good evening this evening's performance from Argyle Elementary features the Pioneer Sounds music group under the direction of Miss Hold on sorry Emolano sorry I apologize pioneer
Sounds is a variety group that includes singing movement and playing of various instruments the group consists of third through sixth grade students who meet once a week several of the multi-talented scholars before you are also part of
Argyle's track team robotics team math team safety patrol all county elementary chorus and drama club all Argyle pioneers strive to chart paths and inspire minds this evening pioneer
sounds will begin with a piece titled Dorian River this piece is from Quaver the count country or hold on sorry county's online music curriculum this piece displays the Dorian mode of music which gives a melancholy yet hopeful
mood they will next perform Impossible is Possible by a hiphop duo called Black Violin who are from Fort Lauderdale Florida their final selection is the first verse of America by Samuel Francis Smith as well as the first verse of
America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates and Samuel A ward [Music] oh say can you see by
the light so proudly we held And the twilight last gleaming moonshines and bright
stars through the peril is all [Music] around and the rockets are singing
gave proof to the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled fair
way oh the land of love and the home of [Music] [Applause] Mr
[Music] down [Music]
high on a mountain and far away silver clouds below there lies a river of blue magical waters flow
glory and river is his name is it but if you see the sweet sing with
you on the mountain clouds below there is his name is his [Music]
sing with you [Music] [Applause]
[Music] oh
[Music]
oh the moment when you realize all the things they said were lies [Music] open up your eyes we are ready to
fly we can do [Music] anything we can go anywhere [Applause]
[Music] [Music] without the world the impossible is possible show the world the impossible is possible
[Music] oh there's a moment when you [Music] understand their plans open up your hands so we have
to we can do anything like the sun we can go anywhere no matter where we [Music]
are we got the battle [Music] show the world the impossible [Music] issible is
[Music] possible the impossible is [Music] possible the impossible is possible [Music]
oh sh the star we can go [Music] anywhere where we are we got the fire
[Music] oh you like the fire [Music]
[Applause] it's a drone [Music]
jesus of peace [Music] i [Music] sing
down victory [Music] christmas [Music]
merry [Music] love to shine [Music]
[Applause] we look forward thank you Argyle Elementary and Miss Wilhham for the wonderful artwork on display argyle Elementary demonstrates
the great capabilities and potential of young artists in our community the late professor Elliot Weine Eiser a pioneer in art and education stated "The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed but changed with circumstances and
opportunity." Learning in the arts requires the ability and willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds evidence of this is demonstrated in the artwork displayed today students student artwork is focused on various topics
including the history of American folk art the history of America America told through the lens of the American bison the architectural style and history of colonial houses as well as the combination of color theory and science
to depict the intriguing uh scorpion children who expo explore the nature of history science and humanity through the arts arts guarantee a bright future for our communities in December of 2024 Argyle artists created hundreds of
holiday cards and artwork that were donated to the three Brooksdale Retirement Homes the art embodies compassion discovery innovation and creativity and are encouraged and celebrated at Argyle Elementary this month we have an
additional art display that honors Autism Acceptance Month created by Miss Rich's ES art class at Ridge View High School this display raises awareness and promotes understanding of autism spectrum disorder autism Acceptance Month emphasizes the importance of
inclusion and acceptability advocating for a supportive and empathetic society that empowers individuals with autism to succeed and at this time we we are going to have Father Mason Wiggins from St katherine's Catholic Church from Orange Park lead us
in the invocation power can you hear me now there you go let's bow our heads put ourselves in God's presence loving and gracious God you are indeed the giver of all good gifts and we thank you for all your
blessings tonight we ask your guidance and wisdom you are the source of all knowledge and understanding therefore we seek your direction in our decision-making process help us to listen attentively to one another with open hearts and minds
may we all seek to understand each other we pray that you will give us the discernment to make the best decisions for the greater good we pray for the successful outcomes of our school events and for all our staff members both the teaching and support
members we ask that you bless them abundantly and we continue to seek your wisdom guidance courage and strength be with us in our deliberations and help us to be wise in the decisions we make for the good of all those who have
placed their trust and confidence in our leadership it is our privilege and our responsibility to support foster and advance the mission of Klay County Schools and education give us insight to lead with integrity that our decisions may reflect
what is right and good may our words and actions be guided by your love and grace all glory be to you our loving and true God amen thank you i pledge allegiance 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 [Applause] all right at this time I'm calling to
order the school board meeting for April 3rd 2025 welcome citizens of Klay County i want to take the opportunity to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend tonight's school board meeting this meeting is our opportunity as your elected representatives to collaborate openly
and make decisions that will decide the future direction of our public schools and the education of our children here in Klay County if you wish to address the board on an agenda item there will be an opportunity to speak for three minutes please fill out a card located in the side entry door indicating the
specific item number or topic you wish to speak about and turn it in promptly to one of our officers if you have items that you would like to present to the school board or superintendent please hand them to the to an officer who will distribute them accordingly speakers who
wish to address specific agenda items will be heard following the recognitions and awards portion of the meeting speakers wishing to address non-aggenda items will be heard following the adoption of the consent agenda no additional cards will be accepted once
the board moves to the public comment section under presentations from the audience your participation is welcome and appreciated at this time we're going to start off with Mr uh or superintendent Mr broski for the recognition of Governor Dantis' Black
History Month and recognition of students outstanding citizenship okay good evening uh board david Broski my address is on file okay it's my pleasure to be here to give out two awards this evening the first one is for Black History Month you know each year
Governor Dantis and First Lady Casey Dantis do a Black History Month essay contest and with that the winner gets a two-year scholarship so it's a pretty big deal there's only two elementary winners in the whole state of Florida and one of them resides right here in
Klay County cong congratulations and if you'd please come forward Keani Macau fifth grader at Tines Elementary School she she wrote her essay on uh Mary McCloud Bthoon who was a civil
rights activist and the namesake of Bthun Cookman University there in uh Daytona congratulations Miss uh Okay round of [Applause]
applause next we have an outstanding citizenship award this young man you know how people react when they're in a a dangerous situation or in a crisis really determines what kind of character you have and this young man that we're going to celebrate today is for uh outstanding citizenship uh unfortunately
accidents do happen in life and in Oakleaf in the Oakleaf Junior High area uh Nevin Luna was there when a child was hit by a car and he had the presence of mind to stop react to the scene call 911
and was kind of cool as a cucumber under pressure i'd like to be with this young person if I ever have an emergency right and so we kind of celebrated him i know the sheriff's office had celebrated him and we want to celebrate him tonight an outstanding citizenship award uh to
Nevin Luna nevin are you here all right [Applause] next up we have recognition of National Merit Scholarship ship semi-finals treasure miss treasure picket chief of
secondary education and Tom Mr thomas Pitman principal Fleming Island High all right good evening board and um members of the community welcome uh what we were going to do tonight or recognize some students that are have been named
the National Merit um semi- finalist and so what we wanted to do was have someone come explain that and give us a little background on what these students had to do in order to earn this recognition and so Mr pitman tonight is going to give us
a little background because he himself is on the board for the um national merit um board of directors so there are only six um public or six secondary
educators on this board nationwide and so there are different groups um there are community groups and corporate groups but educators there are only six and Mr pitman is one of what two or three that are actually from
public school so he is representing us and represents us on the board and we appreciate that so he's going to come and give us a little background and then I'll recognize the students um and their principles are actually going to be able to give their awards to them because I
thought that was fitting they need something positive just a few notes thank you board for allowing us to do this this is a huge and Mr broski also um if you don't understand what national merit is it is
huge huge like major so National Merit was started in 1955 it's housed right now currently in Evston Illinois outside Chicago it's privately financed it's not It's a not for-p profofit organization it's a and the competition is among US
high school students to identify and honor academically talented US high school students this past year for these 2025 graduates there was 1.3 million students took this test in the fall of their junior year so that would have
been fall of 23 um and across 21,000 high schools in the nation um they they have a reading and writing section and a math section from that of the 1.3 million it's come
down to 16,000 semi- finalists so it is the cream of the cream and the way they do that is they don't want to do it they want to do it nationwide so it's only the top 1% in each state each state has
a different cut score and so you have only the top 1% in each state um and then they can move on to a finalist stage which will open up more doors and stuff like that in the state of Florida they had
972 national merit semi finalists in the whole state of Florida and we have five of them from across 260 high schools we had five of them right here in our district take that take that now you're looking at these kids we had five if you
take 1% of 3,000 graduates we should have had around 30 in this district these kids are 0.02% of our high school graduates that's outstanding you guys and it opens up so many doors for you guys to be a national merit it will carry on for life
you get so many scholarship opportunities the state of Florida does an amazing job with this program if you don't know if you are a national merit semi finalist at any public university or college the state of Florida legislation has put in what they call a
Benisto scholarship it's pretty much a full ride these kids if they go to a state university can bank money we've seen kids that have gone and after four years have put 20 25 $30,000 in the bank to go on to further in their education
so that's all that's kind of what it is it's a huge deal we usually in this county usually have between five and 10 students and I just felt that they really needed to be recognized because it's a huge deal thank you and as I read your name
students come on up and we will recognize you and congratulations for all that you have been awarded and that you have achieved and we will expect to see great things from you all right um Miss Burke come on
up we have Tristan Dukes from Keystone Heights High School tristan if you'll just when you're done stand to the side we'll get a group picture at the end okay all right thank you tristan just slide over a little bit and from Fleming
Island High School Mr pitman will present Ezra Garrison with a certificate [Applause]
and then Mr pitman poor Miss Murphy she had a flat tire on the way here so she's stuck on side of the road somewhere but Mr pitman's going to step in for her and recognize Raman Morales from Ridge View High School thank you and Mr fluent is going to
recognize two oakleaf had two students that were semi- finalist one of them believe it or not couldn't get off work tonight so unfortunately but we still wanted to recognize it's amazing that can achieve this award and still have a
job be working nyla Jones let's give Nyla a round of applause and then a second student from Oakleaf High Noah Novaro mr broski will you come down with the group picture please all right let's get a group picture
principles and Mr broski with the students would be great we got to get some ladies in there next year now I'm And I just want to say thank you students but I want to say thank you parents as well and teachers all the
educators out there that have played a role um in developing these students we greatly appreciate your support and uh I know they'll they'll give you some thank yous as well so great job we appreciate you students also and how you're representing Clay County District
