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Minutes 11-14-96 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD AT POINCIANA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1996, AT 6:30 P.M. PRESENT Nellie Denahan, Chairperson Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant to the Anne Centi, Vice Chairman City Manager Muslima Lewis Dawn Russell David Weinstein ABSENT Margaret Newton Irene Mandel, Alternate Ben Demaline, Student Ronald Ehster, Alternate Falechia Price, Student I. GREETINGS Chairperson Denahan called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. and thanked the Principal of Poinciana Elementary School, Stephen Sills, for hosting this meeting. She also welcomed David Brownstein to the meeting. Senator Klein and Mr. Weinstein were not yet present. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Since there was no American Flag in the room, this item was not addressed. III. INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKERS A. Host Principal, Poinciana Math/Science/Technology - Stephen Sills B. Chris Swanson C. Senator Ron Klein IV. SPECIAL PLANETARIUM PRESENTATION BY CHRIS SWANSON It was Mr. Sills' pleasure to provide the opportunity for the Boynton Beach Education Advisory Board to meet here tonight. He welcomed them back any time. He said Poinciana Elementary School is very happy about the relationship it has with the City of Boynton Beach and the business community, and recognizes that it would not exist in its current format without the support of the people of Boynton Beach. Poinciana Elementary MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 School is a math/science/technology magnet school and has been able to develop some unique facilities, including an elementary science lab, math lab, and technology lab. At this time, the meeting was recessed, and a special planetarium presentation was given by Mr. Swanson. When everyone returned to the Media Center, Senator Klein and Mr. Weinstein were present. V. DISCUSSION WITH SENATOR RON KLEIN Chairperson Denahan welcomed Senator Klein to the meeting. She advised that at the last meeting, Senator Klein said all the money from the lottery has gone to education. She clarified that 50 percent of the lottery dollars goes to prizes, 12 percent goes to administration, and 38 percent goes to education. Seventy percent of the 38 percent goes to K through 12. Senator Klein confirmed this. He said all the money that is net goes into a lottery enhancement trust fund and that money is then divided 70 percent to K through 12, 15 percent to community colleges, and 15 percent to the state university system. Chairperson Denahan asked if new appointments were made to the State Education Committee for the House and Senate. Senator Klein said those appointments have not yet been made. An election was held last week, and the swearing in will be held on November 20, 1996, after which the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate will appoint members to those committees. Everyone will probably know what committee they are on in the beginning of December. Once those choices have been made, Senator Klein can provide the board with a copy of the committees for the House and the Senate. In addition to the Education committees, he suggested that the board track the House Appropriation Subcommittee on Education and the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education in the Senate because that is where the appropriations decisions are made. Mr. Brownstein asked if the Legislature is going to get as serious about education in Florida as they are about retirement and senior citizen programs. He said he asked Rep. Bill Andrews if they had a contingency plan in place for catastrophe because he felt that in the next year or two the school systems in Palm Beach, Dade, and Broward Counties are going to be slammed. Senator Klein asked everyone present what they think the Legislature can do to improve education. Mr. Brownstein felt a lot of the answers are dollars. He also felt K through 3 class sizes should be reduced. He said you have to get children on the right track by second or third grade or you will probably lose them for the rest of the time. 2 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 Mr. Hawkins advised that $11 billion of the $39.8 billion 1995/96 State budget went to education. He asked what amount went to prisons. Senator Klein did not have the specific number, but said it is not more than $11 billion. Mr. Hawkins asked Senator Klein what his philosophy is regarding crime. He asked whether we should continue to emphasize punishment and spend dollars on incarceration and building prisons, or if we should put more money into the front end, namely, education, school construction, educational opportunities in incarceration facilities, and teachers' salaries. Senator Klein stated that about four years ago, everybody was talking about crime. At that time, people were being let out of prison after serving only about 15 percent of their sentence because there was not enough prison space. Many people in Florida were concerned about crime and decided that additional prison capacity was needed. Therefore, billions of dollars were allocated toward the Criminal Justice System and its continued operation. We currently have extra prison capacity. This year, discussion began to lean towards education. The question is now front end prevention. Education is the core of that principal. A lot of the issue is