AI-generated transcript of 3.18.2024 Medford School Committee Regular Meeting

[SPEAKER_05]: She couldn't see me, yeah.

[SPEAKER_07]: So you wanna go to this one?

[SPEAKER_05]: Okay, we're back on.

[SPEAKER_07]: We wanna... We wanna thank Noah Urasco, who is our student representative and is currently on Zoom. Thank you for joining us. We have the consent agenda, bills and payrolls, regular school committee meeting minutes from March 4th, 2024, special meeting in the school committee minutes from February 28th, 2024, and committee of the whole meeting minutes from March 13th, 2024. Is there a motion for approval? If I remember.

[SPEAKER_10]: Motion to approve.

[SPEAKER_07]: Friendly, thank you for coming through. And seconded by.

[SPEAKER_10]: Second.

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Olapade. All those in favor.

[SPEAKER_06]: Aye.

[SPEAKER_07]: All those opposed. Consent agenda is approved. We do not have any reports of subcommittees and we have six reports from our superintendent. First up is our superintendent's updates and comments. Dr. Maurice Edwards.

[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Good evening. I'd like to begin by wishing Ramadan Mubarak to our Muslim students, staff, and community members. Ramadan, a month-long observance, which started last week, is a time for increased religious devotion and self-examination. During this time, many Muslims fast during daylight hours, abstaining from food and drink until night. We're wishing everyone who observes this holiday an easy and meaningful fast. I also want to share that yesterday I hope that everyone enjoyed the St. Patrick's Day holiday this weekend. This holiday holds particular significance for many Irish and Irish American families in Medford and around the world. It's time for corned beef and cabbage, parades and musical performances. And my favorite part, delicious soda bread. Erin go bra. I would also like to take a moment to thank and acknowledge Ms. Melanie McLaughlin, a former colleague and member of the school committee. Melanie, we are all extremely grateful for your four years of service on the committee, in particular, your dedicated and tireless advocacy for equity and inclusion, the needs and priorities of our special education programs, disability awareness and access throughout the district, and the voice and perspective of Medford Public Schools parents. I am confident that you will continue to make a difference as an advocate for the Medford community for many years to come. As we bid farewell to Member McLaughlin, we also warmly welcome our new school committee member, Mr. John Intoppa. Member Intoppa is a Mustang through and through, even serving his Medford High School class of 2019 as class president. We're excited to welcome his perspective to this school committee and are looking forward to our work together. We want to remind our community about two upcoming religious holidays. All schools will be closed on Friday, March 29th, in observance of Good Friday, and on Wednesday, April 10th, in observance of Eid al-Fitr. I also want to just point out a few highlights that took place across Medford Public Schools. Congratulations to our Medford High School World Language and Culture Club and the World Language Department for hosting the school's first ever World Language Festival. I'd like to thank member Reinfeld who attended that event as well on a Friday evening. The festival did take place earlier in the lobby of the high school and featured performances from Medford High School students, our world language class, all of our world language classes, raffles and food sales collected from the event were all donated to world language student scholarships. It was a great event and the event ended with amazing homemade dishes from a variety of world cultures and the celebration of world language learning. Make sure to visit our Medford website to look at write-ups from our junior, Claire Gingo. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to make it happen. Also earlier this month, local author, Maureen Harrington, and her inspirational pup, Ivy, joined Medford Elementary School students and their families at the Roberts Elementary School. for an interactive reading and discussion of Ivy, the very determined dog. Thank you to Ms. Harrington, Ivy, the elementary reading department, and elementary principals and assistant principals for facilitating this great event. Photos from the meet and greet can be found on Facebook and on our website. I have an important announcement. Middle school lottery is coming up. We're actively preparing for the April middle school lottery. In 2019, the school committee voted unanimously to implement a random lottery system with the goal of balancing our racial and socioeconomic differences between the Andrews and McGlynn middle schools. This change in policy has resulted in progress toward this goal, with the sixth grade enrollment more balanced than in the past. The 2024 lottery will follow the protocol established in 2019. Grade five students from each elementary school will be assigned to one of the two middle schools, with some exceptions in place for sibling preference and specialized program offerings for English learners and special education students. It is important to note this year that sibling preference will not include younger siblings at the McGlynn Elementary School. Because of shifts in demand and population, the lottery cannot include the younger siblings this year. However, the lottery will still take place. I will be hosting a virtual information session concerning the lottery for all grade five students and their families. This information session will be held by Zoom this Wednesday, March 20th at 5 p.m. The lottery will take place on Tuesday, April 9th, and the results will be posted on the district website at 3 p.m. Letters confirming each student's middle school assignment will be sent to all grade five students by Wednesday, April 24th. Also this week, there's going to be a very important Medford Malden Transition Fair. The Medford and Malden public schools will join together for a transition fair to provide students, families, caregivers, and professionals with information about community based services for our adults with disabilities. This event is free and open to all Medford and Malden residents and surrounding communities. Students between the ages of 14 to 22 years of age who receive special education services through an IEP along with their families and caregivers are welcome and encouraged to attend. This event has exhibitors, the event exhibitors serve adults with a number of disabilities, including autism, developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disabilities. I hope that you take advantage of this great event taking place on Wednesday, March 20th in Malden this year. At tonight's meeting, we have a packed agenda, including updates and reports from Stacey Shulman, our Director of School Counseling and Behavioral Health, and Paul Teixeira, our Director of English Learners, and Title III. They'll be sharing insights and news from their respective departments, both of which are crucial to our day-to-day school operations and the overall educational mission of our district. I'll also be sharing a recommendation to the committee regarding the state school choice law and an update on behalf of our director of finance. Lastly, there will be a report on the resolution of, I'm sorry, there will be two additional reports, a recommendation to approve donations to the Medford Public Schools, and I'll be asking for your approval for those reports as well. Thank you, those are my remarks for this evening.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you, Dr. Edward-Vincent. We have a recommendation to approve donations from the J.S. Lim Foundation and Mabbitt & Associates. Dr. Eduard-Vincent, I'm gonna turn it back to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you. So donations to the Medford High School Medford vocational school fund for the 2425 school year, the JS limb science and mathematics prizes. This donation totals the amount of $4,000. There is a $1500 amount mathematics prize for a student, a $1500 amount for science. and the prize collation and award pack which is plaque which is $1,000. This request will be announced this year at the school award ceremony in May of 2025. Each award will go to a grade 11 student. in entering the 24-25 school year. And so you have a brief one-page report, but my request of the committee is to accept this generous donation from the J.S. Limb Foundation. That is my request for this evening.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you, Director Edward-Vincent.

[SPEAKER_02]: Member Graham, then Member Reinfeld? I'd like to make a motion to approve both donations from the JS Limb Foundation in the amount of $4,000 and the Mabbitt & Associates donation in the amount of $2,100. Thank you, Member Graham. Member Reinfeld?

[SPEAKER_04]: I just wanted to know if this is the first, when, is this the first time these awards have been offered? Are these inaugural or are they continuing?

[SPEAKER_01]: I do not recall presenting on these two awards, and I'm not sure if anyone on the team is aware of that. It may be the very first time. These are continuous donations. So the JS Slim is for $4,000, and the Mabit and Associates is for $2,100.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'll second. Motion for approval by Member Graham, seconded by Member Reinfeld. All those in favor? All those opposed? I don't think a donation, but we could, just in case. Member Ruseau.

[SPEAKER_08]: Sure, maybe I'll look up when we're supposed to, so I actually know after six years. Member Branley.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_08]: Member Graham.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_08]: Yes. Remember all the body. Yes, remember Reinfeld.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_08]: Remember so yes Maryland.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yes, 70 affirmative zero negative donations accepted. Thank you to the foundation and to them, Maven and associates. Number three recommendation to approve Medford as a no school choice district for school year 2425. Again, Dr. Reese Edward Benson. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Medford public schools. We are doing a significant amount in every year. We are required by Jesse to come before the committee and ask my recommendation to the committee is that we remain know school choice district. that if we were to participate in this program, we would have to accept students from other communities in the Commonwealth, receive baseline tuition, which could be well below the actual cost of the services that students may need. And such acceptances would be on a seat available basis. They could also affect enrollments selectively throughout the district, and as a result, increase costs that would add to our budgetary burden. And so I do feel that Medford right now is doing a very good job of servicing our student population. We have a very diverse community, and it would not be in our best interest to become a school choice district so my recommendation is that the committee vote to reject the school choice for school year 2425 motion to approve motion for approval by member Ruseau seconded by second member Graham, all those in favor.

[SPEAKER_07]: I was opposed motion passes. Thank you, Dr. Benson. Next up, number four report on resolution of the fiscal year 2425. potential budget shortfall, Dr. Mercedo-Vargas.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, so in your packets, you received a succinct summary from Mr. McHugh, our finance director. I will quickly go through this report so that you can hear what the findings were on the resolution for our budget shortfall. Mr. McHugh appeared before the school committee on February 12 to report a potential shortfall of 2.5 million in the annual budget. This was based on the first projection of what our spending versus budget would be by year end. We began a process of reviewing spending, reviewing encumbered funds and identifying resources that could be utilized to ensure a balanced budget by year end. This review identified the following. One account was over encumbered by $265,000 due to a contract that crossed fiscal years. We identified spending that could be postponed to FY 25. The city identified a balance in the FY 23 school budget that could be used for any FY 24 expenses that could be properly charged to FY 23. We have a $173,000 balance in an account that holds state reimbursement funds for homeless transportation. We have a balance of 291,000 in the state funded circuit breaker account that can be used for special education tuition. We are projecting a balance in our final year of ESSER funds of $200,000, which can be used for eligible expenses currently being charged to the general fund. There is a balance in the vocational tuition revolving fund, and I've targeted $200,000 from this fund to pay for vocational program teachers being charged to the general fund. I created a charge back to our school lunch program of $57,000 to recover the proportional share of natural gas and electricity used by the program. In addition, with the assistance of the city's finance director, an error was identified in the projection model, which was causing the deficit to be overestimated. After correcting this error, correcting the account that was over encumbered by 265,000 utilizing the FY 23 budget to fund the final August 23 payment of the teamsters settlement of 212.5,000. In creating the school lunch fund charge back of 57,000, the projected deficit now stands at 216,000. We will use the extra balance and other budget management initiatives to ensure we finish the year with a balanced budget. Any of the identified resources that are not needed for deficit reduction in FY24 are eligible to be carried forward into FY25. They will be carried forward. Attached is an additional document showing reconciliation. And so that was just to give an overview of how the FY shortfall was addressed for Medford Public Schools. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you, Dr. Edwin-Vincent. Member Graham? Thank you. I really want to say thank you. This is what transparency looks like to me. So there's lots of choices about how you deal with a shortfall, and sometimes you do it quietly, and sometimes you have to make choices about when to let the committee know. And I think Jerry did exactly what we have been wanting and needing, really, since I've been on the committee, to be proactive, to talk to us about what the challenges were, and then to do the work that comes with these kinds of things with such a fluid budget. And I just wanted to sort of commend Jerry and say this is what the community is looking for when they say they want transparency. Sometimes transparency is uncomfortable and ugly. And I think it has been uncomfortable and ugly to hear about a $2 million deficit or $2.5 million deficit. I do think it's our job as the committee to sort of listen to what our finance people are telling us and let them do the work and assume that they are. So I was happy to hear a brief update on this last week. And I would encourage anybody who is particularly interested in our revolving funds to watch the Committee of the Whole that we had last Wednesday. It was the first time. Since I've been on the committee where we actually had a conversation about revolving funds and what they looked like. There are some absolute concerns in the but in the revolving funds budget, but we are now in a position to talk about them, which we've not been before so. overall, there, you know, there was a lot of there were lots of comments about that in in our budget meeting committee of the whole last Wednesday. So if you didn't join us, and I think most people did not, but are interested in like, what does that mean? And what are those funds? It was, I think, very educational and informative. And it sort of helped guide us in terms of some of the resolutions you'll see on the agenda later tonight. But many thanks to Jerry and his hard work, navigating us through this and keep up the transparency. Thank you. Yes. Member Branley?

