I call to order the Penelis County School Board meeting, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. Good morning and thank you all for being here. We will start our meeting this morning with an invocation by Father Ryan Whitley of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg,
followed by the pledge of allegiance led by Vice Chair Caprice Edmund and the national anthem by Clearwater High School under the direction of Sharon Adams. The colors this morning will be presented by Clearwater High School's JOTC Marine Corps unit under the
direction of Gunnery Sergeant Martin Ortega. Please stand and remain standing until the colors have exited the room. Father Ryan, good morning. Good morning. Let us pray. God our father, you see your
children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world. Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure not as
a measure of their worth but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you and to keep alive their joy in your creation. Bless also this school board with wisdom and courage to set a course
for our children that will increase their learning, encourage their curiosity, bolster their creativity, and give them a lifelong fearlessness in their pursuit of knowledge.
Guide this board into right pathways for your name's sake, and let them not be overcome by anxieties, especially for anything which stands outside their own experience. Build them up into a body that is unified with
itself, for the constant encouragement of our children and not for the harboring of fears. Give us all a heart to know you and love you. And all this we ask in your holy name and to your honor and glory. Amen.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn early light what so proudly we held at the twilight last
gleaming who's brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. Or the ramparts we watched were so gallently
streaming and the rockets red. The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star spangled way or the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Forward march. Please be seated. Mrs. Adams, good morning. Would you please introduce the second song? Um, yes. I'd like to introduce um Miss Kiara Sweat and she'll be singing the song Opportunity from the Broadway musical
Annie. Under the glow of the very bright lights, I turn my face towards the night sky. I'm not afraid of a thousand eyes when it's above
500 smiles. Oh, I used to think, what wouldn't I give for a moment like this? this moment, this
gift. Now look at me and this opportunity that's standing right in front of me. And one thing I know, it's only part and so I'm putting on my best
show. All in the spotlight. I'm starting my life. Big dreams becoming real tonight. Now look at me and this opport. opportunity. You're witnessing my moment. to
see my big opport opportunity. When all things go wrong, all things turn right. Cuz this is real. This is real. And it's all I'm not afraid
afraid to fly. when it's above 5,000 smiles. Oh, I used to think, what wouldn't I give for a moment like
this, this moment, this gift. Now look at me and this opportunity that's standing right in front of me. And one thing I know, it's only part luck and I'm putting on my best
show. All in the spotlight. I'm starting my life. Big dreams are coming real tonight. So look at me and this opportunity. I won't waste it. I
guarantee that was really beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your gift with us this morning. It was wonderful to listen to you and it was really wonderful to see the faces of everyone here supporting you and that you moved this morning. So, thank you. Beautiful. The next item on our agenda
this morning is our video. Um, I don't know if you all noticed. I'm sure you did. I see a lot of principles in this room today. Uh, last week was teacher appreciation week. So, hopefully you had a lot of activity on your campus and support for your um teachers. And so we're going to see a video celebrating
teacher appreciation week. Hello, my name is Laura Hine and in honor of teacher appreciation week, we are here today to celebrate Christian Harrington, a civics teacher at Oak Grove Middle School. Have you learned anything from your students this school year? So this
has been my first year teaching the same students back to back and it has really been interesting getting to understand the importance of making and maintaining relationships with the students. It's been a great day here at Oakrove Middle School. Now let's go check in with vice
chairperson Caprice Edmund at Boca High School. This week we are at the Bogga Sega High School visiting Delila McNeel who is a teacher at the Center for Wellness Medical Professions. What is something that your
students taught you this year? My students taught me that they focus on the task at hand and to be diligent. Now, let's go to school board member Katie Blackird at Elisa Nelson
Elementary School. Come with me to join Tammy Bryant's fifth grade classroom. What do you want them to take with them when they head to middle school next year? We work on executive functioning skills, making sure that they know how to organize themselves,
making sure they can use their time wisely, being flexible, just hopefully teaching them the skills here in fifth grade. so they can be successful in middle school. Now, let's go to schoolboard member Lisa Kaine at John Hopkins Middle School Center for the
Arts. I'd like to thank dance teacher and John Hopkins Middle School teacher of the year, Miss Aaron Cardinal. Can you give us an example of a small win that you've achieved this school year that's made an impact on you or your other students? For the first time, we
decided to go to the Young Dancer Workshop. The small win was raising enough money for all of us to go. That turned into a very, very meaningful, very life-changing event for all of us. And now, let's go to school
board member Eileen Long at Paul B. Stevens School. We're about to go visit Miss Olivia, a firstear teacher here in Penllis County, and her wonderful students. Let's fill in today's date. How has your
first year been? It has been so wonderful. My philosophy as a teacher has always been that I need to be a lifelong learner myself. Always learning what's new in the field as far as curriculum and instruction, but also I've just learned so much for my
students as well this year. Now, let's go to school board member Stephanie Meyers at Richard O. Jacobson Technical High School. Today I'm going to be visiting with Kelsey Carvajal, the vette teacher here. So
tell me about the animals that you have at school. How do you acquire those animals? All of our livestock animals are here year long. We do have dogs and cats that come to us from Penllis County Animal Services. They're here Monday through Thursday and our students get to
work with them. We also have rabbits that our students show at the Florida State Fair and birds and guinea pigs. And up next, we have board member Don Peters. We are here at High Point Elementary School to visit Miss Yakabowski's kindergarten class for
teacher appreciation week. Let's go see what they're doing today. What is your favorite thing about teaching kindergarten? Kindergarten is just pure magic. Every day is magic. kids. How much do we love Miss Y?
