HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-28-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday,August 28,2018
Lexington Town Office Building, Selectmen's Meeting Room
1625 Massachusetts Avenue
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT
Eileen Jay, Chairperson
Kate Colburn, Vice-Chairperson
Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk
Deepika Sawhney
Alessandro Alessandrini
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT
Dr.Julie Hackett, Superintendent
Dr. Christine Lyons, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional
Development
Peter Rowe, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations
The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and
Administrative Assistant to Superintendent
The meeting convened at 7:02 p.m.
Call to Order and Welcome:
Chairperson Eileen Jay introduced committee members and welcomed new Superintendent Dr. Julie
Hackett to her first meeting. Eileen gave a brief introduction to the new agenda structure.
Congratulations and Celebrations:
Dr. Hackett introduced new LPS Administrators Peter Rowe, Interim Assistant Superintendent of
Finance and Operations;Jared Cassedy, PreK-12 Coordinator of Performing Arts; and Jackie Daley,
Principal of Harrington Elementary School. Each administrator expressed enthusiasm for being a part of
the Lexington Public School system.
Dr. Hackett recognized the Department of Public Facilities and gave a brief report provided by Shawn
Newall on all of their building projects completed over the summer.
PRESENTATION:
Lexington Public Schools:Superintendent-School Committee Norms and Beliefs
Dr. Hackett led the discussion by providing a brief summary of her introductory interviews with LPS staff,
school committee, and school community members. There were also three School Committee and
Superintendent retreats held over the summer. During these meetings,the School Committee and
Superintendent worked on creating their norms and beliefs based in part on feedback from the
superintendent's entry plan.
Eileen Jay went on to give an overview of the new agenda structure and meeting format including the
new seating assignment during School Committee meetings and a new format for public input, called
"Community Speak."
LSC Meeting 8/28/18
Minutes Approved—9/11/18
Dr. Hackett gave a brief overview on the Norms and Beliefs, followed by each committee member
providing feedback on the norm they value most. Norms and Beliefs are available to review on the
School District Website under the Superintendent tab and School Committee tab.
Community Speak:
Andrew—Graduated from LHS in spring 2018. Andrew welcomed Dr. Hackett as the new
superintendent of schools. He also expressed concern that the administrators at LHS have not been
paying attention to the Student-Faculty Senate and their concerns are not being implemented by
Administration. He expressed his opinion that there need to be other ways to demonstrate to School
Committee members concerns of students and not to have to come to a meeting to express these
concerns.
Consent Agenda:
1. Vote to Accept Donation to the Maria Hastings School from Stop and Shop A+ Program (5-0)
A motion was made to accept a donation to the Maria Hastings School in the amount of
$1,332.15 from Stop and Shop A+Program—Seconded(5-0)
2. Approval of School Department Accounts Payable Warrant dated June 30, 2018
A motion was made to approve the School Department's accounts payable warrant dated
June 30, 2018 in the amount of$931,425.77—Seconded(5-0)
A motion was made to approve the School Department's US Bank reconciliations in the
amount of$58,000.34—Seconded(5-0)
3. Approval of School Department Payroll Warrant dated July 6, 2018
A motion was made to approve the School Department's accounts payable warrant dated July
6,2018 in the amount of$2,325,821.46—Seconded(5-0)
4. Approval of School Department Payroll Warrant dated July 6, 2018
A motion was made to approve the School Department's payroll warrant dated July 3,2018 in
the amount of$6,149,222.27—Seconded(5-0)
5. Approval of School Department Accounts Payable Warrant dated July 20, 2018
A motion was made to approve the School Department's payroll warrant dated July 20,2018
in the amount of$687,190.60—Seconded(5-0)
6. Approval of the School Departments payroll warrant dated August 3, 2018
A motion was made to approve the School Department's payroll warrant dated August 3, 2018
in the amount of$925,773.21—Seconded(5-0)
7. Approval of School Department's payroll warrant dated August 17, 2018
A motion was made to approve the School Department's payroll warrant dated August 17,
2018 in the amount of$800,656.49—Seconded(5-0)
School Committee Announcements:
Alessandro Alessandrini: Re-stated that he will not be running for re-election of the School Committee
in March and encouraged others to consider running for his seat.
LSC Meeting 8/28/18
Minutes Approved—9/11/18
Each School Committee member welcomed staff and students back from summer break and
commented on a successful opening and start to the school year.
Superintendent's Report:
Dr. Hackett addressed the following written report:
1. Opening day"flip"ceremony:
➢ Instead of holding a district-wide meeting in the morning, staff was able to go directly to their
school building in the morning and meet with colleagues at 11:30am for a brief welcome and
BBQ celebration
2. Superintendent's Entry Plan:
➢ Met with representatives of various community groups, including the Association for Black
Citizens of Lexington (ABCL), the Chinese American Association of Lexington (CAAL), the
Lexington Community Coalition, as well as members of our Japanese Support Group of
Lexington (JP-LEX). Dr. Hackett expressed enthusiasm to meet with many other members of the
school community in the days, weeks, and months ahead!
➢ Dr. Hackett thanked former Town Manager Carl Valente for organizing a number of meetings
with Town department heads and for taking the time to organize and attend a series of
meetings for her just prior to his departure. Dr. Hackett also thanked Suzie Barry,the Chair of
the Board of Selectmen, for organizing a "Meet and Greet"to welcome her to Lexington.