[SPEAKER_10]: So, yes, a lot of thanks to Jerry. Obviously, I was thrilled to hear that there was, you know, less of a deficit here than what we're looking at the day before, or the week before, the meeting before. So I just have a quick question. The error that occurred, the error was identified in the projection model, which was causing the deficit. Are we sure that that's correct, Val?

[SPEAKER_07]: I think that Jerry and Bob Dickinson, who's a CFO from the schools, and Bob's the CFO from the city, were doing a lot of number crunching, and then they found that error. So it sounds like this is correct, but as things progress, I think they're looking at things daily, weekly, together to make sure we cover that balance, and then budget for fiscal year 25.

[SPEAKER_10]: Perfect. So will we get an update if anything changed?

[SPEAKER_07]: I think Jerry's showing us he's probably going to update us on a bi-weekly basis, if not sooner, if anything comes to a surprise. And we have our first budget meeting, I believe, April 3rd. And then our next meeting is April 8th, regular meeting. So I'm sure we'll be getting regular updates now that it's budget season.

[SPEAKER_10]: And then just one other question. It says, we identified spending that could be postponed to FY25. Does that make things look worse for us, for FY25? I mean, we can push them off now and balance, but now, does that mean in FY25 we're causing a bigger problem?

[SPEAKER_07]: It depends what he's projecting for that figure. If he's talking thousands, if he's talking tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, yes, hundreds of thousands would be a problem, but I'm hoping that it's minimal, something that could be paid, and if we fall a little bit short, but I hope that we're not pushing much forward.

[SPEAKER_10]: Yeah, so could we get a dollar amount on that? Can we request that?

[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, we just request an update at our budget meeting on what you mean by what our school CFO means by carrying forward certain amounts to fiscal year 25. Perfect, thank you. Motion by Member Bramley, seconded by Member Graham.

[SPEAKER_02]: Say something. I think what he's suggesting is that balances that are not needed to cover the deficit can be moved forward, not costs. Like I did not read what he wrote there in that paragraph as pushing spending out into next year. What he's saying is if I'm planning to use $100,000 from a revolving fund and I don't need to, it'll stay in the revolving fund for next year. So I don't think it's actually a spending issue.

[SPEAKER_10]: Even though it says spending.

[SPEAKER_02]: Where does it say spending?

[SPEAKER_10]: It says we identified spending that could be postponed.

[SPEAKER_02]: Whereas, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, honey. Second line. So yeah, I guess that is spending. Sorry, I was reading the bottom paragraph, which is more about payment. So yeah, there may be something in there that he is projecting into next year. But we, we, I think, historically, when we have like big payments for curriculum and things like that, if we can prepay them, we do so sometimes it's not that they're due necessarily, but if we have the budget, we pay for them. So it could be something like that, but he can better describe that.

[SPEAKER_06]: So second.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, I have an explanation on those two lines. Thank you. Member Branley, seconded by Member Graham. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Thank you for this update. And thank you to our CFO as well. We have, yes. Just if you press the button.

[SPEAKER_14]: Pretty loud.

[SPEAKER_07]: There you go.

[SPEAKER_14]: Eleanor alert Larry 30 node circle, Secretary of the method teaches Association. We were just wondering, the accounts that will be rolled over, or whatever they're going to be rolled over. We know they will be affecting somehow the budget next year. Will this be made public that we as teachers will know what's gonna happen? Will it affect layoffs? Will it affect how, what, where in the budget will this affect is what we would like to know as a union. So I'm just wondering where this would be made public. We know tonight it was being mentioned. Will there be another meeting will be mentioned that we could all attend and find out?

[SPEAKER_07]: All of our meetings will be posted as public.

[SPEAKER_14]: So the budget will be mentioned again. Yes. Oh yes. And from what I understand with the motion that was just made, we will have more clarification on what Jerry found. And from what I've heard you say superintendent was, and I could be wrong, that he was saying that the bill did not have to be paid until 2025. So that was what I took that they were moving that money to the next budget. So it doesn't have to pay till next year. That would clear up money for here. But I agree that I agree with school committee Branley that is that going to be an issue with next year? Because now all of a sudden, there's a bill that has to be paid that we thought we were paying this year. And now it has to be paid next year. So I think either way, it's going to affect somehow. And I hate to say this, but it always comes down to the backs of the teachers. And that makes us a little nervous as a union. Thank you. Mayor.

[SPEAKER_07]: Sure.

[SPEAKER_08]: Remember Ruseau, and then we'll... I just want to... We have four new members, so I think sometimes saying things that seem obvious have to be said anyways. We statutorily cannot run a deficit. We cannot end the year with negative one cent. We must have that money come from somebody, whether it's the mayor's office, or whether it's layoffs, or whether it's turning the power off. We must get to zero by June 30th. So most businesses and lots of other organizations can run a deficit and figure out what to do with it. the day after, but we do not have that option. So I think that's in my my time here, we have frequently done things like we have 300 extra $1,000. So we prepay some out of district special education expense for tuition, or we buy stuff we know we're going to need, but we weren't planning to buy until July one, or we have a little bit of a deficit and we delay paying school committee members for a month or something like that. So that the, because the zero is the only allowed number and I don't envy the finance department figuring how to manage. It's a terrible needle to thread in my mind. So this is 100% normal that we do this every single year, whether there's a little extra or there's a little too little. And 200,000, 300,000, 400,000 is in fact a normal amount to be... It's a big number at the start of the the year when we do our budget, and that is a relatively small number, and I'm kind of amazed we get that close every year, considering all the unknowns about how many students we're gonna have, whether we're gonna have lots of staff out on leave and then have to hire additional staff, or all the other things that change every year. So I think it's really normal, and I'm excited that the number is not 2.5 million, though, because that would have been a disaster, so thank you.

[SPEAKER_15]: Thank you, Ms. McKay. Hi. Can you hear me? Okay. Joanne McKay, I'm the financial secretary for the union. So our question financially is, will we be privy to this formula error that they found? Because it's a substantial amount that it went down. It was two points of the million down to like 200,000. Does that become public? Does the public get to see like, you all have a document there, is this something that's public record that we can see that we can see a formula? Will that come out at a budget meeting or?

[SPEAKER_02]: Mayor?

[SPEAKER_15]: Member Graham.

[SPEAKER_02]: Two things. The error was a small piece of the reduction from what Jerry first cited to us as his concern and this reconciliation. So that was a piece of the problem, not the entirety of the problem. But yeah, this memo is on the floor, and so it's public record, and we can definitely send it to you so that you can have it and see it and all that. Great. Thank you very much. And then I would suggest that if you all haven't watched the Committee of the Whole from last week that you do. It was just really an interesting look at our enrollment. We talked about our counts of low-income students, the state's reimbursement is different for them. So we talked about all the pieces that sort of make up funding the budget, so to speak, and what those numbers are looking like for this year. That's all very much still a moving target because the governor made her proposal, the house has to do their proposal, the Senate has to do their... So all those numbers are potentially subject to change, but he took a really thoughtful approach through those initial stages of like, what is the sort quote, revenue as, as it were. And I think that look at the revolving funds is also really enlightening and important because that money is there. It's intended to be used for very specific things. But he walked us through a whole process of allocating expenses to programs that generate revenue, like the afterschool program, for example, we've never like done any sort of facility charge to that program. So it looks like that program is very, very, very profitable, but our general fund budget has been paying those expenses for all of eternity, right? So all the electricity, all the space, all those things are being paid for out of the general fund, and he is actually implementing mechanisms to rightfully allocate Things like natural gas and all of those things to programs that are revenue generating so that a we can know what those really cost. because I think everyone thinks they know what those programs really cost, but we are not charging back to those programs, so we don't, which I think will be very enlightening and maybe problematic in some cases, right? Like when we talk about facility rentals, like we wanna make sure that the money we're bringing in for rentals is actually paying for the expenses that we're incurring, because if it's not, then our general fund budget is paying for it. So he's doing a lot of good work in that space too, and that was all talked about in the committee of the whole, so I think that's another, really important part of like what I see is like a lot of reshuffling how expenses are allocated this year that we've never done before. But it's very timely and important.

[SPEAKER_15]: And then not to waste your time, if I look at the meeting, could this be answered? So by a revolving account, is that just programs like that? Or is that things like we budgeted for two math coaches that were never hired? Those would not be in there. Those would not be in there. They would be in a general account. Correct.

[SPEAKER_02]: Correct. OK. Yeah. Um, it's everything from like lost library books to kids corner to rentals before and after school, community, all those things that generate revenue.

[SPEAKER_15]: Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: He's an interim that will be around through this fiscal year, at least at least. Yes. unless he commits to another year, yes.

[SPEAKER_14]: Yeah, I mean, he is doing all of that work to be able to build the budget.

[SPEAKER_02]: So when you look at what the budget will ultimately look like, the ins and the outs can't be described to us until he has done some of this work. So yes, he's actively doing all of this to try to get ready to do that presentation in a week. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: Next up, we have our social and emotional learning.

[SPEAKER_04]: I think we have a motion on the floor. Didn't we have a motion to request? I don't think we voted on. I think, I think we did take a motion.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, we can do it again, but motion by Member Branley, seconded by Member Graham. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, Member Reinfeld. Number five, social and emotional learning, SEL update. Ms. Stacey Schulman, Director of School Counseling and Behavioral Health. Welcome.

