e e e good morning I call to order this meeting on February 11th 2025 of the pellis County School Board it's so good to see all of you here this morning we will start our meeting this morning with a moment of silence followed by the
Pledge of Allegiance led by Vice chair Caprice edman and then our national anthem will be performed by Lakewood High School zephan Wharton under the direction of Charles Rogers please stand and remain standing until the completion of the
national anthem say can you see by the dawn's early light that so proudly we
held at the Twilight last gleaming who broad stripes and bright stars through the peress
fight or the rampant we want were so G streaming and the rocket red glare the bombs
bursting in air gave proof to the night that our flag was still there oh say does that
starled away the land of the free and the home of the bread I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please be seated we'll go ahead and have that U moment of silence and then
I'll ask Mr Gordon to introduce the second song thank you and excuse me Mr Rogers please introduce the second song good morning ladies and gentlemen my name is Charles Rogers I teach guitar keyboard to AP music theory at Lakewood High School this morning I have the
privilege of welcoming the students as we play music from the movie the that thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]
[Music] [Music] [Applause] that was very beautiful thank you I know for at least one of those students it
was their first time performing and this is a rather large audience you did very well we would never know who that was and I do want to mention that today happens to be National guitar day in case you didn't know that every year on February 11th so perfect timing whoever arranged to have the guitar quartet for
us this morning the next item on our agenda is a video last week was one of our our favorite weeks I know one of Mr Hendrick's favorite weeks with the student Leadership Summit so let's take a look at what those were like today we're here at the Leadership
Summit um called generation [Music] lead when I think about leadership I think about Innovation great responsibility courageous enthusiastic you have to have empathy you have to
know what they feel like kindness and respect because if you don't do that nobody will like you and they won't think you're a good leader are you ready to make a [Applause] difference listen you're going to work together as a team on an activity to
develop your listening skills I really enjoyed where we did the towers with the spaghetti and like how we had to learn how to like communicate with each other I never connected with my group before today and I feel like I really got to do that
learn you'll have a chance today to wander the campus a little bit do you get to um visit a dorm and see what a real dorm looks like I enjoyed uh playing Jenga and being asked questions about where I would be in the future and
where my interests lie lead trying to be an escavator like getting lifted around there are so many dreams in here today my dream is to become a Supreme Court Judge I want to be a pilot when I
grow up I basically want to be a pediatrician I'm looking at business go to college abroad yellow University you have the ability As Leaders to make those dreams happen connect the collaboration was really there I thought all of the like
little activities were very fun and engaging I really like the launching with the moon and the space thing I love that yes there's activity will be fun but they also have a purpose and they're designed to get you thinking about being
a better leader and going back to your school and implementing something to make your school better I hope that we're able to create projects and help the spread of new ideas and new mindsets for people starting clubs or hosting
events like a food drive or a fundraiser showing them like how to really be a leader and giving them examples of being a leader so they can carry it on and tell their friends so like it could be a leader in a community your call to action was to go back to your school and
think about how you can improve digital responsibility in your school one of our issues at school I think is cyber bullying so we want to spread kindness and make sure that everyone is appreciated and seen at school and finding methods to do that I can't wait to see you continue to grow as student
leaders in pel County Schools a lot of the time s we get told what to do and we don't have that voice and I feel like we're given a voice throughout this entire opportunity we have to like make a difference in the world and you have to like you should be a leader if you want to do that I really want to do this
next year [Music] too doesn't that look like something we all would enjoy I mean it just looks wonderful I'm sure we'll hear more about it from you later Mr Hendrick um did anybody else when they were showing the poits not is the one goal of retire my
parents I thought that was very very selfless really good the next item on our agenda is Introduction of professional and Community organization Representatives our public information officer Isabelle mascarinas good morning Madame chair members of the board Mr
hendrik and staff it is my pleasure to introduce the following representatives of community and professional organizations representing the north pilis League of Women V voters Connie kosi from the pilis arts for a complete
education Coalition Sumaya aad today we have a presentation from the student rights and responsibility committee please welcome students Lucas barski and Jules East from Lakewood High School and their school representative
Dennis Russo [Applause] good morning good morning glad to have you here good morning School Board superintendent and audience
members my name is Lucas barski and I'm a senior at Lakewood High School a cat Ambassador and Alma student throughout my time here I've had the opportunity to be a part of so many different aspects of our school Community I do swim soccer and tennis serve as captain of the
academic team Secretary of fbaa treasur of Key Club and work as an athletic trainer if there's something happening at Lakewood chances are I'm involved in some way and that's what makes this school so great there's truly something for everyone but none of this would be
possible without Lakewood High School a place that truly sets students up for Success we have incredible teachers who support and challenge us ensuring we reach our full potential the school provides fantastic resources that allow me to explore my passions whether in academics Athletics or leadership we
also take pride in our achievements and there's been no shortage of those lately lately our athletic programs have been outstanding with our varsity football and girls' basketball teams dominating in their divisions with back-to-back district and pcac championships for both Sports our students have excelled in
many areas with more than 80 of our fbaa members qualifying for States and three of our very own being National Merit finalists the most of any school in St Petersburg we've also made history by earning PBIS gold status for the first time as well as as sorry as well as our
academic growth speaking for itself with a 15% increase in proficiency rates in every school grade cell increasing this year from last year and from last year projecting our school to advance to a b-grade rating by next year even in arts our students are standing out winning
prestigious Awards like the Scholastic art silver key award and our school taking home the victory of being the 2024 Battle of the books Champions but what truly sets lakid apart is our Vibe policy keeping good values in mind being intentional being responsible and
present and encouraging Excellence these values aren't just words they're the foundation of everything we do here we respect each other hold ourselves to high standards and push one another to be the best versions of ourselves that's what makes the school feel so unique a place where every student has the chance
