[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: The Medford School Committee will now come to order. The Secretary will call the roll. Mr. Estudio?
[Robert Skerry]: Mrs. Valdero? Present. Mr. Pence? Here. Mr. Stone?
[Unidentified]: Here. Ms. Gary, present. Mr. Nunez, present.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Present. Seven present, none absent. All please rise and salute our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I would now like to invite Ms. Caldwell up to give a brief synopsis of the Columbus School Student Office's inauguration ceremony. Ms. Caldwell.
[Diane Caldwell]: Thank you. Good evening, everybody. And I'd like to welcome our parents, our students, our grandparents, and friends of the Columbus School, as well as Mr. Plattie, the fourth grade teacher. Oh, thanks, Joe. Miss Kay, the principal. Miss Sherman Hudson, the assistant principal of the Columbus School. And I believe I saw Miss Ross here as well. Thank you for coming. So very briefly, Mr. Plattie's The fourth grade class at the Columbus Elementary School learned all about the electoral process this fall. After completing a social studies unit on our system of government, citizenship, which included rights and responsibilities, and the U.S. electoral process, the class held its own election. To coincide with the presidential election, Mr. Plattie provided the students with a virtual experience of our country's electoral process. His fourth grade class held their own election for a class president and a vice president. The students followed the same procedures used in our national presidential election. There was a primary, and then there was also a final election. The process began with nominations. Students could name or nominate a fellow student for either office, providing the nomination was supported by two fellow students. There were nine students nominated for president and three for vice president. The nominated students had to complete the following, write and give a two-minute speech, which was a persuasive writing assignment, explaining, convincing classmates why they should be elected, make one to two 24 by 30-inch campaign posters, and create campaign flyers and or buttons. The issues students addressed included the following. The students wanted more independent reading time in class, an extra recess when class follows PBIS 100%, and PBIS is positive behavior for students. Persuade Mr. Plattie for one homework-free night when students complete a classroom job. Be available to listen to concerns or ideas a classmate might have, and to advocate for the student with the teacher, and to become a role model for the class. Some candidates put their names on pencils and candy bars, which were distributed to the electorate. The two top vote getters for president and vice president went into the final election. Once again, the candidates presented to their classmates. Secret ballots were cast. And I'd like to call Mr. Clady up to the podium right now because I believe he should do the honors of announcing the winners of the presidential and vice presidential election of the Columbus Elementary School. Thank you.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_11]: Madam Mayor, members of the school committee, Superintendent Beltson, Assistant Superintendent Ms. Caldwell, Deputy Superintendent, Principal of the Columbus School, Ms. Kay, Assistant Principal Nancy Sherman-Hudson, my first piano teacher. It is with great pleasure that I am pleased to announce the president of the class of room 307, fourth grade at the Columbus Elementary is Mariah Mattel. And our class vice president, hiding behind the flag bearer, is Alex Lombardo.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: The colors will now be presented by Joelle Ritchie. Please present the colors, Mr. Ritchie. Mr. Ritchie is accompanied by President-Elect Mariah Mattel and Vice President-Elect Alexandra Lombardo. Mr. Superintendent, could you hold the officials? Could you please place your right hand on the Bible and repeat after me? I, say your name. I, Mariah R. Mitchell, having been duly elected as President of our 4th grade class at the Columbus Elementary School, solemnly swear that I shall faithfully represent the interest of the students in our class, uphold the rules of my school, my classroom, And those of my teacher.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_07]: And those of my teacher.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I will uphold the laws of the United States.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_07]: I will uphold the laws of the United States.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: The state of Massachusetts.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_07]: The state of Massachusetts.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: The city of Medford. The city of Medford. And especially. And especially. My teacher's classroom rules.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_07]: My teacher's classroom rules.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: And homework policies.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_07]: And homework policies. I will serve at all times as a positive role model, leader, and voice for my fellow students.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: So help me God. Congratulations. Madam Vice President, it's your turn. Raise your right hand, repeat after me. I, say your name.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_07]: I, Alexandra W. Lombardo, having been duly elected, having been duly elected, as vice president of our fourth grade class, as vice president of our fourth grade class, at the Columbus Elementary School, at the Columbus Elementary School, solemnly swear, solemnly swear, that I shall faithfully represent, that I shall faithfully represent, represent the interest of the students in our class, the interest of our students in the class, the rules of my school, the rules of my school, my classroom, my classroom, and those of my teacher, and those of my teacher. I will uphold the laws of the United States, I will uphold the laws of the United States, the state of Massachusetts, the state of Massachusetts, the city of Medford, the city of Medford, and especially my teachers, and especially my teachers, classroom rules and homework policies. I will serve at all times as a positive role model, leader, and voice for my fellow students. So help me God.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: And at this time, we'd like to invite our president to say a few words, if you'd like to.
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_07]: Som presidenta de clase, prometo hacer mi mejor para mis compañeros de clase y trabajar con el vicepresidente Alexandra en crear ideas para hacer que este sea un buen año de cuarto grado. Alexandra y yo tenemos algunos grandes acompañamientos ya. El primero es que comenzamos a financiar Penny Drive y ganamos $62 para el Fondo Mundial de la Tierra para salvar a dos animales peligrosos. The second one is that we successfully petitioned our teacher to give us a reading coupon. If we do all our homework, we get to sit and enjoy some pleasure reading on our own. And we get to sit in Mr. Potty's special chair. Thank you. The third one is that we successfully petitioned our teacher for extra recess when we make progress with our positive behavior goals. We have won two recesses so far. The fourth one is that we came up with a coupon system which helps save the environment by cutting down on wasting classroom paper towels. Very good. And finally, on behalf of myself, Vice President Alexandra, and our entire class, we want to thank Mariburg for making this amazing grant possible.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: She's already made quite a few accomplishments in such a short time. And on behalf of the school committee, we'd like to present you with pennies for your penny drive. Mr. Flagg here, please retire the colors. Thank you ladies, great job.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Madam Mayor, I have to say that without any question of a doubt, and I'm sure the audience will all agree, that is the most positive thing that has happened during this election season. Thank you very much.
[Roy Belson]: Madam Mayor, without taking any positions in the upcoming election, Medford is certainly right out front. We've just elected two females to the top jobs. We're ahead of the curve.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you all so much for being here tonight. This is a very special event for us, as well as for all of you parents, students, teachers, and administrators. So thank you all for being a part of this tonight.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Mrs. Cuno. Now, this was refreshing, I have to say, and this is why you sit here sometimes, well, why we sit here sometimes, and I'll speak for myself, and this was very well, very well worth why we're here. Just want to say thank you to everyone, but I also want to congratulate Mr. Plattie for really bringing the ideas to our children, letting them come to school happy, letting them come to school because they want to learn. I know, I get emotional for all this stuff. But it really, you know, people think maybe this isn't important. It's very important because these children have learned so much about our governmental process that they don't even know they've learned. So, thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. Thank you, Mr. Pratt. Did you want to say a few words?
[v1uxY5eDG_Y_SPEAKER_11]: I just want to make some thank yous, and I hope I get everybody in the list here. Because I do want to first start with the mayor. Because this was originally supposed to start off as just something at six o'clock before the meeting started, and we were going to come in and out without being obtrusive. And Mayor Burke turned this into a fantastic extravaganza and event that these girls and their families will never ever forget. So I would like to thank you for doing such a great job. And your two staff members, Linda Colletti, Lauren Felch, And I'd like to give a shout-out of thanks to our superintendent, Belson, and to our school principal, Kathy Kay, and our assistant principal, Nancy Sherman-Hudson, for all your support in getting this and helping in endorsing all of this. And, I almost forgot, our assistant superintendent of schools, Diane Caldwell. And thanks to the committee for inviting us in. Thank you very, very much.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you, Mr. Clady. Van der Kloot?
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Trudde du att de kan hjälpa oss med vårt kandidatval?
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I already scoped out the talent before the meeting and a few people have already volunteered on my campaign.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I'm sure there's a few that will be here someday, so great job students. Have a great evening, get home and finish your homework so that Mr. Platt is happy with you tomorrow. Could someone make a motion for suspension of the rules so that we can present the math students? Motion for suspension of the rules by Ms. Van der Kloot, is there a second? By Ms. Benedetto. All those in favor? All those opposed? Suspension is granted. It's item 7-1. Presentation of Mass Student Achievement Awards. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Madam Mayor and members of the committee and ladies and gentlemen, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents each year recognizes outstanding students in each community for which there is a superintendent who is a member of mass. Now, These awards are not given lightly, they're given to individuals who have not only accomplished academic excellence, but have done other terrific things in their school environments. So this evening we have two presentations, one to a member of Medford High School, and one to a member of the Medford Vocational Technical High School, both seniors and both outstanding individuals. So at this time, it's my great pleasure to read you about the first one, and then we'll bring that person up, and then we'll do the second, and do the same. The first individual is a member of the class of 2017 at Medford High School. He is a consistent honor roll student with a GPA of 4.07. Zachary is interested in environmental studies and plans to apply to several small colleges for environmental programs. At Medford High School, he is the captain of the swim team, a former member of the crew team, as well as a member of the Roots and Shoots Club, which works for environmental change in the school and community. He is a member of the Mustang of the Fells Club, which promotes outdoor education. He participated in the Brainstart Entrepreneurship Program last year at MHS, and is a past Triple Crown award winner for outstanding academic and civic achievements at Medford High School. Zachary is a runner who participated in the Medford Jingle Bells run fundraiser and last year ran the Burlington Marathon. In addition to his sports and clubs, Zachary works at the Medford High School pool as a lifeguard. Ladies and gentlemen, it's my distinct pleasure to call up for your recognition, Zachary Mafia. Zachary Rice. Congratulations, Zach. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Congratulations, Zach. Good job. Would you like to say a few words? If you'd like.
[4up_cmlg7RM_SPEAKER_08]: I'd just like to say thank you to the City Council for this honor, and the Student Council, and thank you to you, Mary Burke, and Superintendent Belson. It's truly an honor.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you, Zach. I was lucky enough last spring to do a hike with Zach and some of his fellow members of the Mustang Trail. And it was quite a unique experience and they know all about the trail. They started it up themselves and it's quite a, something to be very proud of. So he'll do great with environmental studies.
