the school board meeting will begin in one minute Please take your seats Again the school board meeting will begin in 1 minute Heat Heat Good evening and welcome The April 22nd 2025 meeting of the Marian County School
Board is called to order mirroring and modeling the way our students begin each day I ask that we observe a moment of silence at this time Please join me Thank you Dr Campbell Will you please read the board commitment statement with pleasure chair 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 We will leave a legacy of success Thank you Dr Campbell For the courtesy of those listening to the meeting I am requesting everyone in the audience to please turn off their
electronic devices or put them on vibrate Later in the meeting up to 30 minutes will be provided for individuals to address the board on matters concerning the operation of the Marian County School System or the school board only Presentations to the board are
limited to 5 minutes and are televised If you wish to address the board regarding a regular agenda item or matters on which the board customarily takes action you will first complete a peach form located in the lobby If you wish to address the board regarding a public hearing or a student
discipline matter please complete the lime green form These forms must be fully completed and received to the board clerk no later than 5:40 p.m The procedures applicable for each one are on a separate sheet Good evening Miss
Gonzalez Will you please call the role dr Allison Campbell District 1 here Mrs Lorie Conrad District 2 here Mr Eric Cummings District 3 here Mrs Nancy Thrower District 4 here Dr Sarah James
District 5 here Khalil Lawson Lakewear High School Shawn Martin Denellan High School here Dr Diane Gullet superintendent here Mr Jeremy Powers schoolboard attorney Thank you Good evening Dr Gullet Will
you share who was giving our inspiration and pledge this evening i certainly will Uh good evening Madam Chair members of the board It's great to see you and it's great to see a packed house tonight Thank you for coming I'm pleased to have Miss Beck come forward and she is going to recognize that some of special folks
that serve our students um daily um through afterchool professionals week Thank you Miss Beck Good evening Dr Gullet board chair Campbell and other members of our board Thank you so much for having us here this evening It is my pleasure to
introduce our coordinator for the Marine After Schools program It is Miss Karen Loreno I certainly appreciate her leadership and commitment to that program Um she does an amazing job and she has a wonderful staff behind her and
that's really why we're here this evening is to recognize the individuals that work in the Marine After Schools program and in particular to acknowledge some individuals who have worked for the program for a very long time So I'd like
to turn it over to Miss Loreno so that uh she can share with you a little bit more about the program and to introduce the individual she's brought with her Thank you Good evening Vice Chair Cummings board members and Superintendent Dr Gullet We're here to recognize National After
School Professionals Appreciation Week a time to celebrate those who support youth outside of school hours and positively impact our communities Tonight I'm honored to highlight three outstanding women who each dedicated over 30 years to Marian afterchool
programs We have Miss Anne Simmons 35 years of service She began at Evergreen led Saddlewood for eight years and now serves as an area manager Margaret White also with us for 35 years from an
activity leader at East Marian to a longtime site manager at Fort McCoy where she also s supports the school's fans gardens And then Carla Brown With 34 years Carla has served as site manager at several schools and now
contributes as an area manager as in our administrative office Thank you for your decades of service and for the difference you make in the lives of Marian County students each day before and after the school bell ladies Okay if you'll turn around
Just want to say thank you for your years and years of service to Marian County Public Schools and to the children of Marian County Public Schools I know from back in the day you get the children's before the children before school then you get them after school
when they're nice and rowdy because they've been let out of school after being in school all day So we're extremely thankful for you and the work that you do each and every day if would you hold on and we want to come down and grab a picture with you Thank you Air's on
Great I can see everybody Here we go One two three Couple more One more I will Dr Gullet I understand we have three recognitions this evening We We have two and then we'll let you do one Thank you
chair So the first one is going to be recognition of our state and district thespian winners And Miss Hu is going to come forward and recognize some very special students very talented students Good evening Madam Chair Dr Gullet board members and guests It is my
privilege to be here tonight to recognize our middle and high school theater programs that participated in district and state thespians festival this year The district event was held in December and ratings are used to qualify for state festival The Florida Thespian junior and senior state festivals are held annually and provide an opportunity
for students to participate in a variety of workshops one act performances master classes individual thees events mainstage performances and technical theater events led by theater professionals from around the country This event is also an opportunity for students to spend time with other high school students from around the state who share a passion and excitement for
theater The festival is an educational event for students who qualified to attend through participation at their troops district thespian festival in either a thespia event or one act play performance As it is our spring theater season we do have a lot of our students and directors that are currently
preparing for their spring shows and are at their rehearsals this evening um which are premiering over the next few weeks At this time I would like to recognize each of our theater troops and their directors As I call each troop and share their accomplishments I ask members and their directors to please walk down to the front of the floor to be recognized and then please stay for a
picture at the end First up we have Horizon Academy at Marian Oaks troop 10791 led by Miss Melody Toledo Miss Toledo is a first year theater teacher She had 11 students participate at District Thespians and took home nine excellent and six superior ratings Next
up we have Belleview High School Troop 5445 led by Mr Michael Stricker They had 11 students participate in four events at districts earning three excellent and one superior rating as well as having two of their students senior Alexa
Romanowski and junior Selena Mendes Tixco recognized as District 12 allstars for their work Up next we have Forest High School Troop 3069 led by Miss Jessica Monero They had 24 students participate in 17 different events
including large and small group musical events as well as solo and duet musical duet acting monologue and costume design And they came home with 11 superior and six excellent ratings They are currently preparing for their show The Descendants which premieres this weekend Our next group is Vanguard High School Troop
10003 led by Miss Sarah Leau They had three students participate districts Isabella Dora received a superior for her monologue performance Two students advanced to state Allesandre Mestroio I'll get there received an excellent for her solo musical and she
and Kylie Wilkinson received an excellent for duet acting which to attend state and earn an excellent as freshman is highly commendable Finally we recognize Westport High School Troop 6180 led by Miss Shannon Singley and Miss Kate Messenger Westport had 13
students attend state thespians and four competed Sam Anderson received an excellent for solo music Liz Connelly received a superior for both costume design and monologues Aubrey Crannle received a superior for costume design And we had one student receive a top honors award which indicates a perfect
score in their category awarded to senior Hannah Talby in the category of makeup design Please give all these students a round of applause for their hard work and success Miss Hoto Yes if you'll turn around I'm tired just listening You explain all of
the things that they've done on top of their regular school work So we just want to share that we're very proud of you and what a great opportunity you you each have um at each of your schools And so we're very grateful for you and we'd like to come down and grab a picture real quick
We've trained them well We take pictures of them all the time I can Okay I'm gonna have to ask you to scoot We can do that There you go Perfect
Here we go And one two three Couple more Good to go Thank you so much Okay we're ready for their second Okay Thank you Madam Chair again members of the board Our last recognition tonight recognizes a lot of adults in the
audience but I want to be clear before I have Miss Magamal come forward that it's because of these adults that we can serve our students So we are recognizing the adults who make it possible for us to help every student succeed So Miss Magamal from public education for
foundation is going to come forward and I know chair Melpool is here as well as members of the board Thank you Good afternoon Chair Conrad board members superintendent Dr Gollett This week is Public Education Foundation of Marian County Awareness Week and every
day we are highlighting the impact and the programs of our foundation Today being a very special day to recognize our invaluable school business partners As a nonprofit organization dedicated to support Marian County Public Schools one of our strategic priorities is to ensure
that every school in our district has at minimum one business partner officially designated to support them And while the partnerships have a financial contribution these partners do so much more through their relationships with our schools
Today I will be recognizing each of our 84 partners totaling an investment of over $320,000 this school year for Marian County Public Schools They are helping make great things happen across our district And the partnerships are unique
to each school looking different in each location It may be volunteering through a career engagement opportunity and speaking opportunity It may be ensuring that a school has umbrellas during inclement weather to walk their students and staff safely to class Its family
engagement activities and supporting students and staff during hardships Our school business partners lift up their schools And rising tides lift all of our ships A couple of notes before I recognize all of our partners I will
read off their names alphabetically by school We are lucky that some of the partners were able to join us this evening and be in our audience I do ask that when I name and recognize them that they stand behind me You'll hear multiple businesses mentioned multiple
times because they are choosing and able to invest in multiple schools We have a lot of new partners even as new as yesterday I promise to be fast while reading these names and I ask that we save our round of applause until the end and then if
possible take a group photo opportunity So I will start alternative programs at Marian Technical Institute Mid Florida agencies Anthony Elementary is partnered with Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club and St Bernard Foundation Belleview
Elementary International Energy Savers of Central Florida Belleview High School Advent Health Ocala Bradley Blessing State Farm Agency and Love Inc of the Heart of Florida Belleview Middle Advent Health Ocala Dr Jones Orthodontics and
