The School Board of Escambia County, Florida, convened in Special Workshop at 1:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the Administrative Building, 215 West Garden Street, with the following present:

Interim Chairman: Dr. Hal Mason Vice Chairman: Mrs. Cary Stidham

Members: Dr. Elmer Jenkins

Mrs. Vanette Webb

School Board Attorney: Mr. Edward Fleming, interim Board Attorney, joined the workshop in progress.

Superintendent of Schools: Mr. Jim May

I. CALL TO ORDER

Dr. Mason called the workshop to order at 1:00 p.m. It was noted that Dr. John DeWitt was out-of-town on business. Dr. Jenkins recognized former School Board Member, Mrs. Barbara Morris, who was also present. Mr. May provided video tapes of educational television programs concerning Board governance and public boards to Board Members and Dr. Blanton.

II. COMMENTS FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT 1) PRESENTATION: DUTIES OF SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS AND SUPERINTENDENT

Dr. Wayne Blanton, Executive Director, Florida School Boards Association, stated that the School Board as a whole are constitutional officers under the laws of Florida, and as such, have standing only two times -- as a Board when in advertised School Board workshop or meeting and in those two arenas only. Board Members have no standing as individual citizens outside of those two arenas and have no standing to tell anyone in the school system what to do. He stated that Board Members were obligated to visit schools and he recommended visiting schools regularly, but noted the procedure to use when going to a school would not be to tell a principal what they should or should not do. He discussed the importance of having a communication system where the Superintendent is notified and his staff makes sure that is done. A Board Member could bring that matter to the Board as a Board item.

A. Board/Superintendent Responsibilities

1) Policy vs. Administration

The School Board guides the system through policy. Dr. Blanton recommended that

new Board Members read the policy manual which drives the school system. The Superintendent can also bring the Board suggested policy changes which the Board can accept, reject or amend. The School Board's responsibility is to set that broad policy that governs the school system. The philosophies of boards may change with elections so it is necessary to know current policies and suggest discussion in terms of what the Board wants to do. He recommended not making policies so specific that it ties the hands of the people who have to administer it. It needs to be broad philosophical issues and then the procedures of operation can be filled in by the administration, and they can operate with some broad spectrums. The School Board has to remember that every policy that is adopted, rejected, or amended will cause you to look at others and will have a "ripple"effect; i.e., the budgetary impact when more buses are needed. When the decision is made, it is the job of the Superintendent and his staff to bring the recommended changes to the Board. Sometimes the Superintendent will get into the Board's area of policy and that is not right or wrong; sometimes there is a gray area there. He stated it is reasonable for the Superintendent to come to the Board and say that a policy is needed; i.e., how to manage bands after a football game. There may be problems in a particular area on operating procedure, and the Superintendent can bring those to the Board, which can establish policy in those areas. It is the Superintendent's job, once the Board has established policy, to carry it out. He stated he would not recommend doing any of this "in a vacuum." This says that the management team of the Escambia County School Board is the School Board, Superintendent, his staff and the people who have to implement the day-to-day functions of the school system. If the Superintendent or the School Board is in a vacuum, you are not going to be effective. You have to work together. He stated that he has observed around the state that when a Superintendent and School Board are constantly fighting, in the next election most voters are going to "clean them out" because the voters do not like to see that. The Board meetings need to be operated in a very professional manner because the public only sees how Board Members conduct themselves; or they have a certain perception when they have a child in the school system or know an employee; and they also see a reflection of the school system when they drive by the school buildings. If the buildings are run down, they get a perception that it is not a good school system.

2) Budget

Dr. Blanton advised that technically the budget is the Board's and the Board can accept,

amend or reject the budget. The budget needs to be workshopped on a regular basis starting in March in order to begin to understand the budget and build the budget together. If the Board decides they want this district to have the highest reading scores in state, the Superintendent could draw up a plan to do that; i.e., number of new staff, costs, and where the money will come from. When the Superintendent presents the final budget, the School Board can accept, reject or amend. Starting workshops in March will allow time to address philosophies and promote a smooth budget process. The School Board has to make decisions as to what is best for Escambia County. It is very important during the budget process that the Superintendent and his staff submit to the Board an organizational structure each year. It may be the same or a new structure including number of new teachers, schools opening, and costs. When the Superintendent submits that to the Board, it will allow the organizational structure and budget to be addressed at same time, and the Board can accept, reject or amend. The Superintendent will make recommendations on positions, but the Board creates positions, establishes salaries, sets job descriptions, and can eliminate positions. Dr. Blanton stated that he would not recommend eliminating positions unless the Board has had a full discussion of the impact on the system as a whole.

