[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Approval of the minutes of the October 16, 2017 meeting. Motion for approval by Mrs. Van der Kloot, seconded by Mr. Skerry. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of bills, transfer of funds. Motion for approval by Mr. Skerry. Mr. Benedetto.
[Unidentified]: Thank you. Yes, these are your student activity accounts. These are all student activities. Yes, anything with the first three digits of 890 is your student activity accounts.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: That's a revolving account, so that is within one of the production areas. The production areas for revolving accounts, it's not the general fund, so it'd be one of the ancillary accounts. I'm sorry, could you repeat the?
[Unidentified]: Yeah, page 28 of 36. It's the eighth line item down.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: Oh, Teachers 21? Yes, that's a contract that we have for service provided through an internet provision for professional development and instruction. Again, that's through a grant, so the grant descriptions are not as extensive. OK.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: There's a motion for approval by Mr. Skerry, seconded by Mr. Benedetto. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Approval of payrolls. Motion for approval by Mr. Skerry, seconded by Ms. Kreatz. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Report of secretary. None. Report of committees. None. I just wanted to share a note.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Ms. Fritz. Yes. I stopped by the library a couple weeks ago, and I have some cool news. So I'm not sure if everybody's seen it, but at the library, there's a new electronic sign-in iPad. And so far, what the students do is they can sign in, and they can track how many students are in the library throughout the day. And it electronically goes into a data, like a Google spreadsheet, And they can quickly run reports and send it to the headmaster, principals, and they can give the total number of students that are in the library at any point in time. And it's just a great resource. And I just wanted to share that news with everybody. Thank you very much, Ms. Gretz.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Ms. Mustone, motion for suspension?
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: Oh, yeah. Could I make a motion to suspend the rules to hear the report out of order of project 351?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: This motion on the floor for suspension of rules, all seconded by Ms. Van der Kloot. All those in favor? All those opposed? Suspension is granted. Report on project 351. Mr. Superintendent?
[Roy Belson]: Mayor and members of the school committee, as you know, project 351 was started by Governor Patrick. It was an attempt to provide leaders who come from our middle schools, and they would do community service. Now, we've done this for a number of years, and this evening, we have two representatives, one from the McGlynn and one from the Andrews. And right now, we'll call upon our principal, Paul DeLeva, to introduce the person from the Andrews.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Would you like to step up here so you can go? Yes, OK. Come on up. Ms. Heineck.
[Unidentified]: This is really nice.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Either one.
[Paul D'Alleva]: Either one is fine. So, good evening members of the school committee. As you know, every year we participate in Project 351. It's a great project that has been done with the Andrews and the McGlynn, having representatives to develop leaders as well as come up with community service projects for our school individually. As you know, they meet on Mata Lutha King Day as a big group. And they develop their projects through discussions with everybody, through the school. I'd like to welcome Ava Heinegg, who is the daughter of Max Heinegg, who is also a school teacher at the Medford High School. And Mr. Heinegg and I share a little bit of camaraderie, because we were both at the Brooks Hobs at one point together on the same team. So it comes to full circle that his daughter is being represented for Project 351. So I'd like to introduce Ava Heinegg.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi. OK, so I would like to start by saying what an honor it is to represent the Andrews Middle School. This is a vital opportunity for me, and I'm so thankful to be given a chance to be part of something that could be so beneficial to our community. To meet other kids and be able to converse and share ideas that could impact people in need is such an amazing thing. I'm so proud to represent Medford because it has been such a large part of my life. Doing town soccer, volunteering at the library and farmer's market, attending public school here, and dancing at a local studio, O'Cheryl A. Sullivan's, and even doing school plays and Builders Club, that's a community service club, at the Andrews. And so I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be a part of Project 351. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I also want to mention she's joined by her mom, Wendy, and her sister, Stella, who are here. And Wendy's a teacher as well. Any questions?
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Miss Cugno. First of all, congratulations, Eva. Thank you. I actually participated in that a few years back, and it was just an amazing, amazing day. If you're not involved with it, unfortunately, and we didn't know about it, but I had the opportunity to go down and to see students from all over the state really working together, and what a camaraderie. for students that really didn't know each other at the beginning of the day to really become very friendly by the end of the day and they were all working really for the cause of a larger community. So I mean it's just amazing and I want to thank you and I also want to thank the other student for representing Medford so well but I have a question for you and that is what is it that you did?
[SPEAKER_00]: That I did?
[Ann Marie Cugno]: That day.
[Paul D'Alleva]: But she hasn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: I haven't gone yet. Oh, you haven't gone yet? No. She hasn't gone yet. What did I think about the Luther King Day?
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Oh, that's right. I am sorry. So come back and let us know what you did. I will. But congratulations. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: For some reason, I thought everyone went by. Congratulations. Thank you. We also want to announce that Sumaya Omi, I don't know if she's present this evening, she's not here from the McGlynn Middle School. We send her our regards as well and we hope to see her after Martin Luther King Day as well. Motion on the floor to revert to the regular business by Miss Quinn must own all those in favor. All those opposed. Motion to accept the report in place on file. All those in favor. All those opposed. Motion passes. Community participation. Melanie McLaughlin CPAC update. Mr. Benedetto.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I got an email from Melanie right before our meeting. She's homesick, and she would have to cancel for this evening and postpone.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Is there a motion to table her request for participation? Second. On the motion. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Miss Mustone.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: I am aware that the McGlynn School has requested to be part of the community participation program, but it's not listed. So I was wondering if that's something that we could get from.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Is there someone from the McGlynn that wanted to come up and speak? Yes. Good evening.
