the May 13, 2025 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. At this time, Mor, will you
please read the board commitment statement? Certainly, Madam Chair. We are the Maring County School District Leadership Team. When we come together to work, we are efficient, effective, and productive. Our three most care important characteristics are dedicated,
transparent, and individually responsible. To work well together, we must demonstrate respect, confront reality, and be accountable. We will always put students first, and we will leave a legacy of success. Thank Thank you. 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 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 p.m. The procedures applicable for each one are on a separate sheet. Good evening,
Miss Gonzalez. Please call the role. Dr. Allison Campbell, District 1, here. Miss Lorie Conrad, District 2, here. Mr. Eric Cummings, District 3, here. Mrs. Nancy Thrower, District 4, here. Dr.
Sarah James, District 5, here. Shawn Martin, Denellan High School, here. Dr. Diane Gullet, superintendent, here. Mr. Jeremy Powers, school board attorney here. Thank you. Dr. Gullet who's going to share our inspiration and pledge this
evening. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the board. Great to see you tonight. I am pleased to have our very own rookie teacher of the year from Marian County, Courtney Morris here with us tonight. And she is going to be introduced, although she doesn't really need an introduction. I just did that. But from uh Miss Magal, and I want to
thank Miss Magamal for being here and all the work they do to support our our teachers. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair Conrad, school board members, superintendent Dr. Gollet. As a part of our public education foundation's Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program, we
have the Rookie of the Year award for teachers with less than four years experience. And to be named Rookie of the Year for our district is a very competitive process. Starting in September of each school year through school-based nominations, which then continue on to teachers submitting
portfolio work, they are interviewed by a selections committee and then surprise classroom observations. all culminating in a district winner being named Rookie of the Year, receiving that coveted Golden Apple, and becoming a part of the prestigious Golden Apple Academy. I am
proud to be welcome welcoming our 2025 rookie teacher of the year, Miss Courtney Morris from Stanton Wearsdale Elementary. Good evening, Dr. Gullet, school board members, and community members. It's truly an honor to stand before you tonight as Marian County's
2025 Rookie Teacher of the Year. If I had to sum up my journey with Marian County, both as a student and now as a teacher, it would be this. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. I'm a proud product of this district, having attended Harborview Elementary, Lake
Middle School, and Lake High School. My mother, a longtime Marian County educator, first inspired my dream to be a teacher. That dream took shape in high school through volunteer work tied to my IB diploma. I kept returning to the classroom even after graduation because
I felt a deep sense of purpose and belonging. In 2017, I joined Stanton Wearsdale Elementary School as a pair professional. From day one, I knew that I was home. I built strong connections with students and learned the power of simply be being someone in their corner,
something I once needed myself. With the support of our MESP union, I earned my AA degree debt-free and then pursu pursued a bachelor's degree in elementary education at St. Leo University, made possible by the public education foundation's teacher to be
scholarship. Later, I became the family engagement liaison, gaining insight to the vital roles families play in student success. My principal worked around my college skag became my biggest cheerleaders. One of the hardest parts of becoming a
teacher is the unpaid final internship. But Marian County launched a paid internship program for employees and that support changed everything. I completed my internship at Stan, the very place where my journey began. Today I stand here not just as a
teacher but as proof of what happens when a district believes in its people. I'm grateful to the public education foundation for programs like the teacher tobe scholarship grants for great ideas and tools for teachers. I've been inspired by the golden apple academy whose pay apple paper scissors event
empowers teachers to connect and grow. At Stanton I dreamed of starting a video production club and with the help of our administration and 21st century funding that dream became a reality. Today over 70 students explore filming, editing and acting. This year we brought home 22
awards from Marian County's media festival including a best of show. Teaching is challenging, humbling, and deeply fulfilling. I've learned you don't need to have all the answers. You just need heart, purpose, and the belief that what we do matters because it truly
does. Every day I strive to be a role model for my students, for my fellow rookie teachers, and for future educators who, like me, are chasing a dream. Thank you. And now, please join me for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Courtney, can we get you and Megan to wait just a minute? We'll come down and grab a picture with you.
both center. That's the photo caption. One, two, three. Couple more. Thank you. Okay, Dr. Will, I sorry I turn it back over to you. Okay, great. Thank you, chair. I recommend approval of the
agenda for the May 13, 2025 school board meeting with the materials in the board packet. Those materials distributed to board members at the meeting and the audio recording included as part of the official record of the meeting with the exception of the following items.
D24.1, D24.2, D24.3, D24.4, D24.5, D24.6, 6, D24.7, D24.8,
D24.9, D24.10 and D24.11 that have been placed under discussion regular agenda items and item C21.1 has also been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items.
Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Glet. May I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation? Second. Thank you, Reverend Cummings and Dr. Campbell. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5-0. May
I have a motion to approve the minutes for the April 3rd, 2025 special school board meeting? Motion to approve the April 3rd minutes. Thank you, Miss Thrower. May I have a second? Second. Um, thank you, Dr. Campbell. Are there any additions or corrections? Any discussion? All those
in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the minutes for the April 3rd, 2025 administrative briefing and work session? Motion to approve. Thank you, Dr. James. Thank you, Reverend Cummings.
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 May 13, 2025 schoolboard meeting ran in the Ocala Gazette on May 2nd, 2025. The proof of publication has been attached in Borox under proof of publication. Thank you, Miss Gonzalez. Good evening, Attorney Powers. Please explain the rules governing persons who
wish to address the board this evening. Thank you. 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 school board and school district matters. A written summary of these procedures are available from the table in the lobby. Public speaker forms are
also located on the same table. The completed forms were due to the school board's clerk no later than 5:40 p.m. This evening, speakers will be called prior to the business portion of the school board's meeting in the order of receipt by the 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. 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 a statement is provided 24 hours
in advance. The board is here to listen to your comments only. You may be directed to an administrative staff member following the conclusion of your comments for further assistance to address your concerns. If there are matters dealing with student discipline, including expulsions, they'll be
scheduled at the conclusion of the televised portion of this meeting. Parents may address the board regarding a 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 two. Uh, Mr. Steven Lill. Good evening, board members, Dr. Gollet. My name is Steve Lillac and I'm here as executive director of the National Alliance on Mental illness otherwise
known as NAMI for Marian County. It's so good to see familiar faces on the dis. It was my privilege to work for 20 years with Marian County Public Schools and there's so many great things happening in our for our students in this district. NAMI is the nation's leading voice on mental health and our
organization is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental health challenges in their families and that of course includes school-aged children. With May being mental health awareness month, I wanted to share a few statistics relating to our young people
and these are nationwide. NAMI reports that one in six US youth aged 6 to 17 experience a mental health disorder each year. They also note that many me mental health conditions first appear in youth and young adults with 50% of all mental
health conditions occurring before age 14. And in 2023, more than one in five high school students seriously considered attempting suicide. That's 20%. But there is hope. NAMI Maring County has been serving the
citizens of Maring County for 37 years. And our three priorities are education, support, and advocacy. We have free weekly classes and support groups for adult family members and peer groups and provide muchneeded mental health resources and advocacy to our community. And I'm most proud to say that we began
a partnership with the school district in 2023 to begin working in several of our high schools and starting NAMI on campus clubs. Students in these clubs share what they have learned about mental health with their peers. They also advocate for improved mental health services on their campuses. In addition
to our high school initiatives, I'm also proud to say that Nami Maring County has been recognized by the youth philanthropy and action classes in our middle schools. I want to take this opportunity to give a big thank you to Dr. Gellet, the school board, and the mental health and wellness department
for making community partnerships a priority in our district. You have welcomed NAMI Maring County into our high schools to provide the ending the silence training and to facilitate the NAMI on campus clubs. We've also presented at parent partnership events and have had information tables at the
magnet expo and at career fairs in the high schools. NAMI Maring County was named the state affiliate of the year in 2024 and it was in part because of our strong community partnerships. So, thank you all for making our partnership a priority and we look forward to
expanding our reach in the near future. Thank you, Mr. Lily. Miss Melanie Slaughter. Melanie Slaughter. S L A U G Ht. I am here today at the request of several
grandparents, parents, um, blended families who have realized now that graduation announcements have come out that Forest and Vanguard have a graduation at the same date at the same time and they are upset at the process
because they really didn't know about it. I understand from talking to the principles that they kind of pick when day they want to graduate, but the the people that have called me are asking for the board to try to facilitate them
thinking about the other families that are impacted. I think Forest and Vanguard have the most conflicts with people having similar grandchildren or stepg grandchildren or stepparents or something like that with children in
both of those schools because of IB and CCAP. And so I told them there's nothing you can do about it now. You can't just come up and change the graduation dates. But for next year, if we could please not have Forest and Vanguard on the same date at the same time, it would be
greatly appreciated. And they will stop calling me hopefully. All right, that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Lauder. That's it. Okay, thank you very much. The school district used a construction management delivery method included a
including a guaranteed maximum price to perform construction work on the following projects to allow the district to purchase materials through the owner direct purchase process to save sales tax. The construction manager needs to return the funds to the owner via deductive change order. The
superintendent has signed and approved the change orders per board policy 6345. The superintendent is authorized to approve and execute any construction contract change order that will increase the construction contract by $25,000 or
less or that will decrease the construction contract amount provided that approval will be in her judgment in the best interest of the board. Such change orders will be binding upon execution by the superintendent. The superintendent shall report each change
order that she approved to the board at the board meeting that follows her approval. The superintendent's approval of the change orders will be entered into the official minutes of the board meeting. Um, our first item forformational
purposes is compensation amendment number two to the construction manager contract guaranteed maximum price for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection for building 1 through 4 related to construction of new high school CCC. Change order number three,
amendment number two, project 24-105. The sales tax saving is $444,623. The guaranteed maximum price for remodel at the West Bay area into an HVAC and welding industrial lab and classroom space at Maran Technical
College. Change order number one, work authorization number 7, project 24-129. The sales tax saving is $6,457.13. Guaranteed maximum price for district-wide sophet installation. Change order number one. Work
authorization number three. Project 24-115. Sales tax savings $1,696.77. Central Warehouse awarded Dade Paper and Bag LLC Imperial Dade. Item number 20, spoon combo kits, black
spoon, straws, and napkins. The item number 21, fork combo kits, forks, straws, and napkins on bid 4107MF, school cafeteria products for central warehouse term contract. Due to
tariffs, there have been a per case increase of $3.38 per case, increasing per case cost for the spoon and fork combo kits from $114 to $142 per case.
