Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-12-SC-min LEXINGTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, May 12, 2020 Conducted by Remote Participation CALL TO ORDER AND WELCOME: 6:04 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 Student Representative Sara Mei 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 meeting will be conducted. Ms. Jay 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. Jay covered additional ground rules for an effective and clear conduct of business and to assure accurate meeting minutes. SCHOOL COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENTS& LIAISON REPORTS: Ms. Cuthbertson reported that she participated in the LexHack-athon which the Superintendent will talk about further during her report. Mr. Bokun reflected on Core Value#4 "Care for Yourself and Others" He reported that the month of May is Mental Health Month and the Lexington Mental Health Task Force has provided free mental health screenings available on their website here. 1 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 Mr. Bokun mentioned that on Thursday, May 21st at 4:00 pm a virtual forum for parents and caregivers will be held. This forum is to help people learn about the impact of COVID-19 on youth mental health and what parents and caregivers can do to provide support. Mental health experts will discuss practical approaches to parenting, the signs of stress, anxiety, and depression, and how we can help our youth navigate home, family, friends, and school. There will be plenty of time for questions. If interested, you can register on the town Mental Health website. Ms. Sawhney reported that Lexington High School Principal, Dr. Stephens, provided some information and updates on recent guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) around grading for the last two quarters, step-up day for 8th grade students, as well as some ideas for LHS graduation. Ms. Sawhney provided a brief update on the Finance Subcommittee meeting she participated in with Ms. Lenihan and Mr. David Coehlo, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations. Ms. Sawhney provided a brief update on the Appropriation Committee meeting and said there was nothing new to report. Ms. Lenihan had no liaison updates. Instead, she provided information to the public on the Tenement Museum, located at the Lower East side in New York City. The Museum's two historical tenement buildings were home to an estimated 15,000 people, from over 20 nations between 1863 and 2011. She noted the museum is offering virtual tours and a great educational site to expand the online learning from home. Tenement Museum website. Ms. Jay provided a brief update on the Recreation Committee meeting. She said it was the first one they had had in a while so there are a lot of updates. Ms. Jay reported that the Diamond Middle School field renovations that were originally scheduled to start in the summer of 2021 will be moved earlier to this summer 2020 in order to take advantage of the current school closures. DPW is tentatively making plans for contractor bids in mid-May with targeted completion of renovations in August 2020. Ms. Jay reported that the work on the Center Track and Field is continuing. The decision has been made to keep the construction fencing up so there is no immediate access to the track by the public in order to help maintain social distancing practice. Ms. Jay reported that the department is discussing and planning for potential phased re-openings for the recreation department and the community center, although any feasible timeline is still unknown. They are working with other community programs to coordinate their services. Mr. Bokun asked Ms. Jay if there was any discussion or decisions made on the hammer toss/javelin area. Ms. Jay said it was determined by the municipal side that it would not be eligible for funds that were associated with the Center Track project and it would have to be 2 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 funded separately. This is still in the process of being worked out but has not been resolved to date. Ms. Mei reported they have started to have virtual Student Senate meetings over Zoom. Some topics of discussion included graduation, school elections, and brainstorming ways to thank essential workers and ways to support Lexington's smaller businesses. Ms. Mei provided a brief update on remote learning and said many students have adapted to the new normal. Ms. Mei thanked all the Lexington teachers for their hard work and dedication to their jobs, especially during this time. She went onto say that the teachers keep the students motivated and inspired to learn more and be better people. Ms. Jay asked if any teachers are now introducing new material and concepts. Ms. Mei commented that some teachers have started to introduce some new materials, but not all. SUPERINTENDENT REPORT: Superintendent Report 5-12-2020 Dr. Hackett reported on the following: Congratulations and Celebrations Dr. Hackett extended her congratulations to Lilian Bokun who graduated from RIT. Dr. Hackett noted that, in the past two weeks, there have been lots of celebrations, such as National School Principals Day, Hot Lunch Heroes Day, National Teachers Appreciation Week, and National School Nurses Week. In addition, the Chinese American Association of Lexington (CAAL) treated essential workers in town to "Lunches of Love" by providing hot meals to first responders, postal workers, DPW and LPS staff. She noted that in recent weeks, the LPS administration and staff made videos, drew pictures, gave Twitter shoutouts, produced concerts, delivered meals, and shared virtual hugs. Dr. Hackett extended her congratulations to Ms. Lisa Cox. Ms. Cox is the recipient of the Bill O'Connor Courage & Humanitarian Award. Lisa