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Minutes 11-06-97 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD AT FOREST PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1997 AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT Anne Centi, Vice Chairwoman Wilfred Hawkins, Asst. to the City Ron Ehster Manager Muslima Lewis Dawn Russell David Weinstein David Brownstein, Alternate Falechia Price, Student Heidi DeVries, Student ABSENT Nellie Denahan, Chairwoman Margaret Newton Helena Fallon, Alternate I. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairwoman Centi called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. and introduced Ms. Roche, principal of Forest Park Elementary School. The members introduced themselves. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Vice Chairwoman Centi thanked Ms. Roche for hosting the board’s meeting. III. TOUR OF SCHOOL Ms. Roche led the board members on a tour of the new and renovated facilities of Forest Park Elementary School. A $4.5 million renovation was just recently completed. The tour included the cafeteria, classrooms and office space. All of the classrooms have been painted and new vinyl was installed on the floors. Staff is very pleased because they all feel like they are in a new school. The old section of Forest Park Elementary School was built in 1955, and the newer section was built in the 1960s. This school has one of the larger, nicer school libraries in the County. IV. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1. Do you have good parent participation at Forest Park Elementary School? 1 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 6, 1997 There is good parent participation, but the school would like more participation. They have enough parent participation to achieve the Golden School Award each year. In order to achieve this award, there must be double the parent participation hours for the number of students in the school. 2. Are you having problems with the 51% participation on the SAC? No. 3. Is the chair of your SAC a teacher or parent? The chair of the SAC is a teacher. The SAC meets at 2:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. PTL Advisory Board meets at 6:30 on the third Thursday of every other month, and the PTA meets at 7:00 p.m. on Monday of every other month. Ms. Roche explained that in order to get parent participation in the PTA, the school must have the students provide a performance. 4. What percentage of the parents attend Parent/Teacher Night? Parent/Teacher Night is very well attended every year. 5. What percentage of the student population comes from Delray Beach? Approximately 100 students are from Delray Beach. Those students will leave Forest Park Elementary School next year when Morikami opens. Two years ago, the Boundary Committee agreed to remove the Delray Beach students and replace them with Boynton Beach students. Unfortunately, Morikami was not ready to open. This took a perfectly balanced school out of balance. There was a 34% Black population that increased to a 54% minority population because of that decision. Ms. Roche said the school had established a good rapport with the Delray Beach students and they are not happy about losing them. 6. What is the reason for the transience of Forest Park’s student population? The transience of this school’s population is not as bad as it is at Palm Springs; however, it is more than the school would like to have. Transience makes it difficult to establish a relationship with the students and parents. Transience is not unique to this school and if a comparison were done, the population at Forest Park would not be more transient than any other coastal school. 7. What is a “Red Carpet School”? A “Red Carpet School” must meet certain criteria. When the school is visited, a test is performed which involves programs at the school, accessibility to people coming into the school, etc. Forest Park met the criteria and will keep the designation for five years. At that time, another visit will take place to determine whether or not the school will receive the designation again. 2 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 6, 1997 At the request of a board member, Ms. Roche reported that Forest Park Elementary School offers two ESOL evening programs for parents that are available at Congress Community Middle School. This program was instituted when the school realized that the Creole-speaking parents could not assist their children with homework. As a Title I school, Forest Park is eligible for funds that allow the implementation of evening programs for parents. The programs offered are varied. This school year, Ms. Roche insisted that every parent be contacted for a conference about his or her children. School officials were able to reach 90% of the parents. This school has an enrollment of 690 students with approximately 590 from Boynton Beach. There is some discussion among the members of the Boundary Committee about transferring approximately 70 students from Galaxy Elementary to Forest Park Elementary. Vice Chairwoman Centi thanked Ms. Roche for her hospitality. V. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll. VI. MINUTES APPROVAL - Meeting of August 7, 1997 Ms. Russell moved to approve the minutes of August 7th. Ms. Lewis seconded the motion that carried unanimously. Meeting of September 4, 1997 Mr. Brownstein moved to approve the minutes of September 4th. Ms. Russell seconded the motion that carried unanimously. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. REVIEW GOALS Since the list of board goals was not included in the back-up material, this item was tabled until the next meeting. B. FORUM OF OCTOBER 25, 1997 Vice Chairwoman Centi felt this was an excellent forum that was the beginning of unity of the City advisory boards. All of the members who attended were pleased with the results that were achieved. Mr. Weinstein felt cooperative attitudes were achieved. Vice Chairwoman Centi advised that the boards are working on the following items: 3 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 6, 1997 ? A senior center in Boynton Beach. ? A skateboard park for the City. ? a Youth Council ? a Unity Festival The boards have agreed to share a booth at the G.A.L.A. where information will be disseminated and recruitment efforts will take place. Mr. Weinstein felt the most important thing that happened, as a result of the forum is that the board members now know the purpose of each board. If an issue comes before a board that is better handled by another advisory board, that issue can be forwarded to the right source. Vice Chairwoman Centi advised that additional forums will be held and the Education Advisory Board will host the summer forum. C. Legislative Session Vice Chairwoman Centi reminded the members that Chairwoman Denahan attended this Session in Tallahassee and will probably provide a report at the next meeting. D. Pep Rally The pep rally was held at the October 7th City Commission meeting and went very well. E. Resolution The Resolution was presented to the City Commission at their October 7th meeting. F. Liaison Reports 1. Galaxy Elementary School Vice Chairwoman Centi advised that the meeting was cancelled due to the mosquito alert. 2. Santaluces High School Ms. Price was unable to attend the meeting. 3. Congress Middle School Mr. Weinstein attended the meeting. Block scheduling was discussed at length, but there was no conclusion. There are conferences being scheduled to relieve teachers. They are planning to use the money from their $10 fund for substitutes. Mr. Weinstein recommended that they have conference on Saturday and pay the teachers to attend. He also made a recommendation about people in the community who are willing to give of their time without charge to provide remediation. Mr. Sills will get back to Mr. Weinstein. 4 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 6, 1997 4. Poinciana Elementary School Mr. Brownstein said there have been two SAC meetings at Poinciana. One meeting was for the purpose of electing new officers. The other meeting was to discuss the School Improvement Plan that is now in place. 5. Atlantic High School Ms. Lewis reported that two SAC meetings have been held. Discussions took place about the School Improvement Plan. Ms. Lewis explained that the mosquito alert has had a significant financial impact on the schools in terms of sports activities. In addition, some of the teams are unable to practice because the activities must be curtailed earlier. There were also discussions about House Bill 2120. 6. Forest Park Elementary Ms. DeVries said there were discussions about the special programs available at Forest Park Elementary School and the School Improvement Program that will be used next year. Mr. Weinstein reminded the members of last month’s discussion about inviting members of school SACs to attend the Education Advisory Board meetings since the members are unable to visit all of the meetings. He drafted a letter to the SACs requesting their participation in the board meetings for the purpose of them providing recommendations about their needs. Ms. Russell moved to look at Mr. Weinstein’s letter and discuss it at the next meeting to decide if this is something that the board wishes to do. Ms. Lewis seconded the motion that carried unanimously. VIII. ANNOUNCEMENTS Law Review Article This is an article that was written by Mr. Weinstein that appeared in the Boca News. Boynton Beach Neighborhood Summit This item was included for review by the members. Palm Beach Legislative Delegation - November 13, 1997 The Delegation will be meeting in Commission Chambers on November 13th. Next Meeting The January meeting will be held on Thursday, January 8, 1998, at Rolling Green Elementary School. 5 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 6, 1997 Vice Chairwoman Centi advised that Susan Engleman would like to come before the board to discuss women’s issues. Vice Chairwoman Centi reported that two parents with a child at Plumosa contacted her to advise that the school does not have a recess period. Their child is very active and needs the outlet of a recess period. The parents were seeking assistance from this board. Ms. Roche advised that recess is an “extra”. If time does not permit, there is no recess period. The members decided that Vice Chairwoman Centi should contact the parents and advise them that recess is an individual school issue. The parents should be referred to the SAC. IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting properly adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Janet M. Prainito Deputy City Clerk (One Tape) 6