[Lungo-Koehn]: Good evening. We'll call the third regular meeting of the Medford School Committee to order Monday, October 4th, 2021, 6.30 p.m. to be held at the Howard Alden Memorial Chambers, Medford City Hall. You can also watch on Zoom or you can call in by calling 1-953-038. It's too many numbers there, let's see. Okay, I'll give you a 1-301-715-8592. When calling in, please enter meeting ID 95308492476. Roll call for attendance of the members of the school committee. Member Gramps. Here. Member Kreatz. Here.
[McLaughlin]: Member McLaughlin here. Member Mustone absent. Member Ruseau?
[Unidentified]: Here.
[McLaughlin]: Member Van der Kloot?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Here.
[McLaughlin]: Mayor Lungo-Koehn?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Present. Six present, one absent. If we all can rise to salute the flag, please.
[Unidentified]: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Lungo-Koehn]: We have number three, the consent agenda, approval of bills and payrolls.
[Ruseau]: Motion to approve.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion to approve. Second. Seconded by member McLaughlin. All those in favor. Aye. All those opposed. Bills and payroll is approved. We have regular school committee meeting minutes from September 20th, 2021. Motion to approve. approval by Member McLaughlin, seconded by Member Kreatz. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Minutes are approved. Report of subcommittees, none. Number four, report of the superintendent. Report of the superintendent.
[Edouard-Vincent]: Good evening. It's nice for me to be back in the chambers with you tonight. and I'm happy to share a few updates. I wanna share that some of our Mustang science teachers took the opportunity to attend a special training at the end of the summer provided by the Life Science Change Agent Teachers Program, LSCAT. It's a free week-long professional development series by Acera EI in partnership with the Medford Public Schools. This specialized training included lab activities and gene editing with CRISPR technology, microbiomics and climate change. All three units featured relevant cutting edge technology and research aligned to next generation science standards. It is my feeling that this is a great opportunity for teachers to take issues of modern science, like gene editing and climate change, and bring it into the classroom, making a positive impact on what students will be doing in the future. I'm proud that Acera EI is partnering with Medford Public Schools to bring hands-on science education to a new level. As I stated in our last meeting, Medford is very lucky to have such a supportive business community that assists our district. Last week, Mayor Lungo-Koehn and myself were able to visit Members Plus Credit Union and pick up 100 filled backpacks for those students who might be in need. Additionally, we would like to thank Target and Everett who donated hand sanitizer for all our schools, Goldilocks bagels for donating their locks for love, which will benefit each elementary school, and 4 Good Vibes store in South Medford, who ran an online fall craft fair, which benefited the Medford public schools. Also, I must thank all of the merchants and other organizations who plan to play have donated prizes and or sponsored a hole for the annual Medford family network golf tournament hosted by Yoki restaurant. The tournament, one of MFN's largest fundraisers will be held next Monday, October 11th. at the Sagamore Golf Club facility in Linfield. So if anyone is interested in playing or donating a prize, please contact the Medford Family Network. They'd love to have you join them. I must say that our Mustang community is truly very blessed. We have a few upcoming events. This coming Wednesday, October 6th, is the International Walk, Bike to School Day and kicks off Walk, Bike to School Wednesdays this month. These events encourage physical activity as well as promote pedestrian and bicycle safety in both our neighborhoods and all of our schools. This coming Saturday, the Medford Police Department, working together with Shiloh Baptist Church, will be hosting a free family day this Saturday, October 9th, outside in the City Hall parking lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event will feature a DJ, food, a bike rodeo, car seat checks, and a unity walk. The goal of this event is to bring our community and police together Our vocational side of the house assisted the police department by producing flyers and a banner. We were glad to partner with the police on this important initiative. Also, October is Italian American Heritage Month. Over 5.5 million Italians have immigrated to the United States since the 1800s. As you probably know, Our country, continent, as well as some of our neighboring continents to the south are named after an Italian explorer and geographer by the name of Amerigo Vespucci. We celebrate those of Italian heritage who have richly contributed to America and to the world. In closing, as the weather is changing and the leaves begin to fall, I hope that our Mustang families enjoy making memories, apple picking or pumpkin decorating. Take advantage of the outdoor activities while the weather cooperates. Have a good evening.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Dr. Edward-Vincent. We next up have the public health update, Director of Health Services and Assistant Superintendent of Finance Operations will report on the Medford Public Schools student and staff COVID testing program, state and district mask mandates, Medford Public Schools personnel vaccination status, contact tracing and quarantine communication protocols, and revisions to COVID-19 prevention protocols for all kindergarten classrooms.
[Hines]: Good evening. I'll start with the health services update about our weekly testing. Medford Public Schools continued its pooled testing surveillance last week, conducting a total of 315 pools. Of those 315 pools, there were four positive pools identified for a percent positivity rate of 1.26%. The percent positivity rate for the entire state of Massachusetts for the same week was 1.96%, so we were just below that. School nurses also saw 55 students with symptoms coming into the health offices. 40 of those students were able to be tested in the health office and school nurses found no additional positive students through their testing. The other 15 symptomatic students were unable to be tested in the nurse's office but were referred to outside testing and all were found to be negative through PCR testing. As a general reminder, please stay home if you're sick. We're still seeing students coming into the office with symptoms. As much as we want kids to be in school, we want to make sure that they're well enough to be in school. Thank you.
[Murphy]: Thank you, Mayor, members of the school committee. We had some questions at our last public health date with respect to our testing program participation. So in your packets this week, we did provide additional information and a breakdown, both with respect to our school by school consent form completion rate, as well as what we've referred to as our actual participation rate. And that actual participation rate is the percentage of students for whom consent forms have been received that are participating for each time that the testing program is run. So generally speaking, we were encouraged by those numbers, both with respect to consent forms that have been received and with regard to the actual participation rate. As you can see, there are a couple of school communities that we need to double down on the communication for in order to get our consent form consent form rates up over 90% across the board. as we had by the end of last year. You'll remember that that did take some time last year as we continue to sort of beat the testing drum over the course of the school year. I will point out one anecdote that's probably clear from the numbers that you've received. The school that we had the lowest consent form participation rate in terms of submission, we have the highest percent with respect to actual participation, which is somewhat ironic. And of course, as you know, we'll never have 100% actual participation because That would be factor in students who are absent on a particular day, or perhaps are being quarantined. Obviously those students are not able to participate in the program but generally speaking, we're, we're hovering in around 80%, based on the final numbers that came in after our testing program on Thursday, ended up being at about 78% of the students from we have consent forms are participating in the testing on a daily basis. Sort of somewhat noteworthy that our high school numbers are as high as, as they are, as we talked about last year high school students having a little more independence little more agency, they have more flexibility, frankly, whether they participate or not. The mandatory participation for students involved in extracurricular programming is one of the factors we think and make sure that that number stays high. And at the lower grade levels, elementary, for instance, students are participating. There's a whole class is being walked down to the testing station. So we would expect those numbers to be high and for the most part that they are. If you have any questions, happy to entertain them. Otherwise I can move into some high level information related to vaccination rates, but won't be going into a high level of detail on those for reasons that I can explain.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Mayor, I am also. Okay, Member McLaughlin, after that.
[Van der Kloot]: Thank you. I think I should probably read them at this point. Is that all right? That's fine. The first one is from Christina McCourty 24 North Street. She writes dear members of the school committee. I'm the parent of two elementary school students and I'm writing with a few questions. One, at this point, is there any evidence that points to possible interschool spread of COVID-19? Watching the COVID tracker there was an increase in positive cases in a couple of buildings, and many of us are wondering if there were multiple cases in the same classroom. Do you want to take this one by one or if we could.
[Unidentified]: There we go.
[Murphy]: Thank you, Mary. Thank you, Mr. To the member of the community for the question. So, last year, one of the, I think, significant points of pride that we had as an organization was that there was minimal in school transmission and for the most part, our health services department at the time concluded that there was really only one instance across the entire district, in which we said that there was a likelihood of in school transmission and I say likelihood because of course, with all these things that our statements have to be qualified because there's no definitive proof one way or another when it comes to this type of tracing. We have had more instances this year of suspected in school transmission. They have been concentrated and besides can go into greater detail about this probably not much greater detail for obvious reasons at the elementary school level where we have a higher population of unvaccinated individuals. The real reason I think that as a layperson that the inference you can draw is that with the occupancy restrictions being lifted, we have many more people in the building. And so while we have protocols in place around physical distancing, and we make a good faith effort to maintain that physical distancing and extended physical distancing during all meal periods, the reality is that we have more people, they are based on age, unvaccinated and they are in close proximity to one another. And so it is definitely true that we have more evidence of in-school transmission this year than we did last year. As the committee knows, this week, this past week, as a result of a pattern that had developed at the kindergarten level, we did institute heightened protocols with respect to distancing, with respect to testing. and a variety of other measures that were spelled out in the memo to you to essentially clamp down on our kindergarten students. It's not surprising that that's where we're seeing a concentration of positives and in-school transmission. These are students who are in a formal education environment form for the first time. Obviously they are all unvaccinated. And while there were protocols in place at the beginning of the school year, And, you know, maybe to some degree, some of this was inevitable. We did feel that we needed to ratchet up the protocols that are in place at the elementary school level, specifically with kindergarten students. And so those students will be tested on a daily basis for the foreseeable future. And we'll continue to monitor that closely.
[Van der Kloot]: This parent goes on to say, is there any update on when buildings can transition back to testing twice per week? She mentions that she knows the kindergarten students are being tested daily and says if that's happening, she would think we could handle testing all students twice per week. So if you might.
[Murphy]: I can understand where someone might make that assumption, but I would say it would be an assumption and a flawed one. We are stretching our staff and resources considerably by heightening the kindergarten testing on a daily basis. Frankly, we barely have the resources to do that. And so, doing school wide twice weekly testing is is for the same reason that we identified previous meeting of the school committee, not something that's feasible at this time. That being said, While there is an uptick with respect to in-school transmission this year, an important qualifying note is that there was only one instance in the entire school year last year. And so it is not the case that we're seeing a dramatic rise either in positivity or in in-school transmission. And so I think the significant instructional disruption aside, all of us would prefer to test more rather than less. Currently, if you look at the data that we're producing. There isn't, at least by the standards that were established last year when we tested multiple times a week throughout the course of the year, there isn't frankly an urgent need to increase the amount of testing we have district wide. So, again, like all things being equal, we would prefer to swab everyone's nose on the way in the door and just make that a matter of routine. But based on the resources that we have, we felt that concentrating them with the kindergarten students right now was most consistent with the data that we were seeing coming out of the testing program.
[Van der Kloot]: The third part of the email is, some first grade students have begun unmasking in class for phonics lessons. Though this was briefly mentioned in an email communication, no details have been given on what this looks like. We have a right to know what risks our students are taking and which health professionals weighed in on this decision. Going forward, can someone from the district please give a detailed description of unmasked situations that have been deemed to be necessary for instruction? before they happen for the first time. Any unmasking brings risks, and I think families have the right to know of any increased risks they are facing at school so we can reflect on it, ask questions, and determine whether we decide if the risk is acceptable to us. Many students are also anxious about being unmasked indoors, and knowing in advance would give us caretakers the ability to prepare them and discuss it in a safe place.
