HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINAL - SC MInutes May 11 2021.pdf FINAL
MINUTES
MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
REGULAR SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
MAY 11, 2021 6:30 P.M.
VIA REMOTE PARTICIPATION
Present:
Pam Nourse,Chair(Acton) Jeff Stulin, Vice-Chair(Needham)
Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow) Michael Ruderman(Arlington)
Steve LeDoux(Concord) Ford Spalding(Dover)
Jennifer Leone(Lancaster) Judith Crocker(Lexington)
Dave O'Connor(Bolton)
Absent: None
Weighted Vote. Weighted Vote present at start of meeting 68.92%
Others Present. Dr. Edward Bouquillon, Dr. Robert Gerardi, Dr.Amy Perreault,George Clement,
Anthony Chiariello,and Julia Pisegna
1. CALL TO ORDER OPEN SESSION
The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:30 p m
2 ADOPTION OF REMOTE PARTICIPATION
VOTE To adopt remote participation by all members of the Minuteman School Committee
pursuant to and in accordance with Sections(2)and(3)of the Executive Order Suspending
Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law made by the Governor of Massachusetts on
March 12,2020, such adoption to be effective until said Executive Order is rescinded or the
Commonwealth's State of Emergency as referenced in said Executive Order, is terminated,
whichever happens first
ACTION 2021 #150
Moved(Leone)and seconded(DeLuca)
To approve remote participation
VOTE: members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present. 68 92%
Weight needed: 34.46>%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining: none
Final percentage results of vote. 68.92%
Final status of the vote. Unanimous
024
Roll Call.
Pam Nourse(Acton)(Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover)(Yes)
Jennifer Leone(Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin,Vice-Chair(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow)(Yes)
(Mr Ruderman joined the meeting at 6:35 p.m)
3 PUBLIC COMMENT
Dr. Bouquillon announced that one public comment had been received which was read into the record as
follows.
Dear Chair Nourse and Superintendent Bouquillon.
I am a Minuteman parent, a member of the Arlington School Committee, and I was a
leader in the debt exclusion vote in Arlington that allowed the Minuteman building
project to proceed
I am writing to seek assurance that in keeping with state regulations and the Minuteman
admissions policy, each in-district applicant (resident student) who applied by the
February 15 deadline and was placed on the waitlist(including the 23 from Arlington at
last count)will be offered admissions prior to any out-of-district applicant(non-resident
student). I have sought this reassurance through Michael Ruderman who I thank for his
help, but he has been unable to receive it at this time. Instead, according to the
administration. "Any seat that becomes available after March 29th is offered to students
on the waiting list with the highest application scores regardless of whether they are from
a member or non-member town."
The state regulations are clear this is not allowed.
603 CMR 4.03(6)(a)(1): "Resident students who meet the minimum requirements for
admission shall be admitted prior to acceptance of any non-resident students seeking the
same course of study."
It is also contrary to the Minuteman Admissions Policy, Section VIII,which says
Nonresident town applicants are evaluated using the criteria in this Admissions Policy
and will be placed on the applicant list after resident applicants.Nonresident applicants
on the list will only be accepted after all qualified resident applicants have been accepted.
If nonresident students have already been admitted off the waitlist before resident
students, then you need to correct this by admitting an equal number of additional
resident students off the waitlist.(You always have attrition so I'm not that worried about
the class size significantly exceeding 200)
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Thank you for your attention to this matter,
Len Kardon
Dr. Bouquillon thanked Mr. Kardon for his public comment and noted that this will be discussed later in
the meeting under the appropriate agenda item.
(Mr O'Connor joined the meeting at 6 45 p m)
Committee Chair, Pam Nourse, noted that the Policy allows for Public Comment to be limited to three
minutes,and that this item was under three minutes.
4.GOOD OF THE ORGANIZATION,Pam Nourse
Ms. Crocker shared a note from Jim Malloy,Lexington Town Manager,which was read into the record
Mr. Malloy would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Design and Visual
Communications students at Minuteman High School for their hard work in helping to design the
logo for the Center Streetscape Project. The logo is an important part of the Town of Lexington
branding for this project. It will help us communicate the purpose of the project which is to create
a more vibrant Lexington center circling around complete streets, sustainability, and active
transportation. The approximately$10M project will make improvements to safety,accessibility,
landscaping, lighting and more ahead of the Town's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the
Battle of Lexington in 2025.
