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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-08-30-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, August 30, 2022 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:07 PM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk Larry Freeman (remotely) Deepika Sawhney, Vice -chair (joined the meeting at 6:20 PM remotely) Eileen Jay did not attend this meeting. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent Dave Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Chris Lyons, Assistant 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. CONSENT AGENDA Ms. Lenihan read the following consent agenda items: Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. June 24, 2022 - AP Warrant in the amount of $2,183,766.73 b. June 24, 2022 - BMO Warrant in the amount of $47,297.89 c. June 30, 2022 - AP Warrant in the amount of $1,156,898.08 d. June 30, 2022 - BMO Warrant in the amount of $83,281.75 e. July 1, 2022 - Payroll in the amount of $2,315,289.28 f. July 1, 2022 - Payroll in the amount of $9,762,693.91 g. July 15, 2022 - Payroll in the amount of $792,348.19 h. July 29, 2022 - AP Warrant in the amount of $1,092,290.91 i. July 29, 2022 - Payroll in the amount $1,031,696.73 j. August 12, 2022 - AP Warrant in the amount of $610,880.00 k. August 12, 2022 - Payroll in the amount of $1,058,611.30 JK 08/30/22 - Approved I. August 26, 2022 - AP Warrant in the amount of $382,743.84 m. August 26,2022 - BMO Warrant in the amount of $16,719.81 n. August 26, 2022 - Payroll in the amount of 823,098.45 Mr. Freeman read the following consent agenda items: Minutes a. March 28, 2022 b. April 4, 2022 c. April 11, 2022 Ms. Lenihan made a motion to approve the entire consent agenda, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 3-0. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Freeman doesn't have any announcements but he hopes that everyone had a great first day of school and wishes everyone a good year. Ms. Lenihan went out and saw the buses on her street. This is the first year that she does not have a child attending the first day of school in Lexington. She hopes everyone has a great school year! Her announcement is that the first meeting of the School Building Committee will be on September 28th at 3:30 PM at Central Office. M. Cuthbertson's kids both had a great first day of school. She has a brand new high schooler who loved the pizza at lunch. Her other child attends Estabrook and she heard that the new principal has a motorized skateboard (Ripstik). Ms. Cuthbertson gave a shout -out to Mr. Martellone, Sara Jorge, facilities, and everyone who worked on putting together the School Committee Meeting Room (SCMR). COMMUNITY SPEAK No speakers. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Hackett mentioned that on July 5th a community report went out, a hard copy will be sent to all residents soon. 1. Congratulations and Celebrations • A Successful First Day of School, so far there have been no issues with busing. Happy first day to all our students! • 495 students have been enrolled in Kidsborough, which is 18% of the total K-5 population. • Clarke Middle School took second place at the National Science Bowl Competition in D.C. and first place in the 2022 Cyber Challenge. • Diamond Green Team has raised over $1,000.00 for the Lexington Refugee Assistant Program through the sale of sunflowers. They also raised $500.00 to JK 08/30/22 - Approved help clean up the world's oceans, and 500 pounds of trash has been removed. They came in first place in our division and tenth place for Middle Schools in the country for plastic bag and plastic film recycling. • On June 30, 2022, Hastings rising 5th grader, Colby Horvath finished a nearly 800 -day battle with cancer. In June, he missed the last few days of school so he could meet with a Disney Imagineer! He and two other children were selected by Make -a -Wish America and Disney to be a "godchild" and to help christen the brand new Disney cruise ship, the Disney Wish, on June 29, 2022. Colby spent time with Disney CEOs, and he was featured on Good Morning America, reciting the blessing of the ship. We are so happy for you Colby and your family! Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion • This summer we had a $80,000 grant for the Jumpstart Program. LHS kids were mentors to students in the program. They also collected assessment data on the incoming students. • Dr. Hackett included the article "A Bolder Past for a Brighter Future" by Jeri Zeder; it highlights two new course offerings at the High School this year. • Also included is an update on the 2022 Women's Visibility Banner Reception; Janet Haas and Celeste Freeman were celebrated. The Girl Scouts dressed up like the women they are honoring. Jessie Steigerwald MC'ed the event. • 50 educators came together to do DEI curriculum work during the summer. They are working off the social justice standards and the recommendations from the DEI Community Input Team. • A DEI Guidebook will be coming out from the Office of Equity and Student Supports sometime