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Minutes 06-13-02MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD PRINCIPALS' ROUNDTABLE MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2002 AT 1:00 P.M. Present Bevedy Agee, Chairperson Dr. Floyd M. Beil Jean Cairo Randy O'Hara Rae A. Fellows Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent Lillian Artis Revia Lee Mark R. Scott Judith Braswell Andrea Jo Floyd 1. Call to Order Chairperson Agee called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m. and led the participants in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ~ 2. IntroduCtion Chairperson Agee welcomed everyone and introduced Commissioner Charlie Fisher and Ms. Elizabeth Decker, School District Area Superintendent. 3. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. 4. Purpose Chairperson Agee explained that the purpose of the Roundtable Meetings was to assist the Board in setting its goals and priorities for 2002-2003, as well as sharing concerns for the schools in Boynton Beach. The mission of the Education Advisory Board is to serve as an advocate for education in the City and as an advisory board to the City Commission. Chairperson Agee introduced Ms. Farace, the Board's Liaison, who also welcomed everyone to the meeting. Ms. Farace noted that she is the City's Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 Education Liaison and encouraged the participants to contact her at the Library if they had any City issues or concerns they would like addressed. Members of the Education Advisory Board introduced themselves. Commissioner Fisher noted that his seven-year old daughter would be starting at Citrus Cove Elementary School this year. Commissioner Fisher is running for State Representative and he is present today to relay information garnered at the meeting to the City Commission and hopefully to Tallahassee. Ms. Decker thanked the Board on behalf of Area 1 and 2 Schools for inviting them today and acknowledged that the Board's role is that of an advocate for the children of Boynton Beach and the City schools. Also introduced was Judy Klinek, the Area 1 Director, who was present representing Carol Shetler, the Area 1 Superintendent. Chairperson Agree asked that the representatives of each school give their name, address their areas of concerns, and state how this Board could help them. 5. Presentations Citrus Cove, Judy Asbury, Principal Ms. Asbury would like more participation on the SAC Committee. Even though the School has been downsized, they still have a major traffic problem and would like to have the Police Department present at the school on a regular basis. There are approximately 700 to 800 cars coming to the school each day. They would also like more participation from the community on their SAC Committee. Chairperson Agee acknowledged that it is important that the SACs have representation from the business and community. Ms. Asbury said they are mostly in need of community representation. Ms. Farace responded that each member of the Education Advisory Board must serve on a SAC and Dr. Beil is the Board member for Citrus Cove. Their meetings take place on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. beginning in September. Mr. Norman Bleshman from COBWRA stated that they have an education committee and are also trying to get people to serve on the SACs. Ms. Decker pointed out that the District is evaluated and SAC membership is very important. Rou ndtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 Crosspointe Elementary, Eula Mason-Berry Ms. Mason-Berry, who was formerly the Principal at Plumosa Elementary School in Delray Beach, said they are in need of everything. She has concerns that the traffic lights are still not installed and was told this was due to FPL. She asked if the City could step in to assist with the lights. She also has concerns about the traffic on Congress Avenue and with the children crossing the street to get to School. Ms. Mason-Berry said they are in need of volunteers and would like to see as much involvement from the City as possible. An open house is scheduled for Sunday, August 11th and the following Tuesday, and she would like to see as many parents attend as possible. Ms. Fellows noted that the Education Advisory Board meets during the first Thursday of every month and would like to have more feedback from the Principals. She encouraged the Principals to telephone Ms. Farace or Chairperson Agee if they have questions or need assistance. v' Commissioner Fisher requested that Ms. Mason-Berry contact Dan DeCarlo, the City's Neighborhood Specialist, who could furnish her with information about the surrounding communities. · " Ms. Farace said she would speak with Mr. DeCarlo. ,/ Commissioner Fisher will speak with Jeff Livergood, Public Works Director, regarding the traffic light. Crystal Lakes Elementary School, Sue Slone, Principal Ms. Slone noted that their school would be downsizing this year. She reported that there has been construction on Gateway Boulevard all year and that the construction company has been very cooperative in working with the school. She hopes when the school opens in August that the road would be completed. Once the road is completed, a traffic light will be installed. Approximately 500 to 700 cars drive to the school daily. They also have a very active SAC and there are business members that serve on that committee. They have instituted this year a fluency testing program that is scheduled three times each year and is administered by community volunteers. This has proven very successful and volunteers are always needed. It only involves approximately three hours, three times per year. Ms. Slone stated that this is a 3 Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 program unique to their school and they received a "Little Red