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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-14-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, June 14, 2022 Conducted by Remote Participation Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:26 P.M. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson Deepika Sawhney, Vice -Chair Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk Eileen Jay Larry Freeman 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 convened in person in the LPS Central Office and on Zoom. 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 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 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. Ms. Cuthbertson made a motion to enter Executive Session at 6:27 PM, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 5-0. JK 06/14/22 - DRAFT The School Committee came back to regular session around 6:52 PM. CONSENT AGENDA Ms. Lenihan made a motion to approve the minutes from March 8, 2022 and April 4, 2022, Mr. Freeman seconded. Ms. Cuthbertson took a roll call vote, passed 5-0. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Leadership Updates Gerardo Marinez (Estabrook Elementary School Principal), Heejean Parry-Cruwys (Lexington Children's Place Director), Chris Wai (Hastings Elementary School Principal), Marlon Davis (Diamond Middle School Principal) were promoted to panelists so they could introduce themselves to the School Committee. The full Superintendent's Report can be viewed here. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Freeman mentioned that the Lexington Human Rights Committee has a video of artwork from our students posted, called Race Amity 2022. He also announced that LexPride's celebration was this past Sunday. Ms. Lenihan also added that the LexPride celebration was wonderful. Ms. Jay announced that the Human Rights Committee adopted the proclamation for June to be Immigrant Heritage Month. Ms. Cuthbertson announced that she attended the LexSEPTA/SEPAC Business Meeting & Social Event on 6/9/22. On 6/11/22 Ms. Cuthbertson went to the Middle School Track and Field Championships for the State, our students did an amazing job! That same day she attended the LEF event and on 6/12/22 she also attended the Lex Pride event. Ms. Sawhney also attended the LEF event and the Recreation Committee meeting. The School Committee celebrated Sara Mei, she graduated from LHS and this is her last meeting as the Student Representative with the School Committee. COMMUNITY SPEAK JK 06/14/22 - DRAFT Jessica Quattrocchi, 102 Pleasant St: Ms. Quattrocchi wanted to introduce herself as she is taking on the new role of co-chair of SEPAC. She is open and available for any communication and is happy to start working with everyone. NEW BUSINESS A. A New LPS Pk -12 DEI Curriculum Johnny Cole (Director of Equity and Student Supports) started off by talking about the process of developing the new DEI Curriculum. Other members of the DEI Community Input Team joined as panelists and gave input to the process: Caitlin Ahern (Director of Elementary Education), Jennifer Gaudet (Director of Secondary Education), Alex Kuschel (K-5 Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator), Christina Lin (LPS Parent/Guardian), Ina Jiang (LPS Parent/Guardian), Larry Freeman (School Committee member), Eileen Jay (School Committee member), Sara Cuthbertson (School Committee member) and Stephen Babbitt (LPS Staff). Dave Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations reviewed the document. We're tracking about a 2.9 million dollar surplus, approximately 2.43% of the operating budget for FY22. School Committee Questions/Comments Ms. Sawhney commented that she wishes there weren't as many vacancies. Dr. Hackett asked Mr. Coelho how the current vacancies compare to previous years, she thinks that we usually have vacancies at this time of year. Mr. Coelho replied that we would have to go back and look at FY19-20, we usually end up in the 13, 14, 15 range but this year is higher with teaching positions. Dr. Hackett stated that a question she has been getting for about a year is why are we not giving bonuses to staff, one reason is that we did not get additional funds from the municipal side unlike other towns and another piece is the turnbacks. Dr. Hackett explained that returning money to the Town is part of the budget process. Ms. Cuthbertson asked if the District -Wide Late Bill line on Table 3 has been listed before. Mr. Coelho replied that it has been listed every year at this time. He explained that many districts put aside money as a blanket against things like mileage, orders coming in late, prices going up or any kind of missed circumstances. We traditionally put JK 06/14/22 - DRAFT aside anywhere between $100,000 to $200,000. We use it if we have to and if not it just gets sent back the following year. Mr. Freeman asked why is there such a big price increase for students who register for riding the bus after June 30th and why are parents required to pay in full? Mr. Coelho responded that $330 is less than 40% of the full cost of a bus rider for every day. We try to get as many people up front to sign up so that we know how many seats we need and they get the better price so there is an incentive. Mr. Coelho also added that we had to change vendors on the fee collection, they charge a convenience fee if you pay with a credit card. He said that the goal is to get as many riders signed up and worry about collecting the money after but most people are really good about paying their bills. C. Price Increase Reouest for Adult Lunch and Ala -Carte Milk Mr. Coelho explained that the current lunch prices have remained the same for the past decade, but the cost of milk, cost of deliveries and other things have risen. This price increase for adult lunches and ala -carte milk are to help offset these increasing costs. The Food Service Department has requested an increase of 25 cents on the ala -carte milk price from 50 cents to 75 cents a unit and then to increase the adult meal price from $4.50 to $5 for the coming year. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan states that this is very disappointing. Mr. Freeman has heard through the PTO/PTA that Whitsons is researching reusable water bottles in an effort to move away from selling plastic water bottles in the cafeteria. He celebrates this and thanks them for this initiative. Sara Mei asked why do students get free reduced lunches but not educators? Mr. Coelho responded that it is a child nutrition law so it's a requirement and they don't see the need to extend it beyond the students. Ms. Sawhney asked if our Whitsons contract has an automatic increase each year. Mr. Coelho replied no, there's no automatic increase, the School Committee sets the rates. JK 06/14/22 - DRAFT Ms. Jay moved to approve an increase in the price of an adult school lunch meal to $5.00 and to increase the ala carte milk price to $0.75 effective for the 2022-2023 school year, Ms. Lenihan seconded. (Passed 5-0). D. Vote on Draft 2022-2023 SC Meeting Dates Ms. Sawhney moved to approve the 2022-2023 School Committee Meeting Dates, Mr. Freeman seconded. (Passed 5-0). E. School Committee Subcommittee and Liaison Update Ms. Cuthbertson reviewed the reasons for having liaisons. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Consolidation and Relocation of Fiske Elementary's Intensive Learning Program (ILP} and Estabrook Elementary's Therapeutic Learning Program (TLP} Dr. Hackett explained that Fiske does not have any more room and that relocation of ILP needed to be done this year. She stated that if things are left how they are there will be unintended consequences. Dr. Hackett said that the big idea here is that Estabrook TLP gets consolidated with Bridge, this frees up space at Estabrook. Ellen Sugita (Director of Special Education), Brian Baker (Fiske Elementary Principal), Meg Colella (Bridge Elementary Principal), and Tom Martellone (Interim Estabrook Elementary Principal) all joined as panelists. o Mr. Baker explained that the first proposal was to have kindergarten, first grade and second-grade students attend Bowman and then third, fourth and fifth graders go to Fiske. SEPAC asked if there was another proposal that would allow students to stay in a building and not have to have a transition halfway through their elementary school time. A new proposal was made that would alternate students coming from LCP to go to Estabrook one year and then Fiske the year after. This will allow for space in each building. Ms. Sugita thinks that change is always hard and there's really no good time to do something like this. So knowing that, we had the number figured out and the ability to move students to Estabrook and have them stay there, as well as the students at Fiske to JK 06/14/22 - DRAFT remain there through fifth grade. She also mentioned that there has been a decrease in the number of students in TLP, which is a good thing. Dr. Hackett added that this plan results in zero job loss. Mr. Martellone stated that there is plenty of room at Estabrook, currently the Therapeutic Learning Program at Estabrook has students working in two rooms. In addition to that, there is an open kindergarten classroom and an open first -grade classroom. These rooms are equipped with bathrooms that make it easier for younger students. Ms. Colella talked about telling families, it went as great as it could. Parents were appreciative that she called them. They were also sent a letter inviting them to come in and meet the staff. School Committee Questions/Comments: Mr. Freeman appreciates the level of communication and engagement of parents. When he first read about this he got chills because these are our most vulnerable students and change is particularly hard on this group. They rely on consistency, routine, and things not being drastically changed. He feels like this change is absolutely necessary and asked parents to be patient. Ms. Jay also appreciates this approach, it feels so much better to have kids going into the program and staying there. She wondered, as new students come into the program, are they assigned by age? Does this alternate? Is it a case-by-case decision? Ms. Sugita replied that it would be somewhat individually based, but depending on if it's a Fiske year or an Estabrook year, that would be where the process of placing the child would start. Ms. Sawhney thanked everyone for their collaboration. Ms. Lenihan stated that it seems like this change is being done the best way that it can be done. JK 06/14/22 - DRAFT Ms. Cuthbertson really appreciates all of the flexibility and openness. Mr. Martellone added that he will be reaching out to parents as Ms. Colella did. Also, he knew the staff at Estabrook would have questions so he took time during the staff meeting yesterday to go over a PowerPoint outlining the process. He added that there will be opportunities for staff to learn from others and he suspects that the transition will be relatively easy in regards to staff learning about the program and how to support kids. COMMUNITY SPEAK No speakers. END -OF -YEAR EVALUATION F SUPERINTENDENT Ms. Cuthbertson read the document summarizing the School Committee's end -of -cycle evaluation of the Superintendent. Dr. Hackett thanked the School Committee for all their work on this, she is very grateful. Ms. Sawhney and Ms. Cuthbertson discussed the process for policies. COMMUNITY SPEAK No speakers. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Sawhney made a motion to adjourn at 9:37 PM, Ms. Lenihan seconded. (Passed 5-0). JK 06/14/22 - DRAFT