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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-01-03-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, January 3, 2023 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:01 PM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson Deepika Sawhney, Vice -chair Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk Eileen Jay Larry Freeman Student Representative Aditi Swamy SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent Dave Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Chris Lyons, Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Staff Support Laura Reinholm, Assistant Director of Finance The School Committee convened at the School Committee Meeting Room at Central Office and remotely. Members of the public can view and participate in person or 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 evening's meeting is being broadcast live and also taped 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. CONSENT AGENDA Ms. Sawhney read the following consent agenda items: Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. December 16, 2022 - Payroll Warrant in the amount of $4,320,382.19 b. December 30, 2022 - Payroll Warrant in the amount of $4,457,910.07 c. January 6, 2023 -AP Warrant in the amount of $1,494,615.31 Ms. Jay read the following consent agenda items: Field Trips a. LHS to Spain Guadalajara from February 14-24, 2024 Mr. Freeman asked how many Black or Latino students have signed up for the field trip. A teacher in the audience stated that 20 students will be selected (they have not been selected yet) and that any Sophomore or Junior enrolled in a Spanish class will be eligible to apply. Mr. JK 01/03/23 -DRAFT Freeman asked if the school in Spain has similar Core Values (LGBTQIA and Special Education) as Lexington and he asked about funds for the field trip. We want to make sure that all of our students feel welcomed and safe. Mr. Freeman made a motion to approve the entire consent agenda, Ms. Lenihan seconded. Passed 5-0. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Freeman reminded everyone that the MLK Day Conversation on Race is around the corner, you can register on the Lexington Human Rights Committee website. He added that high school students who participate and assist with planning and setting up can get service hours. Ms. Lenihan brought up the Bills football player who suffered a cardiac arrest last night. One of the leading causes of sudden cardiac arrests is Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, it is the most common congenital heart defect (1 in 400 have it) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children be screened. This is especially important for children who play sports. Ms. Jay wished everyone a Happy New Year and also mentioned the MLK Day of Service. Ms. Jay pointed out that there are many different volunteering activities, go to lexingtonmlk.org for more information. On January 18th at 7:00 pm the Cary Library will be having an author talk with Natasha Warikoo, author of "Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools." It will be held in person and virtually. Ms. Sawhney wished everyone a Happy New Year! Aditi announced that the English Honors for All Committee talked with students. They are brainstorming ways to develop interest with the student body. They discussed improving and growth, not as much stress over grades. They are also coming up with opportunities for students who want to go above and beyond in English. The symphony orchestra is planning on playing at a nursing home in a few weeks in an effort to do more community outreach. M. Cuthbertson had no announcements. COMMUNITY SPEAK Lori King - 10 Capt. Handley Rd, Acton (in person): Lori started teaching math at Lexington High School in 1993. She is having a hard time maintaining a work -life balance, she has been bringing work home to do during nights and weekends. The frenetic pace of the high school makes it difficult to complete responsibilities, there is no time in the day to make meaningful relationships with students and to collaborate with colleagues. Ms. King states that every new initiative takes time to implement, the time we do not have. She is concerned that we will lose talented and dedicated educators if teachers' needs are not addressed. Teachers need more time built into the day and a student cap of 100 students. JK 01/03/23 -DRAFT Jessica Antoline - 40 Elmwood St, Somerville, MA: She agrees with the previous statement, teachers' workload is overwhelming. She also mentioned that the compensation is not enough to live in this area. Ms. Antoline brought up the cell phone policy at the high school. Students have been using cell phones regardless of the policy that is stated and it has a detrimental effect on learning. It seems like it is up to teachers on a classroom basis and that does not work. Steve Austerer - 130 Mass Ave, Arlington (in person): He spoke about a student accusation situation that resulted in termination. He claims there was a lack of discussion and investigation from the administration. Ms. Cuthbertson stopped Mr. Austerer, she informed him that the School Committee did receive his email. Alison Buthlay - 445 Washington St, Boston (in person): She teaches at Estabrook Elementary School. She spoke in support of keeping an elementary half day. She explained that she has 32 lessons a week and that she needs to have special accommodations for 13 students. She asked to not hear this as a complaint, she loves her students and their individual needs but teachers need uninterrupted time to collaborate in order to teach well. Christopher Brunner - 14R Wyman St, Medford (in person) - He is in his fourth year teaching at the High School. He asked the School Committee to consider the request of having a limit of 100 students across 4 classes. He shared examples of not having enough time to serve his students. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT A. Congratulations and Celebrations • National School Committee Recognition Month B. Sign Up for ParentSquare • New User-friendly communication tool, it translates material and is mobile device friendly. C. Our New LHS School Building Project Website is Live! D. Elementary World Language • All of the schools have PowerPoint presentations. The grant must be expended by next September. E. Flu and COVID-19 Vaccine Community Clinics • January 13th is the date of the first vaccine clinic of the year. • The Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics remind you to have your child vaccinated. F. How We're Tackling the Substitute Shortage • Many staff members met at Central Office to discuss the shortage. There will hopefully be an MOA soon. G. Master Planning and School Building Committee Updates H. Superintendent's FY24 Budget Message (this item was postponed for later in the meeting The full Superintendent's Report can be viewed here. JK 01/03/23 -DRAFT School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Sawhney asked about ParentSquare and if it is for anyone in the community, Dr. Hackett clarified that it is for students, staff, and parents. Aditi asked about the substitute shortage at the High School and why it is not more popular for teachers to cancel classes. Dr. Hackett thinks that because we still have to supervise kids, there is an issue of liability. Ms. Lenihan asked what our current rate of pay for a daily substitute teacher is. Dr. Lyons responded that the current rate is $100 but we are planning on increasing that for substitutes who fill in for Unit A to $150. For substitutes who fill in for Unit C positions, they would get $125. Building -based subs will be paid on a tired basis; if the substitute commits to 1-2 days a week they will get $150, if they commit to 3-4 days they will get $165 and if they commit to 5 days a week they will get $175. Ms. Cuthbertson wonders if another member of the School Committee will go to the World Language presentations since her schedule is tight. PRESENTATION: LIPS FY 2024 SUPERINTENDENT'S RECOMMENDED BUDGET Dr. Hackett and Mr. Coelho gave the presentation on the LPS FY 2024 Recommended Budget. The Superintendent's FY24 Budget Message is "It's Not Raining, It's Pouring." Dr. Hackett reviewed slides 1-8 of the budget presentation. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan mentioned the students who move to Lexington who require more intense special education services, she stated that this is an expense that isn't going away. She asked if we anticipate this year after year. Dr. Hackett replied, "sort of, and that it is in our best interest to keep it in the base." Dr. Hackett also reminded the School Committee that we have a significant number of students with disabilities who may age out, so those high costs may not always be there. Dr. Hackett also explained the process of the Budget Summit. She recommends that the next step would be to send this presentation with a letter to the Town Manager. Ms. Jay asked if there are restrictions once the circuit breaker funds are turned back. Mr. Coelho replied that it reverts back to free cash. Mr. Freeman stated that it is important to remember that we are talking about our most vulnerable students in the district and that the amount of money is associated with children's lives. Ms. Sawhney recalled that Dr. Hackett was surprised about the turnbacks when she first started here. She stated that turnbacks happen not because we don't spend the money but because teachers leave and we don't fill those positions fast enough for example. If you look at our financial history from the past ten years, we have this money coming in. Ms. Sawhney thinks we should push for more than the 2.6 million. Mr. Coelho, Dr. Hackett, and Ms. Sawheny discussed JK 01/03/23 -DRAFT the revenue allocation model and the Special Education Stabilization Fund process. Ms. Lenihan asked if the Town is still sitting on 9 million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act (ABPA) funds, and Dr. Hackett responded yes. Aditi has heard that a lot of special education students struggle to meet the legally required amount of content instruction versus specific subjects due to the number of resource blocks they have. She asked if funding could be put towards resource blocks, and Dr. Hackett stated that we will come back to that. Mr. Coelho reviewed slides 9-15 of the presentation. Dr. Hackett read slide 16 which gave thanks to everyone who worked on the Budget. The full budget report can be found at FY 2024 Budget Book. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Cuthbertson made a comment about how the OSB rate was discussed at the last Budget Summit; things were not finalized at that point. When discussing the amount that goes into the allocation model and the Special Education Stabilization Fund, it should be kept in mind that the more we can build in, to begin with, the better we are able to serve general education students through tired supports, then the better able we are to serve students with disabilities without out -placing them. It's an investment now but it saves money long term. Dr. Hackett will craft the communication and then reach out to the School Committee individually. Ms. Sawhney added that the budget is very comprehensive, she normally has more questions but all of the information is there and explained so well. She has been asking members of the community to start engaging with our budget to understand it. This will be beneficial when the new high school is voted on, people should understand where the money comes from. POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE A. First Reading of the Revised Policy: JKAA - Restraint of Students Poli Ms. Lenihan moved to approve the amended Policy: JKAA, Mr. Freeman seconded. Passed 5-0. B. First Reading of the Revised Policy JFABD: Homeless Students: Enrollment Rights and Services • Mr. Freeman asked if "homeless" is