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Home My WebLink About2015-06-22-SC-min LSC Meeting Minutes 6/22/2015 1 LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Monday, June 22, 2015 Lexington Town Office Building, Selectmen’s Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue PRESENT: Superintendent Dr. Paul Ash, Vice Chair William Hurley, Alessandro Alessandrini, Judith Crocker, Margaret Coppe Member Absent: Jessie Steigerwald The Minutes were taken by Christine Ashness, Recording Secretary The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m. Executive Session with Board of Selectmen Exemption 6, to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property Returned to open session at 7:59 p.m. Call to order and welcome: Vice Chair William Hurley called the meeting to order, and introduced committee members. Public Comments: None Superintendent’s Announcements: The Lexington Education Association voted to ratify the teachers contract. It is a 3-‐year contract and 86% voted in favor of the contract. The next step is for the School Committee to vote to approve it on July 7th and then the chair can sign the memorandum of agreement. We are very pleased to have a really good contract for teaching and learning. Hurley thanked Coppe and Dr. Ash for their work on the negotiations. Coppe acknowledged the role Dr. Ash played. Ordinarily the superintendent does not attend the negotiations, but he did this year due to the complexity of the issues. She also commended the union leaders and they were very good to work with. Dr. Ash told members that a chart with the June 1 enrollments was distributed at the last meeting and an updated one was distributed tonight. The numbers will change between now and October 1. This is the best information we have for the schools. School Committee Member Announcements Alessandrini thanked everyone involved in the LEA negotiations. Teachers were very open with a time schedule in having world languages come back. Crocker thanked everyone involved in negotiations too. It is a giant step forward. Crocker extended message from Steigerwald to ask committee members about availability for an August 20th retreat with the incoming superintendent, either a full or half day, if possible. Alessandrini cannot commit to a time right now due to his work schedule. Coppe and LSC Meeting Minutes 6/22/2015 2 Hurley can meet at or after 10:00 a.m. Crocker noted that the latest update on allocation of space for before/after school care is on the handout she distributed. She wished everyone a happy last day of school tomorrow and a safe and happy summer. Hurley said some dates have been set for the parent group meetings. This will allow parent input on redistricting options if more space is acquired, and will assist the School Committee as they prepare for the summit meetings. Alessandrini thought the committee was formed to assess the programmatic needs and also the redistricting. Dr. Ash reported that he and a couple of principals met with Donna DiNisco last Friday. The architects are working doing a great deal of work. They do not have sufficient person hours to be fully prepared for the meeting in a couple of days. He wants to make sure the School Committee is very comfortable that they have the information they need to make the recommendation they are being asked to make. Elaine Ashton, 32 Cliff Road: She is on the parent committee, and seeks further information about the upcoming meeting. Dr. Ash responded that the meeting is on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., in Room 1 at Central Office. Nothing needs to be done in advance of the meeting. Agenda Vote to Approve 2015-‐2016 Lexington High School Wind & Jazz Ensemble Musical/Cultural Exchange Field Trip to Stuttgart, Munich, and Heidelberg, Germany, April 18-‐25, 2016 MOTION to approve 2015-‐2016 Lexington High School Wind & Jazz Ensemble Musical/Cultural Exchange Field Trip to Stuttgart, Munich, and Heidelberg, Germany, April 18-‐25, 2016 (Alessandrini, Coppe) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. Members had questions and comments regarding chaperones and the financial aspect of trips. Jeff Leonard said the target number for the trip is 50 participating students and he will update the School Committee as the itinerary is completed. Superintendent Transition Update Dr. Czajkowski was here for 2 days last week and spent time visiting schools and meeting with some administrative staff. She will be here again on June 29th and 30th. Superintendent Evaluation Update Hurley explained that there is a very formal process now for evaluating a superintendent. It is very complex and Dr. Ash agreed to work with the school committee to go through the evaluation process. Areas that are evaluated include: Instructional leadership, management and operations, relations with family and community, and professional culture. The ratings are Unsatisfactory/ Needs Improvement/ Proficient/Exemplary. No comments are required if proficient. Each member submits the form to the chair and the LSC Meeting Minutes 6/22/2015 3 chair writes a summary to reflect the consensus of the committee. In each of the 4 categories for Dr. Ash, the rating was Proficient. Alessandrini stated that in the past, they received everyone’s evaluation in addition to the summary to look at everything with transparency. He is uncomfortable looking at the summary without having everyone’s comments. He also mentioned that he had held his individual evaluation that was due in the fall until last December and then handed it in late. Crocker said the individual evaluations were on First Class and everyone should have received them. She suggested maybe waiting to vote, and adding a meeting next week. She stated that the committee was supposed to vote in March 2014 on the Superintendent’s evaluation and it was held until February 2015. Coppe stated that this is a very unusual time to be doing an evaluation of a superintendent who is retiring in 8 days. She thinks that there have been some missteps. Members received the summative Saturday and Dr. Ash got it Monday morning. There hasn’t been time for the Superintendent to sit down with the chair. She sat down with the superintendent when she did this and he could review it for errors of fact. This is not something she would have done and this could have been handled a whole lot better. She also did not get the individual comments but thinks it is important we vote tonight. Hurley said he hadn’t completed the evaluation as of last Tuesday. The form was not clear so he had to get one online. The overall evaluation is extremely positive. Dr. Ash said it has been an honor to serve the Lexington Public Schools for 10 years and he sincerely appreciates the opportunity to work here and serve the school district. He thanks the committee for the evaluation. In a normal process he would have met with the chair, but because of the timing