HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-03-31-SC-minLEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Conducted by Remote Participation
CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 7:00 p.m.
Chair Eileen Jay welcomed and introduced committee members
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT
Eileen Jay, Chairperson
Kathleen Lenihan, Clerk
Deepika Sawhney
Scott Bokun
Sara Cuthbertson
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT
Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent
Dr. Christine Lyons, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional
Development
Mr. David Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations
The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee and
Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent.
Ms. Jay reviewed some of the ground rules for how the virtual meeting would be conducted.
Ms. Jay read Governor Baker's Executive Order from March 12, 2020 which suspended certain
provisions of the Open Meeting Law due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Co of Gove�rno�r
Baker's. Ms. Jay explained that there would be one public comment period
held during this video meeting. Ms. Jay covered additional ground rules for effective and clear
conduct of business and to assure accurate meeting minutes.
School Committee Announcements/Liaison Reports
Ms. Cuthbertson thanked Ms. Emma Harding and Ms. Patricia Jacotin, Co -Presidents of SEPAL.
Ms. Cuthbertson reported that both she and Mr. Bokun have been working with them for the
past few weeks and that they have been wonderful with their communication. She noted that
the Superintendent has further information on their work with SEPAC in the Superintendent's
Report.
Mr. Bokun echoed Ms. Cuthbertson's comments on SEPAC, in addition to thanking Dr. Hackett
and Ms. Ellen Sugita. Mr. Bokun noted that today, March 31st, is the International Transgender
Day of Invisibility. Mr. Bokun reflected on core value #6 "Be Courageous."
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Ms. Sawhney thanked the members of Chinese American community in Lexington who attended
the last School Committee meeting. They spoke publicly for the need to close schools, explained
the situation of what unfolded in China, and related personal experiences and concerns about
the spread of the virus here .
Ms. Lenihan announced that the 2020 Vision Committee will be hosting a futures panel,
"Challenges and Opportunities for Lexington" on Thursday, April 2nd via Zoom at 7:00 p.m.
Ms. Jay echoed Ms. Sawhney's comments. Ms. Jay expressed her appreciation for Dr. Hackett
and LPS Administrators for the work they have been doing on trying to put a coordinated effort
into remote learning.
Ms. Sara Mei, Student Representative, reported on her first day of remote learning.
Congratulations and Celebrations:
Dr. Hackett congratulated everyone in the Town of Lexington for everything they have done,
including the Lexington Public Schools. She commented that while many of us have been
tucked safely away in our homes as directed, others have been on the front lines ensuring that
everyone in our community has their basic needs met. Dr. Hackett reported that the
Department of Public Facilities and custodians have worked tirelessly to ensure that the
buildings are clean, sanitized, and safe. The Director of Student Health Services and school
nurses have safely distributed student medications to families during the school closure, and
they have worked to donate thermometers and other needed supplies to the Town. The
Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations has worked with his team to get the "Grab
& Go" meal service off the ground. Food services and finance office staff assist with serving
breakfast and lunch daily, making sure that we get food to every child who needs it. In addition,
Dr. Hackett noted that it is hard for families who must now work from home to share the same
computer or device with their children. To that end, the Director of Technology and his staff
cleaned over 21300+ devices and created a "Grab & Go" technology distribution day.
Dr. Hackett expressed her gratitude for the entire school community—students, families, staff,
union leaders, local officials, partners, and Lexington residents. She commented that despite
the many challenges Lexington has faced, we have managed to "embrace our revolutionary
spirits!"
Superintendent Report: Superintendent Report 3-31-2020
Dr. Hackett reported on the following:
Governor Baker Extends COVID-19 School Closure
Dr. Hackett briefly reviewed Governor Baker's extension on School closures until May 4, 2020.
Important COVID-19 Special Education Updates
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On Monday, March 30, 2020, Dr. Hackett held a virtual meeting with SEPAC co -presidents, Mr.
