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Minutes 08-19-04I~Ii'NUTES OF THE EDUCATI'ON ADVI'SORY BOARD REGULAR HEETI'NG HELD I'N THE LI'BRARY PROGRAM ROOI~I, 208 SOUTH SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, AUGUST :1.9, 2004 AT 6::1.5 P.F'I. Present Floyd M. Bell .]ean Cairo Erica Hammond .loan Pleasants Absent LJllian Artis Barbara Brunetti Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Ns. Farace called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. TI. Roll Call It was determined that a quorum was present. III. I~linutes, April :1, 2004 The minutes were accepted as written. Public Audience IV. None V. Chair's Report 1. Election of Chair and Vice Chair IVls. Farace opened the floor to nominations for Chair. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 19,2004 Ms. Pleasants nominated .lean Cairo for Chair. Msi Hammond seconded the nomination. There were no other candidates and the floor was dosed to nominationsi The motion to elect Ms. Cairo as Chair of the Education Advisory Board passed unanimously. Ms. Cairo accepted the position of Chair. Ms. Farace opened the floor to nominations for Vice Chair. Ms. Pleasants nominated Dr. Floyd Beil as Vice Chair. Ms. Hammond seconded the nomination. There were no other candidates. The floor was dosed to nominations. The motion to elect Dr. Floyd Bell as Vice Chair of the Education Advisory Board passed unanimously. Dr. Beil accepted the position of Vice Chair. VI. City Liaison's Report 1. City Commission's Education l~nitiative Ms. Farace remarked that a copy of the City Commission's Education initiative had been mailed to the Board members earlier in the summer. Tn .lune, the City Commission held a Strategic Planning session to set its priorities, one of which was Regional intergovernmental issues, Schools. The first four actions on the list provided were actions to be taken by City staff. The fifth item was, "Engage the Educational Advisory Board to help develop (items A-H)." The list is attached to the minutes and is available through the City Clerk's office. Ms. Farace emphasized that these were not items that the EAB was expected to accomplish on its own, but items on which the City Commission wanted the EAB to plan, develop, advise, and make recommendations to the Commission. She suggested that the EAB might want to look on these items as the EAB's priorities for the year, as directed by the City Commission. Tf any Board member wished to pursue a particular area, he or she could do so and recruit non-EAB members in a group that could meet at will (as long as only one EAB member was present.) The Board discussed each item individually. Some of the ideas and discussion follows. I~lentoring programs in the community involving cJtizen volunteers and City staff This would involve researching the existing programs to determine redundancies in the linkages. The City had already taken part in the Governor's Mentoring initiative and a mechanism was in place whereby City staff could take time off from work to mentor in the schools. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 19,2004 Ms. Pleasants will research the School District's mentoring program and the mentor training schedules. Possibly the person who does the training could think of a way to fit mentoring into the Principal for a Day program. Ms. Pleasants will get the mentoring training dates and times and bring them back to the Board. Ms. Farace will provide the name of the individual in the City in charge of the Governor's Mentoring Tnitiative and information about city staff's involvement in the mentoring program. Ms. Farace commented that $15K was being budgeted for the education initiatives, especially the mentoring and community work. Link after-school tutorial needs with programs. This would involve researching how the various schools were meeting the tutorial needs of its students now, finding out what they wanted in this area, and making recommendations to the City Commission about ways to meet those needs. Each Board member will ask about the school's tutorial programs and needs at their SAC meetings and bring the information back to the Board. Support to School District on financial initiatives related to Boynton Beach schools. The Board needed to identify what these initiatives were and make recommendations to the City Commission to support them. One example would be the upcoming Referendum for School Construction. The Board members were asked to educate themselves about this Referendum and draft a Resolution at the next meeting recommending that the City Commission issue a statement in support of it. The Web Site is www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/Public Affairs/Referendum.htm. Ms. Farace distributed charts showing the School District's Projects in the Proposed FY05-FY09 Capital Plan. During the FY05-FY09 time period, Galaxy Elementary was made #17 on the list of Replacement Schools. The EAB had worked very hard to make this happen and were very pleased that they had been successful. More money is needed, however, and this is where the Referendum comes in. Communicate the "good news" about education in the City to counteract negative publicity, which adversely affects the City's image. Ns. Farace submitted an article