Good evening. I call this meeting of the Penllis County School Board on June 9th to order. Please note that there are five board members present in person. Miss Meyer is unable to attend this evening and Mrs. Long is appearing via
Zoom. Mrs. Long, can you hear me? >> Yes, I can. >> Thank you, Mrs. Long. The votes will reflect six boards, six board members present. Please stand for a moment of silence and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance led by Vice Chair
Don Peters and for the national anthem. God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [singing] [music] What proud we [singing]
at the twilight lasting [singing] stripes and brightly [music] [singing] [singing] stream and the rocking The bombs [singing]
bursting in gave through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, [singing and music] say does that star spangled
[singing] yet for the land [singing] of the free the [singing] Thank you. You may be seated.
Now on to agenda item one 1.5 gradu graduation recap 2026. >> And if you take anything from tech high, let it be this. You are loved. [music] If not by me, then by the friend sitting next to you. By the teacher who saw something in you before you saw it in yourself, [music]
or by the parent or guardian who's been cheering on since you understood what any of this meant. By the staff and [music] administration who helped build this beautiful school community. You are loved. You matter. And no matter where we go next, it's going to be all right. Congratulations, class [music] of 2026. I can't see what we do next. [screaming]
[cheering] >> I will close with my mother's words to me every morning. And yes, I still talk to my mama. Keep looking up. Love never fails. Love never runs out. Love never gives up.
Class of 2026, just like every day at the park, remember we are [music] proud of you. We love you. And make it a great Patriots day. Let's go. [applause and cheering] >> Now, can anyone, and I mean anyone, who
has made an impact on a graduate please stand as well? And I mean teachers, parents, guardian, everyone in the crowd, stand up. Today may be a celebration of the graduates, but it is also your day. I'm sure each one of you has taken time at
least once to help support or celebrate your graduate during these past four years. And to my mom and dad, thank you for seeing every version of me and loving all of them. I'm sorry.
[music] >> Thank you for never brushing off my words [music] and always knowing the right words, whether advice, comfort, or simply, "I'm proud of you." You taught me kindness, resilience, and to believe I deserve good things. So
much of who I am and who I'm becoming is rooted in your love. [cheering] >> Congratulations, class of 2026. We are proud of you. We believe in you
[applause] and we cannot wait to see all that you accomplish. That was such a great video capturing the momentous occasions of the graduations. Congratul Congratulations graduates, family, staff, and
stakeholders. It was truly amazing to see the excitement and pride as well as the tears of joy and gratitude as scholars walked across the stage. Next, we have agenda item 1.6. Six, introduction of professional and
community organization representative, Miss Mascarinius. >> Good afternoon, Madame Chair, members of the board, Mr. Hendrich and staff. It is my pleasure to introduce the following representatives of the community and professional organizations.
Representing the North Panelis League of Women Voters, Debbie Entric, members of the media in attendance from the Tampa Bay Times, Jeff Solichek. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Now on to agenda item 2.1, amendments to the agenda. Mr. Hendendrick, are there any changes to the agenda? >> Yes, Madam Chair. There are two changes to the consent agenda. Item 7.5, request approval of the personnel recommendations for administrative
appointments for the 2627 school year. There are six names that have been removed. They were placed on the wrong agenda. And item 7.7, request approval of personnel recommendations for annual contracts for support staff as well as PTS names were added to that agenda. So
7.5 and 7.7 have been amended to correct the job titles. >> Thank you. Board members, do you have any changes? As board chair, I find good cause to amend the agenda as described by Superintendent Hendrick.
Now on to the adoption of the agenda. May I have a motion to adopt the agenda as amended? >> I have a motion from Mrs. Hine and a second by Mrs. Peters. All those in favor say I. >> I.