That was a great one to end on. Kindergarten is magic and teachers help make it magic. So, um even if it's not teacher appreciation week, it is always a good day to thank and celebrate a teacher. So, make sure you do that today and the rest of this week as well. The
next item on our agenda today, introduction of professional and community organization representatives. Isabelle Mascarenus, our public information officer. Good morning, Madame Chair, members of the board, Mr. Hendrik, and staff. It is my pleasure to introduce the following representatives
of community and professional organizations from the Panilis Classroom Teachers Association. Lee Bryant, President representing the North Panelis League of Women Voters, Vivian Posey. and from the Panelis Arts for a
Complete Education Coalition, Hennessy Weller. Today we have a presentation from the Student Rights and Responsibility Committee. Please welcome students Sydney Wilhelm, Megan Atwell, and Christina Alves from Clearwater High
School and its principal, Robert Florio. Good morning. Thank you for being here. Good morning to you all and thank you for having us. My name is Christina Alves and I am in 12th grade. I am the senior class president and valadictorian. I've been on our cheer team and tennis team for
the last four years and I am an ACE student looking forward to earning my ACE diploma this year and attending Dartmouth College. Last year at Clearwater High School, we earned a B designation from the state of Florida and are pushing hard this year
to earn an A. We have a 98% graduation rate with a 91% retention rate with 95% of the senior class accessing at least one college credit. Furthermore, the opening of the school year has been
outstanding. Students and staff have been quick to adjust to new expectations and ways of work. Academically, our standards have only increased and our various programs are thriving. As a Cambridge ACE diploma
school, this year we had 706 students taking 1,246 ACE exams this spring, the most we've ever had. Additionally, we have 162 students sitting for 172 AP exams
and 274 students earned college credit through one of our dual enrollment partnerships. Of our students who participated in the ACE curriculum, 44 earned the complete prestigious ACE diploma, meaning they took and passed
seven classes in the three required areas. Of these eight of these, eight earned the ACE diploma with merit indicating superlative performance on the ACE tests. This year, our ACE program took college tours of UCF and FGCU over
spring break. And 14 ACE students and two of our ACE teachers took a trip to England and France, of which I'm thankful to be a part of. I learned about European history and how and how we applied it in real life in
class turning textbook into reality. In addition, our ACE program surpasses state and national pass rates in the following subjects: art and design, biology, chemistry, economics, media studies, thinking skills, and
travel and tourism. The incredible college and career center at our school continues to thrive. It is a great resource for our students to learn more about post high school opportunities, entrance criteria, and scholarships. Our fall our fall college
and career fair saw 47 colleges, universities, military branches, and local businesses where over 1,000 students and parents walked the various exhibitions talking to recruiters and business
owners. I paid a visit to this fair and learned of all the employment opportunities that this community provides. 70% of our 380 senior class have already applied to Penllis Technical College,
another college or university, or preparing to enter the military upon graduation. Our college and career center has been instrumental in helping them all and has the other 30% who plan to enter the workforce upon graduation. SNHS partnered with several
other clubs to lead a beach cleanup this spring. We had over 30 students, volunteers, and seven adults pick up 193 pounds of trash from our beaches. As president of SNHS, I was at the beach cleanup, and the most
jaw-dropping thing I found was picking up trash of a Mr. Pibs can of soda from the year 2000 stuck in our mangroves. Our Ro Kappa Social Studies Honor Society has a student created museum exhibit from the Clearwater
Historical Society and Cultural Center entitled Graduation is Not Goodbye, which opens this week and highlights alumni who have returned to work at Clearwater High School over the years. It opens this Thursday. And as a president of Roappa, I can say my team
and I have worked hard with interviews, collecting artifacts, and designing the exhibit. So, I hope I will see you all at the opening. And now I will pass over to my classmate Megan. Good morning. Hello, my name is Megan Atwell and I'm
in the 12th grade. I am a proud member of our cake program and I have been a part of the track and field program for the last four years. At our senior night awards this past week, I won the most outstanding female award and our school's prestigious William J. Justice Leadership Award. Our Career Academy of
International Culture and Commerce, otherwise known as our cake program, which was once again designated an academy of distinction by the Career Education Board through the Penllis Education Foundation. This spring, the cake program put on their incredible annual trade show for the 10th through
12th grade students. and seniors have once again been engaged in their virtual enterprise capstone project competing against other schools in their online virtual businesses. Our cake program also had more field trips this year,
various to various businesses and culture students experienced this year than ever before. taking students to Eore, Port of Tampa, Universal Orlando, Orlando Mon Raymond James, Dair Curl, Neielson Media, Nelson Media, Savannah
College of Art and Co and Design, also known as SCAD, and New York City, which the senior class and I went on in February. The furthermore, our interact club was hard at work this year with students volunteering hundreds of hours in
hurricane response at the SPCA and at various community events. This year, we also worked with our honor societies and our administration to create the first annual F5 Super T tornado award, honoring any senior who is active and
participating in three or more of our honor societies and presenting them with a medal to wear at graduation. This year, 19 AVID seniors earned their AVID pin, the most in the history of our school's program. Additionally, eight of our students received Clearwater for
Youth Scholarship Awards totally totaling $65,000. And 10 of our students were recognized at the Maria Edmonds Hispanic Achievement Awards at Ruth Eard Hall, Christina being one of them. And three of our students were recognized the Joseph El Carwise Awards at Clearwater
High School. And now I will pass over to my classmate Sydney. Thank you. Good morning, Sydney. Hi, I am Sydney Wilhelm and I am in 12th grade. I am a member of our cake program as well. I have participated in swimming
and softball making it to the regional and state competition in each of the last four years. At our senior awards night this past week, I won the best all-around FUMA athlete award and our school's Crimson and Grey Award recognizing the senior who best
exemplifies our school's motto of tradition, honor, and pride. This year, all of our sports teams had a combined GPA point average of 3.485. All 22 sports teams had a weighted 3.0 0 gradepoint average or
higher and nine seniors were designated scholar athletes obtaining above a 4.0 GPA. Additionally, over the last four years, our senior class has been part of 11 district championships, four regional final appearances, two regional final
championships, two state final four appearances, three PCAC championships, and have had 18 first team PCAC selections. This year alone, varsity boys football won the mayor's sentinel cup versus
countryside and competed in the regional playoffs. Furthermore, varsity girls basketball was PCAC runner-ups, district champs, and competed in the state final four this year. Also, varsity swimming sent seven students to the state
competition, including myself, where I placed 12th in the 50 free and 14th in the 100 free with also meddling in both relays. Several athletes across swimming, golf, wrestling, and track competed regionally. Moreover, eight of
our incredible senior students athletes signed national letters of intent to continue their athletic careers in college next year. In addition to our sports, our Marine Corpse JOTC program continues to represent us well at numerous events
throughout the district and state. For the fourth year in a row, they placed first in the state, winning the prestigious Iron Bear competition. Also, our visual performing arts programs continues to excel. and our fine arts programs has students win
numerous awards this year including including having art from students display at the St. Pete Fine Art Museum, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and the US Capital. Our thespian society did extremely well in districts and this
year performed two incredible shows. The Outsiders this past fall and the Wizard of Oz this spring. Additionally, our marching band has marched and performed this year and the Veterans Day parade, the City of Clearwater MLK Junior Day
Parade and St. Patrick's Day event. Finally, our choir is was invited to perform at Disney's Candlelight and Rotary Club event this spring. So many of our programs continue to excel and we thank you for your
continued support. We are extremely proud of our amazing school and all of our extracurricular opportunities we have to showcase and the talents of our incredible students and staff. Thank you again for giving us this opportunity to share. Thank you so much uh girls.
Congratulations on all of your successes thus far. Thank you for your leadership at your school, with your fellow fellow students, and in your community. Um, and I wish you well moving forward. Uh, Christina, you know, it's cold in New Hampshire. Just just so you know that,
Mr. Florio, good good to see you. Thank you for sharing Clearwater High School with us today. The next item on our agenda is uh amendments to the agenda. As we move into this business portion of our meeting today, I'll mention that Mrs. Long isn't able to join us today. So all
votes moving forward will reflect the six of us here today. Possible changes to the agenda. Mr. Hendrick, are there any changes to the agenda? Yes, Madam Chair. There were two. One on the consent agenda. Item 7.4, the job descriptions. The auditor job description was updated based on
feedback at the workshop. The original attachment was incorrect. The second one was correct. And item 8.5, request approval for the 5-year educational plant survey. Um, a draft version was attached. We attached the correct version, the same one that you looked at and discussed at the workshop and the information remains the same. Thank you.
