Call Meeting to Order

Superintendent Dr. Greene called the meeting to order at 1:06 p.m.

1. APPROVAL OF COMMITTEE MEMBER VIA INTERACTICE VIDEO/TELEPHONE SYSTEMS

Motion:

That the Sales Surtax Oversight Committee approve the participation of Committee Members Dedee Harper and Linda Lanier via interactive video and/or telephone systems.

Vote Results:

Motion: Diana Galavis

Second: Michael Hawk

PASSED

Public Comment

Susan Aertker spoke to the committee regarding her concerns of charter school reporting and also submitted the following via email to be included as part of her public comment:

“The Citizen Oversight Committee is charged with monitoring the spending of our sales surtax including the spending by charter schools as the voters voted yes to this question on our November 2020 ballot “Shall the Duval County School Board be authorized to levy a 15-year half-cent sales surtax, with expenditures based upon the Surtax Capital Outlay Plan, and monitored by an independent citizens committee?”

Items to be Discussed

1.  ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Karen Chastain, Office of General Counsel, provided an overview of Robert’s Rules of Order concerning nominations and elections:

-       Once the floor is open for nominations, you do not need to be recognized to make a nomination

-       You can nominate another person or nominate yourself

-       Nominations do not require a second

-       If only one person is nominated, that choice would be unanimous, unless someone would like to register a dissenting vote

-       If multiple nominations are received, then the standard process is to vote for each nominee in the order the nomination was received; and the first nominee to receive at least a majority vote is elected to the office and no further vote is taken on each of the remaining nominees. If none of the nominees are elected, then the process is repeated until a nominee withdraws or a member or members change their votes and a nominee receives at least a majority vote.

o   ELECTION OF THE CHAIRMAN

§  Nate Day, nominated by Alberta Hipps

§  Hank Rogers, nominated by Michael Hawk

Nate Day appreciated the nomination but would prefer Hank to be the Chair. Mr. Day withdrew his nomination.

Motion:

That Hank Rogers be elected as Chairman of the Sales Surtax Oversight Committee for 2021-2023.

Passed unanimously.

o   ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

§  Nate Day, nominated by Alberta Hipps

§  Joe Carlucci, nominated by Terrie Brady

Motion:

That Nate Day be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Sales Surtax Oversight Committee for 2021-2023.

With a majority vote, 11 in favor, Nate Day was elected as Vice-Chairman.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JANUARY 19, 2021

Motion:

That the Sales Surtax Oversight Committee approve the meeting minutes of January 19, 2021.

Vote Results:

Motion: Monique Tookes

Second: Michael Hawk

PASSED

3.  FINANCE OVERVIEW

Chief Financial Officer Michelle Begley gave a PowerPoint presentation (see attached) on Financial Services. Discussion followed the presentation which included:

·         Committee’s authority over charter school spending

·         Charter schools financial disclosure

·         Committee to decide how they would like to receive information about charter schools and how they spend the sales surtax

·         District will meet with charter schools to advise them of what the committee has decided regarding financial reporting of sales surtax

·         Prior to Committee convening, millage dollars have been used. Sales surtax monies has not been spent.

·         Clawback revision for charter schools is on a case-by-case basis

4. FACILITIES AND CONSTRUCTION OVERVIEW

Assistant Superintendent of Operations Paul Soares gave a PowerPoint presentation (see attached) on Initial Progress Brief. Terrence Wright, Director of Purchasing, went over the procurement portion and Byron Page, Executive Director of Design and Construction Services, covered the referendum dashboards.

5.  COMMUNICATIONS OVERVIEW

Chief of Marketing and Public Relations Dr. Tracy Pierce gave a PowerPoint presentation (see attached) on Communications Overview. During the presentation, Dr. Pierce went over the new Sales Surtax website (www.duvalschools.org/half-penny) which houses Oversight Committee information such as member bios and meeting documents, Project Tracking Dashboard, and District financial transparency.

David Voss, District consultant, provided a brief overview on how to respond to the media. Points covered included:

§  Suggested that when it comes to the media, the Committee’s Chair and Vice Chair should serve as spokespersons for the group.

§  Committee members may still receive inquiries from the media but should make it known that your

statement is your opinion only and that you are not speaking for the Committee as a whole. Group statements should be made by your designated spokesperson(s).

§  Media calls can also be referred to Dr. Pierce or Chief of Staff Sonita Young

Following the Facilities and Construction Overview and Communications Overview, the floor was opened for questions and discussion. Topics discussed include:

·         Dr. Pierce will follow up with Ms. Begley to see if it would be possible to list the charter schools on the distribution of money section of the website

·         Project lists and priority timelines by district

·         Solicitation and execution of deferred maintenance and security projects

As the published end time of 3:00pm approached, Chair Rogers requested a motion from the Committee to extend the meeting. Terrie Brady made a motion to extend the meeting by 20 minutes, seconded by Monique Tookes. Motion passed unanimously.

·         Principals are kept in the loop of projects and they also keep the Administration informed of items their schools need that may not be on the list.

·         Minority contractors set aside and visibility of minority participation on the dashboard

·         Currently, there is no set goal for small business participation

·         Project scorecard – every District sits on its own so do not compare project scorecards district to district

·         When requesting breakdowns from charter schools, remember that there are different types of charter schools, i.e. “mom and pop” or larger organizations. The ultimate goal of the Committee is to ensure the sales surtax dollars are being spent the way they are intended to be.

·         Funds for schools being built on new land, this cost is covered by the sales surtax monies

6. NEXT MEETING

o Wednesday, March 17^th 1:00pm

Adjournment

1. ADJOURNMENT

Motion:

That the Sales Surtax Oversight Committee move to adjourn the meeting at 3:23 p.m.

Vote Results:

Motion: Monique Tookes

Second: Lawrence Dennis

PASSED