The school board meeting will begin in one minute. Please take your seats. Again, the schoolboard meeting will begin in one minute. Good evening and welcome. The January 13, 2026 meeting of the Marian County School Board is called to order. Miring
and modeling the way our students begin each day. I ask that we observe a moment of silence at this time. Please join me. miring. Uh we um sorry I got a little thrown off because we got a little off script. Uh Julia and Luke, will you please uh read the board commitment
statement? >> We are the Marian County School District Leadership Team. When we come together to work, 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, and we will leave a legacy of success. >> Thank you both. For the courtesy of those listening to the meeting, I'm requesting everyone in the audience to please turn off their electronic devices and 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 Maring County School System or the school board only. Presentations to the board are limited to five minutes and are televised. If you wish to address the board regarding a regular agenda item on or matters on
which the board customarily takes action, you must first complete a form located in the lobby. If you wish to address the board regarding a public hearing or student disciplinary matter, please complete the lime green form. These forms will be fully completed and received by the board clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. The procedures applicable
to each are on a separate sheet. Good evening. Miss Martinez Young, please call the role. >> Dr. Allison Campbell, District 1, >> here. >> Mrs. Lorie Conrad, District 2, >> here. >> Mr. Eric Cummings, District Three, >> here. >> Mrs. Nancy Thrower, District 4, >> here. >> Dr. Sarah James, District 5, >> here.
>> Luke Lombardo, Westport High School, >> here. >> Julia Slaughter, Vanguard High School. >> Here. >> Dr. Danielle Brewer, interim superintendent. >> Here. Mr. Jeremy Power, school board attorney >> here. >> Dr. Brewer, uh, since we've already had a bit of an introduction, but if you will formally introduce who will be
doing our inspiration and pledge of allegiance for us this evening. >> Thank you. Good evening. Um, at this time, I'd like um Mr. Chad Frasier to come to the podium. He will provide the introduction for our JRTC unit this evening. >> Good evening, Chair James.
It's my pleasure tonight to be able to and board members to be able to introduce our JOTC from Lakewware High School. Um we have our cadet lutenant colonel Emily Bradley, our cadet command sergeant major Tyron Connley, our cadet
captain Eric Morell, our cadet staff sergeant Janelius Guerva, and our cadet staff sergeant Tyler Laski. If you'll please welcome them up. They are led by our Lake Weir High Senior Army instructor, Lieutenant Colonel, retired
Carlos Lopez. So, you're welcome up for the inspiration. >> Please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. 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. No, the microphone's not on yet. One moment. Hello. Yes. Hello, my name is Emily Bradley and this is my fourth year being in Lakewware's
Lakewear's JRTC program. With it recently becoming 2026, I wanted to talk about New Year's resolutions. Many of you in this room have already established goals that you want to achieve by the end of the year. One of the biggest lessons that I've learned through JRTC is that your goals take
dedication and a strong will. There will always be hard moments where you worry that you aren't capable of achieving your goals, that there will always be someone better, that a few setbacks will mean the end. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. My freshman year, I was quiet and more socially
awkward than I would like to admit. Um, I wanted nothing more than to be that one person that could stand in front of a crowd and say whatever was on their mind. I never imagined that person could be me. It wasn't until I got actively involved with JRTC that I noticed a
difference. It started small. I began feeling more confident talking to people in my company. I even ended up joining my JRTC color guard and drill team and made friends there. After that, that confidence began to seep into my everyday life. Aside from making
friends, I ended up joining Yearbook and National Honor Society, which gave me more scholarship opportunities. After I noticed the change in my confidence, I strove to become better. The new leadership positions that I gained over the next few years, such as
squad leader, color guard commander, public affairs officer, and company commander, as well as leading color guard teams at school events, gave me the confidence to be the person that I need wanted to be. My junior year, I began to worry that my progress wasn't
enough, that I wasn't as good as others, and I didn't acknowledge the progress that I had made years prior to that. Looking back, I realized the truth. The expectation that I needed to be the best was an imaginary concept that I created in my own mind. Those concepts pres
prevented me from becoming the person that I wanted to be. No one is expecting you to be the best. No one expects you to be perfect. And most of all, no one expects you to be the best. It's not about what others think. It's about what you It's about your happiness, your
goal, and your accomplishments. Progress takes time, consistency, and dedication. If you want it, work for it. No one is stopping you but yourself. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Thank you for being here and sharing your testimony about
leadership. And it's a pleasure to have you all here to present our colors for tonight's meeting. >> Of course. Thank you. Uh Dr. Brewer, I believe we have two recognitions tonight. >> Yes, we do. And as you can tell, we have an a full audience. So, thank you all for being here. Um, the first
recognition will be presented by Miss Evette Del Nodal. She is our director of mental health and wellness. So, welcome, Miss Del Nadell. >> Thank you, Dr. Brewer, and good evening, Chair James, and members of the board. The National Red Ribbon Campaign is
designed to support communities in their efforts to bring awareness, advocacy, and resources specific to their commitment to be drug-free. Our partnership with the Marian County Children's Alliance and participation in Red Ribbon Week is a longstanding tradition. This evening, we would like
to have two of our very own participating students share some of the information about this year's events. I'd like to welcome Miss Barton from Denellan Middle School to introduce our two students. Miss Barton has led red ribbon efforts at more than one school in Marian County Public Schools and is
passionate about this campaign as evident by the enthusiasm of the students and the caliber of their submissions. Miss Barton. >> Good evening school board and members of the audience. I would like to introduce to you two of my safe promise leaders um
Marissa Sanks and Yenia Santos. Good evening, Dr. Brewer, chair and members of this board. This year's red ribbon week with the theme of life is a puzzle. Solve it
drug-free was a huge success this week and the activities are used to promote the interrance of drug use in our school communities and workplaces as well as
encourage healthy choices and healthy living. it and is an her honor to participate in this natural yearly event and during this
information to our students. The community kickoff event at the Marian Drive-In Theater brings over a thousand participants annually, including adults and youth coming in to view information from community agencies, and then watch movies for free
at the drive-in. To help with this event, many youth volunteers come to together each year to support the project and gain volunteer hours. These numbers continue to grow each year. The spirit contest is a major health
highlight of Red Ribbon Week for the schools in Marian County. This year 17 schools participated in weekly activities with 13 schools participating in the
joining jury and spirit week contest in all this week's events impact all about 13 13,140 students in the district.
We want to give a big thanks to all the schools that participated in the spirit contest. Anthony Elementary, Bel Belleview Middle, Bridgeway Academy, Denellan Elementary, Danella Middle, Fezidan Elementary, Forham Early
Learning, Forest High, North Marian Middle, Oakrest Elementary, Ocali Charter Charter High, Oola Middle, and Winding Oaks Elementary. multiple jur
from the different parts of the school system. Some new juries their year toward all the campus that signed up to come to winners in the elementary school, middle
and high school. Congrats. It is with great honors that we present to you this year's school spirit winners. The winning high school is Bridgeway Academy. They showed us though they are small, they could come out and force to
promote a good cause. They are a repeat winner in the high school category. >> Okay. The winning middle school was Denellan Middle School. The levels of participation, creativity, and thoughtfulness were inspiring at
this level. And for the winning elementary school, we have Oakrest Elementary School, who also has their team here. They had whole campus participation and such creative ideas. >> Awesome. So, we also want to make sure that we
thank the hospital district who is providing their awards. And you will each get a $500 check that will be delivered to your school. >> And I think we're going to take pictures after the next recognition. Correct. >> Yep. If you will just hang out, we will
come down and take pictures in just a few minutes. Okay. uh super grateful for the level of participation in Red Ribbon Week. I have to say that slow because it's like a tongue twister for me, but uh I always love when I'm driving by the schools and
I see the cups in the fences, which is what we did when I was a student as well. And so um some of those tied and true traditions uh stay stay put. Board, anyone else have any comments about Red Ruben Week? Okay. I just wanted to make sure I extended it. I think we have one more recognition. Dr.
I I'd like to recognize Mrs. Deborah Veles. She is here with the hospital district. And so we thank you for everything you do for our schools and our students. So, thank you for being with us this evening. >> She stand. I don't see her. Could she stand? >> Please stand, Miss Vez. There she is.
>> Thank you. >> And and yes, so now the second recognition for this evening will be presented to us by Mrs. Melissa Kinard. She is the area superintendent. um over this region. >> Thank you, Dr. Brewer. Good evening, board chair Dr. James and board members.
I have the honor of recognizing Denellan High School's football team as they participated in the inaugural Florida Invit Invitational tournament at the conclusion of the 2025 season. The Florida High School Athletic Association
added the FIT Championship to its state championship series this year after offering it in the rural division in 2024. This year's FIT championships included three divisions, rural 1A through 3A, 4A through 7A. Denellan
participated in the 1A through 3A championship that included four rounds. After victories against Pensacola High, Andrew Jackson High, and Palaka High in the first three rounds, they went on to defeat North Miami High 13 to7 on
December 4th at the Villages High School. Congratulations to Principal Martin, Coach Binham, and the Denellan High School football team. >> Please come down. Yes, if you guys want to come down and then once you come down, just stay down if you'd like since we're going to take pictures with
Denellan High School. So, come on down and we will um we will take pictures with the Nell High School and then with the Red Ribbon Week winners. >> Yes. >> ROTC. >> Yes. And ROTC. Yes. Yep. >> Down here. They're gonna come down and
take pictures. Yep. I don't know. Listen, in the house, >> I like it. >> That's awesome. That's so cool, right? >> No, no, no. You're good. I'm over here. I'm just waiting on them. I should really have my picture around
>> Murphy. Everybody's looking over this. All right, here we go. I think they were they were taking them when they >> Yeah, we got >> you. Sure. >> No, I got >> you. Sure. >> Congratulations again, guys. Thank you.
Congratulations. Nice job representing. Thanks for coming, guys. Thank you. Congratulations. >> Nice job, guys. Congratulations again. Appreciate y'all coming out. Thank you. Congratulations.
Nice job. >> Hey, he he was a part, right? And for sure he came all in practices. >> Thank you. It's easy. >> There's no reason. got it. >> I don't think so.
>> Yeah, I need to Make sure we can see. >> Can we Can we make two rows? >> Can we make more rows? >> Can we have more people on the second? >> Can we do one normal and then without? >> Yes.
>> Without one with I'm gonna go to the side. I can't get >> it. >> Who's gonna help me move this podium? >> I'll move it back. I swear. >> I want to get a All right. You ready? >> I'm gonna get everyone.
All right. One, two, three. Hold on. Phone two. All right. Thank you. >> I don't know whose phone is phone. All right. See you soon. Luke,
>> you can't do that. You know, you know you have to see me, man. I got to see Here we go. And looking right here. And one, two, three. Couple more. >> Good. Thank you. Yeah, we got into some of the details.
