HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-06-05-LHRC-minTown of Lexington Human Rights Committee
Meeting Minutes for Wednesday,June 05,2023
Conducted in Hybrid:Community Center and Zoom
LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT
Tanya Gisolfi,Chairperson (TG);Mona D.Roy,Vice-Chair (MDR);Christina Lin,Clerk (CL);
Stephanie Hsu (SH);Salvador Jaramillo (SJ);Amber Iqbal (AI);Larry Freeman -Lexington
Public School District (LF);Detective Lieutenant Colleen Dunbar -Town of Lexington Police
(CD);Melissa Interess -Town of Lexington,Human Services (MI)
Attendees:Hemali Shah,Town of Lexington,Chief Equity Officer;Eileen Jay,Town of
Lexington Public School District Liaison
The minutes recorded by Christina Lin,LHRC Clerk
1.Welcome –Meeting called to order at 8:45AM
2.Minutes:May 10,2023 Minutes approved
3.LHRC Recommendations to the School Committee:That in order to put into
place policies to protect all children from discrimination,racism,and unjust disciplinary
treatment,the Lexington Human Rights Committee (LHRC)recommends the School
Committee (SC):
A.Quarterly meetings between the LHRC executive team and SC liaison and/or an
appointed LPS member to provide any more in-depth updates
B.Systemic transparency where LHRC Chair and Vice Chair are timely informed
of any human rights allegations,issues,or concerns that occur in the schools
C.Continued support of LPS systemic barriers report
D.Continued discussions with LPS on refining processes
A suggestion was made to request the opportunity to present the recommendations
at the School Committee meeting.This would support a joint conversation and
clarify the committee’s recommendations.A motion was made to “request to present
the four recommendations at a public meeting with the school committee.”The
committee vote was 8-0 in favor of the recommendation.
4.LHRC Recommendation to the Select Board:
A.We ask the Select Board to support re-evaluating the structuring of
the Town of Lexington,Chief Equity Officer (CEO)role to report
directly to the Town Manager for the purpose of better enabling
DEI efforts enacted in all aspects of the Town.The hope is that
positioning the CEO as a senior manager at the senior leadership level would
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE •LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420
ensure they were involved in all aspects of the Town since the expectations are
that DEI efforts be infused in all aspects of Town work.It would also enable
the CEO to carry out their duties and recommendations to staff from a
leadership position rather than potentially as a subordinate.It was also noted
that the previous Chief Equity Officer initially reported directly to the Town
Manager before the role was reassigned to report to the Deputy Town
Manager.The committee agreed to initiate a conversation with the Town
Manager to better understand the current structuring approach for the Chief
Equity Officer and ways to bring this position to the leadership team level
going forward.Additionally,a recommendation to protect the role of the CEO
from taking on additional responsibilities or covering additional roles if
openings in staffing occur.
B.Budget funding for the LHRC -we discussed putting a budget
proposal in place to request monies for the 2024-25 fiscal budget.
This request should be ready to submit in Sept/Oct 2023.In the meantime,
funding for the upcoming year can be accessed through other avenues.CD will
find out what the budget is for other towns (Andover,Arlington)that have a
similar type of Human Rights Committee.
C.Understanding the Town’s communication approach to raising
awareness on the Participatory Budget.Sean Dugan shared a long list
of the process he uses for reaching out to the community and raising
awareness of this Town project.A member acknowledged that the town had
made good faith efforts to create translated materials,but also pointed out
that the existing communication approach still was unable to penetrate the
community.
A.Feedback for future Town Surveys to avoid listing DEI efforts as a
‘choice’in priorities of the Town whereas,this work should be infused in all
aspects of Town work,policies and decision making.Equity is a fundamental
element of decision making for all aspects of the Town.Equity should not be
listed as an item to prioritize,rather it should be embedded in all that we do.
5.Resolution Framework presentation by Hemali Shah
A.The committee appreciated the presentation and provided some feedback.
B.The external audit will conduct their assessment of human resources,the
culture of the departments in Town,ways to support employees and reduce
inequities.The initial audit will focus internally on the Town organization as
opposed to the services and interface with the Town.A member
recommended having a mechanism to share the audit results with the
community.
C.EJ recommended developing a report similar to the school district’s Report on
Reducing Systemic Barriers and presenting to the Select Board annually to
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE •LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420
help monitor the progress and also to focus the framework to more specific
areas of focus.
D.Database where senior leadership have to write goals and follow up with a
check list to help with accountability to the goal.
6.Discussion on Lexington Observer article on Affirmative Action.Members shared the
following comments listed below.Ultimately,the committee agreed to continue the
conversation and work on writing an OpEd/Letter to the Editor.
A.The article was not informative on Affirmative Action,but rather a collection
of opinions from community members
B.The editor from Lexington Observer invited the committee to write a letter on
affirmative action
C.The comments from the article left a member concluding that there are
segments of the community whose beliefs are not rooted in an understanding
of diversity,equity,and inclusion and are unaware of the work of the LHRC.
They felt the committee needed to find ways to invite these community
members into the discussions and work of the LHRC.
D.A point was made that there can be a disconnect between sentiments and
beliefs within households in comparison to the information being shared by
the school district.More conversations and awareness about the facts of the
experiences of students and affirmative action could be helpful in combating
the types of toxic comments expressed.Another member wanted to figure out
ways to directly have a conversation to help dispel myths and
misunderstandings of each other.
E.Separate from the LexObserver article,there’s a lot of contentious and toxic
discourse on social media and internet platforms.There are a lot of
comments that express a sense of ‘us’vs ‘them’which further divides the
community,as was noted in the MLK Day Community Conversation on Race.
F.There’s a belief that there’s a lack of understanding of the facts.One fact
shared was that 4 out of 10 of the white students at Harvard are legacy,
scholarship,or donor admits to the school.
G.How do we best approach toxic comments?And what,if any,is the role of the
LHRC in trying to reduce these comments?A member offered that the LHRC
could possibly share a blanket response reminding the community about civil
discourse.
7.Vote on slate for new leadership.
Vote for Christina Lin as Chair and Stephanie Hsu as Vice Chair.Vote was 9-0.
8.Meeting Adjourned at 10:50AM
9.Next Meeting to be determined
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE •LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420