Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the July 8th uh board workshop of the Martin County School District. Can we um please rise for the saying of the pledge? United States of America.
Miss Falls, will you call the role, please? Dr. Morardi, here. Mrs. Roberts, yes, ma'am. Mrs. Powers, here. Mrs. Russell here. Mrs. Purch here.
Okay. So, it's board information share. So, I would like to share how proud and honored I am to be in an A school district. And I want to thank everyone for all of their hard work. This was a team effort all the way. Um, it's been
seven years since we've had an A in our district. And now we have no schools below a C, which is wonderful. They went up to a C. Uh, Pinewood and I'm losing my Warfield are went up from
uh, D's to see. So, congratulations to everyone involved. Uh, I want to thank the staff, the administration, the teachers, the students, everyone did what they needed to do to make this happen. So, I want to just thank
everyone. I'm really proud. I wish we had a bigger audience today, but I I I I'm really proud and uh I just wanted to take a moment to say that. So, I did hog the mic for the first time and I'm sorry. Would anyone else like to
share anything? Um I'd like to say congratulations, too. It I am like on cloud nine and I have been every single time. My husband when I woke up this morning, he's like, "It's um whatever happens today, just remember you're in a school district." And I was
like, "Yes, that's right." And it made me smile. It's making me smile every day. And I know how much work everybody put into this. Um and thank you, Superintendent Maine, for your leadership. Um this would not happen without the team that you've built and
um the teachers and the students and everybody giving 100%. So, thank you very very much. I'm so excited and proud and um I know the work that was done and everybody knows my heart is in Indian Town because that's where I'm from, but
to see Indiantown High School go from a D to an A, I know that is a reflection of their hard work. But I know how much the Martin County School District staff um walked beside them over the past year to make that happen. And I can't thank
you all enough because um they are very excited too and um I'm excited for them, but I know how much work this school district put into it. So, thank you all very much. have any problem and I'm presenting today because some of
the board had requested more information on the social media class action lawsuit. Um, as you know from your materials, 44 other school boards in the state of Florida are in this lawsuit. There are 1700 school districts across
the nation that are involved in it. It is currently set for trial in January 2026. The end, so the window where it would be closed to further school boards joining in is probably September.
The this is the litigation about against the major web companies that put out algorithms that engage students and students of
the ages where they have access to cell phones. It's against Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat, and YouTube. The this is the second large school district class action lawsuit. The
previous one which you all are aware of was the Juul lawsuit. That is one set of history and documentation where we know how it progressed and ultimately how it came out. uh for those districts that
participated, they received substantial amounts of unrestricted funds at the end of the settlement. this case because of the defendants being a lot lot larger in size and much
larger corporations who have a much heavier impact on students through the use of their cell phones is expected to be for a much larger amount should it go to a jury. It's also a complicated case where it is filed in the northern part
of California. If there was a jury award in Northern California, then parts of the case go into each state where the school districts are to deal with the allocation of any awards. That's
separate from if there are appeals. the based on the jewel litigation um it will likely result in a much larger amount than what would have been for the Martin County School District 375,000
or so had the district participated. That being said, no lawsuit is ever a known outcome or the cost to the district because the district would be joining it later than
most of the other districts. Uh there are already designated lead school districts that are carrying forward the administrative cost the time of putting together the case. uh they will receive if there's a positive outcome a larger
award for the Martin County School Board. If you all were to join it, you would be like most of the school districts in Florida. It would be for a regular amount of damages, not those where there is a large heavy administrative burden to participate in
the cost. For Martin County, it would be estimated that it would take administrative time of 10 hours. That would need to be done before the end of September. And the law firms doing it, the four
primary law firms are the same ones who did the jewel litigation. So they're following a similar tract as they move this one forward. the otherwise there is no financial cost to the district to participate if you
all as a board were decide to do so and at the same time there's no obligation for you all to participate. It's your decision whether you think it would benefit the district. Uh the damages basically reflect what all school
districts have encountered as the targeted apps used by students have algorithms to try to create addictive behaviors. And this district both through the counselors through the steps you all
took to ban cell phones, the administrative staff time. Those are the elements of the damages that are being pursued in this lawsuit, but a lawsuit that is a class action by all school districts that choose to participate
across the country. And I will certainly answer any questions you have and I you all have had the materials and you previously for most of you had the materials related to Juwel and I'll answer any questions you have.
there interest in pursuing this by anyone? I'm interested. I wouldn't mind going after it if that's something that they wanted to do. Um, I feel like those costs could be offset by
anything that was won and anything that we received because it's not restricted. go towards our mental health as well. Ryan, yeah, just to put a little more of a point on that, uh, yeah, I mean, I I think unequivocally we should be a part of this lawsuit. Honestly, social media
has been very detrimental to our kids causing mental health crisises, uh, addictive behavior, uh, not to mention bullying through cyber bullying. Um, I think this is, um, it doesn't cost us anything. It's a win
or get nothing type scenario. And like Miss Russell said, we could put this money to good use. We could use it for mental health counselors. We could use it for after school programs to get kids off of these devices and back into uh into real life. So, I would love to see
us be a part of this. Thanks. Um, so correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. George. There is the chance that we would be a district that would be selected for trial, in which case we would have discovery and we would have more administrative time. The Martin County School District will not be one of the ones. They've already
been selected. They are those have already been chosen. Okay. Um I'm not interested I'm not interested in um I can understand that there's an issue with social media, etc.