[Roy Belson]: Our next award winner is from the Medford Vocational Technical High School. This individual is a senior in the Construction Craft Laborers and is ranked number two in the senior class. A hard worker and always eager to learn, she has spent the last three years learning many skills in the construction and carpentry field. Last year she was a medal winner in masonry at the Regional Skills USA competition. She spent the summer working with a general contractor and recently was hired at Cleveland Fence Company in Stoneham, Massachusetts, where she will work in a cooperative education job. Her teachers report that during his time at MHS, he had been a consistent and committed student and a great asset to the Construction Craft Laborers Program. Long-term goal is to become a general contractor. Immediate goals are to join and work for construction or carpentry union while pursuing a degree in construction management. It's our pleasure to introduce Valerie Sajud. Valerie?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Not here? Okay.
[Roy Belson]: Okay. So we'll make sure that it's presented and that individual is duly recognized.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. Thank you. Is there a motion to revert to the regular order of business by Ms. Van der Kloot, seconded by Ms. DiBenedetto? All those in favor? All those opposed? We're now on the regular agenda. Approval of minutes of September 26, 2016. Is there a motion for approval by Ms. Discari, seconded by Ms. Van der Kloot? All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of bills, transfer of funds. Motion for approval by Ms. Discari, seconded by Ms. Cuno. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Approval of payrolls. It's a motion for approval by Mr. Skerry, seconded by Mr. Benedetto. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Report of the secretary. None. Report of committees, curriculum subcommittee meeting. Ms. VanderKloof is the chairperson.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Hi. We did have a meeting on October 13th. I was the chair. Subcommittee members Mia Mastone and Robert Scurry were present. Also present was Kathy Kreatz and Arenda Benedetto, the superintendent, assistant superintendent Diane Caldwell, director of curriculum, Bernadette Riccidelli, director of humanities, Nicole Chiesa, Director of Math, Carolyn Joy. Director of Science, Rocco Sieri. Director of Pupil Services, Kathleen Madaglio. Director of ELL, Leslie Trotta. All of our principals, teachers, Ms. Cole Sanford, and parents, Alexandra Laurie, Alicia Karen, Melanie McLaughlin, Michelle Ciccolo, and Jen Lewis. The purpose of the meeting was to review and discuss the 2000 state test results. We were each provided with the reports on the test results in all areas which are attached to this report. Deputy Nelson and Assistant Superintendent Caldwell discussed the state testing and the variables affecting the testing. They explained that the discussion would focus on subgroup data for park rates 3 to 8 and MCAS. Deputy Superintendent introduced Nicole Chiesa, Caroline Joy, and Rocky Cieri. Ms. Caldwell gave a brief history of MCAS. It was also stated there was no state data available this year. Vi har en overview av ELA MCAS grad 10 result. Superintendent Belson clarified the Asian subgroup population. It is not homogeneous. It includes a wide range of groups from across the continent, and it varies from city to city. We continued with an overview of the MCAS grade 10 results, and then we went to the science results for grades 5, 8, and 10. Discussion was held about the difficulty of disaggregating grade 10 science as students were taking different content areas and are in different grade levels. They also discussed the low scores for grade 5. Mr. Cieri said that grade 5 scores were low across the board and he plans research programs this year. They also need to look at the budget for material supplies and additional professional development for elementary students. A view of PARC ELA Mathematics for Grades 3 to 8, PARC N to ELA Mathematics for Grades 3 to 8 followed with a review of the highlights and the subgroup data. Discussion was held regarding computer-based testing at the Andrew School and paper testing. It was determined that more time is needed for elementary staff to learn how to use computers when testing. Dr. Riccadeli explained the PARC assessments. This is Medford's first year. Students are required to not only answer the question, but also to explain how they got there. Mr. Benedetto asked about comparison of like districts to Medford. A report will be generated. Ms. Nelson described the five-point scale park uses and the four-point MCAS scale. Ms. Nelson also reviewed student report inconsistencies around the following changes in numbers between levels, plus or minus 7.4 range and the explanation of the legend. I asked what was the takeaway from the evening. Superintendent Belson said that we need to get better, improve science and math scores, review and purchase a new elementary science program. and look hard at our specialized population. There's a lot of transition statewide, and the state is still sorting it out. Ms. Mastone would like to look at the Brooks School to collaborate on effective teaching strategies around science. The number of ELL students at the Brooks is much less than the other schools. Testing in 2017 was discussed. The high school will continue to use MCAS. MKS 2.0 is untimed, no long compositions, and will resemble park questions. Grades 4 and 8 will have online testing of all students. The Andrews will be online testing for all grades. A meeting with Revere and Burlington Public Schools is planned to look at infrastructure needs for technology. Ms. McLaughlin raised concerns around students with disabilities taking MCAS 2.0. It will be discussed in the weeks ahead. Our meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m. Respectfully submitted myself as chair.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you, Ms. Van der Kloot.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you. Thank you for the report, and I apologize for coming in late that evening. So I missed a little bit about the MCAS scores for math in ELA. for our 10th graders. Do we do a comparison from this year to the last few years? Do we get a graph of that? Because I didn't get it that evening and I don't see it tonight. Mr. Superintendent?
[Roy Belson]: This report was basically a follow-up on things that we didn't cover in the first time. We did give you a report You report here, you've got this last piece here which does that.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Okay. Also, do you have weekend? Okay, we show the graph for the high school and the junior high for the last few years of MCAS for 10th and 8th and 4th grade.
[Roy Belson]: Well, you can see this in this in these charts. That's where that's right.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I see some is if the high school as well. Okay, great.
[Roy Belson]: Okay.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Yes, thank you. I just didn't see it when I was looking through it and I was late that evening. Again, I apologize for that. Also, the district comparison, I know you'll need some time to get that to us. Could you add that to the list of outstanding items on our agenda so that way within the next few meetings you'd be able to until that's covered?
[Roy Belson]: We can do that. We're working on that now.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Okay, so just add it to our agenda. Yes, 11. Thank you very much.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you Mr. Benedetto. Is there a motion on the floor to accept the report? Motion to accept. Motion to accept offered by Mr. Benedetto, seconded by Ms. Van der Kloot. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes with the report being added to our list.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mayor Burke, can I say one more thing? Certainly. So my understanding, Mr. Superintendent, is that we are now a level 2 school district.
[Unidentified]: We are.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So I was the one that yelled quite a few times that when we were level 3, so I would like to congratulate everybody who worked so hard last year. to move us back to the level two district. That's a great accomplishment for everybody that works in this community and for our students as well as our parents and the children that also have really tried hard on these exams. So we are a level two district. I'd like everybody to know we are now a level, and I'm very proud to say that and very happy to say that. And I would probably say it all year, just like I said, I was worried when we were level three. I'm glad to see us moving in the right direction. Great work. Thank you very much.
[Roy Belson]: Thank you.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Ms. Cuno. Just a point of information. As far as subcommittee meetings, I'd like to have people that are watching and people that are in the audience to understand also is that when we have subcommittee meetings, the people that are on those subcommittees are the people that are responsible for those meetings to ask questions that evening and to request anything. If we as school committee members do go to a subcommittee meeting, we go as residents of the city. We do not hold the hat of a school committee member. So therefore, sometimes it's kind of hard to go without really overlapping that. So that's really something that I want people to understand. So it's not, if we're going to have subcommittee meetings, that is the purpose of the subcommittee meeting. for the people on those committees to bring that information to us and people understand that.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. Community participation. Melanie McLaughlin, President of the CPAC. Ms. McLaughlin. Good evening.
[Unidentified]: Good evening.
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Hello, Madam Mayor. Hello, Superintendent Belson, school committee members. Thank you for having me here tonight. I am coming on behalf of the Special Education Parent Advisory Council, but also on behalf of high-need students in Medford. For those of you who may be watching who don't know who I am, my name is Melanie Perkins McLaughlin. I am the co-chair of the Special Education Parent Advisory Council, but also sort of on a personal note, I want to share that I also happen to grow up in an economically disadvantaged home. I went to Lawrence Public Schools. I have some background in that area as well, as well as having a daughter with a disability. So when we talk about high-need students, as most of you here know, but perhaps others don't, high-need students would be economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and English language students. So at the end of last year for the school committee, I brought a report to the members here in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. And I just wanted to take a moment for the recommendations on that PowerPoint. At the end of the PowerPoint, we had some recommendations that we made to the school committee, and there was a suggestion after the recommendation that perhaps there would be a subcommittee of the whole that could be created to talk more about some of the recommendations. Unfortunately, four or five months have gone by, that hasn't happened. So we're here to revisit that, number one, that's sort of one of our priorities here, but also Having had some time to review the presentation that we did and also having had some time to see and hear from families with additional concerns around high-need students, we made some addendum to the recommendations specifically to the high-need student population as well and also related to the district goals. So I just want to take one moment to sort of look at that. I also wanted to say, regarding the last school committee meeting, I came into that meeting after a parent had got up and spoken. I was out of context. I did not know what the context of the parent's presentation was. I found out subsequently. But what I did see when I came in, and it was very confusing for an outsider, what I saw when I came in was a lot of discussion around students with disabilities without any sort of context of what that discussion was. And it was alarming to me. como padre de una estudiante con disabilidad, pero tambien como co-presidente de la asociación especial de educación de padres. Fui contactado por varias familias que también se sentían muy alarmadas por la retórica que sentían aquí esa noche sobre los estudiantes con disabilidades y algunas de las conversaciones que se tuvieron. Una cosa que quiero recordarles aquí es que cuando hablamos de todos los estudiantes, espero que estamos hablando de estudiantes con disabilidades. Estudiantes con disabilidades, estudiantes de Yale, ekonomically disadvantaged students are all students, I would think. So I just wanted to mention that. Regarding the recommendations that we had, I won't bore you with some of the report that we did last year. You all have copies of the report, that PowerPoint. It was titled the State of Special Education in Medford. It is available on the district website for folks who would like to see it. I believe it's under the CPAC heading. It has been modified. I will send the superintendent's office and Allison Goldsberry, the modification, so that they can share that. And I just talked about the high-need students. I had a clip of the high-need students and some information on that with a graphic of the high-need students. And then, Superintendent Bellson, I actually was hoping for your advice here, because I'm trying to understand some of these numbers, and I'm hoping you might be able to help me out. For the high-need students, I know that it's defined as economically disadvantaged Students with disabilities and English language learners. So when I go to the DESE website and I look at the data on our website regarding our school district profile and it says economically disadvantaged is 25.3%. Students with disabilities 18% and English language learners 7.5%. So I'm wondering if I'm adding that up correctly, would that mean that our total high needs population in the city of Medford is 50%? No. Okay.
