--------- Hey, hey, hey. Morning. Good morning and welcome to the April 16th, 2026 meeting of the Marian County School Board. It is now called to order. At this time, we are going to take a recess and come back at the end of the work session. So, we will see everyone in a couple of hours to conclude this
board meeting. We will recess at 8:55. Thank you. You Good morning. We are now in our work session. So, I welcome you to the April 16th, 2026 special administrative briefing and work session of the Marian County School Board. And I call it to order at 9:02 a.m. Please silence your
electronic devices to avoid disturbing others. Mirroring and modeling how our students begin each day, I ask that you please pause with us for a moment of silence. Please join me. I will now read our board commitment statement. We are the Maring County School District Leadership Team. When we come together to work, we are efficient,
effective, and productive. Our three most important characteristics are dedicated, transparent, and individually responsible. To work well together, we must demonstrate respect, confront reality, and be accountable. We will always put students first, and we will leave a legacy of success. I would like
to ask our staff attorney filling in today for our work session, Attorney Blackman, to read the rules for this public workshop. Good morning. >> Morning. Thank you. This work session is a public meeting as defined in the Florida Sunshine Law. The board is dedicated to full transparency in its
meetings and its work. In compliance with the Sunshine Law, the board has adopted uniform meeting procedures, including the right for citizens to participate. The board will allow public comment regarding any work session item listed on today's agenda at the appropriate time. Speakers must fill out
a request form located in the lobby and hand it to the board clerk. After the board and the superintendent have completed their discussion on a particular agenda item, the board clerk will call the speaker's name and the order received. Each speaker will have three minutes. As required by Sunshine
Law, the board must maintain orderly conduct and proper decorum throughout its meeting. Speakers may criticize subject matter and decisions in a respectful manner, but not people. Finally, speakers must be very careful not to violate the privacy rights of others, especially students and their
family members by me by mentioning their names or other identifying information. Thank you for your attention to these important rules. Thank you, Attorney Blackman, and we're grateful that you're here today to support the work of the board. Miss Martinez Young, can you please provide the proof of publication for today's
meeting? >> The notice for the April 16th, 2026 special administrative briefing and work session was placed on the district website on April 9th, 2026. Proof of publication has been attached to board docs under proof of publication. >> Thank you, Miss Martinez Young. We will start this morning with item 3.1, which
is our superintendent's administrative briefing. >> Thank you. Good morning. Um we have quite a um few topics that we will discuss today and we will provide many presentations and we're thankful for the work that the team has put in to preparing this information for you
today. I do want to share that this week we finished our um career fairs at all of our high schools and we're always appreciative of the community partnerships and the businesses that took the time to provide this information to our students. So, that's always nice to recognize them um in this
capacity. Um at this time, I want to um let you know that Jason Roberts with Upper Communities will provide our first presentation. He just wants to provide an update to you board um on what is happening in the last few months since he was last with us. So, welcome. Come
on up. >> Good morning. Welcome back to Marian County. >> Morning. Thank you guys. Thank you for having me. Uh I have just a brief update. Uh but it's been a while. We've been working since our last time we saw you guys. So uh you probably heard in
Google I guess or the news about our recent success in Lockheart, Texas. Uh that is a community that we've been working with uh for specifically over 18 months. And uh we had unanimous school board approval and we are moving forward
breaking ground and building houses for them. Um quite a journey, you know, it's always a journey through the for the first one. Um and we're doing 117 houses for them. They have 800 staff and we at our first meeting when we first
presented to them when we did a uh we request for staff to see if was interested. We had eight people show up. We thought we were like, "Wow, this is really not needed." So we wasting our time. After really investing uh thoroughly more and we did more research, we hadundred and So people
after visiting the school and the staff and then we move forward with that program uh we spent $1.7 million designing the community getting it stood up getting renderings drawing architects got the city to approve the design of that community and then we went back to
the board and said this is what it looks like and finally got approved and got unanimous approval then and now in that in one day we had 112 people sign up for 117 units and they're already we're already we're already out And so you're also going to hear about an announcement tonight, if not maybe next week, from
Hayes ISD, which will be 363 homes. And uh since then, our phone has exploded and we have 13 other school districts in the state of Texas trying to get approved before schools out for the summer. So you kind of are my lockard of Florida. And I was invited here by Kirk
Kelly and I've had a wonderful experience with you guys. Uh it has been difficult not because of you just I'm chopping a trail through the jungle uh just like we did in Texas but for the state of Florida. Uh we have made significant progress on the legal side
largely in help to the questions and concerns your legal counsel gave us and we you know we're servant based. We had to listen to those things. Uh make sure the property is going to be exempt from property taxes. Make sure that uh there's enough need for there and and going through the details. So we met with all the different departments.
We've continued to spend over $20,000 a month in legal expenses. We have a lobbying team that is in the legislature now with the House and the Senate trying to get language that makes it super clear and answers your council's concerns about the future of the program
and can it be maintained without any surprises. uh even though we're taking the major financial risk, you know, there's still risk involved in our partners and also ultimately where we put these staff and these houses and we don't want any disturbances for them.
So, um with that said, for the state of Florida, we are have been through two major bond council reviews. We've been through the county of Marian County's bond council. Their bond council has reviewed our lease and blessed that. We've is our bond council who represents a number of the counties in
the state of uh Florida also in school districts has bless blessed our coun our documents but we're still working with the legislature on things that would make it clear for the school district to independently do this entirely by themselves. So there is some home rule law that we're dancing with with cities
and counties as being a sponsor and then do an interlocal agreement that gives you now full authority to be able to do this without it being redacted. So, there's some legal things that we're still chopping on the trail. Happy to do it for you as long as you continue to feel like it's necessary that that we
are still solving a problem that you have. If you don't have a problem, it's totally okay. We're operating like a nonprofit and we want to be careful with those dollars very close. Um, our program is being approved for $2 billion to dedicate to the state of Florida to
solve this problem. So, the real issue is us just continuing to chop that trail through the forest and figuring this out and answering your legal counsel's concerns and making sure we thoroughly get those answered. Um, so I just want
to give you a brief update is just that you are one of the first ones we talked to. This is not anything. Doing anything first or innovative is very very difficult. Um, but because you've been amazing to work with, because you're an amazing community and your real estate values are strong, your districts are
strong, we're going to continue to press forward uh until you tell us not to um with no request or other than just to be continue to be supportive. Um, and like Lockheart and like Hayes ISD and like
all the other school districts, Texas, because we're fundamentally sound and because what we're doing is fundamentally good and great, we're going to get through it. I just don't know if it's going to be in a month. I don't know if it's going to be in a week. I don't know if it's going to be in six months, but we're not going to give up and we're persistent. Uh, we
don't see any asteroids or real showstoppers yet. I just when you're going to this many different departments and getting this many clarifications and checks and you're the first one, everybody's triple checking, triple covering, and that slows it down a whole
lot. The good news is the landowner that we've been working with has been very, very flexible. We've been very transparent with them on the property we have under contract and have been explaining that process and they're local and they're passionate about their property being used for this benefit and
this purpose and they've really helped us on the expenses of a normal landowner would normally not be that lenient. So there is a full community here of local people that are supportive of this initiative and supportive of you guys.
So, uh, we're going to make some more. We got a lot of resources and efforts this week and next week that we're putting into things to get things going to get as much progress before schools out. Uh, because you know, everybody disappears in the summer for vacation. So, uh, but you guys are great. Uh, I just want you to know we are what we
are. And so, what I will also say is as we go through this process now, I've got physical product that I can actually take your schoolboard members to before August or in August of this coming school year. have houses that Lockheart teachers will have signed leases for that will be moving in that are
landscaped and moved. So, you'll be able to see how they're walking from the elementary school to their home to the community. All the things that we said we were going to do, we're doing and we want to do for you if Lord's willing and things line up. Um, but that was really
just about it. I know we've been on the docket, have been silently chipping away at things. Um, and it we're used to this. I just want you guys as our partners to be comfortable. Just know that we're out there chipping away at things and and
happy to be back. So, that's really the only update. I have to uh leave in a short notice to go to another community up north that we are working with. Um, and then I got to get back to Texas for our second approval of our second community uh tonight, which we're really excited about. >> Awesome.
>> Any questions? >> Uh, board, do we have any questions for Mr. Roberts? Board member Thor. >> Thank you. And and good morning. Um, did I hear you say that the Wildflower Juniper Springs project is going to be in walking distance to a school? >> Yeah, we're we are next door to the
school. So, we're probably 100 feet away from the elementary school, maybe 200 feet max. We bought a phase of a master plan community. We bought the land and it was right next door to the elementary school so it was ideal and it was uh it's a beautiful community. It's 117 houses with a pool, fitness center,
community center, walking trail. It's gorgeous. >> Yeah. >> Yes. You have a website. >> Yeah. >> It looks like you have some connected town houses, too. >> Yes. So, when when you design the community, you have to build houses one, two, three, and fourbedroom houses. It's
really hard to make a one-bedroom house look good. So you make those more like town homes. Uh they each have their own yards. 85 or 90% of that community has the rear loaded alleys with the garages. So that way all the garbage cans and the cars are in the alleyway. So it's not
it's a quality A+ luxury community. And that's really what our our entire company mission statement is that a staff member has to say, "Wow, I get this amazing place because I work for the school district at this price and I wouldn't be able to have this benefit
unless I work for the school district." And that's what we see in Texas is 20% in the school district I was at two days ago is 25% of their staff left last year. And if I had any of my businesses had 20% of my staff leave, we'd be out of business. And so we're trying to make
the benefits for this profession so large that it's you're out now competing against other professions for people to come into this space and elevate the level of talent and also keep the wonderful people that are already working for you today. >> Wonderful
board. Did anyone else have comments? >> Alan Dr. Campbell. >> Sure. You and I were speaking just briefly but before we went on air, but we understand the challenges with the legislature in the 20 26 cycle. We're experiencing them ourselves. Um but it
seems like you're making good headway there. It will do board if we get that through the the challenge that we have right now is because of our certificate of participation that we're using to build schools. And so, um, there's just a
challenge in how that impacts us going into a direct partnership. Um, and so if there is some language changed in statute, which we're hopeful potentially will happen in the next year or so, if if we can get the legislature to to all
agree and both um houses actually speaking to each other and and all um then that actually might just solve some issues for everybody in the entire state that would be in the same situation that we're in. But thank you, Mr. Roberts for continuing to have Marian County as a
focus and at the forefront uh because I do believe this is an issue that we continue to need and we're going to have even harder of a challenge for our educators. Um housing in Marian we're number one in the entire nation for
places that people are moving. That means housing is going to continue to skyrocket and also become less and less available. So for our workers who work for a lower salary than they deserve, giving them a different benefit like
this will only enhance that recruitment and retention effort of the school district. So thank you for continuing to have us in your sights. >> Yeah, the the cops program again, we made a commitment to you guys that we didn't want to harm you. And when we were ready to go interviewing the first
school and started to do the staff reviews is when we discovered this program that existed and our program we created entirely on our own and said wow there is a chance that this could harm the program that you already have in place. So we had to stop and we we hit
the brakes and said we're not going to get mislead staff or anybody get anybody excited or fired up until we get that answer solved. And so we honored our work to make sure that we follow through on that. uh we think we have that path figured out, but we need to make sure there's other things that we were aware
of like the property being exempt today, but maybe not being exempt in the future. And how do we give assurances of that? And that is a was a good statement. So, we we're committed to you guys. We we understand that this is a true partnership. If this is bad for you, it's devastating for us. And so
you've got a true partner and friend really financially with financial consequences looking after making sure this is a good program and it does check all the boxes not just half of them before we move forward. and um your state I would say when I was with the
House representatives and the state and the house the the Senate leader and everybody involved we were the only thing that everybody liked and every department went to they're like oh your program is great I can't wait to talk about your program but it doesn't mean that it doesn't get caught in the weeds of all the other programs and that's
really kind of where we're at is trying to navigate this good uh situation forward without it getting uh boat anchored by some of the other programs that people are wanting to get approved. Uh but there's a lot of good people up there on both sides of the aisle. I
really saw it and there are a lot of good Americans wanting to do good things for, you know, Floridaidians. And so, uh it's promising if it's not going to be done or accomplished this year, we're going to stick through and be more grassroots about it for the next year so we don't get attached to all those weeds
next year. Uh but I think we have a path forward. It's just um we're still working on it and we've got to work with the city of Ocala. We've got to on this particular property, we got to work with the county and line all those stars. And if they do, great. And if it's God's plan, that's where we'll be and we'll go
from there. But you guys are great. >> Thank you, board. Anyone else? >> Okay. I I will say thank you for being here. I'm still very committed to this idea and figuring out how to make it happen. Um I think things take time and we're going to have to be patient. Um,
and we may find ourselves being able to work with our other municipality partners and and somehow do something in connection with the three of us. Um, we have a city of Okawa here today actually to tell us a little bit about what they're doing. So, um, thank you for being here. Thank you for taking the time to be present in Marian County and
continue to have a focus on trying to support our workforce. >> Thank you guys so much. Uh, I'll give you some more updates as soon as I get them. Okay. >> Thank you so much. Travel safe. Yes. Thanks. Uh, >> any public comment on the workforce housing update? All right. Thank you, Dr. Brewer. We'll
move on to item 4.1. I'm sorry, 5.1. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. As you just referenced, Pete Lee with the city of Ocala is here to provide a presentation uh a condensed presentation of the city of Ocala's vision.
>> Good morning, Mr. Lee. >> Good morning. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Um, I need my notes just because I'm not a good dancer with this clicker and so I'll know when to click. Um, good
morning. I'm here to present as as was said the introduction and on a high level of the city's 2050 vision. We undertook the vision. We undertook 2035 vision in 2010, adopted it in 2012. And unlike our policydriven documents
and and things that we follow like comprehensive plans, this is a more physical, more collaborative document that's aspirational in a lot of ways. See, I'm already off queue with this thing. Um but but it lays out what we
want to be um where we want to be the greater we the what we want to be functionally and how we want the city to develop. Um this was a critical foundational piece. The 2035 vision um really was a shift in development
framework that the city undertook at a time really when you know the we had a chance to plan the economy had taken a turn. um we were not seeing as much development 2010 2012 time frame but it gave us the opportunity to say hey look
we have all of these this policy driven but it's not very predictable and we know what the DNA of the community is um we've done really well the city has done really well at implementing its plans they're not shelf documents we've used
the vision and the the related plans to really move forward whether Whether that was the West Ocala plan, the downtown Ocala plan, Midtown plan, we've used all of those plans and there are on the ground examples of of what we've done to
implement those plans as we've gone through and really they all fall under the umbrella of the vision. Even though the vision came kind of out of sequence, now it's it's the real umbrella document for all of them. In many ways, 2050 is a calibration of
or an update of the 2035 plan. The priorities of 2035 are ongoing. Um, and as as you know, nothing lives in stasis. So, you know, as things move, as things change, it's important that we update the plan. So, you update the plan about
every 10 years. It was it was put back in 2019, 2020. um and and we didn't get to to until later, but but right now, you know, the framework has changed. Today's county of about 440,000,
70,000 in the city, over 25% of the taxable value is in the city and it's only about 16% of the population and about 3% of the land. Um the growth rate somewhere between three and a half and five depending on the day and the week.
um and only about 11% of the entire county is is really readily developed for developable for intense development. So within that the city lies it the the developable potential of the community
and when I say the community I mean the entire county is more defined than it's than it's ever been. Um and a lot of things are arguable but but the city is a creation to serve function right it is the center for education for
government for the court system for economic activity the hospitals so the daytime population and the trips that come into the city and the way that it functions within the greater community is is very important and 2035 the the
context and the the way that 2035 5 was developed really allowed us to take that into account as a part of 20 2050. We really started to look at at a lot of
different elements um and and and I'll get into some of those. But one of the elements that was critical as we we went through it and as we went through 2035 and identified this core area that was everyone's in the city. It's the gathering hub for
everyone in the city from the hospitals to say NMA Gallery if you're familiar with where that is the old Coca-Cola plant on 14th Street bound by Pine and and maybe 8th Avenue and it and it's a more perceptive district in some ways but that was the area that the
people who worked on the the vision, the citizens who worked on the vision really identified as the core and we turned that into our our primary area of function that things kind of radiated
from um as a part of 2050 we had Joe Minoszi a planner and urban economist who models and and and shows you the on a value peracre basis what's most critical to your community and when we
look at the downtown we where we have urban form and a context established that's critical to to the city's DNA that that that be functional um in the
appropriate way. So he he does this kind of three-dimensional modeling urban 3 does and those the high spike is the downtown. So the value per acre in the downtown is the highest. It the
form is the most predictable and the intensity is it's the most intense area. So to grow that downtown is very important. Um it's important that we enhance it, that we develop the the vacant properties in the downtown, a lot
of which are non- taxed. Um and at the same time make sure ultimately, you know, our charge as the city, the councils, mine, our staffs is to make sure that we're solvent, right?
And so a lot there's a lot of opportunity in our downtown um for solveny and the value of the downtown is disproportionate on a per acre basis to the rest of the community. We have too much vacant property in our downtown right now. We have too much
redevelopable property um within that core area. And so that's a focal point of how we move forward. It's critical that that property in that area is properly designed. It's it's utilized in a way that's consistent with the vision.
Um it as and there are properties that throughout here we'll discuss that even the school board owns that I would say you know it would be important that we collaborate on those properties as we move forward specifically downtown the
warehouse as we move into the east the property that we're on right now um booster stadium to mention a few but but it's it's really going to be critical that we collaborate on some of those as we move forward with your plans because
it is this is a contextual vision. Um and and like I said, we've it's never been as well defined the context of the whole community as it is now. As I made reference to the about
11% of the property that's developable, readily developable. Um we have horse farms forever in the northwest. We have forest to the east. We have a lot of land that is protected. So our activity goes on in a relatively small portion of that. Um
the city is more well defined. Our our goals towards solveny and towards development and infill of not only our downtown but some of the other areas west Ocala, East Ocala development at the airport really are are
very focused on the context of each one of those areas. And so it's important and critical that we enhance those as we can and keep up with our maintenance obligations. So we have several several contextual
components and several components that we really pay attention to in the vision, land use and housing, mobility and connectivity. Um, and that's not just vehicles. That's also pedestrians and sidewalk plans and and design of the the urban core, but also
of, you know, things like safe routes to school, safe routes for everyone, which we'll we'll have a workshop coming up with city council on a grant that we're pursuing for safe routes for everyone, but also our transportation improvement plan. um which is a little different and
because of the nature of the city, we don't have many new builds, but we have safety issues with our roads and and um upgrades that we have to make. Some lane grade, some lane upgrades, some intersection upgrades, um and also open
space and parks, gateways to the city. All of those things are important and and geographically the poor area um but also some of the other areas of the city. So, you know, like I
said, you see we we watch the population trends. We we've really done a great job with the CRA tool. Um that's in I consider the vision kind of a compass and a and a toolbox combined, right?
um the tools within it. One of the most important are the CRAAS. So, we've done a really good job in in the downtown CRA and the North Magnolia CRA in making improvements to the to the structural pieces and the buildings um in those
areas. And we've now grown to additional CRAAS, the east and the west. And so, we work in those areas. Also, um, you know, we're seeing 315 people a day roughly move into
the community, the greater community. The population is expected to be around 92,000 or so in 2050. So, it's important that that we keep focused on the current, but we build to an aspirational
level to accommodate those people uh who are coming. things changed. The downtown has changed in the time that in the time since we've done the vision, but in the time that I've been here, which is longer than I probably thought I'd be here, but it, you know, it went from a
vacant downtown to a very active downtown. And it's in its evolution not finished. It is, you know, restaurants, bars with a smaller percentage of residential and retail.
And as we see the hotels get developed now that we that we see two hotels being developed, parking garage being developed and opportunity arises for a a greater mix. Hopefully that's followed by residential um and strategically we will follow and
and try to have residential development come into that to the core of the downtown. Um it becomes more of a a 16-hour a day functional downtown that's that is farther along in its evolution
and mix of residential, retail, entertainment. um and both sides of downtown. So, State Road 40 north and south. And again, it it extends down to the hospitals and includes, you know, some critical
properties that the city owns. As you saw in the one slide, there far too many properties that are not paying taxes at this point. They're owned by the city, some owned by the school board. It's critical that those are developed, but
they have to be developed within the context of where they sit. And and so that contexts sensitive development piece is very very important to the success of the vision and the plans that fall under it.
The vision takes into account a lot of the things that are in the plan. it crosses over but or in the in the comprehensive plan but again it's a it's a more direct relationship to do this um as opposed to this is the policy you shall in this
year do that you know those those things I roll my eyes when when I talk about those um it's critical that we get on each of these and and we can we really advocate not just advocate but but
pursue pursue infill redevelopment. Um, we make sure that our capital improvement plans and our transportation improvement plans keep pace with community's needs, that our infrastructure is we don't have really large outstanding maintenance
obligations which really are take away our momentum. um that we continue to get public investment in our community redevelopment areas and and that we're creative and and again sensitive to the context in with which we pursue
development within our CRAAS fix blighted areas within our CRAAS. Um it's critical that we have a very the best transportation network and again and transit network whether it's bus,
pedestrian, vehicular um everything functions a little different but differently but that we really invest and pay attention to those things. um that we concentrate on our workforce
as we changed the paradigm from the old to the vision. We created a land use called employment center. So the airport's in the employment center west of a lot a lot of the property that's west of the interstate is in an
employment zone and and that has been a critical victory for us as we've moved forward through this and things like complete streets that that we pursue as we go through the process. There are other people other pieces that
are important also you know park planning and enhancement to parks. We'll we'll undertake the Tuscilla Park. We've we've seen a lot of work go on at the Mary Sue Rich Center, but we'll also have some additional development of that park of
that space um as a park and as um a place within West Ocala that that sees again mixeduse growth, public art, activation of of our spaces and softwareing and events that we have downtown are all critical to to
attracting people into the community and and getting them to interact with especially the urban space the way that they were intended. The gateways into the city. Again, a critical piece, a piece that's needed attention from the time that I've gotten here. And and
those are things on the State Road 40 corridor, especially as our primary corridor coming into the city. Something that we'll we'll pay specific attention to. There are several areas that we we really focus on. These heat maps were created through a lot of public
interaction and and identification of what lie at each of those spaces. Um but downtown Midtown, North Magnolia, as I've talked about from the hospitals, it's up to through the North Magnolia district. um our CRAAS east and west
downtown and Midtown again um and the airport all important areas um the east Ocala gateway and and entryway into the city from the east with state road 40 at the
yellow line obviously you know a lot of this is aspirational I I kind of go by a keep it change it or get rid of it which you can't do with a lot of these things but some of some of this is aspirational. Some of it is keep it and
enhance it a little. Um but you know again some of the treatment on the state road 40 corridor some aspirational plans uh that would be redevelopment plans of certain things that lie within some of the nodes that
that are in that area. A lot of neighborhoods lie within that that northern area. So again enhancement and connectivity of those areas is important. Uh the downtown core Midtown again this this area is the densest most
intense downtown area. The most critical that we that we have in terms of form where we did our first form-based code which is contextual approach to to zoning as opposed to the to the traditional way that people ukit use
uklitian zoning. Um, and we may use that tool in other places. For instance, this this property would be prime if it would if the school board left this property and put it on the market and
it was redeveloped. It would be a prime area for a formbbased approach or a P a mixeduse PD approach that that was very well designed. um especially as it relates to the other neighborhoods in in the context that it's in and what it's
surrounded by. Um West Ocala, a couple of hot areas. You can see those the heat areas in there in the Mary Sue Rich Center that that is um highlighted. The core area is at 40 and and
um Martin Luther King Boulevard. It's it's really the kind of ground zero for that area. There are a lot of aspirational plans on that core in both directions, east, west, west, north, south and then around Mary Sue Rich with
Lilian Bryant Park and also the water recharge park and the former Pine Oaks golf course which is now West Oaks development. we've there's really kind of creation of place there and and real change and so we see that as an area
that's going to gain momentum and and we'll it'll be critical that we plan well for pedestrians for um people enhance the park. We have some other property again that's city-owned in that area that would be
utilized for redevelopment. Um and and you know things within the toolbox like our brownfields grant um like our CRAAS that we utilize to to help us get to to those ends. Um and the airport we have
between four and 500 acres at the airport. Some of it dedicated to a to aviation, some of it more mixed use, but it would be critical for us to uh develop that to create jobs, maybe more specific jobs like aviation related or
medical related um is is our hope. Um again, we're in the process of of finishing the airport master plan. Um we are in a negotiation with with someone for the first large-scale development west of the airport. So those are
critical crit again jobs are always going to be critical. Um we hope again in that evolutionary kind of phasing that we go through that we know warehousing is still important still going to be important but light
industrial and specifically aviation and those kind of components medical some others that that we think will are perfect fits for the airport. So, as I stated, you know, there's more
community definition countywide than ever before. We know where we know what the city is. We know where it's more intense, where it's less intense. We know where the neighborhoods are and and how to protect them. Um, the city's well defined and it's the economic engine.
