DPHS Students: We are at Dr. Phillips High School Air Force, JRTC,

DPHS Students: And today on Mondays with Maria,

DPHS Students: We're highlighting the back-to-school press conference.

**Intro Song playing**

Announcer: Presented by Addition Financial Credit Union.

Chief Scott Howatt: This is our back-to-school press conference.

Chair Jacobs: We are thrilled to be able to start this new year for the second consecutive year. Orange County Public Schools has been named an A School by the Florida Department of Education. Building on that success, we are excited to embark on the district's new initiative, Strategic Plan 2030. At the heart of that plan is a clear vision to ensure every student graduates inspired and prepared for a thriving Future. A vision that we call the Portrait of a graduate.

Dr. Vazquez: We're here at Dr. Phillips High School to show you how progress can be made when we have the support of Orange County Voters. As many of you have heard, the district is expecting to see a reduction in enrollment, to increase enrollment, and inform the community of all that Orange County Public Schools has to offer. We have partnered with KSA K-12 to conduct student recruitment for our district. We also have two big communication changes this year, and this is especially important for our families. The district's Connect Orange messages are now going to be powered by Parent Square. It's a platform that has all of your messages in place from school to classroom to district communications, and it will be translated into your preferred language. The second new tool is Let's Talk. It's a new feature on our website. And as you can imagine on a, in a large district, it can be somewhat taxing, frustrating, and challenging to find information, especially finding information quickly. So this smart tool that we have enabled uses AI to help you quickly find what you're looking for. And I want to thank all of our employees, our teachers, and our support staff administrators for all that they have done to get ready to open the doors to students.

Deputy Chief Bigelow: I would like to emphasize just how seriously we take the responsibility of ensuring public safety in and around our schools. Our officers stand ready to put their lives on the line for our most precious responsibility, our children.

Undersheriff Canty: But we have a message for every parent as they prepare to send their kids back to school. There is nothing more important to the Orange County Sheriff's Office than ensuring our children are safe in their schools. So, I will implore you, as you're driving through a school zone, slow down, pay attention, or else we will have deputies out there to write you a nice ticket.

Chief Holmes: We are proud to begin this school year with a full complement of school resource officers on every one of our campuses. The SRO program is the cornerstone of community policing, fostering trust, mentorship, and safety for all of our students. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of school administrators, teachers, staff, and law enforcement, our schools we're more secure than ever. As students return to the classrooms, the district encourages families to stay engaged, communicate openly, and partner with school leaders to create a safe and supportive learning environment. Parents, please check your students' backpacks. As always, if you see something, know something, please say something. Fortify FL is on all student devices can also be accessed through the internet. We've also created a new training video to encourage our staff to download the Safer Watch Mobile Panic Alert App on their personal devices. When activated, it instantly alerts 9 1 1, School Administration, SROs, and the District Police. And yes, I get that one on my cell phone as well. District leadership and other key OCPS personnel to

Bill Wen: Enhance the safety of our students. We will continue to use the Bus Rider ID card, where students will scan on and off the buses, so we'll know where and when they get off the bus. The card has a chip in it, so it records the time and location where they got on and off. The 25 26 registration form is available in the portal if you have not registered your student to go in there to do that. But again, that'll help us route more efficiently. First couple of weeks are always hectic. Drivers are learning the routes, and they may run late, and parents are driving your students to school. So traffic may be hectic around the school. So please be patient. We'll continue to use the new tools that we have through Parents Square to send out information for buses that are running late. Will also continue to post bus delays on our website, on the, on the tab where you can see buses that are delayed and which route numbers and which schools they are for elementary students. For those of you who have new elementary students going to school and riding the bus, please have your current and correct contact information in their backpack.

Mark Watson: This year, we will be adjusting our sugar amounts and our products to comply with the new USDA guidelines. Orange County Public Schools is excited to continue serving our students, all of our students, at no charge.

Rory Salimbene: So, as Dr. Vasquez mentioned, we are very excited to be opening Luminary Elementary School this summer, and it is just one of several exciting new developments. Another new facility. We completed the OTC East Technical College, that is adjacent to University High School. It's a third of the four major technical college upgrades, and it has a focus on technology training. That pause doesn't mean that we're not building new schools. We have active projects in place for the Replacements of Esteem Academy or Orlando Gifted Academy, and we'll begin planning for a replacement for Orange County Virtual School. We're also designing a new facility for our largest technical college, OTC South, and we'll also complete the project soon, adding classrooms at six campuses later this year. And are, and are planning five more classroom additions to eliminate portables, including here at Dr. Phillips.

Chief Scott Howatt: That concludes our press conference. This portion, we're happy to answer any questions, anyone who is up here at the front. So, we'll take your questions.

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic. Listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at Additionfi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.OCPS.net. I'm your announcer, Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.