Cabinet
Affairs |
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2 T H E C A B I N E T
3 S T A T E O F F L O R I D A
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Representing:
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STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
6 DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY
7 AND MOTOR VEHICLES
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
8 ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION
TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL
9 IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
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11 The above agencies came to be heard before
THE FLORIDA CABINET, Honorable Governor Chiles
12 presiding, in the Cabinet Meeting Room, LL-03,
The Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday,
13 April 9, 1996, commencing at approximately 9:49 a.m.
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16 Reported by:
17 LAURIE L. GILBERT
Registered Professional Reporter
18 Certified Court Reporter
Notary Public in and for
19 the State of Florida at Large
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22 ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
100 SALEM COURT
23 TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301
904/878-2221
24 1-800/934-9090
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1 APPEARANCES:
2 Representing the Florida Cabinet:
3 LAWTON CHILES
Governor
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BOB CRAWFORD
5 Commissioner of Agriculture
6 BOB MILLIGAN
Comptroller
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SANDRA B. MORTHAM
8 Secretary of State
9 BOB BUTTERWORTH
Attorney General
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BILL NELSON
11 Treasurer
12 FRANK T. BROGAN
Commissioner of Education
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ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
April 9, 1996
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1 I N D E X
2 ITEM ACTION PAGE
3 STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION:
(Presented by Ash Williams, Jr.,
4 Executive Director)
5 1 Approved 5
2 Approved 5
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DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE:
7 (Presented by J. Ben Watkins, III,
Director)
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1 Approved 6
9 2 Approved 6
3 Approved 7
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DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES:
11 (Presented by Fred O. Dickinson, III,
Executive Director)
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1 Approved 8
13 2 Approved 8
3 Approved 9
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION:
15 (Presented by Robert L. Bedford, Ph.D.,
Deputy Commissioner)
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1 Approved 10
17 2 Approved 10
3 and 4 Approved 11
18 5 Approved 72
6 Withdrawn 72
19 7 Approved 11
8 Approved 14
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ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
April 9, 1996
4
1 I N D E X
(Continued)
2
ITEM ACTION PAGE
3
BOARD OF TRUSTEES,
4 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT
TRUST FUND:
5 (Presented by Virginia B. Wetherell,
Secretary)
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1 Approved 74
7 2 Approved 74
3 Approved 74
8 4 Approved 74
Substitute 5 Approved 106
9 6 Approved 107
7 Approved 107
10 8 Approved 107
9 Approved 107
11 10 Approved 108
11 Approved 108
12 12 Approved 108
13 DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION:
(Presented by Virginia B. Wetherell,
14 Secretary)
15 1 Approved 109
2 Withdrawn 109
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17 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 110
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ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
April 9, 1996
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (The agenda items commenced at 9:56 a.m.)
3 GOVERNOR CHILES: Now we're ready for the
4 State Board of Administration.
5 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: I move the minutes.
6 GOVERNOR CHILES: Motion on the minutes.
7 TREASURER NELSON: Second.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Seconded.
9 Without objection, the minutes are adopted.
10 MR. WILLIAMS: Item 2 is a fiscal
11 sufficiency for the Florida
12 Housing Finance Agency.
13 TREASURER NELSON: Move it.
14 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Second.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and
16 seconded.
17 Without objection, that's approved.
18 MR. WILLIAMS: Thank you.
19 (The State Board of Administration Agenda
20 was concluded.)
21 *
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ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
April 9, 1996
6
1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Bond Finance.
2 MR. WATKINS: Three items on the agenda
3 this morning.
4 Item 1 is approval of the minutes of the
5 March 28 meeting.
6 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Motion.
7 GOVERNOR CHILES: There's a motion.
8 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: And a second on the
10 minutes.
11 Without objection, the minutes are
12 approved.
13 MR. WATKINS: Item number 2 is a resolution
14 authorizing negotiated sale on behalf of the
15 Florida Housing Finance Agency of up to
16 40 million dollars in single family mortgage
17 revenue bonds.
18 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
19 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
20 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
21 Without objection, that's approved.
22 MR. WATKINS: Item number 3 is a report of
23 award of two multifamily housing bond issues
24 sold on behalf of the Florida Housing Finance
25 Agency.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
April 9, 1996
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1 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
3 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
4 Without objection, that's approved.
5 MR. WATKINS: Thank you.
6 (The Division of Bond Finance Agenda was
7 concluded.)
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ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY/MOTOR VEHICLES
April 9, 1996
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES:
2 Department of Highway Safety.
3 MR. DICKINSON: Good morning.
4 Governor, the first item is approval of
5 minutes --
6 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: So move.
7 MR. DICKINSON: -- from the
8 February 27th --
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So move.
10 MR. DICKINSON: -- Cabinet meeting.
11 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion.
12 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
13 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and
14 seconded.
15 Without objection, the minutes are
16 approved.
17 MR. DICKINSON: Item number 2 is request
18 for approval for a new contract for our
19 psychological screening for incoming
20 law enforcement officers.
21 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
23 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
24 Without objection, that's approved.
25 MR. DICKINSON: And item number 3 is a
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY/MOTOR VEHICLES
April 9, 1996
9
1 menagerie, if you will, Governor. We're
2 repealing eleven rules, amending seven rules,
3 and creating four new rules to conform with the
4 statutory change from last session with regard
5 to our driver improvement schools.
6 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
7 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move the menagerie.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
9 Without objection, the menagerie is
10 approved.
11 MR. DICKINSON: Thank you, Governor.
12 (The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
13 Vehicles Agenda was concluded.)
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ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
10
1 GOVERNOR CHILES: State Board of Education.
2 Things are rolling along too fast.
3 DR. BEDFORD: Good morning, members of the
4 State Board of Education.
5 Item 1, minutes of the meeting held
6 February 13th and February 27th, 1996.
7 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So move, Governor.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and --
9 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
10 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- seconded.
11 Without objection, the minutes are
12 approved.
13 DR. BEDFORD: Item 2, recommendation in
14 Critical Teacher Shortage Areas.
15 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval.
16 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
17 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
18 Without objection, it's approved.
19 DR. BEDFORD: Item 3 and 4 can be taken
20 together. They are Area of Vocational Technical
21 Center designation in Orange County of Orange
22 Technical Center's Westside Technical, and
23 Winter Park Technical.
24 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval of
25 Items 3 and 4.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
11
1 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
2 GOVERNOR CHILES: Without objection,
3 Items 3 and 4, adopted en banc.
4 DR. BEDFORD: Items 5 and 6, I would like
5 to leave for a minute and come back to, and go
6 to item 7.
7 Amendment to 6A, dash, 6.0571, Criteria for
8 Qualification of Special Vocational Technical
9 Education Program Courses.
10 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
11 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
12 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved on item --
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- 7.
14 Second.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Second?
16 Is there a second?
17 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
18 GOVERNOR CHILES: Second.
19 Without objection, Item 7 is approved.
20 DR. BEDFORD: Item 8 is a good cause item
21 brought to you today. The good cause item
22 involves an amendment to the cost of living
23 survey contract. That contract is identified as
24 096, dash, 001.
25 The last several years, there's been many
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
12
1 questions concerning the district cost
2 differential. The legislative -- the
3 Legislature funded a University of Florida study
4 done by David Denslow. The study suggested some
5 changes in the methodology. And this amendment
6 would review the Denslow work, and would
7 determine whether it was feasible to incorporate
8 into the methodology.
9 One of the reasons to bring this as a good
10 cause item is that the actual survey is done in
11 August, and if we are going to make any changes,
12 they need to be proceeded on now.
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval.
14 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
16 Without objection --
17 TREASURER NELSON: Governor --
18 May I ask a question?
19 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes.
20 TREASURER NELSON: What I don't understand
21 is that this looks like this is a study of a
22 study. Is that correct?
23 DR. BEDFORD: Link, do you want to come and
24 help me?
25 Link Jarrett.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
13
1 MR. JARRETT: This is not a study of a
2 study. It -- the firm with which we contract --
3 with which you've contracted is the firm that
4 does the survey. And there are some technical
5 kinds of things that have to be assured in order
6 that you get a valid Florida price level index.
7 We can't merely make adjustments to that
8 procedure without having them done very
9 thoughtfully and carefully in order to maintain
10 the integrity of that index.
11 TREASURER NELSON: And so this is costing
12 us an additional 12,000.
13 MR. JARRETT: Yes, sir.
14 TREASURER NELSON: And what was the
15 original contract price?
16 MR. JARRETT: Two hundred and
17 thirty thousand for the survey process. That
18 is, they collect prices for 118 different market
19 basket items in all 67 counties.
20 And this is -- of course, as you know, this
21 affects the distribution of 8 billion dollars to
22 our Florida school districts. So it needs to be
23 handled in a manner that will give us results
24 that don't place us in a position that
25 jeopardizes the integrity of that particular
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 component of the formula.
2 TREASURER NELSON: And what is the $12,000
3 extra buying us?
4 MR. JARRETT: It is going to buy them
5 reviewing carefully both the short-term and
6 long-term recommendations in Dr. Denslow's
7 study, and adjusting, where appropriate, the
8 survey methodology to incorporate the -- the
9 adjustments.
10 TREASURER NELSON: Which should have been
11 in the original $250,000 contract price.
12 MR. JARRETT: Well, this study was not
13 available when the RFP and the bid was done on
14 this particular contract.
15 This is something that has happened in the
16 last month or two in terms of the actual report
17 of the Denslow study. And, therefore, we felt
18 it was appropriate and necessary for us to amend
19 this contract to make sure that when the budget
20 is developed, we have the most valid index that
21 you can stand with as being representative of
22 the cost of living in each county.
23 TREASURER NELSON: Thank you, Governor.
24 GOVERNOR CHILES: Without objection, the --
25 the motion is adopted.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
15
1 DR. BEDFORD: Now if we could go back to
2 item number 5. I believe the Commissioner wants
3 to make a presentation at this time.
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you.
5 And, Governor, members of the Cabinet, we
6 let you off the hook at the last meeting when we
7 withdrew these items, so we're going to put you
8 back on the hook today.
9 And I'm going to go to the floor and
10 shepherd you through this presentation myself.
11 We tried to keep it as brief as possible based
12 on the complexity of the agenda.
13 So with your indulgence, I'm going to move
14 down to the podium.
15 DR. BEDFORD: Frank, you might want to ask
16 the audience --
17 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yeah. And while
18 we're shifting around, if anybody would like to
19 move to that side of the room, I'm sorry, with
20 the angle of the room, that's the best we're
21 going to be able to do, I'm afraid.
22 And I think we're going to need these --
23 GOVERNOR CHILES: Would you speak a little
24 closer to the mic? It's a little bit hard to
25 hear you --
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Identify yourself.
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, Governor.
3 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: The lights are kind
4 of shining off your forehead, too.
5 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I knew this was a
6 mistake.
7 How's that?
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's too loud.
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: That's
10 Frank T. Brogan, Commissioner of Education.
11 Good morning.
12 And we wanted to take the opportunity to do
13 this presentation to you this morning because we
14 think it's of great significance, not only to
15 the State Board of Education, but also to the
16 State of Florida.
17 And we have put together a power point
18 presentation that we hope in a brief period of
19 time is going to walk you through some of the
20 essentials that go into the creation of
21 statewide standards, the statewide assessment,
22 the staff development activities that go along
23 with a massive undertaking like this.
24 The Governor and I and one of our State's
25 finest Chief Executive Officers,
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 Mr. Jack Critchfield, recently returned from the
2 National Governor's Summit on Education in
3 Palisades, New York.
4 We spent a day-and-a-half, and, I believe,
5 Governor, there was 41, 44 governors who
6 attended; a chief executive officer from
7 virtually every state; as well as a significant
8 group of educators at all and various levels.
9 The three-pronged approach that that summit
10 took, remembering that it was an offshoot of the
11 summit that was held under the administration of
12 George Bush back in 88-89, was to take a close
13 look at three issues: One, standards; two,
14 assessment; and three, technology.
15 Now, any of those individual items would be
16 food for a day-and-a-half meeting of such an
17 auspicious gathering. But with that, it gave us
18 the opportunity to zero in on those three
19 particular items and --
20 GOVERNOR CHILES: I think if --
21 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- be able to --
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- you'd cut these lights
23 up here, we could see that --
24 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Would that help?
25 Further still?
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: More, yeah.
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: It gave us the
3 opportunity to network with people from other
4 states, and also, as we focused in at the end of
5 that particular day-and-a-half conference, gave
6 us the chance to recognize that essentially what
7 the conference was calling for was for each of
8 the 50 states to create a system of statewide
9 standard.
10 Very simply put, what it is we expect
11 children in the state of Florida to know and to
12 be able to do as they move through elementary
13 school, middle school, high school, and so on.
14 That was discussed at length. Also was
15 discussed, the possibility of creating a
16 national clearinghouse on a non-federal basis
17 that would assist us in reviewing each state's
18 standards to make certain that they were
19 challenging, to make certain that nothing was
20 left to the imagination, et cetera.
21 Also discussed was the issue of
22 assessment. We're going to discuss the fact
23 that there are two types of assessment. But the
24 one that was primarily discussed at that
25 particular meeting was the external assessment,
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 that means a statewide assessment, given at
2 intervals during a child's educational
3 experience to see to it that the classroom, that
4 the school, that the district, and that the
5 state are all moving in the right directions as
6 it relates to those standards and what they --
7 what they take up.
8 The other issue was technology. We had an
9 opportunity to visit a large number of brief
10 presentations on some of the state of the art
11 technology that exists out there. And believe
12 me, it's overwhelming as far as the capabilities
13 that technology holds for us in the private
14 sector, and especially in education.
15 So with your indulgence, I'm just going to
16 let you know what you have in front of you.
17 You've been given a draft copy of some material,
18 and I underscore the word draft. Everything
19 that you are going to see this morning is in
20 draft form. This is all for conceptual
21 consideration today.
22 But we wanted to give you an idea of where
23 we are in the development of Florida's
24 standards, which we have unofficially dubbed as
25 the Sunshine State Standards; where we are with
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 the assessment process on the external level;
2 and then as we'll discuss, on the internal
3 level; and share with you some of the material
4 in draft form that -- that we would be looking
5 to utilize in the future.
6 Now, if I can draw your attention to the
7 power point presentation. This is about what
8 Florida's students should know and be able to
9 do. That is succinctly put. That is, more or
10 less, the mission of education is to determine
11 what it is our youngsters should be able to know
12 and do, and then see to it as they move through
13 their educational experience that they can do
14 those things.
15 Again, we've dubbed these the
16 Sunshine State Standards. And I think the
17 Governor can attest to the fact that if you put
18 us on a scale with the 50 states, you have some
19 states that have already established statewide
20 standards; many states which have not yet begun
21 the process of creating statewide standards; and
22 then Florida, who is well along with the
23 process, as we hope we'll evidence today.
24 We're going to discuss moving toward
25 high standards; we're going to talk about using
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 those standards, assessing those standards; and
2 then very importantly, aligning those standards
3 with the instruction, the curriculum, and then
4 that assessment, both internal and external,
5 that we discussed a moment ago.
6 First of all, moving toward high standards.
7 There is, as I mentioned, a national demand
8 for greater accountability and higher
9 standards. I've said this regularly. And I
10 think many would agree that over the past
11 30 years or so, the -- the nation and our state
12 have succumbed to the national problem of every
13 time youngsters don't give you what it is you
14 expect, you simply lower the expectation.
15 I think that's not an isolate here.
16 I think the nation has looked at its
17 expectations and what it's calling upon children
18 to know and be able to do. Our chief executive
19 officers I think drove that home with a
20 vengeance during the course of that
21 day-and-a-half in Palisades, New York.
22 So there is very much a national demand for
23 all of us to elevate our standards and
24 expectations for youngsters. That's being taken
25 up, of course, in part, in the legislative
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 process this year.
2 It's a bipartisan effort. I was very much
3 appreciative of the fact that in Palisades, you
4 had all types. You had governors who
5 represented some 44 states who were Republicans
6 and Democrats; you had CEOs who were
7 Republicans, Democrats, independents, and
8 others; you had members of the educational
9 communities from every different angle from
10 which you could come. And they all seemed to
11 generally focus on the reality of the need for
12 high standards, strong accountability.
13 So very much where we have been coming from
14 in this state is trying to do all of this as
15 much as possible with a bipartisan effort,
16 recognizing that teaching and learning is all
17 about being bipartisan.
18 Local control. That was another initiative
19 discussed in Palisades. The fact that while the
20 State should be in the business of setting
21 standards, setting expectations, creating
22 assessments, there's a strong need to give back
23 to local schools and local districts and
24 communities that which is rightfully theirs.
25 And that's the opportunity to create curriculum,
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 strategies, methodologies, to select
2 instructional material, right to meet the needs
3 of the youngsters in their individual
4 communities to make certain that they have the
5 best opportunity possible to get to those high
6 challenging standards in successful fashion.
7 Focus on the Legislature. You know that,
8 as I mentioned, during this legislative session,
9 very much, the whole issue of higher standards
10 for graduation, higher expectations for
11 students, and for the members of our
12 professional community, have come up on a
13 regular basis. And again, in a bipartisan
14 approach.
15 We're seeing both chambers, both
16 Republicans and Democrats, very, very much
17 interested in increasing standards and
18 expectations. And that's being taken up during
19 this session.
20 And I alluded to the National Education
21 Summit. One of the things that was exemplified
22 there is the fact that you can set high
23 standards; you can raise your expectations, just
24 as we're attempting to do here in the state of
25 Florida.
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 But as we're going to discuss in a few
2 minutes, critical to all of that is making
3 certain that you have a system in place of staff
4 development, both pre-service from the
5 university level, and in-service for those who
6 are currently in the field; on what those
7 standards are; how the assessment process will
8 work, internal, external; and how all of that is
9 going to fold around the curriculum which will
10 help to drive us to those high challenging
11 standards.
12 The equation for success, it's something
13 that we've talked about on a regular basis in
14 this state, and it was driven home again in
15 Palisades, and that is strong standards at a
16 high level; plus the instruction to get you to
17 those high standards; plus an assessment.
18 Again, not just given at the state level,
19 but also the day-to-day assessment process that
20 our teachers go through to constantly gauge
21 where their students are at any given time, and
22 adjust their teaching to make certain that their
23 youngsters are moving toward those -- those
24 standards, equals higher student achievement.
25 And what we're trying to do in the state of
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 Florida right now is refocus our energy and
2 refocus our efforts on increasing student
3 achievement levels.
4 The development of the standards. First of
5 all, let me say that these were not developed in
6 a vacuum. Far from it. As most states found,
7 the best way to develop standards is to involve
8 all of the stakeholders in the process. This
9 process has been going on for almost two years.
10 It's involved teachers and administrators and
11 Board members. It's involved parents at a
12 significant rate.
13 It's involved the business community to
14 make certain that we were looking at the kinds
15 of things the business community believed our
16 youngsters should know and be able to do in the
17 development of these standards.
18 And so very much, it was a team approach
19 with thousands of people, literally, supplying
20 input as to what these standards should know --
21 or should look like in their final analysis.
22 Analyzed by national experts. We used an
23 organization called McREL, which again was
24 widely discussed in Palisades. And what they
25 were able to do for us is to help us prior to
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 the development of this national clearinghouse,
2 they helped us to make certain that our
3 standards pass muster, that they were
4 challenging, that they were rigorous, that they
5 didn't take a backseat to any other state in the
6 country in terms of what it was we expected our
7 children to know and be able to do. And that
8 was very helpful in the process as well.
9 And they were reviewed, as I mentioned,
10 statewide by the stakeholders. Teachers,
11 parents, business leaders were involved in the
12 creation of the standards that we are now
13 developing.
14 The focus was on the seven key subject
15 areas. Now, today before you, members of the
16 State Board of Education, you actually have the
17 language arts and the mathematic standards.
18 Those are draft. Again, I reiterate that. And
19 they are in draft form, but very much the way
20 the standards will look when they are
21 finalized.
22 And those will all come back before you
23 sometime in the month of May. And at that time,
24 they will include not only language arts and
25 mathematics, but also science, social studies,
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
April 9, 1996
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1 the arts, health and physical education, and
2 foreign language.
3 We also in the state of Florida have
4 currently in place for grades 6 through 12
5 course frameworks that -- and descriptors that
6 actually go bullet by bullet explaining what a
7 youngster should know and be able to do as they
8 take individual courses, such as Algebra I, or
9 chemistry, or advanced course work.
10 And that is also going to be something
11 we're going to have to look at and update
12 regularly to make certain that it matches the
13 standards that we are setting.
14 But those are the broad-brush areas of
15 focus upon which we're building our state
16 standards. And they are the same, for the most
17 part, as you find in other states who are either
18 further along, or at the same level as we.
19 We actually divided our standards, as you
20 can see in your background material, into four
21 areas. We divided them into pre-K through 2,
22 grades 3 through 5, grades 6 through 8, and
23 grades 9 through 12.
24 And as you can see in your support
25 material, we have tried to create the standards
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1 as clearly and concisely as possible. It is our
2 full intent at a point appropriate in time, to
3 condense this even further for distribution to
4 all of our parents, the business community,
5 et cetera, in the state of Florida so they will
6 have in hand the ability to see if their child
7 is in pre-K through 2, what that youngster
8 should know and be able to do as they pass
9 through that pre-K through 2 continuum.
10 And we think that's important to
11 communicate. And we'll discuss communication
12 here in a few minutes.
13 Here's an example of a mathematic
14 standard. The -- the item is measurement. And
15 the standard would be: The student measures
16 quantities in the real world, and uses the
17 measures to solve problems.
18 Now, under that particular standard, you
19 would have a number of bullet points that would
20 help to make certain that students would have
21 the total knowledge to be able to demonstrate
22 mastery of that issue. But that is a good
23 example of a standard. Something that we
24 expect, at any level, by the way, a youngster to
25 know and be able to do.
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1 I say any level because we would expect a
2 pre-K through 2 student to be able to
3 demonstrate knowledge in that area, just as we
4 would expect a high school senior to demonstrate
5 knowledge in that particular area. Remembering
6 that, as we discussed at this meeting a month or
7 so ago, even algebra has its roots at the
8 kindergarten level.
9 And as you look at the mathematic standards
10 included in your packet, you will see algebra
11 referred to, even at the kindergarten level,
12 because that's the building blocks upon which
13 all of the skills necessary to take and pass
14 algebra begin. And so all of these things have
15 their roots from the very beginning in pre-K
16 through second grade.
17 Using the standards. First of all, the
18 standards will give us -- and that is the
19 general us, all of us in education, and I think
20 all of us in the state -- a clear expectation
21 for student knowledge and skills. In other
22 words, this is what Florida expects, at the very
23 least, our youngsters to know and be able to
24 do.
25 Now, I underscore at the very least. The
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1 state has once moved through the minimal skills
2 route. And believe me, for all of those who --
3 who suggest that that was a bad thing, at least
4 the minimal skills route did give us a target.
5 Albeit, a low target, it gave us a place that we
6 could direct our efforts in terms of teaching
7 and learning.
8 And as we move through the continuum of
9 those minimal skills and that process, we found
10 more and more youngsters able to produce at that
11 minimal skill level and beyond.
12 But what these standards are about is not
13 minimal skills. What we're suggesting, as are
14 most states now, that if youngsters are going to
15 be competitive in the 21st century, they simply
16 have to achieve a higher level of academia to be
17 successful in the world of work that they're
18 going to find.
