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Minutes 08-08-02MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD SPECIAL MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FL, ORIDA, ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2002 AT 6:15 P.M. Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Floyd Beil Jean Cairo Revia Lee Randy O'Hara Irene Latour Joan Pleasants, Alternate Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent Lillian Artis Rae Fellows, Alternate Andrea Floyd, Student I. Call to Order Chair Agee called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. II. Attendance A quorum was present. Ms. Irene Latour and Ms. Joan Pleasants introduced themselves to the Board and were welcomed. Both are parents and very active in the schools. Chair Agee noted that the board was at full strength except for the two students and she thought that those seats could be filled once school had started. III. New Business A. Back to School Expo at Boynton Beach Mall Chair Agee advised that Mr. O'Hara had telephoned her about this project and that was one of the reasons that she had called this special meeting. Mr. O'Hara stated that Parenting Times Plus Magazine and The Boynton Beach Times were hosting a Back to School Expo at the Boynton Beach Mall on August 10 and 11. The hosts of the Expo donated a booth and a sign for the use of the Education Advisory Board, since it is a non-profit organization. Mr. O'Hara thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to communicate with parents since people would be shopping for back-to- school clothing and supplies. The purpose would be to try to attract some volunteers and increase parent participation at the schools. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August8,2002 Mr. O'Hara distributed a packet of information that he had put together to hand out to visitors. The Board was appreciative of his efforts. The handouts will include: A parent questionnaire A description of the School Advisory Council (SAC) organization Summary of role of Education Advisory Board A description of the Parent Teacher (PTA) organization $1.00 off passes to the Children's Museum for August Literature on "Keeping Your Children Drug Free" The Board members agreed to try to obtain as much information as possible in Spanish and Creole, in addition to English. Motion Ms. Cairo moved to support participation in the Back-to-School Expo being held at the Boynton Beach Mall on Friday and Saturday, August 10-11,2002. Dr. Beil seconded the motion that carried unanimously. B. Principal for a Day Program Chair Agee noted that the Board had decided in June that this program would be a priority in 2002-2003. It is a program that seeks to match up a business partner with a principal of the schools in the area. The business partner, the president or CEO, goes into the school and acts as principal for the day. This is a means of fostering partnerships between the schools and the business community in the hope of securing assistance for the schools. It also brings about awareness on the part of the public about the state of the schools. The topic was brought to the table for discussion to determine when it might be done. Ms. Cairo indicated that this was to have been a tri-city effort on one single day, involving Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton. Ultimately, Boca Raton decided not to have the event this year and Delray Beach decided to have it November 6. Ms. Cairo's discussion with the Chair of the Delray Beach Education Advisory Board revealed that Delray Beach was not in favor of doing it on the same day. The Board discussed the pros and cons of trying to have it in conjunction with Delray Beach. Ms. Cairo stated that if the Board wanted to push to have the program in conjunction with Delray on November 6, the big problem would be matching the right business partners with the right schools. After much discussion, the Board decided that it would be best to have this program in the spring of 2003, probably in February, so that Boynton Beach could get its own media coverage. 2 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 8, 2002 C. Other 1) OClP/ESIP David Fellows, former Chair of the EAB, stated that Rolling Green Elementary School had asked for the assistance of a translator and Ms. Fellows was able to arrange for one through the Mayan Center in Lake Wodh. Mr. Fellows referred to the recent discussions about adapting the On Campus Intervention Program (OClP) for use in elementary schools, starting with Poinciana and Galaxy Elementary Schools, where it would be called Elementary School Intervention Program (ESlP). Commissioner Mack McCray suggested that Mr. Fellows set up a meeting with Kurt Bressner to discuss the possibility of the City providing funding for some part of this program. The estimated cost to fund the program is $68,000. The program, as adapted for elementary schools, is primarily for the fourth and fifth grades. Mr. Fellows anticipated that billing Medicaid because the counselors would be administering a treatment plan with the youth and their families on a long-term basis could offset 20-30% of the program costs. Mr. Fellows brought up the fact that this program also tied in with the Heart of BOynton since both schools fall in that area. Mr. Fellows mentioned that the principals of Galaxy and Po nciana love the program and have space to house t, but n~ed the teachers to administer it and this aspect is up in the air. If funding is found for the teachers, the program can apply to the Quantum Foundation for assistance also. Chair Agee stated that this should be an agenda item for the Board's August 17 workshop. She asked Mr. Fellows what he wanted the EAB to do. He stated that he was informing the Board and it would be up to the EAB if it wished to take a position of strong support for the program. Chair Agee asked Mr. Fellows to provide literature for the Board members since Mr. Fellows and Mrs. Fellows would both be unavailable for the August 17 meeting. 2) Judicial Candidates Forum, Boynton Beach High School, August 26, 2002, 7:00 -9:00 p.m. Chair Agee invited all interested parties to what she felt was going to be a very interesting program. The judicial candidates will be available to meet and answer questions. 3) Bus for Galaxy Ms. Veronica Mackey's group, with City and EAB support, was successful in getting a bus for Galaxy Elementary School children. This was welcome news. Now the group has to work with the City and the District to get walking routes. They were not, however, successful in continuing the bus for the high school, 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 8, 2002 4) August 17, 2002 Workshop Chair Agee reminded everyone that each Board member's action plans and the Board's priorities were going to be set at this meeting. IV. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (one tape) (080902) Approved: Board Chairperson 4