HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-01-17-BRIDGE-min BRIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
SCHOOL-BASED SITE COUNCIL
JANUARY 17, 2020 MEETING MINUTES
APPROVED FEBRUARY 28, 2020
Attendance: Margaret Colella, Erin Cerat,Amy Kvaal, Kimberly Hensle Lowrance, Zeba
McGibbon, Dierdre Schadler, Melanie Tanionos, Brienne Thibodeau, Shawn Wood, and
Betty Yee.
The Bridge Elementary School School-Based Site Council held its monthly meeting on
Friday,January 17, 2019 at the Bridge School, Room 19 at 8 AM.
The first item was to unanimously approve the November and December Meeting Minutes.
The second item was an update on redistricting,provided by Meg Colella. Letters to
redistricted children are in process and will go out very soon. The transition team (which
includes all elementary school principals and Anna Monaco) is meeting monthly. One goal
is to establish consistency between the schools' transitional activities. One effort already
underway is to bring redistricted kids to their new schools on June 2 during the school day.
This will be a district-wide event.Also an Open House is scheduled for May 20 for Bridge.
Families will be invited to walk through the school and be greeted by Kristen Gray and Meg.
The transition team is also looking into pairing families (redistricted families with a family
to personally welcome them); this is still in progress.
Another issue that the transition team is looking into is to implement consistency in the
class placement process. Each elementary school does this process a little differently, and
this year the processes will be aligned. This may result in changes to the information
parents are asked to provide during placements. More information will follow.
Principals will be working to explain the similar activities that the elementary schools
share as this seemed to be a concern for some parents.
The deadline for special requests will be announced soon,though it's unlikely these
requests will be widely supported. Grandfathering will also have a deadline; more will
follow.
The SBC had a brief discussion about the plans presented and why plan C was chosen over
plans A and B. More information will be shared as meetings are held and decisions are
made. In the meantime, questions can be directed to Meg or Anna Monaco.
The third item discussed was the LPS Budget. Since 2016,the LPS budget has decreased,
and this is the first year that the town and the schools are not aligned about the budget. LPS
wants a 4.3% increase while the town has a lower amount in mind - 3%. Several budget
summits are being held with the public to discuss the implications of the change in the
budget. If LPS is not able to get the budget that it wants, Dr. Hackett has been talking about
streamlining non-essentials and making non-instructional cuts. One example is decreasing
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the number of electives at LHS. SEPAC has provided a number of questions about the
budget and its impact on special education; Dr. Hackett is in the process of responding.
Decreases will not all come out of special ed, however. Principals and department heads
are also being more thoughtful about requests in order to keep costs down.What does a
4.3% cut look like at Bridge? Meg said it's unclear at this point, as the impact would be a
district-wide decision,though one example would likely be cuts to classroom supplies.
The topic for our next meeting will be Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts at Bridge.
The meeting concluded at 8:30 AM.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Contact Meg Colella, Principal and Co-Chair (mcolella@lexingtonma.org), or Kimberly
Hensle Lowrance, Parent Representative and Co-Chair
(khensle(@gmail.com); or visit https://www.lexingtonma.org/bridge-
elementary_/about/site-council/
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