>> He wants Here we go. And one, two, three. Couple more. >> And I'm good. >> Now look here. >> Thank you. As we make it back to our seats, we're going to go into our donations section
of the meeting and I want to recognize SECO is here and they just wanted to say a few words because they did show up tonight uh and present us with a check. So, floor is yours. >> Uh yes, it's uh my name is Ryan Myers. I'm with Seco Energy and it's my pleasure to present the board with their
uh annual capital credit check. It's a benefit of being a member owner of a nonprofit electric cooperative and it is what it represents is the remaining unspent revenue of the co-op that the
school board is entitled to as one of our member owners. And it's my pleasure to do it and I'm very thankful for this opportunity. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Uh, and I will go ahead and recognize the rest of our donations that we have tonight board. Um, in addition to the
generous donation from Ziko, we have $1,000 to Harborview Elementary School for community from the community foundation for Okala Maring County, Inc. to be used at the discretion of Harborview Elementary School principal. We have $2,7638 to Hillrest School from Rack Room Shoes
to be used as part of the shoes that fit program to purchase socks and shoes for Hillrest students. $1,000 to Vanguard High School from Elite Construction of Okala LLC to be used to support the girls weightlifting team with expenses. $3,34126
to Maplewood Elementary School for Maplewood PTO to be used for classroom materials and supplies. $2,4949 to Emerald Shores Elementary School from Emerald Chores Elementary School PTO to be used at the principal's discretion
for students and staff. $1,500 to Fort King Middle School from Pediatric Associates of Ocala to be used at the discretion of Fort King Middle School principal. $2,500 to the school choice department from Mid Florida Credit Union to be used to support the promotion, support, and implementation of magnet
opportunities within Marian County Public Schools. 1,000 to Westport High School from Johnston's Inc. to be used to cover the expenses of lanyards for students to display their student identification cards, $1,160 to Belleview Elementary School from Open
Circle Metropolitan Community Church to be used to purchase a lawn mower for school use. And 1,000 to Liberty Middle School from the National FFA Foundation to be utilized by the Agriculture Classes for a service project totaling $25,745.7 in donations. Thank you so much to our
community for your commitment to Maring County Public Schools. Okay. Thank you. I recommend approval of the agenda for the January 13, 2026 schoolboard 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 items D22.1, D22.2, 2, D22.3, D22.4, D22.5,
D22.6, D22.7, D22.8, D22.9, and D22.10 that have been placed under discussion, regular agenda items, and items C1 18.3
and C17.1 that have been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items. May I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation? >> So move. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Cummings, second by board member Conrad. All those in favor say I. I.
>> I. >> I. >> Motion passes 5-0. Miss Martinez Young, please provide the proof of publication for tonight's school board meeting. >> The notice for the January 13, 2026 schoolboard meeting ran in the Ocala Gazette on January 2nd, 2026. The proof of publication has been attached in
board ducks under proof of publication. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the November 6, 2025 administrative briefing and work session? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Conrad and second by board member Campbell. Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes?
>> Hearing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the November 11th, 2025 board of directors leasing corporation organizational meeting? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Conrad and 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 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the November 11th, 2025 special school board organizational meeting? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Cummings. Second
by board member Conrad. Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes? Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. Motion passes. 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the November 11th, 2025 school board meeting? >> Motion to approve.
>> Second. >> Motion by Con uh board member Conrad, second by board member Thrower. Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes? >> Hearing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Motion passes. 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the November 20th, 2025 administrative
briefing and work session? >> Motion to approve. >> Mo motion by board member Conrad and second by board member Thrower. Are there any additions or corrections to the meeting? The minutes hearing? None. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. May I have a
motion to approve the minutes for the November 20th, 2025 special school board meeting expulsions? >> To approve. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Cummings, second by board member Campbell. Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes? Hearing none. All those in favor say I.
>> I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the December 1st, 2025 special administrative briefing and work session? >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Conrad. Second by board member Campbell. Are there any
additions or corrections to the minutes? >> Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes. 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the December 9th, 2025 school board meeting? >> Motion to approve the minutes. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Thrower. Second by board member Cummings. Are there any
additions or corrections to the minutes? Hearing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion passes 5-0. Miss Martinez Young, do we have any speakers this evening? >> Yes, Madam Chair. We have two speakers. >> Okay. Uh I would like to welcome attorney Powers to the meeting to
describe and explain the rules for this board uh work session or this board meeting. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. In compliance with section 286.0114 0114 Florida statutes. The school board has adopted uniform procedures for public speakers who wish to speak at this evening's
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 from 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. This evening, speakers will be called prior to the business portion of the school board's meeting in the order of receipt by the school board clerk.
Before you begin speaking, please state your full name for the record and spell your last name. Each speaker will have five minutes. When the speaker has one minute remaining, the speaker will receive a visual notice to complete his or her comments. Speakers may not yield their time to other people.
Speakers are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Therefore, verbal attacks and profanity are strictly prohibited. Pursuant to the procedures for public comments item six, speakers are not to identify specific individuals other than themselves or their child unless a statement is
provided 24 hours in advance. The board is here to listen to your comments only. You may be directed to an administrative staff member following the conclusion of your comments for further assistance to address your concerns. If there are matters dealing with student discipline, including
expulsions, they'll be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of this meeting. Parents may address the board regarding a disciplinary matter at that time. To ensure student privacy, only a parent or guardian may use a student's first or last name.
Identifying references to other students or their families are also strictly prohibited. A speaker speech does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position, or expression of the school district. Thank you for your attention to the board's requirements. Madam Chair, that
concludes my explanatory remarks. >> Thank you, Miss Martinez Young. Uh, can the first speaker please come forward? >> Mr. Len Rosipi. >> I guess it's on. >> Good evening board. My name is Len Rasiopi uh address 5288 Southwest 85th
Street Ocala Florida and I'm vice chair and representing the Marian County Executive Republican Committee and the County Republican Party. On January 5th, we sent the board a letter disagreeing with the plan to abandon the commitment
made to conduct a national superintendent candidate search and instead now move to appoint the interim superintendent. Before I get into any of the details, first I do want to mention that we appreciate
the folks on the board that engaged with us both in person and via email. That is very important. We're they were frank and they were constructively civil. At the end of the day, we may agree to
disagree, but I think the quality of how we do it is critical to be able to talk to each other and to have that access. Several several reasons for the disagreement and this was noted in our letter. Um, review of the recent test
scores do not show a dramatic improvement with some students in schools still lagging in areas of math and reading and it's detailed in our letter. First, the interim superintendent was appointed in May, essentially at the end of the school
year. Therefore, in our view, there's not enough runtime to justify abandoning a competitive comparison to other contain candidates. Qualified now is qualified later. So,
we're we're we're we're not judging the person. We're just saying just like you do contracting and you contract the contractors, you know, you test the marketplace. As we were informed, the cost of the
search was about $50,000, which is 0.004% of the school's 1.2 billion approximately annual budget. In our view, this is a very small investment to
seek and test the marketplace and select the best candidate to lead and improve our schools and students performance. In summary, there's no test data nor monetary barrier that warrants a
decision at this time. We request the board respectfully keep your commitment that you made to the community to perform a national search, evaluate the best, continue the ongoing evaluation of the interim
superintendent and competitive candidates, and at the end of the process, select the best candidate competitively for the benefit of Marian County students. I've submitted our letter so it's part of the record of this meeting. Thank you for your time
and your ongoing work. And if you have any questions, I didn't use my five minutes. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Andres Aarelloo. >> I have some maps to give them. camp. >> Good evening, chair uh chair, board
members, and superintendent. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you tonight. I am Andy Revol, uh past president of the Denellan Chamber, and I'm here on behalf of the Denellan Chamber and Business Association and the broader Denellan community. We appreciate your service to your students
and families and we come before you with uh to respect the responsibility you carry protecting school property, student student safety and public trust. Uh I am also alumni of Denellan High School. No tigers, but they're already gone. All right. For many years uh
through 2016, the Denellan Chamber proudly partnered with the school district to host independent fired independent day fireworks at the Denellan High School uh football stadium. These celebrations were safe, well attended, and deeply meaningful to our community. They became a tradition
that families look forward to year after year. In 2017, an unexpected permitting issue prevented the event from moving forward. And in the years that followed, the chamber faced financial uh constraints that temporarily made hosting fireworks unrealistic.
We we share that simply we share this background simply not as an excuse but to explain why the tradition so cherished by our community has been absent longer than anyone would have wished. Today we're in position to bring back the responsibility and the
successful show. July 4th, 2026 marks the 250th birthday of our great nation. A once-in-a-lifetime milestone. Communities across uh America will be gathering to celebrate this historic moment, and Denellan deeply wants to
have the opportunity this uh to do the same together, locally, and safely. We want the board to know that the Denellan Chamber has secured necessary insurance, $5 million uh coverage to host this event. In addition, we have a letter
from the county fire uh fire chief confirming that there is no record of any incidents during any of the years the fireworks were previously held at Denellan High School. SA safety has always been and will remain our top priority. The pyro technicians uh we use
are nationally recognized professionals who earn top honors in pyrochnics field in the early 2000s and are highly experienced in staging shows in the stadium settings and maintaining strict safety distances. Something that
Denellan High School's 87.5 acre campus uniquely allows us. Uh as in the past, fireworks would be staged far from the bleachers spect spectators areas uh and buildings. Since September, after our initial request uh to rent the
facilities was denied to uh concerns on safety, liability, and potential property damage, we have made extensive efforts to find an alternate location. We have reviewed maps, researched property appraisers records, and uh explored both public and private lands.
Unfortunately, there is simply no other suitable location within or near Denellan that can safely accommodate the communitywide fireworks display, including traffic. Uh the high school campus is uniquely positioned to do so,
just as in the past. Beyond the fireworks themselves, we see this event as an opportunity to strengthen the community ties and directly benefit students. We planned on inviting uh school clubs, athletic teams and organizations to participate and to be visible during the event. The marching
band could perform patriotic songs and clubs and athletic groups can host tables and fundraisings. Uh part of the thing was that uh the Denellan High School would collect the money for parking. Uh this event would not uh just celebrate our uh nation, it would also
showcase the pride, talent, and involvement in Denellan High School students. Ultimately, our community is asking for the same opportunity that uh so many nearby communities already enjoy. The chance to come together in a safe, familiar place and celebrate our countries, our town, and our f our
shared future. We respectfully ask the board to reconsider following uh allowing the Denellan Chamber to host the July 4th fireworks at the Denellan High School football stadium. We are committed to work uh collaboratively with the district to address concerns, ensure safety, protect property, and
make this positive experience for everyone involved. Thank you for your time and your consideration. Uh if you look at the maps uh that's on there, if you look at the if you look at it this way where the parking is to the south here, uh you'll see in the upper leftand
corner, that field belongs to the high school and to the a department. uh in that back that's where for the past uh every time that we've held this event um is where it was launched. So it is from
the high school itself over 2005 ft away. Uh it is actually a lot further than any um fire uh from the fire department what their rules are that regulates it. Uh we again I have
mentioned that we do have a $5 million writer for for the fireworks display and if there's any other questions please let me know. >> Thank you very much for coming and providing this information for the board. >> All right. Thank you. >> Is there any other public speakers?