to shine Lakewood just is isn't just a school it's a community there's truly something for everyone from Athletics to academics to Arts being involved in so many different activities has given me the leadership skills lifelong friendships and unforget Unforgettable experiences I couldn't be prouder to be
a Spartan now I would like to introduce my friend Jules East to talk with you all now hello everyone my name is Jules East and I'm a senior at Lakewood High School I've been in the center for journalism and media at Lakewood for three years now currently the breaking news editor
and I run a breaking news team that reports on all the latest campus news I'm also this year's yearbook editor now enough about me I would love to talk to you about our amazing School Lakewood is a very unique school that offers Innovative magnet programs for example the center for advanced technology
program also known as cat the cat program offers Pathways in robotics artificial intelligence and content creation this year the cat program earned the distinction of Magnet School of Excellence which is the highest honor bestowed upon by the magnet schools of
America I would also like to tell you about the center for journalism and media program that is in partnership with the pointer Institute we refer to this program as cjam cjm allows students to choose between the media production or Sports journalism pathway this year
the cjm program was honored to be recognized as a as a Academy of Distinction by the by the pinelis Education Foundation a recent program that Lakewood Incorporated is 3de we are in year two of building our 3de program supported by Junior Achievement which
gives students project-based business experience we also have the athletic lifestyle management Academy also known as Elma which is a program at Lakewood High School that emphasizes health and wellness classes and is aimed at students who would like to pursue health
care careers Elma has awarded scholarships and grants throughout the years up to $7,000 to help students P pursue careers in the medical field however these programs would not be what they are without the dedicated and encouraging staff who who I would like
to take the time to recognize today Christopher Borg the cat director was named the Lakewood teacher of the year our counselor lesli marrow was named the 2025 pinelis County Schools counselor of the year and our wonderful campus monitor John Derby was the 2024 campus
monitor of the Year Lakewood High School has given me the opportunity to do things that I never really thought I would be able to do through the CJ program I've been able to meet the president of the rayed baseball team Brian as well as the St Petersburg mayor Ken Welch the things that I have learned and
experienced through my time at Lakewood High School have given me the tools I need to excel in college and Beyond I was recently accepted into the Florida Gulf Coast University for their pre- nursing program as well as being offered to be a part of their honors college I plan to not only obtain my bachelor's of
Science and nursing but to also further my education by becoming a nurse practitioner and I can say with absolute certainty that none of this would be possible for me without the guidance and experiences I have gained from being a student at Lakewood High School lakewood's main goal is to prepare students to be successful in their
future whether it be College trade school or anything else that students can dream of and I can say from experience that all of my dedicated teachers and mentors have helped me to become not only successful academically but as well as outside the classroom thank you for your time it's
always a Vibe at Hollywood High [Applause] Lucas and Jules thank you so much and Jules congratulations on that acceptance to the pre- nursing program at Florida
Gulf Coast that's not easy and it's excellent news for you and your family I'm very I'm very happy for you Mr Russo it's always nice to see you the next item on our agenda today any amendments to the agenda Mr Hendrick any amendments to the agenda there are no amendments Madam chair thank you
board members amend to the agenda seeing none may I have a motion in a second to approve the agenda a motion from Mrs blackburg and a second from Mrs Edmund all those in favor say I I any
opposed passes 7 to zero item 4.1 on our special order agenda today presentation of proclamation designating February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month may I have a motion and a second to
approve this item a motion by Mrs Caine and a second by Mrs long Mr Hendrick would you please introduce this it's my pleasure Madam chair I don't know if you noticed but we had some students here this morning and we're thrilled to have them here sharing their talents and Career Technical
education and was able to visit many of the tables as I know the board was as well and a number of members in this uh building and we always are just so impressed by the talents of our students some of the work that you're doing whether it be culinary work engineering uh the students interviews in the journalism program and everything in
between so thank you students for being here today thank you for showcasing your talents and to uh tell us more about our Proclamation as our executive director of Career Technical and adult education Mr Mark hunt great thank you Mr hendrik uh board members uh this is a a terrific
opportunity for Career and Technical education to Showcase what our students do the kinds of activities they engage in um you know when you think about the student experience think about CTE because that's what that entire program
is all about students experiencing something they're interested in uh getting skills from IT industry certifications uh leadership teamwork uh skills and developing all of those kinds of traits that make them a very valuable
employee and a high quality adult um as you saw this morning we had a a little sample of what we do across The District in middle schools high schools and our technical colleges uh as you could see the students are very uh excited about
what they do they're very engaged in what they do and this Proclamation is a tesate to Celebration of Career and Technical education in the month of February and I appreciate your consideration of the Proclamation thank you Mrs Kane would
you please read the proclamation absolutely this is a proclamation of Career and Technical Education Month whereas the efforts of Career and Technical Educators with business and industry stimulate the growth and vitality of our local economy and that
of the entire nation by preparing graduates for careers that are forecast to experience the largest and fastest growth in the next decade and whereas there are nearly 30,000 high school students in the district with over 22,000 enrolled in at least one course
Under the Umbrella of Career Technical education while pelis Technical College boosts an enrollment of 4,725 students in certificate and apprenticeship programs including 1,68 dual enrolled high school students
and whereas The District offers 138 programs of study in secondary and postsecondary schools which offers students career pathway opportunities leading to high skill High wage high demand careers and whereas there are 50 registered High School career and
professional education or cape capies and 18 registered Middle School capey in the district whereas elementary middle and high school students earned 11,034 industry certifications and graduate career and college ready and
whereas Career and Technical education offers individuals lifelong opportunities to learn new skills providing career choices and potential satisfaction now therefore the school board of pelis County does hereby recognize February 2025 is Career and Technical Education
Month signed this 11th day of February 2025 thank you thank you Mrs Kane and Mr Hunt any other comments or discussion we have a motion in a second to designate February 2025 as Career and Technical Education Month all those in
