[SPEAKER_04]: Beautiful. Beautiful. Thank you, everybody. Yes, we have our Medford High School Orchestra here. Play away.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, Ms. Chen and the string orchestra from Medford High School. Beautiful, beautiful job. I think this is one of our favorite meetings of the year when we get to listen to the beautiful music. So thank you for being here. We appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_04]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_05]: One of our favorite, okay, this is our favorite meeting of the year. Happy holidays to y'all, thank you for coming. Thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you, Ms. Chen, and wonderful job, wonderful job this evening, thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: We're gonna have member Rousseau, if you can call the roll.
[SPEAKER_00]: Certainly. Member Graham?
[SPEAKER_05]: Here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member Hays?
[SPEAKER_05]: Here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member Kreatz?
[SPEAKER_05]: Here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member McLaughlin is absent. Member Mustone?
[SPEAKER_05]: Here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member Ruseau present. Mayor Lungo-Koehn.
[SPEAKER_05]: Present. Six present, one absent. If we all may rise to salute the flag.
[SPEAKER_02]: 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.
[SPEAKER_05]: I'd also like to again welcome our elected school committee members, Erica Reinfelds, Erin Olapade, and Nicole Branley are here with us. Thank you for being here. Hopefully we won't keep you too long. And we'll have ceremony, a little bit of kind words to say for our three outgoing, wonderful members in a bit. We have good of the order. Is there any items on good of the order? hearing and seeing none, we have consent agenda, bills and payrolls, and regular school committee meeting minutes from December 4th, 2023. Is there a motion on the floor? Motion to accept. Motion to accept by member Kreatz, seconded by member Rousseau. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Consent agenda is approved. We have reports of, we do not have any reports of subcommittees. We have, um, reports of the superintendent. Oh, and we have our student. You want to introduce our student? Dr. Edward Benson. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_03]: Welcome, Darren. Darren Truong is with us tonight, and we're very happy to have a student representative here this evening. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thanks for being here, Darren. If you have anything you want to say, just let us know. We have four reports of our superintendent. The first is the superintendent's updates and comments with special recognition of school committee members, Kathy Kreatz for her eight years of service to the Medford Public Schools on the Medford School Committee, to member Mia Mastone, another eight years of service to the Medford Public Schools while serving on the Medford School Committee, and member Sharon Hayes with two years of wonderful service to the Medford Public Schools on our school committee. Dr. Edward-Gunson.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you. Good evening and happy holidays. In the midst of the December holiday season, many of us are reflecting on meaningful Hanukkah celebrations that took place last week, or looking forward to the winter solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and a happy new year. On behalf of the Medford Public Schools, I wish the entire school community a safe, restful, and fun school break starting next week. As a reminder, this coming Friday is an early release day for all students, and we will return to classes on Tuesday, January 2nd. 2024, believe it or not. I have a brief MSB update. So before moving on to some special acknowledgements, I want to preview some exciting news regarding Medford's application to the Massachusetts School Building Authority's core program. On behalf of Medford High School, I'll be discussing the latest developments later on this evening as part of tonight's agenda. For our outgoing school committee members, I want to extend special thanks and acknowledgement. Tonight is a special and bittersweet occasion for the school committee because it's the final meeting for three of our dedicated school committee members. In order to recognize and thank them all, I'd like to take a couple of minutes to highlight the impact and accomplishments of each of these members. Ms. Sharon Hayes. Sharon Hayes joined the school committee after being elected in 2021, facing the daunting task of co-leading our school district through the post-pandemic recovery and readjustment period. Throughout her two years on the committee, member Hays has always prioritized her values of transparency and equity. Sharon promoted transparency in her work on formalizing the superintendent evaluation process and in sharing and explaining the work of the school committee in general. She also maintained a strong belief in community voice, particularly the voices of students in school governance and leadership. She has challenged our entire district to always include the voices of all stakeholders through formal channels like surveys and advisory committees and through informal engagement by way of direct conversations and personal contact. Member Hays, I know that our school district will continue to prioritize this kind of vital community voice even after your tenure on the committee. Most of all, Sharon Hayes has been a constant advocate for equity in our school community. Sharon always strives to consider how decisions will affect stakeholders at every level. This commitment to equity is particularly apparent in Sharon's active and earnest advocacy for school counseling and social emotional learning. She is dedicated to prioritizing these sometimes overlooked but essential parts of how our schools care for and educate the whole child. Thank you, Sharon member Hays, for your dedication to the students, employees and educators of the Medford Public Schools. Now the mayor has a special
[SPEAKER_05]: I know you have a beautiful gift over there, Member Hays, and I have a citation and a little gift for myself. I just want to say thank you so much for your service. Two years of hard work and what you've done for the city, the school department, and for the children in the district. Like Marie said so eloquently, you've done so much for equity and making sure that the students have a voice at the table, and I think The few of us that are remaining on the committee, you're always gonna have our phone numbers and push us to do certain things, but we're gonna keep up that strong fight for what's right, and through you, we'll be able to do that. So thank you. Thank you, Member Hays, for serving for two great years.
