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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-09-28-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, September 28, 2021 Conducted by Remote Participation Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:13 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. Note: The School Committee convened in-person in the Select Board's Meeting Room. This was the second hybrid meeting. Members of the public were able to view and participate in the meeting webinar from their computer or tablet using the link provided with the meeting agenda.This meeting was being recorded, and attendees were able to participate by video conference. The meeting was broadcast live and also taped by LexMedia for future on -demand viewing. All supporting materials provided to members of this body were available on the Town's website unless otherwise noted. Ms. Lenihan called the meeting to order in open session at 6:14 p.m. The Chair, Ms. Lenihan, moved that the School Committee go into Executive Session under: 1. Exemption 3 -For the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to collective bargaining with LEA and the ALA, as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the School Committee. 2. Exemption 3 -For the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to litigation, as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the public body. Seconded by Ms. Cuthbertson; Approved by roll call vote 5-0. EXECUTIVE SESSION 6:05 p.m. - 6:35 p.m. LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK The School Committee returned to Open Session at 6:-- p.m. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS: • Ms. Cuthbertson announced that on Thursday (09/23/21), she and Mr. Bokun attended the first LexSEPTA meeting for the year. It was a meet and greet with lots of new faces and there will be lots of upcoming events (info listed on their website: lexsepta.org). • Mr. Bokun stated that October is Dyslexia Awareness Month (this will be discussed further later in the meeting). October is also ADHD Awareness Month. To help the Lexington Community gain understanding and awareness, groups in SEPAC have put together presentations and special meetings. On Tuesday, October 5th 7-8PM on Zoom there will be a listening session with Parents & LPS on Dyslexia. SEPAC is also putting on a Dyslexia/ADHD story walk exhibit that will be on display outside at Clark Middle School and the six elementary schools (on rotation). October 14th there will be a film festival outside at the Community Center tent. Discovery Day is being revived, it will take place on Saturday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m on Mass Ave. • Ms. Sawhney announced that the Town is going to have a Lexington Community Art Walk Project from October 6th to November 5th. • Ms. Jay will be running for re-election for School Committee in the March 2022 election. There will be two seats open and she encouraged members of the community to run for School Committee. • Sara Mei announced that the Senate proposed a plan to paint the doors and walls in the High School. They are also working on resolving overcrowding in the hallways. • Ms. Lenihan stated that today is National Voter Registration Day. Today Pfizer submitted data on their vaccine for 5 to 11 year olds to the FDA. We could see vaccines being administered at the Elementary level before the end of October if everything passes. She attended the Recreation Committee meeting last week. Two capital requests were made, one for improving Fiske fields and another for a Master Plan for Lincoln Park. Ms. Lenihan also met with Massachusetts State Senator Cindy Friedman to discuss the letter for mandated vaccines. COMMUNITY SPEAK Joshua Apgar, 31 Barberry Rd: Joshua is a Town Meeting Member and he made a statement on behalf of SEPAC. He requested further explanation of the proposed World Language Program post-ESSR III funding. The slideshow shows about 40 % of funding is coming from the Special Education Department and student supports. Nicole Locher, 242 Grove St: She spoke on behalf of herself, but she is the co -leader of the Dyslexia Parent Group, a subgroup of SEPAC and SEPTA. She thanked the School Committee for recognizing October as Dyslexia and ADHD Awareness Month, she is looking forward to celebrating our unique learners next month. Nicole mentioned there have been significant learning delays and learning loss with our Special Education students. She states that although LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK the proposed World Language program sounds great, she would like to see that funding go to helping those who are most vulnerable. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT • New LPS Administrators o Dr. Hackett introduced Jennifer Gaudet, the new Director of Secondary Education and Kerry Dunne, the new LHS History & Social Studies Department Head. Jennifer and Kerry both spoke about their backgrounds and qualifications. • Congratulations and Celebrations o Dr. Hackett gave a shout out to David Neylon, the Town's Public Health Nurse. The United States Postal Service (USPS) made a stamp in his honor for being "A COVID hero." • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion o New staff will be going through the Better Beginnings Program, a required DEI Professional Learning experience. o Implementation of an enhanced data collection system for discipline in all schools that will help us to understand the precursors to the behaviors that historically lead to more exclusionary practices. • LPS COVID-19 Update o Middlesex has seen a decent drop in positive COVID -19 cases. 