever we end up deciding to uh name them, are going and uh supporting the youth mental health first aid resiliency required instruction. So again, overseeing those programs that are statutoily required. Dr. Hepern has to
sign off at the end of the year that those have all been completed, but really supporting and assisting the schools to make sure that that is occurring in those schools so that we are compliant. I see I see Miss Winter's here, so I'll let her tag team. >> Go ahead, Miss Winter.
>> Oh, you can come and sit sit at this uh empty >> teacher. I'll project. >> No, no, no. We need the for the public. >> We need your voice for the record. Yeah, >> for the record. >> No, no. Okay, never mind. >> Yeah,
>> yeah, >> there we go. Okay. So, one of the uh mental health coordinators oversees our youth mental health first aid program to ensure that we remain in compliance districtwide. One of our mental health coordinators uh assists with our mental
health assistance allocation and checking our plans to ensure that we remain in compliance with FLOE um expectations. We have another mental health coordinator that oversees our resiliency education districtwide to ensure that we remain in state compliance with the resiliency lessons
and mental health curriculum. And who am I forgetting? Ha. >> Um, who am I forgetting? >> We had one that was vacant, so that's
the one that was cut. Um and then we two we have two of our mental health supervisors that oversee our students uh our student support instructional specialists that are in 44 of our schools and um they support in the north and the south region.
>> Okay. So mental health the training mental health allocation resiliency coordination and then two mental health um supervisors that oversee the SSIS positions. >> Correct. There's one. >> That's five.
>> There's one missing. Um, use my whole first aid. >> And our mental health coordinator that oversees MHART, our mental health assistance allocation regional team. Yep. And our MHART team is the team that coordinates um all of our crisis response districtwide to ensure that all of our school communities have what they need in terms of recovering from the
death of a staff or student member. >> Thank you for for clarifying that. Um, so two of those positions I would like to talk about more. Um and then also what who they support the student support instructional specialist.
So I have talked about this I think again since I've been on the deis. I think those are positions that are nice to have in times of the budget that allowing it that allows for it. However, when we are letting go
of trained mental health professionals that can do the same kind of community building, the same kind of resource connection, the same kind of check-ins, checkouts, I think it is an inappropriate use of funds to cut people
that can be jack of all trades for one specialized type of position. I have heard that there are I have heard good things about these positions as well, but I have mainly heard that people don't know what they are or that principles utilize these positions as
catch-all, which we as a board have talked about mental health positions and how they need to be siloed. So, I feel like this position allows for a loophole for that mission. I know that SSIS is not on the org
chart. However, the two coordinators that oversee those positions is so as a directive, I will say it slowly, I would like to cut the two positions that oversee the SSIS positions with the
understanding that those funds will be used to preserve school social workers and school counselors. And then my final recommendation for this page is that I believe along with Anovo
Health who we paid to give recommendations about our mental health system that we need to break down silos and I would like to see a combination of the director of mental health services with the director of student services and then the boxes would just smush
together. Do I need to repeat that? >> Just that last part, the last position. >> Uh, so com combining the director of mental health services and then the director of student services and then the boxes that I haven't changed under it would
>> follow that. >> Thank you. >> And then Miss Thompson, the the last part about the directors, what did you say? >> They would just go back. So combine the director of mental health services and student services into one box that is in
the top band and then every else would go under that box. >> Gotcha. Okay, I see you. >> Um other than the two positions and then I have some general questions. Um, I have concerns over the loss of maintenance workers, especially as
members go or I go into my schools and hear concerns about work order, work order delays, unusable bathrooms, and more. So, if we are cutting these facilities, workers, what is our plan to address these issues so they don't we
don't go further behind? >> No, great question. Um this is more about building more nimble responsive teams leveraging uh the the data we we're going to have FCA data um that that supports where we can identify key
uh things that we need to address immediately and also leveraging uh some software to actually identify and be proactive before things actually break down more structural mechanical things. Uh but the FCA data will going to help us uh be nimble as we restructure the
teams to to respond. Um in in addition also for uh maintenance uh POP maintenance to be specific um there was 791 positions um 76 of them were vacant. Uh so we only uh reduced as far as
impacted employees there was 38 um when you combine it with the 76 vacancies that's 114 which leaves uh 677 positions to remain out of the 791. Um, so creating better responsive teams to do the work, be be able to to respond
timely um and and leverage that FCA data to actually identify where we need to go um and address those needs in a quicker manner and leveraging um data to be proactive to to maintain things instead of emergency fixing uh for mechanical
issues when it comes to HVAC and other mechanical things that we have around the district. >> So I appreciate the forwardinking planning. However, we have a backlog of maintenance issues. So, how are we going to address this backlog going forward if we're reducing?
>> Yes, that's a great question. It's about prioritizing. Um, and so combining the FCA FCA data with the backlog of of work orders and you know, this probably predates me a couple of superintendents with that backlog. >> All right. And so all of that is that definitely captured in the FCA. What's what's vitally important, right? So, we
can get to that before that uh that issue results into another issue. So, it's being more strategic of how we approach our maintenance program um which has been very reactive um um you know for a long time. We're trying to be more proactive and util leveraging the
data that we have that's um not stale at the moment and also leveraging technology to let us know what mechanical equipment needs to be addressed before actually breaks down. >> Okay. And then um will consultants or contractors be brought in to cover the
positions being cut? Are we going to see more consultants being brought in, more privatization as one speaker said? >> No, we we're not going to depend on privatization or or contractors. We only depend on contractors for very specialized work that we can't do or
also if we have vacancies um because uh uh phobi maintenance is they have some some um form of turnover as well. Um as well as if you go schoolbased with our custodial or facility staff at our schools, there's lots of turnover. So for issues like that where the work needs to be done, yes, we'll depend on
consultants because we can't fill the positions that we have. But as far as uh what we have right now, uh we're not dependent on consultants unless it's very specialized work. And if it's a vital vacancy that we can't fill and we need the work done, we'll depend on consultants for that.
>> Okay. Um and I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you to all the the chiefs and the district staff. I know it has been an incredibly and all the employees that have received these notices. I know these conversations in real time are incredibly difficult and
I'm sure hearing us talk about your positions in real time is also incredibly difficult. But like the chair opened this conversation with this is truly about making a better system and not about any person highlighted. Um and
I just wanted to say one more thing. So to say that the cuts we're doing will not impact schools is a false statement. I think we need to get away from that narrative because as everyone has called us out to say it is impacting schools because we are in the business of
educating children which means we run schools. Uh so I think as a board and district we need to acknowledge that and when we are moving forward we need to think of solutions that cause the least amount of harm. So I wanted to just
briefly reiterate a previous point that if we have to go in my mind if we have to go to bare bones model of management so that we can pour the majority of our funding into our actual school sites this is something that we must do and we
must do everything possible and I know it won't be possible to save everything but everything possible to prevent losing the programs or increasing our class sizes or losing our amazing teachers and staff. because all those things help us retain and attract
students. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Thompson, Mr. Sea. >> Thank you, Chair. Um, first and foremost, I do want to acknowledge and thank everybody that came in, took time out of their day, took time away from their jobs, took time away from their
families and their kids to come in and uh speak to us uh in person and those of you who are kind enough to send us your thoughts via email. Um some of us do read those emails. So thank you for uh for sending those.
You know for months and months my directive on this org chart and these position eliminations has been very clear. Start from the top and work your way down.
We don't want any cuts to our great teachers and we don't want any cuts to the positions that deal directly with our students and unfortunately this directive in my opinion has been
ignored. Now, um, over the last few days, hundreds of people have reached out to me regarding this proposed work chart, wanting to know where I stand, wanting to know what
my position is. And I want to be very clear what my position is with the current form of this org chart. I don't like it. I don't agree with it and I don't support it. And I'd like to take a couple minutes to explain why I
feel that way. This current plan that we have disproportionately impacts our lower level staff while sparing some top level administrators. I'd like to, if I may, provide an analogy in the business world.
If you are coming into a business that's having operational problems or is failing and are in charge of reorganiz reorganizing that business, you don't go in and just fire all the
cashiers and all the store managers and say, "Up, we fixed the problem." You start at the top. You start at the CFO. You go level by level by level and you
make the cuts and you make the changes that you feel will benefit that organization. And unfortunately, that's not what we've done in this case. Instead, we skipped the top and decided
to pick off the rank and file. This is not the way you should do business. Instead of looking exclusively at district staff, the folks in this building,
we chose to go after a lot of great teachers and a lot of great folks who work directly with our students. Now, I'm happy to hear the superintendent's uh backtracking, if you will, on some of the ESC staff. That's encouraging. It's a step in the right
direction. But folks, we got a lot more work to do. 119 certified teachers positions have been eliminated on this org chart. Social workers, numerous mental health counselors.
That's unacceptable. Full stop. I will not stand for this and I will not support this. We are not going to try to dig our way out of our financial hole in this district on the backs of our teachers
and our students. This realignment, this reorganization, reorganization must start in this building and not in our classrooms. Not one teacher should be affected by
this. Despite what we heard from our consultant earlier, we are topheavy in this district. And that's where these cuts should come from, right here in this building.
We can't be on a teacher hiring freeze because of our monetary pitfalls and then cut certified teachers from this district. That makes zero sense. How are we supposed to put new teachers
in classrooms if we're cutting 119 of them and we can't hire anymore? Who is going to be affected by this? Our students. How can we make these cuts to a lot of our es to a lot of our um
counselors and mental health professionals and still to comply with our students IEPs. We are bound by federal law to comply with student IEPs. Hopefully everybody knows that. And I don't see how we're doing it when
we start to make cuts like this. And once again, who is going to be negatively affected by that? Our students. The purpose of these cuts and this reorganization chart
was to cut the bloat in this building. At least that's what I thought going into this. But we've chosen to bypass this directive and instead go after the rank and file. To make matters worse, this proposal
cuts 300 jobs that are on the books, but we're not actually funded. How does that save us any money? A handful of these positions that are being eliminated are simply being rebranded under fancy new titles.
How does this save this district any money? I also want to discuss the use of this outside consulting company to assist us. I'm disappointed with MGT to say the
least and their report. I know we spent six figures for them to create this. And I think it's very telling that the individual who spoke opted to do so over Zoom today. I don't know why they're not here.
All of you are here. You took off work. And our consultants that we pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to, while I appreciate the work that they did, I'm going to get to that in a second. I'm a little disappointed that they chose not to join us this morning.
Again, I vehemently disagree with the comment that we're made that was made by MGT earlier this morning that we are not a topheavy district. We are the epitome of topheavy and Broward County public schools.
Now, within the MGT presentation, the one thing that kept running through my mind when I was reviewing this over the weekend and yesterday was where is the backup data? I see a lot of general numbers on pages
with pretty pictures and lots of colors and animations, but where is the backup data? How are we getting to those numbers? I see a $40 million line item for staffing allocation adjustments.
How do we arrive at that? Where is this coming from? Where's this money going? on the ORC chart documents. We've received lots of paperwork on that. Where's the breakdown of the data? What are we saving from each position,
from each department? I know there's just we just generally throw out I think the number was 45 million or whatever it was, but where's the breakdown of that? Mr. Superintendent, this org chart has failed uh this district. We failed our teachers.
We have failed our educators who work directly with our students. We failed the public. And perhaps most disappointing, I believe, we failed our students. I cannot and will not support this
proposed organizational chart in its current form. There's lots of work to be done to fix this. And this is too important, too important to screw up. We've got a lot of work to do, Mr. and Superintendent, to write this ship. And
again, I appreciate the ESC backtracking. I think that's a good first step, but we have to get this right. We've got to protect our teachers. We've got to protect those who work directly with our kids, and it must start at the top, right here in this
building. Luckily, there's plenty enough to go around, but we've got to get to work now. I've got a few questions on the actual chart if I may and I will caveat this by saying uh I
still have some some plans and suggestions that I'm putting into a viable solution. This is just some of the things that I've stood out to me over the weekend. Uh Mr. Superintendent, you will be getting a lot more suggestions from me as the days pass uh
and we get closer to the next workshop in which hopefully this will be discussed with a different uh plan. Uh first and foremost, on page two of the chart, um I apologize. I I don't recall which one of my colleagues said this,
but I'm in full agreement with the combination of the chief facilities officer and the chief operations um officer and the change of of pay. Uh I don't know if it was Miss Thompson or Dr. Holes who said this but um I think that that is a um a good first step. Uh
on page three under the chief of staff's uh model if we look at pay band D we have a media a director of media relations. We also have a media manager, excuse me, a manager of media and community relations and a coordinator
of um relations, multiple positions. Mr. Superintendent, can the manager position and the coordinator positions not be absolved into one position? >> Um, thank you for the question, Mr. Severe, but if I may take the opportunity to address some of your comments that you said before, and I'll
transfer it over to Mr. Sullivan. I want to use your grocery store analogy. uh because the the cuts uh actually started from the top uh not from the bottom. I'm uh I'm not Drake. We're not starting from the bottom. We starting from the top. Um and that was a directive to my
team. And again, the reflection of those cuts are 16% executive directors and directors. uh pretty much directors and above on the chart 15% and below the chart 13% which is more so our frontline work workers and in and some uh
supervisor supervisory uh functions. I do want the public to understand proportion matters. Um the majority of our employees are below the chart. So even a 5% cut is going to equate to a lot of people. This we're talking about over 5,000 people 5,500 people are below
the chart. You do your math. If you do 5% it's it's a few hundred people right uh the directors and above are only uh a little bit over a hundred. So 16% in the when you look at the numbers seems small but it's a lot of people when you look
at it proportionally and same thing on the chart. Proportion matters. The largest amount of our employees 5500 plus are below that chart. So even a small uh decrease in the workforce by percentage is going to equal um a lot of
people. Also a staffing allocation model just to address that that $40 million. Um for the past 10 years we've lost about 40,000 students, $350 million. We've lost just 10,000 students just this current year. The upcoming year we're going to lose another 10,000 in
two just two school years. 20,000 kids. That is a lot of lot of little ones that we're not receiving in our classrooms anymore. Things have to be shifted. Things have to be revised and realigned to meet the realities as we move forward in the future. We cannot do the work the
same anymore. Every school district is dealing with this trying to evolve and innovate. We cannot go back to current structures at all. At all. Um, so just want to make sure there's the public is clear um about uh some of those comments cuz this
we don't take this work um you know lightly. The these are lives. These are people. These are family for BCPS and many of those families have kids sitting in our schools right now. So this is the toughest task that our team has ever done in a very very long time. taking
the the right steps and demonstrating the right level of compassion and and all of us including myself were talking to business partners. I just had a meeting with some business leaders Friday and they asked me, "Dr. Heer, how can you help? How can how how can they help us?" The first answer I say, I have
a lot of great employees that need jobs right now and they gave me their cards. We want to reach out to your HR department to make sure they have a home in our in our organization. Again, thanks uh Career uh um Career Source Brower also for your assistance.
Unlike private sectors, cuz my wife works for the private sector, you don't you don't we don't just send an email saying you're done. You're laid off, right? We just had an organization in South Florida that just laid off apparently 950 mill 50,000 pe 950
people. You think they had conversations like we did with our staff? Do you think they talked to Career Source Broward like we did? This is serious. These are lives. We don't take this lightly. Every decision that we made, we've been make we've been
sitting down since December to make sure we're making the best decision possible to make sure this organization is sustainable for the future for every kid in Broward County and beyond those who across our borders that we recruit here as well.
We we this is this is serious, folks. This is not a light situation. We value every employee in our district right now and we're going to make sure we assist you in having a place to land. Every last one of my team members and it's
already started with myself. These are lives, not numbers. Mr. Sullivan. >> Uh thank you, Superintendent. So, uh, answering the question specifically on page three, again, we were able to, uh, make that manager of media and community
relations with reducing the community specialist from 2 to one. The difference in that is maybe a 5% pay bump, but I believe the return on investment will be huge uh to align really with the board's uh, priorities of uh, increasing uh,
communications against uh, uh, for all our audience internal and then externally. and then that uh coordinator of district community relations is is really a different silo uh from from that work. So I believe it's important to to have it separated although the
manager of media and community relationships would uh be providing that uh leadership in that in that in that area. How many coordinators do we have >> in general or in this page
>> in in general for coordinators of direct uh district relations community relations? >> Oh, you're just referring to my page. Just just one. We have a coordinator of So, the coordinator of governmental affairs. Is that where you're talking about? I'm sorry. >> There's a director of media relations.
>> Correct. dire under that director, there's a manager of media relations and a coordinator of district relations, >> right? >> Yes. So again, again, the coordinator of district community relations, that's an existing position. It's just being realigned because the director they
report to currently is being eliminated. uh to provide that level of supervision and leadership. Um we collapsed the community uh specialist from two positions to one to create the manager of media and community relations which really serves two functions uh giving
that leadership over community uh relationships but more importantly strengthening communications which is a top has been a a priority from the school board. So that was our thought process there. Again, going from two uh specialists to one and creating that
manager position is about a 5% difference in pay >> between the coordinator and the manager >> between the specialist and the manager. So we eliminated one of the specialists, we had two and we're going to one and with that uh difference we created the
manager of of media and community relations. And that difference in pay between those two is about 5%. But again, I believe the investment in increased uh communications internally, externally would be of great uh return on investment.
>> In addition to just that, Mr. Sullivan, uh I'm going be very frank. I've heard it from the board. I've heard it from communities. I've heard it from our advisories. Our communication has been subpar. It's probably not the best term for it. Um, and so with the with the shift in this division, it strengthens
the ability to communicate uh better to our constituents, communicate better uh with the media, right? Opening up our doors more to to really show off the great things that we're that we're doing and also communicating when we have those challenging things we're going through, too. But our communications
have been subpar across the board. This is going to help strengthen that. And we've heard this from our board members and constituents over and over um since I've started and probably before before I started as well. >> Respectfully, I think subpar is being
generous, but >> I say that's the the cute word I can find right now. >> Let's let's let's move on if we can. Um I want to get into a chief is a chief issue on page four. um deputy superintendent.
Directly under Miss Fulton, we have uh three regional superintendent and an assistant superintendent. Mr. Superintendent, between the deputy and our three regional supers, can they not adequately do the job of the um
assistant superintendent uh who directly reports to the deputy superintendent? >> Uh uh no. Well, if you're talking about consolidating the assistant um and having a deputy take over that work, this office was created by myself for a specific reason. Um uh when I got here,
I think at the time we probably had 14 or or so uh DNF schools. Um and it was my mission uh to ensure that the students sitting in those classrooms have better outcomes, the schools have better outcomes, the community has
better outcomes, and have a high level of pride of what's going on in in their schools. So we uh created this specialized office to provide the services to those schools building teacher capacity leadership capacity and ultimately doing great things in the classroom. As a result of that we
haven't had any DRF schools for the past for the past two years and also reducing the number of our C schools by 50%. We're not like other school districts right now where we're chasing trying to get rid of F and D schools. We're actually trying to get rid of all of our C schools and become a district of no of
nothing more than A and B schools. So the work that's happening in uh in um the school transformation office and also the enhancement of the regional office that Dr. Fulton talked about to get services closer to our parents, our students in instead of the centralized
approach. We get those emails from the centralized approach and um and so the consolidation wouldn't be warranted in this. I think it would actually water down many of our efforts to, you know, relish in the accomplishments that we've had the past two years. Chief academic officer. We've got a
deputy superintendent, three regional superintendent, an assistant superintendent, and a chief academic officer. Can the role of the chief academic officer be absorbed by the deputy superintendent and our regionals or the
assistant superintendent? >> So, I would um also say no to that one too. the chief academic officer is a very specific role when it comes to curriculum um and resources and being able to um organize and orchestrate how
these efforts ultimately end up creating student opportunities in our classrooms. Um so uh the function of supporting supervising building capacity at the school leadership level um that trickles ultimately trickles down into the classroom. That's the function of the
regional offices and the assistant superintendent's office. Um the chief academic officer's function is is more about curriculum and resources and and and design and redesign and creating those efforts that are are propelling us right now. Many of the the things that Dr. Con talked about XR VR uh leveraging
AI for more student agency and efficiency of task at the academic level and ultimately as we do the research and monitor that helping teachers regain more time because they're able to personalize their instruction and create better personalized plans uh by leveraging AI to do so. So a lot of
those innovations are very specific to a certain type of work um that that uh I think uh again would probably be diminished if we ab absorb that and combined it. Well, thank you for that. But I think this is a great example of when we say this district is too topheavy. We've got a deputy
superintendent, a regional three regional superintendent, an assistant superintendent, and a chief academic officer. >> If I may, Beacon, if you can go to MGT's slide deck, page four, >> if if I may finish my com.
>> I'm sorry, Doc. Uh, Mr. Ver. >> No, no worries. I don't want to talk about the MGT report. We're going to we're going to get to that if I may. Yeah, >> I want to focus on the York chart. I've got a deputy superintendent. I've got three regional superintendents. I've got a assistant superintendent and I got a
chief academic officer. I'm not even getting into student services. I'm going to leave that one out for right now. I've got six positions that I am a firm believer can be consolidated with very capable individuals. And I think this would be a great start. You want to talk about starting from the
top? You want to talk about putting skin in the game? You want to start a talk about having the public trust us and have confidence in what we're doing. It's a good place to start. Page six,
deputy superintendent academics under the director of leadership development and teacher support. We have principal coach and we have a supervisor of leadership development and a coordinator of leadership development. Mr. Superintendent, why can those two
positions not be consolidated or combined? >> So, I'll have u Dr. Con or Dr. Fulton kind of give the specifics for those um two positions and uh what they support. >> I'd like to hear from Miss Fton if permitt if permissible.
>> Sure. Uh good afternoon uh Angela Fton, deputy superintendent. So in our leadership development department, remember we provide leadership support for the entire district. And so it's not just school-based leadership is also district leadership as well too. We run a lot of our pipeline programs preparing
leaders for leadership roles. The coordinator also supports it. So we have a few pipelines. We have a pipeline for our teacher leaders. We have a pipeline for our assistant principles. We have a pipeline for our principles and also through district leadership. So I think
it was said earlier today, we are the largest employer and I think that we have the full responsibility for developing our leaders and making sure our bench is ready for when we need leaders to step into roles, they're developed and able to be there. So that's the the lift that we do for
leadership development. And if I left anything out, Dr. Con, please fill in any holes. No, I think you captured it uh adequately and just just keep in mind being the sixth largest district uh with thousands and thousands of employees that have different opportunities uh in
the classroom as leaders and also in the leadership of the school, you still have to continue to build the bench as leaders start to go on to other positions and retire. We continuously it's a cycle. you got to continue to build the the pipeline in order to make sure that the system is ready for new
leaders uh in this very changing dynamic role that they are in. So the these roles are very key. They're very specific to the different kinds of roles that uh this district has. And then also keep in mind although we just talked about the leadership bench at the school, there's central office
leadership. So we have supervisors, we have transportation, we have procurement. So that office also handles the leadership at the central office as well. So, I I certainly appreciate wanting to have a deep bench.
Okay. I think that's important not only in sports, but in businesses and in school districts. I also think the depth of your bench depends on what your payroll is and how much money you have, right? And
if you want to have if you're flush with cash and you can have the deepest bench possible, good for you. But when you're sitting on a hund00 million deficit, these may be the types of cuts you have to make in order to preserve the
district rather than worrying about how deep your benches. Uh page seven, if I may, Miss Thompson, I think you beat me on this one. Uh I agree with the um assistant director of AI uh innovation
and director and and digital learning. I believe you called for the the removal of that position. Um I am uh I am in agreement with that and had it on my notes as well. 13, please. Getting into the facilities branch if I
may, assistant director of capital budget. And directly under that individual, we have several analysts. And of course, this position reports directly to capital budget
within the facilities uh space. Why do we need a director and then an assistant director and then a ton of analysts in the department of capital budgeting? >> Um that's a great question. Um just want to remind the public and the board that
our capital program are hundreds of millions of dollars. Um, and so to be great stewards of the of the money that the that the taxpayers are providing to the school district to do upkeep, build new facilities, renovate new facilities, and the hundreds of projects that we
currently have going on and the expected hundreds of progs that we're going to have going on in the near future. uh once we approve a per capital program and get a long range planner on here, uh these are the positions that are needed to be as precise as possible to make
sure there's no waste um and what the taxpayers are providing us to make sure our facilities uh start to to uh reach a level um that's conducive to a great environment. And so this and I know you're focusing on the capital budget, but one of the
things too from the board is about staffing up in our uh capital program just to make sure that we're not solely dependent on on our um on our pe or or or or future program managers so we can start bringing that in-house to actually
save money. So a lot of these functions are actually uh outsourced to our peour because we don't have anybody in those positions. So, one of the things that we are going to do and been charged to do is actually staff up as well so we have more internal capacity to actually um
support our own work. >> Is that your explanation, Mr. Superintendent, as to why we need this assistant director role? >> Yes. >> Okay. I appreciate that. Um here's my closing thoughts on all of this. We are
in a bit of a crisis in this district. I don't think that that's a secret to anybody. Uh, fortunately, uh, we've been able to put a great educational pro, uh, product out for our kids. I'm very proud of our of our A rating for consecutive years. I'm very proud of the fact that we don't have any
DRF schools. I tell everyone with an earshot who's willing to listen how big of a deal I think that is. However, as far as the financial management of this district,
we have problems. And while I understand looking through this proposed org chart that in a perfect world, we would love to be able to keep um a lot of these folks within this building, we also have to appreciate the fact that without our
kids in the classroom, without teachers teaching those kids, and without our school-based staff helping those kids and principles doing those things with those kids, nothing really else matters.
So, we have to make very bold and very decisive decisions about who we are cutting in this district to get this org chart back on the right path. This may mean eliminating positions where others are going to have to take on higher workloads.
It's unfortunate, but it's a necessary reality. Mr. Superintendent, I am very much looking forward to the continued conversations uh on this ORC chart and your continued modifications and changes, but as I sit
here today, I'm not in support of this, and I think there's a lot of more heavy lifting that needs to be done if we're going to salvage this. Thank you for the time, chair. >> Thank you. We will now recess the meeting uh to go or recess the workshop to go into our special school war meeting and we'll be back briefly. Thank
you. doo doo doo doo doo. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. I see. Yeah. Wo. I see. Yeah. Wo. Oh
yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Welcome to today's special school board meeting. The special school board
meeting of the school board of Brower County, Florida is now called to order. To ensure a safe and productive environment, please note the clearly marked emergency exits. Do not block exit doors and all attendees must be seated except for media. Once the room reaches capacity, attendees will be
directed to the overflow area. If the fire alarm sounds, exit the room calmly, continue outside the building and remain there until authorities give clearance to return. Thank you for your cooperation. All please rise for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God indivisibley and justice for all. As we begin, we reaffirm our vision.
