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Minutes 07-11-96 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD WORKSHOP HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM A, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1996, AT 6:00 P.M. PRESENT Nellie Denahan, Chairperson Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant to the Anne Centi, Vice Chairperson City Manager Margaret Newton Dawn Russell Rhona Schneider Ronald Ehster, Alternate Falechia Price, Student ABSENT Rene Stern David Weinstein Irene Mandel, Alternate Ben Demaline, Student CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Denahan called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the members' duties as liaisons to the various schools. Chairperson Denahan distributed an article regarding single member districts for discussion at the next meeting. She also distributed and reviewed the eight duties of this board, as outlined in the ordinance that established this board. She also reviewed the seven goals listed in the Education Advisory Board pamphlet, which are reflective of the goals and duties in the ordinance. However, they are not identical. She also distributed and reviewed her draft of the responsibilities of a school liaison. Those responsibilities included the following: ? Meet or talk once monthly with principal and SAC Chair ? Discuss needs/priorities and bring back information to Education Advisory Board for any action ? Coordinate School Improvement Plan Night with school and Board ? Obtain positive information for public relations, i.e., news releases ? Attend school meetings as may be requested in addition to SAC, i.e., PTA ? Liaison to be up to date on activities of school. It is the duty of the Liaison to communicate information with Chair on a monthly basis ? Not required to be member of SAC ? Duty to SAC - minutes mailed to Board monthly Chairperson Denahan wanted to have a grasp on what we want to accomplish before school opens, and she wanted to be more in touch with the schools. Mrs. Newton asked if the board's top priority is school liaisons. She suggested prioritizing what the board thinks it can do. She felt it may be a little burdensome to have the SAC minutes mailed to the board monthly since there are about 10 schools. Chairperson Denahan suggested that at the first SAC meeting, the members of this board ask the SAC Chairs to mail their minutes directly to this board. Therefore, if the liaison cannot attend a particular meeting, the board would still be kept apprised of what happens at the SAC meetings. Mrs. Newton suggested that instead of the SAC minutes being mailed to each board member, that only one copy be sent to Chairperson Denahan. Mrs. Newton inquired about the item on the list of responsibilities that states, "not required to be member of SAC". Chairperson Denahan explained that the schools chose their voting members in the springtime. Therefore, the members of this board may not be eligible to be members on the SACs. At this time, Vice Chairperson Centi arrived. Mrs. Newton advised that Christa McAuliffe welcomed input from the community more than from the faculty or staff. As a liaison to this board, she was well received. She felt we may have a problem with Rolling Green because of what has happened. Ms. Schneider advised that the SAC meetings at Crystal Lakes were not well attended. The community's input and her input was welcomed, and anyone who attended on a regular basis was allowed to vote. From what Ms. Stern has told her, this is also the case at Hagen Road. She advised that Hagen Road was in great need of volunteers. She attended one PTA meeting by mistake, and it was very interesting and totally different than the SAC meeting. About 20 people attended that meeting. Ms. Schneider asked if Chairperson Denahan wants the board members to attend PTA MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1996 meetings as well as SAC meetings. Chairperson Denahan stated that one member of the board felt that sometimes there is no reason to attend the SAC meetings. She stated that some schools are doing extremely well on their School Improvement Plan, and the SACs are well organized. She said she kept more abreast on what was going on at Poinciana and what that school's needs were by attending the PTA meetings because the SAC was simply hammering out the School Improvement Plan. She said perhaps during the end of August or the beginning of September when we meet with the principals and SAC Chairs that we will find out that they need us somewhere else. Ms. Russell stated that usually if anything needs to be discussed at Spanish River High School, it is brought up at the SAC meeting. The SAC meeting at her school is more like a PTA meeting. She suggested that we ask the PTA to send a copy of their minutes to this board as well. Chairperson Denahan pointed out that some schools have newsletters. At this time, Commissioner Matthew Bradley arrived. Chairperson Denahan stated that she invited Commissioner Bradley to the meeting this evening to give us his point of view on the importance of the credibility of this board. Commissioner Bradley apologized for not attending more Education Advisory Board meetings; however, he