[Curtis Tuden]: Hello, thank you, I'm unmuted now. My name is Curtis Tooden, I live at 38 Early Ave in Medford, and I don't have much to add, I just, because Councilors Bears and Morell pretty much said it all, but I just think it's important to have it on the record, said out loud, that Black Lives Matter. and a vote in support of treating racism as it should be, a public health crisis. It's a vote for change that everybody in this community I think wants wholeheartedly. So thank you for having this on the agenda and I hope it proceeds. Thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: Thank you, this is Curtis Tootin at 38 Early Ave in Medford. And I just wanted to speak to the issue you're discussing about how there hasn't been a large number of people of color voicing their opinions tonight. And I wanted to point out that especially due to the pandemic, we are a technologically segregated city right now. And I happen to be a white guy who happens to have multiple devices and very reliable internet, but that is not the case for a lot of the families and people who would rather be here. And I know when we were all at Hormel at the vigil together, that there are a bunch of people who couldn't make it tonight that want to see progress in the city. So thank you for making sure it gets on the agenda. And I hope that the news of the positive steps tonight reach all corners of Medford. So thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: Hi, good evening everyone. My name is Curtis Tudin. I live at 38 Early Ave in Medford. And first I'd like to thank the council and the clerk's office for continuing to work in this time of crisis and making the meeting available online. Second, I want to send my warmest regards to fellow residents who are trying to pull through this historically trying time. The disease will end someday and that's why my focus tonight is on a healthy future for our environment. I've been a city employee for the last 10 years and long from now when I'm able to retire, I want to know my money wasn't made at the expense of our natural world and future generations. The current situation where part of my paycheck is used to finance a failing and deadly industry cannot continue. Though the final decision falls on our state reps, Medford City Council voting in support tonight would send a clear message that the failure to act responsibly by confronting climate change will not be tolerated. We have about 10 years to completely divest from fossil fuels. So let's take this small step forward together. And thanks to everyone who shows their support and solidarity with the environment this evening, and good luck to us all in the coming days and decades of crisis management. Thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: So Mrs. Mayor, Dr. Vinson, and school committee members, thank you for your time tonight. I'm here as the faculty advisor to the Medford High School Environmental Club. Four students here tonight took the initiative beginning last year to prioritize composting in the school. This winter, they submitted a grant to the Captain Planet Foundation for $2,500. And it was such a great grant, they were awarded it just a few weeks ago. So, yeah, it's a great thing. And it's a substantial amount of money that I think will go towards a long-lasting composting program in the school. So we'll start small this year and then build up. We thank you for your support. And I also want to make sure that we thank the Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They are the club that organized the students to begin with. And then thank you to the Crystal Campbell Memorial Foundation. The CCSR and that group are what provided the matching grants that made our application possible. And then, of course, finally, thank you to the Captain Planet Foundation, which is actually that old cartoon back in the day. They have an environmental foundation that is where we were fortunate to find some money. So Mr. Skorka and Mr. Trotta couldn't be here today from CCSR and Crystal Campbell, but they said to make sure we got a photo. So I'd like to invite the students up at this time, if that's okay.
[Curtis Tuden]: Come on up. At least for a photo. Feel free to ask them questions. They're now composting experts.
[Curtis Tuden]: Do you want to say thank you or something? Who's stepping up?
[Curtis Tuden]: So it's a one-year grant that is not renewable. So this will allow us to start the process. And a similar grant a few years ago for $1,000 got us through three months of composting. And then because a student graduated and we didn't have the support at the time, the project went away. But a group working at Medford High School is prepared to take this on again with a lot more money. And then hopefully it becomes a sustainable program that spreads throughout all the cafeterias and all the kitchens and things like that, really all the schools, ultimately.
[Curtis Tuden]: From our experience with the first round of composting a few years ago, we actually get full reports on how much is composted by weight. So based on what materials are included in that, you can do a calculation on what the carbon offset is. So it's all stuff that right now goes to a landfill and emits carbon. But if done in a composting system, then you can count it as offset CO2.
[Curtis Tuden]: Yeah, exactly. Oh, all right. Yeah, there's like receipts and all that.
[Curtis Tuden]: I'm like, how do you do that? It's just bins on wheels the same as the other waste currently. They're given different colors and they go to a different curb to get picked up by a private company. Cool. And we're still figuring out the best options for that. Thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: Thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: It'll be about two weeks until we get the check, and then we'll be able to get the check.
