total time: 0.28 minutes
total words: 50
[Rotolo]: Hi everyone, I'm unable to rename myself. I don't know if I can have that access, that capability.
[Cushing]: Yep, I'm just going through right now and making.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I'm unable to rename myself.
[Cushing]: Oh, okay. Sorry, that was the YouTube feed in the background. So I am actually going through right now and making everybody code. So if I miss anyone, just let me know, but that should just take a few minutes. Thank you.
[Lafleur]: I'll just chime in while that's happening to say that I'm on a phone and in a car. And so I'll be in transit for some portion of things. And I might pop in and back out or pop out and back in at some point and switch devices.
[SPEAKER_16]: I'm in the same boat. So I'm going to mute myself because I just think it would be best to mute myself and not show myself driving, but I am here. So I feel you.
[Cushing]: Be safe.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Everybody be careful.
[Cushing]: Melissa and Lee, I'll actually be on the same track you are right now, probably in the car, on the phone. Won't be my first time running a Zoom from that type of situation.
[Jim Lister]: All right. I think we got pretty good 18. I count. I'll take attendance first. Three brothers.
[Bri Brothers]: Yeah.
[Jim Lister]: Yeah. Puccio present. Aaron Jenya. Aaron. No. Beth Fuller. Grace Caldera. Aaron just logged on. Okay. All right. Uh, grace here and Aaron, are you there? Can you hear me?
[Genia]: I'm here.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. Thank you. Ken Mallon. I see here. Kristen Scalise here. Thank you. Laura Tolo.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Yeah.
[Jim Lister]: I know Lee, you're on the phone. Lila Fleur. Yes, I'm here. Lou and Tapa.
[SPEAKER_22]: Yes, sir.
[Jim Lister]: Maria Rosha.
[Rocha]: Yeah.
[Jim Lister]: Well, listen, Miguel, you're on the phone also. Okay. Thank you. Patrick McCabe president. Well, then I don't, I think he's going to be a few minutes late. Ron. I saw Ron here. Seth Hill, I heard Seth. I'm here. Kathy Kang. I see Kathy Kang. Present. Matt Abistro.
[Matt Haberstroh]: Here.
[Jim Lister]: Caitlin Shaughnessy. Caitlin? No. Janelle Garland McKenzie.
[Caldera]: Here.
[Jim Lister]: Josie DeFore.
[Dufour]: Here.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. Thank you. And Jim Lister here. Okay. So we got, Two people missing. All right, call the meeting to order. Has everyone had a chance to look at the minutes of the previous meeting? Any changes, insertions, something that's not right?
[McCabe]: Yes, I have two things that I believe need to be corrected in the record.
[Jim Lister]: OK, Pat.
[McCabe]: First one is on page two, the fifth comment down. For me, for my comment, I believe I said recanted, not receded.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Can you just send me the changes, Patrick? It's just easier if you can just email me the changes, because I'll have to make them over the weekend. OK. Thanks.
[McCabe]: And then the second one, I wanna make sure it's not my words, it's Jim's words. Melissa had asked the question about why the number 12 was significant. And I believe Jim said that 12 was a majority of the committee. The notes say that 12 was the max score on the rubric, but do you remember that Jim?
[Jim Lister]: Yes. So you were saying 12 was- That was, because the question was if they got 12 votes, Why would they go to the final three? Because 12 is the majority.
[McCabe]: Yeah. Okay. That's what I remembered. So I'll send those to you, Lisa. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: All right. Thank you. Anybody else on the minutes? Can I get a motion to accept the minutes? The amendments and seconded all those in favor. All right. Anyone opposed?
[RhUNhYl62Oo_SPEAKER_05]: Hi.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, I have a couple of letters to read. First is from the teachers. Dear Columbus School Renaming Committee, as staff members of the Columbus Elementary School, many of whom are current or former Medford residents, we wish to thank you for the hard work and commitment that you have given to finding a name that truly embraces the spirit of learning, kindness, and diversity that is the Columbus School community. We know that is a very difficult task and I'm grateful that you gave your time and effort to the endeavor. As the selection of a name draws near, the debate over the best name has become more heated, including a Tuesday city council meeting in the patch and on social media. How can a name truly describe a community of diverse learners and unique individuals? Clearly many in Medford wish to select a name that they feel prioritizes the values that are important to them. Many of us can't help but feel saddened that the name of a place that we associate with joy, growth, and learning has become a topic of anger or frustration for anyone. It can also be hard to accept that there may be people with few to no ties to the school have strong opinions about its naming for reasons of individual politics. As teachers frequently strive to find balance between the needs and wants of many individuals, one way to achieve balance with regards to renaming would be to steer away from the practice of renaming the school after an individual. No human is perfect, and it seems unfair to debate the merits of people who do not seek to be honored in this way, despite how well-intentioned the honor is. And who cannot advocate for themselves or add their voice to the discussion? Furthermore, choosing an individual's name may be perceived as being representative of only one group of people rather than the entire community. We believe that everyone should feel included and represented by the name. We respectfully ask that you can reconsider naming the school after a geographic feature or landmark that is tied to our school. South Medford Community School, South Mystic Elementary, or the Hicks Avenue School, all describe the area in which the school is located and in which the majority of our students live, learn, and grow. The geography is incontrovertible, and we hope less likely to leave any one group feeling as if they were left out. We recognize that this suggestion comes late in the game, but nonetheless, hope that you will consider the idea. Thank you for your time and hard work. Sincerely, the Columbus Elementary educators. And it's signed by a whole list of teachers, probably 25 of them. I don't know if you want me to read those names. The next letter was a letter that was forwarded to me.
[McCabe]: Jim, I have a question on that. Yes. Principal K, how many teachers are there at your school? Is that 25 represent 50%? Does it represent greater than that? What's the?
[Kathleen Kay]: Well, it's really hard because there's roughly 25 homeroom teachers, but then we have lots of support staff and specialists. So normally when we make copies, that would include the custodians and everybody. Like I rarely do just the teachers. It comes to, it's about, I'd say a third of everybody who works at the building.
[Jim Lister]: Excuse me, there's 43 names on this. I don't know that they're all teachers, but it's signed by 43 people.
[Kathleen Kay]: So that would definitely be well more than half, well, well more than half close to almost full majority. Okay.
[McCabe]: And then, then the other question that I have, Jim is, did this come through the union or was this just a group of individuals?
[Jim Lister]: This is a group of individual teachers that, uh, Vicki Mello forwarded to me, I guess she had said that the day of our last meeting and I didn't get it until the next day. And she called looking. So I went and found it in my emails and I told her I'd read it this meeting.
[McCabe]: Okay, thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Anybody else? Alright, the next letter was sent to me, it was forwarded, it was sent to the mayor and then it was forwarded to me from the Italian American Alliance. It says, dear Mayor Cohen, for the record, the Italian American Alliance of Massachusetts does not support the decision made by the Medford School Committee. in regards to the renaming of the Christopher Columbus School in Medford. It shows a complete disregard for federal constitutional protections in regards to equity to ethnic group who do not support the name change while providing factual information concerning Christopher Columbus. Be advised that we fully expect to address this issue again in the future. Sincerely, James DeStefano, President of Italian American Alliance Massachusetts. Okay, all right, we voted last week to have a procedure. I think Pat McCabe made the motion and I'm gonna read that process and then we're gonna get into it. Motion that the committee reduce the list of 18 nominees by starting with the lowest ranked name or names according to the rubric scoring and asking the committee if anyone would include said name in their top three to be submitted to the school committee for consideration. No one on the committee would include their name, if no one on the committee would include their said name, sorry, in the top three, said name is stricken from the list. After going through this process, each committee member shall have no more than three minutes to discuss which nominee or nominees they think should be sent forward to the school committee. After each committee member presents, each committee member shall vote for one nominee. If a nominee receives 12 votes, that nominee shall be one of the committee's three recommendations to the school committee. If no nominee receives 12 votes on the first vote, first ballot, the bottom vote getters will be strickened, bottom vote getter or getters will be strickened and the committee will vote again. This process will continue until the nominee receives 12 votes. After selecting one nominee to advance, All nominees will be placed back into the pool, and the committee shall repeat the same process to select the second nominee, and repeat a third time to select the third nominee. So, going by the school- Point of order, Mr. Chair.
[Rotolo]: Just looking at the time, is it right that we do have to end at six? And if so, you know, what should we do if we don't get through the whole process by six? Is it, you know, do we envision having to stop somewhere in the middle?
[Jim Lister]: I think we have to end at six, so we'll have to carry it on in the next meeting.
[Hill]: Point of order. There was some friendly amendments and language that had changed from Patrick's submitted motion last week, namely that we were going to just do it alphabetically rather than starting with the lowest ranked. And that I think it was up to three names, because the way in which Pat's language is now written, we have to do it until a nominee receives 12. a nominee may never reach 12, or we may not reach 12 votes for three names. We might only do one or two. And so those were friendly amendments that we had made last week.
[Jim Lister]: Can you remind me of those friendly amendments? Patrick, do you?
[McCabe]: Yeah, the alphabetical. We did alphabetical rather than the rubric because there was some confusion about the rubric, so.
[Jim Lister]: Well, we had to wait for the rubric because not everyone had all the information last week.
[McCabe]: The motion, however, was amended to go alphabetical rather than starting with the lowest scored person on the rubric. It's inconsequential to the outcome. All 18 candidates are going to be heard. Um in the first round here, so It doesn't matter if we go alphabetical or if we go by score Okay point of clarification Just two two things.
[Giovino]: I just want to make sure we're tracking that everybody every committee member has Can three times state not more than that only three times you can state. It's one of your top three And the other one is there are We're gonna make 66 votes here. I don't think if you get 12, you're automatically necessarily in because it could be a potential of four candidates getting, four names getting 12. So we just have to be cautious that if there's a tie and there's more than three names that come up with a 12 or whatever, that's possible to happen. I don't think it is gonna happen, but if it is, they don't automatically get in.
[McCabe]: No, Ron, it's not, people aren't voting for three candidates. They're voting for one candidate three times.
[Giovino]: I understand, but what I'm saying is name A comes up, 12 people could vote for that one person. Name D comes up, 12 people could vote for that person. F comes up, 12. G comes up, 12. That's only 48 of the 66 votes. So it's potential that that could happen. I don't anticipate it, but when you get caught not doing So I would just say that when you say 12 automatically get you in, it's subject to only three getting 12.
[McCabe]: Right, that's what would happen. We only vote three times if there were to be.
[Giovino]: Yeah, my point only is mathematically with 22 of us voting, it's potential that more than three people could get a 12.
[McCabe]: We're only voting for one candidate in the first round.
[Giovino]: You're voting for every name eight every name in the alphabet, so what if everybody got, what if three people got 12, then we don't need another round.
[McCabe]: We're not voting for three people, we're voting for one person in the first round.
[Giovino]: No, when you say A, I can pick, if that's one of my three, I can say that's one of my three, is that correct? No. You're saying that's my pick is that one.
