Loading...
Minutes 02-03-00 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH,FLORIDA ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2000 AT 6:00 P.M. PRESENT Dawn Russell, Chairperson Virginia Farace, Education Eddie Mitchell Advisory Board Liaison Leon Schwartz () left at 7:10 p.m. Michael Hazlett () left at 7:10 p.m. Diana Tedtmann Ronald Ehster Lora Edwards ABSENT Arthur Rowe Revia Lee Heidi DeVries ALSO PRESENT Pamela Owens, Wayne Owens, Glenn Holcomb, Dee Blakemore I.GREETINGS Chairperson Russell called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and welcomed all in attendance. IIPLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE . The pledge of allegiance to the flag was led by Lora Edwards. III. ROLL CALL The recording secretary called the roll and a quorum was present. IVMINUTES APPROVAL JANUARY 6, 2000 MEETING . There were no changes, additions or deletions to the minutes of the January 6, 2000 meeting. The minutes stand as presented. VCHAIR’S REPORT . Chairperson Russell noted that the Appreciation Dinner at Benvenutos was wonderful and that the City provided a nice certificate and pen in reward for all the hard work done by the Boards. 1 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 Chairperson Russell mentioned an article of interest. The Title I Family Involvement staff from the Department of Federal Programs announced the awarding of Family Involvement Mini-Grants to 20 Title I schools. Schools submitting exemplary proposals were awarded up to $1,000 for projects that provide opportunities for families to share responsibility for academic achievement. One of the schools receiving the award was Forest Park Elementary in Boynton. A second article in the paper described various seminars that are being held so the parents may learn what can be done at home to help their children do better at school. The last article was about the FCAT testing coming up and what various schools are doing to prepare for it. The article included pictures of some of the Forest Park Elementary School students from Boynton Beach. Chairperson Russell was pleased that Forest Park is diligently preparing for this test since they are an “F” school. Chairperson Russell mentioned receiving a question and answer type letter from Dr. Marlin, the new Superintendent. When asked about his vision for the school district since he’s taken over the job, he said he is asking the teachers to teach the children as well as they can every day. Subsequently, test scores will start to go up, people will be happy to come to work every day and students will feel good about what is happening in school. When asked about the immediate problems or short-term goals, he said that the problems were budget, alternative education, test scores and programs. VIANNOUNCEMENTS . Virginia Farace asked that the record reflect that there have been two resignations from this Board, Harvey Oyer and Arthur Rowe. Arthur Rowe telephoned Chairperson Russell to advise that he would have to resign because of the conflict with the Congress Middle School’s SAC program. Since their meeting is on the same night as this Board, and since his daughter goes there, he believed he had an obligation to go to their meetings. The City Clerk received a letter from Harvey Oyer as follows: “This letter is to serve as notice that I have recently moved from Boynton Beach to West Palm Beach and, therefore, am no longer eligible to serve the City on the Education Advisory Board. I enjoyed my service to the City in this capacity and regret that I will no longer be able to serve in this role. I hope the City Commission is able to find a replacement in short order so that the important business of the advisory board is not delayed. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.” Virginia Farace commented that as the Commission looks for replacements they might want to consider the two alternates on the Board who are very-well qualified to move up. Chairperson Russell and the other Board members concurred. 2 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 Presentation on the Proposed Charter School at Boynton Beach by Pamela Owens and Wayne Owens, Co-Founders The Board introduced themselves and explained their roles on the Board. The Owens introduced themselves and presented their backgrounds. Wayne Owens is employed by Prudential Securities as an Options Trader. He is a former middle-school teacher. He serves on the Palm Beach County Board of Directors for Juvenile Diabetes, and directs the children’s choir at his church. Mrs. Pamela Owens is a Spanish teacher at Spanish River High School in Boca Raton and is also a part-time consultant in the area of education, health and social services. A supporter, Dee Blakemore, and a Board member of the Charter School, Glenn Holcomb, accompanied Wayne and Pamela Owens. The purpose of the presentation was to acquaint the members of the Education Advisory Board with the preliminary plans for the