Remarks by Monica Colucci
89 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 4
- Play at 1:12:58
“Thank you, Madam Chair. And at this time, since we do not have a quorum, we will move on with our next presentation, which is B4, Request for Approval of Resolution No. 26-0305, of the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, recognizing Ron McGill of Zoo Miami. And Board Member Blanco, as soon as the auditorium clears out, please present your item. I do not have public speakers at this time.”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:24:58
“Thank you, thank you for being here with us today and those wonderful stories. It was very, as a classroom teacher, I can appreciate great storytelling and that was top notch. At this time, I'll turn it over to my colleagues, Board Member Alonso”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:31:46
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:34:29
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:36:01
“I don't know if they signed up. Give me one moment. I don't have them on my list here, but I will get them. Just give me one moment.”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:36:31
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:39:24
“Thank you for being here. The next speaker, please state your name for the record. Yes, the children, please come up.”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:42:44
“Thank you so much. May I have the next speaker, please?”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:43:52
“Excuse me, sir, for just a moment. Just a moment. The clock isn't running. I'm sorry. Can we? Oh, I get more time? No, no, no, no.”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 1:44:15
“Thank you, sir. The next speaker, please.”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 2:05:20
“Thank you, Madam Chair. First and foremost, I want all of you in the front and the back just to turn around so we can look at the back of your shirts. Because there's some words on there that you were speaking that just stood out to me. Unity, love, and hope. You can turn around and I can see you all standing there so nice and straight and tall. You're being very patient. I promise I won't talk for a long time.”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 2:05:56
“Yes. But I'm going to take a little bit of time because you're here today with a very, very special individual. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you that. Samantha, I'm going to say the following. The words that you bring to mind are you reap what you sow. And you are sowing such beautiful seeds. Thank you for doing that. Thank you. You truly are doing God's work. Thank you. That mustard seed is going to grow tremendously. And each of you are one of those seeds, and you're going to sprout into something very beautiful, and you're going to do great things. Remember that. Remember that. You…”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 2:07:43
“Samantha, thank you for the work that you're doing for these students. And I know not only are you on a journey, you are on a mission. You are on a mission, and you are truly doing God's work on earth. God bless you. Thank you.”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 4:07:59
“Yes, and thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Board Member Blanco. I really appreciate your comments. I think they're timely, they're important. And I do want to, I was just, as you said, Board Member Espino, I was just going to state what you stated, that we had this discussion as far as the strategic plan, which was a starting point, but I look forward to now taking the next step and really putting this in, starting to build a policy framework for this. So again, I look forward to items being brought forth on this because it is something that we really have to consider as we continue to…”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 5:15:46
“Angel Lopez. Angel Lopez? Daniela Sorto?”
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 5:39:55
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
School Board · Jul 22, 2026
- Play at 4:10:19
“Vice Chair Colucci, you have some comments? Thank you, and I want to thank the team for this. I just want to ask and just make sure, and I know we discussed it in the briefing, that the phonics materials will be, they've been budgeted for, and I just want to make sure that as we start the school year that all materials will be in the classrooms, ready to be handed out the first day of school to students. So there's no delay in instruction. So through the chair.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 4:11:04
“Perfect, thank you. And I'm glad to see that there will be, through the chair, a focus on the item that we approved as a board unanimously to, raise the number of four and five proficiency levels and move our students beyond to the next level. And while we're discussing this, I just want to commend the district and the teachers and the team for all of their hard work in making us another district again. for the seventh time. So that's commendable. It's something to be proud of. And the work has to keep continue because the state's going to keep raising the the bar for us. So we have to make…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 4:22:38
“Thank you, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to our Board Chair for bringing this item. I think it's time that we start exploring this. I think we're a little long past due in it. It's something that needs to be looked at, needs to be analyzed. I'm looking forward to seeing the results. I'm in full support of the item. I really think that this is something that builds community. It continues that because schools are communities. People like to have their children in a place. And we lose a lot of our students from the elementary to middle school. We do that and it's a problem for us as a…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 4:26:08
“Vice Chair Calucci, you had additional comments? Yes, thank you. And I just want to, this is for your consideration, Madam Chair. I think another option of expanding, too, is the 6 through 12 model. We have already some, but some of our middle schools are very under-enrolled, and perhaps combining 6 through 12, just not looking at K through 12, but expanding the 6 through 12 model, I think might be something, if you want to consider that, adding that in your recommend, but that's totally up to you. I'm good with the item as it is through the chair.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 4:38:50
“Thank you. And I just want to ask, it's very, when you're teaching handwriting, you need a lot of practice. So as a teacher, I know that the teachers, they need to trace the letters, they need to, so would it be more cost effective to look at getting some sort of program of workbooks for third through fifth grade having teachers run copies and because at the beginning you really do need you know it can't just be copy this from the board you've got to trace you've got to have there's a whole system to teaching cursive it's not just you know yeah it's a whole I know we've kind of lost that you…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 4:41:11
“And just very quickly, something as simple as having the correct paper, maybe we can order a lot of that for the schools, because it makes a big difference. That's all I'm going to say. Thank you.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 4:41:30
“Correct. And then, you know, halfway for the Capitol, all the way to the top for the Capitol, and And even in the primary grades, it makes a very, very big difference. I used to go through that paper very quickly with my students, and it makes a big difference. So thank you.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 5:01:14
“And thank you, Madam Chair. And just a quick question. How did the testing and the go for the referrals, especially since there was a lot of deployment? So I just want to make sure we're on track since a lot of the team was deployed in different areas. Did that impact our referral process? Because you know that that generates funds for our school when we have... these students, you know, for gifted programs. Who can answer that question through the chair? Through the chair.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 5:02:50
“Thank you, and through the Chair, just so that it's on record that it's imperative that we are timely with our placements, with our psychological tests. I know that our psychological evaluations, because the sooner the students get into the program and the services that they need, without a lot of time elapsing at the beginning of the school year, they're in the right place and they're getting what they need early on from the beginning of the year. So I just want to have that discussion. So thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jul 15, 2026