has been an Assistant tTrack Coach at Lexington High School for the past ten years. She was nominated by Mr. Emmett O'Brien who lauded her unparalleled work ethic, perseverance, determination, and steadfast support of student athletes! Joy in Learning- LexHACK During the first weekend in May, Dr. Hackett along with School Committee member, Sara Cuthbertson, Select Board member,Joe Pato, and community member, P.K. Shiu,judged the LexHack-a-thon. The Hack-a-thon was organized by LHS students from the Lexington Robotics Team. Their teachers supported their endeavors, and approximately 100 children in grades K-12 took the challenge to propose hardware or software ideas that could be helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic. First place winners included Linda Kebichi (High School), Sishir Mahavadi (Middle School), and Ev3 Storms: Sruthika Macha, Mohita Chepeni, Tasheen Kashem, Henry Sayre, and Julian Sun (Elementary School). 3 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 Second place winners were a tie between the Three Cowgirls: Ellen WAng, Audi Lin and Mathew Liu, and Artha Tayshikar (High School); Mia Raukas (Middle School); and Luke Mutooni (Elementary School). Third place winners included Parth Kocheta (High School), Toshio Yuki (Middle School), and the Pythons: Amane Yamaguchi, Homare Yamaguchi, and Akari Yamagushi (Elementary School). Joint Council Meeting on Student Feedback Dr. Hackett reported that on Thursday, May 14th a special Joint Council meeting will be held with Harvard professor and scholar, Dr. Ron Ferguson. The meeting will focus on educational equity and the achievement gap. Dr. Ferguson will share his research on how student feedback impacts instruction, and he will guide participants through the "7Cs Framework of Effective Teaching." This conversation will be a beginning step in a thoughtful exploration of how adults in our school system get feedback and use that feedback to grow. Hastings Elementary School Update Dr. Hackett provided a brief update on the Hastings Elementary School. She reported that the first official day of school in the new building was Monday, February 24, 2020. For the three weeks that school was in operation, punch list items were worked on during the evening shift. When the school closure began on March 13th, access to the building was restricted in order for the custodians to sanitize and clean the school. On April 21st, when school was cancelled for the remainder of the school year, administration coordinated access with the custodians and the contractor in order to perform work on the punch list during the month of May. This work is currently underway and being monitored. Dr. Hackett will provide an update on progress at a later date. Dr. Hackett reported that demolition of the former school building began in March until a brief pause in mid-April, as additional asbestos-containing materials were identified that necessitated an amendment to the demolition plans. The brief hiatus enabled facilities to appropriately sort materials and truck debris to the appropriate locations for disposal, recycling, or repurposing. With all of the work permits amended, demolition and material removal resumed on April 30th. It is expected that the former building will be 100% removed from the site by mid to late May. Dr. Hackett reported that drainage work on Crosby Road was originally scheduled for July; however, due to expected school closure through June, this work can start sooner, which will help to alleviate a very busy summer work schedule. Road work is scheduled to begin by May 18, 2020. Communication has gone out to the neighbors who may be affected by the construction. Dr. Hackett reported that the spring will allow for trees, grasses, and shrubs to be planted which will help to beautify the area. These plantings will happen on the neighbors' side of the back driveway and should start this month. Additionally, she noted, many conversations have taken place with the neighbors about the view, and they all requested evergreen trees and a fence to be installed separating the school property and their property. The fence is designed to help 4 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 with the loss of privacy from the relocation of the school. At this point, it is expected the construction of the parking area will be complete by the end of the summer. Dr. Hackett thanked Mr. Mike Cronin for providing her with this information for her report. Member comments: Ms. Lenihan commented on the upcoming Joint Council with Dr. Ferguson and expressed concerns about using student evaluations for teachers. She noted that there is a lot of literature and studies showing significant biases against women and people of color in student evaluations at the college level. Studies show that student evaluations are deeply flawed. Ms. Lenihan suggests being cautious moving forward. Dr. Hackett said she has also raised the issue and question, and hopefully Dr. Ferguson will provide some answers. She responded by saying the teacher evaluation systems currently in place probably share the same biases with women and people of color. All systems and structures have some of those flaws and we do need to be mindful of them. Dr. Hackett said the administration will ask Dr. Ferguson those questions and would be mindful before jumping into anything new. LPS Remote Learning Updates (April 28- May 12, 2020) Dr. Hackett reported that today marks Lexington's 31st day of remote learning, and the district is working to refine practices in the remaining 27 school days. She noted that recently a survey was sent out to families to find out what the remote learning experience has been like for them and their children. There were 2,365 responses, for an overall LPS family response rate of 32.5%, which is similar