Good morning and welcome to the meeting of the Penllis County School Board, Tuesday, October 14th, 2025. I call this meeting to order. We will begin this morning with an invocation by Father David Gould of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, followed by the pledge of
allegiance led by Vice Chair Caprice Edmund and the national anthem performed by Oyola High School's Oasis under the direction of Dean Labor. Please rise and continue standing until the completion of the national anthem. Father Gul, good
morning. Good morning, most gracious God. In you we live and in we in you we live and move and have our being. We pray you so to guide and govern us by your holy spirit that in
all the cares and occupations of our lives. We may not forget you but remember but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight. We pray especially today for this body and the individuals that make up this Penllis County School Board. We ask that you
help each member to remain focused on the well-being of children and their education and all the decisions that they need to make today. We thank you for the to have deep and respectful conversations and to have clear eyes for the discernment of your will. You are the alpha and omega and in your most
holy name we pray. Amen. 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.
Can you see by the dawn early so Twilight stripes brightly streams through the Our flag was still there.
Say that spangle for the land of the free. >> Thank you. Uh this is Oasis. We're from OciOla Fundamental High School with our principal Mr. Bonet here. Um we have one
more selection for you entitled Fly Away Home. Um composed by Pink Zebra. I'll ride with the horses. I'll swim through the sea. I'll climb to the mountains.
Won't you come follow me? I'll take notice all that I see. And after I've come away, fly away home. Fly away, fly away,
fly away home. Life is a vision. That's how it should be. The world is a choices are free. At the end of the journey, and fly away home.
Our dreams last forever. for fly away home Fly away. Fly away. Fly away. My heavens, what a beautiful performance. Thank you so much for
levvening all of us with your voices and with that spirit this morning. It was really beautiful. And with that elevation, I I do also just want to take a personal point of privilege here and kind of reintroduce Father David Gould again. He's actually recently the new assistant director at St. Thomas
Episcopal Church where my family has long attended church. Um, and he was just ordained within the last year. He was our seminarian and then ordained. And it was really a privilege. It is a privilege to have been through that process and celebrate that with you. And I'm grateful for you accepting the
calling and I'm grateful for you being here this morning. So, thank you, Father Gold. The next item on our agenda today is our video. And you know, we've had a lot to celebrate. A lot happened in the last week, and we have a lot to celebrate, and I'm sure we'll hear about some of that in various comments during um
discussion time. But we decided to share a video called Rise, which highlights the career growth path that is available in Penllis County Schools through Kirk Gilner and our transportation department. Let's take a look. Anything that breaks, we fix here.
Penllis County has about a thousand buses and they also have 200 some cars and trucks. The engine won't run right if it's clogged up. >> I'm Kirk Gilner. I've worked here for 11 years and now I'm a diesel mechanic. I
started off as a bus driver and I drove there for about a year and then I became a multi-trades worker and I moved on past there and became a tire guy and now I'm a mechanic. We might need the 27 mm.
I like the flexibility having off uh all the holidays. I can spend that with my kids and my family. We've been using the buses all we got electric buses and I was the first person to introduce them to everybody and uh anybody needs to
drive them, they come and find me and I explain to them what the difference is between electric or diesel or propane. In the future, I'm hoping to become more of a lead uh technician or foreman and just keep growing. Panelis County is a
great place to work for and uh if you want to start in on entry level and you can excel from there. >> The next item on our agenda today, item 1.6, introduction of professional and community organization representatives, our public affairs officer, Isabelle
Mascarinus. >> Good morning, Madame Chair, members of the board. Mr. Hendrik and staff, it is my pleasure to introduce the following representatives of community and professional organizations from the Penllis Classroom Teachers
Association. Lee Bryant, President representing the North Panelis League of Women Voters, Debbie Entric and Gene Reynolds. Today we have a presentation from the Student Rights and Responsibility
Committee. Please welcome Rachel Eaton and Ethan Kefir from Oyola Fundamental High School and their principal, Mike Bonet. Good morning, Rachel and Ethan. We're glad you could be here, Mr. Bonet. It's nice to see you. Good morning.
Good morning. Good morning, Madame Chair, members of the board, and Mr. Hendrickk and staff. It is our pleasure to present the student rights and responsibilities committee report for Ocola Fundamental High School. My name is Rachel Eaton and I'm a senior at Oyola. >> Good morning. I am Ethan Kefir and I'm
also a senior at Ocio Fun High School. I want to start by thanking our journalism and news class at OciOla for providing such great photos to use in the presentation. Oiola is a school that runs off of warrior pride. Pride stands for preparation, responsibility, integrity, discipline, and enthusiasm.
From our great success, it is apparent that our school student our school and students follow these guidelines. Oil has many great achievements. For example, OIEL was ranked number one among high schools in Penllis County, number 44 in the Tampa metro area, number 55 in the state of Florida, and
number 892 nationally out of 17,9001 schools, according to the US News and World Reports 2526 best high schools. Oyola is the only full fundamental high school in the state. We've been in a school for 13 years and had a 99% graduation rate in the year 2025. We
also offer 25 plus AP courses and industry recognized certifications and have nine district champion teams. Additionally, this year I participated in St. Petersburg sister cities and I was lucky enough to welcome three Japanese student ambassadors from Takamasu Japan as well as go to Takamatu myself. Ociola gladly hosted these
students for a school day and contributed to global interconnectivity. Oyola also has a wide variety of varsity sports including girls flag football and boys and girls bowling. But today, I'm going to highlight some of our most successful programs in the past few years. This past year, varsity boys
tennis took home the 3A FHSAA triple state champion title. Additionally, team member Allesandre Day de Bernardo was picked for the Mr. Tennis award given by the state of Florida. And he is also ranked 19th in the state and committed full ride to Florida Southern College. Another standout tennis player is Laya Mesler. She was a champion of the state
in her freshman year of high school and is verbally committed to play D1 tennis at the University of Illinois. This past year, the girls softball team also made it to the state semi-finals. And altogether, the school had 15 plus committed athletes. I participated in varsity girls basketball myself, and I'm filled with pride at the tremendous growth our team has had in just one
year, doubling our wins from the prior season. It is clear both academics and athletics excel at Ociola. At OciOla myself, I've participated in more than 10 clubs, including a service club called Ocola Cares that I founded. I've played varsity basketball for four years and been a captain for two. And I've
taken 16 amazing AP classes while at OciOla. I hope to attend William and Mary in the fall and major in integrative conservation. Thank you. OIO has 50 clubs which supports student bonding and foster community between the class of Oyola. Clubs such as MUATHA, Ro
Kappa, and Science Honor Society will allow our upper classman to tutor our lowerassmen on various core subjects such as calculus, biology, and world history. Other clubs such as National Honor Society and Interact Club offer our students the opportunity to volunteer at neighboring elementary schools, local institutions, and run
donation drives as well as a blood drive conducted by the science honor society. Other clubs such as Best Buddies, Women in STEM, and Guys Reed help tighten the bridge between all of our students, building new relationships, friendships, and building a better environment. Future Business Leaders of America, or
