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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-10-23-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, October 23, 2018 Lexington Town Office Building,Selectmen's Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue Call to Order and Welcome: 7:01 p.m. Chair Eileen Jay introduced committee members and gave a brief recap of the new agenda structure. 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 Peter Rowe, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Dr. Christine Lyons, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning NOT PRESENT: Rosanna Jiang, Student Representative The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and Administrative Assistant to Superintendent SCHOOL COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Deepika Sawhney: Attended the Bowman School Ribbon Cutting, on behalf of the School Committee, for the new playground at Bowman elementary. Kate Colburn: Ms. Colburn along with some other School Committee members attended the dedication ceremony for the new addition at Diamond Middle School. This was the official ribbon cutting to celebrate the completion of the renovations and additions at Diamond, which added a considerable amount of space but also improved already existing space. School Committee and Superintendent extended thanks to the community for their support in the project and to all the staff who helped to make it happen. Kathleen Lenihan: Attended the "Raising Anti-racist Children" panel with Eileen Jay this past Sunday. Ms. Lenihan extended her thanks to all who participated. 1 LSC Meeting 10/23/18 Approved 10/30/2018 Eileen Jay- Ms.Jay along with other School Committee members attended the Diwali Festival on Saturday. The event was sponsored by the Indian American of Lexington (IAL) . Ms. Jay provided an update to School Committee members of the Recreation Committee meeting that she attended the previous week. CONGRATULATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS: Dr. Hackett extended her congratulations to Bowman for the playground and her appreciation to the Department of Public Facilities and all who made it possible, as well as to the citizens, for the Diamond Middle school renovations. It takes a lot of work and effort by everyone and we are very grateful. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Dr. Hackett announced the administrative appointment of Dr. Christine Lyons who has been the Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning. Kate Colburn moved to endorse the Superintendent's appointment of Dr. Christine Lyons as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Learning (Seconded by Alessandro Alessandrini (Approved 5-0) DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION: AN ONGOING EFFORT Each month Dr. Hackett will provide the School Committee with a "DEI Update" at School Committee meetings during the Superintendent's Report to highlight the importance of our work and to make you aware of our ongoing efforts. • Copy of the paper has been sent to those community groups mentioned in the "anticipated reviewers" portion of the paper, and Dr. Hackett has made in- -person appearances to discuss our equity efforts with many of our community groups. Taking feedback on the paper through the month of October. Taking feedback online, will provide update on feedback. • Building Capacity for Our Call to Action LPS Joint Council Meeting- On October 17, 2018, more than 80 LPS administrators convened to discuss the aforementioned "DEI" position paper. The LPS Administrative Council, comprising Central Office administrators and principals, meet bi-weekly. In a departure from previous years, every other "Admin Council" meeting will be hosted by a principal at their school building to give administrators an opportunity to share best practices. Bowman Principal Jenny Corduck hosted our first school-based Admin. Council meeting, featuring Bowman educators who taught the LPS Admin. Council about the evolution of their "dismantling racism" curriculum and an interesting flowchart they developed to chronical their journey. We look forward to continuing our collaboration on equity at 2 LSC Meeting 10/23/18 Approved 10/30/2018 our next meeting at Hastings Elementary School when we learn about "restorative justice circles" as an alternative to discipline. • Parent Outreach and Education - Dr. Hackett attended this event on Sunday, October 21, 2018 from 2:00 -4:00 p.m. designed to teach parents about how to talk to their children about racism. The event, "Raising Anti-Racist Children: Strategies for Success" was be moderated by Reverend Liz Walker, and I am proud to see that many members of the Lexington school community were panelists, including April Daciuk, who co-founded the group Korean Americans in Lexington (KOLex); Katie O'Hare Gibson, a teacher at Estabrook; Celeste Freeman, a guidance counselor at Hastings Elementary School, and Maria Veronica A. Barnes, a teacher at the Lexington Montessori School. TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE CAPITAL UPDATE: • Dr. Hackett updated the committee on the technology infrastructure: New firewalls for the municipality and schools are now in place, and the recently purchased hardware is part of our network security that allows traffic to flow in and out of the schools. The new firewalls paved the way for a major upgrade. • The Town (municipality and schools) previously shared a 1Gb internet connection, which recently was upgraded to a 5Gb connection. A five-fold increase in capacity will support the growing number of school-issued devices and allow us to provide wifi for staff personal devices, which was previously not possible. The technology department is in the process of planning and configuring the network changes, and they expect to open up a staff guest network by Thanksgiving break. Many thanks to the Town Technology Departments for their collaboration and impressive advancements! Later Start Time Update: • Dr. Hackett updated members on her meeting today with the transportation consultant, Mr. Richard Labrie. Dr. Hackett announced a possible, low cost solution that maximizes the contract currently in place. • Later Start time at the High School in the fall of 2019 would lead to a later start time at LHS by 45 minutes with a 5 minute later start for elementary and no change in time for middle school • Mr. Richard Labrie will present to School Committee on October 30th • November 5th from 5:00-6:00 pm a