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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes EAB 101498-"- ,2811998 11=03 FROM ALLIANCE RESEARCH TO 7758244 _ CUY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS • EDUCATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD CITY HALL — 7:30 P.M October. 14, 1998 P.93 I. Call to order ' II. Listing of those present (5 minutes) 7:35 III. Approval of minutes from the last regular meeting (5 minutes) 7:40 7' 7' y/ IV. Committee reports (20 minutes) 8:00 _ A Public Liaison - Mary g - X3 _ B. Boundaries - Ron 9 -1ZS C. Curriculum - Allan it :lq— 8: 30 D. Partnership - Leslie v .w - OSW S : 3i E. Membership - Eric q: 3q - "m q; OX 7: Z/9 V. Guest Speaker - Amelia Ostrosky, Principal of Middle School of the Arts (20 Minutes) 8:20 VL SAC Member Reports (40 minutes) 9:00 A. Allamanda Elementary - Lisa/Wayne Q : os - q--03 . B. Palm Beach Gardens Elementary - Allen/Anne q . o 3 q ,.o l C. Timber Trace Elementary -Ron q o f-49 - q . o e D. H.L. Watkins Middle - Mary q,. oz - q: i I E. Watson B. Duncan Middle - Q'. 1 t - q'12 _ F. School of the Arts Middle - Jan G. Palm Beach Gardens High - Scott/I.eslie 4 : 2 - Q'.13 K William T. Dwyer High - Ilendiordan 4.13 - q = L S L Suncoast fgh - J. Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts -Eric q15- q : " K. School Board Report- q,,&- 4 s 1$ VII. Old Business (15 minutes) 9:15 q N -- q z O VIII. New Business (30 minutes) 9.45 q A Request from City � B. Guest speaker for next meeting- q: 3S - q 34 C. Date for next meeting - November 111h D. Other business ct : u, - G : y q IX. Adjournment 9:45 ALLA1- tAllfbk,5 P21AvccAUr TOTAL P.03 9 t • CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 14, 1998 The October 14, 1998, Regular meeting of the City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board was called to order at 7:30 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Complex located at 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Chair Anderson welcomed guest Connie Daniels from Dwyer High School. The roll was called and the following were found to be in attendance: Alan Adams, Monika Adams, Chair Wayne Anderson, Scott Blake, Ilene Gerber, Mary Inglis, Deborah Martel, George Mastics, Vice Chair Leslie Millar, Murtaza Kakli, Alan Sara and Ron Sedaka. Two students, Adam Allgood and Jordan Everett, and were also present. Absent from the meeting were Anne Berg, Nona Helsel, Jan Porter, Lisa Ridgley, • Karen Robinson, and Tesula Stewart. Chair Anderson reported that Karen Robinson had submitted a letter of resignation, and that Lisa Ridgely had sent a letter advising she could not attend this meeting, which made three in a row she had missed. This was also Nona Helsel's and Tesula Stewart's third consecutive absence, and that all these names would be submitted to the City. City Council Liaison Eric Jablin reported the City would be revising the Ordinance for all advisory boards to take care of the attendance problem. The minutes of the September 9, 1998 meeting were reviewed. The following changes were requested: To show Lisa Ridgely absent, George Mastics present, and Charlotte Schiff present. Mary Inglis requested her name be changed as having made the motion on page 4 instead of Lisa. Ridgely. Monika Adams requested that the words a member on page 3 be changed to Monika Adams. Mr. Kakli requested the spelling of his name be corrected. Chair Anderson reported he was requesting that the City provide a copy of the minutes to him for proofreading before sending a copy out to the school principals. Monika Adams moved approval of the minutes of the September 91, 1998 meeting as amended. The motion was seconded and carried by unanimous vote. Guest Speaker Amelia Ostrosky, Principal of the Middle School of the Arts , provided • City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 2 the school's performance schedule and announced upcoming productions. Ms. Ostrosky explained that this school opened last year with five areas: visual arts, dance, music, theater, communications, and that auditions were required.. 1200 students were registered this year in the 6th, 7th & 8th grades. Ms. Ostrosky commented that the school was located at Old Northshore High School off 45th Street, and described the history of the building, which had been renovated during the first school year. She explained that both staff and students were overachievers and that the students were extremely talented. Their current project was a mural depicting the roots of the art of different cultures, which would also be depicted through dance, actors, theologians, mathematicians, etc. to provide a living history of art. The next project would be storytelling for children describing the great leaders of time using giant sized puppets. Project Leaf, a program involving artists, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, brought artists into academic classrooms to help teach academics through arts. The • Middle School of the Arts had applied to be a deregulated school, and would participate equally with four other deregulated schools in grant funds of $900,000 over three years. Ms. Ostrosky discussed needs of the school, and explained that businesses could adopt a class and work in partnership with that class throughout the school year. An outreach program was in place to identify talented 3rd and 4th graders throughout the County who had not had financial resources for private lessons and to provide