Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-20-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, March 20, 2024 Meeting Minutes AGENDA: CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 8:10 AM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Deepika Sawhney, Vice-chair Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk Eileen Jay Sara Cuthbertson, Chairperson, did not attend. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent The minutes were taken by Julie Kaye, School Committee Meeting Recording Secretary. The School Committee convened 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 also 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-School Calendar Working Group Recommendations a. Recommendation #1 b. Recommendation #2 Ms. Lenihan explained the work done in the Calendar Working Group. Lana Panasyuk- 28 Saddle Club Rd: "There are two points I propose we consider, one is that let's be equal to everyone and not celebrate religious holidays during the school, keep schools working. Maybe we can introduce some educational classes which would educate other kids about the different religions' celebration. But we are here, in America, united by our constitution freedom of speech. I respect all religions, but let's not favor any. Keep vacation in February and April. So, my second point, I would suggest that since we won't have any religious holidays, we'll have some spare days. Let's put them close to vacation so we can maximize the family time spent during vacations with kids, and I mentioned that already for the next year. Let's have two days before winter vacation, two days after winter vacation, that Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and Friday. That will give us two weeks of time spent with kids, and we don't have to take kids off school. And finally the third point, and I haven't raised yet, is the holidays. To tell you the truth, I, as a parent, feel cheated because, as I found out, half day JK 03/20/24-DRAFT counts as a full day. But it's very inefficient for parents and for educational purposes. Let's try not to use them and try to combine two holidays into one day, and then education would be much more efficient for the kids. Alright, those are three points, let's be equal and not celebrate religion, only the state holidays. The second point is let's reshuffle days around the vacation so that we won't miss school, and the parents can enjoy the time and the teachers can enjoy time together. And the third one, let's try to minimize holidays because it's not fair. Those are my three points. Thank you." Fan Zhao - 32 Bellflower St: "I strongly recommend the School Committee to vote for the option which only closes school for legally required holidays, with flexibility around school breaks. As working families with elementary school kids, it is extremely difficult for us to find childcare solutions when schools are closing for midweek holidays, especially when those holidays don't align with neighboring towns. Adding additional school closure days will cause a huge burden on working parents to find childcare solutions. And in addition, let's not overlook the educational value of celebrating diverse holidays in schools. By being in school during diverse holidays, our kids have the chance to learn and appreciate the traditions of others, which fosters a more inclusive environment. I'm Chinese, and I celebrate Lunar New Year, but I would love my kids to spend a Lunar New Year in school with their friends. And they can learn from each other festivals from other cultures. So that's the two points I want to make. Please consider the option of only closing schools for legally required holidays, with flexibility around school breaks, or at a minimum, please do not add any additional school closures to the existing calendar. Thank you." Lindsay Hardy- 37 Winthrop Rd: "I want to say that I wholeheartedly believe that our diversity and today's diversity makes us stronger on the whole, and I'm really grateful to the School Committee and Working Group for efforts to better reflect our modern population in the school calendar. It's very meaningful. The group was tasked with considering non-dominant identities in the school calendar, and I believe they really succeeded in reflecting many cultural and religious shifts in our demographic, but in the recommended calendars, they failed to address the shift to parents both working outside the home. According to Pew Research, over 70% of homes have two working parents. But the dominant identity in America continues to be a family with a full time parent at home. And only 15% of Americans think a mother should be working full-time. I think you need to look no further than the school calendar for reasons behind such thoughts. Looking at countries with the highest gender equity indices, you will find a school calendar that is better synchronized to the typical employment calendar. Ours begin with five federally mandated closures not observed in a typical workplace, and over the last 30 years, we have accumulated another five or kept them in place. All but plan A2 keep the same number of closures and add more to the favored calendars. All add scheduling complexity due to the unpredictability of the weekday observed. Why does this matter? Because just as we saw in the pandemic, increased school closures reveal vulnerabilities, the impact being unevenly distributed across economic, disability, and gender profiles. A very serious local event of a reported abduction attempt last week occurred at 2 pm on a Thursday, early release teacher conference day, while a six-year-old child with a disability was being watched by siblings and her mother was at work. This is a dramatic but accurate example of the way these closures