to the rate of responses typically seen with LPS surveys. Response rates for various demographic groups were similar or higher than the total overall response rate. An impressive 81%of our families agree or strongly agree that LPS staff have provided the support their child needs to access instruction. What's more, these findings are positive across various demographic groups, with approximately 75% of our special education families, 86% of our English Language Learner families, and 98% of our METCO families expressing satisfaction with the support LPS is providing their children during this period of school closure. Our LIPS families also had some constructive feedback for us. In particular, the top two requests from LPS families included: (1) more live "face-to-face" interactions between students and teachers (73.8%), and (2) more opportunities for students to interact with one another (65.3%). LPS families also indicate (albeit to a much lesser degree) that they would like more assignments (29.4%); guidance on how they can support their child during remote learning (28.7%); and more social-emotional support for students (27.4%). On Monday, May 11, 2020, we distributed the following LPS staff guidance that we are calling the "home stretch challenge." The guidance is responsive to parent feedback and will guide our efforts for the next 27 school days. For a more detailed look at the LPS Remote Learning Family Survey results, you can access the full report here. Dr. Kavanaugh reviewed some of the key findings of the Remote Learning Family Survey Results. She noted that there were some positive results and some well-known challenges. The survey helped to better understand the specific magnitude of things. Dr. Kavanaugh said there is a 5 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 written report of the findings in Dr. Hackett's report and embedded in that report are links to very detailed results for those who have an interest. Ms. Lenihan had a question regarding the letter from Commissioner Riley about the opportunity for students to bump up their course grades. Dr. Hackett said a response to the GPA question would be sent out in a newsletter from the high school sometime this week. They are definitely participating in the "bump up" approach. Ms. Lenihan asked if there was a plan for planning re-entry in the fall? Dr. Hackett said the administration has begun the process of collecting plans and putting together a Community Input Team toward the end of June. She is contemplating using the Master Planning Committee as the starting base for the CIT and would include people from the Board of Health. Dr. Hackett said her hope is to have some sort of framework by the end of June. Ideas and plans being contemplated will be communicated to the public, when appropriate. Dr. Hackett said this will not be an easy plan to develop on top of the overcrowding issues that Lexington is dealing with. Members had further discussion and questions regarding the remote learning which Dr. Hackett and Dr. Kavanaugh addressed. In other news, Commissioner Jeff Riley sent the following family letter Lhere and High School Guidance LLere that includes recommendations for graduation, calculating Grade Point Averages (GPAs), and Advanced Placement guidance. CONSENT AGENDA: Mr. Bokun moved to accept the following items on the Consent Agenda: • Accounts Payable dated May 8, 2020 in the amount of$521,575.10 • Payroll dated May 8, 2020 in the amount of$3,897,259.43 • School Committee minutes from April 28, 2020 Ms. Cuthbertson seconded; Ms. Jay took a roll call vote (Approved 5-0) COMMUNITY SPEAK: Ms. Danit Metzer- Parent of three children in the Lexington Public Schools system. She commented that 74% have responded on the survey that they are interested in face-to-face interaction with their teachers and 65% are interested in interaction with their peers. Ms. Metzer went on to mention the flexibility comments made from the survey. She is asking for the committee and superintendent to be flexible with face-to-face interaction to include one or two hours a day and giving teachers the option on how they would like to structure that. She recommended recording videos for some students who cannot join at the time but could view 6 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 them later on. She encouraged providing those 74% of parents some kind of structure during the day. Ms. Casey Lan - Normandy Rd.: Ms. Lan suggested that the check-ins at the high school and middle school level be more structured and possibly mandatory for students to check in. Dr. Hackett replied that a bigger part of their daily conversations right now with staff and administrators is how to offer meaningful experiences for students. Dr. Hackett said that hopefully in the weeks ahead of us is a more refined approach that better meets the needs of our students. We will get to a place that better meets the needs of everyone involved. PRESENTATION: SEPAL Data Survey ara LP Responses Ms. Emma Harding and Ms. Patricia Jacotin, Co-Chairs for SEPAC, along with Ms. Colette Powell and in collaboration with the LPS administration have been working on the SEPAC parent survey and gathering data. Hopefully it will be the basis upon which to make further improvements on the progress that has already happened over the years in Special Education since the last survey was done in 2012. Ms. Jacotin thanked all those who participated in helping make this survey and presentation possible. There is a 70 page report along with an 80 page document that is available on the LexSEPTA.org website for parents to view. Ms. Jay introduced Ms. Ellen Sugita, Director of Special Education, Mr. Johnny Cole, Director of Equity and Student Supports, Dr. Chris Lyons, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Professional