Loading...
Minutes 09-01-05 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, 208 SOUTH SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1,2005, AT 6:15 P.M. Present: Jean Cairo, Chair Floyd M. Beil, Vice Chair Susan Buchanan Melinda Mallon Marlene Ross (arrv'd. 6:46 p.m.) Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent: Patricia Lashley Christine G. Moeller Anthony Gaspard 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. and self-introductions were made. Chair Cairo welcomed the new board member, Susan Buchanan and two visitors: Ethel Randolph, new principal of Poinciana Elementary School, and Maria Ferreira, a student from South Technical Community High School who was interested in joining the board. Ms. Ferreira is in the Computer Technology academy. Ms. Buchanan is a former public school educator and currently a part-time teacher at Palm Beach Community College. Another recent addition to the board, Marlene Figueroa Ross, works at WXEL as the Director of Education and Outreach. Ms. Ross is a broadcasting professional. 11. Roll Call The Recording Secretary called the roll and declared that a quorum was present. 111. Minutes of June 2, 2005 The minutes were approved as written. IV. Public Audience Ethel Randolph, new principal of Poinciana Elementary School, greeted the board and spoke about her school. The fifth grade class is spearheading a drive to collect donations for hurricane relief in the Gulf Coast area. Also, Mr. Ira Kiosk, a volunteer at Poinciana, won a State award for volunteering at Poinciana. This year, he has an assistant and they are teaching chess to the kindergarten and one of the first grade classes. According to Ms. Randolph, research shows students who participate in chess do better in school, as it develops their critical thinking skills. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 1, 2005 On the night before this meeting, poinciana held its first of many scheduled stargazing events, assembling in the courtyard at 8 p.m. to view Jupiter and the stars. Each month, Poinciana chooses a "Scientist of the Month" and a "Mathematician of the Month" from each class. On September 21, 2005 at 8:30 a.m., a breakfast will be held to honor these students and Ms. Randolph invited the EAB board members to attend. The safety patrols are excitedly getting ready for their annual trip to Washington, D.C. Ms. Farace mentioned the CRA's plans to put wireless broadband Internet access into the CRA area and it is hoped that one of the locations for this will be the tower located at Poinciana Elementary School. More information should be coming to the school on this. The CRA is going to try to supply computers with wireless cards so the students can take them home and access them. Ms. Randolph was pleased to hear this good news. V. Chair's Report Chair Cairo opted to replace this report with the Principal for a Day discussion. VI. City Liaison's Report Ms. Farace announced publication of a book that is part of the series, Imaaes of America _ Boynton Beach. This publication was produced as a joint effort of Rev. Randall Gill, a local minister, and Janet DeVries, historical archivist at the City Library. The cost of the book is $19.95 and when purchased at the Library or the Children's Museum, the Children's Museum realizes the greatest profit. Ms. Farace encouraged the board members to talk this up among their friends and neighbors. The book is available at local bookstores, Ace Hardware, City Hall, City Hall in the Mall, and other City facilities. A flier has been placed in the Chamber of Commerce directory and Ms. Buchanan will ask the Chamber about putting it in their newsletter that goes out to about 25K people. Update on School District 5-Year Caoital Plan A subcommittee meeting was held in place of the August meeting on this subject and from this, a recommendation was sent to the City. Ms. Farace distributed a copy of the letter and recommendation and read the following: "The District should start the Galaxy modernization earlier than 2010 and that money needs to be added for Citrus Cove to enlarge the media center and cafeteria to accommodate the additional classrooms being added. " Ms. Farace distributed the letter Mayor Taylor wrote to the School District in response to the recommendation. The letter focused on the Galaxy modernization. This information formed the basis of a presentation made by Marlene Ross at the School Board Workshop for the 5-Year Plan. Ms. Farace expressed appreciation to Ms. Ross for 2 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 1, 2005 her participation. Ms. Ross stated that a local resident, Donald Bryant, accompanied her and spoke as a grandparent, not mentioning the fact that he had recently donated $10K to Galaxy Elementary. She felt it was important for the District to see and hear from Boynton Beach, and that the School Board did hear what she had to say. VII. Principal's Roundtable Chair Cairo asked Ms. Farace for an update on the condition of the old Atlantic High School and how the students would be accommodated. Ms. Farace said part of it was going to be an alternative school and part of it would house an elementary school. It was being brought to a usable condition as a temporary school. Rolling Green and Forest Park would both move into and out of it. After that, it may get torn down to become a middle school of the arts - it was not yet on the 5-Year plan. When the new Congress Middle School is ready in 2006, Barton Elementary will use the existing building. Ms. Farace commented on how wonderful it was to see that some of the older coastal schools were finally going to be replaced, even though it would not be complete for six years. Chair Cairo asked if there were plans to expand the size of schools like Rolling Green in light of the classroom size reduction mandate. Ms. Farace