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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-01-23-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday,January 23, 2024 Meeting Minutes AGENDA: CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:04 PM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson Deepika Sawhney, Vice-chair Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk Eileen Jay Larry Freeman SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent David Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations The minutes were taken by Julie Kaye, School Committee Meeting Recording Secretary. The School Committee convened at the School Committee Meeting Room at Central Office and remotely. Members of the public can view and participate in person or in the meeting webinar from their computer or tablet by clicking on the link provided with the meeting agenda. Please note that this meeting is being recorded and that attendees are participating by video conference. This evening's meeting is being broadcast live and taped by LexMedia for future on-demand viewing. All supporting materials that have been provided to members of this body are available on the Town's website unless otherwise noted. PUBLIC HEARING ON SUPERINTENDENT'S FY 2025 RECOMMENDED SCHOOL BUDGET Dave Coelho presented the FY2025 Budeaet slideshow. He announced that since the budget was first presented, the total budget has increased by approximately$173,000. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan asked about the cuts to the Instructional Assistants in the SPED department, an issue that Ms. Jay had brought up in the previous Budget Hearing. She would like to know how we are delivering the services we need. Dr. Hackett added that "a cut isn't necessarily a cut; the process that we go through is more like a pruning of the budget where we look at actual student lists and names and figure out the need, and we go school-by-school leader-by-leader." She also added "when people see the pluses and minuses, I think the logical conclusion is that must be a reduction. But that's not how the budget process works. It's a lot more complicated than that." Mr. Coelho stated that the process is for us to work with, in this case, the special education director, the ETSs, and the staff at each school to see what is happening with the student body. We are consistently and constantly looking at what we really need by looking at JK 1/23/24-APPROVED caseloads and who is in what program. Mr. Coelho also mentioned that we have unallocated positions that deal with special circumstances that might arise. Ms. Jay spoke about staffing for the needs of the students we have. She thinks that people may want to know if this represents any changes in program or services. Mr. Coelho replied that it is based on the students we have and what their needs are, "We are not cutting a program." Dr. Hackett added, "It's a level service budget, so the answer to your question is no. We are providing generally the same amount of service that we've provided in the previous year with some slight modifications" Ms. Jay asked, "if we have more students you didn't anticipate, do we have financial mechanisms to supply services to them?" Dr. Hackett replied that is correct and that "every year we add somewhere, or at least in the most recent years, somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 positions. And those 40 to 50 positions are added to the budget. Sometimes, they're added to the base. So your line of questioning at the last public hearing was really helpful because you were saying, 'Is it really negative eight FTET and the answer is no, because it's up by 40-50 or so." Mr. Freeman asked, "So are you saying that when you go through the student-by-student, school-by-school evaluation, or special education students, that we are not going to be over-inflating a student's progress to make that allocation fit the budget?" Dr. Hackett replied, "Correct, and the reason that we don't have to get into those kinds of games that sometimes get played in districts is because we have backup monies to help with this." Mr. Freeman asked when we would know what the actual number is. Dr. Hackett responded that it is constantly moving, so that's a very difficult question to answer. She added, "I think the way to think about this is always to imagine that whatever FTE we have in the budget, you're going to see a churn of about 40 to 50 full-time equivalents. That's one teaching position, roughly, or an instructional position. And when you build that into the thinking, there's flexibility that will meet the student needs that you're talking about. So you can rest assured that the kids are going to get what they need, based on how we've structured the budget to be able to cover those salaries." She also mentioned that "the history of budgeting in Lexington has always included those numbers in that way. Some of it has to do with the software that we use; we use Munis, and we debate whether or not to present it in the same way. If we don't present it in the same way, you have no basis for comparison through all the budget books that came prior to Mr. Coelho and me. So, we make a decision to present it in the same format with the understanding that we need to talk about it a lot to build understanding." Mr. Freeman would like to know what happens to the kids that leave. Did that many students leave the district? Did we have that many kids improve to the point where they don't need that level of service, and they came off their IEP? Dr. Hackett responded that most of the time, it's not students coming off an IEP. Most of the time, it's students moving to another district or turning 18 and aging out. Mr. Freeman wants to make sure that we are not inflating a student's progress so that we can fit within a certain budget. Ms. Cuthbertson added that sometimes students on IEPs needs change as they move up in grades, for example. Ms. Sawhney and Mr. Coelho discussed Chapter 70 funding and how we don't exactly get it as a big chunk of money; it's considered general revenue. Ms. Sawhney would like to see if we can buff up the allocation to the Special Education Stabilization fund at the end of this fiscal year. Dr. JK 1/23/24-APPROVED Hackett responded, "We want to look at what the need is because with two pots of money, we may not need to do that, but if we need to access it, we should have the ability to." Ms. Jay thanked Mr. Coelho and his team for making this budget more accessible and understandable. She suggested adding an explanation on Page Ten about the differences between last year's and the current year's base budget. She thinks it will be helpful to add some narrative so that it is easier to understand. Mr. Coelho replied that it is a great idea to add some more context to the numbers. Public Hearing: Taylor Singh (in person): "Thank you, Eileen, you picked it up. And Kathleen, and Larry, and Deepika, your questions tonight were really on all of our minds. So, I appreciate you diving in and investigating more, and I'm grateful for the responses. My one question to you, Dr. Hackett, as a Town Meeting Member, you mentioned two pools of funds from which we could hire more staff. Can you elaborate on those and if they're already taken, and how much they are? I heard $700,000. That sounds good." Mr. Coelho responded that there are two accounts. One is a Special Education Reserve account, which has $750,000 in it that we can tap into whenever we need it after the approval of the Select Board. There is also the Special Education Stabilization account that we've had since about 2009, which has about $1,056,000 in it. This requires going to Town Meeting in order to access it. Ms. Singh added, "Grateful again. Just to follow up on that, I believe Mr. Coelho said that we have access to the Special Ed Reserve every year. I could be wrong, and if so, how much did we use out of that last year?" Mr. Coelho responded that we have not used any money out of that, and that, so far, he does not think we will need to tap into it this year. Dr. Hackett added that it is intended for emergency situations. Carissa Black- 143 Bedford St (virtually): "So one of the things I noticed in the budget book, a theme which I don't know if I was interpreting it correctly, but I think Bowman, Harrington, and Fiske all had statements related to budget constraints and either reduction or abandoning co-teaching. I'm not sure if I got that wording correct. But I think the co-teaching model, I don't know how far it was implemented at each of the schools. But it was something from my memory that came out of the Inclusion CIT [the Inclusion Community Input Team], at least in part. So I just wanted to see if that means there's an actual change to what the schools were planning to do, or if there's any context for those statements" Dr. Hackett responded, "This is a tricky one for us. You're correct that the effort around