Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-25-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, October 25, 2022 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 5:30 PM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson Deepika Sawhney, Vice -chair Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk Eileen Jay Larry Freeman SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent Dr. Christine Lyons, Asst. Superintendent for Personnel and Staff Support 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. EXECUTIVE SESSION Ms. Sawhney made a motion to go into Executive Session under 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 5-0. The School Committee entered Executive Session at 5:32 PM and returned to Open Session at 6:00 PM. Student representative, Aditi Swamy has joined the meeting. CONSENT AGENDA Ms. Sawhney read the following consent agenda items: • Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. October 21, 2022 - AP Warrant in the amount of $1,388,981.25 b. October 21, 2022 - BMO Warrant in the amount of $26,726.75 JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED c. October 21, 2022 - Payroll in the amount of $4,285,080.67 Ms. Jay read the following consent agenda items: • Minutes a. June 7, 2022 Ms. Lenihan made a motion to approve the entire consent agenda, Mr. Freeman seconded. Passed 5-0. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Freeman wished everyone who celebrates a happy Hindu Heritage Month. He also announced that the Human Rights Committee (HRC) has started planning for Martin Luther King Day, if you are interested in volunteering please email the Lexington HRC. Ms. Lenihan wanted to take a moment to think about the latest school shooting in St. Louis, so the School Committee took a moment of silence. Ms. Jay attended the first School Health Advisory Council meeting of the year. She also attended the screening of the movie "Normal Isn't Real" Ms. Sawhney attended the two forums on Elementary school start times. She also wished everyone a happy Diwali. Ms. Cuthbertson announced that Special Town Meeting is coming up next week, as well as Budget Summit next Thursday. Aditi announced that the Unleveling Committee for English presented to LHS Senate this past Wednesday. The general sentiment is that people understand the purpose and reason, but they feel that unleveling English is making LHS more STEM oriented. Senate is also working to put feminine hygiene products into the bathrooms. Lastly, many students wore red today to support the teachers. COMMUNITY SPEAK Nathaniel Dvorkin - 30 Sullivan St: He is a current senior at Lexington High School, he is speaking to reiterate that teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. This year, in particular, has been difficult for the school community because of an underlying feeling that the administration is not prioritizing the mental, emotional and physical safety, health, and well-being of the school community. He has seen teachers being overworked more than ever before. He states that students learn best when teachers can be there for them and at the moment many teachers are so burnt out that they cannot work at their best. Students want their teachers to be heard. Avon Lewis - 18 Hancock St. Arlington (in person): Avon's comment. JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED Robin Strizhak - 15 Juniper St, Chelmsford: She works at LHS and was asked to speak on behalf of an elementary level educator. This person has been in the district for a long time and has found that it has become less and less about what is best for children. How can we take care of ourselves when we are being asked to do more and more and nothing is taken away? Please listen and show us that what we say is being heard. Amy Morin - 22 Hamblen St (in person): She has a 9th grader at LHS and a 7th grader at Diamond. She is also a Unit C member and the Vice President of the Lexington Education Administration (LEA). She read a statement from a Special Education teacher at the elementary level. This educator currently has 10 kids on their caseload and she is working on a second initial assessment of the school year. Because of grade level schedules, the only time this educator is available to administer assessments is during their lunch break and prep time. This educator is spending at least 5 hours doing work on weekends and would like the School Committee to know that there is not enough time in the day to complete work and that they are exhausted and becoming burnt out. Jessica Antoline - 40 Elmwood St, Somerville: She is a member of the LEA and this is her 7th year teaching at the high school. "I want to speak specifically about how my caseload of 125 students across three different grade levels and two different courses impact one of the most important parts of our job as teachers: which is timely, useful, and actionable feedback. My caseload does not support healthy teacher working conditions, but perhaps more important to people listening is that the students are overwhelmed, too, and it's visible to us. As a teacher of history, writing and argumentation skills are at the heart of what we do, but even grading a single essay takes over a month to complete due to a lack of time and constantly changing curriculum and initiatives at the school. How can we keep up? How can students get actionable feedback a month later? Not only can teachers not take a breath, but it seems like students cannot either. I notice that their schedules are overwhelming (they turn assignments in at 1, 2, and 3 in the morning or the very early hours of 5 and 6 am regularly). Their mental health needs have skyrocketed since the pandemic and