Board members, any amendments to the agenda? No. Seeing none, I find good cause to amend the agenda as suggested by Mr. Hendrickk. All those in favor say I. I. Any po any opposed? Passes six to
zero. Special order agenda today. Uh, item 4.1 is the recognition of the 2025 Florida Prepaid College. I'm sorry. Excuse me. I didn't record a motion in a second. I may have missed it, but if we could just take one. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, you're right. We went right to
a vote. May I have a motion to accept the agenda as amended? All right. Motion by Mrs. Peters and a second by Miss Edmond. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? Passes six to zero. Thank you. very excited just to go
on. We actually have three items on our special agenda this morning. Um and for all three of them, the board members are going to be coming down so that we can greet the award recipients who we're very um proud of and be able to take take photos with you as well. And so Mr.
Hendrick will be introducing each of these items for us. The first one today is the recognition of the 2025 Florida Prepaid College Scholarship recipients. Board members, why don't we go ahead and head down? Good morning, Superintendent Hendrick.
Hold on. We'll give that you're good. Give them a chance to come down the ramp. So, item 4.1 is a recognition of the 2025 Florida prepaid scholarship recipients. Penel County Schools has a relationship with the Florida Prepaid Foundation and they offer scholarships to students. And here to tell us more
about those students and more about the program is our K12 school counseling specialist, Valerie Santos. Miss Santos, good morning, Superintendent Hendrickk, Madame Chairperson, board members, family members, and guests. I'm so excited to present um the Florida
Prepaid Plan partnership that they do with several districts um each year. Uh several seniors complete a scholarship application from the Penllis Education Foundation and they award three Florida prepaid scholarships to deserving
seniors that have identified they'd like to continue um to be part of education and I'll bring them they're all accompanied by family, friends, and their principles as well. So I'm so excited to call each one of them up. I'll start with Ava Burus. She's a
senior at Largo High School with a 3.78 GPA. Ava plans to attend St. Petersburg College. Congratulations. Congratulations. And next we have Avalon Alexander, a senior at Palm Harbor University High
School with a 3.96 weighted GPA. Avalon plans to attend the University of Central Florida. And next, Bryley Biskelia, a senior at Tarpon Springs High School with a 4.22 weighted GPA. Bryley plans to attend
Florida GF Coast University. Thank you, Miss Santos. And congratulations to our three seniors. And if you lost this point in the audience, they all want to continue in the field of education. Come back and be teachers in Penelis County Schools. Our second recognition this
morning is the recognition of the 2024 2025 school safety personnel annual award recipients. And here to introduce our awardees is our chief of police, Chief Luke Williams. Chief Williams. Thank you, Mr. Hendrick. And uh board chair, board members, thank you all for
giving me this opportunity. U it is a pleasure to be able to do this. There's hundreds of individuals who go out and their sole purpose is to protect our our children and staff on a daily basis. And we've had uh close to 40 nominees for these uh awards. And unfortunately, I had to kind of melt it down to four. But
there is a a great group of individuals who've all been nominated who will be recognized at uh upcoming training. So with that, we're going to start with our Jesse Dorsy campus activity monitor of the year, Mrs. Chenise Beaman. If you can come up, please
Chenise. Chenise is here with Principal Chad Iben and with Mia Angelos who is the behavior specialist. uh she is a uh campus activity monitor at Carwise Middle School. She exemplifies the skills and attributes of a high performing campus activity monitor and
she has become known as the cornerstone of the campus because of her presence with a lasting effect on all that she interacts with. She is a coach of the Special Olympics team and the unified basketball team and through the the trust and bond she's built with her students, she is a very very valuable
member of the Carwise Elementary or Carwise Middle School team. So congratulations Thank you. Next is our school safety officer of the year, Mrs. Caitlyn Du from uh Lynch Elementary School with principal
Brandy Williams Min. Caitlyn Caitlyn is one of our veteran uh school safety officers. She has served us since 2019. She has a very positive attitude. She's a a uh a profound
leader. She builds relationships with her students and the staff uh to the fact that if there is a an educational academic need that the students need, she's very quick to uh respond and assist those students with that, but she never loses the focus of why she's actually there and as to protect the
students and the staffs uh from individuals who may uh look to do them harm. So, Caitlyn, we want to say congratulations to you and we really appreciate your efforts. on these next two awards. I actually uh uh took the liberty of making two when I usually do just one. It was uh very
difficult to uh to come up with just one individual to represent this year uh of the school resource officer of the year and it's actually the Michael A. Hawkins school resource officer of the year award and and retired Sergeant Michael Hawkins is in the back in the back. So Michael, thank you. It's not every day
you get an award named after you. But first, we're going to have from Tarpron Springs PD and from Tarpron Springs Fundamental Elementary School, Officer Matt Gear. Matt, would you come up? Matt is also he's here with uh Sergeant Jake
Miller and uh Chief Jeff Young was unable to be here as uh was a a a a vast number of his staff uh members because u unfortunately but as a point of celebration uh it's the fifth anniversary of the death of officer
Charles Conduct and they're all in Washington DC at this moment honoring his uh his legacy that he left in Tarpon Springs. So, uh, one thing about Officer Gear is that he's actually had an opportunity. You can go go and take your pictures while I'm there. U, he's actually worked at every, uh,
school in the city of Toppin Springs. And what Chief Young did when we, uh, went to the, uh, the SSO, school resource officer format. He decided that, well, you know what, my kids need to be exposed to law enforcement. And through elementary, middle, and high
school, he has a dedicated police officer to do that. And Matt has been one of those individuals who's actually gone to every he's worked in every school and he's actually metriculated with some of the kids when they've graduated from one school to the next. So he's in charge of the uh the school
safety patrol. He does a number of uh uh outside activities with the students to include doing a speed measurement device for uh tracking the speed of a baseball and and the kids really love him and so do your your your principal, Mrs. Terresa Price. So, we want to thank you for that nomination and thank you for
the work that you do with our students on a daily basis, man. I keep forgetting to give them stuff when they leave, but Matt, I also have a a ribbon for your uniform that basically uh is for the school resource officer of the year, and these are rare,
so wear it with pride. Okay, thank you. Congratulations. And finally, I cheated. The this the second uh school resource officer of the year award recipient of the Michael A. Hawkins award is Officer Pam Settle from
the St. Petersburg Police Department and from Northeast High School. and officer settle is here with principal Michael Hernandez and an entourage of individuals. So, if you don't mind, I'll just uh mention that we have a retired detective Vonda W,
Lieutenant Orlando Sandy, Sergeant Mark Rastor, Major Anthony McCoy, Assistant Chief Mike Kvassive, and I know there are several others who in the in the back that are basically very excited about uh Pam's achievement. Pam has uh
worked at Metalong Middle School as well as Northeast High School. She is known as an individual that uh has a delicate balance between being firm and being approachable and I know that your your students appreciate it. Uh she is uh known for being able to deescalate
conflicts which is very important but she also mentors and and she's a a great role model for the individuals in which she comes in contact with. So I'm very proud to have an opportunity to present you with the Michael A. Hawkins School Resource Officer of the Year award along with your challenge coin and with your
pen. And as uh Pam takes her seat, I just want to uh as she takes her pictures, I'd like to uh uh thank the board for your continued support. Also like to thank the men and women who on a daily basis go out to make sure that our children uh
are able to get to school and arrive back home safely. So congratulations. Thank you. Thank you, Chief Williams. And congratulations to the four honores. And thank you for the work you do in our schools each and every day. And our final recognition is the recognition of
the 20 2024 Energy Star certified buildings. And to do that recognition will be Mr. Herbick, our chief operating officer. Mr. Herbick. Thank you, Mr. Hendrik. And uh madam chair, board members, uh the Energy Star building certification process is authorized by
the Environmental Protection Agency and it's one of five awards that the EPA offers through Energy Star program. And I know that many times when we go shopping, maybe it's for electronics or for appliances, we all look for that Energy Star label. And we know that that
label means that that product is Energy Star certified which means it was designed to operate efficiently and it operates with um more economical cost for us. It saves us money uh when we buy those appliances and electronics with that Energy Star label. What a lot of
people don't know is that Energy Star in addition to certifying appliances and electronics also certifies buildings. And in the same manner as our appliance and and um electronics, an Energy Star certified building is also um more
efficient and is more economical to operate than those buildings that are not certified. In a couple minutes, we'll um ask our partners from um Sergistic to step up and and uh talk about that program to us a little bit more detail. But one of the things to know is that uh certified buildings on
the average operate at about 54 cents less uh per square foot than those are not um certified. So, we're here today to celebrate 57 of our schools that have been uh that have earned the Energy Star
certification and also to thank you for your continued commitment um to the application of the science behind building energy efficiency both in our construction and operation of those buildings. And with that, I ask um Mr.
