[Unidentified]: Good evening, everybody.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Looks like we have all seven members present. It is 5.46 and we are recording. We have Medford School Committee meeting January 11th, 2021. Organizational meeting at 5.45 p.m. Regular meeting at 6 p.m. by Zoom. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12th, 2020 order, suspended certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, Chapter 30A, Section 18, and the governor's March 15th, 2020 order imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in one place. This meeting of the Medford school committee will be conducted via remote participation to their greatest extent possible. Specific information, the general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and our parties with a right and a requirement to attend this meeting can be found in the city of Medford website at www.medfordma.org. For this meeting, members of the public who wish to listen meeting may do so by accessing the meeting link contained herein. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological means. In the event that we aren't able to do so, despite best efforts, we will post on the City of Medford and Medford Community Media websites an audio or video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting. The meeting can be viewed through Medford Community Media on Comcast Channel 22 and Verizon Channel 43 at 5.45 p.m. Regular meeting of the Medford School Committee virtual information, 6 p.m. Since the meeting will be held remotely, participants can log or call in by using the following link or call-in number. One of the call-in numbers is 1-929-205-6099. Enter meeting ID 998-7212-9468 when prompted. Additionally, questions or comments can be submitted during the meeting by emailing medfordsc at medford.k12.ma.us. Those submitting must include the following information, your first and last name, your Medford Street address, your question or comment. Roll call vote. Member Van der Kloot, do you want to just take over? Jenny Graham?
[Van der Kloot]: Here. Kathy Kreatz? Here. Melanie McLaughlin. Yeah. Me and the stone.
[Ruseau]: Her audio isn't working.
[Van der Kloot]: Got it. Thank you. Mia is here. Paul Russo.
[Ruseau]: Yes, here.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Paulette Van der Kloot present and may along go current present seven present Xerox and if we could rise and salute the flag. 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. Do I have a motion on the floor?
[Kreatz]: Yes. Mayor, I move to nominate Paulette Vandeclude as vice chair.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Second. Motion to nominate member Van der Kloot as vice chair, seconded by member Kreatz, seconded by member McLaughlin. I can call the roll. Member Graham?
[Van der Kloot]: Mayor? Yes. You should first ask if there are any other nominations, and then the nomination has to be said by saying the name.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Correct. Are there any other nominations for vice chair? And yes, please state the name on both this and for secretary. Member Graham.
[Graham]: So I say the name of the person I am nominating, is that correct? that I'm voting for?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, if you have another nomination, then you put it before the vote. I don't.
[Graham]: No, I'm just asking about, okay. So Paulette Van der Kloot.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Kreatz.
[Kreatz]: Paulette Van der Kloot.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member McLaughlin. Paulette Van der Kloot. Member Mustone. Paulette Van der Kloot's a thumbs up. Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Paulette Van der Kloot.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Van der Kloot. Paulette Van der Kloot. And myself, member Paulette Van der Kloot. Seven for in favor of member Van der Kloot being our 2021 vice chair. Congratulations.
[Van der Kloot]: Thank you very much. I did speak to Member Ruseau earlier today, and we agreed that if any letters come in today, since I wasn't familiar yet with the process, that he would read them today. And I'll take over in the future. And you'll be the secretary one more night?
[Lungo-Koehn]: No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Is there a nomination for secretary of the Medford School Committee for 2021? I nominate Melanie McLaughlin. Second. Member McLaughlin is nominated by Member Van der Kloot, seconded by Member Kreatz. Are there any other nominations? Hearing and seeing none, I will call the roll.
[Graham]: Member Graham? Member McLaughlin? Member Kreatz.
[Healy]: I just closed it.
[Graham]: Member McLaughlin.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Shout out everything. Member McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Yes. Member McLaughlin.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Mustone. Member McLaughlin. Mia, that's the best audio you've had so far. Oh, thank you. I'm using Teagan's laptop. The kids have better stuff than us. Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Member McLaughlin.
[Lungo-Koehn]: And Member Van der Kloot. Member McLaughlin. I'd also like to put my vote to Member McLaughlin. So we have Member McLaughlin, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Member McLaughlin will be the 2021 school committee secretary. Congratulations. Number two, we have approval of minutes. December 21st, 2020, which was our regular school committee meeting.
[Ruseau]: Motion to approve.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion to approve by Member Ruseau, seconded by Member Van der Kloot. Roll call.
[McLaughlin]: Member McLaughlin, do you want me to do it? Okay, sure. Member Graham? Yes. Member Kreatz? Yes. Member McLaughlin, yes. Member Mustone? Yes. Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor? Yes. have to get a little bit. Used to this number Vanderclue.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Seven in the affirmative zero in the negative. Minutes are approved. Mayor member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. I just wanted to, um. Member McLaughlin probably does not have a pad for the vote pre printed pad with our names, but you can write what it is and then do the votes on that. Um, so I just, um, want to make sure that one that Susie or Lisa or somebody is taking the votes down and not relying on those pads.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. I am. Um, thank you. May I, ma'am? Yes. McLaughlin. Thank you, Member Ruseau. I am recording them on a Google Doc and also on my notebook in the interim. And I'm sure Susie is in her minutes as well. But if there's a formal stationery or something that folks want me to use, that's fine. I can pick that up at the central administration, assuming there are some there, Superintendent or Susie.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Um. We'll definitely get the stationary to you. But for the purposes of today, we'll have between Susie and Lisa will have, you know, backup in terms of recording that information.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. And then may I just ask or I can ask offline. I just how the forms are submitted, but I'll ask that later. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Number three approval bills, transfer of funds and approval of payrolls.
[Unidentified]: Motion to approve.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion to approve by member Kreatz. Seconded by member Van der Kloot. Roll call.
[McLaughlin]: Member Graham. Yes. Member Kreatz. Yes. Member McLaughlin. Yes. Member Mustone. Yes. Member Ruseau. Yes. Member Van der Kloot. Yes. Mayor Lungo-Koehn.