[SPEAKER_03]: Hi, good evening. Dr. Cushing is going to help guide my presentation up for everyone. So this evening I'm going to talk to you a little bit about some general overviews about what is in the Department of School Counseling and Behavioral Health at Medford Public Schools. You can see there are five different specialties within the department. School adjustment Councilors are social workers, school psychologists are school Councilors, which were previously called guidance Councilors, BCBAs and behavior specialists. Part of the department is also social-emotional learning, which has the five different components in it, self-regulation, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. So here's a general overview of the roles and responsibilities. I won't read to you every single thing on the slides. But it just gives you a general sense of how those different positions differ from one another. So how a school Councilor is really talking about the counseling on a broad level, more as a generalist, and then doing that academic transition, post-secondary planning. working with 504s. Our school adjustment Councilors or social workers, same name, are really more mental health specialists with counseling, consults, supporting the general school environment, communicating with liaisons, community needs assessment. And our school psychologists are even more specialized to be able to deliver those psychological evaluations for special education, and they do provide counseling services as well. The different behavior roles BCBA board certified behavior analysts, we have four within the district are very highly specialized role they conduct FBA is provide trainings for faculty consult with staff and conduct observations and support plans. Our behavior specialists, there are five positions within the district, assist with those support plans, support students in crisis, BCBAs do as well, and support the BCBAs with doing observations and FBAs and classroom support as well as needed. So your average counseling day, that's the largest number of staff we have. is about 60% in direct counseling services, 15% consult staff meetings, and then 25% of their time is paperwork, evaluations, contact with service providers and the community parent outreach and work within the building. For our elementary services, the support really focuses heavily on groups. So we work a lot of lunch and social skills groups, also providing individual counseling behavior specialists are only in our elementary schools. And we're often trying to provide all those resources and parent support the best that we can. This is an overview of our elementary counseling staff. You'll notice that every elementary school has two school social workers. The Brooks, one of those positions is filled by a community-based social worker. We've contracted with Elliott to fill that position. And there is a little bit of a difference between the number of school psychologists in the building. And that really is dependent on our special education programming and how many evaluations we think we will need. Our elementary social-emotional learning consists of responsive classroom, the zones of regulation, our nexus classes, which is the specialists that we added in 2021, and our Sandy Hook promise programming, First Start with Hello. Once you move up to middle school services, that's when school counseling, which we previously called guidance, comes into play. Every student has a school Councilor. We still offer lunch and social skills group based on need, and there's individual group counseling and, of course, resources and parent support. For our staffing, each of our middle schools has two school Councilors, and then they have a school social worker or two. The McGlynn has one in-house school social worker and a community-based Councilor from Elliott who comes three days a week, and they each have a school psychologist. And the difference in services for staff is really, again, dependent on the programming within the schools. For our middle school social-emotional learning, we have advisory slash guidance classes. It's called advisory at the Anderson Guidance at the McGlynn, but we start really focusing on those restorative practices. So talking to our students, we hold community groups and we also have conversations amongst themselves to build those social skills when something goes awry in the school environment between students. For our high school services, again, every student has a school Councilor. Group support is available by topic. So anxiety, grief, trauma, we have individual counseling. Same resources for parents. The difference for our high school students really comes in for our STEPS program, which is our hospital reentry program, which started in 2019. And we also have a community Councilor within the building for students who have difficulty accessing it outside of school. Our high school counseling staff consists of six school Councilors, four social workers, two school psychologists, and we of course have two school social workers at the Curtis Tufts as well. That gives you a sense of the general overall caseload for each of those specialties. And then this is when we start to really introduce a heavy push on the college and career counseling. So we're looking at students as individuals, what are their interests, their values, they're meeting with their school Councilor to talk about what all of our goal is, is to successfully transition you off into our community. So how can we help you get there? We have started, once again, Coffee with Councilors. This is for school Councilors. Parents can come in on these dates. It's in CAF 1 at the high school from 8 to 9 a.m. We really welcome everyone to come to talk about certainly students and how we can help you help your child with their plans to transition after Medford High School. The high school social emotional learning consists of, once again, that heavy push on restorative practices, our advisory and wind blocks, health and wellness classes. We also have a block of nexus at the high school. It is a different iteration It's for ninth grade students that started in 2016, who we have identified in eighth grade as maybe just needing a little more of a home base. There are two faculty within that classroom. It's a small group of students, and they focus on just providing a little bit of extra support for them. And our Councilors have been going into our English learner classrooms to push in and provide more of those social emotional learning. support, certainly, as far as what they can expect from Medford High School compared to their previous high school in another country. So I want to talk a little bit about our hospital re-entry program, which is called STEPS, which stands for Student in Transition for Engagement, Progress, and Success. For staffing in that program, we have one social worker who is dedicated solely to that program, and we have six teachers who cycle through on a schedule to provide academic support. So we offer clinical counseling, family communication, and of course care coordination. And this is for our students who either are coming back from some sort of extensive medical leave or an incident that has required them medically to be out of school for some time. So again, students are absent due to psychiatric hospitalizations, medical hospitalizations, We have our fair share of concussion protocols we help students with or chronic absences due to a medical complication. This gives you a little bit of data for our numbers for the STEPS program. So again, we started in 2019. Of course, that was an abbreviated year due to the closure. But we're averaging, and I expect us to meet this as well, we're averaging about 60 episodes and about 45 students that we're supporting. each year, so an episode might be a hospitalization. So for some of our students that have repeat hospitalizations, depending on the challenges that they're facing that year. This all fits into our multi tiered system of support, so information that and support that we're offering all of our students, groups of students and those really specialized tier three services for students in need. So how it all works in. This is a visual for you, which really just groups all of those services I talked about in terms of how we're working with our tier one students, how we're filtering through our student support teams and referrals into group counseling supports or crisis management, and those individualized, really highly specialized services at tier three. We offer a lot of screenings at our middle and high school One of the largest is SBIRT, so Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment, and this is around substance use. So we're screening students in seventh grade, and we screen them again in 10th grade. And then we also utilize screening through our Signs of Suicide program, which is provided to us free of cost through Sandy Hook Promise, but developed through MindWise. So students receive education within their health classes around suicide, how to identify the signs of it in themselves or their friends, where to go in the school for support, and then we screen our students for clinical depression and provide them a little more education or in more extreme circumstances, crisis evaluations at the school. I want to talk about our community partner highlights. This is something I haven't talked about more at school committee. This is a look at some of our major partnerships for mental health. So we're partnering a lot more with agencies. We really rely heavily. CHA has been one of our newer partners with their walk-in clinic for mental health. They've done an excellent job, both with providing immediate services in a walk-in capacity and also crisis evaluations at our school. They come very quickly. We really appreciate them. Massachusetts Center for Adolescent Wellness is a new intensive outpatient program for students. They've been extremely collaborative with us. Children's Room is pushing in for grief groups. We've worked with Elliott for quite some time with our clinicians. Massachusetts Alliance for Portuguese Speakers has done a phenomenal job running groups for our Portuguese speaking students and providing them community supports. And then BRITE is the overarching network within Massachusetts for hospital reentry programs that provided us startup support and continued support. I'll talk a little bit more about our partnership with MGH and Care Solace as well. So Care Solace is the program and platform that we utilize to guide students, families, staff into community-based care. As you can see here, this is the number of cases we've referred so far this year, 123, and Care Solace has made 61 appointments. There has been around 11,000 total communications between Care Solace and those seeking care. So a couple more innovative partnerships for this year is we have a wellness coach through a grant from Massachusetts General Hospital and C4 Innovations to provide all of our SBIRT screening at the high school level. So previously, we were working with our nursing staff and our counseling staff to screen all of our ninth grade students in about one to two minutes. The wellness coach is actually transitioning to 10th grade students, and they meet with students for about 10 to 15 minutes. So it's more robust education, it's more robust conversations around what their substance use practices are, but really more focusing on what are their positive habits that they have, how do they keep those going, what are their goals for their future, and providing them resources on how to stay on track. And I Decide is a program that is for a tier two level for students who have self-identified or identified through the SBIRT screening process as needing substance use education and support. And that is also curriculum offered to us for free from MGH, which is great. These are some of our college and career partners we've worked heavily with this year. They have been wonderful in providing us a lot of support for our students. I'll highlight a couple for you on the next slide. So we've had several partnerships with local universities for on-the-spot admissions. So they're coming in, they're meeting with students, they're reviewing their information, they say, great, you're in. So we had several students, I think about six, accepted very quickly to Lesley University in December. We just went to UMass Dartmouth. They hosted a nice meeting for us. Bunker Hill Community College has also offered on-the-spot admissions. And Middlesex has come in to talk about their dental assisting program and really give some hands on information to our students. We have a program that is sponsored through Tufts called Let's Get Ready, and it really helps students plan in a more robust way who need support for transitioning after high school. And we also offer Bunker Hill dual enrollment courses. So these offer the ability for students to take courses at Bunker Hill Community College. And we provide assistance with that. And it's been working really well. We have a wait list for those courses. community-based scholarships. So these are scholarships that are either within Medford or very close region. Currently we have over 30 scholarships that are offering our students a half million dollars a year. So that program is incredibly robust and we're thankful for that. So what's next? This spring we're looking to offer career panels for our juniors and seniors. We're going to be bringing in you know, different members of our community and those who are connected to community to talk about what their profession is so that our students can make informed decisions. We're going to continue to strengthen our community partnerships. We really cannot be, you know, continue to offer all the robust programming we have without them. And caregiver engagement and education is certainly something we're looking to grow. The other exciting news is I've been on a list for seven years for a needs therapy dog, and I hound them every six months as far as when my application is coming up. And they've been very patient with me, but they said it expected in 2025. So I'll certainly come back to you if that application is accepted, and we'll talk about what that would look like.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you, Ms. Schulman. Member Ruseau?

[SPEAKER_08]: Thank you. You covered all the basics. I have two questions. On the STEPS program, you mentioned there's six teachers that cycle through. Are they current Medford Public Schools teachers that are leaving the classroom for a period of time? How does that work?

[SPEAKER_03]: So every teacher at Medford High School has a mini section that they teach. It's two classes per cycle, so two out of the six-day cycle. So instead of having a mini within their classroom, they're going down to the STEPS room. And we have divided it out by specialty. So we have history teacher, science, math, English, all rotating through to provide specialized support for our students during different times of the week.

[SPEAKER_08]: Great, that's awesome that the schedule allows that. I'm interested to hear how the new schedule, whenever that gets presented, will work. SBIRT only in seventh and 10th grade, which I'm glad we're doing it, obviously. I just think about middle school is not, I don't, most of us don't remember it fondly if you did go to middle school, but is there other places where they do it every year? And is that like, I'm sure there's a huge effort involved with doing this, but I just think about like, that's a lot of years, three years of major change for adolescents. And it seems like a long time, like, you know, seventh grade, they do this, everything looks dandy. If in Later in the same seventh grade year eighth grade or ninth grade, they, they have a new addiction 10th grades a long time to wait to find out. So, is that, what are your thoughts on that we had previously done seventh and ninth grade.

[SPEAKER_03]: the purpose of it is really to focus on preventative strategies. So we're looking to prevent substance use. With the guidance of MGH, they've asked us based on their research protocols to switch it to 10th grade. And so those students who are currently in 10th grade undergoing the screening also underwent the same screening in ninth grade. But we've looked to our partners there as far as guidance and they've identified those are the best years for them.

[SPEAKER_08]: Okay, thank you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Member Graham? Could I just ask that when coffee with the Councilors happens, some communication goes out to high school parents who are not available on Fridays between 8 and 9 a.m. to ever hear what's being said in those sessions. Sure. I think the PTO has indicated a willingness to help disseminate that information, but I haven't seen it materialize yet, and I don't think it's for lack of asking. I'm hoping the Councilors can formalize whatever it is that they're talking about and make sure it's shared a little bit more broadly than the audience who can make themselves available during the school day. Certainly. Cool. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Branley.

[SPEAKER_10]: Thank you for being here. So I just wanted to compliment the STEPS program. My family has benefited from that and it was a huge plus trying to get back to school, you know, when obviously you're going through something to make sure that that gets done. And the rotation is awesome with academics because the teachers are coming in there, they're helping when need be, and it's really a safe space. Does Ms. Cunningham still?

[SPEAKER_14]: Yes, yes.

[SPEAKER_10]: She's amazing. So I just want to give her a shout out for that. I'm very grateful to her. And then just one other question, the high school counseling, so that's nexus for high school, correct? Yes. And that's done by the Councilors? No, it's academic teachers. Academic teachers, so like health teachers?

[SPEAKER_03]: No, so one is a ELA specialist and the other is science.

[SPEAKER_10]: Okay. So it's a co-taught classroom. Co-taught classroom, okay. How does it not fall under health? Like under health, I guess. How does English and science teach the nexus portion of that?

[SPEAKER_03]: Am I making sense? Yes. So the nexus curriculum is very similar to health in elementary school. When you come up to high school, it's a very different model. So it's a support classroom. And it's only for a small number of students. OK, perfect. Thank you. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Intoppa.