school and to enter into an exchange of information with the Board, outlining areas of possible mutual assistance. Pamela and Wayne Owens stated the mission of the Charter School at Boynton Beach was to prepare students for the future and enable them to achieve their full academic and social potential. The school would be an elementary school for K through 5. The target population of the school would be students from schools that received a grade of C, D or F from the State of Florida Department of Education Grading the Schools Program, as well as students of parents from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. The Charter School at Boynton Beach has submitted an application to the Palm Beach School District for starting a specialized school with emphasis on computers and foreign languages. The School plans to integrate computers and foreign languages into the daily curriculum in a semi-immersion format so the children can quickly learn to speak, read and write in another language including using the language in other areas such as math or social studies. The software used in the computer programs would be software that has been identified and reviewed by researchers. Mr. Owens stated the school is needed because there are children who are struggling to read, write and do math. Also, classes are overcrowded in this area. The test scores at some of the schools in this area are C and below. Galaxy Elementary had a D, Forest Park Elementary had an F, and Poinciana and Rolling Green had D’s. Those indicators are alarming. Computerized teaching or high-tech teaching is very effective in the classroom. Mrs. Owens consults with a company that does computerized curricula 3 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 locally and they have observed that a lot of teachers don’t have access to quality software, their equipment is outdated, or they are unfamiliar with lab design and that is where the Charter School comes into the picture. The K through 5 curriculum web that will be used at this school will include a “computheme” and a foreign language theme. An extensive report done by the Software Industry Association explaining the effectiveness of technology in schools was passed around to the Board. Based on the research that has been done, the Owens believe their approach will be an effective way to enhance scores for the FCAT on reading, writing and mathematics. The other part of the program is the International Education Systems Language Foundation, which offers an excellent program for K through 5 children to learn French, Spanish or Japanese. There is a six-step method for children to learn and they are constantly involved in drama, games, activities, and poems to help them learn the language. The Owens stated that the most critical part of their program is the Children’s Skills Test. Skills assessment software for grades K through 5 will test the children, hopefully in June before they would come to school in August, so that the Charter School will know which skills are lacking. This will enable staff to prepare to work with those children individually or as a group and to order the specific materials needed to help them build their skills. The Owens then addressed the results they expect to achieve. Having a successful result from this teaching approach is key to becoming approved by the School Board. A chart was passed around called the Outcome Measures for Achievement Standards. Based on the number of students in the Charter School using this curriculum, they are projecting that its students will score high enough on the FCAT for the Charter School to receive at least a B rating. Ms. Owens related that her struggles to compete academically in her first year of college led to her conception of this program. A child should be able to go to the school of his choice and not be denied for lack of academic preparation. Questions from the Board 1) At the conclusion of the Owens’ presentations, Eddie Mitchell asked if the Owens had information that would demonstrate better results for charter schools than public schools, either in Florida or anywhere else in the country, and said that many people would make a decision based on this. Ms. Owens admitted that most of the data is anecdotal at this point. Ms. Owens has not seen a report or research generated on this topic. She believed that the FCAT would be a very good measurement tool in reference to the charter schools. Ms. Owens pointed out that the public schools do not have Outcome Measure Charts stating what 4 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 they project to achieve. She did not know if they would be able to tell how many of their children would do well enough on the FCAT to move them into a better range. 