[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Today's Monday, August 24th, 2026, and this meeting is virtual only. Regular meeting at 5 p.m., and this meeting is being recorded. The meeting can be viewed live on the Medford Public School's 24th, 2026 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 in or call by using the following Zoom link, and the meeting ID is 98308033909. Member Ruseau, if you could please call the roll.
[Paul Ruseau]: Certainly. Member Graham.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Here.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_17]: Here.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Lopate. I see member Olapade. I'm going to mark him as here, unless anybody objects.
[Unidentified]: Member Olapade, are you there?
[Aaron Olapade]: I think he's in Uber. Hello? Yes. Can you hear me?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Now we can, yes. He's here.
[Aaron Olapade]: Okay, yes. I'm here, yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Parks? Here. Member Reinfeld? Present. Member Ruseau, present. Mayor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Present. Seven present, zero absent. Are there any student reps on the meeting today? I don't see any. If we can all 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. We have our consent agenda, approval of bills and payrolls, approval of donations, Cummings Foundation $35,000 donation for CCSR, approval of meeting minutes from our regular meeting on July 20th, 2026. Is there a motion?
[Jessica Parks]: I think I have one adjustment to the minutes, I don't. Yes, Member Parks. For item... For the item D1, I think it is, review sustainability goals for the MHS project. My memory was that item two on the list of the things we were trying to achieve was that prioritize lead healthy materials points to obtain the additional 1% MSBA reimbursement was added to the text that we were going to specify red list free healthy materials for all materials except MEP and fire protection. and prioritize lead healthy materials, credits necessary to obtain the maximum IAQ MSBA reimbursement to ensure superior indoor air quality for students and staff. Sorry, that was a mouthful. I can type it into the notes if you want.
[Paul Ruseau]: Could you pop that into the chat for me?
[Jessica Parks]: Yes, I will.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So motion for approval by member Pax as amended. Second. Seconded by member Reinfeld. Roll call, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Oh, I forgot. I'm like, why are we doing a roll call? Because we have to. Member Graham?
[Jenny Graham]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastraboni? Yes. Member Olapade? Yes. Member Parks?
[Jenny Graham]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Reinfeld?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor Lengelkern?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, so in the affirmative, zero in the negative, consent agenda is approved. We don't have any reports of subcommittees, but we do have a number of reports under our superintendent. First up is recognition of Joan Bowen, director of student services, retirement. I'm going to turn it over first to Dr. Suzanne Galusi, our superintendent.
[Suzanne Galusi]: Thank you very much, Mayor. I do appreciate this time to acknowledge Joan Bowen. This is a really bittersweet time for us, but I do want to make sure that we speak to her 33 years with us in Medford Public Schools. And Joan, it's not just the incredible amount of time that you have given to this district that kind of like stands out for us. but it is the profound amount of heart that you have poured into the community every single day. You are also a resident as well as an employee, and I think that that has mattered tremendously. You have worn a lot of hats over those three decades here at Medford Public Schools, from teacher to educational team leader to coordinator. to the executive director and in every role you were a steady respected source of support for staff and a dedicated advocate to students and families and we knew that we were in capable capable hands with you. And that is a fact that even our Department of Education auditors and liaisons could not help but to notice and acknowledge. And that is a level of trust that a lot of people had in you and something that cannot be underestimated. And beyond all of your capable expertise, I think, like I said before, what we will cherish the most is how deeply you cared for the Medford Public Schools community. No matter how overwhelming your schedule got and how much demand was on your desk, um, you always made time. You always made time for your colleagues to feel like a priority. You always listened thoughtfully. You helped to problem solve complex situations and you coached. You coached well with care and skill. And so you've positioned us well for your succession, but your impact of 33 years is deeply felt. And we appreciate and thank you for your dedication, your heartfelt leadership, and your unwavering support and service to students and families and staff. And so you will be missed, and we appreciate everything that you've given to us. With a bittersweet heart, thank you, Joan.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: And I'll second that. You're also. I'll second all that Dr. Galussi said and how humble you are. You didn't want us to do anything big for you, so you said get this done virtually, which is crazy, Joan, but thank you. 33 years is a long time and you have poured your heart into this job and you've made it better for hundreds and thousands of students. So thank you for everything you've done for Bedford Public Schools, our students, our families. Best of luck and have a wonderful retirement. You so deserve it. I think my schedule's hectic, but I know some of you over in the school department are much crazier. So of course I have a virtual citation and then I'll give you a virtual hug after, but just to outline your dedicated service and congratulations on your retirement. Thank you, I appreciate it. Yep, and that was from the whole school committee. Oh, Paul, member Rousseau.
[Paul Ruseau]: Thank you. You became the director right after I became a school committee member. And so it was interesting because you were the first person I saw doing a transit. Well, I mean, we had a new superintendent too. It was your confidence and your calmness. Calmness in particular has always been something that I've been in awe of. I can't speak for, I certainly can't imagine what it's like to be any administrator, but if there was one job that I imagine is the hardest one, it is yours. Because, well, you're not dealing with any situations that are easy, frankly. And I've really appreciated that we've had, what do we have? We had coordinated program reviews, then tiered focused monitoring, then targeted and focused monitoring. And now apparently we have a new name, integrated monitoring review. So DESI is keeping us on our toes to make sure that all the acronyms we could fathom are through your department. So I appreciate that those audits come back perfectly clean. You know, it does as a school committee member to not have, well, to have the public or myself as a parent have to deal with findings that require remediation. I don't know how to, you know, sometimes, you know, those findings can really cause an uproar in the district and in the community. So I'm glad we've not had that. So I want to thank you for that. But I also really want to thank you for your sense of humor. It is really a joy when we're in negotiations, when we're caucusing and you know you just you have an amazing sense of humor that can make what is often very stressful feel less stressful. And I'm guessing that's actually a part of how you are so calm in your current role. And I am in a little bit of a denial that you're leaving us, but I'm glad you still live in Medford. And I do hope that you will be around. You're also a great hugger, but that's sort of a little out of bounds. So thank you for all your service and for just for all of your service. Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, members. So I'm going to go to member Graham and then member Parks.
[Jenny Graham]: Thank you. Joan, we do have a gift for you. But because you haven't retired just yet, we're going to hold on to it because you're not gone just yet. And we'll make sure we get that over to you in person instead of in a virtual hug kind of way before you leave, before your last day. I just wanted to say thank you. particularly for the work that you've had to do around the new Medford High School. The special education planning is so interesting and intriguing because everywhere else along this process, there's sort of guidance, guidelines, formulas, et cetera. And then you get to special education and it's just like blank slate. And still, you have to balance, you know, sort of the difference between what you have and what you need and, you know, make the case for why students need what they need and balance all of the specialized programming that we provide at the high school. And I know that's not been an easy feat and it's been. many, many, many countless hours of meetings with the project team and answering lots of questions from everyone. So I just really appreciate the work that you've done to set us up for the future. And I hope that you'll come cut the ribbon with us.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Member Parks and Member Olapade.
[Jessica Parks]: Thanks. So Joan, I know I've known you probably the shortest in this group, but I just want to say that even though I'm new to this and I did come right at you from the start with the Special Ed Reserve Fund, I just want to thank you so much for all of your support and everything that you do for Medford. Just my brief interactions with you for that. You were so generous with your time and your expertise, and just really always focused on getting everything right, explaining everything to me over and over, and making sure the numbers were right, the explanations were right, and just trying, it was apparent to me that, you know, you wanted to get everything right for the kids and you've devoted basically, you know, a massive amount of your life doing it for Medford's kids. And it really, I'm in awe of it. So I just want to say Medford is stronger because of it and I appreciate it. And I just wish you nothing but the best in your next adventure.
