School Committee

LOWELL SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Date: November 3, 2021 Time: 6:30PM Location: City Council Chamber, 375 Merrimack Street, 2nd Floor, Lowell, MA 01852 1. SALUTE TO FLAG 2. ROLL CALL On a roll call at 6:34 p.m., members present were, namely: Mayor Leahy, Ms. Martin, Ms. Clark, Mr. Descoteaux, Mr. Dillon, Ms. Doherty and Mr. Lay. 3. MINUTES 3.1. Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Mr. Dillon made a motion to accept and place on file the minutes from the Regularly Scheduled and the Special School Committee Meetings of Wednesday, October 20, 2021; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED 3.2. Approval of the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of Wednesday, October 20, 2021 Mr. Dillon made a motion to accept and place on file the minutes from the Regularly Scheduled and the Special School Committee Meetings of Wednesday, October 20, 2021; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED 4. PERMISSION TO ENTER 4.1. Permission to Enter: November 3, 2021 Mr. Dillon made a motion to approve the Permission to Enter; seconded by Ms. Clark. 6 yeas, 1 absent (Ms. Martin) APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 2 of 5) 5. MEMORIALS 5.1. Albert F. Lenzi, Uncle Of Mayor John Leahy, Mary Geoffroy, LHS E-House Administrative Assistant, Betty McKiernan, Director Of Adult Education, Kathleen Ramirez, Greenhalge Teacher And Grandfather Of Jeannine Lenzie, Leblanc School Administrative Assistant. 6. MOTIONS 6.1. [By Mayor John Leahy]: Request that the Superintendent in collaboration with the Facilities Department repair the Reilly School fence. In response to this motion, the Director of Facilities assessed the damage to the fence at the Reilly Elementary School and he believes that the back corner of the fence was damaged by a bobcat. The damage is to the corner of the fence closest to the school near the parking lot. The gate to the fence will need to be adjusted as well. It is estimated that the repair will cost up to $2000 and will take 2-4 weeks to schedule and complete. Mayor Leahy made a motion to approve; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 7. SUBCOMMITTEES 7.1. School Improvement and Performance Management Subcommittee: Report and Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of Wednesday, October 20, 2021 [Connie Martin, Chairperson] Ms. Martin, Chairperson informed the Committee that at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, Lowell Public Schools (LPS) began tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPI) aligned with the district’s strategic plan and goals identified during that school year. KPIs identified fell within four (4) main categories:  Academic and Student Achievement  Safe and Welcoming Environment  Operational Efficiency, and Family  Community Engagement She stated that each year moving forward, the Office of Performance Management will recommend KPIs to be tracked within that school year, using baselines from KPIs that were tracked in the previous year as well as with the district’s goals She stated that now that the KPIs are approved, a reporting timeline has been established and will continue to be shared out during quarterly meetings. Ms. Martin made a motion to accept the report as a report of progress; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 3 of 5) 8. REPORTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 8.1. COVID-19 Update Dr. Hall, Chief Operating Officer provided the Committee with a report that gave them a COVID-19 Data monitoring update that included Lowell Public Schools COVID positive cases, Pool Testing Participation and Testing Services (symptomatic testing, “test and stay” and routine COVID Pooled testing). Mr. Dillon made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.1 and 8.3 as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Clark. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.2. Home Education Superintendent Boyd recommended that the following parents/guardians be allowed to home educate their child: Shylah Hayward 25 Puffer Street Angelica Ren 36 Floyd Street Mr. Dillon asked Ms. Desmond to find out if the names and addresses need to be public for approval. Ms. Doherty made a motion to approve; seconded by Mr. Lay. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.3. Response to Motion 9. COO of 10/20/21 By Jackie Doherty Regarding Percentage of Students/Staff Vaccinated Dr. Hall, Chief Operating Officer provided the Committee with a report that stated that to comply with the School Committee’s vote of October 20, 2021, it is his opinion to limit response burden an anonymous email survey was sent out to staff and to parents/guardians of each student which would record the responses and the percentage of responses without recording personal information. The separate survey responses for each school will resend every few days to those who did not provide an initial response. The report will provide response rate, number of times the survey was sent and the vaccination rate from the survey results. Mr. Dillion stated that he wanted to reiterate that he disagrees with this vaccination report. Mr. Dillon made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.1 and 8.3 as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Clark. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 4 of 5) 9. COMMUNICATIONS 9.1. Communication from the Office of Teaching & Learning Regarding Special Education Data Ms. Desmond, Chief Academic Officer, informed the Committee that the Special Education Department continues to track compliance in multiple areas to ensure all services are delivered to students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). She stated that the Special Education staff has made significant progress in all areas of compliance. The report provided to the Committee included an overview of the current data for initial meetings, annual reviews and re-evaluation meetings. Ms. Martin stated that this information should be tracked on a regular basis. Ms. Doherty asked about the number of students waiting on translations and who are out of compliance because of it. Ms. Desmond stated that she would have to check the data. Mr. Dillon made a motion to accept the communications and to place them on file; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED 9.2. Communication from the Office of Educational Equity and Community Empowerment Regarding School Assignment Data Ms. Phillips, Chief Equity & Engagement Officer provided a report that stated on September 23, 2021, 141 students were reported as pending school assignments based on medical non-compliance with immunization requirements. In order to meet the October 1st state reporting deadline, medically non- compliant students were assigned to schools yet barred from attending until receiving medical clearance. On October 1st, the final medically non-compliant student count was 112 students. This count includes additional students who registered between September 23rd through October 1st, as well as reflects the removal of four (4) students with duplicate files. Based on a data report pulled from the Aspen student information system on October 27, 2021, out of the 112 students identified on October 1st to be medically non-compliant, three (3) students are still awaiting medical clearance in order to attend school, ninety-seven (97) are currently attending, eleven (11) transferred out of Lowell Public Schools, and one (1) student has been medically cleared, but not attending school. Mr. Dillon made a motion to accept the communications and to place them on file; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 5 of 5) 10. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Dillon made a motion to adjourn at 7:41 p.m.; seconded by Ms. Doherty. 7 yeas APPROVED Respectfully submitted, Joel D. Boyd, Ed.D., Superintendent and Secretary to the Lowell School Committee JDB/mes Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us