3. LPS Administrative Council Retreat,2018
➢ On August 8-10, 2018, sixteen fearless LPS administrators along with Dr. Hackett headed to
Thompson Island for their first administrative retreat together. The first day of the LPS
Administrative Council Retreat, 2018 was devoted to team-building and began with the
"Challenge by Choice" outward bound course.The second and third days were devoted to
working on addressing equity issues in the Lexington Public Schools.
4. Lexington Public Schools New Educator Orientation
➢ We were pleased to welcome ninety new educators to the Lexington Public Schools on August
21"and 22nd. New Educator Orientation was held at the Hilton Garden Inn, and the Human
Resources staff did an outstanding job organizing the event. Principals and other administrators
individually introduced all new members of our Lexington Public School Family.
S. Lexington High School Student Laptop Distribution
➢ Thanks to the outstanding coordination between the Instructional Technology Department and
LHS the delivery of approximately 1,100 devices to students entering ninth and tenth grade
went smoothly. On August 13th, 14th, and 16th, students and/or their parents were excited to
pick up their new Chromebooks at Lexington High School. Congratulations to all on a successful
roll-out of our new Chromebooks!
New Business:
Amend 2018-2019 School Calendar
Dr. Christine Lyons, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction and Professional
Learning, provided a review of edits to the academic calendar(approved on June 20, 2017). The
following three suggestions for edits are provided below:
• Revise third quarter term closing from 4/12 to 4/5
• Revise March 21 Professional Learning afternoon to March 7
• Revise end-of-year shading to include June 25-28
LSC Meeting 8/28/18
Minutes Approved—9/11/18
Eileen Jay made a motion to approve suggested revisions to 2018-2019 school calendar—seconded(5-
0)
Backup Heat Element to VRF System at Lexington Children's Place (LCP)
Kate Colburn reported on the Joint Meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee prior
to tonight's School Committee Meeting. The purpose of the Joint Meeting was to discuss the matter of
the backup-heating element to the Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) System for Lexington Children's
Place. Both Boards voted unanimously in favor of the preferred option that was recommended by the
designers, so they will proceed with the design.
Community Speak:
None
Unfinished Business:
School Start Time Review:
Dr. Hackett gave a brief review of the timeline for the decision-making regarding any changes to School
Start Time, as well as her understanding of the process based on her review of the materials and videos
from the past year leading up to the last School Committee meeting in June 2018.
Dr. Hackett provided a proposed Resolution to the Lexington School Committee on Later School Start
Times for Lexington High School Students and reinforced the community's desire to maintain elementary
and middle school start times at this time. Dr. Hackett expressed her desire like to hire a transportation
consultant,Transfinder, in an amount not-to-exceed $10,000,for the purpose of conducting a
Transportation Efficiency Study that will review the Lexington Public Schools'transportation routes and
incorporate data from the School Start Times Task Force. The resolution further reinforced the School
Committee's ongoing commitment to exploring later start options for high school students should
funding be a barrier.
All School Committee members expressed their support for the resolution provided by Dr. Hackett and
indicated their desire to support a later school start time for Lexington High School students. It was
suggested that the Administration keep the the community and staff updated and informed on their
progress. Dr. Hackett stated that if no efficiencies were to be found, which is certainly a possibility,the
Resolution suggests that we will continue to look into alternate ways to fund the change or identify
some other options or trade-offs that are unknown at this time. Dr. Hackett thanked the School Start
Time Task Force members, and announced that the work from the School Start Task Force is complete.
Kate Colburn made a motion to approve the proposed Resolution of the Lexington School Committee
on Later School Start Times for LHS students dated August 28,2018—seconded (5-0)
LIPS Homework Policy and Implementation Guidelines:
Dr. Christine Lyons reported on a few updates for the LPS Homework Policy Implementation Guideline
that were worked on over the summer. The calendar of"No Homework Dates' 2018-2019 has been
updated to include the correct dates, as well as clarity about when homework could be assigned and
when it could be collected.
One Committee member indicated the need to clarify where studying for a test will fall in the
guidelines. Others expressed interest in continuing to hear feedback from teachers about the impact of
no homework days, particularly as it relates to Advanced Placement courses. Additionally, one
LSC Meeting 8/28/18
Minutes Approved—9/11/18
Committee member noted that they had heard from high school teachers, but the Committee had not
yet heard from middle school or elementary teachers about the impacts of the policy, if any. Members
would like to hear feedback on how the students from Estabrook are progressing in middle school, as
well as the raw data from the Estabrook no written homework pilot.
Dr. Hackett asked Dr. Lyons to share her thoughts on the best way to move forward with the homework
policy implementation. Dr. Lyons suggested gathering information from all constituents, students,
teachers, and parents at all different levels. Further, she suggested that probing with focus groups
would be beneficial, conducting research on homework, and spending some time to thoroughly engage
in deep research at all of the different levels. She recommended exploring what what is most effective
for student learning and how it varies from level to level, and course level to course level.
Community Speak
None
Motion was made to adjourn and seconded at 9:05 p.m.
LSC Meeting 8/28/18
Minutes Approved—9/11/18