0 85% of students in grades 7-12 are fully vaccinated, 88% of Lexington High School students are vaccinated o There's a State -level mask mandate. This does not necessarily mean that's what we are doing, we are taking our own approach. o Continuing to do COVID vaccine clinics every three weeks. There is no cost associated with having a COVID clinic, they are federally funded. The flu clinics are covered by insurance. • Elementary World Language Proposal o Dr. Hackett spent time in 16 of the World Language classrooms, grades 6-12. The kids were so engaged, in all of the different range of classes. She learned that three of our educators went through the Elementary World Language program as students in Lexington. o The core value "We All Belong" was observed by Dr. Hackett in the classrooms. o Dr. Hackett asked the students if they would have liked to have a World Language Program in Elementary School, she got feedback from the students that it would have been so much easier to have started in elementary school. o We are not ready to give a model for Elementary World Language yet, many staff members have been working on this. There are places where we can make cuts to help make the program sustainable. Dr. Hackett believes that Elementary World Language is the best use of the ESSR III funds. The full Superintendent's Report can be found here. LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan explained that we know what students have been vaccinated because we have a system in Massachusetts called MIIS (Massachusetts Immunization Information System) that we have access to. Dr. Hackett also mentioned that the Director Of Health Services, Karen Rufo, purchased software that holds health data. Ms. Lenihan also asked, "If the vaccine for 5-11 year olds passes, would we be able to vaccinate those students at our COVID clinics?" Dr. Hackett replied, "Yes, I assume so." Ms. Sawhney is a huge believer of World Languages being introduced at a young age. Multiple languages set children up for success. We are in a position of great responsibility, we should spend the money in the best way possible. Ms. Sawhney supports Elementary World Language because our basic needs are met. Community input is a requirement. She likes that Dr. Hackett is looking at making the program cost -neutral, there will obviously be upfront costs which is what the 1.2 million will be used for. Ms. Jay believes that the case for an Elementary World Language program is strong. A long-term concern is "how is this sustainable?" Cuts to substantial items are being considered to offset the cost of sustaining an Elementary World Language program. In the chart presented, examples of areas for cost reductions are just "for instances." It will be important to identify these areas to see what the impact would be. Dr. Hackett replied that there are "many ways to go about this" in reference to different models to accommodate an Elementary World Language program; there is no definite plan yet. Dr. Hackett also pointed out that 74 public school systems in Massachusetts have figured out how to implement an Elementary World Language program. Mr. Bokun invited people to speak up now if there are other things they are more interested in and to come up with other ways to switch funding around. Now is the perfect time since we are about to start a budget discussion with the Town. Ms. Cuthbertson reflected on looking at previous budgets and feeling alarmed when seeing where things were taken away but also noticing what was added. Last year there were lots of explanations for FTEs being reduced. She stated that it's important to keep in mind that even though It looks like on the surface that cutting FTEs means cutting people and that isn't always necessarily the case. Ms. Lenihan added that she is very happy to see that Elementary World Language is for ALL students. MASSACHUSETTS COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM (MCAS) PRESENTATION Dr. Hackett gave a disclaimer that the MCAS results are nothing like those of 2019. The scores are those of students who were greatly impacted by a pandemic. Dr. Maureen Kavanaugh, the Director of Planning and Assessment, and Caitlin Ahern, the Director of Elementary Education, presented the slideshow about the 2021 MCAS results. LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK Dr. Kavanaugh spoke about the timeline from when the pandemic started to present day. The impact of the pandemic (remote, hybrid and in-person learning) on test results was highlighted. When the 2021 MCAS was administered, there were a lot of adjustments happening as well as lots of emotions and anxieties from students (for example, students who remained remote had not been in a school for a whole year). Ms. Ahearn stated that the MCAS is just one data point that we use to understand what our students can do. When schools closed in March 2020, curriculum work started immediately. There was a period of fully remote, then some students were in a hybrid model and others remained remote, so there wasn't time