School Board in Action

Board Supports the Restricting of
Residency of Convicted Sexual Offenders
Area cities and towns have recently approved resolutions making it unlawful for convicted sexual offenders who committed their crimes against children to reside within 2,500 feet of any school, designated public school bus stop, day care center, park, playground or other places where children regularly congregate. The Board adopted a resolution encouraging all Broward County municipalities to take the same stand to provide greater protection for children from the risks posed by registered sexual offenders. The Board also encouraged parents to regularly view the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Web site (www.fdle.state.fl.us) or use the toll free number 888-357-7332 for listings of all individuals required by law to register as sexual offenders and predators in our state. As of May 19, 2005 there were 1,255 registered sexual offenders in Broward County.

New Program to Target High
School Dropouts
With the Board’s approval of an agreement with Alternatives Unlimited, Inc., the company plans to open three locations in Broward County that will provide community based educational services and credit retrieval for high school dropouts who are 16 years old or older. Through the program, which will meet all standards required of public schools, students can earn full 24-credit high school diplomas. Students may attend school for a minimum of three hours, be gainfully employed and access the program through a flexible schedule of classes held in the morning, afternoon or evening. The program will be locally managed by a teacher on special assignment assigned to the Office of Drop Out Prevention in conjunction with the North Central Area Office.

Board Clarifies Policy on the Administration
of Medication and Treatments
The Board reformatted Policy #6305 regarding medication, administering medicine, treatments to students and the training required for such procedures as G-tube feedings and suctioning. The policy was also revised to incorporate statute requirements and the current procedures that are in place in the School Health Services Manual. For example, over-the-counter medication procedures were previously included in the manual, but not in the policy. Among the changes was the modification of wording in the policy to ensure that “over-the-counter” medication will be administered in the same way as prescription medication. The new wording aligns the policy with the language in the Code of Student Conduct.

Partnership Agreement with
Sun-Sentinel Company
The Board approved a Partnership Agreement with the Sun-Sentinel Company to provide cross-promotional support for the Sun-Sentinel’s Kids of Character Program and BECON-TV. The Sun-Sentinel established the Kids of Character program to spotlight positive behavior that aligns with the District’s Character Education program. BECON has agreed to provide promotional support for this program through a series of on-air announcements and the development of short video programs about outstanding students. In exchange, Sun-Sentinel has agreed to provide the Board with free in-paper advertisements and calendar listings of BECON educational and community programming. This represents a savings to the District of more than $200,000.

Family Resource Line Established

Research has shown that students whose parents are actively involved in the educational process do better in school. The Broward School District is large and parents may not know whom to call if they have questions, and they may not know about all the resources available to them in the District and in the community resources they can use to help their children succeed in school.

For that reason, the District has launched a new Family Resource Line that will convey valuable information to parents of students attending Broward County Public Schools. The message callers will hear will change periodically and will be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole.

The Family Resource Line number is
754-321-1980.

The Family Resource Line is the result of the efforts of the Parent Involvement Council, a group composed of representatives from the Urban League, The Broward County Council of PTAs, District Advisory Council and District administrators. The group meets regularly to research and develop parent involvement materials and devise effective distribution methods for those materials.

The council’s goal is to foster effective communication between schools and parents and to ensure that parents have the information and materials they need to aid in the education of their children.

Portable Classrooms at North Side School, 1926 Image courtesy of Broward Historical Commission, Helen Landers Collection