[SPEAKER_13]: For sure. Thank you, Director Schulman for presenting all this information. I guess the first question is a clarification on the STEPS program. It's very similar to the BRIDGE program. Yes. It's like our chapter of like we've renamed it. Exactly right.

[SPEAKER_06]: Okay, great.

[SPEAKER_13]: that's huge, and that's proven in other districts to really help a lot of our youth, especially, well, not our youth, but it is, seems to be helping our youth, but youth in other districts, especially as the mental health crisis and epidemic, as people were calling it, is increasing. And we saw that in an increase in numbers, and then, you know, we're slowly seeing them come down. In terms of tier one, tier two, two and tier three in terms of, I noticed that, was it suicide screening and prevention was on all tiers and different approaches with that? How are we approaching it at a tier one versus a tier three?

[SPEAKER_03]: So that works through our health classes and middle and high school.

[SPEAKER_13]: Awesome. And then love to see that a lot of things were starting in middle school. I was curious to hear about some of the things that were starting in elementary school in terms of, sort of education with this, because obviously you don't want to like put all these topics on elementary schoolers, but I know I was a student who suffered with severe anxiety and was put into therapy as a third grader. And a lot of that was the unknown of what I was feeling. So I'm curious to see, there's two parts to this, curious to see where we're going in terms of possibly seeing in some soft integration of possible mental health education within our elementary schools, because that can be one of the scariest parts of when you're eight, you don't know what's happening, why you feel a certain way. I know that was certainly the case for me, as well as looking at, and we talked about it, I believe you talked about a little bit in the program about the self-reliance skills, not self-reliance, but it was social and emotional learning outside of the classroom and looking at other programs, sort of, I know that some universities are adapting Things like headspace subscriptions for students, you know, obviously institutionally wide but maybe for us case by case basis ways for students to learn how to I hate to use the word deal with these things but off hours of how students are able to get support and resources. Because a lot of these issues are still stigmatized. There's still an issue of why are you stressed, you're 13, what's going on, what's stressing you out so much. But for a lot of these students, it really is a huge, huge problem. So curious to see the direction possibly we're looking at. of out-of-class help, support and resources, you know, even just like a brochure of phone lines to call if you're feeling this way in the middle of the night. Who do you get into contact with? Because I don't, again, I've only been out of the public schools for five years now, but I don't ever remember seeing that. Maybe it's because I didn't need the resources at that time. But that also says I feel like Or I am under the impression of, I feel like this information should be present without needing it. Like we should have these ready. It should be nowhere to go before we even need to, you know, think about the bridge program. Sure. So that's a lot. But I guess the two, the too long didn't read of all that is looking at possible integration with, you know, the elementary school, seeing where we're at in terms of screening there. because that's also where I was screened for ADD, and that really helped set me up for my further education, as well as the, as it's put in the report, social-emotional learning integration throughout. So where we're at with that?

[SPEAKER_03]: So from an elementary school level, we utilize the Michigan model, which is health, and that has a social-emotional learning component within it. And then we're also using zones of regulation. So part of zones of regulation is really talking about How am I feeling? What is this feeling? And reducing the stigma of every feeling is a good feeling in some ways. And certainly when you're feeling certain ways, sometimes you need to utilize coping strategies because they may not be appropriate for that environment. So teaching our children about what is a feeling and when a feeling you might need help from somebody else. So we're utilizing those programs. I'm always looking at screeners. So what is a screener that is valid and reliable? How can we be screening more of our students for support? And then leaning on community, right? Community-based care is really important. So we can only provide so much within six hours. We want to make sure our students and families know where to go in the community. That's where Care Solace has come in. They've helped us tremendously sort of reduce those personalized phone calls that our school social workers and Councilors were previously trying to make and on the behalf of our families as well to get community-based care. after school hours. Did that answer your question?

[SPEAKER_13]: Yeah, and I guess the more part of like, I know this would probably be more for high school or would integrate starting in the high school, but again, that looking at other programs outside of the classroom for students to access, whether it's a portal online or even like, again, like a brochure of resources outside of the Medford Public Schools that they may utilize, looking at integration of that as well within this.

[SPEAKER_03]: So we have a 30-page brochure of community-based resources that we provide to families. It's been translated. It needs to be updated a little bit, but we go and make sure every year that things are relevant. I think certainly the addition of CHA with our walk-in clinic this year is something we've been trying to heavily promote for families, not waiting until you're in extreme crisis. But if you're feeling like you need care more urgently, they've been tremendous.

[SPEAKER_13]: Awesome. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you. Next up, we have English learner EL update and enrollment report. Mr. Paul Teixeira, director of ELL and title three. Welcome.

[SPEAKER_09]: Good evening, everyone, and welcome to our new members. Tonight's presentation is an overview of the EL program to kind of help the new members understand what's happening in Medford with our English learners. The program that we have is a sheltered English immersion program. And that's a two component program where we ensure that students get access to grade level content curriculum, as well as English as a second language instruction to support English language development among our learners. We have programs in every elementary school. We have newcomer programs for students who are at the foundational level of English language acquisition at the McGlynn and at the Missituk in grades one through five. And then we have EL pullout in every elementary school for students who are at the transitional level, which is three through five. And then at the middle school, we have a program at the McGlynn Middle School, which encompasses newcomers as well as ESL. And then at the high school, we have a newcomer program and ESL program. And we offer, we have a dedicated teacher on the vocational side of the house to support newcomer students as well as transitional students with the CTE programs that we offer. How these decisions are made is based on when students register, they fill out a home language survey form, which is a federal form that everyone's required to complete. When we complete the registration, we test the students for their English language proficiency. It's a test that include all four domains. So it's four separate tests and listening, reading, writing, and speaking. We administer the test, we get a level, we create a schedule and determine which program the students will go in. Once the students have been in the program for a year, they take something called ACCESS. That is a state mandated test similar to MCAS, but it's specifically for English learner students. Again, it measures the four domains of language. And based on this, they take the test in January, we get the results the end of May, and then we make our placement decisions in June for the following September. This is only one piece of data that we use to make our placement determinations. We use a lot of district determined measures, such as map scores, we do writing prompts that are used, that are scored using the WIDA writing rubric, which is what the ELD curriculum is based upon. So enrollment numbers, I have the history going back to 2015-16, and I'm keeping it in there because eventually we're going to hit 700 students, and I want to know how many years it took us to double our numbers. So at this moment, and this says 631, but today we just had 632 join Medford. So we have 632 English learner students. That number is in real time. At the end of the year, when DESE runs their report, the number will go down because if you see 22, 23, that was at 528, but we actually at one point had 580 students last year. DESE counts a student as an English learner in the previous year if they are recorded in our SIMS data, our student information management system, for two cycles. So when we do our October report and our March report, then the student counts. If the March report and the June report, the number counts. But any students that leave us in the interim, even though they may have been with us for three months, don't count in those numbers. So if you look at the bottom, we have how many students were tested. So, which one?

[SPEAKER_07]: Sorry to interrupt. I saw that chart. What year is that?

[SPEAKER_09]: This year, just since the school year. We've tested 391 new students. in the district. Of those 391, 259 qualified for EL services. But then we've also had 134 students withdraw from the district. We have a very fluid population of English learners. We have students who will come here because they may have existing family. They get started here in Medford, then they find their own housing, they move out. We have students that go back to their home country. We have students that just leave the district to, unfortunately, many high school students, they go into the workforce to support and help their families. So we've had 134 withdrawals this year, but basically 765 students have passed through our doors to date for English learners. So with that, we have university partnerships. So we have a partnership with Lesley University. They have an elementary education program with an add-on Yale license. And what that means is while they're completing their coursework, they do a year-long internship in one of our newcomer classrooms in the district. So we get, a teacher candidate from August through June. And the great piece of this is that essentially we get to train the teacher, and when we have openings, we can hire them. They're certified in both areas, and they're familiar with the district, they're familiar with our protocols. The other university partnership we have is the UMass program. Last year, I presented to you that we were part of a grant opportunity with the US Department of Education to have 15 seats for a free half masters in applied linguistics. and that gets teachers an ESL certification. So it's for existing teachers in the district to kind of broaden their teaching acumen so that they can put forth all of the teaching strategies beyond retail into their classrooms. So this program ends in June. We had 13 people successfully complete the program. and they'll be duly certified in their content area as well as ESL if they pass the MTEL. So we have a District English Learner Advisory Council that is similar to Special Education CPAC. I call this, many districts will call it an LPAC, English Language Parent Advisory Council. I like to take the word parent out of it because many of our students are here without their parents. And so this is the equivalent. It's the District English Learner Advisory Council. We have monthly meetings. Eventually what should happen with this group is that the caregivers will eventually take it over. It's challenging because they all don't speak the same language. And so we utilize high school students who are bilingual to come to these meetings, to serve as interpreters, kind of bridge the gap between the different languages in the group. We have people who have signed up to be leaders. And they haven't started scheduling and running their own meetings, but it's a work in progress. And with that, we've also contracted some seminars for caregivers through the Massachusetts Partnership for Youth. And in March, the presentation was on a healthy balance screen time. This was to support our caregivers with establishing boundaries with devices in their home, how they can support the school, how they can use them as learning tools and some internet safety. and next month's presentation is going to be on vaping. Then we've also partnered with the Welcome Project in Somerville. The Welcome Project helps provide... caregivers with English classes for free. They got a grant a year and a half ago to expand outside of Somerville. I was working in partnership with Sarah Londgren from the Welcome Project and we ended up creating classes here in Medford. We hold them at the Medford Public Library. This way here, families don't have to come into the schools, get quarry checked for the classes or anything like that. They have a beautiful new space in the library that they've been using. We've run three in-person classes, and then those are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then we have virtual classes in the evening. So the funding for this grant that the Welcome Project got is ending this year. This will be the last class, but we're going to continue with the classes in the fall, and we'll use a federal grant, Title III, to continue these for our caregivers. And then Tech Goes Home is another partnership we have. This is an organization in Boston that allows us to teach digital literacy to our caregivers. We've trained Medford teachers who will work in the evening. We've created a curriculum for the caregivers. It's everything from how to navigate the Medford Public Schools website, how to check for school lunches, how to communicate with your child's teacher, how to send an email, how to find English classes. It's a 15 hour course. And I actually just found out two hours before this meeting, our course was approved. So we'll be running another one. It begins August 8th and it will end in June. And at the completion of this, the caregivers get a free Chromebook, a free year of internet access, headphones, carrying case. In other news, the Yale department just completed its tiered focused monitoring. This is similar to what special education just had to go through with the Department of Ed. Every three to six year, every three years on a three year cycle, Desi comes in and does a complete audit of the department. There are 12 criteria. 11 seems to be cut off. I mean, number 12 seems to be cut off on my computer. But these are the criteria that they measure the efficacy of the EL program with. So for the past year, I've had to upload hundreds of pages of documentation for each of these criteria and then criteria. And then they came into the district in February, and they did classroom walkthroughs at the McGlynn, the Missittuck, the McGlynn Middle, and then also the high school. They interviewed caregivers. They interviewed teachers, general education teachers, EL teachers. They interviewed students and administrators. They'll be putting together a final report. We should have it in the next few weeks. I'm sure I'll be back here to explain the findings in their report to you. And then the new literacy program at the elementary level into reading. These are the new materials that were purchased that the teachers have received extensive PD on the EL teachers are included in this, whether they're a newcomer teacher or pull out teacher, even though we have our own English language development curriculum. What the EL teachers are doing is they're modifying the curriculum to support components from the inter-reading program so that the goal is that students leave newcomers, will go into a mainstream classroom, and while they're in the mainstream classroom, they'll still get EL support, but all of the inter-reading, all of the strategies for early literacy will be the same, so it's not, a culture shock when they change levels. So there's a team of teachers putting together the curriculum, taking the old curriculum and aligning it with the new materials. And then talking points is you'll hear people talk about this all the time. This is a two-way communication platform that the district purchased. It pulls information from our student information system to allow teachers, administrators, district administrators to engage in two-way communication with our families. This isn't just for English learner families. It's basically a text message system. And if in our home language or in the home language is identified as something other than English, the app automatically translates the message. So if it goes, you know, if Portuguese was selected. Teacher sends a classroom message home. It gets translated into Portuguese just for that family. The family responds in Portuguese. It translates it back to English for the teacher. So teachers have been using this now for a little over a year with the district subscription that we purchased. And I just pulled last week's data to show you like almost 1,700 messages were sent home in a week. Another translation device that we purchased for teachers and for school staff who interact with multilingual families is something called Pocket Talk. It's an oral translation device. So you hold the button, you choose your target language, you speak, it interprets it, flip it, the other person speaks their language, it transfers it, translates it back into English. These were given to all building principals, all building secretaries, nurses, anyone that comes into contact with caregivers where they may need on-the-spot instant translation. And this isn't going to take the place of talking points. It's not going to take the place of hiring interpreters for in-person meetings. This is just the on-the-fly, you need an interpreter. We ended up purchasing 45 in the district and then Chad Fallon bought 15 for the CTE teachers because they'll have newcomer students going through the CTE rotations. And sometimes it's really helpful for those teachers to be able to translate, especially where, you know, safety concerns in the shops right there on the fly. And then all of the newcomer teachers have them as well. And then for professional development, the EL department offers professional development outside of the typical professional development days. All content teachers need to earn 15 hours of professional development in SEI or ESL strategies. So these are on optional PD days. These are in the evenings. So teachers, it helps them recertify, but these topics were based on what teachers have asked for and what we've seen in the district. And then coming up, we have summer enrichment planning. We offer summer enrichment for elementary, middle, and high school. This slide has changed from what I gave you, because I realized I missed some stuff. So I'll give the new one to Lisa for you. We run an elementary summer program, K-5 at the Missittauk. And then I've partnered with Anthony Petrelis with Summer Fun, and I will fund teachers to work in the afternoon program, so they can take Yale students who want to stay longer for the day, and it's at no cost to the families. We have a program for students in grades five and six. It's called Starbase. It's at Hanscom Air Force Base. It's a STEM lab. It's a week-long STEM lab. Students get to use 3D printers. They have robotic wars with cars. They do the derby cars. They launch rockets. They do chemistry experiments. That's offered through Starbase, and we've been doing that now for, I think, six years. And then we have middle school summer enrichment at Medford High School, and then we do credit recovery for students in grades nine through 12, nine through 11, and then in grades six through 11. We offer summer reading support. I can use Title III funds to pay teachers to do office hours at the Medford Public Library. So any middle school and high school students that need help with their summer reading, choosing a book, any of their math packets or history packets that they get, there's somebody there two times a week, mornings and late afternoons to get that support. And then this leads me to my last slide, which is an ask for the committee. As our numbers are increasing, we have a large influx of students in kindergarten this year. And I never have a crystal ball, I can never tell exactly how many students we're going to have. So I have to base it on trends from the previous year. And so, Basing, we had, I think, 38 newcomer students last year in kindergarten, and we currently have 32 students in first grade newcomer classes. Now, that's not all from that class, that's students who have come in through the year, but that's how I gauge what my numbers are going to be. This year, we have 20 more newcomer students than we did last year. And so we are going to need another first grade classroom for newcomer students, and preferably at the McGlynn, because that is where the bulk of the students are. I won't know the exact number until the end of May, beginning of June, because with the kindergarten students, they take that access test in January, and there is so much growth in a kindergarten student from January to June, that it's not an accurate measure. we take the two options. If the teachers say this student is ready to be reclassified as a former English learner student, we give them a test called the WAPT. Again, it measures all four domains, reading, writing, listening, and speaking. And that will give us the determination if they have the cut score to just go into a general education classroom. If they were a newcomer student and the teacher is recommending that they go into first grade newcomers, they also give that WAPT test. That will give me the data I need to know that, yes, they have to remain in newcomers. And so that won't happen until the beginning of June. But based on previous trends, this is what I'm predicting.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you, Mr. Taksara.

