HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-26-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Lexington Town Office Building,Selectmen's Meeting Room
1625 Massachusetts Avenue
CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 7:04 p.m.
Chair Eileen Jay welcomed and introduced committee members.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT
Eileen Jay, Chairperson
Kate Colburn, Vice-Chairperson
Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk
Deepika Sawhney
Alessandro Alessandrini
NOT PRESENT:
Rosanna Jiang, Student Rep
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
Development
The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and
Administrative Assistant to Superintendent
Ms. Jay noted that tonight's School Committee meeting is Mr. Alessandrini's last meeting as a
School Committee member after 9 years.
Community members expressed their thanks to Mr. Alessandrini for his dedication, care, and
consideration of special education students and their needs over the past 9 years. A note of
appreciation from FOMADS (Friends of Music, Arts, Drama Students) was read, as well as an
expression of gratitude from the Coordinator of Performing Arts. School Committee colleagues
and the Superintendent expressed their admiration and appreciation for Mr. Alessandrini's
passion, advocacy and dedication to serving the best interests of students. His wisdom,
leadership and insight will be missed.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Ms. Sawhney reported that Diamond and Clarke sent teams to the Science Bowl regionals.
There was very vigorous competition and both middle school teams did extremely well.
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Diamond Team A came in second, Clarke team B came in third. Thanked teachers for their
dedication and hard work, and Lexington High School students for helping the middle schoolers.
Ms. Lenihan attended the Overcoming Unconscious Bias Training sponsored by LexPride and led
by Ms. Valerie Overton on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. Ms. Lenihan thanked LexPride for their
continued efforts and trainings.
Ms. Colburn thanked CAAL (Chinese Association of Lexington) for an incredible Chinese New
Year at Cary Hall celebration. She really appreciated that School Committee members were
invited to be active participants in the event. She and Ms. Jay took the Unconscious Bias
Training as well. She thanked Valerie Overton for offering the training.
Ms. Jay echoed Ms. Colburn and Ms. Lenihan's comments.
Ms. Jay reminded the community of the upcoming election on March 4, 2019.
CONGRATULATIONS & CELEBRATIONS:
Superintendent Hackett thanked CAAL and CALex for their Lunar New Year celebrations.
Superintendent Hackett related a happy Valentine's Day story. Thankful to Mo the busdriver
for delivering valentines day cards to a kindergartner who left hers at home.
CONSENT AGENDA:
ACCEPTANCE OF DONATIONS/GIFTS
1. Donation to Lexington Children's Place (LCP) in the amount of$2,000.00
2. Donation to Jonas Clarke Middle School from Alliance Energy LLC in the amount of
$500.00
Mr. Alessandrini moved to approve items 1-2 under acceptance of donations/gifts on
the consent agenda;seconded by Ms. Sawhney(Approved 5-0)
PAYROLL AND ACCOUNTS PAYABLE WARRANT APPROVAL
1. Payroll Period Dated February 15, 2019 ($3,979,151.60)
2. Accounts Payable Warrant Dated February 22, 2019 ($1,217,100.30)
3. Accounts Payable US Bank Reconciliation Warrant Dated February 22, 2019 ($52,170,50)
Mr. Alessandrini moved to approve items 1-3 under Payroll and Accounts Payable
Warrants on the consent agenda;seconded by Ms. Colburn (Approved 5-0)
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. January 22, 2019
2. February 5, 2019
Mr. Alessandrini moved to approve School Committee minutes from January 22, 2019
and February 5, 2019 under the consent agenda;seconded by Ms. Colburn (Approved
5-0)
COMMUNITY SPEAKS:
None
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT:
Superintendent Hackett reported on the following:
Update on Admnistrative Searches:
Superintendent Hackett announced the reopening of the Estabrook principal search earlier this
month, along with the revised process being used to find the best candidate to lead the
Estabrook School. Superintendent Hackett is hoping to name the next Principal of the
Estabrook Elementary School by mid-March, 2019.
Members of the administrative team along with Ms. Colburn, Ms. Sawhney and the
Superintendent will be prescreening four qualified candidates for the position of Assistant
Superintendent for Finance and Operations. The top candidate(s) will be identified for the
School Committee's consideration and the finalist(s) will be interviewed in a public session.
