[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: the meeting of the Metric School Committee will come to order. Please call the roll.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Here.
[Robert Skerry]: Ms. DiBenedetto.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Present. Ms.
[Robert Skerry]: Kreatz.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Here. Ms.
[Robert Skerry]: Mustone.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Here.
[Robert Skerry]: Mr. Skerry, present. Ms. Van De Kloet.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Present.
[Robert Skerry]: Mayor Burke.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Present. Seven present, none absent. All please rise and salute our flag.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: At this time, I'd like to recognize Judy Lonegan, who I believe is in the audience. Judy. If she could come up, as we all know, Judy is instrumental in putting together the Jingle Bell Festival that we have right here in City Hall Chambers during the winter season, and also the Jingle Bell Fun Run, which raises money for many charities in our community, including the Buddy Copeland Center. So I'd ask Judy to come up and say a few words and present some trophies.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: All right. Thank you. You're welcome. First of all, I want to say a thank you to all the schools who participated in making this the success that it has been. This is our third year. This year we will be giving a total of almost $23,000 to the schools. Want to get insurance in real estate pays for the race. We buy all the t-shirts and we pay for the timing and we pay all the expenses. So every penny that is raised by all the students and parents and PTOs or whatever goes 100% directly back to the schools. So first year we raised $12,000. Last year we raised $15,000. And this year we raised $23,000. So hopefully we'll double it again. I'd like to acknowledge a couple of people. I'd like to first acknowledge Maury Carroll, who did a breakfast after the race, and he did a night before the race, and donated half of the proceeds, and he donated $1,400 to us. So, which was a huge boost in our bottom line. So, I'd like to thank him. I'd like to thank Elaine Rocha. our secretarial, and all of that, because her ability is above and beyond what I certainly am capable of doing. And she, if you don't give her the money, your name does not go on anything. So we always need somebody like her. Before we start to present them, I'd like all of you, after you've presented with your checks, those of you that are here, would you go out in the corridor so we're not disturbing the whole meeting, the whole night? so that we can take pictures for the newspaper, okay? All right, I would like to present the top winner's first place for the monies raised goes to the Roberts School, and they raised $2,991. I would like Hunter Overberg and Liam Antoine and their mothers to come up. Jennifer Antoine, I mean Susan Antoine, I'm sorry, was a huge factor in the money raised for the Robert School. She went out and really knocked herself out to raise money.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: You can come in closer if you want.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: You're welcome. All right, come over here so I can give you, come here, you two and your mothers. And you have to take your hat off so you have a good picture. All right, no, no, no. OK, why don't we hold it up here? There, OK? Cheese. Our second trophy is going to the school that had the most participants, and that goes to the Brooks School. They had 114 participants. Now these trophies... These trophies are going to be revolving trophies. And so everyone who is the winner in these categories each year, the trophy will be moved from school to school. And so we hope that it will induce competition amongst yourselves so that you have a trophy that you can. Liz.
[Unidentified]: Oh, I'm sorry.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: This is Kevin Andrews, the principal. Liz White. The Brooks School raised, where are we? The Brooks School is getting $2,000. And the Roberts School is getting $3,000. We have checks here for, I don't know if, Elaine, try to keep track of everyone who was here to receive their check. The top winners at the high school were Skills, and they raised $14,780.
[Diane Caldwell]: So I want to present you your check.
[Unidentified]: Is Mrs. Riccio here?
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: How much did they raise? They raised a total of just skills. Skills raised $14,780. My son Jay is here, do you wanna come up, Jay? I just noticed him, he was late. All right, crew, anyone here from crew? All right guys, you raised $1,100.52. Crew. When you get finished, if you give Mrs. Rocha your names so that we can have them for the paper. Oh, good. Thank you. You're so efficient.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: So we can get our big ones in the back. Asian, is anyone here from the Asian Club? Jody Lee. Mrs. Lu, I'm sorry. The Asian Club raised $1,031.08.
[Unidentified]: Congratulations.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: Do you want to be in the picture? National honor.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: Jody is also in charge of that. National Honor receives $865.35. Congratulations.
[Unidentified]: Thank you very much.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: Boys basketball, anyone here from boys basketball? No, they raise $839.51. Foreign language club, is anyone here from foreign language? Yes. Congratulations, Moody. Foreign language gets $812.63.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Mr. Belson just asked me if the check was written in Spanish, French, and Italian.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: Elaine only writes in English. You can tell when it gets down to $0.63, $0.24, $0.82 that Elaine's in charge. Is there anyone here who we haven't recognized? What club are you? OK, come on up. Gymnastics is getting, where am I? Gymnastics is getting $696.60.
[Roy Belson]: You're asking Roy.
[Unidentified]: Here, do you want to use mine?
[Roy Belson]: You probably got something in front of it. It's OK.
[Unidentified]: It's good.
[Roy Belson]: Just don't put your finger in front of the... Back up.
[Unidentified]: Here, do you want to use mine?
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: Ask the younger ones. I'll text them to you. Elaine, just turn off your phone.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Turn off your phone and put it back on.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: Does anyone here who has not been recognized to get their checks? Two schools? Okay. All right, come forward. What school are you? Oh, okay.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Have you got it? Okay. You're being presented with $1,700.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: In St. Joe's, okay.
[Unidentified]: And Columbus is getting $12.70.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: Wait a minute, do you know who you're going to address that with? Oh, I'm sorry, I'll get out of the way. No, don't go far. Don't go anywhere. This is the Columbus School, and they are getting a total of $1,275. And last but not least is, somebody else just came in?
[Unidentified]: St.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: Rayfields, okay. All right, St. Joseph's is next. And St. Joseph's is getting a total of $2,750. Thank you. St. Ray's? These guys did the water stand for the race as well. And they are receiving a total of $1,475. Now has everybody been recognized that's here? because we do have checks left over, which we will get to them. I'm asking if all of you who are presented checks or are representing, would you just go out in the hallway so we can take a picture, a group picture for everybody.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Madam Mayor, while we're doing this, while people are gathering, I just want to give my thanks to Judy Lonergan and all the people who help her. She does a tremendous job. It's a fun event. It's been incredibly successful and we thank you very, very much, Judy.
[Mn4KS2yu_8U_SPEAKER_26]: While they're setting up, I'd like to acknowledge my son, Jay, and my daughter-in-law, Liz, who did tremendous work. Rosemary Adagna, all the people who worked on the committee without them, this would never have been the success it was. And we hope that, what are you two doing in the back? So many people, it's not a one man show for this or for the festival. It's a show of hundreds of people that support these events. And hopefully next year will be even bigger and better. Somebody will have to kneel down.
[Roy Belson]: Susan! Why don't you come up with the trophy? While we're under community participation, we'd like to invite Jen DeSales to come up and say a few words about the Medford Children's Art Showcase.
[SPEAKER_17]: Name and address of the record, please. Jennifer Destels, and my address is 21 Nolwood Road, Medford. Stephanie, can you just hold it a minute, please?
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Just hold it for a minute.
[SPEAKER_17]: Thank you. And I have two kids at the Columbus. Two kids at the club? Yeah. Congratulations. Thanks. Yeah, I got some money. So I just wrote everything down, so I'm just going to read it. Thank you, school committee members, for this opportunity to speak about the 2016 Medford Children's Art Showcase. With the support of the Medford Arts Council, this seventh annual citywide exhibit will be on display next month. As in previous years, art teachers from all Medford public schools were invited to submit work at specific grade levels. This exhibit is non-competitive and inclusive so that over the years, every child in the Medford Public Schools has an opportunity to participate. This exhibit has grown since 2009 from 29 pieces to hundreds from across the city. In this exhibit, you'll find that our art educators have guided our students to accomplish many things, multiple creative responses to the same parameters, connections to literacy, social studies, math, and science, thoughtful choices about spatial relationships and design, expression of abstract concepts, humor, and visual wit. This happens every day in our schools, and this public exhibit offers a glimpse of it outside the classroom walls. Sadly, because of reconstruction, our exhibit will no longer be located at the Meadow Glen Mall, as it had been for the past five years. I want to acknowledge the Meadow Glen Mall and Mr. Tim Therot, who helped coordinate this exhibit behind the scenes. And with help from the former Mayor McGlynn and our new host at the beautiful Rivers Edge office building in Medford, students will not miss out on taking part this year. This year's exhibit will be on public display from February 8th through 26th, Monday through Friday, during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. School committee members are invited to the exhibit reception on the evening of Thursday, February 18th, 5.30 to 7.30. Local sketch artists will be donating quick portraits, and talented Medford High School student Fatima Lemos will give a short musical performance. Just to close, I wish to share a brief personal story about why this exhibit is important. Perhaps you know someone with a similar background. My family moved often when I was a child. This meant that I had to make new friends often. It didn't help that I'm rather quiet, as you can probably tell. In second grade, it happened that I transferred schools twice. So try to imagine this. It's my second time as the new girl in the middle of the school year and all these 7 year old strangers are eyeing me with curiosity. We exchange introductions, but it's generally a little awkward. But later that day comes a shining moment that quickly dissolves the tension. My new classmates gather around to look at a unicorn that I drew during art. It might not even have been that well drawn. This is nothing momentous for the world, but maybe it is in a small way. My drawing started a conversation. We suddenly found voices to talk about it and share a common interest. Even as a child, I learned that art is a way to make connections with others. It's just an everyday example of why art education matters at all levels.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you very much, Jen.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Could we send a letter thanking the managers or the owners of the Medical Inn Mall for their past five years, allowing us to have our children's exhibits there. And I also want to thank No, no, but it was at Middle Glen Mall. And also, I just want to thank you for your commitment to doing this for our students and our community, so our community gets to see the beautiful work that children create during their school day. It's another way that we get to show the community what's happening in our schools and the beautiful things that we create through our day. Thank you very much for your time and your energy. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you very much, Jen. We'll refer to the regular order of business. Approval of the minutes of January 11, 2016. Motion to approve. Motion for approval on the floor. All those in favor?
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: Aye.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All those opposed? Minutes are approved. Approval of bills, transfer of funds.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Motion for approval.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion for approval. There's one question, Mr. Benedetto.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I had a question on page 13, National Grid. It says rink expense for the amount of $12,971. Is that for our use of the rink for both our hockey teams or is that something else?
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Page 13. If you notice, it's a 114 account. That's not a school budget. The first numbers in the account, that's actually a revolving account.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Oh, right. I just hadn't seen that before in a budget.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: OK, thank you. You're welcome. There's a motion on the floor for approval by Ms. Vanden Heuvel, seconded by Mr. Skerry. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Bill's transfers are approved. Approval of payrolls. Motion for approval by Mr. Skerry. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Payrolls are approved. Report of the secretary.