Dr. Blanton discussed a freedom of speech lawsuit in Pinellas County, where a teacher utilized tapes that were questionable in terms of suitability for the classroom. He noted that the first question a judge will ask in a court on any issue is "what is your policy on this issue?" In such a case, the Board could cite policy on what can and cannot be done in those areas in the classroom and parameters on what curriculum consists of. Dr. Blanton suggested examining the policy manual and review it at least once a year about 30 days after the legislature adjourns to follow up on any new laws or any old laws that may have been repealed.

Mr. May noted this district uses the Personnel Planning Document, which is the structural chart for the entire district. The Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources develops the document which is presented to the School Board starting in February to look at additions or deletions that are needed for positions. Mr. May asked Dr. Blanton if that was a good time line for addressing personnel issues. Dr. Blanton stated as a rule yes, that should be done early enough to address personnel, noting the state requires appointment of personnel at a time certain. He recommended that be done by mid-May (to make the appointments) and have as much of the organizational chart done in May as possible in order to have the positions in place. The Superintendent would present the organizational chart to the Board for final approval to accept, reject or amend.

Mr. May commented that if the Board chose to create a position of in-house attorney as part of Personnel Planning Document, he would need to know that in the planning process well ahead of time in order to submit that as an important part of the budgeting process because of costs incurred. Dr. Blanton stated that you have to look at what other systems have done, what is the norm, and price it out. It all reflects on the total budget. A recommendation for in-house attorney and everything that goes with it including job description and salary schedule would have to be approved by the Board. On new positions, not day-to-day teacher positions, but new central office positions, the sooner you can have the discussion about what is needed for the next year, the better, so that can be processed into the total budget as you address it. Dr. Mason asked how frequently it was okay to amend the budget. Dr. Blanton suggested trying to make the budget as liberal for the Superintendent as possible so that you are not constantly going back and amending it. He stated that the budget is serious business, and you cannot exceed the budget or you can be held personally liable, and he cited Florida Statute 237.121. Dr. Mason asked if there were specific positions such as substitute teachers that would be exempt from the requirement that they be approved as positions. Dr. Blanton replied that you have a job category of substitute teachers and a certain amount allocated for it. Generally, the Superintendent and principals decide how to do it and principals pick individuals out of a pool. That is usually a category of personnel. Also, OPS personnel would not be exempt; it is a budget category of budget use in order to meet day-to-day needs. Every dollar that is expended in the school system is supposed to be in the budget, even the reserve accounts.

Dr. Mason asked if Dr. Blanton could comment on budget construction opposed to budget administration. Dr. Blanton stated that the original first budget given to the Board in workshop is constructed by staff. Maybe more than 85% of the dollars are already spent (salaries and fringe benefits) and a lot of the other 15% is spent too; i.e., utilities, operating costs, textbooks, computers, and software. Staff would construct the budget for the coming year based on student projections, considering what you will be getting from the legislature, and based on the tax rolls. The School Board can ask questions such as "why is transportation up by 10% over last year?" He stated that a comparative budget is preferable. He called this a three-year rolling budget with what was spent (by category and projections) for three years prior. Dr. Blanton stated that he likes to see a good job in budget presentation of student enrollments this year and projections because all of that fits in the budget. He noted that budget workshops are held and as you get the whole budget, you also need an executive summary of the budget with the number of students enrolled, number of schools, number of teachers and teacher aides. He cited a case where Franklin County had a serious budget shortfall and had to address possible layoff of teachers or teacher aides at mid-year. Dr. Blanton stated that basic things in the budget are well-defined including personnel, utilities, construction, and in a budget of $390,000,000, if one-half of a percent or a percent could be saved anywhere, then you would have potential to hire more teachers. He stated that every budget priority is to get that money into the classroom to provide more teachers, teacher aides, equipment, and supplies for the classrooms. Cost savings or finding a better way to invest money can create additional positions. He noted that the Medicaid Program is bringing in federal money that had not been received previously, and in the first six months of implementation, the Medicaid program brought School Districts in Florida $20,000,000. This year it will bring in between $40,000,000 to $50,000,000 on Medicaid reimbursements to school systems in Florida. Mr. May noted that this district has pursued those dollars and initial estimates indicate that the district could receive $330,000 to $350,000 with the Medicaid program. Dr. Mason commented that those windfalls should not be allocated into recurring costs. Dr. Blanton stated when beginning to receive dollars in any new program, he would suggest being careful how you hire personnel with it, noting that he has seen new programs that were funded for one or two years from the legislature, leaving teachers that you made a bigger commitment to. When hiring people on a grant, it should be with the understanding that when the grant is gone, the position is gone. Dr. Blanton stated that when dollars may not be recurring and you cannot count on those dollars coming in next year, there are other alternatives and enough nonrecurring expenses in a school system to take care of any dollars you can find. That would be an opportunity to buy extra textbooks, hire special tutors, or have after school or preschool programs for one year and hope that money comes back; if not, it can be dropped without damaging the main objective of the school system and that is to educate K-12.