I have the same feeling that I had before that we're better off dealing with our issues locally and internally and coming up with processes etc to try to solve our problem locally and to not
be counting on um I feel that we live in a latigious society where people like to sue for anything and it looks like it's free money out there. I think at the end of the day it's not free money and um I'm not interested So, I think I have kind of the same
mindset um as I had about the Juul um litigation. Um I don't I don't I don't think that we should be going after free money just because it's free money. Um I'd like to know what was the outcome of the Jules settlement for those school
districts that did get money. Did it stop kids from vaping? It's to me it's it's um the ligtigious society that we live in. It's a group of attorneys that have decided to um form this class
action lawsuit and if if the results were that vaping is banned or it's not it's not about changing the policy. If this was about changing policy, this was about doing away with those algorithms.
if we knew that that was going to happen, but we know it's not. It's just like the Juul um lawsuit. It's yes, it could be some some sort of we should we could get some sort of settlement, but where what's going to change in social
media? What what is going to change or what are we going to be able to do with that money that would m solve the problem or help make the problem better or you know benefit children other than
oh yeah we'll get $375,000 of unrestricted dollars because um a group of attorneys decided to use school districts as um a pawn in their class action because yes of course everybody loves those kids and we want to protect
them and I think that's what we're doing in the Martin County School District. Now, if it was going to ban social media and there was going to be something policywise, I would say 100% I would want to participate, but just as a money grab,
I'm not I don't I don't know. I don't know that that's the what we should go after is just just because there's money tied to it. And if there is going to be and the school district does want to pursue this or school board wants to pursue this, I would want to know
exactly what we're going to spend the money on. I don't want to say, well, we could do this or we might do this or it could go into our fund balance or it could if we're going to file be a part of a lawsuit that is um because of the
results of social media, then we better put it to use in that for that problem, not just to grab money to use for other things. Well, to Miss Powers, I think it sends a message. And had we
been involved in the Juul lawsuit, I think that sends a message to the vaping companies that it's not okay to have deceptive advertising to get kids hooked on vaping. And we have a huge problem with that in this county. And for this,
this sends a message that the Martin County School District is not okay with what the social media companies are doing. And yes, there's money tied to it, but I just offered several things that we could spend the money on, which I would be okay with earmarking things
before, but I personally think that I want to send this message that it is not okay what is going on in the social media media world and that the Martin County School District stands for something and that we're not going to just not be a part of this. There's
other local counties that are involved, Palm Beach, Okchobee. I'd like to stand with them and say enough is enough. And I think that that would bring change especially when these companies have to settle or go to court over this.
So I guess my question would be what changed from school districts getting money from those companies from Juel? a change from that monetary settlement policy-wise across the nation for all the school
districts that participated. I'd like to see those results. And if if it something monumental happened because they joined the lawsuit and got paid, I would say absolutely. If we saw policy changes, if we saw that it sent a
message to our community, that this lawsuit changed minds, that parents got more involved, that children, it sent a message to children um to not vape.
I just would like to know what changed other than they got a financial penalty because they didn't stop selling jewels. George maybe or we could look into that. I mean I don't know off the top of my head but yeah absolutely. So, I know that the advertising by the
companies that promote vaping has been changed as a result of the litigation. I can come back to the board after talking with Joel Wright for more specifics on that. Yeah, I would appreciate that.
I am torn because we go after grants all the time. That's free money. too basically and yes it is helping children and programming etc but I also feel that
I agree with Dr. that it does send a message that we walk our talk. We stopped allowing cell phones. We are putting parameters and things in place to keep
kids from abusing social media and I think it's important that we do send the message. So, I am in favor, but I also respect the jewel. I'd like to know more
about that. And if the verbiage changed so that they're not able to purchase them or there's less dual activity, if you will, then that would be something I would be in favor with. So, I just
wanted to place my comment that I would be interested, but I would like more information as well. Um, and I don't think it's the same as going after a grant because I think when you're going when you're applying for a grant, it's for something you're getting money and it's for something very
specific. So, if it's a reading grant, it's for reading or if it's for an ELLL grant, it's but it's a very specific use, targeted use of money that somebody is looking at that's saying this is something that will solve a an issue or
we'll address an issue. So, whatever the grant is, I think that that's completely different. And I I think that um my feeling as far as the jewel thing, yeah, I'd be interested in seeing the information, but I don't see that the use since that lawsuit since those
settlements have been paid. I don't see the use of vaping have gone down. I don't see the use of, you know, I think it's the companies that got sued that made the settlement. In this case, Juel, when you get hit with a class action, it's a cost of doing business and they just pay it out and they move on. And
you know, I think it's it's one thing to say we stand for something. Um, and I I believe that yes, we should stand for harmful social media for children, but I don't believe that the message should be
we're standing for this. Where's my money? I think the way you stand for something is by our internal policy, our local policy, and being able to say, "Yes, we think that this is harmful for children. We think that this shouldn't be done, and we're going to institute policy, and we're going to institute
procedures that take care of our children when they're in our control. We're going to say, "No cell phones in a school. This is the policy that we're adopting. We're going to follow that policy. We're going to see if that policy has any meaningful results and whether you want to use I mean the the last piece of data that I just looked at
was the out of school suspension rates and I see that okay maybe in the last year that helped contribute to that to a 34% decrease in the um out of school suspension probably did have something to do with or some tie to do with the
ability to be able to say we're not going to have cell phones in the school and we're going to require children to be more students to be more engaged when they're in school. So, I mean, I think there's a number number of factors, but I mean, I think that um I I think that and I and I don't have any problem