>> Any oppose. The motion to adopt the agenda as amended carries six to zero. We will now move on to item four, special order agenda. Mr. Hinder. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll ask our
board members to go down in front of the dis for this portion of the schoolboard meeting where we recognize outstanding achievements of students in Penllis County Schools. We're excited to have so many students here tonight who are being recognized for state level awards in athletics, in academics, in the arts,
and this includes recent ones and ones from a few months ago as well. As we call on each one students, you're going to come up front. You'll take a picture with our schoolboard members, shake their hands, and take a picture. Uh we have an a photographer who will kind of direct you to the center of the line
there. Um, I think we have a few parents here tonight to celebrate their children and some uh staff as well. If you'd like to take a picture at the same time, feel free to do so. You can kind of sneak up to the side or behind our photographer. We just ask that you not run in front of the photographer while she's taking her picture. And so, we're going to start
tonight with the Commissioner Academic Team Challenge Champion. So, when I call your names, you guys can start to walk up to the front. Penelis County School's academic team won the Division One, which is the largest district state championship at the Commissioner's Academic Team Challenge in April. The
tournament tests students knowledge across a range of subjects including language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, fine arts, world languages, physical education, health, and technology. This marks Penelis County School's eighth first place victory in the history of the academic
commissioners challenge, including the second year in a row back-to-back state champions. Please welcome tonight students from the following schools. From East Lake High School, uh, Tis Shereim from Hollands High School, James
Mowski and Lyanna Tran. And from Palm Harbor University High School, William Kent and Aiden Khalil. And Aiden was also selected to the Allstate Florida academic team. There's their FHSAA state
championship. And let's congratulate our state academic champions. [applause and cheering] [applause] Four of those five are off to college, including two to UF, one to MIT, one to Georgia Tech. No pressure on the returning junior. [laughter]
Next, our state chemathon championship team from St. Petersburg High School. A team from St. Petersburg High School won the state chemathon championship at the University of Florida. The students placed first place in the team competition for level one, which follows the preap chemistry curriculum. They
were named the overall best team out of 29 teams competing from the state. And here to represent the team tonight from St. Petersburg High School is Samuel O. Come on up, Samuel. [applause] >> [applause] >> Next are students who won the Florida
History day state championship in their respective categories. The Florida History Day uh awards are students who won the local Penllis County competition and moved to the state level and by their first place advanced to the national competition in Washington DC
this summer. Here tonight as state champions, first from Deneden Highland Middle School is state champion Gwennneth Harrington, who won in first place, [applause] first place in the junior group
performance. And also here tonight from Adira Beach Fundamental Middle School, Wake Stern. Wake won first place in the Florida History Day special award, the Florida Coastal History Award. [applause] His coastal history award was for the
junior individual documentary. Our next category of recognitions are the Florida Art Education Association 2026 Florida Student Art Assessment Awards. Tonight, we're pleased to recognize from Palm Harbor University High School, Eva
Adil. [applause] Evo won the top honor and best in show in this statewide competition. There were only four and two of those statewide competition wins were claimed by Penllis County High School students. Congratulations.
[applause] Our next honore is for the 2026 National Junior Art Honor Society Juried Exhibition. Congratulations from Mangrove Bay Middle School, Ariana Gonzalez. >> [applause] >> Ariana won the statewide award from the National Junior Art Honor Society for
her work titled Life of Letters, which celebrates the joy of discovery she associates with reading. Her best of show is in the experiential category. [applause] Next up, we're pleased to honor from the
World Strides Heritage Music Festival Awards, the Grand Champions from Seminal High School, which won multiple awards. Seminal High School's All-In Big Band and the Wind Ensemble were both named Grand Champions at the World Strides Heritage Music Festival. The festival
was held in Washington DC April 16th through the 19th. The Warhawks also received the festival award given to the school with the two highest combined scores. Here tonight representing Seminal High School are Rebecca Novak, Dylan Vincy, Indiana Platos, Christina
Hills, Maline Vincy, and Victoria Hills. Congratulations. [applause] >> [applause] [applause] >> Also pleased to recognize students from East Lake High School who won the Smoky Mountain Music Festival Championship.
And they were honored at the Smoky Mountain Music Festival held also in April. This one in Gatlinburgg, Tennessee. The symphonic band and orchestra each received first place in the National Division 4A with the band earning the highest overall score among
all high school instrumental ensembles at the festival. Here representing East Lake High School tonight is Rodrigo Nater Flores. [applause] Congratulations. Next is the Florida Public Service Association Top Firefighting Chapter.
