good evening i call to order this meeting of the Penllis County School Board on Tuesday April 8th 2025 please note that Mrs hine is unable to attend the meeting this evening so all votes will reflect six board members
in attendance we will begin with an invocation by Chaplain Milton Milton Smith of All First Responders Matter followed by the pledge of allegiance led by school board member Blackburg and the
national anthem performed by Countryside Chamber Choir under the direction of Christine Jackson please stand and remain standing until completion of the national anthem good evening Chaplain Smith good evening thank you let us
pray lord we come thanking you for another glorious day we are grateful for this our Panelis County schools we offer prayer for the teachers and support staff for the bus drivers and all those
who work hard each day to make this school district awesome we pray for this our superintendent and the school board bless each and every decision that they make guide them with wisdom and
knowledge and I ask all of these blessings in your most holy and glorious name amen to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one
nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all oh say can you see by the dawn's early light so proud we held at the twilight
last gleaming who stripes and bright stars through the fight or the we were so gallently streaming on the rockets
the bombs bursting in gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled
yet or the land of the free and the home of the brave [Applause] good evening i'm Christy Jackson thank you so much for our invitation tonight our next song is Sigh No More please
[Music] enjoy no more ladies sign no more sign no more ladies no more to see one for the sea and one on shore to one thing constant
never never never sign no more lady no more sing no more sing no more sing no more sing no
So heavy of men was ever since heavy [Music] sing but let them go and be your body converting all your songs of wo into hey
n hey [Music] n hey [Music] N ladies sign no more
[Music] sign men would receive one at sea and one on concert never never never never sign no more [Music] ladies
no more then sign but let them go and be light and body converting all your sounds of wo into hey n hey n hey [Music]
ny ny [Music] [Applause] N thank you Mrs jackson in the Countryside Chamber Choir
[Applause] we will now share a video of student volunteers from Simol High School for the first time in Enterprises Village history we have the Center for Education and Leadership students from
Semino High School coming out to help us volunteer kind of establish this relationship between the school and their program and Enterprise Village being able to support schools throughout the year with some highquality high school volunteers i think it's fun
because I love working with kids because I teach um dance classes at my dance studio so I think I love like this age so I love working with kids and I think it's fun to get to see them like cuz I remember I really enjoyed Enterprise Village so getting to see them enjoy it too things are looking good well all the
businesses here are like it kind of shows an example of things that they could be doing in the real world and it gives them a good example of what they would want to do in real life later when they're older well I know that I loved Enterprise Village and I really kind of just wanted to see it around for a
second time and help the other kids h have a great day i think this is great because I get to work hands-on with other kids and I can give them my advice from the past experiences that I've been through having more volunteers here is
always a helpful thing the fifth graders do a great job when they come but it's always nice to have extra helping hands guide them and sometimes it's a little bit easier for them to seek out help or or feel in feel energetic about the help they're getting when it comes from a high school student it's fun because I'm
thinking about going into the education field so it's really interesting to get to work with the students and see kind of like how they react in this environment and just getting to help them last time I was here I had a really good time and I hope that they get the same experience that I did they do learn
obviously from this but they have a lot of fun as well thank you Simol High School students for volunteering at Enterprise Village it's clear that this experience made an impact on the students that they were working with as well as some of the students interested in becoming an
educator or sharing their talents now we will introduce our professional and community organization representatives by our public information officer Miss Isabelle Mascarenus good afternoon Madame Chair members of the board Mr hendrickk and
staff it is my pleasure to introduce the following representatives of community and professional organizations from the Panelis Classroom Teachers Association lee Bryant president representing the North Panelis
League of Women Voters nikki Ammerantides from the Panelis Arts for a Complete Education Coalition sue Castleman today we have a presentation from the Student Rights and Responsibility Committee please welcome Addison Glover Anne Perry and Milana
Brookens from Countryside High School and their principal Taylor Henderson [Applause] greetings Madame Chair members of the board Superintendent Hendrick and staff members my name is Anne Perry i'm a
senior at Countryside High School and I am the senior class president i'm attending Florida State University in the fall to major in athletic training on the preysitions assistant route throughout my time at Countryside I have been involved in student government cross country track Spanish honor
society national honor society and safe club now I would like to invite my fellow Cougars to introduce themselves hello everyone my name is Milana Brookens i too am a senior at Countryside High School and I will be attending Harvard University next year to major in computer science as a
student at Countryside High School I've been involved in a variety of leadership and service roles including serving as president of Key Club future business leaders of America and currently student government now I would like to invite my fellow Cougar Addison to introduce herself
hi my name is Addison Glover i too am a senior at Countryside this year i'm attending Christopher Newport University in Newport News Virginia next year to double major in psychology and nursing as a Cougar I have been involved in soccer track cross country national
honor society and student government we are proud to present all the great things that are happening at Countryside this evening as we have much to be proud of in the 46th year of our historic school Countryside High School offers a robust academic and elective program for all of our Cougars we offer over 30
rigorous academic classes through advanced placement dual enrollment and Cambridge ACE our students are supported by a caring staff that includes a full-time college and career center coordinator to help our students pursue their post-secary endeavors exploring various careers and college
opportunities is the flavor of our campus and can be seen in our large AVID program the multiple industry certification opportunities at Countryside High School allow our students to pursue careers in high needs areas including digital design aggra
science biotechnology games and simulation programming and construction technology also computer science principles our stem technology program has been recognized by the magnet school of America as a school of excellence the IT STEM program offers eight unique
industry-leading strands of study and offers real world applications for all students to attain this year our ISM and future business leader students won the state championship during the FBLA state competition for network design this group of Cougars will be competing in the national network design team competition in Anaheim California in
June additionally our ISM cyber security team has been ranked consistently in the top 10 in the United States in the international cyber patriot competition many of our ICE and biotechnology students participated in the state science fair that was held at Countryside High School in February and senior Maline Ly Delphino won the
competition and will be participating in the international science fair in Col Columbus Ohio this summer technology is king at CHS our ISIM program is happy to support students who serve as Dell technicians in rebuilding repairing and maintaining student and faculty laptops
