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Minutes 09-05-96 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1996, AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT Nellie Denahan, Chairperson Anne Centi, Vice Chairman Margaret Newton Dawn Russell David Weinstein Ronald Ehster, Alternate Falechia Price, Student ABSENT Rhona Schneider Renee Stern Irene Mandel, Alternate Ben Demaline, Student I. GREETINGS Chairperson Denahan called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. and announced that Wilfred Hawkins, the Assistant to the City Manager, is unable to attend the meeting because he is involved in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Corridor Developers Forum this evening. II. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll. Ms. Russell was not yet present. IV. MINUTES APPROVAL No additions, deletions, or corrections were made to the minutes of the last two meetings. Motion Mr. Ehster moved to approve the minutes of the June 6, 1996 meeting. Mr. Weinstein seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Motion Vice Chairperson Centi moved to approve the minutes of the July 11, 1996 workshop. Mr. Ehster seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 V. PUBLIC AUDIENCE None. VI. INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKERS A. Representative John C. Rayson, author of the Lottery Accountability Bill Since Representative Rayson was not yet present, this item was dispensed with later in the meeting. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Committee Reports Since all the schools were out of session for the summer, there was nothing to report. B. School Liaison Definition Chairperson Denahan announced that the board had a workshop on July 11th and came up with a definition for school liaison. (See further discussion after Representative Rayson's presentation. At this time, Chairperson Denahan expressed her appreciation to the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce for the business membership/School Advisory Council workshop on August 27th at the United Way building in Quantum Park. The goal of this project is to enlist the participation of at least one business person to serve on each SAC in our school district. There was a very good turnout of a diverse cross section of our education community and business community. Chairperson Denahan provided the members of the board with information from that workshop, including information pertaining to some contributions that businesses can make by attending SAC meetings. At this time, Representative Rayson arrived and gave his presentation. 2 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 VI. INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKERS A. Representative John C. Rayson, author of the Lottery Accountability Bill Chairperson Denahan welcomed Rep. Rayson and his sons, Bobby and Bradley, to the meeting. She advised that Rep. Rayson's father served on the legislature in Illinois for six years. Rep. Rayson has been in the Florida House for six years, and has four children. He is currently involved in two education subcommittees and is the author of the Lottery Accountability Bill. Rep. Rayson advised that he introduced the Lottery Accountability Act of 1996 in the Florida Legislature in response to a great public outcry. There is an overwhelming feeling throughout the State of Florida that the promise that the Lottery was going to be used to enhance education has gone largely unfulfilled. Lottery funds have been used to supplant the shortfalls in the educational budget rather than for pure enhancement. There have been arguments about what enhancement is. Rep. Rayson felt school buses are part of the capital structure of any school system and they do not represent enhancement. He also thought of the Lottery as extra money for education for special programs and additional ways to truly offer new opportunities and enhance the education currently offered. Were it not for all the tourists in our State, we would be in lot worse shape than we are currently. We rely solely on sales tax revenue to fund all of our State's needs. We are the fourth largest State. We have 14 million people, a high elderly population, a great demand for social services, and tremendous needs in terms of transportation. Criminal Justice costs are skyrocketing out of control. This has been competing with both social services and education. All of these things make it a scenario where every dollar in revenue that is available is highly sought after by all concerned. Last year was a big prison building year. Everyone wants to be tough on crime; however, we must ask ourselves that if we build prisons and hire prison guards, and we do it at the expense of our social system, etc., are we in fact setting up a system where people can fail and then resort to criminal activity. It is a vicious cycle. This year, education received more funding and we got closer to the traditional levels of educational funding. About $100 additional new revenue per pupil was added into the Florida public school system. That came at the expense of cuts in other areas, and that was very difficult. There is tremendous growth in Broward County, as well as in Palm Beach County 3 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 and many other areas throughout the State of Florida. As a result, the Broward County School Board does not have enough educational facilities, and we have overcrowded schools throughout the County. Rep. Rayson said he also introduced a bill providing for no more than 20 students per class in the first, second, and third grades. Studies showed that when the teacher is required to be the baby sitter in a class of 35, the teacher's primary role as educator is undermined. The Star Study Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio in Tennessee clearly showed that students in classes of 20 or less learned and retained much more than students in larger classes. The results of that study were particularly glaring with regard to inner city kids. There was an initiative about a year ago for a one cent additional local option sales tax for school