for the next City newsletter about the Principal of the new High School and his plans to improve and work for the students of Boynton Beach. She also asked if the EAB could have an Education column in each of the City Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 19,2004 newsletters, which come out quarterly. Ms. Farace will continue to write "good news" articles and encouraged the Board members to either write this kind of article or suggest topics that would be appropriate. Everyone agreed that Galaxy making it to the Replacement Schools list was a major piece of good news. The other piece of good news was that the extra homestead exemption was not on the ballot. Chair Cairo felt that the Principal for a Day Program also helped to communicate "good news" about the schools. Conduct "Principal Roundtable" meetings, possibly engaging the City Commission in discussions. The EAB has continued to discuss and plan for this item. The Principals, SAC Chairs, and Commissioners will be invited to a Principal's Roundtable in the spring of 2005. $.f Conduct similar roundtable discussions with school SACS. The EAB had spoken in the past about inviting the Chairs of the SACS to a meeting in which they could share ideas with each other about their schools. ]:n the past, they had been invited to the Principal's Roundtable. 5.g Develop linkages with charter schools. This has been a continuing effort on the part of the EAB and plans were made to invite various charter school Principals to the FAB meetings, beginning with Principal .lanice LaPorte from the new Day Star Academy at St..lohn's Missionary Baptist Church. Develop linkages with allied City advisory boards on educational support issues and initiatives (Library Board, Advisory Board on Children and Youth and Community Relations Board). The Community Relations Board stated that they wanted to work on a literacy initiative and this would be one area in which the Community Relations Board, the Education Advisory Board, the Advisory Board on Children and Youth and the Library Board could collaborate. The various linkages between the Boards on this and other educational issues could be explored and developed. IVls. Pleasants suggested that a member of the FAB contact the Advisory Board on Children & Youth about its upcoming Family Day event to see if there would be an opportunity for the EAB to have a booth. This would also be an opportunity to build a relationship with that Board. Ms. Pleasants offered to find out the day and time of the event. Chair Cairo stated that often, participation in community events was good for 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 19,2004 the exposure, even if it sometimes appeared that not much was happening as a result of it. The consensus was that the allied Board Chairs and City Liaisons should come together to share information and concerns, even once a quarter. Ms. Farace will try to arrange such a meeting at the Library. Dr. Beil felt that the Senior Advisory Board should be included. After discussion, it was agreed that the Board would first meet with the allied Boards suggested by the City Commission and when the programs were put in place, the Senior Advisory Board could be asked to assist as appropriate. There was some feeling that the list of objectives from the Commission should be prioritized. VIT. Principal for a Day Program This event will be on November 18, 2004 and includes a Town Meeting. Chair Cairo stated that the program would benefit from a serious commitment on the part of the media this year. She hoped to enlist some of the educational newspaper writers such as Lois Solomon and Scott Travis as Principals for a Day. The Board discussed the Task List for this Program and tasks were assigned. Ms. Farace made a list of the assignments and the person responsible. Some comments from the session follow: The Commissioners will be invited to the Town Meeting and the Mayor will be asked to speak as the Keynote speaker. If he is unavailable, the Board is thinking of someone in the community that had been an advocate for education. A life- long teacher would be a good choice. Various names were suggested. Locations for the Town Meeting were discussed. Benvenuto? Prime Catch room upstairs. City Hall? Library? Could a local business donate space and food? Tf Benvenuto were chosen and they did not donate it, it would be about $15-20 per person. Not being able to eat in the Chambers was a negative to the City Hall locale. It was awkward trying to eat and talk in the Lobby. One suggestion was to have the speaking portion in the Chambers and then walk over to the Library for the food or vice versa. The Recording Secretary will see if the Chambers are available for November 18, 2004. Benvenuto and the Holiday Inn were thought to be the most likely to have the space and a task was set to contact them about donating the space and/or the food. it did not have to be lavish - a sandwich buffet would be fine. The meeting room had to be a place where the speakers could not be disturbed. Last year a table was set up outside the Chambers, Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 19,2004 someone donated the food and brought it in. A chair for the event location and the food was sought. Ms. Pleasants will begin the task by contacting Prime Catch and will report back to the Board. ]~n the final moments of the discussion, it seemed that the Library or the Civic Center were favored as a location, with donated food being brought in. If the lunch is held in Chambers, the Mayor should thank the sponsors of the event and give them a Boynton Beach button or something. Ms. Farace will handle the Town meeting as far as getting with Wayne Segal about the publicity, recognition, and pictures for the City newsletter. 