[SPEAKER_03]: On behalf of the Medford Public Schools and the Medford School Committee, we do have a token of appreciation should be due. Member Hays, would you like to? Dr. Fisher? Now I would like to recognize member Kathy Kreatz. Kathy Krutz has diligently served as a member of the school committee for the last eight years. Throughout that time, Kathy has always been a representative and advocate, deeply engaged with the needs and priorities of Medford students. She always shows up for Medford's kids to support them, advocate for them, and cheer them towards their bright futures. As a noted champion of our district's highly lauded career technical education programs, Kathy is known for her strong relationships with CTE staff, students, administrators, and others involved in these incredible and impactful programs. She is our community's ultimate advocate for experiential, hands-on learning. Member Kreatz is well regarded throughout the Medford School community as a consistent, clearly spoken, reflective, and measured leader. Someone who listens carefully and makes thoughtful and even-handed decisions. Speaking for myself, I am deeply grateful for the ways in which Kathy shares her abiding compassion and her particular love for both children and animals. During stressful or eventful times over our tenure together in Medford, Kathy would sometimes share a photo or an anecdote about one of her beloved pets with me. creating wonderful opportunities for us to connect on a personal level, even during difficult moments. Thank you, Kathy, for your eight years of service to the students, employees, and educators of the Medford Public Schools.
[SPEAKER_05]: I also want to echo just how amazing you have been the last eight years, and I've been lucky to be able to serve with you on the school committee for four of those. Two of which were hard, the last two, post-pandemic, and the two prior were the hardest I've ever experienced. But through the hard work of the committee and yourself, we got through it, and we got our kids back to school. We got them back safely with faculty and staff. We worked very hard. You worked very hard. And I just want to commend you for how thoughtful and prepared and calm you are. When there was a storm, your presence helped get us through that. So thank you for everything you've done for the city, the school, and the students the last eight years. We appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you. Can you please come forward? Last but definitely not least, Mia Mastone. As an eight-year member of the Medford School Committee, member Mia Mastone has made a deep mark on our school community as a true servant leader and an advocate for all students. recognizing that every child is unique and that we must seize every opportunity to improve students' success and well-being. Member Mustone is always realistic, grounded, and focused, making sure that we never miss the chance to attain improvements and success in our schools. Throughout her tenure, Mia always kept track of the pulse of the community across grade levels and disciplines, particularly as a constant and active champion for our fine and performing arts. As a parent and school committee member, Mia is deeply involved in and committed to student life. In addition to her commitment to Medford students, Mia always prioritized making Medford Public Schools a great place to work. Her fair-minded approach and commitment to all staff, from classroom teachers to paraprofessionals and cafeteria staff, have helped make our schools stronger and better. Mia is a leader notable for her humility and thoughtfulness, sometimes the least likely to speak up in a meeting. All who know her share the confidence that anything she does, have to say, will be concise, direct, clear, and respectful. I know I speak for all our school leaders when I thank member Mastone for always trusting and empowering our administrators and educators to do their jobs and to do the right thing. On a personal level, I share a great deal with Mia. We have a common high school alma mater, and Mia graduated with my sister. So we come from similar landscapes of experience and perspective. I have always admired Mia's deep conviction and her personal faith, which have clearly guided her work and service as a member of the Medford School Committee. Thank you, Mia, for your dedication and service to the students, employees, and educators of the Medford Public Schools.
[SPEAKER_05]: Member Bestone, thank you so much for your service the last eight years. Again, like you said to Member Kreatz and Member Hays, tough two years and then extremely tough two years. They're all tough. They're all tough, but it's a grind and you do it because, not because of the emails we get every day or the phone calls, but you do it because you're trying to make a difference. You fought, since I've seen you every, other Monday night fought for equality and fairness and making sure that our students got what they need and make sure there was better pay for after school workers and paraprofessionals. And you've really led the charge. I admire your hard work and dedication to the city, the school and the students. And you all know you have our numbers and we're going to keep fighting. So thank you.
