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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-08-31-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, August 31, 2021 Conducted by Remote Participation Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:01 P.M. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Kathleen Lenihan, Chairperson Eileen Jay, Vice -Chair Scott Bokun Deepika Sawhney Sara Cuthbertson, Clerk STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE Sara Mei SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent The minutes were taken by Julie Kaye, School Committee Meeting Recording Secretary. The School Committee is convening by video conference via the application Zoom as posted on the Town's Website. 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 some 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. SCHOOL COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION The School Committee discussed the roles of Chair, Vice -Chair and Clerk. Mr. Bokun nominated Ms. Lenihan as Chair; Ms. Cuthbertson seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). Ms. Sawhney nominated Ms. Jay as Vice Chair; Mr. Bokun seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). Mr. Bokun nominated Ms. Cuthbertson as Clerk; Ms. Jay seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). LSC 8/31/21 - Approved on 9/14/21 JK Mr. Bokun moved for Ms. Cuthbertson and Ms. Sawhney to be the new Policy Subcommittee members; Ms. Jay seconded. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). Mr. Bokun moved for Ms. Lenihan and Ms. Jay to be the new Finance Subcommittee members; Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS: • Sara Mei announced that the LHS mural is now complete. The first day of school was exciting and overwhelming. Senate meetings will begin in September. • Mr. Bokun welcomed everyone back. He stated that there were some "missteps" today; those issues will be worked on. • Ms. Sawhney spoke about the Lexington High School block schedule and how one former student, Ben Borgers created the app called Blocks for students to manage their schedule. Since he has graduated there have been new apps created (4-10 different ones), Ms. Sawhney gave kudos to the students working to solve real world problems. • Ms. Cuthbertson spoke about how her kids went to school today, they were excited for the in-person connection. • Ms. Jay congratulated and wished a good year to students, families and educators. It was brought to her attention that this year's LPS calendar does not give recognition to some holidays. She asked if those cultural or religious holidays could be added back to the calendar. Listing only the holidays when schools are closed does not honor the diversity we had in our past calendars. This will be discussed further at a future meeting. • Ms. Lenihan welcomed everyone to the new school year. She thanked the facilities department for all their work taking care of the school over the summer. COMMUNITY SPEAK Dahlia Rin, 29 Farmcrest Ave: She wished everyone a happy first day of school and thanked the School Committee members and Dr. Hackett for all of the hard work that was done to prepare for this school year. Dahlia stated that she has a 2nd grader at Bridge Elementary and a toddler. She asked if it is possible to make pool testing mandatory or close to mandatory this year. She mentioned that in order to get the most benefit from it, the more participation the better. She also asked if the testing could be done in schools rather than at home. Asked if this could at least be implemented on the Elementary level since those students are not vaccinated. Cindy Arens, 7 Kitson Park Dr: She has two students in the Lexington Public Schools System; one at Clarke Middle School and one at Lexington High School. She is Co -president of the Clarke PTO this year and a member of Lexington's Green Team. Cindy was excited to be at Clarke today and to see everyone back. She thanked the School Committee and Dr. Hackett for all of their work. From the Green Teams' perspective, she wanted to thank the school system for continuing to support diverting food waste at lunch. She also thanked Mr. Coelho and Ms. Harvey for getting us up and running. She asked for continued support since this is a way for students to do their part. Our food service provider, Witsons, is also concerned about food waste. LSC 8/31/21 - Approved on 9/14/21 JK David Kanter, 48 Fifer Ln: He is speaking on behalf of the Capital Expenditures Committee. Congratulations and best wishes to the continuing and newly assigned School Committee jobs. He asked if there is any contemplated change for the liaisons to the Capital Expenditures Committee. Ms. Cuthbertson stated that Mr. Bokun and herself will still be at the Capital Expenditures meetings. Mr. Kanter thanked Ms. Cuthbertson for clarifying. Teresa Wright, 35 Reed St: She echoed all of the thanks and hopefulness for this year and stated that she has a 6th grader and a Junior at LHS. Ms. Wright voiced her support for the mandatory vaccinations to participate in extracurricular activities. She also asked if safe transportation could be provided to the swim teams. Practices are at 4:00 pm in Sudbury and this is a hurdle for participation. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT • Congratulations and Celebrations o New Employee Orientation had 80 new educators and staff. o Opening day for teachers, educators and staff was yesterday. It was not held at Lexington High School as it typically is, but instead it was building -based. Dr. Hackett sent a welcome back message, the PTO provided lunches. o Whitsons Culinary Group helped serve 175,952 free breakfasts and 335,657 free lunches to Lexington families. In the Colonial Times, an article was published about food insecurity and an expert states, "Lexington Public Schools to the Rescue!" Free meals will continue for all students through the 2021-2022 school yea r. • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion o The Community Input Team for Inclusion will hopefully have a report by the winter. • LPS COVID-19 Update o There will be three ways for testing: individual testing on symptomatic individuals, individual testing on close contacts (Test and Stay) and Routine COVID-19 safety check (previously referred to as "pooled testing"). A signed consent form needs to be on file for any students or staff to participate in any aspects of testing. If a consent form is not on file, students will need to be quarantined for a minimum of 7 days in the event they are identified as a close contact or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. o The Lexington Public Schools Travel Guidelines have been updated. o On Friday, September 10th from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. there will be a vaccination clinic at Lexington High School. This is being offered to anyone in the Lexington community. o On Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. Boston Children's Hospital will hold a Webinar called "Back -to -school and COVID-19: Answers for families". LSC 8/31/21 - Approved on 9/14/21 JK • Director of Secondary Education Update o This position received 26 qualified applicants; four internal candidates and four external candidates were interviewed. The two finalist candidates will be interviewed on Thursday, September 2, 2021. • Preliminary Plans for ESSER III Funding o There is a recommendation to use the ESSER III funding to hire the staff necessary to reinstitute the Elementary World Languages program in the Lexington Public Schools. • COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic o Friday, September 10th from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at Lexington High School. The full Superintendent's Report can be found here. School Committee Questions/Comments: • Ms. Sawhney asked if the testing consent form could be sent out; she has only seen it from the Superintendent's report. She also asked if the third booster shot will be available at the upcoming vaccination clinic. o Dr. Hackett replied that Principals were asked to send out the consent forms. There is a certain time frame for the booster shot, she will check on that. o Dr. Hackett received information that if the third booster shot is approved by the September vaccination clinic, it will be allowed. • Ms. Lenihan asked if Dr. Hackett could include an update on what percentage of Lexington is vaccinated on the next Superintendent's report. o Dr. Hackett states that the vaccination information was updated last Friday and is on the website. • Ms. Lenihan asked how the Test and Stay would work for students who wake up with symptoms. How do students with allergies distinguish between COVID symptoms and allergies? o Dr. Hackett stated that individuals should not show up to school if they are sick. She encourages students with allergies to work with the school nurses and/or other medical providers. • Ms. Lenihan also asked if those students who turn 12 years old after September 10th can receive their first dose at the October 1st vaccination clinic or if it only for the second dose for the September 10th participants. She also asked if the flu vaccination clinic could be combined with the COVID vaccination clinic. o Dr. Hackett replied that the flu and COVID vaccination clinics are run by two different vendors so we would not be able to combine them. o Dr. Hackett stated that if a student turns 12 years old after September 10th, they can go to the October 1st clinic for their first dose. • Ms. Cuthbertson mentioned that last year if there was a COVID case, a communication was sent out if you were a close contact and if you were a classroom contact. She asked if a notification will be sent out if there's a classroom contact this year. o Dr. Hackett stated that the close contacts will work differently, and notifications will be given on the website. LSC 8/31/21 - Approved on 9/14/21 JK • Mr. Bokun and Ms. Jay expressed concern that World Languages might not qualify for the ESSR fund money because it is not COVID-related. o Dr. Hackett is confident that World