[Fred Dello Russo]: Sizyèm reyinyon regilye a ap fèt nan Medford City nan dat 9 fevriye 2016. Mesye Grefye, rele bòdwo a.
[Clerk]: Direktè Caravelo. egzibisyon. Direktè Falco. egzibisyon. Direktè Caballero. egzibisyon. Vis Prezidan Leclerc. egzibisyon. Brand konsiltan. egzibisyon. Direktè Scampelli. egzibisyon. Prezidan Ris.
[Fred Dello Russo]: egzibisyon. Sèt manm, nèf, pa gen. Tanpri ogmante drapo a.
[Clerk]: Li andose konseye Knight Sispansyon Règ yo.
[Adam Knight]: Dokiman 1602, 16021, 16022, 16023 yo te adopte. Tout dokiman yo kalifye pou yon twazyèm lekti konsènan reyòganizasyon Biwo Administratif la.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Konsènan sispansyon an nan mosyon an, efase dokiman ki anwo yo soti nan tab la pou apwobasyon, tout nan ki favorites favorites? Padon, 16-020, Katriyèm Amannman an, ofisyèl yo ak anplwaye yo, Depatman Cuatro (avoka vil la) prezante entwodiksyon vil la sou 19 janvye nan reaktè nan tan lontan an. Li te anonse dezyèm lekti li sou 28 janvye, ki kalifye pou twazyèm ak dènye lekti li aswè a. Sa vle di, trezò tan rekiperasyon an, ki se yon nominasyon pou egzèsis pwa avoka vil la.
[Adam Knight]: Oke, Mesye Prezidan, mwen kwè sa a ka relativman koupe ak sèk. Pwoblèm lan se ke avoka vil la ofri gouvènman an yon randevou de ane. Mesye Prezidan, jounal la te pase nan de premye lekti yo. Si yo vle pale sou yon moun nan odyans lan, mwen panse ke nou ta dwe ba yo yon chans. Si nenpòt konseye vle pale sou li, sa se li. Men, mwen pral apwouve li.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mouvman apwobasyon konseye Knight la. Montre pa Konseye Caraviello. Èske sa se yon pwoblèm apèl? Mesye Grefye, rele bòdwo a.
[Clerk]: Wi. Wi. Wi.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Wi. Wi. Wi. Vote ak sèt vòt, asire w. Anyen. Te kanpay la negatif te bay lòd a 16 zewo yo korije anplwaye a ak anplwaye nan chèf la nan anplwaye yo. Sa te rive devan nou, e li te gen rapò ak pozisyon prezidan an. 12 janvye devan nou. Li te pwopoze sou 19 janvye. Apre eksplikasyon an, premye lekti a te pase. 28 janvye, li te anonse kòm yon dezyèm lekti. Koulye a, twazyèm ou ak dènye li aswè a kalifye. Chèz la ap tann pou mosyon an.
[Adam Knight]: Ankò, lejislasyon an pral etabli pozisyon nan pèsonèl nan pòs la ak reòganize Biwo Egzekitif la. Li te ale nan premye lekti a. Nou gen kèk pwoblèm. Si ou reponn kesyon an, mwen pral chanje apwobasyon an.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Nan yon mouvman ki te apwouve pa Konseye Knight, Prezidan an rekonèt Vis Prezidan Hanko Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Mèsi Prezidan Ris. Konsènan pwoblèm sa a, mwen panse ke nou sèlman mande pou yon sèl aktyalizasyon, e mwen panse ke kèk nan nou sondaj kantite kèk patwon nan kominote vwazen yo. 106,000 kanpe deyò. Li prèske twò pre sa majistra a te fè. Se poutèt sa, nou mande majistra a yo kominike avèk ou, ou konnen poukisa Finansman pou pozisyon sa a tèlman wo. Lè sa a, li te gen direktè a bidjè pou ofisye a akizisyon, ak de travay sa yo te sou yo dwe fè, menm si se pa mwens pase tèt la kabinè. Se konsa, mwen vle jwenn yon repons.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mwen panse ke nou gen yon eksplikasyon pou konseye Knight la.