Brand New The Vines Hospital Belleview Santos Elementary Bradley Blessing State Farm Agency College Park Elementary the College of Central Florida and Metobrook Church Dr NH Jones Ocala Fiber Network
Denellan High Crouch Homes Denellan Elementary Ocala Fiber Network Denellan Middle FMC Wealth Management East Marian Elementary American Dream Residential and Ocala Electric Utility 8th Street
Elementary Climber Farer Barley Glover Law Firm and LTC Systems Emerald Shores Elementary Ocala Fiber Network Fezin Elementary Elementary St Bernard Foundation Forom Early Learning Academy
Florida Credit Union Forest High School Geotech and brand new Rome Electric Fort King Middle School Pediatric Associates of Ocala and the Vines Hospital Fort McCoy Phoenix Wood Products and St
Bernard Foundation Greenway Elementary Snapology of Ocala brand new Hammet Bowen Elementary Inline Orthodontics Harborview Elementary Ocala Fiber Network Hillcrest School Ocala Marian
County Association of Realtors and Brand New Cullison Wright Construction Horizon Academy at Marian Oaks Conrad Tree Service Howard Middle School Advent Hospital and Cox Communications s
Lakewear High School Lockheed Martin and the guest house Ocala Lakewear Middle School Love Inc of the heart of Florida and Ocala Fiber Network Legacy Elementary Osley Construction and Ocala Fiber Network Liberty Middle School
Inline Orthodontics Madison Street Academy Dr Jones Orthodontics Raineies Regions Bank Kids City USA and the Riley Art Center Maplewood Elementary Pediatric Dentistry
of Ocala Marian Oaks Elementary Ocala Fiber Network Marian Technical College Jenkins Auto Group Marian Technical Institute Signature Brands North Marian High School DJ Cooling and St Bernard
Foundation North Maran Middle School Ocala Fiber Network and St Bernard Foundation Oakrest Elementary Cox Communications Ocala Springs Elementary Ocala Electric Utility Oyola Middle
School Climber Farner Barley and Reed Orthodontics Reic Collier Elementary Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club and St Bernard Foundation Romeo Elementary Arthur W Fiser PA brand new
Saddlewood Elementary Metobrook Church Shady Hill Elementary Signature Brands South Ocala Elementary Mid Florida Credit Union and Petroleum Plus Services Spar Elementary St Bernard Foundation
and the Guest House Ocala Stanton Wearsdale Elementary Osley Construction Sunrise Elementary Ocala Fiber Network Vanguard High School Advent Health Ocala and Raineies Ward Highlands Elementary
Conrad Tree Service and Wide Auto Repair Westport High School Florida Express Environmental HCA Florida Ocala and Metobrook Church and the Guest House Ocala Wyomina Park Elementary entry
Delta Dental Insurance Company and a special thanks to our partners at the C I know Tamara Flehmaker and Dean Blinkorner in the audience and I want to say thank you for being instrumental on helping ensure our business community stays connected and engaged with our
schools So I would like to give all of our business partners a huge round of applause and thank them for their investment very quickly Um we talked about this this morning at the foundation uh meeting and I really can't put into
words how grateful we are for the these business partnerships We couldn't do the work that we do on our campuses without you And so I just I hope that you feel my heartfelt gratitude um for your
commitment not only to our schools but to our community And so with that we want to come down and grab a picture Kevin I'll let you lead with directions because it's a big group Are we Yeah Well you didn't tell us what to do Are
we face to Well that's a good idea Hello Everything Express them This right here I'll hired right here Hi How are you
got one of yours I guess Oh no No No Wrong school Yeah John you got to move in front Yeah man You got move on I stand on this chair No I can't stand on it I can't stand on a good idea You'll fall off You know yesterday was the one
in high school next month Yeah yesterday was the one that Yes he kind of knows what That was good Oh we're just going with the flow I just seen the guy The guy's awesome We have a lot
of Let's chat back here On your way out if you have an opportunity tell Miss Magamal happy birthday She's celebrating this evening Did you you should have I did Do you want to sing happy birthday to you Happy
birthday to you Come down Megan Happy birthday dear Megan Happy birthday to you Thank you That is not in my gift
Oh I see her Okay It's my understanding we have one more um recogni recognition Um during the 2024 2025 school year we have had seven students who served as student representatives to the board In this
role they served in an advisory non- voting capacity to the school board and we were able and were able to provide input on board agenda items It's important to highlight that on March 26 2024 having student representatives serve in this role
became board policy 014.4 And we are already beginning the application process for the 2025 2026 school year At this time I'd like to recognize the student representatives to the board for this school
year Uh Arisha Bani from Belleview High School And I'm gonna apologize in advance if I mess up your name Gabriales Diaz from Westport High School That was quarter one Quarter two Shawn Martin Danellan High
School Sanjay Caric from Vanguard High School Thank you for third quarter Khloe Costich thank you Thank you for the grace Chloe And Carson Schwitzer from North
Marion High School For quarter four Khalil Lawson and Dr Campbell would like to share something real quick Thank you chair and thank you all You know that I've kind of been your liaison this time and so it it's been a great honor and a privilege What I want the community to
know that you have just received So we made sure this year that you all got a plaque that will also include the name plate I believe that you had when you were up here So Sean I think that's where yours is right now So the mystery is solved But also last year during
graduation we realized as we saw our student representatives last year for the first time come across the stage and greet each one of us We wanted something special that would recognize you that you could wear with your graduation regalia So you all have that lapel pin
and you are the only ones that have them I believe that they get them already Yes she has them in her hands So uh Dr Mr Brewer is going to pass those out for you that you'll be able to wear with your graduation regalia that designates you as a student representative to the school board for Marian County Public
Schools So congratulations Thank you And we're looking forward to your graduation And with that we're going to come down and grab a picture Okay Okay Sure Absolutely Come on up He has to tell us where he wants us to go
Thank you Sorry Okay Okay Yeah You want us to pull our chairs back or just stand next to Okay Tell us where to go Kevin I'm pretty
sure It's okay All the guys on one side and Carson's at a boys volleyball game tonight So hey you could be here I know supposed to be coming out of shot Yes
Thank you though I'm just going to stay away from the week unless it's invented a meeting right so Just let it out But you can't That's okay That's okay
Okay we've had so many so many great and wonderful things to share this evening We're going to continue that by recognizing um some donations We have $4,000 to Lakew Weir High School from the Maran Cultural Alliance at Brick City Center for the Arts to be used by
Mrs Marie Trible teacher at Lakewir High School to start a drama theater program for all students at Lakewear High School What a great evening Um as we recognized uh groups from from earlier $1,000 to North Marian High School from TEC
Diversified to be used by JOTC program at the North Marian at North Marian High School $20,000 to Westport High School from Project Lead the Way Incorporated to assist in the purchase of items for the engineering program at Westport High
School a thousand dollars to Westport High School from Citizens First Bank for a scholarship to be awarded to a student graduating from Westport High School in 2025 that will be attending a Florida college $30,000 to Marian Technical
College from Voices for Children of North Central Florida Incorporated to be used as scholarship assistance for eligible foster students enrolled at MTC $9,500 to Marian Technical College from Summer Glenn Veterans and Patriots Club
to be used for scholarships for eight selected students enrolled in programs at MTC We just want to say thank you um to all those partners Uh we have donations There's some very large uh donations this time that at least since
I've been chair we haven't seen And so we're just really grateful um for the support from these groups uh for these great programs So thank you um to everyone Superintendent Thank you Madam Chair I recommend approval of the agenda for the April
22nd 2025 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 the following items: D24.1
D24.2 D24.3 D24.4 4 and D sorry D24.5 and D24.6 have been placed under discussion regular agenda items as well as items C21.3 and
C21.1 have been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items Thank you Thank you May I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation motion to approve the agenda Thank you Board member Thrower May I have a second second You Dr James Thank you All right
All those in favor say I I Any opposed motion passes 5-0 May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the March 24th 2025th 2022 administrative briefing and work session may I have a motion motion to approve the minutes Thank you
board member Thrower May I have a second thank you Reverend Cummings Um are there any additions or corrections to the minutes seeing none all those in favor say I I I I Any opposed motion passes 5-0 May I
have a motion to approve the minutes for the March 25th 2025 school board meeting may I have a motion motion to approve Thank you Reverend Cummings Second Thank you Board Member Thrower Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes hearing none All those in favor
say I I Any opposed motion passes 5-0 Miss Gonzalez please provide the proof of publication for tonight's school board meeting The notice for the April 22nd 2025 schoolboard meeting ran in the Ocala Gazette on April 11th 2025 The proof of publication has been attached
in Boardocks under proof of publication Thank you Good evening Attorney Powers please explain the rules for governing persons who wish to address the schoolboard meeting this evening Thank you Madam Chair In compliance with section 286.0114 0114 of 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 schoolboard 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 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 schoolboard clerk Before you begin speaking please state your full name for the record and spell your last name Each speaker will have five minutes of time However if there are
more than five persons who wish to speak the board may seek consensus to limit each speaker's time to three minutes When the speaker has one minute remaining the speaker will receive a visual notice to complete his or her comments Uh speakers may not yield their time to other people Speakers and
meeting attendees are expected to conduct themselves in a civil and respectful manner 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 addressed at the conclusion of the televised portion of the meeting Parents may address the board regarding a discipline 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 or identification of 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 Attorney Powers Miss Gonzalez do we have any speakers this evening yes we have one All right Thank you Uh Miss Kirsten Angel Good evening members Uh my name is Kirsten Angel Uh my last name is spelled
