Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee - Regular Meeting

Mr. Harvey, are we ready?

All right, good morning and welcome to the Fiscal Accountability Government Relations Committee meeting for Wednesday, August 6th, 2025. I'm now calling this meeting to order. Can we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by our Chairwoman, Ms. Maridera-Rojas. I pledge allegiance 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. Please remain standing for a moment of silence. Thank you. Okay, before we get started, I'd like to take a moment to state the members of this committee. You have myself, Roberto Alonso as chair, you have Mr. Danny Espino as vice chair, Ms. Luisa Santos as member, and Mr. Joseph Geller as a member. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes of the Wednesday, July 16th, 2025 Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee meeting. All in favor?

Second. We need a second.

I'm a second. All in favor? Aye. Okay. The next order of business is to move the E items to the floor. May I get a motion to move the E items to the floor?

Move it.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye. All right. Our first item is E86. Mr. John Goodman, it's yours.

Good morning. E86 through E89 were discussed at the last ABAC meeting last week. E86 is the final annual audit plan for our office. Any questions or comments?

Just a very brief comment. I want to just take this opportunity to thank Mr. Goodman and his entire team. You've done an exceptional job. We know it's a tough one. So thank you to all of you. Kudos. And we look forward to the new audits that are coming up for the following year. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, E87? E87 is the Internal Audit Report of Selected Schools and Centers. Any questions?

Just a very brief comment. This was addressed, at ABAC extensively and we know that Dr. Lewis and his team in operations of our schools is going to be looking into all this very carefully. We're going to continue to work arduously to provide the training necessary and the assistance so that we can avoid in the few situations that we had some issues. for it to be a repeat. So thank you, Dr. Lewis, and I'm certainly looking forward to hearing more about the plans to help those administrators proactively so that we don't end up with these situations. Through the chair.

Thank you so much. Okay, through the chair, Ms. Rojas, thank you for your comments, and you're 100% correct. Believe it or not, on July 30th, led by Mr. Bueno, we actually engaged in that conversation and came up with a couple of extra layers to be able to address the issue at hand. And part of that layer is really from an accountability standpoint, making sure that it's reflective on that principal's MEP. But beyond that, from a training standpoint, we also added the Office of Academic and, of course, Region. They're going to provide a pre-audit before that school is actually audited. and making sure that required documents are signed as well. So yes, we are addressing it, and the whole entire goal is to avoid any such finding in the near future.

Thank you very much, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay, we now move to E88. E88 is the audit of ESAC and school recognition funds. Any questions or comments? Okay, E89. E89, it's limited scope audit benchmarking of elements within the district's food service operations. Any questions or comments?

As always, thank you so much, Mr. Goldman and your team for always doing a great job and keeping us all updated. Goodman. Goodman, yes. Through the chair, Goodman. Okay, I apologize. That's all right. All right, thank you so much. All right, E106, Mr. Bueno.

Through the chair, E106 is the tentative board meeting schedule for the 2026 school year. If you have any questions.

Okay. I think I have Ms. Rojas with a question.

Yes. Just very, very briefly. Thank you, Mr. Bueno. And I just want to make sure that nothing falls on days that are religious holidays. We've talked about that in the past because this past year we did have one situation. if we could just make sure that all of the days, which it would include Ash Wednesday, for example, that those are days that we don't have the meetings because those are days that many of the members, again, Jewish holidays and all of the others that we've talked about in the past, just double check so that we don't have anything that falls on any of those days. Thank you.

Through the chair, Mr. Chair, Madam Chair, I have to say that Ms. Yopiz does a wonderful job. She presents the agenda item to me. I look over it and then I present it with my name. But I can assure you that Ms. Yopiz, myself, the superintendent and the cabinet have reviewed these days and we've compared them to holidays, Jewish holidays, Catholic holidays, whatever it may be, and inclusive of even opening our schools. As you know, next Tuesday we will be doing our school board meeting instead of our regular Wednesday because of the opening of schools. But yes, ma'am, we will give it a double look. If there's anything that anyone sees that may be somewhat... indicative, please let me know and we'll definitely revise the agenda item before it comes back to you. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Any other further questions? All right, thank you. E141, Mr. Steiger.

E141 is award of an ITN for ground lease opportunities around Arthur and Polly Mays. Questions or comments?

Okay, we first have Vice Chair Colucci.

Thank you. Through the Chair, I just have, and I know I've asked this before, and I'm going to continue to ask it. It's going to provide needed housing for teachers to support staff and the surrounding community. Is there a way that we can find out the formula? I know that they've talked about for teachers to qualify, because my fear is we need to recruit teachers, we need to retain teachers, but How can we ensure that we will be able to have, that they will qualify for this housing through the chair?

Sure. So yeah, Mr. Chair, Ms. Colucci. So the qualifications around workforce and affordable housing are actually set bigger than us. And so that... Within certain income qualifications, our teachers would absolutely qualify, and there's different percent thresholds for each. Within that, right, so is there, within affordable, within workforce, Are there opportunities to specifically set aside housing just for our teachers? That's in our individual negotiations with the developers to say, hey, the right's the first refusal, however we phrase that. Every one of the presenters at this ITN presentation spoke really specifically about how our teacher salaries fall within the ranges, what type of housing they would qualify for, what type of discount they would get. And then they also made specific reference to our teachers. And by the way, it wasn't always just teachers. So a lot of times it was our overall MDCPS employees that would get the first benefit of it. So I think that this is going to be somewhat of a good test case as it's our first one. But certainly the team on our end, on the developers end, all understand the board's priority on this.

Okay, and through the chair, follow up? So we can set the parameters, my understanding of what you're saying, for a certain percentage for teachers, a certain percentage for support personnel, through the chair.

Yeah, absolutely. So Mr. Chair, Ms. Gallucci, we're absolutely, the conversation's already begun on how it looks like. I don't think we're gonna, we'll see how it negotiates. I think we're gonna be, we're gonna ensure that the, that the benefit is to our employees and to make sure that we don't do anything that restricts the revenue so tightly that it sacrifices money up front for us. But I think everyone's on the same page that one of the goals of this is not just money for the district to be able to fund a school, but also to be able to get housing for our employees. So it's both, and we're going to try to do our best to not sacrifice one for the other.

Okay, thank you. Through the chair, one last thing, and I just want to state this for the record. I think that we need to really prioritize teachers because this is something that you, as you all know and nationwide, we have a shortfall. We have difficulties recruiting, retaining, and we need to continue to do so. So this would make it very attractive for our teachers, and especially with the cost of living in Miami-Dade County. that we make it something that they can afford so that they can really live in Miami-Dade County comfortably and enjoy their teaching profession. So I just wanted to state that for the record. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much, Vice Chair Colucci. And today's a great day here in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. I see that our commissioner... has joined us here in our room, so we're gonna take a quick pause for our meeting, and I'm gonna now let our chairwoman, Ms. Maritere Rojas, do a quick few remarks.