[Roy Belson]: What the state has done is they've created a high-needs category. And in that category, an individual might fit in more than one activity. A youngster might be a person who doesn't speak English as a first language, might be special needs, and might also be economically disadvantaged. So one person might be in three categories, multiple categories. So you could find that, you know, Different scores, different activities are skewed by the fact that an individual repeats themselves in multiple categories. So we have to break those out periodically as we go just to see exactly what's the dominant category that's driving a particular result. So high needs is sort of an accumulation or cumulative amount of all the students who fall into any one of those categories as opposed to one. So 50% would be too high.
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Okay. What would you say would be a fair percentage?
[Roy Belson]: I want to look at the latest because basically the other thing that took place is Title I, which normally defined economically disadvantaged, the rule was changed. And because it was changed, the numbers came way down and it affected communities across the state. So I don't want to speculate at this point in time, but we certainly are going to break it out.
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Okay, that's great. Thank you. And also I would say that it's fair to say that there's a, you know, we see a lot on the states from reports from DESE and the state of special education in the state of Massachusetts anyway, that there's a lot of disproportionality certainly around minorities and English language learners being identified as special education or more highly identified or not. And also according to Tom Hare's report that I shared with the school committee a week or two ago, a couple of weeks ago, and also regarding their achievement, the achievement gap. Is that right?
[Roy Belson]: Well, you know, disproportionality or what they call prima facie denial in some instances. There is a tendency in school districts across and almost any institution if a youngster is not doing well. som kan spekulerar om om det är en ungdom som har en lärnings- eller språkbaserad ungdom, om det är en temporär distraktion som ungdom har, eller om det är en familjedysfunktion, eller om det är andra saker som händer i deras liv. Så det är väldigt svårt att veta om identifikationen är 100%. Men vi må klart betala mycket att sikta på att ungdom som inte pratar engelsk som den första språken, som som som som som som som som som som som
[Melanie McLaughlin]: the economically disadvantaged, the students with disabilities, and the English language learners. Our summary for our report last year talked about the substantial achievement gap between typical students and high need students in Medford. For those who are watching or in the audience who don't know what achievement gap is, I would venture, I'm not an educator yet, but I would venture to say that the achievement gap is for success rates for students on MCAS Typical students and the gap would be for minority students or economically disadvantaged students or English language learners might look somewhere around this if you're talking people who are proficient on MCAS and people who are not. Is that accurate?
[Roy Belson]: Well, the gap is between the youngsters who don't necessarily fall into these subgroup categories and those youngsters who do. Det är viktigt att nåta, och det kom ut i vårt sista samarbete, att Medfords uppnivån i dessa subgrupper var eller ökade statens mängder i varje av dessa kategorier. Så vad det verkligen betyder, det är om staten använder ett instrument som propertiskt analyserar den tillräcklige utvecklingen av dessa ungdomar. Är det rejält att ge ungdomar en test i engelsk? in their first year in this country not speaking English. And then trying to determine whether this youngster knows enough. I think that the assessment system really deserves a work over because it's inappropriate to ask youngsters to do things for which they are not particularly good at it at this point in their life because of their genesis, where they are at that point in time. So a youngster who might be progressing at a nice level for his or her situation might take an extra year or two to get to that level. What's wrong with that? The goal is to get to the achievement level as much as possible, and if it takes a little longer, fine. Some people learn faster, some people learn slower. Some people are more skilled in a mathematical area, some people are more skilled in a language area. And so we need to have a better assessment system than the vanilla that we're getting right now and that's going to be a topic of discussion among superintendents, school committee members, and others as we approach our meetings coming forward. ESSA, and we'll have that discussion tonight as part of it, makes some changes in NCLB, but not enough.
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Yeah, I couldn't agree more, and I think Universal Design for Learning hopefully will help with that, but I think there's a lot more that we agree on than we realize sometimes, and I'm glad to hear that's the case. I also wanted to say that I was very happy to see tonight the self-advocates, the students who are self-advocates here, and being recognized for their achievements. That was wonderful to see, and it is very important for us to focus on positive things that are happening in our district as well. For the students that were able to speak for themselves tonight, I couldn't have felt prouder, but I also want us to remember for the students who cannot speak for themselves. We have a significant population in this community that is not able to speak on their behalf, whether they are students with disabilities, whether they are economically disadvantaged families, or whether they're English language learners. And because of my passion and because of my background, I am fortunate enough to be able to speak on their behalf, and that's what I want to do, and that's what I'll continue to do. So I also just want to ask the full inclusion rates for, I wanted to add sort of our summary on a report, the full inclusion rates were a little bit less than state average, at least on last year's data. Dropout rates were a little bit higher, and the substantially separate setting was a little bit higher than state average. Now getting to the district priority goals and SMART goals. So I know that the district just published their priority goals and SMART goals, is that right? And I was really excited to see that District Priority Goal 2, District Priority Goal 7, and District Priority Goal 6 are all aligned with the recommendations that we have for the Special Education Parent Advisory Council. Specifically, District Priority Goal 2 was to expand efforts to meet the academic, emotional, social, and physical needs of Medford's diverse student population. And there were some recommendations from the, I assume from the committee on how that would be done, including hours of training on implementation of social-emotional curriculum, Three outreach events that allow for community staff and family partnerships. Alternative educational supports for students using positive behavioral intervention supports and credit recovery. And this is also published on the district website, the district goals and SMART goals for educators. District priority goal six, which is differentiated instruction. We are very happy to see to promote differentiated instruction within a tiered model so that the needs of all students are met. The suggestion was two professional development workshops, teacher training for U or NI teachers, and then revised units of instruction using understanding by design, also in align with our goals, which was really great. And district goals, priority seven, family engagement. The family engagement piece, to continue to promote communication between home and school in order to strengthen the link between parents and educators, community members, and other stakeholders. And the two items on there were educators would be trained in the school brains, initiative with a parent portal, and this is a software program that allows parents and educators to be able to access data on their students. That should be rolling out soon, I hear. And then item number two is collaboration between school and community will increase by 10% district wide during the school year over the previous year as evidenced by sign in sheets and other attendance taking methods. And while we're happy to see that family engagement is part of the district goals for this coming year. Ten percent feels really short, and we're concerned about that. And we're also concerned about how the measure of that family engagement is really happening, and especially how it's really happening for families that aren't speaking English. So, again, we would love the CPAC to be brought to the table at some of these events to be able to offer our input and our advice, and also other community stakeholders, stakeholders from the EL community, stakeholders from the economically disadvantaged community. I just want to mention that teachers in a 2014 TELMAS educator survey, the teachers were given a survey and they were asked the question, in which of the following areas, if any, do you need professional development to teach your students more effectively? 60% of teachers in the TELMAS educator survey said closing the achievement gap. 56% said teaching students with disabilities. 52% said differentiating instruction. 51% said co-teaching, collaborative teaching, and 45% said promoting cultural competency. And again, promoting cultural competency we believe goes hand in hand with family engagement. I'm not going to read the rest of the report because I've given, I've left a copy of it here with you folks. I did, we did add a couple of items in our CPAC recommendations for improved family and community engagement. We had about 10 recommendations. We also added, family ambassadors per subgroup in EL, SES, and SWD, which is what we said, and then also potentially outside consultation, whether it be from places like the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Lesley University, or Tufts University. Finally, our two big asks for tonight, and this is something that we're actually hoping we can get an answer on tonight so that we're not waiting another five months or six months to get an answer. We have two asks tonight. The specific ask for tonight is we are asking the school committee, Madam Mayor and the superintendent to create and endorse a high needs subcommittee of the school committee where we can answer some of the questions that are part of this report and hopefully we can bring stakeholders to the table that can provide more information and move the needle in Medford forward for all of us. And then the other is, the other ask that we have is You know, we had a few parents here at the last school committee meeting and there was some discussion around cultural competency at one of our schools in particular, although I would venture to say that it's probably at a lot of our schools is an issue. And I think you know that we were talking about piloting the Understanding Our Differences Disability Awareness Program at the Brooks Elementary School this year. The Brooks teachers had decided for fifth grade teachers to pilot the autism unit for the fifth grade at our school. The Understanding Our Differences program can be found on understandingourdifferences.org. It's a program that is run through Newton Public Schools and through a lot of schools in our community. We would recommend that that Understanding Our Differences program be used in other community schools here in Medford so that we can have sensitivity around students with disabilities, students with high needs including medical needs, diabetes, asthma, allergies, etc. And I think that's it.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you, Ms. McLaughlin.
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Sure, any questions?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Ms. Kreatz, you're blinking. No? I was. No, did you?
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I'm sorry. Ms. Cunha. You're welcome. Oh, no problem. Thank you, Melanie, for your report. You're welcome. Just a couple things. You were speaking about a survey that was given. Could you reiterate who gave out the survey and where it was given?
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Yep, that's the, do you want to share that, Superintendent? Go ahead. Oh, okay, it's the 2014 TELMAS survey, so it's a Department of Education Survey of Educators.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Okay, and they're random educators throughout the whole state of Massachusetts, correct? That's correct. And the other thing, you were also speaking about the piloting, understanding our differences program. Yes. That you're saying that you're piloting now at the Brooks?