[SPEAKER_09]: Any questions?

[SPEAKER_07]: member Intoppa, then member Branley.

[SPEAKER_13]: Yes, thank you, Director Zahara for coming and giving all these numbers. I'd be interested to see at some point sort of our statistics. I know this probably pertains more to our high school students who come in as English language learners with their sort of integration into the arts and athletic departments and how they are sort of coexisting in those spaces. I know that at least my time at the high school, it always seemed very sectioned off in terms of not just academics, but also in terms of culture, like the culture of just leisure and existing in these spaces together. And that's really unfortunate. Even at, we had a lot of EL students participate as stage crew, And the drama club and they always stuck together and we're off by themselves. And I'd love to find out if there's a way that we can minimize that culture of things I mean it's a very scary thing of. you know, learning linguistics and settling in. And for some of these individual students, there was an individual who was on the crew team with member Olapade and I, who had just landed in the US in Somerville their first year, and we met them their second year. And they didn't know the word for screwdriver. And then by the end of it, you know, they were, The growth that we witnessed with that individual because of how integrated they were and how socialized they were with us and how the program really benefited them. It was a really beautiful thing. So I'd love to see sort of what we're doing as a As a division, I don't know the right word, at the moment to push students to sort of more coexist together because it's benefit for both sides. It's benefit for all involved. So I'd love to see that at some point.

[SPEAKER_09]: Well, and that happens with the CTE exploratory programs. All of the new students go through the same rotations, and they're not a cohort. It's six in this group, five in this group, so they are. the students are integrated with everyone. And those rotations include all the CTE exploratory programs as well as the arts.

[SPEAKER_13]: Love to see that. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_10]: Member Burnley? I'm up. Well, thank you for this. This is very interesting. One question. I'm looking at the numbers here. It looks like my glasses broke as I walked in. So forgive me. But it looks like our numbers have doubled from our 350 back in 2015 and 16 to 631 as of March 1st. So I'm curious how our staff has risen with that.

[SPEAKER_09]: So we have been increasing staff throughout the years, and that is something, especially the elementary strand of newcomers at the McGlynn, which is where the biggest numbers are. The way the program is structured is it's sustainable to continue to add new students, but that's why I brought up the first grade class, because I know that's not sustainable, because they can't have two first grade newcomer classrooms with 25 students in them each.

[SPEAKER_10]: And I've been in some of those classrooms at the Brooks, and it is amazing to me, the teachers that teach these classes, not that they're not using their words, but it is such a diverse group. I think I remember Allie, and I can't even think of her last name right now, but her saying to me that, you know, 10 languages in her class, I remember saying, how do you do this? I mean, we're speaking English in the kindergarten downstairs and I feel like half the kids aren't listening. I feel like they're not hearing us. So how are you doing this? And it just amazed me how creative they are so that everybody is getting the same curriculum at the same time. It really is astounding. So huge shout out to them. And then my other question, I want to thank Mr. Fallon for buying 15 of these little things. He's a rock star too. And then on one of these pages here, you have the schools. I don't see the Andrews. So I'm just curious. I know the programs are housed at the McGlynn Middle School, but how does that change their enrollment all year long? I mean, it must be constantly changing.

[SPEAKER_09]: It is, but what happens is with any other new students who are non-Yale that go to the Andrews or that come into middle school, if they don't need Yale programming, they go to the Andrews. So the numbers are actually, and I'd have to look up what the exact numbers are, but the numbers between the two buildings are similar. It's equitable. Okay.

[SPEAKER_10]: That was just my question. Cause I'm figuring if all of these kids are influxing to just the McGlynn, how are we balancing that off? Cause it seems. like that would happen a lot more than someone that would move in still, right? So if we could just get those numbers, I would love to see that if that's possible. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

[SPEAKER_09]: And the last thing that I want to say on the last slide is that none of this work could happen without the EL teachers, because every committee I mentioned, every DELAC, there are people that I have EL teachers who work on all of those programs that I just described. The Tech Goes Home, the summer programs, none of this work could happen without those teachers. So thank you to them.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you. Yes, thank you to you and our EL teachers. We do not have any presentations to the public or continued business, but we have a number of items and a new business. First up, 2024-11 offered by member Rousseau, member Grimm, member Olapade. Resolution in support of Massachusetts Association of School Committees resolutions reaffirmation. Whereas the Massachusetts Association of School Committees bylaws article nine, section one requires adopted resolutions of the association to expire three years after adoption, Whereas the MCAS, MASC bylaws article nine, section one requires Medford School Committee to vote for the readoption of expiring resolutions for consideration at the annual conference. And whereas the following resolutions of matters that Medford School Committee has previously supported, now therefore be it resolved that the Medford School Committee reaffirms support for the following resolutions. Access to menstrual supplies 2019, mandatory recess in public schools, 2021, prohibiting the use of Native American mascots, 2021, climate change, 2019, poverty and children, 2019, charter school reform, 2019. Two, request the secretary of the Medford School Committee convene, oh, sorry, convey to the MASC resolutions committee chair our support for the above resolutions being reaffirmed, and request the secretary of the Medford School Committee engage with the MASC resolutions committee and other mass school committees as necessary to reaffirm the above resolutions presented to the bylaws of the MASC.

[SPEAKER_08]: Member Ruseau. Thank you. So last year, our professional association adopted a new bylaw because each year the resolutions committee would put forward and school committees could put forward resolutions for MASC. Then these would become the things that MASC would be pushing for with the legislature, their advocacy work would be centered around these resolutions. Before last year, those resolutions just kept getting added. So their docket of things for which they should be paying attention to was quite long. And there was no mechanism, even if they succeeded, frankly, for them to stop pushing for it. So last year, they adopted, we adopted, the association adopted a new bylaw that says that every three years, any resolution just automatically will expire. That if a member school committee wishes to reaffirm that as a priority for our association, we had to vote for it. And then if three, I believe it's three, don't hold me to that. If three different school committees reaffirm that the resolution should be continued as a priority, then it will just automatically be continued to the actual conference in November, where it will be voted on. So that's the gist of it. The list of expiring resolutions included many more that I think we all, many of us care about. Some of them were partially already approved. had been partially successful. Others were, well, these are the ones that after I looked at the list I thought were important, and I also took a kind of a pragmatic view. Some of them were things for which I didn't necessarily think the Association could effectively advocate for. So that was just my opinion. But this is the list of the ones that I thought we should reaffirm, and hopefully we can get the association to continue that.

[SPEAKER_07]: Motion to approve. Motion approved by Member Graham, seconded by Member Olapade. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. 2024-12. submitted by member Rousseau, policy BBBA slash BBBB, school committee member qualifications, oath of office will be updated with the following language. To serve in the school committee, an individual must be registered voter in the city or town from which they elected or appointed and must take an oath of office as required by law. Each new member will present to the committee secretary official certification of having sworn the oath before the city clerk before entering on their official duties as a member of the committee. From the superintendent, newly qualified committee members by law will receive and sign a receipt of a copy of Massachusetts Open Meeting Law governing the conduct of committee meetings in general and in executive sessions in particular. Newly qualified committee members shall, by law, receive and sign a receipt for, within 30 days of taking office, a copy of the Massachusetts Ethics Commission Summary of the Conflict of Interest Laws. As Massachusetts employees, all school committee members shall receive a copy of said summary annually. All school committee members shall, within 30 days of taking office, and every two years thereafter, complete the Massachusetts Ethics Commission's online training program. Upon completing the online training program, members shall provide notice of such completion to be retained for six years by the superintendent. Member Ruseau and then Member Reinfeld.

