Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee - Regular Meeting

All right, good afternoon. Welcome to the Personnel, Students, School, and Community Support Committee Meeting for June 10th, 2026. I now call to order the meeting. The time is now 1.52. Before we get started, we closed our previous committee meeting mentioning the time. My predecessor was always extremely efficient on time, and so I will try to continue to live up to his standards. For today's meeting, I am the committee chair, Members of this committee, Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mendigo, Mr. Danny Espino, alternate members, Mr. Robert Alonzo, Mr. Joseph Geller, and then non-voting members, Ms. Li

Thank you. Can I get a second? All in favor? Thank you. All right, next order of business will be to move the D items to the floor. May I have a motion? We're all sipping some coffee. A second, and all in favor?

Okay, board member, any questions? All right, let's move along to D21.

My colleagues, any questions? All right. Keep moving along. D23.

Mr. Superintendent, I believe you wanted to say something.

Any other board members? And just somewhat as a follow-up, I had many of those questions myself, and I know I asked during briefing yesterday, and I think you gave me a number I haven't heard today. How many is it that we actually need to go through some kind of training process to be able to put them into another um position through the chair it's small number given that the total number of positions is about 160 it's about 20. that's what i thought you had said and and mr steiger that's because counselors and hr care about people that is accurate all right any other questions on um d63 is it

And thank you, Mr. Superintendent, that's exactly how I wanted to close with comments regarding exactly what you said. All right, so the next item on the floor, D65 from Ms. Pauline.

Okay, all right, thank you. Any questions from board members? Board Member Santos?

Any other comments? Nope. All right, next item on the floor, D67, Dr. Lewis.

Okay, thank you so much for that. I know that was something I had brought up in my briefing. Any questions or comments from the board? Yes.

Absolutely. Any other questions? Board Member Espino?

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I actually have a similar question to Dr. Bender-Espindigo. One of the things that we've discussed that I appreciate from Remember Santos' item coming up is how a lot of parents at this point in June have preliminarily or maybe have already made decisions about where they're going to send their children. And so, for example, in the case of Miami Springs, we're now consolidating the schools and it's available. A lot of the question was, oh, how can we sign up? Well, you can't sign up because it doesn't become effective until June. So to Dr. Bernal's point, what kind

And by the way, I plan to do my own thing. Of course. Press releases and then push it out to the feeder pattern, which the feeder pattern has been great in supporting it, but I just want to hear from the district. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Okay. Any other questions or comments on D67? Okay, moving on to D68.

Always. This is an important topic. Actually, you know, I'm glad, Madam Chair, that you brought it up because we often talk about this item with frustration. But it feels like there's nothing we can do, but there has to be something we can do. And I know I'm the one that has always said, if at least one person in the building connects and notices a child, we can turn that child around. And there are some things that might be out of our control. But when we talk about services and wraparound services and things we can do outside of the building, as you were saying, our teaching needs to go beyo

No, Dr. Lee. Oh, yes. I believe Dr. Lewis was going to answer to Vice Chair Colucci.

That's great to hear, because I know when I worked just north of us, A lot of times we'd get students coming from this county and we could tell very soon just by looking at the student and working with them for a week that something wasn't right but it took forever if we even got records. So that's good to hear that now from county to county there can be that exchange of information. All right, can I get a motion on the D items to move them to the? Thank you. All in favor? All right, next order of business will be to move the G items to the floor. I believe we have G4. All in favor? Mr. Harvey

Okay, can I get a motion to move the G items to our meeting? Second. All in favor? Thank you. Our next order of business will be to move the H items to the floor. Can we get a motion? Second. All in favor? So moved. Okay. Board Member Santos, you've got quite a few questions. I would ask, would it be okay with you if we quickly present one that was brought forth by Dr. Gallin, and then we move on through yours? That works. Okay, so item H8, which was proffered by Dr. Steve Gallin, the review of under-enrolled secondary schools, attendance boundaries, and the feasibility of expanding six through 12 school configurations, including North Dade Middle School. I know, I'm sorry.

Thank you, Board Member Bendross-Mendengol. And I did not get the memo that you were going to present. But actually, it made perfect sense for you to be the one to present his last item.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Board members, any comments, feedback you'd like to give? Yes.

First of all, if he's still listening, which he still might be, thank you, Dr. Gallin, for bringing this item forward. I was very bullish on this item because essentially that's what I've spent the last five months doing in my district. Some of the reasons that I advanced a solution and worked with the district to achieve it with Miami Springs Middle is the feedback I was getting from parents that Look, we know middle school is a tough age. I've got two middle schoolers. I wish they were already either younger or older, not where they are right now. It's a tough age, and to take them and put t

I too am very appreciative of the item. I know I don't happen to have any 612 schools in my district, and I will say before being involved with Miami-Dade County Public Schools at all, as K-8 started to pop up on the scene, I remember thinking what a wonderful idea, because that hadn't been offered, and I knew of many parents that wanted to keep their children young and innocent, and so liked that option. But I think as time has developed, and we talk about parent choice, right? There are some that are now seeing some of those limitations, but now if we do 6-12, there's so many more opportunit

Okay, thank you. Any other comments or questions? Can I get a motion to co-sponsor Dr. Gatlin's item? Move it. All in favor? Aye. Motion to move it as amended to the board meeting? Move it. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. And Board Member Santos, I'm sorry, that took a little longer than I anticipated. If not, I would have gone ahead and just done the order, but I'm sure we'll have some comments or discussions, but you feel free to take away H-4s. six, seven, and 10. I believe all those are yours.

