EAB Meeting Minutes 2019-04-18EDUCATION ADVISORY BOARD
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019
MIAMI SHORES VILLAGE HALL CONFERENCE ROOM
6:00 PM
The meeting was called to order at 6:04pm by Mr. Netto with the following members present:
Antonio Netto
Tiffany Anderson
Dana Vignale
Patricia Walker
Leslie Fraser
Arrived late: Doug Garber
Absent: Sylvie Duerkopf
Also present: Ysabely Rodriguez, Village Clerk
1. Public Comments
No public comments were offered.
2. The Board reviewed the letter composed by Ms. Anderson regarding the PTSA representative to
the EAB, and suggested some revisions.
3. Approval of March 21, 2019 minutes: Ms. Anderson moved that the minutes be approved. Mr.
Garber seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
4. The survey has yielded 161 results and responses are no longer coming in. The Board agreed that
Ms. Vignale will send the results of the survey, in the form of the presentation previously shared
at the Village Council meeting, to Ms. Rodriguez to post on the EAB page of the Village website.
Ms. Vignale will also post on social media.
5. Mr. Netto met with Ms. Swain on April 8 and invited her to our April 18 meeting but she was
unable to attend. At their meeting, she expressed concerns about the proposed program changes.
Mr. Netto shared with her that the metric our board is using to measure achievement at MSE is
the school grade, with the goal of an “A”. While discussing marketing efforts, he learned in the
meeting that the school has an Instagram account and a Facebook page.
6. Ms. Vignale met with Ms. Swain on April 11 and Ms. Swain invited the assistant principal, Mr. Diaz,
to join the meeting. Ms. Vignale shared with Ms. Swain that our intent as a board was to survey
residents and share results with Ms. Swain. The Superintendent chose to meet with Mayor Glinn
about possibly adding the Cambridge and iPrep programs to Miami Shores Elementary. Ms.
Vignale asked Ms. Swain how we could assist with marketing efforts and Ms. Swain said she would
like assistance with the website and other efforts. Ms. Vignale suggested a regular schedule of
school tours, and also monthly contributions to the school section of the Egret. Regarding the
curriculum changes, Ms. Swain has been in contact with Ms. Lisette Rodriguez from the Advanced
Academics department at MDCPS. Ms. Vignale also shared that MSE now has a school resource
officer.
7. Ms. Vignale shared the estimated costs of the Cambridge program, with expenses for the first
three years totaling approximately $220,000. A significant portion of the cost is for professional
development, a critical component to the success of this implementation.
8. The Board discussed the negotiation process between MSV and MDCPS and agreed that it would
be advantageous to have representatives from our Board included in this process, particularly to
contribute to developing the accountability portion of the agreement.
9. Ms. Vignale discussed the possibility of pursuing a PASS grant to reduce the village’s financial
contribution.
10. Mr. Garber asked two questions: who will fund this three-year effort, and should the Village be
funding a District school program? It was stated that the sharing of expenses in these situations
is fairly commonplace in municipalities due to low funding from the State. Examples of MAST
Academy and West Lab were given.
11. Ms. Walker moved to create a subcommittee consisting of Ms. Anderson, Mr. Netto, and Ms.
Vignale to participate in Interlocal Agreement (ILA) negotiations. Mr. Garber seconded and the
motion passed unanimously.
12. Ms. Vignale moved to request the Village Council to include members of the subcommittee in all
negotiations pertaining to the ILA. Board members agreed to reach out to Village Council
members regarding this issue. Ms. Walker seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
13. Mr. Netto suggested that we create an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments at MSE
such as the recent victories of the Robotics Team and the Chess Team. Ideally, they would be
recognized at a Village Council meeting.
Announcements: Ms. Vignale informed the Board that Horace Mann will be holding a State of the School
address on April 29 at 6:00 and suggested attendance at the event would be a show of support for the
school.
Mr. Netto adjourned the meeting at 7:41pm.
Next meeting: Thursday, May 16, 2019, at 6:00pm in the Village Hall Conference Room.