Mr. May stated that in 1972 this district had an $8,200,000 carryover in unrestricted funds and in November of 1976, was projected to have a $1,300,000 shortfall, which meant $9,500,000 over four years that was not part of the budget. He stated that emergency measures had to be implemented and employees agreed not to take any raises for a year. It is important in a $390,000,000 budget to have an unrestricted carryover that would handle emergencies and the state recommends around three percent range. Dr. Blanton commented that the three percent range was good and discussed the importance of the planning process and communicating with the Superintendent the Board's priorities and that the Board hear comments from Superintendent and staff as to whether or not those can be done. Generally when districts get in trouble, it is for lack of oversight of the budget and can take years sometimes to recoup losses for poor management.

Mr. May emphasized that once set the budget for the year is set, it is important not to go back and say we need $60,000 here and $100,000 there, because those funds have to come from somewhere and it is not good to take it away from someone who believes they have that money in the budget. Mr. May stressed the importance of establishing priorities during the budget process when constructing the budget, opposed to after the fact in the middle of the year. Dr. Blanton commented that it is devastating to the budget process and the people who had to do it and the sooner you can get your budget, the better off you are; however, that does not mean you will not have to come back some time during the year and make a budget amendment. Dr. Mason stated that the budget is a living document and priorities may change when new things occur and it would be preferable to have a substantial amount in reserves in case something came up to change the priority of the Board, so that there is opportunity to make transfers without devastating another part of the budget. Dr. Blanton stated that he agreed and many districts do that and make a contingency plan. He noted counties that have a high number of migrant workers count on those students for FTEs, and those districts present a "worst case" and "best case" scenario to the Board.

B. Organization of School District

Communication

1) Superintendent/Board

Dr. Blanton discussed the importance of learning to communicate; i.e., who wants to

take responsibility for what and how you want to communicate. Is the Superintendent comfortable with each of you going to staff of a particular area when you have a question or does the Superintendent prefer that you go to him and he gets the answer from staff and gives it back to you? There is no right or wrong way. Are Board Members comfortable with how they communicate with their constituents? They may want to communicate directly with a constituent or hand it over to the Superintendent who may communicate with the constituent and say..."by the way, a School Board Member told me you have a problem with... and here is what we are doing about it." Or do you want the Superintendent to find out the answer, call the School Board Member back, with the School Board Member to call the constituent. He noted there are Board Members around the state that have the Superintendent or staff communicate with constituents three years out of four, and the fourth year they call back and make sure problems solved. Usually that coincides with election year. Dr. Blanton stated if that is what you are comfortable with, there is nothing wrong with that, but there are going to be problems when not communicating properly.

2) Board/Staff

Dr. Jenkins discussed concerns regarding the relationship between Board Members and staff that are hired by the Superintendent and sometimes Board Members do not establish the correct relationship with staff people and staff perceive them as being intimidating. Dr. Jenkins stated that if there is a problem concerning a principal, he goes to the Superintendent because the Superintendent hired that person and would let the Superintendent deal with the principal. He expressed that the best way to establish a relationship with the Superintendent is to work through him and not go to staff members directly, and that is what he has practiced over 12 years. Dr. Blanton stated if that is what a Board Member is comfortable with, that is what the Board Member and Superintendent should work out, and if that is not as comfortable to other Board Members, they have to come to closure on the best way to communicate with staff. Dr. Blanton expressed that Board Members have been elected, and as part of educational team, have to respect the staff and work with staff on a day-to-day basis. He expressed that it is very detrimental to a School District when it is "us vs. them," them being whomever (people in the school system, administrative staff, the School Board), and that is not going to help the children in the School District. He stressed the importance of good working relationships and that does not mean you cannot disagree. You may agree to disagree, but still get all of the facts and figures while you are doing that. You also have to be clear on how Board Members communicate with each other, not only in the meeting, but also in a public setting, and it is important to communicate with each other with respect. You may agree to disagree - - that's democracy. He expressed that if there is fighting at the School Board level, that means there is not proper communication, and not doing things in a professional manner eventually trickles to the central office and if it continues, to the schools, to the community, and if bad enough, it trickles to the classroom. You have to determine how you want to do it. That includes memoranda. He stated that it would be his advice that if the Superintendent sends a memorandum to the Chairman, he should send it to the other four Board Members. The Superintendent should treat all five Board Members the same. That does not mean that he is not going to be with the Chairman more than the others, because his duties require that. One of the areas of communication has to be Board Chairman to Board Members about what your policy is (your operating procedure for your Board) on how you get things on the agenda; i.e., whether any Board Member can walk into the Superintendent's office and put it on there or they have to come to the Chairman and let the Chairman determine whether or not it goes on there. You have to be real careful with that decision. He stated that he has seen Boards where stability of four out of five Board Members was good and one was questionable, and they did not have a policy and this person kept putting everything under the sun on the agenda. After about six months, the Board said put a stop to it and said nothing is put on there without the Chairman's permission. Dr. Blanton stated he did not know if that was right for Escambia County or not, but the Board needs to know those kinds of things. You have new Board Members, possibly a different philosophy than in the past. How you communicate is important and the Superintendent will need to discuss with the Board communications with his staff as to how you want to do that. There is not a right or wrong way, but you should meet together and come to closure on it. If you do not come to closure on that in terms of how you communicate with memos, how you communicate with each other and with staff, then you will constantly have problems over the next few years. The memo is very important. You can communicate with other Board Members through memos. You should not be asking them their position; simply say here is the information. It is an informational memo.

