AI-generated transcript of 02.02.2026 MSC Regular Meeting (In Person)

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: public schools YouTube channel, through Medford Community Media, on your local cable channel, Comcast channel nine, eight, or 22, and Verizon channel 43, 45, or 47. Participants can log or call in by using the following link, and then the meeting ID is 952-957-30488. I will call the roll as we wait for member Rousseau. Thank you to our student rep for being here. And if we all could please rise to salute the flag. 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. Thank you. Does anybody have anything under section three, good of the order? Hearing and seeing none, we'll go to section four, which is our consent agenda. Approval of bills and payrolls, approval of capital purchases, approval of donations, $1,000 donation from the Smith family to the orchestra program. approval of grants, approval of field trips, approval of meeting minutes from the regular meeting January 26, 2026. Is there a motion for approval? By Member Olapade. Seconded by? Member Mastroboni. All those in favor? All those opposed? Paper passes. No reports of subcommittees. And we do have two reports under reports of superintendents. So I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Galusi to present the Mustang moment. And Member Ruseau, if you could mark yourself present. Just kidding. Why?

[Suzanne Galusi]: Okay, well, good evening. Thank you very much, everyone, for joining us. So last week, our meeting was virtual due to the snow day. And so the way we normally start our school committee meetings is with Mustang Moment, and it is a chance to elevate the student voice within Medford Public Schools. So tonight, we have a really wonderful pleasure of having two Mustang Moments. And so the first one this evening is going to be the high school, Medford High School's Best Buddy Program. So I'm going to ask one of the advisors, Mr. Skerry, to come up with three of his representatives. He's going to provide a brief overview and then we're going to hear from students around the Best Buddies program.

[LRgDo3q--Pg_SPEAKER_09]: Good evening, thank you for having us. My name is John Scarry. I'm one of the two co-faculty advisors for the Mefferd High Best Buddies program along with Ms. Goldberg, Ms. Casey Goldberg. Unfortunately, she couldn't be here tonight. Best Buddies is almost our one-year anniversary. In March is our one-year anniversary. We'd like to invite all of you folks to come out to our one-year anniversary party. We are a club that is about inclusion and friendship and building meaningful connections through inclusion and friendship for our students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. Things are going great and we truly appreciate the hard work of Dr. Galusi, the mayor and the school committee, particularly the CPAC co-chairs, Tanya Sullivan, Alex Lorick, Ms. Joan Bowen, Ms. Cabral, Kim Clinton, and all the faculty and staff. I don't want to say too much because really the stars are the ones standing behind me. So we did share some slides with you folks if you wanted to take a look at them. Otherwise, we've got three of our officers here beside you. I can give you one little piece of information about us and then turn it over to our officers. So we meet twice a month. And what we, the first part of the school year, last year was kind of like a soft launch in March, but now we're off and running and we have developed, in addition to the group meetings, we have developed one-to-one friendships, one-to-one pairings. So, you know, my buddy, per se, is one student from Gen Ed and one student from the intellectual developmental disabilities population. And so they're certainly going to do things at the meetings, but also outside of the meetings, because a lot of students in that portion of the population don't have a lot of friends outside of school. So our goal is to build lasting and meaningful connections, not just in, you know, and certainly in and during the school year, but then hopefully long ways afterwards. So I'm here for any questions, but other than that, I'd like to turn it over to our three officers who think they can tell you about their experiences, their names, and just everything about them.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Mrs. Gary. Welcome.

[LRgDo3q--Pg_SPEAKER_09]: Can you go one more slide?

[SPEAKER_06]: Hi, I'm Savannah, I'm the Best Buddies director. I'm a sophomore at Medford High School. I like The Outsiders, Karate Kid, and Supernatural. I'm in early childhood at the vocational shop and I went and I want to be a preschool teacher. I'm also on the unified basketball team and the unified track team. My favorite activity is when we've done so far in Best Buddies was baking cookies And this year for Best Buddies, I wanted to make hand turkeys near Thanksgiving and make holiday cards.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Wonderful, thank you. Do you want to introduce yourselves? Everybody else?

[SPEAKER_04]: I'm Nora. I'm a junior at Medford High School. I run track and that's pretty much and I play volleyball and I'm part of Best Buddies. I'm the vice president. I joined Best Buddies just to like be part of a very accepting community. I think it's hard for everyone in high school to feel accepted but Best Buddies is a place where we just like all are very talkative and accepting of each other and it's a really great club to be a part of and it helps me honestly with my leadership skills because I just feel so like included to like be myself and able to speak up and have a leadership role so yeah.