this school year. • Katie O'Hare Gibson is transitioning to her new role as Assistant Principal at Fiske Elementary this year. In addition to that role, she is going to continue her work around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Health and Safety Update • Student Vaccination Status, almost all of our students are vaccinated. The only exception is meningitis which is being newly phased in. • Protocols for the 2022-2023 SY, no major changes from last year. 4. Free School Lunch for Massachusetts Students • On July 28, 2022, Governor Baker signed the FY2023 budget which included $110 million for a one-year extension of free school meals for all students. Now, four hundred thousand students in Massachusetts will continue to get free school lunches for the 2022-2023 school year including Lexington Public Schools' students. 5. Support Group Available to Lexington Students • The Community Therapeutic Day School (CTDS) in Lexington has been awarded two generous grants by The Cummings Foundation and the Weil Memorial Charitable Foundation. These grants will allow them to provide social support services to disadvantaged children and their families free of charge. 6. Safe Routes to School • Students are encouraged to bike and walk to school, this helps bridge the gap between health and transportation. 53% of our student population is registered JK 08/30/22 - Approved for the bus. Recognition and incentives are given to kids who walk. 7. Leadership Updates • New Hastings Assistant Principal, Brienne Marino. • Bowman's new Interim Assistant Principal, Noah Hill. • Kathryn Jones will assume the role of Middle School Math Department Head. 8. Progress for a New/Renovated High School • Today, we submitted the enrollment and educational profile questionnaire, next up will be the maintenance documents and enrollment certification. After we hit these benchmarks, we will proceed to confirmation of community authorization, which is then followed by the second big vote (funding vote to proceed to complete the eligibility period). 9. LPS Core Values Celebration • There will be a Core Values celebration on October 25, 2022, there is a nomination form. 10. 2022-2023 School Calendars • The School Committee voted and approved the 2022-2023 school calendar. The full Superintendent's Report can be viewed here. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan-is really excited to see how well Lexington students are doing on their vaccination status. She asked if the parents of the high school students who are not vaccinated for meningitis were notified. Dr. Hackett replied yes, the nurses do lots of outreach and are on top of record keeping. Mr. Freeman asked: What does the Elementary DEI support role (Ms. O'Hare Gibson) look like? Dr. Hackett replied that there is a job description, it captures the work she has been doing all along (Dr. Hackett will send Mr. Freeman a copy of the job description). He asked if this is something that parents will see or if it is more staff -facing work. Dr. Hackett replied that the primary focus right now is staff -facing. Dr. Lyons added that in the job description there is mention of collaborating with various people in the community as well as administrators and educators. Mr. Freeman also asked if the DEI Guidebook will be a paper copy or electronic. Dr. Hackett responded that the intention was to send it out electronically. It will be sent to staff first then expand to students (an appropriate version) and to community members. Mr. Freeman would like as many eyes as possible to review it before it goes out. Ms. Sawhney asked Dr. Hackett: What was the number of new METCO enrollees in the summer program (Jumpstart)? Dr. Hackett will get the exact number, she said she saw quite a large amount of kids. Ms. Sawhney was happy to see the student interns, she mentioned that if kids could apply for community service hours the number of students could expand. She also mentioned that we still have immunocompromised students and staff, and she asked how we support them. Dr. Hackett responded that there is a fair amount of outreach done when people are sick and the nurses do a good job of figuring out who's in a particular space, this practice will continue. We can talk more with the nursing staff about what the particulars are and how they are helping support those families, students and staff, and give another update. JK 08/30/22 - Approved Ms. Cuthbertson appreciated the update on the DEI curriculum work that happened over the summer. She thinks it would be helpful for the community to see what is happening in the schools. The DEI Guidebook is really exciting, she likes the idea of a companion book for students and community members. Things are constantly changing so she thinks that it should be reviewed every so often to make sure it is always up to date. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS (continued) Ms. Sawhney attended the Master Planning Committee (MPC) meeting, she will talk more about this later in the meeting. She saw a Boston Globe article on August 7th; First -of -its -kind law improves college access for students with autism, and intellectual disabilities. Our Governor passed this law. Universities are now required to offer more support and opportunities for our special education children in the State. She also announced that August 14 and 15 is Pakistan and India's 75th Independence day. And tomorrow is a celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi. It is a time for joy and good food and meeting friends and family. NEW BUSINESS A. Master Plannin Advisory Committee Recommendation Dr. Hackett reviewed the memo that summarized the Master Planning Advisory Committee meeting on August 23rd. She recommends that the School Committee include a Recreation representative on the Master Planning Advisory Committee. Ms. Sawhney moved to include a Recreation member in the Master Planning Advisory Committee going forward, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll can vote, passed 4-0. Ms. Sawhey gave an update on the Master Planning Advisory Committee meeting. One point was that other schools will still need the attention of the MPC while the High School project is going on. The School Building Committee does not have anybody who was directly associated with the Sustainable Lexington group. Ms. Sawhney would like a link to some form that shows how much funds we have and how much we have used. She would like information to be easily accessible to the public. The MPC documents are on the School Committee website but there are many other documents that are being created. Mr. Freeman asked if there will be sustainability representation on the MPC. Dr. Hackett suggested that the first meeting of the School Building Committee would be a good time to discuss the sustainability policy, Integrated Buildin Design and Construction Policy, that was adopted by the Board of Selectmen and School Committee in 2019. She also suggested that the School Committee take a look at the policy at a future meeting so that members can become familiar with it. B. LPS Policy Review JK 08/30/22 - Approved Ms. Cuthbertson reviewed some of the policies that the Policy Subcommittee is working on and their order of priority. They met over the summer to revise the meal charge policy and the restraint of students policy to have ready for the start of school. They also met to work on the non-discrimination and harrassment policies. Dr. Hackett is meeting with legal council about the discrimination policies. We want to make sure that any changes to the policy are done the right way. The next policy due for an update, if there are no differences in opinion, would be instructional materials and library resources, including reconsideration of materials. That one may have to wait a bit so that staff can provide input. Ms. Cuthbertson added the possibility of looking at the field trip policies. Another one on the list is School Committee reorganization; we need to see if our policy specifies when the reorganization should take place. a. She also spoke about how to prioritize policy updates, she asked that if anyone has a request for a policy to be reviewed to email her. Ms. Sawhney requested that we have a policy that at least requires an effort to have every subgroup, task force, committee, and organization (whatever subgrouping of the LPS community) be as diverse as possible. Ms. Sawhney has mentioned this before and she would like to understand why this is not on Ms. Cuthbertson's priority list. Ms. Cuthbertson explained that the policies on her list are current standing policies that need to be amended and affect students now. The policy Ms. Sawhney is asking about what would be a new policy, this will be discussed further at the retreat. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Dr. Hackett reviewed the above document. She added that the type of learning that happens at events like this is a different type of learning. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan's only concern is applying this to the high school. Mr. Freeman asked if the students that participate in field trips represent the diversity that we have in our student body. Dr. Hackett responded that we haven't tracked it that specifically, they could begin to look at the data. The people who lead the field trips are very good at making sure that any child who wants to be included can be. Ms. Swahney would like to make sure that the students who are not going on the field trips are still receiving instruction that is on par with their normal instruction or of the kids who are on the field trip. Ms. Gaudet, the Director of Secondary Education replied that the enrichment materials try to mimic some of the experiences of the students who are on the field trip. Ms. Lenihan made a motion to approve the Clarke & Diamond Quebec City field trip from May 30, 2023, to June 2, 2023, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 4-0. JK 08/30/22 - Approved COMMUNITY SPEAK No speakers. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Lenihan made a motion to adjourn at 7.55 PM, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 4-0. JK 08/30/22 - Approved