Schools thank you next up we have Miss Karen McMillan coordinator of family and community engagement with the recognition of outstanding school volunteer award um award honores good evening board um thank you for having us here tonight you know this
month April is National Volunteer uh Appreciation Month and we are here to recognize our three volunteers of the year um Mr broski you're going to present their awards to
them maybe I was a little shortwinded on that so I'm going to read some words that their school leader said about them our first one is our student volunteer of the year Michael Golden from Keystone Heights High School
[Applause] michael is a kind and dedicated student whose academic achievements are truly outstanding he has not only excelled in the most challenging courses including honors and advanced placement courses at
Keystone Heights High School but also in multiple college level courses at Santa Fe College through our dual enrollment program his active membership in the National Honor Society and consistent presence in the A honor role are a testament to his academic prowess as
further evidence of his ability Michael received a letter of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program moreover his rank in the top 5% of his senior class for GPA is a clear reflection of his dedication and hard work michael has volunteered at Keystone
Heights High School both in the front office and with guidance from showing new students to their classes to assisting with other clerical duties he is always willing to assist additionally he has dedicated numerous hours to multiple extracurricular events as a
member of the National Honor Society thank you Michael [Applause] all right our next one is our senior volunteer of the year not to be confused with the senior in high school Miss Adah
Ped Padulski from Ridge View [Applause] Elementary affectionately known as Miss Ada at RVE Ada Podulski is a remarkably dedicated volunteer who spends nearly
every school day building relationships and offering encouragement to students of all grades with a significant focus on kindergarten where she provides crucial support in early literacy and math through individual and small group work and enriches learning with hands-on
activities like science experiments and special projects her contributions extend to holiday celebrations practical help donated supplies and handmade yarn crafts demonstrating her deep care for student success over three years her
commitment has grown to over 30 hours weekly directly benefiting many students and significantly impacting achievement by improving grades enhancing reading fluency and strengthening writing skills she has helped foster the positive
climate at RVE miss Aydah [Applause] Podulski all right our last volunteer of
the year Miss Heather Smith from Middberg Elementary [Applause] heather Smith's unwavering dedication as a volunteer profoundly benefits our school community her extensive
involvement in organizing and executing all school events and fundraisers is crucial to enhancing our students educational experiences and fostering a strong sense of community additionally her management of the PBS PBIS supports
school store effectively reinforces positive behavior among students so not only has she won volunteer of the year here in Klay County but she made it to one of the stop one of the top finalist in the state of Florida so
we're very proud to have her and our other volunteers [Applause] Next up we have Mr chris Google with the uh fine arts curriculum specialist recognizing um the recognition of state
thespians and recognition of band color guard percuss percussion and wins championships good evening school board superintendent and community tonight I'm excited to recognize several truly exceptional individuals within our district and
their achievements at State Thespians for those who may not be familiar State Thespians is an annual event where theater students from across the state come together to showcase their theatrical knowledge skills and hard work it's a platform where these young artists get to demonstrate their skills
such as acting directing technical theater and much more the road to state thespians is not an easy one it requires countless hours of rehearsal dedication and determination these students pour their hearts and souls into perfecting their craft honing their skills and
mastering their performances from memorizing lines to perfecting choreography from designing sets to crafting costumes they need leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of excellence tonight I am thrilled to announce that several of our very own
students not only participated but excelled at the state thespians festival earning themselves superior ratings for their outstanding performances which is the highest rating they can receive at thespians their achievements are a testament to their hard work and
dedication and the exceptional guidance provided by their dedicated teachers let's now recognize our students students I will recognize um from each school in categories in which they received a superior rating at state students as I call your entry please
come to the front to accept your recognition and remain upfront until we conclude the recognitions we will then have an opportunity for pictures with any teachers and admin who are present with their students our first school Lake Asbury Junior High in duet acting
Jaden Sims and McKenna [Applause] Mack and from Lake Asbury Junior High in ensemble acting Bella Shock Brinley
Victory Ella Alcott Jaden Sims Kai Abrams McKenna Mack and Maya Johns [Applause] and from Lake Asbury Junior High in
publicity direction and in solo musical Laura Payton [Applause] and our last one from Lake Asbury Junior High in small group musical Brinley
Victory Jaden Sims and Laura Payton from Fleming Island High in solo musical ashlin [Applause]
Amber in duet musical theater from Fleming Island High ashen Amber and Ellison [Applause] Ship from Fleming Island High monologue Cash Belchure from Fleming Island High in
solo musical Carrie Hunt [Applause] hunter from Fleming Island High musical payton Tyson from Fleming Island High in
playwriting riley Rendleman and from Ridge View High Monologue Jillian [Applause] McKini ridge View High solo musical Lucy
[Applause] Breler and Ridge View High duet acting Monica Bryce and Savannah Hudson teachers and admin if you would join them up front and let's all please congratulate our students one more time
for their outstanding achievements at state thespians congratulations students [Applause] please join real quick that should be it awesome congratulations students and
teachers and moving on this evening I'm also excited to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our fine arts students who recently competed in the Florida Federation of Color Guard Circuits or FFCC indoor championships um
we saw a number of recognitions for the outdoor championships in November so this is a separate season um the indoor marching arts encompassing winter guard indoor percussion and indoor winds are highly competitive across the state with
high energy performance activities that blend music movement and visual artistry these ensembles rehearse extensively to perfect their performances often competing against top programs from across the state their success is a testament to their dedication discipline
and artistic excellence the typical indoor season begins right after marching band championships and leads up to the indoor championships that took place last weekend in Daytona Beach each of these students alongside their dedicated directors and um plenty of
staff have put in countless hours of practice to achieve these remarkable results their performances represent not just musical and artistic excellence but also teamwork perseverance and passion this year several of our schools achieved podium finishes earning medals
in their respective divisions i would like to take a moment to highlight each category and recognize their achievements winterguard is often described as the sport of the arts combining dance equipment with flags rifles and sabers and intricate
choreography all set to music this year we had three schools who are recognized on the podium clay High School Wintergard earned second place in the Illusion Division Regional A fleming Island Wintergard earned third place in the Northeast Division Scholastic A and Orange Park Wintergard earned third
place in the Paradigm Division Scholastic AAA indoor percussion ensembles blend marching percussion with theatrical performances telling stories through movement and dynamic musical arrangements um this year we had three groups who uh made it to the podium
fleming Island High School indoor percussion earned third place in McCormick's division percussion scholastic A middberg High School Concert Percussion earned second place in percussion scholastic concert A and Oakleaf High School indoor percussion placed second place in percussion
scholastic open lastly the indoor winds is a unique ensemble combining brass and woodwinds in an indoor setting where performers bring stories to life through movement and music and this year Oakleaf High School indoor winds earned second place in Wind Scholastic A so on behalf
of the fine arts programs um thank you for your continued support of the arts in our schools and can we please um do a round of applause recognize our students who earned podium success all right next up we have uh Mr steve Mills
supervisor of safety and security with a safety and security quarterly report good evening Steve Mills um uh safety assistant safety specialist for the district uh my address is 925 Center Street Green Co Springs Florida s Superintendent School Board and Citizens
of Klay County per Florida statute uh 212 the office of safe schools is required to provide quarterly reports to the school uh superintendent and the school safety specialist identifying the number and percentage of schools
including charter schools inspected and reinspected during the quarter that had no school safety requirement deficiencies the school safety specialist is required to um report this to the school uh board our results are as follows
on the in the third quarter of the 2425 school year Clay County District Schools had two schools inspected or reinspected by the Florida Department of Education Office of Safe Schools this represents roughly 4% of our schools our
inspected schools were found to have no school safety deficiencies this brings our running total on the uh this year for 17 out of 21 uh state inspections passing with no compliance
issues 17 out of 21 mr boyak wanted me to uh tell everyone that how he is applauds the school leaders the teachers the school staff the support staff for uh working together daily to keep our school safe
and we're proud that everyone's efforts and knowing that we can continue to p prioritize safety finally I want to uh let the public know how seriously their school board and superintendent take school uh
safety uh he greatly appreciates their support and guidance as he as we continue to go above and beyond what is required legally uh to keep our schools safe and I appreciate y'all thank you so much next up we have school showcase with
Argal Elementary principal Mary [Applause] Dorsch okay hello good evening i want to say first thank you to Okay I gotta get used
to this i'm pretty loud so I want to first say thank you to Superintendent Broski and the board for allowing Argal to be here this evening um before we get started I do want to recognize um the heartbeat of what makes Argal great and that that is the faculty and staff so I
just want to turn our attention to the back of the room and guys I love you guys thank you yes thank you'all for being here i also have my both of my amazing APS with me so okay let's get started so Argot Elementary School um this coming year
will be celebrating 20 years of charting paths and inspiring minds together um this year we really had the opportunity to think about 20 years of planting our flag and so we rebranded Argyle this year we aligned it to the Cambridge principles because we are a
Cambridge school at Argyle and we strive each day to be res uh uh responsible engaged innovative confident reflective and safe emotionally behaviorally and academically and that is something that we really strive for one of the things
at Argyle that make us so special and unique is that we really embody what it means to be a pioneer that we are making the way we are planting our flag in all things and that's what makes our community the best these are the faces of Argyle Elementary School as you can
see we have a good time at Argyle some of you have been out to visit us and then some of you do plan to visit us later this year um and each day it feels like family it feels like a community and we work together to reach our goals we work together to support one another
and so when I was thinking about ways of showcasing I couldn't just pick one picture because there are many great faces of Argyle so let's look at some celebrations well there is a lot to celebrate but I was given a time limit so we're going to look at three areas of celebrating the
first area that I want to celebrate is how we have really uh recreated a consistent language for our tier one this year in the district we've really talked about tier one is not just academics right it's our behavior as well and so we've aligned that um to
what it means to be a pioneer so we embrace the Cambridge principles and we have consistent tier one behavior and language academically and behaviorally and what that's done is it has actually shown students what is expected of them
it's given teachers the tools to empower students and that we're all speaking the same language we've also celebrate students in like our PBIS store once a month and we've had over 1,300 passes where students are demonstrating the
attributes of a pioneer and then they're being showcased and highlighted for that success and that is run by the faculty and staff another celebration at the very beginning of the school year Superintendent Rosski got up in front of all the leaders and he said "Make
attendance matter." And we took that to heart at Argyle and so one of the things that we've done this year is we really really have promoted and celebrated students for coming to school we see that an increase in student attendance automatically increases student