[Lungo-Koehn]: HAB-Masyn Moyer): Yes, 70 affirmatives here in the negative approval bills and transfer funds have been an approval payrolls has been approved number four report of secretary.
[Van der Kloot]: I just wanted to – I was in signing the bills last Wednesday. Finally, a lot of bills came through for food service, which I had been sort of on the lookout for, so I was glad to see them. Everything else seemed to be in order. I want to thank all of the secretaries, particularly Gina Citrano, who sort of helps organize the bills for me, but everybody who is involved in the process of getting the bills together and making sure that we are in order and our bills are being paid as they should be appropriately. There's a lot of paperwork involved and I just am very appreciative.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Member McLaughlin?
[McLaughlin]: Yeah, I just also wanted to add, you know, thank you to member Ruseau for his service as vice chair in the past session and to member van de Kloet and her service as secretary in the past session, because there is extra work involved and just wanted to say we appreciate that, thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. We have number five, report of committees. Six, I don't know, we don't have any reports on the committee. Up next is community participation. Again, public participation emails, questions or comments can be submitted during the meeting by emailing medfordsc at medford.k12.ma.us. Those submitting must include the following information, your first and last name, your Medford Street address, your question or comment. Member Ruseau, do you see any yet?
[Ruseau]: Yes, we have one. This is an email from Sarah Florence of Marion Street in Medford. I hope this. Hello everyone I hope this message finds you well in these strange times. I wrote last spring in support of the resolution to change the name of the Columbus Elementary School I was surprised by the length of the debate, but the solution ultimately passed. I understand that this issue is not the name change. It's not anyone's top priority at the moment, but I also feel that you made a commitment to the community to make this change. I have missed multiple deadlines. I would appreciate an update. Whether still be a committee to choose the new name. Can we still expect the name change this summer? Thank you.
[McLaughlin]: I make a January 26 agenda so that we can discuss and respond to the email.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Absolutely. I plan on responding to I can reply all I didn't get to that today, but I will. I know we're through another 20 subcommittees. We have a committee of the whole meetings we have to schedule and vision committee was up first. So do I have a second? Second second seconded by member Graham roll call.
[McLaughlin]: Oh, that's me. This is going to be tricky. I'll get used to it. Member Graham? Yes. Member Kreatz?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[McLaughlin]: Member McLaughlin? Yes. Member Mustone? Yes. Member Ruseau?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[McLaughlin]: Member Van der Kloot? Yes. Mayor Lungo-Koehn?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. paper passes, so we'll be on the 1-26 agenda. Number seven, we have report of superintendent's updates and comments.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Good evening, everyone. Happy New Year. It is my hope that 2021 will bring with it much happiness and good health for all in our Mustang family and the Medford community at large. However, the year didn't exactly begin as we had expected. It started promising with the arrival of the vaccine, but no matter what your political leaning, the events that transpired last Wednesday at the United States Capitol was a horrendous show of the very worst of America. I am, as the majority of people in our country, a child of immigrants. My parents immigrated here from Haiti in the early 1960s. This type of action, what transpired last Wednesday, I would always say to myself, does not happen here. For the first time ever, the Confederate flag entered the United States Capitol building, the seat of our government. Our democracy, which has always been the shining star in the world, was damaged. It was scary, unsettling, and it once again shed light on both the fragility of our democracy while also bringing to the forefront the inequality in our country. As Vice President-elect Kamala Harris stated, it is just one example of blatant social inequity in the United States. Additionally, we have known for generations that much has to be done to create a more just, equitable, and unified society. The Medford Public Schools, we are committed to engaging in conversations that will promote understanding across lines of division. We will support our students and teach them to be leaders against hate while working aggressively to address racist beliefs, practices, and systems. Next week would have been the 92nd birthday of Dr. King. January 15th is his official birthday and we're celebrating it on the 18th. Dr. King said, we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. I believe that it is imperative during this time of heightened stress and anxiety that we provide the structure and support that our children require right here. Unfortunately, as all of us know, we are facing a surge with the COVID-19 cases, even here in Medford. We're aware that there's an uptick and we are working diligently to prepare for the safe return of hybrid staff and students when they come back to our buildings on Thursday, January 14th. We are continuing with all of our safety protocols to allow for this to happen. To that end, I again encourage all hybrid students to come to their schools for testing prior to their return to in-person learning. I've stated in many updates and commercials and in the communications that have gone out, if you have not completed a consent form, please do so. You can email it, you can drop it off at the school. Testing is going to take place tomorrow from 1 to 5 p.m. That's for all staff and students in cohorts A and C. And again, on Friday, from 1 to 5 p.m., we're going to test all students in Cohort B. For our incoming freshmen, testing can be accessed through the West Courtyard entrance. For our freshmen, their first time coming to the Medford High School Complex, there will be a freshman orientation this Wednesday, January 13th for ninth grade, and a detailed schedule was sent out to all students from Mr. Principal Paul DeLeva, And although the focus will be on cohort B and C students, we welcome cohorts A and D students to participate in the freshman orientation. Principal DeLava and Principal Fallon will welcome all the students, discuss COVID safety protocols, student schedules, and conduct socially distanced tours throughout the building. On a different note, I wanna remind our parents and guardians that students who qualify for free and reduced lunch under the National