strain the family and reveal vulnerabilities. I have contacted our main after-school programs, JK 03/20/24-DRAFT Kidsborough expects to be closed during the proposed holidays because the buildings are closed. Hayden will likely be available with prioritization of after-school enrollees. It typically fills quickly. For all these reasons, and short of providing robust childcare options, I want to urge the School Committee to reconsider plan A2 or something similar and instead utilize homework and test blackout days while fostering a supportive culture within the school for kids taking a day off and/or celebrating in the school. There are two very important but competing priorities in my view, and I urge you to seek more data from parents divided by child age and employment status. Our remarkable diversity should allow such a survey to probe these family priorities of work pressure versus cultural and religious observance. An overwhelming result in one direction could add clarity and unity around the changes. Finally, a compromise alternative is half-day version of plan B1, which allows kids to observe their holidays and miss less school. Kidsborough would be one additional option for parents in the afternoon. Thank you so much" Umesh Shelat - 34 James St: "I'm also a Town meeting member from Precinct Seven. I agree in principle with Lana's comments that only federally mandated holidays should be observed in the absence of that, and if any religious holidays are observed, then in the interest of diversity, equity, and inclusion, we should include the three other holidays Diwali, Eid, and Lunar New Year. It is important for the community to recognize these holidays, for example, you know, kids already know what Diwali means. That's not the point. The point is because there are segments of the community that celebrate other holidays, the rest of the community should understand and recognize the identity of these kids. We don't want to separate them from our community. They are part of our community, and they should be recognized, and their holidays should be recognized that just as important as the Christian and Jewish holidays. Thank you very much." Andrew Shea - 30 Balfour St: "I come from a working family with two working parents. And my concern with this new proposed school calendar is it adds too much vacations and causes trouble for working families to find childcare solutions. So you know why I'm proposing is, you know, if we consider adding the new, you know, ethnic or religious holidays, can we think about removing some of the half days on Fridays to compensate so that the families are not, you know, taking actual, you know, kind of time off work. Or trying to find extra time for their childcare, you know, solutions. So, that's one of the concerns for a lot of the working families in next year. I believe it's probably a majority, a family situation in Lexington, so that's my two cents here" Ms. Lenihan spoke about how if we only closed on legally required holidays, on days such as Christmas Eve, we wouldn't have enough staff to open schools. "Saying you're gonna have a calendar which you only close for legal holidays, you're not. We're not going to be able to do that, which is why we ultimately didn't recommend that. Although there are certainly...there were certainly members of the calendar committee who felt strongly about that option." She also addresses half-days, it is a contractual issue. Dr. Hackett added that they would have to be negotiated through collective bargaining. Shashi Mysore - 25 Partridge Rd: "Parent of a Lexington public school student. I am requesting That we allow for kids to have an opportunity to be able to celebrate their their festivals. For example, Diwali is probably the only opportunity they have to really go deep into the culture JK 03/20/24-DRAFT and relate to their history, their belief systems, their faith, and practices that have been followed 1,000's of years that is very hard for a parent coming from an Indian culture, to be able to imbibe those values and belief systems and kids that are being raised here. The opportunity for kids to stay at home and celebrate with parents and understand their culture a little deeper, one day a year seems like a reasonable ask from my perspective. And I would request and urge the committee to keep that in mind as they think about calendar options and allow for kids that are born and brought up here in the US in Lexington but have a belief system and faith and practices that aren't naturally something that they can see around them in this society to have an opportunity to for at least one day a year to be able to truly go into the depth of what their belief system is and practices are and take the positives and spread the positivity in the society and spread the positive message from each of those very ancient traditions that we followed for 1000s of years. We will take the positivity and positive messages, and we will spread that around. That would be a great opportunity. So my request would be to have a calendar option or prefer a calendar option that would allow for kids, be it Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year, for all of them to be able to really go deep into their cultural traditions and bring positive messages out to the rest of the society. Thank you." Andrew Shea - 30 Balfour St: "Thank you for your comments earlier, you know, since you mentioned that half days on Friday are not able to be canceled, I'm proposing that maybe for the new ethnic holidays, can we possibly do half days so that we're not creating too much trouble for working families who has to take days off or, you know, find childcare solutions for kids who are not celebrating that particular ethnic or religious holiday because