[McCabe]: No, no, the only reason going one of your top three is just to filter out people, right? So if nobody wants to vote for candidate A, then candidate A doesn't make it to the final round, right?
[Giovino]: Okay, so just for clarification, if I say A is my vote, I can't vote again in this round?
[McCabe]: No, you will vote again, you just, if- In this round. Correct, in this round, if A was the bottom vote getter, then you would vote for somebody else.
[Giovino]: No, no, no, no, what I'm saying is you're gonna read off A to Z here, right? Once I say- One at a time. Right, so we're gonna say number one, A. Everybody's gonna vote, everybody's gonna say it's one of your to vote on, correct?
[McCabe]: No, we're just saying, does anyone have A as their first choice? Oh, and then they're just going to say, does anyone have B as their first choice? So it could be all 18. We could end up voting on all 18. The idea was just to pare the list down, assuming that there's some people that may not make the top 18.
[Jim Lister]: So after the first vote, say we have six names, seven names with votes, then we what? We vote again.
[McCabe]: Correct. Then at that point, we, everybody votes who their first choice is.
[Jim Lister]: Out of the remaining seven. Correct.
[RhUNhYl62Oo_SPEAKER_05]: Correct.
[Jim Lister]: And how many times are we going to go through that on that particular, so that we get it down to four.
[McCabe]: Until someone gets 12 votes. So on that first round, if someone gets 12 votes, then.
[Jim Lister]: Okay.
[Lungo-Koehn]: point of clarification, are we doing this with a poll, or are we doing this by roll call?
[McCabe]: I believe it needs to be by roll call, you know, per the guidance that we got originally from Lisa, because it is a Zoom meeting. I mean, we're not going to be able to do a vote, a voice, you know, voice vote. So I think it has to be roll call.
[Lisa Evangelista]: If I could just jump in two quick things, Paul Donato is on the call and the latest I can leave is 6.30. So you have an extra half hour.
[Jim Lister]: All right, thanks. Okay. So I'll read down the list. I don't have, let me get this list.
[Rotolo]: Point of clarification, so at this point, we are being, you'll read the last 18 in alphabetical order, Mr. Chair, right? And the question is, is this person on your top three, right? Is that the first question we're asking?
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's your top person, if it's your top person.
[Rotolo]: Your top person, your number one top person, okay.
[McCabe]: The motion said top three.
[Rotolo]: That's what I thought, yeah.
[Matt Haberstroh]: I thought it was the top three.
[Rotolo]: Yeah, okay.
[Matt Haberstroh]: If the name is wed and their top three, you're voting affirmatively, correct, Patrick?
[McCabe]: Correct.
[Rotolo]: Yeah, that makes sense.
[McCabe]: I mean, I think it would be, you know, the proper way to probably present it would to say, does anybody object to the removal of this name? And then, you know, if someone's new top three, you'd say I object.
[Rotolo]: But just to be clear, it doesn't have to be a top three, because I have a top like five or 10, you know, that I would love.
[McCabe]: It has to be a top three. It has to be a top three.
[Jim Lister]: Great. OK. So if I read down the list.
[Kathleen Kay]: Can I ask a question? I'm sorry, point of clarification.
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Kathleen Kay]: What if you have a tie on your list? Because I do. I have four names with the same score.
[McCabe]: Well, I think you could potentially hope that somebody else raises, wants one of your three to move on, and then you could save that vote for later on. Got it.
[Kathleen Kay]: Thank you.
[Hill]: Yeah, I would say that if you're not able to choose, then you have to abstain and only have two choices. or your rubrics are one thing that you are considering in your choices, in your top three choices. So even if your rubric does have a tie, you are totally allowed to use your own methodology in order to choose your top three at this point.
[Jim Lister]: All right, so we're not going to eliminate anybody from the list yet. Are we going to speak out three minutes on each candidate first, or are we going to wait till after we?
[McCabe]: No, I think if we wait to just call the list down, Jim, just to reduce the list. No, I think the list is reduced, then we have three minutes for statements.
[Hill]: OK. If a name's not on anyone's top three, then it does get eliminated now.
[Jim Lister]: Correct. So each person is going to give me their top three then.
[McCabe]: No. So you would start with the first name alphabetically and say, does anyone have an objection to this name being stricken?
[Jim Lister]: Okay.
[McCabe]: And then if someone raises an objection, so everyone here would have three objections that they could raise.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. And everyone has to pick three.
[McCabe]: They don't have to, but they can pick fewer than three, but not more than three. Correct.
[Rotolo]: Okay. So there will be a roll call for each one of these names in alphabetical order.
[Jim Lister]: All right.
[SPEAKER_16]: So the first one is. I'm just wondering how we got here when we've now 25 minutes into the meeting and we still don't have clear understanding on what we're doing. I wanna make a motion to say that we reevaluate how we are the large group of us who do not understand actually what we're doing here. If it's now taking us 25 minutes to try and figure out the proper way to eliminate the names. And I have great concerns about holding an election for this or a nomination when people are very concerned.
[Hill]: Point of order. The discussion for that would, which would be a motion to rescind and require two thirds vote from the entirety of the committee would surely be longer than any needed explanation for us going forward now. We are here to what we have to do tonight. If we need to explain it again, we can do that.
[SPEAKER_16]: Right now- Point of clarification, please. We're here to narrow down the names.
[Hill]: Yes, that is what I said.
[SPEAKER_16]: To figure out the proper way to narrow down these names. This has been going on for one year. We have already made a- Excuse me. Excuse me, please don't speak over me. Please don't speak over me. Share your clarification. We need to come up with a system where we're not spending 25 minutes trying to help each other understand how we're voting. It's apparent now over the last 25 minutes that there's gross confusion as to this process that we voted on last week.
[Hill]: Point of order, we did vote on it last week. We have had a week in order to figure it out. If there needs to get explanations tonight, we can do that. Point of privilege. Melissa, you're breaking up and I can't hear you.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I want to remind everybody that we're supposed to be doing the top three because you do have to present to school committee on June 7th and maybe we can get one more meeting prior to that. So, um, that's my point of clarification.
[Jim Lister]: All right, can we explain this one more time for Melissa? Pat, do you wanna go through it now? We're gonna go alphabetically.
[Giovino]: Ken has been waving his hand.
[Kathleen Kay]: Yeah, Ken has his hand up.
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, Ken, you wanna speak? I have grave concerns that people are not expressing concerns until we get to a meeting and then suddenly it's we have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is, fairly simple, and I don't think it's been explained in the most simple form today. So I'm going to take a stab at it, Patrick, if that's okay. Sure. Okay, Jim is going to read Achi Sulo. He is going to say, does anybody have objection with removing Achi Sulo from the list? Based on the score, I would think that most people would not say anything and we could remove him from the list. Then he's going to move to Amelia Earhart. He's going to say, does anybody have objection to remove her from the list? If somebody does have an objection, then she stays on the list. Then he's gonna read Arthur de la Russo. He's gonna say, does anybody have any objection to removing Arthur de la Russo from the list? depending on if somebody has an objection, he either stays or goes, then moves on to Belinda Sutton and that on and that on. That calls the list, okay? And then from that smaller list, that's when we start doing our voting.
[Rotolo]: Just to add to Ken, we each have three objections.
[Lungo-Koehn]: And those are based on the people that we believe, however we support it, are our top three people. Correct.
[Jim Lister]: Melissa? You with us?
[SPEAKER_22]: Lost her.
[Hill]: Give her a minute. We still have quorum. We need to proceed.
[Jim Lister]: Melissa. You're there. Okay.
[Kathleen Kay]: No, she's bounced off.
[Jim Lister]: All right. I'm sure she'll be back. All right. Are there any objections to removing him from the list? Anybody? No objections? Okay. Amelia Earhart, any objections?
[Dufour]: I have an objection. I do as well.
[Jim Lister]: Anybody else?
[Mackenzie]: I also do.
[Jim Lister]: Who's?
[Mackenzie]: Janelle.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, thank you.
[Dan]: I do as well.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Hey folks, can you say your name because I don't know everybody yet and I have to really record this appropriately. So it's so far it's Josie, Kathy, Janelle and Dan, correct? Correct.
[Kristin Scalisi]: May I ask a question?
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Kristin Scalisi]: It's Kristen Scalise. If someone do, should we object every time, or if like four people already objected and you would have objected, is it enough that like, I should also object or I don't have to because they already did.
[Clerk]: One objection gets keeps them on the list. So yeah, okay.
[Kathleen Kay]: Okay. Okay. And can I take my objection back? Because I don't want a three.
[Dan]: Well, no, you don't get three, you get as many as you want, right? We only get three top three. Yeah, that's fine. That's fine. That was one of my names anyway. So I don't care. Okay. Okay.
[Kathleen Kay]: All right. Thank you.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Kathy.
[Kathleen Kay]: What's that? Lisa? Say that again. I'm sorry.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Happy. Are you in or out on a minute?
[Kathleen Kay]: Well, somebody already objected. So I'm okay with not having to object and save my other three for something else.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Taking you off. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, the next one's out the Dello Russo.
[Jim Lister]: All right. The next one's Belinda Sutton.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I object. I object. I need everybody's names again, please. If you're objecting, I need your name. Three brothers.
[Dufour]: Great. Josie Dufour.
[Beth Fuller]: Beth Fuller.
[Lafleur]: Lila Fleur.
[Matt Haberstroh]: Matt Haberstroh.
[Hill]: Seth Hill. I don't know if you got me.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Nope. Thanks, Seth. So Seth, Matt, Leroy, Beth, Josie, Grace, and Brie, correct? Anyone else?
[Jim Lister]: I'll ask a question. Is Dr. Cushing still on here? No, he's not. He's had to step away. A girl sent me a text that she can't get back in. She's locked out.
[Kathleen Kay]: Okay, he made me leave. I don't see her though.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, the next one's Crispus Attucks. Any objections of striking him from the list? Anybody? Hold on a second. Hello. I got your message.
[Kathleen Kay]: I'm trying to find her name.
[Jim Lister]: Kathy case trying to get you back in Dr. Cushing, I think had to leave us and go somewhere else.
[Kathleen Kay]: So he was driving. He said he'd come back on.
[Jim Lister]: I just you guys know, I'll send her the link directly right now. Thank you, Peter. He's gonna he's gonna send you the link right now.
[Giovino]: Jim, just point of information, Jim. There's no reason why she can't be on the phone. Just leave her on the phone as we go through this process while we're waiting for to get on.
[Jim Lister]: I'm gonna put I'm going to put you on speaker on my phone. Is that all right?
[Kristin Scalisi]: Also, is there a phone number to call in? It doesn't necessarily have to be the link. There's usually a Zoom phone call. You can just dial in if she's on the phone. That might be a better connection for her.
[Hill]: Point of information, yes, there is a phone number that's on the agenda.
[Matt Haberstroh]: How long are we going to wait?
[Jim Lister]: Well, is there any luck?
[Lungo-Koehn]: No.