[Robert Skerry]: There is none.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: There is none. Report of committees.
[Robert Skerry]: There is none.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: None. Item seven, report of superintendents. Report on project 351 program 2016. Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Madam Mayor, members of the committee, project 351 is a project that was originally started by Governor Patrick. It's been continued by Governor Baker. It's an outstanding project. It takes place, it begins on Martin Luther King Day. It's a project which brings 351 students from across the Commonwealth, from all the cities and towns, together to celebrate the idea of community service and to perpetuate the ideals of Martin Luther King. It goes on all year. And tonight, our principal, Paul DeLaver, is here with the representative from the city of Medford, Joelle Brown, and her family. And he's going to come up and tell you a little bit more about the program and about the participation of Joelle. And she'll tell you a little bit about what her first day was like.
[Paul D'Alleva]: Good evening, committee members, Madam Mayor, Superintendent Belson, as you know we participated in this program since my tenure of principal. It's always been an honor to go through the selection process for picking that eighth grade student that will represent the Andrews Middle School. It goes by nomination and then selection by teacher and Joelle Brown gets it hands down here for the Andrews. She's a great student and a wonderful person. Great face to have at the end. Great person to have us representing a face down at 351. And I don't want to take the spotlight here because it really is about Joelle and her lovely family that is always there in supporting of the Andrews. So Joelle, you explain exactly what happened when you went down last Monday.
[SPEAKER_12]: OK. So last Monday, I joined another whole group of students at the Taunt Hall and Funeral Hall in Boston. And we did a bunch of projects at IBA. So it's a Hispanic church in Boston. We painted murals, made scarves from the homeless. And we ended our day at JFK Library where Charlie Rose came and spoke to us about community service and recapped our whole day. And it was really fun there. I was proud to be a representative of Medford.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Congratulations to all of you.
[Paul D'Alleva]: And as I must add, this project is still ongoing. She actually missed a conference call tonight to be here with you guys. But we called ahead and made sure that it was OK for her to be here as well. So she's going to be taking up that venture. But this project does continue throughout the whole year. So the kickoff is really on Martin Luther King Day. But the project still goes on all the way through the year.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I just want to say I've had the privilege of actually being involved with 351 and seeing the students That I've seen every year. I Was not at the town hall this year, but I know What goes on and it's just amazing. It's amazing to see the amount of students that are there. It's amazing to see how just it's a joy. Everyone just wants to help each other and the experiences that our kids get is incredible. And I can't express how happy I am that we have Medford at the table and we have our representatives of our city go down and be part of this wonderful project. So I thank you and I keep on thanking all the students that are always involved. So thank you very much for this.
[Paul D'Alleva]: Don't forget her little sister. I have a funny feeling she'll be a representative someday too.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Jackie Brown. Thank you so much, Mr. DeLaver, for having selected her. It's such an honor. We're just blown away that this little preemie that we thought would never live is just outstanding and is standing before us. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Mike. Thanks for all you do for Medford and for the schools, Mr. DeLaver and the staff at Andrews Middle School.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Does she want a taste? I'm sure she wants a taste.
[Roy Belson]: So Madam Mayor and members of the committee, I also attach to this a press release on the Martin Luther King Day activity at the community center in which several of our students participated. This is informational for you. We'll schedule another time for them to come down and be recognized for their work as well. But this evening, it was not appropriate for them to come down at this time, not possible.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: While I was not able to go this year, I did attend last year, and altogether this year there were 20 Medford students. And I know last year when the kids spoke, it just blew everybody away. And I happen to know one of these students, and he's such a fabulous kid. And these are the sorts of things which, again, makes Medford awfully proud when our students go out and speak like this.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Well, I was honored to be in attendance that day at St. Rayfield's Parish Hall, which is a beautiful facility. And the young students did an amazing job. They spoke so eloquently. I'm so very proud of what they had to say about community and giving back and recognizing that they may have been through some difficult times. But in order to move forward, you have to address the issues that are before you. And they did a fabulous job. So congratulations to you all. Make us proud. Report on Focus K-2 grant program.
[Roy Belson]: Mr. Mayor, members of the committee, I'm going to call on our assistant superintendent, Diane Caldwell, to tell you about this program, which we're doing with the state.
[Diane Caldwell]: Good evening. So I am very proud to announce that Shore Collaborative, along with Medford, Cambridge, and Malden Public Schools, has been awarded a Focus K-2 grant for $112,000 for school year 2015-16. This grant supports the statewide goal of improving literacy from kindergarten through second grade and will enhance the role of educational collaboratives as a partner with the ESC and school districts in early literacy. The grant is part of a four-year plan to improve literacy in the state. The grant allows Medford Public Schools to participate in professional development training on effective early learning literacy practices. These practices are designed to improve curriculum and instruction and assessment approaches exemplified by Focus K-2, a research-based curriculum developed by Boston Public Schools Early Childhood Department and its higher education partners. Boston Public Schools is currently piloting a similarly structured curriculum for the first grade and the second grade curriculum is under development. Educators will learn about effective practices in early literacy through the integrated developmentally appropriate approach to curriculum, instruction, and assessments. The practices and content are aligned with the mass curriculum frameworks in English language arts, social studies, and science, as well as the National Association for the Education of Young Children, otherwise known as NIAC, standards and the WIDA standards. So this grant will pay for the following, training provided by Boston Public Schools, district school participants' attendance at two statewide conferences as well as two regional conferences, reimbursement back to districts for substitutes for the days of the training that the staff goes to, staff mileage expenditures, classroom supplies, $500 for kindergarten teachers, who participate in the grant, and there's a literacy specialist who will work with our teachers to begin preparing and laying the foundation for implementing the Focus K-2 project. Medford Public Schools is committed to a one-year So it's just from January to June and we just found out last week that we were awarded this grant. And it's an exploration approach. Training will provide an introduction and overview of the principles as well as instruction, assessment and practices embedded in the curriculum for kindergarten through second grade. We'll have a team of teachers, K through two, that will be attending two conferences and the regional meetings. Each teacher will select at least one practice or principal from the state conference to work in their schools and then attend the regional networking meetings. We will meet towards the end of this school year to decide if this approach to learning warrants a continuation of three more years for this grant. I have brought with me this evening, well actually they came by themselves, but Maria Skiffington and Amanda Gass have piloted this grant since September. On their own, they went to Boston Public Schools this past summer and learned all about Focus K2 and were so excited about the thematic changes in the developmental approach to kindergarten that they got me on board with this in a hurry. So I'd like to ask Amanda and Maria to come up. Inside your packet, I have provided you with an introduction to Focus K2, an integrated approach towards teaching and learning, Amanda and Maria's daily schedules and their kindergarten curriculum map and a list of the literature used during the school year. Ms. Gass and Ms. Giffington are here to answer any questions you might have. So we're looking at this as an introduction for us. We already have a lot of other kindergarten teachers who are very interested in attending the conferences that will be coming up in the next month or two. And these are my stars. They've been doing this since September. So if you have any questions, I'm sure they'd be happy to answer them.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Madam Mayor?
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Thank you. I just have a question how this relates to the journeys program that we recently purchased and how we're going to use both programs.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: Journeys is actually a separate program that is wound into it through literacy. We have a literacy block too, but focus is an integrated center based kind of approach. whatever we learn in Journeys is brought into the integrated centers.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So you're using both programs at the same time?
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, they're integrated. And I think in the document that you gave us, there's a curriculum map, and you can see exactly how Journeys fits into it along with them.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Perfect. I just want to make sure that we're utilizing the program that we just recently purchased, because we really want to give that program time to build from our really beginning foundation grades up because I believe that that program will help raise our scores for both MCAS, but not even that, but will help, you know, all of our students in vocabulary and in so many ways. And if every student across the district is learning from the same program, I really like that. So that way, as they get to different grade levels where they, they mingle together. they've all had the same basics and that goes smoothly.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: Absolutely. It was designed to be able to incorporate whatever literacy or math program you have. Um, so it's kind of like an overall approach center wise and then these things get plugged in and we, we follow the journeys. program, Boston follows whatever theirs is.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: That's terrific. I'm really happy to hear that. And I think it's a great opportunity for us to learn more.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_12]: And the program also builds on, so the common core standards, the comprehension standards, on top of the journeys curriculum, the focus on K2 builds on that and supports those concepts from journeys.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: And I love that the classroom teaches directly at $500 to get what they need for classroom supplies, and you get to choose what those are?
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: Well, no. When you look at what we have to do, there was a lot of need for certain types of books. We needed a lot of paint. We needed a lot of different art supplies that we never used before, like clay and things like that. So it's a really It's a really cool approach. I mean, they're very artistic. They work together. I mean, we saw them just collaborate on making these dioramas. Little kids, and you hear them talking about how to, you know, we should put a wolf den here, and we should do this here. So it's like, there's just a lot of different materials based on what the center is.
[Diane Caldwell]: So, I observed both Amanda and Maria within the past two weeks, and I was amazed by the science projects the children were doing. So, Ana Paula and I know that you're coming to visit the Roberts Elementary tomorrow. We welcome you there. But if you get a chance to come see what the ladies are doing, you'll be amazed by what they do.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I'd love to come by. I would love to come by. I'll schedule that soon. Sure.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: Yeah, anytime.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Ms. Cooney. Thank you. First of all, I want to say thank you and congratulations. This is great. The $112,000 grant, is that a, it's a short collaborative effort, Cambridge Malden. Is that all of us with the same amount of money divided up or?
[Diane Caldwell]: So I wrote the grant with Shore Collaborative and my piece, our piece of it is $52,000.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Okay, because that made me feel better. Now $52,000 divided by three years or just for this year?
[Diane Caldwell]: It's just for this year and then we'll meet towards the end of the year and actually We're going to invite first grade teachers to some of the networking meetings and conferences because if we decide that kindergarten is great and we may want to follow it up to first grade, I would like the first grade teachers involved in this. So at the end of the school year we'll decide whether we want to go for another three years.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Okay, so this particular grant then is just for this year, and then you would have to re-assess? I have to rewrite a grant in June. Okay, and if you have to rewrite it, would it be for that particular year, or would it be like, you think, in a three-year span?
[Diane Caldwell]: So the really nice part of this grant is, we can write it for three years. But after a year, if we decide this is just what we want to do, kindergarten one, we can stop after one year if it's not exactly what we want in second grade.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: OK. And the $500 for the kindergarten teachers, is that included within the money that they're giving us, or is that above the money? That's included in the money. Oh, OK. All right. But we have to spend $500 in the supplies like they're saying.