Thank you. Commissioner? Good morning, sir. It is an absolute honor and a privilege to have the Commissioner of Education visiting Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the third largest school district in the country, A-rated, with graduation rates of 95.2%, never seen before, and more choices for parents than anyone in the entire country. We owe that to the amazing team that we have here, but also to you and all of the other stakeholders that have made this possible. As I always like to say, it's teamwork that makes the dream work. Thank you, sir, because our children are the future of our country, and they deserve, all of them, to get a top-notch educational program provided to them. And with you at the helm, we are looking forward to a very bright future. So with that said, I would like to state that our colleagues on the board here are absolutely exceptional. Their passion, their compassion, and their love for the profession that we represent is evident every single day as policymakers. We're trying to make our very best decisions for our children. And together with our superintendent of schools, there he is back there, and his entire team We work collaboratively together and looking forward to a great year with you, sir, at the helm. And so at this time, if you would like to address us, it would be a privilege.

Well, thank you so much for that warm welcome. It's good to be home. For folks who don't realize, I went to Dr. Cropp High School. I've got my former assistant principal, Don Bagelos, here. And I'm frequently dealing with my other assistant principal, Wallace Aristide, in Tallahassee. Oh, boy.

Oh, boy.

man there he is well it's so clearly when I come back home they keep close tabs on me rightfully so it's good to see Dana Spina who was appointed by the governor and I had the pleasure of vetting his background it's good to see Steve Gallen who I remember when he was running in the Biscayne Garden Civic Association because that was where the area I was living in before we moved up to Tallahassee so it's good to see you again my friend and so many familiar faces Monica Colucci who's doing phenomenal work we work together at the Florida High School Athletic Association and a lot of the great thing she's doing at the FIU Adam Smith Center, and of course, Robert Alonzo, who's a dear friend to the administration. And so I'm looking forward to getting to know you, Chair, as well as Ms. Luisa Santos. But this is the biggest school district in the state, and it was very important the week before school starts that I came down here personally, not just because it's home, but because it's significant to the rest of the state. If Miami-Dade is able to perform and excel and succeed, I know the rest of the state will follow. And so I thank the governor for his leadership and all the stuff that he's done to be able to create school choice, to be able to create proficiency that is exceeding expectations. And we want that to continue to thrive. As I was just telling the superintendent on the elevator up here, we really want to see these scores continue to increase. We don't want there to be any failing schools, although we are proud of the fact that we went from 117 DNF schools in the state to only 71 throughout the state. And we will continue to push until we get to zero schools. And I know Miami-Dade is leading the way. So thank you all for what you do. and putting students first always, so thank you.

Thank you very much, sir. Again, it's an absolute privilege and an honor and absolutely thank our governor and everyone else in Tallahassee who has worked tirelessly to put education first. And as it has been alluded to by my colleagues, many of us here are educators. We've been teachers and administrators. And those that have not also know the importance of the teaching profession, which is so critically important to all of us. And so we hope that working very collaboratively with you as we move forward, that you help us to ensure that we get more interest in our students going into the profession. And that's why I did proffer a while back ago. a board item which my colleagues unanimously approved which was called the four Rs because we have to recruit, retain, but reward accordingly so that they can live, work, and play here in Miami and respect the teaching profession. And we know that with you at the helm and all the others and the governor and everyone that's gonna help us get there, we will be able to continue to keep that A status, but also make sure that all children, whether in A school or not, are on grade level. That's a goal for this entire board, and I can assure you that all of us working collectively with all of you, it will happen. So thank you very much, sir. I don't know if any of my colleagues at this time would like to make any statement or anything, or if not, then we will proceed, okay? Board Member Espino?

I think you should also be commended for your work. Good to see you. Thank you so much for coming to Miami. It certainly says a message, just you being here, but also the message you're sending when you hit the ground running. From budgets to enforcement of parents' rights, you have, I mean, it was seamless. I mean, large shoes to fill from our former education commissioner that you've been able to step in and continue running without missing a beat, so thank you for your efforts. I often say that our job is made easier by what's done at the state compared to other states and the battles that they're having. So thank you for what you do and for the mantle you've picked up.

Thank you.

Vice Chair Gallucci? Commissioner, it's really an honor to have you here. And as you said, it's been a pleasure to work alongside you on different endeavors. I'm very, very proud to serve this district, this community. Miami-Dade County Public Schools truly is at the forefront of choice, of supporting parents and giving them every opportunity to provide the best educational opportunities for their children. So I couldn't be more proud to serve this district and alongside such professional colleagues. So thank you, thank you for what you're doing and keep leading the way. Florida is just at the forefront of this nation in education and I know it will continue to do so under your leadership. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Board Member Alonso, sir.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and thank you, Commissioner, for being here. And thank you to our governor for continuing to really be dedicated to the work of education in our state. When I saw that he had made this election and placed you in that position, I knew that he was going to continue the hard work that we've seen because you work so diligently and and hand-in-hand with our previous commissioner, Manny Diaz, in making sure that a lot of the governor's initiatives were implemented correctly, as well as our state legislature, who were here this morning with us, and making sure that it goes, because a lot of people don't realize the work of the Department of Education and our commissioner in having to really implement not just what the governor's priorities are, but also what our legislative body's priorities are. There's a lot of work that comes into play after session that you guys really do the real implementation. Appreciate that you're here. Know that this board will continue to work very closely with your office. It's always important to have open communication. We're always here, open ears. Anything that you want to know from us, know that we're always available for you. As vice versa, anything you want to share with us, we're always here as well. So thank you.

Thank you, sir. Board Member Gallin?

Yes, through the chair, I want to echo the sentiments of my colleagues. I know our chair indicated that there are critical areas as it relates to the fundamentals of education and teacher recruitment. Recruitment, rewarding, respecting, and retaining. I want to add a fifth R, and your presence here reflects that, and that's relationships. In learning and in life, it's always about relationships. And we're very poised because you have a unique relationship with this community. You have a unique relationship with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. You have a unique relationship with Wallace Aristide and Dr. Bagelow's. But you have a unique relationship to the power that education affords our students, our families, and our communities. And again, that's very important as we continue to move this work forward. So I look forward to us maintaining and strengthening our relationship that we already have. We are uniquely poised with you at the helm, and we won't apologize for that. So we have the right to claim you as one of our own, and we look forward to maintaining and enhancing and leveraging that relationship on behalf of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, our children, our students, our families, and our overall community. So again, I'm glad you're here. And I believe in the law of proximity. It's important that we see our leaders on the ground engaging where the real work takes place. And again, I applaud you and thank you and look forward to working with you. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Board Member Santos.