[yGcuIBQZTjc_SPEAKER_12]: Hi, my name is Catherine Began, and I'm a sophomore at MHS. I'm a very outgoing and friendly person, always looking to make new friends, and I'm lucky enough to be given a space by Best Buddies to do so. I'm currently the communications coordinator, which means I run the Instagram, so go follow medford.bestbuddies on Instagram, everyone. Best Buddies is a club with the idea of building new friendships and promoting inclusion. However, Best Buddies is no longer just a club for friendships. It has been a source of happiness and laughter for tons of kids at Medford High. Whether it's meeting new friends at club run activities or simple hello in the hallway, the Best Buddies community offers support and appreciation for all. And throughout my experience, and hopefully everyone else's in Best Buddies, we've been able to connect with friends and build friendships that will last a lifetime. And it is safe to say that the Best Buddies chapter at MHS has definitely changed all of our lives.

[LRgDo3q--Pg_SPEAKER_09]: And just, we are hoping that we can be agents of furthering the Best Buddies programs and communities in Medford. We'd love to be involved in getting Best Buddies into the middle schools, and then get, you know, so starting that, those connections and getting them up into the high school. We don't want to take up any more of your time, but if you've got any questions, if not, we'd love to see you at our birthday party next month.

[Suzanne Galusi]: No, thank you for the- Could you maybe highlight- Oh, is it? Go ahead, yeah. Could you maybe just highlight two of the activities or initiatives that you've done this year? Sure.

[LRgDo3q--Pg_SPEAKER_09]: You can pick any slide you want, and we'll be happy to talk about it. You want to do one, Savannah? Which one do you want to do? Cookies?

[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[LRgDo3q--Pg_SPEAKER_09]: Can you find the one about maybe the cookies? That was a popular one.

[SPEAKER_06]: Does it matter what I think about it? You can say whatever you want. So I had fun with this activity, not going to lie to you. It was very, like, fun. Like, I think we should do this more often because, like, it's something that we get to do. And, like, we get to, like, experience, like, the cookies that we make. And then, like, we can share them with, like, our families and stuff like that. I just enjoy the club itself.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So, Savannah, it was just an activity where you all worked together to bake cookies and had fun. That's wonderful. Great.

[yGcuIBQZTjc_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, all right, so another, I'm not sure if it's on the slides, because I think it happened after we made the slideshow, but we did a wonderful activity where we did trick-or-treating in the halls. Oh, it is? Oh, perfect. Okay, yes, okay. So trick-or-treating in the halls, so we asked a bunch of teachers who, to stay after school, and give candy out to our club, and they graciously did so. The superintendent was there. Thank you. And so we all dressed up in costumes, as you can see. And it was a great bonding activity, because although Best Buddies does focus on one-on-one friendships, we also are all a Best Buddies family. So it was definitely an activity we ought to do as our one community, which I think was really fun and really great to just have that connection. And just shout out all the teachers that gave out candy. Mr. Skerry, Ms. Coyne, Mr. Maldonado, Ms. Casey, everyone, thank you. Oh yeah, and we would love to highlight Jack in his pickle costume.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Well, thank you. That was wonderful. I think you're right. I think you've made friendships for life. And as you see your friends throughout the community, you'll remember each other and be able to enjoy each other's company. So I wish they had this when I was growing up, but I have a lot of friends that had disabilities. And my kids will say, how do you know so-and-so? I'm like, I just was kind. I was kind when I was in high school.

[LRgDo3q--Pg_SPEAKER_09]: A lot of kids, I think, want to be involved more than when we were younger, unfortunately. It was longer ago that I was younger than you guys were. But kids want to help now, and this gives them something but some structure to do it. But then they take it on their own. And I got to tell you, our students are captains of teams. They're National Honor Society. They're well-rounded individuals. So we've got a really good group. And the buy-in from the community at large, the Medford High Community at large, teachers staying after school to give out candy and stuff like that, has been great buy-in from everybody. So thank you to everyone who's helping us make this happen.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Wonderful. Great job. Keep it up. Good job.

[LRgDo3q--Pg_SPEAKER_09]: Thank you.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And next up, we have a recommendation to... No, no, no.

[Suzanne Galusi]: One more. One more. One more Mustang moment.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Oh, wonderful.

[Suzanne Galusi]: This is the one that was regularly scheduled for this evening's meeting. So at the podium, we have Principal Mr. Tucci from the McGlynn Middle School. We have Principal Jennifer Skane with us virtually, Principal from the Andrews. She's a little under the weather today, but she is online virtually. Mr. Tucci is going to explain the two representatives that Medford has for Project 351.

