Our Military Community

01:40 hello everyone Jerry Tabit with you
01:42 again for another edition of our
01:43 military Community we've got a very
01:45 special guest with us today we know how
01:48 fast our military started to build a
01:49 Tindle how it's throwing across out at
01:51 the Navy base all all the civilian jobs
01:54 that are coming into the area so we need
01:56 to talk about education which is one of
01:58 the more important things education in
01:60 child care probably two of the most
01:01 important things dealing with our
01:03 military families right now and without
01:05 further Ado joining me this morning and
01:08 I'm very proud to say a friend of mine
01:10 the superintendent Bay district schools
01:13 Mr Mark McQueen Mark welcome Jerry
01:15 thanks so much thanks for coming in
01:17 today thank you sir we got a lot to talk
01:19 about but I want you to go ahead and
01:20 tell me first of all what what's your
01:21 background and I I know it is really
01:23 significant because of the military tie
01:26 yeah uh thank you um you know I I I
01:29 started out as an army brat uh my dad
02:32 was a career Army infantry Aviator uh
02:35 born in Fort bour Virginia right there
02:38 he was stationed with the old guard that
02:39 supports Arlington National Cemetery and
02:43 um and then you know he moved a lot he
02:46 was an aviator and Vietnam era uh moved
02:50 16 times in 18 years wow uh so very
02:53 nomadic lifestyle it was when the uh the
02:56 military had the old phrase that if the
02:58 Army intended you to have a they would
02:00 have issued it to you uh but uh you know
02:03 and then I went to Army RC at Auburn
02:05 University and was commissioned a second
02:07 lieutenant and uh was privileged to
02:10 serve 36 years in the United States Army
02:12 retiring as Major General uh and uh it
02:15 was all inspiring to see these young
02:18 soldiers and what they did to defend the
02:21 nation and uh uphold and defend the
02:23 Constitution of the United States it was
02:25 uh really a significant uh portion of my
02:28 life and uh for one I will never forget
03:31 uh the deployments the sacrifice uh not
03:34 just of the men and women in uniform but
03:36 in particular their families right that
03:38 I argue will carry the heaviest ruck
03:41 sack of all they are the ultimate uh
03:45 Bill payers for the defense of our
03:47 nation and I couldn't be more proud of
03:49 our families as they support their loved
03:52 one in uniform and uh what they do to uh
03:56 help strengthen our nation it was
03:58 General odierno who used to be the chief
03:59 of staff of the Army that said the
03:00 strength of the nation uh is our army
03:03 right the strength of our army are our
03:05 soldiers the strength of our soldiers
03:07 are our families and that's what makes
03:09 us Army strong and it really is that and
03:11 that's what's so important with your
03:13 military background you moved around
03:15 you've seen different schools you've
03:16 seen different cultures you've seen the
03:18 way people react to being moved and
03:21 sometimes maybe in the middle of school
03:22 year so let's get into this first of all
03:24 Tindle is rebuilding and they are
03:26 continuing to rebuild rapidly along with
03:29 the uh the Navy base we're getting
04:32 Industries
04:33 building I want to know is space going
04:36 to be a problem for all of these
04:37 students and are we equipped to handle
04:39 this or do we need more schools yeah uh
04:42 in fact we're going through a study
04:44 right now because uh right now we've
04:46 experienced about a thousand student
04:49 increase per year over the last three
04:52 years within the bay District School
04:53 System and so we're working through
04:55 Capacity Analysis right now to determine
04:57 what is existing capacity what is our
04:60 ability to absorb more student capacity
04:03 in existing schools how do we Shore up
04:05 ex more capacity at existing sites and
04:08 where do we need to be building new
04:10 sites because uh with somewhere arguably
04:13 between 15 and 20,000 homes under
04:15 construction or in the planning uh for
04:17 construction the development stages uh
04:20 we need to be a part of that and uh
04:22 we've got to be able to be more
04:24 strategic in where we put those schools
04:27 to ensure that we're meeting the needs
04:29 not only for the here and now but into
05:31 the years to come it's a whole lot
05:33 faster to build a house I mean you can
05:34 build a house in less than 60 days in
05:36 some of these developments uh it takes a
05:38 long time to build a school and it's
05:41 very very costly and so we need to be
05:42 very wise in those decisions and a lot
05:45 of this space that we're going to need
05:47 is let's face it these military families
05:50 are going to be coming in here you're
05:52 going to see more than a jump of a
05:53 thousand per year when they finally get