favor say I I any opposed passes 7 to zero thank you very much and if I may just take one brief second to thank all of the teachers and all of our CTE students that attended this morning want to thank you very much
for coming out and among our esteemed group with us we have CTE month ambassadors uh these are high school students we've selected 13 high school students from across the district to represent Career and Technical education
and also they are being recognized for for their leadership and skill if I may have the ambassadors that are still in the room please stand up I know there's two of you at least there's there we go all right thank you very
much thank you so much uh the next item on our agenda is also around Career Technical um education so item 4.2 recognizing recognition of career academies earning Academy of Distinction designation by the Stavros Career Education
board Mr Hendrick would you please introduce this item yes thank you madam chair it's my pleasure to recognize five outstanding acmis today of Distinction through the stab Rose Career Education board I want to thank the pel Education Foundation of which you'll hear from Lisa fasting uh in just a moment but I
want to thank Bob bck the current president and chair or the current chair of the penel Education Foundation Melissa L strago who's here from DC and Linda learner who serves the stabos Career Education board all working to make this day possible I want to call Mr Hunt up he's going to give a little
background on the academies of Distinction and Mr Schnell will give us a little bit of the characteristics that make you an Academy of Distinction and then once we do the introduction of those five the board will go down and take pictures once we get through the introductions Mr Hunt thank you very much and as you all know uh in our
middle schools and high schools we have a system called theems of pelis and an academy in a high school or a Middle School is essentially a small learning community within that school around the theme of the Career and Technical
education program and we leverage that theme to make uh the the academics and the applied skills that go along with that theme relevant to our young people and give them some reason for why I need
to learn this as many of us asked that question I asked that question a lot when I was in school why do I have to learn this so we're hoping that this is giving our young people the opportunity to apply those academic subjects and
with that I want to uh call up Mr Ron Schnell to tell you a little bit about the process to recognize those outstanding academies thank you Mr Hunt superintendent hendrik Madame chair honorable members of the school board members of pelis Education Foundation
and welcome guests I'd like to take a moment to outline the process for theseis as they undergo the Journey of becoming an Academy of Distinction as recognized this process includes three levels of administration first is from the CTE Department itself and internal inspection next each program provides
evidentiary facts and then finally the verification process through site visits with our Community Partners industry representatives and members of the of the pelis Education Foundation on behalf of our department I assert to you that each of the programs has risen to the highest performance
levels required of our career acmis these acmis are to be committed to for their educa dedication to Preparing our Scholars for Success after graduation in addition to their public recognition today each program earns a monetary reward to support program supplies field
trips Andor equipment needs specific to their Career Cluster at this point I'd like to introduce Miss Lisa fasting from the professional excuse me panel's Education Foundation thank you good morning I want to just take a brief moment to thank our
pelis Education Foundation board and committee members that are passionate about supporting Career and Technical education uh several of them attended the site visits to review the schools and the programs and came back with just glowing remarks about how impressed they
are with what is happening in our schools and I also want to take a moment to thank Melissa loglio from DC DC is adding an additional Financial reward for the fivey today thank you so much so board members if you'll join the
acmy Mrs H as we're making our way down there I just wanted to thank everyone for being here this morning certainly the pel Education Foundation for your support of this work but Mr Hunt and your team and all the pelis County Schools professionals who lead our career in technical education you know we're fortunate to have this here once a
year and see all of these programs but we also visit your schools and see them in your schools and they're just remarkable and it's nice to see our principles and leaders and students here today you know I heard this quote one time that said don't ask yourself what the world needs ask what makes you come
alive and do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive and that's what your programs do your programs allow our students to come alive in the school setting by something that they're really excited about so I just before we go down and when this part's done you all are going to leave and we're going to move on with our
meeting so I just wanted to take the opportunity from the whole school board to thank you and let you know how important we know what you do every day is so thank you so much thank you Mrs Hind and while you're coming down we're going to recognize those acmis that have excelled at those
measures that we use to measure the implementation of an academy and theseis are at the highest level of performance and this is not an easy measure to meet it's been very rigorous for them and a a reward that is very very valued within
the school so to start us off we're going to recognize first The Jacobson culinary arts academy from Tarpon Springs High School uh we're going to uh invite Miss Lisa Fatalis the principal of Tarpon Springs High School along with
chef Vincent pce the academy Lead Teacher and a number of students come on up and get the big check [Applause]
y'all can't be standing in front of the Schoolboard members come on now great thank you very much congratulations you can take that check back with you and display it it won't fit through the night drop at the
bank all right our next recognition will go to the center of Education and Leadership at seol high school and today they're represented by Dr Jane Lucas the principal of s seol high school as well as Miss Deanna Russo the academy Lead
Teacher and a number of cell students welcome [Applause] okay for all of
you for all of you Academy leaders out there pay attention when you take pictures that you don't get in front of the leaders that you're trying to uh promote and to smooze a little bit okay that's a little
politics all right because at some point you're going to be uh presented with that all right next is up for the center of Journalism and multimedia at Lakewood High School uh we're going to uh
recognize um the the Lead Teacher uh Chris for moer and we're going to recognize also Donald John's okay very good and some students from the academy oh and Miss Garcia you're trying
to skip out on the pictures okay Miss Kenisha Garcia the principal of Lakewood High School great [Applause]
congratulations now our for our next recognition we're going to go to the Center for technology entertainment and Design Oola fundamental High School represented by Mr Michael Bonet the principal and Miss Courtney Thompson the lead act lead
Academy teacher as well as some seed students [Applause]
great congratulations and our fifth recognition today is for the commercial and Digital Arts Academy at Raymond Richard o Jacobson Technical High School represented by Mr Josh wolfenden the principal and Miss Anita
Thompson the academy Lead Teacher along with some of their students as well [Applause] and thank you all very much for helping us recognize these
outstandings and we look forward to another group next year congratulations and thank you all very much was nous now I'm glad you're gone rela