co-teaching came from the Inclusion CIT, and even before the Inclusion CIT, a few principals put in their Innovation Plans, experiments around co-teaching, some of them were highly successful. Others remain to be seen in terms of the benefits. And a lot of it has to do with what is the discipline that's being taught at what grade levels and so on. But because we have had some extreme pressure on the budget from move-ins, and people coming to the school system, sometimes without formal education and other places, and certainly as a result of what happened in the pandemic. We've had to reexamine those positions. And what started as a pilot, and I know that the people who wrote about it in their narratives would love to keep those positions in place and see them remain. Sometimes, we have to make choices depending on how many additional students we get. And one of those choices will be potentially that we won't be able to carry the co-teaching model in that particular school, although we're going to have to look and see whether or not we are able JK 1/23/24-APPROVED to maintain the FTE once we get through the processes we described" Ms. Black added, "One follow-up question, if I can. It's not actually related to that, but something else that is a detailed question and may not be fully transparent in the budget book. But I was wondering, as it relates to the Understanding Our Differences program, which we're very thankful LIPS has supported. For the last several years, it's been rolled out to all of the elementary schools. I think it's been well received; it's had a good impact on both students with disabilities and the gen ed students who were able to participate. That effort has largely been a volunteer-run effort, a labor of love. And it's been a heavy lift, I would say, for the last couple of years with all of the schools. I was wondering if there's been any discussion about having some type of part-time paid role to help sustain the program long-term. I'm afraid that our fearless volunteers won't be around forever, but I would hate to see the program go away. So I don't know if that's something that's in this budget or not. But that's the question. And if not, I would love to see it considered in the future." Dr. Hackett replied by saying, "We love Understanding Our Differences too, and the parents who volunteered have done a tremendous job. It is not in the budget at this time. We have talked about it administratively. I think there was some talk about whether or not it was appropriate for an LEF grant. We talked about the principal potentially sharing the responsibility for oversight. One principal took it on, I believe, this year, maybe last, and kind of spreading the wealth principles, and we all take a turn. So, anyway, we are not in a position to add parent positions at this point in time with the budget that we have, especially when we're talking about things like whether or not we can continue co-teaching pilots. But that's the answer. And it's something that we could look at in the future. But I think the budgets are gonna get tighter. And when we have a level service budget, we're at 4.2% of our budget. And when I say we were able to do the stuff that we need to do, we are, but it's also very tight. It takes about 3.75%to just carry forward the exact same services from one year to the next. So if you do the math, there's not much left beyond that, and then in order to make this budget work, Mr. Coelho didn't amplify this so I will, there were pretty significant cuts in supply lines in the places where you would hope that they wouldn't be; superintendent's office, finance office, HR, those places. And, as Mr. Coelho noted, those decisions were made based on expenditures. So if there's money leftover each year and we were looking at trends, we can reasonably make cuts in those areas. But that's significantly different than the budgets in previous years. And we can't do that forever. Because what happens is, if you continue to get lean budgets, then you're going to continue to have to make decisions like that, and you won't have the resources that you need. In the end, we're okay for now. But I just wouldn't, you know, when we go to Summit, we're going to want to really emphasize that." Monica Davis - 26 Hayes Ln (in person): "I have one more question on Special Ed, which forgive me if the answer is the same, but I understand the minus 17.8 in the table on page 10. Below that, there is a line that says that the FTE request for Special Ed or Mandate is 8.1. And what is granted is one. So, there's a difference of 7.1 between what is requested according to the mandate and what is being granted. Can you help me understand that? Mr. Coelho will double-check the context of each of the positions and get back to Ms. Davis. Ms. Sugita, Director of Special Education, added that when students move from different programs, personnel are reassigned. Alicia D'Abreu - 15 Spruce Street, Waltham (virtually): "I'm a first-grade teacher in Lexington, JK 1/23/24-APPROVED and I have some concerns about how we might be determining student need, particularly in early elementary K-2, versus the personnel that we have available to provide services. We tend to get stuck in this difficult place once we identify students that we're concerned about or have various concerns, whether it is speech or OT/PT. We often don't have the flexibility within those particular personnel schedules to be able to address the needs of the students in a timely manner or even have them come into the classroom and do observations and things like that. We have great support for the students who have already been identified as needing that support. But when we have the students in that gray area, or students that we're not quite sure about and need a little more investigation into, that's where we don't quite have the time or the people to be able to provide that support. And what ends up happening is a lot of people end up putting on multiple different hats that don't necessarily relate to the work that they want on a daily basis, or they're having to get pulled from other places that there are other priorities that they have, as well. So I hear what we're saying about the numbers and making sure that we are adjusting our personnel to match student needs. But the tricky thing is a lot of those student needs are often not quantifiable or identified or investigated enough to be able to correctly make those judgments I feel. So I'm just curious as to if there's a way we can maybe think creatively about how we can meet this gray area of student need going forward. Dr. Hackett responded, "What you're describing is the fact that our related service providers are maxed out in many cases. That's really true. We've talked about things like adding positions to a testing team to alleviate some of the burden and pressure. What I know is that there's always a need. So if we have people in the system, they are put to good use very quickly, and you know, stay busy. But I hear the question that you're asking, and I appreciate it. And we can continue to explore how to make that a little bit more manageable." The School Committee and Mr. Coelho discussed the use of consultants and how sometimes it is hard to fill positions. Mr. Freeman stated, "I don't expect you to solve this today. But I think this is part of the confusion that we have in the community is, you know, when we say student need may drop here, and then we start saying things about max out here. They don't add up right. It doesn't paint a pretty picture or a clear picture. And I don't, you know...I said I was confused, but I'm not confused. The picture is just not clear." Dr. Hackett added, "The picture is a want versus need. And I wish we had everything we wanted. But we don't have an allocation to give us everything we wanted. So, we have to figure out what we are obligated to do under the law, as Sara brought up. And then what else can we do reasonably with the remainder of funds that we have?" Ammie Jensen -44 Tyler Rd. (virtually): "My question, which you'll probably hear more about later, is that there are parents who have been really fighting and struggling to get their kids on IEP for reading or other things. My question is, in the budget, how much is allocated for litigation? Because in the SPED department, there's a lot that probably goes to litigation or mediation, and what is that compared to previous years? And what part of the budget does that come out? If most SPED families are doing the litigation, is that its own separate budget? Or is that part of the SPED budget?" Mr. Coelho replied that we have a legal line item for$125,000, which is generally split between Special Ed and the rest of the district. He adds that this is an account we have had forever, and in the last 4-5 years, it's been slowly going down as the need has gone down/the use has gone down. It ebbs and flows. Dr. Hackett added that negotiations influence the use as well. Ms. Jensen continued, "One more follow-up question to that is the children who are in SPED who get out-placed because Lexington just can't meet their needs. Is JK 1/23/24-APPROVED that a separate line item? Or is that part of the SPED budget as well?" Mr. Coelho replied that it is part of the SPED budget and a single line item that takes account of collaborators, private placements, public placements, any of the different out-of-district expenses, short-term, long-term, etc. Ms. Jensen also asked if that number has increased or decreased over the years. Mr. Coelho replied that it has done both because it is based on current students. Ms. Cuthbertson proposed the following changes to the agenda: There will be brief School Committee Member announcements and liaison reports, and then the first Community Speak. Dr. Hackett is going to hold off on her superintendent report, which will be sent out to the community via parent square. She also proposed a brief recess while the literacy team is setting up for their presentation. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Freeman passed on giving any announcements. Ms. Sawhney thanked CAAL for the invitation to the Lunar New Year Celebration. Ms. Jay also thanked CAAL for the Lunar New Year Celebration, saying it was a very professional performance. She added that the Lunar New Year starts on February 10th and lasts for fifteen days; CALex will be having its Lunar New Year celebration on February 11. Ms. Lenihan thanked everyone who helped organize the Martin Luther King Day observation that was at Grace Chapel. Ms. Cuthbertson echoed everyone's thanks for both of the mentioned events. COMMUNITY SPEAK Jessica Caverly (in person): "I'm a literacy specialist at Bridge Elementary School. I work alongside a team of administrators, literacy specialists, and classroom teachers who not only have decades of experience but have also have multiple degrees and certifications in the specialties in which we teach. To say that our work is nuanced is an understatement. One of our greatest responsibilities as a community is to teach our students how to read, learne about various perspectives, and to develop a voice that they can share with the world. A Lexington parent recently shared how her daughter's teachers cultivated joy and her literacy learning through her K-5 years. She would come home from school believing that she had superpowers. That's one of the ways that kids learn early literacy skills, and in one of the Units of Study, she would wear a cape, and she could share her love for the curiosity of reading at home. Now, as a middle school student, she vividly remembers the impact her kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers had on her along the way. Our Curriculum Review Steering Creative Committee developed a mission statement that aligned with the core values of the Lexington Public Schools. Our mission, rooted in joyful inquiry and curiosity, is to cultivate lifelong readers, writers, and communicators who become compassionate global citizens. This might be the first time that you've heard about this mission. And that's because we just recently developed it. JK 1/23/24-APPROVED invite this community to embrace this mission and listen to this presentation with an open mind and compassion. We can do so much when we have compassion for one another. Deepening our understanding of research science and the complexities of teaching literacy is a responsibility that none of us take lightly. Please listen to the research. Listen to the science. Listen to the professionals who were before this committee tonight because it is we, teachers, who understand the depth and breadth of the work that is necessary to enjoy all of it and ensure that all students learn in their journey at LPS. Yes, it's not social media. It's not a journalist. It's not one-sided teaching literacy. It's dynamic and ever-changing,just like our students. So,just as we teach our students day in and day out, we must understand the big picture to keep moving forward. So let's keep moving forward." Amy Kwal (in person): "I am a literacy specialist here in the district. I'm sharing a statement on behalf of a Lexington colleague: I have been a multi-sensory literacy interventionist for over 30 years, and I've worked in Lexington for the past 12 years. I've seen many changes to our English Language Arts curriculum throughout my time here, especially in the last three to four years. When I started here as a literacy teacher, I noticed that there was a phonics program in place. However, it wasn't used equitably, consistently, or with fidelity across the district. At the end of each school year, the literacy department would spend a couple of days reflecting on the ELA's work and progress, and we began to notice that the majority of our intervention students were being serviced for phonics and/or word study support. We started making adjustments to this part of the curriculum over several years, and most recently, have committed to using Haggerty for phonological awareness for K-2, Fundations for all our K-3 grades. The data results have improved noticeably, and in the school I work at this fall, all our general education first graders passed the beginning-of-year benchmarks with the exception of English Language Learners or students on IEPs. This is a huge tribute to the work of our kindergarten teachers and the fact that we are now implementing programs across the district with consistency, equity, and fidelity. A big part of the success of these programs is that Lexington took the time and effort to fully train all the teachers who would be using them and have continued to provide ongoing professional development and coaching to all teachers so they may become knowledgeable about the content and can be more responsive to their students' needs. Another thing I've learned in my many years of teaching is that learning phonics is great, but if you don't practice the skills, they won't be useful. During the literacy blocks, the students are able to put into practice what they've learned in their Haggerty and Fundations lessons. And with the explicit phonics instruction and the time and ability to practice those skills side by side, it has proven to have been a very successful approach to our student's progress. We've also made improvements across the district to our Student Success Team and data cycles so that they are now explicit and transparent with the intervention process for our students." Ms. Kwal ran out of time, and Ms. Cuthbertson asked her to send the statement to the School Committee. Monica Davis - 26 Hayes Ln. (in person): Ms. Davis read the following statement that was then emailed to the School Committee: "I am not going to talk about elementary, as I would echo what a lot of people will say later about elementary, so I won't repeat it. I would like to talk about middle school. Young readers' struggles do not end in 5th grade. I was a parent member of the Dyslexia Task Force in 2021 and 2022, and we had a commitment at the end of the task JK 1/23/24-APPROVED force to extend the information on the Dyslexia web page to the middle school level and to share how LIPS identifies and helps struggling middle school readers. This is not yet done. This is especially important because today's middle schoolers, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, did not have the benefit of Haggerty Phonemic Awareness or Wilson Fundations in elementary school. They did not get the interventions that the Literacy teams will be talking about today. I did see, in digging through the dense FY2025 budget, that Clarke and Diamond Middle Schools are trialing a middle school literacy and math screener. That funding is proposed in next year's budget to implement screeners to inform decisions about student interventions. It is positive news that there were trials of Lexia software and Learning Ally and that there is ongoing professional development and instruction designed to support learners with reading challenges at Diamond. I ask you to do the following: • Please support these middle school budget initiatives for older struggling readers and • Please confirm that the chosen STAR Renaissance Literacy Screener is appropriate to identify middle school students with dyslexia and that it will help steer toward appropriate interventions. Was dyslexia considered when it was chosen? Was the same care taken in selecting this screener as was done for the elementary screener? • Please consider collecting cross-over data in the 6th grade to ensure continuity of data as students mature—the mCLASS screener is appropriate for K-6, so there is an opportunity to use both screeners in 6th grade next year, at least for a short time, to prove students don't fall through the cracks. • Please share the results of the middle school screening and the available interventions in a more publicly accessible manner than deep in the budget workbook— please