A N G- Lel I live at 2055 Southeast 50th Terrace in Ocala Florida 34480 Um I wish to address the concern my my concerns over the choosing of our interim school superintendent Um I
appreciate all the time and energy that you all have spent so far in in develop you know in getting to this point However I have um a couple of concerns and those concerns are first of all um the person who has chosen at this point
in time to be the interim school superintendent um has been in this position now for a couple years and so far um our our school records have not improved Um I find that uh very concerning Um and you know given the
fact that she may now be our interim school superintendent I have some concerns about that Uh the second thing that I have a a definite concern about and I'm I'm sorry to have to mention this but I've I've talked to many
schoolboard uh people in in the classroom and several of them have have have mentioned this to me and I think this bears on um her the decision of of her being able to you know make judgment skills and apparently what has occurred
um is that she's had several affairs in the school system with several employees And I find that also concerning um as somebody who would definitely be the interim school superintendent and could certainly put her name forward to be the
permanent superendent I'm going to have to cut you off there Um I believe attorney Powers were not directing comments at anyone specific Is that correct that's correct but I couldn't quite hear what was what was Yeah I haven't addressed anyone specifically I've just addressed her as the interim Well there's only one one person
identified to the rest So I I totally agree that that needs to be stopped So Miss Angel we we appreciate you um bringing your concerns forward and we're going to stop um public comment at this time Thank you All right Thank you
Thank you Reverend Cummings With that I'm going to move on to item 9.1 May I have a motion to approve the Liberty Howard resoning so move Thank you Reverend Cummings Second Um thank you Dr James Dr Gully Yes Uh Madam Chair
the approval of the Liberty Howard Rezoning complies with Florida statute 10001.41 Thank you Thank you I declare a public hearing Is there anyone present who wishes to address the Liberty Howard resoning
okay Seeing none all those in favor say I I Any opposed motion passes 5 May I have a motion to approve the request for pre-qualifications for general construction services for 2025
2026 school year May I have a motion motion to approve Second Thank you Dr James Thank you board member Thrower Dr Glet thank you Yes the approval for the request for the prequalifications for general construction services 2025 2026 complies
with both board policy 6334 and Florida statute 1013.46 subsection 2 Thank you Dr Glet I declare a public hearing Is there anyone present who wishes to address the request for pre-qualifications for
general construction services for the year 2025 2026 is there anyone present okay seeing none all those in favor say I I Any opposed motion passes
5 Per Florida statutes 1013.03 section 3 and 1013.31 section 1D and state and state requirements for educational facilities 6.15C
School districts are required to update their fish records periodically and certify the information is current and accurate The board chair superintendent and director of facilities have signed the certification of facilities data form Board this concludes theformational
item for today's meeting We'll now move on to our consent agenda item May I have a motion to approve consent agenda item C1.1 through C21.4 4 with the exception of items D24.1 D24.2
D24.3 D24.4 and D24.5 that have been placed under discussion regular agenda items May I have a motion motion to approve Thank you Dr Campbell May I have a second second Uh thank you board member Thrower
All those in favor say I I Any opposed motion passes 5-0 Before addressing expulsion matters I wish to acknowledge that board members have received the alternative placement list for students through March 28th 2025 Miss Gonzalez 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 student JD25-175E JD25-23230E JD25-245 for the remainder of the 2024
2025 school year and the first second and third quarters of the 2025 2026 school year May I have a motion so move Thank you Reverend Cummings May I have a second second Um thank you Dr Campbell
All those in favor say I I Any opposed Motion passes 5-0 May I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD25-244 and JD25-247 with off-campus virtual learning for the remainder of the 2024
2025 school year and the first second and third quarters of the 2025 2026 school year May I have a motion motion to approve Thank you Dr James May I have a second second Uh thank you Dr Campbell All
those in favor say "I." I Any opposed motion passes 50-0 May I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD25-250 and JD25-251E for the remainder of the 2024
2025 school year and the entire 2025 2026 school year May I have a motion motion to approve Thank you Dr James May I have a second second Thank you Dr Campbell All those in favor say I I I Any opposed motion
passes 5-0 May I have a motion to approve the special data share agreement with Hanover Research Council LLC may I have a motion motion to approve Uh thank you Board member Thrower May I have a second second Thank you Dr James Dr Gullet you
have information to share with us i do Thank you Madam Chair Members of the board Mr White House is going to come forward and present some information but essentially uh the request for this item is $522,76 um which would allow access to research and data analysis Mr White House Thank
you Thank you ma'am Good evening board members Uh appreciate you giving me the opportunity to share a little additional information about handover So Marian County Public Schools is partner our microphones are having a little difficulty You can make sure Thank you
No problem So Maring County Public Schools has partnered with Handover Research since 2022 through a strategic membership This membership includes three key areas of support for our district One is access to the educational research library Two we have two custom research cues that are
available to us And three we also receive advisory services from handover research So the library contains hundreds of research reports that handover has conducted with clients across the country Topics include career and technical education school start times at risk student support
operational efficiency program evaluation and more The two custom research cues allow our staff access to the expertise of employees at handover research and we can conduct two simultaneous projects during the year and as soon as one project is complete
we have an additional project lined up and ready to go We've utilized handover statistitians that they employ and we have conducted correlation studies comparing student performance on district and state assessments We've looked at bus routing efficiency analysis an analysis of our discipline
trends across the district and an analysis of the impact of our secondary intervention resources on student performance Using their expertise handover has also developed high quality surveys for our use including a transportation needs assessment ESSE staff needs assessment fidelity of
implementation survey for our secondary interventions and a teacher engagement and retention survey Handover has also provided vendor scans for products that we are looking to purchase and best practice reports on topics that we want more information about The advisory services includes regular
and as needed support from retired and experienced school administrators and can also include support in the creation of a brand new district strategic plan And if you recall in 2022 when we first rolled out our strategic plan uh we received a lot of support from handover in that process after it was implemented
uh they actually came on site worked with all of our district leaders that summer in development of action plans uh for those departments to be able to support the work that we were doing with the strategic plan and then did follow-up virtual visits with each of the departments to go over action plans and provide any additional guidance and
support that they needed So we have again utilized quite a bit of services from them over time Happy to answer any questions you may have Thank you Mr White House Board Do you have any questions any discussion on that item okay seeing none I think we're ready to
vote All those in favor say I I Any opposed motion passes 5-0 Thank you Mr White House May I have a motion to approve the fourth amendment with Power School Group LLC may I have a motion so move Thank you Reverend Cummings May I have a
second second Thank you board member Thrower Dr Gullet you have some information on this item for us Yes ma'am I do And and board I'll start with this I mean we all know how important it is for every one of us up here um to focus on on attendance in our schools
and this is at the heart of this item cost of $437,819 um which will enable us to do tracking with absenteeism and so Miss Delodal is going to provide a lot more details on this request Thank you Good evening Chair Conrad Superintendent
Dr Gulla and board members Research suggests that students who are chronically absent over time especially during their early elementary years are less likely to read on grade level and more likely to struggle academically by third grade Additionally chronic absenteeism also leads to disengagement
affecting student learning and connectedness According to the US Department of Education approximately 20 states reported that more than 30% of students missed at least three weeks of school during the 2223 school year With the average rate of chronic absenteeism
in Florida reaching 34% Through solution focused efforts and our achieve 2026 key activities we saw a decrease from 35% in Marian County in 2021 to 33% by the end of the 2324 school year with our current chronic
absenteeism rate at 32% In order to continue this trend we continually search for effective tools and innovative solutions to support our attendance initiatives The attendance intervention suite provides schools and school teams with a tool to support attendance monitoring communication with
parents and data analysis The program enhances our communication with parents and families offering the opportunity for systematic notifications and two-way communication in the parents native language which was what I was most excited about Offering equitable access to information for all parents and
increasing family engagement Communication features include customizable postcards um automated notices and personalized messaging to meet student and family needs Attendance tracking and analytics provides tiered data analysis that helps guide the
appropriate intervention The capabilities if used to maximize benefit would support and improve the workload for several district and school-based staff including our attendance specialists our attendance and court liaison family engagement liaison
attendance clerks or IPC's as well as the classroom teachers allowing them to increase their f focus on identifying and working with individual and groups of students Students with disabilities and English language learners are often more likely to experience absenteeism in comparison
to other students As such this program helps to meet the goals of our stronger connections grant which is used for our funding of which one of the main elements is focused on improving attendance rates among these vulnerable populations Attendance is not only a key component of our strategic plan but it
