##VIDEO ID:5riyf3yBKEU## the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 2 minutes please take your seats again the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 2 minutes the Schoolboard meeting will begin in 1 minute please please take your seats again the school board meeting will begin in 1 minute e [Music] good Tuesday evening everyone and welcome to the first school board meeting of the new school year the August 13th 2024 meeting of the Marian County School Board is now officially called to order mirroring and modeling the way our students begin each day I ask that we observe a moment of silence at this time please join me thank you good evening board member Campbell would you please read our board commitment statement with pleasure chair we are the Maran County School District leadership team when we come together we are efficient effective and productive our three most important characteristics are dedicated transparent and individually responsible to work well together we must demonstrate respect confront reality and be accountable we will always put students first we will leave a legacy of success thank you board member Campbell for the courtesy of those listening to this meeting I'm requesting everyone in the audience to please turn off their electronic devices or put them on vibrate later in the meeting up to 30 minutes will be provided for individuals to address the board on matters concerning the operation of the Maran County school system or the school board only presentations to the board are limited to 5 minutes and are televised if you wish to address the board regarding a regular agenda item uh or matters on which the board customarily takes action you must first complete a peach colored form located in the lobby if you wish to address the board regarding a public hearing or a student discipline matter please complete a lime green form these forms must be fully completed and received by the board clerk no later than 540 p.m. the procedures applicable for each are on a separate sheet good evening board clerk please call the role Dr Allison Campbell district one here Mrs Lorie Conrad District Two here Mr Eric Cummings District three here Mrs Nancy thrower District Four here Dr Sarah James District 5 here Dr Diane gullet superintendent here Mr Jeremy power Schoolboard attorney here thank you and good evening Dr gullet would you please share who will be providing our inspiration and leading Us in the pledge of for us this evening absolutely good evening Madam chair members of the board great to see you as you said uh first week of school so delighted to introduce Miss rle who's going to come forward and introduce uh some very special members from the wyam Park Elementary School um who didn't start school yesterday they've been in session now where I think we're on week four so thanks Miss rle yes good evening board chair thrower Dr gullet and board members tonight I have the pleasure pleasure of introducing Mrs Victoria hunt principal at Wy Amina Park Elementary Wy Amina Park Elementary School is our pilot for our yearr round school and today marked day 17 of learning um and they are going strong so I'm going to introduce Mrs hunt who will introduce her student for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you good evening good evening board members and Dr gullet thank you so much for inviting us to the meeting we are honored and proud to represent the district in the first yearound school pilot I am proud to announce one of our third grade students Rosalie sheal who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance please stand for the pledge 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 I would like to say that I love being at wyomina I have been here for the past 4 years um I love how all the teachers there are very kind a well thank you good job thank you so very much she wanted I guess she wanted to share a little more tonight than just the Pledge of Allegiance today our staff completed the seventh day of instruction with our amazing students and we are so proud of the work that we have already accompl accomplished and are excited about the work ahead of us I wanted to bring two of my staff members tonight as the inspiration because it is my staff that is truly the inspiration to our school and to our students so tonight representing Wy Amina Park I have two special teachers Mrs Fuller has serviced the students at wyam Park for 23 years she is one of our kindergarten teachers who lays down the foundation of learning to our youngest students and she will be sharing a few words about our yearr round school experience awesome thank you good evening evening well July 19th we welcomed new and returning families at our back to school bash with excitement and Readiness to begin the new school year the atmosphere was positive and the students were eager to return and be back class the 6 we summer break was a perfect amount to have summer fun and recharge for the new year at the event we handed out parent surveys concerning students attending intercession breaks and the surveys that I turned in parents had checked that they would sign up to have their child participate in those intercessions it's hard to believe but we're beginning week four this week and with that my classroom attendance has been very very good a few tardies but I feel improvement from last year last week I did take time to reach out and call each family and parents were happy there was no mention of our early start schedule causing any challenges personally I'm really looking forward to the trimester schedule which includes more breaks allowing me time off to visit with my family as I'm a new grandma and to recharge and to prepare for the next trimester thank you fantastic thank you that is Mrs Fuller like I said she is one of our veteran teachers on staff but I wanted to give you another perspective so next up is Mrs Kirk Patrick she joined Wy Amina Park as a brand new teacher last school year and she is now in her second year of teaching our students this year she is teaching third grade and she would also like to share some of her thoughts regarding this special pilot program excellent good evening good evening um I am delighted to report the positive outcomes witnessed in the initial following weeks of the implementation of our yearound school schedule both students and faculty have shown remarkable enthusiasm and active involvement during this period of time students have warmly embrace the new schedule demonstrating a keen interest in their academic Pursuits the consistent routine has minimalized the usual adjustment period allowing students to fully engage in their studies right from the beginning in my classroom we smoothly transitioned into the curriculum as if the students had been attending school for weeks beforehand resulting in noticeably academic progress and quicker retention of information from the previous school year the year-round academic calendar has already cultivated a more cohesive and livelier classroom atmosphere enriching both the educational social aspects of school life this early Triumph establishes a solid foundation for the fourth coming Academic Year highlighting the tangible benefits of our revised scheduling approach we are committed to continuing this positive trajectory and exploring additional Avenues to enhance our educational offerings thank you once again for your unwavering support and dedication to our students success here at yamina Park no thank you we really appreciate it and before you run away we definitely want to come down and take a picture with you you don't get to get away without doing that including that our wonderful third grade student and just wanted to give you a minute to come down here and share our thanks on behalf of of the whole school board as as well so please make your way down to the front and we'll come down and join you it's okay we don't bite we're here to congratulate and celebrate look this direction want to go right here I we'll figure it out thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to uh come down and and be here with us tonight um your school was the lead off to the beginning of the school year and talk about setting the bar High everything from just the optimism that that you display towards the kids and you're hovering I quite believe well above the district average in attendance and just so many wonderful wonderful things are already happening at at wyam minina Park and it's a testament to the the team that it takes you know to make that happen so thank you for representing the start of the school year so well because it has just transferred I think overall we had a great first day of school um yesterday so uh you guys are really carrying the torch and it couldn't be more appreciated all right so we'll see you again soon I'm sure thanks [Applause] again all right Dr G I think we have some special recogn next on our agenda we certainly do Madam chair thank you I would like to start with the two US members to the school board representative panel who are sitting up here tonight we're delighted to have them back with us um at the board table and I'm pleased to introduce to my immediate wri um adri Alis uh Diaz who is a senior at Westport HIgh School she um is involved in a number of organizations with a focus on biomedical dual enrollment programs she um it really wants to work on ways to improve mental health awareness so thank you for that incredibly important um Endeavor she plans to major in biology and hopefully then become a physician one day so we're really pleased to have you here I also would like to introduce Arisha bani who is also a senior and she is at Belleview High School sitting next to the chair and she moved to Maring County only about a year ago from her hometown of Miami so we extend a warm welcome to Marian County and we're