saying that I, as a member of a Martin County School District, do believe that social media is harmful to children and their access is harmful, etc. But, but to tie it to the money, I I just feel is
it's almost disingenuous to me unless you can really see some result. And I agree with Mrs. powers that if you're going to say, "Okay, whatever we get, this is what we're going to do." But I think we as a board ought to understand what it is we're planning on doing. I
mean, and and I don't think that it is specific to if you're getting money from a lawsuit that has a something that has to do with social media, what would you tie it to that has something to do with social media? we
would we would ban the use of social media in our schools. So, so then we would say we're going to add x number of counselors just general mental health counselors because the social like how does that directly tie
the social media throwing get I don't want to say throwing allocating money towards mental health how does that what does that do for social media I mean we have a we have a mental health plan a mental wellness plan it's a robust plan it has
some funding from the state. We also have a plan further than what the state offers that has a lot of community partners in there that goes really pretty far as to what we're doing and which in a very organized plan as to which gaps we're filling for which type of activity we're targeting to which
type of um interventions we're offering for what age level for children. So, we have this rather robust plan that sits in sits there and it I'm curious as to from the mental health people in the
room that if you were told here if I were to give you half a million dollars to help alleviate or to mitigate the danger or the harm that social media has done to children, what would you add to the mental health plan in order to do
that? And then how would you sustain that? I mean, if you're going to add it, you know, would you blow it all in one year? Would you try to spread it over five years? Would we do it over two years? Quarter of a million dollars over two years, and then we're going to absorb it into the general fund and then
we're I mean, I don't see I just see a lot of um questions and not a lot of answers. Thank you. So, so I I I also had just a quick comment about the grant.
I know we apply for a lot of grants and I know that all of these administrators could speak to the accountability that comes with that. There are very specific outcomes. There are very specific things that when you apply for a grant, you are
accountable to that funer for certain things, certain um it could be a lot of different measurables that are used. And if we are going to just ask for money to combat a problem that
exists, then we need to have a plan with targeted outcomes to address social media. Like not just to say we're going to have now we're going to have a half a million dollars
of unrestricted dollars because that moves the that does nothing to alleviate the problem of social media. the same way that paying school districts, school paying school districts didn't
alleviate the problem of um kids vaping or even adults vaping or anybody vaping for that matter. So, it's just I don't know. I think philosophically I think that we we
should be very careful when we enter into lawsuits that and I didn't even think honestly think thank thank goodness Miss Roberts and her long-term thinking is how would we sustain something once we get it started
you know if if we did add counselors or we add things that are recurring expenses over years we're going to run out of money and then that will have to be absorbed by the general fund. Um, so those are just a lot of things to think about depending on how when we do vote
on this, how the board goes, I want I would really like to see us come up with some way things that we would some action an actionable plan with outcomes and expectations using those dollars.
Just so you know, I was reacting to the free money I know part of it. Okay. Nothing's free. Okay. And I would maybe say that if we do go down the path, maybe Dr. Estz
could um put something down that kind of targets everything that's been set up here is where would that money go and is it sustainable? because if it isn't sustainable, it's not it's not
it's not a good idea for us to promise money in the future that we don't have. But I would like to know if if the superintendent has any comments at all. Do you have any feelings one way or the other? Well, I don't want to put you on the spot. I just
No, I I want a plan. uh we we can't just even if we were to if the board was to agree to move forward with it and we knew that there was possibility to receive money, we need we need to know what to do with it. So, uh what I would like for our team to do is come together and figure out what is our plan of
action. um how would we move forward and then what would be the long-term uh sustainability after the money runs out so that we're able to present that to the board and you're able to make a use that additional information to make a decision.
Well, and I'd like to understand too any restrictions that the money would if we were to get a settlement, would there be any restrictions as a school district? You know, because we may not want to take on the issue. We may want to partner with someone else like maybe the
county that they're the ones with the power to create a local ordinance, some sort of I don't know what they could do. I'm thinking of vaping. They probably can't I don't even know what you would do with social media. It's such a bohemoth of an issue and so everybody
carries their computer around in their hand now. How how do we other than banning cell phones during the time that we have children in the care of the school district? I don't know what what else we can do. Can we do a a media
campaign? Can we do um can we partner with the sheriff's department? Like I'm just thinking of ways that it would be a shortterm, you know, blitz, if you will, to get the message out to the community. I don't know, but I don't think that we as the
school district should take on this responsibility by ourselves. Now, if we get money and we can elaborate, but um I mean just some ideas if we do if the board when the board votes on this.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, just to respond to Miss Powers, I the public awareness campaign definitely uh jumps out in my mind because that's a shortterm thing that does not have to be long-term sustainable, but that could get the message out. But I also like reaching
out to our students, maybe forming some kind of a committee and and seeing where they're on and say, "Hey, if you had this much money to spend, like how could we change this world? How could we get a better message out there?" So, I think uh what Miss Roberts and uh Mrs. power
say is uh is great advice and uh I'd love to see what we can come back with uh on that front. So kind of just to recap, Mr. George, you're going to you're going
to find out the jewel termin what what changed in the language for selling from from your contact. Correct. And then at the next I'm looking thinking in time. I've asked Dr. Estz to put
something together. Perhaps that could be presented at the August workshop and if you could get the information to us by the August workshop and then by the regular meeting we could we could make a
decision because we do have a time frame. I think September September. So, and I'm being hypothetical if we make the decision to go ahead with it. I wanted to have everything laid out prior so we had all our ducks in a row.