100% proficiency for all students. As an A-rated district, we remain committed to sustaining this achievement and supporting every student to reach their highest potential. Our theme this year is believe, empower, achieve one Broward. Today's special school board meeting will operate in accordance with
the school board policy 1020, and the board will review the items as advertised and presented by the superintendent. The superintendent released a revised agenda with certain changes for this meeting and published it on the school district's website. The chair finds pursuant to section 120.525
Florida statutes that good cause exists for such changes and accepts the revised agenda. We will now recess this special school board meeting to return to our workshop. Thank you. Thank you. I welcome you back to our
schoolboard workshop. Next up on the list is Miss Hixon. >> Thank you. Um, and most people are gone, but I will say thank you so much for everybody who came today and who sent emails to share some of their thoughts and concerns. It's important for us to
hear from everyone. And um, I always say, you know, time, as Dr. Hepburn also says, time is a gift. So whether you emailed or came today, thank you so much for that. There are a couple things that were mentioned in the public speaking that I'd like to address first before I
go to my tons of pages across here. So, um, first we heard from someone about a contract violation um about having to follow like how much time someone's been in the system and also um a comment about disabled
veterans retention. So, can general counsel weigh in on that, please? With regards to the um veteran topic, that's something that right in the meeting that I have some additional um
research that's being um conducted by a member of the team. So, we'll have some more um information on that and we'll guide um HR. >> Okay, great. And just to be clear, today we're talking about boxes. I mean, I
know that it's people, but we don't have any say in the people part. So if the general counsel could um also explain that we got a very long memo on what our role is and what the superintendent's role is here. So I think that's also
important for the public to hear. So both the school board and the superintendent have very distinct roles when it comes to reorganizations. Uh the school board is responsible for the positions, the job descriptions, the qualifications, the responsibilities.
the school board is responsible for the funding. So, as you have seen, they have been going through the particular um boxes that's well within their purview to do in terms of the positions that they would like um to have in the organization. And then the superintendent's responsible for the
implementation of that plan. He's responsible for making recommendations related to hiring um transferring and listening to what the board wants him to do with regard to those boxes and bringing it to fruition. >> Thank you. One more thing if you'll
explain. So what we've what we have today and mostly wasn't really discussed by people in the audience but we are discussing is the organizational chart or what we call above the line. there are most of the concerns today and the
issues that we heard are from positions below the line. So can you also explain does the school board do we enga I I don't know how to say this I don't want to say we don't have a place in it but under the line is really
the purview of the superintendent although we can give our thoughts on that is that correct >> so the school board is responsible for jobs job descriptions the parameters of those jobs um it's been a tradition in Ber County public schools that those
that are on the chart which are those administrative positions or um the way you have done it in the past is to go through and and have the school board make determinations on those boxes. If the school board decides that they don't want to have a particular job that falls
under the line, that's that's within the school board's purview. However, the superintendent is the one who's clearly responsible for the operation of the school district and the statute's very clear 101.49 49 and 101.51 as to all personnel fall under the
direction of the superintendent as well as the management of the school district and to ensure that um the students are being served. >> Okay, thank you for that. Um, also I heard someone who is an instructional tech tech facilitator say when they had
this conversation with their um, our district staff that someone said to them, "Welcome to the 30 club." I would hope that the superintendent would please look into that. We, as you stated clearly, we realize how difficult this
time is. We want to be as compassionate as possible. And that really didn't sound very compelling. >> No, I I totally agree. Um I think a a board member or a constituent called me um uh sometime last week uh about a concern and so um if anybody has those
type of concerns, please get them to me. I will handle them personally because it is my expectation and also the chief's expectation as we've uh gone through this uh run of show, the scripts and everything to treat people with a level of compassionate um demonstrating their value to this system and to our kids. So
we don't take that lightly. >> Thank you very much. Um also someone that was public speaking said the changes that we have in some of the counselors um PBIS things of that nature were then going to add now to the teachers plate um because the
expectation was the work that they were doing will now fall on the teacher. So can you please address that? Is that the expectation? >> Um no that's not the expectation. PB PBIS is an initiative that is schoolbased. Um I' I've been in two uh two districts and and one as a teacher
um schoolbased administrator and PB PBIS was always a function led by um the school leadership team on their campus um as far as supports and building capacity of how to actually implement the strategies of PBIS and helping you create monitoring systems. Um you know
that's some function of of of supporting those leaders. But as far as PBIS um as a whole is a school-based function for um dealing with issues with kids and and u providing interventions to um decline some of the you know unwanted behaviors that teachers are on campus behavior
that they that they don't want to see on their campus. >> So if we eliminate the PBIS positions districtwide, how does how does that affect what happens? >> That support can go through regional offices and other uh roles to help build
leadership capacity. Um there should not be an expectation that an external person is going to come on a campus and deliver P services or interventions associated with PBIS. That is a whole school initiative. Um where you talk
about PBIS and the in the interventions or strategy that go along with it's a whole school initiative not just a one person coming in that has that has the least amount of impact um on stu on changing student behavior. >> Great. Thank you. And the last one I
have from student I mean public comment was someone came up and talked about ESPs. >> Are we based on this plan that we're looking at today? Are there any ESPs that are being cut? >> There are district um there are uh roles
that are within that group. Um I'm trying to find it. Um >> I see here it says reduction filled one um reduction vacant to reduction prior to um fiscal year 264. So total reductions are seven. So what are those
ESP position? I guess they're on here. >> So that's the behavioral tech community job coach. >> So most of those are actually vacancies. Um there is only one person um that's that's only one uh position that's
actually filled. The actual rest are actually vacancies. They've some have been unfilled uh prior to this fiscal year and um only two are vacant during this current fiscal year and there's only one position that's actually filled. Thank you for clarifying that because the in the impression was that
ESPs are being removed and you know those are very important positions in our school. Um I also want to say you this is obviously a very very difficult time but as we've mentioned over and over again happening across the country.
My son 14 months ago got a promotion and two weeks later got laid off and it took him 14 months to get a job. So I do know personally how difficult it is when you think you're pretty secure in a job and something happens. We really wish that
we weren't here. But to something that Dr. wholeness said I think is important for all of us to know because we do keep talking about in schools every year when our enrollment goes down there are less teachers in a school because that's how
it works we have to to lose them and so that happens all the time if you're not part of the school system you might not understand that >> the problem is everywhere else didn't necessarily decline along with that as Dr. H whol pointed out. So unfortunately
here's where we find ourselves and um it's it's not an easy or a place that we wanted to be. So here go my couple of page of questions. So first of all I asked and I didn't get it. So I'm hoping that there's a followup and
someone else did also ask it whether it's by department or by um or chart page if we could still have please have the financial impact. So in other words, how much money based on people you're reducing would we save? If you added
something, how much does that cost? And then there'd be a total net cost. My preferences on each page. I think it would be much more transparent that way. So that you know, we as been mentioned a number of times, we're throwing out a total number, but it's not really clear
exactly where that number's coming from. I also agree with the um idea about the MGT that I the presentation was fine. The problem is is that they didn't explain the data on where they came up with that
information. So for as I know that they worked with the superintendent, but this is the first we're interacting with them and it was a lot of money. I think that the report should have had some backup information to it. So, I hope that that also comes to us with some of the
information. I did ask for some of the changes about the um the ESSE specialists, the social workers, all of that. And thank you to um Dr. Hollingsworth for M or Mrs. Hollingsworth for sending that. But
there was there it was missing about mental health and and I have a question on that in particular because on the other there's too many pages here but on the this one that had the chart so this document um I a lot of people emailed us about the
mental health services but on here I only see and I don't want to say it in that term because it's still important but mental health services coordinator where There was one vacancy and that's being so
where in here are the mental health specifically mental health people being affected like what page of the org chart or is it only under and is that the only person? >> Go ahead Miss Hollis. >> So thank you Miss Hixon. Um on the org
chart that would probably predominantly be on page I believe that's nine under the student services but do know that those job titles can be utilized in other departments. So for instance, social workers were a large component of that um reduction which was in the follow-up that we provided. There were
15 individuals impacted and seven vacant positions that we you know provided to um you know reduce. Then looking also at um trying to get my list. We have just to think about uh mental health pieces 11 counselors that were district
counselors that were supporting schools. So, and I think we heard from some of those individuals that, you know, that we would deploy them when there was a school that either didn't have a counselor or was down a counselor or a new counselor to support them to obviously provide that modeling as well
as we had a case manager from our ESC SDNet um uh uh division. We had three family counselors that report to school culture and student prevention. And those individuals were and I believe we heard from them as well here. They had the title of family counselor, but they were doing more prevention programs.
They were not seeing students. So, you know, that that service could be continued on with through other individuals. And then we had 17 vacant school psychologist positions because that is a critical shortage area. They've been vacant for quite some time. And looking at that, um, the only impact there is that we obviously want to
continue to hire and look at our interns. So they're you know obviously in many different facets but the vast majority of them would be in that student services and then obviously some in uh ESSE. >> Okay. But there there was not the mental health ser like just a title of mental
health was only that coordinator >> right only that coordinator because that term is interchangeably used. >> Okay. And my question to that is is because we're by law required to have a mental health coordinator for the district. >> Right. We have a that that was not
impacted. So we had seven mental health coordinators. That one has been vacant. >> No, no, it has to be one. >> We have one. It's Miss It's Miss Winter who's the director. >> Okay. I just want >> So no, I know. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you for that. Um so I agree. Actually, it's right here on
my thing with um both Miss Thompson and Mr. Seivera about the AI assistant director. Actually, I I understand the reasoning behind having an AI department, but I wonder like does it make sense to
have it as its own department or if we're going to be infusing it across? It just doesn't settle right to have a department just about AI when we don't even like have it up and running. And I know that's part of the the issue, but I
don't know. The AI department's not I don't it's not settling well with me. If if I can add Miss Six, it's not a U department just solely focused on AI say digital learning. So there's a lot of other um applicable uh um
instructional strategies, student engagement opportunities, stu uh student enhancements and and all of that. So it's not just about AI, it's it's more than just AI. It's uh about STEM. Um it's about digital materials, digital learning um um and other innovations and
and also leveraging AI. So it's a it's a a little bit more of a composite uh type department um that has a lot of different applied uh and innovative learning opportunities for students and teachers in in in a department.
>> Okay. So my suggestion then is to just call it director digital learning. Um but I again I agree with them. I don't think you need an assistant director on there. you have AI in different places under here and they only So anyway, I
would agree with getting um not having that box. So there's that. Um my suggestion for page two. Um I appreciate what Dr. homelessness said, but I do believe we were very
clear that we wanted a chief facility officer to report directly to the board because of the issues we had. So I have an alternate suggestion and that is to move the chief operations job underneath chief financial offic. So it's a similar
thing but two different jobs. We used to have a deputy superintendent which would be that T level that did the CFO and the operations together. And in some of the conversations with the chief financial officer, they are directly impacted
because they're the ones that are doing the the budgeting along with that and stuff. So instead of facilities moving into chief operations officer, I would rather move chief operation officer into the chief financial officer. And my
suggestion would be to make um the chief of student services and executive director of student services under academics under the chief academic. I don't agree with getting rid of that chief academic officer. That is our sole purpose of existence to be um educating
and and academics is what we do. So, it doesn't make sense to me that we would be doing anything to de to lower the academic. Um, Miss Tixen, can I just uh ask you to I want to make sure that I've captured that correct, both of those
recommendations correctly. So, you want to move the chief facilities officer under the chief financial officer. >> No, no, chief operations officer underneath. So I want the chief. It would be the chief operation and
financial officer and actually I would call it a deputy. >> You're you're saying combined, not a reporting structure. >> Correct. Correct. That they would the similar to what Dr. Hol suggested, but instead of doing chief operations and
chief facility, I'm saying to do chief operations and financial and the T- level is a deputy basically. So you would call it the deputy of operation and financial whatever. I don't >> Okay, hold on. So, all right. Um, and
then >> and then >> the chief student services, you want that to be >> an executive director and it would they would report to the chief academic officer. Um, okay. on page.
You have that on page seven. My pages are all messed up. Oh, I did that already. Page seven. Um and and actually the reason to go back to the assistant directors listening to
MGT what they suggested was we had too many assistant directors and assistant managers. So, um, that's where some of these suggestions are coming from. So, on page nine, um, where it says assistant director for
student support, and it's just kind of hanging out there all by itself with no one reporting under them. I I don't see the need for the assistant director. If I may, um, Miss Hixon, before you make that suggestion, just give, um, Miss Hollensworth an opportunity to be
specific about, um, what that role is for. I know, um, it was a role we created last year, uh, for a specific purpose. Go ahead, Miss Hollinssworth. >> Thank you. So the assistant director for student services uh was directly going to be reporting to the chief student services officer and that role was
really put together to help com compile and really cohesively put all the different departments together so that they could then funnel that out to schools and work with schools along with some customer service issues with um student some of our student services initiatives. So really trying to
continue to have that um collaboration with our school departments as well. >> So what do you mean by school departments? So our school like at our schools so working as the because the uh regionals have assistant directors we were utilizing our assistant director for ESSE and for student services to work collaboratively with our schools
and our regional offices in that prehub model to make sure that we were meeting the needs of our students um more directly with the school connection with the leadership team >> and we have um you know we get those emails right um but there could be way
more emails um but uh but due to this position having some sort of a point person being able to to uh um you know do some troubleshooting with schools and parents and whatever to identify the issues and and um be able to correct some of those things. We're enhancing
those capabilities with regionalizing some efforts but this position has been key um when we introduced it for a specific reason and it's definitely helped to make an impact on some of those issues. Just a FYI before you move forward with your recommendation.
>> Okay. Um well and some of my question was about explaining better the regional hubs because it sounds like we want to get that closer to the schools and it could be a followup to explain to us
exactly who would be the personnel that are making up the regional hubs like we have so um I think Dr. Zean asked about who was the personnel there now. So, we keep hearing we're going to make that better. So, if you could give a
comparison then to what we have now and what we're going to add there. Um, and then maybe we could make a better decision about that. But I I again, I'm just throwing out there that we heard assistant directors and assistant
managers are that extra layer that um we have that other people don't necessarily have. Um, on page Oh, on page three. Sorry, I don't mean to jump around. Is the executive
director of communications new? No, it's not new. It's um repurposed um again just to emphasize um from the board, constituents, our advisories uh about our shortfalls with communication. Um, and so it's just a repurpose position, changing the the job
description and all of that just to make sure um we can do the things that we need to do to communicate better as a system to um all of our constituents be it internal or external. >> Okay. Thank you. Um
on page 13 um executive director of budget I we have a director of capital budget a director of construction director of preconstruction and it looks like executive director of budget line is only going to capital. So I wouldn't I
don't agree with adding an executive director. So if if if I may um that's actually so if we go to the chief financial officers page um >> team help me out there so I can get there quick with 17. Okay if we go to
the chief financial financial officers page 17 that's actually the executive director of budget under the chief financial officer. Um and so those dotted lines are to budget functional areas in different divisions. So there's continuity across the board with the
budget. So we're breaking down walls of isolation, having an executive director that can communicate with directors um um and the like for budget and finance issues in different divisions or different departments so there's no isolation. Uh one of the things and you know Miss M Johnson may not talk about
this but she's she's chasing a lot of information right from division to division department. Um this brings more continuity. It's a repurposed executive director position that we took from a different division. Um, and then it just it it brings all the information under
one umbrella and also an outflow of guidance to those other budget budget directors so we can look at budget in a more holistic way versus in isolation and chasing information around um and things like that. And then she doesn't have a clear number two either. Right.
So, and that's another aspect as well. >> Okay. Um All right. Thank you for that. Page 16, um, you have director professional practices and then underneath there you have two assistant directors.
I don't and then there I mean this isn't a very big department at all. I I would say why do we need those two assistant directors? Again, I'm focusing on what MGT said, which was we had too many assistant directors and managers. So I
think that because underneath there this says assistant director manager professional standards and then underneath says specialist human resources then assistant director employee and evaluations and they have a coordinator for evaluations and a
research specialist. So I don't I don't know why you need assistant directors underneath there. >> Yeah, I know there's a lot of specialized functions in in HR. I give Dr. Lozano an opportunity to kind of go over some of the details of those functions. >> And then also after Dr. Lozano, if we
could hear from MGBT, >> where's that data you put for the number of >> Well, they pull that up. Can I say a couple things about NBC? >> Absolutely. >> Uh not to speak for them. They are on the line. The decision for them not being here in person, uh I thought it was okay for them to be on team, so I'll
own that decision. Um as it relates to um some backup data um they will be having a written report for the board uh early uh May to miday. Um they you know we were racing against the the clock um but that work will uh be shared with the
board. Some of their work can't be shared just by the nature of some of the the work that they do. But they're on the line for any questions that the board has on their presentation or anything else uh as it relates to to their work. >> Appreciate that. But if we're supposed
to vote on this next week, having the report midmay doesn't really help make those decisions. But thank you. >> So as you look at the two assistant director positions, they play defined roles that are clearly separate. The
assistant director of employee evaluations supports the employee evaluation process for every employee in the district. And we did reduce the coordinator position there by one individual. That is a very
small department that does a great job in handling every employees evaluation process which is a year-long process and not just a one-time process where you receive a final evaluation. So in terms
of training our supervisors and providing training, you need um clear leadership and ensuring we're implementing our evaluation process with fidelity and along with the collective bargaining agreements. The assistant
director of professional practices is responsible for we've had 1,384 cases that resulted in that department. supporting supervisors with corrective
action. Not to mention the thousands of calls they get for support that don't lead to an official corrective action document or meeting summary. So, um that assistant director is very consumed in
the work of professional practices as they work alongside our collective bargaining leadership groups and our meet and confer groups. So for the work that's in both of those lanes, the assistant director position is
appropriate to lead that work. >> So what does the director do? So again, the director is meeting actually with the collective bargaining group leadership, putting together um the resources, preparing language
that may need to go in collective bargaining agreements. They are supporting the the work. having four specialists for corrective actions um is is very small with the number of work.
So they're also supporting the actual work and leading that work. >> Okay. I I still don't know that we need two assistant managers there. So I we'll see what other people think. But that's my
>> I'll make a note um Miss Hixon just to review as a group later on as a cabinet just to capture your um your feedback. >> Page 19. Um again assistant director we have director before afterare family and community engagement. Then you have an
assistant director family and community engagement. Then a specialist family engagement specialist community community engagement. I again going to ask why do we need an assistant director there and I'm just >> okay I was typing what page are you on?
>> Yeah, page 19 assists assistant director family and community engagement that it's pretty I don't know why we need an assistant director there. Um so that's that. Then I have um so again if you could do the followup about the regional
hubs and give I know the the you gave us some information but if we could have more what the positions are and what your vision is for moving forward since they're supposed to absorb some of the issues that have been brought up today. Um
there's a lot of places on here where it says NG which means not general funds. So could we also when you're giving us the financial impact telling us if it says NG what fund I know it comes from grants or it could come from different
places but I think it's important that we have that information on there so that the public knows. Um on page six I got a question from somebody that asked me if we're Let me go to page six.
Sorry. Okay. So on page six, we're getting rid of or the boxes are being changed for professional development. So the question was, is there going to be money
for professional development from title two next year as that money was not available this year? >> As it stands today, and I repeat, as it stands today, there will be there will be money uh for for title two. We haven't gotten any word
that there's going to be a decrease. Um um you know, of course, some of this stuff fluctuates based on the number of of students that we have in our district, but as far as um the money, um we've uh Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Someone Well, I think the concern was if you're consolidating that
that program that was there was there money for that. um to go back to my colleagues. So, Miss Thompson suggested on page nine about eliminating the suicide prevention and some student supports and I would support her in
whatever we can do to increase the number of um social workers that we have because we know that when we hear from our students, we've heard it every single time. They for mental health, all they want is someone to talk to. They don't need the programs. they don't need
all of that stuff. I I had a town hall yesterday and the students feel as if they're they're getting more of that that they know where those as we heard in our our student t um you know our student data chats that they feel like they know where people are now. So I the
idea of scaling that back doesn't also sit very >> just a clarifying question um for you Miss Hixon and also Miss Thompson I have it recorded as um utilize the funds to support school uh social workers and school counselors is there a priority for one over the other
>> not for no okay for me >> wherever the need is bigger um so listening to Mr. Severa had a couple of questions. So how he mentioned about things have to start in this building. So super Dr. Heburn, can you tell us how
many positions were cut that are in this building? >> Um and when you say in this building, I'm just going to say admin buildings because we have people spread out all over the place. Uh so they're not particularly just housed in this building.
um the uh cuts um man um that's a actually a difficult question to to answer because we have people spread out all over the place including below chart on chart directors and above >> so maybe you could just get back to us on that and I kind of wanted to point out we keep talking about this building
but some of the mental health services are in this building you know some of the maintenance is in this building so I think we need to be really clear >> when we talk about KCW that and I think to Dr. Hepper's point earlier I I've
said this to people also proportion percentages are are confusing sometimes and I say that when we talk about the referendum because if you only have a 100 people and you're taking 18% that sounds like a big number but it
turns out to be 18 people. If you have 5,500 and you're taking 10% of that, it's less percentage, but you have 550 people. So, it's important. The proportions are important. We could say
lots of things up here, but we gave a directive to to eliminate a thousand positions. You're not going to find a thousand positions in this building. You're just not. It's not. And then another thousand in the next two years. 3,000 people don't work in this
building. So, as much as it's difficult to to do what we're doing, I think we also have to be realistic. And I we can have theatrics all we want, but the the facts are the facts. So, it's not I do think there's needs to be some some more
cuts at the higher levels as I've mentioned, the ones that I just suggested to you, but the idea that most of the cuts are going to come from the top, there's just not you could cut everybody, you'd have a hundred people. So I I just want to be really clear on
that. Um also we talked about a teacher hiring freeze. So my question there is because actually this came up at the student town hall yesterday. If there's a school who needs to fill a teacher position right now, are they able to do that? >> So right now we're leveraging a couple
of strategies. We have filled teacher positions that we can't leverage our current strategy of of placing a district uh person in there. So, we have posted and hired teachers for those positions and the hard hiring freeze that will continue um a hiring teachers will be exempt from that because we have
to start staffing up for the upcoming school year. So, just for the public, I don't don't want them to worry about our um you know, putting a barrier in ability to uh hire teachers um because we're the hard hiring freeze will be for other positions that we strategically look at and use our metric to figure out
if it's a a dire need and it's essential and going to prevent um you know, district operations functioning properly. But for school-based positions, um, as we staff up for the, um, next school year, because we're just ramping down. Right now, it's testing season, but as we start ramping up for the next school year, um, we'll, uh,
teacher positions will be allowed to be hired. We'll be placing the ones that, you know, uh, from the district and also have to go out and recruit and, um, hire at at recruitment fairs as well. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. And, and another question I think that needs
to be explained a little better. So we have teachers who have subjected teaching certificates. In other words, elementary learning, secondary learning, biology, chemistry, English language, all of those things. And then we have
people who have Florida DOE certificates that say social worker or may say family counselor. So can you explain, I guess, to Mr. Lozan, Dr. Lozano, explain those differences. And we mentioned that those people who had subjected certificates
would probably find a landing spot because we have teacher positions open. But what about the people who have a certificate which is from DOE, but it doesn't have a teaching subject on it has social workers. And at any part of
this conversation did we say we were going to replace them with AI. So I'd like you to address those things. Uh before I turn it over to Miss Rockman, no, we're not replacing anybody with AI. We're actually trying to teach people how to um utilize and leverage AI for better effectiveness and and um um
efficiencies. AI is not going to replace anybody, but the people who know how to utilize AI will replace people who don't know how to use it efficiently. Uh so go ahead, Miss Rockman. >> Good afternoon, board members. So yes, there are 15 social workers on the list. So, when you are a um when you're hired
to be eligible to become a social worker, you need to either have a Department of Health license issued by the Department of Health from the state of Florida and or the state department of ed did issue social work certificates. So, in either case, you would be eligible. That certificate or
license does not qualify you to be a classroom teacher. However, if they are interested in being a classroom teacher, we would guide we would gladly be able to assist them in determining what subject area they may be interested in teaching and be able to maybe transition
them into a classroom position and give them an opportunity as you all are familiar with. You can be out of field for a year and we could work with them in adding something to a department of ed certificate if that is so their desire. And so the 15 the 15 have been hired um since 24. There's about 10 that
were hired the 2024 school year and five were recently hired. So those 15, we would definitely um love to work with them if they're interested in going into classroom positions. Also, let me add that through attrition through the remaining social work positions, I do expect some attrition. So as vacancies
do occur due to attrition, we would call them we would certainly welcome them back into those positions. >> Okay. Thank thank you for that explanation. And I'll just um say, you know, we we've said we're going to try to find a landing spot, but it's important for people to understand until
the school year is over or people have given intentions. We honestly just don't know what spots are going to be open because people often don't retire or tell you they're leaving until um they have secured something else. So, I
appreciate that. And the last thing I just want to ask and I again appreciate Miss Hollingsworth for sharing the the information I asked but the you know the public hasn't seen my response. So to the superintendent, please explain to us
how the changes that you've suggested um in terms of the social workers and um and the family counselors and things of that nature, how is it not going to directly impact student services? Because that was our directive was we
did not want student services to be negatively impact impacted. And so how how do you see that? H how do you reconcile what we've heard today and what your vision is? >> Yep, absolutely. Um so I guess the family counselors um we've taken that
off the table. So so move point now um for for that group. But for school social workers and then I'll um if I miss anything, Miss Hollmssworth just fill it in. The school social workers we looked at so you have right now 72 that are actually assigned to individual schools more so for secondary um you
know you have more of those type of issues um at the secondary level. So they're actually assigned to a individual school. You have uh a remaining 68 um that will be assigned to about 140 schools. Um that that ratio before was about one to three schools.
Um now the ratio now would be two to three schools. So for some they may get an additional school to support. Um, but we'll be very strategic in placement for uh certain case loads just to make sure we're not overwhelming um um a social
worker with the support that they're providing and and being very strategic about a lower ratio for for schools that are in need. And and these the actual um um multiple assignments is more so at our elementary schools. We usually put
the assigned individual scoop uh social worker at a high school or a middle school just because of the sheer numbers and needing to be on that on that campus every day. >> Okay. Thank you. And one last thing. So the public perception is that we have taken counselors out of schools um and
that this is going to be detrimental to the students. So let we just need to be clear again. The people the the positions that are being reduced are not directly sitting they're not positions that are assigned to a school. I'm not trying to diminish anything and I want
to say to everyone none of this is about work performance because we have the best people um working for us for sure. I just want to be clear in what we're saying to the public. So if you could again just reiterate this is not from
school budgets correct >> where they're assigned to a particular school. These are district people who do go into schools to support the schools and you know the concern is obviously about the case load. So if you could just >> No, that is absolutely correct Miss
Hixon. Um these are not positions that are on a school's budget. Um these are all district budgeted positions that actually uh provide a level of support and supplement support at schools. Um and being very strategic because we're between this year and next year we're
going to be 20,000 total students down um uh within two years. So, we're being very strategic about how our services that we're going to provide to our our kids and also uh some faculty and staff members for building capacity purposes is directly aligned to our realities
when it comes to enrollment and being very strategic about case loads. If you're going to if you're going to have a slightly higher case load, we're going to try and make sure it's not a school that, you know, have a lot of risk issues. um it we're we're going to have a smaller case load for the folks that are dealing with schools that have a lot
of uh concerns um that need to be addressed. So using some of that methodology just to make sure um that we're not overwhelming um folks as we make these revisions as far as support to our schools. >> Great. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Dr. Zean. >> Thank you. Uh, I I want to start and we had a lot of great speakers today and I appreciate them and I appreciate um so many things here in Ber County, but I I also want to really thank the superintendent and staff. I I've been
through many many many budget drills in my life. That's one of the things I did in in an earlier career and they're difficult. They're really hard. You're you're compassionate and caring about the human beings while at the same time recognizing uh that we've got to do the right thing. The school board asked you,
Mr. superintendent to cut a thousand jobs. And we did that after you volunteered uh to do that reduction as well. If my numbers are correct, uh and I checked this with the CFO yesterday, there are 25,000 students from last year, this year, or next year that we're
losing. That's 225 million of lost revenue. It is a compelling argument that we must change. And this is a good first step. Uh unfortunately a thousand positions uh seems very difficult. Um it is going to
be the first step of a series of steps because this does not get us $225 million. This gets us 75 if we're lucky. Uh right now we're around 40. Um and some of that may not be reoccurring uh of savings. It may be savings this year that we can't bank against next year.
