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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-12-13-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, December 13, 2022 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 5:31 PM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson Deepika Sawhney, Vice Chair Eileen Jay Larry Freeman (Kathleen Lenihan did not attend the meeting) SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent The minutes were taken by Julie Kaye, School Committee Meeting Recording Secretary. 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. Ms. Jay moved that the School Committee enter Executive Session; Exemption 3 — For the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the Lexington Educators Association (LEA), as the Chair so declares an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the School Committee, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 4-0. The School Committee entered executive session at 5:32 PM and returned to open session at 6:36 PM. Student Representative Grace Ou is now in attendance. Mr. Freeman went home and is now joining remotely. CONSENT AGENDA Ms. Sawhney read the following consent agenda items: Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. December 2, 2022 - AP Warrant in the amount of $855,86.02 JK 12/13/22 - DRAFT b. December 2, 2022 - Payroll Warrant in the amount of $4,287,938.13 c. December 16, 2022 -AP Warrant in the amount of $1,982,477.35 d. December 16, 2022 - BMC) Warrant in the amount of $39,579.40 Ms. Jay read the following consent agenda items: Minutes a. September 13, 2022 Mr. Freeman read the following consent agenda items: Donations a. $3,000 donation to the Robotics Club from Cybernetix Ventures Fund LP Ms. Sawhney made a motion to approve the entire consent agenda, Ms. Jay seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 5-0. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Freeman gave a shout -out to the last COVID/flu clinic, he was in and out in 20 minutes and said it was a great experience. He attended the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) meeting last week, and the Youth Behavior Risk Survey (YRBS) planning has begun. It is planned to be administered to the High School in February and the Middle schools in March. The results of the surveys will hopefully be back before the end of the school year. SHAC is planning for the Parents & Caregiver Academy in March. SHAC also provided Active Bystanders' Training to 76 students. Mr. Freeman added that the Dyslexia group is having a "meet us for coffee and discussion" tomorrow. Ms. Jay also attended the SHAC meeting, she added that SHAC is trying to get students more involved. Tomorrow there is a Human Rights Committee meeting. Ms. Jay reminded everyone about the MLK Day of Service on January 16th. There will be the Conversation on Race and many opportunities to get involved in service for all ages. Cary library will be having a Carybokaflo6 (Carybokaflod) celebration tomorrow. She also gave a shout -out to Indian Americans of Lexington (IAL) for having a wonderful workshop called Multiple Pathways to Success for middle and high school students. Ms. Sawhney attended the METCO Directors' Association conference, and our very own Barbara Hamilton was co-chair. The title of the conference was Strengthening the Social -emotional and Academic Health of Students of Color Through Self -Care and Trauma -Informed Practices. Dr. John King was the keynote speaker. Ms. Sawhney brought up the Budget Summit, there are "not enough dollars for everything." How the dollars can best be accommodated needs to be figured out, there's an interesting give-and-take between the municipal side and the school side. Ms. Cuthbertson attended IAL's Diwali programming a few weeks ago. She announced that her School Committee term is up in March, and she did pull papers for re-election. Grace had a Senate meeting last week, they are still doing trial runs for menstrual products JK 12/13/22 - DRAFT inside the LHS bathrooms. Dr. Stephens talked to students about the new building. She also went to a DEI Student Advisory Committee meeting where they discussed affinity groups, rooming based on sex for overnight trips, and how to ensure all cultures and religions are included during the holiday season. Ms. Sawhney gave a shout -out to the LHS counselors, her youngest is going through the college process. She received a very well -thought-out and empathic email. COMMUNITY SPEAK Bethany Newberg - 6 Oakridge Ave, Natick (in person): She is a math teacher at Lexington High School who has been teaching for 18 years. She loves teaching at LHS and she loves her students. She feels a responsibility to speak out about the workload on teachers and how it is impacting the students. This year she is teaching at her contracted limit of 125 students, and she feels that she cannot reach all of those students in the way she would like to. Teaching 5 classes today is not the same as teaching 5 classes over a decade ago. Students are struggling more emotionally and have special interventions and accommodations. Digital demands of teaching have also increased tremendously. She suggests switching from 5 classes to 4 classes and 100 students to be the standard for all. Cindy Arens - 7 Kitson Park Dr, Lexington: She is a Precinct 3 Town Meeting Member and the Chair