[Charlene Douglas]: Good evening. Thank you. Shalene Douglas, president of the Medford Teacher Association, 414 High Street, Medford, Massachusetts. First of all, I'm having candy because I had garlic at dinner. Thank you. We appreciate having the meeting with you and the superintendent to discuss the middle school action plan. Roy, I did receive your email today with a date of December 6th for us to move forward on this. I will poll the teachers to see if this date works. And if it does work, we will have that meeting. We assume that you and the school committee members will meet us at the McGlynn Middle School on that day if it's approved. I also, as promised to Mr. Belson, have the binders illustrating our concerns regarding the original plan, and I would like to share those with you tonight. So I'd like to ask Ryan McCarthy and Brian Villard to give those to you now, so you'll have time to look those over prior to our meeting on the 6th. They're color-coded. Very teacher. Very teacher oriented. Thank you. Thank you. And one to Mr. Belson and one to the mayor. We have none? I can read it. Thank you. Did Mr. Belson get one? Great. OK, we're all set. Thank you. No. Thank you. He doesn't. No. I don't think so. It's up to you. I don't think he needs it though. Okay. All right. So lastly, our members are here tonight to show support for the grievances. You were here late tonight. So I'm going to ask all those teachers here to support the grievances to please stand. And I want to thank you for your solidarity. and to let you know these people are here in support of these grievances. And I thank you for your time.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Report of Superintendent. Recommendation to appoint Dr. Patrick Sabia as School Physician. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Mayor and members of the School Committee, I'm going to call upon Tony Vento, our Health Supervisor, to introduce Dr. Patrick Sabia. Dr. Kristen Goodell has taken a position at Boston University. as a dean, and she's done a great job for us. And Dr. Sabia is going to do a great job for us. We met the other day, and we're really excited to have him on board. But I'm going to let Tony introduce him and let Dr. Sabia make a few remarks and answer any questions you may have.
[Toni Wray]: Good evening. I'd like to introduce Dr. Patrick Sabia as our new school physician. He practices in Medford with Medford Family Care. He's had over 25 years of practice. in many community health centers, including Cambridge Health Alliance and the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, and also out at Metro West Medical Center. He's on the Tufts faculty, teaching family medicine residents. He's been a member of different quality improvement committees while at Cambridge Health Alliance and was director of obstetrics. So we're very excited to have him follow the good steps of Dr. Goodell, and we appreciate her good service, and we look forward to working with Dr. Savia. Thank you very much.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Welcome. Ms. Van der Kloot. Approval? There's a motion on the floor for approval, seconded by Ms. Disceri. All those in favor?
[Robert Skerry]: Aye.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: A roll call? Opposed? Motion passes. Excuse me, I believe Ms. Van der Kloot. Oh, sorry. Roll call?
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Yeah.
[Unidentified]: What kind of needs do we usually call
[Erin DiBenedetto]: are on, just so people understand.
[Toni Wray]: Well, the doctors will sit on our school health advisory committee, where we discuss different health and wellness issues. We make plans for different initiatives. Some of the initiatives we have done have been different health policies. setting up parent education forums, getting the SBIRT screening going, NARCAN training. So we always, you know, we consult with the school physician on that. He'll also consult with our athletic trainer and review the concussion and injury, athletic injury reports on a season-by-season basis. Let's see. I mean, if a case came up that, like the tuberculosis outbreak that we had last year, that exposure, we consulted with Dr. Goodell on how to move through and handle that. type of health concern that we feel we just want support and consultation on. I can reach out to him.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you. Good. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you.
[Toni Wray]: Roll call vote. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes.
[Robert Skerry]: Yes.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. 7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative. Motion passes. Thank you very much.
[Unidentified]: Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Item 3, report on tier 2 E-rate funding award. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: So this particular report is letting you know that the federal government has now approved our E-rate tier 2 funding, which is a substantial amount of money. It needs to be matched. If it's approved here this evening that will go forward, I'll go to the City Council at a future date to ask for the matching funds. It will allow us to expand our infrastructure to support our networks, to increase our switches and all the other aspects of the infrastructure that supports technology. Kirstine Patterson is a lead person locally on this and she's going to tell you a little bit more about it.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: Yes, thank you, members of the committee. This is very exciting news for us, as not all school districts that request the Category 2 funding receive it. So this is very significant. Within the three categories that we applied for funding, we received funding for the firewalls in the amount of $17,015. For wireless internet connectivity, we received $101,649. And within the switches and the internal connections, we received $265,186 from the federal match. So this is very significant with 60% of the overall project cost being funded by the federal government. So we are hopeful to receive the approval to move forward and request the city side match for this very important infrastructure improvement that will help all of our schools, school buildings as well. Again, the coordination scheduling still needs to be taken into consideration as this is a very extensive project. Even with the approvals, we would not be able to actually begin the work until toward the end of June of 2018. So this would be likely a summer project So that has the least impact on instruction and the school day.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Did you say work will begin in 2017 or 18? I'm sorry, 18.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: Yes. So June of 18. Correct. Because we have to get the funding in line now. We have to provide the approval for a city side match. Then we engage the contractor, issue the purchase orders, and then start the scheduling out. but because of the massive amounts of infrastructure and the downtime that that would create, we don't want to actually begin that until we have enough time where we don't have instruction going on in critical moments. I mean, there could be some that would be attempted to be done during the school vacation weeks, but the majority, the major switches in those components would be done likely in July of 2018.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Miss Van der Kloot. So is this then do we need to go before the City Council to ask for this match?
[Unidentified]: Yes. Yes, we do. Yes.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: And would this be part of a capital improvement plan or would this be a standalone item?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I would anticipate a free cash vote.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: OK. And so we need to move on this relatively quickly.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: We need to vote tonight so that we can. Right.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So I'd make a motion for approval because obviously anything that we can do to improve our infrastructure is absolutely worth doing. And so I make a motion to approve and to send this forward to the city council for their approval.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: For the matching amount of $291,150. Thank you. Is there a second on this motion? Second.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you. Um, so through you to the superintendent, if you need a school committee members to go with you, um, to the city council to ask for matching funds, um, I'm offering to be available and, uh, stand with you because, um, technology is so important and especially, um, all the firewall and all the protective things. We just really need this. And we need to keep growing with technology. And I'm sure that they'll agree. But if you would like any help going forward, just let me know.
[Roy Belson]: Thank you.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Thank you.
[Roy Belson]: Pardon me. I worked it out the date with the mayor and based on what's on their calendar.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very good. There's a motion on the floor, seconded by Mr. Skerry and Mr. Benedetto. Roll call vote, please. Yes.
[psVhVz9ZIEQ_SPEAKER_09]: Yes.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. 7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative. Motion passes. Thank you very much for that. Report on Veterans Day program.
[Roy Belson]: So every year we have a Veterans Day program, and Dr. Bernadette Riccadeli is the coordinator, and she's going to come up and tell you about the program.