But the truth of the matter is that this uh organization here kicked the can for 25 years. This has been a long long long long long drip of lowered uh uh enrollment. And I'm going to create something new for one of my favorite colleagues. It's
going to be called Hixonomics. And Hixonomics is if you're spending all your money on administrative positions, how much do you have left to pay the people are working in schools? You got nothing. And every year, Miss Hixon says, "Why can't we pay the people that are doing the hardest work, the ones that parents and students will vote with
to come to our schools?" And the answer, Miss Hixon, is very evident today. We have been out of balance for a long time. And this is one one way, but not the last way that we're going to get back in balance. So, thank you, Dr. Heeper, for the hard hard work. It is
bruising, difficult, ugly, late night, all weekend kind of work to do this. Um, and I think that the uh proposal you put on the table is worth uh further consideration. So, I appreciate your focus on efficiency. My concern is, and I have some recommendations that I'll uh
ask the board for their either lack of objection or consensus on, is where do we land? Like, does this plan uh really get us to the point where we're achieving our two biggest goals? Our number one goal, and and the chair says it every time, 100%
proficiency, excuse me, achieving 100% potential of everybody in Broward County schools. And that's a that's a huge goal. I think an equal goal though is winning back students. How do we win students back from public charters, home schools, private schools, people who live in Miami Dade, people who live in
Palm Beach, people who live in Jupiter, uh, and move down here if we really offer them something in schools that is absolutely remarkable. And I want to just share some information that you guys don't have because I just got it at a conference last week. But I sat down with 20 very large uh public charter
school managers and I asked them what their out of school numbers of positions was and the consensus was 7%. Ours is 32%. Is it apples to apples? No. But it is a difference with a distinction. uh when
MGT gets hired to come in and tell us something um and it comports with evidence like that uh I think we have to take it to task and we have to recognize again this is one year of several years uh of change but Dr. Uh Heepburn, what I'm curious about with your proposal,
are we landing in a place where we can win in the public square? >> Yes. I think the plane is like the the tires are that much off the runway, right? This is, as I said before, this is a the the org chart is a fluid document and it's continuous
u review and and um just sitting down with the team and looking looking at how do we innovate and iterate. Um, did we knock it out of the park at one shot with this? I'm going to say no because it's a continuous improvement process. This is we're a large organization.
We're continuing to identify great people to do great things. We're continuing to realize uh areas we can combine and cons and consolidate. So, it is a fluid document, right? As we move forward uh past the approval, uh as people leave, we may not fill those positions, right? All right, that's what
I mean by fluid and be able to say, "Hey, these are this opportunity to combine to be more efficient, more effective, and see if we can win back um um parents, the hearts of parents and students and all the efficiencies that we want to gather." So, the the it's the tires are right there off the runway. They're they're not touching the runway
yet. >> Terrific. Let me let me try and ask another way because this is really important. In your best estimate, does this proposal or something with some modest amendments that I've heard from my colleagues, does it get us to the best place we can after losing a thousand positions and some sum of
money, maybe 75 million, might be less. Does this get us to the best competitive place where we can win back public >> private schools and homechoolers? >> Yes, it does. >> Okay. Thank you. Have the right people. That's important to me because >> you're the systems guy
>> and so the board's supposed to help you, you know, with policies and budget. Um, I view this as probably one of the most strategic things that we're going to do as a board all year, which is to help do the one thing that is not fluid, which is the org chart. I mean, the ORC chart is a fixed number of positions. It
elicits a budget that we'll see later from the CFO. Um, and I appreciate that the people, the incumbents in those boxes will change. Uh but the but the boxes themselves um are a big deal and I think that that's a strategic question. Is this going to get us to where we want
to go? Efficiency but also uh to some of the points that Mr. Sever brought up. Are we going to win in the marketplace uh when we land at the end of this proposal? I have um unfortunately chair 15 ideas and I apologize for taking time. Some of them are very very quick though. Dr. Hippurn. Um I don't think I
need consensus on this, but can you by next week uh add the 200ish positions that you've referenced that get you over the thousand so that we can see the costing for that which should be closer to 50 million instead of 40 million. >> Yes, we can add the position group that
we're currently reviewing. Um and uh we'll provide as much information cuz some of this is dependent on um just the routine attrition that we experienced during this couple of months also. Um and so we'll look at that information to kind of project out what we expect for certain positions too. >> I appreciate that. And I think the
number that we'd like to see is equivalent to the charts that we have in the uh proposal of you know you've talked about 200 positions. If you can just describe the jobs and and average fully burdened cost for those uh we can add those together. What I like about that is it gets us to a thousand and
that was the task um that you offered that you volunteered for and we gave right back to you. Um I believe deeply we've got to make some cuts at the cabinet level. I'm very struck by the way by the Miami Dade model. I don't know if you guys ever gone to our neighbors to the south and watched what they do, but they have four committees.
They have a people committee, they have an ops and facilities committee, they have an academics committee, and they have a finance committee. And those to me form four chiefs that you need to have in every school district. And if I had a chief of staff and a deputy soup
and four chiefs for people, academics, finance, and ops, I would be done. That is a span of control that a superintendent can get to and hold on to. Um I don't want to see anything more about that particular idea. But I'm just telling you um my colleagues have
brought up some ideas about collapsing uh from what I think of as senior executive position, superintendent, deputy superintendent, chiefs, and regional superintendents. Those are 18 positions. Um I will I will vote uh next week for something that has less than 18
positions. And I look forward to your ideas. Um I prefer Dr. Holes's idea to Miss Hixon, but we'll go around and we'll talk about that. I think operations and facilities are very closely interw inter intertwin inter intertwined. Um and that certainly has worked uh well and I also know that if
we don't put some big dollars on the table we're not going to get a great chief facilities officer we don't get a great chief facilities officer we're not going to win the bond and I really really want Broward to get a bond to uh do its nest rounds of schools. Um another idea that I'd like the board to weigh in on chair is is centralizing
custodial support. That is something that's been around for a long time. Uh the superintendent did not pull a trigger on that with uh this proposal, but it does save uh resources and it's an area where we may get better service uh with less dollars. Second one uh that
I'd like to hear the board's view on is centralizing budget support. I'm tired of this hybrid model where we let some schools do it with their own bookkeeper and then we have a excuse me uh Adam a uh a a BSC. Uh if we can save money and have a single way to uh run accounting
in our schools, it makes auditing so much easier. It allows us to clear our books faster at the end of the year. Um and I think it's time to pull the trigger on that as well. Fifth idea, uh to my chief auditor, uh I would love to see, and again this is going to require
board consent, I'd like to see what it would look like to save 10% of costs through contracting less through staff reductions. Uh, in my view, it's time for the office of chief auditor to contribute to the the funds that we need to save. Uh, nobody likes taking risks
anywhere, but I feel like that's also part of the managed risk that we're going through today. >> Oh, sorry. I don't mean to interrupt. You said that was your fifth, but I I've only captured four. So, could you just briefly >> um I didn't need the first one because the said yes, he was going to bring the
chart. Yeah. So, I have consolidating I have have the consolidating the chiefs, centralizing custodial support, centralizing budget support, and then directing the chief auditor. Okay, cool. >> Yeah, thanks so much, chair. Sorry, my numbers are a little off. The first one wasn't a real ask of the board. Um, this
one is uh though um and and I I'm like Dr. Holes. I I have a business and I I can't do this. I have zero overhead, excuse me, overtime in all of my companies. Not Not one person works overtime. You know why? If I need someone else, I go hire another person.
And the way we do that is we pay market wages. And I'm uh frustrated that our solutions so far in overtime um have not followed the model we had for SLPs. Y'all remember what we did for SLPs? We figured out how much we had to pay them to hire enough and then we had to contract for anything that was left over
and that has worked very well. And uh I just feel like we've got to make radical cuts uh to our overtime. And the reason that's part of this proposal is that would add jobs. But if we have to add government jobs in order to reduce overtime, uh, that's great. I will point
out to this board, and I cannot justify this to anyone that I talked to, we had a bus driver that earned $17,000 last year, that is not right. It's not right for the safety of our kids that they were working that many hours. It's not right for our budget,
and we need to fix it. or someone explain to me why it's right to have a bus driver make $107,000 in one year. We were we were killing them. We were absolutely killing them and that's not the right thing to do. I have another ad. Um I'm sorry, Dr.
Eper, but we have 40,000 ESC students and I believe we need an executive director for those students because if you don't have a seat at the tables where decisions and policy and money are being made, if you're not at that table, you're on the menu. and I do not want those students to be on anybody's menu.
And so in my my view uh I would like to see that added back. We had a very uh clear speaker for 60 seconds today that shared some information about before school and after school. So I looked up a little bit of information about that. That operation in Broward County is $55
million. It's applying every year for 2 and 3/4 million of grants. it need. Miss Hixon remembers this. When we flipped over from cse when I was on CSE on board for a year, we worked to increase the management costs that CSSE paid us for
after school and before school. When Miss Hixon was on the board, because she's a better board member I am, they actually did it. I complained, she got it done, but uh that was done in conjunction with that staff. I'm very worried about a $55 million operation that actually pays for itself being on somebody's cut list. Um if that is
really on the cut list, Dr. Hepern, I'd love to see why. biggest change. Zean's old song, superintendent, deputy superintendent, cabinet, regional superintendent,
directors, hold on way down here. Principles, we just can't keep doing it. We We've got to this year make the courageous decision to eliminate at least one layer of management. And Dr. Hepern, you can pick one. I've told you my favorite. But
we cannot run an organization when the superintendent has five layers of management to the primary people that make us money, which are our school-based leaders. And and I I don't know where to cut it. I'll tell you I I'd be happy to be in responsible for making that recommendation, but I'm not.
Uh but I just believe we my recommendation chair is that the soup come back with eliminating one management layer and all of the staff associated with that layer. Uh that's the kind of change that I think is going to allow us to be more competitive uh with the with the other choices that are
have. Uh Dr. Heeper, 503 of the 862 positions on your list are vacant positions. Are they all funded? >> So not all the vacant positions are are funded. um know if the team has the
exact number of positions that are not funded due to ab absorption of those cost savings early on in the year. Okay. Note note to self. Uh next time we ask for positions we were going to add the word funded in front of the positions because cutting a unfunded position
doesn't give us any savings and that's why we're here. Um I believe that that we have to be very careful with vacant positions. Um they're vacant largely because I think Dr. Heern resignations, retirements, uh people who moved on to other employers, right? >> Um uh some of that is true, but a lot of
situations uh just have been un unsuccessful in actually filling those vacancies for quite some time. And so the work >> Yeah. We can't fill them and the work has already been distributed um across the department. So um hence uh the the lack of need for the position anymore.
>> Terrific. Are you confident that these 503 positions which is 60% of your reductions are those kinds of positions where the vacancy is not a required doesn't represent a required amount of work to get >> correct because we've already redistributed that work >> and I have no I have no number 10 chair
um all right let me flip the script a little bit Dr. Heburn did you think about enhancing revenue at the same time you thought about reducing positions? >> Yes. >> How's that going? Um it's a it's a work in progress. Uh new programs, uh looking at different strategies of how we can
address the needs of of families that are doing different things other than our taking advantage of our public schools, providing them different levels of service, being able to uh uh uh enroll in one course to instead of just not getting any FTE at all that mom and
dad who's homeschooling may not be able to teach AP psych. >> We're we're open for business for for that specific course. So, we're looking at all kind of opportunities to bring in revenue to the district. >> Terrific. I'm going to ask you when you bring uh job descriptions back, which senior member of your staff you're going
to assign to increase revenue to Broward County Schools. I would love to have a member of your senior senior staff who raises their hand and says, "I'm going to try and do what Dallas does." Dallas raised $300 million a year for public schools from the private sector. It took 20 years to get to that point. It was a
long, long slog to get there, but they made that commitment. They did it. I I will ask that. Obviously not something we need to agree on today, but I just thought I'd give you a heads up on AI. We got to be really careful about this. Um
because I think I might disagree with the superintendent. AI is a huge efficiency opportunity. Uh it'll eliminate some tasks that are done within jobs. It'll eliminate the need for some jobs. for government organizations. It's a wonderful thing because if we can
use AI to eliminate some clerical jobs, some other jobs that have high replacement value by AI, we can take that savings and we can invested in jobs for which AI can never replace. Fabian, I would call those things teachers. I would call them plumbers. Like you're not going to AI, you know, the blue
collar guys that are out doing the PO work. You're not going to AI teachers. Even though AI can make teachers better, um you're not going to get rid of them. But if I can use AI and we don't need as many people and we don't have to print as much paper because of all these things and we don't have to have as much you know offices to pay for that every
year and computers and things like that and overhead costs. Um I can take those same resources and and pay it out. In government we always have fixed resources and so whatever we can save uh we are. I would like us uh Dr. Heburn uh this is one of my ideas chair uh to come
back and give us a page or two about the AI positions within academics because I think we really really need to understand uh what we're talking about. Are we trying to prepare students to enter the AI economy or are we trying to
use AI to help teachers or both? But to me I think if we understood more about those positions um we may actually grow them and not shrink them. Um I talked about COO and CFO. Last points about Mr. Seivera. Um
my my ask Dr. Heepburn would be that you bring back two or three feasible options about how we can organize around academics. You are a national expert in academics. Your deputy superintendent, she might know more than you by the way, Dr. Heer. She's amazing in academics.
Our academic officer top-notch. We we have unfortunately though as Mr. fair point out we have six chiefs that can use the word academics in their job title. I just would like two or three feasible options for you about if we had to streamline academics what are some
feasible ways that way if we look at them and the costs uh we might be able to decide whether our current structure that you proposed or one of these feasible ones uh uh Dr. Dr. Heeper, could you do that or should I ask my colleagues to support me? >> I'm making a note. >> Thank you, sir. Appreciate the time,
chair. >> Thank you. Um, and we'll I'll probably have to to come back and make sure I c captured everything when we and at the end at the end I'll come back because I think some of them are like more like follow-up requests. Um, yeah, >> Mrs. Alhadaf.
>> So, I'd like to first look at the MGT report on page three. So >> Beacon, if you don't mind, if you can put that page up >> this with the approach and process, it speaks to looking at other school
districts, analyzing and reviewing data from HR and finance data, gathering information from division leaders, also talking to chiefs,
and and then it kind of stops there. So my first question is how many schools did MGT go into? How many teachers did they speak to? And how many principles did they also speak to? And how many unions did they talk to?
>> Um as far as going into schools and talking to schoolbased personnel, they they didn't do that. Um that's not uh particularly to ask um from uh from them. They could do that, but it's a whole lot more money than what we're paying them for the um the work that we've asked them to do to help us
benchmark really understand the um since systems as large as ours or slightly smaller. Um and also the ratios between um student and um non-instructional personnel um and really understanding where we're we're light and
understanding where we're actually uh heavy in certain areas so we can decide on what areas to start um tackling. as far as reductions. >> So that's what I have a a problem with this with this process. I do see on page 11 they do make these suggestions while
getting stakeholder engagement and and it looks like that they would go into schools and have conversations. You know, I think it is lowhanging fruit that our strongest resource we don't connect with to help engage and make
these decisions which are our our teachers, our students, our principles. And it doesn't cost anything. It's a conversation. And you know, I believe that we still need to do that. I think there's still time whether it's it's our
our staff doing it or MGT doing it. It's a huge part of this process that I think is left out and that's why we had hundreds of people here today upset. They weren't a part of the process. They were left out. And not to say that it
it's going to take get their job back or their box back. I'm not saying that necessarily, but it's about us being more efficient as a as a school district and us all collaborating, weighing in and and helping you, Dr. Heep to to make
this very difficult decision. My next uh point would be to my colleagues at one of the last meetings we made a decision to vote on cutting 3,000 positions over three years. I was
I was not voting for that. I know that it was a 63 vote, but if somebody on the prevailing side, I would recommend that you bring that back. My point is this as it was that day is Dr. Heepron is doing the work. He is looking for cuts and and
so to force this number upon him over the next three years I think it makes his job more difficult. It makes the people that are working for Broward County Public Schools feel on edge and and so I think that is a very important
motion that one I feel one of my colleagues should bring back to this board. And then in regards to one of the recommendations by my colleagues to bring to eliminate the chief of facilities position, I'm strongly
against that. The grand jury report that came out that the grand jury report recommended stronger leadership structure and facilities, clear accountability at the top, better qualified management overseeing capital projects, and improved coordination
across departments. and and so I do not think we should eliminate that box. I think that we need to have two distinct boxes with the COO which will be focusing on the daily operations of the entire system that
it's running smoothly and that the chief of facilities can focus on our facilities which we've had so many issues with in the past. My next question is to general counsel. I I think you talked about this, but I
didn't hear your answer in regards to veterans with Florida state law. And how does that work with veterans receiving priority consideration for their jobs >> through the chair? That's something that my office is currently researching. So,
I don't have that answer right now, but we will make sure that you get an answer. >> Okay. And more importantly, that Dr. Heburn gets that answer. >> Yes. Yes. And the next thing is I think it's really important that
we bring back the the social workers that we eliminate it. The social workers play a very critical role in our students mental health and their ability to succeed in school. One of the things that the students have on their
computers is the the talk app. and and so when they connect with the talk app, they're able to connect with resources with social worker, mental health counselor to be able to get the help that they need. And so my next question is in regards to what is the current
ratio of mental health counselor to students. >> Um go ahead Miss Holl because I know we that >> so we don't have mental health counselors. So for right now, for instance, social workers, we have about
right now the ratio is 1.7 or so to a school. When we look at the counseling that is provided for students that have that on their IEP, they have about 30 students for their case load. So, and then family counselors, I'll have give me a second. I'll have to look. And those are through our um program, the
family counseling program that we have with the um community. >> Yeah, it's a multi-layered multi-layered. It's not. So, you have your school counselor, uh, whatever school-based positions, um, that focus on academic counseling or or mental health counseling, uh, your school counselors are are doing a lot of that
work. Then there's an additional layer of support that's um, u, Miss Hollinssworth's talking about from the district office um that we fund. So, um, there's no per se mental health position because it's a multi-layered approach from various jobs um, within the school
and also within the district. >> Okay. But we know that the ratio is extremely low of the amount available people to help our students for the number of students that we have in our schools. And and so I I think this board
should strongly consider keeping these school social worker positions because to reduce that ratio 1.7 to a school of how many students? A thousand 3,000 >> right? It would be dependent on how
large the school is and then that would go up if they needed additional support, >> right? And and we all know that is not an acceptable ratio. It needs to be a lot more social workers, mental health counselors, psychologists per students.
For school safety reasons, we need to be able to reach the root cause of the issues that our students are having. And these counselors are greatly supporting and helping them succeed in school and creating a safer environment.
All right, those are my comments. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Bulman. >> Thanks, chair. I'm gonna um try not to be redundant. So, and I have a lot of papers. So, um I also would like to
thank everyone for coming to speak today. Um I took a lot of notes and I really appreciate uh the way that our community engages in the process. I think it's um very important that we understand what's
happening out um in all the different uh places in Ber County and your opinions have been heard and noted. So, thank you very much for that. Um, and today, as we've said before, but I think you know the the overarching
task before us is that we have to protect this school system that serves so many of our students and is the largest employer in Broward County and really impacts everybody in the county. But we're at a crossroads right now where we have a lot of difficult
decisions to make and we're in a position um that's unenviable. But I I do like to thank the staff because I think everyone has worked very hard to put this initial draft of the org chart together. Um
and it's not clear if there was a if there was a perfect answer that we would come to it, but obviously that that's not the case. So it's a good exercise that we're working on this right now. I I just in my approach when I'm looking at this is that we have to as has been noted by
some of my colleagues you know looking at it as a business even though it's not a a business but we have a product which is school that's I guess a service but our product is a high quality education for all of our students however that looks and so that's like the focus how
do we continue to maintain that while we have to make these changes um and if we don't make the changes is we're not going to have a school district anyway. So there that's I think kind of the driving factor. So that's how I'm
looking at it. And you know when we're going through all these different papers and reports and or pages of org charts, it's it's so difficult to fully understand the complexities of the system that we have here. Um it's it's
difficult for me to understand. And so I think what we want to do here is the least amount of harm when we're making the changes that we need to to get um into a more stable financial state. So um and I and I think the staff has been
faced with a nearly impossible task. Honestly, I think this is the just it's not easy to to make these decisions and you're never going to make people happy having to do this. So I do thank you all for that. Um, I guess my first my first
question is to Dr. Heern. I think Dr. Zean kind of hit on this, but do you feel like we've cut enough in this iteration of the org chart? Do you feel >> that we are going to be able to provide high quality services and programmings
at the school level? >> Yes. >> Based on the way it looks right now, >> yes. Um, at this point in time in this iteration, yes. Um, as I said, it's fluid and and there's more to come during the summer. The great thing about this exercise is that um, the team, especially leadership team had an
opportunity to really dive in deep into our system. I don't think that's been done for quite some time to really understand how we're providing services to students, staff, and and departments to departments and being able to look at how are we providing services. Let's
reflect on some of the complaints we're getting from our own personnel at schools and other departments and also um external um stakeholders and really dive in and have a a very uh objective look and a purposeful next step of enhancing those services and changing
the service model because we don't we're not just cutting. We also have to change the service model as well because it's going to be different with less people and leveraging the technology um that we have at our disposal right now. realigning and >> correct. It's been a great exercise to really dive deep into how we do things.
>> Thank you for that. Um I I wanted to go back my colleagues have hit the on this a little bit and I have just a slightly different kind of question for page seven again for the director of AI and digital services or digital learning.
So based on the way that it's titled Okay. So my understanding is that this is um taking innovative learning and applied learning and putting it in here. And so I I guess my concern and it's been stated as you've answered multiple
questions to Dr. Con. Um I personally have worked directly with applied learning quite a bit over the past years. Um and it's not digital. Oh, it has nothing to do with
AI. You know, we're doing like food forests and recycling programs and speech and debate and mock trial and all those things. So, where is that in the digital and AI digital uh I can't really see. I got >> Yeah. Uh and before I uh um toss it over
to Dr. Con, you know, one of the things that we were bantering back and forth as a team is the name. All right. So I think the the name >> the name is too >> uh it was very long and we wanted to shorten it because we were trying to capture everything that you just said plus the AI plus the digital learning
plus the applied learning opportunities with STEM and all of that and those components. Um so uh we can go back to the drawing board uh while while uh before we come back with the name to kind of be a catchall for all those services. But I'll kick it to you um Dr. Con. >> I think that's a good idea >> Miss Bowman. Great question. So if you
actually take a look, so when we collapsed applied learning and innovative learning, not all of those functions or work actually landed in this one department. So if you go to page six, you'll actually see the electives were moved to secondary
learning and elementary learning. Uh you see where civics uh were integrated into a repurposed supervisor position of called writing, civics engagement and interdisciplinary studies. You'll also see PE in educational programs under
elementary learning. And then under secondary learning, you'll also see where we move music and performing arts and art under those two. Uh the what the other department that stayed under innovative learning is uh the supervisor of
uh STEM plus C and we actually redefined that role to be STEM plus C plus AIXR to be all-encompassing. So that's how those departments kind of moved around based on that because the electives are K12 standards align. So we moved them up there.
>> Okay. Because I don't want to see I I personally think this is some of the best things that we offer that make our >> our programming um distinguishable from other choices. And so that's something I don't want to see lost here. I know
there's great people that work very hard and do a great job in those departments. And so I just would like your uh affir your um assurance that that's not going to go away. I mean I think in fact I would like to see these things um
developed more strongly because I think that is what uh distinguishes us. If we lose that then we really you know >> don't have you know we're not offering as much as we could be. So have your assurance for that? you do and the whole
idea was to ensure that it it is part of the K12 space and that you can integrate it into the classroom experience without it being seen as something separate. >> Okay. Thank you. Um so on and I don't remember which page this is Mr. Dorset.
Where's the the building department page? I I should have written this. >> That would be page 12, I think. >> Yeah, >> 12. Okay. Uh >> actually oh um >> 11
it was moved to 13. >> Well actually on 11. Sorry about sorry about that. >> It's it's under um on page 12. >> Okay. So on page 11 Dr. Wanza I um we spoke about this yesterday. So, I I've got a a question on the boxes when
we were talking about growth management being removed, but I see two boxes that say something about growth management. Were those going to be renamed to asset management or was that
the what we were talking about? So, the growth monitoring one is one that Oh, can I I'm sorry. >> Oh, go ahead. The other ones go for >> um the the growth monitoring one as well as there's another one um that is not here on the chart. It's below the chart is real I think it's real estate um
analyst. Those were the two positions in that department for now. As the superintendent said, this is a working document. And um in my opening comments, I did um advise that we are um going to capitalize on whatever opportunities we can to partner potentially with Broward
County government to see where there could be um some collaboration of efforts and potentially um opportunities in the staffing arena. But for for now um we we also know that each and every board meeting opport you know um we we
have reciprocal use agreements, we have the um lease agreements, we have a lot of things that still have to go through policy type um protocols. So all of that is handled through this office. >> Okay. So perhaps we need a just a different name.
>> Okay. Oh, we'll get back with all these renamings of the boxes here, but okay. Just because it's a little misleading, I understand that we need to do the work, but since as we had discussed, we're not really growing real estate wise, though we're asset managing, I think. Um, okay.
So, uh, Mr. Dorset, so I had I wanted to follow up. Um, Miss Thompson touched on this with the maintenance um the maintenance workers and were
eliminating 39 and um and so I so the my first question is um how do the what fund do the maintenance workers get paid from? >> Um it's a >> for PO >> it's a combination correct me if I'm
wrong Mr. said is is both capital and some uh on general. >> Yes, general fund and capital. >> So how about these that are losing their positions? >> Okay, so Oh, go ahead. >> Go ahead, Mr. Dorson.
>> Okay, my apologies. So the out of the 39 positions, uh 29 of them are funded capital and 10 of them are funded general fund. >> Okay. So does it really help us to
decrease maintenance that are funded out of capital if our real um concern is maintaining our general fund? >> No, it does um uh one thing u for the board and public to know many of our capital positions are actually funded
general out of general budget and then a capital transfer happens to cover that cost. So when you do cut the positions in the future, you won't need to do that capital transfer. So in a sense, initially it's saving you money out of your general for the initial. You won't
have to worry about uh capital transfer to kind of cover some of those expenses, >> but right now it's coming out of the essentially it's coming out of the capital fund. >> Correct. For for some of the positions. And then I I'm having a hard time understand like kind of wrapping my head around the idea that we're going to cut
maintenance people and somehow be proactive and be figuring out what needs to be maintained. Um I just don't see how that works. In fact, I you know when when we go around to the facilities, that's one of the
main you know concerns I think and probably one of our biggest challenges that we have as a school district. So it to me it just would make more sense that we would have more maintenance people than less. >> So I know >> to do the work when it breaks and to do
the preventative maintenance >> and and I'll have Mr. Dorset kind of um provide some details, but it's more about changing some of the structure uh developing uh more nimble teams with specific roles within those teams so when they're actually responding or being proactive, they have the team to
do the work. um that's necessary to either prevent something from happening from preventative maintenance or actually responding to a to an emergency. Um and like I said, the exercise was good for us and really diving in and seeing how how across the system in certain areas, how we're functioning. Uh what are some of the
gaps and some of the barriers based on the information we get all the time from constituents um internally and externally too. So, it's helped to us for to revise some of the structures to make sure the right uh team members are within the different zone groups. And Mr. Dorset, if you want to add any
additional information. >> Yeah, thank you. Uh Dr. Heburn. So, so we did establish a tiger team crew um um and basically that's definitely helping us with the the routine maintenance.
