[SPEAKER_04]: roll.
[Burke]: 7 present, none absent. All please rise and salute our flag.
[SPEAKER_04]: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Burke]: Approval of the minutes of April 1st, 2019. Motion to approve by Mr. Russo, seconded by Ms. Van der Kloot. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion granted. Approval of bills, transfer of funds, and approval of payrolls. April 8th, 2019 and April 1st, 2019, previously tabled. Motion for approval of the minutes. Ms. DiBenedetto. Thank you.
[DiBenedetto]: I had a couple questions on the set that says vouchers paid March 30th through April 5th on page three of seven. It's a $600 conference, but we couldn't read what it was, National Association for Educational of, do you have any idea what that conference was for and who attended?
[Burke]: And then there is on bottom of page four of seven, the very last item.
[DiBenedetto]: It says unemployment. Do we have people currently on the unemployment?
[Unidentified]: Yes. Currently there's always usually some overlap. So that's an ongoing question.
[Burke]: OK. Thank you. Is there a motion for approval? All there already is. Mr. Russo, seconded by Ms. Vanden Heuvel. Roll call vote, please. Yes. Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Motion passes. Report of secretary. None? Report of committee. There was two committee of the whole meetings, actually. March 6th and March 18th and April 3rd, speaking about capital projects. We did vote for the items on the capital list. Almost all were unanimous, with the exclusion of one, which is the roof at the Andrews School. That was a six to one vote with Mr. Ruggiero voting against. At this time, we do have a summary that was approved. I believe Christine had sent it all to us. We're running with that. If anybody wishes to vote for the entire package in its totality, we certainly could do that tonight if there's a change of heart. Otherwise, we'll go with what was voted on during the committee reports. We're good? Mayberg. Ms.
[DiBenedetto]: DiBenedetto. Just a note about the notes at that thank So it doesn't reflect a lot of concerns or ideas that were brought up. It just gives bullet points, I think, a little bit more information. I know at that meeting, we would have put more items on the capital improvement plan, but we were hoping to get a grant for the whole high school, and that's why those items weren't on there. And concerns raised whether a big grant would be funded by the city council was also raised because it would cost the city money to match grant funds. So all that type of information, I always look back at these notes, so if they could be included a little bit more, I'd appreciate it.
[Burke]: I mean, generally, in the past, I don't recall the minutes being as detailed as they are right now. So they're very extremely detailed. Thank you, Ms. Lazzaro, for that. And we will take that to note. Thank you. Ms. Vandekloot.
[Van der Kloot]: So we have a couple of different talks. The one I mentioned, we did receive, or we're going to receive, a little while before about that should be included in this capital plan because it was a piece of information we didn't know. I think we can probably go ahead with the approval of the work of the committee of the whole now, but perhaps, you know, I'm still thinking about it. Can we add that to the plan? If I end a meeting, you could... I think that while it was important to Though, we are far from done. My colleague Mr. Ruggiero asked for, and I don't see it noted here, but there was also an ask for a report on things like how many compressors we have. water heaters, just so that we had a list. And when we started out, and it was four years ago, or three and a half in November, we really had gone through the schools and put together a comprehensive list, which I understand that Christine had told us that we are, you know, we've been hitting items on that list. But at the very end of the meeting, we talked about, we had a conversation that wandered into saying, you know, there's still a lot of people in our community who have grave concerns about the high school. There's this question about what's functional and what's aesthetically pleasing. Many of us have long been concerned, just like City Hall down in Boston has the same type of architecture that our high school does. Is there anything that we can do? We've actually never looked into Is there a paint that works? I did comment that there is a building over in Arlington that used to look very much like our high school did. It's the DSS building. And they've made it look from externally, I'm talking externally, much, much better. Again, the external factors for me, landscaping and making it look nicer that way, I think we actually need to do more exploration. We had some discussions, some thoughts went out at that meeting. I know that there's concern about having another subcommittee, because my initial desire would be saying, I think we need a working subcommittee of really members who are willing to do a little bit of, during, and I would suggest that we do it during the summer, doing some more research into some of these other questions around the high school. I'm not putting together a motion right now because I want to talk to members to say, how should we do this? How do we go forth? But we have to discuss these issues more thoroughly. and take a look at those concerns. I walked through the high school again, and you know, my biggest, you think about what is functional. But I'm thinking about being functional as a school committee member and being what is my first impression. And you do get kind of blind to what someone's first impression would be. And there's certainly issues. So I'm just going to put it on the table now to say to my Colleagues, I think we only just began in that discussion. It's not the first go-round. I can assure you of that. Those discussions have been had comprehensively across the city about creating lists. But it is time that we look again so that we feel when we're looking at more capital improvements in the future, we will be going back to information that we've gathered at this time.
[Burke]: Very good. Thank you. Mr. Ruggiero.
[Ruggiero]: Thank you, Mayor Burke. In terms of the landscaping, I want to know, is it possible that we could create maybe a small scholarship for students? And we can open up to them for a design contest, maybe something like $1,000, $2,000 scholarship to college or a college bond. And we could allow our students to actually present ideas. Is such a program like that possible, Madam Superintendent?
[Edouard-Vincent]: We definitely could have students work on design. I was thinking about some of our art students possibly. I think that could be a project that they could work on in terms of with all of the sports clubs and things that we have, extracurricular activities. In terms of scholarships and things like that, I'm not really clear in terms of is that the right way to go in terms of design, but we could definitely ask students. It could be something working with CCSR where they're always thinking about projects. So it could definitely be something that we could have students get involved with helping to design.
[Ruggiero]: Yeah I really like the idea that I mean of course we could always go out to bid and have a bunch of professionals look at it. But I think it'd be a really fun project for a number of students to actually have an opportunity to have like a little contest. Maybe it's not a scholarship maybe it's an award and a plaque that we present at a school committee meeting. But regardless I'd like to make a motion that we explore this option with the superintendent and she can come back with to us with a report at her leisure.
[Burke]: On the motion is there a second. Seconded by Mr. Russo. All those in favor?
[Ricciardelli]: Aye.
[Burke]: All those opposed? Motion passes. You're all set. Mr. Benedetto.
[DiBenedetto]: Thank you. Paulette, I agree with you. I think that this is a beginning of a conversation to make not only that building but all areas around our schools better. I know last summer that They did a walk around the outside of all the elementary schools and identified areas that needed to be improved. And John did an amazing job with his team beautifying a lot of that, those areas. So, I want to give kudos to them. So, it has begun. Maybe we need to do that at the high school. But while I was at an event up at the vocational school the other night, Chris Donovan outside in the dock with Fritz and our station manager, our community access manager, they were out there putting up spotlights through the high school. And he has pictures on his Facebook account and I have some on my phone. Maybe I'll share them so we can add them to the blog. They had up lights, blue lights of the whole high school and it looked amazing. And certain doorways were all lit up blue. It transformed the whole area. and they had up lights around the things. He also noted that we do have great lighting up there now because it was dark, but it's very harsh lighting. So maybe he said he might be able to help us get filter over them so it's still bright, but not as prison yard-like, might have been the wording. That was one thing. But it looked amazing. And just seeing that little difference made a huge difference walking in. And Fame was up there this weekend. They had Fame written on the wall of the high school. It was beautiful. The school looked really, really pretty. So there's a lot of different ways we can put lipstick on it to make it look prettier. So I make a motion to, I second, well, I agree with both my colleagues who want to look at this issue and do some beautification. Ms.