and devices throughout the year performing and visual arts are a hit at Countryside as we've had numerous student artworks displayed throughout Penllis County in our greater school community junior Junior Annie Linker is a Scholastic National Silver Medal winner this year and her work from Intro
to the Bridge has been displayed throughout local art shows our fame drama troop 900 held a fun and inviting musical version of the Adams family for their spring production and we had a record number of acts that were recognized for state competition to the fall the CHS coral program has been on
key all year and has earned straight superiors for chamber choir the choir plans to perform at Car Carnegie Hall in New York City this June the Countryside High School Golden Cougar Band of Pride is not left out in having a banner year as they earn superior ratings in their
division at the marching performance assessment in the fall it is truly a great time for Cougar Arts and we are super proud of our musicians and artists on campus cougar athletics has also been on the prowl all year our boys basketball team won their first district title in almost
a decade defeating St petersburg to become the class 5A district 10 champions the team finished in the top eight in Florida and on the brink of the final four coming up just short in overtime to the Green Devils the boys team was highlighted by a group of
seniors including 5A10 player of the year Cory Pearland and senior Carter Pades he finished his career with 178 three-point shots made our awesome coach who was a countryside alumni Dion Patterson was also named the 5A 10 coach
of the year the school's spirit and support for her team was tremendous this season offering a great homec court advantage our defending state champion and first girls wrestling state champion Serene Whiting finished state runnerup at the state wrestling championships
finishing the season with only one loss serene challenged weight classes to compete at the weight she will carry during her college career senior swimmer Rex Bible won the state championship in the 500 freestyle race in a thrilling
come from beyond victory rex was district and conference champion in numerous events and will be swimming collegiately next year this year was also a historic one for our softball program as with your approval CH has officially named our softball field
after former legendary coach Kayn Bailey it is truly a great time to be a countryside Cougar and we are hopeful for having more accolades as the spring sports season closes out the student experience at Countryside is second to none our school is proud to
offer over 40 clubs for student interest this year we added a fishing club and we'll be adding a science national honor society for next year student involvement in our organizations has been tremendous and our students are very active in our local community our students benefit from activities on campus throughout the year like our
1920s themed Gate Great Gatsby prom at Ruth Eert Hall this Friday academic success and school involvement have allowed our students to earn numerous scholarships we had seven students earn the Clearwater for youth scholarships of various award amounts and Alex Brucino was recognized as a National Merit
Scholar this year thank you for allowing us the privilege of presenting our beloved CHS with you this evening and go Cougars go Cougars thank you for being here and highlighting what makes Country High School great and thank you Principal
Henderson now we're moving on to item two amendments to the agenda mr hendrik are there any amendments to the agenda there are no amendments Madam Chair thank you board members may I have a motion to adopt the
agenda we have with a motion from Mrs long and a second from Mrs meyers any opposed okay all in favor
the motion passes with a vote of 6 we will now move on to item four special order agenda first on our special order agenda is item 4.1 presentation of the proclamation designating April 2025 as National
School Library Month may I have a motion to approve the proclamation a motion from Mrs blackburg a second from Mrs peters mr hendrick thank you Madam Chair i'd like to call up Ronwin Slack our program coordinator
coordinator for library media to tell us more about this proclamation and the great work happening in our school libraries mrs slack thank you good evening Madame Vice Chair board members Mr hendrik and the community i'm here today to request your
approval to recognize April as National School Library Month and celebrate the services that our library media programs and educators provide to our students in Penllis County since our last proclamation our district reading programs continue to grow and evolve as
a result of the success and excitement around our boys read program and our guys read high school program we have expanded our district reading programs to now include guys read for middle school this past January we hosted our district competition for boys and guys
read our district winner for our boys read program was Lake St george Elementary for our pilot program for the guys read middle school level Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School came in first place and for our high school guys read program East Lake High School prevailed
and was the winner i'm excited to share that we are almost finished curating the book list for all boys and guys read programs for the 2025 2026 school year i plan to announce those selections before the end of May as an extension of our
boys read initiative this July at Westgate Elementary School we are hosting our first summer camp for boys in rising third through fifth grade camp Read Strong will include hands-on activities competitive challenges and fun theme-based quests all while
building uh reading skills students that have been accepted into the camp represent all corners of Penllis County and the positive response we have received with this new camp offering shows how important literacy programs are for families across our school district finally National School Library
Month is a great time to highlight some of the successes and events related to our school library media programs this school year we had two schools that were recognized in November as Florida Power Library Schools this initiative recognizes outstanding library media
programs in the state of Florida florida Power Library Schools are recognized each year at the annual Florida Association of Media and Education Conference we also have special events going on in the district this spring our annual Battle of the Books District competition will take place on April
30th and we also have schools that are planning to host a school literacy fair and other literacy related experiences during the month of April in May we will host our third annual Penllis County students uh film festival our theme this
year is digital responsibility and it has been amazing to see how students have taken that theme in a creative direction in closing I want to say how thankful I am for our library media professionals for all they do every day i feel honored and proud to support this group of
educators i hope you will join me in celebrating and recognizing them in honor of National School Library Month thank you thank you Mrs slack mrs long would you please read the proclamation school Library Month whereas school
library programs promote and encourage a love of reading and are influential in preparing students from life for lifelong learning through the development of information literacy skills and whereas school library
programs close achievement gaps for all learners by providing equitable access to academic resources and whereas school librarians play a critical role in supporting the instructional technology that is
necessary to maintain a rigorous learning environment in each school and whereas school librarians are instructional partners who directly support and enhance student achievement now therefore the school board of
Penllis County does hereby recognize April as school library month signed this 8th day of April 2025 i have a motion from Mrs blackburg and a second from Mrs peter to approve
the proclamation designating April 2025 as National School Library Month all in favor any opposed the motion passes 6 thank you