[Diane Caldwell]: Yes. There's a lot of literature that both ladies actually, you sent me the list of what you needed during the summer, and we were able to get that for the ladies. And it comes to about $500. Yeah, that was great. All right, thank you.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Ms. Kreatz? Yes, I wanted to say I was really, I enjoyed reading it, and I especially liked the year-long implementation of the community animal habitats, construction in our It was amazing. It sounds very exciting. And I'd be interested in observing one of the classes. So I'll definitely get in touch with you. I really like it.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_12]: those thematic units that we do. We're just wrapping up our second one on animals and habitats. And it's culminating with a showcase that we're gonna have other kindergartens walk through, but parents, it's parent night. But they really own it, you know? And they really care about it. It's not just information that's being thrown at them. So we're really, we're very excited. But it makes a lot of sense for this age group.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: But if anybody does want to come, we are doing the centers. We usually do them around 1030 to about quarter of 12? No. Quarter of 12? Yeah. Quarter of 12. So if you come those times, you'll see focus and take to an action.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: Miss Mustone. Thank you both for being here, Ms. Caldwell. I just wanted to see if you could just speak about how great it would be to have a full-time aide while you roll out this K through 2 grant program. It seems like there's a lot of writing, which is hard to do with 20 kids with one adult.
[Diane Caldwell]: So Ms. Mastone, we are working on trying to get full-time aides. This is something that I know will come up in meetings as we go along. Obviously, it does help if you have a full-time aide to help you throughout the day.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: Absolutely. I mean, there's certain questions that we have to prompt the kids as they're working, and there's about, what, eight centers? So it's great if we could have another person asking those in-depth questions so that we can have them, you know, working on critical thinking skills while they're working. So yeah, that would definitely help.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_12]: And as the year goes on, working with Something that's unique about Focus on K2 is the goal is really this higher order thinking. So if you walk into one of our classrooms, we will hand you a list of questions that you will be responsible for asking the kids at the center. So they're not just playing with blocks. You're using certain vocabulary. And so while we're working with small groups, our instructional aid is definitely in charge of doing that at the centers, as are any visitors.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So I'm really anticipating my visit tomorrow morning with the kids. I have to tell you that interestingly, way back when, when we had the Hervey Developmental School, this reminds me very, very, very much of what my students, my own kids had at the Hervey for developmental education. In fact, one of the greatest differences actually is when I got to the last page and I saw some emphasis on phonics, which is one thing they didn't do particularly well back then. But the small group and like you said, you know, the kids doing the most amazing projects and working together. It's a joy and I'm really anticipating seeing your classrooms tomorrow.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: I just want to add actually, I love this idea because it's hands on and it's something that I know that we've been talking about for a long time because of all the testing that goes around our academics. This is just a great opportunity, especially for young children. That it's difficult. It's difficult when they have like, you know, IEPs or they're coming from a different culture or they're coming, you know, they don't know the language. This is hands on. And it not only brings what they're learning to it, but it brings the community and the social part of it, which is just amazing. Now, is this going to be something that all the schools are going to be involved with?
[Diane Caldwell]: So I've asked for two representatives of kindergartens from each of the schools, so it's equitable, to participate in the conferences and the networking meetings. And one first grade teacher. And because we just found out we got the grant last week, the email went out today. So I've got four replies so far.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: And I don't know if it's possible to do, but I was just thinking just for a fun thing, maybe at the end, is to try to put all the projects together and actually put it out as a display where people could come and see it. And the students could actually see, you know, what they've done.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: It's interesting that you bring that up because it does end in, there's a culminating project. Oh. And we're actually going to contact Mrs.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Well, see, I just got to start.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: How about it? Yeah, so there is a project called, what we're thinking is called My Medford. Boston has My Boston. And there's a kind of a request put forth by the mayor. And the kids rise to the occasion and come up with the way, whatever the mayor decides what we should do. In Boston, they're doing how can we make Boston more child-friendly and more I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: but at the end of the school year, we actually did it up at the high school, and everyone came, and it was really a nice, it was really joyful to see the students, as you said, take their ownership of it, but it was nice to see a nice, it was competitive, but it was in a nice way. It wasn't really competitive that we have to take your school down, but just to really see what everybody did, and it actually gave a great opportunity to a community to come in and see what the students were doing.
[Diane Caldwell]: So Mayor Burke will be getting in contact with you soon. I was thinking about that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Roy Belson]: Mr. Superintendent. So I want to point this out because I think Paulette hit it from the head. We were doing this for years. And this was part of what we call developmentally appropriate learning at the early grades. And the standards curriculum came in and it pushed academic learning down. We've had this discussion with the kindergarten teachers. We actually had a meeting last year where we were talking about what kindergarten teachers need to do in the assessment of students and the like. And we made the commitment to look more developmentally appropriate. This is what you do at Elliott Pearson. This is what you do at some of these places. So we're trying to get kindergarten one, two, to look more developmentally appropriate and to be more developmentally appropriate. You may have seen that Mayor Walsh in Boston advocated for an expanded early childhood program recently. The governor is still not committal at this particular point. But this is a very powerful strand of advocacy that's going on in the state. The problem is the money's not behind him, yet. So there's a lot going on with early childhood, trying to get it back to what early childhood is really supposed to be about, which is helping youngsters do things tactile, to play, to learn through play, integrate learning, and not get siloed into academic areas. This is something that you're going to see more of, because I think people are catching on again. They're starting to, if you will, rebel against the academic infusion that goes down too low. Because as youngsters develop, this is how they learn. And then they're ready to do academics. You can't rush the learning. Some people think you can speed it up. You can't. If you do, you miss steps. So it's really important for us to understand how significant this is.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion to receive and place on file. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Thank you for being here.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you very much. Thank you.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Report on Environmental Science, Chapter 74, Program Approval.
[Roy Belson]: Madam Mayor and members of the committee, Our Director of Vocational Education, Heidi Riccio, is here. Dr. Heidi Riccio is here. Give her credit. She worked hard. And there's a lot of vocational reports tonight. And let's start with the environmental science report, which is a significant addition to our programs. And we had a visit from the state the other day. And it's really quite fun. I'm going to let Heidi go into it.
[Heidi Riccio]: Thank you, Superintendent Belson, Mayor Burke. and District Committee. As you know, in the spring of 2014, Medford Vocational Technical High School applied for 10 new Chapter 74 programs with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. That next year, in school year 14-15, we received approval for seven of those 10 programs, which was pretty aggressive on our part, but definitely necessary in moving the school forward into the 21st century. We did not get approval for hospitality, design and visual communications, and the environmental science. Hospitality and design and visual are part of two existing programs that we already have approval for, and that's why we opted to focus on environmental science. We did post for a position in the spring, and it is extremely difficult to find a licensed Chapter 74 environmental science instructor. as it has a completely separate license than any other science in a comprehensive setting. This delayed our approval of the environmental science program, which it was the only factor that did delay in us not getting approval. In the fall of 2015, we were fortunate enough to take on or re-post for that position. And after a couple of months of not getting any applications, we did seek a retired environmental science instructor who actually wrote the curriculum frameworks for the state. He also happens to be a board member of our program advisory committee, as well as assist in the fells. So his name is Charles Sonier. He happened to graduate from Medford High School. He is currently in Arlington. And because he recently retired from Essex Agricultural or Essex Technical High School, the state will reward or re-award his license, provided that he does the professional development. So, last Thursday, I would like to thank Superintendent Belson as he sat through the entire two-hour meeting in environmental science. We had two individuals from the state. We had an OSHA safety visit from David Edmonds, who is in charge of OSHA and safety training for the state, as well as Mara Russell, who is our liaison for Chapter 74. programs. They come in and they inspect, so we actually have to have a program advisory committee where we had seven members present from the community. We had Alicia Hunt as well from the city, but we also had members from Tufts University and other companies and businesses around Medford that directly relate with environmental science. After inspection, there were just a couple minor It wasn't really safety concerns, but there was a box where it shouldn't have been. So we simply picked up the box and moved it to another location. But other than that, everything is in its way or on its way. We're waiting for final approval from the state, but we really have no indication of why we wouldn't get it. So hopefully by next school committee meeting, we will have that final approval.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: First of all, again, Heidi, thank you for all your work for you and your staff. You've done a tremendous job in such a short amount of time.
[Heidi Riccio]: Just out of curiosity, why didn't we get hospitality, design, and visual? Because they're part of existing programs of culinary arts and graphic communications, We had to divide and conquer. We don't have excessive funds in teaching staff. And so there is a special license that holds for hospitality and design and visual. So because it's naturally embedded into those existing programs, we opted for the programs that we do not have that are not part of another program.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Which would make sense, but I was just curious. So is it basically the reasoning is because we don't have the teacher in place for this? for the hospitality and design?
[Heidi Riccio]: Correct. So the future would be that, yes. So our intent is in the next two to three years would be to hire a design and visual instructor that is licensed in design and visual, but then also to hire a hospitality instructor that is licensed in hospitality.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: And out of everything that we've already, that we already offer and what you're trying to place now, um, do you see any other type of, major that maybe we should be really looking into that we haven't touched upon yet? There are a lot.
[Heidi Riccio]: So information technology is something that we really should be considering in the next couple of years. And the reason is, is that networking will become extremely critical or it already is critical. There's a workforce demand and shortage plumbing. There's a workforce demand and shortage. The average age of a plumber is 56 years old in the state of Massachusetts, and all plumbers have to go through some sort of a trade schooling, so that would be another program.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Okay, and I mean, you've seen the numbers and what students are asking for. Would you say that what you just said to, you know, the two things that you just mentioned, the informational technology and the plumbing. I mean, I know that plumbing has been something that's been really on the top of our list for a very long time. So what stops us from having the plumbing part of this?
[Heidi Riccio]: Well, we do have HVAC, and I would like to point out that most HVAC technicians are also licensed plumbers, and the reason is that HVAC includes a combination of sheet metal or metal fabrication, plumbing, and electrical, so they actually need to learn three different segments of that larger industry. So, I think you have to look at what programs that we don't have that are part of other programs, because you're looking at transferable skill sets. So, within that construction industry, there are transferable skill sets in all of those industries.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Thank you.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Ms. Vantaflue. I just wanted to mention that by chance, about, I think, two years ago, I met Mr. Solnier, and at that time, I was just hoping that at some point we could tempt him to become the teacher because his passion, his knowledge, his expertise in this field, and his knowledge of the fellows is just extraordinary. And I'm sure that this program is getting off on the very best foot with him in that position. I'm glad you were able to get him. Thank you.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Us too. Mr. Benedetto? I just had a question. Mr. Sawyer agreed to take this position on a part-time basis. Correct. That with the other teaching time that other teachers can provide would be enough to open this?