add this information to the Dyslexia website and publicly share middle school Literacy staffing levels and interventions for struggling readers, as you have been doing for elementary. Please share what is being screened and what happens after students are identified. Thank you." Courtney Lorden (in person): "I am a literacy specialist at Harrington Elementary School. Each student is unique. I've been in education for 16 years, and it's my second year here at Lexington Public Schools. What makes me so proud to be part of this team is how our individual and collective knowledge is represented in a wide range of theories, and approaches, which are very representative of the literacy field, literacy learning, and literacy teaching. I spend 80% of my time working with students in small group settings, and I have the best job in the world. Each and every day, I get to work alongside a child and get to know their personality and their interest. Each and every day I get to work alongside children and implement instructional approaches to meet their individual learning goals. And let me tell you, I'm observing and analyzing everything. How the students hear and produce sounds, how students link sounds to words, how students find and use parts of words while reading, and how students are able to talk about what they have read. I'm looking constantly for incremental growth. When it's not showing up, I adjust. This could be a change in roles. It could be an adjustment to my instructional methods. It could be more diagnostic assessments. It also can be consulting with other literacy specialists, EL teachers, speech pathologists, and special ed educators because each child is unique. As we all know, teaching and learning requires a joint commitment from all stakeholders. So the parents thank you for your commitment and for reading to your children, and to the school board, thank you for your continued support and resources and ongoing JK 1/23/24-APPROVED professional learning opportunities" Nicole Locher- 242 Grove St. (in person): "I'm very grateful to hear about the phonics program being implemented; we'd love to see it implemented in third through fifth grade. I'm the former head of the Dyslexia Parents Group and was also on the Dyslexia Task Force. I just want to express some concerns I have about the solid phonics skills that are being canceled out by some of Lexington's ongoing adherence to a patchwork Balanced Literacy approach that's not aligned scientifically with the proven and effective evidence-based structured literacy. The balanced literacy approach has just proven theories of reading that don't teach these essential literacy skills systematically with the direct, explicit instruction and scope and sequence that all students require. Students are falling through the cracks. You may hear from them tonight, and their parents endure suffering due to this inadequate curriculum and instruction. Here are just a few examples of how this instruction misses the students. And by no means, I don't mean to disrespect teachers or educators. I come from a family of educators. Just please listen with an open mind. Units of Study Readers Workshop was actually designed for and favors fluent readers. Much of the time children are reading independently or playing lessons with inadequate feedback and guidance from their teachers. It only allows for about seven to 10 mini-lessons, as I understand it, which is not enough time to provide direct, systematic, and explicit literacy instruction in a scope and sequence that is aligned with the science of reading. And general education classrooms are hearing that intervention instruction students are still being taught just proven methods of guessing and cueing. It's hard to believe, but it is true. When they come to unknown words. They're still taught things,just proven theory. This negates and undermines the essential phonics, phonics instruction that Lexington just implemented. It creates anxiety and confusion and reinforces the habits of bad readers. This also shows that Lexington teachers need and deserve thorough training, supervision, and coaching on the science of reading." Ms. Lokar ran out of time. She will send her statement to the School Committee. Lenox Singh - student (in person): "Good evening, Dr. Hackett and members of the School Committee. Thank you for letting me talk to you. My name is Lenox Singh, and I am 11 years old. I live at 40 Hancock Street. I went to Estabrook from kindergarten to third grade. Then, Fiske for fourth and fifth grade. I'm currently a sixth grader at the Carroll School. I learned I had dyslexia exactly a year ago. When I found out I had dyslexia, I thought this made so much sense. But no one told my parents, so we had no idea. Now I can't go to Diamond, and I was really excited about going there. I had to leave all my friends and go to a new school. But I love my new school because they're helping me a lot. I remember I hated going to school to learn, but I would love to see my friends at recess. But at Caroll, I'm excited to see my friends in every subject. Lexington made me feel dumb because the other kids in the class weren't getting pulled out, and they were faster learners. Kids don't get to pick when they get pulled out, and that's because there aren't enough teachers, so it's all based on the teachers when the teachers are available and not the kid's schedules. But what if they love Social Studies and they want to stay on Social Studies? When I got pulled out of elementary school, I was with two to four kids. The teachers trying to teach you all the same thing, but we're all on different levels. There aren't enough teachers to give each kid what they need to catch up. My OG tutoring at the Carroll JK 1/23/24-APPROVED School is teaching me the same thing that the teacher at Fiske was teaching me, but for some reason, I'm doing way better with the OG tutor than at Fiske. At Carroll, there are some OG tutoring classrooms with three kids, but they are all at the same level and all learning. Carroll really supports you in learning to read and write because that's the one main goal they have. Carroll teaches all subjects, but the one priority is reading. In other elementary schools in Massachusetts, their goal shouldn't be teaching kids to read, too. Now my confidence is much better, my reading is much better, and I've only been there since September. Not all families can afford to send their kids to private schools. And kids do not have to go to a private school to learn to read. The MCAS results for learning disabilities like me weren't right. When I saw the questions I needed to read, there were so many things I didn't know. The test actually makes you feel bad about yourself because it's a reminder that you're not doing very good. Kids in upper grades like me, still need more help than they are able to get because they are not taught how to read in a way that they could learn. Even if COVID didn't happen, we still wouldn't have learned phonics, and there should be enough teachers to help them catch up. Thank you for listening, and I hope that in the future, Lexington Public Schools will make better decisions to help kids who struggle with reading." Sandra Bergantz (in person): "I am a literacy specialist at Harrington School. I would like to read a poem written by Amanda Gorman called New Days Lyric: May this be the day We come together. Mourning, we come to mend, Withered, we come to weather, Torn, we come to tend, Battered, we come to better. Tethered by this year of yearning, We are learning That though we weren't ready for this, We have been readied by it. We steadily vow that no matter How we are weighed down, We must always pave a way forward. This hope is our door, our portal. Even if we never get back to normal, Someday we can venture beyond it, To leave the known and take the first steps. So let us not return to what was normal, But reach toward what is next. What was cursed, we will cure. What was plagued, we will prove pure. Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree, Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee, Where we weren't aware, we're now awake; JK 1/23/24-APPROVED Those moments we missed Are now these moments we make, The moments we meet, And our hearts, once all together beaten, Now all together beat. Come, look up with kindness yet, For even solace can be sourced from sorrow. We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday, But to take on tomorrow. We heed this old spirit, In a new day's lyric, In our hearts, we hear it: For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne. Be bold, sang Time this year, Be bold, sang Time, For when you honor yesterday, Tomorrow ye will find. Know what we've fought Need not be forgot nor for none. It defines us, binds us as one, Come over,join this day just begun. For wherever we come together, We will forever overcome." Theresa Wright - 35 Reed St. (in person): "I'm reading these comments for another Lexington resident who wishes to protect her child's identity. Our college-aged son is only able to read adequately today because of extensive private interventions and because, in 2012 when our son was in fourth grade, another parent advised us to get a neuropsychological evaluation. Our son was pulled out into reading groups in second and third grade. His teachers were wonderful, but just had him practice reading and told him he had to work harder if he wanted to stop being in the reading group, suggesting that his struggles were his own fault. He became hugely ashamed of being behind. We asked for an IEP, but it was denied. The neuropsychologist found our son had dyslexia and ADHD and recommended a two-month after-school phonics program at Lindamood-Bell Center. Our son had to cancel church choir, music lessons, and playdates, and we had to take out a $10,000 loan. But the result of the intervention was startling. After just two months, our child tested above grade-level reading from sixth grade through high school. We paid a private Master's of Education tutor to help with reading, writing, and organizing, which added up to about another$10,000. This tutor provided a year-long Wilson's program in the eighth grade, which again brought our son's reading up to grade level. Later, due to a guidance counselor's mistaken confusion of a 504 plan with an IEP, our son was denied continuation of his 504 plan just before entering school, and I had to appeal to the Bureau of Special Education Appeals in Boston. The LPS lawyer argued that no written plan was needed JK 1/23/24-APPROVED since our son, who was still mortified about his learning disabilities, could simply tell all his new freshman teachers that he had dyslexia and ADHD and that each teacher would automatically provide accommodation. The hearing officer sent us to settle, and the lawyer finally gave him the 504 plan. Please expedite your ELA review and adopt a structure that we use to be programmed so that all children get effective reading help at the earliest times, without relying on chance encounters with other parents and without having to spend over$20,000 in private remediation. Thank you." Jennifer Elverum - 3 Penny Ln. (in person): "I had originally prepared a different set of remarks for tonight. But after reading the 130-plus slide presentation that you were about to hear shortly, I realized that we have a much bigger issue at hand. We're at an impasse. We have two schools of thought on how to teach literacy. After you listen to the literacy presentation tonight, which does not adequately represent what the science of reading is, I urge you School Committee members to please do your own research, gather your own data, and do your own fact-checking, speak with independent literacy experts, hire a specialized consulting company because our district and students need you to step in and actively participate in these decisions. As you gain a deeper understanding, you will see that Lexington is landing on the wrong side of science when it comes to literacy. If 131 slides are necessary to convince us that what we are doing is correct, red flags should be going up. If it takes four years to assess our curriculum, red flags should be going up. We clearly need more expertise and assistance with this process. You will hear that the Units of Study curriculum has been updated, and phonics has been implemented. But we need to stop piecemealing the curriculum together; it's difficult for students, and it's confusing for teachers. Units of Study curriculum has been proven by multiple studies to be an effective benchmark assessment has been proven to be inaccurate. Reading Recovery has been proven to be harmful to children. And Units of Study for writing is based on flawed assumptions. We need to stop using these methods. Lexington is falling behind other districts that are already stopped using these outdated programs. And we are being highlighted for these failures in the Boston Globe. Please spend the time, resources, and money on informing yourselves and then select, implement, and train teachers on a comprehensive, evidence-based, structured literacy curriculum. Our kids cannot afford to wait four years to learn how to write and spell." The School Committee took a recess from 7:48 PM to 7:57 PM. Ms. Cuthbertson announced that a couple of students would like to speak. Nell Smith - 17 Edgewood Rd (in person): "I went to Fiske, kindergarten through third grade and I'm currently an eighth grader at the Carroll School, and I am going to Lexington High School next year. I found out that I had dyslexia in third grade. Before that, it took me longer to finish my work than anyone in my class. I felt like I was just not as smart as the other kids. Because I did not understand what my teacher was teaching me when everyone else seemed to understand. I remember one time, while reading in pairs, my friend and I were reading a book together. And we were taking turns. I tried to leave it to read along, but I could not read. Instead, I went I hid in the bathroom for the whole class period because I was embarrassed. I was taken out of class at least once a day, and it was always during the fun JK 1/23/24-APPROVED thing. Every time I got taken out, I had tears in my eyes because I was the only kid, and I didn't understand why I was alone. I had so many kind teachers whom I loved, and I know they liked me because they were doing all that they could to help me. I started going to Carroll School in fourth grade because I needed to be taught to read in a different way. At first, I did not want to go because I didn't want to leave my friends, but by the end of the year, I was reading fluently. I learned how to sound out words by splitting them up and looking at individual letters. This type of reading instruction was just what I needed; it made sense. I think this type of reading instruction will be valuable for all kids. We're all reading the same words. When I became confident in my reading, I became confident in myself. I feel like I'm just as smart as anyone else. I just learned in a different way. I really want all kids to feel the way I did when I realized that I was capable of reading. Thank you for letting me speak to you tonight." Max Quattrocchi (in person): "Hello, I'm Max Quattrocchi. I live on Pleasant Street and am an 8th grader diagnosed with ADHD, Executive Function, and other learning challenges. Tonight, I'm addressing the impact of having a different brain and learning differences, particularly focusing on the challenges faced by kids like me during and after COVID, and I am advocating for money to fix the systems to use teaching methods that actually work. Online learning was tough for everyone, but it was especially harmful for those with attention or language learning disorders, like dyslexia. The difficulties in focusing and comprehending written material made the learning process a significant struggle. After reading some Globe articles, I was surprised to learn that many students in Lexington face reading challenges due to discredited teaching methods like "whole language." The outdated teaching methods not only fail to work but also end up gaslighting kids into thinking they understand a concept when, in reality, they haven't grasped it. That happened to my brother, and it hurt our whole family. Coming from a family dealing with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning challenges, I urge the Lexington Public Schools and the School Committee to abandon outdated methods. Instead, I advocate for the adoption of teaching methods that are proven to be effective, including the science of reading. I also am asking the School Committee to budget enough money to pay for enough aides to actually help students learn. I know from personal experience that the lack of aide support hurts our progress. While all students suffered during the pandemic, those with ADHD or dyslexia faced unique struggles. Four years later, recovery seems distant despite the efforts of my dedicated parents, who are willing to sacrifice everything for our success. I appreciate my parents' support, but it's disheartening that the system seems to set kids with learning disabilities up for failure. This isn't fair or right. So please stop using discredited teaching methods and also budget for enough aides so we can actually get the support that we need. As a third-generation Lexingtonian, I believe our town can do better, and I'll continue to speak up until positive changes are made." Paulak Roy-former student (virtually): "Hi, I'm Paulak Roy, class of 2022, Brandeis freshman. I've reached out to share my journey navigating dyslexia in the profound impact of Lucy Calkins's discredited whole language approach to reading instruction. My early elementary years were filled with blame, shame, and punishment. The school just assumed that I was a bad kid despite knowing that dyslexia runs