HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-12-01-SC-minLSC Meeting Minutes of 12.1.15 approved 2.23.16 1
LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Lexington Town Office Building, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
1625 Massachusetts Avenue
Present: Chair Jessie Steigerwald, Vice Chair William Hurley, Margaret Coppe,
Alessandro Alessandrini, Judy Crocker
Absent: Student Representative Abigail Schwartz
Also Present: Carol Pilarski (Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum ,Instruction, and
Professional Development), Pat Goddard (Director of Public Facilities), Ian Dailey
(Interim Director of Finance and Operations); Ellen Sugita (Director of Special
Education), Anna Monaco (Principal Clarke Middle School); Anne Carothers (Principal
Diamond Middle School); Louise Lipsitz (Principal Hastings Elementary School)
The Minutes were takes by Ana Paula McDonough, Executive Assistant to the School
Committee
The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m.
Call to Order and welcome: Chair Jessie Steigerwald called the meeting to order, and
introduced committee members.
6:30 PM Executive Session:
MOTION to go into Executive Session under Exemption 3, to discuss strategy with
respect to pending litigation involving an outside consultant, to return to open session
at the conclusion. Further, the Chair declared that it would be detrimental to the
bargaining and negotiating position of the School Committee. (Steigerwald, Coppe)
M. Coppe – AYE J. Crocker – AYE W. Hurley – AYE A. Alessandrini – AYE
J. Steigerwald – AYE
The Motion was approved 5-0 by a roll call vote.
6:31 PM Executive Session Convenes
6:51 PM Executive Session ended and the Committee returned to Open Session at which
time Ms. Steigerwald called for a brief recess until 7:00 PM.
7:01 PM Ms. Steigerwald ended the recess and the Committee was in Open Session
Minutes for the Open Session continue in a separate document.
LSC Meeting Minutes of 12.1.15 approved 2.23.16 2
Welcome and Public Comments:
• Nita Sturiale, 20 Cedar Street– a parent of two students, spoke in regards to the
potential of classroom reallocation to meet the needs of the growing student
population, believes art is not a companion to the core, but essential, and that art on a
cart may lessen the quality of the arts curriculum in Lexington.
• Elaine Ashton, 32 Cliffe - spoke in regards to enrollment data and requested
infographic to help illustrate the crowded conditions.
Superintendent’s Announcements:
• Clarke Middle School Costa Rica trip for 2016, overwhelming interest in this trip.
Dr. Czajkowski approved increase in participants from 30 students to 40, with a staff
to student ratio of 1-10.
• Carol Pilarski and Dr. Czajkowski met last week with Dan Kupta and members
from the 20/20 Vision Committee. Dan and the committee will be looking at
communities similar to Lexington with changing demographics and how we can be
more inclusive with respect to our hiring practices, our curriculum and participation
on boards and committees
• Jill Smilow; President - METCO College Scholarship Fund of Lexington would like
to attend a future School Committee meeting and discuss scholarships.
• Dr. Czajkowski and Maureen Kavanaugh met last week to discuss potential data to
be included in an enrollment report. Data being considered in this report includes
the following: monthly enrollments; enrollment projections; monthly mobility data;
comparative yearly analysis data; census data, housing data including new permits
and rentals. We would like this to become the official enrollment report for the
district, which would be posted on a monthly basis on the district website. We will
be discussing this proposed new enrollment report at the December 15th school
committee input and would ask for feedback on types of data the school committee
would like included in this report.
• Dr. Czajkowski has met with principals, Town Manager Carl Valente, and Assistant
Town Manager Rob Addelson to discuss the FY ’17 revenue allocation model. The
school share of incremental FY ’16 revenue was 8.5%. The school share of
incremental FY ’17 revenue is 6.6%. This was an estimate as of Friday and final
numbers will be presented at Summit 3 this Thursday night., December 9
• December 8 will be the Capital Expenditure Committee meeting in which we will be
presenting our Capital Projects.
LSC Meeting Minutes of 12.1.15 approved 2.23.16 3
School Committee Member Announcements:
Alessandrini: None
Crocker:
• The next Town-wide Flu Clinic is being held tomorrow Dec 3 from 4-7pm in the
Media Room at LHS.