40-50 people are expected to attend this event. The video from last year's meeting has not been delivered to the EAB. Dr. Bell will pursue this. Ms. Hammond will handle the gift bags. She needs a letter that she can take with her while soliciting donated items for the gift bags. The donor can use the letter for income tax purposes. Chair Cairo suggested recruiting for the EAB at the same time as asking for donations. Pictures of last year's event should be put on a board and displayed at City Hall in the Mall and in the City Hall Lobby. Announcement on the City marquee and in the water bill. Ms. Farace will work on this. The marquee message would let the citizens know about PFAD and invite the business community to volunteer. The Board felt it was important to get a commitment from the City for the marquee. Ms. Farace was not certain that the City would be able to provide a message on the water bill about PFAD and the tutoring message. It was felt that EAB messages should be spread throughout the year. > ]~nvite Board Chairs to Town Meeting in the Chambers. Ms. Cairo's out-of-pocket expenses from last year in the amount of $200 were mentioned. Ms. Farace stated that she might be able to do some reimbursement, but needed receipts to do so. Ms. Pleasants said that she was speaking about getting a commitment of funds from the City in the amount of $500 before the fact, and Ms. Farace stated that she would ask. Ms. Pleasants thought that the request should be accompanied by a list of all the objectives that this event would meet (in regard to the Commission's priority list.) 6 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 19,2004 The Board agreed that it would be appropriate to ask the Principals to give their Principal-for-a-Day a packet of information about the school that would include a listing of their particular "wants and needs". Many volunteer principals were willing to help but needed to know the specifics of what their school needed. Ms. Farace thought that the Principals should give the same packet to the EAB. More volunteer principal/businesspeople are needed since there are more schools this year. The Board will try to think of people that might be good volunteer principals. Lowes, BrandsMart, Cypress Creek Golf Course, World Gym, and Home Depot were mentioned. A discussion took place about adding Santaluces and Park Vista High Schools to the list as participants, especially since a potential volunteer had expressed interest in Santaluces. The Board asked for a standing committee meeting for Principal for a Day at the Library on Thursdays, beginning on the Thursday following this meeting, August 26. The time will be 9:00 a.m. in the Reference Conference Room at the back of the Library. The City Clerk's office will post this meeting. VTT[. South Florida Parenting Party- Report/Discussion The consensus was that while the EAB's booth at this event had been successful, it could have been better. Chair Cairo suggested that the Board first decide what it wanted to accomplish by having a booth at this or any other event, and then prepare material in advance and have it ready when opportunities arose to have a booth. Chair Cairo thought that a nice banner would be helpful for booth events also. Dr. Bell will investigate the possibility of obtaining a donated banner. The Board discussed the particulars of the banner colors, style, and so forth. Although there were various opinions about this, the final consensus was that the EAB would probably participate in this event again, possibly via a booth and possibly by encouraging the local schools to go and promote themselves. The Boynton Beach High School presentation of a piece from Bye Bye Bird/e was excellent and very well received. ZX. SAC Reports/Assignments Dr. Bell noted that the EAB could not cover all the SACS with its present membership, especially with all the new schools in the area. He asked that a list of the schools be provided so new assignments could be made. Chair Cairo will attend Galaxy Elementary's SAC meetings and Ms. Hammond offered to attend those of Congress Middle School, Dr. Beil goes to the Survivor Charter School Board meetings and Ms. Farace is Vice Chair of Boynton Beach High School's SAC. 7 MeeUng Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida August 19,2004 Chair Cairo suggested contacting the schools and requesting that they fax their SAC meeting minutes to the EAB every month and offered to do this. Ms. Farace agreed to have these reports sent to her attention. Ms. Farace's fax number is 742-6381. Chair Cairo encouraged the Board members to stand up and make announcements about EAB membership at every SAC meeting they attended. X. New Business None X~[. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (082604)