[Heidi Riccio]: No, the intention, so because it's a new program, we have just grade 10 students, grade 9 and 10 students in there. And whenever you start a program that is STEM-related, particularly in biotechnology and environmental science, it takes a good five years before kids understand what that program is. So through the exploratory process, can we educate the students and the parents on what is environmental science, because it is a very broad field. So you really kind of have to hone in on it, as well as biotechnology. So currently, the part-time schedule is OK, because the numbers kind of dictate what staffing levels you need. However, in the future, we would need to seek full-time employment as an environmental science teacher.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: And how are we about, how are we going about recruiting for that position? Because if we're going to need it in the near future, are we contacting any colleges with people with that major?
[Heidi Riccio]: So the problem with contacting colleges is that chapter 74 license demands not only college education, but field experience. So you can't actually get licensed as a vocational teacher fresh out of college. And that's critical, because we're teaching students how to actually work and be eligible for college at the same time. So it's not as simple as going to a college or university system. However, with Charles Cernier, he's very well connected in that industry. So we believe that we'll be able to seek appropriate applicants and guide them towards a licensure. Because sometimes experts in the field get taken aback by all of the licensure requirements at the Department of Education. So we will be there to kind of hold their hand through the process.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: My other question is interest from students. Do you see that this shop will be build an interest through the next few years. I know it has to build, like it goes through just the freshmen and sophomores taken as exploratory and then it's more like the third year that students actually are going to be enrolling in the shop. Am I correct?
[Heidi Riccio]: No, they actually enroll as freshmen. Halfway through, after their exploratory process, they choose their program. And right now biotechnology and environmental science are considered a one major until their junior year. And then they will major out between the two because they will learn the lab skills that they need that intersect between the two standards. Okay.
[Roy Belson]: Mr. Superintendent, Madam Mayor, members of the committee, um, just to give you some reflection on the meeting that was held with the state, One, it was a very full meeting. There were people there, friends of the Fells were there, other people were there who were expert in the field of environmental science. But what's really significant to us is that everyone was remarking that the high school, vocational school, is actually on the grounds of a very, very significant environmental science field. The Fells is right behind the school. You couldn't find a better laboratory. than the outside of Medford High School with all the activities that are out there in the field. And they were all remarking just how wonderful it is to have that geographic location in our midst. That's one. Second thing is in talking about students, a number of our students have gone to Minuteman for environmental science. That will no longer be the case. And that allows us to reinvest in ourselves, and it allows us to put the biotech and the environmental together, and to grow that program very, very significantly. So those are two very, very significant things as a result of this movement. And we also have quite a few youngsters in the high school that have been very, very active in environmental science as well, and they'll be able to cross over. And a lot of the discussions that have taken place between the headmaster and the director have been on the issues of sharing resources. So we're going to see youngsters who are maybe not formally involved in environmental science as a chapter 74 program also be interested in taking advantage of that program too. And the headmaster actually has a joint program with Tufts University underway right now. So environmental science is going to be a very, very exciting area. The other day there was a young man, Daniel Powers, and his family there, incredibly impressive. His interest and how he got involved. We just have to bring some of these people down to every committee of the whole so you can actually hear the enthusiasm from the young people. And so you can see it, maybe even go up into the science lab itself and see how they actually use the materials. It's really impressive. It really is quite an exciting area, especially given the whole discussion of climate today. It's an environment that's really significant. And Alicia Hunt from the City's offices were also very active and very interested in pursuing things as well. So you're going to see a lot of integration between city and school on that as well.
[Kathy Kreatz]: Yes. Um, I just wanted to say, um, in regards to like the halftime position, Heidi, did you ever, um, cause I think if you can send in a critical waiver, like a shortage with the DSE, um, if you can't find anybody to fill like a certified position, you might be able to, get a critical shortage waiver if he was going to go to full-time status without the license?
[Heidi Riccio]: Yes, we would look at that for next school year when our sophomores become juniors. We would actually, if we weren't able to find a license certified, we would actually meet with Superintendent Belson and talk about getting a critical waiver. But you'll be able to see Daniel in the paper or read about him because a transcript is doing a story on our fish farm. So you should get it either tomorrow evening electronically or Thursday. Excellent.
[Roy Belson]: We're growing tilapia, if you didn't know.
[Heidi Riccio]: Yes. They're very cute, but they'll be in culinary for their lunch break. They're cute right now, but when they grow.
[Roy Belson]: The fish don't know it then.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: No.
[Roy Belson]: We haven't told them what their future is. Head first.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: I hope you didn't name them. I hope you didn't name them. Thank you, Mr. Chiu. Motion to receive and place on file the report on environmental science, chapter 74. And you'll shoot us out an email?
[Heidi Riccio]: Absolutely.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: When you get approval? Yes. Very good. Absolutely. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Report on dual enrollment at Bunker Hill Community College health assisting program.
[Roy Belson]: So here's another vocational program. Dr. Riccio will take you through it. It's another exciting program. You saw the other day about one of our students who was in this program. And it's another exciting program that's really taking off. So we're going to leave that to Dr. Riccio to introduce our student and talk a little bit about the program.
[Heidi Riccio]: Thank you. This is Catty. I don't know, did you all meet Catty? But we'll talk about her in just a sec. Stand tight, next to me. Next to me. Okay. So in 2014, last school year, we worked with the guidance department at the high school and Ms. Jensen, the director of guidance, because we did not have a college and career placement software system like the high school. So we incorporated Naviance into our curriculum, but we also incorporated the advisory programming into our curriculum as well. And we felt that that was important because what we found as a need is that many of our students were not taking the SATs or the PSATs or really realizing their full potential if they wanted to go on to post-secondary options, whether it was a two or four year university system. So out of that, we feel as though we're doing more strategic planning with our students, and we have articulation agreements already by nature of what we do as a vocational school in most of our programs with community colleges, but this is a special dual enrollment program for our health assisting students. There are two other vocational schools, Somerville and Madison Park, that also have this dual enrollment program with Bunker Hill, but it's called STAND. They actually have to take the accuplacer, be interviewed, and they had an induction ceremony just this past week with all of the other inductees. We have three students that were awarded this opportunity for dual enrollment, which means that they don't pay any money as part of this dual enrollment program. And Keddie is one of them, Keddie Toussaint. who also happens to be in SkillsUSA and many other activities. We have Adriana and Layla. And if I could just speak very briefly about Ketty, if you didn't read the story, is that Ketty came to us, she's probably one of the most American great stories, I think, right? sure whether she wants to be or not. She came here with her dad at the age of 10 from Haiti and left her mom at home. And her dad and her parents just wanted her to have a better life for her. And so she knew very little English when she came here, so she had a lot of different transitions in this world. And she actually is number one at this time, because it's really neck and neck. But right now, she's number one in the class at the vocational school. So we're very proud of her. She always has a smile on her face, too. She also participated in the Harvard Medical School, something that she came to us and applied for on her own. And the letter of recommendation that she got from one of the doctors that presented to her was unbelievable. And it kind of brought a couple tears to my eyes, right, just a little bit. But it's pretty cool. She's an incredible girl who just remember her face and her name. because she will be famous someday. And where did you get into college? Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. Beautiful. So in your packet, you have a little descriptor of what STAND is and what it's all about. But we're very proud of all of our students, obviously at the school, but the health assisting students for kind of embarking on this new endeavor.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. With this program, you take classes at Bunk Hill Community College, correct? How do you get there?
[Ann Marie Cugno]: My friend's, Adriana's mom plans on driving us there.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Okay, and is it during the school day? Tuesdays, it starts tomorrow. And how many classes are you taking? And what do you receive when you finish that program? So is that an LPN program?
[Heidi Riccio]: So they have different content areas that they can choose, so depending on where their area of focus is.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: And I know that Bunker Hill is a two-year program that has an affiliation with UMass Boston. So if you wanted to go for a four-year degree in nursing, that all your credits are then transferred from Bunker Hill onward. So this is a really great opportunity for a lot of our students. not just in nursing, but in the imaging field as well, because, you know, with all the baby boomers coming to age, you're going to be taking care of them. There's going to be plenty of people to do that for. And this is a really great opportunity. I'm so thrilled that Medford represented so well, and that your director has really initiated so many programs for the students at Alvo Vocational School. I could not be prouder. And I wish you nothing but the best. And I can't wait to see you on graduation.
[Heidi Riccio]: as number one. You might have to have them both up there.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: A tie is always good. Congratulations. I'm in awe. This is absolutely wonderful. This is absolutely wonderful. Um, I guess I'm just looking at it, you know, since Bunker Hill has decided to help us out, You are the pilot program of showing them what we have in students. And I'm just hoping that the other schools that we have in the vicinity of Medford will see what a great opportunity this is. And I hope that they start opening up their doors and giving us the opportunity like this for their schools. Because I'm telling you, thank you for representing the city.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Congratulations.
[Kathy Kreatz]: I'd like to say thank you also and congratulations to Katie, Adriana, and Lolanda. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Wonderful. There are a motion on the floor to receive and place on file. So moved by Ms. Cugno. All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. Report on Boston-Keyer's collaborative.
[Roy Belson]: Dr. Riccio. So once again, making a maiden appearance at the school committee, Dr. Heidi Riccio.
[Heidi Riccio]: Just take a seat, Heidi. I have nothing else going on in my world, so I just figured.
[Roy Belson]: And we're not done yet. OK.
[Heidi Riccio]: Boston Cares is a voluntary organization where they seek out, or companies seek them out, and Boston Cares matches up different community service. So many organizations now are requiring their employees to do so many hours of community service work over the course of the year. Boston Pairs used to use the carpentry building in Dorchester, the union building in Dorchester, to help assemble or cut and prepare loft beds, toggle beds. And they grew out of that space. So they contacted us thinking that it would be a nice partnership, community service farms, units, but also civic consciousness and awareness of what's going on in their surrounding communities. And what happens is when somebody is homeless and they are given a home, in order to get the funding for that apartment, they have to prove that they have a bed for each child in which they have. So in order for them to do that, we donate these parts of these common beds. This particular project will be a reminder for King Day. It probably started advertising on the news in Boston, where they had a variety of days of service. That film company had actually started, but it's continuing to go at Boston Line. Our students, what they did was they cut all of the parts. They then shipped them out to the organization Boston Cares, and then Boston Cares distributed them to Boston Latin School for the volunteers to assemble and sand and paint these bookshelves to then go to families. So this is a new partnership that we have. We'll be making, these were 50 bookshelves that we made. But over the course of the year, we will be making 500 bed frames or toddler bed kits, because they're really just kits in order for them. And some people may say, well, what does that have to do with carpentry? Well, it's always something out of civic awareness as part of their curriculum. But in addition to that, it's a great entry-level skill, because our carpentry students really have to practice cutting and measuring. measure twice, cut once. So that is the goal. And so by the end of it, our grade nine and 10 students will have mastered that particular standard that's in their curriculum.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you. I just have a question. Is there any way that the children can actually go and see a house that one of the beds are being utilized in? Like at the end or at the beginning to help them understand the impact that they're having on someone's life.