achievement and so this year our title department has done a really amazing job y'all rock has done a really amazing job at highlighting attendance all year long where students are celebrated we mention on the morning announcements we have
gotten our community involved we post on Facebook every week of the students that received a punctual pass and we highlight their attendance and because we're having the conversation every single day at Argyle look at the results we were named the most improved student
the most improved school that's all schools in Klay County for attendance so we were the most improved and then also back in uh December our school site specialist was at a meeting and we got a shout out for having the third best attendance that week and so our
celebrations are because we have put these things in place for students another area to celebrate is our increased growth at Argyle the systems are in place right we inspect what we expect our systems are in place and because our systems are in place for
tier one in behavior and academics we're seeing that students are growing at Argyle and one of the things that we do together is we celebrate that growth because guys that growth has Argal on track to move an achievement level this school year in school grade and we are
very excited about that i did want to showcase more of the grade levels that were here but again I'm on a time limit so if you could just look right here with me if you can see in our sixth grade department 77% of students in ELA are growing growing towards proficiency
96 in math 96 in fourth grade 62% of students are growing 95 in math in third grade 81 in math and then in second grade 79% of students are growing to proficiency and 83% in math and that is
because we're teaching in Argyle on all things how to be a pioneer and it's the it's the faculty and staff that do that each day some activities that we have at Argyle we're very excited to bring more to Argyle next year as y'all got to see earlier our Pioneer Sounds Showcase to
open the evening and as well as um our art students some other things that are great about our Argal is our math team our track team i don't know if anybody was at the track event but our gals swept the house and so we have a lot of first place medals and ribbons and it
was a great event we also have robotics drama and then this year when we think about safety because it's a big initiative for the district we worked with our students to create not just the safety patrol but the pioneer patrol because again that tier one behavior
that tier one language we brought that into the safety patrol realm and our safety patrol committee they're working with the students again planting our flag and showing those attributes even in safety these are some ways that our community has been involved with Argal this year
first is our title one events we had the opportunity to partner with new words initiative at the beginning of the school year um and it was a great opportunity for our families to come out have dinner with our families and um be able to give out some texts another thing that was great this year was
probably the biggest success for a parent event is we did a math wonder math winter wonderland event and we were creative and we had the event in the morning and it really showcased hey I'm going to drop my kid off and then stay for an event and when we read the
feedback um from that event it was powerful i remember reading one of the feedbacks in it saying thank you for creating an opportunity for me to connect with my child so we created the space where they could come in and be empowered in academics but then create a space where they could work with their
students so it was a great event our rally for attendance as you saw our success there and it continues to go we have our annual STEM night some community outreach is really led by a lot of our teachers miss Miller is one of our big advocates for community outreach at our school we've worked with
live to serve we heard earlier about the holiday cards that our art department did and then we're also doing a hydr a hygiene drive this year okay so we have everything in place and we're very excited what that has done for success of our pioneers in our
school and our community but we have goals we know where we need to go so our goals is to increase proficiency we want to increase reading by 7% math we want to increase overall prof proficiency by 6% in science it's a big goal but I know
we can do it increase it by 9% one of the things that we talk about at Argot is not just like a quick fix we say all the time we start small to build strong and so how we start small to build strong is we want to build capacity in our K2 classrooms where students are
exiting those uh grade bands and they're reading and so how we do that is partner with the district through letters initiative PD our coaching staff they're wonderful and we also work with them in our title department to really understand what it takes to take a child
through the science of reading and have the opportunity for students to read and so that has been a great initiative for us at Argyle as well as we have designed a small group time where it is intentional where students are meeting um each day in small group to meet the
needs of the students at Argyle and then to end it I just wanted to end it with a few pictures showing all of the great things that we're doing at Argal again we are continuing to chart paths and inspire minds together thank you'all for having us this
[Applause] evening thank you culture matters and you guys are doing a great job it seems like out there so thank you guys last call for comment cards and uh we're going to move on to
presentations from the audience um for specific agenda items and first up we have Miss Vicky Kidwell um good evening um Vicky Kidwell my address is on file um today you're going to vote on the next insurance
carrier for the Klay County District School employees and all the employees want more affordable insurance and what whatever decision you make I know you will choose based on the best interests of our employees but I want to ask you to consider one additional thing in Klay
County District Schools right now we have a robust wellness plan um there's incentives for fitness uh there's a nearsight clinic that um employees can go to for free uh cost them nothing um that access is really important so
please don't sacrifice the wellness benefits in your decision um we definitely want to save money but we want the perks too so I just wanted to put that out there so you'd remember it thank you all right thank you we have a
um we have another one um for discussion items but it is for our um public hearing so at that time just come up for the curriculum adoption all right that being said we
are going to um start with discussion items d1 self- insurance administrative services contract RFP number 25BA 131 award RFP
award do I have a um motion i move that we direct staff to um engage in a contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield right i have a motion from Miss Gilhousen do I have a second i
second right i have a second from Miss Clark any discussion being on the insurance committee representative of the school board there to me this is a slam dunk um we've had
United for eight years and we had Blue Cross prior to that but right now we're faced with a $3 million a year difference and it would be irresponsible for us not to take advantage of that so
and this is a company that pays our claims and they're considered a TPO so it's very different from the actual what the plan covers uh that is
their role so it's still up to the district separate for premiums and for what is covered so anyway I would I totally agree with Miss Gilhousen if we move forward as Miss Gilhousen
said Madam Chair in light of the savings that we'll have by going to a new insurance carrier Blue Cross I would like to ask the board to work with the superintendent to bring back some recommendations on how to best use those saved
funds to help teachers and staff as one board member I would like to see if some of those monies go towards whatever we decide towards compensations or whatever the superintendent and the board can
come to in agreeance but $3.4 million or $3 million is a lot of money and I would like to make sure we safeguard that money to help the people who are benefiting from the
program that's all I have any further discussion all in favor signify by saying I i i any opposed motion carries 50 sorry guys just give us a minute to
vote all right next up we have D2 Human Resource Special Action A can I get a motion for approval so moved got a motion from Miss Gilhousen can I get a second a second i have a second from Miss
uh Hansen any discussion i'm sorry see um all in favor signify by saying I i any opposed motion carries 5 Next up we have D3 Human Resource
Special Action B can I get a motion i'll move special action B i have a motion from Miss Hansen can I get a second that's a motion for approval correct motion for approval y thank you i'll second i have a second from Miss
Gilhousen any discussion see all in favor signify by saying I i any opposed motion carries five at this time I'm now going to open the uh public hearing to approve as
advertised adoption of the K5 English language arts K4 K through 4 mathematics intervention and K through 12 personal fin uh financial literacy and money management um you are not required to
fill out a card so at this time if you would like to speak on this issue or this um item sorry you can come to the mic and line up and we will so Miss Neely and any others who would like to
speak on this item can line up behind All right good evening my name is Melissa Neely i'm a Klay County teacher and my address is on file all right i am here um writing to
you on behalf of every teacher that I've talked with about the K5 curriculum that is being presented to you for your vote i would like to preface this by saying that I was on the curriculum committee this year for second grade and was able to look at all curriculums that were presented we also had a teacher in the
second grade group that has taught Benchmark Advance before and said how awful it is here are some things that I would like to point out to you after spending a few months researching benchmark advance and the wonders curriculum with our growing ELLL
community a curriculum that benefits them as well is extremely important benchmark does not offer anything but a glossery for ELLL students whereas Wonders has an area for teachers to scaffold instruction for beginner intermediate and advanced ELLL
students benchmark is expecting second graders to write an expository essay yes essay multiple paragraphs uh the second week of unit one we haven't been able to teach them what a subject and predicate is or how to
properly form a sent a complete sentence this is absolutely not something they will be able to do even in the first quarter of school we need to be very realistic here and not set the children up for failure my second grade classroom is an inclusion classroom i have
students from two plus years below grade level to a year above grade level the benchmark program does not provide adequate support for those who are below grade level and has a one-sizefits-all approach don't just think about my students but the VE self-contained classrooms in our county who use the
same adopted curriculum these are paper booklets that the students are expected to keep for three weeks the paper is the same material that we had for studies weekly and have you ever tried to erase on those you'll have ripped up books in no
time uh for phonics and grammar I was told that we did not review renew phonics to reading which is why we currently have limited access on the in the online component as I stated I teach second grade one page of phonics per week is absolutely not going to support
a child learning to read if we are only able to use a curriculum this area would need to be heavily supplemented let me also state that the phonics doesn't make sense why are we putting multiple phonics components together in one week short vowels blends and consonant diraphs in the same week absolutely not
this goes right along with the pre-made spelling list for the week second graders should not have words like we go and know mixed with problem dentist and napkin for spelling make this make sense there's a 20-day foundations routine foundations and routines routines unit
looking at the scope and sequence for this 20-day unit expects us to teach every second grade phonics component in 20 days teaching a new skill each day why would we do this um the curriculum is not studentfriendly the assessment questions are so far over their heads that you have to reward them the lack of
background knowledge for the stories make it difficult for students to understand okay am I done keep going okay to um understand what they are reading the stories are also difficult for them to read independently after doing a little
research on how students score on the assessments almost all teachers stated that the average scores is 60% that's a D average this curriculum sets unachievable expectations um looking at Wonders Wonders had great stories that are engaging and grade level appropriate
they're hard-covered books that we'd be able to use for years along with workbooks for students they have differentiated readers for levels on for students on different reading levels and even readers for our ELLL students they have a fast testing booklet which will help second graders transition from star
testing to the third grade fast test because those tests do not align together the writing component has real world world connections that students can relate to and the writing sources are engaging there are phonics games for students to play as well as a phonics book is this curriculum perfect no but
it is more academically appropriate for our K5 students than benchmark if cost is the issue please don't let that determine your final vote to listen to the teachers who have used or done the research on this curriculum thank you for your time okay seeing no more I'm going to