School Lunch Program, whether you are hybrid or fully remote, please know that the P-EBT funds are available to you until the end of this school year. For those who might have questions about this assistance, please contact the Department of Transitional Assistance at 877-382-2363. That's 877-382-2363. Last week, on Thursday, Mayor Lungo-Koehn, Principal DeLeva, Dr. Riccadeli and I had the pleasure of welcoming Mr. Adamo Castellanuevo, Director of the Consul General of Italy's Education Office to the Medford High School. Mr. Castelnuovo presented the mayor with a check in the amount of $24,000 US euros. It was 29,477 euros. Last June, Dr. Riccadeli, who oversees the World Language Department, worked with lead teacher Vilma Bobo, who was fluent in Italian, to submit a grant application for direct funding from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs connected to the Consulate General of Italy. Medford was selected to receive the highest funding amount of any school district in the entire country, based upon our strong support of our district-wide Italian language program. We are so appreciative and extend our sincere thanks to Federica Serrini, the Consul General of Italy, Director Castelnuovo, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their generous support of Medford's language program. As Dr. Riccardelli reported to you at the last meeting, the funds will be used to defray the cost of the advanced placement Italian program at the high school level for school year 2020-2021. In addition, last month, Tufts University Office of Community Relations hosted a holiday charity raffle. Residents were asked via Facebook, the Tufts Facebook page, to nominate a nonprofit organization to win a $500 prize. The nonprofit that had the most nominations in Medford was the Medford Family Network. Congratulations to our own Marie Cassidy and her staff. who have continued despite COVID to provide important services to our families. And thank you to Tufts University for providing this wonderful donation to Medford Family Network. Thank you for all of you who voted for the network as well, Medford Family Network. Last Thursday, Our district attorney, Marion Ryan, invited me to take part in a professional development training for incoming assistant district attorneys that focused on the effect of school discipline on black girls. Joining me on the panel was Melanie Rush from the Appleseed Center, who discussed the study they completed highlighting the disproportionate impact of school discipline on black girls. Superintendent Christine Elow of the Cambridge Police Department, who discussed the importance of establishing connections between students and the police. Dr. Yvonne Spicer, Mayor of Framingham, who was also an educator, and she discussed how our different educational roles have assisted her in her new role as a Chief Executive Officer of her city. I discussed the importance of inclusivity and equity here at the Medford Public Schools. It was wonderful to have been asked to participate in this important and substantial conversation with the young assistant district attorneys of Middlesex County. Just prior to our winter break, DA Ryan also hosted the first virtual Cut It Out program with the vocational cosmetology and health assisting students. We appreciate the continued collaboration we have with our district attorney's office. Despite COVID, our CCSR students continue to find ways to improve our community. Nathan Quinn and Charlotte Foti, sixth graders at the McGlynn and Abigail Charlton, a sixth grader at the Andrews. noticed that the majority of the little free libraries around the city featured books for an older audience. So they held a book drive for middle school age students collecting a remarkable 249 books. They have distributed the books to the little free libraries around Medford and plan to continue to do so over the next months. Great job, Nathan, Charlotte, and Abigail. Thank you for your advocacy and your leadership and replenishing the book supplies and the little libraries to encourage reading during this COVID time. So congratulations to you and thank you so much. I would like to close my remarks this evening with a quote from President Abraham Lincoln. It's from his first inaugural address given back in 1861 and rings true, especially after last Wednesday's riots. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not become, we must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. Let us all please remember that, united we stand, divided we fall. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Dr. Edouard-Vincent.
[Ruseau]: Mayor?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Oh, actually, I apologize. I'm too early for what I wanted to say.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Number two, we have a COVID-19 public health update and Medford Public School COVID-19 testing summary and update given by nurse supervisor, Ms. Toni Rae and Medford Board of Health director, Ms. Marianne O'Connor, as well as Mr. David Murphy.
[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Hi, this is Marianne. I think I'll let Toni go first on the school update and then we'll go into the community update if that's okay. Sounds great.
[Wray]: Sounds great. Good evening, Mayor, Superintendent and members of school committee in the community. I'm going to give a summation of the COVID activity in our schools between December 22nd and January 10th. Medford Public Schools tested 900 students and staff on Tuesday, December 22nd, and we reported two positive student cases from that testing. On that date, there were no staff that tested positive. Between December 23rd, the start of the holiday vacation, and January 10th, we've reported 79 positive COVID cases to the Department of Education. This is very consistent with the activity that is going on in the community. All the cases received follow-up instructions about isolation procedures and quarantine procedures for their close contacts from our school nurse contact tracers. The 79 cases included 16 staff members and 63 students. I have two reminders that I would like to make about the COVID testing that starts again this week. Please do not send your child or if you are a staff person, do not come for testing if you are showing any illness symptoms. Ill children and staff and families are advised to call their primary care physicians or go to a stop the spread testing site if you're feeling ill. Also, as we resume hybrid learning, I want to remind our community to stay home from school if you feel ill with any symptoms. This applies to staff and students, and our ability to reduce COVID transmission within the schools is very dependent upon keeping the illness out. So we would like everybody to do their part in achieving this. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Ray.
[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: Ms. O'Connor?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, it's Marian O'Connor.
