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Minutes 11-04-04MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING HELD IN THE LIBRARY MINI CONFERENCE ROOM, 208 SOUTH SEACEAST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2004 AT 6:15 P.M. Present Jean Cairo, Chairperson Floyd Bell, Vice Chair Barbara Brunetti Erica Hammond Christine Moeller Margaret S. Newton Joan Pleasants Jeffrey Andre, Student Member Virginia Farace, Board Liaison Absent Erica Hammond Also Present Barthelemy Demezier, Director of the Forest Park Beacon Center Anthony Gasparo, Student (South Tech) who has requested appointment to the Board Wayne Segal, Director of Public Relations, City of Boynton Beach I. Pledge Chairperson Cairo called the meeting to order at 6:25 p.m. and led members in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II. Roll Call Members introduced themselves and gave a brief background for the benefit of new member, Margaret Newton, who was welcomed to the Board. Anthony Gasparo, a local student who has requested appointment to the Board, also introduced himself and said that he would be attending all the Board meetings. Ms. Farace clarified that the reason the Board was meeting in the mini Conference Room was because the Program Rooms were set up for the reception being held after the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Library Expansion. The Groundbreaking will be held on November 5, 2004 at 1:00 p.m. The Board and guests were invited to attend. Ms. Farace explained that members would meet in the Program Room for the meeting scheduled on December 2, 2004. Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 5, 2004 Wayne Segal, Director of Public Relations for the City of Boynton Beach, introduced himself and commented he is attending the meeting to gain more information on the upcoming Principal for a Day Program. II1. Minutes Ms. Pleasants made the following changes to the minutes: page 6, section VIII, section heading SAC Reports, 3rd paragraph, add "Ms. Pleasants, Crosspointe Elementary" to the list of members and their SAC. Motion Chair Cairo moved to approve the minutes of August 19, 2004 as submitted with corrections. The motion was dually seconded. IV. Public Audience Mr. Demezier shared that Forest Park's Financial Fitness Program is continuing. He also reported that the Center is beginning its GED program. To date, 30 people have been tested for placement into the program and 15 have been enrolled to attend the first session that begins December 1,2004. Ms. Farace clarified that Forest Park Elementary is a Beacon School, an outreach program for both the parents of the children attending Forest Park Elementary as well as the community. The Beacon School is open after school hours to serve the adults. Mr. Demezier was asked if the Board can assist the school with anything and he informed them that spreading the word throughout the community regarding the Beacon School's services would be of great benefit. The free tax-filing program begins January 15, 2005. Translation assistance from Creole to English will be provided. Mr. Demezier stated translation services will be provided to the City if there is a need in the community. Ms. Newton noted that she was asked for Creole interpreters while at the two polling places she participated in on Tuesday during the General Election. Those locations were St. John's Missionary Baptist Church and the Congregational Church. Mr. Demezier stated he would make sure the Supervisor of Elections office is aware of these services. Ms. Farace stated that she is trying to acquire more written material in Creole but the librarians are having a difficult time locating publishers of materials. She will put one of the librarian's in touch with Mr. Demezier for assistance. Mr. Demezier provided an update for Ms. Newton on the Gary Carter Foundation Award that Forest Park Elementary School recently received. He explained that the award is 2 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 5, 2004 very prestigious and includes a donation of 32,000 books, computers and computer programs for testing each year for three years. V. Chair's Report Chairperson Cairo welcomed the new members on the Board. VI. City Liaison's Report Ms. Farace pointed out that the half penny sales tax referendum passed by way of the recent election. She pointed out that because the referendum was approved, the City would have new Forest Park and Rolling Green Schools. It also includes planning for a new Galaxy School, and walkways at the City's new schools would be covered. Boynton Beach High School is also earmarked for a new $5 million addition for its theater career academy. It starts January 1,2005. Ms. Farace stated that the Chamber Leadership Education Day was a success. She thanked Chair Cairo for participating in the event by speaking about the Education Advisory Board and the Principal for a Day Project. Ms. Farace commented that Boynton Beach High School Theatre Academy is selling season tickets for a set of three plays. The