[Adam Knight]: Oke, ak respè akòz pou konseye, Mesye Prezidan, si li panse pozisyon an se sou, li se lejislasyon. Li pa ka chanje lejislasyon sou tè a. Oke, nou diskite sa a. Mwen panse ke sa a se Mesye Prezidan, sa a se yon bon pozisyon, li se yon pozisyon ki nesesè, e mwen sipòte kesyon mwen ak tout kè.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Non, mwen kontan fè li. Sa a pa vle di li pa sipòte kote oswa reyòganizasyon, mwen jis panse tankou anpil moun, gen 106,000 moun ki panse kote sa yo ta ka yon ti kras byen fò paske yo tankou lavil tankou sa a. Nou jis ap chèche pou kèk eksplikasyon. Èske moun sa a ap travay pou plis pase 40 èdtan? Nou te resevwa yon deskripsyon nan travay la. Mwen panse ke youn nan deskripsyon yo, Èske moun sa a devan konsèy vil la? Nou toujou gen pou wè nèg sa a nan reyinyon tablo e menm nan komite yo pandan tout reyinyon an. Se konsa, ou konnen, ki sa egzakteman se rezon ki fè yo pou yon santèn? Sa a se yon gwo kantite lajan. Ankò, lè nou gen moun ki aksepte doub travay ak fè mwens, mwen jis pa ka wè li, mwen jis vle klarifye.
[George Scarpelli]: Oke, petèt yon pwen nan enfòmasyon, konsiltan Scarpelli. Mwen jis klarifye yon kesyon, men mwen panse ke li nan yon ekip ekip. Kòrèk. Lè sa a, gen de travay. Kòrèk. Ok, sa a tout.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mèsi. Mèsi, konseye. Bidjè a ak direktè anplwaye ki ka avèk nou, Bidjè Direktè Pro Tempore ka koule limyè sou pwoblèm sa a. egziste. Miller, Bonsol. Pwoblèm konseye a se envestigasyon. Mwen pa konnen si li te reponn, oswa menm fòmèlman mande kòm yon rezolisyon, men pito sou nivo a salè nan tèt la kabinè Sa a kouvri règleman yo nan moun ki an chaj ak majistra, osi byen ke enpòtans ki genyen nan jesyon pèsonèl. Pwoblèm nan ak konseye a se ke li panse salè a se wo.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Oke, pozisyon an se direktè anplwaye ak direktè politik. Epi, mwen pa t 'jwenn yon rezolisyon sou konparezon salè. Mwen pa konnen si biwo majistra a se Te resevwa sa a. Nou reponn kesyon nou te resevwa e mwen pa konnen kisa ki pral rive konparezon an kounye a.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mèsi. Oke, nou gen yon mosyon apwouve ki te sipòte pa konseye Caraviello. Èske ou espere konseye Falco vle pale sou sa?
[John Falco]: Non, an reyalite, Scapelli note ke sa a se fondamantalman de pozisyon. Mwen panse ke sa a ta ka jistifye salè, tankou nouvo ak done. Yo se tou de pozisyon ki pran an pa yon sèl moun. Se poutèt sa mwen panse ke sa a se rezon ki fè yo pou selil la anwo. Mèsi.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Nan mosyon an pou apwobasyon, grefye a te rele volim la.
[Clerk]: Wi. Wi. Non. Wi.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Wi, vote ak 6 vòt afimatif, pou 1 nimewo negatif, lòd pwoblèm sa a. 16-022, Atik 5, Amannman nan Atik 5 nan Direktè a Akizisyon. Sijè a parèt devan nou sou 12 janvye e yo te prezante. 19 janvye, li te pase premye lekti li. Li te anonse yon dezyèm lekti sou 28th la. Yon twazyèm ak dènye lekti te fèt devan nou aswè a. Chèz la ap tann pou mouvman.