is a top priority locally and nationally We look forward to continuing our efforts working with families to ensure students are in school and on time every day Thank you board Is there any discussion on this item oh yes board member Thrower Thank you and and thank
you um for sharing the the background and and the power of P school Um one of my questions is um does P school automatically generate the dreaded attendance letters sure does And it's sad that we have to do that but
to me this is an example of technology being put to really good use to reduce workload on our teachers but also and even more importantly to make sure that we're keeping up with attendance trends and and capturing these patterns quickly
so that we can get kids in school I was just looking at yesterday's attendance and we still had uh about 11% of the district students absent which they go you know 11% well that's hundreds of of students and they all have their reasons
why but if this technology helps us quickly get to the root causes of the reasons why and then the personal support uh we're we're starting to to to really wrap our hands around this and make make a difference and make some improvements So I'm all for it I guess
you could tell We're hoping this will be better and quicker communication families Yes Very good Everybody's good All right With that we're ready to vote Thank you Uh all those in favor say I I I Any opposed motion passes 5-0 Thank
you May I have a motion to approve the naming of new elementary school W to Ross Prairie Elementary May I have a motion so move Thank you Reverend Cummings May I have a second thank you board member Thrower Dr Gullet you have some information to share with
us on this item i do Uh Madame Chair and Miss Kaider she I think she ran to the podium Board you you smiling and smiling Your board recently gave consensus I'll speak to the these two items I know you have to vote separately but very excited to pre be officially presenting the
names that you discussed and and asked us to move forward with um for 24.3 and 24.4 Miss Kard Thank you Good evening board chair Conrad board members and superintendent Dr Gollet I am excited to be here
tonight to discuss the naming of school W which we'll do first because they're separate votes The process for naming these schools consisted of the principal developing a naming committee that included parents staff and community members Public surveys were developed
and advertised between February 18th and March 14th 2025 via Skyler to feeder schools the district's website on the homepage email for the feeder schools and were mentioned at various schoolboard meetings The principal Miss
McCurten and the naming committee met to review the top school names to make the recommendation for board approval The results based on community input were discussed at the board work session on April 3rd The top school name choice for school W was Ross Prairie Elementary
School The history behind the recommended name is important to the community School W is in close proximity to the Ross Prairie State Forest The property was acquired in 1995 through the Longleaf Pine Uplands Project
Recreational opportunities on the forest include hiking horseback riding camping and hunting The main trail head and access point is the Ross Prairie trail head which is located one mile south of County Road
484 In addition I am pleased to be joined with Megan Magamal Come on up I have a surprise from the public foundation and we are excited to be able to share the official news that School W has acquired an official school business
partner that has committed to support them for the start of the 2025 2026 school year And for School W we welcome Straight Line Construction They're here tonight We're excited to have you Thank
you And we want to thank them for becoming a business partner for school W soon to be voted on tonight in a name and for supporting our students in Marian County Public Schools Yes Thank you so much That's a great way
to a great way to start Thank you Those kids are so cute Okay at this that is Yes ma'am completed my presentation Keep going All right Um I thought she gonna do both of them at the same time Hold on I'm trying to find my spot here Um All right So we've got
all those in favor Is there any discussion first off Any discussion all right All those in favor say I I Any opposed thank you Motion passes 5 May I have a motion to approve the naming of new elementary school X to Winding Oaks
Elementary may I have a motion oh move Second Second All right Y'all are going to make me Yes Thrower and Dr Campbell Dr Gollet you have some information You're going to pass it right on to Miss Ker Yes ma'am I will Thank you Hello Miss Crawford
Okay Thank you I'm joined tonight with Miss Crawford who's the principal of school X the proud principal And we are again here tonight uh to discuss the naming of school X The process for naming the school consisted of the principal again developing that naming committee that included parents staff
and community members Uh public surveys were developed and advertised between February 18th and March 14th via Skyert email to feeder schools homepage of the district website and of course were mentioned at various schoolboard meetings Miss Crawford the principal of
school X and the naming committee met to review those top school names to make the recommendation for board approval tonight The results based on community input were discussed at the board work session on April 3rd The top school name choice for school X was Winding Oaks
Elementary School The history behind this school's name is also important to this community Elementary School X is built on land with a rich equin history Originally established as Tartan Farms in 1960 by William Mcnite the property
contributed significantly to Florida's thoroughbred industry In 1970 Harry T Minuran Jr purchased the property and renamed it Mockingbird Farm continuing the tradition of developing top thoroughbreds He also founded the Ocala
Breeders Sales Company further impacting the industry In 2001 Eugene Melnik owner of the Ottawa Senators and CEO of Biovail Corporation bought the farm now known as Winding Oaks Farm
In addition I am going to be again joined with Megan Magamal from the public education foundation and we are again pleased to share the official news with the board and the public that school X has also acquired an official school business
partner that is committed to support them for the start of the 25 2026 school year For School X we welcome Osley Construction Yay We just want to thank him for and thank Osley Construction for becoming a
business partner and again for supporting our students in Marian County Public Schools and our new school X soon to be named Yes Thank you so much Thank you Miss Ker Um for is there any discussion no we're just excited Yes Oh
sorry Dr Campbell the only discussion and I know it's unconventional because it's in the middle of our business portion of our meeting I think it would be appropriate for us to go down and take pictures with those brand new business partners since they missed the business partner picture in the beginning because they didn't have new names of new schools yet I think that's
a great idea We have to vote first You be ready for us we have to vote first Okay Yes I've got it All right All those in favor say I I Any opposed motion passes 5 All right Mr Chris coming down to see you I think some went to the restroom Oh yeah There's a couple
Oh Oh they are They did go to the restroom Okay Okay Move on And then Well we Yeah we can we'll come back to them We can come back to them That's fine They'll be back Yeah we'll do them Okay Just don't know M Crawford stay here Okay All right May I have a motion to approve
the piggyback agreement with Gatekeeper Systems USA Incorporated may I have a motion so move Second Thank you Reverend Cummings Um second Thank you board member Thrower Dr Glet you want to share some information with us on that item yes I do Thank you Madam Chair This is a
large ticket item at at the price tag of a million dollars Uh the request um including the use of uh school bus cameras and Mr McFaden is going to come forward and share some more details of this request Thank you Thank you
Good evening board chair board members superintendent Dr Gullet In conjunction with the transportation department the safe schools department is requesting permission to piggyback on the interlocal purchasing system tips contract number
230202 security system products and services to purchase gatekeeper camera systems for Maring County Public School buses Gatekeeper camera systems will offer video coverage on Maring County Public School buses to ensure the safety
of students and staff during transportation The gatekeeper system provides reliable digital video recording of the entire interior and some exterior views of the bus For transparency this is not the same as the
stock arm camera systems Providing this agreement will allow cameras to be installed on Maring County school buses to ensure the safety of personnel students and to assist in the investigation of traffic accidents liability claims student behavior and
other violations The estimated amount of this expenditure is the $1 million The term of the TIPS contract is May 22nd 2023 through May 31st 2026 with additional renewals on a yearly basis
Thank you Mr McMadden Board do you have any um discussion any questions okay Oh yes Board member Thrower Thank you And it's it's just a comment really You know I know we need it It's just sad
that it has come to this and but it's important to amplify because a million dollars you know the money has to come from somewhere And I just continue to be very grateful to our community that has supported our funding referendum three
times in a row Um the costs keep growing our business partners It we we truly could not do everything that we need to do let alone want to do um if it weren't for the whole community getting
behind us and and supporting and pushing the majority of the whole community has just been incredible So thank you again Hate the reason but I'm gonna vote yes Thank you board member Thrower I I couldn't agree with you more Um any other comment from the board okay All
those in favor say I I I Any opposed motion passes 5 and board We'll take just a quick breakdown so we come back I think everyone's back so we can grab a picture with our new business partners Okay we'll do together and then we'll do Amen
Pink side over here Step back just a little bit more Split the middle and do two separates like school by school Sorry Clarification Here we go One two three A couple more
Good Thank you I have to grab my phone Here we go One two three Couple more And thank you so much a little unconventional in the middle of
our Okay we're moving along to discussion pulled agenda Agenda items We have item 24.6 that we didn't get to Yeah 24.6.6 24.5 Oops Hold
on I'm missing Give me one second Board Thank you All right That is not in my script Okay Um board may I have a motion to
Amber alert Amber Alert Sorry about that Um may I have a motion to approve the school start times for the 2025 2026 fiscal school year may I have a motion motion to approve Thank you Dr James Yes Oh thank
you Reverend Cummings Is there any discussion dr has items I think we have uh Madam Chair we have Miss Kard here and Mr Frasier with um some information to share As you know we talked about this at our work session but I think they have some brief items they would
like to share with the board All right Thank you Thank you very much Thank you Miss Kerd Yes Thank you Good evening Board Chair Conrad board members and Superintendent Dr Dr Gollet Tonight we are presenting the recommended start stop bell times for the 2025 2026 school year The start stop time scheduling