construction in many counties. It failed miserably. Rep. Rayson advocated the one cent sales tax, but everywhere he went, he was confronted with the same issue--What happened to the Lottery money? Rep. Rayson stated that his bill defined enhancement and required that there be a statutory definition of what enhancement is. It would have required that all Lottery money be used only for enhancement purposes. It required that 20 percent of the Lottery funds that were being used to augment the General Revenue for education be taken out of the General Revenue and put back for enhancement so that over a five year period, all of the Lottery money would be used for its initial purpose (enhancement of education). This created an uproar in Tallahassee. Several other Lottery bills were introduced. Representative Geller introduced a bill to create a scholarship program with the Lottery money somewhat similar to the State of Georgia where they grant state scholarships using Lottery funds. Representative Dee Saunders introduced a bill. The bill that was cast was a mélange of several different bills. It included that portion of Rep. Rayson's bill that was least objectionable, i.e., the sharing of information with all the people in the State of Florida. He felt that if people knew what happened to the Lottery money, that it would help the situation because there is a big misconception among the general public as to how much Lottery money there is. It is his understanding that all of the Lottery funds could operate the public school system State-wide for only about three or four days on an annual basis. At this time, Ms. Russell arrived. The bill requires the lottery to publish quarterly how much income it had received, their expenses, and how much net was available. Out of every Lottery dollar, 50 percent goes 4 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 to prizes. Out of the remaining 50 cents, about 17 cents goes for salary, overheard, advertising, and the like. Out of every dollar when a person buys a Lottery ticket, there is about 33 or 34 cents left available for "educational enhancement". He was not satisfied about what took place in the 1996 session with regard to Lottery accountability. Chapter 96-314 of Laws of Florida, Lottery Accountability requires school districts to distribute and make available to the public on a quarterly basis, a report specifying the expenditures of Lottery funds allocated to each district. This gives us empirical information that we did not previously have. Now you have a statutory right to this information and everybody will be able to see it on a quarterly basis. This will get rid of some of the ignorance and mystery surrounding the Lottery. The second aspect of the bill is the scholarship program. This creates the Florida Postsecondary Tuition Program, a scholarship program designed to provide financial assistance for postsecondary education to outstanding Florida high school students. The financial assistance can be used at any Florida public university, community college, or technical institute. The scholarship program will be implemented to the extent authorized in the General Appropriations Act. There were no funds appropriated for this purpose in the 1996/1997 General Appropriations Act. That is not to say that in the 1997/1998 statute, if money can be found, that there could not be some type of funding through the scholarship program. The eligibility for this scholarship program is based on the following: ? Florida resident ? High school diploma or GED (home educated students, and dependents of Florida residents on military or public service assignment out of state are exempt from this provision) ? No felony convictions ? GPA of 3.0 Scholarships can be used for tuition, book, and mandatory fees. The maximum award is $300. Depending on the availability of funds, the award could be greater if a student receives a 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale in college prep curriculum. Scholarships are renewable through the senior year of postsecondary course work, if the student maintains a 3.0 GPA. 5 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 There was a provisions added regarding Lottery ticket vending machines. This authorizes the use of instant game ticket dispensing machines operated by a player without the assistance of a retailer. These instant ticket machines can dispense change to the purchaser, but cannot pay winnings to the holder of a winning ticket. Retailers are required to post signs stating the sale of Lottery tickets to minors by the vending machine or otherwise is illegal. The bill makes this offense a second degree misdemeanor. There was an aspect dealing with Lottery vending disclosure and contract requirements. The bill requires the Department of Lottery to conduct an investigation of only the entity to whom the contract is to be awarded, rather than doing a complete background investigation of every person who submits to the department a bid, proposal, or offer to supply goods or services. Under payment of prizes, it requires the Department of the Lottery, after deducting any federal tax payment, to deduct from a prize payment, and to transfer to the Comptroller, the amount of any outstanding obligation of the winner to any state agency or any outstanding child support payments which are normally collected through a court from the winner. The department may pay any prize amount remaining after payment of outstanding debts directly to the claimant, or it may transfer such excess prize money to the Comptroller, along with the outstanding obligation amount, for payment to the winning ticket holder. Rep. Rayson advised that his bill died in the Committee on Appropriations. He said it is very difficult to break them of the habit of having the Lottery money be part of the General Revenue in the State of Florida for the various purposes for which we need it. We need revenue in the State of Florida. There is a real recalcitrance in trying to wean the legislature off the way of doing business that it has conducted over the past several years. There was also a bill that Rep. Wasserman Schultz filed that also failed. It was House Bill 497 on educational facilities/local documentary stamps, and it authorized district school boards to levy by resolution a local stamp tax of up to 30 cents per $100.00 of consideration on the documents conveying an interest in real property. The realtors opposed this legislation. It would have added to the recording cost of a real estate transaction, and the revenue stream that it would have created would not have been enough, but it would have been very helpful in providing some funding to address the facilities crisis that we face. This bill died on May 4, 1996 in the House Committee on Appropriations. The Senate companion died on a tie vote of the Senate Education 6 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 Committee on April 23, 1996. Rep. Rayson said a lot of issues in the bill that passed were unrelated to the real issue at hand. It addresses vending machines and lottery housekeeping. (Before leaving, Rep. Rayson gave the recording secretary a packet of information for the board. It included a copy of the analysis of the bill that passed, the bill analysis on his Lottery Revenue Accountability Act of 1996, and the Education Facilities Bill and the bill analysis.) Vice Chairperson Centi thanked Rep. Rayson for his initiative on behalf of all the children and for education. She asked what they do with the money they extract out of the funds when they supplant the revenue from the Lottery money, and how the board can help him to pass a bill like this the next time. Rep. Rayson suggested that this board urge the City to pass a resolution demanding that there be full funding of the scholarship program in the Lottery Accountability that passed as Chapter 96-314 of the Laws of Florida. He further urged the City to pass a resolution demanding that enhancement be defined and that all Lottery revenue be strictly used for the statutory definition of enhancement. You also might address the issue that public confidence in the Lottery has been eroded, and that the only way to restore public confidence and have the ability to have a reasonable, fair, and equitable opportunity to seek additional funds for needed educational purposes would be to level with the people, use the funds for enhancement, and reveal how much there is. Rep. Rayson felt Americans, in general, and Floridians in particular, are generous, kind-hearted, helpful people. They have a public spirit and a neighborliness so that if there is a real need, they will respond positively to it. If you show them that you do not have enough educational facilities and that the only way to do it is to levy a local option sales tax, they will support it. But if they feel there is shenanigans going on in government and that there is a stream of revenue, however large or small it may be, that was promised for a particular purpose, and there is an abiding conviction that government has not used it for that purpose, they are going to react negatively to a request for more. Rep. Rayson felt we need to restore public confidence; otherwise, we will never get over this hump. He stated that his wife chaired the City of Pompano Beach City Education Advisory Board for a couple of terms, and they have urged the city to pass resolutions to the School Board and the Legislature. Rep. Rayson thinks education advisory boards do great work, and he felt it is essential and commendable that cities create such boards to deal on a more proximate level with the problems of our public and private schools within the boundaries 7 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 of the city. He said if you come up with recommendations, you need to make them public. He said the City Commission is probably relying on this board's talents and expertise to help guide them in developing a city educational policy. Mr. Weinstein asked if there is any publication which disseminates the information as to the gross volume of dollars that the Lottery takes in compared to the net volume of dollars. Rep. Rayson advised him that Marsha Mann, the Director of the Lottery, showed him a book containing the revenue. He suggested that the board write the Lottery and demand a complete accounting and request a copy of that book. Mr. Ehster expressed his concern about class size Rep. Rayson said we are reducing class size throughout the State of Florida. He introduced the Maximum Class Size Bills Act two years ago and again last year. Two years ago, we provided $40 million in incentive money to the districts if they would reduce class size in the first grade to no more than 20 per class. Many people pulled maneuvers and we tightened it up in the second year. However, we expanded it to the first and second grade and we provided $100 million in incentive money. It is in the budget this year. We recognized that people would argue that they do not have enough classrooms for 20 students per class, and if they had 20 students per class, it would exacerbate the educational facility shortage. However, he felt if we can show them that there is some funding for class size reduction, then communities would respond positively and that would provide an atmosphere where government would have an easier time in convincing people that there is a need for more educational facilities. Studies show that this is enough money State-wide to reduce class size per grade. We also provided some flexibility. We said that you can float above the 20 students per class and still get the incentive money if for every 5 students over 20 you put a full-time teacher's aide in that class with the teacher. Mr. Ehster asked how much incentive money was offered to Palm Beach County. Rep. Rayson believes it was a few million dollars, but the School Board would have that exact figure. It is based on population. Mr. Ehster asked about the Lottery money per student each year. Rep. Rayson did not recall that figure. Mr. Ehster asked if the definition of enhancement is being avoided. Rep. Rayson stated that if enhancement is defined, they are trapped and they do not want to be trapped. Enhancement is now in the eye of the beholder, in the eye of the current administration, or in the eye of the current appropriations budget analyst. If you define it, it does not solve their crises in other budgetary areas. 