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Home My WebLink About2024-01-24-ESTABROOK-minMinutes of the Site Council meeting January 23,2024 Attendees:Gerardo Martinez,Maris Joniec,Amy Klotz,and Ethan Wells Agenda -Agenda items /Greeting /Public speak -Parking Challenges II -General Updates -Comprehensive DESE Review -Budget -Staffing -Miscellaneous Public Speak Mr.Wells asked about Estabrook and the district’s policies on translation.He noticed that the recent Site Council survey on how parking affects parents’ability to participate at Estabrook relied on Google translate,as have communications from the Superintendent in the past.While Google translate is fine for something like a survey,Mr.Wells expressed concerns that it was problematic for more essential communication such as potentially controversial communications about,eg.,the Serious Talks curriculum.Translation from one language to another is never one-to-one;this means that a translator always has to choose between different possible translations.These choices are informed in part by extra-linguistic concerns such as the context of the communication,its intended effect,and so forth -all factors that something like Google Translate is unable to take into account.Moreover,because every translation requires decisions,there is also a question of responsibility:a human translator effectively says,“I stand behind my translation and attest that it is an accurate representation of what was intended in the original communique.”No one is doing that for a machine translation.No one knows whether it is accurate for this particular translation or that one,even if one has,in the past,found its translations adequate. As someone who is multilingual himself,Dr.Martinez agreed that translation is never one-to-one and therefore involves decisions made by the translator that are informed by extra-linguistic aspects outside of what might be entered into a Google Translate box.He noted that human translation services are available on-site or through a virtual platform for certain essential meetings,such as IEP meetings,administrative meetings dealing with especially important issues,etc.He also noted that English Learner (EL)teachers take the lead on establishing what works for individual families.That said,both Estabrook in particular and the District in general do rely on machine translation,whether Google Translate or other services available through apps,for less essential communications. Mr.Wells raised the question of whether criteria had been established to determine what counts as an essential communication requiring human translation as opposed to an inessential one for which,eg.,Google Translate is deemed adequate?If so,these criteria have not been publicized -so it is a question here left in abeyance to be raised at the district-level. Parking Challenges II The results of the December parent survey provides strong evidence that lack of parking suppresses parental participation at Estabrook.Dr.Martinez shared this survey with the union, which did a similar survey.He then shared the data sets from both surveys with the Superintendent’s office,and is waiting for a response. The current plan is to take the area where the loading zone is -which currently says no parking -and establish 6 parking spaces for staff.There are also 5 parking spaces to the right of the shed;parking to the left of the shed,however,remains prohibited as it is still in the fire lane.A half dozen additional temporary spaces will be put along the curb running from the basketball court to the crosswalk on Grove;however,this remains inadequate as these spaces can only be used by people who arrive to work after nine and leave before 3:15,since they obstruct traffic flow for bus and parent drop-off and pick-up.It is also not difficult to foresee that use of these parking spaces will,at some point,result in a bus being unable to advance to its pick-up location or turn around -which will create a bottleneck that will grind pick up to a halt while also negatively impacting Grove St in both directions. Upshot:cars are still being parked in such a way that they obstruct other cars,with the consequence that there are numerous PA interruptions throughout the week asking for cars with specific license plates to be moved.This is disruptive for everyone,including young learners. Dr.Martinez has asked the front desk to keep a tally of these interruptions so that we can begin to take the measure of just how disruptive they in fact are. Dr.Martinez has raised these and other related concerns with the Facilities Department for the town.If necessary,School Site Council’s parent members will take the initiative to reach out to the appropriate parties to raise their concerns as well. Hampering long-term solutions is the fact that they involve coordination between multiple town departments,including Planning,Facilities,Conservation,etc.Mr.Wells observed that,however unusual on its face,it might be worth considering valet parking.Valet parking would make it possible to maximize all currently available parking by allowing,for instance,for cars to be parked trunk-to-hood.It could also eliminate the need for repeated PA interruptions,and would, in the short-term at least,likely be cheaper than putting in another parking lot.While the visuals of a well-funded school in a well-funded district employing valets would not be great,they might be preferable to persevering what otherwise is likely to be a recurrent,and increasingly intractable,problem. General Updates -Comprehensive DESE Review:This review is done every 6-7 years,with Lexington selected this year.Its goal is to provide school districts with information to enable them to improve performance,processes,etc.This is accomplished via (a)a self assessment; (b)a document review of,eg.,strategic plans; (c)unannounced instruction observations; (d)stakeholder interviews and (e)focus groups including teachers,students (in middle and high school),parents, administration,unions,etc. This will culminate in a report that will be issued in 3-4 months.The report will identify what is being done well and what needs improvement;with respect to this latter,it will also provide guidance on how to make suggested improvements. Budget:the school budget has been finalized,with printed copies soon-to-be distributed and digital copies already available.The budget was based in part on Estabrook’s current enrollment of 537 students.Dr.Martinez walked us through the allocations,focusing especially on where they have changed.For the most part,these changes have been minimal and appear unlikely to negatively impact the school.Dr.Martinez did express a desire to add $5000 for the greenhouse program as a line-item to the school’s official budget rather than as something independently funded through a grant.While the Superintendent appears sympathetic to this request,it remains to be accomplished. Council members were surprised to learn the school earns ~$9000 from Bay State Textiles through its clothes donation program. -Staffing:the total number of students in the middle school has been decreasing.This might result in a work-force reduction at the middle school level which would potentially impact teachers at Estabrook and the other elementary schools.Briefly,any tenured middle school teachers whose positions might be eliminated would still be entitled to jobs in the district and would consequently take precedence over non-tenured teachers in the elementary schools who hold comparable licenses.Mr.Joniec explained that,since a teacher is not considered tenured or “professional”until day 1 of their fourth year,a middle school teacher would thus “bump”an elementary school teacher with a similar license vying for the same position even if the latter had held that position for the preceding 2 years. Dr.Martinez explained that there are on-going conversations with the union and other interested parties concerning the decreasing middle school enrollment and its implications for all teachers in the district.At this point,it is unclear how,or whether,this will directly impact Estabrook. -Miscellaneous:Ms.Klotz asked whether there was talk about shifting some of the staffing for specialized programs to better share,district-wide,limited resources for,eg.,the Intensive Learning Program (ILP).Dr.Martinez explained that due to its high attrition rate,the ILP requires both thoughtfulness and creativity to maintain adequate staffing.The district partners with two agencies that provide SSIs (that is,teaching assistants working in the ILP);however, they tend to burn out quickly,often because the complexity of the need and the tasks that they are asked to do -involving,for example,toileting,dealing with aggressive behavior,and so forth -far exceeded their expectations.This suggests inadequate training.In part to address this mismatch,Dr.Martinez noted that the school was trying to be very explicit about its expectations as it tries to fill both SSI and SSP (student support for classroom teachers) positions,and was working with the union to determine how best to address this situation.This is an ongoing challenge;currently Estabrook is not able to provide requisite services beyond what it is already offering. The meeting adjourned at 4:45pm