[Nick Tucci]: Thank you very much. What a tough act to follow. It's not a surprise, though, because we have so many great Mustangs walking the halls. And I'm here to introduce two fantastic Mustangs at the middle school level. On Saturday, January 17, eighth graders Ali Matarazzo and Jovi LaFer of the Andrews Middle School had the opportunity to attend Project 351's annual launch day. And they were honored by Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll as Medford's ambassadors to this annual launch and service day in Boston. Ali and Jovi, in the class of 2026, were honored for inspiring ethic of service and values of kindness, compassion, humility, and gratitude. And if you're gonna think about Ali or Jovi, they certainly embody every characteristic there. Project 351 is a non-profit organization that empowers a youth-led movement for change, powered by 8th grade students representing every single city and town and municipality in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Allie and Jovi participated and honored Dr. Martin Luther King's life and celebrated what's, quote, a revolution of love. Allie and Jovi united with more than 450 ambassadors and alumni mentors representing the Commonwealth's 351 cities and towns to kick off a year of leadership developments, unifying service, and enrichment. And since 2011, 5,930 ambassadors have united across all facets of difference to impact 1.5 million neighbors through service. So here to speak more about their experience in Project 351's launch day and also their ensuing leadership within the Medford community are both Ali and Jovi. So I'm gonna turn it over to Ali first to explain a little bit about our experience at the launch day.

[SPEAKER_05]: Project 351, an organization that values kindness, gratitude, and compassion, leads 8th graders from all over Massachusetts to make a difference in our community. I am so grateful to have been chosen as a student ambassador for Project 351 and for the opportunity that it gave me to help so many underprivileged people. As a result of the experience, I was inspired by kind leaders in our community. At launch day on January 17th, eighth graders from all 351 towns in Massachusetts got together to do volunteer service for various nonprofit organizations, including Cradles to Crayons, Your Hometown Food Pantry, and Home Base. My group was assigned to Cradles to Crayons, so we went to their factory and worked and sorted through donated clothes. With this in mind, I look forward to helping many others this year and continuing to be a leader for the rest of my life. At the beginning of the day, all of the ambassadors from 351 towns in Massachusetts gathered in Faneuil Hall. This hall was where many revolutionary meetings took place with historical figures like Paul Revere, John Adams, and John Hancock. Knowing all the hall's history is why it was so empowering to be in the same room where people revolutionized the country hundreds of years ago, and now eighth graders were the ones creating a revolution of love. The theme of 351 is a revolution of love. This means that we are creating loving community by replacing negativity with kindness. While we were at the historical hall, we got to know our service hero teams and listen to the founders of the organization and other inspiring leaders discuss how important it is to be a kind leader. Being around 350 other amazing students and countless leaders for just one day made me feel inspired to do more to help my community. The adults helped us ambassadors realize that even though we are young, we can still make a difference in thousands of people's lives. From Faneuil Hall, my group took a bus to Cradles to Crayons in Newton. During the time we spent there, we sorted donated clothes into numerous piles, making sure that they were high quality. To end our day, we traveled to the JFK Library and learned that we changed 2,303 lives at Cradles to Crayons in just one day. The thought that a group of young teens could change that many lives in just a few hours puts it into perspective of how easy it is to help our community. As my next step in helping our community, I will run a clothing drive for two weeks at my school with the help of friends and family. We do this as a spring service at Project 351 because in Massachusetts, one in three children are at risk for clothing insecurity. Because of this, all donations that we collect in Medford will go to the nonprofit organization Cradles to Crayons. Because of Project 351, 230,000 children have been served at Cradles to Crayons, and I hope that I can contribute to changing more lives this spring.

[SPEAKER_03]: When I first learned about my selection in November, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Hearing words like leader and representative, I was unsure how well I'd be fit for the role of an ambassador for Project 351. However, over the past few months, I've been able to learn more about what the organization actually is and the part that ambassadors will play in as we embark on a year of service. Though I had doubts about my capabilities, being able to actually meet the other ambassadors, people my age with the same motives as me, made me feel so much better, and I'm extremely honored to be part of something so big. Getting on the bus on launch day, I didn't know what was going to happen. I was very nervous, mostly excited for whatever activities we'd partake in throughout the day. From the moment I stepped in Faneuil Hall, I was filled with the thrill that stayed with me for the rest of the day. Being able to meet the ambassadors on my service hero team, listen to influential figures, and connect with such an empowering community was amazing. When my team went into Chelsea to serve at La Collaborativa, we were able to experience a lot of great things, from making valentines scarves and bookmarks to being able to hand out food to the community. After such a great day with such incredible opportunities, We all came together at JFK Library to recap the impact we made, to have fun, and to relax until it was time to go home. The next step in our service journey is spring service. Over the next few months, ambassadors will go through the Service Leadership Academy in preparation for April's spring service. In support of Cradles to Crayons, ambassadors will be able to lead a product drive in their hometown. Spring service, the largest youth-led service in Massachusetts history, will allow ambassadors to apply leadership skills, strength, and kindness, and build generosity.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Round of applause for Allie and Joby. Any questions? Take a picture of both groups, Best Buddies and Project 351. Sure.

