HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-12-10-SC-minLSC Meeting Minutes 12/10/2014 1
LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Lexington Town Office Building, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
1625 Massachusetts Avenue
PRESENT: Chair Margaret Coppe, School Committee Members Jessie Steigerwald, Judith
Crocker, Alessandro Alessandrini, William Hurley, Student Representative Abigail Schwartz
The minutes were taken by Christine Ashness, Recording Secretary
The meeting convened at 7:30pm
Call to order and welcome: Chair Margaret Coppe called the meeting to order, and introduced
committee members.
Public Comments:
Charles Lamb and Ellen Sugita, representing the members of the superintendent selection
committee: They thanked the school committee for the honor of being chosen to serve
Lexington and were enlightened on the strong pool of candidates.
School Committee Member Announcements:
Jessie Steigerwald: She explained the process of the superintendent search. The School
Committee hired a professional search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to provide
support for the search. The lead consultants working with Lexington were John Connolly,
Stephen Dlott and Gary Burton. On December 1st, they presented the Superintendent Search
Committee with six semi-finalists. The Superintendent Search Committee interviewed those
semi-finalists on December 8 and 9. The committee then narrowed the field to three finalists.
The search committee was co-chaired by Jessie Steigerwald and Alessandro Alessandrini, and
included Eileen Jay, Ellen Sugita, Richard Schaye, Lynn Perry Susie Lee-Snell, Louise Lipsitz,
Hua Wang, Charles Lamb, and Phyllis Neufeld. She thanked all of them and also thanked Judy
Schuler, Pat Costello, and Miriam Sousa for all of their help.
Agenda:
Superintendent Search Committee Announcement of Finalists for Superintendent of
Schools Position
John Connolly and Stephen Dlott explained the process of the search. There were planning
meetings, an online survey, and a leadership profile report. The semi-finalist names were
submitted to the search committee on December 1. The process was totally confidential. On
December 15, 17, and 18 the three finalists will be in the district, touring schools, having
lunches, dinners, meet and greets, with formal interviews at night. On December 19 the preferred
candidate will be named. The offer will be made subject to a successful contract negotiation, site
visit, and reference checks. An extensive background check will be done on all three candidates.
The results will be available on December 19.
LSC Meeting Minutes 12/10/2014 2
The Finalists:
1. Dr. Mary Czajkowski, current Superintendent of Barnstable Public schools. She has been
a principal, a science and math teacher, a physical education teacher, and a curriculum
coordinator.
2. Dr. George Entwistle, current Superintendent in Scarborough Maine. He spent eight
years at MA Department of Mental Health, eight years in business. He has taught at the
college level.
3. Mr. Kaine Osburn current Deputy Superintendent in Naperville Illinois. He has been an
English teacher, Head of English and fine arts, an assistant principal, principal, graduate
instructor and is currently in a PhD program to be completed by 2015.
December 15 Mr. Kaine Osburn will be in Lexington; December 17 Dr. George Entwistle will be
in Lexington; December 18 Dr. Mary Czajkowski will be in Lexington.
As of today, everything will be public and recorded. The public interviews will be held at 146
Maple Street, in the gym. They will be recorded for later broadcast. The meeting on December
19 will be shown live. The public is welcome to send emails with questions/feedback to school
committee members, understanding that anything sent becomes a public record.
Margaret Coppe will get in touch with all candidates tomorrow. She will see if spouses will be
joining them and let the candidates know that reference checks are going to be made. She will
also finalize a draft of the schedule for each day. Jessie Steigerwald and Alessandro
Alessandrini will do the script for interview questions, putting them together after committee
members give their input. All members will do references so they can all get some feedback on
each candidate.
Motion to adjourn (Hurley, Crocker)
The Motion was approved 5-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm.
Meeting Materials: Agenda; Lexington School Committee Press Release
Voted by the School Committee January 6, 2015