later start time public forum will be held at the high school • November 20th looking for a vote from School Committee 3 LSC Meeting 10/23/18 Approved 10/30/2018 CONSENT AGENDA: ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS/GIFTS: 1. Approval of Donation from Community Members to Hastings School in the Amount of $5,863.37 Deepika Sawhney moved to accept a donation to the Maria Hastings School Gift Account in the amount of$5,863,37 from PTO with the expectation that funds are expended for the purpose of the student created mosaic to be placed in the new Hastings School; 2. Approval of Donation from Indiana University Resource Check in the Amount of$300.00 for Lexington High School. Deepika Sawhney moved to approve donation from Indiana University Resource check in the amount of $300.00 for the 2018 NCTA Teaching East Asian Literature workshop awarded to Marshall Dury;Kate Colburn seconded consent agenda items 1 & 2(approved 5-0) PAYROLL AND ACCOUNTS PAYABLE WARRANT APPROVAL 1. Accounts Payable Period Ending October 12, 2018 ($3,846,359.62) 2. Payroll Period Ending October 12, 2018 ($1,087,252.86) Kate Colburn moved to approve accounts payable period ending October 12, 2018 in the amount of$3,846,359.62; Kate Colburn moved to approve Payroll Period ending October 12, 2018 in the amount of $1,087,252. 86;Alessandro Alessandrini seconded items 1 &2 (approved 5-0) APPROVAL OF MINUTES • October 9, 2018 Alessandro Alessandrini moved to approve School Committee minutes from October 9, 2018 as amended-Kate Colburn seconded(approved 5-0) COMMUNITY SPEAK: Avon Lewis, President of the Lexington Education Association - 18 Hancock St., Arlington, MA- Dr. Lewis requested that the School Committee commit to a Resolution in support of Full Funding for our Public Schools. 4 LSC Meeting 10/23/18 Approved 10/30/2018 PRESENTATION: ENROLLMENT PROJECTION Dr. Maureen Kavanaugh, Director of Planning and Assessment, provided an update of enrollment trends, including a preliminary report on the next set of enrollment projections. Proposed goals and a timeline to guide the work of the newly re-convened, Enrollment Advisory Group (EAG) for 2018-19 is also included. Dr. Kavanaugh reviewed the two methods of enrollment projections used for 5 year projections recommended by the Enrollment Working Group from 2014 and reminded members that enrollment projections themselves should not be viewed as a point estimate or a specific enrollment to expect, but rather a more general indicator of possible future enrollment trends and direction. • Short Term: 1 Year Projections vs. Actuals o The elementary enrollment for this year was 104 students under what was projected, with an actual total of 3096 students o The middle school and high school projections were very close —23 students under for middle school and 4 students over for the high school level o Largest elementary schools by enrollment are Bridge, Bowman & Estabrook o Current enrollment at the middle school level is roughly even across the two Members had further discussion and some questions for Dr. Kavanaugh. One member requested information on an enrollment projection for incoming students with Special Needs in order to plan for needed space and programming. Dr. Hackett suggested implementing an outreach through Central Registration and survey families coming into the district to see when families are leaving the district in the hopes of getting anecdotal stories. When captured, these stories could lead to better insight into trends or patterns that could be helpful and useful. Thanks to Dr. Kavanaugh's excellent work, we are working on putting this survey together. NEW BUSINESS: VOTE MASC REGULATIONS: The MASC Resolutions Committee met on Monday, July 9, 2018 to consider resolutions proposed by member districts and the MASC Board of Directors for consideration at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Association at the 2018 MASC/MASS Joint Conference. In addition to the MASC Resolutions, Mr. Alessandrini read the Resolution in "Support of Full Funding for Our Public Schools" presented earlier in the evening from Avon Lewis, President of the Lexington Education Association (LEA). Alessandro Alessandrini moved to approve the resolution in support of Full Funding for Our Public Schools; Kate Colburn seconded the motion (Approved 5-0) 5 LSC Meeting 10/23/18 Approved 10/30/2018 School Committee members discussed and agreed on the following resolutions: Kate Colburn moved to have School Committee support a yes vote from the delegate at MASC Conference with respect to Resolutions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7& 9 provided and to receive further clarification on Resolution 4& 9-Alessandro Alessandrini seconded the motion (Approved 5-0) Kate Colburn moved that School Committee's delegate at MASC conference will not support Resolution 8-Kathleen Lenihan seconded the motion (Approved 5-0) COMMUNITY SPEAK: NONE UNFINISHED BUSINESS Vote to Approve FY20 Budget Calendar: Peter Rowe, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, presented the FY2020 Budget Calendar for approval. Eileen Jay suggested a motion to approve the FY20 Budget Calendar;So moved by Kate Colburn-(Approved 5-0) Vote to Approve FY20 Budget Guidelines Annually the School Committee reviews and approves the Budget Guidelines at the beginning of the budget development process. These guidelines provide the administration with the framework to develop the Fiscal Year 2020-21 budget. Upon approval, these guidelines will formally begin the Fiscal Year 2020-21 budget development process and will be disseminated on the Finance and Operations website and distributed accordingly. Deepika Sawhney moved to approve fiscal year 2020-21 Budget Guidelines as amended- Alessandro Alessandrini seconded the motion- (Approved 5-0) School Master Planning Advisory Committee Update Kate Colburn gave a brief update from the School Master Planning Advisory Committee meeting from October 12, 2018. • The SOI process to MSBA was explained by Dr. Hackett • Discussion on how the High School would function between now and the date of a new high school 6 LSC Meeting 10/23/18 Approved 10/30/2018 • Dr. Kavanaugh provided explanation of the Enrollment Projections • Reviewed Program Requirements o discussed possibility to forecast our various district programs, what the growth needs might be COMMUNITY SPEAK: NONE Eileen Jay made a motion to adjourn;so moved by Kate Colburn at 9:22 p.m. (Approved 5-0) 7 LSC Meeting 10/23/18 Approved 10/30/2018