My name is Dr. Trudy Jermanovich. I’ve been trying to get the public to become more engaged in your meetings for many years. I would say that the advent of allowing written comments has been a way for many more people to participate. I do wish you would again provide a summary of the written comments separated by topic on the website which can be accessed during and after the meeting. It’s good to have the written public record of these comments for all to read since they cannot, reasonably, be read into the record at each meeting.

That being said, I was taken aback that you changed the public speaker time from 5PM to 4PM for the August 21st Meeting. I’m not sure of the reasoning since the meeting starts at 2PM. I believe that the traditional 5PM speaker time should be reinstated as it gives teachers and other members of the working public another hour to get off of work and navigate traffic to get to the meeting. I also believe that you should take 10 speakers as is stated in the new policy. Also, the BCPS website still gives information on the old policy instead of Policy 1020 which was adopted on 5/29/2024.

Again, thanks for allowing written comments and please summarize them so they can be read along with the video which is provided of the meetings.

Good Morning, My name is Nahla Cherenfant and I am a sophomore at Blanche Ely High School. My reason for speaking today is to present the communities thoughts on the latest policy, Disconnect to Reconnect. In my opinion, Disconnect to Reconnect is an incredibly flawed policy that does not take into account the state of the modern world. The sad but true reality of the world is that gun violence in schools is at an all time high. The few seconds it takes for a phone to reconnect to the internet after being put on airplane mode could cost a life. The point could be argued that contacting parents should be left to the school, however school officials have failed children in disaster situations multiple times, such as in the tragic Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooting. Additionally, in an ever growing world technology is becoming a part of society, however students are some of the only groups punished for evolving with the times. Attempting to eradicate phone use in schools will only cause instructional time to be lost, suspension rates to increase, and students to feel on edge. A petition created by Anthony Stewart has been circulating calling for the overturn of this policy and while Broward County Students and Parents usually have extremely differing opinions, this has almost unanimously been supported. As Broward County Public School Board members, you are public servants and your obligations is to also take into consideration the interest, needs, and wellbeing of the general public. As a member of Broward County myself I can confidently say that this policy does not reflect our needs as students parents teachers or otherwise. Thank you
https://www.change.org/p/broward-county-public-schools-phone-removal-petition/exp/v2/cl_/cl_sharecopy_490162317_en-US/9/1345807638

Hello I would like to share with the Board some Amazingly Good News!!! Due to some recent passage of legislation the School District I believe has properties that may be qualified to receive ZERO COST SOLAR ENERGY & FAST (level 3) EV CAR CHARGERS to be provided for the school district.
Thank you for your time,
Robert F. Pina
561-888-0248 call/text