05:54 Tindle up bring in all their P Personnel
05:57 the Navy's building they're going to
05:58 bring in their personnel
05:00 so it's really difficult to try and get
05:03 all this together and thank goodness you
05:05 guys are working on it but one question
05:07 I have and again based on your
05:08 experience Mark you've been overseas
05:10 you've seen what's going on when these
05:13 students are being transferred in say to
05:15 Tindle they're not going to probably be
05:17 moved around in the United States a lot
05:19 of them are going to be rotating from
05:20 overseas and coming in they're going to
05:22 be coming in from foreign language
05:24 environments and things of this
05:25 nature do you think that some of these
05:28 students that are coming in that have
05:29 been exposed say the Japanese Korean
06:32 German and haven't really had much to do
06:35 they're just now coming in say
06:36 kindergarten in first grade are they
06:38 going to have trouble adapting to this
06:43 new environment and how will they adapt
06:45 when they come into say the middle of
06:47 April schools already in session what
06:50 how do we deal with this yeah I
06:51 personally have lived that you know uh I
06:54 moved from Germany when my dad was
06:57 stationed uh over in Germany I was uh
06:59 forign four years old and I actually
06:02 spoke fluent German as a child and uh
06:05 and then also um you know English
06:08 obviously uh but I I'll tell you uh we
06:11 have we have amazing children and and
06:14 what I'm seeing we have children right
06:15 now in the bay district schools we have
06:16 32 different languages that are
06:18 represented right now and uh what I'm
06:21 seeing are kids are very quick to learn
06:25 English uh they need help and certainly
06:27 we're providing those supports and help
06:29 but they are very adaptable particularly
07:31 the younger they are uh and um even the
07:35 middle school and certainly high school
07:36 they're still Adept to to learning but
07:38 it's uh it's much more amable at the
07:41 younger ages is to learn foreign
07:43 languages in this case English for them
07:45 now do you actually have teachers in the
07:48 system that could
07:49 say speak the French the German the
07:52 Japanese K do you actually have those
07:54 teachers available to help these
07:56 students go from that language into the
07:58 English language yeah so it's it's not
07:60 NE we do have teachers that do speak uh
07:02 some languages but it's more the par
07:04 professional or those that come
07:05 alongside that have that translation
07:08 capability so the instruction still is
07:11 in English but the translator is helping
07:13 to explain it but not so much so that
07:15 they become dependent upon the
07:17 translator right it's helping that young
07:19 person to be able to learn what those
07:21 words mean and they they're very quick
07:24 and very Adept uh to do this I I met uh
07:27 a Ukrainian student uh that um we have
08:30 at one of our elementary schools and she
08:32 spoke no English when she came here and
08:35 uh she is now doing very very well and
08:37 only been a year and a half and she
08:39 speaks excellent English they're very
08:41 quick I had the opportunity to visit
08:43 Highland Park and talk to some of the
08:46 students over there and it was amazing
08:49 these students they had like one was she
08:51 spoke French when she got here but that
08:53 student body just embraced her and and
08:56 that's what's got to make you feel good
08:57 too that knowing that not only is it
08:60 atic to bring these families in and put
08:01 them on a base or in the
08:03 community but they're actually being
08:05 accepted here yeah yeah they they're not
08:07 alienated they're absolutely uh Embrace
08:10 uh people want to learn young people
08:12 want to learn different cultures and
08:14 different uh languages and so it it
08:16 really is an enriching experience in Bay
08:19 district schools when we have folks that
08:21 uh come into the school system that uh
08:23 have different cultures and different uh
08:25 languages it's it's really a broadening
08:27 experience for all of them now we've
08:29 talked lot about our military families
09:32 and the school
09:33 needs what percentage would you estimate
09:37 is military dependent and of
09:40 those
09:42 percentages do we have special needs
09:45 students and do we have the facilities
09:48 the time the teachers to deal with it
09:50 yeah so uh according to the uh the
09:53 federal uh Reporting System there's
09:56 roughly 4% uh that fill out
09:58 self-identify that they're military or
09:00 military Affiliated uh I think it's more
09:02 than that uh because I think a lot of
09:04 people don't young people don't take the
09:06 cards home it's the federal impact card
09:08 and and it's a manual system this past
09:11 year was the first year it went into an
09:13 automated system that they could do it
09:14 online uh I think that will get better
