Following are the major points from the School Board Meeting on 12/10/2024.
ITEMS OF INTEREST
The meeting was called to order at 5:32 p.m. by Chair Choate followed by the reading of the district vision by Ms. Felton. The Parrish Community High School JROTC Color Guard presented the colors followed by the invocation by Father Frederick Nestrock of the Church of the Apostles Episcopal Church in Parrish. Chair Choate led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Student Celebrations/Recognitions:
JROTC Raider Challenge National Championship – On October 24-27, 200 schools and 5,000 cadets from across the country participated at Ft. Knox competing in obstacle courses, 5K runs, and rescue missions. Chief Warrant Officer, John Edmond, Ret., coach of the Palmetto High School Raider JROTC Female Challenge Team, introduced the team. They won both the national and state competitions. Quantas Simmons, Palmetto High School Assistant Principal, was also present.
Command Sgt Major Thomas Zoch, Retired, Manatee High School JROTC coach of Manatee High School JROTC Raider Challenge Team introduced the team he took to Fort Knox, KY. He stated the Bradenton River, Manatee, and Palmetto High Schools win state championship every year. They are the most competitive in the state of Florida. Principal Shannon Fleming was also present.
Florida Marching Band Champions
Braden River High School Marching Band of Pirates won the State Class 2A Championship. Cliff Dawson, Marching Band Director, thanked the community for their support. Mr. Wendell Butler, Principal of Braden River High School, was also present. Representatives of the various band section and the two drum majors were introduced.
Public Comments
JW introduced himself as a gay 11th grade student at Lakewood High School and spoke about his experience of harassment and self-loathing. He stated that LBGTQ students face high rates of suicide. He founded a gay/straight alliance at his school. Due to parental rights in education act that requires parental consent, this denies any student not out to their parents from participating and getting helpful support. He said the ACLU has revealed that closeted youth are most at risk and need the outside support. He challenged the board to consider this if they care about the county’s youth.
JM stated he is seeking a redress of grievance in regard to Mr. Kennedy’s legal address when he took the oath of office for School Board on November 19. He claimed that Mr. Kennedy did not reside within District 3 when he took the oath of office. As a resident of District 3, JM said he has status to bring this grievance. When JM asked for more time beyond the three-minute limit, Mr. Choate requested the board attorney’s opinion. Mr. Dye said JM had exceeded his time limit under Public Comment and that there are a variety of ways to address the board outside of the Public Comment period. JM said he would be forced to go to the Division of Elections to challenge this and he will press for this to be an agenda item.
Reports and Presentations
2024-2025 Music Expo Series
Tiffany Spradling, Director Secondary Curriculum, introduced Rhea Skaggs, Secondary Visual and Performing Arts, and Ricardo Robinson-Shinall, Elementary Visual and Performing Arts Specialist. They described the mid-November field trips of elementary students going to various high schools to experience performances of high school music students. Middle school students will have the same opportunity in January. They acknowledged the coordination and support of the transportation department and all of the school principals and school performing arts teachers to make this happen. High schools sharing their performing arts groups were Bradenton River, Parrish Community, Manatee, Bayshore, and Palmetto. A post event survey indicated students are enthusiastic about the experience and look forward to participating as they go through school.
Consent Items
The Consent Agenda included 27 items that were approved 5-0.
New Business: (Non-Consent Items)
Approval of Budget Amendment October 2024 – Rachel Sellers, Deputy Superintendent of Financial Services, presented the budget amendments. Approved 5-0.
Approval of MTC Aviation Classroom – Amendment 1 – Between Owner and Schenkel @ Shultz, Inc., in the Amount of $139,209.00 (Multiple Funding Sources) – Approved 5-0.
