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Minutes 01-09-03MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, 208 SOUTH SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2003 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Lillian Artis Jean Cairo Irene C. Latour Rae A. Fellows, Alternate Joan W. Pleasants, Alternate Altagrace Medastin, Student Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent Dr. Floyd M. Beil I. Pledge of Allegiance Chairperson Agee called the meeting to order and members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. Chairperson Agee introduced Altagrace Medastin, the new student member on the Board, who is in the senior class at Boynton Beach High School. Ms. Farace introduced Ms. Janet Meeks, the Education Advisory Board Liaison for the City of Delray Beach. II1. Approval of Minutes - December 5, 2002 Chairperson Agee approved and signed the November 7, 2002 and December 5, 2002 meeting minutes, which were placed on file. IV. Chair's Report Chairperson Agee reported on the following: 1. The Board is in need of new members. There are two vacancies that need to be filled, in addition to one more student member. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2003 2. Randy O'Hara resigned from the Board, and Chairperson Agee read his resignation letter. 3. Revia Lee was removed due to four absences. Chairperson Agee will try to contact Ms. Lee and ask her to reapply. 4. Various newspaper articles related to educational issues were reviewed, discussed and distributed. 5. The allegations of racism at Congress Middle School, as discussed in the newspapers. The School Board conducted an investigation headed by a retired superintendent. The findings in the report, which were distributed, indicate that the students are not unhappy with the School; it was the faculty that was unhappy. There appears to be one bully on the faculty causing the problems. Chairperson Agee felt that this was an issue that should be handled by the School Board and not this Board. 6. On Monday night Chairperson Agee and Ms. Farace attended a meeting of the American Association of University Women and the speaker was the Operations Manager for the Center for Creative Education who discussed "Project LEAP." Chairperson Agree explained how this program worked where regular classes (i.e. math, science, reading, etc.) are taught by artists and musicians. This is something the Board could look into next year to implement in the local schools. The organization is funded by grants and the artists work for and are paid by the school systems. 7. As a result of Randy O'Hara's resignation, there will not be a Board member on the Congress Middle School SAC. Ms. Fellows responded that Mr. Fellows attends those meetings regularly and can provide the written reports to the Board until Mr. O'Hara is replaced. V. City Liaison's Report Ms. Farace reported on the following: A request has been made to the City to set up a website for the Education Advisory Board. The site address will be eab@ci.boynton- beach.fi.us. People utilizing the site will be able to communicate either by telephone or email. Ms. Farace and Kristin Swanson will be the only ones authorized to check the mailbox. Distributed a flyer advertising the 14th Annual Benefit Luncheon for the Boynton Beach City Library that will feature local mystery writer Les Standiford. The event is scheduled for Monday, February 17, 2003 at Benvenuto's Restaurant beginning at 12 noon, which is President's Day and a holiday. Ms. Farace noted that the author's most recent work is a story about the building of the Flagler Railroad entitled The Last Train to Paradise, and is a fascinating book. Everyone was encouraged to attend. 2 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2003 VI. Public Audience VII. Resource Guest - Janet Meeks Ms. Janet Meeks noted that she has worked for the City of Delray Beach for almost 13 years and has been the fulltime Education Coordinator for the City for two years. Delray Beach initiated a program called "Principal for A Day" that originated in New York State where over 1,700 schools participate. This is a wonderful program that builds business partnerships with the schools. The organization that started the program is called PENCIL that stands for "Public Education in Civic Involvement and Learning." Ms. Meeks explained how she contacted the organization that furnished her all the necessary material to start the program in Delray Beach, which she shared with the members. Ms. Meeks described how she and Mr. Shelly Weil, Chairman of the Delray Beach Education Board, went out into the community to speak with the principals and various CEOs to introduce the program. Once the connection was made between a CEO and a particular school, it was then the principal's responsibility to keep the CEO involved with the Program. "The Principal for A Day" (PFAD) is normally held in November and most funds for the event are donated. Ms. Meeks distributed the booklet that was utilized that explained what the program is about and what is expected of the PFADs. Ms. Meeks stressed that it is very important to try to recruit the highest person in the company to participate. She also said that it was crucial to have people in the wings because there are always last minute cancellations. Ms. Meeks explained that getting the program going requires a groat deal of work, including calling and visiting each CEO personally. Mr. Weil personally handled this. A video