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Minutes 06-06-02MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2002 AT 6:00 P,M. Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Floyd Beil Jear~ Cairo Revia Lee Randy O'Hara (arrived 6:35 p.m.) Rae Fellows, Alternate Absent Lillian Artis Mark Scott Judith Braswell, Alternate Andrea Jo Floyd, Student I. Pledge of Allegiance Chair Agee called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. I1. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. II1. Minutes of May 2, 2002 Motion Ms. Lee moved to approve subject minutes. Ms. Fellows seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. Chair's Report Chair Agee thanked Jean Cairo, who obtained a donation of $50 from Publix to defray the cost of refreshments for the upcoming Principals Roundtable. A thank you letter will be sent to Publix. Ms. Cairo also has a source of paper goods. The Board decided to offer fruit and cookies and that water and iced tea would be more appropriate for this time of year than coffee. V. City Liaison's Report Chair Agee asked Virginia Farace to introduce herself for the benefit of the new board members. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 6, 2002 Ms. Farace stated that she was in her 32nd year as the Librarian for the City of Boynton Beach. She obtained a Master's degree in Library Sciences from Rutgers University and became involved with education because her belief and training led her to be a librarian in and for the community. Ms. Farace began her history of community service by serving on the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee in the early 1980s, becoming Chair of that group and Vice Chair of the Chamber Board of Directors. She served in that capacity for nine years. She was then assigned the duty of liaison for the Education Advisory Board. Ms. Farace organized the Poinciana Steering Committee when Poinciana Elementary School was about to close. She served on the Congress Middle School SAC since its inception, moving on to chair the Santaluces High School SAC, and currently serves on the Boynton Beach High School SAC. Ms. Farace was instrumental in bringing the Boynton Beach High School to the community, working on the project since the late 1980s. She brought together a community forum to help design the new school, which finally opened this year. She has served on the School District Construction Oversight Review Committee for seven years and chaired it for the last two and one half years. She has served on three d fferent versions of the Safe School Task Force at the District level and on many other committees and boards. Chair Agee stated that she had formerly believed that librarians were strictly in the library since this is what she had learned when she was in school. She now understands what Ms. Farace brings to the community and to education. VI. Public Audience 1. Ms. Irene Latour- Introduction Ms. Irene Latour stated that she has three children and is a full-time mother. She has an Associates degree in Education and taught pre-school for twelve years. She has a child at Odyssey Middle School, a daughter at Morikami, and another at the Boynton Beach HeadStart School, She volunteers at all three schools and is trying to get a PTA or PTSA going at Odyssey Middle School. Chair Agee met her at the Odyssey SAC meeting and thought Ms. Latour should get involved in the Education Advisory Board. Chair Agee noted her belief that it was good to get parents who had children in the schools to participate in the EAB. 2. Mr. David Fellows FCAT Score Charts David Fellows, former EAB member, distributed copies of some charting he had done on the 9th Grade Math, Reading, and Writing FCAT scores in Palm Beach County. Boynton Beach High School is in the Level 1 Failing Category. He thought that it was important for the EAB to be aware of the school's scholastic status. Business Partnerships for the Schools Mr. Fellows attended the Superintendent's Partners in Education Awards Ceremony recently and was concerned that out of all the schools in Boynton Beach, only four had 2 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 6,2002 nominated business partners. South Tech Community High School has Lennar Homes. Citrus Cove has CiCi's Pizza and Washington Mutual Bank. Galaxy Elementary has BJ's Wholesale Club. Christa McAuliffe Middle School has the Kiwanis Club of Boynton Beach. The Boynton Beach High School, Odyssey Middle School, Forest Park Elementary School, and Rolling Green Elementary School were not listed. Mr. Fellows noted that the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee is made up almost entirely of principals and that there was a tremendous opportunity for the business community to get involved in the local schools. After discussion, the general opinion was that there were definitely other business partners working with the schools; however, the schools might not have submitted the paperwork at all or on time. It was believed that Poinciana Elementary, Odyssey Middle and Boynton Beach High Schools all have business partners, even though they were not represented at the meeting. The role of business partners was discussed and Ms. Lee stated that business partners usually supplement the school's ability to buy the things they need. Also, business volunteers come in to help a school by mentoring, reading, or helping students with math. Ms. Farace asked that someone bring in a copy of an application for business partnerships with the schools at a future meeting so that the application could be taken out into the community to solicit partnerships from businesses. Heart of Boynton Leadership Classes - School Participation Mr. FelloWs indicated that through his association with the INCA Neighborhood Association, he learned of the Leadership Training sessions being given with the Head of Boynton initiative. Mr. Fellows thought that these sessions should have participation from the school personnel, especially