committee began meeting back in February and included elementary middle and high school principles principal supervisors and transportation staff members After reviewing the ontime arrival data for our school buses as well as comparing bus discipline referral data to last school year the committee's
recommendation was to continue with the three- tiered system for start stop times During the work session last Thursday we were asked to look at the possibility of moving Oyola Middle School to the second tier for start stop times Mr Oonic is joining us here
tonight to share the findings with the board Good evening everyone Evening Uh when we went through and did the research um if we were to move Oyola to the second tier kind of about we were having the same issues we were running into if we move
them to the first tier Um and that was we were going to add about 8 to 10 runs um to the second tier at that point Um so that's going to cause us to add you know have to add extra routes basically um at that point because of how they're paired It's hard to say exactly how many
because you're g your your pairings kind of change and alter a little bit but you're you know it's going to probably fall in like I said that eight to 10 range because we have currently have um we currently have I believe seven uh
three tiered routes already for Oyola So whenever you move those to another tier you're going to it's going to have to pick up somewhere So you're going to have to add extra to make that work Thank you Anything anything further any discussion
from the board yes Dr Campbell Uh thank you and thank you for that Mr Stonic Um I hear you and I understand what the issue would be with transportation Um unfortunately on this item board similarly to this same time last year
I'll be voting against this item because I I still think that even 8th Street and Oyola both should be at that 8:30 time frame And um that's uh the community within district 1 has spoken loud and clear and that is the request that they
have So I'll be voting no against this Thank you Thank you Any other discussion yes Just want to thank Mr Estonic for digging back in and looking at it Um and appreciate you hearing the board and spending some time to try and hash it out Uh and I I wish that it wasn't
transportation and bus drivers and and the cost for transporting students wasn't the barrier and we could make it happen because I could see this happening in a variety of communities You know you even look at Belleview Middle and Belleview High Um they're they are as as almost as close as Oyola
and 8th Street And so um you know I I respect the work that was done last year and and to get us where we are And while uncomfortable as it is and I'm sure I will be a parent I mean I'm going to be a parent at one point that is a kid at three different levels So I'm going to have to get to experience the full the
full beauty of our schedule eventually Um and so I think that's you know growing up in Orange County it was it it was this way from the time I can remember So um grateful for your work and I'm ready to move forward on this Yes ma'am Thank you Thank you Anything
else thank you as as always for your great work You were tasked with a herculean task to improve transportation Um I think this really illustrates uh what a beast it is Um
because in the perfect world we would have plenty of of extra money and and plenty of extra drivers and to be able to honor every unique circumstance Um I during the work session I I shared and it continues to be really important to
me to look for ways to partner with our community partners on I did hear back from at least one parent that said you know if I felt safer having my child walk to school then I would not be driving them to school And so I think
that that is part of a of a larger potentially very positive you know conversation in terms of improving walkability and and and safety And I know those things sometimes don't happen quickly enough I also understand having had three kids at three different
schools it it wasn't easy and with both of us working you know full-time So I guess I just wanted to share that I really do um sympathize and and see it from all sides Um I'm going to to vote yes tonight in hopes that that's going to galvanize um some additional uh
problem solving and and and unique ways to help kids get to school on time and reduce the the difficulty for families Thank you Dr James Uh board member Thor just reminded me I have seen the videos um online of the bike brigade Um I'm
sure you've probably seen the matboard member thrower but I would love to work in our community to come up with Oyola and not as much OciOla because that obviously theater pattern is a slightly larger than just the Woodfields and that downtown corridor but 8th Street
specifically is so tight-knit and I would love to see us engage in some way to creatively start the bike Every time I see the bike brigade videos I I like tear up I think it's just because of my mom but you know and Justin Timberlake came to one of them and it's just really cool and I would love to see us expand
our walking and biking transportation I do think biking transportation to 8th Street specifically is a barrier I don't think the kids are allowed to leave on bike in the afternoon Um they have to be handed off to an adult Um so we have to just talk through some of those things Um that's just a school-based decision
not necessarily like a district decision Um but I would love to see us problem solve some of those nuances and come up with creative solutions for that close-knit downtown community Great Okay Thank you board Um also I just want to
say thank you again Mr Troic for continuing to work Um you bring us information You make a plan and then we have questions and then you answer our questions And so thank you for continuing to cooperate and bring solutions forward And Mr Mr Frasier thank you for the information that you
sent us As as you spoke with staffs um the board had some concerns the last time we visited and so you addressed all of those for us So just appreciate you and all the work that goes into making these decisions with th with that board All those that are in favor say I I Any
opposed nay Motion passes 41 Okay Now we're moving into pulled agenda items May I have a motion to approve the guaranteed maximum price for Oyola Middle School new gymnasium change order number six amendment number one
project 24-109 May I have a motion so move Thank you Reverend Cummings Second Thank you Dr James Um Dr Campbell you've pulled this item Yes ma'am I'll be recusing myself from this vote
Okay Thank you Any further discussion okay seeing none all those in favor say I I I Any opposed okay Motion passes for zero with one recusal All right Thank you May I have a
motion to approve the contract between owner and construction manager for construction services related to construction of new middle school DD project 24-13 May I have a motion a move Thank you Reverend Cummings May I have it thank you Dr Campbell Um Dr James you've
pulled this item or would you like some additional discussion just briefly um board I just wanted first it was in a consent agenda when the agenda was published and I just think an item of $2 million value should always be under discussion Um and so I shared that
philosophy with Miss Usher um and just our way of work historically since newer to the district Um just to make sure that going forward this board member at least would like to see items of this dollar amount in under discussion Um but in addition board I in doing rough math
the $2 million fee was based on the advertised um budgeted amount for the project which was 50 u million So the 2 million is essentially 4% of the $50 million And so I simply wanted to highlight the fact
that based on our past practice in the last four or five major projects we underbudgeted most of those which means this project is going to cost more than we budgeted more than likely and their fee percentage will be go down And so I just wanted to highlight this is a fixed fee at 2 million And so it's really a
very reasonable fee I was surprised I'm kind of like waiting for the catch because it just seems too good to be true um they'll wind up you know probably closer to a 3% fee when it's all said and done And so I just wanted to highlight that as well Obviously bringing to discussion primarily just
for the the cost value Thank you Dr James Any further discussion okay All those in favor say I I Any opposed motion passes 50 Uh moving on to board comments um and
concerns The next school board meeting is scheduled for April 22nd 2025 at 5:30 p.m There's a special school board meeting on April 29th 2025 at 5:30 p.m There is another special school board meeting on May 8th 2025 at 7 a.m The
next administrative briefing and work session is scheduled for May 8th 2025 at 900 a.m Miss Gonzalez any comments from you thank you All right Thank you Madam Chair Yes Can I make one
correction because it says the next school board meeting is scheduled for April 22nd That's the day Just for the record April 22 Oh we are in just for the sec Just for the record Just for the record Thank you Yes ma'am
We have a special school board meeting on on April 29th 29th Correct But the script but the script has got today in there Thank you Reverend Cummings Yes ma'am All right Um so Miss Gonzalez didn't have any didn't have anything to share with us All right Um Attorney
Powers Yes ma'am Uh first things first I wanted to um indicate that uh in the April 7th uh issue of the legislative review Um there was some indication uh regarding truency bills and juvenile
justice reforms that are moving forward Is this not picking me up no it's not Bring it close to your mouth please There we go Um the April 7th copy of the legislative review indicates some juvenile justice reforms that are moving forward that will impact how we're
handling some things in truency court Um and in fact it appears that a number of those impacts will not be positive to our overall efforts Um and some of those include a limitation on the jurisdictional time for which we'll be able to uh retain those families who are
not compliant or or minimally compliant So if we have typically with truency cases uh you'll see substantial improvement for a month or two but then getting to where it's consistent and not missing two or three or four per month
takes longer And sometimes that monitoring process we try to make sure that we have a couple of months of consistency before uh we lose jurisdiction on it And this will cut that jurisdictional time frame back Um
it also uh removes some of the um penalties and and I shouldn't say penalties but some of the some of the interventions that we can do some of which frankly do have a punitive effect um for students who are willfully truent
So this is still going through the legislature We're waiting to see what's going to pan out But um uh it's DJJ is basically mainly created for uh juvenile offenders not status offenders Status
offenders are things like truency cases Um that's that's not necessarily a a criminal offense So they're prioritizing I guess you could say So I will continue to monitor and I'll report to the board how those uh bills are working through
the legislature Also at the request of the board um I did a little I provide you a little background here on the timeline for 1 mil adorum tax Just a little cheat sheet I printed up of what we would need to do Um and in early
January of 2026 the superintendent would need to hold two work sessions to discuss continuing the 1m adorum tax the first work session Um the superintendent may want to include ICROC so that they can provide a presentation to the school board and the public as to how past one