[Suzanne Galusi]: Any questions before we do that?

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No. We're proud of you. Great job. Yes. Okay. If you want to come around, we'll take a picture right here. Thanks again. And next up we have a recommendation to approve the proposed educational plan for the Medford High School building project. Dr. Suzanne Galusi, Interim Superintendent, and Dr. Kimberly Talbot, Assistant Superintendent of Academics and Instructions. We did.

[Suzanne Galusi]: Thank you. So last meeting, Dr. Talbot and I presented on the educational plan as part of the MSBA project. Just as a quick refresher, this is, as we refer to it, kind of the North Star, the guiding document for the high school project. So we put it out for some edits or some feedback, but the document on whole remains as it was last week, so there are no updates or feedback to present at this meeting. And so after a vote, Dr. Talbot and I are here and happy to take any feedback or answer any questions.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Any questions or feedback? Member Reinfeld and Member Graham? Member Graham, anything before we move approval?

[Jenny Graham]: Yes, if we could just maybe amend the approval to give the superintendent permission to make non-substantive changes in the lead up to the deliverable at the end of the month, that will inevitably be needed to tie everything together for MSBA.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I accept the amendment. Motion to approve by Member Reinfeld as amended by Member Graham. Is there a second?

[Jenny Graham]: Second.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: By Member Graham. All those in favor? Aye.

[Jenny Graham]: Can we take a roll call?

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Roll call has been requested, please.

[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham? Yes. Member Mastroboni? Yes. Member Oliphante? Yes. Member Parks? Yes. Member Reinfeld?

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.

[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor Lungo-Koehn?

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Paper passes as amended.

[Suzanne Galusi]: Dr. Guzzi. Before we move on, I just wanted to acknowledge and say thank you that we do have our representatives from left field and SMMA on the call virtually with us. I do see Jen Carlson from left field, Matt Rice from SMMA as well as Rosemary Park. Just want to say their guidance throughout this process was also instrumental. So I want to make sure I acknowledge that they are here at this meeting. Thank you for being here.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Now you can log off. It's been approved. Lucky. No presentations of the public. and student advisory council. So I'm going to go on to continued business, which is 2026-05 offered by member Graham, whereas the Medford School Committee recognizes the importance of establishing a thoughtful process for deciding how to appoint a permanent superintendent on July 1st, 2026, and whereas the school committee wishes to ensure opportunities for public input and engagement as part of this process. Now, therefore, be it resolved the member's school committee will determine its approach to appointing a permanent superintendent at its public meeting today, February 2nd, 2026. And be it further resolved that the school committee invites feedback from the public during this meeting. And be it further resolved that the members of the school committee, the school committee will review emails from the community who are not able to attend but want to provide input by submitting feedback via email. to the email address medfordsc at medford.k12.ma.us. Member Graham, do you want to start us off?

[Jenny Graham]: Thank you. So I think you know as we have been really for an entire year now sitting with an interim superintendent we it's time for us to make decisions about how we're going to move forward. And I thought it was important that before we made those decisions given that we had a year and a half that we do a couple of things. One was to stabilize the district in what was an unexpected transition from our prior superintendent who left before her contract was over. So that was like the sort of the first order of business. The second order of business in my mind was to make sure that we were not compromising the strategic work that we had ahead. by trying to insert and infuse like another process into the mix all while trying to navigate through onboarding our team for the MSBA MHS high school project and to negotiate what is like one of the most pivotal teacher contracts that Medford has seen in a really long time made possible by the override, but also to like do the budget and do all the things. So that was sort of the secondary thing was in my mind to say we have some really big important things to do and we can't do those things effectively if our leadership is unclear about the role that they're going to play. And then, you know, as we continued forward, the work doesn't really stop. So we've been sort of, we continued into the fall where, it seemed like the right time for us to start talking about strategic planning and to solicit input and feedback from the community about the things that they want to see us do and undertake, and to ask questions much like we did when we did our superintendent search all those years ago about the kinds of qualities and preferences people have for a superintendent. So we did that that launched at the beginning of January. Actually, we made a strategic decision not to launch that in December because no one wants to be filling out surveys in December. They want to be eating cookies and. working on reasons to have a New Year's resolution in January. So that sort of kicked off in January. We're in the middle or we'll close out six public input sessions of that strategic plan later this week. And then sort of like next thing you know, we're here. And the superintendent has been with us for a year, which is a typical timeline where you would evaluate a superintendent. So I think, you know, This process and what we do next has been on my mind since the day that we appointed Dr. Galussi, but I really felt like given all that was going on, it was really important for us to fairly evaluate her because she had been here for an entire year. sort of moving past sitting in the chair and holding down the fort. And she has taken the reins as our superintendent. So we did that last week. Yes, just last week, the week before. Okay, I'm mixing up the dates and times. And one of the things that was really fascinating in the course of that process to collect feedback and input from six people who don't seven people who don't always agree on everything and who have different experiences with with various members of the district to see the consistency with which we evaluated the superintendent I thought was remarkable. I don't ever remember having a superintendent evaluation with the level of consistency that we saw and accepted last week. So I think that is a really important note and I would also say that the scores that we collectively came to through an averaging of everybody's scores and interests are that of a superintendent that no district would be looking to move on from. So that's sort of, from my perspective, the process that has led us here. And I do think it's important for clarity for everybody involved, for the committee, for the interim superintendent, for the people watching, for the parents, for the community, for the kids. For all of those people, it's important for us to decide. I think it's important for us to decide tonight what our path will be. When I think about my preferences about that path, like I've been listening and hearing from lots and lots and lots of folks who are super supportive of Dr. Galussi and the work that she's doing. I have heard from, you know, we, I think we all have heard from a handful of people who believe that a search is necessary, not because they think Dr. Glucy is not the right person, but because they think that and respect that process in an important way, and I don't want to diminish the need for good processes, but for me, For right now, I look at this and say, from where I'm coming from, is that we have sort of two choices given where we are in this trajectory, in this timeline, having had Dr. Glucy serve for us, on behalf of us, for a year. We can treat her like an interim superintendent, in which case a search makes lots of sense. Interims are meant to sit in the chair and hold down the fort. Or we can treat her like a sitting superintendent who had a stellar evaluation and moved to enter into contract negotiations, and that would be my preference. But I would like to hear from my colleagues. Thank you.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Member Ruseau.

