Looks like we're good. Well, we are good to go. Okay. Um, I'll go ahead and read the meeting notice so we can get rolling here. Um, please be advised that on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026 at 6 p.m., there will
be a communication subcommittee meeting held through remote participation via Zoom. This meeting is being recorded. The meeting can be viewed live on Medford Public Schools YouTube channel, through Medford Community Media on your local cable channel, which is Comcast 98 or22 and Verizon 43,45 or 47. Since the
meeting will be held remotely, participants can call or log in by using the following Zoom link. Um the Zoom meeting ID is 9598261 6016. Um you can also send um questions or comments um during the meeting by
emailing jenny grahammed.k12.mma. us. Those submitting must include the following information. your name and address, your Medford Street address, and your question or comment. Um, I will start by calling the role. Um, Jenny
Graham here, Nicole Morell >> here, >> Pepicelli >> here. >> Maria Dorsy >> here. >> Hi, Maria. And Marissa Desmond. I don't
see Marissa on. Okay. So, we have three present, one absent in terms of voting members. So, we have a quorum. Um, and then welcome Emma, uh, who is from the city of Medford's communications team. Thank you for joining us. I know it's like a busy night in Medford. Um, but we
think you picked the best meeting to come to. >> I agree. >> Thanks for having me. Um, and then, um, the other folks on the call, I think for those of you who may not have met, um, some of the other folks on the call, Jen Carlson, Matt
Galino, Linda Leaporto, and Adele Sans are all from left field. They're our owner's project manager. Hi everyone. Um, and then Matt Rice and Helen Fantini are from SMMA. They're from our AR, our team of architects. So, welcome
everybody. Um so our agenda tonight uh is a couple of things. Um one is um to talk about um both the up an upcoming scheduled meetings and to think about who our key audiences are in Medford and how we
reach them. So I think Emma, you'll be like really really helpful in that conversation. Um so I did put together with Linda's help a starting point just to get us like going in the right direction. um in terms of like thinking about all the various audiences and what
they might want to know and I think um you know we may or may not um have identified all of the audiences or we may want to spike them out as we as we move along. So, um, since it is a fairly small group, I think we can, um, not
worry so much about hand raising and those kinds of things, um, but just, um, go ahead and like get this document, um, in shape. So, let me share my screen. Can you all see that? >> Yep.
>> Okay, great. Um, okay. So, the first thing that I did with Linda's help is just try to outline um some of our different audiences and I think about the kinds of things that
they might want or expect from the SBC as we go forward. Um, so I'll I'll start with like the this the row across the top just to give you an orientation of what's here and then we can maybe um like move through the different audiences without we don't have to like
repeat everything all along the way. But um and then I think you know once we like maybe like go through all of them we can talk about like what's missing and specifically like in places where we have some placeholders or some question marks um or nothing at all like we can
talk about like how to fill those in. So like if you go across the top of this um grid we have our stakeholder group. So for example, the school committee and then I tr what we tried to do was like group them into like some categories of what their primary concerns might be. So
not everybody cares about the same things and lots of people like sort of end up in many of these buckets. So we tried to be I tried to focus on like the primary things. Um and then the communication objectives um
really sort of like in a big broad sense um you know keeping the school committee informed on the status of the project in the ED plan um obtaining revi the required votes on the ed plan for example um and then the preferred channels for the school committee is pretty easy we have meetings we I
provide a monthly update we hold special sessions it's all very like streamlined and regulated so everything that happens with the school committee happens via a formal meeting. So they they're like easy to articulate in this way. Um and then just some like
frequency and notes that I tried to plug in mostly so that if there are people who are joining us or watching they have some sense of like what is happening already um because there is actually a lot happening. Um, so if I go down this list, um,
um, oh, hold on a second. Where did that go? I think I lost something here. Okay, here we go. Just found a weird little loop in my document here. Okay. Um so
okay. Um so the first two categories are school committee city council. I think one of the things that um you know there will be times where the city council will have to meet that will to take formal votes but that will come
like much later in the process. So, I think for now and for the feasibility study, which is primarily what I'm hoping this document can can carry us through, um there there's not an active like set of requirements for the council
to weigh in, but we obviously want to keep them um included and involved. So, um we did talk about um we did have um some members of the council join us on Monday night when we reviewed the ED plan um and the status of the project. So, that was great. Um, and then as we
kind of look forward, um, you know, couple a couple of the things that I was thinking about is like do we do some sort of quarterly update for them? Um, which, um, I could certainly talk to the council about. And then, um, the other things that I thought might be helpful
is like a CC to them on updates um, that go out to parents of students so that they know what their constituents are getting, which might require some expansion. superintendent of your Friday email list so that they have access to
that same information. Um, and then invitations to the SBC meetings. Um, particular and I would I think for those like particularly the ones that are like important meetings where we're going to do some extra outreach. So that's sort of how this
whole thing is. Um, and then we have our legislators on the bottom of this page. So again, like their needs um in terms of um the things that we're wanting to keep them um apprised of, they often tune into council meetings. So just
including them in invitations to meetings that are already happening was sort of where I was thinking about um our our state delegation. And then we will have um an invitation to them in March to come meet our team so that our delegation has some dedicated time to
ask their questions, etc. Um, and then just ad hoc updates as as we go. >> Excuse me, Jenny. Excuse me. Um, I have a question. >> Yeah, >> it's Maria. >> Hi. >> Um, are are is there any requirement?
