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Minutes 02-07-02MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY FEBRUARY 07, 2002 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Floyd Bell Jean Cairo Rae Fellows Andrea Floyd, Student Member Judith Braswell, Alternate Denise Chamberlain, Alternate Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent Revia Lee Mark Scott Ashley Hall, Student Member Opening and Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. The Board members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, followed by a period of introductions by the members. Chair Agee asked the members to give her a telephone number at which she could telephone them on the Sunday prior to each Board meeting to remind them of the upcoming meeting. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. Ms. Farace asked that the minutes reflect the fact that Mark Scott was absent because he was recovering from back surgery. III. Minutes of January 14, 2002 There were no changes to the minutes and Chair Agee declared that they were accepted as submitted. IV. Chair's Report Chair Agee reported that Mr. Jim Kidd, principal of South Technical Community High School, would be attending the March meeting of the EAB. Chair Agee reported on the results of her inquiries into the possibility of the Delray Full Service School taking the place of South Tech, if and when South Tech moves to the new high school on Jog Road. She spoke to Ms. Mary Vreiland, the director of Alternative Education, who stated that while there had been some informal Meeting Minutes - Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7, 2002 conversations regarding this, there was no actual plan on the table. Chair Agee advised Ms. Vreiland that if the plan were to become a reality, the public, the EAB, and the Boynton Beach City Commission would appreciate being given an opportunity to have input in the matter. The Board discussed the open position on the Board and the members will seek suitable candidates. The members whose seats on the Board were due to expire soon were encouraged to reapply. The student member, Andrea Floyd, will try to recruit someone for her position from the junior class. V. City Liaison's Report Ms. Farace announced a Palm Beach County campaign called the "Read Together Palm Beach County" program that is being co-sponsored by libraries, the Literacy Coalition, the Palm Beach Post, the Palm Beach County School Board, and the Quantum Foundation. Modeled after similar efforts in Chicago, Seattle, Buffalo and Rochester, the campaign will engage the entire county in reading one book, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The issues of media control of the mind and the breakdown of the family structure are paramount. The book looks at the willingness of the populace to surrender their books for burning and this was compared to the current-day giving up of some long- established liberties in the wake of 9/11. The Board discussed ways for the EAB to participate in this program and they decided to put a discussion of the book on their April agenda. Ms. Farace asked the Board members who might wish to read the book to focus on ideas that might be relevant to education and bring ideas to the April meeting. Ms. Farace will bring a schedule of events for the program to the March meeting. Ms. Braswell suggested that the EAB put together an action plan regarding the ways in which the EAB might use this program to promote literacy and at the conclusion of the program, review the strategies that were used to determine if they had the desired impact. VI. Public Audience There was no one from the public in attendance. VII. Unfinished Business A. Boundaries Ms. Farace spoke of the subcommittee's decision to support SAC (School Attendance Code) 250D remaining at Citrus Cove if possible. If that were not possible, it supported that SAC going to Galaxy, to even out the capacities between Forest Park and Galaxy. The subcommittee went to the public input meeting and spoke along with some parents. The subcommittee's requests had an impact and their recommendation was taken to the following ABC (Advisory Boundary Committee) meeting. ABC put into its recommendation that this SAC would go to Galaxy. The ABC presented a large number of recOmmendations to the School Board on Monday, January 28. Mr. Tom Lynch 2 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7, 2002 offered the Boynton delegation an opportunity to speak, something that is not normally done at these meetings. Ms. Farace and Ms. Veronica Mackey thanked the School Board for their process that had allowed the EAB to interact with the ABC Committee all along, to impact changes and provide information. She stated that what had come out of the discussions was a definite improvement over the plan as first presented. Ms. Farace stated that SAC 250D wished to stay at Citrus Cove but if this were not possible, and if they went to Galaxy, the last issue remaining was transportation. Ms. Mackey spoke again about the distance the children would have to walk. The Transportation Department was definitely against busing. The School Board felt that there was cause to look at busing. Mr. Garcia from the ABC stated that the State would be modifying the standards and definitions for busing and spoke in favor of busing the students to Galaxy. Ms. Farace invited participation from the Board for the last two School Board boundary meetings on February 11, 2002 and March 25, 2002, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the School District Chambers. The Boynton Beach representative will express gratitude for the opportunity to give input to the boundary changes and the hope that the changes made thus far will remain in place. Ms.'Farace reported that the School Board had been interested in the apparent inequity of placing two gifted centers west of town, and directed staff to come back to them with more information. B. Funding Issues Career Academy - South Tech This issue was deferred until the next Board meeting to allow the principal of South Tech to attend the meeting. Magnet Schools - Poinciana and Congress Ms. Braswell explained the application process and procedures for Poinciana Elementary School. She expressed the hope that they would be able to keep a good level of diversity in the school and discussed the ways in which they were trying to achieve this. Ms. Farace suggested that the EAB representatives at the School Board meeting might wish to include a statement about how proud Boynton Beach was of its magnet school, Poinciana Elementary, and that it wished to retain it. The Board discussed what it could do to maintain and retain the magnet programs, and whether the City should put on a golf tournament to raise funds for them. Chair Agee agreed that this could be put on an upcoming agenda. Ms. Farace also commented that Dr. Robinson of the School Board had asked staff to come up with a Choice Plan and the EAB questioned how well the program was working in Riviera Beach. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7, 2002 Legislative Cuts Ms. Farace attended the legislative session with the principal of Boynton Beach High School and all of the other principals brought a SAC (Student Advisory Council) member as well. Just prior to the presentation, the Governor made an announcement that he was putting some money back into the Education budget, so this changed the tone of the presentation. The District made it clear that what was being put back was only to take care of students that were coming in, that it really wasn't an increase, and that they needed to be alert and proactive about education. The feeling is that education is not receiving as much support as it needs. Ms. Farace hoped that everyone became aware of their power and communicated with their legislators. She said that it was important to let the legislators know that education and libraries are significant issues for the state. Ms. Farace noted that every legislator now had an e-mail address and that this was a fast and easy way to communicate. The Library and the City Clerk's office have brochures with addresses of the legislators also. Chair Agee commented that the League of Women Voters had observed that individual letters to legislators had the best effect. Ms. Fellows commented on the safety aspects of education, saying that the severe budget cuts to OClP and the various Juvenile Justice programs had to have a negative effect on schools. She thought the Board members needed to write letters to legislators about these budget cuts and their impact on education. C. Atlantic High School Chair Agee said that this was a significant issue in the community but that it was difficult to determine the impact that moving Atlantic High School would have on Boynton Beach. The affected students would probably end up going to either the new Boynton Beach High School or the new high school on Jog Road that will be ready in 2004. In either case, the move of Atlantic would cease to be an issue for Boynton Beach except as a possible boundary factor. Chair Agee advised the Board that there would be a public input meeting on this topic at Atlantic High School on Monday, February 11 and Ms. Cairo will try to attend. The EAB did not have a recommendation for the Commissioners at this time but will continue to monitor the issue. D. Principals' Roundtable Ms. Farace explained to the new members that the purpose of the roundtable was to allow a forum for the principals to share the issues at their schools with other principals and those concerned with education. It is also an opportunity to make the principals aware of the support and resources of the EAB. Mr. David Fellows added that the information given by the principals would be useful when the EAB sets its goals for the coming year. The Board set a tentative date of June 20 at 1:00 p.m. for the Principals' Roundtable, and discussed the possibility of having this meeting in lieu of their regular July meeting. Ms. Braswell will canvass the principals for availability and when their input has been received and a mutually agreeable date set, a formal letter of invitation will go out from the Board to the principals, SAC chairs, the Commissioners, the Chamber of Commerce Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7, 2002 Education Board and Director, the Children & Youth Advisory Board, the Parks & Recreation Board, the Library Board, and the Community Relations Board. Each Board could give a five-minute description of what his or her Board does and depending on the number of principals that attend, ten minutes will be given to each principal to discuss the issues at his or her school. VIII. New Business A, OCIP Ms. Fellows mentioned that Poinciana Elementary and Galaxy Elementary were looking into this program. The City of Boynton Beach has partially funded this in the past. David FellowsHe remarked that the opportunity to modify the program to fit elementary school students was exciting but that he would have to check with the Quantum Foundation to see if they wished to support this program at Poinciana and Galaxy. they did not wish to do so, Mr. Fellows would be glad to investigate other outside sources of funding. Dr. Cornnell at the Boynton Beach High School is going through a discussion process with his SAC on the issue. M~Ms. Fellows will bring a report to the next Board meeting. B, EAB Goals and Direction Ms. Cairo hoped that when the boundary issues were settled, the EAB could get back to determining its goals and directions. Everyone agreed. Ms. Fellows reminded everyone that promoting the positive aspects of the coastal schools was a priority and Chair Agee agreed to put Goals and Direction on the agenda for the next Board meeting. C. Heifer International Project and Galaxy Elementary School Ms. Farace distributed a Palm Beach Post article about Galaxy Elementary School students' fund-raising efforts for the Heifer International Project (HIP) and the opposition they received from the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. (HIP sends animals to people in developing countries so they can sustain themselves with eggs, milk, and wool, for example). Since this could be considered negative publicity for a Boynton Beach school and discouraging to the altruistic students, the Board discussed the issue to see whether the EAB should take a stand on the matter. Everyone agreed that the students had done a fine job and that this was in their favor, regardless of any opposition to the project. More information was needed about the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida also. The final consensus was that there were many ways that the Board could show its support for the students and the school; however, it seemed prudent to ask Galaxy whether they desired any assistance from the EAB before proceeding any further. Chair Agee asked M~.-P_~aswe~Rae Fellows to contact Galaxy and report at the next EAB meeting. It was suggested that ~ Rae Fellows let Galaxy know of the EAB's support and willingness to do whatever would be appropriate on their behalf. IX. Reports A. SAC Reports Citrus Cove Elementary Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 7, 2002 Dr. Bell reported that their SAC meeting would be the week following this EAB meeting. Galaxy Elementary Ms. Andrea Floyd and Ms. Denise Chamberlain attended the SAC meeting at Galaxy and reported that they had discussed the boundary issues and their goals, which were: 1) student relationships with teachers, 2) different ways of learning, 3) school environment, 4) on and off-campus learning, and 5) feeling safe at school. Ms. Chamberlain mentioned their discussion of the budget and the potential of becoming an almost entirely Title I school. Ms. Farace will gather information about the SAC policies and a presentation will be given at the March meeting in lieu of the individual SAC reports, unless a Board member has an urgent message to share. X. Announcements The next Board meeting will be on March 7, 2002 at 6:00 p.m. XI. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (two tapes) Board Chairperson: (020802) 6