Dr. Jenkins expressed concern about getting an excess of memos on information he is already familiar with. Dr. Blanton stated that he has heard Board Members say to the Superintendent, not necessarily the Chairman, not to send all of them; just send the executive summary and if they have a question, they can see the Superintendent. Some Board Members say they want to see the whole package. Also Board Members should notice other Board Members when requesting information or giving information. If a Board Member is getting a lot of information out of transportation for instance, not necessarily every piece of information, but other Board Members need some way whereby all of you know this Board Member is interested in transportation and is getting a lot of information on it. That serves two purposes: 1) you are not going to be surprised at the Board table when someone comes up with something big on transportation; 2) it safeguards the system as a whole so the Chairman realizes one Board Member is requesting this information every week and may talk with them in terms of requesting this much of staff. Every time staff has to copy or research something they are probably taking some time away from other duties. Dr. Blanton noted there have been instances around the state where Board Members have asked for tons of information and in one district, set aside a copy machine and secretary to run copies for one Board Member. Dr. Blanton stated that he asked the staff to save a copy of everything for three weeks. He later held a workshop addressing the matter and found that eight boxes of material had been copied as requested by an individual Board Member and none of the other Board Members realized what was going on. He stated those kinds of things can be a concern and you want to have a good system because you are running a big business.

C. "Trouble Spots" for School Districts

1) Personnel Appointments/Terminations/Transfers

Dr. Blanton stated concerning trouble spots, that after the Board creates a position, establishes the salary and job description, the Board is then out of it and hands it to the Superintendent at that point. It is the Superintendent's job to find the individual that meets that job description that he can work with and fill that position. It is not the Board's job to fill that position. The Board may disagree with who he puts in that position and that is okay. It then becomes part of the Superintendent's administrative ability, his management team, to work with the person he puts in that particular position, and the only way the Board can reject that person when that comes before the Board for recommendation is for cause. Cause generally is interpreted as two things, one of which is shaky. Moral turpitude is in the statutes and the Board can reject someone for moral turpitude and the courts have ruled in different ways recently and unless they have been convicted of a felony or have a police record or something of that nature, it is very difficult any more to do that. When the Superintendent puts the person on the agenda (not when the Board approves it), at that point the person has a vested job right unless the Board can reject them for cause. It is the Superintendent's prerogative in terms of who he puts in those particular positions. It should not be a controlling issue and you try to work together on this. After the Board establishes the position, it is the Superintendent's job to find that person and hire that individual. The Board can eliminate positions in the organizational chart; however, that should not be done in a vacuum. The area of terminations is where the Board can get burned in terms of costs. Dr. Blanton recommended listening to the School Board Attorney in the realm of termination and follow the Administrative Procedures Act. He stated that the courts will very seldom overrule your judgement in a case of a termination of employment. We do not lose too many on judgment, but we lose them because you did not follow the administrative procedures as outlined in statutes that give the person an opportunity to be noticed, to be heard and make their case before you. When you miss the deadlines under the APA you are going to lose every time and will generally be saddled with back pay, their attorney fees, and other court costs. Terminations become controversial, so you should not be committing to the press or anyone else how you are going to vote on that case before it gets to you for the actual debate. The School Board is in a quasi-judicial capacity when you make a termination of someone and you should not go out and say he or she is guilty and I am going to vote to terminate. In Nassau County about ten years ago a very controversial principal was being considered for termination and it was a 3-2 split Board and they told the press beforehand how they were going to vote, so the attorney deemed that the Board could not be neutral in their judicial capacity of terminating this person so Governor Graham removed the entire Board. He appointed another Board and five members of the community heard that case and reinstated the principal. The next day the Governor removed that Board and reinstated the original Board. You do not want to put yourself in that position. In a termination you are the jurors to make the final recommendation. Otherwise when appealed, they will shoot holes in your case and the further up the line it goes (with more chances of being overturned), the more money it is going to end up costing you and takes money out of your classroom.

