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Minutes 04-03-97 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 1997, AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT Nellie Denahan, Chairwoman Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant to the Anne Centi, Vice Chairwoman City Manager Ronald Ehster Muslima Lewis David Weinstein Samuel Jackson III Falechia Price, Student ABSENT Margaret Newton Dawn Russell Helena Fallon, Alternate I. GREETINGS AND WELCOME TO OUR NEW STUDENT MEMBER Chairperson Denahan was recently involved in an accident and was not feeling up to par. Therefore, she requested that Vice Chairperson Centi chair the meeting this evening. Vice Chairperson Centi called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and welcomed Ms. Montgomery, Commissioner Bradley, and Samuel Jackson, a new student member of the board, to the meeting. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. III. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll. Ms. Lewis was not yet present. IV. MINUTES APPROVAL - DECEMBER 5, 1996 & FEBRUARY 6, 1997 No additions, deletions, or corrections were made to the minutes of the last two meetings. MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 3, 1997 Motion Mr. Ehster moved to approve the minutes of the December 5, 1996 and February 6, 1997 meetings as submitted. Ms. Denahan seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. V. GUEST SPEAKERS A. Commissioner Matt Bradley Commissioner Bradley advised that the magnet program at Congress Middle School has been approved; however, the obstacles still remain with regard to concurrency and the penny sales tax. The new principal will be named at a workshop on Monday or Wednesday. At this time, Ms. Lewis arrived. Commissioner Bradley also advised that at the last City Commission meeting, the Commission voted to sunset all the City boards in order to look at the board situation from a new and fresh prospective. He stated that he is a strong advocate of education and will be lobbying hard to make sure that a board exists to address educational issues. He advised that there are currently 18 boards in the City. The Commission is considering reducing the number of boards by combining them and farming out some of the quasi-judicial boards to a special master to save the City money. He pointed out that two staff people attend each board meeting, which costs a considerable amount of money. At this time, Commissioner Bradley left for another meeting. B. Newly elected Board of Education member, Dorothy Montgomery Ms. Montgomery advised that she has been on the Board of Education for five months. She stated that there are a lot of problems in the school system, but they are being addressed by the members of the School Board and the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Joan Kowal. She advised this board of the following School Board meetings which she felt they might be interested in attending: th ? On April 7 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., at the Board Room in West Palm Beach, there will be a workshop to discuss funding magnet schools. 2 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 3, 1997 th ? On April 9 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. the School Board will hold a workshop at Congress Middle School to brainstorm issues of concern to the School Board. From 4:30 to 7:00 p.m., there will be a budget workshop, and starting at 7:00 p.m., the School Board will attend the Congress Middle School SAC meeting. rd ? On April 23 the School Board will vote on funding magnet schools. th ? On April 28 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., the seven year plan will be discussed. The Boynton Beach High School is on this plan. Ms. Montgomery was concerned about shoddy construction. She stated that the roof on one of the new schools continuously leaked. On top of the roof there was a huge gap filled with caulking, and the bolts had come loose. Some of the schools were repaired three years ago and are now back on the School Board agenda. She was also concerned about schools not being finished on time and additional money being spent because of design omissions, design errors, and unforeseen conditions. Ms. Montgomery stated that the issues of education are not going to be solved unless we have adequate funding. For years we have been lobbying the Legislature. Last year, several of the County School Boards tried to sue the Legislature and make them adequately fund education in the State of Florida. The teachers in the State of Florida have put together a petition to amend the Constitution to provide for adequate public education funding and have collected over 265,000 signatures on election day this past November. They also started a campaign called “Friends and Family”. Ms. Montgomery urged everyone to sign this petition. In the last 10 years, we had 650,000 new students in the State of Florida; yet the public education share of the State budget has decreased from 40 percent to less than 35 percent. This year alone, we have lost $1.5 billion. Over the 10 year period since the lottery, we lost over $12 billion from the general funding. The lottery fund has been used to replace regular education funding and has not been used as intended, which was to enhance education. This year we received $29 million from the lottery. If education had been funded at 40 percent like it had been before the lottery, our share would have been $73 million, plus $29 million from the lottery. The schools have continued to increase and the amount of money we receive has continually decreased. Our schools are overcrowded and there are deteriorating classrooms and not enough textbooks, supplies and equipment because we do not have enough funds. Mr. Ehster pointed out that the School Board continuously approves bills for work done over and above what was originally scheduled, thereby sending the contractors a message that shoddy workmanship is acceptable. Ms. Montgomery did not think this practice would continue because Dr. Roth is now in charge of the construction program. 