juvenile crime. Juveniles, who see no future for themselves, are committing the crimes. It is very easy to get involved in the drug culture and various other things. We have to do everything we can to make sure that the classrooms are of a size that the students can flourish. A lot of children can thrive in a 33 size classroom. However, the children who needs a little extra attention are not going to get it in a 33 size classroom. This year, Senator Klein believes the issue in Tallahassee is going to be how to deal with juvenile crime. He said funding is going to have to come from Tallahassee, but it is a local issue because one thing does not work for everybody. Things are a lot different in Pahokee than they are in West Palm Beach. We need a lot more community activity and involvement and we need to keep the schools open. Senator Klein felt it would be a waste of time to look down the road seven years from now and see that we have filled up the prisons and are out of space again. Last year, crime dropped and education became the big topic. It is a question of how we are going to fund it. Smaller class sizes means we need more classrooms, not portables. We have to look at all the funding expenses associated with this. In Florida, we divide the funding into two sources--PECO and Operations Expenses. The PECO dollars have not kept pace with growth. They have been flat because of the tax structure. In Florida, State-wide decisions are made on education. This has always hampered Florida's ability to be competitive. Senior citizens have been very supportive of education in Palm Beach County. That has not been the case in most other areas of Florida. It was the senior citizens who put the 1986 bond levy over the top. 3 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 Mr. Brownstein pointed out that senior citizens' property taxes are very low. Discussion ensued regarding homestead exemption. Senator Klein said voting wise, the problem is not in Palm Beach County. The homestead exemption, Statewide, allows the dollars to flow north, as opposed to south. We pay our fair share of taxes in South Florida, including senior citizens. The problem is in North Florida where there are larger properties that have unreasonably low tax values. Everybody is going to get the same roads, the same school allocations, the same environmental issues, the same health care, or whatever the State is paying for. If you are not paying for it through local property taxes because of the tax base in any given area, then the State dollars make up the difference. Mr. Weinstein felt the homestead exemption is fair because it allows the lower economic level person to write off the first $25,000.00. He felt the prison concept is divorced from the education concept as far as dollars are concerned. He felt that education has to try to reduce crime by the proper presentation to the students. He said it is erroneous to think that if we spend less on prisons and more on education that we would have a better system and a better base. He felt discipline among our people, whether school age or above, has absolutely nothing to do with the educational process in terms of dollars. Mr. Hawkins stated that the people who are incarcerated receive a minimal amount of education and skill building while they are in prison. He felt we should add a component of educational value to the prison system. He was not in favor of continually building additional prisons. He said there are more economical alternatives to incarcerating people than building state-of-the-art facilities. Part of the reason for people being in prison is the lack of some type of education. He felt one of the components of incarceration should be some type of foundation of improving their skills and ability. Senator Klein felt Florida needs to expand the Pride Program, which attempts to teach some level of skill. Mr. Hawkins knows of people who teach reading, math, and writing in the prison system and stated that the program is not broad enough and does not reach enough prisoners. Mr. Brownstein asked why outside, nongovernment sources cannot buy through Pride. Senator Klein explained that the business community feels Pride is competitive with the business community and, therefore, they do not want it. Mr. Sills said prisons versus education does not come down to an either/or equation. It 4 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 comes down to our priorities and where we believe we need to put our energies. One of the things we frequently hear is that the proportion of our budget that goes to education has decreased consistently in the time that we have had a lottery. He was concerned about what this says about our priorities in terms of the importance that we place on providing the proper education for our children. Many students can learn well with 32 to 35 students in a class. However, that is least appropriate for our students with greater needs. Looking at the demographics of Palm Beach County over the last 10 to 20 years, we consistently see an increase of students from lower socioeconomic families which typically parallels low academic achievement. Senator Klein advised that we put more money into schools every year and are spending more per student. If we want more classrooms and more teachers, it takes more money. He pointed out that the State just passed Amendment No. 1 which requires two-thirds of the voters to approve any constitutional taxes and asked for ideas and arguments to take