And we know where the future leaders are educated. they're in this school system and and they're the ones who will carry forward and achieve this vision as as we move forward. You know, like I said, how does
it relate to the school board? Well, it's critical that that we communicate first of all, right? And we know that that we're willing to share data and resources with the board. Um, we know that you have properties that are
critical to to development as we move forward, the property that we're on, the property that I talked about, the warehouse downtown, Booster Stadium, all those examples. I'm sure you can give me more. Um, but but those are the ones in the city that I would say it's critical
that we communicate on and we share um vision as we move forward for each of those. Um, and you know, there are a lot of critical pieces that I skimmed over. I'm willing to answer any questions and I
thanks I thank you for indulging me and I thank my our staff um and city council for allowing us to do the vision. We're we're collectively passionate about it. Um and and how it's implemented and and specific thanks to to Jeff Shum and
Aubrey Hail and and Ender Dear Majan and and uh all of the growth management staff, the focus groups and the members of the community who actually participated in in putting this together. And again, thank you for indulging me. Happy to answer any questions.
>> Thank you, Mr. Lee. We really appreciate you coming forward and sharing u and giving us some perspective about what the city has planned. Board, I open it up for comments regarding um anything that's been shared today. >> Board member Thur. >> Thank you. I concur. I'll just say I'm
I'm really grateful that um you're here this morning and and sharing this information and resources. It means a lot um to me personally as a school board member to be very transparent. And I I'm sure the rest of the board would likely concur with that statement. You
know, we're better together um when we plan together and um and acknowledge the resources that we have and and the tremendous city and county that we're fortunate to live in. So, thank you for being here. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Lee. I appreciate
very very good. Very thorough. >> Thank you. I asked some questions that I had about um some developments and stuff. So, thank you. Sure. We'll just go down the line. Uh yes. No. Uh thank you for the partnership and for the collaboration and communication for
sure. Grateful to the city that we continue to have a non- voting seat on the planning and zoning commission designated for the school board. That isn't the case in all of our municipalities necessarily. And so I think that's a valuable asset. Often I come back and share information from
that. You know, by the way, this was just approved. by the way, this is coming and and so it's been helpful for us even for planning purposes along the way. So so grateful for that partnership and continued conversation. I I also am intrigued and interested as we continue
conversation about Booster Stadium and the downtown properties and we're going to have a little bit of that conversation later today uh and what that looks like with partnership with the city and if you already have partners that are interested in talking about what could be in some of those
areas and locations not exclusive of this property we're on right now and I'll just say it publicly. The only primary concern that I have about vacating this property in general is this very space we're in right now
because of how often an auditorium of this size in the downtown heart is used by Marian County Public Schools for our school work. And certainly the Riley Arts Center is comparable but not quite
the size. And that still would be an arrangement that would have to be made because most of our schools and anything we'd need this for education wise, there's usually not a contract necessarily that we're having our own schools signed. So there there's some uh financial implications to vacating this
space directly. Fortunately, the gym used to be that as well because Oyola used to use that, but now they have their own space. I don't foresee us building another auditorium of this size anywhere else in the county necessarily. So that's p primary concern. I think the
rest of the property we can figure something out with. But um this location we're in right now. So whatever ideas you have on that, I'm certain that's a conversation we can continue to have. >> We're in those that's a absolute concern
I understand that I understand. Um you know, we're we're at the beginning. This is this will get adopted by council in a few in a couple of months, I think. Um, so we're at the kind of at the beginning of being aggressive. One of the things
that I didn't talk about is catalytic sites. You know, we have sites that we own. We have sites that the private sector owns. We've seen both of those developed as a result of 2035, right? the parking garage, the the hotel, the the um the forge, all of the the the
Midtown Station, the the Hilton Tapestry, all of those kind of group were born out of the way that we structured the vision um and used, like I said, that's the toolbox, the CRAAS within
that to utilize those. There are other tools that we'd use here. One of the things that we we will do as we move forward is become a little more aggressive in in bring in in approaching developers for some of the downtown
development. And we will show them things that we call catalytic which don't necessarily have to be downtown. It could include properties that you know we show other private properties as catalytic development opportunities. So it could be that could be something that
we we talk about also and it could include school properties. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. Mr. Lee, can you define catalytic catalytic properties? >> You're using like jargon that um as educators do all the time, but >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So within
within the vision, the core area you saw, it's the hottest color on the map, right? It was the most intense the most intense development the most like each lot developed with the most development on it. the more and more stories and one of the things is
>> to keep our DNA, the city DNA, right? We don't want it. People will always say you're gonna be this, you're gonna be that. >> No, we're going to be Ocala. It's going to be, you know, it may be four stories, it may be eight stories, it may be two stories or three stories. We have
like the geomorphology. People tend to know Ocala from the time that they got here, right? But the downtown was thriving. For instance, when we were doing the 2035 plan, I kept vocalizing
my vision for for downtown. And one of the consultants found a 1959 aerial photo of OEL and he said, "I found your vision. It's 1959." All the all the lots were developed and
now they're parking lots. Um, so those some of those parking lots are city-owned, some are privately owned, but catalytic sites would be we've broadened it. In the 2035 vision, we had primary catalytic. So, they were the first ones that we wanted to have developed. One of
them still exists. We It's the parking lot that is kind of right in the center of >> Yeah. Midtown, >> the layown site basically for the development. >> The one No, this one's north. It's It's a It's a parking lot now. north of Sita,
east of the hotel. So, that one um you know, we had several people interested. We could never really get to where we had to um on the development side and the financial side to to get the development that goes on that site on
it. Um we think now that that's more ripe as we go. So, that's a a primary. There are several others that are vacant. Some of them are publicly owned, some of them are privately owned. Um, we
work closely with the with the land owners. We work closely with the people who come in with development ideas. We've been successful at using tax increment financing and some other tools to to enhance development. We have used the
community re redevelopment area exactly the way that it's supposed to be utilized. We use public money to match private investment. um we make sure that we have a return on our investment in a relatively short time. So, we take a pretty conservative approach to it. Um
but but it's a tool that's really important for us to use. And those catalytic sites, they're throughout as we build the parking garage. And again, it's something that has a little bit of movement to it in terms of
how how will the city react to the hotel and the parking garage being where they where they're built. The dynamic changes a little bit, right? And there's some publicly owned properties right around that area. And there's some private ones that I think will be development
opportunities. Again, it's in the urban area. Um, people can argue about development, but certainly development belongs in the city in the most urban area. >> Thank you. Board member Conrad, did you have thoughts? >> Yes, I just had one one quick thing
actually. Mr. Lee, thank you for being here uh this morning. I think it's an exciting time um the partnerships and relationships that are being built right now. Um I'm excited about what's coming forward, but I just wanted to take a moment to highlight um you spoke of the safe routes to school and so we are
anxiously awaiting that to come back in August. Um it will be our first grant. Um correct? Am I correct? That's our first grant we would receive for safe routes to school. So we just want to thank you for your partnership on that. >> Thank you. Um it's important and I think
there are some important other steps to take um not just for safe routes to school but that's obviously very very important to us to you um and so you know one of the the things that I
realized when I first came to Ocala was the lack of sidewalks in certain places and I now understand more why it was functionally the urban area was relative not relatively very small. Um, and so in
a lot of the places sidewalks simply weren't put in and and now we're denser and intenser and and you know retrofitting is always fun. Um, so it's a challenge but it's something that we know we have to undertake. It was
included in a 2035 vision. Um it's in the 2050 vision and one of the things that we look forward to doing um relatively quickly with probably within this first phase which would be the next six months is is having a a sidewalk
master plan and a prioritization for those and and obviously schools are really important. Um, and again, we're going to need to collaborate on those to to understand where children can be picked up by buses and
what the challenges are for for each of us. >> Yeah, >> because there sidewalks are also expensive um unbeknownst to a lot of people. >> Thank you. That's all I have. >> Thank you, board member Conrad. Um I I do I want to say thank you for coming
and sharing and I one of the values of you coming to share and I think what has improved um since I was brought onto the board almost four years ago now is our intergovernmental relationships. Um when I got onto the board, we were in a pretty sticky spot all things considered, not just with
city of Okala, but also with the county and through the work of board member Thrower on the interlocal um committee and then obviously board member Conrad has now been sharing and you guys have regular meetings to have conversation um and our intergal meetings where we have space to talk publicly. But I I want to
acknowledge how much happens also behind the curtain between our administrators, your administrators. Um and as we talk about continuing even today we're going to be talking about booster stadium a little bit and um the future of our district office understanding the financial implications for fixing where
we are now. Um I think it is going to be incredibly important for us to really work well with you because um I know for me you mentioned Booster Stadium a few times. Um, a revitalization of Booster Stadium to me becomes a community asset, not a school
asset, because um, it's not on a school campus, and it's incredibly unique because it is not on a school campus. Um, but I also know that we don't open our schools uh, maybe for 5:00 a.m. running on a track. And so how do we navigate working with city potentially
parks and wreck and um some kind ofou where you all have a level of responsibility and we have a level of responsibility. Um and how do we maybe we talk about the Riley and talk about how can we have shared uh shared operational opportunities for the Riley
and using the Riley because to Dr. Campbell's point this is an asset while a contract is inked. this is an asset for our schools that is free. So they're able to house things here that are free. And so if we're going to take that away from our schools, I believe, at least for me, I believe we have an obligation
to supplement it somehow. And so I want us to be able to sit down and have conversation. And then obviously the I think the elephant in the room is if we decide to move forward with selling other properties downtown, which this board will still have to have further conversation about in the future, how do
we work with the city to find buyers that are aligned with the vision for the city? And so, um, I think it would be very important for Dr. Brewer and yourself to continue to have conversation about about what that partnership looks like and how we can continue to support your vision. Um
because ultimately this is a community we live into and so uh we have two different schools, three right now, three schools in this downtown area between Bridgeway, Ocola, and 8th Street. And so how do we continue to work well together to ensure that development downtown is um aligned with
your plan and supports the needs of the school district >> and and the vision is a living document and to some extent it's yours as much as ours. We're the authors kind of of it. Um, you know, we really are are just the
people who carry it through. Um, and and you're in all of the cases that you just mentioned, you're an important piece of that and it is important. We're not Look, we're not always going to have perfect alignment, but that's I think what what we've been good over the last four years about understanding is though
we may not have perfect alignment, we always we need to communicate. We need to have those conversations. It's critical. We've been I think everyone involved has been great about it. Um, and I, you know, I look forward to those and absolutely. Yes, we'll need to
coordinate on on those items. >> Wonderful. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Dr. Brew, did you have anything you wanted to add? >> No, just thank you. And, um, just to echo what you've already shared that this this has been a great relationship, very responsive. I asked him to be here today to provide this condensed
presentation. So, we're appreciative. >> Thank you, Mr. Lee. >> Thank you. >> One more thing. I if you are okay with this board, uh we can move the operations update before the student progression plan. That way we hear that right after the midyear financial so it
all is in alignment. So if Mr. um Lee's team would like to stay for that, they can do so. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Sure. Absolutely. Is there any public comment on the city of Okala's comprehensive plan update? >> All right. Well, then we will move into the midyear financial review. Um Dr.
Brewer with Mr. Rios Walsh. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. And for the viewers watching, this information is uploaded to board docs um for the community and the viewers. >> Okay. Good morning. >> Good morning,
>> Chair James, members of the board, Dr. Brewer, Attorney Blackman, Elena, and members of the audience. Um forgive me if I have to cough a little bit. I'm still recovering from a bit of a cold, so if I have to step away to do that, forgive me.
>> So, with that, we're going to jump into the midyear review. Um, we're going to really try to stay focused on our current uh budget situation. We will touch on actuals and we will also uh discuss some budget challenges. Um, so with that, I'm going to jump right into
it. Um, so here's the uh order for this presentation. I'm going to walk through the Florida uh education finance program or FFP3 calculation. We're going to talk through uh the impact
of uh the fees scholarship uh programs on the district. We're also going to uh talk through an all funds summary for the entire budget and those will be broken out into four major areas. general operating, adult education
referendum, special revenue or other and then again as I stated um I will highlight some of the the budget challenges that we have. So for the Florida Education Finance Program u third calculation 2526 just to
give a little bit of background um this was established in 1973. It also includes seven various um or different program cost factors u each to ensure um that the programs uh that we operate receive an equitable share uh of
funds in relation to its relative cost per student which is key. Most of the members of the board are familiar with those uh cost factors um and they are weighted which I will get into in a little bit. Um the FE FEFP is calculated five times a year and that is to account
for the certification of the tax roles and student FTE counts throughout the course of the year. So what we have here is a comparison um between the second calculation and
the third calculation and the difference. And the schedule goes from left to right, top to bottom. And we will provide some um uh definitions or a legend to um to the board members. Uh but I will speak a little bit to some of these, but many of you guys are very
familiar with them. Um so that first area at the top, the formula components. Um there is the main formula component for FFP base which is the weighted uh full-time equivalency times the base student allocation times the comparable
wage factor and that's at the top left of the schedule. Um as of the second calculation overall we were at 310.5 million and as of the third calculation that number has gone down to 308.7 or rounding up to 308.8. Um so there's a difference there of
about $1.7 um million dollars. Um and then moving down the schedule, you'll see there the safe schools allocation uh which is funded at a 7030 split. Um that is based on the crime index at 30%. Um
and then the other 70% is funded um not including uh virtual schools and and does not include fees um but is a function of um unweighted enrollment which helps to determine how the state provides um the allocation for safe schools. Um that amount has gone down
slightly at 3346. And then the compression adjustment for the 0.748 mills is the property value leveling. Um these are dollars that the state provides if the amount that we levy is less than the state average. Uh
and in this case um they are providing more money for that area. So that's at 291 298. The educational enrichment um instruction which is really for uh helping our schools to turn around and ensure that students move through grade
level uh progressively and obviously graduate uh which is something that we certainly want to see. um has uh gone up slightly uh uh by $122,488. And then our mental health um allocation, which the state minimally is
required to provide $100,000 uh to each district, um but that amount is funded proportionately uh via unweighted enrollment and that amount has gone slightly down. Um and so um there are other areas that I'll talk about which help to uh offset that a bit uh but that
number um has uh gone down by almost $11,000. And then the ESC guaranteed allocation which are funds for exceptional students. Um this was a change to some of the cost factors that went away primarily 254 and 255 and this number
has gone up 500,000 or really 501,000 uh rounding up. So, we certainly like uh to see that. And then the academic acceleration options uh you'll see there has gone down by $122,19.
Um and this has to do with the uh passing scores that we receive, our students receive uh and certifications, cape, advanced placement, um ACE, IB, early graduation, and dual enrollment. So, um certainly don't like to see us
receive less money in any of these areas. Um but this is is how the formula shakes out at this point in time between the second and third calculation. And then the last two items there, the DJJ uh supplement for those uh students that
um uh are involved in juvenile justice programs. Um that number has gone down 38,000. And then student transportation funded typically uh for students that are at least two miles away from their home school. Um and that amount has gone
up. So all told at the bottom you'll see an increase for just the FFP base of 13,442 which is a nominal increase um considering the large amount of funds that we started with.
The next slide goes through again highlighting that total FEFP uh and that increase in difference there at the top right of the schedule and then it backs out the required local effort of 125 uh.9 million which is uh
required uh it's basically the skin in the game uh that Marian County is required to provide in order to pull down those other state funds. Um so total state FEFP um but now at third calculation is 265.5
and you see that in the next column. We then have a series of adjustments which is typical um for this uh particular um second and third calculation. Uh so you'll see those adjustments listed out. We have a class size reduction of 790,
excuse me, $769,000. And then you'll see a couple of other um adjustments there um that primarily um are made up of the prior year adjustment for FFP and the adjustment for FES. And
that amount um of $1.5 million coming out for prior year adjustment. And then the following item for the prior year adjustment for fees has gone up. So in one instance um it has gone down for our portion and has gone up for the portion
related to um fees or the family empowerment scholarship. Um the other two items there, the proration of appropriations uh effectively is just making sure that um once the appropriation bill um was signed last year that if their uh projections come
in a little um actuals come in a little higher that it has to kind of be right sized to the appropriation. And that is uh the definition for that particular uh category. And then the state funed discretionary supplement. You'll see
that that has gone up uh by $87,000. And this is the effectively the non-voted discretionary millillage for students that are awarded funds or scholarships through FES. So a lot of that, as you can tell, is FS related. Um
and so all told as we move into the next uh schedule here you'll see the total state funding at third calculation at 32298,000 difference of $720,000. And then once we account um and back out
the required local effort and discretionary uh local effort uh you'll see there the total local local funding at $156.8 million. Um at the bottom of the schedule there you'll see the total funding which we break out. And so you
see the aggregate of all of this uh between the second calculation and third calculation um is a minus5 million uh which is equivalent to $491 unweighted FTE. Um now I will pause
there uh for any questions because that is uh quite a mouthful and as many of you guys uh have seen in the uh leadership summit that we have uh we do provide a very detailed overview of the FEFP formula uh for members of the
public um on an annual basis and that goes into much much greater detail but I'll pause there for any questions so far. >> Dr. Campbell. >> Sure. U my question isn't necessarily for you Mr. as well. I I know that Dr. Brewer gave us a statistic the other day
because yes, we have uh the funding between second and third calc is showing we're at a deficit of 5.55 million, but uh family empowerment scholarship is the predominant amount there, including the state funding area that you just showed
us previously as well as obviously indicated here directly. Uh the number though of students that are receiving family empowerment scholarship in Marian County, you have a percentage of how many of those ever came to Marian County public schools. And I think it's
important for the community to understand and if anybody listening is not aware of the family empowerment scholarship and the legislature now has that any student in the state homeschooled, private schooled, whatever that looks like, can receive monies from
the family empowerment scholarship and Marian County Public Schools receives it on our budget essentially as a pass through. We never actually see those dollars and we usually never see those students. We do have some that are showing up on those rosters that actually are receiving scholarship
dollars and you have a couple hundred. You have a number on that I know you're going to give us um but that that have received that scholarship but are participating in our schools and we've been able to adjust that with the state this year. I mean that's something new that the state is asking for this year.
But of those students receiving this 67 million dollars from the state for education in our community, what is the percentage that have never been in Marian County Public Schools? >> Thank you, Dr. Campbell. So, the total number of students on the April family empowerment scholarship payment file was
10,198. The number of students who have not attended a Marian County Public School since August of 2022 was 7,480. So the students who have attended at some point between August 22 through
February 2026 was 2,718. So thank you for bringing attention to those important numbers. >> Yes. No, thank you. So I I think that's important as the community continues to hear and we'll go into all of this budget loss that we're projecting and
all of those kinds of conversations we're going to have over the next couple of months as we head into budget conferencing and and such. just for the community to be aware and and you know good, bad or indifferent. I'm not making a political statement as to how the family empowerment scholarship is
developed and who receives it and why they receive it and why families have chosen to receive it. But for the narrative that has been played out that this scholar and this is statewide that this scholarship is allowing families to take these dollars and put them
elsewhere because they're not getting a good public school education. We have nearly 7,500 students receiving these dollars that never were going to enter Marian County Public Schools. And so I I think that's an incredible narrative for us to put out when we're
talking our budget because it certainly makes it look makes us look inflated every dollar that we have that comes in that is a pass through dollar and right now we know it's more than $67 million based on third calculations. >> Thank you Dr. Campbell and um I'll certainly touch on that in the next set
of slides. Um but yes, we do have to recognize uh that revenue in our budget and in the interest of transparency, we always put that out there. Uh but yes, it is a $67 million that is effectively um being siphoned off of the district
funds in order to support um the scholarship program. And so it's actually a good segue to the next set of slides uh which kind of talk a little bit about that and particularly the growth over the last few years. Um so as you can see there's a couple of um uh uh
items here that I want to touch on and and really um the main issue uh is the expansion of the program and over time it has expanded. So with with with this House bill um that was passed back in March of 23 um House Bill one to expand
school choice options there was a couple things that were done. It eliminated financial eligibility restrictions, eliminated enrollment caps for family empowerment scholarships or the fees and it increased annual scholarship cap for family empowerment scholarships for
students with unique abilities. Um the last bullet there uh basically touches on the fact that from n from 2022 to 2023 moving into 202526 we have seen 192% increase in the amount
of fees uh dollars that are being uh siphoned from the district for purposes of the scholarship. And so you'll also see a year uh byear growth increase there. So, this is concerning because, as I've said before, we operate a
subsidized school district. So, no one school stands alone. Um, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And that means that some schools earn more revenue than others. And because of that, when you take $67 million away from the topline number, that means that
some of that money, depending on how it shaked out with the program cost factors, could be utilized to help fill holes in the budget. And that is that is a concern. Uh but as a matter of public policy, it's certainly not my position
to opine on the state's priority as far as uh school choice and making sure that parents have the ability to choose where they want to send their child uh to school. Um so we are dealing with that. Um so it does provide a confluence uh of
issues. Um with that I'll jump into the next >> quick question Mr. Wash though. All things in, all things considered, and this is just my quick math, which Miss Boston used to laugh at me about for this year with the 67 million, we
would have only actually realized about 16 or 17 million of that if those students there that were our students that we've lost. And so I think it's really important though to hone in and highlight the fact that we're really only short 16 million from this bucket
because they're students we lost. the rest of the students we would have never received funding for historically. >> Yeah, I think that is an accurate statement and and a very high level uh that yes, obviously if we if those students never came to the district, then it's no love lost, it's no money
loss, but certainly for those 2500 or so that did touch the district at some point, um that's something that we want to look at. I know Dr. >> does the 2500 represent about 25% of the total money, right? If that was the number, right? And 25% of 67 million is
like 16 or 17 million I think. >> Yeah. Uh we we we have not delved into a deep analysis there uh Dr. James but generally on its face value that that would be a good way to look at. >> I just think it's important to note like the district other districts are experiencing hemorrhaging costs because
uh students which is why they're closing so many schools. I was actually just looking at was it Bvard this morning I was texting you about. So we're we're talking, you know, all in maybe 17 million a year that we've lost because of family empowerment. The rest
of it is just money we're passing through. And so that I just wanted to ensure that that point was very clear. >> And I think the challenge is it shows as that revenue. And that's and so with the community, if you don't truly understand this, it shows that that we have an additional 67 million that we don't and
it so that's the important number. >> Yes, ma'am. And we do have an an offset and and purchase services for that because we do have to account for it. So we do show it and then we have it coming out. But unlike the charter schools, it's not real money that we actually, you know, see in a deposit and then we distribute to the charter schools. This
operates differently. It's effectively taken off the top, but for purposes of our financial statements, we do have to show it. Uh with that being said, the next slide uh jumps into our original >> as well. Just one second. Move. >> Oh, yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. I can slow down. I'm sorry. Yes, sir.
>> For being very >> I thank the board for being very transparent in that conversation about this pass through money because um often times it's the the how it's how it's explained to the
public doesn't get the correct um weight gravity of what it is. Um, what this also says is that we don't have a lot of um, charter schools or schools in our community, which says which shows that we do a good job with educating our
kids. And so we that this this this is good to to put this out there and to explain it because there is there is a perception that we have this extra pot of money. And when you see $67 million, that's a lot of money. But when when
it's just going by you, it's it's not it's not any money. So, thank you for for explaining that. I thank the board for having that conversation, putting out there, being transparent. >> Thank you, Reverend Cummings. And um one one one point I'd like to highlight is that every district is a little different uh dependent on geography. Um
this FFP formula is uh complicated to say the least. It's very dynamic. Uh so some districts like Miami Dade uh yeah they have uh maybe a hund00 million uh deficit and are looking to close 20 plus schools but they also have a very different demographic uh there and so they're dealing with the confluence of
of issues that maybe we don't have to deal with per se. Uh but when you have a change in immigration policy and students stop showing up and you projected a certain number of students to be there and then all of a sudden they're not there and then you do a a second count or third count and you're
expecting these dollars in the state to be able to verify that those students are there and they're not, well then you you have an issue. Uh but that's different from what we're dealing with. Um and so on our side um we at least right now and I'll just kind of mention
this um when we look at where the legislature is in terms of what their proposal is um we are preliminarily uh projecting that maybe next year when the budget passes and again a lot of this is because the legislature is still uh working to get the budget done um we
could see maybe close to a 1,200 um uh uh uh uh increase 1,200 students 11 uh 84 90.93 increase in uh students but a large part of that almost 900 of that is driven by
fees and so this is you know looming uh in the background um when they take money away and when uh we look at our projections in terms of growth. So we really can't extricate ourselves from it. Um it is a policy that is it is here
to stay and it does have an impact on the budget. Um that being said, um brings me to my next slide, which is uh the comparison of the original budget at $1.3 million versus the revised budget at 1.265.