Miss Roberts. Um, yes. And Mr. George can grab any stats that have to do with jewel vaping going down for the districts that receive the money. I will seek that information.
Thank you. Um, Shandra at CSC might be able to help you with that. We're going to discuss committees while you're waiting here. I wish it stayed on longer kind of. It's like every All right.
All right. Mine did the same thing. Now it says the password's incorrect. I apologize for the wait. Okay. So we are now going to discuss committees. You all have all the
committees in front of you. I hope that are listed and I would like to open up the conversation. Does anybody want to make any comments? I am looking to see if maybe some of
these committees no longer are necessary. So, we'll start there. Does anyone have any they want to say about any of the committees? When I looked at the list that's in the
this is a description of the list of ones that are in in our policy. Correct. Not like we have additional ones that are statutory like children's services council is statutory. Um,
honestly, there are multiple a um there's the health department has um community health has one that's um oh maybe that's the school health advisory committee. Um I know school district gets appointments on various boards by
statute. It doesn't necessarily like it doesn't have to be the superintendent or a school board member, but it could be um the superintendent would appoint someone to certain committees. Um, and I mean schoolboard members can serve on them, but um, so this is just a to me
just a short list. We have a lot of others, but one of the things that I wanted to mention was I kind of think we need a change when we assign the committees. I think it should be the beginning of the school year
because I don't think that I think November you're you start a committee like um the boundary advisory committee or not that we have had that one or the insurance committee starts meeting in August and you're talking negotiations
and you have all those issues but you're kind of have one board member in August to November and then you have another board member from December. So, I would like to see us go to assigning those committees before the school year
starts. So, if it ches up to July, um you know, I think that's probably good. Or August or August meeting. Um that way you're in for a whole school
year as opposed to um you know, November to September. I I agree with that. So, um I think that works for the eight committees that are the school district committee. So, that works for the eight
that are listed here. For the other ones, um Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments, Education Foundation, Council for the Arts, Clark Management Advisory Board. Actually, that one would probably work with the school year, too. But the children's services council, I
think those other ones should go on the calendar of that group. So for instance, if Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments, if they're operate, well, I don't know what year they operate under. I do I do know that um Children's
Services operates on a calendar year. So I mean I I think that um the ones that aren't under our control, we should probably be doing it. And I don't think it's unusual because we have the um value adjustment board that comes out of
sequence at the same time. So I mean I think that um I don't think they all need to be done on a set time for a calendar year for these are the committees that are for 2025. I think you could have them rolling depending on when the
Well, I I can speak to Treasure Co's Council of Local Governments. I think um July or August are is perfectly acceptable because their end of the year they kind of wrap everything up. Um most
of the municipalities operate on a um I think their budget year is typically not the same as ours. I I think they may go October like the um CSC goes October one to September 30th is their year. That's their year, but
their governance year goes by the calendar year. So, for example, their officers are voted in and they chairs and everything have the calendar year where they're doing something not be disruptive to the underlying group. I mean, it's
I think it's going to be hard because um the same thing can be like when you have a group like that that has like governor appointees, it's disruptive when the governor finally appoints because they're coming in at different times during that year,
too. So, I think for us, I think we should make a plan that works best for us as a school board and the rest will kind of fall into place because
um like the I know for like the Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments I I think it's an ideal time for somebody to step in. They're getting ready to have their end of the year barbecue July that you guys are all invited to. It's in Okachchobee. It's amazing. They have a
really great turnout of local elected officials. Um if our state um officials are in town, they usually come. They do like prime rib and this they started adding chicken and um they and it's free
and it's free and they love to have and they usually have a guest speaker and sometimes they're really funny like they had a cowboy comedian roping guy. It was kind of fun way to wrap up the year and everybody more of a social time. So please I think everybody got an
invitation to that, right? Did you guys get the invitation? All right, I did not. I'll send it to you guys because I think the RSVP is coming up soon. Um it went last year. It was great. Yeah, it's really a fun it's a fun event and the food is out of this world. Um so
back to the committees problems finding and appointing a chair and a vice chair based on who is on the council and who is staying on the council. So when they get a government appointee, they know how many years that appointee is going to be be there. So
there is the issue sometimes with okay, well you're rolling off in March. So since you're rolling off in March, we need to be cognizant that you're leaving in March. But I mean I know that if that's the only one that has an issue
I think we can we can and the only reason well and the only reason and and I can understand if somebody else wants to do it but right now for the year of 2025 I am the chair of the children's services council. So obviously if I were to roll off, not
that this would happen this year, but if I were to roll off and we started with new appointees, it puts them in a position where now they they're down governor appointees, etc. They've got to look around and try to figure out how they're going to fill that. The vice chair's got to move up.
