The school board meeting will begin in 1 minute. Please take your seats. Again, the schoolboard meeting will begin in one minute. Heat. Heat. N. [Music]
Good evening and welcome to the April 29th, 2025th meeting of the Marian County School Board. It is now 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. I'll now read the commitment statement. We are the Marian County School District Leadership Team. When we come together to work, we are efficient, effective, and productive. Our three most important characteristics are
dedicated, transparent, and individually responsible. To work well together, we must demonstrate respect, confront reality, and be accountable. We will always put students first. We will leave a legacy of success.
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 operations of the Marian County School System or the school
board. Presentations to the board are limited to five 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 must 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 a lime green form. These forms must be fully completed and received to the board clerk no later than 5:40. These procedures are applicable for each for each are on a separate
sheet of paper. Good evening, Miss Martinez. Would you please call the role? Dr. Alison Campbell, District 1, here. Conrad, district two, here. District three, here. District four, here. Dr. Sarah James, District 5, here. Jeremy Power, school board attorney,
here. If you'll please stand and join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Miss Martinez, would you please provide the proof of publication for tonight's school board meeting? The notice for the April 29th, 2025 school board meeting ran in the Ocala Gazette on April 18th, 2025. The proof of publication has been attached in board ducks under proof of
publication. Thank you. Good evening, Attorney Powers. Please explain the rules governing persons who wish to address the board this evening. Good evening and thank you. In compliance with section 286.0114 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 school board and school district matters. A written summary of
these procedures are available from the table in the lobby. The completed forms were due to the school board's clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. This evening, speakers will be called prior to the business portion of the school board's meeting in the order of receipt by the school board clerk. Before you begin
speaking, please state your full name for the record and spell your last name. Each speaker will have five minutes 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 notice to complete his or her comments. Speakers may not yield their time to other people. Speakers and meeting attendees are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Therefore, verbal attacks and profanity are strictly prohibited. Pursuant to the
procedures for public comments item six, speakers are not to identify specific individuals other than themselves or their child unless the statements provided 24 hours in advance. The board is here to listen to your comments only. You may be directed to an administrative staff member following a conclusion of
your comments for further assistance to address your concerns. If there are matters dealing with student discipline, including expulsions, they'll be scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of this meeting. Parents may address the board regarding a 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
board. Thank you for your attention to the board's requirements. Madam Chair, that concludes my explanatory remarks. Thank you, Attorney Powers. Miss Martinez, do we have any speakers this evening? Madam Chair, we have 10 speakers. Okay, we have 10 speakers. So, um I'd like to move the timer to three
minutes each, please. Um I I they're all on the same public. Yes, I I'm okay with five minutes if if you guys are. I'm okay with five minutes, too. I don't think we've limited it before. rest of the board. I I we just stated in
our statement that if it was more than five speakers, so that's why I said we'd go to three minutes. I guess I'll take input from the rest of the board. Um have 10 10 people. 50 minutes. 50 minutes. That's fine. Okay. We have limited them before. We
have done them before. We have. Okay. Not recently. All right. Attorney Powers. The portion of the meeting during which the participation of the public is invited shall be limited to 30 minutes unless extended by a vote of the board except that all speakers who signed up to speak and who were outside the 30 minute time limit may address the
board at the end of the meeting. So if the board wishes to extend it, the board must vote to do so. I make a motion that we extend and keep it at five minutes per speaker. So if that extends to 50 minutes, so be it. And I make that motion. I'll second. Okay. All those in
favor say I. I. Motion passes. 5 Z. Okay. Miss Martinez. Um would you call our fe first speaker please? Mr. Ben White House. Good evening board. Good evening. Ben White House. That's whi t h o u s e all
one word. Good evening, board. I was disappointed at the last board meeting to hear a member of our community attacking the character of our interim superintendent. I worked closely with Dr. Brewer at two different high schools in this district starting in 2010, which means I've known her longer than just
about anyone still working in this district. I can honestly say without hesitation that working with her at both schools made me a better leader. Her genuine love and concern for both the students and staff we supported was something to admire. She maintained a
clear focus on helping our students succeed while also holding them to high expectations. She built relationships with all staff and took time to listen and support them while also pushing them to grow as educators. In each case, not only did she help improve the school
climate, but both schools improve their school grade as well. I support Dr. wholeheartedly as an educator, a leader, a champion for our students and as our interim superintendent. The opportunity to address the school board during a meeting is a great responsibility of the
citizens of this community. There are many challenges that we face as an institution in public education, and the feedback from parents and the community is an important one that that helps us meet the challenges head on. However, my hope is that as a community, we stay focused on those challenges and on
helping every student find success and not stoop to the level of attacking the character of the hardworking employees of this school district. They all deserve better. Our mission is greater. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. White House. Glenn Fiorell.
Good afternoon. Good evening. Good evening. I'm Glenn Fiorell. F I O R E L L O. Um, of course I'm here to discuss a superintendent's position. Um, I asked for a copy of the job description for the schoolboard members. I was never
able to track one down, but I did get one on the superintendent. And this is a it's an embarrassment what's written in here. This was approved in 2019. I don't know how many of you were on board at 2019, but this is when it was adopted. And I'm just going to read what it says.
The superintendent of schools should work with the school board to create a vision for the future and then work to communicate it effectively internally and externally and focus on its implementation implementation.
Um to me that's no kind of a description. That's just me personally. And that could be what gets us in trouble each time with our superintendent. We need to have it spelled out in black and white what your responsibility is and what the superintendent's responsibility is so you can all work together in harmony and
accomplish some tasks. Now let's say for argument sake this the rest of this follows in that same direction and it does. Um I would say this is a brain not a brawn position. Think about that for a minute.
A superintendent just like yours. We've got more conversation in this document here regarding physical activities. Now, I'm going to read two of them to you. There's 15 of them on here that don't even apply to a superintendent, and I'm embarrassed to read them, but this is what the document
says. Sitting, resting with the body supported by the buttocks or thighs. Then standing, assuming an upright position on the feet, particularly for sustained periods of time. That's number two. Number three is the same as number one. And number four
is the same as number two. This is garbage. I'm I'm embarrassed. I really am to say these words in the public record. This needs to be clarified first before we go too much further with this. You need to know what the job descriptions really are and what what is
expected of these individuals. Um and and the rest is is just as bad. Okay? And I'm embarrassed to even say this up here. Um there's been a culture for quite some time that got us in this mess that we're in all
the time with the school systems, not only this one here, but all over. And I'm going to cite a couple examples. Um there was a school board member, you all might remember maybe 20 years ago that never would attend the meetings and it was a lady and she said, "I don't attend
them because there's not always something on the agenda that I care to hear about." I won't say a lady's name, but there was a lady who who that was an article. You can go look it up maybe 20 years ago. This culture has been going on for a long time. It just didn't start. Um, do
you remember Evergreen School? We have a problem sometimes in in government in general. I remember one time they had to coers a school board member of Svin just to attend a meeting pertaining to that evergreen. And that went on and on and on. Then we went on
to something else. I don't know if we ever corrected the problem that we had at Evergreen and that's part of our government situation problem. We never really finish to get a problem till it's rectified. We move on to another one and hopefully we forget about it. Then there was a a a fellow by the name of Don
Browning. He was a appointee if I'm not mistaken from the governor on the school board. I was in a meeting with a fellow and he said how much he disliked him because on the consent agenda he would hold the meetings up by going one- on-one what was in that consent agenda and I said that's what I want out of my
school board. I want them to question things. Don't just rubber stamp everything. And all this is leading up to the mess that we're in now with a school board superintendent. Um yeah, he he questioned things and he I see I don't see enough of that. I just
see more or less approval. So keep that in mind because when you dropped the job descriptions, the proper was ones, we need to make sure that y'all going to work in harmony with the superintendent and each one of you knows what your limitations are.
