Brevard's school board meeting centers on good grades, budget and guardian program concerns
During a meeting that lasted just over an hour and a half, Brevard's school board on Tuesday approved a new budget for the district and heard more outcry from the public against additional firearms in schools.
Despite it being the first meeting held during the evening in more than two months, the gathering was poorly attended, drawing only a small crowd and seven public commenters.
Here's a look at what was discussed by board members and concerns shared by those in attendance.
Guardian program: Public warns against it
Only seven people spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. Topics varied, though the guardian program's expansion — which allows BPS employees not assigned to a classroom to carry firearms after undergoing training through the county sheriff's office — was brought up by multiple people.
Abby Sanders, a student who has previously spoken against the guardian program, once again brought her concerns to the board, referencing reported incidents where guardians have mishandled firearms.
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"What could go wrong, right?" she said. "If anything happens because of this, please know, the blame is on you all."
Pam Castellana, chair of the Brevard Democrats, also spoke against the program. She brought up multiple occasions where Brevard's law enforcement have acted in opposition to their training.
"These are professionals," Castellana said. "They receive thousands of hours of training on the proper handling of guns, far more than the volunteers you plan to put in our schools."
Board members did not address the guardian program to take any action on it, though at the end of the meeting, board member Gene Trent brought it up again.
District grades: Brevard Public Schools is once more an A district, Florida school grades for '23-'24 show
"No, no, we're not advocating for more guns in the classroom," he said. "That cannot continue to be a narrative out there. That's not the case, please don't think that's the case."
"And please stop saying it," board member Matt Susin added.
Board approves 2025 budget
Each year, the board is required by the state to have two public hearings for proposed budgets and millage rates. The first hearing for the 2025 fiscal year budget was held at Tuesday's meeting, with the board approving the proposed budget and millage rate.
Overall, the budget is set for $1,623,527,883. Here's how that number breaks down:
$757,854,571: general operating
$459,753,765: capital projects
$106,122,069: internal service — health
$80,234,355: millage
$73,753,320: food services
$55,045,526: special revenue
$38,011,050: debt service
$27,557,139: school internal
$9,686,607: enterprise fund
$7,939,547: internal service — casualty
$7,569,934: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds
In total, the 2025 budget is $1,925,606 more than the 2024 budget, which was $1,621,602,277.
The millage rate dropped from 6.383 in 2024 to 6.311 this year. A mill is a property tax levy of $1 per $1,000 of taxable property value.
A final budget hearing will be held at the Sept. 5 board meeting at 5:30 p.m.
Rendell praises district grade
Data released by the state department of education last week shows Brevard is once again an A-rated school district, a status the district last held in 2019. Superintendent Mark Rendell called the better grade a "fantastic (move) in the right direction."
"66% of our schools are either A or B, and as a district, we are once again rated an A district," he said.
He also called attention to the overall gains the district has made, saying that even if a school isn't an A, it may have improved.
"Some schools moved up a letter grade," he said, adding that it's the first time in several years that the district has no D or F schools. "There were some schools that moved up from a D to a C, and that's quite an accomplishment. The challenge that those teachers and staff are facing is real, it's tremendous."
During public comment, the fact that the state changed its grading scale for schools was brought up. Tara Harris, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said it's not something that's easy to compare.
"We're not comparing apples to apples if we just look at the percentage of points required (for an A)," she said, adding that while the scale was higher last year than it was this year, there were fewer categories last year for the state to consider when calculating the district's grade as compared to this year.
"What I want to assure you, and our community stakeholders, is what we were able to do with school grades ... is when we pulled away our learning gains, and we looked at those core areas of reading proficiency, math proficiency, science, social studies, acceleration points ... we did show increases," she said.
Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at [email protected]. X: @_finchwalker.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard school board: 'Not advocating for more guns in classrooms'