This prestigious statewide honor reflects the program's commitment to excellence, leadership, and career readiness in public safety, and goes to one chapter across the state, which highlights this dedication. Our representative and winners are from Penllis Park High School, which was
named the FPSA top firefighting chapter in the state. And representing the Patriots tonight are Chanty Morris and Tariq Hobson. Congratulations, [applause] Our [applause]
[applause] next category is the Skills USA Florida State Leadership and Skills Competition Gold Medalists. Skills USA is a nationally recognized career and technical student organization that prepares students for the workforce by developing technical skills, workplace readiness, leadership, and
professionalism through competitive events. 164 Panella students competed in the national competition after their place in the state level competition across a wide range of career pathways and 23 students won gold medals in this
national competition. I'm sorry, in the statewide competition here tonight honoring from our technical colleges and high schools. We're going to start with our college medalists from PTC Clearwater, Kathleen Kerin, Taylor
Vasta, and from PTC St. Petersburg, Elana Colola, Sashia Bishkov, Faith Wolf, Emily Egllett, and Yasin Ali McClendon. And those are all of our college
medalists. Congratulations. [applause] [applause] Congratulations to our college students. And now to recognize our state, statewide winners for Skills USA in high school and dual enrollment. Please congratulate Andrew Baringer, Brian
Thack, Ian White, Paige Freeman, Leah Delesio, Stella Posplovva, Thiago Fagundes, Grace Buckner, Sydney Young, Colin Dunar, and Park
Chase. Congratulations, [applause] >> [applause] >> Congratulations to all of our Skills USA. I know they have been competing in their national competitions uh this week, last week. We even have a few there this week that we weren't able to recognize tonight. So, congratulations to each group of students. Our next
award winners are for the Florida HOSA Future Health Professional State Leadership Conference. These are first place winners. And we have from Palm Harbor Middle School, first place for career health career display, Avery
Nelson and Ransom Simpson. Come on up. [applause] And for our high school winners in the HOSA future health professional state leadership conference, Sasha Gupta who won first place in clinical laboratory science, Smithy Seron who won first
place in medical assisting and from Palm Harbor University High School as well who won the Barbara James Service Award. awards with uh honor healthc care related community service hours at the gold level to pump uh I'm sorry Tapa Maida and Jessica Khalini from Palm
Harbor University High School. Congratulations >> [applause] >> And if I can call back up one more winner from Skills USA who received a gold medal from PTC St. Petersburg in aesthetics. Please welcome Marissa Veran.
[applause] [cheering] [applause] Next, we want to recognize some state champions in tennis. Starting with the FHSAA state 2-way girls tennis champion from Semino High School. Please congratulate
Freddy Hendris. [applause] >> [applause] >> congratulations. and the FHSAA state 3A boys doubles team gold medalists and state champions from Oyola Fundamental High School, Alessandro Deer Bernardo and James
Melinger. [applause] As you can tell from the ringing, their state team did well as well. The silver medal. Congratulations, Ayola. So, based on who signed in tonight, that concludes our recognitions. But I want
to give just a second. Did I miss anybody who signed in and did not get recognized? All right, everybody follow directions and we read all the names. So, congratulations to all the students recognized this evening. [cheering] [applause] >> Our board members will return to the dis
and continue the business meeting. You are certainly welcome to stay for our business portion tonight, but if you happen to want to leave, now is a very good time to do so. Have a great evening. Congratulations. All right, we're going to go ahead back
and resume our business meeting. Almost. Okay. Now on to agenda item five, public comments on agenda items. Mrs. Hal, are there any speakers for agenda items? >> Madam Chair, there are no speakers for
agenda items this evening. >> Thank you. Now on to agenda item six. There is no unfinished business. Agenda item seven, the consent agenda. May I have a motion and a second to
approve the consent agenda as amended? >> Second. >> I have a motion from Mrs. Kaine and a second from Mrs. Blackburg to approve the agenda as amended. All in favor, please say I. >> I.
>> Any oppose? The motion passes six to zero. Now on to agenda item eight. Non-consent board members, may I have a motion to approve agenda item 8.1,
request approval to advertise the preliminary budgets, millage rates, and public hearing dates for the TW for the district's 2026 through 2027 budget. I have a motion from Mrs. Kaine and a second from Mrs. Blackburg. Mr. Mr.