Thank you, Madam Sharon. Commissioner, I do look forward to getting to know you better. I think what we're seeing is an awesome pattern that students can look up to and say, you know what? One of the very common professions for MDCPS grads can be commissioner of education of our state. a badge of honor for our students and I know that having walked our classrooms you will do everything in your power to ensure those students continue to have the opportunity to achieve wonderful things that they can look forward to bright futures regardless of their background that's what the state will continue to do I am sure of it and of course since you've come from here I'm certain that you will continue as you already have to work with all of us to make sure we all deliver for every child

So thank you so much Board Member Santos and as I close I'm going to say first of all it's a pleasure to have you and an honor together at the same time where we still have a few of our representatives from our day delegation here. So it's a very special day for us here in Miami-Dade County Public Schools and again Thank you, sir, for not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. Extremely important to all of us. You heard from all my colleagues. We're very, very pleased, and we all look forward to working very closely with you and reminding everyone, since you have all those close ties and relationships, as my colleague, Dr. Gallen, said with MDCPS, that we let everyone know, MDCPS, your best choice. That's right. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, and thank God for FERPA so my assistant principals can tell you how I behaved when I was in high school. Thank y'all.

All right, thank you very much. Thank you, board. All right, well, we'll now continue with E141. I think there were some other members of the board who had questions. Ms. Kalushi, were you done? Okay, next I had Board Member Santos.

Thank you. And I want to thank our superintendent and our CFO and every single person who was involved in this procurement. This is, as I mentioned, one of those projects that should keep moving quickly as we continue to comprehensively address how we want to use our assets to the best of their abilities in order to deliver for our students. And I think it's a fantastic example of what we can do when we think creatively and put those assets to use. So I look forward to the next few steps. This is still just the beginning, but I'm very excited for what's coming and want to thank everyone who was involved in getting us this far.

Thank you so much. Any other board members? Okay, Mr. Superintendent.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to go back to Ms. Colucci's comment, which I think is an important one. I think at the end of the day, I know there was a prior example that probably created a little bit of concern as it relates to the allocation or number of units. There will be much more conversation, articulation in this round. versus prior, so I just wanted to assure the board that that has been recorded, you folks have mentioned that, and so the ratio of housing and units for our employees is something that is going to be discussed even in greater depth. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much for the clarification, Superintendent, and thank you so much, Ms. Colucci, for bringing it up because it is something that I've also seen. Being in the field of real estate, we see a lot of times that our teachers don't qualify for workforce housing because of the way in which the state is, and I think this really gives the district the opportunity to be able to set our own standards on what we consider to be workforce and tie it around our workforce and making sure that our workforce is going to be within the actual earning range of where they need to be in order to qualify for these. Dr. Gallin, did you have another comment that you wanted to share?

Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Through the Chair, I came in on the tail end of the discussion that was being made by Vice Chair Colucci with respect to ensuring that we maintain the integrity and the frameworks relative to teacher access to these units. I want to reflect on the comment that Mr. Steiger made, and I appreciate what he said with respect to this being a, quote, test scenario, a test case for this particular work. But I'm very clear about the fact that we had an initial test, and quite frankly, when it came to ensuring access or for teachers, and I'll say parenthetically, not under you, Mr. Superintendent. We failed that test. Full stop. We failed that test full stop. Go back to the videos, go back to the clips. I'm on the record. I try to be consistent no matter who it is. When the rubber met the road as it relates to the barn doors being up, the horses already out, the units established, keys distributed. There was no specific commitment for our teachers or our employees. There were discussions. It was somewhat reflected as aspirational. And even when pressed to quantify what the actual access number would be. I think it was some number around five. It was very offensive, disappointing. Subsequent to that time, and again, for the public who's listening, I'm not talking about the current administration. So you're watching the video. No, I'm not talking about Dr. Doltris. The previous projects was probably the first time we did that, and a lot of things had been put in place. Subsequent to that time, colleagues, I was actually... the board member that proffered the item to restructure, reframe, and actually revise policy to make sure that we have these conversations, that we have this input, and that we have this final approval. That was not the case previously. Practice on the part of the administration didn't advance that. And policy on the part of the board didn't require that. This administration and the practices that Dr. Doltris has promoted has been very, very inclusive. But there is a former president, I don't know if it was Reagan or Bush, they say trust but verify. Was it Reagan? Okay, I know it was one of them. Trust but verify. And despite my affinity, confidence, respect, admiration, and in some cases, love, some of you, I love you. I love all of you, part of humanity. Let's just spread some love around. But my love is not blind. And my love won't allow me to be impeded by my obligation to trust but verify. I gave you this monologue because I think it's important that we have something that is codified, that is specific, that we can see, that's spelled out prior to us giving final authorization for this to move forward. When you look at the timeline on how this will be carried out, it will clearly outlive all of us. And I'm not only about leadership, I'm not only about learning, but I'm also about legacy. I say this parenthetically and just a footnote. I didn't even post it yesterday. I got an inbox on DM yesterday from a young lady who said, I don't know if you remember me, but I met you in Miami when I visited my aunt. And she lives in Georgia. And I met her when I was maybe in the eighth, seventh grade, and she did. And I kind of fired back at her and said, yeah, I remember you. She's in a school district in Alabama now. She's retired, but now she's the HR director, and she was sharing that the keynote speaker for their opening of school activities in Alabama, in his speech, he mentioned me. Gave me his name. I hired him 25 years ago, and he talked about lessons that he remembered. If you offered me a million dollars, I don't remember who that is. But some of the things I asked him, well, what did he say? And some of the things he said I said I did say 25 years ago. I use that example to say five, 10, 15 years ago, the decisions we make will reflect our leadership. It will affect our learning, but it will also be a part of our legacy. And when we go into this space, I need to be very, very clear that we have been committed our commitment has been codified and that we have full clarity around access for our teachers and our employees. So I spent a lot of time, because the record will reflect as you did, but I'm telling you, test case, we had that previously and we failed that. And I'm not going to do that again because anybody who knows me knows that failure is not an option. So I just want us to be clear about what that framework, what those relationships, what those agreements will be, and not find out after the fact while I'm sitting at home and retired and hear about what happened and something that I supported, but that has not moved the needle on access and opportunities for educators in this affordability crisis. Those are my thoughts, those are my points. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't know.

Board Member Spino. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wasn't going to say anything, but you inspired me, sir. No, as I said during the first hearing on the budget, it's great to see some of these things move forward. I mean, we have been banging on the drum, and the administration is working towards that end. Individual projects are great, but to leave the lasting legacy, it's the pipeline. When you look at affordable housing builders, it's formulaic. and you see it whether it's people applying for Certex at the county or putting a sale application with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. There are certain parameters that have to be hit. A lot of these parameters are set out, and it's really about negotiating with them to get the best deal for our teachers, how it's marketed, also where it's located. There's also a replicability, reliability in the process that has to factor into it. For me, it's that pipeline that's important just because I want, You know, not just the one-offs. I want the reliable developers in our community to look and say, I know that if I put time, energy, and a lot of money, because a lot of these projects require a lot of upfront money, into a process with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, it's going to result in at least a worthwhile shot of developing something and not just spinning our wheels for years at a time. Margins on affordable housing are as small as it is, and they usually require a significant amount of subsidy to get done. And the longer the process takes and less reliability in it, Those are intangibles that developers just simply can't stick in a pro forma to figure out how to carry those costs for a while. The other thing is to the point is that in terms of number of units is that given the need in our district for our teachers, it's going to take a pipeline to actually make a dent in affordability for our teachers, right? Five at a time won't cut it. Even 150 at a time won't cut it, right? I mean, because we have so many employees and strategic placement of them within feeder patterns and within places where teachers can also realize upward mobility is important so they're not stuck in an affordable housing unit in my district and commuting all the way to Louisa's district, for example, or Board Member Santos, forgive me. So that's why I agree with you. Let's keep moving these things forward. Let's get the kinks out in the system. But there's also a pretty diverse pool of consultants that we've got as well as players on the outside that are willing to sit down and say, Here's how we can help make that process better so we know how to get reliability out of it. So I appreciate everything you guys have done. Thank you so much. Thank you all.

