HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-03-18-SC-PMRS-minLexington School Committee's Policy Manual Subcommittee
March 18, 2015 at 10am
Upper Conference Room
Central Office, 146 Maple Street
Attendance: Subcommittee members Jessie Steigerwald Chair, Judy Crocker
Community members: Eileen Jay, Kathleen Lenihan, Jordan Frias, Suzanne Lau
1. Public Hearing on School Committee Mission /Vision Statement and Homework
Policies
Ms. Steigerwald called the meeting to order at 10:05 am. The hearing opened at
10:07am.
Ms Crocker explained the protocol of the policy hearing.
The School Committee Policy Manual Subcommittee (SCPMS) would like to devote
one hour of its regularly scheduled March 18, 2015 meeting to those who wish to
present their opinions on the policies of Mission /Vision Statement and Homework.
The purpose of this hearing is only for School Committee Subcommittee members to
gather information from the community. Therefore, its members will not deliberate
or debate the hearing topic. In order to provide ample and equal opportunity for all
residents wishing to express their views on this topic, comments will be limited to 3
minutes.
Ms. Steigerwald introduced the history behind the current Mission /Vision and
Homework Policies. The former involved the Superintendent working with upper
level administrators to draft a new version 1. Following this, a small group including
teachers, SC representatives, and school principals drafted version 2. The next tier
of comments for version 3 of the draft document is from all staff, Site Based Site
Council, and public hearings. The SCPMS has been working with consultant Jim
Hardy of Massachusetts Association of School Committees to review all LPS policies
during FY15.
MASC dos not have a recommended Homework Policy because the topic is complex
and homework philosophies vary widely between communities.
#1 Kathleen Lenihan
A) Homework:
• ES level - She expressed that optimally, there would be no written
homework at elementary level. A continues that a more modest proposal
would to have no written assignments due on Monday so that the
weekend is not impacted.
• LHS level - According to handbook, students have 3 hours per night for
CP1 classes without the added honors work. The amount of homework
cumulates to include all classes so that the Handbook's recommended
limits for homework quantity are often surpassed. In addition, the
schools promote participation in sports and other after school
programming. These activities cut into homework time.
• Policies don't exist in isolation. If the district is looking to reduce HS
student homework, one cannot meaningfully reduce AP work unless
there is a change in curricula to a 2 -year science discipline track. Policy
needs to be clear so it can be enforced. For example, the assignment of
holiday work.
B) Mission /Vision: The last bullet point is unclear. Is it directed towards students or
teachers - most parents will not understand that it is a term for professional
development. What is the real purpose of the document? Stress came up during the
superintendent search process. "Resilient citizen" and "nurturing emotional well-
being"... the district should look into how to more closely incorporate stress as a
broad -based topic in the Statement.
#2 Eileen Jay
A) Homework:
• What is the extent of district -wide implementation? She feels that the current
document's district -wide guidelines are too constraining and specific. There
are also many policy aspects that need to be included, such as refraining from
holiday homework assignments. It is not clear how implementation and
enforcement this policy will be accomplished. At what level does oversight
come into play?
• Consistency across class sections needs more work for teachers have
different philosophies on homework quantity. How do we achieve better
consistency?
B) Mission /Vision:
• The policy should focus on how to best prepare student for future and also
honoring diversity. It says nothing about education part of the
school /learning experience.
• Suggest that the School Committee look at statements from other
communities.
• What does it mean to say, "all students can learn at high levels ?" Wording of
the statement includes developing each student's unique gifts but the term
gifts may be ambiguous.
#3 Suzanne Lau
A) Homework:
• Out -of -date because written in 2002. Different students require different
amounts of time per assignment. More concerned with experience of student
completing homework. If matches student learning style, the current process
works but teachers need level of common experience for all students
especially with the implementation of common assessments. There can be a
variation in experience within same class between different teachers.
Homework contracts have different weights depending on the individual
teacher. Perhaps the same class' expectations should be standardized.
• Students held for certain homework deadlines /submission but feedback
from teachers does not. Sometimes, the untimely return of homework does
not help the educational process.
• Some homework assignments receive no classroom time in terms of
guidance. An example is the Science Fair. Not enough classroom time is
allotted to properly guide the students thru this experience. However, the
science fair success is often related to the amount of help received outside of
the classroom. Even the Science Fair should have some level of teaching
associated with it.
• Principals need to oversee the applicability and learning associated with
assignments. The purpose of learning with homework should be
complementary to classroom work. Policy should have strong statement of
importance of this feedback and complement learning.
#4 Adam Smith
A) Homework
• He submitted a handout. He believes that current policy has some good
points and the topic developed into a wonderful conversational point with
his children.
• He mentioned the lack of timely return of graded homework by teachers.
Some history and English papers are being graded with a letter grade only
and no /little comments.
• He also mentioned the lack of timely notification of homework assignments.
This can make time management difficult for students.
• Some homework is nothing more than busy work assignments. More time
should be spent to find ways to make homework content more meaningful.
• Revise the policy to be more descriptive and prescriptive.
B) Mission /Vision
• Some communities also include a value statement in their policy.
• The statement should include a greater emphasis on stress and how the
district approaches stress.
• One word that is missing is parents. It may be included under community
but the term would then only be implied.
Ms. Steigerwald called the hearing recessed at 10:46am due to no further parent
comment. Ms. Steigerwald called a recess of the meeting at 10:58 and came back in
session at 11:01am.
Ms. Steigerwald suggested that those in attendance or not able to attend can
continue to email and further clarify parent concerns to the subcommittee. To date,
17 parents have emailed the SCPMS with policy comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:17am.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Crocker