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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-29-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, April 29, 2025 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:08 PM SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Eileen Jay, Chairperson Sara Cuthbertson, Clerk Larry Freeman Kathleen Lenihan Sarah Carter 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. Jay requested that the field trip portion of the consent agenda be discussed separately. Mr. Freeman read the following consent agenda items: • Payroll and Accounts Payable Warrant Approval a. April 18, 2025 - Payroll in the amount of $5,066,726.01 b. April 25, 2025 - BMO Warrant in the amount of $33,468.78 c. April 25, 2025 - AP Warrant in the amount of $1,433,514.83 Ms. Cuthbertson read the following consent agenda items: • Minutes a. February 25, 2025 b. March 11, 2025 c. March 26, 2025 Ms. Carter read the following consent agenda items: • Donations a. Donation of $500 to the Math Team from Hudson River Trading b. Donation of $500 to Hastings for a Field Trip Ms. Lenihan moved to approve the consent agenda, Ms. Cuthbertson seconded. The motion passed 5-0. Field Trips a. Diamond Middle School Trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico from May 25-29, 2026 b. LHS Trip to Vieux Fort (Basse Terre) & Ste Anne (Haute Terre) from February 9-20,2027 Ms. Jay stated that the first field trip listed, the Diamond Middle School trip to Puerto Rico, has already recruited students, and they have to register by this month. She would like to know if this is true. Beckie Rankin, High School World Language Teacher who runs the French trips, joined the School Committee to discuss the Guadeloupe trip in 2027. She thanked the School Committee and others for supporting a recent trip to Guadalupe, which she described as a life -changing experience for students. Ms. Rankin explained that there were efforts to set up an exchange program on this year's trip. She also emphasized the importance of offering a range of options, as not all students can participate in exchanges. Ms. Rankkin added that they won't be ready for a full exchange program that year. However, they might be able to send a few teachers or even a couple of students during that first year. Ms. Jay asked about Ms. Rankin's comment about how some students here don't feel like they could participate in an exchange; she asked if that's because there's an expectation for families to reciprocate as family hosts. Ms. Rankin responded that is part of it, some students also find that the timing of the year can be challenging to host. Mr. Freeman asked if we would be getting substitute teachers for the teachers who will be chaperoning during this trip. Ms. Rankin explained that she sends her students to the IDLC when she's gone. Dr. Hackett added that the IDLC is a large conference area where students go to cut down on substitute costs. Mr. Freeman then asked if the students left here are getting adequate instruction, if it's such a large group. Mr. Freeman also mentioned that the field trip form gives the impression that they are self-funded by the students when the district does incur some of the expenses. Ms. Rankin stated that steps are being taken to reduce the amount of subs, such as bringing a Digital Learning Coach, Ann Tenhor, who does not require a substitute. Ms. Lenihan expressed that she is struggling with the idea of approving any international travel for students at this time. The concern is that non -U.S. citizens/visa holders may face difficulties reentering the United States. Ms. Rankin responded that trips have had to pivot in the past due to political things happening. Ms. Rankin stated that if there is no signature today, the students could miss out on the opportunity to receive scholarships or grants and possibly lose the partnership. Ms. Cuthbertson moved to approve the Diamond Middle School Trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico from May 25-29, 2026, Mr. Freeman seconded. The motion passed 5-0. Ms. Lenihan moved to approve the LHS trip to Vieux Fort from February 9th to the 20th, 2027 for conditional approval for planning purposes with the School Committee to revisit prior to money being collected by students' families, Ms. Cuthbertson seconded. The motion passed 5-0. SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND LIAISON REPORTS Mr. Freeman did not have any announcements. Ms. Cuthbertson stated that all of her announcements are already in the Superintendent's report. Ms. Carter did not have any announcements. Ms. Lenihan spoke about the Lex250 celebration and thanked everyone who helped organize it. Ms. Jay also had an amazing time at the Lex250 events and Patriots Day. She and Dr. Hackett attended the Antony Park rededication. Antony is our sister city in France. Ms. Jay also announced that May is Asian American Heritage month. The My American Stories event will be on May 3rd, and the AAPI 5k is on May 25th. Ms. Cuthbertson did add that the William Diamond Junior Fife & Drum Muster is this weekend. COMMUNITY SPEAK No speakers. PRESENTATION: 2024-2025 ANNUAL