• On Nov 19, along with Ms. Pilarski represented LPS at the Lexington Education
Foundation Alumni Reunion. 25 years strong, the founding members of LEF looked
back on the trials, sweat equity and humor of establishing Lexington's educational
partner.
• The LABBB Best Buddies Craft Fair is this Saturday from 9am-3pm at LHS.
Proceeds from the fair help support this program where friendships are fostered
between students with special needs and their peers.
Hurley: Steigerwald and Hurley attended the Capital Expenditure meeting earlier today.
They reviewed school projects and had further questions for the School Committee and
administration
Coppe: Maryann Stewart, member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education was elected Northeastern Area Director of the National
Association of State Boards of Education.
Steigerwald: Thanked Dr. John King, the next U.S. Secretary of Education, for visiting
Lexington’s Public Schools on Nov. 20 to learn more about our community’s support of
the METCO program, our steps toward addressing the achievement gap, and appreciated
Ms. Hamilton for including School Committee members in this meeting. Was glad to
attend with Ms. Crocker, students and staff.
Consent Agenda:
1. Accept Youth Services Council Liaison Report from Margaret Coppe 2. Accept Community Coalition Liaison Report from Jessie Steigerwald 3. Approve Minutes from November 17, 2015
MOTION to approve consent agenda. (Coppe/ Alessandrini)
The Motion was approved (5-0).
Agenda:
A.1 Multiple School Projects, Capital Plan
The School Committee reviewed motions for Special Town Meeting #1. Members
received draft motions in their packet and referenced these during the discussion.
Article 2 APPROPRIATE FOR SCHOOL FACILITIES CAPITAL PROJECTS
MOTION: That the Town appropriate $5,386,000 for design, engineering and
LSC Meeting Minutes of 12.1.15 approved 2.23.16 4
architectural services for plans and specifications for constructing new school buildings
and additions to existing school buildings, including modular classrooms, and for
remodeling and reconstructing existing school buildings, including the construction of
modular classrooms, and for the payment of all other costs incidental or related thereto;
that to raise such amount the Treasurer, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, is
authorized to borrow $5,386,000 under M.G.L., Chapter 44, Section 7 or any other
enabling authority; and that the Board of Selectmen and any other appropriate Town
officials are authorized to take any other action necessary or convenient to carry out
these projects.
School Committee: Members discussed the wording of the article. They inquired if the
wording would provide the opportunity to revisit options. Pat Goddard believed this
motion provided the necessary flexibility.
Members noted there had been discussions about leasing or purchasing modulars. Are
there sufficient funds in this article to purchase? Answer: Pat Goddard stated the
amount in the motion included the amount estimated that was needed to purchase the
modulars.
Location of the modulars: Two at Bridge, two at Bowman and two at Fiske. Hurley
suggested that the vote include up to six either for leasing or purchasing. Steigerwald
would like to allow Dr. Czajkowski maximum flexibility on the location of the modulars
should the administration find there is a better arrangement if they are purchased.
Alessandrini would like the locations to be two at Bowman, two at Bridge and two at
Fiske.
Dr. Czajkowski asked that the committee allow staff and the superintendent to come
back with a recommendation.
Motion to amend the School Committee’s November 17, 2015 proposal to lease or
purchase up to six modulars for elementary use. (Steigerwald, Hurley)
(4-1) Alessandrini opposed.
Crocker requested eliminating the lease option and this would be a new vote in place of
the prior vote.
Motion to amend the School Committee’s November 17, 2015 proposal to purchase up
to six modulars for elementary use. (Steigerwald/Crocker).
(4-1) Alessandrini opposed.
School Committee Members: Steigerwald asked if members were interested in
reconsidering a brick and mortar possibility at Harrington. This included conversation
about Lexington Children’s Place (“LCP”) and the considerations around whether or not
LCP should have a free standing building or be part of an elementary school. Interest
was expressed in asking to receive additional design and schematics for a brick and
mortar addition to Harrington. There were concerns that without this consideration the
LSC Meeting Minutes of 12.1.15 approved 2.23.16 5
town may not be fully addressing the overcrowding at the elementary school level. Pat
Goddard requested that the Committee wait until they receive the Harrington report due
from DiNisco in December. Once School Committee has that report in hand, members
can consider what additional work they might want to consider.
Move to further evaluate the potential for a brick and mortar addition at Harrington
with or without a Pre-Kindergarten and with a safe effective traffic pattern.