19 We think the standards will give schools,
20 districts, classroom teachers, a much clearer
21 focus on the mission at hand.
22 Basis for assessing student achievement.
23 We're going to talk about this more. But again,
24 I suggest there are two types of assessment:
25 That which would be applied externally by the
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1 state of Florida in benchmark fashion to, as a
2 benchmark, assess where students, schools, are
3 at any given time, and the state.
4 But also that internal assessment that our
5 teachers must do, and have always done, on a
6 day-to-day, week-to-week basis to gauge student
7 learning at any given time.
8 And again, the basis for school
9 accountability. Everyone continues to use the
10 word accountability. But I think we're much
11 closer to a clear definition as to what this
12 particular accountability is all about. And
13 remember, our primary focus, our primary
14 mission, is on teaching and learning.
15 Therefore, we need to create a strong
16 accountability system to make certain that that
17 learning is taking place at appropriate levels
18 around the state, and we believe that the
19 standards can provide the foundation for that, a
20 clear mission, and the assessment in benchmark
21 fashion and on the day-to-day basis can help us
22 make certain that students are learning at the
23 appropriate level.
24 When it comes to assessment, we're talking,
25 one, about the statewide assessment; and, two,
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1 about the classroom assessment. The statewide
2 assessment has been RFPd. The contract,
3 of course, is under protest, so we hope to have
4 that back to you in 30 to 45 days.
5 But what we have done, and this is what the
6 national trend is, as we found in Palisades, is
7 to let a contract so that an external assessment
8 is created for the state of Florida rather than
9 do traditionally what we've done in the past,
10 which is purchase an off-the-shelf version, and
11 hope it matches up as closely as possible to the
12 standards and the expectations that we have out
13 there for our students.
14 So once that test is constructed, it is
15 going to provide for us, number one, a
16 consistent measure of student achievement. It
17 will be applied once in elementary school, once
18 in middle school, once in high school, and will
19 give us a consistently applied year-to-year
20 measure as to where our students are at any
21 given time, in terms of teaching, learning, and
22 the standards.
23 It will support instruction because the
24 whole idea of assessment is that assessment
25 should determine the level of student learning,
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1 what we expect our students to know and be able
2 to do; and then reteach, if necessary, to see
3 that they can do those kinds of things.
4 So we think that the standards are going to
5 help raise the level of instruction by providing
6 for our teachers a much needed focus on the
7 expectations that are at hand.
8 Results support school improvement. I've
9 been in the school improvement business, as have
10 many in this room, for a good number of years,
11 and still maintain that the linchpin of school
12 improvement needs to be teaching and learning.
13 That all of the strategies, all of the joint
14 efforts that go into those school improvement
15 plans need to center and focus ultimately on how
16 students are going to learn more as a result of
17 those activities.
18 And we believe that this can be the long
19 awaited linchpin for our school improvement
20 efforts which are sweeping the state as we know.
21 Recognize success. We also believe very
22 important is -- and we heard this in Palisades
23 reiterated -- that as time progresses with this
24 entire system, one of the things that we very
25 much need to do is also recognize those who are
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1 taking the bold steps to increase student
2 achievement levels. We do much nationally
3 with -- with sanctions and actions. Some of
4 that is appropriate.
5 We also need to recognize and reward people
6 for their efforts. The Governor and I heard one
7 presentation where a state was talking about
8 actually rewarding monetarily schools who met
9 certain benchmarks that were agreed upon at the
10 beginning of the school year, based off of their
11 accountability system.
12 And that money would actually go to the
13 school to be used by the school to do differing
14 things. And it actually gave people an
15 incentive.
16 There are other states that actually give
17 the people in the school, the staff members of
18 the school, individual stipends for meeting
19 certain goals. Very much like the private
20 sector.
21 And so we also need to not only identify
22 monetary rewards, but also recognitions for
23 people who go above and beyond, and increase
24 these student achievement levels.
25 I also mentioned classroom assessment.
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1 This is, again, the day-to-day assessment that
2 our teachers do, which are done in a variety of
3 ways today. There are 2900 schools, and I would
4 submit that in the vast majority of those
5 schools, the assessment process is done a little
6 bit differently.
7 I went through a college of education, and
8 at the risk of sounding like a college of
9 education basher would tell you, that generally
10 speaking, our colleges of education need to do a
11 much better job of teaching teachers how to
12 assess student learning, to see to it that when
13 they come out of those colleges of education,
14 they've got the tools necessary to gauge where
15 their students are at any given time.
16 And, remember, that assessment is not
17 simply a culminating activity. It's an activity
18 that's supposed to determine what your students
19 are learning, and how best to go about learning
20 it in the future.
21 And we're also going to be discussing here
22 some staff development efforts that this state
23 will be engaged in to help every teacher in the
24 state of Florida, every administrator in the
25 state of Florida, better understand assessments
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1 on a day-to-day basis, and better understand how
2 to craft consistently applied assessments within
3 their schools and within their districts.
4 The statewide assessment. We're calling it
5 FCAT for now. That's Florida Comprehensive
6 Achievement Test. It is state designed. Again,
7 it went out with very rigorous specifications.
8 We knew what we wanted. It's a test that not --
9 will only -- will not only ask students to color
10 in bubbles, as we have in the past -- that's
11 still an appropriate testing methodology -- but
12 it's also going to ask students to answer
13 questions, to write to prove they can with the
14 Florida Writes, as we continue that program. To
15 demonstrate reading comprehension by writing to
16 prove that they've comprehended what they've
17 read, to calculate mathematically to prove that
18 they know how to calculate mathematically, so on
19 and so forth.
20 So it is a combination of norm referenced
21 and criterion referenced methodology that should
22 give us a much more accurate picture of not only
23 what students know, but what they're able to
24 do. And that's something that our business and
25 industry community feels very, very strongly
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1 about.
2 Measure first four standards of Goal 3.
3 Succinctly put: That's reading, writing,
4 arithmetic, and critical thinking skills. The
5 first three are self-explanatory.
6 The business and industry community also
7 now suggest to us, and we know this as
8 educators, that a student's ability to think
9 critically is absolutely essential in the
10 21st century.
11 That being able to read, to write, and
12 calculate mathematically are good tools. But
13 those tools have to be wrapped around the
14 ability to think, to solve problems in the real
15 world. And that's very much where we're headed
16 with our standards and with the assessment that
17 we are creating for the state of Florida.
18 Reading and mathematics, critical thinking
19 we've discussed. Students select a response or
20 perform a task. Again, we've talked about
21 that. Under our current Florida Writes Program,
22 which will continue as a part of this entire
23 package, we are, again, going to ask students to
24 be able to write to prove they can, calculate to
25 prove they can, et cetera.
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1 Florida Writes will continue, as I've
2 said. The high school competency test will
3 continue for the time. That is the test given
4 beginning at the 10th grade level that a student
5 may take and retake until final graduation, and
6 must pass before high school graduation.
7 We talked about this at the Accountability
8 Commission level. It is our full intent that
9 once the test is in place, on-line, a baseline
10 of data created, that we would like to replace
11 the high school competency test with the new
12 statewide assessment test at the 10th grade
13 level. More challenging, more rigorous, and
14 still give students the opportunity once it
15 becomes a high stakes test to pass it prior to
16 12th grade when it has to be taken into
17 consideration for a diploma in the state of
18 Florida.
19 The classroom assessment. This is the
20 day-to-day assessment that we discussed. What
21 we are going to do from the state level is a
22 massive amount of staff development. We'll be
23 talking about the staff development more
24 specifically in a moment.
25 But what we very much want to do is work
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1 with all of the educators in the state of
2 Florida to see to it that every classroom
3 teacher has a better understanding of how to
4 assess students on a day-to-day basis, how to
5 assess students on a day-to-day basis so that it
6 matched -- matches up with the statewide test.
7 But most importantly, so that they can
8 assess student learning as it relates to those
9 state standards that we believe are essential
10 for all students to have before they leave
11 12th grade.
12 So we're going to be developing some models
13 that we'll be sharing with districts on how to
14 do day-to-day assessment within the classroom,
15 consistently applied. We're going to be doing a
16 massive amount of training on what assessment
17 methodologies exist nationally, or -- or around
18 the world that are performance based so that
19 people again, even in their classrooms, are not
20 just asking students to color in bubbles, but
21 are regularly asking students to read and to
22 write and to calculate mathematically, and then
23 have the skills and the tools necessary to be
24 able to grade that work appropriately, and see
25 to it that if reteaching is necessary, it can be
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1 done.
2 And again, our educators on a day-to-day
3 basis do a great job with assessment. But we
4 believe that much more needs to be done as we
5 approach the 21st century. And that's one of
6 our -- should be one of our responsibilities at
7 the state level, is to try to help inculcate
8 that into the entire system.
9 The staff development piece that we talked
10 about -- and I believe you have that packet in
11 front of you -- if not, it's on the left-hand
12 side. It's another draft copy.
13 But what it does is discuss some of our
14 intent as far as where we need to move with
15 staff development. You cannot create standards,
16 you cannot put in place a new external
17 assessment, expect new assessments to take place
18 consistently applied internally, unless you do
19 the kinds of staff development that we believe
20 we need to begin virtually immediately.
21 We have calculated all in all that in this
22 year's proposed budget, if you take all of the
23 staff development dollars that exist in the
24 state of Florida, those that come at the state
25 level, those that come in the federal level,
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1 those that come through the FTE generation, the
2 technology, there is the availability -- or we
3 hope will be the availability, if our budget is
4 passed, or something that's a reasonable
5 facsimile thereof -- of almost 43 million
6 dollars, which is earmarked for staff
7 development activities.
8 Now, I will tell you candidly, that in the
9 past, those staff development dollars have been
10 used in a shotgun approach. We have been, in
11 education, all over the map with staff
12 development activities. Much of that is not
13 bad.
14 But what we believe is, as we work with
15 these standards; the new assessments, internal
16 and external; the kinds of training that we need
17 to do; the residual that this standard and
18 assessment process will also have is to give us
19 the opportunity as a state to once again focus
20 those staff development dollars on teaching and
21 learning. Since that should be the primary
22 focus of the public education system.
23 So what we're going to do is work to
24 harness as a state those 43 million dollars.
25 Whether they're provided to the local district
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1 through FTE, whether they are state driven
2 dollars, create a system within the
3 state of Florida that will allow once again
4 people to focus their dollars in staff
5 development on the business of teaching and
6 learning and assessment strategies, and
7 incorporating those state standards into their
8 curriculum.
9 That's going to be an incredibly important
10 activity that unfolds over the next two years or
11 so, as well.
12 Once the standards are out there, people
13 then have an enormous task. They must
14 incorporate those standards into their everyday
15 curriculum, which in many places may mean
16 rewriting curriculum or changing curriculum,
17 selecting new instructional materials, and we
18 recognize that.
19 And we're going to begin that process this
20 year, carry it on through to the next year, and
21 we'll talk about the time line here in just a
22 minute.
23 But I cannot emphasize enough how it is our
24 intent to once again refocus our staff
25 development efforts and our staff development
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1 dollars on teaching and learning.
2 We would like to create six regional sites
3 around the state of Florida that will actually
4 be the hub of staff development so that there is
5 availability of training trainers right there in
6 each of those six regions.
7 And we also are creating right now, and
8 I think your Cabinet aides have seen first cut,
9 of some of the new technology training that we
10 are developing at the department. This first
11 cut was for the Florida Writes Program, and it
12 would allow us, through CD capabilities, to be
13 able to see every teacher and every
14 administrator, and even our parents and students
15 in the state of Florida, to walk through a
16 technology driven program on the Florida Writes
17 test to see how one creates samples, what sorts
18 of scores are given to that Florida Writes test,
19 and how they can do comparable sorts of
20 preassessment in their own schools, their own
21 classrooms, and their own districts, to ready
22 students to be able to write at that level.
23 And that would begin as early as teachers
24 begin teaching them. From the day they walk
25 in.
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1 We will then be developing the same kind of
2 program for the seven areas that you saw up
3 here. And anywhere that we believe that
4 technology will be a better delivery system than
5 the old mouth to mouth that we used in the past
6 for staff development, we want to try to help
7 the state provide just that. We believe that
8 staff development is a critical piece to all of
9 this.
10 Aligning standards, instruction, and
11 assessment. Again, a vital link in all of
12 this. If you have standards here, assessment
13 here, curriculum here, and it is not integrated,
14 then you have pieces in isolate. I think we've
15 been the isolate route in this state in many
16 places for too long.
17 What we envision is the fact that the
18 standards can be aligned with the day-to-day
19 curriculum utilized in our schools, the
20 instruction and teaching strategies that we want
21 to work on through the staff development process
22 and districts currently work through with staff
23 development, again, refocusing our efforts. And
24 also the assessment.
25 All of these need to be aligned in a
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1 package. Simply put, students need to know and
2 be able to do the following things: The
3 assessment should gauge their ability to know
4 and do the following things. The curriculum,
5 which is the essential component, and the
6 teaching strategies should make certain that
7 those students are able to know those things and
8 can demonstrate them, either on a day-to-day
9 basis, internal assessment; or on that external
10 assessment applied in elementary, middle school,
11 and high school, one time each.
12 (Commissioner Crawford exited the room.)
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: The area centers, we
14 talked about, and locally determined solutions.
15 Again, this is very much a locally controlled
16 issue. While it may sound while I'm standing
17 here, state driven, I think our job at the state
18 level as State Board of Education is to set the
19 standards, set the expectation, create the
20 statewide applied assessment.
21 But then, if you will pardon -- pardon the
22 way I say this, get out of their way. And that
23 is very much what we've also asked the Florida
24 Legislature to do this year with our
25 deregulation package.
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1 If we're going to hold people accountable
2 to high standards, high expectations, then it is
3 important that we allow them the flexibility to
4 create curriculum, activities, opportunities,
5 program, select instructional materials, employ
6 teaching strategies that they believe will get
7 the students in their charge to those
8 challenging standards in their appropriate
9 fashion. And that's an important part of all of
10 this.
11 And, by the way, that was very much the
12 overall theme, I think, that came out of
13 Palisades, New York, as well.
14 Staff development we've talked about.
15 There's much more to say on that issue, but
16 that's it for now.
17 Area centers, we talked about creating
18 those regional centers. We have sent out
19 somewhat of an RFP where we're asking people
20 around the state of Florida to look at what it
21 is we're expecting in terms of staff
22 development, and we're asking them to reply,
23 whether it's a community college, whether it's a
24 college, whether a private firm says we can
25 provide that training for you. Whatever it
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1 happens to be, we want people to respond, see
2 what kinds of training it is we expect, who we
3 would like to see trained, and then tell us what
4 they're going to be able to do for our
5 professional educators in the state of Florida
6 in terms of supplying that level of training.
7 Again, we would involve the colleges and
8 universities, not just at the pre-service
9 level. We think the colleges and universities,
10 community colleges and universities, have an
11 absolute stake in the success of all of this.
12 We long have talked about the remediation
13 rate at the community college and college
14 level. We believe that not only the initial
15 training, but the retraining of professional
16 educators should involve those same
17 institutions. And we believe that they need to
18 get involved in all of this as well.
19 By the way, the reception thus far on the
20 parts of the deans and the presidents has been
21 outstanding. I'm going to do a similar
22 presentation to the community college board and
23 the Board of Regents coming up. But both have
24 already acknowledged the need and stand willing,
25 I think, to work with us on pre-service and
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1 in-service.
2 Technology we discussed. You can't say
3 enough about it. It is, as we heard in
4 Palisades, going to -- or should revolutionize
5 teaching and learning. You will always need
6 teachers. But what we recognize is that --
7 (Commissioner Crawford entered the room.)
8 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- with instructional
9 materials, with printed text, teachers are also
10 going to need the new technology that's
11 available.
12 Not only to provide direct instruction, but
13 also to manage the instruction that's out there,
14 so we can very much gauge where any individual
15 student is at any given time, so that we have a
16 clear understanding in classrooms as to what our
17 children can know and do on a daily basis,
18 versus a nine-week basis, so we can remediate
19 then, instead of the end.
20 Develop quality assurance. It's very
21 important. Someone asked me -- I think from the
22 press not too long ago -- we did something
23 similar to this with curriculum frameworks a
24 long time ago. As a matter of fact, I was a
25 classroom teacher and helped to work on some of
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1 the curriculum frameworks.
2 People asked what happened to them? Well,
3 they're still there. But I think very important
4 is, there was never an urgency in this state,
5 because we didn't have standards from with which
6 to create focus. The frameworks pretty much
7 were utilized at the secondary level, but may or
8 may not be utilized to the total degree that we
9 think are important.
10 And I think that one of the issues was, we
11 never really developed a quality assurance
12 process. We talked about this with the
13 Accountability Commission, creating a process
14 where the state of Florida can review what is
15 happening in the schools around the state to
16 make certain that the standards are incorporated
17 in the curriculum, make certain that new
18 developing technology is used, make certain
19 that -- that the new teaching strategies with
20 assessments are being developed; and if more is
21 needed, requested.
22 And so we will also be developing a quality
23 assurance plan that will help us to be able to
24 go around the state and help people gauge where
25 they are at any given time.
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1 People think of these as audits. What we
2 think of these as is moving into a district, and
3 looking at where they are, and then more
4 importantly, asking them where they would like
5 to be and how the state and the district can
6 help them to get there, on teaching, on
7 learning, on assessments, on all of these
8 activities.
9 What are the next steps? First of all, we
10 hope to bring back before you in May the
11 contract for the FCAT development, which is
12 again that external assessment that will be
13 created over time. We'll talk about that
14 time line in just a moment. And very much in
15 keeping with what --
16 (Secretary Mortham exited the room.)
17 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- most states are
18 doing as far as developing their external
19 assessments. We are right now looking at the
20 grade levels, and it appears as though once in
21 10th, once in 8th, the elementary teachers --
22 and I had a meeting with 50 of the 67 teachers
23 of the year in Tampa not too long ago.
24 They came up with a great recommendation
25 that we're looking at at the elementary level,
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1 and that's not to test at elementary all in one
2 grade level. That is to test reading and
3 writing in 4th grade, and mathematics at
4 5th grade. That it's not absolutely essential
5 that you do it all in one sitting. And it's
6 also a good indicator to involve two different
7 grade levels, it also doesn't put the entire
8 onus at the elementary school level on that
9 major a test being given at just one grade
10 level. So that's something we're looking at
11 right now as well.
12 The communication is critical. We have to
13 communicate with, and again, actively have
14 participate, the people you see there:
15 Educators, parents, and then other
16 stakeholders.
17 It is vital that as we used and -- and
18 tapped the services and the talents of people
19 all over the state to get where we are, that we
20 now need to begin the communication process to
21 the entire state as to where we hope to be over
22 the next several years; and most importantly,
23 how it is we hope to get there; and then utilize
24 those stakeholders in further developing our
25 staff development opportunities, further
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1 developing many of the issues that still remain
2 out there. And we've got to involve those
3 people. And we're developing the plans as to
4 how we would communicate those kinds of things
5 even now.
6 I already alluded to the fact that very
7 important to me, and I think you, as State Board
8 members, is communicating with those mothers and
9 fathers. Actually putting in their hand, as
10 some states have, in easy to read, easy to
11 understand fashion, what those standards are.
12 So mom and dad can see.
13 If their child is in elementary, middle, or
14 high, at any given time, what the
15 state of Florida really believes is important
16 for that youngster to know and be able to do.
17 We think that'll also help the level of
18 parental involvement by truly making them a
19 stakeholder in the day-to-day learning that goes
20 on in our schools and the teaching thereof.
21 (Secretary Mortham entered the room.)
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: We also want to
23 involve as a stakeholder -- continue to involve,
24 the business community. They were a vital link
25 in what happened in Palisades.
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1 They are crying for educational reform.
2 They believe that strong standards are
3 necessary, they believe that strong
4 accountability is vital, and they absolutely
5 seem committed to the fact in this state,
6 through the Council of 100,
7 Associated Industries, Chamber of Commerce, and
8 groups that I haven't named, committed to trying
9 to help education and educators do the enormous
10 job of seeing to it that children can achieve
11 those standards.
12 They are the recipients of our product.
13 They are the people who will engage these
14 youngsters at some point in the world of work.
15 Continual improvement. This process, the
16 reason I have asked this to be put there is, I
17 want you to understand something very
18 important. This is a living process.
19 At no time should we as a state be able to
20 say, there, it's finished. We are constantly
21 going to need to look at the standards. Once
22 they are ultimately approved on a regular basis,
23 to make certain that they stay challenging and
24 rigorous, and based on what our children can
25 know and be able to do. It's important that we
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1 constantly look at that assessment system to
2 make certain that it's right for the state of
3 Florida.
4 One idea that I took away from Palisades
5 was, there's constantly the question about --
6 some of the questions that are asked on programs
7 like Florida Writes, some people might feel that
8 the question isn't appropriate or it's too
9 vague.
10 And what another state does -- that I very
11 much am interested in, they annually put
12 together a team of people: Teachers, business
13 people, parents, et cetera, to review the
14 questions that are going to be asked in that
15 given year. And if they find one that's
16 controversial, they agree to throw it out; if
17 they find one that's vague, they agree to throw
18 it out, or make it less vague.
19 So you constantly have to involve the
20 stakeholders in this process. This entire
21 process will constantly be up for review.
22 Staff development never ends. Please don't
23 get the idea that the plan we're developing has
24 a beginning and an ending. It is an ongoing
25 process that will constantly need to be updated,
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1 revamped and revitalized to see to it it's
2 always on the cutting edge of what our teachers
3 and our administrators and our parents need in
4 order to do the job that we're asking them to
5 do.
6 The student standards themselves, I alluded
7 to that. These are the standards that
8 ultimately we will ask you to approve coming in
9 the month of May.
10 But recognize, you are the State Board of
11 Education, and we will be bringing those
12 standards back to you if at any point we feel as
13 though they need to be upgraded, or they need to
14 be changed or altered in the future.
15 The time line. 95-96. We're in the middle
16 of -- or near the end, actually, of the
17 development of standards, assessment, and staff
18 development.
19 Development of standards. We again in the
20 month of May hope that we can have not only the
21 final version of the math and language arts that
22 you have before you today, but all of those
23 other seven subject areas for your review during
24 that month of May. And we're finishing those
25 and working on those even as we speak.
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1 The actual training will begin virtually
2 immediately. We desperately need to get on with
3 the business of staff development. As I've
4 suggested, we've already sent out the initial
5 RFP to start to get some responses from out
6 there in the state as to what people think they
7 can do for us in terms of our need for staff
8 development.
9 The FCAT itself, we would like to be in a
10 position to be able to finalize the external
11 assessment -- the one we'll give once in
12 elementary, once in middle, once in high --
13 field test that during next year.
14 Now, the field test is simply a process
15 issue. To gauge level of questions, to get
16 feedback from the participants, as to how the
17 questions were asked, what the responses to --
18 look like, were there any problems with the
19 process.
20 The following year is 97-98. That's where
21 we would intend to fully administer for the
22 first time the FCAT to all students in those
23 grades appropriate: Elementary, middle school,
24 and high school. That would be for purposes of
25 identifying a baseline of data.
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1 Any time you're going to use a test of this
2 significance, you need to first make certain
3 that you develop that baseline of data. This
4 would also give us two full years of staff
5 development, of curriculum integration, of
6 teaching strategies, whatever it happens to be.