[Paul Ruseau]: Button on first. I'm looking around. So I'm not good at keeping my thoughts organized, so I wrote it down. So over the past year, Dr. Glucy has been leading this district, not in theory, but in practice. We have had the rare opportunity to observe her leadership in real time, how she communicates, how she makes decisions, and how she responds when challenges arise. That level of clarity is not hypothetical. It is earned and it is invaluable. Our students, educators, and families deserve stability. They deserve continuity. They deserve a leader who already understands both the complexity of the work and the relationships that make that work possible. Dr. Galussi has built those relationships deliberately and authentically, and I know that not only through my own experience, but through the many emails I have received from staff and caregivers expressing trust in her leadership. Every email, regardless of whether someone wanted a search or not, included a lot of praise for Dr. Galusi, which I think definitely seems unlikely to be a normal, common experience for people when it comes to this type of setting, this situation. She has demonstrated consistency, transparency, and a deep commitment to the values of our district. We are not guessing how she will lead. We know. There is also a clear alignment between Dr. Galusi's priorities and the goals we as a community have set. Whether it is advancing equity, supporting educators, or strengthening communication, she has already been moving this work forward. There is no learning curve here, no pause, no reset, and no loss of momentum. Equally important is the working relationship between Dr. Glucy and the school committee. It has been a collaborative, open, and productive relationship, exactly what effective governance requires. That partnership matters. It ensures accountability, transparency, and that the will of the community expressed through our electoral process is meaningfully represented. I'm almost done. I want to acknowledge that some members of our community and this committee sincerely believe that conducting a search A superintendent search is the right course. I respect that perspective and I recognize the values behind it. Transparency, inclusivity, and diligence. Those values matter and they matter to me as well. However, for me, this decision is not about comparing candidates or speculating about the strength of a potential applicant pool. It is about recognizing the strong, steady, and proven leadership we already have. I want to be clear about why I do not support conducting a superintendent search at this time. A search is not a neutral act. It requires significant time, attention, and energy from staff, from this committee, and from the superintendent herself. Given where we are as a district, particularly with the intensity and pace of our new high school project, something would eventually have to give. There are only so many hours in a day, and I do not believe we can sustain our current momentum while simultaneously pausing to conduct a full search, to perform a full search process. Dr. Galussi has overseen the MSBA process from the beginning. She has attended every meeting. She has presented at every community forum held by this committee. She has built relationships with current and former school committee members. And through those relationships, she has earned my unqualified trust. I've also seen how she responds when students reach out, especially when the school committee is copied. Those moments reveal character, they reveal judgment, and they remind me that some people are truly called to this work. I can say without reservation that this is her calling. For all these reasons, stability, continuity, proven leadership, and the needs of this moment, I believe appointing Dr. Galusi as a permanent superintendent without conducting a search is the right decision for our students, our staff, and our community. This is not a decision to settle. It is a decision to lead with confidence in what we already know works.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Member Ruseau. I'll just piggyback on that. Oh, Member Parks? I didn't know if anybody else was going to speak. I didn't prepare a speech, but great job, Member Ruseau. I just want to piggyback a little bit on the amount of work that's going on among subcommittees, this committee, and, of course, Dr. Galussi's at every meeting, like Member Ruseau said. The time and effort it's taken. to get ready for a new high school. Our middle school consolidation, we cannot slow down on that project. The after school programming issues and building a task force like Dr. Galussi has and already expanding after school care for it was so desperately needed. I know many in our community consider it a crisis. That is being resolved and handled in such an efficient manner. I'm so pleasantly surprised and happy. just wanted to point that out. The strategic plan, I think there's been six meetings over the last month. That's on top of every other meeting that has gone on. I know I'm on top of trying to create a security task force, which Dr. Galusi is buying into and has that as one of her priorities. The capital improvement plan, IT upgrades, academics, of course, which I am not the one to speak on that, but enhancing sports and so much more. I feel like we are all doing the work, but it's on Dr. Gallucci's shoulder as the leader of the school committee and the school system, and the work is getting done. So I definitely want to hear from the community. I, too, received plenty of emails about how wonderful you are, Dr. Gallucci. I did also receive four or five emails from residents and parents who are interested in a full search, but I just know the work can't slow down. So adding on top of everybody else's plate a search, when we have somebody fully qualified, capable, and willing. I don't know if it needs to be done, so I'll leave it at that and pass it over to you, Member Barks.