(Steigerwald, Alessandrini). (5-0)
School Committee Members: Discussed further possibilities with the purchasing of
Pelham. Alessandrini suggested that a study be conducted.
Pat Goddard: DiNisco provided a projection that building a 24 classrooms school at the
Pelham location would be approximately $53 million dollars. Goddard further stated that
they had a release to do work but the site was not accessible.
School Committee Members discussed the Middle Schools and the options presented at
the November 17, 2015 meeting. The middle school principals both encouraged the
School Committee to recognize that choosing the second option (all growth at
Diamond), which did not include additions to Clarke, meant endorsing middle school
class sizes at both schools of 28 – 29 students. They suggested class size should be 22 –
25 students. There also was recognition that some of the class size tension Lexington
experiences is, counter-intuitively, due to the number of class offerings (ex. choice of
World Languages, math levels, etc.), in addition to the team sizes.
Kate Colburn, member Appropriation Committee, asked questions about enrollment
projections, capacity and the number of classrooms.
A.2 – Formulate Request to Board of Selectmen to Release Funds for Multiple
School Projects - March 2015 STM Article 2 Release #5
Presenter: Pat Goddard Summary: To maintain projects schedules, additional funds are requested for the
designers (DiNisco) and project managers (Hill, DPF APM) assigned to the Clarke,
Diamond, and six modular classrooms projects. The amount requested is $427,170
(Diamond $239,539, Clarke $102,740, and six modular classrooms $84,891.)
In addition, the $28,000 unused portion of the $33,000 release for designing renovations
at the Harrington LCP should be used to evaluate changes at the Central Administration
Building in support of the LCP program.
Motion that the School Committee allow work to continue through the month of
December, we recommend that the Board of Selectmen release $427,170 from the
March 2015 STM Article 2 appropriation of $4,080,000. In addition, we recommend
that a previously released amount of $28,000, no longer needed to evaluate the
Harrington LCP space for renovation, be used to evaluate changes at the Central
Administration Building for use by LCP. (Steigerwald, Hurley)
The Motion was approved unanimously.
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A.3 - Summary 90 day Plan
Presenter: Mary Czajkowski
Summary: Dr. Czajkowski presented a PowerPoint with a 90 day summation relating
to the goals she established for her first 90 days as the new Superintendent of Lexington
Public Schools. Dr. Czajkowski shared observations from her first five months in
Lexington, articulating her first projects, successes, challenges, and some next steps.
One related to the next agenda item, a request for a new position..
A.3.a - Superintendent Staffing Recommendation
Presenter: Mary Czajkowski
Summary: The position of Special Assistant to the Superintendent is a new position
requested by Dr. Czajkowski as a necessity to maintain an organized, efficient and
responsive Superintendent’s office environment. The Superintendent’s office manages a
multitude of tasks related to residency, documentation and special projects and has a
current staff of 1 person. Dr. Czajkowski asked for support for this new position and the
School Committee agreed to bring it back on a future agenda. Ms. Coppe asked whether
the position was for the next year or the current year.
A.4.a.b.c - NOVUS Agenda – Discussion and Planning for Use of New Agenda
Software
Presenter: Jessie Steigerwald
Summary: The Board of Selectmen have begun using NOVUS Agenda software to
manage agendas, gather documents for meetings, present information to the public, and
handle compliance with Open Meeting Law. The Selectmen and Town Manager have
requested other town boards and committees make use of this software. The license fee
paid by the Town permits the School Committee to use it without an additional fee.
Training will be required in addition to adjustments in how staff and members prepare
for meetings.
Ms. Steigerwald and Ms. McDonough met with Ms. Lynne Pease to discuss the
transition for School Committee to use the NOVUS Agenda software. It would be
helpful to begin this transition as soon as possible as we will need to get accustomed to
it, and presenters will need to adapt.
The software offers many advantages:
(1) Presenters submit a form so they summarize their information and are very clear
about what action they would like School Committee to take. (2) Preparing the Agenda
Item Summary forms minimizes creating motions on the fly. Presenters are asked to
submit requested motions in advance. (3) The prepared summaries make it easier to
take accurate minutes. (4) Meetings are easier to schedule. . (5) Packets can be managed
on line by Executive Assistant and Chair. Community members and School Committee
members can click to a specific agenda item and do not need to scan through long PDF
of packet. Nor would it be necessary to print out the full packet; users can select the
items they wish to print.