Price increase for bid 4107 MF school cafeteria products for central warehouse term contract. And that concludes ourformational items for today. Board, may I have a motion to approve high school CCC attendance
resoning? So move. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Second. Thank you, board member Thrower. Um, Superintendent Gullet. Thank you. The approval of the high school CCC attendance resoning complies with Florida statute
10001.41. Thank you. Thank you. I declare a public hearing. Is there anyone present who wishes to address the high school CCC attendance resoning? Okay. Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed?
Motion passes. 50. May I have a motion to approve the K2 ELA intervention Lexia Learning Systems Lexi Core 5 reading? May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you,
Dr. James. Second. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Um, Dr. Glet. Thank you. In instructional materials are adopted according to a process defined in state statute statute 10006.28. 28 as well as
board policy 2521 and this course of action is recommended for adoption tonight. Thank you. Thank you. I declare a public hearing. Is there anyone present who wishes to address the board regarding the K2 ELA
intervention that is recommended for adoption this evening? Okay. Seeing none, is there any discussion from the board? No. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the
K through K4 K through4 mathematics intervention Hufflin Mifflin Hardcore Florida Waggle math. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Uh thank you board member Thor. May I have a second? Thank you. Um Reverend Cummings, Dr. Glet. Thank you. Once again, board
instructional materials are adopted according to process defined in state statute 10006.28. 28 and board policy 2521. And again, this course is recommended for adoption this evening. Thank you. Thank you. I declare a public hearing. Is there
anyone present who wishes to address the board regarding the K through 4 mathematics intervention that is recommended for adoption this evening? Okay. Seeing none, board, is there any discussion? Okay. Seeing none, all those
in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes 50. May I have a motion to approve consent agenda items C10.1 through C20.1 with the exceptions of items D24.1,
D24.2, D24.3, D24.4, D24.5, D24.6, D24.7, D24.8, D24.9, D24.10, 10 and D
24.11.11 that have been placed under discussion regular agenda items and item C21.1 that has been pulled and placed under discussion pulled agenda items. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you board member Thrower.
Thank you Dr. James. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes 50. Moving on to alternative placement. Before addressing expulsion matters, I
wish to acknowledge that board members have received the alternative placement list for students through April 16th, 2025. Miss Gonzalez, are there any parents who have submitted a timely request to speak on their child's behalf? No, Madam Chair. All right. Thank you. May I have a motion to
approve the expulsion of student JD25-256, JD25-260E, JD25-267, JD25-270, JD25-271, JD25-272,
JD25-276, JD25-284 for the remainder of the 2024 2025 school year and the entire 202520 2026 school year. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you, Dr. James. Second. Thank you. Thank you, Dr.
Campbell. Uh, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 50. May I have a motion to approve the expulsion of student JD25-255, JD25-261,
JD25-264, JD25-265, JD25-277, and JD25-283 with off-campus virtual learning for the remainder of the 2024 2025 school year and the first, second,
and the entire 2025 2026 school year. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you, Dr. James. Second. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. All those in favor say, "I." I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5.
Now, moving on to discussion items. May I have a motion to approve the first amendment with Sengage Learning Incorporated? So move. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Second. Thank you, Miss Thrower. Dr. Gully, you have some information for us
on this item. I certainly do. Thank you, Madam Chair. This this item um involves the use of digital library materials, including our career and technical education programs. The cost of $250,000. Miss RLE is here to provide additional information on this item.
Thank you. She started down and then she turned back. Yes, she's coming. The first amendment with Sgage Learning will allow us to purchase the Gail database and Gail virtual reference library which will allow students and teachers access to credible and
up-to-date digital library resources such as ebooks and articles. These resources are used by middle and high school students and students enrolled in CTE programs. The original amount was $250 for the 2425 fiscal year and the
amendment will allow us to extend the contractual term to end June 30th, 2026. So far, we've encumbered $73,570.74, leaving $176,42926. This year, our students have completed 129,325 searches, which is an increase
of 18% from the 2324 school year. Thank you, Miss Reto. Is there any discussion on this item? Yes, Dr. James. Thank you. Um, and I'm going to make some comments in comments, but specifically to this item, I want to clarify. We are not
spending an additional 250,000. we are extending the term of a contract that we've already allocated the money for. Um, and I don't think, and this is kind of something I'm going to talk about later, but I don't think that reads that way when you look at board docs at all. Um, it looks like this is a new
$250,000 item. And in and honestly, unless you really dig into the meat and potatoes, you don't know that. So, for the record, I want to clarify, which you did in your narrative as well, but this is simply extending the contract term of money that's already been allocated.
That's the way I'm understanding it. That's correct. That's all. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. James. Anything further from the board? Okay, seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes.
5-0. May I have a motion to approve the independent contractor agreement with speech language pathologists? May I have a motion? So move. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. May I have a second? Second. Thank you, Dr. James. Dr. Glet, you have some
information for us on this item. I do. And Miss Rele staying at the podium as well this time. Uh the cost for this request is approximately $1.1 million. And that's because we are seeking your approval to um enlist 12 independent speech language pathologists that you
know we use to ensure that we're meeting the needs of our students with um indiv individualized education plans. And Miss RLE has additional details on this item. Thank you. Yes. This board item includes independent contractor agreements with speech and language pathologists. These
contracts will allow the ESC department to contract with 12 independent speech language pathologists for the 2526 school year and may extend into ESY for 2026. These agreements will allow us to comply with students individual
education plans by providing appropriate therapies and a free appropriate public education to eligible Marian County school students. The total amount of these contracts is $1,69,884. Thank you, Miss RLE. Board, is there any discussion?
Okay, I just had one quick question. How do we arrive at the hourly rate for speak for a speech pathologist? So, um there was actually a recent increase to their hourly rate. Um, I know that, um, human resources, they completed a salary
study. We looked at several other districts, um, and we just needed to make sure that we could compete. Um, so we did just recently increase their salary. Um, and I don't have the chart in front of me right now. It was $57 an hour if I remember correctly. 57. Yeah.
And I it went up um $2 an hour. I don't I can send it to you. It's $2 an hour, I think, for years 0 through 10 and then a dollar an hour um for 10 years plus. Okay. I was I was trying to figure out
um if that's an extra hour I mean an extra year of school like a master's degree. Do you know is that correct? Uh it the salary was increased um across the board. Okay. I was just I was trying to compare it to our staff that have a master's degree and what their
compensation is and what their annual salary is and compared to our speed speech pathologist. So I will I can get with you later on that. So thank you very much. All right. Any further questions? All right. Thank you board. All those in favor say I. I. Any
opposed? Motion passes. 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the second amendment to the athletic training and service agreement with the University of Florida Board of Trustees? Motion to approve. Thank you, Miss Thrower. May I have a second? Second. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Dr. Gullet, you
have some information to share with us on this item. I I do board and Mr. Tucker's coming forward. I I I want to before I talk about this item, I want to congratulate Mr. Tucker um because he has just been recognized for the great work he's doing with athletics. So, I just want to say thank you for being here and thank you for your work for our
students. So, this item board is approximately $111,000 and uh you remember that we brought this forward before. We currently have two um trainers employed by University of Florida and Mr. Tucker is going to provide some additional details and and the requirement for
these services. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Tucker. Good evening. So this this contract we actually entered into this back I want to say it was like 2019 originally. Um so we're kind of in the second cycle of this. Um
the purpose behind this contract is UF Health provides trainers are hard to find as it is, right? And so as our trainers, we we employ five trainers that belong to the school board, right? And so the purpose of the contract with
UF Health is they supply trainers as our trainers attrition out. So currently we have one at Westport High School and North Mar High School. Um the purpose behind this contract is they charge us for the hours that we use them. So um I
think right now at Westport it's 30 hours and North Marian is 25 hours. So it's just based on their athletic needs. Um and that's kind of how that contract works. They also supply a physician that signs off on the training of the uh standing orders that our um our trainers
have to operate under. It's basically a list of of things that they can do um under the guidance of a physician and their physician comes down and and make sure that our trainers are eligible and that they're certified to to do all those things. They make them they run
them through a list of things that that they make them do in front of the physician and then that's it. Um and he signs off on their standing order. So they provide that at no charge to us. Um so that's pretty much how the contract works. um when the new high school
opens, they will fill a void. If one of our trainers doesn't roll over into that school, they will fill that spot um with one of their trainers. So, that's currently how that works. Right. Thank you, Mr. Tucker Board. Any conversation
or discussion on that item? Okay. All right. Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 50. May I have a motion to approve the first amendment to Turan LLC? May I have
a motion? Motion to approve amendment for Turn It In. Turn it in. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Um, we had a motion from Dr. Campbell. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Dr. James. Dr. Gollet, you have some
information for us on that item. I do, Madam Chair, and Dr. Ber is going to come forward to share additional items. But you remember before we had some conversation around this board about how this software is used to support our students in learning. They can detect the use of artificial intelligence um
and given and it also provides um feedback for writing and I want to also mention that it is included in our advanced coursework as well. So um Dr. Brewer, thank you. Good evening. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Gola. I wanted to brides provide some clarity because we
have two programs that you you just approved one which is called packback. So I wanted to just provide some clarity of the differences between the two. The what we're asking you to approve tonight is turn it in and this agreement is in the amount of
$55,000. This would be um paid for by the schools that choose to select to use this service and the funds are generated by the students in these advanced courses like Dr. golet stated and so this would be part of the funds that they earn for passing these exams. Those
are the funds that would be used to purchase this particular software and what this service does for the students is it's a true plagiarism detector. Um whereas Packback the other service that we have is a writing tutor and really helps to develop the writer and helps to
helps the teachers with grading assessments. Um but the big difference is where both can be a little bit of a plagiarism detector. Turn it in sole purpose is to submit students submit their work to a greater greater um platform and it's a true plagiarism
detector which is needed for our exams um for both IB international baloria and our Cambridge assessments. That's all. Thank you Dr. Brewer. Board any comment or discussion on this item? Yep. Dr. James, thank you.