glad that you're here and during her time already at uh Bev high school she's been involved in student government and other organizations including the National Honor Society uh already has accumulated over 350 community service hours which Community greatly appreciates and she plans to major in information communication and Technology with a minor in Psychology so also very interested in mental health awareness so we just are just so pleased to have both of you here let's give them a round of applause and truly on behalf of the board welcome to to both of you it's so nice to have you with us and we look forward to you sharing your voice from this student perspective you know throughout your meetings with us so welcome aboard thank you absolutely and for my second um I'm really pleased to introduce uh the newest member of our uh principal uh Cadre and it's Tracy wilky and I'll have her stand she's here with her husband tonight we are pleased to have her a board you approved her leading Emerald Shores Elementary a little bit about Miss wilky she is from um Port St Lucy Florida and she was there as a principal for 16 years so a veteran principal and in 2018 I learned that she was the principal of the year for their District so uh lots of work in and turnaround and school Improvement and we are just so pleased to have our spart of our team excellent I hope the camera is panning on you so that so that everyone watching at home gets a chance to see who you are and and welcome aboard what a great catch and thank you for bringing your experience and and expertise to Maran County thank you all right we'll move into the business portion of our meeting Dr gullet would you please make a recommendation on tonight's Schoolboard meeting agenda certainly happy to do so thank you madam chair I recommend approval of the agenda agenda for the August 13th 2024 school board meeting with the materials in the board packet those materials distributed to board members at the meeting and the audio recording included as part of the official record of the meeting with the exception of the following items d9.1 D1 19.2 D1 19.3 D1 19.4 d9.5 D1 19.6 and D1 19.7 that have been placed under discussion and item C 17.2 has been withdrawn completely from the agenda tonight thank you thank you Dr gullet board may have a motion on the superintendent recommendation moved moved by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the July 9th 2024 school board meeting some move move by board member Cummings second second by board member James are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the July 11th 2024 special school board meeting motion to approve motion by board member Campbell second second by Vice chair Conrad are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I i i i motion passes unanimously five votes to zero may I have a motion to approve the minutes for the July 11th 2024 administrative briefing and work session motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second by board member Cummings are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero Miss Martinez would you please provide the proof of publication for tonight's Schoolboard meeting meeting the notice for the August 13th 2024 Schoolboard meeting ran in the Ocala Gazette on August 2nd 2024 the proof of publication has been attached in board docks under to proof for publication thank you Miss Martinez we'll move on to person's requesting to address the board and I'll now ask our school board's attorney to explain the rules governing persons who wish to address the school board this evening good evening attorney Powers good evening and thank you madam chair in compliance with Section 2860 one14 of Florida Statutes the school board has adopted uniform procedures for public speakers who wish to speak at this evening's me meeting either regarding one of today's agenda items or a matter relating to the operations of the school district these procedures will ensure the public has a reasonable opportunity to be heard on school board and School District matters a written summary of these procedures is available on the table in the lobby public speaker forms are also located on the same table the completed forms were due to the school board's clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. M do we have any speakers who have turned in forms okay if there are matters dealing with student discipline including expulsions they will be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of this meeting parents May address the board regarding a discipline matter at that time a speaker's speech does not reflect endorsement sponsorship position or expression of the school district and thank you for your attention to the board's requirements Madam chair that incl concludes any explanatory remarks thank you attorney of powers and just to reiterate we have no public speakers this evening correct that is correct okay thank you ma'am we will move on to item 8.1 which are informational items the school district uses a construction management delivery method including a guaranteed maximum price known as GMP to perform construction work on the following projects there were unused funds on these projects since the projects were delivered using a construction management delivery with a GMP format unused dollars regardless of the item are returned to the owner the unspent monies will be returned to the owner via change order which will close the financial books on these projects the superintendent has signed an approve the change orders per per board policy 6345 the superintendent is authorized to approve and execute any Construction contract change order that will increase the Construction contract by $25,000 or less or that will decrease the Construction contract amount provided that approval shall be in his or her judgment in the best interest of the board such change ORD shall be binding upon execution by the superintendent the superintendent shall report each change order that he or she approved to the board at the board meeting that follows his or her approval the superintendent's approval of the change orders shall be entered into the official minutes of this school board meeting so we'll start with item 8.1 amendment number one to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price GMP for equipment early procurement related to construction of new Elementary School X Change order number three Amendment 1 Project 24-12 item 8.2 amendment number two to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price GMP for early site work and materials procurement related to construction of new Elementary School X Change order number one amendment 2 project 24-12 item 8.3 amendment number three to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price for labor and materials consisting of interior construction related to construction of new Elementary School X Change order number one amendment number three project 24-12 item 8.4 construction of a heating ventilation air conditioning known as HVAC system for the gymnasium at Belleview Middle School change order number three work authorization 1 Project 23-11 moving on to item 8.5 construction of a new central warehouse change order number three work authorization number two project 20-12 item number 8.6 purchase of welding lab equipment for dellan high school change order one work authorization number 23 and that concludes our informational items for this evening we'll move on I will need a motion to approve consent agenda items c1.12 c8.5 with the exception of items d9.1 d9.1 d99.3 d9.5 d9.5 d9.5 and D1 19.7 that have been placed under discussion and item c17.2 that has been completely withdrawn from tonight's agenda may I have a motion please we move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero we'll now move on to our discussion items from the regular agenda we'll start with item d9.1 may I have a motion to approve the Grant application title four part A student support and academic enrichment known as ssae may I have a motion please motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Campbell Dr gullet you have information you would like to share regarding this item yes thank you madam chair members of the board tonight you will see several um of our discussion items are based on uh federal grants and so I'm going to ask M I'm sorry Dr Varner to come forward and she's going to present this item which is roughly rough L $1.8 million for title four which includes educational behavioral uh digital literacy support So Dr Vara will be coming forward thank you good evening Dr Verner good evening board chair Nancy thrower board members that the gullet I am here to speak tonight on our title for application as Dr gullet stated is about 1.7 million that we received from uh Federal programs I mean from the federal government inter Federal programs this grant has um covered many resources for both our private schools public schools and Charter Schools uh it's an AC mic and enrichment activity and it's for both as I said public and private as well as Charter our private schools um receive an intent so any private school that would like to have that Grant they let us know that they are interested in having that Grant and then they receive money from the grant as well and then they sent us a list of their resources which how they would like to spend utilizing those grants awesome thank you yes it was important to bring this forward because it is um upwards of $2 million and it certainly is a a sharing opportunity with our Charter and private schools is there any discussion comment from the board all right hearing none we will thank you for your presentation and I think we're ready to vote I'll go all right all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero moving on to item discussion item D1 19.2 may I have a motion to approve the Grant