training for them, as well as providing lessons for current Middle School of the Arts students who had not had the advantage of private lessons. Some students needed art materials and supplies. A Middle School, of the Arts Foundation had been formed and encompassed two elementary arts magnet schools whose students would audition for the Middle School of the Arts and would be automatically accepted. Any monies raised would also go to these two schools. A book listing big ticket items needed had been developed and included such items as a special project with a price tag of $117,000, with a breakdown of individual items for the project and their prices. Also needed were tutors, and volunteers to serve on the School Advisory Council. Mary Inglis requested clarification regarding deregulated schools and Project Leaf. Principal Ostrosky explained that the school was one of 30 deregulated schools in the State of Florida, for which the Commissioner of Education waived hindrances to the restructuring or change process; and that Project Leaf, funded by MacArthur • Foundation, was comprised of 10 artists each providing ten hours service per semester. • City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 3 In response to Mr. Adams' question regarding how the art training was balanced with academics, Principal Ostrosky explained they were hoping their students who did not pursue art careers would become professional people who would appreciate and support the arts, and that a high standard academic program was provided. During ensuing discussion, Ms. Ostrosky explained that when students auditioned, a love of art was important as well as how talented the child was in relation to others the same age. The names of children accepted as a result of auditions were placed into a lottery and names were picked at random by the School Board's computerized system to fill the number of slots available. Deregulation was explained further, including how it would allow funds to be spent for different items and the school would not have to use specific vendors or specific textbooks, artists hired as instructors would not have to return to school to get teaching credentials, and the school year, week or day could be modified. • Public Liaison Committee Report Chair of the Public Liaison Committee Mary Inglis reported that the committee had met September 29 and could not meet at 6:30 p.m. because they needed to utilize a fax machine, computer, and telephone. Deborah Martel reported a press release for solicitation of new board members had been prepared. A summary of items discussed by the committee was distributed and a request was made to place the summary on the agenda for the next meeting. Boundary Committee Report Chair of the Boundary Committee Ron Sedaka reported that the committee had met and discussed Students First with Leo Noble and the executive board. Mr. Adams explained that Mr. Noble, who had been picked by the County Commission to coordinate the concurrency plan with the Municipal League, the School Board, and various other organizations, had presented his plan. Both Mr. Adams and City Council Liaison Jablin commented that they were very encouraged by the plan and that it could • implement concurrency. Mr. Adams briefly described the plan. • City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 4 Curriculum Committee Report Curriculum Committee Chair Alan Adams reported that the committee had met before this meeting but needed to call a special meeting to get all members present to elect a Chair and form a new plan for the year, and then bring that plan to the Board for approval. Business School Partnership Vice Chair Leslie Millar reported she spoken to Paul at Lens Crafters in the Gardens Mall, who had agreed to a partnership with all Palm Beach Gardens schools to provide an eye exam and glasses for any student who needed them, which could be arranged simply by the school principal calling to set up an appointment. City Council Liaison • Jablin had designed a certificate to entitle a student to receive a free eye exam, evaluation, and one pair of glasses. Vice Chair Millar planned to make a banner stating that Lens Crafters supports Palm Beach Gardens Schools, which she hoped might influence other businesses to participate. The process to be used in determining the students who needed glasses was described. The program would be for those students unable to afford glasses. SAC members were asked to describe the program at their SAC meetings and to call ahead to have this item placed on the agenda. Mr. Jablin reported that he would write a letter to Lens Crafters corporate headquarters regarding participation in this program by Paul at Lens Crafters, and would announce the program at the next City Council meeting, which hopefully would be reported in the newspaper. The Public Liaison Committee would also send a note of thanks to Paul. Copies of the certificate would be provided to SAC members for their presentation at SAC meetings. Membership Committee City Council Liaison Eric Jablin reported the Membership Committee had met and discussed membership and new members, and requested verification of whose terms would be expiring since the City's records did not match the Board's records. Chair • Anderson reported Deputy City Clerk Cindy Harvey had been adamant about using her • City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 5 dates. Mr. Adams commented his four -year term ran out as of tonight's