item 4.2 is the presentation of the proclamation recognizing April 2025 as National Volunteer Appreciation Month may I have a motion to approve the proclamation make motions we have a motion from Mrs long and a
second from Mrs kaine mr hendrick thank you Madam Chair we're excited to call up Dr jane Lucas our director of strategic partnerships uh to highlight the work of our 24,000 registered volunteers in our schools and the great work they do supporting our students and our teachers every day dr lucas thank you Mr
hendendrick madame Vice Chair board members Superintendent Hendrickk and staff good evening the Office of Strategic Partnerships is excited to bring you this proclamation for April 2025 as National Volunteer Appreciation
Month volunteers play a vital role in the daily success of our schools and students they support our teachers and students in a variety of ways including mentoring and tutoring chaperoning field trips assisting in classrooms front
offices and media centers they act as special guest speakers and serve in leadership roles for PTSA SAC as well as in booster organizations the district currently has as Superintendent Hendrick said over
24,000 active volunteers who have donated over 200,000 hours this school year alone the dedication and generosity of our volunteers in supporting Penllis County Schools with our mission of 100%
student success solidifies their status as an invaluable resource to our schools and community thank you thank you Dr lucas mrs meyers will you please read the proclamation yes thank you Madam Chair
proclamation Volunteer Appreciation Month whereas the month of April has been designated nationally as volunteer appreciation month to recognize the hard work dedication and passion of volunteers throughout our nation and whereas this year more than 24,000
volunteers in Penllis County schools have given over 200,000 hours of their time along with their talent and resources to our schools which is a testament to the commitment and generosity of our community and whereas the school district of Penllis County commemorates volunteer appreciation
month by recognizing its valued volunteers through events and initi initiatives at the school district and state level and whereas Penllis County Schools believes that the district alone cannot meet all of our schools and students needs so we partner with
individuals businesses faith-based organizations nonprofit organizations and foundations in our community to make a difference and now therefore be it resolved that the school board of Penllis County and the superintendent hereby proclaim the month of April as
volunteer appreciation month and urges all to observe this month by taking time to recognize and acknowledge the positive impact of volunteers in Penllis County who give so unselfishly of their time and talent in our district signed this 8th day of April 2025
thank you board members any comments we know the importance of volunteers and their impact is everlasting if you are interested in volunteering you can contact a local school or visit the district's website for additional information i encourage I encourage
those willing and able to volunteer to get involved in this life-changing opportunity i have a motion from Mrs long and a second from Mrs kain to approve the proclamation recognizing April 2025 as National Volunteer Appreciation
Month all in favor any opposed the motion passes 6 board members before we go downstairs for photos I would like to share some comments on those who are being recognized this evening this year I had
an opportunity to join a great team of individuals in the process of narrowing down the 2025 outstanding volunteers it was a challenging task due to so many people making a positive contribution to our students in schools thank you and
congratulations to the 2025 outstanding volunteers you are appreciated and congratulations to everyone being recognized tonight are there any additional comments from the board we will now go down for photos
mr hendrick would you introduce the next three items my pleasure Madam Chair as the board goes down for photos for our next item item 4.3 which is recognition of the 2025 outstanding school volunteers we have a number that are here tonight that we'll recognize we had a very nice
breakfast want to thank Achieve Credit Union for their longtime partnership and sponsoring that breakfast to honor volunteers from each of uh the areas of our school district and once again I'll call on Dr jane Lucas our director of strategic partnerships to introduce our honored guests this evening dr lucas
thank you Mr hendrick the outstanding school volunteer award program was created to recognize volunteers who have shown outstanding dedication and commitment to quality education in Florida's K through2 public schools this recognition program serves to highlight
and inspire robust school and community relationships including innovative and sustainable approaches to improving the academic performance and resiliency of students this year Penllis Countyy's outstanding school volunteer selection
committee identified 14 honores and three category winners from the more than 75 nominations that were submitted from our schools congratulations to the following honores the award winners from area one are in the youth category from
Eisenhower Elementary Isabella Rosada Glasford and yes and in the adult category from Cypress Woods Elementary Steven White area 2 award winners are in the adult category from Safety Harbor Middle
Casai Waller and senior category from Plum Elementary Lynn Katigan [Applause] area three award winners are in the youth category from Orange Grove
Elementary Braden Bessler and in the senior category from Richard O jacobson Technical High Vernon Bryan [Applause] transformation Zone Award winner in the adult category from Fair Mount Park
Elementary is Courtney Williams the overall district winners are as follows youth category Isabella Rosada Glford congratulations in the adult category Courtney Williams congratulations to you
and in the senior category Vernon Bryant congratulations and for the second year in a row a volunteer from Penllis County Schools has been chosen as a state finalist congratulations go to Vernon Bryant from Richard O jacobson Technical
High representing Penllis County Schools as a state finalist thank you as we have a picture with our winners of the year and our volunteers of the year I want to thank all the families i know we have some school personnel that are here tonight to support them thank you
so much and keep up the great work our next recognition is for the Adult and Career Education Florida Teacher of the Year and I'd like to call up the executive director of adult career technical education Mr mark Hunt to introduce our teacher of the year who is
from Penllis County Schools mr hunt thank you Mr hendrickk madame Vice Chair board members Mr hendrickk and staff and all of our guests uh every year the Adult and Community Educators of Florida names
their adult education teacher of the year and out of 35,000 full-time adult educators across the state this year that recognition comes to one of our very own like to introduce Mrs jet
Fowler who is an adult high school uh gradu um excuse me adult high school teacher and GED teacher at Clear View Adult uh who has a tremendous number of graduates and one of the things that her
graduates say about her is that she expects the best from them and believes in them and that causes them to believe in themselves so with that I'd like to welcome Mrs jet Fowler as the Florida
Adult Education Teacher of the Year also with her tonight are her husband and two of her sons i'd like to have them stand up and also her principal and some supporters from Clear View Adult congratulations Mrs
fowler and finally tonight our last recognition our recognition of recipients of state and national award winners from our K12 student body we will recognize each set of students and have them come up and take pictures with our uh schoolboard members and our first
set of students will be the winners of the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards if those students will come up the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are the nation's longestr running and most prestigious recognition programs for creative teens if you guys
will go right over here and I'll call you up just one at a time first ones these students here are among uh five gold medal award winners in Penllis County Schools they will receive their gold medals in the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards ceremony in