[SPEAKER_02]: Take a group picture.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you. I was going to say much of what the superintendent already said. But I just want to thank each of my colleagues one at a time. Member Hays has brought an understanding about literacy that, you know, As a parent and school committee member, I could not have. And I think that that guidance around coaching and helping our teaching staff have what they needed was really important for us as we battled in the last budget. So I really appreciate that. I'm a little surprised it was only 31 months ago when we sat down at Tasty. No, it wasn't Tasty. Where's the cafe? classic cafe. And that seems like just yesterday, but nothing else on school committee does. So thank you. but I hate saying member-crats, it feels fairly personal here, but Kathy, I've always appreciated your focus on the vocational program. Having Noah inside the program for some of our years together has been helpful. And I did not go through a vocational program, so having you to keep bringing it up is really, really important. And your perspectives on that has definitely helped a lot in many of our decisions, so thank you so much for that. And last but not least, I found it amusing the superintendent used the word direct to describe Member Mustone, but I like the word blunt because it's less refined, and not that you're less refined, but you were the one I was hardest to write some words for because As some of you may know, Mia got me elected. Lots of other people did too. But as soon as I announced, or maybe you announced, I don't remember who announced me, she dragged me around to this every corner of this city, because she knew everyone. And when I say everyone, literally everyone. And so, but it was fun because she wasn't, you know, she wasn't dragging around and just like leaving me in a corner. She was like, stick me in the face of every person that I might need to know or want to know. So I can never say thank you enough for that. But in all of that, also, I gained a lifelong friend. And it will be difficult to not have you to look across and be like, oh my god, this meeting is still going on. That's fine. And I think that's all I'm going to say now, but I'll say more later at dinner. So thank you for being my conscience sometimes. I did also want to say that like, Me and I would come at many issues from incredibly different perspectives and I loved that we most of the time at least arrived at exactly the same conclusions or views on things. And that was quite a learning experience to know that like people don't have to come at things from the same place to come to the same conclusion. which is sort of an important thing for a politician to know, but to know it and understand it and experience it is different. So I greatly appreciated our many conversations. And no, we didn't always agree on everything, but I will miss you greatly. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, Member Ruseau. Member Graham.
[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you. Member Kreatz or Kathy, I feel like we probably would have never known each other outside of school committee because our kids are very different ages and you live on the opposite side of town from me. And so our paths just like naturally wouldn't have crossed. But I did get to know Kathy, particularly when we were going through the process of weighing the options for our next superintendent. And Kathy and I had a lot of conversations about Like what does Medford need and who are the candidates and who are the right candidates and I remember that we had one of those conversations, which was supposed to be quite short at snappy patties. And we had a we had a great conversation, it took a very long time and next time we go to snappy patties together we're going to have to insist that pat join us. in the conversation because he was like, oh, no, no, this is, you know, Kathy's working on business right now and I can't possibly join you. And so poor Pat sat there by himself for like two hours. So next time we'll have to like bring him into the fold when we go to Snappy Patty's. And I promise we will not forget about the vocational school while you're gone. And I think we actually have lots of, super interesting opportunities when we talk about MSBA and I know we'll talk about that later tonight to really think about. vocational education and what it needs and what the possibilities are. So I'm super excited for that. And we will not forget them, I promise. Member Hays, again, like our kids are closer in age, but a little bit different age. They went to different schools. So I really enjoyed campaigning with you and winning with you two years ago. That was certainly, it's always nice to win, but it's nice to win with friends. So that's super great. And I actually found some of my notes from a really early conversation that Sharon and I had from even before we took office about some of the goals we had for a school committee. And we actually accomplished so many of them in two short years. It was actually sort of nice to like take a look at it. I was like, oh, I need to save this for later when I'm feeling like we haven't, you know, when you always feel like you haven't done enough. It was nice to see just how many things we actually had completed. So thank you. And Mia, I wanted to sort of thank you for leading the way on constituent services, because I don't feel like that was a real priority of most of the committees before you. And in a district that has its warts and is imperfect at times, like that is such a critical role that we play. It doesn't happen in these meetings and it doesn't happen on the floor, but you spend countless hours with people talking about what their concerns are, how they can address them, providing guidance in terms of how parents can advocate for their kids. So thank you for leading the way. It's become a huge part of what the community expects the school committee members to do. And I think that until we have a perfect school system, that's really, really important. So thank you for that. And I think the other thing that you started, being the trendsetter that you are, was really both you and Kathy being school committee members that are also active parents with children enrolled in the school. And I think that is so important in terms of really understanding what the community is looking for, and from this seat, being able to represent not just what like your kids are going through, but what your, what your kids' friends are going through, um, sort of makes you a better school committee member in so many ways. So thank you for, um, pushing us all forward in that manner as well. You will all be missed. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: Member Graham. We have, oh, our second, yes. Student Noah Urasco. Did I say that right?
[SPEAKER_05]: Welcome. If you have any questions or you'd like to speak, just let us know. We have our second update from former school committee woman, Paulette van de Kloot on the Medford Educational Foundation presentation. Paulette is the president of the MEF and of course, former school committee member.