okay on to agenda item number five public comments on agenda items Mrs Hal do we have any speakers this morning Madam chair there are no speakers for agenda items this morning thank you we don't have any items for number six unfinished business the consent
agenda may I have a motion in a second to approve the consent agenda move for approval motion from Mrs long and a second from Mrs Meyer all those in favor say I I any opposed Mr kerski is this six to zero or
seven to zero um we can request the vote when she gets back but right now the record reflects 60 thank you item 8.1 on our non-consent agenda setting a public hearing and authorizing the advertisement of the public hearing
to consider the amendment to policy 2140 independent citizens referendum oversight committee IC Rock This is the first reading may I have a motion and a second to approve this item second motion from Mrs blackburg and a
second from Mrs Edmund Mr Hendrick would you please introduce this item absolutely thank you madam chair we are of course uh so grateful of our citizens who have entrusted us with four more years of the referendum and with new ballot language and uh new information
to put into that and so every four years the board must update its policy as the voters approve that and this year of course we are updating that policy with some changes as we ask the voters to include our support staff in those referendum funds and so to explain a
little bit more about these changes and the policy in front of you today is our director of strategic planning and policy lyanna Eis Miss e take it away good morning Madam chair board members superintendent Hendrick staff and Community again as Mr Hendrick said we
are grateful and thank all of our community for supporting the referendum again this year our Amendment to policy 2140 reflect the new ballot language from November and the agreed upon utilization of the tax referendum funds for reading music and art classes and
staff salaries and benefits specifically 70% for teacher salaries benefits salaries and benefits which include supplements Recruitment and Retention 15% for support staff salaries and benefits including supplements Recruitment and Retention and 15% for
music art and reading classes and update technology upon board approval these amendments will take effect on July 1st 2025 and we recommend setting a public hearing on these amendments for March 25th 2025 thank you board members is there
any discussion Mrs Edmond thank you thank you superintendent and Miss is for um not only updating the policy and sharing this information with us at the um work Workshop I do want to take this
time just to talk to colleagues and see if there's uh additional discussion or um anything that would Cur occur from this so having the opportunity to review the policy again as well as speak with staff and receive feedback from
constituents I have one recommendation and a clarification to the request that I made at the workshop and I'd like to share them with you so under Section X responsibilities of the superintendent I'm requesting that we
use the ballot language when referring to the percentages and the second recommendation would be to include a second paragraph under Section 8 x superintendent responsibilities which
states the superintendent reports to IC Rock will include information from Charter Schools as required by the ballot question now the rationale for these changes as I mentioned at the workshop
for the first one is Clarity being clear that the funds are going to be used as the ballot language intended and the second recommendation is to ensure that our policy is clear on what um the superintendent will be providing as it
relates to the Charter Schools who receive funding from the referendum so those are the two recommendations that I have and um Mrs Hine would you see if the majority of
the board agrees with the changes and if Mr Hendrick is amendable to making those changes for the second reading there is also an opportunity for the updated version to come to us at the
workshop so just uh just to clarify and and I can be corrected if this is incorrect um if there are suggested changes and the majority of the board agreed and wanted to see those changes made staff could work on those and bring them to the workshop and we could review
them again and then those could take place for the second reading so this would still serve as the first reading and then we would have we could look at it and then we would review it again and approve it in the second reading so so it is possible any any clarifications
there it is it is possible to amend it if we wanted to but that's if we have a majority of the board that wants to do so so if we don't have a majority of the board that wants to do though do so then it affirms that we um approve the
language as presented so if you would like to I'm going to reset the board but if you'd like to have further discussion on the suggestions presented by Mrs Edmund to amend this item please indicate so so we don't have a majority of the board
wishing to discuss this further ma Madam chair I I apologize I if if board members put their lights on if they have comments I would hear their comments to to further the debate it's it's not a motion that needs to be voted upon we're just determining where the board memb thoughts are if they wish to
speak they don't wish to speak then we will just assume that they are not in favor of the recommendations thank you so Mrs blackburg did you want to um I move that or suggest that we um
table any further discussion until our workshop on Tuesday Mrs Peters is it on um yeah I would like to see this in
writing versus just having a conversation about it so we can so it's correct that we could vote to approve the first reading as presented correct and then see the potential amendments or suggested amendments at the
workshop and either way the second reading could then occur yes that is correct um I I've looked at this if you have substantive changes between first and second reading then it's my recommendation that you start the process over with a new first reading
but I've had conversations with Miss Edmond and the concepts that she's looking to include I would not constitute as substantive so I do believe that you could have conversations at a workshop and then move forward if the board wanted to with these
non-substantive changes and and of course that would include a vote today to move it to a a second reading thank you Mr koperski and then also superintendent do you have any comments to make to this sure I I think
that what's presented is certainly sufficient to meet what the Board needs to do and what we need to carry out uh the idea of Charters being included in the superintendent's responsibility it is in the ballot language portion of this policy we already do report on the charters uh through IC Rock and that's in my annual report to the board listing
it as to make it you know clear for somebody who reads it on its own is fine it doesn't change what we already do uh and certainly the other suggestion of reading programs versus reading classes to match the ballot language either way is fine it doesn't change what we already do so I think it's fine as is
you could vote on it and we could move forward and you could do the clarifications and I don't think that would stop or impede the progress at all we uh certainly can add it to the workshop next week to have further conversations if we want Mrs Edmond so there has been a lot
of conversation so I just just want to make sure it's clear what we're doing today or what Mrs Hine has asked of um the board members to reflect or discuss um related to my recommendations for
clarity in the policy um so I just want to go back to that and either way whether it's looking at this first reading it's going to move forward as Mr capers mentioned there aren't any
substantial changes with my recommendations and again just to be clear the voters voted to support the referendum and I believe the clarity in our policy regardless of whether that is