he could not do that. He received the evaluation at 12:46 pm today. He has not had the time to read the individual documents, only the summary. He handed out his email sent to members with his comments about the evaluation, including some parts he would like removed because he did not believe they were an accurate reflection. Members and Dr. Ash reviewed the evaluation and all individual comments. Items discussed were transition with the new Superintendent; the long-‐term management of the technology and planning position and members questioning getting another waiver for that position; the ability to gather information related to growth in Special Education; the Enrollment Working Group; managing the transition after Ms. Dunn announced she was leaving and filling her position with an interim director; fall summit meetings and breakdowns of communication. After a very lengthy discussion, there were 11 edits that members and Dr. Ash agreed to make to the evaluation. MOTION to approve the Superintendent’s evaluation Coppe, Alessandrini The Motion was approved 3-‐1 with Crocker opposing. LSC Meeting Minutes 6/22/2015 4 Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street: She has sat through 30 years of evaluations. She is very uncomfortable with what she just witnessed. It is not the Superintendent’s evaluation of himself, and it is highly inappropriate for the committee to make changes without the chair. She is more concerned that there could have been private meetings with the Superintendent in the past, which is inconsistent with the Open Meeting Law. There have been times in the past when members add things but she has never witnessed this kind of back and forth with the Superintendent adding what he thinks should have been in his evaluation. She asked that all individual comments be posted on the record. Or put it on an agenda item. Someone could do a public records request to receive and post comments. She’s really disappointed. She witnessed the Superintendent telling the committee to change what they have evaluated. It is not fair to the public or the Superintendent. It is the School Committee who should be doing the evaluation, not the Superintendent doing a self-‐ evaluation. Hurley responded to Ms. McKenna: This is the School Committee evaluation. The Superintendent made a comment that he didn’t have a meeting with the chair so they did this. He heard the Superintendent stating his point of view and some members agreeing or disagreeing. He feels the Superintendent made some legitimate points and it was done collectively. He doesn’t think he dictated to them, and they did not change any ratings, just individual sentences. He respects her opinion but it is considerably different than his and he disagrees with much of what she has said. Crocker said there must be a majority for the open meeting law. The committee voted 3-‐1. Crocker thought the individual evaluations were public and she also asks that the documents be made public. Hurley will get clarification from counsel on it. Hurley added that Steigerwald is sick and she agreed that whatever the committee decides should be acted on. Steigerwald did not ask to have this postponed. Alessandrini agreed that if it is possible with counsel that he would like it online. He does not get persuaded easily, and he was not persuaded to change things. The committee debated openly on the points the Superintendent made. Hurley added that whatever he or anyone else thinks about the Superintendent, he has been here 10 years. It is an all-‐consuming job. He deserves the respect they gave him tonight. We owed him at least that courtesy and respect. Thanks to Dr. Ash for sitting here and doing it. Vote to Appoint Ian Dailey as the Chief Procurement Officer for the Lexington Public Schools pending his written certification, which is expected at the end of the month MOTION: to appoint Ian Dailey as the Chief Procurement Officer for the Lexington Public Schools pending his written certification which is expected at the end of the month. (Crocker, Alessandrini) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. LSC Meeting Minutes 6/22/2015 5 Capital Update There is a meeting with a parent group on June 30th. DiNisco has had 2 public meetings with Bridge and Bowman, 2 with Hastings and 2 with the middle schools. They have kept the committee up to date. Crocker shared an email asking for the School Committee’s view on evaluation criteria and whether there should be a core team of people who should be applying the criteria. Members agreed that they thought the committee should remain involved in applying the criteria. Review and Approve in Form, Policy IHCFA – Lease of Space for Afterschool Childcare Programs (Formerly “Extended Day Program Policy”) MOTION to approve in form, Policy IHCFA – Lease of Space for Afterschool Childcare Programs (Coppe, Alessandrini) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. Policy KF allows renting classrooms. Crocker wants members to keep it in mind for next year. Alessandrini wants people to know it is not exclusive. Consent Agenda MOTION to Accept a Bench, Valued at Approximately $689, as a Class Gift to the Harrington School from the Fifth Grade Graduation Committee (Hurley, Alessandrini) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. MOTION to Accept a Donation to the Maria Hastings School from Stop and Shop’s A+ Program in the Amount of $1,630.36 (Alessandrini, Crocker) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. MOTION to Accept a Donation to Lexington High School from Stop and Shop’s A+ Program in the Amount of $1,507.63 (Alessandrini, Crocker) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. MOTION to Accept a $295 Donation to Bridge School from Wilson Farms’ Shop at Wilson Farms Fundraiser (Alessandrini, Crocker) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. Vote to Approve School Committee Minutes of May 12, 2015 This item was held until the July meeting due to edits. MOTION to Approve School Committee Minutes of June 2, 2015 (Coalition Roundtable & Planning Meeting) (Alessandrini, Crocker) The Motion was approved, as amended, 4-‐0. MOTION to adjourn (Alessandrini, Crocker) The Motion was approved 4-‐0. The meeting was adjourned at 11:03pm. LSC Meeting Minutes 6/22/2015 6 Meeting Materials: Agenda; Items for discussion for the summit discussions in July; Policy IHCFA; LHS Field Trip request for Germany; Memo from Joyce Emmett and info on Chief Procurement Officer’s Duties; Letter from Julia Hendrix for Harrington class gift; Letter from Louise Lipsitz for Stop and Shop funds earned; Letter from Laura Lasa for Stop and Shop funds earned; Letter from Margaret Colella for Wilson Farm’s gift; 5/12/15 Minutes; 6/2/15 Minutes; Memo from J. Steigerwald regarding evaluation criteria; Meeting notes from before/after school care allocation of space; Projected enrollment information Voted by the School Committee July 7, 2015