[SPEAKER_08]: Oop, there we go, 146 Pine Ridge Road. I've not been on this side of the rail too often. But this all seems vaguely familiar. So before I go on with the MEF, I first wanna assure you that there is life after school committee. And this is the very first school committee meeting that I've attended after two years, because I've been so busy. But it's a pleasure to see both the mayor, the superintendent, once fellow school committee members and school committee elect. Congratulations to you, by the way. Now, I did serve with two of you for six years, and Sharon, I didn't get to serve with you, but it was a great comfort when I left knowing that you were going to take the seat because I knew you had diligently prepared by coming to so many school committee meetings that you knew your stuff and you could step right in. So while I didn't get to serve with you, I'm certainly grateful to you. To Kathy, Kathy, oh my God, so much time spent together. And, you know, a couple of words kept on coming up. One, diligent. Oh my God, Kathy was the most careful about preparing for every meeting, making sure she had read and understood everything and had thought thoroughly through. Just amazing dedication. And of course, one of the things that really stands out to me is being able to meet your husband and of course your incredible son Noah, who became a friend and who we enjoyed seeing all the time and who I still see his posts and whatever, and he's, of course, continuing doing wonderful volunteer work. So hello to Noah. I'm sure the time now has come where you'll really get to relax and you worked so hard. You really deserve it, Kathy. So thank you very much. And to Mia, when I thought about you, there's one word that stands out for me. Not blunt, but moral. I remember in those first two years when we serve together, which there was some really difficult times, because, yeah, there were some difficult times in the other, you know, pandemic and everything, but there were some really difficult times, and you led. with a deep moral sense that I just really think was wonderful, because there was a lot of pressure. And I so appreciated that from you. And of course, with you, it's been a delight to meet all your family members, your husband Tim, to watch the kids grow. And that's one of the things that as we, you know, sometimes forget there's a real, when we're working together every week and over the years, you get to know everybody's family. So anyway, congratulations to you. I know this has been a long time coming and I know you're going to enjoy it. And just in case you get bored now, you and I have already talked about it, but Kathy, you know, and Sharon, the Medford Educational Foundation is looking for more members and, So I'd like right now to invite you to join us because we have this fantastic little group of dedicated people. Some of them are not here tonight, some of them I'll introduce. But we've been working sort of behind the scenes for roughly seven years. I actually have to go back and figure it out sometime. The Medford Educational Foundation was started way long ago, maybe 20 plus 25 years, by the late, great Bob Gilligan, attorney Bob Gilligan, and Gene Bralt, or Len Bralt, excuse me. It lasted for a couple of years, and then it kind of went by the wayside. Ann Kasuth and I resurrected it about seven or eight years ago, and we've been working behind the scenes ever since that time. Today, tonight, on behalf of the Medford Educational Foundation, I am writing you to formally ask you to accept a donation to the Medford Public Schools to cover the specific grants that we are able to fund at this time. Each year, we have two times during the year where we accept applications from teachers, and we ask them either to apply for a grant of zero to $200 or another grant from $200 to $2,000. And we accept those grants. And then as a body, we deliberate on the grants. We check out with the schools that The projects are consistent with the educational values and direction that the school system must go in or is going in. And Diane Caldwell, who of course you guys all know, has been extremely helpful in being a partner with us and volunteering her time so that we could make these grants. This December, we received over 38 requests from teachers who outlined specific projects or requests that they believe would enhance their students' learning experience. While we would have loved to fund each and every one of them, we met as a group and decided which grants we could fund in their entirety, which grants we could partially fund, and sadly, which grants we couldn't afford at this time. The December application cycle yielded more than $24,000 in requests, and we have been able to fund $13,058.86. So tonight, we're asking you to approve our donation, and I do want to mention that we've done this before but we haven't been asked to present it to you. But we also gave over $10,000 in the spring for example too. However, we would not be able to do the work we do with the support of our donors. we want to acknowledge the generosity of Needham Bank, and especially Vice President and Branch Manager, Jean Kalau, who presented us with a total donation of over $10,000 this year. And... This is Jean. Jean, stand up. Jean. This connection between us and Jean was because of Mia. And so we are extremely appreciative for that because it sure has helped this year. As you can see, our requests are steadily increasing. And in fact, it's, you know, we need more money. We need more money, Jean. So, and let's see, I wrote, the Medford Education Foundation has kept a low profile, but has been receiving, reviewing, and funding grants to teachers over the last seven years. This coming year, we hope to share our good news more widely as we anticipate the need to raise more funds for the many requests we find ourselves receiving. That is code for don't be surprised if you get a letter. Anyway, I'd just like to take a second to acknowledge the rest of the members I have with me. David Sayers, David coordinates all the grants. In the second row, Stephen Hayes. Stephen Hayes makes sure that all the money is aligned. And by the way, we have been working with Gerry McCue and Noel Velez right now. And I wish I had one of those big checks, but we know better to waste money on this, on necessities. So here's the check and they're not here. So I guess superintendent, I'm going to give it to you.
[SPEAKER_05]: So is there a motion for approval for acceptance?
[SPEAKER_08]: Do we have a motion for approval?
[SPEAKER_05]: I can't give it. Motion for approval. Member Mustone with approval, seconded by member Kreatz. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. Great.