Now they've got to find a vice chair from the limited people. And it's it's not just that piece of it. It has to do with a whole lot of other things that they're doing at the same time. I I just think that since we're doing value adjustment on an off calendar that
it that it doesn't matter if we have to do some of them in an off calendar instead of trying to make it f it to what our vision looked like because I think our vision at some point was we'll do it for a calendar year. Let's do it for this calendar year. We get new board
people in in a November. We'll ask them in the first part of December, what committees do you want to be on? Um, we'll gather all that up and then it's announced in December that they'll start in January for their new committee. Well, I think you have other issues like
the code of conduct, the district advisory council, um the head start policy board. Those are meeting throughout the year and to change those up at in January is Oh, I think that all of those that have to do with a district count that that
have to do the eight that go with the district that are district committees should go on a district calendar. I agree with that completely so that you're not changing those midyear. I also think before I forget it, I also think that the strategic plan should be
a strategic plan the same way that we're doing budget where it's the entire board that's that's dealing with the strategic plan. It's not a I mean, if you a strategic plan is supposed to be coming
from the governance board. It isn't an employeed driven um artifact of work. So in doing that, when you have a strategic plan committee out there meeting with one person from the board representing
the board and not really representing because the way the policy is written, they're not really interacting. They're there as an observer. They're, you know, I mean, it's all those other things. So you have the strategic plan committee coming up with a body of work and then presenting it to the board. Whereas
really the vision is what do I mean I look at all the five of us and figure when you decided you wanted to be a schoolboard member, what were your goals and what were the things that what were your ideas that you wanted to change? What was the change you were looking
for? What was the piece that you were looking to make the district better? And what did you what was your platform for running? Why did you decide to seek this office? And that's really all part of what goes into the strategic plan of a governance board as to these are the
components of what it is you're looking for. Whether it's more parental involvement, whether it's um less outside influence, you know, whatever the pieces were, it's those pieces that should be in the strategic plan. So, I think the strategic plan really needs to
be owned back by the school board and needs to be the discussion that the school board is making that this is what we want to do for a strategic plan and this is what we're pointing at and it's not driven by some outside committee.
Well, I I kind of think that that's um I mean it's been a while since the strategic planning committee has met. I can't do you know when the last time the committee met. Well, I'm glad you brought it up um because we are shifting. We we are moving away from Cogna. We were not um
getting out of Cognia what we believed we needed to be getting out of Cognia. So, we have since notified Cognia that they will be with us only for accreditation. Um and you will begin to see a shift in work with the strategic plan um in the upcoming weeks and
months. Um that we will align with our stutter work and we will absolutely get with Kathy Orpollo who is who is our consultant through stutter to be able to shift and realign with board um expectations and vision of the board um
and goals moving forward for for 2526. That's not a problem. the timing is right is I guess is what I'm saying to be able to do that. Um the committees have been meeting um but you have not had an update in the fashion that we would have liked for you to have because
we're not getting the type of results that we would like out of the Cognia way of work. If if if I'm being completely honest and transparent, there's no reason to waste your time or our time to present something that's not giving us what we're looking for. So, we're
shifting and I I hear you and I hear the and I just, you know, and I just kind of feel like um the strategic plan. So, let's go back to budget. We used to have a committee that was a budget committee and there used to be one person on the board when I first
started that was appointed to this budget committee. So, you had one out of five that really understood what was going on with the money and the rest of them were like, "Well, I'm counting on you to kind of of that. But if you go back to what our statutory duty is, it's
policy and budget. And so it it really isn't the the duty responsibility or the um the whim of one board member to be driving what the budget looks like. It really should be a budget that involves everybody. So then that was when the
change was made to no, no, no, we're going to do a budget committee meeting. We're going to do budget workshops. We're going to do it completely different. Now, there are other districts that are still doing it where the budget is pretty much owned by the staff and by the superintendent and then at the end of the budget period, it's
kind of like, here's your budget, you know, have a good time. If you have any questions, call up the guy over there and he'll explain it to you because, you know, but this is the budget that we're looking for you to approve. And and there are districts that are doing that. And I think that in Martin County, we've
done something different and we've taken more ownership. And I looked to the esser and art money as to how we handled the esser and art money where instead of as some districts did including Charlotte where it was kind of like a staff driven here's your here's your
millions of dollars you staff figure out what you're going to do with it and report back to the board and things happened in other districts where money was being spent and funds were projects were started and then were stopped because the money ran out. Um, and then
you had board members on those other boards like what are we doing that for? That had no idea what was going on with Esser and AARP. Well, the way we handled ESRAP in Martin County was no, no, no, there's the board is going to own it because the board is the one that's responsible for the money and so we we're going to do it with the
spreadsheet method where we're going to look at everything. We're going to decide which are the priorities, which aren't the priorities, that type of thing. So, we've taken in Martin County, we've taken more control over the money aspect of the district than most other districts in the state of Florida, which I think is a very good thing. I think
that increases transparency. It increases our individual understanding, our understanding as a board of where we're going with the money and what we're doing with it. And I think the same thing is true of the strategic plan. I think the strategic plan needs to be something that so um needs to be
