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[Mustone]: Governor's March 15, 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 the greatest extent possible. Specific information and the general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and or parties with the right and or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the City of Medford website. For this meeting, members of the public who wish to listen or watch the 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 or 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 Method Community Media on Comcast Channel 15 and Verizon 45 from 5 to 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 1312-6266-799. All right, so that is that. So now I will take a quick roll call. Member Kreatz? Here. Member Van der Kloot? Present. Member Mustone, I am here. And now to move on to the agenda, we have one item on the agenda regarding the budget hearings and dates. So I will turn it over to Mr. Murphy.
[Murphy]: Thank you, Ms. Stone. And thank you, members of the committee, for having us here this evening. I'm going to share with you a brief deck that will be a continuation of the discussion that we held, not at the most recent school committee meeting, but at the prior regular meeting of the school committee in which we discussed both the closeout of fiscal year 2021 and preparation for fiscal year 2022. If that's okay with you for me to proceed to that, again, it's only two or three slides long talking about the timeline and about the process that we're currently anticipating going through. There'll be a process that will involve members of the district leadership team and culminating with a series of public hearings consistent with the request of the school committee at that previous meeting. And parts of this will be discussed at your upcoming regular school committee meeting on March 22nd. Although that will focus more on closing out fiscal year 21 as opposed to fiscal year 22, which is more or less what we're discussing tonight. So first with regard, there's people commenting on the budget, various forms right now. So first with regard to the timeline and the committees of the whole that the school committee requested Right now we're anticipating six separate budget hearings via a committee of the whole. The six umbrella categories that will run from April 27th through May 12th will be broken up via operations and some of the instructional areas of the district. These public discussions will be preceded by an internal process in which department heads will be meeting with Michelle Kingdon, our district comptroller, who's on the call tonight, and myself, along with the leadership team supervisors to talk through the various priorities and how they're woven together to form the district's operational and strategic budgetary priorities. there's obviously not a lot of content on here. So I'm inclined to just scroll through and then stop the screen share and take questions and we have a discussion. So that's okay with you. I'm going to just for by way of background, the, our working thesis right now, as we go into the fiscal 20 fiscal year of 2022 budgetary process is thinking about a core goal of repairing, rebuilding, and reaffirming. And what we mean by that is we know that there are learning gaps that have been created or exacerbated as a result of the pandemic. And while there's no, we're not going to create a special account, and that's going to be the funds by which we bridge those gaps and eliminate those gaps, but that is going to be our overarching strategy to make sure that students, particularly our high need and most vulnerable learners, don't feel the effects of this disruption and their educational process any longer than they need to. And I think most of us have seen various studies and research that has come out suggesting that the implications of the pandemic from an educational perspective could be potentially lifelong for some of the students that have been affected. And so what we're thinking about is what are the intensive interventions that we can employ to try to rebuild as quickly as possible and situate our students back to where they were prior to this disruption. And then also think about what are the systems and structures that potentially were already antiquated before this disruption that we can begin to look at in a new way and see how we can build a school system that is well positioned for the future. Some of the challenges that we're expecting as we go into this budget season, and frankly, I think it's a set of challenges that will be... I'm sorry.
[Mustone]: Sorry. Sorry, I'm calling one of my kids.