[Heidi Riccio]: I left them leave only because they have a test tomorrow, but SkillsUSA is using this as their community service project. She shut herself off. My husband does it all the time. So we will be using this as a SkillsUSA community service project. So they will actually be coordinating with Boston CARES carpentry students. So they'll be doing the scheduling and the figuring out. They'll be working with companies. And then they'll also do the delivery. So they'll see it from beginning to end. So yes.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Will they actually see the child?
[Heidi Riccio]: Delivering to the home. Great.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: And they'll get it.
[Heidi Riccio]: That's the intention. Sometimes families are very proud, and they don't necessarily want individuals involved. So depending on the privacy of those families, we would definitely respect that. But that would be the intention.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: That's great, because I really feel like if you teach children community service at a young age, They teach everybody they meet. Absolutely. And it just becomes a better place to live for all of us. Thank you so much. This is a great program.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Thank you. Ms. Cuno. With all the bed frames that they need to make and the kids, I'm just curious in knowing, is it all going to be incorporated during the day during their academic, well, not their academic week, but the week that they're hands-on? Or is this something that they're also going to be doing like after school?
[Heidi Riccio]: It's a combination. So there'll be the SkillsUSA students and we're actually going to be working with Dr. Preller at the high school for kids that want to do community service after school. And those SkillsUSA students will be coordinating that part of it. So it will be students during their program time, but it's allotted program time because they can't really be cutting the entire day. So it'll be very specific times of the week that they will be doing it, and then it will be also performed after school.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: It's a great way of putting both sides together, and if there's any, you know, like sometimes, I know the National Honor Society has a lot of things going on, but not just to target particular groups, but to open it up to all students would be great. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Is there a motion on the floor to receive and place on file? So moved. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? The motion passes. Report on $75,000 grant for adult building trades program.
[Roy Belson]: Madam Mayor and members of the committee, the day students are not the only people who are beneficiaries of the vocational school. There's more coming, so once again, making her first appearance, no, Dr. Heidi Richel.
[Heidi Riccio]: Thank you. Okay, so we partnered, we're actually a partner in this grant, so the good news is we didn't have to write the entire thing. We just had to present the curriculum and work with a variety of different partners. You actually have all of the partners in the memorandum of understanding. The grant in its entirety is $200,000, but what they do is they release, so the state releases specific funds at different times of this year. So it's an 18-month grant where we will be training underemployed, unemployed, with a focus on females, Latinos, and English as second language adult students, including those that have recently become civilians and out of the military. So it will be an evening school program as part of our adult education. But our students, I always feel like our students will benefit because some of these participants may be parents of our children. And they will reap the benefit of that because the goal is to make them employable after this six week training program. And the union, our local 22, has been very supportive of this, but also different companies where they will actually give them first bid to apply for a position, a full-time employment position.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: When will the six weeks begin, their program?
[Heidi Riccio]: It is scheduled to start in May. We just did receive the funding last week. So what happens now is now we look at it and really plan the curriculum. And we have to post for an instructor, an evening instructor, obviously, for a carpentry. But everything is paid for out of this funding. So we don't necessarily get a check. This is a little bit different than a grant that we would get and where we get a check and it's for equipment, et cetera. This is specifically targeted for certain areas. So it would be employment, the cost of the program, meaning the cost of equipment and maintenance and supplies and materials, but also the cost of the instructors to run the program.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Excellent. Motion to receive in place on file.
[Robert Skerry]: Motion to receive in place on file.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Thank you so much for being here this evening and all these wonderful programs you've
[Roy Belson]: Before she goes, I just want you to know there's more coming. Heidi has a lot of spare time, so we've given her more things to do. But I think what's really significant is on Friday, Heidi and I attended, along with Lisa Berube, who is our cooperative placement coordinator, attended a activity at the Federal Reserve Bank run by the Alliance for Vocational and Technical Education. The featured speaker was the Governor, Secretaries of Education, Workforce Development and Labor, and Housing and Urban Development were all there along with representatives from around the state, Commissioner of Education and others. And the whole purpose was to talk about how we're going to advance vocational education because obviously Vocational education provides a tremendous alternative for youngsters who want to go right into the workforce, or who want to go to college and develop their career after they acquire a skill. And this was an outstanding meeting. We went over a lot of possibilities. There's substantial money coming down from the state. We're applying for it. We've put together several partnerships, which you will hear about very soon, as soon as we get a little bit more go ahead to talk about them in public. I think you're going to see some really exciting things coming out of the vocational school going forward, and out of the overall high school going forward with regard to vocational and skills-based education. So there's a lot going on in this area, a substantial amount of activity. And Heidi's been a tremendous addition to our administrative team. And I don't know if she sleeps, but she's producing work at a tremendous amount. Thank you. She's got a short commute back to Salisbury, so she might get on the road.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Next report on kindergarten registration process for the school year 2016-17.
[Roy Belson]: So we're providing you this information early at this point in time. It's not going out just yet, but we're going to start to alert people that kindergarten registration takes place. And there's several reasons why. One, Charter schools in our area are recruiting quickly on kindergarten, and they have to have their enrollments in by March 1 to get their funding. That's to start with. Also, we have situations in which some people are not sure of our kindergarten process, how to get there. So we want to get people early, as early as we possibly can. So we're giving you this information. We're ramping up our public relations, ramping up our outreach to people, but the formal process won't start until a little bit later. But we're making sure people get information, we're letting them know there's workshops coming, that there's opportunities to attend our schools, and that we have great class size, we have great other things going for us, and possibly other things that might come. But I think that it's kind of important that we get out front and let people know just how good our kindergartens are and things we're doing so that they don't opt for something besides us. And then we pay that tuition through charter school or through some other activity. So just to give you information of what's going out the door, it's on our webpage. We're going to keep promoting it and letting people know that the formal period will start a little bit later. But pay attention, there's a lot going on in our kindergartens.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: This is great.
[Mea Quinn Mustone]: And the only thing that I want to ask about is that parents of preschoolers had said it's difficult to learn the community or the culture, that information meetings are helpful, but it'd be almost nicer if they could go in during the school day to see a classroom in action where their child actually would be with the size, the teacher, the feel of the school.
[Roy Belson]: We need to be careful that we don't disrupt the classes and create a revolving door, people coming and going. But let's see if we can't do something that would give people some access. If they request it or we tell them that if you're really unsure, maybe we can do it. A lot of people are not unsure, they don't need that. There may be some people that do. So it's a good suggestion, let's look into it.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Madam Mayor, at this though, it looks like the first opportunity is April 26th. Is that?
[Roy Belson]: First opportunity for, I'm sorry.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: For, on the yellow flyer, building bridges to kindergarten.
[Diane Caldwell]: So yes, Ms. Vandercook, that's the building bridges where Ms. Gross and Maria Michelli present at Medford High School, and then a week later, we usually rotate our kindergarten presentations. They'll be at the Roberts Elementary School. Yes.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So, again, when I heard parents talking, they were asking it for earlier because they were trying to make decisions. And so, for me, April, that late in April actually feels late because they wanted it
[Diane Caldwell]: So if parents are trying to make a decision if they want to come to Medford Public Schools, they usually contact me or they can contact a principal and take a tour of the buildings, which is what Ms. Mastoni was alluding to. We don't like people to do the revolving door, walking in and out, but certainly principals can arrange to have parents observe a classroom earlier.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: I'm just saying we can't do that session any earlier. We can't do another one earlier. I'm not sure about that, but I can check for you.
[Roy Belson]: We can talk about it.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you very much. This brought to mind my request for what the cost, the report I requested last week, two weeks ago when we were here, about the cost increase to move our part-time kindergarten aides to full-time. I know this evening when I asked you about it, you gave me an approximate number. I'd really like a cost report. I know Pat just left, but a cost report, a budget of what it would look like if we were to change all of our part-time kindergarten age, especially based on the numbers that you gave us last school committee meeting about the class sizes in some of our kindergarten classrooms.
[Roy Belson]: We actually have an actual cost, but that cost will increase once the power negotiations and the kindergarten has completed because there were raises that are projected in that activity. But so we have a cost basis that we can give you. We actually did the chart. I'll provide it to you. Our next meeting is Monday. I'll send it to you. I'll scan it in and send it by email this week. As I indicated, it was initially $65,000 just simply to bring up nine people, plus another $143,000 that comes from the state grant if the state grant disappears. So we just need to know whether that's going to be there in the state budget. We'll start to emerge very soon. The governor will release the state budget, his proposed budget sometime this week. The legislature will take the rest of the year to figure out what they want to do. Probably won't have a real budget till sometime in June from the state. Usually they take all that time to come up with a budget. But we'll get a feel as to whether or not the kindergarten grants are going to be held in place or not held in place. And that will give us a truer picture. But the initial cost is 65. There's another 20 that would have to be added to that, plus anything that we do with raises or increases in raises as a result of our bargaining. So that's our initial cost, but I'll give you a figure. I'll scan it and send it out to you by email.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Okay, as a follow-up too, I know that they're talking about looking at bigger preschool programs throughout the state of Massachusetts, and I'm sure in that conversation, that making sure that we have enough staffing for our K classes is also going to be important. So I don't see them cutting the K budget and increasing a preschool program. I just don't see it happening. Actually, I'm meeting with some legislators this week, Thursday evening, and I'm going to discuss homeless transportation throughout the commonwealth with them. And the need for some changes in funding there. And I'm also going to bring up this issue and tell them that the Medford Public Schools does offer kindergarten aides in our classroom. But because they're not totally funding what we need them to fund for our kindergarten rooms, we're not looking for any of our legislatures that represent the city of Medford to vote in a way that would hurt us from losing any funds. And I expect them to represent us in the way and manner that our children, need for them to do. So that's already on my agenda, and I don't want to dismiss this light item in next year's budget. This has been a priority of this committee for a few years now, and I want to let you know that this is something I'm going to be looking for in our budget for next year. I'm just putting it out there, and I know there's a lot of committee members that feel the same way. We've been doing this for quite a few years now, and I'm just setting my goals. This is a goal for next year for the Metropolitan Schools as far as I'm concerned as a school committee member.
[Roy Belson]: So again, we certainly all agree that we'd like to do a lot of things. You'll prioritize it when the budget comes up. That's the way it's done. And there are many, many things that people want to do. And if this is a priority, and this is where you want to go, then we'll make it. Just paraphrase Heidi, you can look at it twice and never cut. It took a little while, but everybody got it.