[Murphy]: I think with respect to the specific phonics lesson at third grade I'm going to defer for the time being we'll, we'll follow up with the committee. It sounds as though there was a communication that went out related to that and as we discussed at the beginning of the year from an instructional perspective there are certain times in which. different protocols will have to be followed, generally speaking that involves either shields or additional distancing. In order to mitigate any risk that is absorbed. But just to be clear, just to speak on a more general basis. We are balancing the educational interests of students with the public health risks of students in the community. Every hour of every day. There is no decision related to the operation of the Metro schools or frankly any other school district in which there is not some degree of balancing that's taking place, similar to in the professional world, people are going into work in our resuming in person activities and so I think it's important that we communicate and be as clear as possible. and as transparent as possible. But one of the ways we do that I think is acknowledging the fact that there's there about this balancing taking place and there's going to be the remainder of the school year.
[Van der Kloot]: Okay, I'll turn to the next person. This one is Ingrid Moncada 131 virgin have. I have a few questions regarding COVID protocols at MPS, and she writes in parentheses, a comprehensive document with MPS current policies would be ideal, so we'd have to keep asking questions. One, what's the data that supports the decision of testing kindergarten in such a different way than the rest of the students? Why now? Was there evidence of in-school transmissions?
[Murphy]: So the answer to that is yes, as I said previously, and the pattern and the data was that we had our fifth kindergarten class that was required to transition into temporary virtual learning because of positivity in the class and close contacts. And frankly, just speaking in a very practical sense, it is challenging to determine amongst a group of five-year-olds who have never been in school exactly who the close contacts are. And while sometimes we have concrete evidence and we can say that's exactly what happened, this is exactly the protocol we have to follow, sometimes we have to err on the side of caution, which is what we did. And by the fifth time we did it, we determined that we were going to have to revamp the protocols that were put in place to keep students safe. With regard to the document, we have that document. I think it does need to be recirculated, and that's something we'll work on during this week's communication.
[Van der Kloot]: Okay, this one touches on what you've just talked about. What's the criteria for quarantining a whole class? Is it because the whole class is considered close contact? How can that happen? How often does that happen? Is it only in kindergarten classes?
[Murphy]: Well, not by rule, it's only in kindergarten classes, it would happen where it happens. But this year, it's only happened in kindergarten. And I think that The conclusion that we drew was that that's not a coincidence that if it had happened only in fifth grade, you probably would have drawn a different conclusion and probably needed to kindergarten, you have students that are in a brand new environment. and teachers who are working tirelessly to try to provide them with as normal an experience as possible. It's not in any way a reflection on the staff. It's a reflection on what it's like to manage 18 to 21 five-year-olds. It's nothing against the five-year-olds. If anything, we're watching it. We are operating within the circumstances that being dictated to us.
[Van der Kloot]: Part three, what are the guidelines for students returning to school after being sick at home. I've heard reports of people having to provide proof of coven negative and pay for a private PCR test. before being accepted back in school, and others that are not told anything, and just bring the kids back as soon as they feel better.
[Murphy]: So I'm going to defer to Miss signs with regard to the specific protocols and pointing, I will just. I do want to say, note this for the committee that, well, I think it's important that we answer as many questions as we can. There are times when someone could draw an inference that something is happening with regularity, that it's not. And so if the only thing you know about the Medford Public Schools and the work that we're doing to keep students and staff safe from COVID-19 is that a report that there was some inconsistency with regard to communication, I think that would not truly reflect the consistency and the thoroughness with which we've executed these protocols. I have to put that disqualifier out there because I do think that there could be disproportionate conclusions drawn. If this is the only piece of information that the public has but I think the science can speak to the specifics with regard to how the quarantine works and their communication or close contacts.
[Hines]: Yes, so if we have student or staff that is symptomatic, obviously we would like to know about it. That is how we are able to tell you what is required to come back to school. We are finding that some parents and students, they make the decision to get their own PCR test without speaking to a nurse and then tell us after the fact. That's also great. We want to make sure we're getting that PCR test if we're having symptoms related to COVID. But we would like to know beforehand, because we also want to make sure that students are symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school without the use of medicine. So you know, no Tylenol, Ibuprofen, that would bring a fever down. We want to make sure that your body is naturally returning to its baseline state of health. And then we also want to make sure that you spoke to your primary care physician and made sure that there wasn't anything else going on you know they're still strep throat, they're still mono they're still the flu. We want to make sure that you were seen by a health care provider before returning to school because there are other things. that it could be and not just COVID. In terms of a COVID PCR test, the school nurses have a laundry list of available testing sites that offer free PCR tests, so please use your building-based nurses as a resource. We're here to help you. We have those lists printed out and ready to hand out or email to families as needed, but the requirement really is if you're having any of those symptoms, you need to be symptom-free for 24 hours before returning to school, have a negative PCR test, and have reached out to your primary health care provider. make sure that you're good to come back.
[Van der Kloot]: The parent goes on to say, has the district or city considered providing free COVID testing for NPS families at schools after hours City Hall or other Medford location. If families are indeed required to provide proof of negative test before returning to school. This would be essential.
[Murphy]: We did consider last year having a satellite location for situations like this at the time that was primarily focused on staff, because of the staffing challenges that we were facing given the number of staff that were out on either short or long term basis. I would say that it is something we can that we could consider but it's it's not an easy lift and as I said, we're relatively stretched with respect to resources, and I say that I'm referring more to human capital than financial frankly, in this particular instance. And so it's something we could consider, but it's something that we'd have to look at pretty closely. And I can't say with certainty that it's something we'd be able to execute in a way that will truly be effective. Just a quick example, we might be able to do something like that once a week. but so much of the protocols are tied to specific timelines that we would end up in a situation in which we're making it very easy for families who have a student who tested positive on a Tuesday. But if you tested positive on a Wednesday through Friday, we wouldn't be able to help. And that's the type of inconsistency or inequity that we're trying to take out of the system as opposed to perpetuate it. Having a satellite location for families It's something that I think we might want to speak with the Board of Health about, since I think in many respects, it's more of a, it would be a community service as opposed to a school-based one. I think it's worthy of consideration, but I think one that we'd have to look at. And I just want to say again, if you look at our numbers, we're in a relatively good spot. I think, well, you know, we have to take all of these seriously. We have to be vigilant. We have to maintain the protocols. We have to do all of that. I don't want to lose sight of the fact that we're nowhere close to where we were a year ago, certainly. And in some respects, the numbers are trending in a positive direction. And so what makes sense for us right now in terms of the use of resources may not make sense six weeks from now. That's one of the things we'd have to take into account as we look at it.
[Van der Kloot]: Okay, thank you. That's all the letters that I received. on the school committee mailbox.
[Murphy]: I think we were gonna touch base on vaccination status, but if there are any other testing related.
[Unidentified]: Member Kreatz? Member Kreatz, oh, there you go.
[Kreatz]: It's on. Oh, okay. It's difficult to find the consent form on the website. I know the superintendent includes it in her weekly letter. Is there any way to put Like a special button on the website with the link to all the corporate information. The consent form the Testing program frequently asked questions testing program schedule things like that short answer is yes, and it is located, but I think.
[Murphy]: we can make it more easily accessible. And I think your suggestion about concentrating some of the materials in a place that's slightly easier to find, I think we can make improvements there. So we can commit to that within the next 24 to 48 hours. Thank you.
[Unidentified]: Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. If a student has symptoms but cannot be tested since they don't have a consent form, are they isolated and sent home immediately?
[Hines]: Yes. So first and foremost, our nurses would also try and reach the parent and get a verbal consent because they will have to be dismissed ASAP. And then the parent could physically sign the consent when they come for the dismissal. So we always try and get that consent. If a parent is not willing to give consent for school, they are dismissed immediately after being isolated and, you know, assessed by a nurse to make sure they're safe to go home and not to another provider, like say being transported to the ER or what have you. They would be immediately dismissed after isolated and being with a nurse and referred to outside testing if they do not consent to in school testing.
[Ruseau]: Great, thank you. And you answered my next question, which is great. How are we handling a positive student that was positive in school who has siblings in another classroom or in a different school? How are we contact tracing that?
[Hines]: So for a student that is positive and has siblings in another school or in another classroom, which happens quite frequently in this district, they are then considered close contacts to their positive sibling. And they would follow the same quarantine guidelines as anyone else where we would request that you get tested day five after your last day of exposure. or sooner if you have symptoms. And then depending on that test result, if the siblings are 18 and five, they might not have that much interaction, might have separate bedrooms and the sibling might actually not become positive. And after their quarantine, they're able to return to school. But it might also be the case that that student then becomes positive and they start a 10 day isolation, but they would be in that quarantine period at home in a separate area from their positive sibling until they were determined safe to come back to school.
[Ruseau]: Great, thank you. So if it was a five-year-old who tested positive and there's a seven-year-old, I mean, not all five-year-olds and seven-year-olds are rough and tumble all day long, but a lot of them probably are. And so would we immediately, assuming we have consents, of course, would we immediately be testing that seven-year-old before the day's out so we could do close contacts on that classroom?
[Hines]: It really is a case by case basis, depending on the age and the interaction of the students and the siblings and what their contacts in school might also be and if you know they were seen in the nursing office two days prior for a little runny nose that. you know, subsided after half an hour, we really look at each individual case very closely and make a nursing decision on that. And we usually err on the side of caution. So there have been instances where a sibling tested positive or a parent that's also a staff member test positive, and we're testing those kids before we even send them out of the building, just to make sure we're doing our due diligence. That has happened on multiple occasions already this school year.
[Ruseau]: Okay, great. Thank you. And then my last question is, um, Well, I was really surprised we could ramp up the daily kindergarten testing. I was happy with the memo, but my first thought was we still don't have cloning technology to duplicate the nurses.
[Murphy]: Yeah, nurses were surprised we could do that too.
[Ruseau]: Yeah, yeah. Sorry, just trying to make light of what I'm sure is not a polite situation. Have we considered, you know, I know that I was reading something in, I don't know if it was the Globe or the New York Times about The very active traveling nurse programs that are out there, nurses can, frankly, traveling nurses right now can pretty much write their own checks. Have we considered, it sounds like we're at the edge of staffing. And, you know, when I looked at the testing numbers, one of the things about the elementary school, so in the elementary grades, I sort of think of the students as captives, the whole classroom goes to get tested, right? So if 90% of those students have a consent, then 90% of those students should get tested. Looking at the numbers that we got, unless we have a 25% absenteeism in elementary, which I think is not realistic, it looks to me like whole classes just didn't go get tested.
[Murphy]: Well, there's a couple of caveats there. And I apologize, I should have said this at the outset. The actual participation numbers are a snapshot. So the numbers that were represented to you with respect to actual participation were for last week, September 27th till October 1st. So three days of testing. So in an elementary school, if you take the students that happen to be absent for that day, and a class perhaps the students that are quarantined because they're close contacts. I imagine a few outliers along the lines of the class went down and the student was out of class getting services. I don't think we had anyone like in the restroom or anything along those lines. Usually we'd get them before we head down to the testing site, but like there could be some outliers like that. And that's generally what should represent that number. I don't disagree that if it's at 25% of elementary school, There should be another variable and it's something that we can dig into the data on a little bit more. But you should know that this represents a single week of actual participation and we intend at the end of October, assuming that, you know, and I think we will be that our program, our testing program is still operating at the same capacity and with the same frequency and so on and so forth. will take another snapshot and that this is essentially baseline data to determine whether or not additional communication efforts and drilling down on exactly the point that you raised can can remedy those numbers to some degree.