[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: That's okay, I can go with the community update right now. So to follow up with what Tony has said, so as the superintendent had already stated earlier, we are definitely in a surge. You know, regardless of the public health warnings and headings of not gathering for the holidays and not traveling Unfortunately, we are in a search. So since 1223, which I believe was the break from school to today at 530, we've had 720 cases in the community. So that's 720 cases in 20 days. However, I did break them down. And looking at the school age population, like Tony said, out of those 720, I went from zero to 19. All right, and then I can break that down more for you, but from zero to 19 out of the 720, there's 97 cases. If you wanna look at just the five-year-olds, So the 19-year-olds, that's four, two, three, four, sorry. That's 77 cases. So as Tony said, school-aged folks, I did include 19-year-olds. There were 31. If you take out the 19-year-olds, there were four of them. So there's only 31 in the 15 to 18-year-old category. So anyways, So it's a small percentage is my point, I guess, what I'm trying to get at out of the 720. Really the majority of our cases were the 20 and 30 year olds, again, as we had been seeing previously. I do wanna thank the school nurses for all their help over the break, especially for the contact tracing. They've been incredible as far as following up with all the students and children and their families. Obviously not all of those, school-aged kids were Medford school children. There are certainly some private schools involved as well. But as you know, and you probably have seen last week's report from the state put us in the red. And we knew that was coming. We're at a 5.56% positivity rate now according to the state data. And we're expecting that'll probably be close to the same this week as well. And there were 520 cases reported during that time period. So we're in a search. Unfortunately, we expected this with the holidays, which is why we delayed the opening a bit. And I'm glad that we're testing this week. It's gonna be interesting to see what and how many we catch. Most of this that we've seen in the community has been household spread. It's mostly, you know, you'll see it two, three, four, five, even six people within a household are getting, are becoming positive. And that's what a lot of these cases are. It's really a lot of household spread. Once it's in the house, like we've seen before, it seems to spread pretty rapidly. Other than that, I'm happy to announce that we are doing our first responder testing this Thursday. We are in a regional effort with Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Stoneham, and Winchester to vaccinate our first responders, police, fire, and EMS. The first one kicking off right here at the Medford Police Station, Thursday morning and Thursday afternoon. And also happy to say that all of our school nurses are included in that program because they are COVID facing, because they are doing the surveillance testing, because they're involved in the surveillance testing and anyone involved with that as far as, you know, the helpers or management people there that anyone COVID facing is allowed to be vaccinated, which is great. So all of our school nurses will be receiving their first vaccination if they haven't already due to other, duties will be receiving it Thursday. So that's terrific. K through 12 workers, teachers, are slated by the state. And again, we are at the mercy of the state as far as when we get vaccine and when we're able to vaccinate. But they are in the state's plan for phase two of K through 12. They are actually second in line in phase two, right behind the 75 plus and folks with two comorbidities. So we will be working to get that done as well. And I'm sure I'll be working with Tony and the school nurses to accomplish that, much like we've done the testing. So more to come on that as soon as we know, you'll know, but we are at the mercy of the state as far as information goes. And that's expected around early February. So again, so happy to take any questions, thoughts, concerns.
[Murphy]: Mayor, before we go to questions, could we just touch upon our testing program and how we're gonna be rolling that out over the next couple of weeks?
[Lungo-Koehn]: That'd be great if you could give the dates and in case any parents are watching, that'd be much appreciated. Thank you.
[Murphy]: Sure. So as the school committee knows, and I know many in the community are familiar, we have been running staff testing throughout the district since September on a weekly basis and began student testing in November. We've been working over the past couple of months with the Department of Education and other partners, including Tufts University, to talk through what we're doing in the Medford public schools. And we were recognized by Commissioner Riley last week as one of the districts that have been out front with regard to our testing. That is in large measure due to all the work that Tony and Marianne have been reporting on. to the committee over the past couple of weeks and that their teams have been involved in throughout each school over the course of the past several months. And we will be speaking with other districts across the Commonwealth tomorrow in a webinar to talk a little bit about what our experiences have been with respect to testing and what we are anticipating with our continued testing over the next several weeks and several months. And as has been communicated several times, including in correspondence that went to all staff and all families today from Ms. Ray, we will do re-entry testing tomorrow from 1 p.m. till 5 p.m. at all schools, with the exception of the Curtis Tufts, but that school community has been given a specific communication and instructions as to how their staff and students can get their tests. But with that exception, all schools 1 p.m. till 5 p.m. for cohorts A, high-need, most vulnerable students, cohort C, students who typically attend in-person instruction on Thursdays and Fridays, and all Medford Public Schools staff, consistent with the testing that they have done, as I said, since September. Cohort B students will have the opportunity to receive their reentry tests on Friday, January 15th, from 1 p.m. till 5 p.m. That is again at all schools. And then we will continue with our regularly scheduled weekly testing on Tuesday, January 19th, following the holiday, and pick that up again going forward. As of right now, we anticipate the transition to pooled testing to happen on the week of January 26th. So we'll have two more weeks, including the re-entry testing that takes place this week, and our regular testing that takes place next week, our individualized testing, and then we'll switch to the pooled testing the week of January 26th. That's our plan as of right now. With respect to pooled testing, and we'll be communicating a lot of that out to families and staff, there is very little difference, as we were discussing with our administrators today, at the initial point of collection with regard to individual testing and pool testing. The difference comes in what happens in the follow-up after that, where individual in a pool or a pool test positive. And what that means is for anyone who hasn't followed this closely, and they can absolutely understand why you may not have, a pool testing means all of the swabs going into one vial. They are then tested together. And if there is positivity, identified within that pool, the entire pool is contacted and given directions as to how to go about getting a follow-up test on the following day. And the protocols are for that pool to be quarantined up and until they receive their negative test, which again, there'll be a designated follow-up testing location. We call it the reflex testing that will take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays. following our Tuesdays and Fridays. That's why we established Tuesdays and Fridays as our testing days because we have a remote day on Wednesday and obviously the weekend on Saturday to give people that window of time to get their follow-up tests. There are some specifics from an operational perspective that we still need to work out with regard to the location of the designated testing spot for the reflex testing and exactly how that's gonna play out. And those are conversations that we're gonna continue to have over the coming days But for our community members, there are no implications for the next two weeks, because we're just going to continue doing the same testing program that we've done over the last several months. And when we iron out those final details as to where to send people when a pool tests positive, that's something that we'll be communicating out broadly. Just in terms of final reminders, we still want to get to 100% with regard to consent forms. I think the superintendent, Tony, and I were pleased when We were on a conference call with a couple of other district representatives, districts that don't need to be named, and our consent form intake was at a higher percentage than some of the others on the call, but we're not at 100% and we're hopeful that we'll be able to get there in the coming days.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Great, thank you very much. Member Ruseau?
[Ruseau]: Thank you. A couple of questions and then there's also several emails, but I'll let those come after everybody else has spoken. I know that you're still working out the logistics around the reflex testing when somebody in a pool is positive. I'm just wanna be, what I'm hearing that has been worked out is that we are depending on families on a Wednesday or over the weekend to go get their kid tested. And I don't, you know, It's concerning because some families may not do that or be able to do that. But my question is, let's say there are 10 people in the pool test, one of them is positive. Are we allowing those 10 people back before they have all, if one of those families does not go get a reflex test, are they allowed back in our building?