Um, if the best you have, that is this lady in question, the person in question, then move with it. But if you know it's really not what is proper, then you're going to need to do a search. You've got no option. Uh, that's in your that ball's in your court, not mine. you have to make that decision
yourselves. Um I wish though that you would stop offering all these benefit packages for someone in administration. The amount of salary that we pay an administrator is probably more than they ever thought they'd make working in a school system. I think that
should be sufficient because entry- level jobs don't get a real benefit package. They don't get a car. They don't get all these other things. Just keep that in mind if you if you don't mind. Um, this vote here, I believe there's five of you up there. I believe this will be your legacy. Which way you go
with this? I really do. It's very important that it's done properly and I ask that you take your time. If the lady, if the gentleman, whoever you have is a proper fit and you feel comfortable with them, move forward with it. If you don't, then you need to advertise. But it's a shame that we can't pick from our
own right here. That's a black mark on the school board as far as I'm concerned. We should have more people that are qualified for this position than than ever. And we need to make sure that the people we have next time, yes, they're ready to go. They're qualified. Pardon,
sir. Your time is expired. Thank you. And and if if you don't mind, Laura, I'll give I'm going to give you a holler if you give me a call in a couple days. There's something I want to discuss with you that also pertains to this. Thank you. You have a good day. Thank you, Mr.
Poll. Deborah Daniels. Whoa. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I'm Deborah Daniels. D an i ls. I'm a retired Florida teacher. I'm a grandmother of two wonderful granddaughters in your Marian County
public school system and I'm on the SAC committee. uh and the MAC committee at Dunelan High School. Uh I want to thank the superintendent Gallet for all her work that she has done for Marian County schools, teachers, staff, and our
students. And I want to welcome our new interim superintendent, Dr. Brewer. But I'm here tonight to ask that the board not take any shortcuts, but follow the usual procedures and protocol for the
selection of our permanent superintendent. The board needs to widely advertise to create a pool of the most highly qualified candidates and then interview and eventually negotiate the contract for
that permanent position. There's no need to rush the process. The superintendent will be responsible for leading our district and in achieving all our goals. So, it's crucial that the candidate fits with the district's
mission, vision, and strategic strategic priorities. This is an awesome responsibility for the board to find the right leader. Please do not ignore the usual search protocol. Do not take
shortcuts or rush to select our next permanent school superintendent. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Daniels. Keith Cunningham. Yeah. Good evening. My name is Keith Cunningham. Cu N I G H A M. I am a
retired Air Force colonel and currently serve as a junior OTC instructor at North Maran High School. I fully support Dr. Brewer as our interim superintendent. Her leadership is exactly what we need at this
time. Throughout my 27year military career, I've had the privilege of working for and being mentored by exceptional military leaders. I've completed hundreds of hours of leadership training, including two M's equivalent programs. I have held key
leadership roles in organization with tens of thousands of personnel and led both operational units and headquarter staff teams. My experience includes working directly for the Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon, where I observed leadership at the highest levels of
government. Over the past 12 years as a junior ROC instructor, I have served in three different school districts around the country and worked for six different principles. I share this background not to speak of myself, but to lend weight
to what I'm about to say. Very simply, Dr. Danielle Brewer is the most effective leader I have encountered in education. Her direct, decisive approach, her willingness to hold people accountable, and her unwavering
integrity set her apart. Her unique combination of experience, character, and leadership ability is a rare asset asset that should not go underutilized. I strongly encourage
you to leverage Dr. Brewer's powerful leadership immediately as our interim superintendent. our students and our district would benefit immensely from her leadership. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cunningham.
Victoria Barkley. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Victoria Barkley. B A R K L E Y. And I would like to second everything Mr. Cunningham just said. Um I first met Dr. Brewer when she became APC at Fort
King Middle back in around 2016. At that time I was teaching sixth and eighth grade ELA. I had only been teaching for a year when she came to the fort, but I had been in the system previously as a parah. Dr. Brewer was the first female
administrator that I worked for that didn't make me feel inferior as a teacher or as a parah. As a new teacher, I needed more support than most. Dr. Brewer had an open door policy and I felt comfortable going to her anytime I had a question or
just needed support with a particular strategy, student, or class. I liked that she was present. You would always see her out and about on campus. She hardly ever missed a day of work and when and was always one of the first on campus and last to
leave. If there was a game or a dance, she was there. Oftentimes, I would look up while teaching and she would be in the back of the room just watching and always asking if I needed anything from her. One of the things that impressed me the most about her, besides the fact
that she is always dressed immaculately, is how well she knew her students and staff. students loved to greet her and high-five her as they arrived on campus every day, and she knew each one of them by name. It was the same with the rest of the staff. Many times there would be
a line outside her office of people waiting to go in to talk to her because she actually listened and made you feel heard, which is refreshing and unfortunately not that common with most administrators. Anytime I had a question, Dr. Brewer had an answer. and
if she didn't have an answer, she would make sure to find one and get back with you sooner rather than later. Dr. Brewer cares about the students, teachers, support staff, administrators, and all school board employees in Marian
County. She has been working in the district at multiple schools in multiple capacities, starting as a teacher for a very long time. She is committed to us and the community as a whole and wants our district to be the best it can be.