[Murphy]: No problem. So one of the sets of challenges that will outlive this immediate rebuilding period is the idea that we're anticipating a significant injection of additional funds. We were already prepared as we reported to the school committee some time ago for a $2.3 million influx that will be spread out over the next couple of fiscal years as a result of the ESSER II grant. And through the federal legislation that passed in recent weeks or days, we're expecting both at the district level and potentially for the city of Medford, a substantial injection of funding, but it's one-time funding. It's a potentially significant amount of funding where our estimates right now, our SR3 allocation will be in the vicinity of $4 million. But it's $4 million that is essentially one-time funds intended to be spread out over a period of time. And so that will require us to think strategically about how can we address the goals that we just talked about in terms of rebuilding and repairing and reaffirming our strategies that we know work for our high need and most vulnerable learners in a way that does not create fiscal cliffs. And if those of you have been through some previous budget times and budget crises, you know that we generally want to commit reoccurring funds to reoccurring expenses. And so while we will benefit from the federal legislation and the injection of funding that will come with it, We have to be mindful as we set up staffing structures in a way that we don't create systems that are essentially designed to fail, because in a short period of time, the funding won't be there to support. That doesn't mean that we don't, as it says here, pursue strategic staffing options, particularly staffing options that can potentially provide intensive supports where they're most needed in the wake of the pandemic. but it does mean we have to be thinking about what is a reoccurring cost and what is a one-time expense. On the infrastructure front, and that's typically what we think of when we think of one-time funds is wanting to focus on infrastructure. We have made a significant commitment as we discussed in January at the full school committee meeting to instructional technology. That is where the bulk of our pandemic-related funds went, with the exception of our sort of crisis HVAC work that needed to take place at the beginning of this school year. And so we will have to be thoughtful about not making sure that we're doubling down on a technology stockpile that we've already amassed. And I think we need to think more strategically about how do we make sure that that instructional technology is being fully utilized. So that could manifest itself by way of additional professional development and training. It could be program-based initiatives like some of the subscriptions that are designed to bridge some of those learning gaps that we talked about. And then at times there will be some staffing needs. And so this is not obviously a formal proposal right now to the school committee in terms of how we're looking to spend these dollars, but it is hopefully a glimpse into our current thinking and how that will influence the conversations we will have at the Committee of the Whole meetings starting after the April vacation. So with each budget group that meets internally and then ultimately is presented in the public forum, there'll always be a staffing template. And again, if you follow school budgets, you know that more often than not, we're talking about personnel and staffing, because that's essentially where all of the money goes, that we're a people-oriented organization designed to educate other people. And so that has been and will be the bulk of the funding commitment. We'll also highlight various fluctuations in budget lines. There will be some of that, as it has been, as I understand it, in previous years in Medford. And then we'll talk about the significant priorities and challenges that department heads are identifying as to what their departments and their groups need in order to advance that goal of repairing, rebuilding, and reaffirming as necessary in the wake of the pandemic. So last point, and I think I've kind of already made this, but I'll just touch upon it very briefly. We don't know exactly the size or the shelf life of the funds. And so we have to be thoughtful about that. We're not up and running at full speed as of yet. So it's hard to know exactly where those gaps are going to have been most exacerbated. And then we know that we'll have some lingering challenges with regard as a result of deferred maintenance. And while I think we're in a significantly better position now from an infrastructure, heavy infrastructure, A-TRAC type things than we were at the beginning of the school year, we know we have some substantial challenges that will still need to be addressed that are not necessarily related to the pandemic, but the pandemic has focused our attention on some of them at least. So I will scroll back. This is just so everyone can see the timeline again. It's probably somewhat self-explanatory, but these are umbrella categories. So if anyone has any questions regarding sort of what's tucked inside these umbrella areas, I'm happy to address that. I almost put the term et cetera after one of these, and I realized that could be, I didn't want to suggest in any way that we were diminishing any individual departments. In one way or another, this will represent the entirety of the proposed operating budget for FY22.
[Mustone]: Thank you, Mr. Murphy. And a parent in the chat did ask if there'd be an opportunity for public comment. So Mr. Andre Hina, if you would like to speak, we are happy to hear your comment or question.
[s_C3Q_KGMQA_SPEAKER_12]: Can you hear me now?
[Mustone]: Yes, great.