Scott Bokun (School Committee liaison to SEPAC), Ms. Sara Cuthbettson (School Committee
representative), and the Director of Special Education. Dr. Hackett noted that this period of
school closure is challenging and difficult in general, but for families who have children with
disabilities it is even harder. The shifting guidance at the federal level has made it difficult for
states to respond appropriately, generating more questions, concerns, and angst for families.
Dr. Hackett stated that the Lexington Public Schools is following the "Coronavirus COVID-19
Guidance for Schools and Districts Regarding Special Education," written by Stoneman, Chandler
& Miller, LLP, which offers excellent guidance for school leaders. They indicate that "Students
with disabilities remain entitled to a free appropriate public education ("FAPE") in light of the
child's circumstances, even during national/state declared emergencies." However, the provision
of FAPE must be "consistent with the need to protect the health and safety of students with
disabilities and those individuals providing education, specialized instruction, and related
services to these students." Dr. Hackett said these are difficult questions to navigate given the
current crisis, and the administration will do their best to provide direct and thoughtful
responses in a parent communication that will be sent out later in the week. She expressed
that the administration remains committed to transparent communication during this period of
school closure, and encouraged families to reach out to their child's dedicated special education
liaison should they need more support.
Ms. Cuthberston asked questions related to support for families. She conveyed that this can be
very challenging depending on the child's educational and behavioral needs and for some
people this can be a really big challenge for their own mental health or other needs. Is there a
place to direct families to go if they are having a really hard time? Dr. Hackett replied that, in
addition to reaching out to liaisons, all the same support personnel in the buildings are
available. Everyone's major priority in Lexington Public Schools is to support students and
families. If you have trouble contacting someone, you can reach out to Mr. Johnny Cole,
Director of Equity and Student Supports, at . Dr. Hackett said the easiest
way to reach anyone right now is through email, as staff members are checking their email
regularly.
Mr. Bokun commented that it is important to recognize that even though Lexington has been
working on a virtual plan for the past 10 days, the guidelines are constantly changing and it's
very confusing to find out what really has to be done and what the schools are obligated to do.
Mr. Bokun emphasized that communication between family and SPED liaison is important and
that families should let the committee know if communication is broken.
Lexington High School Statement of Interest Change in Date of Submission:
Dr. Hackett continued her report by requesting an amended vote for the Statement of Interest
(SOI) for the high school. Originally, the School Committee voted to authorize the
Superintendent to submit the LHS SOI Form on March 9, 2020, which was the anticipated date
of submission. Due to the need to coordinate signatures from all parties and the COVID-19
school -related challenges at the time, we were unable to submit the form on March 9. Instead,
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the Statement of Interest Form was submitted on March 16, 2020. Dr. Hackett asked the
Committee to revise the vote to reflect the accurate submission date.
A motion to revise the vote of the Lexington High School Statement of Interest Form from
March 9, 2020 to March 16, 2020 convened in an open meeting on March 10, 2020 & March
30, 2020; so moved by Mr. Bokun, seconded by Ms. Lenihan, a roll call vote was taken
(Approved 5-0)
Ms. Jay asked members if they had any comments or questions about the Superintendent
Report.
Ms. Sawhney asked for some clarification on how things are being handled with special
education students. Dr. Hackett stated that the Special Ed department has been doing a terrific
job and they have been reaching out to families regularly. She clarified that the list of questions
offered is not a reflection of people not doing anything, it is a reflection of the desire for
refinement of what is already being done.