Ms. Crocker thanked the students for the beautiful logo
Ms Crocker also shared that the students in the Design and Visual Communications worked on the
Minuteman Cane Award which included students digitizing the project's somewhat disintegrated
scrapbookmg materials which had been collected since 1936. Ms Crocker noted that this award goes to
nominated citizens who have served the community,and who are more than 80 years old She highlighted
that this is an example of students using their talents for the greater good of the community
Committee Chair,Pam Nourse,congratulated the students on behalf of the School Committee who were
awarded medals at the SkillsUSA Competition, as well as those students moving on to compete in the
National Competition
Committee Chair,Pam Nourse,presented the proposed meeting schedule for School Committee meetings
for the 2021-2022 school year for approval
ACTION 2021 #151
Moved(Leone)and seconded(O'Connor)
To approve the School Committee meeting schedule for 2021-2022
VOTE: members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present 100%
Weight needed: 50.00>%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining none
Final percentage results of vote: 100%
Final status of the vote. Unanimous
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Roll Call.
Pam Nourse(Acton)(Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington)(Yes)
Dave O'Connor(Bolton)(Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover)(Yes)
Jennifer Leone(Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin,Vice-Chair(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow)(Yes)
5. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
a. School Buildina Committee Update
Mr Spalding presented the School Building Committee report. The main impediment to obtaining the
final Certificate of Occupancy from the Town of Lincoln includes that the seeding and planting in and
around the wetlands must be established,with grass growing and plants rooted. A few HVAC items,roof
leak items,and commissioning issues need to be resolved and are being addressed.
Mr Spalding reported that the solar panels are being installed on the roof, and after completion, we will
be eligible for our LEED credits.
b. Athletic Fields Proiect Budget
Mr. Spalding reported that the project is on time and on budget, and that the anticipated completion date
for the multi-sports baseball and athletics field will be early September The stadium field and track should
be ready by October 1, and the softball athletic field completion will be ready in September and October
He shared that currently there are lots of piles of earth and rocks being put onto the ground around the
campus.
Mr. Stulin asked if those anticipated dates included the lighting, and Mr. Spalding confirmed that the dates
included the lighting which was approved as an add-alternate. He noted that all of the add-alternates were
approved.He shared that all the materials and equipment are on site or have been ordered.This is important
due to the current problems with supply chain and costs for construction materials. Minuteman made a
very good decision to move when we did in terms of beating the high inflation rates hitting the construction
industry. He thanked Committee members and the communities for moving forward with that.
c State Admissions Update
Dr. Bouquillon shared that Mr Chiariello participated in a meeting with the State earlier in the day and
will add comments.
Dr. Bouquillon provided Committee members (page 4 of packet) the top ten changes proposed by the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Chapter 74 admissions. He noted that after further
reflection, these changes will not make too much difference for Minuteman in the short term. These
regulations are out for public comment, and as we continue to go through meetings and receive further
clarification from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, as well as discussions with
other vocational schools, we have crafted a statement for the School Committee to consider. He shared
that there are some School Committees who will be making a public statement and voting on this topic
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He noted that there is a meeting scheduled on May 19th at Northeast Met for Superintendents to discuss,
from a State perspective, what sort of position MAVA might craft. He described his thoughts on the
statements of MAVA during the past year as benign, boring, and not very instructive. He shared that he
is much more interested in what Minuteman,and schools like Minuteman, might do together and that he
has spoken with other Superintendents who plan to prepare a statement and present it to their School
Committees and move it further to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Dr. Bouquillon invited Mr. Chiariello to share clarification on some technical issues which he received
at his meeting earlier in the day. Mr. Chiariello shared that the data admissions collection was released
approximately two weeks ago included a very tight turn-around time,noting that due to other things going
on in schools this month, it was an unreasonable request. They also requested new information which
many schools are not collecting at this time. He noted that while we are happy to provide that information
moving forward, but we do need to build our systems to be able to provide that information.
He noted that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education did welcome the feedback on the
technical issues and pushed the due date of material collection to the end of June, which indicates that
this data is not being used dunng the public comment phase in terms of those ten items that the
Commissioner recommended to the Board of Education They were open to our feedback, and we want
to continue to collaborate with them to make it a good process and provide data that will assist everyone.