09:16 as we report and it's important as we
09:19 have families military families or dods
09:22 uh civilians that are affiliated with
09:23 military that um uh self-identify
09:27 because we don't know unless they
09:28 self-identify that they're connected and
10:30 we certainly want to meet their
10:32 individual and unique needs you know
10:34 that's why Bay district schools one of
10:35 our initiatives is to become a
10:38 districtwide uh purple star uh bay
10:41 District or purple star District of
10:44 Distinction uh right now we have 17 of
10:46 our 35 schools that are purple star
10:49 schools of uh campuses and uh the other
10:52 18 are working on that right now and
10:53 we'll get that in the next rotation and
10:55 we're going to talk about that just a
10:56 little bit later it's all good but um
10:00 there's a lot of activities going on
10:02 before school after
10:06 school what kind of activities do you
10:09 have at the school to let the students
10:12 know
10:13 about say students transferring in
10:17 students that are going to need help uh
10:20 students getting together and tutoring
10:22 one another how does that work I mean
10:24 when I was in the military I was over in
10:27 Japan and I noticed in the schools they
10:28 had over there it seems like like
10:29 everybody just came together and said
11:31 okay let's help one another here we're
11:33 all in this same thing is the same thing
11:35 going on here at BDS yeah uh we've got a
11:37 lot of programming that goes in before
11:39 school and after school um we have
11:41 tutoring supports we have uh
11:43 extracurricular activities we've got
11:45 clubs um you it's it's a very uh Dynamic
11:50 environment and it starts well before
11:52 the Bel first bell rings and continues
11:55 well after the last bell rings for the
11:57 day let's talk a little bit now about
11:59 some of the things that we actually have
11:00 here in the schools U probably top of
11:04 mind is Roc that is very prominent it's
11:07 in our
11:09 schools different branches of the
11:12 military why is this so important that
11:15 we offer this at Bay district schools
11:18 and once these students go through the
11:19 program I know major bass over at
11:21 Rutherford does a great job how does
11:24 that help them as they go out beyond
11:26 graduation from high school yeah so
11:28 being a product
11:30 of High School junior RTC uh I I did
12:34 Navy Junior RC my uh 11th grade year and
12:37 I did Army RTC my uh 12th grade year and
12:41 I'm very proud of the fact here in Bay
12:42 district schools every service is
12:45 represented Army Navy Air Force Marine
12:49 uh and uh we're really proud of that
12:51 Coast Guard doesn't have that uh sector
12:54 yet so uh and space force has not yet
12:56 created yet but the Air Force teammates
12:59 they they certainly are broadening that
12:01 Horizons but it's so important because
12:03 it it it helps young people that are in
12:05 a very um challenging time in their
12:07 lives they're trying to figure out who
12:08 they are there uh self-esteem issues
12:11 there's discipline issues there's
12:13 questioning who they are and where
12:15 they're going and I think that that
12:16 structure uh of a r Junior RTC program
12:20 helps to create awareness and life
12:23 skills for individuals whether they go
12:25 in the military or not it doesn't that's
12:27 it's it's really it's helping them to
12:29 grow and challenge them physically
13:32 mentally uh and and certainly in
13:34 character development and I it could be
13:36 more proud of all of our Junior allc
13:38 Cadre that are pouring into these young
13:41 people and it's and it's having an
13:42 impact we've just got great Junior RC
13:44 programs and the instructors that you
13:47 have military themselves so they know
13:49 what's going on that's right I had the
13:51 opportunity to interview some of the
13:53 couple of The Roc students from
13:55 Rutherford m one young lady really
13:59 impressed me and that I think is what's
13:01 really impressionable to a lot of our
13:04 our viewers right now that don't
13:06 understand how important that is in
13:08 molding these young men and women into a
13:13 mindset that they are good they can do
13:16 anything they want to yes they're going
13:17 to need help but if they depend on
13:19 themselves depend on the Lord and get
13:23 what education they need they can do it
13:25 no one's going to do it for them but
13:26 they have to do it yeah yeah it's it's
13:29 setting them up for Success those
14:30 foundational skills that are life skills
14:33 that they're learning in the junior RTC
14:35 program as well as other programs but
14:36 certainly the junior RTC program is a
14:38 very a little bit more structured uh and
14:40 it has so much upside potential it's
14:42 amazing to me uh and you talked about
14:44 Rutherford uh one young man just uh uh
14:47 got accepted into the Air Force Academy
