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Minutes 02-02-01MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, FEBRUARY 02, 2001 AT 6:00 P.M., BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT Also Present Diana Tedtmann, Chair Judith Braswell, Alternate Rae Fellows Concepcion Galdos Arlene Greenberg Dorothy Howard Revia Lee ABSENT Michael Hazlett Aly Gore, Student Caroline Roter, Student Rosalind Murray, Alternate Virginia Farace, Education Advisory Board Liaison (A global change to make Dr. Cornel Dr. CorD_nell was made to these minutes - S. Collins 4/5/01) PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Diana Tedtmann called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Chair Tedtmann welcomed the visitors, including Dr. Walter Cornell, Principal of the new Boynton Beach Community High School, David Fellows, former Board member, and Lisa Hoffman from Galaxy Elementary School. The Board introduced themselves to the visitors. II. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll and it was declared that a quorum was present. III. MINUTES APPROVAL The following corrections were made to the minutes of the January 11, 2001 meeting: Change name from Fleschman to Bleshman on Page 3; change Citrus Creek to Citrus Cove also on page 3; and change Sand Castle to San Castle on page 4. There were no further corrections, additions or deletions to the minutes and Chair Tedtmann declared that the minutes were accepted as amended. IV. CHAIR'S REPORT Chair Tedtmann announced that there wou d be a very brief business meeting to allow as much time as possible for Dr. Cornell's presentation and the question and answer session to follow. Meeting Minutes ~ Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1,2001 1. Chair Tedtmann met with the new Boynton Beach Charter School members the previous week. She said they were trying to house their new school in the building recently vacated by the State of Florida Emission Control station on High Ridge Road and that their curriculum plan had been established 2. The City hosted a wonderful dinner at Benvenuto for the Advisory Boards. At the dinner, the City Commission gave special notice to three Advisory Boards for their extremely hard work, especially addressing only one, the Education Advisory Board. 3. Chair Tedtmann and Ms. Farace attended a meeting of the Community Family Forum and Friends Network to discuss boundaries. At the meeting, Dr. Johnson addressed his plans for the school district. 4. Chair Tedtmann advised of a letter from Dr. Johnson that was apparently in response to the Board's request for a gifted program at Galaxy Elementary School. The letter stated that parent meetings were held and the gifted plans had been distributed to schools as of December 21, 2000. Chair Tedtmann stated this item would be addressed at the Board's upcoming workshop. 5. Chair Tedtmann read another letter from Mayor Broening soliciting Board participation in the upcoming American Heart Association Walk on Saturday, February 24 at Motorola in Quantum Park, with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m., and the walk beginning at 8:30 a.m. The City's goal is $10,000 this year and the walk is three miles long. Chair Tedtmann asked all interested parties to see her after the meeting. V. CITY LIAISON REPORT Ms. Virginia Farace, Education Advisory Board Liaison, stated that Commissioner Fisher had authored a draft resolution that would formalize an ongoing dialogue between the City of Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and COBWRA. The draft resolution was to be discussed at the City Commission meeting on Tuesday, February 6 at 6:30 p.m. in Chambers. Ms. Farace asked for Board members to attend and also asked that the Board discuss the issue and come to a consensus or motion at this meeting that they could take forward to the City Commission meeting. Chair Tedtmann read the draft resolution as a basis for the Board's discussion. Ms. Farace explained that Commissioner Fisher believed that the Education Advisory Board needed direction from the Commission in order to go forward to meet with the other cities. She explained to him that they had already met with other City Boards and had done so for many years. She said they planned to attend an exploratory meeting on February 21. The Education Advisory Board would then bring a recommendation back to the Commission for its consideration. She told Commissioner Fisher that a Resolution at this point directing the Board in a certain airection with COBWRA or other entities might not be the best way to proceed. 2 Meeting Minutes -~ Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1,2001 Chair Tedtmann said she had spoken with Commissioner Fisher, advising him of the meeting the EAB planned to attend on February 21 with Boca Raton and Delray Beach. She explained that the purpose of attending was not to take action but to bring back information to their respective cities and share with each other. She commented that the Education Advisory Board had been meeting with the other City Boards for some years now and that as far as COBWRA was concerned, they had been unable to even exchange Board members at their respective meetings. Chair Tedtmann also told Commissioner Fisher that if a Coalition were to be formed, the Education Advisory Board had decided that there would have to be two coalitions. One coalition would be the Greater Boynton Beach area, which would address Boynton issues, and the other would cover the coastal cities of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach. Chair Tedtmann believed that the idea of formalizing the relationships between the Cities might be a good idea but that it would have to be preceded by discussions between the cities in order to discuss the ways in which the groups might work together. A recommendation could be brought to the City Commission when the various groups had come to some kind of mutual agreement on the possibilities and aims of such an alliance. Ms. Braswell felt that the size of the