FBA, is one of Ocio's greatest and most successful clubs. FBALA offers students a variety of interactions, projects, and nationwide competitions that allow them to develop the leadership skills they will need to be effective members of the business industry. As a result, many of our members at OIO have found great
success in the club. Along with the over 60 people who moved on to say competitions, we also had three people place at national competitions. Sria Bapati placed ninth in healthcare administrations while Michaela Prebble and Tora Todorovic placed second in social media strategies. At Oyola FA is
ran under the CED program. CATED stands for center of technology entertainment and design and includes many different kinds of classes related to business. Some of these career pathways include entrepreneurship, digital design, sports marketing and digital media. Whereas a digital media pathway operates the daily live morning
announcements broadcast that I anchor on and help produce. Students can also take many different certification tests in these courses. CATED falls under OIO's extensive Cape program which stands for career and program education. Other than CATED, the sub programs within CAPE
include culinary arts and puma. Our culinary art uh culinary arts culinary and baking program is state and nally ranked uh while puma which stands for pre-engineering and manufacturing academy plays uh allows our students to take four years of quality engineering courses that engage the students in
activities revolving around mechanical electrical and industrial engineering. While I also served as a C10 ambassador, I'm also a member in math, science, and social studies honor societies as well as numerous other clubs such as FAA where I moved on to states in the digital video competition. I'm a second
year varsity wrestler and my plans are to attend UF or FSU and major in digital media production. In short, OciOla provides its students with the perfect environment for them to thrive in. Ocula Pride, which is once again preparation, responsibility, integrity, discipline, and enthusiasm,
is the blueprint that makes our school what it is. Our students dedication to their academics, athletics, and extracurriculars have led us to achieving many things. From nationwide awards to our thriving school community. And as we continue to push these key principles of pride forward,
we hope to continue on our path to build a better place for our students to learn, grow, and socialize. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. And thank you for being here. Can I come to Oyola, Mr. Bonet? Is there a age restriction? I'd like to attend them. It's fantastic. Rachel and Ethan,
thank you for being here and thank you for being leaders at at your school. You make these things happen for everyone. Well done. Well done. >> Item two on our agenda today, amendments to the agenda. Mr. Hendrickk, are there any amendments to the agenda? >> Yes, Madam Chair, there are three
amendments. Item 8.3, request approval of the tenative agreement with the Penllis Classroom Teachers Association. Item 8.4, Four, request approval of negotiated agreement with SEIU, Florida Public Services Union. And item 8.5, request approval of the salary increase for non-represented support staff. Uh,
several of these groups took their ratification vote yesterday into last night and we received it and asked the board for approval today. >> Thank you. Those amendments are noted. Board members, are there any other amendments to the agenda? >> No. As board chair, I find good cause to
amend the agenda as suggested by Mr. Hendrickk. May I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as amended? >> A motion. >> Motion from Mrs. Long and a second from Mrs. Meyer. All those in favor say I.
>> Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. The special order agenda today, item 4.1, we're going to have recognition of school bus drivers with safe driving records. Mr. Hendrickk, would you please introduce this item? >> Yes, Madam Chair. As you saw in the video, some of the work that goes on
behind the scenes to keep our buses ready to be on the roads, but once they get on to one of the most populated and densest counties in the country, they have to stay safe. And today, we'd like to recognize uh some of our drivers who have outstanding records of safe driving
service. And here to do so is Team Mark Hagaw, our director of transportation. Mr. Hagwood. >> Good morning, Madam Chair, school board members, Mr. Hendrick, and staff. Panels County Schools is proud to have highly trained and dedicated school bus drivers who safely transport our students to and
from school each day. School bus drivers also serve as mentors and are often the first people that students see in the morning and the last district employee that they see in the evening. PCS is proud pleased to recognize 41 school bus
drivers who have demonstrated over 10 years of safe driving. 11 of those 41 bus drivers have over 20 years and one driver has 32 years of safe driving. The school bus drivers are not with us today because they're finishing their routes,
but we're going to be having a safe driver lunchon on November 13th and we hope you can all attend. Thank you. >> Thank you. That lunchon is great. Um I'm gonna check my calendar and try to be there. I recommend everyone does. That's that's incredible. Thank you for being
here this morning. T- mark board members, any comments? >> No, thank you. We really appreciate it. My kids take the bus every day, too. And >> I hope it's on time. >> And so I just You want to talk about that? No, I'm just joking. It is on time. It's been amazing. I'm so
grateful. >> Yes. Thank you. And certainly for the safety. We're all grateful for the safety. >> Okay. The next item on our agenda is item 4.2, request adoption of proclamation recognizing school bus safety week. May I have a motion and a
second to make this proclamation? Motion for Mrs. Peters, second Miss Kaine. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce this item? >> Thank you, Madam Chair. In addition to recognizing our bus drivers, we'd like to do the proclamation for school bus safety week. Mr. Hagawa, take it away.
>> Penelis County Schools joins all states and school districts nationwide in observing National School Bus Safety Week, October 20th through 24th, 2025. The 2025 theme this year is safety first, safety always. Sponsored by the National Association of Pupil
Transportation, this campaign emphasizes safe transportation of all students. The district proudly proudly recognizes our dedicated school bus drivers who transport over 21,000 students each day, morning and evening and have the and this is a great opportunity for parents,
students, teachers, motorists, and community members to come together and emphasize the importance of school bus safety. Designed with safety in mind, featuring flashing lights, large mirrors, stop arms, and the iconic yellow paint, school buses are
recognized to be the safest vehicles on the road. PCS Transportation Department has several activities planned during school bus safety week. You'll see a yellow school bus keychain on your desk this morning. Hopefully, that will remind you of the 305 school buses that we have
running around each day going over 30,000 miles just in Penllis County. Please join us in celebrating our school bus drivers in Penllis County and across the United States during this important week. Thank you.
>> Excellent. Thank you. Miss Edmond, would you please read the proclamation? >> National School Bus Safety Week. Whereas the health and safety of all students are essential to the happiness and well-being of the families, teachers, and communities. And whereas students
are 70 times more likely to get to school safely when taking a bus instead of traveling by car. And whereas school buses provide the most and sometimes only reliable form of transportation to
and from school, which promotes attendance and punctuality and encourages better student achievement. And whereas motorists must remember to stop when a school bus has stopped with its stop arms extended and red lights
flashing. And whereas school bus transportation employees should be recognized for their diligence in safely transportating transportating the school children of Penllis County, Florida. And whereas local organizations are
encouraged to support student and traffic safety activities associated with National School Bus Safety Week, and everyone is reminded to keep a watchful eye for students going to and from school and to take extra precautions around students and school
buses. Now therefore, the Penllis County School Board hereby recognizes October 20th through 24th, 2025 as National School Bus Safety Week signed this 14th day of October, 2025.
