Verified EESAC Meeting Minutes

Approval of minutes: Ingrid Robledo, chairperson, called the E.E.S.A.C. meeting to order at 8:16 a.m. The minutes from May 3, 2005, were reviewed and approved.

Principal’s message: Mrs. Gonzalez began the message and Mrs. Stroleny finished it later in the meeting. Gonzalez began by thanking Robledo for serving as E.E.S.A.C. chair last year.

Open Forum: Gonzalez discussed the budget of $9,200. She proposed using the funds toward technology, specifically reading and math software. Cost is $3,500 for the software and 60 pairs of headphones at a cost of $12.99 each. Mrs. Fernandez spoke about the FCAT simulation. Miss Sebok spoke about the program and how it helped her as a student. Mrs. Szmulewicz spoke about the availability of the program. Robledo moved to approve the funding and Ms. Harrington seconded it. The motion was approved by majority vote. Robledo indicated that the first order of business should be election of a chairperson. Mr. Sands nominated Robledo and her election was approved unanimously.

Principal’s message (continued): Stroleny resumed the principal’s message because Gonzalez had to leave to attend to an off site meeting. Stroleny said the opening of school has gone very smoothly. Instruction began on day one. The school had minimal damage due to Hurricane Katrina; some roof leaks and flooding in rooms 1-13 but no books or equipment was lost due to efforts of technology and custodial staff. However, $12,000 worth of books was lost because of flooding during a sudden summer storm; those books have been replaced. This year’s educational focus is on professional development. The last two years focused on the curriculum map and we feel it has been very successful. Mrs. Aliette Corso, a retired principal from Orange County, has been hired to work in a coaching fashion to assist teachers in developing their personalized professional development plans. All of us have a continuous need for improvement. The administration simply does not have the time for long conversations and research and Corzo will fill this need. Departments will continue meeting to plan collaboratively for one hour a week to ensure uniformity in instruction. Teachers may teach their subject matter the way they want to teach it but will continue to cover the same skills. We are continuing this year with quarterly exams in Social Studies and Science; however, exams will be administered in those classes, not in the auditorium. The District is providing interim reading, writing and mathematics exams to “insure that all schools are moving in the right direction.” Carver is committed to ensuring that teachers spend time teaching and wants to remove the testing burden from teachers as much as possible. We are meeting this week to receive guidelines on how to develop Carver’s School Improvement plan. We will plug in what teachers said they want and need. Last year’s School Improvement Plan sought to increase parental involvement. This year, we will continue with our highly successful parent workshops. September’s workshop is study skills offered by Student Services. Final Advanced Placement results are not in completely, but scores are promising so far. Open House will be on September 20, 2005, at 7 p.m.

Open forum (continued): Ms. Harrington asked Stroleny how schools receive FCAT grades, and she responded that it is complicated and that 10 students (who perform poorly) can lower the grade. Sands reported on the United Way’s free parental meetings program. He said these meeting could help parental involvement, and Robledo agreed. Mrs. Basso said students can sign up for the PTSA but it may be too late to be elected for office this year. She said PTSA President Andrea Strauss prefers students not already in elected office because of time constraints. Sands and Ms. Broadmeadow discussed GPA requirements for PTSA student officers and Sands recommended 3.0 to make it consistent with Student Council requirements. Londono explained that in the future EESAC members will receive a folder with the previous month’s minutes and should bring that folder to the next meeting. Ms. Grief asked about attendance at meetings for her daughter who is an alternate and Robledo explained that attendance for alternates is optional. Robledo explained that if council members miss two meetings without an excuse that they can be replaced.

Adjournment: Robledo adjourned the meeting at 8:55 a.m.