those schools in the Heart of Boynton area, to facilitate the following issues: v' Neighborhood- social identity v' Parental involvement · " Volunteer programs · /' Business partnerships with schools -" Church and civic partnerships with schools v' Creation of effective PTAs and SACs v' Bus transportation for Galaxy students living north of the canal v' Sidewalk construction for students walking to school v' Highway signage and marked crossing locations v' School crossing guards ,~ Summer school-based programs for area youth ~' Strong local adVocacy for neighborhood school issues Mr. Fellows thought that having linkages between the schools and the neighborhoods would be very helpful in creating the positive environment needed to support the schools. He thought an additional linkage to address these issues could be created by including representation from the City's Education Advisory Board and the Youth Advisory Board in the Heart of Boynton process. He hoped that the EAB could notify the principals of this opportunity via phone call or note and Ms. Farace offered to give a list of the principals to Dan DeCarlo so he could invite them, if he had not already done so. 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 6,2002 There was some question on the schedule for the leadership classes and whether they were synonymous with the community input sessions or apart from that. Ms. Fellows iterated that her understanding of the reason for bringing this issue up was that the EAB wants the City of Boynton Beach to know from the principals, on a regular basis, what the schools really need. Ms. Fellows asked whether the Chair wanted PTAs and SACs and/or representatives of the EAB to attend the leadership sessions. Chair Agee thought that anyone could go but that the leadership sessions required sign-up ahead of time. Chair Agee thought that the idea was to get the EAB interested in helping the pr ncipa s and t~e SACs get nto the leadership sessions and Mr. Fellows agreed Mr. Fellows believed that elementary school students having to walk from north of the canal to Galaxy Elementary School was still an issue. He spoke to Dr. Debra Robinson of the School Board, who indicated her belief that this was an issue that could still be won. Chair Agee related that she and Virginia Farace represented the EAB, at the request of the City Manager, at a community meeting held at the Hester Center about this and other school issues. The legal issues were discussed and the result was not promising; however, it could still be presented to the School Board as a safety issue. Ms. Farace indicated that she had met with some people in the City on this issue and that the City was actively pursuing the issue and talking to people at the District level. She believed that support from the EAB for the City's effort to have the students bussed would be helpful. Even if sidewalks were put in immediately, the almost two mile walk for elementary school age children would still be a problem. Motion Ms. Fellows moved that the Education Advisory Board support the efforts of the community and the City of Boynton Beach to obtain transportation for the elementary school students who go to Galaxy Elementary School. Ms. Cairo seconded the motion that carried unanimously. Program Concepts for the Elementary School Intervention Program Mr. Fellows circulated a program plan he prepared on this topic to the Board members. A copy of it is attached to the original minutes on file in the office of the City Clerk. The On Campus Intervention Program (OClP) is in its third year at Congress and Christa McAuliffe Middle Schools They are trying to extend the program to Odyssey Middle School and Boynton Beach High School. Both Odyssey and Boynton Beach High School had hundreds of extra students assigned to them, with no increase in staff, so they did not have a teacher available for this program. The program is in a "holding" pattern right now. The School District is looking at creating some ten In School Suspension teachers and if they are approved, the program can get in to Odyssey Middle School and Boynton Beach High School. They have to wait until the budget is appropriated to do a grant proposal to Quantum to pay for South County Mental Health to provide the counselor and mentor for the program. Ms. Fellows asked people to think of anyone who might want to donate money to help keep children in school after suspension. 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 6,2002 Mr. Fellows noted that through the efforts of Assistant Principal Judith Braswell, an altered version of this program is in the concept stage at Poinciana and Galaxy Elementary Schools. It would serve fourth and fifth graders at two local elementary schools serving a common community and feeding into the same middle school having an OClP program (Congress Middle School), which, in turn, feeds the Boynton Beach High School. Chair Agee asked Mr. Fellows to give a presentation on this at another meeting later in the summer. Mr. Fellows was glad to do that but wanted the Commissioners to know that they were trying to get this program going because these schools feed the high school. It is antic 0 will be required to fund the program including a counselor, the intern, a program at Galaxy and Poinciana. They will be going to the Quantum Fou for other sources of funds. Ms. F( )ton Beach is one of the organizations that fund this and so they need to be kept current on the situation. Mr. Fellows noted that once they were able to get a "handle" on student behavior through the OCIP program, there would be more opportunity to impact academic achievement in the classroom, so that the FCAT score performance could be improved. The Board spent some time discussing the FCAT score charts prepared by Mr. Fellows. He stated that the City of Boynton Beach follows the profile of a poor community. Ms. Lee thought this had to do with the boundaries. Mr. Fellows noted that this is why boundaries are so