presented to IC rock that it should be clearly written and that's some of the feedback that I've heard from Members as it relates to making sure that everybody's reporting the way they should so that is the reason why I brought that um brought those
recommendations up and it is my hope that the majority of the board would at least consider having those recommendations included in a policy for us to review at the next Workshop Mrs
long okay now I think I have better Clarity um I think that would be good because you know we understand but the general public doesn't always understand and they read it and they think reading program you know I mean we have that
knowledge but they don't so I like the clarification it's it's we're transparent and that's that's making us more transparent Mrs blackburg um I just like to Echo what Miss Peters has said I'd like to see it
in writing and while we are all thankful obviously to the voters we you know do uh need to have a little bit probably a little more clarification so I'd like to just see it in writing before um we vote on it I'd like to vote today as is and then bring it up at the
workshop on Tuesday Mrs K I see your lights on but your name isn't here I just want to mention have a a legal clarification okay legal clarification Mr kers um right now I'm hearing that we have a a motion to amend it and then discuss at
the workship and a one to table it what are what are we voting on there is no motion to amend um I took Mrs Edmund's comments um just to Simply determine is the will of the board to consider these changes I then have taken the debate and
conversation among the board members to mean that it might be something that could be discussed at the workshop um also to the extent that Miss blackburg intended a motion to table I don't think that that was followed through with any second
I and so I don't think we have any secondary motions pending right now all we have is the main motion which is as is to move this on to a second reading and to advertise it but I believe that the discussion is still ongoing as to whether or not you're going to talk about it at a
workshop we don't need to vote on that then no you don't that could just be direction to Mr Hendrick thank you very much um but while I have the the the floor Madam chair I do want to clarify um with Miss e so is the ad advertisement of the second reading
going to be impacted at all if a decision is made in seven days to do something different it shouldn't be thank you so at this point what I'm understanding is we will um we can vote
on the first reading as is and then if the majority is agree then in our Workshop this coming week we can bring some written proposals for amendments so there can be some actual recommendations of what the recommended changes are and then those can be reviewed and discussed
at Workshop decided then and then they would apply to our second reading Mrs Edmund thank you Mrs Hine I was going to ask if you were gonna propose the question again just for clarity because we've heard a lot of discussions I wasn't sure how it
moved thank you did that clarify for you so did no we haven't heard from the majority as to whether or not they want that to move forward to that's what I was asking thank you so uh board members if you would
like to see the the proposals and writing at the workshop this coming week for discussion please indicate so by pushing to talk so yes would it be better if we say I or something or say
something there is this is not a motion that needs a vote that is not a formal vote to be taken if the chair recognizes that a majority of the board wants it to go to the workshop she can indicate that to superintendent Hendrick I I just know I heard her say that she didn't see Mrs
K's light but she saw the mic light so I want to make sure we does yours work when you push it can I see when yeah yeah it works okay okay so once again I've cleared it so anybody who
would like to see this come some edited language comment Workshop please indicate so if we have a majority we'll do it if we don't we won't okay so we don't have a majority who would like to see edited language at the workshop so the first reading will stand as is um so
all those we have a motion and a second on the floor to approve item 8.1 um all those in favor say I any opposed passes 7 to zero item
8.2 setting a public hearing and authorizing the advertisement of the public hearing to consider the repeal of policies 5113 School of Choice options provided by the No Child Left Behind Act 6100
uniform records and accounts 7230 gifts to the school district 73000 property custodianship and insurance 7320 acquisition and removal of tangible
property 73201 disposal sale or exchange of tangible property 7450 inventories and property records 7455 accounting system for fixed assets
7530 lending of District owned equipment and the adoption of policy 73000 accountability and responsibility for Schoolboard property this is a first reading may I have a motion in a second to approve this
item motion by Mrs Caine and a second by Mrs Meyer Mr Hendrick would you please introduce this item yes thank you madam chair really have two different things happening here a repeal of policy 5113 which was the No Child Left Behind which has long since been replaced by every student succeeds act and then a
combination and a rewrite of a whole host of policies around Schoolboard property and fixed assets and I encourage the public who has questions about this as they read this to uh go back and listen to the workshop and look at those accompaning materials there was a manual that was put forth to describe
those changes and Mr Jefferson went into depth as to the why behind this and the combination of these so with that I'm going to pass it to Mrs eison again who will explain the actual changes in policy in item 8.2 we're recommending the repeal and Adoption of policies as a
result of our continuous Improvement and streamlining of policies and operational procedures upon review of 5113 um School of Choice options provided by the No Child Left Behind Act as Mr Hendrick said that act has been replaced by the every student succeeds
act and this policy would be duplicative of law so we recommend repealing policy 5113 we're recommending the repeal of eight policies related to property records They are 6100 7230
7300 7320 73201 7450 7455 and 7530 and we recommend adopting a new policy 7300 titled accountability and responsibility for Schoolboard property and it
streamlines the eight repealed policy into into a single cohesive policy around property records and it also removes the procedures for property records from policy making it a standalone manual which is what Mr hendrik referenced we talked about at the
workshop the substantive changes that are recommended to the new policy 7300 include increasing the fixed asset threshold from 1,000 to 5,000 in accordance with the Florida Department of Financial Services creating a new class of equipment required to be tagged
and inventoried according to the increased fixed asset threshold equipment costing between 1,000 and 5,000 that meets the state's attractive item criteria will be tagged in inventoried annually items currently
costing 1,000 to 5,000 that do not meet the attractive item criteria will no longer be tagged and reported eliminating the requirements for schools to annually inventory items valued between $300 and
$1,000 uncapitalized technology items will continue to be tagged and tracked but will no longer require an annual inventory and compliance with tracking of all property will be monitored and reported during the annual inventory process and report to the
board further we recommend removing the procedure manual from policy to allow for more fluid and relevant updating and clarifying the language for dis disposal of federally funded equipment and adding language to include the Disposable disposal of equipment due to cannibal
ization scrapping trade-ins and exchanges of tagged items we recommend a March 25th public hearing to consider these amendments thank you board members any discussion item 8.2 no this was uh again we reviewed this at our Workshop um recently and
