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Minutes 12-04-03MTNUTES OF THE EDUCATZON ADVZSORY BOARD REGULAR MEETZNG HELD IN THE LIBRARY, 208 SOUTH SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2003 AT 6:00 P.M. Present Beverly Agee, Chairperson Jean Cairo, Vice Chair Lillian Artis Dennis Osborne Joan Pleasants Dr. Floyd M. Beil, Alternate Phyllis Pacilli, Alternate (art~veal 7:30 p.m.) Absent Kelly Daniels Irene Emmert Bhavisha Dhanak, Student Kyle Dencker, Student Pledge/Welcome Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Chair Agee called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and the Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The meeting was late in starting because the Board was waiting for a quorum. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. III. Minutes, November 6, 2003 There were no corrections to the minutes. IV. None V. Public Audience Chair's Report Chair Agee heard that the Principal for a Day event was very successful and she was looking forward to hearing more about it. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida December 4, 2003 1) Literacy Initiative - Dr. Shirley Wanzer-Payne, Assistant Principal of Carver Middle School in Delray Beach Chair Agee related that Dr. Wanzer-Payne is promoting a literacy program where children in the summer camps in Boynton Beach and Delray Beach would read during the 1/2 hour at each end of the day that was now being wasted. She asked Chair Agee to bring this to the attention of the Boynton Beach EAB. Dr. Wanzer-Payne feels that between the end of school in the spring and its startup in the fall, a lot of reading skill is lost. This program would help to keep reading skills up between school sessions. Ms. Farace stated that this was the main reason that libraries had summer literacy programs. Dr. Wanzer-Payne wants to work with the Recreation & Parks Department on this issue. Ms. 3anet Meeks, the City Liaison for the Delray Beach EAB, and Dr. Wanzer-Payne are meeting on December 12 and invited interested people on the Board to attend. The Board decided to let Ms. Meeks tell the Board about it during the joint Boynton Beach/Delray Beach EAB meeting on .lanuary 8, 6:00 p.m., at the Library. There were several questions about the program, but the Board will wait for the details at the .lanuary meeting. 2) Capital Improvement Proiect Workshop Chair Agee advised that the City Commission would be having a meeting on December 19 at 9:00 a.m. in Conference Room C to discuss ways to fund the projects that the recent bond issue would have funded, if it had passed. Commissioner Ensler asked the Boards to re-state their priorities. The Board stated that the EAB had come out in favor of the bond issue but since it did not pass, the EAB still believes that an expanded library and Art Center are essential for the cause of education in the City. Motion Dr. Bell moved to list the EAB's capital improvement project priorities as follows: 1) expansion of the Library, and 2) expansion of the Art Center. The motion was duly seconded and passed unanimously. VZ. City Liaison Report Ms. Farace commented that the agenda for the January 8 meeting would contain the Literacy program for summer camps and the South Florida Parenting Block Party. She initially said that Principal for a Day would be covered at the same meeting, but the Board decided to have a committee meeting prior to presentation to the Board. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida December 4, 2003 Resolutions to City Commission for December 16, 2003 Meeting: Galaxy Modernization and FCAT Opposition Ms. Farace distributed copies of two Resolutions that the EAB had prepared to be forwarded to the City Commission with a request for ratification and presentation to the School Board. The EAB acted on the FCAT Resolution at its November meeting. (1) Galaxy Elementary Modernization Chair Agee read a letter from Mayor Taylor to Dr. Art Johnson at the School Board in support of modernization for Galaxy Elementary. Ms. Farace presented the details of a memorandum from Mr. Joseph Moore, Chief Operating Officer at the School Board, on this topic. Mr. Moore's letter is on file in the City Clerk's Office. The members signed the Resolution. Ms. Farace advised the Board of the December 8 School Board meeting at 4:00 p.m., where the Modernization list will be considered. She asked for representation from the Board. The feeling was that if the EAB could achieve getting Galaxy on the list to be done in the next five years, it would have done something worthwhile. Notion Mr. Osborne moved that the City of Boynton Beach Education Advisory Board recommends that the City Commission adopt the EAB's Resolution requesting that Galaxy