MSBA seems to have requirements for everything. Is there some requirement on their side um as far as communication with school comm well not school committee obviously that's our the group um but with the city council with legislators. Do they have some input in
this? >> Not here. So, no. Formally, no. Um, the MSB does not have its own requirements. Um, they tend to and Matt and and Linda, keep me honest here. They tend to rely on local communities to follow their own
ordinances about how building committees uh and projects are done. And to my knowledge like Medford does not have any sort of structure that is outside of our SBC and um like in other communities they have like standing building
committees that are involved in projects like this or they have like town meeting um and there's all kind any number of um ordinances that some other communities follow in terms of these kinds of things like I in my research I've not found
anything that requires us to do anything here in Medford, although I consider the council partners in this work. Um, and so making sure they're informed and they they know what's going on I think is important. Um, but not required. Just to add to that too, Jenny, uh, one
of the very few requirements that MSBA um, somewhat uh, not very clearly states is that they require us to have a certain number of community forum meetings during the uh, the first process of the uh, PDP and PSR. I think
left field, correct me if I'm wrong. I believe they require us to have three public meetings of some sort. >> Correct. >> In the finished stage. >> Yeah. Yeah, it's three. It's Yeah, it's only three and we'll end up doing more than that. Um, you know, for this we
typically do. Uh, but yeah, it's usually three formal like community forums that are required. Um, I will add that that the only approval that we really need from city council is the approval on the debt exclusion. Um, so they'll have to
approve whatever the total project cost ends up being um at the end of schematic design before it goes out to vote um in Medford. Uh the council will have to approve that debt exclusion, whatever it ends up being. So, but from a a scope
and like what's going in the building standpoint, it it's not unless it's specific to to Medford, which as Jenny said, that's doesn't seem to be the case that, you know, there's not really a a requirement through the MSBA for city council to like approve the project
aside from the debt exclusion. Um this the next grouping um are another like group of our I'll say our like he our heavy hitters in terms of people with high interest in the project. Um one is our abutters. So we have I think just for those of you who may or may not
know this already um we have like identified sort of the range for our abutters. So we have a like a fenced off area on the map of like who the abutters are and there actually all things considered aren't that many abutters to this project because we're
largely surrounded by fells. Um but uh we have actively been working with a butters because there's been so much site work happening. Um and uh as the site work got started, we handd delivered letters um to all of our
butter homes. So and um made contact with the folks at the temple so that they knew what was happening from a sitework perspective and they also um got an invitation to join our butters mail list so that we have email list so that we have like a quick way to reach
them. Um the uptake on the like uh Butters email list is not huge just yet and I expect that it will like continue to grow as the project progresses. Um we are also sort of in the end stages of
putting together um a postcard for the abutters. So they get like another kind of communication from us and that postcard will tell them um we'll invite them to two specific meetings we have on the calendar um particularly for a butters um where they can come in they
can like look at whatever wherever we are in the project provide input get their specific questions answered as being a butters. Um, so that's sort of the strategy for our abutters is like knowing that they don't all have school age children and they're not all plugged
in and that it's like a relatively small um number like a postcard felt like the right um way to like be less labor intensive than hand delivery of messages. Um but like another way to
like reach people and invite them to be part of the process. Um and then we'll hold we'll hold some specific meetings for them so that they can come in and chat with us. Um, and then like the next two groups are I think very like similar in lots of ways
although like maybe um a bit different and I we probably need to do a better job on the teachers but we have our teachers obviously like big stakeholders in all of this um and our parents of current our families like our of current students right so um
there the interest there is sort of everything um from like site work to project options to cost to all the things. Um and the things that we have been, you know, the things that we have been largely
doing so far are making sure that things are going out in the superintendent's um weekly update and posting um information to social media um with like graphics and visuals and notices of upcoming meetings, things like that. Um and then
I think um the other thing like worth mentioning with teachers um is that we have held sort of in tandem with our community forums like teacherbased community forums um which I will add
and we have another one coming up in March um which will actually occur on the professional day. So um we're hoping that we'll have great turnout um at that one. Can I also just add to that? >> Um just also too with all like the space programming meetings that they were that
teachers were a part of a lot of the editioning work um that SMA did over in November building tours. Um so we've definitely um been thankful to have their voice at the table in multiple instances um so far and um more more to come.
