The Coalition Board of Directors met on April 28, 2003 at Armwood High School from 9:00 to 10:30 AM.  Present were: Dr. Neriah Roberts from Polk county, Mr. Reid Wallace from Manatee County, Mr. Scott Mitchell and Mr. Terry Aunchman from Pasco County, and Dr. John Miliziano & Mr. Tom Rao from Hillsborough County. 

The following items were discussed and actions taken: 

1. Dr. Miliziano gave out a financial report which showed that the Coalition had a balance of $1,226 carried over from 2002.  When the annual dues collected for 2003 are included, the balance was increased to $1,507.57.       The current balance reflects an expenditure of $510.43 that was made for food served at the Issues Conference that was held at the Pinellas County Stavros Center.

2. Members present made very positive comments about the Issues Conference and felt that we should do similar Conferences in the future.

3. It was proposed that the Coalition sponsor a Round Table discussion with former Senator Jack Latvala from Pinellas County.  Latvala gave a very informative and inspiring talk on the issue of how to effectively deal with legislators, to a group of administrators who attended Legislative days in Tallahassee.  It was decided that this event should take place on September 9, 2003 after school is back in session and administrators have had a chance to get the year well under way and before the 2004 legislative session.  Everyone agreed that the Stavros Center would be a great place to hold this event.  It was hoped that by next September we would have had a chance to solidify a full six district Coalition with Pasco and Pinellas as full members of the Coalition.  The idea was to have about five key representatives from each of the six Coalition districts participate in this Roundtable Discussion.

4. Coalition members were asked to provide the names and telephone numbers (or e-mail addresses) of members from their districts who are going to attend the FASA Summer Conference in June.  HASA will probably sponsor a hospitality room one evening during the Conference and would like to coordinate the event with members of the Coalition.

5. Dr. Miliziano was asked to inform those present as to the latest legislative developments on the issues that the Coalition is supporting:   Extension of DROP, the revocation of the Sick Leave Terminal Pay McKay law, 2% annual multiplier, 3 best average years, and 25 year normal retirement.  Miliziano recommended that members be encouraged to log on the HASA Web Site and click on HOT MAIL to get the latest developments on legislative progress.  FASA can also be linked for more legislative news via HASA’s Web Site www.hasaonline.com. 

6. The group decided to schedule the next meeting of the Coalition Board on August 18 at Armwood High School at 9:00 AM.  Pleas mark your calendars for August 18.