>> No, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. >> Madam Chair, do we have a have his contact information? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. All right. Moving on to our public hearings. May I have a motion to approve the recommended revisions of the board's policies?
>> Motion to approve policy changes. >> Motion by board member Campbell and a second by board member Cummings. The recommendation of Oh, I'm sorry, that's you, Dr. B. >> The recommendation of revised board policies will ensure that the school board's policies reflect the board's guidance and are in statutory
compliance. >> I declare a public hearing. Is there anyone present who wishes to address the recommended revised board policies? All right. Hearing no participation from the public board, are there any discussions about the policies?
All right. Uh then I will make a motion for a vote. All those in favor say I. >> I. Motion passes. 5-0. I declare a public hearing. Is there anyone present who wishes to address the 2025 2026 K12 English language arts recommended
instructional materials for the adoption of 13 specific courses? All right. Hearing none board is there any um discussion amongst ourselves? All right. This will come on an further agenda for vote.
Moving on to information items. We will start this evening with some information items regarding uh GMP. The school district used a construction management delivery method including a g a guaranteed maximum price also known as GMP to perform construction work on
these projects. There were unused funds on the project. Since the project was 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 or designate has signed and approved the change order. Per board policy 6345, the superintendent or designate 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 the approval shall be in his or her judgment in the best interest of the board. Such change orders shall be binding upon execution by the superintendent or designate. The superintendent or design shall report each change order and he that he or she
approved to the board at the board meeting that follows his or her approval. The superintendent or design's approval of the change order shall be entered into the official minutes of the board meeting. I will go through now um quite a bit of change orders board um that are directly related to GMP. 10.1
Amendment number two to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price for early site work and materials procurement related to construction of new elementary school X now known as Winding Oaks Elementary. Change order number five, amendment number two, project 24-102.
The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of $376,000 uh $376,76.14. 10.2 Two, amendment number one to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price for equipment early procurement related to the construction of new elementary school X, now known as
Winding Oaks Elementary. Change order number four, amendment number one, project 24-102. The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of 1,444,280.86. Amendment number three to the construction management contract guaranteed maximum price for labor and
materials consisting of interior construction related to construction of of new elementary school X now known as Winding Oaks Elementary. Change order number 12, amendment number three, project 24-102. The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of 2,280,1462.
10.4 guaranteed maximum price for district-wide hydrophonic tanks replacement. Change order number three, work authorization number five, project 25-110. The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of 30,521.80. Guaranteed max uh 10.5 guaranteed
maximum price for districtwide sophet installation. Change order number three, work authorization number three, project 24-115. The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of $79,182.70. 10.6 6 guaranteed maximum price to install canopy extension at the new
central warehouse. Change order number one, work authorization number six, project 20-102. The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of $8,432.75. 10.7 guaranteed maximum price for the replacement of interior and exterior transformers at Fort McCoy School.
Change order number four, work authorization number four, project 24-120. The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of $67,08353. 10.8 Replacement of HVAC chilled water piping and variable air volume units at buildings four and six at Lakeware High
School. Change order number one, work authorization number two, project 24-123. The cost of this change order is a deductive amount of 147,473.93. The total of unused funds is $4,433,197.73. The returned funds from items 10.1
through 10.3, which is approximately 4,100,532, are being directed directly to the South Maran High School project. The school board has expressed its desire to pursue directly purchased materials to save the cost of sales tax. The deductive change order at the beginning of the project
exceeded the actual cost of the materials purchased. We have not exhausted all materials to be bought through the ODP process and need to reconcile the deductive change order. The actual cost of materials purchased were less than anticipated. This change order is to reimburse the subcontractors
through the general contractor for the difference between the deductive and actual materials purchased for various materials associated with the construction of the project. This change order will complete the direct purchase process for the project. The superintendent or designate has signed
and approved the change order. Per board policy 6345, the superintendent or designate are authorized to approve and execute any construction contract change order that will increase the construction by 25,000 or less or that will decrease the construction contract amount provided that approval shall be
in her judgment in the best interest of the board. Such change orders shall be binding upon execution by the superintendent or designate. The superintendent or uh or designate shall report each change order that she approved to the board and the board in the board meeting that follows her approval. The superintendent or design's
approval of the change order shall be entered into the official minutes of the board meeting. 10.9 Guaranteed maximum price for districtwide sophet installation change order number two work authorization number three project 24-115. The cost of this change order is an
additive amount of 81 cents. Guaranteed maximum price uh 10.10 for replacement of interior and exterior transformers at Fort McCoy School. Change order number three, work authorization number four, project 24-120. The cost of this change order is an additive amount of 83 cents for a total
additive amount of $164. for the uh purposes of the board and the public. We are going to be revisiting the policy that I mentioned that would require us to bring 84 cents before the board in a public meeting. So, in the next policy update board, we will be
having some further discussion about that if it's the pleasure of the board. At this time, that concludes ourformational items. And now on to the consent agenda. May I have a motion to approve consent agenda items C2.1 through C19.1 with the
exception of items D22.1, D22.2, D22.3, D22.4, D22.5, D22.6, D22.7, D22.8, D22.9, and D22.10 10 that have been placed under
discussion regular agenda items and items C18.3 and C17.1 that have been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items. We have a motion >> motion to approve consent agenda. >> Motion by board member Conrad, second by
board member Cummings. Um all those in favor? >> I motion passes 5-0. Moving on to student disciplinary matters. We'll start with alter alternative placements to Bridgeway Academy. Before addressing expulsion matters, I would like to acknowledge that board members have received the alternative placement list
for students through November 21st, 2025. Miss Martinez Young, are there any parents who have submitted a timely request to speak on their child's disciplinary matter? >> No, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the expulsion of students? JD26-073E
JD26-075 JD26-77E JD26-078 JD26-79 JD26-80E JD26-82E JD26-83
JD26-84E JD26-85 JD26-8 86 and JD26-087 for the remainder of the 2025 20226 school year and the first and second
quarter of the 2026 20227 school year. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Second by board member Campbell. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the expulsion of
student JD26-072 and JD26-074 with off-campus virtual learning for the remainder of the 2025 20226 school year and the first and second quarters of the 2026 2027 school year. >> Motion to approve.
>> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Uh second by board member Thrower. All those in favor say I. I. >> Motion passes. Was there any nays? I'm sorry. Did you say I, Dr. Campbell? Okay. I'm sorry I missed that. All the um motion
passes 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD26-043E and JD26-045 for the remainder of the 2025 20226 school year and the first quarter of the 2026 2022 school year.
>> Motion to approve. >> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Second by board member Cummings. All those in favor say I. I I motion passes 50. May I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD26-076E
with off-campus virtual learning for the remainder of the 2025 2026 school year and for the first quarter of the 2026 2027 school year. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Second by board member Campbell. All
those in favor say I. I. Motion passes. 5-0. Now we will move on to our discussion and regular agenda items. D22.1. May I have a motion to approve the 2026, 2022, and 2027, 2022 instructional calendars?
>> Motion to approve calendars. >> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Second by board member Thrower. Dr. Brewer, do you have information you would like to share regarding this item? >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. We have Mr. Ays here with us this evening and he will provide brief remarks concerning the instructional calendars.
>> All right. Mr. S is making his way down. >> Welcome Mr. Ays. >> Welcome. I'm board chair, board members, um Dr. Brewer. So the instructional calendars, we had the work session and we had the discussion of the work session in December and um there was a
consent agenda consent reached at that board work session for these instructional calendars. Now remember these instructional calendars do not include Wina Park. >> All right, thank you very much. Uh board, do you have any further discussion on the instructional calendars?
>> No. Okay, I will just say the one thing uh for the community to take notice. It's a very similar calendar. The only major difference is that we are now going to have an early release day on the last day of school. Um, not starting this May, but next May. So, nothing changes for the rest of this school year, but for the community to be aware,
but we were preserved all of the traditional holidays that everyone is used to. So, this looks pretty similar to what we've always done, >> right? And this is a two-year cycle. And so, the goal is now to do this annually, but for two years, the thing will always have two years worth of calendars.
>> Absolutely. And families who are wondering, you can find it right on the homepage of marianschools.net. There's a tag for calendars. >> Yep. And they'll be if pending approval, these will be posted by tomorrow. >> Awesome. Thank you so much. >> All right. Hearing no further discussion from the board. Uh all those in favor
say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. Thank you, Mr. Heirs. D22.2. May I have a motion to approve the Perkins v care career and technical education CTE equipment upgrade and modernization grants. >> Motion to approve.
>> Um motion by coming uh board member Cummings and second by board member Thrower. Dr. Brewer, do you have information you'd like to share regarding this item? >> Yes. Thank you. Mr. White House will come to the podium and provide some highlights um of this particular grant. >> Thank you, Dr. Brewer. Good evening,
board. Um so this uh Perkins career and techno education equipment upgrade modernization grant was available to our district. Um for this grant, Marin Technical College chose the automotive general service technician program. It is obviously a program that has very expensive equipment and was long overdue
for uh equipment upgrades. And so all of that $14,490 would be put to use to upgrade the automotive program. >> Thank you very much. Mr. White House board, do you have further comments on this item? All right. Hearing none. All those in
favor say I. I. >> I. Motion passes. 5 Z. >> Thank you, Mr. White House. Moving on to item D22.3. May I have a motion to approve the amendment of the central office staffing plan for the 2025 2026 school year. >> Motion to approve.
>> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Second by board member Cummings. Um Dr. Ber, I believe you have someone here to speak to this item. Miss Morant. She's the executive director over human resources. She will actually provide remarks for the next two items. We understand you do vote in between, but
she is here for the next two items. Thank you, Miss Morant. >> Thank you, Dr. Brewer, Chair James, and board members. Good afternoon. We are recommending approval for agenda item D22.3, amendment to the central office staffing plan. The first is adding five nonCDL drivers. The JD is also on this
agenda and has been approved um or will be discussed later. is actually pulled for discussion. These positions will be responsible for transporting our students to and from their designated stops utilizing vans that were recently purchased by the district. The positions will be district funded. We're also
recommending an exchange of a clerk typus position for a finance clerk position in the grants and federal programs department. This position will be funded by title one and this unit exchange will align the position and job functions to the fiscal goals and objectives of the department. And
lastly, we are requesting to exchange one headcustodian 2 position for two head custodian one positions. This allows one head custodian to oversee a school versus being responsible for two schools. And these positions will be district funded.
>> Thank you, Miss Mar. Um we'll stop there for now to see if the board has any discussion on this agenda item. >> Okay. Um, Miss Mar, u Miss Mar, will you go ahead and give us some um background on the other items or do you want to vote right now first? Which would you prefer? Board, do you want to hear
everything from Miss Mar? >> Let's go ahead and vote. >> Okay. Okay. So, regarding item D22.3, which is the amendment to the central office staffing plan. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Motion passes. 5. And then moving on to D22.4. May I have a motion to approve
the collective bargaining agreement between Marian Education Support Professionals and the School Board of Marian County 2024 through 2027. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion Motion by board member Thrower and second by board member Cummings. Miss Mar, do you have remarks you'd like to share on this?