[Joan Bowen]: Thank you.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Member Olapade.
[Aaron Olapade]: Thank you. Can you all hear me still?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Aaron Olapade]: Okay, I apologize. I got a flat tire out in Harvard Mass, so I'm currently in an Uber driving back, and because of the dodgy connection, it seems like when I turn my camera on, my mic turns off. So I've unfortunately will be a lifeless head for the moment, but that all to say that I want to echo I think what all of my colleagues have mentioned before. I think being a newer member and learning as much as I've learned these last few years, Joan, you've been a just endless reservoir of information and advice and suggestions and direction. And I think that that is something that is just as invaluable as I can illustrate regarding my time in the school committee and I think the direction of the district. I think we are stronger because of your service, and I believe that the impact you've given us over these last 33 years will be reverberating through the district for years to come. And in some ways, I believe that your impact and your advocacy for this work and tireless education, I think, like many educators, is going to, in some ways, never be fully acknowledged or captured in full effect. But I do hope that you hear me and my colleagues say, if nothing else, thank you, thank you, thank you. It means more than you know, and I know the students and families, the caregivers, the guardians, the staff are thankful as well. So, yes, I appreciate you and I hope that you'll be there to cut the ribbon with us, as member Graham mentioned, and you'll continue to be a resource, even though I want to take some time off. I hope that you'll continue to support us, and we can be able to tap upon you as things come along, because I know that I'm going to miss you quite a bit. So thank you again.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Aaron. Thank you. Members, you have your hand up again, and then Member Reinfeld.
[Paul Ruseau]: Great. I just have one quick thing. You know, it's not a regular person that can do the interviews for your replacement. the committee that is, I sat on that committee, and the committee is really asking, what's wrong with our system? She's sitting there, and she is open and not defensive, and I just, that truly amazed me in a way that I don't know if I've ever seen that before. And it's just a beautiful, I think it's a beautiful example of how dedicated you are to the students. And, you know, not to your career, you're not dedicated to your, you're dedicated to the students. And I think that really came through during those interviews. So I just wanted to mention that because most people don't get to see that because it wasn't a public meeting. Thank you, John.
[Erika Reinfeld]: Thank you again ditto what everyone said and I would just add to that. It takes a real talent to find the balance in this role that I think you do this this work, you have to be fierce, and you have to be gentle, and you have to navigate. strict detail, compliance, and also those human experiences that maybe don't show up in the numbers and the rules. And just having that balance has been a real asset. And in addition to what everyone else has already said, I very much appreciate that. I appreciate your willingness to meet with me with so many people. You've been in so many meetings. And every one of those meetings, I think, has been person-centered and that's really really huge and you'll be missed and there are a lot of people who have learned from and we will be seeing as others have said that those ripples out and that this a new era for Medford and you've set the stage so thank you.
[Joan Bowen]: Thank you. Thank you Member Reinfeld. If I could, I just want to say thank you to all of you. Your support over the years has been what helps me do my job. With the amount of hours we spend together, it was always a cohesive team with the focus on students. The staff in Medford has been incredible. I am, I'm not going to miss the meetings. I'm not going to miss the long hours, to be honest, but I will miss the interactions that we do have and the respect that we have for one another. I am a phone call away. I am still going to be in Medford and around, but I do want to say like for everyone that I've worked with. you know, past and present school committee members, the mayor, central office, you know, all of the staff of Medford Public Schools. I couldn't do this job without their support and their guidance. And maybe, you know, telling me to calm down a little bit. I don't, you know, behind closed doors, I might get a little animated, but for the most part, you know, what you see is what you get. And it's always been about the students and how we can improve. And like Paul said, we have a new assistant superintendent and they're going to come in with their ideas and it's not that I did anything wrong but we always have areas that we can improve on and I am looking forward to see how you know Kim does that and that also that she'll continue to have your support as well. So I just want to say thank you to you all it's been an amazing 33 years. And I love Medford. I love the school system. So I just hope that you guys continue the work that you've started. And I can't wait to cut the ribbon when we get the new high school and we can see what all the hard work has brought forth. So thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Joan.
[Jenny Graham]: Mayor, there might be a handful of people in the audience who are here to say something about Joan. I think I saw a couple of people. might want to say something?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: No hands are raised. So I'll go on to the next item and let's call on one last time. We have a MPS Wellness Policy, Dr. Suzanne Glusi, Superintendent and Jennifer Silva, Director of Health Services.
[Suzanne Galusi]: Yes, I'm gonna turn it over to Jen Silva in just a moment, but I also do too, just to kind of finalize the last segment. I'm really happy that this is not, Joan, I was so glad when the mayor mentioned, she's just so humble, but I'm glad that we were able to have this important recognition, duly recognized on her retirement. So we wish you the best Joan. As we pivot to the wellness policy, Jen Silva, the director of nursing is going to do a little bit of an introduction to the wellness policy. She's going to kind of highlight just updating the policy based on the Department of Education. regulations so that we are compliant with such. And I do see that we also have, I believe, Dr. Sabia on the call. And I think I don't know if I've missed anybody else, Jen, but please make sure you can give some introductions if I missed anyone. So Jen Silva.
[Jennifer Silva]: Thank you, Suzanne, and good evening, members of the school committee. I don't think we have anybody else from the committee, but I'll talk a little bit about what the policy is and what the requirements are, and sort of the committee that worked together over this past year. So just a little bit of an overview of what the policy is, what it means for our students, our families, our schools. Really, the policy looks at creating a school environment that supports the whole child, looking at student health, nutrition, physical activity, social-emotional well-being, and how closely that is connected to how our students learn and succeed. The policy really starts with establishing a district-wide wellness committee. That wellness committee includes the school staff, families, students, community members. I feel like I'm forgetting somebody, but lots of people on our wellness committee, and establishing that that committee meets at least four times a year. So we did establish that committee in this past school year, 25-26. Rhetta Smith, who's the director of food services and I co-chaired that committee. We also had Dr. Sabia, who's our school physician, Stacey Schulman, director of school counseling and behavioral health, Rachel Perry, director of physical education, health education, and countless administrators, staff. I think we had a group of like 25 people in our wellness committee. We also included a couple of students who are going to join us again this year, which is great. So we'll have that continuity. with those students who were with us last year. Establishing that committee and updating the policy is a requirement every three years. And so we probably haven't looked at this in much longer than that. So really our task this last year was really to take a look at this policy. We partnered with DESE and the John Stalker Institute with a wellness coach to really walk us through sort of what the regulations say, what's required, what's best practice. And so the majority of what you see when you look through this wellness policy is really what DESE is saying needs to be in this policy. We have a couple of outliers and I'll sort of go over what those are, but we as a committee thought that they were important to include in the policy. Let's see, so what you're looking at when you look at this policy, so there's eight goals. First goal is about implementation, just having a wellness committee, evaluating the policy, what our communication looks like. It's required that we post all of our minutes and agendas on our website and things like that. It also establishes the standards for nutrition and accessible meals, looks at the USDA standards and competitive foods. encourages physical activity and physical education in our schools, looks at nutrition, education and food literacy, addresses food allergies and other food related practices in our schools, supports social emotional health and also support staff wellness. really overall this policy is looking at the fact that healthy students are in a better position to learn, participate and thrive in our schools. And that's really what we're doing with this policy and really creating an environment that allows students to make those healthy choices every day and be supported in making those healthy choices. So I don't know, I was trying to remember if we've done a reading of this policy yet and maybe someone can tell me if we have or not.
