At the February Local School Council (LSC) meeting, the council discussed Debate Team members’ success at the Harvard Debate Tournament and the upcoming results of the recent parent/teacher survey.

Principal reports led by Principal Brian Tennison

Tennison led his report by highlighting recent school-related successes, which included the following:

• The second annual Black Americans Making Moves (B.A.M.M.) taking place on Feb. 22.
• The success of the musical “Chicago.”   
• Aysia Grey and Ariana Collazo competed at the Harvard Debate Tournament this past weekend with great success.
• The Professional Personnel Leadership Committee (PPLC) is working to make sure that teachers are assigning meaningful tasks to students. According to Tennison, there are several years left in this process and Lane is currently confirming that curriculum across all classes aligns with Advanced Placement (AP) standards as well as working to refine summative assessments.

Community feedback led by Vice President Chairperson Julie Coffman

Coffman spoke about the results of a parent/teacher survey that the LSC conducts every year to gain insight on parent and teacher thoughts about Lane.

According to Coffman, the teacher survey got 170 submissions, an increase in responses from last year, and the parent survey got 770 submissions, a decrease in responses from last year.

The results of the survey are being finalized and are expected to be completed by March 8. With three years of data, there should be a developed trend evident in the responses, Coffman said.

Friends of Lane led by Debi Lilly

Lilly spoke about the upcoming annual Green and Gold Gala being held on May 3.

The Green and Gold Gala committee is looking for new donors and contacts for the event in an effort to keep a $0 budget. Working towards a $0 budget means that the committee will hopefully not have any expenses and all money earned from the Gala will go directly to Lane, according to Lilly. Lilly said that the Gala is the biggest fundraiser of the year, bringing in $30,000 from the silent auction and $50,000 from the live auction.                                                

Tickets for the event are currently on sale and can be purchased on the Friends of Lane website.

Professional Personnel Leadership Committee led by Katie Whittaker

Whittaker said that the PPLC had a discussion about homework and assigning meaningful tasks to guarantee that Lane students are receiving the best possible education.

According to Whittaker, the PPLC team is working to make sure that grading practices across the board are fair and accurate. Whittaker said that there is discussion within the PPLC about the subject of retesting and a standard based examination.

Alumni Association led by Michelle Weiner

Weiner spoke about the upcoming events for the Alumni Association as well as teacher grants and student scholarships.

The Alumni Association is having an all-class reunion in Mesa, Arizona at the beginning of March.

On March 19, the Alumni Association is hosting its second annual Trailblazers event. There will be a panel of women from the first four years of Lane being co-ed. The event will take place during fourth and fifth period lunch.

A group of alumni is working to create a chapter of the association called “The Cavalry.” This chapter is to support current students and graduates who are/were in the JROTC program. Their first service project is called “Roll Call,” where they will work to improve the plaques located in the Memorial Garden.

According to Weiner, the last database audit of alumni was in 1977, and names of Missing in Action and Killed in Action alumni are missing from the Memorial Garden.

There will also be more school tours for alumni classes at Lane, as the school tours generate about $800 to $1,000 from alumni purchasing Lane gear from the school shop, according to Weiner.

On May 22, the Alumni Association is hosting Alumni Night at Wrigley Field. There have already been 728 tickets reserved for that night by Lane alumni. All are invited to the event and tickets are going to be available in mid-March, according to the Lane Alumni Association website.

In Room 113, where the LSC meetings are held, Weiner said that the Alumni Association has discussed a project to improve the alumni Hall of Fame. There are many notable alumni missing from the Hall of Fame and they hope to be able to update it in the future. The project is estimated to take about two years to complete but the logistics are still being discussed.  

Checks and fundraising led by Jill Woods

Woods said that for this meeting there are no fundraisers to be caught up on.

Woods proposed five purchase orders, which were all passed:

• $218,000.00 for electric for stage-lighting
• $17,048.68 for combination locks for lockers and Physical Education lockers
• $12,083.10 for new lab tables and chairs
• $15,941.00 for tenth and eleventh grader PSAT exams
• $10,841.00 for ninth grader PSAT exams

Before the meeting went into closed session for the principal evaluation, Mr. Tennison announced a couple of projects to be expected in the near future, which included Gym I updates and new benches in the pool.

The LSC unanimously decided to move the next meeting to March 28 from the original date, March 22.