Um just as uh a point of clarification, um this information was through March 6, so of course the books don't close until the 10th. And so this is point in time data. And as I uh often provide our monthly budget amendments and financial
reports, uh the budget is constantly changing with amendments and monies in and monies out. So that's an important point. Um but as you can see here, there's a $50 million uh variance there and a large part of that is driven by fees. That is by and large the largest driver uh because we have to show it
that way. The next slide I'm going to talk through briefly is just um the general operating fund. And you can see there for our revenues
we have a variance of 52.2 million uh with an original budget of 497.7 and now sitting at 445.5. Um, just as a point of clarification, I know uh folks may be curious that that other category represents um
reimbursements for uh capital projects, uh the sale of uh the warehouse at $2 million and other miscellaneous loss recovery and insurance claims uh that we receive in revenue throughout the course of the year, which is that smaller sliver uh of 11.1 million at the right
of the schedule. Graphs And we look at revenue collected at 333.3 and it's broken up into state, federal, local, and other. Uh so you can see that we're certainly uh on track and we
monitor uh revenues constantly. And the next area here looks at our expenditures. Um, and so here we had an original budget of $550.9 million and now that is at 54.5
and there's a variance of 46.4. Again, that offset uh for fees is embedded in the purchased services. I will note that our energy um services uh and our cost for energy has gone up. Uh,
and so, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that every time we come before you and we ask for um approval to purchase certain items, often times there will be language in there related to tariff increases or other, you know, macroeconomic type forces that we can't
control. Uh and this is one of the areas where we've seen an 18% increase uh between 2425 and 2526 or about 56% increase in our energy cost uh from uh the year 1920 and that's that
is a lot that is not insignificant. It's gone from about 10 to 17 million and is constantly tracking higher. >> I have a quick question Mr. Ryz Walsh. >> Yes. >> What did we budget that we haven't done in purchase services to the tune of $50 million? just like is there any like big
thing that's in there? I mean that's just a lot of money. >> Yeah. So that that's that is that represents the offset for fees. We have to put it somewhere in account for that. And so that is really what's driving that. It's not that there's a huge uh drop off. That's really to account on
the accounting side of recognizing the revenue and then showing that we're not we're not we're not expending that money. That money is going to FS. >> Thank you for the clarification. Next item here on page 14, the summary of the general fund operating expense uh
budget expense. So you can see there actual expenditures at about uh $272.3 million. Uh and again, this is pretty much tracking where where we would expect to be um at this point in the year. Of course, I'm constantly getting lots of emails and uh we've put out
several memorandums regarding approval of expenditures. Uh this morning I had to approve some frozen mice for a snake uh for one of our exhibits. So I see them all. Uh some are a little bit more perky than others. Uh but I do get a
chance to uh meet with and talk with all of our principles and various staff uh for everything that they're buying. And believe me, it does get a little um testy, but we try to we try to get to yes, but oftentimes it's no. Um the next
slide here I'm going to walk through briefly uh is just our ending fund balance. Again this is from a budget perspective. And so um as the board is aware um you know we we have to uh maintain a certain level of fund balance in order to stay
in the good graces with the state um from a budgetary perspective. We are projecting a ending fund balance of about $27 million or 6% total revenue overall and the financial condition ratio which makes up that 3.71 or $16.5
million in unassigned which is the residual classification from the general fund plus the 0.45 uh gets us to 4.6 for the financial condition ratio. And then when we add in all the other areas um primarily the new
category for committed at 1.68 and the prepaid non-spendable which is typically for our inventory and prepaid items um that gets us out and rounds us to about 6%. Um I will always highlight that um anything u between 2.5 and 3% will u
mandate that the state uh get a corrective action plan and really get more involved in the management of our finances. So we certainly don't want to ever be below that. Anything below 2.5% um could um mean that the state would
come in and enter into a stewardship type of situation with our finances. So, we'd like to keep a healthy fund balance. Um, so with that, I'll pause briefly before I jump into a quick review for adult ed and other funds. >> Any questions, board?
>> Not a >> question. Just a comment quickly because as you just mentioned that if we don't maintain a healthy fund balance, then the state can come in and take over and they just did in a county in the panhandle. So, yes, >> um, we are not in danger of that at all
at this point. Um so grateful to good accounting and the work of our finance team to make sure that we are not in that situation. Thank you. >> Yes ma'am. And thank you and and really kudos to the board um you know for having the wisdom to come up with the new category and to um you know make
sure that we were putting money to the side because we had to use those funds uh to help balance this year's budget. So I'll touch on a little bit um about that in my closing remarks. But just quickly for adult education, you'll see a revised budget there of about 10.3
down from about 10.1 or a reduction of about $94,000. Um they did have fund balance which they're using to help uh offset some of their expenditures. As you'll see there's a difference there between our revenue and expense. Um they had about $2.2 million in fund balance that
they're tapping into this year. And you'll see in that next slide there, uh, percent of revenue collected at about 6.7 or almost 67% uh, between funds, federal, state, and local. And then you'll see their revised
expenditures there at $14 million. They are projecting to have a um, I wouldn't say a surplus, but they're going to have a fund balance of about $1.2 million, 1.4, I'm sorry.
uh million dollars for adult education and we know Mr. Small Ridge keeps a very tight reign on his budget. So I usually um and very confident in our numbers there. Okay. And then this slide again highlights um the projected ending fund
balance for adult education at 1.4 million. And I just as a point of note, I think it's important to to recognize the capital development and programmatic development that's happened at at Marian Technical College over the last three
years, I think, would be a appropriate timeline. And so doing making those kinds of investments costs money, which it's great that he was able to create a little bit of a fund balance to then use that money to plan because he um has made some tremendous investments with
technical education that are going to impact our community. But startup costs are not cheap. So >> they're certainly not. And I've had a an opportunity to tour uh with Mr. Small Ridge the facilities there and and step into the uh the the the the airplane that we have and the the helicopter that
they have on site. So, yeah, they're doing wonderful work and we want to continue to to support that. Um I'll touch on um our referendum a bit here. Um and so our general referendum here, revised budget uh now sitting at
exactly the same amount. So, it has uh not changed at 41.186 uh million dollars. And of course, we have our oversight committees where we go into um grave detail in terms of what those dollars are being used for and the programs that they are supporting. Uh
you can see in the next slide the amount of funds that we've uh collected or revenue collected um to date at 36.5 million or 89%. And then we have a breakout. Um this is also something that I go over um in our
um advisory committees. Uh so you have their art, music moving from left to right, physical education, vocational programs, library, media, class size reduction, professional development, and school safety. Uh so you see there there's about a $1.349 million uh
variance in expenditure budget between the original budget and the current budget. And you can see the line share um there in terms of dollars uh phys physical education which we provided um from the board some additional dollars
um for that particular area. And then the next slide here referendum of amount of budget expensed at about $21.7 million um as of this time and it's the breakout is listed there. Um so we're glad to see
that this is being spent at a good clip. Then slide 27, this is our referendum ending fund balance of 11.3 um million. It's variance of about 1.3 million. So we do expect to have some money to roll forward um which is
usually the case. Special revenue, we'll get into that. This is mostly our federal funds. So you'll see there an original budget of 62 375 million. It's um now at 64.377.
So we have a variance of about uh $2 million which represents most of our uh title funds and funds that come from uh the federal government and support to the district which we're grateful for. But, uh, I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that, um, you know, Washington
DC is sometimes has a hard time getting their budgets passed, too. And, uh, sometimes there's an appetite for more and sometimes an appetite for less. And so, we just have to monitor that. Um, but our folks in federal programs, um, Dr. Coleman and Mr. White House doing an excellent job um, really monitoring
those dollars because we do need that continued federal support. revenue collected at 25.1 million dollars. Uh so this is you know where we'd like to be. They're actually in the process of putting in all of their grant applications uh for the next
round of funding um in the month of May. And so this is an ongoing process. We get our notice of awards and make sure that um our projections, our forecast is in line with reality. And those numbers typically change between tenative budget and when we finally get to an approved
budget. And then we have our summary of revenues um for um revised expenditures uh budget expenditures there. You'll see original budget is 62.3 and it's up 64.3. So there's a variance to the good of $2
million. Again, you guys see this in our financial um reports that I provide on a monthly basis and I usually will go through and highlight what is driving that at any given time. Slide 32. This is our actual expenditures for
special revenue. So sitting at about 28.4 um rounding up uh which is where we'd expect things uh to be at this point and again constantly monitoring um if we'll have carry forwards for various types of funds and what we will use those for. Uh
with that, I'll pause for just a moment before jumping into uh my closing uh remarks uh and touching on some of our budget challenges. >> I think you can keep on trucking. >> Okay. Thank you.
So, budget challenges. Um you know, I'll just say there's several items here listed. Um you know, the least of which is not some of those macroeconomic forces um that we can't control. uh world events um occur and now we have, you know, potential for increased fuel
cost, diesel cost. Um we have looming in the background uh property tax reform. Um that could be on the horizon in the next 5 to 10 years. It probably won't happen this year, but certainly something that legislature in Tallahassee is looking at. Um not to
mention that of course right now the budget is has not been passed, so we're still waiting to get numbers. Um so that certainly is an issue. Uh in increasing insurance costs which we're constantly looking at our collective bargaining agreements with our units uh as something that we cannot sidestep. Uh we
have a long-standing relationship with them and u these are all challenges um for our budget. Um we talked about the impact of the scholarship programs um which again siphon money away from the district and we're constantly uh looking
at that. Uh we also have unfunded mandates or mandates that are funded but maybe not funded to the level that we would like uh particularly for uh ESE and some of our uh programs for some of our most vulnerable um students that we have to invest a lot of money in in order to provide the proper level of
education. Um the other item I'll talk about briefly is just the use of unassigned fund balance for recurring items. In my one-on-one briefings with each of the board members, um we did talk about this um and this erosion of fund balance over time. Um there are are
are periods where uh the money is good and we we put money away and we have to use it. Um and now we're at that point where because of increased cost uh because we have uh added you know a number of staff um to uh the
organization over a number of years um those things combined together um to create a situation where we're we're being pushed from both sides uh which does u necessitate some hard discussions and those discussions are ongoing as we
speak. We also have supply chain issues, inflation of course, um the federal funding cliff, which we no longer have access to the ESRE funds um that went away in 2025. And then of course uh cost associated
with our aging buildings. We have over $2 billion um and deferred maintenance over the next 20 years uh for our buildings. Um and then also, you know, there are emergencies uh that come up. There are costs associated with making
sure that our schools uh are safe uh for our students uh to learn. And then of course, last but not least, uh you know, charter school allocations, uh and ensuring that our referendum, um which is up for a vote in November, um that we
keep our eye on that and we make sure that we're out there letting the community know that we certainly appreciate the funds and we want to um you know, go out there and let folks know the the great work that we're doing with the money uh and the trust that's
been given to us from uh taxpayers. So those are a lot of different challenges that we have. Um overall um you can see there that 13,442 is a negligible increase just for FEFP. And then of course once you take into account all of
the ins and outs um we are um you know a decrease of about 5.6 6 million but primarily driven by fees and of course the line share of that as I mentioned earlier is going to show in
the purchase services um for offset for the family empowerment scholarship. Um with that I will turn it over to Dr. Brewer for her comments. >> Thank thank you Mr. Walsh. I'll turn it over to the chair. >> Thank you. Um I had just one quick
comment um on the last slide. First, thank you for a comprehensive overview. Um, we are in a time when we're watching our peers around the state experience tremendous fluctuation in their third calculation and are having to be incredibly reactive to that fluctuation.
Uh I I truly believe what a blessing it is for us to be able to navigate these times of growth where we are having to address such a variety of conversations um and not also have to tackle what to do if our third calc was 20 million less than we thought it would be which is
what some of our peers are doing. Um and so I just want to highlight uh that your your work is is helpful uh and it is very thorough and we're grateful to have you on the team. I wanted to just provide a quick um statement. I think I guess on your budget challenges you talk
about safe schools. There is a a very large misnomer in our community that we somehow employ north of almost 30 employees in our safe schools department and and it costs us multiple millions of dollars. 10 million. Yes. Thank you for the
correction. So, um the misnomer in the community is that we employ somewhere between 20 and 30 safe schools employees and cost $10 million. Um, I think it's important to note for the record that we employ nine Safe School employees and all in with fringe benefits is right at
a million dollars. Um, all of which are legislatively most of which are legislatively required positions that we have to have to ensure we're adhering to state law. Um and so for the for the community to be aware of that 10 million number um which we talked about this
when we met with legislators comes from the the investment not just the legislature but also we from our general fund are making to ensure that our schools are safe because we are making investments to safer schools. Uh and so there's a I think a a miscommunication
uh regarding our safe schools department and making safer schools. Um because while we are investing in making our schools safer with buzzers and fences and cameras and um we did um Cintix uh
and we just made the investment for um >> the towers help me out with the name >> open gate. >> Open gate. We've made a variety of of significant investments which go through safe schools department. That is not what's funding the employees who work in
safe schools. So I just wanted to go on record to make sure we clarify that um for the community. >> Um attorney Reverend Cummings for saying that too because a lot of times people are thinking that it's it's all salaries. a lot of infrastructure to making sure that the safe schools
department is able to do their job along with our law enforcement um agencies that work with the district. >> Absolutely. Uh uh board member Conrad. >> Yes. I just wanted to highlight on slide um 25 um with referendum um the second
largest expense was to safe schools which was I I was happy aligns with our strategic plan um which we had discussion on just a few weeks ago. Um, so just want to say thank you to the team for making sure um we put our money
where our mouth is. Thank you, chair. >> Thank you. A board member Thor. >> Thank you. I just wanted to confirm a couple of things. Uh, were we on time or late in receiving the third calc this year? >> Uh, I would say on time. I think it came
out, you know, pretty pretty normal. Um, what's not on time is the is the annual appropriations budget. >> Thank you. I I wanted I was just kind of going down the line of of really important uh budget um
concerns and so I'm glad that you know we received the third kelk more or less on time. What I'm really interested in helping the community understand and and myself included at an even deeper level, how
does the delay in receiving our budget now for the second year in a row? >> Yeah. >> How does that delay impact us specifically in ways that the community needs to know? >> Yeah, that's a that's a very good
question. Um, and I will say that, you know, statutoily we're required to provide our budget to the leg to DOE uh by by September uh 11th. And uh last year when I came on board, uh the budget was was already late. Um and mind you,
the budget development process um had begun in January. And so not having a line of sight into how much money the state will be appropriating to us earlier on in the process or as early as possible does create many challenges because as
you know uh and that uh was brought up in Tuesday's board meeting. Um often times um there are movements of staff. Uh we have collective bargaining agreements and contractual requirements. uh seniority. Um and obviously in looking at the topline numbers and how
much we can afford um not being able to have a definitive answer on how much money we are going to have uh from the state at a particular point in time um really in concert with our budget uh timeline for the course of the year
creates problems because the later that uh we get that information we then either have to backtrack uh revise uh and then that does not often time provide provide um enough um runway for us to be able to make sure that we're
communicating to staff about potential changes about um different places and schools that the staff may end up being or if someone um is more senior than another person. Uh and so it does it does create a challenge um but again
this is uh something that um that we cannot control but it is important um as you mentioned Mr. thrower that the community understand uh that we're doing the best that we can and we've started our budget development process with sitebased budgeting much earlier um this
year and so we've already begun to look at various scenarios to look at various countermeasures uh and looking at our forecast and trying to determine um you know what is the best number in terms of revenue and also expense and as I've
mentioned in our one-on- ons um you know I am very focused on the the multi-year nature of our budget challenges and addressing uh the structural imbalance between uh the revenues that we can rely on and our
expenses and that is something that we really have to take uh seriously and the more time we have to do that puts us in a better position. Thank you for that response and I'm certainly grateful and and confident that you and your team are providing us,
you know, the best and most accurate projections um that you can. However, the whole state, every single school district in this state is being forced into a reactive position
each time that this happens. And we're on a roll now. We're two for two. And that is a a really scary um precedent. It it there's now precedent
for it. And I guess I'm wondering at what point as a collective body of school districts or us taking the lead on it. Um you know, Dr. Campbell, love of your input on this one as FSBA, you know, at a high level having these conversations. you
know, how can we apply um the most appropriate political pressure at this point to say, you know, we recognize that it is the constitutional obligation of the state,
you know, to be supportive of our public schools. And in order for us to be able to do that at a high level, which is our desire and which has been our um our track record, you know, this is an up and cominging district.
We're improving. Uh it's been said over and over today, you know, that other school districts are having to collapse schools and they have their own issues. Um but but we have been really striving, working hard and getting better.
So this is a gigantic unnecessary from my observation monkey wrench and the shenanigans need to stop. Whatever is going on needs to get solved
or put to the side so that we can continue our core business of serving the children of Marian County and on expansion Florida. So if it requires um
a polite but directly worded letter, I would be happy to sign it. And I would also be happy if FSBA and some of our other umbrella educational organizations
um say what needs to be said. You know, how long can we continue to do this when we know that the implications are becoming more and more drastic of being able to continue to be even more successful, you
know? >> Well, and to your point and Dr. Hell, maybe you can um expand on this, but they're even having a special session in two weeks and they're not even going to talk about the budget facts getting delayed. >> And so the legislators literally coming
together to talk about other things like redistricting and things that are important to them, but they're not going to touch on the budget. And so, do we even know when they're going to talk on the budget? Dr. Campbell, do you know? >> No, but the So, the email we received from FSBA today about the special session, it's not really even items that
are important to them. It's items that are important to the governor. So, he has the ability to ask for the special session. >> I don't believe he has the ability to ask for the special session related to the budget because that's their responsibility. >> So, uh the special session is congressional redistricting. Obviously,
that's his priority. But also, two items, artificial intelligence and medical freedom, were only conversations happening in one part of the legislature. So, by his asking for the special session on those two items, they're going to have to come together and come to some level of agreement
during that special session that goes through May 1st. Um, so every indication that I have received, while there certainly isn't a special session specifically occurring with all legislators in Tallahassee, is that individual leaders in the Senate
and the House continue to have conversation behind the scenes in budgeting talks, negotiations, what have you, but without it being anything public that's actually going to go to the governor for signature. Obviously,
we know that is their responsibility to get the budget to him, but he doesn't have to have it signed until June 30th. So, that really messes everything up because even if they were to approve something, he still has the veto pen that could change things. And uh there's
just a lot of interesting things happening in Tallahassee right now. And we alluded to it earlier with with the um House and the Senate being in disagreement and also with the disagreement with the governor. We essentially have three separate agendas happening that's impacting everybody
downstream. And how we get that to change, all I can say is this is an election year. >> So pay very close attention. Lots of House seats may not be uh they if if you
don't like what your legislature is doing currently, then consider reelection for any individual that might be up for re-election right now. and House of Representatives are up every two years. So, they're always up. So, uh that that's all I can really say about
that. And obviously, there's a governor's race that's happening, too. I agree that there needs to be continued conversation and behind the-scenes dialogue. I I don't know the effectiveness or the appearance of uh what that would be just to make them
even more angry like make it angrier situation like do we do we need to thrive? Well, I mean, I'm saying, do we need to fire? Do we need to throw gas on the on the fire in the event of uh those some of those folks are going to stay there? We're all angry. Everybody is
upset that the legislature is delaying and they haven't come to but I I don't know how close they are. It there's just a lot. >> In the midst of all of that, um in the midst of all of that, our school districts and our students are getting a
short end of the stick. Yes. >> And we aren't properly able to do the things that we need to do. And our staff are being affected and our communities being affected. As M. Thor said, we're we're we we've fought hard. We've we've been pulling ourselves up trying to move
the district in a certain direction and and get some things accomplished. But here it is. Um the roadblock is not us. It's beyond our control. It's beyond >> And I don't know. May I speak? >> Sure. Because anger is the secondary emotion
from that comes from deep concern. You know, my intention would never be to throw gas on any fire, but to to to galvanize some action by sharing the direct implications of how this is affecting
the education of children in Florida and our and our planning and our dynamic way of work and doing all we can to to be proactive. And I guess I just, you know, a few times today I heard how how
we being in a position of having to be reactive is not a good position to be in. So how do we get ourselves out of that position? >> Well, and I I think we're there's a there's a portion of what we our work that will always be reactive. >> Sure. >> Um not just for a budget, but for school grade, right? I mean I mean the the
goalpost just moves so that the bell curve still curves the right way that they want it to from a from a a to a to failing school perspective. And so we will always have to some for some level be in a reactive position which makes the work so complicated really. >> Well, and I'll share an improvement and
it's a compliment that now you know we get our results so much quicker. >> Correct. >> And so it just that to me proves that when when there is good communication and we're honest about how things are truly affecting services to children that changes do get made and and deregulation has happened. There's been
some really good things that have helped us. But but this pattern is a problem. >> Yep. >> C certainly agree with that. And and I'll just add to to underscore um that the work and the position of the
administration is that we will continue to do the work regardless of what the legislature is doing or not doing. Um we're looking at our forecast and we are um using sitebased budgeting and doing a very thorough review of all of our expenses to bring them in line so we can
rightsize the district. And so um those discussions and those hard uh decisions are are happening now. And so once the budget is approved um hopefully things are are a little bit more to the good than we expect. Um but we are certainly
going to plan uh for the reality of what's in front of us and that that work that work is ongoing. >> Dr. Kimell, >> thank you. So what I can do right now is send an email communication to the Florida School Boards Association as well as the chairs of the legislative
subcommittee and the advocacy committee and make the request. Uh there is an advocacy committee meeting today that Reverend Cummings will be participating in at 2:30. I believe it's today at 2:30 that uh
that potentially every school board member, every school board has a advocacy representative. I don't know the agenda of what that meeting looks like, but perhaps in a new business kind of scenario. It could also be brought up. So, I'll draft an email right now and just see what can be hap happening
as far as a letter um or something. it. I believe that it would need to be a collective decision certainly and so that's why I'll reach out to the chairs. Uh but potentially advocacy could could pick that up today if if that's something that the school boards on the call agree with making happen. So
>> okay board member >> and I'll finish with this. It's um you know it we just laid off 37 employees >> 35 >> 35 but five were recalled already. >> Okay. if I've ever recalled already, but still that in itself is stressful and
history is a really great teacher. You know, we were here at a time when um all the first and second year teachers were laid off because of budget problems and then uh the ARA funds came through and but by that time we had lost a re lot of really great people. And so those are
the direct implications that I hope that we can find a way to um apply the right pressure is the wrong word. um share the realities of how this is affecting our services to children and and we want to
minimize that as much as we can. >> Maybe the word passion is better just that our passion towards wanting to make sure that we're doing what's best >> 100%. >> Is there any other comment from the board on the budget and the presentation for Mr. Bio Walsh? >> Thank you.
