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LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Town Office Building, 2nd Floor, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
1625 Massachusetts Avenue
Present: Dr. Paul B. Ash, Superintendent; Mary Ann Stewart, School Committee Chair;
Alessandro Alessandrini, Vice-Chair; School Committee Members Bonnie Brodner,
Margaret Coppe, Jessie Steigerwald, and Noah Coolidge, Student Representative.
The minutes were taken by Jean Curran.
7:31 PM The Chair called the meeting to order and invited Public Comment; there were no
Public Comments.
7:34 PM Superintendent’s Announcements
Dr. Ash introduced Mr. Thomas Plati, Director of Education Technology and
Assessment. Mr. Plati updated the Committee on the LPS website. He thanked
everyone who assisted him and his team for all their hard work.
7:40 PM Members’ Reports/Member’s Concerns
Mary Ann Stewart announced that she attended the Safe Routes to School
ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the Bowman Elementary School. Also present
were School Committee members Margaret Coppe and Jessie Steigerwald; Mary
Ellen Dunn, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance, Representative
Jay Kaufman; and members of the state’s Department of Transportation, Town
engineers John Livsey and Dave Cannon; and Hank Manz, Selectmen Chair .
Ms. Stewart congratulated Judy Crocker, Lexington Safe Routes to School
Coordinator, Ms. Lucy Fletcher Jones, Bowman School Coordinator, and Dr.
Mary Anton, Bowman School Principal, on their new sidewalk and thanked the
entire Bowman community for their dedication to the Safe Routes initiative.
Bonnie Brodner, Committee Liaison to Lexington’s Human Relations Committee
(HRC), announced a joint program between the HRC and Lexington Historical
Society on November 6th at 2:00 PM at Cary Hall. The program will focus on
Lexington during the Civil Rights years.
Noah Coolidge reported he has recruited three (3) High School Seniors to be
members of a Lexington Education Foundation (LEF) Trivia Bee Team for the
November 9th event at Cary Hall.
Jessie Steigerwald attended the League of Woman Voters’ “First Friday”
presentation on October 7 and thanked Ms. Linda Chase, Director of Student
Services, Mr. Pat Goddard, Director of Public Facilities, and Mr. Tom Plati for
their contributions as panel participants.
7:43 PM 2011 Transportation Report
Ms. Judy Crocker, Safe Routes to School Coordinator, presented findings of the
LPS Transportation Department’s March 2011 parent survey, which formed the
basis of the report. The report suggests that (i) more students need to use the
school bus, (ii) more students should consider walking or biking to school, (iii)
need to reduce the number of vehicles entering school property, and (iv) the need
to modify bus service to better serve the public.
There were questions and comments from the Committee.
8:15 PM Report on School Improvement Plans 2010-2011 and 2011-2012
Principals from all nine schools were present. The Committee began with
questions and comments for the six Elementary School Principals: Dr. Mary
Anton Oldenburg, Bowman Elementary School; Ms. Margaret Colella, Bridge
Elementary School; Ms. Sandra Trach, Estabrook Elementary School; Mr.
Thomas Martellone, Fiske Elementary School; Ms. Elaine Mead, Harrington
Elementary School; and Ms. Louise Lipsitz, Hastings Elementary School.
The Elementary School issues discussed included co-teaching models, leadership
opportunities, pro-social strategies, technology and software in the classrooms,
(i.e., AIMSweb, ELMO, whiteboards, and iPads), student assessments, and
professional development through book groups and technology training.
9:20 PM The Chair called for a brief recess after hearing from Elementary School
Principals.
9:30 PM The meeting was called to order and Secondary School Principals were invited
forward. Ms. Natalie Cohen, Lexington High School Principal, Dr. Steven Flynn,
Clarke Middle School Principal, and Ms. Anne Carothers, Diamond Middle
School Principal engaged in Q & A and responded to comments from the
Committee.
Secondary issues discussed included Site Council Training, professional
development, leadership training, data teams, special education success data and
referrals, student intervention, and the various types of screening tools, and anti-
bullying policies and procedures.
10:16 PM Update on Estabrook and Bridge/Bowman Projects
Superintendent Ash stated that the Estabrook School project is moving quickly
and is on schedule. In order to obtain the funding from the Massachusetts School
Building Authority (MSBA), new, strict requirements must be followed. The
architects will present an update at the next School Committee meeting Tuesday,
October 25th. In November, a public hearing on the new Estabrook School will
be held. A vote by the School Committee will be due on December 6th which will
finalize plans for the new school.
Sandra Trach, Estabrook Principal, stated there will be staff and parent meetings
in November at Estabrook to provide opportunities for comments and
suggestions.
Dawn McKenna, Precinct 6th had comments with regard to what the Committee
should provide for the new school. Dr. Ash explained that MSBA policies and
guidelines determine actions taken by LPS.
10:46 PM Motion: to approve School Committee Meeting Minutes dated October 11,
2011 (Coppe, Alessandrini). The Motion passed 5-0.
Motion to Adjourn the School Committee Meeting (Coppe, Steigerwald).
The Motion passed 5-0.
The meeting adjourned at 10:47 PM.
Documents: Meeting Agenda, School Transportation Report 2011, School Improvement Plans
2010-2011 and 2011-2012 from all 9 schools (18 reports in all), Save the Date Card – Civil
Rights in Lexington: Challenge and Change.
Voted by the School Committee October 25, 2011______