7 And teachers would know that in 97-98, we would
8 be administering that test to gather a baseline
9 of data that we could use in future
10 administrations.
11 And then by 88-89, the test would be
12 administered. So you know, currently we have
13 on -- in law, the standardized testing for the
14 appropriate grades today. We would not want to
15 change those until this test is ready to be put
16 in its place in its entirety.
17 Currently there are seven different
18 standardized tests being given in the state of
19 Florida, and we have three grades that are
20 required to report their results to the
21 state of Florida.
22 Those are the tests that we currently use
23 to identify critically low performing schools.
24 We will continue to use that testing methodology
25 until this test is ready for full implementation
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1 in the state of Florida, and that's an important
2 issue.
3 That is the time line that we would hope
4 for. It is an ambitious time line, there's no
5 doubt about that.
6 But let me tell you, the good news is is
7 that we are behind a few states, we are far
8 ahead of the most -- of most of the states in
9 the state of Florida.
10 People who are looking to begin this
11 process, as it was discussed in Palisades, are
12 really looking, as President Clinton called for,
13 for a two-year journey to get where some states
14 already are, and I think where this state is
15 about to be.
16 We have also, I think, in this state gone a
17 little further than some states, in that we
18 currently have the school improvement process
19 already in our school system. We already have
20 stakeholder involvement more than many other
21 states via that process.
22 We've established our state goals. We've
23 established and are establishing the other
24 expectations that go along with readiness to
25 start school, and with those other goal areas
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1 that are not listed up here. We will have
2 identifiable expectations for schools and
3 districts on all of the goals in the state of
4 Florida.
5 So we are very close to putting together a
6 total package of classroom, of school, of
7 stakeholder, and of statewide involvement to see
8 to it clearly that our youngsters are able to
9 know and do the kinds of things that they have
10 to do in the 21st century to be successful.
11 You've seen this before. This is not a
12 commercial message. It's simply that it seems
13 as though every time in the state you try to
14 explain one piece of the educational pie, people
15 hear about that and think that's the only thing
16 that you're discussing, and, therefore, think
17 it's being discussed in an -- as an isolate.
18 All of these pieces of the pie we think are
19 absolutely critical to changing for the better
20 all that we do in public education. We do so
21 many things so very well. And we think with
22 these kinds of changes, we can increase student
23 learning, we can increase student achievement.
24 We think, if you give parents more choices,
25 as is being -- are being discussed upstairs
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1 today, as you give much more local control. And
2 while I appreciate the waiver process, I have
3 been a long believer that a waiver is a: Mother
4 May I.
5 If something is shaky enough that you would
6 allow someone not to do it, then you need to get
7 rid of it and allow people to do it as they see
8 appropriate, and that's the accountab-- or the
9 deregulation package we have being taken up
10 upstairs.
11 Safe schools and discipline. While that
12 sounds like a by-product, all of the things that
13 we've talked about become very difficult, if not
14 impossible, if schools are unsafe and
15 undisciplined for children and for teachers.
16 Professionalization reform. You're going
17 to be hearing a lot more about some of these
18 issues in the months to come. But we need, as
19 we approach the 21st century, to take a serious
20 look at the professional educational community,
21 to make certain that what we ask of our
22 professional educators, and what we ask in
23 return, is appropriate to meet the needs of the
24 21st century.
25 You can't reform education, unless you look
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1 at that incredibly important component, which is
2 the professional educational community.
3 The funding issues being discussed
4 upstairs. Part of that is the Florida Lottery,
5 of course; the utilization of technology; the
6 lifelong learning issue. And some people get
7 the stereotypical idea that that means dealing
8 with senior citizens. This means --
9 (Governor Chiles exited the room.)
10 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- dealing with
11 youngsters from the day they walk into their
12 first classroom to the day they exit their last
13 classroom. Trying to create a better union
14 between pre-K through 12, community colleges,
15 state universities, vocational technical
16 schools, to see to it that there's an
17 educational opportunity out there for every
18 citizen of the state of Florida that's right to
19 meet their needs.
20 Work force development is something else
21 we're working on right now to try to put all the
22 players at the table, to see to it that training
23 and retraining opportunities exist out there for
24 the citizens of the state of Florida.
25 The involvement of the business and
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1 industry community we've talked about already.
2 It is absolutely essential, and I don't mean
3 that to pay lip service. I'm going to tell you
4 this: I don't think we can do this without the
5 business and industry community acting as
6 partners in the 21st century.
7 Takes us back to accountability and high
8 standards. And we believe that once we finally
9 create a focal point of high standards; high
10 expectations; create that external assessment,
11 as well as deal with the day-to-day assessment
12 process in our teaching strategies, we think
13 that there's no reason that that can't provide
14 the linchpin to what all the other changes can
15 hopefully provide for all of us in public
16 education; and most importantly, make certain
17 that our youngsters take a backseat to no one in
18 the 21st century when they're trying to crack a
19 good quality of life for themself and their
20 family.
21 I underscore again, and then we'll end,
22 that all of the material you have is in draft
23 form. We're bringing this to you for
24 information today. But we very much wanted to
25 see -- wanted you to see, especially on the
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1 heels of the national summit, where the
2 state of Florida is in relationship to what we
3 believe are some critical items that we've got
4 to take up for the 21st century.
5 So with that, I think I've covered
6 everything that I need to cover, and would be
7 glad to try to entertain any questions that you
8 all have.
9 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Commissioner Nelson.
10 TREASURER NELSON: Frank, I want to commend
11 you for this. I think you're headed -- we are
12 headed in the right direction.
13 I particularly want to commend you for this
14 little brochure. This is brief, it's to the
15 point, it's clear, and it says what this whole
16 process about this State Standards is.
17 Now, could you repeat for me, please, about
18 the teacher training? You said that there's
19 41 million in your budget with regard to that?
20 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: All total,
21 Commissioner, and let me break it out for you.
22 We've got federal dollars, we call it direct
23 impact dollars requested. That's educational --
24 (Governor Chiles entered the room.)
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- enhancement
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1 centers; teacher assessment training; Title VI
2 money, which is federal money for math and
3 science, performance assessment system for
4 students with disabilities.
5 Because, remember, when you create an
6 assessment system like this, you have to
7 remember that you're also going to be testing
8 students with disabilities. That's one chunk.
9 That's four million seven hundred and ninety
10 thousand.
11 Another chunk is two million six hundred
12 and forty thousand, and that's for Academies for
13 Excellence in Teaching, Florida League of
14 Teachers, Education Reform Training, School
15 Community Professional Development Systems.
16 And then we also have 30 percent of our
17 technology money that is earmarked for staff
18 development and training. And that should come,
19 based on what we've requested, to about
20 21 million dollars in our revised budget, as
21 well as the $6 per FTE in the state of Florida,
22 which is required to be dedicated to staff
23 development. That is another thirty-six million
24 dollars.
25 And if Goals 2000 money is still available,
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1 it is our intent to request Goals 2000 money to
2 help augment staff development activities around
3 the state of Florida, specifically on the issues
4 of teaching and learning.
5 So that comes to a total of 43 million
6 dollars, Commissioner.
7 TREASURER NELSON: Well, that's good.
8 You no doubt have been seeing the spate of
9 recent articles nationally about our concern
10 about technology, which you've heard me repeat
11 over and over.
12 And -- and the fact is that they're getting
13 computers into the classrooms, but it's not
14 doing any good, because the teachers aren't
15 being trained to teach the students to use the
16 newer technology.
17 And so, you know, it's -- it's -- there's
18 an analogy -- a parallel here that's very clear
19 that with all of these standards, you've got to
20 be able to get that trained teacher in there so
21 that they can apply these --
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, sir.
23 TREASURER NELSON: -- standards.
24 Thanks.
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, sir.
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1 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Governor --
2 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, ma'am.
3 SECRETARY MORTHAM: -- I'd, too, like to
4 compliment Commissioner Brogan and -- and the
5 entire staff. I think they've done a wonderful
6 job of putting this all together, easily
7 understood.
8 The thing that was most exciting to me was
9 on your mathematics component, particularly
10 grades 9 through 12, the words: And used in the
11 real world was used more than once. And I think
12 that from my vantage point, that's real
13 important. I think the thing that we've missed
14 is the component of relating to the real world
15 for students throughout the process.
16 And my only question is is that if,
17 in fact, a student graduated with this entire
18 packet being completed, we can safely assume
19 then that there will be no need for remediation
20 at the -- at the college level. I'm sure that
21 the answer to that is --
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Oh.
23 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Yes.
24 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, ma'am.
25 SECRETARY MORTHAM: But have -- but are we
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1 sure that the colleges -- we're all mixing this
2 together so that the colleges also know that
3 when this is finished --
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, Secretary. We
5 actually involved community college and
6 university people in the creation of these.
7 We also utilized the business standards
8 that came out of the SCANS report to make
9 certain that we had our vocational technical
10 people covered as well, and the higher level
11 skills necessary beyond just academia.
12 So, yes, ma'am. The idea is that if a
13 student can move through our continuum and
14 have -- at a minimum. We hope that students
15 will skyrocket above these. But these are --
16 are the kinds of rigorous, challenging standards
17 that would lead us to believe that our
18 remediation rate should drop proportionately
19 over time as these are fully implemented.
20 That's a big part.
21 You also mention real world. The
22 governors, including ours, and the CEOs who were
23 in Palisades used that phrase, real world, more
24 in a day-and-a-half than I thought possible,
25 really calling upon us to create real world
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1 opportunities for students.
2 And, again, in the assessment, to make
3 certain that they could actually think
4 critically and solve a real world problem,
5 rather than just be able to color in a bubble.
6 That real world issue has come up time and
7 time again.
8 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Well, and I don't think
9 that there's any question, without the training
10 component -- which I know everybody up here, and
11 you in particular, are concerned that we get
12 that training component under control.
13 But without that component, there's no way
14 that this actually can happen because -- and it
15 dates back to when -- when we were probably in
16 school. Particularly in mathematics, it has not
17 been related to the real world.
18 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: That's right.
19 SECRETARY MORTHAM: And so that training
20 component is very important that we make sure
21 that when, in fact, somebody is taught the
22 Pythagorean theorem, that there is some world
23 com-- real world component with that. Or else,
24 you know, it's kind of just out there.
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Net bans,
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1 for example.
2 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Yeah. Exactly.
3 Very good.
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you.
5 SECRETARY MORTHAM: That's a good one.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I was paying
7 attention.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: I want to certainly
9 compliment the Commissioner. I also want to
10 compliment the Accountability Commission, which
11 the Commissioner serves as the -- as the
12 Co-Chairman.
13 I -- and the Legislature for the steps that
14 they've taken with the -- the help of the State
15 Board of Education and the Department of
16 Education to get us to where we are. I think
17 with this report, we're beginning to see some
18 flesh on the skeleton. And we're beginning to
19 see if -- an end process, as we see when we
20 expect to get these demonstrated.
21 I think we will go back to 1991, we began
22 to see the beginning of this process, and a lot
23 of steps that have taken place from then to
24 bring us up to that.
25 And I'm just delighted to see that it is
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1 beginning to really take shape now. That's --
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Well, Governor, and I
3 want to thank you, and especially your point
4 man, who's been Buddy MacKay. You mentioned
5 that he and I are the Co-Chairs of the Statewide
6 Accountability Commission.
7 And he has been more than supportive of
8 everything that we have been trying to do. It
9 goes back to that issue of -- of
10 bipartisanship. I really don't think we're
11 going to be able to do for education what it is
12 we must in an -- in a partisan fashion.
13 And I think Governor MacKay, and I; working
14 together with the Accountability Commission;
15 working together with staff; and most
16 importantly, working together with the people of
17 the state of Florida to hear what it is that
18 they're asking us to do, and then take up the
19 cause, I think as you mentioned, is starting to
20 put some flesh on the skeleton.
21 And we appreciate, as always, the State
22 Board of Education members, each and every one
23 of you. You only get credit for what is seen up
24 here.
25 But for those in the audience and those in
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1 other places, the State Board of Education
2 members also spend an enormous amount of time
3 behind the scenes working with individual staff
4 members, their own and ours and others, on
5 understanding these issues to make certain when
6 they sit here, they can do the job that they
7 have to do. And we deeply appreciate that.
8 I wish all states had State Board of
9 Educations that got as involved as you all do.
10 And we thank you very much for that.
11 So with that, Governor, I will conclude my
12 remarks and let you know that we'll be back with
13 much more. And again, thanks for indulging me
14 for the presentation.
15 But we thought it was very important at
16 this point in time that you see it and you have
17 the chance to ask some questions.
18 Thanks, Governor.
19 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
20 SECRETARY MORTHAM: I move to accept the
21 report.
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and --
23 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
24 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- seconded.
25 Without objection, the report is accepted.
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1 DR. BEDFORD: Item number 6 is the proposed
2 contract for the development of the Florida
3 Comprehensive Assessment.
4 We would respectfully ask to withdraw that
5 item at this time.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So move.
7 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
9 Without objection, the motion to withdraw
10 is approved.
11 TREASURER NELSON: Governor, is that going
12 to cause a major delay?
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Commissioner, we hope
14 not. The time line that you have there
15 indicates -- and you're attorneys, so you
16 probably know better than I -- that there is
17 about a 30- to 45-day window for the hearing to
18 take place, it's apparently to take place on an
19 expedited -- sort of a fast track.
20 And we hope we'll have an answer to that
21 within 30 to 45 days. At this point in time,
22 we're not deviating from where we were, and
23 hopefully can get it all rectified and stay
24 right on track where we were.
25 We will, of course, let you know as it
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1 unfolds if it is going to cause us any change in
2 that time line, it's important for you to know
3 that right away. But right now, we're still on
4 schedule.
5 DR. BEDFORD: Thank you.
6 And I'd like to thank the members of the
7 Cabinet, too. I know that in the audience are
8 quite a few of the Department of Education
9 employees that have worked long hours on putting
10 this together.
11 And I to want make sure they know that I
12 deeply appreciate all the work they've done.
13 I would like to take one small privilege.
14 If Colleen Castille would please stand up, I
15 would like to announce to the Cabinet that today
16 is her birthday, and she would like us all to
17 wish her a happy birthday.
18 Thank you, Colleen.
19 Happy birthday, Colleen.
20 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I'm sure she deeply
21 appreciated that.
22 (The State Board of Education Agenda was
23 concluded.)
24 *
25
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Trustees.
2 MS. WETHERELL: Item 1, minutes.
3 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
4 Without objection, the minutes are
5 approved.
6 MS. WETHERELL: Item 2, rule repeals and
7 rule adoption.
8 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
10 Without objection, it's approved.
11 MS. WETHERELL: Item 3, a disclaimer for a
12 parcel of fill land and for submerged land
13 beneath a dock.
14 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
15 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
16 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
17 Without objection, it's approved.
18 MS. WETHERELL: Item 4, an option agreement
19 for Lake Wales Ridge CARL project.
20 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
21 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
23 Without objection, that's approved.
24 MS. WETHERELL: Substitute Item 5, an
25 option agreement, Lake Powell CARL project
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1 designation of the managing agencies. And
2 amendment of the management policy statement.
3 Trustees, I also have three other
4 amendments that I understand that the
5 Cabinet aides have discussed with you that
6 between Cabinet aides and here they would like
7 to see added.
8 And if I could just read three sentences
9 for the record to put these amendments, and see
10 if you're comfortable with those.
11 Vehicular access to the Camp Helen property
12 by the public and by management staff will be
13 from U.S. 98, and not through adjacent
14 subdivisions.
15 No dredging will be conducted to connect
16 Lake Powell to the Gulf of Mexico for navigation
17 purposes.
18 Management procedures will be put in place
19 to ensure that no adverse impacts on wading
20 birds, sea turtles, or other wildlife occur.
21 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I would move approval
22 with the amendments, Governor.
23 MS. WETHERELL: And there are speakers.
24 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
25 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
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1 Without objection, it's approved.
2 MS. WETHERELL: There are speakers to this
3 issue.
4 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: For or
5 against?
6 MS. WETHERELL: Some for and some against.
7 Yes, sir.
8 I first call on Representative
9 Scott Clemons if he is here. He might be on his
10 way.
11 If not, second, Chairman of the Bay County
12 Commission, Rick Hurst.
13 MR. HURST: Thank you very much, good
14 morning. Good to see you this morning. Met
15 most of you at one time or another.
16 I'm Rick Hurst, Chairman of the Bay County
17 Commission. The Commission's role in this issue
18 really amounts to approval by a unanimous vote
19 of a resolution supporting state purchase of
20 this particular piece of property. It's
21 something that if you know the area at all, that
22 is a -- a pristine part of Florida that is well
23 worth preserving.
24 And, of course, we have a unique situation
25 here where we have the State park system and
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1 Gulf Coast Community College coming together to
2 put something together on this property that --
3 where there's already some development that has
4 existed that will serve the residents of
5 Bay County and the State of Florida for many,
6 many years into the future.
7 It's a unique opportunity. This resolution
8 of support also has been passed unanimously by
9 the Panama City Beach Council, the Tourist
10 Development Council, and also the Beaches Area
11 Chamber of Commerce. So I think you have these
12 resolutions already in your packets.
13 And that is the extent of the
14 County Commission's involvement in the State
15 acquisition of this property.
16 And we would appreciate your favorable
17 consideration this morning.
18 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
19 MR. HURST: Thank you, Governor.
20 MS. WETHERELL: Carolyn Cramer, a citizen.
21 MS. CRAMER: Good morning.
22 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much
23 for the opportunity to talk with you about the
24 wonderfully rich history of the areas now known
25 as Camp Helen and Lake Powell.
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1 Recently, I visited Philadelphia and
2 Independence Hall, and I was reminded of the
3 miracle of our government. While certainly not
4 perfect, an amazing -- it is an amazing
5 formation which allows even ordinary citizens,
6 like myself, the opportunity to speak to the
7 highest ranking government officials about a
8 subject for which they care deeply. And I
9 thank you very much for this opportunity.
10 I ask you to close your eyes for a moment
11 on this beautiful spring morning, and let your
12 imagination take you to the pristine white
13 shores of the Gulf.
14 And open your imagination to the sun
15 sparkling on the beautiful waters of
16 Lake Powell; to the sea breeze gently breathing
17 fresh air through the pines, the oaks, the
18 sea oats; the rare shore birds calling to one
19 another among the dunes; the migratory birds
20 landing, pausing from their journey from
21 Central America to their summer home in the
22 north.
23 Open your imagination, and I know you'll
24 hear the footsteps of our predecessors.
25 Preliminary archeological surveys tell us that
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1 native Americans and early white pioneers did,
2 indeed, walk these shores.
3 The name Phillips Inlet came from a
4 skirmish between the English sailors and Chief
5 Indian Joe's men in 1844.
6 If you listen carefully, you may also hear
7 the Yankee soldiers demolishing the works where
8 the Confederates made their precious commodity,
9 salt.
10 Archeologists have found enough evidence to
11 warrant application for the site to be listed
12 and protected by the national registry.
13 I'm asking you today to vote to protect
14 this magnificent area so that future generations
15 may hear these precious sounds as well.
16 Thank you.
17 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you very much.
18 REPRESENTATIVE CLEMONS: Thank you.
19 Governor, and members of the Cabinet, I'm
20 Representative Scott Clemons, and it's a
21 pleasure for me to be here today to talk to you
22 about an issue that's very important to me; and
23 as you can see, important to members of
24 Bay County, people from Bay County.
25 You'll notice that -- he had to step out,
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1 I believe -- but Senator Robert Harden was here,
2 and he asked me to let you know that he, too,
3 share -- shares in this effort.
4 Let me mention three things about
5 Camp Helen, and how important it is for us to
6 have this acquisition.
7 First of all, I'd have to say that I have
8 never seen anything like this in Bay County. We
9 have a lot of issues that -- it'd be very
10 difficult for us to deal with, and there's a lot
11 of dissension on those issues.
12 But I have never been more proud of
13 Bay County and the way that it has come
14 together, normal people, different walks of
15 life, to all support this effort, all for many
16 different reasons.
17 You see many people here today, and they
18 are the leaders that represent a lot of other
19 people from Bay County. People from the
20 business community; from the tourism development
21 council; from our local government, many
22 different levels of local government; from our
23 community college; and from our school system.
24 That demonstrates a tremendous amount of
25 support from many different areas in the
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1 community.
2 That is unique about this. But it's also
3 unique in the way that we'll be able to use this
4 project. Not only are we taking a beautiful,
5 pristine piece of land, and preserving it for
6 our future generations, but the way we use it is
7 unique.
8 We have our Gulf Coast Community College,
9 which will have environmental education there.
10 We also have our high schools that will be able
11 to engage in community -- or environmental
12 education there as well.
13 Not to digress too long, but I had a letter
14 the other day from the Office of Environmental
15 Education that will be honoring Mosley
16 High School in Bay County for its environmental
17 education program. Now they can rise to a
18 higher level if we have this acquisition of
19 Camp Helen.
20 Finally, let me mention that this is the
21 only -- we have not had any other CARL
22 acquisition in Bay County. So you can
23 understand how important this is for us.
24 So we would appreciate your support for the
25 acquisition of Camp Helen.
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you very much.
2 REPRESENTATIVE CLEMONS: Thank you very
3 much.
4 MS. WETHERELL: Senator Robert Harden.
5 SENATOR HARDEN: Thank you,
6 Madam Secretary.
7 Governor and members of the Cabinet, I'll
8 make this very brief, because I think the prior
9 speakers have addressed this issue adequately.
10 And I join Representative Clemons in full
11 support in asking Governor and the members of
12 the Cabinet to support the decision of the CARL
13 committee of a few months ago to move the
14 Camp Helen project up on the list and for
15 acquisition by the State.
16 It is truly one of the unique examples in
17 this state where many people from different
18 walks of life and different sectors of a local
19 economy have come together and asked for a site
20 to be preserved for future generations.
21 And I would just lend my full and complete
22 support in the recommendation of the CARL
23 committee, and ask Governor, and members of the
24 Cabinet, for your favorable consideration of
25 this project.
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1 Thank you very much.
2 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
3 MS. WETHERELL: Next I'd like to call on
4 Mike Parsonnet.
5 MR. PARSONNET: Good morning, Governor, and
6 other members of the Cabinet.
7 I am from Walton County, and I own property
8 that is directly adjacent to this property that
9 is in Bay County. The only separating point is
10 a grain of sand. There is no dividing line on
11 the west side of the Phillips Inlet. I do not
12 stand before you as what's euphemistically
13 called the NIMBY, Not in My Backyard.
14 I support a park. I support the land being
15 preserved. I am the closest permanent resident
16 to this site, and I've lived there for over
17 five years, and I've been a witness to the
18 illegal dredging, I've been a witness to fires
19 on the property, I've been a witness to all of
20 the lawless activity that has taken place on the
21 property.
22 The people in Walton County are the only --
23 it is the only way to access the park if you do
24 not come in off of 98, and I believe you
25 addressed that in -- with an earlier speaker.
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1 This is a very environmentally sensitive
2 area. There have been over 3 acres worth of
3 sand dunes that have been lost, based around a
4 permit issued by the DEP on July 2nd of 1994.
5 Since October 18th of 1994, I have written
6 the DEP, the Governor's office, have received a
7 letter back from the Governor, basically
8 addressing the fact that there is a problem with
9 the outflow of the water of Lake Powell going
10 into the Gulf.