Now, by no means is the are these cuts are going to impact your your safety and security work orders. So, because that those are paramount, we make sure that we take care of those on a regular basis. So, if there's anything that's going to impact the school uh functioning for the day, those things
are responded to immediately and that's going to continue. I think we're going to get better once we um um integrate uh Maximo fully with the the the mobile platform which I think should be ready
sometime in June. Um we've already started uh a pilot program. Um with that we we're seeing results positive results with with uh return on on on response time and so forth. So, I think that's
definitely going to gonna going to be a positive move once we roll that out. >> Oh, and I appreciate that. I think that's great. I And I wasn't suggesting that we were going to skimp on safety and security. I I think two things can be true. Maximo, integrating Maximo can
make us um more nimble and uh more responsive, but also having enough people to do the work seems to be I I don't know. I I for for me this doesn't isn't a place where I would be looking to cut um based on the demands that we
have for facilities right now. Um and then I so um one thing that's been brought up multiple times and I just wondering if this was given uh consideration is the retirement age of
some of the people that have uh have been notified that they're losing their position particularly those that are so close to vesting fully vesting and being in retirement. Was that something that we
>> So, um >> I don't think we like specifically targeted, you know, uh people at the end of their career. I think the people that were here and spoke, right, are the ones who are at the end of their career. This is based on the amount of cuts we have people along the spectrum of their
career. Some as hired as like six months ago, um and some that are, you know, throughout that whole entire spectrum. And I know for some groups there are some contractual things that we do have to follow um as we notify or people
being able to have recall rights and bump other people and things like that. So um we have all kind of complexities when it actually comes to collective bargaining agreements and what's entitlement who what entitlements certain employee groups actually have. But I think most of the speakers that
were here are those who at the end of their career, but we have a lot of people who are are along the spectrum. >> And not not that you were targeting >> Yeah. >> people that are of retirement age. I wasn't suggesting that. I It's just that it seems a shame that someone that's given 28 and
a half years to the system is now going to be um discontinued with their work. Just as an example. Yeah. Um >> if it's a um and and this this is not probably true for all the employee groups, but if it's a group of only four people in that department and we cut
three, right, and it's a veteran staff, that's going to be an impact to a veteran staff, right? Versus if you have a large group of people um within a department, it's a little bit different. But if a if a employee group or a
certain part of a department is small and we're you know reducing those services, it may have an impact like that. So it just depends on the department um and what's what service category we're reducing, how many employees are in that service category. If it's a small group and they've been
doing it for a long time, it's going to impact. >> Yeah. I I mean I would as we're going back if there's positions that become available I you know would like that to know that we're looking at those people that only have a little bit of time left to fully retire when we're looking at
positions um because you know they've >> this isn't the private sector and so there's sacrifice that's been made getting paid less and different things working with our children working under difficult conditions for a lot of years and so I that that needs to be respected
and really like paid attention to. >> It is and completely understand for sure, >> Miss Dribruno. >> Yeah. So, I just wanted to make sure that we also understand that in addition to what Dr. Heburn said regarding language in the collective bargaining agreements, there's also some statutes
that guide us when we're looking at these types of decisions. So, we want to make sure that we're completely uh legally compliant. Um, and all of those factors have to be taken into consideration. >> Okay. Yeah. I I wasn't suggesting we weren't legally compliant. I'm just
talking about compassion towards people that are um almost at the end of their career and just have a little bit more to go. Um I uh agree with Dr. Heburn uh in terms of the before and after care for the same the same Dr. Zean. I'm
sorry Dr. Heburn I do not agree with you for that. Um >> Dr. Zean, sorry doctors up here. Um Dr. there's even because of the revenue generating um aspect of it. I mean, it's like when you're paying for yourself, then that's a position that
should stay in in my in my opinion. Um and so I would I would support putting that back up there. Um, and then I think that's the only thing the only other ones I have. Um, and you know, I I kind
of defer to Miss Thompson, her wheelhouse is the social workers and um I I really appreciate the exercise that was done that uh in terms of making the tough decisions to
uh figure out how to cut. Um, I think that it was done with a lot of uh, thoughtfulness and a lot of analysis and really like if you want someone to get in there and do it, I I I really appreciate I think they're excellent.
Um, but I am I am concerned as others are about, you know, what services are being provided at the school level. And so, um, I would support, uh, Miss Thompson's proposal that she made when she start
about the so the social worker structure that she had supported. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Rupert. >> You can hear me. Um, I want to truly thank everybody that came out and took the time and the heart to uh really
share their concerns and suggestions. Um, it means a lot to us and we were and are listening. Um, a few of the ideas that I've I've jotted out, jotted down, excuse me, when people were were speaking and then in my prep before, you
know, coming here is um, you know, sometimes you you don't know what you don't know until it's brought forward. And um, I didn't know that there was uh, a BCPS cares data central to be able to get into. So,
I tried to, but I couldn't get into it on my work phone. And the reason I I asked that is um that the data in there would help us see a much bigger picture of how our
employees and families feel, the level of customer service that's available to see um if their performance is working. is the are we do we have the correct frameworks that may be warranted to ensure that our organization values and
long-term objectives are actually what we want them to be. It also shares that the level of leadership and how their con their concerns are addressed. Um I hearing the superintendent give us those statistics
about um having I'm sorry three years worth how many students did you say? I think it was 25 to 30 right 25 to 30,000. So, um I think that would be an
important aspect and I did see with with um MGT think that's what it was that they will be moving forward with the customer service um I guess kind of a a thing but I thought you know what goodness gracious we have this here this has been
done forever and obviously if we can use some of this to this to align it because it it just the data is um already in there so I'd be curious to get that. Um, and another part that I wanted to
discuss is um to get answered, not today. You can get a follow-up from me. How much does the district currently spend on consultants? And I'd like the breakdown by department. So instead of hiring more consultants
upon consultants, let's look to our own potential layoff people at our employees, the people who are have their heart and soul here to fill those needs.
You know, we need to grow our own. We talk about it, but somehow it just doesn't get exactly done. So, I would really highly recommend that and especially that and I believe he's gone. The nice young
gentleman that was here that was a plumber and uh it didn't go unnoticed that you know for one year he's having to refix things that consultants came in to do. Um and that's you know we need to
truly make sure that that that we're actually promoting our own and um additionally that instead of laying off I'll just say it you know if you look at the the
organizational charts from 200910 1011 you can see where the deficits came in with our facilities. I mean, it was uh I I'm I believe, but please correct me if I'm wrong, about 40% of that workforce that we had was
decimated. And I I'm not being theatrical about that. That's what happened. And of course, it was to um help us be solvent, but also it really eroded what I think
is a boon for government, and that's job security. You know, I would much rather we beef up our apprenticeships. I would be love to spend more money doing that because guess what? It's always a win in
Tallahassee. They love workforce dollars. So, just a thought for for my colleagues to think about for later. Um, the AI position. I I I think that um it would be an
important aspect to kind of wait on that, especially in the light that um Sweden, who is very um AI uh front-facing is now pulling back on their digital platforms to help raise
their students uh reading scores and literacy. And that's a that's a wakeup call. And I I I meant to print it out, but I I forgot Dr. Zean because I know that you'd be interested. You probably already read it because it was like from 3 days ago. Um but that was uh a
tremendous uh wakeup call for me. And and honestly, as somebody who accesses computers, goes through stuff, I still prefer to have my own notes, pen and paper, and be able to look at my documents because I can comprehend
better because I'm a visual learner. um as a mom, teacher, foster adopted mother, um suicide prevention, mental health services, foster care, those are big.
Those truly can make and break our students. And um I'm curious about the coordinator suicide prevention. I didn't know where
we landed because I had to run to the ladies room um on that particular um box, let's just call it. But my con my concern and it is not just mine but when I became a board member I did
not understand back then because nobody told me that there were various areas in Broward County that were higher risk for suicides than other areas. And that's just the gosh darn truth right there.
And I do not want to see a pulling back of that. So the area of great increased risk, we know them now. Deerfield Beach, Pompo Beach, MSD, can they still be given that extra
support that they need? And and I think it's important for the public, but also the board members to understand what does that look like that they're getting now. to for me to be able to support anything like this. I need to
know that because you never want to go to another funeral as many as I've done in District 7 for mental health issues. So, I'm not a fan of reducing our mental health counselors, suicide prevention,
um, our family counselors, our psychologists, our social workers, and it's it's incre increasingly important to be able to have those services because you cannot quantify
a child's life. So the three coordinators, I really want to see much more backup with that. But like I said, it's an area of great concern for me. You know, as as a mom who adopted a 10-year-old child from
foster care, there are a lot of issues that those kids go through in school, out of school. My son was in 17 foster homes before we adopted him at 10. and those people that kept him going.
Wilton Manners Elementary School, kudos to them. They had what they needed to serve those students and I would not support anything that reduces any of that impact there. Um, I talked already
about the PO department. We need to scale up our trades people, not downsize. I want to be very clear on this. Before I support an outside vendor for trade positions, I want our labor
groups to be brought in to see how they can help us. It's a win-win for our students, our employees, and our community all together. And in the vein of being a community,
all of us, I think we need to have some skin in the game. everyone. And I'm going to start by saying board members, 10% of your salary
for the next year will go towards school services for our our children, will go for teachers. We will not reduce them. I'm willing for that. And I wouldn't I would just go on
and say anybody that's above the the line 10% has to go and fill this hole. We may not want it. I personally financially can't support it, but I emotionally can't
live without doing that because that's skin in the game and that's putting it right where it is. Because when we have employees coming in here losing their jobs, not being able to lose their to to pay their mortgage, they feel that.
We all feel that in this room because we hear them. So, I propose to do that for schoolboard members and anybody above the the line. I don't know. I'm sure that Madame council uh will probably have something to do with
that, but um I I I think that should happen. I also propose to address um MGT's findings that were heavy middle managers and a nod to Miss Thompson's gauntlet to trim chief positions as well to impose a 10% salary cut for all those
positions on the chart and above. And I said including all board members. I had a question about um most of the unfilled positions were unfilled all last year and this year they're not included in the current adopted budget
or were they? Yes, they were included, but the the cost savings were absorbed early on during the summer uh for those positions. And then we had vacancies throughout this year and many vacancies happening through our our hiring our
hiring freeze which resulted in attrition but um not uh hiring for that position. So you have those a lot of those vacancies too. >> Okay. So a little bit more information in in writing about the finances of that. How does this translate into the
savings? Um, and I think now the rest of them were specific and my colleagues have asked for that those questions. They already did it. Decline enrollment of children with disabilities. I knew
that was wrong. I was going to bring attention to it. So, absolutely none of the above. And thank you to the superintendent and to the board um for hopefully approving that. um these will not uh the ESSE positions were that we
discussed are off the off the list right now and I truly truly thank you for all that. Um I want to make sure that we're covering statutory requirements and I'll I'll end once again by saying uh not in favor of losing counselors,
psychologists, social workers. I know what we have right now is not enough by statute and case load is crazy. We have to find another way. And um I'd love to hear everybody's um
response to the 10% cut and if that's possible. What kind of a difference would that make physically um to the chart positions with people who were to be laid off if that could save people's jobs?
Do it. That's all I've got for that. But I don't want to also see any educators leaving the field, any mental health people. Let we need to put them our money where the mouth is. And also um
how are we going to which is one of the reasons why I brought up BCPS cares. how are we going to address um that tremendous amount of people um that we need to to get rid of um moving
forward. So um that that's an important aspect. So I think that was it. um may got may have gotten another page or two in here, but I tried to uh coordinate as well as much
as I could. And um I know it's not easy. It's uh it's part of the job, but we have to have a plan to bring back those students that we're losing. and I
don't see a an actual plan to do that. So when we bring back the um the org chart to make sure that specifically what are we doing to bring those students back? I don't think we're doing enough. I agree with Dr. regime
and the rest of my colleagues. And if we're talking about that and we have the best thing in town, people need to come back and we need to show them that we care. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Um
>> I just want to um if I may. So, I want to prioritize follow-ups. This is next week. So, we have a lot of other follow-ups from past board meetings that are uh coming due. And so, I just want to just let the board know I'm going to have staff put those on pause to
prioritize this so you guys get this information sooner. So, just a just an FYI. Yep. >> Thank you. Before we uh go to round two, I'd like the opportunity to speak. Um and M to Miss Rupert's point, Mr. Bert, I I
believe you were at the FSBA uh conference in December where there was a pretty big presentation about the demographic changes happening um throughout the country and I mean a lot of the there are going to be fewer
students coming back because there are fewer students in general. So, I think we've talked a lot, at least in my five years on the board, about plans to to recruiting and retaining students, but there's just fewer students in general. Um, so I just wanted to clarify that.
Um, I want to thank everyone again who came out to speak and who took the time to write. I hope that, you know, with the superintendent's recommendation to put back those ESSE positions, some some of our staff and some of our community
advocates can feel heard. Um, I'm I know that, you know, not everyone is going to be pleased with the organizational chart moving forward, but um I just want people to know that we are listening. We are taking these these issues seriously.
Um, and it's it's really not easy to to hear all of the the heartache that's happening. Um, but that's part of our job and and I really respect everyone who has used their voice to speak up. Um, I want to again thank the superintendent for hearing that ESC
voice and bringing back those positions. Um, and I want to thank my colleagues who brought solutions to the table. Um, Dr. wholeness, Miss Thompson, Miss Hixon, um Dr. Zemen, Mrs. Alhidef, Miss Roupert. I, you know, I appreciate all
of the the suggestions that were brought forward. Um really looking at boxes and trying to instead of just saying like I don't like this, um really saying like here's a solution to what I don't like about this. Um so thank you to my colleagues on that. Um,
I'll just reiterate the concerns that I've heard and I I appreciated Mrs. Alhadef's specific proposal to bring back the the school social worker positions. That that's something that I support. Um, you know, I was not a social worker, but I was a teacher who would often have to write referrals to
the social worker. I understood how uh how loaded their case load was. Um, and I just can't support any cuts to counselor, social workers, DHH positions. We are in a mental health crisis. Not that DHH is a mental health
piece, but I just had to add that in there because it's a school-based position. Um, so I would ask that those positions be brought back, all the the mental health pieces. I support Miss Thompson's uh recommendations around that. Um, those specific positions that
I I'll will will reiterate at the end of this. Um, I do have some con some questions about how logistically some of this plays out, specifically our hiring freeze, because I I feel like as I go to schools, there is maybe a
misunderstanding or a miscommunication. So, if I am a principal at ABC Elementary and my one of my my first grade teachers retires or resigns, what are my next steps?
So their their next step is to look internally first. They they uh may able may they may have an instructional coach on campus that can assume those duties. Um they may have a a very small class size across the board due to attrition of students throughout the year and they
can make some of those uh shifts. The next if if there's no opportunity internally then the next step is to talk to the regional uh and regional uh soup and director and then um that is brought to a committee um that reviews the need
reviews the budget and all of that and then um it's either depending on the position if a permanent sub right that's uh uh have the credentials or whatnot and the skill set to support that class can be used they'll use a permanent sub.
If not, we will um advertise the position. The the angle of going with the permanent sub is that if it's a it may be projected to decline next year and if you hire this person now you got to let them go. Um and then um one other thought I had about that that I just uh
bless you that I just completely lost. Um yeah, let's leave it at that. I think your question may spark what I was going to say. >> Um is there a scenario in which >> Well, I I'll just get you remember. >> Yes. Okay. Um the thing about uh posting and hiring especially this time of the
year you may not have that person on board until this until after the school year. So we try to look at other areas um of how we can address that need right now today. >> Right. I guess the concern that I have and it's like anecdotal things I hear
out um in the community and this is coming from like teachers who do not come to schoolboard meetings, parents who are not emailing us. They like they feel almost uncomfortable saying anything to me because they don't want to, you know, they don't want to like
cause trouble, which it's not trouble. This is part of our job, right? But these are just like regular people who who are living the Broward School's life every day. Um, you know, I I know of a fifth grade class of one of my constituents that is um at about 28
students, an AP language teacher in my district that has 38 students. Uh, a first grade class with 24 students, a second grade class that started off with 20 students and now is up to 28. um because one of the teachers
left and they merged that that they they split the class. Um and these are having been a first grade teacher that's a pretty large class size and I think this is something that we hear a lot every year is about class size class size and it feels kind of counterintuitive that
we have enrollment declines but class size continues to be an issue. So help me understand like why that's an issue. um why why that continues to be a challenge that we have but also like how we are going to address that how that
the org chart the the the changes that you're proposing how that impacts the class size issue. >> Yeah. Um so inherently the the strategy that has been implemented probably about 10 plus years with the high school block scheduling cost a lot of money. Um that
money right um it's one pot of money. So, if we're putting a lot of money on extra periods and to afford a block schedule, that money traditionally over the past 10 years, um, elementary schools have succumbed to that. Um, and
as a result, they have higher class sizes than our neighbors to the north and to the south and across the district. Um and so uh with the uh proposed um allocation of how to of of doing a what we call a plus one, add an additional kid to a class at um um high
school or or secondary schools, adding a two additional and you add here, you take away class uh students here to to decrease class sizes. So that's what the the team has looked at. um uh they've gone the most conservative route um
possible to not have such a shock impact um on the system, but in the same vein trying to reduce class sizes at the elementary level. As I stated before, it's something that we're going to have to tackle with the high school scheduling to really tackle that work. since I've been here since deputy
superintendent. That's one of the the things I've asked the question like why is why is our class size this size um in Broward County when I started diving deep is because we're a block schedule and all the uh extra period supplements at the high school level cost a lot of money um and that's one of the main
reasons why and so we've been trying to tackle that by massaging the allocation model just slightly to reduce but we've got a lot of a lot of work to do ahead but and like I say doing it more uh in a more intimate way um communicating with external internal stakeholders about the
block schedule and see what we can do to tackle that. >> Okay. And what about like the AP language teacher who has 38 students in her in her class. >> So you uh so if that school right you go back to course schedule let's say you have one or two teachers that have the
ability and the credentials to teach that course and you have more students um that need that course than teachers but you and this is a school-based right issue. you may not have confidence that the the honors English teacher or the regular English teacher can teach that
uh curriculum. So for for most principles, you can be like, "Hey, uh Miss Leonardi, you're doing an awesome job, but I got some kids that right that I need in this class. They're demonstrating that level of success and potential. Um are you willing to take take on take that on?" because as a
principal I may have understand that this teacher right now doesn't have that skill set and capability to do that or and and in addition what principles do too for that same teachers give them extra period supplements so they can spread it out um in more than just five classes and six to eight classes if
possible um to um make sure the class sizes are comparable but it all depends on the credentials and skill set of that teacher for a course like that AP lang AP psych AP chemistry you know all your high level accelerated um courses and
then those are difficult um positions for us to hire also. >> Okay. Um I'll just briefly reiterate I think Miss Bulman's concern about uh you know laying people off who are you know
months away from retirement. Um if we can take a look at that and uh you know try to not impact someone's retirement that way. And I I guess I'm wondering too if I know like they do this in the private sector if there is any way to like encourage
um you know an early retirement and things like that. Have we looked at >> we have um for us we can't afford it. We did that. Those are all the strategies many of you talked about, especially that one. Uh because teachers actually emailed us and asked us, "Hey, I'm ready to retire if you guys are able to do
this." And um CFO and her team looked at and we in the in the financial situation we're in, we can't afford it. >> Okay. >> Y >> um I also just want to uplift the comments of our our phobi phobi representative. Um, I cannot support the
privatization of, you know, the people who are working in our schools. you know, it's hard hearing uh from one of our plumbers. I think his name was Cisco, you know, who made a demonstrable difference in his school and the facilities in his school and and
um you know, so if we have to make the tough decision to eliminate that position, um you know, I would I cannot support replacing it with a a you know, a contract private contractor. >> I agree with you, too. We're going to look very closely to make sure we're not
in that predicament where we have to um outsource because we we this plan is not about outsourcing those type of um positions. We're, you know, trying to downsize appropriately. And um yeah, I I agree with you and the sentiment on the board on that.
>> Thank you. Um I feel very uncomfortable with the AI and digital learning positions on on page seven. um at least at the moment. Uh I think it may or may not shock some
people to hear that. I think like a focus on classical curriculum is important. Um but I would you know I understand that AI does play a role and digital learning does play a role in in our education and we have to make sure that our students are prepared for uh
with with the appropriate digital skills. But I would feel much more comfortable talking about and revisiting those positions after our workshop in June. Um to that I think is really going to provide us a framework for digital learning and AI. Um so I would you know
that's my proposal is that we wait on those positions until after the workshop in June. I know you've said that this is a a fluid working document. Um, help me understand uh to the MGT piece.
I believe we were told that we were going to get a report early May, but then we're voting on this next week. So, help me understand. >> Go ahead, Mr. Sullivan. >> Yes. So, um, MGT's work was really to
guide cabinet, ensuring that we were benchmarking and validating the cuts that we're making. So that was really the focus. Um so for them to generate the report it would have taken away from from that work uh and given the timeline aggressive timeline that we had at the
point that we did bring them on. But they will be um again providing the the board with with their findings which will include um some of the work they did for this but also some work on how we can continue to rightsize uh going forward. So will be will the report be
is it more of a forward thinking document like what we're going to like the road map roadmap for the next I believe it was two or three years or is it kind of a reflection on this >> it's going to be some of both so
reflection on the work they did do in a more um uh contained within that report of what they've done up to this point and then a look a little bit of a look forward as as well what they recommend our next course of action as it relates to uh the continuation of the need to right size.
>> Okay. I I don't know if there is any way to get that sooner. Um I mean next week is end of April. >> They are going to be able to provide uh some materials before um that vote next week. Um but it won't be uh the entirety of the report, but they will be able to
provide some of the um information they relied on to benchmark. >> Okay. Um, what would be I don't know if you have this information now, but if we eliminated cabinet, all of cabinet,
>> what would be the cost savings associated with that? >> Yep, I actually have that. Um, so just a reminder, we spent about 1.9 um billion dollars of our general fund on personnel. If we eliminated all of cabinet, uh, that would be about 3.8 8
uh million which is uh salary infringe which is less than 1% um I think it was like a tenth of a percent that we spend on personnel. >> I would just ask the audience if they need to have a private conversation they can uh enter the prefunction room. We
all sat here and listen to all of the public comment and I would ask that uh any side conversations happen outside so that we can focus on the conversation at hand and we can all be respectful. Dr. Dr. Hepburn, uh what would be the cost savings if we lift eliminated all
positions above the line? >> All positions um on the chart um which includes uh band B through E and pay grades 2537. Um total salary and fringe is about 74
million. That's about 4% of our $ 1.9 billion um general fund um for all employees. >> Do we know how many? So, for each for cabinet and for all positions above the line. So, and I I didn't uh um you might
have to to give me a followup, but how many positions would we be eliminating if we eliminated cabinet? >> Actually, I have that. Just a sec. If we eliminated all positions on the chart, you said >> on the chart and then just also just cabinet.
>> Okay. On the chart, that would be all positions on the chart. Uh before cuts 581 after cuts uh minus 91 um a little bit about call it 490
um >> directors and above um that I don't have just uh cabinet but directors and above that would be 110 um positions um take out 18
um about 90 something and two. >> Okay. >> If we eliminated all of cabinet, >> um cabinet, I have nine direct reports if you include a chief financial uh not chief financial but chief facilities officer as it is on
the proposed org chart. Um so you'd be getting rid of nine positions. >> How many >> including myself? 10. >> Okay. Um, do we know how many of the positions above the line we were expecting to retire or become vacant by June 30th this year?
>> Um, go ahead, Dr. Lozado. >> Historically, that would be about 25. >> Not on the >> on the Got it. >> On the chart or above? >> Um, were there different scenarios you
looked at that cut certain positions and not others? Yes, we we did a deep dive since December um collaboratively as a group um going through each division, going through each department, um setting some goals, uh looking at
different scenarios. Um as I said, it was a great exercise and like uh really reviewing the service models for uh departments for different functions within departments. Um, and so we looked at all type of scenarios and um settled on the ones that we thought was going to
uh give the greatest value to the district um and to the students that were serving in our in our schools and everybody in between. >> And I believe Dr. Zean asked uh for you to bring one of those scenarios back to us that add that cut an additional 200ish positions.
>> So we can expect that. >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, what process can we put in place or are you planning on putting in place to analyze the impact of the org chart
changes to measure whether or not they're effective? >> Yeah. Um, great question. So, there's various KPIs or key performance indicators u within each division. Um, most of those are often tied to the evaluations of senior staff. Um, so we review those. U we have specific
dashboards associated with those and the priorities that match those so we can see how the workflows making sure we're we're meeting our outcomes um over time um and then specific goals within uh department so it kind of cascades down and also your strap plan too. So our our
strap plan kind of guides the work as well that's ultimately based on student performance. But the the key performance indicators that are associated with divisions and priorities within that division cascade down into the organization as you get to different layers. They're building their goals
based on that and and also the the strategic plan. So quickly because we monitor this um almost on a bi-weekly basis, we will be able to see um if we're having an impact with the change or if our impact has wneed because of
the change and we can pivot as a result because of the frequency um that we review and and um leveraging insight with co-pilot and instruments like that to give us the quickest amount of insight in the quickest amount of time so we can be more proactive than reactive. >> Okay. I think maybe next year, you know,
moving forward with the when every time we do the org chart, having that just a review of the the changes that were made in the previous year and, you know, the impact and and all of that would be helpful. >> Absolutely. >> Um, I wanted to ask our general counsel
uh a few questions. Um, I know Mrs. Alhidef had mentioned uh someone being on the prevailing side of a vote um bringing back the the directive uh to to Dr. Heper, but if I'm
if I'm remembering correctly uh in previous years, we a board member doesn't have to be on a on the prevailing side of a vote to bring an item back if it's in a separate meeting. Am I correct? >> Yeah. So, because it's not in the same
meeting, we'll be looking at a different type of motion. We're looking at at the um motion to resend or to amend something previously adopted and we'll go through that process. >> Okay. >> And I'll send the board an email that explains that process. >> Okay. So, could any if I was on I was on
the losing side of that vote, could I bring that item back? >> Yes, because this is going to be this is not a motion to reconsider. >> Got it. Okay. Um, and then to Miss Rupert's question, are board member salaries governed by the board or by state statute?
>> The salaries are governed by state statute. >> Okay. And >> I I shouldn't say state statute. It's by the legislature. They come up with a book that give all of the public officials their salary. >> Okay. And can't we already voluntarily reduce uh or forgo our salaries?
>> Yes. >> Okay. >> If you want to. >> Thank you. Can I just add one more thing to the chair and just to make sure um having a 10% across the board is something that we'd have to really dive into because there will be some legal consequences.