[Paul Ruseau]: You have the, I'm trying to find it, was it included in the actual, do any of the school committee members have this? Because I can't find it in my packet. Let me just quadruple check.
[Suzanne Galusi]: Excuse me.
[Unidentified]: I'm going to check the drive.
[Suzanne Galusi]: I think we'll just put it in the chat.
[Jennifer Silva]: Thanks, Will.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Will.
[Paul Ruseau]: OK. Now I'm like, I feel like I know what this thing is. I spent a lot of time on it. We have not done a full reading, I don't think, in a regular committee. I think we did in subcommittee.
[Erika Reinfeld]: can say, I think this got sent to a subcommittee but never came back.
[Paul Ruseau]: It didn't come back. That's correct. But that's okay. I mean, we can proceed. And I mean, if the committee agrees to that. It's the number one thing on my whiteboard, and I'm glad it's in this meeting instead of sitting on my whiteboard.
[Unidentified]: Member Graham.
[Jenny Graham]: I just had a question. How does, is there like a comparison of what this proposed policy is versus what the current policy is that you can share as well? Or is this just like so different that it's the change is not relevant?
[Jennifer Silva]: There's some pretty major changes to this. So I mean, I can see, but we did make some major changes based on the recommendations with our coach from Jesse. Okay.
[Paul Ruseau]: I, if I may, I'm looking at the old policy and yeah, it's barely a policy that the old one.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: So Jennifer, do you want to continue presenting and while we're, oh wait, you're muted, you might be muted.
[Jennifer Silva]: Am I muted?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Oh no, Ned can hear you now.
[Jennifer Silva]: So yeah, so going through each of the parts. So the first part, setting implementation, evaluation, and communication goals, is really looking at establishing the committee, having that committee meet at least four times a year, and updating our goals and policy at least every three years, communicating with the school committee annually on any changes, updates, and how we're doing on our goals. The second section, which is setting the USDA Child Nutrition Standards and School Meal Goals, is really looking at providing a program that is appealing to our children, that we are providing meals that children want to eat in our schools, that we are providing free potable water during the day and throughout the school day, and it has some other guidelines around cleaning surfaces and things like that that meet up with the standards. And then the biggest thing in section two is about meal times and scheduling and making sure that there's a minimum of 20 minutes per day for lunchtime. So 20 minutes seat time. So best practice, Desi says, is there's a 30 minute period for lunch so that we have at least 20 minutes of seat time for eating. This also touches on the sharing of food and beverages, looking at food allergies, making sure that we're not sharing food, that we're not bringing food in to share with students, and then income eligibility and confidentiality. Section three goes on to nutrition standards from competitor.
[Erika Reinfeld]: Sorry, Silva. We have a separate allergy policy. So this policy is going to be connecting to a few different policies as well.
[Jennifer Silva]: So the wellness policy is required by DESE. We have to have allergy policy. Is it something as a district we look to expand on? And so that is, we're currently working on that as well.
[Erika Reinfeld]: Okay. Thank you.
[Jennifer Silva]: question. Section three is about setting the nutrition standards for competitive and other food and beverages, looking at the fact that the school day is defined as midnight the night before until 30 minutes after the final bell, and any food that's provided to students during that time complies with the Massachusetts nutrition standards. And so really set some standards around fundraisers and events and what are those things look like in our school buildings. Thanks for putting that up. Section four reviews our wellness promotion and marketing goals, and really looking at making sure that we don't market foods in our schools that are not nutritious, that if we have any vending machines, that those comply and they don't have logos, that we don't have scoreboards with logos of unhealthy products. And so really meeting those promotion and marketing goals in that way. And then also looking at avoiding food incentives as reward in our schools. Section five is on setting food literacy and nutrition education goals and just reviews sort of best practices for nutrition education, as well as sort of things that we are kind of already doing in our schools and just promoting, you know, having things like promoting fruits and vegetables, whole grain products, linking with farm to school and other programs that RETA has been working on. Section six is about setting physical education and physical activity goals and looking at having at least 20 minutes of recess per day, preferably before lunch is best practice. Also goes over the Massachusetts state frameworks for physical education and the national standards for physical education and what that should look like and what DESE puts forth as best practice. So those sections are the sections that are required per the regulations. The next two sections are the ones that as a committee, we decided were really nice to have. It's something that we strive towards and are working towards. And if you look at the language, a lot of the language is around sort of like striving towards these goals and not necessarily that like this is going to happen, but that really we would like to see this happen in our schools. So the next section is about setting staff wellness goals and trying to promote physical activity and wellness opportunities for our staff and the different things that can look like promoting fitness classes, professional development, different district-led initiatives, and then also providing snacks during our meetings that align with the Massachusetts nutrition standards. And then the last section is about setting social-emotional learning goals and reviews our commitment to promoting social-emotional well-being for all students and what that education looks like in our schools. And with that, I will take any questions.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Jennifer. Miss Silva, I don't see any questions and that was a very good presentation. Member Ruseau?
[Paul Ruseau]: Yes, when we're done and approve this, I just want to add some formatting and metadata at the bottom. Nothing we have to do right this second, but we don't usually include that as being something the committee is actually approving, because sometimes it's like dates we don't know the dates, but I will want to update this before it goes up. But thank you, this is great.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, thank you for your time. Is that a motion for approval, member Hussow?
[Paul Ruseau]: It is.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Is there a second?
[Paul Ruseau]: Second.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I'm going to do that formatting by member, who is that, member Olapade, member Mastroboni?
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_17]: That was me.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Member Mastroboni, seconded. Roll call vote, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastropone? Yes. Member Olapade?
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: 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.
[Paul Ruseau]: Mayor?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, Member Ruseau.
[Paul Ruseau]: I'm actually just adjusting it to approve the first reading, and I'll make a motion to waive the second reading.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Motion does we have the second reading by member Rousseau, seconded by member Reinfeld. Roll call.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni?
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Olopone?
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Parks? Yes. Member Reinfeld? Member Reinfeld?
[Erika Reinfeld]: Yes. Thank you. Come through.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah. No, it didn't.
[Paul Ruseau]: Oh, uh, members. So yes, Marilyn go concur.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, seven in the affirmative zero in the negative. The second reading has been waived. Thank you, Miss Silva. Next up. We have Roberts H back schematic design approval. I'll turn over to Mr. Ken Lord, chief operations officer.
[Kenneth Lord]: Thank you. Tonight we have representatives from PCA 360, who is our owners project manager and RFS engineering, who is the design engineer for the Roberts accelerated repair program. This includes a schematic design study for a new roof. prep for solar, new HVAC system, and associated requirements for accessibility improvements. So we have several members of the group here. I'll let them introduce themselves as they do their presentation. I think Alex might be starting from PCA 360, and I turn it over to them.
[SPEAKER_12]: Good afternoon. Can everybody hear me just fine? Yes. Welcome, Alex. Thank you very much. And I share my screen.
[Jessica Parks]: You should be able to, Alex. Yeah.
[SPEAKER_12]: Everybody see that just fine?
[Paul Ruseau]: It's loading. We're looking at it. Oh, there we go. You're all set.