meeting, while Cindy's records showed it expiring in February, and expressed concern that Cindy's dates were not in accordance with the Ordinance. Chair Anderson explained that Cindy had advised the City could not stop anyone from resigning when they thought their term ran out. Discussion ensued regarding the proper beginning term date of appointment of alternate members later to become full- fledged members. Mr. Jablin expressed his opinion that the four -year term should begin when someone was appointed as an alternate, and when a vacancy on the Board came about then the alternate would become a full member. Mr. Jablin explained that the only difference between an alternate and a full- fledged member was that the full- fledged member could vote. Mr. Adams expressed agreement since alternates were only designated to avoid the qorum rule. Alan Adams made a motion to recommend to the City to set the starting date of term of service for the Education Advisory Board from the time of appointment as an alternate. The motion was seconded and carried by unanimous vote. Mr. Adams made a motion to recommend to the City that they follow the Ordinance requirement to assign Board members to serve for two years, unaffected by resignations of other Board members, since the current problems had been created by assigning new members to serve to the expiration of the term of the members they replaced. The motion was seconded and carried by unanimous vote. Mr. Jablin stated he would report the motions to the City. Chair Anderson polled those members who believed their terms expired on a different date than that claimed by the City. Alan Adams stated he would be leaving after the November meeting and would provide a letter to that effect. Mary Inglis stated she would be leaving after the November meeting and would provide a letter to that effect. Chair Anderson stated that he would submit to the City the names of the three people who had missed three consecutive meetings and Karen Robinson's resignation. Discussion ensued. • Mr. Adams reported he had prepared a presentation for SAC members to take to the . City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 6 SAC meetings to ask people to join the Education Advisory Board. Mr. Adams distributed the presentation package to the SAC members present, described the contents, requested that an application form be included, and recommended that enough copies be made for everyone attending the meeting and that a request be made to have this item placed on the agenda. Jordan Everett advised that she would try to find a School of the Arts student to serve on this board. SAC Committee R=rts Chair Anderson reported Allamanda SAC had held their initial meeting, discussed the gathering storm and distributed leaflets on each gubernatorial candidate so that is members could read them and make their own decisions. Mr. Adams reported Palm Beach Gardens Elementary SAC had met but he had been unable to attend. Mr. Adams discussed World Class Schools which was trying to train persons to be on SACs. School Board member Jody Gleason, a World Class Schools member, had listed items she believed should be made available to all SAC members which he believed was very good and which he distributed to those present. Mr. Sedaka reported Timbertrace Elementary SAC met September 28, reviewed their mission statement, focus and vision, and discussed safety and traffic. The SAC requested a member of the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department speak to them regarding school safety and traffic problems. Mr. Anderson reported he had phoned the Police Department eight or nine times and was finally advised to fax a request. Mr. Sedaka reported the fax request was in process. Mr. Jablin advised he would contact Dennis O'Rouke, who had always been extremely helpful. Mary Inglis reported that at her first SAC meeting at Howell Watkins Middle School. Tammy Joiner had been elected Chair, and following discussion regarding establishing • an after - school program as an alternative to suspension, a decision had been made to postpone this matter to the next meeting. Ms. Inglis reported this school seemed to City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 7 have a lot of inventive programs in place to encourage the students, and described a situation which revealed the Principal's commitment to the students by choosing a solution to a problem which would cause the least disruption to the students. Ms. Inglis reported she had been positively impacted by her first SAC visit. Chair Anderson reported he had contacted Duncan Middle School and learned they did not have a definite meeting time, but as soon as a time was known he would report it to the Board so that a representative could attend. Scott Blake reported he had been unable to attend the Palm Beach Gardens High School SAC meeting, but knew that funding had been received to allow two staff members to work from 1 to 5 p.m. �:. Ilene Gerber reported her first SAC meeting at Dwyer High School was more like a PTA meeting with information provided than a problem - solving meeting. Information was provided regarding Dwyer being a Tier 2 school, and Ms. Gerber reported that volunteers were needed to help students. Also, parents had been upset because some students were going to be transferred to Jupiter High School but the date was not known. Mr. Jablin reported he had been unable to attend the Dryfus School of the Arts SAC meeting because