They did not reassure us that it would not be presented on a simply state-wide aggregate level,as opposed
to a school-by-school level which is where the issues tend to occur, and that there are 4 or 5 schools, in
particular, where the regulations would have a major impact. Summing up, it was a positive meeting
with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Ms. Leone noted that if we cannot use the criteria which we have been using,such as grades,attendance,
discipline, passing English and math,what criteria we would use to report to them?
Dr. Bouquillon noted that it removed the requirement,and that the way we read it is that we can continue
to use criteria that we have but in their current regulations,they require four. Ms. Leone summed up her
understanding, which is that we can still use them, however, if they are deemed to be exclusionary, the
Department would be able to requires us to use the lottery system,which Dr. Bouquillon confirmed.
Ms. Leone highlighted the last item,requiring middle schools to grant VTE schools access,noting that it
formalizes that issue, and Dr Bouquillon stated that was great.
Committee Chair,Pam Nourse asked Dr Bouquillon which of the top ten items he finds most concerning
and Dr Bouquillon shared that he and Mr. Chiariello have discussed this a lot Mr.Chiariello noted that
aside from the State taking away local control and mandating the change,if the policy is creating inequity
that is in violation of civil rights, they would have jurisdiction, aside from that, we represent our
communities and students with disabilities, and we do not have any major concerns He shared that he
loves the access piece and that we are lucky with most of our districts welcoming us into their schools.
He noted that some districts do not get any support from their sending towns,and he is always happy to
have the regulations that support us.
d. School Choice
Dr.Bouquillon noted that this is an annual vote required by the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education to participate or not participate in school choice and he recommended that Minuteman not
participate in the School Choice Program.
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ACTION 2021 #152
Moved(Leone)and seconded(DeLuca)
To approve not to participate in the School Choice Program for 2021-2022 and to
inform the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education of this decision by the
June Is'deadline
VOTE, members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present. 100%
Weight needed: 50.00>%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining: none
Final percentage results of vote: 100%
Final status of the vote. Unanimous
Roll Call:
Pam Nourse(Acton)(Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington)(Yes)
Dave O'Connor(Bolton)(Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover)(Yes)
Jennifer Leone(Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin,Vice-Chair(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow)(Yes)
Ms DeLuca noted for the new members on the School Committee, the amount of tuition that the State
mandates for the school choice program has not changed since 1993 and the amount is$5,000.
e. Annual Town Meetine Update
Dr Bouquillon shared that four towns have passed the budget—Dover, Lexington,Needham, and Bolton
Arlington meeting is scheduled for May 12th, and after that meeting, we will have passed the budget for
FY22 in five of the nine towns (six are required to pass the budget).
Dr.Bouquillon mentioned that he sent a copy of the waiver information to Committee members which was
sent to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to waive the requirement to have all four
grades in the building on May 176. He noted that he received an email at 8.30 PM last night requesting an
on-site visit due to our main justification for remaining in a partially hybrid model is space. Staff from the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will be out to view the building within the next four
to seven school days He thanked the administration for completing the extensive application and is very
clear on why we believe we can only have three grades in the building which is what we intended to do as
of May 17th
Mr. Ruderman stated that it sounds like a cliche of state bureaucracy as they will come into the building in
order to do an inspection to make a determination that can't be concluded until after the date they say they
have to have a decision made.
Committee Chair, Pam Nourse, noted that it is a tight turn-around and is impressed that they got back to
Dr.Bouquillon in the same day,and agreed that it was a very thorough application
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Dr. Perreault shared with Committee members (page 5 of the packet) that Minuteman meets the `meets
requirements' determination under Part B. She noted that while `meets requirements' sounds boring and
standard, it is the highest level one can obtain and that we do not require any technical assistance, or
intervention from the State,and we are proud of our students as this determination is based upon five year
cohort graduation rates per student with disabilities, annual drop-out rate for students with disabilities,
public school monitoring, performance data, and findings on significant disproportionality and problem
resolution This indicates that parents are not making complaints against us and students are doing great,so
`meets requirements' shows that our students are doing really well.
Dr.Bouquillon shared that it is real kudos to Dr. Perreault and her Special Education Department staff.
Committee Chair, Pam Nourse congratulated Dr. Perreault and her staff.
6.PRINCIPAL'S REPORT—George Clement
a 2021-2022 School Calendar
Mr Clement presented the 2021-2-2022 School Calendar for approval. He noted that some dates may
change due to MCAS testing.
