School Committee: Community Input

During meetings, both presentations and School Committee discussions will be brief.  Public input, when time permits, will be limited.  The following procedures for Public participation will be followed:

1. All comments/questions should be directed to the School Committee Chair.
2. During Public Comment, speakers will be limited to three minutes; comments should focus on school policy matters rather than on administrative matters.
3. Individuals should not expect an immediate reply from the Committee, since this is a time for questions or concerns to be heard and not the time for decisions to be made.  Generally, the Administration will return to the next meeting with a response or the item is place on the Agenda for a following meeting for further discussion.

If need be, the School Committee may vote to go into closed session (Executive Session) to discuss items permitted by law, such as those of collective bargaining strategy.

The Lexington School Committee endeavors to discharge our responsibilities properly and welcomes comments that would serve to improve School Committee procedures.

School Committee: Minutes, Agendas, & Reports

The minutes and agendas of all the School Committee meetings will be posted as quickly as possible.  Typically, the agenda is available several days prior to the meeting date.  The minutes of a meeting are typically approved at the following meeting, and are typically posted within a few days after that.  An archive of agenda and minutes is available for the current year or prior years here.

School Committee: Meetings

School Committee conducts its business in regular public meetings under the rules of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.  Generally, these meetings are scheduled for Tuesday evenings, September through June; adjustments are made to accommodate school vacations.  The regular twice-monthly business meetings allow the School Committee to efficiently conduct all of the various transactions required by law. Most meetings are held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Office Building, but occasionally the meetings are held at Clarke Middle School Auditorium or in Cary Memorial Hall Auditorium; at least one meeting is scheduled in Boston with METCO families.

Additional meetings are scheduled when needed.  These meetings serve a much broader purpose than the business meetings.  Usually they allow opportunities for the School Committee to explore specific issues in greater detail, to listen to more extensive presentations and public input on topics, and/or to engage in School Committee development activities.  Public forums on key topics may also be scheduled.

School Committee agendas and other public documents may be found on the Lexington Public Schools' website.  The Public is invited to speak at School Committee meetings during the Public Comments portion of the meeting and, as the Chair and time allows, throughout the meeting after members of the School Committee and the Administration have had an opportunity to express their views.

School Committee: Hires

The School Committee hires an administrative staff to oversee all of the daily operations in the schools and to do the work necessary for the Committee both to act on policy matters and to evaluate, in a general sense, the overall functioning of the school system.  Thus, the Committee asks the administrative staff to do a variety of tasks involving data collection and analysis and to make recommendations where appropriate.  In many instances, the law requires from the Superintendent a recommendation upon which the Committee can act.

The LPS administrative staff consists of Dr. Paul B. Ash, Superintendent of Schools; Ms. Carol A. Pilarski, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development; Ms. Mary Ellen Dunn, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Business; Mr. Robert. J. Harris, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources; Ms. Linda Chase, Director of Student Services; and Mr. Tom Plati, Director of Educational Technology and Assessment.

For more about the Lexington Public Schools, please visit the LPS website:  http://lps.lexingtonma.org/Page/1