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Board approves consent agenda minus Brewster generator; members debate land swap appraisal and grant staffing questions
Summary
The board approved the consent agenda with a separate vote to not approve a Brewster generator purchase, discussed a proposed land swap with Port Orange where members asked for appraisals, and clarified grant staffing for several 21st Century ("20 first Century" in packet) afterschool grants.
The School Board of Volusia County approved the consent agenda on June 24 but removed several items for discussion, voting separately to decline approval of a generator purchase for the Brewster facility and to hold additional discussion on property and grant items.
Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin requested item 16.06 (a generator for the Brewster building) be removed from the agenda and later recommended it not be approved. After discussion about whether the remaining equipment at Brewster remained on battery backup, School Board Member Ruben Colon said, "If there's no power in that building, those folks should go home," arguing staff could work remotely rather than the district buying a generator. The board voted unanimously not to approve the generator purchase.
Board members also removed several procurement and property items for discussion. Donna Brosmer asked for discussion of a group of grants (agenda items listed as 11.01–11.04 in the packet) covering after‑school programs; district staff explained these are multi‑year "20 first Century" grants that fund before‑ and after‑school programming and that grant positions are in addition to regular staff and are scaled to program enrollment. Tammy Fisher explained the state requires monthly progress reporting on grades, behavior and other benchmarks and that programs have been run in cohorts for multiple years.
Separately, board members discussed a proposed land swap with the City of Port Orange involving property used for student play space at Horizon Elementary and a Silver Sands/Herbert Street property in Port Orange. A board member said she understood both parcels were similar in acreage and useful to the district, but other members pressed for appraisals before approving any swap. "I just really truly dislike when something comes before us and we don't have a defined value that says, 'okay'," one member said, noting that a like‑acreage swap can mask very different market values. Superintendent staff said the swap would preserve play space for Horizon Elementary, that the city planned soccer fields, and that an interlocal agreement (ILA) timing issue made the swap timely; staff also said appraisals typically cost $2,000–$2,500 per parcel, so they pursued a swap rather than separate purchases in the interest of fiduciary prudence.
The board then voted to approve the consent agenda as presented, minus item 16.06; that motion passed unanimously. The subsequent motion to not approve the Brewster generator also passed unanimously.
What comes next: staff said the land swap and related procurement items will return for final action as required, and grant‑funded program staffing and monthly reporting will continue under existing state reporting rules.