Um so we really have to look at that um very carefully. >> Okay. Um before we go to round two, I know there is a member of the audience who is here for an item in our special meeting uh our special school board meeting. Um, so I don't know if we want
to go to that special school board meeting or if we want to go to round two and go through all the also go through all the board members suggestions and gather consensus. Miss Rupert, >> um, if we have somebody waiting for the special school board meeting,
>> then I I would say take that, >> Miss Thompson. Um, I guess I would like to see how many people have comments for round two because I just have a question on what are we doing next with >> uh Miss Hixon wanted to be added to round two. I don't know if anyone else
and then I have to go through each of the proposals that were given. So >> um >> we have >> I I agree with my colleagues whatever they decide. >> Miss Bulman. >> Yes, please. Um,
>> I'd rather finish this. We've had people here all day for this that are still here. So, Dr. >> Holmes. Oh, >> Madam Chair, do we have an idea um how many people are waiting to speak in the special school board meeting and on how many items? >> Miss Bulman. >> It's one person, one item.
>> One person, one item. So, I would um and Miss uh board member Bulman, do you know they've been waiting all day for >> a few hours, I believe. a couple hours to >> Okay. So, I don't mind u temporarily going to the special school board meeting to discuss that particular item
for that person and then resume the um workshop for >> Dr. Zean. >> Mr. Sea, >> I'd like to see the individual who's been waiting for the special school board meeting be given the opportunity to speak and hopefully they'll be
allotted their full three minutes uh on that agenda item. Thank you, >> Mrs. Alhadf. >> I rather us put 15 minutes on the clock and finish this item and then go to the schoolboard meeting. >> Does anyone object to Mrs. Alhadf's suggestion? >> No, that's fine.
>> Okay, 15 minutes on the clock uh for this. So, 3:45 we should be done with this conversation and uh we will go to the specialist school board meeting. Thank you for that solution, Mrs. Alhidef, Miss Hixon. >> Thank you. Quick couple of questions.
Dr. Dr. Hepper, are there any classroom teachers that are released from the proposal you gave to that we discussed today? >> Classroom teachers. >> Yes. >> That are in our schools. >> Correct. >> No. >> Thank you. Um I agree with the before and after care being added back in um
with some of my colleagues. Um just wanted to also point out to everyone that the superintendent from the beginning has said that this plan would include those vacant positions. So I think you know fussing about the fact that this includes vacant positions was
is mute point because he always has said it would be part of that. Um Dr. Heeper, can you explain to us based on what you've heard from many different board members here today what is the direction about social workers? >> Um from what I've heard the consensus is
to bring them back. >> Thank you so much. Um why my other question why are we eliminating the DHH position? >> I heard that. Go ahead. Um Miss Hollister. >> So thank you. Um the one DHH position that we are eliminating it's really not
being eliminated. We're moving it into a DHH monitor so they can do evaluations because it is a critical shortage area and we have a very hard time trying to um find people that are certified. So they'll kind of be able to do a multiaceted approach. All the DHH interpreters that are at schools, no
school services have been impacted and their ratios, if you give me two seconds, are um give me one second. We have that sorry they have about um there's 11 staff that
itinerate teachers with 30 to 40 students and that's been the case the last several years. So we've been able to continue to maintain the services and supports. >> Okay. So we're not losing a DHH. We're changing it into a monitor position. >> Okay. Thank you. Um I would like to suggest that we have another workshop. I
do not think we will be ready to vote on this next week. There's been lots of suggestions given to to the superintendent and I I think it'll be another 5h hour schoolboard meeting if we try to squeeze it in next week. I
don't think we're ready for that. So I'd like to hear my colleagues um thoughts on that. And then just finally, I'd like to say when I was explaining the percentage issue, I wasn't saying that I agreed with the reductions that were given here. I was just simply trying as
Mrs. um Leonardi was just trying to do to say that there are not a thousand upper level positions to be reduced. So to be transparent to the public, we and we I think we all gave some ideas on how we could still reduce upper level management, but you have to be
realistic. there are going to be positions below the line because there are more of them. Did your fi Dr. Heepron did the 5,500 that you mentioned include any classroom teachers or was that beyond classroom teachers? >> That is all district um positions, no
classroom teachers, no no school-based positions on school budgets. >> Okay. Thank you. And to Mrs. Rupert's suggestion about schoolboard pay, I don't mind, but I just want people to understand our pay is not that much. It would be like $5,000 a person. That
would be $45,000. That would be maybe one position. And I'm if that's something we want to do, I'm perfectly fine with that. But I just want people because we keep getting emails that we make a lot of money. And I uh I just want them to know that reducing our pay
would not really do a lot for the district, but I'm happy to to join in if that's the the will of the board. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss Thompson. >> Um, so I my first we make about $50,000
and for some people that have three kids at home, that's actually a lot of money and we work just just as much as our teachers. Um, not just as much, but in a different capacity this uh so I think
that is a little alarming for for one board member that makes the least amount of the entire board. Um but my question was really about the setup for what we're doing next. So Hixon covered it. >> Dr. Zean,
>> thanks Chair. Um I just have to make a comment about this MGT con uh contract. Uh we were approached last week to add a significant amount of money to this contract. If I had been told that this contract was going to be restricted to supporting the staff, I would have vehemently opposed it. We are part of
Broward County Schools as well. And if a contractor comes in and does an analysis of something we have to make the decision about, which is an organization chart, I find it offensive that the report goes to the staff and not to us with great speed. So that was not made clear to us last week that we were approving a contract that would be
written to serve the staff and the superintendent and not serve us. Uh but we actually have statutory authority over org charts and budgets. And that whole report was about org charts and budgets. So I don't understand why we were not a primary customer of that contract. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anyone else for round two before I start? Mr. Dr. Hoes. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. So um Dr. Hburn, uh a suggestion that was made regarding not only a 10% reduction in board
members uh uh compensation, but also in specific staff. Uh can you um for the sake of the public um in terms of reducing existing staff by 10% um how
this impact in terms of bargaining units and so on and so forth? Uh what the process would involve and um what the potential sort of push backs would be if we start to reduce existing staff pay by 10%.
>> Yes, absolutely. I know um there's uh some bargaining that has to take place for some of those staff um and as well as the general counsel mentioned some legal ramifications for um just blankantly doing so. >> Okay. So um there would be um a process
involved, right? And um in terms of um taking these specific staff and start to look at reducing their pay um um what anticipated push backs do you would you expect to receive from from from staff
and which staff would this impact? Um I think you'll get another line in another board another board meeting for another topic uh to be honest and um um from what Miss Rupert said it would be about the 500 plus employees that are actually
on the chart. >> Okay. And would that potentially bring those staff members below what would be considered um market pay, market rate pay for those particular positions? Uh yes, our our market analysis for many of these jobs, the market pay is
significantly higher um for many of the positions that we have right now. >> Okay. So >> chart would do you would do you believe this would impact our ability to attract uh the best qualified individuals considering that we are already
seemingly below market rate and possibly reducing staff pay again by an additional 10%. Um, yes, I I I do think we will have a hard time recruiting to fill certain positions. Uh, we just talked about, you know, raising the the COO or whatever combination to a different payband just to make sure we
can recruit recruit um high quality personnel. >> And how would this impact in your opinion um student achievement? >> Um, you know, we already have an impact on morale with what we're doing morale of what we're doing right now. Um I
think you know just it'll just compound that impact. >> Okay. So I guess my concern is I I don't want to and I understand board member RPerts and I uh suggestion and I know it's coming from a great place and I appreciate it. Um but at the same time
I'm looking at the bigger picture to see the greater impact that it would have um you know districtwide on on morale on student achievement and so on and so forth. And so while it may seem like a good gesture, uh the consequences have
not been evaluated to determine how grave they will be should we try to reduce staff pay by an additional 10% that is already below market rate. So I am concerned about that aspect of it and the long-term effect even though it looks good in the present. Um, I did
also hear uh board member um uh Thompson concern regarding, you know, um I run a business. Um but there's some board members who were here and they're doing a um a phenomenal job. They're working very hard. It's u it's a lot of work, a
lot of responsibility. And the pay for a school board member is a beginning teacher's salary. And uh there are some board members that we have here that this is their only income. They have children and so on and so forth. So listening to board member
Thompson's concern and I'm sure she's not the only one. Um it would be it would be concerning for me to I would have to think seriously about that. It may not impact me. uh um but 5,000 to
another board member may be significant um because this is their only source of income and a a board member and I've seen it and I I heard board member Hixon mention that she's seen comments uh regarding schoolboard members in terms
of compensation. A school board member is paid a beginning teacher's salary. a school board member does not get an executive director pay or a director pay. It's a beginning teacher salary and for the magnitude of uh and and
responsibility that's given to board members. Um you know I just don't want the wrong information to be out there. And so I'm I'm concerned about that aspect as well. board member Roert. Um because even though some of us could afford the 5%, we have others with
children and this is their only income. And I'm also concerned about the bigger picture if we reduce staffing pay, which is about 500 staff by 10%. Um how would that impact their morale and how would that impact our ability to attract great staff and how would that
impact student achievement? So on a bigger picture, I'm I'm concerned about that suggestion and I would have to think a lot more deeply about it. Thank you. >> All right. Anyone else for round two with five minutes left?
Okay. So I will try to get through this as quick as possible. if we could uh eliminate the commentary. Um >> I will >> I don't feel comfortable with a thumbs up thumbs down. Mr. Pre Bruno, do is
there an issue? Because we don't vote in schoolboard meetings. So what I was going to do is ask for if anyone objected to something. Um but if if Mr. Preo, if you're okay with doing the thumbs up, thumbs down, I will do that. I just we've you know I don't want to run a foul of sunshine.
>> Yeah. Well, the the thumbs up, thumbs down is okay with regards to consensus, but with that said, I am not a fan of thumbs up, thumbs down. I prefer the whether or not there's any objection. >> Um Okay. All right. So, I will go through all of the board member
suggestions that I've captured. Um and then if I missed out anything, uh you can flag me down. Um but I'll just ask for any objections and if you could just say that uh into the record. So I have
Dr. Hoes is merging the chief facilities officer into the COO position. Are there any objections? >> Alf objection. Hixon objection. Um, so Madam Chair, just for my clarification because I'm recording our next steps that we need to talk about
and review. What does that mean? Does is it the >> So if what a majority or is there an objection means that it doesn't >> If the majority objects then you will not you would not >> chair. Just for a point of clarification though, um it is entirely within the
authority of any school board member uh when this comes back to a schoolboard meeting to make that same motion. Correct. >> And so I'm understanding that uh formally presenting it would not make sense if there's any objection. Um I'd ask my colleagues to be careful with their objections because we may want to
hear the staffing of some of these ideas because it could come back in a motion. So um not exactly sure if that's clear as mud or not, but um uh any of these things that in this particular case anybody could bring that idea back as a
motion uh once the item is brought back to a schoolboard meeting. Yeah, that was clear to me. Um, we have three minutes left. Uh, so I have four people objecting to that. Uh, but three people having made in their comments affirming merging the chief facilities officer
into the CEO. Miss Thompson. >> Well, oh, sorry. I meant to say say out loud I object. So, Mrs. Alhadf, Miss Leonardi, and Miss Rubert, Miss Hixon. Anyone else object to that? So, that is something that you want to go ahead and present. Uh, Dr. Heburn. Do I need to go
through Miss Thompson's consolidation of of uh positions in favor of hiring more social workers or I think we heard everyone's voice. >> Yes, Miss Hixon. >> I'm just going to say Mrs. Roupert had a objection to some of the changes of the
suicide prevention. So I >> Did anyone else have any objections to Miss Thompson's recommendations around those positions? Nope. Okay. So you were going to move forward. you have your direction on that. Um,
Miss Hixon's, uh, suggestion to go to another workshop. I know Dr. Heeper and you wanted to speak to that. >> Yes. Um, I don't suggest going to another workshop. Um, if we need additional time today, I just want to remind the board that these are people also that are in these positions and we
want to give them the most amount of time to help them transition if they're going to be um, impacted. I think adding additional uh workshop adds actually two weeks to almost 3 weeks to this process. And we backed this up to this point just to make sure that people have the time
to get the support they need to transition into something else, helping our staff identifying vacant roles that are still on the books that we can help um um people understand that they can transition into those. I think that is important. We need the time today to you know go through additional things. We have all the follow-ups that that the
that uh the board asked for. We're going to prioritize that information like I said before to get it to you. Uh you can add three more minutes cuz I'm talking. I'm sorry I'm taking up some of their time. Um and um we have all the follow-ups. We prioritize all that information and put a pause on the
follow-ups that were coming so we can get this information to the board and um and the chair is going through all the um the consensus items. Um, >> sorry, just to clarify the so the two mental health coordinators that oversee SSIS and the SSIS positions are going to
be cut. Everyone >> that was there was no objection to that. >> Just clarify, >> but I do need to come back to one of your recommendations. So I don't I I haven't forgotten about that. I skipped one by accident. >> Um, so can we finish the on Miss Hixon's who else would like to go to another
workshop or is there any objection going to another workshop? Object Alf >> Dr. Zean, Mrs. Alhadf, I object to going to another workshop. Anyone else? Miss Thompson.
>> Uh, what does Dr. Hepper recommend? >> I do not recommend. I want to give the for the purpose of doing this meeting earlier than normal to give our employees the opportunity to get the resources and support they need to transition. >> So, just vote next week.
>> Yeah, just vote. Next week we have the follow-ups for the information ask and the chair is going through consensus items and so we'll be ready because we're going to prioritize this and put a pause on some of the other things that are are uh in the queue for follow-ups. >> Then I would like to go just to vote.
Miss Bowman, >> um will we have time to talk about it next week again? And then can we have assurance that the we will be talked to before so that we and we see it in a timely manner so we're >> Yes. And some time
>> Yeah. I'm sorry I cut you off. Miss Bowman, you can finish. I apologize. Um and uh Mr. Sullivan is going to go over run a show the the timeline when we're done. >> And if I can add something real quick, sir. Uh and I think to make the board more comfortable, what you're voting for next week if we have that vote is or
chart and the boxes. So it doesn't have to do with reappointment of people in those boxes and it has nothing to do with the people below the um the um below the chart. Those reappointments would happen in June when the superintendent presents his reappointment letters or uh list to the
board. >> Yeah. I I just think if we have enough time to talk with the people that are making the the proposals, then we'll be prepared for the meeting. So then I don't object. >> Dr. Holes. >> Madam Chair, I'll go with the superintendent's recommendation. >> Miss Hixon. Thank you. I just want to
point out something though. We wouldn't have known about what was under the line unless people reached out to us because the org chart itself doesn't have those under the line. So the discussions we all had with the superintendent and and
staff didn't include any of those positions. I mean that you that's why I asked you know for us to have all of them given to us in the documents. So, I appreciate that you heard when I asked for that, but that's my concern is we're going to rush to a vote next week when
we've asked for all kinds of different changes here and you have a week to to talk to all of us, get it situated, and let the public have a chance to look at it. I have huge concerns with that, but I just want to point out if you're
talking to us, I'd like to also know what's all included under the line. Thank you. >> All right. Uh >> just real quick and and I'm sorry to disagree with you, Chief Taff, but we have every authority in the world to go below the line when this comes back up next uh to us. So I I was heard very
clearly from the general counsel that that's within our authorities. And if we bring it up next week, um we can act. >> All right. I have the majority of the board not wanting to go to another workshop. So you have your direction on that. I do want to go back to one of
Miss Thompson's recommendations. Um, on page seven, the consolidation of the director and assistant director of the digital learning and AI. Does anyone object to that? Dr. Zean. Um, anyone else objecting? I have Miss
Thompson, Miss Bulman, and myself in support of that. >> And you said that as well, Miss Hixon. >> Support. Okay. So, the majority of the board supports consolidating those two
positions. Okay. Um, combining the So, Miss Hixon's recommendation to combine the COO and CFO. I guess that would be moot because the majority of the board supported uh >> Dr. Hois. Well, we didn't we didn't
gather gather consensus on that, did we? >> We did. No, we did. >> We did. So the majority of the board supported merging the COO and chief facilities officer. Okay. Sorry about that. All right. Madam Chair. >> Yep. M Dr. Hein speak to that. >> Um that's
no um speak to the um advantage of of uh combining >> or the disadvantage of combining. um the this event well um just to for the board's um um history lesson we had it combined um before um with our previous
COO she had the duties of uh COO and chief facilities officers due to her expertise in both areas uh we then and then there was um the board wanted us to have a chief facilities officer separately so we broke it out and that
chief facilities officer was to um report directly to the COO Um and then the board told us that they want the chief facilities officer to report directly to the um superintendent. So yes, uh with a
increase in pay, you'll be able to find and recruit somebody who can who has the skill set um to do both. Um but yes, it's it's the market analysis for that position. The pay grade is is definitely super high. >> Yep.
>> Okay. I just need some clarity on that. Um, and I I think I misread Miss Hixon's suggestion. So, Miss Hixon's suggestion was to move the chief facilities officer uh to report under the COO. No, >> was to combine the COO with the CFO and
make it a >> deputy position. Okay. >> And keep the Yeah, sorry. The chief financial officer and keep the chief facilities officer under the superintendent. >> Um, I was in support of that. Miss
Hixon, is anyone else in Dr. Zean objects? >> Alf object. >> Miss Rupert. Anyone else? Anyone else want to weigh in? Because we have seven
people weighing in on that. >> Okay. All right. So, we'll do the majority object to that. Um, and then Miss Hixon recommended that the chief student services uh be moved to an executive director reporting to the chief academic officer. I support that. Does anyone else Does anyone object to
that? >> The chief student services move the chief of student services to an executive director position reporting to the chief academic officer. Did I capture that correctly, Miss Hixon? >> Yes. Or could go directly to the deputy
superintendent. Yeah. Okay. Do you have your direction, Dr. Heepern? All right. Dr. Zean's proposal, consolidating chiefs. Does anyone object to consolidating chief positions? >> That was that was just the
>> inherently >> we just >> did that with the previous discussion. So, I don't know if >> Okay. Centralizing custodial support. Does anyone object to that proposal? Centralizing custodial support was how
he worded it. >> We should be centralizing schools custo custodial support. >> Would we Miss Thompson? >> I think >> I think I need more information and to hear from the schools on how that might impact them. So, could we ask for more
information about what it would look like to centralize custodial support and centralize budget support since that was another Does anyone object to asking for what that would look like? >> All right, Dr. Hein, do you have your direction? >> Uh, directing the chief auditor to save
uh to deliver 10% cost savings. Does anyone object to that? >> Although, object. >> Um, all right. The majority of the board is objecting to that. Cuts to additional cuts to overtime. Does anyone object to that?
>> Yeah. Um and um just a quick note, we did uh we're leveraging our insight using co-pilot um um 365 and to date we have year-over-year we have uh a cost savings of about $12 million in overtime to date. Uh so we predict that overtime
will be significantly less next year. So the cost savings will be a little bit less. >> All right. Dr. Zean uh recommended an executive director for ESC. Does anyone object to that? And he Dr. Zean recommended doing an
executive director for ESC, >> which will be bringing back the position that we cut. >> Bringing back the position that was cut. Does anyone object to that? Nope. Okay. >> So, >> go ahead, Dr. Hein. Okay, we'll figure it out because we
just talked about the chief of student services where the executive director actually reported to her. Um, and now we're talking about bringing back the executive director. Um, it's a little director. >> No, but we're talking about Dr. Zean's
um um statement about bringing back the executive director of ESC. that person reported it was a redirect report to the chief of student services. >> So that's what >> Miss Thompson >> um I object because we heard from advocates that that extra layer of
bureaucracy wasn't needed. Um and then I also want to note that I object to moving the student services under the deputy superintendent because we've done that before and it didn't work well. Sorry, >> Mr. Spelberg and Mr. Leanne.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. I I just want to weigh in. We've been pretty quiet today. Want to weigh in on the student services aspect. We've seen significant and it's data proven significant improvements for our students and being able to access resources uh with a dedicated focus in
that division. So, um you know, we definitely have a a perspective in terms of the work being done in that division and the sole focus uh on student services has gone a long way. Um there's also much work to do when it comes to
student feedback programs. That's something that lives in the student services division. Uh and needs to be expanded. Right. So just want to provide, you know, some context to that. Uh and and what the impact that would have on on our students. >> Okay. Miss Bulman. >> I Yeah. I do not support changing how it
is right now. Okay. I I'd like to just say that >> you mean the executive director of ESC or the student services piece? >> I keep keep Yeah, the student services. I keep it the way it is. >> Okay. So, let's go back to that. So, it was the recommendation to change the chief student services to an executive
director reporting to either the chief academic officer or the deputy superintendent. So, who objects to that? Miss Thompson, Miss Bulman? I will object to that now. Miss Rupert,
anyone else? >> So, that leaves us >> alf. Do you have your direction on that? Does that make more sense now? >> What's the direction? I I didn't count the >> So to leave the chief of student services alone. >> Gotcha. I'm about to delete that right
now. So, >> okay. Um, so and then let let me go back to the executive director for ESC. Uh, so we would Where do we land on that? >> I object to >> I also object.
>> All right. There's four of us objecting to reinstating the executive director for ESE. >> And Lori does too. >> Mr. Spelberg, >> did you Okay. Sorry. Um, >> would you like me to object, Madam
Chair? >> No, >> you just gave me a lot more power than I have. >> No, I thought I saw you texted me and then I was like my face I Anyway. Um, okay. You have a lot more power than all of us, so that's that's for the best. Um
the bringing back before and after care uh that department was another one of Dr. Zeman's recommendations. Where do we land on that? Miss Hixon. >> She agrees. >> Madam Chair, can I just comment on that? We we didn't eliminate that position.
>> Yeah, it's it's still a function under >> So it's still a function. It's just who's in that who's in that box that the superintendent is >> um Okay. Does I have a question then >> because it what was the department before besides the director who else was
in the afterare department because that now you have afterare and family engagement and no box underneath there says afterare specifically >> Dr. What is there? >> So currently on the current ORC chart,
there is a director for before and after care and that's all that's there that's on the ORC chart. There are positions below the line that are in within that department. Currently in the um family and community engagement department,
which reports to um Mr. Sullivan. Currently, there are those three positions that you see, the assistant director and the um the two um what what do they call exact those? So, th those three lines under the director currently
and the um family and community engagement department. So, the the realignment basically combines two departments in into one. And before and I'm going to go back probably be maybe three years uh there w those those
departments were together. Granted there was an executive director and a director. >> So >> I'm sorry. My proposal was to make a director as it is right now. >> I I I I clearly Yes. >> But so because that's the confusing
part. If if you make a director of >> breaking it back out, >> you're breaking it back out. So that's my question. what would be underneath like what would be the difference between what's being proposed right now and putting it back the way it is because we don't see under the line
position so it's very confusing >> so currently below the below the line which you don't see on the chart there are um I believe it's four three program specialists two instructional facilitators um there's a bookkeeping services is
there a computer um systems person There there is a it's a um it's a small department. It is and they do a lot of work. Um and then on the family and community engagement side, I think there are about um nine staff members on in that unit as
well. And correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Solomon, because they currently report to him. So, so that work would merge. It would come together as one department. Um there still would be some staff in before and after school care and there would be the staff in family and community engagement that would report
to the director of be before and afterare and family and community engagement and again as Dr. Zean said his um recommendation what he's proposing obviously to his colleagues is to and correct me if I'm wrong is to keep two standalone departments.
>> Okay. Can I have an alternate to that? But >> go ahead and fix that. >> So what if if instead of making a director, you made it whatever is under assistant director so that you have a separate person in charge of before and afterare because I
think that's what you're trying to get to. Um and >> all we're doing today is asking to bring it back. >> Okay. Speaking your mic, >> the mic not >> bring it back as it was. We can decide next week kind of levels and things like
that once we get the whole package. >> Okay. Does anyone uh object to bringing it back as it was as Dr. Zean is recommending? Because if if you do or if you want to make changes to the OR chart
at the at the meeting with motions and and things, then you might want to keep it the way it is. But does anyone object to bringing it back to the way it was? Miss Thompson, >> I I like the superintendent's proposal.
Uh Dr. Lozano. So if it goes back to current org chart now you have an executive director of family and community engagement that was under the >> chief of staff and then Eric Anderson's
position that before and after care position stays under Dr. Wanza, that's how it is currently in 2526. >> The position is as an executive director or a director. >> It's executive director family and community engagement under the chief of
staff on this 2526 or chart >> and the senior person who's solely responsible for before and after schools at what level? >> Director. That's all I'm proposing is that for a $55 million a year operation that makes money for us >> that that that
senior role for before and afterare be a director. >> He's asking to add director >> to the to delineate director and not be two together directors. Yes. >> You said it exactly right. >> Do you have your direction, Dr. Heburn?
>> He's not saying to put it back the way it was this year. He's saying have two directors. Yes. >> And the role of before and afterare under one director and the family community as it's listed >> both both as directors but to stand alone. I I Yes.
>> Okay. I I that's the consensus. I just want to make >> I mean there is only two objections to that. So uh Dr. Zeman's proposal to eliminate one layer of management and all staff associated with that layer. Uh Miss Thompson, you object.
Miss Hixon, you object. Miss Bowman, you object. Miss Rupert, you object. >> Wow. Um, >> Miss Bowman, >> I mean, is this something that's practical? This is going to come
next week. He's going to remove a layer of management and we're going to vote on it next week. I mean, is that in in any world happening in real life? >> I'm going to go ahead and object. So that's five no votes or no uh objections. A member of senior staff in
charge of increasing revenue. So adding that role to a member of senior staff. Does anyone object to that? Okay. No objections to that. Um >> hold on. Hold on. Chair slow up. Let me
uh And what was that last one you just mentioned? um have adding the role of increasing revenue, adding that role to a member of senior staff. >> And then uh you I don't know if you captured the followup on coming back to us with AI positions within academics.
>> I have that as a follow-up. >> And then Dr. Zean, I have this. I'm not sure if I misrote it. Uh bringing back two to three options on how we can streamline I don't know if there was an >> academics. >> Academics. Thank you. I knew I was
missing a word there. >> Does anyone object to that? >> Seeing no objection. All right. And then finally, uh this is what I have recorded, so we may have to add some things, but Miss Rupert's uh suggestion on reducing board member salaries. I have Miss Roupert and Miss Hixon.
>> Chair, before we go too farther on that, general counsel, is that legal? Can this board vote to reduce my salary? your your salary is set by the legislature. >> Okay. So, I'm I'm confused about why we would talk about this. This is not the purview of the board.
>> Well, >> it's just not >> I think there was a recommendation to voluntarily reduce if the board was inclined to do that >> and we and we already have the ability as the chair pointed out to anybody can voluntarily forego their salary which means that money would go back to the
general fund. >> Yeah. So I again I'm I'm just I don't know why I don't know where we go with this. I guess >> it it's not I mean it's not really in the purview of the school board because it is set by the legislature. You can just voluntarily I think the other part
of the question was the 10% for everybody on the chart. I believe it was >> oh 10% for everyone on the chart. Did I miss that? That's what it >> um so reducing the salaries for everyone on the chart by 10%.
>> Madam Chair, >> yeah, >> I just want to clarify, are we allowed to be discussing reducing salaries of staff um without going through the proper process? Miss Bruno.