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Well, we are intending to pilot it this year at the Brooks, yes. We had teachers trained at the end of last year. We had the understanding our differences trainer come out and work with our fifth grade teachers, and now it's implementing the program. And it's about a two hour Disability awareness program within our 5th grade classrooms and it has a sort of loosely, I wouldn't call it curriculum, but a sort of directive on how to apply this two hours of learning with your students. And we actually had, I was part of the training at the end of last year, and it was actually very interesting. We did some things you could even try at home, or folks could try at home, try to do a family game without using any words. Try to, you know, do a, I don't know, a scrabble, but you can't speak to each other, and see how you communicate, give yourself a chance to communicate. So there were some exercises and activities that really helped sensitize people to differences.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I'm just trying to think back if this was something that was brought to us, that we had any part of saying of what schools were going to be piloted or what schools weren't going to be piloted through the mayor to the superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: So let me make a suggestion. There's a lot of material here. It can't be discussed in the robust way it needs to be discussed in a forum like this because, you know, there's too much involved. Schedule a committee of the whole meeting. Let's get to it. We'll get in the background and then we can decide which items can be done in what sequence and where. But if we do try to do it here, we'll be back and forth for a long period of time and it's not really going to do it. So, let's schedule a committee of the whole meeting, let's look at some dates and I'll get back to you with some possible dates and we can do that.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: But, excuse me, but this seems like it's already happening.
[Roy Belson]: Well, it's happening in one school, but remember, we're asking our faculty and people to do an awful lot right now. They're taking school brains, they're doing a million different workshops, They've also got to teach their classes. I want to make sure that we sit down and we actually roll things out in a very very digestible way and we get everybody on board. Otherwise we're just running a program and it won't work, it won't stick. So let's have a meeting, let's go over it, let's decide how we can roll things out intelligently. Let's see which things can be integrated with other initiatives that are already going on. I think we're in a better place if we do that.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I'm not saying no. I understand that the teachers have a lot. I guess my question is who chose the Brooks and when did that happen?
[Roy Belson]: Principals have a certain amount of autonomy to do things that respond to what they see in their buildings. But when someone does something and it works, we're naturally interested in it. But what works in one building may not work in another. We just need to talk about it. That's all.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Okay, because I mean the way it was explained is that this was a two-hour program that was taught to our teachers that I think we should have at least have known about, so at least we know what was going on in the school.
[Roy Belson]: Again, principals have a certain amount of autonomy. We don't micromanage everything that happens every day in the buildings. We let people do some of the things that they think are appropriate. You know, and when it becomes something that the whole district is interested in, then maybe we bring it here. We could be talking about every program. Not every school had a mock election. Not every school had another thing going on. Schools have their own identities. We want them to have their own identities. But let's take a look at this as a gestalt and a committee of the whole, and I think you might have a better way to decide which things should move forward.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: I think committee of the whole is the way to go initially. Melanie, just to respond to your big ask, I think we should start that way because I know one of the concerns is when we get into who's going to be on the subcommittee, and we all want to be, or we have a subcommittee and then we all show up anyway. But then some people aren't really voting members versus whatever, so I think by starting this with a committee of the whole makes a lot of sense, and then perhaps we can move to decide whether a subcommittee makes a lot of sense. I'm not anti-subcommittee by any means, focused on this. I just understand what some of the challenges are. It's a lot of information. And I think everybody's interested. That's one of the things, is we're all interested.
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Well, I think that was evident from what we saw tonight, and it's the children that are our main interest, and that can be seen for sure.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto, thank you. Thank you for your report. It's always very informative, very quick, a lot of information, and I learn a lot. I also agree that we need to have a subcommittee meeting, so at this point, I'm making a motion to move this item to subcommittee, to committee of the whole, rather, sorry, committee of the whole within the next two weeks. Is that too soon? Two months?
[Roy Belson]: I think you've got a lot going on right now. You've got another meeting, you're going to be touring Capitol Hill. Let's do it in a reasonable time frame. I'll get back to you with dates. Let's make sure that we can prepare for it properly. We meet with CPAC, we meet with others. Let's get an agenda that's sequenced, that's coherent, and then we can move forward in a positive kind of way. To just simply get it in just to get it in is not, I don't think, productive.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So, can we put within the next two months, Mr. Superintendent?
[Roy Belson]: Certainly, certainly.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Sooner than that. Okay, so my motion is on the floor. It needs a second.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: On the motion that a committee of the whole be held in the next two months, which we promise you it will not be two months. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Melanie McLaughlin]: Thank you. And I just wanted to add if there are any folks watching that are from the EL population or the economically disadvantaged population, we would welcome you to the committee of the whole meeting as well, of course. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you. Report of the superintendent. Report on Roberts Elementary School grants. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Madam Mayor, members of the committee, we're going to call on our assistant superintendent, Diane Caldwell, to talk about this report.
[Diane Caldwell]: Good evening again. I'm just going to correct the title of this report. Although the Roberts School is involved, this is a report on all elementary school grants. So we are pleased to inform you that several grants have been awarded to our elementary schools. So I'd like to talk to you about a few of them. Joanne McKay is a third grade teacher at the Roberts Elementary School, and she applied for a grant through the Medford Educational Foundation during the spring of 2016. She was awarded $600 to host a math night for families of the Roberts Elementary School. Some activities will be for children in grades kindergarten through grade five. There'll be math board games and larger math man-made games. And some examples of this could include beanbag hopscotch, dance grids, and multiplication basketball. So I can't wait to actually go to the Roberts Elementary School on November 17th to participate in these games. Mikayla Kelly, JP Cormier, and Christina Federico, who are teachers at the Roberts Elementary School, are brainstorming to come up with an evening of fun for our students and our families. In addition to that, Katie Rockwell, who is an EL teacher at the Columbus Elementary School, was also awarded a Medford Educational Foundation grant for Enhanced ELL Solutions, a program produced by the makers of Reading A to Z. This program is a computer-based program that will support our EL students, including support for content vocabulary, in math, science, and in social studies, and additional printable readers for students that they can take home and do some reading practice at home. The program will complement the resources we already have in our journeys program, which was a question that some of our school committee had. We just wanted to make sure it was aligned with our journeys. The additional data that we can collect by using these assessments should help make EL instruction even more targeted to students' greatest areas of need. In short, the program that we purchase with this grant will allow us to offer even more reading resources targeted for our ELL students, which is something that we desperately need. And I'd also like to mention that Cynthia Griffin is a grade three teacher at the McGlynn Elementary School, and she wrote and received a grant for $200 towards a school field trip to Plymouth Plantation. This grant is offered once per year for any K-12 school that applies in early September and is provided through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The trip must be a nonprofit cultural activity. or institution in Massachusetts, within Massachusetts. And I also know that Michael Coates, who is our third grade teacher at the Brooks Elementary School, will be applying for another Medford Educational Foundation grant. You know that he's written his book already. And now he's going to pilot building boats and then putting them on the Mystic River and watching The boats float away and the children will build the boats in his grade three classroom and then go off to the Mystic River. He will be writing a grant with Medford Education Foundation, obviously. We owe a debt of gratitude to the MEF for always being so supportive of Medford Public Schools.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: And I'm happy to take any questions.
[Diane Caldwell]: Thank you, Ms. Caldwell.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: And if I could, from the chair, just thank the co-chair, Ms. Van der Kloot, for all of her hard work on behalf of the Medford Educational Foundation in bringing it back to life in a productive way. Ms. Van der Kloot.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Thank you. I just wanted to mention that, in fact, that this is only a small part of the grants that we gave out in these funding cycles, and President Ann Frenning-Cassooth and David Sayers, who's been the head of the Grants Committee, will be coming forward in a couple of weeks' time to tell you about some of the other grants that we funded either in the spring cycle or we are collecting grants right now and the applications are open. We decided to extend it to the end of October. It's very exciting. It's great. It's really kind of fun to do something positive like this and we really, really appreciate all the teachers who write the grants and also it's been very, very helpful to be working so closely with the school district so that when There is a question about is this consistent with our goals, educational goals. We have great people and great support, including helping everything work, so I really appreciate that.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Great job. Congratulations. Thank you. Motion to receive and place on file this report. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Report on TB response and follow-up action steps. And before the superintendent gives his report, I just really want to thank him and his staff for the outstanding job that was done during this issue. Also, the City of Medford Health Department, which played a major role, as well as the Department of Public Health. A lot of people came to the table in order to provide information to the families so that People would not be fearful and scared. So thank you all for the amazing work that you did, in particular, Ms. Vento. Thank you. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Thank you, Madam Mayor and members of the committee. Tony Vento is with us this evening, and we'll just go through some of it. If you have any specific questions, Tony is here to answer. I provide you with documents that have been produced and gone out to parents. From the outset, we've worked closely with MassDPH, with the Medford Board of Health. We appreciate all their help. They've done a great job right on the spot, helping us right away, making sure we did things the way we needed to, as well as our own medical team under Tony's direction here at the schools. On Wednesday, October 26th, there will be a TB testing of individuals who have been identified as being in close contact with the individual who was diagnosed with TB. There were 194 MHS students who were identified, 5 middle school students, and 14 adult personnel. On the 20th, in the Cowan Theater, we will have a public information night available to everyone from 7 o'clock on, to answer any questions that anyone might have. Individuals may choose to have the test conducted by their own physician, and then we would ask them to provide us with the information that would indicate that it was done. If there is a finding, then there would be some follow-up antibiotic activity. If there is no finding, it would be a second round of testing during the winter period to see if something emerged subsequent to. Since the original case was diagnosed, there have been no further identifications, and the DPH procedure has been followed precisely to ensure due diligence. We have letters here, but I'm happy to take any questions or have the questions referred to Tony, so that if you have any gaps in your understanding of what's taken place, we can answer them this evening. And then again, on the 20th, we encourage anyone who really has some questions. I have not received a lot of phone calls. I did originally receive the handful. I know Tony received a handful, but once they were done, it was pretty quiet, and most people were satisfied with the information they received. But Tony is here and you might want to direct questions to him.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Maybe Ms. Vento, if you could just speak to the symptoms, just so the people watching at home understand what to look for.
[Toni Wray]: The symptoms of active, well there's a difference between latent infection and active tuberculosis. So you really demonstrate symptoms when you cross into an active tuberculosis state. That would include severe fatigue, weight loss, A cough that persists longer than three weeks. Oftentimes the cough becomes a bloody cough. Night sweats, fever, chills. So those would be mostly what you would see with an active TB infection.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Thank you. Mrs. Coño. Thank you. Just a couple of questions. One is, I know that the superintendent said that parents, if they choose to do this on their own as far as the testing, how about if they have to pay out of pocket?
