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Minutes 10-04-01MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2001 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Diana Tedtmann, Chairperson Beverly Agee Jean Cairo Rae Fellows Mark Scott Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Andrea Jo Floyd, Student Ashley Hall, Student Absent Dorothy Howard Revia Lee Judith Braswell, Alternate I. Pledge The meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was recited. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and a quorum was present. Chairperson Tedtmann distributed Advisory Board t-shirts that Commissioner Fisher had provided from his discretionary funds. A discussion ensued about excused absences and Ms. Farace clarified that all absences, including those for illness, were counted as absences according to the attendance rules for advisory boards. Ms. Farace commented that one of the members had asked that an exception be made for religious purposes and noted that if a person's attendance became an issue because of this, an appeal might be pursued. She asked that members notify the Chairperson when they were unable to attend a meeting, including the reason for the absence. II1. Minutes of the September 6, 2001 Meeting Ms. Farace explained that in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order and her discussions with the City Clerk, the minutes would now have a space for approval by the Board Chairperson. The minutes will continue to be sent to the Board members after transcription by the Recording Secretary. The minutes sent to the members are to be considered as transcriptions only. if the Board makes changes to the minutes, the Recording Secretary will make the changes to the original minutes on file in the City Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 4, 2001 Clerk's office. If the minutes are accepted as written, the Board Chairperson will sign the transcribed minutes in the appropriate place and those minutes will become the official, formal record. Since the Board did not suggest any changes to the minutes of the September 6, 2001 meeting, Chairperson Tedtmann signed the minutes, signifying the Board's acceptance of the minutes as written. IV. Chairperson's Report Chairperson Tedtmann commented that the Education Advisory Board (EAB) had been meeting weekly to discuss school boundaries. Also, the area schools had presented their School Improvement Plans (SIP) the previous week and it had been an excellent opportunity to learn about what the individual schools were doing and to meet the principals. Ms. Farace expressed her appreciation to Jean Cairo, Beverly Agee, Judith Braswell, Revia Lee, and Chair Tedtmann for their attendance. Ms. Farace reported that all area schools were now "C" or above and that representatives of all schools had been in attendance at the presentation. The Boynton Beach Community High School representative also attended, even though they did not have to present Improvement Plans. Chair Tedtmann reported that she and Virginia Farace had recently attended a meeting of the Boynton Community Forum Family and Friends Network and solicited their participation in the boundary issue and advised them of an upcoming boundary meeting. V. City Liaison's Report - In the interest of time, Ms. Farace did not report. VI, Public Audience - None. VII. Unfinished Business A. Boundaries The Board members entered into a lengthy discussion in which they reviewed their progress and current position concerning the elementary school boundary issues. The School District of Palm Beach County Advisory Boundary Committee will meet on Thursday, October 11, 2001 from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. at the Forest Hill High School Media Center in West Palm Beach. At this meeting, time permitting, the ABC will begin discussions on the studies for the new Boynton/Delray area elementary schools 97-M and 98-1. The Board members were urged to attend. Motion Ms. Fellows moved to empower the Board representatives to make decisions and act on the Board's behalf at the ABC meeting. Ms. Agee seconded the motion that carried unanimously. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 4, 2001 B, SAC Assignment Reports Citrus Cove Elementary (No report - representative absent) Galaxy Elementary Ms. Floyd reported that she had been elected to the position of Secretary of the Galaxy Elementary SAC. The SAC discussed and made many changes to its bylaws. Their meetings will be on the first Monday of every month. They are changing from "C" standards to "B" standards. Rolling Green Elementary Chair Tedtmann reported that their meeting had been similar to the one at Galaxy. They discussed their bylaws, boundaries, and presented their SIP. Christa McAuliffe Middle School Ms. Hall reported that she had been unable to attend the meeting but could report that they also elected new officers. They discussed the SIP Funding Report, development strategies, and their professional develoPment plans. Santaluces High School (No report- representative absent) Boynton Beach High School Ms. Farace reported that the first SAC meeting would be on October 16 at the high school and she planned to attend. Odyssey Middle School Chair Tedtmann reported that they were still in the process of forming a SAC and had not set a date for their first meeting. Chair Tedtmann asked Ms. Agee to be the representative for this SAC. Forest Park Elementary Ms. Cairo reported that she had been attempting to learn the date of their first SAC meeting. The last report was that it would be the second Thursday of the month or October 11, and she was going to be out of town on that date. Poinciana Elementary (No report - representative absent) Congress Middle School Chair Tedtmann is Chairperson for this SAC. She stated that they talked about what SAC was, voted on a Vice-Chairperson, and went over their SIP. They also discussed where the SAC money goes and voted to spend some of it. 