[Jessica Parks]: Thank you. So as someone who was not part of the discussions or decisions a year ago, I kind of did the approach that I typically take, which is I dove into research and reached out to many different districts and the MASC, which is the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, to find out. what this process is about and I learned a lot. I mean I've learned from the community as well and I heard all of the different amazing things that everyone had to say about Superintendent Galussi. I mean I also have strong feelings about how successful she has been in just the work I've done on the after school subcommittee as well. But we have had many you know of the people that have reached out 83 percent. think that she should be appointed immediately. So without a search, and that says a lot. And of those that think there should be a search, as Jenny said, it should be noted that it's not because they don't believe in her, it's just because they believe in a process. So I looked into the process, and things that I learned about the process are that About one-third of MASC member districts actually promote from within or hire their internal superintendents. The reason many don't would be because they just don't have a viable internal candidate. In terms of a search timeline, a rigorous transparent search would require us to post in August. That would be either last August or this coming August because the reality is starting now when most districts have either already made their offers or are finalizing interviews means we'd be competing for an already limited pool of candidates. So we'd already be kind of behind the ball or we'd be putting Superintendent Galussi through another year of uncertainty, which I don't personally feel is a fair way of having someone sit in a position. On search challenges, many districts have experienced significant difficulties with external searches. Between 5 to 10% fail and must restart entirely. Others have had applicants withdraw due to public pressure or better offers from other districts because that pool is small. Multiple people are applying for multiple positions. Still, others have had to rescind offers because of issues discovered through, frankly, a simple Google search. And additionally, as we've seen in Cambridge, I learned when an intern superintendent has been in place for too long with strong evaluations, as committee member Graham talked about, the search posting doesn't attract serious candidates because it begins to feel like a formality. On cost and continuity, a search costs anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 or more, with no guarantee of a better outcome. Beyond the direct costs, we would lose the investment we've already made in Dr. Galicia's professional development throughout her career with the district, and we would lose critical institutional knowledge at a time when we're managing multiple major initiatives. Dr. Galusi brings institutional knowledge, proven leadership, and a demonstrated commitment to Medford. I've read time and time again in all of the emails that were provided. It is very clear that people have a very high regard for Dr. Galusi and she cares about our community. She's earned the confidence of our community and our staff. Her evaluation last week was stellar and I believe it was a fair representation because it was Both current and former school committee members completed it and their evaluations were consistent with one another. So as a district, as a steward of our district's resources, I must weigh the certainty of a qualified, experienced leadership against the costs and risks of an uncertain external search. And so this is why I would vote in support of moving forward with appointing Dr. Galusi.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Member Parks. Member Olapade.