Ms. Spray pulled this and the next related item from the consent agenda. She stated it was an appropriation of funds from the state of $5.5 million, and there should be rolling funding from the state and there is zero funding from the airport or USF. She commented that she spoke with a variety of people who are involved with the project and it was her understanding the other state funded institutions would pay a share as they are partners. She stated the “partners have bailed and we are paying for it.” She asked Mr. Dye why the lease amendment, Article 52, was added. He explained it was to protect the district if the airport did not follow through. Mr. Choate said he doesn’t remember that USF and Sarasota Technical College were ever going to contribute funding, but were program supporters when requesting the funding from the state to build the facility at the airport. The airport has provided the site, its preparation, and the preliminary design work. It was to be on the shoulders of Manatee District to bring the program to fruition. Ms. Spray understood the state was going to be a continued, guaranteed funding source. Explaining that is not the case, Mr. Choate also said that Article 52 was not a bad thing as it gives the district leverage against the airport. Ms. Spray said she could see that was a different way to look at it. She said her bottom concern is that if the district did not enroll enough students to generate FTE to support the program the district would lose money. Dr. Paul Gansemer, Executive Director of Adult, Career and Technical Education, described that the planning for this program began almost eight years ago. He went through the history of bringing the program to this point. He gave excellent examples of how this program is currently developing with support from the education and business communities. In response to a question about how students generate funding for the course, he described it as a combination of enrollment and tuition. Successful grant applications for equipment and other needs, as well as donations are expected to support the program as well. When asked about the timeline for the program to begin, Dr. Gansemer said that it will begin once the FAA criteria have been met with FAA approval.
Approval of MTC Aviation Hangar – Agreement Between Owner and Schenkel & Shultz, Inc. in the Amount of $149,766.00 – approved 5-0
NEW BUSINESS (NO SUPERINTENDENT RECOMMENDATION)
Board Committee Assignments for Calendar Year 2024-2025 – With the addition of Mr. Tatem as liaison and Mr. Choate as second to the Crime Stopper Program, the assignments made at the November 19 meeting were approved 5-0.
Acceptance of the Resignation of Citizen’s Financial Oversight Committee Member– Ms. Spray thanked Mr. Tom Ehren for his work over the last two years and his resignation was approved 5-0
Board Discussion Regarding Harvey K-8 School/Campuses Name – Ms. Spray moved and Mr. Kennedy seconded, to designate the new campus under construction as part of Barbara A. Harvey K-8 to be Barbara A. Harvey K-8 School at North River Ranch. Approved 4-1 with Mr. Kennedy dissenting. Ms. Spray then moved for the school/SAC to make recommendations to the board for the designation of a name for the original campus of Barbara A. Harvey to the south. Approved 4-1 with Mr. Kennedy dissenting.
INFORMATION ONLY (No Board Action Required)
Year-to-Date Financial Statements Through September 30, 2024
Year-to-Date Charter School Financial Statement Summary Through September 30, 2024
Updates:
Instruction – Dr. Laurie Breslin, Executive Director of Student Support and Family Engagement, presented in Mr. Jensen’s absence. She shared Early Learning held a well-attended Soar in 4 event at the Bishop Museum last Wednesday. On Saturday, 130 pre-K and kindergarten teachers participated in Transition to Kindergarten training at Harllee. Southeast High was the site for competition events with 800 students for TSA Gulf Coast Regional. Chamber sponsored Big Bank Theory program is ongoing at the high schools. Successful Migrant Fairs are being held.
Operations – Mr. Ranaldi, Deputy Superintendent for Operations reported that in HR, 75 attended the November 14 Job Fair, with offers made. This is the first time this year the district has 100 operational bus drivers. The next Operations Job Fair is on Jan 9, and the next teacher/para Job Fair is virtual on Jan 21. For Maintenance and Operations, 95% of all storm ground debris has been picked up, expecting 100% by winter break. They are also looking at distressed trees. Southeast High’s field house roof has been replaced and work on athletic facilities, flooring, fields, etc. is currently in progress at schools across the district. Food and Nutrition will celebrate the county fair at each high school with fair food and students can win tickets for the fair. The construction updates on agenda tonight are in process. He recognized the construction team at Palma Sola Elementary with all of the storms and it is still coming in on budget. The vans are helping us with on-time performance for transportation. Mr. Tatem asked about getting principals involved with looking at landscaping, pot holes, etc. to make schools look visually better.
Legal – Mr. Dye said Florida won a large opiate settlement which will go to districts, and staff here is in the process of applying for it.
Superintendent Remarks –
Dr. Wysong noted that the consent agenda included $635,000 in grant funds coming to district thanks to board approval tonight as well as construction projects which will moved forward. Since November 19, he visited several schools and is pleased with seeing student writing samples being posted with written feedback to students. Principal Cooper at Bayshore High School invited four seniors in their AVID program to meet with him and to walk through classrooms with him and it was enjoyable. In addition to the accolades to the student groups this evening, he and Mr. Jensen attended Parrish Community High School’s performance of “Little Women,” as well as the Manatee High School playoff game. With Mary Glass, he attended and served on a panel for School Foundations in Pinellas. Due to changes in the calendar due to hurricanes, Dec.18, 19, 20 will be full school days instead of half-days. In response to the Lt. Governor’s request for letters to the National Guard, a banker’s box full has been sent to Tallahassee.