[Jim Lister]: There's a phone number on the agenda that you can call in instead of trying to do the Zoom link.
[Bri Brothers]: Would someone like me to read off the phone number? Yeah, I have it too. Okay.
[Jim Lister]: Can you hear Melissa? You hear the phone number?
[SPEAKER_16]: I'm going to email it to me because I can't dial it while I'm on the phone with you.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. Good. Someone want to read it and I'll email it. Nope. There we go. Let's do this. Was it Brie was going to read the number?
[Kathleen Kay]: I also just re-sent her the email from Susie Weiss with the link in it.
[Jim Lister]: All right. All right. We'll continue. So Christmas addicts. Did anyone object to Christmas addicts? Okay. The next one's Fannie Farmer. Any objections? Okay. Your name for the record? Ken Mallon. Ken Mallon. Okay. All right, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey. Any objections?
[Paul Donato Jr]: Paul Donato Jr.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, Paul. Gene Barry Sutherland.
[Dan]: Hold on, Jim. Yep. I think Beth Fuller said her name as well. Did you get her?
[Jim Lister]: No. She also for Grace Muriel Earhart. OK. I think really. Oh, OK.
[Dan]: Wait, you can't hear her, Jim.
[Jim Lister]: No, I can't.
[Dan]: Beth, can you speak up?
[Beth Fuller]: Yep. So please include me with Grace Muriel Morsi.
[Jim Lister]: OK.
[Beth Fuller]: Got you, Beth, thank you. Thanks, Lisa.
[Jim Lister]: OK, anybody else for Grace, Muriel, Earhart, Morrison?
[Kristin Scalisi]: Someone actually, I wish we had had some of these suggestions before. Someone in the comments, in the public comments, suggested that it would be a great idea to combine like Amelia and Grace as the school name, and I thought that was a fantastic idea, but unfortunately it came after we had the, you know, we had to drill down. So for the next school, let's get the public, more public comments ahead of time. Sorry, there were just so many good ideas.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, thank you. Jean Barry Sutherland.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I object. I object.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Object.
[Kathleen Kay]: Yeah, you need to say your names for Lisa. Okay. Kristen, Kristen Scalise.
[Mackenzie]: Who else? Annie. Yep. Janelle Gahl and Mackenzie. Now.
[Jim Lister]: Him Lista. Lila Fleur.
[SPEAKER_22]: Lou and Tapa.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I got you a little first.
[SPEAKER_22]: Thank you.
[Lisa Evangelista]: So Lou, Paul, Kristen, Dan, Janelle, Jim. Yes.
[Lafleur]: Yes. Oh, did you get Lee?
[Lisa Evangelista]: Yes. Ron. Ron. Okay.
[Giovino]: Um, Ron did not comment.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Ron did not comment.
[Giovino]: Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. Crystal Campbell.
[Kathleen Kay]: Okay. I object as well. Kathy Kaye.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Got you, Kath.
[Jim Lister]: OK. Lydia Marie Child.
[Kristin Scalisi]: I reject. I'm sorry.
[Bri Brothers]: So Gray Welch. Kristen Scalise. And Kathy Kaye. And Josie Dufour.
[Matt Haberstroh]: And Seth Hill.
[Lisa Evangelista]: And Seth.
[Matt Haberstroh]: And Matt Haberstroh.
[Lisa Evangelista]: And Matt.
[Jim Lister]: miss attack.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I checked. Okay, so who are those people? Janelle? Yep. Maria Rocha. Maria. Three, four, three.
[Matt Haberstroh]: And Kathy K. Matt have her stroke. And Seth help.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Anyone else? Beth, Matt, Kathy, Bree, Beth, Maria, and Janelle. Good?
[Jim Lister]: Yep.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Jim, you're up.
[Jim Lister]: Pauline, Alice, Young.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I object, Laura. Anyone else?
[Jim Lister]: OK. Pauline Walker.
[Kristin Scalisi]: I object. Kristen Scalise.
[SPEAKER_22]: I also object, Loon Toppa.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Such a beautiful article written about her in Wicked Local. I didn't know her, but it was really nice.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, any more for Pauline Walker? Prince Hall.
[Rotolo]: I object, it's Laura.
[McCabe]: Patrick.
[Jim Lister]: Any more?
[Lisa Evangelista]: I'm sorry?
[Jim Lister]: Any more? I heard Laura and Patrick, was there any more objections? Okay. Raymond Marano.
[Lafleur]: I object. This is Lila Fleur.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Paul Donato Jr.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Paul, anybody else?
[Jim Lister]: All right. Bruce Bader Ginsburg. Anybody? Bruce Bader Ginsburg. Hold on one second. Okay, Sagamore John. Anybody? And the last one, Wampanoag. Objections? Anybody? Okay, we've eliminated five. Achi Sulo, Crispus Attucks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sagamore John, and Wampanoag.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Final clarification, could you just repeat the ones that we eliminated?
[Jim Lister]: Eliminated. Achi Sulo. Christmas Addicts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sagamore John, and Wampanoag.
[Rotolo]: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[Jim Lister]: OK, so now we voted on this next, Pat, or are we each speaking?
[McCabe]: Everyone speaks now so that when people make their vote on their Okay, next round.
[Jim Lister]: That's the way I thought we were going to do it, but I just double checking. Okay. So Amelia Earhart, anyone that would like to speak on Amelia Earhart?
[Rocha]: A point of clarification, we're able to speak on multiple names. This is simply each person gets three minutes to speak on their top three, correct?
[Hill]: Yes.
[McCabe]: Start with the committee in any order you think is appropriate, Mr. Chair.
[Jim Lister]: So I'm going to go alphabetically. Would anyone like to speak on Amelia Earhart first? We'll listen to everyone that would like to speak on Amelia Earhart.
[McCabe]: And what she was saying is that everyone gets three minutes total, not three minutes per candidate. So some people may give one minute for one candidate. So the format would be for everyone just to give their three-minute speech. All right.
[Jim Lister]: Well, why don't we get on the list then? How's that?
[McCabe]: Great.
[Jim Lister]: So Bree, would you like to go first?
[Bri Brothers]: Sure.
[Giovino]: Just a point of, just a point of, sorry, Brie. I just, the only concern I have with the individual going and speaking on a name is that it doesn't lead to debate. If we have Amelia Earhart up on the board and anybody wants to speak to it, it also gives an opportunity to compliment what Brie would say about Amelia Earhart, for example. So instead of listening to Bree say Amelia Earhart and then when we get down to Danny he does Amelia Earhart too, calling the name off for our scenes to be more conducive to a whole building a whole story. That's my comment.
[McCabe]: I mean, that makes sense, but that's not what we voted on, that's all, so.
[Giovino]: I'm just trying to make sense prevail in this case.
[McCabe]: I think either way. I mean, I think we'll remember the good things that everybody says over the next hour.
[Bri Brothers]: Should I go? Should I? I don't know now.
[Jim Lister]: Yeah. You want to start? I'm sorry. I'm just trying to... I'm getting the emails from Melissa. She's not getting, she didn't get the email, Kathy K. She hasn't got any email, any emails.
[Kathleen Kay]: I sent it to her twice, maybe her work email address. I don't know, is Peter back on?
[Kristin Scalisi]: Jim, I also put, sorry.
[Cushing]: No, I sent it to her twice as well.
[Kristin Scalisi]: But we have a quorum, so you know what I mean? Jim, Jim, I put the number. I put the number to call in and the meeting ID that she would have to enter in the chat if you wanna text it to her, if you have her number and you're speaking to her right now.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, let me do that.
[Kristin Scalisi]: She just has to dial in and then add in that number and she'll get in on her phone.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you.
[Bri Brothers]: Can I go ahead or?
[Jim Lister]: Yes, please.
[Bri Brothers]: Okay, thanks. So, Thanks, everyone. I'm going to be speaking on behalf of Belinda Sutton. If I could, I would like to quote one of the submissions that we got from the public input survey. Is that allowed? Can we do that?
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Bri Brothers]: OK, great. So Eileen Lerner said, there are no photos or paintings of the black enslaved people who helped build Medford. There are no public statues or paintings of black people enslaved or free in city hall or any public building. There are no streets or squares dedicated to their memory. Belinda Sutton was not only an enslaved person, she was also a fighter who sued for a pension following the departure of the royal family. during the revolution and after her emancipation. Naming the Columbus School the Belinda Sutton School would indicate a new consciousness and awareness of the injustices black people have suffered in the United States and in Medford. This name would signal a desire to redress the many wrongs perpetrated against black people and acknowledge the long history of suffering they've endured. It would proclaim a new day and a new era in the city of Medford. I also, I love that the, I understand that the fifth graders at the Columbus School take a field trip to the Royal House every year. And I think it would be really meaningful to the students of Medford to go there to learn about this person who helped build Medford with her hands and then go back to that school knowing what a great honor that is. And lastly, I just want to take a spin that, you know, it's one of the most, the most difficult pieces of this process has been trying to get positive and negative feedback on people to, you know, to figure out who was marginalized, who marginalized, and literally selecting a black female person that was enslaved. It's just, It's the most wonderful underdog story. And it's just being in an enslaved position like that, we know there's no way she marginalized people because she herself is the epitome of who was marginalized because of the ideals of people like Christopher Columbus.
[Paul Donato Jr]: For the clarifications to the chair brief, did you say that there was no persons of color in the city of Medford have anything named after them? Is that what you said?
[Bri Brothers]: No, that is not what the, and to be, I'm quoting someone who submitted this.
[Paul Donato Jr]: But in that quote, you did say that there was nothing named after anyone's a person of color. Did you not say that?
[Bri Brothers]: No, that's not what it said. It said there are no public statues or paintings of black people enslaved or free in City Hall or any public building.
[Paul Donato Jr]: There is a public building. You're incorrect there. Madeline Dugger Andrews is a person of color who a middle school is named after.
[Rocha]: Are we allowed to interrupt members as they're speaking and correct them on information?
[Paul Donato Jr]: That's what this is a fact finding information about the city of Medford.
[Rocha]: However, our resolution states that each member of the committee gets three minutes to speak. There is nothing in there that says that one can interrupt and correct.
[Jim Lister]: We have to wait till we have a discussion afterwards, Paul. OK? Let her have her three minutes before we go into debates. We'll debate afterwards.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Ray, can you send me that quote, please? Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Melissa Miguel is in the waiting room. Who has access to let her in? Can you reread that quote, please?
[Bri Brothers]: Sure.
[Matt Haberstroh]: Thank you.
[Bri Brothers]: There are no photos or paintings of the black enslaved people who helped build Medford. There are no public statues or paintings of black people enslaved or free in City Hall or any public building. There are no public statues or paintings in City Hall or any public building. There are no streets or squares dedicated to their memory. Belinda Sutton was not only an enslaved person, she was also a fighter who sued for a pension following the departure of the royal family during the revolution and after her emancipation. Naming the Columbus School the Belinda Sutton School would indicate a new consciousness and awareness of the injustices Black people have suffered in the United States and in Medford. It was named to signal a desire to redress the many wrongs perpetrated against black people and acknowledge the long history of suffering they have endured. And a new day and a new era in the city of Medford.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Point of information, there is a portrait of Prince Hall and City Hall that was done by a local artist to celebrate our centennial in 1992. It was taken down, which I don't believe it was, when Mayor McGlynn left. That's right in the Rotunda area of City Hall. And secondly, I believe Duggar Park is named after a World War I veteran, Edward Duggar. And there was also at the Rotary, If you go into West Medford into Arlington, that Rotary is also named for an African American gentleman who I believe served in Vietnam, but I am, I'm sorry, I can't come up with his name. But just for clarification, I'm sorry, I'm history buff, and I'm sorry, I just can't let it go. So I'm just like, I'm sorry, Matt.
[Matt Haberstroh]: Who's speaking?
[Lisa Evangelista]: Lisa?
[Matt Haberstroh]: Yeah, I would say to this and that list of people that you named, does it overcome the mural in the post office?
[Lisa Evangelista]: It's been named in honor of anyone.
[Jim Lister]: Can I stop you here, please? We're going to give everybody the three minutes, and then we'll discuss all this, OK? We're not going to get through this if we're going to debate every person as they talk. Jim, real quick, if you would like, I'll keep time. Yes. Okay. Let me know in three minutes. Yes.
[Kathleen Kay]: Is Melissa in? Because I don't see her. Okay.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. Are you all done?
[Bri Brothers]: I am. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: All right. Thank you. All right. Dan, do you want to go next?
[Dan]: Um, yeah, I can go next. So I prepared a little statement that I kind of whipped up right before the meeting. Obviously, as a leader in the Italian American community, myself and my family have been deeply saddened about this whole entire situation. And to be quite frank, this goes well beyond Christopher Columbus. This isn't about Christopher Columbus. In more recent times, two words seem to come out of every public elected official's mouth. Those words are equitable and inclusiveness. The large amount of people, including Italian-Americans have been totally disregarded. Then where is the inclusiveness? Where is the equitability? Whether Columbus was a slave owner or not, Italian-Americans in this city have been treated badly with this whole situation. The feelings of many residents of the city have been disregarded. This is causing a horrific divide like we have never seen. It's not fair and it's definitely not inclusive. Jean Barry Sutherland in life left a mark on our children, on our educators, on our staff. In death, Jean Barry Sutherland can help heal this city from this horrific division that this whole situation has caused. We as a committee have an amazing opportunity here to reunite everyone by simply understanding and listening to one another with what our wants are. I humbly ask that this committee really, really consider reunifying this city and putting forth Jean Barry Sutherland's name. That's it for me.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Dan. Erin, would you like to go next? Yes, thank you.
[Genia]: Well, I had actually picked my top three that I would like to speak about, but it seems like people are just talking about one. Is that true?
[Jim Lister]: You can read through three minutes if you wanna read through your top three. Okay. That's fine.
[Genia]: So my first choice is after reading through all of the information that people sent in on the surveys, talking with community members in my own conscience, I believe that the school should be named after the river, the Mystic River or Missitech River. I think that for one thing, I took to heart the words of the teachers of the school in wanting to not name it after a person, and also to recognize the river as the life force that it brings into our community, what it has given to our community throughout history. The reason why Medford exists here today is because of the trade, when settlers came here to trade along the river. And it was inhabited and still is inhabited by tribal people who call this place home. And so I feel that it would be a good way for the students to connect to that, to this land where we live. And also in thinking ahead to issues that we're all facing, looking at climate change coming nearer, looking at sea level rise nearing. Many young people that I work with have a very strong connection to wanting to be more ecologically minded. And I believe that by naming the school after the river, that would be a really amazing step towards that and to support the students in their leadership around those issues. My second choice would be for Belinda Sutton to be named, the school to be named after her, because I believe that We are in a period right now of a reckoning around racial justice and the legacy of colonization in our, not only in our community, but in the larger world. And many young students of color are looking up, looking for role models that they can look to and- Jim, three minutes. Is that three minutes?
[Genia]: Okay. Well, just to sum it up. Um, so Belinda Sutton would be my second choice. And then my, my third choice would be Jean Barry Sutherland, who is well, a well-loved person in this community who has made a huge impact. So, uh, thank you for your time.
[Dan]: Thank you, Jim. Do you want me to give a one, like a 15 second warning? Yeah. I mean, is that going to make a difference?
[Jim Lister]: I don't know. Shua, you can give him a 15 second warning. We'll see how that works out. All right. Thank you. All right, Beth Fuller.
[Beth Fuller]: Very nice to see all of you again. My first choice would be the Missituk because This is why the city of Medford exists. We were the Ford in the river, the Mystic River, we called it, but it was known by the other name, Misatoch, for much longer than perhaps even we've been here. I did a quick survey to see if there were any other schools named Mystic uh, name for a river in the United States. There was one in Winchester, but it is since closed and not even in Mystic, Connecticut. Is there a school named that way? And Misatoch doesn't come up either as a school name. It would be a dramatic, a dramatic name to have on the front of the school. It would recognize the people who were here long before we were and that we are grateful for their presence and for allowing us to be here. My second choice would be Belinda Sutton because she did something illiterate, uneducated woman who knew that she deserved better. Like other workers of this world, she knew that she deserved to be paid and compensated for the years that she spent in service. And she went after that and was successful. My third choice is Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey, who not only taught at the Lincoln School, but also lived in South Medford at the time that Amelia Earhart, her sister, flew over the Atlantic. And Grace went on to teach, well Muriel is how we knew her, went on to teach and to teach in the Belmont school system where she spent most of her years teaching. But she also served on the Medford School Committee. She served on the Library Board of Trustees. She helped to start the League of Women Voters, the Zonta Club, I think the West Medford Book Club. She was a member of the DAR, which started the Royal House Museum. and was a longtime member of the Medford Historical Society and Grace Episcopal Church. Amelia Earhart only lived 39 years, but Grace Muriel Morrissey Earhart, Earhart Morrissey, spent over 60 years in Medford and really devoted herself to this community. She was an outstanding educator and a civic presence.
[Dan]: 15 seconds.
[Beth Fuller]: Oh, done.
[Jim Lister]: Great job. Thank you. Very nice. Grace Caldera.
[Caldera]: Yes, thank you. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Medford community for giving us a wonderful list of name suggestions. And I appreciate and honor the time and work each member took to present their arguments for or against each of the 18 remaining names. After hours of research, careful consideration of public input, weighing the options, and thinking about which names will help bring the community together, my top three choices are Belinda Sutton, Crystal Campbell and Lydia Maria Child. All three of them individually highlight and exemplify the best of what Medford has to offer. Belinda Sutton was kidnapped from her homeland and sold into slavery to the royal family. She was brought to the South Medford Plantation to do unpaid labor for the family. She gained her freedom upon the death of Isaac Royal Jr. And due to the Massachusetts law at the time, the Royal estate was to pay her. So she would not be a charge of the town of Medford. She initially was not paid, but she was owed and petitioned the Commonwealth a total of five times for the money. This was a bold and courageous move for an uneducated free black woman to go before a court to request money that was denied. It's only because of her bravery to fight for what is right that we even have record of her existence and what her life was like for an enslaved woman during this time. She fought for what she believed in, she fought for her humanity, and she worked on this land to help build Medford. It's an opportunity for us to honor Belinda's bravery under the most difficult circumstances and select a person who invested herself in the community and has made a positive impact. Lydia Marie Child was a well-known abolitionist, women's rights activist, Native American rights activist, novelist, journalist, and opponent of American expansionism. She was also a teacher. She was born and lived in Medford until she was 11, and then she returned to Medford in 1821 and was baptized at the first parish. She went on to write over the river and through the woods about visiting her grandfather in Medford. She stood up for those who were marginalized by society. She fought for rights to exist and to be treated as fully human and not property. She is a model for what it looks like to be an ally and activist and an accomplice to those who need help and what it means to advocate for against injustice. She wasn't afraid to address the systemic problems in order to make our country a more perfect union. And lastly, Crystal Campbell. was a promising young woman who tragically lost her life in the Boston Marathon bombing. This act of hate rocked the Boston area and this community to its core. In all of the sadness and devastation, the Medford community in the state of Massachusetts was able to come together to honor her memory, united to mourn her death and to celebrate her life, naming the school after Crystal will bring the community together while honoring her life and her legacy. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Ken Mallon, would you like to go next?
[SPEAKER_01]: Sure, thank you. I want to reiterate what some other people have said, and I think that most of the names on this list would be perfectly appropriate for the school. My top three were Lydia Maria Child, Belinda Sutton, and Missituk. And for Lydia and Belinda, I have nothing to add to what people have already said. I think that what has been said has been a pretty good overview and Missittuc in third place, again to the teacher's point, it's not a name, it's not controversial, it represents the city, you know, we The entire city is tied to the Mystic River. Our history is tied to the Mystic. The ships, the Native Americans, everybody. And that's all I have to say.
[McCabe]: Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Kristen Scalise.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Hi, so this was very rough because like so many other people have said, we just have this incredible wealth of amazing choices. And as a woman of 100% Italian background, I am proud to be here and helping to replace Columbus's name with someone more deserving. I think it does a great disservice to our culture by honoring someone who did so much harm to a vulnerable population. And we're better than that. I want to thank everyone that did submit names and comments. I literally read every single one. I read someone's master's thesis from 1961 just because it included like Arthur de la Rousseau's name in it. was we took this very seriously. And it's also a testament to Dr. Caldera's rubric and how great it was that my top choices all ended up being people that I never heard of before joining this committee. So it did a fantastic job of eliminating biases if it was used the way that Dr. Caldera intended. So my top three ended up being Belinda Sutton, Jean Barry Sutherland, and Pauline Walker. I chose Belinda Sutton because someone pointed out in one of the public comments that not only was it impressive that she fought so hard to get what was fairly owed to her, but that as a woman and as a former slave at that time, not only did she fight for it, she worked within the system, which is not an avenue that is usually open to someone in her situation in that era, which is very impressive. Jean Barry Sutherland, I wish I could have met her. I worked in a school when I lived in Connecticut and she just seems like the type of educator that you wanna work for. I also really love the idea of naming the school after an educator. The comments on her obituary made me cry. The public comments that were submitted were so moving. I mean, just so many people just saying how they used to ride their bikes to her house when they were young students and just, I was a mess. And Pauline Walker, same situation, deeply involved with Medford, very impressive educator, great write-up on Wicked Local after she passed and it was just incredibly moving and had so much detail and she just seemed to be beloved by the community. And I think we have so many great options here. I'm done, thank you.
[Jim Lister]: All right. Laura.
[Rotolo]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I also just want to like my colleagues on this committee, just thank everyone from Medford who made submissions and answered the survey and sent letters. So much of that was just so thoughtful, well-researched, we got links we could follow up on, heartfelt information. I read every single one, online paper submissions, and I learned so much about people that I didn't know about. So I'm just really grateful to the Medford community that came out and really put a lot of heart into this. I just, I also want to acknowledge that change is difficult and it can be painful. But I am glad that this committee is rising to the occasion. And so many of these names are worth having their stories told and I'm sad that we can only pick one or at least three to send and one to be picked. So I hope that at the end of this process we could somehow, a few of us get together and put some of this together because I would really love for the Medford community to hear about these stories that we have gotten to learn about. There were three teachers on there, Pauline Walker, Jean Barry Sutherland and Raymond Murano who clearly made an impact on their students and I thought, You know, I would love to honor them in some way I didn't put them in my top three but I just want to say for the record that I was so touched by all those stories. And I hope that we can honor them in maybe some other way, because, you know, there's nothing more important, I think, you know, than having an educator who touches people's lives. That said, in my top three, I really gave a lot of weight to the historical significance per the rubric. You know, we had, one of the things that we were scoring on was like a legacy that could last decades and bring people together. And so my top three were Belinda Sutton, Prince Hall, and the word Mississippi, the name of the river. Just to read quickly on Belinda Sutton, so many of the submissions were really touching. One person who works at the school said, you know, I've worked here for six years. I have seen many children come and go through these falls at this school. They all have hopes and dreams of a better life. Belinda Sutton had these dreams. I'm sorry, I get choked up. She fought for over a decade to receive a pension from Isaac Royals Estate. She's an inspiration to any race, sex, or religion that to keep fighting for what you believe in, And that's a quality that we want to instill into our young students coming through the doors of our school. And one other person wrote, I'm a lifelong resident of Medford and Belinda Sutton's name was never mentioned in my education. Medford educators, students and residents are, you know, now, this person does say now I'm adding that in, working to highlight our history. people who had been enslaved or buried in Medford Square until later. So this kind of narrative, I think, just really spoke to why her name is so important. Prince Hall, I confess, I did not know about, and it was fascinating to learn about him. I look forward to seeing that mural. And Mr. Tuck, I think, is an important hats off to our river and our environment, but I think we do need to be cautious. Several people said that we do need to have more input. I did not see anything in the public commentary from somebody who has a connection to the- Three minutes, sorry. Originally, thank you. So I just want to caution us to look into that work to make sure that it's appropriate and correct.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Thank you. Leela Fleur.
[Lafleur]: Thank you, I am back home now, but still on the phone. Like we have already heard, I do want to thank the community for all of their input. This has been such a helpful process for getting to know not only the names that they submitted, but also feeling at least a little bit like we were also getting to know a little bit more, I should say, about the people of Medford. So this has been really great. printed submissions that were taken to City Hall, all of that. I think it's been really informative to this process. And I also just want to thank all of you because this process has been really helpful getting to hear your thoughts and your input as well. I had more like a top five. It was very difficult for me to get down to three. So I'm really glad that again, for all of you and your input, I'll speak primarily about my top two. which were very clear to me, Belinda Sutton, whose name has been mentioned now numerous times in this group. And I will just say that, you know, based even on the rubric, you know, Belinda Sutton you know, came to Medford in the 1700s, in 1737 from Antigua, so from the Caribbean, as an enslaved person. So she has a long history of being associated with Medford. In addition to that, her petition also is a noted document, not only in Medford or in the state of Massachusetts, but around the world. And so people look to her, historians look to her and that document as really seminal for thinking about enslavement in the North and in the United States. And I think that her name on that school would be a real honor. My other top person was Jean Barry Sutherland. She received high support both from members of this group and also from the community. Her role as a beloved principal at Columbus School and at the Dame School I think I've earned her a clear place in Medford history. She has a memorial at the school, and I think that the community would be honored to have her name on the school. And I believe that her name should go forward to the school committee. I won't speak much about Lydia Maria Child, who was an abolitionist and a women's rights activist. Others have spoken to her. And also, Laura just spoke about Ray Marano. another Italian-American, served the public schools for 44 years. He was a veteran. He was very active in the community. And I learned about all of these people through this process. So I'm looking forward to wrapping it up right now and hearing from the rest of you. Thank you very much.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Lee. OK, Lou and Tapa.
[SPEAKER_22]: Thank you. With a lot of my family going through the Columbus, including two of my kids, I wasn't in favor of the name of the change of the name change. And it really has nothing to do with the name. It's the way it was done. It was the fact that the public had absolutely no voice. I really only have one choice that I think qualifies for this particular school that actually had anything to do with that school. And it's more recent history. We talk about unity and Jean Barry Sutherland was all about unity. She was for every child, and not just at schools she taught at, but every school. She was Medford. She was for Medford, and she was Medford, a true leader that was involved with everything. Huge on the community working together, like the Jingle Bell Festival, Medford Health Matters, Oil Express ride, also involved with the women working together for the better of the community. Also, Jean represented Medford on a global level with our sister city in Japan. I miss seeing Jean and her sister walking through the city almost every day. She's my choice and it seems like it's the public's choice. And that's really all I got to say.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Lou. Maria Rocha.
[Rocha]: Yes, today I will be speaking in support of the names Belinda Sutton and miss a tuck Belinda Sutton was an exceptional woman with a concrete historical legacy will inspire students to create change in their communities and resist injustice in all forms. Every time they see that her name on the building. Missituk is a name that honors the history of those to whom Medford originally belonged and the river that is so central to our home. Both of these names will unite and inspire Medford. More importantly, they will allow students of color to see the name of their school and think, this place was built for me. There are so few buildings and places in Medford that truly honor or empower students of color. So why should we not take this as the opportunity to do that? I'd also like to speak about the two other names with the highest scores on the rubric, Jean Barry Sutherland and Lydia Maria Child. I did not know Jean Barry personally. I'm sure that she did have a positive impact on many Medford students. However, I strongly believe that her legacy is not historical and simply too contemporary. While we have received positive anecdotes from the public, choosing the name of someone who passed away so recently and who current Medford residents knew personally is incredibly risky. My reservations are similar to the reasons why we chose not to consider names of people who are still alive today. If some negative aspect of Jean Barry's legacy is revealed someday, Given how many people in the city knew her personally, we are risking soon being in the exact same spot as we are here today. Both Belinda Sutton and Missituk are historical, and nobody knows either of these entities personally. This avoids that situation of eventually having to rename the school, while simultaneously empowering and inspiring students of color in the exact manner that we should be striving to empower them in MPS. With regards to Lydia Maria Child, I agree that she is a historical figure with an important legacy as an abolitionist, Native rights activist, and author of a poem with direct ties to Medford. However, if we admire Lydia Maria Child for being an abolitionist, why shouldn't we honor her then a Black woman who went through great lengths to free herself like Belinda Sutton did. If we love the connection to Medford and over the river and through the wood, then why not honor the river that is in the poem, touches all of our lives, and uplifts Native communities whose land was stolen from them by selecting the name Missituk. The matter of renaming the school is a matter of repairing the harm done to our community by honoring the genocidal legacy of Columbus. What better way to do this than uplifting students of color who are still harmed by that genocidal legacy today. Regardless of how much some people may want to hang on to nostalgia and precedent, I am here today as a representative of high schoolers and of youth to tell you that most of us want change and change is coming. We have the opportunity here to be on the right side of history. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Melissa Miguel. Are you on with us?
[Kristin Scalisi]: Was she made a host when she got back on?
[Jim Lister]: She said she's on Zoom. Melissa, you there? She's here. What's it say? I'm on mute here. Unmute me. Can we unmute her?
[Kathleen Kay]: I can't find her name. I don't know what she's listed as. So there's several cell phones here that I just don't want to make them co-hosts if I don't know which one she is.
[SPEAKER_16]: Can you hear me now? Yes. Can you hear me now? Yes. Thank you everybody. I apologize for the technical difficulties. This is why I cannot wait till we will all be meeting in person again soon. Um, so I was passionate about joining this committee because I have been a member and a parent of the Columbus family since 2007 and a homeowner in South Medford for the last 20 years. However, none of that has anything to do with the naming of the Columbus school. This committee is not about me or my personal feelings. This committee is about representing the popular vote and the desires of our neighbors, friends, and family within the community of Medford. Therefore, my top three names will be the top three names submitted by my friends, family, and neighbors. My first vote goes for Jean Barry Sutherland, who astonishingly had four times the community vote of the next name, Amelia Earhart. who almost tied with crystal Campbell. Therefore, I'm not going to sit here and tell the committee why my name, the name that I feel should be presented to the school committee. Cause I agree with Lou and Tapa that the whole process at which this is taking place is an abomination. Therefore I, Melissa Miguel choose to represent my neighbors and friends and family in the city of Medford. and put forth a name with 420 submissions of Jean Barry Sutherland. As we've spoken about, there's a name and place for every person on this list in Medford. Crystal Campbell has a place, Amelia Earhart has a place, Belinda Sutton has a place. But the place that Dean Barry Sutherland belongs is at the Columbus Elementary School. And as again, I speak for the citizens of Medford, not my own personal bias. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Matt McCabe, would you like to speak?
[McCabe]: Yes, thank you. The best way for our city to move forward is to emulate the wonderful nominees who've been brought forward and listen to one another. I don't think a single one of these nominees would endorse an all or nothing approach to renaming a school. They'd recognize the excellence of each candidate and respect each person's contributions to the city. And even more importantly, our society and our humanity. That's why these people are on this list. I'm going to read a poem by Rita Dove, Belinda's Petition. Boston, February 1782, to the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of this country, newborn. I am Belinda, an African, since the age of 12, a slave. I will not take too much of your time, but to plead and place my pitiable life unto the fathers of this nation. Lately, your countrymen have severed the binds of tyranny. I would hope you would consider the same for me, pure air being the sole advantage of which I can boast in my present condition. As to the accusation that I am ignorant, I received existence on the banks of the Rio de Volta. All my childhood, I expected nothing, if that be ignorance. This poem's about Medford's own Belinda Sutton. Unlike many of our immigrant families who came to the United States for a better life, and faced her horrible treatment and discrimination, Belinda did not choose to come here. She was taken from the shores of Ghana's Rio de Volta and enslaved in the newly formed United States of America. Her conditions were worse than any European immigrants who immigrated here. How on earth would somebody born into such conditions make history? Let me share, because before this process, I had no idea who Belinda Sutton was. After obtaining her freedom from the royal family upon the death of Isaac Royal Jr., despite him willing Sutton to his wife as property, Sutton petitioned the United States House of Representatives for reparations from the royal family estate in order to support herself and her disabled daughter. Sutton won those reparations. a woman, an African woman, a freed slave petitioning for justice more than 200 years ago. That is historical. Why should we name a school after her? Because we should know her history the same way we know the history of more modern Medford residents for whom schools have been named. Belinda never had a chance to be recognized because of society's views towards Black people and women during that time. Today, we feel differently. We know better, and we can right those wrongs. That is why my first preference would be Belinda Sutton. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Pat. Baldonado.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I'd like to thank Beth Fuller for talking so hotly about Miriam Morrissey. I knew her very well. She was actually one of my babysitters. I knew a lot of the people on the list personally, Ray Marano, Pauline Walker, and Jean Barry Sutherland. I just would... like you to consider Jean as one of your top choices. Teachers are arguably the most important members of our society and often are undervalued. They give children purpose, set them up for success as citizens of our world, and inspire them to drive to do well and succeed in life. On top of that, not only do they educate, but they help parent and mentor our children during the day. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and teachers are that critical point that makes a child ready for their future. I think past three years opened the eyes of many parents as to how much our children depend on their teachers. With that being said, what better way to honor an educator who dedicated her life to children, the city of Medford, and fighting for equality than to name the Columbus School after Jean Barry, who just so happens to be a former principal of the school. This also is our chance as a city to stand with all educators and let them know how much we appreciate them and support them, especially after this difficult year. In addition, Jean has met all four of the criteria rubric with almost a perfect score. We have given the city a chance to vote and the number of votes Jean has received speaks volumes. I hope you strongly consider Jean Barry as your choice. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Paul. Ron, would you like to go next?
[Giovino]: I would. Thank you. I'm just going to add on to my number one selection, which is Jean Barry Sutherland. Not only did she score the highest average score in the rubric, she did receive 34% of the over 1,200 amazing votes from our citizens. While this number does not have any significance in terms of votes or total legitimate entries, it is important to note that the most positive anecdotes and feedback were received for Jean. You've all read some of them from the teachers who's been inspired to city leaders who were inspired by her loving, compassionate leadership. Jean was the first principal in that actual building on Hicks Ave. Jean cared for children, all the children. In my 62 years of living in the city, I never had the pleasure of meeting Jean. But what I know now, which I didn't know until this committee started, was what an amazing educator she was. What a loving, caring teacher. What an inspirational leader. Jean worked 12-hour days. She painted the school. She led by example. Jean was Columbus School. Naming it Jean Barry Sutherland School will give the children of Medford a modern day historical hero. Yes, historical. We're funny that we're questioning if she's historical or not, but when David Ortiz hits a home run against the Yankees, he's a historic hero. She actually walked the corridors and hugged the children right in that building on Hicks Ave. Jean's story lives in the hearts of so many current members of our community. the children would get a chance to know that the person their school was named after stood for love, caring, and compassion. And she did it right there in their school. Some people may say that, how can this person be so good? Is there something we're missing here? Well, I'm willing to take that chance on Jean Barry Sutherland. She's the right name at the right time, and most importantly, in the right building, the building on Hicks Ave. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Ron. Seth Hill, would you like to go next, please?
[Hill]: Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I thought about what I wanted to say, I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to be saying anything. As a member of this committee and as a member of the community, I've tried to evaluate how better to lift up voices rather than centering my own. The process of trying to narrow down these names and the process of deciding that the name needed to be changed has been divisive, and it has been controversial. and it has caused risks in the community. I want to focus on how unification can happen around ideas like self-advocacy and putting forward your own story when no one else is listening to you. Belinda Sutton did. Belinda Sutton represents someone that was being held down from all aspects of society, and as a result, all society can look to her as a model for bringing people together. I'll speak directly to American community. The Christopher Columbus School was originally named because Italian Americans were a marginalized group. There was the same language that we hear today used. And people spoke about Italian's criminality. There were racial profiling. It was beer that they would take jobs away. They have radical politics, et cetera, et cetera. Now, when we look at what we need in order to go forward and what we need in order to bring the entire community together, we can think about which voices we choose to lift up and which stories we choose to lift up. I think that we can choose someone like 15 seconds, which everybody can look to and see themselves in that story. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Seth. Kathy King. Cathy, are you ready for us?
[Kathleen Kay]: Right. Well, I couldn't unmute, so I'm unmuted now.
[Jim Lister]: All right.
[Cushing]: Thank you.
[Kathleen Kay]: Thank you. I want to say thank you to everybody who's on this screen tonight and who have been on the screen in past nights. I definitely appreciate and I'm thankful for your commitment to this cause and to the many community members who submitted some input on the names through the form that was sent out. Thank you to all of you. The names that were put forward, they're all worthy for their many, many different reasons. So it is a hard task that we have in front of us, but I'd like to use my three minutes to just speak to the one that I think would be best for the Columbus Elementary School as a new name. I think Missittuck would be the best choice for the Columbus Elementary School. And in the research that I've done, I saw at one point, Missittuck stands for great river. This is a great river that flows through the heart of Medford, connecting east to west. The Mystic is considered central to Medford's identity, at least from many of the inputs that I read. The river has long been a source of community pride. So I think it's important for us as this committee to consider that a river never bends. I'm sorry, that a river does bend, but it never breaks. Rivers have the ability to change course, which is a much needed skill for all of our students at any school. I also full-heartedly continue to feel and do agree with the Columbus Elementary teachers that the name for the school would be best served if it is not named for one individual person. By not choosing one individual person, we're not idealizing one person over another. And the choice of a non-person name would hopefully not promote disagreement over someone's past deeds well into the future that I believe Maria might've made reference to before. Mississippi honors the indigenous people who lived here long before any of us. The river is and has been important to Medford's history. It provides and it promotes a source of genuine environmental education for our students as well. Choosing this name would also lend stewardship, not only to nature, but to Medford's local treasure that many times brings people together, picnics, hikes, kayaking on the river. Naming the Columbus, I should say renaming the Columbus, the Missittuck, would act, I believe, as a reuniting force, as a uniting force, and bring people together with a shared piece of Medford's identity, past and present. And when I was reading through many of the inputs that we got from the community, I thought that someone very eloquently, and I'm paraphrasing, so I'm sure they said it better than I will right now, but what they said is, naming the schools shows a way to remember those from whom much has been taken and to whom much is owed. Thank you for my three minutes.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Next is Matt Habistro.
[Matt Haberstroh]: I wrote some notes and now I've been tearing them all up because of what everyone's been talking about. But I basically wanted to talk about how, when considering renaming Columbus, I want it to be a name that kids experience as aspiring. There are well-known national and international names on our list, some of which are risen to the top of our choices. These names, all of us in Medford should be proud of. Some grew up in Medford, some lived here for a few years, but it was their accomplishments, accomplishments, not time spent in Medford that will inspire great aspirations in the young people of the Columbus. You know, I tend to call how we do things in Medford as systemic parochialism. We generally speaking don't reach for the stars. We settle for good enough. We look in for what we know and who we know. I encourage you not to let systemic parochialism sway you from a truly aspirational name, an aspiring name that represents breaking barriers of gender, race, and yes, accomplishment. Don't let systemic parochialism sway you from choosing an aspiring name that represents exploration, bravery, or daring. I encourage you not to let systemic parochialism sway you is an inspiring Medford person who demanded an historical wrong to be righted. Great people have lived here. Great people will continue to live here. As a teacher of those people, those young kids, I want the name to be truly inspiring and an aspirational name, whatever that may be. I also agree with Kathy Kay about Ms. Tewick. Native American name for the river, but really my first choice would be Belinda Sutton, for all the reasons previous speakers have spoken to about. A strong contender for me also is Lydia Maria Child, who was also a teacher, a writer, and a well-known international person. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Matt. Caitlin Shaughnessy, please. Is Caitlin even here? I don't have her here being here, sorry. No, Caitlin, right? Janelle, Carla, Mackenzie?
[Mackenzie]: So when I thought about my choice, I hoped to be a voice for the teachers at the Columbus. Being in the building allowed me to be able to have conversations with other teachers and staff at the school. I took into consideration the opinions of the staff I work with and paid close attention to the submissions by my fellow teachers. From the conversations I had with the other staff at the school and the submissions by the teacher, I found the most support from our community for Jean Barry Sutherland. While I didn't get to know her personally, she was here prior to me. I knew her name early in my career at the school, and I've heard many positive stories about her. I feel that she does represent a very positive member of our community as a school. In addition, I was able to have a conversation with some of the teachers who signed the letter that we read at the beginning of the meeting. And I do agree with the teachers from the school who expressed that the school should be named after a place rather than a person. And for this reason, I also support the name being the Missitech.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Josie Dufour.
[Dufour]: So most of my main points were actually already spoken by many people, but my top three choices were in this order, Belinda Sutton, Lydia Maria Child, and Missituk. Um, I liked the idea of naming a school after Belinda Sutton because she was one of the highest rated names in our rankings I know those don't really matter that much anymore. But, um, she was also a popular choice within the community. She's also significant to multiple historically marginalized groups as she was an enslaved black woman. And she did something that not a lot of people would have thought she would have been able to do at the time as she wasn't educated. So again, most of my points were said, so I'm gonna go on to Lydia Maria Child. So she was our highest rated name from our rankings. And she helped fight for, she was an abolitionist and helped fight for the rights of enslaved people and the Native Americans in the community. She was born in Medford and wrote the very famous poem, Over the River and Through the Woods. She even kept fighting for people, even though it was ruining her reputation at the time. And she eventually became the editor of the National Anti-Slavery Standard, one of the first anti-slavery newspapers. Yeah, and I also liked the idea of naming the school after the river as, like the teachers said, all humans are flawed and the location and geography of the area is mostly static. It would be the least polarizing choice and no one group would feel left out. And it alludes to the original name of the school, which was Mystic. But I feel like we should mention that all of the other schools are already named after people. So I think the other two names would be more fitting. And while no one is perfect, enough time has passed since their deaths that we know that they were important to history and that they did not commit any major atrocities. Uh, but as 15 seconds location names go, I think Mr. Tuck is one of the best ones there.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh, I'm left. I'd like to thank everybody. It was, uh, everybody made some passion speeches tonight. I think that, uh, remind everybody that we're just picking three and the school committee is gonna make their final choice. So I, myself, I'd like to just read what I had put together here. I had only put one name forward. Everybody else did a good job with the other names that were mentioned tonight. But I'd like to read something, Jean Barry Sutherland. As I read through the hundreds of submissions in her name, Everything I read is true over and over. The same message of an outstanding role model of a human being and an educator. I had the pleasure of knowing Miss Barry. Both of my children attended the Dame school and had her as a teacher and vice principal. I would see her and her sister power walk every day after dinner, they go by my house. I'd like to read a few of the letters from the submissions we received. This is a former colleague wrote, Jean has left her footprint on many hearts, including mine. As the old saying goes, she was one in a million. Jean had so many outstanding qualities. I will share a few with you. At the time I was the assistant director of special education. I observed Jean to be an exceptionally dedicated, strong leader. She led by example and always with a smile. She was a people person. She inspired her staff to do more and learn more ways to teach all children. She created an environment where every child was treated with respect. Jean welcomed all children in the citywide special education programs to the Columbus School. She considered all students in the Columbus her students. She knew the IEP plans. Often she attended IEP meetings. She attended the weekly meetings with the consultants, WIDECO. Jean believed that all students should be fully integrated to the extent possible. Jean and I worked as a team. She was determined to create the best possible environment for the special education students as she did. She demonstrated her commitment to the students in so many positive ways. She greeted students daily coming into school, in the cafeteria and leaving school. Talk about being a hard worker. Jean arrived at work 6 a.m. and usually left at 6 p.m. Before and after school hours were devoted to planning and staff, resolving issues, meeting parents, meeting with consultants and the special education team. Would you believe Jean had obtained a license to drive a school bus? Jean's worth ethic emulated a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. It's not fair to ask of others what you're not willing to do yourself. Jean asked every staff member to do what she asked the staff to do what she was willing to do. She led by example and always with a smile. She was a role model for hard work, integrity, and leadership. Another quote from a former principal at the Columbus Road, Jean Barry Sutherland epitomizes all that is wonderful about teaching. Her passion was always working for the children of Medford Public Schools. I had the privilege of knowing her in so many capacities. She taught my children. She mentored me as a principal at the Columbus. My most precious relationship was that of a friend. Her integrity, passion, knowledge, friendship, and sense of humor made Jean a woman to be admired. Her legacy would be honored by naming a school the Jean Barry Sutherland Elementary School. Thank you for considering my input. A former student and now a teacher wrote, Gene Barry Sutherland set a standard for excellence as a teacher and a principal. Gene Barry was an excellent leader and a great role model. She taught us lessons that textbooks would never teach, such as respect, self-worth, being kind to one another, and the importance of coming into the building with a smile each day. Gene Barry Sutherland left an incredible mark on me as she did with thousands of other students. and educators who were lucky enough to cross her path. It is not often you come across such a genuine, dedicated, and truly outstanding individual. However, the students in the Medford's public school system were among those fortunate enough. I find this quote, leave it better than you found it, to be extremely representative and accurate of Jean Barry Sutherland's career in Medford. The impact she's had is immeasurable. However, her legacy will live on within thousands of students that had the honor of learning and growing from her, the Medford public school system is a better place because of Ms. Barry Sutherland. This entire process has brought the vision and anger to many citizens of Medford. The criteria by which we tried to arrive at the right name, potential to bring the city together, the community together, role model to Medford students and represents Medford community's proud history. Jean Barry Sutherland is all that. 15 seconds. We're not just talking about an educator, we're talking about a daughter of Medford. Respectfully submitted, Jim Lister. All right, thank you. So next we're gonna vote, I would assume, correct?