2) Virginia Farace asked how the Owens decided on the “compu/foreign language theme”. Mrs. Owens stated that it was because she works as a consultant with a company that has been very successful in the area of offering computerized lessons to children. The program was initially done through the Palm Beach Children’s Services Council. The other part is the IES Language Foundation of which Mrs. Owens was the former Area Director. She reported great success in implementing this program at Hagen Ranch Road Elementary and some private schools in the area at the request of many parents. 3) Mr. Owens presented the question, What’s in it for Boynton Beach? Boynton Beach gets quality education. It gets alleviation of crowding in its schools. The attention the children would get in smaller classes would help their grades on any standardized testing. 4) Virginia Farace asked if there would be any selection of entry based on the test results. The Owens said no, that the test is just to get a qualitative idea of where they are. Ms. Farace asked the Owens to explain the acceptance methodology. Mrs. Owens said that there would be a first-come, first-served rule and then, if the number of students exceeded their capacity, they would have to use a lottery system. The Owens affirmed that the selection process would not be based on ability as determined by testing. 5) Virginia Farace asked if the Owens planned to own or lease the building. Mr. Holcomb responded that it had not been finalized. The Charter School staff is working with the Building Department to determine the rules and requirements for both City and County. Also, they can’t go too far until they find out if they have School Board approval. An architect and an engineer are looking at the building to see what needs to be done and will be drawing up plans. They will meet with them prior to anything being done in the building. Also, a fire inspection needs to be completed All of these things will be done prior to any students coming in and before the building can be secured. The Owens could accommodate up to 120 students in the facility they are considering which is at 1120 South Federal Highway presently occupied by ERA Realty. It has nine offices, four bathrooms, a kitchen, ample parking space, and an outside play area. 6) Chairperson Russell asked when they anticipated approval from the School Board. Pamela Evans said it’s a two-tiered review process. The results of the second review will be done February 18 and then there will be a period for the Owens to make any revisions or comments. Hopefully they will be on the School Board Agenda for March 22. 5 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 7) Mr. Hazlett asked the Owens about their funding sources. The Owens responded that pending approval of the project by the School Board, they planned to go to local businesses to solicit support. They want the Charter School to include the whole community. They asserted that when area businesses are involved in the children’s education a great many more resources are opened up, financial and otherwise. 8) Virginia Farace asked if they had a dollar amount required for the project. Their total budget is $450,339 for 80 students $543,545 for 100 students $567,381 for 120 students The Board agreed this number was tight. The Owens agreed that they would have to do a lot of fund-raising to meet their needs. 9) Virginia Farace asked if they were projecting one computer per child and the Owens responded that they are projecting four computers in a classroom of about fifteen students. 10) Ms. Farace then asked how many teachers would be required. Mrs. Owens stated that for 80 students they would need at least four teachers, four teacher aides and one part-time exceptional student education coordinator. Ms. Farace asked the Owens if they got School Board approval, how much money would be needed to open their doors and how much time would be required to raise that money. Mrs. Owens said that pending approval, there would be start-up capital in about six weeks from the State of Florida for $50,000. If the School could match that funding immediately it would help them to secure their lease, get the computers and get started. 11) Chairperson Russell asked if there were a time limit on the $50,000 one-time start-up money. Mrs. Owens stated that it was good for two years. 12) Chairperson Russell asked how many charter schools were in Florida. Mrs. Owens said she believed there were twelve at present. 13) Mr. Hazlett asked the Owens if they were hoping for pro-bono from the architects and lawyers that would be needed. Mr. Owens answered in the affirmative. Mr. Hazlett also asked the Owens if they had a business plan and the Owens indicated that they might need assistance with this aspect of the project. 