Schoolhouse Award" for instituting the program. The program is entitled "One Minute Readers", which is a fluency assessment program. Forest Park Elementary School, Bill Thompson & Ms, Melissa Bell, SAC Chair Mr. Thompson said that he had different problems than the other schools because the majority of students come from various backgrounds. He would like to create a connection between the family, the students and the City to assimilate them into the community. Many of the families of his students are unaware of how to obtain services that they are in need of. Mr. Thompson would like more involvement of prominent members of the community in the School to show the students that they are important. Chairperson Agee suggested that the Board members could visit the school, which Mr. Thompson would welcome. Ms. Farace inquired how successful the communication method was between the school and the parents. Mr. Thompson responded that they send tapes home in students' native languages and have language facilitators. It is important that his students understand that they are part of the community. Commissioner Fisher pointed out that the area that the school serves doesn't have any homeowner associations that could offer assistance. He suggested that the Commissioners be invited to events that are scheduled at the school as they do at other schools. Ms. Bell pointed out that a large portion of the students at Forest Park are ESOL students and she would like the school to have the same resources that other schools have. Ms. Decker responded that she felt that the assimilation of immigrants is beyond the school's obligation. She considered this a community problem and there are a great deal of lay people in the community that could assist in this endeavor. Mr. Thompson would like to have a member of the Education Advisory Board on his SAC. Ms. Farace suggested offering the school for City meetings. Commissioner Fisher pointed out that Commission meetings have. been held throughout various schools in the City over the past couple of years and this is something to consider. Mr. Thompson would welcome hosting community meetings, as well as using some of the City facilities. 4 Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 Freedom Shores, Nancy Lucas, Principal Ms. Lucas is very excited about her new school and noted that Ms. Farace was on the school-naming committee. Yesterday was their first staff meeting, which was attended by over 50 people. She said that the school and the facilities were magnificent. She is not certain at this point if she would need assistance. She has concerns about the traffic and was told that a stoplight would be installed. She would like to have a walk through area for the students from the back of the school and this is something that she and some of the parents are working on. By having students walk to school, this eliminates a great deal of the cars. The school will open on July 1st for registration and they received their Certificate of Occupancy today. The day before school opens, an open house will be scheduled. Science will be emphasized at the school, even though it is not a magnet school. They are looking for equipment and scientists that would be willing to come to the school and speak to the students. They also anticipate planting a butterfly garden. The University of Florida will be assisting with a vegetable garden. Her major concern is the traffic on Hypoluxo Road and the speed of the cars. Commissioner Fisher noted that the land behind the school is City land and there are future plans for a park on the land. Galaxy Elementary School, Kathy Harris, Principal Ms. Harris had concerns for the students that would now be walking to school and noted that there is a lot of traffic on Seacrest Boulevard and the lack of sidewalks on the streets around the school. They are looking for volunteers to listen to the children read and to help in the classrooms. They also have to set up a new PTA because their PTA was moved to Crosspointe. Chairperson Agee noted that the City is aware of the sidewalk situation and the students having to walk to school for the first time. This Board has discussed this as well. 5 Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 Ms. Harris has filed the necessary paperwork in order to hold City meetings at Galaxy School. She was told that Forest Park already has a reciprocal agreement with the City. Poinciana School, Karen Whetsell, Principal was present with the SAC Chair Ms. Whetsell noted that every time they have asked for assistance from the City, they have received it. v' Ms. Whetsell also had concerns about the traffic and would like to have a crosswalk across 11th Avenue to the School. This is where parents drop off their children and there are hundreds of children crossing the street. She also requested a crossing guard for this area as well. She pointed out that many parents try to avoid the parent pick-up route and park illegally in the neighborhood on 1st Street. She would like some police presence to prevent illegal parking and to have a "no parking" sign put up. v' She also requested that the Police Officers monitor the area and hand out parking tickets to discourage the parents from parking dangerously. ./ Ms. Whetsell would like to continue their relationship with the Library and to receive the flyers from the Library for the kindergarten. The kindergarten roundup will take place on a Saturday in August before school begins. Ms. Whetsell would also like to be kept up to date on what is happening at the Library for children. Ms. Farace would like to offer this to all the schools. Poinciana and Galaxy are also trying to start an elementary school intervention program, similar to the OClP Program offered at some of the Middle Schools. If the Board were aware of any type of funding for this program, she would appreciate this information. Rolling Green Elementary School, Gay Voss, Principal Ms. Voss has been Principal at Rolling Green since 1984 and loves Boynton Beach. She welcomed Rae Fellows, the Education Advisory Board member that will be serving on their school SAC. Ms. Voss appreciated Ms. Farace's advocacy for the schools for many years. Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 Ms. Voss also thanked Commissioner Fisher for the school supply drive that he instituted with Wal-Mart, which was of great assistance to the students. She also had concerns for the ESOL students and noted that there are over 200 Hispanic and 200 Haitian children at Rolling Green. It is important to make these children feel that they are part of the community. There are several senior citizens that have volunteered at the school over the years. The school is losing 60 children to Freedom Shores and gaining 115 from Citrus Cove. She would also like more volunteers at the School. She would like to have more pre-school experience offered to the children before they enter kindergarten. Many of their students have never been out of the City and they have raised funds to send the children on various trips. She would like to see more life- experience opportunities offered to the children. Now that there is no more summer school, children will no longer be getting breakfast and lunch that they received at school. Ms. Voss would also like the City to provide a playground supervisor, once or twice a week, for the playground in back of the school, so that the children would have some supervision and afford them an opportunity to participate in some organized activities. The children in that neighborhood have no place to go and stay after school unsupervised. Commissioner Fisher pointed out that the Hester Center is not far from the school and this is available to all the children. However, children from the Rolling Green area don't go there because it is not their neighborhood. Also, Ms. Voss pointed out that there will no longer be a Latchkey program at the school and this was a good opportunity to provide extra tutoring to the children. Commissioner Fisher reported that the number of computers at the Hester Center has been increased and are available to the children. Ms. Voss felt that it was not safe for the young children to walk to the Hester Center. Ms. Farace announced that the Library received a grant and installed 12 computers at the Hester Center for after-school use with the necessary software. The database at the Library is being enhanced by adding Lexile reading grade levels to the description of the book. Ms. Decker said that this is the type of information that should be shared with all Principals. Commissioner Fisher announced that the YMCA would be offering 100 scholarships as the result of a donation from his discretionary funds. Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13,2002 Ms. Whetsell asked about the use of the Wilson Pool and felt that this should be made available to the children. Commissioner Fisher said that the City is focusing on this area, which is part of the Heart of Boynton. The City plans to improve the pool and to increase the services. Ms. Whetsell requested that this type of information be dispersed to people because they don't know about these programs. Royal Palm School, Lori Wilkinson, Teacher Ms. Wilkinson, who is a member of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth and a teacher at Royal Palm School, spoke on behalf of the Principal, who was not present. Royal Palm School is a special education school with grades K through 12 with students who come from all areas of the County. Ms. Wilkinson would like people to know more about her school and requested that they be included whenever events and activities are scheduled for the other schools. Christa McAuliffe, Terry Costa, Principal with the SAC Chair Ms. Costa stressed that parental involvement is very important at the secondary level and not just at the elementary school level. There are 35 members on their SAC committee. Because she is a member of the Chamber of Commerce's Education Business Partnership Committee, they have had a businessperson on their SAC. · " They also need volunteers. The school has a Listen to Teens Program, which is run by private citizens. A guidance counselor provides intensive training and then they sit down and listen to middle school students. Ms. Costa spoke about the OCIP Program at their school and Congress Middle School with David Fellows as the consultant. The program has been funded by a three-year grant from the City and the County. Ms. Costa wants to see the program continue and would like the Board to actively continue to support the program. The suspension rate at the school has been cut in half and it is a wonderful program. Ms. Fellows pointed out that the City has a very large senior population that could be used for volunteering in the schools. It would be beneficial to both the students as well as the senior citizens. 