[Hill]: Correct.
[Jim Lister]: So we're voting for, go through and read the name. of the remaining 14. And each person gets one vote, Patrick?
[McCabe]: Yes, Jim, is it 14 or is it 13 remaining?
[Jim Lister]: Well, we had 18 and we eliminated, you're right, 13, I'm sorry. We eliminated five. So, Let me... I've got it on the list. Bree Brothers, would you like to tell me your one choice, please?
[Bri Brothers]: Pull in the Sutton.
[Jim Lister]: Ian Puggio.
[Dan]: Gene Barry Sutton.
[Jim Lister]: Aaron Genia.
[Genia]: Mystic River or Mystic River School.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Beth Fuller. Belinda Sutton. Grace Caldara.
[Caldera]: Belinda Sutton.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ken Mallon. Belinda Sutton. Kristen Scalise.
[Kristin Scalisi]: So hard. Belinda Sutton.
[Jim Lister]: Laura Rotolo. Laura? I don't hear you, Laura. Are you there?
[Caldera]: Laura, you're muted, or I unmuted you, but your sound isn't coming through.
[Hill]: Laura, if you have access to the chat, you could type it there and someone could confirm that.
[Cushing]: Laura, I made you a co-host again, but your sound is not coming through. So if you want to chat, then chat. Type it in the chat.
[Jim Lister]: OK. Belinda Sutton. Leila Fleur.
[Lafleur]: If we're just doing our first top choice, that would be Belinda Sutton for me.
[Jim Lister]: Luwin Tapa.
[SPEAKER_22]: Jean Barry Sutherland.
[Jim Lister]: Maria Rocha.
[Rocha]: Belinda Sutton.
[Jim Lister]: Melissa Miguel.
[SPEAKER_16]: Jean Barry Sutherland.
[Jim Lister]: Patrick McCabe.
[McCabe]: Linda Sutton.
[Jim Lister]: Alden Otto.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Dean Barry Sutherland.
[Jim Lister]: Ron Jobino.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Dean Barry Sutherland.
[Jim Lister]: Seth Hill. Belinda Sutton. Kathy Kay. Misa Duck. Matt Hamistrow. Belinda Sutton. Janelle Garland McKenzie.
[Mackenzie]: I'm Jean Barry Sutherland.
[Jim Lister]: Josie DeFore.
[Dufour]: Belinda Sutton.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. And Jean Barry Sutherland.
[Dan]: Point of information, Jim? Yep. Only three names got votes. I know. Does that mean the three names move on?
[Clerk]: Not what we voted on, but I would accept that.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Did we finally make something easy?
[Dan]: Only three names got voted on. I mean, I think it's common sense. Correct. No, that's not the process.
[Hill]: Let's just move on. Count the votes and let's move to the next round. 557.
[Jim Lister]: Melinda Sutton got 12 votes. Dean Barry got seven, Missituk two.
[McCabe]: that we're missing again, Shaughnessy and... I think Shaughnessy, why am I not?
[Lisa Evangelista]: Well, Hendrick would have been your 22.
[Jim Lister]: No, 23, he made 23. And now we have one missing, so we're 21.
[Matt Haberstroh]: Isn't this a quorum?
[Jim Lister]: Yeah, so I'm just trying to count votes here though and add up, we should have 21 votes.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Jim, did you take Laura's from the chat?
[Jim Lister]: I did. She was a Belinda Sutton. We have 21, Jim. 7, 2, and 12 is 21.
[SPEAKER_16]: 7, 2, and 12.
[Jim Lister]: Yeah. OK. I'm sorry. All right. So Belinda moves to the school committee, and we vote again now. Correct?
[RhUNhYl62Oo_SPEAKER_05]: Correct.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Can a motion be made, Mr. Chair, that we just move on with the three names? Just asking.
[Hill]: That would be a revision to a motion and would require two thirds.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Can we- We want to make a motion. Is that a possible set so we can move on? We can get this done? Three names? Zach, we'll look at the floor.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll vote two more times.
[Rocha]: We have 30 minutes left in this meeting. What it took about five minutes to vote the first time. I think that we're all adults here, or if we're not adults, we signed up to be here. I think that we can take the next 10 minutes, half hour at most two more times.
[Jim Lister]: All right. Nobody wanted to second Paul's motion, correct?
[SPEAKER_22]: I'll second it.
[Jim Lister]: Now we can discuss it.
[Paul Donato Jr]: May I, Mr. Chairman?
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Paul Donato Jr]: I believe that we've spoken as a group. We picked three names, 21 votes. We're on a time restraint. The school committee is looking for a name. We just came up with three. I mean, we have 30 minutes left.
[Jim Lister]: I believe we need an insurance vote to override the other, that we passed last week. So, I mean, if we want to vote on this, we need two thirds to override that as a group.
[Paul Donato Jr]: What do you think? Is this something we can agree on? Finally, please.
[Dan]: I mean, my personal opinion is you got three excellent names here. I would, I would be happy with any of these names.
[Matt Haberstroh]: Anybody else? I think we should follow the process.
[Jim Lister]: We've got a motion on the floor to vote whether we're going to take them as our three or stay with the process. If we get two thirds, we'll take these as our three. If not, we continue the process. So let me go through a roll call in favor of taking these three or following the process. So a yes would be in favor of taking these three.
[Bri Brothers]: I hate going first all the time on these.
[Jim Lister]: Sorry. It's just the list I have.
[Jim Lister]: Yes. Yes. Aaron. Yes. Yes. Grace. Yes. Ken Mallon. Yes. Kristen Scalise.
[Beth Fuller]: Yes.
[Jim Lister]: Laura Rotolo. Laura.
[Hill]: One of the information, a yes vote does. Except these three. All right, thank you.
[Jim Lister]: All right, thank you.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Laura just put in the chat that her vote is no.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Lee. Yes. Lou and Tapa. Yes. Maria Rosha. No. Melissa Miguel. I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_16]: I said, yes.
[Jim Lister]: All right. Thank you. Patrick McCabe.
[SPEAKER_16]: Nope.
[Jim Lister]: Is that a no?
[McCabe]: It's a no.
[Jim Lister]: Paul Donato.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you. Ron Jovino.
[Paul Donato Jr]: Yes.
[Jim Lister]: Seth Hill. No. Matt Hat. I'm sorry. Kathy Kay. Yes. Matt Havistrow. No. Janelle Garland McKenzie.
[Dufour]: Yes.
[Jim Lister]: Josie DeFore.
[Dufour]: No.
[Jim Lister]: And Jim Lister votes yes. 15 to six. That passes. So these are our three, that vote passes and we've accepted these three as our list. Okay, moving on with this, we had already picked volunteers to break out into groups. Is there any further discussion on that before I do this?
[Kathleen Kay]: Mr. Chairman, if I can ask for a request,
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Kathleen Kay]: Is it possible for me as the principal of the Columbus to get like a synopsis on those three names so that I can share them with the students here and we could hold a voluntary vote?
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Kathleen Kay]: Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Can we? We'll have to talk about that, how I can get you a synopsis. I mean,
[Giovino]: Point of information, Dr. K, I would suggest getting the video of everybody giving your three minutes. That should compile together to give you a pretty good idea of what you should be including. I just don't know if anybody, I mean, the group that's writing these presentations is going to be busy this week. So I would suggest that's a good outlet.
[Dufour]: I could probably get a synopsis of all three names. That'd be great, Josie.
[Kathleen Kay]: I'll take it. Thank you.
[Jim Lister]: Does the rest of this committee have to see the synopsis? Are we all happy with that?
[Caldera]: I believe Josie is on the committee, so maybe that could be a shared task.
[Jim Lister]: Sorry, what did you say?
[Kathleen Kay]: Shared task, I think she said.
[Jim Lister]: Shared task, OK. OK, so we could all get a look at it, Josie, right?
[Giovino]: sure okay thank you and we're presenting june 7th correct so i would need it before that correct we're gonna meet next week june june 4th kind of information mr chairman yes we have another resolution uh on our agenda from laura we were looking at june 3rd i believe to meet
[Jim Lister]: Let me just find that run. So, Yes, we're going to vote on that last resolution to give the school committee all our records. Can I get a motion on that? Would someone like to make a motion and a second, and then we'll speak on it? Laura, would you like to make the motion?
[Caldera]: She's still having issues with her speaker.