[SPEAKER_08]: Thank you. So it was funny that I keep my own system for keeping track of resolutions that I want to put forward, and it's got a long list. And I try to prioritize them because there's only so much work that can actually get done at a time. And I was cleaning up my list, and I found that I had this one sitting in there from several years ago, which I thought was very timely since we just had a new member. This is language that is almost verbatim what everybody else has in other districts. with the exception that there's a lot of like. to be generic for all the various types of communities we have. So I. Cleaned it up because in most of these in the language that was originally provided that I found it was it said the city clerk would do things that are superintendent does, and I wasn't really looking to change anything. I was just looking to get the language to reflect what outdated and missing some of the stuff that changed in the law.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Member Ruseau. Member Reinfeld? Yep, I had two questions. One, and I know this was in the old policy as well, what if the Secretary is a new member? Is that, I mean, a new member can't, and the Secretary's elected during that first meeting, at which point the duties have started. So I'm a little confused about the logistics, but I know this has stood as is for quite a while, so I don't know what to do about that. And then my second question is, there was a phrase removed about non-discrimination, that there's membership on a school committee is not limited to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation. Member Ruseau?

[SPEAKER_08]: I'll take the first one first. So, wait, what was the first one? How can a new member if Oh, yes. It's a great question. And if we were all new. Traditionally, and again it's just a tradition that the leadership of committees are typically not new members just because there's an awful lot to learn. but it is entirely possible, especially in Medford where everybody is up at the same time, that we could be an entirely new committee. I think that that's not considered in the language here. I think that we would vote for a secretary and then that person, good luck, but would have to then know all this stuff as well. So I don't know that we can get into that because if that happens, it's going to be very challenging for the committee anyways. The other question though, so we have been trying to clean up our policies and not have policies contain other policies.

[SPEAKER_04]: This is covered by the non-discrimination.

[SPEAKER_08]: Right, we have a non-discrimination policy and by inserting the language all over the place, every time we change it, we effectively need to update dozens or more policies, which we never do. So then there's like language is outdated and wrong all over the place. So this is not an attempt to suggest that a school committee member would not be following that. On the other hand, it's also important to note that elections are elections, and that if a school committee member wants to violate all of our policies and wants to violate the law, there's literally nothing that can be done about it. So having meaningless language is something I'm opposed to because less is more. So, I think having language that is enforceable is important. So, thank you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you. Motion to waive the first reading.

[SPEAKER_07]: Bern Topper had his hand up first.

[SPEAKER_13]: Sorry, my apologies. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I share a similar concern with Premier Reinfeld about section two. Each new member will present to the committee secretary official certification. I I'm not sure where else it's done. But to me, I feel like this as someone who just went through the process of policy not existing and policy being vacant and a week of anxiety around what happens next. This, I, it almost, it, I don't want to say it feels unnecessary, because I appreciate the work that's been done. But I don't see what the committee secretary has to do with the process. And again, that could just be my naiveness of this. I'm two weeks into this. But to me, I feel like striking almost this from the policy, I don't see it's Like you said, less is more. And to me, again, if we have a total rehaul of our school committee, which could happen, what does this do? And what happens then? But I would almost move to have, like the rest of the policy, very understandable, makes sense, especially the Massachusetts Ethics Commission summary of the common interest law, making sure we're up to date on that information. However, section two, to me, feels almost like it could be striking out of this policy.

[SPEAKER_08]: The current policy already actually says that this is supposed to come to the secretary. And I believe that's language directly out of the law. I don't want this, it doesn't make sense to me that it would come to the secretary, like the keeper of our records by law is me, but by practice is the superintendent. And I think that's the case in virtually every school committee there is, because the secretary is not a nine to five full-time job. But I think, And I don't know if there's anything in the statute about should we be delegating authority to the superintendent or not, but that's, that's the way it, I mean, this is current language, and It doesn't make sense to me. And if nobody ever comes and gives this to me, I'm perfectly fine with that. Nobody has ever done it. I'm not aware. And I wouldn't know what to do with it if you gave it to me. But I think the superintendent has her office acts as the keeper of records, even though like I take the votes and that's because of the secretary's role. So I certainly understand that it's, I think it's just weird. But I think the other thing, though, is that in Massachusetts, while school committees, for the most part, there's different sizes, but they're still fairly the same kind of idea. Districts are not. There's regional school districts, and they're very different kinds of districts. some regional districts are literally municipalities like a city. Meanwhile, we're not in this municipality as a school district. So I think there's some other weirdness. And I think whenever they write these laws, they want to make universal. Things get frankly, muddy is an understatement. So I hear your point, but it's current.

[SPEAKER_07]: So on that point, if I may, just from the chair, and then I'm going to member Graham, if it's not law, Maybe we could change it, shall present to the city clerk to get sworn in by oath before entering their official duties. Maybe it makes more sense.

[SPEAKER_13]: I was going to say, because I believe that is the protocol we had to follow, was we had to present the certification of election, or in my case, appointment to the city clerk.

[SPEAKER_08]: That's the language to say the oath is with the clerk.

[SPEAKER_02]: Member Graham. So I just want to offer like a really tactical example of why somebody on the committee knowing what's going on is really important. So when I chaired the meeting two weeks ago, or whatever that was, the entire committee was completely unclear whether we had an absent member, whether we only had six members, whether we had a new member who wasn't yet sworn in and like nobody here until like the very last moments of the meeting was clear about what that was. So we recorded a member as absent, which was not true, it turned out. So I think this language makes sense because there is a role for this in our group, but also once we, adopt it, we should send it to the clerk so that he understands his responsibility to the committee when he swears a member into office. So he would still swear people in. We just need to know what's happening here so that we can conduct business accordingly. So I have a motion on the floor to waive the first reading.

[SPEAKER_07]: There's no motions to amend. Motion to waive the first reading by member Graham, seconded by Member Reinfeld. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes.

[SPEAKER_02]: Motion to approve the updated policy as outlined.

[SPEAKER_07]: Motion to approve policy as outlined by Member Graham, seconded by Member Olapade. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Looks like we all need to get our certifications to Member Ruseau. 2024-13 submitted by Member Reinfeld. Whereas the public has a right to view meetings during and after their occurrence, and whereas both Medford Public Schools and Medford Community Media currently provide online access to meetings, if you result, the school committee meetings page on the Medford Public Schools website will include a link to archived recordings of Medford Public School Committee meetings, and that individual recording links, when available, will be posted along with past meeting minutes whose posted is described by policy BEDG. Be further resolved that meeting notifications described by policy BEDA will include information about non-participatory real-time viewing options via local access television, Comcast Channel 8, Verizon Channel 45, and streaming services, e.g., Medford Community Media, Video On Demand, Medford Public Schools, YouTube, along with individual Zoom access links. This resolution is offered with the goal of making Medford School Committee meetings more accessible to members of the Medford community. Remember, Reinfeld, I'm going to give it to you to maybe explain the lower level.

[SPEAKER_04]: So some of this used to exist, and then when we moved to Zoom, that became the only online access that was announced in meetings. This is just to say when people go to look at the minutes, they should be able to get to the videos quite easily. I realize that it can be difficult to post the individual video links. I did talk to Tom about whether or not this would be possible. He said it would be fine. But in the absence of that, I would be completely fine with just the link to find previous recordings here. It was suggested that there might be some policy changes required on this. I went and I looked at the policies, and they really just describe what's in the minutes and what's in the announcements about time and place. It doesn't need to be, doesn't seem to be needing an amendment on the videos. I have that language if we need to add them, but it kind of changes the name of the resolution. So I'm happy for questions. This is just about making these things available to the public.

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Ruseau, do you have a question?

[SPEAKER_04]: No.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'm sorry. You have your light on, sorry. It was just, that's how I've been trying to see. Motion to approve? Motion to approve. If I could ask a question, or Tom, if you don't mind coming up because I want to better understand each meeting, Director of Communications Dalton will have to go and get the link for Medford Community Media and then put it on the minutes. Is that what you're asking for?

[SPEAKER_04]: To post, yes. So we have the agenda and then we have... And then we have the minutes are posted. Once the minutes are approved, the minutes go up and it would be easy enough to just add that Zoom link or so I'm told. I would be perfectly happy with just a here's where to go and find it.

[SPEAKER_07]: But I was gonna say, so it's, would that, how time consuming is that compared to just making sure that people have full access to Medford Community Media where they know they can just type in the date and then the meeting recording comes up?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, thank you, Mayor, and thanks to the committee. It's definitely doable either way. I could defer to the preference of the committee. And I mean, when we get it up and running, I can even show you the difference. But the bottom line, basically, is that not only Medford Community Media, but also the Medford Public Schools YouTube page is a repository for all the meetings. Because the zoom meetings get pushed straight to stream on YouTube as well. So it'd be really, really simple just at the top of the web page that we list all of the meeting minutes on the past meeting minutes to just have a link to Medford community media link to the YouTube page, you know, here are two options for. accessing the video recordings of past meetings. But if we found there was a strong preference for whatever reason, we could also list the individual links to each video next to the minutes at the same time that we upload the approved minutes for each meeting. That said, I think that just having a link to the YouTube channel probably does the job. It's under our control. We know it's not going anywhere. It's easy to navigate because it's YouTube. So I think it would be simple enough.

[SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, and I only ask because it would be your time. And if you if we do approve this policy, you're going to you might have people like really check in daily to make sure you are getting those links up and you're going to you will get emails, you'll get emails and say the March 18 meeting isn't up yet. Where is it? And it might just be a lot of time where we definitely want you doing our press releases and helping with calm. So I don't know how the committee feels, but I would be fine with just the links so then people know where to access.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, and if I could add also, I mean, I think the other benefit of linking to it is that then we're also not waiting for minutes to get approved because the recording is the recording is the recording, right? It doesn't take the committee's approval for that to be. It's up immediately after the meeting ends and it's always there if you know how to find it. So yeah, I mean, I would favor just having the YouTube link and we can do it from there.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you. Member Graham, did you have your hand up?

[SPEAKER_04]: And that's one part. The other part was about letting people know where they can watch it on cable and through live streams, which, as I said, used to be the case. And as somebody who would often tune in and listen to these meetings while I'm dealing with dinner or children, it was helpful to have those links with the meeting info.

[SPEAKER_07]: Okay, so do we need an amendment just to make sure, so the first, First paragraph, is that okay to change it to making sure that YouTube link is up as well as MCM?

[SPEAKER_04]: Yes, I think you can just strike and that individual recording links through the end of that sentence there. Just archives recordings of Medford Public School Committee meetings.

[SPEAKER_07]: Dr. Edward Minson has a question.

[SPEAKER_01]: Member Reinfeld, so just from a clarification perspective, on the actual agenda you're asking that we place the channels as well, is that what you're saying? I am. So in this box the table that we have on this first page, where we have the Zoom link, if we add one more bar that says TV access channel, Comcast, Verizon, that would be sufficient if we add an additional row? Yes. Okay, thank you.

[SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_12]: I just want to add on that front in terms of listing the specific channel. We did do that, like even as recently as when I started with the district last year, we were still listing the channels. At some point, the channels changed and we couldn't quickly find which channels they were updated to. We were getting mixed reports about which channels local access was available on.