Okay, Ms. Kalushi? No, but you can go ahead.

And I just want to, through the chair, discuss this perhaps with my colleagues. I'm thinking very elementary school teacher. You know, you have your lesson plan, you have your unit plan, you have your long-term plan. What I don't see here is a long-term plan. That's for me, I'm not a developer, but I don't see a long-term plan where we're gonna go in, it's kind of like we're just building as we go along. Is there a plan, a long-term plan in place that we're gonna look at, that we're going to present to the board so that we can replicate? I don't know if anybody has thoughts on that. Anybody can share with me. Those are thoughts that I'm thinking right now and I just wanted to get your thoughts, Mr. Superintendent or staff or any board member that would like to opine. Thank you through the chair.

As Dr. Gallin sometimes says, my notes, you read my notes on here. and I was actually gonna request from the superintendent if we decided on a date on Mr. Espino's item on a committee, and creating a vision, because I completely agree with you. We need a bigger vision, we need to really identify properties across our entire district, as Board Member Espino said, We want to make sure that our feeder patterns are being addressed and that we're looking at where the need is and truly doing this thoughtful. Because the onesies, twosies are great, but to Dr. Gallin's point, we're then going to leave openings. And honestly, to go to a developer and tell them, give me five units, give me 10 units, it's not, as board member Spino said it, there's formulas that they have to do from a financial standpoint. It doesn't work that way. We might want to do some of those things. But then there's some other creative ways where we can provide a percentage discount for teachers and employees and almost have it as the same way we have with our pay grades, how with the pay grade you have different types of discounts in the units. But these are all things that are gonna be a much larger meeting where we're gonna have a lot more discussions and probably will be more than just one meeting in which we'll be able to share that vision so that when we walk the grocery stores, as Dr. Gallin said, and I shared this with staff yesterday, we were talking about another project, I go to grocery stores. I shop at Publix and Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Ma, and people come up to me and tell me, oye, I heard about this, or hey, I heard about that. And unfortunately, lately, I'm hearing about things that I don't even know about. And it's really concerning to me. So I want to really thank Dr. Gallin for what he did in the past, because I can't even imagine what it could have been like when we were in the complete blind and decisions were being made without those that were elected. to represent the community. So with that, I'll let Mr. Superintendent maybe answer when that meeting's gonna occur. I hope we're already talking about dates because I know we have back to school coming, but this is a very important meeting because we have a lot of things in the pipeline and the community is ready to help, but this district has to set a pathway.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So absolutely, we are going to survey the board for the date, for the workshop, because that's what we have to do. Honestly, we were waiting for school to start. It's really important for us to do that. And to the point with Ms. Colucci, right now you're seeing short-term projects, but at the end of the line, it goes back to Mr. Espino. It's showing you a pipeline, a project by project, and kind of create like a blueprint, right, of things that are ready, the stages of where each project is, which will give you the overall map of where we're going, but understand that as we move along, the map, the blueprint, the overall picture will continue to grow because we also have to make way for re-envisioning some of our schools due to enrollment. So that will continue to change. But the first step will be the workshop as proffered by Mr. Espino and we already have an idea, a plan of how we're going to introduce all the projects that are already in different stages of either discussion, development, or execution, and that's what's coming next. So I think at the end of the day, and I did express this before, the workshop is a very needed process, and to your point, Mr. Alonso, it won't be one by itself. We're going to have to come back, redefine, and I think it'll be a real healthy process to go through, because, and I said it earlier, It's not about us just, you know, what happens many times is ideas come up, right? And in the idea sharing, some folks may think that it's a done deal. And it's not necessarily that. So I may have to work with my staff as a team that if we're developing or thinking about something, we may have to get to the board members quicker than what we are. So if we haven't done that, I apologize. But it's always the formality of the process. And we did have an example of that just yesterday, which I was not aware. We had discussed it. We thought that everyone was on board. I believe we are. But we're going to have to be a little bit more deliberate with a timeline of making sure that the board the individual board member is aware of maybe ideas that we're having regarding particular sites and particular projects. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much, Dr. Gallin.

Yes, through the chair. I don't want to delay this process, and I do know that we have a significant need in this community. We have a significant need in this district. And despite my commentary, I want to kind of go to the fulcrum of this item. And I regret we did have a briefing, I want to say full disclosure, but when I took a deeper dive into this particular framework and listening to some of the conversations and having an opportunity to reflect on the past, considered in the present to improve the future, I'm looking at the recommends that I want us to take a very close look at. Authorized recommend two, to enter into contract negotiations. That to negotiate is not binding. But when I look at number three, and just for the record, it's a Scribner's observation, it appears these two recommends may have come from different sources, just looking at some of the font layout. But when I look at direct staff to proceed with all necessary steps to execute, to execute, so if staff, we're giving staff the authority to execute without the clarity, and again, I express my love, okay? I love my children, but I mean, I'm going to stand on it. and I express my support, but I have an obligation as a fiduciary to be very, very clear about what's happening here. So this item in its current form can give the authority to negotiate and execute. So by the time the contract has been finalized, all of the things that we're talking about,

may be rendered moot.

There's no, the questions I would have about management, ownership, transfer of property, all of those things that go into this, and I haven't even gotten into the units. I'm talking about just the mechanical, and I defer to my colleague here. I know there are some other significant components to language that deals with that. Again, this would outlive me. This would outlive me. 75 years, I'm 56. I won't be here, God willing. But the legacy of this, we wouldn't know. So I just want to be clear. This will not come back to us in its current form. And I respectfully have a concern about that. as it's laid out. Normally, the language will say there's an opportunity, a final execution, the board may have a conversation, a bite at the apple. The way this is done does not give us a bite at the apple. And I publicly say that I was briefed, but this is an opportunity for me to reflect on past experiences, And at the end of the day, really dive into the language. So I know the superintendent wants to respond to that, but I'm looking at the plain language. Despite all of the things we've said, what is the plain language of this particular item through the chair?