[Ricciardelli]: Good evening. Mayor Burke, Superintendent Belson, and members of the Medford School Committee. Tonight I'm here to report on a longstanding tradition on the secondary level in the Medford Public Schools. It's one of my favorite events, and this year was no exception. So the Medford Public Schools and the Office of Veteran Services here at Medford City Hall have teamed up over the course of the past 17 years to provide students and faculty on the high school level the opportunity to learn about combat and non-combat related experience of our city's veterans. And from all accounts, this program has been enormously successful. And it's been fulfilling not only to our students, but also to the adults, the teachers and administrators who have seen the speeches that these veterans give. This year's program occurred on Thursday, November 2nd, and was co-coordinated with the Director of Veterans Services, Ernest Lindsey. The day began early in the morning before period one in the superintendent's conference room. We were treated to a light breakfast. The mayor, Mayor Burke, did attend this, as did school committee member Kathy Kreatz. They greeted the veteran speakers, and we all participated in the welcoming address, which included the Pledge of Allegiance and a brief introduction by each of the participants. This year, 27 veterans from several eras, including the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iraq War, visited 38 classes and gave an overview of their experiences and contributions. Sadly, though, this year we did not have any World War II veterans or Korean era veterans. Over the time that I have been organizing this event, each year you get fewer and fewer members from those eras. The program provides our students with an oral history of personal experiences that enhances their study of history in the classroom. Feedback from students, teachers, and veterans from this year's program has been overwhelmingly positive. We are thankful to Dunkin' Donuts and West Medford for donating coffee and a generous assortment of treats for breakfast. They've done so for the past, I believe, 17 years. So we really want to shout out to Dunkin' Donuts and West Medford. Would also like to thank Grade 12 Medford Vocational Technical High School student Noah Kreatz for displaying many items from his vintage military collection and engaging our guests in meaningful conversations about the importance of historical artifacts and understanding our nation's history. Again, one of the proudest things that I think we offer is this program. And I am thrilled that we are 17 years strong into it. I'm happy to take any questions. Great program. Thank you.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: What's going on? Actually, for Miss Riccadeli. It's OK. No problem. Actually, my question is, well, first of all, I just want to say thank you to all the veterans that come each and every year. As you said, it's been a 17-year program that you've been running. And it's been fabulous, because I know the students get a lot out of it, just as much as the veterans do. And also, a thank you, if we can, send a letter to Mr. Lindsay. Who's the director of the veterans just to just as it as a thank-you note from us? But the other thing is is that you were speaking of we don't have the veterans anymore from certain errors. Is it possible? I mean, I don't know this is just to throw it out there, but Maybe invite like children of the veterans from that era that have heard the stories that still have stories to share and just give an insight to our students from that era and
[Ricciardelli]: I think that's a great suggestion. I actually have a 96-year-old uncle who was in World War II, went down in two ships, used to live in Ninetyside and Riverside Ave. I've been trying to get him to come because he tells a great story, but he really is just very shy and gets very emotional at the stories that he shares with his closest family. I think that's a wonderful suggestion. I certainly will work on it. As I think about, even though I know his stories, I certainly could not do them the justice that he would. But again, I think it's a great suggestion. If I could just say one other thing. Nicole Chiesa, Dr. Nicole Chiesa is the Director of Humanities So in her absence, she's still on a leave of absence, I stepped in this year. So I believe not this year, but the prior three years, Nicole did organize it with Nick Cain. So I don't want it to be misleading that I've been doing this for 17 years. Certainly there have been several of us in the process over those 17 years.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. And also a letter to Mr. Kreatz, who Noah's been an amazing asset to a lot of these programs. And his enthusiasm and his experience, even though he hasn't, thankfully, gone, but he does have a lot of knowledge. So it's really nice to see a young student who shares that. That's great. Ms.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: DiBenedetto. Thank you. So given that your uncle's shy and that you'd love him to come, but he's not capable of Can't you video him telling his story and bring it forward that way? I've suggested that to him. Just on your phone, even? Because then you can transfer it. We have the technology up there now. And maybe just even your conversation with him. I mean, it might impact. greatly and it might be something that your family will always charge her as well. And my second thing is, could you send a thank you note to the Dunkin Donuts as well? 17 years of providing food for all of them. You know, at 20 years we should have them come in and, you know, Give him a golden donut.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Give him some donuts? We'll give him some donuts.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: On the paper, as amended, that thank yous be sent out to the respective parties. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Thanks. I just wanted to say thank you also. I want to say thank you to all the veterans for coming out to discuss their experiences with the students. And I want to give a very special thanks to Ernst Lindsey, Bernadette Riccadeli for organizing the program. And I just wanted to share a mention from Noah. And he said he really, really enjoys doing this program. And it's a pleasure going to all the veterans programs. He also went to the VFW program, and he showed his collection with the Cub Scouts, Webelos, and the veterans that attended that program. So it's just something, his passion, that he really likes to do, and he wished he could be here tonight, but he has work. So I just wanted to share that with everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Kreatz. Recommendation to accept major gift from stop and shop to vocational school and food service program, Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Well, Mayor and members of the school committee, tonight we're going to prove there is such a thing as a free lunch. So Kirsten is going to cover that for us.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: Yes, if I could have it noted, the director of finance is bringing you money this evening. Yes, we're very excited to present that our local stop and shop has generously given the intended donation of $10,000 to the new vocational Bistro 489. And they are also going to fund one full day of lunch for the entire district, which is the equivalent of $7,500. So we're very excited.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: We need a roll call. Is there a motion to accept this gift? Motion to accept by Mr. Skerry. Seconded by Ms. Cunha. You have a question?
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So my question was, it's a wonderful thing. I'm sure we're going to be very conscientious of making sure that we have lunches for all kids, no matter what their allergies might be or something like that.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: Absolutely. That's always a consideration on every menu.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: OK. And the second question I had to do had to do with In the report, it said, as discussed, signs signifying Stop and Shop's donation will be placed inside the bistro, and we will receive content, i.e. photos, for marketing and media relations purposes. So I just wondered what exactly the, I could certainly see other people approaching other food stores for donations as well or for assistance. And so I just want to make sure that because Stop and Shop has their sign that it is open to other perhaps generous givers in the future.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: Absolutely. And in our discussions, we indicated, you know, the possibility of some, you know, nominal size plaque recognizing their generous donation at the startup of the program. does not preclude anyone else any other significant donations and subsequent plaques and acknowledgment.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: OK, thank you, Chris.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you. I just want to know how we're spending the $10,000.
