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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-12-19-SC-min1 LSC Meeting 12/19/17 Minutes Approved 2/27/2018 LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE Tuesday, December 19, 2017 Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA Present: Chair, Alessandro Alessandrini; Vice Chair, Eileen Jay, Kate Colburn; Kathleen Lenihan, Jessie Steigerwald, Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Kelly Chase (in place of Superintendent, Dr. Czajkowski) Absent: Superintendent, Dr.Czajkowski; Student Representative, Rosana Jiang The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent 6:00 p.m. Call to Order Open Session Alessandro Alessandrini moved to go into Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with SEIU. Colburn - AYE; Lenihan – AYE; Steigerwald – AYE; Jay – AYE; Alessandrini - AYE 7:00 p.m. Return to Public Session and Welcome: Chair, Alessandro Alessandrini called the meeting to order, and introduced committee members. Public Comments: Superintendent’s Announcement: The Superintendent is recovering from her shoulder surgery. On behalf of Dr. Czajkowski, Dr. Chase wants to thank everyone for all the well-wishes, cards and messages that have been sent the past few weeks. A Curriculum Meeting Group was held earlier today. School Committee members Eileen Jay and Jessie Steigerwald met with District Administrators for Health & Wellness, Eamonn Sheehan & Julie Fenn, as well as Principal Andrew Stephens. The Curriculum Working Group gathers together four times per year to keep informed about topics in curriculum that come up throughout the year. One topic of discussion for this meeting focused on potential plans for reintroducing health and wellness education in the elementary schools.. The second topic of discussion for this meeting was related to high school graduation requirements and exploring what the next steps for review might look like. Dr. Chase expressed her thanks and gratitude to School Committee, the community and staff at Lexington Public Schools during her time here. At the end of December, she will be stepping down from this position to focus on her health. Dr. Christine Lyons has accepted the interim position as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning and will be taking over on January 1, 2018.. 2 LSC Meeting 12/19/17 Minutes Approved 2/27/2018 School Committee Member Announcements: Each member expressed his/her thanks and well wishes to Dr. Kelly Chase as well as a Happy Holiday season to all. Kate Colburn: Participated in the LHS Visioning process at the high school with Frank Locker, envisioning what the future of education might look like and what sort of spaces would be needed to support that vision at Lexington High School. She is grateful to all who participated in the two-day professional development, including parents, teachers, administrators and particularly the students who helped us understand how things worked at the high school. Kathleen Lenihan: Gave a brief update on the Lexington Human Rights Committee and Commission on Disability. They are working with LPS administrators on a parent survey of black and disabled LPS students regarding discipline. Survey will be available in February. Jessie Steigerwald: Jessie had multiple topics to review, including a few items for future agendas, such as elementary health education, and the presentation by Interface, a mental health referral service. Quick update on School Start Time Task Force meeting: many different things need to be coordinated, i.e. extracurricular activities would need to run later in the evening and would need to have better lighting for fields. Look into the possibility of CPA Funding. Ms. Steigerwald formally announced that after 9 years of serving on the School Committee she will not be running for a fourth term. Eileen Jay: Last Thursday, the School Committee announced the three finalists for the Superintendent position starting July 1, 2018. The three finalists are Glenn Brand, Julie Hackett, and Bella Wong. Bios of each candidate is available on the LPS website. Ms. Jay provided an update to the community on the next phase of the superintendent search process. Alessandro Alessandrini: Echoed the committee’s well wishes and thanks to Dr. Kelly Chase, as well as to Jessie Steigerwald for her years of service to the School Committee and concluded his announcements wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday. Consent Agenda 1. Approval of School Committee Minutes from November 7, 2017 2. Approval of School Committee Minutes from November 14, 2017 3. Approval of School Committee Minutes from November 28, 2017 4. Approval of School Department Payroll Warrant dated December 8, 2017 5. Approval of $300.00 Donation from Arbella Insurance Foundation Transportation Grant to fifth grade students at Estabrook Elementary, to be used towards transportation for a field trip on March 9, 2018. Motion to approve consent agenda items 1,4 &5 (Alessandrini/Colburn) Motion to approve consent agenda items 2 & 3 as amended (Alessandrini/Colburn) The motion was approved (5-0) 3 LSC Meeting 12/19/17 Minutes Approved 2/27/2018 