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HAAB Minutes 10/25/2007 October 25, 2007 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COLLIER COUNTY HISPANIC AFFAIRS ADVISORY BOARD Naples, Florida, October 25,2007 LET IT BE REMEMBERED that the Collier County Hispanic Affairs Advisory Committee in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 6:00 PM in REGULAR SESSION at Administrative Building "F", 3rd Floor, Collier County Government Center, Naples, Florida with the following members present: Chairman: James Van Fleet Vice Chairman: David Correa Raymond Cabral Renato F. Fernandez Manuel Gonzalez Valaree D. Maxwell Cosme Perez Ernesto Velasquez Luis Alejandro Bernal (Excused) Also Present: Mike Sheffield, County Manager's Office Everildo Ybaceta, Citizens Liaison, CDES October 25, 2007 I. Introduction A. Opening Remarks/Welcome The meeting was called to order at 6:02 PM by Chairman James Van Fleet. B. Approval of Agenda Mr. Fernandez moved to approve the Agenda. Second by Mr. Correa. Carried unanimously, 5-0. (Raymond Cabral arrived at 6:03 PM) C. Adoption of Minutes Mr. Fernandez moved to approve the Minutes of September 27,2007 Meeting. Second by Mr. Perez. Carried unanimously, 6-0. II. Old Business A. Update on Education Issues - James Van Fleet Chairman Van Fleet presented his report on the current situation of Hispanic students within the Collier County Public School and stated the most recent figures for the present school term would not be available from the School Board until November or December. He pointed out the dropout rate for Hispanic students is still far too high and is a matter of great concern. He intended to present this information to the Board of County Commissioners if the Committee members approved. He stated Immokalee and Golden Gate High Schools had the highest percentages of dropouts with 3.0% and 2.9% Respectively, which amounted to a lost of one-third of the Hispanic student population. He stated that while Barron Collier and Gulf Coast High Schools each posted loses, both were affluent schools with an affluent student population with a majority of Caucasian students. He stated the graduation rate for Hispanic students was 60% overall, which was a small increase from previous years. (Ernesto Vetasquez arrived at 6:07 PM.) Chairman Van Fleet continued that the outlook for Hispanic students would remain bleak until this situation was corrected. He stated a continuing problem was the inability of teachers to communicate with the parents of the students because the parents spoke only Spanish. He felt it was important to have Hispanic teachers and that the current percentage ofteachers in the Collier County School system was not keeping pace with the increases in the Hispanic student population throughout the school system. He stated in 2002, 30% of the teachers employed by the School District were of Hispanic ethnicity. In 2007, the figure was only 44%, yet the Hispanic student population was increasing (Manuel Gonzalez arrived at 6: 1 0 PM.) 2 October 25, 2007 He further stated that graduation rates for Collier County schools in general are not impressive with less than 75% ofthe student population graduating in a community where $1.16 billion is spent on education for grades K-12. He stated he intends to stress to the members of the Board of County Commissioners that the BCC should be taking a much greater and more vocal interest in this situation and should communicate this concern to the members of the School Board. He stated his disappointment at the marginal implementation of the 2005 Report recommendations. He stated the BCC has not been aggressive enough and needed further encouragement from the Committee. Discussion ensued concerning the criteria for definition of the term 'Hispanic'. Chairman Van Fleet stated it encompassed various nationalities including Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Columbian, etc., under the umbrella of "Hispanic." While it may be less accurate than desired, Chairman V an Fleet stated it was the standard term that was utilized when addressing Hispanic ethnicity. When questioned as to whether or not the BCC had the power to challenge the School Board, Chairman Van Fleet replied the "flaw" in the government system in Collier County was that each entity was independent and not answerable to each other. He suggested the Committee members could show their support of his report by attending the BCC session when it was presented. A question was raised concerning why the Committee could not address the School Board directly and Chairman Van Fleet pointed out that the Committee must address the BCC who, in turn, would address the issue with the School Board. Ms. Maxwell pointed out that several Committee members were also members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and could attend a meeting between the BCC and the School Board in that capacity. Mr. Perez stated that while having Hispanic teachers was important