[Burke]: Van der Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: I've had a discussion with the superintendent about the concerns about creating another subcommittee We have building and grounds so I think that that would probably be the place Place for us to to go to with this, but I think that if we could I don't know if we could look at it. You know for me having, because we don't have a lot of other events and meetings during the summer, the summer would be a good time to spend some time. So if there were, if there was the will, that's what I think we should do. So I'm going to send the topic, if I make a motion to send the topic to Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee, we'll do that.
[Burke]: There's a motion on the floor. Is there a second? Seconded by Mr. Russo that the Building and Grounds Committee entertain the Medford High School campus. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. And on the committee report, is there a motion to accept this committee report and place it on file?
[Van der Kloot]: There is.
[Burke]: By Ms. Van der Kloot, is there a second? Second. Seconded by Ms. Kreatz. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you.
[DiBenedetto]: OK.
[Burke]: Community participation. OK. Report of the superintendent. Superintendent's update and comments. Do you want to do that first, or do you want to do the next two items? Is there a motion on the floor for suspension by Ms. Mustone to take papers number 2, number 3, number 4, number 5, and number 6? Yes, out of order. On the motion for suspension of the rules, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion is granted. Item number two, recognition of John Skerry, recipient of the Robert S. Pierce Sportsmanship Coaching Award by Mr. Maloney.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: Thank you Madam Mayor, Dr. Vitz, and school committee members for allowing us to be here tonight. I want to just back up for two seconds and thank all of you for recognizing Tristan Howard. He was a fantastic winter athlete. I watched the meetings at home, and you guys gave him some great kudos. He's a shining light at Method High School. So thank you for your support.
[Burke]: It's great to see him and others in the GBL. Not GBL. I'm jumping ahead. That's all right. The NEC All-Star list this past Sunday in the Globe. Appreciate it.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: Happy to be before you this evening to recognize one of our coaches, John Skerry. Got the Robert Pierce Award, Sportsmanship Coaching Award, which the great thing about this award is the nominations come from officials. So anybody who's coached or anybody's been around athletics, sometimes the officials and the coaches don't see eye to eye. But this is a true testament to John's professionalism, sideline demeanor, and his leadership for Medford High School. John's one of our hardest working coaches. He's involved in the youth programs. He does clinics. He runs camps at the high school. proud to present John Skerry to you.
[Burke]: Alright, John. John, come on up. The Medford Public Schools is proud to recognize John Skerry for receiving the Robert S. Pierce Sportsmanship Coaching Award, signed by all of us. Congratulations.
[SPEAKER_09]: Thank you, members of the committee, Superintendent Vincent, Mayor Burke. When I was a kid, my father was on the school committee and also on the city council. So I used to run around this place. We had more keys to the city floating around our house.
[Burke]: All been changed.
[SPEAKER_09]: No, actually, the ceremony was. My brothers and I used to hit each other with them. It is truly an honor to, the game of basketball has been real good to me. But it is truly an honor to coach your hometown team. And it's great to see Mr. Tucci here. My first couple years, he was a real ally and asset for me to learn on the job. Mr. Maloney, I'm always very grateful to have the opportunity to coach in my hometown. Coach Southwick, who's here, who runs our Medford travel program. A lot of people care about the benefit of basketball in this city. And we've had a very good year this year. But the thing I'm most proud of is we have good kids. We have members of the National Honor Society. We have kids who are going to college. We have kids who do community service. And so I'm humbled by receiving this award. Hopefully that we can continue winning some games, but more importantly, turning out good citizens. Thank you very much.
[Unidentified]: Wonderful.
[Burke]: Congratulations. Motion to receive this report and place it on file by Mr. Russo, seconded by Ms. DiBenedetto. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Recommendation to approve donation of an iPad to an 8th grade math student at the McGlynn Middle School. Ms. DiTucci.
[Tucci]: Good evening, everyone.
[DiBenedetto]: Good evening.
[Tucci]: The McGlynn Middle School has received a donation in the amount of $150 and an iPad from the Fitzpatrick family in support of the McGlynn Middle School Drama Club productions and a deserving 8th grade student. If I could, I'll just speak a little bit on behalf of the Fitzpatrick family. The women of the Fitzpatrick family considered Medford home, no matter where they lived later in life. Like other women of their generation, they worked during World War II, one enlisting to become a radio operator with the 9th Army Air Force in England and in Germany, while others in their family went on to college and to advanced degrees, earning a living. Many Fitzpatrick family members attended the Medford Public Schools and became educators themselves. Other members of the family taught in middle and high schools, including assignments on Native American reservations in the Southwest. One member of the family earned her library of science degree. One was a pioneer law school graduate in 1940, balancing night school with a full-time job. Another was a professor of economics at Boston University and Lesley University, where her specialty was labor economics, especially for women in the workforce. Because of their career choices and decisions and life stories of their sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, and cousins, all of them were deeply committed to women's equal rights and to equal education. Their own family has inherited a valuable legacy of strength and independence that the family is happy to acknowledge and share with us all today. The Fitzpatrick family is proud to donate an iPad to a deserving eighth grade student in mathematics at the McGlynn Middle School. the 8th grade team of teachers will nominate the individual that receives the award based upon merit. The monetary donation to the Drama Club will be used to offset the cost of purchasing the rights to the upcoming school place. Recently, in the month of March, the Drama Club performed the Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon, and the shows are fantastic. It was wonderful to see teamwork on display at the school, from the lights technicians, to the backstage crew, to the actors and actresses, And to all the public relations team, to the eighth graders that contributed to the beautiful set decorations, everyone did a superb job and made the school community very proud. This monetary donation will be used in the future to help to offset and support future performances that brings our school community together and to also help develop and nurture the lifelong skills that these students learn as a result of being a part of the drama club. My recommendation, I'd love to have you consider to accept these donations for the McGlynn Middle School. And thank you for your consideration.
[Burke]: Thank you so much, Mr. Tucci. Nice job. And we want to thank the Fitzpatrick family for their kind donation to our school system. Motion for approval by Ms. Vanderkloot, seconded by Mr. Aguirre. Roll call vote, please. Yes. 7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. I think you probably have to stay up there, Nick. Recommendation to approve donation of $150 to support, oh, McGlynn, this is a second vote. Middle School Drama Club. Roll call vote, please. On the floor by Ms. Villanueva, seconded by Mr. Ruggiero.
[SPEAKER_04]: Ms. Villanueva. Yes. Mr. Kreatz. Yes. Ms. Stone. Yes. Mr. Ruggiero. Yes. Mr. Russo. Yes. Ms. Villanueva. Yes. Ms. Maynard.
[Burke]: Yes. 7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative. Motion passes. Also, recommendation to approve a donation of a chair to the Columbus Elementary School. Ms. Caldwell is absent tonight. Dr. Maurice, would you like to?
[Edouard-Vincent]: So the parents of a child at the Columbus Elementary School donated a special chair designed to improve focus. Our recommendation is for the school committee to except the chair, and in your packets you saw a sample of it. And so Kathy Principal, Dr. Kay, wrote a letter to the family, dear Mr. Bernstein and Ms. Hudson, I recently learned of your incredible generosity towards the students of the Columbus Elementary School. Therefore, I want to send this formal thank you for the chair you donated to Ms. Burke's first grade classroom. I am sure this seat will provide many years of improved, focused learning. It is through the support of parents like you that helped make the Columbus a fun and interactive place to learn. I cannot thank you enough.
[Burke]: Very nice. For the record, no relation to Ms. Burke. There's a motion on the floor for approval by Ms. DiBenedetto, seconded by Ms. Kreatz. Roll call vote, please. Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Motion passes. Recommendation to approve grant funding for composting project at Medford High School. Mr. Curtis Tooden is with us this evening.