close the public hearing and I'm going to bring it back to the board madam Chair if I can be recognized yes sir you know I think that anytime that you have a new curriculum there's there's always agreement and disagreement as to the best curriculum
to adopt given this fact and I did have a board member reach out to me i've asked Melanie McCyver from reading to come forward and explain why this was the chosen the chosen item and how it was chosen at so this way there's under greater understanding by the board and
everyone else out there i think sometimes there's miscommunication so I think providing this opportunity would be beneficial for the board madam chair we'll have discussion after the presentation then hi we have a a visual for you to go
along with this i'm Melanie McCyver i am honored to uh serve as the supervisor of reading and I know this is a clay we are very passionate about literacy and we want what's best for our students and for our teachers to be able to deliver that and all of that is part of that
decision making that we went into so we really looked at the curriculum through what is the curriculum that would be most closely tied to the science of reading and what are the components that would meet that for our students and what would be the resources for our teachers i feel very passionately about
not having to go from here to here to here to pull resources for what's best for students i wanted a curriculum that was all-encompassing as closely as possible because there's never a perfect curriculum so we really looked at all of those components to determine that i
will say that benchmark we are adopting benchmark 2026 so benchmark had a previous adoption and they have rewritten a lot of the components within it so phonics has been completely reworked so one of the things about
benchmark to note it is on slide 11 for you guys it's a knowledgebuilding curriculum so it takes topics where the other curriculum is a basil-based it takes excerpts of readings this is a knowledge building so it revolves around
10 topics and there's three weeks per topic and every grade level is focused on that topic for those three weeks and it scaffolds and builds to build that background knowledge that they would need as they grow in understanding and we know that background knowledge and
vocabulary are one of the key components if I know what I'm reading about I'm better to understand it for reading comprehension so some of the topics are around sciences social studies government um
economics the other part of that is the phonics piece has been completely re reworked so we talked about from phonics to reading that is through Wy Blevens who's a well-known researcher and phonics guru as we like to call him
and Benchmark worked with him around their phonics so slide 15 and I did not number them i'm sorry slide 15 shows some of the components that comes with from the benchmark so it has a multiensory aspect to it where students
are truly engaging it's not just a presentation we don't just walk through it they are um they have the sound card so right now we have Kid Lips this takes care of that we have um from phonics to reading this offers the same
multi-ensory activities that from phonics to reading does and then it's very explicit it has the um manipulative so it comes with magnetic boards where students are interacting with the letters and sounds for K to2 and it
builds so we're talking about a scope and sequence that builds from the foundational skills all the way up through um Greek roots which all of our kids need in fifth grade we have to get them to that more advanced phonics that would be open to all of the vocabulary
as well but not only that it offers the decodables so I not only am I instructing students have application practice so it's not just a workbook page where they're having that application practice they have the the decodables that are in line with their
scope and sequence so as I teach skills those are then spiraled into those decodables for students to apply immediately and then in the little three-week book so it's a three-week book so then they don't have to have the big book it's three weeks and we
interact in that they have that application where they're also applying those things that they learn in phonics so it's a very robust phonics it offers a lot of online resources for teachers as well there is a um visual digital
board where students the teacher would model elonein boxes all of the big hitting things for phonics that we like to see in instruction then on slide 18 it talks about what are the texts so this is a
knowledgebuilding curriculum so it goes along with that so we take all of this we're working within three weeks on a specific topic so all of the vocabulary is built around that the stories you're going to interact with there are short stories and most of text I should say
because a lot of those are non-fiction and then it has a fiction that goes along with it so we have every unit has a reader theater for students to interact with to build fluency and deepen understanding every um unit has reading text to go along with it
authentic text teachers do a readaloud so and the teacher can choose there are options there are given options or there is a list of options or teachers can choose an option for a readaloud text for students then there's the guided practice with the uh 3-week book and
then there is the um authentic text and other text available so then the next part of that and really it's about the application so the vocabulary for the older kids they are applying that in those text it is
purposely set up so that you have that in the- moment teaching with them as well so that whatever you're doing through vocabulary or advanced phonics skills they're applying within those lessons um there are writing and grammar lessons the writing offers two types of
writing reciprocal writing which is the response to reading and also process writing so it comes with a full thing about sentence writing the grammar how to embed that um it leads them and guides them through the three genres of
writing that align with our benchmarks and then for weekly assessments one of the things that Benchmark lacked and they really listened to this is a way to assess students on how they are progressing each week within those
benchmarks so they have written exit tickets for daily exit tickets aligned with the classroom instruction with the benchmarks so it's written using the benchmark stems in order to really dig down to see how are the students progressing with those benchmarks so
that I as a teacher get that information and data the assessments online are um aligned to benchmark benchmark also provides the third grade portfolio so it comes with a portfolio that we can review with third grade or third grade
teachers which is a big deal for third grade teachers and then um they have that as just another source of progress monitoring it comes with fast assessments for writing as well so you can interact paper pencil writing you
can interact digitally with writing so it mirrors what they would see on the fast assessment for fourth and fifth grade and gives those teachers opportunities to to teach that in that way as well and um it has a very robust intervention so
once I progress monitor my students through assessments it gives me all the information for my item analysis to know where they are and then it offers a robust intervention platform that provides the guided lesson and the the
student resources to go along with that and all of the strands and components that are in the science of re in scar bros rope it provides um family resources so there are family letters in multiple languages
for each unit there are family interactions for activities there's the family website and every after 3 weeks when the student takes their book home on the back there are family interactive things so your student can go through this with you to talk about everything
that you've learned and then they have those interactive activities for families to engage with their children with and then um I have Cindy Johnson here i didn't introduce her dr johnson is here she is with the uh curriculum instructional resources and
materials department and she was really part of that adoption process so we built committees based on we teachers across the district and each grade level K to five we had teams for that we had parents for a parent committee that was
there in attendance that day for um they came for the training around we have to use a a state provided rubric that really dove into the um the aspects and are we aligning to the state
requirements and statutes so there were parents we have teachers we had district committees our um ELLL representatives were there to look at that because we do want to make sure our ESSE department we do want to make sure that every student is represented in the material that we
want to adopt and the um benchmark has those it's aligned to WEDA and each lesson tells you for which level of interaction or in which level of support a student would need what are those instructional moves to assist those
students at at all of the levels so there there is a a robust teacher resource that is available now one of the things with benchmarks is that there is there's a lot of materials so it is our goal job responsibility as the
literacy team to make sure that we create a curriculum guide that really helps you as the teacher like what do I need what what do I what am I doing with the materials so we have a very robust plan for professional learning and for
providing those curriculum guides to say how do we use all this together to train teachers to make them feel comfortable in this material and proud to be using this material because I do feel like it offers a very robust resource for teachers that truly
allow students to engage and interact in reading to speak listen write read all of the components that we want our students to do so that they can grow as readers because reading is to me that it's what opens the doors for futures
right that's it's not just a subject we teach it's that it's really is reading is fundamental so I don't know if there were any other questions about the process dr johnson
can help answer that too does the board have any questions for the district and we would be happy to show you any of the materials um if you'd like to see them too mr blocker before we can have discussion do we have to have a motion or can we
just discuss motion okay at this time can I get a motion i'll move approval i have a motion from Miss Gilhousen can I get a second i'll second i have a second from
Miss Clark any discussion yeah Miss Hansen now would be the time right so my heart's heavy when we talk about $3.4 million spent on curriculum in
2005 believe it or not we didn't have all this kind of curriculum our reading scores were higher than they are today i know because I taught out at Wilkinson Junior High School we were CC school and
a whole team of teachers got together and decided to be very unorthodoxed and we taught through novels we taught benchmarks in outside of the box ways without all of this
stuff principles would say that master teachers could teach with nothing but a chalkboard and a piece of chalk and a good book that is what I grew up in in the 60s i'm not saying that we did not
select what we consider to be the best curriculum at this time but the more we talk about how robust something is and get away from engaging and
training and best practices we're so focused on getting something that helps everybody do everything packed into these things that now what we have is I served on the state materials committee for three
years and I was the one selecting books for the state of Florida 300 textbooks and curricula ulums would show up at my house every summer and I would dive through those with these rubrics so I want to tell you as a board it is a big money
operation nothing I ever read was great but we had to pick something so whoever worked out best on the rubric you could literally develop curriculum so that you did well on the rubric thoughts about is it engaging
will the kids read better like that was always my question is this pile of books I'm looking at going to make better readers and I'm going to tell you the answer is no better readers come come from master teachers better teachers engaging kids in great ideas and great thought because
when they can critically think they can absolutely pass any test ever put in front of them so this I'm going to tell you what my problem is we have at the state level maybe 10 different platforms we could choose from
some are technical only online some are like this as a district we picked I believe four different things and the curriculum committees came in I think and narrowed it down to two the biggest problem I have is in a time of uncertainty when we
are not sure about budget cuts and monies coming from the state of Florida that we're going to choose a curriculum that barely more than 50% of the teachers who responded approve of when I visit schools we're at almost like a
5050 $3.4 million for a 5050 and what I'm guess I'm going to ask Mr broski is this like a hard date like we have to have this curriculum are we in our seventh year are we in our fifth year because more stuff doesn't always make us better readers the right stuff
makes us better [Applause] readers and so I can't really lead the conversation forward because I'm not sure where we're at in that are we seven years are we a hard date um five years where are we at i can help i can help
that um we have one more year left on our current K5 ELA adoption which is SAVIS is that 2526 next year next year next year yes we have one more year we what we do is we reorder we can reorder um we do pay for
shipping so so that cost would be part of that but we have one more year left on the adoption and for K5 ELA at the state level only five companies bid when I sent out the course call back in last
August only four companies responded it's limited especially because it has to be Florida benchmark alliance so right and so we will know this month the ones that the state approved so by well they say April so we know how
