Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-09-07-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 September 7, 2018 Meeting Present: • Members: Sean Osborne (Chair), Fuang-Ying Huang (Vice Chair), Tanya Gisolfi (Clerk), Bonnie Brodner, Jeffrey Toronto, James Barry (Police Department Member), Charlotte Rodgers (Town Senior Staff Member) • Liaisons: Aidan Evelyn (Police Department), Larry Freeman (ABCL), Jill Hai (BoS), Kathleen Lenihan, (School Committee), Brent Maracle (LICA), Valerie Overton (LexPride), Mona Roy (SEPAC/LEXDESI/IAL), Debra Zucker (LexPride) • Guests: Judy Jackson, Anthony Serio, Mark Corr(Chief of Police) Meeting called to order at 8:07 am, Quorum was present at 8:07 am. No Public Comments Minutes from June 1, 2018 meeting were reviewed with no changes. Whereupon the motion was made by Ms. Brodner, the motion was seconded: Resolved: to approve the minutes for the June 1, 2018 meeting as drafted. Chair Report Transgender Proclamation Unanimously Approved by Board of Selectmen in July Copy of signed proclamation available on BOS webpage Follow up on Tres Petit Creperie Incident Report No racial or country of origin bias found by investigators ADL New England Metro North Advisory Committee Daniel E. Levenson, Associate Regional Director, ADL New England scheduled to present information to LHRC on October 5,2018. ADL New England, New England Metro North Advisory Committee, will visit. Lt. Barry attended an earlier meeting regarding this committee that was hosted by Temple Isaiah. fjqps://www.temple�sa�air.net/went/adl-new-en lqnd.-Jn sofy- committee.litin-I ............................................................................... 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE-LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 We will have Chair, Vice Chair, and Clerk elections next month when all our member seats are filled. Clerk will receive all nominations, as of this moment, Mr. Osborne & Ms. Brodner are running for Chair. Mr. Toronto is running for Vice Chair. If you are interested in an open community member seat, Mrs. Rodgers has the application and can send electronically, and you can also get it on the town website. Once complete, applications are kept on file in the Selectman's office. Member attendance review, please attend at least 50% of the meeting if you do not then BoS can act to remove. Ms. Rodgers reported that she and Kelly Axtell, acting Town Manager discussed the potential for a LHRC facilitated strategic planning session. The planning session could be during a regularly scheduled monthly meeting or during a weekday or weekend workshop. The Town Manager's Office may pay for a facilitator, food and beverages. Improving Diversity of Town Employees —Anne Grnlia-Kostos, Lexington Human Resources Director Ms. Graglia-Kostos is responsible for recruiting all town employees except for the Lexington Public Schools. This includes 300 full-time and 96 part-time individuals. At any point in time 2- 10 openings exist. Police are civil service employees and so must follow those rules for hiring. Fire is not civil service, so town process much easier: take a test, then interviewed, background checked and then position offered if all checks out. While the Town often promotes from within to increase retention and institutional knowledge, all jobs are posted on the Town website. Now job postings going out to Chairs of town citizen groups to help get the word out. Small staff, so they do not go out to job fairs, but do post to specialized job sites and associations. Hired fluent Mandarin speaker recently. There is no problem getting candidates, but the struggle is in getting a diverse pool of candidates. Question was asked about internet job sites and reaching out to schools with diverse populations, while that doesn't seem to be a current tactic, it was noted. There is a movement to explain the benefits of working for town government through Mass Municipal Association, good pension & benefits. Suggestion was made that postings be sent out to the Town Meeting Members Association Listserve. Lt. Barry spoke on police recruitment. Detective Evelyn spoke about summer camp and the explorer program which focuses on younger kids. Civil Service exam - 9 residents applied they took 4 of the residents, no minorities and no females applied. The process: take the Civil Service exam, if you pass then residents top the list followed by disabled veterans, and veterans. Applicants must pass a background check, psychological test, and physical test. Finally, applicant must attend the academy 24 weeks and then 12 weeks of field training before work. There has been some discussion within the department about getting out of civil service requirement, but that is a contractual decision. How do you fill the minority gap, especially as it seems that people don't want to be police officers today? 