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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-08-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, October 8, 2024 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:02 PM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Eileen Jay, Chairperson Deepika Sawhney, Vice -Chair Sara Cuthbertson, Clerk Kathleen Lenihan Larry Freeman SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent 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 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. CONSENT AGENDA Ms. Lenihan read the following consent agenda items: • Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. October 4, 2024 - AP Warrant in the amount of $2,145,751.65 b. October 4, 2024 -Payroll in the amount of $5,089,783.52 Ms. Cuthbertson read the following consent agenda items: • Minutes August 27, 2024 September 10, 2024 Mr. Freeman made a motion to approve the entire consent agenda, Ms. Cuthbertson seconded. Passed, 5-0. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Ms. Lenihan attended the DEI professional development at Fiske for kindergarten, first grade and second grade teachers on October 4th. Ms. Cuthbertson had nothing to report. Mr. Freeman reminded everyone about Indigenous Peoples Day on October 14th, there will be events going on in town. He also mentioned that the Human Rights Committee (HRC) will be hosting Community Roundtable Gatherings October 23rd and October 25th. Mr. Freeman announced that he will be running for reelection for School Committee. Ms. Jay also announced that she will be running for reelection to the School Committee in the March election. She attended the DEI training for third, fourth and fifth grade teachers. Ms. Jay thinks it would be nice to share an overview of how this work fits into the bigger picture at some point. She also mentioned sitting down with district leaders along side Mr. Freeman to do a "deeper dive" into the curriculum with them. Ms. Sawhney was requested by the Indian Americans of Lexington (IAL) to announce their annual Diwali event on October 19th, it is a ticketed event. She also announced that last week members of the Select Board, the two finance committees, Ms. Lenihan, and herself met to brainstorm different sources of funding possible for the LHS/MSBA project; it was suggested that they have one more meeting to get a better understanding. COMMUNITY SPEAK Dawn McKenna - 9 Hancock St (in person): "I just wanted to make sure that the School Committee was aware that last night at the Board of Selectmen meeting they had a discussion of the future development projects in the works because of the MBTA community zoning. One of the things that I heard in the presentations during their Selectman liaison reports were multiple opportunities where we have heard positive feedback from the state leadership about how we are being touted as the community who's gone the farthest and who has really done a lot. Followed up with some discussions about the fact that we really don't have the benefit of the MBTA service that we used to. I hope that you will partner with the Select Board to try and work with the MBTA to do that. But I think it's important to note for the public record, this document that I'm looking at is a memorandum from Abby McCabe, who's our planning director, to the Board of Selectmen telling them exactly what's in the pipeline now. It's pretty scary that there are 971 total housing units through this law. And as I said at the meeting during public comments there, that one of the frustrations is that when this was presented to Town Meeting to change the law to this, we were told, "Oh, it'll be 10 to 20 years before we see anything from this." These are projects that are going to be built and online within the next four to six years, 971. And I also reported that I happen to know from my contacts that there's at least double that amount that are working very quickly to do things. So I say all this by way of my concern, which I've expressed to the School Building Committee (SBC), and I know that there's an article on the warrant about this is, I think we need to pause for a minute and really go to the MSBA and talk to them about the numbers that we're allowing and talk to them about the constraints that they're putting on us with respect to the field house. Because I was thinking about it last night after the Selectmen's meeting, I've been trying to help everybody understand the importance of the field house, but when you think about 971 units that will all have some level of children, and we can all debate what that number is, those kids are then going to be part of whatever programs are at the high school, which we will welcome, but we need the space. And it's to me, not just the field house space that's not going to be adequate. So I just think you all need to talk about this when you're having your upcoming meetings because it's a real concern. And the minute we go out with saying we are done and we're putting forward a schematic, we're really starting behind the eight ball. So thank you." Olga Guttag - (on Zoom): "Thank you for doing all the work for our schools. I have to apologize that I sent a letter to Kathleen and to Superintendent Hackett via email rather than through the normal communication pipeline that you've established because that does not allow to include other recipients copied on that information. So I have sent you an open letter, which I have also published on the Lexington List and will publish on the residence group. It follows up on what Dawn just brought up, which is the uncertainty of the enrollment that the new MBTA housing