[Ruseau]: Okay, thank you. I just, you know, two of the elementary schools I mean I know that each elementary school is getting tested on one day so it's a snapshot for a week but really like the MISA took on the day that they do testing. And to use that just as an example, 28% of the kids who could have been tested on that day, 103 of them didn't get tested. And to me, it seems unreasonable to imagine that that larger portion of students we're absent, I just think that's outside the realm of possibility. Dessie would be at our door if we had 28% absenteeism. So I'm just thinking, 103 students to me is not a few absent kids. To me, it's several classrooms just didn't go get tested.
[Murphy]: And I think that- I don't think that that's true, but we will look into it more. We'll drill down on it. But I think if there was a class that just didn't test, absent a class that's quarantined, And I don't think that that would apply to Mr. But in that particular week, but I will, I'll look at that closely.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. Because I mean, I not this isn't about blame. It's just about like, you know, are the nurses running out of time and the classes they're in line and now it's now it's like
[Murphy]: more closely and report back.
[Ruseau]: Thank you very much.
[Murphy]: Thank you.
[Unidentified]: Mayor. Member McLaughlin. Thank you.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. I just have a couple of questions. For the comprehensive documentation of the COVID protocols, that is on the website?
[Murphy]: I'm sorry.
[McLaughlin]: The comprehensive protocol for the COVID protocol?
[Murphy]: Yeah.
[McLaughlin]: On the website?
[Murphy]: It is on the website, but we'll make it more accessible.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you.
[Murphy]: And honestly, I know it's on the website. I don't even know where it is myself. So I will use that as a criteria to determine it needs to be more accessible.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. And when students are out for the 10 days for quarantine, when they come back, do they, I know that they need a negative COVID test, but you also talked about whether or not they had something else, mono or strap or anything like that. Do they, do you guys require a note from their doctor when they're returning or?
[Hines]: So if they're returning after symptoms, the required quarantine is only that of what it takes to, it's not a known 10 days. It's the resolution of symptoms and seeing a doctor and being symptom free for 24 hours. And if they had an alternate diagnosis, so like strep or mono, we would require a doctor's note with instructions on when they can return and what is required for them to return.
[McLaughlin]: Okay, but they don't automatically require a doctor's note is what I'm hearing.
[Hines]: I'm sorry, I can't hear you.
[McLaughlin]: They don't automatically require a doctor's note is what I'm hearing. If they show a negative test, they don't also need a doctor's note. Some schools actually also require a primary care doctor's note. And so I'm asking.
[Hines]: They need to show proof that they reached out to their primary care physician and sought care.
[McLaughlin]: They do need a doctor's note then.
[Hines]: Yes.
[McLaughlin]: Okay. And regarding the data, have we dug deeper in the participation rates? I know you said you were gonna look into some of the disaggregation of what Member Ruseau was pointing out regarding absenteeism, but just in terms of the participation rate, I know that we have one or two buildings that have lower participation rate, and just wondering if there's any reason behind that, any narrative that you guys might be able to look into, or?
[Murphy]: You know, this is a snapshot from last week, and we have not, between last week and tonight, dug more deeply than what we've reported on tonight.
[McLaughlin]: Yeah, it just would be good to know, especially if we see this disparity in the numbers ongoing, like, you know.
[Murphy]: I just wouldn't say it's ongoing, respectfully, because it's a snapshot from one week.
[McLaughlin]: I understand, but a snapshot over time will start to tell relevant data if it's the same. So that's really what I'm wondering is how, if we continue to see low participation rate or lower at a particular school, it would be helpful for us to know why. Is it a matter of translation? Is it a matter of, you know, just anything? I don't know, but I think it's worth asking.
[Murphy]: I think it's 100% worth asking just I just want to be clear that the data in front of you is just a snapshot.
[McLaughlin]: I understand.
[Murphy]: And so it's a baseline data that we intend to scrutinize thoroughly and identify whatever the reason is, because it's not going to be acceptable for there to be a discrepancy between the percentage of consent forms submitted and actual participation, because the class is being walked down to the testing site. So there will be, as far as I'm concerned, there won't be a discrepancy. And it's incumbent upon each school community to ensure that that's the case.
[McLaughlin]: So are we going to get baseline data over some time?
[Murphy]: I'm sorry, say again.
[McLaughlin]: Will there be baseline data that you'll be providing to us over an extended amount of time instead of just a snapshot in time? Are you going to be taking multiple snapshots to essentially provide baseline data or?
[Murphy]: Well, the snapshot is the baseline data. That's what we have now from last week.
[McLaughlin]: Right.
[Murphy]: We, at the end of October, intend to take another snapshot to determine if there are any discrepancies, how we've narrowed them.
[McLaughlin]: Okay. So then we'll do a comparison of the two. Okay. Thank you. And then for students who are receiving special education supports and services and have to be quarantined as a close contact, what are we offering to them in terms of services and supports? Are they getting in-home services? Are they getting compensatory services? What's happening with those services?
[Murphy]: It would be the same as if they're missing school or any services, then we will offer the same compensatory services that we would if the student were absent or if for some reason the district was unable to provide the services during a specific duration of time. So all obligations will be met. In terms of home tutoring or work being sent home, I think we referenced that previously that Generally speaking, the conditions are the same as they would have been in a pre-COVID context. If a student were out due to strep throat or to the flu or to a family emergency, the school is responsible for making sure that that student, that family have access to what information they need. I would also add that our teachers and staff have been thus far extraordinarily accommodating when we've had situations when we have had to either transition across to temporarily virtual learning or have had students that are quarantined. including situations in which there were families, for whatever reason, unable to make some of the in-person curriculum and welcome back nights, the teachers through their representatives readily agreed to ensure additional communication was sent home and make sure that any materials are there. So that's just sort of one example of how we've kept families in the loop. And that same effort, I think that's reflective of the effort that's gone in to situations in which students have been quarantined.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. I'm actually asking about special education services though. So like speech, OT, PT. So in other words, if it's on a student's IEP, that they're supposed to receive speech three times a week, but they're out for 10 days because they're being quarantined as a close contact. Will the school be offering compensatory services so that those students then get the three speech sessions that they missed? Or will there be in-home services for the three speech sessions, for example, that they did not receive?
[Murphy]: miss bone can speak to the specifics but as i said at the beginning all the services will be provided yeah so there will be compensatory thank you
[Bowen]: So there will be compensatory services. If a student is home with COVID, we're not going to be sending staff in there, but we are all looking at providing them work. And then also the teachers will be checking in with students during office hours as well, but we will be keeping track of any compensatory services that are owed.
[McLaughlin]: Okay, so for PT, OT and speech, Ms. Bowen, they're not coming into the home if they're testing negative but still have to quarantine?
[Bowen]: Correct.
[McLaughlin]: They're not coming into the home?
[Bowen]: They're not going into the home.
[McLaughlin]: And they're not offering any remote or Zoom for those?
[Bowen]: It depends, but it depends on the schedule. They may have them stream in. It depends if it's a one-to-one, they may be reaching out to the family to do that. But if not, then they will receive compensatory services.
[McLaughlin]: Okay, so there are some instances where families are receiving remote services.
[Bowen]: I'm not aware of any at this point.
[McLaughlin]: Okay.
[Bowen]: Um, but we, we look at it, you know, case by case situation.
[McLaughlin]: Okay. So there's an opportunity for that.
[Bowen]: Should the students require it due to regression or any of the other things that were, you know, compensatory services would come into place and we are looking at how to provide that maybe after school extended school day, that sort of thing.
[McLaughlin]: Right. Right. Um, okay. And what would that look like after school or extended school day if they're in quarantine?
[Bowen]: So I'm, I'm talking about after quarantine. So when they're back in school for the compensatory services, when they're back in the school setting.
[McLaughlin]: Interesting. Okay. Thank you.
[Bowen]: Okay.
[Graham]: I actually maybe it's more of a statement, I would like to make sure that the principles are aware that we are expecting them to. get their numbers up from a participation perspective and asking, I'd like to ask that all the principals figure out what they need to do to reach their building communities and make that happen so that we are not seeing participation numbers this low. I feel like you can almost understand the kindergarten families coming in, not being used to this. feeling like they're a little bit lost. And we talked about that last time. So I assume some additional outreach is happening there, but every other student in Medford Public Schools has been through this rodeo for an entire year. So I would, for the most part, with the exception of our remote students, but these percentages, they're not great. And I wanna make sure that the next time we see this report, We feel much much better like we did last year about the number of students participating because that is the only way we can. rely on our testing program to keep all of our students safe, to keep our staff safe, and to sort of make our way through this year without additional in-school spread. So I really think we need to focus on this. There are buildings whose numbers are exactly where I would sort of expect them to be. And if they have tips and tricks, I would encourage others to reach out to those principals and find out what they're doing that's making making them so successful, but I really do want to see these numbers back to where they were by the by the end of October, at a minimum, I mean it's been you know it's already been over a month that we've been in school, so I think we can. We need to focus on this as a community because it's the only way through this that I can see until such time as our vaccination rates go up dramatically and we're not seeing that happen yet either. So we really do need the principals to rise to the challenge here and make it happen.
[Murphy]: Thank you, Ms. Graham. I do think that there's an awareness of the priority. The only two points that I would add are one, While our participation rate was very high last year, it did take some time to get there. And I think that's worth noting. The other piece that I would say is that without characterizing any individual decision, which is a decision of each family as to whether to participate or not, there's probably more of a discernible constituency of individuals who are eager to not participate I fully adhere to COVID protocols. I think that's something that's true in society. I think it's true in each community. That's not a reason to not continue to be persistent and to push because I think you're right. I think it is both critically important and a responsibility, as you say, that as a community we have to each other to make sure that participation is where we need it to be. but it is a challenge that I think was less present when we were operating last year in what was considered to be more the throes of the pandemic.
[McLaughlin]: Mayor, may I ask another question?
[Unidentified]: Member McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. I am wondering about also the consent forms and whether they're being sent home hard copy and backpacks, because I think there are families that don't have printers and or whether the consent forms are also translated for families that need them.
[Murphy]: Yes to translations and yes to backpacks, although I think that's something, particularly with the backpacks, I think that, I think it's something we can consider again. There's a little bit of an implementation issue there, but not one that I think is insurmountable.
[McLaughlin]: So if they haven't gone home in backpacks, they will.
[Murphy]: They have gone home in backpacks. They have absolutely gone home in backpacks. I think that we can look to I think we can look to do that again I would be hesitant to send them out to all 4000 students again because as you can see the numbers, the majority have already sent it back and submitted another group. that I don't have the exact number on have communicated an affirmative desire to not participate in the testing. So it is, that's why I say that there is a, that's more of a discernible constituency than that was the case last year. So I know we're not gonna get to 100% absent people changing their mind and expressing a different view of that, which they have a right to do. I hope they will, I hope they'll reconsider, but that's their right. And I think we can, wanting to, target the backpack approach to the to the constituency for whom we don't have consent, I think is something we should consider, but it's not the case that they have not already been sent.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Number two, Medford Public Schools 2021-2022 Student Enrollment Report. District administrators will report on the status of the Medford Public Schools student enrollment by school and grade level, as well as current projects with respect to parochial school enrollment, charter school enrollment, and out-of-district placements.
