HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-18-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Lexington High School, Library Media Center
251 Waltham Street
Present: Superintendent Paul Ash, School Committee Chair Tom Diaz, School Committee
Members Helen Cohen, Rod Cole, Margaret Coppe, Ravi Sakhuja and student representative
Gabe Schonfeld. The minutes were taken by Leora Tec.
I. Call to Order and Welcome (Tom Diaz)
II. Public Comment
Joachim Seidel: Where can we find the School Committee's goals for the year? They are not
on the website.
Ken Bradley: Bids for the extended day programs—why?
Tom Diaz: This is part of our agreement with them. It is not a surprise. We are not required to
take the lowest bid.
Paul Ash: Assistant Town Counsel advised us to do this.
III. Superintendent's Announcements
A. Appointment of Louise Lipsitz as Principal of Hastings School, Effective 7/1/08
B. The high school principal candidate met with various groups today all day.
C. Update on the phys ed and wellness search: we did not find anyone who met our
qualifications. We need to think about alternatives.
IV. Members' Reports/Members' Concerns:
Tom Diaz:
A. Welcome to Rod Cole, the newest member of the School Committee.
B. Albion Hart taught in Lexington in the 1940s and he will be 100 on April 9th.
C. The Appropriation Committee voted unanimously to support the FY 09 school budget.
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V. Discussion
1. Status Report on the K-5 Diversity Curriculum : Presented by Dr. Paul Ash. This work
was done by the Windows and Mirrors subcommittee, a subcommittee of the K-12
curriculum review committee for P.E. and Wellness.
Motion to thank the Windows and Mirrors Committee and acknowledge the hard
work that they have done (Cohen, Sakhuja). The motion passed 5-0.
2. The Purpose and Use of METCO Grant
Paul Ash made a presentation of the history of the METCO program, particularly with
regards to funding. The Committee discussed the issue. Several members of the public
weighed in.
Ravi Sakhuja queried about the five year METCO cost projections presented by the
administration as to why the total costs dropped from 07 to 08 and 09 with the viewpoint
that actual costs of METCO were running much higher and that was not captured in those
sheets.
VI. Motion to adjourn (Cole, Coppe). The motion passed 5-0.
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