[Roy Belson]: No, there's no payment. If they go to health insurance, which they should have, that would cover it. That's one of those things that's covered by health insurance. And if they come through us, there's no charge whatsoever.
[Toni Wray]: The Department of Public Health has I mean, they're collecting the health insurance on all the students and the faculty that they're testing. But if there are out-of-pocket costs, they will cover the out-of-pocket costs. So it'll first be run through insurance and then supplemented, if needed, by Department of Public Health.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: And the other thing is that, you know, The calls and emails that I got were actually, who determined who's identified? And parents are like, well, my child is in that school, how do I know that, how do they know that that child wasn't near the other child? And it's a very fine line, but we also have to understand that there are a lot of students that walk our halls, and different stories go out there for different parents. So at least if we could at least advise parents How at least we came to identifying the student.
[Toni Wray]: The Department of Public Health determined that according to a criteria list. And close contacts are identified by the length of contact you have with the infected person. So if you think of circles, the first circle would be your immediate family. The second circle would be your extended family, because they would have the most consistent regular contact with that person. Then it starts extending out. The next would be school classmates who sit in class with the student, students who are in or people in extracurricular activities with a student or a faculty member. And then it just goes out from there. So for people who are passing in the hallway, let's say, your risk becomes very low because the contact is brief. It's not direct. You have a lot of air around you to disperse. The people who are at most risk are those with extended close contact. So that's how the list was determined. I mean, there are students in the building that are in other parts of the building that never crossed paths. I mean, they would be considered nil risk.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Right. Well, I appreciate that, because like I said, I think it was just parents just hearing different things. And I know that everyone's done their due diligence in doing such a really remarkable job in such a very short period of time. Pero, nuevamente, las historias diferentes salen por ahí, así que los padres estaban diciendo, bueno, espera un momento, ¿cómo puedo saber quién se ha identificado? Y sin exagerar la situación de confidencialidad, fue más como, ok, cuéntame las etapas de cómo fue. Así que para los padres que están escuchando, espero que hayan escuchado esto, y espero que tengamos esa reunión, que los padres, si todavía tienen preguntas o preocupaciones, vengan a ello.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I would suggest that Thursday evening be filmed so that it can go on our school channel as well for those that are unable to come out to the meeting.
[Kathy Kreatz]: I just I had some of the same questions that Emory had in Tony. You answered them. Thank you very much. And I also wanted to thank Superintendent Belsen for personally calling some parents back on It was really a great, a lot of help from everybody, and a lot of the answers were handled very well, and I appreciate it, I really do. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. There's a motion to receive and place on file this report. So moved. All those in favor? All those opposed? The motion passes. Thank you very much, Ms. Antone. Great job on this. Report on DESE planning for ESSA accountability system.
[Roy Belson]: So as you know, No Child Left Behind has been replaced by Every Student Succeeds Act. And that legislation begins in 2016-2017 as a transition year, with full implementation in 2017-2018. Now, there are several key elements of the Act. I want to give you enough of it so you understand it, but not so much that you, you know, get overwhelmed by it because there's an awful lot of pieces and we'll have to break it down piece at a time in order for it to really be understood. ESSA comprises nine title grants which provide funding to districts and states. Currently, there are about five or six. I'm not sure how we count them these days because they keep putting them together. Title IV grant represents a new funding source, which is an allocation grant for districts in the area of student support services, something that would speak to some of the discussion we had a little bit earlier. Districts and states are required to conform to the requirements of ESSA, so that No Child Left Behind is now giving way to ESSA and districts and states now must adopt ESSA rules. ESSA encourages state agencies to think differently about how best to support low-performing schools as the school improvement grants are no longer available. So they're asking the department Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to talk to us about how we could best benefit from their help. That should be a very robust discussion, especially in our conference and so on and so forth going forward. ESSA minimizes Title I prescriptive school and district accountability requirements. No Child Left Behind had very, very specific things under Title I. ESSA wiped some of it away, but it adds some things that are interesting too. Equitable access is perhaps one of the biggest areas. What is equitable access? Does it mean every school gets the same thing? Does it mean it's based on proportion of low income? Is it based on proportion of high needs? What is it? Equitable doesn't automatically mean things. What if you have a teacher in a school who makes $80,000 a year and a teacher makes $60,000 a year? Is it different or is it the same thing as long as there's a teacher there who's experienced and can do the job? Those things are yet to be fleshed out. And it's problematic because naturally we hire teachers at different stages of their career. And a lot of it's based on, you know, how many years they've been with us and what their degrees are. That doesn't necessarily mean they're better or worse at what they will do. There's a shift in focus on the Title II program from highly qualified to reporting on student learning experience. Instead of determining just the teachers are highly qualified, the question will be, what have the students learned? They have to give us some rubrics to determine that going forward. It focuses mostly on quality access to education, access to quality education. DESE is going to continue to collect certain data, but it doesn't mean it's going to have a particular impact on what we do or don't do. Inexperienced teachers will be expected to do different things, but we haven't got guidelines yet. Total funding for this year has been about the same, a little bit different, with a larger shift in Title IV student support money. The federal government has readjusted funding levels and our state will receive less money. The state receives less money, our district receives less money. In most cases, not always. Desi does not have the FY18 budget, and they're likely not to know for quite a while as to how much money will or won't be there. Of course, you know, with an election year, Congress, who knows what Congress will appropriate and what they won't appropriate until the election actually takes place and we determine who chairs which committees and who's in the White House. It maintains a lot of the requirements under the 1965 Act, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the original one. There's some innovative assessment encouragement that will be there. The definition of supplement versus supplant has changed. That's another little thing we've got to get a good handle on. What does it mean to add to something versus to shift the burden from the locality to the feds? Something that comes up all the time. We're hopeful that we'll get clarity on this sooner rather than later so we can plan. The problem with some of these things is we don't find out until well after we've gone through a budget and say, well, guess what, this is the new rule. Hopefully we'll find out more as this early part of the year progresses. There's some new accountability requirements under ESSA. I've talked about that when we had the discussion on the test scores. Some of the key points in the new system might include maintaining the annual testing requirement, retaining 95% assessment participation requirement, making sure people participate, differentiation between schools depending on what they're supposed to be doing, long-term goals from the state to measure interim progress of all students in subgroups, New Accountability Indicators, and they're dumping the CPI. Do you know what the CPI is? The Cumulative Performance Index? That has been the staple of NCLB. And then it got changed to the Growth Interest, SGP, then it got changed to a couple of other things that were going on. So the more they keep changing the rules, the tougher it is for us to follow as to what's going to be the way they're going to make determinations. I provided a PowerPoint for you. We should go over it at some point. But we'll be studying it. I'll be looking for more information in the upcoming weeks at the conference. We'll be sharing with our colleagues as to what they think and what's going on, so that we can come back and give you real specifics. And we'll be talking to our people who are involved in the federal education agencies to find out where they see the trends are going. But this is the first rush of information. It is different. It isn't totally different, but it's different, and we need to pay attention to it so we can take maximum advantage of it, optimum advantage of it, while at the same time not losing out on any possibilities that would be helpful to us. Happy to take any questions you have.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Ms. Van der Kloot. Mr. Superintendent, I'm wondering if there's any way that we can advocate for that a five-year graduation rate also be included. We've talked on multiple occasions that everything has been based on a four-year graduation rate. but we have had, as well as many other school systems, additional students who might take a little bit more time, but they do reach the goal. So I'm wondering if, it mentions the high school graduation rates will still be, you know, part of this. I'm wondering if there's any way that both the four-year and the five-year graduation rate could be included in when we provide data so that we can look at
[Roy Belson]: So we have that, and our graduation rate, by the way, went up this year. The data you had in front of you from the last presentation was previous year. Part of that is a function of how people view what is success. So if a youngster is missing one course in June and makes it up over the summer, they're not part of the four-year graduation rate. That's exactly what I'm saying. That's the whole point of it. So we can provide that information to you. The trick will be getting the state and the feds to recognize that as legitimate, especially for youngsters who are challenged.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Mr. Superintendent, my question is how do we move along the discussion of including the five-year graduation at the state and federal level.
[Roy Belson]: What we do is we get colleagues on school committees, colleagues in my office, principals around the state, to make that point on a regular basis. And that's something that should come up in November when we're down with colleagues. Because that's the kind of thing that really needs to be understood. There shouldn't be a rush to succeed. There should be a steady, intelligent path to succeed. Especially for youngsters who don't speak English as a first language. Especially for youngsters who are working with cognitive and procedural difficulties. I mean, it's unfair. It's just truly unfair and it makes them look like they're not doing what they need to do or school systems aren't doing. In fact, it would be a shame not to give a youngster more time if they needed it. This is the kind of stuff that needs to get out there and I agree with you. This is something that should be front and center in our discussions. I think the old thinking was always, well, you know, you put off these kids a little bit longer and keep managing the data to avoid youngsters being reported out. It's not a question of managing data. It's a question of providing effective education. It's a question of recognizing the differences between different types of learners and supporting them. You know, the average college completion rate, I said that the other night, is six years. Six years. Most kids take time to complete college. And it's not that a percentage of youngsters should take more time in high school to complete. Not because they can't do it, but because they need to pace themselves differently so they can learn and take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of them. So I agree with you very much.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Yeah, I think that's something that our school committee could take as a responsibility of talking about this and bringing it forward when we attend meetings outside of Medford, and also within Medford too.
[Roy Belson]: I think it's something that the whole state would benefit from.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Can we make a motion for our next meeting? Could you write up a motion that we can vote on? Sure. And then you can deliver it down? Yep. On behalf of Ms. Van der Kloot. Thank you. Is there a motion to receive and place on file this report? Motion by Ms. Cuno, seconded by Ms. Van der Kloot. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Report on snow day, school cancellation protocols.