>> Thank you. School board members, any discussion? >> Mrs. Long, >> I just want to say thank you. You know, I've noticed that it's got to be a 100% better because I have received no emails or calls and I watch the bus drivers. I
watch them like going through my neighborhood and they're just they do such a great job. I don't know how they do it. I would not be able to even go a quarter of a mile with a bus of kids. So, thank you for all all you and the drivers do.
>> It is nice having enough school bus drivers. >> Yes. >> Yes, it is. Miss Evan, >> I was going to say the uh my comments regarding their certificate of distinction, but it's worth saying right now that 37 of our bus drivers earned
their COOD1 or COOD2 and were recognized yesterday. So, thank you to our bus drivers for continuing your professional development. Um, as well as to you and your team, Mr. Hri. Thank you. >> That's great. Thank you. Thank you. We have a motion and a second on the
floor to approve item 4.2. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. >> Thank you for being here, Tark. >> Item five, public comments on agenda item. Mrs. How, do we have any speakers? >> Madam Chair, there are no speakers for
agenda items. >> Thank you. We don't have anything under unfinished business today. Item seven, the consent agenda. May I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda? >> Make a motion. >> Motion from Mrs. Long and a second from
Mrs. Kaine. All those in favor say I. >> Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. On our non-consent agenda, item 8.1, setting a public hearing and authorizing the advertisement of the public hearing
to consider the amendments to policies 2423.01, Career and Professional Education, 5500.07, Code of Student Conduct, Discipline, and 8405, School Safety. This is the first
reading. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item? Motion from Mrs. Kaine and a second from Mrs. Meyer. Mr. Hendrick, would you please introduce this item? >> Thank you, Madam Chair. As we discussed at a recent workshop, all three policies are being updated as a result of changes
to state law. And here to give us more information about that is our director of strategic planning and policy, Lyanna. Mrs. >> Good morning, Madame Chair, board members, Superintendent Hendrick, staff, and community. Each year, the district re reviews our policies in alignment with state legislation and the Florida
State Board of Education rules updates as well as our district and state practices. So, the proposed amendments to the policies today align with this year's updates. The first is 2423.01 career and professional education. This policy is reviewed in alignment with
House Bill 1145 and the amendments really just streamline the policy as much of the policy restated law. In policy 5500.07 code of student conduct discipline, the section on wireless communication
devices was amended in alignment with House Bill 1105 and that restricts the use of wireless communication devices in elementary and middle schools during the school day. The last policy today is 8405, school safety. And this policy is
updated in alignment with Senate Bill 1470. And the school safety policy amendment adds the requirement for afteraction reports following emergency drills. The second reading for these three policies is scheduled for December.
Thank you, Mrs. Schoolboard members. Any discussion? We held discussion and reviewed these policies in our workshop as Mr. Hendrick mentioned with that we have a motion and a second to approve item 8.1. All those in favor say I. >> Any opposed?
Passes seven to zero. Item 8.2 on the non-consent agenda request approval of the annual district safety and security report for 202425. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item?
>> Motion from Miss Blackburg and a second from Miss Mrs. Peters. Mr. Hendrickk, would you please introduce this item? >> Thank you, Madam Chair. State law changed two years ago requiring a report to the board and to the public on an annual basis in a public meeting on school safety and security. This is the
second year now that we've presented this report and the first year that it also includes all of the information from the quarterly visits from the Office of Safe Schools that started to be presented to the board quarterly last year. And so, here to give us more details on the report is our director of safety and security, Mr. Sean Joel. Mr.
Joel. >> Thank you, sir. Madam Chair, members of the board, Superintendent Hedrickk, and staff, good morning. It's my privilege to present to you today the 2024 2025 district annual
safety and security report. As Superintendent Hick said, this report is mandatory to be compiled and presented to use, the school board, and the public each year. If I may, I'd like to just present a few of the items within the report. First and foremost is the completion,
implementation, and the integration of our strategic crisis alert badge program. Uh this program started back in the beginning of the summer. With your approval, your input, and your guidance, I'm pleased to say that we were successfully able to
implement this program before the start of the academic year. One of the greatest outcomes of this particular program, not only is it an additional provision within our security portfolio is that we were able to train our 13,000
plus district employees, provide them with that crisis alert badge, but even more importantly to provide them the awareness and the ability to alert their students and staff on any one of our 132 sites if a critical incident was
occurring. ing allowing our students and staff to seek refuge, safe areas, safe corners that they've been trained, and at the same time alerting and initiating a law enforcement response to that particular area to provide the support
and resources they need. So, it is a significant technological addition that we've added to our portfolio. I would be remiss if I did not publicly thank our safety security team, all the
administrators, their assistant principles, our staff, our area superintendants for the support, and yes, the patience to pull this program through. And I fully believe because of this effort, we are
that much safer and prepared as a district for the safety and security of our students and staff. The next part of the report or one of the ones I'd like to highlight is the preparation with the revisions to this legislation this past year. The state of
Florida, FDOE and the Office of Safe Schools made it mandatory that from a threat management perspective, reporting requirements had to be reported to a statewide portal. All 67 districts now have to report threat management
meetings, minutes, activities and inputs into this portal. our district threat management team, our coordinator, and again the support of our administrators, our area superintendents, and everybody, we were able to complete, and I'm happy to say this, before the deadline, the
training for the Florida model, both day one and day two, the refresher training and the training of how to properly input this critical data that we share amongst all the districts across the state now from all of our school-based threat management teams. So that's close
to 500 core four members, our principles, our assistant principles, and even our law enforcement members with our district police department have been fully trained within this portfolio. So I'm proud to say that the last one I'd like to speak to is last year, we're just getting to start this
year, actually this week, the Office of Safe Schools conducted 59 site visits to our campuses to include both public and charter. From those site visits, there were some discrepancy found as it was last year in my report that these discrepancies were
mostly administrative documentation, new procedures that were requested or mandated to fulfill. Uh those were brought to our attention by the assessors with the office of state schools. We were able to remediate, educate and provide our schools what they needed to ensure that they were
compliant and we continue to move forward with that. I would like to say though, our relationship with the Austin City Schools continues to grow and be strong uh as we work together to ensure that our educators, our staff are fully aware of what the requirements are by
state statute and that we maintain a compliant district. But more importantly, we are continuing to provide what we have to provide to our administrators ensure that we have a safe and secure campus. but it's also a welcoming and a respectful learning
environment for our students and I thank you for your support on that. That concludes my report and I'll take any questions if you have them. >> Thank you for that thorough report, Mr. Joel. Board members, discussion. Miss Edmond, thank you and your team very much for
providing this information to the board as well as ensuring that we are compliant even when there are areas of improvement. the district is working hard to make sure that those areas are addressed. So, thank you. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
>> Any other comments? No. Again, thank you for that report and certainly the work that you and your team do every day. >> We have a motion and a second on the floor to approve item 8.2. All those in favor say I. >> Any opposed? Passes seven to zero.