there's a clear lack of basic skills development that did not take place during the height of the pandemic. So right now it is all the more essential to address teacher caseload, an issue we have brought up for years as educators at Lexington because our students are in desperate need of our time to develop skills missed by nearly all children across the United States. This is my 7th year. I am still struggling, all I do is work, but I feel like my students still don't benefit from it as they should. We need to be able to give them our time in school. Thank you" Andre Verner - 28 Seven Pines Ave Cambridge, MA (in person): "I have taught math at Lexington High School for the past twenty years. And being a teacher at Lexington High School is frankly an enormous part of my life. I love teaching here. I love the students here. I love this community. And yet despite my years of experience and my love of my job, I routinely find that I am drowning in work and struggling to provide my students with the experience that I feel they deserve. In part the reason is simple. Most middle school and high school teachers have a cap of 100 students spread out over 4 classes. But a few departments at the High School, such as Math, have 5 classes and 125 students. Between our five classes and Advisory and I -Block and JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED numerous meetings, we have virtually no time to work during the day. Teachers in my department are routinely staying at work until 6:00 or 7:00 PM and nearly all of us take work home every night and on the weekends. This has been particularly hard on new teachers. Currently, we have 5 pre -professional status teachers in my department. All of them worked at other schools before coming to Lexington. And all of them say that teaching at LHS is by far the hardest job they've ever done. We all want to provide an amazing experience for our students while maintaining a reasonable work/life balance. In order to best meet the needs of students and teachers alike, we believe that all LHS teachers should have a cap of no more than 100 students. Thank you for your support" Sam Bosbach: He is a teacher at Diamond Middle School and has worked in Lexington for 9 years. He feels that we never get to settle into initiatives, routines, and grading habits before things get changed. He claims that when things get changed it is for the good of the students but he feels that what is best for students is for the adults who work with them to be well adjusted in routines, curricula, assessment tools, have reasonable caseloads and prep time as well as collaboration time. Janet West, 12 Carriage Dr. Lexington, MA (in person): She is a math teacher at LHS and has two children who have graduated from the district. She values the education they received and appreciates the relationships they had with their educators. As a member of the LEA and a community member, she would like the community to be aware of the things her colleagues are voicing tonight. She states that unwritten expectations of the job have changed. She spoke about having a 6 -course load with 25 students in each class and doing planning/prep work over the summer. The point she is trying to make is that progressive teaching which is inclusive of all students takes time and careful preparation to do well. She believes that a cap of 100 students for all LHS educators is something that we should be aiming for. Kristen DePesa - Reading, MA: She teaches English at LHS, her cap is at 100 students. She mentions all of the work her history and math colleagues must have with a 5 caseload. She is feeling burnt out and is using all of her study time and prep time to grade and meet with students. Her point is that she has a lower caseload and she is feeling the pressure. Jill Gormisky - 79 Betts Rd Belmont, MA (in person): She has been a math teacher at LHS for seven years. She is here to speak about the challenges of teaching 125 students while having a family. She loves teaching and when she became a mother she had to confront that working 50 hours a week was unsustainable. She made the hard choice to become an 80% part-time teacher; however, her current job is anything but part-time. She spoke about the benefits of having a 100 -student caseload. Ms. Gorminsky states that in order to best meet the needs of students and teachers, all LHS teachers should have a cap of 100 students. NEW BUSINESS A. Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Awards Dr. Hackett explained that each year she has the privilege of awarding Lexington High School JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED students the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Award for Academic Excellence. She is honored to award Anjali Asthagiri, Isabel Li, and Pria Sawhney this year. Dr. Hackett read the counselor statements to each student and their families and presented their awards. PRESENTATION: Lexington Early Childhood Program Evaluation Heejean Parry-Cruwys, Principal of Lexington Children's Place, and Ellen Sugita, Director of Special Education presented the slideshow and reviewed the Lexington Early Childhood Program Evaluation process. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Sawhney would love to receive the monthly newsletter. She also added that she and Ms. Lenihan met with the SEPAC chairs this past week and talked about what this presentation has identified in terms of transitions, and aligns. SEPAC would like all transitions to be smoother. Ms. Sawhney loves LCP. Ms. Lenihan asked if LCP would like any story time readers, and Ms. Parry-Cruwys responded "most definitely." Any parent or community member that would like to be a mystery reader in their classrooms is welcome. Ms. Jay asked about aligning the K-5 curriculum with LCP. Ms. Parry-Cruwys' responded that that is one of the things they are looking at, to make sure that the alignment is as close as possible. Ms. Jay also asked how the coordination with IEPs is handled. Ms. Parry-Cruwys replied that approximately around February, the team meetings start to include a representative from the receiving elementary school. Mr. Freeman asked if special education students are mixed into general classrooms at LCP. Ms. Parry-Cruwys replied that our preschool is an integrated setting, about 51% of students do not have a special education plan and 49% do. Ms. Sugita added that it is a mandated program by IDEA and has a specific ratio of general ed students and special ed students that must be maintained. It is important to Mr. Freeman to embrace a mixed classroom. Dr. Hackett added that the first thought is always about inclusion and that these are big changes that take time to achieve but everyone is working very hard to get more towards the direction Mr. Freeman is expressing. Ms. Cuthbertson is a former LCP parent and she will "always sing the praises" of the program. She remembers the staff being incredibly welcoming during her experiences. She is very excited to see all of the new things in store for LCP. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Hackett reviewed her Superintendent's Report with the School Committee. The highlights from her report include: JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED Congratulations and Celebrations • Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Awards (covered previously in meeting) • Fall Core Values Celebration (happened prior to this meeting) • LPS Educator Jared Cassedy Named a National Music Educator of Excellence! 2. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • Happy Diwali to all who Celebrate! • Seal of Biliteracy (we hope to pilot opportunities for students to earn the seal during the 23-24 school year) • DEI Curriculum Update (we are currently in the process of refining our strategy for a successful rollout) 3. A New or Renovated Lexington High School • The next School Building Committee (SBC) Meeting has been scheduled for Monday, November 14, 2022 at 2:30 p.m. 4. A Pause on Elementary Start Time Adjustments • Dr. Hackett sent out this communication last week. 5. Upcoming Events • Dr. Hackett attended the Semiauincentennial Commission (LEX250) • The public is invited to hear "How to Talk to Teens in 2022" presented by Youth Counseling Connection (YCC) on Thursday, November 3, 2022. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan asked about the Elementary start times and heard the feedback from parents but the School Committee hasn't had a chance to discuss this together. She would like to hear what her colleagues took away from the forums. Ms. Sawhney asked about the website, can the School Committee website be updated? Parents don't know where to find documents. Dr. Hackett announced that there is a consultant working to improve the website, it will be more static and user-friendly. Ms. Cuthbertson mentioned that a lot of people just don't know the process of the School Committee, and she would like to make a quick LexMedia video. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. MASC Resolutions - Discussion and Vote Mr. Freeman noticed some "very restrictive language" in Resolution 3. Dr. Hackett checked with someone who used to work for the MTA and they believe that teachers should be a part of the process. She talked about how there couldn't be a conflict of interest in votes, they would have to recuse themselves. Ms. Sawhney made a motion to support Resolution 3: Membership of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Passed 5-0. JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED B. Status Update - End of Year FY22 Finance sport Dr. Hackett explained the reason this was linked, the memo shows that we are on track. C. Memorandum of Agree entC A) V - Vote Dr. Hackett explained the MOA and the changes that were done in each section. She added that the sick leave section has been excluded from this document. Also that we are working on a successor agreement. She asked the School Committee to vote to approve and implement the MOA. Mr. Freeman moved that the School Committee approve and implement MOA V, Ms. Lenihan seconded. Passed 5-0. Mr. Freeman stated that the School Committee doesn't normally address anything said during Community Speak, but he was moved by the experiences that the teachers shared. He thanked those for sharing and added that he is listening. POLICY REVIEW A. Diverse Renresentation of Groups Polio - 2nd Reading The School Committee discussed the wording of this document and changes were made. This policy will continue to be worked on and the School Committee will present a third reading. COMMUNITY SPEAK Carissa Black - 143 Bedford St. (virtually): "My comments tonight will focus on the LCP review that was conducted as well as the schedule change that was implemented this past school year. I wanted to start by saying that I love LCP. My oldest child who has a disability started at LCP and I have chosen to send each of my other 3 younger children to LCP thereafter. LCP allows our youngest children with disabilities to be educated in a welcoming and inclusive environment in our district, while also offering the opportunity for other students without disabilities. That all being said, while I commend LCP and the Special Education Department for conducting the program evaluation, I am also disappointed that former and current LCP parents were not consulted to a large degree during this