territory taken in by the proposed Task Force was inordinately large, covering quite diverse economic and geographic factors; and that she did not support it. Ms. Fellows agreed, expressing concern about the proposed alliance due to the recent opposition from COBWRA on the boundary issue. Also, she did not see how the Boynton Beach coastal school area could properly represent the two areas since their needs and populations were so different. It was felt that the needs of the East Boynton Beach area needed to be established first. Further discussion would be necessary to find issues in common. It was also felt that sitting down and talking was a different matter than having a formal coalition. The Board also discussed the fact that the resolution did not allow for the notice to and acceptance of the various concerned parties that a coalition was necessary and/or desirable. The Board questioned whether the Task Force would be in lieu of the Education Advisory Board? This question remained unanswered. CommissiOner Fisher's perceived motives in drafting the resolution were appreciated, and seen .as his way of putting the power of the City Commission behind the Education Advisory Board (EAB) as it went forth to meet the educational challenges of the area. However, the Board's consensus was that,further groundwork was necessary before such an alliance could be formed. It was believed that the resolution mandated a direction r~ather than allowing the EAB to first see what would work and then go to the CommissiOn with a recommendation, asking for their support at that time. Motion Ms. Fellows made a motion that the Board send a message to the City Commission that the Education Advisory Board would like the resolution to be tabled pending the Education!Advisory Board's recommendation to the Commission. Ms. Galdos seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 3 Meeting Minutes - Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1,2001 Strategic Initiatives Ms. Farace mentioned her request from the last meeting to work with the City's strategic plan. She had asked the Board members to replace the document they had received with the minutes with the one she distributed at this meeting on the City's strategic initiatives. The initiative that included the Education Advisory Board by name was 6.8, Teen Center. Also, there was another general one about the relationship of advisory boards to the City Commission in general. She asked the Board members to familiarize themselves with the document and bring it with them to their Planning Workshop on March 1. Meetings Ms. Farace said the EAB would be going to a Tri-City meeting on February 21 at 6:00 p.m. at Old School Square and all were invited. Ms. Fellows and Dr. Cornell agreed to attend. The Goal Setting Workshop scheduled for February 10, 2001 in the Library Program Room at 9:00 a.m. had to be rescheduled since so many people were unable to attend. All agreed attendance was vital and the Board selected March 1, at 4:15 p.m. in the Library Program Room as the day and time that would assure the largest number of Board members in attendance. V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Boundaries Chair Tedtmann stated that representatives of the EAB had attended the boundary meeting at the School Board. The boundaries for the high school were set as presented at their last meeting. The middle school boundaries had some changes made down in the Boca/Delray area and that was not finalized and will be the subject of a meeting on February 26 at the School Board. Chair Tedtmann said the EAB should attend the meeting to lend support. Ms. Farace thanked all of the members of the City Commission and Messrs. Bressner and Hawkins for their steadfast support on the boundary issues. Ms. Farace also thanked David Fellows for his participation and comments at all the boundary meetings, saying that his comments had been really helpful and to the point. Ms. Farace said that at the end of the last boundaries meeting, staff came up to her and told her that having the Commissioners and the Mayor there, speaking about what was occurring, had made a big difference. She passed this on to the to the Commission and thanked them. At the end of the boundary meeting, Vice Mayor Weiland said, "We are compromising. We accept it. You know that we are not happy with the high school boundary. This is a big compromise for us and we would like you now to honor the boundaries you agreed to last time for the middle schools and not change that any further." 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1, 2001 Ms. Fellows said she felt that Boynton Beach had proven itself over and over again as being supportive of excellence in education. Ms. Farace introduced the guest speaker, saying that all of this support had brought Boynton Beach an outstanding educator in Dr. Walter Cornell, Principal of the new high school in Boynton Beach. Dr. Walter Cornell, Principal of the new Boynton Beach Community High School, said itwas a pleasure to be at this meeting and that it was a pleasure to start a school from the ground up. He said it gave him a wonderful, unique opportunity to set the tenor and culture of the school. The premises he intended to infuse into everything done at the high school were dignity, respect and personal responsibility. That was not just a student issue but one that would govern all interpersonal discussions between administration and teachers, teachers and students, members of the faculty and the bus drivers, custodians, and cafeteria workers. They all play an important role in making sure that the culture of the school is of a particular tenor. What adults model, students pick up. Dr. Cornell said that high schools were a microcosm containing three "A" programs: Academic, Athletic, and Artistic. The school will have a music department, a theater department, and an arts department. They have a dance studio with a wooden floor and mirrored walls in the gymnasium. There will be a full range of opportunities for the children of