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Minutes 11-05-98 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD IN LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5, 1998 PRESENT ALSO PRESENT Ronald Ehster Virginia Farace, Education Advisory David Fellows, Voting Alternate Board Staff Liaison Eddie Mitchell Margaret Newton Dawn Russell Heidi DeVries, Student ABSENT David Brownstein, Alternate Revia Lee Stephanie Murray I. GREETINGS In the absence of a Chairperson, Dawn Russell assumed Temporary Chair. Ms. Adriana Borgia, a guest of Mr. Fellows, was welcomed to the meeting. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Temporary Chair Russell called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. and led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. III. ROLL CALL Temporary Chair Russell asked the Recording Secretary to call the roll. A quorum was declared present. Ms. Farace noted that Mr. Fellows would be acting as a regular member on the Board this evening. Ms. Farace stated that Mr. David Brownstein telephoned and informed her that he had another school commitment and asked that this be entered into the minutes. Also, it has been previously discussed how to treat an absence of a Board member if that member has other school commitments. Also, Ms. Farace noted that Mr. Brownstein was present at the planning workshop, which was not mandated. Ms. Farace indicated that Mr. Brownstein’s absence should be an excused absence. MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 IV. MINUTES APPROVAL (October 1, 1998) Motion Mr. Ehster moved that the minutes of October 1, 1998 meeting be approved. Motion seconded by Mr. Fellows. Motion unanimously carried. V. PUBLIC AUDIENCE None VI. CHAIR’S REPORT None VII. CITY LIAISON REPORT A. Membership Roster/Attendance Ms. Farace distributed to members the current membership roster. Members were referred to the back of the roster, which was a copy of the attendance record of members as maintained by the City Clerk’s Office. Ms. DeVries pointed out that she is th now a 9 grade student at Atlantic High School. Also, Ms. Margaret Newton stated that her profession should be listed as “African/African American Resource Specialist/Teacher”. Ms. DeVries asked what the criteria was for being removed from the Board. Acting Chair Russell indicated that after three absences a warning is sent. Ms. Farace stated that the Code of Ordinances pertaining to this Board is different from other Board Ordinances. Mr. Fellows read this Board’s Ordinance, which states that “any member failing to attend two of three successive meetings without cause and/or without prior approval of the Chairperson of the Board shall automatically forfeit his or her appointment”. Ms. Farace interpreted this to mean that a member could miss every other meeting and still be on the Board, but a member cannot miss two in a row, otherwise they would be removed from the Board. Ms. Farace stated that the City Clerk’s Office goes by the premise that if a Board member misses three meetings in any year, a warning is sent to that Board member. If that Board member misses a fourth meeting in the same year, they are removed from the Board. Ms. Farace stated that this needs to be clarified. 2 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 Ms. Newton asked if a Board member attended SAC meetings does that count towards Board attendance. Ms. Farace stated that this needs clarification also. Ms. Newton inquired if the City Attorney would be able to attend a future meeting to clarify these issues for the Board. Ms. Farace did not think this would be possible, unless otherwise directed by the City Commission. Ms. Newton indicated she would approach her City Commissioner and inform him of the problems on this Board and request that the City Attorney clarifies all these issues. Ms. Newton expressed concerns if Board members were attending other necessary school meetings, they should not be penalized if this caused a Board member to miss a meeting. Mr. Ehster requested it be reflected in the records that (1) Mr. Brownstein did not wish to be removed from the Board, (2) the Board would like to have him continue as a member, and (3) that his absence should be recorded as excusable. B. Response from City Attorney Ms. Farace informed members that she heard from the City Attorney who informed her st that this Board could not make changes as requested in the October 1 minutes. A Commissioner, who would bring the issue before the City Commission, must request these changes. Ms. Farace noted that no Commissioner has recommended this change in the Ordinance. IX. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. “Gathering Storm” Temporary Chair Russell asked if there was anything to report on the Gathering Storm. Ms. Farace stated there was a sub-committee meeting scheduled for last evening, but due to the poor weather, the meeting was cancelled. A new meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, at 6:30 and a report will be forwarded to this Board for our next meeting. Mr. Fellows said he has attended three meetings. One meeting he attended was working on a mission statement. The mission statement that has been developed for the Community Reliance for Reform and Education, which is the grass root’s organization, is trying to do something to impact the results of the Gathering Storm. They are advocating organizations, parents, youth and educators in Palm Beach County to impact systemic educational reform that will insure fair and equal access to quality education. The vision is to bring about systemic educational reform in Palm Beach County. Mr. Fellows was not sure what was meant by “systemic reform”. The alternative to suspension program was viewed as a small item, which would have no 3 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 impact on the whole picture of the school system. Mr. Fellows stated he feels the goals of the Gathering Storm are admirable, but felt the meetings were frustrating. Ms. Newton stated that one of the groups from the Gathering Storm is attending all SAC’s within the district and making sure that each school’s mission statement and statements of actions target State mandates and children at risk. It is important that children of color in all the City’s schools are targeted, which is part of the mission statement of Gathering Storm. The State has mandated that every school improvement plan must include targeting children of color and children with varying needs. B. Planning Workshop/Goals Ms. Farace distributed the Agenda from the October 27, 1998 workshop. Ms. Farace stated that there are seven goals and some of the goals have a Board member’s name listed with that goal. Each Board member should select a goal and some goals can include more than one member. Ms. Farace read all seven goals and noted the name of the Board member that selected that particular goal. (Attached to the minutes for reference) Discussion ensued regarding the goals. Temporary Chair Russell stated she would select Item F as her goal and Mr. Mitchell indicated he would select Item C. Mr. Ehster made mention of a recent newspaper article which listed the results of the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test which indicate that Forest Park and Galaxy Schools have the lowest test scores in Boynton Beach. Mr. Ehster read the classroom size statistics to members. Ms. Newton inquired if these schools are Title 1 schools. A Title 1 school has their class size limited to no more than 25 students per classroom. Also, Title 1 schools are entitled to more services. Ms. Newton suggested that it should be determined if there are Title 1 schools in Boynton Beach. It was decided that all members would work on Goal B. Temporary Chair Russell inquired if anyone had any thing further to add to the goals. There being none, Members agreed to accept the goals as presented to the Board. Ms. Farace stated that the goals would be incorporated into future agendas for reporting each month. C. Youth Council 4 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 Nothing to report D. Promise for Youth Mr. Ehster attended the meeting at City Hall in the Mall and said there were three members present from the previous meeting. Mr. Ehster stated he was attempting to determine how many cities with 50,000+ population were involved in America’s Promise. He wanted to contact these cities to determine how successful the program was and if there were enough resources. Mr. Ehster requested that this information be obtained. At this point, there is nothing to look at to determine if the resources are available and what is needed to make the program grow. Mr. Ehster felt that until the answers to these questions can be determined, it is a difficult challenge, although he felt the program was a worthwhile program. Mr. Ehster stated that the mentoring aspect of the program is a good way to help with the education and the well being of students. Mr. Ehster stated that for the past four years, he has tried to develop a volunteer mentoring program with Motorola. Out of 3,000 people contacted, two people volunteered. Mr. Ehster stated that other cities have established mentoring programs that have worked. Ms. Farace stated that the Chamber of Commerce set up a mentoring program at Congress Middle School and the prime volunteers are from Motorola and the program was specifically geared to girls and minorities. Ms. Farace informed members that the Concerned Citizens for Change (“CCC”), which is a group of black male residents of the City, have put together a mentoring program. Mr. Mitchell stated he is involved in this group. Mr. Mitchell stated that one of the purposes of the CCC is to find solutions for the Gathering Storm and improving the academic status of the students. Although there are a few white students in the program, the majority of the students are black. Mr. Mitchell explained to members what the group is doing and its progress to date. Mr. Mitchell stated that the sessions are held at the Hester Center on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and resulted from the Gathering Storm. Ms. Farace suggested that the next time Mr. Ehster attends a meeting for America’s Promise, they should be informed of this group. E. Alternative