[SPEAKER_04]: Because these are the education channels and there's a separate local access. And is it not consistent?

[SPEAKER_12]: I think it is consistent. I think at the time we were getting ready to post a meeting agenda and we said, you know what, let's just say it's available on Medford Community Media and not list a channel number until we confirm. So this is a helpful reminder that we can in fact track down that channel number and make sure that we include it.

[SPEAKER_07]: And I don't want to be a pain, but if I may from the chair again, if there are multiple meetings in a night and we have a subcommittee meeting, if the council's here, we have a subcommittee meeting, the channels do all change. So that's just gonna be extra work.

[SPEAKER_04]: All right, so the live stream to Zoom, though you're saying that our Zooms do get pushed to YouTube.

[SPEAKER_12]: Yep, that's right. This meeting is streaming on YouTube right now in addition to Medford Community Media.

[SPEAKER_04]: And that link's the same, right?

[SPEAKER_12]: Yep, it's always the same channel.

[SPEAKER_07]: We can put the YouTube link on the agenda.

[SPEAKER_08]: Member Ruseau. Thank you. The Medford community media that was often not up for several days. So, I mean, I feel like we should send a mailer I know it costs too much but YouTube is amazing. Literally you can watch us right now. You can press pause, go to the bathroom and come back and hit resume as if this meeting was literally pausing for you live right now. What did Paul just say? Scroll back a little bit. Oh my God. So I mean, if you have access to Medford Community Media, you're on the internet. So you have YouTube. So not that I don't love Medford Community Media, but I can't imagine why anybody would use it when YouTube exists because you can scroll around in the meeting. You cannot do that on Medford Community Media unless you download the five gigabyte file to your local device, which is what I used to do before we had YouTube. So if you're using Medford Community Media, now's your time to know, go to YouTube. So I'm a fan of just having the link. I also did wanna say that we have a policy that if we want to, our agenda format is actually in a policy. to amend B. E. D. B, which I think you mentioned. Um. No, you don't. But if we want to change the format of the agenda, we actually need to amend B. E. D. B. Which we can do it. Another meeting.

[SPEAKER_04]: But that's fine. Yeah, I was looking at that as the minutes and the notification, but Sure.

[SPEAKER_07]: Um we're

[SPEAKER_13]: I was just gonna say, does a motion to amend need to be put on the floor? Because I can do that right now, is what I'm asking.

[SPEAKER_07]: I think Member Reinfeld put the amendment on to change the first paragraph to YouTube and MCM links and to strike and that individual recording links. So then we'll just need a motion to amend if that's how Member Reinfeld wants to proceed with the YouTube link on the agenda versus the channel numbers.

[SPEAKER_04]: I don't have a strong preference on this. My sense is that the people who aren't watching it online want the channel numbers, but... I would, not to be difficult, but I would make a motion to amend to

[SPEAKER_13]: have the channel links, but to have the community media link, the YouTube link, as well as the channel numbers, because again, it helps if you're trying to watch that on the TV.

[SPEAKER_04]: I would say channel numbers and YouTube.

[SPEAKER_13]: Channel numbers and YouTube, correct, yes. So that would be my motion to amend, would be to strike that and include channel numbers and YouTube link.

[SPEAKER_11]: Sorry, not to make it too busy on the agenda on the agenda. But for those just getting the paper agenda, we put the QR code on now so they can go directly into the zoom, I can swap that cue, we can swap that QR code. So it goes directly into the YouTube instead, however you want to do it. But however you want.

[SPEAKER_12]: I'll also say that I think the resolution is completely practicable as written. Just from my perspective as probably the primary staffer to carry it out, I think it's totally doable the way it's written. So amend, don't amend, but I can manage it.

[SPEAKER_04]: I will also say that these meetings, sorry, the notice is posted to the website where we have agreed to put that link. So that link exists where meeting notification exists. So I don't need that link on the agenda. I think the channels make sense on the agenda. Okay, so no YouTube link, just the channel numbers. Member Ruseau.

[SPEAKER_08]: I do think that we have to also consider if we put the wrong information, whether the meeting can proceed. If we say we're meeting here and we decide to meet elsewhere, we are not having a legal meeting. So if we put channels and they're not gonna be right, I think it's reasonable to ask whether or not the meeting should proceed. So can we get these channels and always have them right? I think it's not fair to tell people this is how you can watch this meeting live, and then they go there and they can't. Granted, there are alternatives, but just like if the power goes out here and we decide we want to go to the high school, no, that's not an option. So that's my only concern about the channels. I think more information is great, but it has got to be accurate all the time. or we have taken the public's ability to participate in a meeting in public. So that's my concern.

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Dapa.

[SPEAKER_13]: Then, yeah, with that, that information makes complete sense. Then I would move to make a motion to amend and just have the YouTube link on the agenda circling back thousands of times. But if the if we can't rely on the channels being consistent, even if they're next to each other, we do open ourselves up to that liability of, again, false advertising, where the it's being broadcasted. So I was thinking from a standpoint of people who may not have smart TVs, maybe using, you know, the educational platform, but then again, we don't want to run into that issue.

[SPEAKER_07]: Okay, so we're back to a different amendment. So YouTube and ACM, paragraph one, YouTube link, paragraph two. If everybody feels that is, let's take a vote for that. So motion for approval by Member Intoppa as amended, seconded by?

[SPEAKER_10]: I can second.

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Branley. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. 2024-14 submitted by Member Ruseau, Member Graham, and Member Olapade. resolution in support of a stabilization fund for the city of Method, whereas the use of free cash only possible for a few months each year from one fee free cash is certified by the state through June 30 when the fiscal year ends, whereas the public schools may experience unexpected expenses, not planned for in the budget cycle such as a major equipment failure, floods, fires, roofs, et cetera, whereas Medford Public Schools cannot borrow money to cover such expenses, whereas at present, the only mechanism for Medford Public Schools to receive additional funding to cover unexpected expenses is by a supplemental appropriation submitted by the mayor to the city council for approval, whereas the inability to use free cash for much of the year places the Medford Public Schools and the city of Method in a precarious position should a supplemental appropriation be required to ensure educational continuity for our students. Whereas a stabilization fund provides a mechanism for the allocation and spending of money throughout the year, and whereas the use of a stabilization fund for resources requires a mayoral request to the city council for approval, now therefore be it resolved that the Medford School Committee thanks the Medford City Council for approving the creation of a stabilization fund. urges the Medford City Council, when a request to add funds to the stabilization fund is received, to approve the request before the expiration of free cash, and requests the superintendent of schools sends this resolution in a record of the vote of the school committee to the Medford City Council. Member Ruseau.

[SPEAKER_08]: Thank you, Mayor. I think I should also thank you, since you wrote the paper that went to City Council, and as soon as you're reading it, I'm like, oh my gosh, sorry. It's okay. Yeah, so I did watch this, this part of the city council meeting, was it last week, the week before? It's all a blur. And I know that, you know, the stabilization fund is not like a, free cash is the worst, the most poorly named concept I think that ever existed, especially as a taxpayer. I feel like everybody should think free cash, that's my cash. But conceptually, it just means it's the money that the city has that didn't get spent from the previous year. And, not having access to that money for almost the whole year is kind of bonkers. I don't know, I can't find a better word. And so, while the city has money, something horrible can happen, and we literally can just look at the money and just like, wouldn't it be nice if we could spend the money on the urgent problem. And so I think that having a stabilization fund, which did get approved, but I believe at this moment there are $0 in it. So when free cash gets certified by the state, I obviously urge that the mayor, as I'm sure she will want to, will ask the city council to transfer some of that money from the free cash account into the stabilization fund and give her give her give the city council and give the school committee the ability to respond to emergencies. You know, in Somerville they had a roof partially collapsed and they closed the school over a weekend, and they had to spend a ton of money I'm sure to figure out what to do with all those students. That was not planned for. that happens here, it better happen between the middle of March and June 30th, or we don't have the money to do that. So I think this is a critical thing, and it's a constant risk that we just sit with when it doesn't need to be. So thank you for your efforts, Mayor, and thank you to the City Council.

[SPEAKER_02]: Yes, Member Graham. Thank you. In addition to emergencies, this is the kind of fund that we will need to rely on to demonstrate to MSBA that we have set aside adequate money for feasibility study, which we will need to do to get out of the eligibility phase. So I am completely for it. I think this is part of stabilizing our budgeting process, which we've all been working on. And I do hope that council will approve any requests that you send them to put money into the stabilization fund, both for the unexpected and also eventually for the feasibility study for MSBA's process. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you all for putting the resolution on. If I may, from the chair, I proposed a $5 million stabilization account the spring of 2023. That did fail at the time. And I wanna thank the current city council for approving, opening up the account so that we can hopefully next month add at least 5 million into that account. Because as you wrote in the resolution, come July 1 until free cash is certified again, which has been mid to late March of the last year, and it will be this year, there is no money available except what's in our budgets to pay for emergencies. or any any type of outside funding outside of the budget that we happen to need that free cash gets closed down and you cannot spend it so we have a situation where we need money for, like you mentioned a roof, or an emergency or even, we need a million dollars to get an OPM to do a new high school. This is the account we would have to take it from because there will be no other account so that this is extremely important. We've been able to get by because we have that nine more months of ARPA. this is important passing because once December 30th comes until free cash certifies in 2025, there will be no funding. And then the year after that, July 1, 2025 until March 2026, there will be no outside funding. So it's kind of unheard of that city, our size does not have one. Some cities and towns have multiple. This is long overdue. It's going to be a huge accomplishment for the school committee, city council, and our office to get this set up and we're going to be able to get us prepared for emergencies to come. So thank you for the support, and I see this move approval.

[SPEAKER_10]: Remember finally. Sorry So I was also in attendance. I was here actually during all of this the other night at the City Council, and it didn't seem like the voters were very happy about that. It seemed like there was a lot of uproar How are we going to manage this, this fund? I mean, I know it says here emergencies, but then we also said the stability. So can we use that for anything?

[SPEAKER_07]: It's a stabilization account, but it would need to come from the mayor's office. And that would be a recommendation by the school committee if it was school spending. And then it would have to be every dollar that's spent out of the stabilization account. I'm a 99.9% sure would have to be approved by the city council.

[SPEAKER_06]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: I think there was a maybe a lot of emotions in that room. I think once you're clear on what a stabilization account which is a spending, putting, taking money from free cash and putting it into an account. Some cities and towns have multiple stabilization accounts. So, capital improvement, stabilization account, stabilization account for emergencies. This is just our first of at least have something on the books to be able to spend in case we do have an emergency or some sort of spending we need without that free cash being available. And this is citywide, not designated for schools. This is not designated for schools. This is just a city stabilization account, but of course could be spent on a roof that collapses, you know, that needs major repair that we don't have 300-400,000 to fix. Second? Motion approval by Member Ruseau, I believe it was. Seconded by Member Graham. Roll call. Roll call. Member Olapade. Oh, Member Olapade, I'm sorry to see your light. Okay.

[SPEAKER_08]: Sorry, you said roll call.

[SPEAKER_07]: I'll just get used to his hand because he's just so tall. So yeah, if you need me, just throw your hand up.

[SPEAKER_08]: Member Branley? No. Member Graham?

[SPEAKER_07]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_08]: Member Intoppa?

[SPEAKER_05]: Abstention.

[SPEAKER_08]: Member Olaparte? Yes. Member Reinfeld?

[SPEAKER_07]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_08]: Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor Longoquer?