Superintendent was saying was to provide Board Member Santos an opportunity to answer your question before Ms. Gazzetta, you had a second to speak. So Board Member Santos, if you'd like to address some of her concerns or questions, I'd appreciate it.

Thank you, Board Member Santos, for that. Would you like a follow-up, Madam Chair, or Ms. Casadilla, to address?

Thank you, Board Member Santos, for your clarity on where you stand on this. Any other board members have comments or questions?

Okay, I do have some comments and questions. Would you like to respond first? Okay, any other board members before I comment? And perhaps we're understanding things a little bit differently. I'd like to thank you for the item. I think it's known, I work at a school, and sometimes each club, each team, my own counseling department, we've wanted to create our own Instagram account to push information or social media accounts. And it becomes a little bit of contention, right? Like, does the school oversee it? Does it tie to the school? Is it who oversees the account? So one question that I have,

But there isn't really a policy to provide guidance beyond a toolkit to help assist them with the opening of accounts, correct? It seems to me with the growth of social media and the number of schools that we have and the number of departments and clubs and sports and everything that we have, some kind of uniformity, some kind of policy may in fact be warranted, and we've reached that point. So I thank you, Board Member Santos. Just to clarify, because I think it's something of concern for Madam Chair, I don't recall seeing board member accounts addressed. Are you referring to just school acco

Thank you, Board Member Santos. Mr. Superintendent, you wanted to say something?

I think you're right when it comes to the branding, especially departments, but I just did want to ask Ms. Pauline, I think when we had conversations looking at the portrait of a graduate in our strategic plan, one of the things that we talked about is yes, the branding of Miami-Dade County Public Schools is important, but each school, especially some that have such great legacy, we want to keep that. So, you know, just and I know maybe that's not what you meant. I see you shaking your head. So I see this not just as about the branding, but ensuring that there's policy in place just to keep th

Move to strike comments, no, I'm kidding. Board Member Santos, if you're open to some clarification, then I think it's, is it okay to call for co-sponsorships to the item?

Okay, motion to move the item as amended to the board meeting? Second. All in favor? Thank you. All right, Board Member Santos, you continue on to H6.

thank you madam chair remember sandals i want let me start off by it's a compliment sandwich here all right i love your process oriented items i really do i mean i think you give a tremendous amount of thought and you crystallize things very well um when when this is brought up the first time i had some consternation with it and i still do and i'll explain why i don't doubt for one second nor do i think that we should not hate for like the triple negative uh that we should be holding this superintendent, the next superintendent accountable against a strategic plan that represents the roadmap f

And as a follow-up, and that was actually going to be my next question of just to what end, right? So for example, if we are contemplating that there are performance metrics inside the next superintendent's contract that he or she has to meet in order to obtain, I don't know, merit increases or whatever else we perform, all right, I kind of get that. But then if it's simply, because again, it's a sword and a shield. It's a sword in the fact that If he or she is not performing, well, that puts pressure on him or her to advance. If he is performing and then he or she is performing and there are

Okay, another board member have some questions or comments? Madam Chair?

Did somebody else have questions or comments for Board Member Saltos?

Thank you. I have some comments or questions, and then Board Member Santos, I'll give you an opportunity in case you can include anything that I have to say as well. I believe that when I came on the board within a month, that workshop took place. And I remember it very vividly as one of the first things that I kind of walked into after that board meeting. But I'll tell you, my concerns and my thoughts just so you know where we all stand. I think it's critically important to absolutely have a conversation given that we are implementing a new strategic plan and talk about how that aligns in tho

I have some follow-up questions for Mr. Harvey. What has traditionally been the language in a contract with the superintendent with regards to performance assessment tool or anything along those lines?

So that language is rather standard across counties with superintendents?

So if a superintendent comes in new and we already have something, the language is referring to that contract? assessment tool rubric guideline whatever it is it's referring to that they are given that before signing the contract.

So there's a good chance whenever a new superintendent comes into a school district that a conversation is had about the assessment tool before finalizing a contract?

Okay, so you didn't specify that part the first time I asked. So I just want to make sure. So the somewhat standard language is that within six months there will be agreed upon assessment tool or some time frame?

