The School Board In Action

Board Welcomes New Member
At a swearing-in ceremony held on November 19, 2002 at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, the School Board welcomed newly elected member Marty Rubinstein of District 6. “As your newest Board Member, I will work with the Board to make sure that our schools, our teachers and our children have the tools they will need for a 21st Century education,” Rubinstein said after being sworn in by Sunrise Mayor Steven B. Feren. Other Board Members sworn in for four-year terms were Carole L. Andrews (by Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne), Stephanie Arma Kraft, Esq. (by her husband, Mitchell S. Kraft, Esq.) Darla L. Carter (by Plantation High School teacher Barbara Butler), and Robert Parks, Ed.D (by his wife Linda Parks).

At the 2002 School Board Organization Meeting, which followed the swearing-in ceremony, Lois Wexler (At-Large countywide) was elected School Board Chair and Carole L. Andrews (District 1) was elected School Board Vice Chair. Just before relinquishing the gavel, outgoing Board Chair Dr. Bob Parks thanked the District staff for making his job easier. “I really appreciate the opportunity and experience. I’ve enjoyed working with eight other passionate people for education,” Dr. Parks said. “Thank you for the pleasure, privilege and honor to serve as your Chair for this past year.”

Outgoing Board Member Paul Eichner, who represented District 6, took part in his last Board meeting on November 12th. He was elected to the School Board in 1998. “This is a tremendous Board and it has the best interests of students in mind. I’m very proud to have served the past four years and I’m proud of the work the Board and I have done,” he said.

Cooperative Agreement Continues with Urban League
The Broward County School Board approved a Cooperative Agreement with the Urban League of Broward County, Inc., to provide comprehensive youth empowerment and prevention services to middle school age youth that reside in central Broward County. The schools selected by the Urban League to receive services through this grant are William Dandy and Lauderhill middle schools. During this fourth and final year of the contract, services will be expanded to one additional middle school to be selected by the Urban League. Approval of this agreement enables the District to expand the Asset Building Leads to Excellence (ABLE) Program. The ABLE program funds school social workers who provide solution-focused adolescent youth counseling services emphasizing decision-making and problem-solving skills with the goals of reducing risky adolescent behaviors and providing career counseling, crisis intervention, case management and referral services. ABLE encourages parental involvement and teaches parents positive ways to communicate with their children, with the goals of helping students make good decisions for their lives. The social workers also support the coordination of health services, after-school programs and community-based youth and parenting activities provided by other agencies in the community.

Tech Prep Agreement Continued with BCC
The School Board approved the submission of a continuation grant application for the Tech Prep Program as part of the Carl Perkins consolidated application for Vocational, Adult and Community Education funding. Broward Community College (BCC) collaborated with the District on the Tech Prep Grant application as a consortium member. Tech Prep is a program integrating rigorous academic and technical courses, beginning in high school leading to a technical certificate, associate degree or a bachelor’s degree. Students in the program have the opportunity to earn college credits for skills attained in high school that can be applied towards a degree at a post-secondary institution.

District Schools Honored for Recycling Efforts

Many people may not remember a time when recycling wasn’t a part of their lives. For Broward County Public School students, recycling has become a major part of their lives. In honor of their efforts to help the environment, the Broward County Commission recognized several schools for excellence in recycling. Those schools honored for the 2001/02 school year were:

Elementary Schools
• Palmview, with a recycling average of
102 pounds per student
• Sunland Park, with a recycling average
of 73 pounds per student
• Flamingo, with a recycling average of
62 pounds per student

Middle Schools
• Attucks, with a recycling average of 40 pounds per student
• Westpine, with a recycling average of 25 pounds per student
• Plantation, with a recycling average of 23 pounds per student

High Schools
• Pompano Beach Institute, with a recycling average of 41 pounds per student
• Fort Lauderdale, with a recycling average of 19 pounds per student
• Hallandale, with a recycling average of 18 pounds per student

Centers
• Cypress Run Alternative, with a recycling average of 143
• Bright Horizons, with a recycling average of 111 pounds per student
• The Quest, with a recycling average of 110 pounds per student

In addition, the School Board was honored for its 10-year commitment to paper and cardboard recycling. Over the last 10 years, the School Board has recycled more than 31.66 million pounds of paper materials, which is about 15,828 tons. Through the District’s recycling program, approximately 269,076 trees have been saved!