[Kirsteen Patterson]: We haven't gotten it yet, so I don't want to spend it until we've actually received it.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I know, but what's the plan?
[Roy Belson]: I think it's going to the deck.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: The deck? Oh, it's for a physical piece, not to stock with. Because we're going to have to stock the kitchen at some point.
[Roy Belson]: Well, it'll be stocked. OK. The donation of the deck appears to be what's ticketed for.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: OK. Good to know. Thank you.
[Roy Belson]: December 4th is the opening.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: December 4th and it's cast in stone?
[Roy Belson]: 11 o'clock.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. 11 o'clock, December 4th. Grand opening. Ribbon cutting. Yes. Is there a motion on the floor for roll call vote for approval of the gift?
[psVhVz9ZIEQ_SPEAKER_09]: Mrs. Cunha? Mrs. DiBenedetto?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Thank you. Motion is accepted, and we'll send a letter of thanks to Jim Allen, the store manager of Stop and Shop Medford. Recommendation to approve foreign language NYC trip.
[Roy Belson]: So we have a couple of foreign language approvals in front of us tonight. We talked about them at our committee of the hall, so Rita is here. First of all, let me congratulate Rita publicly for her award from the Italian Association for her outstanding work as an Italian teacher and administrator promoting programs in Italian culture. The other reason. Thank you. The other evening, Friday evening, at the Dry Dock, the Innovation Center, Rita was there receiving audits from a whole pile of people who were involved in Italian culture, including the Consul General. And Rita deserves all the work, all the credit that she gets.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: Thank you. So good evening. As the superintendent said, the two items that have to do with me on the agenda were brought up last week at the committee of the whole. So the first one is asking your approval for the New York trip for December 17 and 18. The 17th is a Sunday, so students would only be missing one day of school. This field trip is offered only to the AP Italian students of Miss Canetta's class, and it's only 10 students. They did a unit on the opera, and they really fell in love with the opera, and they went to see an opera in Boston. And then as a follow-up activity, they Skyped with an opera singer. And she revealed that she's going to be singing at Carnegie Hall on the evening of the 17th, and students really wanted to go see her. The program for the 17th is on a rediscovered Italian composer, opera composer, and so they're going to be dedicating the evening to this composer, Aldo Finzi. The opera singer, whose name is Elizabeth Herzenberg, sent the poetry of the songs that she's gonna be singing, of course in Italian, to the students, and they are studying that poetry in class, so it'll be a really meaningful field trip for them. We received $3,000 scholarship, or $3,000 from the Michelina Pietrangelo Scholarship Fund to cover the expenses. So it said no cost to students. The $3,000 covers everything. The bus, the concert, the hotel, and everything. Both Ms. Caneto and I will serve as chaperones, and we will be traveling to New York by bus, attend the concert that Sunday evening, and return to Medford the next day.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: I just had a question about the bus. Is this a Bus that a private bus for these no, it's not a private bus.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: It's a mega bus leaves from South Station and Goes right, right.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: I figured for the price it had to be but I just want yes I hope you guys have a wonderful time. I wish I was going. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. There's a motion not for approval, but offered by Ms. Cunha, seconded by Ms. Mustone. Roll call vote, please.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Mrs. Cunha? Yes. Mrs. DiBenedetto? Yes. Mrs. Kreatz? Yes. Mrs. Mustone? Yes.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Motion passes.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Have fun. Thanks. At this point, we would like to invite someone up to the podium, including you, Sandra Figueroa. Sandra Figueroa. Figueroa. Figueroa. Come on up, Sandra. Come on up.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: Come up there.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: This is a report on a foreign language scholarship. The Medford Public Schools is proud to recognize Sandra Figueroa, Outstanding Achievement in the Study of Italian at FAA USA 2017 scholarship recipient. Congratulations.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: Sandra's going to say something in Italian.
[SPEAKER_12]: OK. Buonasera a tutti. Voglio dire grazie alla signora e alla mia signora. Sorry, I'm getting a little nervous. Mia maestra, la signora Canetta, per averme scelto per questo borsal di studio. I love the Italian language, I love the culture. I speak Spanish and I wanted a challenge. I chose Italian because it's a beautiful language and I want to use it in the future in my studies.
[SPEAKER_15]: Translate a little bit? Okay. Sandra said that she's very happy to be studying Italian. She loves Italian and she hopes to continue.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: with Italian in college. She thanked me, I don't know why. But her teacher, her AP teacher, and also her middle school teacher, who's here, Ms. Bonacorsi.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very nice.
[ACxsV5H4ehA_SPEAKER_09]: Excellent, congratulations.
[Unidentified]: Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: You should have translated it.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: But actually there was one part that Mr. Carlo has missed and that is Sandra also said that she does speak Spanish and because she had the opportunity of taking Italian. that she fell in love with the language and the culture. And so that's an important piece, because no matter how many languages we speak as a district, when we have the opportunity, and here I have to say thank you to Cassett, because Cassett is where it starts in the elementary schools. So, and it continues through the middle schools, and it continues to the high school, and it's a great opportunity for Cassett, but also a great opportunity for us, and to thank all the teachers that have always been involved, so thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Medford High School student representative, Justin Tseng, would like to say a few words.
[Justin Tseng]: I would like to reinforce what we just said in that students at Medford High are so, we're so dedicated to learning and a bunch of us are so dedicated to learning foreign languages. And I wanted to say to Carlo, we don't say thank you enough for all that you've done for us. And especially those in the AP class, they all love you so much. effort in the future as we move forward to a more globalized and more open world. We should continue with all of the efforts that we've put into our language learning programs.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Very nice. Nice job, Justin. This, I believe one of those scholarships came from the Joe Pachi and Son of Boston and Saugus Companies. Am I correct, Mr. Carlo? Joe Pachi put up the funds for the scholarship. Very good. There's a motion to receive this report and place it on file. Moved by Ms. VanDekloot, seconded by Mr. Benedetto. All those in favor?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All those opposed? Motion passes. recommendation to improve skills us a conference participation so each year members of the student body vocational school attend the
[Roy Belson]: State Leadership Conference in Marlborough, SkillsUSA. And this year is no exception and we're going to be sending a couple of teachers and four students. It will be paid for by grant money. They'll be staying overnight so that they can participate in the full range of activities and we need the school committee to approve it so that we can take this Trip on Schools USA.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion to approve. Ms.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Van der Kloot. You know, this is an excellent thing. And of course, we're going to approve it. But I just want to set the record straight. In terms of timeliness of us receiving this, I believe the students left yesterday and are returning tomorrow.