Languages will be accepted for the ESSR fund. • Ms. Jay asked if building the positions to staff World Languages would fit into our budget in a sustained way after the initial ESSR funds are used. o Dr. Hackett said that additional FTE would be reflected in the FY23 budget and that it could become part of the operating budget. • Ms. Sawhney spoke about the importance of children learning languages. She would like to know how many teachers would need to be hired to create the World Language department. Is it 6 (one specialist for each school) and a department head or more? She also has concerns about this being a one-time fund. Ms. Sawhney would also like to know when this is estimated to happen. o Dr. Hackett thinks that there will probably be more than 6 teachers; one estimate is to hire 24 additional staff. Dr. Hackett would like to hire staff as soon as possible and to start the program by January 2022 (or at least by next fall). Dr. Hackett asked the School Committee to give concept approval. Ms. Cuthbertson moved to pursue the use of ESSR 111 money to hire the staff necessary to expand the World Language Program in Lexington Public Schools to include the Elementary schools; Ms. Jay seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). NEW BUSINESS Proposed Article for Upcoming Special Town Meeting to Amend Section 32-4 of Chapter 32 Code of the Town of Lexington for Possible Electric School Bus Acquisition. • The proposed amendment to the code would allow the Town to enter into contracts for up to 20 years for "leases or agreements for purchasing, financing, operating and maintaining electric school buses, and/or ...charging facilities and infrastructure" Preliminary research on lease agreements for this type of vehicle shows term lengths of up to 12 years. Without this amendment the maximum length would be 5 years. • Ms. Sawhney explained that this proposal is to lease Electric School Buses for transportation. Two vendors are being looked at, the vendor contract needs to be for more than 5 years. Mr. Bokun moved to request that the Select Board include in the warrant for the upcoming 2021 Special Town Meeting the attached article language regarding contract term agreements for electric school buses and charging apparatus; Ms. Sawhney second. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE Ms. Cutherbertson explained that more work is needed on policies IJNDB: Staff Standards for the Acceptable Use of Technology in Lexington Public Schools and UNDBA Student Standards for LSC 8/31/21 - Approved on 9/14/21 JK the Acceptable Use of Technology in Lexington Public Schools. So the second reading for these two policies will be on the next agenda. Second reading and vote ofoliicy IJ C: School and District Web Pages There were no new comments or changes suggested for this policy. Mr. Bokun moved that the School Committee accept the ammended IJNDC - School and district web based resources Policy; Ms, Jay seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). Discuss and vote EBC Supplemental - Interim Policy on Issues Related tot e C ID -1 Pandemic Ms. Cuthbertson went over the changes that were made. Most of the revisions were updates that reflect changes in State policies, emergency conditions and operational needs that no longer applied as the COVID situation evolved. She explained that BO - Policy Adoption allows the School Committee to adopt policies in emergency conditions without the usual sequence of multiple readings. One new substantive addition to EBC was proposed, as follows: "For the 2021-2022 school year, vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is required for all age -eligible students to participate in school -sponsored sports and rostered extracurricular activities that occur outside of the school day." The School Committee discussed the proposed vaccination requirement for school -sponsored sports and rostered extracurricular activities. There was discussion around what activities were included for the requirement and testing alternatives for students who were age -ineligible or waiting for vaccination. Ms. Jay moved to adopt the amendment to the EBC Supplemental - Emergency Plans- Interim Policy on Issues Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic; Mr. Bokun seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). COMMUNITY SPEAK None. [0]01F-1a►I&TICI4►UL1 Mr. Bokun read the following consent agenda items: Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. August 27, 2021 - Accounts Payable in the amount of $349,172.28 b. August 27, 2021 - Payroll in the amount of $731,188.10 Ms. Jay read the following consent agenda items: LSC 8/31/21 - Approved on 9/14/21 JK Approval of School Committee Minutes a. August 17, 2021 Ms. Sawhney moved that the School Committee vote to accept the whole consent agenda; Ms. Cuthbertson seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). Ms. Cuthbertson made a motion to adjourn at 10:01 P.M.; Ms. Sawhney seconded. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0). LSC 8/31/21 - Approved on 9/14/21 JK