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Home My WebLink About2015-05-26-SC-min LSC Meeting Minutes 5/26/2015 LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, May 26, 2015 Lexington Town Office Building, Selectmen’s Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue PRESENT: Superintendent Dr. Paul Ash, Chair Jessie Steigerwald, Vice Chair William Hurley, Alessandro Alessandrini, Judith Crocker, Margaret Coppe Student Representative Abigail Schwartz The Minutes were taken by Christine Ashness, Recording Secretary The meeting convened at 7:01 p.m. At 7:01, Steigerwald convened the meeting and moved to then go into Executive Session, to return to open session. MOTION to go into Executive Session for the purpose of: Exemption 3 – To Discuss Strategy with Respect to Collective Bargaining Regarding LEA Unit-‐A Negotiations Exemption 3 – To Discuss Strategy with Respect to Collective Bargaining Regarding Unit-‐C, Unit-‐D, Technology Unit, SEIU, and ALA Exemption 6 – To consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property regarding Lexington Children’s Place And, further, the Chair declared that it would be detrimental to the bargaining position and negotiating position of the School Committee to hold the discussion in open session. The minutes for the Executive Session were taken by Jessie Steigerwald and are in a separate document. The Committee returned to Open Session at approximately 8:31 p.m. Chair Jessie Steigerwald introduced committee members. Public Comments: None Superintendent’s Announcements: Presentation of MASBO President’s Award to Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Business Operations Mary Ellen Dunn Dr. Ash announced that Mary Ellen Dunn has received the MASBO President’s Award, given in recognition of someone’s outstanding contribution to schools and community. Mr. Igarashi and Mr. Comellas, congratulated Mary Ellen Dunn on this award which is given in recognition of her dedication and effort. They presented her with a plaque and a $1,000.00 contribution to the Lexington Public Schools to be placed into the Vivan Burns Memorial Fund to be used to support professional learning for the administrative assistants’ bargaining unit. LSC Meeting Minutes 5/26/2015 Revision to 2015-‐2016 Academic Calendar (Elementary Conference Dates) Ms. Carol Pilarski, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development, explained that there was a need to make a change in the 2015-‐2016 School Calendar. The dates that need to be changed are the spring conferences at elementary schools. They are now rescheduled to April 6th and 7th and April 13th and 14th. K-‐5 Principals will also send this updated information to parents and guardians. One other update was given regarding Lexington’s Professional Learning Program. Dr. Ash, Carol Pilarski and Leonard Swanton will be in Marlboro tomorrow, presenting to educators from across the state to share Lexington’s approach to professional development that the DESE has recognized as exemplary. School Committee Member Announcements: Moved to later in agenda. Agenda: Bridge Traffic Update Presenters included: Mary Ellen Dunn, Erin Maguire (Bridge Assistant Principal), and Shawn Newall (Facilities Department). The new plan is not complete in terms of Middleby Road and town property. There will be a meeting on June 23rd to address relocating a crossing guard. There will be no cueing permitted on Middleby Road. The main point of the plan is moving busses, vans, and carpools to the front of the school. Parent pickup will be moved to the back of the school, to remove them from the roadway. Parents and students will use a placard system to make entering and exiting more efficient. Staff will now have parking permits and there will be designated areas for “staff only parking”. Members had questions and comments. Capital Update Dr. Ash introduced updates about the capital projects. He noted that Maureen Kavanaugh previously updated the committee on technical redistricting and various types of redistricting plans/buffer zones. Since that meeting, there have been additional meetings and discussions about buffer zones. We are going through the work to see if redistricting is necessary. All options are being thoroughly explored. We would like to have more than one model. With the work done by the Enrollment Working Group, we have good, accurate data. Sometime in the fall, Ms. Kavanaugh can come to the committee and show the results of their well thought out models to help solve the problem. J. Steigerwald referred to a recent email from Peter Coleman, Recreation Department, that noted how often fields located on school property are used by the Recreation Department and the School Department. There is a major impact to consider at Hastings if the plan for a new Hastings includes a preschool and consequently requires taking up the space that is now dedicated to a field. If Ms. Kavanaugh could, the committee would like her to please study whether if the preschool relocated out of Harrington, how the additional freed space could potentially help relieve overcrowding at other schools. They are trying very hard to explore all LSC Meeting Minutes 5/26/2015 alternatives with rising enrollment. The priority is for the information to get to the DiNisco team. And to understand that if space becomes available at schools in a way that was not anticipated, it might require redistricting. Staffing Update Bob Harris, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, provided the committee with an update for FY2016 for educator vacancies. This year we entered recruiting season with an attrition rate of approximately 6.8%. There are 106 known educator vacancies, 45 of which are newly established positions. He explained the various sources of recruiting currently in use, including job fairs, the school