[SPEAKER_12]: Great. All right. Well, my name is Alex Luizis. I'm the assistant project manager for the OPM PCA 360, and I'm joined by our design team at RFS, which includes Stratton, Griffin, Goshi, and Chad. And I'm just gonna run through a few slides and talk about the Roberts Elementary School Accelerator Repair Program through the Mass School Building Authority. Let's get going. So this is our timeline and our schedule. Currently, we are here towards the end of August, approaching the end of the feasibility and schematic design phase. This presentation, the Medford and the Medford School Committee approval, submit this project to the MSBA requirements of the grant program submission. This Thursday, the 27th, we have the MSBA deadline for submission to be on the October MSBA Board of Directors meeting for project funding approval. So after that MSBA Board vote for approval on October 28th, the project will need a vote for the Medford City Council to appropriate funds for the schedule. So you'll see here we have a projected construction period from the end of the school year in 2027 to the beginning of the school year in 2028, with the majority of the work happening during the summer months, hopefully during vacation periods, and if possible, during other non-disruptive periods during the school year. The slide highlights the project. It's partially funded through the MSBA grant program, and the reimbursement rate for the city of Medford is 53.32%. So the only scope in this project that is anticipated to not be reimbursable is the solar array, which is estimated to be approximately $900,000. So we have an overview of the project scope in this slide. It's two distinct scopes. We have the HVAC modernization, an electrification project and the roof replacement project. So this project scope currently exceeds 30% of the building's assessed value, which means that the building and the project must fall under MAAB and ADA compliance to correct any deficiencies according to the Mass State Building Code. So the final component of the project is to provide for future building electrification, incoming electrical service, and new switchgear, which will be sized to accommodate the future conversion of the kitchens, gas fired equipment, and domestic hot water heaters to electric systems. So these conversions are not included in the current project scope, but we are sizing for them in this scope. This is the roof replacement, and you see it's 29,000 square feet. There's currently some active leaks. There's multiple roof levels, most of the leaks on the fourth floor. Some work needs to be done on the flashing and edging, about 10%, some moisture intrusion, and the infrared scan that we did earlier in the year. showed multiple thermal anomalies. So the existing insulation is below the energy codes, has limited slope, and the new building code requires vapor barriers and will be going down to the metal deck. So the construction cost for this phase of the project is approximately $2.77 million. So this is part of the code compliance and accessibility. We do exceed the 30% threshold. The building was assessed at 28.2 million just this past year, and the 30% threshold's 8.5, and you'll see later on that we exceed that amount. So we're required to do a significant number of upgrades and updates to meet all compliance issues. So there's some door clearance issues, some signage issues, some parking, railings, multiple bathrooms. There's over 300 individual items that our team was able to work through and identify to bring the building into full compliance. Oh, and that is included in the MSBA reimbursement program. It's covered under there. So I'm going to turn it over to the RFS team to go over some of the HVAC upgrades.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_03]: Thank you, Alex. Appreciate it very much. Hello, everyone. I'm Goshi. I'm the senior mechanical engineer helping the team here. I'll start with the scope of the project. So, essentially, as Alex already alluded, it's an HVAC electrification project. Along with it comes the energy efficiency of the new systems. And so that is what our targeted goal is. This particular slide that you're looking at has a list of what is currently existing equipment that is serving this building. We have. Obviously, heating and cooling sources and we also have ventilation and. sources. And so as far as the ventilation and select air conditioning is concerned, currently we have three machines that live in a mechanical room. We call them air handling units. And what they essentially provide is, in most cases, code minimum ventilations that were designed about 25 years ago, and also select heating and cooling. Um, uh, in addition to that, we have, uh, some sort of, uh, equipment that is sort of particular to classrooms, and it's essentially sits on the exterior walls, and we like to call them unit ventilators. Uh, their job is also to provide ventilation, uh, directly from outside, and that it also has, um, the appurtenances inside them that provide heating and cooling to these spaces. A lot of the, so the current source of these, for example, cooling was an air-cooled chiller on the roof, and the heating source is non-condensing gas boilers that are inside a mechanical room. In addition to that, we have some refrigerant-based systems that were also providing some cooling capabilities to some of the equipment that is inside Most all equipment is well beyond its life expectancy. It has passed its, you know, ASHRAE age. And in some cases, you know, it's, it's in pretty rough shape. So that leads me to, if you can move to the next slide, please. Thank you. This here is a brief cartoon diagram that I'm about to describe is what the new systems will be. Because of the electrification, we're limited to either air source or water source type of technology. What we're going to try to do is we are going to use high efficiency systems to draw heating and cooling from outside air. And that is why these are these machines are called air to water heat pump. So if you look at the diagram on the top left corner of the diagram, that's just a symbolic diagram of what they generally look like. They're essentially chillers, but they have refrigerant systems or cycles in them that are reversible, so they can do cooling and heating. And like I said, the source is air, so the electric connection gets to these units and then they produce heating and cooling depending on the time of the year. They are capable of simultaneous heating and cooling as well. So essentially, this becomes your primary source of heating and cooling for the building. So whatever we're doing for ventilation in the building or air conditioning of sorts, this is what we're going to use to produce energy and bring it into the building. The other parts of the improvements in the project also include a replacement of existing boilers with all-electric boilers. Primarily, we have to have those because there is a slight limitation into the modern air-to-water source heat pumps. They do start to go into defrost cycles once the ambient temperatures are below 40 degrees. especially in humid days, and they also tend to degrade quite a bit by the time the ambient temperatures get to zero degrees. However, current modern code requires us to design these systems to 100% of the capacity of the required ambient temperatures for our building. And here in Medford, that design temperature is 7.7 degrees. So our targeted sizing of this piece of equipment is that at 7 degrees, we will be able to provide 100% of the heating required for the building. And on the cooling side, it will be designed for 95 degrees, somewhere around there. Once the temperatures do drop below those ambient conditions, especially below zero, we would need to use the electric boilers as a backup. And the controls will be set up in a way that we don't allow electric boilers to operate unless there is something wrong with the equipment or it's not operating as it should. And, you know, there will be a pretty robust control system that will look at equipment, you know, troubleshooting and trouble codes. The other part of the improvements for the building is that we are replacing certain components of the air handling units. Two out of three units were constant airflow systems. We are converting them to variable airflow systems by adding variable frequency drives to them to get the best efficiency out of these units. We're also replacing existing coils that are within the air handling units so that we can temper the air through water, low water temperature instead of refrigerant. And then other parts of the improvements include replacing unit ventilators that exist in every classroom, like I said, and the idea there is that we will replace them in kind with the most modern unit ventilators and that they are going to use the existing louvers that exist. Other pieces of equipment that we will be improving on will be the following, but not limited to those, the radiators, cabinet unit heaters, propeller unit heaters, variable air volume boxes, and then any duct modded heating coils. Next slide please. Thank you. So the previous slide, we had a cartoon version. This is a little bit more complex version. So we have been looking at, this is just a 3D representation of can we fit everything in the existing mechanical room. So this is just a way to say that we have been looking at test fitting everything in there, and we feel confident that the new systems will be able to accommodate on the lower roof as well as the existing mechanical room. Next slide, please. Thank you. I've already touched a little bit on the classroom unit ventilators and their replacement part. The image to the right-hand side is one of the units. It's hard to tell, but the supply is essentially on top of this black countertop, and then the return is at the bottom, close to the floor. And then behind this yellow panel is where the actual machine sits. And so, like I said, we're going to replace them in kind. There is a lot of existing exhaust fans on the roof. A lot of them are, again, well beyond their life expectancy. So we will be replacing them with high efficiency motors and controls to replace most of them in kind. Part of the project is also recommissioning and cleaning of the ductwork, so recommissioning and the balancing part of the ductwork, and then clean the existing ductworks so that there is, you know, the dust and debris is removed from, should that exist. All right, next please. On this slide, there's a couple of things that I'd like to touch on. One of them is the ongoing effort at Medford for improving the controls in certain buildings. And here, our goal is no different. We would be implementing an open ish Niagara 4 platform to incorporate all the new and existing equipment into that system that can then be sort of uniform throughout the Medford school system. And so what Niagara 4 allows us to do is it opens up, you know, building management system to a lot of vendors and also the repairs and does not lock us into a single proprietary system or vendor. And so that would be the goal for us to implement that type of system. And then one of the things that we recommend for this building, which is happening more and more now with the electrification is that the controls get a little bit more complicated than they used to be there. So building optimization or optimizing the energy use intensity of the building for the life cycle of the building