HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-04-10-SC-min
LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Monday, April 10, 2006
School Administration Building, Conference Room
1557 Massachusetts Avenue
Present: Superintendent Paul Ash, School Committee Chair Helen Cohen, School Committee
Members: Tom Diaz, Tom Griffiths, Olga Guttag, Ravi Sakhuja and student representative
Toni Maeck. Minutes taken by Leora Tec.
The meeting was convened by Helen Cohen at 6:32 p.m.
I. Call to Order and Welcome
II. Superintendent’s Report
A. Update on recent events in LHS by Bill Hartigan. A week ago there was a
recurrence of CO2 exposure in the high school. We brought in consultants who
found several items that needed addressing. We are trying to defer costs but safety
is paramount. The final costs are not yet known.
There was a discussion about the fact that the equipment in question was only five
years old. There is currently an agreement with the Fire Department that no
combustion equipment will be run without a qualified operator on site to measure the
CO2. Since there is a spending freeze, money will have to be requested to pay for
these repairs. Bill Hartigan stated that in his judgment, at no time were students or
faculty in danger.
III. Action Items:
Motion to accept Paul Ash’s recommendation to place Preventive Maintenance funds and
the new Facilities Director position from so-called Question Three in two line items in the
FY07 budget, the expenditures to be reported to the School Committee on a monthly basis
(Diaz, Griffiths).The motion passed 5-0.
IV. Discussion Items:
Discussion of Possible Town Meeting Amendment proposed by Fred Rosenberg
Fred Rosenberg stated that he supports the budget that was unanimously approved by the School
Committee, but he is afraid that the override won’t pass and that necessary items will be lost. He
proposed an amendment that would keep: foreign language in elementary school, six classes per
week of science in all levels in the high school, the travel budget for debate and elementary
instrumental music. He proposes to do this by increasing fees for: parking for students at LHS;
lunch; sending transcripts to colleges; and athletics.
SC Meeting 4-10-06 page # 1
The ensuing discussion included concerns about: time pressure to vote on this before Town
Meeting; the fact that the Committee still needs to find $177K to cut somewhere; the fact that there
is some question about Mr. Rosenberg’s figures being correct; the fact that the proposed budget
already contemplates raising fees; the fact that a substantial portion of the fee increases would go to
the Town and not the schools, so increased fees would reduce the override but not the overall
budget; and the fact that if fees are raised scholarships must be offered liberally.
Motion to reaffirm our intention to support the Superintendent’s bottom line budget voted on
st
March 31(Díaz, Griffiths)
Before the vote, Paul Ash noted that the appropriate vote would be on whether or not the
Committee wanted to change the fee structure. The motion passed 4-1.
V. At 7:35 the Committee went into recess.
The next meeting of the School Committee is scheduled for Monday, April 24, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. at
the School Administration Building Conference Room, 1557 Massachusetts Avenue.
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