this was a significant lift uh going through all of those different policies that refer to one another and connect with one another and then creating one that crosses the those t's and dots those eyes for an organization of this size with the items that we have so I just want to acknowledge that
significant ad not only administrative technical thoughtful work that went into this so thank you having a motion in a second on the floor to approve item 8.2 all those in favor say I I any opposed it passes 7 to
zero before going on to new business I'll go back to the consent agenda I know Mrs Peters to have to step away for a moment um I didn't know if you wanted to weigh in with your vote on the consent agenda if you uh approve would you like to approve the consent agenda that isine I apologize no problem okay
consent agenda passes 7 to zero is that okay Mr kerski yes thank you new business items introduced by the superintendent Mr hendrik yes thank you madam chair first I want to start with a reminder to the board and to the public that Monday is a regular school day it
is President's Day and was going to be a day of teacher training but it is a regular school day as a hurricane makeup day so we look forward to seeing all of our students and all of our employees at school on Monday uh we are closely mon monitoring uh events in Tallahassee I know we're up to a third special session
now with our delegation in Tallahassee uh the governor proposed his budget last week we expect the House and Senate proposals in the near future uh we are monitoring bills in both Chambers and we're looking forward to a spirit of deregulation for public schools as is asked for in our platform we will have a
a formal update for the board in the public next week at our Workshop want to remind the public our staff our students and families that our annual stakeholder survey is now open until February 16th penel County students employees and parents and members of the community we
encourage you to take that survey for our students in grades 3 through 12 it's easily accessible in their clever account families can access it on our website and our employees are sent a direct link all of the responses are Anonymous and they help inform the board and our leadership as to how to improve our schools and individual uh School
sites you saw in the video we wrapped up our third annual student Leadership Summit last week and once again we are so impressed by our students who are doing a great job developing leadership skills and taking things back to their individual schools to improve our district it is a great day for the
students and it's fun for them but the goal is to impact the entire district and so the first year of the project was students had a take back and do a listen and learn at their school and get student voice and input to improve something at their school last year we focused on the see something say something weak and uh looking at
reducing bullying in our schools and this year with the board's responsibility of digital responsibility on your charge of digital responsibility this year that is a task for our students so they'll be going back in the coming weeks and developing an age appropriate campaign or lesson or series of events at their school to really work
on digital responsibility you heard some ideas from our students I also want to thank the students from the journeys and journalism programs from Melrose John Hopkins and Lakewood High School in including some that you saw here today from the center for journalism and multi media they filmed their respective grade
levels and are producing documentaries on those student experiences and I've seen some of them they look really good and I want to thank the students for doing that this is our first board meeting in the month of February I know we had a proclamation uh right at the end of January but we want to continue to celebrate Black History Month and we
encourage our students to participate in those essay and artart contests that we have going on that lead to student scholarships you can find the links to those on our website and I want to thank a a lot of our local news outlets and others that are celebrating Black History Month and recently recognized one of our teachers uh one of our top 10
teachers of the Year finalists from Campbell Park Elementary Mrs Brandy Ashby who is featured on ABC Action News you can check out that feature on our social media channels over the last several weeks we've had a number of successful student and family engagement activities our English language learner
and Esau community resource fair was held on January 29th with over 250 attendees from the community our ESC college career and life fair was on January 30th which also had 300 attendees and then our College and
Career Fair which was held at uh PTC St Petersburg had over 800 attendees at that uh particular event want to congratulate our students who participated in the regional engineering and science fair the awards ceremony was held last Wednesday night at Countryside
High School school and the uh judging was held last Saturday I want to thank um 11 different judges from the community who came out with their different areas of expertise I'm sorry more than 11 they selected 11 projects to advance to the state competition including the best of fair uh award went
to meline Lyall Delino from Countryside High School and her exhibit will go on to the state science and engineering fair with 10 others her presentation explored the use of agrobacterium mediated transformation techniques to produce bioluminescence in Plants yes I
said that correctly and I actually uh spoke with meline at length in her project um she essentially was trying to take what makes insects and fish glow without sunlight on deep in the ocean or at night and then extract that and put it into plants to create
glow-in-the-dark plants she had a grant from the National Science Foundation and did her research at the University of South Florida in St Petersburg with the College of Marine Science after about 10 seconds I was lost from her explanation but it made sense as I looked at it and uh what a brilliant young lady and all of the students who participated from
middle school and high school and I want to thank all the teachers and support staff who make that happen our district application program acceptance period begins tomorrow uh and it will continue until February 21st so families should log on to our website and uh select
those programs that they have received an invitation for for families who need help navigating the site or just have questions about the DAP period we have a Facebook live event tonight that will be live and then recorded you can go back and watch additionally kindergarten registration opened up this week for
next year in elementary schools across the district held their Ready Set kindergarten nights last week to help families prepare for that if you have any questions about uh special attendance requests kindergarten registration or any of the D programs or magnet programs you can certainly visit our website you can see a number of
channels to get those questions answered and board members a month from today we'll have our first listen and learn for this year it will be at the dolly Museum and it'll focus on the Arts we look forward to having the community out at 6:30 p.m. at the do Museum March 11th and finally today I want to celebrate a
superintendent Stout who was nominated by their colleagues for demonstrating our core values and today's uh choice is a welding instructor for Career Technical Education Month from panel's Technical College Clearwater Mr James Petri he's been a welding instructor at PTC for over year and his colleagues
note that he's been able to connect with every single student in the welding program in one way or another he continuously thrives to get to know the students to their core he wants to know how to support their goals after they graduate and he has been a tremendous addition to the PTC family thank you Mr