Ms. Jay suggested taking a vote to appoint Ms. Cuthbertson as the interim liaison to SEPAC,
since Ms. Colburn was the previous liaison and is no longer on the Committee. Ms. Jay took a
roll call vote; seconded by Mr. Bokun (Approved 5-0)
Consent Agenda
Mr. Bokun moved to accept the following items on the Consent Agenda:
• Accounts payable dated March 13, 2020 in the amount of $817,637.67
• Accounts payable dated March 27, 2020 in the amount of 798,627.38
• Accounts payable dated March 27, 2020 BMO (Bank of Montreal) in the amount of
$95,,129.61
• Payroll dated March 13, 2020 in the amount of $3,972,554.09
• Payroll dated March 27, 2020 in the amount of $4,022,486.33
• School Committee minutes dated March 101 2020
Ms. Sawhney seconded; Ms. Jay took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0)
Presentation: Remote Learning Plan
Dr. Hackett presented information on the remote learning plan that started on Monday, March
30, 2020. She noted that Lexington's approach to remote learning has received a lot of interest
and that approximately 20 districts from in and out-of-state have asked to use the LPS Remote
Learning Plan, including three new districts just today. In addition, Lexington was contacted by
Education Week, an independent news organization that covers K-12 education in the United
States, as well as The Boston Globe, and several other Massachusetts reports who expressed an
interest in our remote learning plan. Dr. Hackett reported that on March 26, 2020, the
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Commissioner of Education released his "remote learning guidance," and administrators were
pleased to see an alignment between the elements of the LPS remote learning plan and the
Commissioner's guidance.
Dr. Hackett noted the LPS Remote Learning Plan is a lengthy document and that a brief
for staff was created that might be of interest to the community. Dr. Hackett described the LPS
plan as Intentional, Flexible, and Aligned as follows:
• Intentional. In the words of Mark Twain, LPS took a "rightly timed pause" (just six days
to be exact) to help us catch our breath, learn from others, and develop a clear strategy
and purpose for remote learning. Effective strategy and implementation are critical
tools in any school systems's success, but they are often overlooked in the field of
education. The LPS Remote Learning Plan is the result of thoughtful, collaborative
planning effort, and it is the shared work of many stakeholders, which is why it is
effective.
• Flexible. With so many unknowns during this uncertain time, we do not know what the
future holds. Our remote learning plan takes all stakeholders into account. it
acknowledges the needs of our students, our working families, and our staff who are
juggling many competing demands. It builds in flexibility for all school community
members, who may encounter health issues or financial setbacks in the days ahead. It is
adoptable and asks educators to work in teams to ensure continuity of instruction. It
also sets manageable and realistic expectations for living with many unknowns.
Teachers will no longer be expected to focus on mastery of content for students; instead,
the purpose of remote learning in the Lexington public schools will be to engage
students in deeper learning.
• Aligned. One of the great joys in the development of a remote learning plan on the fly is
that it gives us a wonderful way to operationalize our new LPS Strategic Plan. Check out
Twitter to seethe great activities and videos educators are creating to
give our students an opportunity to demonstrate. "Joy in Learning." We do not plan to
give grades during the emergency school closure, allowing students and staff to
experiment and to fall without fear or reprisal, which is an important part of learning as
indicated in the core values of our strategic plan.
Dr. Hackett noted the LPS Strategic Plan highlights the importance of students giving back to the
community in learning experiences that are authentic and meaningful. The remote learning
plan provides an opportunity for teachers and students to work together to promote student
agency. Dr. Hackett highlighted some of the work students have done together such as high
school students creating activities for the children of working parents in our community; LHS
students from the robotics club are using a 3D printer to make protective face masks that they
donate to healthcare professionals; Sara Mei, Lexington High School Student Liaison to the
School Committee and Dr. Hackett recently worked together on a project that will help students
in our LPS family. Sara and a friend, Grace, put together kid -friendly videos explaining student
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learning to elementary and middle schools students, and a letter that Sara will write in "kid
speak" to her peers to help explain remote learning in her own words. We All BeIgn&NLideo!
Ms. Jay asked Sara what she learned from making the video. Sara commented that having to
collaborate with Grace and coordinate filming the video was a learning process and how to talk
to younger kids as well as learning how to edit the video.
Each School Committee member spoke highly of the video created by Sara and Grace.