[SPEAKER_08]: So now I can officially hand it over. Steve should really be up here. So our treasurer, Steve, is very diligent and tracking all of this. And, you know, we hope after we closed our time period for receiving the grants, we received several more on top of that. And the other place where we've had donations, apart from private donations, which we also solicit and accept happily. The Medford Community Fund has also been generous to us, and I want to acknowledge that. So again, it's great to see you all. Have a great night, and thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, prior member Vanja Klute and the committee for all your hard work. We appreciate it. We have school updates, number three, Medford High School. Principal Ms. Marta Cabral and Medford Vocational Technical High School Principal Mr. Chad Fallon. Welcome.
[SPEAKER_06]: All right, hello everyone. Good evening school committee members, superintendent and mayor Lungo-Koehn. Mr. Fallon and I are proud to share all of the wonderful experiences and opportunities that Medford High School has provided and engaged in these past four months. Mr. Fallon and I have categorized the MHS happenings into four categories, academic, community, student life, and career technical education. Within these four categories, you will notice our focus on school engagement, school culture, and climate, along with our commitment of partnering with caregivers, community members, and various stakeholders. We continuously review and reflect on our practice at MHS in order to provide students with the best educational experience. In doing so, we have and will continue to focus on vision, student voice, engagement, and academic success. Now to the MHS happenings. Academic. Medford High School continues to offer rich academic opportunities to students. To highlight a few, Ms. Linzilli and Mr. Skerry's classes had visits from both mayoral candidates during the month of October. The Model United Nations participated in two visits, one to Catholic Memorial and another to St. John's Prep, where we were recognized for outstanding delegates. And we have two. of our students here that participated. The mock trial will visit Woburn District Court tomorrow and compete in three mock trial competitions this year. The Humanities Department hosted a Veterans Day Assembly where several Medford veterans visited MHS to share their experiences and held a panel discussion with students. During October and November, two Medford High School classes, our access and our project transition, participated in team building workshops led by Waypoint Adventures. 12 fine art students and several humanities students submitted photography, painting, sculpture, design, portfolios, and original writing pieces to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. The science department also hosted several events. They hosted 12 graduate researchers from Tufts University in the Reverse Science Fair, a STEM visit from first-generation undergraduates who visited biology classes to present to students on STEM fields with a career-oriented oriented and modern day approach, an astronomy night at the Field of Dreams where they viewed stars and planets, and lastly, the Science Department hosted a U.S. Forest Servant Agent for discussions on forests in the U.S., preservation, and sustainability. College and Career Counseling Department hosted a college fair where 82 colleges and universities attended, and two students from the MHS Orchestra were selected to participate in the Northeast Senior District Festival. That's a lot. Community. Medford High School is focused on building community. We've organized several activities this year and opportunities to build our community and sense of belonging, such as over 300 students volunteered at the 8th grade open house, curriculum night, and caregiver conferences. Students were proud to show other students and families around their building and share the Mustang way. Spirit Week was a success. Everything, especially bring everything, anything but a backpack day. Over 500 food donations were donated during Spirit Week. All donations were given to the Medford Housing Authority. Medford High School brought back participating in the KISS 108 Turkey Toss, which was very exciting. Seniors organized a Mustang Puff at Hormel Stadium, which was very successful, fun, and well attended. Unified Basketball brought our community together with our athletic teams and community members filled stands to support our students. Student government organized an advisory activity for this Thursday where homerooms will decorate their classroom door in a winter wonderland theme. And this Friday we will kick off the winter break with a student first staff basketball game. Students are continuously initiating painting murals throughout MHS to beautify the building. MHS has formed a student advisory council and has already had students been leading initiatives and meeting with various stakeholders to improve our school. Medford High School Straight Gay Alliance held its first It Gets Better Assembly for ninth grade students. Staff held a Friendsgiving Potluck and Bistro 489 where we were able to spend time together as colleagues. And lastly, a holiday gift drive was organized where over 500 gifts and over $2,000 in gift cards were donated to support 26 Medford public school families this holiday season. Student life. We at Medford High School recognize the importance of student life, contributing to a sense of belonging and pride. MHS was a lively place to be with the following these past four months. The Medford Mustang Marching Band and Collar Guard won first place at the New England Scholastic Band Association Championship. Drama Club put on a spectacular performance of The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney. Athletics, including unified basketball, had a great season, especially with ending the fall athletic season with a historic rivalry football win over Malden. Orchestra and Band hosted a winter concert. And lastly, over 30 club offerings ranging from math to garden club are offered at Medford High School.