Leon County School Board Meeting Briefs: September 7, 2023

Below are the news briefs that took place during the Leon County Schools Business Meeting on September 7^th, 2023.

The Board voted unanimously to approve the millage rate for Fiscal Year July 1^st 2023, through June 30^th 2024. The total proposed millage rate is 5.464, which includes 3.216 for Local Required Effort, 0.748 for Discretionary Operating Purposes, and 1.500 for Capital Outlay Projects.

Leon County Sheriff Chief Ron O’Brien gave the Board an overview on the Annual Report on the School Resource Deputies and what they have accomplished in partnership with LCS. Chief O’Brien explained that the School Resource Deputies’ main objective is to enhance education opportunities by creating a safe and secure learning environment. He advised that 22 School Resource Deputies taught a total of 797 different programs and classes to LCS students, totaling 33,570 students who received training and instruction.  

During the persons to be heard portion of the meeting, Jennifer Koslow expressed her concern with the Gallopade history curriculum. She explained the curriculum misrepresents the history of enslavement in Florida to 4^th graders, stating, “Gallopade, either through sloppy writing or whatever else implies that slavey didn’t happen here, it only happened on large plantations, and both of those are fundamentally flawed.” She asked the Board to adopt either McGraw Hill or Nystrom’s curriculum instead of Gallopade.

The Board approved the consent agenda items, including an item to approve the annual partnership between LCS and the United Way of Big Bend’s Smile United Program. Title 1 students with parent/guardian permission will receive dental screenings, sealants, oral health care instructions, fluoride varnish, and oral hygiene kits at no cost to students. 

The Board unanimously approved three policy amendments under Student Supervision and Welfare for public hearing on October 24, 2023. These revisions include, reporting unsafe activities, parent notification of issues related to a student’s well-being, and social network restrictions.

The Board unanimously voted to advertise amendments to a Bullying and Harassment policy for a public hearing and adoption on October 24, 2023. The revisions include clarifying language regarding bulling and harassment through the use of data or computer software, addressing sexual harassment as it pertains to policy 2266, and training and instruction requirements and curriculum.

During Board discussion on an item to adopt and purchase Elementary Social Studies instructional material, Board Member Marcus Nickolas expressed his concern with the Gallopade material, explaining that he had found additional misrepresentations of African American history found in the Gallopade curriculum. Previously, teachers ranked the Gallopade material twice, with Gallopade being ranked highest both times. However, with the Board’s additional insight on the material, Board Members Marcus Nickolas, Rosanne Wood and Darryl Jones agreed that the best material option was Nystrom. The Board voted 4/1 to approve the Nystrom Curriculum. Board member Laurie Cox voted against the Nystrom Curriculum.