11 When it is dredged illegally and kept open,
12 the water in front of all of our property turns
13 black, and we're not looking at the same water
14 that other people in Walton and Bay County are
15 able to look at.
16 The unique thing about this piece of
17 property is its geographical location. It is
18 isolated from Bay County.
19 So what we have is Bay County and
20 Bay County constituents, and some Walton County
21 constituents, promoting the park. However, they
22 are not dealing with the beer blasts in the
23 middle of the night, the cursing of local
24 residents who are simply asking for quiet.
25 And -- again, I go back to the fact that we are
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1 right connected.
2 I implore the Governor and the Cabinet to
3 please ask the developer, the State, the DEP, to
4 go ahead and execute a permit that has been in
5 the hands of the developer since September of
6 last year where a relief point is to be dug a
7 150 feet to 200 feet east of the pier, between
8 the wading bird -- 400 feet of beach, the wading
9 birds have staked out, and is marked off; and
10 the existing pier; therefore, relieving the
11 water flow past the dunes.
12 I have videotapes, I have pictures, I have
13 extensive files on the dune destruction from the
14 time that I adopted the -- the area as my little
15 pet project to try to save a pristine dune
16 area.
17 There are no dunes left. However, they
18 could be receded if a blowout channel is
19 immediately asked for and dug.
20 Four hundred feet, as I mentioned to you,
21 is for wading birds. It's already staked off.
22 The additional 800 feet is the area that
23 has the pier, and what has been described as a
24 meandering natural outflow. It is anything but
25 meandering and natural. It is dug, and the
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1 Florida Marine Patrol has many, many cases that
2 have been made at that location.
3 Our neighborhood is made up of basically
4 private residences, and some condominiums. The
5 condominiums are fundamentally nonrentals. They
6 belong to people who come and they vacation down
7 in the area.
8 I would ask also that in the -- in the
9 statement that goes -- that is put together,
10 I think it's called the statement of activity
11 for the park, that the western half -- the
12 western side of the park be addressed; i.e.,
13 fences, signage. And that if, in fact, the park
14 does fill up, the only natural place for these
15 people to go, because they've crossed the
16 Phillips Inlet Bridge, is down into
17 Walton County and in -- down into a
18 predominantly residential area.
19 I would also ask that we get some
20 law enforcement presence out on this property as
21 soon as possible, because this dredging
22 continues as late as two days ago.
23 If there is an overflow that it -- like is
24 being experienced at St. Andrews Park, that a
25 plan be in place that when you turn people away,
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1 they simply are not sent down to the next
2 street, and then suddenly we get the overflow
3 of -- of the park.
4 I would like -- and have offered my
5 services to the DEP, to coastal beaches and
6 shores. This is my seventh trip up here in a
7 year-and-a-half to get a simple $6500 blowout
8 trench in place so that the dunes could have
9 been saved.
10 And they -- the government did not act at
11 all. And we lost the dunes. And it was not a
12 direct result of Hurricane Opal. It was a
13 direct result of illegal dredging.
14 So insofar as this becoming a park, I'm
15 fine with that. But I -- I plead with this
16 committee to allow me to have some input,
17 because I know more about this property than any
18 government agency. I walk it daily, I know
19 where the dredging is taking place. And as we
20 stand here today and I address you, parts of
21 this property are washing out to sea as the
22 rains come and the water goes out through the
23 outlet.
24 So what I'm asking for in closing is an
25 immediate addressing by the DEP of a blowout
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1 channel, not to -- not for navigation, but that
2 when the lake hits a certain level, it basically
3 blows out, and the water does not run on a
4 westerly -- westernly line in front of the
5 dunes.
6 And that we immediately begin fencing and
7 restoring the dunes to where they were prior to
8 the issuance of the permit by the DEP on
9 January -- July 2nd of 1994.
10 I thank you for your time. And again, I
11 offer myself, my files, I'm an open book. I'm
12 simply right in this, and I will be happy to
13 meet with any of you or your staff, and take as
14 much time as you need for me to explain what is
15 really happening, to quote you all, in the real
16 world.
17 In the real world, this is not natural. In
18 the real world, this is illegal digging. In the
19 real world, the Florida Marine Patrol has made
20 case after case, and has walked out and seen the
21 digs.
22 Last year, the Florida Marine Patrol had
23 air, water, and land surveillance to catch the
24 people from digging this trench, and they were
25 still able to dig it.
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1 So once the trench is dug and the water
2 flows passed what was the dunes, the dunes begin
3 to fall. And we've lost three rows of dunes
4 that are -- that protected our house. So that
5 when Opal did come, I took on 5 feet of water,
6 and lost over $10,000 of my personal property
7 because no one in the DEP would recognize that
8 these dunes were falling, and no one could take
9 action to correct it.
10 So I implore you, please, I'll come up --
11 back to Tallahassee for a sixth time, spend as
12 much time as necessary, and I can show you with
13 documents, with pictures, exactly how these
14 dunes went away, and hopefully get together with
15 State government and do whatever I can do to
16 help restore them.
17 I've been trying to save Camp Helen long
18 before the group that is going to address you
19 comes before you.
20 I have no motive. I'm not in the
21 real estate business, I'm not trying to flip
22 property, I'm not -- all I am is a man who saw a
23 beautiful treasure in this state, I bought
24 property adjacent to it, and then with the DEP's
25 full knowledge, I watched these three lines of
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1 30 foot dunes be taken down with absolutely no
2 activity.
3 Again, I thank you for your time. And I am
4 available, and my files will be available to
5 anybody should you need them.
6 Once again, thank you, Governor.
7 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
8 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Governor, question.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, sir. Question.
10 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Of the Secretary,
11 I'm sorry. Or anyone on your staff, Secretary.
12 It seems as though based on the motion,
13 especially including the General's amendments,
14 which I think take up the issue of access on
15 U.S. 98, the issue of dredging only for purposes
16 of -- of outlet, not for purposes of navigation,
17 and the management issues, that leaves basically
18 two questions that I have on my mind:
19 One, that again either you or member of
20 your staff can answer, was raised with the issue
21 of fencing and signage.
22 What is the -- the position as far as
23 that -- creating that park and fencing the -- is
24 it fenced from surrounding property in typical
25 fashion?
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1 MR. PARSONNET: No. The -- the unusual
2 aspect of this property, and I won't belabor --
3 (Commissioner Crawford exited the room.)
4 MR. PARSONNET: -- and take much of your
5 time.
6 The unusual aspect of this property is
7 this: Bay County can certainly come here and
8 approach you and this grass roots effort to save
9 this park. I've been trying to save this park,
10 on -- but on deaf ears.
11 The problem with this park is the only --
12 it is the only piece of Bay County that is west
13 of Phillips Inlet. It's the only piece of
14 Bay County that has Gulf frontage west of
15 Phillips Inlet. Four hundred of the
16 twelve hundred feet is nesting birds, so you're
17 really left with 800 feet.
18 In answer to your question, there is no
19 dividing line between Bay and Walton County.
20 There is no beach access directly next to the
21 Camp Helen property. It -- there is a utility
22 easement, but not a beach access.
23 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Okay. And --
24 MR. PARSONNET: So that what has happened
25 is, when people would obey the Do Not Enter sign
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1 on Highway 98 for the past five years, they
2 simply go down to the next street, which is my
3 block; they come down; they park their cars; and
4 they enter onto the Camp Helen property, because
5 there's nothing to keep them out.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Okay. And my
7 question of the Secretary would be: Is that
8 issue, Madam Secretary, going to be addressed?
9 MS. WETHERELL: I was going to ask
10 Fran Mainella, who's the Park Director, to
11 answer that.
12 Fran.
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Sure.
14 MS. MAINELLA: Good morning.
15 Fran Mainella, Director of your State Parks.
16 (Commissioner Crawford entered the room.)
17 MS. MAINELLA: What we'll be doing as soon
18 as the acquisition takes -- comes our way, we
19 will be immediately working on fencing. That's
20 usually our first effort that we do; signage
21 immediately takes place; and also we get the
22 presence of a park ranger out there, which
23 hopefully will also assist in meeting the needs
24 that have been expressed here.
25 Also we do have a unit management planning
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1 process, which we involve the community and will
2 be glad to have our community involved in this
3 effort.
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you, Fran.
5 MS. MAINELLA: Thank you.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: And the only other
7 question then, Governor, that I would have,
8 which may be a little more complicated, is on
9 the issue of the -- the outlet.
10 I've seen pictures and talked with staff
11 about sort of the history of that -- of that
12 outlet.
13 What is the answer on that particular
14 issue, or position of the Department?
15 MR. GREEN: The issue's been before you as
16 Trustees a number of times in the past. The --
17 the current owner of the property has been to
18 you at least three times asking for us to grant
19 them permission to place a navigational inlet
20 into Lake Powell for -- for navigation
21 purposes.
22 Each time it's been brought to you, they've
23 withdrawn it from the agenda, because, quite
24 frankly, they didn't have the votes to get it
25 passed.
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1 The Department has continued to be in a
2 position of -- of -- of being against any type
3 of navigational dredging at this inlet. I don't
4 see us changing our position there.
5 As far as an outfall, the permits have been
6 issued to -- to the current owner of the
7 property so that there's a -- there could be a
8 pop off valve placed --
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: East of --
10 MR. GREEN: -- east of the pier.
11 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Which would not
12 negatively impact the -- the nesting birds?
13 MR. GREEN: It shouldn't.
14 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: And what's the status
15 of that at this point then?
16 MR. GREEN: Those permits have been issued,
17 construction has not proceeded, and so it's up
18 to the applicant whether or not he wishes to
19 construct or not.
20 At this point, he's chosen not to
21 construct. But he does have permits that will
22 allow him to do that.
23 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Then the obvious
24 follow-up question is: Once the applicant is no
25 longer the applicant, if all of this moves
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1 forward, as I think everyone hopes it will, and
2 once we become the entity in charge, is it our
3 intent to change the position of that outlet and
4 move it to the eastern side of the pier?
5 MR. GREEN: We'll have to look at it in the
6 management plan as we develop that and decide
7 exactly where we need it to be, and if this is
8 the correct location for it.
9 This is a naturally occurring event at this
10 inlet. It's migrated all the way from just on
11 the east side of the pier to where its current
12 location is, and back and forth over history.
13 So it's -- it's a very naturally occurring
14 type activity at a number of these lakes that
15 are immediately adjacent --
16 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I guess my question
17 would be this: We don't have a particular
18 bias -- that's a leading question. I apologize,
19 Governor.
20 Is there any particular bias on our part as
21 to whether we care or not where that particular
22 outlet would go as long as it is -- and you're
23 right, the most natural point for an outlet,
24 because they do have a nasty habit of wandering
25 based on weather conditions, erosion, and that
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1 kind of thing.
2 MR. GREEN: Uh-hum.
3 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Is it our position
4 that if we find that east of that pier is the
5 most appropriate place, we would put it there;
6 if west of the pier is the most appropriate
7 place, we would put it there, is that what
8 you're telling me?
9 MR. GREEN: I believe that's -- that's
10 correct, yes.
11 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So if, in fact, it is
12 east of the pier, we would take that up, make a
13 staff recommendation, put it east of the pier.
14 MR. GREEN: Right.
15 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: If that's the
16 appropriate place.
17 MR. GREEN: That's right. That's correct.
18 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you, Governor.
19 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
20 MR. PARSONNET: Can I just make --
21 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, sir.
22 MR. PARSONNET: -- one more point of --
23 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, sir.
24 MR. PARSONNET: -- clarification?
25 One more point of clarification.
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1 The turtle season is soon upon us. The
2 turtle season was the thing that kept
3 Mr. Harris, the developer, from originally
4 digging the perm-- the area east of the pier
5 when he first came to the DEP.
6 If we simply wait until this goes through a
7 government process, we will continue to lose
8 dunes and beach sand washing out to the Gulf.
9 This is not -- that's why I've come to
10 Tallahassee as many times as I have, and I've
11 tried to resolve this. This isn't a wait and
12 see thing. This property is changing.
13 The only reason that that outlet is where
14 it is today is because of an illegal dig.
15 Anyone who stands before this body and tells you
16 anything differently is simply not telling you
17 the truth.
18 The permit was issued 250 feet east of the
19 pier. When the dig took place, and on the very
20 permit that was handed to me, the picture shows
21 that the dig took place west of the pier.
22 So a natural phenomenon, this is not. This
23 is an intentional dig so that people can get
24 their boats from the Lake Powell Marina that
25 Bay County built. And the best fishing in all
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1 of northwest Florida is right due south of
2 Phillips Inlet. But the lake is 742 acres, and
3 in order to keep an outflow constant, you have
4 to dig a trench all the way back to the
5 Intracoastal.
6 So -- but I just implore you, the trench --
7 no matter who has the property, the trench
8 should have been dug before Hurricane Opal. But
9 if we simply wait and we say, well, we're going
10 to think about it, we need to look at it, you
11 just but need to walk the property, and you will
12 see, it's extremely obvious that what were
13 dunes, which my files will show, are now flat
14 beaches.
15 And there's only one reason. The water was
16 intentionally redirected by an illegal dig. The
17 Florida Marine Patrol has record of that dig.
18 So anybody that tells you that this is a --
19 no -- it -- no littoral flow in any of northeast
20 Florida -- of northwest Florida, there's been no
21 lake with littoral flow that's jumped 800 feet
22 in one year.
23 This jumped 800 feet in one year because it
24 was dug. And we have the pictures to show it.
25 Again, I thank you for your time.
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
2 There's been a motion and a second.
3 MS. WETHERELL: We have --
4 GOVERNOR CHILES: Without objection, the
5 item is approved.
6 MS. WETHERELL: Sorry. There are three
7 other speakers.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Oh, excuse me. I --
9 MS. WETHERELL: I'm --
10 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- didn't --
11 MS. WETHERELL: -- sorry about that. Let
12 me go ahead and call them up.
13 The final three: Terry Donahue,
14 Helen Schroeder, and Lynn Gager.
15 (Attorney General Butterworth exited the
16 room.)
17 MR. DONAHUE: My name is Terry Donahue.
18 I'm from Inlet Beach. I live next door to
19 Camp Helen.
20 Good morning, Governor Chiles --
21 GOVERNOR CHILES: Good morning.
22 MR. DONAHUE: -- and distinguished Cabinet
23 members.
24 I've considered the input since last week's
25 Cabinet aide meeting, and tried to weigh the
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1 final outcome. I would hope that a few things
2 might be considered in the decisions made here
3 this morning.
4 Number one, what will really happen to this
5 property if the State does not make this
6 purchase? My bet is nothing.
7 I don't believe this property to be a
8 viable development, and I question the validity
9 of the information provided to this Cabinet.
10 This is not an effort on my part to keep a
11 park out of my backyard. But rather to bring to
12 light a few blatant aspects of this purchase.
13 Why did Bay County Commission rezone the
14 property at appraisal time in a hurried manner?
15 Would the State not be in line to negotiate this
16 purchase more directly without the
17 Nature Conservancy's $100,000, and purported
18 expenses of developer after options expired.
19 Why invest 14 million dollars, plus
20 building and management costs, when a park area
21 already exists within a quarter mile in an
22 undeveloped stage.
23 The condition of existing facilities at
24 Camp Helen is deplorable. The existing
25 buildings are in a severe state of disrepair.
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1 And I can't imagine the usefulness this
2 property -- of this property. It's been
3 neglected for 10 to 15 years, relatively
4 abandoned.
5 As a result of the virtual abandonment of
6 Camp Helen by Avondale Mills in the 1980s, the
7 adjacent property owners have suffered the
8 consequences of inadequate patrol, and numerous
9 acts of vandalism and trespassing.
10 It's been stated that we represent a
11 minority. We, too, are a grass roots interest
12 group. But our efforts have been directed more
13 toward saving the ecosystem, and hoping the
14 State not spend monies frivolously.
15 I would hope that if, in fact, this Cabinet
16 moves forward on this issue today, you would
17 consider the ramifications carefully, and take
18 the time to research the consequences and local
19 impact to adjacent property owners.
20 In closing, I would like to point out that
21 this is an ecologically sensitive area, and I'm
22 sure this will be taken into consideration.
23 I thank you for your time.
24 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
25 MS. SCHROEDER: Good morning. Good
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1 afternoon maybe by now.
2 I'm Helen Schroder. I live in Inlet Beach
3 in Walton County, just a few blocks from
4 Camp Helen property.
5 I want to thank you, Governor Chiles, and
6 the members of your Cabinet as well, for this
7 opportunity to share my thoughts.
8 Last April, I wrote a letter which appeared
9 in Walton and Bay County newspapers asking for
10 support to save Camp Helen from development.
11 First a few people tried to help, then
12 through word of mouth, more and more joined the
13 effort. And so it grew.
14 Large numbers of people, mostly from Bay
15 and Walton Counties, wrote letters, made phone
16 calls, and signed petitions.
17 It became such a massive grand --
18 groundswell that CARL officials told us it may
19 well have been the largest outpouring of support
20 for any of their projects to date.
21 That so many people joined in this effort
22 should be viewed exactly for what it was, namely
23 a testimony as to the beauty and the special
24 nature of the Camp Helen property.
25 It is truly gratifying that public
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1 officials listened to these many voices and
2 responded in a hard working attempt to save this
3 special place.
4 Also, it has been especially gratifying to
5 me as a Walton County person to work with
6 Bay County residents on an Environmental
7 Education Center Advisory Committee at the Gulf
8 Coast Community College. And I look forward to
9 continuing what has become a joint labor of love
10 as we work toward the realization of a college
11 operated environmental education center on this
12 State park land.
13 Thank you all again for this chance to
14 share my views with you.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you very much.
16 MS. SCHRODER: Thank you.
17 MS. GAGER: Good morning. I'm Lynn Gager.
18 This project has been a perfect example of
19 a success story. A success story of how State
20 government and local citizens can work
21 collaboratively together.
22 As you meet Helen Schroeder, the local
23 resident who wrote the letter, and the
24 groundswell, as she described, of local citizens
25 wanting to preserve our environment.
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1 As we look to the opportunities,
2 Camp Helen, Lake Powell is ranked 25 on the CARL
3 list. Not in a fundable position. We had about
4 six, seven months to rally together, work
5 collaboratively together with the Department of
6 Environmental Protection and the
7 Nature Conservancy by our hands, and walking
8 with us, we raised from the 25th ranking, to now
9 a successful ranking of number 6.
10 What a success story.
11 In less than six months, we are now in a
12 fundable position and have the opportunity today
13 to preserve precious lands in our community.
14 Not only preserve our precious lands, but
15 for use of the lands is what is so incredible.
16 Because when we thought about, okay, we have
17 900 acres here that's ranked number 25, what
18 citizens, what do we want to happen here? And
19 we rallied together, and we dreamed together.
20 And we said, you know, someone in the State park
21 has now realized a national ranking of
22 number 1.
23 I go to St. Andrews State Park probably two
24 or three times a week, and enjoy that beautiful
25 scenery. But often have to wait in line, can't
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1 get a campsite, and I have to come back the next
2 day to try to camp there because I'm a tent
3 camper.
4 And so we started scratching our heads and
5 said, let's have Camp Helen a State park. Let's
6 get Gulf Coast involved and have that
7 environmental education center that we've
8 dreamed about for years. Let's put these two
9 agencies together.
10 And we've done it. We have. You see here
11 the Department of Education -- Department of
12 Environmental Protection, and Gulf Coast
13 rallying behind these efforts.
14 And a more perfect example. Yesterday the
15 CARL trust fund folks came to Camp Helen, and we
16 got a chance to tour the property. And I was
17 getting ready in the morning, and had my hiking
18 boots on and my camping clothes on, and I have a
19 four year old son.
20 And I usually dress like this going to
21 work, and he said, mama, where are you going
22 today?
23 And I said, Jonathan, I'm going to
24 Camp Helen.
25 Oh, you're going to Camp Helen, I want to
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1 go.
2 It's like, oh, you can't go today, you're
3 going to primary prep. So we got the bulldozers
4 out, and we're pushing bulldozers around the
5 family room, and we push it underneath the
6 coffee table in one of our now favorite area to
7 don't explore.
8 And then he takes his bulldozer and says,
9 mama, let's go to Camp Helen State Park. And he
10 pushes his little bulldozer on another area of
11 the family room, and I said, yes, Jonathan,
12 let's go to Camp Helen State Park. And that's
13 what we truly want to do.
14 Thank you.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, ma'am.
16 MS. WETHERELL: That concludes the
17 speakers.
18 GOVERNOR CHILES: All right. We have a
19 motion and a second.
20 Without objection, the motion is approved.
21 MS. WETHERELL: Item 6 is an option
22 agreement for Rookery Bay CARL project, and a
23 waiver of survey.
24 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and
2 seconded.
3 Without objection, it's adopted.
4 MS. WETHERELL: Item 7 is a purchase
5 agreement for Coupon Bight Key deer project, and
6 a waiver of survey.
7 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion.
8 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
10 Without objection, that's adopted.
11 MS. WETHERELL: Item 8 are two option
12 agreements for the Game and Fresh Water Fish
13 Commission.
14 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
15 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
16 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
17 Without objection, it's approved.
18 MS. WETHERELL: Item 9 is a purchase
19 agreement for the Department of Agriculture.
20 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
21 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
23 Without objection, that's approved.
24 MS. WETHERELL: Item 10 is authority to
25 enter into an acquisition agreement with
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1 St. Johns River Water Management District.
2 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
3 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
4 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
5 Without objection, it's approved.
6 MS. WETHERELL: Item 11, recommend approval
7 of amendments to the Keywaydin Club covenants
8 and restrictions.
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval.
10 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
11 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
12 Without objection, that's approved.
13 MS. WETHERELL: Item 12 is release of CARL
14 trust fund dollars.
15 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion, approval.
16 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
17 GOVERNOR CHILES: Motion and seconded.
18 Without objection, it's approved.
19 MS. WETHERELL: Okay.
20 (The Board of Trustees of the Internal
21 Improvement Trust Fund Agenda was concluded.)
22 *
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Department of
2 Environmental Protection.
3 MS. WETHERELL: Okay. Item 1, minutes.
4 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
5 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
6 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
7 Without objection, they're approved.
8 MS. WETHERELL: And Item 2, recommend
9 withdrawal.
10 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move withdrawal.
11 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Second.
12 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
13 Request for the withdrawal is granted.
14 MS. WETHERELL: Thank you.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you.
16 (The Department of Environmental Protection
17 Agenda was concluded.)
18 *
19 (The Cabinet meeting was concluded at
20 11:40 a.m.)
21
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1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
2
3
4 STATE OF FLORIDA:
5 COUNTY OF LEON:
6 I, LAURIE L. GILBERT, do hereby certify that
7 the foregoing proceedings were taken before me at the
8 time and place therein designated; that my shorthand
9 notes were thereafter translated; and the foregoing
10 pages numbered 1 through 110 are a true and correct
11 record of the aforesaid proceedings.
12 I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a relative,
13 employee, attorney or counsel of any of the parties,
14 nor relative or employee of such attorney or counsel,
15 or financially interested in the foregoing action.
16 DATED THIS 19TH day of APRIL, 1996.
17
18
19 LAURIE L. GILBERT, RPR, CCR
100 Salem Court
20 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 878-2221
21
T H E C A B I N E T
22
S T A T E O F F L O R I D A
23
24 Representing:
25 STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
April 9, 1996
1 DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY
AND MOTOR VEHICLES
2 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL
3 IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
4
5
The above agencies came to be heard before
6 THE FLORIDA CABINET, Honorable Governor Chiles
presiding, in the Cabinet Meeting Room, LL-03,
7 The Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday,
April 9, 1996, commencing at approximately 9:49 a.m.
