[Lungo-Koehn]: Are we ready? All set? Medford School Committee meeting, January 13th, 2020, Council Chambers, 7 p.m. Roll call. Member Grant? Present.
[Van der Kloot]: Member Kreatz? Here. Member McLaughlin? Here. Member Mustone? Here. Member Ruseau? Present. Member Van der Kloot, present. Mayor Lungo-Koehn? Present.
[Lungo-Koehn]: All please rise and salute the flag.
[SPEAKER_02]: 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.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Approval of the minutes of January 6, 2020. Motion to approve. Motion to approve by. Second. Vice Chairperson Rousseau, seconded by Ms. Kreatz.
[Kreatz]: I noticed it's the Falcos live at 123 Fulton Spring Road. So it's just missing spring. It's on page two, community participation.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion for approval by Chairman Rousseau, as amended by Ms. Kreatz, seconded by Ms. Kreatz. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Minutes pass as amended. Approval of the bills, transfer of funds, and approval of payrolls. Motion for approval by Ms. Van der Kloot.
[Kreatz]: I just have a question. There was just a couple of items that were unclassified. Let's see. It was on page two. Equipment, other, BMCA 2006-25. I can recognize that. Yes, good evening.
[Patterson]: So that is for a food service program.
[Kreatz]: OK. And then on page four, Bill and Associates had four items that were just on other supplies. That's for the pool, pool supplies. OK, thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion for approval by School Committeewoman van de Kloot, seconded by? Seconded. Seconded by Ms. Kreatz. Roll call is required. Yes. All those in favor, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Approval of the bills and payrolls passed. Reports of Secretary.
[Van der Kloot]: Just one quick thing. I started signing the bills last Wednesday. It's going to be my custom to sign them on Wednesday morning at the high school. About 10 o'clock will be what I'm expecting. I'd like to invite my colleagues to come and join me. If you're available Wednesday, that's great. If you're not, we can do it some other time. If you want to just drop in at any point. Some weeks are heavier than other weeks, so you never know in advance. But please, if you would like to join me this Wednesday, let me know, just so I have a heads up. But I certainly think it's a valuable experience, so please do so when you can. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: And number four, report of secretary. Is there anything else?
[SPEAKER_02]: That was it.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Report of committees. Do we have any reports? None. No reports. Community participation. Next we have number seven, report of superintendent.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Madam Superintendent. Good evening. I did not have the opportunity last week but I do hope that everyone had a peaceful and joyous holiday. Also, I wanted to personally welcome Mayor Lungo-Koehn, Melanie McLaughlin, and Jenny Graham to the school committee. The inaugural celebration was a joyous one. We look forward to an ambitious and exciting year as we work together to provide the very best education for all of the children of our community. My mantra has been, one Medford, one district. We are stronger when we work together to improve the quality of life for all in Medford. With my father's passing, I appreciate Associate Superintendent Diane Caldwell for handling last week's school committee meeting for me. In addition, I appreciate all of those who have expressed their sympathies to me and my family. He was my biggest supporter. and he will sorely be missed. Please note that in case of inclement weather coming up, our team is currently working diligently on putting together a policy to possibly utilize a two hour delay. The bus schedule would have to be realigned as well as principals must realign their classroom schedules in order for this to work. Most importantly, we have to also continue to work closely with the Department of Public Works to make sure that they're able to clear the parking lots and sidewalks surrounding the schools on time. Obviously, safety is our top priority, so we intend to meet with all parties and see if this is an option that could work for us in lieu of having to cancel school outright. So we are trying to come up with a happy medium. Additionally, graduation for the class of 2020, it is fast approaching, June of 2020. Seniors will need to order their caps and gowns on the following dates, this week, Wednesday, January 15th, and Thursday, January 16th, and or next week, Wednesday, January 22nd, or Thursday, January 23rd. Orders will take place outside of the gym on both dates, and the cost is $20 per student. So cash or checks only, and checks should be payable to cap and gown. Upcoming key events. There's a listening, this is for the listening audience. I want you all to know that during the month of February at our upcoming meetings, we'll be making announcements about the middle school lottery process for students starting sixth grade in August of 2020. Additionally, Building Bridges to Kindergarten information sessions will also be coming up and we'll have a presentation on that. At those Building Bridges to Kindergarten sessions, we encourage families to attend one of three informational sessions. And at those sessions, they have an opportunity to hear from our nursing department, representatives from the Parent Information Center, PIC. We will also have interpreters available if needed. And they will learn about the registration process. So that is upcoming information for our February meetings. So I want the community to rest assured that you are not late, that there's no need to be concerned about upcoming deadlines because you haven't missed anything yet. So I also want to share some good news about our former Mustangs. And it's nice to see so many Mustangs coming back and continuing to contribute to the success of Medford Public Schools. I'd like to recognize Lou Mandarini of Local 22. He went shopping right before the holidays with students from the vocational side of the house construction craft labors program in collaboration with the rotary. And they made. holiday food baskets for families in Medford. And Local 22 donated $1,400 worth of food products for this cause. And so in collaboration with our vocational students, donating over 2,000 non-perishable food items. So I just wanted to recognize their hard work and their commitment to giving back to the community. And so over 200 Medford families were able to have received these holiday baskets and nonperishable food items. So I was really happy about that and very proud of the work that's happening with students participating in community service. Additionally, Dave McGilvery, in November and December, Mr. McGilvery, who was a Boston Marathon director, he spoke at both middle schools, talking to our middle school students, motivating them, and encouraging them to always chase their dreams. Additionally, he was also one of the inaugural speakers last week at our legendary Chevalier Theater, and he also spoke. So he's a wonderful speaker, and again, as I am a new Mustang, clearly, once a Mustang, always a Mustang, and we appreciate graduates taking the time out of their busy schedules to enhance opportunities for the greater Medford community. I also wanna just share with you that yesterday, I had the opportunity to be the guest speaker at the Japanese Association of Greater Boston. They were celebrating the Japanese New Year for 2020. It took place in Arlington at their town hall. So I'm gonna ask you to bear with me. I may make a few errors, but I'm gonna just try to share a small snippet with you. Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu, which means happy new year in Japanese. But for those of you who may not be aware, since 1980, Medford has a sister city in Japan, and the sister city in Japan is Nobeoka. Additionally, part of the Japanese tradition, they celebrate Bonninkai parties. And a Bonninkai party is a year-forgetting party. Its purpose is to leave the old year's worries and troubles behind. Additionally, I learned about ikigai, and ikigai means your purpose in life. It's something we should all pay more attention to, for it teaches to accept people as they are, urges us to step away from our often over-scheduled lives, and suggests that we all live in the moment. So I just wanted to say ikigai to all of you, and I'm glad to be back.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. We're glad you're back. Thank you, Superintendent. Second, we have proposed meeting dates for Budget Committee of the Whole, Fiscal Year 21, given to us by Ms. Christine Patterson.