>> All right. >> Thank the staff u for their work on the presentation of course and uh the work continues. So thank you for your support. >> Thank you. So, is there any public comment on the presentation of our midyear financial review? All right, hearing none, we are going to
take a very brief five minute break. Um, and we will be back at 11 o'clock. you always ready. >> Well, that's not true, but >> Good afternoon. We are back. It is 10:59. We are back from recess and we
are going to move into actually item 8.1 since it's connected to our two previous items. Uh so we will be in 8.1 first which is our operations update from Mr. for White House and Miss Usher. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. James. Good morning, board and superintendent. Uh
we've got a few different updates we're going to provide today. Um and we've chunked them up for you so that we can pause in between and have some dialogue after each of those sections. Uh Micher is here with me so we can answer questions and certainly Mr. Rio Welsh as well about any of the finance pieces we
talk about. So the first thing we want to talk about is South Mar High School. As you all know, we're getting ready to open the new school this August. We're very excited about opening our first brand new school in quite some time for high schools. Um the current capacity of South Baron without the third floor, as
you all know, we the the board elected to pause on the third floor design is a cost-saving measure. Um and so the capacity of that school without the third floor is 2011. Um with the third floor, the capacity would be 2711. Right now, our projection
for opening day enrollment is 288. Uh so just over capacity. Um we've we saw a little bit of fluctuation early on when we started asking students who have the ability to remain at their current high schools if they wanted to stay. U we had good numbers of students who did say they were going to provide their own
transportation and stay. Um in the last several weeks, especially with gas gas prices up the way they are, we've gotten lots of phone calls from students wanting to go back the other direction. And so we have more students that had originally said they were going to stay at at Westport or Belleview um that are now saying they are going to be
attending South Mar High School. So we're we're pretty safe to say that we're going to open close to capacity for South Mar next year uh when we open in August. And part of the challenge of course as we see the surrounding schools at Ross Prairie, we've added almost 200 students this year. We've been adding
students at Horizon. We've been adding students at Sunrise. So we know folks are continuing to move into that area. Um, and with the current growth that we're seeing right now, it's very likely by the end of this first year of South Baron High School without that third floor, uh, we'd likely have to start
looking at moving portables onto that campus to accommodate the the current growth that we're seeing in that region. So, our request is to move up the third floor completion in the timeline um, to be able to start on that this coming school year as we finish the rest of the
campus. Um, and so we'll talk a little bit about what that looks like and and potential funding opportunities for us to make that happen. So, our cost estimate for the third floor, the construction itself is just under 10 million. Uh, the design service, which is something we would
need to start on pretty quickly here to be able to get to work on the third floor next year, is roughly $600,000. The furniture, fixture, and equipment and the site work um there would be about 1.5 million. So, our our total cost for the third floor would be just
north of $12 million all in. Um, and again, something that we would need to if we want to make this decision to move forward to to move forward with pretty quickly. >> Mr. White House, I just have a quick question. How much would it cost if we don't like um I know construction, we
always say construction costs more. >> Yeah. >> If you don't do it while you're doing it, I guess is the best way to say it. Do we know how much it would cost if we don't do it now and we waited, we finished the project and in two years from now we come back and and do it. >> So I can defer to Masher just on what
they've seen an increase cost of construction over this past year. Um certainly one of the challenges that we would have if we don't move forward this year is that we would have to rebid the project which is going to increase the timeline. Um, but if we do end up moving portables, we've shared this in the
past, each portable we moved to a school and hook up is roughly $100,000. So you figure if we needed an extra 10 portables for 10 classrooms of students after this first year, you're looking at a million dollars just in portable relocation and hookup for, you know, portable buildings that we wouldn't have
to need if we had a third floor. um that obviously detract from the beauty of a brand new high school when you start adding on portables out into a beautiful field that we have space for right now. But I don't know if Michice >> as much. >> Yeah, >> she said twice as much probably in
>> construction. I was going to say at least 50% more um if we do it later. Okay, thank you. Sorry for interrupting. >> No, not a problem. Um so looking at the third floor design, it's roughly 52,000 square feet of classroom space that we would have available in that area. Um
four dry wet science labs and two chemistry labs. And that second point is important because uh when the architect designed the school, the chemistry labs were designed on the third floor. So we have no chemistry, no true chemistry labs. We have science classrooms on the second and first floor. We have no true
chemistry labs uh which require different functionality including gas hookups um that we can use on those lower two floors. So we do have a workaround for this year. We've been working with um our science program specialists and with facilities. We've got a workaround temporary solution for
this year that will allow us to still do some of our chemistry experiments that we need to in our traditional science classrooms. But ideally, if we're going to have an advanced high school that's got advanced level chemistry programs available, which we know South Maron will as a Cambridge school, um certainly having access to true chemistry labs
will will be critical for us moving forward. Um with that, we also get 25 classroom spaces or or again roughly 700 student stations that we could add to that third floor, which gives us ample room for future growth at that school.
So, our contract right now has until October of 2026 uh for the substantial completion of building three. Building three, as a reminder, is the auditorium area and also our CTE and fine arts classrooms that are connected to the back side of that auditorium, which if you're looking
at that picture, is to the top right um of the campus area there. So, um that will be the last portion that is completed. Um and so the goal would be to if we want to move forward this to get the design service in place so that the contractor can just continue
working. Um which would mean that we would not have to demobilize the current group that's there um and all the construction equipment that they have and we would not have to go back out and rebid the process. We would just pick up with this company continuing at uh the work that they're doing and get that
third floor completed. Um, and certainly we would bring back an exact schedule for when we could expect substantial completion of that third floor. But in general conversation with with the contractor, we could have this done by the end of next school year with the third floor ready to open for the 2728
school year. So looking at funding options and Mr. Rios Welsh can talk a little bit further in detail if you have specific questions, but uh he did meet with our bond council recently just to talk about our borrowing capability. Um, as you all know, we've got quite a few projects with sales tax already lined up over the
next um, nine years that we're we're working towards and we're kicking that off right now uh, with Lake Middle School and then very quickly soon after Belleview Elementary School combination. Um, and so we want to look at our borrowing potential as a school district. Do we have the ability to uh,
to do more than what we already have borrowed? Um, and so looking at our certificate of participation, we can comfortably borrow right now about $120 million and still be able to make the debt service payment as a school district without putting us into an uncomfortable position. So, in in
looking at that, we talked internally as what are some of those other priority items that we'd like to propose for potential funding that we could do within that $120 million range um that we're not currently funding with sales tax at the moment. in our 10-year
projection with sales tax. So, obviously, one of those could be South Marin High School, which would be an easy way for us to get going with that third floor for funding. Uh, the second one is a new central office building. I know you all are quite aware that the current um building that we're sitting
in right now is quite old. Um, and we are, you know, I think has been said before, one one flush away from a really big expensive problem here on this campus. Um, and so there is a a potential for us to look at using cops for uh creation of a new central office,
which would allow us to vacate the remaining buildings that are over there next to OciOla Middle School that we currently occupy and vacate the other half of the Forte Learning Campus and bring all of our staff into one central location. Uh we do have property just uh
just to the north of the Vanguard High School campus that we could look at as a potential landing space for a central office. Um which does have enough acreage for us to build on right now that we own the property and could um certainly look at some design options for that. Um but we estimated to get
enough square footage for all of our existing central office staff be about $35 million to make that happen. Uh, Booster Stadium, as you all know, has been discussed for the last year as something that we would love to be able to get um get going as a community project. Um, we can certainly talk a
little bit more about that in detail if you like, and Mr. Tucker is here to be able to answer any questions if you want to talk about pieces of that, but we've we've seen some proposals of what a redesign of Booster Stadium could look like and and making that more of a a true community site. Um and so we could
comfortably with the cops put in about $20 million from our end. We know that the full um Cadillac version of what we've looked at with booster is a bit more than that. Um and so it would have to be in tandem with, you know, some sort of capital campaign to generate
some of the remaining funds. Um or simply look at a more scale back version of what we've been looking at with booster stadiums to live within that budget realm. And then the last option on there, as you know, we've talked about a little bit this year and have received again some feedback from the North End uh community meetings that
we've done and we were going to start having some more internal dialogue about what that needs to look like with the combination of schools in the north end. Um but this also gives us room within that cops within that 120 million that we could use cops for the north side elementary school combination, whatever
that ends up looking like. um or certainly could as we've proposed in the past uh still go within sales tax if we change the timeline. So there's a lot of opportunities there within uh what we feel we can comfortably still borrow as a school system.
So that's a lot of information right there and a few short slides. So I'll pause there and we can certainly answer any questions about South Marian central office booster etc. >> Thank you. Um, and I think it's a good um, healthy place to stop so we can kind of address this because what we're moving into is a little bit different of
an update from operations board. Um, I open it up. Is there remarks regarding um, let's let's stay focused. Let's start with South Marian just for the purpose of I think your work. You guys are looking for us to give you some direction on South Marian specifically
today. Okay. So, we'll start with South Marian board. Who wants to kick it off? Dr. Campbell. So, I believe South Mary and we need to go ahead and build out the third floor. I'm in full support of that. What I will want to have extensive conversation about is how we're funding it. So, I I completely support it that
we need to move forward with it and whatever um needs to be done to make that happen. Uh but the funding conversation is what I'm ready to delve into. >> Okay. Um uh a point of clarification and maybe our CFO can speak to it. maybe
it's it's not necessary for him to when what is a timeline on the board to have votable action to move forward with this? Um and and because I'm sure funding is the cops is going to take time and so are we borrowing sales tax
to then get it going or um what does what does that look like? Can you speak to a timeline real quick? >> Yes. So I think if we have consensus to move forward with the third floor, the first thing we have to do is the design portion of that. Um and so we can look at what we already have available in funding, impact fees, sales tax, etc.
without looking at cops and be able to start at least on the design portion of that. Um and then obviously the actual expense of it is going to be in the construction cost that we would then have to really revisit. But I think from what Mr. Rio said four to six months um to be able to have money in hand with
with cops if we went that route. >> Okay. So um we are six months away from October which is when the when the contractor would begin to work on the third floor, right? Because they would finish out their existing project and then start the third floor. >> Correct. >> Okay. So um it looks like then the way I
understand a timeline is we'll need to initiate conversation regarding cops pretty soon if that is the direction the board wants to take. Would that be an accurate convers comment? >> Yes, that is correct. >> Okay. I just wanted to make sure that was crystal clear. Um, so Dr. Campbell is definitely in agreement with moving
forward with doing it. We'll discuss funding board. Is there any other comment? Board member Thrower, I see you leaning forward. >> Yes, just a couple of things. Um, the the 12 million, that's an estimate or is that the hard number from the contractor? >> Yes, ma'am. So, we've we've had some preliminary conversation about what it
would actually cost. So, that's a pretty solid number. Um, again, we can't predict construction costs, you know, five months from now and getting the supplies. So, I mean, it could fluctuate a little bit. Technology costs obviously are part of that, and we know technology right now is getting a little bit harder to come by just from some of the other
purchases we've been trying to make. Um, so, you know, there's obviously a little bit of fluctuation, but it should be pretty solidly around that number. >> Okay? because from my view, you know, we've we've already had um financial impact from delays on this high school.
And so, if we're going to do this, it would definitely be my desire to get um get the number set sooner than than later. Um I'm bothered by the idea of continuing to b to borrow money. Uh
but at the same time I I do agree with the need and and the urgency and and all of that. Uh I guess I'm wanting to be hopeful that despite you know the fits and starts that you know the contractor will give us good deals so to speak
and reduce their costs you know not having to bring equipment onto the property. You know some things that make it easier for them to go ahead and do it I hope. >> Yes. Correct. and they're obviously the construction is they're already familiar with the construction happening, the layout of the building, and what needs to take place. So, it it's the easiest
route to be able to just continue that work now than trying to come back and address it a couple years from now. >> Madam Chair, >> Reverend Cummings, >> and I I concur with uh Mr. White House that this is a brand new school and we're already going to be beyond
capacity with it. And oftent times people say, "I'll go back and do this later." And when we go back and do it later, it it really costs you a whole lot more to do it later than to do it now while you're still while we're still there on the ground on the campus and in
the process of doing it. Cost, we know construction costs aren't going down anytime soon anytime soon. So, I'm I'm in favor of us moving forward. We do have to have the conversation about the funding, but um we can't we can't kick this is not something that we can kick
down the road and say we'll do it three or four years from now. It needs to go ahead and get done now because in three or four years now, even after we do this, then we still may have to have come back and have a conversation about what you just talked about portables and all those things and because we're we're
just not that we're still growing. >> Yes. >> Remember Conrad? >> Sure. Um excuse me. I'm in agreeance. Um I think it would be wise for us to move forward. Um at this town, we look at our two new elementary schools we just built. One's at capacity, one is, you
know, rising every day. And so I think it's wise for us, um there's a financial impact definitely, but we also have to consider the impact it has on our students if we come back in a few years and disrupt the, you know, the campus again. Um so anyway, I I think it it's
wise to do it at this time. >> Yeah, I completely agree. It needs to get if we're the all indications with our growth data which we just covered uh in depth in our intergovernmental meeting just earlier this month. All
factors point to that this is where the growth is occurring in Marian County. And so we can pay for it now or we can spend more like 20 million in three years and do it then. And so it would be in the best interest of the taxpayer because the reality is sales tax or um
cops is probably how this is going to get paid for one way or the other. And so regardless, we're going to be using taxpayer money either to debt service that interest or use the sales tax and take away from other projects. Um and so we can either be good stewards and do it
now or be not as good stewards and do it uh in a couple of years and spend 50% more. So I I agree. I think um we need to move forward with it and we will um I guess be looking forward to you all to update us on on how that funding will
look. But I think you hear from the board a unanimous agreement to move forward with um doing out the third floor shell. >> So we will move on then to um the other recommendations that you presented. Uh so we'll start with a new central office building. Um, I think I would love for
Miss Usher, if possible, the numbers I remember, just to frame this conversation a little bit, aren't we looking at about a $20 million plumbing issue um on this site? Because we obviously have people who operate in our district office in three primary
locations. Would that be safe to say? >> Yes, that is correct. And it's more than 20 million actually for this site. And when we did the analysis for the new central office, it was between 25 and 35, a brand new facility of about 50,000
to house like 325 employees. So the I believe the cost to really fix up this site will exceed 20 million. >> Yes. And so I think um as we have this conversation, we don't know when the plumbing will
stop working here, but what we do know is the plumbing will stop working here. Uh is that a is that a appropriate statement to say? >> That is correct. That is what our maintenance department tells us every day. >> Yes. And so as we have this conversation, I think it's important to
frame it that way because we are and if the plumbing goes, we will have to spend the money. We will be there. people have to presumably borrow money because we can't use sales tax for something like this, right? Because sales tax is um the way the sales tax language was approved, it was for academic spaces, right?
>> I believe you can use sales tax because based on your priorities that you did in December 25, 24, you did include a little bit for MTI, >> but if we don't, that would be if we were serving students here. And so if we're not serving students here and we
we had to address this, um this is all presuming that a plan for Bridgeway's finalized home would exist. So it's obviously a little bit convoluted. If Bridgeway was still here, then yes, we could use the sales tax to address some of the plumbing for sure.
But if Bridgeway doesn't continue to live here indefinitely, then we wouldn't be able to use sales tax because sales tax language dictates it has to be used for students. I just can Mr. Rios or anyone I don't want to be the authority on
>> say that um I I know with sales tax money unlike impact fee it doesn't have to be just for students but it depends on how we wrote our resolution if they did include that language. But as Mr. Rias Welch mentioned, we have so much in
deferred maintenance. So if we could not use sales tax for this and put it somewhere where we really need to fix up that building and use cups for the central office, I think that would be beneficial. >> Understood. So, um, and I think our
language I think our language does dictate that, which is why we've had this conversation about athletics and using sales tax, um, because it's student achievement. We put student achievement in the language and so it was pretty pretty specific. But board,
let's talk about your thoughts on a new central office building and moving forward with what that could look like. Is there anyone who wants to provide comment? Board member Thrower. Okay, this is going to be a little bit of a string because when when the community hears central
office, they probably think of Orange County and that gigantic skyscraper down there, you know, that this the school board of education and some big fancy building. I I know that's not what we're talking about, but I just want to make
that clear. And then it's why do we need it? And I'm reflecting back on we had that whole ES portable city of crumbling portables across from the duck pond that were there forever and they housed a lot of people you know for a long time but
um they were in pretty tragic shape. So the decision was made to, you know, demolish all of those portables, pull them off of there, well, most of them anyway, and then move those employees here, uh, to the site where
it was shared at the time, the justification for building the new Forest High School was because this place was in bad shape, which was what, 26 years ago. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, we continue to limp along and here we are. And then we moved a bunch
of employees that were here over to the old Evergreen site because Evergreen closed and there was room there and we needed somewhere for eventually students which then okay Bridgeway so now they're here. Forom has continued to grow but
they started out really small. Oakrest Elementary School stay with me here. Oakrest has been in distress for multiple years. So Oakrest was not a school that we could move the Evergreen kids to because the Evergreen kids had
to go to high performing schools, which meant that we I think are still busing students from their from their neighborhoods to very far away schools. Shady Hill, Ward
Highlands, I think I know Ward Highlands and South Ocala. So that's a cost and an expense and it hurts attendance because if if if a kid misses the bus. >> Yeah. And the parents say I I drive past
two elementary schools to when my kid misses the bus. >> So So these are all of the um factors and threads that go into the conversation about the central office. And my ask would be if if we're and I
agree that you know obviously something needs to happen because of all of the things that happened in the past that led to this. We don't know. I think we're feeling really good about Oakrest and and their and their academic performance and how
that all is going to >> Wasn't that time was ironic. >> Boom boom. How >> like you talking about it, >> right? Well, and for the audience, the lights went out. >> Yes, the ghost of forest is >> we have >> Yeah, we're still on.
>> Somebody did that and it didn't just happen. >> So, anyway, um hopefully Oakrest is going to make the grade. Hopefully then Oakrest will be available for kids to be able to start coming so that we can reduce the pressure of having to
continue with the arrangement because of what happened, you know, with Evergreen now forom. And what I hear a lot in the community is, you know, we need to get some kids back into the old Evergreen building because that's one of our newer buildings and it's one of the nicest campuses, you know, that we have. So those would be the answers to the
questions that the in my mind that the community would have as soon as they hear central office, can't you just hear it now? You know, and and I think that this uh this history is is important. um because we have moved employees all over
the place for years, including into buildings that weren't even really supposed to be inhabited anymore um to try to make way for for students and meet state requirements for what school students could go to that were under um state watch. So, there's a lot that goes
into this question of should we build a central office and and and the support for it. And maybe I had to talk it through in my own mind to land at a spot where yes, you know, I agree that that it is time and and we do need to do this
in order to keep moving forward. And another shameless plug for it'd be great to have a budget. >> Yes. All right. Any other um I'd love to hear from other board members regarding a central office. I guess I'll go. Um, listen. It's >> not very often member Campbell is
speechless. >> We we we um we came over here a few years ago because of the need from the old office that we were in. We knew that there were some major major problems
with that building um that just it was an unhealthy place for us to be. um this was supposed to be temporary. Here we are four or five years later still here. So that need has not gone away that we still need central office.
Where we need where's where's that central office going to be? How we going to get it um built and where how we're going to get accomplished. We have we have not had that conversation. >> Yes. >> In four or five years. Um, I remember when it initially came up, it was all in
the press about, oh, the school board's going to build a $40 million central office. And that was never a conversation that we really had. It was just that we need to get that building at that time because it was a sick building. So, I think we have to come back to the table, start having this
conversation about the central office um building, whether what are we doing with this campus, what are we doing because our staff has to have somewhere to do the work. uh we can't support our students if we don't have a place to do the work. So, um I'm ready for the conversations.
How we going to fund it? That's going to be something that's going to be that's going to be another thing. I I think um what you presented today gives us some tells us some um directions that we could possibly look at, but we need to make
sure that we exhaust every um avenue of how we're going to do this. And and we need to we got we got to get it done. soon we got to get you can't keep kicking it. >> And for clarification purposes for the cops because obviously
South Marian is a piece to this puzzle. And if we move forward with cops to fund South Marian, do can we ask for more and then not use it all with no cost to us? Or would we have to ask for the bare minimum and
then tack on as projects? If the board approved future ways to fund other projects, do we tack those on? I think understanding the clarification of that would be helpful. So I I think my understanding of that is that if we borrow it, we got to spend it. Um and so if we we say we want 120
million, we got to spend 120 million. If we >> if we say 15 million, we spend the 15 and then we can come back at a later point. But whatever we choose to go forward with is what we need to spend. >> Okay. Um Dr. Campbell regarding central office. So,
the reason I'm speechless, a board member thrower, is is because I'm I'm looking at the end before I'm I'm having just the specific conversation. So, I I just went on our website. Anybody wants to see it, you can go to to finance budget department and you can click on last year's budget. And so, I pulled up
our debt schedule. I I'm looking I remember when I became a board member sitting down with our former CFO, Miss Boston Ellis, and we were on a trajectory at that point that we essentially could have been debtree by the time, you know, an eight-year schoolboard term could have been up. And
so, obviously, we're not in that position any longer. And it is it is a daunting look to just see our debt position right now and to take out another I'm I'm sorry. I I hate to use a quote that you just
used, Mr. White House, but to take out a $120 million loan in addition to the $330 million loan we already had, and you use the term to stay in a comfortable position. I'm sorry, I wrote down in quotes, comfortable position. No, we're not in a comfortable position right now as far as debt goes, as far as
I'm concerned. Uh so what my first request would be is that this South Marian edition third floor buildout be paid with sales tax and impact fees with the number of permits out in Marian Oaks right now. I'm interested in knowing what that
number is over the next six to eight months that we're actually collecting and maybe that's a part of the new interlocal agreement next year that says we need to change that rate. Unfortunately, we know based on everything that we talked to uh the consultant about that the rate is
actually the rate and and but but the rate is the rate, but we're only collecting 40% of the rate. And so if if that if we were actually collecting, you know, 75 80% of the actual rate for student generation, then we could easily
pay this. I I believe be because we've seen the heat maps of what Marian Oaks looks like right now. Uh, so that's where I am on that. I I really want us to focus on that getting done and not
using cops, but I know that's another conversation we have. We have to figure out what those dollars are and if we're using sales tax, if we're there's there's a big conversation there and I know there's a lot of whatifs as far as the things we've already committed to and the things we can commit to down the line. So that's where I am on that. As
far as needing a central office, I completely support it. It's interesting in my travels because now I'm going around a lot to a lot of other schoolboard offices and seeing what that looks like and hearing from my peers. Many of them are in refurbished grocery
stores. So, I think back to when the Albertson's closed, that is now the heart of Florida Health Center. Beautiful building. But why did we not even consider, you know, or whenever the new Walmart's just gone in and it's it was Wind Dixie before, like maybe that
wasn't big enough. But so many of the school boards that I know around the state are in like former grocery store buildings that have been refurbished and and all of that. The fact that we have land, that's interesting. I I need more information on the Vanguard property to
con like parking in addition to the the square footage. That That's interesting. We don't have offices. So, I do want everyone in the community to be aware. You want to have a meeting with a schoolboard member, we do not have individual offices. If you go to the county commission, you absolutely can
have meeting with any county commissioner you want in an office that is dedicated to that county commissioner. But your schoolboard members do not have a dedicated individual office that belongs to a schoolboard seat. So, that would be something that would help everybody for the way of work of the district. what I
what I we've been talking about today. >> Boardroom, too. >> Oh, yes. We would have a new boardroom. I'm sorry. I thought you were telling me to wrap it up. >> Oh, no. >> She She just gave me this room and I was like, "What are you saying?" >> I meant like we'd have a new boardroom. >> Absolutely. There there would be a new space for the board to meet and it
wouldn't be an auditorium that holds,00 people. It It would be an auditorium that's more conducive to schoolboard function. Not seating 40 like the old one, but not seating 1100 like the current space we're in. we potentially would not have plastic tablecloths and
or u cloth tablecloths and plastic tables as our as our workstation. Ne nevertheless, so there there's a lot of benefit not just to the district as operations go, but also to the function of how public environment happens with
engagement with your school board. So all of that is is positive and powerful and and I appreciate that thought process. How we fund it though is going to be the biggest hurdle that I'm we're gonna have to fund it anyway and it's either
looking progressively and as the city of Ocala like starting from what we did today the 2050 vision of our community is that the city alone is going to gain 15 to 20,000 people. Well goodness gracious if those people have kids where
are we putting them because our city limit schools are bursting. So, so there there we do have to start really treating ourselves not like the red-headed stepchild of Marian County and saying we deserve
our citizens, our community, everybody deserves a schoolboard office that actually is representative of the excellence that we want in our schools. Our kids deserve it. Our families deserve it when they come and and see us and engage with us. Uh so I am in full
support. What we we toured a building on the uh north side of town when Dr. Gollet was superintendent and Barb Dobbins was we toured a building that we didn't pursue, but we were we've been talking about this kind of off and on for the last six to eight years at
least. So I mean I I am in support of the conversation for sure. What it looks like, what the costs are, and how we fund it. I I am not comfortable with more than $450 million borrowed in the
last two years. I I'm I'm just not. >> Madam Chair, >> yes. >> Thank you, Dr. Campbell. She kind of dropped my memory on some stuff. Um because when we had that conversation when it came up that we had to move over here um and the conversation was about
um it's going to cost $40 million and we actually there's some people that kind of brought some plans about redoing downtown the the downtown offices. We we the comm there were folk in the community that that really put us down um thinking that saying that we were
putting our wants our our comfort above the the comfort and the needs of the students which that that has never been the case of the board since I've been on the board. We've always put student first. We've always put it our put our staff before us. Um and and as Miss
Campbell was just stating, people may not even realize, but we sit behind plastic desk with tablecloths on it. And um we have never complained because the work still got to get done. The work has still had to get done. So, um, by us having this conversation
about, uh, a new, um, central office, I hope the community understands, um, many of us that are on the board now would even benefit necessarily benefit from being in a new central office. We we'll probably be long gone off the scene from this. So, this is about the district.