Um, when when I look at it, it looks like just about 50% of the money, I guess 60% of the money was used this year. So, what what are we going to do next year to increase because we're going to are we rolling over the
23,000 that was from the first agreement? That money was written into the agreement, but we don't have to spend all of that all of those funds. And so we only the only um money that was spent were the schools I elected to use it
because once we started the agreement process, some schools decided to use Packback as their plagiarism detector um where others chose to use Turn It In. Okay. It just looks like it's a little underutilized based on the usage this year and it was approved in August so they had it most of the school year I
would hope. And so I'm just kind of wondering what is the teacher's hesitation in using it? um because it doesn't seem like it's being maximized because the money is there if it's coming from the the funds that are generated from the students passing the exam. So, it would appear to me the
teachers, the principles are just prioritizing that funding, that discretionary funding for other things besides turn it in. Well, they saw that they schools saw the value in the Packback plagiarism detector. And so, really, it's a school-based decision which platform they used. Um and that's
that's why schools chose Yeah. to use those funds in other ways. So they're just they're making a slight based decision how to send the money. Yes, ma'am. Madam Chair, yes. Well, it sounds like they're making a sightb decision on which program they want to use. Um I
think some may prefer turn in over the other one versus just correct. Everybody's using a plagiarized detection software though. Yes. And the benefit to Packback that you've already approved is, and that's a continuation, we've had Packback in the
past too, is it provides that extra layer of a writing assistance similar to what you may be familiar with like a Grammarly. It provides guidance as students are learning to write. Cool. Thank you. Turn it in is an older platform that some teachers are more
familiar with, but they both have that plagiarism detector. So, it's just by preference. It is preference. Thank you. Thank you. Anything further on turn it in? All right, I'll call the vote. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed?
Motion passes 5. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Brewer. May I have a motion to approve the renewal of piggyback agreement with school district services incorporated, Pulk County School Bid uh number ITB049-
MJ-0624 for school bus transportation. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Thrower and Reverend Cummings. Dr. um Dr. Glet, you have some information on us this for us? Yes. Uh thank you, Madam Chair. The cost of this is is a pretty big one. It's two
$2 million. And Mr. Frasier's here, but I want to just share that uh this is another um one of those ways that we're trying to make sure that we're meeting the needs of our students through alternative learning. And so, Mr. Frasier is going to provide some specific details and through this amendment. Thank you. Okay. Hey, good
evening. So, our partnership with school district services officially began on Monday, December the 2nd of 2024. They provide us with 13 routes to transport our alternative learning students here at Maran Technical Institute. Although some of their formal tracking systems
for on-time performance are not in place for them yet, internal monitoring indicates that as of April the 23rd of 2025, there have only been two late arrivals in the morning and one a late arrival in the afternoon across all 13 routes, which reflects a 98% on time
arrival rate. Uh the financial summary to date, we've paid $519,685 for services rendered. We anticipate an additional 300,000 will be paid by the end of the current school year, bringing the projected year-end total at
$916,000. Looking ahead to the summer session, projected costs range between 385600 and 482,000 depending on service needs. Um, if we were to begin their services at the start of the school year in August based on our current weekly
cost projection of $48,200, the 15week cost total would be 723,000. When we combine the current year total and the end of the year total with the summer session estimate and the 15week projection starting in August, uh, the estimated cost comes out to
around uh, $2 million. And this projection represents the high end of our anticipated costs and provides a comprehensive outlook for board planning. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Frasier. Board, any concerns, Dr. James? Yeah, the only
concern that I've heard from the community is here comes the bus is not available for school district services. And so we um parents of students who are
alternatively placed to MTI and rely on transportation don't necessarily know when their child's bus is arriving or if it was late, which most of them have been on time, so that's a positive, but we have had some outliers and unique
patterns. And so I don't know if there was a way to expand Here Comes the Bus or if that is a limiting factor because they're not our buses. And so um that's just not going to be available. But I do know
that families would like to know when they're just like our just like our other all of the other children we serve, those families would also like to know when their child is getting picked up and getting dropped off, etc. So that's a great point. And I can certainly follow up with school district
services to see what our options are there if that's a possibility and with our transportation department as well. Okay. Maybe they could do a piggyback agreement on the one we have and they can pay for it with the 2 million we're paying them to pick up our children. Just a thought. Dr. James board
just uh we didn't always have here comes the bus. So how are these parents being notified now or aren't they? I mean 98% on time pick up and delivery is great but that's you know 2% that's still 2% of parents wondering you know where the
bus is if they were notified of a delay that would come from the school site so from the MTI alternative learning staff they would make an individual call out to that bus route or that family and let them know that the bus is running 10 15 20 minutes late or whatever that may estimation may be. Okay. So they
currently are getting notified in some form. Yes. Okay. just not through an app. Correct. Okay. To be clear though, our transportation department is not in control of these buses at all. So when the bus is late, the onus of communication about
the late bus goes back to school district services, not to Mr. Ostanic and our transportation department. And so unique circumstances that I've been made aware of with one of our employees whose child was attending MTI. This child waited at the bus stop until about
10:00 a.m. then texted his mom and was like, "I'm still waiting here." So he went back home for the day. And this internal employee thought, "Well, I can just call transportation." But they can't call transportation because it's completely outserviced platform. and
then she didn't know until he was marked absent in Skyward was when she was communicated because that that call went out. So I I think it'd be worth at least an opportunity to have the discussion because we didn't always have it. That's correct. But now we do and so if we're
trying to give all students the same access, that's my only thought on it. We can certainly explore that. Okay. Yeah. And that would be the best solution. My concern was in the meantime, you know, what has been happening and what needs
to continue to happen because it's it's courtesy, you know, and if the onus is on the school at the moment um to be communicated to from school district services, just want to make sure that that's happening. You know, when when we
contract with people, uh to me, it's implied they take responsibility and come up with a procedure, either an app or whatever it is. So, just to make sure the bases are covered until we have something else. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. An. Okay. All right.
Thank you. I did I had just a couple questions which um I mentioned the other day as we were reviewing this. Does Mr. Ostanic review the routes? Yes, he does. I confirmed that with him. Okay, good. Um because my concern was and I know I know there may be some reasoning for
this, but I just want some explanation. when I pull up and only six or seven kids get off of each bus and they need 13 buses, I just would like for the public to understand what the reasoning is for that. No, understandably. And I know that when they we first started
with them, Mr. Ostanic did review all the routes and we just recently had a conversation about that um after you asked that question to make sure that we're continuing to monitor for operational efficiency. Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
All right. Oh, I've got to find my glasses here. All right, board. Any other discussion? Any other comments? All right. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes 5. Thank you, Mr. Frasier. Um, may I
have a motion to renew bid 3930 aH food service and juice products term contract. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Second. Thank you, Dr. James. Dr. Glet, you have some information for us on this
item? I do, board. And the cost of this item is 1,575,000. It certainly takes a lot of money to provide juice and produce products to our students. Miss Belchure is back. Glad to have her back tonight to share additional information on this
item. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Conrad, board members, and Dr. Goolet. I'm here tonight to request permission to utilize the third renewal option for bid number 3930 ah for juice and juice products.
It's pretty simple. Approving this bid will allow food nutrition services to continue to provide juice for the national school lunch program, afterchool snack program, and our supper program. The threshold, as mentioned, is
1,575,000. We have encumbered at the time of submission 1.1 million. And with that, I'll open it up if you have any questions. Thank you, board. Any questions, concerns? I'll just say one thing. Okay. Sure. As I've been listening to these discussion
items and reading through them, I just hear the cash register just quick quick quick. Millions millions of dollars. Yes. To put that into perspective, juice cost maybe 12 to 15 cents a piece. So,
we serve a lot of juice. The volume. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thrower. Um, any further discussion? Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5-0. Thank you.
May I have a motion to renew bid 3980 GM gasoline diesel um biodiesel joint entity term contract. May I have a motion? So move. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Second. Thank you, board member Thrower. Dr. Gullard, you have some information on this item for us?
Yes, Madam Chair. And and now we're on to um keeping our fleet running. So, as it says with the cost of gasoline, diesel, etc., um we're looking at $5 million request. And Mr. Collins is here to provide some additional context with this uh joint request. We're working
with city of Ocala um through the department um of transportation. Thank you. Good evening everyone. A bid 3980 GM was issued for the supply of gasoline, diesel, and biodiesel to both the school board and the city of Ocala.
By partnering with the city to issue this joint bid, we were able to consolidate our fuel needs, effectively increasing our collective purchasing power and positioning us to secure more competitive pricing. This bid renewal will ensure a continued fuel supply for
our white fleet vehicles and school buses. As you know, Marian County is the fifth largest county in Florida by land area, covering over 1652 square miles. Given the size of our operations and the extensive travel required across the
county on a daily basis, our fuel usage is significant. Hence the substantial expenditure request for this renewal. Thank you, Mr. Collins. Board, any comments or concerns? Okay. All right. You got off
easy tonight. That they have to go. You're right. All right. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 50. May I have a motion to approve the resolution 25-06 authorizing the executive and uh
the executive and delivery of a non-exclusive perpetual easement including the cost sharing agreement project 24-102. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Second. Thank you, Dr. James. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Dr.
Goolet, you have some information on this item for us. I do. Thank you, Madam Chair. The cost for this request is approximately $650,000 uh for the easement for Winding Oaks Elementary School and Miss Usher is here to provide some additional details. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Garlet. Good
evening, Madame Chair, board members. This pertains to Winding Oaks. It's a non um non-exclusive perpetual easement to the parent company KL um Winding Oaks LLC. The easement is for landscaping, irrigation, and signage. So
they'll maintain all that. And the cost sharing agreement is for turn lanes on Southwest 49th Avenue and roadway improvements on 71st for portable water improvements and electrical improvements. And as the superintendent
said, that's about $650,000. Right. Thank you, Miss Asher. Board. Oh, yes, Dr. Cam. So, while it isn't specific to this item, I I do believe that it would be appropriate for us to bring up the email that we received this
afternoon from or excuse me, this morning from Mr. McFaten regarding not having a traffic signal, right, uh, available in time for school to start, therefore, not having crosswalks. Um, I
received a rough estimate just before this meeting of what that traffic signal would cost and it's roughly $750,000. I don't say that the school board needs to encumber any of those costs, but if there was a potential
opportunity for cost sharing in that as well, uh certainly that is a small price to pay for student safety when we're considering the numbers of students that will be within the two-mile area of this school and need to walk and need to cross that
street. I was very concerned when I received that email notification from the county. Uh we've been building this school for a year. So it's interesting that there isn't a plan. I didn't see a time as to when the traffic light intends to be installed. Um so I just opened that up as at least a thought to
say I don't it would certainly help the developer as well with all the things that they're needing to do. I'm not necessarily saying we should enter into cost sharing on that traffic light being put into place, but I would be interested in entertaining their thoughts on it. Thank you, Dr. Campbell.