14:49 and so you know this is this is opening
14:51 a horizon and a doors to these young
14:54 people that they wouldn't have but for
14:55 in this particular case Junior RTC but
14:58 I'm really proud of all of our students
14:60 whether they decide to go the Collegiate
14:01 route or whether they go the Career and
14:03 Technical education route it doesn't
14:04 matter we want to give them that
14:05 foundation and certainly the junior TC
14:07 program is one vehicle to help make that
14:09 happen how are the ROC students accepted
14:13 by the schools themselves the student
14:15 population I think it's really amazing
14:17 when I go on the campuses and you see
14:19 these uh Cadets wearing their uniforms
14:22 yeah it it's uh they they they stand up
14:25 a little taller uh they've got a little
14:26 spring in their step uh they've got some
14:28 pride uh and quite honestly I think
15:30 there's a lot of respect given by the
15:33 other students that have chosen not to
15:34 go that route but they respect the
15:36 decisions of those that have become
15:38 future servant leaders and it's it's
15:41 just amazing to watch them so any any
15:44 plans to expand it maybe well we have it
15:47 at every school right now so and we've
15:49 covered every Branch so I think that's
15:51 where we need to be in terms of having
15:53 the core elements there uh certainly we
15:55 have the ability to absorb more students
15:57 in each of those programs so that if if
15:59 they choose to uh want to join the
15:01 program uh and so there's no no ceiling
15:05 on anything regarding our Junior RC
15:08 programs and one last question on RC
15:10 before we move on Mark uh if any
15:13 students watching this or parents
15:14 watching this if they want to get into
15:16 the ROTC program or the parents want
15:18 them in the program how do they go about
15:20 it yeah it's it's very simple because
15:22 each of them are specific to the high
15:24 schools and so it's that High School
15:25 point of contact each high school has
15:27 their own website or has the website for
15:29 the school that points them into those
16:31 points of contact to the Cadre to help
16:34 them get in there their guidance
16:35 counselors at the schools are also very
16:37 attune uh to those options that are
16:39 available because it's an elective
16:41 course for our students and so this is
16:43 something that they get to choose and
16:45 we're very happy that they have that
16:46 choice yeah it's a great
16:50 deal you mentioned briefly and now I
16:52 want you to expand on this and talk
16:55 about purple star schools why are they
16:58 significant so significant and what
16:01 types of things are provided by these
16:03 purple star schools that make them so
16:05 special yeah so uh it's really
16:08 intriguing it was uh briger General Pat
16:10 manyy who is representative man from
16:12 Okaloosa County who helped to create the
16:14 legislation for the State of Florida to
16:16 create the purple star schools of
16:19 distinction program and I was very
16:21 delighted to see that Governor D Sanz
16:23 who is very pro-military uh signed that
16:26 into legislation that is a program that
16:29 is designed to meet the unique needs and
17:32 circumstances of our military families
17:35 you know when families as you alluded to
17:36 earlier they're coming in from all over
17:37 the world exactly and uh and they the
17:40 first thing when they get those PCS
17:42 orders permanent change of station
17:43 orders saying they're coming to tendle
17:45 is they want to know what the schools
17:46 are like exactly and so so the whole
17:48 program is first up is to break down
17:50 that barrier uh of communication we have
17:53 a very uh deliberate website capability
17:56 that helps these young folks that are
17:58 transferring with families to help them
17:01 make that transition to know what the
17:02 options are that are available we
17:04 reserve seats 5% of the student capacity
17:07 that our each of our schools is reserved
17:09 for transitioning uh men and women uh in
17:12 the military with their families and um
17:15 we also have additional training for all
17:17 of our teachers and our uh
17:19 administrators to the unique challenges
17:22 that uh military students uh family
17:25 members uh face and it's just it's
17:28 really reaching their unique needs and
18:31 it's all encompassing and couldn't be
18:33 more proud that like I said earlier 17
18:35 of our 35 the other 18 uh we're striving
18:38 to get that designation but when I say
18:39 17 uh there's only 200 in the entire
18:43 state that are design schools not high
18:45 schools schools and there's several
18:48 thousand in the in the state and so we
18:51 there's only 200 have been designated
18:54 and we have almost 10% of that right
18:56 here in Bay County that's what's so
18:57 super and the latest recipient and I
18:00 know you're proud as a peacock about
