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Minutes 06-12-03 MZNUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAf4 ROOf4, 208 SOUTH SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, 3UNE 12, 2003, AT 6:00 P.M. 'Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Lillian Artis 3ean Cairo Dennis Osborne .loan Pleasants Phyllis Pacilli, Alternate Bhavisha Dhanak, Student Absent Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Kelly Daniels Irene Emmert I. Pledge of Allegiance The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. Chair Agee noted that Ms. Daniels was not appointed in time to come to this meeting and that the absence should not be counted. III. f4inutes Approval - Hay 15, 2003 This item was put on hold until the members had an opportunity to read through the minutes. At the end of the meeting when no one had made any comments about the minutes, Chair Agee approved and signed them. IV. Chair's Report Chair Agee said she had gone to the SAC meeting at South Tech and would discuss that in conjunction with the Liaison's Report. Chair Agee welcomed the new members to the Board and expressed pleasure at the opportunity of working with them. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 12, 2003 The primary goal of the FAB for 2003 is to have a very successful Principal for a Day program. V. City Liaison's Report Safety Issues Ms. Farace reported that in reference to the safety issues at Forest Park and Galaxy Elementary Schools, she had spoken to Chief Gage to reinforce the Board's concerns. Chief Gage advised that signs had gone up and flashing lights had been installed and he felt that the issue had been resolved. In reference to the issue at Crosspointe Elementary, a wall was being extended that would eliminate the problem of the students crossing a canal as a shortcut to school. Ms. Farace spoke about the desired blinking light at Crosspointe Elementary School and reported that according to Chief Gage, Congress Avenue is a County Road and it would be necessary to contact them. Bussinq Elementary School Students The School Board, in response to an accident and a request from Boynton Beach, bussed the students from two of the SACs (School Attendance Code) on the north side of Boynton Beach Boulevard to Forest Park for about a month and a half, but pointed out that the bussing would not continue next year. The School Board just sent a letter to the parents of the students in three SACs north of Boynton Beach Boulevard and east of Seacrest Boulevard, giving them a choice for the 2003-2004 school year of attending a school closer to them. The letter stated that the choice assignment would begin in August of this year and continue until the students reached the fifth grade and that transportation would not be provided to Galaxy or Forest Park Elementary schools. In August of 2004, the students would have the choice to attend Poinciana Magnet School. Two of the three SACs are already in the Preferred SAC area for Poinciana so this would add one additional SAC. The students who are actually "boundaried" to go to Forest Park could choose to go to Galaxy Elementary so they would not have to cross Boynton Beach Boulevard, for example, in future years, they will have the choice of going to Galaxy or Poinciana. it was unknown how this would affect capacity at Poinciana, a matter of concern for the FAB. The use of the term "choice" in the School Board letter brought up the issue of another "choice" issue, the prospect of making all the schools in Boynton Beach "Schools of Choice," in the same way that Riviera Beach did recently. This is another matter that the FAB is tracking quite closely. Ms. Sara Williams, of the Community Family Forum and Friends Network, expressed concern about the students who live north of the canal who would have to start walking Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida .lune ~.2, 2003 to Galaxy again in August. The City was to have put sidewalks in and it was not known whether this work had commenced. Ms. Williams sought the assistance of the FAB to get the School Board to continue the bussing. As a backup plan, the FAB could draft a Resolution asking for the School Board to continue the bussing for another year. Ms. Artis mentioned that the parents wondered why their children could not all go to Poinciana, which is closer to them. Ms. Farace replied that the increase in enrollment at Poinciana that would result from this would cause Poinciana to be a boundaried school and not a magnet school. The City had fought hard for the school to be a magnet school. Ms. Artis stated that the parents in the area had asked that the bussing continue, that the City provide sidewalks, and that the City provide more police visibility in traffic. Ms. Farace noted that sidewalks were not the whole issue. The children are still of elementary age, arising while it is still dark, and traveling almost two miles to school on their own and the parents and the FAB want the children to be bussed. Jn a unanimous hand vote, the Board expressed support for a Resolution to the ~chool Board asking that the bussing continue for the affected SAC~, Ms. Farace will work with the City Manager and the Public Works Director on this issue and report back to the Board. South Technical Community Hiqh School Ms. Farace shared a draft resolution containing the City's urgent request to the School District not to implement its plans of putting alternative