We have been working with county staff on this and we will stay on top of it. They did promise that the light is will go in and once the light goes in, we can do the crosswalk to ensure safe routes to school, but we will work with them in the schedule to see if that can be moved
up. And Madam Chair, thank you, Miss Usher. Yes, Rean. I I became aware of this a couple weeks ago on my tour because that is a county road that we're talking about and so there has been a lot of conversations with the county concerning um the uh the putting in of a
a light or the crosswalks. Um I think the timing is is bad right now. Um, and I I I don't I don't think we should try to encumber it, but safety has to be a priority. Even if we have to have someone um we got to pay a deputy or
whatever to be out there, we need to make sure that safety is the utmost importance. Um, I think Mr. McFaden, we need to talk to Mr. McFaden, come up with a plan of action because it's not going to be in there when school starts and we need to make sure that we have something in place.
And chair, yes. And that was a question I asked in response to that email was, "So then is there only going to be one crossing guard at the light, the intersection where they would be crossing? Um, or will there be two?" I referenced in my
email the work that I tried to do with regard to Highway 27, which is a state road and outside of Howard Middle School, which the state refuses to put a school zone on Highway 27 in front of Howard, even though the entrance to the school. And their reason is the same
exact reason, which is the traffic light slows down traffic enough. Well, if you watch it, people run the red light and people with trailers run the red light all of the time. And to be very frank, the response I've gotten is there's been not there hasn't been a fatality. And
I'm sorry, but I think that is a garbage response. Why are we waiting for a fatality before we proactively do something to ensure that children and other pedestrians can safely cross traffic? So, I would love to see a solution. I do not think we should pay
for it at all because that is an intersection that is going to be used widely for a variety of things beyond just the instruction of students. But I can't wait to see what our solution is to ensure that children arrive safely to school because ultimately the onus is on
us now until until the intersection comes. The onus will be it will be our fault if it's not done correctly. So I look forward to us problem solving if that needs to be a workshop or otherwise to ensure that we are we have enough crossing guards and we have a plan to
make sure kids are getting safely to school. Dr. James, as Reverend Cummings said, in many cases, if the signal is not in place when school opens, then we would hire traffic police. So, that's an option we can look at, but we'll continue to work with the county on the
traffic signal. Okay. Did you have something? I I was just going to wrap it up just just to say I I mean I I appreciate all the comments from fellow board members on that and thank you, Miss Usher, as well for having the information. Just the email that was received today from county engineering
did not sound like they had a timeline as to when that traffic light was going to be in and they know school starts in August. So I appreciate that you're working with them, but as Dr. James says, if something happens, it's going to be our fault even though it's not our road. So I I think that this this item
being on our discussion already just opened up the opportunity for us to have the conversation and make the community aware. Currently, we don't have a traffic signal where our school is going to be opening and it is a county road and we all just voted in a 1 cent sales
tax to help fund those things. So, thank you. Thank you. Anything else? All right. Thank you, Miss Sasher. I did. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Board Member Thor. In these situations, it's it always has
to be safety first. And anyone that has spent any time in in that area, I would think would understand that reducing the speed limit, even considering that is really necessary. Yeah. I mean,
who has You'd have to have a bag over your head to not have noticed the growth down there and and the traffic count. I would love to see uh just an updated traffic count from three years ago up till now uh to help prove the point. We're still struggling with this on
Highway 27. And to say, well, we'll just wait till someone dies, then we'll do something about it. And when that someone happens to be a child, it just makes it that much more tragic. So, this was an
extremely disappointing email to receive. Uh we have so much eager anticipation for these schools to open. They are community schools. Yes, we run them, but they're
the community's schools. And so I really look forward to the day when there is that more optimistic um collaboration and and just having that foresight because I don't want hindsight to be 2020 in situations
like these. That's what I've got for you. All right. Thank you, board member Thrower. Um board will go ahead and call the vote. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5-0. May I have a motion to approve the
grant application safety and security school buildings? May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you, board member Thrower. Second. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Um Dr. Glet, you have some information for us regarding this item? Yes, certainly. Thank you, uh, Madame Chair and Mr.
McFaden is going to come forward. Uh, board, to date, we've been very fortunate to receive annual grant opportunities from the Florida Department of Education for safety, and this is one of those. And so, it includes access control, cameras, locks, and we're identifying the needs here
through these dollars to address the Florida Safe Schools assessment tool and those areas that we need to make sure that we solidify and make them as safe as possible. So, Mr. Mr. McFaden is going to provide additional details for this request. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Good evening. Um, the grant application
for safety and security of school buildings. The safety and security of school buildings grant issued by the Florida Department of Education offers school districts with an opportunity to strengthen physical security access strengthens physical security
across their district. With board approval, the district and its charter schools will receive a combined total of $633,757. Of that, $626,36 will be allocated specifically for Maring County Public Schools. These funds will be used to address security
needs identified through the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool. Projects may include the installation or upgrade of access control systems, security cameras, and door locking hardware. These enhancements are part of our continued commitment to maintaining safe
and secure environments where students and staff can focus on teaching and learning. Thank you, Mr. McFaden board. Any conversation um on this item? Dr. James, just one quick question. A colon is not listed in the narrative. Is that because the school is newer or
Well, we found out that Anna doesn't own their building and because they don't own their building per se, they can't make any upgrades to their to their building. So, their portion of the um the grant that they would receive is
dispersed amongst other charter schools. M that's a decision that's a that's basically the state uh requires certain you can only use it for certain things. And one of the things they may I don't know what
they want to use it for, but it could be for um putting up fencing or or something. But they done a lot of security upgrades or implementations when they first built their school. So, they pretty much have a whole lot of
what we're doing the grant allows them to have. And to add anything more, there's a discussion between them and the owners of their buildings to um Okay, that's just not allowed. They were absent from the the narrative. So, I wanted to ask. Thank you. Thank you, Dr.
James. Anything? Yes, Reverend Cummings. Chair, I did I guess Dr. James kind of touched on it. I did want everyone to know that this does include all of our schools, including the charter schools. So that that part of this grant does fund um the safety implications uh
implementation at our charter schools as well. Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Anything further? Okay. Thank you, Mr. McFaten. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5.
May I have a motion to approve the first amendment to agreement with Tyler Technologies? May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. May I have a second? Thank you, board member Thrower. U Dr. Glet, you have some information for us regarding this item. Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Ostanic is coming
forward to share specifics, but board, we are asking for your permission to uh approve this item at the cost of $982,000. And earlier tonight, you've already talked about tracking uh real-time tracking for students and on our um our buses. So, Mr. Stanic is
going to share some additional details here. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you. This agenda item is an amendment to our current agreement with Tyler Technologies. Tyler Tech is a vendor we use for our transportation routing software and they provide us support
with that software. Also, um the amendment allows us to purchase new tablets for our buses that will be supported via Tyler Drive. The new tablets and software will allow live updates to help improve the efficiency of our transportation department. Integrated tablet features include
turnbyturn GPS directions for our routes, student dropoff restriction notifications, electronic seating charts, student writership tracking, dynamic run capabilities, driver attendance reports, and access to all routes and runs. And I'll open up to
questions. All right. Thank you very much. We've been waiting on this item to come forward. So, uh, this board member is excited. Um, board, any, uh, discussions or questions? Dr. James, your, um, I would just make the same request I made earlier, which is to
extend the opportunity for STO, school district services to be able to maybe piggyback off this. I would love to see this available to all students who ride on buses that come to a Maring County public school. And I know this is more of a a fix for the driver than it is the
the the end user, but if those drivers are able to navigate traffic better and use all of these amenities, then our students are arriving safer to school as well. So, yes, ma'am. Thank you, Dr. James. Yes, Dr. Campbell. I'm just overjoyed that we're about to have GPS in our buses. So, the fact that we
haven't community, please be aware we have not and we are about to. I can only imagine what that's going to do to our dispatchers and all the folks that are sitting and have the new drivers and the substitute drivers and trying to they miss the turn and all the navigating that they're trying to do. This is just
going to be amazing. Um to Dr. James point. While I completely appreciate the idea that we would encourage our other vendor to um take this on and potentially piggyback, I certainly want wouldn't want to make it a requirement for them to do so because that would be
added cost for them, too. I appreciate that uh the interest in having all of our students be able to have access to the same, but it's possible that they might have their own GPS system for their own buses or something that they're continually or considering uh doing an upgrade on their own buses. So,
um love the idea of extending the opportunity to them, but we don't need to pay for it. Oh, definitely not. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Anything else? Yes, board member Thor. Thank you. I would just say from a safety standpoint if for all students if it looks like we're going to be continuing with school
district services as the conversations um continue to just you know flat ask them you know what are you doing um along these lines because everyone knows that they're transporting some kids for us that tend to have some struggles here
and there. So anything we can do to make the ride safer for for everybody is always a good thing. Okay. Thank you board member throw. All right, seeing no further concerns, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5. May
I have a motion to approve the second amendment to the agreement with J Brown Professional Group or JB Pro. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Uh, thank you, Reverend Cummings. Dr. Goo, you have some information on this item you'd like to share with us. Yes, thank you. Our last
discussion item tonight. Thank you, Madam Chair. And Mr. Ays is here. board. We're asking for at the cost of $263,000 um your approval for this item that provides some assistance especially as it pertains to our interlocal agreement. So Mr. Ays will provide additional
context with that. Thank you. Good evening um madam chair, pastor co-chair board members Dr. Gullet attorney Powers, Mr. Gonzalez. This is a second amendment to the agreement with JB Brown Professional Group Inc.