is important that there is some sort of a service that is retained that helps optimize the building, observes how building is operating, its systems operating, and they are operating as they're designed with the most efficient way possible. And part of it is that you want to conserve energy as best as possible and want the equipment to it operated at the highest efficiencies possible as the building new systems come into the building. And so that pretty much concludes. I think if you can go to one more slide, please. I think this was my last slide, if I'm not mistaken. Yep. Griffin, you want to take it from here or do you want me to continue? Um, I can, I can do it. Okay. Actually, this is so this particular, uh, the first one that you're looking at, um, this is another diagram of actually equipment on the roof and what we know what we think it's going to look like. Um, The air to water source heat pumps, like I said in the beginning of this conversation, is that their primary source of heating and cooling. And then the electric boilers are going to be the supplemental heating. And then just to reemphasize, our goal is to use the efficiency of these air to water source heat pumps as possible. The coefficient of power with these is, you know, on a good day, it's, you know, three and a half, four. And by that, what I mean is you put in one watt and you get four watts out of power out of those. And then heating, even though the COP is slightly lesser, it's still better than using electric boilers. But there is an expectation, you know, just to set expectation. And now that everything is all electric, you are going to see difference in your utilities, you know, accordingly. The one of the benefits of the this type of system is that they're modular in nature. So there is multiple Units that are sort of headed together and each of them have multiple circuits with compressors and condensers where they individually operate to provide the capacity that is what they're designed for. So in this particular case, each of the two fans on top, there's two compressors in these machines and they're approximately, the nominal tonnage is 30 tons. So if in the event, if one of the compressor goes, you know, bad or anything that fails, the remaining of the modules continue to operate. And that is also true for any of the controls. Should the control board or anything, you know, the head controller goes awry, then, you know, you have individual units continue to operate, they default to continue to operate. So that's what... What that is, and I just, I think the purpose of this slide is to really discuss a little more about the technology. This is not a new technology per se, because they're essentially chillers, but a lot of these units had been used for cooling only operation. Now we're seeing more and more on heating and cooling operation. A few years ago, these units did not go really down, down to zero degrees. They used to, you know, operate anywhere between 30 and 40 degrees and you had to have a backup of some sort. And the controls were really just not there yet or, you know, not fully understood by a lot of people. So oftentimes if, and the purpose of this conversation really is just setting up an expectation is to, you know, just say if something fails and the alarm is produced, you know, you'd want to get on it and, you know, replace whatever it is that has broken so that you can continue to use the highest form of efficiency with these units and not rely on the backup boilers. Rely on your backup boilers when you really absolutely have to, and that helps with utilities.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_17]: But these look familiar to people. I mean, Goshi said it's essentially like an air-cooled chiller, but it can run in reverse and not just produce chilled water, but also low-temperature hot water. While they are newer technology, we're putting them in everywhere because everybody is doing the same thing we are here with the school, which is moving towards all electric and getting away from fossil fuel based heating and cooling.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_03]: Thank you, Stratton. And I think that concludes my slides.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_21]: All right. Thank you, Goshi. My name is Griffin St. Onge. I'm the project manager for the engineering design team. I'm also a mechanical engineer. So we just want to talk about some of the peripheral upgrades we'll be doing during this Roberts Elementary School project. We understand Medford has has ongoing goals for full electrification and modernization of their buildings. So we have been in contact with National Grid already. We already have our foot in the door with them, and we're making sure that our new electrical service, as Alex mentioned earlier, is going to be sized correctly to be able to eventually in the future upgrade to a full electric kitchen. We've also started an open dialogue with Retta Smith from the Medford school district. So we'll be able to talk with her about the needs for the school as this project progresses. And we also understand that Roberts just recently has been upgrading their domestic hot water systems. So we are also leaving future capacity as well for the domestic hot water for when that project comes as well. So basically, this project, we're making sure that we're sizing our new electric room and our electric services for the next projects to come up in the future for full electrification. Next slide, please, Alex. So part of our study for the schematic design was to look into a solar system of photovoltaic. So as of right now, during our studies, we're looking at about a 400 panel system on this roof that'll be able to do 400 watts each. So we should be able to get 185,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, which this will be able to offset the full building electrical use by 15 to 20%. And this analysis was done with this HVAC project in mind. So this isn't the current offset, this is the future offset that we're looking into. Um, and we'll also be able to talk with national grid. We'll be able to set up a program, uh, being able to sell back electricity to the grid. Um, this will, this will have to do with, um, we'll be able to figure this out with national grid in the future. Um, depending, um, but we do think that we'll be able to sell approximately 10% on, on specific days. Um, this also depends on the building usage. The most economical for using these solar panels is using electricity on site as it offsets the 23 to 25 cents per kilowatt when paybacks we've been seeing around 15 cents per kilowatt hour. So the system is gonna be set up to primarily use all the electricity that the site can use and anything extra on top of that we'll be able to sell back to the grid. Next slide, please. And also part of this analysis was doing a life cycle cost. Sorry, did someone want to say something?
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_17]: I think it was an action.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_21]: Sorry about that. So part of our analysis was also conducting a life cycle cost analysis. So we looked into the long-term financial performance of this system. We conducted a 25-year analysis, basically. Also keeping in mind that I'm going to talk about in the next slide, but also keeping in mind that we are going to be working with the federal government to get IRA incentives. This has to do with construction phasing and it does depend on when this can get installed and commissioned, but there is an availability if we get this installed that there could be six to 30% of the upfront cost rebated back to the school district. So basically we did four different analyses. We assumed no solar all the way up to 30% solar. And the payback is about, we'll say about 40,000 a year that we found in our analysis. Um, so, so this all also depends on how much we can sell back to the grid as well. But again, we just wanted to make sure that we were covering our bases and we cover this more in depth in our report, um, that, that we did look into the payback of this solar, uh, solar system and. And we just want to just make sure that we are covering the district's long-term electrification strategy. Can you go to the next slide, please, Alex? And this is, again, we're working with several companies to help this district save money on this project. The biggest rebate we'll be pushing for is from National Grid for the heat pump. Um, the, this is, this is, um, all subject to a application. Um, so, so this is preliminary, but, but once we get into design, what we're going to be working with national grid and the school district to help get this application sent so that we'll get as much money as we can. Upfront. Um, and again, these are all done in rebates. So. Once these systems are installed and commissioned during the next year's tax, tax time, they will get basically just a rebate to what it would be if it was a private company. And since we are also replacing all of these fans in the building, we're also going to put variable frequency drives on them. And National Grid also gives incentives to this as well. This basically, basically every fan in the building, we're just going to, it's basically upgrading the motors to, they don't, it's not either on or off. They'll be able to ramp up and ramp down. And this also helps save energy and National Grid gives rebates for this. And another big one, since we are pushing, since we'll be replacing the entire buildings, building automation system, National Grid also gives incentives and it has to do with a dollar amount per square foot for each qualifying sequence. And I believe we can do up to 10 to 12 sequences that National Grid would count as an energy efficient sequence. So that's another incentive that we'll be looking for. And then finally, as I mentioned earlier, we'll be working with the federal programs to get applicable IRA incentives for this PV system. This again will be in the form of a rebate and will have to do with the final installation date and commissioning. Next slide, please, I think. I think we hand off to you, Alex. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_12]: Thank you, Griffin, Goshi. So this slide over here is just a quick illustration of the different comparison of the costs that we had from the feasibility preliminary budget to now with the schematic design budget, both including the direct purchase of solar and working through a PPA. So you'll see that the total project costs under the feasibility was roughly 21.7 million and under the schematic design budget compared to the PPA solar line where it's 22.9, there's about 1.2 million difference. So a lot of that difference was because of the costs in the heat pumps and the original assumptions that were made. So just to be clear about it, that same 1.2 million would have been reflected in all three of the different heat pump options that were presented, that our team presented previously. So it's just something to keep in mind. So we're also showing the expected MSBA reimbursement and the anticipated city share, both through direct purchase of solar and PPA solar. So you'll see that the overall numbers haven't changed all that much in terms of what the city was expected to be paying.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_17]: I think it's important to note, right, Alex, that the part of the reimbursement plan does not include the solar.
