Senator Rob Bradley, Representative Travis Cummings, and Representative Bobby Payne were recognized as proponents of the compression allocation which brought an additional $1.9 Million to Clay County District Schools and $100,000 to the Community Partnership Program at Wilkinson Junior High School.

Ms. Melton works as an ESE Behavioral Health Assistant at W. E. Cherry Elementary School and won the county recognition in January.  She was named the 2018 School-Related Employee of the Year by the Florida Department of Education and honored at the State Board of Education Meeting in Pinellas County on May 16, 2018.  

Superintendent Davis presented certificates to the following students for their outstanding school attendance:

Kindergarten – Grade 6   (7 Years)

• Rikki Aaliyah Blaylock (Lakeside Elementary School)
• Hunter Austin Creech (Ridgeview Elementary School)

Kindergarten – Grade 8   (9 Years)

• Victoria Jean Sanders (Green Cove Springs Junior High)
• Eli Christopher Stewart (Wilkinson Junior High School)
• Mikala Leigh Wheeler (Wilkinson Junior High School)

Mr. Connor congratulated Chris Okamoto, the district's Science Curriculum Specialist and Science Fair Coordinator, for a successful year.  Mr. Okamoto used the attached PowerPoint presentation to recognize the Science Fair winners and their individual category entries.  

Note:  Due to technical difficulties, it was announced that the board meeting was not available on comcast but could be viewed on the school district website through the live stream via U-tube.

Kelly Watt and Kristi Gomez were instrumental in helping develop the curriculum that will be used to teach Clay County History to 7th-grade students.

The following were recognized as Clay County Social Studies Teachers of the Year:

• Linda Finn (SPC), Clay County’s nominee for FCSS’s Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year in the Elementary Division
• William Taft (GCJ), Clay County’s nominee for FCSS’s Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year in the Middle School Division
• Josh Burghart (OPHS), Clay County’s nominee for FCSS’s Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year in the Senior High Division
• Kevin Smith (RHS), Clay County’s nominee for Prentice-Hall’s Excellence in Teaching History Award
• ShiAnn Best (SLE), Clay County’s nominee for Holt-McDougal’s Warren Tracy Beginning Teacher Award

The Wes Whiddon Scholarship is awarded yearly to Clay County student-athletes who have played sports at the junior or high school level while attending a Clay County school and who have been accepted to attend a college.  Mrs. Whiddon recognized the following 2018 recipients of the scholarship:

• Carrington Robinson-OPH
• Abigail Johnson-OPH
• Ross Ledger-CHS
• Ashley Crews-OPH
• Jackson Bull-FIH
• Alexandria Vaughn-FIH
• Maegan Daskawisz-OLH

The team from Community First presented the Clay County Education Foundation a check in the amount of $3,000 to help fund classroom grants.

• Jenifer Burghart - reflections of the school year and ESE
• Young Smith - safety in schools and mental health issues

Just prior to the adoption of the Consent Agenda, Mrs. Kerekes expressed concern about C15, 2018-19 Code of Student Conduct, and changes related to the senior attendance policy which requires seniors to be in attendance for at least 94% of their total possible class periods during their senior year of high school to participate in commencement ceremonies.  Mr. McAuley will review the exceptions clause to possibly allow notes from parents when the student is not under the care of a doctor.   Mr. McAuley explained the new language was not meant to create a barrier but to put the responsibility on the students for attendance and completing classwork.

The Florida Department of Education presents the Golden School Awards to recognize exemplary programs that promote parent, student and community involvement in education.  The following schools were recognized as 2018 recipients of the award:

1. Argyle Elementary School (5th Year) – Principal Angela Ward
2. Orange Park Elementary School (5th Year) – Principal Carole McCullough
3. Ridgeview Elementary School (5th Year) – Principal Heather Roche
4. S. Bryan Jennings Elementary School (5th Year) – Principal Elise Love
5. Coppergate Elementary School – Principal Amy Dyal
6. Fleming Island Elementary School – Principal Jennifer Collins
7. Fleming Island High School – Principal Tom Pittman
8. Green Cove Springs Junior High – Principal Jen Halter
9. Keystone Heights High School – Principal Aaron McWilliams
10. McRae Elementary School – Principal Tammy Winkler
11. Orange Park High School – Principal Clayton Anderson
12. Paterson Elementary School – Principal John O-Brian
13. Ridgeview High School – Principal Debbie Segreto

Superintendent Davis explained this Agreement would cover the district through the summer.  Mr. Davis also related the Board of County Commissioners was willing to cover the cost if the school district would agree to a 3-year agreement for use of the district's gymnasiums for after-hours programs to give kids places to go to in the evenings.  The school district would be responsible for covering on-site staff for security and AC/electrical costs.  The school district would need to weigh the costs prior to making any commitments.

Superintendent Davis stated the Agreements with the Police Departments of City of Green Cove Springs and Town of Orange Park are consistent with what is covered in the Agreement with the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

Public Comments:  Mary Lib Stevenson 

During discussion, Board members gave their reasons for supporting or not supporting the proposed referendum.  

The public hearing was opened by the Chair.  With no one present to speak to the item, the public hearing was closed and the item was brought back to the Board for action.

There were no special actions.

The public hearing was opened by the Chair.  With no one present to speak to the item, the public hearing was closed and the item was brought back to the Board for action.

Mrs. Condon pulled the item to Discussion indicating that she felt large expenditures such as this insurance renewal should be on the Discussion agenda.  She expressed concern about the $100,000 deductible and because our loss experiences have been less than $1M, she was interested in potential options to obtain "gap" (first $100,000) coverage. 

Public Comments:

• Kandy Page 
• Joel Miller

The Board identified Mary Bolla to serve as the Liaison on the 2018-2019 FSBA Legislative Committee and Janice Kerekes to serve as the Alternate.

Board members made positive comments about the high school graduations they attended.