Butch Collier from Synergistic and his team to step forward with a with a presentation. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you. Uh me along with our energy specialists Cindy Bennett, Jennifer Cumberbatch, and Carlos Rodriguez, we are proud and
honored to announce for the 24 calendar year that Penllis County had 57 schools that earned Energy Star certification for superior energy performance. This is the eighth year that the school district has earned this recognition representing
your sustained commitment to active energy management program. On average, as we mentioned, uh, Energy Star certified buildings use 35% less energy, cause 35% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and are less expensive to
operate than their peers. To qualify for Energy Star building certification, a building must meet in the top 25% nationwide based on the EPA's national energy performance rating system for energy efficiency among all school
buildings. Energy Star is the only energy efficient certification in the US that is based on actual verified energy performance. On behalf of the EPA and all of us at Synergistic, congratulations on this significant
recognition. We are very proud of our partnership with Penllis County Schools and your commitment to protect both the environment today and for future generations. As a sign of your commitment, our team will be distributing certificates to each individual school that qualified. And at
this time we would also like to present you this award for this exi significant achievement. And again thank you. Thank you. And our board members will come back up and we'll continue with public comments on agenda
items. Very good. Thank you. Nice to have those celebrations this morning with the students and the scholarships and certainly our school safety folks. I know they've all left, but certainly our school board appreciates the work they all do every day. Um, and then the energy star. I'm sure that's made with
low with low E glass. Make sure we're conserving energy. Next item on our agenda today are public comments on agenda items. Mrs. H, do we have any speakers? Yes, Madam Chair, there is one speaker for agenda items. Thank you. You can go
ahead. Mr. Mark Clutouth speaking to items 7.12 and 7.21. Good morning, Mark Lutho. Largo one two
internship. Well, what are they going to be doing? They're going to be making more stupid buildings like right across the street. that will end up
with. And this is that cause and effect thing. You make that stupid building with the brown brick that's going to cause the heat island effect. A manity die off. Correlation, cause and effect. Make that
stupid building happens every time. 721 with the Panelis County building improvements for emergency hurricane shelters.
Well, see, you should have made the buildings right in the first place. If you would have, they could stand up to a hurricane 5. And this nonsense about Energy Star
would not be an issue. It's a joke. Like Winston Churchill said, "We shape our buildings, thereafter. They shape us." I was surprised that you weren't at this spotlight event with the table. How can we grow
sustainably? Well, that building across the street Is that what you do to be hurricane safe? That makes the
hurricanes. That's what causes hurricanes. Heat island effect. And I don't know about these buildings as you have listed. I haven't seen them. But I guarantee you that they're part of the
problem. Definitely part of the problem. Yeah. Thank you, Madam Chair. There are no other speakers. Thank you. The next item on our agenda, item six, uh we have no unfinished business. The consent agenda, item number seven. May I have a motion
and a second to approve the consent agenda? A motion from Miss Blackburg and a second from Miss Edmund. All those excuse me, Miss Meyer. Okay, thank you. Thought I knew everyone's
voices. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? passes six to zero. Thank you. First item on the non-consent agenda today, item 8.1, request approval of school opening and closing times for the
202526 school year. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item. Motion from Miss Meyer and a second from Mrs. Peters. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce this item? Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, as you know, we set the board sets the opening and closing times for schools each year. And, uh, this has
been in the news for quite some time because of school start times. And I just wanted to say before I pass it to Mr. Herbick, we are grateful for the House and the Senate listening to, uh, its constituents to pass a bill this year that gives the board local authority to continue to set these opening and start times. And we know
that the previous bill was looking uh, for implementation in 2026. So, we still had one more year where the board had the complete authority. Just wanted to say that we're grateful for that uh opportunity and we hope to see the governor sign that into law. Uh but for this coming school year, I want to pass
it to Mr. Herbick to review the opening and closing times for all of our schools. Mr. Herbick. And thank you, Mr. Hendrick and Madam Chair, board members. um the the routing strategies that the transportation department put in two years ago uh with your blessing, namely
the zoned arterial stops and the ability to float um start and closing times by 15 minutes one way or the other um have proven to be successful. The evidence really lies in the uh number uh the reduction that we made in the number of late buses and the corresponding
reduction that uh we've all seen in the amount of phone calls and emails we get about late buses. Uh so those two strategies allowed the transportation routers to really take a look at our routes and um work with the opening and closing times and enable them to reduce
the number of routes. We currently have 322 routes, 326 drivers as of today. Um proudly we can say that we're one of the few large school districts in the country that has a surplus of drivers right now. Um and so what we're seeing
is that those strategies and the work that our routers have been doing establishing those um start and closing times um has been working. So for the 2526 school year, we propose to keep the current uh times that we have this current year and roll those forward uh
with one exception and that exception is the uh the combination of Walsingham and Southern Oak Elementary Schools into Walsingham Ham Oak uh well excuse me, Walsingham Oaks uh K through 8. And that
time um the the two times for Walsingham and Southern Oak obviously will go away. Walsingham Oaks K through eight would have a proposed starting time of 8:30 to 3 o'clock. And one last comment I would have is if the um their work continues
to go forward, if the routers um have to slide a starting uh time either 15 minutes sooner or later, uh that's different that um is what is published today. Uh they will make that known by July 1st and share that with that school
with you and the community. Thank you board members. Any discussion? I think it's good to take the opportunity with the acknowledgement of the legislation changing that that that while it is back to school districts, Panels County Schools is still working on with the new software that we've
implemented. And this year, we'll be routing both in our old system and our new system to make sure we have that redundancy and the new system is up to speed and working well. And then work this fall to do the math on if we can achieve some later start times for those high school start times on our own. So,
we're still working towards that end. Just want to acknowledge that. Um, okay. With that, we have a motion and a second to approve item 8.1. All those in favor say I. Any opposed?