JB Brown Professional Group or JB Pro currently has an agreement with the government and community relations department to provide planning services for Maring County Public Schools interlocal agreement services. JB Pro is supporting the district's planning efforts by ensuring
the initial draft of the technical education facilities plan drafted in the fall of 2024 is reviewed, updated, and adopted by the public school planning officials PSPO. and the process for drafting and adopting the 2526 technical
education facilities plan meets the state of Florida and best school planning practices. JB Pro also provides planning services for Marian County Public Schools pre-construction and planning. JB Pro assists the facilities department procurement process. JB Pro and the
Maring County Public Schools are working together through project pre-construction tackling the specific needs of each new school development so that the contractor chosen for the work is best suited for the project and the project meets the best interest of Maring County. The work establishes the
following coordinated process. Pre- request for proposal meetings, bid process meetings between JB Pro and MCPS, request for qualifications, RFQS, and response management, and final procurement of a contractor. Additionally, JB Pro has
submitted two proposals to continue working with the Maring County Public Schools interlocal agreement services and conduct a comprehensive review of Marian County's impact fees. The review will assess the expected and actual revenue generated from impact fees since
their most recent adjustment and provide a detailed analysis to support the district's future planning and funding strategies. This agreement is good through June 30th, 2026. Thank you, Mr. Ays board. Do you have any questions for Mr. Ayes? Any
concerns? Um, I just a comment. Um, I understand we were briefed and I understand that they are working towards essentially concluding their work by this fall when we have our joint meeting again and I am hopeful that that meeting
will serve to be more informative than the last one that they presented in. Uh, and then I look forward to us hiring a planner who will serve this district within our organization. Thank you, Dr. James. Any other comments? Yes, Dr. Campbell. I I wasn't
planning to comment at all because I understand the work that they're trying to do and um grateful that they have identified the challenges that we acknowledged during the most recent intergovernmental meeting that the data that currently is being shared within
our community among planning departments doesn't speak to each other. And so I'm grateful that the school district is going to be taking on that cost to make sure that our county and city data for planning purposes does work for everybody. U and I know that those local entities are also excited to have that
information once we've paid for it. So, uh, I'm certain that once this, um, information is is developed and that a system is put into place that our next intergovernmental meeting will be very effective that we'll be able to receive the information that we all can use to
the best of our ability specifically for school planning purposes, but I'm certain it'll impact the county for all kinds of reasons. So, thank you. Right. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Anything further? All right. Thank you, Mr. Ayes. We appreciate you. Um uh in seeing no
further discussions discussion all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 5. May I have a motion to approve the guaranteed max maximum price for early release and preconstruction for Ocola
Middle School building improvements building 1 project 25-115. May I have a motion? Motion to approve. Thank you Dr. Campbell. Second. Thank you Reverend Cummings. Dr. Dr. Campbell, you've pulled this item. Would you like to have further discussion? I
did pull this item and I see Mr. Miss Usher at the podium. If you'd like to share, I didn't have much to discuss, but I I'm opening it up to you if you want to share a bit more. I I think that the unique challenges that we are experiencing at Oyola Middle School that
none of us were expecting or anticipating. I think it warrants us to not place an item like this in consent and that we do need to at least have discussion for the purpose of the community understanding what our challenges are. Yes, thank you Dr. Campbell. Um we did commission a study
to um evaluate the moisture intrusion. We received that study on April 4th and right away we knew something had to be done. So we started working on the um getting it all done during the summer and that's why we have this early release package to of 500,000 while the
contractor work on the GMP at least right away as soon as school is out they can get started. It is the contract with Osley Construction. It is f 500,000. We're on a very tight schedule and that's why um we'll come back with the GMP, but we're trying to get all the
remediation besides just all the interior work. We also have to really seal the outside of the building to prevent further um moisture intrusion. So, the schedule is quite important and we're doing our best to make sure we get
everything done. As Miss Ko said, it has to be done this summer, right? It has to be. We don't have other. Yes. Thank Thank you, Miss Usher, for that for elaborating on the reason that I pulled this item board. I just asked that as we do have items and there will
be others I believe costs associated with this specifically that we not place them in consent. I I think that we need to ensure that our community is aware of what's happening. uh and when we sometimes have them in consent, it looks as if we're not making them aware publicly. So, um thank you for the
opportunity to have the discussion. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Thank you, Miss Asher. Yes, Dr. James. Um my only request is that we develop a contingency plan so that if if it's not because I my the way
I understand the scope of work is it's not just exterior, but we're also doing things on the interior. Yes, Dr. dreams. We'll do the interior first. We have two companies. We have the remediation company, Simpson Environmental. We'll be working with Osley and we'll address the
interior first to make sure everything is cleared up, all their handlers, clean the the carpet change, the wood change, all that inside and the stuff that can probably be done during school like sealing the mortar and the brick. If we
have to do anything beyond the summer, then we would do that. So, my um I've I've lived in an old house once or twice, and I like to equate it to the if you give a mouse a cookie book
because it just you peel back one layer and you see something else. And so, I would like instead of throwing a Hail Mary in the late July, I would like for us to go into this project with the principal with a
contingency plan for August. When are we starting school? August 12th, August 11th, whatever day it is. So that if it's not done, we're not trying to do a Hail Mary like we did last year in the summer for NTI where we're trying to figure out what we're going to do and
where they're going to go. And then if we don't need the contingency plan, no big deal. But I would feel much more comfortable if we develop a contingency plan with the principal for what it could look like so that we can execute it if necessary because they don't know what they're going to see. I mean, we we
want to say that, but this it's literally a hundred-y old building. So, who knows what's going to happen when they start digging into it. So, that's just my request as one board member. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, Dr.
Campbell. I certainly appreciate planning and and I certainly appreciate the need to have a plan, a contingency plan. uh that that will be fun for someone to develop and fun being a very facitious
word. Uh where we're going to put 900 students as a contingency. I I don't know the answer to that. So, Miss Kiner, have fun. Yeah. I I I mean, I I I certainly appreciate it and understand uh there I've walked it. We'll we'll
have a new gym almost completed, but it won't be completed by August either. So, um, 900 students in another location on August 12th. Um, I let I Yes, let's have a let's have a backup plan. Sure. Am I
correct in that there has already been been some research done about how that can be managed and they would work classroom by classroom um move the students out they would go to a separate lo a different location and then because
because they anticipate and things change but that remediation can happen in a couple of days and then they those students would move back into the room is that correct Conrad it will be in the summer so that's why we right but if if it takes longer So there is there's a
backup plan. I just want to say it will not take longer. Sorry, but we do have to work on a contingency plan. The thing is the subcontractors, they have been in the building, the assessment that was done, the environmental engineers, they have been in there, they have looked at
everything, pulled samples, they they have broken the walls and all that. But you're right, we don't know what we will find. But um in regards to the backup plan, I'll have to talk to Miss Kard and the principal. Okay. Because I don't know what it is, but our goal is to get
it done during the summer. Okay. Okay. Yes. Dr. James chair. I think the room by room was a plan prior to this necessity to address all summer. I think my understanding is the summer is like a
full steam ahead kind of approach which is different. And so if if it's all gets if it all gets addressed at the same time and then it all doesn't get put back at the same time then then we're going to fall short. And so I'd personally just like to not deal with the stress of that at late July when we
could address it in May or June. So I So Miss Usher, we may want to know what the backup plan is is what I'm hearing from the board, but thank you very much uh for your presentation. Yes, Dr. James. Well, and for context, I guess I'll just add, you know, we were supposed to have windows
and doors at North Marian and then we went threearters of a school year with no windows and we had we had wood on our windows, right? Because it was all going to go great until it didn't go great and then we had wood on windows for threequarters of a school year. So I
would and there was no backup plan except to put wood and make pretend exit doors that were, you know, approved by code but were plywood on hinges. So I just want to make sure that we're doing our homework to prepare ourselves so that we don't have to do that in the
11th hour. That's all I'm asking. That's good. Everyone coming? Did you have something? I I would just ask so we can kind of move on with this one because I I think Miss Usher has given us some good information that we get a periodic update. the board get an update. Okay. Certainly. And that I think that can
help us if we have to do the contingency plan or whatever we need to do because we do know when you're dealing with old buildings that things could pop up. We saw it with the old school board building. We saw it with Howard Academy. So, there could be anything that pop up. But I think if we get those periodic updates from Miss Usher, we'll be okay.
Thank you, Reverend Cummings. Thank you, Miss Usher. All right. With no further comments, we'll call the vote. All those in favor say I. I I any opposed? Motion passes
5. Um at this time board, uh there was a unanimous concern at our last meeting about the placement for the students at Forom Learning Center. So, can I ask Miss RLE if you'll come down and kind of give us the overview of what you've
found out so far? Is Miss Brewer here? Is Dr. Brewer here? Yes. Okay. We got an email, I think, today concerning that. I didn't know something. I'm sorry. All right. Good evening. Good evening.