brings to the project. I have specific questions about how MSBA can handle that. We've had some communications with MSBA, and my impression was quite different than some of the speculations that have been put on the assorted lists by the proponents of the project. My feeling is, if you want the truth, always go to the source. So I'm going to Dr. Hackett and the School Committee and asking if you could please answer those questions. If you are willing to work with us, we are happy to provide you all the analysis that we are doing, and we have lots of very capable analysts on how to do projections and why it's not possible to predict future enrollments and all of that. So with that, I again, I thank you for the work you're doing, and I hope you will consider the questions that I ask and that we can get responses reasonably promptly. Thank you." Andrew Harris - 4 Grimes Rd (on Zoom): He is representing SEPAC tonight. "Amongst the leadership of SEPAC, we've been really focused on concerns about out -of -district placements, and the district's need to prioritize space planning and create agile, responsive programs for students that require a substantially separate setting for their education. Our leadership is meeting with Laura Spear this week and Dr. Hackett next week to continue these discussions, but we also wanted to continue to stress the importance with the members of the School Committee. It has been evident from our interactions with you that serving as many students in -district as possible is a high priority for the district, and we want to continue to emphasize this priority with you. I hope that this subject will be part of the list of ongoing projects that the committee is working on, and if there are ways that we can support the process in any way, SEPAC is always eager to participate and partner in that effort. Thank you." SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Hackett reviewed her with the School Committee. The highlights from her report include: 1. National Custodial Workers Recognition Day o Wednesday, October 2, 2024 2. October 1 Enrollment Update o K- 5 elementary enrollment is down 129 students at 2,546 o Middle school enrollment for FY25 is flat at 1,737 students o Preliminary high school enrollment for FY25 is 2,419, an increase of 101 students since last year 3. High School Project Updates (visit the pLgiects website for the most up to date information) o School tours o School Building Committee (SBC): Leaning towards options C5 Bloom (new construction), then D2 Weave (phase in place) o School Building Committee Coordination Meetings: Weekly and monthly o Possible retreat on November 4th with our four boards: School Committee, Select Board, Appropriation, and Capital Expenditures, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM. A retreat with the SBC and Recreation will happen earlier in the day. o LHS Abutters Meeting: October 16, 2024, at 6:30 PM o Community Forum #8: Changed from October 15th to the 30th at 6:30 PM o School Building Committee Seeking Resident Feedback on Design Options o Ms. Lenihan recommended watching the September 30th School Building Committee meeting, logistical challenges of D2 were discussed (no cafeteria or auditorium for a year). She also talked about the size of the high school. 4. LPS Core Values Celebration o October 29, 2024 at 4:00 PM in the Central Office Gymnasium 5. We All Belong o Dr. Hackett: "We put in that first bullet to just make sure that the community knows that we're here to help all children thrive. We want to hear about their strengths, their struggles, how we can help them grow and in learning. We want to encourage people to make your child's teacher aware of events happening at home, in the community, or worldwide that could affect your child at school, which will help us build a more supportive environment. And our goal is for kids to be seen and heard daily. And we have a lot of gratitude for the community who works with us as we navigate good times and bad" o Updated Bullying Prevention Plan o Active Bystander Initiative o Social Studies Field Trip o Upcoming Holidays & Observances School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Sawhney, Dr. Hackett, and Dr. Maureen Kavanaugh discussed the high enrollment in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Ms. Jay asks if this is a trend or a bubble. Dr. Kavanaugh replied that we did have a bubble come in and made reference to seven or eight years ago when the elementary schools were really cramped." 6. Student Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Update o Barbara Hamilton announced that 30 students (9 Lexington resident students, and 21 Boston resident students) will be going on HBCU College tours on October 30th. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Cuthbertson asked if there will be any opportunities for current LHS students to connect with former LHS students who attend any of the schools. Ms. Hamilton replied that she has already reached out to these students and they plan to connect. Ms. Sawhney asked if the tours are just offered to high school students. Ms. Hamilton replied, "Yes, only for high schoolers: 10th, 11th, and 12th graders" Ms. Sawhney suggested offering it to lower grades. Ms. Hamilton thanked her and stated that that will be considered after this trip. Ms. Hamilton added that they didn't even include eighth graders due to the maturity level needed and to the amount of work the student will be doing. Mr. Freeman is "Bubbling over with joy" that these tours are happening, he would love for students to come back and share their experiences. Ms. Jay asked, "Do you have the capacity to take everybody who wants to go?" Ms. Hamilton replied by saying that they are taking anyone who wanted to go, regardless if they can afford it, and that they felt 30 students was the appropriate capacity for their first time. Dr. Hackett suggested that the students who go on the tours meet with Middle School students to share their experiences. PRESENTATION: STUDENT SUCCESS INDICATORS: MCAS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT RESULTS, GRADES 3-10 Dr. Maureen Kavanaugh, Director of Data & Strategy; Andrea So, Director of Elementary Education; and Jennifer Gaudet, Director of Secondary Education, presented the slideshow about MCAS results. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Lenihan is concerned about 78% of African American students are not meeting or exceeding math expectations. She looked at "Next Steps"; she noticed a lot of "continues"; she is wondering what can be "new." Ms. So replied that "we are equally disappointed" with these results, outreach to other districts and new assessments are being explored. Ms. So added that she's been walking around schools and she has noticed that "all of our black students are participating. There is a different kind of brilliance that isn't showing on this (MCAS) test, and it is up to us to figure out how we can bridge that gap." Ms. Sawhney mentioned that in 2017 the MCAS structure changed and that it's typical to see dips after such change. She added from 2019 to 2021 that our students "roared back" but after that we had a "sideways drift" She asked if this is something that is happening Statewide. Dr. Kavanaugh responded that the Statewide trend dropped in every grade except one. Dr. Hackett added that MCAS reset higher targets this year. Dr. Kavanaugh reiterated that we did not drop across the board, and that the subgroup results are concerning. Ms. Cuthbertson brought up literacy data and asked what grade level do the new Star Assessments go up to? Ms. Gaudet responded Grades six through eight. She also asked if we are seeing similar gaps through those benchmarks, Dr. Kavanaugh replied that we see the same patterns but you can't really compare different assessments. Ms. Cuthbertson also wondered if more Special Education students moving in with higher needs could affect these scores. Dr. Kavanaugh replied, "The change in results does appear to be coinciding with a change in population that we're also experiencing at the same time." Mr. Freeman shared concerns over parent communication and engagement. Ms. Hamilton was invited back, she spoke about how just last night our math specialists went to Boston to meet with parents for them to get a better understanding of the new math curriculum. She also added that she has asked Linda Menkis, K-5 Mathematics Department Head, and Sara Calleja, K-5 ELA & Literacy Department Head, to meet with every new parent and shared other means of parent engagement. Ms. Hamilton added, "I also just want to point out to give you a positive note, when Dr. Ash started his initiative to close the achievement gap around 2007, what the research showed was: as our kids were progressing, the gap was getting bigger and bigger. At least now, still lots of improvement needed, we see that there it's getting smaller as they're matriculating through so we're doing some things right. We just got to figure out how to do more of those things, and so that gives me hope and encouragement. Mr. Freeman; "I just feel like for black students, as a whole, to actually make some really big strides forward, it's going to have to be that parent engagement piece on from a week -to -week basis, a day-to-day basis". Ms. Jay stated that the subgroup results (Special Education and black students) are unacceptably low. She wants to understand more about growth, and what's contributing to it. Dr. Hackett and Dr. Kavanaugh discussed student growth percentile (SGP's) and progress. Ms. Gaudet: "The other thing that I should have mentioned during our presentation is the use of the Star data. One of the reasons districts use it, it correlates to MCAS scores." Ms. Jay asked how often the Star assessments are given, Ms. Gaudet replied that they are a three -times -a -year benchmark assessment (every 12 weeks), but that we can also use it as a Progress Monitoring Tool and they can assess every two weeks. Ms. Jay asked who at the Middle school level keeps track of these assessments, at the Elementary level there are specialists. Dr. Kavanaugh replied that we are starting to come up with a parallel process and that right now, the Math and ELA Department Heads are leading the assessments. They do also have interventionists and specialists staffed at the middle school level and everyone is working to understand the logistics of a new information management system. Ms. Sawhney discussed how grades six through eight were impacted by going through elementary school during COVID, the switch to Standard Based Grading, and other changes to system -wide factors. Dr. Kavanaugh mentioned that we run data by groups because "we have a history in this country of having different and negative outcomes that are correlated with race" and so she wonders what factors are having such a disparate impact on a particular race group (the Asian population more or less rebounded for example). "You can see that there's different patterns playing out among the different groups. So there's an issue of race suggested by this data." Ms. Sawhney replied, "I look at the Asian population as the control population." Dr. Hackett cautioned about comparing different groups and tests, and also the change from elementary to middle, and how "Racism in America is part of