But that isn't something that she can she or anyone can achieve alone. It takes the help of the parents, teachers, students, administrators, school board, and all of the community stakeholder stakeholders to make a difference. Like
they say, it takes a village. We need a leader, but we do need a leader. And I can't think of a better one than Dr. Daniel Brewer. We need a leader who knows the ins and outs of our county schools and their staff. Someone who has
worked at each level and can and can relate to all employees. Someone who knows the entire curriculum inside and out. Someone who is from here whose own children graduated from Marian County Public Schools. Who knows and cares
about the people she represents. someone who is invested in our community and will work tirelessly to ensure that our district reaches its full potential because she isn't someone who fails and I know she would never fail us. Thank
you, Kristen Angel. Good evening. My name is Kirsten Angel. My last name is spelled A N G-Lel. I live at 2055 Southeast 50th Terrace, Ocala, Florida
34480. First of all, I want to thank all of you. I know you've already spent uh an inordinate amount of time on this and I know you will continue to do that and I know it is not an easy task. However, unfortunately, as as we all
know, our school system is not doing very well right now. As a matter of fact, someone has recently stated that we were an abysmal record. I hesitate to have to say this, but the interim superintendent, she started as a teacher and she worked her
way up through the school system. She is now currently a member of the executive leadership where she is involved in helping to establish the curriculum. Um, you know, I want I want us to consider whether we definitely want her to be our school sup our interim school
superintendent um let alone the permanent school superintendent. Um, you know, I ask you is that someone that we definitely want planning the future of our schools? we as the citizens will be paying her a lot of money and it's a lot
of money that you know one needs to think about um you know a lot of money running one of the largest school systems in in in this area um just like running a business we need and want someone who would be you know subject to
a national search we need and want a job description we need and want a timeline from you call that says what we're going to be doing and hiring this person. You know, I ask you when when we're looking at someone who's going to
be running our school system, is it, you know, is this somebody that we definitely want to be running our school system? I think we need this done as soon as we can possibly get it done because it is important. It is important not only to our kids, but to our
teachers and to the to the employees. One thing that I would ask that you do, especially in conducting this national search, is ask ask the teachers. Ask the teachers, the employees, the people that you all help represent, ask them what
they want in a school superintendent. Ask them what they expect in a school superintendent. Um, I think that's also very important. And I, you know, I think if there's, if there are concerns about that, you, you know, you don't have to put their name on it. they could be that it could be done at their school and
they could do it anonymously and that way you all would know what they are looking for. I think that is also very important for us to consider. You know, our our schools just can't wait any longer for us to keep searching and searching and searching for the interimm
superintendent. We need leadership. We need direction. And I and I think it's very important that we get this in our school superintendent. I ask that you all work on this every every at every work session at every schoolboard meeting because it is very important and
I think it is something that deserves our highest priority so that we can make a good a good search for our school superintendent. Thank you very much. Thank you, Miss Angel. Patricia Schaefer. Good evening. My name is Patricia
Schaefer, known by most of you as PG aka. Um, spelling of my last name is S C H A F E R and I reside at 20115 Southwest 43rd Place, Ocala 34471. Madam Chair, thank you. Thank you
board members for the opportunity to speak to you this evening. Thank you for all that you do for our county and our children and our parents and for all the hard work you you've done on the topic that I'm going to speak on that we've already heard a lot of already, the uh
sup excuse me, superintendent search. As I stated, my name is PG Schaefer and I am the Marian County Republican State Committee woman and I am here on my own behalf as well as the behalf of the Marian County Republican Executive Committee Chairwoman Bridget Smith who is unable to be here tonight as she
intended thanks to a sick horse at home. So, she asked me to make sure that her statement was read into the record, which I intend to do. Essentially, I'm here to say what we all know. We have a major mess on our hands with our school district that is multiffactorial. The most precious and important stakeholder here are the children. They
deserve the very best. And with all the questions that have swirled around this body for a multitude of reasons, not limited to the item on the agenda tonight, the installing of the interim superintendent, I am here to express that on behalf of the Marian County Republican Executive Committee and the
nearly 140,000 registered Republicans that we represent, our absolute unequivocal expectation is a national search for the permanent superintendent. That is actually the benefit of an appointed superintendent, a very large pool from which to search. We must
select the very best and brightest that we can bring to serve the children and the parents of this county. And with that, I'm going to read Bridget's statement, which was her quote in the Ocala Gazette. And I quote, "We believe the students of Marian County Public Schools deserve the best opportunities
to reach success. Our current ranking compared to the other 66 counties is abysmal. I think every parent would agree that Marian County Public Schools should conduct a nationwide search for our next superintendent, not sure that hiring from within a failing school
district is our best option. Thank you. Thank you, PG Maryanne Lambert. Good evening. Thank you for giving me the chance to speak. I'm Mary Anne Lambert, L A M BR T, and I would like to
support the remarks of Mr. Daniel, Miss Angel, and the Republican de Executive Committee in emphasizing the need to continue with your normal protocol to do a search, to do interviews. I have no I
I don't know anything about Dr. uh Brewer and that's irrelevant to me because in a national search or a bigger search if she is the most uh qualified person for this job she will get it. I
have been on the board of trustees of universities of notfor-profit organizations. I have run a major division of a bank in New York City and I find it concerning
for the school board's reputation and your image if you would override the current protocol right now and go ahead as some of you seem to think you should do. Please consider that. I would love to hear actually what
the rationale is for moving ahead at this point and permanently appointing the interim superintendent. Maybe you could explain that a little better. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Lambert. Erica Dela Cruz.
Hi, good evening. My name is Erikica de la Cruz. last name DE E space LA A space C R U Z. Um I always seem to be off topic every time I speak. So um I'm actually going to be addressing I was here um I was
present for the March 25th meeting and um I asked what your plans were after the dissolution of the Department of Education to support students with special needs like those on an IEP. Um the answer that was given by Dr. James was underwhelming at best. um the
tablecloths on this board's table um got more attention and vigor than the question about what has been an integral part of uh public education since 1979. While I appreciate um that Dr. James has a positive outlook on the
outcome of the DOE being dissolved, her confident um is not a contingency plan uh anymore than you know just thoughts and prayers. So,
um my call to action to um this board is that we commit to the continued protection of our children and that we come up with a plan of what it would look like if we stop receiving
funding. Um since the cuts in funding uh will largely affect rural areas um which we are. So, um, yeah, that's it. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gary Smallidge. Good evening, Gary Smallidge.
S M A L L R I D G E. Um I'm here tonight to support Dr. Brewer and I also want to talk about the topic of the national search that everybody's talking about. Um but first I I want to tell you a little bit about me. I've been in this district for 29 years as an
educator, 20 years as a principal, 10 years as an elementary principal, seven years at Fort King Middle, and three years at Marian Technical College. and and my path crossed with Dr. Brewer at Fort King Middle and um with being a
principal for 20 years, I've had a lot of assistant principles, a lot of them. And I counted it up the other day, I have eight former assistant principles that made it to principal ships and two made it to the district level. And I don't necessarily consider that a promotion above being a principal. And I
don't mean that offensively because being a principal is not an easy easy job at all. But my my path crossed with um Dr. Brewer at Fort King for a reason. Um Superintendent Tommen knew that we were doing good things at Fort King.
Fort King was in trouble. We we were not doing well academically. I left a school of Marion Oaks Elementary after moving it up from a D school to a C school for the first time and then maintaining that C. And then Mr. Tommen knew that I
wanted to be a middle school principal. So he came visited and said, "I need you to go to Fort King. We need to bring the grade up. We've got to get it up because we're going to be in trouble." And he knew we just did it at Marin Oaks Elementary that I had a good team there. I got to Fort King, started the work,
had had a good staff, started putting everything together. I'm really good at math and you guys that know me, I'm not so good at reading and writing as much. I mean, I'm I can do it. I'm adequate, but I'm not strong in that area. We were making huge gains at Fort King in the math area. We were doing acceleration. I
needed help with the English side of the house. Mr. Tommen sent Dr. Brewer to me and she is extremely strong where I am weak. And so the team was perfect and we moved that school, Dr.