Learning, and Dr. Maureen Kavanaugh, Director of Planning and Assessment. Mr. Bokun suggested that those who are not familiar with all the Special Education abbreviations can go to the LexSEPTA.org website for a list of abbreviations. Ms. Powell noted that tonight's presentation will be conducted jointly between SEPAC and the Lexington administration. She will present the results of the SEPAC survey and LPS administrators will provide LPS responses to the findings. Ms. Powell began the presentation with a brief slide providing background information on the parent survey: • The first LexSEPAC/SEPTA parent survey was conducted in 2012. • 2019 survey was launched as a result of discussions between SEPAC, LPS administration and, School Committee • The survey was drafted in August 2019, and launched in October 2019. • Target respondents included parents of children on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) or 504 plan currently in Lexington Public Schools. • Survey results have been shared and reviewed with LPS administration and the School Committee SEPAC liaisons. 7 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 Ms. Powell stated the 2019 survey sought to better understand parent satisfaction with: • Special Education/504 placement and service delivery • Parent partnership efforts • Communication 2019 Survey Goals included: • Help advise Lexington Public Schools on special education services and resource planning • Better focus SEPAC/SEPTA efforts • Provide useful insights for the broader Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work Ms. Powell said the 2019 survey was purposely modeled after the 2012 survey, keeping a majority of the questions the same in order to compare across time periods. She noted a few changes from the 2012 survey that were added to the 2019 survey such as more demographic data, in case any interesting trends appear that would be helpful with the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) work. Ms. Powell reported that there were over 500 survey responses which represented a 39% overall response rate, surpassing the 30%target. There was a 37% IEP response rate and a 45% 504 response rate. In total, there were over 800 open-ended parent comments. Ms. Powell reported that the demographics of the survey sample did not meaningfully differ from the LIDS special education population overall. This suggests that the survey sample is representative of the overall LPS special education population. Ms. Powell commented on the key takeaways from the survey: • Results showed broad-based improvement from the 2012 survey baseline • Parents are pleased with the quality of the special education staff and the quantity and breadth of service offerings • Many parent concerns could be addressed with more professional development, consistent communication around service delivery, and earlier progress reports • Parents want more inclusive opportunities for their children in general education settings. They would also like inclusion in LPS to be more systematic and consistent. Next, Ms. Sugitta, Director of Special Education, reported on the improvements following the 2012 survey. She noted that even though she did not start working in Lexington until July 2013, she was present during the School Committee presentation of the 2012 survey. Upon her arrival in Lexington, Ms. Sugitta started an entry plan with over 100 meetings with a variety of stakeholders that led to a restructuring of the SPED department in 2013-2014. Ms. Powell spoke about the overall themes from family input: • What aspects of special education in LPS do you think are most effective? o Quality of special education and guidance staff o Quantity and breadth of services offered 8 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 o Appreciation for Resource/i-blocks/WIN blocks o Value of inclusion o Expertise provided in district-wide programs • What change could be made to special education to better meet your child's needs? o More training for general education staff around IEP laws, common disabilities, and differentiated instruction o Less general education reliance on self-advocacy o More frequent communication and progress reports o A desire to improve adversarial relationship between o parents, staff, and administration o A strong belief in meaningful inclusion, less dogmatic around program offerings and more mindful of student disruptions when scheduling services o More proactive identification of learning disabilities o More social/emotional and executive function support o Best practices shared across schools Next, Ms. Powell reviewed charts showing the placement/services for children on IEP and 504 plans along with areas of strength and areas of improvement, as well as communication between staff and parents areas of strength and areas of improvement. See pages 10-22 of SEPAL Data Survey and LPS Responses for details on the specific data and findings. The LPS administrative team provided responses for Placement/Services for Children on an IEP or 504 plan and for Communication. A few takeaways from their response are as follows: • Integrate survey results & LPS response into work of the already established Community Input Team (CIT) focused on Inclusion • Provide supplementary professional learning opportunities throughout the year, including for support for school leaders around supporting educators' consistent implementation of IEP/504 accommodations • Develop staff guidance and expectations for reading IEPs and 504s. • Expand co-taught classes and broaden the view of inclusion practices • Explore a follow up process for outside evaluations that are conducted on students who are not on an IEP or 504. • Create guidelines for all service providers (Liaisons, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, etc.) to introduce themselves to families at the start of each school year. • Encourage all staff, including service providers, that whenever possible parent/guardian communication should receive a response within 1-2 school working days. Dr. Hackett thanked SEPAC and Ms. Powell for the hard work they provided. She noted there is still a lot of work to do still, but we are right on track with a good and healthy partnership that will help to carry through the hard spots. 