the issue here." Ms. Hamilton added that students become more racially aware in middle school and how there are many other contributing factors; "I think one of the reasons we're seeing some of the improvement that we're seeing is because we moved away from this just student deficit, but looking at how do we equip teachers to deal with all of these dynamics, not just testing, but the social issues, the racial identity development issues and and all those kinds of things we're better supporting and equipping teachers to be able to support students as they try to navigate these things. And quite frankly, that age group is just a difficult time. Middle School is a very challenging time for the kids." Ms. Gaudet added that it's the system that needs to change, not the students and families impacted by situations. She mentioned that teachers are coming up with systemic ways to make sure all students are participating and feel like they are all in a warm, welcoming environment. Mr. Freeman addressed Ms. Sawhney's comment about the Asian population, "I just don't want people out there listening to walk away with a bad feeling about you making that statement." He went on to say that things do impact black Americans very differently and that "you can't devalue that historical component that builds on who we are today." Ms. Sawhney responded, "Larry, the term that I was using is nothing to do with sociology. It's all to do with experiments and experiment design." Dr. Hackett mentioned Ron Ferguson data and how once kids get to middle school, being academically inclined "is no longer cool." NEW BUSINESS A. Lex250 Celebration Drone Show Update Mona Roy, Steven Conners, and Cerise Jelalian presented this information about the Weekend of Light and the drone show that will be on Sunday, October 20th, 2024. Ms. Jay asked if they need anything from the School Committee since some of this event will be on school fields. Cerise replied that all applications have been submitted. Mr. Freeman suggested inviting the Middle and High School Step Teams to perform at future events. Ms. Roy requested that the School Committee project this information out, "We particularly want our young people to be a part of this." B. Confirmation of Voting and Alternate Delegate for Joint MASS/MASC Annual Business Meeting Ms. Cuthbertson moved to designate Ms. Jay as the Voting Delegate and Ms. Sawhney as the Alternate Delegate for the joint MASS/MASCAnnual Business Meeting, and Ms. Lenihan seconded. The motion passed 5-0. C. MASC Resolutions - Discussion and Vote Tabled for the next School Committee meeting. OLD BUSINESS A. Vote to Amend EC�EFD Bal C arse Policy Ms. Jay explained that in the policy that was previously voted on, she noticed that there was a section that didn't have a heading. She is proposing to add the heading "Unpaid Meal Debt." Ms. Jay moved to approve the amended EFC/EFD Meal Charge Policy, and Ms. Cuthbertson seconded. Passed, 5-0. COMMUNITY SPEAK Dawn McKenna - 9 Hancock St (in person): "Sorry I didn't intend to speak at this time but the prior conversation really raised a lot of thoughts in my mind. I just want to start by saying that is a perfect example of why it's important to do Community Speak at each item, because you've now lost all the staff who, of course gone home because they wanted to go home when they were done with their thing, but they're going to miss the comments I'm going to make, and I think it's not fair to them, that's not fair to the community, to have what happened. So I hope you'll change that in the future. What I want to say is that I really appreciated the comments Larry, that you made at the very beginning of the conversation about engagement and about people being not included by having all the acronyms used and all of that. What I want to say from my observations of my experience in decades in Lexington is that while data is really helpful, I think we've become so obsessed with data that we sometimes miss the bottom line. And I think Larry you mentioned that human touch, which I definitely think we need. I think we are really over relying on data. The big picture that we're obviously seeing a problem that needs to be addressed, but I'm concerned as a citizen to hear that the trend has been similar in the past few years, and we haven't really made any progress. So a couple of things that I want to say is that my observation is that our students in Lexington are given much fewer leadership opportunities especially from elementary school, which I had leadership opportunities in elementary school all the way up. And I do think that helps fuel the stereotypes. And I was in the era when there were very few African American residents in Lexington, but we did have the METCO program, and I was the METCO student representative, and working together in leadership roles on projects, on opportunities, really helped. So I think that's important. I also wanted to say that obviously you all know I'm not an educator, but I do know enough to know that the research shows that parent engagement makes a significant difference in success. And when you were speaking Larry, the thing that coming to my mind is we need to teach parents how to be involved with their kids, because not every parent knows how to do that. And one of the thoughts that came to my mind is that I can remember when my last child went from elementary school to middle school, it was very lonely for me as a parent, because all of a sudden, you know, while there is a PTA at the middle school and the high school, it's very different than the kind of engagement you have. And it just occurred to me that maybe we ought to think about a