[SPEAKER_07]: Yes. Five in the affirmative, one no, one abstained. Motion is approved. 2024-15, submitted by Member Ruseau, Member Graham, and Member Olaparte. Whereas the resolution on the disciplinary practice of suspension was unanimously adopted by the Medford School Committee on October 14th, 2020, whereas the language of the resolution on the disciplinary practice of suspension provides that the following actions will be taken by the Medford public schools, ends the use of out of school suspensions effective the first day of the school year 2021 except as provided by law, provides for the continuation of a learning environment for every in-school suspension, ensures that in-school suspensions will not occur in isolation without instruction or rehabilitative counseling, Selects alternative tools for use in discipline, such as restorative justice wherever possible. We'll complete a comprehensive program review of disciplinary practices across the district, including but not limited to system-wide disciplinary measures, reporting to the school committee, social and emotional supports for victims, as well as establishing a staff feedback process to be presented to the school committee in May 2021. seeks to incorporate any funding requirements to ensure the implementation of the selected alternatives with fidelity in the next budget cycle and establishes an annual reporting process that includes, but is not limited to system-wide disciplinary measures, reporting to the school committee, as well as establishing staff feedback process. Whereas it appears that there are occurrences of noncompliance with the policy happening in the district and the occurrences have been observed since the effective date of the policy, and whereas the annual reporting requirements of the resolutions have not occurred, now therefore be it resolved that the superintendent will, number one, provide a description of the onboarding process that ensures district staff, including teachers, vice principals, principals, and our prides of the policy, two, provide a report of training available to all staff, including staff participation and training offered disaggregated by building, Three, provide a detailed report of disciplinary actions taken from the start of the 2023-2024 school year through March 1st, 2024. The report provided should be a model to comply with the annual reporting requirement going forward and will contain the following minimum data. Types of incidents, determinations, and discipline. The above data elements summarized for the district. The above data elements disaggregated by school, by grade level, and by school and grade level. Four, provide a description of how central administration determines compliance with the policy. Five, provide a report of the number of times the above policy has not been followed by building leadership and what actions are being taken to remedy these instances of noncompliance. Six, conduct a review of all suspensions from the start of the 2023-2024 school year through March 1st, 2024, and provide an assessment of how many suspensions were inappropriate and provide information requested above at the April 8th school committee meeting. Member Ruseau.

[SPEAKER_08]: Thank you, Mayor. I actually think it's self-explanatory, so I don't need to keep us here till midnight on it.

[SPEAKER_02]: approval by member Rousseau second member Graham yeah I just wanted to add that in addition to this the resolution which has been repeated here the district also issued guidance in I believe that outlined a specific set of occurrences for which the district had identified that a suspension was both appropriate and in compliance with this policy. And we're bringing this forward because we are continuing to hear about instances outside of that set of parameters that is both compliant with the policy. And compliant with the like set of reasons outlined by the administration. So I just have a lot of concerns that a this policy was never properly implemented in the first place. The things that were described in terms of funding and the things that needed to happen from a from a funding and implementation perspective, none of those things were brought to us and we have to, I think we, I think we're just veering way far away from the intent of the policy. And that is symptomatic of bad implementation and we have to think about how we can recover from that. So I want to make sure that We can be clear and I think there are some people who want to speak tonight about this. From their perspective, but I want to make sure that we are we are really evaluating whether the things that are happening in our buildings are appropriate and consistent with this policy. And I think it was always our intention to hear from the administration on on multiple occasions about how the implementation was going and I don't think we've really done that at all. So that I think we need to start to change the dynamic here around this policy. So we can make sure that a we're funding the supports needed appropriately that came up very specifically in 2021 when it became clear that there was no staff or mechanism for an in school suspension which is an alternative to suspending kids out of school, which I think is very viable and used by a lot of districts but we just have never properly like resourced or funded such a thing so it's fine if we don't need that because we don't have reasons for it but If we're hearing about students being suspended for things that are outside of our policy, like I think that's definitely a signal that we need to go back to the drawing board on this implementation and make sure that everyone in the district understands the policy and the guidance provided and that we can start to adhere to those things or something can come forward to us for consideration and we can make a change. Member Intoppa?

[SPEAKER_13]: If I can, I'd like to waive my time. I believe a member of the public would like to speak. So if I can waive out of order and then circle back, because I don't know if I have some questions about impact. So if the member of the public has any answers about that, I can reassess my questions, I believe. So I waive my time.

[SPEAKER_07]: Name and address for the record. Yes, so my name is Mary Davis. We're just going to press the button, sorry. There we go. Thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay. My name is Mary Davis. I have two children at the high school and one that graduated in 2022. I'd like to share a deeply unfair incident that occurred with our family in terms of the long-term suspension at the high school. First, I want to say that none of my children have been involved in any disciplinary actions in the past, so we are not repeat offenders. But this January, my daughter was heckled and bullied by a large group of girls that ultimately ended in a fight. There were eight of them and there was one of her. She was surrounded and closed off in one of the bathrooms. And according to her, she threw the first punch out of fear. After that first punch, a number of the girls actively assaulted my daughter and filmed it. When I picked my daughter up that day, the school acknowledged that the fight started out of bullying of my daughter. And this statement was reiterated by the assistant principal later in a police report filed by the school. But the school ultimately lumped all the girls together that engaged in the physical altercation into a criminal assault charge. And then my daughter received a long-term suspension pending the outcome of the criminal charge that the school submitted. Even though the administrators acknowledged to me that her actions related to the criminal charge were clearly an act of self-defense and that was on video. So it was a videotaped act of self-defense. Most concerning to me was the fact that the school refused to share any information related to the incident and the disciplinary action that I needed to understand and refute the charges at that long term suspension hearing. I hired an attorney to draw the school's attention to their own policy and legal violations, at which point my daughter's long term suspension was reduced to five days. But at that point, she had already spent two and a half weeks out of school. My daughter has very high needs and was on an IEP with a high level of services. So during that time when she was suspended indefinitely, they also effectively eliminated her IEP services along with it. And she is still struggling to make up the lost time from school. So although I do agree that suspensions have a place in some extreme circumstances, as it relates to safety, my concern is that the current school practice is totally out of line with legal expectation and due process. They can suspend a kid indefinitely without providing any evidence, at least in my case, of why a kid's a danger to the school. They can take away their access to education and health services without providing evidence to the family on what happened and why taking away their kid's education is a fair punishment. So with that, I support the school committee doing a further deep dive into school practices. And I'll also add that I would really like, I didn't see this in the motion, but paying particular attention to the effect on kids with IEPs. I do believe that they're being suspended at a higher rate.

[SPEAKER_07]: Thank you for presenting. Member Intoppa and then Member Branley.

[SPEAKER_13]: Well, first off, I just want to thank you for coming forward and sharing your story. That's not easy. And I apologize that that happened. My question surrounded the effectiveness of what we're proposing, but it almost sounds like we need to take a reassessment of what we look at in terms of the disciplinary practice of suspension looking at the cases. and also just to do the work looking at the claim of who's being affected higher in terms of suspension rates, as you had mentioned with IEP students. So my questions have greatly shifted, but I'm wondering where we have to look at, reassess the language and to see what fits in best practice.

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Branley?

[SPEAKER_10]: So, this obviously hits very close to home for me I know that we spoke. privately over email, but I just want to thank you for being brave enough to come up here, because I know personally how hard that is. I promised myself that I would never cry at a school community meeting. I'm not going to start now. It's still too early in my term, but there's still time. But thank you. Thank you very much for sharing your story with us, because I know what that feels like. I know how all of this feels. And I know that when I did return my email to you, that I said it actually took me courage to even respond to you. So thank you for standing there and know that this could be the result of you standing there one time. You just never know where the road is going to lead you. So always speak up. And I say that to anybody that's out there in the public, like you never know where the road will lead you or sometimes, you know, what you think or what is your some of your darkest days turns into something completely different. So thank you for being brave enough to come here and tell your story.

[SPEAKER_07]: I think we have a motion on the floor. Member Ruseau.

[SPEAKER_08]: I'd like to make a motion to approve, but I have an amendment. So my motion is, since I wrote it, I can motion to approve as amended if you agree with that. The bullet under three, the third bullet says the above data elements disaggregated by school, by grade level, and by school and grade level. I wish to add comma, and by DESE category, reporting categories. I don't have to list them here, but DESE has a set of reporting categories, which includes students with disabilities and a host of others. So that's my amendment.

[SPEAKER_07]: Okay, motion for approval as amended by Member Ruseau.

[SPEAKER_02]: member Graham, can I offer another? Two things there. Is there anybody on zoom who would like to speak? I thought there might be somebody with a hand in the air.

[SPEAKER_07]: I don't see anybody, OK?

[SPEAKER_02]: OK, so I would also like to make an amendment to item. Number three that maybe it's its own sub bullets. that describes the number of instances where Medford Public Schools has filed a police report in a related incident to a suspension. I am super concerned about students with records and charges against them. And I wanna make sure that we're doing our due diligence to keep the community safe, but that we are not ruining the lives of children in our care who make bad decisions at times. So there's definitely a needle to thread there. And I'd like to see us explore an understanding of that. In addition, in item number three, is that member member is that the number of

[SPEAKER_04]: incidents with the police report or the number of police reports? Because my understanding is there are sometimes multiple police reports filed around a single incident or is an incident defined as one student?

[SPEAKER_02]: I would say per student, but I don't know how that data is collected. So I don't have like a strong opinion about how we know about the reporting of it. I just want to make sure that we are discussing that.

[SPEAKER_07]: Okay, motion for approval by Member Ruseau and seconded by Member Graham, as amended by Member Ruseau and then Member Graham. All those in favor?

[SPEAKER_08]: Aye.

[SPEAKER_07]: All those opposed?

[SPEAKER_08]: May I have a second to that?

[SPEAKER_07]: Member Graham. Thank you. Motion passes. 2024-16, submitted by Member Graham, be resolved that the administration will present proposed fiscal year 25 rate cards for all tuition and fee-based programs and rentals for review and approval by the Medford School Committee, which may include but is not limited to pool usage, facilities, rentals, athletic user fees, preschool, MEEP, and Kids' Corner. It was further resolved that the reviews will occur as available, but no later than June 30th, 2024 for the upcoming fiscal year. Motion for approval by member Rams.

[SPEAKER_04]: I had a question. I'd like to offer an amendment that the rate cards be accompanied by a historical perspective for these funds or history or for those that are recommending a rate change. I don't know which one is more appropriate here, general history or just those with a change in mind.

[SPEAKER_02]: I think the historical record is, it makes sense. Is three years a reasonable amendment on that? Yeah, so motion to approve as amended.

[SPEAKER_07]: Motion for approval as amended by Member Graham, seconded by Member... Second. Reinfeld. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. We do not have any reports requested. We have a few condolences. The members of the Member's School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Joseph Rossetti, assistant coach of the Mustang football team. Members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of James Burns, former Medford High School teacher and junior varsity boys basketball coach. Members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Margaret Kinslow, mother of Jane King, administrative assistant at the Medford High School. And the members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Mary Jo Dice, wife of the late Paul Joe Dice, former teacher at Medford High School. If we all may rise for a moment of silence. Our next regular meeting will be on April 8th, 2024 in the Alden Memorial Chambers, Medford City Hall, in addition to Zoom and YouTube.

[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_07]: And we have a budget meeting on April 3 I believe 5pm will confirm and send that agenda out so budget meeting on the third regular meeting on the eighth motion to adjourn by member so seconded by