in my family. Culminating in litigation from the school district, fueled in part by the assumption that my mom just assumed her kid wasn't trying hard enough and was a tired mom instead of a concerned parent, too wild a story. It wasn't until JK 1/23/24-APPROVED third grade, post legal procedures, that I found hoping the LLP rules I was receiving explicit phonics instruction using OG, and I eventually became an honors student and made it to college. Special thanks to remarkable post-lawsuit, SPED and Gen Ed teachers who supported me in this difficult journey. I would also like to note that during my gap year, I worked with WPS in ESL where I witnessed the same whole language approach, and Lucy Calkins is still being used to this day. It is important to emphasize this approach should not be used. This approach has been widely discredited; my dismay at the psychological tool, racial bias, and a waste of resources. Quickly, I still mostly sight read and oftentimes use assistive technology for reading and spellcheck, and as for my psychological trauma, it will never go away. Lexington children deserve better, in continuing ineffective practices is an affront to their potentials. My LHS teachers instilled in me the importance of following science and evidence concerning the evidence from experts in the field, Globe articles and past assaults, and ongoing Lexington horror stories. I find it hard to believe such practices still exist in Lexington. I employ you to embrace evidence-based reading practices to ensure equitable opportunities for all students. I appreciate your attention to this. I will submit a supplementary extended response after I was after this whole meeting." K-5 LITERACY PRESENTATION Dr. Hackett introduced the literacy presentation and stated that we are open to change and have done multiple reviews and changes. She also said that she is one hundred percent behind the educators in the room and one hundred percent behind every kid getting what they need. "I also want to talk about what we are being asked to do because this is getting lost in the conversation. So what we are being asked to do, urged to do by the state, is to adopt a science of reading curriculum. The problem with this is that we've just adopted fundations. If we were to adopt a science of reading curriculum, we would abandon fundations. We would adopt a new curriculum, and then we would be paying a million dollars for that new curriculum. And that's an estimate. And if I knew, or if any of us in this room knew that, that $1 million would solve the problems that we heard expressed tonight, the school committee would tell me to sign us up, I would say sign us up. But I am 100% convinced that some of the problems that we are still talking about would linger and continue. Even if there's a new curriculum. People in this world are looking for the magic bullet, the panacea, there isn't one. The magic bullet, if there is one, is a really excellent teacher. And we have plenty of those in Lexington. We have committed to current research. So, the research is changing by the second. And I don't think people were evil or malicious when they were following the units of study or Lucy Hawkins. That was the best thinking of the time: times change, times evolve" Dr. Hackett pointed out the importance of working side by side with students. She also acknowledged that we have an achievement gap and the different ways to look at MCAS tests. Dr. Hackett made the following statements; "One thing is people are saying we don't want to say dyslexia here in the system. That is not accurate. If it is accurate, and somebody thinks that way, let me go on record right now and say dyslexia, if kids need help, if kids need support, talk about it. That's not a bad word; talk about it and get them the support they need." "The bottom line is that we want our kids to be fluent readers who love to read love books and who know how to do it. They have the technical skills. We're going to remain intellectually open to these conversations. And I'm very excited for this presentation. I am excited to hear what you all have to say. And I also want to be really clear JK 1/23/24-APPROVED that we're not looking at any curriculum revisions right now. We're going through a curriculum review process. We're not going to do new adoptions. We're not going to do new reviews. We're just continuing with the process that we have in place because you've already done a lot." Sara Calleja, K-5 ELA & Literacy Department Head, presented the slideshow. She mentioned that she will be joined by teachers (Roxanne Vento, Cara Johnson, Stephanie Kenny, Kristina Greco, De'Shawn Washington), principals (Jenny Corduck, Jackie Daley, Meg Colella), literacy specialists (Tammy McBride, Paula Donahue, Mikaela Newell, Sandra Bergantz), the director of special education (Ellen Sugita), the director of elementary education (Caitlin Ahern), and our director of data and strategy (Maureen Kavanaugh). Ms. Calleja added, "Together, we will share with you the current practices that are in place in Lexington, and the practices we are working to develop or expand and our process for auditing and reviewing our curriculum." Dr. Hackett made a statement that "we're going to modify the presentation" and that there will be a follow-up meeting in February where there will be a chance to ask questions. COMMUNITY SPEAK Christie Leitch (virtually): She deferred her time to Tayor Signh (in person): "Taylor Singh, 40 Hancock Street. To anyone who's been waiting to speak and didn't get the opportunity; It's a marathon, not a sprint. We'll see you on February 6. Thank you for your patience, and we'll look forward to having more community speak time then. Thank you." Jess Quattrocchi (in person): "I'm the co-chair of Lex SEPTA and CPAC here in Lexington and a member of the Dyslexia Task Force. But I'm here tonight speaking for myself. Thank you to the school committee members for your time and dedication to our children. I'm actually going to start just by reading a letter of a Lexington parent that would like to remain anonymous. So this is a letter from that person; "Our family's story is that our younger daughter was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade back in 2016 and has since struggled with reading. And here's a list of their observations. This new phonics approach doesn't work, especially for children with learning challenges. My daughter attended LPS from 2015 to 2023, and her reading improved very slowly. The school claimed she was reading at grade level, but we didn't agree. As a recreational reader, volunteer at the school library, and as a substitute teacher, I was able to assess other students' reading performance and concluded she was behind in her grade. To address this, we advocated early for an IEP we started in second grade. She was in fourth grade when COVID kicked in. So we expanded her math tutor to include a reading block. Unfortunately, her reading continued to lag. In middle school, this became a greater problem because it impacted competence and performance another subject, and almost every teacher she had since COVID allowed her to read a book on her computer by being read to. This is like saying to someone who has to act in a short play. Watch a few shows on Broadway, which does very little to prepare this person for the challenge to actually be on stage. Allowing this practice to meet requirements for learning to read is detrimental for our children. One thing we were encouraged to do is to seek alternate material such as recipes, song lyrics, assembly instructions, and short news stories on subjects of interest instead of only book and article reading. This is a great recommendation for students to help with reading. But despite those JK 1/23/24-APPROVED efforts, we still had no positive impact. Last year, at this time, we initiated the process of applying to private school. Our older daughter decided to stay in Lexington at LHS. It is maddening to pay the high taxes plus private school tuition. The most frustrating is that we had to do this so she could read, a necessary basic element of education. Her new school does not allow being read to buy a computer to suffice as completing a reading assignment. Now, she volunteers to read in front of the class, buys or takes books out of the library, strictly out of curiosity, and reads on her own." Kyle York- 15 Cliffe Ave (in person): "Thank you for having me tonight. This is an excerpt from a letter I sent to the administration last week. Dr. Hackett did respond, and I want to thank her for that. During that exchange, I requested a meeting with her and the administration before February break so that we can discuss how this broken system failed our daughter. I look forward to that meeting. Here's an excerpt from the letter. As parents, one of our primary jobs is to prepare children to thrive in society. We teach them kindness, empathy, and to advocate for themselves to make