Brewer, our team, our leadership team, and the teachers at Fort King to a B and we maintained that B the following year. So when I heard somebody come up here and publicly speak and say that Dr. Brewer hasn't done anything to move this district. You know, she was wrong. She
has moved this district. You heard Mr. White House come up here and say that, you know, she helped him move schools. She helped me move Fort King. And you guys know how difficult Fort King was and is and can be. That school was
humming and it was a B school. And and and then COVID hit. And yes, we all took some steps back, but it didn't fall past a C when a lot of schools fell back at a couple grade levels. So everything that Miss Barkley said as an English teacher and a reading teacher at that school, I
I can't say enough about what she does and her educational skills that she has. She is the right choice, guys. You did your you did your um I wasn't thrilled with how you guys chose the salary and your package and everything you did for interim superintendent. I think you'd had a longer list if you'd have gone a
little higher, maybe like Superintendent Pay, but you cast that net. You had a the group that you had to interview. You guys did your due diligence. You interviewed them. You chose the the same top three I would have had. You You had a good choice. Dr. Brewer is the right choice as your interim superintendent. I
I cannot support her any more than what's already been said. The national search, people are talking like we've done this a million times. You only did one. We did one national search in in this county. We used to um vote for our superintendent. You you guys did that. A
couple of you I think were on the board when that happened and the national search brought in a big a big um you know superintendent that had big county big district experience. I I think she came from Orlando area, Nevada. She was she was a deputy superintendent. She had
a lot of experience. Well, guess what? She came into our district and she did the job for five years. Who did she work? She was a good leader. Who did she work with? The cabinet that she chose. She saw a talent in Dr. Brewer or she hired Dr. Brewer for the cabinet. She
put her in place and she came from a national search. She brought all those skills that the national search is supposed to bring to our local district. And who did she train? Her cabinet. Was Dr. Brewer there listening and learning? Yes, she was there listening and learning. So, if the National Search brought in great things to our small
district that some people think we're not talented enough to run our own school district, well, we are. Dr. Brewer bettered herself, worked her way up, got to be a principal. She worked on her doctorate degree while she was at Fort King. Worked her tail off and and she proved to a national search
superintendent that she was worthy to be on this cabinet. And and so, I don't know why people are saying she's not not ready or she shouldn't be considered for the NA. If you guys do the national search, you have one minute remaining. Go ahead. I mean, if the if the county and our citizens want, you need to listen to
them. They voted you in. Do the national search. But what I want to kind of caution you on is do not eliminate Dr. Brewer from being considered for the national search because you spent 40, 50, $60,000 conducting a national search. She she is a very good
candidate. You made a great decision for interim. If you do the national search, just be careful not to take her off that list of consideration because you spent 40, 50, or $60,000. She might be she might be the perfect person and I think she will she'll outdo anybody that's on
that national search. So, I'm here to support her. I wanted to caution you on that because a lot of people are pushing as if she can't be the one that's chosen for the national search. If she wins out, she wins out. If she doesn't, then we'll have a superintendent that we find from a national search. So can't support
her anymore. Thank you for the time. Thank you, Mr. Smallbridgeidge. No more speakers. Okay, that's our final speaker. Okay. Uh may I have a motion to approve the appointment of interim superintendent? Move. Thank you,
Reverend Cummings. Second. Thank you, um Dr. James. And with that, uh, board, I'll open it up for discussion. Yes, board member Thrower. Thank you. And I'm sure you know each of us will have more than one opportunity to speak as as we discuss. I I wanted to open by
saying that thinking back I can think of one time where we had a lot of speakers where we did limit it um to three minutes but when you have 10 speakers and everybody's taking their time to to show up tonight and and weigh in and the
difference to me between 30 minutes and 50 minutes isn't even worth talking about. So that's why I wanted everyone to have the opportunity that signed up um to be able to speak. Um that being said, I was not a fan of the appointed
superintendent. We always elected a superintendent here. I take my right to vote very seriously, but I also understand that there are implications to both decisions. When you have an elected superintendent, your pool is
obviously a lot smaller to draw from, but hopefully your pool is someone that is well known, well respected in the community, someone that, you know, a lot of us already know and feel comfortable with. So, there's advantages to that. There's also advantages to uh nationwide
search, especially these days. there's just more mobility in society and if people are not going to be able to vote they we should at least give the courtesy of casting a wider net. I think um in my opinion I would not discount uh
any interim superintendent from throwing their head in the ring to be considered to be our permanent superintendent. I love competition and I say let the best man or woman win. Uh so those are my thoughts on those particular items. I'll
also say as a longtime community member um that there are wounds in this community um that need to heal. And one of the major ones from my observation is and you're never going to get rid of this completely nor should you. that when someone is given the
opportunity to literally hold the lives of children in their hands, as a superintendent and as board members, we're always on edge waiting hopefully to never receive that call of any
tragedy, let alone a huge tragedy. So for the money that we spend on superintendent and for what superintendents are being asked to do the great superintendent, I don't know that you could pay him enough for the responsibility that they carry and the
weight that they have on their shoulders. And I'm grateful to Dr. Gullet for the five years that she has led this district in very trying times coming off of a very controversial superintendent coming into COVID. All of
those things that those of us who have lived here for any amount of time um know and and understand. I think that she has handled the job with with dignity and with true professionalism and that is evidenced by the caliber of
of interim superintendent local within our school system um professionals that applied for the job. I feel like uh our just previous speaker uh made a very good point that coming from outside and
still thinking that uh two candidates on her executive cabinet were were worthy of being brought up and and and nurtured and being a part of the most highest
level uh leadership speaks volumes. [Music] And the other side of that to me is that when you bring in someone from the outside, they automatically have to start playing catch-up. They have to try to prove themselves to this community,
which has been very insular and and still is in so many ways. So, I guess I want to give a little, you know, foreshadowing to everyone that regardless of what we decide to do. Um, if the interim superintendent rises to the top and is very clear that this is
the direction we should go, that's that's one decision. If we decide to do a full search and we find a new person from outside, that's the other decision. But it would just be wonderful while continuing to acknowledge all of our
challenges that we get as many saint adults to get behind us and push and spend time with kids, help kids, volunteer, anything you can do. These are our public schools and there's not a
lot of other options and there'll always be a place in my mind for public education and the best schools far and away have the greatest amount and depth and breadth of positive
community involvement. So those are my openers. Thank you board member Thrower. Do you have a comment? Sure. Uh so I appreciate the folks that have come this evening and shared your
thoughts. Uh I echo the sentiment for a national search. I um intend to speak to that in my board comments this evening. Uh but for now we're voting on our interim superintendent candidate. spent a couple hours with her the day after this
decision was made and I'm grateful for the time that we spent talking through why I believe a national search is important because I think it's important for your future leader to understand what your thought processes are and I appreciate Mr. Fierella coming and
speaking about the job description. I do think there's some tweaks we can make to the job description now that we've actually had an appointed superintendent for five years. You have to think of the original board that created a job description. They didn't know what they didn't know and now we know. So, let's