[Murphy]: So under the protocols, Mr. Rousseau, the answer would be no, that if they're part of a pool and have not yet shown a negative test as part of the reflex testing, the expectation is that they would not come back into the building. Now, while the protocol is to get tested the following day, most, although not all students, would not be due in for another five days. It's a little more challenging with staff, and obviously with the Cohort A students, the expectation is they're back on Thursday. And I think that is, It is absolutely one of the downsides of the pool testing, I think. The rationale to the pool testing for both the district and the state is sustainability, that it is dramatically different in terms of the financial resources. And we are, one of the reasons we haven't ironed out, finalized those details, and one of the reasons that we will in the near future need to make a strategic decision as to whether to participate in the program that DESE is constructing is that we want it to be as easy as possible for our families to get the reflex testing. And so if the DESI program, and again, we've been advised on multiple occasions that the DESI program is still trying to work out some details, and that's why it's unclear whether we would essentially want to volunteer to participate or not. But what we'll be looking for to make that determination is whether it is operationally set up to be as less of a burden as possible for families for several reasons, but one of them is what you're identifying as a downside to pool testing.
[0SdCkR9KuqQ_SPEAKER_06]: And just to interject, and I know I may be stating the obvious, this is Marianne. If there's a positive pool, it doesn't mean there could be more than one positive in that pool, right? It doesn't mean that there's just one, there could be two, three. So it is really important that everyone gets that follow-up testing.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member van de Kloot? Oh, just unmute.
[Van der Kloot]: How many people are in the pool or expected to be in the pool?
[Murphy]: At least eight, and we think 10. That is one of the things that scientists are discussing in their laboratory right now. And as the technology improves, there's potential for more swabs in the vial. which would be great because that's less of a budgetary impact, obviously. But typically, those who are working on the technology and the science behind this right now are using a window of eight to 10 swabs in a vial. Thank you. Standing is 10 is the max at this point.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Graham? Unmute yourself, Jenny. Member Graham, please.
[Graham]: Sorry, I thought I did that. When you talk about pooling folks, has there been discussion about pooling siblings in the same pool? I know that's obviously can't be done like cross building, but is there a way to pool families within a building so that at least they're not sort of getting potentially snared by multiple pools?
[Murphy]: Yeah, so we've looked at, we've had a few different discussions about whether our cohorting of students should have any relation to the cohorting that takes place when the testing is pooled. And generally speaking, everyone, and when I say we, I'm talking about some of the folks on this call, but also the conversations that we're having with other districts. some of the partners that are involved in developing the technology and the partners that are involved in operationalizing this, which it was their advocacy in part that built the conversation with DESI that is responsible for the program that's being rolled out across the Commonwealth now. And the prevailing view right now is that the efficiency cost to trying to do anything other than putting the eight swabs in a vial is essentially not worth it. That particularly with the virus rates being what they are, that we're better off. And what I mean by that, frankly, is that while we are in the midst of a surge and that the numbers are high, our in-school transmission is low enough in which we can operationalize pool testing. But part of that is essentially putting the eight to 10 swabs in a vial, filling up as many vials as possible, and then getting the vials out the door to get tested. the time that would be lost by trying to coordinate and the potential cost of unfilled vials that aren't filled to the maximum capacity is considered to outweigh the potential convenience that would be enjoyed by families if everyone was together. The other thing I would say is Well, it is not true that if a sibling has COVID, everyone in the household must. We know that, obviously. Most of us have had one experience or another where that's been demonstrated, where somehow people, despite living in the same household, don't spread it around. If they're in the same school, and we wouldn't be talking about this if they're not, and they're coming from the same household, there is an increased chance that they're going to be positive, which means that the pools, their families are going to be dealing with the same challenge and the same problem. So the answer is it's been thought about that there are some upsides, but not probably not worth it.
[Graham]: Okay, that makes sense. Thanks for that answer. And you also said earlier that our participation is good, but it is not 100%. What percent is it? It is...
[Murphy]: within the vicinity of 80% consent forms. And I would want to go back and look at numbers that have come in over the last few days. We're not getting a lot of consent forms. We're fully remote right now. But I would like to get back to it. It's in the vicinity of 80%. I can say on a conference call with Desi, I said it was 80%. And then as that was being heralded, it occurred to me that maybe I wanted get the exact number, but it is very close to 80%.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Okay.
[Murphy]: It may be over, it may be over.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, and it was over 1,700 students have signed up, and Ms. Frey just quote me from around four to 500 teachers or staff, or 450 or so. 400 to 450 staff. Okay.
[Graham]: And has there been discussion across districts or with other superintendents about making this kind of testing mandatory as a condition for in-person learning? And what's your thinking about that?
[Murphy]: So there has been discussion. I think that discussion is going to continue. I think the problem that we and other districts have run into is that families it's very hard to impose a condition ex post facto. And while we do have the remote learning option that is available, and we are currently not structured to withstand a disproportionate influx of remote learners into all of our remote learning settings, particularly at the elementary level. And so given that we, I think it would be really hard to halfway through a school year impose that type of, when we logistically can't necessarily offer an alternative option and excluding students on this basis on such short notice, I think is definitely not viable. So I think that, I do think that it is conversation we will need to have this spring and over the summer, depending on where we are with the virus going into next school year. when all options are back on the table and families can make potential, you know, we can first determine what decisions the district and the Commonwealth are gonna provide the families or what options rather, and then make sure that families have all the information available to them. And that's certainly not a, you know, we didn't have this information, we didn't have, some of these testing strategies weren't even developed at the time that schools were making learning, you know, plans and providing options to families. So I think that's, that is the, hesitancy as to whether to wrestle that particular issue. And in the in the lieu of that wrestling match, we have been pushing strongly encouraging and asking principals to continue that dialogue with their families. Because while we certainly want to provide this opportunity for people to stay healthy, this is really a public health obligation that we all have. It is not so much about testing, because this is actually one of the sort of interesting conundrums of testing. It's not really about keeping you safe. By the time the swab goes into your nose, you either have it or you don't. And so this is about a community responsibility that we all have to one another. And I think that's something that they'll write really interesting articles about in the future.