3 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 3, 1997 Mr. Ehster stated that the capital improvement plan for FY 1998 through 2004 was based on the one cent sales tax. He asked if there is an alternative capital improvement plan. Ms. Montgomery advised that there is not but felt there should be. She advised that the seven year plan is tied into the one cent sales tax. Mr. Ehster mentioned cellular phone antennas on school sites and felt there should be a standard of measure with regard to the radiation emanating from these antennas. He felt the companies who put up these antennas should measure the radiation pattern every year. Ms. Montgomery felt more research into this is needed. Mr. Weinstein felt the Board and administration are remiss by not having each construction job inspected before payment is made. He wondered if the lawyers are doing their jobs and pointed out that there should be a nonperformance bond and a penalty for late performance. Ms. Montgomery felt Dr. Roth will see that these things are done properly from now on. Vice Chairperson Centi distributed two articles from the March 29, 1997 issue of The Economist relating to educational issues. She inquired about the precise amount of money spent on each student in Palm Beach County. At a meeting she attended where there were several mayors and dignitaries, she heard that $10,000 was allotted each student. However, School Board members have said $4,000 was allotted each student. Ms. Montgomery suggested she obtain the correct information from Cynthia Pino. Vice Chairperson Centi inquired about the Boynton Beach High School. Ms. Montgomery advised that it is in the seven year plan. She had reservations that the one cent sales tax and concurrency will pass this year; however, she said it will have to pass sometime because people cannot continue to move here with no place to go to school. She felt the Boynton Beach High School should be built in a location that will be accessible to all students in Boynton Beach. VI. PUBLIC AUDIENCE None. VII. OLD BUSINESS 4 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 3, 1997 A. Committee Reports 1. Atlantic High School Ms. Lewis reported that there had been some discussion about funding the new magnet programs at Carver and Congress Middle Schools by cutting back the funding of existing magnet programs such as the IB program at Atlantic High School. However, the Board members were persuaded not to cut back the existing programs. 2. Christa McAuliffe Middle School No report was given. 3. Citrus Cove Elementary No report was given. 4. Congress Middle School Mr. Weinstein advised that he suggested the school start to disseminate the news each morning to the students. He also suggested that instead of waiting for the board to approve the magnet program, that the school start being a science and technology oriented school. The principal of Poinciana, Mr. Sills, and his curriculum expert were present and promised to help them. However, since then, the magnet program was approved. Mr. Weinstein also relayed information to them relative to people from home and school associations from Congress Middle contacting people from Poinciana so that there would be a flow between the two schools. 5. Forest Park Elementary No report was given. 6. Galaxy Elementary Mr. Ehster reported that the SAC discussed the new school improvement plan and carrying over some of their 1996/97 plans into the next year. 7. Hagen Road Elementary 5 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 3, 1997 No report was given. 8. Lantana Elementary No report was given. 9. Manatee Elementary No report was given. 10. Poinciana Elementary Ms. Denahan will report on Poinciana, Forest Park, and Rolling Green at a later date. However, she announced that the SAC Chair of Poinciana, Fran Ehrens, was unanimously nominated at Teach of the Year by the entire staff at Poinciana. 11. Rolling Green Elementary No report was given. 12. Santaluces High Ms. Price circulated the new brochure that Santaluces came out with for the middle school. She advised that the SAC discussed Objective 1, which is to decrease the suspension rate for serious offenses by 1 percent. They had two strategies, one of which was the Conflict Mediation Program. The second strategy was to allow students to go to an alternative school if they are suspended for 5 to 10 days to make up the work while they are suspended and receive credit for what they missed at Santaluces. Mr. Jackson advised that since his sophomore year, he has been mediating students who get into fights. This program is in lieu of suspension. 13. Starlight Cove Elementary No report was given. B. Assignments Open 6 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 3, 1997 1. Crystal Lakes Elementary 2. Lake Worth Christian School 3. Lake Worth Community High School 4. Plumosa Elementary Liaisons are still needed for the above schools. C. Update on Ordinance Language Mr. Hawkins advised that the City Commission unanimously adopted an ordinance to allow nonresidents of the City to serve as alternate members of this board if they have at least one child in a public school located within the geographical boundaries of the City. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Election of a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson On behalf of the board, Vice Chairperson Centi thanked Chairperson Denahan for all the hard work she has done during her tenure as Chairperson of this board. She then opened the floor for nominations for Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. Motion Mr. Weinstein moved to nominate Nellie Denahan as Chairperson of the board. Ms. Lewis seconded the motion. No other nominations were made. The motion carried unanimously. Motion Mr. Weinstein moved to nominate Anne Centi as Vice Chairperson of the board. Ms. Lewis seconded the motion. No other nominations were made. The motion carried unanimously. B. Discussion of June 5, 1997 meeting - special forum with Representative John C. Rayson (to form a subcommittee) Vice Chairperson Centi advised that this forum is with regard to lottery accountability. Motion 7 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA APRIL 3, 1997 Ms. Denahan moved to hold this forum on June 5, 1997 in lieu of the board’s regularly scheduled meeting. Ms. Price seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Ms. Denahan stated that we will present a resolution to the other cities of Palm Beach County at this forum. She also advised that the Woman’s Club has offered to host this forum. She has contacted Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Pompano Beach, as well as the Delray Beach and Boca Raton Education Advisory Boards about this forum. Motion Ms. Lewis moved to form a subcommittee to plan the special forum. Ms. Denahan seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Ms. Lewis, Vice Chairperson Centi, and Ms. Denahan volunteered to serve on the subcommittee. IX. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Next Meeting - Thursday, May 1, 1997 - Boynton Beach City Hall Chambers th Vice Chairperson Centi urged the members of the board to attend the April 11 City Commission Workshop at 4:00 p.m. X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (One Tape) 8