18:02 this Rutherford tell us about that award
18:04 yeah so it was really a delight uh the
18:06 lieutenant governor came to town and and
18:08 presented that purple star school of
18:10 Distinction designation to Rutherford
18:13 Rutherford is an incredible school it
18:15 has the international baloria program it
18:17 has the Air Force Junior RTC program uh
18:20 and the the the commitment of our
18:23 Administration Dr Mitchell and his
18:25 entire staff is unparalleled and uh we
18:28 are so thrilled that Rutherford has that
19:31 designation and uh they're they're going
19:33 to soar to Great Heights it's pretty
19:35 good you know only 200 schools and we
19:36 got one right here in Bay County that's
19:38 just down the road a little piece from
19:39 us that's right one thing Mark that as
19:43 military families come into this area
19:45 specifically and again you have the
19:47 experience so you can deal with this
19:49 there's there's two things that they're
19:51 concerned with when the military member
19:55 gets orders to come here he worries
19:58 about two things
19:60 where am I going to live and child care
19:03 that's two of the biggest things right
19:05 there what is B district schools able to
19:08 do can they provide Insight relief
19:12 telling people where to go and that to
19:14 get this housing that they need and also
19:17 the child care because there's a lot of
19:18 misconception out there that oh who
19:21 cares you know you guys are in the
19:22 military the military pays for
19:24 everything it doesn't it only pays for a
19:26 certain percentage and with child care
19:27 as expensive it is today and with rent
19:30 and mortgages expensive as they are
20:33 today they they come in here starting
20:35 out in a whole how do we help them yeah
20:38 so uh it is a challenge and I I have to
20:41 tell you we are so grateful to Colonel
20:43 Watkins and Commander mosy and what
20:45 they're doing and just bold leadership
20:48 uh for support of their Airmen and
20:50 sailors and so uh you know as far as
20:52 housing we don't get into the housing
20:54 business uh that is Tindle does that
20:56 they have an entire uh mechanism to help
20:58 make housing awareness options available
20:01 to uh incoming uh Airmen or Sailors as
20:05 the case may be uh with regard to child
20:08 care that is an initiative certainly the
20:10 Bay County Chamber is taking that on as
20:12 a primary objective because it is a
20:14 hindrance to employment it is costly and
20:16 expensive for me as the superintendent
20:19 of bay district schools uh we at the
20:21 schools we have Bay base which allows
20:24 for extended opportunities for children
20:26 to stay on campus and they have an
20:28 organized program that helps those
20:30 students until the parent comes to pick
21:32 them up so it's it's it's sort of
21:35 daycare child care like certainly the
21:38 military installations have the youth
21:40 centers uh on there and we provide
21:42 transportation to those uh from the
21:44 schools to the youth centers to help
21:47 facilitate that for our family members
21:49 that are in the military and then uh
21:51 separately we're working in that domain
21:53 of 0er to 5 years old uh work that is a
21:57 key space 80% of brain development takes
21:59 place in that era of time for a young
21:02 person and so you know helping to
21:05 partner with uh dayc carees helping to
21:08 offer training opportunities for their
21:10 daycare workers that may be helpful to
21:12 them in how to teach children in that
21:15 space to make our daycares better
21:17 equipped and prepared not that they're
21:19 not doing all they can but if we can
21:21 partner with them why not and that's
21:23 what we're striving to accomplish and
21:25 that's what's so good about the whole
21:26 thing is because like I said you have
21:29 the experience in the background you
22:30 know about all this because you actually
22:32 experienced it yourself one question I'd
22:34 get from a lot of people is uh now that
22:36 Tindle is rebuilding rapidly I mean it's
22:39 a mess out there but it's going to be
22:41 nice when it's all done and everything
22:43 they have a lot of questions about the
22:45 school at Tindle I know I had a son that
22:47 went there back in the early 80s and it
22:50 was a great little school since the the
22:52 hurricane and everything it really
22:55 ripped that school apart too what is the
22:57 status now at Tindle yes so uh two parts
22:60 to that number one the temporary status
22:02 where we are right now we've we brought
22:03 in 32 portable classrooms uh to help
22:06 accommodate the growth and demand of our
22:08 tendle uh military uh that's uh it was a
22:12 significant investment uh of the
22:13 district roughly 15 million uh to help
22:16 facilitate this while they're in this
22:18 point of transition secondly we've
22:20 partnered with the um with Tindle and
22:23 the leadership there to go through the