[Adam Knight]: Ankò, Mesye Prezidan, sa a se yon reyòganizasyon nan biwo egzekitif la. Li pral etabli direktè a akizisyon ak tou pèmèt direktè a akizisyon kontinye kòm direktè bidjè. Mesye Prezidan, mwen te fè apwobasyon an. Sipòte papye yo.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mouvman apwobasyon konsènan konseye Knight, ki te sipòte pa konseye Falco. Mesye Grefye, rele bòdwo a.
[Clerk]: Wi. Wi.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Wi, ak yon vòt 7, pa gen okenn negatif, yo te mosyon an te bay lòd la. 16-023, Chapit 66 Amannman, Endividyèl, Unión Konpansasyon pou Atik 2, te parèt devan nou sou 12 janvye, te depoze nan 19 janvye, apwouve kòm premye lekti a sou 28 janvye, te anonse dezyèm lekti a, ak kounye a sou pye nan fè fas a aksyon. Sa a se nan ... Etabli klasifikasyon pèsonèl, mwen kwè nan pozisyon. Sa a se klasifikasyon an.
[Adam Knight]: Yon lòt ki gen rapò ak jou ferye a te apwouve. Lè sa a, chèz la te ap tann pou aksyon an. Mesye Prezidan, sa a se yon dokiman ki atribi peman anplwaye nan pozisyon nou jis kreye. Mouvman prezidansyèl apwouve.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mouvman pou apwobasyon konseye Knight la, byen, make pa konseye Caraviello. Mesye Grefye, rele bòdwo a.
[Clerk]: eseye.
[Fred Dello Russo]: eseye.
[Clerk]: Wi. Wi.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Wi. Avèk 70 eta, pa gen okenn vòt negatif. Oke, yo te espò a nonmen. Konpliman, Mesye Paran yo.
[Mark Rumley]: Wi, Mesye Prezidan, manm nan Konsèy la. Mwen jis vle remèsye. Mwen byen kontan li te ale nan twa lekti. Mwen te panse sa a te yon bon gouvènman, byen Mwen jis vle remèsye pou konsèy la.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mèsi. Mèsi.
[X_nYXZZ4ChY_SPEAKER_04]: Mèsi tou.
[Adam Knight]: Retounen nan lòd komèsyal regilye.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mesye Prezidan retounen nan lòd biznis regilye anba mosyon Komisyon Konsèy la lannwit sa a. Vis Prezidan Lungo-Koehn te pwopoze tout moun ki favorize yo, tout opoze yo. Tan an pou chak reyinyon piblik te fèt. Vis Prezidan.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Mèsi Prezidan Ris. Mwen vle wè si nou ka pran tan pou patisipe nan tout reyinyon piblik yo. Mwen konnen gen konferans sou amizman. Mwen konnen sou reyinyon an sou Haynes Square ki te fèt semèn pase a nan Roberts Elementary School. Mesye Prezidan, mwen konnen tou ou ap prezide sou anpil reyinyon. tankou Reyinyon yo ap fèt twa a kat fwa nan yon semèn e mwen ta renmen felisite majistra -a. Mwen panse ke li bon pou jwenn enfòmasyon nan kominote a. Mwen panse ke konsèy la toujou mande pou plis kontribisyon nan kominote a oswa kòmantè biznis. Mwen konnen nan tan lontan an, nou te mande pou plis don piblik anvan pakin ak anvan ou siyen yon kontra jesyon dechè. Se konsa, mwen panse ke sa a se definitivman yon etap pozitif. Natirèlman, sa a se pa yon bagay tout moun ka fè, ak sèt konseye pa ka fèt nan chak reyinyon. Mwen menm, li difisil, ou konnen, mwen vle wè sa k ap pase, votè nou yo, enkyetid nou yo, enterè nou yo, tout moun ki patisipe nan reyinyon sa yo, wè ki jan detaye minit yo. Finalman, sa a se toujou trè itil pou vòt nan lavni, ou konnen, chèche konnen Aswè a, nou te fè yon reyinyon sou objektif yo nan 18 èdtan. Se poutèt sa, sa a pral ede nou fasilite diskisyon sou objektif yo. Epi, ou konnen, li toujou bon pou jwenn enfòmasyon piblik. Se konsa, ou konnen, Imèl yo ak apèl nou resevwa yo trè itil. Men, si gen, ou konnen, gen kèk moun ki te asiste anpil sijesyon pou reyinyon e mwen ta renmen dijere tout bagay, genyen li nan pake Vandredi a, apre chak semèn, se konsa nou konnen, ou konnen, ou konnen, ou konnen, ou konnen, ou konnen Kenbe yo ansanm epi chèche konnen ki jan nou pral pwogrese. Se konsa, mwen mande si nou te ka voye tèt nou chak semèn oswa chak de semèn si te gen minit pou nou te ka kolekte enfòmasyon sa a ak deplase kòmsadwa.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Konsènan enfòmasyon an, vis prezidan Madam la intelijans pibliye sou sit entènèt vil la.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: nan?