[s_C3Q_KGMQA_SPEAKER_12]: And I think there's other parents on the line as well that have a similar question as I'll raise. And it's not directly related to the materials that David just went through. So if there's another appropriate time to discuss it in more detail, I think we're happy to follow up. But there are a number of parents that have started a discussion around the availability of the after school program. And I've sent a couple of emails, I think a number of parents have reached out on this. And really the core of the issue, I think it comes down to the transparency of the program. Because once we've started sort of asking for specific numbers as to who's in the program, what's the availability of the program to new families, what's the current waiting list, you know, where are parents falling or, you know, parents don't even know where they are on the waiting list. And if you look at the, you know, who the program is serving, what you find is that, you know, there's more fourth and fifth graders in the program than kindergartners. And to David's point on, you know, bridging the learning gaps, you know, I think the students that are probably most affected by by remote learning are some of those youngest children. I have a kindergartener now, and remote school is extremely challenging. There was a listening session where we heard that there's third graders that are, some of the youngest kids, they're struggling even to know how to read at this point. And the afterschool program is really outlined as an enrichment program, it's further support. So I know you outlined the most vulnerable students and I think you're probably thinking about it differently, but I think the youngest, the kindergartners, the first graders, I would qualify them as the most vulnerable students and some of the students whose basic educational needs, there are gaps there. There are a number of points where I know this is a budget meeting, and in raising this issue, I think to some degree it is a budgetary issue. I think there's more than 17 families, I think there's 86 families on the waiting list, 17 that are starting to organize to discuss this. And really we'd be interested in, I know this has been a problem for years and years and years and years. And rather than just sort of recognizing it as an existing problem without a solution, discussing other options, both budgetary and otherwise, in order to really figure out a way that this can be addressed to create a program that's accessible to the right set of students. you know, in my mind, the youngest students who need the most after school care, who need the, who need sort of those learning gaps bridged. I think, and I know, and we recognize that this is a challenging problem. I know there's a number of parents who this is, this is one of our top problems that we really need addressed, particularly in this pandemic environment where it's difficult to find alternatives. where we don't necessarily want to expose our children to other groups of children that aren't in the same school system. So there's a number of issues here. We recognize it's complex. I know there's a number of other parents on the line as well.
[Mustone]: Just for the record, could you state your address and it can be registered?
[s_C3Q_KGMQA_SPEAKER_12]: Johnson Ave in Medford.
[Mustone]: Great. I do appreciate what you said. I do see Paulette's hand up. Member van de Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: Yes, I just want to mention that one of the real key issues about the after school program is personnel, is getting enough people to cover the students. And that's been a real challenge. So even if you look at enrollment, whatever, obviously the answer is to expand it, but expansion has been tough because of the lack of people who want to apply for the relatively low paying jobs. And it's also, it's not just the low pay, it's also the hours. Many of our teachers have already worked a full day, so they're not particularly interested. We've tried students coming in. We certainly bring in a certain amount of high school students, but they need to be overseen. So absolutely what we would like is to be able to expand it to accommodate every family who needs it, because that's the answer. But it is challenging.
[Mustone]: And I also, Mr. Murphy, and I was just gonna ask you and you might know the answer. I do think this is a longer conversation to come up with some solutions or remedies for, because as Mr. Kena said, it has been an ongoing issue after school program. So I'm not sure if that would be what subcommittee it would fall under to have a more robust conversation than under this budget scheduling meeting.
[Murphy]: I think there's a variety of subcommittees that we could, and certainly would like to put this as an agenda item so we can have a thorough discussion on it. I will say that Ms. Vanden Heuvel correctly identified one of the key challenges that the district has faced in exploring the potential expansion of the program In addition to the odd hours and low pay, only one of which frankly we can address because one is just sort of structural to the nature of the program, we have issues of infrastructure with regard to capacity at least some of the schools. We have within recent weeks begun exploring the possibility of additional venues, both from partner organizations and potentially internal schools in terms of what space could potentially be repurposed. And those are conversations that the central administration is having more or less as we speak with principals to see how we could potentially create space in a way that would not be disrupted to the rest of the school's operations. There are some questions of equity from a school-to-school basis as well that need to be addressed. And one of the conversations that Assistant Superintendent Galusi and I were having with the director of the program just within the last week were thinking through what would happen if we found a way to open up additional seats so that the program could grow. with the idea being that continues to be fee-based and therefore could be fiscally sustainable. How would we do that in a way that would not exacerbate some of those potential inequities that are occurring across different schools? So I don't think that provides answers necessarily to the questions that have raised, but I hope that it can instill some degree of confidence that these are issues that we are in the process of having conversations about and deliberating over whether, how we can best address some of the issues that have been raised, because having, you know, generally speaking, as an educational opportunity, as a public school, we don't want to have a wait list, number one. And in addition to that, we want to make sure that the opportunities are being enjoyed as in a robust and equitable manner across all of our elementary schools. So I think this is a topic that some of it will touch upon the subcommittee certainly, but I think it's one that the school committee and the community will be hearing a lot more about in the coming weeks and months.