Item 8.3, request approval of the tenative agreement with the Penllis Classroom Teachers Association, PCTA. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item? >> A motion from Mrs. Long and a second from Miss Edmond. Mr. Hendrick, would
you please introduce this item? >> It would be my pleasure, Madam Chair. As you see in the item, uh certainly the contract uh pay increases, but also all of the contract language that took place this year is all listed in there uh for the board and the public. But here to give an overview of the agreement with
PCTA is our chief human resources officer, Mr. Vigu. >> Good morning, Madam Chair, school board members, Superintendent Hendrick and staff. We are pleased to bring to you the tenative agreement with Panelis Classroom Teachers Association. A special thanks to Union President Lee
Bryant and his team for their productive collaboration during the process which included contract open book health care and salary negotiations ratified yesterday or late yesterday evening. The agreement includes a total
average salary increase of 8.92% which is inclusive of the referendum, theou bonus, and a 1% increase from the operating budget retroactive to July 1st, 2025. Uhou to provide two additional
nonrecurring payments of $300 for full-time employees in the bargain unit. $300 paid on December 12th, 2025, and an additional $300 paid on May 29th, 2026. Healthcare plan changes, which will take
effect on January 1st, 2026, and updates to over 20 contract language articles. The salary increases retroactive to July 1st will be realized in the employees October 31st paycheck. Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you, Mr. Vigu. Um, board members comments, I know that this was a very thorough uh process and and looking at the number of items that were addressed. Um, thank you for the open discussions and this is,
you know, one of the three items that we added to the agenda today. All three have to do with negotiating agreements with the various employee bargaining units and this is the uh first one. So, there's more to come, but um I just want to say I appreciate the collaboration
and discussion and the work it takes to get here. Miss Edmond, >> thank you. And uh Mrs. Hine, you just said everything I was going to say, so uh that's it. Um but just to echo some of the things Mrs. Hine said, we know
that this was not easy to get to this point. We also know that we have legal ob obligations as it relates to um teacher funds and knowing that this was an open book year to see this many articles addressed uh kudos to both
sides both teams. Um as a former union member and advocate for teachers it's really great to see some of these articles included. So thank you both. Miss Peters,
>> thank you. Um, I agree with everything that was already said by Miss Hine and Miss Edmond, but I also want to thank um, you know, all of our teachers, staff, board members, and superintendent especially who advocated for the
referendum which helped us get the funds. I know it was right after the storms and it was very uncertain as to whether, you know, how that vote was going to go by the people. I appreciate the fact that the people had the choice to to do that, keep that money local. We were able to not just give our teachers
raises, but also support staff this year for the first time. So, um I just wanted to highlight as well just how many people that worked for the district also helped advocate for the referendum to help get that support for our teachers and staff. So, thank you very much for
all the hard work that was done by all the parties involved. Well said and thank you. With that, we have a motion and a second on the floor to approve item 8.3. All those in favor say I. >> Any opposed? Passes seven to zero.
Item 8.4 request approval of negotiated agreement with the SEIU Florida Public Services Union FPSU. May I have a motion and a second to approve item 8.4? Second >> motion from Mrs. Kaine and a second from
Miss Edmond. Mr. Hendrickk. >> Thank you. I'm going to pass it to Mr. Vigu for this agreement as well. Mr. Vigu, >> an agreement has also been reached and ratified with SEIU, the Florida Public Services Union. Thank you to Ryan Riley and his team for partnering with us through the healthc care and salary
negotiations. Included in the agenda item is an average salary increase of 11.98% which is inclusive of the referendum, the bonusou bonus and a 1% increase from the operating budget retroactive to July
1st, 2025. Theou is to provide two additional non-recurring payments totaling $300 for full-time employees in the bargaining unit. $150 paid on December 19, 2025, an additional $150 paid on May 22nd,
2026. Healthcare plan changes which will also take effect on January 1st, 2026, and an update to article 22 to align language to our existing practice for uniform replacement. Salary increases retroactive to July 1st be realized in
the employees November 7th paycheck. Thank you again for your consideration. Thank you, Mr. Bigu. Board members, any discussion on 8.4 just echo echo the same as the last. Thank you.
Um 11.9%. Again, thank you to the voters of Penelis County. It's it's long overdue and welld deserved. So, thank you. With that, we have a motion and second on the floor to approve item 8.4. All those in favor say I.
>> Any opposed? passes seven to zero. Item 8.5, request approval of the salary increase for non-represented support staff. We have a motion and a second to approve this item. >> Motion from Mrs. Kaine and a second from
Miss Edmond, Mr. Hendrick. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. This group, uh, we often get asked who is the non-represented support staff. So these are principles, secretaries, cafeteria managers, those who supervise other support staff but are not in the union. And so with that, I'll pass it to Mr. Vigu for an explanation.
>> Thank you. If approved, non-represented employees will receive an average salary increase of 9.6% 6% inclusive of the referendum, theou bonus of two non-recurring payments totaling ing $150 paid on December 19th, 2025 and an
additional $150 paid on May 22nd, 2026 and a 1% increase from the operational budget retroactive to July 1st, 2025. The salary increases retroactive to July 1st will be realized in the employees November 7th, 2025 paycheck. And thank
you again for your consideration. >> Thank you. Board members discussion. Miss Edmond, >> I just have a question. Um, so the nonrepresented, they are like our principles who support administrative staff. I just want to be clear.
>> Principal secretaries, cafeteria managers. So they are support staff themselves who supervise other support staff, but they're not in the union. We have not brought forward yet the administrator and PTS recommendation. >> Thank you. >> Other comments.