9 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 Ms. Cuthbertson commented that co-teaching for the TLP at one of the elementary schools sounds great, and it would be interesting to branch out to other schools to start building capacity with educators, staff and comfort level of the community with co-teaching. Ms. Cuthbertson suggested to Ms. Sugitta that it might be helpful to have an idea of where the starting point of co-teaching is for the high school level. Dr. Hackett said she would like to continue with Estabrook inclusion but to also experiment and select a school(s) that are not so predictable. Trying this out and learning and sharing best practices would be a good way to ignite some change and difference. Ultimately, she would love to get to this level as a district, but it will take some time. Mr. Bokun asked if there was data specifically for parents of children with dyslexia. Ms. Powell explained that they removed all identifying information so the disability category was taken out. Ms. Powell said if you read through all of the comments, it would be possible to decipher some trends around that area. Committee members had further discussion and questions which the administrative team addressed. Ms. Jay thanked all for the hard work and collaboration and will look forward to continued updates. COMMUNITY SPEAK: Bronte Abraham - Hudson Rd.: Ms. Abraham commented there are a number of students that fall into the borderline category who come into an eligibility meeting and it is not clear what "bucket" they fall into. Instead, if a child is not eligible for special education services, they are immediately referred to a 504 rather than having to self-initiate as a parent and having to go through the whole process again. Ms. Sugita said in the eligibility process when a student is found eligible, there is a question during the process in the flow chart when the team does discuss whether a student could be eligible for a 504. It is a team decision to move on. Dr. Hackett commented that it is striking to see that the 504 piece was the most negative. Of all the things discussed, there is a real need for clarity around the 504 process. Getting a very clear process in place and making sure who has responsibility for what aspects are important, and we will work on improvements in that area. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: EDCO Update Dr. Hackett referred to the memo included in the School Committee packet regarding initiating proceedings to terminate the EDCO Collaborative organization. She noted that the committee 10 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020 has taken a number of votes and this topic has been discussed a number of times. According to Lexington's legal counsel, the School Committee has done everything necessary to achieve the goals: (1) to end Lexington's relationship with EDCO, and (2) to initiate the process for termination of the organization. The EDCO leadership does not feel the committee had executed the second vote correctly, and is asking that it take the vote on termination of the organization again. Given that timeliness is a factor, Dr. Hackett is recommending that the School Committee take the vote again this evening. If we do not have the vote recorded by June 30, 2020, then termination of the organization would not occur until 2022 because, in the agreement, there are specific deadlines for such a vote. A Y3 vote of the EDCO Board is required to terminate the collaborative. Lexington has been highly concerned about the financial situation at EDCO. Given these concerns, it makes sense for Lexington to terminate its relationship with EDCO and initiate the process of terminating the collaborative. Ms.Jay moved that:Pursuant to Article 9 of the Articles of Agreement, Lexington is requesting that the EDCO Board of Directors initiate proceedings to terminate the organization, the EDCO collaborative, within 30 days. Seconded by Ms. Cuthbertson;Ms.Jay took a roll call vote(Approved 5-0) Update on Cost Savings During School Closure 2020 Mr. Coehlo, Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations, provided a brief update on the cost savings during school closure. He noted that traditionally at this point in the fiscal year, the finance department starts the process reviewing all outstanding purchase orders and finalizing spending requests for year end. Mr. Coehlo reported that on May 1, 2020 the finance department issued specific guidelines on a spending freeze for FY 2020 and on the steps that will be taken to close out the fiscal year and open FY 2021 after the Town Meeting is completed. Mr. Coehlo reported that currently the department is undergoing a review of all 1000+ FY 2020 open purchase orders in the system. Each principal, department head, and their associated administrative assistants received a list of open purchase orders to review and determine what actions need to be taken. The department is also examining any prior year purchase orders that remain open from FY2018 and FY2019 to augment any identified FY 2020 fund balances that can be returned at the year-end close. Committee members had some questions for Mr. Coehlo which he addressed. COMMUNITY SPEAK: None Ms. Bokun made a motion to adjourn at 10:09 pm; Motion passed by roll call (5-0). 11 LSC Meeting Minutes Approved 5-26-2020