application Title One Part A improving basic programs operated by local educational agencies for 2024 2025 may I have a motion please so move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair Dr Farner hasn't gone far and we're going to bring her back up just want to mention that this is this is title one so as you know this is um identified for students with eligibility needs so we can support their um learning opportunities and the amount for this is roughly n uh $19.4 million so Dr Varner is going to provide some additional information board thank you thank you yes as Dr gullet stated it provides financial assistance for schools with high percentages of children from the lwi income f families to help increase student achievement the total allocation that we received this year is 16 million plus our role which which um is about 3 million so that equivalent to the 19 million that Dr Gull is referencing our Title One is based um on the on to receive any federal assistance from the schools in our district both three Charter Public and um private again our private schools have to share an intent to receive title funds they are not considered a title one school but they do receive funds if they share that intent to receive funds off the top of our title application for any private school that shows that interest we have to take the money off the top and it's called the set aside um so that before we even start divvying out the money towards our eligible title one private and public and Charter Schools the money is then um taken off the top for our private schools and then the remaining goes toward admin cost and to our schools we have approximately at believe it's 44 private 44 Public Schools this year who received our retire Title One funds uh we have four Charter Schools when you received your when you received the application we had four contractor schools but now two of those are gone so now we have two contractor schools as of currently that also receives uh Title One funds it's a total of service in 63 schools both private and public this year right thank you does that conclude your comments okay great thanks I'm having a little trouble hearing you up here and um it's probably my ears not your voice are there any questions from the board okay hearing none thank you very much for the presentation because it really just does outline the amount of money we have coming in to serve students and also the amount of money we have going out to serve all students across the community whether they're in our Public Schools or not but you guys do all the paperwork right yes we do and for that we can not be more appreciative I'm sure there's a little red tape there's a lot of red tape but our team is great I can't do without the team that's right that's right thank you very much thank you all right any further discussion from the board hearing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero all right moving on to our next item which is D1 19.3 may I have a motion to approve the construction ruction of a new Aviation and diesel auto mechanic program building at Maran Technical College known as MTC which is project 24-11 and the excitement in my voice motion to approve like I couldn't wait for you to finish saying that's right that's right uh motion by board member Campbell second second by board member Cummings Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this monumentally historical that's agenda item that's right Madam chair I'm grinning and so is Mr smallridge I can see him from up here uh board this you know this project well this item is nearly $1.9 million which includes the second phase for the construction including equipment costs and if you haven't been by you can see the work underway at um MTC so just really pleased um to present this to you thank you thank you Dr gullet any discussion or coming from the board yes board member Campbell absolutely would be remiss to not take this moment and I'm sure board to say thank you again to our legislators who worked so diligently to ensure that we could receive this appropriation to our knowledge the first ever for Marian County Public Schools uh the appropriation request was not an easy task for us to take on and I know that was something new for staff to work on and then for legislators to be able to to get it all the way through and signed by the governor really helped us and certainly is going to be a Wonder ful addition to our career in technical education programs and Mary and Technical College is going to be better for it so just super grateful and excited to see dirt moving absolutely any further discussion comments from the board all right hearing none I certainly uh support everything that board member Campbell um just shared it really is uh greatly forward for for this district and and for our students and I wanted to thank the whole board for their good work for their advocacy with our legislators for working so well with with staff and Dr gullet you know to to bring this home so um this is going to be a fun one to approve all right all those in favor say I I I I motion pass it's unanimously five votes to zero all right moving on to item D1 19.4 may I have a motion to approve the independent contractor agreement with hands up Holdings LLC doing business as hands up communications so move move by board member Cummings second second by board member James Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair just briefly the cost for this item is uh over six I'm sorry $788,000 and this provides with your approval the opportunity for us to contract for this sign language interpreters this will serve about 40 students and so those students who have have IND individualized education plans and and needy services so we appreciate your consideration of this item thank you thank you Dr gallet is there any discussion from the board um I thought it was important to highlight this one just because we serve all students and all means all and if there's 40 students that need $788,000 worth of services then my goodness you know we're going to do what we can to give it to them and um I really appreciate having the opportunity to share that publicly all right if there's no further discussion all those in favor say I sorry I I was just say I I'm not certain if the um individuals that I witnessed yesterday were a part of this particular contract but I did witness students walking off the bus and the first person they're greeted by is a sign language interpreter because they have potentially been on the bus without any communication whatsoever um so it it's this is an incredibly powerful service that we provide to all students making sure that all students can be educated and it's just amazing so thank you for bringing this forward absolutely you're welcome and when you get a chance to see it firsthand it drives it home for sure all right if there's no further discussion we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I hi I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero thank you board all right moving on to d9.5 may I have a motion to approve this standard agreement with catapult learning LLC motion to approve motion by Vice chair Conrad second second by board member Cummings Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item thank you madam chair the cost for the site of board is $500,000 and want to make sure to highlight this is for students enrolled at the private schools and so this is a essentially a pass through our budget to meet their needs and this is their request uh Dr Varner um is the business owner if you have additional questions but essentially a pass through at their request to serve the students in schools okay thank you um Dr gullet and and to be clear it's a it's a pass through item but the 500,000 has re is reflected on our total budget right that's correct so it looks like we have the money but it's we actually don't that's correct okay yes all right I just want to make sure I'm clear on that all right any other discussion comments from the board all right hearing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero moving on to what I believe is our last item for discussion D1 19.6 may I have a motion to approve the Grant application for Title Nine part a education of homeless children and youth known as the ehcy project may I have a motion please motion to approve second motion by board member Campbell second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet you have information you'd like to share regarding this item yes thank you madam chair so Title Nine um helps us to focus on providing additional resources to homeless children qualify the cost for this item is $118,000 roughly about $119,000 and Miss Dell noal is here to provide some additional information for how these funds help the students in need thank you thank you good evening Miss Del noal oh and we've got Mr Butler here too he's here too good evening board chair thrower uh superintendent Dr gullet board members and our student Representatives as well very excited to hear that we have some student advocates for mental health awareness um I'm here to talk a little bit about our Title 9 education of homeless children and youth project uh the grant is designed to provide funding to support students experiencing homelessness in order to receive the funding districts are required to submit a plan for use of those funds indicating how the plan will address identification of all School AG homeless children and youth living in poverty supporting regular attendance for students experiencing homelessness and supporting the academic progress of these students overall according to the Department of Education the national graduation rate for students experiencing homelessness was 68% during the 2018 2019 school year and 74% for Florida the data indicates that students that experience homelessness are