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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-19-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday,January 19, 2021 Conducted by Remote Participation Meeting Minutes AGENDA CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:00 p.m. Chair Kathleen Lenihan welcomed and introduced committee members SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Kathleen Lenihan, Chairperson Eileen Jay, Vice-Chair Deepika Sawhney Scott Bokun Sara Cuthbertson, Clerk STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE Sara Mei SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS PRESENT Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent Mr. David Coehlo, Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations Dr. Christine Lyons, Assistant Superintendent to Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development The minutes were taken by Kristen Cronin, Executive Assistant to the School Committee Ms. Lenihan read Governor Baker's Executive Order from March 12, 2020 which allows public meetings to be conducted remotely due to the state emergency related to the COVID-19 outbreak. Ms. Lenihan covered additional ground rules for an effective and clear conduct of business and to assure accurate meeting minutes. Ms. Lenihan opened the Public Hearing on the FY 2022 Superintendent's Budget Mr. Coehlo reviewed the FY 2022 Superintendent's Bud et presentation initially presented at the School Committee meeting on January 5, 2021 and Public Hearing on January 12, 2021. Public Comment: Carissa Black, 143 Bedford St.: Ms. Black asked for clarification on accessing the stabilization funds and what the funds would be used for. LSC 1/19/2021 -Approved 3/9/2021 KC Mr. Coelho responded that the stabilization fund was created in 2008 to deal with the cost of special education. Mr. Coehlo said these funds can be used to utilize tuitions, or transportation for special ed students. Ms. Black asked if the district is expecting larger than normal out-of-district tuitions, or "is this because of the shortfall in the budget?" Mr. Coehlo said the funding is geared to cover the potential cost of out-of-district tuitions. He noted that if those costs don't arise, then the funds won't be used. Dr. Hackett commented that this budget also includes a significantly lower reimbursement for circuit breaker than budgets in the past. Mr. Bokun had questions about the staffing summary section on page 21 of the budget book. Mr. Coehlo replied that he will double check the numbers and update him. Ms. Lenihan said it seems highly likely that the district would be in Phase II at some level since by the fall there will not be a vaccine ready for children, there will be the need for some remote learning for the students. She asked what the timeframe would be to decide where the money would come from. Mr. Coehlo replied that they would need to look at a couple of benchmarks or threshold dates to start revising. Mr. Coehlo said the first date would possibly be sometime in March as we see what has taken place in terms of the vaccination schedule for staff and perhaps older students. He commented that in May/June they would look at finalizing FY 2021 and finding out where those funds are for leveraging into FY 2022 and what is the process for opening up the ESY program for summer school and the possibility of what September is going to look like. Mr. Coehlo commented that it is all going to be dictated by where we are on that path. Ms. Lenihan made a motion to end the public hearing, so moved by Ms.Jay. Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote;Approved 5-0. Ms. Lenihan opened the regularly scheduled School Committee meeting. Ms. Lenihan read Governor Baker's Executive Order from March 12, 2020 which allows public meetings to be conducted remotely due to the state emergency related to the COVID-19 outbreak. Ms. Lenihan covered additional ground rules for an effective and clear conduct of business and to assure accurate meeting minutes. LSC 1/19/2021 -Approved 3/9/2021 KC MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS/LIAISON REPORTS: Ms. Cuthbertson commented that the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington unveiled their banners, located in Lexington center, as part of the Black History of Lexington Project. Mr. Bokun reported on the virtual events that were held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Mr. Bokun noted that the Dyslexia Task Force will be up and running again. They are discussing the implementation of the early testing for dyslexia, what happens after the assessments, and the components of the reading curriculum. Mr. Bokun reported on the Human Rights Committee meeting on January 14th where Dr. Hackett, Dr. Kavanaugh, and Mr. Cole presented an updated report on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Lexington Public Schools' efforts to reduce the systemic barriers. In closing, Mr. Bokun reported that the Towndecided not to purchase the property of the Boston Sports Club due to the required updates needed for the pool area and due to the many other capital and financial challenges the Town is currently facing. Dr. Jay announced that the CAAL Lunar New Year celebration will be held virtually this year on Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 813M. The event will be live-streamed on YouTube, Facebook, and LexMedia. Ms. Sawhney provided a brief update on the Community Input Team for Inclusion (CIT) that she attended on January 12, 2021. Ms. Sawhney provided an update on the Ron Burger event on Project Based Learning that will be held on Wednesday,January 27, 2021 at 713M. Ms. Mei said during their Senate meeting they discussed updating the website and setting up course advising with a student-led panel on course selection for underclassmen and incoming freshman. Ms. Mei said Senate members are also working on teacher feedback forms and updating them to have COVID-specific questions regarding classroom pacing and learning environment. Ms. Mei reported that Mr. Cole has published the winter Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Newsletter and the "We All Belong" Subcommittee is excited to work with Mr. Cole on further efforts around Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Ms. Lenihan reported that the Department of Public Health said they are now not requiring students to be vaccinated because the flu season has been so mild and low to date. Ms. Lenihan said today marks a horrible milestone in our country with over 400,000 deaths due to COVID-19. A moment of silence was held for the 400,000 people who passed from COVID-19. LSC 1/19/2021 -Approved 3/9/2021 KC COMMUNITY SPEAK: Christina Lin, 2 Eustis St.: Ms. Lin asked if the Discipline report that was shared last Thursday would be covered at an upcoming School Committee meeting and if data from the YBS surveys would also be shown by race and not just LGBTQ. Congratulations and Celebrations: Dr. Hackett thanked the 60+ educators who volunteered to serve LPS students with disabilities in-person during the