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Minutes 08-21-03 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY, 208 SOUTH SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2003 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Jean Cairo, Vice Chair Lillian Artis Kelly Daniels Irene Emmert Dennis Osborne Joan Pleasants Phyllis Pacilli, Alternate Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent Bhavisha Dhanak I. Pledge Chairperson Agee called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Because of the absence of the American Flag in the mini-conference room, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was omitted. The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. II1. Minutes: June 12, 2003 Motion Ms. Pacilli moved to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Vice Chair Cairo and unanimously carried. Chairperson Agee signed the minutes and they were placed in the file. IV. Chair's Report Chairperson Agee reported that the focus of the Board will be Principal for a Day and the FCAT. Both items were on the agenda and will be discussed in that order. Chairperson Agee distributed a newspaper article regarding Principals' duties that she thought would be helpful in planning Principal for a Day. She reported that there was a sub-committee meeting in July to prepare Principal for a Day that is scheduled for November 13th. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2003 Chairperson Agee had asked Ms. Farace to arrange for a presentation to the City Commission to invite them to the town meeting that is scheduled to be held sometime between 11:30 and 12 o'clock noon on November 13th. Chairperson Agee will be appearing before the Commission at their September 16 meeting with the invitation. She requested that all members be present to make the presentation. The Commission Meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall in Commission Chambers. V. City Liaison's Report Ms. Farace reported that Boynton Beach High School has located a student who would be serving on this Board. Ms. Farace noted that there had been discussions about preparing a resolution in support of continued busing to Forest Park School. She stated that she received an email from Chief Gage, who informed her that there were 36 crossing guards throughout the City, two of which have double posts. Because there are more crossing guards, she has not prepared a resolution. With regard to the future of South Technical High School, it appears that South Tech will be remaining. The Superintendent of Schools at the School Board retreat told the Board Members that he was withdrawing his recommendation that Delray Full Service Center move to South Technical. This will now clear the conversion of South Tech to a charter school. Superintendent Johnson was recommending this change because the costs of shifting the Delray Full Service Center to South Technical would be excessive. Ms. Farace stated that there were newspaper articles to this effect in both the Palm Beach Post and the Sun-SentineL Ms. Farace asked the Board how they wished to proceed with the resolution regarding the busing. Ms. Pacilli stated that since the crossing guards have doubled in number, she felt that things have greatly improved and suggested just sending a letter at this point and to monitor the situation. If the problem is not resolved in a month or two, then the Board could prepare a resolution. Ms. Artis said that she went to the school recently and traffic appeared to be moving a lot slower and she did note the presence of a crossing guard where the children cross the street. Members agreed that a letter to the Transportation Director of the School District would suffice at this point and that Forest Park, Galaxy and Crosspointe Schools should be mentioned. Ms. Farace also requested that a copy of the letter be sent to Police Chief Gage. Chairperson Agee said that she would follow through on preparing the letter. Chairperson Agee introduced new Board Member, Kelly Daniels, who has lived in the City for eight years. She is a former teacher at Carver Middle School and was active with the Delray Beach Educational Board while she was teaching there. She has accepted a new position at Forest Hill High School as the lB Coordinator and also teaches at Palm Beach Community College. Chairperson Agee welcomed Ms. Daniels and members introduced themselves. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2003 Mr. and Mrs. Lew (Harriet) Doctor, past president of COWBRA, joined the meeting. Mrs. Doctor stated they were present tonight as a result of the Boynton Leadership class that she and Mr. Doctor are attending. Ms. Farace reported that the City has set up an account for Principal for a Day and they are now able to accept donations and to pay for things. Vice Chair Cairo inquired how the checks should be written and was informed they should be made payable to "Education Advisory Board/City of Boynton Beach." VI. Public Audience Mrs. Doctor spoke briefly about her background as a teacher and stated that she specialized in special education. VII. FCAT Chairperson Agee noted that this Board has spent several months discussing the FCAT and has been considering presenting a resolution to the School Board that this Board is concerned about FCAT. Board Member Pleasants has been working on this project and Chairperson Agee asked her to give an update of her progress. Ms. Pleasants said that she prepared a two-page resolution that she was unable to print off her computer. She had intended to bring the resolution to the Board tonight to review. Members did not think it would be appropriate to vote on the resolution without being able to see it, and Ms. Farace suggested waiting until next month's meeting. Ms. Farace requested that Ms. Pleasants email the resolution to her and she in turn would email it to the Board members. Ms. Farace requested that Board members furnish their email addresses to her. Ms. Pleasants was asked to give an overview of what she included in the resolution. The following are the salient points of the resolution: · That individual student's performance is being used to grade the schools and award monetary bonuses to the teachers, which causes undue pressure on the students, · That a one-time test is being used to determine student grade promotion and does not take into account any variables that may affect the students' performance on the day of the test. · Schools in affluent areas are able to raise funds to provide tutoring to assist their students to do well on the test; whereas schools that are in poorer communities are at a disadvantage to improve their scores. · Schools and teachers are being forced to teach only to the test in order to raise grades or keep a good grade. 