[Fred Dello Russo]: pwogrè.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Konbyen tan li pran yo pibliye? Mwen pa gen okenn lide. Oh, mwen pa t 'wè yo. La. Yo la. Legal.
[George Scarpelli]: Scott konsiltan. Mèsi. Mesye Prezidan, sa a se pwoblèm mwen.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mèsi. Se konsa, nan mosyon Vis Prezidan an pou apwobasyon, tout moun renmen li. Mwen se tout opoze an. Mwen ta renmen kafe. Konpliman. Bay pa Vis Prezidan Lungo-Koehn. Malgre ke, Nan sans de menas ki sot pase a bonm nan Medford High School ak anpil plent bay paran yo, pa enfòme jouk apre lekòl, Komisyon Konsèy la Lekòl Medford te deside chèche règleman li yo ak pwosedi yo, epi si sa rive nan lavni an, depatman lekòl la imedyatman avèti ke jou sa a, ki se envizib. Prezidan an rekonèt Vis Prezidan Mungo Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Mèsi, Prezidan.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Direktè Falco.
[John Falco]: Mwen konnen li se yon kesyon trè enteresan pou papa m ', men demen swa, Medford High School pral fè yon reyinyon ak direktè lekòl la nan Komisyon Konsèy la Lekòl Medford, Chèf Polis la, Medford High School, ki moun ki responsab pou tout règleman yo ak pwosedi ki gen rapò ak sekirite lekòl la. Mwen panse ke wi, mwen vle pran mosyon an sou tab la paske mwen panse ke li enpòtan ke yo gen yon reyinyon an premye Ki jan li ta dwe rive anvan yo swiv espekilasyon ak diskisyon sou sa ki te pase. Gen yon akò. Apre sa, mwen panse ke nou ta dwe konnen administrasyon lekòl la anvan yo swiv diskisyon an. Mwen vle koute yo an premye epi tande egzakteman sa ki te pase.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Mwen siyal tab la. Mouvman tab la pa kapab ranpli.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I would ask him to withdraw so that I could speak on the resolution. There's a lot of people that have been complaining to me. And I think it does need to be discussed publicly. It's being thrown out that, you know, no discussion hasn't made. I'm very happy that there's a meeting tomorrow, but there are people here to speak on it tonight. And people have asked me. I think it's a disservice to the city to not publicly broadcast.
[Fred Dello Russo]: All those in favor, say aye. Mr. President. Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: If we could reverse the tape. I'll reverse the table to hear from the resident, but I firmly believe that this here should be addressed by the school system before we address, this is not our jurisdiction, really. I mean, the way I look at it.
[Fred Dello Russo]: You're withdrawing your motion, Councilor. I'm withdrawing my motion. Point of information, Vice President-Elect O'Connor.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I think, as one Councilor, I was getting the complaints two weeks ago, the day after this happened, and I went a whole week without saying a word because I agree. should have been brought up by the school committee. It was not, and people were on me to bring it up, and I don't disagree with them. I think people need to be able to hear what we have to say about it, what the school committee has to say about it. We're the ones that decide on the budget in June and decide whether or not the safety budget is enough. There's a reason why we should be able to talk about it. People are here tonight, and I just feel like it's definitely needed.