[Robert Skerry]: I'll cut unnecessary programs to put that money back into kindergarten age, Mr. Jim, Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: But clearly, you're going to have to look. You're going to have to look at all the things that you'd like to see. And let me put it this way. Early childhood is clearly something we all support, early childhood education. But there has not been the funding behind it. It's been minimal across the state. And it's something that Boston asked for, but the governor was uncommitted. And I doubt you'll see it in the governor's budget. So the question is, will the legislature rise up and put money in there? The House didn't last year and the Senate put it in and then the conference committee restored it. So we just have to be real. We certainly want to do things. If this is your priority as a group, it'll be there. But I want to be realistic with you. I don't want to be pie in the sky and tell you there'll be other things that you may want also. And there has to be a balancing act that's going on. But if this is the thing you want, you'll get it in there and it'll be there. We're working towards it. We talk to people all the time about these things. You know that I'm a huge advocate for early childhood education. My problem is that I've got to make sure I get the resources to back it the way I'd like to back it and the way undoubtedly you'd like to back it.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mayor Burke, just to follow up, as a committee member, I am reaching out to state representatives to tell them how I feel as a representative of this community and how I expect them to vote when this does come up on the floor. So I encourage other members to either join me or to make their own phone calls to do that as well because I think that If they don't hear from us, they assume that this is fine, and this is not fine. The preschool and kindergarten and K through 2, that's the foundation of our education, just like a foundation of a house. If you don't have a good foundation, the house will fall down. And so we need to start, and I know Matthew was one of the first full-time
[Roy Belson]: We've been the leaders in this area.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Right, and I want to continue being a leader in that area, Mr. Belson. I'm going to stay on this for our budget meetings all the way through until we get this approved. And just wanted to give you a fear warning.
[Roy Belson]: I'm not against it. I just want to make sure that we understand that a budget is a balancing act. And we've got to keep a lot of things in mind as we go forward. And we don't know some of the other issues that will or won't come at us. And I don't want to just say, sure, we'll do anything you want. I want to be realistic with you and tell you that you're going to look at a lot of things. And you've got to make some decisions. We've got a growing EOL population. We've got a lot of other things going on in our world that will require your attention. And it may be that you need to balance that off a little bit. But let's put it on our plate as something that's a priority that you want to see. And let's see if we can't do it.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Mayor Burke. Um, I was wondering if perhaps what we might do is invite our, uh, legislators to our meeting. We always have to be careful to avoid, um, uh, not having the open meeting law honored. And so all of us might like to go on Thursday night, but we can't because of the open meeting law. Um, and so perhaps, uh, As a follow up, it would make a whole lot of sense to sit down with our legislators as a committee and follow up on those items which are important, not just to one member, but to all of us.
[Roy Belson]: I think it's a good idea. I think the suggestion is one in which once the governor puts his budget out, we then can see what the governor's proposing and where the gaps are, educationally, that we see. and then give our legislators some guidance as to what we think needs to go back in. The governor has indicated he plans to increase the amount of money to education, but increasing the amount of money to education is kind of, well, it takes a little interpretation. By that I mean, just because you add more money, when you get through distributing it across 351 cities and towns, it doesn't add up to a lot. Okay, so you've really got to understand Plus the fact that they increased one account and then take money from, let's say, the circuit breaker or some other place. You know, last year we were net, net at a loss from state aid. in that regard. So that's not, you know, that's something we've got to be very careful about.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So I think I'd like to put that in the form of a motion that we have a set up a meeting with our legislators so that the committee as a whole can sit down and speak with them about our concerns. Just one follow up to your thought. Of course, the governor also has a strong liking of charter schools, which is difficult for us. And I think that's extremely important that we're always making the distinction of an and explaining our concerns, why that's problematical for the public school system. And I think we stand, you know, to really say these are our strengths, look what we're doing here, look what our vocational school is, look at our class sizes, look what we're doing, because this, you know, when you listen to the charter school proponents, While, of course, there were some charter schools that perhaps are strong, they certainly are not. And I believe that is the cornerstone of the great values of this country is public education for all kids. And I don't define that as having a dual system of education.
[Roy Belson]: I plan to give Secretary Clark's report next week.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Just a point of clarification. There's a motion on the floor for committee of the whole to invite our state delegation so they could hear our priorities. And there's a second on the floor as well.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: Just an amendment to that, which is to make sure that we have the opportunity of sitting down first with the priorities that we want to do. So as our meetings come up, we're going to be having all our budget meetings with all our different directors. I think it would be a good idea maybe just to hold off a little bit on just this one topic and make sure that we have a list of everything that we want to talk about because it's something that I know I'm sure all of us have had these conversations with our representatives and our senator and we continue on fighting for these things but I think it would be a good idea maybe to sit down not just with one particular item, but maybe with a few things that we have. And after the governor's budget is looked into.
[Roy Belson]: You've got to get a handle on what's coming out of the statehouse before you start to move.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: On the motion, I'm going to get a clarification. Just so you're aware, charter schools are public schools. I understand that. So you just can't say that, though, because a lot of people don't understand that.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: So charter schools are public schools. I also noted it was a dual system of education.
[Roy Belson]: Like I said in previous meetings and things like that, you'll get a report next week. There are many fine charter schools and they do a good job. And there are some that are not as good and perhaps need some correction. So we don't use a blanket. The biggest issues with charter schools, and I think the Senate has taken a very interesting position under President Rosenberg's leadership. that they want a more comprehensive look at the charter school question than just simply an up or down on the cap lift. And we're going to see some things coming out of there that will look at enrollment, wait lists, funding, and things as well, rather than just simply say there's demand. The state auditor has continuously come out and said the wait list is not real. Although the proponents have said the wait list is real. And so I'm going to hang my hat with the state auditor on this one, because I know how the wait list is generated. And there are youngsters on that wait list who signed up 10 years ago and are still on it, and have long since been out of the program. So there needs to be a significant amount of discussion on this area. Let's not, you met Barish last week, you attended our management meeting. Barish is my intern, if you will, from, who is the director of the Pioneer Charter School in Everett. So he sat in our management meeting today, and we went over stuff, and we traded ideas. This is a good dialogue that can happen between a charter school and the traditional public school. It's not that they're all enemies. We work together. In fact, I've given him stuff, and other people have given people stuff. But how we fund them, who they serve, what they require from us, or how they drive the educational programs, all are fertile subjects for discussion.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: On the motion, authored by Ms. Vander Kloof. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Motion to receive and place on file this report. All those in favor?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All those opposed? Motion passes. Report on middle school selection process, school year 2016-17, Mr. Superintendent.
[Roy Belson]: Again, like the issue of the kindergarten, we're all early. We want to, this is going out in February, but we're letting people know now to start thinking about it. We put it on our website. We've given people information informally. I told you last week, and the same thing is true with the kindergartens. I'm going down to the schools. I'm working out a schedule now with principals to talk to parent groups and the like to promote the schools, and at the same time, help people make these selection decisions. One of the things that happened in the past is some people would claim they never got the information, they didn't hear about it. We want to make sure everybody hears about it, or there's a sufficient amount of information out there so that if they didn't hear about it, you must have missed it by not listening. I mean, there's obviously, you know, the possibility that somebody wouldn't hear about it, but if we go to the wall and let people know, it really is highly unlikely. What I don't want to have in a situation where somebody says, well, I really wanted to go here, and you put me here, and I didn't know, you lost my paperwork, all those kinds of things. We're pretty good about tracking what people send us. So we want to get it out. We want to show you what we're doing. There are certain issues with regard to specialized classes in certain areas. We're looking to balance those off because obviously some youngsters are more challenging than others. And we want to make sure that each school has a fair chance to meet the needs of every student that goes there. So this is informational for you. Again, like the kindergarten piece, it's an attempt to try and give you advanced information.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: All right, so we're going to call upon our Deputy Superintendent to tell you about our academic support program.
[Roy Belson]: Good evening.
[Beverly Nelson]: Every year, the Metropolitan Public Schools is eligible for a state grant that's called the Academic Support Grant. This grant funds programs designed to prepare students to take the state-mandated test. And as you all know, since 1998, that has been the MCAS, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. Originally, when we first started getting this grant, which was about 15 years ago, it was intended for all grade levels. And then as the money became less and less, the state only allowed us to target students who would be taking the high school exams, the high stakes exams. We have been able throughout the years to offer many programs. We offer the programs during the school year and in the summer. They are free of charge, but according to the grant guidelines, can only serve students who are eligible. And eligibility is based upon past performance on MCAS, if students are in needs improvement or warning categories, they are eligible for the programs. We offer many different programs with the grant money, and just to give you a sampling of them, we have tutorial programs for those students who have not passed the high school exam, who want to take the retests, and the retests are in English, mathematics, and science. So we have tutorial programs to help those students. We offer after school programs and Saturday programs, which are just getting started for students who are in grade 10, who will be taking the English and math test this spring. And again, for grade 10 youngsters, it will still be the regular MCAS exam this spring. We offer those programs. And again, we've been doing this for a number of years. So we kind of have a formula for what works and what doesn't work. We find some youngsters like to come after school, others can't come after school, so we offer programs on Saturday as well. So we try to make it as comprehensive as possible so we can get as many youngsters in as we can. We also have had online preparation programs for the science MCAS exam and biology retests. And then a few years ago, we started a very successful program. It was really targeted in the summer. eighth graders who were coming into the high school as ninth graders. And these students would meet in late August and they all had summer work to do in English and mathematics. And so we would have teachers working with them, finishing up their summer assignments, kind of giving them a jumpstart into the school year. And this program would actually finish with the high school orientation day. So it was a really a nice transition, got the kids in the week before school began and actually worked with them until the beginning of the school year. We find that all programs have been proven to be very successful in helping students meet that high-stakes exam in English, mathematics, and science. Curriculums and materials are prepared by our directors, and our faculty, for the most part, teaches in all of the programs. Unfortunately, no surprise, every year the money has been reduced. This year we only have $15,300, which is a reduction of over $7,000 from last year. And just to give a comparison, a couple of years ago in 2012, we did receive over $34,000. So it has been decreased, but we're very creative. And again, I know last year, High School 101 was so popular that we did sustain it with our regular budget because we didn't want to let that program go. The program is a collaborative effort. We have Assistant Principal David Blau, Director of Mathematics and Science, Carolyn Joy. Director of Humanities, Nicole Chiesa. And Coordinator of Science, Rocco Sieri and Bernadette Riccadeli. We meet, we put together the materials, we send letters out to parents and guardians, inviting them to have their children belong. And we're very excited this year about our new eighth grade program. We are allowed under the grant guidelines to run a new program, and this is particularly important, we feel, in light of the fact that our eighth graders are taking a new test, the PARCC exam. So we're putting together a program, both for English and Mathematics. It's going to start, I believe, in March. It's going to be on Saturday mornings, six Saturday mornings, and again, letters will go out to families. We do send a lot of letters out, and sometimes the response isn't all what it should be. So we do encourage parents to really respond. They can do it by email. Once we send letters out, we have a deadline for responding. We make calls. We really do our utmost to get these children into the programs. We know the data supports the fact that the students that go to these programs do well and these programs are helping them a great deal. So again, it's always a, know, a challenge to get the right kids into the programs, but again, we do everything we can. We try to make it easy for families to notify us by email when the children are coming to the programs, and again, we do encourage that participation. All the programs are coordinated, again, with all the directors through my office, and again, we have attached some copies of the letters that go out to parents on some of the programs. Again, these The programs pretty much last all year, because the November retest start, I'm sorry, the first retest start in November. So we go to work right away in September, getting ready for the tutorials, and then we work our way into the prep season, and then we continue on through the summer. So it's a very comprehensive effort, and again, we hope the money is still sustained. We'd like more of it, but we do the best with what we have. So any questions?