Passes six to zero. Item 8.2, Two, setting a public hearing and authorizing the advertisement of the public hearing to consider the repeal of policies 8450, control of casual contact communicable diseases. Policies
8453 district con contact communicable diseases and 8453.01 control of bloodborne pathogens and and adoption of policy 8450 control of communicable diseases. This is the
first reading. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item? Motion from Miss Blackburg and a second from Miss Meyer. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce this item? Thank you, Madam Chair. As the board recalls, the board asks us to look at this policy and update it. Um, and so we
have done so with the discussion at a workshop and bringing you a final proposal today for a first public hearing, a request of a public hearing. And here to give us more detail on that is the director of strategic planning and policy, Lyanna Eisen. Mrs. Eison, hi madam chair, board members,
superintendent Hendrickk, staff and community as a result of continuous improvement in operational efficiency policies 8450 control of casual contact communicable diseases policy 8453 direct contact communicable diseases and
845301 control of bloodborne pathogens are recommended for repeal. We are also recommending adoption of a new policy 8450 control of communicable diseases to combine the three repealed policies into a cohesive and comprehensive policy
pertaining to all communicable diseases. The proposed policy retains the major components of each of the repealed policies while removing redundancies. A red line showing the specific changes was included in the materials for the April workshop. The substantive changes
include adding definitions that are referenced in the revised policy or in other health services documents, removing the language regarding the curriculum because PCS uses a state approved health curriculum that complies with state law and updating the language
and reorganizing the information for flow as well as removing procedures. We recommend setting a public hearing and second reading for June 24th. Thank you board members. Any discussion? Miss Edmond. Thank you Mrs. Eisen um for
bringing this item forward. Um one of the things that made me bring this item to the board was the fact that it was last revised in 2011 and originally adopted in 2009. It is very important
for us to ensure that our safety standards are top tier. Um, one of the questions that I have is if someone could please share what the procedures are to inform individuals of exposure or
potential exposure to communicable diseases or highly contagious viruses like measles. Like to ask yeah Donna Sicilian, our executive director of student services, she can provide that. Good morning. Um, in Mrs. Oul's absence today. I'm hoping
to be able to clarify that for you. What happens um per Florida state statute is that the Department of Health is who notifies the school district. They call and notify Sarah that a student has been diagnosed. So the students medical
provider diagnoses them with a illness that is considered a communicable disease. They are therefore required to notify the department of health and then the department of health notifies the school district and they then take over
as the lead on the communication who is communicated what is communicated and when it is communicated. So we then um follow the direction of Dr. Cho and the department of health in those communications and in how we manage and
handle ensuring the student safety. Thank you Mrs. Sicilian. Welcome. And Mrs. E is I do want to acknowledge the work of you and your team on bringing these policies forward and streamlining it into one um concise policy. Thank
you. Thank you. Any other discussion? Seeing none, we have a motion and second on the floor to approve item 8.2. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? Passes six to zero.
Item 8.3, setting a public hearing and authorizing the advertisement of the public hearing to consider the amendment to policies 7101 building permits in the code enforcement office 8400 environmental health and safety issues
and 8410.01 critical incident response. This is the first reading. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item? Second. Motion from Miss Peters and a second from Mrs. Kaine. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce
this item? Yes, Madam Chair. This policy was also brought to the board at the same workshop, and I'll ask Miss Zy once again to explain the changes. As discussed at the April workshop, we're recommending amendments to three policies as a result of continuous
improvement as well as in response to and preparation for hurricane season. I'll review the policy amendments in numerical order, starting with 7101, building permits, and the code enforcement office. We're recommending updating it in accordance with state
law, clarifying that the amount spent per maintenance project will not exceed state limits, specifying that all building plans and inspections will be conducted and reviewed by registered and certified individuals in accordance with law.
policy 8400, environmental health and safety issues. The amendments include revising it to be more applicable districtwide, updating consistent use of indoor environmental quality terminology throughout the policy and removing
reference to other schoolboard policies. In 8401.01 01 critical incident response. We're updating the components of the district's safety and security program, removing the extensive descriptions of statutory requirements, and clarifying
that staff will be compensated for their duty dured duty during the incident response, not for sheltering in place or any unassigned extended duty. We recommend setting a public hearing and a second reading for June 24th.
Thank you, Miss Edmond. Thank you, Mrs. Eison, for bringing these items forward as well. And some of the things you just spoke to relates to concerns from staff as it relates to um hurricane duty and other items. So, I really appreciate the
work on this policy. It streamlines it. It makes sure um staff are clear that they would be compensated for their assigned work during uh hurricane duties. So, thank you very much. Other board members, any
discussion. With that, we have a motion and second on the floor to approve item 8.3. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? It passes six to zero. Item 8.4 Four, request approval of
meal pricing for the school lunch program beginning in the 2025 20226 school year. We have a motion and second to approve this item. Second. Motion from Mrs. Kaine and a second from Miss Edmund. Mr. Hendrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, this is an item we
discussed with the board at the workshop and had public discussion on. Uh, but it is also an item that requires the board approval anytime we change the meal prices for our student and staff lunches. And so here to give us a brief overview and explanation of that is our new director of food nutrition, Mr.
Dustin Walker. Mr. Walker, thank you. Uh good morning, Madame Chair, uh board member, Superintendent Hendrik, uh staff, and community. Um I want to start with our department's mission, which is to serve as a cornerstone for student wellness by providing fresh, nutritious,
uh meals daily while investing in quality resources and staff empowerment. Uh as you know the food and nutrition department is self operating. We uh work under the national school lunch program which comes with a host of guidelines um
that we must follow. Um with that it is critical to make sure that we are maintaining fiscal responsibility uh with our funds. Um the district prices for paid school lunch have remained unchanged since
201920. Um despite significant increases in operational expenses, food expenses has have increased um 7 to 10% according to the USDA's consumer price index um since 2019. Uh as we discussed during
the board workshop on May 6th um also it was a pleasure meeting you all for the first time. Thank you. Um we've looked at prices from nearby counties and with that we are on average $1.22 less um than other elementary school pricing uh
98 cents lower than middle and then a dollar two lower than high school. Uh this recommendation is necessary um to our meal pricing structure just to make sure that we are being fiscally responsible and sustainable um without impacting milk quality. Uh the proposed
increase would set elementary school lunch at 2.75 with secondary at 315 which is 50 cent increase for elementary and then 40 cents for three uh for secondaries. Um please note these prices will not impact um households who are
already free reduced qualified. It also will not impact our community eligible school sites where they receive meals at no cost. Um this recommendation for updated rates will just keep us competitive with surrounding districts. Uh the additional funding generated will
also again offset our rising um operational expenses. It will also help us move forward with um some of our upcoming initiatives around scratch uh forward meals, introducing more whole ingredient options to our students um
which goes in line with St. Pete's healthy initiative um countywide. Um, this investment will also um help us maintain uh infrastructure, equipment updates and those things that help us be successful. Um, and with that, I just
want to thank you for your continued support with food and nutrition department. Thank you, Mr. Walker. Nice to see you. Um, Miss Meyer. No, Miss Blackburg. I think just technical note, we need to update the
names that pop up on this screen. Thank you, Miss Blackburg. as we spoke about the grocery store prices have gone up significantly and um with that I want to say how excited I am for some of your
initiatives that you are putting forward in creating more from scratch options for our kids with more healthy and nutritious um options available ailable. So, thank you very much and and welcome.