backed. So whatever that policy 9075 is, I think needs to be reworked and the strategic plan needs to be given back to the board and it doesn't become a a work of employees because one of the things that I've noticed and I don't know whether Marcia noticed this, Mrs. Powers
noticed this, but from time to time you would see you would know an employee and you would know what they wanted to work on and somehow or other that found its way into the strategic plan. which was kind of like
a little bit sus where you were like I don't really understand what's going on here where you know I know that you really like this and that somehow found its way and oh no no you know the committee decided that this was a good thing to do and you know it was this big but it was kind of like I don't know about that so I really think that that's
um that 9075 policy needs to so I agree with you on the um that I think that it has to come back to you you know, the board should be involved and we typically were in the past, but
it was in the first year one and um now that we have our buy in and districtwide on truly using data, um we should be meeting annually
based on and talking about our data just the same as you do with dataccoms on um the granular granular school level and classroom level. We as a board should be talking about that at the district level and we should be doing it annually not
wait not create a plan based on the data of 24 25 going into 25 26. uh we should be constantly evaluating the data and if we want to set data points that we want
to take a look because now we have so much we have better data faster with progress monitoring. So, I mean, it typic truly could probably happen three times a year where we're coming together. the superintendent is still doing his part,
but then that comes back to us as a district and saying, "Oh my goodness, look how, you know, PM1 is kind of hard, but by PM2, we should be meeting again and talking about it and what the results are and what we're seeing, what are going to be the strategies, what investments do we need to make in
certain um certain activities, things um staff, whatever we need to do by PM2, we should be looking at that and knowing the trajectory of where students and achievement are going and then PM3
obviously reflecting on what we did after PM2 how it impacted PM3 and then what we need to do in the following year. So we should be meeting multiple times. I think we should be meeting after after
the PM2 after after that comes out and then after the PM3 for a longer like a like call PM2 a pivot meeting and then PM3 a planning meeting for what were the successes, what were the challenges, what do we need to do different for the next year
to set those things up in place so as we go into the next year we're doing that. So I I see it. What worked? What didn't work? Yeah. Oh, did you All right. Uh, thank you, Madam Chair. So, as a newer board member, I just wanted to offer a little
perspective because I got elected in November and then we kind of talked about this in December and when you first get elected and now that there's term limits, every one of us is going to go through, there'll be new people always coming on here. It's a little
overwhelming to be to say here, you know, pick which committees you want to be a part of when I've heard of some of them. Some of them honestly hadn't even heard of or or knew what they did. Um, so there's some research that has to be done there when they meet. This is a
great thing Miss Roberts gave us so we know kind of when the meetings are, but that could always change. Could it even fit into my schedule and then I remember putting a few committees down and I got almost none of them? Um, so again I I'm glad we brought this up. I'm glad the
chair added this because it's good to talk about this and to kind of understand the process of it because as a newer person, it's kind of hard to break through and get on to some of these things that maybe a more seasoned board member has established themselves
on a certain thing, whether it be a chamber or board or whatever. So, um I like Mrs. P's idea of doing it on the calendar year because if I got elected in November and then I have kind of the year to look at things and and it was within, you know, around the school
year time. I mean, it gives you some time to breathe and to do your homework and say what you're interested in. And then the only other question I have is going forward is, you know, how does a newer board member break free and get into some of these committees that
I don't know if it you need more experience or the right connections or what to be able to serve on a committee that maybe I have some interest in. And then the only other thing I want to add to that is uh the school calendar committee. I don't know if we really
need that committee. Um, I feel like our staff probably does a good enough job that that we could just nyx. So, I know the question was, do we need all these? That one I think we could do without and just rely on our wonderful staff to guide us there. So, I think um I think there are several
committees that we should talk about that are in policy that we might need that we might be able to do away with. Um, to your point, um, Dr. Morardi um about coming in as a new board member
and um I think we do need to have more discussion. I think we need to have I've seen other um boards like for example the county they as a board the list comes up you put your preferences but there's discussion among the board
members about well you know I want um I want the Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments. I've been doing it for so many years and you want it like okay how let's talk about it if you really want that and you really you've
I think we should talk about it as a group and say well here have it or whatever you know whatever that is I think that we should have that conversation instead of us and it's hard being at the chair and saying oh you're trying to put
every give everybody something that they wanted but somebody always doesn't get something that they really wanted. So um I think by us having that discussion and you being passionate about whatever it is the committee that you want and why
you want it and then we can decide as a group what those committees look like. Can we discuss the calendar committee because I am in agreement. I don't think it's a necessary committee. But well, I think the
discussion is bringing that policy back, right? That's what we would like to know if if you can go through, madame chair, which ones that you can give staff direction, the board can give staff direction on which policies to bring back uh for a
formal vote with tweaks to the policies. That's what we're looking for today. And then um when you would like the committees to be selected July, August I heard and then whether or not I heard
Dr. Morardi request along with um Mrs. Powers there to be discussion as part of that process. So when we come forward in July and August for committee selections that there would be a formal workshop for discussion and kind of who's going