[Mustone]: Member van de Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: It sounds like we will need to be having a separate committee of the whole meeting for this topic. Okay.
[Murphy]: All right, so we- I don't know, I don't, I mean, I think you could, the school committee can choose whatever forum they want to entertain the conversation in, but it's certainly one that I would expect the administration to be bringing forth additional information and recommendations to the committee before the end of this school year.
[Mustone]: Okay, all right, thank you. Are there any other community members who would like to speak or have any questions about our budget schedule? So Mr. Murphy, I imagine we'll either move it to a subcommittee or a committee of the whole, but what night would afterschool program fall under? Would it be under elementary ed?
[Murphy]: Let me, I don't think so actually, but let me check on that. That would be on May 12th. So I think that is where it says.
[Mustone]: The central office?
[Murphy]: Yeah, it's in the central office. It would be May 12th, the early education piece. I'm sorry, I'm not sure if you said early education or elementary, but it is May 12th.
[Mustone]: May 12th, okay. So for folks about afterschool program, I don't wanna make any promises, but hopefully we can either move it to a subcommittee or a committee of the whole before May 12th. And then May 12th would be when Ms. Megan Fidler-Carey would be presenting.
[Murphy]: That's just to be clear though, That is specific to the FY22 operating budget. I fully expect that before and after school programming and some of the decisions that have to be made in preparation for the 21-22 school year will be on the committee's agenda prior to May 12th. In our conversation last week, April looked as though when we would have the information we need to bring to the committee.
[Mustone]: Okay.
[Murphy]: There are a lot of conversations going on about this, so I wouldn't want to rush it and present prematurely. But I think at one of the meetings in April, we'll be in a position to do that.
[Mustone]: OK. So I'm just trying to think of the subcommittees. Ms. Kreatz, your buildings and grounds, what else do you have? What other two do you, and you sit on personnel and budget? Personnel, yep.
[Kreatz]: And the community engagement. Community engagement.
[Mustone]: And then Paulette, what are the three you are on? Curriculum, this one, and...
[Van der Kloot]: Special Ed? Yeah. Well, I forget. Do you want me to get the list and take a look? We used to have support services, and it fell under support services.
[Murphy]: I have the list in front of me if anyone has questions about it.
[Van der Kloot]: Yeah, you want to just read off the titles, Dave?
[Murphy]: Rules, Policy, and Equity is chaired by Mr. Rousseau. Engagement, Communications, and Strategic Planning, chaired by Ms. Graham. Curriculum, chaired by Ms. VanderKloof. Behavioral Health, Special Ed, and People's Services, chaired by Mr. Laughlin. Personnel and Budget, chaired by Ms. Bestone, and Buildings and Grounds chaired by Ms. Kress.
[Van der Kloot]: So we used to have one that was called support services and when they were shrunk to a more manageable level, that is not as clear. I mean, you could argue it in any number of different ways. That's why I said committee of the whole partly because I think that all the members will be interested in this.
[Murphy]: Our expectation for the presentation I alluded to earlier would be that we'd be coming to the full school committee, we're certainly happy to present either of the other any of the subcommittees. But that was the intention, because we need to set up the schedule. And I think there are some other strategic decisions, both for next year and years going forward, in addition to the possibility of repurposing infrastructure. So for all of those reasons, our expectation was that we would be presenting to the full school committee at some point in April.
[Mustone]: Okay.