Hendrick, would you please introduce the item? >> Thank you, Madam Chair, and welcome to the start of our 2627 budget hearing process. As you know, the procedure by which the school district presents its fiscal budget to the board and the public is governed by state statute. And Mr. Jefferson is here to
discuss the timeline and general process with you this evening. Mr. Jefferson. >> Thank you, Mr. Hendrick. As you mentioned, state statute 200.065 065 requires the school board to advertise the preliminary budget, proposed millage rates, and the scheduled dates for our
public hearings concerning the district's 2627 budget. This advertisement must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, no more than 5 days and not less than two days before holding the first public hearing. As
such, these advertisements will be published in the T Tampa Bay Times on Sunday, July 26th. The first public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28th at 6 PM and the second public hearing is scheduled for September 8th at 6 PM. These dates comply with the
statutory requirement to hold the final hearing within 65 to 80 days of the July 1st certification of the tax rules for the county, but not earlier than 65 days after that certification. Approval of this request is necessary to
ensure compliance with the truth and millillage or trim process which is designed to inform taxpayers about the taxes they are paying and the entities levying those taxes. This process ensures transparency and allows the public to provide input on the proposed
budget and millage rates before final adoption. I respectfully request your approval for this agenda item to proceed with the advertising of the preliminary budget, proposed millage rates, and public hearing dates as outlined. >> Thank you, board members. Is there any
discussion? Mrs. Hine, >> thank you. Um, with the with the recent uh discussion in news up in Tallahassee around property tax reform, um, could we have a discussion now as to how that may or may not impact schools? We heard that it was. as we heard that it wasn't.
Could we bring some clarity? Thank you. >> Be happy to discuss that. Um, so the Florida legislature, as you know, met last week in a special session to discuss property taxes and in the end, school taxes were left off of the property tax constitutional amendment that will be presented to voters in
November of 2026. Essentially, that means that school taxes, including the required local effort, the discretionary millage, the capital outlay millage, and the referendum tax, would not be affected by the constitutional amendment if it were to pass by the voters this
November. Um, I want to take this time to say we're grateful for the incoming speaker of the house, Sam Garrison, and a couple of senators, in particular, Senators Boyd and Trumbull, and others who work to take that school tax portion off of the amendment, arguing in part
that schools in this board, have no other means of revenue if not for the FEFP. There's no opportunity for the board to charge fees or to go out and do a sales tax or to look at other ways for revenue. our revenue is the FEFP and these property taxes per state law.
However, uh this being excluded from the property tax amendment does not mean that schools or families would not be impacted by the amendment if it were to pass. We currently enjoy through partnerships with Penelis County government such as the health department and the sheriff's office a number of partnerships in which there is both
inind and direct money that supports programs in our schools. For example, school nurses are in part funded by the health department through the county commission. For example, health uh programs and clinics at five of our high schools that are funded through the department of health, juvenile welfare
board, and county government. Um, for example, police, our school resource officers. Right now, we pay for the the person themselves, but not any of the overhead and all the other things that come along that if a sheriff's
department or local municipality wanted to say, "Now, you're going to have to pay for the threat management purposes that we have and the other employees and all of our cars and helic, you know, have in partnerships with." So other local municipalities I would
expect through the resource officers would be affected by us. Certainly the juvenile welfare board it's out of schooltime providers that's their largest uh resources the out of school time that they do for families. So the R club YMCA summer programs all of that our families access. I'm not saying that
burden of of funding would come on to us but our families might be looking at us at 3:00 in the afternoon saying what do I do for the next two hours until I get off of work? Um, even smaller things like SwiftMUD, which is a small taxing agency on your tax bill. We have a partnership with them for teachers at
Boyd Hill and Brooker Creek Nature Preserve that every fourth grader in this district takes a field trip to. We pay for half of that. They pay for half of that. If their budget is cut in half, I doubt they're going to be paying for teachers for field trips anymore. So, you can go down the list with a lot of partnerships that we have that could be
impacted by this. Um, as a reminder, as a public agency, um, we may not spend public funds to advocate for or against or send any kind of communication um, about any kind of ballot item. We normally go over those rules. Mr. Kaperski goes over those rules with us around the referendum. This is
different. It's not our our issue, but we can educate and we can work with our partners and work within the law to share the potential impacts on directly Penel County schools or indirectly our families and children. Um, so that's where we sit as of this moment.