is shown to the CEO that explains what the day is about. Ms. Meeks offered to bring the video to an EAB meeting. It is also important that the CEO remain connected with the school throughout the year by involving him in school programs and inviting him to visit with the school. A survey is sent to each school principal asking them for their input and then you try to match the CEO with what the school is looking for. Some CEOs requested a particular school and preferred to deal with public schools as opposed to private and/or parochial schools. It is also important when the day is over to send thank you letters to the CEOs and to keep in touch with them. Chairperson Agee said that the EAB would like to join forces with the Delray Beach EAB and offer the Program on the same day and utilize the same 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2003 material. Mr. Cairo is heading the subcommittee for PENCIL and is totally familiar with the material furnished by the organization in New York State. Chairperson Agee inquired if Boca Raton would be participating as well, and Ms. Meeks will check into this. Ms. Farace inquired about the timelines. Ms. Meeks noted that there were timelines in the original book, but they did not really adhere to them. The first thing Delray Beach did was to visit the principals and show them the tape. It is very important that the principals buy into the Program. Ms. Meeks also pointed out that they received approval from the Area 1 Superintendent, who was already familiar with the program. They also spoke with Superintendent Art Johnson to make sure that the day would be available so that everyone could participate. Superintendent Johnson is very enthusiastic about the Program and has been their guest speaker for the past two years. Ms. Meeks suggested that Area 2 Superintendent Decker be contacted and to invite Ms. Shetler as well, who can speak about how successful the program was. Ms. Farace noted that she has already spoken to Ms. Decker about the program. It was tentatively agreed that Thursday, November 13th would be the day that the program would take place Immediately following the PFAD, a town meeting is held, which is attended by the school principals and the CEOS, City Commissioners and other luminaries. Also, a keynote speaker needs to be invited. There was discussion on whether it would be beneficial for the town meeting to be held at a central location and attended by both cities. The Delray Beach town meeting had been held at the Marriott. Chairperson Agee thought that Benvenuto's would be an appropriate location for the town meeting. After discussion, it was determined that the town meetings should be held separately. Chairperson Agree noted that the Board needs to determine whether to include private, parochial and western schools. Ms. Cairo inquired how many invitations should be sent out to come up with the required number of CEOs. Ms. Meeks stated that initially they contacted 20 people. Those not selected were sent a thank you letter for their willingness to participate. Ms. Meeks suggested contacting the Chamber of Commerce for the names of people involved in local businesses. Chairperson Agee recommended that the City Commission be apprised of the program. Ms. Meeks pointed out that they were required to sign a contract with New York in order to present the program, which was approved by the City Commission. The contract does not involve any money and is merely a formality to allow them to use the name. 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL January9,2003 Chairperson Agee noted that the first thing they need to do is to speak with the Area Superintendents, Superintendent Johnson and the school principals between now and March. Ms. Meeks also suggested that the CEOs be contacted as soon as possible. Ms. Meeks also suggested that photos be taken during the event, which is good publicity. Ms. Farace thought that the same booklet could be utilized and only a few pages would have to be changed, which Ms. Meeks agreed to. Ms. Meeks also thought that it would be a good idea if Mr. Weil accompanied the Board members when they first visit the CEOs to see how he handles the meetings. Ms. Meeks requested that she be advised when the meetings have been set up so that Mr. Weil could attend. Ms. Cairo recommended that when members attend the next SAC meetings they discuss the program with the principals. Ms. Meeks also suggested asking the principals if they had any particular businessperson they would like to invite. Chairperson Agee asked Ms. Meeks if she could give the Board a brief update on the boundary issue. Ms. Meeks responded that she was not involved in the boundary issue this past year. She noted that the final adoption of the boundaries would take place on Monday, January 13th. Ms. Meeks can be reached by telephone at 243-7231 or by email at meeksi@ci.delray-beach.fl.us. Chairperson Agee thanked Ms. Meeks for her assistance. Ms. Meeks also reported on Stiggens, which is a program designed to get more parental involvement with the schools. It is anticipated that there will be additional training for this program in the spring. Chairperson Agee informed Ms. Meeks that at the last Principals' Roundtable the principals pointed out that there was a great need for volunteers. VIII. Volunteer Committee Chairperson Agee reported that they received many calls regarding volunteering, and it will be necessary for members to go out to the various communities to speak to these people. It was noted that Ms. Cairo was the only member who showed up for the December sub-committee meeting and that Ms. Cairo cannot handle both the PFAD Program and the Volunteer Program without assistance. Chairperson Agee stated that the members of the Volunteer Committee are Rae Fellows, Chairperson; Lillian Artis; Jean Cairo and Joan Pleasants. Ms. Fellows reported that she did not attend the December meeting because she was ill. Chairperson Agee noted that at least one additional person is needed to assist with the PFAD Committee. Ms. Latour said that she would work with Ms. Cairo. 