[SPEAKER_12]: Yes, that's absolutely right. That's why I was using the PPA solar as more of a direct comparison, but it is very important to note that the direct purchase of solar is not a MSBA reimbursable expense. Thank you. So this is our total project budget. This is the part with the OPM and A&E fees. And the first part is the feasibility study, which includes Amendment 1 for solar design. And the bottom part just basically shows that the combined A&E fees are roughly 17%, which is below the 20% cap. So they top out at 1,925,000 combined. And this is the final total project budget number. So you see the big line there is 22,785,689, which also includes some Expected utility company fees, National Grid doesn't just put in updated services, they require you to pay a little bit and some additional testing services. And also within there, we have the expected amount to be covered or reimbursable and what we expect the city to be paying over there at the end after the reimbursement. which is $11,672,211. Now this includes the direct purchase of the solar, just because it's always easier to take money out as opposed to try and add money in towards the end of a project.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Can I ask a question here?
[SPEAKER_12]: Absolutely.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: This is Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, how are you? And I think it might be a question for Ken as well, because this is what our finance director was seeing recently. And I was under the impression it was 30,000 total for all three elementary schools. And now it's looking like more like 60 to 65 million. For all three, Ken?
[Kenneth Lord]: No, this is always separate projects. We had budgets like this for each one. I'm not sure where the 30 million might have been the total of our share for all three, which is right around there.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Okay, no, I just was under the impression it was 10 million a piece, 30 million total, 15 our share. That's why it's in our capital project items for 15 for the schools, for the city and 15 for MSBA. this is double the price from what I was expecting.
[Kenneth Lord]: Yeah, the capital budget, let me do, well, I can look at that, but I think that was just the capital plan for this year and then it moved out for multiple years.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, like even on our call today with bond council, we have it at 15 total for city for all three. So this is, Bob did say that he thought it was gonna be double that based on something he saw this week, but that's the first that he or I has seen where the projection is double.
[Kenneth Lord]: Yeah, looking at the, yeah, I'm not sure, I can't say right now.
[Unidentified]: Okay, thank you.
[SPEAKER_12]: So in the feasibility preliminary budget, it was the projected cost was also at 21.7. So we're not far off from that number. So it comes in pretty close to where we were. Any other questions or any other comments?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I don't see any hands raised for additional questions, so you can continue.
[SPEAKER_12]: That was the last slide. I will stop sharing.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Okay, thank you. I don't see any, if anybody, nobody has any questions, I'm gonna move on to number four.
[SPEAKER_12]: Thank you very much.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Fiscal year 27 capital projects adjustments. I'll turn it over to you.
[Kenneth Lord]: We do actually need to take a vote on the schematic design to approve it in order to be able to submit this to the MSBA to move on to the next step.
[Jenny Graham]: Motion to approve.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Motion for approval by member Graham. Second. Second by member Parks. Roll call.
[Paul Ruseau]: Okay. Remember Graham?
[Unidentified]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastrobonni?
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Olapodi?
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Parks? Yes. Member Reinfeld?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor Lodocurt?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative.
[Paul Ruseau]: Motion passes.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_17]: Thank you all.
[Kenneth Lord]: Thank you very much to the RFS team and PCA 360 team for their hard work on this. And we look forward to seeing how the MSBA reacts to our schematic design submission. We are in the first phase, first group, I should say, of districts in this heat pump conversion process with the MSBA.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_03]: Thanks everyone.
[Unidentified]: Mr. Lord, I'll turn it over to you for fiscal year 27 capital adjustments.
[Kenneth Lord]: Sure, so I distributed a memo about some changes to our capital budget request for FY 27. Some of these represent just things that have changed since the time we created a capital budget to date and others reflect some supplemental funding we received as part of the state budget and some suggested changes from there. So the first section was we received about $210,000 worth, I'm sorry, let me correct that, $190,000 worth of supplemental budget funding from the state budget that covered some of the items in the capital budget. There was also a project to do some theater railings in the Karen Theater at the high school. We were able to do those in FY26. So that relieves a need of $20,000 from our capital budget. So there's a total of $210,000 in our FY27 capital budget that was approved that we do not need. So the question for the school committee is what they would like to do with that funding, either return that to the city and cancel those projects or use that to offset some projects that are slated in future years. A potential for that would be to address the intercom systems at the Brooks, the Roberts, and the Missituk school. I don't know if you want to take them all as one or.
[Jenny Graham]: And can you pull up the memo that was shared?
[Kenneth Lord]: Sure.
[7eh2EusWqec_SPEAKER_17]: Share.
[Kenneth Lord]: Oop, wrong screen. You see my screen now? You see the memo? So this is this first section here. Zoom in a little bit so you can read it more. So this is this section here. So there's $20,000 for the theater railings in the Caron Theater. And then these three projects here, we received $100,000 in supplemental funding for the rug replacement to McGlynn, $50,000 in auditorium seating, and then $40,000 of the Caron Theater lighting upgrades were also picked up with the state supplemental budget. So there's $210,000 in our request that we could either return to the city or reallocate to potentially to the Brooks and Robertson, Mississippi intercom systems.
[Jessica Parks]: Member Ruseau.
[Paul Ruseau]: Thank you. Are the estimates for those other projects based on an assumption they would be happening in a future year and might be lower because we're a year ahead of when they were going to happen?
[Kenneth Lord]: You're talking about the three projects here that we received supplemental funding for?
[Paul Ruseau]: No, the ones we might do if we decide to spend that money instead of sending it back to the city.
[Kenneth Lord]: So those, I do not believe we escalated the cost on those. Those are based on some estimates for a current year. Okay. Okay.
[Paul Ruseau]: All right. I mean, nothing gets cheaper. And frankly, We seem to be pressing really hard on how to make things more expensive around here, not in the district. So I mean, I would certainly prefer that we, I mean, it's a rare day when we can almost get ahead of ourselves on any projects. I mean, the capital projects that we have really are massive. going out into the future. So I mean, I'm a fan of spending that money now because, yeah, everything gets more expensive. So that's just my opinion.
[Erika Reinfeld]: Member Reinfeld. Yep, so I just wanted to, so the intercom systems, I'm looking at the capital plan memo that we had, Oh, I don't have the date, but that we looked at before. So they are listed as priority four. The HVAC hot water roof are priority one. And I noticed that everything in two and three is significantly higher than the $210,000. Is there any second tier offsetting partial costs on or getting a jumpstart on those slightly higher priorities? I realize the priority list goes like all the way down to 10 or actually 13, it looks like. So in four, we are still fairly high up, but are there particular expenses in that second priority that could be partially offset here?
[Kenneth Lord]: It'd be really hard to split up those larger projects into it.