[Patterson]: Ms. Patterson. Thank you. This is just the tentative draft listing for the proposed meeting dates and times. These are before all of the regularly scheduled school committee meetings. I believe that was the suggested days for this type of budget hearing. We have them scheduled for 530. Again, the location and method on how we send these meetings out to the community is per your discretion. And again, these will be publicly posted meetings once approved on the schedule. I will note that this schedule starts much sooner than we did last year. We have quite a bit of area to cover and we did provide for a extended schedule in order to dive in a little bit further, if you will, for some of the areas that had additional questions or might not have felt there was enough time from the last year as we went through this process. It is a very inclusive process and open to the public. And again, we would be covering the areas on the dates that are before you as a proposed list. Thank you.
[Kreatz]: School committee woman, Kreatz. Yes. I wanted to know, because we had talked about it, Erin DiBenedetto, she was a former school committee member, she had motioned last year at the end of the presentations that we were going to record the pre-budget meetings, because there were so many people that didn't know we even had the meetings. So I wanted to make a motion to record the pre-budget meetings that we're going to have in room 207. Of course, making sure and ensuring that the recording equipment is turned off at the end of our Committee of the Whole meeting. I know that Vice Chair Russo sent us a message last week sharing some details about another community that had their recording equipment kept on during their executive session. And I'm not sure how we go about doing that. I don't know who controls turning it on, but I did talk to City Councilor Riccariello yesterday, and all of their pre-budget meetings are recorded in room 207 when they have their pre-budget meetings. So I just wanted to reiterate that and for transparency so that everybody's welcome to attend. Even if they can't get there, they could watch from home or at their convenience. Is that something that we're going to definitely do?
[Patterson]: Again, that would be at the discretion of the committee. I did not put a location. I indicated City Hall just for a generalization. So that would be up to the committee how they Wanted to call the motion.
[Lungo-Koehn]: You second it. Motion by motion. Yep. School committee woman credits seconded by school committee woman McLaughlin. All those in favor. I was opposed. Motion passes. We'll have these meetings in room 207, and I'll talk to Patrick Gordon from Community Cable, as well as our city clerk knows how to use the equipment, so we'll get that done.
[Kreatz]: Great. And I just had one other minor request, if possible. Once we have the final approved dates, can we put the dates, I don't know if it's possible, on the website underneath our regular school committee dates, so that if people forgot what dates they are, they'll be somewhere where people can just easily go and look at them and maybe we could share it with the press release if we could ask Lisa Evangelista if she could put together a press release once the dates are finalized if these are the tentative dates and we could just share it via social media to engage the public a little bit more because last year people didn't know about them so I'm trying to get the word out there this year. Is that a motion? Yeah that'll be I guess a second motion a second motion to put together a press release to share the dates so people can share them on social media. And if possible, I don't know if there's room on the website to fit the dates underneath our regular school committee meetings. I don't know the structure of the website. So that's why I'm not sure about that, but if you could check into that.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Kreatz]: Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: School committee woman McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Yes, I just wanted to say thank you for putting those together for the dates and also one of the questions I was going to ask is when they would be available on the website but also I'm not sure. I know that the other dates go out for the, with the public relations folks and so adding to the dates in the newsletter that goes out that, you know, the committee of the whole budget meetings are coming up so that it's another way of reminding but I think it's great for the public to know so thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: So motion by school committee woman, okay.
[Graham]: School committee woman, Graham. One other thought. Maybe we can just combine all of these together, but we should have some sort of committee of the whole before this whole process gets started so that we can put our put our thoughts together and understand what we think we want to see in terms of the data that comes to us from a budgeting perspective so that when the department chairs are working to put their stuff together, if there's something particular that we know that we'll want to see that we can give everyone that advanced notice so that they can get that together rather than feeling like they have to respond to that stuff on the fly as those questions come up. Because I think there's things that I can think of that I'd like to be able to see in writing. And I'm sure everyone has those things. So I'm not sure if we can do something in terms of budget planning before this whole process starts so that we can just all be on the same page about what to expect.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, so motion by school committee woman Kreatz to get the budget agenda on a press release and on social media and on the website as well as amended by school committee woman McLaughlin for newsletter and further amended by school committee woman Graham to get a committee of the whole meeting to get data and budget planning. on a motion for approval by School Committee Woman Kreatz, seconded by School Committee Woman Van der Kloot. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Patterson]: Are these the dates that we are going with? I didn't hear that actual.
[Lungo-Koehn]: I wrote that down. Yes. and everybody has seen the dates, we have guidance, English, social studies, mathematics, science, and world languages on February 24th, 2020, 5.30 to 7. We have art, phys ed, health, library media, health services, and athletics on March 23rd, 2020, 5.30 to 7 p.m. Middle school, high school, vocational, technical education, student activities and programs, on April 6th, 2020, 5.30 to 7 p.m. We have English learner education, special education on April 13th, 2020, 5.30 to 7 p.m. We have the school committee, finance, business, district-wide expenses, and district-wide, May 4th, 2020. Transportation, security, and OSP on May 18th, 2020. We will reserve June 1st, 2020, If needed, and the budget hearing presentation will be the last school committee meeting on June 15th, 2020. Superintendent.
[Edouard-Vincent]: So in response, in order to add an additional committee of the whole, that would be at our next regularly scheduled meeting, which is February 3rd, in response to your request, school committee member Graham. in keeping with the meetings that are lined up.
[Lungo-Koehn]: We can try that, or we can try the week before. But we'll get that scheduled. Yes. School Committeewoman Graham.
[Graham]: Motion to approve this schedule as amended.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion for approval by School Committeewoman Graham, seconded by School Committeewoman Van der Kloot. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Schedule is adopted. Number three, report on Department of Health Services best practices by Tony, is Tony ready?
[Wray]: Good evening and welcome Mayor.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you.
