The School Board of Santa Rosa County met in regular session at 9:00 a.m. with the following members present.   Mr. Hugh Winkles, Chairman, Mrs. Jennifer Granse, Vice-Chairman, Mr. Scott Peden, Dr. Diane Scott and Mrs. Carol Boston.  Also present was Timothy S. Wyrosdick, Superintendent of Schools, and Secretary and Paul R. Green, Board Attorney.

The Chairman opened the floor for the Public Forum and asked if anyone wanted to speak to the board regarding any item not on the agenda.  There was no response and the public forum was closed.

Mr. Bagby came forward to present the quarterly Transportation Report.  Safety is the #1 priority for Durham.  He reviewed the list of Non-Preventable and Preventable accidents from the last few years to illustrate how their safety program has helped decrease the amount of accidents.  They increased their number of trainers from 7 to 11, hired a new safety and training supervisor, adjusted behind the wheel (BTW) training, focusing on backing procedures and re-evaluated turn-arounds (cul-de-sacs).

Mr. Bagby explained Durham has 247 buses in inventory with 194 in service daily.  So far this school year there have been 12 buses (4.8%) brought in for repairs.  He discussed the replacing of tires and shared with the board they have two new mechanics, one in Milton and one in Navarre.

Durham is introducing the "Durham Bus Tracker" smart phone application.  Parents will be able to track exactly where their students bus is and the approximate time of arrival with this application.  They will need their child's name and student ID number. The program will provide the current location of assigned bus, the scheduled pick-up address and time, and drop-off address and time.  The application is currently being BETA tested and will be ready for full roll-out next school year.

Mr. Bagby offered to answer questions.  The Superintendent thanked him for the presentation.

The board approved Navarre High School - Building Construction Technical Lab/Classroom Addition Phase 3 documents.

The board approved Phase II of the Central High School Locker Room Renovation/Toilet/shower Room Addition/Weight Room Relocation/Gymnasium HVAC Renovation.

The board reviewed the status of the current DAG Architects construction projects.

The board approved Phase III of Gulf Breeze Middle School Kitchen/Cafeteria Expansion and

Phase II of Holley Navarre Middle School Kitchen Cafeteria Expansion.

The board reviewed the status of the current Pinder Martin construction projects.

The board approved the change orders decreasing the projects payable below to the appropriate contractor by the amounts shown.  These decreases are to reflect recent payments made to suppliers and the associated tax savings acquired through direct purchasing.

*Gulf Breeze High School - Chiller Plant Phase II

    A. E. New Jr. $22,008.47

*Hobbs Middle School-Kitchen/Cafeteria/Bus Ramp/Parking

    A. E. New Jr. $57,481.65

*King Middle School - Kitchen/Cafeteria

    A. E. New Jr. $48,838.81

The Board approved the Florida Inventory of School Houses (F.I.S.H.) as presented  and certified to the Office of Educational Facilities that the inventory is current and accurate.

Mr. Wyrosdick asked Mr. Harrell to share information about a bat problem we have in the Milton area.  Mr. Harrell explained that we have an issue with bats being in the rooftop encapsulated area of the Milton Community School building on the campus of Milton High School.  The bats have not gotten into the actual building, they are nesting in the area between the rooftop and ceiling.  He has contacted PSI and Southern Catastrophe and they plan to start working during Spring Break  cleaning and sealing the area of the building that houses the Administrative Services first and then moving over to the other side of the building, cleaning and sealing it off.  The administrative side of the building seems to be the area most affected. The other side houses a day care center.  He has made DCF aware of the problem and made arrangements with them to move the children over to the administrative services side when they begin working over the Day Care center.  The entire process should take about 3 weeks to complete.  Mr. Harrell also mentioned he contacted FSBIT about the problem but they consider bats vermin and that is not covered under our policy.  

The Board approved the administrative appointment of April Martin as the Director of Elementary Education, effective March 11, 2015.

The board approved the School Leaders Evaluation System Revision as presented.

The board approved the Instructional Evaluation System revision as presented.

Ms. Patricia Powell, RN, SN, MC, Florida Blue came forward and distributed the Health Screening Executive Summary Report for Santa Rosa County Schools.

She briefly reviewed a few key items from the report.  Participation among employees was down during 2014.  Enhancements to the program should bring the participation up during 2015.

The top health risk areas for our employees were 1. Diabetes 2. BMI 3. Nutrition and 4. Blood Pressure.  Our total wellness score was "78" which is one point higher than it was last year.

Santa Rosa County is a good county to live in based on the statewide average for risk categories among employer groups in the program are: 44% low risk, 40% medium risk and 16% high risk.  

Ms. Powell reviewed the Personal Health Assessment (PHA).  There are 1,709 covered employee subscribers, 857 participated in the PHA while 852 did not.  Overall Santa Rosa County had a positive change - 729 Florida Blue members showed year over year improvement and >50% had only two risk factors.  

Ms. Powell offered to answer any questions. 