[Erika Reinfeld]: That was my sense, but I wanted to confirm and then. I am all for, as member Ruseau said, getting a head start on some of the things that are coming down and could well escalate in cost. I was wondering whether the city, this came from the capital stabilization allocation, correct? So this is funding that is specifically for capital improvements. And I just wanted to ask if there were urgent things in the city, I know like Medford Rec had the flooding, like, are there things that are very desperately needed on the city side, recognizing, again, that $210,000 is not enough to repair complete flooding disasters? But that was my question, and I guess it's probably for the mayor more than Mr. Lord.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yeah, we have the rec floor, and The bigger project with that is the trying to waterproof the building. So the rec floor does not continue to get ruined and then have to be replaced. So that's going to be a project that we just don't know the estimated cost yet. And then we have Hormel. needs new surfacing. Those are the two that are coming forward in the next month or two. But I think this is $200,000. I think you can repurpose it to school projects and we're going to use other funding for the city projects.
[Erika Reinfeld]: OK, that's good to hear because we all know that we have many millions of dollars worth of capital improvements needed in the schools. And so I'm grateful for the opportunity to redirect this and to our state delegation for providing the supplemental funding. So I would support. that, and it looks like the intercoms are the highest priority piece that can be covered by this. So that makes sense to me, and I will motion to approve that reallocation. Although I think Member Parks had her hand up.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I don't see Member Parks' hand up, but correct me if I'm wrong, if you'd like to speak. Otherwise, motion for approval by Member Reinfeld. Seconded by Member Ruseau. Roll call, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni? Yes. Member Olapade? Yes. Member Parks?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Reinfeld?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor Langenkirch?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. And number four has been approved. Thank you, Mr. Lord.
[Kenneth Lord]: Thanks. It was one other path of this though. So the other half of this was that the capital plan allocated $250,000 for a Robert hot water tank project. This budget amount was created from an estimate that the, I'm sorry, not an estimate, but the money spent at the Brooks for a similar study. And the idea was to move to electrified hot water tanks. That study ended up not moving in that direction because of the high cost of electrified hot water tanks. And then we also, during FY26, had one of the two tanks at Roberts fail, and we had to replace it as soon as possible to continue to maintain the proper amount of hot water for the building. So that leaves this project kind of in a bit of a limbo state in that we do not need the $250,000 for that project. But we are asking if we recommend to allocate that money for several other items. One is to spend $22,000 approximately to replace the other hot water tank at the Roberts, and then to be off matching. to spend just under $40,000 to repair some chillers at the Brooks, cover the expanded scope at the Brooks Turf Repair for $109,000, approximately $25,000 to supplement funding for a McGlynn fridge and freezer condenser replacement, some drainage repairs at Roberts for $36,000, and a $5,000 pump repair at the Roberts for a fire pump system. So that would reallocate that money to those projects, which many, which are in progress and that we're using our operations extraordinary repair accounts to try to cover now.
[Paul Ruseau]: If there's no question, I'd motion to approve those.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Motion for approval. Approval by member Ruseau, seconded by member Reinfeld. Roll call, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham?
[Jenny Graham]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastropone? Yes. Member Olapade?
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Parks? Yes. Member Reinfeld? Yes. Member Rossell? Yes. Mayor Langenkern?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. The paper passes.
[Kenneth Lord]: Thank you very much.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: We do not have any presentations of the Student Advisory Council, nor any presentations of the public, but we have a number of resolutions. First up, 2026-06, offered by member Rousseau. Be it resolved that all members shall submit.
[Paul Ruseau]: Yes. Motion to approve the reading. Motion to waive the reading.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Motion to waive the reading by member Rousseau, seconded by member Reinfeld. All those in favor, roll call, please. Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastromoni. Yes. Member Olipatek. Yes. Member Parks. Yes. Member Reinfeld.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau. Yes. Mayor Langaucourt.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, it's very short, but that's fine if you want to waive the reading. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Reading is waived. Member Ruseau.
[Paul Ruseau]: Sure. So this was the rules that took a little longer. I put it on the agenda for February 9th. Forgive me, everybody. So this is just our updated rules. And I believe you all received that in email today. It reflects the changes we made in our June, I forget which meeting it was, one of our June meetings where we went through the list of edits. So if there's no questions, I'd make a motion to approve the rules.
[Jenny Graham]: Second.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Motion for approved by Member Ruseau, seconded by Member Graham. Roll call, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastrobonni.
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Lopate.
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Parks. Yes. Member Reinfeldt.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau. Yes. Mayor Langenau-Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Paper passes.
[Erika Reinfeld]: And is this going to need a second reading? It's not a policy, it's rules. Correct. Then I won't motion to waive a second reading since it's non-existent.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. 2026-20 offered by member Reinfeld, whereas regular standardized assessment is an essential feature of public schools accountability profile and a contributor to a district's understanding of student learning, whereas scheduling of test administration and preparation has a direct impact on instructional time and curriculum decisions across the district. Now therefore be it resolved that the subcommittee for curriculum and instruction will meet with the assistant superintendent for academics and instructions to receive and discuss a report on the assessment landscape across the district. Member Reinfeld.
[Erika Reinfeld]: Yeah, I think this mostly says what we need to hear. Dr. Talbot has been working really hard to find out in her congratulations, by the way, to Dr. Talbot and Mr. Lord on their first year in the district, but has been working really hard to audit and look at what's happening across the schools. And one piece of that is how often our students taking tests and preparing for tests. And so understanding that was a key piece and she has a report and I am proposing that our subcommittee for academics take the deep dive into that and report back to the larger committee.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, Member Reinfeld. So I'm going to take that as a motion for approval and is there a second? Second. I heard Member Parks, so I'll go with you, Member Parks, seconded by Member Parks. Member Ruseau, if you could call the roll, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni? Yes. Member Olapade? Yes. Member Parks?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Reinfeld?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor Lengelkern? Yes.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, 70 affirmative, zero negative paper passes. 2026-21 offered by member Reinfeld. Resolution in support of e-bike safety education, whereas Metro Public Schools wishes to encourage safe active transportation to and from school, defined here as human power mobility, such as biking or walking. Whereas the Commonwealth Special Commission on Micromobility January 2026 report, cities statewide increases in e-bike scooter and e-motor. commuting an estimated 23% annual increase in related injuries since 2017, with more than one third of those injuries occurring in children 14 and under. Whereas Massachusetts Safe Routes to School Program has created resources for schools to educate students and community members in matters of pedestrian, bike and e-bike safety. Now therefore be it resolved that the Medford Public Schools will provide students, families and staff with educational information about laws, regulations and recommended safety practices for bikes, e-bikes and other micromobility devices within the first month of school. Good resolution. Thank you, Member Reinfeld, and I'll turn it over to you.
[Erika Reinfeld]: Again, I hope this is self-explanatory. We're seeing an increase in these e-bikes and commuting and students are could use some education around the actual rules for what is an e-bike, what is an e-moto, and just generally there's information out there and this is providing one more way of getting this to students. I actually wrote this resolution before I saw last week's memo, which included some of this already. So I think this is really well aligned with what the district is doing, but to formalize the fact that we want students and staff and families to be educated about the different transportation options and the safety requirements around that. No more kids riding around with no helmets or helmets unbuckled, all of that. We should be supporting safe behaviors. Motion to approve.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Helmets are required for, I think, 16 and under, so by law. Yep, so by law.
[Erika Reinfeld]: And e-motos are not allowed 16 and below. It is considered a motor vehicle, things like that.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yep. Thank you. Member Reinfeld, motion for approval, seconded by? Second. Member Graham roll call, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni. Yes. Member Olapade.
