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Minutes 04-27-00 MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2000 AT 7:00 P.M. pRESENT Shanna St. John, Chairperson Bob Borovy Dorothy Davis (arrived at 7:30 p.m.) Mary Morera Hattie Miller Stephen Waldman, Vice Chair Lori Wilkinson Sherri Claude, Assistant to the Director ALSO PRESENT Commissioner Charlie Fisher Wally Majors, Acting Recreation Director Wayne and Pamela Owens Joseph Higgins ABSENT Amy DeVries, Student Amanda Hollis, Student Steven Kuehn, Student I. CALLTO ORDER Chairperson St. John called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. II. MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairperson St. John called for a moment of silent prayer and requested that Ms. Lori Wilkinson lead the members in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion Vice Chair Waldman moved to approve the Agenda. Motion seconded by Ms. Morera, which carried unanimously. MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion Mr. Borovy moved to approve the minutes of the March 23, 2000 meeting. Motion seconded by Ms. Morera, which carried unanimously. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PRESENTATIONS/CORRESPONDENCE Introduction of new City Liaisons, Wally Majors and Sherri Claude. B. Commissioner Charlie Fisher Chairperson St. John noted that both Commissioner Fisher and Mr. Wally Majors were attending the mock Commission Meeting with the participants of Youth in Government Day and would be joining the meeting later. Chairperson St. John welcomed Ms. Sherri Claude, the Acting City Liaison to the meeting. Charter School of Boynton Beach Wayne & Pamela Owens Chairperson St. John introduced Wayne and Pamela Owens who are in the process of starting up a Charter School in the City of Boynton Beach. Ms. Owens gave a brief background on her professional experience. The Charter School being proposed would be for children from kindergarten through third grade and phasing up to fifth grade and possibly middle school. The proposed school would specialize in computer education and foreign languages, which would include Spanish, French and Japanese. Ms. Owens distributed information to the members on school testing and reducing class size and noted Boynton Beach has schools that are rated C, D or F. Ms. Owens pointed out that not only do students have to be prepared for the standardized tests, but now must be prepared for the State's own testing. Further, Ms. Owens said she has spent a great deal of time looking at software that is available in order to determine what has been effective in helping children learn and increase their knowledge and skills in the areas of math, reading, and writing. Ms. Owens pointed out that the schools are not up-to-date on available software nor how to implement new educational programs. MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 It is also anticipated that the charter school WOULD be an extension of services beyond school, such as counseling, tutoring and establishing collaborative partnerships with various area agencies and businesses for job training, and other identified, needed services. Also distributed to members was a list of items that were needed to get the school up and running. Ms. Woods said that the charter school would be modeling its core curriculum after the A.D. Henderson School at FAU in Boca Raton in the areas of reading, writing, math, social studies and science. Also, the children will be pre-assessed to identify their strengths and needs. Two teachers from Henderson School have volunteered their time to develop the curriculum. Mr. Wayne Owens introduced himself and gave a brief background of his education and work experience. He considers a Charter School in Boynton Beach as a win-win situation, the children have to win and the community has to win. Once the school is up and running it is anticipated that teacher training would be offered in consortium with the public schools in Boynton Beach. The school will also offer job training to enable businesses within the City to find qualified employees from Boynton Beach. To make the school a total consortium it needs the support of local businesses as well as various City committees and agencies. Mr. Owens presented the benefits that the Charter School would bring to the City. They picked Boynton Beach to open their school because Delray Beach, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach already have charter schools. There are none in Boynton Beach and none of the charter schools in Palm Beach County have a specialized curriculum. Vice Chair Waldman inquired how many students did the school anticipate at its start up and Ms. Owens stated 100 students, which is due mostly to the size of the proposed facility. Vice Chair Waldman inquired about the location of the school and Ms. Owens said that the school would be located in a house located north of Woolbright and about two blocks up on the east side of Federal Highway. All classes would have a maximum of 25 children each. There would be a lead teacher in each class, together with an appropriate number of teachers' aides so that each child would receive specialized attention. Vice Chair Waldman inquired what the opening date would be and Ms. Owens responded that they plan on opening in August 2001. Ms. Davis inquired how the children would be recruited for the school. Ms. Owens replied that they would be advertising in local papers, through grass roots MEETING MINUTES r ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 presentations, and contacting various administrators in the schools. It was pointed out that the Charter School is a public school and no one could be turned away and is on a first-come-first-served basis. Special education students must also be accepted. Ms. Wilkinson inquired how the teachers would be recruited and what would be the criteria for a teacher to be selected. Ms. Owens stated that the lead teacher would have to possess at least a Master's