do better because we know more. So, I completely agree with many of the sentiments that were shared this evening. Um, and I certainly will be voting in favor of Dr. Brewer uh being our interim superintendent. Additionally, having conversation about the national search
and when that timeline will occur. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Dr. James, thank you. Good evening. Um, I'm grateful that our community came out tonight. I see so many familiar faces. U, many of which, you know, chose to sit
quietly and observe, but are showing and understanding their presence here has value, whether it is in support of this decision for the board or maybe in disalignment with the board's decision. But I appreciate the presence tonight. I think it's important to note that
tonight we're making a decision about an interim superintendent and we're voting on an interim superintendent contract and that contract terms out on April 29th, 2026. So, this board has not had any further
discussion about what we do next. What we knew was we needed to do something right now. And what I know is since the board made a decision about 10 days ago that this was the direction we were going to go with Dr. Brewer, she spent
every day tirelessly working with Dr. Gullet hand in hand to solve the imminent obstacles this district is facing. Every single year at this time we have
discussions about staffing plans at the district level. and we talk about budget and this year more than ever budget is a pretty hot ticket item that needs to be addressed and ahead of any paycheck change ahead
of any formal title Dr. Brewer immediately began to work with Dr. Gullet and and a huge thanks and acknowledgement goes out to Dr. Gullet for her willingness to work side by side with whoever interim we chose to move
this district forward and stay focused on our shared vision. So this is not a permanent position. What the board is voting on is a one-year contract. And in the coming months, the board is going to have to decide what we do
next. And whether that is a national search or we say things are going well and we're going to stick this out because we don't want to spend the money right now. That will be a discussion that this board has to have. I don't think that discussion has to happen today. I think we need to vote today on
an interim superintendent contract that is for one year and then in the coming months we will have future discussion about what we do next. What I know is the city of Okala, whose budget is almost exactly the same as ours, it's over the $1 billion
mark, when they terminated their city manager, they appointed an interim. He had a long intram contract and they chose not to do a national search, but continue to use him and it has worked out pretty well for the city. And
so I want to ensure that we are doing the best possible job to be good stewards of the money. I think I have really maintained that across all different platforms throughout this district and let's see how it goes and in a couple months we'll have a discussion about what we do next. But
what I know is I'm ready for Dr. Brewer to continue to get to work with Dr. Gullet and to proceed forward, make some difficult decisions in the next coming months and let's start the school year and figure out what we do next. Thank you, Dr. James, Reverend Cummings. Madam Chair, thank you u to our community.
Thank you all tonight for coming out to express your concerns um regarding the interim superintendent. I we heard some some very passionate comments um for the process as our my other board
members have stated u this tonight is not to determine the process of how we get a permanent superintendent. This tonight is about the interim superintendent. Um I did hear something about job descriptions. um about the job description for the superintendent, but
there in that job description, uh there are some statutory requirements that are in the job description that points out duties and u responsibilities for a superintendent. That's whether they're in Marian County or any other county in the state of Florida. So, um we went
through the interal process of trying to get uh those people that were interested in the inter position. we came out with the top three and out of that top three we came out with the one that uh the board had consensus on that was Dr. Brewer. Um personally I've worked with Dr. Brewer um since I've been on this
board prior to her coming to the district office and she has did a tremendous job and she's always been one that's been upfront and transparent in how um to do the work. And one thing I did did find out about her very early um in when she was at North Marion that
she's concerned about doing the right thing for the students. Not about what what what uh some of the adults may want. It's about what's good for the student. Even if that means um having hard conversations with the parents, having hard conversations with um staff.
So um tonight I think we need to move forward with um our interim conversation. At some point we will have a conversation about national search. Um I think from the very beginning I I kind of expressed my my intent about us having a national search because I was
part of the process when we had we moved from an appointed from an elected superintendent to an appointed um superintendent. So there is a process but tonight wasn't the night for that. And so I'm sure we will have conversation about that. I'm sure I've heard other board members say they're
going to talk about in their board comments. Um but right now we need something that's going to help move us forward. Um and there has there doesn't need to be a big gap in moving forward. It appears that the transition period to move forward with Dr. Gulla and to Dr.
Brewer has already starting or has started and that's what we need to do to make sure we have a continuation of services for all of our students in Marian County. So tonight I will be voting for Dr. Burke to be our superintendent. Thank you, Reverend Cummings.
No, Board comments. All right. Very good. Um, thank you board. Um, your comments, I couldn't I couldn't um agree more. Um, I'm very grateful for the community for showing up this evening and taking time to um share your concerns um and your experiences with
the board. That's very important. I appreciate it greatly. Um, I also want to express gratitude to Dr. Gullet. Um, she's been very generous. um in this process with mentoring and taking time
to with Dr. Brewer um to walk through um this very difficult conversations that are coming forward. You know, I don't I don't envy Dr. Brewer at this time. I I said to her shortly after um she was announced um as our top candidate for interim superintendent, this is a
challenging time um even to put your name in the hat uh to be an interim superintendent. she should be commended um because it's a difficult time. It's a difficult job. And so um thank you again to Dr. Gullet
um for generously taking time to include Dr. Brewer um and these conversations coming forward. Uh and with that board, I'm ready to call the vote if everybody else is ready. Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Any
opposed? Motion passes. 50. May I have a motion to approve the interim superintendent employment agreement? May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. James. Uh, thank you, Reverend Cummings. Board, I open it up for conversation and
discussion. Um, I'm sorry. No, go right ahead. Um, after reviewing the u the uh contract, um, I did want to highlight that that this contract does not prevent
Dr. Brewer from uh applying or entering a national search if there is a if there is a search. So I did want the public to know that she would still have every opportunity to be considered. So she would not be kicked out of the process
because she is the interim in some cases. Um some companies do that type of thing, but that's not the case in this contract. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Yes, board member Thrower. Thank you and and thank you for saying that, um, board member Cummings, because it was really
important to me in my interviews that whoever we selected for interim superintendent was at least willing to entertain, um, becoming our permanent superintendent because talk about on the job training and if they do well, I just didn't want to see that candidate go to
waste, so to speak. So, thank you for for reiterating that. And again, you know, we're here uh when I opened this up when it was first published, I thought that's probably the shortest agenda for a school board I've ever seen because we literally really
are here and this is the only thing we really can vote on and talk about tonight that has been properly noticed is to um approve and appoint Dr. Danielle Brewer as the interim superintendent and then approve um her contract. We have already approved her to be our superintendent. So I'll be
voting yes on her contract for one year. Thank you board member. Okay. Um with that board I will call the vote. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes 50. At this time I will go around asking for board
comment. Miss Martinez. Nothing. Attorney Powers. I just did want to address one thing that was did not quite fall under the contract and that was that uh Miss Morant had contacted uh me and the board chair both uh to indicate that there was a uh question as to um
the advanced degree stipend is something that we offer for all employees who have an advanced degree that is above and beyond the requirements of their um of their contract. So in this case um a uh doctoral degree is not a requirement but