>> So again, I think Dr. Heperin said that and I'm saying it as well. um we have a lot of legal considerations that will be the uh collective bargaining agreements, contracts. You have just other legal liability that may come with something like this. So I would advise that if the
board is inclined to get more information, then you can direct us to get more information or just um just say yes or no whether or not you want us to move in that direction to look into it. >> Okay. But does this board have the right to discuss reducing a large number of
employees salaries by 10% without following the formal process? >> No, I mean that's why I'm saying that you would have to >> there's lots of legal exposure and liability. >> All right. So for those two proposals, I would just like to have a yes or a no, a
move even exploring it. Um so for reducing the salaries on the chart by 10%. Does anyone object to that? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Alhadf, Dr. Zeman, Dr. Holes, Miss Hixon, Miss Bulman, Miss Thompson,
myself. Okay. So, and then uh I think Dr. Zeman's line of questioning kind of mirrored my line of questioning. I don't know that we uh can really legally t like it's not in our purview. We don't set our salaries. um probably for the
best uh and we can already voluntarily reduce our salaries. Uh so I don't know that we need to have that conversation anyway. Okay. Was there anything I missed? Yes, that's what it makes.
>> So on page I had made the suggestion on page 16 about the two assistant directors under director of professional practices and then on page 19. My suggestion was to um eliminate the assistant director
under family and community engagement. >> Okay. So could you reiterate the first one please in the picture? >> So page 16 under director professional practices there's an assistant director for professional standards and then another assistant director employee evaluations and my suggestion was to
eliminate those boxes. >> Does anyone object to that? I'll object. >> Anyone else? So it's page 16 to assistant directors. I didn't capture the Miss Thompson >> you. So, Miss Thompson, Miss Ahadaf
object to eliminating those two positions. Anyone else? >> Miss Hixon, can you say those again, please? >> Uh, the the two assistant directors underneath the director of professional practices. >> Dr. Zean objects. We have three
objections. Is anyone else object to eliminating those two assistant directors? Miss Bulman, anyone else? That's four objections. Is this the one that Dr. Lozano talked about earlier? >> Page 16.
>> Yes. And then page 19, the assistant director, family and community engagement. >> All right. We're still on the page 16 director. Is that Sorry. >> There's a I just want the board to understand there's consequences for some of this because it's a lot of work um
with a small already small team. All right, I will go ahead and object to that. So that's five objections for the recommendation for page 16. Um, page 19, it was again the dire the assistant director of what, Miss Hixon?
>> Family and community engagement. >> Miss Thompson objects. Mrs. Alf object. >> Does anyone >> Miss Rupert objects? Dr. objects. Okay. And Miss Bulman objects. Okay. Anyone else? I know I missed some other stuff. So I Mr. Sea, I
had you on the list and then Dr. Hoes. >> Thank you, Chair. Um, the majority, if not all of my suggestions were skipped, so I'd like to go through them again. On page three, the combination of the
media and community relations manager and the district relations coordinator suggested those positions be combined. >> Can you just restate that? I couldn't hear you. Media and communication. >> Paragraph three. >> Page three. >> Oh, sorry. Paragraph three. Page three.
Middle of the page. directly under the director of media relations, manager media and community relations, coordinator, district relations. Combine those two positions. >> Does anyone object to that? >> Dr. Zean, Dr. Hoes, we're on page three.
>> Three. >> Miss Thompson, >> small team. Um, just want to remember the board communications. I used a nice word subpar. So >> the Miss Hixon, Miss Bulman, Miss
Thompson, Dr. Zean, and uh Dr. Holes. Did I capture? And I will object to that. Go ahead, Mr. Seivera. >> Page four. Assistant Superintendent, Chief Academic Officer, suggesting that those roles be combined.
And um quite frankly, I don't care how that work gets divvied up. I just want those two roles combined. >> Does anyone object to that? Dr. Zeman, >> I do only because I asked to bring two or three options of combining. So that
would be all rather than >> Miss Thompson objects. Miss Hixon object. >> Just want to remind us our key mission is academics. >> Yeah. >> I I just want to say that out loud. So,
Miss Rupert objects. >> Madame Chair, I object. And I just want clarification. The the assistant uh superintendent, this is in reference to the STTO. >> Yes. That's school transformation. >> I um significantly absolutely object to that because this district is where it
is um in a large part because of the SDO. >> Okay. So, majority of the board objects to that. Go ahead, Mr. Suba. Page six under director of leadership development and teacher support specific positions supervisor leadership development
coordinator leadership development. I think these two positions should be combined. >> Does anyone object to that or Dr. He do you have any >> um I would just say um you say supervisor of teacher support I'm sorry do miss >> all the way to the right >> uh >> under the director of leadership
development and teacher support underneath the principal coach >> first position supervisor leadership development second position coordinator leadership development the supervisor and the coordinator I believe should be combined
>> so there's four total positions there >> correct Correct. >> So, um you're saying combine it into two. >> Correct. >> Um so, reduce the two. So, one one >> correct >> one position per per role is what you're saying. >> Correct. Thank you for the clarification.
>> Does anyone object to that, >> Dr. Con? >> Yeah, that's going to significantly impact our leadership pipeline across the district and in school support as well. So, I mean, I I would ask to reconsider that, but we can come back
with a follow-up to explain why that would be a significant impact. >> Not going to reconsider. So, I'm interested to hear what my colleagues have to say. >> Miss Thompson. >> Anyone else objecting to that? >> Um, Madam Chair, >> Dr. Can I just hear again from the
superintendent the impact that that would have if we removed two of these um uh leadership uh positions? >> Yeah. So um you know building the capacity of our school leaders is vitally important to doing the work at our schools, right? They have a lot of
autonomy and they're and making sure they have the ability to carry out those roles. But I'll also um um ask Dr. Con to add any additional additional information. And remember we we're sixth largest school district at scale. We got 230 plus schools. That's 230 plus
principles um and assistant principles and so with leadership teams. So um building uh school leadership capacity is is an essential part of of what we do to uh give them that level of autonomy to carry out the functions that they need to do dayto-day.
>> Okay. So Dr. He before he comment the suggestion is to remove two out of the four. >> Correct. So you instead of having two per box you would have one >> understand. So if if one is removed out of the four would that still be significantly impactful? >> It still is a significant impact. Uh we
will do whatever the board is directing us to do but it would be a significant impact because the supervisor leadership is all leadership in the district from the bus level to the food nutrition. It's all leadership in the entire district. It's just not schoolbased.
I object. >> Dr. Zean objects. Miss Bulman. Miss Hixon, go ahead. >> Just want to point out um on that chart though, the supervisor for teacher development has two people. There's way
more teachers than there is any leadership. So reducing leadership to two still gives you way more people to cover leadership than teachers. So I, you know, when we're looking at equity here, I I think that the suggestion
isn't as detrimental as maybe we're being told. >> And just to add, Miss Hixon, the work of building capacity for teachers is that's what it's all embedded in um the functions under the director of elementary learning, the functions under the director of secondary learning. A lot of teacher development. Um sec
especially secondary is very content based, so it's embedded in there. And that's why you don't need uh so many positions um in the uh teacher development area because we're building teacher capacity across the board in all those other areas. Uh science uh uh uh u
all of those other functions. So it's embedded in there. That's why you that's why you don't see a lot of positions there because it's the building capacity is u is uh embedded in those specific content areas or level areas versus in leadership. Leadership is leadership. We
don't have math teacher ma math right a math principal and all of that. So that's why you see it um like that. Just a FYI. >> Any other objections? All right. There are only four objections to that. So do you have your
direction on that? >> Uh next one, Mr. Sea. >> Last one. Chair page 13 under facilities. Um directly under the executive director of budget. If we go down
to uh pay C and B, there is an assistant director of capital budgeting who reports to the director and then the executive director. Underneath that assistant director are multiple analysts. Um my suggestion would be to remove the assistant director of capital
budget. >> Are there any other any objections to that? Dr. Mr. Zean, Miss Thompson, Miss Bowman, you had a question or you object? >> I'd like to hear from Miss Johnson about what that what >> Miss Johnson
>> or that facility. Sorry, Mr. Dorson. >> Yeah. >> From someone. Well, um that that position that position not only uh deals with u uh
capital budget uh uh from the facility standpoint, it deals with maintenance as well. So, it it and and we are in constant contact with the assistant director uh um laying out plans, putting uh establishing the five-year capital
plan, all of those things. So that's a huge uh u undertaking to to to leave to one individual. So I would strongly uh uh recommend that that position stay. >> Just want to make sure I'm clear on my
ask because it's not one individual. Okay? You have the executive director of budget. You have the director of capital budget. I'm suggesting you remove the assistant director of capital budget. Keep all the analysts. keep the director and obviously keep the executive
director. >> So, Miss um Miss Johnson, >> there's a um twofold what's going on. The executive director is only going to cover the financial portion because we need oversight of the financial as well as food service and transportation.
So, they got it corai they doesn't it's a indirect reporting structure. It's not a direct reporting structure to the executive director. that is on my or chart on page 17. So it's not a direct if you see the Zea
director they position is more the assistant director budget and of the BSC in the grant is reporting all to the ZEA director and there's an indirect reporting structure of the capital program food service and transportation
from the financial standpoint. The director of capital budget reports to the executive director of budgeting. Correct? >> No, that's not correct. They report to the executive director of capital program. That dotted line means an indirect report. So we have the executive director which sits under the
budget office but has a dotted line to capital program. Dotted line to the finance folks in food and nutrition, dotted line to the finance folks in transportation for better continuity. Um so we won't have to chase data around and and really give some insight about next steps. Okay. So, here's my
suggestion. Have the analysts, there's multiple analysts under this line. Have that work of the assistant director completed by the analyst. The analysts report directly to the director of capital budget because that's a solid
line, right? And modify the dotted line through a solid line and have them either be a direct or indirect report to the executive director of budgeting. >> All right. So I have Miss Thompson, Dr. Zean, me. Uh
>> just want to share why you real quick. This does no savings. This is a capital funded position and the chief financial officer already eliminated 45 positions. She took the biggest cut of any division. I think she did a great job scrubbing her numbers and I just can't take more.
>> And Dr. Holes and Miss Bulman objecting. So I believe that was your last one, Mr. Seivera. >> Yes. Thank you for the opportunity >> to verbalize all of my objections on the record. >> I uh yeah, and I I just wanted to note you had asked questions around those
positions. You didn't make formal um you know proposals and so I wasn't trying to skip you. Um it was just that I only noted uh questions and general statements about those things. So in the future if we could all just when we're making these proposals and workshops um if you want board consensus on an item
to just flag that. Thank you for the opportunity to bring it up again, chair. I appreciate it. >> Dr. Holes. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. So, um I did make a suggestion um that the superintendent look at because um part of the concerns especially from the
public too was that we we are not looking at the upper um leadership. So, one of my suggestion uh was to have the superintendent look at up to two of the chief positions and um recode those as
executive directors. Um I don't think that was mentioned when you went through my um my suggestions and also I just I I just want to confirm Madame Chair that we did support bringing back the director of afterare. Did we do that?
>> Yes, Dr. Got it. Okay. >> I captured that. All right. So, looking at two chief positions and turning them into executive directors >> up to up to >> up to >> Does anyone object to that? >> Miss Thompson
were Dr. Holess suggested is proposing that we the Dr. Heburn look at look at to sorry >> up to >> uh look at up to two chief positions and making them executive directors.
Miss >> Okay. So, Miss Hixon apparently suggested that exact thing and the suggested making a chief an executive director and didn't get consensus. So, >> Madam Chair, I just want to clarify um board member Hixon had suggested making
the chief of student services be an executive director. Um my suggestion is more general that the superintendent look at all the chiefs and to bring information back to us uh that we can consider um of of changing up to two of
the chiefs to executive directors. So it's not a it's not a um a direction to do it. It's more of a direction to bring the information back and then we can uh as far as a suggestion of up to two and then we can vote on it at the next board
meeting. Any objection to that? >> Dr. Huburn, you have your guidance on that? >> Yes. >> Dr. Hoes, anything else? >> Uh, that's it for me, madam. >> Did I miss anything else from anyone else? >> Clean up. >> I had proposed that the superintendent
bring back like a very clear one-ish page kind of summary about the AI positions. I think we've decided already though that we would like to see that removed from the org chart. >> Dr. Heep, is that what you captured? >> Remove the AI positions from the org chart.
>> There were CEO positions about digital learning. Uh were you directed to bring back org charts without those positions next week? >> No, >> you were not. >> Terrific. Thank you, chair. >> It was it was the assistant director that was removed. Do you have that? >> Yes. Uh but the assistant director that
uh there was no consensus for that one. >> Yeah, >> Miss Bulman, I think we were renaming that. >> Yeah, I have that as a note for us to re uh rename the capture. >> Thank you. That's perfect. >> Okay. Anyone else?
All right. Um with that, uh many many many minutes after our 15 minute deadline. Um, it was still a good idea. >> At the direction of the superintendent, the following agenda topics are tenatively scheduled to be addressed
during the upcoming workshops. Um, April 28th, rule development, information systems, five policies. Rule development of policies 5090 and 5100, student code of conduct, rule development policy 4390, childcare programs, RFP, owners, reps, agreements, SRO transitional plan,
May 12th. Ad advisory committee reports 2026 regular legislative session recap redefining our schools update OSS quarterly report 2526 quarter 3 rule development use of service animals diversity committee annual update rule development SSP policies rule
development use of Brower County school facilities for non-school purposes. Please note that the order of topics and schedule remain tenative and are subject to adjustment at the superintendent's discretion. Um I will do the board dis you know dis discussion after the special. so we can get to the special.
Um but so I will ask you to share any student successes or or anything like that. Um at the end of the special, the scheduled order of business for the schoolboard workshop of the school board of Broward County, Florida has been completed. Seeing no objections, I will now adjourn the school board workshop.
>> Okay. >> And we will go to our special school board meeting for that. Down. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey.
like two. Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. down down down down. Heat. Heat. We will now resume our special school board meeting. May I have a motion and a
second to close the agenda? >> So moved. Second. >> Moved by Zean, second by board member Thompson. All in favor of closing the agenda. Let it be known by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose say no. The agenda is now closed. May I have a motion and second
on item 13, agreement with the Overtown Youth Center. Moved by Z Dr. Zean, second by board member Thompson. It is moved and seconded to move item 13 to the floor. Um, any uh registered speakers? >> One registered speaker. May Tina Brown
please approach the podium. >> Hi, good afternoon. My name is Tina Brown. I'm the CEO of OIC Miami or Overtown Youth Center. I first like to acknowledge Madame Chair Leonady,
Vice Chair Dr. Hoes, the Superintendent Dr. Heburn, Miss Bowman, and to all the esteemed members of the Broward County Public School District. I just want to take a moment to say thank you for giving us an opportunity to inspire,
empower, and impact the lives of children and families within your district. Today is incredibly meaningful to our founders, Alonzo and Tracy Wilson Morning, to our board members, and
especially to me as a staunch advocate for mentoring, supportive services, and programs that support parents as they navigate life's complexities while trying to do the very best that they can do for their children.
OIC is a community development model strategically focused on youth development and strengthening families through five key pillars of impact. education, enrichment and exposure, family services, health, wellness, and
economic sustainability. We believe that every child, no matter of their socioeconomic status, zip code or zip code, deserves high quality access to supportive services. services that keep them happy, positively
engaged, and those that equip them and their families with the tools necessary to thrive. We want to thank you for your consideration in allowing OIC to expand its services to Broward County and to
partner with you in serving your community. This is not something we take lightly. We are grateful and we are honored. For the past 25 years, we have shown up consistently for young people and their families, making sure they have what
they need to not just succeed in school, but to thrive in life. For OIC, this is an opportunity to extend a model that we know works. a model that focuses on inschool support, after afterchool
services, summer camps for kids, summer internship programs for high school students, and family services. Our services extend beyond school. We serve students from five all the way up through 25 years of age. It is our
commitment to Broward County to be with these students from now until they are 25. For OIC, this is an opportunity again to extend a model that we know works, a model that is grounded in cultivating
trusted relationships, wraparound services, and strong partnerships. >> Thank you so much for your comments. I appreciate it. Thank you. Is there any board debate? Board member Bulman. >> Thank you, Vice Chair. Um,
and thank you to Miss Tina Brown, um, who is the CEO of OIC, the Overtown Youth Center, um, and also a resident of Hollywood. So, bringing this amazing program to Broward County, I'm just so
excited that this is coming before us today. So, I'd like to thank you for all of your work in getting this done. Um, I'd like to thank Alonzo Morning and Tracy Wilson Morning who had this vision nearly 25 years ago and created the you
Overtown Youth Center and Honeyshine, which is a organization that supports young women. Um, their commitment to young people and families across South Florida continues to open doors for communities like ours. Um, and particularly in District 1. I want to
thank Britney Lambert Brown who's the chief programs officer at OIC for helping to bring this partnership to life and to the team who will be supporting the work on the ground. Silda Jean Batista and Fallacy D. Rosier for
their commitment to serving youth and families. Um, and we're also very grateful to the OIC board for this expansion. And I want to specifically acknowledge Archie Sadiki Meek for her support and doing that in doing so. Um,
thank you to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz who introduced the possibility of bringing OIC to Broward County and who has worked to see this concept that has been so successful in Miami come to fruition here in Broward. We're so appreciative to the
congresswoman for recognizing the need and importance of endorsing proven models like OIC. And thank you to Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy for his leadership and bringing wraparound services for both youth and families in southeast Brower County so that they can
thrive. And thank you to West Park Mayor Felicia Brunson, Hollywood Commissioner Adelma Kintana, and um Hollywood Civic Affairs Administrator Allison Saffold for their dedication to bringing this programming to our community. And thank
you to McNickel Middle School principal, Dear Jvena Coker, and her team because the program will be housed at McNickel M School in Hollywood. And then finally, I'd like to thank Dr. Valerie Wanza and
Alan Strauss um and your entire team. This initiative is an amazing outcome that is the result of the challenging work that they've been leading around redefining. We wouldn't be here if we hadn't had to go through that exercise. So, I appreciate you guys hustling to
get this done so quickly. um Eric Anderson, the executive director of Before and Afterare, who put the contract together and got it to us so that we could be ready for the summer. And finally, my uh partner in district
1, Danielle St. Leon, who made all of the meetings with the bajillion people who are very important happen. And we never would be able to do this in time for the summer if you hadn't worked so hard. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you, board member Bullman. Board member Hixon.
>> Thank you and thank you um Miss Bulman for Mrs. Bulman for bringing this to us. It's it looks like it's a very exciting opportunity for students. I just have a quick question because in the executive summary under budget impact summary statement it says this agreement provides income revenue to SBBC which
should make Dr. Zean very happy and all of us. So my question to that is is because it doesn't say how much. So, is there an an estimate to that? And how is it possible to expand this? I I love that it's at McNickel, but is it
something that we're looking to expand to other schools because it looks like a fantastic opportunity? >> Miss Go ahead. >> Thank you, board member Hixon. Um, Mr. Anderson, >> I'm sorry. Go ahead,
Dr. Wza. Is it okay? Dr. Wza, go ahead. So, I'll let Mr. Anderson explain um the nominal fee that is um associated with all contracts like this because there are several like this as as they relate to um before and after school and summer programming. That's one. But two, um the
this program um first got its presence at New Renaissance Middle School in the city of Myiramar. And so um they approached us uh very excited about expanding their footprint in Broward. So, the first thing that they want to do is get this program up and running,
successful, and then look to expand to other parts of the county, but they wanted to start um branching out because the one thing we have to remember is their hub um and Miss Brown can correct me if I'm wrong, but their hub is in um is in in M Miami Dade County. So, they
wanted to start closer to that border first and then as they build their footprint and the services that they provide in Broward, then expansion could be a possibility. But um Mr. Anderson can explain the nominal fee that is associated with these types of contracts.
>> Hi um Eric Anderson, director before and after school childcare for Broward schools. Um we we model this contract almost identically off of the contracts we use for before and after school child care that would normally go through the procurement process and we charge the
exact fees that we charge children's services council which is very nominal. Um, I'll do it off the top of my head. I think we charge a $750 building fee for the year. So, it's very nominal. And we do charge the $5 per uh per day for
consumable items like uh toilet paper and uh so forth, soap and all those things. Um, in the summertime it goes up a little bit more because of our we're being closed on Fridays. So, it's uh 1,500 for the summer. And then there's a small uh fee charged to our department to support our department so that we
remain budget neutral to the district. So it is very nominal fees. What so it is income producing but it is mostly break even. It's because they're they are using their funds to provide services for our kids. >> Thank you Mr. Anderson. Any further
board member comments? Board member Bulman. >> Um through the chair if Dr. Wansza could get just expand a little bit. Could you explain kind of like the pipeline idea and how we um and the services that we'll be providing and how we're >> So the uh thank thank you Miss Woman for
the question. So the the pipeline idea is as as you know um McNickel Middle sits in the Hallindell Innovation Zone and and the pipeline idea is really to look at students um at in the elementary schools that feed into McNickel and
provide opportunities for them and their families to access the services there at McNickel so that they would continue up and then and then eventually after they have um developed their footprint their foundation working with those families then there's the um potential to then
reach up and expand up into Howlandale High School. So, while the program is um housed at McNickel Middle School and all of the direct services and programming will be there, there's opportunities for students and families in the feeder
pattern to access these services. >> That is accurate. >> Uh board member Hickson, >> just want to clarify. Thank you for all of that. You mentioned New Renaissance Middle School. So, is this program at New Renaissance now? They they have um over the years they have um provided
services and worked with students and families at New Renaissance and Miss um Miss Brown can tell you the extent of that, but they actually um do have a presence at New Renaissance. >> So, do we have a contract? Because it sounded like this was new to the district. So, I'm just a little confused.
>> So, so um students there and Miss Brown can explain it. They probably access the program because they're close to that Miami Dade line. They're actually, you know, right there they can access the services, but this is actually solidifying a formal partnership in
Broward County Public Schools starting at McNickel with the hopes of eventually expanding it out as they're successful. >> Okay. Any further board member comments? Okay. Those in favor of approving item 13 say I. >> I. >> Those opposed say no. The eyes have it.
>> Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Wanza. >> You're welcome. We will now move on to item number 18. May I have a motion and second on item 18. Resolve student meal debt for the 202526 school year and create a future plan. Um
moved by Dr. Zean, second by board member Hixon. It is moved and seconded to move item 18 to the floor. Any public comment? >> One register speakers, Felicia Schuman, you may now approach the podium. Good afternoon, Dr. Hburn and um I mean
good afternoon Hoeness, Vice Mayor Holdness and board esteemed board members. My name is Felicia Schuman. I'm from Coconut Creek, Florida. I'm here today because agenda item 18 asks the board to approve $720,433
to resolve student meal debt. Clearing this debt is necessary, but it's not a solution. It is a reaction to a system that continues to gen generate debt every single day. Unless the board take action on the community eligibility provision, we will be we will be back
here next year and the year after. Agenda item 18 is essentially a write off. Finance will transfer the debt from the food service fund into the general funding and food and nutrition services will clear the account. That clears the past, but what happens to the future?
The item also directs the superintendent to develop a three-year plan and return the district to universal free lunch model. But universally free lunch is not a mystery. C can't work without the universal free lunch um program. Here's
the part that matters. The federal C threshold changed to Broward never recalculated it for years. It changed in in October of 2023 from 40% to the new 25% threshold that
applied in the beginning of 2024 and 2025 school year which started that plan in July 1st of 2024 using ISP data from April the 1st 2024. Brower has already
nearly two full years to recalculate the ISP. Okay. Uh participating in this program, the application will open April the 1st. It ends June July the 30th. So, uh the
first step to resolving this issue is for the district to collect identified student data for every school using the April 1 data snapshot. Without the data, Broward cannot calculate ISP. They cannot run USDA financial product
projection or do C grouping and cannot submit a C application. This step has not been completed since the threshold dropped to 25%. The district has not recalculated since 2021.
Miami Dade and Palm Beach is doing the same thing as well. But we have other cities who's benefiting from the C program and under the new threshold. So I advise Broward County Public Schools to do the application as well. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
Uh Mr. Hill, is there any other public comment? >> That is public speaking. >> Thank you. Is there any board member debate? Board member Thompson and then board member Hixon. >> Thank you. Um, so I'd like to go over this item just a little bit since I put
it on the agenda. Um, over the last few weeks I've been thinking a lot about what our values are as the school district. I think at some point this needs to be a conversation for the entire board, especially as resources and funding continues to be cut. But until we can have that larger
conversation, I had to reflect on what my values are as a schoolboard member. And what I came up with are three things. I believe that all students should feel safe. that all students should feel supported in our schools, whether that is their mental health, their academics, or their interests like
debates or sports. And finally, that every child should have access to food. This last value became even more clear when I began doing town halls with our students, and they continued to ask why we no longer have universal free lunch. And I heard stories of students that
were covering their friends meals or loaning them money to address their meal debt so that they could attend end of year functions. As a district, we have communicated with parents multiple times about meal debt obligations via text, email, phone call,
and I truly believe that for the most part that if a parent was able to pay this obligation that they would. We as a country are experiencing an affordability crisis. People are struggling to put food on the table, to keep a roof over their head, and to put gas in their car. It was truly
heartbreaking to end the universal meal program, and as someone who has experienced food insecurity, it was especially difficult. This is one of the main reasons that I brought the original item to create a meal dead fund. And as we've seen over the last few months, there is still a significant need in our
community for this assistance. But my item does not just stop at addressing this year's meal debt. It also recognizes that this is something that we will not be able to continue to do and it asks the superintendent for a better process to address meal debt in
the future. It also puts us back on the path to returning to universal free lunch, addressing what I hope is all of our core values, which is to make sure that our students have enough food to eat. So, I welcome my colleagues thoughts and comments and I truly hope that this will
pass because I believe if we're able to find almost a million dollars for graduation venues that this decision should come easily for us. However, if it doesn't pass, then I'm still making a pledge as one board member to donate a portion of my salary every month to
address school meal debt. And I hope my colleagues and those listening who can't afford to will join me. Thank you. Thank you, board member Thompson, board member Hixon. >> Thank you. Um, I appreciate board member Thompson bringing the item forward
because it is um, a huge concern, but I do have issues with just paying the meal debt because as was mentioned by a public comment speaker, it's just going to continue to add up. So just paying
this right now isn't going to solve. Well, we're gonna have another bill in a couple of months. So, um I don't know that I agree or or will approve or vote for paying this debt, but I do like the idea
of looking at what we can do as a three-year plan. I'd also like staff to address I know the public speaker sent something to us before about the program where she was mentioning they they do something in other districts that do
allow them to have some kind of free lunch for their students. So is there someone from the district staff that can address are did we apply for that? Is it something we do? just kind of give us an
idea of where we are on that. >> Dr. Fulton, >> good evening. Mark Mills, Food and Nutrition Services. So, as we reviewed this executive summary, we noticed some things in it that probably would not make a great financial decision when
we're losing so much money. They It will only hurt us in the long run. So, it's great to pay off the debt. And because we've gone back to the National School Lunch Program where applications are accepted, there is no more debt created.