remote status from December to January 19th. Dr. Hackett thanked the LPS school nurses as they continue to do an extraordinary job of taking on all of the added responsibilities that come with keeping students and staff healthy and safe during this pandemic, including flu vaccinations, contact tracing, and their new roles in COVID testing. SUPERINTENDENT REPORT: A complete copy of the Superintendent Report can be found here . Dr. Hackett read the letter that was sent out to the LPS community regarding the events at the Capitol on January 6th. Click here for a copy of the letter. Dr. Hackett noted that this is a tough time for students, families and staff of color and thanked the members of AREA-L (Antiracist Educator Alliance of Lexington) and the President of the board, Ms. Gretchen Segars, for providing the school community with helpful ways to make the Lexington community feel safe during crises like the Capitol siege. For a copy of the AREA-L letter click here. Dr. Hackett continued her report on the following: • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion o Annual Report of LPS Efforts to Reduce Systemic BarnersP 2020-2021 o Dr. Hackett noted an important update in the Annual Report includes information on disproportionality in special education, which is a shared challenge for general and special educators. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires states to collect and examine data to determine whether significant disproportionality, based on race and ethnicity, is occuring in school districts with respect to: (i) The identification of students as students with disabilities, including the identification of students with disabilities in accordance with a particular impairment; (ii) The placement in particular educational settings of such students; and (iii) the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary removals from placement, including suspensions and expulsions. • LPS COVID-19 Surveillance Testing Updates • Full Return Community Input Team o Dr. Hackett said initially she was going to provide details of how to get the CIT up and running, but looking at the data, in a very short time Lexington has gone LSC 1/19/2021 -Approved 3/9/2021 KC from yellow, orange, to red. Dr. Hackett said when the number of positive cases start trending in the right direction, and Lexington is back in the "yellow category" or has "community spread" with no more than 9/100,000 positive cases and there are no additional and unforeseen complications flagged by public health experts, she said she would convene the CIT for Full Return. • Community Events and Highlights School Committee questions and comments: Mr. Bokun asked if full time students that are in the building every week will be tested with one cohort or if they will be tested every week. Dr. Hackett said they can be tested every week if families of those students chose to do so. They can contact their building principal or school nurse to help with that. NEW BUSINESS: 2022 LHS Field Trip to Spain Committee members agreed to revisit the Field Trip policy that was in the process of being revised prior to COVID-19. Appoint Liaison to Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee Committee members had discussion around appointing a voting liaison to the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC). It was agreed that Ms. Lenihan would remain the liaison to the CPAC and if she could not attend a meeting another member would attend. No vote was taken. Ms. Lenihan said the 2020 Vision Committee would like the School Committee's feedback on the 2020 Survey. Ms. Lenihan will send a doodle poll out to set up an additional meeting to discuss this topic. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: School Committee/Superintendent Goals, 2021-2023 Dr. Hackett asked Committee members to review the goals and take a look at the new format. Dr. Hackett said if the format works she will apply it to the remaining three goals and will have it updated within the week. Ms. Lenihan suggested reviewing the goals at an upcoming meeting to remind the community what the goals are and what is being worked on. Click here for a copy of the goals. 2021 Spending Freeze Dr. Hackett noted that the district has a spending freeze. She said the district is doing fine but being more than fiscally prudent and LPS is asking staff to hold on all optional spending, and LSC 1/19/2021 -Approved 3/9/2021 KC even some that may not feel so optional, for the remainder of the year. Click here for the 2021 Spending Freeze memo. Accessing Special Education Stabilization Funds Mr. Coehlo said part of the financial solution in the FY 2022 recommended school budget is accessing $500,000 in funding from the Special Education Stabilization Fund. He noted that because the account is controlled by Town Meeting, unlike those controlled by the School Committee such as the Special Education Circuit Breaker fund, the district needs to show the use of the fund as a revenue source in the presentation of the budget funding allocation for Annual Town Meeting (ATM). Mr. Coehlo said if the Committee approves the FY 2022 budget as recommended and use of the Special Education Stabilization Fund, the Committee should request that the Select Board include in the article for setting the FY 2022 school budget appropriation a provision for using the fund and the appropriate voting mechanism at ATM. Click here for the full memo. Ms. Jay asked Mr. Coehlo if he has had conversations with the municipal staff on when the deadline for an internal article to be included on the warrant would be. Mr. Coehlo said he has spoken with municipal staff and has not been provided a date. Mr. Coehlo said he will follow up to be sure nothing is missed. COMMUNITY SPEAK: Jennifer Burgess, LPS Staff: Commented on Dr. Hackett's remarks about the anti-racist work that Lexington is doing. Ms. Burgess said language means a lot to her and she is asking for some language to change, such as instead of using the word "slaves" to say "enslaved people or enslaved Africans." Ms. Burgess asked to not tell BIPOC staff that they are safe and instead suggested saying "we commit to making our environment safe" and "we stand with you and we will stand up for you." CONSENT AGENDA: Mr. Bokun moved to approve the following items on the consent agenda A. December 31, 2020 -Payroll in the amount of$4,038,751.05 B. January 15, 2021-Payroll in the amount of$3,949,410.31 C. January 8, 2021-Accounts Payable in the amount of$1,870,304.8o Ms. Cuthbertson moved to approve the following items on the consent agenda: A. Donation to the Lexington Public Schools in the amount of$200.00 from Lueders Environmental Ms. Sawhney moved to approve the following items on the consent agenda: LSC 1/19/2021 -Approved 3/9/2021 KC A. November 17, 2020 Minutes Seconded by Ms.Jay;Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote; Consent Agenda Approved 5-0 Ms. Lenihan called for an adjournment;so moved by Ms. Cuthbertson Ms. Lenihan took a roll call vote;Approved(5-0). Adjournment at 8:37 p.m. LSC 1/19/2021 -Approved 3/9/2021 KC