[Curtis Tuden]: Name and address of the record, please. Thank you. My name is Curtis Tooden. I live at 72 Bonner Ave. And I'm here representing the Medford Energy and Environment Committee. I also advise the student environmental club at Medford High School. And I want to thank the Councilors for taking up this issue and for the students taking on this leadership role and helping bring about an issue that would make a real difference for our environment. A lot of great points have already been made, so I'll just clarify what's in the packet for everybody. The first is a cover sheet that shows all of the Massachusetts cities and towns that have currently passed a plastic bag ordinance into law. So you'll notice some towns like Boston and Arlington aren't listed, and that's because they recently passed their ordinances. So a point of clarification there. On the back are three sample ordinances, and those are taken from a list of, it's really a spreadsheet of 60 municipalities in Medford with their ordinance, how the ordinance is enforced, And it's all just for your consideration. It's followed up with a frequently asked questions sheet that explains everything you need to know about plastic bags and why we should have an ordinance in Medford. And like I said, thank you for taking this under consideration. I can answer any questions that you have right now or we can open it up to other residents in the community who are representing other environmental organizations and just other concerned citizens. Thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: Hello, friends, honored guests, and all fellow Medford residents. My name is Curtis Tudin, and I am a candidate for Medford City Council. As a lifelong resident of this wonderful city, with years of experience working and volunteering in our community, I know I deserve your vote this election season. This is my first run for public office, but I have great confidence thanks to tremendous early support from residents. Together, we have what it takes to win. Frankly, we need a win right now. People in our city are tired of the current political climate. Thankfully, Medford's November 7th election is a great opportunity for change. Voters out there asking, why should I cast a vote, my most important civic responsibility, for a Curtis student? Let me tell you, there are many reasons, all of them good. First and foremost, I'm the best candidate in support of Medford's environment and public schools. My campaign is based on the need to take action in response to climate change, and my career working for Medford Public Schools gave me an ideal perspective of the city's most important public service and largest budget item. There are so many important steps our city can take to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change, Unfortunately, our city council has lacked leadership. After years of volunteer service and as current chairperson of Medford's Energy and Environment Committee, I know how to increase renewable energy use and save residents money on their electricity bill at the same time. My first act as city councilor will be to help pass community energy aggregation in Medford. It's one of many steps towards meeting our goals. Others include fixing toxic gas leaks, planning for severe weather, expanding recycling services, supporting community gardens, and much more. If elected, I promise to responsibly lead Medford through all the work that needs to be done, prioritizing sustainability and protecting natural resources. Of course, the city's most important natural resource is our children. We protect and empower them by supporting public schools. Every day, thousands of students and their teachers do great things in Medford, but there is vast room for improvement. The same can be said for all public services and infrastructure, from potholes to police and fire departments. So if elected, I promise Medford will do more to meet the needs of its residents and workforce. A resolution to the opiate addiction epidemic is one need currently not being met. In 2016, there were over 64,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States, and Medford has suffered its share of tragedy. It has also taken some steps to relieve the issue, most recently by appointing a recovery Councilor and supporting Team Medford programs. But we need to do more to end drug use stigmatization, implement additional prevention and intervention policy, and make sure there is funding available for innovative programs that address this public health crisis. Overall, my campaign's commitment to running free of financial donations ensures my priorities are earnest. By working together on municipal projects, we can achieve great things, but the key to success is not leaving anyone behind. Many will only, Medford, excuse me, will only progress if all community members are involved, which is why social justice issues are a primary part of my campaign. A clear next step is for Medford to become a sanctuary city and create policy that welcomes diversity and is free of fear. Then, through the process of charter reform, our city can promote equity and work to end injustice, whatever form it may take. Events like tonight get me excited for all the progress we can make together after election day. Thanks to the Medford Democratic City Committee and all volunteers who helped bring us together. And thanks to everyone watching the video. Your participation in person and online makes our democracy stronger. If elected, I promise to emphasize collaboration so all perspectives are represented in the political process. I'm working hard for your vote, but I'll work even harder as your city councilor. People will have unprecedented access to their local government with me as an elected official. Whatever the issue, Medford residents can count on me to care, listen, and give voice to their cause. For more information about my campaign, please call my phone at 781-572-7196, email me at curtis.tootin at gmail.com, visit votetootin2017.com, or find me on Facebook. Most important, make sure to vote on November 7th, and remember, A vote for Curtis Tudin is a vote for change at City Council, for a prosperous future, and local politics to be proud of. In conclusion, Go Medford. Vote Tudin. Thank you very much.