>> Right. Thanks. Well was like this one is just incomplete but I'm moving on for now. somebody will correct me. Um, so I think you know one question that I have about like these two groups in particular is is there something is there anything
we're missing like in terms of how we want to be thinking about reaching these two stakeholder groups? It's like Maria's trying to come up with me. I'm going to give her a second. Are you trying to come off mute?
>> Oh, there you are. You're on mute again, Maria. >> Okay, you can hear me. Sorry, I'm on a Chromebook rather than my Mac and I'm having a little difficulty. Um I I'm not quite sure your Could you
reframe your question um about >> Yeah. teachers and and um parents? >> Sure. So I think there's a couple of questions. One is have we >> have we correctly identified the things that they care about? And I think in these cases like we've identified that
these two groups care about all the things, right? in varying capacities. And I think the other question is if we if we sort of think about these being the primary ways we're going to reach them, whether it's like the superintendent's weekly update and
social media posts, um are there things we're missing in terms of making sure that we are reaching these folks um in a proactive way when we need to reach them? Jenny Nicole, I I apologize if you
mention this. I'm operating on like two brain cells with a head cold. Um, but the uh got to know Medford, I mean I mean maybe it's not all of the time, but them being one of our few news sources in the city. That's not social media. That's not direct email. That could be useful.
>> Yeah, I think that's actually a great call out. Um, I'm going to give them their own row and um I was supposed to meet with one of the editors there today and we had to reschedule. So, I'm going to just put them on as a placeholder
right now. Um, but yeah, I think they're that's a a great call out. Um, >> so if we scroll down, I think um the other things that are Oh, >> can you hear me, Jenny? >> Yes. >> Okay.
um really quickly if it's okay just based on like street data feedback and then some of the preliminary feedback which included parents and teachers in the survey about the strategic plan.
There was a question in there around what is the mode of communication people most want to see um when we're communicating important pieces and like the top three were the the
superintendent's newsletter or newsletters in general um school visits and listening sessions and advisory councils. Okay. So let's see.
Um so I think for from a school visits perspective for teachers >> um the community forums I think are like meeting that need. >> Um and for parents were was that feedback coming from parents as well?
>> Yes. >> Okay. >> Um interesting. So I guess the question maybe a question for the group is like how do we is that simply a matter of like bringing
the project to various school buildings because this project obviously actually is not going to really benefit the students that are there now. um but instead be much more like intriguing to folks that don't really interact may may
not really interact with the high school very much at all right now because their kids are much younger. So um are you do you have any thoughts about how we might add that? >> Um I think that's an option. I think
inviting people then up to the high school for a community meeting or a listening session. um or a community space like the Medford Public Library um which might be central or like the
McGlin which is definitely central to the city. Um but maybe using one of those opportunities. I just think the and I can like disagregate that so that I can see clearly what educators said verse what caregivers said. But if you
just look at the top two responses, it's people want things in print, but they also want that personal touch and that human connection in a meeting where they could probably, you know, follow up and ask questions and gain better clarity.