Carnegie Hall this June in New York City congratulations to Sophie Valentino from Deneden High School Aiden Evans from Gibbs High School and Ethan Pinto from Hollands High
[Applause] Congratulations [Applause] our next recipient is a student from Clar High School the captain of the girls swim team who is receiving tonight
on behalf of the entire swim team who won the gold scholar team award from the national intercolastic swimming coaches association of America clara High School's girls swim team was recognized for the highest team gradepoint average
in the nation the team earned an average GPA of 3.08 here tonight to represent Clearwater High School is swimmer and captain Alexandra
[Applause] Kinsey congratulations our next set of honores are also an athletic team recognized for a state championship in academics and that is
the East Lake High School girls soccer team which had the highest grade point average in the Florida High School Athletic Association for class 6A the soccer team earned an average GPA of 3.826 across the state by the way the
team also made the state championship game last year and final four this year congratulations and here tonight to represent East Lake High School are members of the girls soccer team Khloe Kristofferson Maya Figer and Ava Lewis
congratulations our third academic athletic champion team tonight is also from East Lake High School the girls wrestling team which had the highest grade point average in class 1A in the entire Florida High School Athletic Association the team
earned an average GPA of 3.868 here tonight representing East Lakeake High School's girls wrestling team are Emerson Brandt Phoenix Crane and Leila Miman
[Applause] all All right congratulations our next recognition is a student who won the statewide Black History Month Essay Award contest recognized tonight is Eva Baldwin from Adira Beach Fundamental
School who was one of six students in the state of Florida and one of only two middle school students to receive the award she will receive a two-year Florida prepaid college scholarship and a $100 gift card for school supplies congratulate from Adira Beach Fundamental Eva
[Applause] Baldwin congratulations Our next set of honores come from Palm Harbor University High School and it is the team robotic team which recently won first place in the state's first tech
challenge championship the team's name is Voltater and they are headed to the World Championships in Houston Texas next week tonight please congratulate students on the Voltteras robotics team from Palm Harbor University High School
alejandro Aoyo Sadoho Carter McKay Rachel Mesador and Sophia Swirddoff [Applause] please wish our students best of lucks
next week and students that is an excused absence for the World Championships [Applause] and our final honore tonight is a student from Seminal High School who won first place in the state of Florida
Shades of Purple art contest poem for art contest for her poem the contest sponsored by the water reuse association raises awareness about the benefits of water recycling and here tonight is the statewide winner in first place from
Seminal High School Adeline Conway [Applause] congratulations congratulations Adeline and our board members will join us back up at the deis and congratulations to
all of our students our volunteers and all those recognized tonight you are certainly welcome to stay for our entire board meeting but now is also a good time to exit if you so choose we look forward to seeing you in schools very soon we will now move on to public comments
on agenda items mrs hal are there any speakers yes Madam Chair we have one speaker for agenda items members of the public have three separate opportunities to address the board when we gather for a business
meeting the first is public comment on agenda items the second is at public hearings most of which are policies the last is after our meeting when speakers may address the general business of the district at each opportunity for public
input board members are here to listen to you this is not a time for interaction but the board will take your comments into consideration before it votes on the agenda items 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 lastly please note that this meeting and all public
comments will be broadcast broadcast live on the internet and the video will be publicly archived members of the public may always communicate with the board through our email address boardpcsb.org or by calling the board
office at 5886300 thank you mrs hal please call the first speaker mark Kuth speaking to item 7.4 4 and 7.5 Marlutho Largo 7.5 uh again your strategic priority
fiscal and operational responsibility for another bad building $2.7 million and of course you mentioned the HVAC oh
yeah pump that carbon pump the carbon the purchasing items in accordance with bid policies and procedures well you know what's going to
happen don't you we have the new Trump tariffs or should we say taxes and what's that going to
do to those bids and procedures are you ready for that what's that going to do to your stupid buildings if you were doing them the right
way building for the longterm future the right way the right way not what I see like that stupid building up at Clear Water High oriented the wrong way with that
West Glass what kind of bid did you get on that one the future's dim your procedures are all wrong all wrong more to come madam chair there are no other speakers
for agenda items thank you item six is unfinished business there is no unfinished business we will move on to item seven may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda
we with a motion from Mrs long and a second from Mrs meyers all in favor any oppose the motion passes 6 for agenda item eight we have no items
for this agenda and we will move on to item number nine mr hendrick thank you Madam Chair uh I wanted to start tonight by just giving a quick update on legislation and items in Tallahassee we continue to of course monitor that legislation uh and in
particular the budget uh we've seen on average about a 1% uh increase proposed from the governor the house and the senate which will mean an overall decline in funding for Penelis County Schools likely in the tens of millions of dollars due to declining enrollment and increased cost we'll have an update
on revenue projections staffing allocations and how we will balance the budget at our workshop next week additionally we're tracking multiple bills including school safety charter schools funding for advanced academics and career technical courses and much more i know board members are similarly
tracking these uh events and bills and providing input advocacy and feedback where needed moving to some academic competitions we heard a little bit from some speakers earlier about this but as part of the student experience we've continued to increase academic competitions across the district and one
recently has expanded districtwide and that is the middle school algebra bowl competition and I want to offer congratulations to the following five schools who will participate in next week's championship clearwater fundamental middle school Safety Harbor Middle School Thood Marshall Middle
School Morgan Fitzgerald and Metalon Middle Schools as we quickly approach fast testing next month we continue to look for ways and methods to engage students in fun and meaningful ways as we continue the school year and we look forward to that competition next week
just last week we celebrated two Penelis County Schools teachers who were named emerging teachers of the year every school in the district has an opportunity to nominate a teacher as emerging teacher of the year who is someone with less than three years experience and just last week we named the two district-wide winners Safety
Harbor Middle School teacher Emma Johnson and Walsingham Elementary School teacher Gabriella Hernandez congratulations to Miss Johnson and Miss Hernandez and all the teachers recognized as emerging teachers of the year penelis County stu students recently won multiple awards at the
future business leaders of America statewide competition held in Lakeland last week more than 500 Penllis County students competed in the competition and dozens of students qualified for the national competition in Anaheim California in June
seven teams from six schools including two middle school teams won first place in their competitions winning teams included East Lake and Fitzgerald middle schools and Countryside Oyola Palm Harbor and St petersburg high schools if you were listening carefully you knew that Countryside was one of those the