more likely to demonstrate High Mobility or multiple School enrollments and typically acrw frequent School absences as compared to students in stable housing the students who experience higher levels of chronic absenteeism also typically demonstrate lower academic performance and are more likely to drop out of high school the goal of our families in transition program our fit program over the next three years is to continue to provide the following necessary and appropriate services to students and families experiencing homelessness our fit team includes Mr Tom Butler who is our district mckin vento liaison and coord Ator of the fifth division two attendance Specialists who will emphasize working with our high school students and our fit division clerk who helps with every child succeeds act staffings known as our Essa staffings um and who helps coordinate the requests and Logistics of our resources the team will focus on three main goals to include increasing graduation rates addressing significant academic decline resulting from absenteeism mobility and other environmental factors and improving awareness and education of the mckin vento ACT within our school system and also within the community Maran County public schools has seen an increase in the percentage of students identified under the mckin vento act as meeting criteria for homelessness designation since 2021 2022 the number of students increased from 1,117 in 2122 to 1,39 in 2223 some statistics to note however is that following the plan that we had in place from 21 2021 to 2024 the homeless student attendance rate for 2324 was 82% our goal for the next three-year period is to increase this rate to 91% by 2027 our homeless student promotion rate for students in grades K through 11 was 93.5 and our goal is to increase this to 94.3 by 2027 and lastly our graduation rate for students experiencing homelessness was 91% higher than the district average and we plan to work to increase that rate to 94% by 2027 fantastic thank you just goes to show you what a lot of support will do is there any discussion from the board all right yes go ahead I just want to thank you that was a really great um presentation I appreciate all the specific specifics um helping us understand the work that you're doing and so that is very helpful and I just really appreciate the time that you put into preparing that for us so thank you very much a great team of people all right great team thank you thank you Vice chair Conrad is there any other comment from the board all right ready to vote all those in favor say I I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero thank you again for that great presentation for the great work you do all right we're moving on to our final final discussion item which is D1 19.7 I have a motion to approve amendment number one to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price GMP for labor and materials related to construction of a new 16 classroom Edition at Liberty Middle School project number 24 d103 May I have a motion please move move by board member Cummings second second by Vice chair Conrad Dr gullet do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item uh thank you madam chair only to say this is the item that was requested to be um added back at the last meeting so we brought it back uh tonight for the board's consideration okay thank you thank you is there any discussion from the board I just have a couple yes go ahead Vice chair comad and then board member James I just have a question and Miss Dobbins I'm sorry that I didn't get through this um this end of the contract um earlier to ask you imp person but I was just wondering if you could explain to me um the rates that are on that last page there's the um the base rate and a Burden rate and then a loaded rate and I just mathematically I couldn't figure out um how that worked out so I didn't know if you could share that with me again I'm sorry for asking you at the last minute it's the very uh second to last page I think page 30 29 yes where you see unit cause base rate Burden rate loaded rate um I would have to get with the team to get you that specific detail of that line item all right I'd appreciate that I just couldn't when I looked at the base rate and the burden I thought those would be totaled together but they're not we'll break that down and send it to all board members okay thank you very much I appreciate that absolutely thank you Vice chair board member James thank you um my question is I I don't see anything redlined so is it is um the answer that this is the same attachment that was attached on the board meeting at 611 thank you for the question so yes it is the only difference is that the material cost increase that we discussed will come out of the line item of contingency so it doesn't change the amount of the GMP it just means that we'll get less back in the end and it was around 30,000 the only other thing that has changed is we had hoped uh had this been approved in June we would have been completed with the project by the end of June that now gets pushed back to July our staff will work over time to make sure the furniture is assembled and put in and floors are clean and everything's picked up for the start of school year so it'll be a little bit more work on our staff on the end but um wellpro has been uh working very well with us and said that by the end of the July they'll have this addition completed thank you and um at any time since 611 was there a conversation with cppi the original contractor I have had no conversations with cppi okay thank you so board I have two concerns I have the same concerns I had in June which is that it looks it appears as if we're spending essentially the same amount of money that we would have spent with the first contractor and I don't know why we're not using the contractor that was the first choice if that is the case um but I made that case in June you all heard it I don't need to repeat it my other concern and the reason I will vote no tonight is because this was not notified with 7-Day notice and I realize the chair has the authority to shorten the notice and that's all well and good but it's a 9.26 million item that I think needed to be included in the board packet that's printed on Tuesday and available for the public and I don't think it was properly noticed so um that's what I got thank you board member James is there any other comment from the board this time and um for my part I'll just say that um I'm always committed to making sure that the appropriate notice is given um for each and every project and always within the legal bounds and that's exactly the case with this particular item as with any other I would ever approve um to put before board members um so if there's no further discussion yes I I asked that this one come back because this one directly affects folk in my district um if we don't get this going we're going to still if we're going to still have that overcrowding issue over there and we need to go ahead and get some some dirt moving as I've heard already tonight so um it affects uh Liberty Middle School and um I'm not seeing where U waiting is going to help us thank you board member Cummings um I appreciate that and I didn't mean to move right on to a vote I didn't realize that you had a comment to make so my apologies for that one um anything else from the board all right hearing none we'll go ahead and vote all those in favor say I I I those oppose nay nay motion passes four votes to one with board member James dissenting thank you all right that concludes our discussion items for this evening and we will move on to board committee reports and concerns and also starting with some meeting reminders the next administrative briefing and work session has been scheduled for August 15th 2024 at 9:00 a.m. the following administrative briefing and work session has been schedul scheduled for August 22nd 2024 at at 9:00 a.m. the next school board meeting is scheduled for August 27th 2024 at 5:30 p.m. all right we'll go ahead and start with Miss Martinez anything from your seat no Madam chair thank you anything from legal tonight yes uh I've been in communication with um uh our attorney U Mr McGraw regarding the sale of the old Warehouse um and as outside Council he's indicated that uh is currently working still on drafting the contract language and should be done with that by the end of the month um we also then are he and I are collectively working together on getting the uh advertisement language that we need to post um and I'm going to be working internally with um our facility staff to be able to provide signage um because we have we have uh signage departments here that are able to work on specifically that um and that would be the signage that's going to go around the warehouse area to to notice people um I've also discussed with them the possibilities of having uh essentially a either time for an openhouse or time for individual appointments for uh people who might wish to view the internal structure of the property or or be there to see whatever they may wish to see if they're if they're active biders so uh he and I are going to inform the board more of that when that time is appropriate um and I will be bringing I will be resolving the contract with him and having the board chair review for any final details um as the board has indicated that the board chair may give her authorization for it to move forward and of course with attorney McGraw and myself we can we can have that prepared in the way that we need to also anyone that wishes to make direct offers because I realized there have been a couple people that have made offers um they can contact UM Mr um they can contact uh um my well actually I was going to say my office but the truth is Mr McGrath's office is the one that they would need to deal with they can contact with