Boynton Beach both during the day and at after-school activities, clubs, and sports. The evening program will include presentations by the students to showcase their talents and skills. The instructional program will include honors and advanced courses, advanced placement courses, dual enrollment with local universities, and programs for exceptional student education. It will also include programs for the students who have English as a second language. Dr. Cornell envisioned a Thomas Jefferson type of school in that they would be a public school, welcoming everyone who walked in their door. He hoped they would all come with open hearts and minds and a willingness to learn. He said that if the students would give the school their time and talents, the school would help them develop those talents. They plan a full spectrum of offerings since not all students want to go to college. They will provide threads throughout the curriculum that tie things together so that if a person chooses not to go to college, he or she would have a set of skills he or she could demonstrate when they left high school. They plan to make electronic portfolios for all the students to give them, along with diplomas, when they leave school. They will burn into compact discs exemplary images and materials of things the students have done. If a person writes a composition on Hamlet, delivers a speech, does a solo in band, scores the winning touchdown, or does something noteworthy, the images will be digitized and put on the CD. Aisc, prior to graduation they would like to see all students write their five basic beliefs. This is something they can look back on and say, "That is what I thought was important then." The CD's and this written record will provide a way to indicate growth over time. 5 Meeting Minutes ' ..~ Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1, 2001 As far as opportunities for students, aside from athletics, academics, and extracurricular activities, they had talked to the Marines about a ROTC program. They have applied for it but were presently on a waiting list. Legislation is pending that would increase the number of schools that can have ROTC programs and this should help when passed. Dr. Cornell stated they were working with TYCO Industries to have some opportunities for mentoring programs for students. They were also working with another group called Inroads who work with predominantly minority students and will guarantee tuition for college if the students keep a certain grade point average and achieve a certain score on the ACTs. It also required public service and that they go into an intern type of program where they would be paid and evaluated by their employer. A preliminary meeting was set up With Motorola but the education consultant there had changed and Motorola was in a state of flux. They were also talking to Florida Atlantic University about getting some engineering mentorships going with students who were juniors and having seniors in college come to talk to the high school students. They also discussed using the Florida Atlantic University professors on a visiting basis. Dr. Cornell stated that they expected to have about 2100 students the first year. In the upcoming year the projected enrollment was 2578, including seniors. They planned to meet with Atlantic High School and Santaluces about the issue of faculty transition. They were losing almost 1100 children and 1600 children, respectively, so they will also lose faculty. The teacher's contract has a provision covering the opening of new schools. One of those rules was that one-third of the instructional staff would come from the schools that were heavily impacted and that would be Santaluces and Atlantic. Another third would come from people he selected from anywhere in the world. Dr. Cornell was actively talking to people from universities and in other counties and states, looking for qualified personnel. The last third would come from the end result of the overall people in the district. If there were any other excess procedures or modifications to enrollment at any other school as a function of the boundary changes and they involved a high school teacher who had been in place for three years in the district, they were entitled to a job. They were actively looking for people and in a couple of weeks would begin the process of selecting individual teachers. At the end of November in 2000, they advertised for the department Chairpersons for Math, English, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Physical Education, Music, and all of the departments. They received quite a few resumes and letters of intent. They were interviewing all applicants and asking all the candidates the same questions so there would be no undue advantage to anyone. They were telling the candidates that they were looking for a community of educators dedicated to providing the best opportunities for all students without limited expectations for a student because they came from a poor family, a single-parent family, or any other racial or cultural groups. Dr. Cornell did not believe that any of these factors were indicators of success or lack of success among school children. He also strongly believed in public education and was trying to recruit educators with similar beliefs. Dr. Cornell wanted the school to become a world-class 6 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1, 2001 school. As part of that, everyone on the team had to have high expectations of the students on campus and some way to demonstrate to the parents that the school had quality programs to offer their children. Ms. Farace said that the biggest question she was being asked was "How will those students who have gone through the magnet feeder of Poinciana and Congress Middle be included in something at the high school level?" Dr. Cornell said they would have a full range of opportunities to take advanced honors and advanced placement courses which were the same kind of courses offered at the magnet schools. He was sure they would