students mentioned it a little earlier tonight last weekend we also had state champions at the Florida Federation of Color Guard Circuit State Championships that took place in Daytona Beach three first place winners across the state were the Tarpon Springs High School varsity and junior varsity teams and
Palm Harbor's color guard which won first place in the regional class A we also had top three performances from Semino High School Dened Middle School Semino Middle School and Tarpon Springs Middle School just a few minutes earlier you met some of our gold winners in the National Scholastic Art and Writing
Awards but we had 16 students win gold or silver medals which is an amazingly high number for our creative students in grades 7 through 12 winning students came from Countryside Palm Harbor University Duneden East Lake Gibbs
Holland St petersburg high schools and John Hopkins Middle School congratulations to all of the gold and silver winners and board members as you're well aware our awards season is in full swing i want to thank the board members who have been out and about at all of the awards ceremonies the Yes I
Can Awards the Maria Edmonds Hispanic Achievement Awards last night the program to recognize initiative and dedication in education or our Pride Awards for fifth and eighth grade students we recognized 450 students at Ruth Eert Hall last night and next week we'll have our honors breakfast for our
national merit finalists and semi- finalists and commended scholars so we look forward to celebrating those students next week a reminder for families that summerbridge registration is underway this year our program in elementary schools has a very strong reading focus and in middle school and
high school is for credit recovery you can check uh your status to register and log in on our website and a reminder for parents who have signed up for summer camp programs that information can be found at pcsb.org/summeramps and the uh deadline
to claim a seat is April 15th families have received an email and a phone call if they applied for a summer camp and you can select that in focus we've also recently asked families for feedback on transportation needs for next year in our annual ridership survey and so check
your child's focus page and you can let us know if you qualify for transportation and if you need that transportation next year and finally tonight Madam Chair I want to recognize one of our employees who's recognized by a colleague for demonstrating district core values and tonight's honore is Mrs
deborah Bogs a food and nutrition cook specialist at Rididgerest Elementary School for the last 28 years she was recently recognized by a colleague because she always has a friendly greeting and a pleasant smile for her students connecting with our youngest
students in a heartwarming way many of our kindergarten and first grade students look for her line each and every day her attendance at school is impeccable even during a recent health scare this year she will be retiring in May after 28 years and our students and
I will miss seeing her each and every day thank you Mrs bogs and all of our employees for the work they do for our students every day thank you Madam Chair thank you Superintendent Hendrich agenda item 9.2 items introduced by the school board attorney Mr kaperski I have no
report this evening thank you thank you agenda item 9.3 items introduced by the board mrs hine has shared a statement that she has asked u be read tonight mrs hal will you read her statement
thank you good evening this may sound odd but I am both sorry and grateful to not be with you this evening sorry because the professional work we do educating children is the very most important work and grateful because my husband and I have welcomed a brand new grandson into our family and it is a
great blessing to walk with our daughter through these first few days i wish everyone this joy i have three topics I would like to address this evening first I would like to congratulate board member Caprice Edmund on her recognition as a first lady of African-American history by the Woodson African-American
Museum of Florida and for her renewed distinction as a certified board member through the Florida School Boards Association welld deserved second an update on the Health and Human Services Leadership Board we met this past Friday board members Lisa Kaine and Katie Blackburg joined as well
the question that the leadership board had asked itself last spring after receiving presentations on the impact of technology on youth and society was this could Panellis County collaboratively develop and implement something that would improve the health and safety of our county with respect to
technology we received an update on the ongoing work of Penllis County Schools and the juvenile welfare board regarding the digital responsibility work that is reaching youth in K12 schools and out of school programs we also learned that JWB is working with a pediatrics providers
council on the best message and pathways for that message to reach parents regarding best practice around the topic the board agreed that there was more work to be done on the topic and further agreed that a working group would meet this summer to discuss next step as well as review the bylaws of the health and
human services leadership board which were most recently updated in 2015 lastly I would like to share two key items from my time in Tallahassee last week i had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with 10 legislators and attend multiple committee meetings two
things related to the PCS legislative platform are abundantly clear number one our platform asks for an elevation of career technical education though House Bill 5101 proposes to reduce the funding of career technical
programs by 50% along with AP IB ACE and dual enrollment classes there is a Senate bill 2510 which is similar i would encourage us all to contact our delegation and any others to oppose these reductions number two our platform also asks for
sufficient funding of the escalating costs as required by the state for increasing teacher pay and contributions to the Florida retirement system both things that we want to do the less than 1% funding increase proposed by the House not only will not cover the state
required expense increases it will not cover health care cost increases or other inflationary impacts on our budget while we might hear record education funding please bear in mind that when revenues do not keep up with inflation that is the same as a reduction in
funding i also encourage all of us as well as the public to ask for a minimum of 2% increase to education funding even that is low even that is lower than the inflation index and it is lower than in the increased revenue the
state has received we must ask for it and work with the remainder of this year on helping understand why the state systematically funds education below the index and how we can change that in the future in summary oppose the 50% cuts to CTE and advanced coursework and insist
on a minimum of 2% increase to base student allocation many blessings and I look forward to being with you at the workshop on Tuesday thank you are there any other board reports miss Peters thank you
um I just wanted to thank um say I was at the Pride Awards last night and it was just it's always an amazing it's always an amazing event um shaking the hands of all those little kids and they're all different ages and sizes
it's just it's always just wonderful to see the faces that of the people that our work impacts so I I just I'm so grateful for that um I want to echo um congratulations to Miss Edmonds for hers
for her award um but I want to recognize Mr hendrickk because I know he won't do it and uh we are so lucky to have him as our superintendent but he was again um recognized as Tampa Bay's uh one of
Tampa Bay's uh most 100 influential people by uh Tampa Bay's Business Journal so uh congratulations to Mr hendrik and congratulations to our district for um for having him as our superintendent and I just can never say
enough about having him here um to guide our district and and just I don't know I can't say enough so thank you Mr hendrik and thank you um to all those who contributed to that and um I think that's it thanks