to be on what committees and then staff will solidify that. So that's we're just kind of and I guess my uh question would be do we have to do we just have to have consensus on who's going to be on the committee or do we actually have to vote on that? because I think those committee
assignments I I don't know that we as long as we have consensus among the group. Do we really need to vote on that? Well, we could do that at a workshop. So, let's take the hypothetical where someone
doesn't want what they've been assigned. You're asking if the rest of us have to get consensus. So that person either doesn't get what they want or they do get what they want. That to me is a
little bit um unknown. I'm not objecting. I'm just saying I'll use myself. I'm on the arts council and Jen would like to be on the arts council. I don't want to give it
up. So the three of you have to decide consensus that Jen gets it and and I don't and again that's a totally hypothetical situation but is that what you're talking about? Yeah. You have the discussion amongst yourselves and you say, "Hey,
you are gonna you're gonna justify why you need to stay on the count on that the arts council." And I just and you're going to talk to your peer and say, "I know you said you wanted it, but let me just explain to you why I want it,
why I would like to stay on it, and then, you know, have an off-ramp or whatever." And I think we can we're all very I just want to be I want to be clear that I wouldn't override the I wouldn't override the two of you. Whatever you
decide that's what I'm saying. Nobody's going to say oh no. So the decision comes between the two people and then if what if they don't agree and we all have to decide who it's going to be. Okay. So there is an element of the rest
of the board decides which committees people are going to be on in that in that uh situation. Well, the whole entire board is involved in that. I just wanted I just wanted to make it clear and just in that vein are there any other committees that are
listed here that anyone feels could be excised? policy brought back. And um I just wanna I want to clean things up
in case there's any on here that is either no longer required or Lee. Thank you. Save. Um I think the boundary advisory committee I think that any of
these are public meetings anyway. So that if we knew that there was nobody assigned to the bound, you know, and I don't even know whether that's a staff function or what, but the board ultimately makes that decision at the end of the day anyway. So I think as long as staff is dealing with it and then the staff brings it back. I think
the only reason that you're having a committee is so perhaps you're having and I guess boundary advisory is one is boundary advisory one that board members appoint people to. Yes. So that way you're having some community input as to what they think
boundaries should be. Um but as far as a board member going to the boundary advisory committee, it used to be Mike teacher Ley all the time, remember? Um we don't have boundary advisor. Yes. Because we don't they never met. So that was why it was wonder. Um but I kind of feel like it doesn't
need a board member on the boundary advisory committee. I kind of feel like if staff ran it and listen to the input of what the you know so we all appoint somebody to it, they all go um meet together and come back with their piece, but the board is ultimately deciding
anyway. So I think that that's one that the board doesn't need to have somebody on. Yeah, I think all these policies should quite honestly come back to us and let us look at it, talk about it as a group um if it's referenced in a policy. But
then there are again I think the school health advisory committee like maybe we may have a policy it may reference that but it's also in statute. I think that one's in statute and I think the head start policy board is also in in um services council is in statute.
It's in statute. Um I don't think the code of conduct is in statute. So I think the code of conduct the same way we could appoint people to go to those meetings etc. But then at the end of the day, instead of it being a mere here's your code of conduct, which we've got,
we've transitioned from here's the code of conduct, committee's met, you guys just need to approve it to a more robust discussion among the board of to what the code of conduct booklet handbook is going to look like and the board has more input on it. So, in that case, when we're doing that, if I were on the code
of conduct committee, I would feel like I've wasted all my time going to that code of conduct committee meeting because we've all got to discuss it anyway. So, I kind of feel like that one doesn't need a a board person going to to that one. The same way I don't think the boundary committee needs a board
person to go to that district advisory council. Um, I don't know if that's statutory. I think it is. school board policy 2140. But is it is it driven by statute? Because we can change a policy, but I
don't know if it's driven by statute. I mean on DAC policy, it does list three different statutes. They are listed on I did want to make one comment about something that Dr. Morardi said earlier about coming on in November and then
kind of need some time to breathe and I totally understand that. However, one thing we have to think of is when someone comes on that means someone just left that means there's a vacancy and all those and those need to be filled. So, say we have, you know, someone
sitting on deck. If someone now has left and someone new is coming on, I feel like that new person does need to fill that shoe for until the next August when we Yes. However we work this out and we can discuss it, but what you know, whatever happens, but someone does need to fill that. So, you don't
I understand it's tough when you come on. Yeah. I mean, I was thinking more of like you would just automatically get where whatever you guys decided in September, whoever gets on just automatically gets what that person you're replacing is. And then when the ter first time you give input would be like the following September or, you
know, or August when the school year begins, uh, was my thought. But yeah, yeah. Okay. So, recap time. We're going to bring these back for discussion. Um, and
possibly some might be eliminated, but the discussion will take place and we'll see where that takes us. Well, and I guess too like on that whole like the arts council, now that you brought that one up, like is that something that they asked us to do or is
it something So, do we even need to appoint someone? Do they just need to seek out a a member? Yeah. Like so do we need to appoint that person or Okay.
Okay. So any anything that we have that if we can do a little research on each of those and why that why they're on the list and then we can figure out if they need to still be on the list or not. Statute. What is policy? What is not? We
got you. Right. Does anyone else have any comments regarding that? Okay. It is now open to the board. Anyone have anything? I have one thing. Um, by the way, we're in a district.