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 4, 2001 Atlantic High School Ms. Fellows reported that they had not had their first SAC meeting yet. South Tech High School Mr. Scott stated that although he had not been able to go to the meeting, he had been elected Co-Chair. Mr. Norm Bleshman was elected to the position of Chairman. They discussed a Twilight Academy to accommodate the youth in Palm Beach County who were in danger of dropping out of high school. Ms. Fellows suggested that Mr. Scott contact David Fellows about his work in dropout prevention. The Twilight Academy, if funded, could provide a place that these youth could come from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. to pursue the G.E.D. program, followed by an offer to attend one of the regular academy programs. Also, the Fire Academy has vacated the school grounds. They just received some permanent portables (called concretables) and were in the process of connecting the utilities. One of the student members of the EAB expressed concern about the air conditioning in the concretables and hoped it would be adequate. Mr. Scott was aware of the problem and said they were working on it. Mr. Scott also said the school was interested in starting an intramural sports program. Ms. Hall attends South Tech and is active in the student government. Royal Palm School (No report- representative absent) Plumosa Elementary Mr. Scott reported that he was unable to attend this meeting due to a schedule conflict and when he tried to get the information, it was not available. VIII. New Business · Safe Schools/Emergency Plans Ms. Cairo asked if the schools were revising their Emergency Plans in light of recent events. No one was aware of any changes but Ms. Farace spoke of the Safe Schools Task Force, which was involved with safety from a different point of view. Safe Schools was concentrating on a program entitled "Silence Hurts" whose logo was a smiley face with a zipper across it. The purpose is to encourage students to speak up and receive direction regarding to whom they should speak. They were also concerned with in- school and out-of-school suspension and adult/child relationships. Ms. Farace is Chair of the Adult/Child Relationships Committee, whose goal is to have a caring adult in every child's life. Most of the children are not in serious trouble, but still need a teacher or somebody to say hello to them by name. Every school has a core team of teachers who are being given specialized training in this kind of outreach. These children constitute the large majority of the children. A much smaller group needs more serious intervention, such as being sent to alternative schools. Ms. Farace spoke of changes to the school's assault reports whereby the Assistant Principals would be given the task of submitting the reports and making the decision as to the category in which the events should be listed. This should help reduce the wide variations in the number of assaults being reported by various people making the input category decisions. 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 4, 2001 Ms. Farace asked interested parties to contact her if they wished to join her committee to consider these topics: Why do children react to one adult in a different manner than to another? Are there ways of relating that we can learn from one another? Are there things going on in the community that could help with the mentoring relationship? Ms. Cairo pointed to the successful program at Unity School in Delray Beach modeled after the Peaceful Schools International philosophy. The Unity program is called Lessons in Living and basically teaches children to be nice to one another. The mission of Peaceful Schools International is to provide support to schools that have declared a commitment to creating and maintaining a culture of peace. The program is based in Nova Scotia, Canada and the web address is www/peacefulschoolsinternational, org for those who may wish to investigate it further. Several Board members expressed interest in the program. Friends of the Library Ms. Farace advised that Burdines was having a Holiday Charity Event on November 3, 2001 from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Ms. Farace offered tickets for $5.00 to the event, which will benefit Friends of the Boynton Beach Library. Ms. Farace also encouraged contributions or donations to the American Association of University Women who were participating in a 3K Run/Walk at Palm Beach Community College in support of the AAUW Educational Foundation, on Saturday, November 10. This is a program that teachers can access when additional training needs arise. The cost to join the Walk/Run is $15.00 and the event is open to the public. Membership in AAUW is open to those with four-year college degrees or students pursuing a degree. Ms. Agee reported that a meeting of the American Association of University Women would be held at the Dolphin ReStaurant on October 10, 2001 at 1:30 p.m. They will have a discussion of the new voter reform laws. IX. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recording Secretary (two tapes) Approved: erso ( I O~8~O 1 ) 5