Leon County School Board Meeting Briefs: February 11, 2025

Provided below are news briefs from the February 11, 2025, Leon County School Board business meeting.

Reports

The Board heard reports from Stephanie Shumate with the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and from Jacquelyn Steele, Chairperson of the District Advisory Council.

Items Considered by the Board

Item 19.03, Item 19.04, & Item 19.05: The Board unanimously approved to advertise new Policies 1500, 3500, and 4500 regarding remote work. These policies defined new remote work guidelines, including definitions, eligible positions, and termination of remote working agreements.

Item 19.05: The Board unanimously approved the K-5 adoption committee’s selection of McGraw-Hill, Florida Science 2024.  The review committee, composed of representatives from every elementary school in Leon County and a Doctor from Florida State University who served as a science expert, overwhelmingly agreed that materials from Mc-Graw Hill will be used as the new K-5 science curriculum. The review committee reviewed around 5-8 companies, all of which were on the Florida Department of Education’s approved list. Review committee’s for middle and high schools are meeting in the future to discuss choices for them.

Item 19.06: The Board voted 4-1 to approve a five-year renewal term for Tallahassee Classical School (TCS), with Board Member Daryl Jones voting no. TCS opened in August of 2020 with an initial 5-year charter, and this new charter will begin July 1, 2025, and extend to June 30, 2030. A review committee noted that the school is “meeting the standard” and “approaching the standard” in the majority of areas. Only one area, transportation, did not meet the standard. However, there are future plans to provide transportation that will be discussed moving forward. In all years since the 2021-2022 school year, the school has received a C letter grade. There were concerns raised by the board concerning the financial strength of the school, but the committee deemed them as “approaching the standard”. In the future, TCS may enter into an agreement with Great Hearts Academies to utilize their educational management for service and support, and the charter would be amended to reflect that agreement.

Item 19.07: The Board unanimously approved the Memorandum of Understanding between Leon County Schools and the Leon Classroom Teachers Association for the R. Frank Nims Middle School recognition payment. Both parties have agreed that eligible employees of Nims Middle School shall receive payment of school recognition funds as a result of exemplary improvement by improving at least one letter grade from the 2023-2024 school year.

Item 19.08: The Board unanimously approved out-of-county travel for School Board Members Laurie Cox and Alva Smith to attend the FSBA School Finance Conference that was held in Gainesville, Florida on February 6, 2025. Board policy usually requires that all out-0f-county travel be approved in advance, however a waiver was requested with assurance that this action will not occur again in the future.

Item 19.09: The Board unanimously approved out-of-county travel for School Board Member Laurie Cox to attend Florida’s National Summit on School Safety to be held in Orlando, Florida on February 26-28, 2025.