I, Madam Chair, if I if I could because Mrs. Powers um inspired me. I I was crunching some numbers. Um that we are 64 points away from getting into the top four. So we scored 785 points. Uh the
fourth highest scoring district was 849. That puts us 64 points away. That's very doable. Um of course these are adjusting and moving every year as other districts try to move. Um, but there were six school districts in the entire state. And I know that you all are aware of
this, but I want the the public to know. Six school districts uh that moved a letter grade. We were one of those and we were the number one district and the highest number of points of those six to move. Very very proud of that. Uh throughout the 67 districts, there were
28 A districts, 31 B districts, and eight C districts. So it is a huge huge um feat and that that we were able to overcome for the district and and I appreciate the board's support and what was said about district staff and our
teachers and our principles. Um, but we have CC schools in the district and um, I'm well aware of that and so is staff because I think one of the first things I said for next school year when we were anticipating maybe becoming an NA um was
that our goal is to have no C schools. Uh, that's big, but it's doable. We have six of them and uh we will do everything we can in this upcoming school year to make sure that we are maximizing and getting those 64 points uh as many as we can but that we're doing right by
students first and foremost and that we're making sure that those CC schools are getting the adequate support they need to become BES um we can do it and um I appreciate the the support that was given by the board this entire year for our team to be able to pull this off.
So, thank you. A very fragile system. It can change in a minute. I'll guess. So, um, Superintendent Maine, in in saying that for those six schools, so let's say our focus is on those six.
Obviously, we don't want anybody to slide at the same time. So there may be somebody that adds to that six, but would it be helpful if on a regular basis um you gave us information about those six and whatever special needs or
special assets you need allocated to that so we can make a conscious decision and and it isn't a matter of plugging things and trying to have those. But if it becomes a public conversation and it becomes something where you know look if we could get at school XYZ if we could
sit there and if we could hire this many reading people to come in and do this or this many whatever it is we think it would make a big impact. I think that would be something that the board would be interested and willing to entertain. Right. So I think instead of it putting
it I mean I know that you're the operations person etc but since we're the ones holding the purse strings I mean I kind of feel like if you if we had it as a regularly scheduled thing for those six plus whatever you need may need to add to it. If we knew that okay
this is doing fine they're on track. This one's falling a little bit off track getting a little bit behind. We think if we allocated money and did XYZ or did something different there, we would be able to um pivot more quickly rather than leaving the whole burden on you.
I would love that. And um this is a partnership. This is not a me or us and you. This is together. This is why we're successful and why I love this board. And being in the district, I have had conversation with uh executive director Gford who's overseeing school
improvement to give regular updates to the board. We've been in discussions about that and I think it is a perfect opportunity for us to have those presentations to you to say this is what is needed as we tier our schools and as we're tiering support for our principles
because we do have some newer principles. They're all going to need to be tiered. some of them at schools that are C schools. And so you will see regular updates in those requests because I do think if we can strategically give those schools a little extra um we can get them over the
finish line. And along those same lines, the discussion I had with you yesterday that had to do with um targeted professional development. So I think that included in that discussion, if you have staff members, etc. are in those six schools
or whatever that number becomes that need a targeted development or targeted training in a certain area. Um that it it would be something that instead of it's a instead of becoming a it would be suggested and good for you to do this if
it became something that was more board driven that no no this is a priority and this needs to be done in the next month because we need this to happen so we're getting from A to B. I think that that um puts a lot more meat behind it and shows the support of the board to that
school. So I mean I think in doing the finance piece if we can also add a professional development as appropriate into that that would be helpful too. Thank you. Well I think a big piece of that that you know we talk about a lot in the early learning world is paying our
teachers to participate in professional development. So that it's expensive. So if they're going to miss a day in the classroom, you're paying a substitute and you're paying the teacher. We So we have to be um really targeted in what professional
development that we are offering so that we see those uh benefits right away in the classroom. Um so I 100% support that. I have one item to discuss.
It is a invitation from the Florida great the Florida greater consortium. They want us to come back. It's $3,000 a year. They meet four times a year and I am just opening it up if
anyone has an interest to rejoin. Um I have no interest in rejoining. Um I think that there's a couple things. one is I think it's at one point in time they were able to give us some access. I think that the access that they can give
us we could manage on our own. I also think that um that we are different than any other school district in the state of Florida. That the way that we're operating, the way that we're looking at things is completely different than what
all the other ones are doing. And I don't believe that we need to be joining hands and being um congenial even though we should be congenial. I don't believe that there's any real benefit to doing that. I think the FSBA trainings are good. But I think
as far as what we would get from the consortium, I think what we're what they get are getting from us becomes a bigger piece because then they can say they have the whole wraparound for the state for the coastal counties and then their numbers of how many FTE and how much the
tax base is becomes a bigger number. But I don't think the $3,000 is worth it. I think it's just a we should continue on the way we're doing. So, I would agree with that. I think that um for the newer board members that
were never a part of that consortium and um you know, one of the things that I found is that I felt like they led with different values than what the Martin County uh school district and the Martin our Martin County constituents expect.
Um, I don't think that the $3,000 was worth it. They I thought the the best thing was the day in the legislature day because they did do a good job of bringing a lot of legislators in front of us. Um, not as
many decision makers as we have um now in the legislature and locally. So, I'm not interested. I think that we're in a good place. I don't know that they bring value to what we're doing um here in Martin County. So I would agree with
Miss Roberts to not move forward with that either. I'm on board. I'm with you guys. You have a lot more history than I do with that. Decision made. Decision made. I'll bow to your knowledge there.
Well, that concludes our meeting.