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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-06-01-LHRC-min %3S Mop 1775 tic 0 Town of Lexington > Lexington Human Rights Committee APRIL 19"' "2 1 N 61 Sean D. Osborne, Chair hurnand hts rn ��)Iexin .............................. .......... Fuang-Ying Huang, Vice Chair Tanya Gisolfi, Clerk Minutes for June 1, 2018 Meeting Present: • Members: Sean Osborne (Chair), Fuang-Ying Huang (Vice Chair), Tanya Gisolfi, Bonnie Brodner, Jeffrey Toronto, Bhumip Khasnabish, Lieutenant James Barry, Mary Ant6n (School Department Member) • Liaisons: Kathleen Lenihan, (School Committee), Jill Hai (BoS Liason), Valerie Overton (LexPride), Debra Zucker (LexPride) Mona Roy (SEPAC/LEXDESI/IAL) • Guests: Mark Corr(Chief of Police), Mabel Amar, Koren Stembridge (Library), Emily Smith (Library), Thomas Mantellone (LPS), Valerie Viscosi (LPS), Stacy Glickman (LPS), Monica Visco (LPS), Mary Czajkowski (LPS Superintendent), Christina Lin Meeting called to order at 8:11 AM, Quorum was present at 8:11 AM. Minutes from May 4, 2018 meeting were reviewed with no changes. Whereupon the motion was made by Lt. Barry, the motion was seconded: Resolved: to approve the minutes for the May 4, 2018 meeting. Chair Report—Opening remarks regarding the expansive charge of the LHRC, many see the LHRC as the right mechanism to put out any fires that appear within Lexington. However, the LHRC is a small committee, which tries to support all groups, educate harmdoers to support change, support targets, encourage active bystanders. The Committee's job is to act as a conduit for information in order to foster community within the greater community. We encourage community support, cohesion, and sometimes work to find solutions. Proclamation Update - The proclamation sent to the Board of Selectmen ("BoS") appears to be favorable. Mrs. Barry, the BoS Chair, expressed that she wanted the entire BoS present to vote, so it will be on the agenda for the next meeting, July 9th. As, the Proclamation is now in the BoS hands, LHRC members should attend the meeting on the 9h if they are if interested in the decision. The follow-up letters to the editor and such were not discussed with the BoS. LHRC Letters —Community requests have been made to the LHRC to create functionality that would allow for submission of anonymous comments via the LHRC website. An interim solution was developed for the website that allows commenters not to submit a name. This result prevents a subsequent conversation with anonymous commenters, which is against the Committee's preferred method of engagement. Nevertheless, we have heard the strong request to submit anonymous 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 comments. Given the sensitivity of some issues, it is understood that commenters may have personal and historic reasons to remain anonymous. Regardless, whether a comment may be personally attributed, the chain of response remains the same—the Town Manager is notified of town issues, the Superintendent is notified of school issues, and the Police Chief is notified of public safety issues. It is important for LHRC to deploy the chain of response in order to leverage the proper community resources for follow-up. Housing Discrimination Update—Two trainings are proposed for next year in order to secure LHRC's initial cohort of housing discrimination testers. A number of groups and institutions have expressed interest in participating in the training, and they will be notified when the training has been scheduled. LHRC Email Update—The LHRC has received multiple emails discussing discrimination within the public-school system, which have been shared with the heads of schools in question and sent to the Lexington School Committee. A discussion ensued with the Superintendent regarding the proper reciprocal sharing of information between the Superintendent and the LHRC in order to ensure that discrimination allegations are treated seriously and properly investigated, commenters' privacy and identities are respected, and that the Superintendent is ultimately held accountable. No resolution was reached. Meeting Attendance Review and Potential Removal. Committee member Mr. Khasnabish expressed that he would be formally resigning from the LHRC because he is traveling a lot for work and cannot attend regularly. He stated an interest in remaining involved in the Committee's work, but not as a formal member. The Committee expressed its understanding and thanked Mr. Khasnabish for his service. For the benefit of all present, LHRC membership nomination procedures were reviewed, and those interested are encouraged to apply through the BoS. Committee thanks Ms. Anton, who is moving, and Mr. Khasnabish who announced today he is stepping off, for their time, commitment, and volunteering to support our community. Human Rights Incidents—Library—Mrs. Stembridge attended the meeting at the invitation of LHRC, who invited her to attend the meeting and report. The Cary Library leadership and staff responded in a systematic and exemplary way to the following incidents: At a public meeting, in response to general community announcements, anti-LGBTQ comments were made. Staff as well as meeting attendees reported the incident. Library staff had all participated in a Training Active Bystander workshop and followed leadership guidelines to report incidents. One of the LexPride co-Chairs also was on hand to discuss the incident and appropriate response. Generally, these conversations and responses can take time, however this situation was handled quickly because of the excellent open line of communication within the library. What the Library has done in terms of culture and climate is excellent, and the Lexington community is fortunate. Though Mrs. Stembridge humbly explained that she operates one building and one staff, librarians tend to be activist by nature, her staff communicates well, and they care about each-other and library patrons, therefore she feels set up for success. She added, we do get things wrong. She mentioned the important distinction and difference between intent and impact. She went on to say that the library believes in equity and inclusion, and that this conversation is never done. 