[Wray]: Welcome new school committee members and hello to everybody else. So I'm here just to give a little overview of the Health Services Department, especially for our new... that the nurses follow the National Association of School Nursing 21st century framework and align with the whole school, whole community, whole child framework. These activities and best practices go above and beyond Band-Aids, illnesses, and just what many people think of school nursing practice. So the elementary school nurses in the fall conducted vision screening for all of our kindergarten students using a new state-of-the-art vision screener. It was on loan from our regional Department of Public Health, and we were effectively able to screen all of the kindergarten students within four days. The screen are screens for the most common cause of blindness in children, which is amblyopia. And we are looking forward to screening our preschool students by the end of January. At the high school, Lisa Skiffington, Jennifer Silva, and Stephanie McCann focused on reducing the administration of Tylenol for minor complaints. Last year, over 900 doses of Tylenol were given, and students have a habit of asking for that as their first request. So the nurses decided they would do some education around ways to ways to identify their acute symptoms and find alternate ways of treating that. And at the Curtis Tufts High School, Ashley Donnelly created a calm corner in the nurse's office and she incorporated mindfulness into her practice with the students with the goal to help students access stress management techniques and find and build positive coping skills. The feedback so far has been really positive on that. At the Andrews Middle School, Avery Hines is working on a similar project to increase student time on learning by helping students manage their anxiety complaints. And she has students rate their anxiety, they set a timer, and they have a corresponding number of minutes to build on different stress-reducing techniques or relaxation techniques so that they can then turn around and get back to school, back to class in a very timely manner. If students find that more time is needed, then she will sit and spend extra time sparking an in-depth conversation with them or a referral to a guidance Councilor or adjustment Councilor. At the Brooks Elementary School, Patricia Cooney and Allison McGilvery worked on expanding care coordination services for students who have ongoing complex health needs. Pat successfully advocated for the use of specialized medical equipment for a student and was able to provide very relevant and pertinent observations to a specialty care provider that resulted in the scheduling of additional medical evaluations for this student so that accommodations could be made in school and this student could access his or her curriculum. Allison identified students who had greater than 300 nursing office visits for somatic complaints, and she collaborated with the team at the Brooks to then develop behavioral support plans aimed at increasing time in class. At the Columbus Elementary School, Karen Roberto and Laurie Borriello implemented health education classes on the topics of asthma and the brain and behavior connection. Karen secured grant funding and was able to purchase the Radical Randy Mannequin and an asthma education program. And she and Laurie teach students how to recognize their signs of distress, identify what their triggers are, use their medications appropriately so that they can avoid their triggers and hopefully stay in class without feeling ill. In addition, they worked with the students to develop a presentation about how the brain and the body connects with behavior, and they showcased that at a school science fair. At the McGlynn Elementary and Middle Schools, Carla Constanza, Karen Breen, and Peggy Donahue, and Lori Borello created bulletin boards for their students where they post, every month they post pertinent health information, very visual, and it's a great learning experience for the English language learner, students to identify different health needs and ways that they can manage those health needs. And lastly, at the Roberts Elementary School, Brianna Cormos and Ashley Donnelly are working to improve access to healthcare by connecting newly immigrated families with local primary care physicians. They coordinate care between primary care offices, special education, general education teachers, and they use translators to assist with immunization, surveillance, and follow-up. Both nurses have supported our international families with scheduling medical appointments for immunizations and tuberculosis screening follow-up. Brianna and Ashley also piloted a translation phone service so that they could communicate with these families. And as a result, we are now using it around all the health offices throughout the district.
[Lungo-Koehn]: So just a few highlights of the ways that we help our families. That's great. We have some questions, I believe.
[Kreatz]: School Committeewoman Kreatz. Hi. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Rae, for the report. It was very interesting reading about all the different techniques. I was just curious about the high school. What were the most common reasons why the students were requesting Tylenol? Was it stomachache, headache? A wide range of things.
[Wray]: Fatigue. Lack of breakfast, lack of lunch, certainly any emerging illness, headaches, as well as muscle soreness and muscle aches at the start of each sports season. So the focus became how can we tease out what the real problem is and how can we address that in ways beyond medication.
[Kreatz]: And I did read that I guess a handout was developed for the students with the education like to help them Is that something that you would be able to share with us like to just see it would be you know, interesting to read about sure Thank you Thank you, thank you and miss stone
[Mustone]: Okay, thanks Miss Ray for all this information. It is really impressive all the work that nurses do and it seems like it almost is that a caseworker is needed. Excuse me, so when there's a vision screening and you send the referral letter, is there, I know, Is there a follow-up to say, you got the referral letter, but did you actually go to the eye doctor?
[Wray]: Actually, that's required. That's part of our role and responsibilities and reporting responsibilities to the Department of Public Health. So that becomes the casework of the individual building nurse to follow up on those referrals to make sure that students are connected and do see an appropriate health care provider.
[Mustone]: Right. And that's time consuming when they have kids waiting in their office. And even with, um, at the Curtis Tufts, when students want to go for management techniques, how do you have any idea of how many students a day go or how long they stay?
[Wray]: Um, no, I, that, that I don't. Um, um, and stay there can be anywhere from a few minutes to maybe 15 or 20 minutes. Just depends on the student. The aim is really to, help students access those techniques, use them effectively, and get back to class in a timely manner so that it doesn't become a place to hang out. It's a place to regroup and get back to class.
[Mustone]: And as the state mandates more and more on your department, do you think, is there a new profession for caseworkers in the nursing office? That's all encompassed within our role.
[Wray]: So the National Association of School Nurses 21st Century encompasses all of that care coordination and care management, as well as the whole school, whole child, whole community model. We as school nurses have been doing this for quite a long time, but it's really a student needs expand. We are expanding our care coordination. And yes, it is time consuming. Right.
[Mustone]: So I guess we can wait till budget meetings, but it'd be that you would be hiring more nurses to take on all the casework. Possibly. OK. No, I mean, it's incredible all the work they do at all the schools.
[Lungo-Koehn]: So thank you.
[Mustone]: Yes.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Vice Chair Rousseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you for this report. You can't get away without hearing from me. At the Brooks, I think you've reported this once before in the last two years about students that visit more than 300 times in a year. And it's worth noting students aren't in school for 365. It's 180 days. And it led me to this thought or question about like literally every item on this report is something that's amazing. And I'm just wondering, does your department come together to share? best practices and replicate these. I mean, there's only so much time in a day for every nurse. I get that. But as certain elements of this report are determined to be more successful perhaps than others, how do those get replicated out to the rest of the school? Or is it really up to every nurse to be like, oh, hey, you're doing that. That's interesting.
[Wray]: I want to do that. We tend to do it in a staff meeting format. just sharing our practices, things that I'm aware of I will try to share out to everybody else. Some of the things like the translation phone service that was piloted and then we had such good luck with it that it went out very quickly to everybody to say this is how you access this service and please use it for short communications with your families.