8
9
10
Reported by:
11
LAURIE L. GILBERT
12 Registered Professional Reporter
Certified Court Reporter
13 Notary Public in and for
the State of Florida at Large
14
15
16
ACCURATE STENOTYPE REPORTERS, INC.
17 100 SALEM COURT
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32301
18 904/878-2221
1-800/934-9090
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1 APPEARANCES:
2 Representing the Florida Cabinet:
3 LAWTON CHILES
Governor
4
BOB CRAWFORD
5 Commissioner of Agriculture
6 BOB MILLIGAN
Comptroller
7
SANDRA B. MORTHAM
8 Secretary of State
9 BOB BUTTERWORTH
Attorney General
10
BILL NELSON
11 Treasurer
12 FRANK T. BROGAN
Commissioner of Education
13
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1 I N D E X
2 ITEM ACTION PAGE
3 STATE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION:
(Presented by Ash Williams, Jr.,
4 Executive Director)
5 1 Approved 5
2 Approved 5
6
DIVISION OF BOND FINANCE:
7 (Presented by J. Ben Watkins, III,
Director)
8
1 Approved 6
9 2 Approved 6
3 Approved 7
10
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES:
11 (Presented by Fred O. Dickinson, III,
Executive Director)
12
1 Approved 8
13 2 Approved 8
3 Approved 9
14
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION:
15 (Presented by Robert L. Bedford, Ph.D.,
Deputy Commissioner)
16
1 Approved 10
17 2 Approved 10
3 and 4 Approved 11
18 5 Approved 72
6 Withdrawn 72
19 7 Approved 11
8 Approved 14
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1 I N D E X
(Continued)
2
ITEM ACTION PAGE
3
BOARD OF TRUSTEES,
4 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT
TRUST FUND:
5 (Presented by Virginia B. Wetherell,
Secretary)
6
1 Approved 74
7 2 Approved 74
3 Approved 74
8 4 Approved 74
Substitute 5 Approved 106
9 6 Approved 107
7 Approved 107
10 8 Approved 107
9 Approved 107
11 10 Approved 108
11 Approved 108
12 12 Approved 108
13 DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION:
(Presented by Virginia B. Wetherell,
14 Secretary)
15 1 Approved 109
2 Withdrawn 109
16
17 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 110
18 *
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (The agenda items commenced at 9:56 a.m.)
3 GOVERNOR CHILES: Now we're ready for the
4 State Board of Administration.
5 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: I move the minutes.
6 GOVERNOR CHILES: Motion on the minutes.
7 TREASURER NELSON: Second.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Seconded.
9 Without objection, the minutes are adopted.
10 MR. WILLIAMS: Item 2 is a fiscal
11 sufficiency for the Florida
12 Housing Finance Agency.
13 TREASURER NELSON: Move it.
14 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Second.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and
16 seconded.
17 Without objection, that's approved.
18 MR. WILLIAMS: Thank you.
19 (The State Board of Administration Agenda
20 was concluded.)
21 *
22
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Bond Finance.
2 MR. WATKINS: Three items on the agenda
3 this morning.
4 Item 1 is approval of the minutes of the
5 March 28 meeting.
6 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Motion.
7 GOVERNOR CHILES: There's a motion.
8 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: And a second on the
10 minutes.
11 Without objection, the minutes are
12 approved.
13 MR. WATKINS: Item number 2 is a resolution
14 authorizing negotiated sale on behalf of the
15 Florida Housing Finance Agency of up to
16 40 million dollars in single family mortgage
17 revenue bonds.
18 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
19 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
20 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
21 Without objection, that's approved.
22 MR. WATKINS: Item number 3 is a report of
23 award of two multifamily housing bond issues
24 sold on behalf of the Florida Housing Finance
25 Agency.
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1 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
3 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
4 Without objection, that's approved.
5 MR. WATKINS: Thank you.
6 (The Division of Bond Finance Agenda was
7 concluded.)
8 *
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES:
2 Department of Highway Safety.
3 MR. DICKINSON: Good morning.
4 Governor, the first item is approval of
5 minutes --
6 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: So move.
7 MR. DICKINSON: -- from the
8 February 27th --
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So move.
10 MR. DICKINSON: -- Cabinet meeting.
11 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion.
12 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
13 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and
14 seconded.
15 Without objection, the minutes are
16 approved.
17 MR. DICKINSON: Item number 2 is request
18 for approval for a new contract for our
19 psychological screening for incoming
20 law enforcement officers.
21 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
23 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
24 Without objection, that's approved.
25 MR. DICKINSON: And item number 3 is a
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1 menagerie, if you will, Governor. We're
2 repealing eleven rules, amending seven rules,
3 and creating four new rules to conform with the
4 statutory change from last session with regard
5 to our driver improvement schools.
6 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
7 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move the menagerie.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
9 Without objection, the menagerie is
10 approved.
11 MR. DICKINSON: Thank you, Governor.
12 (The Department of Highway Safety and Motor
13 Vehicles Agenda was concluded.)
14 *
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: State Board of Education.
2 Things are rolling along too fast.
3 DR. BEDFORD: Good morning, members of the
4 State Board of Education.
5 Item 1, minutes of the meeting held
6 February 13th and February 27th, 1996.
7 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So move, Governor.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and --
9 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
10 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- seconded.
11 Without objection, the minutes are
12 approved.
13 DR. BEDFORD: Item 2, recommendation in
14 Critical Teacher Shortage Areas.
15 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval.
16 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
17 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
18 Without objection, it's approved.
19 DR. BEDFORD: Item 3 and 4 can be taken
20 together. They are Area of Vocational Technical
21 Center designation in Orange County of Orange
22 Technical Center's Westside Technical, and
23 Winter Park Technical.
24 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval of
25 Items 3 and 4.
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1 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
2 GOVERNOR CHILES: Without objection,
3 Items 3 and 4, adopted en banc.
4 DR. BEDFORD: Items 5 and 6, I would like
5 to leave for a minute and come back to, and go
6 to item 7.
7 Amendment to 6A, dash, 6.0571, Criteria for
8 Qualification of Special Vocational Technical
9 Education Program Courses.
10 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
11 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
12 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved on item --
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- 7.
14 Second.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Second?
16 Is there a second?
17 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: Second.
18 GOVERNOR CHILES: Second.
19 Without objection, Item 7 is approved.
20 DR. BEDFORD: Item 8 is a good cause item
21 brought to you today. The good cause item
22 involves an amendment to the cost of living
23 survey contract. That contract is identified as
24 096, dash, 001.
25 The last several years, there's been many
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1 questions concerning the district cost
2 differential. The legislative -- the
3 Legislature funded a University of Florida study
4 done by David Denslow. The study suggested some
5 changes in the methodology. And this amendment
6 would review the Denslow work, and would
7 determine whether it was feasible to incorporate
8 into the methodology.
9 One of the reasons to bring this as a good
10 cause item is that the actual survey is done in
11 August, and if we are going to make any changes,
12 they need to be proceeded on now.
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval.
14 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
16 Without objection --
17 TREASURER NELSON: Governor --
18 May I ask a question?
19 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes.
20 TREASURER NELSON: What I don't understand
21 is that this looks like this is a study of a
22 study. Is that correct?
23 DR. BEDFORD: Link, do you want to come and
24 help me?
25 Link Jarrett.
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1 MR. JARRETT: This is not a study of a
2 study. It -- the firm with which we contract --
3 with which you've contracted is the firm that
4 does the survey. And there are some technical
5 kinds of things that have to be assured in order
6 that you get a valid Florida price level index.
7 We can't merely make adjustments to that
8 procedure without having them done very
9 thoughtfully and carefully in order to maintain
10 the integrity of that index.
11 TREASURER NELSON: And so this is costing
12 us an additional 12,000.
13 MR. JARRETT: Yes, sir.
14 TREASURER NELSON: And what was the
15 original contract price?
16 MR. JARRETT: Two hundred and
17 thirty thousand for the survey process. That
18 is, they collect prices for 118 different market
19 basket items in all 67 counties.
20 And this is -- of course, as you know, this
21 affects the distribution of 8 billion dollars to
22 our Florida school districts. So it needs to be
23 handled in a manner that will give us results
24 that don't place us in a position that
25 jeopardizes the integrity of that particular
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1 component of the formula.
2 TREASURER NELSON: And what is the $12,000
3 extra buying us?
4 MR. JARRETT: It is going to buy them
5 reviewing carefully both the short-term and
6 long-term recommendations in Dr. Denslow's
7 study, and adjusting, where appropriate, the
8 survey methodology to incorporate the -- the
9 adjustments.
10 TREASURER NELSON: Which should have been
11 in the original $250,000 contract price.
12 MR. JARRETT: Well, this study was not
13 available when the RFP and the bid was done on
14 this particular contract.
15 This is something that has happened in the
16 last month or two in terms of the actual report
17 of the Denslow study. And, therefore, we felt
18 it was appropriate and necessary for us to amend
19 this contract to make sure that when the budget
20 is developed, we have the most valid index that
21 you can stand with as being representative of
22 the cost of living in each county.
23 TREASURER NELSON: Thank you, Governor.
24 GOVERNOR CHILES: Without objection, the --
25 the motion is adopted.
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1 DR. BEDFORD: Now if we could go back to
2 item number 5. I believe the Commissioner wants
3 to make a presentation at this time.
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you.
5 And, Governor, members of the Cabinet, we
6 let you off the hook at the last meeting when we
7 withdrew these items, so we're going to put you
8 back on the hook today.
9 And I'm going to go to the floor and
10 shepherd you through this presentation myself.
11 We tried to keep it as brief as possible based
12 on the complexity of the agenda.
13 So with your indulgence, I'm going to move
14 down to the podium.
15 DR. BEDFORD: Frank, you might want to ask
16 the audience --
17 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yeah. And while
18 we're shifting around, if anybody would like to
19 move to that side of the room, I'm sorry, with
20 the angle of the room, that's the best we're
21 going to be able to do, I'm afraid.
22 And I think we're going to need these --
23 GOVERNOR CHILES: Would you speak a little
24 closer to the mic? It's a little bit hard to
25 hear you --
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1 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Identify yourself.
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, Governor.
3 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: The lights are kind
4 of shining off your forehead, too.
5 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I knew this was a
6 mistake.
7 How's that?
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's too loud.
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: That's
10 Frank T. Brogan, Commissioner of Education.
11 Good morning.
12 And we wanted to take the opportunity to do
13 this presentation to you this morning because we
14 think it's of great significance, not only to
15 the State Board of Education, but also to the
16 State of Florida.
17 And we have put together a power point
18 presentation that we hope in a brief period of
19 time is going to walk you through some of the
20 essentials that go into the creation of
21 statewide standards, the statewide assessment,
22 the staff development activities that go along
23 with a massive undertaking like this.
24 The Governor and I and one of our State's
25 finest Chief Executive Officers,
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1 Mr. Jack Critchfield, recently returned from the
2 National Governor's Summit on Education in
3 Palisades, New York.
4 We spent a day-and-a-half, and, I believe,
5 Governor, there was 41, 44 governors who
6 attended; a chief executive officer from
7 virtually every state; as well as a significant
8 group of educators at all and various levels.
9 The three-pronged approach that that summit
10 took, remembering that it was an offshoot of the
11 summit that was held under the administration of
12 George Bush back in 88-89, was to take a close
13 look at three issues: One, standards; two,
14 assessment; and three, technology.
15 Now, any of those individual items would be
16 food for a day-and-a-half meeting of such an
17 auspicious gathering. But with that, it gave us
18 the opportunity to zero in on those three
19 particular items and --
20 GOVERNOR CHILES: I think if --
21 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- be able to --
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- you'd cut these lights
23 up here, we could see that --
24 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Would that help?
25 Further still?
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1 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: More, yeah.
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: It gave us the
3 opportunity to network with people from other
4 states, and also, as we focused in at the end of
5 that particular day-and-a-half conference, gave
6 us the chance to recognize that essentially what
7 the conference was calling for was for each of
8 the 50 states to create a system of statewide
9 standard.
10 Very simply put, what it is we expect
11 children in the state of Florida to know and to
12 be able to do as they move through elementary
13 school, middle school, high school, and so on.
14 That was discussed at length. Also was
15 discussed, the possibility of creating a
16 national clearinghouse on a non-federal basis
17 that would assist us in reviewing each state's
18 standards to make certain that they were
19 challenging, to make certain that nothing was
20 left to the imagination, et cetera.
21 Also discussed was the issue of
22 assessment. We're going to discuss the fact
23 that there are two types of assessment. But the
24 one that was primarily discussed at that
25 particular meeting was the external assessment,
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1 that means a statewide assessment, given at
2 intervals during a child's educational
3 experience to see to it that the classroom, that
4 the school, that the district, and that the
5 state are all moving in the right directions as
6 it relates to those standards and what they --
7 what they take up.
8 The other issue was technology. We had an
9 opportunity to visit a large number of brief
10 presentations on some of the state of the art
11 technology that exists out there. And believe
12 me, it's overwhelming as far as the capabilities
13 that technology holds for us in the private
14 sector, and especially in education.
15 So with your indulgence, I'm just going to
16 let you know what you have in front of you.
17 You've been given a draft copy of some material,
18 and I underscore the word draft. Everything
19 that you are going to see this morning is in
20 draft form. This is all for conceptual
21 consideration today.
22 But we wanted to give you an idea of where
23 we are in the development of Florida's
24 standards, which we have unofficially dubbed as
25 the Sunshine State Standards; where we are with
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1 the assessment process on the external level;
2 and then as we'll discuss, on the internal
3 level; and share with you some of the material
4 in draft form that -- that we would be looking
5 to utilize in the future.
6 Now, if I can draw your attention to the
7 power point presentation. This is about what
8 Florida's students should know and be able to
9 do. That is succinctly put. That is, more or
10 less, the mission of education is to determine
11 what it is our youngsters should be able to know
12 and do, and then see to it as they move through
13 their educational experience that they can do
14 those things.
15 Again, we've dubbed these the
16 Sunshine State Standards. And I think the
17 Governor can attest to the fact that if you put
18 us on a scale with the 50 states, you have some
19 states that have already established statewide
20 standards; many states which have not yet begun
21 the process of creating statewide standards; and
22 then Florida, who is well along with the
23 process, as we hope we'll evidence today.
24 We're going to discuss moving toward
25 high standards; we're going to talk about using
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1 those standards, assessing those standards; and
2 then very importantly, aligning those standards
3 with the instruction, the curriculum, and then
4 that assessment, both internal and external,
5 that we discussed a moment ago.
6 First of all, moving toward high standards.
7 There is, as I mentioned, a national demand
8 for greater accountability and higher
9 standards. I've said this regularly. And I
10 think many would agree that over the past
11 30 years or so, the -- the nation and our state
12 have succumbed to the national problem of every
13 time youngsters don't give you what it is you
14 expect, you simply lower the expectation.
15 I think that's not an isolate here.
16 I think the nation has looked at its
17 expectations and what it's calling upon children
18 to know and be able to do. Our chief executive
19 officers I think drove that home with a
20 vengeance during the course of that
21 day-and-a-half in Palisades, New York.
22 So there is very much a national demand for
23 all of us to elevate our standards and
24 expectations for youngsters. That's being taken
25 up, of course, in part, in the legislative
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1 process this year.
2 It's a bipartisan effort. I was very much
3 appreciative of the fact that in Palisades, you
4 had all types. You had governors who
5 represented some 44 states who were Republicans
6 and Democrats; you had CEOs who were
7 Republicans, Democrats, independents, and
8 others; you had members of the educational
9 communities from every different angle from
10 which you could come. And they all seemed to
11 generally focus on the reality of the need for
12 high standards, strong accountability.
13 So very much where we have been coming from
14 in this state is trying to do all of this as
15 much as possible with a bipartisan effort,
16 recognizing that teaching and learning is all
17 about being bipartisan.
18 Local control. That was another initiative
19 discussed in Palisades. The fact that while the
20 State should be in the business of setting
21 standards, setting expectations, creating
22 assessments, there's a strong need to give back
23 to local schools and local districts and
24 communities that which is rightfully theirs.
25 And that's the opportunity to create curriculum,
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1 strategies, methodologies, to select
2 instructional material, right to meet the needs
3 of the youngsters in their individual
4 communities to make certain that they have the
5 best opportunity possible to get to those high
6 challenging standards in successful fashion.
7 Focus on the Legislature. You know that,
8 as I mentioned, during this legislative session,
9 very much, the whole issue of higher standards
10 for graduation, higher expectations for
11 students, and for the members of our
12 professional community, have come up on a
13 regular basis. And again, in a bipartisan
14 approach.
15 We're seeing both chambers, both
16 Republicans and Democrats, very, very much
17 interested in increasing standards and
18 expectations. And that's being taken up during
19 this session.
20 And I alluded to the National Education
21 Summit. One of the things that was exemplified
22 there is the fact that you can set high
23 standards; you can raise your expectations, just
24 as we're attempting to do here in the state of
25 Florida.
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1 But as we're going to discuss in a few
2 minutes, critical to all of that is making
3 certain that you have a system in place of staff
4 development, both pre-service from the
5 university level, and in-service for those who
6 are currently in the field; on what those
7 standards are; how the assessment process will
8 work, internal, external; and how all of that is
9 going to fold around the curriculum which will
10 help to drive us to those high challenging
11 standards.
12 The equation for success, it's something
13 that we've talked about on a regular basis in
14 this state, and it was driven home again in
15 Palisades, and that is strong standards at a
16 high level; plus the instruction to get you to
17 those high standards; plus an assessment.
18 Again, not just given at the state level,
19 but also the day-to-day assessment process that
20 our teachers go through to constantly gauge
21 where their students are at any given time, and
22 adjust their teaching to make certain that their
23 youngsters are moving toward those -- those
24 standards, equals higher student achievement.
25 And what we're trying to do in the state of
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1 Florida right now is refocus our energy and
2 refocus our efforts on increasing student
3 achievement levels.
4 The development of the standards. First of
5 all, let me say that these were not developed in
6 a vacuum. Far from it. As most states found,
7 the best way to develop standards is to involve
8 all of the stakeholders in the process. This
9 process has been going on for almost two years.
10 It's involved teachers and administrators and
11 Board members. It's involved parents at a
12 significant rate.
13 It's involved the business community to
14 make certain that we were looking at the kinds
15 of things the business community believed our
16 youngsters should know and be able to do in the
17 development of these standards.
18 And so very much, it was a team approach
19 with thousands of people, literally, supplying
20 input as to what these standards should know --
21 or should look like in their final analysis.
22 Analyzed by national experts. We used an
23 organization called McREL, which again was
24 widely discussed in Palisades. And what they
25 were able to do for us is to help us prior to
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1 the development of this national clearinghouse,
2 they helped us to make certain that our
3 standards pass muster, that they were
4 challenging, that they were rigorous, that they
5 didn't take a backseat to any other state in the
6 country in terms of what it was we expected our
7 children to know and be able to do. And that
8 was very helpful in the process as well.
9 And they were reviewed, as I mentioned,
10 statewide by the stakeholders. Teachers,
11 parents, business leaders were involved in the
12 creation of the standards that we are now
13 developing.
14 The focus was on the seven key subject
15 areas. Now, today before you, members of the
16 State Board of Education, you actually have the
17 language arts and the mathematic standards.
18 Those are draft. Again, I reiterate that. And
19 they are in draft form, but very much the way
20 the standards will look when they are
21 finalized.
22 And those will all come back before you
23 sometime in the month of May. And at that time,
24 they will include not only language arts and
25 mathematics, but also science, social studies,
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1 the arts, health and physical education, and
2 foreign language.
3 We also in the state of Florida have
4 currently in place for grades 6 through 12
5 course frameworks that -- and descriptors that
6 actually go bullet by bullet explaining what a
7 youngster should know and be able to do as they
8 take individual courses, such as Algebra I, or
9 chemistry, or advanced course work.
10 And that is also going to be something
11 we're going to have to look at and update
12 regularly to make certain that it matches the
13 standards that we are setting.
14 But those are the broad-brush areas of
15 focus upon which we're building our state
16 standards. And they are the same, for the most
17 part, as you find in other states who are either
18 further along, or at the same level as we.
19 We actually divided our standards, as you
20 can see in your background material, into four
21 areas. We divided them into pre-K through 2,
22 grades 3 through 5, grades 6 through 8, and
23 grades 9 through 12.
24 And as you can see in your support
25 material, we have tried to create the standards
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1 as clearly and concisely as possible. It is our
2 full intent at a point appropriate in time, to
3 condense this even further for distribution to
4 all of our parents, the business community,
5 et cetera, in the state of Florida so they will
6 have in hand the ability to see if their child
7 is in pre-K through 2, what that youngster
8 should know and be able to do as they pass
9 through that pre-K through 2 continuum.
10 And we think that's important to
11 communicate. And we'll discuss communication
12 here in a few minutes.
13 Here's an example of a mathematic
14 standard. The -- the item is measurement. And
15 the standard would be: The student measures
16 quantities in the real world, and uses the
17 measures to solve problems.
18 Now, under that particular standard, you
19 would have a number of bullet points that would
20 help to make certain that students would have
21 the total knowledge to be able to demonstrate
22 mastery of that issue. But that is a good
23 example of a standard. Something that we
24 expect, at any level, by the way, a youngster to
25 know and be able to do.
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1 I say any level because we would expect a
2 pre-K through 2 student to be able to
3 demonstrate knowledge in that area, just as we
4 would expect a high school senior to demonstrate
5 knowledge in that particular area. Remembering
6 that, as we discussed at this meeting a month or
7 so ago, even algebra has its roots at the
8 kindergarten level.
9 And as you look at the mathematic standards
10 included in your packet, you will see algebra
11 referred to, even at the kindergarten level,
12 because that's the building blocks upon which
13 all of the skills necessary to take and pass
14 algebra begin. And so all of these things have
15 their roots from the very beginning in pre-K
16 through second grade.
17 Using the standards. First of all, the
18 standards will give us -- and that is the
19 general us, all of us in education, and I think
20 all of us in the state -- a clear expectation
21 for student knowledge and skills. In other
22 words, this is what Florida expects, at the very
23 least, our youngsters to know and be able to
24 do.
25 Now, I underscore at the very least. The
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1 state has once moved through the minimal skills
2 route. And believe me, for all of those who --
3 who suggest that that was a bad thing, at least
4 the minimal skills route did give us a target.
5 Albeit, a low target, it gave us a place that we
6 could direct our efforts in terms of teaching
7 and learning.
8 And as we move through the continuum of
9 those minimal skills and that process, we found
10 more and more youngsters able to produce at that
11 minimal skill level and beyond.
12 But what these standards are about is not
13 minimal skills. What we're suggesting, as are
14 most states now, that if youngsters are going to
15 be competitive in the 21st century, they simply
16 have to achieve a higher level of academia to be
17 successful in the world of work that they're
18 going to find.
19 We think the standards will give schools,
20 districts, classroom teachers, a much clearer
21 focus on the mission at hand.
22 Basis for assessing student achievement.
23 We're going to talk about this more. But again,
24 I suggest there are two types of assessment:
25 That which would be applied externally by the
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1 state of Florida in benchmark fashion to, as a
2 benchmark, assess where students, schools, are
3 at any given time, and the state.