Degree and that teachers would be recruited both in and out of State. Ms. Wilkinson further asked what special needs children the school would accept and Ms. Owens stated there were several categories of exceptional student education and the school will provide services to any student with disabilities. Applications from students throughout Palm Beach County must be accepted. Busing students will take place for students who reside outside a 2-mile radius of downtown Boynton Beach. It is hoped that most of the students would be recruited from Boynton Beach. Chairperson St. John thanked the Owens for their informative presentation. B. Commissioner Fisher Chairperson St. John introduced Commissioner Fisher who had been a member of this Board for two years. Commissioner Fisher stated he would be reporting on the Teen Center, the Involvement of this Board with the Center and other items that he has spoken to staff about. Commissioner Fisher reported that the Teen Center is currently in the fact-finding and needs assessment stage. The Advisory Board on Children and Youth will be working with staff to make the assessment and then will present their fact-finding report to the Commission. Once the needs assessment has been completed, a budget analysis and location analysis would have to be prepared. Vice Chair Waldman asked with whom the Board would be working in the City? Commissioner Fisher said that this Board is the main point of contact for the project and it is the responsibility of this Board to come up with the needs assessment utilizing City resources. The Board needs to come up with some kind of timeframe when the analysis would be completed. Other considerations to be included are the programs that would be offered, the amount of staff necessary to run the programs, the needed funding and the location of the building. Mr. Majors also suggested that members of the Recreation and Parks Board would be available to assist in the project. Discussion ensued on establishing an 4 MEETING MINUTES · ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 advisory council, which could be staffed by one or two members of other City boards, as well as citizens of the community. Chairperson St. John suggested planning a workshop to discuss how the Board should proceed. Commissioner Fisher reported on the Capital Improvements Program that the City is initiating. Lastly, Commissioner Fisher stated that he met with Mr. Majors and Mr. Hawkins to request that City staff take over some of the administrative functions that this Board has been doing. For example, the City could keep track of the volunteer hours, which would free up the Board to take on other projects. Chairperson St. John announced that the Board received sponsorship to date as follows: For the Youth Expo $1,900.00 has been received from Washington Mutual Publix has donated $1,000.00 again for the Youth Volunteer Banquet. A $200.00 contribution has been received from the VFW Post. American Legion, Post 164 contributed another $200.00 to the Board. Vice Chair Waldman contributed $25.00 towards the Bob Borovy Student Award. Funds realized from the Green Market were $113.00 and $80.00. Commissioner Fisher has donated the remainder of his campaign fund. Sponsors are still needed. Mr. Borovy said he would follow up with Plastridge Insurance that contributed $500.00 last year and Vice Chair Waldman will follow up with Hunters Run that contributed $1,500.00 last year. Commissioner Fisher inquired if the $1,500 that the City contributed last year is still available and Chairperson St. John said the funds were. Mr. Majors also said it is in the budget for next year. Vice Chair Waldman reported that he corresponded with Mr. Hawkins to determine if any matching City funds would be available for the Bob Borovy Student Award and if the same amount could be budgeted for next year as well. Commissioner Fisher offered to assist with the Board's web site if anything needed to be updated. Vice Chair Waldman inquired if the Boards would be participating in the Commission orientation as it had last year and Commissioner Fisher replied that he would check on that. C. CDF Reports 5 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 Included in the agenda packet. VI. PUBLIC AUDIENCE Mr. Joe Higgins, of 117 S. Seacrest Boulevard said he was present tonight at the request of Mr. Borovy to learn more about the Board. For the benefit of the new Board member, Chairperson St. John requested that everyone introduce himself or herself, which members did. It was noted that there are openings on the Board for two alternates. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Teen Center Chairperson St. John suggested setting the date for the Youth Volunteer Banquet before deciding on a date for the Teen Center Workshop. B. Youth Volunteer Bank Because Concert on the Green has been scheduled for the same night as the Youth Volunteer Banquet, at which all the City officials will be present, a new date needs to be scheduled for the Banquet. Chairperson St. John requested that the Youth Volunteer Banquet be placed on the City's calendar so that these types of conflicts do not occur. The Banquet is a big event and usually 300 or more people attend. After discussion, it was determined to hold the Youth Volunteer Banquet on Friday, May 26, 2000., which is the last day of school, at the Civic Center beginning at 6:00 p.m. Ms. Claude stated that this date would be agreeable and she would arrange to have some staff assistance with setting up. Chairperson St. John will check with the DJ to determine his availability for the new date and Mr. Borovy will inform the caterer of the new date. After discussion, it was determined that the regular Board Meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 25th would still take place in order to go over any last minute items. Teen Center Workshop After discussion, it was decided that the Chairpersons of the Recreation and Parks Board, the Education Advisory Board, and the Community Relations Board should be contacted to request that they send a representative to the workshop. 