Members present: Bill Mann Chairman/Region III, Jerry Ditty Region IV, Ralph Bryan & Steve Mazzatenta Region V, Michelle Meluch Advisor-at-Large, Darin Nine Advisor-at-Large, Eric Owens Dept. of Education, Bud Wooten Industry Advisor, Carl Miller State Director, Al Herndon, Industry, Barbie Nall Region I, and Dave Moye, Advisor-at-large, David Barnes, Administrator

Members absent: Frank Yongue Region II, Kristen Shahen, Industry, Dr. Mary Cantrell, Administration

Guest: Courtney Miller state president

Call to Order:
Chairman Mann called the meeting to order at 9:10 AM. He welcomed the members and guest to the meeting.

Approval of Agenda:
Chairman Mann moved to accept the agenda. Jerry Ditty seconded. Motion passed

Welcome: Bill welcomed the two newest members of the board, David Barnes, Administrator and Barbie Nall, Region 1 Coordinator

Board Expenses:
Jerry Ditty moved to accept board expenses. Seconded. Motion passed.

Reading of Minutes:
Chairman Mann asked for a motion to accept the minutes of the last meeting. Jerry Ditty moved. Seconded. No discussion. Motion passed

Treasurers Report:
Director Miller gave a detailed (line item) recap of deposits and expenditures. Correction of dates-5/31/07 should read 2/1/07 and 1/20/07 should read 5/31/07. Director Miller asked for questions. Report filed for audit.

Conclusions from FL Skills State Conference:
Almost a perfect 40th anniversary with the national director, Tim Lawrence present
Hotels-no complaints
Leadership appointment times need more time between them. Everything went fine, but we need to "tweak" the appointment times a little. We don't want judges waiting for contestants. We need to continue posting the appointment times at hotels. Leadership contests were finished by 12:00 pm and the awards were ready by 1:00 pm.
Civic Center seats 2,000 and was full for the Award's Ceremony.
Kudos to Michelle and Lisa for their hard work and dedication.
Need to structure dress of the medal winners going on stage to receive their award by having a minimum of two people on each side of stage.
The bus to Tampa was too long-too far. Consider St. Petersburg instead?
Host school faculty and staff should not be present in area once a contest begins.
Suggestion was made to lower Leadership Contest fees since equipment is not needed.
For the Bar-B-Q, consider using long tables instead of round tables. The primary objective for the cook-out/social function is for the students to socialize. Requesting students move immediately after eating defeats this purpose. More chairs are need.
Arrangements to pick up registration packets needs to be made for groups arriving by bus. Advisors are unable to travel to obtain the packets from a different location (MTI).
Great industry feedback was received at contests and awards.
Very few complaints were received and almost all went well. Received a complaint from the Auto body contest, but it was resolved.
At the award's ceremony, consider having a separate area for industry people/tables. Seems that "for-profit" schools are using our ceremony to promote their own purpose. All awards from for-profit groups will be awarded off stage. The Board should also consider charging fees to these individuals with criteria (awards for both secondary and post-secondary), register prior to the event (at a cost), etc.
The agenda should not include any mention of meals/food.

Policy Changes: Chairman Mann introduced possible adjustments to the General Rules and Regulations for All Florida SkillsUSA Championship Events, since they have not been reviewed since 1995. The following items were discussed:
#8-Clothing.penalty. Addition: "ALL contestants are responsible for their safety items and judges will not allow a contestant to compete until they have all and are using proper safety protection."
#10 ­no changes
#14c-no changes
#14d-no changes
#14f-no changes
#15-no changes
Following the discussion, Chef Nine suggested incorporating these rules with the Student Bylaws. It was suggested to post these rules on the website, but keep them separate for now. Jerry Ditty moved to approve changes and updates. Ralph Bryan seconded. Motion passed.

Checking Account Signature: Chairman Mann discussed removing Deb Kenn and to add Michelle Meluch as a signer on the Fl SkillsUSA checking account. Jerry Ditty moved. Seconded. Motion passed.

Website Update/Maintenance: Chairman Mann requested recommendations for improvement/change. The following items were discussed:
Include pictures of 1st place winners. Explore possibilities of having pictures taken at the ceremony for a fundraiser or having a Photography Program from one of our schools complete this task.
Update Barbie Nall's information (correct spelling) and link email (for both locations on the website) to bnall@escambia.k12.fl.us.
Include information regarding special awards, winners, and how they won the award.
Remove old pictures from 2004 and previous Board Meeting Minutes.
Include an officer area for our state officers.
Explore possibilities of selling links to our industry supporters and any one who the board feels is an appropriate link for students and advisors. Director Miller will develop a fee proposal for profit and non-profit companies. This is will be discussed at the August meeting.