[Curtis Tuden]: Sure, thank you. Nice to see you all. I produced this report on July 14th, which was after a meeting on July 11th, where Roy had us in his conference room, a bunch of other administrators. We just talked out our first year with School Brains. And a number of different issues were brought up. The report was asked for a summary. So that's why it touches on so many different things, because the meeting was comprehensive. After the first draft was produced on the 14th, there were a series of meetings after that, and different staff members collaborated on changing language here and there. For example, it originally started as a SWOT analysis, which is a commonly used tool for assessing systems operations. So that's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. But threats is something that maybe isn't an appropriate word in this situation. Liabilities might be a bit more appropriate. So edits to language, and like I said, it was a collaboration amongst a bunch of different staff members that I ultimately compiled. The most recent meeting was between Roy and I to produce this printed report. But I think you could look at this as an ongoing document. I hope you look at each of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and liabilities. And there's, at the conclusion, something that's recommended. It's a process for following up on a SWOT analysis. That is observation, orientation, decision, and action. So you could think of each topic as an observation. And then if a meeting or specific I don't know, council. If the council wanted to address specific issues, then you could address them in that systematic way. So I hope it sheds light on what was, I think, still overall a very successful year. There are obviously many more strengths listed there than anything else. And I'm happy to take any questions you have at this time or during the rest of the year.
[Curtis Tuden]: Yes. The data is always being reviewed, and since that issue... But was it for that individual? Yes, so we determined the error that that individual came to school brought to school committees attention and we have an understanding of how it happened and And it's something that we can correct for in the first grading period of this year And that's really the time that things will ultimately be finalized and reset because yeah either controls in place For those types of mistakes, so was it a manual error. It was a manual error. It was one specific class got coded wrong and their GPA credit didn't appropriately coincide with their class ranking so it wound up with a discrepancy that affected that student and we've now figured out what that was specifically so that specific problem will never happen again. And then GPA is now under scrutiny and we know after a full year of using the system what to go into the first grading period with.
[Curtis Tuden]: We all understand that sure So teachers students they play the main role in finding errors because ultimately They're determining what a grade is and it's very common for a grade to get changed after a term period closes That happens all the time with students making up work people just updating data on a regular basis and And that is a great culture to have, because it allows for students to make up work and correct any grades that might have hurt them. But it also makes it tough for data management, because we're making these constant updates to student grades. And every time that happens, the students then request for a GPA recalculation, and they're ranked to be adjusted accordingly. So you wind up with a lot of different recalculations that haven't had Like a real method behind it. So that's something that we're going to be addressing with the first term grading period this year, where everyone will have those finalized grades and then a plan going forward for adjusting GPA and rank like I know that at the first parent info nights, it was made clear that the GPA and rank would only be calculated and shared on the term grading periods, and we'll address specific circumstances, whether it's correcting errors, things like that, as needed, but it's just something that we're a lot more aware of now, so we don't see it causing a problem again.
[Curtis Tuden]: Yes, and the main way to address that issue is through training and making sure that teachers are able to use the system and input data effectively. So when the first term grading period happened last year, it was every teacher's first attempt at using it. And there were many errors put in the system. So it took sometimes, and unfortunately for some students, a full year of getting things straightened out. And then even towards final grading period, There was a specific process that we didn't know how to account for when students changed classes mid-year, and it resulted in some terms counting as zeros as opposed to no credit. So you had these students with very good grades winding up with failing grades just because of this one technical oversight. So if there are any outstanding issues, they should know to contact the school because it's very straightforward to correct them right now. But we have now, after a full year, learned what the do's and don'ts are. with the progress report grading period, that'll be a great practice time for teachers because the steps to input grades are the same from progress reports to report cards. So if people could have patience during that one upcoming grading period, then I know that we'll have term one all figured out.
[Curtis Tuden]: Oh yeah, totally.
[Curtis Tuden]: Yeah, and it's on the radar in time for even tomorrow night when the guidance department is talking with seniors about college information, like we have transcripts that are up to date with the records the way they should be. All that stuff has been accounted for. And it started this summer when we sat down after the 4th of July break and met to figure out what we needed to fix for 2017-18.
[Curtis Tuden]: So as I understand it, and people can clarify if I get it wrong, but per the teacher's contract, the grades and specifically the term grades are not available to students and parents. And the thinking behind that is teachers are catching up on a term worth of grading at that time, and as they're entering data into the system, maybe they don't enter things completely, and they don't want students to get misled with bad data, so they take the access away, and then report cards are produced with their fully entered grade books. There's another side of the argument where you could say, oh, they should have access all the time, but then I think you'd wind up in situations where people see inaccurate information or even more inaccurate information, and it would result in more issues as opposed to, you know, the unfortunate surprise that might come when two weeks of not being able to view a term grade results in a surprising report card. So it's kind of a balance we're figuring out how to strike.
[Curtis Tuden]: One last thing about the first part of the question. So ultimately, transcripts are what we really work towards getting 100% correct, because they're the permanent records. And as I said before, data is constantly changing during the school year. So adverse effects. really play out in terms of the accuracy of that data. So I definitely regret how we've learned about the problems from last year, but we have corrected that one student's issue. And the transcripts, which is the final record, is accurate.
