SCHOOL BOARD ORGANIZATION

At the November 22, 2005 School Board Organizational Meeting, Benjamin J. Williams, representative of District 5, was elected Chair and Beverly A. Gallagher, representative of District 2, was elected Vice-chair.

RESOLUTIONS

The Board adopted four Resolutions of Support at its December 13, 2005 meeting.  The first was in appreciation of Broward Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Florida Beautiful.  Broward Beautiful established a Community Grant Program in 1998 and over the past seven years, 86 school applications have been approved with a value of over $491,000.  Eight new agreements between schools and Broward Beautiful received approval during the meeting.

The Board recognized and commended School District employees for their Hurricane Wilma response in its second resolution.  Noted in the resolution are the tireless efforts of employees in addressing the monumental recovery operation necessary to reopen schools following Hurricane Wilma.  Schools were reopened in an incredibly short period of time, following one of the worst natural disasters to strike South Florida in recent memory.

Frank Robinson, a District administrator who has served the District for the past 50 years was recognized in the Board’s third resolution.  Over the years, Mr. Robinson served the District as a teacher and as Assistant Principal at Boyd Anderson High, The Pine Ridge Alternative Center and McArthur High School.  He has motivated countless students for half a century and plans to retire January 2, 2006.

The final resolution adopted by the Board was in support of the 2005 Class 6A FHSAA State Champion Baseball Team ­– The Flanagan Falcons of Charles W. Flanagan High School.  The team, under the direction of Head Coach Ray Evans, defeated Orlando-Boone with a score of 5–1 to become the 2005 6A State Champion.

APPROVED

INDIGENOUS TREES AND LANDSCAPING SHRUBBERY PROJECT APPROVED
The Board approved the concept of using only indigenous plants and trees when new plantings are done at existing school and administrative sites and when landscaping is planned at new sites.  Hurricane Wilma had a particularly destructive impact on non-indigenous shrubbery.  Using existing environmental school locations as models, each school will be able to develop natural and native settings that will provide a safe and environmentally sound ecosystem for the benefit of indigenous wildlife species.  The practice will also re-enforce state and national standards in science education by directly involving students in selecting plants and trees to be used at their schools.

CONTINUATION AGREEMENT FOR BROWARD TEACHER CORP APPROVED
The Broward Teacher Corps is an ongoing, collaborative effort between the School Board and its higher education partners.  The initiative has established various programs designed to recruit, develop and retain qualified teachers.  With the Board’s approval, this highly successful program will continue to provide the training and coursework needed for teachers to become highly qualified and effective in our schools.

ATTUCKS MIDDLE SCHOOL GYMNASIUM NAMED FOR EARL WASHINGTON
Earl Washington served the District as a teacher, coach, Athletic Director and Administrative Assistant from 1952 until 1994.  As a teacher and coach, he served as an excellent role model in the community through his sincere commitment to education and to his students, staff and community.  The Attucks Middle School Alumni Association, the school staff and Advisory Committee all supported the naming of the school’s gymnasium in his honor.  With the Board’s approval, the facility will now be known as the Earl Washington Gymnasium.

PERSONNEL

The Board approved the following appointments:  Scott Krutchik, Accountant V, Confidential; Lourdes Gonzalez, Assistant Principal, Everglades High; Interim Assistant Principals: Shari Brown, Coral Springs Elementary; Lezondra Harris, Lauderhill Middle; Valerie Scott, Exceptional student Education Itinerant Deaf & Hard of Hearing/Visually Impaired; and Rayner Garranchan, Driftwood Middle.

The Board also approved the following reassignment: Henry Verdugo, Project Manager II, Facilities & Construction.

SCHOOLS AND STAFF IN ACTION

BERNIE KEMP NAMED SCHOOL-RELATED EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR 2005-2006
It was a lucky day for Liberty Elementary School students, parents, faculty, staff and administration when Bernie Kemp was selected as the school’s Community Liaison.  Although elementary education was not his area of expertise, he hit the ground running.  He quickly identified significant ways he could support the school and its families.  Mr. Kemp was named Broward County Public Schools School-Related Employee of the Year 2005-2006 at a celebration breakfast held December 14, 2005 at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel in Dania.

One of Mr. Kemp’s significant goals at Liberty Elementary School was to attain the prestigious Five Star School Award presented by the Florida Department of Education.  The honor is only awarded to schools that demonstrate exemplary family and community involvement.  He joined the School Advisory Council; actively sought out venues outside of the school where the group could meet; and arranged for the Title I mobile unit to be on hand to encourage parents to check out materials to work with children on reading, writing and math skills at home.  Mr. Kemp also sought to improve the level of involvement of business partners.  He canvassed the community to identify new businesses that wanted to work with the school, tripling the number of school partners from four to twelve.

As a direct result of his efforts, not only did Liberty Elementary School earn the designation of Five Star School, it also reached the goal set for parent involvement in Liberty’s School Improvement Plan (SIP) and increased parent access to free educational materials.

Eighteen finalists for Broward’s School-Related Employee of the Year were also honored for the contributions they make to students in Broward County.

Finalists	Position	Work Location
Janet Bobik	Micro Computer Technology Specialist	Park Trails Elementary
Laurie S. Brown	Confidential Office Manager	Oakland Park Elementary
Leticia “Letty” Camejo	Data Processing Clerk	Central Park Elementary
Mary Elizabeth Cass	Confidential Secretary	Division of Curriculum/Instruction
Joe Freeman	Security Specialist	McArthur High
Larry M. Garcia	Head Facility Serviceperson/Grounds/Minor repairs	Oakridge Elementary
Margaret Anne Greathouse	Paraprofessional	Village Elementary
Carol Hadvab	Secretary IV	N/A Superintendent’s Office
Michael McCutcheon	Supervisor I Tech Support	ETS/Twin Lakes Admin Center
Madeline Minichiello	Planning Analyst	ETS/KCW
Randi Lynn Morales	Office Manager/Confidential	Nova Middle
Susan Nelson	Micro Computer Tech Spec/Confidential Secretary	Riverside Elementary
Jackie Lynn Primeau	Confidential Secretary	Research, Eval & Student Assignment Dept.
Josie Rodriguez	General Clerk	Pines Lakes Elementary
Sally Sharkevich	Dual Cafeteria Manager	Park Trails & County Hills Elementary
Ricky Stefancik	Micro Computer Technology Specialist	S/C Area Superintendent’s Office
Linda Thistle	Data Processing Clerk	North Side Elementary
Andrea Tower	General Clerk II	Indian Ridge Middle

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