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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-04-08-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday,April 8, 2019 Selectmen's Meeting Room 1625 Massachusetts Avenue CALL TO ORDER 6:01 p.m. Chair Eileen Jay welcomed and introduced committee members SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Eileen Jay, Chairperson Kate Colburn, Vice-Chairperson Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk (6:17 p.m.) Deepika Sawhney Scott Bokun NOT PRESENT: Peter Rowe, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Rosanna Jiang, Student Rep SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent 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 Article 27-Additional Appropriation for Center Track and Field Ms. Jay gave a brief update regarding the additional appropriation for the Center Track and Field alternates from the Recreation Committee that will be discussed at Town Meeting later this evening. The base bid which requires no additional appropriation includes installation of a synthetic turf field. The LPS administration and athletic department have recommended of the synthetic turf. During its last meeting, the Recreation Committee voted 4-1 in favor of going for the synthetic turf and opted not to select the organic fill option due to maintenance of the organic fill. Alternates are listed below: Alternate 0: Extend the synthetic turf field warranty from 8 years to 10 years Alternate 1: Organic infill in the synthetic turf field Alternate 2: High end natural grass field with synthetic fibers (hybrid field) Alternate 3: Upgrade the athletic lighting levels 1 LSC Meeting 4/8/2019 Minutes Approved 5/21/19 Ms. Colburn moved to approve the administration recommendation for synthetic field surface at Center Field with Alternate 0;seconded by Ms. Sawhney(Approved 4-0) Members had further discussion on Article 27 ending with the following vote. Ms. Colburn moved to approve the use of Article 27 to seek additional appropriations for the Center Track and Field project; seconded by Ms. Sawhney-(Failed 0-4) Lexington Children's Place (LCP) and Hastings Update Mr. Mike Cronin, Director of Public Facilities, provided a brief update on the progress of Lexington Children's Place and Hastings Elementary building projects. Mr. Cronin reported that Lexington Children's Place is still tracking an August 15, 2019 completion date while Hastings Elementary is tracking for February 2020 occupancy. Both building projects are within budget. Mr. Cronin responded to questions asked by School Committee members. COMMUNITY SPEAKS: Avon Lewis-Dr. Lewis requested the School Committee to take action against one of the questions asked on the 10 grade ELA MCAS test. Students read a passage from the book, The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead. After reading the prompt, they were asked to write a journal entry from the point of view of Ethel, a character who is openly racist. Dr. Lewis requested that members of Lexington School Committee join the MTA, American Federation of Teachers of Massachusetts, the NAACP, and others to write a letter to Commissioner Riley and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and demand two things: 1. Cancel the entire 10th grade MCAS exam and hold students harmless. 2. Implement a moratorium on MCAS and any other high stakes testing. Members and the Superintendent agree to bring this topic up at an upcoming agenda. Discussion of Amendment to Article 39: Ms. Colburn reported that School Committee voted at the last meeting for Ms. Colburn to make a Motion to Reconsider Article 39 at Town Meeting in order to offer an amendment. At the March 27 Town Meeting, the School Committee had learned after the close of debate that Article 39 applies not only to the private uses that were discussed on Town Meeting floor, but also to Lexington Public Schools' building projects. After some feedback on the original amendment, Ms. Colburn is proposing additional language be included to clear up any confusion and to narrow down the language about "Lexington Public Schools" on Lexington land. Ms. Colburn moved to approve the following amendment to Article 39, Paragraph 6: Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the use of land or structures for 2 LSC Meeting 4/8/2019 Minutes Approved 5/21/19 educational purposes by Lexington Public Schools on land owned or leased by the Town of Lexington or Lexington Public Schools shall not be subject to site plan review pursuant to §9.5-motion seconded by Ms. Lenihan (Approved 5-0) First Policy Reading- Integrated Building Design & Construction Policy The Superintendent and Committee members had a discussion on the Integrated Building Design & Construction Policy Goals. Ms. Colburn noted that the goals are a different document than what they were originally looking at while working on the policy in the working group. Ms. Colburn reported that further work needs to be done to clarify what is going to be in the goals document and to have the work integrated with the policy in a consistent manner. The Superintendent and Committee members had further discussion and comments on the policy. School Committee remained in open session and relocated to Battin Hall for the purpose of participating in Town Meeting. 3 LSC Meeting 4/8/2019 Minutes Approved 5/21/19