[Ruseau]: So for instance, at the Brooks, where there are students, I mean, I don't know how many, but have more than 300 visits to the nurse's office per school year. Do you track that for all of the schools and have any idea, is the Brooks unusual?
[Wray]: I can track that for all of the schools. I really place a lot of independence on each school nurse to know their building and to use their role to meet the needs, the health needs in their buildings. But yes, we can pull up that information. It's a little bit unwieldy with school brains, but we can pull it up.
[Ruseau]: We've talked about that. And you know, I mean, because I'm not, Having more than 300 visits per school year, I mean, there may be children that, in fact, this is perfectly reasonable. They have to visit the nurse more than twice a day for medication. Boom, you're over 300.
[Wray]: Exactly. So they're looking at children that are coming in multiple times a day for what seem to be somatic complaints. And typically, it falls under kids who need behavioral health supports.
[Lungo-Koehn]: School Committee Woman Van der Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: My colleagues have answered all my questions. Okay.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Great. School Committee Woman McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. Thank you for the report, Ms. Ray. It was very informational. I appreciate it. I had some follow-up questions, too. On the Brooks School for the somatization of the visits of identified students who have above 300 nursing office visits for somatic complaints and the policy put in place, I'm wondering Do you have, or would there be a number on how many students that is? I mean, if it's one student, it's one thing. If it's 10 or 20.
[Wray]: I'd have to work with Kim Miles to pull that data out of school brains. Allison was working with these students. I mean, it wasn't like she had dozens of them. There were a few that she was working with. But to specifically do it district wide, I'd have to work with Kim Miles to help me do that.
[McLaughlin]: It's very useful data. I mean, a theme I think that we see throughout your report is the concern around anxiety for our children, which is an ever-growing concern, I think, with our 24-7 social media. everything else that our children have to deal with in today's element. So I think that the somatization is interesting, but also how about the, or do you know when parents, at what point parents might be notified? Obviously, if a student is coming to the office for medicine, we know that the parent knows that. But if it's for something, a bellyache or whatever, you know, if there's 10 times, 20 times, 30 times, at what point would a parent be notified?
[Wray]: You know, I don't think you can put a number on it. I think it's a, It's the relationship that the nurse establishes with the student. And if she's determining that it's above and beyond something that a behavioral support in the office can manage, then she'll reach out and say, I'm concerned. I think you need to have your child checked by the doctor. I'm seeing this is happening all too many times. It's not just that he's not eating breakfast. It seems to be other things going on. It's something that that nurse will tease out within her relationship with the student.
[McLaughlin]: Right, with the parent and the schools. Great, that's great. They're obviously doing a great job across the schools and working together on the report. I was wondering also, Tony, about the telephone translation services, which is really exciting.
[Wray]: It is exciting.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you for piloting that. That's great.
[Wray]: I have to thank Paul Texera because he had provided me with a lot of information about services out there.
[McLaughlin]: That's great, that's one of the things that I wanted to ask you is how are you collaborating with the EL department for that, but clearly other departments that might be interested in the translation service. I'm assuming, I know we're getting a report from Paul shortly.
[Wray]: So we're using it for those short phone calls that nurses need to make to say your child has a fever, please, we need you to come pick him or her up. It is expensive, as a minute, per minute charge that is expensive. So it's not anything we can use for a sit down meeting or any, you know, we're, we're using it for the short phone calls. Um, I sent you home a vision referral. You haven't seen the doctor yet, or I haven't had a note that you've seen the doctor yet. Can we follow up on this? Um, you know, messages of those types, your child's delinquent on immunizations or do for immunizations, things like that.
[McLaughlin]: And when was it piloted?
[Wray]: November, early November.
[McLaughlin]: Great. So you have some data on it at this point.
[Wray]: And this is funded by our comprehensive school health services grant. The money that we have available for that is through that grant.
[McLaughlin]: And I'm assuming in our budget meetings, you'll tell us more about your grants that you're working on. I know that you work on those often, and we appreciate the work around that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Very good. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: We have a student member that has a question? Come on up and use the microphone.
[zLR1K32xovo_SPEAKER_00]: So I just had like two quick questions. Um, the first one's about the high school. Um, what would be like other ways, like other ways to help? Like that you wouldn't use the Tylenol. Like what would, what else would you use?
[Wray]: So some very basic, um, approaches are to make sure that you're well hydrated because being dehydrated will cause headaches. Um, making sure that breakfast and lunch are eaten because If you don't have food in your body, you're not going to be able to chug along through the day and attend to your studies like you need to do. You just won't have that energy. Getting adequate rest, so turning off the cell phone by 9 o'clock at night and getting into bed and getting a good night's sleep. It tends to be very basic strategies that everybody can use.
[zLR1K32xovo_SPEAKER_00]: And then do you think, I know you mentioned sleep, and I'm a high school, I'm a senior. I've gone days where I've slept only two hours. So what if a student comes up to you, and they're obviously not a student that's just trying to skip class, but they've obviously had a rough night where they probably forgot a paper. What would you do to them? Would you just send them back to class without giving them Tylenol or something?
[Wray]: Well, it depends on the situation. Sometimes we will give them a snack, hydrate them, and then, you know, if after a few minutes of rest they're still not feeling better, they may get some Tylenol to go back to class. But it's definitely not used as a first-line intervention. We're really trying to encourage really good, healthy habits that are lifelong habits.
[zLR1K32xovo_SPEAKER_00]: And then, sorry, I just have one last question. With the last one at the Roberts Elementary School, where you have translation services, do you by any chance, who answers, who uses, not who uses, but who helps with the translations?
[Wray]: So the service is set up, we have a number, a phone number to dial, the nurse dials in, tells them the language that is needed for translation. Beyond that, I'm not exactly sure how it works. And Paul may be able to answer that a little bit better. But we are connected with the translation for a message.
[zLR1K32xovo_SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so it's not somebody from the city or anything? It's not somebody from the city? No, no, it's an outside service.
[Wray]: It's a professional service.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Good job. Thank you. Thank you. for report on English learners, Paul Textera.
[Teixeira]: Good evening, everyone. Good evening. And welcome to the new members. Thank you. And to follow up to answer your question, it's kind of like a three-way call. You call into the calling center, you identify which language you need, they get somebody on the line, and then everyone's dialed in at the same time.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Great, thank you.