a legal term, and Dr. Hackett replied yes, it is. He also asked who the homeless liaisons are, Ms. Cuthbertson responded that they are typically members of our counseling department. He also mentioned that we do not have non -binary pronouns in these policies. Ms. Cuthbertson made a note to go back and check the pronouns on all of them. • Ms. Sawhney asked if "homeless liaison" could be changed to "district liaison for the JK 01/03/23 -DRAFT homeless," Ms. Cuthbertson agreed that that would be better. Ms. Sawhney also brought up that in the old policy, there is mention of an unaccompanied youth, she would like to see where that is captured in the current policy. Ms. Cuthbertson stated that it would probably fall under students in foster care. • Ms. Jay noticed two conditions that were in our old policy that aren't in the new definition; one was "awaiting foster care placement" and the other was "unaccompanied youth." C. First Reading of the Revised Policy JF: School Admissions Policy • Ms. Cuthbertson stated that the note on this policy is to make sure we don't have barriers in place, we had to remove enrollment barriers. We are waiting for clarification on this. Dr. Hackett explained that there are concerns that kids are being kept out for any number of reasons like they don't have their vaccines for example. Children could go long periods without education because there's a form that says you need X, Y & Z in order to get into school so this policy removes that barrier. Mr. Freeman asked about the documentation going to the Principal, Ms. Cuthbertson replied that this should be more vague (superintendent's designee). • Ms. Sawhney had some English language edits. D. First Reading of the Revised Policy JFAB: Policy on Non -Resident Students • Ms. Cuthbertson stated that the only thing that had to be changed in this one was that we needed to cross-reference the homeless and foster care policies because we added the foster care one. • Ms. Sawhney stated that she had many questions on this one, and she emailed a list to Dr. Hackett. She is wondering how to make these actionable. • Ms. Jay stated that there are a few things that seem contradictory and confusing. E. First Reading of the New Policy JFABF: Educationa�rtunities for Children in Foster Care • Ms. Sawhney has a comment on the last sentence in the first paragraph, "from preschool through high school graduation." F. First Reading of the New Policy JFABE: Educational ®�unities for Military Children • Ms. Sawhney asked if the 'year' referenced in the policy means a calendar year or a school year. Ms. Cuthbertson replied that it is one calendar year. • G. Fourth Reading and Vote of the New Policy Diverse Representation on Grou s/Comr ttees • The School Committee worked together to come up with number 3; "To the extent possible, we will encourage and engage new participants, thus creating opportunities for new voices and perspectives in decision-making processes." • Ms. Jay asked if, under Responsibilities, this applies to all working groups and committees under LPS or if it's specifically for School Committee member participation. Ms. Cuthbertson replied that it is intended to apply to any school -related committees or working groups. Ms. Sawhney made a motion to approve the New Policy Diverse Representation on Groups & Committees, Mr. Freeman seconded. Passed 5-0. H. Second Reading of the Revised BDA - School Committee OrE anization Meeting Policy • Ms. Cuthbertson stated that this is the first reading of BDA, the School Committee JK 01/03/23 - DRAFT tabled the first reading at the December 13, 2022 meeting. • Mr. Freeman stated that he does not agree with the sentence, "In the event, the Chair and Vice -Chair are no longer members of the School Committee, the senior member (years served) will act as the Chair Pro -Tem" Ms. Lenihan suggested adding "The first order of business for the Chair Pro -Tem will be to hold the organizational meeting." The School Committee agreed. COMMUNITY SPEAK Shashi Mysore - 25 Partridge Rd, Lexington: He is a parent and is wondering if he will have access to a slightly more detailed budget document. He is wondering how much the new communication tool is contributing to expenses. Ms. Cuthbertson informed Mr. Mysore that the actual budget book is linked in the agenda. It is on the website but if he still can't locate it, to email the School Committee and they will send it to him right away. Dr. Hackett asked him to email her about the cost of ParentSquare. Mary Gretchen Segars - 3 Chestnut Ln, Lexington (in person): Ms. Segars stated that just from the budget presentation, the budget looks pretty tight. She mentioned it being too tight to start a new program such as the World Language Program, and that it seems like it would be wiser to pay for basic needs in the district. Mona Roy - Bertwell Rd, Lexington: She thanked everyone for the work on the budget. She appreciated Ms. Cuthbertson and Mr. Freeman's comments about special education. She asked if it was at all possible to think long term on how we can prevent further outplacement costs and further larger costs by really trying to invest in more preventative services. POSSIBLE ACTION ITEMS Ms. Lenihan discussed the importance of having AEDs permanently installed on fields. Explore a partnership between schools and the municipal side to fund the purchase of AEDs at schools/practices was added to the list. Ms. Sawhney brought up the item: Superintendent to share English Dept's "unleveling presentation." She would like a presentation that is more widespread and open to the public. Ms. Cuthbertson suggested having the presentation later in the year so we have more information. Mr. Freeman mentioned the cell phone policy item. He stated that even between teachers, the policy is going to vary as far as what they want in place. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Lenihan made a motion to adjourn at 9:27 PM, Ms. Jay seconded. Passed 5-0. JK 01/03/23 -DRAFT