to Suspension Program Mr. Fellows said that an RFP has to be prepared. Also, portables are being obtained. There will be two at Santaluces and one at Congress. Hopefully, the program can be offered during the first or second semester. Mr. Fellows informed members that he attended a meeting hosted by the McArthur Foundation, which was attended by 5 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 representatives from many different organizations. This City’s Education Advisory Board appeared to be the best organized Board present and Mr. Fellows was proud of the direction the Board is pursuing. Mr. Fellows further stated that he made a presentation on the program at SAC meetings at both the Santaluces High School and the Congress Middle School and the SAC’s were very enthusiastic. Mr. Mitchell inquired if the SAC’s discussed whether or not Santaluces was on the State’s critical list because the grades of the students have been falling drastically by approximately 20-30 points. Members discussed this situation at length. It was noted that there are 3,500 students at Santaluces High School. Mr. Fellows stated that the long term results of the suspension program are that it removes disruptive students from the classroom and at the same time academically tutors these students. Ms. Newton suggested obtaining data regarding test scores to determine the breakdown between students. Ms. Newton further stated that the test scores were not driven down because of students from foreign lands and that the Hispanic students do not fall below standards in most schools. Ms. Newton informed the Members that she would obtain this data for the Boynton schools, which will give the breakdown by ethnic group and race. F. SAC Representatives Citrus Cove (Dawn Russell) Nothing to report Santaluces High School (David Fellows and Virginia Farace) Mr. Fellows stated he attended his first meeting and noted it was a large SAC with a lot of participation. Mr. Fellows stated he was focusing more on the suspension program and that Mr. Hamilton did a good job running the SAC. Congress Middle School (David Fellows and Virginia Farace) Mr. Fellows stated that the SAC chair, Ms. Ready ran the meeting. There was interest at both schools on the Alternative to Suspension Program. Also, Congress Middle School is still getting its new magnet program working. 6 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 Hagen Ranch Road Elementary School (Ron Ehster) Mr. Ehster left his report prior to leaving the meeting early. The report stated that the th next meeting would be on Monday, November 9 at 2:15 p.m. Temporary Chair Russell read the report to members. South Technical Center (Eddie Mitchell) Mr. Mitchell stated this SAC has a large membership. Mr. Mitchell informed members that in approximately one to two years, South Technical would be focusing on high school students, rather than adults. Most of the adult programs will be moving next year to the Community College. A freshman and sophomore class should be forming next year. Also extra-curricular activities will be offered, such as yearbook and some type of sports. Consideration is taking place on whether to offer a four-year nurse’s assistant program. Upon graduation, the student would be a qualified nurse’s assistant. The school currently offers an early learning program. Ms. Mitchell stated that a lot of new things would be taking place at South Technical similar to other high schools. No decision has been made yet regarding the Fire Academy. Rolling Green Elementary School Ms. Newton indicated she would attend the next SAC meeting at Rolling Green. X. NEW BUSINESS A. Election of Chair and Vice-Chair Temporary Chair Russell stated that the elections would be tabled until the meeting. B. By-laws Ms. Farace distributed sample By-laws for members’ review and suggested that a committee could be formed or just one member of this Board could volunteer to review the By-laws with Ms. Farace to work on formulating the By-laws. Also, it must be decided what the By-laws themselves would encompass. Ms. Newton suggested that the By-laws should be put aside until the City Attorney responds to this Board’s request regarding attendance and excused and unexcused absences, since these are items that would be included in the By-laws. It was decided that the By-law issue would be tabled. 7 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 Mr. Fellows said he would volunteer to work with Ms Farace on formulating the By-laws of this Board. C. Letter to Principals Re: SAC Membership Mr. Fellows indicated that this Board could have a huge impact on the public schools that serve the children in Boynton Beach. Mr. Fellows suggested that a letter be forwarded to the school principals and SAC chairs stating the Board’s desire that a member of this Board be on that school’s SAC. Also, Mr. Fellows suggested that at the same time the principals could be invited to participate in a workshop with this Board. A copy of the Board’s Goals, Vision Statement, and Mission Statement could be included with the letter. Mr. Fellows informed members that he had spoken to approximately five