back with him to Tallahassee. Mr. Weinstein asked if the one cent tax is on the agenda for the next election. Senator Klein advised that it is going to be delayed. He said part of the expenses for building buildings comes from PECO and part comes from local funding. Mr. Sills stated that the one cent sales tax will help get the school buildings and classrooms that we need; however, it will not help on the operations side. Vice Chairperson Centi said she was recently at a SAC meeting at a high school and the principal announced that some of the teachers, principals, and school administrators are looking to have the legislation rescinded so that the school will get money prior to the lottery money because they are very disenchanted with the way their funds have been cut back. Senator Klein said there is a proposed amendment to the Constitution that is being circulated to require the Legislature to spend a certain percentage of general revenue on schools. Senator Klein said the debate this year in Tallahassee is going to be how we are going to spend the $40.8 billion. Block grants on Medicaid, etc., will be coming down this year from Congress to balance the Federal budget because Medicaid is growing 8 to 10 percent per year in Florida. Once they freeze the number, the State of Florida is going to have to make up the difference. We have to figure out where the money is going to come from. We are going to have to look at all these issues and make cuts. If we want to put $2 million in education, we are going to have to cut some amount from Health and Human Services, transportation, environmental preservation, prisons, crime, etc. 5 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 Mr. Weinstein asked if there is anything in the State concept that requires prisoners to work and earn their keep. Senator Klein answered affirmatively, but advised that every prisoner does not have to work. Mr. Weinstein said the constitution and the prohibition against involuntary servitude completely excludes prisoners. He said there is no reason why prisoners cannot be compelled to earn their own keep. This might provide more money for education. Senator Klein advised that the money earned by the prisoners who do work is set aside for recompense to the victims, health care service, etc. Mr. Hawkins advised that some county jurisdictions, where you are imprisoned for no more than one year, require prisoners to pay for their food. He did not see why this cannot be a State-wide adopted concept in State prisons. Senator Klein said there is a redefining of what is going on in State government. Each agency is required to be accountable in terms of programs. Sometimes programs accumulate. They are designed for a certain constituency and people are employed, then the programs change and evolve, needs change in the community, and another program is created which does not necessarily reflect on what programs already exist. Therefore, you get a pyramiding effect of a lot of additional programs that may not be needed. We are finding ways to squeeze some. This has to go on locally too in the school systems. Mr. Brownstein felt our Legislators need to help us build public confidence. Senator Klein said the people are not adverse to paying more taxes. However, they see waste in government and feel things are inefficient. Mr. Hawkins asked what State departments have the highest budgets. Senator Klein advised that HRS does. Mr. Hawkins asked if that department's bureaucracy has been reduced and if an efficiency measure is being put into place. Senator Klein said he has seen progress but it still has a long way to go. Health and Human Services was all being done centrally out of Tallahassee. They broke it up into regions and have Health and Human Service Boards comprised of people who are involved in the community providing advice. He felt it was going in the right direction and there have seen some cost savings. There are oversight committees that oversee every agency. They are all on two year plans where they set outcome measures in place. Senator Klein pointed out that it is very difficult to measure a human service program. Mr. Hawkins asked if the Legislature has accepted the operations scheme that went on in the Department of Revenue, and if that is ready to be applied State-wide. Senator Klein 6 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 answered affirmatively. Ms. Russell advised that she teaches honors classes in high school, and there are 40 students in one class. The students are suffering and it is getting very frustrating for the teachers. Senator Klein stated that the evolution of the educational system over the last 20 years has made it very difficult, on a budgetary basis, because there have been so many lawsuits that have forced school systems to do certain things for which money has been allocated. Mr. Brownstein pointed out that Florida ranks 47 or 48 out of the 50 states in terms of per student allocation and asked what this says about the importance that we place on offering the best possible education. Mr. Hawkins stated that when people are elected to a community, State, or Federal position, they have to stop thinking about how long they are going to be there and start thinking about doing what it takes. The State of Florida can no longer exist of the current tax system and support everything that needs to be supported. We need more money. Some of the elected officials are going to have to bite the bullet. They are responsible