>> Thank you. We have a motion on the floor and a second to approve item 8.4. All those in favor say I. >> Any opposed? Passes seven to zero. Speaking of those additional employees, um Mr. Hendrick, uh we have two more
bargaining units. Could you give us an update where we are on those? >> Be happy to. There are two uh bargaining units that we're still working with. I'll actually ask Mrs. Woodford. She's been our lead negotiator on all of these to give an update on both units. >> Thank you. Uh FOP, which is our union
that represents our police force, uh we most recently met on October 7th and we were successfully able to reach an agreement of an average salary increase of 7.43%. Um, we've been advised by their council
that they'll be voting next Tuesday. So, with that, we will once it's successfully ratified, we'll be bringing that to you on October 28th for your approval. The last union is uh PESPA. They represent our campus monitors, our
paraprofessionals, MBAs, nurses, that group. Um, we met on the last time we met was September 29th. Uh we were prepared to present a salary increase proposal. Uh they chose not to hear that
proposal uh because they requested to open the book for discussion. Um just for your information, we did most recently open have open book in 2024. So it was just last done a year ago. Um at
the earliest PESPA's leadership's not able to meet again with us until early November. So, um, with that timeline, uh, if bonuses are negotiated, it payments may be delayed until after the holidays, but it is our goal to move
forward as quickly as possible because obviously we want to get money to our employees timely. >> Mrs. Woodford, do you know approximately how many employees PESPA represents? >> I do. 2,200
>> 20 a little over 2100 >> 2100 >> and so they have not started receiving any increase in salary since the July 1 referendum. Is that a true statement? >> No, that's not true. The referendum began. Okay. The additional amount or
the bonus or the any extra percent we have not been able to negotiate yet. >> Okay. Okay. So, everyone began July 1 with the referendum and then this is the the rest of the negotiations coming through. Okay. My heart stopped for a minute because I thought that is a lot of people waiting on a significant
increase. Okay. It's still like to get it done. >> Absolutely. And and the bonuses we're trying to time at really um impactful periods right before the holidays and right before summer vacation. So we're we're trying to meet the needs of all our employees.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> board members. Other discussion on this topic? >> I think again it just can't go overstated. uh because this came up again, it's on our agenda. I guess we'll have the other two come at some point,
but that 8.92% 11.9% 9.6% 7.43%. And I I don't recall exactly the percent of actual increase we received from the state government in terms of public education funding this year, but I believe it was less than 1%.
>> It was 7.7. So we had 7% increase um from the state in education funding this year. And we're able to give these only because the voters in Penllis County care about and want to invest in their schools visav our employees. And so I'm
immensely grateful, immensely grateful for them. Okay. Next item on our agenda today is new business item 9.1, items introduced by the superintendent. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I want to
thank the board for your participation in the October 2nd ribbon cutting across the street at the m Dr. Michael Agrego Leadership Institute. Uh, thank you, Miss Hine and Miss Edmund for sharing words on behalf of the board and the board for being there. Also want to thank former Florida Speaker of the
House Chris Browles who came and attended and spoke and talked about Dr. Grego there as well. It was a great day and I want to thank the community that came out to support that as well. Uh just the other day we announced our 202526 principal and assistant principal of the
year. Principal Christy James of Ponaleone Elementary School and assistant principal Brookerandle of MadiRaa Beach Fundamental K8 School. We have a little video that we'd like to show announcing the two winners. Miss Kandle, I'm going to need you to come with me, please, if you don't mind.
Miss Crannle, I have a very important announcement. Penllis County Schools has named you as the assistant principal of the year. Congratulations. >> We have some folks here to celebrate with you.
>> Take a walk. Take a walk. Take a walk. >> He's coming. He's right over there. Oh, you >> MissRandle, congratulations. You've been selected as the Penelis County Schools Assistant Principal of the Year. You have all of your students, teachers,
faculty, some family here. What do you think about the recognition? >> I am in amazement. I truly truly am. It took me by surprise as I was in a meeting and I am so blessed to be here with all these people who have made my
job so easy with these amazing students and the most dynamic staff that we have here at MadiRaa. So I am truly blessed in more ways than one. >> We are so proud of you and we all know it's been about a year uh and a lot has
happened since then. But this recognition is the result of really years and years of great work by you. I know you have a great staff here. I know you have great students. What about them inspires you each day? >> Well, when these kiddos come in the door
each day, they have smiles. They're excited. They want to share things. We build the connections here with my staff. I know what's going on with each and every one of them. We truly are a family. And that's why Madiraa Beach is so wonderful.
>> Hi, Mrs. James. How are you? >> Hi, >> Mrs. James. We have all these kids and teachers here today because we are announcing that you are Penelis County Schools principal of the year. Congratulations. >> Oh my goodness. Thank you. >> Come on. We have to go for a walk. Let's
go for a walk. >> We have some signs. We have some students. Look at all these. And down here at the end, we have some other special people. >> Who's there? Who's there? >> A school principal of the year back in
your home county. What does it feel like to represent Ben County School? >> Oh my goodness, such an honor. I'm I'm so shocked right now. I'm shaking. But truly, I work with the most amazing staff. They they students, they make me look good and you know they do the hard
work and so I appreciate them and you know they just value education and level up every day. >> Well, your family's super excited to see you do this today, too. They've been hiding out, surprising you. What did you think to see them? >> Oh, shocked. Shocked. Olivia's missing
nap time right now. So, it is National Principal Month. It was great to celebrate the principal and assistant principal of the year. Congratulations to Christy James. Two times in a row in a school at Pon Stillion Elementary School that for many years struggled to move its student achievement. And congratulations to Mrs.
Crannle who's done an amazing job at Madiraa Beach Fundamental. Uh this last year her mom was there, a longtime principal in the district. And we were told that all of the confetti was biodegradable. So as it washes all over the place, uh that's what we were led to believe. We'll see. Um moving on from that, uh today marks the beginning of
the new quarter for the school year. Second quarter at the end of the first quarter was Friday. Uh report cards will be distributed next week and parents can see those uh both in their focus account and also printed at the schools next week. I want to thank the board. I know it's been a few weeks since our legislative delegation meet uh meetings,
but we met twice with our legislative delegation both once at St. Petersburg College and then once at Panel's Technical College. Thank you uh Mrs. Blackburg for your leadership with the legislative delegation and coordinating everything. I think it was a very successful opportunity to meet one-on-one uh and in small groups with
our legislative delegation and uh we appreciated their attention to detail and the questions that they asked and I thought it were both were productive. Uh, Miss Edund mentioned already the certificate of distinction breakfast. She brought greetings on behalf of the board yesterday where we honored 82 support employees for completing that
certificate of distinction one and two. Uh, or that was 82 for certificate of distinction one and 27 for COOD2, including four employees who earned both last year, meaning that they did 215 hours of training outside of the workday to complete that. A few reminders for
families. We have events coming up. the FASA events. The federal student aid uh form is now live and we're encouraging seniors and their families to complete the application. The district uh has scheduled events at every high school in the district to help families with that. You can find more information on our
website. And soon our district application program fairs will begin coming up on October 25th at Penelis Park High School on a Saturday and then the South County one on Wednesday, October 29th at Gibbs High School and North County Wednesday, November 5th at Countryside High School. Families will
receive information and call outs to learn more about that. Uh and there's information on our website. Also upcoming on Tuesday, October 21st at Palm Harbor University High School will be the board's next listen and learn session. And this one will focus on athletics. We encourage the community to
come out and learn more about Penel County athletics, but also board members and myself there to answer any questions about the district, not just on that theme, but any that we have, and we look forward to doing that at Palm Harbor. And finally, uh, the superintendent standout this school board meeting is