ACTION 2021 #153
Moved(Leone)and seconded(DeLuca)
To approve the 2021-2022 school calendar,as presented
VOTE. members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present: 100%
Weight needed. 50 00>%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining. none
Final percentage results of vote. 100%
Final status of the vote: Unanimous
Roll Call.
Pam Nourse(Acton)(Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington)(Yes)
Dave O'Connor(Bolton)(Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover)(Yes)
Jennifer Leone(Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin,Vice-Chair(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow)(Yes)
Ms.Crocker asked about the two days marked for remote learning Mr.Clement shared that he has
spoken to the union about not using so many days for professional development. By contract,the day
before vacation,there needs to be an 11:21 a.m.dismissal We thought that we could use that time by
giving the students work and use that time for professional development. If we are not allowed to do
that,we can flip it to another day
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b. World of Work(WOW)Event
Mr.Clement shared that during April vacation,Minuteman held the first World of Work(WOW)event He
thanked Mr. Chiariello and Ms Bouchard for all the work they did in putting this program together The
World of Work(WOW)program was funded by Perkins and is designed for 6th and 7th graders to build self-
awareness about their interests,strengths,and values related to the world of work It is based on the theories
of John Holland that when people are in careers with others who share their interests,values.and strengths,
they are a happier person. Sixty children participated, 36 of whom were from Lexington and 15 from
Needham which are two towns which we are concentrating on,trying to drive up admissions We had 10
faculty members,20 student ambassadors,and five electrical students working with the children He shared
that feedback from parents on the event and what the school has to offer has been great.
Mr. Chiariello noted that over 150 students applied,but due to COVID restrictions,we were not allowed to
have that many.
c. Summer School
Mr. Clement shared that the program will run for four weeks with the emphasis on Minuteman students
Classes will be run similarly to a regular day from 8.00 a.m.to 3.00 p m ,Monday thru Friday,and that we
are targeting rising freshman and current students. The primary focus for academics will be academic credit
recovery for students who failed a class or two this year such as math, English, science,and history. One
difference this year is that students will not be charged for summer classes and the program will be covered
by grant monies.
There will also be a social/emotional course offered, and the curriculum is being drafted at this time, as
well as CTE enrichment, such as automotive, cosmetology, health assisting, electrical, and multi-media
Mr Clement noted that one of the grants we received required partnering with a community-based
organization We will be partnering with Summers Edge who will be offering physical health and well-
being in their program into our program as part of the social/emotional aspect, and a Join the Revolution
Week for rising 9th graders to get the students building a sense of community and connect with each other
We will be doing some data collection also with the rising 12th graders taking the NOCTI career specific
post-test in May and surveys with staff to get a sense of who might need extra time for licensing
requirements Reading assessments are underway for all current students who will be returning, as well as
math and reading for our rising 9th graders which will not only assist us in school placement,but also get a
sense of what the new baseline is He shared that it looks to be a robust and busy summer
Ms DeLuca shared that it is great to join the vacation and summer program because they have really long
impact and students who were in them years ago are still friends,even at age 30 She also shared that Mr.
Clement's comment that kids have lost so much this year, it is important for this generation to not feel as
though they have lost anything because many generations before them lost years of school for one reason
or another,and they were fine. They gained other things,and it is important for this generation of kids to
feel empowered by the gap in their schooling and not feel as if they were deprived of something because
those very strong people who she knows who have lost years, sometimes four years of school,they were
fine,and kids today need to know that they are also fine and things will be fine
Mr. Spalding asked about the anticipated enrollment in these programs, how do students enroll, and what
do we expect Mr. Clement shared that their target is to approach kids who have failed an academic class
or who we anticipate might fail a class,as he reviewed a list recently which indicated 40 students who failed
something along the way. He also shared that there is a new system setting up that they can make up their
credit in a week, a very intensive week,which may help draw more students Faculty have been lined up
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for the programs mentioned He added that the CTE programs will be filled. Mr.Clement shared that they
need to do more to get information about summer school out to parents.
Mr. Spalding congratulated the administration and teachers for all their work and for giving the students
such a great opportunity,reinforcing this year and helping them along into next year,and that it is a special
group of teachers and administrators who are willing to do that.
Mr. Ruderman shared that zero cost is a tremendous advantage for the students.
Ms. Leone asked if transportation was provided. Dr. Bouquillon shared that will be assessed when we see
who has registered,and that if needed,we will pick them up.