for putting measures forward and for painting the picture of what the need is and what the people are going to have to do. If the new mandate that requires two-thirds of the voters' approval for taxes is not going to be good for the State, the elected officials need to do something about it. Senator Klein said the people have a larger responsibility. There are 16 members in this County on the Legislative Delegation. Every one of them has one vote. Therefore, there is opportunity for political pressure to be applied. He felt the leadership of the Legislature, the Governor, and others, need to make education stand out as the core issue. Mr. Brownstein stated that government in general suffers from an image problem. Someone needs to lay out a five or ten year plan. He did not understand why they are not renovating existing schools. It is never economically feasible and never racially balanced when they buy a million dollar piece of property four miles west of town and build a school. It never is the right spec. He asked why we cannot build another row of classrooms on this building and make the cafeteria twice as big to serve more students so that they do not have to eat lunch at 10:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Senator Klein said there may be buildings that could be retrofitted for a lot less than it would cost to build a new building. However, the school system is locked into the building 7 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 code which requires them to build every building the same. Much discussion is going on about whether or not it is the State's responsibility to provide a good education for every student. We spend a lot of money dealing with autistic children, for example, because of the student/teacher ratio, etc. Some people are questioning if the greater good of society is to try to provide a better education for 99 percent of the children and to deal with the other 1 percent in some other way. The argument is that it would free up a lot of money to improve 99 percent of the children. Mr. Weinstein felt society's greatest good is achieved by achievers. He would rather see more dollars spent on the gifted and less on special education. He said special education will only elevate a student to a particular point whereas the people who produce and are the greatest asset to our society are gifted people. He felt the money is better spent to educate and bring to a high level those people who are most capable of producing for society. Ms. Lewis felt Mr. Weinstein was reducing the value of children to some small measure of intellect. She said there is a lot more to them than their IQ or their ability to succeed in science, etc. She felt one of the goals that society should be committed to is well-rounded, well cared for children. She felt a lot of children can do all right in a 40 student class. It is the children who need the extra help who are going to suffer, and she felt we have to focus on those children. Senator Klein suggested making the money available to the mainstream population. Mr. Hawkins would support taking it outside of the realm of the general public education and giving it to private operations to deal with autistic and special needs children. Chairperson Denahan asked how we are preparing for catastrophe. Senator Klein pointed out that everybody's threshold is different in terms of what they would deem a crisis. Government has a tendency to respond to crisis. Mr. Brownstein said people respond to crisis much more radically than government does. If we cut the have-nots, then they will come knocking on our door because when people cannot find what they want to find, there is unrest and revolution. He felt we have to treat all of society fairly and nobody should get more or less. He asked how we would know that some child who was not taught to read right in first or second grade is not really the gifted one. Mr. Sills said in education, we are in the business of human potential. We cannot look at young children and know what they are capable of becoming. We know there are children 8 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 who have many obstacles to overcome to be successful learners. These children are not going away and the needs of the school are not going away. He felt it would behoove society to provide services based on the students' needs. Mr. Brownstein said Florida does not do anything without hiring a committee or having a survey done. We spend millions of dollars on research. We hire a group of people to come up with an answer and then we do not follow it. We waste millions of dollars trying to figure out how we are going to cut back on hundreds of thousands. He asked why government never has layoffs, and why the State of Florida is employing more people despite the fact that we have upgraded computers, technology, etc. He felt our leaders, Legislators or otherwise, are too hounded by special interests groups. Senator Klein felt there is opportunity for some elimination in that area. Mr. Hawkins asked why there is resistance to bringing all the law enforcement agencies (the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, and the Florida Marine Patrol) under the same umbrella and giving them cross jurisdictional power. He felt this would save us a lot of money. Senator Klein thought this was a good idea and should be pursued. Chairperson Denahan commented that the negative ads on sugar made education look bad. Mr. Sills said one of the issues