[Murphy]: Thank you, Mayor. So this is a annual presentation. As I understand, it's annual. It's certainly annual in most communities where we take our October 1st data with respect to enrollment and share that with the community, the committee and the community. The nature of the October 1st snapshot, which is determined by the state and is essentially a reporting requirement that all districts have to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is again, I know we're using this term a lot tonight, but it is a snapshot. It's a snapshot that fluctuates a great deal, or the numbers at least fluctuate subsequent to the snapshot, such that the numbers that you received on Friday, just after we made this submission to Desi aren't even exactly accurate. As we speak tonight and they won't be accurate, the ones that if we report them now they won't be accurate tomorrow, and they will continue to fluctuate as, as that happens throughout the course of the month of October but for purposes of state funding and a variety of other state matters, the October 1 numbers are the ones that will report. You have other data and there's other data that we're able to share tonight that don't necessarily aren't necessarily tied to October 1. They include the charter school numbers which will will also fluctuate, and the private and parochial school numbers that we can report on. As of this past January, which would be of sort of relative value in a normal year, but this year, with so many families making decisions based on COVID protocols and some of the other changes that we've seen in our community and across the country and around the world over the last 12 to 18 months, there's sort of a limitation as to what conclusions we can draw. In terms of high-level headlines and things that are important to note, performance phone walks through our out of district numbers. You can see that we've seen a notice noticeable expected, and a number that we're happy to see on the upswing and our kindergarten numbers. The committee knows that just prior to the opening of the school or perhaps maybe a few weeks before the opening of school we did open three additional kindergarten strands across three of our four elementary schools to keep those numbers in line with what we were hoping for. Ms. Galussi reported on that during the first meeting. Other fluctuations are largely attributable to internal programming decisions. Mr. Teixeira, either in your last meeting or the week before, maybe it was the last meeting, reported on some of the changes in the EL program. which had an impact on the overall enrollment at the Roberts elementary school changes in recent years related to the meat program has had an effect on numbers at the high school. And generally speaking, everything else remains fairly consistent and stable and miss bones going to walk you through the out-of-district numbers, and we'll be happy to answer any questions you have to the best of our ability, understanding, again, that a lot of these numbers are fluid and there may be a few instances in which we'll just be letting you know that we'll be reporting back to you in greater detail at a later date. Thanks.
[Bowen]: Good evening Mayor members of the school committee so the current number of out of district enrollment is 35 students. These are students that have been placed in out of district programming, based on a higher level of need or specialized programming. This is a team decision that's made by team members special education coordinators. And a lot of times the district will enter in a cost share agreement with either Department of Children and Family or Department of Mental Health, or Medford, the city of Medford will be responsible for that full tuition. That for public school staff continue to be involved in the students programming our evaluation team leaders attend annual review meetings, they monitor the out of district placement to ensure that the student is getting their needs met and the educational opportunities. We also have a discussion at every annual review meeting about the least restrictive setting and how we can bring our students back into the public school setting when they're ready to. This is an ongoing discussion that takes place. Our numbers fluctuate year to year based on the amount of students that require out-of-district programming, but we also have students that may be in an out-of-district program till they age out at the age of 22. So I have provided you with a list of our current out of district programming. If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them.
[Unidentified]: Yeah. Member McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. Thanks for this report, Ms. Bowen. I am wondering if there is any cost analysis attached to these 35. So there is.
[Bowen]: I think the budgeted amount was 1.150. One point about $1.2 million for the 35 out of district placements. $1.5 million for the out of district placements. And for, I'm sorry, 1.2, 1.2, sorry. Thank you.
[McLaughlin]: And for the least restrictive environment. I know that the students remain Medford public school students, and I am wondering, in addition to considering how to provide the least restrictive environment for them by. providing opportunities within returning to Medford public schools. I know that they're also allowed or should be involved in the life of the school. So each of the out-of-district students is actually assigned to one of the public schools in Medford. And so they have a principal and administration there. And so they're able to access the life of the school between field trips, dances, after school activities, anything like that. So who would coordinate that?
[Bowen]: So what we do at the beginning, we started this two years ago, I believe, or last year, actually, two years ago, we have the evaluation team leaders who are the case managers for the other district students, reach out to the parents to talk about, do you want to receive district communication, you're assigned to this med for public school, what sort of communications do you want? How often? They get the list we provide it to the principles the principles, add these families to the communication list and they receive any school communication, open houses, all the activities and after school clubs that are being offered, whatever is happening in the life of school, they are welcome to attend. And we also, this year, we had families ask for the superintendent's weekly communication. So we've added that on as well.
[McLaughlin]: Right. I mean, I think you and I have spoken about this before. One of the things that happens for families that go out of district is they lose community. They lose their involvement in Medford community schools, Medford public schools. So how are we offering them least restrictive environment outside of those schools? So it would be really interesting to see data around what families are actually participating in. Has there been any, as far as you know, has there been any data or survey of the out of district families in terms of I know the hair report for the state level talks about Massachusetts special education in Massachusetts, and a lot about a district students, families were pulled by Dr hair and Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a lot of those families actually did not want to leave the district, they felt like they had to. And so I'm wondering if we've done any sort of data or survey of the families, you know, for those who either, you know, perhaps did not want to felt they had to would like to come back would like to be more involved, anything, any activities that are specific to these families, anything that we can offer them?
[Bowen]: I don't believe we've done any type of survey of that sort at this time.
[McLaughlin]: So maybe that's something we can
[Bowen]: We could discuss think about for the subcommittee, you know, we would want to work in conjunction with CPAC as well. Absolutely.
[McLaughlin]: Yeah, the. Yes, and what the added district involvement is in for the Medford Special Education Parent Advisory Council would be great. Oh, and then just in terms of like school events, such as curriculum night, that sort of thing, also obviously welcome to attend, even though they're not necessarily assigned to a classroom or a specific.
[Bowen]: They're more than welcome to attend. We would love them to come in and visit me with the principal so they know who they're getting the communication from and just be familiar with the public school that they're assigned to.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Bowen.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Number three we have professional development update Dr. William robust will be presenting to the Medford school committee on the professional development programming focusing on the Massachusetts educated performance evaluation systems that all Metro public school administrators are participating in during the 2021 2022 school year.
[Cushing]: Good evening, Madam Mayor and members of the School Committee. This year, in connection with our strategic plan, one of the things that we committed to was to provide world-class training and support for our school and district leaders as they go and they support our teachers. And it's my privilege this evening to introduce to you Dr. Bill Rebus. Dr. Rebus, has been a consultant and trainer in supervision and evaluation for well over 20 years. He served as the assistant superintendent for human resources. I'll just advance the slide for a second. The assistant superintendent for human resources for the Brookline Public Schools for seven years. He has served as a principal, an assistant principal, a teacher, as well as a member of the union leadership as well for both teachers and administrative bargaining associations. On a personal and professional level, I first met and was trained by Dr. Rebus in 2008 and 2009, and then had follow-up trainings with him, I believe it was 2011 or 2012. And the trainings were enlightening and helped to really change and alter practice to really support teachers in their endeavors to really improve student outcomes. So without any further ado, I'll turn the floor over to Dr. Rebus.
[SPEAKER_12]: Thank you. I appreciate your inviting me this evening to come and speak with you. It's a pleasure and an honor to be able to do that. As you see on the slide, we fully integrate the work we are doing with the administrative staff with the initiatives that are already taking place in the Medford public schools. We previously when I say we because we've had three consultants working here. I am primarily the consultant working on performance evaluation and you actually hear me talk more about performance evaluation and professional development because from philosophically we believe that the role of performance evaluation is to develop staff and ultimately to lead to higher levels of student achievement and growth. And you can see that I underlined some of the key areas on your mission statement. We've been through the district's strategic plan. We've read through the performance evaluation system that was collectively bargained with the Teachers Association and has also been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. We've read through your teacher's contract and your various pieces of curriculum because we believe that a system of performance evaluation and professional development needs to be totally integrated and tied into what the initiatives are within an individual district. So Peter, if you would just bounce, you'll see one of the things that today I'm speaking on, we provided a couple of programs for the district, which we in turn turned over to the district as in-district trainer programs. I look at it as the president of the company, I look at the, goal of our engagement in a school district is to work ourselves out of a job, which means to build sustainability and capacity within. And the first two programs up there, which I'm not talking about today, but we have now created full capacity and sustainability for the district to be able to train their own people, which also includes a letter from us providing the district with permission to use all our intellectual property related to that, provided it's just within the district. It's to enhance the benefit of your staff and the children here in the Medford Public Schools. Now I'm gonna talk more about educator evaluation. And three words you're gonna hear over and over from me are consistency, consistently, effectively, and respectfully. provide feedback to the educators in the Medford public schools. If you'd go to the next slide, Peter, please. And there are five major outcomes of the program. The first being the improvement of student performance and student personal development. The, A performance evaluation program, I'll use that terminology because that's what the state uses, but a performance evaluation development program really has no value if it doesn't impact the students in a very significant way. And let me give you an example. There's been longitudinal research on the impact of professional development training, workshops, courses, and such that teachers and others take. And if there is not an alignment between that training and the coaching that happens with coaches, but particularly the coaching, the evaluation, the support and feedback from the school leaders and the district leaders, the implementation two years down the road is only about 20%. And I wanna be very clear about why that is. That isn't, when people look at that statistic, sometimes they draw the wrong conclusion. The conclusion they draw is that the people don't go to, they go to workshops and then they say, well, I'm just gonna do what I always did. And that's not true. Teachers are very, very dedicated to doing new and more effective strategies in the classroom. But like anything else, when you go to a, when you first, attend a workshop, you're learning to do something new and different. And when you get back to your classroom, you sometimes get a little nervous about practicing on your students. And the idea is, well, maybe I'll wait until there's a time when things are, something in the curriculum isn't so important and then I'll practice. Well, the last time I looked at the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, From the Department of Education's point of view, everything in there is important. So what happens is then people wait, and they wait. And so eventually, the impact of the professional development dissipates. And so we see a lower level of implementation, not because of people being difficult, but people having the best of intentions, and that's just human nature for that to happen. So our professional, when we're doing training with the administrators, we do what we call a workshop within a workshop. So when I'm training administrators, I train them, yes, in how to consistently and effectively use the procedures and the standards for measuring teacher success and also Councilor success, psychologist success, all positions that are either classroom positions or clinical positions. But my training also is done in a way that we would want a teacher to run a highly effective classroom using what are known as high leverage research-based Teaching strategies, so that the administrators actually experience the strategies within the work that they're doing and to give you a crossover we we did an in district trainer program, as you saw in the earlier slide about social emotional learning in the classroom. And we used as part of my two and a half days with your administrators now when I was working with them, I used 30 strategies with them to teach the content of effective supervision evaluation and development that are. contained within the training that the teachers had. So now the administrators have fully experienced that and can go back and be supportive and help teachers develop those strategies. Number two is the consistency piece. Before I came in, I mentioned that I read through curriculum and I read through documents. The other thing I did is I had a wonderful meeting with the Teachers Association. And they were very forthcoming in terms of giving me their thoughts and ideas about what worked. in terms of performance evaluation in the Medford Public Schools and what did not work in the Medford Public Schools. And I shared with them before I even stepped in the room with any administrators, how I would proceed, be proceeding with the administrative staff and have offered to them that at any time I would be open to conversations with them and sharing more information, even to the point of, running a mock workshop similar to what we do with the administrator so they can actually experience it. Because one of the key pieces with the consistency is also to have transparency. Transparency so that teachers understand what the evaluators are doing and what they're trying to achieve when they're working with them through the system. One of the ways we build this consistency initially is we actually watch videos of