[Fred Dello Russo]: To take point of clarification, Councilor Knight.
[Adam Knight]: Has there been any communication between the administration of the school department and the council to date, prior to the filing of the resolution? I'm not in possession of anything.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The motion for tabling has been withdrawn. The chair recognizes the presenter of the motion, Vice President Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you and I appreciate Councilor, I understand where Councilor Falco is coming from and I appreciate the withdrawal of the motion. I learned about this bomb threat through Patch. I read it online and as a parent, I didn't even think of it as a parent, I actually called my mother who works for the school system and said, did you know there was a bomb threat three days ago? Yeah, I found out after the end of the day. So I had my mother in the building with a potential bomb threat, whether or not it was low or no threat, you know, I was concerned. And then I thought, after I started getting the complaints, I thought, you know, I have one child in the school system, soon going to have two, and then eventually have three. And whether or not it was a threat or no threat, I truly believe, and I think it's where a lot of people are coming from, I think that as a parent, I think I should be given the choice And I think a lot of parents do believe the same thing. They should be given the choice because it's not something that happens every day. This is actually the first threat of something like this that I've heard of happening ever in the Medford Public Schools. So I think parents are looking for me to come out and say they should have been notified whether that was through a phone call or some type of communication rather than after the children left school. And I think that's important to say. I think it's important. I have the right to voice my opinion. And that is my opinion. Parents should have been notified in a non-emergency fashion, but a phone call should have went out and said, this is the situation, this is what we're dealing with, and we just want to let you know, there's nothing to be concerned about. But, and parents, I have a number of parents that have called me upset, saying they would have, even though it was low threat or no threat, parents would have went and picked up their children. I know it's happening all over the state. It's unfortunate. It's something that was completely out of control, out of Medford's control. I don't think Medford did any, you know, there's nothing Medford, City of Medford could have done except probably better communication. So I'm very glad it's being addressed tomorrow night. And maybe one of the reasons it is being addressed tomorrow night and not last week is because we did put the resolution on. You know, we are going to talk about it tonight. So I think that it needed to be put on and I think people need and avenues to be able to speak and give their opinions on it. And obviously, that's going to be in a lengthy meeting tomorrow night. But if people want to voice their opinions now, or people looking to other politicians, not just the school committee, to speak out on it, then that's our prerogative. And I think it was wrong the way it was handled. And I hope that new policies are put in place after tomorrow night.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you, Madam Vice President. On the motion, you wish to present yourself, welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[2pAQFYhyG5g_SPEAKER_24]: Robert Candy, 128 Grant Avenue, Medford.
[SPEAKER_04]: Monique DeVos, 128 Grant Avenue, Medford.
[2pAQFYhyG5g_SPEAKER_24]: Thank you. You may speak one at a time. Thank you. Well, Councilor, thank you for the motion. And Councilor Falco, thank you for withdrawing it for the time being. I don't think either of us is in any way opposed to the meeting itself or to working things out. There's been zero information other than what was in the transcript. To our knowledge, the bomb threat occurred somewhere around 9 a.m. when kids were in school. Neither the kids nor the teachers knew about it, to our knowledge as well. We don't know if any sweep was done or conducted, and in that regard, we trust the police and we trust that the school has our children's best interests in mind. That said, how dare they not call us? How dare they not give us the option of deciding what to do? And loco parentis, from a legal perspective, does not mean they get to make that decision. And they could be challenged on that, and we're thinking about that. It's very distressing to know we've had three children in the school system, currently one in high school. to know that he's sitting there hoping they got it right. If we wanted to take him home, that should be our option. Let us tell you a little story. We came in to have a meeting with one of the personnel on the third floor. There's an elderly gentleman who sits at the front desk of the high school. Very nice gentleman. He gives you a pass, and you walk up. Doesn't ask for ID. You could be anybody. Off you go. We've seen him before, so he knows us. On our way out, this gentleman was traversing down toward Mr. Belson's area, I guess to go to the men's room. There was nobody there. Anyone could have walked in that high school, and anyone could have done damage. That needs to change. So when they tell us they looked at the videos, really? That's the extent of determining whether or not somebody was doing some harm in a school that size? It's unconscionable. And I think it is your jurisdiction, because one, you approved the budget. Two, as Ms. Cain pointed out, the school committee did nothing. They didn't even raise the issue, and it is something they should be talking about. So I'm just going to say I think it's unconscionable we weren't called. I think we should be given that opportunity. And I think it would be a sad day if you folks did not act on this, if you determine after that meeting. that proper steps have not been taken. Remember, the resolution itself says parents may decide. That's what we're here about. We're not here to question the police or to question Mr. Belson or Dr. Perrella, whom we have trust in. We're here to say we wrote a call. Do you have anything else to add?