Dr. Jenkins stated concerning personnel appointment/terminations/transfers, he is concerned as to the ethnic makeup of the people in that group. Dr. Blanton stated that you cannot accept or reject someone based on race and generally the Collective Bargaining Contract contains a Reduction in Force (RIF) procedure so if the Superintendent terminates individuals, it is generally a Collective Bargaining Contract and generally by seniority, last in-first out, and that will have no bearing on the person's race. The race issue of who should be employed where is an issue for discussion by the Board and it should always be the goal of having a racial mix that is similar to your community, and that can be looked at on a regular basis. You can ask the Superintendent if there was a qualified minority. He noted that it is getting harder to hire minorities in education. Discussion was also held noting that a large number of teachers who started in the 1960s will be retiring in the next five or six years and a very large percentage are African-Americans. Recruitment of minorities over the next 5-7 years in Florida will have to be stepped up. Dr. Jenkins stated that it has also been difficult to recruit males to be classroom teachers.

Dr. Blanton noted the authority for transfers is the Superintendent's. Dr. Mason requested clarification concerning lateral transfer. Dr. Blanton stated that movement of employees within the system is the prerogative of the Superintendent; i.e., principal to principal, principal to assistant principal, or assistant principal to principal. He noted a case in Pinellas County where a principal was accused of changing grades and the Superintendent moved the principal to dean or another position at no loss of salary and the principal is suing in what may be the first case in the nation or at least in Florida, a lawsuit for lack of prestige with no monetary damages. He noted it will probably cost Pinellas district $60,000 to $100,000. He emphasized the importance of having good legal counsel and looking very closely at the APA.

2) Administrative Procedures Act (APA)

Dr. Blanton recommended that all Board Members read the APA. Florida Statute 120 outlines what has to be done with notice, how a person has to have the right to be heard before the Board and not giving that right or jeopardizing that right will cause you to lose the case or issue. He cited a case in Alachua County several years ago where they closed a school. An attorney had 2 children in the school and did not want the school closed. In doing the research, the attorney realized they had missed the time lines on the APA advertising and the judge ruled that the school could not be closed because they did not follow proper procedures. As a result, the school was reopened and they followed the proper procedure next time and it was closed the following summer.

3) Sunshine Law

Dr. Blanton stated that Florida probably has the most stringent Sunshine Law in the country. He stated that Board Members can talk to each other and talk to staff. Board Members cannot ask each other how they are going to vote on a particular issue and cannot discuss an agendaed item or issue coming up before the Board in the very near future. He referenced a case in Hernando County involving a School Board Member who was accused of violating the Sunshine Law, who had gone to other Board Members and talked to them about who should be hired as architects and builders for a particular project. Dr. Blanton stated that he went before the grand jury because he had given a Sunshine Law workshop to that district a year before at the request of the Board because they felt there were some things going on that maybe should not be done. Dr. Blanton stated that the grand jury had asked him if there was any way that the Board Member (after having attended the Sunshine Law workshop), could not have understood the Sunshine Law. He stated that he replied no. Dr. Blanton stated that the Board Member was suspended by the Governor and removed by the Florida Senate. Dr. Blanton emphasized that the Sunshine Law should be taken seriously and if you think you stand a chance of violating the Sunshine Law, do not do it. Wait and talk to the individual later in a workshop.

Dr. Jenkins asked if a Board Member was allowed to invite a fellow Board Member to lunch, and Dr. Blanton replied yes. He stated that you can go to political rallies, fund raisers, Christmas parties, but you should not put yourself in a position where you are going to be there discussing items that are going to be on a future agenda. Can you discuss with an individual that is not on the Board about something on the agenda? Yes, but you should not discuss with two other Board Members who are there and say "John said we ought to do this and what do you think?" Can you discuss with staff members without violating the Sunshine Law? Absolutely. Can you discuss things with your Superintendent without violating the Sunshine Law? Absolutely. Can the Superintendent poll you? No. Can the Superintendent bring you in for a series of questions and say okay..."so and so said she is going to vote yes, and I need your vote and I'll have three." No, you cannot do that. Can the Superintendent send a staff member around to all five Board Members with his opinion to try to get your opinion on a particular issue? No.