I I do think in in a number of our projects, school tours has been very effective with community members. People who don't come to school regularly don't know what why it's necessary, why this
project is important. and and sometimes having students doing the tours, explaining why it's so why it's difficult to do what they need to do, why it's difficult to get educated in this building. Uh we've found
particularly with people who don't think it's necessary. Suddenly they get a tour and they think, "Oh my goodness, how are kids functioning in this space? How are teachers functioning in this space?" And it does have a a a different impact, but
a a a good impact for people to go home and really think about it. Adele, do you normally see the most success with those like during the feasibility study phase or is that like a little bit further along or both?
>> Both. >> Both. Okay, great. >> Both. I think it's important um and it really depends on the community but um in one school very distinctly um we were just beginning our
presentations with the architects and there was such a negative from some folks once we took them through they were like oh I didn't I had no idea. >> Yeah. Okay. Um, and I do know that for with my own project, I was getting a
lot of push back from some towns and their um, financial folks. And then I took them through classrooms where there was no heat source and suddenly they were our biggest champions because kids
were having classes with their coats on. we can um we can take that away and find a place in the schedule to add that. I think that's a great idea and lots of people have asked for that. >> I agree. >> Um also just to uh to stay on the the
parent side, something else that we've done successfully on other projects as well is going to the schools of the future students. uh whenever there's events obviously we need I think we need a little bit more information or move a
little bit further into the project but um something that's been nice is for us to sort of be present with some presentation materials whether it's a table at when when there's parent teacher conferences or some events at the other schools so that the parents
are already there and then we're there to offer answers and and just updates uh when they're already going to the school and it just kind of keeps it on that educational level. So that's definitely something that um that we can uh start doing um maybe we need a little
bit more information about the project I think before we can make that really successful. But it's a nice way when parents are already there to not have to arrange for you know um child care and and get out of their homes and get to another location to find out more
information. Is that most useful when we talk about like a narrowed set of options that we're considering versus like right so right now I think like most of you know like there's there's a lot of permutations but there's like 29 like
rough highle options and by the end of April that will narrow to three to five that's our plan and so are those meetings best held like when we have 29 options and we have
three to five options like where like where is the right level of information to think about the calendar in that way? Linda, >> I think it really depends on what what kind of uh information or amount of
information and feedback we want back from the parents. Right? if we're if we're looking for feedback on on what they think options should be then maybe it's it's earlier on but although I think it's it's just completely overwhelmingly
with the number of options right now but um >> I am I am hearing that that it was overwhelming how many options there were. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, um I think it would probably be better served when we're when we're really really close to sort of narrowing down at least the the
educational piece of the project. So, that it's it's easier for um for the parents to sort of associate with that. Right now, it's it's just too much for them to to really unless they're really keyed into the process, it's hard for them to understand. um I think u from
just passing by somebody in a hallway or or standing at a um at a meeting. So um I think we need to get a little bit further into it um into the project before we start doing that. Yeah, if I can just add, I think the hard the
hardcourt press is really when we start schematic and that timing will be with fall open houses and that is a great opportunity to start to build knowledge of the project for especially those younger parents of younger students get
them excited about it. >> Sure. I am thinking that like once we have narrowed to like that three to five range Helen too like that will be a good time to seek input right like in terms of like
helping the SBC think about like narrowing that down. Um so I think we can maybe look at the calendar maybe a takeaway for Will and Dr. Lucy is to look at the spring calendar and like work with the principles to identify like the things
that are happening in the like in that sort of sweet spot of like end of April and May. Um where planning to have some presence at things that are already happening would make sense. >> Yeah, I mean we definitely know that May
is a is a really a full court sprint to to get to the end of the year in terms of end of year events. So I was just thinking as we were talking like if we ask principles to identify you know three end ofear events and we can kind of coordinate you know what would be best for our purposes that seems pretty
easy and flexible for everybody. >> Yeah and Emma I think this is a great question for you from the city's perspective and and we're like moving quickly into like residents without current students. Um I think a lot about
them because many people are residents with like very young children or like hypothetical children just yet, right? And they will benefit greatly from this project. Um but it is also really hard to find those folks and engage with them
because they often aren't yet like woven into like and settled on like how they're going to participate or not in our community, right? So they they come to us with like their own lives that um don't anchor them to Medford
necessarily, right? In all cases. So I was curious um as we're talking about this if you had any suggestions in terms of like how do we reach the folks that don't have children in school like the people with kids in school? We have like a really um I think we have really clear
pathways for them. I I am worried about everybody else. >> Yeah, definitely. And I think it is going to be super important to educate those people on why they should even care about this project. Um, which there are definitely reasons. Um, I would say on the city side, like we're always
um willing to share stuff on the city social media. Um, the mayor has newsletters that go out to like 4,000ish people around the city. Um, our ROOC call system is also super robust that goes out to we have almost 50,000
contacts in that. So, that's a great way to reach a ton of people across the city. Um, something else we've done, >> how many people get the mayor's newsletter? >> About 4,000, I think, right now, maybe a little less, but around there. Um, something else we've done for bigger
projects like zoning or maybe waste collection, stuff like that. Um, is sending out like bill inserts within people's like water bills and tax bills and stuff like that. Um, so that goes through the assessor's office, I'm pretty sure. And we can do like a half
page or full page just with like general information. You could put like upcoming meetings, um, stuff like that on there. >> And Emma, do you have a sense of um, the timing of the We get a water bill every three months. Is that right?