[SPEAKER_04]: Just the fact that I support everything you said and that absolutely People need to be informed. You can't make any decision without being informed, period.
[2pAQFYhyG5g_SPEAKER_24]: Thank you for hearing us. Thank you for being here tonight.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes Councilor Falco.
[John Falco]: I can wait. I can wait.
[Fred Dello Russo]: The chair recognizes the citizen at the podium. Please state your name and address for the record. Welcome.
[acqgxK4yhEM_SPEAKER_28]: Thank you, good evening. Jay Spaulding, 3610 Mystic Valley Parkway. As a former teacher in a public school district where we had bomb threats and active weapon reuse and a student was shot on property, I know that this issue is terrifying to both teachers, staff, students, parents, administration. And I understand the desire to have this resolution. However, School policy regarding safety and security is something that we cannot address here at City Council because the people who have the, in my opinion, the expertise, the knowledge on creating safety plans and security plans are not in this room tonight. In this room are parents who are scared. in this room are citizens who work in various areas of both city involvement and private industry. But the chief of police, the superintendent of the school, the principal of the high school, they're not here. Tomorrow night, as Councilor Falco said, a serious conversation where things can be addressed will happen. I will state as a former teacher that the worst thing, in my opinion, one can do during an active, whether it be an active weaponry incident, an injured student, or a bomb threat, is to have Parents show up on site and try to remove their child. That is a great way to cause chaos, to increase injury, and to cause further damage. Whether the bomb, whether the threat is real or not, the rush of parents to remove students from a building because they're making a decision based on emotion, and I understand that emotion. I've worked in those buildings. at those times, and I would like to leave myself. That's chaos. That further endangers everyone in the building. And in my opinion, again, having lived through this, the reason that staff, students, teachers are not informed right away or even that day is, again, chaos theory. We don't want people running through the hallways. We don't want teachers saying, screw this, you guys, I'm out. Good luck, kids. I don't wanna die. That's the reality of the situation. So I am disappointed that this has to come before city council tonight when the issue is coming tomorrow. I think it honestly is a waste of time when we can address this tomorrow with the actual stakeholders. Thank you.
[Robert Cappucci]: Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm Bob Capucci, 71 Evans street. Uh, I too am a former educator in, in, in Massachusetts and, uh, there are definite ways and orderly in, in, constructive way for parents to come in and retrieve their kids can happen without it breaking down into chaos. Uh, you know, school could be put on lockdown. Everybody stays in their room. And as parents showed up, you know, they're notified where their kids, uh, they communicate and they get them out in an orderly fashion. Now I went to, uh, chief Sacco of the method. Police holds a informational town hall meeting every first Wednesday of the month. And this was the main topic. The police got this threat and the threat was an automated robotic threat to the school. So that was one of the things that they used to determine the legitimacy of the threat. It came at a very inopportune time around 10 in the morning. The police did go through the school and make a search. But some of the things that they brought up that I think makes it pertinent for this council to talk about was that something like half of the cameras in the school don't work, not every single door is locked and being looked at. Another thing to consider is that it wasn't the police department's decision to put out the information about this bomb threat at six 30 at night, uh, hours after it happened. Uh, uh, I believe that was on, uh, the superintendent of schools, his decision, uh, and, uh, going forward. I, as you do consider the budget budget in, in June in, in the police department that we have, I mean, there's Metro police officer, that was up there on duty that day also has two kids in the school. So they did sweep the school. They did do a search. I don't know the full extent of that. And they did pass on the information of the call to the state police to try to track where this robotic call came from. But in considering the budget in June with our police department, I think it would be pertinent to do what you can to get uh, uh, enough police officers on, on the method police force. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Capucci.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Good evening. Welcome. Please state your name and address for the record.