I believe that at the calendar demographics, probably owning up to 35% is celebrating a particular ethnic or religious holiday. And then the rest of maybe 65% or more has to either take a day off or find childcare solutions for such days. If we minimize that impact to half days, maybe there will be a win-win situation for both working families, which is a large portion of the Lexington community, and ethnic groups. Thank you." Ms. Lenihan spoke about the time-on-learning requirements and expressed her doubt that we can just move around half-days. She also mentioned that the town of Wellesley has 180 school days, we have 182. They are able to do that because their days are five minutes longer than ours. Umesh Shelat - 34 James St: "That was an excellent and interesting point that I didn't know, Kathleen. If you just extended, you get an additional two days. That would be, I think, very useful. The only additional point I'd make is one made to a previous commentator, that you're going to have half days for the new ethnic holidays, then all the religious holidays observed should also be half days off, again in the interest of equity, so that all religions are recognized equitably. And that's the only additional point that I would make again, you know, perhaps the best outcome is not to have any religious holidays whatsoever. And then so, the appoint of Christmas Eve off should be addressed as well. And if it's legally required, then students will be there. And staff would have to be required to be there as well. That's..that's..that's a separate point that would have to be addressed but either all days off or all half days off. Thank you." Lana Panasyuk- 28 Saddle Club Rd: "I remember times when I first came to the United States JK 03/20/24-DRAFT from Orthodox Russia. That Christmas holidays were part of whatever you celebrate in school for a week or a little bit more, and then at some point, many of you might probably remember. Let's not call it Christmas, let's call it winter holidays. So, in my mind, I already made the shift it's winter holidays. Whatever we have in December, between Christmas and New Year, it's a winter holiday. Whatever we have in February is February and in April is April. Now that I'm looking back at April, is that around Easter? Why don't we call it Easter holidays or Easter vacation? It's a vacation, so for me, it's not a religious thing. It's a winter break off from school, February and April. I don't celebrate Christmas for religious reasons, I celebrate it with my kids at the winter holiday. I just want to make the distinction that a lot of people and families with different religious backgrounds, but they all celebrate Christmas and the Christmas tree. It became not a religious holiday, it became a kind of international holiday. And it's part of the winter break from school,just a point I wanted to make. Thank you" Ms. Lenihan mentioned how staff members can take off days for religious observances. Dr. Hackett explained that staff get three personal days (along with sick and vacation days) and can use those personal days to observe their holiday. Rajeshiri Godbole - 6 Tewksbury St: "I just wanted to put in a word for Diwali holiday. I wholeheartedly support this holiday, and I see several advantages, not just for the Hindu kids but for all the kids. This can be an educational opportunity for all of us to take time to learn about this traditional holiday. Not just in the broader Indian context for the non-Indian kids but also for the Indian kids themselves to learn about how Diwali is celebrated in their particular region. Even within India, those who are from India can see how diverse and varied the celebrations and festivals are. One region completely celebrates in a different way than the other. So this can be that great opportunity, I think, among the Indian kids themselves, too. As well as the other broader diaspora, the diaspora spread across the world like the Hindus who have been here for plus generations...Other people have expressed how they can celebrate with their kids being home and decorating in the house and doing puja and the traditional activities and all that. But festivals, really all festivals, are about sharing, and with the school holiday, what that will allow is other kids from the larger community to participate in the festivities if they have a neighbor who's celebrating Diwali and so forth. So I really see this as a win-win for everyone here. And so, I want to appeal to the committee to please put it on our school calendar. Thank you" Lindsay Hardy- 37 Winthrop Rd: "I appreciate you giving me a second chance. I want you to please forgive my ignorance, but I am wondering about the specifics of the holidays that are more new to our calendar or would be more new. My understanding is that in their home, where what is the major demographic in the country, that is typically a break similar to one of our..our longer school breaks. So it's one or two or more weeks to celebrate the entire holiday. And whereas the Jewish holidays are very specific and celebrated that way with often fasting and prayer all day long in the synagogue. So I would just like to know if there is any feasibility in having a day that honors those, but it's a little more practical for encompassing the rest aspect that most holidays bring the family. So, tying it to a weekend for in any case. That's it." JK 03/20/24-DRAFT Ms. Sawhney asked what calendar the Jewish faith follows, and Ms. Lenihan answered the Lunar calendar. She spoke about how holiday dates vary from year to year. She and Mr. Cole will work on having calendar examples for the next School Committee meeting that spans 3-5 years. Ms. Sawhney suggested a simple spreadsheet showing the number of days over the next 5 yea