Thank you so much, Dr. Gallin. Even though I wanted this to be a record-breaking committee meeting, that's why these discussions are so important, because that's a great point. I didn't catch that one myself, and I apologize to staff, because I did also get a briefing. And this item, the way it's written, is not something that I will support either. Anything that is negotiated by staff needs to come back to this board for final approval. So with that, I'll let the superintendent maybe clarify But either way, even with the verbal clarification, I just want to put for the record, what's in writing is what's actually going to be, and we're going to have to make some adjustments there. Mr. Superintendent.

Thank you very much. And so I want to clarify one thing. And obviously what we're going to do is we're going to make this item trust but verify. very clear, when we did this item and the board attorney, Mr. Harvey can confirm, this will come back to the board. However, this will come back to the board. Okay? That it's not deliberately stated there, we're going to make it deliberate now. But I want you to understand, and I need Mr. Harvey to kick in. Mr. Harvey, am I correct or not? Regardless of what this item has and the way that it's written, will it not come back to the board for approval?

Yes, through the chair. It should come back to the board. There's a couple of provisions. Number one, ground leases.

Through the chair, I'm sorry. You said it will, then you said should. There's a big difference through the chair.

Yes, I will. You said it should. Yes. Well, yes, it will, hopefully.

Okay. Is it will or should?

It's not my item. Mr. Chair. It's not my item. Mr. Chair, yes. Okay. Okay.

This item, as developed, was discussed with our attorney's office. And clearly, it will come back to the board for approval. But we get it. Moving forward, even if it has to come back to the board... Let's not have any doubt about it. We're gonna put it right in here, okay? But I wanna make sure that the board understands that when we proffered this item, we did it clearly with the understanding as per discussions with the attorney's office that this negotiation will come back to the board. I just need to put that on the record. And what we'll do now is we'll clarify it. Just like we did, I remember Ms. Rojas made a recommendation to a prior item that it came back to the board. We'll make it very, very deliberate on this board item. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, and I appreciate that. I just wanted to add that with that clarification, we need full transparency in all these different items.

Through the chair, I just want to make an effort to drop the temperature just a little bit, just a little bit. Just a little bit. I don't want to drop it all away because the temperature needs to be right about here. This is not an adversarial discussion. I totally take you at your word, but I want you to see the example of what we just saw. When you asked the attorney, the attorney threw the chair respectfully. I love Walter, too. You know I love you, too, right?

Walter said should.

Then he said hopefully. We want clarity. You were clear about that, but the clarity in language is— the clarity and communication needs to be codified in the item. So everything, we're taking everybody at their word, but the verification will become, for me, at least for me, I'm only one board member, the verification and confirmation will come through codification in the item. Language in the recommend which you indicated will be changed. But that's where we get the ambiguity. So what happens in communication and meetings? Has now been revealed even here. When I hear should and hopefully no disrespect, Walter, but I need will. And I don't want to hear what you say. I want to see what I read through the chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair. Thank you so much.

Yes, sir. And I'm sorry, because when I hear that it has to have transparency, again, we brought this item with full transparency that the process will come back to the board. But I completely get it. I'm in complete agreement. Let's make sure that every single item says it so there's no doubt. But please, it's important for me and my staff to clearly state that when this board, when this item... In fact, Bueno just told me, right? We were told that regardless of what it says here, it must come back. It must, it will, it will come back to the board. But we'll make sure that there's a statement here that... provides no doubt and nothing is left to assumption. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I'm done with any more comment regarding this item.

Well, I appreciate and I appreciate clarity. And now that we're discussing it and talking about, you know, full visibility, I understand that now, you know, we have one property where we have two interested bodies. We have another one with two, another one with three and one with one single one. District staff will not go into negotiations with these individuals and come back with one recommendation for this board. But I think it's important that we understand what all of these parties are bringing to the table. And even though staff might be in agreement that, for example, Atlantic Pacific, it was the best one for Arte and Palomar. But it comes back to the board. And this board might think that blueness is the best option and could be a discussion. Can you talk me through how that would work? Because I know that this goes to a committee. Maybe, Mr. Steiger, you can explain it. Because as we said, as board members, we want to see certain number of units. We want to see certain numbers. important factors, specifically sometimes even to the district that it's impacting. How is that process going to occur now that you have all these different bidders, and how is that final decision going to be made for each one of these?

Sure, so I'll take that, Mr. Chair. So the district staff will enter into negotiations. As always the final, whether it's this procurement item or any procurement item, the final decision maker is the board, but the board's not involved in the negotiations process, right? Staff runs that. So our responsibility as staff is to know what board priorities are, So when we enter into negotiations, so for example, I am very clear the importance of both the amount of money that it would generate needs to be ample enough so we can afford a project at Arthur and Polly Mays, while simultaneously we need to ensure that there is housing for teachers, not just on this project, but all projects moving forward so we can cure other problems, right? There's never one priority that drives a negotiation. It's a multivariate negotiation like it always is. Um, but in the end, the, um, in the end, the only thing, and, um, and, uh, uh, prior to me speaking today, I knew that Walter was of the mind that, um, a ground lease always comes back to the board as an F item. Right.

So as an F item, we're getting a no, sorry. And just to pause, I just saw Walter nod. So Mr. Harvey and, and I'm okay.

I agree, all ground leases must, by statute, come back to the board under Section 1315. the complete lease with all the material terms that have been negotiated has to be approved, not only approved by the board, but noticed to the public prior to the board meeting and approved by the board.

Yeah, and so that is, it's not my universe. It would come as an F item, not an E item. But yeah, so I completely understand that is from the attorneys prior to me speaking today. So given that, what needs to come back to the board is a negotiated lease. When I sit down with the, and I say me, it's not, it's actually, I think the lead negotiator here is gonna be Mr. Perez, so I say me, it's the entire team. When the entire team sits down with the developers, it is with the authority of the board for us to sit down and negotiate the terms. We don't view this as a double negotiation where we'll negotiate with them and then secondly, they negotiate with the board directly in a public meeting or behind or anything. I mean, that's been bad practice in other districts where you don't wanna go down that road. So when we, as an administration, enters into a negotiation it is with the full authority of the board we will negotiate terms we will come back with a final lease knowing what the board's priorities are knowing what our priorities are what making sure that we're all on the same page and that the final product is something that the board can approve because if it's not then it is your authority to say no and say no go back to the table and figure something else out. And you know that's unfortunate because it would delay the process. I don't want the process delayed. The folks in District 9 don't want the project and certainly staff doesn't. So what we hope to do is make sure we can negotiate something that is acceptable to the entire board so when we bring it It's an easy and clear yes and a win. That's what we always want when we bring our items, right? That it's a clear and easy yes that say, this is great job. We're all on the same page. Let's move forward with that. I stand by what I said earlier, that anything that's new, it gets more complicated than that, right? So it might not be as simple as just you guys saying, yes, It's an easy yes, we get that. There's a risk that we might bring this back to the board and you say, hey, we have other priorities, this didn't meet it. Fine, that's acceptable, we'll go back. But I can tell you the intent, the intent is for us to negotiate on behalf of the entire community to get the best deal in terms of both price and other priorities that we have.