it was meeting that night; however, his wife was a member and was attending, so he would get a report for the next Board meeting. Mr. Jablin reported the school was playing Mozart in the halls during breaks. Mr. Adams reported the School Board had discussed deregulated schools at their last meeting and had approved the five deregulated schools. During their discussion, the need for deregulation was questioned since school improvement plans could recommend waivers to the rules. It was confirmed that this was true and Mr. Adams recommended that when the school improvement plans were being formulated in SACs that if there were things a member believed could really help the children but were against District rules, that a waiver could be requested. Mr. Adams advised that the • District had the right to send the school improvement plans to the State to obtain s • City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 8 waivers. OLD BUSINESS Alan Adams reported that he had attended the North County Consortium meeting. A list of items accomplished and items to be accomplished had been made, and a discussion was started regarding the next activity of the Consortium. Mr. Adams reported he had prepared the annual report from input provided by all of the standing committees, described the contents of the report, and recommended that each standing committee use the report as their starting point for making their plans for this year. Chair Anderson requested a plan of action from each standing committee by the next Board meeting. 0 NEW BUSINESS Chair Anderson reported he had received a memo from the City Manager requesting the Board recommend a resolution be sent to the Palm Beach County School Board encouraging them to adopt standard designs for schools. Chair Anderson reported he had learned there were presently three elementary school designs and two middle school designs to choose from, constructed under a bid build system good for two years. The only change allowed was site preparation. High schools were designed on an as- needed basis under design/bid/build method, however, a new high school could use a previous design if it fit their needs, and currently there were two using the same design. All schools under this process had been built under the bid amount, and the County would receive a dollar reward in recognition of being under cost. Chair Anderson recommended the current process be continued using a set number of designs and the bid/build process, since this had resulted in schools being built for amounts under the State allotment. Consensus was to send a letter to the City telling them the process was already in place. Chair Anderson reported the City Council had requested the Board conduct an analysis . of school overcrowding and present their findings at a subsequent City Council City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 9 meeting. Chair Anderson advised he would submit page 3 of the CTBS scores report which contained that information. Mr. Adams commented that information was also in the annual report, and recommended the Boundary Committee meet to prepare a presentation and include information from the 5 -year plan. Chair Anderson reported the City had requested the Board prepare a list of needs of Palm Beach Gardens schools, and reported he had collected a prioritized needs list from each school. Mr. Anderson cautioned that the City needed to be very careful in making such information requests because the school principals had been very excited in thinking that the City would provide some of the items they listed, and it would make the City look unresponsive when that did not happen. Discussion ensued. Mr. Jablin recommended the City Council and the Education Advisory Board meet several times a year to enlighten the City Council regarding what was going on in education. • Chair Anderson stated he would forward the information to the City. Consensus was to contact the Allamanda School Principal to be Guest Speaker for the next meeting. Mr. Jablin commented that Ulysses Smith attended the Riviera Beach Education Advisory Board meeting and recommended he attend this Board's meetings. Chair Anderson reported he had received an invitation to attend, as well as the principals of other schools, and that the Dwyer principal was at tonight's meeting. If the Allamanda School principal could not be guest speaker next month, Chair Anderson was requested to contact Bruce Mitchell. Chair Anderson announced the next meeting would be November 11, 1998. City Council Liaison Jablin reported a lengthy discussion regarding co- locating recreational facilities with schools had taken place at a joint City Council and Recreation Advisory Board meeting. Mr. Jablin explained it was a requirement of the state concurrency ordinance to co- locate recreation and education facilities in the future, but that Palm Beach Gardens had an opportunity to do this with existing facilities, such as at Howell Watkins Middle School. Mr. Jablin encouraged the Board to research where this could best be done, and commented that the liability problem • had been worked out in other places. Discussion ensued. This matter was delegated f • City of Palm Beach Gardens Education Advisory Board October 14, 1998 Page 10 to be handled by the Boundary Committee. Mr. Adams reported the Gathering Storm meeting which had been scheduled did not take place, and would be rescheduled. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m. • C