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Parks. Yes. Member Reinfeld.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member, so yes, Mayor Lungo-Koehn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative, paper passes. 2026-22 offered by Member Graham, whereas the Medford Whereas, okay, beat resolve.
[Jenny Graham]: Mayor, I do have an amendment because something got hacked off in my document before I submitted it. So I can just drop it in the chat. Or feel free to read your first whereas. Sure, I'm happy to read the whole thing. Whereas the Medford School Committee appointed members to the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee and has made updates to the makeup of the committee at key milestones. Be it resolved that the Medford School Committee thanks the following members of the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee for their service through the feasibility study phase of the Medford Comprehensive High School project. Voting members Emily Lazzaro, Joan Bowen, and Marissa Desmond, and non-voting member John McLaughlin will all be leaving us. Um, be it further resolved that effective as of this meeting, the school committee welcomes the following new members as voting members, Liz Malone, who will be at the city council representative Tracy keen. Community member representative able to return now that feasibility is complete and his schedule has shifted in our favor and gender, a teacher and community member replacing the spot that Maria Dorsey has previously held as the representative Maria will be staying on as a voting member and retiree because she is. a Medford resident, a caregiver, and now a retiree of our school system. And then non-voting members, Kim Clinton, the assistant superintendent for special education and student services will join us in that capacity. Be it also resolved that these members along with the remaining continuing members of the MCHSBC shall be appointed by this body through June 30th, 2027, which aligns with the completion of schematic design.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you, member Graham. Can you just let the committee know who picked these new members? I know I wasn't involved in this round. So just give us a little background.
[Jenny Graham]: Sure. For the most part, there weren't lots of decisions to make. So Emily Lazzaro notified me that she intended to step down. And so I worked with the council president to identify another council representative. and that is Liz Mullane. Jen Belanger was identified by Dr. Galussi who fits the criteria of our teacher spot. Tracy Keene returning to the committee was a selection to replace Marissa Desmond. And he has previously served on the committee and had a number of personal conflicts that made it difficult for him to do that in the last year. So he seemed like a great fit to come back based on the conversations Dr. Galussi and I had. And then Kim Clinton is Jones replacement. And so there wasn't really so much discussion about that.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Thank you. Is that a motion to approve? Is there a second? Second by member Mastroboni. Roll call, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Graham.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Olapade.
[Aaron Olapade]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Parks. Yes. Member Redfield.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau, yes, Mayor Landau-Kern.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative, motion passes. Offered by Member Ruseau and Member Graham, 2026-23, a resolution in support of the E-Rate Program, or is the E-Rate Program created by Congress and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and operating since 1997, lowers the cost of broadband internet access, internal network connections, that schools and libraries purchase through discounts ranging from 20 to 90% scaled to the share of low income students a district serves. Whereas E-Rate today supports more than 100,000 schools and roughly 11,000 libraries nationwide, delivering approximately 3 billion in discounts every year under an annual spending cap and competitive bidding requirement and regular audit and oversight. Where Medford Public Schools receives approximately 278,330 dollars each year in E-rate support, which carries our networking instruction, our state mandated online assessments, our student information, special education systems, and our daily communication with families. Whereas connectivity in a public school is no longer an enrichment or a convenience, but the floor on which everything else stands and a district that loses it does not return to some earlier way of teaching. It simply loses the capacity to do the work. Whereas on June 25th, 2026, Communications commission adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking and further notice of proposed rulemaking opening WC docket number 26-133, which asks among many other questions, whether the E-rate program should be narrowed, reoriented or discontinued. Whereas commissioner in Gomez dissenting in part from the notice observed that E-rate is the largest source of technology funding for the nation's libraries and third largest for education. That more than 97% of surveyed schools and libraries consider E-rate funding essential to their operations. Whereas eliminating or curtailing E-rate would not reduce our dependence on the network by a single classroom. It would only move that cost onto the municipal budgets already stretched past their limits, forcing districts to choose between the network and the educators who teach on it. Whereas the discount structure means the district serving the highest needs students receive the deepest discounts and therefore stand to lose the most. So the reduction in the E-rate is not felt evenly, but falls hardest in the children with the fewest alternatives at home. Whereas the Medford School Committee has no funding authority, cannot raise taxes and has no effect on the revenues we are allocated from city, state and federal resources to execute on the authority we do have. Whereas our mission is to provide a caring educational partnership of school, family and community in pursuit of providing the very best education our children deserve for them and for the future of our world. Whereas the commission's proceeding is open to public comment and the commission must consider a record before it. so that our silence in that record would itself be a decision whereas the Medford School Committee as a democratically elected body with the exclusive local control of the public schools must press on the city, state and federal government to supply us with the revenues we need to meet our obligations. Now therefore be it resolved that the Medford school committee affirms that the E-rate program is essential to the operations of the Medford public schools and joins the hashtag save our E-rate campaign of the schools, health and libraries broadband coalition and its partners in urging the federal communications commission to preserve and fully fund E-rate directs the superintendent to file comment on behalf of the member of public schools in WC docket number 26-133 through the FCC's electronic comment filing system before the close of the comment period stating district's annual E-rate funding and the specific services that fund support and to attach an official copy of this resolution to that filing, directs the superintendent to transmit official copies of the resolution to chairman Brendan Carr, commissioner Anne Gomez and commissioner Olivia, trustee of the Federal Communications Commission, directs the superintendent to transmit official copies of this resolution to the following Governor Maury Haley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Edward Markey, Congressman Catherine Clark, Senator Patricia Jalen, state representatives, Paul Donato, Sean Garbally, and Christine Barber, directs the superintendent to transmit an official copy of this resolution to the medford city council in accordance with the medford school committee rules directs the superintendent to transmit an official copy of this resolution to the mayor of medford directs the superintendent to transmit an official copy of this resolution to the board of trustees of the medford public library and the massachusetts association of school committees and encourages every school committee in the commonwealth to adopt a resolution of like effect passed and adopted by the Medford School Committee. So I'm going to take, does anyone want to move approval of this? Motion to approve. By Member Reinfeld, seconded by Member Ruseau. Roll call please. Thank you for doing this.
[Paul Ruseau]: Yes Member Ruseau. Thank you. I just wanted to comment on you know e-rates obviously very important and $287,000 doesn't sound like all that much money as we just discussed capital projects, but this is every single year money. So it is a real chunk of change that, you know, we just talked about a bunch of capital projects we're going to get to do. All those would be gone. So I'm really distressed by this. It's just another attempt to end public education as an actual institution by the Trump administration. So I'm excited to get this sent along and cross our fingers they changed their mind. Anyways, did you want me to take the roll call, Mayor? If that was a second, yes, please. Yeah. Member Graham?
[Jenny Graham]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni? Yes. Member Olapade. Yes. Member Parks. Yes. Member Reinfeld.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Ruseau, yes. Mayor Lincoln.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Motion passes. Thank you both for putting that on. We do not have any new business or reports requested. Our next regular meeting is September 14th, 2026 in the Aldo Memorial Chambers, Medford City Hall, in addition to Zoom. Is there a motion to adjourn?
[Erika Reinfeld]: I just want to say have a great start to the school year, everyone, and then I'll motion to adjourn.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes, we second that. Thank you, Member Reinfeld. Is there a second to adjourn? Second. Member Graham, roll call, please.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Graham?
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: Yes.
[Paul Ruseau]: Member Mastroboni? Yes. Member Olapade? Yes. Member Parks? Yes. Member Reinfeld? Yes. Member Ruseau? Yes. Mayor Lococo?
[Unidentified]: Yes.