[Teixeira]: So we are in the middle of access testing, and for those of you unfamiliar with access, it is a state-mandated test. It is administered over a series of several days. Every building is a little bit different because the test is different depending upon your grade level. This test measures the four domains of language, reading, writing, listening, and speaking. And we get the reports at the very end of May, beginning of June, and we use this data to make our placement determinations for students for the following school year. So the high school has completed their access testing with the exception of make-ups. Currently the Roberts and the McGlynn Elementary are doing their access testing. Columbus will be starting on Wednesday, McGlynn Middle School on Tuesday, and then the following Wednesday, or I'm sorry, the following Thursday begins the Brooks. So we'll be completed with our access testing across the district by January 26th. We space it out so We can have the appropriate technology support in each of the buildings. The first couple days are the most critical because if there are any issues that need to be addressed, that sets the stage for the rest of the testing. I did give you 2019's access scores in the chart. I'm not going to read it to you, but if anyone has any questions on that or the test, I can answer those now.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. School committee woman, Ms. Stone.
[Mustone]: The only question is, it seemed like all of them increased in a positive number except for the Columbus and Medford High School. Could you look at it in more depth and if there was anything that you could see that you can address to make sure they go up next year?
[Teixeira]: So with the Columbus, if you notice from 2017, they had a huge increase between 2017 and 2018. They went up over 24 percentage points. And I think maybe this is leveling off this year. In terms of the decline itself, what we do is we get a report from the state on each individual student who has not made progress on the access test, and each EL teacher in the building gets a progress monitoring form for that student. They get the previous year scores, the second year scores. They put together a building-based team, which would include the classroom teacher, the EL teacher, if they receive Title I, and kind of put together supports for the students across the board. They identify the areas of need, and based on those areas of need, so we're consistent, that's what's being delivered in the EL classroom for intervention and support, and that tier one is happening across the board for the students. So that should continue to boost scores. We do that at every school. And then with Medford High School, we looked at our curriculum and we actually added another class this year. We added a level of EL between 1 and 2, 1.5, it's original, to support the students who may have come last year, but they weren't here for a full year, so they weren't quite ready for the level two, or some students test in at that level, so we added that level to try to catch students at the earlier stages of language acquisition. So that's how the two areas have been met on that.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Vice Chair Rousseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you for the report. Aside from the scores, which for the most part looked fine, and even the ones that were declined, we did meet targets. So I think that's an important point. We don't set our targets, the state does. But I was most thrilled, and I would say not surprised because of the work that I've seen you do in the last couple of years, to see that the program redesign is actually being considered as the blueprint for the state. And I just wanted to say how impressive that was. And thank you for your hard work and all the staff that are involved, because I know you don't actually do all of it yourself. So thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. School Committeewoman McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you for your rapport and thank your staff for all their hard work. And I see that, yes, Desi's interested in coming out to observe the program. That's great news. Congratulations. And then I just had a question for the access accountability and the NA for the Brooks, not applicable for the Brooks.
[Teixeira]: Not enough students to get the data. So I get the individual student reports, but the Department of Education doesn't have enough, there aren't enough EL students at the Brooks to put together the same data as the other schools.
[McLaughlin]: Okay, but you get the individual reports to know if they're meeting target?
[Teixeira]: Yes, the individual student reports. So anyone who's not making progress, we follow the same protocols at the Brooks.
[McLaughlin]: Okay, thank you.
[Teixeira]: And just with regard to the targets, meeting targets, those targets are established individually for students as well, and they do the same thing for the Brooke students. Again, there's just not enough students there to come up with the same calculations that they come up with.
[McLaughlin]: I'm sorry, go ahead.
[Teixeira]: No, so every student gets an individual target. So based on where they were the previous year and so part of that progress monitoring report takes that into account that we know where that student needs to get for the next level. And then they take all that information and that's how they make the overall determination. if the schools met their target, and then as a whole, if the district met their target, which each school did meet a target, and the district met their target.
[McLaughlin]: And do you know, I understand that the data is not significant enough for the reporting out to DESE, but do you know from your progress reports, personal reports, how the students are doing there?
[Teixeira]: So with the Brooks, it's a little bit different because they only, for the newcomer students, they house grades one and two. So if they're a first year student, we wouldn't get data on those students because we don't have something from the previous year. So it's only the students who have been here two or more years.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you.
[Kreatz]: School Committeewoman Kreatz. And like my colleagues, Mr. Russo and Ms. McLaughlin, I had a note too, congratulations on having the DESI maybe interested in coming out to see our program and I look forward to hearing more. I did, I was just curious, how long does it take the students who are taking the online test to take their test? Is it all day? Do they get breaks or is it just spread out over the various days?
[Teixeira]: They get breaks. So again, it's very different at every level. So kindergarten is an individual one to one test and it takes about an hour. So there are no, you know, the teacher can give breaks along the way if the student, if the teacher feels that the student needs it. Um, So, for grades 1 through 12, if they're doing the online, we usually do listening first and then reading. The listening test takes anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes. So, we'll do that first while we have everyone in the lab and then students get a break before they jump into the reading. And the reading test will take about 60 to 70 minutes. And that's all they'll do in one day. And then the next day, they would come back and do the writing portion, which takes about 60 or 70 minutes for the writing. And the speaking is about 30 minutes. It really depends on the student's language proficiency level. Newcomers will, it's a, the test is tiered. So you start here, and once you hit a stopping point, you don't continue. So that could be as quick as 15 minutes for some students, as long as 40 minutes for others.
[Kreatz]: Okay. Great. Thank you. School Committee Woman, Graham.
[Graham]: I just wanted to say that this report was really easy to digest. I think for me as a new school committee member, but I think anybody read this, they would really understand what you're doing. And I think that's so important because these things sort of fly across in sound bites. And I read it and I said, I don't even have one question about what I just read. So I thought that was really awesome. I also wanted to especially thank the teachers who are Working through co-teaching and a new curriculum at the same time, I know how hard that is. Either one of those things is really difficult, but to sort of change your stand and deliver approach as you're changing the content you're being asked to deliver as well is incredibly time-consuming, so thank you. to both you and all the teachers that are making that happen. I know it will be really worthwhile.
[Teixeira]: This has been a, this is, we're in year two of this and we started last year with just science teachers. And so Rocco Cieri was huge in helping to bring that, you know, Nick Tucci was huge in bringing about that shift. Um, so having the support you know of everyone and then this year we extended it Bernadette Riccadeli is kind of overseeing the Co-teaching across the two middle schools because we're also doing the same thing for special ed and the content areas So it's it's grown from there.