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think one of the best parts about bringing anything but a backpack was the young man who carried a kayak on his shoulder throughout the building. That was pretty cool. Before I give an update on career tech education, I just wanted to offer a shout out to our new principal of the high school who's done an amazing job so far. Keep it up. We are, our colleague of ours just, yeah. Sorry. A colleague of ours gave a great, Sheila Freitas-Haley, an assistant principal on the administrative team, said, we're at Framingham right now, when you think about the marathon. So we're halfway there. And it's good to keep the momentum going. So, so far, so good. I know I enjoy working with you. I wanna give a few updates for career tech education. The first that I have up is a picture of a community project that we took on and the letter basically states, it's a family in the community that had a family member who was unfortunately bedridden and there was access issues going in and out of the home. So when two teachers came to me and asked for my permission, I gave it our blessing right away. We were able to use a lot of the stock that we had in the carpentry shop And it was a collaboration between our carpentry students, our construction students, and our metal fabrication students who built a metal ramp off the door. This really was work that makes everyone feel good. The students definitely enjoyed it. The teachers enjoyed it. And we know that we were able to help someone in the community get in and out of their home. So that's one project. The next slide is an update on we have done completed for sheds. So if you're looking for the finest built shed this side of the Mississippi, look no further. We have started this last year so we're on our fourth shed right now. This is the launch to really be able being able to do more building projects in the community. So even prior to this we had done a few pantries for people in the community. But what this is allowing students to do is use the tools that we purchased through grants load up the trailers and trucks and head out to a job site. The construction craft labor students were able to. lay the cement padding for the shed which if you've done a shed you know that that really is key it's better to have it on that than you know crushed stone or dirt so these certainly will last a long time and the carpentry students complete the build a lot of it in the shop and then we'll transport it to the job site and this was a collaborative effort between both of them so we're very proud that we just completed our fourth and as you can see from the pictures these are beautiful sheds so now that we kind of have a year under our belt. We'll be opening it up more to the community. We think we can take on a few more next year. We've already worked with Dr. Cushing for a request for some of the elementary schools that need some storage sheds. We'll be taking that on in the spring. The last update is something that we participate in every year, and it's something, it's really a wonderful event that's held at the electricians union in Dorchester, and it's a women in trades conference. And I thought it was fitting to have the picture in the upper left. That's one of our students in carpentry, who is a female student in a predominantly male trade. So I thought, what better picture to throw up there. By the way, they have so much fun at the job site. It's really comical when the teacher sends me the pictures at the end of the day, because no one is not smiling. It's been, you know, the weather is unpredictable and they still have a great time. So the Women in Trade Conference was led, many different vendors were there from many different unions in the state, in the city. And just providing that encouragement for all people to know that there really is no barrier when it comes to the career you choose. And this one in particular was for our female students. I think that would be the last one. Just an update on some of our cooperative education employers. Right now we have just about half of the senior class out on cooperative education. And just a reminder, co-op is always a paid position. We don't put anyone out on unpaid positions. Some of the newest partners we secured is Spalding Hospital, Mass General and Volkswagen at Watertown. So for our students, they're not going out to, you know, little jobs here. They're going out to some of the major hospitals in the area and some some great opportunities. We even have a student who's doing, she's in health assisting, but she wants to pursue dentistry. So she's working at a dental office being a dental assistant. So co-op is definitely a hallmark of the program for seniors. And that is an update from CTE and Medford High School.
[SPEAKER_02]: Questions or are we?
[SPEAKER_05]: No, thank you so much for the presentation. We appreciate it. We have an exciting update from our superintendent of schools regarding Medford High School's invitation to the MSBA eligibility phase. Dr. Edouard-Vincent.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yes, I'm so excited to share this news. Last week, after years of applying for the program, Medford High School was invited into phase one of the Massachusetts School Building Authority's core program, which provides substantial reimbursement as high as 60% of all project costs for the renovation or rebuilding of schools. We are grateful to Massachusetts Treasurer Deb Goldberg, the MSBA Board of Directors, and our state legislators, Senator Pat Jalen, and Representatives Christine Barber, Paul Donato, and Sean Garbally, for their commitment to city-state partnership on this important priority. Thank you also to the countless Medford High School, MHS and district staff, educators who worked hard on our statement of interest to the MSBA. We also extend a special thanks to the school committee and the city of Method for your continued support with this process. On Thursday, Medford participated in the first orientation session with MSBA. We're beginning to learn about the timeline, criteria, and process for phase one of the core program, and we're ready to hit the ground running in 2024. We're only at the very beginning of this process. which will truly kick into gear next spring. But for now, we are excited and pleased to celebrate this milestone. In the new year, we'll begin to discuss in greater detail the timeline, priorities, and other steps to advance this great opportunity.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, Dr. Edouard-Vincent. Member Ruseau?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, thank you. I attended the orientation on Thursday. just feels like three weeks ago at this point, but it was very interesting. It was 70 people on the Zoom. So it was kind of an interesting way to orient because every single person there surely had two hours worth of questions. So I look forward to future smaller scale orientations where we can actually ask our questions. Cause that was a little overwhelming that there were 19 communities invited in which apparently is more than normal, quite a bit more than normal. So I also think we should thank tax revenues that allowed them to have a bigger budget this year, because that's just an unprecedented number. In the presentation they gave us, they said there were $2 billion worth of projects in this 19 schools. I think it was 2 billion, right? One or two, I thought it was two, but maybe it was only one. One billion, two billion, big numbers. I don't know that we can get that many schools for one billion, but so it's very exciting. And I look forward to this very stringent process that we must go through and deadlines we must meet. And I'm hopeful we can beat the deadlines because most of the deadlines are things that are like, there's like a deadline, but if we can get it done early, can be early and I like early. So I'm very excited to take the five to seven year project and make it four to five maybe.