LSC Meeting Minutes of 12.1.15 approved 2.23.16 7
Selectmen each still receive a packet, and so does Town Manager, Assistant Town
Manager and Secretary. Other department people print only what they need or want, or
refer to the materials on line to save paper and labor.
Liaison Reports can be formalized with this procedure by using Consent Agenda.
Members can still provide updates, but we can shorten the length of time of these oral
reports by agreeing to this shared system. Items that require deliberation can be
submitted with request to put on Agenda. (Clarifies the Announcement part of the
meeting.)
Ms. Steigerwald noted that this week’s meeting materials include samples of what the
NOVUS system would look like. Each agenda item has an explanatory sheet, there are
draft motions, and the forms in the packet are drafts so that members and staff can test
drive them and offer feedback before the software arrives. The software has templates
that we can adjust to suit our needs.
Move that the School Committee commit to implementing the NOVUS Agenda
software program for future School Committee meetings; support training for the
School Committee Executive Assistant, Chair, and other members who wish to take
part in training; adopt the following procedures beginning for the December 15, 2015
meeting: Agenda Item Summary Forms required for all presenters, Liaison Report
forms required for all School Committee members. (Coppe, Crocker_)
The Motion was approved unanimously.
A.5 - Member Reports from November Massachusetts Association of School
Committee (MASC) Report: Cultural Proficiency and School Law
Presenter: Margaret Coppe
Summary: Cultural Proficiency presentation by Ron Walker, Denise Hurst, Kharis
McLauglin.
Definition of Cultural Proficiency, need for policy, need for training; Review of recent
arbitration and judicial review decisions under MGL Chapter 71, Sections 42 and 42D
Mr. Alessandrini provided an update on the sessions he attended, including Charter
Schools and Reducing Standardized Tests. Mr. Alessandrini offered to write a letter
about Charter Schools to offer input12/1/15 ". Mr. Alessandrini noted that reducing
standardized test can give teachers more time to teach and could reduce stress.
Ms. Crocker provided an update on the session she attended, including School
Committee- Superintendent partnerships. Ms. Crocker provided a booklet for each
member. Other sessions included: Budgets, where cooperative purchasing was
discussed; Lawmakers (discussion of sales tax funds used for MSBA and a request from
that panel that members consider that if the tax free day did not exist, there would be
additional funds available to the MSBA); Pre-Kindergarten (with presentation on value
of early education). Ms. Crocker also shared the outcome of the Delegate meeting – all
LSC Meeting Minutes of 12.1.15 approved 2.23.16 8
resolutions passed with one exception (tax reform failed by a vote of 50-62). Ms.
Crocker attended the Division 2 Meeting and was elected Treasurer.
Ms. Crocker provided a booklet on the topic for each member and shared them at the
table. This session also discussed School Committee criteria for self-evaluation and
suggested that we have a discussion on the possibility of implementing such an annual
protocol at a future retreat. ...
Meeting Materials: Agenda; Agenda Item Summary Sheets; 11/4/15 Update from Youth
Services Council; Draft Minutes 11/17/15; Packet from Mr. Goddard “March 2015
STM Article 2 Release #5”; 12/1/15 “First Term Summation” by Dr. Czajkowski; Job
Description “ Special Assistant to the Superintendent for Communication, Residency,
Central Registration & Special Projects”; Handouts: 12/1/15 - Draft Town of Lexington
Motions for 2015 Special Town meeting #1 (12/7/15); MASC Booklet “School
Committee – Superintendent Partnerships”; 11/30/15 Letter from Anna Monaco to Dr.
Czajkowski “Clarke Costa Rica Trip 2016”; 11/30/15 School Committee Update
prepared by Ms. Crocker “Plus One Organizational Meeting” ; 11/30/15 Print out of
Email from Dr. Czajkowski and Mr. Goddard to School Committee “Letter on HVAC
Review” with attachment from DiNisco Design “Clarke and Diamond HVAC
Evaluation”; 12/1/15 Appropriation Committee Report to the November 2015 Special
Town Meeting #1
Motion to Adjourn at 9:54 p.m. (Alessandrini, Hurley) 5-0 Unanimous.
Place on Consent Agenda 2.23.16
Voted Approved by the School Committee 2.23.16