[Roy Belson]: So, the reason this is on your agenda is every year I get asked around this time, how do we decide when school closes and what can we do about it? Now, the main message is this. You should start planning now as a parent about a situation that might occur and who will help to cover your youngsters if you have to go to work, who's going to stay at home, what neighbors can work with you, What situations can occur? Can you talk to your employers, maybe coming in a little bit later on certain days to get things under control? You can't wait till the day it happens. You've got to start thinking about it. And oftentimes, we don't get a final call until later because we don't know if the storm is going to hit. You know, meteorologists do their job, but they can't be sure. Sometimes the storm veers off at the last second, and sometimes it veers in at the last second. And we need to be careful. And sometimes the storm doesn't seem like it's coming to us at the beginning of school, but it's going to hit at 10 o'clock in the morning and getting young people home is its own problem. The other thing that we have to deal with is the fact that some youngsters have no one at home on a regular basis. And getting them to school means they might need a hot meal, they have some supervision. There's some other things going on that we want to provide. On the other hand, if you really feel uptight, you really feel like maybe your child shouldn't be out, it's your option to keep them home. Missing a day is not going to change the world as long as you're diligent about following up on the work. We've got to understand these things. Now it takes a lot to figure this out. We talk to the DPW, we talk to the police department, we talk to the fire department, we talk to our own custodial crews, we talk to the contractors who plow our schools, we talk to neighbors. What are they doing? How are they doing it? And some places are more challenging than others. If you live in the narrow streets of Everett and Malden, it's a lot tougher to plow those streets than it is maybe in Medford. It's a lot tougher to do certain things and they have to make decisions a little bit earlier because they can't get their crews out as fast as our crews get out. We want to provide. intelligent days. We also have to think about the days if teachers can't get there. So school is open and the faculty can't make it in because they no longer all live in Medford or one community over. People live in wider areas. So to have a day where the faculty is missing doesn't give us a quality education day. We started earlier this year, so that should help. In terms of days, but you never know. We've had years where there's been no school days. We've had years when a couple of years ago there were seven or eight school days. And last year there were three. So it's hard to know. And one year we shut down schools when the buildings were too cold. And it wasn't a question of snow, it just was too cold. So there's a lot of reasons. And we try to be up front. There's always somebody who tells me we shouldn't have done it, and there's somebody who always tells me we should have done it. I mean, I guarantee you. And of course, the funniest things are the calls from the kids. Hello, this is a parent. I don't think kids should be going to school today. Hello, I had to shovel all day yesterday. I need at least one day to play in this stuff. I mean, it's really funny what the kids will call up and say and do. You know? You understand? But that's what it is. Okay? So a little bit of planning right now would be helpful.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: We're going to wish it away. Mr. Benedetto. So this is a good point. I know a few years ago I brought it up when we had so many snow days, that there's other ways to learn and teach our students in a lot of other communities. They either have a snow day backpack where students complete some work so they don't fall behind, Well, this is an opportunity to look at online learning for our community. And, you know, we live in the Northeast, but we still take AP classes on the same day as everybody else in the country, no matter how many snow days we have and how many we don't. So the learning has to be done in some classes by a specific date. So I would really, really like to talk to you at some point about more online learning opportunities for our students and to have us present maybe to the state different ways for children to study from home. That being said, Mr. Belson, you know how I feel. I like to see our buildings open even for any kids that come, even if it's less teachers, even if it's anything because some kids don't have a warm house. to stay in all day or parental supervision. And some kids depend on our schools to have their breakfast and their lunch. And they really shouldn't be home alone all that long. So any opportunity that you can, I'm going to ask you to please try to keep some of our school buildings open for those families that really need us to be there for them on an everyday basis. So that's how I feel, even though I hate driving in the snow. Good luck making that call, and I'm glad it's not me making that decision.
[Roy Belson]: It's one thing we should also mention is our young people, we've tried to encourage them, especially the older children, to help out with neighbors who may be elderly or infirmed, because obviously sidewalks and things of that type need to be shoveled so that youngsters don't have to walk in streets. We don't have situations where it's unsafe when a little kid is behind a huge snowbank. So those are things we need to talk a little bit about to the community about how they can help us make sure that if there's an accumulation of snow, it doesn't block the visibility for youngsters near buses or in their cars.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Miss Cugno, while we're on that, I was just thinking that I know in the past we've had a list of senior citizens or people that actually need help to remove their snow. And we've had students that have done it for community service and things like that. So if we could look into it again and see if the counseling and aging and maybe speak to our I know it's difficult, sometimes we don't have a lot of students, but if we could get something working like that, that would be good.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: They have something in place that we met over the end of last winter, so hopefully we'll be ready to go. On the motion by Mr. Skerry to receive in place on file by Ms. VanDekloot, all those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Motion to move negotiations in legal manners to the end of the agenda. So moved on that motion, Ms. Van der Kloot, seconded by Ms. Cuno. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Robert Skerry]: Motion to suspend rules, Madam Mayor.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion to take new business.
[Robert Skerry]: Yes, just as a matter of public safety, through the superintendent, and possibly the D.B.W. Conference resolutions.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: There are four resolutions in our packet. They are quite lengthy. Is there a motion to read the entire resolution? Ms. Vandekloot.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: I think the best is if we could just get to the core of it. I think we can do so in one or two sentences.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: The first one has to do with the foundation budget which is used to calculate all of the local aid that we get for the school department from the state. It's be it resolved that MASC calls upon the legislature to enact the recommendations of the foundation budget into law and further that the legislature order the commission to reconvene in order to conduct further deliberations and make such recommendations as the FBRC may propose and further that the FBRC shall address and make recommendations toward the overall accuracy of the adequacy of the overall foundation budget. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Madam Mayor, the one thing I want to stress with this particular motion, while the motion itself is good, the adequacy word is very important. Because if they only put a certain amount of money, and even if it's more money, and it gets distributed in ways that Medford doesn't get any money, it doesn't help us. It's important that they increase the foundation budget, but it's also important that they understand that adequacy means that every community has to receive more than it's currently receiving now, not just those communities that fall below foundation. So that's critical, you know, that we stress when we talk at the conference about adequacy being funding everyone because everyone can use the money. You know, there's that John Greenleaf Whittier quote that I love so much, but I modify it. John Greenleaf Whittier said, of all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest of these are what might have been. I changed that. Of all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest of these are subject to appropriation. Because when they don't appropriate enough money, the language doesn't mean anything. They've got to understand that communities like Medford may be wealthier than certain other communities, Not as wealthy as others, but we need money. You can't have a Foundation Budget Review Committee that wipes out additional funding to 150 communities, which is what the Foundation Budget Review Committee distribution would have done, including Medford. We should vote yes, but we should vote for adequacy. We should push adequacy in our discussion.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Is there a way that we should amend this resolution so that it covers our concern? I'm just looking as I read it, having heard your point.
[Roy Belson]: I mean, basically, we should be saying that all communities should receive an increase that is consistent with the demands and the mandates that the state has put in place. The state has increased the number of mandates to communities, as you know. Unfunded mandates is almost a way of life at the state house. We cannot continue to allow that to happen because we continue to use our own money for things. And then as a result, Eventually, we have to cut other things that we don't want to cut, or you can't go where you want to go. So remember this year when we talked budget, I told you that we got $55 per pupil minimum aid, new money in the Chapter 70, which is more than a 25 of the year before. But the net net was we lost $200,000. That's not a win. What that is is a partial win. It's a balancing act. We need to make sure that if they're going to increase the foundation budget, that it adequately reflects the needs of all communities. That's the message to the MASC Resolutions Committee and to the state.
[Robert Skerry]: Så... Point of information, Mr. Skerry. Given the plight of the state's economy and the present budget shortcomings that the governor released this weekend, have citizen towns been notified that they may have to tighten their belts?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: We have not had any 9C cuts inflicted upon us yet.
[Roy Belson]: And we received all the scheduled receipts and first quarter payments from Commonwealth? Uh-huh. Okay. I'd be curious to see what October's receipts look like. September look better? But not great.
[Robert Skerry]: These cuts across the board could eventually trickle down and affect us. Right.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: It did. I think back in 2009 we had 9C cuts, which are really hard to do when you get notice in December and January, because you're basically cutting a year's worth of a cut in the 6th month.
[Robert Skerry]: That's why I brought this up. I want to make sure that we're at the top of the picture.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: We're following quite closely.
[Robert Skerry]: Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Is there a motion for approval of this first resolution?
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Well, I just have a question. Then should we propose an amendment to the adequacies, continuing it by saying adequacy meaning the needs of all communities, to make it very clear where we stand with this?
[Roy Belson]: Well, I think we should put that into our language.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: So that's what I'm saying.
[Roy Belson]: That adequacy, that we should stress adequacy and a full distribution to all communities under Chapter 70, not just some.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: So that's what I'm saying. So amending this.
[Roy Belson]: No, amending it, adding another, adding an emphasis point.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Right, so that way whoever our delegate is that goes to the conference, Mr. Skerry will actually have to stand up and express what our needs are. So that's why I want to make sure that we amend it properly.
