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Gulf County School Board sets 2025–26 tentative millage at 5.322, unanimously approves budget and personnel actions
Summary
The Gulf County School Board on July 29 set tentative millage components totaling 5.322 and unanimously approved the 2025–2026 tentative budget. The board also approved contracts, awarded a TAN loan, authorized multiple personnel changes, and entered executive session to prepare for union negotiations.
The Gulf County School Board on Tuesday set tentative millage components that total 5.322 and unanimously approved the district's 2025–2026 tentative budget during a meeting in Port St. Joe.
Chairman Brooke Wooten called the public hearing and regular meeting to order at 5:15 p.m. and the board adopted an amended agenda before opening public comment. Assistant Superintendent Melissa Hancock represented Superintendent Norton for the meeting.
CFO Evan Clark told the board the district was within its 5% fund-balance goal, a point Wooten raised during the agenda-review workshop held just before the public hearing. Two members of the public, Kevin Holden and Casey Plouffe, addressed the board about the millage and budget; the transcript records their appearances but does not provide the content of their remarks.
The board recorded individual motions and unanimous approvals for the millage components (SM: 25/26-028): Required Local Effort 2.785 (moved by Equillar Gainer, seconded by Matt Terry); Prior Period Funding Adjustment 0.005 (moved by Matt Terry, seconded by Equillar Gainer); Basic Discretionary 0.748 (moved by Matt Terry, seconded by Equillar Gainer); Capital Outlay 0.784 (moved by Equillar Gainer, seconded by Matt Terry); and Voted 1.000 (moved by Matt Terry, seconded by Equillar Gainer). The total tentative millage is listed as 5.322. On a separate motion (moved by Gainer, seconded by Terry) the board unanimously approved the 2025–2026 Tentative Budget.
Under the consent agenda the board unanimously approved minutes from July 16 and July 21 and approved budget matters and payment of bills. Those budget items included awarding a TAN loan to Centennial Bank and approving a Dome Maintenance Agreement with Clean Up Group, International, Inc., identified in the packet as the sole source provider of Citra-Shield Biocide (SM: 25/26-031).
The consent agenda also recorded several personnel actions: acceptance of Dianne Hicks' retirement effective June 30, 2026; acceptance of Angel Parker's retirement effective August 8, 2025; acceptance of Katelyn Foster's resignation indicating she will not return for the 2025–2026 school year; approval of Staci Daniel for a PSJE teaching position effective August 1, 2025; approval of PSJE Principal Jessica Brock's recommendation to transition her current physical-education teaching role to a paraprofessional position for 2025–2026; a temporary reduction in work days for the current speech-language-pathologist assignment at PSJHS from 190 days to 118 days to accommodate Mrs. Humphrey's pursuit of graduate study; conversion of the Port St. Joe staffing specialist position from a 10-month to a 12-month appointment to address growing special-education needs; and approval of the listed substitute-teacher applicants.
The board also unanimously approved the 2025–2026 Voluntary Pre-K (VPK) contract (SM: 25/26-033).
Finally, the board went into executive session to discuss upcoming union negotiations scheduled for Aug. 4 (SM: 25/26-034); no public action from that session was reported. Chairman Wooten adjourned the meeting at 5:56 p.m.
The board packet and recorded motions are referenced in the meeting minutes (SM numbers listed in the public packet).