5 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL January9,2003 Ms. Cairo reported that she called the people that contacted her regarding volunteering and now these people need to be introduced to the school volunteer coordinators. Ms. Cairo said that she was able to connect some people with schools, but there are many others that still need to be connected to a school. She spoke to a resident of Hunters Run that indicated there are many people in that community that would like to volunteer and she would like to schedule a meeting to get this off the ground. She indicated that most of those residents would like to work with Crosspointe since that school is located near their community. Ms. Farace suggested inviting Shelly Parpard, the School Volunteer Coordinator for the School District, to work with the Board. A Board member and Ms. Parpard could then attend various community meetings. Ms. Farace offered to speak with Ms. Parpard and have her contact the sub-committee members. Some of the communities that were to be contacted were Leisureville, Hunters Run, Village Royale on the Green and Quail Run. Chairperson Agee stressed that it is important that the meetings be set up this month. Ms. Fellows requested that she be removed as chair of the sub-committee, but she would like to remain as a sub-committee member. Chairperson Agee noted that the Board is short some members and it is difficult for the remaining members to participate on all these sub-committees. Ms. Cairo agreed to work with Ms. Fellows on the Volunteer Sub-committee until such time as new members come onboard to help. Ms. Cairo pointed out that members were to come back with the names of five communities that they would be contacting. Ms. Pleasants said that since she is on the Crosspointe SAC she would be willing to speak to the people that would like to volunteer at that School. It was decided that it was not necessary to have a chair and that the four persons on the committee would work together. Ms. Pleasants indicated that she would contact Almy Levy at Hunters Run who was anxious to volunteer. Her telephone number is 736-5119. Ms. Cairo noted that Ms. Parpard should also attend the meeting, as well as the volunteer coordinator from Crosspointe School. Ms. Medastin inquired if high school students could also be volunteers and noted that there are many students at the High School that have done volunteer work. Chairperson Agee requested that members contact the communities this week to find out the dates of their next meetings. Ms. Farace reiterated that she would contact Ms. Parpard. 6 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2003 Misses Cairo, Fellows, Artis and Pleasants were furnished with a list of neighborhood associations supplied by Ms. Farace that contained the contact person of each community and the telephone number. Ms. Fellows reported that the Board could utilize the United Way Bulletin Board to recruit volunteers at no cost. Ms. Fellows has a contact person at the United Way that she could speak to. Chairperson Agee welcomed Mr. David Fellows. Ms. Cairo reported that she viewed a television program recently entitled "Teach for America." The Program involves young people graduating from college who commit two years to teach in Iow socio-economic areas. Ms. Cairo researched the Program on the Internet and found out that a school or district could apply for teachers to come into the area to teach. Ms. Cairo reminded the members that the School District recently held a job fair and noted that there were many teachers needed. She thought that this Program could work well in Boynton Beach. Many of the teachers who go into the communities choose to stay and make it a career to teach in those areas. Ms. Cairo urged members to go to the website at "Teach for America.org" to see what they have to offer. Chairperson Agee thought that this could be something that the Board could bring to the attention of the School Board. The sub-committee members for the Volunteer Committee were requested when contacting the communities on their list to obtain the following information: Who the president of the association is. Their telephone number. The location of their meetings. When and at what time they meet. Would they be interested in seeing a presentation on volunteerism? Because there may be some overlap in dates, they will be contacted with a definite date. IX. Principal for a Day Program Previously discussed X. Boundary Update Previously discussed Xl. SAC Reports Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL January 9, 2003 None Xl. Unfinished Business Ms. Cairo requested that there be some place designated where articles regarding the EAB could be kept for viewing. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 6th at 6:00 p.m. There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (two tapes) Approved: Chairperson (December 10, 2003) 8