[Roy Belson]: And I think it's important to note that if you expect the legislature to enact something, If you have 150 cities and towns that aren't going to benefit, it's unlikely they're going to enact it. So the likelihood of it being enacted has a greater chance if every community is a winner.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: No, and I agree with you. I'm just saying that if we are going to be looking at these proposals and the resolutions, I mean, that we make a stand to make sure that if we're going to amend it, we have to be properly, we'll do it properly now. So that way our delegate could express that when he goes down. So I make a motion that we also change the adequacy, including the meeting, meaning of needs all meet. Oh my gosh, meaning that it meet meets all communities.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: On the motion as amended on resolution one. Motion seconded roll call vote.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Yes.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes, 7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative on the motion as amended. Resolution 2, tax reform ballot question. talks about greater tax equity that will not raise taxes on any but the wealthiest residents of Massachusetts. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees explore ways to promote social and economic equity through a valid initiative whose purpose may include a state constitutional amendment, tax reform, protection of the state's neediest residents of all ages, and seeks additional revenue only from tax reform affecting the state's wealthiest residents. FURTHER, THAT THE GOAL OF SUCH A BALLOT REFERENDUM WILL BE TO SECURE A STRONGER FINANCIAL BASE TO UNDERWRITE NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE COMMONWEALTH, AS WELL AS THE EDUCATIONAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING OF ITS RESIDENTS. IS THERE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR FOR APPROVAL OF THIS RESOLUTION NUMBER 2? MOTION FOR APPROVAL, MR. SCARI, SECONDED BY THE INTERCLUDE. ROLL CALL VOTE, PLEASE. Yes, 7 to 0, 7 in favor, motion passes. Resolution 3, charter school reform. Oh, this is a long one. I'm going to go right down to the be it resolved. Therefore, be it resolved that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees urge the citizens of the Commonwealth to reject such a ballot initiative and further, that MASC seeks legislative approval of a comprehensive set of reforms that include, one, establishment of strict guidelines or regulations to require the charter schools enrolled represent cross-sections of students residing within the school service areas. Two, reporting of accurate number of students who leave charter schools to return to the sending district or district of residence. Three, requiring, well, I'm sorry, requiring the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to retain and report accurate data on enrollment of students with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, economic disadvantage, emotional disability, and status as racial and linguistic minorities. 4. State requirements that any charter school authorized in a community without its consent be funded in full by the Commonwealth, rather than by expropriation of Chapter 70 education aid from the sending cities, towns, and regions. State funding in full of any mitigation funds created to offset the loss of state funding for students who become students in charter schools.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. First of all, I feel like I work at a charter school. I believe my school does adhere to all these rules and regulations. But as an employee of that school district, I choose to abstain from voting at this time.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: So noted that Mr. Benedetto will abstain based upon her working for a charter school. Motion for approval. Is the motion for approval by Ms. Vanderhoof, seconded by Ms. Cugno. Roll call, Ms. Toscari. Ms. Cugno.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Yes.
[Robert Skerry]: Mr. Benedetto.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes, 6 in the affirmative, 1 abstain, motion passes. Resolution 4, social and emotional well-being of students. Som be it resolved that the Mass. Association of School Committees shall be directed to deploy such resources of the Association independently and in collaboration with other organizations to gather resources, identify strategies, and improve public awareness of the importance of addressing students' social and emotional well-being, and further, that MASC shall give consideration to such public policy initiatives that prioritize action by stakeholders and stakeholders in collaboration with expert behavioral and health care providers as the most effective entities for addressing strategies that are in the best interest of children. Motion for approval by Ms. Van der Kloot, seconded by Ms. Cugno. Roll call vote, please, Mr. Skerry. Ms. Van der Kloot would like to speak on this first. Ms. Van der Kloot? Mr. Skerry, roll call, please. Yes, seven in the affirmative, none in the negative. Motion passes. Thank you very much. Okay, resolution submitted by member Van der Kloot. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee urges the citizens of Medford to vote no on charter school expansion question two this November. Ms. Van der Kloot.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So there's obviously many, many different levels of conversation that we could have on this. I'm going to strictly take mine to the financial. Right now, it costs Medford approximately $4 million to fund our charter school students. We have 10 students less than last year, but it's costing us $270,000 more this year. Why is that? It's because the state has underfunded the charter school account by $57 million. This comes to one of those unfunded mandates. It's not a question of how good charter schools are or how not. Right now we're simply talking about a funding mechanism and the number of charter schools that would be potentially approved by this would only have a greater impact. Therefore, I certainly personally have been urging people to vote no on two because of the particular way the funding works. And I would urge the school committee to take a stand and say vote no on two.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: There's a motion on the floor for approval of Ms. Van der Kloot's recommendation, seconded by Ms. Cuno. Would you like a roll call on this?
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Sure.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Roll call, Mr. Skerry. Ms.
[Robert Skerry]: Cuno. Yes. Mr. Van der Kloot.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes, six in the affirmative, one abstained, motion passes. Over four million dollars. That's on our cherry sheets. Anyone can go up to the state website and they can look up Medford's cherry sheet, which was named after the color it used to be printed on back in the dark ages. And you can look up the state aid, and you can see the revenue that comes from the state, expenses they charge us, such as tea. They hit us for being a T community, which is quite a couple million dollars. Charter schools is another big hit that we have. And then you see the monies that come to the city from the state as well. So please, go up and look. It's enlightening. Yeah, I think the thing about the charter schools is we're not, like you said, we're not saying they're not great educational facilities, but when you pluck one first grader out of the school, maybe one first out of another school, we don't lose a whole classroom, so we don't gain any efficiencies. We just, we lose one here and there, and the next thing you know, we're up to what number, Mr. Billeson?
[Roy Belson]: About 330 right now. 330 spread amongst.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: you know, all the different grades and schools and classrooms. So, we're not able to just cut classrooms, you know, without putting our numbers up to 25, 26 average, so.
[Roy Belson]: A few years ago, we did a study along with MASS. We found that we could fund those youngsters by putting them in classrooms at this point in time, back then, at about a third of the cost. So, when people say that there is no loss of revenue They don't do the numbers like we do the numbers. There may be some communities that don't have space. There may be some situations that don't exist, that don't work 100%. But in this community, it will work.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. Resolution proposed by Mayor Burke, proclamation by Mayor Burke, supporting and celebrating keeping lights on, keeping lights on after school of proclamation. Can I read this whole motion? Whereas the citizens of Medford stand firmly committed to quality after school programs and opportunities because they provide challenging and engaging learning experiences that help Children develop social, emotional, physical, and academic skills while supporting working families, ensuring their children are safe and productive after the traditional school day ends. We, as the City of Medford, have provided significant leadership in the area of community involvement in the education and well-being of our youth, grounded in the principle that quality after-school programs are key to helping our children become successful adults. Where as Lights On After School, the national celebration of after-school programs held this year on October 22, 2016, promotes the importance of quality after-school programs in the lives of children, families, and communities. Where as more than 28 million children in the U.S. have parents who work outside the home, and 15.1 million children have no place to go after school. Where as many after-school programs across the country are facing funding shortfalls so severe that they are being forced to close their doors and turn off their lights. Medford City is committed to investing in the health and safety of all young people by providing after-school and out-of-school time programs that will help close the achievement gap and prepare young people to compete in the global economy. It is important to engage families, schools, and communities in advancing the welfare of our children and ensure the lights stay on and the doors stay open for all children after school. Now, the F.R.I. Stephanie Burke, Mayor of the City of Medford, do hereby proclaim October 22, 2016 to be Lights On After School Day, and urge all the citizens of Medford to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance, given this seventeenth day of October in the year 2016, and of the independence of the United States of America, the two hundred and forty. Motion for approval. Seconded by Ms. Van der Kloot. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto, two updates from the super.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I'm sorry. Okay. Yep, sorry. School Committee Resolution. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Thomas English. Mr. English was a Medford High School physical education health teacher and coach for many years. He was the husband of Marlene English, a former Medford public school secretary. Further, be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Beth Wood. Ms. Wood was the sister of former Director of Administration and Finance, Pat Bailey. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of John DeVeros. Mr. DeVeros was a long-time custodian for the Medford Public Schools. And if I could just add one, that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Hannah Young, former Medford High School student. All please rise for a moment of silence, please.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you, Mayor Burke. Superintendent, through you to Superintendent Bellson, he gave us two updates. I don't know if you wanted to go over them publicly. One was for the complete rollout of school brains and when that will take place. Mr. Superintendent. And the other one is the MBTA bus passes.
[Roy Belson]: All right, so on the School Brains activity, as you know, we've switched from iPass to School Brains. It's a much more comprehensive and much more, let's say, modernized version of school software that would keep track of students, staff, and other records and the like. But there was a rollout period. And the primary activity initially was, one, to transfer information from iPass to School Brains. There's still some data that has to be cleaned. It's a very arduous process because some of the material is in different formats from one to the other and has to be individually looked at to be sure of accuracy as people come and go. And it's not static. What's true today may not be true tomorrow as people come and leave. Secondly, there needs to be training on this and there is training going on. There is a train-the-trainer activity at the schools, where we're empowering certain teachers and administrators to become lead people. And on the school professional development day, we're having an all-school activity that will deal with that as well. Our primary activity initially is to roll out the attendance and grade reporting activities, because that's what's essential for us to do what has to be done, and also the materials that are associated with state reporting. We will then work on the parent portal. The high school and the vocational school will be ready at the end of the first quarter, around November 17th, to open up the parent portal for students at those schools. We think the middle schools probably have a good shot to be opened by the first of the year, and the elementary schools are working on their standards report cards, and we'll get a better handle on that once that's been cleaned up, and we know exactly when they can be able to comment on that. But it's making progress, we want to do it right, There is something called a System Interoperational Framework, SIF, that is important to coordinate with the state, because if you will, garbage in, garbage out, and once you get that kind of thing happening, it becomes impossible. And just simply by inverting the first name and the last name in some reports can create all kinds of errors. Very careful as we convert. In the long run, it will be distinctly to our advantage that it may take a little bit longer, but our goal remains the same, to increase our interactivity with parents and to provide people with full information and to be able to create reports that will help us all better understand what's going on. So that's that particular activity. In some places, it'll be a little bit slower than others, but we're working on it, and we're certainly not stopping what we need to do. On the school bus, okay?
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto has a question.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Sure.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Superintendent, I'm wondering if you could maybe work up a timeline in the next month or so, so that way parents know or tell us how you're going to communicate to parents when the rollout for the Parent Portal piece will be. I've been getting a few phone calls and messages from parents. They're eager to use this program and they were really looking for a specific date.
