Tri-County School Facilities Meeting

The next Tri-County School Facilities Meeting will be hosted by Broward County Schools and take place on Friday, February 18th at the Anne Kolb Nature Center located at 751 Sheridan Street in Hollywood. District staff is invited to participate starting at 12:00pm and industry professionals are invited to attend at 2:00pm.

Facilities Management is sad to announce the passing of Brian Cotteleer of Facilities Services on Thursday, February 3rd. Brian was the foreman for Area 2. He surely will be missed.

Forest Park Elementary and Pine Jog Elementary won awards from the Associated Builders and Contractors at their annual gala on October 22, 2010 at teh Signature Grand. Forest Park, which was built by Moss & Associates, won the Excellence in Construction Pyramid Award in the Institutional category for projects between $15 million and $30 million. Pine Jog, built by Pirtle Construction, won the Excellence in Construction Green Award for projects over $30 million.

The Treasure Coast and Palm Beach Branch of the U.S. Green Building Council’s South Florida Chapter will be hosting a Greening Florida Schools conference on Friday, September 17th at the St. Lucie School Board Office.

On August 28th Joseph Sanches, Chief of Facilities Management, won the Outstanding Community LEEDer Award from the South Florida Chapter of theU.S. Green Building Council. Mr. Sanches gives credit to the School Board for its May 2008 decision to build all new schools to the LEED Silver standard as a minimum. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design. The School District was the first to build a LEED Gold school in the state of Florida with the opening of Pine Jog Elementary School in 2008. The District currently has five other schools on the path to becoming LEED certified.

Christina Crespo, the School District’s Sustainability Coordinator since 2007, was recently interviewed by Today’s Campus Online.  Follow Christina’s career from Cornell University to the School District during which time she has gained a tremendous amount of exposure and experience in the area of sustainability.

The District’s coordinated planning with the County and cities to create School Concurrency is highlighted in a new textbook titled “Strategic Collaboration in Public and Nonprofit Administration” by Dorothy Norris-Tirrell and Joy A. Clay. Chapter 6 of the book is written by Esteban Dalehite who details “the important role of trust in moving toward a viable solution, even when the collaborative effort is mandated by government.”   The book is published by the American Society for Public Adminsitration.

The South Florida Chapter of the National Association for Minority Contractors recognized Joseph Sanches, Chief of Facilities Management, with its first Public Sector Award. The award was given to Mr. Sanches for his efforts to level the playing field for minority contractors by giving them opportunities to obtain contractors to build and renovate public schools.

Since coming to the District in 2002 Mr. Sanches has put in place changes that has made it possible for minority firms to be sub-consultants on every major construction project. A few minority contractors to win contracts from several hundred thousand dollars to over $5 milion.

The Palm Beach County School District along with the Florida Department of Transportation, the City of Riviera Beach, the South Florida Commuter Services School Program and the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority and Operation Lifesaver will be hosting a Safety Fair on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.  The fair will take place at John F. Kennedy Middle School.  Some of the programs planned are: a bicycle rodeo, a poster contest, information on school bus safety, identification of hazardous walking conditions, child seat safety check, water safety instructions, and railroad crossing safety information. There will be prizes such as bicycles, helmets, water bottles, tote bags and, backpacks.  Refreshments will be provided. This is an event for the entire family.  We hope to see you there.

If you would like to volunteer please contact the School District Planning Office Melissa Rubin, Intergovernmental Relations Section Secretary at:

Telephone: (561) 963-3877 or 434-8042

Email: Melissa.rubin@palmbeach.k12.fl.us

The community is cordially invited to come celebrate with the Seminole Ridge High School Construction Academy as hold our Ticket booth dedication ceremony. On Friday April 30th at 9:00 in the school Media Center the school will start the dedication ceremony and then go out to the building. Come and see what our students have done with the materials and skills you gave them. Please email John Walker at walkerjo@palmbeach.k12.fl.us or call 422-2716 to confirm your attendance.