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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-05-08-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, May 8,2018 Lexington Town Office Building,Selectmen's Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue Present: Chair Eileen Jay;Vice Chair Kate Colburn; Alessandro Alessandrini; Kathleen Lenihan; Deepika Sawhney Superintendent Dr.Czajkowski Not Present: Student Representative Rosanna Jiang The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent Call to Order Eileen Jay opened discussion for public hearing on feedback for the homework policy at 6:33 p.m. Many family members feel the new homework policy is a step in the right direction,they are able to spend more quality time as a family or there is more down time for kids to do and enjoy other activities without the worry of homework especially during the holidays. Some concerns include: • Guidelines are vague • When homework is given, it is compounded (as if to make up for the days no homework is given) • Teams do not work together to see who is giving homework on that day. Needs to be a balance • Excessive homework • Overly accelerated curriculum Eileen Jay closed the public hearing on homework feedback and proceeded to the regular scheduled meeting at 7:00 p.m. Welcome: Eileen Jay notified the community of the protocol with regard to receiving public comments during agenda items. Upon reflection and feedback from other committees, public comments will be accepted during an agenda item. Superintendent Announcements: Dr. Czajkowski updated members and the community on the timeline for the elementary principal searches. On Thursday, May 10, Estabrook will be hosting a forum for community and staff, starting with a parent coffee for three candidates. A Google survey will be sent to parents and staff after the forums, as well as a survey to students, after the candidate meet and greet. Dr. Czajkowski attended the Special Olympics last week, it was an incredible event. Congratulations to all the athletes. School Committee Member Announcements: 1 LSC Meeting 5/08/18 Approved 10/9/18 Deepika Sawhney: Attended the K-12 Art show at the Central Administration Building. Quality and creativity is amazing. Highly recommend visiting. Kathleen Lenihan: Attended the Stuart Little play at Clarke Middle School as well as the musical Pippin at the high school, both amazing shows. Congratulations to both staff and students that participated. Congratulations to LHS Robotic team for winning the world championship in Detroit. Kate Colburn: On May 15, SHAC, and LexPride will be hosting a screening of the National Geographic documentary: Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric and panel discussion including a family featured in the film as well as gender diverse young students. Ms. Colburn encourages parents, business leaders, school leaders, and community members to take the opportunity to attend this event at Clarke Middle School from 7-9 p.m. Alessandro Alessandrini: Would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers for what they have done for the students during Teacher Appreciation Week. Consent Agenda: Eileen Jay made a motion to approve the School Department's payroll warrant dated April 27,2018 in the amount of$3,434,745.06—(Approved 5-0) Eileen Jay made a motion to approve the School Department's accounts payable warrant dated May 4, 2018 in the amount of$1,775,191.77—(Approved 5-0) Eileen Jay made a motion to approve consent agenda items;seconded by Deepika Sawhney— (Approved 5-0) Meg Colella, Principal at Bridge School, along with Shannon Amsler spoke to members of the community and school committee regarding the$25,000.00 donation of playground equipment being installed at Bridge School in memory of Quinn Amsler. Agenda: Sustainability/NetZero Presentation Mark Sandeen from Sustainable Lexington gave a brief review to School Committee on the task force roadmap and recommendations. He wanted to solicit any comments or recommendations from the School Committee regarding the plan. • Introduction—Project updates • Overview of report • Review of report text • Next steps for report • Overall Strategy and Long-term Targets o Lexington' buildings are powered by 100% renewable energy sources by 2035 or 2040 o Lexington adopts a zero-emission building code by 2030 o Lexington is a model for how the Paris Climate Accord is rolled out at the local level o Lexington is home to a Commercial/Industrial District held up by others as an example of a successful zero-emission and climate-resilient neighborhood-scale development by 2035 2 LSC Meeting 5/08/18 Approved 10/9/18 Brief discussion and questions followed Mark Sandeens' presentation. School Committee is very much in support of this Sustainability Plan. DLP Program Review Findings and Recommendations Dr. Czajkowski led the discussion and gave a brief background on the DLP Program Review Findings. Ellen Sugita, Director of Special Education, reviewed the list of concerns and outlined a timeline of four areas of priorities/needs over a multi-year plan: • Professional Development • Programmatic Issues • Communication Strategies • Contract Impact Ms. Sugita went on to review actions that have been put into place to date: • Increased time for Extended School Year program • Requested addition of BCBA to address supports for the behaviors of the students • SMARTboard ordered for the upper DLP • Contracting with Sally Smith and Dr.James Earley for assistance with implementation and oversight Members had some questions for Ms. Sugita regarding the transition from middle school to out-of-district programs or LABB Program at the high school. Members thanked Ms. Sugita for her update and would like a follow up presentation on modifications that have been implemented. Estabrook Homework Pilot Update Estabrook Principal Sandra Trach and Assistant Principal Jeff LaBroad reported on year two of the Estabrook Homework Pilot. A brief background was given on how the no-written homework pilot came into fruition as well as the next steps and suggestions highlighted below: • Review, synthesize and summarize data gathered from feedback surveys from each stakeholder group • Gather and analyze