Okay, you're the maker of the item. I think you've gotten some input. It seems to me that a conversation needs to be had, but perhaps it goes beyond rubric and it goes to contract language or something like that. I don't know, and I think this isn't the setting for it, but based on the feedback you've gotten, I don't know if you want to leave as is. If you're thinking you might adjust some things and we can move this to the, to the meeting without recommendation for now?

And just friendly recommendation, perhaps the workshop isn't so much to come up with something, even if it's just a rubric, but a conversation that we can all agree upon. the language and assessment type, whatever it's going to be, and the timing. And maybe it's not that we come up with something formal, but at least provide us an opportunity at a workshop to have a full hour or so to have this conversation and maybe finalize some thoughts. We're not doing anything final. We're just kind of doing our thoughts, right? It's not a board meeting. It's just a workshop.

Okay, can I get a motion to move the item without recommendation at the time? Without second. Yes. Can I get a motion? I got, and a second? Okay. All right, board members, all in favor? Oh, sorry, all in favor to move to the board without recommendation? Aye. Thank you. All right, H7. H7.

Okay, any questions or comments from the board members? Colleagues?

All right, motion for, I have a motion, a second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. All right, motion to move it as amended to the board meeting. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. And then I believe H10. Yes. Correct? H10.

Comments or questions? Okay, Madam Chair.

Mr. Superintendent, I think you wanted to speak, and if you could address that before we move on to any other conversations about the item.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I certainly understand the concern, Madam Chair. The challenge is if we don't start this process, and I think Board Member Santos wanted to wait until the ABC had concluded to take some of their recommendations and incorporate into this item. If we don't start right away, we're going to scuttle an entire year. Because at some point, you've got to change a tire on that moving car. And if we end up starting this process in October, then we're back at where we were this year, resulting in the same June deadline. I appreciate the superintendent's disposition where it's like

I want to thank you, Board Member Santos, as well. Although these two instances haven't had anything really to do with ABC, but I had probably the only district, a brand new school opened last year, and then a new magnet program at an existing school, but all of it opened up after the window. So it's the same thing. It's like how many opportunities did we lose? And as a parent, if you've already gotten your mind set, you have something set to make that change. And so even though it's opened by a certain year, the full impact wasn't really taken advantage of. So I think anything we could do to

I can't remember, did I get a motion for co-sponsorships? Okay. Can I get a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion to move the item as amended to the board meeting. Second. All in favor? Aye. Great, thank you. I believe that takes us through all of the H items. Yep, okay. We had a few staff follow-ups. Anyone have questions on the staff follow-ups? Madam Chair.

Any other questions on staff follow-up or new business? Board Member Santos.

Okay. Any questions, comments, concerns?

I have to say I feel somewhat the same way, although I fully understand your desire to communicate from your office. I've actually never done one. I don't know if, rather than find someone else to do it, I don't know if there's a way for us to think about how you yourself could do it. I've been in your predicament three times before. And I know there are going to be moments and days that the last thing you want is to be in front of a camera. But I can't help but wonder if there is a way you could record yourself at home and not be in the studio. I don't know, just throwing that out. And again,

She may not when the time comes. Board member Santos.

Any other new items? Okay, I do have one new item, and I have failed miserably at trying to emulate Dr. Gallin's efficiencies, but I had asked for a staff follow-up on the wearable panic button pilot, and I do wanna thank staff for getting me an update, but I had hoped that all board members would have received the update, so I don't know if somebody is here that can inform the rest of the members about the update or if you'd like me to kind of go through this if there isn't someone here okay would you like i mean i printed it out i can also go through it if you'd like but i think it's importa

Thank you, Mr. Diaz. And that's actually a pretty good summary considering you only read it last night and didn't have it in front of you and weren't prepared to speak on it. But colleagues, it's been about a year since I brought this item forward. I respectfully waited for the pilot to take place. There's so much beyond just a lanyard that's wearable that allows staff to notify. And it's not just about an assailant, but it's also like a medical emergency that's needed. Mr. Lewis went through, I'm sorry, Mr. Diaz went through some of that data, but whether it was, whichever brand it was, I'm n

So thank you. And just to kind of put this into perspective, some of it is a big one time upfront fee for installation and things like that. And then some of it is a recurring fee. When I first brought the item and started doing my research, one of the companies was willing to divide up those upfront fees over five years. And I know the budget situation we're in. I'm always the one that's asking, well, how much is this going to cost? But we're looking at something like $2 to $3 million. And yes, that is a lot of money. But when we talk about safety and security of our students being number one

Thank you. I appreciate it. That's what I wanted to hear. Thank you. So I'll look forward to a response in two weeks or so. And I think I believe the two that have done pilots, we already have agreements in place with them for other things, right? And it'd be interesting to see, too, how much they're willing to work with us, right, and see what they can do with pricing once we have an idea of what may or may not be available, because it's been over a year since they quoted us some prices, and we don't know how things may have changed.

Okay, thank you. All right, I believe that has exhausted everything on the agenda. If there's nothing else to be discussed, I'll take a motion to adjourn today's committee meeting. Thank you.