>> I do. On behalf of the human resources department, Attorney Blackman and the Marian Education Support Professionals or MESP, we are excited to request board approval of the 2526 changes to the collective bargaining agreement. The changes to this three-year agreement are
notated in the document attached to the board docs. The members of the bargaining unit ratified the tenative agreement by a vote conducted by MESP. The total cost associated with this item is approximately $1.1 million. Once again, we extend our sincere
appreciation to Mr. Chris Aabelloo, Mrs. April Rose McCoy, MESP members, the district bargaining team, and everyone involved in ensuring that we were able to settle on the MESP collective bargaining agreements. >> Thank you, Miss Mar. Board, I open it up
to us for further discussion. All right, hearing none. All right, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes. 5 D22.5. May I have a motion to approve the revised job description for the district school superintendent? >> Motion to approve.
>> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Second by board member Thrower. U Miss Mar, did you have anything you wanted to add on the job description? >> Nothing to add. It's just a description that we discussed at the December 18th work session. We made the changes that were notated in that work session and
it's uploaded to board docs. >> Thank you very much. All right, board. Are there any further discussion regarding the new job description for the um district school superintendent? >> Okay. I just wanted to give recognition the work that HYA did with our community
uh which is the firm we hired for the national superintendent search and that first leg of the work that HYA did. We were able to take the work and the information they collected from our community and essentially put it right into this job description. So everything that they were able to formulate um as
our community and our staff uh felt should be a part of a job description for a superintendent we were able to put in and so we see that reflected here tonight. Anything else board? Okay. All those in favor say I. >> I. Motion passes 50. D22.6 Six. May I
have a motion to request permission to utilize Omnia contract 3341 for the replacement of chilled water unit at Westport High School project 26-107. >> So move. >> Motion by board member Cummings. >> Second by board member Conrad. I believe
u Miss Usher has some remarks. >> She will provide brief remarks on the next four items. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. Brewer. Thank you, Dr. Brewer. Chair James, board members, good evening. Um 22.6 Six is a replacement chiller water unit at Westport High School. This is an
emergency project. The pony chiller went out. We had funds um from um left over from other projects. So, we were able to fund this. The work will be done and completed by summer of this year at a cost of $548,562.
It is a piggyback contract and train will be performing the work. >> Right. Thank you, Miss Lusher. board. Any further remarks on this um item? Board member Threr. >> Thank you. I'll just say thank you for including the cost.
>> Anything else? >> All right. Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes. 5-0. Uh D22.7. May I have a motion to approve the compensation amendment number one to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price for construction of new
technology and information services center project 24-100. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Conrad, second by board member Thrower. Uh Miss Usher, you have remarks on this. >> Yes, thank you. This is for the GMP for the new in um technology and information
services building. As you recall, we started on this project back in 23, but because of different competing priorities, we weren't able to do it. Luckily, we got the 1.9 million from the warehouse that's going towards this project, plus we did capital funding,
additional funding to um be able to do this project. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year at the cost of 10.5 million. Um we do have some monies next year for like the whatever we need to outfit the um the facility.
We were able to use the same architect and contractor from because the project was not deleted. It was just put on hold and hopefully we'll get everything done by the end of this year and they'll have a new facility. >> Wonderful. Thank you. And the the goal is to finish by Christmas so that over
Christmas break while the entire district is offline we can move all of the data stuff over um while we're on that that bit of a break board. Any further discussion on this item? Okay. Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I.
>> I. Motion passes 5-0 D22.8. May I have a motion to approve the compensation amendment number one to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price related to construction of cooler freezer additions project 25-111 25-112 and 25-113.
>> Motion to approve. >> Motion by board member Conrad. >> Second. >> Second by board member Cummings. Miss Usher, do you have things to share about this? >> It's for this is um um funds from the food service department. It's federal funds. So even though it's under the 7
million that we can award directly to a contractor per statutes, we had to go out for bid because there are certain regulations when we're using federal funds. It is for three schools, Danellen Middle School, well um Telma Porca
Center and Howard Academy. We got these priorities from the food service department and their justification why they need to do these three. It's based on age and size of the facility and the different schools they serve. The cost is 1.98 million. Um the contractor is AD
Morgan. Completion date October 23rd, 2026. >> Thank you very much, Miss Usher. Board, are there any further questions or comments regarding this item? Board member Thor, >> I think the whole board got emailed information about why these needed to be
changed out. And um I hope I have this date right. There was at least one of them that was from 1960 something. >> That's correct. >> I wish I had a refrigerator that lasted that long. >> So it's high time sadly, but we certainly got our use out of them.
>> Yes, absolutely. >> Anything else? Bordon. >> All right. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. Uh D22.9. May I have a motion to approve guaranteed maximum price for Greenway Elementary
School HVAC modification project 25-105? >> Motion by board member Cummings. >> Second. >> Second by board member Campbell. >> Uh Miss Usher. >> Yes. Um board you will approve this in the capital plan on September 23rd. This
project will be done in two phases. Um the funding is mainly capital outlay and debt service with some capital plan. This is first phase and this is um $787,578 dollar. The total project to completely
redo all the HVAC system at Greenway will be about seven million. But this is the first phase that we really need to redo the um the the cooler towers. And this is projected to well I I don't
quite sure but it should be done soon because we'll start the second phase next year. And this is just for the coolers. >> All right. Thank you. Miss >> it says April 27 26 just for the coolers. So I hope we can meet that deadline. >> Thank you board. Any further discussion
on this item? All right. Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes 50. Uh D22.10. May I have a motion to reject bid 4163-GM pump truck tank system purchase.
>> So move. >> Second. >> Motion by board member Cummings. Second by board member Thrower. I believe Mr. Rios Welsh has some brief remarks on Miss Miss Usher is going to provide remarks. She's standing. >> Okay. In November, the um our purchasing department went out. This is for the maintenance department and you all
approved the funding for this project also in September 23rd, 2025. Um capital plan. They went out with bids for the pump, the tank, um not the truck itself. The truck we're purchasing off the sheriff's um contract this and we got
three bids. The three bids were nonresponsive, not acceptable. So, the agenda item is to reject these three bids and allow staff to go out and really negotiate and purchase from a company. The truck will be bought from
the under the sheriff contract. and the the company we're buying the tank from. They're also um under the sher contract, but this this um um product is not one of the products listed. But however, because we met all the statutory
requirements, then we can go directly with this company and purchase the tank. So, the request is to reject all bid and allow staff to really deal directly with this company. >> Thank you, Miss Usher. And board for transparency. I put this under discussion. Um, I felt we don't reject
bids often, so I wanted to make sure the board had an opportunity to have discourse if you wanted to. So, I open it up to the board. >> Reverend Cummings, >> this is And Miss Usham, just just for clarity sake for me. This is for the uh we call it the honey truck, correct?
>> It's the septic >> sewage with the sewage pump truck. >> Yes, that's correct. Uh, yes, it is. >> Honey truck. We call it the honey truck. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Um, so we only have one of those. >> Yes. And I mean they're quite expensive. This truck is will cost us about
330,000. So we use them to the very end and um come back because it's a big capital cost. >> So is the one that we're using is it down >> almost >> because I know we use it a lot.
>> Okay. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> All right. And how soon would will we be able to get one to replace this? Because this is this is a replacement, not a >> It is a replacement. And since we're buying the truck under the sheriff's bid, that will be quick. And the and the
company we're buying it from is also under the sheriff's bed. The only reason why we could not put the the um the pump the pump tank under that because the product itself was not on the sheriff's bed. But now we can buy the truck and
the pump. and the tank. >> That's correct. >> Off the sheriff. >> Off the sheriff. >> Okay. >> All right. Any further comments from the board. >> Okay. Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I.
>> Motion passes 5-0. Now we will proceed our discussion to pulled agenda items. We're going to start with uh C7.1. May I have a motion to approve the new job description of nonCDL driver 6.12? >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by board member Conrad.
>> Second. >> Second by board member Cummings. Miss Thorough, you pulled this item and would like to have further discussion. >> U. Yes, chair. I did and primarily because transportation and on-time pickup and delivery of students um continues to be one of our greatest
challenges and also um it affects our families you know greatly when our buses are not on time. We have been doing a little bit better lately in on-time pickup. We have moved from approximately
91% to 95% um on time delivery in the morning. But delivering kids home, we've actually decreased um from about 70% on time home to 67.6. And because so many of our families have
to work there, it just continues to be a tremendous challenge. So, um, because it is talked about so much in the community, uh, because it's we still get calls even though we have families largely use the app, it's still a
problem that that we have not been able to completely solve. And I thought that it was really important to highlight the creative things that transportation is trying to do and bringing forward to us, including this new uh, nonCDL driver
position. there are pockets because we are the size of Rhode Island and Marian County and a lot of dirt roads and and places where you wouldn't even think people would live um that we have to get kids. So, I think that it is just another tool
that we will be able to have drivers that they won't be driving buses obviously because they won't have their CDLs, but they will be able to drive our vans and hopefully get kids and uh get them to school on time, get them home on
time. Uh the last thing we need to do is uh sabotage our attendance success. And when kids are not when parents can't trust, you know, our our transportation system, uh, with so again, so many families working and just kind of being
on a razor's edge when it comes to scheduling, I really look forward to the day when our on-time drop off begins to mirror our on-time delivery to school. I think that this will it goes handinand uh with better attendance. In fact,
there was a school that we awarded an attendance banner to today for most improved attendance that actually adjusted um their school start times because of the uncertainty of transportation and it has helped a lot. So, I guess I just wanted to amplify
that uh that I'm certainly aware as a school board member that this is a continued challenge and I I know the rest of us do too. So, I just think anytime that a transportation related agenda item comes up, it really should be under discussion so that we can continue to, you know, just make it
clear to the community that we know we're not quite there yet, but we're doing all we can. That's what I have. Thank you. >> Thank you, board member Thur. I don't think I could have said it any better myself. Do any other board members have comments on this item? Uh, Dr. Campbell. >> Thank you, Chair. The the only reason that I was going to speak on this is
because while it is nonCDL driver that currently would report to supervisor of transportation, I believe it does give us the opportunity that should a an individual secondary school choose to potentially hire an employee like this
and they were able to get a van donated to their school, they potentially could hire someone who then could drive that activity bus under this new job description. So again, that would be up to the discretion of any school having the funds and resources to do so. But I
believe that this job description will give us the ability and flexibility to do that as well. I liken it to um another community, another county that their high schools actually have the ability to hire their own groundskeepers so they can maintain all of their athletic fields at the high school
level. I liken it to that. So as we move into sightbased budgeting and the principal has discretion to spend their resources accordingly, this might give that opportunity for our high school principles as well. >> Yes. Yes. Totally. And they would be able to drive the vans, not the buses,
>> correct? >> Yes. But yes, absolutely. So um any further comment, board? >> Oh, sorry. Yes. >> No worries. I just wanted to say I think this is really amazing that this could be a potential option because I was
talking to Miss Cruz at Westport and attendance continues to be a problem in our school and I think it is certainly affecting the way that students are performing because to some extent it's not their fault that they are late and I just think that it's
the fact that there's not as many options for transportation and I think that if this were available to a lot of students just because of how we were mentioning the rural state of much of Marian County that this could certainly be an amazing option for many
students and would certainly improve performance. >> Absolutely. Thank you. Appreciate that. All right. Any further comment? Uh board member Thor. >> Thanks. And and just quickly to share um we already do have some vans. So, this is also just adding um to that fleet and
just doing all we can to find drivers that are qualified and and committed and you know ready to do the job right so we can continue to alleviate this issue. Thank you so much for speaking up. >> All right. All right. Hearing no further
discussion from the board. All those in favor say I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. >> Uh let's go move on to C18.3. May I have a motion to approve the guaranteed maximum price for OciOla Middle School new gymnasium change order number nine
amendment number one project 24-109. >> Motion by board member Cummings. >> Second. >> Second by board member Thrower. Dr. Campbell, you pulled this item and would like to have further discussion. >> Thank you, chair. I'll be recusing myself from this item and have already turned my form in to Miss Martinez Young. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Um Chair, I also need to recuse myself from this and I'll get a form from Miss Martinez Young afterwards. >> Okay. Thank you very much. board. Is there any further discussion on this item? All right, hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. Motion passes three uh with uh two
recusals. All right. Thank you, board. We will now be moving on to meeting reminders. An IROC meeting will be held on January 15, 2026 at 4 pm. Additionally, a special school board meeting is scheduled for January 22nd, 2026 at 7 a.m. followed by
an administrative briefing and work session at 900 a.m. Board, I will be um discussing that January 22nd 7 a.m. meeting in our board comments in a few minutes. All right, we're going to open it up to committee reports, concerns, and comments. We'll start with Miss Martinez Young. >> Nothing, Madam Chair. Thank you.