any more reports thank you um so I do have a couple of reports um this week is assistant principles week thank you assistant principles for the skills and support that you provide students staff and the families that you serve you are
appreciated and there were several items that we voted on in the consent agenda and I'd like to just talk about two of them agenda item 7.3 which is a transfer for the chief chief strategy impact
officer mrs do um Mrs dole's position which will save the district over $200,000 the departments who reported to the chief strategy and impact officer will now report to the superintendent and deputy superintendent some
constituents have asked for reductions in administrative staff at this building and this is one example of superintendent Hendrick and team finding efficient and practical ways to meet the needs of the district and address some budget constraints mrs dole has provided
great leadership in her role as as chief strategy and impact officer i'm confident her experience and insight will build upon the work established by Mr hendri uh Mr herbick and team once this transition is
finalized for agenda item 7.5 the board approve allocating additional funds at the Betty Ray Ivy um area for building five to bring that up to code and this will serve as a STEM and robotics center for students to build practice and
compete with students from other schools as well as being a storage facility last Wednesday and Thursday I was in Tallahassee advocating for our local platform and the platform of Greater Florida Consortium as school
boards as the president of the organization mrs hine attended the legislative days also as mentioned in her report i met with several legislators and watched some of the committee meetings there were several key takeaways one is the budget proposals
will not fully fund public schools the governor Senate and House budget differ in various ways this is spoken about more in depth during our business meeting the budgets for both the House and the Senate are expected to head um
to their committees or chambers for a vote this week mrs hind reports discussed the impact of House Bill 5101 we met with the representative sponsoring this bill and ultimately I really hope that the emails calls and
discussions regarding this bill lead to a repeal penllis County Schools could potentially lose over $19.4 million if this bill passes this 50% cut would impact AP IB Ace CAPE and early
graduation there are several bills that will negatively impact our district and students if they pass so to echo Mrs hines sentiments please contact your legislators on a positive note I was
able to connect our wonderful director of nursing uh Mrs tool with Senator Guo um Smith regarding the EpiPen legislation that he's working on and what he's trying to do as it relates to
EpiPens and making sure that students have this lifesaving um medication is something that we're doing right here already so we are leading here in Penllis County Schools overall if we don't show up or advocate for what our students staff and
schools need it would appear that all is going well and there are no complaints our next meeting will be held in Tampa at the FSBA FAT conference for the consortium and I will begin planning to host the school board members and
staff from other districts here in Penllis County as we begin planning for the 2526 legislative session consortium staff will also begin contacting member districts regarding hurricane relief efforts and support that way we're a
little bit ahead of the game instead of having the impact and trying to scramble to find resources the next district monitoring advisory committee meeting is April 24th at 6 pm the meetings are held virtually
and are recorded for additional information please visit the district's website also the district safety and security committee meets monthly to discuss safety and security i participated in the meeting last month
and I am very appreciative of the collaboration leadership and receptiveness of committee members and partners thank you i have received several safe zone resolution emails and I'd like to acknowledge that it is the right of
every child regardless of immigration status to access a free public K12 education and the district supports and welcomes all students the district also has the responsibility to ensure that all students who would who reside within
its boundaries have access to an education the district has procedures that they would implement if a school was visited by immigration officials these procedures were shared with school-based administrators if you have questions or
would like additional information please contact the district and lastly I would like to just take time to honor former school board member Mary
Brown recognizing the life and legacy of her her lifelong passion for children and education was evident from operating a daycare serving as the director of coordinated child care and being elected
to Penllis County School Board in 2002 she was the first African-American person elected to the school board she will always be remembered for the impact she had and I'm grateful for the work which has paved way for myself and those
elected before me may we please honor her for a moment of silence thank you agenda item 9.4 review of board requests mrs woodford did you note any board requests
madam Chair I did not note any board requests this evening thank you i adjourn this meeting and we will now move to public participation meeting adjourned mrs hal
are there any speakers yes there are eight speakers this evening please note that the views and comments of public speakers are their own and not endorsed nor sponsored by the school board or district we cannot ensure the
accuracy of statements ba made but will review concerns that are raised and take action when appropriate this 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 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 Hendrik may leave the dis briefly there are speakers in the back room and we will continue to be able to hear your comments thank you the first two speakers are Mark Pluto
and Lee Bryant marluto Largo what I am saying is accurate and has been for 25 years
and you people flagrantly ignore it it's inexcusable yeah and you the governor Governor
DeFure and his Republican cronies what do they want to do they want to give us a new guilded age on steroids
having young teenagers working the minds yeah I don't have the article with me but there's an extensive article I will be bringing but here's one from earlier
here's what immigration cracks down crackdowns mean for Florida yeah overnight the children's will be working young 14 year olds and what it
means there'll be poor learners and they'll be dropouts yeah like I said a guilded age of course you know when they want the surfs and the aristocrats that's how it works and you
know I hear the refrain again oh woe is we not as enough money not enough money but here we are in this room and the air conditioning has not stopped
running well you know when you have a stupid lighting system to start with you have to keep pumping the AC to remove the heat the lights generate and when people are wearing coats and
ties you need more AC to remove that body heat now like I say I've been bringing this for 25 years and of course what do we just read
in the paper the manatees are in bad bad shape it all adds up you people are terrible i mean good evening Vice Chair Edmond members of the board Superintendent
Hendrick and staff my name is Lee Bryant and I'm the president of the Penllis Classroom Teachers Association uh Miss uh Miss Eban it looks like you were reading my notes because I was also going to recognize Mary Brown and her contributions as the first
African-American elected to the school board here in Penllis County uh congratulations Mr hendrick on your award uh but that brings me back to this i wonder what the heroes that inspired me as a young man would think about what's going on in the United States today heroes like Ruby Bridges who just
founded the Ruby Bridges Foundation just 25 years ago just 25 years ago uh to promote the values of tolerance respect and appreciation for all differences describing the mission of the group she said "Racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to
spread it." While I applaud the January statement from Superintendent Henrik and staff regarding the policies of agents possibly coming on campuses of Penllis County Schools I do not believe it goes far enough the school safe zone schools