mill adorum taxes were spent and provide reasons for why it should be continued At the second one the superintendent should recommend two resolutions And I've attached samples that were uh drafts that we've sort of mocked up for uh that we can add additional details in
later but this would be likely most of the work done already Um and those would um indicate um the resolutions for a consensus to be placed on the board's agenda at least 28 days
after the last work session Um those two are listed there Resolution directing the board of county commissioners of Marian County to place a measure on the ballot and also a draft resolution of the board of Marian County Commissioners uh authorizing the
referendum So both of those given that the language is very likely to be um similar to how it has been in the past don't anticipate that there's going to be uh much difficulty in in accomplishing those things but certainly we can be nimble on our feet and move to
change anything that we need to and get those approved and moved forward So please uh review this look it over That'll give you a little bit of a of a idea of what we need to have in the resolution um at minimum and then we
will fill in the blanks put additional numbers and work into it as we go Uh if you have any questions just feel free to contact me anytime Okay Thank you Thank you Attorney Powers We appreciate you keeping us on track keeping us in the game All right Dr Gullet
Good evening Again I'll be really brief I just want to mention just a couple of quick items I'm looking forward aboard this week to um hosting the superintendent art show at the Appleton Museum of Art and recognizing that the artistic talent of our students of all
ages Um I also then want to make a comment about student voice tonight board You recognized your um student schoolboard representatives and their voice at the table and how powerful for my seat I think that is It's a it's a constant reminder of why we're all here
to serve So I just want to give my um thanks and recognition to all of you for all that you do and represent um the voices of those of your peers And on that note also with my uh superintendent advisory group I'll give a shout out to them We have a face-to-face meeting
coming up soon but it's because of one of the conversations I had with the students in my group that led to um a solution at one of the schools that they support So had the student not said something and brought it up for us to research we're able to have a solution
to something that was troubling to the students that we didn't know anything about So student voice is important Student voice is really important Just want to underscore that Thank you Thank you Do Dr Glet
Um we'll move on to our student representative comments Khalil I wanted to say thank you for having me this year as a student representative It gave me a great opportunity to see in a sense something I never seen before I never been to a schoolboard meeting
before this So being here on the stage and learning how everything works and how everything really goes through our county and just our schoolboard in general is really amazing So thank you for having me and I hope that any other student who comes up here next year and does this and has this opportunity will
try to learn and and embrace the opportunity themselves Thank you And we're it's been um it's been uh so great for us too as as board members to get student perspective um as you guys are on campus
every day So we appreciate you taking time out of your busy busy schedules to be here with us on Tuesday night So thank you Okay Sean Yes I would also like to thank you guys for allowing me to sorry be a
schoolboard representative a student schoolboard representative Um I just wanted to acknowledge two things First uh graduation's coming up soon So I wanted to thank you guys personally um for just allowing me with my fellow students in Marian County for just working hard to ensure that we have a
great high school career So I appreciate all that you've done for us these past four years And then additionally um Dr Campbell reminded me that this Friday um there's the Night of Champions event um an FCA event held by Mr B Bernard Um he does a great job with our student
athletes and just students in general on um helping broaden their perspective on things in this world and just offering them um some hope and peace and joy um in in a in his own way Um so I encourage all of you to show up to that I think
it'll be great and a great time for our community to get together But uh that's all Thank you Thank you so much All right Dr Sure Thank you And thank you again to our students Love having them here and love that the team was able to give them a little something for
recognition's sake And uh so thank you to all the team that helped with that as well Uh I had just a couple of things Uh first of all I agree with Dr James about the items of a certain dollar amount being um pulled during a gender review
So u I know that was something that I always did And actually I'm gonna I'm gonna give a a shout out to former school board member um B uh Don Browning because he was the one that kind of started that and we've just kind of tried to keep that tradition going So
shout out to um Don Browning We don't do that very often Um so then I want to mention I I know that we all got the email about high school CC that we had the principal advertisement that went out and uh so I know that we're uh searching for whoever that principal
might be for the new high school I also was out that way this weekend So I wanted to say thank you to Miss Usher uh because as I've said before and you're going to hear I'm sure multiple times throughout this next year my in-laws live in the Summer Glenn residential
community There are more than 50 homes for sale in that residential community if anybody's looking to move out there They're really nice Uh but Miss Usher did work on an issue for us this week to alleviate some neighborhood concerns So thank you very much for that And I believe there's some kind of town hall
or something going on out there soon More questions about what we have going on at the high school I peered over the fence the best I could There's a lot going on out there already So um just grateful for the team that's doing a lot of work Also wanted to mention you
probably have been paying at least somewhat attention that our voices in Tallahassee are being heard I know we have a teacher and his wife there and both teachers uh that are there right now and there's a group of students going up tomorrow and Tallahassee knows
they're coming I received a call today just to kind of give them a reminder By the way you know we're in session So if you're planning to see legislators you're not going to be able to see any of them other than just getting shouts out from the gallery But uh nevertheless there's a lot going on with the bill
that we're focused on so heavily uh that has now become a combo bill And then there's also education train bills I I'm not going to go into to too much of that but just be aware that budget conferencing hopefully will be starting next week and we'll really know the members of the budget conference committee that we really need to focus
on um we have the possibility of being a part of the conversation to bring the compromise and that's what we're trying to do right now uh because the House and the Senate are so far apart on the bill about APACE
uh IB and CAPE funding that the compromise that we're trying to seek is that saying there would be a formula built in for districts with a certain percentage of pass rate that they then would receive the calculation as it
currently stands And so that's what we're trying to do It would be a negotiation tactic between the two chambers but that's the hope that we'll be able to see come out of the voices directly out of Marian County Uh then I had two other quick things board I know
today we received some emails specifically about some conversations and some community engagement issues with our schools on the north side And honestly I I want to just go ahead and and tell the community because we didn't have any community members here
tonight to talk about this but uh I know that I was one of the board members who kind of initiated the conversation about pheasant and reitic combining or something to that effect Uh I would recommend at this time that the board
not address those issues and actually hold off on our conversations on North End consolidation at all until the new interchange goes in at BIES And when BIES goes in I think that might give us a better understanding of what growth
might be happening on that side I think we do need to address programmatically north end issues Uh but frankly this board member from this board seat I'm finished with the pheasant conversation uh the vision that I had put forth no one else caught So I'm fine with moving
on and just leaving that issue alone And uh so from this board seat I I personally believe that we need to just stop the conversations about north end changes at all over the course of the next couple of years until that new interchange goes in and we can actually
see what that growth potential is going to look like on that side of town Um and then the last question that I had is is for you chair and maybe you're going to bring it up in your conversation Um but I was curious to know our timeline on discussing a search firm RFP for our
permanent superintendent Okay Well I will wait and address that um when it is my turn All right Dr James thank you Um first I wanted to say thank you to Mr Martin for bringing up Night of Champions I will be there with my family I'm excited to be there It is a
wonderful event always and I would encourage anyone in the community to come out if they want their cup to be filled and they want to their heart to smile because it is a wonderful event I also want to just make note um Dr Campbell had this crazy idea of putting student board members on the board about
two years ago and it has just turned out to be really such a wonderful addition and um I think we're the first in Florida to do it county Okay But really okay so we're in second place and I think it's really super and maybe Miami
Dade but it's really amazing to have the insight Um it's helpful to have a direct connect to a student body that's able to share thought patterns um which are maybe not echoing ours right because we are supposed to be serving the entire community not just the community that
looks or um is our age or sits in our demographic And so it's been very valuable and I really appreciate the opportunity and Dr Campbell bringing it forward when she did and I think it's been wonderful So um I kind of wish we had work sessions sometimes in the evening So because those are so
different and there's a lot more opportunity for conversation and so I'd love to figure out how we can make that happen in the future Maybe in the summer we could have them come for I don't know We'd have to work at that But um I just wanted to give that recognition Tonight we recognized lots of business partners
um my small humans that I'm personally responsible We're here tonight with my husband because he's a business partner for North Marian now And it's just so wonderful to see the commitment from our community and all types of businesses You know we have some businesses that do many schools Um Ocala Electric I think
does something like nine schools I mean it's a tremendous amount Um but that that commitment throughout our community at all of our schools is truly uh inspiring And principles having that discretionary $2,500 really means so much And I know maybe $2,500 doesn't
seem like a lot but when it's principal discretion money and they're able to use it for exactly what their staff needs it truly is impactful Um I I wanted briefly board to share I had a request come to me out of the East Marian community Um Miss Tee who runs the community