LPS REPORT ON EFFORTS TO REDUCE SYSTEMIC BARRIERS Powerpoint presentation Maureen Kavanaugh, Director of Data and Strategy; Laura Spear, Director of Special Education; Jennifer Gaudet, Director of Secondary Education; and Andrea So, Director of Elementary Education, presented the slideshow. Highlights include: 1. Ensuring a Diverse Workforce • Three areas of focus: recruitment, hiring, and retention. • Reinforce expectations for potential new hires. • For people applying, we also added a question to the application about how they think they could help create more equitable outcomes for our students. • We offer both mandatory and voluntary training. We reintroduced mandatory training for new staff focused on cultural competency and related skills. So far, 35% of our workforce has completed the training—an increase from 30% last year. • Another key priority is ensuring diverse representation on our hiring committees, including student voices. A few years ago, a student -created video highlighting the importance of teacher diversification was created. This video has become a valuable tool. • We also maintain our membership with the Massachusetts Partnership for Diversity in Education (MPDE). • We are attending Boston area recruitment fairs that focus on diversifying staff. • We continue strengthening our relationship with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). • We've been working on strengthening our incident reporting options for when issues arise. • Continue to offer staff affinity groups, and we now have the Affinity Support Program. • The Employees of Color group has become a resource for providing feedback on improving the professional climate, and how to improve retention and the hiring process. School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Cuthbertson asked how we can ensure that our administrators check themselves for potential biases when they conduct their evaluations and gain student experience. Ms. Gaudet replied that this has much to do with the work Dr. Kavanaugh was speaking about: professional learning for culturally responsive teaching. Mr. Freeman asked about slide 6, "18% of all LPS administrators identify as an employee of color." He would like to know who, other than principals, are considered LPS administrators. Dr. Kavanaugh replied, "It's all our Central Office staff." Mr. Freeman asked how many, and Dr. Kavanaugh answered about 80 people. He commented that we use "employees of color" a lot, and that it refers to a lot more than just black or Hispanic people. Ms. Jay commented that she was a little sad about the retention rates among Asian and African American staff members. She would like to check in with employee affinity groups to see what they have to say about these trends. Dr. Kavanaugh noted that the slide 7 chart, which shows retention rates broken down by race, is just teachers. She also added that with the lower enrollment, we have had to reduce our force of teachers. In some cases, we are having to let go of our most recent hires, who are likely to fall into one of the diverse racial categories. Dr. Kavanaugh also added that we are not hiring, so fewer opportunities exist to increase that statistic, but we are still committed to it. She commented that we continue to be similar to districts like Arlington, Belmont, Wayland, Wellesley, and Winchester. 2. Ensuring Equitable Access to a Diverse, Rigorous Curriculum • We emphasize the need for a curriculum that reflects students' identities and authentically represents others' experiences. • We want to make sure that all students can engage in learning around the social justice standards. • This year, we launched an adult youth equity design partnership. • This summer, we will launch an anti -bias Curriculum Design Lab. • We have started using "youth and adult" instead of "student and teacher" terminology to create an intentional community where youths and adults share their lived experiences. We are looking for ways to continue the youth -adult partnership. • We want to ensure that we incorporate student voice into the curriculum review process. • We've continued to focus on expanding advanced coursework opportunities. • We will continue the culturally responsive teaching and the work with Dr. McLaughlin. • Next year, we have identified that culturally responsive practices will be the focal point for professional learning. • We expect to achieve proportionate representation in our leveled course offerings across all student groups. • Our goal is to reduce and eventually eliminate the MCAS achievement gaps. School Committee Questions/Comments: Dr. Hackett provided some information about the MCAS, she suggested that Dr. Kavanaugh link some of that history to the slides. Ms. Lenihan commented on the link that shows data by class. She stated that we have a ways to go since there are no African American students in calculus, for example. She is excited that students now have the opportunity to take AP chemistry after taking an introductory biology class. During the math curriculum review, Ms. Gaudet explained that the standards were looked at and realigned from 6 through 10. This adjustment