[SPEAKER_05]: That would be nice.
[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you member Rousseau. Member Graham. Thank you. Same. I'm looking forward to moving as quickly as possible and we were at the school committee conference back in November before MSBA had made their final decisions. And I asked that question of them, which is how do we, what advice do you have for communities who are ready to move? Like we are, you know, long past the time where we should have been starting this through a whole variety of unfortunate events, but here we are. So what I can say is that there's just a lot of work ahead, but that this first step is critical because now we get to move as quick as possible. So until now we sort of haven't been able to do that unless we were as a community sort of flush with hundreds of millions of dollars to build a school on our own. And that hasn't gone great for other communities who have gone down that path. So the eligibility period though is pretty pivotal from a scoping perspective. So there's a lot of things that have to happen in the next x months. We have 270 days to do this work. But there are some really important questions that we'll talk about as a district and as a community. including things like what are our enrollment projections? What kind of vocational programs do we wanna have? What is our capacity right now? What do we want our capacity to be in those programs in this new building? And basically sort of all the things that go into deciding what size space is going to go out to the bidders to say, now we need you to tell us what is feasible, right? But the other sort of things that are, I think we're lucky enough to have incorporated in our bid are things like, What about our pre-K programs? So we have just a huge strategic opportunity because we have pre-K programs in that building today. And our invitation included the acknowledgement that we had programs like the MFN in there. And we have several preschool programs with Kids Corner and then with the vocational school. We also have an opportunity to talk about how to best serve our students at Curtis Tufts. Transporting them across the city for some of the opportunities that they might want to take advantage of is a huge challenge. So we'll be talking about that. And then we will also in this eligibility phase be talking about how do we maintain our spaces and what are our plans and how can we promise and demonstrate to the MSBA that we'll be good stewards of the state's money when this building comes to fruition. And then also in this phase, we will form a building committee. That's one of the requirements of the phase. And that's where we will look. There's a lot of requirements to meet even in forming a committee. So there's a really like specific set of individuals that have to be involved. But this is our opportunity to say how do we want to do this together in Medford. So all of that is coming in the eligibility phase. And I think a lot of people have asked a lot of questions about like, is it a new school? Is it a revised school? Is it at the high school? Is it on the field? Is it in a different location? All of those questions don't start to get asked and answered until the eligibility phase is over. So I think this initial phase really sets up sort of the bones of the scope of the project. And then that feasibility study that happens next will actually allow us to say what is possible. Um, what do we want to do? What, what do we want to do and how could we do it? So that feasibility study happens at the conclusion of eligibility. Um, so we don't have those answers just yet. And I just want people to know it's nobody's, um, nobody's got any secret answers. Um, they, they truly don't exist yet because we will hire, um, professionals. We will hire an owner's project manager. We'll hire architects. Those folks will help us based on this eligibility work that we're doing really thoughtfully to say, here's how you meet those needs. Here's what your choices are as a community. And then, you know, here's how you can sort of move forward into the building phase. So we're a bit away from some of those questions, but we're going to move as fast as we can to get there. Because I think that's the, those are the real questions people are impatient to ask and answer. And I totally get it. My daughter will definitely not graduate from any sort of a revised school and like, fingers crossed, if we move really fast, Lucas might make it. Um, and so I'm super sensitive to the generation of kids that has, um, not had the benefit of, um, some sort of beautiful new building and, and it's sort of incumbent on all of us to figure out how do we move as fast as possible. So there are as few of those kids as possible out there.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you, member Graham. And just from the chair, if I may, I just want to thank everybody that had anything to do with this process. I think it started for us two years ago with our last application and making sure we had a strong application. all the way through to now. I know a number of us on the committee were on those calls this last week, and we're going to be following the process and helping them how we can with our Dr. Edward Vinson leading the charge. And we're going to get this done and get it hopefully done sooner than five to seven years. We're so excited. It is beyond time for our students and faculty and staff to have a building that they deserve, that is conducive to learning in a better environment than they have now. So we're excited. And finally, some good news. So wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Next up, we do not have any presentations of the public, continued business or new business. And we do have a reports requested by member Hays and member McLaughlin. And I'm reminded if I read it, whereas the Medford School Committee passed resolutions on 12-6-21 and 11-7-22 to provide funding for an assessment of Medford High School and Medford Vocational Technical High School to include recommendations to address moving forward in a manner that prioritizes a healthy school community and outline organizational, structural, professional development and curriculum-based changes needed to address the findings and achieve our district-wide mission. Whereas an assessment was completed by Mr. Welch in the spring of 2023, the findings and recommendations discussed at school committee on 5-1-23 and 6-12-23 be resolved that the Metropolitan Public Schools Administration will provide a presentation by the end of February 2024 to update progress on the following recommendations provided by Mr. Welch's report and during subsequent school committee meetings with Mr. Welch. Number one, creation of MHS committees recommended in report That motion was passed on 6-12-23. Committee of the whole meeting. A, safety and security team. B, diversity, equity and inclusion committee. C, committee on norms for student behavior. D, unified MHS, MVTHS schedule committee. Two, invitation to Mr. Welch to attend an executive session to advise in the next set of teacher contract negotiations. Three, updated memorandum of understanding with the chief of police regarding school resource officers. for development of consensus about a vision for MPS with community, caregiver, teacher, and student involvement. Five, provide more opportunities for teacher input in decision-making and build relationships between teachers and administration. Six, parent-caregiver surveys about culture and climate at MHS and Medford Vocational Technical High School during 2023-2024 school year. Seven, MHS and MVTHS associate assistant principal Person position focused primarily on logistical and management pieces to allow the principal to focus on a role as the academic and instructional leader. Eight, mentoring for new administrators. A, at MHS, individual mentoring with mentors exterior to the district for the new principal and new APs along with group mentoring for all. B, mentoring for new principals at the Roberts and Andrews. And nine, MHS security personnel and building monitors review titles and job descriptions to consolidate into fewer titles, clarify the scope of responsibilities and training provided for each position. Thank you. Member Hays, would you like to speak on it or do you want a motion for approval? Just a motion for approval. Thank you. I know you spent hours on that and with the admin and we look forward to the presentation February, there's a motion on the floor by Member Hays, seconded by Member Mustone. All those in favor? Before we do that, before rolls, ask some questions. Called Member Graham.
[SPEAKER_07]: Sure. I am generally supportive of getting a report that does many of these things. But there are some things on this list that A, are not appropriate for the administration to weigh in on because they are subject to negotiations, which are held by the school committee. There are others on this list that talk about the vision for MHS, which I believe will be handled in the, when we talk about the building committee. So I would like to make a motion to sever items two, three, four, and nine from this, because I just don't think it's appropriate for this committee on its way out the door to be describing or dictating the future bargaining position of the committee that they will not be a part of. So bargaining negotiations are a whole strategy and deciding one piece of a strategy in advance of a new and entirely new committee that's gonna take a seat, I think is not appropriate at this time for this committee. So I'd like to make a motion to sever two, three, four, and nine from the motion. Second.
[SPEAKER_05]: Motion to sever by member Graham, seconded by member Ruseau. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Please mark member Hays as opposed. And then there's a motion on the floor to approve everything that wasn't taken out or severed by member, Ms. Stone, seconded by member Hays. So roll call vote on everything except two, three, four, nine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member Graham?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member Hays?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member Kraft?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Member Coffin-Zappa and member Ms. Stone? Member Ruseau, yes. Mayor Longo, correct?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes. The motion passes. as severed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mayor?
[SPEAKER_05]: Member Ruseau?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I'm just wondering, and we can get this later, but this doesn't have an item number on this, and usually those are created when the items are submitted, so if somebody could get that to me. I don't know if Member Hays got that when she submitted it, or if the administration has it, but like, you know, the 2023-whatever.
[SPEAKER_03]: Because it was sent as a requested report, so that was why I hadn't put it as a resolution, because we were using the numbers for resolutions. But we can actually start maybe a new number for requested reports.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think in our rules, they just get the same number. The same number? Perfect. We'll do. Just because the votes and the notes will need that. Okay, we'll do. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: We have a number of condolences. The members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Marie Christine Perdillo, an elementary teacher for 30 years for the Medford Public Schools. Also, the members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Janet Valentin, mother of Donna Lasky, an elementary teacher at the McGlynn School. The members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Elmer L. Counts, husband of Shirley Counts, retired principal of the Brooks Hobbs School. And the members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Daniel Jendrew of Lakeville, cousin of Medford High School assistant principal, Shayla Freitas-Haley. And last, the members of the Medford School Committee express its sincerest condolences to the family of Marjorie A. Sanford, who was in the Medford High School class of 1953 and was a secretary in both the Swan Elementary and Roberts Junior High School for many years. If we all may rise for a moment of silence, please. Thank you. We wish everybody a wonderful holiday season. Our next scheduled meeting will be January 8th, 2024 in the Alden Memorial Chambers, Medford City Hall, and via Zoom. The inauguration is January 7th, which is the Sunday at 10 a.m. Please join us here at the Alden Chambers for that, and if there's no other business, a motion to adjourn? I move for press, seconded by member Hays. All those in favor?