works in the evenings. He felt the work that this board is doing is important, and that the education system in this County is in desperate need of a lot of changes. The staff that we have in the schools cares about educating our youngsters, but there are many things that hold them back. He thinks educators are finally loosening their grip on education. It used to be that educators had control of and ran the schools, and they were not interested in input and assistance from the outside. He thinks educators are now looking for input from business and community. This is why boards like this are important. Unless everyone experiences ownership of schools, the schools are not going to improve much. It is important to build more schools and fix the old ones up; however, unless people who live in and around schools and have children who attend school experience the importance of schools, he did not think schools are going to get the notice and attention that they need. He said much affects the quality of neighborhoods and communities, but probably the most important is a tax base. It is critical when companies are looking to relocate that they see a city that has a high quality of life, and is a safe place to live. Probably the first or second thing they look at is how good the educational system is. They want to know what type of education their children are going to receive if they relocate here. He thinks most people are starting to realize that education is important from a number of standpoints other than just educating children. The final product that you turn out the senior year is so important in MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1996 in many different ways. Commissioner Bradley mentioned the feeder school concept. He said this board contributed to the success at Poinciana. He hope Congress Middle School is going to come on line, as well as the high school. There is a delay, but he hoped the obstacles can be overcome. One of the important parts of a feeder system is that children would be able to attend neighborhood schools and be trained in the field of technology so that they can get a job in this area and families can stay together. Commissioner Bradley felt the school liaisons are important in helping everyone understand that it is everyone's responsibility to have a quality school. He knows it is a lot of hard work, and that sometimes liaisons from this board are not very well received at SAC meetings. He hopes the SACs are being run like they are supposed to be run, namely, an open group that makes recommendations to the principal. He said some principals run the show and it is not an open forum. However, he thinks the SACs are turning into what the legislature designed them to be. He encouraged the members of this board to be SAC liaisons and to get involved in a SAC as best they can. He thinks that is important because when you can are on campus, it is the best way to know what is really going on and what the needs are. He pointed out that the school liaisons can also pick up good ideas from one SAC and bring them back to the board and share them. He advised that at least once a year we try to have a business community representative SAC meeting involving all the schools so we can brainstorm other ideas and see if we can improve things city-wide. Commissioner Bradley appreciated what the members of this board do in this volunteer capacity. He also appreciated the members of the board looking at the articles and the specifics of how the board was drawn up so that they know their parameters. He did not think the board is limited in what it can do because it is an advisory board. He encouraged the board to take on as much as it can and, if need be, the Commission can reign them in. Mr. Ehster asked when the improvements are going to be made at Congress Middle School, and when the conversion is going to be done. Commissioner Bradley said the Superintendent has been charged with putting a list of projects together by the end of July. There are two types of improvements that Congress Middle School needs. The first is the standard middle school upgrade which involves converting wood shop labs into computer labs. The other upgrade is the technology upgrade with regard to the magnet program status. The bulk of the upgrades will cost between $1.5 and $2 million. A master list of the schools that are going to be granted magnet school status as well as magnet program status MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1996 status is being put together, and we are hoping to be on that list. Ms. Schneider asked how far pushed back is the high school now that the vote on the one cent tax has been delayed. Commissioner Bradley stated that a number of the School Board members have promised us that the high school is first on the list. He thinks we can count on that being true once the money is found. The City Commission has been arguing that there actually are mechanisms to fund the school, such as a 237 loan, which is a bridge loan. Many of the School Board members are taking a political position that we have a lot of schools that need to be built and a lot of schools that need to be renovated; therefore, the penny sales tax is needed as a