So, we are talking about our 17 second grade students at Forom Early Learning um and their assignments for third grade next year. Um out of the 17
students, 15 of them have selected a school. Um we have or or received offers and had accepted seats. So we have two students um left that were offered seats at two schools um South Ocala and
Anthony Elementary, and we're just waiting um for for those two families to um accept those seats. But the other 15 um are are assigned. We have eight students going to Dr. NH Jones, one to
Spar Elementary, two students to 8th Street, two students to Ocala Springs, and two students to private schools. Um, so we're keeping track of those and I know Jennifer Thomas um has been reaching out to those families daily and
keeping us updated so that we can ensure that they all have a place um for next school year. And then moving into the 26 or 25, sorry, 26 27 school year, we know that we're going to have three classes
of second grade students graduating or um or finishing up at Forom next spring that will be about 54 students. And so we have um put a timeline in place. Um and I don't know if you want me to to to
share that information now or not, but Dr. Gullet certainly. And I want to thank Miss RLE because we've been working on this um and making contact with those parents. But go ahead and share the plan for next year. Next year. Okay. In advance. Thank you. Um so I've met with Mr. Ayers, Miss Thomas, um Miss
Beck, and some other folks. And we've sat down and looked at this up and down and sideways and trying to figure out um what what can the plan be and what can we offer these students um next year so that they know ahead of time um what their options are and they don't have to
worry about it um come the spring of 2026. So our normal school choice magnet window opens in November and it runs through January. So um parents will always have the option at that time to apply for one of the magnet programs
from November to January. Um the magnet lottery offers are released and the weight lists are created sometime in midFebruary. So at that point any form early learning second graders who applied for a magnet program would know
by midFebruary um if they are to be accepted or not. Normally um beginning of April we would open up our controlled open enrollment. So what we are thinking what we could do is the beyond forom
opportunity placement window would open March 23rd for controlled open enrollment and that would be ahead of the normal controlled open enrollment window for all of the other students. Um at that point in time, we would look at schools, specific schools will be
identified based on any enrollment that's below um 95% or 95% or below. And so if a forom second grade family applies for controlled open enrollment when that window opens in March, they
have their option of selecting any schools that are 95% or below. um they would be notified before the regular controlled open enrollment window opens. Does does that make sense? Do you have any questions about that? Um I can
go over that timeline again. Any questions, board concerns? I I just wanted to do my I wanted us to get some answers on it, particularly the students for this year. I did have a clarifying um point I would like you to share. the two students that are not placed yet,
the school the placement that they off have been offered is the placement that they ask for. Isn't that correct? South Ocala, I believe it was the third choice. They get three choices when they apply. And so, South Ocala was the third option. So, they've been offered that
seat. Um, and then the one at Anthony Elementary, I believe, um, Miss Thomas spoke to this parent and during the conversation that school was offered. The parents seemed excited about that opportunity, so they went ahead and
offered the seat and we're just waiting on confirmation. Okay. All right. Thank you. Yes, Dr. Campbell. So, I certainly appreciate the plan because I know that this is this is going to be creative. how how to do
this. Only offering them controlled open enrollment as opposed to dedicating seats in our magnet programs in my opinion still somewhat defeats the purpose. And I I understand why we would need again I discussed this
before sanctity of the lottery. I get it. But looking at the schools just on our attendance report right now that are below 95%. There aren't that many. And I I know we won't fully know what that looks
like until the beginning of next school year whenever we have two new elementary schools open. And so that will change a bit. But just looking specifically in district one, the schools that I represent, there
um there aren't that many. So, I I just I I appreciate the hard work you guys are trying to do to make this work and to make this square peg fit into a round hole, but I still think it's imperative
that we prioritize these forom students almost as if they're sibling placements. That's my expectation or my request. I know that one of our magnet programs this year did not have any third grade
seats open because of siblings and not considering these students in that same vein. I understand they're not siblings. I I just think we have to treat them differently. We we just do we've created this gym of a magnet program for early learning
specifically and the uniqueness of not going to third grade in that school. And I get why we're not, but because of class size amendment, fourth grade is where this the class size opens up and third grade doesn't. And so we have a unique
challenge, I I like what you guys are working on. I I don't know that I'm completely satisfied with it. That's my own personal perspective and certainly if other board members agree with me, then we can continue to have conversation. Yes, Dr. James. Well, and what I would
like to say is I appreciate the off I appreciate the update for tonight and I maintain that I would like to see a work session in the fall to address what this plan looks like for next school year. Like I don't want to talk about I don't really think even talking about it right now in depth is appropriate. It wasn't agendaized and so I think we need to
have an agenda item in the fall about what we will do ahead of the school choice window start opening the per that's my personal opinion. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes. board member Thor. There's Thank you. And um yes, because
this is a big topic and an important one to families, we do need to have a work session on it to discuss it in depth and I look forward um to that day. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I One of the other things to consider, I just want to
mention, we have siblings um right now sitting on a waiting list. So, while we did look at that option, Dr. Campbell that you mentioned. Um we have siblings now sitting on the waiting list. So that is an additional challenge. Um you know
the student goes to say Madison Street and there might be two siblings on the waiting list waiting to get in there as well. So that was another challenge we faced when looking at this. So all right. So work session further work session coming soon. All right. Thank
you Miss RLE. I appreciate you stepping forward um to answer those questions. Um moving on to meeting reminders. Reminders, the next administrative briefing and work session is scheduled for May 22nd, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. Um and
we have there is Forest Balorat that evening. There is a school board meeting scheduled for May 27th, 2025. The school board meeting is at 5:30 and Vanguard Balorat um is that evening also. So, just kind of reiterating what Miss
Slaughter shared with us um earlier. It becomes a very challenging time of year for for all of us to get where we'd like to be. Um at that this time, I will start with board comments. Miss Gonzalez, do you have anything to share with us this evening? No, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Gulllet. I'll be very brief. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh so, we will be celebrating our graduates starting, believe it or not, next Wednesday, May 21st, already a week from tomorrow. and that will follow with uh a number of graduations, but also the last day of school is the following
Thursday, May 29th. So, looking forward to celebrating our students. Thank you. Right. Thank you, Dr. Kelly. Attorney Powers, I just wanted to take a moment to recognize that today is May 13th, which is National Children of Fallen Patriots Day. Um, one of the things we talk about
when we talk about mental health and aware and uh fitness and awareness is that uh different students come to school with very different challenges. And some of them have rather extreme challenges. And so, uh, 25 years ago,
the date was set aside because May 13th of 1864 was the day that, um, Arlington National Cemetery, uh, opened, um, was established. So, um, just like to ask everybody if you, uh, are aware or have someone in your community or family, uh,
who is affected in that way, uh, please reach out to them. Thank you, Attorney Powers. All right. Good evening, Mr. Martin. You've been waiting patiently on us this evening. We look forward to hearing from you. You have board comments you want to
share with us tonight. Yes, ma'am. I have a few. Um, first I just wanted to uh express my gratitude for um y'all's just um how y'all are prioritizing mental health as high school students. I just wanted to give
you guys the perspective of a high school student. I believe that uh mental health issues is a real thing that can't be brushed off to the side. You know, I don't think we can be great successful people that you the great successful people that you want us to be in this world without focusing on our mental health. I I appreciate you guys
prioritizing that and trying to place that in our schools and and I appreciate you guys working on that for us. Um I also wanted to talk about um you we were talking about investing in um trainers from UF and as an athlete I'm really appreciative of that. Um it helps take
care of our bodies for sure and helps us to remain healthy so that we can achieve our goals. And then just finishing up speaking about athletes last time I was here I spoke about the night of champions event. I was there and it was amazing. It was a great time for our community to come together and um
just be a be a shoulder to rely on, just a shoulder to cry on, be there for each other, support one another, uplift one another uh no matter what they're going through. And um I'm really appreciative that we can have events like that and FCA events in our schools throughout the county. But outside of that, I just want
to thank you guys for allowing me to be here again um and just allowing me to have a great high school career and a great um senior year. Thank you guys. We want to especially thank you for being here this evening. We know your calendar is full. So, we are we're grateful that you're with us this evening and um we
have had many student board members share with us the importance of mental health. It keeps being reiterated. So, thank you again for sharing the things that are important to you. Okay, Dr. James. Thank you. Um I have a
couple different things tonight. I will start uh I guess I can start with graduation. There's actually three balorates on the 27th. Um and so I have maintained a position that I would like for us to really when we get into the
month of May try to consider when there are board meetings because we are here and can't be there and this is the priority but it is um it is important to me to be able to participate. North Marian's Balorat is in my community and I cannot go because I will be here and
so that is for three of us because there are three um three next in two weeks from today. But further looking at graduation and these were some remarks I shared with Miss Slaughter prior to the meeting starting. I stand by I think Belleview High School's graduation is
the best and it is on their high school campus. I understand not every stadium has the ability to house all of the participants, but Booster Stadium does. And if we were to address the um auditory concerns at Booster, then we theoretically could be hosting
graduations at Booster. Um and if we hosted them at Booster, I do believe that they could be just as beautiful as the graduation at Belleview. Uh, and it would put us maybe in a position where we would have a little bit more flexibility with days and times. Uh, I
personally, while I know I I didn't graduate from Marian County Public Schools, so I don't have the historical connection to the livestock pavilion, which I know many Marian County um, lifelong residents do. But I do believe that there are there are better places
to house graduation than the livestock pavilion. And I think for specifically like Forest and Vanguard, Booster Stadium would hold enough for Forest and Vanguard. And um I know it would take some strategic planning, doing it all in the morning potentially to avoid evening
rains, but I just would love to see a a ch a transition. I understand this is the preference of the principles, but I do think that there are a variety of individuals throughout the community who would like to see it done differently. And so I would I would appreciate a community dialogue on it if that was
possible. Um I want to touch on the expulsions for off-campus virtual learning today. All of the expulsions for off-campus virtual learning that we approved were students who were housed at Marian Technical Institute and then reaffended here and were headed to
virtual learning for all of next school year. I as a board member, I don't love that we do not have a pulse on those students for over a year because ultimately if they're not going to drop
out or graduate, we will be responsible for them when they return and they more than likely statistics show will be behind and not prepared to return to base. So, I would still like to see this board problem solve alternatives to
off-campus virtual learning where we keep a stronger pulse on the students and ensure that they are continuing their education. But furthermore, I do not think you should go from home all the way back to base. I
think there should be a middle ground stop at MTI. And I've shared this with district leadership. I think going from home and then going all the way back to base, I feel like you're skipping a step and you need to come back to MTI and prove that you are ready to go back into the large environment. So maybe when we
have the code of conduct conversation, we could um digress into a a conversation about that, but I would like to see us have a discussion collectively about what that looks like um because it has changed just this school year and and I I would like to
see further discussion on it. I want to highlight the ODP savings that we're able to share in the information only section of the meeting. I know specifically Mr. Smallidge has shared that he's really happy to get that ODP savings because even that little bit of money he's able to use for FFN furniture
and fixtures for them what they're doing out there and he really appreciates getting that money back and so I just wanted to highlight that. And then finally I just wanted to comment on the language in board docs. mentioned it earlier and if board if you have board docs up I would point you to 11.1 and
13.1 which were in the consent agenda as examples and then we could go back to 24.1 but 11.1 says it costs $74,399.75 that will be spent upon state approval by June 30th 2025. So, if you
if you are just reading the board docs or the attachment, your assumption would read that we are tonight, May 13th, approving $74,000 to be spent for students by June 30th and the students
last day of school is in uh 13 days. That's not actually what the meat and potatoes is because this is a grant and um it's a I wouldn't I spoke with Miss RLE about it, but essentially the
state's going to wind up extending it or maybe something will look different. But regardless, if you're a community member and you're reading this, it looks like we just approved for $75,000 to be spent for students when they have 13 days of school left. And I I don't I don't love the way that reads. Then we go to 13.1
which is $150,000 to be spent by June 30th, 2025. This is basically paying back money for services that have already been rendered is the way I believe I understand it for for this program. But
if you read this narrative, that's not how it reads. It reads as if it's a future tense like we are going to approve this and then we're going to provide the service. It doesn't read as though the service has already been offered. And so from a transparency perspective, I would like us either in
the rationale and methodology or maybe in the top part to get a little bit more specific about when the money is being spent and how it's being spent because it looks like we approved 215 $225,000 tonight. That's all supposed to be spent
by June 30th as if it has not already been spent. And so then if you go back to 24.1, which I I mentioned briefly when we were adding the item here, we say it cost $250,000, but I actually think the
dollar amount should be zero because we're not actually adding any money. And in all of the other ones where we're adding an amendment, we're just putting what the amendment is for. The amendment increase. Well, this is just an extension of a timeline. So in my opinion, the dollar amount for this should be zero.