>> Any further discussion? >> I think we'll have plenty of further discussion about this, whether it's at the workshop or future board meetings, but as we heard, there will be impacts to our schools um, and to our families and to our children. So, thank you for
outlining those for us, and I do look forward to further discussions. >> Wonderful. I have a motion and a second to approve item 8.1. All in favor, please say I. >> Any opposed? The motion passes six to
zero. Now on to agenda item 8.2. Board members, may I have a motion to approve agenda item 8.2, request request approval of the proposed 5-year capital outlay plan and adoption of the tenative 5-year facilities work program for the
2526 through 2029 2030. I have a motion from Mrs. Hine and a second from Mrs. Peters. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce? >> Thank you, Madam Chair. As a reminder, the board approves the five-year capital outlay plan as it you would imagine
every five years, a new plan. This is the work plan, the annual update to that. It's typically done in the fall. However, the state portal, as is noted in the uh agenda item, did not open until after spring break. And so, we're bringing it to you at this point, even though we're sort of reviewing the past
year. So with that, I'm going to pass it to Mr. Jeep as this is more of a financial update than it is a programmatic update from operations. Mr. Jeep. >> Thank you, Mr. Hendrick. As you mentioned, this is our five-year capital plan. Basically, the roadmap for how we pay for and take care of our buildings
over the next five years. Roofs, air conditioning, technology, safety, construction projects, and our debt payments. The state requires us to update it and bring it to you every year. And the the first year of the plan becomes our capital budget. To put this
plan together, our capital committee, Miss Dah, school and district staff work through the needs using the state's facility survey and our own priority system. The needs of the district are dynamic and changing. So the plan is built to follow where the real needs are, not just where something happens to
be on the list. I will note that this is the capital plan for the current year 202526. In most years, we bring this to the board around the time the budget is approved. This year, we couldn't because the state's reporting system wasn't open, and it didn't open until March
20th. As soon as the site was open, we got the data entered, and that is what we are presenting tonight. Approving it now puts us back onto schedule. A few quick numbers. We have about 173 million dollars going to new construction and remodeling over the next five years, and
about $42 million for debt payments. A big piece of this overall plan is to just uh keep up with the maintenance like the roofs, chillers, flooring and that kind of life cycle work. We've also carried a reserve for the Hela and Milton recovery and those funds have been used throughout the the year
repairing damage from those storms. On the revenue side, the taxable values and the millage rate that the state provides show that capital funds continue to grow a little each year. We've also added uh for the fifth year 202930 um like the state require or the state
statute requires. One more note because this is the current year plan. It doesn't include costs for the planning for progress projects yet. Those will show up in next year's document. I respectfully request the approval of this agenda item to approve the proposed 5-year capital outlay plan and adopt the
tenative 5-year facilities work program for the 2526 through 2930 years. >> Thank you. Board members, is there are there any items so on this topic to discuss? All right,
I have a motion and a second to approve item 8.2. All in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose? The motion passes. 620. Now on to new business.
9.1 items introduced by Mr. Hendrick. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Since we last met, the state legislature finalized the budget, which includes the Florida Education Finance Programs projected distribution. We'll have a broader discussion of the overall budget at our June 23rd workshop and the public
hearings, which you just approved. Thank you. Um, however, I did want to provide the board and a public just a high level overview of what is contained in this budget. A reminder that it's not yet been signed by the governor. I'm not even sure it's been presented to him yet, but it hasn't been signed and certainly there can be other changes.
Um, the budget does not separate the FFP from the family empowerment scholarship or rectify any of the issues that were presented in Senate Bill 318 by Senator Gates. In Penllis, the family empowerment scholarship funds are now $172 million of the FEFP that you'll see
presented. An overall increase in FEFP funding for Penllis uh traditional public schools was 1.6%. However, because of the projected decline in enrollment of about 3,300 traditional students, the overall funding decline is somewhere between 30
and 40 million depending on how you calculate some of the categoricals, which are spread amongst multiple groups. Included in this increase is a base student allocation or BSA increase of $85 per student. From this increase, districts must meet the provisions of
the teacher salary increase allocation or TSIA that has been in place now for eight years. And this increase this year, the language in this increase provides that salary increases must be provided to classroom teachers of over
10 years of experience first. This is a major change from previous TSIA language which focused on instead raising the base salary for new teachers and then sharing equally amongst all teachers using the highly effective and effective
ratings that they received in their annual appraisals. That portion while still in the law is actually deleted from the implementation bill and focuses on this 10 years and more. There's about $5 million in this allocation uh for the