it is something that um uh would be above and beyond that requirement and so that was not something that I put within the within the contract because the board had not previously approved it as part of the job compensation package. Um
however with consensus of the board um Miss Morant having no objection would ask for permission to uh treat that as per usual district standards which would be that the degree stipened um be added
to the salary and if not then the board needs to discuss in order to to give some consensus as to what they want at a future session. Okay. Board member Thrower, just for public understanding, would you please share who Miss Moran is and her current role and responsibilities? Um, she is, I always
get this wrong, executive director of uh of human resources. So, um, and she is she works with our personnel and and ensures that uh when it comes to salary ranges, job descriptions, all those
things that those are um, you know, equitably enforced across the district. So, um, in this case, I was approached just to to ask, is that something that we could write into the contract? And given that the board had not specifically given me leave to do so, I
did not specifically write it into the contract, nor do I believe it's written into most contracts. It's simply something that the district offers. And uh that would I be it would assume be left up to the human resources
department to uh distribute as they as they would with any other employee. Thank you. Attorney Powers. Dr. James. No, I was motioning that Dr. Campbell had her hand up. I didn't want you to miss it. Dr. Campbell. Uh for the public also, if if I'm not mistaken, the stipen
for a doctorate degree is 7500. I think it's 6,000, but I don't I don't know that and I could not I could and that that would be something before making a decision. I think it would be helpful for us to know the actual dollar amount. I I thought it was 70 maybe it is 6,000. I I know it's graduated um
certainly. So it's master's degree at a certain level, certificate at another, and then doctorate at the highest level. Um but before making a decision, I would like to know that amount. Right. I'll uh I'll have I'll look into that and have that brought back to you. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Madam chair, my
question concerning that is is that something that she's already receiving and because if she's already receiving, I can't see why you would feel, right? She she's receiving it as to her current job, her current position. Yes. Now,
this position there is a pay increase uh the but the pay increase would be reduced by the amount of the stipen if she didn't have it. So it's if as of right now the contract
only speaks to the actual um the actual salary, right? It doesn't speak to the um degree enhancement. And the reason I asked that if you don't lose benefits because you get promoted, you don't lose benefits because you go up. Um you if you already have it, I I can't see why
we would penalize on that. And it's not such a arbitrary, it's not such an astronomical amount. Sure. I'll get the I'll get the details and I'll bring it back to the board for the future or have direct Mr. Mant to do so.
Yes. Just wanted to I think this through our whoever our permanent superintendent ends up being. I'm trying to reflect back on when we hired Dr. go and I don't remember a tiered amount of
money like if you if you're coming in with a doctorate to be our superintendent you get this much if you have your masters you get this much if you you know don't have that advanced degree you get this much so just I think that's something you know earlier we had a speaker asking you know what our job
description is well as fiscal oversight in policy so I think that the implications of decisions we make today could very well affect decisions of of tomorrow. Thank you, board member Thrower. Dr. James, and I would echo those
sentiments. So, my concern would be that we're setting a standard um that we we will have to maintain. And so, um Dr. Gullet received a superintendent salary and the job description is not clear as to whether a doctor is required or not. Right? It doesn't say a doctorate is
isn't necessary. And so, we also did not then say if you have it, we will pay you a supplement for having the degree. And so I do believe if we do this, we're going to be setting a standard that u we will then pay. Obviously all things can be negotiated, but we're going to be setting a unspoken standard that we will
pay a superintendent um a an extra amount of money for their degree when the likelihood is that most every candidate if we do a national search will have a doctorate degree who applies. So um also at the paygrade 97
the only other individuals who sit at that are our legal and they all have doctorates but because their doctorate is a requirement for their job they don't get it because they have to have a JD to have the job.
So, this board member would say that at a minimum, this is a tabled conversation for another time, but I would be more of an advocate to just say that we are approving the contract and we are not going to set any further standard for additional pay. This is the pay that we're committing to. Um, and we'll move
forward. Reverend Cummings, let me say this. No, there was not a stipen per se added to Dr. Go's contract. However, I was in the negotiations. that consideration was taken in the fact that she did have a doctoral degree. So
when we look at that again, we we're gonna have to come back and look at all this again. So I'm not advocating one way or the other, but I'm just stating that um you're going to pay for what you get. You're going to pay with what you get. So and I think we'll just ne when it comes time for a superintendent, we will negotiate that and it will just
become a part of the cost. But the add-ons can become a lot when you're adding on this and adding on that. And so I just think that I think we approved a contract. There's a price in the contract that we've all agreed to. That would be my recommendation. Personally, I just wanted to let the board know why
I did not include it in the contract because I hadn't received specific authorization to do so. And so, uh, from there, then the board will, um, thank you for your direction. Any other comments, concerns from the from Attorney Powers? I have nothing
further. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Attorney Powers. Dr. Campbell, thank you. And unfortunately, I see the community member who spoke about this um has already left this evening, but I know Dr. Glet has been doing a book study with many of her uh executive team
and principles, and the board was also gifted with the book this evening. I've actually already been reading the book and I'm almost finished with it as well. So, I wanted to speak to this specifically and actually I'm going to reference this book a couple of times. The book is called The Wisdom of the
Bullfrog by William McRaven. And Miss Dela Cruz this evening has come to us now twice to talk specifically about the dissolution potentially of the federal DOE and what that impact could be financially specifically on special
education services. So, board, I'm just going to say that chapter 11 of this book is called Hope Is Not a Strategy. And so, I understand that we can have a lot of good ideas and are very hopeful that our students with
special needs will not be left in the cold as federal changes occur in Washington DC. But I do think we need to have reality conversations uh and not use hope as a strategy and just consider what the ramifications of that might actually be
uh as we move into our budget conversations. Um also since this is a full schoolboard meeting, I have a couple of items I wanted to address specifically about our most recent schoolboard meeting, which was just a week ago, which is unusual because we don't normally have schoolboard meetings
a week apart. Uh but based on something that occurred in that particular meeting, I board if we have consensus, I recommend for future meetings where expulsions are pulled by a board member that the principal who recommended the
expulsion also be present for the off-air portion of the meeting. I think that's imperative. I think we can understand why we need to have that occur. And I have spoken with that principal who was told not to be there or that it wasn't necessary I should say not not to be there but it wasn't
necessary. So board if we have consensus I think if there are items off air for expulsions and we have a principal that has made that recommendation we need to hear from them directly and I know that that would have occurred um last week. Um another item I wanted to address is
where I had told folks uh that I was I was going to bring this up. I I know that a national search is something that at least we've we are hearing from folks that they are interested in, but I also understand that the national search
potentially is going to cost us a lot of money. We've heard 50, 60, $70,000 potentially from a community member who just stated that in their comments publicly this evening. So I'm curious board if we would be interested in entertaining the idea of conducting our
own community survey. That is a part of what a national search firm would do. I pulled the old community survey that Ray and Associates did and pulled those results um previously and also know that there have been surveys recently
conducted in St. John's County and Monroe counties that they're currently selecting their superintendent. And so apart from actually spending money on that part of a national search, I wanted to see if the board would be interested