[Graham]: Yeah, absolutely. I if for those who are listening, I, I can't request strongly enough that everyone participate in this program like we are so lucky to have this program in Medford, I get emails every day from school committees across the state that. They have to go full remote because they just can't figure out, they can't isolate how their case counts are happening, where it's happening in schools. And they just have no choice but to make these really broad brush decisions. And I think we've been really lucky here that we can make really targeted decisions about this. And if you haven't signed up for testing yet, please do it. it is life-saving. It may not save your life, but it may save somebody else's life. So please seriously consider that. And then the last question that I have.
[Murphy]: I just want to say thank you for echoing that because, you know, the principals know this. We have, and teachers as well, been looking at every sort of communication avenue and sort of trying to identify who's the best messenger and how do we sort of really craft that message in a way where people can understand the importance of it. And I think we all greatly appreciate you, all members of the testing family.
[Graham]: And then my last question about testing is whether cohort D families can test this week.
[Murphy]: And the answer to that is no. And that goes to the sort of public element that we were talking about. I think this district and the municipal government and all other community entities would love to provide this, but from a financial perspective, while I think our testing program has run well, I think we've done a good job, we've also been patching it together. And one of the key variables that has changed, that is changing this week and going forward is a partnership that Ms. Ray cultivated with some higher ed institutions and a large influx of volunteer student nurses who are helping us to staff this and execute this, which we know other districts, even in response to Dessie's rollout of this program, have been unable to, they've been unable to do because they just don't have the personnel needs. We don't necessarily, up until this point, we haven't necessarily had the personnel either. We've just told a bunch of other people who typically do other stuff that they now work the testing registration desk. And I think it's been heartening to see the extent to which people have been willing to dive in and take this up as an unexpected responsibility that everyone in the organization has. And I think that without that partnership that Tony's developed, there would be real questions about the sustainability.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Awesome, thank you. Dr. Edward-Vincent? Yes, I just wanted to take this moment also to thank you, the school committee, for your support during this entire journey because we were kind of one of the districts that was the first one out of the gate. So thanking you for your leadership with that. We have been kind of quietly tapped on the shoulder by Desi, which Mr. Murphy alluded to. Tomorrow we will be part of a webinar with other districts. talking about the work that we have been doing here in Medford and how it's working for us to be able to help other districts think differently and how were we able to do it because it was a tremendous feat. And so just in this moment, I want to thank our nursing supervisor, Toni Wray. It's seven days a week. I get texts over the weekend. Maryann O'Connor texting me as well from the Board of Health on the city side. And, you know, Mr. Murphy and his team, this was, no one thought that this would be such a huge task and undertaking, but we prioritize safety, equity, and consistency, and testing fell under the bucket. And so we're continuing to prioritize that to the best of our ability. So I just want to thank you, the school committee, the mayor, the city side for their support of paying for the testing the partnership with Tufts, but really I just want to say thank you because now the other districts that have found themselves with no choice but to have to shut down or no way to contact trace. They did not have a system in place to remain open. So I just wanted to let you know that we are doing what very, very few districts have been able to do. And they're now asking us to share what we've learned, our best practices to help other districts strategize and be able to come up with it, come up with something for their respective communities. So I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's been helping with the testing and keeping our community safe.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you Dr. Edward-Vinson for all your hard work as well. It does not go unnoticed. It's definitely a team effort. If I may ask a question, I think everybody, can you give some logistics about this Tuesday and Friday testing? just any questions, little questions that have come in that maybe we can clear up. For example, if I'm a mom and I have somebody in elementary school, middle school, and high school, do I go to all three locations or can I get them all tested in one place? What are we looking at for where, are we ready for having lines to have people waiting and then we're going to wait outside, kids on the playgrounds. If we could just kind of talk through anything that you're hearing and maybe answer those two questions, that will be helpful for all those who are listening and getting ready to pack the kids in car or walk to get their kids tested.
[Murphy]: And when they do, they can go to one location. The siblings have been specifically identified. So if you have children in multiple schools, you can choose the one that's most convenient. and they should be able to get tested in whatever school you go to. If there are other specific exceptions to that, I would just ask that you email your school nurse or principal. They'll pass those on to us. So generally speaking, we want people to go to their home schools that they attend. That's for crowd control purposes, occupancy, keeping the lines are set up and the signage is out to make sure that we don't have any overcrowding. I would suspect that in history is sort of borne out over this testing program that people participating in COVID testing like to get there early. And so it's probably more likely that there'll be lines in the earlier part of the one to 5pm window than at the later part. So If that's a concern, I would encourage you to go between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., and then you can let me know if I was wrong about that, but that's been the case every week pretty much since September. Again, if you have children in multiple schools, you can choose one and go there. Some of the testing stations have been moved from their normal locations to be closer to exits and entrances, so you can come and go more easily. it is possible, as I said, that the line might extend outdoors in some for purposes of maintaining the six feet of distance. But I think that should be probably only at the beginning and not too common. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Ms. Ray.
[Wray]: Yes, I just also wanted to remind parents that students who are in middle school and high school have been self swabbing during their testing and they should be able to enter the buildings by themselves so that we don't have an over occupancy between students and their parents. These students are used to doing that. They know the routine and they should move through the process pretty quickly.
[Murphy]: And if I could just add really quickly to that, because this is the part of what we're gonna talk about with the rest of the state tomorrow, of all the things that the district has done well in this, and I think Tony spoke to the numbers and the level of participation, which is really good in and of itself, but the efficiency with which each school community has organized themselves, and then with Tony's staff and their own have executed this, I think is in some ways, one of the more pleasant surprises, not that we didn't expect people would be able to be efficient or they would, obviously they would be trying, but we're moving students, large cohorts of students in and out of the testing station in a matter of just a few minutes, which both ensures, I think in some respects, better participation, but importantly, it prevents the school day from becoming all about the COVID test. And that was one of the concerns that some of us had going in that most of these students are only in two days a week to begin with. And we didn't want to reduce the instructional day to just time spent in line waiting to get your COVID test. Because the point of the COVID test is to stay in school. And then if you don't even get to class, then what was the point of coming to school to begin with? And we've done a really, really good job at that. And so to the principals and the nurses who have made that possible, I think we owe them a big debt of gratitude. But to that point, I guess this is why I started saying this. For parents, particularly from sixth grade and up, it would be great if you stayed in the car because that will reduce the chance that anyone has to stand in line outside in the cold.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you very much. Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. Um, I have, uh, if there, uh, did other members have questions just cause I have a couple of emails. I'm sorry.