[Roy Belson]: Yeah, it was unfortunately a situation where Mr. Fallon is new to our system and didn't realize it needed to come into us. We wanted to bring it to you. But certainly in the future, we understand it needs to come to you.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So it's a motion of approval, sort of in retrospect. But it's a great thing, and we know that it's wonderful for our students. I'm certainly glad that they're going, and I look forward to hearing from them on their return.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: There's a motion for approval by Ms. Cunha, seconded by Ms. Kreatz. Roll call vote, please. Excuse me? We're still approving it. On the motion for approval as amended, roll call vote.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Mrs. Cunha. Yes. Mrs. DiBenedetto. Mrs. Kreatz. Yes. Mrs. Mustone. Yes. Mr. Scurry.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Mrs. Van der Kloot. Yes. Mayor Burke.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative, motion passes. Next up, report on professional development day, November 7, 2017.
[Roy Belson]: We'll call on our assistant superintendent to deliver this report.
[Diane Caldwell]: Good evening. I'd like to call on Dr. Bernadette Riccadeli to come do the report with me, please. On Tuesday, November 7th, Medgar Public Schools and staff participated in our first professional development day for this school year. Elementary staff met at the McGlynn School and participated in grade level workshops on response to intervention. Teachers 21, a consulting firm from Newton Mass, worked with our staff to build a shared understanding of RTI fundamentals and help us consider our next steps. Staff learned about the structures, processes, and instructional practices needed for successful implementation of RTI. In addition, staff collaboratively self-assessed current capacities and planned for the next steps for the implementation of RTI. The middle schools participated in Study Island as a universal screening behavioral intervention tool. Teachers learned to utilize study island questions and developed fall winter screener exams for grades six, seven, and eight. Administrators and teachers reviewed behavioral interventions and developed their own pyramid to determine what is considered tier one, tier two, and tier three. The Andrews and the McGlynn schools met at Medford High. Medford High School vocational and Curtis Tufts participated in workshops regarding specific building-based data collection in focus groups discussions and identified topics from their ongoing partnerships with Harvard University and Boston College. Our paraprofessionals collaborated with each other in online curriculum in three research-based modules, independence, positive behavior supports, and effective communication. The fine arts department focused on teaching pathways through the music curriculum as well as concepts in education. Nurses, phys ed, and health education staff participated in safety care recertification training. There were additional workshops in the following areas, technology, library, zones of regulation for early childhood and related service providers, grade level and competency portfolios, alternate portfolios, middle school foreign language and curriculum review. We had a jam-packed day on November 7th. I'd like to share with you some of the evaluations from our elementary, middle, and high schools. For elementary, it was the ability to practice strategies in workshops, reinforcement of techniques, that the teachers felt able to engage, persist, envision, and reflect in the workshops. Relevant topics were discussed. Presenters were knowledgeable and engaging. More time needed to be allowed for staff to collaborate, which is something that we need to work on. There were useful suggestions for RTI, and we're hoping to plan return visits for RTI. So none of this is done alone. You've heard the saying, it takes a village. So it really does when we get together and organize and plan our Professional Development Day program. I'd like Bernadette to speak a little bit to the middle school and high school reflections.
[Ricciardelli]: So the reflections of teachers and what they experienced on PD is very important to us as administrators, but then also I'm a member of the Professional Development Committee, so we will be looking at these comments closely. A lot of good comments, and then there are some comments that really offer us some constructive advice on ways that the program could be made even stronger. So this is just a sampling. It certainly isn't everything. I do have a compilation of all of the responses from middle and high school teachers. So for the middle school, some of the strengths were the following. One teacher wrote, quote, that we were able to create a screener for next year that aligns both middle schools. Another teacher wrote, the presenter, that would be Paul DeLeva, adjusted his presentation when he realized the audience needed or wanted something different on the content. Another teacher wrote, the presenter was a great speaker and made the workshop as interesting as possible. I liked that we were given ample time to play around with the program, and he allowed the subject to veer off for more specific questions. Then another prompt asked teachers how the workshop could have been improved. And one teacher wrote focusing on subjects other than English language arts and math. Another teacher wrote Chromebooks being provided to all staff during the training. Another teacher wrote altering the order of the program. so that the morning should have been for the McGlynn to go over the basics of RTI, that is, what it is, what is the pyramid, what are the logistics, etc. Then the afternoon could have been on how to use Study Island as a tool in RTI and collaborate with grade-level partners from both schools. So again, that's just a snapshot of the middle school teachers' comments. Again, some positive and some where there are things that could be better. With regard to the high school comments, one thing I noticed is many teachers wrote a lot. Some of these are somewhat lengthy, but again, there's only a few of them. So they were asked in the first prompt, what stood out about today's professional development program? One teacher wrote, the thing that stood out the most was the video we watched in breakout sessions about microaggressions and microaffirmations. It was a nice reminder to choose your words and the way you frame feedback carefully, as it can have a big impact on your students and their perceptions. That's certainly something I know that I like to consider when I'm speaking to people. Another teacher wrote, just bringing into awareness the issues our kids are dealing with and the impact we have on making them feel included and capable, as well as happy and productive. A good reminder of how important positive feedback is, our role in helping students finding their purpose, and in helping them to see how what they do here is relevant to the rest of their lives. Another teacher wrote, this professional development day reminded me of how much the students need me as a teacher to create a safe environment for learning. By safe environment, I mean an inclusive one in which I demonstrate to each student that I care about each of them as people and I believe in their academic capabilities. It reminded me to review my own journey as a professional and to renew my commitment to the profession. And the last comment from a teacher, the teacher writes, my biggest takeaway was that wow, this is really necessary. However, I don't think that it was received by all faculty. I am very familiar with what was presented and I am well attuned to my passion and my purpose. It is something I live and it is something I share with my students. However, I saw that many of my peers were very closed to today's PD day. I think that we as a faculty need to be brought through each step in order for people to see the value in this work. I heard many people say that it was too much information at once. So again, all of the feedback is considered seriously, and this was just a snapshot.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Ms. Vandekloot. No, I didn't have a question. Are there any questions from the body?