[Cheryl Rodriguez]: Hi, my name is Cheryl Rodriguez. I live at 281 Park street. Um, I heard about this bomb threat online as well. I have a student in the Roberts Elementary, but I pretty much get all of my information about the school online because my school doesn't notify. I know other schools call for snow days. So this call coming in at 630 for a bomb threat is no surprise. There's no clear policy in how schools are supposed to notify parents. I thought this was possibly the PR person's job to kind of unify us because at my school, we've had power outages, we've had heat being out, we've had issues where they can't clean things because there's no hot water, there's no parent notification. Somebody needs to unify this because everyone should know. We had the lockdown drill at my school and nobody notified. We had children having anxiety attacks because their parents couldn't prep them for this. This is just a larger issue that we need as parents. When I drop my child off at the school, I don't give up my parental rights. I found out about the power outage last year because I was volunteering in the school building and had to cancel a program for 100 children with less than two hours, walked in the school and found out they had no power. So something needs to be done on a systematic level of notifying parents. We're still the parent, and I need to know what's going on for my child. I don't want her to come home and give me this wild story of we had no heat and had to wear our winter coats, because I don't know to believe that. School didn't tell me that, so it's probably not true. So I think it's bigger than just bomb threat, and we really need to think about that. It's a bigger issue. Thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Thank you. Chair recognizes Vice President Scarpelli. Vice President.
[George Scarpelli]: I'm sorry, I took over. Thank you. Again, I understand why this is put forth, but again, like my fellow colleague, as a former school committee member, these are issues we've vetted. And this is why it's important that we let the due diligence of our elected officials present what needs to be presented tomorrow evening, because it is important. These, as a school committee member, we can list out a litany of answers to all these questions, but it's the job of the school committee to inform everybody tomorrow at their meeting that then would be processed through us, and then we could have that next discussion. But I think right now, putting the cart ahead of the horse, I understand the questions that you have, the parents have. I got the same calls and one of the biggest questions was the notification issue. Well, there's a lot of security issues when and why notifications have to be given. So that's not for me to tell you that right now, that's for the chief of police and the superintendent to talk tomorrow because I have questions too. I have questions about the presentation of the PR. and PR person, and when that was done. But again, we want to make sure that we're not, you know, putting our school base in a frenzy right now until we really know what has transpired. So I think that's very important. So thank you.
[John Falco]: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank my consular colleague, Mr. Scarpelli, as well. The point that I was trying to make earlier was basically that we should hear from the school administration. They can give everyone the rundown as to what happened, what time it happened, why they made the decisions they made. If we're gonna comment on things tonight, it's purely speculation, and that is not safe for anything or anyone. So therefore, the important thing is, if you have questions, I think, please, I urge everyone, go to Medford High School tomorrow night, at the library, seven o'clock PM, the superintendent's going to be there. The chief of police is going to be there. All of the decision makers are going to be in the room and they will be able to go right through the timeline as to what happened and when and why they made the decisions they made. And that's what I was trying to put point, uh, put across. I mean, I am a parent of three children in the method public schools. I mean, I completely understand, um, you know, the notification issue. I mean, I have the same concerns, but I think that the administration should at least give us the information so we can, make decisions and ask good questions. So that's the point I was trying to get across. Uh, thank you.
[Fred Dello Russo]: Chair recognizes the citizen Councilor Marks.