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: So Mrs. Mayor, Dr. Vinson, and school committee members, thank you for your time tonight. I'm here as the faculty advisor to the Medford High School Environmental Club. Four students here tonight took the initiative beginning last year to prioritize composting in the school. This winter, they submitted a grant to the Captain Planet Foundation for $2,500. And it was such a great grant, they were awarded it just a few weeks ago. So, yeah, it's a great thing. And it's a substantial amount of money that I think will go towards a long-lasting composting program in the school. So we'll start small this year and then build up. We thank you for your support. And I also want to make sure that we thank the Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They are the club that organized the students to begin with. And then thank you to the Crystal Campbell Memorial Foundation. The CCSR and that group are what provided the matching grants that made our application possible. And then, of course, finally, thank you to the Captain Planet Foundation, which is actually that old cartoon back in the day. They have an environmental foundation that is where we were fortunate to find some money. So Mr. Skorka and Mr. Trotta couldn't be here today from CCSR and Crystal Campbell, but they said to make sure we got a photo. So I'd like to invite the students up at this time, if that's okay.
[Burke]: Would anyone like to present right now? Come on, you did a great job when you came to visit.
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: Come on up. At least for a photo. Feel free to ask them questions. They're now composting experts.
[Burke]: How excited are you that your project's coming to fruition? This is fabulous.
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: Do you want to say thank you or something? Who's stepping up?
[Ruggiero]: Can you tell me logistically how composting will work with high school students?
[SPEAKER_16]: Sure. So composting, our plan is to start in just one cafeteria and basically we're implementing composting bins and we'll have student volunteers to monitor and make sure that students are using correct bins for trash and composting. And then at the end of the day, they're going to walk the bins out to a pickup location. And we're going to contract a composting company to come pick up the bins once a week, I believe.
[SPEAKER_04]: Excellent. Nice job.
[DiBenedetto]: Ms. DiBenedetto. Thank you. I love the project. Is this a one-year project, or will we have the pickup for additional years?
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: So it's a one-year grant that is not renewable. So this will allow us to start the process. And a similar grant a few years ago for $1,000 got us through three months of composting. And then because a student graduated and we didn't have the support at the time, the project went away. But a group working at Medford High School is prepared to take this on again with a lot more money. And then hopefully it becomes a sustainable program that spreads throughout all the cafeterias and all the kitchens and things like that, really all the schools, ultimately.
[Burke]: Feature you, give your name, and your grade.
[SPEAKER_16]: I'm Rachel Klein. I'm in 11th grade. I'm Katie Stefani. I'm also in 11th grade.
[SPEAKER_04]: I'm Evian Upshur. I'm in 11th grade. And I'm Audrey Soule, and I'm also in 11th grade. Wonderful. Great job.
[Burke]: Excellent job. Want us all to jump? We'll come to you.
[Unidentified]: what they've asked for you or David.
[Ruseau]: Composted in the carbon pollution offset. I mean, you have to calculate that and give it to them. So I'm like, how do you do that?
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: From our experience with the first round of composting a few years ago, we actually get full reports on how much is composted by weight. So based on what materials are included in that, you can do a calculation on what the carbon offset is. So it's all stuff that right now goes to a landfill and emits carbon. But if done in a composting system, then you can count it as offset CO2.
[Ruseau]: So the people that pick it up give you a report?
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: Yeah, exactly. Oh, all right. Yeah, there's like receipts and all that.
[Ruseau]: So there's nobody out there like dealing with the compost, trying to like weigh it and all this like... No, no.
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: I'm like, how do you do that? It's just bins on wheels the same as the other waste currently. They're given different colors and they go to a different curb to get picked up by a private company. Cool. And we're still figuring out the best options for that. Thank you.
[Burke]: Very good, thank you. Is there a motion on the floor to accept this report? Placed it on file by Mr. Ruggiero, seconded by Ms. VanDekloot. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes.
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: Thank you.
[Burke]: Congratulations, ladies.
[opOzyZvPRK0_SPEAKER_29]: It'll be about two weeks until we get the check, and then we'll be able to get the check.
[Burke]: Off to the races. Very good, thank you, Curtis. Item seven, report on, oh, I'm sorry, we're back to motion to resort to the regular order of business. Motion by Mr. Benedetto, seconded by Mr. Giro, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed?
[Ruseau]: Resort. Let's revert instead. Reverse.
[Burke]: It's been a very long day. Item one, superintendent's update and comments. Madam Superintendent.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Good evening, everyone. First, I would like to congratulate the Medford Family Network on their hugely successful sixth annual night of 10,000 lights held here at City Hall on Saturday evening. As all of you know, the Family Network is led by Marie Cassidy, a dedicated Dynamo who always puts our children and families first. We are so blessed to have her. and clearly Tufts University noticed her outstanding service as they will be awarding her an honorary degree in public service during their commencement exercises on May 19th. We congratulate Marie on this most wonderful honor. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Shannon Deimos, the assistant principal at the Brooks Elementary School. who won a seat on the Tewksbury School Committee. Shannon is a dedicated educator in our community, and we wish her luck as she adds this role to her already outstanding portfolio. I'd also like to say congratulations to Sarah Grant and the Medford High School Drama Club on their outstanding production of the musical Fame this past weekend. All the shows were sold out and everyone who attended raved about the students' performances. I would also like to congratulate the students, teachers, and staff on the Brooks Annual Disco-themed Viva Variety Show that was held this past Friday and Saturday evenings. The show featured skits, singing, dancing, poetry reading, and entertaining musicians. The evening began with a staff video entitled, We Are Family. Both nights the school was packed and the performances were fun and uplifting. A great job done by all. This coming week, on Thursday, April 11th, the Medford Public Schools Office of Clinical and Behavioral Services, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Partnership for Youth Incorporated will be hosting a parent informational meeting called Navigating the Cyber World at 6.30 p.m. at the McGlynn Middle School. All Medford parents are cordially invited to attend. Information will be presented that discusses internet use across all student age groups. For those interested but who are unable to attend on Thursday, this presentation will be held again in May. Last week, MIDE engineers visited the McGlynn Middle School and worked with the entire 6th grade in conducting the experiments that incorporated STEM curriculum shared by the math and science teachers to include not only the concept of density, but also the measurement and calculation of volumes of different shapes and related terms. It was rewarding to watch students develop their hypotheses and observe the results. The Medford Public Schools appreciates our partnership with MIDE, and I also would like to thank Assistant Principal Jody Lu for helping to organize these events. And it was a great event by all. Also last week, the Medford High School students in Mr. Towers' class raised over $2,000 for their Bring Backpacks to Baltimore project. It was highlighted on Channel 4, WBZ, by the news anchor Paula Eben in her Eye on Education segment. The students raised money for this project through a GoFundMe page and by organizing the Mr. MHS pageant. It is so rewarding to hear about how our students are caring for others, both in our community and beyond. This weekend, Medford High School girls softball hosts its annual Crystal Campbell Memorial Tournament at Columbus Park. The tournament kicks off with an opening ceremony this Saturday, April 13th at 9.30 a.m. Then the Lady Mustangs will take on Arlington Catholic at 10 a.m. Billerica and Swamp Scott will follow at 1 p.m. The consolation and championship games will take place on Sunday April 14th. The team is selling t-shirts, raffles, and hosting a concession stand. Additionally, during April vacation week on Wednesday, the 17th, the softball team will be hosting the Red Sox World Series Trophy at John Brewer's Tavern. Patrons will be able to take photos with the trophy for a donation to the Crystal Campbell Scholarship Fund. As always, all proceeds raised at all of these events will benefit the Campbell Scholarship Fund. CCSR has requested that I announce the following program fair dates. Columbus Elementary School, Thursday, April 11th, from 5.30 to 7 p.m. Medford High School, Thursday, April 25th from 2.30 to 4 p.m. in the Medford High School lobby. The Curtis Tufts is on Wednesday, May 22nd from 9 to 11 a.m. Roberts Elementary School is Thursday, May 23rd during lunch, 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Brooks Elementary School, Friday, May 31st, from 9 to 9.30 a.m. McGlynn Middle School, Wednesday, June 5th, from 9.35 to 10.20 a.m., during their wind block. McGlynn Elementary School, Thursday, June 6th, from 1.30 p.m., and that will take place in the cafeteria. Tomorrow night at the Medford High School Library, building bridges to kindergarten will be held at 7 p.m. The Medford Family Network will also be in attendance. Additionally, the Parent Information Center will be open for extended hours for kindergarten registration tomorrow night from 3 to 6 p.m. Lastly, I would like to thank you, a special thank you to the entire Medford Public School community, administrators, school leaders, teachers, Mayor Burke, school committee members, former Mayor Glynn, and city Councilors for all your support during my time of bereavement. I'd like to thank Fred Dello Russo for all of the personal effort that he made as well. Thank you.