fund for Penllis County this year. And with this overall 30 to $40 million decrease and five of it having to go to this one specific thing, that adds another sort of bucket of deficit to start out with because it's dedicated to a specific part. So before any other
raises for other employees, before health care, before operational increases, certainly before inflationary aspects, it's sort of starting at a deficit. Now, the good news, of course, is we reviewed with you staffing changes due to enrollment at our April workshop and showed that we have planned for that budget with the staffing changes due to
the number of students we serve. And so, we're in a good place in terms of planning, but yet still there will be challenges. Another important part of this is the proportion of local funding for Penllis County homeowners increased another nearly 2%, meaning that 63% of
the FF funding is now from local property taxes. And if you add in the referendum and capital millage, the overall funding from local property taxes is 85% now in Penllis County where 15% comes from the state. The board had
argued around the calc 3 calculation and giving some relief back to districts. There was a one-time budget allocation of $80 million statewide for those calculation adjustments for Penllis County on a pro prorata share that uh
turned out to a 1.6 $6 million one-time allocation. So, not recurring, but one time. Again, we'll have a more in-depth discussion at the workshop on June 23rd. Uh, I wanted to jump onto some other topics, starting with our video tonight, high school graduations. I want to thank
our school board members for attending all 26 graduation ceremonies at Tropicana Field, Ruth Eckert Hall, and school locations around uh and of course the city of Clearwater as well at the Bayare Sound. uh over 6,000 graduates from Penllis County Schools and I
thought the video did a great job of showing the spirit of our students and what a great time it was especially to be back indoors at Tropicana Field. I want to thank the city of Clearwater um the city of St. Petersburg the staff at all the locations for helping our students and families along the way. Last week the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation announced the 2026 college sponsored merit scholarships additional ones 17 more Penllis County school students earned the prestigious scholarships. So they went from semi- finalist to finalist to then actually earning the scholarship somewhere between 500 and up to $5,000 annually
for four years of undergraduate study. This marks the third round of winners for the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. Three Penllis County students won the merit scholarship in May of $2,500 a year as well. Congratulations to Morgan Fitzgerald,
rookie teacher Olivia Ursch, who was recognized as the Florida Educators of Family and Consumer Sciences Rookie Teacher of the Year. The award celebrates exceptional educators in their first through third years of teaching and our own uh Morgan Fitzgerald's Mrs. Urs was recognized
across the state. She teaches fundamental of culinary careers, principles of food preparations, and exploring family and community uh science. Congratulations to her. Last week, the district honored our substitute teachers of the year. 120 nominees, one from each of our schools
were represented. Our teacher substitutes filled more than 63,000 teacher absences last year. I want to thank our board members who attended as well as the Pelis Education Foundation for sponsoring that great event. And last Thursday night, Midtown Academy celebrated the 100th anniversary of
their school building in a great community open house uh at the former Southside Junior High uh but now Midtown Academy. The school is listed on the register of historic places. First opened at Southside Junior High School in 1926 and later became Southside Fundamental. Today, of course, it is
home to the A-rated Midtown Academy Center for Cultural Arts, Gifted Studies, and Literacy Innovation. The celebration last week, last week featured school tours, a drum circle, a performance by the Gibbs High School marching band, and a ribbon cutting for the butterfly garden. I want to thank our board members who attended that as
well. Uh it's hard to believe, but our first uh week of summer bridge already came and went. We're deep into week two. And so about 5,000 students are participating in the elementary program and about 2,000 middle school and high school students are participating in programs there. We also kicked off our
summer camps last week and this week are offering more than a dozen programs ranging from girls construction camps to mural making and team sports. The very popular Ignite Arts Camp, the two-eek camp is also going on this week uh and includes a diverse range of activities
across music, dance, and theater. There are limited spots and a few camps left, some late cancellization, so families can check those out on our website. And last but not least, I'd like to recognize the superintendent standout who has demonstrated core values. And
tonight's re honore is Mrs. Kayla Weekes, a payroll technician in our payroll department. She was recently recognized by someone at one of our schools who said she went above and beyond to ensure my payroll concerns were handled accurately and efficiently,
transforming stressful moments into manageable and straightforward tasks. This person wrote in as a new secretary doing payroll for one of the first times and said that uh Kayla's outstanding attitude and her willingness to drop everything and assist her without hesitation exemplifies customer service
and her positively influences all those around her. Thank you, Miss Weeks, and all of our employees for the work that they do each and every day. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Superintendent Hendendrick. Next on our agenda 9.2, items introduced by the school board attorney.