[Michael Marks]: Uh, thank, thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank a council longer current for putting this on the agenda for tonight. Um, you know, it was mentioned, I think that this is the first time this has happened in the city and by far that's, this is not the first time there's been, a threat of this nature in the Medford Public Schools. But needless to say, I think Councilor Falco just mentioned about speculation. The reason why there's speculation is because there's no communication. And I think that's the main concern. I have two children in the public schools, and when I received the call that night, the first thing that came to my mind was, geez, I would have liked to have a little more information, and maybe I would have liked to have it a little sooner. And I realize it's a delicate balance because you don't want to create pandemonium. How do you release, you know, if the high school wants to release 800 kids, how do you release them? And how do you go on to do it in a safe manner? I understand that. And I think these are the issues that need to be discussed. But if there's a policy in place, why does it take eight days or tomorrow's nine days? Why does it take nine days to say this is our policy? This is what we implemented. This is what we found out. It shouldn't take that long. And I think that's the concern that I'm hearing. And then as a parent, when they tell me part of the reasoning why they consider this a low threat was they went through 18 hours of videotape. You know, anyone that goes up to the high school and the gentleman that spoke is right. If you had to go up and bring your student a book, say they forgot a book, they used to have you just sign a sheet of paper and you'd go bring the book to the main office. So they'd let you into the school. Just recently I was up there and now they are asking for ID. They've changed their policy. So the policy before was just sign a sheet. You could sign a John Lennon and walk in because really there's no check and balance. The second point I'd like to make too is that high school is open constantly Saturday and Sunday. Hundreds of people going in there. I go out myself, Saturday night, and watch my son play basketball. Every door up in the gymnasium is open. It's a free for all. There's not one security person up there. There's not one security person going on. So the public schools really have to take, you know, I'm not sure who's looking at 18 hours of videotape. But first of all, the back of the school, it's pitch dark out there. So I'm not sure what you're going to see with those cameras in the back. And secondly, the whole school's open. We have the Japanese program that's been up there for a number of years. And the city of Medford makes a fair amount of money for renting out almost the entire high school. But there's thousands of people that literally have been up and watched the program. They take over all the classrooms in the high school. They have other classrooms that are under lock and key. They come in with wheelers. And we don't know what they're bringing into the building. And these are the things. And I'm not saying that this program's a bad program. I'm just saying, how do you keep a sense of security when the building is open to everyone? There's really no security up there, especially after hours and on weekends, which is a real concern of mine. And I hope it's addressed tomorrow. But I think the issue that I've been hearing from parents is not whether or not they wanted to pull their children out was the lack of communication. Be open and upfront with people. And it shouldn't take eight days to figure out what's going on. And if there was a breach in policy or the policy wasn't followed, let us know. That's how we improve. This is how you improve upon policy and regulations when something like this happens. And to just brush it under the rug and then come up with a meeting. You know, I've been calling for two years. for a public safety summit, Mr. President, in this community. And it's not just on the city side, it's in general. It's to bring the police department, the fire chief in, the mayor, the council, and anyone else that wants to be part of it, Mr. President. And for two years, I just called for another one recently, that this council voted unanimously. We have got no response at all regarding a public safety summit. It's almost like people in this community don't want to discuss what's happening in the community. They don't want to discuss the robberies that are happening in our local drug stores almost daily, the bank robberies, an incident like this at the high school. And the list goes on and on and on, drug activity on our streets. And we've been asking, Mr. President, to get together, like any good community would, and discuss some of our shortfalls and maybe why we're seeing an increase in this particular activity in our community, and what we can do better to provide security. You know, so I'm glad that this was discussed tonight. We're not talking out of school now. We're not letting any secrets out about safety at the high school, you know, ways someone could breach the high school. We're saying that we believe there's a concern, and the concern has to be addressed in a much quicker fashion, so speculation doesn't get out there, and people start thinking, oh, my God, what's happening? So we hired a $90,000 PR person. I didn't see one communication from that PR person. Not one communication. If you can't address an issue of this nature, what are they addressing? Honestly, I don't know what's going on, Mr. President. This is a concern that parents should be upset about. And maybe this is not the best forum, but guess what? We're an open forum. People can come up to the podium and speak. And the day we start censoring what can be said at that podium, you might as well close the light and lock the door here at City Hall, Mr. President. I just want to thank Councilor Longo for bringing this important issue up.