principals and invited them to attend the Board’s December meeting to discuss issues that concern them and this Board. The suggestion was received enthusiastically. Temporary Chair Russell thought this was a good idea, since it is very difficult to speak with the principals at SAC meetings. Mr. Fellows suggested inviting both principals and the SAC chairs to the December meeting. Discussion ensued on the timing of the meeting and whether December would be premature. If a workshop was decided, this Board will have to have a program in place. Mr. Fellows suggested drafting a letter and attaching a copy of the City Code of Ordinances, which sets forth the purpose of this Board. Mr. Fellows also suggested inviting a representative from the Boynton Times and the Education Times to the December meeting. Ms. Newton suggested that a letter be sent to Dr. Kowal and to the Area 1 and 2 Directors. Mr. Fellows stated he has already spoken with Ms. Elizabeth Decker, the Area 2 Director and she was very much in favor of the meeting. After discussion it was determined that only the Mission Statement would be sent with the letter. The next item under discussion was the time and length of the meeting. Also, it was suggested that an RSVP be requested to determine attendance. It was suggested that each principal could speak for three minutes and then a 10-minute question and answer period could follow. The content of the letter was discussed in order to inform the principals what the topics would be at the meeting. The first four items of the October th 27 workshop agenda would be listed in the letter as topics of discussion. 8 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 Mr. Fellows suggested that under “A”, it be changed from “alternative to suspension” to “student behavior”, since alternative to suspension is only being offered at two schools. Ms. Farace pointed out that the adopted goal is to “reduce number of out of school suspensions”. Ms. Newton suggested that a planning session be set to work out the details of the December meeting. Temporary Chair Russell suggested that the details for a workshop with the principals could be addressed at the December meeting and then the principals could be invited to attend the January meeting. After discussion, it was decided that the principals would be invited to the December meeting. The December agenda will consist of the following: ? the first four goals will be discussed ? 15 minute segments – ? 5 minute presentation ? 10 minute question and answer Ms. Newton agreed to take Goal B. It was suggested that Muslima Lewis be contacted to attend. Also, a copy of the letter and the agenda will be sent to each Board member. An invitation letter to the December 3, 1998 meeting will be sent to the following: ? each Boynton Beach school principal, ? each school SAC chair, ? the two area superintendents and ? School Superintendent Dr. Joan Kowal. Ms. Newton suggested that Board members should come to the meeting at 6:00 p.m. in order to prepare for the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Also it was suggested that refreshments be served. Temporary Chair Russell stated she would bring cookies and Ms. Farace will make coffee and/or ice tea. XI. ANNOUNCEMENTS December 3, 1998. Temporary Chair Russell announced that the next meeting will be 9 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 High School Forum Thursday, December 10, 1998 at 6:30 p.m. The will be held on Mr. Fellows noted that Ms. Stephanie Murray has missed a total of 5 meetings, including tonight and asked if this Board should take any action. Mr. Fellows was informed that the Clerk’s Office automatically deals with attendance and that Ms. Murray will be removed from the Board. IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting properly adjourned at 8:37 p.m. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (two tapes) 10 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 5, 1998 David Fellows) A. Reduce number of out of school suspensions. ( ? Advocate/lobby for the establishment of an alternative suspension program at Congress Middle and Santaluces High Schools ? Monitor and report to community B. Advocate for the establishments of programs whose end result is raising (Margaret Newton) performance on standardized tests C. Advocate for solutions to issues raised by “Gathering Storm” as it related to Eddie Mitchell) Boynton Beach students. ( ? Setup sub-committee D. Advocate for strategies which will encourage parental involvement in all aspects (David Brownstein) of their children’s education ? Share SIPs with community ? Plan a public hearing/forum for local education issues and concerns. E. Keep community informed on “School Concurrency and implications for Boynton Ron Ehster) Beach students ( F. Advocate all schools in Boynton Beach be in the same administrative area (Dawn Russell) ? Encourage school board to reassign Galaxy and Forest Park Elementary School to Area 2 by Fall 2001 G. Keep informed of legislative issues that will impact Boynton Beach students (Margaret Newton) ? Focus on un-funded mandates ? Add legislative issues to monthly agenda 11