partnership out there and she was the previous family engagement leaison reached out to me and she said they had a family who um needed a washer and dryer and if I could help And so I'm always trying to make connections and support the community however And so I reached out to Mike who owns MVB
appliances which is right on 8th Street And um I've worked with him before to close a a need for a washer and dryer previously at East Marion And I said "Hey Mike um you know I'm looking to donate this Uh I'll cover the cost but do you have a refurbish we could use or whatever and Mike more than willingly
immediately donated a washer and dryer to this family Um it's a mom of five kids five boys and she has been in um active recovery for a year and a half and sober and she has really gotten her feet under her and has just really turned her life around And um her letter
I she wrote a little thank you note just saying how you know she balled her eyes out called her husband and let him know that they had been blessed by God and they were so thankful for MVB appliances because it has truly been a gamecher for their family just being able to launder their clothes at home And so I wanted to
publicly thank Mike and MBB Appliances just as an example on a night like this where we're talking about business partnerships of ways businesses serve our community even not as a business partner but just in those small things that businesses do all of the time to support our community Um I wanted I was
um board I had Mr Attorney Powers forward an email that I had shared last Monday to you all Um I was looking to try and close out the north end conversation and make a decision about what we're doing tonight Um there has been previously three board members that were interested in continuing the
conversation It looks like Dr Campbell has made a change of opinion and so that would leave two of us So if we're ready to end the conversation then that is fine We can end the conversation if there's not three of us to continue it This board member's desire though would be that we have a very productive
conversation in the very near future about what schools will do when they do not generate enough money to cover their costs at sitebased budgeting in a year from now because the break even for sightbased budgeting is about 600 students at the elementary level And so
we have about five or six schools across the district four of which are on the north end that are under that 600 threshold And this board member wants to know what this district is planning to do to navigate sitebased budgeting
because if those schools are expected to live within the sitebased budget that they are going to get there will have to be cuts from their staff um because they will not have enough money to cover all of the expenditures and their payroll Um and if the district is going to close
the gap and continue to backfunnel it then we're not doing sitebased budgeting So in the very near future I want to understand what that looks like because I do believe problem solving this um and creating solutions with the community is what I would like to do Obviously you
guys saw my email I would like to have a conversation with the community about the data And to be honest if we're going to sitebased budgeting and those schools are going to have budget cuts I do believe those town halls and community meetings are still going to be very necessary because those communities are going to need to know um the nuances of
sightbased budgeting and what those implications will look like at those small schools with 300 400 students Um so that would be my request from this board seat as we continue because I I don't want anyone in the community to be caught off guard when there are shortfalls for the sitebased budgeting
Um and then I will finish tonight There were some public comment about our interim superintendent and I just wanted to share our um graduation rate has steadily increased So um Dr Brewer has supported secondary curriculum and our high schools for the last few years in
this district and under her leadership our graduation rate has increased um some of our schools as much as 10 points last year from 23 to 24 Um in addition we have expanded access to all of the
programs which th this board and this community has been talking about tremendously for the last few weeks in CTE ACE IB AP and we've increased the pass rates for all of those unique programs So I do believe that the work she has led and that's just one of
the,900 hats she's wearing um every single day have really shown the commitment to Maring County Public Schools Uh and I'm really looking forward to her leadership So that concludes my comments Thank you Thank you Dr James Reverend Cummings Thank you Madam Chair Um tonight we saw a lot of
uh recognitions that came forth Um I want to thank all of our community partners our business partners for the work that they are doing with our schools We really could not do a lot of the things that we do in our schools were not for our community partners Um
there are some that have taken on the herinian task of of uh not only being community partner for one or two schools but several several several schools eight or nine some of them um I think um you mentioned Ocala electric but fiber
optic as well and uh so it's it's a lot of work I appreciate all that that they do u we also recognized tonight um the afterchool professionals um this week of those three ladies that was 104 years
104 years of experience in our after school programs and so we appreciate them We know that those after school I shouldn't just say after school because it's before school as well Um they they play a huge part in certain families
having a safe place and safe space for those kids before and after school And um it is it's vitally important that we keep those programs like that continue to make sure that they go forward to our student reps We recognize all of them
tonight um for this this uh school year I I I want to say that um when Dr Camel brought this forth um I thought it was a good idea I wasn't sure how it was going to play out um with this However it's been really good It's been good for uh
us as a board but it's been good for the students as well because they get to see the other side and actually get to kind of see it from a different perspective So they've saw it from their side in the schools but now they get to see it from where we're seeing it too And it's helped us because now we get to see it
from their side So those those all those things u make a difference in when we're making decisions Sometimes I think people think just sitting up here um just throwing stuff off the dome to make decisions However it's it's a lot more go into u the things that we do on this
board And I think it gives our students a better uh feel for what really happens and how hard it is to make a decision that affects a large group of people So um I thank thank them for the work that they did
Um thank you for mentioning the the uh FCA Night of Champions Um I won't be there Um I'll tell you why because we I believe in the students as well but that'll be on another banquet that same night um with some students at the um
the Freedom Fund banquet for NAACP So two great events that just happened to fall on the same night Um unfortunately we we haven't uh mastered cloning yet and being in two places at the same time but um we definitely support both efforts and uh so um I know it'll be a
great time Um I heard the conversation um where we talked about shutting down the conversation about uh the north end schools Um but when Dr James kind of brought up something else that I've been kind of waiting to get get in here um
she brought up about the sitebased budgeting and how that's going to affect us I I'm looking forward to us having another conversation on sitebased budgeting because sometimes we may think that that's going to be the best thing for everyone but we need to look at it again and make sure just you just
brought up a concern a serious concern if that school doesn't meet the right number Um there there'll be there'll be some huge shortfalls And then we need to also take in consideration I know we're piloting certain things but we also need to take in consideration when we look at sitebased budgeting on
um are we properly preparing our folk to do sightbased budgeting what's going to be that turnaround with that site sitebased budgeting and is that going to be the most effective thing for our district some districts that's the best thing for them going Some district it it's not going to be good So I'm I'm
looking forward to a work session where we're going to be talking about site based budgeting as well and then getting the input again from uh our school leaders because I think sometimes we force things down people's throat and they may not be really ready for it Um
it just may not be the best thing at this time I'm not saying it's not the best thing um for Marian County in the future but right now it we we're getting ready to go through some some challenging times We know this coming from out of Tallahassee and coming from the government We know we're going to do
some challenging times with money and do we want to put that in those schools hands when it could be detrimental So we got to have those serious conversations with that as well So again um very good
meeting and I'm hoping we can get out here before the sun go down I'm through Right Thank you Reverend Cummings Board member Thrower Thank you And Oh I'm sorry I'm I'm sorry I'm sorry Please forgive me Please forgive me Please forgive me I don't want The sun's going down I don't want I
don't want to steal I don't want to steal Miss Miss Thor's thunder but I um had a conversation with her the other day that about recess man So I just want her to let her have that But I do sign on to what we said we're going to do Oh
okay All right Well then I'll start with that so I don't forget before the sun goes down You're gonna live with that one Yes A young recess man a first grader at Oakrest Elementary School I believe I mentioned him uh maybe at the last school board meeting or work
session one of the two And uh little recess man he had a lot of trouble keeping himself still in the classroom Tap tap tap tap tap Well the great teacher that he had also noticed him tapping out in uh recess uh finding a stick and tapping on a bench So before
you know it uh Recess Man had one of those blue recycling buckets and a couple of drumsticks and was going to town And I had a chance to see uh Recess Man in action with the rest of his uh music class uh recently at a fantastic incredibly well attended
parent event Pastries with Parents at Oakrest Elementary School That's a pretty big cafeteria And it was standing room only And there were other performances too the cheerleaders the choirs It it was just fantastic And then here comes recess man And and I'm
watching them and I'm thinking you know surely we can find something other than a blue recycling bucket and a couple of sticks to help this kid So again with the with the fantastic members of the community and people that work for the
school system that shall remain unmentioned there's not just one set of drums now at Oakrest Elementary School There are two And I got the best video I need to post it with Oakrest permission of Recess Man playing his drums neon
blue Unbelievable So who knows what path you know Recess Man's going to take you know maybe someday he'll be a drumline kid in college That'll help pay his way I I don't know But I'm I'm You just want to keep track of every single one of you because it it means so much to see you
grow and flourish and just become the the persons that you're destined to be So I echo how important it is to the rest of this board to have student board representatives Co kind of got in our way it it derailed us but um it was