first one, "Little Shop of Horrors," is scheduled for December 4, 2004 and will be performed at a variety of times. "Twelve Angry Men" will be performed in either January, February, or March and "The Pajama Game" will be performed in the spring. The cost is $20.00 for all three plays. Reserved seats are $30.00. Anyone having an interest in purchasing tickets was asked to contact Ms. Farace after the meeting. Ms. Farace congratulated Student member, Mr. Andre, for being voted Homecoming King at Boynton Beach High School. VII. Principal for a Day Program Chair Cairo briefed Mr. Segal on the Principal for a Day program, stating that it will take place on Thursday, November 18th. Chair Cairo noted that the program, which is called Public Education Needs Civic Involvement and Learning (PENCIL), started in New York City. The program involves getting business leaders to participate in a day-in-the-life role as a principal in a public school to create partnerships and relationships, whereby businesses would partner with the schools and provide needed resources. Last year there were 17 schools that participated. This year, 22 schools are registered to participate. Mr. Segal was provided with a copy of the poster being used to advertise the program at various places around the community and within each participating school. Ashley Lamot, a student at South Tech Charter School, created the poster's design last year. Kinko's has generously donated printing. 3 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 5, 2004 Mr. Segal will not be able to take pictures of the event because he will be out of town. However, he will do pre and post publicity, prepare messages for the on-hold phone system, and marquee at City Hall, and will speak with Recreation regarding the use of their marquee. Mr. Segal will use current photos and the FAQs to produce an article for the City's newsletter. He will also provide material for the participants' gift bags, including pens, key chains, and letter openers. Chair Cairo commented that South Tech has a chef returning who wants to do more than he did last year. The Chef, Joe Colleta, formedy of Legal Seafoods, now owns a catering company. She thinks that next year the class would prepare the luncheon, if time permits. It would also be of benefit if the Town Meeting were held at South Tech. The Luncheon and Town Meeting will be held in the auditorium at Boynton Beach High School. Vice Chair Bell reported he did locate the video of last year's Principal for a Day event and will work with the Atlantic High School AV group to have the disk formatted so that it could be viewed at the Town Meeting. Ms. Pleasants shared that JJ Muggs is providing the food but the owner initially had concerns that this event was not representative of schools in his area. She clarified for him that the program involves Santaluces and Park Vista (both located in Lantana) and he has agreed to donate the food. Coca Cola Company has agreed to donate the beverages for the luncheon and will provide the bottled water for the gift bags, provided they arrive in time. Otherwise, Ms. Pleasants will purchase the bottled water as a donation. Vice Chair Bell assured he will have the banner and signs in time. Ms. Farace showed the gift bags, frames for the participation certificates, and the City's history book. The gift bag is canvas with the Children's Schoolhouse Museum's old logo on it. She commented that because the City is unable to produce the certificates, her staff is making them. A discussion ensued about how to make contact with the Mayor and the Commissioners regarding their interest in this event. It was determined Chair Cairo will try to attend the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Library in order to speak with them. If she is unable to attend, Ms. Farace will contact Joyce Costello at the City Manager's office and ask her to contact them. Each school will take pictures of their event. The TV production crew at Boynton Beach High School will film the luncheon. A suggestion was made to have a 2nd banner displayed out of doors for next year's event. Chair Cairo also discussed producing a CD with a 2-minute video and participation application. The goal would be to market the Principal for a Day program 4 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 5, 2004 and would be sent to anyone expressing an interest in the program as well as those that the Board has chosen to solicit. Vice Chair Bell suggested working with Dr. Judith Garcia's City TV station to produce a 30ominute program interviewing a Principal and program participant. However, because of the hurricanes they did not follow through on this. Ms. Farace noted that the Sunshine Law states you must post a public notice before the event when you have two or more people gathered by a Board event. The studio is also required to accommodate anyone who wants to attend. Ms. Farace suggested working with The Education Network (TEN), which is also part of Dr. Garcia's area. Doing this after this year's event