schools at the South Tech site, and to allow the school to continue to operate in its current capacity at that location. If the Commission approves the Resolution and signs it, a copy will be forwarded to the School Board of Palm Beach County. She also shared a newspaper article and a document from South Tech on the subject. The Board felt that eliminating South Tech would render a grave disservice to a large portion of the student population who were now thriving under its aegis, and who would very likely become "at risk" without it. Ms. Farace explained that rather than go out of existence, South Tech had applied to become a conversion charter school, with the nearly unanimous support of the parents and teachers at the school and that this would allow the career academies and the conversion charter school to operate side-by- side to provide continuity and support for its students. Zn a unanimous vote, the £ducation Advisory Board formally expressed its overwhelming support for this Resolution. 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida 3une 12, 2003 VI. Public Audience Since there were no members of the public in attendance, the Board members introduced themselves to each other so that they could get acquainted. VII. Principal for a Day Program Iris. Cairo gave a Powerpoint presentation to the Board about the Principal for a Day program. She reported that the students at South Tech in the TV Production area would videotape the Principal for a Day (PFAD) event and their Computer Graphics department would assist in the making of a program/poster that could be used as an invitation to participate. The Powerpoint presentation is on a compact disc that can be taken to various individuals and used as a recruiting tool to generate enthusiasm for the program. The Board gave Ms. Cairo some feedback about the content of the presentation such as having animated graphics, white text on blue, and having "bulleted items" come in one at a time for easier reading and retention. The Board was quite impressed with the CD and Ms. Cairo's efforts to date! Ms. Cairo asked for help with finding a company to print the programs that would be designed by South Tech. She also asked for help from the Board members in providing items for the Gift Bags to be given to the PFAD participants. She reminded everyone to obtain names and addresses of donors so that they could be recognized in the program. The gifts may be in many forms, including gift certificates and percentage off coupons. The Board discussed possible venues for the event and considered the Holiday Inn on Congress Avenue as a location for the Kickoff Breakfast. Ms. Cairo shared her dedicated email address for this project: jcairopfadchair@wmconnect.com. She asked that all Board members come out to support the event and solicit the help of their neighbors and friends as well. Ms..layne Kupperman, a member of the Community Relations Board in the City and Literacy Resource teacher for the Palm Beach County School District, offered to inquire about the possibility of the 1TV television station on Congress Avenue videotaping the Town Meeting portion of the event. In the School District, Ms. Kupperman coordinates services for adult literacy for the County and had just purchased a large block of adult education programming, much of which is geared for those for whom English is a second language. The station operates 24 hours a day and Ns. Kupperman thought the City might wish to make community service announcements. The 1TV Station Nanager is Ms..~udy Garcia. A Committee meeting was set for .luly 9 at 6 p.m. at the Library to discuss the PFAD program. Chair Agee explained the Sunshine Law for the benefit of the new Board members. 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 12, 2003 Chair Agee asked for a motion from the Board to allow her to sign the Trademark License Agreement with the City of New York for the use of the PENCIL trademark and name. She referred interested Board members to www.pencil.org for background on the PFAD project. Motion Ms. Pleasants moved to authorize the Board Chair to sign the Pencil Trademark License Agreement. Ms. Pacilli seconded the motion that carried unanimously. The Board gave enthusiastic kudos to Ms. Cairo for the prodigious amount of work she had done on the program thus far. VIII. FCAT The Board discussed this and agreed to table this item until the July 29, 2003 meeting. The Board members will be prepared with their comments and input at that meeting. IX. Boundary Update Ms. Farace stated that the Committee had decided to take Atlantic High School out of the boundary mix for this year since it was not scheduled to come on line for two more years. Instead, they are focusing on the Boca and northern schools. While nothing seems to be pending that would affect Boynton Beach High School, when the public input session that would include this school is scheduled, Ms. Farace will alert the Board members. X. SAC Report~ - This topic was not addressed but written reports are submitted as applicable. XI, Unfinished Business Ms. Farace invited the Board members to a public meeting to participate in the discussions about the Library expansion on June 14 at 2:00 p.m. in the Program Room. XII. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:00 p.m. 5 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida June 12, 2003 Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (062303) Approved: Board Chair 6