It's only if a student in an elementary school according to our policy for food nutrition that goes to the state of Florida. One charge is permitted in elementary schools. That one charge then is controllable and we seek after the payment for that money for that money
that's due. Typically, it's just because a child did not complete an application. So, it's kind of a red flag for us or if there's a situation with that child in the school, the principal is um asked to address that as well. So, returning to
universal um free lunch, we did a pilot program one and two. It was not successful. And here's why. If you're getting a free meal, you do not need to fill out an application. The application is relevant to the national school lunch
program for universal free. That's how we claim meals. So if you're a don't fill one out, you are technically then just a paid student. Paid student reimbursement is 55 cents. That meal costs us much more than that. It's in the $4.
We're losing money there by a local source. So to go on a program that continues to allow us to lose money does not make sense as financial sense for the food nutrition program. There's certain things in CP you do not want to
go to a 25% threshold. The board would have to sign a document for the national school lunch program that would say they are financially responsible for the remaining of the 40 to 25% that cannot be covered. C is not
a program that allows us to generate funds and cover the base costs of everything because there's not enough reimbursement made available. It's very clear through a lot of different documentation out there that the C needs
to have additional funding. So when you go to the 25% you have to seek some type of non-federal funds. they recommend the school district pays that or we would need a community support to pay that as well. So to me, you're just transferring
debt. You're transferring debt on our books and you could you're um relieving that and you're going to another debt that is required to be paid for through non-federal funds. >> Board um board member Hixon, did you want to follow up?
>> Um no, thank you. Thank you for the information. >> Dr. Dr. Fulton, >> also I would like to add to it to um the team has been working um diligently since last year when this issue did come up and I know the intent of the um the item is to have the superintendent come
up with a plan for how we will move forward for the next three years and we have been working. We actually received some guidance from the council of great city schools who just received guidance about a week or two ago, actually Friday of last week and um have provided us
with some really good recommendations about 18. And the reason why this is good is because we're not the only large school districts that is dealing with this. So a lot of the recommendations are coming from experts and also other large districts that are finding ways to
be able to combat meal debt. So, we will be able to come back with a plan as the item is asking for a three-year plan moving forward and how to deal with student debt. And so, thank you for the item, Miss Thompson. We totally agree. Our kids have to be supported. You can't learn if you're hungry. So, we're trying
to find ways to ensure all of our students come to school and all of their needs are being met. And um we will be able to come back with a plan to see how we can combat the student meal debt. >> Thank you very much. Board member Hixon, are you finished with your comments?
Uh yes. Thank you. >> Okay. Board members Eman. >> Uh Dr. Fulton, the report that we got from the Council of Great City Schools, has that been shared with the board yet? >> Yes. Yes. >> Thank you very much. >> Um Dr. Fulton, what happens if we don't
pay this? >> I think we shared with everyone um the documentation about bad debt. It is the district's responsibility through non-federal funds to pay for that. If it if it is deemed uncollectible, it comes off the food and nutrition's
responsibility and it comes on to the the general fund or the district to ensure that they pay or reimburse the child nutrition program for that bad debt that is to be written off. >> What are the consequences, Dr. Fulton, for a student that has debt? Um, is
there any consequences in terms of their student activities? So, so right now it is a student obligation until that debt is paid. >> So, what's the implication for their student activities? >> Well, they won't be able to advance until the student debt is taken care of.
>> Terrific. So, this is a big deal to the general counsel. Um, would you expect the decision to go to universal free lunch or not to be brought to a school board? >> Yes. has pretty big budget implications, I would think. >> Yes.
>> And do you think that it's incumbent on the staff to bring that as an actual item staffed out with the pros and cons of different outcomes uh for doing that? >> Given the budgetary implications, the board needs to be fully apprised. >> Terrific. And to the superintendent, you
know how much money we're losing in our food and nutrition service uh fund this year as a result of not going to universal free lunch? >> Thank you. I'll let him answer, please. Well, I'm sorry. >> So, no, there is going to universal free lunch, which I had just stated a few
minutes ago, relies on applications. If students are already eating free, there's no reason for them to have to fill out an application from their perspective. For ours, it's very important. It is required through the national school lunch program that those meals that are served free to those
children under universal free are to be claimed as their eligibility or their um application status. So the loss is present under universal free. There's not a gain and for some reason I guess there's there's been a misconception on
that. Programs have to work together. So going back to the National School Lunch Program where we actually have parents fill out applications is truly the best way from a financial standpoint as well as helping parents that really need the program. >> Terrific. And I appreciate you advocating for one of the options and I
also uh preserve the dignity of this board to make that decision. As I pointed out to the general counsel, it's wonderful to advocate for one or the other. Uh but this board is the one that has to pay the bills and I hope going forward uh we're tracking this chair. Uh maybe that's just something uh we have
to pull uh from this. This is a tough one because to my knowledge, Miss Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, there the implications to the students for not doing this are very severe. Um, and then
there's the free rider problem, which is if we pay this pretty significant amount of money, it's about $1,000 per campus, excuse me, a thousand meals per campus that have not have been uh taken and not paid for. Um what messaging do we need if we want to say we're going to do this
one time, but we want to make sure people understand uh that next year if you or for the balance of this year and next year um if you take a lunch and you can't afford to pay for it, that's going to be your personal obligation. >> What's the question?
I if the school board decides to pay this, how do we make sure that students know that going forward that we're not paying any more uh lunches that they decide to take without uh paying for? So, I think it has to be in communication and then communicate and overcommunicate it because um we did
that in the fall where we had an amnesty period and then we went to making sure our parents knew that moving forward that um if your child didn't have lunch we would do one charge and then after that um then they were given an alternative lunch and as a result of that we start getting debts collected.
So >> I'm as a board member I'm very very uncomfortable that we lost $19 million in our food nutrition services fund this year. I'm upset that uh we didn't get uh a full briefing uh on the implications of doing this program or previous
programs and didn't get the authority to make the decision a long time ago. Uh so I'll be tracking this personally. Uh I feel like this is a must pay, Miss Thompson, like we cannot, you know, uh make kids pay for our uh mistakes here on the board, but this is another
mistake. This is a self-inflicted wound uh that we created. We've lost $19 million in the FNS fund this year and um that's a lot of money to pay. Uh so I'll be watching this very closely. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Aliduff.
>> I have a question in regards to the $720,433. Is that for a hot lunch or is that for the free peanut butter and jelly lunch or butter sandwich?
I believe it's the hot lunch. Yes, correct me if I'm wrong. >> So, yes, it so it is my recollection and the food and nutrition services staff can correct me, but it is my recollection that um the decision was made to provide the children with
whatever is the standard hot lunch that there would be no alternate meal of a wild butter sandwich and all. This is for the actual regular school lunch. Correct me. >> Correct. Correct. and what steps did the district take to
try to get the families to repay the debt back? >> So, I'll let Dr. Wes give a detail, but I know that we did we we did parent links as well too as far as the district and I know that individual schools also did their own parent link uh with their
students as well too. But, Dr. Wines, is there anything else that we did other than the parent links? We did also send a letter out to the families as well just notifying them of as of this date moving forward and then if they had meal debt that um we they got a parent link.
I know student obligations were were notified in students canvas um or focus I'm sorry as well too but I'll go ahead and let you respond. >> So that um that is very accurate Dr. Fulton. Additionally though those reminders go home like weekly. So it it wasn't a one time and it's done. there's
a constant um notification to the parents. There um are also two uh staff members in food and nutrition services that that is their job. They call they you know um receive applications, assist parents with applications and um we do
weekly reach out to parents. >> So I have a question regarding what the parents actually receive because I think it's really important. Are they receiving an individualized clickable link to pay for their child's lunch
debt? So, I'm going to pull it up. I'll let the st I'm going to pull it up. I'll let the staff tell you. But, but I will tell you what also happens is parents will come and they will clear whatever the debt is so that a certain obligation can be met so that a child could do a
certain activity and then the next day or two the debt continues to accumulate. >> Good. Good afternoon. Arif Ali, uh, director of IT at food services. We communicate to the parent via a daily or a balance notification call coming out
from parent link. That is a phone call, text, and email. Within the email, there is a link and can is be specific. Is it an individualized link to Robbie's lunch debt of $20? That is correct. And then I
can press that link to pay for it. the >> for my child. >> The content of the message does include the student name and it goes to the parent of the student stating the student has a balance of this number. To pay your balance, you can click the link to go to my school books which is the
electronic payment system or it'll give them instructions to go to the school cash or check as long as checks are accepted. >> Okay. And then when they go to the my schoolbox, I'm just trying to find out what where it's failing. Do they need a username and password
once they click on that link? >> That is correct. There is a username and password for the parent account on My School Bucks. Additionally, if they use the BCPS app and they click into the My School Bucks, once they're registered, it'll automatically try to log them in as well. So, there is a username and password required.
>> Okay. And because I know when um I the here comes the bus and is my child going to be taking the bus? I mean, they were relentless. It was text messages, phone calls. I mean, they did not stop. Are we doing to that level or is it just once a
week? >> Speaking to that specifically, we also put the popup on the website. So, as they were transitioning over the final site, it was relentless. You had to click the popup which notified the transitions back to meal benefits that there was changes coming. >> No, that's I I hear you. But what I'm
saying is that specific link to the parent to their specific child their debt and a link to pay for it. >> That is something we can do in addition to the daily balance notification call if you request it. >> I think that's important. >> So they they do get a call daily. That
that's okay. >> No, what I'm saying is specific link to the debt so they could click and try to do that. I would like to see us maybe bring this item back in a month and and try to do that and see if this number
goes down because I know if I'm getting that specific link, if I get it, you know, well, once I'm going to pay it, but if I'm getting it three times, I'm eventually going to pay it. But I have a feeling it's not, yes, we are saying it globally, but that's not specific to my
child with this specific amount of money. >> I do have one more comment. the emails and the text message does contain the student name or student lo um student ID number and the experience that we've seen we have a lot of parents that have received a call so many times that they
just block it through their parent link blocking access so when they do reach out for support and we do try to let the parents know yes you have been receiving the calls but you opted to block it and with access to parent link and reporting we can tell them when that stopped so that's another layer that we have experienced
>> right so My suggestion uh would be to try to send the link out for let's try for a month and then bring this item back and then see if that number goes down. So I'm going to make a substitute motion to bring this item back in a
month and try to send specific links out to parents three times a week or until they pay it for a month. Second >> motion made by Mrs. Aladov, seconded by Mr. Seivera. Public comment on the
motion to bring this back in a month. >> Board member comment. >> Miss Hixon. >> Thank you. I just want to ask a question because I think I heard this said already. So the question was if we don't do anything, what happens? And I believe
the answer was eventually this goes against the general fund anyway. >> Yeah. Once we determine it's uncollectible, it becomes a bad debt and at that point the um code of federal regul regulation says it must be paid for through the general fund. >> So I mean at the end of the day it's
going to go to general fund and we're going to have to pay it whatever is left at the end of the year. So I don't even know if we particularly need the part that says we're going to pay it. I I wouldn't want to do that right at this moment. Um, but I do think we should
have a plan. So, I don't mind waiting for a month, but again, that'll be close to the end of the year and it's going to roll over to general fund anyway. Whether we vote yes or no, it goes to general fund. >> So, we're essentially doing that regardless. >> As long as we deem it collectible, then
you're fine. It won't roll anywhere. It'll still stay with food nutrition. It's just the amount of time like you're saying that you want to have that deemed as collectible versus a bad debt. >> Um just one moment, Miss Dupri Bernell, >> I just wanted
I just wanted to add to my earlier opinion with regards to the lunch program. Not only is it budgetary concerns, but it's actually a power and duty of the school board pursuant to Florida statute 101.42. 42 subsection 16 the the school lunch program.
Yeah, the statute's pretty clear that the school board assumes the responsibilities and exercises the powers um as in the opinion of the school board with regards to school lunch services consistent with the needs of the students um the effective and
efficient operation of the program and the proper articulation of the school lunch program with other phases in the education. So that means that the superintendent makes a recommendation and then the board decides >> and then Mr. Super, did you have something on the motion, the substitute motion as well?
>> Well, the proper motion would be um to postpone it to a definite time, but if the board's inclined to move forward the way that it is, that's fine. But I would probably postpone it to a definite time with the additions that you asked for. >> And Dr. Fton, Dr. Wa, did you want to
add to that? I I just want to clarify so that the board um clearly understands. Every day parents get whether they opt for email, text, phone call, what whatever it is, their student ID number and they get the daily balance that is
owed. So it's not that they aren't knowing daily how much the student owes. It calculates daily for them. So I I just want to make that clear so that people don't think that parents only hear once a month or every two weeks. It is it is a daily call that tells them a
running daily balance and okay go ahead. >> I'm sorry that but that I I that's great but what I'm saying is I think they need a clickable link. >> They get that. That's what I'm trying to say is so if I opt for um text message
or email, I can click the link and go right to pay whatever is my balance. >> So you're saying you've already been doing that daily? >> Yes. Yes, >> that is correct. >> Yes. Yes. >> So daily they're getting a click to pay >> and and I will say and I and you know
Dr. Zean the entire board is 100% correct. this is a board decision, not a staff that you're 100% correct. But I think um just given the times that we are in one, but number two, the fact that children are still permitted to
receive a hot lunch every single day regardless of ability to pay is um is where is where we are where in previous years before C before all of that and I'm you know I was a principal for years
if you did if you could not afford to pay for a lunch and you weren't free or reduced, there was an alternate meal provided at the expense of the school because we had to budget for that to pay for
alternate meals for students. >> Um, uh, Mr. Swelberg. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, this is this is very important. uh this will impact thousands of students and I think it's important to take the time to find the best solution.
I want to first start about the delay. Um a month for this will push very close to graduation and will uh in my eyes really leave a lot of students out uh of of some experiences towards the end of the
school year. That's number one. I want to focus on on seniors for a moment. Um this you know debt that students are incurring uh to my knowledge and I could be incorrect on this will prevent students from walking the stage. Now I
know that there is you know other opportunities for that fund for that uh debt to be released but what Mr. Maggley sorry wrong mark u what Mr. Mills said I apologize what Mr. Mills said was that that money is going to need to be absorbed by the general fund at at any
point, you know, after it's deemed uncollectible. Well, a student graduating in my eyes is uncollectible. If the parent of that senior is not paying today, they are certainly not going to pay after the student has left our system. Um, so, you know, I
definitely think maybe a delay for for another population, but a delay for seniors would be uh in my eyes significantly catastrophic. Uh I also want to address the point that Dr. Wanza brought up. We allow students to go through the line uh and incur a charge
and not get a courtesy meal uh because what I think really good intentions by the board. Uh but that's causing an issue where students are collecting and absorbing this meal debt. That is not a sustainable practice for our district. Uh because I am a student who
technically can afford lunch, right? But I could go through the line every day and keep incurring that debt. Uh so I just think it's really important to look at those two issues within the constraint of the timeline uh because of those two competing priorities. So we've heard significant significant feedback
from students about this. There is undescribable anxiety about this within our student populations. Um and I just think it's really important to look at the timing of this to relieve some of that anxiety. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Miss Hixon. Thank you. I and thank you um Mr. Spelberg for for that information. So I I just have a couple of questions because we did go through this exercise
before. Um so a student has a tray and I I just want to give a visual again. They have a tray. They go through the line. you realize that they can't pay for it and then you take that tray from them and hand them a lunch and you throw
everything away on the tray. That's why we ended up saying don't take the tray away. You're already throwing it away. You're going to have to pay. How do you not have to pay for the tray if you put it in the garbage? What's the difference if if you just let them keep the tray
and then they have it or you say, "No, you can't afford it. throw the tray away and here's a wow sandwich. That's the discussion we had here. That was the point I could not wrap my head around. That you're going to take the tray that
already has all the food on it. You're going to throw it away anyway. So, I don't know what the difference is is if we said, "Okay, we're going back to giving the wow sandwich. Now, you're throwing food away. Still giving the kid a wow sandwich. How does that help our bottom line?" I we then we add extra
because we have to pay for the WOW sandwich, too. So I just that was the discussion we had all along. We did ask how could we catch it beforehand? How do we know ahead of time? That was the discussion we had at the workshop where
how do we know ahead of time that the student isn't going to have the ability or if there's already a debt. I don't know how to do that in an you know in a way that's not embarrassing which was also our conversation. But I just want everyone to wrap their head around
again. You're gonna take the tray that has all the food in it and say, "Oh, you can't afford this." And then put it in the garbage can, so you already had to pay for it. And here, let me give you a wow sandwich that costs us extra money. I don't know how that saves us money. So that's where we ended up with saying,
"This doesn't make any sense. Just let them keep the tray." So, how do we avoid getting to they're standing in front of the cash register with the tray already? Um, and my other question is I I guess that wasn't really a question. I'm just throwing out that's
how we got here. That's why we said let them keep the tray because it didn't make sense to any of us that we were going to waste food like that. Um, the other question I have is have we actually found out why parents aren't paying for this? Because as we know
there was some discussion you know about there are some students that are incurring these debts that actually can pay for them. So, have we done any kind of re like have principles or assistant principles or
social work or whoever call the family and say we know you've gotten notices every day that has a link that you can click on and pay what you know can you share with us what the concern is so that they understand
because it seems like they still think that lunch is free even though we mentioned it even though they were told a thous thousand times. Even though they get a little link every day that tells them they owe money, they don't think they have to pay it. So, what are we
doing as a district to gather some information so that we could look at this a different way? But I can't say enough times that it will never make sense to me to take a tray out of a kid's hand and throw it in a garbage can and say that that's going to save us
money. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um before we move uh to our next uh board member, we do need to gather consensus to extend the workshop. I would say uh by an hour. Um >> Oh, sorry. Sorry. Yes. Uh we need a
motion and a second to extend the special school board meeting, not the workshop. Moved by Miss Bulman, second by Miss Thompson. All in favor of extending the work uh the special school board meeting by one hour, say I. All oppose say no. >> No.
>> One dissenting vote. All right. Uh go ahead, Miss Bullman. >> Thank you, Chair. Um so, okay. First of all, just to get this straight because this is a very confusing topic and there's a lot going on here. Um we are
obligated to pay this money regardless, right? This is our debt, the school district's debt. Okay. Um, so you know, I know I know we talked about this earlier in the year and I don't know that that we made any great decisions on it because we're still
faced with the same thing. We've got several things. Kids that can afford lunch aren't paying for lunch. Kids that can't afford lunch aren't paying for lunch. If you're giving kids that can't afford lunch lunch, they might not be applying for the free and reduced lunch.
And then I I almost wonder too because I I I remember from our last um workshop that you can't use cash, right? This is a is this a digital payment system? >> You can use cash at the point of sale.
>> You can. Yes. Okay. All right. So that takes something out. So this I mean this is kind of an impossible situation. I'm very sympathetic to the seniors who can't do the things that they need to do. who can't afford it. But there's also no
repercussion if you can afford it and you just decided that you're not going to pay and then you can just slide under it. I and you know I get these I've told you guys this before, but I get the email, the text, and the um >> phone call >> the phone call when I because my kids
are just going through the line and incurring debt for me because I I'm not permitting that. In fact, I don't want them to be doing that. I think it's irresponsible of them and there's no way for me to stop it the way that the system um is set up right now. I just
have debt that I have to pay. So I think that's like the the bigger picture is not necessarily the debt that's before us right now because we have to pay that no matter what and obviously the way that we're addressing this is not uh
very effective. So I I don't know that we're achieving free univer universal free lunch, but I in addition to that, I think we just need to look at how we can reduce the lunch debt that we're occurring. How do we
make this system work for the kid to be able to make sure that the kids that need to be fed are being fed and that the ones that can afford it are paying for it. I think that's going to take some time and study and maybe you know looking around but that be because we
have to teach people to be responsible too. Everyone needs to eat, but some people are taking advantage of the situation. You know, you're saying, "Oh, you're going to throw it. You're throwing it away because you brought it, but like I could just, you know, put on a shirt and head out the door and they're going to take that away from me,
you know, and maybe throw it out too if you get, you know, so there's lessons to be learned in addition to making sure that everyone has what they need." So, I look forward to a plan that addresses these issues because I think I mean I just think it's
complicated and there's a way to do it and it's not the way that we're doing it right now clearly because >> Miss uh Dr. Fulton, >> thank you. Um I I think we have the direction. Um and uh to Landon Spelberg, thank you for um framing it out. So, you
are correct and I have a high school senior and I didn't even think about it either. like in about four weeks they'll be saying goodbye to us so we can bring back a plan much quicker and we've heard the the conversations that have happened today. We do have the guidance by uh the Council of Great City Schools because
again like I said earlier we're not the only large district that is really dealing with this challenge. This is really nationwide. So, uh, it allows us the opportunity to continue to have a think tank with other district um, leaders and we'll be able to come back
with the plan sooner than later. >> Mr. Leon, >> thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I just want to add a little more student perspective onto what Landon was saying. Um, it's really more about the quality. For an example, students are required to get an
apple and they're required to get a juice and they're required to get a banana even though that they're not going to eat it. And I think a solution that we can have is scanning their IDs before they're going to purchase the item. Um, that is a great idea I think that we can use to solve it. Um, it gives the student an opportunity to see,
hey, this is what you're missing out on. And if they don't have that funding, let's point them in a direction of where we they would get that wild so-called sandwich, which we can come up with different alternatives for. um necessarily. It's the hardcore reality is that we don't want to. We don't have
the funding to keep giving up for and especially for students that know that they can afford it. I don't think that we should have other students that can't afford it suffer for that. And I really think that it's more of an opportunity of your dignity needs to be put aside based off of for someone else. I
shouldn't have to put be told hold on because a student can't afford it. I will point you in the right direction if you want if you need to eat something, but it just won't be that hot food. It's just a hardcore reality. Thank you, >> Miss Thompson. >> Uh, thank you, chair. I think Mr.
Spielberg addressed the timing and why this was so important for this item to be on this special agenda because of these obligations that prevent students from being able to do after their the extras and and the celebrations. I also
want to say I think half of the reason we got here is because the board kind of deep dived into a workshop about things that maybe we should have stayed out of that was operational like how the
line is set up or if it's a wild butter or not a wild butter and and so and all that I think was and how to prevent food waste and all of that was good intentioned but what we really did was and I think starting with a month of
free meals to do this transition also hurt because then parents got into this habit and now it's really hard to take back. Um so there's a lot of things that I think came out of a good place that were
that led us to where we are today. And I just want to emphasize that this item is to address the debt so that students can can kind of move on from this year, but then also to establish a plan. And we don't have to discuss the plan today because the experts, which is our staff,
are going to come with that idea. Um, but really just focusing on do we as a board want to cover this debt now so that students can benefit from that? and then do we want staff to come back with a plan? Those are really the two
focuses. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um I think this is a no-brainer for me. That's why I accepted it for good cause. Um I voted to provide the funding for this months ago. Um so I'm happy to
agree to that now. Um I think we need to fix the system. So I appreciate the proposal of staff coming back with a plan. um I can understand Miss Bulman's frustration and I hope we can figure out a way to fix that. Um to you know that
her you know children are are buying things that they their parents don't want them to buy. Um I think that's a reasonable ask to to try to fix that system. Um my only question and this may be related to the plan so if you can't answer it now that's fine Dr. Fulton. if
we pay so we're we're agreeing to pay this sever you know $720,000 now um I'm assuming more debt will be acred in the next and I'm sorry if you you already discussed this I was upstairs um in the next so more debt will be acred in the
next few months what do we is that going to be a what are we going to do about that in the next uh how do we address that >> go ahead go ahead Dr. So the 720,000 thereabout is the is the um estimate through the end of the
school year. Yes. >> So then presumably before the start of the school year will you guys will come back with a plan if this item passes. >> Yes ma'am. So if I may that that was what it was because the item asked for a plan for like the next three years and so we were taking that into account to
this year is pretty much done but what are we going to do moving forward and coming up with a plan for the start of the 26 27 school year and I you know I am of the feeling that when it comes to feeding children whether they are children who have the money to pay for
their lunch or not um I lean in the direction of feeding children. Um, there are lots of things that we spend money on that are less important than the very basic necessity of feeding children. So, you know, I I know we're in a budget
crisis. Um, feeding children should not uh be we we should not be prevented from feeding children. It should be a priority even in a budget crisis. Um, I hear the the concern about doing this right now. That's why I will not be sub
uh supporting the substitute motion. I will be happy to support the item as is. Anyone else? All in favor of the substitute motion say I. >> All oppose say no. No. Roll call.
>> Roll call on the motion to delay. >> Alhideep. >> Yes. >> Bulman. >> No. >> Sea. >> Yes. >> Hixon. >> Yes. >> Ones. >> No. >> Leonardi. >> No. >> Rupert. Thompson
>> Zemen. >> Motion fails. 63. >> All right, we are back to the original item. I know Mrs. Alf, you had the floor. >> No, I'm good. Anyone else like to speak on the item?
Mr. Sea? Chair, I remember I believe it was a workshop several months ago where we talked about the idea of of having some folks go out into the community and dealing with local businesses and local farmers and things
of that nature to see if we can get um I don't I'm not sure if sponsorship is the right word, but if if we can get them to engage with our schools and offer um some of their their food products uh to our students. at a at a essentially for
for free. I know there are some some districts around the state that um certain farmers will provide uh vegetables and lettuce and they have salad bars and things like that. Um I don't recall who was tasked with from the from the staff who was tasked with
looking into that. Uh if somebody can refresh my recollection and to see if that ever got off the ground. >> I rem Oh, sorry. >> Sorry. No, I remember um we were also asking for partnerships and people to
help support a fund. So um when the debt accumulated, we would have a fund from partners and businesses that contribute to um uh bringing down the debt. And I do know um we had tasked our um communications department um to for
partnerships and they were able to bring in some you know revenue to be able to support that but certainly not in the mass of $700,000 but we were able to get some support from community. >> Can you expand upon that? a couple thousand dollars, but I can
find it in your email. >> And I can follow up the followup. >> Well, if if it's in a memo, perhaps I missed it. If someone could forward it to me, I would be appreciative. So, is a couple thousand dollars How long was this effort uh utilized and
how many people do it? I I find that very difficult in in a county as large as Broward County that we were only able to muster up a couple thousand dollars. >> Mark Mills Food Nutrition. Um it was more than a couple thousand. There were some great opportunities from just
everyday people and they contributed. I think there was 3,000 just from this um coffee group. However, we uh partnered with the Broward teachers or the um Broward Education Foundation and that we brought in 5,000 I think the first and they have another 10 for us that are
going to be sent to us. They're not big numbers. You're right. Um but every little bit goes towards the debt and we pay it down. um any local people that wanted to contribute have contributed and we have a list of where they through either um the Row Education Foundation, they tell us exactly where they want the
money to go or through people just bringing a note with their money um and we take care of the money from there where it has to go or we generically spread it over whatever school has the highest debt. >> Mr. Sea, >> safe to say it was less than 20K. >> Yes. Yes.