those offers and those can be relayed and the board can review those but ultimately the board has already made the decision that it intends to go for with a bidding process and Mr mcra and I will discuss more regarding the um the providing and unsealing of the bids as the time becomes appropriate for that so um there will need to be a period of time of advertisement so no one's missed anything yet nothing's really been started yet because we have not finalized a contract that the contract language we'd like to see nor have uh we posted it formally for ad though I will note that it has been covered in the Okala Gazette um and of course we've had now three different public meetings of which we've spoken about it so um that time frame for advertising will allow anyone who wishes to make a bid to be able to do so and I will keep the board of prized of more um by the end of the month is when Mr mcgr indicated that he believes we'll be ready to take some next steps okay thank you sir exciting times all right very questions from the board regarding that I'm happy to take those James uh just so do you need consensus from the board because our previous conversation had said we didn't want anyone going in the facility I am an advocate for having a single day at least for people to get in but I just didn't know since that's contrary to what our public conversation was before that we didn't want anyone in we had had that conversation about liability and whatever so I just didn't know if we had to change our tune on that publicly and in speaking of Mr mcra it appears that um that would be sort of the ideal not to have people wandering around in the property and potentially creating liability and things like that however before they make a bid right however um if if it may help with the ability for people to determine whether they wish to um restore the property for use or restore the actual building for use as opposed to demolition of the building or something like that that certainly is is doable um however that's going to be um we'll need to monitor whether that's going to be something where people put down a good faith deposit and bid and then they can inspect the property um and it will likely be that either Mr McGraw or someone from the facilities Department who is designated to do so would need to show them uh in time frames not individual time frames as opposed to just having a bunch of people there wandering on the property at once and Mr mcra feels that that's that that's ideal if we're going to do that if the board wishes to allow people to um review the internal structures and things like that then at that point we need to discern and I'll take his recommendation as to who should be allowed to do that and then secondly um uh whether that will be an individual basis and whether it will be somebody from facilities or some just opening the door and letting them look um or whether it will be someone from his office uh to be there and discuss so so that well if I can just finish my thought the reason I asked for clarification is because I don't think we were all tracking with what you were saying so I am of the opinion I I've heard Community feedback to say hey for us to give our best bid we need to understand the bones of the structure is it a steel truss or is it wood trusses where is the plumbing those kinds of questions and so they would like to get access to the building prior to their bid which I know is in opposition to what the board had said in our Workshop when we talked about it so that's why I'm asking if we need to change our consensus agreement as to what we would like to do with that and and that's entirely up to the board what does the board want does the board wish to have um showtimes for individual folks and if so on what basis my question would be couldn't we just do one you speak into the microphone we can we can have them sorry my my my question would just do one day and open up like a open house and everybody that wants to be it can go in and see it and that kind of relieves some of the liability from us and both Mr McGraw and I believe that that is that the spirit of what you're asking or suggesting is a good one however still that they should be broken down into separate periods as opposed to a large number of people that could just show up at any time throughout the day so um specifically breaking them down into appointments over a course of a day is fine but as a uh it gets a little hard to monitor if you have several groups there at once yeah like 30 minute appointments or whatever I got you that's I'm fine with that but I think if you if we really want to put the building on the market I I wouldn't buy something side unseen if I don't know the the infrastructure of that building so well it's not even about buying it's about properly bidding because because you just can't even you don't know how much it's going to cost to turn it into what you want to turn it into so that's the that's what I'm hearing from the community so if the board wants to give consensus as to which way they want to go on that I'll reflect that to Mr McGraw and then if he has additional thoughts or considerations or concerns then I'll bring those back to the board but otherwise that's not a decision has to be made today um it is something however that once we get the advertising beginning then at that point um we'll need to we'll need to finalize that that thought so it's something that if you want to think about and come back later that's fine if you want to if the board is wishing to allow a showing of the of the property uh then that's something the suggestion would be that that's done in individual appointments and that we have some mode to determine it's not just I mean even if you're looking at a house uh you know it's not just anybody walks in and takes a look it's it's has to be serious interested folks who are able to acre the level of financing anyway go ahead board member Campbell my only request would be in addition to what we're talking about I think a lot of the questions could be answered in a one sheer of some kind that says Plumbing this old this kind of trusses this kind I think the majority of the questions can actually be answered apart from even seeing the structure we know that there's that amazing wall that's been there for a hundred years or however long it's been there so like there's there's pieces to it that have some historical element as well well um but I mean I I would see that being imperative to high bids as well because even if they get 15 to 30 minute appointments some of the answers may not necessarily be readily available if they're not already put together so it sounds like what you're suggesting is that perhaps um that the board would like to ask operations if they can generate a data sheet of relevant details that facilities would would consider to be relevant to this action yes and I'm certain that that warehouse staff that toured me around has a lot of that knowledge as well but somehow in operations I'm certain that there was enough institutional knowledge to know the ins and outs of of that building and I could see that being a benefit to anyone being interested so their questions can be answered in writing right away uh before they even see it I I can be amenable to saying yes we can have appointments uh to come see it I don't know that an open air open house would be beneficial you might not want to see who your competition is so yeah I I agree with the one pager in addition to in addition to I would like to just have one day if it's appointments it's appointments whatever I just I think people want to just put an eye on the inside any thoughts VI shair Comer I think those are both great ideas I think I'm glad that we ped this out a little bit and I think I think that's beneficial to help us move forward I'll say I'm not there yet um first of all it's a complete departure from what we discussed so I'm trying to think catch up now the other thing is is that all over the country all over the world people buy properties all the time online auctions seal bid foreclosures you name it and there's pictures posted and they go with what they have um so I I have a couple of concerns first of all the management of of what is being proposed you know uh there's going to be people that you know what if they can't make it on that day and they're serious about wanting to buy it and say well okay now you can't come you know that's you you snooze you lose but then other people are getting a better opportunity to look so I I don't know I just feel like this is where technology is our friend you know we have a whole uh Department that knows how to do videos have them do a walkth through and there's a lot of people in this area that know that building that can share the the the gists of it and the bones of it and put that information out there publicly and get our sealed bids but that's where I am in this moment having just heard this information and typically I'm much more ready to make a decision quickly but maybe for one of the first times this board member is wanting a little bit of time and for this to really be straight chair thrower if I might I don't disagree with chair thrower I think people just want to see the inside so if there's a fact sheet that says there's steel beams or like they people have the questions I've got are like where's the plumbing is there Plumbing in multiple places or are there Plumbing in one place because that's pretty impactful if you're trying to save the building and you're going to have to move water everywhere where's the sewer lines are the trusses wood or are they steel so if there's a fact sheet that's comprised that covers all of the intricacies of what's inside and we get a little 45 second video of what it looks like inside I'm perfectly fine and content as a board member saying this is what