funding source, and they are not going to build another school until that happens. We tried to apply some pressure in a respectful, gentle way, and we have not really gotten anywhere. He guessed the next step is to see whether or not we should apply more direct pressure. Ms. Schneider asked if there is anyone in private industry that is willing to do anything about building the high school. Commissioner Bradley advised that a couple of companies have offered to do a turnkey kind of approach to construction, and we are inviting the School Board to look at that as a possible remedy to the situation. Ms. Schneider asked how the School Board felt about that. Commissioner Bradley stated that Bill Graham was the one who actually suggested it. Commissioner Bradley stated that the cities are in favor of a funding mechanism and in favor of having some sort of mechanism that restricts growth. However, Jody Gleason's and County Commissioner Karen Marcus' plan of restricting growth through concurrency would take away the cities' ability to control development. The County and the School Board would be reviewing plans on apartment complexes or single-family homes, and the cities would not have any say in that matter. Commissioner Bradley stated that all the municipalities in Palm Beach County disagree with their plan. He said it is an attempt to pull power away from the cities. He said there are other mechanisms. He felt it will happen and that it is just a matter of working the details out. He stated that there is a possibility that there will be a March referendum to decide on that. He pointed out another problem, which is that the Superintendent is not really ready and does not feel the District is ready to pass a penny sales tax. Commissioner Bradley agreed with her. He said that funding taxes failed in six of the seven districts in the State. This indicates the public sentiment when it comes to new taxes. He believes we will have a funding source in place within the next year. Ms. Russell asked if there is a grant writing person in the City. Commissioner Bradley advised MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1996 advised her that there is no full-time grant writing person; however, City Manager Carrie Parker, Wilfred Hawkins, and Beth Bailey do a little grant writing. Ms. Russell felt if there was someone to look through the tons of information about available grants, maybe that would be a way to get Congress Middle School into that math/science/tech upgrade. She asked if any businesses would be willing to donate some equipment. Commissioner Bradley stated that Motorola has made a commitment to Poinciana and are behind the feeder school concept. He pointed out that companies are a lot more willing to part with equipment than cash. Commissioner Bradley thanked the board for having him and said he will try to attend more of this board's meetings. Chairperson Denahan informed him that the writer of the lottery accountability act will be making a presentation at the August meeting. She thanked Commissioner Bradley for attending this meeting,. At this time, Commissioner Bradley left the meeting. Ms. Russell asked if all the schools in Boynton Beach have nurses. Chairperson Denahan advised that they do not. Ms. Russell wondered if Bethesda Memorial Hospital would be willing to send nurses to all the schools. Chairperson Denahan said the commitment she received from Bethesda is that they are doing a needs assessment of the community. Ms. Russell asked if the list of schools that the members of this board should be liaisons to is complete. Chairperson Denahan advised that Plumosa and Lake Worth Middle School should be included. She said we want to make sure that we cover Boynton Beach schools thoroughly before we extend ourselves to other schools. She pointed out that we did not have a liaison for Rolling Green and, therefore, because of the lack of communication, we were not aware that there was a problem. Vice Chairperson Centi explained that the liaison of Rolling Green did not attend some of the meetings and then eventually was no longer on the board. However, Vice Chairperson Centi felt the board did not get the true picture of how this school was faring. She said several people spoke well of the school, and two members of the School Board said the school was racially balanced, but it was not. She said when you think something is rolling along smoothly and you do not have enough people and enough time to give it attention, you give your attention to the things that need attention. Chairperson Denahan stated that this is why she included the following in the list of a liaison's responsibilities: "Liaison to be up to date on activities of school. It is the duty of the liaison to communicate information with Chair on a monthly basis." Discussion reverted back to the minutes of the SAC and PTA meetings, etc., being mailed to MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1996 to this board. Chairperson Denahan advised that Poinciana does a newsletter every Friday. At Atlantic they have a SAC and a SIC. If we are going to get all kinds of minutes, it could be very confusing, and it might be more information than is really necessary. Ms. Schneider suggested