Tiffany Madison, a reading and literacy coach in the transformation zone, who's been with PCS for 26 years. She was recently recognized by a teacher and coach at one of our elementary schools as a true mentor, leader, and unwavering advocate for excellence. Her ability to
go above and beyond her responsibilities is making a profound impact on school success. From working long hours to ensure every literacy piece is aligned and polished to offering consistent support to teachers, her tireless effort has not gone unnoticed. Thank you, Mrs. Madison, for your passion for literacy
and drive for making a difference in the lives of our students. Thank you so much to Mrs. Madison and all of our teachers, instructional coaches, and employees for the work they do each and every day. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Mr. Hendrickk. Item 9.2, items introduced by the school board
attorney. >> I have no report today. Thank you. >> Thank you. 9.3, items introduced by the board. Board members, Miss Peters. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I actually want to speak to two things today. Um, the
first one's a little bit long. So, um, but I want to be very thorough here. So, I think that everybody on our board, I can confidently say everybody on our board and that works for our school district has the health and well-being of every student and employee in our
district in in mind at all times and actually in the forefront. Uh we um we at a recent board meeting, we had a parent bring make us aware of a concern regarding a suspected mold substance in
the culinary classrooms at Tarpon Springs High School. Um they have a culinary academy for anyone who is not aware and anyone who hasn't been there. It's a huge kitchen space and also a dining room space and this was the area of concern. So, um, we received some
emails and then I also received some individual emails from this person. So, I decided I wanted to go see this for myself. Um, but I want to give I actually reached out to our district staff first to get some information on
the whole story, what you know, what was done, what happened, what was done, and then um and then I went and visited. So, I'm just going to give a summary up to that point. So the um the district district operations team immediately conducted um upon the the air
conditioning. Oh, anybody who lives in Florida has experience their air air conditioning going out in their car, at work, at home, at school, any or any combination of any of those things. It's just the nature of living in a hot
climate. I'm not belittling it happening at a school. It actually happened to my kids at school as well. and always happens in a really hot month, July, August, September. That's living in Florida. So, it's it's something that we expect and I think acted very diligently
um in response to. So, the district operations team um did conduct uh air quality assessments through an external um company and initiated remediation efforts. Um immediately upon that, um
the efforts included deep cleaning by staff. Um HEPA air scrubbers, dehumidifiers were set up to operate alongside the air conditioning 247. Uh multiple air quality tests were conducted through throughout to guide next steps for remediation. I'm trying
to read this without my glasses. Um extensive HVAC upgrades include uh replacing ducts and vents and rebuilding a very large external um air conditioning unit which I saw. They're massive. Um the district continued to
follow all recommendations made by the external company. And I really want to stress the fact that this was an external company that did our air quality checks. Uh this was not just the school district. All spaces were cleared for use on August 27th based on the air quality
assessment report. The report also noted that HVAC upgrades were necessary to prevent future issues. So, we had additional upgrades to make, but the HVAC was functional and everybody was cleared to go back and operate in those uh spaces. On August 27th,
the district maintenance team began working with contractors to make the necessary HBAC upgrades. And while upgrades were being made, the district continued to monitor humidity levels, conduct external air quality assessments, and follow all recommendations outlined in the air
quality assessment reports. Um, and this is just to highlight how big this these units are. They had to bring in a crane to bring them from the parking lot over the buildings into the space where they where they sit. So, these are these are massive units. This
is not something like we have at our house. Um following the HVA system upgrade um installations, the external company conducted a final air quality assessment. The final report issued was issued on September 29th and it notes
that based it notes two things. I'm sorry. Based on visual inspection data collected, the investigator's professional opinion, no further action is recommended at this time. All remediation and cleaning efforts appear to have been performed professionally
and per industry standards. Number two, this investigate investigator include concludes that the entire facility has met standard requirements of a successful PRV. I'm not going to read all these little acronyms and things, but
basically um the accepted standards for remediation and assessments within the indoor quality industry. Certainly if anybody wants more detailed information you can email us and we will provide it for you. Uh the total cost for improvements uh to the HBAC system, this
is just in the culinary academy building, correct, ML? Okay. It was three uh $351,27726 up to this point. Uh oh. Additionally, the cost for initial testing and reme remediation verification testing to the
external company for the culinary building at Tarpon Springs High School was $7,500. Safety precautions um that are that are ongoing. Uh the district uh works diligently to guarantee the safety of
students and staff. um students were temporarily temporarily relocated to other classrooms and were not allowed in the kitchen areas until they were cleared to do so based on external assessments and reports. So last week uh
I wanted to go to the school after everything was completed and take a look for myself and smell it and stand in there and and um talk to um our principal Dr. Gonzalez accompanied me as well which is never a bad day. uh
wonderful people to spend time with. Uh I personally visited the site last week to stand in the space. Uh we were in there for probably a good 45 minutes in in the dining room and uh kitchen areas and I
didn't smell any mold, mildew, uh chemicals. I didn't feel anything in my lungs or anything negative. It it smelled like it smelled a year and a half ago when I visited the area and it was immaculate. you could um I mean the kitchen was immaculate. It was
immaculate before that, but they they did an amazing job. You could not tell that anything different, you know, or unusual had happened except for the new replacement of like the vents. You can see the the all the ceiling vents are brand new. There were there was a lot of work done
and it was very evident. It was clean. It was fresh. It was smelled like food. It was wonderful. Uh the dining room looked great. They were actually preparing for uh their next dining event which I understand they conduct once a month and have asked that our board is actually invited to attend one of those
very soon. Um the um the independent reports do confirm that all remediation efforts were completed professionally and they meet the standards. I just really want to stress that and um students and staff
are they're learning. They're back in those spaces. they have been for some time. I talked to a couple of staff members as well. Um it's every everything looks amazing. So I just I want to thank our district for the work
that they do every day to ensure that our schools are safe, that the ventilation systems are clean and healthy and and things are going to happen, but our district responds very quickly to those situations as they should and um things are they're just
they're going to happen. So, um, specifically though, I want to thank principal, um, Fatalitus, uh, our, uh, COO Jennifer Dole and her team for their quick response, all the information that I was able to receive and, um, Dr.
Gonzalez as well, just for all of their time and efforts and providing all this information. There's a lot more information, but that was actually just a summary. So, thank you to everybody who who brought this and I just want to assure that um our families, our
especially our students and our staff are are just well taken care of and I was proud to to see that. So, and again, that was it's always a good day to go to any of our schools, but go spongers. Um, the second thing that I wanted to bring
up is um in actually the uh video that we saw for diesel mechanics. My father-in-law was a diesel mechanic with Penllis County Schools for over 15 years and retired from that position. So, um, my husband worked for Penelis County Schools. My mother-in-law worked for Penelis County Schools. I worked for
Penllis County Schools and my daughters volunteered in Penelis County Schools for their Bright Futures scholarship hours back at their middle school at Thood Marshall um, when they were in high school. So, um I'm very proud to to serve in this district and um thank you
to everybody who who uh I don't know makes our district great. That's it. >> Thank you, Mrs. Peters. Uh Miss Long. >> Yes. A week ago yesterday, I had the opportunity to go to Countryside High
School for the College and Career Fair. I've been going at least eight or nine years and it was one of the biggest affairs that we have had. So many colleges uh all the ranks of the
military were there. Um our own penelis technical college had a wonderful display. So I'd like to thank Kathleen Lamb who is the one who puts it together and of course the principal Taylor Henderson. It was an incredible night.