Thank you so much, Mr. Tiger. And you mentioned negotiating. And I'm going to let Board Member Santos, who this resides in her district, to speak. But a question that I would ask her is to make sure that she's been involved in this representing District 9 and that there's clear priorities set for this committee or whoever is going to be negotiating with these individuals that represent the board member for that district as well as the entire board, but specifically that board member who, like I said earlier, goes to the grocery store and goes to the parks and visits. So with that, I'll let Ms. Santos take the mic now.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. And yeah, I've been patiently waiting and hearing and I agree with everything that's said and I know the language will change because it was my understanding that legally any ground lease must come to the board. But I will be glad to know that what's written reflects that since that's what we vote on. Yes, I have been extremely closely involved. I sat in, actually, since all procurement is public. I chose to sit in on some of these presentations. And I feel very comfortable that, again, this is an invitation to negotiate. So we are not picking any of these people, even though some sites only had one person, one bidder selected, let's say. Maybe in the negotiation process we decide it's not great enough terms to meet the board's goals. and we might not move forward with them. So that has been very clear to me, which is why I felt I could throw my full support between this invitation to negotiate. It is a step in the process, like I said, and I'm glad we're at this step. However, I think this discussion just continues to highlight the need for us to have this workshop. I looked at my notes, and of course, as I said when you brought this item, board member Espino I was very glad to see it because I've been having I never brought the item but I've been having the conversations and in my notes my first recollection of having exactly the ask of a comprehensive strategy that's board-led was from November 2023 very soon we will be two years away from that conversation that I've had with administration So I too, I think we're reaching a boiling point as a board where we are, I know we're very close and we're getting through opening of schools, but that conversation has to happen, has to happen, so that we can all feel really comfortable that whether it's my district or your district or your district, we have set out our board guardrails for what projects uh you know can and cannot move forward uh but i will personally say for this project i'm thoroughly um well informed and and excited that this next step is coming although we have other steps that as a board we will take a vote on

Thank you so much, Board Member Santos. And I, too, am excited, and I don't want staff to get a different perspective. We want to see these projects moved, but we want to be transparent. We want to understand that the process is going accordingly and that we're all in full agreement with this. So thank you. I look forward to seeing the revised language that will clarify it for all of us. Our next item is E142.

E142 is award of an ITB for maintenance, materials, equipment, and supplies. Ms. Santos, you're recognized.

Thank you. Through the chair, could we have staff please explain why we are increasing from a spend of 929,000 to a request of 3.8 annually?

Good morning. Through the Chairman Santos, this is a projection. We feel that there's going to be a need, and we do not want to limit ourselves. And so this is not an authorization to spend that, but it's basically authorization for the needs that we anticipate coming up. We have a lot of facility needs, and we just want to make sure we have the capacity to procure the necessary materials and equipment needed to support our buildings.

To be clear, and for the record, this is an authorization to spend.

It is, but it's a capacity. It's a cap up to that point. We're not sure we're going to spend the entire amount, but according to the projections that my team is seeing, we feel that's the appropriate capacity amount.

Understood. You just said it wasn't, so I wanted the record to clarify that. It is. What we are voting for is an authority to spend up to that much.

Understood.

The trend I'm seeing, though, in our maintenance procurement items is, on the one hand, we don't project well enough, and then we are seeing multiple supplementals within a year, which we've addressed. On the other hand though, now this is like on the other side of the spectrum. We have a spend, but now we're being asked for authority for up to four times without sort of any concrete backing for those projections. If we say we ran our work orders, our system shows us the cost of parts, and the cost of parts for our work orders through our software estimates to be 3.8 million, that I understand. So I'm really concerned about the trend I'm seeing on procurement of maintenance items, whether it's either, there is a challenge with the backing up of the projections. And I would really appreciate, and I know we've discussed this over and over through what software solutions may exist, so that this is not a question, this is not someone's calculation, this is a very straightforward formula spit out by work orders. so that we can feel good about this procurement. I'm not going to get in the way of you buying supplies for maintenance. I never want to be that, because then I can't have our meetings where I'm asking you why things are done, or thanking you for when things get done. But I wanted to put on the record that I'm seeing the two extremes on the procurement of maintenance items, and would really love to see a systemic solution to it.

Understood, Ms. Santos, and we can work on that.

Thank you so much, Board Members. Santos, and I personally toward him, first of all, thank you so much, Mr. Niccolo, for all the incredible work. I know that your team is out there right now. working around the clock to get all of our schools ready for back to school, from air conditionings to plumbing to doors to fencing. I mean, you can just name it, especially during this beautiful rainy season. But I, too, have concerns with some of these. I mean, I just toured your maintenance depot in the north side of our county the other day and was looking out into the warehouse where everything is at. And it's no offense to you and your team, but you're still running kind of in the dinosaur days when it comes to technology that is needed in the third largest school district in the nation to be able to manage these types of departments. So I know we have Mr. Bueno here who now has taken the realm of working together with George, our CIO, on some of our initiatives with systems in place. Have we begun to look at a system that could be used by maintenance and capital to better manage these work tickets and the supplies that are needed in order to be able to properly budget and fix open tickets that we have through our district.

Through the chair, I'm gonna take a stab at this, but I'm hoping that George is back there. No, so I guess it's me. What we do is, Mr. Chair, when the division or the bureau has that need, they come to us and say, we've got these three platforms or these three programs or these three apps. How can we incorporate it into the system? How can we incorporate it into the daily use? And we will then give that ITS feedback to them and say this system will do what you're asking for. You would need these components, whatever it else may be. However, it's the Bureau that comes to us. It's not ITS that goes to the Bureau and says you need this or you need that. We are in the side of assisting and helping the Bureau implement whatever software they deem necessary for them. So I can't answer the part of if they've looked at it or not. However, we are on the side of assisting the implementation of the program that you believe that would be assisting you.

So, Mr. Niccolo, a year and a half ago, you and I went to Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department and saw a system that was being used there that is used across the country by large institutions like ourselves that can modernize our system. My understanding was you love the system. The county was willing to assist us and even helping us with the implementation. Was that presented to ITS?

We had that discussion through the chair. We did have that discussion. There were some budgetary constraints. But yes, it was brought forward, a demonstration. We had a Zoom meeting with some of our team members to demonstrate it. So yes, we did. In addition to that, we've also been working with ITS on an effort to modify our current SAP platform, which It's not as user friendly as it could be. So we are working with ITS to find better solutions. But of course, there are budgetary constraints that unfortunately, limit that at times. So we are working on it. It's something that's on my radar. We've had that discussion, and I'm going to continue to lobby for a more effective platform for a CMMS system. So I will keep working on that along with Mr. Bueno, Mr. Steiger, and our ITS department. It is something that we're concerned about.