be able to find niches for most, if not all, of the students and he did not think this would be a problem. Ms. Farace said that an example would be someone who chose to go to a magnet school like Congress but was not in the boundaries for the new high school. Would they have an opportunity to choose or could something be set up to allow them to finish what they had been calling the Boynton Math/Science/Technology Program? Dr. Cornell said he would look into it. Ms. Farace said it would probably involve a handful of students but that it was a concern of the Education Advisory Board and she asked Dr. Comeil to let the EAB know if there was something it could do to assist those students. Dr. Cornell said he was very aware of the EAB's desire to see this happen and that he had heard the same thing from many parents also. Chair Tedtmann asked if there would be any classes offered at Boynton Beach Community High School that could not be taken at Atlantic or Santaluces? Dr. Comell said that the only schools that had the right to offer exclusive courses were magnet programs. They could not offer exclusive programs per se. They were attempting to get a program dealing in information technology that was a blend of science, technology and computers, but he could not guarantee that until it was in place. Ms. Farace said that the EAB needed to be a little proactive in making sure there were some paths to continue what had been started at Poinciana and Congress. They knew the high school was not going to be a magnet. They did not ask that it be a magnet. The community said it did not want a full magnet school. These students have gone to school together and it was a matter of continuing that relationship. Dr. Cornell said he would call the magnet school office and see if they could make some provision for students in that particular scenario. Normally, if you choose to go to another school that is out of boundaries, you have to apply for an exemption and it is usually given for medical reasons. He understood that if there were a curricular program where they could say, "this is for the students who went through the Poinciana/Congress system"; it would be ideal. He said he would have to work on it. Ms. Farace asked Dr. Cornell to let the EAB know if it could help, through the Board or through the City. She said that the feeder system had been a big issue and she expected it would continue to be an issue for maintaining the Congress Middle School magnet for the students there. She was already hearing parents say, "Why should I hang out here when I am not going to be able to do the next step?" Chair Tedtmann said the Board knew the magnet programs were as expanded as they were going to be but they were thinking about a curriculum emphasis rather than a magnet and that the high school could offer those courses that would allow for a logical extension of the base built up from elementary and 7 Meeting Minutes --, Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1, 2001 middle schools. David Fellows said that the new high school being able to continue the math/science continuum was really important for Congress Middle School. Dr. Cornell mentioned the possibility of having high school students mentor to the elementary schools as another bridge to keep a pathway between programs. Ms. Farace asked Dr. Cornell if he had been successful with getting the community school designation? He replied that they had applied and were awaiting the answer. They should know by February 14. Dr. Cornell said they would be busy furnishing the school and unloading and distributing supplies in the coming months.. He hoped to be open in the summer when some students could be asked to come in and volunteer to move books around. The parents and Youth Council may also be called on for help. Connie Galdos asked Dr. Cornell if high school students were asked to do a certain amount of community service hours? Dr. Comell said you could get a ¼ of a credi! towards social studies for doing community service hours. The state was trying to mandate this. He personally thought it was appropriate to instill the idea in children that as part of the community, everyone needed to contribute in some manner. He wanted to see the high school students show up in large numbers at things like the Heart Walk so they could see that this was something that was important to everyone. Ms. Galdos thought the middle school Principals could suggest that their students come to the high school to help out over the summer, using community service as the rationale. Dr. Cornell said they would be going to the feeder schools to register students in the month of April and he said he would talk to the Principals at that time. Ms. Fellows mentioned that at Congress they were having a hard time with the hard core students and that it took so long to get them into the alternative schools. She asked Dr. Cornell what he would do with the students who caused trouble? Dr. Cornell said he had dealt with alternative issues when he was Principal at Omni Middle School. A meeting was held with Mrs. Decker and the area Principals and they were told that this process was being streamlined and that it should get better. They have more slots available but the district did not want to fill all the positions in the alternative programs in the first semester because towards the end of school, the students may need an alternative place to go. He was aware of the frustrations and the Principals were all trying to deal with it. Ms. Hoffman mentioned that there were some people who were frustrated because they had spent two years at their schools and wanted to stay there but were within the boundary of the new high school. She asked if there would be any way for the students who had spent two years at Santaluces or Atlantic and were in sports or band and wanted to stay at their schools to swap with the students who wanted to go to the new school? Dr. Cornell did not know if it was feasible either and at what point one would have to say that there were too many to swap. Parents would say "How come your child got swapped and mine didn't? .... I live closer than you and I wasn't swapped?" It opens a series of cascading problems. The senior rule says that if you put in your time [or three years at a school, we are not going to take you away from the school in your senior year. 8 Meeting Minutes .... Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1, 2001 The seniors will remain at the school.. The students now in tenth grade, next year's eleventh grade students, can finish two years at the school and have some allegiance to the new schOol. Students are usually resilient. Sometimes life is not fair and you do not get to go where you want to go. Dr. Cornell said there was a form in every school that could be filled out to request a change of school, and it may be worth taking the time to go through the process in certain instances. Ms. Hoffman said she was told that it would be unlikely that very many people would be allowed to change schools. Ms. Farace said that until they saw how many had filed, no one would know that answer. She also said that some students were looking at it differently and were excited that they had an opportunity to be on the football team for example, since there were not so many people ahead of them. They were going to have great opportunities because of this. The same thing went for music or for any of the other departments. This was the other side of the issue. Dr. Cornell reiterated his pleasure at working with the Education Advisory Board, the Chamber of Commerce, the parents and the students in the area. He perceived it as just the beginning of a cooperative venture for all. The Board thanked Dr. Cornell for attending the meeting and sharing his plans and ideas. Community Forum to Introduce Boynton Beach High School Ms. Farace mentioned that the Education Advisory Board would be hosting a Community Forum in order to introduce Dr. Cornell and his assistant Principals and department chairs to the community and that the tentatively scheduled date was March 26, at 7:00 p.m., in the Library Program Room. Everyone agreed that the meeting should receive heavy advertisement ahead of time. Plans were discussed for the format, style and content of the community forum. It was decided that Ms. Braswell and Ms. Farace would facilitate. Chair Tedtmann said the announcement of the meeting should be made at the SAC meetings and that the students needed to know about it also. Ms. Farace planned to issue invitations to previous participants and other interested parties. Chair Tedtmann asked the SAC representatives to try to get the notice in the SAC newsletters. Dr. Cornell said he envisioned a short presentation on the part of the high school to be followed up by a question and answer session for the community. He also planned to have volunteer sign-up lists at the meeting. Ms. Farace brought up the idea of using the meeting on March 26 to get a Booster Club started. Dr. Cornell said he would look into it because there were financial ramifications. Dr. Cornell said if the City and the EAB wanted another idea to think about, the piece of land directly in front of the school the district bought was vacant right now but might be a perfect place for a community pool'. He was thinking of something along the lines of Aqua Crest Pool at Atlantic and said that there could be parking and a City Commission- sponsored pool staff, and the students at their school would have a place to have sw~m meets like Aqua Crest. Everyone thought this was a great idea. 9 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 1, 2001 Dr. Cornell appreciated hearing the thoughts and feelings of the Board and the public and said that in years to come, everyone should feel free to ask him questions. His office was open and he maintained his own phone. At this point Dr. Cornell had to leave and Ms. Farace thanked him for attending. VI. Other 1) Chair Tedtmann thought it would be really nice to say thank you to the School Board at the meeting on the February 26. Everyone thought it would be appropriate for Chair Tedtmann to do this. 2) Chair Tedtmann said Pamela Owens, one of the founders of the Charter School of Boynton Beach, called her and asked for help on the building they were trying to use for their school. It was not zoned for a school and Ms. Owens asked for the Board's help with the Planning and Zoning Department on the zoning change. After much discussion the consensus was that Ms. Farace should call Quintus Greene and state that the request had come to the Board and that she was passing it along and asking for their consideration of the request. Arlene Greenberg said if they did it for this school they would be obligating themselves to do it for others and that it would put the EAB in a peculiar position. Ms. Farace responded that the EAB did not go on record as supporting the charter sChool. They felt their mission was advising and working with the public schools. Ms. Braswell brought up the subject of Finay Russ coming to the EAB meeting and it was decided to table this because Ms. Farace said that at their workshop on March 1 they would discuss the forum for having each school's Principal, assistant Principal, and SAC Chair come and talk about their school. Also, Ms. Farace said the EAB would be doing the SIP presentations again and that the Chamber wanted to partner on both of these events. Chair Tedtmann said they were crucial. Chair Tedtmann stated that Ms. Russ was always welcome to attend any EAB meetings. The absence of the student members of the EAB was mentioned and discussed. The question arose about whether it would be possible to have middle school students instead of seniors? Ms. Farace said the Ordinance declared it had to be seniors. It appears that the students chose to take a class that met on the date and time of the EAB meetings. The Board will discuss this further at the upcoming workshop. The meeting was duly adjourned 8:20 p.m. Res pectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (two tapes) 10