board member Campbell that resuscitated the conversation and and we've just all been you know allin and sure you always have a little trepidation about man what what might they say well there's been some pretty direct things that have been said that needed to be said So it's it's
just been a wonderful experience and it's nice to hear that It's been a wonderful experience for all of you too having as many of you that came tonight to be recognized and and the lapel pins I could see that kind of you guys were liking those and yeah and I have a lot of lapel pins that I wear and I think
I'll treasure them forever So great stuff Um I'll move on to it seems like every week there's a a recognition and I never want to miss any of them because we have great people that work for us But I just thought this was so cute Um today happened to be uh happy National
Bus Driver Day and this is just full of bad puns which you'll appreciate Attorney Powers They go the extra mile every single day Happy National Bus School Bus Driver Day to the incredible drivers who steer our students toward
success Thank you for always driving safely parking with patience and fueling our school days with care and kindness We're really grateful for you Good So since transportation is such a huge part of everything that we do along with
everyone else just wanted to give them a special shout out on their special day Um moving on to the uh sitebased budgeting conversation I believe this board is is and superintendent are always about trying to find ways to do more with less
and provide autonomy to our schools because they are all so different Um I think we do need to proceed with some caution because as we know our schools are all very unique and I one of the
schools that comes to mind in my district is Hillrest School They have 160 students I I think at the very most uh they can hold a couple of hundred and that was a lot Um when I was there we
were pretty overloaded it's they're very uh special kids with very special needs And so I just don't know um that we'll that we can ever expect some of our schools with large populations of kids
that have uh incredible needs will be able to make that pay so to speak So I can't look forward to the continued conversation because in the spirit of trying to make every dollar stretch and count I just think it only makes sense
So I'm I'm completely open to that Um wanted to share uh the Fort King Falcons are continue to be on the rise and I just wanted to acknowledge Mr Kim uh he for the very first time had a
group of students that went to a robotics competition It was their very first one sponsored by Duke Energy and University of Florida um AI and robotics and they won So that was really really neat Um
Fort King is a transformed school A couple years ago it was it it's hard You know middle school's hard We've all acknowledged that And when you have the same principal for many years and then you change principles it it can be a rough transition But that school I was there the other day they have covered
dining outside now as as part of the extra funding we had from the CO 19 pandemic And that the kids it's just such a much more relaxed atmosphere It it reminds me of like a a budding high
school campus You know how ninth graders come in and they're a little squirly and the seniors kind of look at them like you know they'll grow up and and and you see a big change by Christmas But it it's just really really neat And so I I
do firmly believe that Fort King as evidenced by the large number over a hundred more sixth graders are choosing to come to Fort King next year So that means they're not being lost to you know other uh middle school programs that are
that have been you know really solid for a long time So that school's in my district and of course that makes me even extra proud of everything that Principal Carter has done and the whole school staff to begin to to grow the programs
there Um I've just enjoyed my school visits this past week It's it's a fun time of year You know there's a lot of energy There's a lot of pressure you know with testing coming up but I would just encourage everyone to keep that positive energy going Uh it'll it'll
make it easier on testing day You know just take a deep breath and and do your best and I get the sense that it's it's all going to work out pretty well Um I guess I I don't want to finish with this but I do want to make uh address
the um North End Uh everybody I think has pretty much heard my my feelings about it Uh again with the sightbased budgeting I've already you know covered that and I know we're going to have more information there But as I've continued to delve into the the research of both
Fezend and also um 8th Street and Oyola and it was Ocala High at one point Um both of those schools starting with Ocola and 8th Street are part of an historic district There's over 200 buildings in downtown Ocala of which 8th
Street and OciOla are two of them that are part of the historic district and it's makes them so worth preserving those schools Any old school costs money you know um but but to have a school like that is is incredibly
special Fezonden I learned it's not just the buildings that are on the National Register They are their own historic district which includes all 150 acres I did not know that but I know it now And
it's just incredible to me that that we have a school in our midst that was start by freed men and I'll just say it you know former slaves And it started with 11 students boys because in those days you know girls didn't get the same
opportunities and neither did um the slaves So to see how that has grown from 1868 into what it is now it's something for our community to be so proud of Living history I mean
history is history so you might as well acknowledge it and learn from it and and put it to good use so that any mistakes from the past don't get made again And at one point well more than one point that that school was almost closed you know due to lack of funding And Marian
Countyy's public schools picked it up I think in 1950 So yeah I've been doing my homework History's good And and we've been you know helping with that school ever since And I'm very proud that we have because this has come up before Every school board previous to
this one that I know of has not been willing to close that school And I continue to be one of those people I will say though Reic has got to be top of mind because if we don't have a serious conversation soon about what to do about the 50% RO enrollment at Reic
and increasing that then I'm very worried because of the state of things and and land is valuable and people want it um including for things that aren't public schools that we will lose that school And board member Campbell raised
a great point with BIES going in Um development is happening The south has been discovered You know there's just a lot of people coming in So I I do think that we really need to think very creatively and and focus on on that school and have a conversation sooner
than later in terms of reic and also putting to rest three very important schools in this county's history When I read about the people that graduated from A Street and and Oyola and some that graduated
from Fezanin it's it's just really really incredible So at some point I would love for this board this board to be continue to be the innovative bold board that we have been and look at doing a resolution that hopefully in perpetuity
will protect A Street Oyola and Fezendon as educational institutions That'll give us some latitude to do some creative planning with them But I really would like for the board to consider doing
that So if I'd love to hear your feedback right now it's it's not a spring on you thing I think I said it at the last board meeting So chair I'll take your direction and and when and if you'd like to continue the conversation be it be it now or
later Um I'd love to continue the conversation not necessarily this evening because I'd like the opportunity um to do a little homework of my own Um my understanding but I haven't seen it factually is there was some outside help
um with the renovation at 8 Street and Oyola some outside grants And so you know when we begin this discussion I would like to see the full picture um what all did it take um to save these
schools um what do we need to save feein um and I also I believe that that comes with the site based budgeting conversation Um we have to see what does these each school have to create funding wise to run What does that look like how
far are we from the finish line and so I think those are all all important um pieces of that conversation so um we can make informed decisions Great May I say one thing about the grant sure Um because that was pretty interesting too that it was um a grant based on the
historic um designation and I believe and I will double check this but I believe it was beloved principal um Helen ino Yes who was so dedicated to that school um that helped um bring that you
know forward and also too you know that a lot of families um have been able to help um I know there's a very involved sack uh program and and and we also know from the folks that keep coming to see us you know from Fezdian that there's a
lot of interest so there's there's just so much potential with both of these schools so thank you I agree and I I know uh Mr James who's visited um with us publicly and privately is looking um at some options some new sorry um you
know some new opportunities So you know there's there's a lot of conversation still to be had Yes Reverend Cummings Madam Chair and to mention the grants about those schools that that Miss Thor talked about They were there were grants but they were matching grants that the school district did have actually we
probably paid the bigger part of it um historically that's that's in the record So just wanted to add that to that We're looking at some big expenses um for Ciola for sure that we haven't gotten the the actual cost yet but I
think we've all had the tour and had a chance to see what needs to be done Okay Good All right Yes Thank Thank you both Um and I just have a few short things Um first of all I want to thank our staff It's been a little while I try
to do that remember to do it um every couple of board meetings but I look out and I know you're giving up time with your families um with your friends you know with your couch Maybe you'd like to relax but you guys are here um all the time supporting us and answering
questions walking us through um things that we need we need to decide on And so I just want to say tonight thank you as the majority of you sitting here um listening as we make decisions and and you provide information for us So so thank you for that um for your
commitment uh to the students of Marian County I also want to say thank you for the board That was a lot of great conversation uh from everyone tonight So so thank you for that Um also want to say thank you um to Miss Martinez
Tomorrow is administrative professionals day So we just want to say she takes good care of of us at board members reminding us sending reminders calendar invites relaying information providing information all those things that come I know I see some of you nodding your head
Nobody really wants to sign up to take care of five board members So we'll just leave it at that So thank you Miss Martinez She's she's not here with us this evening but just wanted to give her a shout out Board I wanted to give you a reminder There's a thank a teacher recognition on Thursday Uh if you're
able to come I'd love to see you Uh that's always always a a fun time And uh that is all I have for today board We do have an off air portion tonight So with that I'm going to recess us at 7:31 and
clear clear the room Thank you