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7 Page 177 October 12, 1976 the 1974-1975 level and may even show a slight increase. He said Lex- ington may be subject to more births than expected. He also said that Lexington might be wise to look at the benefits of students in small size classes. He noted that last spring the committee was very concerned that some kindergarten classes were as high as 18 yet he noted that some were at 20 now. Mrs. Swanson expressed concern about the uneveness of class enrollments. (low and high enrollments) . Mr. Wadsworth suggested redistribution of students via buses could result in a more even distri- bution of class sizes. Mr. Michelman said that it would be wise to look at space, figures, rates, etc. , and that it would be tremendously help- ful to receive any information that Dr. Lawson might have to assist the committee in making decisions. Mrs. Swanson said the enrollment projec- tions indicated that we were supporting a costly operation noting we had some classes of 15 or less. She emphasized that planning should start and complimented the administration for the accuracy of the projections. Dr. Lawson said that he would be looking at other options regarding utilization of space, redistribution of pupils, etc. He would give a summary of thoughts, observations and indications by December 1. Dr. Lawson stated that Lexington High School had 24 merit semi- NATIONAL MERI finalists in the class of 1977 while 37 other students received letters of commendation. Compliments were given to the students and staff for their efforts. It was noted that Lexington High School had the highest number of merit semi-finalists of any public high school in New England. This has been true for several years. Current Metco enrollments for 1976-1977 were presented to the METCO ENROLL- school committee. Distribution of Metco students by grade level was MENTS also given. The Lexington enrollment for 1976 as of October 1, was 280 students. A summary of 1975-1976 partial Core referrals for evaluation and CORE full Core referrals for evaluation were given to the committee. Ques- EVALUATIONS tions were raised as to the composition of the Core evaluation team, the high referral rate at some schools for partial Cores and the lack of re- ferrals for partial Cores at some schools. Dr. Lawson said he would re- view the reasons for the differences in the schools and report at a later date to the school committee. A letter from Town Counsel was received regarding the transports- PRIVATE SCHO0; tion of students attending private schools. The letter addressed to TRANSPORTATIOI Mr. Barnes stated the conclusion of the Town Counsel was the Lexington School Committee may choose, but was not required to provide transporta- tion for students attending private school located outside of Lexington. The Superintendent agreed to notify parents who had petitioned for this service. A question re: Labb staff and their benefits has recently been the LABB COLLABORAT. subject of review due to concerns that have risen regarding tenure, BOARD OF DIRECT( sick leave, and other contractural benefits. The towns participating in a collaborative have experienced problems due to the law. The Ar- lington, Lexington, Burlington, Bedford collaborative personnel have met and made recommendations to address the problems.