Mr. May asked for clarification on the difference between the way that Board Members may operate with each other and the way the Superintendent can operate (since he does not have a vote). He asked if it was okay for him to discuss any issues with Board Members out of the Sunshine as long as he is not trying to convince them to vote in a certain way, and also whether he could discuss upcoming items for the agenda. Dr. Blanton stated yes, unless you are attempting to avoid public discussion on an issue. If something is very controversial and you have plans; yes you can talk about them, but you should be talking about the plans as a whole (that you can bring to the meeting) and have public input.

4) Public Records Act

Dr. Blanton stated that basically with a few exceptions, if it is in this building, it is a public record and anybody can come see it and anybody can copy it. You should have a policy on copying costs and the procedure for copying to make sure records are safeguarded, but under the Public Records Act, anything you have as a Board Member is considered a public record and you have to save those. There is no time limit on saving those. How you save them is a job between you and the Superintendent and the secretary. It means that letters you get and things of that nature you have to give to the secretary to put in a file that is yours, or you have to have a method of saving them so that the press or anybody else can come in and look at those public records and that is very important. Public records are also any of your notes or anything that you have up there during a Board Meeting. If someone wants to come up after the meeting and see them, they have the right to do that. He cautioned Board Members to be careful about passing notes around during a Board Meeting. He cited a case in Putnam County with a controversy concerning the County Manager, and County Commissioners were passing notes, so at the end of the meeting they threw the notes in the trash. At the end of the meeting the notes were pulled out of the trash, read, and taken to the State's Attorney because they were discussing who they were going to vote for and why and how many votes they had.

Dr. Blanton stated that there are some things that are not part of the public record. Personnel items for instance, individuals and their health records, psychiatric and psychological records and those kinds of things, certain police officers' addresses and their spouses and families; about six things that are not public records and he stated he could provide those but other than that, everything you have as a School Board Member is public record. E-Mail has also been ruled to be part of the Public Records Act and that means communication from Board Member to Board Member and communication from the Superintendent to Board. As an elected official, whatever you have on your E-Mail is considered public record. He cautioned that even if deleted, E-Mail can be retrieved. He noted that electronic information and communication is a new issue in public records and it pays to be very careful. If Board Members have computers communicating with each other, be real careful not only about public records, but Sunshine Law. More and more the media are coming in and looking at what is on your E-Mail and they have a right to do that. We have had some other changes; i.e., for a long time a Board Member could not vote unless they were present, and based on Attorney General opinions, if you are ill or somewhere else, you may be allowed to vote by E-Mail. He cited an instance where a Clay County Board Member's reserve unit was stationed in Saudi Arabia, and he will be allowed to vote by E-Mail and speaker phone when they have a Board meeting. There are going to be some opinions coming out along those lines, and that is an area you need to look at.

5) Collective Bargaining

Dr. Blanton recommended that Board Members read the Collective Bargaining contract. Many times there are things in the Collective Bargaining contract that are part of policy or they drive policy or you have delegated some of your authority away into the contract. It has to be done this way and why it was delegated that way is a different issue. It is there. There are things about the Reduction in Force (RIF) procedure. He suggested for the Superintendent to make sure that every year after Collective Bargaining closes that all of the principals read the Collective Bargaining contract and all of the principals have at least one workshop with the person who negotiated the contract in order to convey the intent of what was negotiated. You can meet in executive session for the purpose of Collective Bargaining. In the executive session you are there to give the Superintendent and the chief negotiator the parameters of what your negotiations are going to be and what the limitation of that is. You should not come out of the executive session and tell the press or anyone else what your parameters are. You cannot do that.

There are only two other exceptions to meeting out of the Sunshine: 1) student expulsion hearings can be held out of the Sunshine unless requested by the parent that they be in the public; and 2) settlement of litigation where you can meet out of the Sunshine for the potential working on the settlement of litigation. We are asking for a change in the statute this year to also let you discuss the parameters of litigation, but right now it is negotiation of settlement of litigation. Remember that when in executive session, it is for the settlement of litigation. You are required to have a court reporter in there, so you need to talk about the settlement of litigation and nothing else because the court reporter is going to do a verbatim record and after the litigation is settled, that court report becomes public record.

Dr. Blanton emphasized the importance of listening to the Board Attorney and when the attorney gives advice, right or wrong, and you do what the attorney says, then you are going to be okay as far as personal liability, because you are covered. If you knowingly act against the attorney's advice, you can be held personally liable in that particular instance and that is very important. When doing the Administrative Procedures Act, in executive session for pending settlement of litigation, you have to pay attention to the attorney. The attorney is not a School Board Member and is only here to give you legal advice. The attorney is not to give you political advice or how to deal with your public. Your questions to the attorney should be "is this legal? Will we get in trouble? Can we do this?" The attorney's answer should be yes, no, here is statute, or I will get back to you. The attorney has to have a clear understanding of his role to the Board. The attorney is also a safeguard, and the APA is a safeguard to a certain extent. The Board should never change policy when someone appears and complains about something. What you do is turn to your attorney and tell the person that the item is not agendaed and under the APA, we cannot change that tonight because it was not agendaed under the APA required notice, so APA serves as a safeguard because the worst thing you can do is violate your own policy. The court is going to ask you if you have a policy. The Board does not want to have to say that we have policy but did not stick by it, or we exempted this group from the policy for this particular time. Dr. Blanton cautioned that many times when you violate your own policy, when you violate the advice given by the attorney, it directly impacts your insurance on that particular issue. There are riders all over the state on insurance packages that govern for Risk Management liability, errors and omissions, and it says in those riders that if you violate your policy or if you have acted against the advice of legal counsel, they do not cover you. He noted that a couple of Boards have waived their policy on field trips and things like that and cost themselves a lot of money because the insurance company could say you have a policy that says no trips outside of the United States, and this kid was hurt in the Bahamas with the band. He cautioned the Board to be very careful in that regard. He stated that as the Board selects a new attorney, it should be done very thoughtfully in terms of the kind of person that can work best with the Board. It is a major decision when you seek legal counsel.

D. Other Issues of Concern

Dr. Mason inquired concerning modifying the law that requires such voluminous publishing of proposed policy changes and asked that they look at synthesizing the language in order to reduce the costs. Dr. Blanton stated that he would send the exact APA language that was passed at the last session. He stated that based on that language, he did not think that you have to publish the entire rule or policy that you are going to be adopting. He stated that prior to that, we thought you did based on a glitch in the law, but under the new language, you have to advertise the intent of what the policy will do. You have to advertise the dates, the times, and if anyone is going to be adversely affected, so that they can come talk to you. We do not feel any more that you have to advertise the entire policy based on the 1998 changes to the APA. Dr. Mason requested a copy. Dr. Blanton stated that Tatiana Martinez was their legal counsel who spearheaded that bill through and they will mail that information to Dr. Mason.

Mrs. Stidham stated that she had attended a workshop on agendas and will be getting copies of various agenda formats used throughout the state. She inquired concerning pulling agenda items for discussion in workshop versus meeting. Dr. Blanton stated that most districts have a consent agenda and some items are pulled and the consent agenda is passed. If you are going to take that item and have it agendaed for a future workshop, somebody has to table it or you have to have a vote to remove that to a workshop. Because it has been agendaed, it will take an action to table or move to a workshop. Mrs. Stidham asked relative to agenda items pulled for discussion in the workshop, whether it was appropriate to pull those items again from the regular meeting for further discussion. Dr. Blanton stated yes, you can pull anything from the consent agenda in a regular meeting that you want and have further discussion and it either passes, fails, or is tabled. Mrs. Stidham asked if certain controversial issues that were reoccurring could be pulled off of the consent agenda (based on agreement of the Board) to make them separate agenda items. Dr. Blanton stated that when you have a consent agenda and the same thing is always pulled, such as a personnel or transportation issue, consideration could be given to making that a regular item.

Dr. Mason asked if it would violate the Sunshine Law for the Chairman to go to a couple of different Board Members and say "in the construction of the agenda how do you feel about...?" Dr. Blanton stated that is close enough that he would not do it. He stated that he would have a communications workshop about how you are going to discuss everything and that includes setting agenda. Boards do it differently and some Boards say whatever you give to the Chairman, we automatically put on the agenda. Some Boards say give it to the Chairman, and the Chairman decides what is put on the agenda from the other Board members. These are not right or wrong. Dr. Blanton stated that he would be very hesitant to discuss items you are going to put on the agenda with other Board Members because it could easily slide over to expanding that discussion. Dr. Jenkins inquired concerning the legality of a Board Member voting no on an agenda item or abstaining. Dr. Blanton stated that if your vote is not heard, then you are considered to be voting yes. If you are going to abstain you have to state that you are going to abstain, give a reason, and fill out a form with the Ethics Commission on why you have abstained; i.e., personal gain or conflict of interest. You cannot vote no and abstain at the same time.

The Board recognized the following speaker:

Ms. Arlene Costello, President, Escambia Education Association, noted that the Department of Education had mandated that all employees of the school system submit to fingerprinting and background checks; however, that School Board Members are not mandated and not required to submit themselves to background checks. Dr. Blanton stated that was correct. He stated that the Constitution of the State of Florida requires that elected officials must be: 1) at least 18 years old; 2) a registered voter; and 3) a resident of the district for six months. He stated that anything Board Members wish to do voluntarily is their business. He stated that most elected officials, particularly School Board Members' background checks, are usually done by the press. Financial disclosure is also a factor.