Appreciate Miss Edmond. Thank you. I echo Mrs. Blackburg sentiments and I also just want to acknowledge the work that has occurred in the food and nutrition department from the organizational ladder and the ability
for people to move up and now introducing home-cooked or school-cooked meals is another incentive. having the opportunity to talk to children and students regarding what their thoughts are. I'm looking forward to hearing
their feedback on the scratch meals, scratch cook meals. So, thank you and welcome. Thank you. Any other discussion? Reminder that the scratch event is tomorrow morning at Rollins Elementary School. Is that right? Yes. Um very much looking forward
to it. It's one of the first times in the last so you know back in the day our staff was involved in scratch cooking and so I think you know everything old tends to come back you know right one of those things um and we have a lot of team members that are thrilled with some
change you know um our program isn't unlike a lot of um sister programs around us but um we can do better and I think it also helps just our staff takes pride in in some of the things that We're that's coming up. So yeah, tomorrow is one of our first
introductions to scratch. Just want to plug um it's also the fir one of the first times we're able to procure like I mentioned beef from a local rancher. Fort McCoy will be uh has provided 80 pounds for us to use and I'm super excited about that. My staff is thrilled
to work with fresh ingredients. So it'll be a good experience, but we will be collecting student feedback. you know, change um doesn't happen overnight and we will make sure we consider their opinions. Yeah. Um I'm not able to join you tomorrow morning. I think I saw that Miss Blackburg is I'm volunteering at at
another school, but I'll just take the opportunity to mention yesterday I ate lunch at one of our middle schools, went through the line, got my lunch, sat down, sat down with group kids. You know, whenever I do this and I ask students, whether I'm in a classroom or lunchroom, wherever I am, I always say, you know, what can we do better? How can school be better? And I love to hear what they say. They always say lunch.
I mean, every time I very much enjoyed I've never had cherry flavored applesauce before. It was very interesting, but I look forward. Thank you. Welcome. I'm glad to have you here. We have a motion and a second on the floor to approve item 8.4. All those in
favor say I. I. Any opposed? Passes six to zero. Item 8.5, request approval of the five-year educational plan survey. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item? Second. Motion from Mrs. Kaine and a
second from Miss Edmund. Mr. Hendrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. As the board knows, we brought this to two workshops this year to get the board's input, the public's knowledge of this process as well as lots of school input. And so to give a recap of all of those and the document that is going forward to the
state in our five-year survey, our chief operations officer, Mr. Herbick. And thank you again, Mr. Hendrickk and madam chair and board members um as discussed at the workshop uh the five-year plan is something that we submit to the department of education um and uh
requires today requires your approval before we do that. But one of the things um as we talked about the five-year plan uh one of the focuses uh that we've had going forward and and thinking about the next five years is kind of um the the
theme of the plan uh that we talked about. If you remember, it was restore, renew, reimagine. And so when we went out to start working on putting the plan together, that was in the back of our minds and thinking about, you know, how do we make sure that that theme uh moves
forward? And really what we're talking about in those cases is making sure that all of our classrooms are set up and designed in a manner in which um um enhances instruction and also enhances the ability of the teacher to deliver that instruction. We want to make sure
that all of our um classrooms and all of our schools are renewed accordingly. That we put on roofs and we replace floor covering and we we we repaint and we do all those kind of things and replace those major building systems before they fail. And we also wanted to
take a really uh close look at how can we reimagine the space of some of our facilities. Um, and a great example of that, as we shared at the workshop, was the reimagining of the space of the old former Panelis Secondary School in which we uh rebranded as our employee child
care center. And so with that with those ideas in mind, we set out to develop this five-year plan. And so at each school, the process that we put in place was to go and visit each school and we worked with um the principles and we asked them to perform what we call an
educational suitability assessment. and they took a look at every single one of their classrooms. They took a look at what kind of instruction is happening happening in those classrooms and um talked to the teachers, talked to students, got that kind of input that they needed, but made recommendations to
us as to what kind of improvements those rooms would be needed or need in order to really operate on a 21st century learning environment. We also took a look at every single one of our major building uh systems and put them um established a life cycle replacement
plan for those. Um and as we know, you know, roofs last, you know, on an average 20 years, maybe flooring 10 to 12 years, painting about the same time. But we established multiple life cycle replacement plans for those major building systems and built them out over
the terms of the life cycle. But for this plan, we're really looking at the next five years. what are those life cycle um needs that we need to replace in the next five years again before they fail. And then one of the last things that we took a look at again um and all
of these things are equally as important but every single year we annually renew the results from the FSAT or the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool which is conducted by law enforcement officers and they visit every single one of our schools. They make a safety assessment
of every single one of our schools and every single year we take a look at those recommendations that they give us and we accelerate that and we make sure that we make those corrections as needed on that um as indicated on that FSAT. So when you put those things together when
you put the educational suitability assessment the FSAT results and the life cycle analysis together that gives us the plan that you have in front of you today. And so as you read through that plan, you're going to see uh that type of work indicated in the plan. Uh you'll
see the life cycle replacements over the next five years. You'll see those recommendations to update um some of our classrooms um and labs and other spaces to meet the educational um needs of the programs. One thing that we're very
proud that we can say that you will not see a lot of on this uh five-year plan is safety recommendations. And that goes back to the investment that this board has made over the past 20 25 years to put in um fencing and to put in single
points of entry and to put in cameras and to put in all of those things that now when our law enforcement officers visit our schools. They don't have a list of recommendations to make our campuses safer. They may see some things that are broke that we attend to, but they don't have those big ticket items
that some schools um have or some school districts may have, uh that you may hear about across the state. So, um in closing, I would say as a reminder, it's very important to remember that this plan not only can change, uh but I
guarantee it will change. And um it would the change would come to you in the form of a supplemental survey, sometimes called a spot survey internally as we um have those conversations. But those changes could be anywhere from a modification of one
classroom. Maybe a classroom needs to be changed because the school is bringing in a new academic program and it needs some enhancements. Uh those those changes in the supplemental survey could also be uh kind of wide ranging. Maybe again we're looking at at changing uh the focus of a school or the focus of a
program at a school that needs multiple rooms changed. But the important thing to remember is those changes will come to you. You will always approve of them and then again those changes have to be approved by the department of education. So if with your approval today um we
will go ahead and forward this plan uh that you have in front of you to the department of education. They've already tentatively approved it, but with your approval today, they'll do one last review and um they will give us the the final improvement. Thank you. Thank you for that thorough
discussion, Mr. Herbick. Board members, any questions or discussion? Okay, with that, we have a motion and second on the floor to approve item 8.5. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? Passes six to zero.
Item 9.1, items introduced by the superintendent, Mr. Hendrick. Thank you, Madam Chair. As our board and our schools, our parents, our students know, it is testing season. And as of today, uh we are through 50% of the assessments that our students will take from our
youngest learners in pre-K all the way up to our students taking those end of course assessments in high school. 90% of our students have completed their English language arts assessment across the district. That was sort of the first major one and I'm happy to report to the board that our results continue uh to
improve and meet some of the goals that are in our strategic plan. And so I look forward to sharing the results of those assessments when they're completed. But so far so good certainly in ELA. Uh at the as we approach the end of the year, there are just so many things to celebrate, awards, banquetss, different things. You can go to our newsroom and
see things like Florida History Day as students won the state competition and are going to Washington DC. We had more students earn national merit scholarships than were already recognized. There's art exhibitions. Uh but I want to highlight just a few things that uh stand out to me and things that I've observed the last
couple of weeks. And one of those was I want to thank our penelis education foundation for their mentor appreciation breakfast that they held last week where uh the education foundation organizes the state take stock in children mentors and our lunch pals programs. over 800 mentors between the two programs and
they recognize some of those special mentors last week in an event uh at the Largo Central Park Performing Arts Center. Also, of course, and the board was there saw Walker's rising stars recently last week uh and saw students win in those different categories and all the students receive scholarship.