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. So last year at our budget time, there was big talk about adding more ITI instruction. And this year is the year that we're really taking notice of where we are, what we're using it, how we're using it well, and where we're going to need in case we need that for next year's budget. So you guys are the experts. Let's hear it. We're at this point. Are we utilizing it well? Do you foresee us needing some more help in the budget for next year? And I know it will change from now to then, but we need to put the bug in the ear of the superintendent so it's on his radar.
[Diane Caldwell]: Sure. So the elementary teachers now have a universal screening tool piloted in just grade one. We're going to take a look at this tool to see if it's something that we want for all of our grade levels. That was our beginning. We wanted to give an overview of response to intervention. Many of our teachers knew a lot about it because we've done some of this before, but we have a lot of new staff, so we wanted to make sure that they were able to participate. We did grade level groups, K1, 2, 3, and 4, 5, and the presenters seemed to be, for the most part, very well received, especially the K1 presenter. From here, we will have the Professional Development Committee is recommending that we continue with RTI on our mandated PD days. We have one in January and one in February, and we're hoping to continue our training in January and in February, and maybe even on the March PD day. The grade one in all of the elementary schools will be piloting RTI, so they have a specific block of time that will be set aside for teachers to work with each other on RTI. And I think it is the hope that we get together in March or April to come to a consensus about the best way to roll it out for everyone come next September. Additional monies would be helpful. We're going to try to work within the budget to see what we can do with our own staff. They know our children better than anybody else. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Is there a motion on the floor to receive this paper and place it on file? Seconded by Ms. Van De Kloet. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Report on MSBA school maintenance study. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Mayor and members of the school committee, I think we all know that building maintenance, building condition, is a popular topic. The MSBA, Massachusetts School Building Authority, is the authority that's been put in place to assist with renovations, major renovations of schools, but they also try to keep track of where schools are. Now, we all know where the pimples are and where the tiles are missing in any one school in our own world. But when you look at the range of schools across the Commonwealth, We don't do badly. And the report I'm providing you is a report that it was done by MSBA. It was done by a field visit to our schools by MSBA. And they went to all the schools across the Commonwealth, virtually all of them, didn't get to everything. And they assessed and evaluated several key factors, including building condition, general environment, capacity, technology, security, and maintenance. The study was conducted by architectural engineers, engineers in general, and who visited each specific building. Now, school buildings that were slated for MSB upgrades, already slated in the pipeline, weren't visited because they already had been out there and done that. The buildings were rated on a four-point scale. the general condition and general learning environment. A rating of one was the best, and a rating of four was the lowest. And all buildings were rated for capacity utilization. Underutilization was considered to be 80% or less, below 80% rather, and overutilization was above 125% of the capacity of the building. So I provided you with selected pages of the MSBA report. It was 96 pages. I didn't think you wanted to read it all, but if you do, I can certainly provide it. I picked those pages I thought were relevant to us and would give us insights as to how they came up with these decisions. But you'll note if you go down to Medford schools and the building condition, all of our schools, with the exception of the high school and the vocational school, were rated one. The high school and the vocational school were rated two. But all our buildings, for general environment were rated one based on their study, not something we did for them, not something we told them to say. They came out and rated it with their people. Now, building capacity, We fall into the average range in every building, while Brooks, Columbus, McGlynn, and Roberts are considered average, the Andrews a little bit under, McGlynn under, high school under, vocational under, and the Curtis Tufts under, in terms of capacity, in terms of room. Now people talk to me about, is there capacity to absorb young people into our schools? I'd say yes. Because I've looked at this, I gave you a report not that long ago on the impact of development upon enrollment. I'm working on a report that deals with some of the smaller buildings, which there aren't that many with young people in it. But clearly, that is not changing anything as far as I can see so far. So I think it's important when people ask us about our building conditions to recognize that we have had them looked at. There's certainly room for improvement. No one's going to say that we do everything the way it should be done. But clearly, we're not bad compared to buildings, school buildings around the commonwealth. We have put in an SOI to the state, statement of interest for the high school and the vocational school. We expect to hear before the first of the year whether or not we will be allowed to go to feasibility study. I believe we're now in a pool of 44. There were 88. We're now down to 44. It may be less than that now since their last visit to us. And hopefully we'll hear about that and we'll be able to move forward with a feasibility study looking at those two major buildings. So happy to take any questions you may have. Ms.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Pugno. Thank you. Through you to the superintendent, is there a way for us to find out how the other schools in our area were graded?
[Roy Belson]: Well, they do have that. We're generally better than many others, but there are some. I can get you that.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: But yeah, I'd like to see the list of the surrounding schools and and just in general other schools Yeah, but it doesn't give that information just to see I can get you the rest of it just was a lot of pages No, and I understand that and I'm not asking for the whole report I'm just asking so that way we have an idea of where we rank compared to if it's okay with you What I'll do is I'll pick some area schools and give you you know some comparable type schools like Waltham and Winchester And then I guess my other concern is We rate you know according to their standards We rated high does is that jeopardize any type of grant or anything that we're going to be going for because I mean Because we we graded very high based on their requisites I just don't want to jeopardize anything out there that we're waiting for like capital planning money or anything like that I mean are they going to take that into consideration obviously they're going to look at buildings that are for and
[Roy Belson]: But they also want to, if they put an app in. And they also want to make sure that buildings that are doing okay, stay okay. And there are specific elements of our world. Like in our world, we want to work on the systems in the high school and the vocation school. We want to work on the shops. We want to work on other aspects of the facility that will enhance it over time. Remember that building is, what, over 45 years old now. It's a solid building, it's not going away, but it can use some upgrades. And I think these are the things that we want to push with them. So we had a very good meeting with them. I thought when they left, they were very pleased with the kind of tour that we took with them and the information we gave them. But it's competitive, so we'll find out.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: And was the tour across the board, like when they came to the high school, did they see the whole high school?
[Roy Belson]: Oh, they went around the whole place.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: And the same thing with all the other schools?
[Roy Belson]: They went around the whole place. Now remember, we've got an oil project from them, we've got the science projects from them. You know, we've got some other things from them as well. So it isn't like they've ignored us. But clearly, you know, the things we were talking about with them were, I think, well-received. OK.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I just don't want them to say that they went into the science labs at the high school and just assumed that the rest of the school is like that, because it's not.