that concerned him while watching the Legislature during the last session was that is seems like it is so easy for us to get distracted by issues like school prayer or charter schools that have very little promise for improving educational opportunities for students. Yet, they seem to be issues that people latch onto so easily because it seems to satisfy some need for doing something about education without actually doing anything about it. He felt our Legislators should take the lead in advocating substantial measures regarding education and try to resist those kinds of easy solutions that seem to be so comfortable for people. Senator Klein agreed. He said Governor Chiles has been focusing for years on tax reform. Two years ago he put out a major tax reform proposal, but the Senate would not even look at it. Nobody wants to pay new taxes. However, the fact is that in order for there to be more money for schools, there are going to have to be more revenues. At this time, Senator Klein and Ms. Sills left the meeting. 9 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 VI. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary called the roll. VII. MINUTES APPROVAL No additions, deletions, or corrections were made to the minutes of the September 5, 1996 meeting. Motion Mr. Weinstein moved to approve the minutes of the September 5, 1996 meeting. Ms. Russell seconded the motion, which carried 3-0. Ms. Lewis abstained since she was not present at that meeting. Chairperson Denahan corrected the sixth paragraph on page 3 where Rep. Klein said all the money from the lottery has gone to education. (See discussion earlier in this meeting.) Also, on page 1, Barbara Ready is the Chairperson of the Congress Middle School SAC. Motion Vice Chairperson Centi moved to approve the minutes of the October 3, 1996 meeting as amended. Mr. Weinstein seconded the motion, which carried 3-0. Ms. Lewis abstained since she was not present at that meeting. VIII. PUBLIC AUDIENCE None. IX. OLD BUSINESS A. Committee Reports Congress Middle School Mr. Weinstein reported that the SAC discussed computers and the clustering of computer classes. The School Improvement Plan analysis was reviewed in detail. They presented a science fair handbook. They wanted to know about their magnet school status. They spoke about gifted and advanced programs. There is extra allocation of money for gifted 10 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 programs, but not for advanced programs. They talked about how they can keep people in the gifted program rather than moving them to an advanced program. They spoke about inasmuch as the mandate has closed down summer school, that there will be programming on an afterschool basis. Those people who would ordinarily have gone to summer school would go for remediation to the afternoon programs. However, in establishing that, they indicated that there were insufficient funds and that funds are required for administrative detail, additional teachers or for teachers to stay after school, etc. Mr. Weinstein said he recommended to them that they tap the tremendous resource of elderly people. Many of them are former teachers and school administrators. He suggested that this board create a volunteer program to help the local schools. Chairperson Denahan gave Mr. Weinstein Valerie Pleasanton's telephone number and asked him to refer volunteers to her. She advised that each school has a volunteer coordinator who coordinates volunteers within the school. Each school handles volunteers on an individual basis. Atlantic Community High School Chairperson Denahan read Mr. Ehster's notes on the SAC meeting. Mrs. Shetler stressed the need for another high school nearby. The Phase 1 goal is completed for the school addition across Seacrest. The cafeteria and dining area will be started in October, 1977. They requested ideas to help sell the penny sales tax. Mr. Ehster recommended that the new penny tax be advertised as paying for new schools as well as paying some of the current COP payback. This would allow some of the COP payback current budget monies to add teachers and reduce class sizes. Forest Park Elementary School Chairperson Denahan reported that Rex Davis is the Project Manager for the Forest Park project. Construction is approximately three months behind schedule and should be complete by May 31st. The playground will be in place by Thanksgiving. Bruce Black, the PTO Vice President of Poinciana, has agreed to be the community business liaison at Forest Park. He has already been able to set up some liaisons and donations. Forest Park recently published a wish list in the Boynton Beach Times, and Mr. Black was able to find a donor to take care of that wish list. SAC boundary 274A is under discussion for boundary changes. It is going to affect three elementary schools, including Plumosa and Forest Park. The area includes 32nd Avenue through 38th Avenue. The first hearing was Wednesday, November 13th. Currently, Plumosa has fewer than 600 students. If you fall below 600 students, you lose your 11 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 Assistant Principal, guidance counselors, PE teachers, and special teachings go to half day. They are going to change the SAC boundaries to make sure that the school does not lose these teachers. In order to make sure they get their population up, they are redrawing the lines. Mayor Alperin has an agreement with the School Board. He is adverse to any idea that is going to put his