22:25 process of identifying a new site the
22:28 the existing site site is no longer
22:30 viable for a school for a new school to
23:32 be built on so we're already going
23:34 through the environmental assessment on
23:36 that process for with in conjunction
23:38 with tendle uh we anticipate uh the
23:41 final reports uh being due to San
23:43 Antonio which is the higher headquarters
23:46 for
23:47 installations uh installation command
23:49 and that is going to take place in April
23:51 and then it's uh however that process
23:54 goes uh we're poised and ready uh it's
23:57 going we're going to be building
23:59 incredible tendle Academy but the key is
23:01 that it has to have unfettered access
23:03 yes all right and and and I'm so
23:05 delighted that Colonel Watkins and his
23:07 team are understanding that and they're
23:09 embracing that ideology because it's
23:11 going to be public taxpayer dollars
23:13 building this new facility and a K8
23:15 means that you're going to have people
23:17 coming into that with extracurricular
23:20 activities sporting events that kind of
23:21 stuff Middle School sporting events that
23:23 are not DOD they're not normally on a
23:26 military installation but they need to
23:27 come onto
23:29 that school campus to be able to
24:31 participate with their son and daughter
24:33 that may be coming in from another
24:34 school so uh I'm very delighted that
24:36 we're moving in that direction and uh
24:38 I'm absolutely confident that we can
24:40 work out the the the putting the ink on
24:43 paper to make sure it all works out but
24:45 uh there is no wavering in the
24:47 commitment to support tendle and
24:49 providing a K8 facility uh with
24:52 unfettered access that is good to hear
24:55 so hope everybody puts put your mind
24:58 asked a little bit
24:60 before we run out of time here Mark I
24:01 want to get to one other thing this is
24:03 kind of unique main district
24:05 schools if you've never gone to their
24:08 website you need to go and visit their
24:10 website because they have got a section
24:13 that's strictly devoted to the military
24:15 and you don't see that very often I've
24:17 got some things here I want to talk to
24:18 you about one of the things that's on
24:19 there is your registration open
24:22 enrollment information for military
24:24 families it deals with schoolly school
24:26 choice outof County enrollment
24:29 kindergarten registration Parent
25:32 Portal explain all of that to us so so
25:35 again uh you know in this day in time
25:37 where you have military members coming
25:39 in from all over the world they want to
25:41 know what's going on in their local
25:43 education opportunities and so we're
25:45 breaking down that barrier it's One-Stop
25:47 shopping if you will so they can
25:49 understand all of the different options
25:50 that are available to them and make it
25:52 easier for that transition I mean
25:54 there's enough stress in people's lives
25:56 when they're moving that if we can help
25:59 deescalate some of that stress by
25:01 helping to solve an education uh
25:03 question why not do that and and I'm so
25:05 delighted that we have it not only for
25:08 the the bay District school website but
25:11 each of our purple star schools of
25:14 Distinction have a sub website that
25:17 supports it so that that particular
25:19 school has their own purple Star website
25:21 and that Parent Portal was great I mean
25:23 if you haven't visited parents go ahead
25:25 and do that moving on to one other thing
25:28 that's it's really in the Forefront of a
25:30 lot of
26:31 people and that's special needs I mean
26:33 you've got all kinds of things listed
26:35 here ADHD operation autism pave rights
26:38 law exceptional students uh there's a
26:41 lot there too and we do have special
26:43 needs students
26:45 in why are was this website specially
26:48 specifically designed to help these
26:50 Special Needs students yeah so uh
26:53 roughly 30% of the bay District school
26:55 population has an ESC designation of s
26:58 some sort exceptional student um that
26:01 has a unique need it may be uh severe
26:05 and profound it may be a learning
26:07 disability it could be the you know the
26:10 full gamut maybe a behavior thing but we
26:12 have a full gamut and what we want to do
26:14 is meet the needs of that student to
26:16 help them to learn at the end of the day
26:18 we're striving to get them the education
26:21 that they need at grade level to be uh
26:24 ideally a uh an educated citizen when
26:27 they graduate right and uh you know
26:29 somebody asked me they said hey you know
27:31 what do you really care you're just in
27:33 the service industry I said no we're not
27:34 we're in the manufacturing industry
27:36 we're manufacturing and producing future
27:39 educated citizens that will be in this
27:41 community in this state in this nation
27:43 or in the world and they're going to be
