HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-11-15-SC-min1
LSC Meeting 11/15/16
LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
650 Dudley Street, Dorchester, MA
Present:
Chair, William Hurley; Vice Chair, Alessandro Alessandrini; Judy Crocker; Eileen Jay; Jessie Steigerwald;
Superintendent, Dr.Czajkowski
The minutes were taken by Sara Calvino, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and
Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent
The meeting convened at 7:12pm
Call to Order and Welcome:
Chair, Bill Hurley called the meeting to order, and introduced committee members.
Public Comments:
Alumni of Lexington – The METCO program is a life-changing program. I am still really close with all my
friends from Lexington. I am still very close with my host mom to this day. My daughter currently
attends Lexington and has a wonderful host family. This shows how much Lexington is really involved. I
couldn’t imagine telling my daughter that this wonderful opportunity could be taken away from her. My
question of the committee would be: if this were to happen, how would we explain this to our children?
Condrianne Turner: I have been a METCO parent for well over 20 years and I would like to thanks the
School Committee for inviting the METCO Students into the Lexington Community. I am so glad my
children have had the opportunity to be accepted to the METCO program. My older two children have
graduated from Northeastern University. My son is a mechanical engineer and my daughter was offered
a job today. My youngest daughter is currently at Lexington High with aspirations to becoming an
attorney. I just wanted to thank you the METCO program for all your support in educating my children
and all the METCO children as well.
Jose Cammolis: I appreciate everyone for coming out and I thank the Lexington High School and the
METCO program for opening the door for my son who has been in Lexington for 10 years. I would like
Lexington to know the Cammolis family is LHS and before that we were METCO. Thank you for giving my
son the education and the resources he needed. He is an honor roll student and I am so proud of him.
Thank you for the support and we need to keep METCO going for the future students and to leave a
legacy.
Superintendent’s Announcement:
Dr. Czajkowski acknowledged and thanked Ms. Barbara Hamilton for the enormous amount of time
working with our parents, working with our staff and administrative team. Barbara is a huge part of our
team.
Ms. Barbara Hamilton introduced Ms. Ellen Day from the Bowman School.
Ms. Day gets the privilege of spending 3 weeks in the summer with 4 and 5 year old students which is
called, “jumpstart” because that is exactly what it is, we jumpstart the students into the METCO
program. The students get to experience the bus ride, the playground, relationships and the hard stuff
like math and literacy. When the three weeks of jumpstart ends, they are all off to one of the six
different schools but they are already acclimated into the school system.
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LSC Meeting 11/15/16
Dane Depriere, English Department Head for Clarke and Diamond, expressed gratitude for himself and
his colleagues for having the opportunity to teach your children in this program.
School Committee Member Announcements:
A. Alessandrini: The document Mark Andersen wrote was unsolicited and was not reviewed by anyone
in education, finance or law. This is just a citizen’s opinion. This election provided a lot of anxiety for
children and parents already but during the darkest times shows what makes a community. As long as I
am a School Committee Member and a Lexington Resident I will always look at your children as
Lexington kids that are in the METCO Program.
J. Crocker: Ms. Crocker wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
W. Hurley: Someone has written a lengthy research paper on METCO. The question is whether or not
Lexington is still eligible to participate in the METCO Program. The School Committee has submitted this
report to our attorney to find out eligibility requirements and if we meet them. Once we have more
answers, we will share them with the METCO and Lexington Community.
Mr. Hurley asked for all members of the Lexington Staff to stand to be acknowledged for all they do.
Motion to adjourn.
The Motion was approved 5-0. (Hurley/Steigerwald)
The meeting was adjourned at 7:33 pm.
Meeting Materials: Agenda