Petri and all of our employees for the work they do each and every day thank you madam chair thank you Mr hendrik items introduced by the school board attorney I have no report today thank you ma'am thank you items introduced by the board board
members Mrs blackburg um I had the opportunity to attend um last week with you miss hind the um uh state of the city address with mayor Welch in St Petersburg and I just wanted
to um give um some recognition to one of our own Denine Wyman with the office of strategic partnership she performed a beautiful solo and so we know that how talented our students are it's always a nice surprise to see how talented our
staff is so thank you so much for that Mrs Edmond thank you I had the opportunity to go to the pelis county art region of the Scholastic art and writing Awards exhibition reception and awards where
they recognize 369 middle and high school students with 625 Awards in three categories honorable mention silver key and gold key and the art displayed includes public private and charter school students so
it was great to see the talent of our students but as well as see our strong Community Partnerships the SE several students receive additional scholarships and I just want to recognize Mr Ogle and his team as well as the staff who um
support those wonderful talented artists thank you and I do have a request I would like to request that policy 2140 is written with the recommendation stated and provide it to all board
members for the next Workshop based on the discussion that we heard today Mrs Peters Mrs blackburg and Mrs long Express support of my recommendation in or wanting to see it in writing so that
would make the majority of the board members so again my request is to see policy 2140 written with the recommendation so that the board could see it and have discussions as previously mentioned it
would not delay um the time frame of the current policy so thank you we have we have held discussion on this um and and if we need to open it again I suppose we can but there were only three board members that indicated
interest in seeing it at the workshop um when that was asked would you please State those three yes uh Mrs blackburg Mrs long and Mrs Edmund did you hear M oh with the light
signal so we all had discussion we discussed it and then cleared the queue and I asked who would like to see this at the workshop if there was a majority we would then do that there was not a majority thank you for stating the names because that just means based on our discussion
someone changed their mind about their conversation so thank you thank you any other board member discussion I have a few things um Mrs blackburg thank you for bringing up the state of the city and St Pete and deian weinman that was unbelievable she's saying rise up
and I'm telling you we've got to get that video and share it with the whole school district I mean it it was Unreal I've never seen somebody sing that song in such a beautiful way um and then shoreacres Elementary at the end did um
um fight song and there was I mean sh was elementary so this young woman is there singing you know totally Acappella singing that song and then they had buckets with sticks this whole row of buckets and they were up on bleachers and they it was just unbelievable so
that one too I was Katie and I were both very proud of our school district we we were very well represented um in that in that audience so thank you to shoreacres Elementary and to deian Wyman it was really remarkable um I attended the
regional uh engineering and science Awards last week my son and I both did and we're both the smarter for it and I'm glad that you mentioned the name of mine's project because wow um I do want to thank uh Pam Himel from carwise
middle school Jerry Cantrell from seminal high school and Stephanie Hornick our middle school science lead um and I'm sure many many others were involved but the award ceremony was um very well done and so meline is also the selection to go to the international
science and engineering Fair it's called ISF um there's a great documentary that I watched with my kids a couple years ago if you want to learn a little more about ISF uh I recommend it it's called science fair it's from 2018 um and it'll just show you how
competitive and how ser ious these students as they should take these projects so I'm very excited for meline to experience ISF um also I just wanted to mention um San Jose Elementary I went to for literacy last week perhaps some of you also read at different schools I was in
a fourth grade class with Miss Laughlin um and you know I read with them yes but whenever I have the opportunity to visit a classroom I also ask the students what what we can do better for school and um you won't be surprised they of course talk about lunch in recess is always top
is always top you know for sure and then but this class also advocated for more for more teacher pay um and then they also wanted to ensure that if there is some of a series of books available the whole series is available so that they could make sure to read to the end so I
found out what the name of that series was and make sure we make sure we get that there so I just wanted to share that with you and they you know they sent these beautiful notes which are really amazing um and one of them from Hayden he actually put a math problem at the bottom which I really appreciate he's probably just wanted to keep my
skills keep my skills sharp but anyway I one of the things they really appreciated yes the books but also being asked their thoughts on things um and I just wanted to recommend to the public if you have time volunteer in our schools our kids are amazing our teachers are amazing every day there's
amazing people doing things in beautiful places so I I just highly recommend you go volunteer in our schools um um I wanted to mention also um I've had a number of residents ask me and I bet some of you have to they've asked me about what's going on with the Federal
Department of Education and what do you think about that you know um and so instead of kind of reacting to is it going to close or not and the thing I thought about was the way that we as board members always look at what is the impact on our students when we're
looking at decisions that we have control over locally we think what is the impact to our students so I decided to pull some information together just so I could better understand um and and this is what I would like to offer um so the the the
primary lead of K12 education is our state government the state sets the academic standards they set um accreditation accountability testing many other tangible requirements that we feel day in and day out for things such as school safety and transportation as
well as allocating the budget and the resources so the state provides just over 20% of our current year funding the federal department of education does three primary things funding legal compliance and academic
monitoring and research so when it comes to funding here in pelis County our federal sources represent 10% of our budget so that's roughly $150 million the three highest
areas that are funded in in in in order are food for students so school lunch and breakfast and other food programs that that comes through about $53 million a year in in in federal funding um the second area is learning in our
schools that serve a significant portion of economically disadvantaged students so what that means is that more than 70% of students in a particular School qualify for free or reduced lunch which means that they are close to to or in
the federal poverty level in their families More than 70% of the students and that's called Title One and that's part of a federal act of con of Congress in 1965 that's about $ 38.3 million in our current year budget and then the
third largest funding area from the federal department of education is learning for students with disabilities of All Sorts so this would be meeting the idea individuals with disabilities Education Act of 19 1975 and so this is