resolution would declare formally and emphatically it continues to be the policy of the district not to allow any individual or organization to enter a school site if the educational setting would be disrupted by that visit given the likelihood of substantial disruption
posed by the presence of ICE or state or local law enforcement agencies acting for ICE and requests from ICE or other agencies to visit a school site should be presented to the superintendent's office for review as to whether access to the site is permitted by the law a
judicial warn is required or any other legal considerations apply this review should be made expeditiously but before any immigration law enforcement agent or officer appears at a school site and it continues be it further resolved the
district shall post this resolution at every school site and distribute it to district staff students and parents using the usual means of communication and that the resolution be translated into all the languages spoken at home
that I believe is very important and it's easy for us to speak it here where there are going to be very few people who pay attention let's be honest your ratings aren't great uh but putting it into the language of the people that are at home would reassure them that we are
on their side and we believe in the safety of all of our students all of our students and their families i once again ask the school board to formally adopt the safe school zones resolution thank you for your time alone we can do
so little together we can do so much the next two speakers are Nicole Staint ledger and Allison Ford good evening there was a general feeling of hope when this district administration started that it would be supportive not only of students and
their families but importantly supportive of the teachers in this district teachers parents and students have stood here asking you to listen to why they want to keep an eight class schedule in response to the outpouring
of support you went back to the schools and gave them the choice of teaching six of seven or seven of eight with no pay change you made the schools and teachers vote vote on if the classes were reduced
or if they would work without an increase in compensation for the extra class you set the teachers up you set it up to be able to say the teachers chose this making them the scapegoats for the dis for the district's
decision this action is the opposite of supporting teachers in this district i am here to say as a parent we will not let the responsibility of the scheduled decision be placed on the teachers they were given two bad choices
take away a class and impact the education students receive or add more responsibilities to their already full schedules i know students that will not be able to complete their lines of study next year as
seniors because of the loss of this class and the statement made that these teachers are not working as much as other teachers is laughable as they are filling their open periods afterchool times and vacations with rehearsals
practices and competitions neither the teachers nor the students are winning here the district decided to make this change without asking for any input from schools teachers or families in many
cases students had already been asked to start course selection for the next year before the announcement of the schedule change was made now please note if my last statement is incorrect that you did ask for input I
then ask please release the public records regarding this topic that were requested almost two months ago because transparency from this district has been non-existent thank you
hello thank you for the honor of speaking and tonight I am not just speaking for me but for several other parents who have all had bullying and special needs concerns that they do not feel are being addressed at Oakhurst Elementary School while I am only going to list the concerns tonight that have occurred to
me personally please understand that many of these have occurred to other parents and they have asked me to share more of my story in terms of what's going on i have a seven-year-old autistic son that's attending Oakurst Elementary School and like the majority of special needs he has an individual
education plan and IEP upon starting at Oakhurst Elementary School uh the school including Principal Kennedy refused to allow my autistic son to receive special needs services and instead placing him in a general education classroom without access to
services for two months despite numerous protests including an email from the Florida Department of Education advising them that it is illegal against federal and state law to my knowledge and numerous requests nothing was investigated so that this wouldn't
happen again to other students after that Oakurst was legally required to provide my son with compensatory services to make up for those two months after three months of asking Miss Briana Tasar instead of working with me to have any kind of plan she ordered Oakurst
Elementary School to implement a plan that I had rejected and had not even been able to show my son's father yet i have asked her to work with me to make some kind of plan she has refused and I have also asked this to be looked at by
Superintendent Hines and Superintendent Hendrik neither one will look into it to this day that plan is still being implemented without our consent i've also reported that my son has been physically bullied to the point
he's hurt called rude names made fun of his disabilities told to excuse me an F-word is in included but told to f off given the middle finger and relentlessly teased to the point he's in tears and doesn't want to go to school principal Kennedy said that despite
witnesses and several other kids in his class getting teased in the same way by the same bully she will unfound all of the bullying reports because she said this is only teasing and teasing is not bullying which is against the Florida
Department of Education's definition of bullying i reported this to Superintendent Hines Superintendent Hendrickk to look into as I believe that it is the school's responsibility to look into bullying complaints fairly and
not unfound them based on a false definition this has not happened i've reported that Assistant Principal Smith questioned my son in front of the bullies nothing has happened i've been yelled at nothing's happened i've reported that my son has
been denied a safety plan nothing happened and I hope to work with you and wish it could go on thank you the next two speakers are Trish Lee and Tracy McConnell
mrs hal would you please call the next two so they're ready thank you they will be followed by Andrea Dort and Markeel Wrangler good evening members good evening members of the board my name is Trish Le and I am a Cambridge program student at
Holland High School my prim primary objective here today is to explain to you why we need to keep the eight class block schedule the official PCS Q&A portion on the PCS website discussing the block schedule explains that it will help
students retain material and connect more with their teachers this is false a 45minute class period does not adequately ensure enough one-on-one interactions for example the average instruction time is anywhere from 30 to
50 minutes some teachers may even use the entire 90minute class period i am speaking from personal exper experience and I have seen and what I have seen is that the extra allotted class time without the pressure of a time crunch of a 45minute class period has shown three
things one more questions to be asked by students for further clarification on topics two more group work with classmates and three more discussion time a study done by Harvard associate professor Eric Taylor across 2,00
classrooms shows that more class time allowed for students to score 08 of a standard deviation higher on their English assessments which accounts for only onethird of a standard deviation of total teacher contributions to their test scores now I've just said a lot of mathematical terms that may not make any
sense to you but to put it into perspective that is the difference between a student a population of students passing a class and not passing now I would like to address Holland specifically because we have three rigorous programs that are in
desperate need of the 4x4 block schedule cambridge the Academy Academy of Entertainment Arts and Culinary these programs desperately need the full hour and a half class time because there are many projects lessons and opportunities that cannot that cannot be done in simply 45 minutes