gives students the opportunity to take calculus if they are interested. Our science teachers are also looking at the standards. Ms. Gaudet added that we have seen more diverse representation in the personal finance and science courses. Ms. Lenihan asked about the Honors for All, wondering if this would make it look like more students are participating in honors. Dr. Kavanaugh replied that this was done so that everybody gets exposed to honors -level instruction. Ms. Carter state that based on the data provided, English is the only subject area where we've seen growth in student enrollment, particularly among students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and African American students. In contrast, enrollment in honors and Advanced Placement (AP) classes has remained steady or declined across all other subject areas. She also spoke about the struggles students with IEPs face with their availability to fit honors classes into their schedules. Ms. Lenihan would like the students who excel in English to have that represented on their transcripts, like we do for math and science. Mr. Freeman likes the additional opportunities available. However, he is concerned about our efforts to inform students who wouldn't typically take advantage of these opportunities. He asked what our next steps are to get our students of color to take advantage. Ms. Gaudet responded that it needs to start at the elementary level and with our messaging. She also spoke about the work on culturally responsive practices. Ms. Cuthbertson spoke about how she has received more communication about her middle schooler's math placement than her high schooler did. She also added that at the end of the assessments, there are honors problems. Students are not penalized for trying those questions and benefit from being exposed to a higher level. Ms. Jay asked what kind of work the math and ELA coordinators are doing to make students feel more successful. Ms. So responded that they have been having conversations about what explicit learning is needed and continuing the work of culturally responsive practices. She emphasized the need to serve our students better, especially those with special needs and African Americans. Monthly walk-throughs and observations have also been happening in schools to help collect data. Ms. Jay also brought up the curriculum review process and the incorporation of student voices. She would like clarification on whether they are helping with the Learning for Justice Standards or departmental curriculum. Ms. Gaudet replied that they do both, and she explained that there's an idea of having the students who have helped in previous years be mentors or coaches. Mr. Freeman commented on the quote on slide 12: "On MCAS Math, we expect to maintain high overall levels of achievements and to halve student achievement gaps by 2029." He would like to know how we are going to hit that percent. Dr. Hackett replied that the elements we have begun to put in place provide a good structure, and the new data system and dashboards will also help achieve that goal. 3. Ensuring Inclusion in the General Education Learning Environment • Cross -departmental collaboration (Special Education, Curriculum, ELE) has been established to align inclusive practices and strengthen collaborative instructional models. • Additional professional development across all of our departments. • All new educators are shown a presentation created by the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC). • There's a new IEP process that incorporates student voice. • More collaboration between METCO and Special Education. • We are at risk for overidentification among white students for intellectual disabilities and black/African American students for specific learning disabilities. • We are no longer identified as being at risk for over -identification among black students for communication disabilities, white students for specific learning disabilities, and Asian students for placement in a substantially separate setting. • 4. Ensuring Support for Struggling Readers • Continue implementation of universal screeners at both the elementary and middle school levels. • We are continuing to offer professional learning opportunities as well as assigning staff with special training. • We are continuing to improve our communication with families. • DIBELS: The majority of LPS students, or 85%, met end -of -year grade level benchmarks. Our goal is to reduce and eventually eliminate differences that we are seeing across student subgroups. School Committee Questions/Comments: Mr. Freeman asked if we have a similar chart to the one shown for math, for literacy. Dr. Kavanaugh replied that we don't, but one can be created. Ms. Carter mentioned the balance of students with IEPs who are getting different levels of service. She has heard from some parents who argue their child should qualify for the Language Learning Program. Ms. Spear explained that one of her priorities is to address the LLP program, much collaborative work is being done around this. She also spoke about the programs between elementary and middle schools, and how there's a "through line." S. Addressing Disproportionate Use of Suspension & Student Discipline • Ongoing staff professional learning; many staff members renew their de-escalation training. • We continue expanding on alternative responses to behaviors and different ways of repairing student harm. • We also continue to expand our use of school climate data. • Two focus areas are the use of Restorative Repairs and diversion programming as alternatives to suspension. • We're looking to reduce and eliminate disparities among our black students and those receiving special education, as measured by suspension rates and other discipline referrals. 