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Mr. Benedetto. Thank you very much. Um, first of all, I think it's great that we offer that and I applaud your creativity to be able to keep offering this. I'm really glad to see these programs being offered to our eighth grade students, especially with the park coming. Um, I think it's a tremendous, how many students do you think that will be receiving letters for, um, the prep program prior to the park?
[Beverly Nelson]: I don't have the exact number. We basically are allowed by the grant to invite all those students who have scored on previous MCAS exams in either wanting or needs improvement. Also, we can serve students who are new to the district that teachers have identified as being challenged academically. I will say, it depends upon the program, that as we became more creative and we offered programs on Saturdays, the participation became stronger. I would say probably a third of all students invited come. High school 101 was almost 95% came. That was a very popular program. The tutorials, those kids who really want to get their diplomas, they all come. So it really is dependent upon the program. But we send out hundreds of letters, hundreds of letters every year.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: I have another question. So sometimes families travel during breaks and they can't get their children there on Saturdays and other things going on. So is there any way we could provide an online program? I know it would take a while in development, but if we had that to offer, like if someone needed to take one of these programs. I know that some of our teachers in the past created online classes. So I don't know if anybody would be interested in trying to do this program in an online capacity so we could reach more students and have more participation and really make sure our students are prepared for these exams.
[Beverly Nelson]: We did have the online biology retest a few years back. Again, as we move forward, I think you're kind of reading my mind on this, because as money becomes tighter and tighter, we have to become creative. And my feeling next year is to write the grant to offer more online, because I think you're right, that families, children, transportation's always an issue, and that would circumvent those issues if we were to do that. So if the money, again, continues to be as scarce as it is, then I think that's the avenue we'll go, definitely.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Because if there's like a tutorial, and this week you work on this, and you do the homework, and even if there's online chat time with a teacher, then, you know, like if you have a question, I really don't understand this math concept, And you could still meet and talk to a teacher, but you don't have to be present in the building. It might get more people invested, and that's how learning is really moving towards. So, I mean, if we could offer it in this way to help remediate any kind of lapse in education, you know, like certain goals, then I think it's something great to look into. through you to the superintendent. I know the superintendent started an online blog and he was using more technical skills and this is a great opportunity to pilot like learning to be more used through the internet, through online programming. I know we're looking at that at some of our the Curtis Huff School as well for students that can't actually get into the building, but they could still get to their curriculum and still meet their educational requirements to graduate. I know we started to look at that. Could you look into this and see if there's a way, not only with this program, with the other programs, and give us an update of how we're moving forward with that?
[Roy Belson]: It's our intent to talk to you extensively about technology. and the implementation of technology-based programs, including online. Obviously, as we move into the future, our technology has to be very robust, very dependable, very reliable. We had a major discussion on that today, on how we can do that. And we need to make sure that as we add more and more requirements and demands on that technology system, that it can hold up.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Not only that, I'm talking more about
[Roy Belson]: teaching classes, like having... Right, but it's the same system, it's the same network, it's the same bandwidth.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: But also creating the class and what's involved in that and how we're going to give teachers time to create these classes. It's great for me to say, oh, this would be great if this was online and the teacher taught it online. But that takes time to create that curriculum and to put it in that format for the children. So not only the technology piece, but how we're encouraging our teachers to use that in their classrooms and outside of their classrooms to teach our children. And that's really where I want to know where Method is moving in the future for this, because that's how I see education really happening in the next 10 years.
[Roy Belson]: So I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that we will be coming forward to you with some significant technology recommendations that will enable us to do a lot of things that right now I would consider to be difficult in terms of reliability and dependability because of the networks and all the other demands on the system. And also what we ask teachers to do. So that you're going to see quite a bit coming forward. And I think it is the wave of the future that we have to have these things. But it's not going to replace a lot of other things we have to do. And we still have to have face-to-face contact with youngsters, because there are a lot of youngsters who, even given the time to do things online, won't do it. And we need to make sure we have a blend. But you're going to see quite a bit coming forward. And I suspect that, as the mayor works on capital improvements as one of her priorities, that you'll see us making some recommendations on capital. that will be part of that.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So I'm thinking maybe, you know how we bought the Chromebooks and stuff like that? So for a class similar to this, if we could maybe look forward to maybe next year offering it to some of our eighth graders in that way, and it be a pilot program, and how does it work, and did they do the work, and seeing how ready we are or not ready we are to proceed with bigger online teaching and type things. I would like to see us at least pilot some type of class in that, in that, like maybe we need to have a curriculum meeting and subcommittee meeting.
[Roy Belson]: I mean, we have, we have piloted, you know, we have done this, but there are issues associated with it. Who provides it, the nature of it. Does it meet our standards? Does it fit with certain things? Is the pace differently different? We've had several people try different things. So, I hear what you're saying. We're not telling you no. We're just telling you that it's got to be part of a more comprehensive approach to the use of technology. Just to say we're going to do more online learning or pilot a few more programs really avoids the bigger issue of providing a more comprehensive approach to this. But you're not wrong. We will do it. We just simply need to put it into a package that's going to be robust, dependable, reliable, and allow us not to have to shut down other activities to allow certain other things to happen.
[Ann Marie Cugno]: OK. I just want to, I mean, the online learning is wonderful, but I think we really do have to look at who we are targeting. And I believe this particular program is targeting students that are not doing well in school, that maybe are lower income students, that maybe are students that, you know, English is their secondary language, students that are on IEPs. Some of these parents don't have laptops to have their students take anything online. So we really have to be very conscious of that, which I know you all are. The other thing I want to say is that these have been very successful grant programs year after year. And I know that the money is diminishing unfortunately. But it's something that I know that I've spoken about in the past and that is, this is to get students that are on the curve of not making it through and failing. I really, truly believe that we need certain programs like this for students that are not failing, that students are looking for that extra help, for parents that are looking for tutors and that they're paying for them on their own after school. And if we somehow maybe, you know, small baby steps could take a couple of the things that you're doing here and maybe offer them as a community schools type of program where parents can pay, but I guarantee you it'll probably be a lot less than what they're paying for private tutors, would take the opportunity to come back to our school at night or on a Saturday morning, because one, it's convenient for the parents. Two, it's just easier. Three, it's an environment where the students are used to. And C, even if we pilot that type of program to see where I mean, I always have parents out there saying that they're looking for tutors, they're going out, they're paying on their own, why can't we do anything? I try to explain that, you know, the grants are the grants and we have to abide by certain criteria. I'm looking at it, okay, if we do a couple of these types of programs, and we do charge, and we bring in money, then maybe we are able to put it towards something else. Even if we start at a very bare minimum, just to make sure that we cover the salary of the teacher teaching this course. And we don't have to put a lot of students in there, just a few, just to see how it goes. But that's where I would like to see these particular types of programs.
[Beverly Nelson]: One additional thing about this grant, one of the requirements is that we serve the postgraduate students, actually the ones who've left the high school, haven't received the diploma, but they're technically out of high school, and we actually send letters. We've had some wonderful success stories. We had one, I think it was a young man a while back, he left the high school and he did not have his diploma. He kept coming back to the tutorial, and I think it was maybe, it's Bernadette here, I'm not sure, I think it was maybe four years after he left the high school, he finally passed the test. God is diploma. So I mean, we've had some really, you know, really success stories with the post high school students as well. So it's a, it's a, you know, again, it serves a lot of different purposes. Certainly everyone could benefit by the extra help. And I think that's a great success. Um, I get great succession. I also, we want to be careful about the equity issue with the online too, because that is a caution too.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: That's why I suggested using the Chromebooks that we've already purchased, so that it's not a hardship to anyone. We do have some technology in place that we could provide for this smaller group of people taking this class. Thank you very much. Great program. Motion to accept the report and place it on file.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion to accept the report and place it on file. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Motion passes. Report on secondary school class size.
[Roy Belson]: I've given you a quick snapshot of four major subjects. There are other subjects, and we'll give you more information going forward, but I want to verify the numbers a little more closely before I provide them to you. But these numbers were something I could verify, and I wanted to give you at least something this week. And I'll keep feeding you more information on it. But as you can see, that the class sizes are generally very, very good. They're excellent, in fact, by secondary school standards across the Commonwealth. So we're doing well with that. There are some classes that are a little larger. There are some classes that are a little smaller, depending on those enrollments. But those are the average class sizes that people are there. And it looks pretty good to me as far as where we're going. We have good faculty, and I think we're handling a lot of subjects with a pretty good teacher-staff ratio.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Okay, so I have the graph that you gave us last week of how many students are at each. And then, so sixth grade at the end was on this graph says we have 177 students. Okay? And on this graph for ELA, there's 20 in each grouping, so that would be 84, Six students.
[Roy Belson]: Times two. Two teams.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: A side. A side. OK. So that's.
[Roy Belson]: Plus you have specialized classes that are there and you can get done part of the general class size but a part of an ELL or a special ed class.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: OK. Great. It's pretty close. Yeah, I just wanted to double check with the numbers because they just look differently. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Motion to accept.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Motion to accept the report. Place it on file. All those in favor. All those opposed. Motion passes. Report on. Financial report.
[Roy Belson]: Okay, remember, we'll get it twice, never cut.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Pat, don't you ever go on first? Don't you ever move up in the agenda? What are- Vealy, at the end. Vealy, sorry. Good evening, Mayor, school committee.
[FZrFYASlUZo_SPEAKER_15]: You should be first. Good evening.