Ms. Cuthbertson expressed gratitude to Dr. Hackett and the team's approach for the LPS
Learning plan while dealing with personal issues during this time. In addition, the
communication throughout the process to the community was very helpful. Ms. Cuthbertson
asked for clarification on why some technology platforms are being used and what is
appropriate and not appropriate for students vs. adults. Dr. Hackett replied that there was
much communication around the confusion that results from having a multitude of different
resources that can be used. It was decided to focus on Google Chat and Google Hangout, to
help familiarize people with a new way of doing the work. Zoom platform was discouraged with
students because of incidents (Zoom Bombers) that were happening in other districts. A
collective decision was made with the administration that Zoom could be used for adults and
professional learning but not used for students. That is the position at this time.
Mr. Bokun asked if it would be possible, perhaps for the next school committee meeting, to
provide examples of a typical teacher going through this. Is any teacher willing to put
themselves out there to show people how we're doing it? Dr. Hackett replied it could be done,
and it could be any staff member and showcase how difficult and challenging it could be.
Reflecting on the last two years as a School Committee member, Ms. Sawhney is grateful for the
process of the building blocks from the last two years between the community, the union, and
the administration. Hoping they will continue to reach out in various ways and express their
concerns or how things are working because they do so much to help the School Committee
become better.
Ms. Lenihan commented that she is aware that many parents are concerned about the ability
for students to stay connected with their classmates/peers, and that's separate from concerns
about what their learning and educational goals are. Going forward she's hoping there is an
ability for teachers to not just have students working on individual projects but to use some of
those tools to encourage students working together so they don't feel so isolated.
Ms. Lenihan commented that she is already hearing concerns about next year. How is this going
to impact classes in the fall? Looking for clarity, sooner rather than later.
Ms. Lenihan was looking at recommendations from DESS. She noted that one of the
recommendations stated "expect learning to take place via a combination of educator -directed
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learning and student -directed learning." Ms. Lenihan is wondering if this is something that the
district will be differentiating and what exactly that would look like.
Dr. Hackett responded to Ms. Lenihan's question about "what happens next year" by saying that
the administration is trying to figure that out and definitely understands there are anxieties
related to how the curriculum will be consolidated. What are the implications for missing a
portion of the content and how will it affect the sequencing for next year? The high school is
already working on alternative learning pathways for students who may be in jeopardy. She
said that our educators expressed concerns immediately about students that may be at risk of
not graduating and now may have lost opportunities to make up credit. Dr. Hackett pointed out
that the Administrative Council created an "Ideas" folder where people who develop new
systems and approaches can place their ideas in the folder, so others can borrow from those
ideas and so the ideas can be properly embedded in teaching practice in order to stay
consistent and clear on a common message.
Ms. Jay commented that she hopes people will have patience to see how this all plays out. She
continued on with a series of misconceptions that Dr. Hackett then addressed. Dr. Hackett
acknowledged that there are concerns that are legitimate and will take some getting used to by
everyone. Some people want to debate the plan that has been put into place. Dr. Hackett
stressed that this is "an emergency plan" for a circumstance that none of us have ever
experienced in our lives. The emergency plan that has been put into place is designed and
developed by stakeholders and it is not going to be debatable.
Ms. Jay has heard from residents asking if April vacation will still be a learning week or if it will
be a week off. Dr. Hackett replied that continuing remote learning during April vacation would
be great and would allow us to have the last day of school on June 22nd. There will be more
conversations on this topic.
Ms. Jay also asked about the nature of the AP test and what students would be responsible for
(materials). What are the teachers who are teaching AP classes doing for review to help
students prepare for those tests? Dr. Hackett replied that the College Board, which develops
the SAT tests, and Harvard have all released statements saying they will be flexible with
students.
Sara Mei commented that this is the perfect opportunity to learn that school isn't all about
grades. It's about learning how to overcome failures. It's helpful to not have grades be in the
picture but learn how to get better as a student and not as in grade -wise.
Community Speak:
Ms. Mona Roy, Burtwell Road - SEPAC Liaison to School Committee: Ms. Roy brought up a
couple of points. She recognized that Dr. Hackett is going to be providing specific feedback on
certain questions. Ms. Roy commented that for some families this has been very difficult.
