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Home My WebLink About1978-04-25-SC-min Page 52 April 25, 1978 A regular meeting of the Lexington School Committee was held April 25, 1978, at 8:00 p.m. at the School Administration Building. Those in at- tendance were: Swanson, Brown, Michelman and Hoffman. Also present were: Lawson, Maclnnes, Monderer, Pierson, Spiris, Barnes and student representative, Mende. Mr. Geoffrey Kalil, 40 Preston Road, read a letter sent to the PUBLIC School Committee and Superintendent of Schools which was a formal chal- PARTICIPATION lenge to the transfer policy of the Lexington Public Schools. In their communication signed by 39 parents it was claimed that students consid- ered for transfer due to the vote to close Parker School were not being treated according to the vote of the School Committee which specified special consideration be given to any request for transfer due to the splitting of the neighborhood in question. Superintendent Lawson and some committee members said the content of the letter did not reflect an accurate interpretation of the facts. It was agreed to place the matter on a future School Committee meeting agenda. It was MINUTES 2/14/78 VOTED: to accept the minutes of February 14, 1978 as amended. (Michelman Swanson, Unanimous) VOTED: to accept the minutes of March 7, 1978 as amended. (Gaudet, Swan- 3/7/78 son, Unanimous) VOTED: to accept the minutes of March 21, 1978. (Swanson, Michelman, 3/21/78 Unanimous) The minutes of April 4, 1978, were reviewed and revisions suggested. 4/4/78 It was agreed to present these minutes for review at the next School Com- mittee meeting. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools it was SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS VOTED: to accept the following Schedule of Payments. (Michelman, Swanson, Unanimous) SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGETS Personal Services March 31, 1978 Classified Payrolls #21-C $ 75,764.57 April 14, 1978 #22-C 75,890.21 April 7, 1978 Professional Payroll #21 433,290.11 Expenses March 31, 1978 Bill Schedules #146 30.00 March 31, 1978 #147 145.00 March 31, 1978 #148 19,479.41 April 7, 1978 #149 3,522.64 April 7, 1978 #150 2,791.15 April 7, 1978 #151 2,229.44 April 7, 1978 #152 30,480.50 April 14, 1978 #153 8,117.79 April 14, 1978 #154 8,635.71 Page 53 April 25, 1978 April 14, 1978 #155 $ 2,492.32 April 14, 1978 #156 76,558.15 April 21, 1978 #157 1,435.14 April 21, 1978 #158 4,918.16 April 21, 1978 #159 34,129.87 April 21, 1978 #160 439.51 April 21, 1978 #161 11,016.76 Out-of-State Travel April 7, 1978 #13 110.00 April 21, 1978 #14 115.00 Athletics April 7, 1978 Bill Schedules #29 59.89 April 21, 1978 #30 302.20 April 14, 1978 Payroll #30 704.76 Vocational Education April 7, 1978 Transportation #16V 165.69 April 14, 1978 #17V 254.94 April 21, 1978 #18V 144.90 SPECIAL PROGRAMS Non-Lexington Funds Adult Education April 7, 1978 Professional Payroll $ 1,523.23 April 14, 1978 Bill Schedules #7 213.60 April 21, 1978 #8 121.06 Driver Education (Adult Education) April 7, 1978 Professional Payroll 1,080.47 METCO April 7, 1978 Professional Payroll 5,284.23 March 31, 1978 Classified Payrolls 1,589.73 April 14, 1978 1,639.05 April 7, 1978 Bill Schedules #10 12,583.42 April 14, 1978 #11 1,994.65 LEADS April 7, 1978 Bill Schedules #34 76.32 April 14, 1978 #35 428.20 PL 94-142 Transition to Employment March 31, 1978 classified Payrolls 458.22 April 14, 1978 458.22 April 7, 1978 Professional Payroll 603.84 April 14, 1978 Bill Schedules #10 1,222.36 April 14, 1978 #11 54.84 Title I PL 89-313 - Special Education April 7, 1978 Professional Payroll 1,079.69 ESEA Library Grant April 14, 1978 Bill Schedule #8 9.00 Bus Ticket Account April 14, 1978 Bill Schedule #6 1,257.15 Pupil School Material Recovery April 14, 1978 Bill Schedule #6 521.12 Page 54 April 25, 1978 Mr. William Page, Chairman of the Lexington Forum on Aging reviewed LEXINGTON FORUM the resolution descriptions and warrant information, and the schedule ON AGING planned for the Lexington Forum on Aging. He briefly reviewed some of the resolutions and brought to the attention of the School Committee resolutions 2,8,9 and 16 which he felt had special educational signif- icance. He introduced a member