School Board Meeting Recap for Nov. 12, 2013

Annual Organizational Meeting Selects New Chairman

Each year by Florida statute local governing boards and commissions must have an annual organizational meeting where new officers must be elected, meeting dates and times must be set and in the case of the Citrus School Board, we must also hire our attorney as well.

While not specifically set by policy or statute, generally the Chairman position is chosen through a rotation. This past year the Honorable Ginger Bryant was our Chairperson and the Honorable Pat Deutschman was Vice-Chairperson.  During the meetings I sit next to Ms. Deutschman and when Ms. Deutschman was to be elected Chairperson I would have been potentally in line to be the Vice Chairperson in coming year.  Again, while this is generally what occurs, it is not required to happen.

During yesterday’s organizational meeting when the opportunity came to nominate Ms. Deutschman as Chairperson three of us board members all spoke at once to nominate Ms. Deutschman. I seconded the nomination. Ms. Deutschman’s response to the nomination was most surprising.  Ms. Deutschman shared that she has served as Chairperson more than once and that she believed someone else had earned the honor of being nominated. She respectfully withdrew her name from nomination and made a motion that, “Thomas Kennedy be Chairperson”.  I was stunned and humbled.  As board members we often challenge each other and do not always agree but we work together for the students, schools and public to make the best decisions we can. Our School Board is known around the state of Florida as one of the finest examples of a highly functioning and successful board for doing the business of the people.  This only comes from the respect of your fellow board members.   Ms. Deutschman’s nomination, if nothing else, affirmed this to me.  I was further humbled when Ms. Bryant seconded the nomination and my fellow board members voted unanimously to elect me Chairperson for the 2013-2014 year.  I was still a bit stunned as Ms. Bryant handed over the gavel to me.

At that point I presided over the meeting with our next order of business choosing a Vice-Chairman.  Ms. Bryant nominated Ms. Deutschman and the board voted unanimously to elect Ms. Deutschman as Vice-Chairperson for the 2013-2014 year.

Next order of business that the board voted on was dates and times for the board to meet during the coming year. It was voted to continue to meet on the second Tuesday of each month (with the exception of November 2014 which is the 3^rd) with the meeting time to also continuing to begin at 4:00pm.  This time provides two opportunities for public input, the first Citizen Comments at approximately 4:05pm is reserved for comments on the items requesting approval on the meeting’s agenda and a second opportunity is available for any subject at approximately 5:45 p.m.  (Citizen Comments Times can fluctuate somewhat based on the agenda.)

The board then approved the reappointment of the School Board Attorney Wes Bradshaw.

Next on December 2^nd I attend the Florida School Board Associations new Chairman training in Tampa, with our next board meeting scheduled for December 10^th.

I thank my fellow board members for their confidence in electing my as the 2013-2014 Chairman and I look forward to this opportunity.

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