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While everyone is doing the best they can under these unprecedented and historic
circumstances, she stressed that it's important to recognize that it is very, very challenging for
those families with students with disabilities. Ms. Roy pointed out that some kids need a lot
more structure and hands-on learning to access their education, and without those
consistencies many of those children will find re-entry into a traditional classroom setting really
difficult. As the days move forward, her hope is that the remote learning system will be
manageable, meaningful, sustainable with all students in mind and whatever adjustments need
to be made will be made.
Ms. Roy provided some feedback from SPED parents expressing concerns that their children
have not had enough structure. Some other most vulnerable students also really need
structure and social groups. Looking forward to getting clear guidance from LPS on what is
allowed, depending on the nature of their disability and IEP. Bottom line is that this has to be a
workable plan for everyone.
Ms. Ina Jiang, Lee Avenue: Ms. Jiang thanked the superintendent for all her communication.
Ms. Jiang expressed concerns about the pass/fail grading system for her son who is a Junior at
Lexington High School. Dr. Hackett addressed Ms. Jiang's question. She echoed Sara Mei's
quote "this is the perfect opportunity to learn that school isn't all about grades, it's a perfect
opportunity to be a better student." Dr. Hackett reminded Ms. Jiang that grades are based on a
Standards -Based Report Card since elementary. The proficiency towards concepts and skills are
identified and they are able to articulate their progress themselves and their teachers can
articulate it through a standards-based environment. This could lead to more of a
standards-based approach. If we are able to identify the standards that he has mastered and be
able to work on having him provide feedback that may help with the transition. If you have
people who are writing in narrative form, that can be very powerful and impactful. Those are
the conversations we can have with post -secondary institutions.
Ehab, Silvia Street: Mr. Ehab had a question on the self-directed portion of the remote learning
plan. Ehab asked if there is any plan for sit-in classes to be taught by an educator in the next
few weeks. Dr. Hackett explained that the educators are involved and working with students
interactively already. Dr. Hackett directed Ehab to the brief synopsis to help guide the process.
Dr. Hackett noted that the structure ramps up over time, right now it's familiarity with this new
environment. Dr. Hackett said, this is a better time to learn how to self direct as most kids are
learning how to do it when they go to college and they haven't learned how to manage that
transition. Perfect time for them to learn about time management.
Casey Lan, Lexington Resident: Ms. Lan expressed concerns with the LPS Remote Learning Plan.
She feels a lot of people are not aware that there are no new instructions and it is not a viable
plan for the students. Ms. Lan does not understand why the remote learning plan does not
provide ongoing education for the students. Dr. Hackett reiterated the points made earlier. The
district is operating in accordance with the guidelines that have been set forth. Dr. Hackett
stressed that the district cannot build a plan that talks about moving forward when the reality is
that we are going to have educators in the system that may be currently or are going to be
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dealing with health crises themselves. We are trying to create a middle ground where we can
still have experiences in learning and students can still learn many of the skills. These are skills
that are not typically assessed and should be assessed. She noted academics and moving
forward are very important but so too are the intangible skills and learning opportunities the
students are experiencing in this new learning environment. Dr. Hackett emphasized that new
learning is going to happen, it's just going to happen in different ways. Dr. Hackett advised
families to reach out to their building principal if they have more specific questions about
information they are receiving in terms of their child's assignments, or things of that nature.
Ms. Lan expressed further concerns about the learning plan which Dr. Hackett addressed. Dr.
Hackett suggested she communicate with Dr. Chris Lyons, Assistant Superintendent for
Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning to answer her questions.
Ms. Sawhney suggested families of rising Seniors to read a blog by a Georgia Tech Admissions
Officer. Google the Georgia Tech Admissions Blog "Change is the Only Constant". She said it
helped answer a lot of her questions on how colleges are handling this particular year's Junior
Cohort. Ms. Sawhney said this blog will help you feel better.
Ms. Cuthberson made a motion to adjourn at 10:10 p.m. so moved by Mr. Bokun. Motion
passed by roll call (5-0)
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