[Graham]: Yeah, that's wonderful.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you School committee woman McLaughlin Yes, the co-teaching model is really great news. Thank you for that I definitely concur with member Graham on that. And I wanted to ask also, I'm assuming just in terms of the data, if someone were to read the report, if a community member wanted access to the report, the access data on the front page for the schools has all of the schools excluding the Andrews. And that's because the Andrews does not have
[Teixeira]: There is no EL program at the Andrews.
[McLaughlin]: No EL program at the Andrews. Okay, I wanted to just confirm on that. And then you said there was a huge increase in Columbus from 2017, right? Yes. When you say huge increase, can you give me some idea of what that actually... Not literally, but some ballpark of how many?
[Teixeira]: So in terms of number of students, they've always hovered anywhere between 75 and 90 students, EL students at the Columbus, grades K through five.
[McLaughlin]: 75 and 90?
[Teixeira]: Between 75 and 90 every year. So in terms of the increase, again, they went up. 24 percentage points, so you know that would be for anyone who was there in kindergarten Starting that you know you need to be there two years to get this growth You know so it's kind of the consistency the building capacity in the school with the curriculum the alignment of We started doing benchmark assessments with the students using journeys. We had PLCs come across the district. I know the Columbus teachers participated in that. It was voluntary in year one where they would look at student data. The assessments weren't for grading students. It was for finding out what they know and what we need to reteach. And so I think they embraced that. really brought that along.
[McLaughlin]: That's great. And you have a supplement to the curriculum for the English learners?
[Teixeira]: Yes. So we embedded for the, we use the journeys as our curriculum for what we call our pullout students. We don't use that with our newcomer students. We might use bits and pieces of it in the newcomers program, but We use, you know, they follow the journeys in their English class, and the English language development standards have been matched with the appropriate chapters and units and pacing guides with journeys.
[McLaughlin]: Yes, it's a good supplement. It looks great. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Vice Chair Rousseau. Oh, you're all set. Okay. Motion to accept the report. Motion by School Committeewoman Van der Kloot, seconded by School Committeewoman Kreatz. All those in favor? All those opposed? Thank you very much.
[Teixeira]: Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Number five, report on credit for life. Dr. Bernadette Riccidelli.
[Ricciardelli]: Good evening, Mayor Lungo-Koehn, Superintendent Edouard-Vincent, and members of the Medford School Committee. So we are here tonight to announce the third annual Credit for Life Fair that will take place on April 3rd. from 8.45 to 12.45 in the Medford High School gymnasium. So again, this being our third year with the team. So with me is Gail Trainor and Lisa Evangelista. The fourth member of our team is not here. It's Kristen Kuhlen, who is the marketing teacher at the vocational school. So as a team, the four of us have worked, again, this being our third year, and we think that We think this is going to be our best year with the program. Like in the other years, we are the recipient of a grant. This year it's $2,500, and the grant is made possible by the Division of Banks through the State Treasurer's Office. The Credit for Life Fair is not our original idea, but we think we've made our mark on it. Many schools in the Commonwealth do implement these Credit for Life Fairs. So it's a way for students to authentically practice what it's like to be out in the real world with a budget and how to manage and balance costs. Several of you have attended either last year or the prior year. We hope you will consider attending again. Some of you volunteered. We really put you to work. I do remember that. Others were observers and we want to extend that invitation to you again this year. So one of the changes that we've made this year is we are asking all grade 11 students to participate this year. So you may remember the first year we opened it to grades 11 and 12 students. We made it voluntary but we had an overwhelming majority of students participate. Last year we designated it as an 11th grade activity and we left it as a volunteer activity. This year, given the importance of what we think this program offers our students, we do want all grade 11 students to participate. So that's our expectation. So approximately 310 students will be part of the program. Gayle Trainor has done immense work, and she will speak to you about the work she has done with the math teachers in the math classrooms. We'll be working with them very soon. So at this point, Gayle, did you want to mention?
[SPEAKER_13]: Sure, so we've last year we started coordinating with the math department and the math teachers for 11th grade to start About six weeks or a month before the fair incorporating some of the financial excuse me some of the financial Aspects that the students are the vocabulary as well as some of the formulas and things like that that they're going to need to know when they do their budget sheet, so if you're not familiar with it, the students choose about a month and a half before the fair, they choose a profession, and with that profession comes a salary, and with that salary comes deductions, it's very real world, we don't have all the deductions that everybody has, but some, and they get a credit score, And with that credit score come certain conditions on the loans that they're available to get. They get a student loan payment, et cetera. So they have to understand certain calculations and things like that. So the math teachers have been great and very enthusiastic about presenting these concepts and making sure that the students understand them prior to coming to the fair. Because if they don't, they're going to be very confused We do offer credit counseling during the fair. I think Ms. Kreatz worked in credit counseling last year. And some of them do take advantage of that because they realize that they're in trouble because they picked a new car over a bicycle or something like that. So we do offer that as well. But the math department, working with them, and then they give us feedback after that. So they take their budget sheets back with them. The first year we collected them. Now we have them go back so they can sit in their math class and look and see, did they balance? Where did they fall down? You know, what concepts maybe they missed? And the vocabulary that the volunteers use and that they're gonna be exposed to, the financial vocabulary, is going to also be very important because that's what they need to know to understand the various stations that they go through.
[Ricciardelli]: Thank you. So Lisa Evangelista is our public relations officer. She's done a lot of outreach with the community volunteers. And I think last year we had roughly 60 volunteers. I don't know if you wanted to say anything about that.
[Evangelista]: So this could not be done without the volunteers. We have sometimes 4 to sometimes 10, probably more than that at credit counseling. And we'd have to stop having classes if we had all the teachers do it. So the community comes out. in mass and volunteers and host the tables that each student has to go by with their budget sheet before they can say that they've made their budget or not. Without them, we wouldn't be able to host the fair. So I know some of you on the school committee also were very helpful in the past couple of years. So we'll be sending you out a little note soon to tell you when our volunteer meeting will be. And again, it's April 3rd. The events will probably have the volunteer meeting about a month prior. But again, without them, they also provide raffle prizes for the students. So the community really does come together and they look forward to it. They've actually started a smaller version of the program in the middle schools, which started today at the McGlynn. Both Brookline Bank is working with Members Plus, just giving them a very basic outline of how to save money and how important that is. Many of them are not working yet, but they are doing small jobs like shoveling or cleaning up for their neighbor or even babysitting. So it was a nice experience this morning at the McGlynn, and they will be at the Andrews tomorrow for that. So definitely we're moving forward and making sure that we start young and continue at the high school level.