students who have a range of disabilities from multiple sclerosis to traumatic brain injury uh severe learning or behavioral difficulties if you've visited Nina Harris you've seen this funding in action um but we have
Ida students in every single one of our schools um that funding on a on this current year is 29.4 million so I'm I'll share the spreadsheet that I made with with with board members it was just really informative to say what is this what is
the volume what does this mean to our students um and thank you Mr Jefferson for reviewing it for accuracy when it comes to so fund so funding legal compliance and academic monitoring and research so legal compliance I mentioned idea earlier um
the every student succeeds act the office of civil rights uh a number of Supreme Court decisions whether it's Brown versus Board of Education and racial segregation or Tinker versus Mo on the students rights to free speech so all compliance with federal law that
impacts K12 education and then the last piece around monitoring for academic performance as you likely know there are not federal standards there are they're not federal academic standards themselves but the every student succeeds act in 1965
required assessment in reporting of results for every student in grades 3 through 10 in math science and reading and our state submits to the US Department of Education their their plan and then the state has to submit annual
reports that shows that shows this data the Department of Education amalgamates and analyzes that input from States and districts they conduct research on Trends and then they provide that information to the profession for use and Improvement so that's so that's my
summary of of the US Department of Education how it touches pelis County if you will um so funding legal compliance and academic performance and research um but what I do think is important for the public to know and why I am raising it
today is that penel County Schools is monitoring the movement in the federal level just as we do at at the at the state level when it comes to the annual legislative session we are we are watching it we are having conversations we are considering impact
and and making sure we're able and ready to mitigate any any in any impacts and we just want you to know that we will continue to monitor it and any impact on our students this is Kane sorry can you just clarify the final uh roughly 30,000 30
million that you it was for idea for Ida okay 29.4 million for idea you clarified the rest I just wanted thank you very much I know you're going to send it but yeah it's interesting any other any other board comments for
today okay Mrs Woodruff were there any board requests um Madam chair I noted uh the request by Vice chair edman and the subsequent discussion about referendum policy 2140 but based on the board's
discussion I have no followup thank you with that I'll adjourn this meeting and move to public participation Mrs Hal do we have any public speakers today yes Madam chair there are two speakers today thank you
we are moving into receiving public comment on the general business of the district please note that any views or comments shared are the are of the public speakers and not endorsed or sponsored by the school board board or the or the district we cannot ensure accuracy of statements made but will review the concerns that are raised and
take appropriate action the board is committed to a standard of Civility and decorum in conducting our meetings and we appreciate your assisting Us in maintaining that civil and constructive environment please note that although board members or superintendent Hendrick May briefly leave the dis there are
speakers in the back room and we'll continue to be able to hear your comments thank you so much please go ahead and call the speakers our speakers this morning are David childis and Linda learner good morning Madam chair uh superintendent board Menor um board
members and staff thank you for hearing me out my name is David childis I spoke twice over the uh summer and then got real lazy afterwards but anyway um I'm currently a substitute teacher in penel county and retired army and the last
time I spoke Madame chair came to me and reminded me something that I understood that it was our food service is what I'm here to speak about if I didn't mention it is Guided by the USDA guidelines now these are 20 through 25 obviously 25
through 30 is out and uh my search on the internet found it to be um as credible as this document and I hate to it it's not a credible document this uh document I would argue that we follow is
responsible for the 80% of eating disorders that our general public suffers from um that is 80% of our uh population is metabolically unhealthy due to a a pattern of eating that is
three meals a day and snacking in between all high carbohydrate and sugar um to give you an example I'm I'm 60 years old I don't suffer from coronary heart disease cardiovascular disease
diabetes irritable bowel syndrome eczema arthritis dementia dementia demen I'm just kidding but anyway um those are metabolic disorders that are directly related to having a high insulin concentration
insulin big word is a pleotropic hormone it does many different things in addition to Bringing sugar fat and protein into our cells to help people like me who are over 60 the biggest the
leading cause of death in my age group is falling down that is low protein and bones are 50% um protein uh muscle tissue 50% protein there are certain enzymes that if we all
right that's it anyway my point being is that I'm not here to argue but I'm hoping to work with likeminded people to figure out a way that we can mitigate some of the recommendations and or observe them without experiencing the
inflammation that our children suffer when they know they're going to have cereal in the morning that's just straight sugar then they're going to have a snack and then they're going to have lunch and it's more sugar and so even though Behavior patterns can be greatly
mitigated thank you very much for your time it's always great to be here especially to celebrate career Ed and to see all the wonderful um students and teachers and the one bit of advice I give you as board members um and I know
many of you are doing please visit the schools see the career ads see the Arts see a subject math was one of my subjects I didn't particularly like but go and see how it's being
taught I decided probably I could have even liked it um I want to compliment um Mr Mark hunt and his department and the Education Foundation for their Partnerships since 20 01 to support the
career acmy and I have been privileged to serve on the stav stavos career board all those years and to be able to see all of the great progress it's it's really awesome I also hope you will all go to the arts for a complete education
breakfast tomorrow which is a wonderful celebration of the Arts and um honoring our principles so I hope you will have that on your calendar I believe public education is the biggest protector of our
democracy and at a time of division in our country I know all of you are dedicated to our mission in pelis County schools which is success for all
students regardless of race gender sexual orientation religion gender identity nationality or special needs I know that
you have such an important role in being sure all our students get an excellent education and I just want to thank you for what you do every day thank Mr hendrik and all the
leadership and all the teachers who are doing so much for our students I I love the videos about student leadership um summits I guess that you had which is a wonderful Innovation um it wasn't um happening when I was on the
board but I think the first student the elementary student had something good to say for all of us it's about kindness and respect and I know all of you have it and maybe we can't take care of all
the world and our country's issues but we all can have have kindness and respect thank you thank you Mrs learner it's good to see you today thank you for being here and staying involved in our schools this concludes today meeting