This is about our our community as a whole. It's not about us, any any one of us individually. So, I just kind of want to make that statement to be known. And the and if I can just tag on to that and then I'll hand it off. What we also observe and have seen and the community
may or may not be aware of is the several million dollars that have been put into a refurbishment of the county commission offices. Uh their auditorium space, all new chairs, all new everything in there. Same thing with city council. That's that's a relatively new space that they have updated and
probably millions of dollars. All of those being taxpayer dollars certainly, but because they already had existing city hall and existing complex at the county office, it hasn't looked as it was a big ticket item to
just start and build something new. And so the community might not have fa paid that much attention to those probably millions of dollars that have been spent on those kinds of things. And that's where I bring up the red-headed stepchild. And I I I hate to use that conversation and that terminology, but
prior to us restarting intergovernmental meetings, that was the feeling that I got joining the board that the other entities for decades had not considered us as being viable to have the conversation. And so with the new
interlocal agreement and the revitalized plans and all the conversation having the city of Ocala come and present to us today instead of us having to go to them. I mean all of that is just wonderful growth and opportunity for us to continue and it it would be a
taxpayer funded initiative and our community deserves it. Our community deserves to have something they can be proud of that they can have a one-stop shop to come in and see everybody and get everything done that they need in one location because every person would
be under one roof. I I can't imagine the level of customer service and efficiency that that would provide to our community and to our our citizens. So, um that's all I'll say about that. >> And Dr. Brewer wanted to add something. >> Yes, thank you. Um and Dr. Campbell mentioned the impact fees. So, Mr. Mr.
White House, can you expand on our timeline for our next um Benes study based on the time? >> Yes. So, we're um we're still a couple years out from when we can do our next study. Um and and so, you know, right now we're going to have to live with where we are with the 40%. I think the
the good thing is that as construction continues, you know, we can still leverage funding with that 40% that we're going to be able to utilize, just not to our fullest potential. >> So, that would be a question if Attorney Powers was here. So, I'm not going to put Mr. Attorney Blackman on the spot because he wouldn't know. But I I
understand that the Banesh study, we're we're years out from actually having a new study, but if we use the existing study, could we go back and ask for actually a higher rate than what we're receiving? And that that's the question that I'm asking.
>> I and I agree with you. I believe that we statutoily are allowed to do standard increases that are statutoily approved. And I think what what I hear Dr. Campbell saying, and I would agree with her, is a desire to understand what we can statutoily increase our existing
impact fee study. I don't I don't imagine our study is going to drastically change. And so, I'm not I'm sure I'm a fan of redoing the study at the moment, especially because of the cost that will come with it. And I got on the board right when you guys were starting it. And dear God, it took so long. So, I'm not interested in reliving
that if we don't have to. But what I would be interested in is what can we statutoily start increasing? And so that's a conversation that needs to come forward. I I would say board member Thorougher. >> Yes. And that's been my question for the last year as I've started to ask, you know, and again in the spirit of I'm
going to be stuck with this now. In the spirit of trying to reduce our level of reactivity, >> you know, what are our options? Because we were very supportive for a very long time um to try to help this county recover from the great recession. And
then when we started saying, "Hey, we really now need help." It took us two years to get it >> correct. >> So, um I agree with you uh chair that uh that is not an experience I want to to relive. I think that you
know you learn from the past and defining the why in understandable terms to the community is really important. >> Yes. >> And I also agree with um with you board member Campbell. I don't feel good about borrowing that much money. I'd love the
idea of starting the design phase for the third floor with sales tax money if we have it. Uh looking to any other sources that that we can including the impact fee uh potential so that we don't have to keep borrowing a whole lot of
money. >> Um did you have a thought on I saw Miss Usher stand up. I didn't know if she had a thought on the um statutory allowable increases. >> Um rate statutes just changed regarding impact fees because from I got here I started looking into it because it's one
of the lowest in the state. Our impact fees is so bad and so this the statute recently changed and we have to wait the five years. We cannot phase it in. So that is a really deterrent. And even though we're projecting to get like 10
million a year and we're using some of that money for that service, it doesn't come in all at once. So even if we wanted to bail out the third floor for South Marian, we would have to wait to accumulate that money and therefore the
cost would increase down the road. So those are just some concerns and um Dr. Campbell, we did look at vacant empty boxes. Dr. James mentioned one, the old Kmart and um >> our banner building
>> and they did not want we have been looking into that to see what's the most economical way to come up with a um a central office. I found all the studies and all the other sites from the past and Vanguard is about 16 acres and it
could accommodate a central office if we choose to do that. Um, and so I I I want to add too, I think the narrative of a central office four years ago fell flatter um or was
received differently because we had yet to do anything for students because of no sales tax and no impact fees and our failing infrastructure. All of our capital money was addressing um refurbishment, was addressing HVACs going out and plumbing and painting and
we didn't have a funding source to address our our true capital needs and and so when that narrative came up um and sometimes we can only be responsible for how the message is shared, how
people receive it is different, right? Um, and ultimately we have to be have a level of responsibility for how people receive messaging because that's what's great about communication. But we hadn't done anything for students yet. And now we have done
um I'm going to do a quick math to say by the time we get through with Belleview Elementary's combo in a in a two years from now we'll have be pushing 400 million for students between what we took in the cops and then um East
Marian's project and Oyola's project with sales tax and then the project for combination right um at Belleview and so Um I certainly while we need to talk about how we get there, I feel much more confident speaking about justifying just
how we have put students first. Um we we have from a financial books perspective truly prioritized putting students in better learning environments. I guess my my heartburn or my question is when the plumbing goes here, how will
we fund it? And if the answer is cops because we will have no other funding mechanism to fund it, then then we're we're going to be in this place no matter what. We will have to borrow the money either to refurbish a facility
which is very less than functional. It doesn't allow our people to work together. It it it is very, as Dr. Campbell very eloquently said, it is not functional for our community. If you're a parent who needs to talk about three different things for your child, you may very well
have to go to three different places. And that is not functional for our community. And so, it's, I think, an inevitable conversation of funding. And our position, our debt position is not going to change drastically. We're on a is it a
20-year note that we're paying for the the cops that we originally took? Yes, 20-year note. So for the next decade and a half, our debt position is not going to change. Now obviously if we have a tremendous amount of students come into our system and our
revenue increases greatly, certainly our position to debt service will improve. But the reality is this decision will come now or the decision is going to come next month or two years from now or whenever the time comes when we have to
really get backed into and to board board member Thrower's point. Do we want to be reactive to it where then we're bringing in portable bathrooms and we're bringing in and and we have Bridgeway still here and we're having to have Bridgeway students leave their classrooms to go into portables um to use the restroom or do we want to be
proactive about it because the money is probably going to be spent one way or the other. So I guess that was my two cents on it. a board member thor >> that was 10 cents and they and they were great because that's articulating the why you know and I would offer that the
reason why we were so successful in getting the sales tax is because we successfully articulated the why and we didn't do that and times were different um when you know years ago when we were talking about the central office the the
concern was the same you know we wanted to have a a place for people to come and participate in meetings, you know, that was a good building and and this has been a step up obviously, but as you've just so eloquently stated, you know, it's it's $20 million away from a bad flush toilet. But again, that's
articulating the why. So, for the first time, I feel like the timing is probably right if some of these moving parts can be put together to make it happen with continuing to keep the best keen eye we can >> on being conservative financially. And
it's hard. It's almost an oxymoron in this period of growth and expansion that we're participating in. You know, we were close to being completely debtree, but we had a lot of needs. >> Um and and we tried to meet those needs as far back as 2010 by running a
referendum. It just, you know, it was a different time like we've been talking about, but it helps people understand that have been around a long time and that just want to know why. So, >> board member Conrad, you haven't really had an opportunity yet. Um this conversation has been challenging uh for
a long time. Um I think on top of the financial piece which is the biggest piece is the narrative in the community. And Dr. James, I agree with you and the rest of the board that because we have continued to put students first. I I think that's
out there, but I also think there's still a um a lot of misconceptions uh about the budget and how money is spent and how money is received. And so uh Dr. Brewer, for me, it's going to be
important that you're a strong part of that narrative as you are out about and about in the community just like as board members we are. Um there are a lot of moving pieces to this. So I would be interested uh in
seeing um some options you know uh what the facilities teams thinks would be a viable choice or choices. Um the investment is definitely needed. It's been needed a long time but but it
is a it's a challenging topic um for the financial piece but it's coming now or in the very near future. So, I'm on board with um reviewing some ideas, looking what uh you all put together. Um I am a little
nervous about um Dr. Campbell, you shared the the renovating, you know, of different and I don't know when that happened. Um you know, when those um facilities were built, but I don't know that that's the same anymore. It used to be you could buy something old and
renovate it uh less expensively. Um I don't know that that's the case anymore. it it sometimes is more expensive to go in just like we're talking about right here, you know, just to redo the plumbing is $20 million plus. So, I don't know that that that is going to be a good option for us. But but I'm open
to the conversation for sure. >> Well, and well, I was just going to say since it was brought up, so I in with the booster stadium that we've been presented kind of got rid of CDL. Um and and so I in the back of my head had been thinking,
well, what are we going to do with a CDL program? We have to especially because we put in that appropriation, right? And we've talked about and so I I was driving past and kind of consistently in my in my travels that Kmart plaza on the corner of 36th. Um and I which is right near Booster Stadium. And so I really
put a bug in Dr. Brewer's ear to say, let's just see if this is available, which it's not really going to work out because they have other plans for it, unfortunately. But my idea was a home for Bridgeway, a home for CDL, like you know, and I don't dis because that's what I would love to be able to find,
but there's so little inventory left in Marian County that is nothing is happening to it. And so we just are in the position is different now. And and boards before us did such a good job of buying land. Um, thank God because I
don't know what I don't know where we would be if we had not been landri. But this was a hole um that we couldn't see coming until we're here now. And so I think we just have to figure out how to continue to creatively talk about um you
know how we're going to fix it. But um so further comments on the district office just looking to kind of give them guiding steps. Madam Chair, um and and I'm just kind of talking retrospectively for a second concerning this same situ. Um since I've
been on the board and Mr. Toron, I came on the same time we f when we first came on the board, we were faced with buses. Remember we had to do this big contract with buying purchasing buses because buses had not been purchased for years. I think Ben,
you remember that. Um, we had to we had to it and it it gave folk heartburns because of the the amount of buses that we had to buy and the and the cost and the loan, but we had to we had to do it. >> Then we had facilities issues that we we
had to get money for to to handle those things. Then we had infrastructure things that we had to come forth. Um, a street fee Howard Academy um and then we had the pandemic.
So, um, we're going to continue to have, uh, situations where we're going to have to get some money from somewhere. I'm grateful to this community because our community, no matter how many people say negative
things or or put um negative post, social media posts out there, our community shows up every time, has saw the need that we as a school district has put before. um for them because they um they want our our community to
succeed. They want our students to succeed. So um I I just know that this board, whether it was this group or the groups before this, has not made um
putting forth a a uh central office building their main priority. >> Right. >> Students have always been first. the the the staff has always been first. Everybody else has came before them. So, it's it's gotten to the point where now
it it has to come up the priority list. It has to move up the priority list. How we pay for it, we're going to get it paid some kind of way. And I may be talking from a faith point of view. Um but yes, we were, you're right, Miss Campbell. Um when you Dr. came when we
talked about we were away we were almost debtree or were heading towards being debtree but we were debtree with all those other challenges that we had not tackled because of of of us trying to be conservative and not trying to be we were conservative of being conservative
and making sure that we handle all the other things but at some point even in your own home you may not have to eventually you got to get a roof event you got to replace your AC eventually you have to paint your house there's just going to be things that And this this is this is the district getting to
those points where eventually we have to do something. So we don't need to to to just be labor. Um and it's going to give us heartburn because we looking at the numbers and the numbers are huge and we don't see this big influx of money coming from anywhere. But we still got
to get it done because whether a as as board members, we have a responsibility to make sure my my goal is when I leave the board, I want the board to be I want the board in the district to be better than it was when I came in. >> That's what I want to see happen. >> Agreed. So, Dr. Campbell, >> sure. The the only other thing I wanted
to add because um Miss Conrad kind of touched on it just for the collective community conversation to understand what we're talking about are capital expenses. We are unable to pay operational expenses, that means salaries, benefits, any of that out of
the conversation we're talking about today. We are unable to pay them out of sales tax. We are unable to pay them out of impact fees. So all the money that we're talking about right now has nothing to do with salaries and benefits or any of this. I just for the Miss Conrad touched on it. I just want to
make sure when we're talking about taking out money and a new loan and and all of that and it's not that I I'm grateful that that the board and the district is in a financial position that we have this borrowing power. I I mean
that in and of itself is a huge testament to the legacy of the financial position of this district. And so anytime somebody questions how we've been spending money, well, people don't just give you money to spend if you don't have a good financial position. So
if we have the ability to borrow another $150 million after we just borrowed 330 million, we're in pretty good standing. But what I'm struggling with is making those debt payments. And so that to Reverend Cummings's point, we we don't
have the money coming in all the time and and funding streams aren't just coming out of the woodwork. So, uh the hope is that we'll start looking for more grants and more uh private foundation donations and private companies for sponsorships and all kinds of things like that for specifically a
booster stadium. But um I I certainly respect all the conversation that that's happening here and as we publicly brainstorm >> about how things need to come forth. I also agree other districts were able to use vacated grocery stores when they
were available and they had funding sources to do that. When those were all vacant in Marian County, we didn't have the funding sources to do that. And so now that we have the funding, there aren't any vacant that we could use. So, um I I understand that it's time for us
to put ourselves in in a higher priority uh because it's necessary and needed. >> So, um in in an effort to continue the conversation, I think what I want to summarize for Mr. White House to this point is that we want to move forward with South Marian and the third the
third floor. Um and we we are interested in a continued conversation about a central office. We want to have a deeper understanding of what the funding could look like specifically for those two projects. Um I'm going to move us forward to Booster Stadium. A short >> one other comment. Um in in bringing
that forward uh the conversation about the district office, I just it's important to me that it's comprehensive. Um as as we've had conversations about the north end, some of it has been peacemealed. You know, if this happened and this happens, if this happens and then this happens, I really want a solid
plan along with that. like what are where would Bridgeway go? You know, I I want that to be an integral part of that conversation. So, we are solving all of those problems, all of these problems at one time. So, that's just important to me and I wanted to share it with you.
Thank you. Sorry, Chair. >> Yes, Dr. Bur I think has something to add and then we're going to move on to Booster Stadium. >> Yes. I wanted to clarify what u Miss Conrad asked for earlier. She said she wanted options and so I wanted to know exactly just to get clarification of what we're bringing back for you.
>> Really, I just mean ideas like what what do you think our best options are financially and situationally? Like what's best for the community? What's you know the ease and access of where we're asking our families to go to? Um so just you know with all things considered what would be your top three recommendations?
>> Well and I think all the important and to her point it's not just a conversation about the central office. It's a conversation about a new central office that includes form early learning bridgeway academy selling or repurposing of facilities that are vacated. like it
is a comprehensive conversation because to her point um everything has felt very cause and effect and I think that's really why the north end conversation has been challenging because we have been given cause and effect and maybe that's I don't want to say that that was your intention in delivering the message
but it has felt like if this then that if this then that and um I think what I hear board member Conrad saying which I would agree with is I believe this board would benefit from a um a comprehensive ensive solution that solves all problems
that gives us less um I don't know if the word opportunity is right but I I don't want to if then the scenario I want you to present me with the plan that is going to solve all of the problems um and that's something I'm personally looking for I may not I certainly don't want to speak for the whole board I see Nancy board member
Thor's um face so I I don't know if you have anything to add but I >> um and I would love to see you know all the problems solved But I'm thinking of successive approximations that you know it's going to be a series of of steps
over a period of time likely. >> Yes. >> Speaking of of Bridgeway, you know, maybe there's some buildings here that are in better shape than others that could house, you know, just Bridgeway for a while while all the other pieces are are moving because again, you know,
um Oakrest and yeah, you've been on the radar today, Orest, but in a good way. um has been a very underutilized space because of the situation that it's been in. But we're all looking forward to that changing and I think we're on the cusp of that, but we don't have the
reality of that yet. So there's going to be some things that we have to wait on to that that factor into this. >> Yes, in my opinion, >> I agree. I think there it's not it's not like on a date certain all things change at one time. But what I'm asking for is a plan that has date certain for change
instead of if this happens then we will discuss what happens next. I want to know what the what happens next is when we sign up for step one of the plan. >> Yes, that that was exactly where my thought was going. So if you choose plan A, this is vacated, this is vacated, this is all of these people move to this
and and all of these spaces then become vacant. With those spaces you could do this, this or this, you know, what have you. And then plan B, then this is the whole scenario kitten kaboodleoodle. So that way we really aren't up here coming
up brainstorming in public. It has caused us some some angst over this school year because we've brainstormed. >> Reverend Cummings >> and and I want to say this because I I had a call yesterday about this because we we have brainstormed the public out
loud too too much. Um, I want Bridgeway to know that we're not planning on moving them tomorrow because because that that that would be that would be something that's out there today that hey, there they had a conversation. We're getting ready to
move Bridgeway tomorrow for nor street or there going so we need to make sure that we clamp that in that message in today and let everybody know that's not that's not what's happening. >> We don't have anywhere for them to go right now that we know. >> Yes. Okay. It's multiaceted. I think
that's what the community we we need to bring them into understanding. Every time we say we we are trying to do something, it creates a multiaceted situation that has to be solved in in in steps. And I think we all would love the magic wand that says all you have to do
is this. Well, if it was that easy, don't you think we would have done it already? We sit here. >> Um so, so let's move through to booster stadium. And do you feel like you guys have clear direction? Okay. So, let's move forward to Booster Stadium. I know Mr. Tucker is here who's our district athletic director as well. So, if we
have questions for him specifically about updates on the community portion of a booster stadium conversation. Um, so I don't mind kicking it off by simply saying I and I said this briefly when um Mr. Lee was here to discuss the city.
If and when we move forward with Booster Stadium, my personal expectation is it becomes a asset for the community, not just for Maring County Public Schools. Um, I have heard just numerous conversations in the community about a desire for a um, a recreational facility in that area that would allow
communities, families to be able to work and play athletically. Um, and so it doesn't just be a home where Vanguard plays sports, but it is so much more than that. Um, and so, um, I do believe that that is going to require us to come into partnership with the city of Ocala
in some facet. We do not have a parks and wreck department. Uh but to open Booster Stadium at 5:00 am every day so that running can take place and the lights are on which I think would be tremendous um is going to require a parks and recck department. And so I
personally see this requiring a lot of community conversation specifically with the city of Okala to get to a place where we have a shared um a shared asset. And so I don't know, maybe maybe we we are redoing booster and then um we
house our events there obviously they um have a a maintenance or they have um a requirement of parks and wreck or whatever that looks like um and they're getting something from us in return and um that's anou and that's for legal and an admin to figure out. But I I that's
the vision I have if we move forward this way. So I just kind of wanted to frame the conversation that way. >> Madam Chair, let me say this. Um, I guess I I'm I don't think I'm the oldest person up here. Um, >> um, we got to we got to we got to look
at what's been done. And I'm saying this because historically what what what you just talked about us having those type ofus, those type of relationships, it's already been done, >> right? >> Um, when um, and we may not, y'all may
not remember this, I do. um Web Stadium or Web Field where we do the MLK stuff. >> That was Howard's that was the Howard High School Bulls. That's where they played football. So those type of relationships have already existed with Marian County Public Schools. We just
need to redo those things. That's kind of how Booster Stadium came about because it was a community that said that, hey, we don't have a place for Vanguard and Forest doesn't have a place to play play their football games. So, I think we just need to go back and revisit how look at some of those those
um contracts or relationships that they had with the because that was a relationship with the uh Marian County public school system and the city of Ocala Parks and Recreation because that's why that that field was there. So, we just need to go back and revisit
how that was done and then possibly try to uh redo some of those um or come up with the newer updated way of doing it with booster. But it's it could be done. >> Board members are >> I have some great news because I've been attending the meetings at um Vanguard
and and the best thing and the most exciting thing about this for me is the community appetite including having members of the uh city uh you know the the mayor has sat in on the meetings. Um, we've made it clear that one of the
things that's been so difficult with modern school uh grounds is that because of uh all of the legal requirements, you know, you can't just go up there after school and swing on the swings and and everything else. And so to have a and people miss that.
>> And so to have a true community asset and partnership uh is something that this community is very ready for. The problem of course is always comes down to money. You know, there is an ask um
okay, well this all sounds great and we've tal we've been here before and then nothing's really ever happened and in the meantime you can't the concession stands you can hardly use them anymore and the locker rooms look like something from World War II. You know, it's pretty bad. Um and all the all the folks that
are ready to get involved are saying is okay school board, you know what what what can you do? >> Yes. And so to that point, and I um obviously I want to hear from everyone, but to that point, I think that that the board what I need um and not that I want to
rush this conversation or any of the other conversations we have today, but I also want us to like stay super focused so that we can respect time and try to get through our agenda. Is the board willing to continue a conversation about funding booster stadium and doing booster stadium?
>> Yes. >> Yes. with community partnerships with a plan for what happens to the CDL program or at least Mr. Smallbridgeidge. >> Yes. >> To us about that. >> Agreed. So, so what I hear um for the first part of this presentation is a
tenative yes for a move forward. Um and understanding what true funding looks like. Um and maybe at in my comments, I would like to try to schedule I believe we need a special work session rather soon understanding the cop's timeline specifically for South Marian. Um so board may be closing to the end of the
meeting today. We can look at our calendars and have some conversation. Um because I do want to respect the timeline that will be required for um our CFO to timely get money um if cops is the direction for South Marian specifically. Okay. All right. Um I did
anyone else want to give comments on Booster Stadium? >> No. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. >> I'll just my last quick thing will be I'm just really glad that it's been publicly stated that the appetite is there. it's unanimous and that we're looking forward to doing our part to get
booster boosted and turn it into a gem that we can all be proud of. >> Dr. Campbell, >> the only thing that I'll say on it, and I've said it before, but I'll say it again. This is the one thing that I'm excited about spending money on because it's the only thing we have that's revenue generating that we know will be and and there's not another single
project that we've talked about today that we have guaranteed revenue stream that would be coming into the school district. Now, if that's a sharing arrangement with another municipality, that I hadn't really signed up for yet. But regardless, that that's why I'm all in for spending money to make money.
>> Wonderful. So, then let's move into part two, if you will, into um to the appraisals and and um at a high level discuss >> Oh, the North Side Elementary School. I apologize. How dare I? Um I guess because in my brain, I don't think cops
pays for this. So I um I'm I apologize board um nor so the north end elementary school um I think that we need to include that where we've been waiting for for staff to come back to us after the community meetings and I believe that's what this board was waiting on was a a summary of the community
meetings and a presentation of your plan for what you want that to look like. So I guess I apologize boarding in my head I was just like yes we need to talk about that but not right now. Um >> that's fine too. >> Chair James we do have a meeting schedule. We have a north end steering committee. So, we'll get together, go
over all the um input we receive from those meetings and and look at it and bring it back to you with next steps. >> Is that the steering committee that involves community members? >> No, this is just staff at the staff level. >> Thank you for clarifying because I think
we I was Yes, I was assuming it was the one that involved the community members as well, which is fine either way. I'm not I was >> You want to start with the staff level? Go ahead. I can address that too. We we are going to be bringing back the ABAC, but we have to start looking now at middle school resoning because when we build Lake Middle School, which is
opening a year, we have to have a plan already in place for what that resoning looks like. So, that's going to be a priority for the community group looking at true attendance boundaries where our our team is going to really look at what do we want to do now based on community input for the north end. >> Understood. So, I guess my thought was I
would like to see a work session agenda item in the in a timely future that addresses an update to all of us based on the community meetings and a vision from staff about what you want to do on the north end. Was there any board member who wanted to add anything to that?