[Jim Lister]: All right, I'll read it then. I'll read it and then we can ask for a second. So her motion, her resolution, motion that in order to aid the school committee in their deliberations, the school committee shall receive in their June 7th, 2021 documents the following items. created or received by this committee offered by Laura Rotolo. All agendas and minutes of the meetings of this committee up until June 7th, 2021. A document entitled suggestions for new names for the Columbus Elementary School or any other document showing all of the names submitted by the public. C, a document entitled names for PC randomization or any other document showing the random assignment of names of two members of the committees for research and scoring. D, a document entitled final scores renaming Columbus school or any other document showing the committee members scoring of the submissions by the public. E, the top 18 score sheets created by each member of this committee showing the scores given to each of the top 18 names. F, a document titled 18 scoring sheets renaming Columbus or any other document showing the total score given to each of the top 18 names by each member of this committee. G, all of the responses submitted by the public to the survey created by this committee and made available to the public from May 13th, 2021 to May 20, 2021. H, all letters of communications to this committee by the members of the public relating to the committee's jurisdiction. I, a presentation created by the subcommittee of this committee relating to the final names presented for consideration to the school committee. And J, any other record created or received by this committee that the school committee may request. So the motion is to give everything we have to the school committee upon our completion.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I would say it's arrived, correct?
[Jim Lister]: Excuse me?
[Lisa Evangelista]: I would say anything that's in the drive. Correct. Yeah, okay.
[Jim Lister]: I second the motion. Second the motion, thank you, Ron. Any discussion on that?
[Rocha]: I'd like to ask if our statements from this meeting would be part of this.
[Jim Lister]: So this is recorded, I would assume so.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Plus the notes, Maria, that I'm taking now. Okay. That'll be in the drive as well.
[Dan]: What about the emails? Did we say the emails? It's listed in here. All right.
[Rotolo]: Can you hear me now, Mr. Chair?
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Rotolo]: Oh, great. Excellent. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that the committee had everything it needed to, in case it needed anything in the background. I think if we want to send the entire drive, that's fine. I just made sure to pick out the ones that seemed to me to tell the story, but I would also be, I would accept a friendly amendment to move the entire drive over. I don't know how difficult that is to do and how accessible that will be to the school committee and the public.
[Lisa Evangelista]: The school committee has a drive, that's why I suggested it. And when it's on the, anything that's on the agenda, we send to a drive so they can read it. So it would probably just be easier in the interest of time, because next week is just a crazy week for both Susie and I. So I think that would be the easiest, but you guys are the committee, so just let me know. And would the public have access to that entire drive? I mean, eventually I'd have to post it, but I don't know if the public would have it. I'd have to post just the website. I would think after it's all accepted by the school committee, I think that's the process link. And not that it's not public record, it's just that I know nothing, but the notes have been posted so far, to my knowledge anyway, I don't know. And anything that happened within the school committee regarding the establishment of this committee is already on the drive. I mean, it's already on the website.
[Rotolo]: Yeah, I just need to make sure that, yeah, that the public is able to access it. If not, well, I guess for the June 7th meeting would be the most- Well, yes, they'll be able to access it.
[Lisa Evangelista]: It'll be on the website the day of the meeting, because that's what we do with articles that are in the agenda folder, if that makes sense. Great. Sorry. There is a process, I'm sorry.
[Jim Lister]: Okay.
[Rotolo]: That's fine with me. Thank you, Lisa.
[Jim Lister]: All right. Thank you, Lisa. All right. Lisa, what day next week did you say was good for us?
[Lisa Evangelista]: Monday, I mean, I'm sorry, Tuesday, we have budget at seven, so I could meet from four to six. Wednesday's out because it's graduation. Thursday, although it's the prom, I can do either five to seven or four to six. Just an extra to assist the prom. I don't have to be there right when it starts.
[RhUNhYl62Oo_SPEAKER_05]: Okay.
[Lisa Evangelista]: That's why it's just a crazy week folks. Sorry. Got to help those seniors leave on a happy note.
[SPEAKER_22]: Okay. What time is the prom start?
[Lisa Evangelista]: You had to ask me, Lou. I don't know if it's six or seven.
[SPEAKER_22]: I'm going to be there helping too, that's why.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I think it's six. I don't know.
[SPEAKER_22]: I think it's six.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Is it six? OK. And what about, what time does graduation start? Because I'm helping at graduation. Six. But we'd probably need you there earlier than that, Cass.
[SPEAKER_22]: Lou, do you have a date? I'm in charge of sound, so. Unless you're offering, Danny.
[Jim Lister]: Absolutely. It looks like Tuesday four to six would be the best day for us. Correct. Okay.
[Giovino]: Mr. Chairman, on the motion. Yes, I just have one. Um, I hope it's a friendly amendment, but article I where we give them our presentation. That means that The short time we have to create a presentation, now we have to put it in their packet, I assume on June 4th, which takes another two days off the timeframe. Plus, you know, I've been in sales most of my life. I never had a situation where I gave a presentation, delivered it three days before I was actually doing the presentation.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I think, you know, Ron, you can just have it so that when the because the school committee will ask for a copy of it. Yes, no, I have no problem. No, absolutely.
[Giovino]: I would want to hand it to them that that night. But my point is, if we can just send it to them in an email, it's probably the easiest way to resolute the resolution states in their package, which I assume is June 4. So I would like to hold the presentation and all the work that's going to be done on that presentation until June 7. So everything else is fine with me, just the Article I. I just am having a problem with both those factors.
[Rotolo]: So if I may, Mr. Chair, I accept that friendly amendment. So I hear two friendly amendments. One is to, instead of enumerate A through H for the entire drive being moved over for the June 4th, and that we provide the presentation at the June 7th meeting, not before. I understand that we probably don't want to rush ourselves.
[Giovino]: Yeah, all I'm saying is that that presentation is going to be on the shared drive. We can't send that to them, is what I'm asking to do, because it won't be ready. It just won't be ready.
[Jim Lister]: Right, right. Okay, anything else on that? Everybody in favor of that?
[Kathleen Kay]: I do have a question, point of information. Go ahead. I do believe, I thought the last time we met, we said that we would, perhaps we would have a copy of the presentation so we could look it over and we could discuss it at our next meeting, but not actually post it. Is that still what we're considering?
[Jim Lister]: I think so. We have, I was going to get into the groups next. You know, we have 10 people that volunteered to work on the three names. Point of order.
[Hill]: I don't think that we can actually do that under open meeting law. I don't think that we can actually distribute that presentation on an email list for us to review. I guess it theoretically could be as part of our agenda, et cetera. I don't know. Someone may be more familiar with OML. time in.
[Giovino]: I would agree. I think the only way to do this, and I've mentioned this before, is if individuals write up a presentation based on the guidelines the committee has, we can open them all up on Tuesday and look at them. I think open meeting law says we can send them, just not talk about them. So maybe we can have presentations ready for individuals to look at and then come together. And there's really nothing more to do other than the presentation. So Um, hopefully our committee can at least provide a, um, base for us to get to everybody prior to Tuesday night's meeting. And then we can just edit away.
[Jim Lister]: All right. Can we vote the motion first? Yeah. And then we're going to break off into figure out what group is going to handle which presentation. Okay. So on the motion. Can I, I think we can do this with a yes or no. I don't need to go through the roll call. Is everyone in favor of the resolution to turn over all the information to the school committee and hold off and give the presentation at the meeting and turn that over? I believe that's what the motion is, right? All those in favor? Aye.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Aye.
[Jim Lister]: Aye. Aye. Aye. Thank you. Anyone opposed? Okay. Unanimous, all the ayes, thank you. All right, so we have 10 volunteers and I'd like to just figure out who's gonna be with, write up something on who here. Sorry, on our three names that we've chosen. So I'll get on the list and you tell me which one you're interested in. I think that'll be best to put the person that that was their choice. They already have something written probably. Maria Rosha?
[Rocha]: I have a question. Why are we splitting into groups per name? Could we not simply all edit the names right up?
[Jim Lister]: For the presentation, we had talked about separating into a group for each name and doing the presentation. That group could work on that name. I may be wrong.
[Rocha]: Do you mean as in at the actual school committee meeting or simply
[Jim Lister]: So at the school committee meeting at the school committee meeting, each group was going to do the board.
[Hill]: Yes. We actually, if I'm recalling correctly, we decided that we wouldn't be splitting up into individual teams. That was a job for, that was delegated to the committee itself as part of their job. They can determine how they want to assign the, the names in the committee. It's not a part of the committee as a whole. It is part of the responsibility of the subcommittee.
[Caldera]: I just want to confirm what Seth has said. The subcommittee can now, since it was my motion, the subcommittee can now go back and we can decide how we want to split up the names and make sure the information provided is set. That is something the subcommittee can do, and it'll be ready for us to then come together at our next meeting for all of us to talk about it.
[Jim Lister]: So we're talking about having a subcommittee meeting here. Is that what you're saying? I thought we can't have a meeting unless it's an open meeting. We have 10 people that volunteered. That would violate our open meeting laws.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Is that a quorum 10? No. So can't they meet? Can't you meet?
[Jim Lister]: Yes.
[Lisa Evangelista]: I thought that was the purpose of keeping it under 12.
[Caldera]: Yes. It was the purpose of keeping it under 12 was to make sure that we didn't have a quorum so that the subcommittee can do the work without the quorum and having it be a violation of open meeting.
[Jim Lister]: Okay.
[Lafleur]: Point of information, though, Jim, I think part of what I hear you saying is the subcommittee is really for drafting the presentation. I hear you talking about the delivery of the presentation, too. And so, you know, that that might be that obviously is related, but it might also be a different thing.
[Caldera]: Yeah, just a point of clarification, the motion we passed last week did not state anything about who is giving the presentation. So that is something that our committee or our entire committee needs to decide on.
[Jim Lister]: Okay, well, does everyone I've already sent out emails with this committee, you've all gotten in touch with each other through email. The 10 volunteers that are on that subcommittee.
[Bri Brothers]: Yes.
[Jim Lister]: Everybody's in contact with each other and you have the three names now that we three final finalist names that we can work on.
[RhUNhYl62Oo_SPEAKER_05]: Yep.
[Jim Lister]: Okay. And I am going to write up the process of how we arrived at this, you know, each meeting, our elimination, how we got to where we are. and I'll give that to the school committee, and then we'll do a presentation, I guess, on our three names.
[Giovino]: Sort of information, Jim, I'm sure you're part of the shared drive. We've already started building on that, your piece, for you to at least have a base for editing.
[RhUNhYl62Oo_SPEAKER_05]: Okay.
[Jim Lister]: All right. We're ready to adjourn, Mr. Chairman. Anybody got anything else before we adjourn?
[Dan]: I just want to say thank you to Lisa Evangelista for all your help through this. I know I speak on behalf of most of the people here, but I know this was kind of like an extra for you to have thrown in and you've been really awesome and really patient with all of us. So I truly hope that you enjoy your weekend away with your family. And again, thank you so much.
[Lisa Evangelista]: Again, I'm not so sure I've been patient after working all day, all week, but you know, thank you anyway, honey.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you, Lisa. All right, motion to adjourn.
[SPEAKER_22]: Second.
[Jim Lister]: All those in favor.
[Jim Lister]: Aye. Yep. All right, thank you, everybody. Have a great weekend.
[Kristin Scalisi]: You too, have a nice weekend.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you.
[Kristin Scalisi]: Thanks, everybody. Be safe.
[Jim Lister]: Thank you.
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