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Home My WebLink About2020-11-16-LHS-min ' 0*, LEXINGTON I G S C N,,,,,10 ::;;;; Andrew Stephens, Ed.D. (781) 861-2320, ext. 69103 Principal astephens@lexingtonma.org Nov. 16th via zoom Present: Andrew Stephens, Cathy Swan, Nancy Shepard, Karen Griffiths, Angela Chang, Suzanne Lau, Sam Offsey, Liz Curtin, Christina Lin, Lyn Yang, Katie Riley, Jen Roney, Walter Richardson, Khoi Le, Erin Barrett Approved the October minutes Housekeeping Site Council Meeting dates -changed dates for the rest of the year due to faculty and department meetings conflicts -changed time back to 6:00-7:30 -will take one last look at schedule Budget Update *Budget season is upon us (goes until March) -had to put in initial requests for next year's budget *Unclear what budget climate is for next year -receipts are down for town -less money to spend *Town and school are on same page as to what they have as of right now -budget too tight to request anything new -just trying to keep up with needs *Context -2286 students this year -will probably go up 75-100 kids next year *Requests for next year -put in for 4.9 FTE (full time employee) increase -for every 25 student increase in enrollment, you go up a class and need an adult -under no illusion that we will get this -2 years ago we got a bump of 5.1 FTE increase -our student number didn't match this so we have a bit of a buffer -Dean Team -asked for additional dean team again -including new dean, secretary and counselor -caseloads keep going up -Post secondary counselor -part time -Special Ed -another resource teacher to get us even with our case load -reading specialists -psychologist -504 coordinator position to go full time -currently .6 -Advisory Programs -positions for restorative justice to build community -coordinator for investigation into peer mediation group -would address lower level discipline -restorative justice -student support *Chemistry room update -there was money put aside to update a science room for chemistry (hood, water, etc) but froze project -money is there and should move ahead -2 year project *NEASC Accreditation -were aware that physical plant was not up to needs -nothing has been done -how does this affect accreditation? -2 years ago we had a Collaborative Conference -we submitted to state to build a new school -we were rejected -we resubmitted -we will get dinged for not being up to needs but his will give us more ammo that we need a new building Covid Update *Cases -have sent 2 letters to community about positive cases -people who are positive have to get a negative test to return *Contacts -2 kinds of contacts get 14 day quarantine -close contact -anyone within 6 feet for 15 min. over 24 hours to someone who has developed symptoms within 48 hours -get tested -even with negative test still need to quarantine for 14 days -class contact -if you are in class with someone who tests positive you must quarantine for 14 days -go beyond CDC guidelines -they do contact tracing from when student developed symptoms -we have had relatively small number of contacts so far -Bus is considered close contact -procedure in place to figure out who was on the bus *Students who must quarantine can move to remote and not lose anything -teachers don't have to make separate plans for these kids -transition back and forth is fluid Issues -difficult to stay 6 feet away at all times -hard for teachers in school to cover remote classes -very concerned if/when numbers go up and there are more remote classes to cover -don't have enough time to do what they need to do for their own students -have to draw from sub coverage as numbers get more acute we will have to draw on emergency subs (principal, etc) -increased exposure for teachers who are covering remote classes -could we shorten 14 day quarantine if student gets tests after 5 days (start of symptoms) to decrease burden on teachers? -no- non-negotiable *Hybrid -we are hybrid until we aren't -due to staffing issue -Tuesday after Thanksgiving could push us over the edge with college kids coming home, people traveling, etc. Tech Update *secured money for 3rd leg of technology to help teachers navigate -bought Jabra 510 microphone/speakers -kids at home and in class can hear each other and not rely on mic on teacher's computer -gives teachers flexibility -allows the feel of a more authentic class AP Exams Follow-Up *2400 test to give to students who are enrolled in LHS AP classes -have to spread them out *Also have to test 10th and 11th graders for MCAS -10 graders will also be in May *Offered a spot students who aren't enrolled in the class if we have room or it goes remote -disclaimer that they will probably not get in *Cannot offer AP exams for classes not offered at LHS Back to School Night *Remote this year *Parent feedback -went well -appreciated the live aspect -appreciated the effort teachers put in to presentation -appreciated the humanity of teachers and how honest they were -nice not to have to fight parking and weather *Teacher feedback -thought it was easier -few tech glitches *Greater participation -easier for parents to attend -over 997 parents went to administration talk at beginning of night Parent Conferences *Monday, Nov. 30th remote *Vision is to have teachers set up time for kids who really need it first -encourage kids to participate -then open up remaining spots to rest of students -so many more students are struggling and those kids really need that time -email works well to communicate -teachers are stretched very thin right now -if your child is RLA you must feel isolated to parents may want more contact with teachers this year -there are just not enough spots to accommodate everyone -this is not the time to check in and hear how great your child is doing -if there aren't any issues, leave that spot for someone else *Now that conferences are remote, can we improve the system? -easier for more parents to participate -zoom opens up process to parents who have been cut out in the past -could parents ask questions in advance? -if questions are answered, open up that spot -one teacher has a system that any parent who sign up for one has to fill out a google f form about what they want to discuss -helpful for teachers to know in advance *Will see how it goes and will get feedback in December Feedback *Lots of tensions going on in world with presidential election, Covid cases rising, etc and it is difficult trying to educate kids right now -in March, never thought we'd be here and am worried about next year *Cannot continue this way -bigger conversation with community -not sustainable or fair *Are there other formats the would work better? *Teacher thoughts -when you don't see a class for 2 weeks and then see them again, it is like starting from scratch -we are creating a divide between the kids who can do this and the ones who can't -can't help kids who are struggling -miss I-Block -by the end of the week, teachers would now who needs help but now they can't get to them -kids are too passive in their learning -teachers have to create all the energy and it is depleting them -many kids don't have camera on so teachers feel like they are talking to no one - situation is overwhelming and feels unhealthy -what could we do next year t have a different model to build in things we re missing -everything we do comes at a cost to something else -we have designed a schedule that makes it easier for kids to move around but the implementation of it is putting the most burden on the teachers to carry the system -is there any room for change or is this how it is going to be? -85 teachers are doing remote coverage and we have to cover 220 classes a week -LHS problem is scale -we offer a lot of different courses for kids -every solution has many implications -if we make classes longer then science can be one class long like other classes -wont' need that extra block for lab -could we go from 8 class schedule to 7? Student Thoughts -student rep sent out a survey to fellow students -35 people responded -we chose to do alternating weeks so we see class 6 times and then 1 time -enjoy group work, break out groups, projects -everyone gets on zoom (whether you are in school or RLA) so why are we in school? -hard to not have a class and then have a test when you get back -lots of times, we have multiple tests on same day 'Survey will go out this week from LHS to parents, teachers and students to see how it is going Meeting Adjourned