Lynnfield School Committee met last Thursday night, opening with a discussion of a proposed upcoming trip to Nashville run by the Lynnfield High School (LHS) Music Department.
The trip would involve students visiting multiple music-related sites in Nashville, including live music venues, museums, and a famous recording studio. The student band and chorus will perform at various places in Nashville as well.
Anticipating final approval, the School Committee decided to allow the music department to take deposits from students ahead of the final vote to ensure that they do not lose reserved tickets for the flight down to Nashville.
The trip will be funded by the students and their families, as well as by fundraising. The Music Department intends to do fundraising to help any students who cannot afford to pay the entire cost themselves.
The final vote for approval will take place at the next School Committee meeting.
A panel of student athletes representing the various teams at LHS then spoke and answered questions about the athletic activities at the high school. These included leadership training and community service events in addition to the regular athletic events.
On the panel was also a representative from Morgan’s Message, a student-led nonprofit which “strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and equalize treatment of physical and mental health within the student athlete community.” Morgan’s Message will be sponsoring dedication games for each sport with T-shirts and banners to bring mental health awareness onto the field.
The Committee also discussed the Middle School Pathway Exploration Policy. This is a state-required policy that aims to make the options for and path to high school Career Technical Education (CTE) more understandable for middle schoolers and their families.
The middle school will collaborate with the CTE/vocational tech schools in the area to provide tours and inform middle school students about options they have other than traditional high school. This will include increasing awareness about how CTE options are connected to post-secondary academic and career planning.
New this year will be a middle school visit to Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical High School (ENSATS).
The Committee also reviewed a draft of a policy update surrounding high school graduation requirements. Last year, the State voted to remove Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) as a graduation requirement, and in its place, the School Committee must come up with a new competency determination for subjects previously covered by MCAS. The new policy is due at the end of the year.
The new policy must ensure students have mastery in subjects previously covered by MCAS, such as math, science, and English Language Arts (ELA). It also adds a U.S. history requirement. It does not change the existing local graduation requirements.
A student council representative updated the School Committee on the state of the high school after the first five weeks of school and discussed the upcoming events planned by the student council, including Powderpuff in November.
Superintendent Tom Geary gave his updates as well.
Among other administrative updates, Geary spoke on the Town’s push to “move up the timing of the budget process this year” and how that impacts the School Committee’s budget process. Budget meetings will happen earlier, which will hopefully improve the public’s ability to engage with the process.