[Burke]: If we could also add, last Monday evening we had a couple of the representatives from the CCSR. We had Joseph Schmidt and Jenny Lu that spoke about their projects and at the time we We knew. The city knew that they had received a grant for $2,000 to work on their enslaved project. There are over 50 individuals that are buried in our old Salem Street burial ground that have no markers on them. So no one knows they're there. And these students, Joe and Jenny, along with Liam and Jasmine, third graders at the Brooks School, worked together to put in a grant. And they raised $2,000 from the grant, $2,000 from GoFundMe. And I hear that there's another $2,000 out there that's about to come. But the students should be really, really proud of themselves. They did an amazing job. And to get this grant, it was one of the first ones that had been awarded. And they were so thrilled with the topic and what these youngsters are doing and how much they care about our community. So kudos to all of them and public acknowledgment for all their hard work. Thank you, Madam Superintendent. Motion to accept her report and place it on file by Mr. Russo, seconded by Ms. Vanden Kloot. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Ruseau]: Mr. Russo. I just wanted to quickly bring up an issue around MCAS. MCAS testing is ongoing, or has been ongoing forever. from the community that there was some concern about whether MCAS testing results were at all involved in your academic placement. And I just wanted to hear the superintendent confirm that no matter what you score on an MCAS, that has nothing to do with your placement when you go to the next grade or high school.
[Burke]: Academic placement. MCAS and MCAS.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Well, from my understanding, the MCAS does not, when you're saying placement, let me qualify it. There are some students at the middle school level, you're saying transitioning from middle to high school? Yes. So some students, depending on the level of math that they may have taken, may be on a different, If they took a more accelerated math in eighth grade, they would then move to a different level at high school. But that's not the MCAS. It's not related to the MCAS. It's related to how they're performing. Okay, great. Thank you.
[Burke]: Thank you, Mr. Russo. Next up, item 7, report on credit for life fare. Dr. Bernadette Riccardelli.
[Ricciardelli]: Good evening. Good evening. So I am here tonight to deliver a report on the recent Credit for Life Fair that took place at Medford High School last Friday. Several of you were there, and we thank you for coming. And to member Kathy Kreatz, thank you so much for your volunteer work. As I just said, the fair occurred on April 5th. It occurred in the morning from 845 to approximately 1245, again in the gymnasium. The goals for the program were multifold and included the following. We wanted students to understand that the selection of a career has implications for spending opportunities, to understand the importance of good credit and its implications on attaining loans, and we wanted them to understand that living within one's means involves balancing resources in a responsible manner. The activities the students were involved in centered around those themes. We wanted them to role play being an adult for the day, having to make hard decisions, having to learn how to balance what they had with what they wanted. As you probably know, the district was granted a $2,500 grant this year from the Massachusetts Division of Banks in partnership with the State Treasurer's Office. Last year it was a $5,000 grant. So last year was the seed grant. This year was the follow-up grant. We're not sure what availability there will be for next year. We do want to continue with this grant. We find it to be, first of all, a lot of work, but we do think that it's worth it. Feedback from the students has been very positive. And of course, as we move on, we always see that there are ways to improve it. One of the areas for improvement that we see is for those of you who were there, at the end, students need to reconcile the decisions that they've made. So there was a very long line in front of the credit counseling area. Kathy Kreatz, thank you so much because you stepped in at the last moment to help with that. So as we move forward, that will definitely be an area that we hope to strengthen with additional Councilors. Our community outreach was vast. I have to thank Lisa Evangelista for that. Her role primarily was in outreach to the community to get our volunteers. So we want a special thank you to the State Treasurer, Deborah Goldberg, and the Office of Economic Empowerment for helping us to fund the grant. There were a host of other entities that volunteered their time. They are on our blog. A thank you to all of them are listed on our blog. The planning committee included myself, Gail Trainor, who put in an immense amount of work, and I really think she took charge of this project. Kristin Kulin, who is a vocational teacher, she had her business and marketing students do a lot of the input onto the budgeting sheets. So it fit very nicely in within their learning program. And then, of course, Lisa Evangelista. There were 310 students who signed up for this event. We invited students, obviously, from the high school, the vocational school, and from the Curtis Tufts School. So again, a very worthwhile event, something that we hope is going to be deeply embedded in the tradition of Medford Public Schools.
[Burke]: I can speak first-hand from the students. They were very excited about it. They certainly learned a lot. Eye-opening, I guess would be the word. And they really got a lot out of it. When they were finished, they were like, wow. They couldn't believe how much things cost and how little money goes. So it was very educational. So I know that they really enjoyed them. Kathy jumped in behind a table. did great, Mr. Russo I saw, and Ms. Van der Kloot. And so it was a really good showing, along with all the business communities that participated and had doodads, trinkets, and just offered assistance. So thank you to everybody who was involved in this. Amazing job, year two down, and great job. Thank you. Look forward to it next year.
[Ruseau]: Mr. Russo. Thank you. So without detailing where the money gets spent for this project, Is this in any of the budget proposals we are going to be hearing? And if not, why not? And I'm not sure where it would actually fit. It's kind of a strange thing, but.
[Ricciardelli]: So that is a very good question. I have talked to Paul DeLeva. I've asked him to incorporate it into the high school budget. Christine Patterson, the assistant superintendent, is aware. She was an active participant, and I think she sees the value in it. It doesn't really fall within a department. It kind of transcends. The total cost of this, again, we have the $2,500 grant. We got a $2,000 donation from student activities from the high school. It was rough, and then we got a little bit from Cummings, about $700 from Cummings. The total cost to run the grant this year was lower than last because we had a lot of the a lot of the infrastructure, we had a lot of the signs made. It was roughly $4,700. So I am hoping that we can include that in what we spend. It's a one-day, one-morning event, and it's amazing because it goes by so quickly. When I think of the amount of time, the number of meetings that we have in planning, in the classes because we bolstered it with some math work in the math classes. It's amazing how much work went into this for a one-and-a-half-a-day event. But again, I do think it's worthwhile. So thank you for asking that question.