>> I would just say that that would have to happen before I could even really think about an answer to $45 million for a north side elementary school. >> I would agree, especially if you want it to be a part of cops. like I I I don't know your timeline for your strategic
planning on this as a as a staff, but um I do think it's all very timely if we're tying it into funding South Marian specifically with cops. >> We are starting to work on a capital plan that we'll be bringing to you in the summer and these projects will be listed
>> summer is appropriate. I mean respectfully what I heard was that we have to have the cops takes four to 6 months and we are 6 months right now from October. So I don't think we have until summer to make a decision about cops on South Marian. Correct me if I'm
wrong. >> Mr. Rus Welch said it'll take about four to six months. So it is more time more urgent that we do that so that the contractor can stay and doesn't have to demobilize and cost us more. >> That's what I understand. So, um, not to
be, um, argumentative, but I think summer is too late to have this conversation. If I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but >> I just mentioned summer because the capital plan with all other projects and funding comes to you, dead, but in regards to this specific project, you're correct, Cher James,
>> but the this specific project is tied in with all of the rest of these. Um, the way it's been presented to us is a tie-in of four projects for cops. And what we've understood you to say is that we can't we can't borrow it all and then not use it. And so there's an entangling
there's an entangling that we have to have the full picture to be able to make accurate accurate decisions. >> Well, and we haven't even had the closeout on Winding Oaks and Ross Prairie. So So we don't actually even know how much money we saved or spent over what we had budgeted out of cops for those students. like there's there's
a lot of moving pieces to cops that we don't actually know how much we borrowed for the projects that are in it and how much is still left. >> Yeah. And and I can certainly appreciate um all all of the considerations and in order for us to to meet the timeline,
the four to six month uh period is really in talking with bond counsel and our financial advisor, you know, how long it would take to close the deal and get the cash in hand. There obviously would be some fluctuations with, you know, getting everything to dovetail nice and neat. Um, not to say that when
South Marian um, opens that this third floor would be complete. It could be a situation where they're still there on the site doing the work. Um, but yes, we do need to try to expedite uh a lot of this community and and and internal work that we need to do in order to determine
the best finance stack as I like to put it uh that's going to be best for each one of these projects. It could be all cops, it could be a combination and so a work session certainly would be in order and we would uh certainly uh recommend that we do that so that we can get, you know, get into the brass tax of of the
finance plan. >> Right. Well, while we continue the conversation, maybe Mr. Rio Welsh, you can chat with Dr. Brewer via text about some timelines when you feel confident you'd be able to provide us some accurate information. In my head, that's like no more than a month from now, understanding that there's very time-sensitive decisions to be made. But
I'll let you guys maybe um have some offline conversation about that while we continue the conversation on this if that's okay. Regarding appraisals, >> yes. >> Okay. >> For North side Elementary School funding through cops or sales. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. And I think we need more
information on it before the board can make a decision about that. So, um Okay. So, the technology property, Miss Usher. >> Yes. Um the board asked that we appraise this property. You know, we're rebuilding the new facility that will be ready. They'll move over in January. It'll be completed by the end of this
year. We did receive our first appraisal. And so, per statutes, we have to get a second one. Oh, thank you. So, we did request a second appraisal and when that information comes back, I'll have a
meeting with the board that will be in the shade because it's an appraisal. We also appraised the um the um Fiddler's property. The board asked us just to do that section that houses Fiddlers, not the transportation. that
appraisal came back and it was quite a good appraisal but then I don't know if we should go for a second appraisal because we are looking at all the Norton facilities and what we will do and appraisals do get old. So if we appraise
get the second one and we take a while to move on that we will probably have to do another one. You also asked that we appraise the Belleview centers elementary school site. That site will be vacated in 28. Again, we have not
ordered it because by that time it will be too old and we will have to do another one. But as soon as they come in and we have updates, we'll bring them back to the board and again if it's appraisal and sale of property, we'll have to do that in the shade. >> Okay. Thank you for those updates.
Board, do you have any comments or concerns regarding appraisals or just stay the path? I I agree with Belleview Santos delay on that appraisal and would potentially even welcome a conversation to move Bridgeway there and I'll leave that there.
>> Okay. So again, we'll have we'll have continued conversations. Um and um I think we'll move forward to bell times >> and we can move um we will add the topic that you requested to the May 7th work session. >> So an update of the financials and funding in all of these projects to the
May 7th work session. We have room in the agenda for that. >> Okay. So then board that will be if that suffices that's three weeks from now and we'll be able to have an updated conversation. I think that's incredibly timely. Um bell times. >> All right. Thank you. So um at our last work session when we talked about some
recommendations for bell time changes, we talked about 8th Street Elementary. Um moving the time up to 8:00. The board had some discussion about whether 8:30 was more appropriate to get them closer in line. Um, and so we were asked to provide a survey to staff and to families to ask them what their
preference was. An 8 o'clock starter and 8:30 to get um get them to weigh in. So that survey was sent with those two timeline offers. So 8 to 235 would be one time, 8:30 to 305 would be the other option. And we ran that survey through April the 10th. So the final tally we
had 207 total participants. 168 of those were parents or guardians and 39 of those were staff members. Um, of that amount, uh, we had 95% of our staff members were in favor of the 8 a.m. start, uh, compared to 5% for the later
start and 80% of our parent guardians were in favor of the 8 a.m. start. So, in grand total, 83% of those surveyed were in favor of the 8:00 start. So, if the board is in consensus with that, we'll add that adjustment to the bell time recommendations that we had before,
which included Fort McCoy moving up earlier. Uh, Lake High School changing from a seven per day to a sixth period day. So, they're moving that to the traditional bell time and adding South Marin High School will be the the changes that we have and that will be on the April April 28th board agenda. >> Sounds good. Any comments about bell
times? I'm I appreciate the opportunity to engage the community and hear from them and ultimately do what the majority vast majority of the community desired. Okay. Is there any public comment on our operations update? I know um our former superintendent, Mr. Tommen, was here uh
and for the board, I actually had invited him. Um we we also sit on the forking heritage foundation board together now. Um and I had told him we were going to be talking about um the old central elementary school which he has um invested um interest in from as a community member perspective and so he
was interested in hearing our conversation around that. So just for your context any other community um or uh what's the word I'm looking for? Public comment. Thank you. All right. Hearing none, I believe we're going to move into the student progression plan,
which is item 7.1. And thank you, Mr. White House and Miss Usher, for your updates. Um, and I appreciate your your willingness to always answer all of our questions. >> All right. Good morning. Thank you guys for having us for the student progression plan. Just as we do every
year, we bring this to your attention because the state statute requires it. And this is really a guide for our parents, our students, and our staff as they work through their K12 uh career. So, we appreciate the uh committee that took place to help with this. And as
always, Mr. Mark Ingram, who does an incredible job, who I'm going to miss deeply when he moves to a school next year, is going to present on um the student progression plan. >> Take that from Thank you, Miss Connor. Uh good afternoon. I was going to say
good morning. Good afternoon, uh Dr. Brewer. Superintendent Brewer. Uh board members, board chair, thank you for having me. Uh the purpose of the progression plan, it is outlined in legislature that we create one to provide students, parents, and staff a guide for what students must
know and be able to do to pro progress through each grade level toward graduation. Uh the revision process, we we track changes in legislation throughout the year. We also I track issues that may come up throughout the year so that we can have a log of what to go over with
our committee um which includes parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, and district staff as well as a board member. Um and but it is understood that Florida statutes, any updates to board policies, anything supersedes what's in the plan, this is just our guideline
based on those guard rails. Our first change is mostly just in how the document looks. We got um we got an update from the state through um I'm
looking at my notes through a paper a technical assistance paper that changed the outline of what we uh offer to our retained third grade students. So still um we have the the necess necessity of providing a highly effective teacher of offering evidence evidence-based
systematic multiensory reading programs uh and how we outline the things that we can do in the 90-minute reading block including targeted small group instruction, the addition of tutoring and mentoring um and transition classes for students who are able to move up midyear. So this is not new language. is
just uh sorted differently uh based on the technical assistance from the state. Uh similarly in our middle school program requirements, we have changed some language just to get back to what language is in the statute. This is previously what we said about algebra
and geometry um testing requirements for the EOC and how students earn high school credit and we have reverted back to the states language just because we find it clear. Uh the three elements and you'll see it repeat on the next three slides are that students in the um high
school credit courses have to take the EOC and that EOC has to count as 30% of the final grade. Language of the progression plan. We try to introduce options and then add uh choice when when things come up. So not
when things come up, but we don't want the language to him us in to just one provider when there's potential for other providers in the future. is there another is there another appropriate >> there there is not currently another appropriate provider but things it's one of those things are constantly changing
so uh in graduation requirements here uh I wanted to outline specifically we have a section that talks about multiple waivers but we have some new waivers that came through in legislation over the past couple years uh we've had two
full season of of an intercolastic sport for a while as a PE waiver. We've had ROC as a PE PE waiver. Now we have marching band as a PE waiver. And this year we added participation in the Special Olympics as a PE waiver. I don't have data on how many students this would affect, but
it's just good to have this highlighted here in the progression plan. This is additional information added for clarification. Most of this comes from our um articulation agreement with CF, but I wanted our students to be able to go to this document as well to see info
about course load, how many courses you can take per grade level, um withdrawing from courses if you're not being successful in a course before that drop ad period, and what are the initial enrollment requirements? I have to attend orientation and what are my test scores required, too. So, just more
clarification for students. This one hurts a little bit because I um I came to you guys a few years ago and we proposed a whole new process for calculating weighted GPA. Uh and we basically we wanted to
allow more waiting or provide more waiting for students taking college level courses uh to differentiate from honors or advanced level courses to really to really boost and add to the momentum of our students who are taking those college level courses which as you know we've we've had greater enrollments
and greater success than ever recently. Well, this language is being removed because right at the end of the legislative session, um, House Bill 1279 got, uh, passed and the state is going to come up with their own weighted GPA system. Uh, we don't have the details on
that system yet, but based on our understanding of some current waiting systems they use, we expect it to be similar to ours and that you're going to see level two courses like those honors and advance getting some waiting and full waiting going to those college level courses. But we're going to have
to follow up on this as the state does their rule making or they give us more assistance. >> And real quick, we backwards planned into this so that sixth graders could plan their course enrollment because that's really when the the road to validictorian starts,
>> right? So now students who are rising eighth graders um on the road to valadictorian are going to sit in limbo land until the legislature determines or >> well we're hopefully going to find out soon and be able to share that out and also our understanding is it's still
going to line up with what we've done. Some of the specifics may be different what courses do and don't count but it's very likely we're going to have a higher level waiting for college level courses and then a medium waiting for honors level courses. And what we're actually going to be waiting on is not the
legislature. This will be waiting on >> Department of Education. >> Yeah. >> And so, and with the potential of having a new commissioner in the next eight months, >> when we get a new governor >> that Okay, great. >> I think we're going to get rule making sooner than that. I think it's going to
be summer, early fall at the latest. >> Perfect. >> Okay, >> that'd be brilliant. >> Understood. >> Be waiting on the waiting. >> Yeah. This next slide, um, we just wanted to update and clarify because we've gotten the occasional question on this. Um,
NCAA allows students to reclassify or change their grade level for the purposes of um, college athletics, but we do not have a way to do that in public education. Your grade level is based on your academic performance. Um, we did leave an out in case something
came up we're not aware of that they can go through Miss Connor, the executive director of K12 academics. um because we don't have any mechanation through the state of Florida to change or reclassify a student. Uh and then this last one will be a
benefit to our multilingual learners. Um we've had this for a while and this is uh this is in law, but students have a two-year grace period based on their date of entry into US schools where they cannot fail courses unless document is provided or evidence is provided to the
principal. So, we're just saying here that that due state is going to continue or that two-year grace period is going to continue until the end of the grading period or the quarter that student is in. So, it can't end two days before report cards and now that student has
that grade protection taken away. And this is just a clarification on how things are practiced. Okay, that's it for my updates. Um, if we need an additional work session, that would be May 7th. Uh, if not, I would I would love to move forward to that final
public hearing June 9th. >> All right, board. I open it up. Um, does anyone have any um questions or comments? Um, or do you feel that there's a necessity for a second work session? >> I don't. >> I don't. >> All right. >> We hit it out of the park, Mr. Ingram.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Is there any public comment on uh the student progression plan? Okay. Hearing none, we're going to move on to the Macintosh area school charter renewal with Mr. Ays. Item 9.1.
>> Good afternoon, Mr. Ays. >> I was going to say my script says good morning, but it is good afternoon. >> Afternoon, >> Dr. Brewer, board chair, board members. Um, the current charter contract with Macintosh Area School expires on June 30th, 2026.
The original contract was signed on June 24th, 2008 and was renewed in 2013. And in 2021, Macintosh Area Schools submitted a renewal application. The renewal application and the evaluation rubric was uploaded to board docs.
Florida statute 10002.33 provides that a charter school may be renewed if a program review demonstrates that the criteria of the original charter application have been met and none of the grounds for renewal established by Florida statute 102.33
have been documented. These include failure to participate in the state's education accountability system, failure to meet general accepted standards of fiscal management due deteriorating financial conditions or financial
emergencies determined by the state or material violation of law. Marian County Public School staff reviewed the application using the renewal evaluation instrument and the requirements of Florida statute 102.33
and found that the Macintosh area school meets the criteria for renewal. If the renewal application is approved, the district will enter into a new charter contract with Macintosh Area School. The contract will use the standard renewal contract form required
by the Florida Department of Education. The new charter contract must be approved by June 30th, 2026. If approved, the renewal contract will be in effect from July 2026 through June 2031. It is the recommendation that the
Macintosh Area School Charter renewal application be approved. >> Thank you, Mr. Ays. board. I'll open it up for discussion unless you just want me to kick it off.
>> Well, let's ease into it. >> Um Mr. I have some concerns just in the track record um looking back at their data. Um is it basically um just a stamp of approval? We have to approve it or we
have the right to not approve it? You as the board, as the sponsor, our five individual voting members, you have the ability to to to vote up or down on that. It is my recommendation that the
application be approved because statute's very clear in how you can deny close a charter school and the application and the process. M Macintosh area school meets the standards set
forth by statute. And so if the board does vote to deny, which is your right, there is an appeal process. And what the appeal process looks at is strictly statute and what is
met in statute. And there is a charter appeal commission with the state that does look at that. And then if they do a if the appeal is approved then the board is responsible for all costs incured by
both parties. >> Thank you Mr. S. That answers my question. >> Dr. Campbell. >> So this is one where we have to lean on the law and there really isn't anything that keeps that gives us the ability to
do what needs to be done in the best interest of those 48 students. So I I'm going to liken it to our board comments on Tuesday evening whenever we had and this is different but I'm likening it to this. So I'm I'm using that as a
similarity when we had employees come and speak to us about a unique situation and the collective bargaining agreement superseded what we believe to be right. That's what I'm going to say on this in this scenario. charter school statute
supersedes what we believe or I believe I believe we collectively believe is in the best educational interest of those 48 students that are in prek through fifth grade 48 students at Macintosh
area school based on the attendance um from yesterday and so we have to lean on the law here in my opinion and um strongly encourage at the sound of my voice 48 students in the
Macintosh area have other educational options they potentially should consider in my recommendation. >> I just want to make a point of clarification. The 48 students do not include the prek. Prek is completely independent. They do have a prek program but that is not part of their charter
contract and the what they receive funding for. That is completely independent. >> Thank you for that clarification. kindergarten through fifth grade 48 students. It's still is only 48 students. So we we every other school that we have have at least 48 students in a grade level probably. Um so to have
kindergarten through fifth grade with only 48 total students is a disservice educationally in my opinion to those specific students. >> Mr. Re, what's the timeline again? The approval is for how long? >> Five years because that's what stand that's what set forth in statute. So we
can't really alter that either. >> Write it on. >> Yeah. Five years is the the minimum we have to approve. >> It's a long time though when you're going up and down. >> But the the the the standard for closure and non-renewal are the same.
>> So if they're academic letter grade continues in a consecutive manner, it's a closure. We don't have to wait the five years. If financial emergency happens, they don't we don't have to wait the five years. of the standard for closure or non-renewal are the same.
>> Thank you. >> And I guess I will say um my fellow board members eloquently stated what I have been um passionate about for the for the last couple of years. And so I won't really elaborate much other than to say um I would never vote to be in a
position to cost this board more money unnecessarily. Um, and I do believe that not approving this renewal would potentially or more than likely cost this district more money to be able to um cover the legal costs which we would
ultimately be in the wrong for. So that that that's my position on the matter. So, the next steps, the um the contract is scheduled at a the scheduled board meeting coming up to be approved. And once that's approved, we can then
formally work out the contract and it is a standard contract. So, there's really no negotiations on the contract, it's already at our legal, it's in with their legal, and so once they get signed, and that'll come before the board at a board meeting to approve the contract.
>> Thank you. Um Dr. Brew, I I'll speak for myself. When that item comes forward, I'd like it to be placed under discussion. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Any other board members want to speak to the renewal? >> Nope. All right. Well, Mr. Ays, thank you for coming forward and providing a nice overview of this renewal. Um, is
there any public comment on item uh 9.1, which is the Macintosh area school charter renewal? All right. Hearing none, we will move into um item 10.1, summer school staffing plan. I believe Miss Morance's leading this conversation, but we have a slew of individuals here to add context
if needed. >> Yes, indeed. Thank you and good afternoon, Dr. James, Dr. Brewer, school board members. On behalf of K12 academics, we're back to present the summer school staffing plan. Um, as requested at the April 2nd workshop, the
team is bringing back a summer school staffing plan that includes consolidation of school sites. In this model, Ross Prairie South Ocala Legacy and Ocala Springs elementary schools will no longer be host sites. The revised flyer illustrates the updated
placement of the impacted students. As you all have mentioned before, the staff follow the students. As such, there's not much change to the staffing level. Here we see there's a proposed decrease of one content area specialist moving from 11 districtwide to 10 for a total
of 82 instructional staff and 42 non-instructional. On the secondary side, Belleview High School, Danellen High School, Lakewware High School, Fort King Middle School, Howard Middle School, Liberty Middle School, and Oyola Middle School will no longer be host sites and students be
being reassigned as shown on the revised flyer. This model includes a decrease in the number of credit recovery units from 30 to 20 in middle school and 71 to 61 in high school for a total reduction of 20.
Further, you will notice a reduction in the listed number of counselors from 17 to 5.7. This is actually clarification of the practice that is currently in place. Each school gets eight hours per week to allocate a counselor how they feel best. Bringing the total staff for
secondary to 81.7 instructional and 10 non-instructional. There are no changes to VPK and the summer bridge program from the April 2nd work session. Their numbers remain at nine instructional units and eight non-instructional units.
ESY also remains the same with the exception of the clarification in counselors. The total staff count is 44.3 instructional and 83 non-instructional. Again, no changes to Camp Kuanas, 21st century, and Howard Academy. With the
consolidation of sites, food service will sta food services staff allocation will decrease from a total of 75 to 56 and transportation will remain the same. Sorry.
So, as you can see, the revised plan includes a total of 643 total units. As we've previously mentioned, units may be added or removed based on student needs and or program and or enrollment changes. Here you can see the summary of the
department revision to staffing units. And this is actually not a revised version. The revised version that's there does not include a change in transportation. So those units would remain >> Hold on. Can we pull up the revised version, please? There's two on board
docks. Should be one that's t labeled revised. Yeah, I'm looking at it. So, everything that we've shown is stayed the same until we get to the ending pages with transportation. Next one. Perfect. So, the revised plan
presents a nominal decrease in staffing costs of approximately $100,000. As a result, the team is requesting that the initial staffing plan that was presented on April 22nd without the consolidated sites be approved with the exception of reducing one credit
recovery unit at each middle school. So, I'll now turn it back over to you, Dr. Brewer. >> Thank you. Oh, I see some questions. Go ahead. >> Go ahead, chair. >> I'll start. Um, with sitebased
budgeting, is Camp Kowanas on site based budgeting? Like when I look at their um numbers, hold on just a minute with those. Okay, so that's slide eight. Um, do we break even like with what they
bring in for what they charge for counselors? Do we do we break even on that investment? >> Yes, ma'am. >> We do. Oh, okay. Dr. B >> now, now that we charge more, >> I we increase the rate. >> Yes.
>> Um board, what I hear is a recommendation to not do move forward with a consolidation. I think um I will just say this. My concern is that if using less sites doesn't save us any money,
>> my bigger question is why? Uh, and that's not a conversation for Miss Morant to answer. Um, that's a conversation for facilities and operations to answer. Um, because I I guess I have this misguided idea that when I leave my house in the morning and turn the lights off and turn the AC up
that my power bill goes down and that um, when I'm home all day every day and I'm using my power and my lights, my my electric bill goes up. And so I have this um maybe misguided idea that when we're not using the majority because
during the summer if a site is not being used for summer school, the only place being used is the administrative suite unless custodial is there working to redo floors or do minor maintenance. And so I guess I have a
misguided perspective that we are operationally running that facility in a more efficient manner to save money which the only reason I brought this forward and asked for consolidation because I believe I was the one who really said I would love to see a more consolidated perspective was because I thought somehow we'd be saving a
tremendous amount of money operationally to not use sites for summer school which it appears we are not. So uh that was the premise of my request. Clearly we're not going to save much money. So, if operations would like to move forward with the plan as presented originally,
it's fine by me because we're not really saving any money. But I can say for certain if I'm on the board next year for summer school, I will want a very thorough understanding of why we're not saving more money not using our facilities. Dr. Campbell, >> thank you. The reason that you're not
seeing any cost savings is because all we see are the salary and benefits associated. We're not seeing the operational costs. Sorry, I'll add I I asked the operational question and it doesn't it's negligible. >> So then that also would justify or lack
thereof why we're even closed on Fridays in the summer if there if there's actually no difference. And and so that's a question that we also brought up the other day. Uh we we are working longer days Monday through Thursday. And the misnomer apparently in the district
is that it's because we save money in the in the district by being closed on Fridays and all the buildings being shuttered on Fridays. But if that's not the case, then I don't understand why we even have that schedule because it certainly isn't >> well effective for uh a lot of families
that might need any. Anyway, that's >> well and to just to that point, what I will say is I do know our employees cherish their Fridays off in the summer and I do believe it's a retention tool for our our employees who work in the summer. So, I don't necessarily want to say that I would agree with that particular statement, but what I will
say is we certainly should clarify the misnomer that we're doing it to save money because if we are not in fact saving money by not using our facilities, I'm just I'm kind of a little confused, I guess, would be the best way to put it. And so, again, not a conversation for right now. I fully
support staff to move forward with the original plan, seeing as it's not saving any money and it's your desirable outcome. Um, but ahead of next year, I really want to understand this better from an operational perspective. >> Member Connie, >> I agree. Um, Miss Maron, this is not directed at you. This is just my
frustration in general. I've had a lot of questions about summer school the last couple of years. Um, and when I opened up the presentation, I was really disappointed. I really expected us to be able to save some money um in reworking how we're doing summer school. So, my
ask is I I want to know what this is costing us per student. When I look that that we've got 648 units. Um, and I want to know how many students show up for summer school. And I I don't mean just one day. Like they show up for the majority of >> Yeah. Like at the end of summer, like like a look back.
>> What is this costing us? And and what are we gaining out of it? How many students are really making gains? So, they're doing better the next school year because my experience has been different. um you know, we we're talking about all of these budget cuts. I want to make sure we're we're spending money that's
benefiting our students. >> Yes. I think a comprehensive look back um in August um or September to truly comprehensively look at what was the cost per student um and who enrolled, what was the average daily attendance
for the programs and what was the what was accomplished in those students coming which again far beyond you miss and the scope of your job but um I I would agree that I would love to have a comprehensive update when this is all said and done because as we continue to
um prioritize how we spend money. We need to do what's legislatively required, but if we're not getting if the if the juice isn't worth the squeeze on this, we may need to have continued conversation. >> Um, who else? >> Also, the opportunity to rework what we're doing. Like, if we're spending so
much money and we're not getting the results we want, what can we do differently to make it more successful for our students? I mean, that's the ultimate goal. >> You know, we're trying to get our students over the hump and and better prepared for the next school year. And so it's not just a negative
conversation, but really how can we do a better job of meeting the needs of our students and our families. So that's all I have >> um from the rest of the board. >> I guess ultimately we're looking for the board to give direction as to the original option or the revised option.
>> Go ahead with the original option. Okay. Just and keep in mind the original option with the reduction of those um credit recovery units. Board member Thor. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> No, I was just going to say I I mean
we we can sit here and say, "Yeah, go with the original option, but the cost savings of $100,000 is still $100,000." >> Well, and that's the cap though. So, it's like the MA it's like the max GMP. This is the max GMP for summer school. If the al if the if the units don't get
full, if the students don't enroll, then we're not filling the teacher. And so that is one of the things that is different this year than it's ever been before is instead of schools hiring their own summer school staff, elementary curriculum is hiring them based on enrollment. So the process is a more costefficient process now than it
has been historically. Um and so is as units fill units will be hired. Um so I would say and since we talk about max GMP so much, this number is like the max GMP for summer school. So,
>> I mean, but each each summer we do at the end of the summer, we bring back to you how many credits were recovered. We bring attendance. So, what we can do this year is add the um cost attached to those to those breakdowns. >> That is correct. There is always a comprehensive overview.
