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Minutes 12-06-01MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2001 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Beverly Agee Jean Cairo Rae Fellows Mark Scott Judith Braswell, Alternate Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent Dorothy Howard Revia Lee Ashley Hall, Student Member Andrea Floyd, Student Member A Boundary Committee meeting preceded the regular advisory board meeting. The Education Advisory Board regular members and the Boundary Committee members participated in an open discussion regarding the school boundaries in Boynton Beach. The attendees were given an amended Boundary Map and Ms. Farace indicated that input from the Education Advisory Board had resulted in some changes from the original plan and that at least some of their objectives had been achieved. A delegation of parents from Lake Drive, Diane Drive, and one parent from Citrus Cove, attended the meeting and sought the support of the EAB for boundary issues. The Citrus Cove parent expressed interest in having her child continue going to school at Citrus Cove instead of another school indicated in the proposed boundary changes. The Lake and Diane Drive parents were interested in having their children attend Elementary School 97-1. They were speaking on behalf of eleven children who wanted to go to school in Boynton Beach with their friends. They were not interested in attending Forest Park Elementary School, an option favored by the Board. The Education Advisory Board members offered their opinions and advice to the parents and encouraged them to attend the local input meeting of the Advisory Boundary Committee being held at the Boynton Beach Community High School on Thursday, December 13, at 6:30 p.m. The Board emphasized the importance of having a large turnout of interested parents at the meeting. The parents and interested community residents attending the meeting were encouraged to apply for membership on the Education Advisory Board. The Board indicated that it would like to have more representation from minorities and explained the application process for those who might be interested. I. CALL TO ORDER In the absence of Ms. Diane Tedtmann, Ms. Farace opened the regular meeting of the Education Advisory Board at 7:14 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida December 6, 2001 II. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary took the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. MINUTES This item was deferred until the next meeting of the Education Advisory Board. IV. CHAIR'S REPORT Virginia Farace advised of the resignation of Chairperson Diana Tedtmann and asked for nominations for a new Chairperson. Motion Rae Fellows moved to nominate Beverly Agee for Chairperson of the Education Advisory Board. Ms. Agee was elected as Chairperson by a unanimous vote. The Board members set a date of January 14, 2002 for their next meeting. V. PUBLIC AUDIENCE Ms. Carolyn Allen, a parent visiting for the boundary discussion, expressed appreciation for the Education Advisory Board. Ms. Veronica Mackey was interested in education and offered her assistance to the Board but could not commit to membership. David Fellows spoke about the OClP (On Campus Intervention Program), a program that seeks to reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions by modifying the attitudes and behaviors of disruptive students, thereby improving the learning environment in the classroom. South County Mental Health, provider of counseling services for the program, had a request from the Quantum Foundation to put forth a proposal to have this program at two additional schools. Quantum requested that one of the schools be Carver Middle School. They were considering Boynton Beach Community High School as the second school. The program is currently in place at Congress Middle School and Christa McAuliffe Middle School. Seventy-five (75%) per cent of the grant would be from the Quantum Foundation and the rest would have to be made up with matching funds from the community. Mr. Fellows believed that Delray Beach would provide the funds for the program at Carver Middle School. If the Boynton Beach Community High School expresses interest in the program, a search for matching dollars would begin. Mr. Fellows referred to a verbal commitment from a School Board member to provide staffing for OCIP, over and above the normal staffing requirements. That person has left the area and the School Board has not acted on the verbal commitment. Ms. Farace noted that the City's Police 2 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida December 6, 2001 Department was paying $50,000 over a three-year period for the program at Congress Middle School, financed through vehicle forfeitures. The consensus of the EAB was to offer its full support to having the OClP program at the Boynton Beach Community High School. Ms. Farace asked Mr. Fellows to keep the Board posted on the issue. Mr. Fellows also mentioned the CARE organization, Community Alliance for Reform in Education, and encouraged the EAB to send a representative to their meetings on a regular basis. Their focus for the upcoming year is going to be out-of-school suspension. Some of the other organizations represented in the CARE organization are the Urban League, Mad Dads from Delray, and the Riviera Beach Education Advisory Board. Ms. Fellows did not want to be the permanent representative but offered to attend the next meeting and report back to the EAB. Mr. Fellows reported that Congress Middle School had a big need for volunteers, especially minority volunteers. He remarked that the school volunteer issue was one of the primary areas that the EAB was charged to address. He strongly urged the Assistant Principal at Congress Middle School to attend the EAB meetings to talk about this problem at Congress Middle School. Ms. Braswell believed that the school principals should be invited to the EAB meetings. Ms. Braswell commented that the lack of volunteer participation was a problem at all schools and suggested that the EAB support the effort to increase volunteer participation in the schools. Ms. Braswell stated that every school has a Volunteer Coordinator and that this would be the person to approach about volunteering. She stressed that if a parent put in even one :day a month at a school, great benefits could be realized. Mr. Scott mentioned that at South Tech, a parent/member of the PTA normally did this and that when parents contact other parents, a better response is often obtained. VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Boundaries David Fellows, Virginia Farace, Beverly Agee, and Jean Cairo all committed to attend the public input meeting of the Advisory Boundary Committee at Boynton Beach Community High School on December 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the theater. B. SAC Assignments Ms. Fellows and Ms. Cairo traded SAC assignments. Ms. Fellows will now go to the Forest Park SAC meetings and Ms. Cairo will go to the Atlantic High School SAC .meetings. South Tech (Mark Scott) Mr. Scott mentioned that they were taking applications for the Twilight program at South Tech. They were getting a good response and they thought it was going to be successful. The program was started for students who had left school. They can come to South Tech and work on their G.E.D. certification and attend a career academy at the same time. The program starts at 3:00 p.m. after the regular students have gone home. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida December 6, 2001 to South Tech and work on their G.E.D. certification and attend a career academy at the same time. The program starts at 3:00 p.m. after the regular stUdents have gone home. It is also very helpful for students who are unable to attend a school with a regular day schedule. Their goal was to enroll 100 students. Forest Park (Jean Cairo) Ms. Cairo was unable to attend the Forest Park SAC because she was attending a boundary committee meeting. Odyssey Middle School (Chair Beverly Agee) Chair Agee remarked that Odyssey was still organizing and that they had not had a meeting yet. The first meeting will be in January of 2002. Boynton Beach Community High School (Virginia Farace) Ms. Farace attended their first meeting but missed the November meeting. She will be going to a meeting next week and stated that they were still in the organization process. VII. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Fellows asked that the subject of the State budget cuts to education and the status of the funding for the magnet programs be put on the next agenda. Mr. Scott requested that the topic of career academies also be put on the agenda. Dr. Kidd, Principal at South Tech, wants to come to the EAB to talk about the School Board's plan to eliminate South Tech in three years and attach it to one of the other high schools. Mr. Scott was not in favor of this plan for several reasons. Also, Ms. Farace mentioned the possibility of the School Board moving Delray Full Service School to Boynton Beach. Chair Agee mentioned that the EAB had devoted its efforts almost exclusively to the boundary issues for four months and that it would have to decide what it wanted to work on for the next six months. VIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS None IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins, Recording Secretary (two ta pes)¢ 2/10/01) Approved: B~ard Chai~Serson 4