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Maria Vazquez: Hello. We have a few hot topics coming up on Mondays with Maria, including a discussion on school security updates, A/C issues in central Florida's record, heat and storms, the peak of hurricane season.
Announcer: Welcome to Mondays with Maria, presented by ADDITION Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS, superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez.
Maria Vazquez: Hi everyone. Nancy Alvarez is back. It's so good to see you. How was your summer?
Nancy Alvarez: Great to see you. It was great. It went by too fast. I woke up at the beginning of the school year and I have two middle schoolers. I don't know how that's possible. Wow. But we had a lot of fun and you know, the summer was also hot. because I know we're going in talk about the heat, so let's segue that way. <Laugh>.
Maria Vazquez: Yeah. It, it is very hot. And at this time of year. We have complaints that some of the rooms are too hot, and that's because of our air conditioning. And although we maintain them, our staff is out checking all of the units, just like in our own homes. Sometimes they fail and we then have to take measures to repair them. And sometimes that can happen quickly and sometimes, like in our own homes, we need to order parts and it may take a little bit longer, but yes, this time of year, every year you can bank on at least a handful of schools having some A/C issues.
Nancy Alvarez: Yeah. And I know it was important you to touch on that during our time together because you know, so many kids are coming home. My own kids are, it's so hot today and then the next day it's freezing. So there are signs these A/Cs are being worked on and, and the work is underway, but it's, it's complicated. And so is paying for it because I know you wanted to touch on that too.
Maria Vazquez: Yes. so, you know, whenever you, your air conditioning is not working, you kind of take a breath because you know, oh my gosh, I'm going to have to call somebody out. And it's a usually a big ticket item. And with the district, it's no different. And we pay for the repairs out of our capital budget. Many folks may not know that. And so all of the maintenance of those systems, the roof all come from our capital budget. And it's, it's a lot of money. Currently. The funds, the, the revenue from the half penny sales tax is what pays for us to be able to maintain our buildings. And coming up in November, it's on the ballot again. And we, the voters are going to have an opportunity to decide whether they're going to renew it or not. But it, it is going to help our district tremendously.
Maria Vazquez: We've seen a lot of growth of new schools, but just you build them, but then you have to maintain them. with the additional revenues that would be generated by the renewal that have sent, will have, I believe, about 75 schools that will benefit from renovations. And that also includes advances to technology, safety and security. And we really need those dollars. Without them, we will not be able to maintain our buildings. So if the voters choose to extend it, we'll have another 10 years. It'll go to 2035, if not the funds sunset in 2025. And one more point, it's an extension of the sales tax. It's, it's a, we've been it's not a new tax, but additionally folks may not know that more than half is paid by non-residents. So, it really has been beneficial to our district to be able to have those funds to renovate our schools and keep up with safety and security measures as well.
Nancy Alvarez: Yeah. And so, let's let's stay on that topic of those safety and security measures because there's a lot to talk about there too. You know, you always say it's what keeps you up at night. It's what keeps a lot of parents up at night as well raising kids, you know, in this world, we know the district you know, did that pilot program for this new technology to set up these metal detectors in schools and opted not to go with them. So, let's talk a little bit more about that and, why that decision was made.
Maria Vazquez: Last year, we made a decision to pilot in seven of our high school's weapon screening equipment. And we quickly found out that it was going to take more personnel and additional equipment in order to have the systems running effectively and efficiently. You may recall we had at the beginning, students that were waiting outside in lines because it was taking so long to get them through. And so that required additional equipment and additional personnel. So at the end of the day, when we tallied up the amount, we could not afford to expand the pilot to all 23 of our high schools. So the decision was made that the screening equipment that was purchased would be dispersed among our high schools. We have been conducting random screenings for the last several years with wands, the handheld wands. Now schools will be able to use the weapons screening equipment to conduct those random screenings. Additionally, they can use them when they have large crowds, like at a football game, basketball game, or even a play. We'll continue to monitor and maybe there'll be equipment that is, or newer equipment that makes the process go by quicker. But the additional personnel, depending on the type of school, anywhere from 7 to 12 additional folks to be able to implement the system.
Nancy Alvarez: Right. And then quickly, we also wanted to touch on another hot topic, and that's hurricane season. We're in it, we're in the peak of it now at this point. And so just a, a reminder for families on how the district handles that, should a storm head our way?
Maria Vazquez: Yes. And if you've been listening to the news we're supposed to have a lot of storms. We're just hoping,
Nancy Alvarez: Well, we hope you're listening to the news, WESH 2 news. <Laugh>. Go ahead. <Laugh>.
Maria Vazquez: It's supposed to be a, a pretty heavy season. Yeah. And want our families to understand the process. What happens behind the scenes during hurricane season. So we have an entire team that focuses on ensuring we are ready for any, any type of incidents and disasters. And that includes hurricanes. So they provide training. They ensure that our, our buildings are ready, and they start monitoring. Well, they monitor all the time. But once you see on the news, there's a possibility that this storm is going to form, they start tracking it and they keep our executive policy group informed. We get regular updates as the storm approaches and we get closer. Those updates continue. We start talking about scenarios. What would it take if we needed to shut down schools? Is there, are there going to be certain schools that are going to be impacted more because of the path of the storm and a key indicator right outside of the path?
Maria Vazquez: Is the wind. Exactly. And so many folks may not know our buses cannot be on the road if we have a sustained average winds of 35 miles per hour or more. And so once we know that is going to occur, we, we have to make the decision to close schools. I know parents don't like that. Students probably they're a lot of them like, yes, yes, we want to close school. But remember when we close schools, then you have to make up that time.. And so we have published on our website, our makeup days should we need to use them. So our families are aware that on these dates, if we do have storms and we have to make up the time. Your child will have to come, will have to come to school.
Nancy Alvarez: I always tell mine, it's always, it's all fun and games and no school until you lose power and you can't charge your tablet.
Maria Vazquez: Yeah. Or it's hot. Right?
Nancy Alvarez: Then it gets real, then it gets real, doesn't it?
Maria Vazquez: Yes, it does. <Laugh>. It does. But you know, I feel very confident. We have a phenomenal preparedness team that works really round the clock to ensure that not only we're safe, but that once that storm passes, the recovery begins, checking the schools, see if the schools are able to reopen. A few years ago, you might remember we had Riverdale that could not open and we had to relocate them. And so there's a lot that goes into the preparation of this season. And we're just hopeful that we don't have any storms in our pathway.
Nancy Alvarez: Wonderful. That we have all this in place, but let's hope we don't, we don't need it.
Maria Vazquez: <Laugh>. Yeah. Thanks so much. It's been great chatting with you today. And thank you for watching. Be sure to like, follow and subscribe for more Mondays with Maria. We'll see you next week. Bye.
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. Kaleb Priester, a senior at Jones High School. Thanks for watching and have a great week.