attempting to get something from each school. If it is not enough, then we can tackle getting something more from that particular school. Mrs. Newton felt we need to be very tactful with Rolling Green right now. She pointed out that it has been almost a year since someone from this board has attended a SAC meeting at Rolling Green. Vice Chairperson Centi suggested inviting somebody from Rolling Green to speak to this board. Mrs. Newton felt it would be better to contact the principal. Ms. Schneider suggested we ask them how they would like us to be of assistance to them. Mr. Hawkins felt it is important for boards to be active. He pointed out that at the Visioning session, the Commission talked about evaluating how well boards are doing. They want the boards to serve a useful purpose and be helpful as opposed to not doing anything or causing controversy. This board is very important to the City in many ways. One of the City's long range plans is education, not only philosophically, but as part of the economic development plan. Having an important educational infrastructure in the City is a necessity in order for this City to grow, meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, attract businesses, and upgrade our economic status. Therefore, the Commission is looking for this board to help keep them on track and informed, and to do some of the lobbying, fact finding, getting at the truth, and bringing the grassroots opinions to them. This board is critical to the outcome of the future of Boynton Beach. How you set yourself up and what responsibilities and goals you set for yourself will definitely be recognized. Mr. Hawkins said the board would also be recognized if you were not doing anything or were causing problems. Ms. Schneider asked how much of a need there is for volunteers in the schools. Chairperson Denahan advised that every school's needs are different and the need for volunteers is tremendous in every school. Ms. Schneider stated that we never made this one of our priorities. Vice Chairperson Centi advised that she previously made a suggestion to invite all the retiree groups to one of our meetings and advise them that we need their help. She said they are looking for projects. Also, the high school students need community service hours. Chairperson Denahan thought this was a great idea and will follow up on it. Mr. Ehster will continue to work on how to reduce class sizes. He also belongs to a retirement group and offered to focus on recruiting volunteers. He would like to be a liaison MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1996 to one of the high schools because he felt it was important to find out what improvements are going on in those schools and if they meet with the kind of improvements we would demand in this area. Chairperson Denahan appreciated Mr. Ehster's offering to help recruit volunteers. Chairperson Denahan stated that as a result of her being a liaison to Forest Park and attending their SAC meetings, she was privy to information regarding the needs of that school. She took that information through this board to the City Commission and as a result, a much needed crossing guard was assigned to that school. The City Commission also applied pressure and the school received $4.2 million from the 1986 money that was never properly appropriated to do all of the improvements needed at Forest Park Elementary School. Therefore, Chairperson Denahan pointed out that it is not a waste of time to attend the SAC meetings. Chairperson Denahan did not think we can develop credibility through form letters. She felt we need to go to the schools and find out each school's needs on an individual basis. She said the ability to bring back the information from the school to the community is vital. She was in favor of expanding our responsibilities as opposed to keeping them narrow. She wants to make sure we are covering as much as we possibly can. She pointed out that Commissioner Bradley advised the board to take on as much as possible. She said many times she questions if this board is an advisory board or a doer board. She felt "advisory board" is merely a label and that this board has tremendous responsibilities. Chairperson Denahan will prepare a list of all the schools and SAC Chairs before the next meeting, along with the tentative date of their first meeting. At the August meeting, the members of the board will sign up as liaisons to these schools. Chairperson Denahan wants to make sure all the schools are covered, especially all three high schools, Congress Middle School, and Rolling Green Elementary School. Chairperson Denahan suggested that at the first SAC meeting, the liaisons find out the boundaries of the school (the school assignment code), the population, the racial breakdown, the capacity, the percent to capacity, the breakdown of grades, and the number of students bussed. Ms. Schneider would like the number of ESOL students in each school broken down to show how many students actually do not speak English. Vice Chairperson Centi would like to know the volunteer coordinator of each school. MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JULY 11, 1996 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (Two Tapes)