that works but sometime in April we will know exactly which ones the state approves and so so my thinking and of course I'm just one person and I'm talking from my heart tonight we may not have the funding mr broski and I were talking about this
just the other day we do not know right now the uncertainty of the amount of money that counties in Florida are going to be receiving we just don't there is a lot of discussion at the state level about cuts it's almost as if they don't think past um how does this cut affect a
district like Klay County i would say I would be happy if we have another year where you can reorder that we wait one because of the money situation and two maybe that gives the district more
time to let this 5050 split get more engaged in trying to figure out why we don't like something why we like something because I'm I'm thinking we do have the very best here and for me this isn't even about selecting the best curriculum
right now it's just the concern that when you change curriculum it is a great deal of hardship on teachers to change it is a lot of training it's redeveloping lessons i mean you're saying they could
just go through this book and just use everything pre-made no so so what and what I'm going to say is this is that I completely agree with you right at the end of the day we want to pick the most effective resource that is going to be based in evidence and scientifically proven to teach children how to read and
and again like you said my point being like I want kids to passionately learn how to read i want to open doors of opportunities just like Melanie said and just like Miss Neie stated there is no perfect curriculum there are going to be gaps our current curriculum has
significant gaps such gaps that we have to supplement like Miss Neely stated from phonics to reading so we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars every year supplementing our current curriculum because it does not meet our needs our we have a phenomenal
um literacy department that wasn't established five years ago right and so with that department and there's only roughly I mean how many people do we have there are five of us including there are five there are five members that service almost 19,000 students in
28 elementary schools so with that being said they've spent a tremendous amount of time digging into the standards analyzing you know what's missing in the gaps of instruction in the curriculum for K to 5 and it's significant so what
we know is we have to do better and we're going to continue and here and we really only will have these two choices so whether it's this year or next year will only be two choices my team is ready to deploy in completing and updating curriculum guides providing and
building professional learning because like you said it's going to take time right like it's just like when we speak about teachers in the science of reading the the work and the professional learning has like has expounded itself tremendously for all of our
teachers and leaders in schools and we're trying to keep up what I'm going to say is we've done a lot of research in both of the wonders as well as benchmark if you look at any of the information in ESSA if you look at the reading league there are concerns with wonders i'm going to tell you as
somebody just like yourself who spent a my whole career was special education as well as teaching intensive reading at the high school here at Fleming Island High so I'm very familiar with the gaps and what happens if we don't have a strong foundation and our current curriculum does not have a strong
foundation question yes about that so when we picked these two wonders and benchmarks wonders has it not um updated or upgraded itself since four years ago wonders wonders reminds me of where we
were with treasures so I'm not I'm I'm just trying to like make a like a visual like correlation whereas I feel like benchmark is where we want to go i think we all feel the same thing we all want our literacy instruction and our students to improve their skills we
don't want to be sitting at 61% of our students being proficient our goal is the same as yours as well as all of the people in the public and parents we want our kids to be readers and we want them to be able to meet the standards where they are and that's what we feel based
on the information that was provided based on the review based on the digging into all the dot all of the materials K to5 that benchmark is going to be our best bet moving forward and unfortunately those are our two options do you know what
supplemental programs that would save us money that you'll be eliminating from phonics to reading heard kid lips spelling through morphograph so we basically have Do you know about how much money that is by chance off the top of your head i mean I know i really I
wish I should have that i am probably everybody's worst nightmare right now but No you're fine probably about $400,000 when all is said and done and then my second question is why right now why a year early because our current curriculum has significant gaps and if
we have to whether it's this year or next year we're going to have to replace that curriculum so if you can just entertain me just one more one more question um the significant gaps include what with wonders because I actually when I was I actually like what's included and
the interest level of what's included and it's a real kind of like easygoing reading system and you just said it it's easygoing it but it it but yeah but I don't know if that's necessarily bad i think teachers are also supposed to be the reason we we teach and I mean if you
teach sips you can make it a little harder even though you're following the script so I I think what I'm asking is this is it and you feel like if we don't do it right now versus next year that what particular gaps would be the worst
for us so looking at fourth and fifth grade what is offered in SAVIS does not get to the depth and rigor and does not align to benchmark which is why our fourth grade previously on the the results were not what we would want them to be so this year even though we knew
we would only have one year left my team went in and rewrote all of that however it's still a band-aid it still doesn't offer teachers something that is to the depth that they need in order to grow our students they are doing the best that they can with what we have it's
just not to depth it also so when you think about it we have to supplement which means then I have to make this square peg fit into the round hole so my students are getting this on the outside but they're not being able to apply it all the time within what we're doing
that week because it doesn't mesh well within benchmark they make it so that what I'm implied it's embedded within it our phonics skills right now our teachers can't use the decodables that come with um SAVIS a they're not aligned
to the state statute which is one of the reasons why we are going through adoptions early the materials don't always align to make sure that we're not using the three queuing system and that we have that explicit instruction that goes along with everything so it really is we have provided a lot of resources
but that is also an extra step for the teachers to pull all those together we try to simplify things for them by pulling it together in our curriculum guides and offering them those things so that they don't have to go digging and trying to find things whereas Benchmark has it and it's all embedded will it
take training absolutely do we have a pretty robust training plan we have come up with one that I think that will meet the needs for those teachers to make everybody feel more secure in it and a lot of it is are things that they're already doing they're already doing a lot of the phonics pieces but they're
having to find and pull it so this would allow them to do that the one of the things that I I liked about when I reviewed Wonders one of the things I loved about it is some of the visuals that it offered well when I got digging into Benchmark Benchmark offers
the same thing but they offer it in a way where the teacher creates it with the class sorry I just got my mouth right here and I hate that but they they build it with the class so Benchmark offers it where we're building it as a class whereas Wonders offers it as a
ready set go we've already offered that in the the items that we've provided but it's it's just a different way of looking at it that we're building those with the classroom is this something like um we're going to add it to a curriculum map and everybody has to stay on the map and do teach everything a certain day
and these are all the things you need to teach is it like like that do we do we provide a guide especially for our new our new teachers who don't have the same pedigogy as us abs like absolutely do we allow some flexibility in what they pick
and choose yes because it sounds very scripted and very like so comprehensive that I I feel like I didn't if you adopt it if we adopt it i would hate for people to fall into that like especially master teachers like you need to be doing this and this and what I would what I would say and add because you had
asked this earlier is the instructional practices that are embedded within the program are the ones that are those high lever practices that are going to teach the teacher as they teach you know when we think about direct explicit instruction when we think about
scaffolding learning when we talk about modeling and describing in lessons those things I feel are more embedded and more representative in the benchmark curriculum so that thing that is happening naturally and so versus a lot
of times other curriculum is not as explicit would you consider it confining to a master teacher i think we allow our teachers to have some autonomy in how they deliver the instruction we're giving them again curriculum is a resource and a tool that we give to you supposed to be yeah
that's exactly what it is it's you know and we give you a guide to say because again we have we have a responsibility to ensure that certain standards are taught every year so this is the vessel in which we're going to give to you that's going to give you the tools that you need to teach your children so if
I'm a master teacher I would probably be able it's a resource and again we have master teachers who create their own you know formative assessments pulling standards and pulling passages from other locations you know that they vet and then they put together a lesson that
does those standards so again it is a resource it is a guide and it's you know and it's something that we know that they can use and that it's going to teach the children alongside them and really it's using those assessments like you say like I need to know where my students are it really is all
dependent upon the people that are in front of me right so those exit tickets that give you information the phonics um test that they would take assessments that they would take that's not a spelling test it really is about the phonics decoding and then the
assessments at the unit will tell you where do I need to stop with my kids or what do I do I need to slow down do I need to offer something different so really it is being responsive like that yeah and I appreciate you guys it's just let me tell you when you teach all those years and you you we go through this
this is great yes and then the very second we get a chance to get rid of it it's gone this is not great this is better i mean it just seems like a lot of money in a vicious cycle and I understand that responsibility i'm going to tell you being the chief of
elementary education literacy is my number like if you talk to anybody in this county like they're going to talk to you about a multi-ter I talk about a multi-tered system of support and how we serve children and I'm and I want to ensure that all of our children are literate citizens they have that civil right so at the end of the day those two
things are important to me so like do I do I worry that is this the best curriculum I've ever seen no do I feel like I've seen publishers who slap a science of reading label on on their materials and say that it's evidence-based and then we find out that they're missing all types of things yes
we do this I feel not only do I feel like the most confident in this instructional component I also feel that they've been the most responsive when we've had a question a concern if we feel like something is missing if we ask for more they have been Johnny on the
spot we have not seen that with other publishers thank you for taking your time i know it was last minute but it's a it's a huge concern when you always have like that 60 40 53 47 split because that means we're going
to go into a realm where half of our teachers are unhappy and and I tell you when we when we looked at math instruction we were in the same place when we um adopted Eureka Squared a few years ago and again there's an implementation curve right no matter whatever we get there's going to be an
implementation curve and ultimately at the end of the day it's our responsibility to serve and support and provide the resources and professional learning that they need so that they can be the best they can be in the classroom and I guess as a like a romantic person like romant you're thinking about like the the glory would be we just use that
once in a while this $3.4 million curriculum and really start engaging in what kids really want to read and bringing back that that love of reading and not just being focused on a test sometimes I feel when they're this robust that leaves very little room for
that other part which is real important too well we want authentic opportunities well when I say when you know when you say robust too it's also it's having those opportunities for students so if I'm a new teacher I don't have to go find them i can have the song that they for kindergarten i can have the activity
in first grade that is all right there and I don't have to spend my time trying to find it as a new teacher so it's really trying to fit the needs of those new teachers and then offer those master teachers those what am I going to do and use and what is valuable for my students