of the Forum, Mr. Stoller. Mr. Stoller said he hoped that the high school would express some interest in the project, but was disappointed that he had no response from the high school. Mr. Page, noted, however that Dr. Clune has been most coopera- tive, but responses from department heads and others had not been re- ceived. The Superintendent and Committee assured Mr. Stoller that re- sponses would be forthcoming. The second reading of the proposed policy on small classes took PROPOSED POLICY place. The following policy was recommended by the superintendent. ON SMALL CLASSES "Small classes under fifteen students may be held when it is de- sirable or necessary to provide a full program of instruction to stu- dents in subjects in levels suited to their abilities, prior studies and learning needs. Recommendations to such classes are made by principals for superintendent's approval." Examples of small classes currently approved are individualized math skills, several foreign language courses, electronics, shorthand 2, foods 2. Mr. Hoffman questioned the necessity for giving examples due to' the fact that they would change yearly. Dr. Lawson responded that the point was well taken and perhaps examples could be included in the pro- cedures and deleted from the policy. It was agreed that the school com- mittee would review the policy at its next meeting for a third reading. The Guidance Study was postponed until a future school committee GUIDANCE STUDY meeting due to the fact that the School Committee would be adjourning to executive session early in the evening. Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools it was PERSONNEL CHANGES VOTED: to accept the following personnel changes. (Michelman, Swanson, Unanimous) (See Pages 54 A, 54 B) The School Committee noted that two retirees deserved special recog- nition for their many years of service, namely, Bertha Wahl, Grades 5/6 Adams School; and Mrs. Dorothy H. Griffin, Coordinator of Food Services and Department Head of Home Economics and Child Studies. Additional commendations were voiced by the committee on the appoint- ment of Miss Elizabeth A. Murray as elementary specialist teacher/program manager in language arts. The Committee felt it was fortunate for Lex- ington that Miss Murray who had served successfully as principal at the Franklin School would now serve in a new capacity. The superintendent noted the transfer of Paul L. Foley from the TRANSFER OF principalship of Parker School to the principalship at Franklin School, PRINCIPAL effective 7/1/78. He said only one principal had applied for the posi- tion, Mr. Foley. He added that since all elementary principals were on tenure it was not necessary to formulate a citizen's committee for se- PERSONNEL CHANGES - PROFESSIONAL page 549 ELEMENTARY RESIGNATION YRS. IN LEX. EFFECTIVE REASON • RETIREMENTS SECONDARY RESIGNATIONS RETIREMENT PUPIL SERVICES RETIREMENT TRANSFER 1 Page 54B • PERSONNEL CHANCES (Classification) • Retirements Effective New Personnel • Effective Page 55 April 25, 1978 lection. The committee expressed its compliments to Mr. Foley and its pleasure to the superintendent for the transfer of Mr. Foley to the Franklin School principalship. The superintendent and Mr. Spiris reviewed the process for sabbat- SABBATICAL LEAVES ical leave and the criteria for selection. After a brief discussion and upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools it was VOTED: to accept the following sabbatical leaves. (Swanson, Michelman, Unanimous) Full Year/Full Pay Half Year/Full Pay Half Pay/Full Year Mr. Barnes gave a status report of the School-to-School Interna- INTERNATIONAL tional Education Programs which involved the Lexington Public Schools. EDUCATION He traced the history, programs, goals and objectives of Lexington's international involvements. He noted that Lexington enjoyed school-to-school relationships with the American School of Warsaw, Poland; Anglo-American School of Moscow, U.S.S.R. ; American School of Puebla, Mexico; and, in the past, Cumbria County, England, and the American School of Brasilia, Brasil. He empha- sized the system's need to commit itself to be involved in a variety of activities and to provide for sabbatical leaves, and leaves of absence which