end-of-year standards-based report card and MCAS data, as well as local, district and state longitudinal data since 2016. • It is recommended that the At-Home Learning Calendars be phased out at the end of the current school year, and replaced with a new website portal that provides resources to parents about extending student learning beyond the school day • Continue to provide targeted practice for students beyond the school day as needed, and focus on developing positive work habits for all students during the school day • Explore means to most effectively communicate curricular topics and themes to families to strengthen and support successful home-school partnerships. Discussion of Homework Policy Feedback School Committee members had discussion around the two public hearings that were held earlier in the day regarding feedback from the public and teachers on the new homework policy. Members would like to hear more feedback at the middle school level. It was suggested to have follow-up surveys to hear further feedback and a possible workshop. Overall thinking is that curricular issues are a concern at the 3 LSC Meeting 5/08/18 Approved 10/9/18 high school. Summer homework also needs to be addressed and clarified. School Committee is looking for some student feedback and how to go about receiving that information before the end of the school year, possibly during I-block. Discussion of School Discipline Survey Eileen Jay gave a brief update on the history of the parent survey on Disparities in School Discipline. Members expressed regret on the fallout of how the survey was handled. The School Committee has a strong commitment to address these disparities. Superintendent Dr. Czajkowski reviewed materials provided by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Justice (DOJ) regarding improving school climate and school discipline. Addressing the Root Cause of Disparities in School Discipline: An Educator's Action Planning Guide provides a three-stage method to accomplish this task highlighted below: • Stage 1 Digging into the Data—guides you through how to gather and analyze data that will help you understand who is being disciplined and what is happening to students who are disciplined. • Stage 2 Getting at the Roots of Disparities—explains how to conduct a root cause analysis to understand why these patterns exist • Stage 3 Creating an Action Plan—describes how to address the root causes of disparities in school discipline by creating and implementing an action plan. A lengthy discussion continued between school committee,the superintendent and community members on the handling of the discipline survey within the district. Further discussion will continue on upcoming agendas. Discussion of School Start Time Options Ian Dailey,Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations, gave a brief follow-up presentation on school start time options based on the feedback and questions from the April 24 school committee meeting. The School Start Times Task Force met and reviewed additional options that were discussed at the last School Committee meeting and reviewed the original 5 options that have been shared at prior meetings.The goal was to distill things down a few preferred alternatives. As a result of the Task Force meeting,the following alternatives were presented: • Reviewed Option 6—Delayed Start—not recommended by the Task Force • Reviewed Option 7—Delayed Start(modified)—not recommended by Task Force (same reasons for option 6 as well as other) • Reviewed Option 8—The Flip (MS first) not recommended by Task Force • Reviewed Option 9—The Flip (day length modified) one of the preferred alternatives identified by the Task Force Preferred Alternatives for Consideration • Option 2: The Flip • Option 4: Shared Buses • Option 9: The Flip (day length modified) 4 LSC Meeting 5/08/18 Approved 10/9/18 Members suggested the three preferred alternatives be compiled into one document to be available for for community members to review prior to the May 22 School Committee meeting. Diamond Traffic Plan Discussion: Ian Dailey explained that following a study of an earlier proposal for adding a third lane to the Diamond Middle School traffic plan, LPS Administration and the Transportation Safety Group are no longer recommending construction of the third lane. Eileen Jay moved that the School Committee not approve the completion of a third lane for the Hancock Street driveway at Diamond Middle School. Approved 5-0 Discussion and Vote on School Master Planning Advisory Committee Charge: Kate Colburn led the discussion and reviewed changes made to the updated draft document for the School Master Planning Advisory Committee Charge. It was recommended to have principals come in and consult rather than having them be permanent members of the advisory committee. Approved addition of three citizens, one being a high school student and two citizens to be selected through an application process. Further discussion about funding for professional support.After speaking with Donna DiNisco, Ms. Colburn learned that funding is supported under the current contract with DiNisco Design and that they could provide consultation services for Master Planning Advisory Committee under current contract. Next Steps: • Have committee vote to approve the Charge • Prepare and post application for citizens to apply for the Master Planning Advisory Committee with a closing date of May 31 • Vote on citizen at June 5 School Committee meeting • Review materials from DiNisco at June 19 meeting and have materials ready for the Advisory Committee to review over the summer • Meetings for the Master Planning Advisory Committee would begin at the end of the summer Alessandro Alessandrini made a motion to approve the School Master Planning Advisory Committee Charge-Approved 5-0 Motion to adjourn as made and seconded: Meeting adjourned at 11:45 p.m. Meeting Materials:Agenda; A.1-PowerPoint Presentation Sustainability/NetZero A.2- None A.3- None A.4-Estabrook School Homework Pilot Update Memo A.5-None A.6-School Start Times PowerPoint presentation A.6-2017-2018 Current Diamond Traffic Plan A.7-School Master Planning Advisory Committee Charge- DRAFT 5 LSC Meeting 5/08/18 Approved 10/9/18