[Roy Belson]: Well, you know, I don't want to be I'm foolish enough to say something that I can't deliver on. One of the things that we want to be careful about is we make a promise and we can't keep it, we're worse off. I told you that the high school will be ready at the end of the first quarter. We think the middle school will be ready by the first of the year, if not sooner. We elementary schools will roll out a little bit differently because they have different informational reporting things than the standards report cards and the other two frameworks. So we need to be a little bit careful. Let's just put it this way. We are diligently proceeding of a better idea after the training is done in November. Again, to see what teachers' minds are, what they feel comfortable with, and we can work our way through. But I understand that people are anxious. On the other hand, I certainly don't want to make promises I can't keep because that only creates more problems.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. So even if we put it up on our website that we're working coming soon, approximate, hopeful dates, whatever way you want to put it. At least so parents have an understanding of what they're looking for. I have experienced school districts turning over, and I really know that this takes a long time. And some school districts don't even turn it over till the parents leave first or second year. They wait until all think glitches are out. So I understand that you are trying to expedite this quickly. And I do appreciate that. Also, would you just put that on our agenda that, you know, just to update us on the dates? If you could do that, I would appreciate that.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: And the MBTA bus pass, Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: The MBTA bus passes, the MBTA changed the rules. The MBTA gave what they called an M-pass and an S-pass. The M-pass is a pass that allows you to bypass for 30 days, for a month. And it's $30. And that gives you unlimited riding privileges. The S-Pass was a pass that you could put $10 on and you could use up to $10 for a time and then get another pass, get it renewed. The difficulty is that the S-Pass was being abused widely and the MBTA pulled it in. And they said school systems and communities are now responsible if the wrong people use it. And what we had people losing it, people letting their cousins and their relatives use it, and there was all kinds of problems associated with that. So, we recognize that it's something that we want to be available to people, but we want to do it in a measured way. So, I've given you a report tonight to show that we've checked it out, we're following it, we're going to do it a limited amount of the time, especially for those people who clearly have a need. to have it, but at the same token, we want to be very careful that we don't have abuse and we don't have lost passes and things like that because then we'll get charged for it. And that's not going to happen. It's not just a Medford issue, it's across the state, across the, let's say, the MBTA area. So this is an MBTA-driven activity and we want to control it. Plus the fact, too, it's a lot of man hours, person hours, if you will, to control these passes. People come in, I've lost my pass, can I have another one? It's a lot of work associated with it. So we need to create a certain sense that this is something you need to protect and you need to use it wisely. And if someone doesn't use it appropriately, they won't get it again.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Ms. Cugno is first. Just to go back on school brains. A little bit frustrating because I totally understand it's a huge undertaking, but like we're doing train the trainer assistance now. Why don't we do train the trainer like in the summertime so that way we could try to get the system up and going? I guess that's one question. The other question is that You know, we have, it's common nature how it is. You know, we had the I-PASS. When we had I-PASS, everybody hated I-PASS. Now we have school brains and everybody loves I-PASS. So it's just the way it is. But the fact remains is that now we have people that have been used to at least getting on, checking their children's grades or, you know, getting progress reports via the I-PASS. Ahora es como si estuvieran cerradas, completamente cerradas. Así que creo que mi preocupación es, en cuanto a los padres, ¿qué les estamos pidiendo? ¿Les estamos pidiendo que vuelvan a enviar e-mails a sus maestros? O, no es la escuela de la secundaria que estoy hablando de tanto como la escuela de la secundaria y la escuela de la universidad. Los padres están en el jardín y ven a sus maestros. Todos tienen horas diferentes. No quiero llegar al punto en el que estamos bombardeando a nuestros maestros But what are we going to be telling our parents? Like, we're not going to get, the high school's not going to be rolling it out until after the first quarter. Parents have, you know, questions, they want to know what's going on. What are we telling them?
[Roy Belson]: All right, well, what I told you before, basically, we did a lot of training last year. We had to negotiate a contract. We did negotiate the contract. Then we had to work in training. Teachers were uncomfortable using some of these things and took time to get them going. We did run training last year. They didn't consider it to be sufficient enough and they wanted to do more. In the summer, people were away. You can only do so much. You can only do what the people that want to come in and want to work on it. There are other things that are going on. So, it's happening. The goal was to do it right and to have it be a long-term value to us. I don't want to rush it and create a situation where we promise you things and then we can't do it. And as far as a little inconvenience in the front end, I understand that, but better to have that little inconvenience in the front end. You can certainly communicate with your teachers by email, you can certainly call up the school, you certainly can visit to get any information. We're certainly still sending out progress reports. That's not something we've stopped doing, but the electronic system is going to take a little bit longer. The high school will happen very shortly. Middle school I think will follow pretty quickly. And then the elementary schools will have to figure out what's the best way to do that going forward. I don't think anyone is trying to slow it down. I just think it takes time to do it right. And if we rush it and we do something, we're gonna probably find we'll have more headaches down the road than we really bargained for. Garbage in, garbage out. We don't want that to happen. So I appreciate it. Hopefully people understand that we're doing everything we can to get it going. In a short period of time, it'll happen.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I totally understand that, but again, I agree with all of my colleagues that at least put it out there so that way we don't have different schools saying different messages or sending different messages because I think that was the frustrating part. People want to appease everyone, but as you said, you don't want to throw out a date and then parents are expecting that date and now we come across as not abiding by that. Ms. Van der Kloot.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: I was hoping that Cheryl could just speak about the Roberts community event to just give a shout out to our Yad Seal.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: First of all, I want to say thank you for helping the parents that came forward about the MBTA passes. When I reached out to them, they were very happy with it. administration and how they resolved their issues and how they opened it up to people in need of that. And if other people are in need, then they should contact, I'm not exactly sure.
[Roy Belson]: Joanne Mortel is the person on the point of this particular bus pass. She's in the accounts payable office of the schools. You can look it up from the business offices to the phone number I have in front of me right now. He's the person issuing them and paying attention to their monitoring. It's a lot of work and I appreciate all the work that Joanne has done to keep things in place.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So my last item is a few items in there. They're just items that I would like to see listed under number 11 that reports we've requested. And as they're requested, we take them off the list and it helps me It's like my to-do list, and I go from meeting to meeting and rewrite the list, so it's just helpful to have it on the bottom there. Someone very smart suggested I do that. Anyway, the first one would be the letter to Rep. Donato and Gobley regarding the crossing guard at Salem Street and asking them to help us. I mean, Felsway, right? The other one would be the cost report of all expenses for the MASC conference from last year and projected costs for next year. And there was a couple of items my colleague, Ms. Kreatz, requested, and that would be to add a bus to go from the elementary school to the high school for the field trip. Oh, okay. I thought it was Ms. Kreatz. Sorry, it might have been Anne-Marie. In the update on the MCAS, students that did not pass MCAS in adding a prep class, if that's been added... We've done that. Okay, that's good to know. I know that that question came up last time about how we were going to provide extra additional help and where that money was coming from. to help students that have to retake the MCAS. So I know that that came up at our last meeting as well. So that has been done, and that class is scheduled. Yeah, we'll get you a report on that. OK. It helps me keep everything straight, and I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Oh, Ms. Kritz. I want to mention, I did follow up with Mr. Johnson regarding the Fulton Street and the Felsway stop. and they no longer use that as a bus stop, so they don't cross the students, because I had contacted him and he spoke back, got back to me. It used to be a popular crossing area when St. Francis was open for parochial school. They don't use that any longer, and they discourage students from crossing. In fact, they re-roaded the buses to have them stop on the appropriate sides of the Fells Way, to get to their homes. I did clarify that with Mr. Johnson after our last meeting. And I also spoke to him and he said that they're doing great with their crossing guard at the Roberts. However, it's very busy and it's very congested. And in fact, they might need two crossing guards because of the narrow streets and making sure that students cross safely, and having somebody direct the traffic. It's just very busy in that area, as well as the Brooks, which we're all aware of. So I wanted to definitely mention that, because he mentioned that to me, that if there was any way to get another crossing guard, that would be helpful. So maybe that's something that we would have to look at. Thank you, Ms. Kreatz.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Ms. Mustone, a Roberts announcement?
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: Yes, please. On an event? Thank you. Big event.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, I'm Cheryl Rodriguez. I live at 281 Park Street, and Ms. Caldwell mentioned that we are applying for several grants this year for different enrichment for the students. Those grants don't usually cover the entire event, so this Saturday from 9 to 3, the Roberts Elementary School will be holding a yard sale to try to cover the cost of the rest of these events. It's estimated now that we have three U-Hauls worth of items, and every dollar that we raise will go directly to enrichment for our nearly 600 students. So if anyone can come, we're right down on Park Street.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: What was the time?
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: It's from 9 to 3 this Saturday. Thank you, Cheryl. I saw a lot of it on our porch. It all looks good.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Ms. Van der Kloot. While we're under suspension, I also just In our packet, we received a reminder that our next meeting will be on October 24th at the superintendent's conference room to discuss the capital plan and it will begin at 6.30.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. And also this Sunday is Medford Day, 1 to 4 behind the Andrews School. There will be musical entertainment, kids activities, adult entertainment, charitable organizations will be there with various informational and or activities for everyone. So please come on down to the Andrews School. Medford Day.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Shout out. There are so many. I mean, if you look at our packets, you'll see that if you're looking for anything in the city of Medford, we definitely offer a lot. So if you're looking for something every night, every day, or even two, three times a day, we have an event to go to. But one of the events I do want to give a shout out to, and that is the Kiwanis. They are doing their Taste of Italy at the high school Wednesday night, this Wednesday night from six to nine. Tickets are $40, everyone is welcome, and because the money that's raised there actually does benefit our students. They receive scholarships from the Kiwanis and they have been very generous over the years, not only for scholarships, but for other things that they've given to our school system.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Great food, great entertainment.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Yep, everything.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Great charity.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: In the foyer. In the foyer, the lobby. is that it's also the National Honor Society Information Night, which is 6.30 to 7.30 in the Karen Theater.
[Roy Belson]: That's been moved. It's been moved up to the Science Lab and with appropriate arrangements so that the youngsters can come and go freely.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Okay, that makes much more sense. Great, thank you.
[Roy Belson]: I just might also announce, if I can, Madam Mayor, that tomorrow at noontime, the Medford High School Band will be playing at the Science Museum for a special announcement from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: And Medford resident.
[Roy Belson]: And Medford resident, who I believe will be making a major presentation to the Science Museum.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Great. Motion to revert to the regular order of business, which is item six, negotiations in legal matters. We, there were a motion to go into executive session, offered by Ms. Van der Kloot, seconded by Ms. Cuno, Ms. Disceri. Ms. Cuno. Yes. Yes, seven in the affirmative, nine in the negative. We will now go into executive session.
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