Agenda: 1. Discuss Value Engineering for Hastings & LCP: Donna DiNisco from DiNisco Design presented information to the Committee about the cost estimate for the Hastings school that has been reconciled and had a gap of approximately $1.2 million dollars against the established budget. The team (architect, builder, OPM and representatives from the town) worked to create a Value Engineering (VE) list to bring the project back to within budget. Goal is to be on budget; continue to work on design and look at ways to reduce cost; continue to explore opportunities to refine and enhance design. There were comments and questions from the Committee. A vote will be needed and could occur as early as the December 21 joint meeting with Permanent Building Committee (PBC). Seeking approval of total project budget of $65,279,418.00 Mike Cronin, Director of Public Facilities, reviewed the Proprietary Items seeking School Committee approvals: • Exacq Vision Software • Vivotec Security Cameras • DSX software, controls, and equipment • Aiphone AX • LCN door closure unit • Von Duprin door exit devices • Mitsubishi VRF/ERU (HVAC) system (LCP only) Donna DiNisco reviewed the Proprietary Items seeking School Committee approvals for MSBA: • VE items to incorporate into design • Total project budget for MSBA design Development submission • Proprietary items to include in project Donna DiNisco went on to review the Value Engineering Items for Lexington Children’s Place (LCP). School Committee requested cost for VE to see if it is within budget. Requesting cost estimates prior to joint meeting with PBC on December 21. David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee member, reminded School Committee members that the VE cost needs to stay within the budget guidelines that was voted on in the debt exclusion. 2. Discussion on MCAS Results: Dr. Kelly Chase, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning gave a brief update as to the transition to Next-Generation MCAS or MCAS 2.0: • In spring of 2017, Grades 3-8 engaged in MCAS 2.0, the newest iteration of testing • Assessments are aligned to new ELA, Mathematics and Science Standards • Include new performance bands and new score scale ranging from 440 to 560 • Involves a phased shift toward computer-based assessments and away from paper-pencil forms. 4 LSC Meeting 12/19/17 Minutes Approved 2/27/2018 • New Next-Gen MCAS Achievement Levels o Exceeding Expectations o Meeting Expectations o Partially Meeting Expectations o Not Meeting Expectations Dr. Maureen Kavanaugh, Director of Planning and Assessment, reviewed results of ELA and Mathematics performance levels by Grades 3-8, Grade 10, and similar communities, as well as for Special Education, African American and all students. Dr. Kavanaugh stated that all districts and schools that administered the next-generation MCAS assessment in grades 3-8 in spring 2017 would not be assigned an accountability level, as long as participation requirements were met. All Lexington schools met those requirements, therefore, none of our elementary or middle schools received an accountability level. Moving forward in spring 2017-18 students in Grades 4, 5, 7 and 8 will take Next-Gen MCAS or MCAS 2.0 online for all subjects. All other grades will be assessed with a paper-to-pencil test. Additional grades will be phased in for a full implementation of computer-based test for all assessed grades by 2019. Dr. Christine Lyons, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning, reviewed implications for LPS: • Technology Training: The district will continue to provide training for administrators, teachers, and students so that they are well-prepared for the computer-based test • Scheduling: Administrators are working to finalize the testing schedule, and that schedule will be shared with the public as soon as possible. • More information on the Next-Gen MCAS is forthcoming from the DESE. We will share that information with teachers, families, and the community as it becomes available School Committee members had some questions regarding the technology training for students and individual school results, particularly Estabrook due to the no homework pilot. They inquired about the cost needed for annual online testing and accommodations made, if any, for ELL students. 3. Proposed FY19-23 Capital Budget – School Facilities Shawn Newell and Mike Cronin, Department of Public Facilities, took questions from School Committee members regarding the proposed FY19-23 capital budget for school facilities. After discussion, some changes will be made/added to the proposed FY19-23 capital budget for school facilities. 4. Discussion of Next Steps in Superintendent Search Process School Committee members Eileen Jay and Kate Colburn updated the community on the Superintendent Search process and the next steps. Motion to adjourn was made and seconded (Alessandrini/Jay) Meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. 5 LSC Meeting 12/19/17 Minutes Approved 2/27/2018 Meeting Materials: Agenda; A.1-Powerpoint Presentation on Hastings School Project & LCP VE; A.2- 2017 MCAS PowerPoint Presentation & 2017 MCAS and Accountability Memo; A.3-FY2019-2023 CIP Summary