Mr.O'Connor asked for an updated on the senior class events, such as graduation and this year's prom Dr.
Bouquillon noted that this year's prom is a "senior night". Mr. Clement shared the graduation update as
follows.
• Graduation will be at held at Lowell Auditorium at 2:00 p m He recently viewed the space, the
setup, the guidelines for Lowell Auditorium and graduation guidelines and talked about what we
can do.
• As of this date,tickets are limited to two tickets per person in order for them to achieve the social
distance requirement. We can just fit all the students on the floor,and it works with the number of
seats that need to be kept empty.
• One item that needed to be worked out was the seating, ticket numbers or seating numbers,and it
is first come first served In the event that things change,we will let everyone know. Mr.Clement
confirmed that School Committee members will be invited to attend. He also shared that there will
be something special for the family of Chris Traganos and student Andrea Martocchia's family.
There will be limited handicap access available(there are 2 requests so far)
d. COVID Overview Summary
Mr. Clement shared a COVID summary from the nurses as of May 5th as follows:
• 30 students and 7 staff members testing positive for COVID
• No in-school transmission
• The nursing staff has traced 297 students and 62 staff members either as close contact or
symptomatic,or due to travel and compliance with the regulations
Mr. Clement noted that the nurse's office has been very busy and has done a wonderful job keeping up to
date with the ever-changing regulations.He also noted that of the 62 staff members, 17 staff had more than
one incident with COVID, for example both having COVID and being a close contact of someone who had
it,and it is not over yet.
Ms. Leone asked whether we were planning to mandate vaccinations. Dr Bouquillon stated that we have
not had the discussion yet and there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not that is legal. In the case of
other vaccines,the government mandates compliance
Ms Leone asked if we knew how many teachers had the vaccine and Dr. Bouquillon stated that he did not
and he cannot ask.
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Mr. Stulin shared that Governor Baker has been asked that same question and he stated he has not thought
about that yet.
7. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Strategic Planning Subcommittee Undate—Ford Spalding
Mr. Spalding provided Committee members an update on the superintendent search calendar as follows.
• June 7th-Submit a Request for Services for a search firm
• June 215`—Strategic Planning Committee will interview and make recommendation to the full School
Committee
• July 15'—The school committee appoints a search firm
• September T''—Advertising for the next Superintendent
• January 2022—School committee appoints Superintendent to start July 2022
The subcommittee will come back to the School Committee for appointing a search firm, followed by a search
committee, a review of the scope of services, superintendent profile, criteria of success, and job description
brochure for approval.
Mr. Mahoney is assisting with this undertaking, and he and Mr Spalding met with Glenn Koocher of MASC
and Arthur Bettencourt of NESDEC to better understand the scope of services that these two companies offer,
as well as the cost. Both consultants were impressed with the work done at the School Committee retreats and
how unified we are as a School Committee.
He also noted that there will be additional School Committee meetings held to make these important decisions,
whether virtual or in person. There will be other groups of individuals involved in the process as well, such as
administration, teachers, staff, parents, and town representatives as we look for a new Superintendent who
understands Minuteman as it is today. He shared that we have come a long way under Dr. Bouquillon's
leadership,we are proud of what we have, and want to continue this great progress we have made.
Ms. Crocker thanked the group for all their hard work.
Committee Chair, Pam Nourse stated that the conversation will continue, and we will be scheduling additional
meetings shortly
b Communication.Access,and Admissions subcommittee—Jeff Stulin
Mr. Chiariello noted there were not many changes—there are 188 students from the member towns in for the
2025 year.Enrollment paperwork was due on May 3rd,and testing/assessments are due May 17th.The time period
where students tend to withdraw is kind of over,and the final decision to commit is here now.Nobody will take
an hour and a half or two hours of assessments if they do not intend to attend,unless they move
Mr.Stulin remarked that there have been inquiries and comments from member towns.He described his thoughts
on the challenges of having a wait list for the first time,and noted several moving pieces—what the state will do
with admissions policies,and if we increase to 800 students how that will affect finances,student body diversity,
and whether we want a new member town which would bring stability and dollars but would reduce the number
of seats available for member towns.He wonders if the new normal will be always having students on the waitlist,
in which case there will be a fairness issue. He said we may never have a policy where everyone is happy, but
we want one that is fair This has been the discussion at school committee meetings and the CAA subcommittee
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Dr. Bouquillon mentioned that the Department of Education approved our current admissions policy on July 10,
2020, 10 months ago,and that it includes deadlines and our procedures. He noted that in the next CAA meeting
we will delve in to the detail of the 4-5 scenarios Mr.Chiariello had explored, looking at the impact of different
slot allocation methods.