rs. Gayathri Ramanujam - 20 Lawrence Ln: "My son is a senior this year, but we've gone through the schools pretty much from Kindergarten through 12. And every year as a working parent, we try to inculcate our cultural, you know, values, especially since we are so far away from home, from parents, from great grandparents where, you know, if we were in our home country, some of it would come through osmosis, some of the knowledge. So, my ask is that we try to incorporate all the holidays so that way, first generation immigrant parents like us don't have to struggle to balance everything. Office work, kids schoolwork, kid's homework, and, you know, just make sure that our community is an inclusive space that, you know, allows an equitable celebration for everyone, no matter where they're from. Thank you so much." Dihua Xu -455 Waltham St: "So I spoke weeks ago at the Community Speak, but I would just to restate that. So day camp is very hard to find, especially when it is not synchronized with the neighborhood town. So the more and more school closes holidays in the middle of the week create a real burden for families with younger children. I have to say this creates a lot of hassle for us, like why is five-thirty to six forty-five, why is eight to nine? It's just really hard balancing our daily life with little kids. So I was wondering, has the School Committee considered half a day on religious culture holidays, or like some way to balance the working family with this holiday tradition. Before you implement the schedule changes, whether it's moving school starting time or change school closure for holidays, please come up with a childcare solution first. It's just become a larger burden for families with younger kids. Another thing I would like to say, like celebrating diverse holidays at school is an excellent educational opportunity. So this was the third year my daughter made a Lunar New Year presentation at school. The first year I helped her make slides; the second year, her teacher encouraged her to present to other classes. This year she is totally independent from a working group with Japanese Korean students in her class and collaborated on the project months before the presentation. So, I strongly hope that our students continue to have the chance to learn and appreciate the traditions of others. Therefore, a more inclusive environment. I would just hope that the School Committee would not just take these two options, it's just not feeling comfortable. If either were adopted, I would personally feel guilty celebrating the Lunar New Year next year, other religious and cultural groups pay the price, that's it. Thanks" Sudhir Hande - 28 Constitution Rd: "So really here to just provide few thoughts which, you know, the previous people already raised. Just to put the things in perspective, we are both working parents. We have one daughter in eighth grade, she went to Hastings from first grade to now in Diamond in eighth grade. The younger one is in first grade in Hastings. So we understand all of the concerns from the point of the working parents' view that, you know, we need to take off or we need to find a daycare and everything. However, it's also important as a parent for any religion that we don't forget our roots. We need to celebrate as, you know, these kids are raised here, they need to understand their religion, their festivals and everything. So JK 03/20/24-DRAFT they get connected to their roots back in their own country and as well as Americans to celebrate the religious holidays and everything here. Now, the harder part and harder question I get from my daughter and especially the elder one, the younger one hasn't asked the question yet, why can't we get to holidays when my friends celebrate and they invite me for their holidays? So I live in a community where we have Jewish friends, we have Christian friends, we have Chinese friends. They are all around and mingling. And these kids have their own holidays versus, you know, she has to go to school, and she cannot invite her friends to celebrate it. So really, you know, my recommendation, my request here is either we have all-inclusive holidays for all the religions or let's not have any of this so the kids don't feel left out, that's all I just wanted to point out, thank you so much for your time." Umesh Shelat - 34 James St: "I would like to echo what Sudhir just said, this is a matter of identity. And all of our children should understand that they are all equal in the eyes of the community from an identity perspective. No one student's identification as a Jewish person or a Christian person should be different from another student's identification as a Hindu person or an Indian person, or a Chinese person, or someone observing the Muslim faith. That's paramount because students at this are very sensitive to how they are perceived by others. And the important point here is not just for their own identity but for the rest of the community to recognize the equality of identity. That's the point that I would like to repeat. The second one is there other schools do this. Westboro has the day off for Diwali, I believe Ashland and Wellesley, as someone had mentioned before. So it's not as if it can't be done. It can be done. And I also agree, you know, that for all practical purposes, the day before Christmas will be taken off, and Thanksgiving will be taken off, but they shouldn't be labeled as part of a winter break or part of the spring break. That to me sounds like, you know, a semantic type of workaround to identify something that, for all real reasons, it is not. So thank you for your time." Ms.Jay moved to adjourn the public hearing at 9:00 AM, Ms. Lenihan seconded. Ms. Sawhney took a roll call vote,passed 3-0. JK 03/20/24-DRAFT