for the full 10 -month curriculum. Every content area looked at what was most essential to teach; they are referred to as "power standards" Slide 4 gives examples of Grades 5-8 Math units that were covered and not covered. Every curriculum decision was made very thoughtfully by many of our curriculum experts. Dr. Kavanaugh stated that any time we are talking about data we must be concerned with validity and reliability. There is a known misalignment with what was taught and what was tested on the MCAS. Dr. Kavanaugh reviewed the results. She noted that while scores dropped in Lexington for 2019 (there was no MCAS testing in 2020), LIPS maintained higher scores than many comparable districts and the state-wide scores. Subgroup data was also displayed and explained on Slides 10 and 13. Ms. Ahern read a quote about "learning loss"; unfinished learning is a more acceptable term. She then reviewed some examples of interventions and assessments that are being implemented at Elementary, Middle and the High School levels. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Cuthbertson stated that our kids have missed out on a lot, socially and with learning experiences. She read an article that discussed the burden of the pandemic on students and how to empower them. She asked what individual teachers are doing with the MCAS data. Ms. Ahern replied that at each grade span (Elementary School, Middle School and High School), there are assessment systems in place as well as systems to interpret the data. Schools have data teams that sit down with the teachers and coaches. The data helps identify patterns and trends across grade levels and content areas, as well as individual student performance. Decisions get made around this data on how to best support students. Dr. Kavanaugh added that a pro of MCAS is that it is a common measure that spans multiple subjects and grade levels that can also be compared to other districts. Mr. Bokun loves the term "unfinished learning" in place of "learning loss" He thinks that the State should have given the same test from 2019, and he gave thanks to the team for putting a positive spin on MCAS. LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK Ms. Jay expressed that it is going to be really easy for people to hone in on and read into the data for sub -groups (Special Education and African Americans). She asked to try not to over interpret the data. There were many stressors with the learning models last year and other factors that could contribute to the results. She asked how we figure out what issues came up that lead to some of the results. Do individual students get looked at by the evaluation teams? Dr. Hackett added that we saw some increases within the data that we did not anticipate. Dr. Kavanaugh stated that there are two levels of work being done. Student performance data (pre -assessments and benchmark assessments) are the tools that teachers use to understand the needs of the students in front of them. As needs become more complicated and escalate, that is when they might enter into a process of multi -tiered supports. The second level is systems level work and implementation data. She referenced the slide that shows what units were not taught, this information is passed on to the receiving grade teacher. The information is also helpful when redesigning the curriculum this year. Ms. Ahern added that geometry was not taught in Elementary last year but students still did very well in the geometry section of the MCAS. She also mentioned that the younger students (Kindergarten, first grade and second grade) are typically taught by sitting on a rug, using manipulatives and in a hands-on kind of way that was hard to translate in a remote or hybrid model. The way we had to do learning last year had different impacts. Dr. Kavanaugh also spoke to how some students may have found remote learning beneficial. Ms. Sawhney stated that she does not have a problem with MCAS one way or another; it's just another experience for students to go through. She noted the improvements from 2018 to now and stated that every test is a test of accumulated learning. She is concerned about the dips happening more in math than ELA. Math is not as immersive as English since we live in an English speaking community. There are less opportunities for math learning and yet math is becoming more and more important. She would like to figure out how we can create fun, immersive opportunities for math. Dr. Hackett replied that in the first week of school she saw immersive learning happening while she was visiting a Fiske Kindergarten class. The math coach was in the classroom giving wonderful examples. Ms. Sawnhey wishes that she could go to the schools to see this learning. Ms. Sawhney also mentioned that parents will be receiving letters with the MCAS results. What can we do to help parents to understand and to not become too concerned? Ms. Sawhney would like to know if there is a dashboard that tracks students' assessments. Dr. Hackett replied that we can provide the data in many formats. We need to tease the most important data points out to have a more complete and accurate picture of student LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK performance. We will keep finding ways to make visible the things that aren't so apparent to the community. Sara Mei said that this