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Home My WebLink About2020-06-04-LHRC-min Town of Lexington,Human Rights Committee Meeting Friday,June 4,2020 Virtual Public Meeting 8:15-10:00 Committee Members: Monami D. Roy (Chair), Tanya Gisolfi (Vice Chair), Georgia Swann (Clerk), James Barry (Police Department), Fuang Ying Huang, Melissa Interess (Town Manager's Office Member/Human Services Department), Scott Bokun (School Department Member), Cleveland Coats Liaisons and Guests: Scott Bokun (School Committee Liaison), Jill Hai (Board of Selectmen Liaison), Valerie Overton (LexPride Liaison), Aidan Evelyn (Police Department Liaison), Christina Lin (PPC Liaison), Dr. Julie Hackett(LPS Superintendent/Guest), Jodi Finnegan (Guest), Pastor Brent Maracle (Guest), Carissa Black(Guest), Courtney Quinn (Guest), Daniel Joyner(Guest), Jennifer Rooney (Guest), Lia O'Donnell (Guest), Margaret Heitz (Guest), Melissa Lee (Guest), Patricia Jacotin (SEPAC/Guest), Tempe Goodhue (Guest) Meeting called to order at 8:00 AM, Quorum was present at 8:30 AM. 1. Welcome 2. Chair Report Role of the LHRC • Responding/supporting response to incidents of hate, bias and discrimination • Educating the community on issues through programming • Community Building • Updates since last meeting • Attended School Committee meeting • Attended LexPride meeting in planning for Pride Day • Attended SEPAC meeting • Attended Dyslexia Subgroup meeting • Attend BALex exec. board meeting • Attended CAAL meeting with LPD • Met with LPD • Met with LICA • Met with Community Coalition • Met with Town Celebrations re: Race Amity Day 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 3. Presentation of Discipline Data by Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent • Presentation (https:Hdocs.google.com/document/d/luuN7Zux6uRnncc- ta6PaWfgg2MLaeovaNOKI-xCtdBk/edit?ts=5ed80c8a) • Dr. Hackett discussed results of discipline data results (2018-2019) as well other civil rights issues and answered questions from LHRC members and community members. Topics included changes from previous years data, effects of Covid-19 school shut down and differences in how bullying is addressed whether it meets the legal definition of "Bullying" as defined by the State of Massachusetts. Data is available to the public. • Dr. Hackett discussed results of discipline data results and answered questions from LHRC members and community members. Topics included changes from previous years data, effects of Covid-19 school shut down and differences in how bullying is addressed whether it meets the legal definition of"Bullying" as defined by the State of Massachusetts. Data is available to the public. Dr. Hackett also committed to returning to the LHRC to address the data in the fall. Highlights of the presentation include: • LPS has the resources, expertise and desire to make a difference. • Working on how to get relevant data to the LHRC in a standardized way. • LPS has low incidence of suspension so any inaccuracies have a large impact. • School closure due to Covid-19 may make the data look better than it really is. • LPS provides training/outreach on bullying and the reporting process, schools are legally expected to have plans around bullying. • Reporting procedures are being evaluated including, anonymous form, building civil rights officers and Director of Equity and Student Supports. • Black and Special Education students are still receiving disproportionate discipline (4x) • Consultants were brought into the middle schools, training on implicit bias and procedures to dissuade use of suspension lowered rates for those grade levels. • High school has the highest incidence of suspension, mostly related to drug use/possession and open campus violations. • LPS is also evaluating demographics on children being sent out of classroom or to administrators. • Appreciation expressed by LHRC members for the report itself with the links to many other documents, LPS increased efforts, data scrutiny and particularly the efforts at the middle school. • Concerns expressed by Committee included increase in discipline disparity at the high school level; lack of regular transparency/data sharing with LHRC; documentation of bullying; • Dr. Hackett stated that she wanted to move the update to the fall to present the numbers from the previous school year after reporting to DESE. The LHRC expressed appreciation for the same. 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 4. Public Comments and Questions Public comments are allowed for up to 6 minutes. Each speaker is limited to 2 minutes for comment. Members of the Committee will neither comment nor respond, other than to ask questions of clarification. • JF: 1. Is reporting the same across the district? 2. In 2010/11 it was said bullying would be reviewed every 2 years, is that happening? 3. The CROC should not be the principal, can that be changed? Commented about micro-aggressions and making sure that children who are hurt are cared for. Children are being psychologically damaged. "I'm not Racist am I" program is powerful and should be adopted by entire school system. • BM: 1. Is there a reason Native American numbers are not included in the report? 2. Is there an overlap of any of the categories and the economically disadvantaged? • CB: Is it possible to get more information on how many time out rooms exist and how often are they used? • VO: "isms" come from our culture and manifest in the school as well as other places. MA anti bullying laws require that school staff receive annual training on anti- bullying and vulnerable populations, and it would be helpful to have that in the report. How is LPS moving towards fully inclusive curriculum? 5. Liaison Updates • SB: Currently working with Dr. Hackett on issues around discipline data, race amity day updates coming soon. • JT: Based on personal experiences with LPS is glad that bullying is being taken seriously by the administration. • MI: Is coordinating with Association of Black Citizens of Lexington to get contact information for Lexington Youth and Family Services Outreach Director Sharon Gunda, LCSW for needs related to current events relating to racial bias and BLM protests. Working with LexPride on Virtual Pride Celebrations. With limited staff returning to the Lexington Community Center building consideration is going into keeping staff and public safe upon eventual reopening. • FYH : Thankful to MI for assistance. • MR: In light of missed meetings due to Covid-19 shut down additional meeting proposed before regular July meeting. Community Coalition and ABCL will host a zoom meeting focused on Institutional Racism. 6. Race Amity Day Work Race Amity Day Workgroup (Gisolfi, Coats, Huang) • FYH: Zoom meeting on the 14th and waiting to put out a notice when zoom link is available. • Program will include trivia questions, photo montage, movie clip. • Pre-register through Cary Library to receive zoom link invitation by email. 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420 7. Reporting incidents or concerns to LHRC (Roy, Gisolfi) MDR and MI participated in a discussion with CAAL representatives. 8. Unexpected Items Not Reasonably Anticipated in Advance 9. Public Comments 10. Approval of March Minutes -- Motion made by TG, Seconded by FYH, all in favor. Next Meeting Date and Time TBD Remotely via Zoom LIST OF DOCUMENTS LHRC Chair Report Public Comment Log Report from Dr. Hackett to LHRC Respectfully submitted, Georgia Swann Clerk, LHRC 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420