in us bringing and us actually creating that survey. The board bringing in our questions that we would like to see asked of the community and leave it open for a month and then see what happens. uh but that at least would get that information out there. So while we are
certainly hearing and I believe so uh wholeheartedly that a national search is important, if the majority of our community does not believe that's important, then we could know that in advance and actually use that to guide our our decision making. So we do have a
work session coming up on May 8th. I know that I believe that we still have a topic that we were just going to leave on every work session that was going to be superintendent search. So I don't know if we want to submit questions or sample questions by May 1st so it can be
published or if we want to come with ideas if we all agree that we potentially could work on a community survey ourselves. So I'll leave that for pondering and then you can address it potentially in your um board comments. But the last thing that I wanted to
express this evening u as chair as you and I've discussed there are advantages and disadvantages to the order that we speak u board members and who gets to comment first and traditionally during board comment time the first board member who speaks
is is right here. So u and again here we are. Uh, so there are advantages and disadvantages to this order, but on Tuesday evening, there were comments made that followed mine that seemed to express concerns related to sitebased
budgeting. And that's something that we've been discussing for four years now. And so what was most concerning to me was that the statements made essentially projected fear toward the process for our employees. fear of the
unknown, fear of something that's hard. And we we essentially projected that Marian County can't do hard things. That's if you listen back to the way that was portrayed in that board meeting, it was projected, at least in
an opinion here, that we essentially projected that Marian County can't do hard things. So quoting again from the book I referenced previously by Mr. McCraven or I guess um he's definitely got a title beyond that because he was a military uh Navy Seal but he he quotes
to say every great leader must exhibit a sense of boldness because the rank and file don't want to follow a timid soul. So, I regret that I didn't speak up that evening because after the comments were made after that, I I felt that there was
something else that needed to be said because we do have schools that are modeling this and we do have principles that are adopting it and love the idea and know the benefits. And while I understand there are still questions and
concerns about what the um what the trickle down can be or I guess trickle up from high school down in feeder patterns and and what our ESSE students are able to receive from a funding standpoint versus uh other classifications. I regretted that I
didn't speak up at that time. So I just want to say that Marian County can do hard things. high performing districts are already doing them. High performing districts are already using sitebased budgeting. And if high performing
districts can use that, so can we. And I'll finish with another quote from the same book. Be decisive. Don't take too much counsel of your fears. Be thoughtful, but not paralyzed by
indecision. And that'll conclude my board comments. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. All right, we're going to stop right decisions. We have a motion in a second. Are we getting ready to vote here at some point? We No, we only voted on the two items. On the agenda item. No, we
already voted on both agenda items. Yeah, we voted on both board comments. I do think it was confusing though because the way it was brought up by Attorney Powers, it kind of felt like it was a votable item, but I think he was just seeking us to give consensus as to whether we wanted to add it or not. I
was just including that uh during my comments that that that was something that came up that I did not include within the contract discussion and it was something that if the board had consensus that they wanted to direct Miss Morant that the board could do so or if it was subject to a future conversation the board could have that future conversation but I simply wanted
to let the board know that I hadn't included it in the contract. Thank you. because we we talked about a lot of things and what we were going to wait for an upcoming meeting versus what we were voting on and then going off into a completely different topic. So, I felt
like if it was getting more difficult for me to follow that it might be good to bring it all back around at this point. Thank you board member throw thrower for uh refreshing us. So, uh with that we'll continue board comments. Um Dr. James uh
sure thank you. Um, I am grateful tonight that we made a decision on an interim superintendent and I'm grateful we made that decision for the next calendar year. I'm looking forward to the work of Dr. Gullet and Dr. Brewer together over the next two and a half months at this point as they transition
through and make some difficult decisions for this district. And I'm looking forward to what we will see happen in the coming months um once Dr. Glet departs us and Dr. Brewer spreads her wings. I'm excited to see where that
will take us and I feel confident that this board is going to continue to make difficult decisions. And so um I fully support a survey Dr. Campbell. Um, I would actually um maybe I don't know the survey that you're I haven't seen it um
recently at least, but I would make the recommendation that we attach that old survey maybe to the agenda and then the board can use that as a baseline and add or delete maybe as we see fit. But I would fully support doing a informal
formal but informal survey throughout our community. I would love to launch it ideally before the end of school because we always know we kind of lose some juice over the summer with our um communities as schools are out and we're not able to see our kids every day. So, if that is even feasible, I would love
to see that occur before the end of school so that we can get that out and leave it open for maybe until, you know, the end of the fiscal year, June 30th, and then this board in July can review the results and have productive conversation about what the community wants. knowing if we do a national search, a survey like that will either
probably have to be duplicated or potentially we could use the one we already did, but I we're going to go that direction more than likely regardless. So, I would love to see what the community's thoughts are. Um those would be my two cents. Let's just take the one we used before and then as a board add and delete. So, um those are
my two cents on that. But on an upcoming a board agenda, if there's space to add it, I'm on board with that for sure. Um, regarding the off-airs, I I think principles are always welcome that we've seen principles in the audience um, in
the last few few meetings off air my for contesting. I would say I'm not sure we can make a principal come to a meeting, but certainly extending an opportunity. Um, it's not discouraging that that's my point. Yeah. Um I mean yeah I think a
principal is welcome I I would hope to an all fair discipline conversation. Yeah absolutely. Um I will reiterate I think the important thing here is and something that we have continued to work on the packet that's brought to the board for expulsion which the public
does not see but the packets need to be better. So if we are going to expel a student, the packet needs to have all the meat and potatoes in it because that is what the board is making a decision on the packet. The board is not making a
decision on any of the other um comments, remarks. We're looking at the packet and so that's that is the piece to the puzzle that I need to ensure is continue to be strengthened. Um and I am grateful we're going to move forward as a board. am ready to see this
district continue to grow and flourish and work towards um our achieve 2026 goals. And that's all I have. Thank you, Dr. James. Uh Reverend Cummings. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um while we're talking about the off air comments, again, I want to thank the community
once again for coming out uh tonight and expressing your concerns and interest in this process that we're we're entering to and um just sharing your concerns. the the community's voice is valuable and uh should be heard. While we're
talking about the discipline process, since I've been on this board, and I think uh Miss Dora would echo this, my one of my biggest biggest pains has been that our discipline process be consistent and that due process is done
completely and it's done the right way. So, I don't have an issue with um principles coming, but um I just want to make sure that we follow the process that those packets, that's what we look at. We use everything that's in the packet to make a determination, witness
statements, uh staff statements, everything. Um and we have to um matter of fact I would I would even like to see something added to the packet which would be if there is a video a summation of the video in the packet because that helps us to make a a good
decision other than just some other arbitrary things. So I I don't have an issue with the um the principles coming but um they can't come and then try to add extra weight or think say things that they did not put into that packet. That would not be fair.
