Hernando School District

School Board Workshop

Minutes - Final

11:00 AM

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

District Office-Board Room

919 N. Broad Street

Brooksville, FL

CALL TO ORDER

Present:

Linda Prescott, Gus Guadagnino, Susan Duval, Kay Hatch and Jimmy

Lodato

The workshop was called to order at 11:01 A.M. Also present were, John Stratton, Superintendent and

Dennis Alfonso, School Board Attorney.

PRESENTATIONS

1. 22-0237 Review presentation of Davis Demographics’ proposal for services related to establishing

boundaries for upcoming redistricting efforts.

20211026 Hernando School District DD PowerPoint 2 ADA

Hernando County Schools-Proposal Davis Dem ACC

20210831 DD Proposal for Demographic Study Software ADA

Hernando School District Proposal for Boundary Change

Budget Sheet Sept 2021 Revised ADA

Attachments:

Mr. Brian Ragan, Director of Facilities & Construction and Mr. Jim Lipsey, Manager of

Planning, Design & Construction came forward to present this item. Representatives

from Davis Demographics were participating virtually. Mrs. Prescott explained that the

county commissioners are also discussing redistricting today at their meeting. She

clarified that the commissioners are speaking about voting districts and today the school

board will be discussing school district boundaries.

Mr. Guadagnino asked about overall accuracy over a ten year period. Mr. Kaitz of

Davis Demographics stated that for a growing district like Hernando, we will need to do

this every year to be accurate. Discussion took place on how to determine if new

developments are retired communities. Mr. Lipsey explained that county's developing

department lets the school district know up front. Ms. Duval asked of the proposed

developments that are in discussions, have they stated that they will be 55 and older

communities. Mr. Lipsey stated that Lake Hideaway has specified that some of their

homes will be 55 and older. Ms. Duval asked if private and home education students are

identified as potential students in the public school system. Mr. Kaitz stated that they do

not include the private school students. Ms. Duval questioned if the information will be

skewed by not including that information in the data. Mr. Kaitz said that he will work

with staff and can query those numbers in. Mr. Lodato expressed his concerns with the

billable hours versus how many hours it would take our own staff to do. He believes that

Davis Demographics should be able to come with how many hours it would cost to do.

Mr. Stratton stated that he is most interested in a hybrid approach and believes that the

process with an outside agency like this will run much more smoothly. He said we have

been through this before and it is extremely time consuming on staff. Ms. Duval

suggested leaving wiggle room in regard to the hours for parent and student

involvement. She asked for a regular scheduled update during this entire three year

process. Mrs. Prescott spoke about charter schools and Florida virtual school. Mr.

Kaitz stated that they will take any data that the district gives them and then they can

decide whether to include them.

Legistar, the legislative management system, needed to be re-booted due to technical

difficulties at 11:30 A.M.

2. 22-0204 Presentation of the AICE Program at Central High School

Cambridge Presentation for School Board ACC

Attachments:

Budget Sheet Sept 2021 Revised NO Financial Impact ACC

The following staff members came forward to present this item: Kelly Slusser -

Principal of Central High School, Chris Healy - Principal of West Hernando Middle

School, Tom Kalament - Principal of Pine Grove Elementary School, and Ms. Ruth

Owen - AICE Coordinator/Guidance Counselor at Central High School.

After the presentation, Mr. Lodato thanked them for the information they shared. He

asked if staff can look at giving the 20% that the district gets for the program, go back to

the teachers/schools. Mr. Stratton explained that this is a set dollar amount that can be

used to seed other programs. Mrs. Slusser said that she believes it is legislation that

states the funds go back to the district. Ms. Duval stated that she would love to see the

program retain all the funding, but when you grow a program, it takes money to do.

Mrs. Slusser stated that she is pushing to market AICE and the Ken Parkway feeder

programs. Mrs. Hatch stated that she attended the meeting where AICE was presented

to parents and students. Ms. Owen stated that on average, students earn 21-25 college

credits. Mr. Stratton asked for the them to extend an invite to himself and board

members for the recognition dinner.

The meeting recessed at 12:52 P.M. and reconvened at 1:09 P.M.

3. 22-0216 Review of the District’s Tentative 2021-2022 5-Year Work Plan

2021 2022 Five Year Plan WORKSHOP ACC

Attachments:

Budget Sheet Sept 2021 Revised NO Financial Impact ACC

Jim Lipsey, Manager of Planning, Design & Construction and Brian Ragan, Director of

Facilities & Construction came forward to present this item.

During the presentation, Mr. Lipsey explained that "Safety to Life" is anything that

pertains to life safety, such as fire alarms, exit egress, generators, etc. Some discussion

took place on naming a road by Explorer K8. Mr. Stratton explained that the board can

put in a recommendation for the road name. The county, as well as the developer can do

the same. The board also discussed who will maintain the new road. Mr. Lipsey

believes the responsible party would be the developer. Mr. Lodato spoke about his

concerns with low impact fees and how it will be difficult to complete these projects. Mr.

Stratton stated that he would like to look at the option of increasing enrollment at each

high school before we build. Mr. Lipsey asked if they can request that the board approve

this plan in draft form with a specific revision to include the new career and technical

facility when they submit it to the state. Mr. Alfonso stated that the motion to approve

this item should include that specific verbiage. They discussed the naming of the road

again. Mr. Alfonso stated that the board can send a letter to the county with a name

suggestion. Mr. Ragan specified that the road will become a county road. Mr. Alfonso

stated that each board member can make a suggestion individually as well. Mr. Ragan

clarified that the naming would be just a suggestion.

