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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-09-16-SC-minLSC Meeting Minutes 091614 Page 1 LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, September 16, 2014 Lexington Town Office Building, Selectmen’s Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue PRESENT: Dr. Paul B. Ash, Superintendent; Margaret Coppe, Chair; Alessandro Alessandrini, Judy Crocker, Jessie Steigerwald; and Abigail Schwartz, Student Representative The Minutes were taken by Jean M. Curran, Recording Secretary The Meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. I. Call to Order and Welcome The Chair called the meeting to order invited public comment. There were no public comments. II. Superintendent’s Announcements Dr. Ash introduced the new Lexington Public Schools (LPS) Administrators (i) Dr. John Murray, Associate Principal of the High School; (ii) Jaffrey Parroti, LPS Dean; (iii) Elizabeth Sharpe, Assistant Principal, Diamond Middle School, (iv) Christopher Way, Evaluation Team Supervisor; (v) Kristina Meceliacaite, Evaluation Team Supervisor, Estabrook Elementary School; (vi) John Bruno, Evaluation Team Supervisor, High School; (vii) Jane Day, Department Head, English Department, High School; (viii) Manjula Karamchetti, K-12 Assistant Director, K-12 Guidance and High School Department Head of Guidance; (ix) Maureen Kavanaugh, Director of Planning and Assessment; and (x) Elizabeth Lamore, Evaluation Team Supervisor, Bowman Elementary School. Dr. Ash thanked Pre-K through 8th Grade support staff for all their efforts. The recognition of the High School in several news articles ranking them as one of the best it is because those individuals helped shape those students before high school. III. School Committee Member Announcements Jessie Steigerwald thanked Margaret Coppe for taking a picture of last week’s School Based Site Council and thanks for all parents for attending and Glenn Koocher, Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and the next meeting will be held on September 24 at 8:30 am at the Central Office Building. If anyone is interested in becoming a member of their school’s site council, they are welcome to attend. Ms. Steigerwald shared that the Youth Service Council will be holding a presentation on dating violence and it is directed towards high school students as part of the Monroe Saturday Night Series and funded by Lexington Community Endowment Fund and encouraged parents to attend. September 27 and reserve seats and will be held at Clarke Middle School and to mind the parking rules. Ms. Steigerwald thanked the Lexington Police Department for helping with the new traffic plan at the Estabrook Elementary School. Ms. Steigerwald shared that the Master Planning Subcommittee met, but did not provide an update. LSC Meeting Minutes 091614 Page 2 Ms. Steigerwald shared that it was wonderful to be at the opening for the new Community Center, Joe Pato thanked all members of the School Committee for their input. Ms. Steigerwald shared that Alessandro Alessandrini has been instrumental in meeting with members of the public. Judy Crocker thanked the parents of Clarke Middle School for abiding by the new traffic plan. Margaret Coppe attended the swearing in of Mary Ann Stewart by Governor Deval Patrick in the new governor’s office. Margaret Coppe provided a status update on the Superintendent Search Committee. Jessie Steigerwald suggested that those interested in being considered for the search committee, please hold off sending in letters of interest until later on. IV. Agenda 1. Report of the Enrollment Working Group Dr. Ash acknowledged the members of the Enrollment Working Group (EWG) Mark Andersen, Rod Cole, Tim Dunn, Dan Krupka and Joe Pato. Joe Pato presented the EWG Report and the presentation included (i) summary of results; (ii) projections of enrollment growth for the elementary schools; (iii) projections of enrollment growth for the middle schools; (iv) projections of enrollment for the high school; (v) trends in the number of housing units, percentage of housing units occupied by students and the number of students per dwelling; (vi) elementary school forecasts; (vii) middle school forecasts; (viii) high school forecasts; (ix) next steps. Mr. Pato also discussed the Cohort Survival Method for forecasting enrollment. Use Cohort Survival Method for Elementary and Middle Schools. There were comments and questions from the Committee (i) do you measure that as an