Just amazing performance by our students. I want to thank the education foundation Dr. Walker for 22 years of Walker's rising stars thus far. Recently as well, the Tarpon Springs High School Jazz Ensemble was recognized in Downbeat magazine's 48th annual student music
awards. You're probably not familiar with Downbeat magazine, uh, nor should you be, but you've probably heard of things like Billboard magazine or Sports Illustrated. It's the equivalent of a national recognition of top performing jazz band in the country. They were recognized for uh, outstanding
performance and live recording. Congratulations to all the students and Dr. Timothy Ston, who is the jazz ensemble leader. I know the board is aware of this, but I can't say this enough. Congratulations to the Penllis County academic team that won the state academic team championship at the
commissioner academic team challenge just a few weeks ago. The prestigious tournament tests student knowledge across various subjects including language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts, world languages, physical education, health, and technology. This year's theme was on
epic challenges and our students put forth an epic performance in winning that state championship. Specifically, the members of the all-star team are James Machowski of Hollands High School, Brody Whiteside from St. Petersburg High School, Aiden Khalo from Palm Harbor University, Patricia Cruz from Largo
High, Emily Solins and Tasia Sham, both of East Lake High School. Those students led the team to victory. And I want to congratulate coaches Jacob Kosi of Holland High, Chris Briggs of Palm Harbor, and John Teransky of Largo High School who runs the entire district competition as well. And Aiden and James
also made the state all-star team. Six members, two were from Penllis, and they each received $1,000 scholarships. Congratulations. And speaking of state championships, we've had a number in the athletics realm in the last couple of weeks. Congratulations to Oyola High School boys tennis team which defeated
Lton Childles High School out of Tallahassee 4 to3 to win the 3A state championship and Aleandro Debardnado who won the single state championship and Aleandro and Alexander Ragava who won the doubles state championship. And then just in the last few days we had state
champions in track and field from Largo High School. Barry Williams won the 4A long jump state championship and Lyanna McClinton won the individual 100 meter and 200 meter state championships. And from East Lake High School, Avery Chapman won the individual 4A 800 meter
state championship. And from Bokeh High School 2A state championship and the 4x100 meter relay was Jamari Ward, Conre Jenkins, Walter Flory, and Kina Taylor. Congratulations to all of our state champions. We normally would recognize all those that I just said with the board and some of them may come but a
lot of them are seniors and I suspect they perhaps won't come back next year when we recognize them. So I wanted to make sure we congratulate them. Now uh graduations are of course coming up board members and I want the public to know that our graduation web page has been updated with not only the graduation schedule which has been up
for months but locations, maps, parking directions and additional information to support students, families and staff attending those graduations. You can find all of that on our website. And as a reminder, the last day of school is a full day of school on May 29th. And
finally, I want to recognize a superintendent standout. And this time in the month of May, a teacher is being recognized, Mr. David Ash, a language arts teacher from Northeast High School who has worked for Penel County for 5 years. and he was recognized by a colleague for his embodiment of
responsibility in teaching ninth grade English and getting students ready for that end of course assessment and his determination in doing so. But beyond the classroom, Mr. Ash also fosters a level of learning and community by supporting several student organizations including the gaming club and the
academic team and his commitment to both academic and extracurricular activities is meaningful and makes a lasting impact on our students and the school culture. Congratulations, Mr. Ash. and thank you to him and all of our employees for the work they do each and every day. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Hendrich. Item 9.2, items introduced by the school board attorney. I have no report that today. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Mr. Kaperski. Item 9.3, items introduced by the board. Board members, Miss Edmond,
thank you. This morning, the board approved job description, several job descriptions. And the job descriptions that I'd like to speak to this after or yep, almost this afternoon, um are the audit and property records department. They have a cost savings of over
$280,000. Thank you, Mr. Jeepson and team for your work on this. My other comments are regarding agenda items 7.7, 7.8, and 7.9. Those are for grants. Several grants were approved in our consent agenda today.
These grants directly fund core components of our career and technical education as well as adult general education programs. Without these grants, programs would drastically be scaled back. Thank you, Mrs. Dole and staff for seeking grant opportunities
and having a contingency plan if funding is delayed, reduced, or suspended. My next comment is regarding lice, knits, bed bugs, and other pest. During this meeting, we approve setting a public hearing on control or
communicable diseases. At the next workshop, I'll bring forward a workshop request to discuss lice, knits, as well as other pests such as bed bugs. There are currently procedures in place but no policy related to this issue which
impacts families and schools throughout the county. It's important that there is a clear and consistent guidance to ensure schools, students, staff, and community um have a clean learning and working environment.
Last but not least, Superintendent Hendrick, district leadership and I attended a cobbs meeting held in April where they shared their findings and recommendations regarding the bridging the gap plan. The bridging the gap plan is easily accessible to the public and
updates are provided on the plan by the district. There are areas requiring significant improvements and with approximately two years left of implementing the bridging the gap plan, I would like to know what will the next steps be and how can community members
and stakeholders support efforts to close the achievement gap. If you don't mind, Madam Chair, I'll just chime in on that. Um, first of all, thank you. the cobwebs report. Of course, we provided all of the data to cobwebs. And so much of what uh their
findings and what was in the report are the same things that the board has seen quarter after quarter in our public reports. Uh they did have a couple of recommendations which we will go back to Koebs when they have their next meeting and uh share you know our view on some of those recommendations. Um in terms of
the next steps for the plan uh that is something that Mr. Mr. Kaperski will guide us through in terms of our legal obligation and we'll have a certainly public talks and workshops about that. Uh we also do have a listen and learn coming up this fall about our bridging the gap plan where the public can come uh and continue to give us input on that
plan and they are certainly welcome uh to give us plan input on that any time. Um so we'll continue our work to close achievement gaps. It's part of our district strategic plan. It's required by our uh school improvement plans and the state requires it of us and uh that is our continued goal um within the
bridging the gap plan. Thank you, Superintendent Hendendrick. It is very important for the community to hear from us as a board and you as our superintendent and where we stand on closing the achievement gap. So, thank you,
Miss Blackburg. Oh, okay. Is it on now? Okay. Um, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge our superintendent because I know that he will not. Um, I attended last week the USF Gobles College of Education Alumni Awards where he received um the
dean's lifetime achievement alumni award. Uh, I'd like to think that your achievements are not over quite yet. Um but wanted to again congratulate you. It is a a big honor and um we are very proud.
