1975-11-03-SC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 211 November 3, 1975 A regular meeting of the Lexington School Committee came to order at 8:00 p.m. at the School Administration Building. Present were Mesdames Berchtold, Swanson; Messrs. Brown, Rotberg, Wachman and Wads- worth. Also present were Ms. Quinn, Messrs. Barnes, Maclnnes, Dr. Monderer, Mr. Spiris and Mrs. Cummings. Mr. Frank Sarno said he was looking forward to participating in the PUBLIC Ch 766 Workshop which will be held on November 10. Mrs. Swanson noted PARTICIPATION that all teachers are planning to attend. It is unclear at this time how the programs will be presented. Hopefully, in the future, programs will be scheduled for Thursday afternoons. Mr. Sarno replied that Thursday afternoons have been set aside for pupil assistance and adding to this schedule might create an additional burden. Louise Rankin, Dorothy Dooley and Jacqueline Ward made brief com- ments in support of the Ch 766 Workshop. Kay Dugdale commented on the Outdoors as Teachers Program (OATS) which was discussed at two previous meetings. Mrs. Dugdale felt that a program such as OATS should have School Committee approval. She asked the Committee to follow Alan Wachman's suggestion and establish clear guidelines for programs such as this one. Mr. Sarno asked Mr. Rotberg to clarify his comment, made at a pre- vious meeting, about the junior high schools being a weak link in the educational chain. Mr. Rotberg replied with the following statement: "Criticism of the "weak link" statement may have been taken out of con- text. The immediate context was support for an innovative program at Diamond Junior High School. The broader context was and is the immense problem of educating junior high school children nationally. 'It is an unfortunate grouping together of children who are having normal, but new problems of personal, as well as educational transition. What to do about these years is accepted as an educational problem nationally. 'Despite the stress of these junior high years, school systems through- out the nation typically devote proportionally fewer resources and atten- tion to the junior high school level. The personnel of junior highs may be as dedicated everywhere as they are in Lexington. Yet, they usually have to make do with fewer resources than those devoted to elementary and senior high education. In this sense--but not in terms of the quality on the effort of teachers--junior high schools everywhere may be considered a "weak link". It is possible that the junior highs are doing more for children but are recognized too little because these years, emotionally and educationally, are especially difficult ones. I am arguing that we should devote more attention to, and provide more resources for junior high school education."