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2003 · The resolution concluded that the Education Advisory Board recommended that the test be used for diagnostic purposes and not for the purpose of evaluating a school and giving a school grade. · The test is being used to evaluate a student's achievement for the entire school curriculum, yet the test is given two and one-half to three months prior to the end of the school year. Ms. Pleasants ended the resolution with a statement that the Education Advisory Board believes that the FCAT prevents students from obtaining their right to receive a good and well-rounded education. Ms. Pleasants would like to get input from the Board in order to finalize the resolution. Members discussed the repercussions of the FCAT test at length. Ms. Pacilli felt that adequate progress needed to be addressed and she would like to see this in the resolution. Ms. Pleasants suggested that a subcommittee could be formed to meet, review, and provide input in order to finalize the resolution. After that, the resolution could be voted upon at the September 18th regular meeting. It was decided that a subcommittee would meet on Monday, September 8th at 6:30 p.m. at the Library. Ms. Farace requested that the City Clerk post the notice of the subcommittee meeting. Ms. Farace inquired if the resolution would also address the national" No Child Left Behind" Program. Chairperson Agee stated that she would like to focus on FCAT. Ms. Farace noted that there are also problems with this program as well and she would not like to see FCAT abandoned and replaced by "No Child Left Behind." Vice Chair Cairo remembered that the past President of the Banyan Creek SAC was very well versed on the "No Child Left Behind" issues and she would like to contact him and ask him to attend the meeting. Ms. Doctor said that she could obtain the name for Ms. Cairo so that she could contact him. Ms. Daniels stated that her former supervisor of the district is working on "No Child Left Behind" and she would be willing to contact her to see if she could also attend the meeting. If she were not able to attend, members requested that she provide the Board with a resource on the program. VIII. Principal for a Day Program Vice Chair Cairo gave a brief background of the Principal for a Day Program that was founded in New York City about 10 years ago. It is a program that partners business people with the public school system. This is the third year that Delray Beach will be presenting the program, which will take place on the same day that Boynton Beach holds their day, which is November 13th. The group is called PENCIL, which is an acronym for Public Education Needs Civic Involvement and Learning. The premise Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2003 behind this is to create business partnerships with schools for funding and to get the businesses to donate computers and resources. The program also assists in creating a dialogue between principals and business leaders. The program will last for half-day and what transpires depends upon what the principal of that particular school arranges. It could be an assembly, the businessperson could just observe the classroom or read to the students. After the school portion of the day, a town meeting is held that includes the City Commission and Mayor. The media will also be invited and if the program is successful, it could become an annual event. Vice Chair Cairo had a large display that she presented that provided a collage of what has transpired to date in getting the program started. Invitations have been sent to all the principals and to businesspeople, who were requested to furnish a small biography. When all the information is received, a businessperson will be matched with a principal. To date, two principals have responded and follow up letters have been sent to the others. Vice Chair Cairo stated that Forest Park and the Charter School have responded and the principals that have been invited to participate are from only those schools that have students from the City. Vice Chair Cairo noted that she still needed items for the gift bags for the businessperson that participates. She said that she did receive several calls from business people who indicated that they were interested in participating. Vice Chair Cairo has also had a member of the Chamber of Commerce that offered to serve breakfast at his facility, which is located at Congress Avenue and Hypoluxo Road, and she will keep the Board apprised of this. The breakfast would be held on a different date from the Principal for a Day date. Vice Chair Cairo reported that she received a call from Larry Taylor who owns the South Florida Magic Company store, who offered to perform a magic show and she will be speaking with him as well. He also would like to be a "principal for a day." She has been speaking with the owner of Specialty Advertising in Boynton Beach and she would like her to partner with South Tech that has committed to designing the program to possibly doing a videotape. Also, Diana Johnson stated that she was definitely interested in participating. Ms. Pleasants stated that she might be able to get a bag of cookies that could be included in the gift bags. Chairperson Agee has notepads that she could donate for the gift bags. Chairperson Agee stated that 580 invitations were sent out to business people, who are members of the Chamber of Commerce and she anticipates that there will be a lot of people that would be responding. Chairperson ^gee reported on the results of locating a place for the lunch. She is actually looking for a place that would serve a light lunch because a sit down lunch would be too expensive. It was suggested that Chairperson 5 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2003 Agee contact the Holiday Inn and the Holiday Inn Express. Vice Chair Cairo pointed out that the place would have to be large enough to hold between 60 to 90 people for the town meeting. It was suggested that Boynton Beach High School's auditorium would be a good place, since it was a school and donated food