HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-05-08-SC-min
LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Cary Memorial Hall Auditorium
1605 Massachusetts Avenue
Present: Superintendent Paul Ash, School Committee Chair Tom Diaz, School
Committee members Helen Cohen, Margaret Coppe, Tom Griffiths and Ravi
Sakhuja. Minutes taken by Leora Tec.
The meeting was convened at 8:20 p.m.
I.Call to Order and Welcome (Tom Diaz)
II.Superintendent’s Report
1.Lexington High School Solar Energy Project:
Efforts to raise money for solar panels for the high school through The
Lexington Global Warming Action Coalition have been successful. This is
equivalent to $44K worth of solar power for the high school. The system
will power four classrooms for the next 25-35 years with no maintenance
and no fossil fuels. It does not cut our energy budget but is useful from an
education standpoint and an environmental one.
2. Birthday Recognition of Oldest Living Graduate of LHS
Carol Pilarski: We were recently made aware of the oldest living LHS
graduate. He just had his 107th birthday. He graduated in 1923 and then
went to MIT and then became a Trappist monk. He is the second oldest
monk in the world. Jay Kaufman produced a citation, which his family
th
gave him on his 107 birthday. He has all his wits about him. We had all
the records. We are required to keep them forever. Everything was
handwritten.
Paul Ash: The abbey gave us permission to discuss this.
3.Safety
I have had discussions with the principals on improving safety. We need
to expand what we are doing. Elementary schools are not designed to have
the same security that we have at the secondary level. We want the schools
to put in what they can for now. Safety is of high concern to us. We are
working with the police and fire departments.
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III.Members’ Reports/Concerns
Tom Griffiths: Next year’s AP and honors physics—how many sessions?
Michael Jones: The higher level AP physics will be 6. The honors will be 5.
That will change if the override vote passes, then honors will be six too.
Tom Griffiths: I went to the PBC for 50 minutes tonight. Fiske today was air
conditioned and comfortable. An ultimate solution for these problems is being
pursued aggressively by the PBC.
Margaret Coppe: Regarding solar panels, one of the teachers--Avon Lewis--
won an award. Could the School Committee acknowledge this?
Michael Jones: The award was presented by the Secretary of Environmental
Affairs of the State of Massachusetts. We acknowledged her along with some
other faculty. It would be a wonderful gesture for the School Committee to
acknowledge her.
Helen Cohen: I wanted to mention Mary Alice Sami because I am the
diversity task force liaison from the School Committee and she does a lot to
promote diversity. I went to the HPAC meeting and we had an earnest
discussion about cuts in PE and health over the last decade. This is a problem
because of stress issues.
Ravi Sakhuja: Override issues have been discussed in the newspapers.
Heating or cooling the buildings when not necessary decreases our credibility
and efficiency and effectiveness. There is more money to be saved in our
power factor. Last year we did not do what we were supposed to do.
Elementary school teachers: I understand the issue but we have to be more
creative. I propose keeping them at 126 teachers. In the area of aides and
custodians, if we promise we will save overtime by hiring more
custodians…the custodial overtime needs to be watched so we can save
money. This will not affect education. Elementary librarians: the average child
spends 30 minutes with the librarian per week so she can do two schools. I
propose an additional $175K to restore math and science to the high school.
IV.Discussion Items
A.2008-2009 School Calendar
The calendar discussion included Halloween and the merchants, the
speaker who is scheduled to address the faculty town-wide and the
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possibility of scheduling a professional day for the November election
day.
B.Update on New Transportation Procedures
Paul Ash: Fee for service program. Letters will be going out to parents
st
the week of May 21.
Mary Ellen Dunn gave a PP report on bus transportation: Clearer
expectations of behavior. All students will carry a pass. $455-$555 per
seat. No family cap.
There was a discussion of the transportation procedures including bus
passes, predetermined bus stops, centralized financial waiver
applications, fuel escalation clauses, student safety and the duties of the
assistant to the assistant superintendent for finance.
V.Action Items
A.Vote to Eliminate Weighted GPA, Starting with the Class of 2009, and
discussion of the Development of High School Rubrics
Helen Cohen requested waiting until the next meeting to vote on this and
Tom Diaz agreed. Dawn McKenna requested that the class of 2010 be
the first class affected but Dr. Jones and Dr. Ash both stated that the
class of 2009 was always scheduled to be the first class affected.
B.Vote to Elect School Committee Representative to Serve on EDCO
Board of Directors
Both Tom Griffiths and Ravi Sakhuja are interested. The Committee will
take a vote at the next meeting.
C.Vote on School Choice-Superintendent Paul Ash recommends that the
LPS not participate as a school choice district
Tom Diaz: We end up paying more than we are paid.
Motion that The Lexington Public Schools not participate as a
school choice district (Cohen, Sakhuja). The motion passed 5-0.
D. Vote to Approve Minutes of December 12, 2006 and February 12, 2007.
Motion to approve the minutes of December 12, 2006 and February
12, 2007 (Cohen, Sakhuja). The motion passed 4-0 (1 abstention).
VI. Motion to go into executive session for purposes of collective bargaining
not to return to public session (Cohen, Griffiths). Cohen-aye; Coppe-aye;
Diaz-aye; Griffiths-aye; and Sakhuja-aye.
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