6 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 14) Virginia Farace asked the Owens what they wanted this Board to do for them. Mrs. Owens said that she hoped there would be someone on the Board that could serve on their Advisory Board to help with the business planning issues. Also, they expressed the need for an architect, an engineer and a lawyer. They asked help from this Board to get the word out to parents and the community so they could begin to market for student registrations. Eventually a lot of public relations support from this board would be extremely helpful. Mrs. Owens also asked for help in obtaining a temporary meeting site for their Board. Mr. Hazlett suggested that the Business Education Partnership at the Chamber of Commerce might be helpful to them. Ms. Farace mentioned that it might be a good idea for the Owens to speak to the Chamber. Mrs. Owens has spoken with Motorola and they seemed interested. Ms. Farace said that Motorola had a wonderful group of young engineers who meet to assist each other and who look for community things to do. Ms. Farace said she would try to get a contact for the Owens Mr. Owens said that a big piece of his participation in the school is going to be fund- raising. What he is asking this Board to do is to assist them in getting the name of the school out there, directing them, and possibly pointing out advantageous sources of funding. Chairperson Russell thanked the Owens and asked to be kept updated on progress and offered to help. VIICITY LIAISON REPORT . Virginia Farace, Library Director, reported the following: ? Bookfest Book Bazaar hosted by the Library Friends to be held February 4-6 at the Greenacres Community Center, 501 Swain Boulevard, Greenacres, Florida. th ? The Friends of the Boynton Beach City Library are presenting the 11 Annual Benefit Luncheon with special guest author Idella Parker at Benvenuto’s Restaurant, 1730 North Federal Highway, Boynton Beach at 12:00 noon on Monday, February 21, 2000. VIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS A) Alternative to Suspension Program (Russell) On February 7 at 8:30 a.m. David Fellows will be presenting the OCIP to the Area Superintendents of the Palm Beach County School system. They also wanted to let us 7 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 know that on February 23 the Quantum Foundation Board will decide if a grant will be given to Congress Middle School and Christa MacAuliffe. Representative Frank Farkas is looking for a Senate sponsor for the bill and David Fellows is also approaching Senator Ron Klein.The Subcommittee of the Quantum Foundation has recommended it to the full Board and they usually go with those recommendations. Virginia Farace said that the State Representative, Frank Farkas, is putting in a bill to encourage this program to be utilized throughout the State. B) RAISING TEST SCORES PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT (Russell, Rowe, Tedtmann) Chairperson Russell stated that Mr. Rowe was at a SAC meeting and could not, therefore, comment on this topic. C) Gathering Storm Issues (Mitchell) This issue will be reported on after the next meeting in mid-March. DLegislative Issues (Oyer) ) This report was not made because Mr. Oyer resigned. Ms. Farace stated that a packet had been issued by the School District and it contained several things of high priority. Ms. Farace will try to bring the packet to the next meeting. E)SIP Presentation (Hazlett, DeVries) Mike Hazlett had left the meeting at this point but Virginia Farace stated that she and Mike were working together and Elizabeth Decker will do the same thing for us as she did last year. FForest Park/SAC (Ehster ) ) There was no SAC meeting in December. The last one was January 24, 2000. Mr. Ehster was really amazed at the amount of involvement on the part of the principal of Forest Park to get construction work and repairs done in their new cafeteria. There are no outright safety problems in the cafeteria but if the procrastination continues, there will be. Educators should educate and not worry about buildings. Mr. Ehster wondered if the City could get involved in some way to help them. Maybe if the right people are at th Forum on the 19 someone will step forward to help. Mr. Ehster reported on absenteeism and tardiness. Absenteeism is over 10% and tardiness is at 17%. At other schools the average is 4% absenteeism. This adds up to 8 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 less education per child. There must be something done as a City to find out why Christa MacAuliffe has only a 4% absenteeism and Forest Park has 17%. Mr. Ehster also reported that seventy-five (75) percent of Boynton Beach children are at the D or F level; twenty-five (25) percent are C; and one (1) percent are A. Seventy- five percent of our children deserve a better opportunity. Chairperson Russell inquired as to the nature of the construction problems. Mr. Ehster offered to escort anyone to view the cafeteria to see first-hand the extent of the problem. There are cracks in the wall and in some places the plaster is coming down. There are rusty beams which is indicative of construction with inferior grade materials. Procrastination is rampant. Virginia Farace said that she was Chairperson of the Construction Oversight Review Committee. She said that