website, and SchoolSpring. There were questions and comments from the Committee. Climate Survey Moved to next meeting Recommended 2015-‐2016 District Improvement Plan Dr. Ash explained the goals for the 2015-‐2016 District Improvement Plan. Goal 1 – Improve Academic Performance for All Students Goal 2 – Improve Social and Emotional Program Supports for All Students Goal 3 – Improve Safety for All Students and Staff Goal 4 – Refine and implement the First Phase of the District’s Facilities Master Plan There were questions and comments from the committee. School Committee Goals Members read through their proposed goals for 2015-‐2016. Goal 1 – Academic Excellence Goal 2 – Promote Social/Emotional Wellness Goal 3 – Improve Safety for All Student and Staff Goal 4 – Insure Infrastructure that Supports School and District Needs Goal 5 – Transition to New Superintendent and New Administrators MOTION to approve the School Committee Goals (Alessandrini, Hurley) The Motion was approved 5-‐0. Superintendent’s Evaluation, Update and Discussion On April 23rd the committee agreed to amend Dr. Ash’s goals based on work that had arisen due to the transition to a new superintendent. Dr. Ash gave the committee a copy of his proposals for amended goals and reviewed them. There are six goals that remain on the evaluation and four additional ones that have been added. The goals will be posted on the website. To prepare the annual evaluation, members will each fill out an individual evaluation and Steigerwald will compile a draft composite evaluation. This will then be brought to a public meeting for the full committee to review and approve. School Committee Announcements LSC Meeting Minutes 5/26/2015 Alessandrini: It was his pleasure to be part of the opening ceremonies of the LABBB Collaborative Special Olympics. Memorial Day just passed and he thanks Veterans past and present. Thanks to all who have served our Country. Crocker: Congratulations to those who organized the School Bus Open House, the Sidewalk Sam event and also Discovery Day. Thanks to all who helped, the kids who participated had lots of fun. Tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. there will be a hearing on proposal for a sidewalk on Hill Street. Registration for the busses is now over 3,000. The Bridge School deadline has been extended until June 5th. Thanks to Elaine Celi and Adrian Leone for their work on the bus registration. Thanks to school principals, Assistant Principals and the Site-‐Based School Council members for their work on all nine School Improvement Plans. Crocker reminded people there is a party for Dr. Ash in honor of his 10 years of service. It will take place at Estabrook on June 1st from 4:30 to 6:00pm. May 28th is the World Language Awards at LHS. The All-‐Night Graduation Party is on June 7th. She gave a shout out to Jordan Frias from the Minuteman Newspaper who is leaving. Thanks for his time, energy and patience. He is moving to the Boston Courant. Steigerwald: The last day for seniors is today. June 7th is graduation at Tsongas Arena. Discovery Day was terrific and the Selectmen had a booth which looked like a very good idea for the committee to consider for next year. Individual Selectmen’s email addresses are now available online. The Lexington Education Foundation (LEF) special Star Awards are available now. Donations to LEF can be made in a teacher’s name. The teacher receives a special certificate. Thanks to the Town Celebrations Committee for inviting us to participate on Memorial Day. Review and Approve in Form the Following Policies from Section G – Personnel and Section I -‐ Instruction GA – Personnel Policies Goals GBA – Equal Employment Opportunity (MASC) GBEA – Staff Ethics/Conflict of Interest GBEB – Staff Conduct GBEBC – Gifts to and Solicitations by Staff GBEC – Drug-‐Free Workplace Policy GBED – Tobacco Use on School Property by Staff Members GBGB – Staff Personal Security and Safety GBI – Staff Participation in Political Activities GBJ – Personnel Records GBK – Staff Complaints and Grievances GCA – Professional Staff Positions GCBA – Professional Staff Salary Schedules GCBB – Employment of Principals GCBC – Professional Staff Supplementary Pay Plans GCCC – Family and Medical Leave GCE – Professional Staff Recruiting/Posting of Vacancies GCF – Professional Staff Hiring GCG – Substitute Professional Staff Employment LSC Meeting Minutes 5/26/2015 GCIA – Philosophy of Professional Learning GCJ – Professional Teacher Status GCK – Professional Staff Assignments and Transfers GCO – Evaluation of Professional Staff GCQD – Resignation of Professional Staff Members GCQE – Retirement of Professional Staff Members GCQF – Suspension and Dismissal of Professional Staff Members GCRD – Private Tutoring for Pay GDA – Support Staff Positions GDB – Support Staff Contracts and Compensation Plans GDD – Support Staff Vacations and Holidays GDO – Evaluation of Support Staff GDQC – Retirement of Support Staff Members GDQD – Suspension and Dismissal of Support Staff Members IC/ICA – School Year/School Calendar IHBG – Consideration of Home Schooling Requests – Under M.G.L.C. 76 Section 1 (L) IHCFA – Extended Day Programs Policy IJOA – Field Trips (L) IKE – Promotion and Retention of Students MOTION to approve in form, the Policies listed on the agenda, as amended, except GCBB and GCRD (Alessandrini, Coppe) The Motion was approved 5-‐0. MOTION to adjourn (Alessandrini, Crocker) The Motion was approved 5-‐0. The meeting was adjourned at 10:32pm. Meeting Materials: Agenda; Memo from Carol Pilarski regarding calendar change; 2015-‐ 2016 School Calendar; Memo from Mary Ellen Dunn regarding Bridge Traffic; Memo from Robert Harris regarding HR update; Climate Survey; 2015-‐2016 District Improvement Plan; Update on Superintendent Goals for 2014-‐2015 Voted by the School Committee July 7, 2015