South Area Advisory Council

September 21, 2016 Meeting Minutes

McArthur High School ~ 6501 Hollywood Boulevard ~ Hollywood, FL 33024

  1. Meeting was called to order by Jackie Cespedes (Mrs. Cespedes) at 9:00AM.
  2. Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
  3. Minutes from May 19, 2016 meeting was approved by Veronica Newmeyer and seconded by Donna Casusa

·  Linda Ferrara was nominated by Veronica Newmeyer and seconded by Jackie Cespedes as Facilities Task Force Rep.

·  Terry Preuss was nominated by Veronica Newmeyer and seconded by Jackie Cespedes as South Area Teacher’s Rep.

·  Recording Secretary’s position is open. No one from the floor offered to fill this position.

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS

  1. A. Robin Bartleman – School Board Member expressed the need for the community stakeholders to call her at

954-608-3662 if we are watching the School Board meetings and we see/hear anything we do not agree

With or would like to voice our opinion.

B. Patti Good – School Board Member asked us to let the community know that she wants to hear about what

is going on in our schools. Contact her by either calling her at 754-321-2002 or sending an email to

Patti Good advised us that stakeholders can have public input at the School Board Meetings at 12:00 PM for

three minutes each. Stakeholders have expressed that this is a time when people are at work so they cannot

participate. Consideration is been given to change this opportunity to 5:00PM or to do a hybrid and have

two time slots available for stakeholder participation. Mrs. Good advised us to send an email to all Board

Members regarding what we would like regarding these times.

C. Leo Bobadilla, BCPS Facilities Officer and Robert Corbin Vice President/Program Director of Heery Inc., supported by five other team members were in attendance to give an update on the SMART Bond Investments. The presentation was led by Mr. Bobadilla and Mr. Corbin.

·  PowerPoint presentation was shown and a handout was distributed.

·  1400 projects are approved for the District.

·  2015 – 2016 school year was the pre planning stage

·  2016 – 2017 school year projects are in the planning and designs phase.

·  Permitting and construction phase will follow after.

·  Currently 583 projects are in progress.

·  The communities will receive monthly updates on the projects.

·  Disparity study shows that 25% of the projects are in progress with a 70% goal of exceeded expectations because contracts have already been awarded on these projects.

·  48% of school projects are on the way with 232 schools already receiving improvements to their roofs, HVAC systems, electrical wiring, and single point of entry areas.

·  105 schools have completed their technology updates with 47 million dollars spent on improving technology.

·  There is a great need for new playground equipment, benches, common area and classroom furniture and marquis so new vendors are being identified for these projects.

·  Mr. Bobadilla advised that the community is been informed by the county’s Smart Futures website, handouts sent to the schools, and social media.

·  We were reassured that the right team is in place and the structure is in place for success.

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September 21, 2016

South Area Advisory Council

·  Mr. Bobadilla reminded us that “SMART is a marathon not a sprint, the plan is a 5 – 7 year schedule.”

·  Questions were asked from the floor regarding the work in progress and anticipated dates for future work that was school specific.

·  The work will be expedited faster now because the District has approved the track process.

·  Projects less than $2,000,000.00 with are expedited first.

·  The Power Point presentation will be available to attendees.

  1. UPDATE ON AdvancED DISTRICT ACCREDIATION by Donna Bourch

·  Stakeholders will be asked four to five general questions based on your involvement at the school level on October 24th from 4:00 – 5:00PM at the Pompano Beach office.

·  The AdvancED team is a made up of many different school professionals and the team is from countries around the world.

·  So far AdvancED is very impressed how Broward County has addressed all of the guidelines suggested after the 2011 visit to our area.

·  Handout was distributed with the Area Advisory meetings and locations for the 2016 - 2017 school year.

·  All school S I P reports are uploaded to the District website for everyone to review and should be uploaded to each individual school’s website for the parents to review, understand and question if necessary. Ms. Bourch stressed the importance of parent involvement and education.

·  If anyone has any questions, Ms. Bourch can be contacted at the Office of Service Performance and Quality – 954-321-3850 or XXXXXXX

  1. OFFICE OF SERVICE QUALITY

A.  Mr. Scott Jarvis

·  Important that we continue to work together to make everything better for our schools.

·  District 2 now has 15 Cadre Directors and they are all aware of the Best Practices of our District so they know what to offer to their students so they can offer the best and most effective measures to provide a great education.

·  All of the Cadre Directors across the USA have the same expectations and are on the same page because of their relations and management modules.

·  Testing use to give us the best ways to help the kids but it is not the be all and end all.

B.  Dr. Al Alexis

·  Dr. Alexis acknowledged all in attendance especially the principals for their participation in these meetings.

·  He asked parents to be vigilant in making sure that the students are getting what they need in the classroom and from the school to be successful.

·  Always go to the teachers first to address your concerns. If you do not get the answers you need take it to administration before coming to the District. The Principals and teachers will provide the best answers. Always be reasonable and ask for what is possible. The best interest of the child is always what is to be addressed.

  1. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT – Jackie Cespedes

·  Anti-Bullying policy is going back into the looping process and this process can take up to two months. It will go from D A C to Area Advisory and then to the School Board.

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September 21, 2016

South Area Advisory Council

·  Policy 5.9 passed because the changes are according to state statue and will come back out for the looping process. It is important that we support the policy and send our feedback to our School Board members.

·  Calendar committee is meeting today. Both calendar options were discussed and everyone was asked to please send their preferences to Patti Good.

·  Attendees voiced their concern about the School Board voting against the calendar District voted for. Patti Good is only one member of a nine member board. She did stand her ground for District 2 but was out numbered in the voting process.

  1. OLD BUSINESS

·  No old business to discuss.

  1. NEW BUSINESS

·  Mr. LaPace, Principal of McArthur High School thanked the principals in the room who have committed to play in the school’s annual golf tournament and encouraged others to join this great event.

·  Mrs. Helen Cohen of McArthur High spoke briefly about this event and answered questions.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:13AM

Next meeting will be held on October 19, 2016

McArthur High School at 9:00AM