Mr. Spalding asked a question for Mr.Chiariello.He asked if there were 188 candidates for admission.He asked
what the goal was. Mr. Chiariello said the goal is 200 for the class of 2025 Right now, 188 are from member
towns. Mr. Spalding noted that there might be the possibility to offer admission to more students that are on a
waitlist.
Ms. Crocker asked about the remaining 12 slots Dr Bouquillon said that the 12 slots are filled with out-of-
district students. He said that right now, we have 200 kids for the freshman class— Mr. Chiariello said that 10
out-of-district students are included right now.Dr. Bouquillon noted that 5%of the freshman class are from out-
of-district, and six years ago it was closer to 45%,and in the 1990s it was 65%
Mr. Spalding asked for clarification on whether our in-district students should get priority, yielding 100% in-
district students.Dr. Bouquillon said no,that is not what our admissions policy says.Mr.Chiariello said that we
were over 200 on March 29th. March 1'and March 22"d were the two review dates.As of March 22"d,there were
203. Over the two rounds,233 in-district students for the 200 seats.
Ms. DeLuca asked how many in-district students remain on the waitlist. Mr. Chiariello said 23. He said one
Arlington student who had been home-schooled requested to be put back on the waitlist.
Ms. DeLuca asked for clarification on the logistics. She noted that the School Committee's job is the policy,and
the administration's job is implementation of the policy, and she assumes that they followed the policy, but she
does not completely understand what has happened.
Mr. Ruderman asks if the policy has been consistent with what we have told the public up to admitting the class
of 2025 Mr. Bouquillon confirmed that it had and noted this is a new situation.
Chair Nourse said that at the next Communication,Access and Admissions meeting,we need to talk about this
We do get questions from our communities,and we need to have a good understanding.
Dr. Bouquillon said that the Finance subcommittee should look at the impact if there are no out-of-district
students.He said that there are districts that have eliminated out-of-district applications,and if there is a situation
where every year you have to submit the admissions policy to the Department,then you can make changes.Over
the last few years,out-of-district applications have significantly reduced,and people will just stop thinking of it
as an option.There is a financial impact. The school has relied on out-of-district revenue historically, way back
to the Choice days There are a lot of implications to having no out-of-district students in the building,
particularly in an 800-student school.
Chair Nourse said it is important to understand the admissions policy and how to represent it, and the
Communication, Access and Admissions subcommittee can review it and bring it back to the next School
Committee meeting
Mr. Stulin said the whole thing is a complicated issue. Whether we allow out-of-district students or not will be
a binary decision,whether in-district students get moved to the front of the line or not
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9. SECRETARY'S REPORT,Alice DeLuca
a. Annroval of Draft Minutes of Anril 13.2021
Ms DeLuca presented the draft minutes of April 13,2021,for approval.
Ms. Crocker provided a correction to Page 15 of the April 13th minutes. Ms. Crocker also thanked Dr
Bouquillon for his presentation to Lexington Town Meeting on the school budget which was well received.
VOTE: To approve the draft minutes of April 13,2021,as presented
ACTION 2021 #154
Moved(Leone)and seconded(O'Connor),
To approve the draft minutes of April 13,2021,as presented
VOTE: 9 members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present. 100%
Weight needed.>50.00%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining:
Final percentage results of vote: 100%
Final status of the vote. Unanimous
Roll Call.
Pam Nourse, Chair(Acton)(Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington)(Yes)
Dave O'Connor(Bolton)(Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover)(Yes)
Jennifer Leone(Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca(Stow)(Yes)
10. ADJOURNMENT
ACTION 2021 #155
Moved(Stulin)and seconded(Leone),
To adjourn the meeting at 7.56 p m
VOTE: 9 members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present 100%
Weight needed.>50%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining:
Final percentage results of vote• 100%
Final status of the vote Unanimous
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Roll Call:
Pam Nourse,Chair(Acton)(Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington)(Yes)
Dave O'Connor(Bolton)(Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover)Yes)
Jennifer Leone(Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca(Stow)(Yes)
Respectfully submitted,
Julia Pisegna Alice DeLuca
District Assistant Secretary
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