[Curtis Tuden]: So I know the term in the teacher contract is regular updates. So the definition of regular is always open to interpretation. My general rule of thumb when I'm training teachers in the system is two weeks of regular updates gives you multiple times logging in, checking data between grading periods. Emphasizing the importance of double checking and making sure things are accurate for those grading periods is my definition of regular, but it's a culture change across the school, so people are working to figure out what the best practice is.
[Curtis Tuden]: So that hasn't been done. The report was just produced on Friday, so it's something that we can address tomorrow.
[Curtis Tuden]: Sure. Yeah, there's a detailed report called the School Safety and Discipline Report. It's something that's annually reported that has everything broken down. So the summary reports are all available online. I'd say send me a message, and we can figure out the details of what you're most interested in. But I can say that that number has been drastically reduced over the years. So that's a great sign for the district.
[Curtis Tuden]: I know the number itself jumps out at you. But if you look at it over time, it's something that we're doing continually better on. But to get more into the weeds is a conversation.
[Curtis Tuden]: So- I would say that it's in the purview of the school committee to set the policy, because all of the GPA issues are set according to the student handbook, which is up to this group to decide. So I look forward to all those discussions. It'll be great.
[Curtis Tuden]: Rule 22.
[Curtis Tuden]: Hi, I'm Curtis Student, 340 High Street, Medford, Massachusetts. I just wanted to invite the council to a meeting on August 22nd, which is of the 350 Massachusetts Mystic Valley organization that has been dedicated to looking at this gas leak issue. We're going to have a meeting specifically about level 3 gas leaks in Medford, so if any Councilor or any resident of Medford doesn't want to wait until September to learn more about it, they're welcome to come to a meeting here at Medford High School, 7 o'clock, and you'll learn everything you need to know about the issue. So I just wanted to make sure people were aware of that meeting. Thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: Lee Chauncey Allen, 27 St. Clements. Also in favor.
[Curtis Tuden]: Please state your name and address for the record. Thank you, councillors. My name is Curtis Tudin. I live at 72 Bonner Ave, and I'm a member of the Medford Energy Committee. For anyone who doesn't know, that's a appointed group of local volunteers who are responsible for being involved with environmental and energy-related projects in the city. One of those projects is the Medford Green Awards. And in 2015, like in years past, we think it's very important for any community to recognize leaders who are especially responsible and go above and beyond in terms of environmental stewardship. The application forms to be eligible for the award just became available a few weeks ago. They can be picked up in the Office of Energy Environment here at City Hall, or you can more easily go to gogreenmedford.org, which is the committee's website, and find all the information there about the application as well as every other project that the committee is involved in. So I wanted to take this opportunity tonight to, one, make this project more publicized, and also to pass out the application forms to the Councilors themselves. It would be great for any of you to reach out to people that you find are exemplary environmental or energy-related residents, or maybe you yourselves feel like you deserve an award. We'd be happy to recognize you. And this all comes together on October 3rd at the annual, the 6th annual Harvest Your Energy Festival, which is held under the wind turbine at the McGlynn Elementary School. It's a, I'm sorry, McGlynn Middle School. It's a great event that happens every year. It's a collection of residents, businesses, and community groups that are basically innovators in the field that help make Medford a very green community, that help make us a leader, really, in the city in that respect. And if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. But really, residents, I just want to stress again that you can go greenmedford.org and just really recognize yourselves or recognize someone that you know that goes above and beyond in this respect.
[Curtis Tuden]: Yeah, that's one of the many great offers you can get. It's literally over $120 worth of light bulbs for about a $10. It comes in a really great package. I try to take advantage of that every single year and it's something that we commonly have. Really, it's a collection of businesses and groups and a lot of different educational groups in the city that are very environmentally oriented. And last year, I think we had over 100 tables and there were over 400 people who came down and participated in the event. It's hopefully going to be even bigger this year. We have a very busy September and October with a lot of city events going on. And this is just one of the many great themes. And the fact that it can happen underneath the wind turbine and really show off alternative energy and energy efficiency in the way the city is a leader. It's great that the City Council recognizes that, and I especially appreciate you and Councilman Caraviello for helping me get on the agenda for this evening. And really, the rest of your talks this evening were all very interesting, so thanks for that.
[Curtis Tuden]: Yeah, there's a lot of inspiring individuals in this city, and it's important to recognize them because I think it just leads to more and more people being environmentally responsible. So, meetings like this are great. So, thank you.
[Curtis Tuden]: Thank you very much.