HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-03-26-SC-min
LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
School Administration Building
1557 Massachusetts Avenue
Monday, March 26, 2007
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 6:33 p.m.
I. Call to order (Tom Diaz)
II. Corrections to the Bottom Line Budget
Mary Ellen Dunn passed out a new version of the budget.
The discussion of the budget included the DLP program at Clarke and the circuit
breaker adjustment.
III. Positions on articles 12 and 16.
Article 12: The School Committee giving control of the White House to The
Selectmen.
Motion to support Article 12 (Griffiths, Cohen). The motion passed 5-0.
Article 16: supporting a local anti-idling law.
The discussion included background provided by Tom Diaz, who served on the
anti-idling committee and was in the minority on the 5-4 vote of that committee
recommending a town anti-idling ordinance. Mr. Diaz feels the already existing
state law is sufficient and that the police are not likely to enforce the law more
vigorously just because there is a local as well as a state law. The committee
discussed this, citing the problem of engine idling at the schools. Mr. Diaz also
noted that the committee had not yet completed gathering data that would tell
whether or not the educational campaign undertaken last year had reduced idling.
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Diane Biglow: The speed limit at every school is 20 miles an hour but people go
very fast. People don’t learn. My son’s asthma has worsened. It’s better to fine
people even if a small amount. People think signs are only for the school buses. I
will go out and hand out the tickets. I am tired of my son getting worse.
Motion to support article 16 (Griffiths, Cohen).
Helen Cohen: Perhaps one day police will go to a school and issue these citations
down the line and people will start hearing this and then people will start to
change.
Margaret Coppe: I will support this here and in Town Meeting because of the
asthma.
The motion passed 4-1 (Diaz).
Dawn McKenna: Why has the number for benefits changed? Why are some part-
time people getting benefits like crossing guards or the .3 math specialist?
Paul Ash: We pro-rate every FTE because some people have a couple of part-
time positions.
A question from Dawn McKenna brought up the issue of revolving funds. This
needs to be discussed further with the School Committee in the future.
Dawn McKenna: School administration will move out of the White House so
there will be a decrease in utilities in the White House and the old Harrington.
Mary Ellen Dunn: Until the White House is out of possession of the School
Committee we have to plan for utilities.
A brief discussion ensued about FTEs and head counts.
IV. Motion to adjourn (Griffiths, Cohen).The motion passed5-0
The meeting was adjourned at 7:29 p.m.
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