[Lungo-Koehn]: That's great.
[Kreatz]: School committee woman Kreatz hi, thank you very much for the report, and I definitely look forward to the fair again this year, and I would love to volunteer, so you can put me down. Absolutely. And it's great to hear that the bank was out to speak to the students. I think I was talking about that over the last couple of years. Some students, and even my own son had come to me when he got out of high school, and he didn't know how to write a check or what to do with his bank account. So I was wondering if that's something that we could do for the high school seniors, just adding a presentation to invite maybe one of the local banks to come out and just do a brief demo on banking. I know I attended at the vocational program, I think one of the students had come back and talked to some of the students but I'm not sure like what bank it was but it was something like I've been you know kind of asking about for a while just you know writing a check you know what's involved with going to the bank and what type of identification you need and protecting your PIN and things like that. And just kind of throwing it out there if it's something that, not like right away, but like something that could be for maybe next year or something like that, just another seminar. It wouldn't be the same day, obviously. But no, thank you very much, and definitely, I'm sincere, and I just, definitely put me down for volunteer, for sure.
[Ricciardelli]: Thank you. So if I could just respond to that, we have two electives, one of the math department, one of the social studies department, both having to do with financial literacy. Those classes are primarily comprised of 12th graders, so we chose grade 11 for this fair, and we can probably incorporate the check writing into the fair in some way, But in those elective classes, certainly we can convey that to the teacher. Actually, I believe that they do it. Now I will double check. OK. That'd be great. Yeah. Those electives are kind of on top of what we're doing this year with the program.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. School Committeewoman McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you for the event and for the report. And if community members are interested in volunteering, is it too soon for them to reach out or will you put that out, reach out to you, Lisa Evangelista, if people want to volunteer? Great, thank you. And thanks to the community members and the banks for being involved in this. This looks like a really great program. I know that we went a few years ago and my daughter decided to change her career choice based on her budget, so thank you.
[Van der Kloot]: School Committee Woman, Vanda Kloot. I just want to say thanks for your work on this. I've been able to go for a couple of years. This year I'll be able to volunteer for the whole period of time. It's a great event and a lot of fun. I'm particularly happy to hear too that you've been able to reach now into the middle schools with some activities there. Thank you. Great. Thank you.
[Graham]: School Committee Woman, Graham. Thanks, I am hoping that I'll be able to be there as well, so I'll check my calendar. One of the things that this makes me think about is sort of what do we already do when it comes to financial literacy at all levels of education in Medford, and I think there's a lot of misinformation out there about what we do do, what we don't do, what other people do, what other people don't do. And I think it would just be really nice for particularly parents that have younger children who haven't gone through the whole system yet to just understand something about how we approach financial literacy. whether it's elementary school, middle school, or high school, and just give people a familiarity with what those structures are that exist today. So I don't know if there's a way we can do some sort of update or some sort of press article about what our offering is from the beginning to the end. I think that would be really valuable for lots of different people for lots of different reasons. So just more a suggestion than anything, but I think it would be helpful.
[Ricciardelli]: Thanks.
[Graham]: Is that a motion or? No. I'd like to make a motion that we put out a press release that gives that sort of end-to-end perspective of financial literacy across the district.
[Lungo-Koehn]: So a motion by School Committeewoman Graham that we do a press article on financial literacy and what is offered, all levels of education in Medford. Motion for approval by School Committeewoman Graham, seconded by School Committeewoman Kreatz. All those in favor? All those opposed? Paper passes. Motion to receive and place on file. Would you like to ask a question? Come on up.
[Graham]: They want to hear you. That's why we want you to talk into the microphone.
[zLR1K32xovo_SPEAKER_00]: So I just first want to thank you. Last year I participated. It was really fun. I learned a lot. I didn't go in debt. A lot of my peers did. So that's a good thing. But I just had one. Are seniors allowed to go again? Or is it just for 11th graders this year?
[SPEAKER_13]: Just 11th grade this year.
[zLR1K32xovo_SPEAKER_00]: That's cool. Second question, last year, like one of the big, like from my peers at least, one of the big things that we kind of talked about in math was like kind of the long, like the big crowds and the long lines at the end, with like the, like how are you guys gonna, I don't know, fix that, I guess?
[SPEAKER_13]: We have a plan to adjust that, because we've actually met about that, because that was an issue last year at credit counseling. So what we're doing is we're breaking out some of the tables, some of the areas. Before, we had cell phone with utilities. We're going to break that out separately and have our stops at credit counseling in between, built in.
[zLR1K32xovo_SPEAKER_00]: Oh, OK. Yeah, I like that. Great.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion to receive on file but offered by Vice Chair Rousseau, seconded by Kathy Kreatz. All those in favor? All those opposed? Thank you very much, ladies. We have a report on Medford Community Fund Awards by Ms. Diane Caldwell. Good evening. Good evening.
[Caldwell]: So I have the distinct pleasure of announcing the 2019 recipients of the 125,000 community fund payments from Encore Boston. The fund tagline, All in Medford, AIM, hopes to have positive impact on Medford residents. Many of the grants awarded will benefit the students and families of Medford Public Schools, including the Medford Educational Foundation, Friends of the Medford Family Network, PTOs in various schools, and the ME program. I had the distinct pleasure of talking to Marie Cassidy. I know you all know the Energizer Bunny. And she came into my office and was so excited by her ESOL award. So she's working with English as a Second Language, with our parents who need some extra help in learning English, so she was extremely happy about that, as well as Kathleen McGlynn Brady, who wanted to do some music therapy for our preschool students. So we're going to pilot a program in our preschools to see, it's called Roman Music Therapy, and I'm going to be meeting with the person who actually started this on Friday this week, so I can't wait to do that as well. I'd like to thank the PTO members who worked to submit the grants for the Chromebook. The elementary principals are beside themselves with joy. They're getting Chromebook cards. They're very excited. Each elementary school got approximately $7,600. So I'd like to thank the work of the Citywide Elementary Alliance, which fundraised in collaboration. And specifically, Maureen McSweeney at the Roberts School, Christina Gasson at the Roberts School, Bailey Shendell at the McGlynn School, Albie Abby, I'm sorry, Falcurno at the Columbus School, and Ari Casarier at the Brooks School. The Medford Community Fund Committee, responsible for reviewing these requests and awarding the funds to qualify organizations, consists of former Mayor Stephanie Burke, John Falco, President of the Medford City Council, Kathy Kreatz, former Vice Chair of the Medford School Committee, Neil Osborne, Director of the Diversity Office, Aaron Rafferty, Medford resident, and the CEO Wonder Fund. If you look on the second page, you can see the enormous amount of gifts and grants that were given, not just to the Medford Public Schools, but to Mystic Valley Elder Services, Community Cupboard, Cupboard Food Pantry. Michael Skorka and Rich Trotter called because they were very excited to get some monies for the Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. The First Baptist Church Concert Series, I hope you'll indulge me while I read these because I think it's very important that they get acknowledgement. First Baptist Church, Friends of Medford Rowing, Veterans Presentation Project, Medford Educational Foundation, Mystic River Watershed, Cachet, Trees Medford, West Medford Open Studios, obviously the Friends of the Medford Family Network, Medford Farmers Market, the MHS and MVHS PTO, St. Joseph's School, Malden YMCA, the Brooks, the Columbus, the McGlynn, and the Roberts Elementary Schools, Medford Historical Society, Friends of the Chevalier Gene McJim, Lakota Youth Day, and the Medford Arts Center. So we're really excited to accept this wonderful donation from Encore. Thank you. School Committeewoman Kreatz.