So again, to the community, it looks like we approved an additional $250,000 for this company when really all we did was extend and push out the the um expiration of the contract. So those are I'm sorry, it's a new year 200 $250,000
was approved for 2024 2025. And if you read the second line of financial history and time frame says the district has encumbered 73,570 leaving 17649 for the remaining 2425 fiscal year. The first amendment extends the contractual term to end on
June 30th 2026 adding so that that's an additional it says that the cost of services shall not exceed $250,000 annually for each term. Correct. But when asked tonight, what we were what what we were told was that there is no additional money being spent
for this and we are simply pushing out the end time. We're not adding any more money. The money available for next year is the remainder 17642926 but there was no term for 2526.
I there is correct. My point is it doesn't cost 250 addition thousand additional dollars. Yes, it does for 2526. It costs an additional $250,000. I don't think so. So, if somebody wants to clarify because
that's not what I gathered from my research prior to the meeting and then the discussion that happened today in the in the meeting that we are extending the timeline. We are not spending an additional 250. Allow someone else to clarify.
And so my concern is there's confusion about it. And if I'm confused about it and I spend a lot of time studying this, then it's clearly very confusing to the public as well because they're asking me questions about the transparency of it. So that is not how this reads. And so I
think we have issues with rationale and we have issues with the amount. And so I would like to see some whether it's a work session or what, but I think there needs to be some work done in how we're putting things out on board docs. and I would love to know more about D24.1 at some point. So that concludes
my comments. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. James. Reverend Cummings, thank you, Madam Chair. Um just a few things. Um I do again want to congratulate um Mr. Tucker on being awarded the uh state
award for merit for athletic directors. That's a a major achievement and he's doing a tremendous job. Um I was going to bring up the um item about Winding Oaks and the traffic. Thank Dr. uh Campbell for bringing it up
because that is a problem. That is going to be issue when you look in that area where the school has been built and is continuing to be built. Um, there's a lot of construction right across the street and there's going to be a lot of families in that area that are going to
be sending their kids to school and I can anticipate that some of those kids will be riding bikes and walking across the road. Um, we have reached out to the county, the the builders reached out to the county uh concerning this issue. So, this wasn't just an issue that came up
today. This has been an issue that we've been talking about for a while. So, I'm hoping that um again, it the buck's going to fall on us. Whether the county does anything or not, it's going to fall on us. So, I appreciate Mr. McFaden for
kind of taking the bull by the horns and saying, "Hey, we need to do something." Um, safety is not convenient and it's not cheap. It's not going to be cheap. So, um I'm looking forward to us having a work session, possibly Mr. McFaden
bringing us some type of um possibilities or options for us because we got to make sure those kids do get to school safely, cross that street safely, and um I'm hoping that the county is going to um with conversations with us,
figure out a way to get this done a little bit faster. There was a traffic study done. Um, I think the traffic study might be a little outdated now, but there was one done and we need to look at it again to make sure that we're getting that um these kids to schools,
these families um coming into that area. The the least I think we could do is at least have a temporary um reduction of speed put there. Um something because that's needed. It needs to be a school zone. So, we definitely need to talk
about that. And then thirdly, my final thing is to talk about the graduation. Thank you, Attorney Slaughter, for coming forth with um the concerns with graduation. Last year, I had the same concern because there was there was u I'm one that normally goes to all all of
the graduations. There was one conflict last year where we couldn't I couldn't go to all of the graduations. And I asked at that time that we would make sure that we look at our scheduling for graduations because um that is a a a right of
passage for for these students. That is a a high time for us to to celebrate with our schools whether they're in our district or not. Um all schools are our schools and we want to celebrate with these students and their families in
this u milestone achievement. So, it's important that we have the opportunity to be able to attend. Unfortunately, that this this presents a challenge with Forest and Vanguard and uh for someone like me that has people in in in pretty
much every school um is is saying I got to choose one over the other. So, I I understand scheduling with buildings and facilities and all those types of things, but we got to try to have a a opportunity for us to be able to get there. If you're a grandparent that has
a kid that lives on both sides of town or a family member or even a a um uh uh just a different type of family setup, you can't you can't get to both. It it's just not going to happen. And so then you it's almost like you're saying to in
the family, one kid has preference over the other or one kid is more important than other. So I think we don't need to be the the district doesn't need to be the callous of having that family to make that decision. I think the district needs to do whatever we can do in the schools to try to make sure that our our
graduations don't conflict with each other and that we all can get there and celebrate with these these young people and their families. And finally, as I close, I thank our our student board member for um being here um bringing the input that he brings. And I want to
encourage him and all of his classmates and all of his classmates behind him and all those folk that that this is graduation season. This is a season that everybody's celebrating, everybody's um partying and and all doing all those things and having fun. I want them to
have memorable memorable celebrations and safe celebrations and celebrations where uh you live to see another day. That's most important because life is not this is not the end. This is the beginning of of something and we want to
make sure that you get to have the full full potential of your life. And so uh so I ask that these young people and these parents and whomever that are throwing these parties or doing whatever that they be responsible that they keep these kids safe and that um we can hear
about the great things they're going to do in the future and their lives not cut short. So thank you. Thank you. Re Cummings board member Thrower. Thank you. And um yes, there there's it's just such a time of of celebration. And in the meantime, there's still a lot of
testing going on. And it is just mind-boggling how the schools are balancing everything that they have going on. The the the schools, the kids, the teachers throwing some teacher appreciation week. I mean, it is just it's a beehive in in every single
school. and so much anticipation, so much push, you know, to to make it through for the kids that still have some requirements to meet. And so, I just really want to encourage everyone to keep keep your eye on whatever ball you have in the air. And you might have 10 or 12 of them, but uh it's it's all
going to be over in in a flash. And uh Mr. Tucker, I think pretty much everybody had you on their list tonight in a good way. I had you written down to congratulate you. I don't know that we've had a state award of merit in this capacity happen in Marian County public schools before, at least not in my
memory. So, congratulations to you and and thank you for representing us so well. Um, yes, graduation. Uh, there are so many different priorities that that all of us have and and it would be wonderful to at least have no
graduations be at the same time. It'd be great if they weren't on the same day. I I don't I hope that that can happen. um just because of our size and and distance and everything that's already been described. I know one of the big
issues with locating graduations. Um some schools, you know, they just can't afford to graduate from W. Um it's a it's a great venue. Um but it it just doesn't fit, you know, with the school's culture and and what they have
available. So there was a time actually Vanguard had their graduation at Booster in in May of 2020 during COVID. So everyone could be all spread out and and we were so fortunate that year because there was a cool breeze blowing and every single graduation after that was
hotter than blazes. Um but but Vanguard was was beautiful at at Booster and I love being outside and I love the idea of graduations being held outside. However, um you have to have we were talking about contingency plans earlier. You do have to have a plan B because we
always had our graduations at North Marian High in the morning until that one year when a thunderstorm was coming through and where are we going to put the people and having closed circuit TV and the big punt. It it's it's a lot to manage. So, I would love at some point
to see uh more opportunity for a covered space where we could just hold pretty much all of our graduations. Um that certainly would help solve our problem, but but until that time, I think, you know, other board members have mentioned it. You know, we want to honor
everybody's uh needs and and desires and figure out a way not to disappoint anybody. So, uh we'll we'll just keep aspiring to that, I guess, as as we move along. Um, I wanted to just uh give some thanks to Arnet House. I visited there
for the first time in a while uh recently and they have been the alternative to several students in truent attendance situations. Instead of going to juvenile detention, they have gone to our net house and they are being
very successful. And it was kind of interesting yet sad that there were quite a few students that were there that not only did I recognize them, but they recognized me um from truency court. So, our chronic attendance, lack
of attendance, uh challenge is not yet solved and it may never be completely, but we're certainly on the right track to decreasing those numbers. And it makes me think about it, you know, with mental health and and
reasons why kids become chronically absent. We have so much to celebrate at this time of year, but we also have more work to do to make sure that more and more students are on the celebration side when it comes to being a senior and that they get there in the right amount
of time and and they have their credits. So, I just wanted to thank our community partners. We had uh NAMI here tonight and and our net house and there are multiple others that are doing a lot to try to help support our students and and
prevent um the final stop being in in juvenile detention. So, thank you for that. Um had the honor and the pleasure of being at Fort King Middle School this past week for their concert band performance which was supposed to be held out on the lawn but again the weather got a little uncertain and so
they had it in the gym. But the gym has been refurbished. It looks great. That was a packed house of families. And I just I I emailed Mr. Een, the um teacher, the band teacher, because it was spectacular. It was absolutely spectacular. The the young players were
right there with the the older and more advanced players, and they played everything from Amazing Grace to um be happy. I just couldn't believe the variety. and and there's over 165 I
think uh sixth graders coming in next year that Mr. E plans to welcome and and he's sad to see the other ones go. But when I was at the sack meeting for Vanguard, I was sharing that because they were talking about their band concert and I said, "Well, you've got some great kids, you know, coming up as freshmen uh to incorporate." So, it's
it's just really fun to witness the progression of of kids and and availing themselves of of all these programs that we do have. It was also mentioned and this is just a shout out to our future educator academy, a shout out to all the pipelines that have been put into place
under your leadership Dr. Gohead. There is a bus driver is going to be a science teacher at Vanguard next year. So when you think about the opportunities that we have at Marian County Public Schools with our community partners looking at the public education
foundation and and all of the opportunities there really are for people to learn and grow and progress and and make a lifetime career doing so many different things and and coming up, you know, from a classroom assistant.