[Aaron Olapade]: Thank you. So I'm going to cover this, my perspective, on two accounts. The first account is going to be the school committee combined data that we put together last week in our meeting, that I compiled the information from separate school committee members. As Member Graham mentioned, we had seven separate data points to use, as referenced when we discussed the interim superintendent's tenure thus far. Across those data points, we saw consistency that at no point in any of the nearly 25 thresholds of success or performance, did the interim superintendent fall below satisfactory? And it was pointed out by member Reinfeld during that meeting that more often than not, MASC recommends that you do not use exemplary or highly proficient unless absolutely necessary because there's always room for growth. At no point, really, is everyone in the district going to be completely satisfied with the central administration, the school committee, because there's always room to improve and there's always more work to be done for our students. And when I look at the data points that our seven members came together to sign off on their John Hancocks, at no point did anyone indicate to me that there was major concerns or really relatively small concerns with the interim superintendent's capacity for this work or her commitment to our district. In some ways, more of them were closer to exemplary than not, and the feedback reflects that. So I think that's really important to consider when we talk about Considering a search, I also appreciate and understand why some members of the community say that at the very least, we as a district are deserving to consider other candidates because there always could be someone who is more qualified than what we're used to. And I understand that there's that belief as a possibility, but there's no guarantee that that exists. From what I've seen as a committee member, our intern superintendent has been more committed, more willing to learn, more adaptable in her role thus far, and I see no reason to believe that that'll change going forward. In some ways, she has been on a year-long job interview. We have been asking her to rise to the occasion time and time again, and she has done that. at least by my understanding and by the seven members who conducted this feedback. As I said, no one indicated to me that there was any major concerns about her capacity or her willingness to grow if there was a shortcoming or some skill that she was, quote unquote, deficient in, which again, never came along. So that's kind of the data that I'm looking at to consider my point. From a more personal perspective, an analogy that I'm considering is, If I'm looking for, let's say, a job that exists in, let's say, in Chicago for the conversation, but I know I want to live my life and continue to grow in my career here in Massachusetts, if I consider an opportunity in Chicago, but I don't know the people in the city, I don't know what the work will look like, I don't know if I'll even enjoy the city, I know nothing other than the prospect of it. On paper, there is an opportunity there, but I know what I have here, and it's phenomenal here in the city of Medford and Boston, Massachusetts. And what we know is that our interim superintendent has been phenomenal by all accounts thus far. As I said, there's always room to grow, and of course, there's always the question of what could there be out? Is there more, is the quote unquote grass greener? But that, more often than not, is something considered as a fantasy. There's always opportunity there, but who's to say if we find a candidate that we're excited about, a candidate that speaks to us as a district, someone who's willing to move here or come here, whatever that may look like, And we'll rise to the occasion that our superintendent has thus far. And I'm not convinced that that's a guarantee. And the thought of losing our interim superintendent or to continue to have another year-long job interview when one doesn't feel to be needed, I think is a missed opportunity to continue the momentum that we've been growing the last couple of years and will continue to grow, I think, under our interim superintendent. So I'm not in favor of an outward search. I haven't been given a reason from members of the committee or from my own research that suggests that we should have one other than there could be somebody else, or we should do it to cross our I's and our T's and such, which again, I totally can understand that immediate consideration, but nothing substantiates that other than it's what other people have been doing. Our superintendent has been committed, has been consistent, has risen, as I've mentioned, multiple times, and I believe that she's due. She deserves to continue her work here in the district because nothing suggests otherwise. Thank you.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Member Olapade. Member Reinfeld?

[Erika Reinfeld]: Thank you. I also didn't prepare a speech. I wanted to hear what my colleagues would say and then fill in some of the things that I maybe didn't hear. So one point that... Yeah. So I'm gonna note that we would be having a very different conversation if this were a year ago. As people have said, we've We have a year of evidence in front of us about what's happening, about where the room to grow is, and part of the reason I really pushed to incorporate The hopes and dreams for district leadership within the strategic planning survey is to do that matchmaking service of what people need and want and what we have and to be able to look at that really authentically. When we first appointed, made the interim appointment, I immediately reached out to MASC. I was really concerned about how little community input we had the opportunity to collect given the time frame of that. And one of the things that they said to me is absolutely look at your community values and think about it over the course of the interim appointment. Also think about the message that you're sending to people with a high performance review and to other potential candidates about how you treat people. I very much hear the challenge of navigating the process versus the person, and I think it's been very clear that while nobody is perfect, there is incredibly strong feedback on the person and the process. I've heard and read and seen and had the conversations with people about running a search on principle. One thing that I was really struck by in a lot of the communications that we received is the people who explicitly said do not run a search. That was in those reasons were cited as being in practice that we have this moment we have this momentum. We do not have time to break in somebody new to stop the work we're doing. There has been a lot of change in this district over the last few years and more change is coming, we have brought in pretty much an entirely new leadership team, most of whom, you all are fantastic, you did not come from the Medford system, we have a lot of outside perspectives that are in the room right now, and I heard in the emails the communications, the strategic survey, and the conversations, there was a strong theme of the deep knowledge of Medford, the consistency, and having that perspective to balance rather than having a whole new leadership situation. The mayor mentioned a lot of the work that's been underway. One thing that I've been really concerned about is as federal policy has changed, there has been increasing tension between what the state requirements are and what the federal government is mandating. And every time I have reached out to the leadership team to say, hey, this new thing happened, what are we doing? on top of it, we're already thinking about it, meetings are already set up, and that need to clarify and to understand what has been happening, why decisions were made, and to keep making them is really, really important to me. I had a hard, I see all sides of this, but ultimately I think what I heard, particularly looking at the strategic survey, every single Medford educator who responded and asked for an appointment mentioned that stability and consistency and I see that as a really important part of actually I appreciate what you said, Member Parks, of stewarding the resources. So I am also coming down on the side of let's keep this work going. Let's remain open to the feedback and understanding where we still have room to grow and doing that together as a community.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Member Reinfeld. Member Mastraboni?