Dr. Blanton advised that the Florida Retirement System (FRS) Advisory Commission will meet in January and FRS is probably going to undergo substantial changes during the next session. He stated as part of the contribution you have been making for the last 15 years, this last legislative session, the legislature saw fit to lower your contribution by a little over one percent, which produced $84,000,000 for education state-wide. There is no unfunded liability as of last week and on January 8, they will be looking at the amount of money that can be released based on that. That could mean that you do not have to pay in as much so the retirement contribution instead of being 15.5% could drop to say, 10%. As to whether the dollars are recurring or nonrecurring, we do not know yet. There will be a report to the Legislature by February 1. He stated this could be the largest windfall he has ever seen in the education arena if we can keep it. Another issue with the FRS is that there will be a major piece of legislation this year to allow employees to stay in FRS or to go to a defined contribution plan like a 401K.

Mr. May discussed the code of ethics stating that we have had a reputation in Escambia County as not having a good relationship not only among the Board, but between the Board and the Superintendent and last year a Board Member proposed a code of conduct which the Board passed to operate under at all times. He distributed copies and stated that we should all be about the same business and it is a cooperative effort working toward the District Strategic Aims with the goal of highest student achievement. When it comes to what we say and do away from the Board table, we developed a code of ethics that says we are not going to slander, not going to tell stories that are untrue and have said we are not going to berate employees, whether it be a Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent and basically states that we are going to do everything we can to be supportive of one another. We need to take that to heart now. We are here as a team to do what is right for children. If we have differences of opinions that is fine. He referred to a web page from a Board Member which basically stated that an arbitrary decision was made by the Superintendent to award a contractor hundreds of thousands of dollars when in reality, what he did was to follow a contract which had been voted on and approved by the Board which was an amount of $9 per cubic yard for services rendered by a subcontractor. We will never get rid of the stigma of not being cooperative if we make those kinds of comments about one another. Following a code of ethics, and not just our own, but the State Code of Ethics is important. Dr. Blanton stated that there is nothing wrong with disagreeing but to try to leave it here and walk away from the disagreement until you come back the next time. It goes back to public perception of how you operate and it is hard to operate a professional organization if everyone is not conducting themselves with the highest ethical and professional standards they can. Dr. Mason noted that Dr. Blanton's points on establishing lines of communication generally will be the best way to obviate any kinds of disagreement and probably the best way to open up communications and make perceived ethics of the management team by the public much more positive.

Dr. Jenkins requested that the Board consider giving the Superintendent approximately 15 minutes at the beginning of the Public Forums to showcase various schools and departments within the district to let the public know about the positive things that we do. Mr. May also recommended for future consideration that the monthly Regular Board meeting immediately follow the Public Forum. Dr. Mason suggested addressing those items at the next Board meeting.

Dr. Jenkins inquired concerning Board Members adding agenda items in workshop. Mr. Fleming stated that as Dr. Blanton said, you can always delete an agenda item in order to defer it for later consideration. If publicly advertised, anyone can appear and can be advised that the Board is going to discuss a matter again in a month, but adding an agenda item, even if it was in a workshop, would be a problem in that it had not been noticed for consideration. Under the logic of the law, it is to allow Board Members a chance to mull over it and talk to their constituents about it before they take action.

III. ITEMS FROM THE BOARD

Discussion was held concerning selection of a permanent School Board Attorney, and Mr. Fleming stated that if legal services needed approached 20 hours per week, it may be less expensive to bring counsel in-house. A basic formula to estimate the true cost of an in-house attorney including benefits, staff, space, supplies, and continuing legal education would be the attorney's compensation multiplied by about 2.5. He also stated that if the Board hired a contract attorney locally, the firm may have many lawyers, and it may be difficult to find a firm of any size that would not have conflicts of interest between representing the School District and other clients, such as vendors and subcontractors. A contract attorney could also have schedule conflicts involved when working for numerous clients. Mrs. Stidham asked for input regarding the Board's ability to assess attorney capabilities. Mr. Fleming recommended getting advice from attorneys who have indicated they will assist in finding a lawyer. Mr. May noted that average total attorney costs have been about $260,000 per year. Dr. Blanton suggested making sure you know all of the legal costs associated with the Board, Superintendent, facilities, transportation, and risk management legal issues.

IV. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 3:42 p.m.

Attest: Approved:

_______________________________ ________________________________

Superintendent Interim Chairman