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Home My WebLink About2018-01-02-SC-minLSC 1/2/2018 Minutes Approved 3/20/2018 LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE Tuesday, January 2, 2018 Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA Call to Order at 6:00 p.m. Motion to go into Executive Session: Vice-Chair Eileen Jay moved that the School Committee go into Executive Session under Exemption 3, to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining Unit A Executive session adjourned at 6:58 and the committee returned to open session. Present: Vice Chair, Eileen Jay; Kate Colburn; Kathleen Lenihan; Jessie Steigerwald; Superintendent, Dr.Czajkowski; Student Representative, Rosana Jiang (left at 8:25pm) Absent: Chair, Alessandro Alessandrini The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent The meeting convened at 7:02 pm Welcome (3 minutes) Vice Chair, Eileen Jay called the meeting to order, and introduced committee members. Public Comments: Patrick Mehr, 31 Woodcliff Road, Precinct 3 – Mr. Mehr was involved in the “No” campaign for the debt exclusion for the past 18 months and is speaking tonight to express his concern over the Superintendent’s FY19 Budget. Superintendent’s Announcement: Dr. Czajkowski welcomed everyone back from break and wished everyone a Happy New Year. Expressed thanks to Dr. Kelly Chase for taking over in her absence while on medical leave. Dr. Czajkowski went on to review the Student Enrollment update from Maureen Kavanaugh from January 1, 2018. There were 20 students newly enrolled from November – December, bringing the number to 7,284 total students enrolled. Enrollment growth is not slowing down. Dr. Czajkowski will continue to keep members up to date on enrollment. Dr. Czajkowski attended a Finance Subcommittee meeting earlier today with School Committee members Kate Colburn and Jessie Steigerwald, along with Ian Dailey, Assistant Superintendent for LSC 1/2/2018 Minutes Approved 3/20/2018 Finance and Operations. In addition to discussion about the proposed FY19 budget, they talked with Donna DiNisco about space capacity and updating our school master plan. School Committee Member Announcements: All school committee members welcomed Dr. Czajkowski back from her medical leave. Kate Colburn: Followed up Dr. Czajkowski’s announcements with remarks about the Finance Subcommittee meeting and discussion with Donna DiNisco. Kathleen Lenihan: Welcomed back Dr. Czjakowski from medical leave and wished everyone a Happy New Year. Jessie Steigerwald: Requested a page on Lexington Public Schools website where minutes of subcommittee meetings can be posted for residents to review. Both Eileen Jay and Jessie Steigerwald would like to be added to the New Emergency Notification list. Some School Committee members are already included in this list because they have children in the schools, and they would like to receive notifications that impact the school system. Eileen Jay: Gave a brief update on the “next steps” for the Superintendent Search Committee. Notification will be sent out to the community and staff on the timeline and information about opportunities to meet the finalists during open meet and greet forums for staff and community members. Rosanna Jiang (student representative): On the evening of January 11, consultant Jessica Minahan will be working with faculty at Lexington High School on student stress and its impact of student cognition, and will provide concrete tactics on how to employ and decrease stress levels for students. Consent Agenda: 1. Approval of School Department Payroll Warrant dated December 22, 2017 2. Approval of School Department Accounts Payable Warrant dated December 22, 2017 3. Vote to Accept a $200.00 Donation from Lueders Environmental, INC. Motion to Approve Consent Agenda Items 1-3 (Jay/Steigerwald) Motion Approved: 4-0 Agenda: 1. Presentation and Discussion of Superintendent’s Recommended FY2019 Budget Superintendent, Dr. Czajkowski presented the FY2019 Level Service and Recommended Budget to the Committee. The FY19 Total Recommended Budget, including the benefits required for new positions, is $108,614,663 which is a 6.85% increase from last year. It is recommended that $40,798 from revenue allocation be utilized to further increase the Capital Projects Debt Stabilization Fund, as part of the Towns overall financing plan. The Recommended Budget and presentation are available on the Finance and Operations website: http://lps.lexingtonma.org/Page/10461 LSC 1/2/2018 Minutes Approved 3/20/2018 Dr. Czajkowski introduced Ian Dailey to clarify to the community and members the breakdown of the unallocated positions outlined in the recommended budget section on pages 4 and 5. There were comments and questions from the Committee regarding elementary health education, transportation fees, school counseling positions, and Developmental Learning Program (“ DLP”). Dr. Czajkowski thanked all the staff members who worked to produce this budget. 2. Policy Reading #1-JJF: Student Activity Account School Committee member, Jessie Steigerwald, led the discussion on updating the Student Activity Account Policy JJF: This request is prompted from a desire to change banks and restrictions that govern the student activity accounts. Additionally, other changes are recommended as a result of an audit completed on all student activity accounts. The current bank holding the student activity accounts changed its fee structure and, as a result, the Town is being charged approximately $5,00- $6,00 per month to maintain these accounts. In collaboration between Mr. Dailey and the Town Treasurer, alternative banks were explored, and a preferred alternative has been identified. The current policy language is too restrictive as it requires that a branch must be in Lexington. With online banking services now available, the recommendation is that this, language be removed. Additional language amendments are being recommended as well. Move that we approve first reading of Student Activity Account Policy JJF (Steigerwald/Colburn) Motion approved 4-0 3. Discussion of MCAS Preparation at Elementary Level: School Committee member, Kathleen Lenihan led the discussion on MCAS Preparation at the Elementary Level. Parents report that the MCAS exam is a source of stress for some elementary students. Instead of relying on anecdotal descriptions of the strategies and methods schools and teachers use to prepare students for the MCAS, it would be helpful to take a comprehensive look/overview at this by working with the elementary principals. All members are in agreement this is an important discussion to be had with elementary principals. Discussion will be added to February 6, 2018 Agenda Item. 4. Discussion on MASS/MASC Annual conference - tabled Motion to adjourn was made and seconded: (Jay/Steigerwald) The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm Meeting Materials: Agenda; A.1- Superintendent’s Recommended Budget Powerpoint presentation available online A.2-Policy JJF: Student Activity Account