of Sustainable Lexington. She is speaking tonight as a member of the Green Teams. She is voicing her support for the Sustainability Champion proposal. David Drellich - 15 A Crescent Hill Ave, Lexington (in person): He is currently working as a long-term substitute at LHS in the math department. He is not a member of the Lexington Education Association. He spoke about teacher workload and is in support of reducing the class amount and student load. Marcia Gens - 16 Dane Rd, Lexington: She is echoing the sentiment of Cindy Arens and the importance of having a climate champion. She worked with a number of climate champions in developing composting at Bridge School. She hopes that a small stipend could be given to include composting in the curriculum. Tina McBride - 45 Turning Mill Rd, Lexington (in person): She is speaking in support of the Sustainability Champion in schools. This will allow for ongoing educational efforts and practices to be maintained and increased going forward. Ms. McBride states that we need to develop good habits in regard to sustainability for all members of our future generations. Geoff Alperin - 9 Dane Rd, Lexington: He has two children in the Lexington Public Schools. He has some concerns and questions regarding detracking and standard -based grading (SBG). His questions include: • Why are there only three levels in our scale? • Can we please add additional levels to the proficiency scales, particularly a level that recognizes more in-depth capabilities beyond what was taught (Marzano level 4). • Did we consider the Marzano approach in the selection process? JK 12/13/22 - DRAFT • Are you considering implementing SBG at LHS, and if so when? • Why did we detrack math and foreign languages in the middle schools? • What curricula were detracked over the past five years? • Are further programs slated for detracking? • Do you plan to further reduce the number of AP courses at LHS? • How were detracking and SBG decisions socialized with parents and what role can parents play in making such fundamental decisions moving forward? Shoba Reginald - 25 Blossom St, Lexington (in person): She has been a teacher at Belmont Public Schools for 22 years. She is speaking to get support for a petition to bring to the Department of Education about climate change and sustainable practices being a part of the State framework. PRESENTATION: SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPION PROPOSAL Diane Pursley (co-founder of the Lexington Green Team), Lin Jensen (also a co-founder), and Christine Goulet (World Language teacher at Diamond Middle School and Green Team Advisor) presented this PDF to propose the idea of a Sustainability Champion stipend position. School Committee Comments/Questions Grace thinks that this is a really great idea. Students want to help with climate change and global warming but need more understanding of how composting works. Mr. Freeman loves the Green Team and the idea. He asked, "What is the Green Team's plan to get every school on the same page and level?" Ms. Jensen explained that parents graduate with students so there is an effort to get young parents involved. Ms. Pursley added that the answer to that question is the Sustainability Champion. Grace asked, "How are you going to get students engaged, especially at the High School?" The Green Team wants to get their voice heard, they will put out announcements, have prizes, and get students to think about their practices. Ms. Goulet mentioned choosing opportunities that excite students to come and participate is key, and to offer them often. Ms. Pursley added that there would be two sustainability champions at LHS that know the culture of the school and how to get kids involved. Ms. Jay has never seen a Green Team group more passionate. She stated that the parents and volunteers are a big part of this and that having a champion within the system is a great idea because of the parent turnover. She asked, "How the champions would be chosen and how do we get parent engagement in every school?" And how are we expecting the champion in the school to "carry that ball" if there isn't already an existing parent volunteer? Ms. Jensen replied that right now every school has a Green Team, we just need a champion. Ms. Jay asked about stipends, and Dr. Hackett replied that stipends are negotiated. Ms. Jay asked if the champion would also be responsible for doing some programming. Ms. Goulet would love to see programs established in schools and she hopes that the Sustainability Champion will work with the Town's sustainability manager as well to make it community -wide. JK 12/13/22 - DRAFT Ms. Cuthbertson spoke about people composting in town because kids are doing it. She thinks this is a great proposal and she is looking forward to hearing how we can make it work. Ms. Sawhney stated that right now we are working on the FY23-24 budget, she asked if this could be included in that budget. She does not think there will be an issue getting students to sign up if community service hours are offered. Ms. Jensen added that there is a community service program for students who compost at lunchtime. Ms. Sawhney then asked what the next steps are for the School Committee. Dr. Hackett replied that "you would reflect it in your budget priorities" and a statement in support of it. Bargaining with the union would come next, then job descriptions would be created and posted, and then there would be an interview process. The amount will be up to the negotiation process. Ms. Sawhney suggested doing a pilot across the schools. Dr. Hackett's hunch is that there will be interest in this, but she does not anticipate big challenges. Grace suggested finding a champion that shares the passion of the Green Team to connect with students. Dr. Hackett added that we do pay students in some cases to pick up jobs so that might create some partnerships. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Hackett reviewed the following topics in her report: a. Congratulations and Celebrations • METCO Directors' Conference • Diamond Middle School Student Art Exhibit at Cary Memorial Library b. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • 76 Additional LHS Students Trained as Active Bystanders • Addressing Hate in School Sports Conference at TD Garden • IDEAS High School Student Leadership Conference at Lincoln -Sudbury Regional High School c. Director of PreK-12 English Learner Education • Dr. Phala Chea has been appointed to the position of PK - 12 English Language Education Program Coordinator, she introduced herself remotely via Zoom. d. Progress on a New or Renovated Lexington High School e. Annual Enrollment Review & Projections • Lexington's elementary enrollment is projected to decrease over the next three yea rs. • Middle school enrollment is also projected to decline into FY24 (an approximate decline of 45-50 students) and then level out the following year. • The updated forecast for the high school level suggests enrollment will continue at or be slightly above current levels, with enrollments around 2,300 for the next three years. f. Final Flu and COVID-19 Community Vaccine Clinic of the Year on December 16, 2022 JK 12/13/22 - DRAFT The full Superintendent's Report can be viewed here. 011 XVA 1.111;11014:1 A. Fiscal Year 2023 First Quarter Year End Financial Report Dave Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations, presented the FY 2023 First quarter Year End Financial Re ort School Committee Comments/Questions: Ms. Sawhney asked about spending the circuit breaker, and Mr. Coelho replied that it needs to be spent in one year. Ms. Sawhney asked Dr. Hackett if the amount of Special Education children moving into Lexington is happening just to us or if it is also the case for our neighboring districts. Dr. Hackett replied that she has heard of this happening in other towns but not as much as here. Ms. Jay mentioned the turnback from last year that went to free cash that needed to be certified before reappropriating it. She recalls the discussion around having $500,000.00 removed and then put back into the Special Education Stabilization Fund. She asked where the rest of the turnback will go, Mr. Coelho explained that it is all free cash and that we gave back $2.25. He added that there are 2.6 million dollars in Circuit Breaker funds that we didn't have any use for this year. There's a petition that some of that goes into the stabilization fund. Dr. Hackett asked Mr. Coelho to clarify "we didn't have a need for it." He replied by saying that if we don't use circuit breaker funds for tuition the Town gets it (he can't give back grant money). We are always taught to use the Federal Government's money first, the State grants second, and then the Towns. Mr. Coelho added that the SPED stabilization fund can only be 2% of the total net school spending. Mr. Freeman thanked Mr. Coelho for translating technical finance jargon into everyday English that we can all understand. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Ms. Sawhney made a motion to approve the FY24 Budget Calendar, Mr. Jay seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 4-0. Ms. Sawhney would like Number 10 in the Guidelines changed. Ms. Cuthbertson and Ms. Sawhney discussed how to proceed with how to make the changes. Mr. Freeman made a motion to approve the FY24 Budget Guidelines with the exception of item 10 which will be revisited in January 2023, Ms. Sawhney seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 4-0. JK 12/13/22 - DRAFT POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE Ms. Cuthbertson explained that there are some policies that need to be updated before February because of an educational stability program review from DESE and that we need to draft two new policies. a. Third Reading and vote of the New Policy Diverse Representation on GrousdCommittees - Tabled to the January 3, 2023 meeting. b. First Reading of the Revised BDA - School Committee Qranization Meetin P� - Tabled to the January 3, 2023 meeting. COMMUNITY SPEAK Rai (in person) - 5 Woodland Rd, Lexington: She brought up academic policy and asked Dr. Hackett if we will be going in for Standard Based Grading at the High School. Dr. Hackett replied that we do not have plans to do Standard Based Grading at the High School. The speaker asked for wider communication so everybody feels like they are on the same page. Dr. Hackett replied, "yes, there needs to be clarity...". POSSIBLE ACTION ITEMS Dr. Hackett added the Budget Guidelines. Ms. Sawhney suggested a stipend audit. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Freeman made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:22 PM, Ms. Jay seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 4-0. JK 12/13/22 - DRAFT