you got guys put your best bit forward but people just want to see the inside and so if we can do that digitally with a fact sheet that has all the information I'm totally fine with that so we going to spend money to create a video to send the people to bid no that would be an in-house video I mean that's I said we're GNA spend money in-house we paying we're still pay we still going to spend money by having people walk the property in be honest Mr McGrath's hourly rate is much higher than the hourly rate of of our employees who work in our digital marketing department so Mr McGrath's hourly rate is pretty high sure and and to be fair he he's not the one suggesting that we that he he just volunteered that if if that's what the board wishes he can set appointments to show the property or you can designate someone for facilities to do that but um the ideas that have been generated today I think are useful ideas in the form of making sure that everyone has access equally to the same information and then making sure that information is as complete as possible and then beyond that people have to you know pay their nickel and take their chances board member Cummings has a a point in the sense that you know anything that we have our employees do you know it's it's time spent and and time is is money originally we were like make the bid and do your own due diligence you know um we're not letting anyone on the property which does sound a bit severe as I say it out of my mouth right now but there's other considerations again that have just been brought forward right now that are completely different than how this originally started so I think I heard you say at the beginning that we don't have to make a decision tonight we have time to reflect on it um it's not going to slow down the process whatsoever so how about we marinate on it a bit and we'll talk about it we'll be together again on Thursday we can discuss it again during our our comment time maybe it could be a challenge amongst the high schools who can make the best video pardon I didn't hear you honestly a challenge amongst the high school the high school media production departments I think the goal would be fewer people on the property than lots of people that would be fun for them to see that would be a great history project and it really would so and and again so see there's another potentially really great idea and we've only been talking about it for I don't know maybe 10 minutes so all right shall we marinate reflect bring it back up Thursday sure great good all right sounds like a plan all right um anything else from legal that's enough i' I've I've I've uh brought up enough things to make you think so you sure did yes it's all right thank you um Dr gullet thank you well moving on to students it's particularly energizing when it's the first week of school and I just want to thank uh our entire team I I sitting here thinking tonight I think I saw every Department represented in all of our schools and and from our lunchroom staff custodial staff transportation maintenance I I think I've run into every Department repeatedly even in the last these last two days I just want to thank everyone a incredibly positive I know as as you know board we always have challenges our first week and sometimes our second week too with Transportation uh a lot of new faces in our in our community our new kindergarteners getting used to their armbands and and where to go but really appreciate the commitment of our team and have had just great positive feedback thank you all boor for visiting and supporting our schools and I do want to do another warm welcome to our our student Schoolboard Representatives there's something really special about sitting up here with with you um because you represent all of our students our 45,000 students if you didn't know how many we have and um no pressure um but but having you up here with with uh with me and with the board is is um constant reminder of why we're here and who we serve so welcome again thank you madam chair thank you Dr that will bounce it back to board member James thank you um yes the first day of school the first two days of school was awesome uh I had a kindergarten who had a first day today so it was first day in my brain um I wanted to share I had a a prominent Community member who child started at Forest High School and I spoke to her this morning and she said to me it was the smoothest Carline drop off pickup experience she has ever experienced in her I mean she has a a student who's like a sophomore in college so she has been participating in public school in Maring County for quite some time and she was highly complimentary of the everything related to Transportation at Forest High School and I say that to say I believe that that is simply a highlight of what I think has been a pretty common um comment across the district so normally by now we've received all of the complaints and because no one calls us with the good news they only call us with the bad news and I haven't received a single complaint about transportation and I know that it is not ideal but my phone has not rung and I'm um I feel good about that I feel like overall people are saying buses are getting where they need to be we know it's always slow because those dang armbands I was with um uh Mr Jones right before the board meeting just popping in and I just made a little kindergarten or joke because they always slow down Transportation but but um I just wanted to highlight that because I do think overall it's an absolute Improvement and we threw a huge curveball by adding in routes the literal week before school and having to figure that out so I think the team has pivoted as best as they possibly could and overall is is doing a really good job there so I wanted to make sure I gave them a shout out um I I wanted to ask so when we left the board work session maybe about a month ago or less Dr Campbell and I had brought up about um expanding our rezoning efforts ahead of next school year and so I wanted to ask when we um were going to hear that rezoning conversation again I didn't know um if we knew a date for that um I know that we had tasked Mr A's Department with a pretty heavy expansion but I wanted to see if we had a date for that or an just even you know a time a month that we thought we would hear it Dr gullet any updates in in that respect I know I spoke with um Mr Ayers I met with him a couple weeks ago and he was really in the throws and the weeds of getting this school year kicked off um but definitely on his radar any specific uh month or uh work session date yet yes I'm I'm actually thank you I'm I'm looking on the calendar um I know that he is preparing to bring that back I don't immediately see it but but there is a plan to bring it back shortly okay well I have another item so if you want to look forward or follow up but it's just something I was wondering um so then lastly I just have a question I received um a comment from a Community member and so I wanted attorney Powers if you could can you explain or Define what would be a public records request so when someone does a public records request for an item what would be a reason it can't be shared with the individual the reasons that it couldn't be shared are generally if there's a spef specific exemption in statute and the specific exemptions may be certain Personnel items um items that are student record as opposed to public record um those are it can be if it's a attorney work product but even then it has to be specific as to um prepared for the purpose of litigation um other than that if we have a document um if if it's if it's within our possession and we are able you know we're able to produce it broadly speaking unless there's a specific statutory exemption for it then we turn it over as a public record so to be clear an item that the board has not been briefed on yet publicly or privately is not a reason to not provide a public records request in general I would say no um there's a I mean we we know we have it a public records department that reviews each one for for those purposes but even my drafts of something if I'm in the middle of drafting an item and I'm half finished and my wording is all off and it's misspellings and terrible if if some if it's not a something that counts as attorney work product the fact that I have not finalized it doesn't mean anything if it exists in draft form it's still it's still uh okay so I I bring that up because um and I don't think think this is on Mr Christian specifically I think it's just like a kind of chain of command situation but there was a a a public records request for the salary schedule result the salary study results this um and it was denied because the board had not been presented the information yet but I don't know that that is um I don't valid yeah and I don't interrupt but I will say that um in that sort of instance if the if if the if the study's not complete and hasn't been turned over to us then it's not yet a public record that's within our possession if however we have been provided with the document then the document is something that is subject to public record okay and whether I guess what I'm saying is the time frame of whether or not it's been formally presented uh is not a deciding factor in whether it's exempt or not so I just bring it up because we all know how the Rumor Mill runs and one person hears something is back and then everyone and so if it's possible for operations to clarify if we have received that study whether the board has been briefed or not if that deems it to be a public record then I would want us to be sharing that information with whoever has put in a records request for it um so whatever that looks like obviously I haven't we haven't received it as a board but that doesn't necessarily mean operations has or has not I don't know Dr go if