Um, and kids were asking questions. Parents were engaged and that's a good feeling. They have a place to go and research and several people stopped me to say, "Wow, this is incredible. Keep doing it." And you know they will. So, thank you. And the other thing is that
last Friday night, um, I'm on my tour of high school football games, North County. I went to countryside homecoming. Boy, they came on strong and unfortunately right before halftime things kind of slid down. But it was so
much fun to watch them crown the king and the queen. I forgot what that was like. I don't remember that far back, but it was wonderful. And to see the kids, they were very well behaved. Um,
I liked how the student body cheered each other. They were really going at it. And because it's October breast cancer, more than half the kids were in total pink, including the guys. I thought that was awesome. Thank you.
>> That's great. Thank you, Mrs. Long, Miss Edmond. >> And to highlight more football news, uh the JV Championship game is going to be held at Lakewood High School um this Friday. So, I'm looking forward to going
out there. Oh, sorry. Tomorrow. So, yep, that's the 15th tomorrow. Thank you, Dr. Hines. So, I'll be there um celebrating with them. It's another great opportunity to be out and talk to people as well as see the excitement regarding
or around sports. I last Friday I had the opportunity to attend the Bayare practical nursing apprenticeship pinning ceremony and this was the first cohort to graduate uh of nine students and
actually the first time in history that this occurred. So, it's our partnership with Bayare that allowed for Bayare employees who work full-time to earn their LPN or move towards earning their LPN in collaboration with PTC. Um, so
Bayare staff or directors were present and really appreciative of the partnership between Penllis County Schools and Penllis Technical College. So, kudos to everyone that made that happen. Um, and congratulations class of
2025. And then last but not least is just something that has made headlines and has a lot of people um wondering what the district next steps would be um regarding schools of hope. On September
24th, the state board of education approved an amendment to a rule addressing schools of hope. And those changes occurred due to Senate Bill 2510 passing during the 2025 legislative session. And at a workshop, I asked
about it. But during that time, the rule that the Department of Education approved September 24th wasn't in place. So, it was clear that um it would not impact us. I do want to just thank Superintendent Hendrick and staff for
keeping the board informed regarding what's happening um and that we commi continue to communicate with stakeholders on how things impact us whether it's state legislative board of education doing or
federal actions that impact us locally. Um so thank you very much. Thank you, Miss Edmond. Miss Blackburg, >> thank you. Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down with the um student rights and responsibility
um group. So, it is student leaders from throughout our high schools uh with the help of Dr. Gonzalez and Mr. Masteritis. And I will tell all of you, we as board members have the opportunity to sit with them. They meet once a month. And um I
will just say bring your agame ladies. They were they were not softball questions and I just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate how very engaged they were. They were not the normal sort of
we're upset about dress codes or why can't we have our phones. They were very in-depth questions. Miss Dole, you will be getting an invitation to talk about all of the um ongoings of of your department. So it was it was wonderful
to meet with them. I was looking forward to having the opportunity to ask them questions. Unfortunately, they asked so many of us that uh we ran out of time, but again, just such a great group of of young people who were very engaged and
very interested in learning about the ongoings of of our district. So again, study up. So they're not easy questions. So thank you to Dr. Gonzalez and Mr. Masteritis for uh answering where I had some trouble filling in.
Thank you, Miss Blackburg. I appreciate hearing from so many schoolboard members this morning. I did want to say thanks to Mrs. Peters for that in-depth report around Taran Springs High School. Really, I mean, because when like like you said at the top of your remarks that the health and well-being of our students is top of mind. And so when
someone brings a concern to us about indoor air quality, we all think of our own kids plus the other kids and we we worry about that. And so for you to go and investigate and come back and explain to everybody, hey, I heard that it was a concern and I wanted to find out more about it. Um, I just really
appreciate you taking that time and also reaffirming for people that this is where we are. These are our process because I too when I first, you know, I joined the board, you start asking all these questions and then you realize, wow, we have quite a system, even more importantly, quite people in place that care about this and care about our kids
and want to make sure they're in a healthy environment. So, thank you for doing that. Any other comments? >> Okay, Miss Edmond. >> Yes. Um, I know that uh the board of ed the board of directors meeting occurred
with Florida schoolboard association. Um, if possible, could the board receive a report and I believe there's pending travel. So, um, if board members can share, uh, with us what they learn or bring any documents back, that would be
appreciated. Thank you. There is, um, I got an email this morning from FSBA uh, that they asked for the school board chairs who were who received letters regarding the schools of hope to participate in a phone call on Thursday morning. And I am able to do
that and I will do that and I will share information and discussion about that. And I know our workshop is this coming Tuesday and we have a uh workshop topic request process that we follow. All of this is relatively recent news, but we might want to consider um being prepared to discuss that whether it's in our
leadership discussion or whatnot a little more thoroughly on Tuesday. Any other comments, questions? Okay. Thank you. Review of board requests. Mrs. Woodford. >> Yes. I noted that you requested from
your colleagues updates on reports from um meetings they may have attended. Also update on travel details as well as potentially an update on schools of hope from staff.