4 But also that internal assessment that our
5 teachers must do, and have always done, on a
6 day-to-day, week-to-week basis to gauge student
7 learning at any given time.
8 And again, the basis for school
9 accountability. Everyone continues to use the
10 word accountability. But I think we're much
11 closer to a clear definition as to what this
12 particular accountability is all about. And
13 remember, our primary focus, our primary
14 mission, is on teaching and learning.
15 Therefore, we need to create a strong
16 accountability system to make certain that that
17 learning is taking place at appropriate levels
18 around the state, and we believe that the
19 standards can provide the foundation for that, a
20 clear mission, and the assessment in benchmark
21 fashion and on the day-to-day basis can help us
22 make certain that students are learning at the
23 appropriate level.
24 When it comes to assessment, we're talking,
25 one, about the statewide assessment; and, two,
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1 about the classroom assessment. The statewide
2 assessment has been RFPd. The contract,
3 of course, is under protest, so we hope to have
4 that back to you in 30 to 45 days.
5 But what we have done, and this is what the
6 national trend is, as we found in Palisades, is
7 to let a contract so that an external assessment
8 is created for the state of Florida rather than
9 do traditionally what we've done in the past,
10 which is purchase an off-the-shelf version, and
11 hope it matches up as closely as possible to the
12 standards and the expectations that we have out
13 there for our students.
14 So once that test is constructed, it is
15 going to provide for us, number one, a
16 consistent measure of student achievement. It
17 will be applied once in elementary school, once
18 in middle school, once in high school, and will
19 give us a consistently applied year-to-year
20 measure as to where our students are at any
21 given time, in terms of teaching, learning, and
22 the standards.
23 It will support instruction because the
24 whole idea of assessment is that assessment
25 should determine the level of student learning,
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1 what we expect our students to know and be able
2 to do; and then reteach, if necessary, to see
3 that they can do those kinds of things.
4 So we think that the standards are going to
5 help raise the level of instruction by providing
6 for our teachers a much needed focus on the
7 expectations that are at hand.
8 Results support school improvement. I've
9 been in the school improvement business, as have
10 many in this room, for a good number of years,
11 and still maintain that the linchpin of school
12 improvement needs to be teaching and learning.
13 That all of the strategies, all of the joint
14 efforts that go into those school improvement
15 plans need to center and focus ultimately on how
16 students are going to learn more as a result of
17 those activities.
18 And we believe that this can be the long
19 awaited linchpin for our school improvement
20 efforts which are sweeping the state as we know.
21 Recognize success. We also believe very
22 important is -- and we heard this in Palisades
23 reiterated -- that as time progresses with this
24 entire system, one of the things that we very
25 much need to do is also recognize those who are
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1 taking the bold steps to increase student
2 achievement levels. We do much nationally
3 with -- with sanctions and actions. Some of
4 that is appropriate.
5 We also need to recognize and reward people
6 for their efforts. The Governor and I heard one
7 presentation where a state was talking about
8 actually rewarding monetarily schools who met
9 certain benchmarks that were agreed upon at the
10 beginning of the school year, based off of their
11 accountability system.
12 And that money would actually go to the
13 school to be used by the school to do differing
14 things. And it actually gave people an
15 incentive.
16 There are other states that actually give
17 the people in the school, the staff members of
18 the school, individual stipends for meeting
19 certain goals. Very much like the private
20 sector.
21 And so we also need to not only identify
22 monetary rewards, but also recognitions for
23 people who go above and beyond, and increase
24 these student achievement levels.
25 I also mentioned classroom assessment.
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1 This is, again, the day-to-day assessment that
2 our teachers do, which are done in a variety of
3 ways today. There are 2900 schools, and I would
4 submit that in the vast majority of those
5 schools, the assessment process is done a little
6 bit differently.
7 I went through a college of education, and
8 at the risk of sounding like a college of
9 education basher would tell you, that generally
10 speaking, our colleges of education need to do a
11 much better job of teaching teachers how to
12 assess student learning, to see to it that when
13 they come out of those colleges of education,
14 they've got the tools necessary to gauge where
15 their students are at any given time.
16 And, remember, that assessment is not
17 simply a culminating activity. It's an activity
18 that's supposed to determine what your students
19 are learning, and how best to go about learning
20 it in the future.
21 And we're also going to be discussing here
22 some staff development efforts that this state
23 will be engaged in to help every teacher in the
24 state of Florida, every administrator in the
25 state of Florida, better understand assessments
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1 on a day-to-day basis, and better understand how
2 to craft consistently applied assessments within
3 their schools and within their districts.
4 The statewide assessment. We're calling it
5 FCAT for now. That's Florida Comprehensive
6 Achievement Test. It is state designed. Again,
7 it went out with very rigorous specifications.
8 We knew what we wanted. It's a test that not --
9 will only -- will not only ask students to color
10 in bubbles, as we have in the past -- that's
11 still an appropriate testing methodology -- but
12 it's also going to ask students to answer
13 questions, to write to prove they can with the
14 Florida Writes, as we continue that program. To
15 demonstrate reading comprehension by writing to
16 prove that they've comprehended what they've
17 read, to calculate mathematically to prove that
18 they know how to calculate mathematically, so on
19 and so forth.
20 So it is a combination of norm referenced
21 and criterion referenced methodology that should
22 give us a much more accurate picture of not only
23 what students know, but what they're able to
24 do. And that's something that our business and
25 industry community feels very, very strongly
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1 about.
2 Measure first four standards of Goal 3.
3 Succinctly put: That's reading, writing,
4 arithmetic, and critical thinking skills. The
5 first three are self-explanatory.
6 The business and industry community also
7 now suggest to us, and we know this as
8 educators, that a student's ability to think
9 critically is absolutely essential in the
10 21st century.
11 That being able to read, to write, and
12 calculate mathematically are good tools. But
13 those tools have to be wrapped around the
14 ability to think, to solve problems in the real
15 world. And that's very much where we're headed
16 with our standards and with the assessment that
17 we are creating for the state of Florida.
18 Reading and mathematics, critical thinking
19 we've discussed. Students select a response or
20 perform a task. Again, we've talked about
21 that. Under our current Florida Writes Program,
22 which will continue as a part of this entire
23 package, we are, again, going to ask students to
24 be able to write to prove they can, calculate to
25 prove they can, et cetera.
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1 Florida Writes will continue, as I've
2 said. The high school competency test will
3 continue for the time. That is the test given
4 beginning at the 10th grade level that a student
5 may take and retake until final graduation, and
6 must pass before high school graduation.
7 We talked about this at the Accountability
8 Commission level. It is our full intent that
9 once the test is in place, on-line, a baseline
10 of data created, that we would like to replace
11 the high school competency test with the new
12 statewide assessment test at the 10th grade
13 level. More challenging, more rigorous, and
14 still give students the opportunity once it
15 becomes a high stakes test to pass it prior to
16 12th grade when it has to be taken into
17 consideration for a diploma in the state of
18 Florida.
19 The classroom assessment. This is the
20 day-to-day assessment that we discussed. What
21 we are going to do from the state level is a
22 massive amount of staff development. We'll be
23 talking about the staff development more
24 specifically in a moment.
25 But what we very much want to do is work
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1 with all of the educators in the state of
2 Florida to see to it that every classroom
3 teacher has a better understanding of how to
4 assess students on a day-to-day basis, how to
5 assess students on a day-to-day basis so that it
6 matched -- matches up with the statewide test.
7 But most importantly, so that they can
8 assess student learning as it relates to those
9 state standards that we believe are essential
10 for all students to have before they leave
11 12th grade.
12 So we're going to be developing some models
13 that we'll be sharing with districts on how to
14 do day-to-day assessment within the classroom,
15 consistently applied. We're going to be doing a
16 massive amount of training on what assessment
17 methodologies exist nationally, or -- or around
18 the world that are performance based so that
19 people again, even in their classrooms, are not
20 just asking students to color in bubbles, but
21 are regularly asking students to read and to
22 write and to calculate mathematically, and then
23 have the skills and the tools necessary to be
24 able to grade that work appropriately, and see
25 to it that if reteaching is necessary, it can be
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1 done.
2 And again, our educators on a day-to-day
3 basis do a great job with assessment. But we
4 believe that much more needs to be done as we
5 approach the 21st century. And that's one of
6 our -- should be one of our responsibilities at
7 the state level, is to try to help inculcate
8 that into the entire system.
9 The staff development piece that we talked
10 about -- and I believe you have that packet in
11 front of you -- if not, it's on the left-hand
12 side. It's another draft copy.
13 But what it does is discuss some of our
14 intent as far as where we need to move with
15 staff development. You cannot create standards,
16 you cannot put in place a new external
17 assessment, expect new assessments to take place
18 consistently applied internally, unless you do
19 the kinds of staff development that we believe
20 we need to begin virtually immediately.
21 We have calculated all in all that in this
22 year's proposed budget, if you take all of the
23 staff development dollars that exist in the
24 state of Florida, those that come at the state
25 level, those that come in the federal level,
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1 those that come through the FTE generation, the
2 technology, there is the availability -- or we
3 hope will be the availability, if our budget is
4 passed, or something that's a reasonable
5 facsimile thereof -- of almost 43 million
6 dollars, which is earmarked for staff
7 development activities.
8 Now, I will tell you candidly, that in the
9 past, those staff development dollars have been
10 used in a shotgun approach. We have been, in
11 education, all over the map with staff
12 development activities. Much of that is not
13 bad.
14 But what we believe is, as we work with
15 these standards; the new assessments, internal
16 and external; the kinds of training that we need
17 to do; the residual that this standard and
18 assessment process will also have is to give us
19 the opportunity as a state to once again focus
20 those staff development dollars on teaching and
21 learning. Since that should be the primary
22 focus of the public education system.
23 So what we're going to do is work to
24 harness as a state those 43 million dollars.
25 Whether they're provided to the local district
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1 through FTE, whether they are state driven
2 dollars, create a system within the
3 state of Florida that will allow once again
4 people to focus their dollars in staff
5 development on the business of teaching and
6 learning and assessment strategies, and
7 incorporating those state standards into their
8 curriculum.
9 That's going to be an incredibly important
10 activity that unfolds over the next two years or
11 so, as well.
12 Once the standards are out there, people
13 then have an enormous task. They must
14 incorporate those standards into their everyday
15 curriculum, which in many places may mean
16 rewriting curriculum or changing curriculum,
17 selecting new instructional materials, and we
18 recognize that.
19 And we're going to begin that process this
20 year, carry it on through to the next year, and
21 we'll talk about the time line here in just a
22 minute.
23 But I cannot emphasize enough how it is our
24 intent to once again refocus our staff
25 development efforts and our staff development
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1 dollars on teaching and learning.
2 We would like to create six regional sites
3 around the state of Florida that will actually
4 be the hub of staff development so that there is
5 availability of training trainers right there in
6 each of those six regions.
7 And we also are creating right now, and
8 I think your Cabinet aides have seen first cut,
9 of some of the new technology training that we
10 are developing at the department. This first
11 cut was for the Florida Writes Program, and it
12 would allow us, through CD capabilities, to be
13 able to see every teacher and every
14 administrator, and even our parents and students
15 in the state of Florida, to walk through a
16 technology driven program on the Florida Writes
17 test to see how one creates samples, what sorts
18 of scores are given to that Florida Writes test,
19 and how they can do comparable sorts of
20 preassessment in their own schools, their own
21 classrooms, and their own districts, to ready
22 students to be able to write at that level.
23 And that would begin as early as teachers
24 begin teaching them. From the day they walk
25 in.
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1 We will then be developing the same kind of
2 program for the seven areas that you saw up
3 here. And anywhere that we believe that
4 technology will be a better delivery system than
5 the old mouth to mouth that we used in the past
6 for staff development, we want to try to help
7 the state provide just that. We believe that
8 staff development is a critical piece to all of
9 this.
10 Aligning standards, instruction, and
11 assessment. Again, a vital link in all of
12 this. If you have standards here, assessment
13 here, curriculum here, and it is not integrated,
14 then you have pieces in isolate. I think we've
15 been the isolate route in this state in many
16 places for too long.
17 What we envision is the fact that the
18 standards can be aligned with the day-to-day
19 curriculum utilized in our schools, the
20 instruction and teaching strategies that we want
21 to work on through the staff development process
22 and districts currently work through with staff
23 development, again, refocusing our efforts. And
24 also the assessment.
25 All of these need to be aligned in a
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1 package. Simply put, students need to know and
2 be able to do the following things: The
3 assessment should gauge their ability to know
4 and do the following things. The curriculum,
5 which is the essential component, and the
6 teaching strategies should make certain that
7 those students are able to know those things and
8 can demonstrate them, either on a day-to-day
9 basis, internal assessment; or on that external
10 assessment applied in elementary, middle school,
11 and high school, one time each.
12 (Commissioner Crawford exited the room.)
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: The area centers, we
14 talked about, and locally determined solutions.
15 Again, this is very much a locally controlled
16 issue. While it may sound while I'm standing
17 here, state driven, I think our job at the state
18 level as State Board of Education is to set the
19 standards, set the expectation, create the
20 statewide applied assessment.
21 But then, if you will pardon -- pardon the
22 way I say this, get out of their way. And that
23 is very much what we've also asked the Florida
24 Legislature to do this year with our
25 deregulation package.
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1 If we're going to hold people accountable
2 to high standards, high expectations, then it is
3 important that we allow them the flexibility to
4 create curriculum, activities, opportunities,
5 program, select instructional materials, employ
6 teaching strategies that they believe will get
7 the students in their charge to those
8 challenging standards in their appropriate
9 fashion. And that's an important part of all of
10 this.
11 And, by the way, that was very much the
12 overall theme, I think, that came out of
13 Palisades, New York, as well.
14 Staff development we've talked about.
15 There's much more to say on that issue, but
16 that's it for now.
17 Area centers, we talked about creating
18 those regional centers. We have sent out
19 somewhat of an RFP where we're asking people
20 around the state of Florida to look at what it
21 is we're expecting in terms of staff
22 development, and we're asking them to reply,
23 whether it's a community college, whether it's a
24 college, whether a private firm says we can
25 provide that training for you. Whatever it
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1 happens to be, we want people to respond, see
2 what kinds of training it is we expect, who we
3 would like to see trained, and then tell us what
4 they're going to be able to do for our
5 professional educators in the state of Florida
6 in terms of supplying that level of training.
7 Again, we would involve the colleges and
8 universities, not just at the pre-service
9 level. We think the colleges and universities,
10 community colleges and universities, have an
11 absolute stake in the success of all of this.
12 We long have talked about the remediation
13 rate at the community college and college
14 level. We believe that not only the initial
15 training, but the retraining of professional
16 educators should involve those same
17 institutions. And we believe that they need to
18 get involved in all of this as well.
19 By the way, the reception thus far on the
20 parts of the deans and the presidents has been
21 outstanding. I'm going to do a similar
22 presentation to the community college board and
23 the Board of Regents coming up. But both have
24 already acknowledged the need and stand willing,
25 I think, to work with us on pre-service and
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1 in-service.
2 Technology we discussed. You can't say
3 enough about it. It is, as we heard in
4 Palisades, going to -- or should revolutionize
5 teaching and learning. You will always need
6 teachers. But what we recognize is that --
7 (Commissioner Crawford entered the room.)
8 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- with instructional
9 materials, with printed text, teachers are also
10 going to need the new technology that's
11 available.
12 Not only to provide direct instruction, but
13 also to manage the instruction that's out there,
14 so we can very much gauge where any individual
15 student is at any given time, so that we have a
16 clear understanding in classrooms as to what our
17 children can know and do on a daily basis,
18 versus a nine-week basis, so we can remediate
19 then, instead of the end.
20 Develop quality assurance. It's very
21 important. Someone asked me -- I think from the
22 press not too long ago -- we did something
23 similar to this with curriculum frameworks a
24 long time ago. As a matter of fact, I was a
25 classroom teacher and helped to work on some of
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1 the curriculum frameworks.
2 People asked what happened to them? Well,
3 they're still there. But I think very important
4 is, there was never an urgency in this state,
5 because we didn't have standards from with which
6 to create focus. The frameworks pretty much
7 were utilized at the secondary level, but may or
8 may not be utilized to the total degree that we
9 think are important.
10 And I think that one of the issues was, we
11 never really developed a quality assurance
12 process. We talked about this with the
13 Accountability Commission, creating a process
14 where the state of Florida can review what is
15 happening in the schools around the state to
16 make certain that the standards are incorporated
17 in the curriculum, make certain that new
18 developing technology is used, make certain
19 that -- that the new teaching strategies with
20 assessments are being developed; and if more is
21 needed, requested.
22 And so we will also be developing a quality
23 assurance plan that will help us to be able to
24 go around the state and help people gauge where
25 they are at any given time.
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1 People think of these as audits. What we
2 think of these as is moving into a district, and
3 looking at where they are, and then more
4 importantly, asking them where they would like
5 to be and how the state and the district can
6 help them to get there, on teaching, on
7 learning, on assessments, on all of these
8 activities.
9 What are the next steps? First of all, we
10 hope to bring back before you in May the
11 contract for the FCAT development, which is
12 again that external assessment that will be
13 created over time. We'll talk about that
14 time line in just a moment. And very much in
15 keeping with what --
16 (Secretary Mortham exited the room.)
17 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- most states are
18 doing as far as developing their external
19 assessments. We are right now looking at the
20 grade levels, and it appears as though once in
21 10th, once in 8th, the elementary teachers --
22 and I had a meeting with 50 of the 67 teachers
23 of the year in Tampa not too long ago.
24 They came up with a great recommendation
25 that we're looking at at the elementary level,
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1 and that's not to test at elementary all in one
2 grade level. That is to test reading and
3 writing in 4th grade, and mathematics at
4 5th grade. That it's not absolutely essential
5 that you do it all in one sitting. And it's
6 also a good indicator to involve two different
7 grade levels, it also doesn't put the entire
8 onus at the elementary school level on that
9 major a test being given at just one grade
10 level. So that's something we're looking at
11 right now as well.
12 The communication is critical. We have to
13 communicate with, and again, actively have
14 participate, the people you see there:
15 Educators, parents, and then other
16 stakeholders.
17 It is vital that as we used and -- and
18 tapped the services and the talents of people
19 all over the state to get where we are, that we
20 now need to begin the communication process to
21 the entire state as to where we hope to be over
22 the next several years; and most importantly,
23 how it is we hope to get there; and then utilize
24 those stakeholders in further developing our
25 staff development opportunities, further
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1 developing many of the issues that still remain
2 out there. And we've got to involve those
3 people. And we're developing the plans as to
4 how we would communicate those kinds of things
5 even now.
6 I already alluded to the fact that very
7 important to me, and I think you, as State Board
8 members, is communicating with those mothers and
9 fathers. Actually putting in their hand, as
10 some states have, in easy to read, easy to
11 understand fashion, what those standards are.
12 So mom and dad can see.
13 If their child is in elementary, middle, or
14 high, at any given time, what the
15 state of Florida really believes is important
16 for that youngster to know and be able to do.
17 We think that'll also help the level of
18 parental involvement by truly making them a
19 stakeholder in the day-to-day learning that goes
20 on in our schools and the teaching thereof.
21 (Secretary Mortham entered the room.)
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: We also want to
23 involve as a stakeholder -- continue to involve,
24 the business community. They were a vital link
25 in what happened in Palisades.
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1 They are crying for educational reform.
2 They believe that strong standards are
3 necessary, they believe that strong
4 accountability is vital, and they absolutely
5 seem committed to the fact in this state,
6 through the Council of 100,
7 Associated Industries, Chamber of Commerce, and
8 groups that I haven't named, committed to trying
9 to help education and educators do the enormous
10 job of seeing to it that children can achieve
11 those standards.
12 They are the recipients of our product.
13 They are the people who will engage these
14 youngsters at some point in the world of work.
15 Continual improvement. This process, the
16 reason I have asked this to be put there is, I
17 want you to understand something very
18 important. This is a living process.
19 At no time should we as a state be able to
20 say, there, it's finished. We are constantly
21 going to need to look at the standards. Once
22 they are ultimately approved on a regular basis,
23 to make certain that they stay challenging and
24 rigorous, and based on what our children can
25 know and be able to do. It's important that we
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1 constantly look at that assessment system to
2 make certain that it's right for the state of
3 Florida.
4 One idea that I took away from Palisades
5 was, there's constantly the question about --
6 some of the questions that are asked on programs
7 like Florida Writes, some people might feel that
8 the question isn't appropriate or it's too
9 vague.
10 And what another state does -- that I very
11 much am interested in, they annually put
12 together a team of people: Teachers, business
13 people, parents, et cetera, to review the
14 questions that are going to be asked in that
15 given year. And if they find one that's
16 controversial, they agree to throw it out; if
17 they find one that's vague, they agree to throw
18 it out, or make it less vague.
19 So you constantly have to involve the
20 stakeholders in this process. This entire
21 process will constantly be up for review.
22 Staff development never ends. Please don't
23 get the idea that the plan we're developing has
24 a beginning and an ending. It is an ongoing
25 process that will constantly need to be updated,
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1 revamped and revitalized to see to it it's
2 always on the cutting edge of what our teachers
3 and our administrators and our parents need in
4 order to do the job that we're asking them to
5 do.
6 The student standards themselves, I alluded
7 to that. These are the standards that
8 ultimately we will ask you to approve coming in
9 the month of May.
10 But recognize, you are the State Board of
11 Education, and we will be bringing those
12 standards back to you if at any point we feel as
13 though they need to be upgraded, or they need to
14 be changed or altered in the future.
15 The time line. 95-96. We're in the middle
16 of -- or near the end, actually, of the
17 development of standards, assessment, and staff
18 development.
19 Development of standards. We again in the
20 month of May hope that we can have not only the
21 final version of the math and language arts that
22 you have before you today, but all of those
23 other seven subject areas for your review during
24 that month of May. And we're finishing those
25 and working on those even as we speak.
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1 The actual training will begin virtually
2 immediately. We desperately need to get on with
3 the business of staff development. As I've
4 suggested, we've already sent out the initial
5 RFP to start to get some responses from out
6 there in the state as to what people think they
7 can do for us in terms of our need for staff
8 development.
9 The FCAT itself, we would like to be in a
10 position to be able to finalize the external
11 assessment -- the one we'll give once in
12 elementary, once in middle, once in high --
13 field test that during next year.
14 Now, the field test is simply a process
15 issue. To gauge level of questions, to get
16 feedback from the participants, as to how the
17 questions were asked, what the responses to --
18 look like, were there any problems with the
19 process.
20 The following year is 97-98. That's where
21 we would intend to fully administer for the
22 first time the FCAT to all students in those
23 grades appropriate: Elementary, middle school,
24 and high school. That would be for purposes of
25 identifying a baseline of data.
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1 Any time you're going to use a test of this
2 significance, you need to first make certain
3 that you develop that baseline of data. This
4 would also give us two full years of staff
5 development, of curriculum integration, of
6 teaching strategies, whatever it happens to be.
7 And teachers would know that in 97-98, we would
8 be administering that test to gather a baseline
9 of data that we could use in future
10 administrations.
11 And then by 88-89, the test would be
12 administered. So you know, currently we have
13 on -- in law, the standardized testing for the
14 appropriate grades today. We would not want to
15 change those until this test is ready to be put
16 in its place in its entirety.