Board Comments
Ms. Felton described her first weeks as busy. She attended the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) meeting and enjoyed getting to know fellow board members better, as well as meeting people from all over the state. The most important part for her was listening to the panel of students and what they wanted school board members to know about their high school experiences. She said, “we need their buy-in.” Ms. Felton is looking forward to continuing to participate in FSBA activities. She toured Manatee Technical College today and said it was enjoyable and inspiring. She again congratulated the JROTC Raiders Teams and Braden River High School marching band. Ms. Felton expressed appreciation for the young man who spoke about LBGTQ students and their need for support. She emphasized that the district needs to be a resource for them to prevent suicide and feel safe and that they are loved and cared for. She said she thought the board worked well together for her first regular board meeting.
Mr. Kennedy echoed Ms. Felton’s support for the young man from Lakewood Ranch High School and the needs of students. He remarked it takes a lot of bravery to speak to the board. He also praised the students being recognized tonight. He stated that if anyone has an issue with his address, they should take it up with the state and that no one came to him or Mr. Dye. He hopes people will be able to move on from this issue. Mr. Kennedy asked Mr. Dye if it is appropriate for a shade meeting on the longest piece of litigation against the board. He requested Mr. Dye get in touch with Ms. Jackson to address this and have new board members updated. Mr. Kennedy said a constituent asked about people walking dogs on King Middle School property, i.e. tennis courts and green space to the north of the school. Mr. Dye said there is an agreement with the county to use the green space like a park. Mr. Kennedy wanted to know if the district could do this for all our schools. Mr. Dye mentioned there is concern about security and liability. Mr. Kennedy said he talked with Jackie Dezelski of the Chamber about the need for volunteers at Big Bank program at the high schools.
Mr. Tatem’s safety pitch is to prevent fires and to watch for extension cords on Christmas trees and decorations. He wants everyone to come back in the new year. He remarked the FSBA conference was good with many updates. With this being the first meeting after the reorganization meeting, he’d like the board to consider in the future to having a workshop prior to nominating people for positions on the board, since “we can’t do it in private because of Sunshine laws.” Mr. Tatem quoted a sign from the Air Force Academy and how it related to the students that were recognized tonight as they are learning to compete in a fair manner.
Ms. Spray referenced Mr. Kennedy’s remarks about using school facilities in relation to the public use of schools’ tennis courts. She said the Citizens Financial Oversite Committee is waiting on graduation rate data to complete their report. Hopefully the report will be ready for the January 24 workshop and then to the school board on February 11. Ms. Spray also enjoyed the FSBA and shared some of the things students gifted to board members from the Central Florida School Board Coalition. Ms. Spray said she would like to see the Vision Statement changed. She said she would like to add that to the workshop as she expressed that “this one is old.” She wished Merry Christmas to the staff and community.
Mr. Choate thanked the staff for putting this meeting together. He expressed his congratulations to all the students and staff recognized tonight and MHS football should be congratulated. He also wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
Adjourned at 8:21 p.m.
GOOD GOVERNANCE
We caution board members to restrict sidebar conversations and comments during the public meeting. The microphones pick up these comments.
We are very pleased that the Board and the public are receiving valuable information about curriculum and instruction.
Ms. Spray expressed her concern about the items regarding the aviation program by describing information that turned out to be erroneous. The time it took her to describe her take on how things were and then the time it took to explain how what she thought was not the facts, made for a longer than needed discussion. Coming to the meeting with an attitude of inquiry, rather than certainty, would be helpful to get to the information that needs to be shared, rather than displaying ignorance of the facts that then have to be set right. We commend the staff for their preparedness and patience to assure board members and the public of the facts. It is unfortunate that Ms. Spray’s initial comments were made in such a way that others might be led to believe they were true.
Mr. Tatem’s question about how the aviation program is funded through student participation was helpful. However, recounting his own aviation experiences was observed to be self-serving and unnecessarily extended an already long discussion.
Chair Choate should have applied the Board’s Public Comment cautions and instructions to stop the second commenter. “Public comment is not a forum to attack individual school system employees or Board Members.” The fact that the speaker divulged Mr. Kennedy’s address was an egregious violation of Mr. Kennedy’s privacy and safety. We commend not giving the speaker more time beyond the specified three minutes for each commenter.
The League of Women Voters Manatee County wishes the School Board, district and school staff and students Happy Holidays.