[Mustone]: I know it's short notice, but if there's any way you could do a reverse call, because I think that's a great information that parents shouldn't, I was planning on going in with Nevin and Rowan to the Andrews. So I think that's great. If someone could put out a call that grade six through 12, the parents can wait in their car. just because of the numbers in the building. I don't know if that's too short notice to get a call out.
[Murphy]: Well, I think it might be worth doing a call tomorrow, one more call tomorrow morning, just to get people out generally. We did one this evening in which we said K to five parents should accompany their students. Obviously the inference being six to 12. To be honest, that was worded intentionally because for some parents, if they feel strongly that they would like to be with their child when they test, we're not prohibiting it. and we want to leave that option available. But I think emphasizing that point that secondary students can come in on their own, I think that's fine. And I think another robo call tomorrow. I don't know that we need to do another letter because we've already done several, but I think a robo call tomorrow morning would be appropriate. And I'm sure we can do that.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Maybe we can add in there. Yep, and just add them. If you have multiple children in multiple schools, you can test at one location.
[Murphy]: That wasn't today, but we'll put it in tomorrow.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Oh, thank you. Member Ruseau?
[Ruseau]: Thank you. This is an email from Jane Hamill on Maynard Street in Medford. As we all watch with horror at our increasing infections, I have been so grateful about the testing program at the schools. Thank you for making that happen. Is it possible to get information about participation rate and number of positives? I'm specifically interested in seeing the percent of students per cohort per school who have submitted their paperwork and percentage of students who actually participate any given week at the high school, since it is up to them to remember to go rather than the middle school where they are actually get called to do it. And the number of positive cases identified per cohort. possible to get the information before school starts on the 14th and the 20th, and after that on an ongoing basis, such as every two weeks, it would help ease my family's concerns about heading back in during this surge. I will forward the specifics of that email since that was probably a lot to digest.
[Murphy]: Yeah, I think most of that data can be and is readily available. I'm not sure that it's broken down exactly along the way the community member is asking for, but we can If you want to just forward it, Mr. Soto, we're happy to take a look at it. We'll be able to provide whatever information we can.
[Ruseau]: That'd be great. Thank you. I do know that the committee has, I mean, in numerous meetings, we haven't made a motion per se, but we have asked, you know, for the percentage of students. I thought we had asked by grade level and school that had submitted their paperwork because I, Ms. Ray will know this number much quicker than I could do a Google search, but 80% is not a number that is considered acceptable to... My understanding before we began all this was it was 90, 92% or something. That was really the number we needed to be safe. And 80%, that's not anywhere near that, frankly.
[Lungo-Koehn]: HAB-Masyn Moyer): I don't have a recall Tufts. HAB-Masyn Moyer): We Chris doors, the Tufts rep and he never meant. He said, you want at least a large majority, but to be safe. I know I don't ever recall the 92% or 90% HAB-Danny Teodorusilo & Collin Mastodoni, Jr.:
[Murphy]: : I would just, we're not satisfied with 80% either. I'm also not. I'd love to do the math before I say that the number 80% anymore because it may be a little lower, maybe a little bit higher, but we're not done collecting consent forms. And there are some issues related to the potential involvement with the DESE program that we're going to have to factor into our communications with regard to collection of additional consents. But we haven't stopped, and we've used almost every communication opportunity we've had since the consent form was developed and the student testing began. and we'll continue to push that aggressively. So I don't want any of the members of the committee to think that we are boasting about 80%. I guess I did say we were boasting about it, but that was compared to districts that were lower. So that was just in that moment, my Medford pride took over, I think, but the number, it needs to be higher. There's no doubt about that.
[Ruseau]: I have another email, Mayor, but I think Member McLaughlin's hands up.
[McLaughlin]: Member McLaughlin. Thank you. And thank you, Member Ruseau. I wanted to respond regarding that email before we moved on. So if that information could be included in the bi-monthly reporting, that's what's being asked. But what I'm hearing is we're not asking for a motion specific to that date, but that will occur as part of the dashboard. Is that accurate?
[Murphy]: Yes. Looking forward. That's right, because I'd like to read the email closely to make sure that all of the information is information that we can provide. I mean, part of the challenges with this is that almost every number there is very, very fluid. And so our ability to incorporate new data and then publish it and keep, maintain its accuracy is not a light lift. That's not how we do it. I just, before we make any sweeping commitments as to exactly how this data can be reported, I just want to look at it more closely.
[McLaughlin]: That'd be great. So then I would ask that we make a motion that we put this on the agenda for the January 26th school committee meeting, just as a follow-up, if we could do that, Mr. Murphy, so that you could tell us what was workable, what wasn't, and how it will be reported out. That would be really helpful.
[Unidentified]: Sure.
[McLaughlin]: We can include that. Can I get a second?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion by Member McLaughlin, seconded by member Van der Kloot, roll call member McLaughlin?
[McLaughlin]: Yes. Member Graham? Yes. Member Kreatz? Yes. Member McLaughlin, yes. Member Mustone? Yes. Member Ruseau?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[McLaughlin]: Member Van der Kloot?