>> Yes. To me, it is the highlight reel instead of a um reality show version. And I would like to see the reality show version that shows the stuff under the hood that didn't go well too because I think sometimes, not sometimes, every
time I've participated in that conversation, it's the look how great it was, which is great because there are students who accomplish credits and there are students who are now on track to graduate and all we acknowledge all of those things happen, but to what cost? And so understanding the the
blooper reel that is a part of the conversation too I think would have value. Dr. Campbell. >> So I I'm I'm terribly sorry about this. I was trying to pull it up and and my board docs glitched for about the first 10 minutes of your talk. So could could you please just tell me which sites in
plan two were not going to because I'm seeing seven sites on both slides. So I'm just trying to make sure. I I was hearing you say that we were going to have a reduced number of sites, but the flyers are still showing the same number. >> So >> So please just direct me to the right
page or something. So I'm sorry. It it really is a technology issue. I was trying to listen while I was trying to get it open. >> No problem. So elementary Ross Prairie South Ocala Legacy and Ocala Springs would no longer be a host site.
>> Okay. But I'm sorry. I'm just looking at the presentations. So slide one of both presentations which would be that this is the existing and the revised or or the one that we saw previously would have been the
existing and now this is the revised >> revised. I'm not >> slide three of the presentation. Miss Maran if you want to pull it back up is the secondary summer school. >> Oh we're on secondary. I thought she >> No, I was talking elementary because she just mentioned a whole bunch of elementary schools that were not going to be open. So, Ross Prairie, South
Ocala, Legacy, and Ocala Springs will no longer be host sites. >> Okay. And >> you see something different. >> Previous I'm sorry, there just two presentations that are loaded. And so I would have assumed that one of those would have been the presentation that we
received last time. >> It does. And the new one says revised. >> No. >> So, no, not accurate. She's right. So, there was initially a April 16th session for today. That one has been revised. To update transportation
to look at what was presented on April 2nd, you would have to look under the April 2nd meeting. >> That's why I'm so confused because I'm like I'm I'm really trying to see exactly what it is we we are changing. >> So in elementary Ross Prairie, South Ocala, Legacy, and Ocala Springs will no
longer be host sites. >> Okay. So I'm going to pull the April 2nd flyer so I can see that visually as to what's different. Okay. I see it now. That again technology I love it but I wanted to ensure that I was seeing what
I was seeing. >> Madam chair. >> Yes. Ramen Cummings. >> Mor did I hear that is Bridgeway still on the list? >> I can't hear you. >> Is Bridgeway still on the list? >> Yes. >> Okay. Okay. I guess I'm like Dr.
Campbell, too. I'm caught in between two two presentations. >> Personally, visually, I like the newer one. I mean, I'm just gonna say I know it it's only a $100,000 savings and I know that but
looking if I was a taxpayer and I saw all of those sites that we were having summer school I and then the newer one shows a reduced number I'm in favor of a reduced number. We the one thing I just like to bring up is the the additional
time on a school bus for the students to go to sites that are out of outside of their neighborhood. That is additional time on a bus with students that um need to attend summer school. >> Just one consideration.
>> Again, give me the list. I'm going to write them down. So, um Ross Prairie was one. So, they're not on a bus very long because Marian Oaks is Marian Oaks. >> South Ocala. >> Okay. Legacy and Ocala Springs. >> So, I have to just see where they're
collapsing to. So, Callis Springs students are coming to Maplewood. Legacy students are coming to I'm looking for them. Maplewood, South Ocala. So, Ross Prairie students
will attend Winding Oaks. South Ocala students will attend Maplewood. Legacy students will move to Maplewood. Okella Spring students will attend Maplewood. >> I have I have a a piece of paper. >> So, and and then all of our Silver
Spring Shores elementary sites have different funding sources. So they're able to provide them themselves other than leg like I'm just so we don't have emerald the the ones like emerald shores and greenway and they're not on this list. So they're >> shores is on the list at heart is they're going to >> Oh I see them. They're all going to map.
So we're so we're choosing to have all of our Silver Spring Shores sites not go to a school in so on the east side of Baseline Road. Well, we did that because we were trying to consolidate ESY as well because we had our ESY campuses.
Um, and Maplewood was one of those and is traditionally one of those. Something else to point out, we have as of yesterday 680 students had already registered for summer school based off of our original plan. We we didn't expect to have to change sites and so we
started sending letters and put that out there. of those 680, there's over about 200 who would now have to receive a second letter telling them that they're going to a different site. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Connor. I would call that burying the lead. I I I appreciate the presentation. I
appreciate all the information, but I'm I'm sorry. I Mr. Christian may laugh at me referencing that, but if if we have already sent out that commun I didn't hear that. Did we lead the presentation saying that communication had already gone out? I'm sorry. I'm I'm not your
messenger message. It I I I'm not trying to be confrontational at all, but that information in and of itself is the most helpful piece of anything we've heard today. That our families have already received communication about an original plan
that this board didn't approve. So, let's start with that. Um, but secondarily, that now we're going to have to communicate something differently to a whole group of people that have already agreed to do something. We're going with the original plan as far as this seat because if we've already communicated something, we're
not going to back up and change what we've communicated, especially if there's no cost savings associated with it more than $100,000. It this this just has been done a little backwards, I think, compared to what the the board would like to have seen done. So, uh in the future, I know we'll do
better. Thank you. >> Does any other board member want to share thoughts on summer school staffing? I hear three board members articulating to go with the original plan. Yep. I see a nod from board member Thor. Okay. Reverend Cummings, did you have a
take on it? >> Say go with the original. >> Okay. So, we're going to move forward with the original plan. I think in the future it would be best to bring this forward earlier so that we have time to discuss summer school uh ahead of releasing um based on predictive PM2 data um who may be able to participate
in summer school. And this is with the reduction of one credit recovery at each middle school. >> Yes. Yes. Your guys's updated recommendation for the for what was originally presented. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And board. We will be voting on this um when we close out the work session.
>> Is there public comment on summer school staffing? >> Okay. I will move into meeting reminders. This is there is an IICRO meeting uh for referendum oversight scheduled for later this afternoon at 4 o'clock and a special work session. >> We have one more item. Item 8.1.
>> No, we already did that. >> We already did that. >> We did the world language textbook adoption. No, we did not because the folks are here. We've not done the textbook adoption. >> Am I looking at the wrong agenda? >> You're on April. Did you go back to April 2nd? >> I don't know. Board Docs is really
causing me struggles. >> So, yeah, I believe we're done with the agenda for today >> for the work session. >> Work session. >> Thank you. Um, but we did have folks that just arrived to the meeting, so I was assuming it had something to do with that. So, that's where I'm confused. They were here for questions for pertaining to summer school and the
student progression plan. >> Thank you. >> So, uh there is a special work session scheduled for April 27th at 9:00 to review all the policies and then a school board meeting is scheduled for April 28th at 5:30 p.m. Um we board if you don't mind we will just uh hold
comments until we will have a comment period for the board meeting we're about to close out. So I'd like to just close the work session and move into the board meeting. All right. So, at that point, I will um there being no further business for the work session, we will adjourn the work session at 12:58 and we will be
going back into a um board meeting. >> Recess. >> Coming out of recess, right? >> Out of recess. >> Yeah, I I know. I was waiting. Mr. Christian, is there anything you want to do ceremoniously to move us back into the board meeting? >> I've got to switch over. I've got to close out here. >> Yes. So, we're gonna Would you like us
to take a few minute recess? Okay. We will take a uh five minute recess and come back at about 103. Three. Welcome back to our board meeting. We went into recess earlier this morning. We are now reconvening at 10:03 p.m. For
the courtesy of those listening to the meeting, I'm requesting everyone in the audience to please turn off their electronic devices or put them on vibrate. Public comment is now accepted during two portions of each meeting for up to 30 minutes each. one for items specific to tonight's agenda held before the vote takes place and one for items
on which the school board customarily takes action held after the business portion of the meeting. Anyone wanting to speak regarding an agenda item must complete a blue form and anyone wanting to speak regarding a non-aggenda item a yellow form. Public speakers will have three minutes to complete their comments and no more than 10 speakers will be scheduled in either public comment
unless um the board votes otherwise. Miss Martinez Young, can you please call the role for this meeting? >> Dr. Allison Campbell, District One, >> here. >> Mrs. Mrs. Lori Comrade, District 2. >> Here, >> Mr. Eric Cummings, District Three, >> here. >> Mrs. Nancy Thrower, District 4, >> here. >> Dr. Sarah James, District 5, >> here. >> Attorney Blackman, staff attorney,
>> here. >> Dr. Daniel Burough, superintendent, >> here. >> We will move into the business portion of the meeting. >> Superintendent, >> you're making a motion on the >> I am >> recommending. >> Yes, I'd like to make a motion on
>> recommending approval. >> Let me see. I'm sorry. I was >> I was closing out. Yes, >> at the bottom. >> I recommend approval of the agenda for the April 16, 2026 special school board meeting.
>> Thank you so much. May I have a motion on the superintendent's recommendation? >> Second. >> Motion by uh board member Cummings and a second by board member Campbell. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Motion passes 5-0. Miss Martinez Young, can you please provide the proof of publication for this um this school
board meeting? The notice for the April 16th, 2026 special school board meeting was placed on the district website on April 9th, 2026. >> Thank you, Miss Martinez Young. Do we have any speakers? >> No, Madam Chair. >> All right. Uh well, then I will move into our consent agenda. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda
items? >> Second. >> A motion by board member Cummings and a second by board member Conrad. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> I. Motion passes. 5-0. Um, Miss Martinez Young, we do not have any speakers related to non um non-related agenda items. Correct.
>> No, Madam Chair. >> Okay. And we don't have any here for disciplinary matters. >> No, Madam Chair. >> All right. So then there being no further business, may I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Motion by board member Throward and a second by board member Conrad. All those
in favor say I. >> I. >> Motion passes 5-0. This meeting is adjourned at 10:06 p.m. Thank you. Oh, Part: 2
The schoolboard work session begins in 1 minute. Please take your seats. Again, the schoolboard work session begins in 1 minute. Good afternoon everyone. Um we are um going to start our meeting for the Independent Citizen Referendum Oversight
Committee. Uh we'll go ahead and start by saying the pledge of allegiance. So please rise. >> 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. All right. I'd like to um start by welcoming um our guests. I see Dr. Brewers in the crowd. Um our uh CFO, which I ah there he is, Mr. Reyes Walsh.
Um I am going to go ahead and move on to our roll call. >> Jane, if you'll start us off and everyone state your name. >> President Jane Moy. Jennifer Edgars, Diana Williams, Angie Lester, Melanie
Lyster, >> and Osley. >> Okay. Um, everyone should have had an opportunity to look over the um minutes from previous meeting. I will take a
motion to accept those minutes. >> So moved. >> Okay, it is approved. Those minutes will now be in our records. Um, Dr. Brewer, like to welcome you up.
>> Hi, good afternoon. Thank you all for being here and taking the time to work um to continue to make Marian County Public Schools the best option in Marian County. I want to recognize just the work that Mr. Welsh will share with you today and of course we have our entire
CTE and um others here to provide updates. But because of the work of the referendum, we are seeing great outcomes with our students. And that's something sometimes that isn't represented in our school grade calculation, but it's so
important for our students to be able to take part in these innovative career and technical programs um as well as the art and music in every classroom. So, I continue to say thank you to our community, our voters, and as you may be aware of, the county commissioners did
approve for our language of uh the referendum renewal to be on the ballot. And so, we are very excited about that and um our legal team handd delivered it to Mr. Wilcox's office last week. So, we are very excited that we will seek that
re um renewal this school year. But at this time, I'd like to introduce Mr. Rio as well. who will provide an overview of the referendum for you. >> Thank you, Dr. Brewer, Chair Osley, members of the oversight committee. Good afternoon. Glad to see all your faces
again. This is my second time at the podium today, so I'm feeling a little lucky. You have to excuse me if I uh get a little parched and take a water break. I'm recovering from a flu, so uh just please be mindful of that. I'm going to jump right into the presentation. Uh so
this is our third quarter. This is July 1st uh of 25 through March 31st um of 26 cumulative referendum report. And I have several guests joining us today. Uh myself obviously, Miss Charity uh
Cornelius, coordinator for physical education. Miss Katherine OD coordinator for career and technical education. Um, also we have Miss Brooke Udo, coordinator for visual and performing arts, Melissa Connor, executive director
for K12 academics, and Mr. Dennis McFaten, executive director for safe schools. So, they will be coming up and we will be tag teaming during this presentation um as we get underway. Um, that being said, the first slide here, slide two. Uh, just a quick uh
refresher. Uh this is a 1m advalorum property tax uh referendum that was approved back in November 8th of 2022. Um the allowable uses uh for these funds include reading, physical education, art, music, library and media,
vocational programs, class size reduction, um and also to help us retain state certified teachers, pair professionals, and of course school safety. Uh as Dr. Brewer mentioned um we were glad to hear that we're able to get
um the language amended for the next vote that will be uh in November uh to include early learning and obviously an extension of the referendum itself um through the next 5-year period of time. As you can see from the collections and
expenses from the period of 201617 uh through the budgeted period of 2526, cumulatively our revenues have come in at almost $262 million over that period of time. Um expenses eclipse $254
million over this period which represents a sizable investment by the taxpayers in these programs. So for that we are extremely grateful. The next slide, slide three
is our referendum summary and goes through and looks at our adopted budget of 41 uh.2 and I'm rounding up million dollars. Um and as you can see we have two uh pie charts there uh representing
the revenues received to date at 91% and expenditures to date at 58%. Um we do expect that as time goes on and we get closer to the year uh that these numbers may be more in line but we do anticipate uh to have a carryover um at
the end of this year which I will also talk about uh shortly. The next slide, slide four is expenditures by program. And so here we have listed all the areas um that I uh discussed earlier. So we have our
kindergarten uh pair professionals and at 5.7 million and physical education at 10.5. Um, vocational programs at almost $3 million, library and media at 4.5,
art at 5.3, music at 6.3, and professional development at close to 900,000. And rounding us out is school safety at $7.1 million. So clearly the line share of expenditures here are
represented in the physical education space with school safety coming in at a close second and music and kindergarten pair professionals uh rounding us out in that area. Um and this tracks with the
priorities of the district uh particularly as it relates over time which I'll talk about in the next slide. Um so on slide five you'll see cumulative um uh numbers there for each of these program areas. And as you can
see from 2020 to 2021 to 2526 um the lion share of this investment is in class size reduction which which makes sense. Uh this is the area that we uh want to be squarely focused on and this has received the largest share of
dollars over time. Although this year 2526 uh you can see that it's changed a little bit and now we see physical education um has um eclipsed classroom size reduction at this point given the new investments in that particular
program area which we're happy to have made. The other areas are uh pretty self-explanatory. Um again with large and sizable investments uh over time but the vast majority of the funds going into the classroom.
The next slide, slide six is our fund balance. And so uh we'll talk about that and our ending fund balance. Um it carried forward from 24 to25 at $13.3 million. And as you can see there, we have our projected
revenues at 41.2 I'm rounding up and expenditures at 43.2 million. And so for this year, we are projecting an 11.3 million um uh carry forward. And uh just as a reminder that these uh funds are
restricted restricted fund um and our financial statements. The next area I'll I'll talk through is our charter schools. Um, we've mentioned this uh before in my comments. Um, and there are several uh uh components here.
Um, but the main things that I do want to uh bring up actually I think this is skipping slightly. I'm sorry. General fund excluding charter schools. I'll get to that part in a moment. I'm going to skip ahead. Uh so we want to talk about kindergarten
pair professionals. Um this is an area um we've had a lot of discussion about this and and the need and how important it is uh to make sure that we have this level of staffing and these professionals um these pair professionals in our classrooms to help
our our teachers. Um, and so with that, you'll see in the next slide, uh, the investments that we've made with a total budget of 5.7 million with 72% of that already spent, uh, through the period of
March 31st at 4.1 with 28% or$1.6 million more um, to go. And then in the middle we have um just a representation of the number of filled versus vacant positions at 151 to 15 respectively.
And then the spent to date at 72% as you can see there uh the vast majority um threequarters is going towards salary and benefits uh for the kindergarten pair of professionals uh which which tracks
uh with that I will uh pause um just to see if there's any questions and if not we will move on to the next part of the presentation. >> Yes ma'am. I had a question on slide five. >> There was a drastic decrease in uh 2024
of the class size reduction. How how were those teachers absorbed into the general budget? Assuming that's what happened. >> Okay. So, let me repeat the question if I heard you correctly. You're asking given the um reduction of an investment,
how were those teachers um absorbed into the general fund? assuming that it was absorbed into the general fund. >> Yeah. Um I do not have all of uh those numbers in front of me. I do have and can provide a list of all of the units um that we are currently funding u from
referendum, but those units um that we may not have funded uh any longer or there may have been a shift in priorities. Um I can't speak directly to whether or not those individuals if there were actually stayed with the district and we paid them out a general fund or not. Um, but we can certainly
pull that. Yes, ma'am. >> The those positions were absorbed through vacancies that we had that were already budgeted for in within that general fund. >> Good. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Brewer. >> Okay.
All right. Uh, any other questions on the previous slides? Okay. If not, I'm going to ask Miss Charity Quilson to come up and she's going to talk about physical education. >> Good afternoon. Thank you again so much for being here and taking the time to
allow us to share out all the amazing things that our physical educators are are doing to impact our learners. I'd like to highlight how our physical educators are not only engaging in professional learning but truly leading at the state level. Recently, nine of
our educators attended Shape Florida's Day of Learning at University of South Florida where they joined colleagues from across the state for a full day of collaboration, idea sharing, and professional growth. As you can see, it was not just a sitand get learning. Our teachers were actively engaged,
participating in hands-on activities, and bringing best practices to life. What makes this even more special is that two of our own educators stepped into leadership roles. Jeffrey Koviaak from Belleview Santos Elementary and Jamal Mlan from Stanton Wearsdale Elementary were selected as presenters
at the state level, sharing their expertise in standardsbased instruction, effective space management, and strategies to keep students actively engaged in a meaningful physical activity way. That's a powerful reflection of the cal caliber of educators we have here in
Marian County. We are incredibly proud of the way our teachers continue to learn, continue to lead, and represent MCPS so well, both in our schools and across the state. To that same commitment level, learning and growth doesn't just stop at the state level. It carries on directly into
how we prepare our educators here at home. In preparation for our elementary track meet, our coaches came together on February 25th for a hands-on track and field skills clinic. This session was led by local track and field expert Mr. Mark Mater. If you're familiar with
track and field in the county over the last few years, well, few decades really is more appropriate. He worked directly with our teachers to refine techniques, improve event management, and build confidence in delivering highquality instruction to students. As you can see
in these images, this was an active, practical learning session. Teachers engaged in the same skills they would teach their students. That translates directly to safer events, a more efficient organization, and ultimately a better experience for every student who participated. And that's really the
goal, ensuring that every student, regardless of skill level, has a positive, structured, and engaging experience in physical education. This is what the support of referendum makes possible. It allows us to not only provide access to physical education, but to ensure it's delivered with
quality, intention, and impact. And all of that preparation and professional learning comes to life in moments like this. Our 2026 elementary track meet brought together students from across Marian County for a day of competition, teamwork, and celebration.
What you're seeing here is more than just a track meet. It's students building confidence, supporting one another, and experiencing success in a positive and structured environment. From running events to field events, and even our student volunteers helping run
the meet, every piece reflects the dedication of our educators and the systems in place to support them. We had strong participation from schools across the district, and the energy, sportsmanship, and enthusiasm from students really was incredible. Events like this give our students a chance to
shine in ways that go beyond the classroom. And for many, it's their first experience with something that feels like a true athletic competition. And none of this happens without the investment in our people. Because of your support through referendum, we are able to provide these opportunities,
prepare our educators, and create meaningful experiences for our students. So again, thank you for helping us bring moments like this to life for our kids, supporting healthy bodies and healthy minds. >> Yes. question. Since we're spending 25% of our budget almost on um PE, I'm just
wondering what is the rubric or matrix that we use to learn of the positive effect that it's having on kids whether it's um you know a reduction in in weight uh obesity or attendance that if it's
improved attend what are we using and or is it mostly going to salaries? A majority of that is the lion share so to speak is is salaries. Um there is a small portion I think about $2 per student that is allocated for equipment. Um we have other grants and things that
that support additional equipment but for the most part that is for salaries just to keep teachers in positions so that students have access to physical education. Uh as far as assessments we have CSMAs in second and fourth grade a post test that assesses standards.
Physical education teachers have a curriculum map just like every other subject area. So they have sets of standards that they have to deliver throughout the year and they assess their students and we assess their performance across the county through CSMA and second and fourth grade at the end of the year.
>> So there's just a lot more PE teachers than there are art teachers and library. >> Well, if you if you think of it this way, um they have PE three days a week and they have art and music one day a week. So they're seeing multiple students, multiple classes at a time. For example, uh if you you have a a
school, I'll use Stan Wearsdale as an example. They have two PE teachers that see probably about four classes at a time. So that's two classes per teacher. If you average roughly 20, that's 40 students per teacher, per instruction. So the reason why there are more is
because there are a lot larger numbers that are are seen and impacted by physical education teachers. >> Thank you, that I misspe >> those breakdowns are later I think slide >> 13 to sorry to keep in mind is is the
state statute that requires 150 minutes of physical education per week. So, we have to provide it's not a choice that we give them PE three days a week because we want to. It's it's in my opinion necessary, but it is a state statute 150 minutes. And in order for all those students to have 150 minutes
of PE, they need multiple days of PE and we need additional staff to support that. >> It just seemed like it would have been similar than prior years and it's not so much, but that's okay. >> Thank you.
Uh thank you, Miss Cornelius. Uh with that, I will jump into some of the numbers that she uh alluded to. Um and yes, uh the total budget at $10.5 million with 61 uh% spent um to date uh
39% unspent. You can see there in the middle we have the number of uh filled and vacant uh positions there for PE teachers uh and PE technicians. Uh and so I think those numbers speak speak for themselves. And then of course that breakout uh where it shows clearly that
the salaries and benefits uh make up um the largest share of the expense um in this area. With that, we'll jump into vocational programs and I'll ask Miss Kathy Elliot to come up.
Thank you. >> Good afternoon everyone. I'm Katherine Audi. I'm the coordinator for CTE um in Marian County. I like to always share this figure because I feel like it's very impactful. We have 40 um CTE pathways for students representing 14
career clusters and we have over 15,000 students enrolled within those programs and that's um an individual count. Many students take multiple CTE programs. So if you were to do an actual CTE enrollment count is closer to 20,000. So we have a lot of um reach into the
school system on the secondary side. This year we have 836 seniors graduating with the ability to earn career pathways articulated credit. What that means is that a student's taken three concurrent courses within a CTE program and they
earned a 3.0 overall in those courses. And because they've done that as seniors, if they choose to continue in that pathway at one of our local colleges, they can get free college credit to kind of move into that program at a higher level than starting from the beginning. We also had 967 seniors that
were program completers. That means they completed three CTE courses and this means they may be eligible for the Florida Bright Futures Gold Seal Scholarship. 60 students from across the district who are interested in becoming teachers recently attended the education summit.
That's the top photo there. Um, at this summit, they were able to tour CF, learn about their education program, and they actually got to hear from the state of Florida teacher of the year. North Marian High School, the bottom photo there, recently took their cult win, the
Ocala breeder sale. This is one of our referendum um funded programs. So, students in that program raised and prepared that colt for the sale. Now, I'd like to share some of the business and industry interactions our students had during the third quarter.