schools in Delray Beach above the 40 percent mark for Black students. They are currently at 34 percent at Plumosa. This reassignment is going to be pulling in from Forest Park 13 Black and 13 non Black students. However, it is also going to be pulling out 99 Black students from another school. The racial balance at Plumosa would be elevated to 44 percent Black. That is out of racial compliance, but the school would be above the 600 mark. Forest Park is already at 38 percent White. Federal compliance is 60 percent White. Rolling Green only has 16 percent White. Chairperson Denahan was not in favor of the Palm Beach County School Board reassigning SAC boundaries to adversely affect schools in Boynton Beach. The parents at Forest Park are also against this, even though it only affects 16 students. Bob Hayes' response was that he was in favor of whatever is best for Delray Beach's interests, regardless of how it affects Boynton Beach. Diane Heinz' comments were that we should not get upset about the boundary changes because they will not take place until 1998 and by that time Forest Park would be losing 115 Black students which would bring it more into racial compliance because of the Morikami school. Mr. Hawkins advised that Plumosa is undergoing renovations to enlarge their school to allow more students to go there. A lot of students in Forest Park already come from Delray Beach. Mr. Brownstein stated that Galaxy is one of the few schools in the County that is perfectly racially balanced in every segment, including Asian and Hispanic. Chairperson Denahan said there are two schools in Boynton Beach that are already unbalanced and do not meet Federal compliance. She did not think the right solution is for the School Board to try to keep things in line for Delray Beach and totally disregard the needs in Boynton Beach. She requested that Bob Hayes, Jody Gleason, Diane Heinz, Sandy Richmond, and William Graham be lobbied. She said Vice Mayor Shirley Jaskiewicz promised to attend the next hearing. Galaxy Elementary School Mr. Brownstein advised said there was a directive sent down from Forest Hill Boulevard that the SACs should discuss ways to sell concurrency and the penny sales tax. Five new 12 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 members signed up for the SAC. Rolling Green Elementary School Chairperson Denahan reported that the school is 150 percent over capacity with only 16 percent White students and 44 percent of the students have English as their second language. The link of lower socioeconomic, free and reduced lunch, and the lower test scores, coupled with a 30 percent turnover throughout the year makes it a very different challenge at Rolling Green. The School Improvement Plan is straight out of an at-risk idea straight from Washington, D.C. From the SAC's point of view, everything that can be done is being done in order to get off of Brogan's list and in order to raise the quartile scores. Dr. Voss requested the following to help the SAC achieve their goals: ? Matching funds for their book give-a-way; ? Funds for classroom libraries; ? A mobile library during the summer; and ? More volunteers. They have received grants for after school programs. Poinciana Elementary School Chairperson Denahan reported that Mr. Sills received many suggestions and good feedback on concurrency and the one cent sales tax. The public needs to be educated and they want to see something in writing. They want to see where the Boynton Beach High School fits on the list. Brainstorming was done on classroom indicators and new ideas due to the new facility. There is much parent involvement, and they are incorporating parent volunteers into the lesson plans. Citrus Cove Elementary School Ms. Russell reported that the SAC talked about their committee and different goals that they want to expand upon. They want to expand the computer lab if they can get sufficient funds. They are working on a citizenship program. They also spoke about the fact that the IIT is going to have a writers' fair on April 30th. It has plans to begin a publishing lab, write grants, and develop partnership programs. They are looking for a person within the SAC who is interested in writing grants for the school. They also discussed their new language art series and ways to use it. They are trying to incorporate the old books into the new 13 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 program even though they have received new books. They also talked about a few problems they have been having with traffic. The traffic gets backed up and they need a police officer in the mornings and afternoons to get it moving. In addition to the police officer, they discussed having buses for the neighborhoods near Citrus Cove to take those students home even though they do not live within the distance to justify the buses. Mr. Hawkins advised that our Police Department has been trying to work with the principal on some solutions. Mr. Brownstein asked why the police officers never get out of their cars in the morning. Mr. Hawkins explained that the City has volunteered their police officers to the schools when they can. If they get a call, they have to leave. We prefer them to be out directing traffic; however, the main reason they are there is to slow people down. They depend on the crossing guards to direct the children safely across the streets. The Palm Beach County School Police refuse to go out into the street. The Sheriff's Department refuses to put officers at