Thank you. With that, we'll adjourn today's meeting. Thank you for being here today. And we'll move to public participation. Mrs. H, do we have any speakers? >> Uh, yes, Madam Chair, board members, Mr. Hendrickk, we have four speakers this
morning. >> Excellent. Please go ahead and call them. >> Okay. The first two are Nicholas Samalof and Lee Bryant. There's two different microphones. So, if you just come to one and then you'll go. Mr. Sab, I think
>> you are, sir. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, first of all, can I just say how impressed I am with um all of you up here. I've never been to a school board meeting and I'm um really impressed. Everybody was real friendly here and uh you're all about business and I like that in you. You're way more
formal than I. I probably should have wore a suit, but anyway, I came today to read a letter. I don't want to praise you for three minutes. Um, and this letter I wrote to our uh superintendent I see up here. I didn't know you would be here either, but anyway, um, I wanted
to read it just for the public record. And, um, here it goes. Uh, dear Superintendent Hedrickk, I'm writing to you today in hopes you will address a concern of mine. On September 12th, 25, a letter addressed to you was posted on State
Representative Bernie Jacques's Facebook account. This letter referred to a teacher at Starky Elementary. An apparent post the teacher made regarding the murder of Mr. Charlie Kirk. One comment which seemed particularly
irkxome to the representative was good riddance. Representative Jax was offended by the teacher's comments and trusted that the teacher would be terminated. I am a strong proponent of a person's right to speak whether I would agree with it or not. I may not be an
expert on the agreement that the teacher has with the district regarding her free speech rights, but I would hope the teacher is not terminated for her comments. I would like to point out that our representative himself has posted comments on social media that sadly
mimicked the comments the teacher made when talking about other murdered individuals. On April 12th 25, Representative Jax posted good onward with the story about an inmate's upcoming execution here in Florida. Uh
on June 1st 25, Representative Jacques posted death penalty ASAP regarding a man accused of assaulting a child. On May 23rd, Representative Jacques posted what this criminal did was truly evil and vile. Looking forward
to his execution. On February 1st, 25, Representative Jacques even posted this after an inmate in Florida was executed. his post. Good riddens. I know Representative Jacques likes to
visit and talk to the children in Penllis County schools often. I would like to know what you think as I do. I would like to know if you think as I do that the representative social media post are as abhorrent and unbecoming as the representative claimed in his letter
that the teachers were. And if such posts make it unacceptable for Representative Jacques to be invited back into any of Panelis County's schools. I appreciate your time and look forward to your response. Sincerely, Nicholas Samuel. Um,
thank you. >> No sir, that's the end of your time. Thank you. Good morning, Chair Hines, Superintendent Hendrickk, uh, school board and staff. My name is Lee Bryant. I'm the president of the Penllis Classroom Teachers Association. First, I'd like to thank my bargaining team and
our office staff for all their work on uh the contract that we just ratified. 65.1% said yes of the voters. 38 34.8% said no. And one person took a ballot that didn't mark it. I'm not sure. Uh while
I'm glad that the contract is finished for this year, we have another contract coming up next year. Always have something. It's this year was the open book and I'm happy with a lot of the language that we got in our book. Uh we this is the best contract we've had in
Penllis County uh in my 30 years. So I'm very happy with what we have. But the pay, and you know it, too. In Florida, teachers earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by professionals with a similar background, similar degrees.
12.9% loss of purchasing power from inflation over the past 10 years. Teachers are working for less money every year. And they have high expectations from society, from their administrators, and
themselves. Educators feel like if they're not exhausted by the end of the day, they didn't do enough. If they are not totally spent by the end of the week, they didn't do enough. And the reward for this from the state of Florida, more
standards, more testing, higher expectations, and 50th in the nation in pay. Again, we didn't go into education to get wealthy, but we also didn't go in into education thinking we'd not be able to pay our mortgage or pay our rent or to
be able to afford to send our kids to college while we work to make students that our students are ready for life after school. US News said Florida's number one in growth and has the sixth best economy in America, but the state
teacher increase for salaries this year was 0.7%, less than $10 a week before taxes. The educators of Florida are getting to the breaking point, which is the plan from some lawmakers. by underfunding our
schools and underpaying the workers in the schools. They want to break us and use education as a profit-making entity. $153 million in Penllis County going to empowerment scholarships. This system relies on teachers working hour after
hour after hour to keep it afloat. But the educators of Florida are reaching the breaking point. If the teachers of Florida started working their contract hours, this system would fail and none of us want that. Thank you for your
time. The next two speakers are Sally Coleman and Barbara Dum Michelle. Good morning. Thank you. And I believe Florida families want safe, strong schools. The taxpayers call for
accountability and value. This is nothing new. Have the lawmakers heard and responded to our voices? Yes, they have. They have responded with holding back grants. Teachers are in the very lowest ranking of pay, and they've systematically cut back and eliminated
critical programs that are crucial to the true and well-rounded education needed for a thriving generation and for generations to come. Have they responded to the call of the needy and impoverished and disabled?
Yes, they have. They have shut down entire departments, fired the passionate and skilled trainers and educators and closed the and closing the door to opportunities of community assistance and interaction. Have they responded to our call for
building upon programs for the exceptional? Well, we can start by witnessing control of library resources and history restrictions. We can also see the cracking of the IBA and dual enrollment programs. These are the
evidences of their actions. Where are we going from here? As I understand it, we will soon be lo collocating with a number of schools with a number of uh colllocation with the number of hope schools in Penllis. Our taxpayer dollars
that have already been subverted to voucher programs will now be layered with responsibility for the everyday existence of these charter schools within our public school buildings. This is all at our expense and inconvenience. What is the accountability for this
glorious privilege? There's astoundingly little. The state has already experimented with charters to an embarrassing CN D rankings. Yet funding is bottomless. You know, as a single mom and as a grandmother of two children who used and
depended upon the Florida public school system to provide a solid education, I can say that they thrived and are now fighting for the life of the system that prepared them for their futures. The active dismantling of this very system
is shortsighted and completely non-inclusive. Lawmakers actions are depriving our children, all of them, of a solid, well-rounded education. We have to change this. Thank you.
>> Hi, I'm Barbara Dumelle. I can't believe you pronounced my name right, whoever did that. But that was good. Um, I'm just here as a grandmother and a parent. Um my whole family has been in education my entire lifetime. My dad was
superintendent of schools, retired at as a professor at University of Tampa and um as you know or you might not but I was here before speaking about pornography in the school libraries. So I was just wondering how many books are
now is has this topic been resolved? how many books and the titles of those books, if I could be supplied with that, are still in our school libraries age, you know, from kindergarten to 12th grade. Um, this is so horrific. Uh, as
it's just hard to even speak about. Um, so I guess I'll go to my notes. Um, first of all, uh, I would just like to request approval, if not already resolved, that all books centered on containing
pornography, which is of so important, blatant pornography in the school. I mean, some parents read it and you you um denied their reading of it in this in this uh room, but yet it's available on the school shelves, library shelves. So,
I'd like to request approval for psychiatric help and support to any child or student affected negatively by being exposed um to the concept that sexual relationship between a man and a woman as a giving of one of love to one
another to unite in love giving birth to life versus what pornography is which is um being exposed to a concept that sex is selfish. for pleasure,
you know, and um proven to produce hurt, anger, hate, the opposite of love. And so many I mean, I think millions across our country are in counseling, psychiatric counseling as adults for this. And so many probably thousands and
millions of marriages have been divor are divorced in divorce court because of it. And you know, that's a fact. I mean, we don't have to have that as a even discussion. So, why is it on the shelves of our children? I really I'm not here to attack you as a
person, your personhood, you know, at all. I'm just here to have a debate, as Charlie Kirk would, an honest and open debate that this is just unacceptable. My dad died at 100 this year and he
found out about this because I told him he was appalled. He was appalled. He couldn't even believe it. He said, "No, that's not happening." I said, "Yeah, Dad." He said, "Please do something about it." So, here I am again, but I'm not here
for my dad. I'm here for the children. >> Thank you, >> Madam Chair. There are no more speakers. Thank you and thank you for being here today everyone.