>> I have no report this evening. Thank you, madam. >> Agenda item 9.3, items introduced by the board. Mrs. Hine, >> thank you, Madam Chair. Um, the graduations were amazing. The awards
tonight were incredible. I mean, it just even watching the video of the graduations, I mean, you're there in person and you're moved in person, but to watch the video, I was moved again. And so it's really wonderful to be reminded of the excellence that we have in our schools. And then I mean to hear about somebody, you know, they won what
the Smoky Mountain Bluegrass Festival. I don't know what it was, but some Smoky Mountain. That's amazing. Our kids are going up to the Smoky Mountains and winning band competitions. I mean, so there's there's so much good news. Um, and praise the Lord because there's so much really hard news. Um, thank you for
giving us the update on the budget from Tallahassee. I know we have our budget workshop in a couple weeks, which I'm looking forward to if we can get those documents as early as possible. That'd be great to be able to review them. I know it's something that um we all care
a lot about. You know, you hear a 1.6% increase. I just want everybody to think about what 1.6% represents um to you and your families. If you were talking about your own annual compensation increase, what that would feel like. Um, so that's that's
what our district is getting. And then you also laid out the pieces around the requirements with teacher compensation. And I know we'll start getting into negotiating that. But it's compensation. It's healthcare. Don't don't don't forget we have 12 13,000 employees. I mean, largest employer in Penllis
County. So when we're talking about compensation, it's a lot of people and it's a lot of money. And it's their remuneration. Yes. Excuse me. It's also healthare. It's also retirement. The cost of health care, as you all know in your own plans, is going up. And so how
we manage those dollars is really important and it's difficult. If the amount of money you're getting in is limited, is hitting a ceiling year-over-year for 20 years, but yet your expenses are increasing. There are tough decisions that have to be made. And so I think it's really important for
people to understand what is happening on the revenue side of the equation when it comes to your schools. Yes, you can be upset about the expenses side of the equation, too. And you can advocate for those dollars, and I want to advocate for them with you. Got to understand what's happening on the revenue side and
be able to advocate with the folks in Tallahassee around that. Um, did you you said we got 1.6 million of the third cow funding. Was our loss around nine? >> Uh, our loss was 11 point something. >> 11.
>> So, it was, you know, 10% of that >> 1.6. Thank you. you and the uh you mentioned the amount of money to um scholarships now in Penelis County at 172 million tax dollars and if you just compare that to three years ago when it was only about 15 million I mean there
just an extraordinary there have been some extraordinary changes to um the revenue side of the equation um in all aspects of education here in Florida. I do want to share with my fellow board members. I've had several committee meetings over the last few weeks. Um the
uh technology referendum committee meeting um was really good as you know those referendum committee meetings. They have people from you know elementary, middle, high, people from the community parents there and um we discussed a number of things. One being the the improvement to the Apple
computers or the the shift to the Apple computers and answering questions. Also people being grateful for the increased referendum dollars so that they could of course do do more good and then how they plan to or how they propose to spend those dollars. We got into discussion
that these referendum dollars are more for hardware not for software and I remember a couple years ago in workshop we reviewed all the different software. Remember we went through everything and we made some updates to what we did there. We had a discussion about that still the same and I'm just curious
about, you know, some of the new stuff that we've implemented over the last couple of years. How's it going? Do teachers like it? Do we think it provides, you know, so just um at some point taking another review at at all those different software that we use and getting feedback from the people in our
classrooms and our parents that are are um using it. We also had a good discussion about the amount of technology exposure in schools. you all probably hear in the news and you know people talking about amount of you know tech and kids. So that that that was a good conversation. Also the school
transportation safety committee uh was held just a couple of weeks ago. Um good presentation from the sheriff's office on ebikes and they did ask for some help with back to school. Um if if we can provide some comms to parents and
families to understand that a dirt bike is not an ebike. you know, it's become very very very very popular for especially middle school kids are begging for these dirt bikes and they're calling them ebikes. They are not and dirt bikes are not street legal and you know all these kinds of things. So, it's really interesting information when you
start getting into it. So, I know we we perform a lot of services that aren't necessarily schools, but that was one that came up. So, I'll share some of that information with you as well. We also have had a couple of calendar committee meetings. Um, and we'll be
looking at the um 2728 calendar at our next workshop and and and be talking about uh whether we have school on Veterans Day was really kind of the primary discussion at the most recent calendar committee meeting. So, I just wanted to give you um a heads up about that and I look forward to seeing
everyone at the FSBA conference over the next couple of days. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. time and that leads me to my comments. Yes, tomorrow FSBA conference begins. Um it is
definitely an exciting time. We a lot of the things on their agenda is related to AI and technology. So I plan on participating in some and then I've been invited to present to the equity committee regarding COSBA and UBA which
is the unified board advisory. So, I'll be speaking to to the equity committee as well as learning from other board members from around the state. And then Thursday night, I get to have my final meeting as the president of the Greater
Florida Consortium of School Boards and celebrate Yes, Mr. Jefferson. I'm looking at you. If Shelby was in here, I'd be looking at her. I see you. uh celebrate the hard work of the um Penllis County team in helping uh make sure that we did what we needed to do
regarding the consortium at the business dinner and the meeting. So, if you're able to come, please come. And that concludes my remarks for this meeting. Now, on to agenda item 9.4, review of board request.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. I noted too uh an update addressing how new software implementations are going since the last board discussion and possible comms to schools and families regarding ebikes versus dirt bikes etc.