[Burke]: Great job. Great job. Motion to receive this report and place it on file by Ms. DiBenedetto, seconded by Ms. Van der Kloot. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you very much, Doctor. Recommendation to approve name change from Foreign Language Department to World Language Department. Dr. Riccadeli.
[Ricciardelli]: Okay, thank you. So I would like to call up the lead teacher for the Foreign Language Department, Vilma Bebo. She has very much been a partner with me all year, and we both would like to deliver this request.
[Vilma Bibeau]: Good evening, everybody. Good evening. I'm very excited to be here and I'm very excited about this proposal. When I came to Medford last year, one of my first questions was to my director, Akam is foreign language and not world language. It just makes sense to change the name into a world language to encompass the multiculturalism and multilingualism. that we teach here in Medford, and that we represent this beautiful district. Myself, as being multicultural and multilingual, it is important to see the teaching and the learning of languages as a world language, and not just foreign. Foreign indicates something that is far away and not really representing the world in terms of a global goal.
[Van der Kloot]: I would like to support this and make a motion to approve the change of language so that our language department would now be called world language. that this was the right thing to go. And I'm also very excited that you brought this forward to us and said, hey, we should do this. This makes sense. Again, sometimes we're just thinking this way, and then someone else comes in new and goes, oh, yeah, right. And this was one of those. So thank you very much. Thank you.
[Burke]: Thank you. There's a motion on the floor by Ms. Vander Kloof, seconded by Mr. Russo. Roll call vote, please.
[SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[Burke]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Motion passes. Mr. Benedetto?
[DiBenedetto]: Thank you. On this? Yes, this is regarding this. At our meeting last week when we were discussing languages, we asked for a follow-up report on the number of students at each grade level and which languages they currently took and what they were planning on taking for next year so we could help with our budgeting plan. So I know that that's not on the back of our questionable... It's in the budget committee. Yeah, okay.
[Ricciardelli]: So to answer your question, we have been looking at the numbers. We have spent the last week looking at the numbers. So I have some preliminary numbers. Okay. Should we wait until they're finalized? OK. And then we can present it in budget committee. OK. So we will do that. So certainly we've done a lot of talking about this. So thank you.
[Burke]: Thank you. Thank you very much. Great idea. Thank you. Item 9, report on the status of the gymnastics facilities at Medford High School. Mr. Maloney.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: Good evening again.
[Burke]: Good evening.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: Last Tuesday, we had two technicians out from Dairy Gymnastics, which they're renowned in the whole New England area. They did a thorough walk through the gymnastics room. I sent a report to you. There were three areas that came back poor. The first two were the anchors that hold the parallel bars together. They need to be upgraded. And we need a couple of mats upgraded on the tumble track. and underneath the beams. That price was $3,600. You have the quote in front of you. I've since pulled a PO to have those two jobs done. The last area that came back poor was the floor. It's old. It's antiquated. It's two and a half, two inches. The new standard's four and a half, four inches. You have that quote in front of you. It's $20,000. So the gymnastics room is safe right now. It's open for business. The coaches do a great job up there. They work hard with community schools. Kids Corner uses it. We've got the cheerleaders in there. We've got the physical education classes in there. We have our gymnastics team in there in the winter. So the first two out of three items were approved already by City Hall. Christine, the money train. So the last part, I'm sure we'll be having further discussions on how we can get a new floor up there.
[Burke]: Mr. Ruggiero.
[Ruggiero]: Yeah, thank you very much for this report. Just out of curiosity, so reading through the manifest here, and when I read the floor is fair poor, is there a risk that children will be injured using it?
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: It's deemed safe. The problem is the older the floor is, and as you can tell, it's not my background in gymnastics, but they get less bounce out of it, so it's less safe. But right now we have community school members up there that, you know, they're young kids. They're in the kindergarten through sixth grade level. I don't know if we can compete on it next year or not. That would be another discussion. It's safe to use as is right now for the phys ed classes. Kids Corner are the little kids at Medford High School.
[Ruggiero]: How old is the floor exactly?
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: The floor was there before I got there. I talked to Paul DeLaver today who was a former gymnastics coach. He thinks it's up with the 15 to 20 years old. Thank you.
[Kreatz]: Ms. Grutz. Thank you, Bobbie. I just had a question. I know in the report we got, it says here like poor. It says maintenance is required. Items should be replaced before the start of the next competitive season. So that seems like we would have to have this done before the next competitive season, which might start up in August.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: The next competitive season is the Monday after Thanksgiving. OK. If we're going to hold gymnastics tournaments there next year, it probably should be replaced. If not, if we have to go on the road for a year, I mean, obviously, if we can get the $20,000, we can do it right away. But I know money is its own conversation.
[Kreatz]: I do see the concerns that Paul has had adding it to the budget. I think that is something that we should really think about, because we do have to have it replaced before the next competitive season, which would mean it would have to fall in either year one or year two in the capital plan.
[Burke]: Is it a point of information or a question? Question? None. Okay. You can hold it for a second. Ms. Van der Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: So my concern is once we have an opinion like this, which clearly specifies, you know, the new four-inch power spring system is far superior upgrading the spring floor system will be a night and day difference. I'm so reminded of the young woman I once met who was a high school gymnast and she was practically had suffered many injuries. So when I, I'm very concerned about the potential for injuries here. And I know we can say that forever, but we've now got the report here. So I'd like to see this was not in our Thinking when we did the capital plan, we just talked about a capital plan. We talked about the potential of available money from the city. If there were to be money, I think that we should either look for it to be in this current year, if there's any left over at the end of the year, once the books are settled, or be placed into year two. I'm thinking, again, I'm no expert in this. but I'm always concerned about the potential of injuries, and clearly there is any number of students or groups of students who use this, and so I'm concerned. So my motion is to look to see whether we can place this in the capital plan for either year one, and if not year one, then year two.
[Burke]: Why don't you make it a solid motion to include it?
[Van der Kloot]: To include it in the capital plan, either year one, or year two.
[Burke]: Summertime of year two. Yeah, so that the. Seconded by Ms.
[Van der Kloot]: Kreatz. So it could be replaced prior to the fall competition.
[Burke]: Very good. Mr. Russo's next?
[Van der Kloot]: I'm fine.
[Burke]: You're all good? Yeah. OK. Mr. Benedetto.
[DiBenedetto]: Thank you. So I don't know if it needs to be in a capital improvement plan or added to next year's budget. I don't know which is the better way to do it, because we do have athletic budget that came before us earlier tonight. So I'm not sure if this warrants a capital plan and a superintendent of finance would be able to address that, whether we should just put it in for next year's budget under the athletics department and not have to go through city council approval and all of that and make sure that we have the funding there to make sure our gymnasts are all set for the day after Thanksgiving. a different way to look at it. That's all. Just making sure those funds are available and accessed right away.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: Also... Maybe Christine can find it in community schools.
[DiBenedetto]: Well, that's my next question. When I asked for this to be put on the agenda, I also asked for the finance piece. How much are we actually making from renting out that area of our school? I don't know if we have those numbers. I got them for you. You want them? Yes, I do.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: This is the first year they're currently running the minus 652 as of today. They have 135 kids this year. They generally have 235 to 300 kids. Last year, that program made $11,000. The prior year, $10,000. The prior year, $10,000. And then the prior year, $3,000. So that program has made money for the gymnastics room.
[DiBenedetto]: So are any of those funds reallocated back into the equipment and the maintenance of that area that you're aware of?
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: If the gymnastics coaches come to me for something, like for $1,500 or $2,000, I never say no. But $20,000 is a big ticket item.