>> I think so. That sounds right to me. Yeah. And so I think I just paid my water bill actually in January. So the next one would be >> maybe March or April. >> April. >> Yeah. >> Um do you have a sense of like if we
wanted to put a full page insert in a water bill? Like when would we have to have it to whomever in order for that to be possible? >> Um I can reach out to Judy who's the treasurer collector for better information on that. But I would say
maybe I think she usually wants things a few like maybe three weeks before the bills are sent out because they have to like be approved obviously and then go to print. Um and then go through the whole mailing process. So >> Okay. >> But I can newsletter goes out how often?
>> That's monthly. The first week of every month. >> Okay. Um, would it make sense for us to like provide you like a monthly update for the mayor's newsletter so that in a standing way we just know that we have
to give you some sort of update to let people know what's happening? >> Yeah, that would be great. >> What's the timeline for that? >> Um, just like the last week of the month. if you could do that, that would be great. And we can leave like a sanding section for school
updates. >> Yeah. And then the the robocall platform. Um can you tell us a little bit about how that's used or like >> Yeah. So we use it for >> I guess I would say
>> Yeah. So we use it like kind of in two main ways. I would say one way is for like urgent updates. So that would be like snow emergencies. Um we'll do like construction notices to abutters, stuff like that. Um like if roadways are being
repaved, things like that that are kind of timesensitive and maybe to more specific neighborhoods sometimes. Um and then the other way is the mayor does about every other week kind of like events and general important reminder updates to the entire community.
But yeah, we can target by location. So that might also be a good way to reach a buddy by like specific addresses. >> Oh, great. We should definitely do that. Um because we talked about that when there was like real urgency to to get to
the abutters and we had some high school volunteers um make the rounds which was fine. They appreciated the volunteer hours. Um, but there's like 2 ft of snow now, so it's a little bit harder to do right now. >> Um, okay.
>> Um, we can definitely do that. Um, and then, um, there was something else that you said that I was, um, interested in. I'm trying to remember what it was. Um, are there Oh, I know what it was. Um,
are there events in the like spring that you think we should be like really thinking about? And you don't have to answer that right now, but if there is a list of city events um that we should be planning for, we'd love to put them on our calendar if you
could get that to us at some point in time. >> Yeah, definitely. I can think about that a little bit further. I know there's obviously like a ton of Pride events coming later May and but mostly in June. Um, I think we do like ArabAmerican Heritage
Month events in April. So, yeah, there's a bunch. So, I can list a bunch of those. >> Yeah, I think if you can maybe give us a list of the things where you think it might make sense for us to have a table and provide people some like >> um updates or information, etc. That
would be great. >> Yep, definitely. Um the other question I had about the water bill. Um I think one of the things that I have heard like consternation about is um that the
water bill reaches the homeowner and like half of our city are renters. So how do we reach renters? That is a harder question that we're always kind of going back and forth about. I think the best way would
probably just be a mailer to their address because that's not going to, you know, whatever owner address that's going to the people that live there that like get the mail from the mailbox, you know. >> So, I think that's the best way along with like digital communications too.
