Brevard school board talks election, district goals for 2026

At an offsite work session held at Brevard Zoo, Brevard's school board shared their goals for 2026, talking everything from how to handle evolving artificial intelligence to expanding year-round school to how to conduct themselves ahead of the election.

"From now through next November in particular, I would ask that we really ... just are careful," board member Katye Campbell said. "It would really behoove us to just watch what we say in public, as individuals. We want the stories that are coming out of our board to be the great things that are happening with our students, and I don't want any other things to detract from that."

Ultimately, no concrete decisions were made at the Dec. 9 meeting regarding actions they would take in 2026. Rather, it was a time for the board to discuss goals broadly and instruct Superintendent Mark Rendell to begin looking into how to move forward next year.

Here's an overview of the key points addressed over the course of the meeting.

Utilizing unused space

With the risk of Schools of Hope , or state-approved charter schools, co-locating in Brevard's public schools in unused classrooms or other spaces, a big focus for everyone was finding ways to make sure every facility is being used to its fullest extent.

An expansion to Florida's Schools of Hope program went into effect on Nov. 11 and now allows certain charter schools approved by the state to reside in the same building as public schools if the Hope schools meet certain criteria. The criteria include factors like having a past enrollment of students with an achievement that exceeds the district and state averages; a college attendance rate of more than 80%; a population of more than 70% students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch; and more.

Hope operators can file an intent to operate in schools within an IRS-designated Opportunity Zone, or either within the attendance zone or within a five-mile radius of a persistently low-performing school. But if these schools are already at capacity for enrollment, the Hope operator may file an intent to operate at any school within the district, according to Tara Harris, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at BPS.

Board member John Thomas suggested utilizing BPS' unused or under-used spaces to expand STEM and CTE opportunities, saying he would like to see campus partnerships with local engineering, construction and other industry companies. Those companies could potentially be responsible for providing materials for the district at no cost to the district.

Board Vice Chair Megan Wright felt it would be a good idea to work with CareerSource to set up job hubs strictly for students on high school campuses, whether those hubs would be at every high school or just one in the south, north and central areas of the county, as Rendell said he wasn't sure if there was a district-wide demand at every high school. Ultimately, she said she would speak to CareerSource to get their opinion.

Updated AI guidelines

Campbell urged the board to consider revisiting the district's guidelines on artificial intelligence, saying they may benefit from rules that can be flexible as AI continues to evolve.

Current district policy says that student's can't use AI to complete school work and that the unauthorized use of AI is considered a form of plagiarism. However, students can use AI in a school setting with a teacher's permission for certain purposes like research assistance, data analysis, language translation, writing assistance and accessibility.

Campbell suggested creating a task force that would include parents to better understand what concerns exist about the use of AI. Ultimately, she said, the goal should be to find out what additions need to be made to existing policies and to better understand how the district can use AI with appropriate guardrails.

More year-round school

The topic of year-round school has been a discussion point for about two years, with Challenger 7 Elementary converting to a year-round schedule in 2024. The school, which Wright attended as a child, previously had a year-round program, and it isn't the only school that follows this schedule in Florida: A group of elementary schools from around the state were chosen to participate in a four-year pilot program after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in 2023 establishing the initiative to study the pros and cons of year-round schooling.

While Challenger 7 is the only school in Brevard to hold classes all year, Wright has consistently championed converting more campuses to the same schedule, citing the goal of preventing kids from losing learning gains in the "summer slide" and teacher burnout.

Board member Gene Trent also brought up trying alternative schedules at some schools, specifically shorter schedules in the morning or at night for high school students who work. The program would help students earn an 18-credit Academically Challenging Curriculum to Enhance Learning diploma rather than a standard 24-credit diploma.

Other plans: Meeting with past school board members, expanded reading initiative

Board members shared a number of other goals for 2026, such as enhancing security measures, potentially extending assistant principal contracts from 10 to 11 months and creating a marketing specialist position that would focus on enrollment to pull in charter, private and homeschool students.

Board Chair Matt Susin hoped to potentially bring all past living school board members back for a meeting. He also expressed interest in making a website where all volunteer opportunities around the district could be viewed by students.

Thomas expressed interest in expanding a reading initiative that currently operates at Palm Bay Elementary and University Park Elementary, where third-grade reading levels have room for improvement. There, volunteers trained by Adrea McDonough, executive director of the district's Head Start preschool program, work to provide pre-K through third graders additional reading help.

"A child's 3rd-grade reading level is one of the most important indicators of their future success — not only in school, but in life," Thomas said. "My hope is that these dedicated volunteers can help our teachers provide the extra lift every student needs to reach their fullest potential."

Prepping for upcoming election

As the meeting wrapped up, board members briefly reviewed their working guidelines, which outline how they should conduct themselves. Campbell implored the rest of the board to consider how their words and actions could impact voters.

"We have to build trust," she said, adding that they should watch their words at the dais through November. "We really need to exercise self-control, because the thing that I hate is when the attention ... is onto the things that become scandalous on the board."

Trent pushed back on the idea of being quiet, saying that the board should be more "proactive" in pointing out inaccurate statements made by the public.

"You've got a group of people that show up and they want to burn the whole thing down, they don't care if the things get passed as long as they make some of us, all of us look bad, and it's wrong," he said, adding that with three seats up for election, people aren't "going to get any nicer."

"There's no reason we need to sit there constantly on the wrong end of the firing squad," Trent said. "If we sit there and say nothing and we do nothing, then we have fake news outlets, some in the room and some outside the room, and that's all they hear."

Finch Walker is the education reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at  fwalker@floridatoday.com . X:  @_finchwalker . Instagram:  @finchwalker_ .

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard school board discusses '26 goals, gaining voter trust