Nassau County School Board approves contracts, capital projects and calendar request; hears debate over summer-school officer pay

The Nassau County School Board on an otherwise routine May meeting approved a series of contracts, facility items and schedule requests and voted to submit a request to the Florida Department of Education to allow virtual makeup days if needed.

Board members voted, by voice, to approve the consent agenda and then approved action items including scheduling a joint meeting with the City of Fernandina Beach, acceptance and presentation of a five-year plant survey, a two-year internal-audit contract, the bid to replace the wastewater treatment plant at Callahan Intermediate School, a deductive change order for the YSAC Building 17 renovation, a lease agreement for YSEK with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, a concurrency agreement for the South Thirteenth Street project and the Human Resources personnel agenda. All action items on the agenda were approved by voice vote with no roll-call tallies recorded in the minutes.

Why it matters: The approvals clear immediate procurement and facilities work for the district and authorize staff to pursue a change to how weather or other makeup days are handled at the start of the next school year. The personnel approvals (including summer-school staffing and officer arrangements) prompted substantive board questions, highlighting competing concerns about student safety, staffing availability and district budgets.

Most significant votes and decisions

Votes at a glance: The board approved the following items by motion, second and voice vote: - Motion to approve the consent agenda — approved by voice vote. - Schedule a joint meeting with the City of Fernandina Beach (preference to June date; May 29 as alternate) — approved by voice vote. (Scheduling dates to be confirmed with the city.) - Accept/present the district five-year plant survey (document presentation only; approval of the presentation, not a commitment to implement every recommendation) — approved by voice vote. The superintendent said legislation last year changed requirements but district counsel and reviewers advised continuing to present a five-year survey to the state. - Contract award: internal audit services to Carl Riggs & Ingram, term 06/30/2025–06/30/2027 — approved by voice vote. - Contract award / bid: replacement of the wastewater treatment plant at Callahan Intermediate School — approved by voice vote. - Deductive change order: YSAC Building 17 direct-purchase materials (Change Order No. 10; deductive) — approved by voice vote. - Lease agreement: YSEK lease with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office — approved by voice vote. - School calendar proposal: authorize district staff to submit an application to the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) to permit virtual instruction as weather makeup days if needed — approved by voice vote. The superintendent said the district will submit the application following board approval. - Concurrency agreement for the South Thirteenth Street project — approved by voice vote. - Schedule a special meeting for future school planning — approved by voice vote. - Approve Human Resources personnel agenda including summer-school staffing arrangements and officer pay structure — approved by voice vote.

Discussion highlights: summer-school officer pay

During consideration of the Human Resources personnel agenda, board member Miss Hopkins asked where the district had derived proposed pay amounts for summer-school security officers. Superintendent Dr. Burns explained the district had used a comparison to local law-enforcement pay and its own multi-year practice to determine rates. He said the district’s summer plans budgeted for officers using a pay approach that had been in place for the past three years and that the figure was lower than the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and Fernandina Beach police schedules but had been adopted to secure coverage without incurring overtime obligations.

Dr. Burns said district staff had already been told by some officers that if the rate were reduced further, the district risked losing officer coverage for summer programs. Board members pressed for clarity about the scope of summer programming (for example, kindergarten readiness four half-days versus full-day regular summer school at a single condensed elementary site) and whether any change could be made mid-year; staff said changes to the rate would not be feasible for the current summer session.

Other procedural and policy notes

- Superintendent Dr. Burns noted the district is finishing the PM3 progress monitoring cycle and that data will be reported to the board soon. - Board members approved the presentation/acceptance of the five-year plant survey as a “springboard” for public discussion; Dr. Burns emphasized the approval meant receipt and presentation of the document, not automatic adoption of every recommendation.

Ending: The board closed the meeting after public comment and superintendent updates. Several members thanked volunteers and noted end-of-year district events.