- Introductions – The attendees introduced themselves.
- Administrative Matters
- Secretary and meeting minutes – Lisa Stone volunteered to be the secretary.
- Meeting Schedule – Generally meetings will be set for the first Thursday of the month, with the exception of the October meeting which is scheduled for October 23. We considered whether to invite Mr. C to attend every meeting or to alternate attendance. Several members expressed a desire for Mr. C to try to attend every meeting (as his schedule allows) because often he has information that is necessary to productive conversation.
- Community Representative – The committee discussed several priorities in a community rep: diversity, proximity to building, experience with Murch. Historically it has been difficult to find someone to fulfill this role. Beth Colleye has individual candidates in mind and will pursue them.
- Basecamp – We will be using this project management tool again this year. Beth Colleye will send an introduction to all members who are not currently in the LSAT project.
- Enrollment – Mr. C reported that Murch currently has 620 enrolled students and expects to enroll one more student to fill an open PreK slot. Any additional enrollment will come from in-boundary students. Mr. C has been told that the school will not lose any positions this year due to under-enrollment but we should expect a reduction in staff next year. Currently the enrolled ELL population is low and Mr. C expects to see approximately another 20 international students enroll during the school. Lower enrollment may also be the result of a number of families move out of the Murch district and into other school boundaries such as Janney, which was recently renovated. Mr. C believes the pending renovation may have driven some families away. Last year we had 86 new families. This year we saw about 30 new families. Mr. C does not expect the new boundary changes to impact total enrollment next year.
- Building Renovation Update and LSAT input – Mr. C reported that the current renovation plan is to build for a size of approximately 700 students. The city has completed a feasibility study, which revealed several site restrictions that limit our ability to build a school larger than that. DGS is putting out a RFP for the building architect next week. The building ultimately will grow from 40,000 sq ft to 90,000 sq ft. In response to a question about specialized classrooms/curriculum Mr. C reported that current plans includes 3 autism classrooms.
- DGS is beginning to explore swing space for Murch during construction. One option is St. Anne’s, but this site is not large enough to hold entire school. Portable classroom trailers on the Lafayette fields (following their use by Lafayette during their renovation) present another possibility. When asked to identify the top three challenges in the event of displacement from the building, Mr. C responded that they are communication, consistency of instruction and attendance. The committee discussed the possibility of asking a representative from the SIT to attend an LSAT meeting to discuss instructional challenges resulting from the renovation and how the school can proactively address them. Mr. C asked members of the LSAT to prepare list of questions in advance so the SIT rep can come prepared.
- In response to questions regarding the possible need for LSAT input into the renovation, Mr. C responded that he believes the LSAT’s assistance will be needed to consider multiple-year budget plans. Because the Ed Specs are so detailed, there is not a need for LSAT input into building design. Many decisions are outside the Murch community’s hands. For example, the gym is considered historic and must be repurposed. Mr. C will reach out to Mike Quadrino and ask what role LSATs play in other renovations and will report back. Beth College offered to reach out to SIT co-chairs and offer assistances as requested.
- Feedback on Diversity Presentation and ongoing related work – Terri Fuller and Mr. C reported on the evening from earlier this month. The focus of the evening was how to build and support our community as a whole. Terri Fuller read from the formal notes from the meeting (which were prepared by the facilitators) and it was requested that she circulate them to the LSAT members. Among the topics that were mentioned were the following: the achievement gap, out of boundary families feeling disconnected, homework help, what does diversity mean for our school? Are all groups represented? Cultural competency. How to support ELL parents. The school plans to schedule another community based meeting. In the interim, Mr. C has gathered a working group that will meet at Tenley Library on Oct. 9 to look at how to build bridges within the greater Murch community. Lisa Stone will attend this meeting and will report back to the LSAT on any items specific to LSAT.
- Topics for Future Meetings – The committee briefly discussed how to prioritize among the many possible topics that have been previously identified for future meetings. In addition to the items identified on the agenda, the following were also identified, including (a) a communication to parents on how to prepare for conferences that will inform parents of changes in assessments; (b) departmentalization of instruction for grades 3-5; and (c) behavior support. The committee plans to use Basecamp to gather a complete list of topics and Bethany Little has agreed to design a survey to facilitate prioritization.