2018-05-23 JM BOS-SC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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05/23/2018 - Joint BOS and SC Page 1 of 7 Joint Selectmen and School Committee Meeting Wednesday, May 23, 2018 A Joint Meeting of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 in Estabrook Hall of the Cary Memorial Building for the purpose of holding the fifth in a series of presentations and discussions related to Mental Health Services provided by the Town of Lexington and the Lexington School Department. Present for the Selectmen (BOS) were Ms. Barry, Chair; Ms. Ciccolo; Mr. Lucente; Ms. Hai; Mr. Valente, Town Manager; and Ms. Siebert, Recording Secretary. Mr. Pato was absent. Present for the School Committee (SC) were Ms. Jay, Chair; Ms. Colburn; Mr. Alessandrini; Ms. Lenihan (8:30 departure); Ms. Sawhney; and Dr. Czajkowski, Superintendent of Schools; Jill Gasparini, Nurse Coordinator of School Health; Val Viscosi, K-12 Director of Guidance; Julie Fenn, K-12 Physical Education and Wellness Coordinator. Also present were Wendy Rundle, Facilitator; Charlotte Rodgers, Director of Human Services; Melissa Interess, Assistant Director of Senior Services; and Tony Serio, Assistant Director of Lexington Youth and Family Services. Ms. Rundle opened the meeting by restating the framing question that has formed the foundation of these discussions: “What should be the role of the Municipal and School departments and the community in providing mental health services to the Lexington community?” Town and School Staff Presentation Regarding Mental Health Services To begin, Mr. Valente highlighted four important points:  Input from the public will continue to be beneficial to the process of studying Lexington’s mental health services and how they are delivered.  Mr. Valente and Superintendent Czajkowski believe that the current services and staff that provide them are strong and appropriate, and that they should continue.  Mr. Valente and Dr. Czajkowski believe there are three distinct areas in the mental health services provided by the Town that could be strengthened. These will be presented tonight. If the Board of Selectmen and School Committee agree with staff assessments, changes will be subject to available resources but they would occur incrementally.  The recommendations are intentionally being called “considerations” because they have not yet had the benefit of public comment or board discussion. Final recommendations and an implementation plan will be presented once this input has been integrated. Dr. Czajkowski said the study has led to the resounding conclusion that the Town does indeed play a role in mental health service delivery. To illustrate, Mr. Valente described four ways in which the Town/Schools currently support community mental health: