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[Unidentified]: Hello. Hey, everyone. Hello.
[McLaughlin]: We'll get started in a minute or two. We just give folks a moment to come in.
[Van der Kloot]: Hi, everybody.
[McLaughlin]: OK, so I'm going to call this meeting, subcommittee meeting to order, and I'll give people more time with me reading the introduction to the agenda. So I start with attendance. Melanie McLaughlin here, Liam Stone absent. Member Ruseau? Thank you. So two present, one absent. Melanie, I'm sitting in for Mia. Oh, thank you, Paulette. Member Van der Kloot? Present. Three present, zero absent. Thank you for being here, Member Van der Kloot. So I'm Melanie McLaughlin, for folks who don't know me. And this is the Behavioral Health Special Education Subcommittee meeting. The co-chairs for this meeting, I mean, Yeah, other members that are part of the subcommittee are Member Paul Rousseau and Member Miama Stone. Tonight, we're having Member Van der Kloot stand in for Mia. So thank you, Member Van der Kloot. And I am just going to read from our agenda with our introduction. So please be advised that on Thursday, March 18, 2021, from 5 to 6.30, there is a behavioral health and special education subcommittee meeting held through remote participation via Zoom. The purpose of the Thursday, March 18, 2021 Behavioral Health and Special Ed Subcommittee is to address best practices and policies for creating trauma-informed schools under the behavioral health category and building community and school-based friendships for students with disabilities under the special education category. Pursuant to Governor Baker's March 12, 2020 order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, 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 Subcommittee will be conducted via remote participation to the greatest extent possible. Specific information in the general guidelines for remote participation by members of the public and or parties with a right and or requirement to attend this meeting can be found on the city of Medford website at medfordma.org. 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, 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 are unable 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 Medford Community Media on Comcast channel 22 and Verizon channel 43 at 5 p.m. Thank you. So a map of our agenda today, you can expect from roughly 5 to 5.45, we'll be focusing on behavioral health and trauma-informed schools. Director of Guidance, Stacey Shulman, We'll talk with us regarding mental health and behavioral health and returning students to school, including immediate need for trauma-informed care, social-emotional health in comparison to academic recoupment, school counseling and mental health considerations for revamping the system. And then 545 to 630, we will discuss with the Director of Speech and Language, Susanna Campbell. She had shared some, or we had shared some online resources for use by general education, special education, English learners, and families that we'll share a little bit on. We'll have an update on the Common Ground program that we've been talking about in previous meetings, an update on Medford Recreation and some conversations we've been having around building friendships and inclusive recreation. and an update on the inclusive playground that's in the process. So that's our agenda, and we'll finish at 6.30. So I'd like to start, if I could, let me just see for a second. Sorry, I have to go between screens. How many folks we have on? I think everyone here recognizes and knows each other, so we're not gonna do, introductions again if that's okay with everybody. Is that okay? Thumbs up? Yeah? Okay, great. So I'd like to have Stacey Shulman maybe start the conversation, if you would, Stacey, on what is happening for being trauma-informed as we're returning students to school, please.
[Schulman]: Sure. So one of the the things that we've done all year and we keep advertising is the increased group counseling that we're offering for students. So specifically at the high school, we now are up to offering six different groups from a general supporting students to a focused cognitive behavioral therapy based anxiety and depression group. We have a grief group. We have a new students group. We have Councilors also, which is new in the last few weeks, pushing into the EL classrooms specifically because those teachers noted that English language learners were seemingly having an increase in difficulty. So those are some of the supports at the high school level. The middle school level has also formed groups as well, supportive groups. more gear towards 7th and 8th graders and individual supports for 6th graders as well. And elementary is case-by-case basis. Most of those supports are push into the classroom and lunch groups. They also have some individual counseling as well for case-by-case basis. What we are seeing is that students are acclimating pretty well to coming into the building and those students who are currently coming in We expect to continue coming in well. The challenge is for those students who have remained remote this whole time and how we're going to prepare for them next year and some of those supports. So we're starting to think about creative ways, specifically maintaining outreach over the summer and making sure students have an opportunity to tour the buildings before they come back in. Those are some of the really basic things that we can do. for students outside of figuring out individual need for them and continuing group supports and education for all staff in terms of trauma informed classrooms.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you, Stacey. I guess I wanted to ask, I did have the opportunity to speak with a parent today who is interested in being engaged on the matter of sort of mental health and behavioral health and was asking just sort of about some of the social, emotional needs of our students right now and how, you know, how they might be addressed, not just through school adjustment Councilors necessarily, or even guidance, but even more so sort of just collectively in the school setting around social engagement and being able to sort of interact with each other in some ways. I know, I don't know if any of you had the opportunity to see the ed talk recently with the seniors, some of the seniors sharing their experience. and feelings of isolation. And I mean, it was a really poignant, I thought, presentation by the students. And I think that they, you know, being the age they are and the grade they are, they're able to articulate a lot better than maybe younger kids would be. And so certainly from families, we're hearing a lot of this isolation and loneliness and sort of need for community and engagement. as a group, not just Stacey, obviously, because Stacey, I know it's not just your job, but as a group, how are we thinking about the social and emotional needs of our students and being able to sort of address that for them? So for example, somebody was saying, like, can we not do like a barbecue in the, you know, in the parking lot or just anything to sort of have them get to be able to have some social engagement with each other? And I thought, you know, obviously it's an interesting idea. And I know everybody's super swamped right now with the return to school. But I think the family engagement piece is a really important piece of it, because I think that there's a lot of community members that have some great ideas and probably would be also willing to volunteer in those projects. And I guess I just want to put that out there for folks and see what the response is on that.
[Schulman]: So one of the other things before we talk about community engagement that I should have mentioned is that the both middle school principals and the high school principal offered us graciously their meeting time in early April to restart the Sandy Hook promise campaign, which begins with start with hello. So I don't know if I've mentioned this before in the summer of 2019, we signed on for an exclusive opportunity with the district attorney's office, districts in the Massachusetts were given the opportunity to sign on and partner with Sandy Hook Promise. They go through many of reviews in terms of student supports, mental health, signs to look out for, how to educate staff, how to educate students. And the opening message that they give is start with hello. And so we're doing that the first week of April. It's a six through 12 program. And then there's also some educational resources given to elementary. And we'll be providing that presentation for all of the middle and high school staff and then planning opportunities probably in the advisory and wind blocks for how to roll that out to students as well.
[McLaughlin]: That's really good to hear. And will that be offered or will the families or school committee members or others be invited to be part of that or?
[Schulman]: We can figure out a time for that in terms of family engagement, certainly.
[McLaughlin]: Yeah, I think that would be great. I should also say that I think probably a lot of you know if you're in the school committee meeting, you know that Medford is one of four districts that is partnering with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on a family and community engagement project. So we put an application in for that, and we were one of the four districts across the state chosen. So that's really exciting. And we're working with a group called School in Maine. think school and main streets and the convergence of community and school, that's sort of how they're named, school in Maine, and that's why they're named that way. And as consultants for really helping us build our family and community engagement and outreach. And one of the things that I certainly want to continue to be putting on the table as part of the planning is the mental health component and the social emotional health component on that. So we'll definitely be able to include that. And that's why I'm looking for sort of some recommendations or some discussion around this here. If other folks want to chime in, you can unmute yourself if you like.
[Van der Kloot]: Melanie?
[McLaughlin]: Yes, Paulette, member of NDQ.
[Van der Kloot]: I had sort of a question, comment, a little bit different than where you're going right there. But just in terms of thinking about our kids, I know that last week I had occasion to have to go down to Mass General Hospital to see a friend. And, you know, my reaction was there was all these people there. What were they all doing there? I was used to being in spaces that were very distant. And all of a sudden there were lots of people. Everybody's wearing masks and all that. But, you know, I'm kind of wondering about kids. And Stacey kind of veered in when you mentioned, you know, all the kids who've been on remote all the time. But as we are looking for kids coming back into school who have been given this message over and over again to keep their distance. And now we're potentially going down and you know from 6 feet to 3 feet. You know, I know how I reacted I and I've talked to other people and they've had similar reactions so what about kids.
[Schulman]: Yeah, so that is definitely a holistic issue for our society at large. There was an article recently and I forget specifically where it was, but it was talking about re-engagement anxiety. And it was sort of like people who are now noticing things such as the volume of the public inside Mass General, right? And what that looks like and how that sort of takes you back And certainly I think everyone is experiencing that. What we've noticed from students is that the bulk of them have a little bit more flexibility because of their age. So that's sort of the benefit, especially for very young children, is that if you think about it, really little kids are constantly, and it continues up, but are constantly being told, to adjust what their view of the world is, right? Now we do this, now we do that, put this on, do this, whatever. So they're like, oh, now I wear a mask. Okay, I can do that. Of course, this is a bell curve, right? And there are some students on either end who don't fit into that. But yeah, we are seeing students who have difficulty thinking about coming back in the building, certainly, and who are choosing to remain remote, I have some hope over the social engagement that students will elect to do over the summer based on our community rates of the virus, more people being vaccinated, other things will open. They may choose to elect to participate in other things with their friends. And sort of re acclimate in that way but I certainly think we will have a good amount of students who feel very anxious, coming back to school with a large volume of students next year.
[Van der Kloot]: I'm wondering about the short term the kids who are coming back in, you know, in the coming weeks to all of a sudden, you know, four day or five day learning. you know, what we're thinking about and helping them adjust to this, more bodies. And again, I'm really thinking about the kids who are prone to anxiety already.
[Schulman]: Yeah. So we, I mean, we certainly are offering a lot of groups now that they can elect to come to. Otherwise, it's just reaching out to your Councilor. parent or student, certainly at the upper levels and elementary parents, to talk to us about challenges that students are having.
[Van der Kloot]: Are we talking to teachers at all about, you know, having them be watching for this kind of anxiety?
[Schulman]: Yeah, so that's part of all of the sort of Sandy Hook promise information as well, to start with hello. It's like, what are you looking for symptoms that may be outside of the norm that someone is saying they need help?
[Van der Kloot]: Thank you.
[Unidentified]: Heather? McKinnon?
[8kUnsaXIsWQ_SPEAKER_06]: Hi, sorry, I was having trouble unmuting. So the January, February issue of Harvard Magazine is titled Loneliness, The Psychology and Social Cost of Isolation. It's actually pretty terrific. The title article is really fantastic, but it touches on sort of the bigger costs of this pandemic and how maintaining closer and deeper relationships has really been the deep cost that now people are having these more surface relationships And acquaintanceships. And so, sort of having those in depth relationships is much harder and anxiety prone people are impact. Having more of that panic when they have to get closer and they have to go more in-depth with people. So Just to echo that I I do think these are really serious issues for our anxiety from students for any at-risk students who may have issues where they are Nervous about being in bigger groups of people where they might be afraid to be closer to people And so thank you for your work that you're doing to protect the well-being of our students. Thank you.
[McLaughlin]: Heather, thank you for that. I also think that like, as we're thinking about, you know, again, you know, looking out for these signs of social anxiety and loneliness among our students, you know, there's also, there are also our students who can't communicate with words and communicate with behavior. And so really being able to train staff to understand that, you know, behavior is a form of communication as well. And, you know, I know for us this morning, just getting ready this morning, getting, helping our daughter, our 13 year old daughter, Gracie, get ready this morning. And she burst into tears quite unexpectedly. And I was like, you know, what's going on? And, you know, trying to start talking with her about it. And then she said, you know, she was able to articulate and it was so moving, she said, know, I want COVID to go away. You know, and it was so sad, because it was like, oh, you know, yeah, of course you do, like we all do. And, you know, it's getting better or whatever else. But I think that the community as a whole, especially maybe with the one year mark, you know, the anniversary, I think a lot of people, I mean, everyone I'm talking to right now is feeling overwhelmed. And, you know, just out of sorts. And so I think especially as we're thinking about bringing our are kids who are our most vulnerable population, whether they have, you know, a disability or don't, I mean, children are our most vulnerable population community. And so thinking about that, in a broader context, I think is so important. And I, I guess, having listened to one of our community members yesterday, too, and I hear that, you know, the social anxiety and the isolation and also sort of maybe introducing it in in scaffolding right like if you think about special education, you can sort of scaffold steps to before you get to the step that. You know you're hoping to achieve, but even scaffolding some of the the social and emotional around the relationships like somebody was you know, suggesting. Like why not offer hikes right instead of like even like, and this is to the next subject in our agenda, I guess, transitioning to the next subject in our agenda, which is. social emotional health versus academic recruitment, right? And sort of how those two are pulling at each other and what we're doing around that, right? Because if we're, everybody's so hyper-focused on academic recruitment, and we're not really looking at the social emotional and mental health, like our kids can't show up to learn if they don't have the first, you know, Maslow hierarchy of needs, right? If we don't have our basic needs taken care of, we're not gonna be able to show up for higher learning. And I think that that's a really important piece. I know there was a community member who said like, why not like have a class or, you know, instead of having the class remote, which is, you know, the kids are so tired of anyway in school, um, reverse remote, like why not have an opportunity to, I don't know, make a hike in the fells or what have you. And I know that's thinking outside of the conventional box of education, but I think that these are extraordinary times. So I'm wondering sort of what people think of that idea.
[Unidentified]: Heather, rooming up.
[zdRFAfm1Rlg_SPEAKER_14]: Hi, I apologize for being late. I had a work emergency, but I'm just happy to be here and The I've just been thinking about this a lot. I have a senior and a sophomore and two older kids and my licensed social worker and just seeing what I see in my office. I work with a lot of teenagers and young adults, and it's just, I just feel like they are craving the social interaction, obviously, like not on Zoom. And anything that can be done to increase that outside or just like the fun of like the enthusiasm of school. I know my own kids, like my son's a senior and he's debating, like he goes because he knows it's good for him. He goes the two days, but there aren't a lot of kids that are there and he's just craving like interacting with them and doing something fun with them besides sitting in a classroom. Um, whether that be, I mean, like Melanie was saying, you know, going for a hike or just having a fun day at school where maybe they just go to class and every teacher just does a, you know, it's a free day where the teachers that are doing their, you know, a hobby with them or doing yoga or bringing them for a hike or bringing them outside and, you know, just talking and, um, just they love not having homework the other day. It was like a. yesterday I think no no homework was allowed and that for my kids was such a relief just to not have to do any work after school and just be able to totally shut down and go I mean they went outside and played basketball last night like they just need more and I think there's ways that we can think outside the box and do safe things especially with the weather getting nice that are totally interactive and Like having kids, you know, teachers go teach on the field. And I understand there's like different restrictions, but I feel like we need to make the rest of the year as fun as possible. And like, to be honest, like, I'm not sure. like Melanie was saying, they're not going to learn if they're not enjoying school. And I think a lot of the kids that are staying remote are like, what's the point of getting out of bed and getting dressed and doing all this stuff if I'm just going to sit in a classroom and learn on a screen? But I think if there was some exciting things to look forward to and they could be outside a little more or they heard that things were a little more interactive, I think it would bring a lot of enthusiasm. social emotional health to the kids so I mean I have a bunch of ideas but I don't like this things like doing my son had brought up like senior assassin thing is that a possibility to do something like that or a scavenger hunt or like doing like an amazing race type activity where they You know, and I'm on the PTO and we're happy to, like, do some of this stuff, but, like, could it be stuff that we would do during the school day and, like, teachers, almost like a field day where the teachers wouldn't be involved but have it be safe or, like, there's, like, a Where's Waldo game that you can do outside, just, I don't know, anything like that, so, or a game day.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you, Heather. I think that's really important for us to be thinking about the social emotional and the kids are telling us that this is what they need. I mean, it's not like it's just that the families that are saying this, but.
[Unidentified]: Shanine has her hand raised and then Alex, please. And Shanine, if you don't mind just introducing yourself.
[McLaughlin]: Sorry, you're muted. Introduce yourself and sort of, you know, your role here, if you would.
[Chenine Peloquin]: There it is. Hi. So my name is Shanine Pelliquin. I'm a recreation therapist, certified therapeutic recreation specialist and a developmental specialist. And I study children's self-directed play and inclusion. And I've been working with the rec department, as well as lots of conversations with several of you over the years in various roles. So I just wanted to echo what Heather was saying, but add a little piece of the The research is pretty clear that the benefits of play come when it is self-directed, not when it's another adult-directed activity. So what we need to do is, and no way to diminish the ideas of like a scavenger hunt or whatever, but really what they need is time together on the playground without an adult saying, this is what we're playing right now, and this is how many paper butterflies we're making today, and this is the product that you're going to have at the end of it. They just need to play. I was at the playground or a car park yesterday and I've never known so many parents at the playground at one time. And so it's really interesting to see the different dynamics of groups and from our tiny ones to the third graders that they have lost a lot of the basic social skills. Even kids in the general ed curriculum, the general ed population who are like, they don't know how to go say, will you play with me? what if we did this, those negotiation skills. And that happens when there are not adults telling them what to do, but supporting them when needed. So I don't know if it's training for teachers or just conversations about how to facilitate and have a very light touch when you are supporting kids play or, you know, having more recess, right? Like maybe that's just what we need or intentional after school time where kids can stay later on a given day and just have their classroom on the playground for a while or two classrooms mixed. I'm not sure what the guidelines could be, but that's what's going to help heal kids' hearts is time with their friends. It's not product based.
[Unidentified]: That's all.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you, Shanine.
[Unidentified]: Alex, and then member Rousseau, do you want to point of privilege, or will Alex? OK, Alex, and then member Rousseau. Yes, hi.
[Alexandra Lauric]: So two things that I would like to mention and I mentioned it last time I think but I want to say it again. One is that I really think, and I hope that we are going to rethink homework, because at least for elementary and middle school I, I feel like whatever regression my son had is not because he missed homework. So I'm hoping that there is going to be a discussion about that because it really helped us have this time after school where he can play a little and just, you know, just be together as a family and not have that stress of rushing to do homework after my work. That's one point. The other one is I I just want to like the previous speaker said you know more time outside I think is going to be crucial and in elementary school, a lot of play but also in middle school and high school. I'm hoping that we can use maybe the after school clubs and have several of them outside and have projects and even the unified arts maybe can be thought in such a way that the kids have projects and they can interact more or they can go outside more. Just thinking a little bit outside the box to distress these kids.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Alex. Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. When I listen to what I'm hearing, I can't help but also think about the drumbeat of everybody's losing all this academic time. And I guess I'm just wondering, are teachers getting a message from administration? Because they're certainly not getting it from the governor and the Department of Ed. They're getting the message that you've got to get these kids back up to the whatever that bar was. That's what the public conversation is. And I just want to make sure that teachers are getting the, from administration are getting the message that that actually isn't the most important thing here that like the kids need something that you may not have normally had to focus on in such an intense way. Because if they don't get that message, then they have mixed signals. They have the, you know, your kids aren't getting through your class with the knowledge they need and teachers, you know, they're professionals who have to beat targets and all this other stuff too. So I'm just wondering if there is an active messaging to teachers to make sure that they understand that not hitting targets that are artificial and external is okay. I mean, it has to actually be said that it's okay. Because I know that, you know, and like, we aren't talking about AP classes right now, but I know that when school started, there were plenty of parents who were freaking out about that people were being taught in AP classes because the exam is the exam is the exam, like nothing matters other than getting your kid to the exam and passing it. And so, you know, that seemed like an unmovable situation. And I don't know much about AP. I know Dr. Cushing knows plenty about it, but I'm just wondering if the teachers are getting a consistent message that this is as important, and frankly, if not, in my opinion, more important than meeting MCAS targets and other academic goals.
[Schulman]: I can talk to the AP exam if that's helpful. So the AP exam is not a requirement of the course. It's sort of that extra bonus that you can take. There is a cost to it. It's run and organized by the college board. And if you receive a certain score and go on to college, there is potential your college will accept that high school class as a full course for college. So for many students, it saves them up to a semester, if not a year going into college, which is a huge benefit. The challenge is in order to be an approved AP course, you have to submit your syllabus the summer before it's approved by the college board and there's no wavering from that. So outside of like the standards from the school, from like curriculum directors and pacing and all that, it's sort of like a separate entity. And the college board has been pretty unwavering in that this year. There are different times to take the exams. They're a little later this year because of the late start. So that's an additional support. But in terms of pacing and progress, the college board is aggressive of keeping kids on track because ultimately what they're saying is, we want you to be able to be successful on this test. in order to provide you this ultimate bonus for your future, as well as some other extras. But some students say, I don't want to take the exam. I have no interest in that. I'll sort of do my own thing in this class. And that's totally acceptable too.
[McLaughlin]: Ms. Galussi, I just also want to point out we have about seven or so more minutes left to this behavioral health section of our meeting. Thank you.
[Galusi]: I was just going to respond just at the elementary level. You know, two of the programs that we utilize in every school at every grade, one is through Stacy's department, but it's zones of regulation. And that program, that language that teachers and people in Stacy's department Councilors use with staff is it's utilized every day as part of morning meeting and is throughout the day and if you're not in the green zone you're not ready to learn and so that's a big focus especially k-2 but it is utilized throughout elementary. This year we also made sure that responsive classroom was a part of every school. So, students in every elementary school are starting the day in a morning meeting, which the whole entire focus of morning meeting is on the social emotional well being of students and building a supportive culture in every classroom. We're going to make sure that that continues next year. We're also upping the training for some train the trainers models over the summer. The other thing is we have grade we've done district-wide grade level common planning meetings this year and one of the things that I spoke to the CPT coordinators for is the focus on when when students are coming back from hybrid or remote, however it is, but into full-time, that that first week really has to be the focus, really has to be on the social-emotional piece, on building that culture and those expectations all over again, with academics not being the main focus. And that was discussed at common planning times, which I'm also going to reiterate in a memo at the end of this week to the elementary staff.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you for sharing that Ms. Galussi. And I guess from a broader perspective, is there any sort of, I know that you said you have the Sandy Hook Promise program that's coming up. Stacey, is there any sort of broader training or anything that's happening around, you know, the trauma piece for the return to school specifically? I know that there are these individual programs, but there's anything, you know, addressing sort of the specific COVID you know, resulting trauma and returning to schools that you guys are aware of for the staff.
[Schulman]: So, I haven't seen any, I mean, there are certainly a lot of trainings for clinicians regarding COVID-19 care. right, and how this has affected everyone. I haven't seen anything specifically broad base for school staff, teachers outside of trauma. So we are looking at several grants to provide additional trauma training for our staff. 11 of our school clinicians will be going out to become certified child and adolescent trauma specialists this spring and be able to, and from there, they'll be able to provide training to our staff. One of the best models that I've seen in terms of providing professional development on a continuous and programmatic basis is to have internal trainers. So not only do we have 12 certified child and adolescent anxiety specialists now, but we'll have 11 certified child and adolescent trauma specialists.
[Unidentified]: Thank you. I was just finishing up some notes.
[McLaughlin]: So next month we were talking about, you know, really sort of solidifying, you know, what recommendations the behavioral health subcommittee wants to put forward to the school committee for the May presentation. So next month would really be thinking about how our conversations and our meetings translate into policy and what we actually want to put forward as potential recommendations for, not potential, as recommendations to school committee for our March, I mean our May presentation. So that will be our next meeting. Are there any last thoughts before we transition?
[Unidentified]: Ms. Pirate? Sheila is muted, she had her hand up.
[SPEAKER_01]: There we go. To bounce off what Suzanne was saying, even using the zones of regulation in the preschool, I'm one of the MEEP preschool teachers, like we start our day off with that, how the kids are feeling. And we also do the responsive classroom too. And I really believe that's made a huge difference this year because we start our day, you know, how does everybody feel? You know, how can you, how can we help you to feel better? So even in preschool, I mean, they get those zones and the responsive classroom has been huge this year. I've really seen, you know, I just feel more of a sense of community, I think. And it makes the kids feel comfortable and safe too, to let them know that it's okay if you're in the red zone. And we say that all the time, you know, can we get you out of the red zone or and you know you might change you might be in the green zone now maybe in an hour you'll be in the red zone but that's okay and just to reiterate that and i think that's just making them feel more comfortable but the responsive classroom i've seen a big difference doing that too as far as the kids feeling more comfortable and more safe so i think that's been helpful yes thank you
[McLaughlin]: Okay, so I think I'd like everyone to sort of take a moment, take a deep breath. We're gonna transition to our other identity in this subcommittee. If you want, you can reflect on what zone you're in right now. And we are going to transition over to building friendships and community for students with and without disabilities. Our topic under this from 545 to 630 will be, would love to hear from Susanna. I did, you should have received a link earlier today for the online resources that Susanna and her team and staff at our schools have helped create. They're really remarkable. And maybe Susanna can give us an update on that in a moment. And then we're going to talk about common ground with an update on that. Medford Recreation and Inclusive Playground. So Susanna, would you like to sort of start us off on the online resources a little bit, maybe the sort of origin of it and how it's working and how and whether people are accessing them?
[Campbell]: Okay, I'm unmuted now, thank you. Yeah, so we have a lot of resources that have been collected and created by a number of educators throughout the district. And honestly, the resources that we have available are so vast that it's almost a little hard to know where to start. I think that what might make the most sense is for us to look at the website that I created for the disability awareness course, because all of the links to various resources are right there. And it might be the easiest for everyone to be able to access, because it's laid out in a user-friendly way. So I think that what I'll do is I'll put the link to the website into the chat, if I'm able, so that everybody has it. Okay, and now I'll just share my screen so that you can all see what I'm looking at. So, This website has a variety of resources, including all of the PowerPoint presentations and so forth that were part of the disability awareness professional development that was presented online this year. And there's also a lot of good background information that is linked throughout as well, including information about the Americans with Disabilities Act and so forth. So this is the main page. And there are, you know, a number of PowerPoint presentations that people can look through, including the one that Melanie McLaughlin presented on the first day of that workshop. The second tab. on this website is labeled resources. And just to give you a sense of what that looks like. Again, it's really vast. So I think that, you know, people can kind of take it, you know, one day at a time, or, you know, one area of interest at a time, or the student who they have in front of them in the classroom. But it, you know, it starts off with just identifying what ableism is. And then there's many, many resources, both in the folders, as well as links on the right hand side. So the folders contain PDFs. And the right-hand side, all of these blue, all the blue text is a hyperlink. So it goes all the way through, you know, how to avoid ableism, IEPs and transition, disability etiquette, diagnosis-specific resources, adapted books. And then there's two things that I really want to point out that I feel like are helpful to everybody. And these were both created by the librarians in our district. So the first one is here with this hyperlink. And this brings you to a list of some universal design for learning resources that we have in district. So I think that these are all things that people might want to be aware of in terms of having access to different features that would help students have access to curriculum and also, you know, to things they might be reading or looking at for enjoyment as well. The other thing I want to point out on that resource page is this right here where the books are is another resource that Chris Johnson, one of the librarians created. And when you look at that, she has a beautiful write-up of how to create a diverse library, either in your classroom or at a school or district level. And then she even went and compiled a huge number of books. that talk about, you know, what grade level they are, and all of these have positive representations of individuals with disabilities. And she talks about, you know, what kind of the topic is so that if, you know, teachers have a student in their classroom who might have one of those diagnoses that they would be able to kind of pick something out and maybe use it within their classroom to have a positive representation that the student could relate to. So that's the resource page. And then the last thing, the third page, Melanie had provided a link to the lesson plans from 2019, but we now have the lesson plans for 2019 and 2021. And they're all in a Google Drive system, but you can just click on the link and it will take you to the 2019 options and they're organized by grade level. or you can look at the 2021 options, and they again are organized by grade level. Some things aren't really grade level specific, such as behavior. This was done by one of our behavior specialists at the elementary level, and nursing, some are unified arts, but in general, if it falls into a grade level, they're organized in that manner. So I wanted to point that out and then if it's okay, there's one other thing that I, I'm just going to look at my fellow universal safety committee members here because there's many of you in the room. Do you feel like we should just look at that website since it's now live? Because there's so many resources on there for the social stories. All right, I'm getting nods. Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and show that too. So this is now on the school website Let me just find it. So this is a, we worked on this in the Universal Safety Committee and we compiled social stories that can be used across grade levels and across situations. So it starts off very simply, you know, what is a social story and gives background on about that. And then all of these are categorized into COVID-19 information. Visuals to use in hallways social emotional stories, many of these were made by Stacey Shulman staff and they share those for this website, returning to the school building remote learning social stories hybrid learning zoom visuals, and then school safety. including things like, you know, social stories about fire drills, lockdown procedures, etc. So these are various social stories that have been created across the district for a number of years, but they're finally in a little bit more of a user-friendly format for anybody to look at and share. And right now, Paul Texera, he and I have been talking about how we can incorporate some EL stories in here as well. And he said that his staff often create books. They don't call them social stories. It's a different lens, but they create books for their students. So we will be incorporating those on the website as well. And he's going to find some of the most useful for his students. And then those will be translated into various languages for kids who need those. So that's a little bit of an overview. There's also the friendship guide that you had shared last time, Melanie, that was put out by the ARC. But that's just a little bit of a tour. Is there anything else you wanted me to share?
[McLaughlin]: Oh, Susanna, I think that's excellent. It's so exciting to see all those resources. Thank you for sharing them with us. And I'm really excited about the collaboration between you and Paul and getting some of these resources in various languages and thinking about how, you know, EL and special education and general education work together and bringing down some of those silos that can typically, you know, happen in those in districts. So I'm excited. I think it looks great. Thank you so much for all that hard work.
[Campbell]: No problem. Happy to share.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. And then I wanted to, sorry, bear with me one second. update on common ground. And so Mr. Skorka and Ms. Andre were not able to join us today, but I wanted to share just a little bit of an update on some of the things that we have been discussing. So for folks that may not have been in previous meetings, we have been talking about, you know, a program that could be created or exist in our school that is really being mindful in terms of fostering friendships between students with and without disabilities. Because again, while they were talking earlier about play and the importance of having individualized or free play, it is also important to be able to have some guidance around building friendships for students, especially for whom that can be a little bit more difficult. And so I did send you all a copy of the toolkit that the Arc of Mass created. It's a friendship. um, building toolkit that I really want to think about as a foundational sort of, um, document as we're thinking about what this looks like. And so we, we had a couple of parents, um, reach out to us from the autism support group, um, Heather and, um, Marissa, uh, a year or more ago, pre COVID anyway. So another lifetime ago, actually, we, um, met with, um, best buddies. And we had a conversation around what that could look like in schools. And then, you know, COVID happened. And then sons have been talking about programs that already exist in our schools and what those look like. And so Common Ground is a program at the high school that Ms. Andre, who is a special education teacher, and Mr. Skorka, who is a general education teacher, have been working on together in a co-taught sort of way. where they do reverse inclusion, essentially, which is bringing students without disabilities into the classroom with students with disabilities and having them foster friendships among themselves and, you know, with the syllabus and, I mean, with a goal and a sort of more coordinated effort. And Mr. Skorka and Ms. Andre and others have been talking about really incorporating this as not just HAB-Charlotte Pittsburgh.: : An option, you know, something fun or interesting for kids to do, but actually HAB-Charlotte Pittsburgh.: : As a course and looking at, you know, potential syllabus. So, Joan, I know that you are from our last meeting notes. I know you said you were going to HAB-Charlotte Pittsburgh.: : Speak with Mr. delay. But if you want to talk about that in a moment. And I can also share when you're done Joan HAB-Charlotte Pittsburgh.: : Conversations I've had at the middle school level because we were talking about we have this at the high school. So maybe expanding it beyond, you know, just an optional sort of thing into a course option and then piloting a similar idea slash program at the middle school, a common ground. So Joan, would you like to speak on this?
[Bowen]: So Carla, Jan, Susanna, a bunch of us have been getting together, Stacey Shulman as well, to talk about the logistics of Common Ground next year. The next steps are we're meeting again next week. I'll be meeting with Carla to discuss what the syllabus would look like, what the course description is going to look like. We're still working out some of the logistics about how many students the elective will be able to, you know, how many students will be able to sign up for the elective, those sorts of questions that are coming up based on our discussions. So we're hoping to have more answers to that next week when we meet again. Carla does apologize for not being able to be here tonight, but I told her I would fill her in and then we'll all be meeting again next week to firm up what it's going to look like and then also to have it be in the course selection.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. That's really exciting. And also I had a conversation just directly with Mr. Downs and Mr. Tucci based on our last meeting last month, just to sort of generally let them know about this project and gauge their interest and talk with them a little bit more about what this could look like in a middle school setting and how it might work. And so Mr. Tucci in particular, had some really great questions. And I think that, you know, looping Mr. Tucci and Mr. Andrews in on the conversation would be really helpful for them because they were talking about, I know Carla and Mr. Skorka, Ms. Andrea, Mr. Skorka had talked about, you know, it is a possibility in the middle school level in the wind block. And so that was something that Mr. Tucci seemed to think was possible. And he was also wondering if the students are taking this because unlike high school, when you have course selection, In middle school, you don't. So if the students are taking this, you know, what would they not be taking, for example, so those are some of the logistics that need to be worked out to think about piloting this. in that way in the middle school. But so I guess, you know, so I'd be interested in hearing what folks here have to say or want to add to the conversation.
[Bowen]: If I can add to that, I think once we work out how it's going to look at the high school level, we definitely will circle back to Mr. Downs and Mr. Tucci about how it works at the high school level, and then what it, you know, if we can meet with them to discuss what we put into place, how we did it, and the, you know, any assistance that we can offer them, answer those sort of questions that they had as well.
[McLaughlin]: That's really exciting. Thank you, guys. I'm really, isn't it, Tonya?
[Unidentified]: Tanya's JoJo is part of the common ground. So maybe Tanya, do you want to speak to it for a second? I can't unmute.
[Tanya Sullivan]: Oh, there I am. You allowed me to unmute. Thank you so much. Yeah, I think that having it at all grade levels is going to be imperative at some point. I can't say enough about the program right now. So I can just imagine how it's going to be once it umbrellas into everything that Carla has planned for it. I know that she's seeing it at different levels, in different nuances throughout the schools. So it's just right now, my son is a part of that and just enjoys it so much. He had it today and he just gets so excited when he knows it's his letter day for Common Ground. And it's amazing also to watch the kids from CCSR that are participating because you can see them learning and kind of navigating how to communicate with, you know, the kids that have disabilities and vice versa. So it's just, I mean, it's just great for everybody.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you, Tonya. And the thing about it is that, you know, first I just sort of want to add that Obviously, disability is diversity, right? And these are all equity issues. And so thinking about, you know, building friendships. And one of the things that I feel like the pandemic has really given us, if you will, is the understanding of loneliness, right? And so really, you know, for neurotypical people to really understand the loneliness too of kids with disabilities who don't have friends. and making sure that we bridge that gap for them because it's our responsibility and it's the right thing to do.
[Unidentified]: Charlotte?
[SPEAKER_12]: Okay, there I am. Just two examples of this, the synergies between CCSR and Common Ground. First, Michael Skorkor said it's okay to announce that the focus of World Cafe, which is on the 27th from 3 to 4, is diversity awareness. I think they're going to be reaching out to you, Melanie and Tanya. There's going to be some background information. given and a panel and then discussion. There's a couple of the students are interested in learning about the history and the disability community. And I think if we can provide some coaching, they can be the voice of presenting the background, which is awesome. And just another example is on Arbor Day, there's a student, a CCSR student, That is partnering with a student in Carla's class, Access High School. And that student is a prolific artist. She enjoys making birdhouses and painting them. And there's a partnership between this student artist and a student that's organizing Arbor Day. It's been approved by the city arborist to put up her birdhouses on the campus and also perhaps in the community too. So those are just nice outgrowths.
[McLaughlin]: That is really lovely, Charlotte. Thank you for sharing that. And I think the natural course of the friendship is really sort of thinking about what it looks like. It's not a client-based model where the students with disabilities are clients and the students without disabilities are giving a service. It's authentic friendships and really fostering those, which is the goal here. So I appreciate. you sharing those stories. The next item on our agenda is to talk about an update on Medford Recreation. So I'll share that Gracie started going to the adaptive bowling on Wednesday nights through Medford Recreation, and she is having a lot of fun with that. Terry's been taking her, so I haven't had the benefit of actually seeing her yet. He's taken some pictures and shared some of the bowling with us and it's been really neat. And it's a high school student that is her sort of partner in that experience. And that is an adaptive program. And one of the things that we really want to do, I see Kate Quinn from Medford Recreation is in the meeting as well. One of the things that we really wanna do is in addition to adaptive programming for recreation, we wanna ensure that there's inclusive programming for recreation. For those who might not know, the difference adaptive is sort of modifying the recreation aspect. But again, it sort of might be more like a client based model where students are delivering a service and the kids with disabilities are receiving a service. And so inclusive recreation is sort of along the line. Shanine was sort of helping me with this definition a little bit. Thank you, Shanine. is along the lines of the same thing that we're talking about in authentic friendships. So that, you know, each partner in the relationship is gaining something from the other. I really liked, I just wanted to share this quote, and then I'm gonna open it up to you guys to talk about Medford Recreation a little bit. But I wanted to share this quote from the Arc of Masses book on friendship. And, you know, I liked that they defined what friendship is. You know, despite its universal nature, friendship may mean different things to different people. So it's important that we start with a common definition. Friendship is a voluntary and reciprocal relationship in which two students exhibit mutual attachment to one another, frequent proximity and companionship, and evidence of enjoyment or affection. And I thought that was really important as we talk about, you know, a reciprocal relationship, especially in terms of recreation as well. And so I think we're well on our way with our adaptive programming. I'm excited about that. And I'm excited that our hearts are there. So that's really exciting.
[Unidentified]: Shanine, did you want to add something?
[Chenine Peloquin]: Hi, yeah, I actually, I had an email drafted back to you about the program. So I just sent it because I was like, oh, the definition that I was working with was right there. So I'm a recreation professional, and as Melanie mentioned, there's a continuum. So there's adaptive programs, which really can be an important part of identity development. I guess a really good illustrative story is I have a colleague who runs an adaptive sports program for people with physical disabilities. And he's been working really hard to get kids who maybe use a wheelchair to be able to be on their high school track team, right? The no cut sports. And so this, they've got a student who is on their high school track team and they get to go to practice every day. And it's amazing. And that is inclusive and it's great. And then you get enough kids who use wheelchairs at all the different schools that now you have a wheelchair division that meets, and that is so huge and powerful. However, because there's not likely to be a whole lot of kids who use a wheelchair and want to run track in the same school district. That kid is still the only one running around the track at their pace. They're not likely to have coaching that actually meets their needs and teaches them how to get more power out of every push or how to position their body or how to not like cheer when you stand, you can't cheer in a racing wheelchair because you will flip over backwards and high school track coaches are not trained for that. So an adaptive program where a whole bunch of wheelchair athletes can meet on a Saturday morning from different districts, that is an identity-based program. It can help them with the right kind of coaching, and they get to be with kids who understand what it's like to live using a wheelchair and to have the same challenges as their cornering and all of those things. But we need both. And from all of the out-of-school time research, it's really clear that only quality programs actually give the benefits. So we can't just throw something together and say, here's a program, because that's not actually gonna give the benefits that we're looking for. I think Kate's been really intentional in setting this up, and I know it's taking longer than a lot of parents would like to see. Parents are desperate for anything for their kids to do, but we wanna make sure we're clear on the model. So we've got inclusive programs, which is really a civil rights piece. is full inclusion in anything that a child wants to do based on their interests, not based on who they are as a person. And then you've got reverse inclusion, where you set up a program that's really going to be supportive of kids of all abilities. And then you invite typically developing students in to participate, which sounds like the common ground might be a piece of that, where you're really making sure you're intentionally bringing in typically developing students to be part of that program. but that's my surface understanding of that. And then there's adaptive programs, which really are in some circles called segregated programs. It is segregation. Sometimes they're important pieces of identity and sometimes they're just segregation. So we have to make sure that we're conscious of those levels.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. Thank you, Shanine. And you know, Shanine actually used to also work at EMARC, which is now Communitas, which is the North, our regions, um, that provide services to, um, children and, uh, individuals with disabilities. And it was really interesting because I know that many of you know me and know that, um, I am and had been a really hardcore inclusionist. Um, and I remember, um, way back when Gracie was a baby, um, she was, yeah, she was little, but not wanting her in. you know, adaptive swim programming, right? Because I was like, no, she needs to go to full inclusion and that's, you know, her right and everything else. And the reality was like Shanine shared with me and it was very important. She's like, you know, and with adaptive programming, we can get her to the point where she can get to full inclusion, right? So it was like the scaffolding piece of it as well, really helpful. And so that was, you know, that was like an epiphany for me, Shanine, to understand like, oh, and you know, and I also was denying her the right to have friendships really with and without kids with disabilities. So it doesn't mean just with kids without disabilities, they, you know, need friendships with kids with disabilities, right? Like, and so thinking about that is really important too. So thank you, Shanine. I don't know.
[Chenine Peloquin]: Can I just, the, yeah. So I think the idea with adaptive programs is that we want to make sure that anything we do is set up with the idea that it is a place where people can build skills but that they can move out. The kinds of programs I don't wanna see here are the charity baseball things where you end up with a five-year-old and a 25-year-old on the same team just because they have a disability. It's not okay. It reinforces ableism in really ugly ways. So we wanna make sure that they're learning the real rules of basketball. so that they can go to their local park and play with the typically developing kids. Because if it's just like, you can travel all over the place and do whatever you want because, oh yeah, you have a disability, isn't that precious? Like so many parks and rec departments around here, we just don't, we need to do better. And I think that we have the possibility, the capability of doing that together.
[McLaughlin]: I know that we do. And I know that we do with people like Kate and you.
[Chenine Peloquin]: Definitely.
[McLaughlin]: on board and, you know, Kevin Bailey and the mayor and the commitment to all of this. So I'm excited about the possibilities in the future, because frankly, these conversations weren't even being had, you know, five years ago, three years ago. So I think it's really great to see. Thank you. And to that end, I want to just talk a little bit about the inclusive playground and play space as a discussion as well. So and maybe Peter, you can talk about it a little bit as well, but, you know, actually Peter, would you mind talking a little bit about it first?
[Cushing]: Sure, happy to. So about a year ago, we were awarded a research grant for, it's probably about 13 months now, a research grant to do a design study on the McGlynn playground. The McGlynn playground, for those of you who don't know, well, actually all the playgrounds at the schools had a rubberized surface and those rubberized surfaces had ended their useful life. The McGlynn, when we went to look at it, we really came to the conclusion that given the size of that rubberized surface, I believe it's, I forget honestly the size of it off the top of my head, but it was going to cost just to replace the surface itself, well over half a million dollars. And so then, you've got this environmental impact of this rubberized surface going into a landfill. You're talking about 10 to 15 years of a new rubberized surface before that ends up in a landfill. There are flooding issues. You also have the fact that that existing playground uh, is dated and also is not accessible in really any manner, shape or form as we would hope in 2021. So rather than just replace the, um, the rubberized surface, we wanted to be a little bit more ambitious and then something big happened about a year ago. Um, Oh, the global pandemic. Um, and so we were focused on a lot of other stuff. And then, um, about literally about a month ago, I was able to get back on this and write the RFP that is currently working its way through the process to head out so that we can get design firms in to, let me just pull it up here, but, and I'll keep talking, to really try to get a comprehensive and inclusive, playground and sorry, the document is opening. All right. So looking for a universally accessible ADA compliant playground and let me just try to get to the timeline.
[McLaughlin]: And I just want to add, Peter, one of the things that Peter and I were talking about was like ADA compliant is like the base, right? Like that's starting at the lowest expectation. for a playground and we've had these discussions. So, you know, that's really helpful in that. And, you know, one of the things, one of the stories that I share, and I know mom wouldn't mind me sharing, and I know I've shared this with Peter, but I don't know if I have with the rest of you, but we had a student here in Medford Public Schools that was a student with significant disabilities and was in a wheelchair and was not able to communicate with words. was in a residential school and would come home for weekends and during school vacation weeks. And mom would literally have nowhere to take her because there was no place that was accessible for her. There was no playground that she could go to. There was no place that she could take her. And this beautiful little girl passed away actually when she was 15 years old and she was her mom's only daughter. her mom had dedicated really her life to taking care of her and advocating for her and remained an advocate in the disability community is quite a remarkable woman. And, you know, I've thought a lot about this little girl over the years, and the fact that, you know, we didn't have a place for her to play. And I want to make sure that we can change that. And Denise, did you want to say something? I see you waving. Hold on one second, Peter. Hold on.
[USzVwzD0IPY_SPEAKER_11]: This is all news to me, Dr. Cushing. I am the district's full-time physical therapist and obviously very interested in what you're saying. We have fought the battle of accessibility on the playgrounds for the 20 some odd years that I've been in Medford Public Schools. So this is very interesting news to me. And I think it's important certainly that in your RFP or however you're putting together the grant that you get some input from. some of the related service providers about what we need. I see Mrs. Heim is also who's an OT at the high school. You need, you kind of need our input. We're the ones, I mean, I'm the ones working with the children in wheelchairs and the children that have physical challenges. And so I would ask respectfully that we be consulted
[McLaughlin]: That's great, Denise. Mr. Cushing and then Shanine.
[Cushing]: So the process that the RFP is actually establishing is the study. And part of that study is for us. Let me just read just real quick the project scope. So provide full design, including drainage for the proposed universally accessible playground from concept sketches through construction documents, including project doc bids, docs and specifications, create four concept renderings, provide a construction estimate, provide a construction schedule, conduct and participate in process through which playground equipment provider specified, and then develop a long-term maintenance plan And I'm getting to the good stuff right now, right here, facilitate meetings with constituents of the metropolitan schools and project partners during the design process as needed facilitate up to eight public meetings workshops etc. During the design development process to incorporate student and general public input. So those are the two critical pieces here. I know that Shanine had her hand up, but what we wanted, what the vision is, a small group of us kind of met last year as this was going through the CPA process. And the intent is for this to be connected with students through CCSR, as well as the public and members of our school community who can really provide us a play structure and hopefully a performance space and kind of expand upon this natural green area that is behind the playground as well as the existing playground itself.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Janine.
[Chenine Peloquin]: My comment was just asking, so in that small group of us we had the step we were at, at the moment the COVID hit was creating a subcommittee or a temporary ad hoc committee. And you're going to be taking applications from the community of people who wanted to be part of this. So that would include the PTs and OTs.