27:45 they're going to have an enriched life
27:47 because of the quality of Education they
27:49 get here at Bay district schools what's
27:51 the McKay
27:52 Scholarship the McKay Scholarship that's
27:55 one of the things listed under special
27:56 needs for for the special needs program
27:57 so what we have our scholarship
27:59 opportunities to help meet those unique
27:01 needs of parents that don't have means
27:04 to be able to help their students and
27:05 we're really delighted to be able to
27:07 offer that and we want to get to one
27:09 more quick thing here you're it's called
27:11 ransition planning what is as opposed to
27:15 transition planning and so there's
27:17 there's so many things that go on in
27:18 people's lives and so we're really
27:20 trying to help meet people where they
27:21 are and uh it we're really delighted
27:24 that we can provide these services to
27:26 our students regardless of their needs
27:28 yeah I mean it's just it's just amazing
28:30 all the things and I encourage everybody
28:32 to go to that website because there's so
28:34 many things on there and if and there's
28:37 there's individuals you also have where
28:39 they can call and get any information
28:41 that they want we're down to three
28:42 minutes Mark and I know you have a lot
28:44 of things that you want to talk about
28:47 the future so I'm going to give you a
28:48 couple of minutes just to talk about
28:50 what's your vision for the future of bay
28:52 district schools encompassing all of
28:54 this military influx all of the civilian
28:56 influx coming in what's your Vision well
28:60 here in Bay district schools we want to
28:02 put the a back in Bay we want to have
28:04 every one of our schools be an a school
28:06 and we're moving in that direction uh
28:08 when I took uh over in August we were
28:10 35th in the state now we're number 29 uh
28:13 we're moving in the right direction uh
28:15 our grades just came out uh with regard
28:17 to uh graduation rates uh we had the
28:20 highest graduation rate uh in the
28:23 history of bay district schools with
28:24 testing and so uh very proud of that
28:27 it's 88.7% which exceeded the state
28:29 average so we're moving in that
29:31 direction we want to extend Career and
29:33 Technical education not just at Haney
29:36 and at the high school level but we want
29:38 to push it all the way down to the
29:40 fourth grade level uh which is going to
29:42 be having Pathways for young people
29:44 whether they want to go aerospace
29:46 engineering routes or they want to go
29:47 the medical route or they want to go
29:49 construction technology culinary RS we
29:51 want to have or FFA programs it doesn't
29:53 matter we're going to have CTE
29:55 opportunities for our our young people
29:57 and then
29:59 we just talked about special needs uh
29:00 one of the things I want to do is create
29:02 a new center uh for our Margaret K Lewis
29:05 uh which is our most profound and
29:06 severely disabled students uh and uh
29:10 they have unique needs and we need to
29:12 better meet those needs right now
29:13 they're in an old facility an old school
29:16 designed for 600 students we have 175
29:18 special needs students there right now
29:20 uh but when you have all the equipment
29:22 that they have and the perip
29:25 paraphernalia that they have to have to
29:26 support them it gets full pretty quickly
29:29 and so we want to put Margaret K Lewis
30:31 2.0 highly technical uh technology Laden
30:35 AI Laden so that we can help our
30:38 students so that's another initiative
30:40 and then lastly as we talked about a few
30:42 moments ago is I really want to get in
30:43 that space of 0o to five years old and
30:45 change the
30:47 outcome a lot of things we talked about
30:49 today Mark you filled in a lot of blanks
30:51 for us and it's going to make our
30:53 military transition into this community
30:55 a whole lot easier along with all of our
30:57 civilian influx and put a a lot of
30:58 things in people's mind at ease I want
30:01 to thank you for coming in today
30:02 appreciate it appreciate all you did and
30:04 keep up the good work thanks supporting
30:05 our military ah it's dear dear to my
30:08 heart as an old Air Force
30:10 retiree we're out of time again for this
30:13 edition of our military Community again
30:15 uh YouTube playlist gol Coast State
30:17 College and and you'll have this
30:19 interview available and If you have any
30:20 questions about Bay district schools be
30:23 sure to call the bay District school's
30:25 office or go ahead and go on to their
30:27 website and they'll have all the
30:28 information you need they'll put a lot
30:30 of questions you have at rest thank you
31:33 very much ladies and gentlemen for
31:34 joining us again today I'm Jerry Tabit
31:37 we'll see you again next week on another
31:39 edition of our military Community have a
31:41 good
31:57 day
31:15 he