instance or sum of a difference of confidence; (ii) if this is a linear system, won’t the delta be further down the road; (iii) will you look at student density; (iv) if people have questions who can they contact; (v) have you looked at the number of buildable lots; (vi) have you looked at the elderly population and single family homes; (vii) how many single family homes are there as to apartments; (viii) could you clarify how you determined the number of students in METCO and Special Education (“SPED”); (ix) will the development on Woburn Street be comparable to Avalon Bay; (x) did you specific school aggregates; (xi) do you have any outside information from Lexfund or pre-k if that is something you tapped into for your report; (xii) did you incorporate the pre-k data in your report; (xiii) there appears to be an urban planning development in town; (xiv) have you done any analysis on what percentage of new students are coming from foreign countries; (xv) does the planning board have any idea where lots are being purchased and more houses are being built; (xvi) there is a potential for 8,000-11,000 students; (xvii) are there any other areas where you think that we may want to take a better look at; and (xviii) will there be a report sometime in the future. Tim Dunn, Lexington Planning Board, there are some lots which, by right, can subdivide the lot and build multifamily homes. LSC Meeting Minutes 091614 Page 3 Mark Andersen, member of EWG, fully supports what was presented today and added his interpretation on the report. Dr. Ash showed the Clarke Middle School and Diamond Middle School projections over the next five years. Dr. Ash also shared his thoughts on the Cohort Survival Method. _________ Sima, Precinct 4, town meeting member, how can you really anticipate major building projects and this five year projection. Should the School Committee have more frequent updates to the Master Building Plan and how did you come up with the density figures. Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, appreciates the work that has been done and provided her thoughts on EWG Report and feels that the enrollment projections were more accurate in the past. Ms. McKenna also provided her thoughts on external factors and need to figure out a way to include international students in these enrollment reports. Urged the EWG to find a way to break the report down to individual schools. Ms. McKenna agreed with the comment of Mr. Andersen to have flexibility. Bill Hurley, 33 Young Street, provided his thoughts on the density issue. Asked what the density was when the town had 9,000 students in the 1960s. Jessie Steigerwald responded to Ms. McKenna’s comments on families moving because of renovations at the elementary schools. Judy Crocker provided her thoughts on the Master Building Plan. The meeting is at Clarke Middle School auditorium and public is at 7:30 and the architects will be presenting Phase I of their study. 2. Vote to Approve FY 16 Budget Guidelines Dr. Ash discussed changes to his recommended FY 16 Budget Guidelines since presented from the last School Committee meeting which includes ensuring (i) all legal mandates will be met; (ii) sufficient operating and capital funds; (iii) professional staffing guidelines will be met; (iv) maintain capital assets; (v) identify and plan alternatives that will provide services in more cost effective ways; (vi) identify ways to reduce costs in order to fund a level-service budget; (vii) identify a small number of high leverage new academic or prosocial programs or supports; (viii) reduce reliance on parent fundraisers for core educational materials; and (ix) review the adequacy of department and/or school per pupil expenditure levels and recommend changes if needed. The Committee had comments and questions (i) thank you for adding number 8; (ii) can you be more specific on number 7 and what would you want to improve; (iii) would the Committee instruct Dr. Ash look at the teacher cost per trip; (iv) the interventions are very important and the only path to get additional help is to get diagnosis and be placed into special education; (v) it would be nice to have a guidance counselor on-call; (vi) with respect to number 8, would like the additional money go into mental health initiatives; (vii) would ask that some of the money go into financial aid and explore what would be the costs involved; (viii) opposed to funding out of the country field trips; (ix) would it be possible to drill down the numbers