17 Currently there are seven different
18 standardized tests being given in the state of
19 Florida, and we have three grades that are
20 required to report their results to the
21 state of Florida.
22 Those are the tests that we currently use
23 to identify critically low performing schools.
24 We will continue to use that testing methodology
25 until this test is ready for full implementation
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1 in the state of Florida, and that's an important
2 issue.
3 That is the time line that we would hope
4 for. It is an ambitious time line, there's no
5 doubt about that.
6 But let me tell you, the good news is is
7 that we are behind a few states, we are far
8 ahead of the most -- of most of the states in
9 the state of Florida.
10 People who are looking to begin this
11 process, as it was discussed in Palisades, are
12 really looking, as President Clinton called for,
13 for a two-year journey to get where some states
14 already are, and I think where this state is
15 about to be.
16 We have also, I think, in this state gone a
17 little further than some states, in that we
18 currently have the school improvement process
19 already in our school system. We already have
20 stakeholder involvement more than many other
21 states via that process.
22 We've established our state goals. We've
23 established and are establishing the other
24 expectations that go along with readiness to
25 start school, and with those other goal areas
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1 that are not listed up here. We will have
2 identifiable expectations for schools and
3 districts on all of the goals in the state of
4 Florida.
5 So we are very close to putting together a
6 total package of classroom, of school, of
7 stakeholder, and of statewide involvement to see
8 to it clearly that our youngsters are able to
9 know and do the kinds of things that they have
10 to do in the 21st century to be successful.
11 You've seen this before. This is not a
12 commercial message. It's simply that it seems
13 as though every time in the state you try to
14 explain one piece of the educational pie, people
15 hear about that and think that's the only thing
16 that you're discussing, and, therefore, think
17 it's being discussed in an -- as an isolate.
18 All of these pieces of the pie we think are
19 absolutely critical to changing for the better
20 all that we do in public education. We do so
21 many things so very well. And we think with
22 these kinds of changes, we can increase student
23 learning, we can increase student achievement.
24 We think, if you give parents more choices,
25 as is being -- are being discussed upstairs
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1 today, as you give much more local control. And
2 while I appreciate the waiver process, I have
3 been a long believer that a waiver is a: Mother
4 May I.
5 If something is shaky enough that you would
6 allow someone not to do it, then you need to get
7 rid of it and allow people to do it as they see
8 appropriate, and that's the accountab-- or the
9 deregulation package we have being taken up
10 upstairs.
11 Safe schools and discipline. While that
12 sounds like a by-product, all of the things that
13 we've talked about become very difficult, if not
14 impossible, if schools are unsafe and
15 undisciplined for children and for teachers.
16 Professionalization reform. You're going
17 to be hearing a lot more about some of these
18 issues in the months to come. But we need, as
19 we approach the 21st century, to take a serious
20 look at the professional educational community,
21 to make certain that what we ask of our
22 professional educators, and what we ask in
23 return, is appropriate to meet the needs of the
24 21st century.
25 You can't reform education, unless you look
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1 at that incredibly important component, which is
2 the professional educational community.
3 The funding issues being discussed
4 upstairs. Part of that is the Florida Lottery,
5 of course; the utilization of technology; the
6 lifelong learning issue. And some people get
7 the stereotypical idea that that means dealing
8 with senior citizens. This means --
9 (Governor Chiles exited the room.)
10 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- dealing with
11 youngsters from the day they walk into their
12 first classroom to the day they exit their last
13 classroom. Trying to create a better union
14 between pre-K through 12, community colleges,
15 state universities, vocational technical
16 schools, to see to it that there's an
17 educational opportunity out there for every
18 citizen of the state of Florida that's right to
19 meet their needs.
20 Work force development is something else
21 we're working on right now to try to put all the
22 players at the table, to see to it that training
23 and retraining opportunities exist out there for
24 the citizens of the state of Florida.
25 The involvement of the business and
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1 industry community we've talked about already.
2 It is absolutely essential, and I don't mean
3 that to pay lip service. I'm going to tell you
4 this: I don't think we can do this without the
5 business and industry community acting as
6 partners in the 21st century.
7 Takes us back to accountability and high
8 standards. And we believe that once we finally
9 create a focal point of high standards; high
10 expectations; create that external assessment,
11 as well as deal with the day-to-day assessment
12 process in our teaching strategies, we think
13 that there's no reason that that can't provide
14 the linchpin to what all the other changes can
15 hopefully provide for all of us in public
16 education; and most importantly, make certain
17 that our youngsters take a backseat to no one in
18 the 21st century when they're trying to crack a
19 good quality of life for themself and their
20 family.
21 I underscore again, and then we'll end,
22 that all of the material you have is in draft
23 form. We're bringing this to you for
24 information today. But we very much wanted to
25 see -- wanted you to see, especially on the
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1 heels of the national summit, where the
2 state of Florida is in relationship to what we
3 believe are some critical items that we've got
4 to take up for the 21st century.
5 So with that, I think I've covered
6 everything that I need to cover, and would be
7 glad to try to entertain any questions that you
8 all have.
9 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Commissioner Nelson.
10 TREASURER NELSON: Frank, I want to commend
11 you for this. I think you're headed -- we are
12 headed in the right direction.
13 I particularly want to commend you for this
14 little brochure. This is brief, it's to the
15 point, it's clear, and it says what this whole
16 process about this State Standards is.
17 Now, could you repeat for me, please, about
18 the teacher training? You said that there's
19 41 million in your budget with regard to that?
20 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: All total,
21 Commissioner, and let me break it out for you.
22 We've got federal dollars, we call it direct
23 impact dollars requested. That's educational --
24 (Governor Chiles entered the room.)
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: -- enhancement
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1 centers; teacher assessment training; Title VI
2 money, which is federal money for math and
3 science, performance assessment system for
4 students with disabilities.
5 Because, remember, when you create an
6 assessment system like this, you have to
7 remember that you're also going to be testing
8 students with disabilities. That's one chunk.
9 That's four million seven hundred and ninety
10 thousand.
11 Another chunk is two million six hundred
12 and forty thousand, and that's for Academies for
13 Excellence in Teaching, Florida League of
14 Teachers, Education Reform Training, School
15 Community Professional Development Systems.
16 And then we also have 30 percent of our
17 technology money that is earmarked for staff
18 development and training. And that should come,
19 based on what we've requested, to about
20 21 million dollars in our revised budget, as
21 well as the $6 per FTE in the state of Florida,
22 which is required to be dedicated to staff
23 development. That is another thirty-six million
24 dollars.
25 And if Goals 2000 money is still available,
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1 it is our intent to request Goals 2000 money to
2 help augment staff development activities around
3 the state of Florida, specifically on the issues
4 of teaching and learning.
5 So that comes to a total of 43 million
6 dollars, Commissioner.
7 TREASURER NELSON: Well, that's good.
8 You no doubt have been seeing the spate of
9 recent articles nationally about our concern
10 about technology, which you've heard me repeat
11 over and over.
12 And -- and the fact is that they're getting
13 computers into the classrooms, but it's not
14 doing any good, because the teachers aren't
15 being trained to teach the students to use the
16 newer technology.
17 And so, you know, it's -- it's -- there's
18 an analogy -- a parallel here that's very clear
19 that with all of these standards, you've got to
20 be able to get that trained teacher in there so
21 that they can apply these --
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, sir.
23 TREASURER NELSON: -- standards.
24 Thanks.
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, sir.
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1 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Governor --
2 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, ma'am.
3 SECRETARY MORTHAM: -- I'd, too, like to
4 compliment Commissioner Brogan and -- and the
5 entire staff. I think they've done a wonderful
6 job of putting this all together, easily
7 understood.
8 The thing that was most exciting to me was
9 on your mathematics component, particularly
10 grades 9 through 12, the words: And used in the
11 real world was used more than once. And I think
12 that from my vantage point, that's real
13 important. I think the thing that we've missed
14 is the component of relating to the real world
15 for students throughout the process.
16 And my only question is is that if,
17 in fact, a student graduated with this entire
18 packet being completed, we can safely assume
19 then that there will be no need for remediation
20 at the -- at the college level. I'm sure that
21 the answer to that is --
22 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Oh.
23 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Yes.
24 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, ma'am.
25 SECRETARY MORTHAM: But have -- but are we
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1 sure that the colleges -- we're all mixing this
2 together so that the colleges also know that
3 when this is finished --
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Yes, Secretary. We
5 actually involved community college and
6 university people in the creation of these.
7 We also utilized the business standards
8 that came out of the SCANS report to make
9 certain that we had our vocational technical
10 people covered as well, and the higher level
11 skills necessary beyond just academia.
12 So, yes, ma'am. The idea is that if a
13 student can move through our continuum and
14 have -- at a minimum. We hope that students
15 will skyrocket above these. But these are --
16 are the kinds of rigorous, challenging standards
17 that would lead us to believe that our
18 remediation rate should drop proportionately
19 over time as these are fully implemented.
20 That's a big part.
21 You also mention real world. The
22 governors, including ours, and the CEOs who were
23 in Palisades used that phrase, real world, more
24 in a day-and-a-half than I thought possible,
25 really calling upon us to create real world
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1 opportunities for students.
2 And, again, in the assessment, to make
3 certain that they could actually think
4 critically and solve a real world problem,
5 rather than just be able to color in a bubble.
6 That real world issue has come up time and
7 time again.
8 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Well, and I don't think
9 that there's any question, without the training
10 component -- which I know everybody up here, and
11 you in particular, are concerned that we get
12 that training component under control.
13 But without that component, there's no way
14 that this actually can happen because -- and it
15 dates back to when -- when we were probably in
16 school. Particularly in mathematics, it has not
17 been related to the real world.
18 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: That's right.
19 SECRETARY MORTHAM: And so that training
20 component is very important that we make sure
21 that when, in fact, somebody is taught the
22 Pythagorean theorem, that there is some world
23 com-- real world component with that. Or else,
24 you know, it's kind of just out there.
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Net bans,
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1 for example.
2 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Yeah. Exactly.
3 Very good.
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you.
5 SECRETARY MORTHAM: That's a good one.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I was paying
7 attention.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: I want to certainly
9 compliment the Commissioner. I also want to
10 compliment the Accountability Commission, which
11 the Commissioner serves as the -- as the
12 Co-Chairman.
13 I -- and the Legislature for the steps that
14 they've taken with the -- the help of the State
15 Board of Education and the Department of
16 Education to get us to where we are. I think
17 with this report, we're beginning to see some
18 flesh on the skeleton. And we're beginning to
19 see if -- an end process, as we see when we
20 expect to get these demonstrated.
21 I think we will go back to 1991, we began
22 to see the beginning of this process, and a lot
23 of steps that have taken place from then to
24 bring us up to that.
25 And I'm just delighted to see that it is
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1 beginning to really take shape now. That's --
2 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Well, Governor, and I
3 want to thank you, and especially your point
4 man, who's been Buddy MacKay. You mentioned
5 that he and I are the Co-Chairs of the Statewide
6 Accountability Commission.
7 And he has been more than supportive of
8 everything that we have been trying to do. It
9 goes back to that issue of -- of
10 bipartisanship. I really don't think we're
11 going to be able to do for education what it is
12 we must in an -- in a partisan fashion.
13 And I think Governor MacKay, and I; working
14 together with the Accountability Commission;
15 working together with staff; and most
16 importantly, working together with the people of
17 the state of Florida to hear what it is that
18 they're asking us to do, and then take up the
19 cause, I think as you mentioned, is starting to
20 put some flesh on the skeleton.
21 And we appreciate, as always, the State
22 Board of Education members, each and every one
23 of you. You only get credit for what is seen up
24 here.
25 But for those in the audience and those in
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1 other places, the State Board of Education
2 members also spend an enormous amount of time
3 behind the scenes working with individual staff
4 members, their own and ours and others, on
5 understanding these issues to make certain when
6 they sit here, they can do the job that they
7 have to do. And we deeply appreciate that.
8 I wish all states had State Board of
9 Educations that got as involved as you all do.
10 And we thank you very much for that.
11 So with that, Governor, I will conclude my
12 remarks and let you know that we'll be back with
13 much more. And again, thanks for indulging me
14 for the presentation.
15 But we thought it was very important at
16 this point in time that you see it and you have
17 the chance to ask some questions.
18 Thanks, Governor.
19 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
20 SECRETARY MORTHAM: I move to accept the
21 report.
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and --
23 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
24 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- seconded.
25 Without objection, the report is accepted.
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1 DR. BEDFORD: Item number 6 is the proposed
2 contract for the development of the Florida
3 Comprehensive Assessment.
4 We would respectfully ask to withdraw that
5 item at this time.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So move.
7 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
9 Without objection, the motion to withdraw
10 is approved.
11 TREASURER NELSON: Governor, is that going
12 to cause a major delay?
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Commissioner, we hope
14 not. The time line that you have there
15 indicates -- and you're attorneys, so you
16 probably know better than I -- that there is
17 about a 30- to 45-day window for the hearing to
18 take place, it's apparently to take place on an
19 expedited -- sort of a fast track.
20 And we hope we'll have an answer to that
21 within 30 to 45 days. At this point in time,
22 we're not deviating from where we were, and
23 hopefully can get it all rectified and stay
24 right on track where we were.
25 We will, of course, let you know as it
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1 unfolds if it is going to cause us any change in
2 that time line, it's important for you to know
3 that right away. But right now, we're still on
4 schedule.
5 DR. BEDFORD: Thank you.
6 And I'd like to thank the members of the
7 Cabinet, too. I know that in the audience are
8 quite a few of the Department of Education
9 employees that have worked long hours on putting
10 this together.
11 And I to want make sure they know that I
12 deeply appreciate all the work they've done.
13 I would like to take one small privilege.
14 If Colleen Castille would please stand up, I
15 would like to announce to the Cabinet that today
16 is her birthday, and she would like us all to
17 wish her a happy birthday.
18 Thank you, Colleen.
19 Happy birthday, Colleen.
20 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I'm sure she deeply
21 appreciated that.
22 (The State Board of Education Agenda was
23 concluded.)
24 *
25
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Trustees.
2 MS. WETHERELL: Item 1, minutes.
3 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
4 Without objection, the minutes are
5 approved.
6 MS. WETHERELL: Item 2, rule repeals and
7 rule adoption.
8 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
10 Without objection, it's approved.
11 MS. WETHERELL: Item 3, a disclaimer for a
12 parcel of fill land and for submerged land
13 beneath a dock.
14 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
15 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
16 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
17 Without objection, it's approved.
18 MS. WETHERELL: Item 4, an option agreement
19 for Lake Wales Ridge CARL project.
20 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
21 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
23 Without objection, that's approved.
24 MS. WETHERELL: Substitute Item 5, an
25 option agreement, Lake Powell CARL project
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1 designation of the managing agencies. And
2 amendment of the management policy statement.
3 Trustees, I also have three other
4 amendments that I understand that the
5 Cabinet aides have discussed with you that
6 between Cabinet aides and here they would like
7 to see added.
8 And if I could just read three sentences
9 for the record to put these amendments, and see
10 if you're comfortable with those.
11 Vehicular access to the Camp Helen property
12 by the public and by management staff will be
13 from U.S. 98, and not through adjacent
14 subdivisions.
15 No dredging will be conducted to connect
16 Lake Powell to the Gulf of Mexico for navigation
17 purposes.
18 Management procedures will be put in place
19 to ensure that no adverse impacts on wading
20 birds, sea turtles, or other wildlife occur.
21 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I would move approval
22 with the amendments, Governor.
23 MS. WETHERELL: And there are speakers.
24 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
25 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
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1 Without objection, it's approved.
2 MS. WETHERELL: There are speakers to this
3 issue.
4 ATTORNEY GENERAL BUTTERWORTH: For or
5 against?
6 MS. WETHERELL: Some for and some against.
7 Yes, sir.
8 I first call on Representative
9 Scott Clemons if he is here. He might be on his
10 way.
11 If not, second, Chairman of the Bay County
12 Commission, Rick Hurst.
13 MR. HURST: Thank you very much, good
14 morning. Good to see you this morning. Met
15 most of you at one time or another.
16 I'm Rick Hurst, Chairman of the Bay County
17 Commission. The Commission's role in this issue
18 really amounts to approval by a unanimous vote
19 of a resolution supporting state purchase of
20 this particular piece of property. It's
21 something that if you know the area at all, that
22 is a -- a pristine part of Florida that is well
23 worth preserving.
24 And, of course, we have a unique situation
25 here where we have the State park system and
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1 Gulf Coast Community College coming together to
2 put something together on this property that --
3 where there's already some development that has
4 existed that will serve the residents of
5 Bay County and the State of Florida for many,
6 many years into the future.
7 It's a unique opportunity. This resolution
8 of support also has been passed unanimously by
9 the Panama City Beach Council, the Tourist
10 Development Council, and also the Beaches Area
11 Chamber of Commerce. So I think you have these
12 resolutions already in your packets.
13 And that is the extent of the
14 County Commission's involvement in the State
15 acquisition of this property.
16 And we would appreciate your favorable
17 consideration this morning.
18 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
19 MR. HURST: Thank you, Governor.
20 MS. WETHERELL: Carolyn Cramer, a citizen.
21 MS. CRAMER: Good morning.
22 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much
23 for the opportunity to talk with you about the
24 wonderfully rich history of the areas now known
25 as Camp Helen and Lake Powell.
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1 Recently, I visited Philadelphia and
2 Independence Hall, and I was reminded of the
3 miracle of our government. While certainly not
4 perfect, an amazing -- it is an amazing
5 formation which allows even ordinary citizens,
6 like myself, the opportunity to speak to the
7 highest ranking government officials about a
8 subject for which they care deeply. And I
9 thank you very much for this opportunity.
10 I ask you to close your eyes for a moment
11 on this beautiful spring morning, and let your
12 imagination take you to the pristine white
13 shores of the Gulf.
14 And open your imagination to the sun
15 sparkling on the beautiful waters of
16 Lake Powell; to the sea breeze gently breathing
17 fresh air through the pines, the oaks, the
18 sea oats; the rare shore birds calling to one
19 another among the dunes; the migratory birds
20 landing, pausing from their journey from
21 Central America to their summer home in the
22 north.
23 Open your imagination, and I know you'll
24 hear the footsteps of our predecessors.
25 Preliminary archeological surveys tell us that
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1 native Americans and early white pioneers did,
2 indeed, walk these shores.
3 The name Phillips Inlet came from a
4 skirmish between the English sailors and Chief
5 Indian Joe's men in 1844.
6 If you listen carefully, you may also hear
7 the Yankee soldiers demolishing the works where
8 the Confederates made their precious commodity,
9 salt.
10 Archeologists have found enough evidence to
11 warrant application for the site to be listed
12 and protected by the national registry.
13 I'm asking you today to vote to protect
14 this magnificent area so that future generations
15 may hear these precious sounds as well.
16 Thank you.
17 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you very much.
18 REPRESENTATIVE CLEMONS: Thank you.
19 Governor, and members of the Cabinet, I'm
20 Representative Scott Clemons, and it's a
21 pleasure for me to be here today to talk to you
22 about an issue that's very important to me; and
23 as you can see, important to members of
24 Bay County, people from Bay County.
25 You'll notice that -- he had to step out,
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1 I believe -- but Senator Robert Harden was here,
2 and he asked me to let you know that he, too,
3 share -- shares in this effort.
4 Let me mention three things about
5 Camp Helen, and how important it is for us to
6 have this acquisition.
7 First of all, I'd have to say that I have
8 never seen anything like this in Bay County. We
9 have a lot of issues that -- it'd be very
10 difficult for us to deal with, and there's a lot
11 of dissension on those issues.
12 But I have never been more proud of
13 Bay County and the way that it has come
14 together, normal people, different walks of
15 life, to all support this effort, all for many
16 different reasons.
17 You see many people here today, and they
18 are the leaders that represent a lot of other
19 people from Bay County. People from the
20 business community; from the tourism development
21 council; from our local government, many
22 different levels of local government; from our
23 community college; and from our school system.
24 That demonstrates a tremendous amount of
25 support from many different areas in the
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1 community.
2 That is unique about this. But it's also
3 unique in the way that we'll be able to use this
4 project. Not only are we taking a beautiful,
5 pristine piece of land, and preserving it for
6 our future generations, but the way we use it is
7 unique.
8 We have our Gulf Coast Community College,
9 which will have environmental education there.
10 We also have our high schools that will be able
11 to engage in community -- or environmental
12 education there as well.
13 Not to digress too long, but I had a letter
14 the other day from the Office of Environmental
15 Education that will be honoring Mosley
16 High School in Bay County for its environmental
17 education program. Now they can rise to a
18 higher level if we have this acquisition of
19 Camp Helen.
20 Finally, let me mention that this is the
21 only -- we have not had any other CARL
22 acquisition in Bay County. So you can
23 understand how important this is for us.
24 So we would appreciate your support for the
25 acquisition of Camp Helen.
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you very much.
2 REPRESENTATIVE CLEMONS: Thank you very
3 much.
4 MS. WETHERELL: Senator Robert Harden.
5 SENATOR HARDEN: Thank you,
6 Madam Secretary.
7 Governor and members of the Cabinet, I'll
8 make this very brief, because I think the prior
9 speakers have addressed this issue adequately.
10 And I join Representative Clemons in full
11 support in asking Governor and the members of
12 the Cabinet to support the decision of the CARL
13 committee of a few months ago to move the
14 Camp Helen project up on the list and for
15 acquisition by the State.
16 It is truly one of the unique examples in
17 this state where many people from different
18 walks of life and different sectors of a local
19 economy have come together and asked for a site
20 to be preserved for future generations.
21 And I would just lend my full and complete
22 support in the recommendation of the CARL
23 committee, and ask Governor, and members of the
24 Cabinet, for your favorable consideration of
25 this project.
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1 Thank you very much.
2 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
3 MS. WETHERELL: Next I'd like to call on
4 Mike Parsonnet.
5 MR. PARSONNET: Good morning, Governor, and
6 other members of the Cabinet.
7 I am from Walton County, and I own property
8 that is directly adjacent to this property that
9 is in Bay County. The only separating point is
10 a grain of sand. There is no dividing line on
11 the west side of the Phillips Inlet. I do not
12 stand before you as what's euphemistically
13 called the NIMBY, Not in My Backyard.
14 I support a park. I support the land being
15 preserved. I am the closest permanent resident
16 to this site, and I've lived there for over
17 five years, and I've been a witness to the
18 illegal dredging, I've been a witness to fires
19 on the property, I've been a witness to all of
20 the lawless activity that has taken place on the
21 property.
22 The people in Walton County are the only --
23 it is the only way to access the park if you do
24 not come in off of 98, and I believe you
25 addressed that in -- with an earlier speaker.
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1 This is a very environmentally sensitive
2 area. There have been over 3 acres worth of
3 sand dunes that have been lost, based around a
4 permit issued by the DEP on July 2nd of 1994.
5 Since October 18th of 1994, I have written
6 the DEP, the Governor's office, have received a
7 letter back from the Governor, basically
8 addressing the fact that there is a problem with
9 the outflow of the water of Lake Powell going
10 into the Gulf.
11 When it is dredged illegally and kept open,
12 the water in front of all of our property turns
13 black, and we're not looking at the same water
14 that other people in Walton and Bay County are
15 able to look at.
16 The unique thing about this piece of
17 property is its geographical location. It is
18 isolated from Bay County.