year she is a teaching assistant for math and she has seen first hand the gap that has been created between 8th grade and 9th grade and difficulties with the transition. The teacher she works with has used the Learning Center as a resource for her students that are struggling. Sara also included that she felt "rusty" going back to Spanish class after being remote last year. Her teacher did reviews to help meet students where they are in their learning. Ms. Lenihan spoke about how we had students sit down and take a test right after being isolated for a year. She would like to look forward. POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE Third Reading and Vote of Policy IINDBA: Student Standards for the Acceptable Use of Technology in Lexington Public Schools Ms. Cuthbertson states that there was just a minor change, direction to the website was added. Ms. Sawhnney moved to accept the Policy IJ BA Student Standards for the Acceptable Use of Technology in Lexington Public Schools; Ms. Cuthbertson seconded. (Approved 5-0). NEW BUSINESS Vote to Ratify Memorandum of Agreement (MOA IV) Ms. Cuthbertson moved to accept the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA IV); Seconded Mr. Bokun. (Approved 5-0). Dyslexia Awareness Month Proclamation Mr. Bokun read the Proclamation. Mr. Bokun moved to accept the Dyslexia Awareness Month Proclamation; Ms. Jay seconded. (Approved 5-0). Ms. Cuthbertson moved to accept the FY2023 budget calendar; Ms. Sawhney seconded. (Approved 5-0). UNFINISHED BUSINESS Farmer's Market iner a uest - House Bear Brewing LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK Leslie Wilcott-Henrie from the Lexington Farmers' Market spoke. She said that the request to extend the request is just for one extra market to be held in November. Ms. Jay moved to allow House Bear Brewing, LLC to sell Mead at the Lexington Farmers' Market for the 2021 season from June 1, 2021 through November 23, 2021 at the Lexington Farmers' Market grounds; Ms. Sawhney seconded. (Approved 4-1) [Bokun—NO; Cuthertson—YES; Jay—YES; Lenihan—YES; Sawhney—YES]. eliiou oliays Johnny Cole spoke about the plan to change the School Calendar so that it doesn't list anything outside of Federal holidays and any days off from school would just be listed as a day off. There will then be reference to a portion of the website which will have a robust listing of cultural and religious observances that would be tailored to our community. This is to make sure those who have observances that are not recognized by the school calendar know that it is important and that we will support them. This is also a way to educate the rest of the community who do not observe those holidays, in support of our value "We All Belong." This is really about bringing Ms. Jay liked that the message is being consolidated in a unified way and that the communication is going out to all staff members. Having descriptions that are meaningful to the groups is both an educational tool and a way to make the whole community recognize and understand those holidays better. Ms. Jay is curious about the nature of feedback that we are getting. What concerns have been expressed? Mr. Cole replied that feedback has been positive and that there are lots of ideas around what observances need to be developed. People have been weighing in on the days off; there will be more conversation on this. Dr. Hackett spoke about feedback she received., Some groups did not like the ADL version of the calendar because it is not as comprehensive as they would like it to be. Another piece of feedback she received was related to which days will be days off. Ms. Jay asked about a sample calendar. Dr. Hackett stated that there needs to be a few more conversations, then she will make a draft. COMMUNITY SPEAK Bronte Abraham, 22 Hudson Rd: Stated that the level of engagement from the community decreases when people have to wait until the end of the meeting to comment. She finds it personally challenging to be able to participate or provide feedback when there is such a big gap between a presentation and comments. She mentioned that the only time to make comments about MCAS was before the presentation, ideally she would like to be able to provide feedback after the presentation. She asked that if going forward there could be consideration to close that gap. CONSENT AGENDA LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK Mr. Bokun read the following consent agenda items: Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. September 24, 2021 -Accounts Payable in the amount of $158,136.05 b. September 24, 2021 - BMO Warrant in the amount of $47,671.77 c. September 24, 2021- Payroll in the amount of $4,174,148.04 Ms. Sawhney read the following consent agenda item: Approval of School Committee Minutes a. September 14, 2021 Ms. Cuthbertson read the following consent agenda items: Donations a. Approval of $1,500 plus tax and shipping from the Hastings PTO for student seat cushions for outdoor lunch b. Approval of $2,500 to the Performing Arts Department from FOLMADS to purchase lumber for set building to help offset the current cost of lumber Ms. Jay moved that the School Committee vote to accept the whole Consent Agenda. (Approved 5-0). Ms. Cuthbertson made a motion to adjourn at 9:45 P.M.; Mr. Bokun seconded. (Approved 5-0). LSC 9/28/21 - Approved on 10/12/21 JK