could give support to the international program. In conclusion, he noted that the school-to-school program could provide each student with a "window upon the world" as a valuable source of information about other cultures, a laboratory for the development of world understanding, and empathy for all peoples of the world. Mr. Michelman asked if the Puebla Student Exchange Program conformed to the school committee policy on field trips. Mr. Barnes said the prin- cipal informed him that it did conform. The school committee thanked Mr. Barnes for the status report on the International Education Programs, and expressed support for involve- ment in programs that augmented and included students learning experiences. Page 56 April 25, 1978 A copy of the high school's recently adopted philosophy was pre- HIGH SCHOOL sented to the school committee. The philosophy would serve as a guide- PHILOSOPHY line for the visitation team from the New England Association of Sec- N.E.A.S.S. ondary Schools and Colleges during the high school's decennial evalua- EVALUATION tion from May 7 to May 10, 1978. Dr. Clune reviewed the process of the development of the philosophy. He noted that ten years ago, a philo- sophy had been accepted, and through the years changes made. The phil- osophy was reviewed in 1973 and changed during the development of the Lexington Plan, and during the 1976 Needs Assessment. He said that a nine-person committee produced the document over a period of fifteen months. He felt as much was done as possible to involve appropriate staff and students during the development. Student representative, Paul Mende, questioned whether the student body knew of the document, and noted concern about channels of acceptance. Miss Elizabeth Quinn, House- master, was asked to respond. She said that channels did exist, but were not as viable as 8-10 years ago when the student government was very active. Since the deactivation of the Student Government Associ- ation, the Student House had assumed some of the responsibilities, but no response had been received from the Student House even though infor- mation had been submitted. Mr. Mende added that he felt students should be more informed about the philosophy, and wondered what type of dissemi- nation it would receive. The superintendent noted that additional oppor- tunities for students and staff to react to the philosophy of the high school would be made available during the high school evaluation. Dr. Clune said all student leaders would be interviewed and would have a chance to respond to such items as philosophy. In addition, random samplings of students' opinion would be taken by the visitation team. Dr. Clone felt that as much as possible would be done to contact stu- dents. The superintendent suggested that a statement of philosophy might be put into the student handbook and/or made available on a mimeo- graphed sheet. Mr. Michelman concluded the discussion with a statement that he was impressed with the philosophy and suggested that the student channels of communication needed to be revitalized since their repre- sentative had expressed concern. A survey of physical education offerings at the high school was pre- LEXINGTON HIGH sented to the school committee for their information. It was noted that SCHOOL PHYSICAL the physical education staff would utilize the information to gear course EDUCATION offerings to student interest and to assist in other physical education OFFERINGS courses, goals and objectives. The financial statement was discussed. FINANCIAL STATEMENT Mr. Michelman noted that the high school debating team had been FORENSIC TEAM awarded the State Championship, and said the school committee would CHAMPIONSHIP give appropriate recognition to the team in the near future. Page 57 April 25, 1978 It was EXECUTIVE SESSION VOTED: to go into Executive Session at 9:55 p.m. , to discuss matters dealing with negotiations, citizens concerns, character and reputation of one or more individuals, and physical and mental health of an individual. It was announced that the school com- mittee would not be coming out of executive session. (Michelman, yes; Swanson, yes; Gaudet, yes; Hoffman, yes; Brown, yes) Respectfully submitted, 1 Richard H. Barnes /k Recording,Secretary