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Date: 5/31/2023
EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow School Committee voted on May 22 to accept revisions to the student code of conduct. Rules around attendance, suspension, cellphone usage and artificial intelligence are among changes.
Attendance expectations have been reinforced with stronger language. Superintendent Gordon Smith said nationwide, “After the pandemic, we’re dealing with an attendance issue.” He explained that school departments spent a couple of years “telling people to stay out of school,” and now schools must work to reverse that mindset. He added that there is still anxiety and fear among families leftover from COVID-19. Despite this, Smith said the law requires students miss no more than 10% of school days, excluding excused absences.
Smith said the schools see families take weeklong vacations outside of scheduled school vacation times. “We are stuck between the families and the law,” he said.
Changes to the code of conduct also addressed updates to regulations regarding suspension.
“Whatever you do, if you’re moving towards suspension, you need to document and show why,” smith said.
Emergency removal remains an option under state regulations if, “the continued presence of the student poses a danger to persons or property, or materially and substantially disrupts the order of the school, and, in the principal’s judgment, there is no alternative available to alleviate the danger or disruption.”
Rather than suspension, the emphasis should be on mediation, conflict resolution, restorative justice and collaborative problem solving, Smith said. He added that administrators have already been using these tools in their schools.
Smith said regulations regarding the use of AI have been added to the academic honesty section of the code of conduct. Smith said AI can be a tool or it can be a “challenge.”
“How do we keep up with it?” asked School Committee Chair Gregory Thompson. Smith said there are tools that can be used to decipher texts and determine whether AI was used. The information technology department is helping with this, he said.
School Committee member Aimee Dalenta suggested professional development on the topic, such as lessons on how to prepare a test question so they cannot generate any answer easily or asking for specific references from sources students have read.
The committee also discussed the use of cellphones in class. Student representative John Fitzpatrick said that the prevalence of use depends on the students and how engaged they are. Fellow student representative Ashley Kahi said students can be “crafty” about using phones. Molly Riley, another student representative, said some teachers make it clear that phones will be confiscated if used during class and that this can be helpful. Then again, Kahi said, there are students that do not care about the consequences.
School Committee member Elizabeth Marsian Boucher called the district’s attitude toward phones in the classroom “loosey goosey,” and said it was unfair to teachers that the decision is left up to them.
Thompson said it is “incumbent upon” adults to “help students be not so addicted to their phones, as we all are.” He suggested schools adopt a blanket policy. Smith said the use of a phone pouch station is the “most presented remedy by staff.”
Dalenta said requiring all students to put their phones in the pouches when entering classrooms would avoid making it seem punitive and make it a routine practice.
Fitgerald noted there is sometimes hesitation from students to hand over their phones. “It could become a bigger distraction” if a student pushes back against the policy in class, he said.
However, student representative Julia Boucher said the pouches are a “happy medium” and that students would be less likely to blame a teacher if it was a school department policy. “We have to learn how to grow with technology,” she said.
Smith said he would review the policies of other school departments.
ELHS project update
Smith said a May 18 community forum on the project to build a new East Longmeadow High School was successful. The project is still in the schematic design phase. Detailed drawings are being created and specific materials are being chosen to determine an overall budget.
The campus would include a multipurpose field, a practice field and fields for both varsity and junior varsity baseball and softball. There also will be tennis courts with pickleball striping and basketball courts. The existing turf field and track would remain. There would also be a playground for the early education program and space for summer concerts.
In addition to separate areas for buses and vehicle drop off and pickup, there would be different lots for staff and student parking.
Floor plans have been updated since the initial drawings were drafted. An extra elevator was eliminated, and the second-floor floor plans have been simplified. Learning spaces for fine and performing arts will surround the auditorium. There are two distinct areas within the cafeteria so the space can be used for more than one group at the same time. There are two academic wings with two floors on each wing.
Smith said the building is organized to be inclusive and student-centered, with varied, appropriately sized teaching spaces inside and out. The building will include updated teaching technology and furniture. There are support spaces which will “invite collaboration,” Smith said. It also allows for a reinvestment in art, drama, physical education and hands-on learning.
Security is built into the structure, Smith explained. There will be two consectuive vestibules through which visitors must be buzzed, “abuse-resistant” glass and a camera system. The building is designed to allow the public to visit the auditorium, gymnasium and pool without having access to the other parts of the school.
The feasibility study for the pool was recently approved by the Town Council. The schematic designs will use the West Springfield High School pool as inspiration. Funding for the pool will appear on the November ballot along with the high school project.
The estimated cost for the high school is $147.5 million, with between $55 million and $57 million to be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, an entity that works with school departments to refund a portion of school construction and repair costs. This would leave the town responsible for $120-$122 million. The pool is estimated to cost $14-$16 million, based on the cost of West Springfield’s facility. That brings the financial investment from the town to $134-$138 million.
An average single-family house in East Longmeadow pays $6,524 per year in property taxes. The school and pool would add about $1,220 per year to the average tax bill, an increase of 18.7%. The bond would last 30 years. It should be noted, these figures are estimates as of May 22, 2023, and could change as the project progresses.