6. Ensuring Progress toward our "We All Belong" Core Value • This includes improving the climate of our schools and building better relationships between our students and staff. • We are working to reduce our use of exclusionary practices and to use more restorative practices. • All schools now have School Equity Teams. • We have revised the school calendar to have additional holiday observances so students can celebrate with their families. • We support the LGBTQ+ community through our work with School Health Advisory Council (SHAC). • We have been working to combat religious intolerance. We have both internal and external counselors available to support us when situations arise. We also have student and staff affinity groups. • We continue to offer Active Bystander Training for students. • We have a SHAC Neurodiversity Subcommittee available. • We have enhanced incident reporting of civil rights. In all of our buildings, we have officers to ensure that we have online reporting. The LPS Bullying and Prevention Plan has also been updated. • LPS VOCAL index scores continue to fall within the favorable range. • We send out climate surveys, particularly the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). School Committee Questions/Comments: Ms. Cuthbertson asked about the diversion program. Dr. Kavanaugh responded that students can be referred through multiple avenues and can "keep the door open" if they need additional support. Mr. Freeman spoke about how we are now less sensitive to offensive behavior than in the past. He wonders if this is why the rates are lower. Ms. Gaudet spoke about our restorative practices and gave examples of holding students accountable for their behavior and teaching them why it was wrong. Ms. So also spoke about restorative practices to help students heal from trauma. Mr. Freeman suggested that there could be something wrong with the referral process since African American students are being referred so much more. Ms. Lenihan is pleased to have the YRBS survey. Ms. Carter is "heartened" that we are looking at these disparities, identifying them, and working to improve them. Dr. Hackett mentioned that 300 staff members (35% of our workforce) were trained with the Initiatives for Developing Equity and Achievement for Students (IDEAS) course. Dr. Kavanaugh added that it is mandatory for new staff, but many existing staff have also completed the training. Ms. Jay asked if the number on slide 33 is just the number of bullying incidents that have been reported to someone at the school. Dr. Kavanaugh explained the process of determining if an allegation meets the formal definition of bullying. UNFINISHED BUSINESS ounseliin, Nursing and Special Education ecraniiza 'on Plan Dr. Hackett summarized the above memo. She explained that after considering staff feedback, the department's needs, and budgetary constraints, we plan to keep the Director of Counseling position, with adjusted responsibilities, and eliminate the Assistant Director of Counseling position. This restructuring will allow for savings. • Stacy Glickman is going from the Assistant Director of Counseling to Director of Counseling. • Sara Fenzel is going from the Assistant Director of Special Education to the Director of Special Education. • Laura Spear is going from the Director of Special Education to the Executive Director of Student Services. Next year, regular updates will be given on how this new structure is working. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Jay asked about the dates and the timeline for voting on the budget book. She suggested having an official School Committee meeting to vote on the budget to make the timeline work for the town. Tuesday, January 27, 2026, in the SCMR to Vote FY27 Budget at 6:00 p.m. was added. Ms. Cuthbertson moved to approve the 2025-2026 School Committee meeting dates as amended, Mr. Freeman seconded. Passed 5-0. Superintendent Evaluation Process Ms. Jay explained that she had originally put the target date for the public presentation of the Superintendent's Evaluation to be on May 27th. However, there is a chance that she won't be able to attend that meeting. She suggested moving the presentation to the June 10th meeting. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Hackett did not review her Superintendent's Report due to timing. COMMUNITY SPEAK No speakers. POSSIBLE ACTT N ITEMS Items added at the meeting: • No items were added. IeUaL•1�1:��1►�i1�►�1 Ms. Carter motioned to adjourn at 9:32 PM, Ms Lenihan seconded. Passed, 5-0.