sure that they have the tools to be successful and whatever path they choose. I can't help but reflect on the LPS response towards a child with diagnosed learning disabilities being denied basic access to a free and public education. When reviewing this child's records, did the report stating that they feel stupid or disengaging from their teachers or contemplating self-harm not compelling you to action?These are not things that a young student should experience. They should be excited to go to school and to actively and spiritedly engage with teachers and classmates. Upon learning that a young student is pulling away from the educational system, why would you hesitate in facilitating a cooperative partnership with parents? Instead, it seems that roadblocks are intentionally created to the process were outright denied the much-needed services for our children. It's easy to deny access to deserving kids requesting reasonable accommodations, but try looking those same kids in the face at night. When they can't present a strong exterior to their classmates and completely break down. Try consoling them when they are unconsolable. claiming that they don't belong, aren't worthy, and should just die. It is heartbreaking. Because the situation is avoidable. But for a group of administrators standing in the way, as members of this community, do we not deserve better treatment from our school administration? Our children? Who are the future of our society? certainly do. Children who are the future of our society certainly do. Reflecting on their challenges our family faced over the past year and what we're hearing tonight, it is evident that we're not alone in our experience. Despite being subjected to this senselessly cruel process. We cannot help but then we were one of the lucky ones few minutes. And that we eventually got our daughter some support. This is simply not acceptable. Julie Harrington (in person): "My name is Julie Harrington, and I'm a literacy specialist at Hastings. I've been an elementary educator for 16 years, the past six in Lexington. I want to speak briefly about why Lexington Public Schools should fight to maintain local control of our schools and what is at stake if we don't. First, Lexington Public Schools does not need to rely on state mandates to tell them when to re-examine the curriculum we use in schools. This school community does not react to political agendas or media trends but instead continually evaluates the curriculum used in their schools to make sure that children have access to high-quality materials and practices that are not only supported by a wide body of research but JK 1/23/24-APPROVED that also have a low floor and high ceiling ensuring that all students have an entry point and are able to grow their skills. Lexington educators use assessment data to guide our instruction in order to best meet the needs of our students. With the purchase of the box curriculum, our educators will lose the ability to make instructional decisions based on their past data and the needs of the students they teach. Furthermore, Lexington Public School prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion in our instruction. These values are embedded in our curriculum and woven throughout the school day. I see that reflected in the high-quality books used in lessons and that our children have access to in their classroom libraries. I see it in the digital resources that our talented teachers weave into their school day. While we are teaching our students computation, phonics sentence structure, the American Revolution, or ecosystems, we are also teaching them how to think critically, to question the world around them, to use their voices to speak up to lean in so that they have a better understanding of cultures and beliefs that are different from their own. If we give control to the state, this will not be their priority. And in many cases, our teachers will struggle to find ways to infuse diverse perspectives into their literacy instruction. Educators in this town have access to robust instructional tools that allow them to create meaningful learning experiences for their students and have access to high-quality professional development to ensure that they are prepared to meet the ever-changing needs of the students in front of them. They are supported by leadership that keeps up to date on educational research and all of the science so that we are providing our students with the best education possible. This is unparalleled, and other districts, thank you" Sarah Higginbotham - 21 Byron Ave (in person): "Thank you to the school staff for the presentation. I'm sorry that you chose to skip the section of your presentation engaging with perspectives on topics like the science of reading research and recent investigations that explore different perspectives. I wish my eighth-grade son could have benefited from early dyslexia screening and fundations and revised units of study that doesn't make kids guess and look at pictures. I heard several presenters emphasize the focus on giving students what they need. And I wish my son had gotten what he needed in elementary school to be identified as dyslexic instead of being identified as a behavior problem who just needs to try harder. I'm supposed to read another statement from someone else, but I can't do it. I'm sorry. Thank you" Andrea Roell - 6 Winding Rd (virtually): "I just wanted to thank all the parents who gathered here tonight who are advocating for their children, education, and especially Lenox and Nell who so eloquently spoke about their experience in Lexington Public School and how they are thriving in their new school. I had something else written out, but I scratched it given the time and after hearing everyone else speak. I think that what I am left with is more questions than answers. Those questions include, why do Lennox and Nell need to go to a school outside of Lexington Public Schools if our current curriculum is working? Why do families need to pay for outside support to teach their kids to read if the current curriculum really does work? I have heard this school committee throw the word diversity around at almost every meeting. What I don't hear often is a discussion around the lack of economic diversity in this community. What happens to the students that don't have the means to get outside reading support? It seems to me that this provides further segregation between the haves and the have-nots. Dr. Hackett, you expressed your frustration about people talking with the media and your wish to have them communicate directly with you. I can speak from personal experience just this fall, and I have JK 1/23/24-APPROVED tried to reach out to you on several occasions with zero response. So maybe that is why they are going to the media out of frustration, out of a need to be heard. And this leads me to another question that I've had for years, maybe since 2018. And that's around accountability. We need accountability to ensure the best education for all our students, regardless of background or circumstances. I had a conversation with you, Dr. Hackett, on the issue of lack of letter grades at the middle school level and how this does not properly prepare our students for the rigors of our high school. You told the group of parents that this decision was made without your involvement and in isolation by the Middle School Principals. This past week, a fellow parent and friend wrote you about concerns of the current reading curriculum. Your response was that the curriculum predates you, and you leave it up to the educators to select the curriculum. Tonight, I heard you say that you were open to a new curriculum later, I heard you say there would be no new curriculum. So, I'm left confused by Dr. Hackett as the superintendent of Lexington Public Schools. What is your responsibility in changing ineffective upheld policies?" Jennifer Wilson - 11 Constitution Rd (in person): "So my son Luke has dyslexia, and he's in sixth grade. I think he's an early intervention success story for the school. He started out unable to read in first grade. He couldn't read the alphabet sounds. His testing above district level and above school level. He's 99th percentile kind ideas in virtually everything. Except reading is 24th percentile. That's the dictionary definition of disability. We had wonderful support at Hastings from the Orton Gillingham certified teachers, amazing. And his classroom teachers in general education that was just an incredibly positive experience. I will say I had the exact same experience all the other parents with the IEP process. We were told that they were not allowed to use the word dyslexia. We were told they would not give us Orton Gillingham or other kinds of training unless we had a dyslexia diagnosis, which they wouldn't make. We have to go out and pay for private neuro Psych. In addition to what we did at Lexington with the helpful work of the Orton