In the top photo there, Belleview High School hosted the regional health occupation students of America competition. That's HOSA. So, 650 students from Marian County and some of the surrounding counties attended this competition and over 150 members of the
medical industry here in Marian County and supporters helped us judge those events and put that contest on. So, that was wonderful to see. We also had 200 high school students from every high school was represented um attend construction career days. At this event,
they learn about the construction industry and get to participate in some hands-on learning. All seven high schools just completed their on-site career fairs for all juniors and seniors. So, we try to bring careers to the schools so that students all get the
opportunity to experience what's out there. And during the month of February, 610 students had entries in the Southeastern Youth Fair. Also, as a part of the youth fair, we hosted 1,314 second graders from across the district
to teach them about different commodities in agriculture. And all of those tours for those second graders are led by our um FFA members from Maring County Public Schools. Referendum funds help to provide these experience and opportunities for students and we look forward to making these connections as
we continue on throughout the rest of the year. >> Go ahead. >> Do we have a great plan to get those 60 students who are going to be future teachers and bring them back when they finish college? >> Yes, we do. Uh yeah. um some of those
60s, those were from all different grade levels, but I don't know if you um watched the teacher of the year banquet, but the foundation actually did some scholarships for some students who were planning to continue teaching to go to CF. Um and I know that Miss Nun within our county has all of their contact information. So, we're actively trying
to make sure we keep them right here in Marian County. >> That's a great question. >> Thank you, Miss Odie. I'll jump into some of the numbers um behind the program. So on the left side you'll see there a
stack chart. 40% of our dollars spent at 1.147 unspent at 1.7 million. We had a total budget of $2.853. uh in the middle there, that pie chart, you'll see the number of filled vacant
positions with 16 filled positions and four uh vacancies. And then the spend to date at 40% there. You'll see that um a little less than uh 3/4 of the entire budget is spent on uh salaries and benefits. Again, this
tracks with um the trend where most of these uh dollars and these large areas are for uh supporting staff. Okay, with that, Brooke is going to come up and she's
going to talk about library and media. >> Good afternoon. I'm covering for Bran Hughes today. Uh throughout the school year, our media specialists work hard to meet the needs of each of their campuses. Each campus provides a different experience based on the needs of the students they serve. From providing lessons focused on reading
benchmarks or supporting literacy initiatives, our media specialists are always busy. Our library specialists throughout the months of January to April have been at work focusing on reading initiatives and hosting a number of events in their spaces. In January, we celebrated Justread Florida Celebrate
Literacy Week. This year the theme was focused on the 250 years of American history. For our media centers being the center of literacy on all of our campuses, this was a big week highlighting the importance of reading across MCPS. The media centers were transformed to highlight the theme and
continue to support reading. Media specialists have also hosted events including here you see Ward Highland students voting on Sunshine State Readers. Belleview Santos students buddy readading which focuses on kindergarten through second grade students with the second grade students modeling fluency to some of our youngest readers. Each
month, Miss Bragan Hughes hosts early release sessions with our media specialists. During these sessions, they learn more about platforms that they have access to support daily media services. This month, the focus was around our new classroom library management tools. We welcome the team
from parent portal plus and luma sorry to provide an initial look at the two platforms. These platforms will allow parents to search and identify books that are made available to our students in our classroom libraries. These sessions also provide an opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues as media specialists. A lot
of the work they do is done on their own. So opportunities to collaborate is important to all of their success. Last Friday, April 10th, the media department recognized the hard work of students across the county at the Marian County Student Media Festival. Throughout the school year, many of our media specialists support students in
the process of planning, creating, and submitting submissions for the media festival. This year, 210 entries were received, which included 851 student winners. Seven elementary schools, four middle schools, and five high schools were recognized for their work and
dedication to the project. On the left you'll see Mr. Eric Wilson. He's the media specialist at Stanton Weedsdale with 28 years in education. 22 of them have been spent as the library media specialist at Stanton Weedsdale Elementary. At any point throughout his days at Stanton Weedsdale, you can stop
in and hear a readaloud where Mr. Wilson brings stories to life. One of his favorite stories to share with his students is Elephant and Piggy by Mo Williams. Mr. Dr. Wilson loves to engage in reading with his students to show how a book can take you to another world. Each year, Stanton Weersdale and the
community come together to celebrate the World's Fair, a long-standing tradition for the school community and culture. Each class transforms into a country, and the whole school bursts with color, culture, and excitement. Mr. Wilson has a daily goal to make the library a place where reading feels fun, exciting, and
full of adventure for every student who walks through his door. On the right, you'll see Miss Laura Kutz. She's in her 35th year of education, bringing a wealth of experience and dedication to her role at Lakewware Middle School. She spent 18 years as an eighth grade English language arts teacher before
transitioning into her current position, where she has served as library media specialist for the past 17 years. Throughout her 23-year career with Marian County Public Schools, she has remained a proud and committed member of the Lakewware Middle School community. A devoted advocate for literacy, Mrs. Kutz is passionate about inspiring young
adults to read and fostering a lifelong love of books. Her impact extends beyond the classroom and media center as all four of her children also attended Lake Middle School, making her connection to the school deeply personal as well as professional. >> All right.
>> Thank you. >> I thought I saw I thought I saw a hand go up. Thank you, Mr. Uh I will jump into some of the uh numbers behind the program once again. Uh so total budget here of $4.5 million.
I'm rounding up with uh 61% or 2.759 uh spent um through the period and unspent at 39% or $17 million. And there in the middle again you have the number of filled and vacant
positions at 49 to1. So certainly don't have a hard time uh filling these positions. Uh no wonder I can imagine reading to children every day is probably a great pleasure. And then the spent to date again at 61% with the line
share of that clearly um for salaries and benefits with the smaller amounts for capital outlay purchase services um some dues and fees and materials and supplies. Um, I believe Broo is going to come up
again to talk about her area. You didn't have to go far. >> Didn't have to go far. >> Okay. >> All right. This time I get to talk to you about visual and performing arts. Um, it's my pleasure to highlight the amazing things that our visual and performing arts departments have been doing in the third quarter. Across our
schools, our students have been actively engaged in creating original artwork using a variety of media and techniques. At the elementary level, students are building foundational skills while also developing confidence in self-expression. As they progress into middle and high school, we see increased technical skill, originality, and the
ability to connect their work to broader themes and concepts. We're especially proud of the way our visual arts programs support not just artistic development, but also creative thinking, problem solving, and perseverance. Students are learning how to plan, revise, and reflect on their work, which are skills that transfer across all
content areas. Additionally, student artwork is consistently showcased through school displays, district events, and community partnerships, helping to celebrate student voice and connect our schools with the community. Pictured on the left, our fifth grade students were celebrated at the kids tag art ceremony in collaboration with the
Marian County Tax Collector's Office. We also collaborated with the Maring County Board of County Commissioners this year and hosted an art contest for Marian County Day in celebration of America 250 themed Liberty Lives Here. Our winners came from Maplewood Elementary, Howard Middle, and Westport High, which is the
picture you see in the middle. Currently, our student artwork is showcased at the Appleton Museum for their annual Young and Art exhibit, which will be up through April 19th. In quarter 3, our performing arts programs have continued to thrive with strong participation in music, theater,
and dance ensemble experiences. Students are building foundational skills in performance, including vocal technique, rhythm, and ensemble collaboration. This quarter has also included preparation for major performances, assessments, and all county festivals where students apply their learning in real world
settings. These opportunities are critical because they build confidence, teamwork, and a sense of accomplishment. The Shady Hill Harmony, a performance ensemble of 90 fourth and fifth grade students, traveled to Tallahassee to perform for Marion at the Capitol. We also held our 12th annual Charlie Dixon
Elementary Memorial Festival with over 800 students participating from 26 of our elementary schools. Our dance programs hosted their fifth annual spring dance festival with six dance programs performing jazz, ballet, tap, modern, and even some line dancing this
year. And finally, the Westport High School Omega Theater Troop traveled to Tampa for the state thespians competition. They were only one of 10 schools that were invited to perform their show Radium Girls at state competition. These performances would not have been possible without the
support of the referendum. The last slide continues to highlight performing arts with a focus on outcomes and impact. One of the most exciting parts of this quarter has been the large-scale participation in in events such as elementary and secondary allcount choirs. These performances not
only demonstrate musical skill, but also build confidence and presentation abilities. We're also excited to have two state FFCC champion color guards right here in Marian County. Belleview High School's varsity team placed first in their division at state and Forest High School's team earned silver. Events
like these bring together families, staff, and community members, reinforcing the importance of the arts in our schools. We are incredibly grateful for the support that allows these programs to thrive as they provide meaningful experiences that contribute to the whole child. We also want to recognize the dedication of our fine
arts teachers whose work ensures that students have access to highquality art arts education. Through the visual and performing arts, students are developing discipline, perseverance, collaboration and responsibility. All of which directly supports their growth and their success not only academically but also
as people. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay. Once again, behind the uh program, there are some numbers I'd like to share. Um so, for our arts program, total budget of $5.3 million.
Um with 64% spent at a little over 3.3, I'll round up to 3.4. and 36% um unspent. We have in the middle there the number of our teachers uh filled and vacant at 51 and four respectively. Uh
coordinators split at 0.5 and.5 um pair professionals filled at 12 and one vacancy. And then you can see there that the salaries and benefits make up the vast majority of the funds spent in this area with smaller slivers for dues and
fees, capital outlay, materials and supplies and purchased services. The next slide uh relates to our music programming. So I'll jump into that. Um again the numbers behind the program
total budget of $6.3 uh million dollars with about 57 uh% spent at $3.6 million with $2.7 million or 43% uh more to go. We have 56 music teachers that are
funded with the referendum, one vacancy coordinator. Uh you can see that um 0.5 and 0.5 there. Pair professionals at 12.5 and 0.5. Um and then for the large
part chart you'll see there the benefits and salaries making up the vast majority of the spending there as tracks with the rest of the programs that we've shared with you today. Uh, next up I believe Melissa Connor is
going to come up. Thank you. As the school year comes to an end, there have been 359 registrations across seven courses in our new teacher academy. That's for novice educators in year 1. And new teacher academy 2.0 is early career
educators in year two. Participants, like you can see on the screen, have shared positive feedback regarding the sessions and how much they've been impacted by their mentor teachers. Referendum funding pays for the participant stipens in each of those courses.
We wanted to highlight the impact of our induction and mentoring program on teachers in Marian County. Representing a typical mentor mentee relationship in which a novice educator is supported by a veteran teacher on their campus. Here is Mr. Edward Lamory and Mr. Joseph
Chitty. From the information they shared, you can see the benefit not only for a new teachers, but also for the veteran teachers who continue to learn and grow in the process. Many of our new teachers work in specialized settings and therefore they
have very unique mentorship needs. And in order to support them, we've leveraged the exceptional knowledge and experience of our teachers at the magical Hillrest school. Because many of our new self-contained ES teachers are located on campuses throughout the district, we've created a virtual
mentorship initiative in which we pair the Hillrest teachers with a novice ESC teacher. They meet virtually on a weekly basis to collaborate and discuss ways to implement strategies in their setting to best meet meet the unique needs of their students. Pictured here are Jennifer Nichols from Hillrest and her mentee
Britney Johnson at Winding Oaks. We're excited to continue this partnership with Hillrest School for next school year. As well, our mentoring and induction program, just so you know, is being recognized across the state. We've actually been asked to come to two conferences and present our model of
mentoring and induction. So what we're able to do with referendum funding and that is is a model plan for the state. >> Can you elaborate a little bit more on that? What makes it so different? So unique >> I think what makes it so different is the amount of um work that the team puts
in into making the sessions very meaningful and purposeful and what the new teachers need. So it's not just cart blanch. It's what we need at that time at the beginning of the year. We need classroom management. We need to learn how to how to set up those structures in our rooms that will make the whole rest of the year go great. And so that's what
we focus on right then. As we move forward, we talk about grading and different different um situations that come out throughout the school year, but it's very intentional, very focused, and I think that by itself is kind of what makes it stand out. >> Thank you.
>> Anything else? Are we tracking or is there any way to track um a correlation between our mentoring program and fewer teacher resignation or teacher burnout because of the support they've received? Do we have any way to look?
>> I could probably find um some data for you in terms of them of us retaining our teachers, especially those new and early educator ones. I can provide that next time. >> That would be beneficial. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Connor.
And even though professional development makes up the smallest share of the referendum investment at $859,000, u from her comments, you can tell it is highly impactful and very important uh as part of the work that we do. Um, really nothing is more important than
making sure that our teachers are getting the proper training and support in order to be able to do their jobs effectively on a day-to-day basis. Uh, that being said, we've spent about 27% um to date at $228,000 with about
$630,000 uh to go um if we do not roll forward some of that money. And then of course the purchase services uh benefits um and salaries uh round us out in terms of where where those dollars uh are going.
>> Uh next up we have uh the safe schools uh portion of the presentation. >> I'm sorry I do have a question. >> Yes ma'am. >> Um so it is showing $175,000 for purchase services. So I just kind of looked at the example of expenditures.
Uh could we get a little more detail on what type of things might be purchased? >> Um yeah, >> a lot of those would be our bis our um vendors and partners that we contract with in order to bring in certain training. So that's what some of that
is. And also remember that a lot of it hasn't been paid out yet because we pay stipens at the end of the year once the program has finished. >> Right. Okay, that makes sense. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Connor. Mr. McFaten is going to make his way to the podium.
>> Good afternoon. Um, as a district, we continue to take a proactive and comprehensive approach to safety and school security. We've reinforced expectations for respectful interactions by restocking our code of
civility posters, enhanced communication through the board of county commissioners radio system, uh weather radios, and the slow roll out of open gate weapons detection system. We recently restocked our code of civility posters across schools and
district facilities, reinforcing expectations for respectful interactions among parents, visitors, and staff and helping to prevent conflicts before they escalate. These posters are placed in prominent locations in the main office so they are clearly visible to all
students, staff, and visitors. As you see, we do have some time on occasions where parents, different people come on to the school campuses. Uh they're very iate and we we try to explain to them that we can solve problems and help work through many problems as long as we have
an open dialogue and it's done in a professional and respectful manner. So the district also utilizes the board of county commissioners radio system which allows direct communication with first responders. This critical service ensures reliable and real time
coordination during emergencies. And as you can see there, they put up this the county put up a lot of new towers. And those towers uh with the enhancement and the updates or the upgrades to those towers allowed for better radio commun communications on
our school buses as well as the radios that the officers the SRO's use in the schools. Okay. In addition, we purchased weather radios for schools and district offices. These radios provide immediate alerts for
severe weather and serving as a backup notification system during potential communication disruptions. All schools are provided with radios and should contact the safe schools department if the radios need to be replaced or is damaged in some type of way.
got my papers here mixed up. Okay. And what you see there on the bottom right, that is a um it's basically a a safety tool where we use to when we get ready to clean all of our weapons within the department, we use
that as a um a tool to point the weapons in so that if there's ever an accidental discharge, that device will stop the bullet or stop the round and without uh being uh causing any problems or damage to the building or the school or our
officers. Um, our most significant item that we purchased during this time was the open gate weapons detection systems which allow for the efficient and effective screening of large numbers of students
and visitors entering campuses and school sponsored events. This procedure enhances safety while minimizing disruption to the school day. Together, these efforts reflect a layered and balanced approach focused on prevention, preparedness, and protection of the
students and staff. These systems will be used at high school graduations, after our events, and any other events deemed necessary by school and district staff. We just started with this year as a training for our high schools. Each high school has two of these weapons
detection system. Uh we're working with obviously our PR department, the schools to send out uh communication and messaging to our parents, our students, and the community to let them know that we're going to start using this here too as another layer of safety and security.
Um it is something that we, you know, a lot of districts are are doing, but they're very costly and the and the big thing is the manpower that it takes to to run these systems. the systems um
high-tech. I mean, once we started training with these and looking at these and doing demos and and actually doing them over the past week at four of our high schools, they are so effective and they are with the technology. You're just walking through these things pretty
fast. as long as people don't bring certain items onto the campus. Obviously, you can't bring weapons, you can't bring bring knives, but little small things like a three- ring binder, a laptop, um um umbrellas, eyeglass cases, believe it or
not, will set these off. So, what the kids and the staff, what they're doing is they're taking those items out of the backpack, putting the backpack back on, and just handing it to the staff as they come around through the detector, hand it back to them as they pass it, if it doesn't go off, they walk right on
through. And I believe, and we know that the more we train and educate them on how to properly go through this here, and then they'll start leaving some of those items home that's unnecessary. Uh, we found poker chips, like, what are you doing with poker chips? The guy had a kid had a bag of poker chips. Um,
believe it or not, we didn't realize it, but the eyelash curlers sets the machines off. I've never seen so many alkalash curlers in my life. You know, these young ladies are coming on with those eyelash curlers, but they're setting them off. So, a lot of these things, they're saying, "Well, I won't
bring that no more." And that's the hope and that's the desire because the more we use it and the more they get familiar with it, the quicker this process will go. But, we are going to use it at our graduations. We got a plan in place. Uh we're working with the schools to make sure that the again the community is
aware that we will again provide another layer of safety within our school system and these metal detectors or these weapon detection systems will be used at our graduations. Okay. So I want to close by recognizing that none of these efforts would be
possible without the support of our community. The passage of the referendum reflects a shared commitment to the safety and well-being of our students and staff, and we are grateful for the trust that was placed in us. School safety is not a one-time investment, but an ongoing
responsibility, especially as we continue to see challenges involving self harm and other impacts at our schools. Because of this community support, we are able to take a proactive layer approach that focuses on prevention, preparedness, and rapid response. And I have to close with I get
so much joy in working across department lines. Uh we seem to be uh every everybody you know that one team one mission uh statement that we make is very important and it's real because you find yourself working with all the
departments in some kind of way. Um we're touching each other and and helping the lives of our students to be in that positive learning and working environment. So, I appreciate all of them and and what they do and and working with us to keep our kids safe.
>> Pretty good, huh? No questions. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. McFadden. Remember to take my tight clip off next time I go through one of these metal detectors. Um, >> he does an excellent job of finding u
really good products and things that look at even the density uh of metal and and just being a little bit more nuanced in terms of what we're uh searching for um in our schools and interacting with our students to make sure that they're safe. So, uh to jump into some of the
numbers there, uh Andy did a great job of giving some examples of what we're spending the money on. a total of 71 million dollars split about 50/50 right now in terms of spent versus unspent. And then you can see there the vast
majority of the dollars going towards those uh purchase services that that he touched on and then some capital outlay and very small slivers uh for benefit salaries, dues and fees and other materials and supplies.
Are the remainder of those funds um earmarked for special purchases that are still coming? >> Um he has a pretty robust budget. Um he can speak to that a little more out the door.
>> Sorry, that was gaggle. We got this gaggle thing and they call me and whenever they call me it's usually something. >> Explain what gaggle. >> Explain what gaggle is. So, Gaggle is a system that we purchased and paid for to
where um if a kid goes onto the computer, their laptop or school uh device and type in something like suicide, gun shooting, school shooting, it sends
an alert and an email to my phone, the school, law enforcement, so we're able to quickly um identify that kid. We know who they are because it gives us a screenshot of their of their what they're typing as well as their name and email address.
And then we're able to reach that kid and get to them before they do something that is not, you know, safe, whether it's a self harm or threats towards others. So, um, >> that's really phenomenal. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Wow.
>> It it is. So, when that when I see gaggle, I have to jump up and at least answer. So, she told me what it was about and I'll take care of it after this. >> So, if they type it on their personal phone, personal computer, >> if it's a school device or if they log
on to the district's network, >> if they log on to the district network or use any of our school devices, whether they're in school, whether they got a Chromebook, if it's district owned device or they log onto our network, we're going to get an alert. And it's
not just me, it's a group. Each school has their own group of team set up. So I get every one of them, us and mental health, but the schools have a team that's set up and they individually, whether it's the t the principal, the assistant principal, the SRO at that campus, as well as the comm center at
OPD and the sheriff's office. >> That's amazing. >> So um and I didn't hear your question. I'm sorry. >> Oh, I'm I was just asking um so we're spent to date at 50% of the budget. I was just wondering are there major
purchases still in the plans for the remainder of the year? >> Yes. So our biggest purchase is usually the SRO calls. We we're still doing that. But one of the other big purchases that we were looking at doing and we're trying to get it in this year before the budget ends uh this budget cycle in is
what we call store function locks. And what those are is door locks on all the school doors that uh what what happens is and I may have shared this before but we we're mandated to do drills and we're mandated that the state will come in and the doors must be locked. A lot of time
we do these drills teachers are not always comfortable that their door is locked from the outside. So they open the door to check and see. With these new locks that we're going to put on to to the school doors, it prevents you from unlocking the door from the
outside. Where is you can open it, but you can't unlock it to where it's can be opened without a key from the outside. It's open. You can open it from the inside, but from the outside, you can't just pull the handle and open it. It's going to always remain locked, and you have to have a key to go in and use it.
So, that is a big cost. that's that could be anywhere from 175 to $180,000 per school >> depending on the size of the school. So that'll eat a big eat up a big chunk of that. Um a lot of times we're at the mercy of the vendors and they're they're
still on back order for a lot of things. So we although we budget for them, we don't always get a chance to complete the project because of they're, you know, still trying to find parts,
ordering parts and doing they can do get do so much of it and then they have to stop wait for something else. So that's kind of where we're where we're at. Same thing with cameras. got a third party vendor that putting in cameras for us and they're constantly doing the cameras, the access control, but there
are times where they have to stop and wait for parts to come in and it kind of puts us behind a little bit. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Mr. McFaden. And uh I can assure the committee that uh he has no problem finding ways to spend money. As
you can tell, uh, you know, there's always a technology and then there's technology to monitor the the technology as in the example of Gaggle, which is certainly warranted and something that we we encourage um those type of investments. With that, I'll jump into the charter
school presentation as we wind it down. Um, I'll just remind uh the committee that um we are legally required to uh pass through funds to um charter schools in Marian County. Uh so we do we do not
have a choice in that regard. Um and a portion of the referendum uh dollars are included. Um that's about 800 or I'm just going to round up to $900,000. Um second point, we do not control uh their budget or what they spend their
money on. And thirdly, um they have separate books and they have their own audit and financial statements. Uh so just want to make that clear. Um and as you can see here u from the chart um the vast majority for their dollars
um in terms of where they're being spent and where we track um is going to school safety uh with professional development uh physical education and music and art rounding out um where
those dollars um are being expensed. Uh the next slide here, actual expenditures. Um so we're at almost close to $675 uh,000 again with school safety uh
leading the way and physical education and professional development making up the uh line share of the remainder and our arts, music, and class size reduction. uh rounding uh the charter schools out in terms of
where they are spending their money and are required to provide um those expenditures to us so that we can uh be transparent uh to the committee and letting you know where those where those dollars are going. Uh so here we are with charter school
physical education. Same type of deal. $158 uh,000 budget. And you can see there in the dark blue, $119,000 um spent or 76% spent to date. And most of that is in purchase services for art at $53,000
with 75% spent to date. Vast majority of that is salaries and benefits. And then music at $80,000 um spent to date 75% again salaries uh and benefits is the uh
is where most of the money is going uh for the charter schools as is it the same for the district and professional development at $235,000 budget at 75% spent through the third
quarter. And so again at salaries and benefits is where the dollars are going. uh for the charter schools and then as I stated earlier safe schools at $370,000 at 75% spent through the third quarter
and vast majority of that going to salary and benefits uh similarly to uh the district. Um, with that, that concludes the formal portion of the the presentation. And again, I want to thank you all for your
uh commitment and support uh for uh the referendum dollars and continued um investment in the district for these programs and services and certainly look forward to uh working with CP and and uh other uh parties to make sure that we
can uh continue to get that support um in November when it comes back to the voters. Uh without that I don't have any anything else to add. If there's any questions concludes my comments. >> No thank you so much.
>> Oh >> yes ma'am. >> Go ahead. >> Question. Um I heard through the school board meeting that there were some layoffs. Does that affect any of the um employees that are involved with this icro?
>> I I do not believe so, but I'll let Mr. White House come up and talk about that. >> That's a good question, but no ma'am. Um the bulk of them were family engagement lison, which were positions that we added during COVID um were paid for out of ESSER and this past year were paid
for out of title one dollars um not out of referendum. And then we had a handful of pair professionals that also paid for out of general fund not paid for out of referendum. Just a reminder too, I think the committee asked for this last year, but they they do provide some specific
examples of where some of this capital outlay money is going per program. >> Um, okay. Uh, so on the agenda, just highlighting that our next meeting is July 16th. Um, so that's about three
months away uh to the day actually. And then this will be the portion where we open up to public comment if there are >> one day somebody's going to surprise us and actually show up and have something to say.
>> Let's not invite that. >> Uh board members, do we have any other comments, questions? I will reiterate on the referendum renewal um the way it's structured um that it was
passed by the county but the school system can't directly be involved in that campaign as it were and so that's that's run by the private sector so the in the past the chamber and economic partnership has been the one that has run that campaign that is happening
again uh I know they're raising money to run that campaign to run ads to to to do all kinds of things to get the word out to the voters, maybe even do some polling. But there is a little bit of confusion, as you can imagine, uh I think within the
electorate about, wait a minute, didn't we just pass all of this? Which is the sales tax obviously is different and this is a this is different. So, we need to make sure as we're talking to people, they understand that difference. Understand these funds are very
different than the sales tax funds. and um and so start to get that message out because it's going to be important in this election cycle. >> Would they have a speaking point document that maybe we could share? >> Y
>> okay, that'd be great if we could get >> I'll ask them to um as they're getting that campaign together, I'll ask them to to send some stuff over to us. >> That'd be great. >> Okay. Every meeting we have, I learn something new that you all are doing with these dollars that just blows my
mind and it makes us really proud of you and the work you do and proud of the kids. And if every voting taxpayer could hear what we hear and see what we see, >> that is so true. That is so true. Absolutely.
>> We encourage them to >> go on and watch the videos. >> Yep. >> You know, watch what's on our YouTube channel. Absolutely. Okay. Well, if there is nothing further, I will go ahead and adjourn the meeting at 502. We did pretty good. Thank you
everyone. >> Thank you.