alone contrary to what the general public may think you cannot decorate a cake anywhere in under an hour you cannot create a film in 45 minutes our programs are successful where AA students win awards for their films culinary students receive real useful certifications and Cambridge students
obtain merit scholarships for their dream schools although there is discussion of turning those programs program classes such as culinary into two class periods so that they still have the 90 minutes that takes away the um the opportunity for electives this
includes computer science classes art classes ASL foreign language classes and many other electives all of this to say that the instruct extra instructional time matters although yes 45 minutes for 80 days is the same as 90 minutes for 90 days from all of these classes however
that 45minute gap can be life-changing and I would not be standing before you today if it weren't thank you for your time hello my name is Tracy McConnell i'm a third grade teacher at Penellis Central Elementary it was just nine short months ago that I came here to one
of the first evening schoolboard meetings of the year at that meeting I celebrated with all of you how Penella Central was an A and we got that A because me and the other teachers at my school worked hard with our students to get there at Penllis Central we believe
in love first when you build a relationship with a student it really opens the world to them students cannot learn until their basic needs are met this means they must be fed loved and feel safe before learning now I'm going
to point out something that we all know and live every day the world is a scary place even if you are an adult imagine what it's like to be a kid in this political climate kids don't really understand what's going on they
just get pi bits and pieces of what they hear on TV or overhear whispered conversations from their parents that are not meant for a kid's ear then they must try and come to school and function i was a third grade teacher during the
2016 election i had many ESOL students in my class i remember a little boy who was a very sweet boy who always worked hard at school he was just over his two years in a Florida school so he needed to pass the state assessments to go to
fourth grade i noticed as time passed and the election got closer the little boy was acting differently one day he came in and he wasn't working instead his face was red and he had been crying
i pulled him to side pulled him aside to see what was wrong and what he told me was heartbreaking he wasn't sleeping because he was afraid that if Trump won the election that his parents would get taken from him i
hugged him and reassured him as best I could that he didn't need to worry about any of that all he needed to know was that his parents and the people at school would do what was needed to be done to keep him safe the point is kids need our
reassurance and leadership now more than ever if Penllis plans to maintain our A we need to make sure that we send the clear message that our schools are safe for all kids I encourage you all to sign the safe school resolution and wear the
safety pin with me to show all teachers and students that you support safe schools i'm going to go ahead and I'm going to give you guys this bag and there's lots of different colors in there and you can choose the color that you would like thank you so much
andrea Dort and Markeel Wrangler good evening board and people of the audience i want to let you know that I agree with
everything that the chair uh Mrs hines said in the remarks today especially um in regards to state legislation but I would suggest to the public and to everybody else to um ask the legislation to not do an increase of
2% let's do 4% that would cover our cost of living hopefully a little bit better than just the measly 1% they were offering so the other thing I wanted to do is say I agree with the superintendent's comments on the
legislation thank you very much public needs to keep our legislation held to our constitution to fund public education not reduce funds i also want to congratulate Mrs edmonds and um her awards and
recognitions i am very proud to have served as Mrs edmond's teacher and I've also served with her as a teacher and a union member so um she just it
just the district is blessed to have Mrs edmonds thank you very much for that um I was saddened to hear about the loss of Mrs brown and I also want to support
the union in the safe zone in regards to our resolution because I do believe in safety in the classroom which brings me um lastly to uh something that's personal i am a
30-year veteran i've been teaching in the district since 1994 i have several degrees and um I started out as a drama teacher and I was recruited to be a reading teacher because you know drama in the classroom
reader theater projects and I all the skills I have to have um projects towards being a reading teacher so I've been teaching most of my career as a reading teacher and um I've been very successful especially this year with my
juniors uh meeting their graduation requirement um it's been a a challenge this year to have me set back and I was asked to teach the ninth and tth graders in foundational classes and I heard from the previous teachers who've been doing this for the last three years that it's
very difficult to do this job when you combine nth and tth graders and um one of our teachers on our campus is not working with us right now because she's home taking care of her husband but even the substitute has complained and um
acknowledged that it is very difficult to the maturity level of our students to be in a ninth and tth grade combined found foundational class good evening my name is Marco Rangel and I am a first grade teacher at Aelia Elementary before I begin I just
want to say I apologize if my voice shakes public speaking is not exactly my thing unless it's in front of a room of six-year-olds but I believe so strongly in what I have to say tonight that I'm stepping out of my comfort zone because I know I'm speaking not just for myself but for so many teachers who feel the
same way i'd like to speak about what's really at stake with the decision to cut instructional and support staff not numbers not budgets people students the lives of children who walk through our doors every morning needing more than we already have the capacity to give at
Aelia we're learning we're losing 11 educators and staff 11 relationships 11 trusted adults who help students feel safe seen and successful these aren't people you can simply replace with a staffing formula these are people who understand our students many of whom
who've come to school carrying the weight of circumstances beyond their years i'm projected to start next year with 21 to 22 students and I know more will come i've gained four students midyear this year alone it's disheartening to walk into a new school
year already burnt out knowing I'll be expected to meet the unique academic behavioral and emotional needs of two dozen young children on my own this is particularly frustrating as I pride myself on my ability to meet my students where they're at and I can confidently say the same about my phenomenal
team this 20 to1 ratio being pushed forward by this district is just unsustainable it's inhumane and I don't say that lightly it's impossible to give students the individual attention they need when you're stretched so thin impossible to differentiate effectively
impossible to know every student the way they deserve to be known you've been in schools you've been in classrooms but unless you've stood in front of 26 and seven year olds with no other adult in the room on a testing day during a meltdown while you're trying to retach a
concept to a small group you don't fully understand what we're being asked to do this is not the profession I entered we've lost nap time play and space for social emotional development in kindergarten currently my class is rushing into abstract math concepts in first grade just because it's on the
upcoming STAR assessment not because it's developmentally appropriate our kids need more support not less they need nurturing they need consistency and they need the adults in this room to prioritize what's right over what's
easy i urge you to fight to fight for the teachers who show up every day and pour everything they have into students because we are running on empty in this district system keeps asking us for more thank you Madam Chair there are no more speakers
thank you