After the call to order, invocation, and pledge of allegiance, the meeting was opened to public comment.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Linda Cooper had questions for the board regarding the position of Coordinator for School Safety. Cooper stated that Superintendent Edison filled this position without advertising the position either internally or externally. Cooper stated that Dennis Webber was appointed on May 22 through the consent agenda, without any discussion. Cooper had three questions for the board.

The first question was “Why was the position not advertised in order to find the best candidate?” Her second question was, “Is it policy to appoint a through the consent agenda without any discussion?” Cooper’s third question was regarding the position itself. Cooper stated that the job description was written more for a principal than a coordinator of school safety. Why did the board not look into ex-military, deputies, or upper-level law enforcement officer?”

School Board Attorney David Delaney then advised the board that this was a public comment period and the board is not expected to answer questions during a public comment period. Delaney continued, “This is the time period for the public to bring information to the board. The board can then direct someone from the district to research the question or get back to the question or research the question. It is mostly the time to receive information rather that get into a back and forth discussion.”

WELLNESS PLAN

Ms Julia Oberst, Coordinator of Food Service, presented the Wellness Plan for the 2019-2020 year. The plan was approved and Oberst was given authority to advertise.

2019-2020 STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT

The changes in the Student Code of Conduct were discussed. Most of the changes were related to safety including threat assessment teams, mental health services, and suspicious activity reporting.

Another important change was the deletion of the paragraph that states no jewelry or piercings visible outside of clothing, other than earrings, were allowed. It was noted that in today’s climate of piercings and tattoos that enforcing this rule caused a greater disruption in the schools than allowing the students to wear these piercings.

DESIGNATIONS OF FSBA 2019-2020 LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVE AND ALTERNATE

Paige Brookins made a motion for Chris Cowart to be the Levy County School Board Association representative and for Brad Etheridge to be the alternate. The motion passed.

SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTS

Superintendent Edison congratulated the Levy County candidates in the Aspiring Leader’s Program conducted by the North East Florida Educational Consortium for the successful completion of the program. The candidates who successfully completed the 60-hour program were Devyn Chorvat, Stacy Drummond, Kelley Hoover, John Miller, Aimee Mitchell, Jodi Nagel, Tanya Taylor, Gabriela Oliveria, Michelle Ruiz, Robert Stark, Nichole Thornton, Aimee Watkins, Karen Welch, and Erin Williams.

Edison stated how much he enjoys interaction with the kindergarteners. Edison said our focus is to graduate these kids. He displayed a depiction of a T-shirt with the year of kindergarten graduation and the year the kindergarteners will graduate high school. He asked the board members would they like to go in on the project and provide similar t-shirts for all Levy County kindergarteners. All board members enthusiastically supported this endeavor.

There was no Executive Meeting this week. 

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