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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-01-10-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, January 10, 2022 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 8:01 AM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson Eileen Jay, Vice -Chair Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk Deepika Sawhney Larry Freeman joined the meeting at 8:14 AM. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent David Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations The minutes were taken by Julie Kaye, School Committee Meeting Recording Secretary. The School Committee convened at the LPS Central Office and via Zoom. Members of the public can view and participate in the meeting webinar from their computer or tablet by clicking on the link provided with the meeting agenda. Please note that this meeting is being recorded, and that attendees are participating by video conference. This meeting is recorded by LexMedia for future on -demand viewing. All supporting materials that have been provided to members of this body are available on the Town's website unless otherwise noted. BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING On Monday, January 9, 2023, Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools, Dave Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, and Laura Reinholm, Assistant Finance Director met with Town Manager, Jim Malloy, and the Town's finance staff. The meeting was to discuss solutions for all the high -need student move -ins and how to get to the 4.1% increase requested in LPS' proposed budget. Subsequent to that meeting, Town staff asked us to put together a memo with a solution without increasing the overall allocation but that does include access to the SPED stabilization fund. The good news is we have come up with a new proposal that would arrive at the 4.1%. The proposed solution is to take half of the 2.6 million dollars in circuit breaker turnback to fill that gap. The Town will get half of the 2.6 million and the schools will get half. The School Committee and Administration have made significant efforts in the capital stabilization, giving back more than we have in previous years. At the Summit we will share those figures so that people know that we take this seriously. Mr. Coelho discussed the proposed solution to the gap that we are experiencing from the Town allocation and what we require. In 2016, the Municipal Modernization Act added a section that allows districts to create a SPED Stabilization Fund with different rules. Although we created one JK 01/10/23 - Approved in 2009, this one is a little more descriptive with your cap which is 2% of your total spending and has a more flexible process on how you can access the funds. Mr. Coelho explains this process in this memo here to the Town. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Sawhney asked for a timeline on this stabilization fund process. Would the School Committee propose a warrant article for this annual Town Meeting? Dr. Hackett replied that she believes this is a municipal -initiated warrant article but we can check on this. We just need to work out the details on who does what but we should anticipate that this article will be at the March Town Meeting this year. Ms. Jay asked Mr. Coelho what the process is to access the funds in the stabilization fund. Dave Coelho replied that once the account is created and the funds are appropriated through Town Meeting, the process for requesting or accessing the funds becomes more of a formal process between the School Committee and the Select Board. BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING COMMUNITY SPEAK Dr. Avon Lewis, LEA President. This budget here is a step in the right direction but it does not go far enough. We need you to go into the Budget Summit to fight for our students. We do not need Elementary World Language, this is a distraction from the real issues. What we do need is training and not just an hour, a real investment to help all staff deal with student trauma. We need more counselors so that students have access to the mental health services that they need. At the secondary level, we need lower student loads so that the teachers have a chance to get to know their students. Just because a student is in 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade, does not mean they do not need to be known. We need more Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventionists that can be accessed without Special Education in reading, math, and behavioral. We need more supports for special education teachers. The Town has the money, so we urge you to go to the Budget Summit and fight for what our students really need. Yes, we need a new LHS but that should not come at the expense of the current students we have now. That is just wrong. Dr. Hackett explained that Elementary World Language is not what we are talking about in this budget. We have the ESSER III funding which is an opportunity to do things differently in the system. We have one year left to spend it, and we delayed the plan last year. More to the point of pandemic times, what we are talking about here is a 5 -day student schedule. In my mind, having children have the ability to go to school 5 days a week instead of 4.5 is a pretty good solution for pandemic times. The proposed FY 24 budget has nothing to do with the Elementary World Language proposal or those positions. We will head to Summit to work collaboratively with everyone at the table while advocating strongly for the needs of our students and staff. Dr. Hackett also thanked Mr. Coelho and his staff for their efforts with the budget. Ms. Lenihan asked to remind everyone of the next Budget Summit Meeting and the next Budget Hearing. JK 01/10/23 - Approved Dr. Hackett replied that the next Budget Summit will be on January 19, 2023 at 7 p.m. and the next School Committee Budget Hearing will be on January 24, 2023 at 6 p.m. Dr. Hackett and Mr. Coelho will also schedule the staff budget presentation hearing in the next few weeks. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Sawhney made a motion to adjourn at 8:25 AM, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, approved 5-0. JK 01/10/23 -Approved