>> Okay, attorney Bowers. Nothing. >> Nothing from legal. >> All right. Thank you, uh, Dr. Burr. >> Okay. Um, thank you all. Miss Thrower just mentioned, but today we had the privilege of recognizing two of our schools. We have one more later this week, but we were excited to recognize
Sunrise Elementary for their improved attendance and we recognized Horizon for the second time in a row. So, we're very happy for those schools and are so appreciative of the creative ways they have incentivized attendance and for keeping it as our as their priority as
it is ours. I also want to recognize our high schools and the principles and the school teams. Today the state officially released graduation rates and um Marian County received as a district an 85% graduation rate which is a 5% increase
from last year and overall seven percentage points for the last two years. So I want to recognize all the school teams for moving in the right direction and we are incredibly proud of the high school students and the high school administrators and teachers. So thank you. Um also as you know the
legislative session has begun. We will actively monitor the education bills and um and we appreciate you all attending at the end of the month for the legislative contacts. I know Dr. Campbell is taking the lead on. Um but
we will monitor that to make sure we understand how the education bills what impact they have to us here in Marian County. Um, also speaking of the Capitol, Marian at the Capitols on February 11th and Marian County Public Schools has been selected as the
presentation. So, we are incredibly excited that our Shady Hill students will perform um for us. They will leave Marian County at 6:00 a.m. So, they're going to be tired little students, but they are going to perform. So, we are
excited um to have the honor to be the presentation. And um just a reminder, we do not have school on Monday because we will be honoring Dr. Martin Luther King. Um and we have the march there's plenty of activities um during the weekend and
in the parade on Monday, but there's also a day in the park uh at Webfield at 10:00 a.m. So, I want to make sure families are aware of that so they can participate and um if after the parade, don't go home, but come to Webfield to celebrate. That's all my comments this
evening. chair. >> Thank you. I will open it up to our student board members. Uh Luke, do you want to get started? >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I would just like to point out the fact that I believe student engagement is higher than I've ever seen it and opportunity for it as well. There was something that I believe
Miss Lauder was also a part of it, but there was Miss Cruz described it to me as a focus group based on just the district in general and also the selection of our new superintendent. And we recognize things such as challenges in the school district based on our student perspective. also the strengths
that we've seen and also the characteristics that were important to us in a superintendent and then also what was unique to us about Marian County as a whole. And I think that this was just super amazing and seeing how students from the middle school level all the way up to high school level and I believe even some elementary students
were able to give their opinions and tell the adults in our community how they felt about our district as a whole. and just everything that they were able to say and all the positives they were able to say and just the general engagement
from our students and how they were ready to give their opinion and just to show how they truly felt about our school district as a whole. I just thought it was really amazing and the fact that that was an opportunity for us to be a part of that. I was just super
grateful for that and just for the opportunity to even be able to come here every couple of weeks and to be able to speak on behalf of our student body. think that just the opportunity for engagement in Marian County is just a real blessing and I'm grateful for that. So, thank you to you all.
>> Absolutely. And Miss Ler, >> I just wanted to thank you guys for the opportunity to speak today to start off. Um, and to piggy back off what something Dr. Brewer said, I feel like we do a really good job with preparing kids for graduation and getting them to graduate. I think our graduation rates are really good in this county, but I feel like it's also important to remember what
comes after graduation. And I feel like we need to have a better system in place to prepare students for college, particularly first generation students who don't have anyone at home with college experience to kind of help them through that process. As someone who has finally completed my college apps after a really long time with a lot of
support, um it's it's a long long process and a hard process. And I've had I have two parents who graduated um from university and I had teachers helping me. I had I people helping me and it was still like a really hard process. And I just can't imagine how it is for students who are first generation who don't have the support that I had. Um,
in the IV program at Vanguard, we are like constantly reminded about like college application due dates, ACT, SAT testing, scholarships, and stuff like that that have to do with college. And I feel like like our community as a whole would benefit um with high school students from all over being reminded about that and not just IB kids because
I mean not every student is an IB student. And I feel like that really helped me through the process and kind of staying up to date on all of like our due dates and applications and everything like that. that and I feel like we should have a better system in place to kind of like help students like because we have a lot going on and it's kind of hard to remember like all of our
due dates with like homework and tests and studying for all of that along with all of our college stuff. So, I feel like we need to have a better system in place to kind of remind students about that. And I just have one example and then I'm done. One of my best friends, her name is Hannah, she goes to Vanguard with me and she told me she was planning on going to college. we were talking
about college in like September and she doesn't have anyone to really help her through that process and she told me that she hadn't taken any SATs or ACTs and I was like freaking out for her and she was like what's wrong like why are you freaking out and I was like you need that for bright teachers and like most colleges and she just didn't know that and she's a very very smart girl like she's one of the smartest people I've
ever met in my whole life and it's just like she doesn't have like people to kind of help her through that process and no one was really talking to her about that process so she didn't know and it wasn't her fault and it's not cuz she just doesn't understand that like she's very smart and when I helped her through it like she she figured it out and she's good now. But I think it would
benefit students to kind of have a better system in place to walk them through that those steps and get them out of high school and into college and into the workforce after that. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. Thank you for both sharing your insightful thoughts. I think um props to Dr. Campbell for this idea
years ago now, but um there is so much value in having the student feedback on the board, not just now, but it also creates opportunity for just candid discourse outside of these meetings as well. And so we really do appreciate your feedback. Dr. Brewer is always taking notes and taking it back to the
team to be able to constructively change our work if needed so that we can do what's best for kids. So, thank you so much, uh Dr. Cable. >> Thank you. and and thank you for recognizing that. I was going to say how cool it is to have the student perspective and and kind of like a
vision from years ago and and seeing it come to fruition. What's really extra cool for me is having senior myself and then having seniors that I've like seen them grow up their whole lives and so I I Anyway, Julia was in classes with my um with my senior and when they were in elementary school. So, it's just it's a
ton of fun and Luke played on soccer anyway. So, it it's really cool to be able to see uh the the growth and the perspective, but also just the wonderful representation that you offer to your student bodies as well as just Marian County Public Schools in general. So, thank you for representing the senior class of 2026. I had just a couple of of
quick things. Um first of all, tonight during the consent agenda or I guess it was a public hearing actually for the policies that we approved just we need to make the community aware part of that we do have a new public speaking policy. So that will be something that uh we'll
need to make sure that the community is aware of. And so we'll have separate times moving forward now that that's been approved in case folks haven't been paying attention to the work sessions but maybe only watch the board meetings. There'll be separate times now and the
time that citizens are given will be three minutes for an agenda item at the beginning of the meeting and then three minutes at the conclusion of the business portion of the meeting for any non-aggendaized item. So, just wanted to make note of that in case anybody again wasn't paying attention to the work
sessions, but only pays attention to this. So, moving forward, we won't have five minutes any longer for public speaking. Uh, Dr. Brewer already mentioned the first day of session, which is today. I texted all of our legislative delegates on behalf of the
board and just said, "Happy first day. we're looking forward to seeing you at the end of the month and that we're uh ready to advocate for education and here to answer any questions that they might have for things that might impact Marian County Public Schools and frankly the state in education. There's going to be
a lot coming guys. So get your seat belts and your popcorn ready. Uh so a couple of other things from committee reports I would say in last night's city of Ocala planning and zoning commission meeting. There are a couple of projects that pass through planning and zoning
that will directly impact Wamina Park, Fort King, and Vanguard, but all three of those schools do have capacity and so we don't quite know exactly what those projects will come to look like or that city council will fully approve them. but they did pass through the county com or the planning and zoning commission
last evening. So, as those continue to progress, if there's any additional information, uh I can try to get that for you guys. But, um it it is always nice when those projects come through that we do have space in the schools that they would impact. So, uh also today at the governor's west meeting, I
was grateful to hear from Dr. Barbara Books who is the president of the Friends of the Marian County Black History Museum at Howard Academy. So, she did speak a little bit about that. It was something that I was grateful to hear has started that our Black History
Museum at Howard Academy does now have a an organization that is working on becoming their own 501c3 nonprofit to be the friends of the Marian County Black History Museum. And I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that as they plan initiatives to try to make that um even
more vi uh having even more vitality than it already has and just opportunities that they have for the future. Speaking of that, looking forward to all of the Martin Luther King Jr. events um that happened this weekend and we spoke a little bit about that in
Governor's West today as well. Uh I wanted to mention change orders. So, chair, you did have to share a whole bunch of change orders with us, including one for less than a dollar. I just continue to believe that
as we proceed with new projects, brand new projects, something new, I don't think it's a bad idea for us to consider a design build model, at least just give it a try and and pick a project, any project, and try a design build. And
once we get there and we do it, then there won't ever be a change order in that particular project. So, um, that is one of the benefits of that. I think it's something we need to pursue. I know Reverend Cummings and I have heard presentations about it. Um certainly it would be up to the board to approve that at some point, but I continue to be an
advocate for that. And lastly, I did speak uh with the gentleman last evening about the Denellan fireworks and so I I recommended that they come tonight to share uh about what that would be like. I understand the information from the
risk folks. I have the email stream that I requested from Mr. Martin just to kind of see where that all was. So I'm certain as Dr. Brewer is able, we can get more updates on what that might look like. I just pursued it because a county commissioner reached out to me because
they're definitely trying to exhaust all options. When they get a no, they're going to come back and continue to to see where they can find a yes. And so, um, understanding that that happened in 2016, we've had a lot of changeovers in law and fencing and all kinds of single
point entry kinds of things that have all happened. Um certainly July 4th will be a day that Marian County Public Schools is not in session or even operating and there would be extensive work that would have to do some staff members would have to be present if we were having an activity on our campus even though there it's not a day that we
would be traditionally working. So just look forward to additional information as Dr. Brewer has it. And I think that wraps up my comments. Thank you chair. >> Thank you Dr. Campbell. Uh Robert Cummings. >> Good evening. Um, thank you guys for for being here this
afternoon and to all of our staff that show up uh every week. I want to commend our um first I commend our two student representatives. They come um and they've been rotating. So, it's not the same two that you see every board meeting. They've been rotating and um
the representatives that have shown up for the students have brought input and added value to our conversation. So, I do want to thank you guys. Um, piggybacking off of one of the comments about um how
a young lady actually slipped through the cracks. That's a problem. That's a problem for me. Um because that's something that we we've tried to close that gap where process for uh after you graduate, what
happens after you graduating uh whether you're going to college or doing the applications or even taking the right test to be able to go to college. Um I found it um for a first generational uh college student to be very intimidating
for them. And so, um, if they don't have the right people or the right resources or the right, um, friends, I'll even say that these kids are feeling like they don't have any hope or options. And so that crack I I'm hoping that we'll be
able to close that gap quickly because um there are some very bright kids that won't even try to apply for college or know the process for applying for financial aid or even doing scholarship application and just writing an essay.
There's so much money that our kids leave on the table because they just didn't write an essay. Um simple stuff like that. But I think we have to we as a district, we as a school district, our our school counselors, their their great advisors have to start in middle school
saying these are some of the steps that you want to take. When I was in when I was in school, I had a plan coming out of eighth grade. If you want to go to college, these are the things you need to do. These are the classes that you need to take. These are the people that you need to see. We need to make sure that those things are implemented and are given to these kids so they don't
wait till their senior year and then feel like they I don't know what to do. I think that's that's that's a tragedy for us if we have kids in that situation. So, I'm hoping that we'll figure out something. I know u with our new superintendent and the team um that
that can be one mission that we can work on for that. Um second thing is um on last week on last week uh Dr. Campbell and I both were at this community meeting um and some others in the audience at this
community meeting called safe routes to schools and Dr. Brewer was there as well. Um this talks about um having some some u walking uh side working sidewalks. I'm going to say working sidewalks because there's
sidewalks in this neighborhood, but they're not working because anytime you have a tragedy where someone gets killed, obviously the sidewalks aren't in the right place or they're not doing they're not properly lighted or whatever it may be. But um this is a collaboration between uh the Marian
County Public School System, City of Ocala, and some other entities that are trying to get this grant um to do these uh sidewalks and make sure that these kids we we some we we used to have community schools where everybody in the community
could walk to school, ride the bus or what, ride their bicycles or whatever. Um now, um it's not safe for a lot of kids to keep across the highway to go to a school. And so we need to figure out um we need to make sure that we're working with this group, Dr. Dr. Brewer.
Um and I thank you for for for getting us involved with it. U making sure that uh we do what we need to do from the schools standpoint. um transportation was there. Our um unfortunately the young lady um who who was a a tragic
victim of this um we have pushed this caused this to happen, her family was there. So we want to make sure that we doing whatever we can to collaborate with the city and county and whoever else we need to do uh we need to work with to get this this kind of thing happen. I was I was sitting at the
meeting u Mr. Narbella and I was sitting at the meeting and it it it kind of it kind of upset me a little bit. I had another word on my mind but it kind of upset me a little bit um to even have that conversation because the reason I say it upset me because that same
stretch of road that same stretch of road has been that way all my life. I'm 56 years old and here it is. It took 56 years and a tragedy for us to have to even have a conversation about um
sidewalks and street lights. I'm not I'm not pointing a finger at any person or any group or any any entity, but 56 years. I'll say that. And and I won't say what Miss Marlla said, but she said she's a lot older than me. And it
was that way when she was a kid. And so, um, we can't wait till things happen bad before we start trying to fix things. We need to be proactive. So, that was that. And finally, um, Dr. Campbell already mentioned it. Um, this week, um, Monday
is the MLK holiday. Um, there are so many many activities that are going on. It's they already started last week. Um, we had the, um, the, uh, MLK food caravan to interfaith emergency services. Um because um there's folk in
our community that are hurting. Um many of our students, student families are hurting. Um we just kind of don't people don't pay attention to it. We walk by it every day and don't realize just because you're doing good doesn't mean that everybody
else is doing well. And so um we want to be a blessing to interfaith emergency services that happen this week. Um on Sun on Saturday, there'll be the prayer breakfast. I'm praying all of us would would be there as following the prayer breakfast with the wreath lane ceremony
and then following that there's a youth youth day of youth activities and then Sunday will be the ecumenical services at uh the new St. John Missionary Baptist Church where Dr. TL Brooks is the pastor and then Monday will be a
march a parade um from downtown to uh Webfield. I want to say this and I I'm through. Um, oftentimes people think that the holiday is just a holiday. It's a day off. It's a day off. It's a day to to sleep
in late. It's a day to um to uh barbecue or whatever. Fish, fry, whatever. Whatever you do want, whatever you want day off. Um, it's not it's never been that way for me. It's always been a day on. It's a day of service. And I'm praying that our our community as a
whole embraces it as a day of service. Um you if you just pay attention, you'll see around the country where u folks are doing community cleanups and different activities because it's not just a holiday. It's not it's not a day off but it's a day on. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Board member Conrad. >> Yes. Thank you, Chair. Um I'm going to piggy back on uh Reverend Cummings. I I feel um as a as a newer board member that Marian County Public Schools is always well represented for um our MLK
activities and festivities. So I just wondered if we could kind of check in who's able to attend what if you all don't matter don't mind um sharing so we make sure that we have coverage um at the events that will be taking place uh next weekend. We know if you want to
schedule something and want it to be very cold, you always schedule it on MLK because that's always the coldest coldest weekend. Um, so anyway, I don't know if anybody wants to chime in and just share what they're able to attend. I just want to make sure we don't have any holes that we need to fill.
>> I mean, I can start. Um, I will be coming to Mary Sue Rich at one o'clock for all of the family events on Saturday. Um, I will be at the church service on Sunday and I will be at the march and the day in the park on Monday. >> Okay. Thank you, Dr. games. >> Okay. Um, I will be at the prayer
breakfast. I'll be marching. I'll be going to church and enjoying the day at the park >> and the wreath. I guess just about all of it. >> Yeah. All All of the things. All right. >> Everything. >> Everything. Okay. Reverend Cummings says everything. >> My intention is similar as well. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. And board. I
will be um attending Saturday morning service and I will be there um Monday morning for the parade. So, thank you so much. Dr. Brewer, did you want to chime in? I did sh I did hear through the grapevine that you um invited your leadership team. >> Yes, I did. And I'll be attending all the events as well.
>> Okay. I just I love that. Thank you for um including everyone. >> Can I ask a question too? You just you just dropped my mind. At one point and Mr. White House, you may remember this. At one point, we actually used the day in the park as an opportunity to um
uh recruit bus drivers. Are we still doing that? Is that something we still do? Not for this, not for this particular event. I know this summer Tanya Nun did a great job recruiting. >> I know for Junth and I know we did it a few years ago for Okay, just ask. And
>> not to interject, but I did also extend an invitation to all of exe um executive cabinet during agenda review to march with us during the parade. I know historically since I've been on the board, it's just the board, but I feel like we're just a representation of Maring County Public Schools. So, I extended um Dr. Brewer to make sure she
let all of her organ each of their organizations know that anyone is welcome to marsh with Marian County Public Schools. >> Thank you. I look I look forward to that. Um I just have a few um brief things I want to mention. Um yesterday we had the attendance council meeting.
Um we have a great um showing uh from all the different departments, different schools. Um but uh Commissioner Mlan came um yesterday and I was just really thankful for his presence. Um, when I joined the board, uh, it was very important to me. I think many of the
things we discuss, many of the problems that we're trying to solve are community issues. And so, I just wanted to give a shout out. I appreciated him taking time to come and listen and hear about some of the challenges that we face just getting our kids um to show up to
school. So, I I was thankful for that. Um, I also wanna I want to say Luke and Julia, you are are both a blessing. Um, it's one of my favorite parts of being at a board meeting. And so I'm so thankful that you all on your senior year when you have all of these things
that you are are tied to that you have to complete um that you're here spending a few hours with us because as you can hear from all of my fellow board members, we really uh and truly appreciate all of your input um and the time that you give to share your ideas with us. So, thank you for being here.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Um, we did quarterly attendance recognitions today and I need Miss Connor to raise her one team, one mission. Woohoo. Woohoo. Um, thank you, Miss Connor. Uh, it was just great to be a part of those celebrations. Um, but even greater for
me was the conversations that principles had about the teamwork that goes into increasing their attendance um, each and every day. And so there was great conversation about transportation, um, custodial, food service, all of those things. Um, it takes each and
every entity, um, to help students succeed. So, I just, um, wanted to say thank you to to each and every person that helps get our our students to school on time, um, and ready to learn. And I do want to give a special shout out um, to Mr. Oionic today. I called
him this afternoon to tell him thank you personally. he was in Alaska and answered his phone. So, um Dr. Brewer, I just wanted to give an extra extra shout out to him um because our teams are always working. They're always on um and always helping us um to succeed. So,
wanted to say thank you um for that. I also wanted to say thank you to our public speakers um that came today. Len, I'm sorry I didn't get your last name. Is he still here? Is he sitting right there? Yeah. I just wanted to tell you um thank you because you you mentioned
that we agreed to disagree on some things um that you emailed and shared with us uh but but your email was very inviting and I I welcome that conversation and so that always hasn't hasn't been historically um the experience that I've had and so I want
to tell you um thank you. Uh I appreciate the conversation and I appreciate being invited to the table um to have that um because I think it takes all of us to solve the problem and make the best decisions. So thank you for that and also for our Denellan the Denellan chamber that came um there's
lots of conversation in getting ready for America 250. Um and I believe I know that they answered a lot of the questions that came up during our meeting, our planning meeting. And so um Dr. Dr. Campbell, I hope to see some resolution um there because it looks like they have made a grand effort um to
meet some of at least some of the requirements that I heard um that we needed to be met. So, just thank you um to both of those uh speakers that took time to come tonight. Um we do continue to uh solve problems. And lastly, I think and chair, I hope this is okay,
but I think we have several members in the audience that are running for school board. And so, I just wanted to give them the opportunity to stand up. um so we can see who you are. Um good evening. Good evening. Thank you for being here. We appreciate you um
taking the time to be here and learn further about the work of the board. So just thank you both for being here. And with that, that concludes my board comments. Thank you, Dr. James. >> Great. Thank you. and board member there are, >> you know, as as everyone makes their comments and it gets down to the last
couple, there's things that got said and >> you can still say them a couple of them off already. Um, I I did want to just reiterate that since we only meet every two weeks, there's so much that happens that's great, you know, in that meantime. And so it's like, okay, what
do I really want to focus on tonight without going on too long and and everything else? And but I did want to say uh acknowledge our public speakers and and Mr. Len, I did search my emails. I did not see an email, but I will share
that I did receive a text um from one of your members. It was about 3:00 uh the night before Christmas Eve and I did respond promptly to that. So, it it's really important to me as as a board member to be responsive to anyone that that reaches out to me, whether they're
agreeing or vehemently disagreeing or agreeing to disagree. I mean, that's that's what we're up here for. So, just wanted to share that. Um, also, I really do hope that we can come to an agreement for Denellan and the fireworks celebration. Our community as it
continues to boom also continues to be very sad about traditions that have been missed and trying to balance all of that with the all the new legal requirements is always a challenge. But I I truly hope that if it's possible that we can
bring that tradition back. That's pretty cool. It reminds me of the God and country day that used to be out on Highway 27. Um and and that was always so well attended. All right. And then uh moving on to um just a couple of quick highlights. You know, Vanguard High
School went from a C to a B letter grade. I was at their school advisory committee meeting the other night and just uh the conversation around how to spend, you know, their recognition money. It was so incredibly thoughtful, so incredibly inclusive. uh making sure
that everyone from the custodian all the way up to what might be considered, you know, the top leadership was going to be compensated exactly the same. And that to me just speaks volumes about the one team, one mission. Um if you're
scrubbing floors or if you're crunching graduation data, uh your job is just as important and critical to our success as anyone else's. So that really warmed my heart. Also, uh, Fort King, I believe it was their eighth grade class, did some
traveling. It was well documented on social media. It was fantastic to me to know that students not only were getting the exposure to uh, folks that are still living, that um, experienced the Holocaust, but actually uh, were very
engaged and asked deep and thoughtful questions. Um, having that kind of what I would call real education is so incredibly important and it makes me think about, you know, you guys as school board representatives. Um, I know we can do more even as as board members.