No, I appreciate it and I appreciate your staff's effort. I saw them working there and I saw them working through the tickets and the way in which they came in. I was quite shocked that we can actually still run a district of this size with those types of systems being put in place. And we have to understand that there's investments that need to be done that are gonna save us in the long term millions and millions of dollars. So when we see these types of items come before us, these items to board member Santos point are items in which we're constantly trying to catch up. And seeing just the whiteboard that was at your maintenance manager's office and then seeing the spreadsheets, Excel spreadsheets that we're using to manage open priorities at our schools throughout our regions is extremely concerning because not only are we not getting to them in a timely manner or prioritizing them correctly, we're not being able to anticipate what the needs are gonna be from the materials, the stock items, the trucks, the manpower that we need in order to address these, which can all be really made a lot more efficient and save this district a lot of dollars if we did things in a more efficient manner. So I look forward to hearing further now that we've kind of brooded up to the top to see what we can do in our maintenance department working together with our finance department and our ITS department to find ways to modernize the system so that these types of situations are avoided hopefully in knowing what to anticipate because we have the proper system put in place. Any other questions or comments from the board? Thank you.

E143? E143 is approval and authorization to publish the unsolicited proposal for the site at JW Johnson. Any question or comments?

Yes, you're a recognized board member.

Thank you very much, sir. The first question I have on this one, it states on here that pursuant to policy 6327, the item is seeking the approval to proceed, so on and so forth. Can you please just address how was this criteria being met through the chair?

Sure. Mr. Chair, you're asking how the criteria for a qualifying project was met.

For policy? Yeah, so the... 6327.

Yeah, so as statute dictates, a committee was formed. We, just like all the other instances listed as proposals, we meet, we talk through the proposal on each of the criteria, and we actually spell them out here in numbers one, two, and three on the first page. So if these three... criteria are met on the front page of E143. So then those are the criteria that are listed in 6327. That determines, so the committee has to discuss each individual item to make sure that it meets the criteria. And if it meets all three, then it becomes a qualifying project. And then we bring it to the board for an, bring it back to the board. Now, if you're talking about this specific proposal or for 6327, this-

I'm talking for 63-27.

Yeah, so that's the answer for 63-27. So the committee meets and discusses each of the different criteria that are listed.

And it does come back to the board, correct?

Madam Chair, this is the board. This is the item.

Right, but everything we do moving forward, forget this one, in anything, they're all going to come back to the board, whatever we continue to do in the future.

yeah so i um mr chair miss miss rojas this is a good this board meetings are actually really helpful because you get to seeing at multiple stages of the process so this e143 is what the board sees when the unsolicited proposal has been deemed a qualifying project e141 is what the board sees when the public procurement is finished, and then an F item will be what the board sees when the lease is negotiated and brought back to the board for approval.

Okay, great, thank you through the chair. So we'll have a very good version today of all of the stages that take place. Okay, after looking at this proposal, it's kind of similar actually to what we approved at Southside when that was the first school that I had to deal with, a new one that came on board. Do we know what we're projecting in terms of the units that are going to be available? Because at that time, we only gave 10 units, so it was not a win-win at all for us. And something that I look at very, very closely every single time we have some of these through the chair.

Yeah, so Mr. Chair, Ms. Rojas, this proposal, the issue on Southside was obviously a very different situation. It wasn't even our land. But on this one... The proposal was a 240 unit residential facility that has no bearing on actually what the board will finally approve. Because first, this is just what one, it's what Rover. So what Rover Development came to us and said, unsolicited, hey, we want a 204, we have an idea, very vaguely, very high level, without any specifics, we have an idea for a 240 residential facility on this land. If that's the end of this process, we would have just said, no, that's not enough. Obviously, we need way more details than that. Where are the renderings? What are the specifics? How much money is this gonna generate? But if we held the vendor to that standard, We might as well just cancel this entire project. We're not going to get anything done. Right. We need to be flexible on the front end. The board has really led the way in that. Right. And saying, hey, you have to be flexible on the front end because the developer is not going to come to you with all the specifics. They're not going to show their hand because they'll never win a bid. You'll never get an unsolicited proposal ever again. Right. So what they have to do is and this is the way the statute is driven up. They come to us vague. We approve it and say, yes, the idea of a project at JW Johnson makes sense. So we move forward with a project on JW Johnson, knowing that what they proposed is not actually what's going to happen. Now Rover's going to come back, and they're going to have an opportunity to give us real specifics. Other developers are going to come back and give us real specifics. And that's when you come back and you'll see an item like E141, which is talking about specifics. Hey, this is what we plan on doing. We're going to enter into negotiation. And then whatever the ground lease is after negotiation will be very different than where the starting point is.

Thank you. Through the chair, I'm glad you clarified that, because again, no matter what it is, it has to be a win-win for our teachers and for those that we represent, but especially for our teachers. So I'm glad that when it comes back, we'll have that opportunity to look much more closely into it. Also, parents and members of the community should always be involved. This is not my school, actually. Dr. Bendrels-Menengal knows that school very, very well. She used to be the assistant principal there at one time, actually. And the Seminola community is a very involved community. Have they been involved with anything at all in reference to this project through the chair?

So, Madam Chair, I'll step in just because I've been a part of these conversations. And we've been working very closely with the city of Hialeah, the community of Seminola, all the members that are around there in discussing the future of it. There's actually a major project going on right now at James Bright Elementary where the school is being fully renovated. There's an additional building bead added on. So the community's fully aware of the discussions that are going on. And obviously, anything that's gonna occur, if this even goes anywhere, will involve several community meetings where we will be discussing it and having those engagements with them. But this is very preliminary as the other item that had come up on Hialeah Middle down the street. These are just beginning discussions. But it just goes back to reemphasize our earlier conversation on the importance of the workshop that we need to have as a board as soon as possible so that that way we can really look at this at a more holistic view because otherwise as these continue to come in we're going to see them at a very high rate um we're going to continue asking the same questions over and over and over the staff so i think once we kind of set that this should also help the process go a lot smoother but yes they are fully engaged and we're fully engaged with the community

Thank you so much, Board Member Alonso for that clarity because community involvement is critical no matter what it is, where we are, what district we're working on, they've got to be involved as part of this process. So thank you and yes, I couldn't agree with you more. We need to have that workshop and as expeditiously as we can have it because it will give all of us a very clear understanding of where we stand, and again, not have to ask the questions, as you just said, Board Member Alonso, frequently, because they will be coming continuously now as we move forward, because this is a new day, and this is what we're dealing with now. So thank you very much for your response, and thank you, Mr. Steiger, for yours as well. That's all I have, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, any further questions or comments? Okay, E144.

E-144 is award of an RFP for services for an alternative dropout prevention school. Questions or comments? E-145. E-145 is award of an RFP for background screening services. Question or comments? E-201. E-201 is the monthly grants and donations. Question or comments? Ms. Santos, you're recognized.