classroom teaching. And the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has provided probably about three dozen different videos of all different grade levels. And we will watch the videos together and then they will, The administrators will work in groups of five, and they will analyze that video, and then they'll talk to one another. And they'll look at the performances they saw or didn't see happening in there. And that creates a common understanding and a consistent set of expectations for what you're looking for in a classroom. One thing I've said many times to your administrators, I've said to administrators everywhere, is a person's performance evaluation shouldn't depend on who's evaluating them. It should depend on a fixed set of performance criteria that we value in the Medford public schools as indicating a high level of performance, whether it's in classroom teaching or providing speech and language therapy, providing occupational therapy, school nursing, whatever the area is. The next, we're still with this slide. I got one more on this slide, Dr. Cushing. Number three is the idea of clearly and respectfully communicating expectations. You have documents that communicate expectations. They're in the contract with the Medford Teachers Association. You have a performance rubric, but those rubrics are really representative of far more research on effective practice. And so it becomes important for the teachers to understand what it is that the administrators are looking for and looking at when they are in a classroom doing an observation or looking at samples of student work or looking at student assessment data or looking at any one of a long list of criteria and data that is used to determine a level of success. Next slide, please, Peter. Number four is increase the usefulness of the feedback. One of the things that national surveys have found is that many teachers do not find the feedback that they get as useful. And there are a few reasons for that. One is that oftentimes the performance management is done separate from the feedback from the professional development that's done for teachers. And so there isn't that connection and overlap when administrators are going into rooms or when they're watching nurses in their clinics or whatever it is that they're assessing what the position is, they should be looking for the same types of things that are provided for those people in their professional development. That is one of the things that people who are being evaluated look for. They wanna know that what the feedback that they're getting is directly related to what they know their jobs are each and every day and how they can be better at their jobs each and every day. The other usefulness an example is that we've now have 100 years we've now been through 100 years of. what was always called teacher evaluation, we now call it educator evaluation because a hundred years ago, we didn't have school nurses or psychologists or Councilors or anything like that. And we've learned, there's been a large body of research. And one of the most current pieces of research that's reflected in our training is when you give a teacher a recommendation to improve. There should be three pieces to that. One is the, what are you, what needs to improve or could improve? The other is how to improve. And the third piece is an offer of support. So let me give you an example. A teacher who may, we know from research, brain research that We should never, a teacher should never, except in exceptional circumstances, be lecturing more than 20 minutes at a time without having students interact with the information. They do what's called a turn and talk, or they work in a group, or they apply what's learned because that will cause the brain to integrate and hold on to the learning. Well, if a teacher is struggling with that, Suggesting to the teacher that they provide more effective group work in the classroom, that's a what? But telling them how there are 11 components to effective group work, because if you don't, putting kids together, putting students together, whether they're 18 or they're four, isn't going to lead to an effective product and effective learning unless these 11 components are there. not only recommending the use of more, but providing the 11 components and ending with a statement such as, if you need any assistance with this, I'm happy to assist with your implementation of that, or pointing to a person who may be more expert on it. You should speak with and fill in the blank there. We found that when that happens, there are a few things that take place. One is you get much higher implementation of the recommended change. Two is teachers feel that the performance assessment and development program is something that you as the administrator are doing with them, not something you're doing to them. that you're a partner in that and you're working together to develop the craft of teaching or nursing or counseling, whatever it may be. And it also, it's interesting that we've also found that even teachers who don't feel they need the offer of support, they get the recommendation, the what and the how, and they know how to implement, they report that it feels good to know that my administrator is kind of behind me, is there, is my partner in this. And so that is an important part of developing that collaborative culture in a school building or in a district. And finally, the fifth piece is The support. We mentioned that, I mentioned that, I'm sorry, that if we should have transparency in terms of what the expectations are. So if we expect teachers, if we're looking for certain things, when we go in to a educator's work area with students, we should, be clear about what it is we're looking for, and we should be ready to provide what training is needed or what coaching is needed to in fact implement what they are doing in the most effective way possible. Next slide, Peter. So at this point, I know I probably, I was told by Dr. Cushing to spend about 10 minutes. It's tough for me to only talk 10 minutes. I apologize for going over. But in closing, I would like to just go back to three words that I think are very, very important. And that is Consistency, creating consistency within schools, across schools, creating higher levels of effectiveness that lead to higher levels of performance and more success by students, and finally doing it respectfully so that people feel that the process is again, one that that their administrator is doing with them, not that the administrator is doing to them. So I'll stop right there, and if there's time, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Member Van der Kloot.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Dr. LaBuche for your presentation.
[Van der Kloot]: It was very interesting. A couple questions just sort of in understanding the scope of your work in our district. you've outlined three different areas, which I assume are for all K to 12 teachers?
[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, all K to 12 staff actually, yes.
[Van der Kloot]: All K to 12 staff. So like, we don't have that much time for professional development. When are you coming in and how many people are coming in? And if you could just give us an understanding.
[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, I think the wonderful thing that, that you're doing is using the in-district trainer model, because it provides you with a lot of flexibility. So you now have trainers who are prepared to do the same level and quality of training that our trainers will do in the areas of implicit bias and social emotional alert. I know that there is there is now planning for how to use those trainers as both trainers and coaches within the district. And having your own people provides a lot of flexibility. Let me give you one example. In one building, a principal starts each of his faculty meetings, with a piece of a lesson from the social emotional learning program. He was a trainer in the, an in-district trainer in the social emotional learning program. So he's able to integrate, take 10 or 15 minutes and integrate that over the course of the year. So you have that kind of flexibility when you have in-house. And not only do you have that flexibility, it's significantly less expensive. know, if I have to send bring trainers over every time you have an early release day, there's the travel time, the preparation time, and all of all of that, then if the you wanted to bring them back to coach, there's all the costs in terms of of them being physically in the building but you have you have an ideal situation now with high levels of flexibility and I'll have to defer to the the district administrators, more specifically on what the plans are for those in-district trainers to specifically disseminate all the learning across.
[Van der Kloot]: I guess if I could go back, though. Yes. So as you're training the in-district, what is the scope of that work? How many people are you training? How many people are you meeting with?
[SPEAKER_12]: OK. Yeah. And in the implicit bias in the social-emotional learning programs, we train 20 trainers. in the district, which should be more than sufficient for a district this size. The training I am personally doing, I am doing the training with the administrative staff that has consisted of two full days in the summer. And we are doing a three hour training each month. that will continue throughout the year. And then we will do another piece next August, with some training in the fall. And so that would be the extent of the training that I'm being that I'm involved in. And, and with that we have structures for ways to sustain and maintain the both both the level of performance of the administrators using what it is that they learned, as well as absorbing new staff members if there is turnover.
[Van der Kloot]: Great. Just one more question. You say taught in our book, social emotional learning in the classroom. Are those resources that are used, is that something that the school committee can take a look at?
[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, yes. The program is in our book, Social Emotional Learning in the Classroom, which is the core text that was used with your trainer. So the district office has copies of that text, as well as having copies of the text that we use with the administrative staff.
[Van der Kloot]: So we can go find it in your office, Dr. Cushing. Yes.
[Cushing]: I have multiple copies for you to peruse if you want to borrow. Yeah, just be curious. One of the books, actually, we have put in teacher libraries across the district. Every school, with the exception of the high school, received four copies of a teacher resource book. And the high school received eight copies of that book, given the size of the high school.
[Van der Kloot]: Is it available online?
[SPEAKER_12]: Our social-emotional learning book is available online through Apple Books. And we have been negotiating. The other two books are 600 pages long. And I know people say, what? The actual body of research on effective teaching is 7,000 pages long. when you look at books and all the research that's been done. So I know condense is a funny word to use when you're talking about a 600 page book, but we condensed the entire body of research on effective teaching into a 600 page book. And what that does is it creates cost savings for our administrators. One of the biggest national organizations that does professional development, sells books, is the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. A district would have to buy nine of their books to get the content that's contained in this one book. So by having the book be... chapter by chapter covering what is typically covered in a single book. Each chapter is equivalent to what's in a book. it is more cost effective. The problem we run into with putting that book online is, if you had a book that size in a bookstore, in a college bookstore, the cost would probably be about $110, $115. Anybody who's had, my youngest just graduated from college, so I'm intimately aware of the cost of books. We sell the book, actually, we sell it at a discount for, I believe, $69 or $68 to the Medford Public Schools. Our full price is only about $72, $73. And to put it online and have it be cost-effective, would cost us thousands of dollars that would be because online books have a lower price point. That's the... Okay, you've answered my... Okay.
[Van der Kloot]: What I need to know. Thank you very much.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Graham.
[Graham]: Thank you for the presentation. I don't know if my question is necessarily for you or if it's for the administration, but I wanted to understand what... measures and 360 evaluation is going to happen as this process rolls out so that we are sure that the administrators we're tasking to do this work are doing it with fidelity and they are doing it with the integrity that's intended. So how do we plan to evaluate our evaluators essentially through this process?
[SPEAKER_12]: Well, I'll talk a little bit about that and then I'll let the administrators add to it if they wish. Right now, I do the quality control and we've gone from, we've done videos and I've already reviewed two sets of feedback that have been given based on the videos. The administrators now have a, before I come back in October, they all have to complete an observation and write up the feedback. And then they have to bring that with the teacher redacted so nobody knows who it is. And there's a set of criteria we have in our book based on the research of what effective feedback is. And they are going to use that to self-assess and then assess one and others. And then they're going to bring them to me and I'm going to give them all written feedback on it. So, after I'm after I'm no longer training that criteria will remain and that process can continue, which the process typically is to randomly select. feedback documents and you use vector systems from vector systems and provide administrators feedback based on the criteria that we that I am using now to evaluate their their feedback.
[Unidentified]: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: We have presentations of the public not to begin before seven. Regular meetings of the school committee include this presentations of the public agenda item to give any resident the opportunity to place a presentation before the school committee. Resident may only present once at any meeting. These presentations are an opportunity for the public to make a presentation to the committee, but are not opportunities for dialogue with the committee. If one or more committee members wishes to have a conversation about the topic presented, member may request the item be added to a subsequent regular meeting. The details for submitting a presentation can be found within the policy BEDH public comment and presentations of the public. Tonight we have none. Public comment. Pursuant to policy and procedure, Any resident in the audience may be given permission to speak once in any item on the agenda for up to three minutes. The speaker is expected to keep their comments to the item on the agenda. The speaker must begin their comments by providing their name and full Medford street address where they reside. Residents may also submit their comments by writing to the superintendent schools prior to the meeting. or by emailing medfordsc at medford.k12.ma.us prior to or during the item on the agenda. Written comments must be kept to a length that allows for them to be read into the school record, school committee record in less than three minutes or the comments will be summarized by the secretary of the school committee. A welcoming inclusive community is both a value of the school committee and an aspirational goal. We ask for you to help in achieving this goal and value your perspective. When writing or emailing, please provide this information. The number and name of the item on the agenda, your first and last name, your full Medford Street address, where you reside, your question or comment.
[Ruseau]: Mayor? Member Ruseau, then Member Van der Kloot. Thank you. Last week when we met, not last week, whenever we last met, it became clear to me that this is our new format and things New don't always work quite the way we intended, but public comment this this thing that you just read this is not an item on the agenda for public comment, this is a statement that the mayor reads to remind the public and us. Of our policy, this is not an item where we anybody can speak, this is simply a reminder of how what our policy is because I remember in the last meeting. We then took public comment that was not about items on the agenda. And that surprised me, but I just, you know, you did read that sentence that we only take public comment for items on the agenda. That's been the policy of the school committee since I've been on the school committee. And we didn't change that with this new update. So I just wanted to reiterate that this is not an open mic. So thank you.