Parent -to -Parent Mentor Program where parents who, you know, have different engagement at older levels or whatever. This could involve people from all of the different ethnic communities, and I think that would help a lot. And I think somebody used the word, and I'm going to steal it as well, we want to equip parents with the tools that they need to help, which will help because we've already equipped the staff. We've tried to equip the students. I think if we add that piece, that might help. And then the last thing I just wrote down, and wanted to say that I was also thinking that we are now in a whole realm of history, as we just heard about with the drone, and maybe an opportunity we've had many great African American students over the years who have graduated from Lexington High School and from other cultural segments. Maybe we could have the kids work on connecting with some of those people and doing a little bit of a LHS graduate history speaker series. They could learn about them, their experiences, and then make that part of our 250th as well, which is something that can be done very quickly and easily and certainly help with context to get to the various classes to help with that. Those were my thoughts. I hope that helps. Thank you" Lana Panasyuk - 28 Saddle Club Rd (on Zoom): "Two points I'd like to make, one just came up after I've heard the presentation on MCAS, and I've heard the discussion about that we removed homework from elementary school, and there is actually fewer homework in the middle school. So talking as a parent, the parents do rely on school to assign the homework for the kids and to ask for this homework and to grade it. If the school removes the homework, then it's really hard for the parent to support or to make the child do additional math or whatever the academic. So please consider returning the homework and requesting the completion of the homework for kids starting from elementary. And that actually feeds back to some parents. We talked about Asian community. I know that they are very hard and consider education very important, and they really make an effort to put kids into additional classes. And some parents, including me, might not have time to do that, and I rely more on the school to request the homework from the kids. The second point I wanted to make, and I think I sent you email that about the MCAS. I noticed that it recognizes four performances levels: exceeding, meeting, partially meeting, and not. And the results which were presented only two groups, meeting or not. And that reflects the current LPS teaching philosophy which supports only two levels: meeting expectations or below the expectations, mostly through the Special Ed programs, at least for middle and elementary schools. So however, in a typical population, we have about 80% of kids who would meet the expectations, about 10% which develop above the expectations, and 10 which are below. And it's a normal constitution of the population. So currently, we are missing on supporting 10% of our students who exceed the expectations. So I would propose to return back to the LPS which supported three levels, one is a meeting expectations, second is above expectations, and the third is below. About 10 to 30 years ago, when my older kids went to the school here, we did have a math level forming at fifth grade in elementary school, and then the teachers would recommend to the math placement for the middle school students And the teachers in middle schools were specialized in teaching advanced versus general level material. I just would like to consider going back to the great practices we used to have 10 to 30, years ago. Thank you" Olga Guttag - 273 Emerson Rd (on Zoom): "I would like to return to the conversation when you recognized that there will be an impact of the incoming new, not predictable population that's going to be generated by the development in the MBTA newly rezoned housing. And what I would like to do is ask you to to hold on to the old Harrington School property. Past School Committees have really harmed the town by selling off or turning schools that they didn't deem necessary at the time into other properties. There is no question we need more recreation fields. But at the moment, we have no idea whether we may actually need to have an additional building, and this is your only space that the School Committee owns where you might be able to put another school. So before you agree to the Recreation Department's request to turn that area into playing fields, please hold on for the two to four years that it's going to take before you know what the population in all of the Public Schools is going to be. And it's clear to me that Dr. Hackett is already thinking about what might have to happen if we actually end up with 1,000 or 1,500 or 2,000 more kids in the public schools. It's going to be a problem, and the old Harrington might come in handy. The other advantage of holding on to the old Harrington is you don't have to relocate the Central Office, and you can save a bunch of money. And lots of people who are complaining about the expense of putting it into the new school will stop complaining, and all of a sudden, you get more people voting yes for the debt exclusion, instead of one voting no. What you want to do is, you want to build as big an alliance to pass however big the debt exclusion is going to be. Because even at our proposal of $200 million, that is still a lot of money. Thank you" POSSIBLE ACTION ITEMS Items added: • Nothing was added at this meeting. ADJOURNMENT/Calendar for the year Ms. Cuthbertson made a motion to adjourn at 9:03 PM, Ms. Lenihan seconded. Passed 5-0.