Gillingham teachers, we paid for Carol every summer because that kind of sustained intervention is necessary at an early age. If you wait, you don't get as an effective response. So his readings remediated, he's in sixth grade, we showed up for the IEP transition meeting. And they said we don't have a writing program for Dyslexics and middle schools. We just don't have one, we use the general education program where we kind of cobbled together what we have, and that can't be right. You know, we're a phone call away from Carol. And I didn't call them and ask what program they're using. And then, at my next meeting, I said, what about this program and one of the literacies specialists, who are all very dedicated people, said, actually, I'm certified in that, but we don't use it. I'm certain Why are you certified in it? She's well; my kids are dyslexic, and I needed to know the best thing I could to help them. So the teachers know, I mean, they're sophisticated, they're educated. But somehow, the transition for dyslexic kids from reading to writing gets lost, and Middle School is our only chance to teach them to write." Audrey Jensen (virtually): "Hello, my name is Audrey, and I'm 13 years old and I went to Harrington from K to fifth grade, and I am in seventh grade at Clarke. I am speaking on behalf of my two sisters, as we all struggle with dyslexia. As students in LPS with dyslexia, I think Lexington needs to do a better job at using evidence-based programs like fundations because if we would have been taught this way, we would have spent less time struggling. And instead of JK 1/23/24-APPROVED spending hours with a private tutor, we could have had more time with friends and could have played more sports. In elementary school, when we were pulled out for reading during times that we're not reading classes, we fell behind in those other subjects. This has caused us great anxiety and the feeling of always being behind. I think the reading specialists are amazing, and I don't blame them for this feeling. I blame the way LPS has structured their literacy program, not just reading, but in many subjects. They teach things in many ways, which causes confusion and stress. I was able to learn something that took a week in school, but it only took 30 minutes in the summer program. I would like LPS to change the way the literacy program teaches to where it doesn't take years to evaluate the student's reading level. I would like to say thank you for letting me share my thoughts and how amazing the teachers have been throughout my journey as a student." Joyce Gillis -102 Pleasant St (in person): "I'm the retired director of the children's dyslexia center. And I would like to thank the school committee members as unpaid volunteers for their tireless work to provide the best possible education for all our students. In addition, I want to thank our superintendent, Dr. Julie Hackett, and all the other administrators, teachers, and staff but they efforts to bring the necessary changes to the reading curriculum to meet the needs of all our children. It is with a sincere gratitude that you have given us a chance to express our thoughts this evening on some of the crucial needs that are missing in our present reading curriculum. At present, we find ourselves in a crisis mode to bring about the critical necessity to ensure that we implement an evidence-based reading program without delay. Unfortunately, at present reading program, although has been implemented in our schools for more than 20 years, has failed a large majority of our children. It doesn't include the building blocks that are necessary to provide a solid foundation who achieve reading success. Although it is well intended, this look, see, guess, or use the context method to figure out the world doesn't give our children the tools they need to make sense of the words that they encounter. By sounding out the letters so that they can successfully pronounce any word they encounter without making guesses and slowing down the process of reading directly all the words on the page. The reading program should include direct, explicit instruction in the foundational skills taught in a systematic and comprehensive literacy program. We can do better, and the time is now. Please consider making this a high priority to use the reading science that has proven that an evidence-based reading program for our children can't wait any longer. No child should be left behind. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you" Ammie Jensen -44 Tyler Rd (virtually): "As a parent of dyslexic students in LPS, I'm concerned about the current state of the literacy program. I'm asking the school board and Dr. Hackett to please move to a more evidence-based curriculum and interventions. I know my children were struggling with reading, and when I spoke up, some admins told me at the school that they would only step in unless my child was epically failing. If my child epically fails, we as a system and LPS have epically failed. I had to fight really hard to get the girls to get interventions. My middle child spent an entire year using the Reading Recovery as a tier two intervention. She made no progress in this program, and it has been proven not to work. During that time. My poor child was left struggling and falling through the cracks. I was happy to see the district move to the Fundations program. However, it's too late for many kids at LPS they've missed these phonics-based Instructions and continue to struggle only struggle because they've missed the JK 1/23/24-APPROVED Foundations of Reading. But also they have to play catch up in the other subjects as many of the students had touched base on. I'm also concerned because we talked about economic diversity in this community. As a single parent, to keep sending my children to Carroll for the summer so they can maintain because they're unable to maintain an ESY during the summer has proven to make quite a financial burden. As for three children, it's $20,000 per summer, on top of private tutors, which they have to have, on top of their LPS interventions. I'm asking the school board to please look into this and continue to have the budget to hire more specialists, as our children need this. There are more children who need to read and are struggling to read than we have specialists. I applaud the teachers and the reading specialists, as they have been amazing throughout this process. Thank you." Mona Roy- Bertwell Rd (in person): "I'm not going to repeat everything everyone said today. I think everyone in this room, regardless of your differing viewpoints, cares about children, and I'm sure everyone will go to sleep tonight with a heavy heart hearing all what the children had to say. And they are children. I know everyone in Lexington refers to them as students, but their children, their children, and their vulnerable. And, you know, Joyce said it better. But I'm only here to speak to one thing, which is there's been a lot of conflation of racial justice. You know, the idea that somehow we can't read decodable books and read culturally competent books, and I don't believe that's the case. And yes, racial justice and literacy justice are inextricably linked. I think about, you know, the Nat Turner revolt, and then they didn't let slaves learn to read. And I feel like 200 years later, you know, are we teaching our black students to read? I mean, these are chronic disparities. Everyone's kind of talking about them, like, oh, you know, we're working on them now. But this is decades in the making. I mean, this has been for decades, and so many kids are falling behind. It's very, very important that we don't use DEI. The school committee takes DEI very seriously. It's so so important to not use it as a red herring to make the case that we shouldn't have explicit phonics instruction or that we should we shouldn't be limited to that. And it's okay to have differing opinions, but it's not okay to use DEi as a red herring. I mean, particularly offensive because black women actually called out the Lucy Calkins problems there. If you read, if you hear a story, you'll know that, and then it's kind of offensive to me. I literally work on racially inclusive curriculum. And I'm hearing from all of you, you know, I've heard several times, you know, we shouldn't be thinking about this. We should be thinking about that. And I think the best thing that could happen is we You can't ask people to become racial justice advocates, social justice advocates, because they can't read. For God's sake, please, please, please understand that our kids need to read. Thank you for your time." UNFINISHED BUSINESS • Vote High-Performance Building Policy Ms. Sawhney made a motion to approve the High-Performance Building Policy, Ms. Lenihan seconded. Passed 5-0. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Lenihan made a motion to adjourn at 11:15 p.m., Mr. Freeman seconded. Passed 5-0. JK 1/23/24-APPROVED