Superintendent Hackett announced that the position of Director of Equity and Student
Supports has been revised and posted. The possibility of a separate "Safety Coordinator"
stipend to handle the safety, training, emergency preparedness, and crisis response aspects of
the position is being explored.
Big Backyard
On February 7, 2019, Dr. Lyons and the Superintendent enjoyed their first Big Backyard walk
with Ms. Hart's first grade class from Harrington Elementary School. It may have been a cold,
wet, drizzly February day, but it was hardly noticed given the sheer joy and excitement of our
little ones. The children explored their environment and sought out clues about the natural
habitat that exists around their school. Thank you to our dedicated teachers, parent
volunteers, Ms. McCarthy, and our Big Backyard coordinators for inspiring creativity, inquiry,
and joy in our youngest learners.
Global K-12
Superintendent Hackett has been invited to be a guest speaker at the Global K-12 Education
Research Association in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China in October, 2019. Shijiazhuang is
approximately two hours south of Beijing. The associated travel expenses will be covered by
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Global K-12 Education Research Association. The theme of the annual conference is "Student
Leadership and Engagement," and leaders from around the world will deliver speeches on the
topic. In addition to learning from international educational leaders, Dr. Hackett will have an
opportunity to visit schools in the area and learn about Asian culture, customs and traditions.
PRESENTATION:
FY 2019 Second Quarter Financial Report
Mr. Peter Rowe, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, provided the FY
2019 Second Quarter Financial Report to School Committee. Mr. Rowe reported that the
School Department, at the midpoint of the school year, projects a surplus of$1,050,333 from
the approved Fiscal Year 2019 Budget. This represents a surplus of approximately 0.97% of the
total School Department budget. $743,844 of the total surplus is projected from the Salary &
Wages portion of the budget while $306,489 is from the expense portion of the budget. A full
copy of the FY 2019 Second Quarter Report can be found here: 2-16-19 SC Packet
Mr. Rowe responded to questions from School Committee members.
Mr. Alessandrini moved that the School Committee approve the transfers outlined in Table 7
of the Fiscal Year 2019 Second Quarter Financial Report, per School Committee Policy DBJ;
seconded by Ms. Colburn (Approved 5-0)
Received and placed on file.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Joint Meetings on Mental Health:
On February 8, 2019, the Superintendent Hackett and Town Manager James Malloy met with
Julie Fenn, Assistant Coordinator, PE/Health and Wellness, Valerie Viscosi, K-12 Director of
Counseling, and Melissa Interess, the Town's Human Services Director. The meeting was
convened to discuss the following: (1) a debrief of our recent Joint Mental Health Summit; (2)
the CHNA grant; and (3) communication and decision-making challenges.
Superintendent Hackett reported that, going forward, she and the Town Manager, Mr. Malloy,
will meet quarterly with Julie Fenn, Val Viscosi, and Melissa Interess to review their work and
the progress of the Joint Mental Health Task Force. If there are decisions that need to be made
or requests for funding that are difficult to answer, Ms. Fenn, Ms. Viscosi and Ms. Interess will
refer those to Mr. Malloy and Superintendent Hackett, as appropriate.
A Joint Mental Health Summit (Board of Selectmen and School Committee) meeting is
tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.
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School Master Planning Advisory Committee Meeting
Superintendent Hackett provided a brief overview on the School Master Planning Advisory
Committee meeting held on February 8, 2019:
MPC members reviewed the draft Statement of Interest (SOI) for Lexington High School,
formed small groups to closely review sections of the SOI, and then provided feedback and
edits. Ms. Colburn and Ms. Lenihan both commented that it was a very productive meeting and
that they learned a lot of history regarding the high school. Dr. Stephens provided a handout
of detailed layouts of the floor plan at the high school and discussed short-term "strategies" for
LHS spacing mining options and recommendations.
Ms. Colburn reminded the community they can view of all of the materials and copies of the
minutes from all the Master Planning meetings on the Lexington Public Schools website LPS
Homepage
COMMUNITY SPEAKS:
None
A motion to adjourn was made;so moved by Ms. Sawhney at 9:08 pm (Approved 5-0)
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