[USzVwzD0IPY_SPEAKER_11]: I mean, again, I'll defer to you as my boss, but dear Lord, we need to be, if you're talking about, I mean, I struggle daily with access for my students on the McGlynn playground, daily.
[Chenine Peloquin]: So what happened, I'd be happy to, Denise, if you want, I would be happy to talk with you about what was happening up to that point. And then really everything stopped. So like Peter said, it was like, it's been a month. I hadn't been updated yet. So like, no one like it's worrying about it. That's why. Right. And we hadn't we hadn't gone outside of the there was an application for the CPA, and then there was a CCSR student at the middle school who wanted to do an inclusive playground, and I brought the two groups together, and we had a meeting and had this idea, and then we had a pandemic. So like, it didn't get any farther than that.
[USzVwzD0IPY_SPEAKER_11]: I'm not looking to take on any more work, but it's just that, you know, I mean, I've got boots on the ground.
[McLaughlin]: Well, we're gonna make sure that you guys are involved, Denise. Thank you so much. We're gonna make sure of that, right? I know, you know, Dr. Cushing will make sure of that as well. And I think that, you know, just getting back to the point of the subcommittee, right, it's about building friendships between community and school for our kids and an inclusive playground, what better way to build friendships, right? I mean, this is really back to the scope of what the subcommittee
[Cushing]: HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Select Committee on HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, is to identify all of the things that we need to do, including involve that committee, take applications, do all of those types of things to make sure that, you know, we have a really inclusive group of people who can then develop a playground that is available to the wide variety of students who are going to be utilizing it. so that it is exciting and enticing to everyone. And then taking this, I think also as an opportunity, we had spoken last year in that meeting just about the fact that this is the most centrally located playground. It's very easily accessible. There's a lot of apartments near there. And so it is more than just a school playground. and it's just a great civic space. So how do we take all these things and then realize that by the time this RFP is complete and we have design specs and things like that, I don't have it in front of me right now, cause I closed that window. We're going to be in April, hopefully December of 2021, we'll have all that type of stuff. And then we can fundraise, identify funding sources, and then, you know, really, do grants, write grants, approach CPA, all these other things that we're gonna need a considerable funding mechanism to support this renovation slash reconstruction, just given some of the challenges with the site, but then just the sheer costs of doing a project like this.
[McLaughlin]: Member Van der Kloot, just one moment. I wanted to just respond to also just put this, HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Self-Directed Planner & Co-Leader:" You know, little bugging or be in people's bonnet is that there's also space over by the slave while in. HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Self-Directed Planner & Co-Leader:" West Medford and you know actually a community member and myself when I was the co chair of the CPAC had gone to the previous mayor and met with them about. HAB-Charlotte Pitts, Moderator, Self-Directed Planner & Co-Leader:" Creating some inclusive space and some opportunity there, and so there is some you know they're going to be doing an architectural dig over there, I know, and at some point, I think they're hoping to. make some more accessibility over there and opportunity there. So I think getting back to just even in any of these projects that we're looking at this with both, you know, with the lens of equity and having disability as part of that conversation and diversity. I just want to say we have seven minutes left. I'm going to let member van de Kloot speak and then Shanine.
[Van der Kloot]: So I just wanted to say to Dr. Cushing, it probably, so right now it sounds like the RFP is being prepared. This is something that I think the Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee should also hear about.
[Cushing]: Peter, did you have it? I believe this was mentioned last year when we were going through the RFP process. And basically, think of the last year as just a pause in the process as other larger items were unfortunately taking precedent.
[Van der Kloot]: I'm just saying, Peter, it's such exciting news now that it's back on the block. So at some point, think that the Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee should also be updated when you get the chance.
[Cushing]: We can definitely do that. I didn't want you to think that we were not, it just literally, there was finally like a window of time for me to research some other universally accessible playgrounds. I took a drive up to Vermont Burlington to see a really amazing one. And we'll be happy to definitely have that reach out to memocrats to put that on. It's great.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Shanine.
[Chenine Peloquin]: There we go. I just want to say, I know that there's like the school committee and there's the city and it's very strange arrangement to me, but the office of community development is in the process of reaching out to designers themselves for a three-year agreement. And I was able to help with the contract or the RFP itself and added wording on universal design and social impact design, et cetera. One of the challenges, and this is the expertise the direction that I've been heading away from the recreation provision into designing spaces. And we are in the process with OCD of getting the national expert on the ADA and recreation park settings to come and do a playground access audit training to teach us how to look at our current playgrounds. So that knowledge will then stay with the city. And I'm waiting for confirmation on what's happening with that. Apparently it's in the budget, but we have to schedule it, et cetera. And I was planning on inviting John McLaughlin to that and be open to, we need it to be a small enough group to be a manageable training, but we wanna make sure that it has broad representation as well, so that people know what a good inclusive playground looks like, because there are many that look really shiny and aren't actually fun. And there are several designers around here who do a terrible job and they just go with what the playground manufacturers tell them to go with and then it's not playable. So I think we need to be really cautious as to which designers we choose and their skill sets. And I'd be happy to help with that process. Peter, I'll shoot you an email.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you, Shanine, so much for that. And that's so exciting with OCD and having the national expert come in to look at our playgrounds and be able to do an audit around inclusivity. I think that's amazing. I know that, I think it was you that shared a story with me of a playground, I don't believe it's Medford's necessarily, but of a playground where they had an accessible swing, so a wheelchair accessible swing, but there was no access to get the wheelchair to the swing. And these are the kinds of things that realistically happen, right? So the other thing that's really important, and I'd like to end with this in our few minutes that are left, is that the disability community has a saying, nothing about us without us. Right. And I think it's really important that we are thinking about students with disabilities, you know, being a part of this as well. And so I think, I think even to like our wonderful presenter that Susanna has had several times, Nick Kerenge, right, who is so eloquent and amazing and, you know, also happens to use a wheelchair and other folks that I'm sure that could help give us some insight on what their experience is like. So I just want people to think about that. Nothing about us without us. It is 6.28 p.m. So if I have no other questions or comments, I would like to just review quickly that what we discussed today, we had, you know, Stacy talked to us about immediate needs for trauma-informed care, and we spoke about some of the issues around that. You'll see some of our, you'll see our minutes from next time around that and how we're moving things together. And then today we reviewed Common Ground, Medford Rec, Inclusive Playground, and Resources. online. So we got a lot of business done in the time that we were here. So I want to thank you guys all for being here. And if I can get a motion to adjourn, that would be great. Motion to adjourn. Second. Roll call. Member McLaughlin? Yes. Member Ruseau? Yes. Member Van der Kloot?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you.
[Unidentified]: We'll see you guys all April 15th, I hope with some policy ideas. Thank you so
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