stated this was in the 5-Year Plan, but she had not analyzed it. It appeared to Chair Cairo that with all the development underway in the City, it seemed that more space would be needed in the schools. Ms. Farace said that Art Whitman, a demographer at the School District, knew all the details of what had been approved, when the schools were coming on line, and hat age groups were in what developments; so far, his forecasts had been quite accurate about the number of students to be expected. The classroom size restriction is hampering the District. The District was trying to hold to a formula of 750 students per school (for elementary schools) instead of the former 900. Chair Cairo asked Ms. Farace to try to arrange for Mr. Whitman to make a presentation to the EAB on the demographics in Boynton Beach on a date of his choice. The board discussed the minutes of the Principal's Roundtable meeting on June 22, 2005. Ms. Farace asked that her E-mail address be corrected as follows: farace v@poomail.firn.edu. Ms. Farace pointed out that there is an underscore between the "e" in farace and the "v" before @, but the underscore disappears once the hyperlink is completed. Ms. Farace asked that a copy of the corrected minutes be sent to her on the day following this meeting and she would mail them to the principals. The minutes of the June 22, 2005 Principal's Roundtable meeting were approved as amended. The consensus was that the Principal's Roundtable was very successful and also that it should take place more often, at least twice a year. The principals welcomed the opportunity to share their comments and concerns with the EAB. Motion Dr. Beil moved to start having the regular EAB meetings at the schools. Ms. Mallon seconded the motion. 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 1, 2005 Ms. Farace asked for a commitment from the board members to attend all meetings, but especially meetings held at the area schools. It would prove very embarrassing if they were unable to conduct any business due to lack of a quorum. Chair Cairo expressed a positive expectation that the current board was going to honor their commitments for attendance. Everyone agreed that attendance is a key aspect of membership on the EAB. Dr. Beil suggested contacting the principals to determine which schools would be interested in hosting an EAB meeting and what dates would be convenient. They principals would be given a list of the normal EAB meeting dates. The feeling was that if the board had too much business to meet at a school, the dates might have to be adjusted. At the request of Ms. Buchanan, Dr. Beil amended his motion to say the EAB would approach all the principals with a list of EAB meeting dates and an offer to meet at their schools if they so desired, asking them to select the best date for their purposes. After the responses have been received, Ms. Farace will speak with the Board Chair to decide how to proceed from there. They discussed the guidelines, such as "no refreshments, "do not plan a program," and so forth. All agreed that a tour of the school should be included. The tour would be from 6:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. The consensus was that the letter should convey that the EAB wanted to become familiar with their school and would enjoy a tour, to be followed by a regular business meeting, to which they were invited. Chair Cairo thought it would be nice to meet the Volunteer Coordinator or SAC President, for example. Conveying the idea that a presentation was not necessary might make the principal feel freer to sit down with the EAB and outline their particular wants/needs/problems. Several people mentioned that the principals had encouraged the EAB to come to their schools during the recent Principal's Roundtable in June. Ms. Randolph invited the EAB to Poinciana Elementary for their meeting on Thursday, November 3, 2005, the day after the Principal for a Day meeting. The tour will be at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 6: 15 p.m. Chair Cairo asked what follow up work was being done as a result of the Principal's Roundtable meeting and whether any issues needed to be revisited. Ms. Farace mentioned that at the Principal's Roundtable, Area Superintendent Schetler expressed disappointment over the Chamber's dissolution of its Education Advisory Board. She was pleased the Chamber had recommended that Ms. Buchanan, a Chamber member, apply for membership on the board. Dr. Beil summarized the three main topics at the Principal's Roundtable as better communication between the principals, the need for the EAB to go out to the schools and become involved with them, and Volunteerism. All agreed that when the EAB finds out what needs the schools have, it would be easier to facilitate them. 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida september 1, 2005 Since the plincipals asked to meet more than once a year, Chair Cairo suggested sending them a letter expressing the EAB's willingneSS to accommodate their suggestion of meeting more than once a year and asking them for their preferences for dates and times. Some thought that Ms. Carole Shetler, Area supelintendent, should choose the day. VIII. Principal for a Day Chair Cairo declared that the EAB was in its third year of participation with the Principal for a Day (PFD) program, a program where businesses in the area become the principal for a day at a Boynton Beach School and hopefully partner with the schools. The goal is to create from this partnering a long-lasting, positive relationship for the school and the business partner. The need for the principals to come to the event with a list of needs in hand was vitally important. Dr. Beil believed this had been made clear at the Plincipai's Roundtable in June. Chair Cairo wanted to see a folder with the school's name on it