FCAT 2008: Discussion was held regarding the conflict many regions incur when conducting the regional contests. It was decided that each Regional Coordinator will check with advisors and determine what works best for the region.

By-Law Changes:
A discussion took place regarding the addition of state officers to fulfill vacant seats during the year. It was decided to adhere to the current bylaws
Page 3, Section 2, #2-David Moye made a motion to remove the line, "Enrolled in a vocational course of study" to be inline with the National Bylaws. Chef Darin seconded. Motion passed.
Page 3, Section 4-discussed and no changes were made
Page 4, Section 5-Jerry Ditty moved to change the word "appointment" to "nomination." Discussion occurred. Steve Mazzatenta seconded. Motion passed.
Page 6, Section 7-Chairman Mann made a motion to re-write the section to read:
"Voting shall be done by ballot and officers shall be elected by majority vote of the delegates. The office of candidate will be announced during the House of Delegates meeting, or other designated time. Candidates whose bid was unsuccessful will be allowed to declare a second choice for any office that has not been declared." Steve seconded and the motion passed.
Page 12, Section 4-discussed and no changes were made
Page 13, Section 2-discussed an no changes were made

These proposed changes will be presented to the delegate assembly at the next state conference for approval.

National Officer Candidates: Ralph Bryan nominated Courtney Miller and Matt Van Varick. Discussion occurred and Chairman Mann asked for a motion to approve the two as National Officer Candidates and to reimburse each $250 for campaigning. Ralph move. Seconded. Motion passed.

Florida SkillsUSA Conference Fees and Updates:
Chairman Mann asked for a motion to increase the registration fee from $80 to $90. Jerry Ditty moved and Ralph Bryan seconded. Discussion occurred regarding the rising costs of transportation and other factors. An increase has not taken place in ten years. Chef Nine moved to amend the motion to raise the registration fee to $100 in order to supply lunches on both days of the contests to all contestants. The motion failed due to no second. Original motion passed.
Discussion occurred regarding the registering of advisors. Some groups are not registering advisors when they register students, but are receiving the same services as the paid advisors and students. Regional Coordinators need to communicate this with all advisors. ALL advisors must register and pay to attend the conference.

Travel Expenses for Board Members to Kansas City: Director Miller asked the board to approve paying the travel expenses to KC for the following: Regional coordinators, Michelle Meluch, David Moye and Chef Nine. Jerry Ditty moved. Seconded. Motion passed.

Perkins Funding Update: Discussion occurred regarding the money received to pay the salary of the director. The amount for the 2007-2008 school year is $34,_____. Jerry Ditty moved to accept the project for school year 2007-2008. Seconded. Motion passed.

Lifetime Member Award: Director Miller presented the Honorary Life Award to Courtney Miller, State President. This was done at this meeting because it was overlooked at the state conference.

State Director Position: Chairman Mann asked for a motion to extend the contract of Director Miller for the 2007-2008 fiscal year and to be paid the exact amount received from the Perkins grant. Discussion occurred regarding setting goals regarding membership and the formation of technical committees. Chairman Mann will discuss the goals with Director Miller. Jerry Ditty moved. Seconded. Motion passed.

Miscellaneous:
Director Miller discussed the possibility of having two separate State Leadership Training Workshops. One would occur in Region One and as well the one in Haines City. More information will be shared at the August meeting.
The 2008 Florida SkillsUSA Conference will be held in Bradenton, Florida.
Ralph Bryan shared the new application for becoming a state officer. The form will be posted on the website. He also discussed raising the point value for officers expenses paid to National.
Courtney Miller requested funding ($380) to purchase novelties for Kansas City participants. A motion was made by Jerry Ditty as long as logistics/transportation was worked out. Ralph Bryan seconded and the motion passed.
Ralph Bryan requested that each regional coordinator/advisor inform state officers to contact him as soon as possible.
Al Herndon suggested awarding a ring to first place winners at the state conference. Mr. Herndon will investigate and share information at the August meeting.

Adjourn: There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 12:07 PM by Chairman Bill Mann.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbie Nall
Region I Coordinator

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