HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-27-BRIDGE-min BRIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
SCHOOL-BASED SITE COUNCIL
55 Middleby Road, Lexington, MA 02421
781-861-2510
APRIL 27, 2018 MEETING MINUTES
APPROVED JUNE 1, 2018
PRESENT: Lynnette Allen, Megan Brown, Lucia Brower, Tatiana Cochis, Meg Colella,
Kimberly Hensle Lowrance,Amy Kvaal, Zeba McGibbon, Sejal Petal, and Deirdre Schadler.
ABSENT: Amelia Brower, Erin Cerat,Jon Cunha,Allison Gullingsrud, Kristen Gray, Ruth
Litchfield, Huan Liu, Beth Murnaghan, Debbie Side, Melanie Tanionos, and Shawn Wood.
MEETING SUMMARY: Meg Colella began the Site-Based Council (SBC) meeting at 8 AM. She
reviewed the agenda, explaining that several of the items were follow-ups to previously
discussed items, included here to address any outstanding questions from parents.
Meg was asked what the Bridge community could do to support a safe school environment
for staff and students. She explained that major changes need to go through superintendent
(the new superintendent begins July 1),but that she was empowered to make adjustments
as needed and welcomed ideas from the community.
A question was asked about extracurricular activities at Bridge (e.g., Literacy Night, Movie
Night, Spring Fling). How can we ensure that the people attending are from our
community? Meg explained that, in response to questions about events like these, she has
made some changes: 1) program participants must enter and leave through one door; and
2) if a second entrance is needed, a volunteer must stand at the door the entire time it is
open.Additionally, program leaders know to call the police if anything suspicious occurs.
For these events, Meg and her staff cannot disclose personal information to volunteer
leaders about others in the Bridge community—such as restraining orders or custody
agreements.Any problems ensuing from those situations should be addressed with the
police.
Another question was asked about the windows in the building—both external ones into
classrooms and the windows in or near classroom doors. Can these be covered or obscured
in some way to prevent someone will ill intent from looking in? Meg explained that there is
a legal requirement for all rooms to have windows that are unobstructed. Questions about
changing the glass—putting in a film like what is on the library door, for example—must be
addressed by the superintendent in consultation with the facilities department.
A parent asked about the live shooter training that was held yesterday at Lexington High
School. Meg explained that this event was for teachers and staff, and was designed to
prepare them for a live shooter incident and/or an intruder in the building. Fiske also held
this training yesterday,while Bridge held a similar training four years ago. Meg is working
with central administration to plan additional safety trainings over the summer.
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Additionally, as previously reported,this is some discussion about rolling out ALICE
training in Lexington,though such a decision would be made with parent input.
Wilmington has successfully implemented this training in its schools, and has been a
resource to Lexington in this regard.
Meg explained an important principle of ALICE training: research indicates that locking
down is the worst thing to do. In fact, it is better (i.e., a higher number of lives saved) when
people in an active shooter training run away from the site. If that is not possible,the door
to the room where students and teachers are located should be barricaded.Active shooter
situations typically last three to six minutes. Barricading deters the shooter, and can save
lives, and in fact, did so in the Virginia Tech shooting.
In order to ensure everyone in the LPS community is prepared, Meg is working with central
administration to get substitutes trained in ALICE as well. There are plans to introduce
ALICE training to parents and guardians this fall.
The meeting next moved on to the School Improvement Plan; its review is one of the key
responsibilities of the SBC.A short discussion followed. Meg explained that many of the
plan's goals transfer from year to year, and provides a road map for the school. The plan is
a snapshot of what is going on at Bridge; Meg and her team utilize from a more detailed
plan,with data and evaluation methodology. The School Improvement Plan is deliberately
broad and general to order to be accessible to the larger community and to show alignment
across LPS. She added that mental health has been highlighted this year. She also
mentioned that this plan is posted to the Bridge website and is helpful to new teachers and
families to understand our priorities. The format of the School Improvement Plan is
determined by the superintendent, and may therefore change with the new superintendent
assumes her role. Meg will present the plan to School Committee in June.
A parent asked about the all school meetings and the ability of getting speakers in during
that time to show different ways adults chose professions. Meg said outside speakers are
often brought in by individual teachers to support a lesson or academic unit.All school
meetings are short and typically highlight people within the Bridge community. She
suggested that this idea be forwarded to Darlene McAvoy who oversees the ACT program
for the PTA. Sejal Patel offered to follow up with Darlene. Lucia Brower also said she would
pass along a contact at Junior Achievement who may be able to connect Bridge to speakers.
Meeting concluded at 8:35 AM. The next Bridge Site-Based Council Meeting will be held
Friday,June 8 at 8:00 AM in the Bridge Library.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: contact Meg Colella, Principal and Co-Chair
(mcolellaPlexingtonma.org), and Kimberly Hensle Lowrance, Parent Representative and
Co-Chair (khensle@gmail.com), or visit https://Ips.lexingtonma.org/domain/481.
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