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Osceola School District board meeting, Mar 10, 2026

2 h 54 min · 12 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 2 h 54 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Osceola school board approves student outreach contract, with 4 approved and 1 nay 1:53:51

  • Jolene Sheive took the oath of office for Osceola County Board District 3. 9:52
  • The superintendent said the district faces declining enrollment and needs to right-size its budget by about $25 million, and said the district is not planning to close any schools. 1:42:25
  • The board approved, with 4 in favor and 1 opposed, a contract under which CASIA K-12 would allocate $935 per recruitment student for outreach, after one board member said they were voting no. 1:53:51
  • Several speakers at public comment raised concerns about changes to the district's ESE program, including staff injuries and training, and the superintendent responded. 2:25:15

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Swearing-in of new board member 0:00
    • A staff member said the governor's appointments office made the appointment of the new District 3 board member. 7:30
    • Jolene Sheive took the oath to faithfully perform the duties of Osceola County Board District 3. 9:52
  2. Meeting opening 36:08
    • Heather Kahoun opened the meeting and listed an invocation, the Pledge of Allegiance, the national anthem, the mission statement and interpretation services. 36:08
  3. Positive comments and recognitions 45:12
    • The superintendent recognized the district's first graduate from the Rollins College Pathways to Teaching program, which the superintendent described as a route for paraprofessionals to obtain a bachelor's degree and teaching certification. 45:30
    • Bethzaida Garcia spoke about Women's History Month and the Cross Prairie K-8 ribbon cutting, and Paula Bronson said the Harmony High School band was selected to perform in London's New Year Day Parade in 2027. 50:33
    • Terry Castillo said the board is believed to be the first all-women school board in Osceola County, and a teacher presented students from the Lakeview Elementary Community Club. 59:24
  4. Arts and Women's History Month proclamations 1:07:40
    • Presenters read a proclamation naming March 2026 as Arts Education Month in Osceola County. 1:08:12
    • An assistant superintendent read a proclamation recognizing March 2026 as Women's History Month. 1:12:18
    • Both proclamations were announced as passed. 1:11:26
  5. Winter athletics recognitions 1:15:05
    • The district's coordinator of athletics thanked the board for approving a uniform contract with BSN Sports the previous month. 1:16:04
    • The coordinator recognized winter championship teams and said every team recognized had over a 3.0 GPA average. 1:27:41
  6. Administrative appointments, retirements and resignations 1:35:29
    • The superintendent presented a new principal for Neptune Elementary School and a new assistant principal at Voyager for approval. 1:35:36
  7. Superintendent budget update 1:42:19
    • The superintendent said the district is not planning to close any schools. 1:42:25
    • The superintendent said the district is seeing declining enrollment mainly due to the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program and is moving to site-specific zero-based budgeting. 1:42:44
    • The superintendent said the district needs to right-size its budget by about $25 million and did not believe this requires a reduction in force. 1:45:50
  8. Superintendent evaluation framework 1:49:06
    • The item adjusted the superintendent's evaluation to match the district's updated strategic plan, according to the presiding speaker. 1:49:06
    • The motion was announced as passed. 1:49:33
  9. Public hearing on rule changes 1:49:33
    • A presenter read changes to 5 existing school board rules, including replacing McKay Scholarship with HOPE Scholarship in the school choice rule. 1:49:52
    • The changes also prohibit employees from using personal wireless communication devices to make photographs or recordings, with limited emergency exceptions, and treat refusal of a drug screening as a positive test. 1:51:15
    • No public comment was received on the changes. ~1:52:31
    • The motion to approve the rules as presented was announced as passed. 1:52:53
  10. Agenda modifications 1:53:05
    • The superintendent reported no modifications, and item 10.02 was pulled for discussion. 1:53:12
    • The agenda was approved as modified. 1:53:29
  11. Student outreach and recruitment contract 1:53:46
    • One board member said the contract would allocate $935 per recruitment student for outreach to students in homeschooling, private schools or charter schools, and suggested improving the district website before spending that money. 1:54:40
    • A district staff member said the students are not currently in the district and the district does not have the administrative overhead to do the outreach itself. 1:56:58
    • One board member said the contract is a good idea and asked for updates on the return on investment. 1:59:11
  12. Additional agenda items 2:03:50
    • The board took motions on items 15.03, 16.01 and 17.01. 2:03:50
    • Each motion was announced as passed. 2:04:11
  13. Public comment 2:04:40
    • Several speakers at public comment raised concerns about immigration enforcement near schools and asked the board to require guardians be present when students are questioned and to respond within 2 weeks. 2:05:02
    • A speaker asked for help spreading the word about band fundraising, saying the cost per student is roughly $4,350. 2:12:43
    • Several speakers raised concerns about ESE program changes, and one speaker said over 300 staff were injured in the first half of the year based on workers' comp claims and asked for transparency, trainings and protective gear. 2:18:03
  14. Item 2:38:16
    • A district staff member said points raised were extremely valid and that every person who reached out received a message back from a member of leadership. 2:38:26
    • The staff member said some statistics cited at the meeting were inaccurate and said the district had not been serving students with special needs the way they needed to be served. 2:43:19
  15. Attorney comments and board reports 2:49:29
    • The board's general counsel said an executive session on a pending case would be held immediately after the meeting, previously noticed on March 4th, 2026. 2:49:37
    • Terry Castillo reported on the Equity Committee of the Florida School Board Association, and Bethzaida Garcia spoke about the budget and ESE support. 2:50:21

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “March 10, 2026 5:00 pm Board Member Swearing In and Board Meeting | Osceola School District”