you want to speak to whether you guys have received it um thank you board member James so board I it is my understanding it's not complete yet I know that uh Miss Morant uh received some initial information but she had more questions than not and so proceeded to get some questions answered I have I I don't have a copy of it and I haven't seen it yet so uh I know that there were there were for example there were positions and titles that were unique to different districts and it was difficult toig figure out which match which ones and so there were there were a lot of questions that she shared that she needed to go back and ask them and um I have not yet seen their answers and have an update so I she described it as me it's not complete but um we'll certainly update the board as soon as we have something I'm I'm expected to have a follow-up meeting with them shortly and so to that point attorney Powers I know that our emails are a public record so when an email comes in with that attachment is that then a public record yeah and and I'm going to again broadly speaking because I don't know a lot about this particular situation but it seems to apply to this as well as anyone El anywhere else if I can go put my hands on a document or if I can pull up a document on my computer that exists uh if it's not subject to an exemption the state of completion or submission or anything like that is irrelevant so if now it may be that sometimes when people make public records requests what they're looking for is they're looking for the final version don't care about my draft totally you know unless maybe they want to see the you know the draft and if I've updated the draft along the way then sometimes the metadata isn't there anymore but otherwise um if it exists right now and I could get to it if somebody you know it's sort of the gun to the Head thing if somebody was actually saying You must do it right this moment could I and if the answer is yes then at that point a public records exists if it's within our per possession whether it's complete or not so but again I don't know with this particular item the status of it I don't know if it if it's been something that's just been you know viewed remotely and it's in their possession and we don't have it or if it's I I I don't know anything about that Madam chair if I may I I just want to clarify for the board um we will always comply with public records request and and I know Mr Christian does a fantastic job of that so we'll follow up because I wasn't aware of of the issue until tonight so um we we will make sure to follow up and and we'll follow up with the board okay yeah I just I want to make sure that if it's it's I just want to make sure that we're doing whatever and we're supposed to do and I realize we haven't received it yet but if that if it's available in a public record then I just I I mean it's not advantageous to us to necessarily provide something that's not complete but if that's the nature of the work then that's the nature of the work sure and again the the main point is if I have requested a that someone complete a study or or give me a document and they have drafts of but I it's not yet been given to the district that point it's not a public record I don't have it yet you know correct got it okay great okay not maintained by by us you know that at that point yes got it um so with that um all I'll say is I know our kids are going to keep trickling in over the next 10 to 20 days we always see an influx after Labor Day so um our our IP and our our front office staff are going to be busy adding kids in and I'm hopeful that we're going to see everybody in school by our 10day count so that we can keep all of our units at our school hopefully we're where we need to be we don't need to add a ton of units but I know the teams are working really diligently so that's all I got all right or member Cummings good evening um very very very brief um it's this it's always exciting the beginning of the school year um it was just uh amazing uh board member Conrad and I showed up at the same school yesterday um and what I saw was very impressive it wasn't just uh teachers uh on Deck every staff member that was at College Park was on Deck all hands were on Deck there was even some volunteers out there to make sure um that the day went well that the morning went well and I was just thoroughly impress impressed with that so shout out to all of our schools that have had these um that have had people come in for the community to help to make sure that uh we are to a good start uh I I said a couple of days ago that I'm expecting um this year to be a um it's a new school year and I'm expecting new things in this school school year so um new new expectations new levels of success new goals and I think this is the year that we're going to be tur the corner on some things so um we're off to a good start that's it thank you board member Cummings board member Campbell yes thank you I I'll be brief as well just love the first day of school and the energy that it uh brings 10 schools yesterday in district one all the 10 schools I visited and whether it was helping in carlines first of all I want to say thank you to all the district one principes who welcomed me with open arms because I just showed up and they weren't expecting me but I helped with car line and bus line and and bus passes and all kinds of things that happened yesterday and went walked all over like we're high school and heels enough to come back and change into tennesses for the next stop but um also had an opportunity to stop into the public Education Foundation while I was visiting Madison Street and just wanted to say anybody out there who has an interest in serving as a takestock and children Mentor there's at least 30 students St right now that do not have matches they really are working on that in the next couple of weeks because the U meetings don't begin until September uh but if anyone out there has ever thought about becoming a mentor it's a wonderfully rewarding experience I had the opportunity to bump into my mentee I haven't seen her since May but she was in class change when I was at Forest and she walked through the Rotunda I was like we were so excited we got to see each other so um being a mentor is an incredibly rewarding experience so anyone in the community might be listening who has the availability of basically 1 hour a week to excuse me 30 minutes a week if you want to count drive time you might want to consider an hour uh but it really is a rewarding experience uh we already mentioned the construction at Maran Technical College uh also seeing dirt moving at Oola middle school and dirt moving with the elementary schools that are under conr More Than Dirt at elementary schools just lots and lots of dirt moving in Maran County Public Schools it is an exciting time um two final quick things uh I had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time yesterday with Mr Jones and his staff here on this campus and U the alternative program that we are bringing here to this campus is in good hands and I know that the team is working really hard to make sure that we are doing the best by those students and kudos to the team and kudos to all the teachers all the staff all the people here on this campus Because it's going to be great and I know that there were a lot of questions uh concerns that I had seen and read and and responded to and all and um just grateful for the good work that is underway and uh today won't look like yesterday and tomorrow won't look like today and we're just going to continue to to do what's best by kids and to continue to improve uh last thing that I wanted to say is congratulations to all students who took Ace exams because those scores came back today and so I'm not sure if um Israel has had if she took any Ace classes but I know Arisha did and so congratulations on your credits that you received today my own children receive some credits today so just one of those exciting times I know those tests were taken in last school year and the results came back today so um kudos to all the students who got Ace credits and that's just a great opportunity for for students to get those college credits and to potentially graduate with Ace diplomas so that concludes my comments all right board member Campbell Vice chair Conrad sure I just have a few things also and um really reiterating some of the things that have already been shared but I too am extremely grateful for all of the staff um when Reverend Cummings and I ended up at the same spot on the first day of school there were so many adults assisting getting kids out of cars kids to the cafeteria kids to the media center they didn't some of them didn't know what grade they were couldn't tell you their last name and so it was a real challenge they were all hands on deck um and they were getting kids where they needed to go and it was very impressive and I'm just very grateful because I know the first couple of days of school are exhausting if you are on a school campus it just takes a lot of energy a lot of flexibility um to get the job done those the first week of school and so just really thankful for all the work um and effort that's been um put into the kickoff of school um I'm excited to get a transportation update this week um there was a great post not always on social media but there was a really great post um by one of our bus drivers um I don't know the last couple days it had to be yesterday or today and so um just really explaining what the job looks like in getting kindergarteners because kindergarteners do do slow Transportation down I for 12 years I loaded them in Carline so um they're just little bodies move a little slower and they're really tired at the end of the day um so I just really appreciate it was an anonymous post but um this person took the time to kind