[Murphy]: Mr. I'm sorry, can I just make there's one other point I think that was raised that I think the suggestion was made that somehow the before and after school programming that there was no correlation between our overarching goal of bridging the gaps that have been created or exacerbated by the pandemic. And I don't know how or what I would have said to suggest that the administration does not see a direct nexus and a strong nexus between the need to bridge those gaps and the needs to make sure that these programs are available and are growing consistent with student needs. But the point of having an overarching strategic objective in going into the development of the budget process is to make sure that all budgetary priorities are being measured against the challenging circumstances under which we're operating. And so I don't, again, I don't know how or why the inference would be that somehow before an Nth school program we're exempt from that, But I just want to make very clear that we would look at those budgetary priorities consistent with that moral imperative to make sure that those vulnerable learners, and that's certainly what early education represents, are addressed as part of developing the budget.
[Mustone]: OK. All right. So I think what's, oh, all right. Member Kreatz.
[Kreatz]: Yes, so I just wanted to share probably a few weeks back I talked to a parent about the after school program, and she has a good idea. And in order for like so it would be almost like a parent cooperative, where it's possible that you know if parents were on the waiting list because there wasn't enough staff. maybe we could try to, you know, ask some parents if they would be willing to, like, volunteer one day per week and they could work their schedule. I think something similar happens at, like, some of the, you know, the Catholic schools. I know my parents had a strict day where they had to be at the school to do volunteer work, and then it would you know, kind of offset with the tuition or just they would get volunteer hours and maybe they could put those in at their work. But it was a really, really good idea. And I mentioned to the parent, you know, that, you know, she should share that idea with Megan Fidler-Carey, because I think it's a great idea having like almost like a parent cooperative where, you know, those parents could volunteer their hours and then, you know, have their strict day. I mean, I think it would have to be a strict contract where they'd have to, you know, even though it's volunteer, they'd have to sign because they have to be, you know, responsible to be there that day. And I, my son volunteered at a similar program, you know, Winchester Hospital, they had a contract for volunteer services, and it was very strict. If you weren't going to be in, you had to find your own replacement. So, you know, it's a very good idea, and I just wanted to share that.
[Mustone]: Thank you, Member Kreatz. I think at this point, we'll have to work with Dr. Maurice and see if we'll either have it on the agenda for, I don't imagine it can be on this Monday, March 22nd, maybe our first meeting in April. I'll call a committee of the whole about it and I can make sure to reach out to Mr. Kina to give the date and it will obviously be published. And member Van der Kloot, I see your hand.
[Van der Kloot]: Yes, I just wanted to ask Dave if he could give us an idea of what time you had in mind for these dates, the 4-27, 4-28, 4-29.
[Murphy]: Yeah, that's a good question. In establishing the schedule, we attempted to avoid evenings where there are subcommittees. I think there may be one conflict which would require a slightly later start, presumably 6.30 or 7 PM. Otherwise, I think five or 5.30, whatever time works for the committee. Some of the umbrella groups will be slightly more extensive or complex than others. I think we probably want to take that into account in terms of establishing that time. We'd have certainly no objection to a uniform start time, say at 5.30 or 6 p.m., if that's helpful to the committee or to the community. But the other challenge and why I didn't specify, frankly, in the presentation, is that I'm assuming that the Columbus Renaming Advisory Committee will probably be meeting on some of these dates, or potentially could be. And I just wanted to defer to the committee as to whether you wanted to choose a start time that was earlier or later based on the potential scheduling of those meetings.
[Kreatz]: Member Kreatz? Yes, I know in the past, you know, these particular meetings are very popular with the public and they, you know, they like to join the meetings, be on the live call, so I'm just recommending not as early as like four o'clock because I know when we had those meeting hours in the past that was very hard and difficult for families to you know to get on the zoom call and I know that the meetings are all recorded and they can watch it at another time but I was thinking more around the 5 30 or 6 o'clock time so that you know, that would be, you know, recommended just so that families could join if they're working that day, just an idea. Thank you.
[Murphy]: The administration, you know, we can start as late. I mean, we're certainly accustomed to being here on the later end so that we would have no problem with that.
[Mustone]: Okay, thank you. Any final questions or comments? Member Kreatz?
