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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-09-SC-min SC Meeting 2/9/10 page # 1 LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Lexington Town Office Building, Selectmen's Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue Present: Superintendent Paul Ash, School Committee Chair Margaret Coppe, School Committee Members Rod Cole, Tom Diaz, Jessie Steigerwald Mary Ann Stewart and student representative Liam Gandelsman. The minutes were taken by Leora Tec. The meeting was convened at 7:36 p.m. I. Call to Order and Welcome (Margaret Coppe) II. Members’ Reports / Members’ Concerns Margaret Coppe: I have before me a letter from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Ethics Commission in response to Dr. Ash’s request for review of a possible conflict of interest due to his consulting work with Ribas Associates. The letter states that, “…after a careful review the matter does not require presentation to the Commission for official action…as long as you did not participate as superintendent in any matter of interest to Ribas, received no compensation from Ribas, or act as agent for Ribas vis-à-vis the town, and had no financial interest in Ribas’ contract with the town.” Rod Cole: At Hastings my son’s teacher could not let me leave without telling me about an Elmo (a document camera) with which you can take pictures and project them. She said it has been transformational for teaching. Tom Diaz: We have a government funded plan to install additional security cameras. My friends from the ACLU are interested in this and hope we are doing this in ways that could be a model for other school systems. They wondered if we have procedures regarding personal privacy and security cameras. At some time the School Committee might want to see a report about it. Jessie Steigerwald: At Diamond they made a serious effort to discuss the situation of the student who committed suicide as a result of bullying. Mary Ann Stewart: I want to clarify that the suicide was in another community III. Discussion Items 1. FY11 Budget Discussion a. Student Fees. The topic was introduced by Dr. Ash. He recommended an increase in Middle School athletic fees in the FY 11 budget. There are several possible ways to get money into the athletic budget. Naomi Martin, Director of Athletics K-12 was in attendance and answered questions from the Committee, as did Mary Ellen Dunn, Assistant Superintendant for Finance and Business. SC Meeting 2/9/10 page # 2 The Committee discussed the issue. There were comments from the audience. b. Use of ARRA Funds. Presented by Carol Pilarski, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development, and Thomas Plati, Director of Educational Technology and Assessment. The Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development and the Office Educational Technology and Assessment have collaborated to design professional development programs to strengthen and reinforce the goals of our district. There are 20 courses with 186 staff members already enrolled. There were questions and comments from the Committee. c. Recommended Reduction in Speech Pathology Teachers. Introduced by Dr. Ash. In his original budget he recommended a reduction of one speech and language pathologist. He explained how he came to the conclusion that we are overstaffed in this department. Linda Chase, Director of Student Services spoke about adopting consistent standards across the district for determining caseloads and for determining effectiveness of service. Maryellen Leelman (Bowman speech pathologist, currently on leave), spoke on behalf of the speech and language pathologists and answered questions from the School Committee. There were questions and comments from the Committee. 2. K-5 Social Studies Coordinator Position. Introduced by Dr. Ash. He stated that he recommends restoring this position, which was eliminated after the failed override in 2006. He discussed funding this position by virtue of the fact that he has found funds to maintain the two unallocated positions that the administration and the Committee want to keep in the budget. There were questions and comments from the Committee. There were comments from the audience, including from Phyllis Neufeld, President of the LEA. 3. FY12 through FY14 Budget Projection. Introduced by Paul Ash. Presented by Mary Ellen Dunn. There were questions and comments from the Committee. IV. Motion to Adjourn (Cole, Stewart). The motion passed 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 p.m.