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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-19-LHS-min �V � Lexington High School t' 251 Waltham Street ❖ Lexington,, Massachusetts 02421 Andrew Stephens 781-861-2320,x69103 Principal astephens@lexingtonma.org Twitter: @LexingtonHSMa FAX: 781-861-2440 March,2018 To: The Lexington High School Council From: Andrew Stephens Re: March Meeting Minutes LHS School Site Council Meeting met on March 19, 2018 from 6:15-7:45 PM in the Library Media Center. Present: Andrew Stephens, Suzanne Lau,Elise Rowley,Erin Barrett, Shiv Chandra,Dave Wininger, Sharon Kendall,Ed Li, Bryce Spalding,Katie Cutler,Leslie Zales,Nancy Shepard, Kate Vogelzang, Sheera Knecht. Guests: Angela Chang and Joe Zhu (LHS parents). Absent: Liz Curtin and Alex McLaughlin 1.Welcome to guests attending the meeting,Joe Zhu and Angela Chang (LHS parents). II. Minutes for the February 12, 2018 meeting were approved. III.Handbook Review Discussed key areas of the handbook to review and areas to update language,including: • Clarifying the sexual harassment policy and adding a flow chart for reporting incidents. • Updating language to reflect current situations, e.g. changing "tobacco" to "nicotine", or referencing "paraphernalia" with regard to vaporizers or marijuana pipes. • Consider tiered consequences for juice, nicotine,THC etc. • Update the Homework Policy and Implementation based on feedback from this first year— including placement of holidays in the calendar to correspond to the actual holiday (e.g. in June). • Include the Revised Assessment policy in the Parent/Student handbook in addition to the Faculty handbook. • Dress— include language to prohibit wearing of inappropriate costumes and masks during the school day. • Look at#12 in the Suspension/Expulsion list. • Consider putting Emergency procedures in the student and faculty handbooks. • Define homework expectations around posting after class and on snow days. • Define expectations around email and checking email daily from faculty regarding classes or homework. IV.Final Exam Schedule • Current last day of school (including 7 snow days) is Tuesday, June 26, 2018. • Two options for final exams are being considered: 1) Two review days followed by three days of two finals per day (traditional),and 2) Five days of one final exam followed by review or enrichment classes in the afternoons (last year). • Attendance would end at the beginning of the last full week of school, currently June 18. • Based on last year's attendance records during the one exam per day schedule, about one third of students were not in class during the review/enrichment classes in the afternoons. • Given the poor attendance,Principal Stephens is inclined to revert back to the traditional finals schedule in option 1). • Length of the finals exams and the break between exams needs to include time for accommodations and proctoring considerations. • The finals schedule may change if there are any further snow days or adjustments to the days counted for the school year. V. Announcements/update s • Security update—An interim plan to lock additional exterior building doors started today to increase the security of the buildings. Faculty meetings and a google form survey have identified security issues to address. If the funding is approved by Town Meeting,the plan for 2018-2019 is to add electronic locks to the doors, increase the capability to lock doors on a schedule and restrict access to the school buildings during the school day. • Graffiti incident—Two symbols of offensive graffiti were found in the bathrooms on consecutive days.These incidents are being investigated.Principal Stephens made a powerful announcement to the school and community denouncing these incidents. • The student-led walkout on March 14 went smoothly. Approximately half the students participated. • The LHS School Council meeting on April 9 will be held from 6:00—7:30 pm to accommodate Town Meeting. • Schedule o Scheduling Committee is proposing an incremental schedule change that could be implemented in September. o Due to numerous holidays and missed days, Homeroom is often missed on Monday and moved to I-block on Tuesday. This I-block is longer than needed for Homeroom and also results in one less I-block for that week. o The proposal is to move Homeroom to Tuesday morning and to shorten the Tuesday I-block to accommodate this change. o All the blocks could be increased from 44 to 48 minutes and a slightly longer 9- minute passing time could be added to the other weekday mornings. o If there is no school on a Tuesday (infrequent),then a contingency plan would be needed, e.g.run the Tuesday schedule on Wednesday. • Parent Academy will be held on Saturday,March 24 at the Community Center. Pre- registration is not required. There will be many interesting speakers and presentations for parents. VI. Adj ournment 7:45