it was very important to know which group was being contacted to do the repairs and if the Facilities Repair Section is the contact point that would explain the problem. Chairperson Russell commented that absenteeism was a parental involvement problem. Mr. Ehster thought that the tardiness had to do with so many people having to travel long distances to come to school, the small streets and traffic congestion. Chairperson Russell asked Mr. Ehster to find out what Forest Park intends to do with the $1,000 mini-grant they just received for parental involvement. Mr. Ehster agreed to do so. G) Atlantic High School (Russell) Chairperson Russell said that the main focus at Atlantic High School at the moment is preparation for the FCAT tests. In order to be a B school 90% of your students must attend on test day. You have to have 95% in attendance for an A. The parents were being contacted to expedite attendance. If a person had 15 consecutive absences they were being removed from the rolls. They will be serving breakfast before the test, calling the parents, having a drawing for a TV, gift certificates, and a pep rally. The teachers have been practicing FCAT preparation for math. There’s going to be an activity week for all the students. One of the assistant principals was given $200 to attend a class in Creole which should help with the Haitian population. HSouth Technical High School – (Mitchell) ) Mr. Mitchell said that South Tech is preparing for FCAT. They are very upbeat. They believe that many of their students will be successful in the FCAT test and there are very few problems. The Director of South Tech will be retiring in June. 9 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 I)Santaluces High School (Edwards) Ms. Edwards reported that FCAT was all that was going on at Santaluces right now. There are no “give-aways” like at Atlantic High but the kids are being given an FCAT Survival Kit with candy to help them stay awake. JRolling Green (Tedtmann) ) Diana Tedtmann said that Rolling Green got into their School Improvement Plan to some extent. They are trying to tell parents how they teach reading in the school and giving parents ideas on how they can help teach reading at home. Also there was FCAT discussion. K)Citrus Cove (Schwartz) Dr. Schwartz stated that the SIP was one of the things that came up and they expect a presentation date within a month or so. A Student Effectiveness Survey was done: one for the parents, one for the students and one for the teachers. FCAT was the main thing discussed. Some of the students aren’t taking it well and are highly upset. According to Ms. Edwards, the kids are fed up with it. She also pointed out that Santaluces has the second-highest dropout rate – 25%. L) Congress Middle School (Farace) Virginia Farace reported that Congress Middle School SAC met tonight. They had said they would not set up their meeting to conflict with this Board and they have done so twice now. Ms. Farace will try to find out what is happening. IXNEW BUSINESS . Dr. Schwartz said that he had an opportunity to present a curriculum to the children in th the 4 grade about veterinary medicine and they have spent a good deal of time th formulating this. The curriculum has to be presented to the 4 Grade Council but he solicited comment from the Board. Chairperson Russell said that was fine and it could start at Citrus Cove. Mr. Ehster asked that the Charter School issue be added to next month’s agenda. th The group discussed the combined Board Forum to be held at the Library on the 19 of February from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. Several members had conflicts that would prevent their coming to this Forum. Chairperson Russell stated that the attendance by the Board at the last forum was not very good and she asked for a commitment from the 10 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 3, 2000 members to attend. The only definite commitments were made by Eddie Mitchell and Ronald Ehster. Chairperson Russell stated that the Board needed to work on something to give to the other Boards on the goals and projects of the Education Advisory Board. Chairperson Russell asked if everyone had come up with goals and a discussion ensued. Various members are working on this statement and will submit to Virginia Farace when complete. Virginia Farace advised that the Chairperson of the Boca Raton Board would like to invite this Board to the Tri-Party Board of Delray/Boca on March 6 in Boca at 6:30 p.m. Spring Break begins that week. Chairperson Russell is going to Spain. Virginia Farace will call and see if Boca/Delray can do their meeting on April 6 , which seems to be a better date for everyone. More representation at the meetings was called for by Chairperson Russell. There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was properly adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ___________________ Susan Collins Recording Secretary (three tapes) 11