That would not be fair at all. If they've already stated one time in the packet, come here to the meeting and and then say something additional doesn't it's not going to jive with me. Right. So, with that being said, um I I heard Dr. Campbell's statements about the
survey. Um we did do surveys last time, but we didn't do the survey. The actual um firm Ray and Associates did the survey. Um, I think looking at those surveys could tell us a lot, but a lot has
happened since those surveys were done. Co happened. This district went through some changes since that time. So, if we I just don't want to take for face value um using that as a as the only model for surveying the community because the
community has changed since that time. So, we can use it as a as a something to look at, but um I still think that we have to um the way Ray and Asian Associates did the survey, they were able to reach and and some of the people are here tonight,
they were able to reach the greater community. We have a problem within our district of sometimes how we send out surveys that we don't touch the whole community. We hit parts of the community. The the thing that I want to look for is that how this survey get
distributed. if if we're going to do a survey that we touch every stakeholders, every group because written associates, that was their job. That's what we paid them to do to make sure that they didn't hit select groups of people, but they hit everybody that was interested in being a part of it. So, I'm fine with
surveys long as we touching everybody and that we're not just hitting certain groups of people because everybody matters. All kids, all kids in this district matter. So, I'm fine with that. I also heard um um Dr. Campbell's statement about the
site based budgeting and that it may have that some of the comments that may have been made may have sounded like we were imparting fear. I I don't agree with that comment but that's she has the right to feel that way or maybe that's how she heard it. Um my my comments
concerning sitebased budgeting is that um sometimes we or the power should be make decisions and have not gotten the input just like we just got through talking uh the input from those who are doing the work and um we've told them
we've mandated that this is going to happen and folk haven't talked to the people in the trenches to see how that affects them. Um I after that meeting I got a lot of phone calls and a lot of emails and a lot of texts saying thank you for finally saying something that we
couldn't say because we didn't want to kick against something that we hadn't had any opportunity to put input into. So all I'm going to say about this is that whenever we there there are high performance districts that are using sitebased budgeting but there are also
high performing districts that aren't using sitebased budget. So we can't just use that as the end all and say that that we won't be a high performing district if we don't if we use sightbased budgeting. You can still use sitebased budgeting and still be a low performing district because there are low performing districts that use
sightbased budgeting. All I'm going to say is that we need to get the input from those people who are doing the work and make sure that those people are wellversed in doing the work because I don't think there's there's anything that they can't do and I don't think they're fearful of doing
it. But is it going to work for Marian County? Just because it works in another county doesn't mean that it's it's proper for Marian County. Just because other counties have seen success with it doesn't mean that's going to be successful to Marian County. We need everything on the table that's going to
help Marian County be successful. That's going to help the students in Marian County be successful. And if it's sightbased budgeting, fine. If it's not sites budgeting, fine. But whatever it is that's going to help us be successful, that's what we need to do. And we don't need to ram anything down
anybody's throat without getting the proper input from all the stakeholders. Staff are stakeholders as well. And sometimes we overlook the staff. Those are my comments for tonight. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Board member Thrower. Thank you. And again, appreciation for
everyone that came out and spoke tonight or not. Um you're all seen, heard, and and recognized. Um, speaking of the the survey, I think one of the strengths of having a third an independent third party do it is that it was more trusted
uh by employees. And again, when I said alluded earlier that there's wounds that need to continue to heal. Um, people folks worry about retaliation. They worry about well, can this be tracked? Can they really is it really anonymous? So, I just think it's
important to keep putting that that out there. I one thing I'm 100% in agreement on is that we definitely need to do probably more than than one survey. Uh we really want to reach as many people as we can, especially since you don't
get to vote. So, I want to hear and I'm sure other board members want to continue to hear from our constituents about their anything that that you want to know or or you're concerned about or complimentary of and in public education. You know, we we all pay
taxes, including all of us sitting up here. Every decision that we make affects us as well. So, again, it is it is a partnership. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to sit up here. And just for the record, it is admirable.
Admiral, I want to say admirable admiral William McCraven, US Navy retired. Uh this is the book we've been talking about, The Wisdom of the Bullfrog. Leadership made simple but not so easy. So, we've got some uh pretty good role models we're trying to live up to. And
I'll finish by saying uh welcome Dr. Brewer. Uh, thank you for taking on this huge lift. Please know that you have a lot of people behind you. The board voted unanimously to support you in this contract for the next year and I very
much look forward to working with you, continuing to work with you. Thank you. Thank you, board member Thrower. Um, I just have a few uh brief comments I want to share. Uh, Dr. Campbell, I too would be in support of a survey. Um that is actually on my list as we moved um into
a permanent superintendent position. So I would be in favor of that. Um and as much as I hate to say this, I we're talking about um disciplinary packets, expulsion packets, I think there's some work that needs to be done
um in that area, too. And I I I really hate to ask that because the expulsion packet is large already. So, um our administrators already have a a heavy lift um when they bring an expulsion
forward. But I do think there's room for improvement um in that when when a situation comes back or a after the fact and then there's more information that as a board member I was not aware of. It wasn't part of the packet. We didn't ask it. You know, I don't I don't know
exactly what um where the breakdown is. Uh but that's definitely important that we are making uh the best decision for that student. Um so anyway, I I look forward to further conversation. This board continues um to have a lot of
conversation about expulsion referrals. It is um one of the many things I lose sleep over at night. um making sure that uh did I vote for the right decision for what's best for that student. So I welcome um more conversation if
principles are listening and you have recommendations on how we can improve that uh please reach out to me. Uh you know I'm open for and looking forward to to making that process uh better and more efficient.
Um, I want to say I wasn't I'm not fearful at all um of sightbased budgeting. What I am is concerned. Um, it is another heavy lift that we're asking our staff, our school
secretaries, and our principles. Um, and we've had a lot of turnover um in the position of our secretaries. It already is a very cumbersome um position. And so Marian County in the past and and I come from the position
those of you that don't know was a teacher in the district for a very long time. Marian County has a history of rolling out new things without sufficient training and oh I see some heads nodding in the audience. Thank you. Um I want to make sure that we are
not pushing this on our staff without the appropriate training practice whatever that looks like. I have not used I have not done that but I hear that it is it is difficult and it's time consuming at least as you learn the process. So um I'm not fearful at all.
Marian County does hard things every single day. Um but I do I feel um a level of of protecting our staff to make sure they have the tools that they need before they begin um this process. I do
think there's a lot of value in sightbased budgeting. So, I'm looking forward to what that looks like. I just want to make sure that we don't hurry through that transition. Um, let me see. I did want to say ending on something positive, uh, visited Hill
Press School today, their annual art show. Uh if you need an uplifting experience, I think I say this every year. Uh it is absolutely magical, vibrant, positive, renewing, all of the things. Uh to see what the students
create for the Hillrest Art Show. So, if you haven't been, um it it closed out today, but I encourage you to put it on your calendar for next year. It is a great great experience. And lastly, I want to welcome Dr. Brewer. um just so
excited to have you as our interim superintendent and as I visited schools uh this last week, the staff is very excited to have you on board. So, we look forward I look forward um to what you bring to Marian County Schools as
the interim superintendent. So, thank you. If there's not if there's no further discussion, may I have a motion to adjourn? Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Uh seconded by uh Dr. Campbell. All those
in favor say I. I.