[Roy Belson]: Well, actually, I turned that around on them. When I said to them, see, your money really was put to good use. Good.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Keep on telling them that, because it has to go through the whole district.
[Roy Belson]: We're very good with your money. You should give us more. OK?
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Yeah, the whole district.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Ms. Mustone.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: Mr. Belson, the key factors were building condition, general environment, capacity, technology, security, and maintenance. Did they give us a rating in each of those categories of each of the schools?
[Roy Belson]: I think they composited. The report did not break it down.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: To see where we have holes. They don't break it down.
[Roy Belson]: They didn't break it down. But I can ask. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Are there any other questions? Motion to receive and place on file? Moved by Ms. Van der Kloot, seconded by Ms. Cuno. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Recommendation to implement a succession plan for superintendent of schools. And before I pass this over to Roy, he's been with the school system for over 40 years? 50 years now?
[SPEAKER_00]: 50 years.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: 23 as our superintendent. He has served this community with pride and respect, and I know throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts how he is looked upon. He really is a mentor to new superintendents, and just about any question you ask him, he pretty much knows the answer. It's somewhere in there, and he pulls it out. So it's been an amazing experience to work with you, Mr. Superintendent. And I know that this process will be difficult, but of course it will be positive at the end. We know that we will find someone that will do things differently and maybe ignite the school system in a different way. So we will miss you, but we look forward to this process. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: You want to announce it Monday night? You want to talk about that?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Yes. Actually, we have arranged for the school committee.
[Roy Belson]: M-A-S-C.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Mass Association of School Committees to come and visit with us Monday evening so that we can start this process. And they'll go over generalities of how they've conducted it in other communities. and determined what steps we want to take next as far as our search for the next superintendent. So that will be Monday at 6 30 at 6 30 at the high school, at the high school. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: So in June 2016, the Medford school committee approved the succession plan for the position of superintendent of schools. I have attached a copy of that plan to my remarks this evening. While it's within your discretion to keep, modify, and change the plan, it is a fundamental blueprint to begin the processes of succession and transition. And that will continue on Monday evening with Glenn Kuchar, who is the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. It has been my privilege and honor to be an educator in Medford, in the Medford Public Schools, for 50 years, and to serve as superintendent of schools, your superintendent of schools, for 23 years. I've greatly benefited from the high quality and diligence of professionals, support staff, school committee members, and citizens who have worked with me throughout my career. And I am internally grateful to them for making my tenure and responsibilities as productive and as rewarding as reasonably possible. I've been very fortunate to have seen former students become teachers, administrators, and staff in our schools. I've had the experience of enrolling children and grandchildren of former students. While no one does significant work alone, I've had the opportunity to build new schools, establish a full range of programs, acquire hundreds of millions of dollars in grants, for our community and school district. Understandably, there's room for improvement, but much has been done and more will be done in the months ahead. No one gets to finish everything, but we have put a lot in place and that will be a solid foundation for the future. Therefore, I am here informing the Medford School Committee that it's my intention to retire from the position of superintendent of schools, Medford Public Schools, at the completion of my contract on June 30th, 2018. This decision has been made without reference to any governmental change or any issues that are in our community. It is simply the right period of time for me to spend more time with my family and to pursue special causes and interests that have not been possible given the schedule and work responsibilities of an active school superintendent. It is my intent and plan to be fully engaged in the months ahead as your superintendent. We have a lot of positive opportunities, some of which we've talked about tonight, ahead of us. And I will do everything possible to optimize and achieve our goals. Furthermore, I will be committed to ensuring a smooth and effective transition to new senior leadership. Thank you.
[Unidentified]: Thank you very much.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I just personally want to thank the superintendent. Obviously, I'm a new mayor. I'm just almost wrapping up the first two years. And I don't know what it would have been had I not had him by my side in charge of the school department. So I thank you personally for staying on so that we've had a smoother transition into my leadership. So thank you very much for doing that on behalf of the city of Medford in total. Ms. Van der Kloot.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So Roy, we knew this day would come, but it doesn't make the coming any easier. You've been an exceptional leader for our community. Your commitment and dedication is simply, it can't be, it's unparalleled. I've been on the school committee for a long time, so I've known and been able to work with you for a long time. And I have to tell you, the number of nights that I found you in your office night after night after night, ready to respond to any question, ready to be there, is just unbelievable. And also, as a school committee, we can get to pick up the phone and call the superintendent, and it didn't matter was it weekend, it didn't matter whether he was on vacation. And so some of us have talked to him when he was on vacation, and he was always there ready to answer questions. I think of your great compassion to staff members who were under duress as something that was truly, you know, always unsung. It was always below the level. But when we had a staff member who was going through some crisis, Roy was always there and compassionate for them. His dedication to our students and the whole child approach, I think on some of these things, you led the pack. Early childhood education, the Medford Family Network, so important in our world. No superintendent can be everything to everybody. Yep, superintendents piss people off sometimes. They say no. And you've done that, Roy. And I know that there have been people who've not always been enthusiastic about your leadership. But I, for one, as someone who has sat and worked with you, who've been on many different committees and worked with you, can only say that you have been a remarkable leader for us. Your work ethic is just the tops, and you have Your dedication to Medford has been absolutely exemplary. Thank you so much.