will provide enough time to produce a professional tool to market the program to the public. Ms. Newton suggested speaking with Debbie Stewart in the Public Affairs Office at the School Board. Ms. Stewart moderates a program about Education that airs on Channel 20 (TEN). Booking is usually done 4-6 weeks in advance. This precludes all of the other problems with the Sunshine Law, etc. that the Board is having. Chair Cairo will contact all the schools to verify whether they have received the materials that were mailed in a large tube. Poinciana contacted her that they had not. Thomas Knowland, Treasurer, Gary Carter Foundation will be keynote speaker for the event. Ms. Brunetti will contact Gary Carter, founder of this organization, to ascertain whether he will also be available to attend the event. She will forward Tom Noland's biography to Mr. Segal's office. Ms. Brunetti and Mr. Segal left the meeting at 7:15 p.m. Chair Cairo commented that Carol Shetler asked that there not be a breakfast built into the program. Ms. Shetler's reasons are that the program consumes much of the day and will put the Principals too far behind their daily schedules. Ms. Farace commented that the subcommittee would continue to meet every Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. until the event. VIII. SAC Reports (in writing, if possible) SAC Assignments Chair Cairo read briefly from Forest Park Elementary SAC's meeting minutes. The SAC discussed the school's A+ allocation and the budget. Ms. Farace explained that an A+ Allocated school means extra help is provided to the school for a variety of programs. Forest Park measures 96% of its population on the paid school lunch program and 87% enrolled in ESOL. The school has one of the highest participation figures in these categories in the State of Florida. Because of the Gary Carter Foundation Award, 5 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 5, 2004 assistance is provided to the children as well. The Foundation awards bicycles and computers to children for the holidays, provided they have earned them. Ms. Pleasants had no SAC report to present from Crosspointe stating they didn't have any business in the SAC meeting. They did, however, have a lovely dinner for the SAC members from last year and invited everyone to attend. Crosspointe had a difficult time getting their SAC together last year. Many SAC meetings were cancelled because there wasn't a quorum or they were postponed, making it very difficult to act as a committee. They decided to begin this year by providing a dinner and asked each teacher in the school to identify one parent from his/her class who they felt would really be able to make a genuine commitment to SAC. Of the approximately 50 parents invited, 30 were present at the dinner. It was very nice and one of the parents spoke about what it meant to her to be a parent in SAC and what opportunities it has awarded her family. The principal spoke very eloquently about the parents in attendance. It is hoped that this will have an effect on the parents and this group will actively participate on the SAC. The first business meeting will be held next month. They will put out an open invitation to the entire school population to attend and become part of the SAC meeting in December. There also seemed to be a strong representation of the community at the dinner as well. Vice Chair Bell did not have a SAC report to present. Ms. Moeller contacted Atlantic High School twice to inquire about the time and place of the SAC meeting. Both times provided were false and she has not been able to ascertain the correct time of the next meeting. Chair Cairo also had difficulty in gaining this information from the school in the past. Vice Chair Bell offered his assistance in obtaining this information for Ms. Moeller. Chair Cairo asked for the final FCAT resolution to provide to the Principal at Crosspointe Elementary. Ms. Farace will email to her. Ms. Farace commented that Boynton Beach High School's SAC discussed the various options available for hurricane makeup days. The Recording Secretary was asked to provide copies of the October 7, 2004 meeting Minutes to Ms. Newton. Ms. Newton was provided a choice of either Odyssey Middle School or Congress Middle School as her SAC school. She commented her participation would depend upon the council's meeting date/time. IX. New Business The board member list was distributed and everyone was asked to update his/her email address. A few typographical changes were noted as well. The Recording Secretary 6 Meeting Minutes Education Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida November 5, 2004 was asked to add the email information to the list, make the noted corrections, and redistribute the list to everyone. X. Next Meeting The next regular scheduled meeting will be held on December 2, 2004 in the Library Program Room. X. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting propedy adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Deanna Ewing Recording Secretary (110804) 7