4. 22-0147 Update on Hardening, Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool (FSSAT) & Other School

Safety Items

FSSAT CERTIFICATION LETTER 2021 2022 ACC

Budget Sheet No Financial Impact

Attachments:

Jill Renihan, Director of Safe Schools came forward to present this item. It was clarified

once again that the Guardian Program is not replacing the School Resource Officers.

Mr. Guadagnino asked about people coming to board meetings in costume masks and

not a health mask. Ms. Renihan stated that she will look into possibly adding something

into policy. Mrs. Prescott asked about the state replacing Crisis Go. Ms. Renihan stated

that they are not replacing Crisis Go. Mutual Link will not replace Crisis Go, it will

enable us to share information easily.

5. 22-0188 Presentation of Strategic Plan Annual Report

Strategic Plan Annual Report October 2021 ACC

Current Strategic Plan_ACC

Attachments:

Budget Sheet Sept 2021 Revised NO Financial Impact ACC 2

Mr. Stratton introduced this item. He stated that our district maintained a B grade. The

following staff members came forward to present:

Pillar 1:

Gina Michalicka - Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning

Sonsee Sanders - Coordinator of Program Evaluation

Michelle Barash - Supervisor of Elementary Curriculum

Beth Lastra - Supervisor of Career & College Readiness

Sophia Watson - Director of Adult & Technical Education

Pillar 2:

Ray Pinder - Director of Human Resources

Matthew Goldrick - Supervisor of Professional Standards

Paula Clark - Supervisor of Professional Development

Ms. Duval asked if there was a breakdown of the 60 openings by elementary and

secondary? Mr. Pinder stated that he could get that information.

Pillar 3:

Sean Arnold - Executive Director of Support Operations

Jill Renihan - Director of Safe School

Mr. Lodato requested a letter be sent to the BOCC in regard of lights being left on at

Challenger K8. Mrs. Hatch stated that she believes that the questions have been

answered multiple times. Mr. Lodato and Mrs. Prescott agreed with her.

The meeting recessed at 3:24 P.M. and reconvened at 3:44 P.M.

Pillar 4:

Karen Jordan - Public Information Officer

Pillar 5:

Kendra Sittig

Joyce McIntyre

INFORMAL TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Calendar of School Board Meeting Dates:

After some discussion, the consensus of the board is have the following changes come before them at

the November 16, 2021 meeting: keep meetings on Tuesdays but change the times to the following; 1

P.M. Informal; 2:30 P.M. Workshop; 6:00 P.M. Meeting.

2. Mask Discussion:

Mr. Alfonso explained the procedure for the superintendents emergency authority. Mrs. Prescott stated

that she would like to send a letter to Senator Simpson thanking him for standing up to the Surgeon

General who would not wear a mask in a meeting with someone who had a compromised immune

system. Mr. Stratton stated that his recommendation is to make the masks voluntary for students and

staff. Mr. Alfonso will look up some information on this item and get back to them.

3. Redistricting:

Mr. Stratton announced that the BOCC approved their maps today at their meeting. We will need to

approve ours by December. He stated that we was told that no sitting board member or potential

candidate was affected. Ms. Duval does not know why they would need to vote as we do not use district

lines and they are voted in district wide. She also stated that they are nonpartisan for a reason. She is

not in favor of redrawing the lines. Mrs. Prescott stated that there is no reason for our districts to be

different. Mrs. Hatch asked what the benefit was to have our boundaries the same as the counties.

Mrs. Prescott stated that it would benefit the Supervisor of Elections. Mr. Alfonso explained that this

board can only make the change in an odd number year, no later than the December meeting. He

stated that the maps and resolution must be adopted at the December meeting. He also stated that there

is nothing in statute that requires the change, it would just need to be made part of a board meeting

record that the board did not make any changes to boundary lines. He said they could adopt a

resolution not adopting new boundary lines. The consensus of the board is to go with the new mapping.

*going back to #2 - Mask Discussion*

Mr. Alfonso stated that this will require the board to act. After some discussion, the consensus of the

board is to remove the mandate for students and staff effective immediately with the option to revisit the

topic if Covid numbers increase again. Mr. Alfonso reminded the board that they can take action only

after public comment (green forms).

4. Thank you letter to Senator Simpson from the board

5. MOU's signed by both unions for $1,000 bonus to staff members who did not receive it from the

Governor's office

6. Athletic Trainers at all High Schools, shared with Middle and K8 School which will be paid by

millage

7. Accreditation will be coming up

8. Neola Policy Update on Citizen Input will be included in the regular Neola update in January with

Lisa Becker

GENERAL COUNSEL

ADDENDUM ITEMS

GOOD OF THE ORDER/BOARD DISCUSSION

School Board Comments

ADJOURNMENT

The workshop adjourned at 5:11 P.M.

_______________________________

Superintendent

_______________________________

Board Chair

Mission Statement

The Hernando County School District Collaborates with students, parents and other community stakeholders to effectively

prepare all students for a successful transition into a diverse and changing world.