>> Thank you. >> So, I was able to locate the follow-up. We sent it out on March the 25th. Uh so we able to and you're correct Mr. Mills about $15,000. >> Miss Bowman, >> thanks. Um yeah, I think I think we can probably do a better job of, you know,
uh getting donations in that way. And I agree with the chair obviously um we want to feed the kids. when you put it in the perspective of what else we spend money on, it's ridiculous that we're talking about this. So, I don't know how
we and we know we can anticipate well because we spend money on tons of different things that you know or have to pay money for mistakes that are made or what have you. So we should be we should we should have some funds I would think that are anticipate that we are
going to have this debt on a on an annual basis if we don't figure out a universal free lunch and I know that this comes out um so is there a way for us to put that into the budget um to put a little
>> that's a little contingency fund together like coming back for the next so that it's not biting us um at the 11th hour. I I'm just I'm not sure how the budget works that way, but she's not here. But just a suggestion, you're
anticipating something that we know is going to happen. >> Well, I think in the item it says to, you know, to develop this plan over the next few three years to implement a a free lunch, universal free lunch. I mean, that they're going to have to plan for it in the budget. So if the item
passes, >> right, if they get a free lunch, but if we don't, so say we don't we're not able to figure out a way to do a universal free lunch, how can we prepare to be able to pay for a lunch debt that we have
>> and that's the part of the plan that we'll be able to come back to you. >> Great. Thank you, Miss Hixon. >> Thank you. I'd like to make a substitute motion based on the student advisor's input and I'd like to um move that we
pay the senior debt right now and wait to pay the other part of it because again we have whether we vote for this or not it's going to come out of general fund but I
don't want to pay all of that right now. we, you know, we just are going through this org chart and and telling people that they we don't have money for their positions and some of this debt occurred. Although I I don't disagree that we want to make sure our kids are
fed. Um I some of this is is preventable. So I I'm not ready to to pay all of that money right now. It would be it would roll over at some point anyway. So my motion is to pay just the senior stu the 12th grade
student debt at this time and delay the rest of the payment. >> Second >> motion made by Missen, second by Mr. Sea. Public com on the motion or substitute motion. Board member discussion on the substitute motion. Mrs. VA,
>> wouldn't the other part of that would be because this money, the 720,000 is is basically, from my understanding, going to the end of the school year. So, wouldn't it be smart then to also add to your motion that you're not getting a
hot lunch? you're we're going back to how it was done previously to the peanut butter and jelly, the butter sandwich, the um that type of meal instead of the the hot meal because then you're then you
possibly could be saving more money off of the 720,000. I don't mind that part except for I want to give the picture again of what we heard. How did they get to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich? If they're still walking with a plate that has food
on it and we have them throw it away and then give them a Peter Ber sandwich, I'm not okay with that because we're wasting money twice. >> So, how do we I I don't disagree, but Dr. Fulton, how do we how can we ensure we're not going to be wasting food to
give them that? Because I I don't disagree that's what we should go to. But I do, as you can tell, disagree very strongly that your students going to watch us throw their good food away to hand them a WOW sandwich. >> So that message uh resonated very clear
and actually in the direction that we provided to the schools and food services while I read it and I quote per board direction, no student trays are being removed at the point of sale regardless of meal obligation status. So that has not been happening. >> But that's my point. So Mrs. Alhadev's
suggestion here, which I'm okay with adding to this motion, is to not give them a hot food tray and give them a a peanut butter wow, whatever it is, sandwich. But how do you get to that without having them have a tray? That
was the discussion we had before. And I haven't heard anything that we've done to be able to get to that point. So, I don't think there's a there's any procedure in place to be able to do what she's suggesting. And if I make this
motion, are we going to put something in place like next week? That That's the question. >> So, is the motion on the the substitute motion on the floor still just to pay the senior debt? >> Well, I'd like to hear staff answer the
question. Is it is there how do we get to giving them a wow sandwich to reduce what the additional debt will be? And and actually I don't understand how that even saves us money if we what happens
if we don't let them keep the tray and it goes in the garbage can. How do we not have to pay for that? Like I'm still so confused about that piece. >> Yeah, you are right. it doesn't really sat well with any of us and particularly the cafeteria managers that they have to do that. Um we will work with the
Florida Department of Agriculture and see what type of assistance they can give us as to how to not have them have the tray until after it's verified that they have the funds or they have the free eligibility. If that helps, we can try that and see what they recommend
that we can do for that. Also, we will we will revert back to one charge which will One once that child comes through the line and they will still get the tray they have in their hand because it'll be a one charge against food nutrition services that will initiate
either through the the principal or through our office if we know it. Reach out to the family, reach out to the household and say, you know, did you fill out an application yet? Some will say they didn't qualify. It just depends on what the situation is. A lot of them don't know. A lot of them don't want to fill it out for various reasons. But we
do make every effort to make sure that we continue to educate parents and let them know what's out there and what is available through the food nutrition department. Um also I guess we can look at and we'll see what the um USDA says
what type of alternate meals can you provide? What is logically best for a student? Um and see if we can come up with something different than a wow because it doesn't sound very >> well. And may I add to that, Miss Hixon? Yes. cuz I I think what you're trying to
get at is pretty much what um Mr. Leon said at the time the student begins to enter the line, if there can be some kind of mobile scanner, mobile something device that alerts the student that either your
balance is low or something, right? Um, currently the food and nutrition services department is not staffed that way or and they may not have all the resources to do like mobile scanning, that kind of thing, but we can look to see it's a part of the plan how we would implement that. Um, so I think that
that's the first thing, right, is that the before the student gets in the line, do they know that they do not have the resources? Either they're not free, they're not reduced, they're not right, the staff.
So, so that it it kind of um circumvents the frustration and and the embarrassment that comes along with I've gone through the line, all my peers see me picking out this food and then I'm told, "I'm sorry, I have to take your tray." Well, and my other question that
still hasn't been answered, and I'm sorry to extend this, is I I don't understand how moving to a WOW sandwich >> saves us money if you don't know they get a WOW sandwich until they're holding
a tray and they get buzzed that they can't have the tray. How does that save us money? >> So, I don't know that it does. And I think that that's what Mr. Mills was saying that that's that's what he said that you you you know he basically validated what you said but the but the
um ideal method would be before you even get to take the tray here's the wow >> right and that's the conversation that we had the last time we were here that how do we do that but I there's no way to do that in this last short period of
this school year. I I get that it could be in the plan. I was supposed to be in the plan. So although I appreciate Mrs. Alhadev's suggestion to a substitution doesn't really save us any money because they're still going to have to take a tray and
then find out, oh, I can't afford this. And the tray goes in the garbage can and then we hand them a wow sandwich. We're still paying extra that way. So I I don't know how to say that more than I've already said. That's the piece I
can't wrap my head around because it doesn't save us money to give them a WOW sandwich unless we've identified before they have a tray that they're not going to be able to to have the tray. So although I appreciate the substitute motion, I don't think we're able to do
that at this time. Dr. Fulton, am I correct in that we're not going to be able to implement knowing that they don't get a tray beforehand in by next week? No, I don't think that's possible. >> Correct. But we'll certainly try to see
how soon we can. I mean, it it it's logistical to be very honest with you and it looks different at every school. >> It won't be the same. >> So, although I appreciate that, I think I'm going to leave the um motion the way it is. >> So, we'll definitely work on that for you. So, know that we hear you and we'll see what we can do with a vendor either
from our point of sale system or if it's something that we need to implement. The um code of federal regulations does say they have to have the tray in their hand and go to the point of sale to pay for it. We need to change that somehow so it's doable for the student and we'll do that through the National School Lunch
Program and see what they have to recommend for us. >> Mrs. Alad, if you still have the floor. I just say it's quite frustrating because this isn't our first rodeo of this conversation. We talked about this before and to Miss Hixon's point, I
agree with you. There should be in the front when the student comes in whether they are getting the tray or or getting the uh other lunch the wow sandwich. So, I still think we have an opportunity to
try to execute this this school year in a timely manner because listen, if we the board doesn't do anything, well, it's been months that this could have already been executed and this 720 could have possibly been half. So, I think
maybe the motion is, you know, what would be Well, I guess I'll ask the superintendent, what is the timely amount? How much time do you need to be able to execute this to have in the beginning of the line to know whether they can get the hot lunch? And >> I think the major challenge is staffing and so and it looks different like I
said at every school. So I would let Mr. Mullen kind of give a general overview on what that would look like transitioning to a different logistical model. >> Yeah. Once I think we are able to find out from the vendor what is doable. It could just be a device when the student
comes up to the line that you scan at that point like you're talking about. I don't know if that's doable. That's it. And I don't know if Reef's going to speak on that or not, but I hear you and we'll make every effort that we can to see what is technically eligible to um
unfold what you're looking for. >> Thank you. Some of the challenges that we're going to experience are the extending lunchlines. We're going to have challenges at the elementary school level. How do you determine if a student has brought a lunch or is not eligible for a lunch but actually needs to eat, which is one of our challenges as of why
we don't control the lunch line or the the cafeteria dining area. So, being able to implement devices, even if it's a point of sale device, a tablet, or a scanning device, you're going to have to have somebody operate that device. You couldn't have a kiosk in place with wireless infrastructure to say, "Okay,
scan and go." Because then a student might just scan their badge and still go through the line without any type of control setup. We're definitely going to look into it and see if there's any other district able to overcome this challenge. But one of the big reasons that we have the meal lunch program is to be able to feed students. And at the
end of the day, we don't know before they enter the line if they need that meal or not. So, we'll just take some time and be able to come back with a plan to see how we could um logically institute a different method. So, we'll come back with that.
>> Mr. Spelberg, >> thank you, Madam Chair. Um, and I appreciate all the time to be able to speak on this really important issue. Um, and also just that I want to recognize that food and nutrition services is incredibly problem solving. Um, and I appreciate that that they're
coming with solutions. The biggest issue here is that we need to curb the practice of students just walking through the line because respectfully to many of our students, they know exactly what they're doing by going through the line. They know that they cannot pay,
right? So that is uh or I'm sorry, they know that they can pay and they're choosing not to. Um, you know, I also want to just address the fact, and this is probably somewhat hypocritical, you know, beggars can't be choosers here, but it's not only our seniors. I did just highlight that, but there are
students across this district who will continue to incur meal debt that will not just disappear at the end of the school year. Um, so really the question, and I I mean this incredibly respectfully, is if that's going to end up being absorbed by the board, why not do it now, right? why not resolve that
issue for our students? And the food and nutrition services team did an amazing job rolling this out, but they there was very limited communication directly to students about this. So on day one of the 2627 school year, we can really
inform students. It's a new school year. This is a new process and we can start fresh. And I'm confident with the ne student adviserss and we will help as much as we can to get that process done where students are very understanding that that process of just going through
the line and incurring a debt will not continue. But like I said that there are students in this district who have severe anxiety. Talk about needing to see a mental health professional. This is needing to see a mental health professional. Um, and I just I I worry
for those students um that maybe don't know that this is in place. Uh, so I really just ask um that the board considers beyond seniors. Seniors are important. That is to me a non-negotiable, but so are the students
that uh go through our schools every single day. Thank you. >> Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to call the question. >> Motion made by me, seconded by Dr. Zean. All in favor of calling the question say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no.
>> One dissenting vote. Uh so we've got so the call to question passes. All in favor of the substit substitute motion say I. >> All oppose say no. No. Roll call. >> Roll call on substitute motion. >> Bowman. >> On the substitute motion.
>> Madam chair. Can you repeat the substitute motion please? >> The substitute motion. Miss. The substitute motion was to pay for the seniors now and because and the reason I said that was because there's debt that this is an estimate. We don't
know what the total is going to be. So pay because Landon mentioned that they can't do their senior stuff. So the motion is to pay for seniors now and wait for the other part until the end of the year. That's the motion. So roll call.
>> Board member Bowman. >> No. >> Sea. >> Hixon. >> Yes. >> Holdness. >> No. >> Leonardi. >> No. >> Rupert. >> No. >> Thompson. >> Zean.
>> Nope. >> And Aladev. >> Yes. >> Motion fails. 63. >> All right. We are back to the item. I'd like to call the question on the item. >> Uh does need a second. >> Seconded by Miss Rer. All in favor of
calling the question. I >> I >> All oppose say no. All right. Uh all in favor of item 18 say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. >> No. >> Item passes with one dissenting vote from Miss Hixon. >> All right. Could I get a motion to second item number one?
>> So move. >> Moved by Dr. Mr. Zean, second by Miss Roupert. Public comment on item one. >> No comment >> or discussion on item one. All in favor of item one say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. Item passes unanimous
unanimously. Uh motion and second on item two. >> Move. >> Moved by Dr. Second by Miss Rupert. Public comment on item two. >> No comment. >> Board member discussion. All in favor of item two say I. >> I. >> All post say no. Item passes unanimously. Uh motion to second on item
three. So move >> moved by Dr. Zeman, second by Miss Hixon. Public comment on item three. >> No comment >> for discussion. All in favor of item three say I. >> I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. Item passes unanimously. Uh motion second on item four.
>> Moved by Dr. Zean, second by Miss Hixon. Public comment on item four. >> No comment. >> Uh board member discussion. All in favor of item four say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. Item passes unanimously. Motion to second on item five. >> Chair, can I recommend we do five
through eight together? >> Sure. Uh motion to second on item five through eight. >> So moved. >> Moved by Dr. Zean, second by Miss Roupert. Public comment on five through eight. >> No comments. >> Four member discussion. All in favor of items 5 through eight say I. >> I.
>> All oppose say no. Items pass unanimously. Motion and a second. Can I take 10 and 11 together? Anyone? >> No. >> No. Okay. Motion to second on item 10, please. >> So moved. >> Moved by Dr. Zeman, second by Miss Hixon. Public comment on item 10.
>> No comment. >> Four member discussion. >> All right. Uh, all in favor of item 10 say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. Item passes unless uh motion second on item 11. >> Move. >> Moved by Dr. Zeman. Second by Miss Rupert. Public comment on item 11.
>> No comment. >> Board member discussion. No. Okay. Uh, all in favor of item 11 say I. I. >> I. >> Uh. All oppose say no. Item passes unanimously. A motion a second on M12.
>> So move. >> Moved by Dr. Zean. Second by Miss Hixon. Public comment. >> No comment. >> Board member discussion. Miss uh Thompson. >> Thank you chair. I just we had talked about graduations last time and there was discussion that staff was going to
work with partners. Um, I was wondering if there's any update from staff about graduations. >> I know that work is still in process. I know there's a meeting on the books um this week, but I'll turn over to Dr. Wanza to provide any additional updates since that came up at the last uh
schoolboard meeting. >> Thank you, Dr. Folsson. So, we actually um did have a meeting last week, Friday. Um Dr. Heburn, Broward Education Foundation, Strategic Initiative Partnerships, I was I was in the meeting as well. um uh chief of staff and communications, Mr. Sullivan was there
and we have um the framework and I uh to actually go out for um sponsorship packages if you will um for graduation some um this for this year to get it off the ground this year. Um I know Dr. Heburn was going to um have a
conversation with the board today or at least um get the uh board's input that as we um go out for um sponsorships from the community and and various business entities that people wanted to know specifically what they would be donating
to and he's walking in so I don't want to take his thunder um but his specific conversation with the board was going to be around the monies that raised um primarily for graduation. ations and secondarily for the student meal debt. So was was that a nice segue?
>> Yes, absolutely. Um I think we're talking about what I was going to ask the board. So one thing uh we've met uh with BEF and uh kind of putting our um sponsorship strategy together. But one of the things um that's important to the people that we need to go out for outreach to support these to support
what we're trying to do is being very clear about what their money is going to be used for. Um, and so I think the priorities with originally we said, "All right, we'll bring the the earnings back to the board and make a decision on where that money goes." I don't think that's going to bode well with people who are willing to give money. Um, they
they give they give money for specific purposes. So, I know the two top priorities were uh uh support for graduation um um funding um for the venues and also student meal debt. Uh so that would be my recommendation is to uh
focus on those two priorities as we go out to uh sponsors to solicit sponsors and engage with them about u the initiatives that we want them to support and uh because I'm afraid we may not get support if we say oh no we're going to bring it back and let the board make a
decision how to um no thank you but if we have two though stick to certain priorities and I recommend those two because that's um kind of how this discussion kind of originated um we can go to sponsor message and talk to him about that and and um garnered their support for that.
>> Any other board discussion? >> All in favor of item 12 say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. Item passes unanimously. Could I get a motion to second item 14? So moved. >> Moved by Dr. Zean, second by Miss.
Public comment. >> No comment. >> Board member discussion. Mr. Seiver >> trying to get a clear picture of of the amount that's being asked of this board to approve um in reviewing the executive
summary materials. Um am I incorrect chair in my understanding that this board is being asked to approved uh almost $2.8 million for disposable cafeteria food trays? >> Dr. Heburn. >> That is correct.
>> And that will cover the entire year uh school year next year. >> Um go ahead, Mr. White. >> Uh no sir, that's just for the balance of this fiscal year. >> Next year for the uh balance of next
year, it requires $10.9 million. >> So $13 million altogether. So, it's $13 million for disposable food trays for the 2627 school year. >> Well, you're only voting to approve on
the $2.7 million right now, but for the total amount, you're uh buying 31 million trays at uh 8.8 cents a piece. >> Okay. Let me ask a follow-up question. Uh I'm looking at the chart here and
unless I'm interpreting this incorrectly, so please stop me if I'm wrong. Uh the budgeted amount in the spend for the trays for the 2526 school year was $2.7 million.
Uh hold on one second, sir. Uh Derek Clark, Food and Nutrition Services, you were right originally. The 2.7 is for next fiscal year. For the entire year. >> Okay. I I want to try to conceptualize this in in my brain. >> Where is it? Okay.
>> And talk school years, not fiscal years. >> Yes. >> How much did we spend on cafeteria trays for the 2526 academic school year in Broward County Public Schools? >> 2.7 million. >> Okay. And you're asking this board to spend 10 million for the 2627 school
board or um school year? >> No, sir. my mistake. Sorry. >> No, that's for the actual uh duration of the contract since um 2023. >> That's correct. >> Okay. So, I I want to go back and ask the question again. How much are we being asked to spend for the 26 27
academic school year in Broward County Public Schools? >> 2.7 million. >> Okay. And so, this amount is according to this chart appears to be in line uh roughly $2 million what we paid in 2023 uh the 2023 24 school year. the 2024
2025 school year and now the 2025 2026 school year. Is that accurate? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Mrs. Alv. Is there a reason why we don't use plastic hard trays? >> Um, I asked that same question too. Go
back to old school and wash dishes. But, um, I think many of the schools have those type of components anymore. Um, when you visit a school, you go to the cafeteria, you don't see the conveyor belt with the dishwashers and all of that. It's more about the trays and um
uh compostable um biodegradable trays um these days are what um most of the companies are making so they can decompose fast and in the landfills. >> So we don't have the ability to wash dishes. >> No. >> Okay.
>> Anyone else? >> All in favor of item 14 say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. >> No. Roll call, please. >> 8 cents. >> Uh, school board members Sea >> wants a no. >> Speaking of your mic,
>> I can't hear you from the mic. Sorry, but I got you as a no. Uh, Hixon, >> yes. >> Honest, >> yes. >> Leonardi, >> yes. >> Rupert, >> yes. >> Thompson, >> Zean, >> yep. >> Alhadev, >> no. Bowman.
>> Yes. For now as we >> do to a more um sustainable option. >> I put as a yes and passes 72. >> Could I get a motion and a second on item number 15? >> So moved. >> Moved by Dr. Zean, second by Miss Hixon. Public comment.
>> No, ma'am. >> Or member discussion. All in favor of item 15 say I. >> I. >> All oppose say no. Item passes unanimously. Can I get a motion to second on item 16? >> So moved. >> 17. Cheer.
>> That was withdrawn. >> Oh, okay. Sorry about that. Uh motion second on item 17. >> Moved. >> Moved by Dr. Zean, second by Miss Hixon. Public comment. >> No, ma'am. >> Board member discussion. All in favor of item 17 say I.
>> All oppose say no. Item passes unanimously. At this time, do any of my colleagues have any student successes to share or >> you want to go before? >> Up to the chair. >> Um, Mr. Sullivan, just want to go over
some workshop um >> topics >> topics um just to see where the board wants to learn. >> Your pleasure, chair. If I can do it now or later. >> Go ahead. Um, so I wanted to suggest um moving some stuff around for next week. So, so we have a workshop and a special. Right
now there's two heavy items on the workshop. We already uh started an earlier start time at 8 a.m., but I'm still concerned with the time. So, I wanted to uh give the board some options. Uh, so in the workshop itself, we have two heavy items. The RFP for owner rep agreements and then the SRO
transition plan. Both those items we anticipate being heavy uh lift items in terms of public participation and board discussion. And then special that starts at three right now has the org chart and job descriptions. We anticipate that also being uh quite lengthy. And then we
have the referendum. So my suggestion to the board is um moving the referendum to uh May 5th, which is the following week. that uh board meeting agenda items don't seem to be controversial or lengthy at the uh at the moment and um I don't I
believe that's probably the least timesensitive item for the board's consideration next week. >> Can I ask you a question though about that because isn't our referendum supposed to come before the county next week? >> Yes, but that um um that is they're voting on the resolution. It has nothing
uh it's not directly related on the allocation. So they don't need to um know the allocation to take up that resolution. >> Okay. Dr. Zean, >> I just think it's a great recommendation. I appreciate it. Uh Mr. Sullivan, um we we do have more time. More importantly, I think though, is you
know, kind of in a perfect world, we would at some point have negotiations completed. Remember, we're 10 months into a 12-month year, and we have not even settled this year's finances. Without that, we can't settle next year's budget because we don't know what this year's expenditures are going to
be. And then the referendum is for 27 to 31. So going to May 5th hopefully gives the staff and the collective bargaining units time to get together and figure out what what we're going to be doing this year so that we can settle finances, work on the budget. Remember
the budget's due at the end of the year, June 30th, and then um we'll have better planning period the further we push back that referendum vote. >> Any other comments on Mr. Sullivan's recommendation? All right. Do you have your direction?
>> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> Oh, go ahead, Dr. Z. >> Is it possible we start before 3? It sounds to me like from 8 to noonish we should be able to do the owner's rep RFP and the SRO plan and then start right after that with the or chart and job description, which I think is going to
take four or five hours easy. So, >> that is up. Oh, so go ahead, Mr. Zulvin. >> I'm sorry. Through the chair. Um, the way we have it advertised right now is uh 3M or immediately after the workshop. >> I in the interest of the community, I would love to give them a more
reasonable expectation of what time it is, and I think we're going to be done before 3 would be just just my guess. I'm one of nine, but I I would rather state that we're doing it earlier. If all we're doing in the morning is the RFP owners rep and then we're doing the SRO plan, couldn't we do that in four
hours? Um so right now we are we have scheduled seven hours. Uh we have one two three policies and we're uh allocating two hours for those three policies. It probably won't take two hours. Then we have two hours for the
owner's rep. I believe that will be two hours and then three hours for the SRO transition plan which I believe is probably a true representation of the time that >> I withdraw my uh recommendation. We will we will be here late. I just will ask my colleagues that to the extent on job
descriptions in particular if we can come in with any changes you want uh preprinted that would save us a boatload of time >> and shar if I may >> um also given the the realities of the changes that the superintendent got in
the in terms of the org chart the um the fact that we have to now do additional job descriptions or modifications and and notify different impacted employees. Um, our goal is to have it before Friday, but realistically we wouldn't have that item posted until probably
midday Friday. >> Chair, do we have to do job descriptions with the ORC chart or could we do them two weeks later? >> You have to do job descriptions before and then the ORC chart. The job description actually is what depicts the ORC chart. >> Miss Exon, thank you. Just to that point
and then I have some student success things. Um, can the general counsel address whether it's a violation of any law to post it at the time he suggested because we did have community members
concerned and we've gotten emails saying that posting it that late was a a violation of the of the law. So, can you just address that real quick? >> So, this is a special meeting. The law requires us to post within 48 hours, but it's really important to remember um
what we're talking about. Uh Florida statute 286.011 requires that the notice um that the public be noticed of the meeting, the meetings are open and minutes taken. So if you need to um for example, what was
uh commented on was, you know, we posted the org chart on Wednesday and then on Friday there was an update. That's not a violation of the sunshine law. Um, so long as we provide the agenda and it's properly noticed, open to the public and meetings taken, that makes sure that we
are in compliance. Now, if you want to change a substantive item, you're adding something to the agenda, then you would go through good cause. But if the item's all up there already and you're just making an update to a document, because the backup documents are not necessarily
part of the sunshine requirement, it's those three things that I mentioned before. Thank you. Um, so my successes in student things. So today, actually it started already, so you couldn't go today, but today and tomorrow at six o'clock, Coral Cove, that's why I'm
wearing the shirt today, um, is doing a performance of uh, the Wizard of Oz at the Myiramar Culture Center. So if you're available, you should go see that. They um, it's you would not know that you're watching an elementary performance. Um, also want to give
congratulations to Landon and Jere for being two of four students that received a $2,500 scholarship from the Broward League of Cities. Um, in addition to Jira and Landon, we had another student from South Broward High School, Maya
Masquip. So, three out of four scholarship winners were from Broward County Public Schools and two from South Bard High School. So, go Bulldogs. Anyone else with a student success? Mr. Sea, >> I um I have a question, but I'd prefer
to let my colleagues uh finish their student success stories before I um ask my question at general counsel. >> Miss Thompson. >> Thank you, chair. I'm hoping to end on a positive note, so I hope your question is a positive question. It's debatable.
Um, so I would like to give a shout out to West Broward who ranks number one in Broward for raising an amazing $15,510 during their Best Buddies Friendship Walk. And to the club president, uh, Izzy Fuentes, who was Broward's top
fundraiser, bringing in $8,900. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else? Mr. Oh, Miss Bullman, were you raising your hand? >> Um, on Sunday, Miss Hixon and I had the pleasure of going to the Hollywood Art
and Culture Center to see the um AP Art students uh and all of their art that was under the theme of I think it was fine. Yeah, the playlist. So, just a wide variety and it's another example um of the
awesome work that our kids are doing in our schools. It was really, really cool. So, thanks. >> Thank you. Anyone else, Mr. Seivera? >> To our general um council chair, if I may, um to put it lightly, uh I did not
agree with the chair's position today in cutting uh the speaker's time down from 1 minute to three minute. I think that has an adverse effect and a chilling effect on people's free speech rights, especially in the context of them being able to address um their elected
officials who represent them in their respective districts. Uh my question to you, ma'am, is uh if the chair makes that decision, does the board have any recourse, whether it be by a vote or anything of that nature, to overturn
that decision? Uh so for purposes of of the example today to reinstate the previously agreed upon which is in policy I believe threeinut opportunity for uh the public to speak. >> So your policy is very clear on that
particular topic and it gives the discretion to the chair. So in order to change it it would have to be the chair's discretion or you'd have to do a change to the actual policy. Thank you for the clarification, Madame General Counsel.
>> Thank you, Madam General Counsel. Um, what does the policy say about total public speaking time? >> 30 minutes. >> Okay. And I did I extend that today? >> Yes, you did. >> To how much time? >> Oh, I don't know how many speakers, but it was extensive. >> Unlimited.
>> Unlimited. There was no limits as to how many public speakers. Um, I just want to thank Madame General Counsel as well as our security staff and our police officers here today. Uh, everyone was very proactive about
ensuring the safety and productivity and efficiency of the meeting. Um, we had a meeting yesterday. Uh, Madame General Counsel was on the phone with me a lot. Um, drafted a lot of scripts, issued a lot of memos. Um, but I really am
grateful to our officers for maintaining decorum in the audience. Um, being very proactive. I think we had a a really good meeting considering the the high emotions that we were dealing with. Um, so I'm just very grateful to our
officers and our security staff. Um, thank you. We we couldn't do this without you. Um, all right. The scheduled order of business for this special school board meeting of the school board of Broward County, Florida has been completed. Seeing no objections, I will adjourn the
special school board meeting.