>> Thank you very much. And now on to adjournment of the meeting. I adjourn this meeting and we will move to public participation. Mrs. Hal, are there any speakers? Madam Chair, we have two speakers this evening. >> Thank you. We will now move to public
comments on the general business of the district. Please note that the views and comments of the public speakers are their own and are not endorsed nor sponsored by the school board or district. We cannot ensure the accuracy of the 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 Hendrick 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. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Our speakers this evening are Joey Kresnilski and Tracy McConnell. I go first. All right. I'm in
too tall here. Okay. I'm here because I want to announce that uh a com about autism awaren my my name is Joey Creski. I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight. My um
I'm an high function autistic adult. I currently finishing my school bachelor's degree in homeland and continue my pursuing on to nur nursing to become a res nurse. I'm here tonight to ask the school board to consider creating a
basic autism awareness program for middle school and high school students along with additional autism training for school resource officers. The reason this is important is to me because I've seen a lot of bullying, misunderstanding
towards people with disability. Many students do not fully understand autism and the lack of understanding can lead the teasing, judgmental, exclusive, and bullying. I like to think of autism like a puzzle.
One puzzle piece doesn't fit every spot because every piece is shaped differently. Autism is the same way. Every person on the spectrum is different. Some people need more support. Some needs less. And even
everyone, excuse me, has their own strength and challenges. In my case, many many people would never let know I'm autistic unless I told them. My educational journey shows that autism does not prevent someone from being
successful, earning a degree or contributing to the comm to their community. The reason I came up with this idea is because understanding should start before students reach college. When students get to college, they would be surrounded by people from
many different backgrounds, include autistic individuals. often they may not know someone is autistic until they notice certain behaviors, communication styles or interactions. I also believe
that education is important because students will eventually enter the workforce become active members of the community. No matter what what career they're they choose, they will likely interact with autistic individuals throughout their lives. Having basic
understanding of autism can help create better communications, stronger relationships, and more inclusive environment. My hope is that school district will consider becoming a leader in autism awareness education. And I also hope
programs like this can eventually expand to school across the country so future generations have the better. >> Thank you. Good evening. This is my first time addressing the board as the incoming
PCTA president. Last week was my first full week doing the duties of the president. I had the opportunity to go to six nonrenewal appeals and two OPS meetings. I learned a lot. The more I reflect on my observations of the week,
the more wonderings and questions I have. I guess the biggest thing that really surprised me was that some teachers are being non-renewed after being um rated effective or highly effective with no discipline and no success plan. Couldn't these same
teachers be involuntarily transferred to other schools? Panelis had over 160 non-renewals. I'm wondering how many of those teachers who were non-renewed were highly effective or effective teachers. The lack of job security is hurting our
profession. Moving these teachers instead of just cutting them makes more sense, especially considering there are parents who are upset because they they have children who go long periods of time without a highly qualified teacher. Imagine you're a sixth grader who took
advanced math virtually so you could get ahead because that was the option given to you by your counselor. But then when you get to sixth grade, your extra work doesn't matter because you do not have a highly qualified teacher. So as a result, your test scores go down. Even
minimum wage jobs have more job security. When I worked at Michaels, anyone being let go over performance, I'm sorry. Um, anyone being let go was over performance. You would better believe that the manager let someone go.
They met with them at least to give them a warning. When an employee was let go, it caused the store to be short staffed, which means you can't meet the needs of the customer. Does PCSB have highly qualified teachers in front of all
students at all times? Another thing is someone being non-renewed after several years can bank a lot of sick time. One man, one man banked 50 days. His diligence to being in the classroom instead of using his sick time has
financially impacted him. Since the district considers any absences above 10 days as a concern, is there a benefit to banking sick time as an annual contract teacher? I know there is a state statute that
allows non-renewals, but just because we can do things doesn't mean we should. An example would be Florida law also prohibits local governments from passing heat safety mandates for outdoor workers, but businesses choose to implement voluntary rules to keep their
employees safe. So with that being said, PCSB can choose to do better by their teachers. Thank you, >> Madam Chair. There are no more speakers this evening. >> Thank you. That concludes public participation. Have a great evening.