Um, local representation. So many decisions get made about how your community functions and how it grows and what the priorities are. And I started thinking that, you know, our um test scores have really gone up in US history and government. And one of the things I
think I remember reading about the survey that we did is that students are saying that they really don't have a deep enough feel for what schoolboard members do or even, you know, superintendent for that matter. And so I would just like to try to explore that a
little more. I know that I would love and and really enjoy visiting classrooms whenever I can. I would be happy to talk to to any students um at the high school level. You know, you guys are getting to the age where you're going to be old enough to vote and voting at all is
important, but voting responsibly is even more important. You know, voting informed and and if any of you ever, you know, thought about maybe being a school board member, you know, what what does it take? What's the process like uh even, you know, to run for any elected
office? There's a lot to it. the end and it would be really exciting uh for me, you know, to share as as much as possible to anyone that's interested in um you know, representative form of government doesn't will represent a whole lot better when more people are
really engaged in the process. So, thank you again um for continuing to share everything that you do. Also want to give a quick thank you to board member Cummings. remember when you started the food drive uh years ago um during the Martin Luther King uh festivities and
celebrations and reflections and that continues to this day. Um so so that is very appreciated and you're so right. There are a lot of people that uh really need support and so glad to be able to help with that whenever we can. And the
last thing I wanted to share is that well yeah we'll leave it at that for tonight. Can always save something for next time, right? Um our work session times. I just wanted to get a sense from the board. Um I think that the more we
can have processes in place that are predictable, it's going to help us with all of the planning that we need to do for all of the things we need to get done. Um, we maybe talked a little bit informally about
looking to have we have a definite start time. We start at 9:00 am. Uh, I think that that's a good time to begin because uh we need to give our staff the opportunity to to get ready and be prepared and and be with us. Um, on the
back side of that, I think that if we could all come to an agreement of a more definite ending time, um, this would ensure that the agenda, you know, the work session items reflect as much as we can get done during that
amount of time so that we don't end up not being able to address um, work session items, which, you know, they are publicly advertised. if member of the public shows up and that's something they wanted to know more about and then we don't cover it. I I really hope I really want to try to avoid that and and
maybe the rest of the board does too. I hope so. So my proposal would be let's look at starting at 9 and looking to stop at 1:30. It would give staff the opportunity then to backwards plan for the things that really need to be the priority. The way I've always understood
it, it's kind of the superintendent's work session and and items are presented to us as a board and we get to ask our questions and so on and then you know we vote on that the following week a lot of times. So just want to get a sense of the board uh from the rest of the board
on on how you feel about that. >> Dr. Dr. B, >> do you have anything you wanted to add before the board discusses? >> I don't have anything to add. >> Okay. Um, board, do you guys have comments regarding board member Thrower's perspective? >> Sure, Dr.
>> Thank you. U, I I think the predictability of the timing that um, board member Thrower has shared will help in so many different ways, including our staff being able to actually go back and do some work. There are
times that we might go 3:00 or so depending on what the topic might be and there might be another meeting scheduled in this room very soon after that has to be reset. And so I I think that there's a lot of value in the predictability of
what that looks like. I know in the upcoming spring term traditionally I I do teach a class at 2 or 2:30 on a Thursday and that's going to be happening again. So, I would love the idea of the full board saying, "Okay,
we're we're going and oftentimes we're starting at 7 am." So, or potentially 8 am depending on what that looks like as well. But if we're willing to say, you know, if we'll do special work sessions if we need to, which this board is never shy in doing that either, but to have the predictability of saying that our
traditional Thursday work sessions would end at 1:30, I think that would help our community. I think that would help our staff and certainly help us as board members as well. >> Okay, Dr. Campbell, thank you for that. Reverend Cummings, >> I concur. I concur. Um,
if we were the type of board, if we were the type of board that only showed up on every other Tuesday, every other Thursday maybe, but we're a working board. Um, some of us have other jobs and things that we do in the community. We're in
the schools. we're out and about and we're meeting with staff, we're doing different things. So, um to have that kind of set down helps us to make our schedules better. Um and and it helps our staff. Often times we have our staff
sitting here waiting or in their office. Even if they're in their office and they're watching, they're still waiting. And so that's that's a that's not that's not being efficient with our time or their time either. So, if we can be through 1:30, 2:00, um, that sounds a
whole lot better than and then it doesn't pencil us box us in and there's only so there's only so many hours in the day. There's only so many hours in the day. So, >> board member Conrad, do you have thoughts? >> Um, sure. I I can get on board with that. Um, I I also I think there's also
room for improvement in our presentation and and I don't want to get into the weeds, Dr. brewer. But one of the things I look at is um the structure of the presentations for work sessions. Um I I think that's something that can be looked at u with your staff so that it's
a little more streamlined. Um you know, some presentations are 40 or 50 slides, some are 20. If we could um just narrow down the information that's presented to us so we can move at a good pace, um it might be beneficial. and and
I that is just a suggestion. I I I hand that off to you. But I think there's several things we can look at um to really streamline and prioritize what we're presenting and working on on work session days. And so I'm I'm on board with having a definite stop time. That's okay with me. I just there's a lot of
work to do and so it's hard. >> Madam Chair, can I say something behind that? >> Sure. >> There was a there was a point there was a and Mr. Dr. Campbell, you were here on the board as well where um staff was was I won't
say harassed, but I won't say harassed with the the number of questions and and the things that were coming forth and and it just it was just crazy. And so when in in an attempt to rectify that staff went overboard
>> and gave overkill to um to try to answer every potential question that would come from a board member. U I think we have a different board. Um I think we have um um the ability to get with our staff
prior to a work session and or or and or a board meeting and to get those answers to those questions ahead of time. So, um, sometimes I sit here, I say, "Oh god, it's 55 slides. How fast are they going to get through this?" And we all can read and we're
reading it and some things the public needs to hear, but some things it doesn't need to be that that that overkill. >> Um, okay. Well, I will add comment. I um as chair, what I will say is I think hard stops are really hard to navigate
as the chair. Um because we we need to ensure that the agenda is not loaded with enough items that would make starting that final item a challenge to complete by a 1:30
deadline. So, um, as chair, I would say I would struggle to commit to 130 as a hard stop because if we're in the middle of an agenda item, we're obviously going to need to complete the work that we're in the middle of. Um, I would I guess I would first want to understand how the board feels about that.
>> Since I brought it up, um, having been chair twice, I think that it's very doable. I think that it largely depends on two things. First of all, we need to be very intentional about our conversations and also on the
superintendent's piece of it, again, it being, you know, essentially your work session. You know, you're bringing things to us to discuss. um that those items are backward planned so that we're covering information based on uh when it
needs to be covered, you know, the timeline and then also staying on point as a board um to get the job done. Um, and it's a it's a fine balance because the presentations
need to be scaled to be sharing enough information so that between the work session and then when we vote the following week, we have even more time to get our questions answered and so on. Um, but also be in-depth enough, you know, to provide the detail. I would
propose, you know, let's let's give it a try. Um we can always say as a board um hey you know we need to move this along so that we can complete it because it's one o'clock. Uh it may take a little bit
of practice but I think in the end it will benefit all of us. >> Okay. Um so in that if that is the I think we need to look at the work session there. We already have a work session scheduled for the 22nd that the
agenda is um already it's obviously not published yet. It will publish um Thursday, but that agenda is already planned and the work of the board um and and the work of the district has already gone in to prepare for that work session. Um I I guess speaking on behalf
of the superintendent, I would say that I would not want to institute this um new rule of thumb ahead of an agenda that staff has already tirelessly prepared for. >> Absolutely. >> And then the following agenda is an agenda in which the board made a commitment to discuss the
superintendent's contract um um the superintendent's contract as well as board member districts and all residency districts. And then also there was already an agenda item that needed to be discussed that maybe it's
250 and something else. And so um my guess my request would be that uh our new practice would not go into play until after the board work sess the next two work sessions which we've already pretty much predetermined um and what needs to be addressed.
>> I'm good with that. >> Okay. Is that fine board member Thor? >> We we've already talked about that. So that's cool. >> Okay. >> My only other little hesitation for that is that the superintendent's contract
is so important that I'm not if there's and how how fast of a timeline do we really have to be on for this? >> I can speak to that if we'd like. >> Well, it was kind of a rhetorical question. I think we have till the end of April.
>> We do. April 28th. >> Yes. April 28th. So, just as a board member, I would feel a lot more comfortable having the superintendent's contract be a standalone item. Um, even if we had to schedule an extra work session to
discuss it. It's it's really important and I would prefer greatly to just focus on that and make sure our eyes are dotted, our tees are crossed, our conversation is deep and
get it done. But that's what I'm have to say. >> Okay. Um well certainly I can bring that up in comments to try to schedule a separate board work session if that's what we want to do. That's fine with me. I I know you had other comments I imagine tonight. >> Um that that was pretty much wrapping it
up as as far as the other items that are already, you know, in the in the hopper. That absolutely makes perfect sense, you know, to not start with this until after those are completed. >> Okay. >> Does that conclude your comments? Because I have some business stuff, so I'll add that to my business list.