8 Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 Congress Middle School, Carol Blacharski, Principal and Richard Kabinoff, SAC Chairperson ,," Ms. Blacharski said that they also needed volunteers for daytime and after school programs. There will be a summer academic camp at the School, which is being offered with the assistance of MADDADS. The children will attend the camp for 7 days and will receive breakfast and lunch and will be tutored by teachers and members of MADDADS. The camp is open only to Congress Middle School students. Odyssey Middle School, Bonnie Fox, Principal and Sandy Greenberg, SAC Co-chair Ms. Fox said that she didn't have any concerns and that the first year was very successful. She noted that County Commissioners Aaronson and Newell were very generous to the school this year. The majority of their students come from the City of Boynton Beach, but the school is located at the west end of Woolbright Road. Because they are located near many retirement communities, they have had a great influx of volunteers that put in over 5,000 hours of service. She would like to have more people from the City come out to the school. Ms. Fox would also like to have the OCIP program in her school, but there is no funding. Mr. Fellows said that he is still working on this. The school is planning to expand their mentoring program and are looking for people Ms. Greenberg pointed out that new elementary and new middle schools are going up at Lantana and Haverhill and this will affect Christa McAuliffe and Woodlands. Therefore, boundary issues will again have to be dealt with. Larry Coup, Assistant Principal, South Technical High School and Norman Bleshman, SAC Chair South Technical had an excellent recruiting season and over 1,000 people applied for admission. All students are recruited from the southern half of the County and attend South Technical because they want to be there. The school has no boundary area. The school operates a second shift between 2:45 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. They also offer vocational training in the evening. They also could use volunteers, but they would have to be in the trade areas that are being offered at the school. 9 Roundtab le Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13, 2002 Mr. Bleshman reported that 48 students graduated this year and many received scholarships for academics and technical achievements. -/ Mr. Bleshman said that they needed more people to serve on their SAC. ,/ He would also like to see more Hispanic students enrolled at the school. Ms. Farace asked Mr. Coup to speak about the transfer of South Technical as a career academy to the new western high school. Ms. Farace expressed regrets about the City losing South Technical High School. Ms. Decker responded that the proposed western high school would assume several of the career academy programs currently offered at South Technical. As new high schools are built, existing high schools will be retrofitted to offer three or more career academies so that all students would have access to the career academy approach. There will no longer be standalone technical schools. It is anticipated that Delray Full Service that is currently located in the former Carver Middle School will occupy South Technical. Ms. Farace said there are concerns about this change. Chairperson Agee said that she had spoken to a member of the School District who informed her that Delray Full Service would not be relocating to South Technical. Ms. Klinek responded that Delray Full Service has approximately 250 students, with a capacity of 300. Many of those students come from Boynton Beach High School and the relocation would be closer to their homes. Ms. Farace noted that no one has come to the City to speak about a Full Service Center and what would be offered to the students. Commissioner Fisher responded that the City is doing a study of that corridor and there are expectations that this area would become high-end residential and this is something the School Board is going to have to address. Ms. Farace noted that the Library is starting a pilot class to teach English- speaking students Spanish so that they can communicate at the elementary level with their peers. Negotiations are also underway with a Haitian instructor to teach Haitian to the Library staff and other individuals. Ms. Farace inquired if the School District could assist them in this endeavor. Ms. Decker referred Ms. Farace to Margarita Pinkos of the School's Multicultural Department. Commissioner Fisher noted that he and Ms. Farace serve on the Safe Schools' Task Force and inquired if there were any issues that the participants would like to address next year. Ms. Decker noted that the recommendations of that Task Force are funneled to the academic area of the School District and it is greatly appreciated. Ms. Farace pointed out that Commissioner Fisher has also worked 10 Roundtable Meeting Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 13,2002 at the State bevel on this issue and if there is anything that the School District is not in favor of, they would also like to hear about this as well. Chairperson Agee reported that there is a leadership institute that is available to the coastal schools, which is being offered through the Heart of Boynton Program. It is anticipated that this will be expanded. Commissioner Fisher stated that if anyone had any issues or problems dealing with streets or signs, please feel free to call him at home at 364-8717. He suggested that if there were educational problems, they should be addressed to Ms. Farace or Chairperson Agee. Mr. Bleshman would like to have a sign on 1-95 directing people to South Technical High School, similar to the sign directing people to North Technical High School. Commissioner Fisher will look into this. Ms. Fellows noted that there was no discussion regarding the classroom size and the shortage of teachers, since Boynton Beach High School is already using portables. Ms. Farace announced that the Safe School Center is moving from the Boynton Beach High School campus to Boca Raton and this should free up some classrooms. 6. Adjournment Ms. Decker said that they appreciated the opportunity to share ideas and issues with the members of the Board. To make the right decisions, it is important to be well informed. Chairperson Agee pointed out that volunteerism seems to be a priority and needs to be worked on. She thanked everyone for their participation. There being no further business, the meeting property adjourned at 3:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (two tapes) Approved: (June 14,2002) Chairperson 11