[5T-XCQueORE_SPEAKER_06]: You should switch. I'm fine. Attached, please find a summary financial report as of January 21st, 2016. As of the writing of this report, the general fund budget is 54.41% expended. Ten month bi-weekly employees have received 11 checks since September 2nd, while 12 month employees have received 15 checks. Five teachers are on maternity leave with another five pending. The January 14th, 2016 paychecks included the approved teacher's contract increase and any retroactive monies due to them. buildings and grounds. The following is a list of current projects completed by the department. Many other projects are just beginning and will be reported in a later report. The low snow amounts have provided labor for continued inside maintenance projects. At the NHS, the west courtyard stairs have been replaced. The theater has a new handicap ramp installed on the backside of the theater. Roof drain replaced due to a large baseball. Security office has a new electric heater. Social studies office has a new ceiling, lighting, painting, and newer furniture. Door 31, the back of the building, now has exterior lighting. The McGlynn exterior lights replaced behind the school, as well as streetlight repairs. The Curtis Tufts has new shades throughout the building, front door replaced, donated pool table recovered and installed. The Roberts, the bathroom partitions are in order and will be installed upon arrival. I was told today that they're just about completed. System wide, everyday maintenance continues in all schools with various painting projects, plumbing, electrical, filter changes, heating, and ventilation issues addressed daily. District-wide grants, grant revenue will be received from the following sources. FY 15 and 16 are reflected for comparison purposes. There are several vocational grants that are not listed as we await formal receipt of funding, which has just occurred. Other federal and state grants are undecided at this time and will be reported as they become available. Medford serves 46 homeless students, 35 are in district and 11 are out of district. The McKinney-Vento Act covers children and youth who don't have a fixed, adequate, regular nighttime residence, including living in an emergency or non or transitional shelter with friends or relatives due to lack of housing, living in transitional housing, living in a car, bus, public place, or other inadequate accommodations. Transportation services have been secured for the students using approved vendors. Transportation expenses for FY16 to date are $70,664. The same time period in FY15 is $57,086, with a total expended FY15 of $182,329, indicating a 23.7% increase compared to last year. for the stated time period. The FY 16 budget was increased by $30,000 based on past expenses. The additional cost should be offset by state reimbursement as yet to be determined, which should cover the overall expenditure. Security. The Raptor Technologies identification systems are in place at each building. The high school vocational building has two new building monitors patrolling the hallways. Camera work designated for FY16 has been completed to include the replacement or repair of seven essential cameras. MPS will be scheduling a full committee of the whole in regards to security in February. Special education. Out-of-district tuition continues to maintain stability. The FY 16 budgeted resources of 3.5 million to include 1.2 million general fund, 1 million idea grant and 1.3 million circuit breaker funds are sufficient to meet known placements. MPS is currently projecting the following general fund. 1,085,798, IDEA, 1,016,418, and Circuit Breaker, 1,310,672, leaving a small contingency of 87,112. Substitute teachers, MPS substitutes include instructional support staff, daily substitute teachers, and long-term substitute teachers for maternity and other needs. And are found in the general ledger report under function 2325. In a good economy, substitute teachers are difficult to find as many individuals who would appear on a substitute teacher list are able to find employment within their field. FY16 substitute teacher day rates were increased from $60 a day to $70 a day, a 16.7% increase over last year. to attract candidates for these difficult to fill daily positions. Last year, in an effort to assist in building stability, one instructional support staff was provided to each of the elementary and middle school vocational buildings. MHS has, for the past few years, used this method to provide building stability. MHS has 7.5 ISS positions and does not use the daily fill method. With the exception of the high school vocational, the instructional support staff is the first line of teacher replacement. But in the event more are needed, the substitute attendance secretary uses the daily fill list to cover needs. Expenditures for pay period of September 1, 2015 to December 23, 2015 were $197,469.65. The same time period for FY 15, $160,080.96 for an increase of 23% over last year. However, we factor in the 16.67% wage increase for the pay group for an effective increase of 6.7% increase in cost to substitute teachers for the September through December pay periods. Telephones. The high school telephone conversion has begun. The list of telephone needs has been forwarded to DSCI and Comtel. Due to the size of the high school vocational building, the phone system will be rolled out by department, beginning with the library media space. The project will progress through the building, ending with the business wing. The project should be completed in February, with the beginning of the install in the high school library media space, which is complete. And a dedicated phone number has been established for the public information officer, 781-393-0599, and that is taking messages now, as with the new phones. Utilities, electricity costs for the period July through December 2015, $567,136. kilowatts, 3,785,581 versus 519,55,28 or 3,535,416 kilowatts for the same period in 2014, indicating a 9.3% cost increase, reflecting a slowdown in the sizable increase, 22% in the usage for July through October 2015. The principals were provided the kilowatt use for their buildings, and much of the early increase is attributed to summer programming, using more air conditioning during particularly warm summer, followed by a warm fall. The principals will continue monitoring usage. The FY16 budget is $1.18 million, and the current fiscal year electricity projection is $1,176,408. The city is under contract for electricity through National Grid until November 2016. Natural gas, for heating purposes, is running 28.8% below last year's use for the same time period, July through December. Colder weather did not arrive until late December, accounting for the decrease in use and dollars. January has returned to a typical weather pattern. MPS has budgeted $660,000 for FY16, and current cost for usage is $83,416. Historically, our greatest usage cost is the second half of the school year. We are not under contract for natural gas, but demand and price below low securing good rates. We don't expect any issues there. And the vocational audit district, five MPS students are enrolled at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District with an annual cost of $94,759. One MPS student is enrolled at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School for an annual cost of $16,388. Minute Man has 34 Medford students enrolled for an annual cost of $668,232. FY 16 budget for vocational out of district is $800,000, providing $20,621 for any changes that might occur in the second half of the year.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you very much.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Are there any questions? Yes. Mr. Benedetto. Thank you. Through you to the superintendent, when we were listing the building and ground improvements, I know that we had talked about changing the lighting at the Curtis Tufts School, and Alicia Hunt sent us an email with some figures and figuring out how we could budget that throughout the next three years. Have you had a chance to look at that?
[Roy Belson]: Not in detail. You know, again, what Pat really has listed for you, the things we've done, we've got to look at, as you can see, our actual maintenance budget itself is over the top and we're going to make it up with heating and other things, but We've got to be careful as we select priorities and as we go into the discussion of capital improvements. I think that's probably the best place to look at those things and not try to squeeze it into a budget that obviously we have to operate with for the rest of the school year. So as we get a better handle, as we move further down the year, we see that there's room we can probably tackle some things. But I want to be very careful coming out of January that we don't start spending money on projects that are somewhat discretionary. I understand that they're things that you'd like to see, but they're somewhat discretionary against the whole issue of funding the entire district. So I think that when you see us propose to the mayor and others capital improvement plans, I think you'll start to see things like that become more dominant. But I also want to get more information from Alicia as to what is really available to us as opposed to what people are talking about but hasn't been firmed up.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So my understanding through that email and through the research that she has done is that we could take alone on the decrease in the amount it would cost us in electricity, and the decreased amount would pay the amount of the loan to replace the lighting. And I know that we were talking about just the Curtis, but she was also mentioning the vocational school. So I'm just wondering, it might not actually cost us any dollars out of pocket, and that's why I'm bringing it up rather than waiting for a capital improvement plan.
[Roy Belson]: Yeah, we can talk about it.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: It's much more comfortable for you. That would be great. She sent us an email over the holidays, so that's why I just wanted to follow up and make sure that we're looking at that. Okay. Mayor Burke.
[Robert Skerry]: Mayor Burke. Point of information.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Mr. Sperry, point of information.
[Robert Skerry]: Through you, Mr. Lieutenant. Would it be possible to ask the Senate if we could get an energy audit for the three cafeterias and see if we could somehow change the lighting system to help cut down especially weather and use most of the summer.
[Roy Belson]: I think we can again look to all of those kinds of things but I think it should be something we put in the conversation.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Pat, I just had a question about the school breakfast expansion grants. So I see a decrease for fiscal year 16. How is that going to impact our school breakfast programs?
[5T-XCQueORE_SPEAKER_06]: The breakfast programs are driven by percentage, and for the two schools that are already getting breakfast, they're already covered by the federal grant process, so that won't affect them at all. This program that you see here was part of the summer program. Okay, thank you.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: So, excuse me, Mayor Burke, I had another question regarding our homeless students. Do all of our homeless students currently have transportation? Yes, they do. I'm so happy to hear that because throughout the Commonwealth, there's a shortage in drivers for homeless students. And if you call a lot of the companies that they just don't have enough drivers because I personally just was trying to get a driver for a student at my school and it took a lot of time, over a month. to find a company that had availability to go to the town I needed to transport her. And it's an extreme cost, and this increase of 23.7% is telling of the times. Everybody thinks that we're in really great shape economically throughout the Commonwealth. Well, there are a lot of families that aren't in such great state. 23.7% increase in our cost, of transporting homeless students. That's not housing them, that's not feeding them. We're paying $70,000 so far this year just to get them to school every day. Again, not feeding them, not housing them. And I think it's a bigger problem that our commonwealth needs to look at because If we weren't traveling them so far, we could even pay rent for them to live in that community, and it would save the Commonwealth money. So I actually had called some legislators about this months ago, and this just reconfirmed. So I'm pushing that forward, and I'm meeting with people this week to just talk about what we can do as a Commonwealth. Maybe after I meet with them, I'll be happy to speak with you about it.
[Roy Belson]: Because- Happy to talk about it. As you know, we've talked about this before. McKinney-Vento was not new. The state auditor indicated that it was an unfunded mandate. And the state initially funded it, then went through nine seat cuts from Governor Patrick, and then has been funded at maybe 50%, 60% of actual cost for the last couple of years. So again, as I go back and we talk about the state budget, you talk about what you'd like to do, let's get a handle on what's coming to us before we start saying we're going to do this, we're going to do that. We have a lot of very worthy goals, but we have to make sure we've got the resources to do those worthy goals. And then you have to prioritize which ones you're going to spend the money on.
[Erin DiBenedetto]: Also, I just want to thank your administration that provides and does this work to make sure that our homeless students have rights to school. Yeah, Abraham. Yeah. It's such an important role, and it takes a lot of time and effort, because it has to go to be bidded. And it's really, it's very involved. And parents call every day, because they really need those rights. And it's not always easy. So I really appreciate all the work done to make sure that all of our students in Method have a way to get to school. And I really appreciate that time and effort. And thank you for this report, Pat. Thank you for the report.
[Paulette Van der Kloot]: Thank you for the comprehensive report.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Also, we have an addendum to the schedule. School committee resolutions be it resolved that the Metric School Committee expresses sincere condolences to the family of Joseph Laporta. Mr. Laporta was a prominent member of the school administrative staff for many years, serving as the head of the driver's education program and school security. Mr. Laporta was active in local Kiwanis and many other local community service organizations. If you could all please rise for a moment of silence. Negotiation of legal matters, there are none. Hearing and seeing that, I'll take a motion to adjourn this meeting. Motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn by Ms. Cunha. All in favor?
[Unidentified]: Aye.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Opposed? Meeting is adjourned.
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