[Roy Belson]: Thank you, Pauline. Thank you very much.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Ms. Cuno. OK. Well, I have had the opportunity, and I know what people are going to say out there. Oh, you know, the people that always agree with the superintendent. However, my discussion is not about whether I agree or disagree with the superintendent. Here it is. just a thank you for the person that he is. There's been many a times that there are a lot of us that agree or disagree, but this is out of respect, out of respect for the gentleman that's here. I've had the opportunity, not only as a Medford School Committee member, but also as a president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, to actually go around the state with Mr. Bellson to see how he has represented us, always having us top of the list. I know people agree to disagree, but you really don't know it all when you're not behind this reel, unfortunately, because there are a lot of things that it's amazing to see. When I went to the statehouse and there was a discussion and the superintendent went and he testified. And there were other superintendents there that day that were testifying. It's amazing to see the amount of people that after they're done with their discussion, the reporters and other people from the state house, all those superintendents were there. Everybody went to Roy. Who did he talk about? He talked about the people in this city. Not only the students and the parents, but the teachers and everybody else. Again, I don't want to talk about agreeing or disagreeing, because that's why we're here, to be respectful behind and in front of the reel. This is where you come to discuss. This is where you come to express what's going on. It's funny, Paulette just said something about he'll answer that phone. when he's on vacation. And I remember 12 years ago when I started and I wanted to bring the summer program into fruition. I remember going to that school the first day, and we had tons of kids there with parents dropping them off, and of course it was the hottest day, and the summer hadn't even started, and the people in charge had shut the air conditioning on me, and I called him, and he answered, and I'm like, I am sorry, but, and I went into a rage, and he's like, don't worry, he's like, the second I get off the plane, because I'm stepping on the plane, he says, I will call, and that air conditioning was on. So it's things like that that you remember, but honestly when I've had the opportunity to go around the state and I've had the opportunity nationally to tell people that we've had superintendents. It's amazing, because they say, what do you mean you have a superintendent who's been there all these years? You're lucky if you get someone who stays with you two to three years. And I've seen it. I've seen it in the communities around us. Right now, it's very difficult to get someone who's very qualified, because the candidate pool is not that large. It's just amazing. And when people tell me you work with a school committee, or you work as a school committee, or you actually speak to your superintendent, again, it seemed very strange to me, because I just assumed this is how it goes. I am in total shock when I hear other school committee members across the state that tell me, what are you talking about? What do you mean you have community participation? I'm like, well, that's why we're here. We're here for the community. They should have participation. Nope. They're not allowed to speak. And so there are things that we just assume as a school committee member, as a parent, as a teacher, administrator, what we're used to sometimes, we're just assuming this is how it is across the board. And we're always complaining about what we have. But when you have the opportunity to go outside your city and to see what other things and other people are doing and other cities and towns are doing, again, there's always improvement. The bar is always raised up high. But to see where we are. is just really, you know, it's, I'm very happy to see it. And I have to say that it's people like the superintendent who go out there with their passion. and get what we have, because it's not that easy sometimes. So I want to say thank you to the superintendent.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Thank you. Ms. Kurtz. Okay, Superintendent Bellson, I want to thank you for 50 years of service. I'm so glad that you stayed on because you... Oh, I'm sorry. It's not... Oh, sorry. I'm so glad that you were on for our first term and you made our transition very smooth. You're a great leader. You've always been there for questions, like everybody said, via email, phone call, late nights, late Sundays, for little things that come up. And you've helped assist with, you know, parent inquiries. It's just everything. And, you know, I'm just – I'm really grateful and I'm very fortunate that I got to work with you. And, you know, it's bittersweet news. And, you know, I wish you the best. And I'm, you know, happy to continue working with you for the next six months. Thank you. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: On the paper, is there a motion to receive in place? You're not blinking up here. Mr. Skerry.
[Robert Skerry]: Roy, it's been a long run, it's been a great run, and for anyone to spend 50 years of their life dedicated to education, it's remarkable and you're gonna be commended. And I want you to know, just as one member, my colleagues have said it best, but as one member, Medford is in a better place educationally through your efforts for the last 38 years that you've been running the system. I don't think there is anyone that will master the budget as well as you. We've all had concerns at budget time some years. It's been tough, but you've always found a way to make sure that the needs of our children and our residents are met. And I wish you and Maxine well in your retirement, and don't be a stranger.
[Roy Belson]: Thank you. Thank you very much.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: Ms. Mustone. I want to congratulate you and wish you well. And when you are officially retired, we'll go out for a Guinness. Go to the food bank.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you. So Roy, I've learned a tremendous amount from you. And I've watched blue and white run through your veins. Because I know you'll never bleed red. It will always be blue and white. You are a Mustang. You'll always be here. Even when you retire, I know if I call you, you're answering that cell phone. And that's because you're one of the most dedicated men I have ever met in my life. And your service has been phenomenal. And I wish you well. And I'm so glad that you're leaving at a high in your career and leaving us in such great shape. You worked very, very hard to put us where we are now and help us through the hard days. And I wish you well finding a hobby. And not driving Maxine crazy And good luck. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All right Is there a motion to receive and place this paper on file?
[Robert Skerry]: Set to place on file, Madam Mayor.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Opposed by Mr. Skerry, seconded by Ms. Vandekloot. All those in favor?
[Roy Belson]: Aye.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Roy Belson]: There's an extraordinary paper about concussions that fall over, but it's not making much of a difference.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Oh, I have a motion.
[Unidentified]: We're good? Okay.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Is there a motion that item 12 negotiations and legal matters be moved to the end of the agenda? So moved by Mr. Skerry, seconded by Mr. Benedetto. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? It's now the end of the meeting. New business, school committee resolution, be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Florence Riley. Mrs. Riley was the mother of Director of Pupil Services, Kathleen Medaglio. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Marie Wilgrove Gomez. Mrs. Gomez was the mother of Brooks teacher, Lauren Gomez. And be it resolved that the Methodist School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Eileen Downing. Mrs. Downing was a teacher at the Franklin School for many years. Could all please rise and have a moment of silence. school committee resolution be it resolved that the medical school committee express its congratulations to member Paulette Vandekloot on the arrival of her new grandson, Ezra Meir Prokop. Can I say it correctly? What's it like having a little boy? Another little boy. Another little boy. What's it like? Oh, sorry. Congratulations. Thank you.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Ms. Cugno, I just wanted to acknowledge, actually, Mr. John Costas from the Medford Electric for the donation of installations of many of the lights at the Marsha Caron Theatre. The lighting that he just put in, he donated everything, and the lights that we have now will enhance the stage and the theatre itself. So I just wanted to see if we could invite Mr. Costa for... He does a lot more than just that for us. Yeah, OK. Well, this was given to me. I'm just saying. But if we could just invite him the next time we have a meeting.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: On the motion that Mr. Costas be invited to the next school committee meeting. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. OK, item 12, negotiations and legal matters. A motion to go into executive session. So moved. So moved by Ms. Van der Kloot, seconded by Mr. Benedetto. Roll call vote, please. Mrs. Van der Kloot? Yes. Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. We will now enter executive session.
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total time: 0.64 minutes total words: 124  |
total time: 12.1 minutes total words: 2057  |
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total time: 9.23 minutes total words: 1699  |
total time: 3.52 minutes total words: 571  |
total time: 0.81 minutes total words: 143  |
total time: 4.21 minutes total words: 727  |
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total time: 0.71 minutes total words: 99  |
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