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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-03-23-SC-min   LSC  Meeting  Minutes  3/23/2015         LEXINGTON  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE  MEETING   Monday,  March  23,  2015   Lexington  High  School,  Library  Media  Center   251  Waltham  Street     PRESENT:    Superintendent  Dr.  Paul  Ash,  Chair  Jessie  Steigerwald,  Vice  Chair  William   Hurley,  Margaret  Coppe,  Alessandro  Alessandrini,  Judith  Crocker,  Student   Representative  Abigail  Schwartz   The  Minutes  were  taken  by  Christine  Ashness,  Recording  Secretary   The  meeting  convened  at  6:35  pm       Call  to  order  and  welcome:    Chair  Jessie  Steigerwald  called  the  meeting  to  order,  and   introduced  committee  members.    Dr.  Mary  Czajkowski  is  also  in  attendance  tonight.     Superintendent’s  Announcements:   Dr.  Ash  spoke  about  the  Lexington  High  School  April  10th  dance.    Things  in  the  media   sometimes  don’t  reflect  what  actually  happened.    He  then  read  Principal  Laura  Lasa’s   statement.       “Lexington  High  School  students  have  selected  a  theme  of  American  Pride  for  a   junior/senior  class  dance  that  will  be  held  on  April  10,  2015  as  scheduled.  As  the  birthplace   of  the  American  Revolution,  Lexington  is  proud  of  our  historic  roots  that  have  helped  to   shape  the  values  of  our  diverse  and  inclusive  community  today.”   The  dance  was  never  cancelled  and  it  is  going  forward.         Alessandro  Alessandrini  arrived  at  6:38pm.     Public  Comments:   Dawn  McKenna,  9  Hancock  Street:    She  appreciates  the  statement  and  the  change  in   perception.    As  you  are  all  aware,  we  used  to  do  a  much  better  job  of  instilling  pride  with   our  LHS  students.    It  is  unfathomable  that  this  would  ever  come  to  a  conversation  in  public.     Our  history  has  always  been  at  the  forefront.    She  graduated  from  LHS  in  1976,  and  has   invested  her  whole  life  supporting  Lexington  and  liberty.  We’ve  eroded  students  being  able   to  make  decisions  for  themselves.    We  also  need  to  realize  the  importance  of  having  the   graduation  ceremony  held  in  Lexington.    She  urges  us  all  to  use  this  as  an  opportunity  to   begin  a  conversation.    People  have  every  right  to  support  their  American  pride.     Jessie  Steigerwald  noted  that  Dr.  Ash  would  be  leaving  the  meeting  to  obtain  materials  for   tonight’s  Town  Meeting  and  would  return  later.    Dr.  Ash  left  the  meeting  at  6:42pm.     School  Committee  Member  Announcements:   Judith  Crocker:    The  opening  ceremony  for  Annual  Town  Meeting  is  tonight  and  the  William   Diamond  Fife  and  Drum  Corps  will  perform.  The  bi-­‐annual  Battle  Road  is  April  18th,   Patriots’  Day  festivities  begin  on  April  19th  and  then  at  5:30am  on  Monday  April  20th.    She   recognized  that  Mary  Ellen  Dunn  would  be  hosting  Emergency  Preparedness  on  Tuesday  at   the  Science  Lecture  Hall  at  LHS,  at  7:30pm.    It  is  a  good  session  for  parents  to  attend.       LSC  Meeting  Minutes  3/23/2015         Crocker  thanked  the  Site-­‐Based  School  Council  Roundtable’s  Steering  Committee  for   organizing  last  week’s  meeting.    Carol  Pilarski,  Len  Swanton  and  Tom  Plati  gave  a  great   presentation  on  professional  learning  (professional  development)  and  technology.     Jessie  Steigerwald:    She,  Judith  Crocker  and  Margaret  Coppe  attended  the  Trustee  Meeting   for  Cary  library  and  Steigerwald  served  on  the  Nominating  Committee  for  the  Executive   Board.    Steigerwald  reported  that  the  Nominating  Committee’s  slate  for  2015-­‐2016   included  Ms.  Coppe  and  that  Ms.  Coppe  had  graciously  accepted.    This  Saturday  March  28th   is  the  Lexington  Parents  Academy  at  Clarke.    Jennifer  Wolfrum  is  the  contact  person.    It  is  a   collaboration  between  school  and  municipal  staff  and  community  volunteers  with  different   themes  at  each  session.    There  will  be  instruction,  conversation,  and  research  on  the  topic   of  parenting.    Saturday  night  is  the  Lexington  Education  Foundation  Gala.    The  online   auction  can  be  found  at  lexedfoundation.org.    There  will  be  a  consent  agenda  item   Wednesday  for  minutes  for  the  Ad  hoc  School  Master  Planning  Committee.    Please  let  her   know  any  edits  by  tomorrow.     Agenda:   Vote  to  Dissolve  Superintendent  Search  Committee   Alessandro  Alessandrini  thanked  all  the  members  of  the  committee  for  all  of  their  work.       As  the  parent  body  of  this  subcommittee,  we  have  the  responsibility  to  approve  the  final  set   of  minutes  from  the  meeting  and  our  attorney  was  able  to  review  them  in  time  to  get  them   back  to  us  tonight.     MOTION  to  approve  the  final  set  of  minutes  from  the  March  23,  2015  Superintendent   Search  Committee.    (Alessandrini,  Crocker)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  dissolve  the  Superintendent  Search  Committee  (Hurley,  Crocker)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0     Discussion  of  Town  Meeting  Articles   Margaret  Coppe  suggested  taking  formal  votes  on  the  Town  Meeting  Articles  the  committee   supports.       MOTION  to  support  Article  2  on  Special  Town  Meeting  (Coppe,  Crocker)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  support  Article  6  on  Special  Town  Meeting,  number  2.    (Coppe,  Hurley)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  support  Article  4  on  Regular  Town  Meeting.  (Coppe,  Hurley)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     Jessie  Steigerwald  stated  that  the  moderator  was  striving  to  find  efficiencies  with  57   articles  on  the  warrant.    She  proposed  submitted  a  list  of  articles  where  committee  had   taken  a  position  to  help  save  time.           LSC  Meeting  Minutes  3/23/2015           MOTION  to  support  Article  8,  Sections  I,  J,  K,  L,  and  M.    (Alessandrini,  Crocker)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  support  Article  11,  Section  E.    (Crocker,  Hurley)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  support  Artice  12  and  Article  13.    (Crocker,  Hurley)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  support  Article  16  (Hurley,  Alessandrini)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  support  Article  18  Sections  A  through  L  with  no  position  on  H.    (Hurley,   Coppe)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.       MOTION  to  support  Article  28.    (Coppe,  Hurley)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     MOTION  to  support  Article  45,  but  to  not  take  a  position  at  this  time  until  we  have  more   information.    (Coppe,  Crocker)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.   Mary  Ellen  Dunn  did  not  have  the  final  report,  and  only  had  access  to  printed  material  in   the  budget  book.    Ms.  Dunn  will  provide  any  new  information  as  she  receives  it.     MOTION  to  support  Article  5,  Special  Town  meeting.    (Alessandrini,  Hurley)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     Margaret  Coppe  suggested  that  members  keep  in  mind  Article  47,  medical  marijuana,  and   also  Article  49,  the  zoning  by-­‐law,  as  they  might  be  of  interest  to  the  committee.       TMMA  Bus  Tour  Update   The  Town  Meeting  Members  Association  held  their  annual  bus  tour  yesterday.    In  order  to   make  the  tour  of  Hastings  flow  efficiently,  Pat  Goddard,  Louise  Lipsitz  and  Jessie   Steigerwald  set  up  stations  throughout  the  school.    Thanks  to  Ms.  Crocker,  Ms.  Coppe,  Mr.   Alessandrini  and  Mr.  Hurley  for  taking  a  station,  and  to  the  following  parent  volunteers   who  served  as  guides  for  the  tour:    Daniel  Pan,  Sharon  Musto,  Lin  Jensen,  Curt  Barrentine,   Sarah  Conrad,  Audra  Myerberg,  Katie  Wipke,  Dan  Strollo,  and  Kris  Spriano.    A  big  thanks  to   custodian  Ken  Giblin  who  had  Hastings  looking  beautiful.    Many  people  said  the  school  was   clean,  bright,  and  cheerful.         Louise  Lipsitz:    Ms.  Lipsitz  is  putting  a  letter  together  for  Manny  Cabral  and  his  staff   thanking  them.    Ms.  Lipsitz  also  explained  to  the  committee  that  there  has  been  no  sign  of   water  leaks  in  Hastings  the  last  week  and  a  half.    She  gave  credit  to  the  Department  of     LSC  Meeting  Minutes  3/23/2015         Facilities  they  responded  very  quickly  on  all  of  the  days  they  did  have  leaks.    16  classrooms   were  impacted.         Judith  Crocker  stated  that  the  new  mural  in  the  cafeteria  was  beautiful.    The  Hastings  art   specialist  and  MA  College  of  Art  students  collaborated  on  it.     If  questioned  tonight  at  town  meeting,  SMMA  recommended  not  renovating  Hastings   because  of  the  HVAC  system,  infrastructure,  and  windows.    Jessie  Steigerwald  asked  that   the  committee  sit  close  together  so  they  will  all  be  able  answer  questions.     Vote  to  Approve  School  Committee  Minutes  of  February  24,  2015   MOTION  to  Approve  School  Committee  Minutes  of  February  24,  2015.    (Alessandrini,   Hurley)   The  Motion  was  approved  5-­‐0.     Margaret  Coppe  stated  that  next  Monday  is  the  ceremony  honoring  high  school  seniors.     She  also  asked  when  the  diversity  award  would  be.    The  date  hasn’t  been  set  yet.   Judith  Crocker  informed  members  that  on  Monday  March  30th  and  Wednesday  April  1st   she  won’t  be  at  Town  Meeting  or  the  School  Committee  meeting  as  she  will  be  visiting  her   daughter  abroad.     The  School  Committee  will  remain  in  session  and  relocate  to  Lexington  High  School   Auditorium  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  Annual  Town  Meeting  Articles.     Meeting  Materials:    Agenda;  2/24/15  Minutes;  3/23/15  Memo  to  School  Committee  regarding   Ad  hoc  School  Master  Planning  Committee  and  School  Committee  minutes.