[Kreatz]: Thank you. Thank you Ms. Calzo for the report. I did serve on the committee and it was all the applications, they were just so interesting and I wanted to give everybody something. It was very difficult to make your decision and it was for the first time grant, we were able to give out 27 applicants and we had 37. So I just wanna say, encourage anybody who is a nonprofit to apply next year, put it on your calendar. You can get anywhere between $1,000 to $10,000. And the application should come out annually around, annually a little bit either on September 30th or a little bit after into October. And just thank everybody for all their hard work in filling out the applications. meeting the deadlines and they were all very interesting and everybody, you know, I wish I could give everybody something and, you know, I encourage you to apply again next year. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Secretary Van der Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: I just wanted to say that as a member of the Medford Education Foundation, I know that we were thrilled to receive our grant. That money will, of course, be used for projects that teachers will submit to us, and we will go through our process to fund innovative and interesting projects that teachers have come up with. And we were thrilled, and we wanted to thank Kathy as a member of the committee and the rest of the committee for their work. Thank you. School committee, woman McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you for this report. This is very exciting. Yes. And it's so exciting to see all the folks listed here. Thank you, Kathy, for your work on this and for our other folks, Aaron and Neil and John and former Mayor Burke on this. This is Really great news from Medford. I am wondering, I think, Kathy, I heard you say for nonprofits, for folks that want to apply next year. So the requirement is that you do have to be a 501c3 nonprofit for these funds. Is that right? Yeah. OK. So for anyone that wants to apply, they need that. And then the call, how was the call for applications made for the RFP? Do you know, or do you guys know? I'm just curious, how was the RFP for applications made?
[Kreatz]: Devaney she did the press release and it was on the website as soon as we had the it was a first-time application so we had to design it so as soon as the application was ready we put the press release out there and it was shared you know on Facebook all the social media and it was it was on the website that's how it was done thank you yep and then that then when we got the deadline date ready we posted that as well and And, you know, I was really overwhelmed and surprised with how many applicants we got. We didn't know how many we were going to get. And it was really nice. It was a nice turnout. You know, everybody did a great job.
[McLaughlin]: It's fun to give money away. Yeah, I know it was. Right, that's great. Goes fast. And then also for the Medford Family Network awards, the ESOL awards from Medford Family Network and also Kathleen McGlynn Brady's work with Roman Music Therapy. We work with Roman Music Therapy often and Meredith is fantastic. And music is another language for so many of our children, and a lot of our children who don't communicate with words, especially, but also our English learners, all of our preschool children, everybody loves music. So the music therapy is also really exciting, and I would encourage folks, once that program starts, to go and view that and see how the children really respond, because it's so good. So thank you.
[Caldwell]: So I hope you all remember that when budget time comes around and I'm requesting music therapy for our preschoolers, because they will benefit from that. I think it's great.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Motion to receive the report, place on file. Moved by Secretary van de Kloot, seconded by Councilwoman Mustone. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Do we have any old business?
[Kreatz]: Any questions about one of the reports that was provided? I think it was one of the old reports that was on the, I guess it was on the list of the back of the requested reports. It was the report on mathematics middle school supplies. So I just wanted to, while we're entering into the pre-budget season, this year I think we all heard from teachers who had to buy supplies for manipulatives. I'm sorry, it's hard to say that word for me. Manipulatives such as dice, beads, blocks, measuring cups. So I just want to make sure that going into the pre-budget season that we consider these items in the mathematics supplies department because teachers shouldn't have to go out and buy the supplies so that their students can do some of the experiments that they you know, have to do as part of the curriculum. I did hear that some of the students were asked to bring in drink mixes so that they could measure the water in drink cups, and it would be able to see the different levels with different colors. So I mean, they aren't very expensive things, but if we can just find a way to kind of maybe even ask for donations from people if they want to donate certain supplies, if there isn't enough money in the budget for the additional supplies, but we should really try to build something in the budget so that there's enough for the supplies. I just wanted to add that.
[Lungo-Koehn]: I take that as a motion to look into math supplies in the fiscal 2021 budget.
[Kreatz]: Yeah, just as we enter into the new upcoming pre-budget season.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion by School Committeewoman Kreatz, seconded by Secretary Van der Kloot. All those in favor? All those opposed? Paper passes. Communications? None. None. New business? Number one, request to present new options for agenda formatting, which was tabled on January 6, 2020. Secretary Van der Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: This was an item which came up when we had a meeting initially with the school committee members and questions of whether we could have a more efficient agenda. I think that this should go to the subcommittee on rules and regulations, so I'd make a motion to send it there.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion by Secretary Van der Kloot, seconded by Councilwoman Mustone. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Paper passes. School Committee Resolution, be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Francis Kartelli. Mr. Kartelli was the husband of former Fulton Elementary School and Davenport Elementary School teacher and late Rosemary Kartelli. Also, be it resolved that the Medford School Committee express its sincere condolences to the family of Vincent Zampel. Mr. Zampel was the father of former physical education teacher and athletic director Ronald Zampel. It is noted in the Medford Historical Society that Vincent Zampel was the last Medford student to be drafted in World War II prior to graduating from Medford High School. If we all may rise for a moment of silence. Number 11, negotiation and legal matters. Nope, nothing, okay. Requested reports, we have a number of them. Do you want me to read them? Nope. Motion to adjourn by school committee member Ms. Stone, seconded by school committee woman Kreatz. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Have a good evening, everybody.
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