[DiBenedetto]: But they're clearly raising that money over a few years.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: They have, prior to this year, yeah. They always get a spike with the Olympics. They do a good job. Everyone wants to be the next alley raiser.
[DiBenedetto]: You know, I would move to add this $20,000 to this year's budget.
[Burke]: Is there a motion on the floor? Seconded. Then we can't have conflicting motions, unfortunately, unless one wants to withdraw.
[SPEAKER_04]: So I don't care.
[Burke]: I know. You just want it done. It happens. I just want it done.
[SPEAKER_04]: And I look to you as mayor to say, let's do it this way.
[Van der Kloot]: We can put it into our regular budget.
[Burke]: That actually makes a great deal of sense. And we may be able to get it accelerated.
[DiBenedetto]: So I make a motion to add this $20,000 to the athletic budget.
[Burke]: You withdrew? I withdrew and I'll second. OK. On the motion that $21,000 be added to the athletic budget, Ms. Patterson.
[Ruggiero]: Mr. Giro. I just, because I'm a little confused still, so let me ask again. So will the floor be safe for next year? If we didn't fund this program.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: I would say I'd have to get somebody back out to see if we can compete on it for one more year, but eventually it's like putting a B&A on it.
[Ruggiero]: Right, I understand. I just want to make sure that if we do do it this year that it needs to be done. Thank you.
[Burke]: Thank you. Ms. Vandekloot-Splinken? Are you good?
[DiBenedetto]: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Benedetto. So just to continue, if we're going to be doing the floor, can we look at that room and see if it needs a paint job? Because you don't want to paint.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: It's been painted. It's been painted.
[DiBenedetto]: OK.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: We've got some nice community schools, gymnastics coaches did some nice silhouettes on the wall. OK. We've got some viennas. We had some broken mirrors that we fixed. OK.
[Burke]: And even in the waiting area up front, there are some ceiling tiles in the entranceway from the side hall that need to be replaced.
[DiBenedetto]: Okay, I just figured since we were in there doing this type of scope of work, it's the right time to look at the whole area.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: I'll do a walkthrough with John, make sure it's, you know, we have a nice ribbon cutting out there, and the kids will appreciate it, really.
[DiBenedetto]: And could we just, I know you said you've replaced some equipment. Could we just check all the equipment at that time, make sure that this program's up and running, and maybe put it on a schedule to make sure that URIs are serviced?
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: All the heavy pieces of equipment in this report that you have.
[DiBenedetto]: Okay, and so like maybe we keep a list somewhere, like a spreadsheet, like we asked for for other equipment. It's really good to have for our athletic equipment, so we replace things as of, like this evening when we're putting more money back into the weight room in that area, so that way we don't get fall behind the eight ball and have to replace everything.
[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you. Yes. Thank you, Bob.
[Burke]: Yes, 7 in the affirmative, 0 in the negative. Motion passes.
[UyRSZHmpAdI_SPEAKER_10]: Thank you. Thank you very much.
[Burke]: Thank you, Mr. Maloney. Report on superintendent's entry plan findings. Dr. Maurice-Edouard Vincent.
[Unidentified]: Thank you everyone.
[Edouard-Vincent]: So at the beginning of this past school year, I was tasked, as you know, I'm part of the new superintendent's induction program, which is from the state. DESE offers this program for all first-time superintendents. being new to the district and seeing what my entry plan would look like, I was tasked with really seeing how I would enter the district. And what's most important with an entry is giving yourself time to be able to listen, to be able to learn, and the last step would be to be able to lead. And so as you guys have received the report in hand, I will just quote some particular sections of the report. I'm on page one. And again, it clearly states, the purpose of my original entry plan was to establish an effective and successful entry into Medford Public Schools. The objectives of my entry work are the following. build trust and relationships, assess Medford Public Schools' strengths and challenges, and collaboratively create a plan for improving teaching and learning for students. And the three components of the entry plan and the entry plan process are listening, learning, and eventually leading. And so in this entry plan report, The last few pages in the appendix, which starting on page 15, but on page 16, 17, all the way through page 20, listed many of the key events that were both community-based or school-based events that gave me an opportunity to not only listen, but to continue to learn about the district. learn what's important, what matters, what makes Medford Public Schools tick, what makes Medford Public Schools a special place that it actually is and that I love coming to every day to work. And so I talk in the entry plan about how there were challenges at the start of the school year. When I started in July, we had some administrative shifts that took place, and we had to be very responsive. And so that was something which kind of That became our highest priority to make sure that all schools were ready and open and prepared to start strong. And so that's a very important commitment. At the beginning of the school year, we received our finalized state results from the state testing to see what our status was with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Ed. I had many, many opportunities to be in all of the schools to interact with not only school leaders, teachers, students, and itinerants, directors, all of the staff that make Medford Public Schools the rich place that it actually is. I had the opportunity to meet with many political officials that have come to visit the school, to welcome me to Medford, but also to see what is Medford Public Schools doing. We had some unexpected events where we had media coverage at the beginning of the school year when we were dealing with excessive heat and when we had the bullet casing that was found at the back of the high school field. I mentioned how we had to have two evacuations in one day at the high school, again, out of an abundance of caution. So there were many, many events that have happened since the start of the school year. But during that time of listening, I had the opportunity to truly learn a lot. And so I am now on page 8. And when I entered, I had the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with you, all of the school committee members, and all school leaders. And I asked the following questions. What is our greatest strength as a district? Or what are you most proud of? in terms of the work that you're doing in Medford Public Schools? What is a challenge that Medford needs to address? And are there ways that I can either support your growth and development, which I spoke with the school leaders about? And for school committee members, I asked about are there particular special projects or initiatives that you would like to see the district address? And so those were the questions. that I continued to ask and look at the data from the responses and really figure out what was the body of work that needed to be covered. And so on page 8, school committee members and school leaders identified the following areas. A greater focus on CEL, social-emotional learning, and response to intervention. at the K-8 level, upgrading technology tools where needed around the district, a more effective focus on math, addressing perceived salary inequities among administrators, addressing the impacts of the different schedules at Medford High School and the vocational school, ensuring safety throughout the entire district, addressing the middle school challenge, and looking at staffing needs from custodians to kindergarten aides to adjustment Councilors, paraprofessionals, teachers, and administrators. From assessment data, I looked at, as a district, I looked at our MCAS assessment. to see where we were standing in terms of with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. And in comparison to some of our surrounding districts, how are we performing in comparison to the state? And so because we had just a very robust presentation by our directors, I just said let's make reference to the MCAS reports that were previously presented in October of last year and last month, March of 2019. I am also still looking at our subgroup data, because that is important, as well as we look at how our students are performing as a district. From observations and looking at reports and contracts, this year a significant amount of time of my entry process has been dedicated to collective bargaining agreements, the CBAs. This year all of our contracts were up and we have successfully completed seven. We are still working on finalizing four more CBA contracts. So that has really given me a great opportunity to get to understand the details of all of the different contracts, working with those unions, and working collaboratively with you, the school committee, and we've been discussing the majority of the contracts in our executive sessions. So that was an important piece of my learning as well for how the district is working. And looking at other documents. We looked at school improvement plans, school safety plans. We had our plans that were submitted to us, which we are working on. to continue to improve safety at all of our schools. We have looked at master schedules and trying to find ways to align schedules, improve schedules, so we maximize time on learning. Looking at enrollment projections and the patterns, our fluctuating numbers of our newcomers, English learners that are coming in, looking at staffing allocations, attendance data, looking at both students and staff across the district, financial documents, which we look at all the time when we have school committee meetings, but really looking at our finances. And when I think about us as a district, you know, although we have normally we're allocated approximately 58 million, we need $60 million plus to operate. So every year we need to close a $2 million gap, which is significant. And so I do spend a lot