[Mike Mastrobuoni]: Thank you. I'll be brief. Thank you for your comments. Everyone knows a couple of us are new here. I rely on what I heard from residents, what I heard from the evaluation that you all did, and that the two former members did. I think that's really the key for me. I heard really strongly from residents. Again, I'm not gonna belabor this, but in support of hiring Dr. Galusi as a permanent superintendent. Like you all, I also discuss with folks what it would look like to run a process. From my perspective, and this is hard to say, I'm a process guy, I do this, for a living process is not important than results. And I think, you know. like my colleague, like member Olapade, I think we've actually gotten more than a process over the last year. We've gotten a tryout. I think that goes well beyond what a superintendent search would tell us about the person sitting in the chair right now. So again, I'm basing my decision to support entering into negotiations immediately based on your all work, the comprehensive review that we discussed last meeting. but also with my own experience over the last few months. I mean, Dr. Galusi, everywhere I go, you're there ahead of me, even if I think I'm early, even if I think I'm going to the most obscure meeting, you're always there. I think that, to talk about a tryout, I feel like we all have room to grow, and I think everybody here recognizes that, but I think you've aced the tryout. I think I'm feeling really great. All things considered, so to wrap up, all things considered, I think the choice to pair immediately best matches the moment that we're in right now. I'm prepared to endorse the superintendent and especially the team that she's put together. I think that's what really I can't stop talking about. I'm here for consistency. I'm here for perspective of that team. I'm here for your focus on staff up and down the organization. What I heard from residents, and you guys all read the same emails, what I heard from staff was how much you support the folks up and down the organization. I want to keep seeing that. And I think all those things together means, tells me that we're on the right track. I'm prepared to support this team.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. I know we have some emails from people in the audience, but if anybody else wants to comment or you want to say more, please.

[Jenny Graham]: On Zoom or anybody in the room who would like to speak.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, nobody on Zoom.

[Jenny Graham]: Okay. Then I would like to make a motion to appoint Dr. Galusi to be Medford's next superintendent pending successful contract negotiations.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Motion on the floor by Member Graham. Is there a second? Second. By Member Olapade. Roll call, please.

[Paul Ruseau]: Typing. Give me a second. all this AI and I can't just hear you and type it on my screen. Member Graham.

[Jenny Graham]: Yes.

[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastropone. Yes. Member Olapade. Yes. Member Parks. Yes. Member Reinfeld. Yes. Member Ruseau. Yes. Mayor Lungo-Koehn.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Congratulations.

[Suzanne Galusi]: Dr. Galussi. This is not going to be the most eloquent thing I've ever said. I do want to say I'm very humbled. I did not necessarily think I would be sitting here a year ago, but when put in the position to be interim, I was fully committed. I have always said how dedicated I am to Medford. It holds a very special place in my heart. It's where I grew up. It's also where I grew into this profession, and I feel very honored. and very humbled to be leading formally in this position. I know in positions like this, there is not going to be 100% approval, let's just say. I am somebody that really values collaboration and community. It's why I try to show up as much as I can. The point of that is because I want to hear voices in the community, and I want there to be a partnership. And so I really would welcome people to reach out if there are things that they haven't seen that they would like to see or for people to just share their opinions. One of my goals is definitely to be working on communication, making sure I'm a little bit more responsive in that way is mentioned in my evaluation. I just want to make sure that everyone knows we've done a lot of work in this past year A lot of that work is making sure that we have coherence and that we have consistency in our academics, in our operations, in our community engagement. And so continuing that work that we've started is really critical and necessary. And so I'm very excited for the work ahead. We are not standing still by any stretch of the imagination. There's still a lot, a lot of work to do. I feel very grateful and I appreciate your trust in me and I promise that to this body as well as to the community of Medford that I will continue to work as hard as I have been with an open heart and open mind and open ears. So I thank you very much.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Wonderful. Thank you. To our next superintendent. 7 o'clock, I mean, but because we have no new business, I think we expected to be here for quite some time, but I think people chose to email as their main point of communicating with us. So, again, congratulations, and no new business, no reports requested, no condolences. Our next regular meeting is next Monday, February 9th, 2026, here in the Alden Chambers, in addition to Zoom. Is there a motion to adjourn? by Member Olapade, seconded by?

[Jenny Graham]: Second.

[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Member Graham, all those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Meeting's adjourned. Thank you, everybody.