Leon County School Board Meeting Briefs: May 13, 2025

Provided below are the news briefs from the May 13, 2025, Leon County School Board meeting.

Items Considered by the Board

Item 19.01: The Superintendent has recommended the 6-12 Science Adoption Committee Recommendations .There is NO VOTE required for this item. On May 27, 2025, the School Board will vote on the recommendation.

Item 19.02: The Superintendent recommends review of the Personal Financial Literacy and Money Management Review Committee results. There is NO VOTE required for this item. This begins the obligatory 20-day public viewing period May 13 through June 10, 2025.

Item 19.03: The Board voted 4-0 (Nicolas not present) to advertise amendments to Policy 7510 – Use of District Facilities, for a public hearing and adoption on June 17, 2025. For the purposes of this policy, the term “District Facilities” means land and buildings or any portion thereof.

Item 19.04: The Borad voted 4-0 to approve the 2025-2026 Florida Partnership for Minority & Underrepresented Student Achievement Grant (FLP Achieve) in the amount of $169,690. The mission of the Florida Partnership for Minority and Underrepresented Student Achievement program (FLP Achieve) under the administration of Palm Beach State College (PBSC) is to prepare, inspire, and connect all students to post-secondary success and opportunity, with a particular focus on minority students and students who are underserved in postsecondary education. The FLP Achieve program will help increase teacher knowledge and strategies to support advance placement learning, increase enrollment, course completion of industry certification programs, and increased graduation rates.

Item 19.05: The Board voted 3-1 (Jones against) to approve Amendment 4 to the December 11, 2018, Charter between the School Board of Leon County and the Tallahassee Classical School, Inc. The Tallahassee Classical Charter School would like to alter their current early release Wednesday schedule.

In December of 2020, Tallahassee Classical sought approval to amend their calendar by adding early dismissal days every Wednesday of the school year to provide for professional development for all teachers. Moving into the 2025-2026 school year, Tallahassee Classical will no longer need this amount of time for professional development. The Tallahassee Classical Board of Trustees approved this change at their meeting on February 24, 2025, and now respectfully requests approval for early dismissal on the last Friday of every month beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. Action by the School Board of Leon County is required to amend the charter to reflect this schedule change.

 Item 19.06: The Board voted 3-1 (Jones against) to approve a five-year renewal charter contract, from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2030, for Tallahassee Classical School. Tallahassee Classical School (TCS) originally opened its doors in August 2020 with a 5-year charter. In the fall of 2024, Tallahassee Classical School submitted a renewal application. The charter school renewal committee thoroughly reviewed the application, reviewed school data, performed an onsite monitoring visit during which they were presented with information about the school, participated in a question-and-answer session and visited multiple classrooms. The review team held a public meeting on December 2nd, to compile the final recommendation. The review committee recommended that the renewal be granted for five years.

On February 11, 2025, the Leon County School Board voted to approve Tallahassee Classical’s renewal application.

The attached renewal charter contract is the Florida Standard Charter Renewal Contract, with no modifications, except answers to questions posed within the standard contract. Additionally, Tallahassee Classical School has signed a contract with Great Hearts America, the country’s largest classical charter school network.

Item 19.07: Item was deleted from agenda.

Item 19.08: The Board voted 4-0 to approve the 2025 – 2026 annual renewal Health Contract between Leon County School Board and the Department of Health in Leon County, Florida, in an amount not to exceed $ 1,496,519.76 authorizing the Chairman or Vice Chairman and Superintendent to sign all related documents.

The 2025 – 2026 Health Services Contract between the Leon County School Board and the Department of Health Services is a continuation contract that will authorize the Leon County Schools Health Department to work collaboratively with the Department of Health in Leon County to support school health rooms.  This contract will be awarded to the Department of Health in Leon County, which will staff most school health rooms with school health aides and oversee and supervise the services provided through these rooms.  Funding for this agreement is through Medicaid Revenue.  The Leon County Health Department will provide proper documentation for monthly reimbursements.