>> Okay. Yep. >> I believe it does. >> Okay. Perfect. Well, then I will I'm going to apologize. I'd like to just comment on the February 5th work session. There is one only one other item on that agenda and that's the downtown um property just for perspective.
>> Okay. Um is that a time pressing matter? >> No. >> No ma'am. >> Okay. So maybe we just move that and then the only items for the February 5th are the superintendent contract and board member residencies.
>> Great. Would that be would that meet what you're looking to accomplish to board member Thor? >> Well, yes, for myself, but the rest of the board. >> Yes, it's good. >> Okay. Well, if we're able to just move that singular item, Dr. Brewer, then we can just reserve the February 5th for the work of the board itself and those
two items. Um, and if we don't get to residencies, we can always kick that can a little bit further down the road. >> It's been six years. What's another couple of weeks? So, um, we'll make that change, board member Thrower, and then that should reserve that, um, work session exclusively for that item. I
think an attorney powers may have reached out to everyone, um, to schedule some one-on-one time. >> Um, so I I will address the, um, my business staff to start off the meeting. Um, so we handled the work session for the 5th. Uh, special off-air meetings
board. Um, we historically have had Miss Martinez Young publish those for a 7 am special board meeting ahead of our work session. Every work session that is scheduled, um, the cost of that publication is somewhere s just south of
$50, I believe. Right, Miss Mart? Well, she's talking, but I think it's like $46, $43 to publish that work session. Um, I believe since Dr. Curley took his job in um the summer. We have canceled every single one of them except for two
for an entire half of the year. Um I say that point to say that we have essentially wasted about 600 bucks in scheduling a meeting that then we cancel because we don't need it because the disciplinary offair is unnecessary and and parents have not contested their
consequence. So we received an email today about we only have three scheduled for next Thursday. um and the request to meet at 8 am. Uh after consulting with the attorney, uh we he and I both agree that we've already published that meeting for 7 am. And while it's not a
public meeting, the public does attend because the parents who come are the public. And so it would be in the board's best interest to maintain the 7 a.m. start time for next Thursday. However, I have a workaround for going forward because um I do understand and
appreciate the request not only from the board but also from staff for some flexibility with these start times. Um these meetings are special schoolboard meetings that need three-day notice. So, the way of work could change so that Miss Martinez Young no longer is publishing any special schoolboard
meetings ahead of work sessions. And then on a day like today by 5:00 PM or whatever time staff sets, Mr. Uh Dr. Curley would communicate to Miss Martinez Young the necessity for a meeting which then she could publish by
Wednesday at noon that would then be in the gazette on Friday. That publication on Friday would meet the 3-day publication deadline for the following Thursday. Um and then essentially we could set the time based on the case load or not meet at all if there's no
need for the meeting. Um so but board I didn't want to make that decision on my own at all. I wanted us to be able to have a discussion about it. Um, so in layman's terms, essentially what that would mean is all of our future 7 a.m. meetings are canceled and we're no longer going to publish them. And then based on the necessity for a special
schoolboard meeting, staff would either decide we start at 8 or we start at 7 based on how many students we would see. Um, essentially 15 minutes per student. So, anything more than four would meet at 7 a.m. and then um four or less would meet at 8 a.m. if you're comfortable
with that ratio. And then uh that meeting would get scheduled. It would meet all publication deadlines and then we would get a calendar invite. So, I'll we'll start there board. How do we have feelings related to that? >> I like it. It sounds much more logical than what we've been doing. So, I I
actually like that solution. >> Okay. Uh Dr. Campbell. >> Yeah, that's fine. It it is funny to hear us. I I I am grateful that we are considering pinching these pennies and that we've lost $600 and that we're trying to save that money. I I I am
grateful for every single penny that we're going to pinch. And so, um it it is interesting just knowing that we have a $ 1.3 billion budget that we're trying to save that $600. But I completely agree with the logic behind what we're trying to accomplish. >> Okay. Um Reverend Cummings, do you have
thoughts? Um, I can get on board. I I can go with it to see how this works out. Okay. There could be potential scheduling problems if you're saying we're going to get three days notice. >> No, we're going to get about eight days
notice. So, we will we'll be noticed we'll know on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, the week before the Thursday meeting. So, right now the expectation is we're here at 7 a.m. and then typically on Wednesday we get notification the meeting's been cancelled or we get a notification that
says there is one student showing up like the last time and then the parent didn't arrive. So then we were all here at 7 a.m. the parent didn't arrive. If we did it in this new system, that meeting would have been scheduled for 8 a.m. and then that parent wouldn't arrive. But we're already now we're within an hour of the meeting start time instead of two hours of our standard
meeting start time >> because that calendar time is already blocked out for the work session. >> Correct. >> Correct. So that's already in our calendar. >> Or member Thor. Did you have thoughts? >> Um for anything that increases efficiency and if it saves a little money too, you know, I if someone handed
me 600 bucks, I'd be happy. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Refrigerator. So, Miss Martinez Young, the way I understand earlier today, and correct me if I'm wrong, we have not advertised yet and done publications for the February work sessions. Is that correct? >> That is correct.
>> Okay. So, then we will no longer be doing publications for these 7 a.m. meetings in February and going forward. >> Okay. So, just to clarify, when will I be getting notification to make sure that these publications are done? >> I will make sure that Dr. um Curley, Mr. White House, and Dr. Brewer have effective communication with you
regarding what that timeline looks like. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> This is my concern. I don't want it to be on Miss Martinez if that information is not getting gotten to her in time. >> I completely concur. So, um I feel confident staff will be able to come up
with an effective timeline that uh is um at least on the evening before the Wednesday noon publication deadline. Okay. um board, I want to remind you, I think most of you are intending to um attend the FCA breakfast which is in two
weeks at 7 a.m. I look forward to you all coming uh and participating in that fellowship. Um I wanted to make mention that potentially we could have the um public relations department create a quick PSA regarding how the changes in
our public comment policies. um that might be helpful to have um our new forms. The fact that there you can actually complete your public comment form online and submit it via email. So you do not have to be here by 5:40 p.m. because you can submit it via email the
day before and meet that expectation. Um so I don't know if that's possible, but before our next meeting, if we could get a little PSA posted, I think that that would be helpful. Thank you, Dr. Campbell, for that kind of reminder that triggered my memory. Um, regarding the um, pedestrian safety, one of the things
that I have mentioned um, and board member Conrad, seeing as you sit on the um, intergovernmental committee, um, I have mentioned that I think it would be helpful as a community if during our intergovernmental meeting this spring, we have discussions about pedestrian
safety because while sidewalks and other things are very important, I think we also as a community have an obligation to have discussions questions about our pedestrians and the way in which they are maneuvering their own body um on our
roadways. Um living off on the north end traveling Jacksonville Road on a regular basis, the number of pedestrians has increased tremendously on the north end traveling south into town on Jacksonville Road. And um while getting sidewalks in town is great, uh as I was
talking to Chief Balkan the other day, I said, you know, there there are so many pockets of our community that um safe access for walkability is still a significant barrier. And um I think that as a joint meeting between the county,
the school board, all of the cities um for us to sit down and have a true collaborative conversation about what does pedestrian safety look like for all of us and how can we continue to work on that as a collaborative unit. Um I don't think any one organization needs to take
complete ownership of what is I would consider a catastrophe in our our community. We are having so many pedestrian fatalities in this community. Um, some are pedestrian owned and some are vehicle owned, but regardless, people are dying in our community
because they are traveling on our roadways by foot or by bike. And so, um, a collaborative community conversation, I think, would be wonderful. Um, and not only highlighting the work the city is doing, but beyond just the city, because obviously the county, um, has lots of
roadways that have very little accessibility. Um, I want to thank Miss Slaughter for her comments about college and application process. Um, similar to yourself, you know, I was a multi-generational college applicant and
so getting understanding the process for college application was not um something that was new to me. You know, my parents knew how to do it. But similar to you, I had many friends who were going to be firsttime college um college accepted in their family tree. And my husband the
same. He's the first person in his entire family tree to to attend a 4-year university. And so, um, it looks different for people who are doing it for the first time. And I know our senior counselors are having one-on-one meetings, um, as seniors come into their senior year and having meetings talking
about what their plan is. But there it it definitely seems like there is room to formalize potentially what that looks like, how that conversation looks. I know um years back when I was at Belleview High School as an administrator when we were really focused on the three E, we had a
probably a more um designated pathway to define where students were going and how they were electing their next steps. So I think this is a great opportunity to have dig in a little bit and talk about what it looks like and how we can make it better. So I appreciate your
feedback. Um I wanted to um acknowledge the rec. We were able we did all receive or most of us I guess received that letter board member thorough we can make sure it lands in your inbox for sure. Um I >> was kind of mortified >> but we um we I invited them to come and
we had a productive conversation with Mr. White House, myself and um Lynn and Bridget Smith. We were able to sit down and have a productive conversation about the process uh where we are where we're going and and how the board collectively has landed um in the position that we have landed in. But I will say that one
of the most productive things I found similar to board member Conrad is the ability to have productive discourse. So um the RECC represents one of many organizations in our in our community. And I would encourage any organization who um has leadership that is feeling
uneasy or feeling confused about the way of the work of the schoolboard to reach out. And one of us, if not many of us, would be more than willing to sit down and have discourse to talk about where we are and where we're headed. So thank you for that opportunity. Uh I will conclude my comments tonight by
mentioning um Miss Brower at Wimina Park Elementary. So uh if you don't know her, you should know her because she's really a true gem. Um I reached she she put something on Facebook and I connected with her over Christmas break and she was doing a
drive for quarters and laundry soap because the students at Wimina Park needed support in making sure that their clothes were clean when they returned from Christmas break. So, I had the pleasure of joining her um at Berkeley Point um with her SRO and a few of her
staff members with my daughters and we were able to participate in that activity. And I think it is so important for our community to remember that while many of us um are taking a two week or two week plus really two week plus two
days um maybe vacation or time away where you're living in abundance and enjoying the charisma of Christmas. There are some students and many people in our community who are not having as joyous of an experience and returning to school is one of the best things for them because they're able to get meals and they're able to get back into a
solid routine. And so, um, I wanted to acknowledge not only her efforts because that was her vacation time as as much as anyone else. But, um, it highlighted for me something I already knew, but that we need to continue to work as a collective organization. Um, not just us, but the
other nonprofits. I had a conversation with Rondo and the Rock and the mobile rock and how can we continue to get the nonprofits to come together to um very strategically support our community because oftentimes I think our nonprofits are working in silos and we
are not necessarily all working towards a similar mission which we all are on the same path. Um but how could we more strategically use our resources to ensure that not just our students but our community are fully supported. So, um, I wanted to make sure that I acknowledged her because, um, her work
in that community is does not go unnoticed. So, with that, I believe that will conclude the comments for tonight's meeting. Um, there being no further business, may I have a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion by board member Conrad, second by board member Campbell. All those in favor say I.
>> I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. This meeting is adjourned at 7:45. Thank you, board.