could be brought in. Vice Chair Cairo said that if she did not hear from the principals in the very near future, she would start calling their administrative assistants. Doug Dennison contacted Vice Chair Cairo and stated that he would be glad to promote the Principal for a Day on his radio program. She also asked for his assistance to locate someone to cover the event. Chairperson Agee also noted that they needed a master of ceremonies and invitations were sent out to some people to see if they would like to be an M.C. Vice Chair Cairo stated that she had a contact at the Sun Sentinel and will contact her to see if she could cover the event. Chairperson Agee pointed out that on the day of the program, she was not certain who would be the Mayor on that date, since the election is scheduled for November 4t~. She would still like to have Mayor Broening present because he has been very supportive of the Education Advisory Board. Members suggested that the outgoing and the incoming Mayors both be invited to participate. IX. Boundary Update Ms. Farace reported that a boundary input meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 25th at the West Boynton Community Civic Center at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Doctor provided directions. Ms. Farace presented a map of the boundaries that would be discussed. The high school boundaries have been broken down into three parts; southern Palm Beach County, which is west of Boca Raton; the new Atlantic High School; and the West Boynton Beach High School. The new boundaries will affect the new Boynton Beach High School and then could change again when the Delray Beach High School boundaries are addressed. Ms. Farace wished to discuss the effect that the new West Boynton Beach High School would have upon the new Boynton Beach High School. The new boundary will become Jog Road that would encompass most of the western community. These new boundaries are of concern to the Boynton Beach High School and Santaluces High School SACs. The new boundaries will create schools that would not be diverse. Currently the Boynton Beach High School is 51% black and this could change to 75% with the new boundaries; whereas the new West Boynton High School would become 95% white. Ms. Farace noted that the schools are now becoming non-diverse, both racially and economically. This same scenario has taken place among the elementary schools in the City with the schools becoming more non-diverse economically. Ms. Farace encouraged Board members to attend the meeting on August 25th since this Board's concern has been economic diversity in the schools. She pointed out that 6 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2003 Forest Hills will now offer the lB Magnet Program and Lake Worth High School will also be having these programs. There will be a lot of academies offered in the western school; whereas Boynton Beach and Santaluces have no specialties to attract students. The School Board is waiting to gain input from the public as to how they feel about the new boundaries. Ms. Farace felt that there was a need for the academies at the new west high school because many students had to be turned away from South Tech because there was no room. The new high schools being built will have academies that will offer a trade or skill so that students that graduate from the academies can join the work force. Ms. Farace inquired if there has been any discussion at COWBRA regarding the boundaries and Mr. Doctor stated the education board was disbanded and there has been no discussion. Ms. Farace reported that 1,142 students from Santaluces, 175 students from Boynton Beach High School and 750 from career academies would make up the student population of the new west high school. Mr. Doctor felt that this would destroy the sports program at Santaluces. Chairperson Agee inquired if any member wanted to attend the meeting on behalf of the Education Advisory Board. Ms. Farace stated that Board members could either speak on their own behalf or on behalf of the Board. Ms. Farace announced that Sarah Williams has been appointed to the boundaries committee. Chairperson Agee asked if the Board wished to make a statement regarding economic diversity. Ms. Pleasants asked what the economic diversity would be at the new high school and Ms. Farace noted that the School District does not do racial profiling. They track students through the "free and reduced lunch program." There was a consensus that Chairperson Agee would attend the meeting to speak on behalf of the Education Advisory Board. The Education Advisory Board believes strongly that economic diversity is very important in setting up the boundaries. Ms. Pleasants pointed out that schools are being awarded money based upon their FCAT scores; therefore, the schools that perform better receive more funds and the poorer performing schools receive less, which does not make sense. Ms. Artis pointed out that when children are sent to schools far away from their homes, parents tend to participate a lot less. X. SAC Reports (in writing if possible) Chairperson Agee noted that next month members should be bringing in their written SAC reports. 7 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 21, 2003 Xl. Unfinished Business After discussion, it was determined that the next regularly scheduled meeting will be held on Thursday, September 18, 2003 at 6:00 p.m. The Resolution will be ready for approval at that meeting. Ms. Farace made the following announcements: There is a new bookstore in Boynton Beach called Past Perfect Florida History and is located in the shopping center on Ocean Avenue near Scheurer's Chocolates. Next Wednesday night, Author Eliot Klineberg, a reporter at the Palm Beach Post will be at the store to sign his book "The Black Cloud, the Great Florida Hurricane of 1928" at 8:00 p.m. They anticipate bringing more local authors to the area. The Children's Schoolhouse Museum will be holding a Trunk Show on Monday, September 15th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will be various exhibits and some of the proceeds raised will be going to the Children's Schoolhouse Museum. The Library will be hosting another public input meeting on Tuesday, August 26th at 1:00 p.m. The architect will be making a presentation on what the Library would look like. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary Approved: ~. y gee, (~airp~on (September 3, 2003) 8