[Unidentified]: Mayor Member Van der Kloot.
[Van der Kloot]: Yes, I find it a little confusing, actually. Part of it is the wording is presentations of the public. And does the presentation mean a statement or, for instance, a letter?
[Ruseau]: Mayor?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Right. The full policy actually explains that, no, a presentation of the public, there's a procedure for how to get yourself on this list. And that is a presentation. It usually could be a It could be a PowerPoint, it could be just a, you come up and speak. I remember we had one in the spring around reading, and that is people submit the presentation to the superintendent according to the details and the policy, which I don't have it in front of me. And so that's what the presentation is. There's nothing showing up there.
[Van der Kloot]: Right now, I have another letter that has been submitted to us.
[Lungo-Koehn]: That's considered public participation, not a presentation. So, I remember was so is done. We can have a member band includes read the email, so it's not.
[Van der Kloot]: It doesn't have to do with anything particular on our agenda so it wasn't a pub. That's why we did earlier. have a public comment. Um, Mayor Sorry, remember Ruseau?
[Ruseau]: Um but we don't take public comment. Does anything you want to have a conversation?
[Van der Kloot]: So but we've always had an opportunity for people if this person was here. Earlier in the meeting where it used to be, they would It's my fear is that you're cutting out the ability of a person to ask a question, which I understand isn't necessary. Like if I read this letter, I'm not expecting that there's going to be a dialogue, but the person wrote it. And I thought that we did this whole thing about having letters submitted so that people who aren't here, we could read it.
[Ruseau]: If I may.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, I was under just from the chair, I was under the impression that anybody can bring anything up during public participation and just, if it's not on the agenda can't be discussed, a member would have to bring it before the school committee under resolution for the next regular meeting.
[Ruseau]: Remember, so, thank you. That's definitely not how the subcommittee when we talked about this or and when we pass this policy in the spring. That is definitely not what we talked about at all.
[Van der Kloot]: So in one hand, you're saying that the goal is to be inclusive and welcoming. And on the other hand, we're saying, but here's someone who's written a letter, but I can't read it. I don't really understand that.
[Ruseau]: But part of why we made this decision to be more explicit about what actually was always past practice was that this committee and frankly, every body like us is unable to have somebody come up and ask a question and we don't answer. Open meeting law dictates we don't answer questions.
[Van der Kloot]: I understand that.
[Ruseau]: But I mean, we can go back and watch our meetings. All of us fail miserably and violate open meeting law. So that- So the full policy says if somebody has a question that they want to be answered, that there's seven of us. send us an email, any one of us can put it on the agenda for the next meeting, and then it's a regular agenda item for a conversation.
[Van der Kloot]: But this was submitted to the school committee account. My job has been to read the letters that were submitted to the school committee account. This person chose that way rather than writing us individually, which I actually think that there's a benefit from. I understand that there would be no discussion about this, but to not read it, and again, I happen to know what the letter contains. It could be anything. I'm just making a general observation that it seems to me that we've become, with this policy, the well-intended to correct another problem is in fact causing another concern that I am articulating right now. So this person, Monica Rushford, who submitted this letter, is not going to have her letter read tonight.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Is there a motion to read the letter?
[Van der Kloot]: I make a motion to read the letter.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Memocrats. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Van der Kloot]: Hello, school committee members. I'm a Medford resident and a parent of Missy Tuck Elementary students. I'm curious whether there will be any kind of acknowledgement or dedication of the new name. I did see the banner on the front of the building. I'd love to know if other signage or explanation of the significance of the name is under consideration. I heard, for example, about a mural on the playground. Would that be the school committee's decision or the school's? Thank you for all the work you do. Sincerely, Monica Rushford.
[McLaughlin]: make a motion to- Point of order.
[Ruseau]: A motion to- Point of order, we are not discussing or making a motion on anything related to that.
[Lungo-Koehn]: That's a violation of open meeting- It's just written to the record, yes.
[Ruseau]: Any one of us can make a motion to do that at the next meeting.
[McLaughlin]: What my motion was, I wanted to- You can't make that motion tonight. You have to send an email.
[Ruseau]: Well, we have to follow our existing policy on motions to add things to the agenda. Okay, so in a man member member McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: So if I understand the process correctly, then it's two weeks for somebody to be able to get something on the agenda if that's the case, if they bring it if they in this instance, it will be two weeks because we would have to. This is not related to this particular question. This is related to our policy, which is on the agenda. So if I understand this correctly, if somebody in our community were to come up here, which I understand, Member Ruseau, your position on the policy that if it's not on the agenda, coming up to speak publicly is out of order. But what I'm saying is, should somebody do that, and we want to make a motion to put it on the agenda, we then have to put it on the next agenda in two weeks to make the motion, which would be another two weeks out before it would actually be on the agenda. Is that accurate?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, that is accurate, but then we still have tomorrow or the next day to be able to answer it in writing from the administration to the resident. But if you wanna have a full length discussion, what member Ruseau was saying, open meeting law requires you to give notice, 48 hours notice when the agenda is posted. So we should put it on the agenda if we want it answered publicly.
[Unidentified]: Thank you. Thank you.
[Graham]: Mayor.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Graham.
[Graham]: One thing we may want to consider is to make a motion to ask the rules subcommittee to explicitly review that policy and create some guidance around the school committee email account specifically, because I think, you know, in this case like You know, in my opinion that was a harmless question and I would like us to be able to answer it but that is in the eye of the beholder someone else may not find that harmless question at all, and may disagree but I think ultimately we've opened up this channel for people to communicate with us. through this email box, which frankly may or may not be the best way to get the answers to the questions that people send there. Like there may be more effective ways. So I do think having some standards around what we do with stuff that comes to that box is important. And perhaps there are some rules and some guidelines that we can put in place to do that. So I would like to make a motion that the role of the school committee email box, which was like never a thing before COVID but is now be considered by the rules policy and equity subcommittee, and our public participation policies be amended accordingly, based on that review and any recommendation.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Second. Motion by Member Graham, seconded by Member McLaughlin. All those in favor. Aye. All those opposed.
[Unidentified]: Motion passes.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Just want to press the button with to turn in a microphone on or Mr. McLaughlin if we could get the. Thank you.
[Hays]: Thank you. Sharon hey 69 Ripley road. I had a question about the protocols earlier that discussed about for students who are symptomatic, and are either kept home by their parents or sent home. I had a case. week before last where I kept my second grader home because he had the sniffles and runny nose and cough, typical cold symptoms. But it wasn't clear to me what I needed to do at that point. I did end up calling the school nurse and we did go and get a COVID test, went to the pediatrician and talked to the pediatrician, had the COVID test and it was negative. But if I'm understanding correctly, what was said tonight was that you need to talk to the pediatrician, have the COVID test, and be symptom free for at least 24 hours. which that was not communicated to me, but I also, I think in terms of talking about that, or if you guys talk about, I mean, K through two or even three, you're going to have kids with runny nose and cough that lasts for lots more than 24 hours. So, you know, that's going to be a lot of disruption for kids if that's going to be the standard. And I understand it, but I think it's also something that should maybe be discussed more because that's going to be, could be difficult. But also the protocol like I said for letting parents know I I sent I ended up emailing the results into my school nurse but that wasn't necessarily communicated to me that I needed to do I just figured they probably would want to know so.
[Hines]: Yeah, so in terms of being symptom free we also take into consideration that they saw their pediatrician and may have been diagnosed with something else where we're not expecting them to be symptom free, but they might be recovered enough to be able to return which is why we're really asking people to reach out to their health care providers. Because they'll make the end diagnosis and determine the proper care in order to come back. As nurses, we can't make diagnoses. We have to make an informed judgment based off our assessment and ask that people go and see their provider. And I thank you for doing the right thing and keeping your child home and getting them tested and seeing your doctor. That's exactly what we want parents to do. But I think I agree, we could make it more evident to parents what we are requesting this year. I think we had a lot of communication with that last year, but as we've noted, we have parents that are doing this for the first time because they're either new to this district or they were remote last year. So we can absolutely do some increased messaging on that from the nurse's office.
[Kreatz]: Thank you.
[Hines]: Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. We have new business first resolution by member Rousseau, whereas the McGlynn playground continues to be in substandard conditions. The project for replacement is taking longer than initially anticipated and the mosquito-borne illness West Nile virus has been detected in Medford. An update on this project will be provided and a request will be made by the mayor to the Department of Public Works to clear the standing water at the playground whenever standing water is present to limit the opportunity for mosquito breeding, which could threaten our students and staff that use this playground. Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you, Mayor. And I apologize if this isn't the normal way of asking you to do something. I just feel it's, you know, we're on the school committee getting it and it's, you know, because you're our chairperson, it feels like sort of an unusual opportunity that other districts don't have because the chair isn't usually the mayor. But, you know, when I wrote this, which I believe was a week or two ago, there was standing water and, you know, I was getting flooded with stuff about West Nile and and it wasn't actually cold out already. But there is another resolution on here around the McGlynn, so I'm not gonna get into the specifics of the playground, but when I've heard that there's significant standing water that, not the morning after it rains, but like for days, that just seems like a really, like a bad thing that we, could really regret. And I don't know the effort involved with dealing with standing water. I'm not suggesting somebody gets out there with a broom. It's a huge playground. But if there is anything DPW can do to clear it so that it's not sitting there, that would be great.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, you can always just email my mayor or be long ago, Mayor Medford box and would get Department of Public Works right out there they have equipment to be able to handle this and they worked very hard during the last couple months when flooding was, we saw flooding places we've never seen it before. It was a really bad few storms, but we have our city engineer who's also assessing everywhere that doesn't have an assessment for flooding and coming up with some sort of plan to try to alleviate this so it doesn't happen again. But with climate change, we're where we are. We have a resident that would like to speak. Yep, I'm supposed to speak. You just name and address for the record, please.