of time with Christine because we realize that it takes a lot to run the entire district and to run it well. I looked at district policies and I've met with several subcommittees. So we're looking at policies that either need to be updated. And so a lot of time has been spent looking at documents as well and how we can continue to improve. From school visits and conversations with students, being in schools, normally teachers are teaching, so I don't interrupt them. You know, I will have conversations with them during instructional observations, but when I am observing in a classroom, I always go to the students and ask them to tell me, what are you working on? And so if the students are able to explain it in their own language, that they truly understand what they're working on. I know that the teacher has already fully explained it to the students. So I truly enjoy having conversations with students, being in classrooms, observing, being with the administrators, seeing that work happen as well. And when I'm in schools, if I'm not, a teacher is not directly instructing school leaders and or teachers will always have conversations with me. I've been welcomed back to classrooms. Teachers have really received me warmly. I have many teachers that have said, when are you getting to my classroom? And so I say, I'm coming back. I've had students request me to return to their classroom to continue to be part of their learning and just support the instruction that's happening. And so that has been very, very positive. When I come back from being in the field and return to central office, I am beaming. I feel like I'm walking on air because it's a charge. I know that I have a job to do, but being with the students, being in schools, seeing solid teaching and instruction taking place, it makes you feel like we're moving in the right direction. And so when I think about Medford, I feel like as a district, what I've seen so far is we have really, really good bones. we are in a good position, and I am ready and excited about moving us to the next level. And so I feel like the work that's ahead of us is fine-tuning, improving, and challenging ourselves as a district, and continuing to work collaboratively with school leaders, with the directors, and with teachers. So there is some key work that is already underway that's taking place in the district, and I have highlighted just a few of them. We have a very active, robust partnership with Lesley University, not only in their use of the gym and athletic partnership, but we actually have an academic partnership where they truly are committed to supporting Medford Public Schools and continuing to support our instruction with math learning walks. Dr. Patricia Cren de Galarce also supports our special education subcommittee meeting and attends those meetings whenever her schedule permits. We have implemented an elementary mathematics coaching program that did not exist before. We have two math coaches that are working at all four elementary schools supporting teachers coaching teachers, working alongside teachers, modeling for teachers, helping to keep their eyes on mathematics, and really giving an additional focus. We also have expanded our Tufts University STEM partnership to middle and elementary schools. We have implemented a full lottery process this year for all middle schools to balance our demographics. We are in the process of looking to adopt a new middle school mathematics curriculum because at the middle schools, there are multiple mathematics curriculum that are in place. And so you are getting a lot of varied outcomes from different curriculum, but it's important to have coherence and alignment. so that when you're going in to assess a program, you're not looking at one program in one room and you go to another classroom and seeing something that's completely different. So that's something that we are hoping to be able to do. It does need to happen so we can just have consistency, coherence, and alignment for our middle school mathematics. Additionally, we are launching the FOSS science. It's in our elementary schools. The teachers have been trained, had a wonderful day of training. And they are piloting, and they're all using the curriculum right now. And it's wonderful to see that in action. We also have developed clear expectations for monitoring student progress in reading and in mathematics at the elementary levels. Again, these systems and structures, we're trying to put them in place so that we are able to better monitor our work and be able to look at the data that comes from that. Additionally, we have consistent implementation of our K-2 response to intervention for literacy. This year, there was a great focus. Dr. Chiesa working with all of our elementary schools to make sure that, again, there is consistency and coherence for kindergarten, first, and second grades. I did mention the Lesley University SPED subcommittee work, and we have launched a district safety team to examine external reports and streamline safety policies, practices, and routines, including school bus preparedness and homeschool communication systems for programs housed in schools. So that's some of the key work that we have been working on thus far. Our major themes that emerged during this entry process is we clearly have strong Medford pride. The Mustang Way is alive and well. We've seen that there are some disagreements about the value of the elementary early release on the Wednesdays. We've identified that we do have, we currently have some inadequate data systems in terms of how we are housing our internal data, and so that's something that we are looking at intentionally. And so by bringing about some consistent practices, that's going to help with that area. We are also working on addressing students' social-emotional learning needs. Again, we know that we have weaker mathematics performance, and so we are continuing to keep a very close watch on how we are working in mathematics. Another theme that emerged is that there's difficulty in taking the maximum advantage of our high school complex between the Medford High School, the comprehensive side, and our vocational technical side, because we currently have two different schedules. We have a five-day schedule and a six-day schedule. And so trying to make the schedules match is a challenge. And so that's something that was in their collective bargaining agreement. So it is something that we are really paying close attention to. because Medford High School, the complex has so much to offer our students. It's exciting being at the high school complex, but because the schools are on two slightly different schedules, if we can get the schedules to align, then we would be able to have even more students benefiting from being a Mustang at the high school and having opportunities, greater opportunities on both sides of the house. So that's something that we're very aware of and we are trying to see how we can make the two schedules work. And that's going to involve a lot of partnership with the Teachers Association to collaborate with them and say, you know, let's find a way to make these two schedules talk to one another so we can maximize that. And the last area, again, was emergency preparedness, that we are very aware that it's critically important here in Medford, and just in society and the world this day, and we are taking it very seriously. So in summation, or in closing, Medford Public Schools is a richly diverse school community nestled within a burgeoning city with such great potential. We are committed to being one Medford that holds high academic standards for all our students. We are committed to improving ourselves by working collaboratively and tapping into the intellectual capital of the entire school community and our community partners. Medford continues to evolve into a special city in which to live, work, and raise our families. Medford Public Schools is a supportive and welcoming place that celebrates our diversity. We see our diversity as a strength. As Dr. King had preached, the world must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools. While the face of Medford is constantly changing, that face makes Medford a more livable, attractive, and welcoming place to be. As I have spent this valuable time listening and learning from colleagues in the community, I am ever so eager to continue leading this district into the future. The next phase of this work will be to finish gathering all data for the remainder of this year and present a proposed district strategy for improvement at the start of the next school year.
[DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto? Thank you. First of all, I really liked all of this. And it's amazing to see all the things that you have done in less than one year. It's a lot. It's a lot of community time. It's a lot of learning for yourself and growth as a superintendent. I have to comment, though, most directly is that your ownership of where we actually are and naming where we are. In order to move forward, we have to acknowledge where we are, our strengths and our weaknesses, and our areas of growth. And I respect that and appreciate that in this report and in you as a person as well. At this time, I would like to look towards the mayor to talk to her about the beginning, because there's less There's between 40 and 45 school days left to this year, this school year, and then we're out. I know 45 school days from today I think is like June 17th, so like we're right there. We're right there between 40 and 45. That's really not a lot of time. So as a committee, we're required to do a review of our superintendent, an annual review. So I'm gonna look to the mayor to start the process so that way we can, give feedback of what we've seen for this year, positive, and our future goals for you as well. And since you brought this forward, I thought it was an appropriate time to start that process. So there's a motion to, I don't know if I have to motion or if I just recommend it.
[Burke]: Yeah, we have to do it anyway. Mr. Giro.
[Ruggiero]: Thank you, Mayor Burke. Thank you very much for this report, Madam Superintendent. I really enjoyed reading through it. I do have a question about your major and emerging scenes section on page 13. I wanted to know, so obviously we all know that the scheduling issue between the vocational school and the high school is not acceptable. I guess, and I also know it's going to be a thorny problem to untangle that. I wanted to know what is your timetable and schedule for addressing it? How long do you think it'll take?