Mr. Wyrosdick encouraged the board members to read the entire report as a lot of good information can be gained from the report. 

The Chairman opened the floor for the Student Alternative Placements and expulsions and asked if anyone here wanted to address the board.

The father of student A15-0261-14 came forward stating he was here to represent his daughter, a student at King Middle School.  The father asked the board to re-instate his daughter to King Middle School because she didn't receive her due process rights during her alternative placement hearing.

He reviewed the incident that happened on the bus as he understood it.  He felt the student that his daughter had the confrontation with should not have been allowed back on the bus in the first place.  He acknowledged his daughter used language that she shouldn't have used but was only trying to defend herself from the other student when she reached for the bus fire extinguisher.  She never intended to touch or harm the bus driver.  The father asked to see the video tape that was recording on the bus during this confrontation, however when he viewed the tape it was incomplete and only recorded a portion of the altercation.  

Mr. Green, School Board Attorney addressed the accusation that his daughter did not receive due process by explaining the procedure that takes place.  It is not the same for students as it is for someone in the court system.  He reviewed the steps that take place, beginning with the student being called in to meet with the Principal and/or Dean and given the opportunity to tell their side of the story.  If the Principal and/or Dean feel it is warranted, the case goes to the hearing committee where the incident is discussed.  Parents are given a choice on the course of action they prefer including a full hearing with an attorney of their choice.  If the hearing committee feels the case needs to go to the next step, then their recommendation is given to the Superintendent.   Once he reviews it and if he deems it appropriate, then he places it on the agenda for the school board to take action. 

The student's father mentioned that his daughter was told not to say anything that might incriminate her at the hearing so she was unable to tell her side of the story.  Mr. Green explained that this case is different in that a criminal charge has been made and the advice she received during the hearing committee meeting was appropriate because anything she said could be used against her.  The vast majority of cases do not involve criminal charges.

Dr. Scott asked if we reviewed the entire video.  Mr. Gunter, Middle School Director explained that the driver turned off the bus (therefore turning off the video recorder) while waiting in the parking lot.  She turned the ignition back on as soon as she realized an incident was occurring.  District staff have viewed the video that was available.  Mr. Green explained that the video was only one element in the case.   

Mr. Winkles questioned whether we are having a full hearing or  considering the father’s request for leniency.   Mr. Green explained that the parent was given the opportunity for a full hearing, but did not chose that route.  He is instead asking for leniency by requesting his daughter be re-instated to King Middle School.   Mrs. Boston asked if statements taken from witness were consistent with statements from the bus driver and student.   Mr. Gunter said the statements taken were consistent.

Mr. Wyrosdick stated that the school conducted a thorough investigation, testimony was taken from all witnesses and those involved in the incident and he feels the school and hearing committee’s action is appropriate under the circumstances.  He sees no reason not to approve the committee’s recommendation. 

The board approved the remainder of alternative placements and/or expulsions as submitted.

The board approved the travel cap increase for the following employees as requested by Linda Novota, Director Exceptional Student Education

Janine Lockman - increase $1,000.00

Michelle Seal - increase $2,000.00

The board approved the request for Use of Religious Venue (Olive Baptist Church) by the Purchasing Department for the Employee of the Year Banquet, April 17, 2015.

Mr. Wyrosdick announced a short Executive Session meeting immediately after this board meeting.

We began our testing process for 9th and 10th graders writing last week.  We had several issues that were not related to cyber attacks.  He asked Mr. Emerson to come forward and elaborate a little more on the situation.   There were major issues and failures as students began testing.  Some students couldn't log on, or were cut off, were not allowed to add all their text or in some cases the material they entered was not there when they logged back in.   We were able to get all of our 9th and 10th graders writing tests completed and it may have been because of the one hour delay (Central time zone) behind the other counties.   He complimented Rick Hardcastle and Mary Lou Darby for their phenomenal job trying to keep the testing on schedule.  Statewide, yesterday was a bad day with many students facing white screens, problems logging in, or staying on the computers.  Today we are testing 8th graders and Central School went down completely.   The testing issues have been upsetting to students and their parents.  We will continue with ELA testing on April 13 with 4 times more students and will have to see how it goes.  We got it done, but it was not like we wanted it to be and it certainly wasn't a positive experience for anyone.

Several board members are traveling to Tallahassee next week for the Florida School Board Association's Annual Day in the Legislature and will be meeting with our local legislators.  Mr. Wyrosdick asked that they relate this information to them.  The Superintendent has been and will  continue to talk to the Commissioner of Education during the testing period to stay informed and to relay our experiences to her with the testing process. 

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned.

                 DONE AND ORDERED IN LEGAL SESSION by the School Board of Santa Rosa County this 10th day of March, 2015 A.D.

                                                                                                                SANTA ROSA COUNTY

                                                                                                                SCHOOL BOARD

                                                                                                                ___________________________________                                                                                            

                                                                                                                 Chairman

ATTEST:

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 Superintendent of Schools