19 So what we have is Bay County and
20 Bay County constituents, and some Walton County
21 constituents, promoting the park. However, they
22 are not dealing with the beer blasts in the
23 middle of the night, the cursing of local
24 residents who are simply asking for quiet.
25 And -- again, I go back to the fact that we are
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1 right connected.
2 I implore the Governor and the Cabinet to
3 please ask the developer, the State, the DEP, to
4 go ahead and execute a permit that has been in
5 the hands of the developer since September of
6 last year where a relief point is to be dug a
7 150 feet to 200 feet east of the pier, between
8 the wading bird -- 400 feet of beach, the wading
9 birds have staked out, and is marked off; and
10 the existing pier; therefore, relieving the
11 water flow past the dunes.
12 I have videotapes, I have pictures, I have
13 extensive files on the dune destruction from the
14 time that I adopted the -- the area as my little
15 pet project to try to save a pristine dune
16 area.
17 There are no dunes left. However, they
18 could be receded if a blowout channel is
19 immediately asked for and dug.
20 Four hundred feet, as I mentioned to you,
21 is for wading birds. It's already staked off.
22 The additional 800 feet is the area that
23 has the pier, and what has been described as a
24 meandering natural outflow. It is anything but
25 meandering and natural. It is dug, and the
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1 Florida Marine Patrol has many, many cases that
2 have been made at that location.
3 Our neighborhood is made up of basically
4 private residences, and some condominiums. The
5 condominiums are fundamentally nonrentals. They
6 belong to people who come and they vacation down
7 in the area.
8 I would ask also that in the -- in the
9 statement that goes -- that is put together,
10 I think it's called the statement of activity
11 for the park, that the western half -- the
12 western side of the park be addressed; i.e.,
13 fences, signage. And that if, in fact, the park
14 does fill up, the only natural place for these
15 people to go, because they've crossed the
16 Phillips Inlet Bridge, is down into
17 Walton County and in -- down into a
18 predominantly residential area.
19 I would also ask that we get some
20 law enforcement presence out on this property as
21 soon as possible, because this dredging
22 continues as late as two days ago.
23 If there is an overflow that it -- like is
24 being experienced at St. Andrews Park, that a
25 plan be in place that when you turn people away,
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1 they simply are not sent down to the next
2 street, and then suddenly we get the overflow
3 of -- of the park.
4 I would like -- and have offered my
5 services to the DEP, to coastal beaches and
6 shores. This is my seventh trip up here in a
7 year-and-a-half to get a simple $6500 blowout
8 trench in place so that the dunes could have
9 been saved.
10 And they -- the government did not act at
11 all. And we lost the dunes. And it was not a
12 direct result of Hurricane Opal. It was a
13 direct result of illegal dredging.
14 So insofar as this becoming a park, I'm
15 fine with that. But I -- I plead with this
16 committee to allow me to have some input,
17 because I know more about this property than any
18 government agency. I walk it daily, I know
19 where the dredging is taking place. And as we
20 stand here today and I address you, parts of
21 this property are washing out to sea as the
22 rains come and the water goes out through the
23 outlet.
24 So what I'm asking for in closing is an
25 immediate addressing by the DEP of a blowout
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1 channel, not to -- not for navigation, but that
2 when the lake hits a certain level, it basically
3 blows out, and the water does not run on a
4 westerly -- westernly line in front of the
5 dunes.
6 And that we immediately begin fencing and
7 restoring the dunes to where they were prior to
8 the issuance of the permit by the DEP on
9 January -- July 2nd of 1994.
10 I thank you for your time. And again, I
11 offer myself, my files, I'm an open book. I'm
12 simply right in this, and I will be happy to
13 meet with any of you or your staff, and take as
14 much time as you need for me to explain what is
15 really happening, to quote you all, in the real
16 world.
17 In the real world, this is not natural. In
18 the real world, this is illegal digging. In the
19 real world, the Florida Marine Patrol has made
20 case after case, and has walked out and seen the
21 digs.
22 Last year, the Florida Marine Patrol had
23 air, water, and land surveillance to catch the
24 people from digging this trench, and they were
25 still able to dig it.
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1 So once the trench is dug and the water
2 flows passed what was the dunes, the dunes begin
3 to fall. And we've lost three rows of dunes
4 that are -- that protected our house. So that
5 when Opal did come, I took on 5 feet of water,
6 and lost over $10,000 of my personal property
7 because no one in the DEP would recognize that
8 these dunes were falling, and no one could take
9 action to correct it.
10 So I implore you, please, I'll come up --
11 back to Tallahassee for a sixth time, spend as
12 much time as necessary, and I can show you with
13 documents, with pictures, exactly how these
14 dunes went away, and hopefully get together with
15 State government and do whatever I can do to
16 help restore them.
17 I've been trying to save Camp Helen long
18 before the group that is going to address you
19 comes before you.
20 I have no motive. I'm not in the
21 real estate business, I'm not trying to flip
22 property, I'm not -- all I am is a man who saw a
23 beautiful treasure in this state, I bought
24 property adjacent to it, and then with the DEP's
25 full knowledge, I watched these three lines of
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1 30 foot dunes be taken down with absolutely no
2 activity.
3 Again, I thank you for your time. And I am
4 available, and my files will be available to
5 anybody should you need them.
6 Once again, thank you, Governor.
7 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
8 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Governor, question.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, sir. Question.
10 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Of the Secretary,
11 I'm sorry. Or anyone on your staff, Secretary.
12 It seems as though based on the motion,
13 especially including the General's amendments,
14 which I think take up the issue of access on
15 U.S. 98, the issue of dredging only for purposes
16 of -- of outlet, not for purposes of navigation,
17 and the management issues, that leaves basically
18 two questions that I have on my mind:
19 One, that again either you or member of
20 your staff can answer, was raised with the issue
21 of fencing and signage.
22 What is the -- the position as far as
23 that -- creating that park and fencing the -- is
24 it fenced from surrounding property in typical
25 fashion?
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1 MR. PARSONNET: No. The -- the unusual
2 aspect of this property, and I won't belabor --
3 (Commissioner Crawford exited the room.)
4 MR. PARSONNET: -- and take much of your
5 time.
6 The unusual aspect of this property is
7 this: Bay County can certainly come here and
8 approach you and this grass roots effort to save
9 this park. I've been trying to save this park,
10 on -- but on deaf ears.
11 The problem with this park is the only --
12 it is the only piece of Bay County that is west
13 of Phillips Inlet. It's the only piece of
14 Bay County that has Gulf frontage west of
15 Phillips Inlet. Four hundred of the
16 twelve hundred feet is nesting birds, so you're
17 really left with 800 feet.
18 In answer to your question, there is no
19 dividing line between Bay and Walton County.
20 There is no beach access directly next to the
21 Camp Helen property. It -- there is a utility
22 easement, but not a beach access.
23 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Okay. And --
24 MR. PARSONNET: So that what has happened
25 is, when people would obey the Do Not Enter sign
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1 on Highway 98 for the past five years, they
2 simply go down to the next street, which is my
3 block; they come down; they park their cars; and
4 they enter onto the Camp Helen property, because
5 there's nothing to keep them out.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Okay. And my
7 question of the Secretary would be: Is that
8 issue, Madam Secretary, going to be addressed?
9 MS. WETHERELL: I was going to ask
10 Fran Mainella, who's the Park Director, to
11 answer that.
12 Fran.
13 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Sure.
14 MS. MAINELLA: Good morning.
15 Fran Mainella, Director of your State Parks.
16 (Commissioner Crawford entered the room.)
17 MS. MAINELLA: What we'll be doing as soon
18 as the acquisition takes -- comes our way, we
19 will be immediately working on fencing. That's
20 usually our first effort that we do; signage
21 immediately takes place; and also we get the
22 presence of a park ranger out there, which
23 hopefully will also assist in meeting the needs
24 that have been expressed here.
25 Also we do have a unit management planning
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1 process, which we involve the community and will
2 be glad to have our community involved in this
3 effort.
4 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you, Fran.
5 MS. MAINELLA: Thank you.
6 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: And the only other
7 question then, Governor, that I would have,
8 which may be a little more complicated, is on
9 the issue of the -- the outlet.
10 I've seen pictures and talked with staff
11 about sort of the history of that -- of that
12 outlet.
13 What is the answer on that particular
14 issue, or position of the Department?
15 MR. GREEN: The issue's been before you as
16 Trustees a number of times in the past. The --
17 the current owner of the property has been to
18 you at least three times asking for us to grant
19 them permission to place a navigational inlet
20 into Lake Powell for -- for navigation
21 purposes.
22 Each time it's been brought to you, they've
23 withdrawn it from the agenda, because, quite
24 frankly, they didn't have the votes to get it
25 passed.
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1 The Department has continued to be in a
2 position of -- of -- of being against any type
3 of navigational dredging at this inlet. I don't
4 see us changing our position there.
5 As far as an outfall, the permits have been
6 issued to -- to the current owner of the
7 property so that there's a -- there could be a
8 pop off valve placed --
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: East of --
10 MR. GREEN: -- east of the pier.
11 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Which would not
12 negatively impact the -- the nesting birds?
13 MR. GREEN: It shouldn't.
14 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: And what's the status
15 of that at this point then?
16 MR. GREEN: Those permits have been issued,
17 construction has not proceeded, and so it's up
18 to the applicant whether or not he wishes to
19 construct or not.
20 At this point, he's chosen not to
21 construct. But he does have permits that will
22 allow him to do that.
23 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Then the obvious
24 follow-up question is: Once the applicant is no
25 longer the applicant, if all of this moves
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1 forward, as I think everyone hopes it will, and
2 once we become the entity in charge, is it our
3 intent to change the position of that outlet and
4 move it to the eastern side of the pier?
5 MR. GREEN: We'll have to look at it in the
6 management plan as we develop that and decide
7 exactly where we need it to be, and if this is
8 the correct location for it.
9 This is a naturally occurring event at this
10 inlet. It's migrated all the way from just on
11 the east side of the pier to where its current
12 location is, and back and forth over history.
13 So it's -- it's a very naturally occurring
14 type activity at a number of these lakes that
15 are immediately adjacent --
16 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: I guess my question
17 would be this: We don't have a particular
18 bias -- that's a leading question. I apologize,
19 Governor.
20 Is there any particular bias on our part as
21 to whether we care or not where that particular
22 outlet would go as long as it is -- and you're
23 right, the most natural point for an outlet,
24 because they do have a nasty habit of wandering
25 based on weather conditions, erosion, and that
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1 kind of thing.
2 MR. GREEN: Uh-hum.
3 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Is it our position
4 that if we find that east of that pier is the
5 most appropriate place, we would put it there;
6 if west of the pier is the most appropriate
7 place, we would put it there, is that what
8 you're telling me?
9 MR. GREEN: I believe that's -- that's
10 correct, yes.
11 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: So if, in fact, it is
12 east of the pier, we would take that up, make a
13 staff recommendation, put it east of the pier.
14 MR. GREEN: Right.
15 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: If that's the
16 appropriate place.
17 MR. GREEN: That's right. That's correct.
18 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Thank you, Governor.
19 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
20 MR. PARSONNET: Can I just make --
21 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, sir.
22 MR. PARSONNET: -- one more point of --
23 GOVERNOR CHILES: Yes, sir.
24 MR. PARSONNET: -- clarification?
25 One more point of clarification.
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1 The turtle season is soon upon us. The
2 turtle season was the thing that kept
3 Mr. Harris, the developer, from originally
4 digging the perm-- the area east of the pier
5 when he first came to the DEP.
6 If we simply wait until this goes through a
7 government process, we will continue to lose
8 dunes and beach sand washing out to the Gulf.
9 This is not -- that's why I've come to
10 Tallahassee as many times as I have, and I've
11 tried to resolve this. This isn't a wait and
12 see thing. This property is changing.
13 The only reason that that outlet is where
14 it is today is because of an illegal dig.
15 Anyone who stands before this body and tells you
16 anything differently is simply not telling you
17 the truth.
18 The permit was issued 250 feet east of the
19 pier. When the dig took place, and on the very
20 permit that was handed to me, the picture shows
21 that the dig took place west of the pier.
22 So a natural phenomenon, this is not. This
23 is an intentional dig so that people can get
24 their boats from the Lake Powell Marina that
25 Bay County built. And the best fishing in all
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1 of northwest Florida is right due south of
2 Phillips Inlet. But the lake is 742 acres, and
3 in order to keep an outflow constant, you have
4 to dig a trench all the way back to the
5 Intracoastal.
6 So -- but I just implore you, the trench --
7 no matter who has the property, the trench
8 should have been dug before Hurricane Opal. But
9 if we simply wait and we say, well, we're going
10 to think about it, we need to look at it, you
11 just but need to walk the property, and you will
12 see, it's extremely obvious that what were
13 dunes, which my files will show, are now flat
14 beaches.
15 And there's only one reason. The water was
16 intentionally redirected by an illegal dig. The
17 Florida Marine Patrol has record of that dig.
18 So anybody that tells you that this is a --
19 no -- it -- no littoral flow in any of northeast
20 Florida -- of northwest Florida, there's been no
21 lake with littoral flow that's jumped 800 feet
22 in one year.
23 This jumped 800 feet in one year because it
24 was dug. And we have the pictures to show it.
25 Again, I thank you for your time.
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
2 There's been a motion and a second.
3 MS. WETHERELL: We have --
4 GOVERNOR CHILES: Without objection, the
5 item is approved.
6 MS. WETHERELL: Sorry. There are three
7 other speakers.
8 GOVERNOR CHILES: Oh, excuse me. I --
9 MS. WETHERELL: I'm --
10 GOVERNOR CHILES: -- didn't --
11 MS. WETHERELL: -- sorry about that. Let
12 me go ahead and call them up.
13 The final three: Terry Donahue,
14 Helen Schroeder, and Lynn Gager.
15 (Attorney General Butterworth exited the
16 room.)
17 MR. DONAHUE: My name is Terry Donahue.
18 I'm from Inlet Beach. I live next door to
19 Camp Helen.
20 Good morning, Governor Chiles --
21 GOVERNOR CHILES: Good morning.
22 MR. DONAHUE: -- and distinguished Cabinet
23 members.
24 I've considered the input since last week's
25 Cabinet aide meeting, and tried to weigh the
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1 final outcome. I would hope that a few things
2 might be considered in the decisions made here
3 this morning.
4 Number one, what will really happen to this
5 property if the State does not make this
6 purchase? My bet is nothing.
7 I don't believe this property to be a
8 viable development, and I question the validity
9 of the information provided to this Cabinet.
10 This is not an effort on my part to keep a
11 park out of my backyard. But rather to bring to
12 light a few blatant aspects of this purchase.
13 Why did Bay County Commission rezone the
14 property at appraisal time in a hurried manner?
15 Would the State not be in line to negotiate this
16 purchase more directly without the
17 Nature Conservancy's $100,000, and purported
18 expenses of developer after options expired.
19 Why invest 14 million dollars, plus
20 building and management costs, when a park area
21 already exists within a quarter mile in an
22 undeveloped stage.
23 The condition of existing facilities at
24 Camp Helen is deplorable. The existing
25 buildings are in a severe state of disrepair.
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1 And I can't imagine the usefulness this
2 property -- of this property. It's been
3 neglected for 10 to 15 years, relatively
4 abandoned.
5 As a result of the virtual abandonment of
6 Camp Helen by Avondale Mills in the 1980s, the
7 adjacent property owners have suffered the
8 consequences of inadequate patrol, and numerous
9 acts of vandalism and trespassing.
10 It's been stated that we represent a
11 minority. We, too, are a grass roots interest
12 group. But our efforts have been directed more
13 toward saving the ecosystem, and hoping the
14 State not spend monies frivolously.
15 I would hope that if, in fact, this Cabinet
16 moves forward on this issue today, you would
17 consider the ramifications carefully, and take
18 the time to research the consequences and local
19 impact to adjacent property owners.
20 In closing, I would like to point out that
21 this is an ecologically sensitive area, and I'm
22 sure this will be taken into consideration.
23 I thank you for your time.
24 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, sir.
25 MS. SCHROEDER: Good morning. Good
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1 afternoon maybe by now.
2 I'm Helen Schroder. I live in Inlet Beach
3 in Walton County, just a few blocks from
4 Camp Helen property.
5 I want to thank you, Governor Chiles, and
6 the members of your Cabinet as well, for this
7 opportunity to share my thoughts.
8 Last April, I wrote a letter which appeared
9 in Walton and Bay County newspapers asking for
10 support to save Camp Helen from development.
11 First a few people tried to help, then
12 through word of mouth, more and more joined the
13 effort. And so it grew.
14 Large numbers of people, mostly from Bay
15 and Walton Counties, wrote letters, made phone
16 calls, and signed petitions.
17 It became such a massive grand --
18 groundswell that CARL officials told us it may
19 well have been the largest outpouring of support
20 for any of their projects to date.
21 That so many people joined in this effort
22 should be viewed exactly for what it was, namely
23 a testimony as to the beauty and the special
24 nature of the Camp Helen property.
25 It is truly gratifying that public
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1 officials listened to these many voices and
2 responded in a hard working attempt to save this
3 special place.
4 Also, it has been especially gratifying to
5 me as a Walton County person to work with
6 Bay County residents on an Environmental
7 Education Center Advisory Committee at the Gulf
8 Coast Community College. And I look forward to
9 continuing what has become a joint labor of love
10 as we work toward the realization of a college
11 operated environmental education center on this
12 State park land.
13 Thank you all again for this chance to
14 share my views with you.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you very much.
16 MS. SCHRODER: Thank you.
17 MS. GAGER: Good morning. I'm Lynn Gager.
18 This project has been a perfect example of
19 a success story. A success story of how State
20 government and local citizens can work
21 collaboratively together.
22 As you meet Helen Schroeder, the local
23 resident who wrote the letter, and the
24 groundswell, as she described, of local citizens
25 wanting to preserve our environment.
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1 As we look to the opportunities,
2 Camp Helen, Lake Powell is ranked 25 on the CARL
3 list. Not in a fundable position. We had about
4 six, seven months to rally together, work
5 collaboratively together with the Department of
6 Environmental Protection and the
7 Nature Conservancy by our hands, and walking
8 with us, we raised from the 25th ranking, to now
9 a successful ranking of number 6.
10 What a success story.
11 In less than six months, we are now in a
12 fundable position and have the opportunity today
13 to preserve precious lands in our community.
14 Not only preserve our precious lands, but
15 for use of the lands is what is so incredible.
16 Because when we thought about, okay, we have
17 900 acres here that's ranked number 25, what
18 citizens, what do we want to happen here? And
19 we rallied together, and we dreamed together.
20 And we said, you know, someone in the State park
21 has now realized a national ranking of
22 number 1.
23 I go to St. Andrews State Park probably two
24 or three times a week, and enjoy that beautiful
25 scenery. But often have to wait in line, can't
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1 get a campsite, and I have to come back the next
2 day to try to camp there because I'm a tent
3 camper.
4 And so we started scratching our heads and
5 said, let's have Camp Helen a State park. Let's
6 get Gulf Coast involved and have that
7 environmental education center that we've
8 dreamed about for years. Let's put these two
9 agencies together.
10 And we've done it. We have. You see here
11 the Department of Education -- Department of
12 Environmental Protection, and Gulf Coast
13 rallying behind these efforts.
14 And a more perfect example. Yesterday the
15 CARL trust fund folks came to Camp Helen, and we
16 got a chance to tour the property. And I was
17 getting ready in the morning, and had my hiking
18 boots on and my camping clothes on, and I have a
19 four year old son.
20 And I usually dress like this going to
21 work, and he said, mama, where are you going
22 today?
23 And I said, Jonathan, I'm going to
24 Camp Helen.
25 Oh, you're going to Camp Helen, I want to
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1 go.
2 It's like, oh, you can't go today, you're
3 going to primary prep. So we got the bulldozers
4 out, and we're pushing bulldozers around the
5 family room, and we push it underneath the
6 coffee table in one of our now favorite area to
7 don't explore.
8 And then he takes his bulldozer and says,
9 mama, let's go to Camp Helen State Park. And he
10 pushes his little bulldozer on another area of
11 the family room, and I said, yes, Jonathan,
12 let's go to Camp Helen State Park. And that's
13 what we truly want to do.
14 Thank you.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you, ma'am.
16 MS. WETHERELL: That concludes the
17 speakers.
18 GOVERNOR CHILES: All right. We have a
19 motion and a second.
20 Without objection, the motion is approved.
21 MS. WETHERELL: Item 6 is an option
22 agreement for Rookery Bay CARL project, and a
23 waiver of survey.
24 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
25 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: It's been moved and
2 seconded.
3 Without objection, it's adopted.
4 MS. WETHERELL: Item 7 is a purchase
5 agreement for Coupon Bight Key deer project, and
6 a waiver of survey.
7 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion.
8 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
9 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
10 Without objection, that's adopted.
11 MS. WETHERELL: Item 8 are two option
12 agreements for the Game and Fresh Water Fish
13 Commission.
14 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
15 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Second.
16 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
17 Without objection, it's approved.
18 MS. WETHERELL: Item 9 is a purchase
19 agreement for the Department of Agriculture.
20 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
21 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
22 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
23 Without objection, that's approved.
24 MS. WETHERELL: Item 10 is authority to
25 enter into an acquisition agreement with
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1 St. Johns River Water Management District.
2 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
3 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
4 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
5 Without objection, it's approved.
6 MS. WETHERELL: Item 11, recommend approval
7 of amendments to the Keywaydin Club covenants
8 and restrictions.
9 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move approval.
10 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Second.
11 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
12 Without objection, that's approved.
13 MS. WETHERELL: Item 12 is release of CARL
14 trust fund dollars.
15 COMMISSIONER CRAWFORD: Motion, approval.
16 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
17 GOVERNOR CHILES: Motion and seconded.
18 Without objection, it's approved.
19 MS. WETHERELL: Okay.
20 (The Board of Trustees of the Internal
21 Improvement Trust Fund Agenda was concluded.)
22 *
23
24
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1 GOVERNOR CHILES: Department of
2 Environmental Protection.
3 MS. WETHERELL: Okay. Item 1, minutes.
4 SECRETARY MORTHAM: Move approval.
5 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Second.
6 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
7 Without objection, they're approved.
8 MS. WETHERELL: And Item 2, recommend
9 withdrawal.
10 COMMISSIONER BROGAN: Move withdrawal.
11 COMPTROLLER MILLIGAN: Second.
12 GOVERNOR CHILES: Moved and seconded.
13 Request for the withdrawal is granted.
14 MS. WETHERELL: Thank you.
15 GOVERNOR CHILES: Thank you.
16 (The Department of Environmental Protection
17 Agenda was concluded.)
18 *
19 (The Cabinet meeting was concluded at
20 11:40 a.m.)
21
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1 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
2
3
4 STATE OF FLORIDA:
5 COUNTY OF LEON:
6 I, LAURIE L. GILBERT, do hereby certify that
7 the foregoing proceedings were taken before me at the
8 time and place therein designated; that my shorthand
9 notes were thereafter translated; and the foregoing
10 pages numbered 1 through 110 are a true and correct
11 record of the aforesaid proceedings.
12 I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a relative,
13 employee, attorney or counsel of any of the parties,
14 nor relative or employee of such attorney or counsel,
15 or financially interested in the foregoing action.
16 DATED THIS 19TH day of APRIL, 1996.
17
18
19 LAURIE L. GILBERT, RPR, CCR
100 Salem Court
20 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 878-2221
21
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