[Kreatz]: Yes, I did have one more, and this came up last year. So when we got the pre-budget materials, And it happened a lot last year. They came the same day as the meeting. And I, you know, unfortunately I work in the day and a few other committee members do and I didn't even get a chance to look at the materials before the meeting, and it was a little different because our meetings were at four. So, and they were on the same night as the school committee meeting so you know. If, if possible, can we get the materials for the pre budget materials, you know, in advance, you know, at least 24 hours in advance, and then after that meeting. at the end of that week, because I can see we have three meetings in one week. So at the end of that week, if we can get those materials sent to our homes so that we can have the hard copy, because it was very difficult to keep on going back and forth, back and forth, like, where was that email? Where did that go? It was very, it was very difficult to go back and just look at the information about the pre budget because when it when we got to the budget, you know, you had to like scramble, where did that go where was it put, you know, and, and also maybe have a folder on the shared drive. specifically to put the pre-budget materials in, you know, like call it, you know, pre-budget materials, and then they would be in there like labeled elementary education, secondary, and so on, so that some colleagues like to have the online version, and for something like this, I always like to have the printed version, and I don't have a printer that's really good at my house that I can print the materials, so it's challenging for me. And I'm not sure if everybody's in the same boat. I mean, some people don't want paper at all. even if we could reach out at our next meeting and just ask colleagues how they feel about do they want a printed copy, yes or no? And then maybe only those committee members who need a printed copy can get a printed copy after the meeting's presented at the end of the week so that they have it going into the budget meetings.
[Mustone]: Thank you, Member Kreatz.
[Murphy]: Mr. Murphy? commit to having everything 24 hours in advance and it's a, I think I speak on behalf of the administration when I say we always prefer to provide as much documentation and as much of the work product that we discussed for the committee in advance as possible. This is a pretty extensive process And it's a lot of meetings and a fairly full agenda. So I don't want to overcommit as to what we're able to provide in advance, but certainly having a 24 hour period in which to review documents pertaining to the budget seems, frankly, like the bare minimum. And we'll certainly do. And with regard to whatever form, electronically, hard copy, I would just, members really just need to let us know what their preferences are. we'll make sure that they're provided. There will at times be information that becomes available on short notice and we won't have it. I don't wanna hold anything back from the committee if something is unavailable to disseminate prior to that time period. But I certainly think it's a reasonable expectation that prior to a public discussion, we're able to give you the documentation beforehand.
[Mustone]: Thank you, Mr. Murphy. Are there any other comments or questions regarding the budget schedule for April and May? No. I think that's all that was on the agenda to get through the process and the dates. Would anyone like to make a motion to adjourn?
[Murphy]: Mr. Murphy, did you have something else to add? I didn't know if my impression from the previous meeting of the school committee was that there was a hope that the budget subcommittee would formally send to the committee of the whole, the groupings and the schedule. So certainly I don't think you need to, and I don't know of any requirement, but just consistent with the previous discussion, you may wanna just entertain a motion to send this timeline to the full committee, and then we'll go ahead and schedule the committees of the whole consistent with that timeline.
[Mustone]: I'll make that motion. Great. And I'll second it. Great. I'll take a roll call for the motion to send the dates to the full committee. Member Kreatz?
[Kreatz]: Yes.
[Mustone]: Member Van der Kloot? Yes. Member Mastone? Yes. We'll send the dates to the full committee. Thank you.
[Murphy]: Thank you. And I'm happy to, as I said, we'll be doing a budget update on the closeout of fiscal year 21 this coming Monday. And we could even incorporate this into that presentation to give people a timeline to make sure they know what to look forward to in the coming weeks.
[Mustone]: That's great. Thank you.
[Murphy]: Thanks.
[Mustone]: All right. Now, member Vanden Heuvel, did you have a motion to adjourn? I have a motion to adjourn. Second. And I'll take a roll call to adjourn. Member Kreatz?
[Kreatz]: Yes.
[Mustone]: Member Van der Kloot? Yes. Member Mustone? Yes. Well, thank you all for joining us. Oh, happy St. Patrick's Day for tomorrow.
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