important - that it was necessary to fight for economic diversity for the Boynton Beach schools. VII. Principals Roundtable - Plans and Goals, June 13 The Board discussed logistics and procedure for this meeting. Fifteen schools will be represented at the meeting. The tables will be arranged in a large circle, supporting 35- 40 seats. Ms. Farace indicated that the principals were confirming attendance with Ms. Elizabeth Decker's office, at Ms. Decker's request. Mr. O'Hara mentioned speaking with a principal of a middle school who seemed uncertain about what would happen at this meeting. Ms. Farace commented that all such questions should be directed to Ms. Elizabeth Decker at the School Board. Ms. Farace will contact Ms. Decker about the status of the invitations. Ms. Farace, at the direction of the EAB Chair, designed an invitation that was sent to the Commissioners, the City Manager, the Assistant City Managers, and the Chair of the Chamber of Commerce's Education Committee. Dr. Bell wanted to see participation by the Advisory Board on Children & Youth. Ms. Farace thought that with 15 principals and their associates in attendance, potentially, there might not be room. The meeting is publicly noticed and the public may sit around the perimeter of the room. Ms. Farace noted that receiving an invitation guarantees the recipient to a seat at the table. Chair Agee will telephone the Chair of the Advisory Board on Children & Youth and advise her individually of the meeting. Chair Agee commented on the role of the EAB which was to listen to the principals speak and to gather a list of topics to be considered for the EAB agenda. She believed 5 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 6,2002 that the principals would be looking for ways in which the EAB might help them. Ms. Farace cautioned against making any commitments at the roundtable and that the projects and/or suggestions for assistance from the principals be included on the list of goals that the Board would be considering at its Facilitated Workshop on June 29. Ms. Fellows commented that at a former roundtable, an issue of safety surfaced at Forest Park and the City was able to increase its patrols in the area. She believed that these roundtables were to hear the problems, and bring forth a good response from the City. VIII. Unfinished Business A. Alphabet Soup and "Educationese" Ms. Lee distributed copies of a School Board publication that listed various acronyms used in the area of education. She also provided a list of commonly used acronyms and explained each one to the Board mem~)ers. The Board members shared information on this topic with Ms. Lee moderating the discussion and providing answers to questions. It was agreed that this was a much-needed exercise since there are so many acronyms in use at this time. The entire Board was appreciative of the information Ms. Lee gave them on this subject. The Board also wanted to become more familiar with these acronyms in preparation for the Principals Roundta hie meeting. Setting Goals for the EAB Facilitated Workshop: Vision, Roles, and Responsibilities Chair Agee noted that Judith Braswell would be the facilitator at this workshop on June 29 at 9:00 a.m. The Board will discuss their plans for the upcoming year, based at least in part on the input received from the Principals Roundtable meeting. Chair Agee noted that this would take the place of the EAB's July meeting. All Board members plan to participate in the workshop except Ms. Lee, who might have to send a representative. Chair Agee said that attendance by all the Board members was crucial at this meeting to get the maximum input for the EAB's goals. C. Role of SAC Attendance for EAB Members/Selection of Schools The Board discussed the SAC assignments at the various schools and the following represents the current assignments: Boynton Beach High School Forest Park Elementary Rolling Green Elementary Citrus Cove Elementary Galaxy Elementary South Technical High School Crosspointe Elementary Atlantic High School Odyssey Middle School Royal Palm CongreSs Middle School Freedom Shores Elementary Virginia Farace Beverly Agee Rae Fellows Dr. Floyd Beil Lillian Artis Mark Scott Jean Cairo Jean Cairo Open Revia Lee Randy O,Hara Open 6 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 6,2002 The assignments will be finalized at the June 29 workshop meeting. IX. Galaxy School - Heifer Project International There was a meeting at Galaxy Elementary School on this topic attended by Lillian Artis, who represented the EAB and Commissioner Charlie Fisher, who represented the City. Mr. David Fellows also attended and reported on the meeting for the Board. The third graders were recognized for their efforts to raise funds for this organization and given certificates. Ms. Artis spoke on behalf of the EAB and Commissioner Fisher spoke on behalf of the City. Ms. Fellows gave a special thank you to Ms. Farace and her new administrative assistant, Ms. KriStie Mauro, who made the certificates for this event. All agreed that it was a good example of positive adult feedbaCk for the children. X. New Business After speaking to the general public about their school systems in Maryland, Ms. Fellows said it appeared to her that the bottom line of good scores was money available for the School systems. In one very poor area, she was told that they had poor scores for years until they passed a bond issue and their scores went up dramatically. Chair Agee posed · the question of whether Floridians want to pay for good school systems. Ms. Fellows stated that quality education and safety go hand-in-hand. Ms. Farace commented that the amount of money spent on schools through taxes in this state was much less than in other states. Ms. CairO had copies of the Proposed Elementary Report Card and Chair Agee stated that this could be a topic for the facilitated workshop on June 29, Xl. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (two tapes) (060702) Approved: Chairperson