That's it. That's what she's got. Okay. Any other board members? Um so our next regularly scheduled board meeting is June 10th. So after the after the school year is over, which I I don't know about you all, but feels somewhat hard to believe. I mean, it's it's really is it
really is almost over. So, um I just want to say well I I I do want to ask this that Tarpon Springs Jazz Band, is there a young man named Jackson in that band? There may be, but if there is, he's not related to me. Well, if he is, then congratulations. I
mean, I think it's important to acknowledge that you have a student in our schools. You're a parent. You're a dad. You and your wife are raising him in our schools, and he's doing excellent. And congratulations to you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh just one point of of note, we did discuss at the workshop a potential special call board meeting on May 27th. Yes. Uh we'll be
talking to board members about that this week, but uh that may be on the calendar before the end of the week. Great. Thank you for reminding us of that. Um so I look forward to the academic results. Certainly, that's what we're here for. Um and and it's good to hear there's already a little bit of good news trickling in. So we will look forward to
getting those results as soon as they're ready to share with us. Um, and otherwise I wish uh our teachers, our leaders, our students, and our families a very enjoyable, welldeserved summer, and I just want to remind everyone to be safe out there as well. Um, but I hope
it's a I hope it's a great summer. It's been a great year. Any other comments? No. Okay. Any review of board requests, Miss Woodford? No, Madam Chair. I did not note any requests. Okay. Thank you. Then we'll adjourn this meeting and move
to public participation. Mrs. Halp, do we have any speakers today? Yes, madam chair. There are three speakers for today. Thank you. I'm going to read the statement that the board has prepared. We will now move to public comment on the general business of the
district. Please note that the views and comments of the public speakers are their own and not endorsed or sponsored by the school board or district. We cannot ensure the accuracy of statements made, but will review concerns that are raised and take appropriate action, which may include clarifications or the referral of speakers to the proper staff
member for assistance. The board is committed to a standard of civility and decorum in conducting our meetings. This includes refraining from clapping or making audible noises during or after a speaker's comments. We appreciate you assisting us in maintaining a civil and constructive environment. Additionally, please note that although board members
or Superintendent Hendrickk may leave the dice briefly, there are speakers in the back room and we will continue to be able to hear your comments. Thank you very much, Mrs. Hul. The first two speakers are Mark Clu and Cynthia Recort.
Mark Luther Largo, your your rules here can't do it. 11 circuits said so. You sit there like a bump on a log,
but that's a fact. Uh 43. What a joke. What a joke. I look at the building with the clear story windows that don't
work. The west glass of Clearwater High School. That stupid Largo High School with the light shells. Not right. This stupid building right over
here with the dark brown brick and you want to talk about energy star. See, this is the only way that you build the one and only. It's that
simple. You go over to the Mediterranean, you won't see it any other way. Yes. See the headline reads, "Greenland's glaciers are melting faster than ever." This is what you are
doing. And at that spotlight, the idiots over there, they're talking about how we can grow sustainably. Well, I've said this before. If you were playing a dark a dark
game, not only are you missing the bullseye, you're not even hitting the board, you know. And here, the AC doesn't stop running. You're wearing coats when you have a heat index of 100
degrees. How stupid is that? It's asinine. That's the word asinine. adds to the um good afternoon, Madame Chair, uh
Superintendent Hedrickk, um school board members and uh staff. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. Um, my name is Cindy Recort and I retired from Penelis County Schools last July after
35 years. Both of my f sons graduated from Penelis County Schools and my grandson attends Ridgerest Elementary where it's my pleasure to volunteer a couple days a week. I'm here today, however, as a volunteer of Defense of Democracy.
This organization is a nationwide nonprofit that educates the public. Miss Red, Miss Redcort, I'm sorry, the voice is coming from over here. We stopped the the the clock so you don't lose any time. Our rules on public speaking do not allow the public speakers to promote
an outside organization. So, I'm not sure where you're going with that. I just wanted to remind you of those rules. I'm not going to promote it. I'm here to promote the teachers today. Very good. Thank you very much. But you scared me
though. So, um during this month, um the volunteers are out to attend schoolboard meetings, uh with the goal of publicly thanking our teachers. So, that's why I'm here today. In a world where educators sometimes
face unwarranted criticism and even harassment, it's vital that we as a community stand firmly in their corner. and we must recognize that their invaluable contributions and honor their expertise and treat them with the
respect that they so richly deserve. Um, they're shaping the lives of our children and in doing so they're shaping the future of our communities and our nation. I've witnessed the tireless efforts of hundreds, maybe thousands of educators
over my years in Penllis County Schools, and I include all school staff, not just teachers alone, when I use the word educator. Our children are watching and learning from everyone around them during their school day. as we heard earlier
today from the front office staff at Ridgerest Elementary who are often doing several jobs at the same time but still modeling respect and caring to families who often are in a rush as they arrive at school. To exceptional education
teachers and specialists at Paul B. Stevens and Nina Harris exceptional education centers who ensure that our students with medical and behavioral challenges are safe and cared for during daily instruction. These are just a few
examples of the staff we have here and every Penel County school pouring their hearts and souls into their work, often going above and beyond the call of duty. Beyond the curriculum, our educators are now increasingly called
upon to be protectors in ways that go far beyond what they initially signed up for. They're tasked with shielding our students from bullies and creating safe havens in their classrooms. So today, I want to express my deep appreciation for
all the educators in our district who give tirelessly of themselves day after day. Thank you. The next speaker is Lee Bryant. Good afternoon, Chair Hine. Uh, pardon my voice. I've been fighting a cold for
a week. Uh, good afternoon, Chair Hine and members of the board, Superintendent Hendrickk and staff. Uh, back in 2008, Florida was 26th in the nation in average teacher salary. Now, for the second year in a row, Florida ranks 50th
in average teacher pay. that makes it difficult for Florida to uh recruit and retain teachers, quality teachers. It's a simple economics issue. If you want something that is in short supply, if you want more of something that is in short supply, you have to raise the
price you're willing to pay in order to drive up the supply. If the state of Florida wanted highquality teachers and there's a shortage of high-quality teachers, they must be willing to raise the pay. Current Florida statutes acknowledges the problem. Quote, "The
legislature recognizes that Florida continues to face teacher shortages and that fewer young people consider teaching as a career." Close quote. Well, the state of Florida legislature has come up with an ingenious plan to solve the teacher shortage. Instead of
raising educator pay to make it more attractive, they passed HB 1255. HB 1255, among other things, erases the sentence that I just read about the teacher shortage and along with 13 other
references to the word shortage. Problem solved. No more teacher shortages. Bills that would have ended salary compression and would have brought back multi-year contracts got traction, but they ultimately failed in the House this year. The Florida House
of Representatives and Florida State Senates failed to pass a budget. They're still in session and it will cost the taxpayers $50,000 a day until they can do the one thing they are constitutionally required to do and that's pass a budget. But even if they
pass the budget, when you take a look at it, the House bill increases base student allocation 0.67%. The Senate bill raises the base student allocation 1.25% 25% neither one of which keep up with
inflation. Even when inflation right now in our area is only 2%. It still doesn't keep up with inflation. Voucher funding increases three to four billion dollars. Uh and it is eating away at what we can
do at this time. It is still not too late for people to call and ask their legislators to fund our schools, fund our future, make sure that we treat the educators and the school system in Florida right. Thank you for your time.
Alone, we can do so little. Together, we can do so much. Thank you. Thank you all for being here today. I don't know.