can I ask a quick question is this comparable at all to rigs would you say that it's similar to what we used to use when rigs was so I did not use rigs okay so I I was at a title one school and we used something
completely different but it's not it's not the same as Rigs um did you use you don't I can't make that correlation i don't have enough information i know this much about rigs okay i just remember the handwriting script
in Rigs i think that's what I remember from Rigs okay that's what stands out for me well when you say robust that's where what I think of Rigs was incredibly robust um system of teaching phonics and reading and deeply grounded in the science of reading as well so and
I think sometimes it is it's that you need the simple but you also have to have the things to make it simple i need to be able to to hone in on the exact thing that I need because sometimes more is too much right but if you don't have
those things then I'm searching for more i'm searching for that thing this gives you enough so you don't have to start a search somewhere else it's right it's it's here for you to be able to to choose from for your kids and I will say that I'm really incredibly proud of our
district and our support that if you would have come into classrooms you know three years ago four years ago teachers were digging in and paying for resources teacher didn't have the resources no it's true so that when they choose what they need
they have their Thank you thank you any further discussion or questions all righty so at this time um all in favor signify by saying I i I
all opposed or any opposed no opposed all right vote carries 41 we will be moving on to the consent agenda uh we have a proclamation number
25-13 to establish May 5th through the 9th 2025 as teacher appreciation week in Klay County and Tuesday May 6 2025 as teacher appreciation day proclamation number
25-14 to establish April 21st through 25 2025 as Administrative Professionals Week and Wednesday April 23rd 2025 as Administrative Professionals Day in Klay County proclamation number
25-15 to establish May 6 through 12th 2025 as National School Nurse Week proclamation number 25- 16 to establish April as month of the military child and Wednesday April 16th
2025 as purple update for Military Kids Day at this time can I get um a motion to adopt the consent agenda i'll move approval i have a motion from Miss Gilhousen can I get a second i'll second i have a second from Miss Hansen any
discussion all in favor signify by saying I i any opposed motion carries 50 at this time we will have presentations from the audience and we will start um with Miss Constants
Higgins Botham and we will place our rules on the slide and remember you have three minutes gotcha hi my name is Constence Higenoth i'm with the Klay County Education Retired and we're here tonight because for the third year in a row we
sponsored a Black History Month essay contest for elementary students in grades four through six and we want to recognize our winners uh we want to thank them for staying because I know they have a writing test tomorrow also uh third place in the competition is
Michael Bellancourt from Orange Park Elementary and Michael's te teacher Miss Stevens is here and he gets a certificate and $25 in cash all righty so if you'll stand for a picture Michael you want a picture with Miss Stevens too
okay okay our second place winner had to leave because they hadn't eaten dinner yet um Lacy Swearington from Clay Hill Elementary and her principal is here you like to come up she gets her certificate the principal
doesn't the child gets a certificate and she got $50 in cash and and our first place winner is Maya Westfall from Orange Park Elementary and Maya will get her certificate and $100 in cash
thank you very [Applause] much next up is Shannon Hubie and I forgot to mention um state your name and your address at the mic
please my name is Shannon Hubie and my address is on record um good evening superintendent and members of the board april is autism awareness month i used to use this month to educate those around us but now it's about celebrating celebrating differences progress and
boys who have climbed far more mountains than we have and celebrating the people who have helped them get there we have six kids five boys crazy wild busy smart boys and each of them is exactly who they are supposed to be and are equally busy beautiful and smart daughter all
products of Klay County schools the littles are autistic they are so many other words to describe them and they are written on papers shoved in a drawer words too sad to read all in a row they feel like a heavy weight when we do and
while they are true they don't mean all that much to us as parents anymore for far too many years we let these words predict their futures we let these words consume us and we lost joy for a while but not anymore these words do not determine their futures they do do not
determine their worth they are exactly who they are supposed to be who God created them to be and we promise you that they will live amazing lives do you know that when Bryce was diagnosed with autism at the age of five not one person told us anything positive about autism
no one no one told us the absolute joy that he would bring to the world they only told us the hard the scary they told us about the darkness they told us that these boys but these boys are the lights that everyone needs in their lives i stand before you today to let
you know how incredible this year has been it has been the first full year that my boys have been in general education with the dedicated support of their pair of professionals and the outstanding teachers who have worked to ensure that they are not just present but truly included inclusion is not just
about being in the room it's about belonging and this year my boys have belonged we wouldn't be where we are right now had it not been for the amazing village we have built along this journey the teachers classroom assistants occupational therapists speech language pathologists bus drivers
and mentors that have all worked and loved our boys we've been blessed with teachers who chose to go into special education and to focus on students with autism teachers who go above and beyond to help our students this year has shown
us what is possible when we believe in every child when we presume competence and provide support they need to succeed it is proof that when we follow the IEPs when we ensure that free and appropriate public education is truly honored and we work
collaboratively all students benefit as we move forward I urge the district to continue this momentum let's ensure that every child has access to the support that they need from the start so that no parent has to fight for inclusion because inclusion should be the default
not the exception thank you thank you up next we have Sylvia McCranny as a student please do not give me your address thank you hello my name is Sylvia and I'm a senior in this district
and I've come here again to talk to you about book bands the shelves in our libraries are getting emptier and emptier by the day my school's library has recently been renovated and hiding behind the facade of the new bean bag chairs in a fresh paint job is something that I will refuse to go unnoticed our library used to have bookshelves lining
all the perimeter walls and they were once packed full of cherished books over the years the books began disappearing leaving many of the shelves without the beloved stories that used to inhabit them then came the renovation th this design redesign left us with me maybe half of the previous shelving and they
are all almost empty this is the new This new look has nothing to do with school pride and nothing to do with giving the students a fresh new space it has everything to do with hiding the horrific truth i firmly believe that the purpose of this new look was to hide the vanishing books however I'm here to tell
you that we will never be able that you will never be able to hide the truth we want our books back we have had enough with these books many these book bands sorry uh more students have come to speak here today because this isn't just a qual that only I have this is an issue that is outraging many of the students
trying to get an education you say the purpose of these bans is to get porn out of the schools then why then why do you ban I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings why ban Sophie's Choice why ban Beyond the Chocolate War you are not removing porn you're removing the stories that don't fit in with your rhetoric even books
mentioning murder death and suicide are being banned upfront this might seem logical however I believe these books also belong in our libraries the unfortunate fact of the matter is that many kids go through tragic events and even the deaths of loved ones these books can be can help students
understand what happened allowing them to properly grieve and process their emotions no one has ever killed themselves or or others solely because of a book maybe the energy you invest in banning books you should invest in mental health programs you say you're just doing your jobs that every book you
ban follows the state regulations then why does Klay County have the most banned books in not just all of Florida but all of America and you wonder why reading scores are so bad and you ban all the books but what will all the students read you don't need to ban every book that comes across your desk i don't think I don't think every one of
you sitting up there believes in the book bans i think some of you at least one of you hates the idea of banning books but I think you are too scared to stand up for yourselves too scared that you'll upset your colleagues too scared that when re-election comes around you won't be the first choice on the docket it's time for you to stand up for yourselves stand up for the students and
stand up for the books you have the power to challenge these book bands the world around you is changing and it's time for you to decide what side of history you're going to be on it's time for you to step up and speak out we are we the students that you are hired to make decisions for and we are telling
you what we want to happen will you serve the students or will you serve only yourselves the choice is yours but I implore you to make the right one doing the right thing won't be easy going against the bands won't be easy but we are in a time of crisis and action is needed to be taken right this minute thank you
next up Mia Brian mia Brian good evening my name is Mia Brian and I am currently a student who is concerned about issue today's issue about book bans i should preface this by saying that my speech comes from my heart from the anger of seeing the
destruction made by towards their libraries first and foremost I'd like to apologize to all the individuals who have been hurt and repressed repressed to the point where you seem it fit to repress others the banning of books the banning of knowledge is a repression of our rights the first amendment of the
United States Constitution protects individuals from governmental censorship affirming the right to express ideas opinions and beliefs without fear of repression banning books undermines this fundamental right as it reversed individuals from accessing a wide range
of ideas and information as Justice William Brennan noted the loss of the right to speak freely the right to think freely is a loss of a fundamental right our ancestors moved to this land for freedom so I question now why are you trying to undo that
who are you to try and repress one of the most important rights that we have banning books particularly those that address controversial topics such as race gender or sexuality limits students ability to engage with social issues for instance the works of authors
like Tony Morrison and Maya Angelou provide vital commentary on the African-American experience and challenge readers to confront uncomfortable truths and racism in history eliminating access to this literature not only impro impoverishes educational curricula but also
reinforces ignorance and intolerance now let's look at history and understand the historical context of censorship history provides numerous examples of the consequences of censorship and book banning actions undertaken during author authoritarian
regimens in Nazi Germany for example thousands of books were banned and burned as a means to control thought and suppress people this form of censorship aimed to create um a culture that confirmed to state ideology such historical precedents remind us of the
dangers of allowing any group to dictate what leg what literature is allowed now do you really want to be associated with this group the banning of books can also have far-reaching psychological and social impacts on individuals when books are banned individuals who identify with
the narratives within these texts may feel marginalized and invalidated this feeling can lead to a sense of alienation and reinforce societal stigmas a study by the National Coalition Against Censorship found that when books for materials are banned it sends a message that certain voices and
experiences are less valuable or less legitimate than others this exclusion can have particular detrimental effects on young readers whom rely on literature to understand their own identities and the world around them by banning books this addresses the um that address issues like mental health identity or social
justice we risk denying our young individuals critical resources for personal development i hope you can understand what I said and take it into consideration thank you Connor Brian hello my name is Connor and I am a senior in the school district here to talk about book bands as a queer
transgender teen I'm increasingly concerned over the facts of books being removed from my district school libraries every day since elementary school I knew I was different from other kids what continuously helped me was the queer repres representation I was able to freely access in my elementary and middle school's public library every
time I would see a book mentioning people like me who felt the same things I did I would feel safe in my skin those growing up in this day and age do not get the same privilege as me with the number of books with LGBT themes being getting banned increasingly every school year how ironic of a time do we have to