of walk parents through what it looks like picking up students on the first and second day of school and um all that has to all that they have to go through and um there were some buses that arrived late and think we had some weather issues at some schools and so I just really appreciate um the time that this person took to share the positivity and what all went into getting their child to school safely each and every day and getting them home safely and so thank you for sharing um that input publicly and um as far as the the first couple is going so well I want to give a shout out to our schools about their um communication also because there's been great communication on social media I try to find every school and see what they're doing and they're doing great things informing parents um in changes or delays um needs that students have and so that again takes ex extra effort at the end of a very very busy and long day and so thank you for all your effort in getting all these messages out to our appearance I think um I think that it's helped just like Dr James shared a minute ago I haven't had a lot of negative calls which is what usually happens when parents are upset or things don't go quite the way they think um we get a lot of phone calls and there haven't been any um so far so thank you again for all your hard work um I would like to also what Dr Campbell Shi with Alternative Learning I with our work session the other day there were a lot of things that were shared a lot of concerns that were shared and I I would personally like that to come back around and kind of um just kind of an outline of where we landed and what all is is happening so I feel I so I have a clearer picture on what we're doing in Alternative Learning just because that all happened so fast um and many of us had a lot of questions about what that was going to look like the community has a lot of questions still about what that looks like and I'd like to be able to answer them a little bit better um what's what's happening and and where everybody ended up at and so um I think that is it for me again just thank you everybody for the work that you're doing we've got quite a crowd here that I'm sure has been on school campus all day today somewhere so thank you thank you V Conrad all right we'll move on to our student Board member Miss Diaz thank you um I would first like to say thank you to all the board members for allowing me this opportunity to see what it is you all do it is not easy but I've seen you guys do it with Grace as this is my first time time seeing this and this is my first time so please bear with me as I am adjusting um I would just like to also say it is the beginning of the new school year it has been very hectic I've seen it firsthand from my school with bus schedules and schedule changes pardon and I just just like to say it does get easier with time to all the students who are watching this it does get easier throughout the year and I would just like to start off with this new year being very positive thank you thank you Miss Diaz and we'll move on to your counterart Miss Arisha good evening good evening thank you for having me I really do appreciate being here and it's an honor to sit here with you guys and seeing how much hard work you guys put into fixing everything for us students because the students are one of your top priorities which is amazing I'm honored to represent BW high school and I'm really glad to say that the first two days of school went well everything went smoothly I know there was like a lot of congestion with the bus routes and stuff especially with my school there was about 18 late buses yesterday morning but honestly the getting late and stuff is pretty understandable because it's it is the first week of school so it takes time getting accustomed to all the new routes for the bus drivers and some of the bus drivers are new as well there's a lot of new students so I would like to thank all the bus drivers for all their hard work for trying to get all the students to and from school as punctually as they can given the stressful circumstances and thank you to all of the teachers and staff members for making the first couple days of school smooth and because of them that was possible because schedule changes are very tedious and dealing with new students is also very stressful but they get it done so Pops to them and thank you guys for everything thank you thank you very much and um I I agree with you it is a a great honor and and also an immense responsibility to basically restart what could be turned a small City you know every year and and get the the wheels rolling and the kids where they need to be and the cheeks in the seats and and everything else um it's it's such an exciting time and and I wanted to extend my thanks um to new St John Missionary Baptist Church their back to school Sunday has become a yearly favorite of mine um the best idea in the world I thought was to have the importance of attendance literally printed on the back of the church program it was in color but it can be in black and white it can be in pink I just hope that every Church in the area and any church newspaper and review picks up on that and and finds a way to get attendance in into the conversation um Reverend Cummings you know thank you for for bringing the word to us it's it's so nice to have a board member um in your position it it just makes it even more personalized and and more special to hear the message you know from a fellow Schoolboard member and um and I'll just say that you know after being contacted by a local media source to I think all of us may have been to share our impressions of the first day of school and you know there's been a lot of first day days and they're always exciting and there's that enthusiasm but what what I shared with this media Source was um what I witnessed helping in my schools in District 4 yesterday was everyone taking that extra time that extra step that extra care that extra everything to make each and every student family and each other feel welcomed and supported and it was truly one of my best first days ever it really really was and I had a couple of personal experiences I remember your name Henry it was at Vanguard high school and he was having trouble finding his class uh he spoke English about as well as I speak Spanish um but somehow I helped Henry find his way to Mr de's class and along that Journey you know I was trying to practice my Spanish he was trying to answer me in English and and I and I listened as the door opened and Mr de thank you for welcoming Henry even though he was late I'm sure that we didn't take the shortest route I was trying to find my way back to building three as well but I heard your voice Mr de I heard you say hey come on in you know um that means everything to a kid right especially when you enter a classroom late and it's the first day and you're worried about how you're going to be received the same thing happened at at Maplewood there was a little kid as I was leaving and he was small and I didn't see an adult with him but he looked like he he knew where he was going towards the front office but he it definitely looked worried right so just I thought all right and I just gave him a big smile and kind of bent down and said you know welcome we're so glad you made it and his face just went from looking really scared to looking so happy and oh you know I wasn't expecting this but he ran you know like right into my arms I gave him a big hug and it's like we've been waiting for you you know and you look like you know where you're going yep yep and I watched and and he go and and I just saw so many examples of that at all of my schools um transportation the bus drivers were great I was asking them how you've been treated on the road they said mostly really good that needs to continue public you know those big yellow buses we definitely need to uh make sure that we're being safe and and really taking our time taking that extra time taking that extra deep breath so everyone gets there safely um Fort King was amazing they have spent money but they have also been very frugal just having some nice bright banners it says you know for King Middle School home of the Falcons it has just lifted up that whole campus and I think one of you was talking about the presence of adults everywhere you know just being there in the hallways you know kids coming up they were actually wanting to know where to go and they needed to be enough people there you know to guide them and encourage them you know hey this is your principal he can tell you you know this this is Mr Carter you know it's those those initial interactions that set the tone um for the whole year so uh I just want to say you know globally that that I am so grateful for all of the good things that I saw yesterday including a quick visit to deliver a few chairs to one of the new uh alternative programs here on campus um it was just everyone pitching in you know and so I hope that we just keep that going throughout the whole school year you know keeping that Spirit up remembering to really care about each other and um give each other the benefit of the doubt and I have no doubt we're going to have a great year so thank you for for everything thank you to everybody and we hope to keep you all uplifted throughout this whole school Year and thank you for being with us we look forward to having you for the whole first quarter right yep our student representative so you'll be you'll be ready to hold the gavel by the time this is done all right um there being no further business may I have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn second motion by board member Campbell second second by board member Cummings all those in favor say I I I motion passes unanimously five votes to zero we are adjourned at 6:59 p.m. not bad thank [Music] you e