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Detective Evelyn stated he is the only male African American and there is one African American female on the force. Anyone can take the test, but the background test is a bit more rigorous, so difficult to field candidates. Detective Evelyn has 22 kids in a youth program, Law Enforcement Explores, he is trying to get the METCO kids into the program, but transportation is an issue. A possibility was raised of reaching out to the Family and Friends program. Of the 20+ kids in the program only about 5 state they are interested in becoming a police officer. There is also a two-week summer program. Ages 14-20 for any interested in police work. Program $220, purchase uniforms etc. A suggestion was also made to have the Police come to Career Day at LHS. Citizens Academy—reaching out to residents to learn more about government. Get involved might lead to possible job openings. Additional suggestions included posting on Mass Diversity and on Multicultural Center websites to encourage diversity recruitment practices, post at colleges with diverse populations. A comment was made that many studies have proven that towns that have engaged multi-cultural centers have much more diverse representation. Maybe considering a multicultural center would be helpful for the town of Lexington. Please send your thoughts to the Chair who will forward to Mrs. Kostos. Working with New LPS Superintendent—Ms. Brodner and Mrs. Huang met with our new superintendent to discuss a variety of issues including the Disparity in Discipline Survey and School Committee Presentation. The initial meeting was very positive. Majority of the discussion was Black and IEP student discipline concerns. Ms. Brodner noted that Category 18, or non-mandatory, suspensions now need to be cleared through the Superintendent. The superintendent is looking for someone to come in for an Equity Audit, where a third party comes in and looks at treatment within the system, as an outside party. The Superintendent is presenting at the September 25th School Committee meeting, and will be invited to present to the LHRC in Oct. It appears that her topic will cover "Where we are, where we want to go, how do we get there." Mrs. Huang said equity audit action plan and time line is encouraging because it seems quick and responsive. A brief discussion was had about who will be appointed to sit on the LHRC for the schools. Is the civil rights coordinator for LPS the best choice, perhaps a principal or district staff? In the end it is the Superintendents decision to choose someone an executive level member of the School Administration. A suggestion was made that a set of skills or desired traits for the position be mentioned. Reports and Updates on Human Rights Related Incidents and Programs from Committee Members Charlotte Rodgers introduced new town employee Tony Serio (Social Worker) ---- She also announced and sent around flyers for "What you Need to Know About Vaping & E- Cigarettes." October 17th, 7:00-9:00 pm Cary Hall. 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 LexPride/Cary Library/Human Services announced, "Gen Silent" A documentary film about LGBT aging on Sunday, November 4 at the Library from 1-3 PM. A panel discussion will follow the movie. Report of vandalism of rainbow flag at First Parish Lexington in July Lt. Barry reported incident -- July Rainbow Flag went missing during the night from First Parish, no video no information, seems like a one-time incident don't know if it was vandalism or hate, not real proof. A request was made for all people reporting harm, please don't leave messages, or report on Facebook pages. Please speak to someone, timely and correct reporting leads to a timely response. Police tried to find a pattern, but so far, no pattern has been identified. A point was made from one of our liaisons that as election and ballot question about trans civil rights nears, incidents of hate crimes may increase. Lt. Barry, followed again with the request that no matter how minor anyone may feel about a specific incident, please report! Please don't report on FB. Suggestion that cultural groups add a place on their web pages about how to report hate incidents and other resources. Discussion followed regarding confidentiality surrounding police reporting. Email Regarding Disparity in Discipline Survey and School Committee Presentation a. Bill Litchenstein daughter seclusion room article: i. ht;qps://patch.com/massachu� ctts/le iii)I,,Qn/remember-bil,l,- licht.crl5t.c.r1 utm 5atnrce amp&fm cam aipj-amp& utm medium=mobile b. Special Education: Technical Assistance Advisory SPED 2016-1: Time-out and Seclusion i. hI1p,//www.doe.mass.edu/sped./­.advi s. ri,e.s/2.01.6. c. Rights Regarding the use of Restraints in MA Public Schools i. w.v✓.m..hlac.a� Docs/res.t.u.a.n..t. .J..n_ a.s.,5 ..p b.]c—sch ].s.._pdf d. Program Quality Assurance Services Compliance and Monitoring: Question and Answer Guide on Special Education Extended School Year Programs i. hI1p,//www.doe.mass.edu/sped./­.advi s. ri,e.s/2.01.6._l::!:a.._h!:rrr:l e. DOE website resources: i. h!gp://www.doe.mass.edu/leap/ ii. hl.tp://www.doe.mass.edu/bele/councils/racial.html iii. hI1jL//www.doe.mass.edu/iiews/iiews.aspx?id=67.33 iv. h..!p://www.doe.mass.edu/base/docs/fy2017/2016-Ill/item8.hIml v. hI1p://www.doe.mass.edu/ssce/discipline/ Committee Elections Scheduled for October 2018 —Potential Candidates Should Contact Clerk Chair Vice Chair Clerk 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Meeting adjourned at 10:20 a.m. Next meeting: Friday, October 5, 2018 at 8:00 am. LIST OF DOCUMENTS • Agenda • Last Month's Minutes • Attendance Report • Gen Silent flyer • What You Need to Know About Vaping & E-Cigarette 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420