schools in the County jurisdiction. There are ongoing discussions about the School Board's responsibility regarding traffic control and how much of the City's police personnel power we are going to have to allocate to the school. Right now we are doing it free of charge. We have police officers who babysit bus stops. The Boynton Beach Police Department is doing the best it can under the circumstances. The City has made specific suggestions about what Citrus Cove can do to alleviate the traffic problem. We have even talked to the architect about redesigning the whole traffic flow there. The buses would be an immediate solution. The long term solution is going to be opening up the street, which we intend to do. Mr. Hawkins offered to send City staff to the principal to work on a solution. Chairperson Denahan was concerned about the children being hurt. She would like a police officer at Forest Park Elementary School. Manatee Elementary School Vice Chairperson Centi reported that this school was built in 1993. The total population is 1,287. The maximum capacity is 966, and they are already about 32 percent over capacity already. The racial breakdown is only 15 percent minority (10 percent Black, 5 percent Hispanic, and the rest Caucasian). B. Assignments still needed at: 14 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 Crystal Lakes 2nd Thursday Galaxy Elementary 2nd Monday Hagen Ranch Road Elementary 3rd Monday Lake Worth Community High School 2nd Tuesday Lake Worth Christian School C. Resolutions for Lottery Accountability Act Chairperson Denahan is still working with the City Attorney on these resolutions. D. Ordinance Language Chairperson Denahan said this relates to resignation of student members upon graduation, and allowing alternate members who live outside the City limits on City board. Mr. Hawkins advised that staff discussed the resignation of student members and this can be handled administratively. He stated that the ordinance states, "high school student". Therefore, when a student graduates from high school, he obviously can no longer serve on the board in the capacity of a high school student. Chairperson Denahan said the City Clerk told her that they have to resign. She pointed out that Ben Demaline has graduate but is still considered to be a member of the board. Mr. Hawkins suggested getting a letter of resignation from him. Mr. Weinstein did not know why a resignation is needed and stated that it may be difficult to get a letter of resignation. He felt it would be simpler when the individual is appointed, to only appoint him until the day of graduation. He suggested that the letter of appointment indicate that the term of office will expire at a certain time. Mr. Hawkins no longer considered Mr. Demaline a member of the board since according to the current language, he cannot serve on the board anymore. Discussion ensued regarding appointing non City residents as alternate members to the City boards. Chairperson Denahan stated that the rationale for this is that some Boynton Beach students go to schools outside the City limits, and some students outside the City limits go to schools within the City limits. Mr. Hawkins raised a question about whether or not this would include adults as well as students. Ms. Lewis raised a question about 15 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 whether or not this would includes people who reside in other cities. E. Annual Appreciation Dinner Chairperson Denahan distributed Certificates of Appreciation from the Commission to the members of the board for their service. F. Youth in Government Day report by Anne Centi Vice Chairperson Centi reported that Youth in Government Day went very well and was well attended. Chairperson Denahan hopes that more of the members of the Education Advisory Board will be able to participate in Youth in Government Day next year to help contact the schools so that they will participate. She said it is an invaluable experience for the children. X. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Russell referred to a newspaper article regarding the penny sales tax. If the penny sales tax goes through, the new high school for Boynton Beach would be 150th on the School Board's list of priorities. Vice Chairperson Centi stated that she was at meetings where they were thinking of putting a new high school in Delray Beach and turning the one they have into an alternative school. Vice Chairperson Centi was in possession of a book titled "Keepers of the Dream" which was suggested by Rep. Bill Andrews. Mr. Hawkins advised Rep. Andrews donated some money to the board. If the board wants more copies of this book, they should let him know. XI. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS A. Correspondence None. B. Announcements 1. Multi-Cultural Festival - Saturday, November 16, 1996, 9:00 a.m. 16 MINUTES EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA NOVEMBER 14, 1996 - 5:00 p.m., Boat Club Park Chairperson Denahan made this announcement. 2. Tunes in Town Concerts Chairperson Denahan announced that the next Tunes in Town Concert that the City sponsors is scheduled for November 22nd. Mr. Brownstein said they are excellent; however, the last band was not so good. These concerts are held on the second and fourth Friday of every month at Ocean Front Park. Parking and admission are free. XII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:23 p.m. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (Two Tapes) 17