[Edouard-Vincent]: So we currently are, looking at the schedule, and they've been actually looking at the schedule all year. The challenge is because we have a contract in place for three years, we have to honor the contract which still maintained the separate schedules. So we are continuing to look to see how we could potentially have the two schools talk to each other. But in order to do that, it's probably going to take like a year and a half to two years for that to actually be able to happen. Because on the cooperative side of the house, the vocational side of the house, when the students are doing their co-ops, they have their instructional weeks and then they have their hands-on week. So we want to keep the integrity of our robust vocational programming in place. So we need to have time to sit down and really negotiate that with the union and come up with the best plan that will allow the most amount of students to be able to really benefit from both schedules, from what the entire complex offers.
[Ruggiero]: do you anticipate a lot of, for lack of a better word, pushback from the unions on the change?
[Edouard-Vincent]: When you're proposing a change, someone experiences loss. So I would say where people were accustomed to having a certain schedule, once we say the schedule needs to change, I think initially they may be Saddened because they feel there's a loss but I'm thinking about the students and and you know seeing how much is available at the complex. I keep saying, there were so many times that I say to myself, wow, I wish more kids could have access to this. I mean, we've even talked about, is there a way to give some students access to minis? But in order for that to happen, you need to be able to have a schedule which allows that. But we need to have the conversation, and I'm not sure if that, when the merge, happened, I don't think that the schedule piece had been tackled at that point in time. So although the merge happened where the two schools became one, they were still on two different schedules. So they're, you know, it's in some areas you are able to make it work, but it's, you know, There's sacrifices that are being made, and if we're able to have one schedule that both schools are operating on the same schedule, then we really would be able to give our high school students a phenomenal learning experience, even greater than what they are already having. Thank you.
[Van der Kloot]: Ms. Van der Kloot. First, thank you, Dr. Maurice Vincent, for the comprehensive report. I know how warmly the students have taken to you, and it's really great to see you with the students and with the staff out in the field, so to speak. There's clearly so many different things in here. One of the things I did want to ask is that you mentioned that one of your key work underway is the launching of a district safety team to examine external reports and streamline safety policies, et cetera. I would ask that the school committee, before the end of the school year, receive, and probably we need to do this because of sensitivity to security issues, that we would receive a more comprehensive report from this team. But anyway, other than that, thank you very much for bringing us this report tonight, and I look forward to our future work together.
[Burke]: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. VanDekloot. Mr. Russo.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. I noticed the word policies was used a few times about things you plan to update, and I'm just wondering if there's going to be a bolus of new policies that we need to approve, or do you mean policies that aren't school committee policies?
[Edouard-Vincent]: points that you have brought to our attention is about some of the policies that were outdated that needed to be updated. And so that is something where we're trying to at least begin the process of looking at some of our existing policies that are online to make sure that they are updated and reflective of now 2019. So that's something that you clearly brought to my attention. And so it's something that we are definitely aware of. But just the scope of work to go through all of the existing policies that are already there and trying to finish the negotiations and all of those pieces, I could not prioritize that this year. But it is something that was So I think it's important that we take it as a data point and that we do need to have updated.
[Ruseau]: And I'm not sure where this would fit into the budget, but one of the things I hear from parents who happen to teach in other districts a lot, I've heard it too many times, is that in some districts it seems that there's a data person in every building, which I don't know if that's an exaggeration or there's one there two days a week or what. My understanding is we're incredibly light on the data people in our district, and I'm wondering if that's going, not that the people we have aren't great, but there aren't enough of them. And I'm wondering if that's going to be worth coming in the budget. We're not done, so I don't know where it would be.
[Edouard-Vincent]: And so one of the pieces, or one of my earlier observations where I talked about where we are trying to consistently progress monitor. So I think because we had... different pieces of data that were generated, but it wasn't aligned across the schools. It was difficult to be able to present or paint a picture. And so that is part of the work that we've also been working on, about bringing coherence and alignment so that we would have consistent data to look at, and then from that data be able to make strategic informed decisions. So schools having a data person, schools having functioning, highly functioning instructional leadership teams looking at the data, but they need to be looking at consistent data or the same data. So those are pieces of things that we are working on. So you will see more of that. So sometimes you can take a staff person within a school and train them. to support the data work that happens at schools.
[Ruseau]: Great. I have one more question. This is something that I know at the middle schools, the schedule every day is different for every kid. And while I recognize the value in your ability to have your specials for classes that are only for part of the year and all that other stuff that makes it possible to have a teacher in one building and go to another building. You can fit more in. But for some kids, especially kids with executive functioning issues and other students with other disabilities, this schedule is an absolute nightmare. Every time I go to my son's pediatrician, she just like rolls her eyes like this is the most ridiculous thing in the world. It's not like you can write that into an IEP, that my student won't have a variable schedule day-to-day. That's not an option. And so the result is, is that progress reports come out and it's inconsistent performance every single class. That's because in the morning everything's great, and in the afternoon everything isn't. And we can't build supports to make the afternoon classes better because some days it's the math class, some days it's the English class. It's not just my own, you know, my own experience. This is not an uncommon thing. And I'm just wondering if there's any discussion around ending this variable schedule thing. I mean, is it, everybody does it? I don't understand this.
[Edouard-Vincent]: So that was also brought to my attention, the middle school schedule, it does change. And so it is something that, I am willing to look at, but similar to what I said earlier, when you are proposing a significant change for what people have been accustomed to having, when you're making a proposal that may not have been as clearly spelled out in the contract, now you have to have a side agreement. So the middle school schedule, The two schedules are aligned, although they're moving on, you know, to your point. And so that is something that is on my radar as well. I am aware of that. But again, it's going to involve negotiating with the teachers for the middle school schedule as well.
[Kreatz]: Ms. Kritz. I want to thank you, Dr. Maurice, for this lovely report. It's fantastic. And I don't want to repeat what Aaron said, but what I really loved was all the activities, all the events that you went to, and the pictures. And I don't know how you had time to do the report, because you're doing so much. It's incredible. Thank you.
[Edouard-Vincent]: I thank my team for their support.
[Kreatz]: Yes, it's really great.
[Burke]: There's a motion on the floor to accept this report and place it on file. Seconded by Ms. Mostone, seconded by Ms. Kreatz. All those in favor. What did you say? We're in competition.
[Unidentified]: So moved.
[Burke]: So moved. Motion for approval. All those in favor. Aye. All those opposed. Say it. Aye. So moved. So moved.
[SPEAKER_04]: OK.
[Burke]: All righty. New business. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Helen Mulligan. Ms. Mulligan was the grandmother of Medford High School Assistant Principal Stacey Mulligan. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Violet McCurry. Ms. McCurry was the great-aunt of Associate Superintendent of Schools Diane Caldwell. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Madeline Sloan. Ms. Sloan was the aunt of associate superintendent of schools Diane Caldwell. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Irving Greenblatt. Mr. Greenblatt was the stepfather of associate superintendent of schools Diane Caldwell. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Marshall Sloan. Mr. Sloan was the founder and chairman of Century Bank. He was a leader in the business community for over 50 years and supported the Medford Public Schools in many ways. His compassion and generosity will be remembered always. And if we could hold Diane in our thoughts as well. She's had a really difficult couple of weeks. So all please rise for a moment of silence. Thank you. And there's a note. Motion to adjourn.
[Unidentified]: Very quiet.
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