Thank you. Through the chair, I just want to put on the record a conversation that I had with staff during my briefing. I see some of these grants that are coming through and I thought some of them are for planning program design and implementation of innovative new programs. So I asked if there was an equivalent grant for our public schools to apply to when we are launching all kinds of new programs like STARS or the Space Hub or any other innovative program. And I learned that there isn't one that we're aware of. And so I did submit for our legislative agenda to include how great would it be for these innovative programs that we are launching, for there to be a state grant that we can apply to to launch and support those. Since we are providing, as you said, Madam Chair, earlier, we're the number one provider of choice in our schools. So I just wanted to put that on the record. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Okay, the E items have now been discussed. We will now take a motion to recommend them to the board meeting of August 12th.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Okay, the next order of business to move the G items to the floor. May I get a motion?

Move it.

Second. All in favor? Aye. G1, Mr. Harvey.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. G1 presents proposed amendment policy 8320, records management. This is following an item that was brought in June by our chair, Chair Rojas, which directed the superintendent to, among other things, review and update policy 8320. and as necessary for the first reading for this meeting to ensure that there was sufficient information to guarantee as much as possible clarity and adherence to the requirements of the public records law. So this item makes those changes, and it's following that item. If there are any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Yes, Your Recognizance, Ms. Ross.

Thank you very much. Just a very quick comment. I just want to take this opportunity to thank our general counsel and his entire team. You always follow up and submit very comprehensive documents to us. I'm very happy to see this going through the initial reading and hopefully soon to the final reading so that we can follow up accordingly, hopefully from that point forth, and we'll avoid any issues occurring in the future. So thank you.

Thank you, and thank you for your leadership in this board item, Board Member Santos. You're recognized.

Thank you, Chair Rojas, for bringing the item that brought this. And through the chair, I wanted to ask staff who our public records liaison is.

Mr. Chair, Ms. Santos, that would be me and Ms. Cabrera and now Mr. Garnica.

Thank you. Through the chair. I appreciate that clarity because I wasn't sure and I know it's stated multiple times in the policy. The last part of this policy states that the superintendent will make training available on this policy's requirements to board members and employees. So can you please share through the chair what our plan is as far as the training that will now be required through this policy?

Yeah, so Mr. Chair, Ms. Santos, as soon as we have – for all training with the board, we do work with the attorney's office to make sure that it's all done correctly. So together, my department and Mr. Harvey's will produce a training that meets all the requirements and has it. We don't actually have the training prepared, so I really can't answer a specific question yet. But as soon as the actual – changes are made, and then whatever we present to the board, hopefully, I mean, hopefully within the coming months, but I don't really have any specifics because it hasn't been developed yet.

Okay, thank you through the chair.

Any further questions or comments? Okay, with that, all G items have been discussed. We can now take a vote. All in favor? Aye. The next order of business to move our H items so forward. Can I get a motion? Second. All in favor?

Aye.

All right, our first and only board item is H8. It is yours, Board Chair Maritere Rojas.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. This is the School Board Endorsement of the Ethical Governance Day 2025 in Miami-Dade County Public Schools on October 16, 2025, sponsored by the Miami-Dade County Commission. ethics and public trust this is an item that is extremely important I bring it forth every year this is when again we celebrate in our school district on October 16 2026 in the American government classrooms in our high schools our I know Superintendent, Ms. Diaz, and everyone has been involved in the process in previous years. And I'm not sure how many schools are going to be participating in this action. And so whenever possible, because I know that Ms. Diaz isn't here at this moment in time, I would just like to know the number of schools that will be participating this year. and just submit it to me when you have it readily available. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair, and great item. I'd also like to have that list of any schools in District 4 participating. I'm sure the rest of the board would like it. So if staff can please follow up on what activities will be occurring on that day and which schools and share it with the entire board, I think it'd be a great resource for us to have. Any other questions or comments from the board? All right, thank you. We'll now move for any co-sponsors on the board, Ed. All in favor? We now move to make this in the board item as amended to our board. All in favor?

Aye.

All right. The eight items have been discussed. We now go over to contract extension report. Ms. Mumford, do we have any questions or comments from the board on anything on there?

Yes.

We'll have her come on up. All right, Board Member Santos, you're recognized.

Thank you. Through the chair and Ms. Mumford, I know these are maybe more for the originating department, but on the second contract extension here, the school bus routes for private bus companies, can you explain the logic of our procurement here? Which routes are being serviced by these private providers?

So through the chair, I would have to, if I can ask, if I can, through the chair, Board Member Santos, if I can just get that information back to you, I'll work directly with the department to get the exact routes. But we do typically do requests for quotes or reach out to the firms for routes that we don't have active bus drivers for.

Thank you so much. I appreciate the follow-up. And like I said, these are probably not directly through you. Well, through you, but not for you. And then for number three, which I think is what I had asked about in previous months, it's actually the Human Capital Management System contract. And Phoenix, I know, was hired, I guess, was procured to help us build out these wonderful systems through that grant that we had received. So here it says that we've spent $0 for the previous period. Can you share maybe why?

So through the Chair, Board Member Santos. So for this particular contract, we have spent all of the funds to implement the system, but there is like a maintenance and support section that's typically still taking place that they are not charging us for, but they're still under the contract to do so for the entire period. So we are not paying for the maintenance and additional support services. The initial implementation is already complete. but they still are technically under contract based on the term of the agreement.

Thank you. Through the chair, I ask because, and I know Dr. Baglos is not here, but there have been multiple ideas that we have discussed around how to, again, building 21st century systems that help us do our jobs better, be able to proactively build in automation, automatic notifications when certain HR related issues are going to be coming up instead of manually reviewing or running reports. And I know Phoenix was instrumental in helping us build those modules out. So I was very surprised to see no dollar spent this period. I know we originally spent and had a supplemental. So I can follow up with Dr. Maglos on understanding the state of building out those functions, because if we have the availability, we have the money from a grant, we've got the vendor in place, there is no reason why we shouldn't be building out 21st century systems for our workforce. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Board Member Santos. Any other questions or comments from the board? Thank you so much, Ms. Mumford, as always. We had an exciting morning with our legislative body here. I know we do have our new legislative... Assistant Superintendent, do we have any questions from the board? I think we spoke a lot this morning on it. Yes, Board Chair Rojas.

Thank you so much. It's not a question. It's just a statement. I just want to thank Mr. Uyivari. and his entire team. I know that we've spoken quite a bit in preparation for this morning's event, and you all truly did an exceptional job. Very, very happy moving forward, and if the response is gonna be as expeditious as it has been for this event, for everything else that's going to come up regarding the legislative process and questions that As a board member, I have, and I'm sure my colleagues have, I think that it's going to be a very positive relationship following, again, Ms. Fasino, who, together with her team, also did a very fine job for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. So thank you very much. Thank you, sir.

Thank you so much. The next item on the agenda is new business from board members. Do we have any new business from any board members? Okay, that exhausts today's agenda. If there's no other further discussion, I move to adjourn today's meeting.

Move it.

All those in favor?

Aye. Yes, thank you very much. Or else we would be unhappy campers. Mr. Chief of Staff, sir? Come here and sat down, please.