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Mrs. Stembridge shared an additional incident that occurred on a kindergarten class visit to the library. A student made a comment that was generally recognized as a racist remark. The comment was then repeated by other students. A librarian became concerned when the teacher and other adults in the area did not intercede, stating that they did not hear the student's comments. The head of library services later reached out to the teacher who was with the class expressing that it was a missed learning opportunity. Mrs. Stembridge personally reached out to the school staff because she does not have staff with an early education degree looking to the experts on a best team response. Dr. Czajkowski expressed interest in a communication protocol whereby she would be notified of such incidents directly rather than the typical reporting response to department head or teacher. She also stated that maybe a department head meeting was needed, but a protocol needs to be put in place. She then asked her principal Mr. Mantellone to discuss the incident directly. Mr. Mantellone explained his understanding of the incident and asked to be contacted directly to discuss any future incidents. Lexington Public Schools Incident. Two Civil Rights coordinators, Ms. Visco & Ms. Viscosi, have been identified by the Superintendent to address diversity and equity inclusion. Recently, an internal hand-out was circulated by Ms. Visco to staff regarding complaints, discipline, suspension or removal from school, this was to all internal to staff and it is unclear if its purpose was to address staff or student complaints. Ms. Viscosi briefly, as time was limited, discussed a student focus approach with a goal to looking at each actual student. Ms. Viscosi mentioned Bystander training for students and staff, it was unclear if this is scheduled training, or training they are planning, or if it is training they would like to schedule. The Student Handbook was mentioned as now containing a guide for students and parents to submit concerns. A question was raised about how this submission works in practice, should concerns be emailed to a principal, teacher, or counselor, and is there a different protocol for students and adults. Ms. Viscosi identified a new online school bullying form. This same form may be accessed by all schools online. Ms. Viscosi recognized a partnership with the Lexington Community Coalition, and specifically mentioned Mrs. Zucker, Mrs. Roy and Ms. Overton for working to address bullying. LPS recognized there has not been uniformity of reporting and they are working on it as State anti-bullying laws require schools to address each and every specific protected class. Incoming Superintendent—Mr. Osborne mentioned we were asked to meet with the new Superintendent, a request for guidance/clearance from the committee was requested and a vote was taken. Ms. Brodner made a motion to vote to allow Chair, Vice Chair, & Clerk to discuss on-going issues with new superintendent, seconded by Ms. Anton. No additional discussion. The vote approved unanimously, no abstentions. Resolved: The Committee allows any combination of the Chair, Vice Chair, & Clerk to discuss on-going human rights issues with new superintendent. Announcement June 18, from 4-7 party at Depot, as a thank you to Principal Ant6n for her dedication to Bowman Elementary school, and recognition of 10 years of excellence. The Committee thanked Principal Ant6n because of Bowman's record of progress on human rights issues. — Board of Selectmen Annual Goal Setting Recommendations. Motion was made to submit the LHRC annual goals for recommendation to BoS, motion made by Mr. Khasnabish, Lt. Barry seconded: unanimous vote. All comments on the goals need to be to the Chair by 11:00. 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Discipline topline result, final report will be done in October, Lt. Barry made a Motion to go with topline survey: Mrs. Brodner seconds, unanimous vote. Resolved: The Committee accepts the topline survey results. September Elections and New Members Working Groups Reports— a) "Not In Our Town—Report submitted b) Conversation on Race Toolkit—Group has met multiple times and reviewed the existing tool kit. Work has begun to fill in the holes and expand the curriculum. c) Human Rights Complaint/Incident Response—Has not met yet. Mr. Toronto will send out email to working group. Meeting adjourned at 10:20 a.m. Next meeting: Friday, September 7, 2018 at 8:00 am. LIST OF DOCUMENTS • Agenda • Last Month's Minutes • Attendance Report • LPS Discipline Survey Report (Topline) • Draft of Goals to Board of Selectmen 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420