[Lungo-Koehn]: She said yes, she's muted, yes.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. Member, I mean, Mayor.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Yes, so the affirmative zero and the negative, that would be placed on the January 25th agenda.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. I actually just had a quick thought question of my own, actually not related to the emails. We are sending out the communications to seek parents to sign this. Are we also, are we receiving, affirmations that we will not be getting tested? Are we getting a positive declines? And are we collecting those? And if so, what do those look like? Because I'm worried about, you know, when my son was in elementary school, we got all of his notices once a year when we emptied his locker. And, you know, I just worry that, you know, do we have families who are still completely oblivious because we just are communicating with them in a way? And if we get a positive no, we can take them off the list and work the list of those that haven't responded directly. But if it's hundreds of people, then it's much harder to work that list. So that's my question.
[Murphy]: So there's a couple of different parts to this answer, member Rousseau, and I'll try to keep it brief. The system works based on positive consent forms. So In the actual data system that essentially produces the vial that your test goes into, if a student who has either, we've got a note from mom and dad saying, nope, do not test my kid, or we just didn't get anything, the system just won't produce a vial to test. And therefore the student couldn't be tested. We do have a record from all school communities in which there was an affirmative communication, as you say, saying, I don't want my child tested. That doesn't have any impact in terms of the actual technology that permits the student to actually receive a test. There've also been very, very few people who have volunteered that they don't want their child being tested. So few in fact, that The note that we have in our own internal data systems, frankly, is so that when we get to a point where we've gotten a response from everyone, and we hope to, because we want to get 100% on that, the hope is that we can then engage with the family through the health services department to identify why it is they don't want to participate in the testing. And it is certainly the family's choice to go to the point that we spoke about earlier in response to Dr. Graham's question, about potentially making it compulsory. They do have the option to opt out, but given the implications for public health, I do think the district has a responsibility up to a certain point to inquire as to why that's the case. The family certainly has a right to hang up the phone and say, because I said no, that's certainly their right. We certainly wouldn't suggest otherwise for the time being, but the hope is that, through a conversation, even those numbers could ultimately be reduced.
[Wray]: May I just follow up on what David had to say? I have fielded some of those emails and conversations myself, and oftentimes it's a parent or a student, especially an older student, who just doesn't understand the process and who has some unanswered question, like a fear about what it's going to mean. And after the conversation, in many instances, we're able to gain the consent from the family. You know, they'll say, oh, that wasn't what I thought. This sounds much easier, less invasive. So yes, we, of course we agree to be tested. So the conversations are very worthwhile between the school nurses and the parents.
[Murphy]: Non-invasive has been some of the most persuasive words that we've used throughout this campaign.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Member McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. Yes, to that end I was interested very much in the data as well in terms of who is not offering consent and so has it, you know, is there a way that it can be made really clear to please you know in the robocalls and the communication. what have you, to let us know either way, one way or the other, yes or no, because we need to, you know, have that data, number one. So I think what we're hearing is, what I'm hearing as a parent anyway, is to please send in your consent form for your child to test and I'm not hearing if you don't want to test to let us know or you know if you have any questions to let us know and so I think that that's equally important because I think a lot of families probably just assume well if I don't respond they'll get that it's no and then it doesn't include that data set of people who like member Ruseau said you know whose notices are sitting in their kids mailbox uh email box or in their own spam folder or whatever it might be. So that data set I think is really important. And is there a way that we're sort of cross-referencing if it is, you know, say 20%, so 500, 1,000 roughly, you know, students, you know, is there any cross-reference? And my other, you know, real concern is, Again, would the data tell us anything about, you know, families of children with disabilities? So, for example, if there are a lot of children, you know, with disabilities that, you know, for whatever reason might need additional support in testing, whether it's from, you know, a specialized educator or somebody else that, you know, I'm sure that through the Arc of Mass or Northeast Arc or any of those organizations, this must be an ongoing issue for a lot of schools that you know, they're individuals who just, you know, probably need some support, getting some testing. So who they might be, and then also for any of our families who, you know, just what have you, either whether it's that, you know, there's situations at home or homelessness or they're not getting the message or whatever, how we can help with that situation. So I guess I'm asking if there's any way to disaggregate the data a little bit more. And then also how we as school committee members can help get out the word for the testing. Any suggestions that you might have, you know, other than obviously our own social media, but anything else that we can do, please give us some guidance. And then lastly, How are we making it very explicit to families? Because my intention is to definitely say, please let the school know whether you do or do not want testing. It's not just whether you do. So how can we message that?
[Murphy]: Well, Member McLaughlin, if I could respond. I do think that there is some strategic consideration as to articulating too explicitly the opt-out option that is available to everyone. As we said, it's not mandatory as of right now. I think that the strategy we've employed so far is to communicate repeatedly so that there, I'm sure there are some consent forms that are still on backpacks or collars, proverbially speaking, but we want to reduce that by continuing to give the option to opt in as much as possible. To be just really, really candid, Part of the reason we only talk about opting in is because in the absence of making it mandatory, we don't, our hope is that, well, the point about if you have any questions, we certainly say that as well. We need to continue saying that because we want to answer every question possible, but we don't really want to plant the seeds of what might be a good idea, why it might be a good idea to opt out because our position as an organization is that there really isn't a good reason to opt out. And I know at a much more complicated level, this conversation takes place around vaccines and that when we legitimize an option that is contrary to public health, we are increasing the risk that people exercise that option that is contrary to public health. And that is, frankly, there is a strategic implication for not talking too much about how you can say no if you want. They certainly can. and then they'll get a phone call from Tony and we'll try to talk them out of it, but they certainly have that right. But there is no sound basis to not participate in testing. And that is part of why we weigh the communications the way that we do. And that's just a question as to how the committee can help. I think that we are at each sort of threshold that we hit, we had the sort of initial, like try to get all the consent forms, in the days surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday, which wasn't ideal. And then we made a next push and we made some progress. Then we were collecting around a huge snowstorm that required canceling school two days. And then we had the holidays. And so like, as has been the case sort of with everything related to the pandemic, any challenge that we could think of eventually comes up. We've still got an 80%. We need to sort of regroup now and see where's that last gap. And I think we can put on specific strategies that the committee can help with.