Elementary School be added to the modernization list and then present the Resolution to the School Board. Ms. Pleasants seconded the motion that carried unanimously. (2) FCAT Opposition This Resolution was adopted and signed at the November 2003 meeting. It is being forwarded along with the Galaxy Elementary Resolution to the City Commission. Class Size Reduction Ms. Farace advised that this would also be part of the School Board's agenda for the December 8 meeting. They are proposing that 21 classrooms be added to Boynton Beach High School, possibly on the properties to the north of the school towards Gateway Boulevard, and this is something that Boynton Beach High School needs. Ms. Farace gave a School Board update to the members including the District's construction and modernization plans. Santaluces and Boynton Beach High Schools are interested in becoming career academies/magnets for the performing and fine arts. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida December 4, 2003 Bus Tour of Area Schools - Dr. Beil Dr. Beil expressed great interest in having a bus take the Board members around to get a closer look at the area schools. Several people agreed that this would be very helpful. > Delray Full Service Center/Village Academy/South Tech The other issue the School Board will be discussing on December 8 is what to do about the Village Academy secondary school. The School Board has provided photos of the Academy and the Delray Full Service Center (DFSC) and a drawing of how they could fit either DFSC or the Village Academy on the South Tech property. A lengthy discussion ensued about the advisability or lack thereof of moving other schools onto the South Tech property. Some were in favor of it, some were not, and some wanted more information. Ms. Farace asked for representation from the Board at the meeting. She stated that the FAB was already on record as supporting the conversion charter at South Tech and she believed it might be appropriate to have a recommendation expressing opposition to placing anything else on the South Tech property. Motion Ms. Pacilli moved that the Education Advisory Board is supportive of South Technical Community High School retaining its real estate as long as they plan to use it for growth and expansion. Mr. Osborne seconded the motion that carried 6-1, Ms. Artis dissenting. There was some feeling that this item should go on the agenda for the January meeting, allowing Delray Beach FAB to tell the Boynton Beach FAB what the benefits would be of moving the DFSC and Village Academy to Boynton Beach. Ms. Artis stated that DFSC serves students from Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. VZI. Principal for a Day Program IVls. Shelley Parpard, Volunteer Coordinator for the School Board, is planning a recognition program on December l0 at the School Board at 4:30 p.m. for all the cities that did the Principal for a Day program. Ms. Farace faxed Ms. Parpard a list of the businesses and schools that took part, especially praising Ms. Cairo's contribution to the Boynton Beach event. Ms. Farace hoped that there could be a recognition feature at a City Commission meeting in the future, perhaps showing the video as well. Ms. Cairo had hoped to have time to discuss the FAB's performance on PFD, including what it did, how it did it, and how it could be made better in the future. She thought Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida December 4, 2003 that the event was a big success, but that they could have done better in the area of publicity. The Board will have to decide whether they are going to do it again and if they do, Ms. Cairo felt that everyone's role had to be delineated ahead of time. Also, the people who sign up to take a responsibility must be 100% committed to the program. Everyone's presence is needed on the day of the event, for example. The PFD Subcommittee decided to meet on January 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Library, and report about it at the February regular EAB meeting. VIII. New Business Quorum The Board discussed the importance of having a quorum at its monthly meetings. It was felt that it would be appropriate to call Ms. Farace's secretary, Heather, at 742- 6380 to report absence or plans to be late. The EAB, by Ordinance, requires five people for a quorum. Announcements Ms. Farace announced two events that were fund-raisers for the Library and of possible interest to the membership: 1) Barnes & Noble Friends of the Library promotion on December 6, and 2) an Evening of Books and Wine on December 12 at the Library. Ms. Farace distributed free tickets to the second event. IX. Adjournment The meeting was duly adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (121503) 5