8 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 Mr. Ehster asked about the percentage against Rep. Rayson's bill. Rep. Rayson advised that in the Education Committee it was fine in the House. When it went to the Finance and Tax Committee, there was trouble. When it got to the Appropriations Committee, he ran into a brick wall. Mr. Ehster asked if a resolution from this board would help. Rep. Rayson felt it was a worthwhile endeavor. He said he has seen begrudging change in government, and change starts with a groundswell. If they get one resolution from one city, it will be like a pellet off an elephant. However, if 5,000 cities send resolutions and they get 10 a day, that would be very meaningful. Mr. Ehster asked if the City of West Palm Beach submitted resolutions. Rep. Rayson would have to check on that. Ms. Price asked why there is a big misconception about what is being done with the Lottery money. Rep. Rayson stated that people know that Florida has the most successful Lottery in the country and that huge prizes are given out every week. They hear about millions of dollars. He felt it was harder for people to imagine a State of 14 million people or a public school system with millions of students in it and thousands of buses and hundreds of thousands of teachers. He did not know if they can appreciate, without empirical data, what the cost of running such an operation is. Nobody has seen the book, other than himself, so nobody knows how much money they take in, what their expenses are, and there is a real mystery about how much Lottery money there is. It sounds like a lot, nobody knows how it is spent, and nobody sees much improvement. Although he did not think it is the best expenditure of Lottery funds, he supports the scholarship aspect of the bill because at least you have a tangible thing that you can point to. It does not matter that it is only $300. At least it is something tangible that people can know that their Lottery dollars are doing something good. Vice Chairperson Centi asked why the press has not published the dollars and cents of this. It seemed to Rep. Rayson that the press likes more salacious stories. However, part of the bill requires that there will be quarterly reports from the School Boards, so there will be some information dissembled. In addition to the Lottery Accountability Bill, Chairperson Denahan asked how can a group such as this board affect funding so that funding is in a better position. She stated that 9 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 our schools are in dire need of money. Every issue falls back on money. Rep. Rayson suggested trying to get the City to authorize a group to go to Tallahassee during a legislative session and lobby the legislators. It works and it affords you a unique opportunity to sit down with legislators and tell them your concerns. He felt legislators like to be loved. They do not want to be hated. If they can help you, and if you can show them how they can help you, he felt we will go a long way to beneficially affecting State educational policy. He suggested that this visit be made when a bill is going to be heard that is of interest to the City. That can be done by coordinating with the House Committee on Education, the Speakers Office, or the Appropriations Committee staff. He would be more than happy to try to stay close and advise the board when he thinks there is something coming up that could benefit by a visit from not only this board but all sorts of educational advocates. Rep. Rayson stated that as an officially sanctioned city advisory board, this board has credibility. It represents Boynton Beach and knows what the problems are in the schools. If the board can articulate and identify those problems, and if there is a reasonable legislative way to help ameliorate some of the problems identified, he felt the board would get a good response. Chairperson Denahan thanked Rep. Rayson for attending this meeting, and Bobby and Bradley Rayson for their attention. At this time, Rep. Rayson and his sons left the meeting. B. School Liaison Definition Motion Vice Chairperson Centi moved to approve the School Liaison Definition sheet. Ms. Russell seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Chairperson Denahan stated that we now have it clearly defined exactly what is expected of each liaison of the schools, and we can keep in better contact with each school in Boynton Beach. C. Technical Information Work Sheet Chairperson Denahan devised a technical information work sheet with Mr. Hawkins for the members to bring with them to the principals or the SAC Chairs in lieu of sending a form to the principals through the mail. The members should bring the completed work sheet back to the board so that we are better informed about the schools. 10 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 D. Christa McAuliffe Award to be presented at the September 17, 1996 City Commission Meeting Chairperson Denahan would greatly appreciate all the members of this board attending the September 17th City Commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. Mayor Taylor will be handing out awards to acknowledge Christa McAuliffe Middle School's achievement of having the highest improvement on the Florida Writes testing. She thanked Ms. Newton for bringing this to the attention of the board. The principal of the school, Nora Rosenweig refused to take the credit herself. She gave it to her entire school. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Assignment of Schools Chairperson Denahan distributed an assignment sheet for each member of the board to sign up as liaison of a school. B. November 1996 involvement in cultural awareness activities with the Advisory Board on Children and Youth and the Community Relations Board Chairperson Denahan announced that the Advisory Board on Children and Youth is working in conjunction with the Community Relations Board on cultural diversity and cultural awareness. The Community Relations Board is in the planning stages of their first annual multi-cultural festival. It is going to be held on Saturday, November 16th. She asked if the board would like to participate. The board could purchase an information booth for $10. This would be an opportunity to distribute our Education Advisory Board pamphlets and tell the community about our need for a high school and how they can get involved. The Advisory Board on Children and Youth is also planning something and would like us to participate; however, Chairperson Denahan did not have any information about that yet. Chairperson Denahan said she invited the Chairs of both boards to tonight's meeting; however, they were not in attendance. Chairperson Denahan advised that this board was also asked to participate in Youth In 11 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 Government Day, and she has committed to that. Ms. Newton did not wish to commit to participating in the multi-cultural festival until she knows more about it. C. Anne Centi report on Network Meeting with Bob Hayes at the School Board on June 25, 1996 Chairperson Centi felt that Mr. Hayes did not have a good handle on the Boynton Beach situation. She said he made some comments such as the high schools are not that crowded and can take a few more children. He also said as far as Poinciana is concerned, that they had portables ready for the sixth grade. She said he was not on top of a lot of the issues. She asked him if he was our representative and he said he represented all of Palm Beach County. She said he sort of skirted some of the issues. We tried to lobby Mr. Hayes for funding for the high school, and he was very adamant and very opposed to it. Chairperson Denahan stated that Mr. Hayes informed her that the three high schools that our Boynton Beach students currently attend have plenty of room to absorb more children. She said Mayor Taylor was very distraught with Mr. Hayes' lack of commitment to Boynton Beach. It was Mr. Weinstein's understanding that each of the members of the School Board are supposed to represent an individual community. Vice Chairperson Centi stated Mr. Hayes said publicly that people do not have to worry because he is not going to run again. Vice Chairperson Centi felt that if you do not want to run again in two years and you feel apathetic, you should resign now and we should put somebody in who is going to represent us. Chairperson Denahan stated that Mr. Hayes told her that his position was not a position to be envied and that he wished he were not in the position that he was in. She agreed with Vice Chairperson Centi that if Mr. Hayes does not want to be there, he needs to resign. Ms. Newton did not feel we are being truly represented by this elected official and we should call for his removal. D. Chamber of Commerce and Friends of the Library - sincere appreciation for the August 22, 1996 School Board Candidates Forum 12 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 Chairperson Denahan advised that this was an excellent forum and an opportunity for the community to hear the candidates address important issues. She appreciated this opportunity to see the candidates in Boynton Beach and to hear how they felt about funding and the construction of our long awaited Boynton Beach High School. They also discussed single member districts, which they were all against. They were all in favor of the concurrency and sales tax. Ms. Newton suggested congratulating Jody Gleason on her win and to encouraging her to continue to work towards a Boynton Beach High School. Chairperson Denahan will put something in writing for the board's signature. Motion Vice Chairperson Centi moved to congratulate Jody Gleason and Sandra Richmond on winning the School Board election. Ms. Newton seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. IX. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Representative Ron Klein to speak at the October 3, 1996 meeting Chairperson Denahan announced that she is in the process of establishing a place for the next meeting. She would like to get back into the schools. The board will hold its November meeting at Christa McAuliffe. She will let the members of the board know where the October 3rd meeting will he held. At that meeting, Representative Ron Klein, who is now running for Senate, will be the guest speaker. In June, at a Boynton Beach City Commission meeting, Rep. Klein had offered whatever assistance he could to the City to facilitate getting our high school. B. Five Star Forum Mr. Weinstein distributed information on the Five Star Forum, an adult education program, and suggested putting this item on the next agenda for discussion. 13 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA SEPTEMBER 5, 1996 C. Lottery Accountability Bill Motion Mr. Ehster moved that we request the City of Boynton Beach to pass two resolutions, one regarding the definition of enhancement and one regarding fully funding the scholarship program mentioned in Chapter 96-314, Laws of Florida. Vice Chairperson Centi seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Chairman Denahan stated that we can bring this to the City Commission's attention at their September 17th meeting. Ms. Russell inquired about writing to the Lottery and demanding a complete accounting of how the Lottery money is spent. Mr. Weinstein suggested asking the City to recommend to the Legislature that there be a periodic publishing in all the newspapers within the State of the accounting of the State Lottery rather than submitting an application for a book. Vice Chairperson Centi suggested sending a letter to the Delray Beach and Boca Raton Education Advisory Boards regarding this matter. Mr. Weinstein volunteered to prepare a letter of intent to submit to all the communities asking for their participation. Chairperson Denahan asked him to send her this letter before the next meeting. Chairperson Denahan thanked Mr. Ehster for starting work on recruiting volunteers. She will be putting "Volunteer School Uniforms in the city of Boynton Beach" on the next agenda. X. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (Two Tapes) 14