6 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 It was determined to hold the workshop on Friday, June 2nd at 6:30 p.m. at the Library. Vice Chair Waldman will check on the availability of the Library for that night. Chairperson St. John requested that Ms. Claude send a letter to the Chairpersons of those Boards previously discussed asking them to send one or two representatives to the workshop on the Teen Center. It was noted that only one-third of the youth volunteers have turned in their hours to date and a deadline for submittal of the hours needs to be established. After discussion it was determined that May 5th would be the deadline for turning in volunteer hours. Therefore, invitations to the Banquet will be mailed on May 9th. The RSVP date for the Banquet would be Friday, May 19th. Chairperson St. John said that she still has decorations from last year and the colors are pink and black. The only items needed are tablecloths. The helium tank will be needed to fill the balloons. Signs will have to be made for the sponsors. Chairperson St. John and Ms. Claude are coordinating preparation and framing of the certificates. It was suggested that framing of the certificates could be done during the May 25~ Board meeting. The list of sponsors who have not turned in their sponsorships was reviewed. The members discussed which sponsors they would each contact to determine the status of the funding. Chairperson St. John will contact Cone Law Firm for supplying the ice cream. Members of the Board agreed to each contribute $10.00 again this year. There are enough pins from last year for distribution to the volunteers this year. However, new pins will have to be ordered next year. Bob Borovy Student Award Vice Chair Waldman stated that the award will be a $500 cash award to the winner and to date $475 has been collected. Vice Chair Waldman requested if the Board would like to donate the remaining $25.00 to make the award $500. If the City matches the $500, should it be divided between the second and third place winners or should it be placed aside for next year? It was determined that unless the City matched the funds, only the first place winner would receive the $500. It was suggested in lieu of giving cash that a $1,000 savings bond could be purchased with the $500. Members agreed that if the funds were matched, the second and third place winners would receive $200 each and $100 would be put away for next year's awards. 7 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 Judges for the award to date are Bob Borovy and Ms. Carolyn Sims. Lori Wilkinson agreed to be the third judge. The award will be given out the night of the Banquet. Certificates will be awarded to the second and third place winners. C. CDF Conference Chairperson St. John informed members that her costs are approximately $1,000 in total to attend the CDF Conference. She will prepare a report on the Conference to present to the members. At the last meeting, the request for this Board to offer assistance to the Chairperson to attend this conference was tabled until all Board members could be present. It was noted that last year the Board contributed $250 towards the Chair's expenses. Ms. Davis felt if Chairperson St. John was attending this conference as a representative of the City, that the City should pay for her attendance. Motion Mr. Borovy moved that this Board reimburse Chairperson St. John $250.00 for her attendance to the CDF Conference. Motion seconded by Vice Chair Waldman. Chairperson St. John passed the gavel to Vice Chair Waldman who called for a vote on the motion. The motion carried unanimously with Chairperson St. John abstaining from voting. Ms. Davis requested that Chairperson St. John present the Board with a receipt from the conference for record keeping purposes. D. Commission Presentation Chairperson St. John will keep the Board updated on this. Chairperson St. John suggested that Commissioner Black be invited to attend a meeting. Mr. Borovy will contact Commissioner Black to invite him to the June meeting. Chairperson St. John would also like to invite the new City Manager, Kurt Bressner to attend one of their meetings. E. Bob Borovy Student Award Previously discussed F. Stand for Children Chairperson St. John distributed information she received on the web site, which deals with "turning in your violent toys" and receive certificates from various food MEETING MINUTES ' ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA April 27, 2000 establishments. A request that the Proclamation to be read at one of the Commission meetings in June has been made and Chairperson St. John has purchased the Stand for Children buttons. G. Bowling Tournament Not discussed H. Volunteer Project This year the Board is looking at property near Rolling Green Park for its volunteer project. I. Youth Expo Chairperson St. John reported that one sponsor has donated $1900 and another sponsor is needed. Also, letters need to be sent to the schools before they close advising them that the Youth Expo will be held again in the fall. The dates for the Youth Expo are October 28th and 29th at the Boynton Beach Mall. VIII. NEW BUSINESS Chairperson St. John announced that Palm Beach Community College at the FAU campus will be holding a summer youth college for children ages 8 through 14 and there are volunteer opportunities for children over 14. Literature on this program was distributed to the members. A flyer on the Governor's Point of Light Award that was available at America's Promise was distributed to members. The purpose of this award is to recognize service of excellence in the State of Florida, which could be a person, an organization, adult or student. IX. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Morera moved to adjourn, which was seconded by Mr. Borovy. The meeting properly adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (two tapes) 9