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Minutes 09-24-09 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 24, 2009, AT 7:00 P.M. ON COMMISSION CHAMBERS, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Steve Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Paulette Ford Carol Lundquist Hattie Miller Robert Chiste, Student-Regular Non-voting Member ABSENT: Mary Morera, Vice Chair Jose De La Torre, III Myra Jones, Alternate Lori Wilkinson I. Call to Order Chair Waldman called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silent Reflection Ms. Lundquist led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, followed by a moment of silent reflection for our men and women in the Armed Forces. III. Approval of Minutes of August 20, 2009 Motion Mr. Chiste moved to approve the minutes as presented. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that passed unanimously. IV. Approval of Agenda Ms. Claude requested two items be added under VII. New Business. Item B, pertaining to funding requests from Poinciana Elementary. Motion Ms. Ford moved to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Chiste seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 1 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 24, 2009 V. Announcements/Presentations/Correspondence Chair Waldman announced Galaxy Elementary School would be conducting a "Meet the Teacher" evening. Ms. Jones would be attending and would be promoting the Youth Volunteer Bank. Chair Waldman encouraged interested members to join Ms. Jones at the event. Ms. Claude read a letter received from the Board of the Schoolhouse Children's Museum thanking the Education and Youth Advisory Board for its $100 contribution in support of the 2009 Dinner-Dance fundraiser. The contribution has enabled the Board of the Schoolhouse Children's Museum to continue its involvement with the community and its children. A. Recreation and Parks Department Cost Recovery Project Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent, noted the Recreation and Parks Department had undertaken a Cost Recovery Analysis project in order to establish a consistent fee policy for the parks, facilities and programs offered. It was hoped the Education and Youth Advisory Board would participate in the process over the next eight or nine months in order to determine the manner in which recreation and parks were valued. "Values" would illustrate what was important to the community, governing bodies and staff of the City of Boynton Beach. It was noted the project was the "brainchild" of Ms. Claude. A consultant had been engaged to serve as a facilitator, and the consultant had already met individually with the Mayor and most of the Commissioners. A Public Values workshop would be held on October 17, 2009, and invitations would be extended to the Education and Youth, Recreation and Parks and Senior Advisory Boards, the community at large, the Mayor and Commissioners and key staff. The workshop would assist in determining which of the programs were essential, which could be duplicated by another agency, and which were just not that important. Thereafter, a values statement would be developed, and each program would be evaluated to determine whether it was competitive, cost effective, well attended or worthwhile. A mission statement would be developed as part of the process, as would a pyramid methodology wherein various cost recovery levels would be established. A cost recovery pyramid was distributed by Ms. Rivers reflecting various programs including those that were completely subsidized by the City as well those that were highly individualized and could generate revenues or help subsidize other programs. When finalized, the cost recovery pyramid would assist staff in determining consistent charges to be imposed for the programs and facilities and demonstrate to the City's elected officials and decision makers the manner in which the charges were determined. 2 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 24, 2009 A cost estimate of $75,000-$80,000 had been submitted by a consultant to manage the entire process. Staff felt, however, the project could be completed in-house. Ms. Rivers requested the Education and Youth Advisory Board participate at the October th 17 workshop in order to provide input and to be aware of the comments of the other City Boards, citizens and elected officials. In response to Chair Waldman's inquiry, Ms. Rivers explained the consultant who would be serving as the facilitator was the Director of Public Development Studies at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). In order to have a cross-section of the community attend the workshop, flyers would be posted at City parks and facilities, and the event would be advertised on BBTV, the City's website and Twitter. th Chair Waldman advised he would be out of town on October 17 in order to attend to family health issues, but he urged the Board members to attend. B. Tutoring Program at Library – AmeriCorps Volunteer Lindsey Nuzzo Ms. Nuzzo discussed the program, which provided a modest living allowance and an education award and required a year of community service. Ms. Nuzzo was associated with the AmeriCorps program through the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition. Members volunteered at different sites in the County including libraries, schools, and Boys and Girls Clubs. She has been assisting at the Boynton Beach Library, organizing and implementing an after-school homework help and tutoring program. This was the first year an AmeriCorps volunteer had assisted at the Library and the first year the Library had offered a homework assistance program. Ms. Nuzzo assisted students of all ages and had recently worked with students in the first through seventh grades, helping with vocabulary, spelling, mathematics and science homework. The services were provided to the students at no charge. Ms. Nuzzo assisted at the Library Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. until 7:00 p.m., but offered tutoring assistance from 2:30 p.m. through 6:30 p.m. A sign-up sheet was available at the youth services desk and 20-minute sessions were currently available. A two-sessions- per-week rule was being considered. Ms. Nuzzo was developing a tracking process to measure success. She would be volunteering at the Library until July and hoped the program would continue into the future. She provided the Board with flyers containing contact information. The flyers were also posted on the City's website. Chair Waldman advised Ms. Nuzzo of the Board's Youth Volunteer Bank and noted he would have students from the schools contact her in order to participate. 