There's just it's it's amazing to me everything that we're offering and also coming up with ways to where it doesn't break your personal bank to make it happen because that always wasn't the case like doing the internships and us paying for that that kind of thing. So
really really neat. Um in the midst of testing and celebrations um the Black Stallion Reading Project is doing their farm visits. There are horses visiting schools through the Okala Horse Alliance. um continuing to help kids understand that you can get a job in the
horse industry and if you love horses, great. But if you like to design the clothes that the horses wear and that the people wear and that you wear to the Kentucky Derby and all the parties, uh there is a huge opportunity just in that space um of of the world of equin. Um we
have a local contractor that was mentioned at a school I was at recently. Uh Big D Roofing apparently doing a great job collaborating with the school and making sure that there's as little disruption as possible. Uh Big D has been a name in this community forever and I just thought that that was, you
know, really neat that we have people that care so much about making school where the kids aren't interrupted and and we're making sure that the they're making sure that the flow continues. It's those kinds of partnerships that elevate this community. The kids witness
it like you were saying. Um, and that to me is is is what it takes to make a successful school district. I guess there's so many more things I will say. The last two I will say is that I'm so looking forward to the We the People um simulated congressional hearings coming
up that will take place on Thursday, May 22nd at our courthouse. College Park Elementary, Maplewood Elementary, Oakrest Elementary, Saddlewood Elementary, and South of Kala Elementary are are all participating. It is a c curriculum they follow called We the
People, the Citizen, and the Constitution. And those simulated congressional hearings, I mean, the kids really do get grilled a little bit. They do. And it it is really amazing to witness their poise, their knowledge of
the Constitution at such a young age, all about voting rights. It's it's just really amazing. And that was something that might have gone by the wayside during COVID because it is so interactive and and people weren't close at that point and couldn't be. But it was important enough to resurrect and
get it going and and we have so that continues. Um let's see. I think that pretty much covers everything on my list. The the final thing I just wanted um Attorney Powers, I wanted to thank you for providing the timeline for the 1 mill of
when we need to start talking about that again. And I'm also conscious of the timeline for when we need to start talking about um impact fees again, whether we're going to look at renewing them, uh what we're going to be asking for. Banesh study seemed like it took a
really long time um to get back because it hadn't been done in a really long time. So hopefully it won't take as long for them to update the information. Um but I just am visualizing that we'll likely need to take, you know, all of the other steps again to prove
extraordinary circumstances unless things uh change at the the state level. Um and and my personal goal is to avoid you know the agonizingly difficult and delayed process uh that we experienced previously. Um you know we we see that
county continuing to grow and develop in the city. So, I just want to make sure that the community knows that at least this board member sees the continued need and that we want to be on top of it so that uh it it happens in a in a
timely manner and and goes just a lot more smoothly. So, with that, I'll say continue to rock on everybody and um we're really in the home stretch now. That's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, board member thrower, Dr. Campbell. Thank you. try to not belabor some of these because everybody's already
touched on so many of the things. So, I'll just go quickly. Thank you again, Shawn Martin, for being here. Super grateful u for your input and looking forward to watching you do amazing things at the Naval Academy in Annapolis playing football for Navy and he's
heading off in July. So, congratulations again. Also wanting to thank Mr. Lilac from NAMI for being here and highlighting I've been squeezing on this worldshaped couple of you have actually I know stress ball. It's so it's been great. Um also we've already touched on
graduations. I too have been a board member who's tried to attend every single graduation since I was elected when they don't conflict with others. Um and I know that Miss Slaughter was careful with her words this evening. if Forest and Vanguard were scheduled on the same night next year, um she would
be one of those parents that would be involved in that scenario. And so I'm certain that she's hearing it now from people. We would have been hearing it all year long if we had scheduled it that way next year. So let's just not and and we'll be in a better situation. Same thing with balorates, right? Same thing with
baloria. anything scheduled on a schoolboard meeting night. I I think challenges um and additionally with work session days, there are lots of things that schools plan that they want us to be there and they've plan them. So I think some of that is normalizing
principles using the district-wide calendar and I I don't know how we do that but that trickle down of normalizing that I think will help some of that because I did look it's on the district-wide calendar. Um, so hopefully that can happen in the future.
Congratulations again to Mr. Tucker. Grateful to have you representing Marian County. Another board member mentioned ODP savings. I'm looking forward to ODP savings on our Oyola plan as well. Uh, looking forward to that. I think you all got the email today from Dr. Danielle
Thomas. Do you get those? Okay. Um, so Florida House did vote to extend session uh to June 30th. Senate has not done the same thing. So, right now, Senate still says that session will uh complete session by June 6th. Not sure what
that's going to look like because the uh they're not close on the budget yet. Fortunately, the educational items in the budget are pretty close, but there are some still still some things we're waiting on. uh in that Grey Robinson report we received today just in case
you hadn't seen it. There are a couple of bills that did pass uh that I wanted to highlight very briefly. They are waiting on the governor's signature. So if in fact the governor does sign them, they will become law. Uh one of them is CSCSSB268.
This bill would exempt from public records, copying and inspection requirements of schoolboard members and superintendent home addresses, telephone numbers, as well as our spouses, children, names and home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth of any
minor children, as well as the school facility or daycare they attend. I know that's something that was interesting for a couple of us this past year. And so our legislators heard our challenges and have now written into the law into
law and included superintendents and schoolboard members and the hope is that the governor will sign that. Uh but that uh was there. Uh tonight we approved the high school CCC resoning. Uh we didn't have anyone in the public hearing come and speak out about that. I'm certain
whenever we really start getting serious about that school ready to go, we'll hear lots of people, but tonight we didn't. So, just making uh everyone aware that we did approve that tonight. Uh, also wanted to say thanks to our team members as well as board members
who participated in yesterday's Central Florida Public Schoolboards Coalition meeting. We were able to hear from Oyola School District's chief facilities director and chief financial officer and received lots of wonderful information. And oh, what a blessing it is that they have not only the half cent sales tax in
OciOla County that our voters also just approved here in Marian, they also have a countywide 1-cent sales tax that their county shares a quarter of that with their school district and their impact fee calculation. They received 100% of their impact fees. So when they're
talking about facilities, their plans, they have a lot more money than we do and just looking forward to the day Marian County can look that way as well. Uh, two last things. I was leaving the city of Ocala Planning and Zoning Commission meeting last night. We also
had something come before us about the Winding Oaks property. Uh, actually had a land use attorney stop me on the way out the door. And just for your information, board explained that uh he believed that our impact fees on apartments were far off and we were not
anywhere near what it should be. tried to explain that we had a lot of deliberations on our impact fee calculations and specifically with the city as we were leaving the city of Ocala planning and zoning about those different categories. Um I don't believe
that whenever our local municipalities asked for us to recalculate specifically for multifamily units that they really understood exactly how many students live in multifamily units. And I assure you the numbers are accurate. And so if
there's any question out there, I didn't have the opportunity to share with him last evening, but any question that our numbers aren't accurate, I can assure you they are. But I don't think that the folks that asked us to do those calculations were prepared for the numbers. So that's kind of where we are. But since it was mentioned about impact
fees, currently there is also a bill that has been passed through both chambers waiting the governor's signatures CSSB 108 that will change extraordinary circumstances and will mean that they will require a unanimous vote and some other challenges that will
impact how we move forward with changing our impact fees. So, uh, I know that if the governor does sign that, that's something that we'll be on top of and just await further direction on what's next. And in the spirit of what everybody else has said, we're in a season of awards celebrations and
balorates and graduations. And as a parent of a graduate myself, I'm feeling all the things and just grateful for the education that my senior has received in Marian County Public Schools and all the many teachers, coaches, and
administrators that have touched him along the way and fellow graduates all throughout 2025, the class of 2025. We've done some great things and we have a lot of great students that we're about to put out into the workforce, into higher education, into the military, and
into their entrepreneurship careers. So, with that, congratulations in advance to the class of 2025. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. Okay, I'm going to go quick because I have several of the same things to share. So, going to go quick. Um, I did
want to share that last Friday we were able to celebrate some of our youngest graduates at Howard Academy for their hippie graduation and it sure did fill my cup. Um, and so I want to share quickly and briefly a sweet story about
um, a young kindergartner who has a hearing disability. And so because we have that in common, he had very cool hearing aids that he just looked like a superstar and I got the chance to visit with his mom. Um and it just made me so
grateful as the mom was talking to me about the accommodations um that his classroom teacher makes for his instruction every single day. And so that happens all the time. I don't always have the opportunity to share it, but the work that our teachers and our
schools do to make sure that our kids have what they need even when it's something exemplary, you know, um that they make it happen. And so her son is just having extraordinary growth because that teacher is willing to make the accommodation. So I just
want to say it was a it was a phenomenal and fun event. um and look forward to what those littles are going to do in the next couple years, you know, as they move on their educational journey. Um the next couple of weeks we do have or
actually next week we have several Black Stallion events and they are going to be all over uh Marian County. So, I am hopeful that I'll be able to catch a few of those because really grateful for that program um and the work that they're doing on our school campuses and
with our students. We do have next Wednesday Hillrest graduation which I know is close to all of our hearts. Um we enjoy that every single year. Um looking forward to that and we also have I think a teacher surprise that same day. Uh so
so very busy. Um, Miss Thrower, I too am looking forward to We the People. It's one of my favorite events, you know, at this time of year, so I'm looking forward to that. Um, just thinking about our seniors as they graduate. I know everybody's
touched on this. Um, celebrate, have fun, do what you need to do, get, you know, finish up whatever you need to to have done, but please be careful. Um, sometimes this time of year, um, we see tragedy. uh
here in Marian County. And so that's just a little heavy on my heart right now. I want to make sure everybody is having a good time but doing it safely. So share that with your friends, share that with your circle of people. Um have fun and celebrate, but do it safely. Um
because we want to celebrate with you. And we also have another group. We have some teachers that are retiring very soon. So they are celebrating also. Uh, and so I know that Miss Magamal sent out a invitation and we discussed it at our last meeting. If board I just want to
remind you to please let her know if you are able to to attend. Looking forward to celebrating all that are moving on to the the next phase um on their journey. So board, thank you for for all of your
conversation and comments this evening. And if there is no further business, may I have a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. Thank you, board member Thrower and Dr. Campbell. All those in favor? I. I. All right. Any opposed? All right. Motion passes and this
meeting is adjourned at 7:42. Thank you, board. I'll make you