evaluation. This was a missed opportunity to include the voices of families with students with disabilities in the review process. While there was a parent focus group, it occurred at the very end of the review process and was attended by only 2 parents, myself included. I am happy to see that parent communication and engagement were highlighted in the report as a need and I hope this will occur moving forward. The other topic I wanted to address was the new LCP hours. There was a change in the hours of the programs announced last year in June to families and implemented this past September. Feedback was not sought from parents on this change and the changes were announced very late in the school year, leaving parents with no choice but to scramble to change their own schedules and childcare arrangements over the summer as other community preschools were already full at JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED that time. In addition to the schedule change, unlike elementary classrooms, the preschool classrooms don't welcome students into classrooms until 9 am, which is the current start of the school day. This limits the number of families who can benefit from this amazing resource in our community to those who have work schedules that can accommodate this. My hope is this can be revisited and that LCP can adopt a schedule where children can enter classrooms at least 15 minutes before the start of the school day and before or after-school care can also be explored. In closing, while LCP serves only a small number of students in our district, it is a critically important component of our school system for our youngest learners with disabilities, and parent inclusion, collaboration, and feedback are as important at this level as it is at all other school levels in LPS. I very much hope that parents can be further included and supported in LCP moving forward. Thank you." Gretchen Seigers - 3 Chestnut Ln (in person): She is here to read an Elementary Special Educators statement. "As an Elementary Special Education teacher, I wanted to share about what the impact is when caseload numbers and needs get high. When caseloads are high and continue to grow throughout the year as new students qualify, student groups get bigger and bigger. This means students are getting less individualized support and attention from their special education teacher. As someone who has been in the district for a number of years, I've had several years where I've had groups of five or more students working at three different levels within that group. This is basically asking us to teach what should be three different special education groups at the same time. This is simply unsustainable and unacceptable. Special education teachers need firm caps on the number of students that they can be expected to have on their caseload. This is what is right for teachers, but mostly what is right for students. Thank you." Anjali Agarwal - 72 Middle St (virtually): She is offering a Lexington High School student perspective. She states that "for both students and teachers alike, it's becoming more and more apparent that a lot of the values we claim to embody like caring for ourselves and others, and compassion in what we do, don't extend to those that need it most." Anjali has come to realize that "what is consistently expected from our teachers is not sustainable for them, their classes, the school, or the district as a whole." She also mentioned that "student quality of learning and teacher quality of life are both highly at risk right now." Matthew Small - Medford (in person): Mr. Small is a member of the Lexington Education Association and in his 10th year as a school counselor for Lexington Public Schools. He has served in both high school and elementary settings and is here to call attention to counselor caseloads in the district. His concern is that Lexington Public School students do not have equitable access to school counseling services and support. He explained that students do not have the same access to school counselors when enrollment changes. At his previous elementary school, there were 200 additional students enrolled and therefore he did not have time for important prevention work. He added that there was a Joint Labor Management Committee that recommended in 2019 that caseloads should be in place; there has yet to be a response to this from the School Committee or the Superintendent on this issue. Kelly Anderson (in person): She is a math teacher at Lexington High School, this is her 9th year JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED teaching. She states that she grew up around Lexington and shared memories of her childhood in Lexington. She loves teaching and her students but she has worked harder than ever and she doesn't feel like her job is getting more manageable as she learns more. She explained the work she has been doing to get students caught up from the pandemic and what her regular schedule looks like, it is not manageable. She is asking for a student cap of 100. Jessica Karachi - 24 Grove St, Arlington (in person): She is a visual arts teacher at the high school and has worked in Lexington for five years. She is here to support the LEA and to share echoing sentiments from her peers. She explained her appreciation for teachers, staff, and students. She gave a special thanks to Nathaniel and Anjali for speaking. POSSIBLE ACTION ITEMS Items added: • Elementary start times proposal (see below 9-27-22) • Ms. Cuthbertson to follow up with Ms. Hai on air quality • The Green Team presentation before the budget ADJOURNMENT Ms. Sawhney made a motion to adjourn at 8:44 p.m., Mr. Freeman seconded. Passed 5-0. JK 10/25/22 - APPROVED