3 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 24, 2009 VI. Public Audience Karen Harwood, of the Caregiving Youth Project, advised she worked with middle school students who cared for family members with chronic illnesses or disabilities. A number of the students at Congress Middle School were active in the program, and more than 223 families were currently participating as well. Other participating schools included Boca, Lantana and Palm Springs Middle Schools. Wellington and Omni Middle Schools were also being considered. The program offered support group meetings at school, home visits to help with community resources, and overnight camp. Many of the families lacked access to health care and needed assistance with medical supplies, food and rent. The program helped the student caregivers focus on their own needs and provided tutoring and mentoring as well. It was noted the students identifying themselves as caregivers had increased from 2007 to 2008, as had the levels of responsibility. Through a grant from AT&T, the program had provided laptop computers and internet service for one year for 75 students. It was hoped another grant could be secured, however, as a number of the students were still without computers. Ms. Harwood requested the Board's assistance in connecting with resources in Boynton Beach and funding sources that would help support the caregiver students. Ms. Claude would determine whether Community Investment Funds were available and would contact the Commissioners to that end. Chair Waldman suggested Ms. Harwood attend a City Commission meeting and contact County Commissioners Shelley Vana and Steve Abrams as well. VII. New Business A. October, November and December Meeting Dates Consensus was reached by the Board regarding the following: ?The joint Recreation and Parks, Education and Youth and Senior Advisory Board Public Workshop scheduled for Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon would replace the regular October 2009 Education and & Youth Advisory Board meeting. ?The regular November 2009 Education and Youth Advisory Board meeting would be cancelled. ?The date of the December 2009 Education and Youth Advisory Board meeting would be changed to December 17, 2009. 4 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 24, 2009 B. Poinciana Elementary School Request for Funding for the Safety Patrol Program April Nobles, advised she was the Media Specialist at Poinciana Elementary School as well as the Safety Patrol sponsor. The Safety Patrol program was comprised of fifth- grade students selected for their exemplary conduct and academic standards. The members of the Safety Patrol served as role models and ensured the safe arrival of the younger students to their classes. Each year the Safety Patrols were sent by the School District to Washington D.C. for five days. The trip would occur in January at an approximate cost of $800 per student. The students were required to help raise monies to fund the trip. Those students who had fulfilled their fundraising obligations could apply for a financial scholarship. While the students were not required to raise any particular amount, they were required to sell tickets and contribute their time at a spaghetti dinner, car wash, pancake breakfast or other fundraiser. The students were provided with a percentage of the sales in order to defray the costs of the trip. To date, the students had raised approximately $2,300. Of the School's 60 Safety Patrols, 48 had attended last year's trip. Ms. Nobles requested financial assistance from the Board. While the trip was scheduled for January, payment was required by November 13, 2009. Chair Waldman suggested the Board donate $400 to help defray the costs. Motion Mr. Ford moved to approve the $400 donation to the Poinciana Safety Patrol. Mr. Lundquist seconded the motion that passed unanimously. C. Poinciana Elementary School Request for Funding Ira Klosk, School volunteer, had asked Chair Waldman to request a $300 donation from the Board to sponsor a breakfast at which a Scientist and Mathematician of the Month were selected from each class. Chair Waldman noted the donation would be made at the discretion of the Board. If the Board agreed to donate $150, Chair Waldman would raise the remaining $150. Ms. Ford had recently attended a breakfast, as her daughter had been selected Scientist of the Month. The event had been well attended by the students, family members and guests, and the students were proud of their accomplishments. 5 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 24, 2009 Motion Ms. Lundquist moved to give $300 for the breakfast. Mr. Chiste seconded the motion that passed unanimously. D. Request for Funding Ms. Ford presented a request for funding of $500 on behalf of Shelia Ross, a teacher at Citrus Cove, to sponsor a competitive cheerleading team through the after-school program. The competitive cheerleading was open to people of all abilities, and the cheerleaders worked with the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes. Ms. Ross and the students also held fundraising activities, the proceeds of which were placed into a general fund. Academic standards were required to be met and tutoring was provided through a literacy 501(c)(3) foundation. The cheerleaders ranged in age from two to 18 years. While the cheerleaders who could afford to pay out of pocket did so, financial support was sought for those cheerleaders who could not. It was noted sponsors were recognized at an annual banquet and their names were advertised on tee shirts. Motion Ms. Lundquist moved to give $500. Mr. Chiste seconded the motion that passed unanimously. VIII. Old Business A. Tennis Carnival Ms. Claude advised Ms. Morera had contacted David Cordrey, the Hunters Run professional, and he was amenable to hosting the carnival in April. Two potential dates were needed. The Board agreed on April 17 or 24, 2009. B. Youth Volunteer Bank Ms. Claude noted 12 new members had been added in the past month. The Poinciana PTA (Parent-Teachers Association) President had sent in forms as did the Boy Scout or Cub Scout leaders at the School. Ms. Claude suggested implementation of the ongoing rewards program be discussed at a future meeting. Ms. Ford agreed to promote the Youth Volunteer Bank at Galaxy Elementary School and Chair Waldman would be visiting Congress Elementary next week. 6 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 24, 2009 C. Fundraising Chair Waldman advised the Board that one of the High School teachers would be requesting $1,000 to fund a trip to Washington for the students. In previous years, the Board had donated funds for the "Presidential Classrooms." However, the program had not been funded this year. IX. Future Meeting Dates This item was discussed earlier. X. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:39 p.m. () -J:ti;!f~ Stephanie D. Kahn Recording Secretary 101209 [JL- 7