live in where books titled ban this book and ban books clubs are on the ban books consideration list this school district is one with the most banned books in all of Florida which grows increasingly concerning you say we only ban You say we only ban things deemed illegal yet
what do these numbers mean what do we feel the need to hide from children hide the children from despite everyone else believing it is safe do we have unknown insights others don't or are we misusing our powers of keeping children safe to further push the agenda of keeping others in the dark you argue that you
want to ensure students have as access to a world-class education and be lifelong learners yet ban books with the most simplistic ideas of thoughts beyond what is learned in standard courses the only place in where banned books don't apply our AP courses which severely limits the amount of students who can seek knowledge beyond their programs if
choosing to do so one example being the book Brave New World freely taught in AP yet banned from a school library what is different about an AP student than a student in a regular class both students are in the same level of maturity yet one has better resources than the other how is this letting all students have a
world-class connection you say when they critically think this will help students pass all tests yet you take away the same types of books that will help the same students critically think my school had the honor to have the opportunity to be able to put on the show Fahrenheit 451 adapted by Ray
Bradbury we have never had to ask for permission to do a show before this point why is it now that we had when doing a play about Bradbury's dis dystopian society and where books containing band ideas were burned in the words of Aldis Huxley that's just like
you getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it whether it is better in the mind to suffer the stings and arrows or outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them but you don't do either neither suffer nor oppose you just abolish the slings and arrows do
not abolish our slings and arrows for your convoluted ideas of saving children let us learn freely and let us grow thank you Mr [Applause] yule mr yule name and address please sir
my name is James Ule and my address is on record i've been increasingly interested in watching the workshops that y'all have and they're very very hard to understand and hear a lot of times you hear the typing of somebody in
there it's really difficult to to determine what was asked what was said and there's other participants that sit around the side that if they have a reply we can't even understand what they're saying uh surely the district can somehow come up with a much better
way to broadcast those workshops so that everybody can be understood you know what's going on and not have to scratch our head and say "Well gee I didn't hear what they said then i have no idea what that means." With all the excess
equipment that the SC that the county has probably stockpiled in schools I'm sure you can come up with some more microphones and reposition a few people in this workshop area so that everybody can really understand what's going on
and hear every word and questions that are asked uh I think the school board owes that to the general public and I hope you take this into consideration and if somebody has brought this information up beforehand i apologize
for being redundant but I just happen to be a a person that's just recently started listening and paying attention like I wish a whole lot more people would actually do out there in the public but anyway please address this issue and I look forward to hearing
everything a little clearer next meeting thank you thank you sir sir miss Torres and Mr freriedman you will follow my name is Sheila Torres my f my address is on file once again and I will
continue to come up here and speak about accountability now with that being said I'm going to readress what has been going out there i know now for a fact that Klay County District has been given a lawsuit from a
parent because of the Hazen incident that happened in a particular high school called Clay High it is brought to everybody's attention it's no more rumors it's no more hearsay there are important information that are in within that document a child got hurt a staff
members was aware what happened that's one of the stuff the other one is that of course Fleming Island coach PJ what I don't seem to understand within that disposition he wasn't the reason why he wasn't prosecuted not because there
wasn't there was insufficient evidence it was because of the statute of limitation therefore that man should not have been allowed to have access to none of the student within the high school there shouldn't be a reason why he was shuffled into bannerman no coach should
have been there the fact being that when parents children speak upon the treatment and the behavior they get retaliated it shouldn't be like that we should not be out here protecting the incompetence or the perverted minds of
this adult our job is to protect our kids and this is getting ridiculous with time being now with that being said why is all of a sudden Fleming Island March the
27 looking for a wrestling coach this should have been done way before that why is PJ going to Banaman why is it the public is not notified about what's going on we are entrusting our kids and yet this is getting out of control this
should not be swept under the rug every single moment that you guys stay quiet evil prevails the only way that we can fight evil is by standing up against it and when it takes people that are aware of the situation that is ongoing
that's when evil triumph and I'm one that is willing to die on this hill when it comes to protecting these kids and the fact being that now family is being retaliated because they can't speak what happened to the children that is an issue the fact being that y'all want to
promote all these workshop do you guys do any re mandate reporting workshop do you guys speak upon what happens in failure to report cuz you as a professional mandate have to report this and this should not continue nobody
should be retaliated coerced or extorted for speaking the truth i am a witness firsthand because that happened so if that happened to me for speaking and advocating for my kid I can only imagine when somebody is speaking upon their child getting harmed torres thank you mr
freriedman you're next bruce Freriedman address on file last month 77 titles were removed districtwide they're porn you've had knowledge of porn infesting polluting
all your libraries for years i found enough to bring you a couple samples today this is not classic literature i won't say too many bad words that'll need you to turn off my mic i'm bringing one formal challenge as I do every month
as per state limits and statutes and one informal we'll talk about the informal one title I was here by Gail Foreman it's clearly pornographic there's a lot of words I can't
say it's a line I think I'll read for you there's an achiness between my legs my virginity freshly gone that's good enough you get the idea what else happens on that page and as for the formal challenge it's called Disclosure by Michael Kiteon this is not the classic literature we should be standing
up and having our children defend access to but here we are i don't even know what I can read from this she liked to do it in dangerous places okay that's not a deal breaker she's one of the great something suckers use your imagination that one's
kind of a dealbreaker for me but it's not my problem my kid's not in your library anymore then his fingers were in her and it only gets worse from there these kids are not being denied great literature the shelves are empty cuz your librarians your specialists
filled them with crap hire better specialists buy better books have a nice day [Applause] next up we have Miss uh Vicky Kidwell with CCA update
i brought some master teachers with me today good evening members um school board members and superintendent um CC Klay County District Schools has the most dedicated talented educators in Florida and they really are doing an
amazing job despite the workload and the challenges of a career that require more time and energy every year last year's bargaining data revealed that Klay County has a 58% majority of veteran educators over 1,700 career educators work in Clay with
experience ranging from 8 to 44 years these dedicated veterans love Klay County and they want to stay they mentor support share and befriend the next generation of career educators veterans are the heart of our schools and we must
have a plan of action to keep them here our surrounding counties have a plan to lure them away with highly competitive salaries duval has a has bargained a salary supplement that ranges from 3 to 7,000 and St john's has just signed an
agreement to provide salary supplements based on experience as well the St john's annual supplements will boost salaries from 4 to 8,000 they will begin this in the next school year clay needs a plan too without a plan for educator
retention I fear an accelerated exodus of our talented veteran educators this would be devastating for our new teachers our district our students and our community no one believes that students will excel when classrooms are led by rotating substitutes and
uncertified instructors who would accept a substitute airline pilot a substitute accountant therapist or nurse our students and our community deserve the best that we can give them the teacher shortage is real and a strong contract
positive working environment and competitive salaries are all necessary to help Clay avoid a talent exodus to surrounding counties today these master educators are attending and there's a lot more with them they want you to know
that they love teaching in Klay County and they really hope that they can afford to stay here and I really want you to read what's on the back of their shirts turn around can you just read it for us because we can't see sometimes the best professional learning is collaborating
with the veteran teacher down the hall i know from my own experience [Applause] and then next up we have um a CESA update but I don't see Mr lonnie here so
uh we will start with the superintendent update mr okay just a couple quick things before we get started here i might want to bring the Argyle kids back anybody in favor of that so so um a couple things and when talking about
books and let me just say this it's books that are violating statute 847 and are removed then parents have the right to choose whether they want their kids to to read books of controversial nature or not so that's kind of the board's
policy on that i think there's some misinterpretation there when it comes to uh behavior of employees uh one of the challenges is I used to have the HR role here so I know all too well it's very
difficult to speak about those types of items believe me you'd like to to say those things about that situation but it's very difficult because the district's always in a position where we're trying to not uh invite
litigation on that so I can say hypothetically uh in a situation individuals been fired recommended thrown to the police reported to professional practices and there was a meeting of all
parents involved in the program very difficult to go above that in the process so I don't usually talk almost ever this might be the first time I've ever spoken about an employee or a former employee or situation but I think sometimes people just need to know
Facebook is not real it's not really a thing and so what you read I would read with caution so let's let's go ahead and let's let's talk about schools we got our schools of the month students of the month volunteers college graduation celebration our OneClay app and upcoming
events i'll go quickly through it first of all our schools of the month marvelous March we have Oakley Village Elementary uh Ridgeview High School are the two winners let me just say a big shout out to Community First that invested uh time
money and resources into celebrating our schools you can see all the winners each month and how they've done that it's been a tremendous year they're a great community partner so thank you so much super students of the month this might be my favorite thing to do as
superintendent here you have uh Lani from Grove Park uh elementary school what a cute kid extremely the model citizen at Grove Park every student every teacher walking when the kid was walking down the hall
every everyone knew the knew who the child was in the school fantastic young lady then we had Kiana from Oakleaf Fun High compassionate commu community members a fantastic basketball player there of their undefeated team very
proud telling me all about that i hand him one of those signs and I tell them I'm going to go buy their house and see if they put that sign out there you know of course I say it jokingly it's one of the few jokes I get to pull as superintendent she she she uh sent me an
email the day after said "I just want to show you the picture of the sign as verification you don't need to come by our house." And I thought okay she took me seriously like I was going to come by her house i thought it was pretty funny then we had Riley from uh Ridgeview High School an IB student that you see there
ranks third in her class so imagine the opportunities future's bright for her co-president National Honor uh N National Honor Society vice president of the senior class uh and a board member on on top of that some fantastic
students out there volunteerism want to talk about uh it was the mission of the board the board throughout the gauntlet one of our one of our five strategic plan initiatives uh deals with family engagement and so we're always looking for ways for people to be involved you hear me talk about it
all the time i always talk about it in a math term because I think it's just easier to understand parents have students 86% of the time schools have them 14% of the time when you do the math on the number of hours in a year versus and you do the time so it seems like we need to do a better job of
engaging parents uh to be involved in their child's education and so that's what that's about we've done several things uh you know from the board's direction under the uh strategic plan but we've we've established a community engagement department we've had our
first round of volunteers uh Paula Summers I don't think she's here still but but went out and trained everybody on the the new system for um for volunteers and it's and it's really
paid dividends as far as our number of volunteers in our schools it's a brand new web page a new handbook um the the quickness by which we've done background checks because we've added additional layers of security uh with that and
everybody recognizes that so the the numbers are you can see up there 8,700 volunteers registered in Raptor so So the idea would be we can kind of capture those hours a level one volunteer would
be a person such as a a home room mom or or an individual that's in the school that doesn't require fingerprinting because they're not uh alone ever alone with students and level two are are ones that were uh fingerprinted through the
whole state background check so you can kind of see what those numbers are so we're we're tracking all of that information um and they're doing a fantastic job of engaging our community college graduation celebration you know we're always looking for good people so
here you go april 14th 5:37 right here anybody with a college degree can come by here you can see the QR code there we want to talk to you about opportunities for you within Klay County Schools we're always recruiting so that's a little pitch from our human resources
department please come by if you're listening the one Clay uh app reminder just a reminder you might have noticed we got brand new websites um out there for all of our schools but also we uh we're going to start the
process of bringing rooms on board it's a communication tool so eventually what we heard from parents and teachers was there's too many forms of communication too many vehicles of communication like one teacher might require this another
teacher requires this and then the parents trying to figure out five apps and trying to do the myriad stuff so there'll be one one form of communication through through this uh particular portal so we're looking forward to kicking that off uh the
communication cadre led by Terry is doing a great job of bringing us in line with that uh upcoming events month of the military child school library month uh Florida school volunteer appreciation month is right
now in April school librarian day mathfield day uh is tomorrow right that's Saturday saturday oh Saturday yeah Saturday one of my favorite events in the whole year is that and you you a
whole gym packed with people excited about math i was never that excited about math so I'll just kind of throw that out there national assistant assistant principal week purple up day is the 16th make sure you wear your purple of course Good Friday and the Easter holiday and then public school
volunteer week so thank you so much i appreciate and appreciate everyone's support uh school board attorney remarks uh madam chair just notify the board at some point we'll be bringing to you a scheduling a shade meeting for some pending litigation there's a need to
discuss that with the board so when we get to that point we'll we'll let you know thank you so if I can just kind of weigh in I you know we saw the veteran teachers up there appreciate that know many of you and and you guys do an awesome job no doubt about it and and um you know just
from you know both my heart and my wallet we we all have the same objection objective that you have regarding this so one of the things I'd like to throw out there is is maybe um some folks that you should be talking to aren't in this
room they're in Tallahassee right now related to that if you take a look at the current budget that's being proposed in Tallahassee it winds up being um about a $6 million decrease when you look at the
overall budget also when you look at programs that are are extremely valuable CTE programs AP IB ACE dual enrollment those programs have all been cut um I'm seeing parents and others mobilizing
about these programs and I get that so when you're talking about um teacher compensation that that money comes from a different source it comes from the legislature to the district to have that so um in addition when you look at
um at um scholarships or vouchers you're looking at in my four years as superintendent it went from 10 million from 2 million to 10 million to 17 million to 24 million right so that's
money that's coming from the district in order to pay for in some cases students that are in private private school so when you're looking for resources and what money the district has towards veteran teachers I think you're missing some very valuable people in the process
that aren't in this that aren't in this room so it's a little food little food for thought because we all have the same uh thought on on the topic so thank you so much thank you and we're going to go to um
school board member remarks can I go first sometimes the students leave and go ahead i've never gotten to I wanted to address the high school students today first number one thanks for your bravery and be exemplary speakers under stress when you had three minutes um and
your message was clear um one of you said you were talking about why we have so many books by the way not banned improper terminology if you read the dictionary definition they are removed here but banned nowhere else and I
wanted to talk to you about something one of you said we have more than anyone else under that assumption it makes it look like we're wrong but I can tell you I've read most of them and I'm going to tell you this also one day I'm at schoolboard training and there's a lady
next to me and she's like "Oh I've been on the school board 12 years or whatever." And she said "What county are you from?" And I said "Clay County." and she said 'Oh you're from Klay County i said 'Yes if you would like to see the list of the books that we removed I have
a code here that you could go look at them and so I'm going to tell you exactly why the other districts do not remove books not because they're good for kids not because they just don't
want to ban books she looked me dead in my eye and I will remember this the rest of my life and said "Do not tell me a single title or I'll be forced to remove the porn too you tell me why a school board member should be on a school board who
literally just doesn't want to know about it because it's too much work this district has worked very very hard am I completely happy with the way we do procedure no but I've seen the books that we've removed and if you need
them that badly because I can tell you 10 years ago when I was teaching high school we didn't have these books and we were doing just fine but the point is if you really do need them that badly you should really talk to your parents because they're everywhere else and from the bottom of
my heart I am telling you I was a high school English teacher and I agree with you on the premise that you should read read read and learn valuable lessons and grow in this life but the books that we removed were not the kind of growth I
would want to see from such nice young ladies i also wanted to say that I visited um the Oakleaf area speaking to teachers this week i'm on track to actually speaking with almost
350 teachers by the time I'm done which is well over 10% of our teachers um that's about 15% of our teachers i was hoping to reach 20% but that's a big number they're brave they're smart they're
articulate they come with solutions if I ask them to think about something and email me they do they're absolutely incredible people some might call them complainers but not one of them came complaining not one of them talked bad about a principal or an
administrator not one of them talked bad about their schools what they talked about was just compelling about how I can't afford to be a teacher or how long I've been a teacher and this is how much I'm making and I have to tell you it's so
gut-wrenching i sat six hours on Tuesday six hours i sat and talked to teachers i can't even sleep at night sometimes and and honestly it's on my mind now 24 hours a day and I'm thinking of ways to help make it better and there
are teachers thinking of ways to help make it better while I was over in Oakleaf I got to visit our new addition of our 32 stack it had a roof on it we'll have 32 new classrooms at Oakleaf and at Lake Asbury we are doing a phenomenal job and
I want to just give a lot of praise to the people who keep that on target and keep us within budget and it certainly looks like they'll be done on time and so I appreciate that and lastly I went to Oakleaf High School for their jazz night if you ever get a
chance to go to one of their combined music nights they have a night where Oakleaf Junior's kids come and then the Oakleaf High School kids play jazz um last Tuesday what's really remarkable is is the junior high band is just kicking it i mean you would not know that these
kids have only been playing one or two years and what's more encouraging now is we're going to have a whole bunch of sixth graders in middle school learning music as well and it will accelerate our fine arts program um and just thank you i'm proud to serve with you all and
that's all I have to say mr park I really wasn't going to say anything tonight but I guess I will thank you so um I do want to compliment the students for coming forward and speaking
tonight it's very important and it's it's a good good thing to learn to do but if you were listening like I was and I know you were there's a lot of confusion about whether we're banning books because we've had people come
forward and tell us we're banning books we've had people come forward and tell us we need to remove these books so that tells you there's a lot of misinformation and there's a lot of books I wouldn't want on the shelves but that's not my
choice that's the parents choice and we have given our parents that choice so please we know that the news isn't very accurate at times but review your information carefully and let's
have a discussion because I think we all want the same thing for our students um in fact I have Fahrenheit 451 on my bookshelf with hundreds of other books the
uh as far as the workshops and recording I think we've had a couple of glitches over the our last few meetings in fact I think it was a December 18th workshop everything I said at one point
is gone so it just happens and I know that our IT department is working on it and hopefully everything is fixed but things just happen um and as far as the
ELA it's you know I've not been in the classroom i've have done other things except when I was a future teacher of America and we won't go back to when that was um but I know that we've got a lot of
retired teachers from Clay that don't understand why we don't use rigs and I would love to see how we can get that to come forward if it's even possible but that's something I have to ask a lot of questions
about anyway speaking of events math field day Saturday one of my favorite and if they knew I were judging their papers no I'd tell them but of course we've got the clay fair and lots of things to do and that'll be fun for this
county so thank you Mr albero i I want to say that I want to reiterate that we are do have a anti-bballing policy before I read this message I received an email from one of my
constituents and she asked me to read it to to you to the public members of the board in light of recent events that we that they have transpired within the district I am asking the board to draft a new policy regarding
bullying harassment hazing picking up assaulting stalking or any other term you feel necessary to address the behaviors within our district it is time that zero tolerance actually means just that
it's time the district holds students accountable for their actions that the district notifies the parents of the aggressors and the victims it is time that the district hold request holds the perpetrators of these
incidents accountable further I request that the board in the new policy hold district staff accountable for creating safe school environments for all students and if they fail to do so they are removed from their positions for
years we have heard various parents speaking at board meetings stating that their child is been victim of bullying and nothing has been done we have all heard the stories of parents removing their children from our public
schools because of the actions of other students and the failures of the schools to protect their kids when is enough actually enough i am asking this board to take immediate action and protect all
students in Klay County patricia Schaefer i say to Patricia Schaefer that we are going to look at the our anti-bullying policy with fresh eyes and we're going to do our best to you know stop whatever we can stop from
happening thank you Mhen [Applause] i don't have a whole lot to add i think you guys have all kind of touched on everything um thank you to our veteran teachers for showing up tonight it's great to see your faces and just know
how valued you are um by this board um and by the children who benefit from your instruction every day and the families that you serve um you guys are there's no price tag that we could attach to the work that you do and I hope you know how much we care and appreciate the job that you do for all
the kids in Klay County um and to our high school students that showed up and spoke tonight I applaud you for your bravery and engaging in civil conversations about a really difficult topic um and I just hope that you continue to learn and you continue to grow as students here in Klay County
that's all I have i just want to end with this i hope we could see all of you at our um celebrity swine show who's uh because I'm going to win this year now that they're not going to trade my pig out is
anybody else going oh I am miss Skipper I thought about going but my knees are so bad I felt like I would fall over and that would be an embarrassment so I turned it down it's April you could come watch us i turned it down all right this meeting is adjourned