for financial aid and LSC Meeting Minutes 091614 Page 4 the PTAs; (x) feels that students not being able to go on local and domestic trips impacts students; (xi) supports change to number 7; and (xii) can we place capital into number 8. Bettina McGimsey, 11 Hamblen Street, Chair, PTS Presidents’ Council, the PTA/PTOs are currently working on putting together numbers for the Committee. They are hoping to give you aggregate numbers, and not identified by schools by the end of November. Bill Hurley, 33 Young Street, shared a comment on Item 7 regarding using the word “intervention” instead of “initiative” to describe new mental health services. Motion to Approve the FY 16 Budget Guidelines, as amended (Steigerwald, Alessandro) Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, inquired if there should be specific language under number 7 to fund elementary foreign language. Motion to Approve the FY 16 Budget Guidelines, as amended (Steigerwald, Alessandro) The Motion was Approved(4-0) 3. Update on the School Committee Calendar The Committee engaged in discussion of their recommended dates for School Committee Meetings for 2014-2015. 4. Vote to Approve School Committee Goals The Committee engaged in discussion of the 2014-2015 School Committee Goals which included (i) hiring a new Superintendent by January 16, 2016; (ii) completing the Policy Manual review and adopt completed manual by June 2015; (iii) adopt a mission statement; (iv) formally evaluate the Superintendent; and (v) complete successor agreements before expiration of the current agreements. Motion to Approve the 2014-2015 School Committee Goals (Crocker, Steigerwald) The Motion was Approved (4-0) 5. Vote to Appoint the Official and Alternate Delegates to the MASC Annual Business Meeting Margaret Coppe explained that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) requires appointment of the official an alternate delegates in order to be able to vote at the MASC Annual Business Meeting. Motion to Appoint Margaret Coppe as the Official Delegate and to Appoint Judy Crocker as the Alternate Delegate to the MASC Annual Business Meeting (Steigerwald, Alessandrini ) The Motion was Approved 4-0) LSC Meeting Minutes 091614 Page 5 6. Vote to Appoint the School Committee’s Representative to the Permanent Building Commission Ms. Coppe explained the reasoning and need for a school committee representative to the Permanent Building Commission. Motion to Appoint Lee Noel Chase as the School Committee’s Representative to the Permanent Building Committee (Crocker, Steigerwald) The Motion was Approved(4-0) V. Consent Agenda 1. Vote to Approve School Committee Minutes of February 25, 2014 2. Vote to Approve School Committee Minutes of April 29, 2014 3. Vote to Approve School Committee Minutes of May 27, 2014 4. Vote to Approve School Committee Minutes of June 10, 2014 5. Vote to Approve School Committee Minutes of June 17, 2014 6. Vote to Approve School Committee Minutes of June 30, 2014 7. Vote to Approve and Not Release School Committee Executive Session Minutes of April 2, 2014 The Committee decided to pull out the May 27 and the June 10 minutes due to requested changes. Motion to Approve Consent Agenda Items 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 above (Steigerwald, Crocker) The Motion was Approved(4-0) VI. Adjourn Jessie Steigerwald asked if the Committee should coordinate or send separately to the Chair. Motion to Adjourn (Crocker, Sandrini) The Motion was Approved (4-0) The meeting adjourned at 10:12 p.m. Meeting Materials: Meeting Agenda; Report of the Enrollment Working Group dated September 16, 2014; Lexington Public Schools Recommended FY 2016 Budget Guidelines dated September 16, 2014; Draft Recommended Dates for School Committee Meetings 2014-2015; Lexington School Committee Goals 2014-2015 – draft dated September 11, 2014; Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc. Delegation Form; Agenda Item #6 – Appointment of School Committee’s Representative to the Permanent Building Committee; Lexington School Committee Draft Meeting Minutes dated February 25, 2014; Lexington School Committee Draft Meeting Minutes dated April 29, 2014; Lexington School Committee Draft Meeting Minutes dated May 27, 2014; Lexington School Committee Draft Meeting Minutes dated June 10, 2014; Lexington School Committee Draft Meeting Minutes dated June 17, 2014; and Lexington School Committee Draft Meeting Minutes dated June 30, 2014. Voted by the School Committee December 16, 2014