saying something like: "Here are the things we really need, if you are interested." For example, "We need reading books for the kindergarteners to accomplish "X" goal." The business partner could look at this list and say, "I like that program, here's a check. Put the program in place." As a businessperson herself, she gets a lot of requests for donations but is more inclined to donate when the request is in writing and states clearly what the requested donation is for. Principal for a Day is meant to create positive relationships and bring to light the many excellent programs in the Boynton Beach schools. Chair Cairo directed the new board members to the Web site where the entire program is explained in detail: www.oencil.orq. Chair Cairo then gave each board member two invitations to potential business partners/principals for a day and asked each board member to search for and invite two promising business partners. She reminded them that the business partner should be the Chief Executive Officer or President of an organization so the person who could actually write the check to help the school would be the one involved in the program. The invitations have Chair Cairo's name, phone number, and Email address on them. The logistics of the event were discussed. The keynote speaker, Don Bryant, had committed to speak. A place was needed for breakfast and lunch. The breakfast is typically held the month before to give the business partners and principals an opportunity to get to know one another before the PFD event. There were usually about 50 people at the breakfast and the lunch/town hall meeting on the day of the PFD. The continental breakfast and lunch are usually donated. Some venues under consideration were: Boynton Beach High School, Ellie's Diner, Cypress Creek Country Club, and the Schoolhouse Museum. Someone suggested that South Tech provided a good breakfast. The Country Club is out of the City limits, but it was very nice and a Chamber member there might be willing to donate the breakfast. The Schoolhouse Museum would be a nice place to have the breakfast and although everyone could not meet in one room, the mini-theater would make an ideal place for the discussion portion. This would help the museum by introducing 25/50 more people to its features and would not cost anything 5 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 1, 2005 except the food, drinks, and paper goods for the breakfast. After more discussion, the board decided to have the breakfast at the Schoolhouse Museum. The Museum could be set up the night before after 5 p.m. and cold drinks could be brought in the morning of the breakfast. Dr. Beil and Ms. Mallon will set the museum up at 7:00 a.m. on the day of the breakfast. Ms. Ross said in her travels to PBS functions throughout the country, museums were almost always the hosts. The board members were asked to solicit donations for the gift bags. Ms. Moeller is the point person for collecting the gift bags and assembling them, but some help was still needed. The idea is to get a few really nice gifts instead of coupons, pens, or key rings. Twenty-five gift bags will be made up so each donation has to be in multiples of 25. Dr. Beil noted that his chiropractic practice usually donated a half hour massage, but only one person had ever redeemed the coupon. Ms. Farace declared the Library would supply the gift bags again. For the previous PFD, Einstein Bagels donated coffee cups and the Woolbright Farmer's Market donated apples, for example. Chair Cairo will send a copy of a letter the members would use for seeking donations for the gift bags to Ms. Farace, who would forward it to the board members. Ms. Farace will prepare a letter of invitation to the Mayor and Commissioners. She will also prepare the certificates for the business partners. Chair Cairo has a program on a disk to print the programs for the event. Staples donated the printing of the program last year and she will approach them again. She will also arrange for the printing of the posters. Ms. Buchanan suggested that the Palm Beach Post was very helpful about such things as printing programs, especially since it was connected to education and was for a relatively small number of programs. Dr. Beil will have a poster contest at Survivor Charter School with the name and date of the event, mention of sponsorship by the EAB, and something "creative." The posters are displayed in the Library, City Hall in the Mall, City Hall, all City facilities, and in every school. Ms. Ross stated WXEL would work with the video from the previous PFD if it were dubbed to mini-DV or Beta format, DVD, and Dr. Beil will take it to South Tech to see if they were able to do this. Ms. Ross was willing to do the press release for the event and will try to get some media coverage for the day of the event. Ms. Ross will fax the press release out through WXEL's Creative Services Department and will also send it to Ms. Farace for further distribution. She offered to arrange it if anyone from the EAB wished to talk about the program on WXEL's Florida Forum radio program. Chair Cairo volunteered. IX. SAC Assignments Ms. Farace distributed the current roster of schools with the board member commitments. Dr. Beil felt the schools having no representatives from the board should be asked to fax their SAC reports to Ms. Farace for distribution to the board. It was noted that South Tech was not on the list. Board members should express their interest in commitment to attend a particular SAC to Ms. Farace directly. 6 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida september 1, 2005 X. New Business None XI. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the board. the meeting was duiy adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, S.~ ~' ~t'l11 I Susan Collins Recording Secretary (090705) 7