[SPEAKER_13]: Am I good. Yeah, okay. I'm Christine Fiorello I live at 747 Felsway in Medford. emailed school committee members as well as the mayor with my concerns about the McGlynn playground water stuff. It's rather confusing from this end to know where to go for certain information. I did email folks in July and I thank everybody for responding and taking my concerns seriously. This is an old, old problem. This is not a new pro, problem at the McLean playground. I've just kind of been on it because now, because my grandson started attending first grade there this year. And when I took him to the playground in July, so he could get used to like, yeah, this is your new school, because he went to St. Ray's last year, you know, and I was like, man, there's like holes in the ground here, a kid's gonna break their ankle or, and then the water is just, it's a swamp. And it's not just this year. This is a long standing problem. And then when you get the phone things that say oh, get rid of your standing water because West Nile, and the entire playground is surrounded by standing water with green stuff on it and everything else. So I went down to the DPW, because I was told that there was a line. The fence out belongs to the city. That's their responsibility, so to speak, and from the fence in. It's the school department. So you've got two different groups that are trying to work but it appears to me. You all have more information than I have. And I really acknowledge that. And I also understand that COVID is a much bigger problem than this, but it still needs to be resolved. And, you know, I go down to DPW and I talked to the commissioner there and he's like, well, I don't know anything about it. And I'm like, well, you know, there must've been drains when the place was first built. He knows nothing about it. He'll look into it. I asked about the gate because the gate, the poles are bent. And I don't know if that's because it's sinking or if a plow hit it, but the gates cannot be closed. They can be closed, but as soon as somebody opens them, they're now at an angle digging into the ground. It's just not safe. It's not just a matter of the ground, but somebody is gonna fall over that. And personally, I don't know why we have a gate there because all you have to do is walk around the corner and get into the playground. You really don't need a gate there. spoke to fell at dbw he said he could look into fixing the gate or just put fencing across there, because you really ultimately don't need a gate. He says, an engineer has to come out to look at the water. because it's a serious drainage problem. It's not just every time it rains, it's there all the time. So DPW would literally have to set up a tent and be there 24 hours to be able to get rid of the water because it's just always there. I understand from hearing different people here, and most recently the woman who's in charge of the PTO, Beth McGlynn, that Conversations about this have been going on for a long time as far as replacing the playground. Personally, I think the play structures are the least of the problems. They've held up well for 20 years in comparison to some of the city parks that were 20 years old and much worse shape, but the holes in the ground are not okay. And I would think that people would be concerned for liability because if somebody goes into one of those holes, they're going to break an ankle or a foot. replace the ground covering because of the cost presently, it seems to me that somebody with a background in building should know how to fill those holes. I mean, to me, you could put just gravel and pack that gravel solid in those holes so when a kid runs across it, they're not going to put their foot in it. I mean that's a like a lawsuit waiting to happen and I'm actually kind of surprised that nobody's been hurt up till now because there are at least three significant holes in that ground covering. So the ground covering seems to me, if it's two years down the line before we're going to get any money to do anything something has to be done. In the meantime. you know, the gate, the holes, and then the water. It's going to be years, I'm guessing, before anything is done to redo the playground. But that doesn't mean that we can just have that water sitting there. And if that's outside the playground, can't something be done in the meantime to get that water to start pooling in that area and obviously it would take a civil engineer to take a look at that and give us you know some ideas. So I realized that all different people are working on it, but when you're me at home trying to figure out who I reach out to and who has all the information It doesn't seem to be one place. And like I said, DPW, I thought would be really involved. But then when I go down there, they're like, yeah, well, I don't know. I mean, they were very nice. Don't get me wrong. And they answer my phone calls. I said, gee, when the engineer goes out, can I go? Because I'm kind of curious as to what goes on here. So I don't want to. I'm not throwing stones. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to continue to get information about what's going on. And somebody to look at seriously, those basic safety issues have to be taken care of short-term, not long-term, when the entire playground is either redone and shrunk, because that's a huge playground. And it also gets a lot more wear and tear because of the location, where it's at, what the field's there and everything. Considering, I think, the actual play structures have held up pretty well. But I don't like the thought of my grandson being out there when half of the ground is covered with mold or mildew and then this green stuff, you know, all over the edge.
[Edouard-Vincent]: So, I want to say first thank you for, I'm sorry I'm having a hard time hearing you. We're sharing a microphone Can you hear me better now. I want to say thank you for, you know, bringing your concerns forward. And I was going to say our next resolution offered by member Graham is going to address it. The McGlynn playground is a. is a very large project that is on everyone's radar. And we're trying to get the ball rolling. And member Graham will be able to speak more specifically to that. But the hope is that we will be able to get movement on the playground sooner rather than later, it will take time, but we are going to try to get that surface fixed and fixed properly, so that we're not dealing with all of the
[SPEAKER_13]: the water challenges etc that you were talking about and I understand it's a long-term project but we can't wait two years for holes to be fixed that a child or an adult is going to get hurt in or for that water to be somehow resolved.
[Lungo-Koehn]: I'm going to talk to the city engineer who probably this is not on his radar to see if he can look into the drainage issues and then I'm going to read if you don't mind member Graham's next resolution, we can kind of combine them a bit because this will help us a lot. Whereas the design study to replace the McGlynn playground was delayed by COVID-19 pandemic and whereas unstructured outdoor play promotes the development of important social emotional skills, be it resolved that the school committee authorizes up to 2000 to conduct a playground safety inspection by a certified playground safety inspector at the McGlynn elementary school playground as quickly as possible be it further resolved that the results of the inspection are presented to the committee, so that identified safety concerns can be remedied expeditiously. Member Graham.
[Graham]: Thank you. So, as you noted, the RFP process that we've been talking about is getting underway. It was delayed, and we are looking at ways to expedite that now. However, the playground needs to be able to be used tomorrow and the next day and the next day. My hope is that the committee will join me in asking for us to do an audit, a safety inspection of the playground right now so that we can identify anything that is critical and find a way to remediate it right now while we keep our eye on the RFP that needs to go out so that we can select a design vendor who can engage the community about what that space really could or should be in a way that is, I think, more economical than the current design allows for. That surface, I think for the public, when we went after grants for resurfacing all of the playgrounds at the elementary schools, that surface was like five times the cost of each other elementary school individually. And it's because it is such a large area. We also have the good fortune of some local experts in playground design, who have been participating in the discussion. and really encouraging us to think about sort of the bigger picture, right, around accessibility and interest among students. How do you make a playground like that interesting for both elementary school and middle school students? And that's sort of why this design study was inserted into the process. So unfortunately it was inserted into the process and then COVID took us in a, you know, obviously a very different direction, but I think the design study will, pay off in spades for the community and really produce something wonderful. As we go forward, but that doesn't mean that in the meantime, we can be okay with standing water and holes that somebody is going to sort of twist an ankle on or worse. So the safety inspection, I think, will allow us to do both things at the same time. One is make sure that playground is as safe as it can be while we acknowledge that it is at the end of its life and sort of move forward expeditiously on this RFP so that we can get that process moving.
[SPEAKER_13]: I'm also wondering if there is an environmentalist in the city that knows something about the grounds there because it almost appears like it's wetland at this point. I mean, if you go 50 feet beyond that that fence it's like a swamp, so I don't know if the rivers proximity is also contributing and they may be something beyond just an engineer, maybe you know somebody who's familiar with. With areas around rivers that that may be able to offer some suggestions.
[Graham]: Yeah, and that will be part of the design study that happens is really grappling with that space, which does sit right next to the river, which is in a floodplain, as we talk about climate change going forward and other things. So whoever is ultimately selected for the design study will have Really a comprehensive order to look at the realities of the site, look at best practice and playground design which frankly, none of our other elementary schools are a best practice of playground design in 2021 they were when they were built many years ago. but we have an opportunity here to do something different and really bring that space, especially being sort of in the middle of the city where it is to a different place. But they also will have to grapple with climate change and what is going on in the ground and the drainage and all the other things that are the realities of that site. So, and we've also asked, we also will be asking that in that organization to significantly engage the community so that the school community itself can be part of the process. So lots to come.
[SPEAKER_13]: How would we know when the safety study is done?
[Lungo-Koehn]: And that's going to be reported to the school committee at a later meeting. Jenny, that's part of the resolution, that it be presented to us.
[Graham]: But I think once it's presented, we can also make sure that the PTO gets a copy of the report so that it can be distributed amongst the families at the McGlynn as well, which I think would be really reasonable for us to be able to accomplish. So I would think that's a really easy thing for us to do to make sure that you all have the information. But I don't know if there are other updates about the RFP timeline, Superintendent, or And if not, we can maybe talk about that at our next meeting so that we can keep track of that as well.
[SPEAKER_13]: Thank you very much.
[McLaughlin]: So motion.
[Unidentified]: Point of order, ma'am.
[McLaughlin]: Member McLaughlin. We have two motions on the floor right now. So we need to clarify where we're at, I believe. And I would make a friendly recommendation that perhaps these motions could be merged.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion to merge the resolutions, seconded by Member Ruseau. All those in favor? Aye. Those approved. Motions are merged. And there's a motion on the floor for approval by Member- Motion to approve. Graham, seconded by Member McLaughlin. Roll call, please.
[McLaughlin]: Member Graham? Yes. Member Kreatz? Yes. Member McLaughlin? Yes. Member Mustone? Absent. Member Ruseau?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[McLaughlin]: Member Van der Kloot? Mayor Lungo-Koehn?
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Six in the affirmative, one absent. The papers pass.
[McLaughlin]: Mayor Member McLaughlin, thank you and I just wanted to make a last point that was made to me also specifically about this playground that the playground is used, not just by the McGlynn school, but it is in fact a city playground that is often used by community members. So again, that convergence between city and school really need to be recognized as we're seeing in the motion and across a lot of our business in the city that we're considering both of those items with respect to the playground.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, thank you. Number three offered by member Rousseau in light of rapidly increasing COVID-19 positive cases in Medford. low vaccination rate of our eligible students, the nearly 2000 students that are not yet eligible for vaccination, the importance of contact tracing. And here it's to put protocols designed to limit exposure of our students and staff when positive cases arise. The protocols for contact tracing and communication for close contacts will be presented. Is there a motion to present or
[Ruseau]: could I speak first? Member Ruseau. Thank you very much, Mayor. Earlier in the evening, under the public health update, there was actually one element of the public health update that I think was going to be presented, but then we moved along too quickly. It was around the NPS personnel vaccination status. And it seems relevant and perhaps an okay time to include that. I believe Mr. Murphy was literally about to speak about it, but then we moved along. And I know at our last meeting, we did discuss that this was gonna be presented tonight and it has not been presented and it's not on our website yet. And it just feels like the public has kind of been waiting. So, I mean, if that could be part of the presentation, if there will be one.
[Unidentified]: Yeah. Member McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: Thank you. I'm wondering a little clarification on the motion if we can. It's saying the protocols for contact tracing and communication for close contacts will be presented. So I'm unclear if member Ruseau is asking that additionally the vaccination rate will be included or whether that's being asked for to be part of the presentation tonight, number one. Number two, the protocols for contact tracing and communication for close contacts. I feel like we've had the conversation a couple of times tonight, but I feel like it hasn't really been presented to the community in terms of what that looks like. And I think that's what I'm understanding this motion to be, but would love a little clarification from my colleague, if I might.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. So when I wrote this, you know, I know we have the you know the covert exposure guidance, and we've had many conversations that I feel like are really providing clarity, but, you know, in the medical world protocols are literally written down in black and white. They're not education, they're not training. You read this, you do this. And I just feel like while I'm hearing that we have some really great stuff going on, consistency, which has been referenced over and over again, is critical, but consistency requires that there is no question about what it is people are supposed to be doing. So I envisioned that protocols, meaning written documentation, and it doesn't have to be a PowerPoint, it can just be Google Docs or something, of how we do contact tracing, how do we communicate with families around close contacts, so that every nurse in every situation in every school is following the same exact protocols. Because if they're not protocols, then that's OK. We just call them what they are. But I hear the word protocols over and over again. Protocols are? Anybody, a new nurse could show up tomorrow in our school system, be handed the protocols and would know what to do. And I'd like to know that we have those.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Mr. Murphy. Mayor. Member McLaughlin, then Mr. Murphy.
[McLaughlin]: Yeah, just if I can, is that not, I mean, I know that this, I believe that this is what that, this document was attempting to do, is that right? Mr. Murphy, I think there's a step or two missing regarding the physician's letter, which certainly I would recommend, but I'm wondering if that's what the intent of this was.
[Murphy]: If the document in your hand is the one that I think it is, that is correct, but that is part of what the communication protocols are. It's just a little far away. We took Mr. Rousseau's motion to essentially be a request for the administration to elaborate upon the internal communication protocols that are used to ensure that once close contacts are identified, that all due diligence is applied to ensure that the information has been shared with the affected parties. And so we did touch, I thought we touched upon that briefly, but it's certainly something that in the next public health update, we could expand upon to make sure that there are more details and specificity that are provided. I will just say briefly so that we don't leave anyone in suspense over the course of the next two weeks, that Ms. Hines' department, her staff does in fact make sure that they have actually contacted an individual and spoken with them and there are follow-up phone calls that are made prior to the next school day to ensure that everyone has the information that they need when close contacts are identified. And I would just say sort of a little more than anecdotally that there has been no, I don't know of any specific instance, and I can say with certainty that there's been no systemic problem with respect to individuals coming into school after they've been identified as a close contact. As Ms. Hinds has said, we have had a challenge with individuals coming into school when they're symptomatic and seeking a test, despite the protocols being that if you're symptomatic that you're to stay home. That has been a challenge and one that we continue to communicate about at every opportunity that we have. But with regard to close contacts coming in, we really haven't seen that in part, I think not in large part, because of the efforts of the health services staff, making sure that everyone who has that information, who needs that information gets it. But again, that sort of, I guess I just did elaborate in response to your motion, but if you'd like that to be published somewhere in order to expand upon the document that Ms. McLaughlin refers to, to make sure that there's absolute clarity in that, we'd be happy to do that. And I don't know if you need an additional report beyond what I just said, but if you'd like one, we're happy to send it along. But if that satisfies the motion.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, thank you. Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: I would be perfectly satisfied if it was just something that shows up on the website and you let us know.
[Murphy]: I think to Ms. Kreatz's point earlier, I think we'll try to expand upon the concentration of documents. It is the website, which is undergoing Various revisions to try and make it more efficient and more user friendly. There's been an attempt to try to keep it cleaner to have all only up to date information. But I think we could expand upon the COVID section to give you all the information, including I'll just throw in because I know that one of the community members may have sent an email with respect to this. The discrepancy on elementary actual participation is attributable to the kindergarten shift in protocols that happened midweek last week. So those numbers that we were looking at at Robertson-Missituk is because our snapshot did not fully take into account the fact that we had switched to individual PCR testing of kindergarten students rather than pool testing. So that's why you were seeing that that percentages that we were referring to earlier. So I apologize for any confusion that that might have caused.
[Unidentified]: Mayor, Member McLaughlin.
[McLaughlin]: If I could make a friendly suggestion regarding this graphic, if we could, if you may consider Because some of it is also just a little unclear to me as I'm reading it just in a narrative, for example, unvaccinated with or without symptoms should test immediately if experiencing symptoms, which I get that. If not, then test after five days and quarantine for seven days until student has a negative PCR test. It's a little bit difficult for, you know, I'm not fully understanding that. So if not, then test after five days. Does that mean that student is still in school for the testing after, you know, until they test after five days? And then if they're found positive, they quarantine for seven days. So it's a little bit unclear, and I just would have a lay person read this with you, perhaps, or a parent or somebody to make sure that, you know, it's really explicit because I think it might be a lot easier for folks that have been doing it for a long time to understand than perhaps lay people.
[Murphy]: And that's it. I thought this was actually generated by the Board of Health, but I certainly will take it and we'll make whatever adjustments are necessary to make sure that it's as clear as possible.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, I will work with COVID's communication director as well to make any updates.
[Hines]: I do just want to add that we've worked with specific PTO members to make this as well. So there were lay people involved in the, in making this with the board of health and myself.
[Lungo-Koehn]: It's hard when you want to condense it to just a certain, you know, certain amount of texts that it's readable and understandable, but yes, it can get, it's just a hard topic to understand with so many variables.
[McLaughlin]: Member McLaughlin if you're finished I'm going to go to yeah I just I just and to your point there it is hard to condense and so I think the budget, the bullets could be helpful but also just in terms of translation. I do find some of this and you know I consider myself educated, but I find some of this a little bit confusing and I understand, you know, I'm glad that there was collaboration cross effort. So I just want to simplify it or ask the staff to simplify it as much as possible and then perhaps also run it by the folks who speak the languages that we'll be translating it into to make sure that it's translatable as well.
[Ruseau]: Thank you member so thank you. Yeah, I mean when I when I look at this this this can't be the protocol the nurses use because there's nothing to do, there's nothing in here that says anything about students who don't have consents to test for instance. So, I'm fine with a document that targeted, where the audiences, you know, the general public or parents that that should look very different than one that the nursing staff is using. But none of this takes into consideration what if the student doesn't? You know, the tested positive for COVID-19, zero students without a consent will ever be tested positive for COVID-19 in our schools.
[Murphy]: Well, I just want to be very clear. This is one document. We do have other protocols. We do have other documents. There's a lot more information in the universe of documents that we're using to communicate to families. This is just one single document. produced by the Board of Health in collaboration with PTOs to try to help. I think though, I take the message of the committee to be that we have to continue to reaffirm our continuous commitment to improved communication to make sure that we can be as clear as possible. I cannot represent, I don't think anyone can represent that there will be no questions or any confusion in part because when you receive a phone call saying that you've either been diagnosed with COVID-19 or a close contact, oftentimes, no matter how good our communication was beforehand, there's going to be a need for additional questions and information sharing. And that's why we have a very strong health services staff who, just to be clear, because again, if you're only watching this sliver of the conversation, you might be under the impression that the Medford Public Schools is really struggling with adherence to these protocols. And I don't think that's accurate. We're actually doing fairly well. So just a continued reminder that this year has actually gone fairly well.
[Van der Kloot]: Very well member of and include needs to present to the school nurse, a physical copy of the PCR test.
[Unidentified]: Yes, so they will.
[Hines]: I want to make it abundantly clear that this is absolutely not the only thing that we provide parents when we're doing contact tracing. Contact tracing will always include a phone call, whether it's with us or with also a translator. We have been using a lot of translation services in order to reach those families that might not be able to speak English. So we always have a phone call, whether it's calling all 10 numbers listed on whatever emergency forms we have, there are nights where I'm calling parents at 10pm and then again at 6am just to make sure I can get in contact with them before the next school day. We follow up that phone call with an email and we have a template for that email so that it is consistent messaging across all the schools with our close contact protocol. included in that email. We also have the Massachusetts Department of Public Health quarantine guidelines attached to that email as well, which is also translated on their website included in that is if they are personally in school and being dismissed having been determined to close contact while in school, the school nurse will have a face to face conversation with who's picking them up. and give them printed copies of it as well. So this is one of many resources we use when we're trying to contact parents. So I can absolutely provide you with all those. I have them in a Google Drive ready to go for whenever nurses need them, which is unfortunately more frequently than not. So they're available and parents have been seeing them, but we can make them available to you as well.
[Ruseau]: Mayor?
[Unidentified]: Member Ruseau?
[Ruseau]: I just would like to say thank you. As Mr. Murphy and I have talked about this sort of ad nauseum over the last year, or since he started, which was just barely over a year, that our school system's capacity for system thinking and doing things at a systemic approach is not where it needs to be. And so for me, I didn't come at this with the assumption that we had good systems in place, because frankly, we don't have good systems in place in many parts of our school system, and we're working on it. But this sounds actually really quite excellent.
[Murphy]: This is actually an example. Yes. The reason that we only have one of two classes a week. The reason we have had no examples of close contacts forcing their way into a building is because Ms. Hines and her staff, and before that, Ms. Ray and her staff, of which Ms. Hines was an important member, have developed a system and a protocol that has taxed our school nurses, to be sure, that is not the easiest to execute or implement, and that if we were, and I appreciate Ms. Hines suggesting that we can show you some of the other templates, and that may be helpful, I have to also put out a disclaimer that there are. There are many different layers to the systems that we have that has kept students in school, and that has kept students and staff generally safe. And we can't, frankly, in any type of using the amount of time that we have, efficiently show you every single step along the way, including all of the responses that we have to execute on an hourly basis when there are variations, because the same fact pattern never repeats itself twice. But the systems in this regard have worked fairly well, which is why I continue. And that includes the systems we've put in place to try to generate vaccination rates, which is information I'd be happy to share if the committee would like to briefly hear that.
[Van der Kloot]: Yes, thank you.
[Murphy]: Yes, yeah. So, sorry, we have a high level of specificity. We have looked at it at this point at each building community, and each building community is hovering in the vicinity of 90% I'd rather not go into the very very specific detail the percentage but no building is lower than 86.4%. and every other building is 90% or above in terms of staff vaccination rates. The other reason I'm not going into a higher level of specificity right now is Ms. Hines and her staff are still now going through and identifying individual staff members one by one for whom we have not heard from and ascertaining whether or not the individual is going to comply with the proof of vaccination requirements that is in place for the vast majority of our employees. We still do have two bargaining units, as you know, that have not yet joined the agreement that all other bargaining units have. Those conversations are ongoing. They've been constructive. We appreciate their partnership, and we look forward to hopefully having everyone under agreement soon, and we'll consider all options as necessary if that turns out not to be the case. The other thing that, well, these numbers, as I said, hover around 90% between 90 and 95% generally. That also includes a number of part time hourly workers who it's sort of understandable that we just haven't heard from yet. That's the requirement is in place for all non unit personnel, whether they're part time hourly full time. salary or whatever, it's just going to take more time, frankly, for those conversations for us to grab all that data. But based on what we've seen so far, it's my expectation that numbers will just continue to go up over the course of the next week or two. And then we'll get into the subsequent conversations about what, as an organization, we have to do to eventually get to 100% vaccination, which, as we've stated before, is our goal, taking into account the exemptions that we've previously discussed. But generally speaking, the short message is that we've had encouraging news with respect to our vaccination amongst staff.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Mr. Murphy.
[Ruseau]: I just have one quick question.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Member Ruseau.
[Ruseau]: Thank you. When a staff member has had COVID and can't get vaccinated yet, will you be counting them in the vaccinated numbers so that we're not... It would be one of the exemptions. Okay, but if we could just I don't know how many that is but you know. If we just go purely by have you gotten the shot and they can't get the shot that would be awful to say we're not at 100% when we.
[Murphy]: really eventually when we're ready to when all the conversations are done with all the bargaining units and we're able to share this information in greater detail, we'll disaggregate appropriately so that the types of exemptions that were granted. I think frankly, that would just be encompassed by the medical exemptions because that would be the basis for it. But frankly, it might turn out to be the majority. But I would say also, just from what I've seen so far in the data, it's not going to move the needle significantly in terms of our overall rate.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Motion for approval as amended, seconded by Member McLaughlin. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Paper passes.
[Murphy]: So just to be clear, you do want the report based on that?
[Lungo-Koehn]: No, that was as amended to just put it on the website.
[Murphy]: Great. And on the website, it will go. Thank you.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. We have two condolences.
[Van der Kloot]: Three. There's one on the next page, too. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, three.
[Lungo-Koehn]: The Medford School Committee expresses its sincere condolences to the family of Leslie George Budd Hollenbeck, father of Jan Hollenbeck, a coordinator of related services, secondary transition, section 504, and assistive technology. Also, the Medford School Committee expresses its sincere condolences to the family of Louise Marie Duffy Riley, a longtime school crossing guard for the MDC. The Medford School Committee expresses its sincere condolences to the family of Mary Canaley Mulgrew, sister-in-law of former Medford High School teacher and coach, Frank Jewett. We all may rise for a moment of silence.
[Unidentified]: Motion to adjourn.
[Lungo-Koehn]: Our next regular meeting will be Monday, October 18 here at 630. And there's a motion to adjourn by Member McLaughlin, seconded by Member Graham. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Meeting is adjourned. Have a great night and great rest of the week.
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