because it reflected sensitivity to the culture and gave Hispanic students a visible role model, he felt it was also important for the School Board to hire more Hispanic counselors and bi-lingual staff members since those individuals most often interacted with the students' Spanish speaking parents. A counselor who would call the family home with reports concerning a student's lack of progress and if that individual were Spanish-speaking, the parents could be promptly informed and could become more aware of their child's situation. Mr. Gonzalez suggested to the Chair that he amend his report to reflect that suggestion. Mr. Correa suggested that committees could be formed in each school to reach out specifically to the parents of Hispanic students to encourage their involvement with their child's education. Mr. Perez mentioned another problem was the parents' refusal to speak English at home. Spanish-speaking students had no additional outlet to practice speaking English or to hear English being spoken, i.e., via TV programs, news reports, because their parents watched only Spanish TV channels and read only Spanish newspapers. 3 October 25, 2007 Ms. Maxell pointed out that today's students were even more aware of their individual civil rights and the fact that they could legally quit school at age 16. In her opinion another contributing cause to the dropout rate was the use of timed testing that did not allow enough time to complete for students whose English was a second language. She urged these students to be allowed to take un-timed tests and to be able to utilize a Spanish-English dictionary when being tested. Chairman Van Fleet stated he would revise his report to include the various suggestions of the Committee members. Mr. Perez moved to approve the report for submission to the BCC and to place it on their Agenda. Second by Mr. Gonzalez. Carried unanimously, 8-0. Mr. Sheffield suggested drafting a cover letter to the BCC to ensure placement of the Report on their next Agenda. Ill. New Business Mr. Sheffield introduced Everildo Ybaceta to the Committee. Mr. Ybaceta stated he was Cuban-born, of Basque heritage, and grew up in the Miami area. When he moved to Naples, Mr. Ybaceta obtained employment as an Investigator with Code Enforcement after working with the "SHIP" program. He spent four years in the field and was then assigned to the Immokalee area. He also served as translator whenever necessary for the Code Enforcement/Special Magistrate Hearings. He stated that Code Enforcement currently has two Spanish speaking supervisors and has added a Creole-speaking Investigator to the staff of 5 bilingual Investigators. He further stated his current position as Citizen Liaison allows him to assist when a language problem arises in the Code Enforcement Department, whether it means explaining the permit application to an individual or relaying a complaint from a citizen to the staff. Ms. Maxwell invited him to attend a meeting of the "C-Cat" Code Compliancy Advocacy Taskforce to explain how the Code Enforcement Department functions and to answer various questions concerning compliancy. She also presented to the Committee a draft of a proposed announcement to be enclosed with each Notice of Violation. The statement would be printed in Spanish, French and Creole as well as English and would clarify to any reader the need to respond if served a Notice of Violation as well as provide a contact number for assistance. IV. Comments/Announcements Mr. Perez mentioned the Columbus Day parade in Miami and the participation of various Hispanic groups. He represented a copy of a local newspaper with photographs of the event. 4 October 25, 2007 Ms. Maxwell cautioned Mr. Perez about attending a meeting ofthe "C-Cat" Committee since she did not want to violate the Sunshine Law requirements. Chairman Van Fleet stated that not only an actual violation must be avoided but also the "appearance of impropriety" must also be avoided and agreed with Ms. Maxwell that Mr. Perez should not attend the meeting. Mr. Gonzalez informed the committee about the meeting he attended at the Sheriffs Department concerning terrorism and steps being taken to identify potential terrorist through the ICE ("Immigration Customs Enforcement") program. The goal was to curb crime, add positively to the economic climate and provide greater safety to the general public. V. Public Comments None VI. Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 29,2007 at 6:00 PM. Mr. Sheffield alerted the Committee of the potential unavailability of the Boardroom. for the next meeting. The Golden Gate Community Center was suggested as an alternate location. He stated he would keep the Members informed with regard to any changes. There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order ofthe Chair at 7:28 P.M. COLLIER COUNTY HISPANIC AFFAIRS ADVISORY COMMITTEE James Van Fleet, Chairman These Minutes approved by the Board/Committee on as presented or as amended 5