And um does the city do those kinds of like all address mailers? >> We have done them. I know like the PDS office does them probably most often. Um they're just kind of expensive. So we tried not to do them or you know we're
kind of cost prohibited from doing them too often. >> Well, that was going to be my next question was what does that cost? because it is a lot of houses. >> Yeah. Yeah. PDS would probably have the
most updated information on that. >> Um, is that something you think you could check with PDS about and just give us some understanding of like what >> the costs might be that they have seen before? >> Yep. >> Is it Jen Carlson? Sorry, my camera is
kind of funky today. Um, I was just going to say another, um, thing that we've seen used in the past, um, even just, you know, mailing, uh, not mailing, um, nailing up, uh, flyers with QR codes that say, are you interested in
learning more about this project? Like, put them on, um, telephone polls or especially where there's, you know, denser residential um, that you are trying to um, get people's attention. So something kind of flashy that's um just kind of nailed up um where people walk
um to kind of get passers by. Yeah. And and I think the other thing that I'm thinking about um that has been suggested to me is like do we create a a mailing list of people interested in
updates on this project that perhaps get like similar info to what is going to go out in like a superintendence update. So, like if we're going to send an update to this um to the school community, is there a listing is there like another mailing list of people who are
interested in this? And um obviously we could like push that out easily on social media and we'll get like you know a few hundred people signing up but if we perhaps if we took the approach if we were going to do some kind of a mailer if we did some kind of a postcard or something like that um that gave them a
QR code of like here's the project website here's how you learn more here's how you sign up to get like project updates to your email box. Um I don't know if you if you've done tried that before, Emma, or if you've had any success with any with some sort of loop
like that. Like we had like mixed success so far with the abutters, but um I also think like it's very early in the project for the abutters to like be super duper plugged in unless they are you know plugged in because they have children or you know kids who work in
the school or like those kinds of things you know. >> Yeah, I like that idea. Um I've worked with office of prevention and outreach. We've done like surveys for the new senior center website that we were trying to revamp. Um, and so we sent out postcards with like a QR code um to the
website and to a survey and we got like pretty good amount of responses from that I would say. So I think people are pretty responsive to that >> and once we have all those emails we can build the lists in final site um relatively easily. So like right now our
system is broken down by like school and RO. So, you know, parents at the McGlin or students at the Brooks, for example, if we just make a list of MSBA um yeah, >> info seekers, I guess. Um and we can just send MSBA specific or just like
general project updates to them as opposed to >> um >> any like school-based updates that maybe not be as relevant to them. We >> then also put a um a sign up here, so to speak, on the project website. um with a
a button where you can just click on to um to enter your email address to be on the mailing list. I think once you once you get them there, the easy part is gathering their email address. The hard part is getting them. It's like a it's like a bad circle, right?
>> Yeah. >> How do you get them the QR code to go and sign up for the mailer? Um the other group that I'm going to break out here is um community members
who require translation services. Um, and we've been doing a lot of work um, with the folks at city hall with Katherine um, to provide like in-person translation to some of our meetings and then Zoom translation services. So, I
will call them out just so that they are front of mind as we're talking about all of the audiences that we're interested in reaching. Um, so I will add them to the list. Um, and then we have a couple of like
specialty groups, so like our first responders, um, police department, etc. Um, I'm making a broad assumption that email is the easiest way to get to them, but I think we just might want to ask them that question in some of our upcoming meetings because the things they're
going to need to know are a little bit different than the like broader community. um our boards and commissions. There's, you know, there's any number of boards and commissions. Will and I have a list of how to reach the folks on our boards and
commissions. Um and I we have been talking about putting out an email that introduces where we are in the process and um asks them to provide us some feedback about the kinds of things that they want to know about so that we can tailor like
how we are communicating with our boards and commissions. and we're like getting to the right people at the right time. So that is um upcoming. Um we have the council on aging here as like a separate
group um because I know that um this project will be of great interest to our senior citizens um many of whom love our vocational programs and the services they're able to um take part in there.
And then also obviously when it when it comes time to talking about a high school and the the reasons to say yes to a high school um to Adele's earlier point um is sort of like a less direct line for for the folks at um at that the
council on aging might have access to. So um I think we have to think about the right way to reach those folks beyond what we've already talked about. And Emma, I don't know if you have any secrets um in terms of like reaching that population that we should be adding
to the list. >> Yeah, I mean I know off the bat that Pam Kelly runs a really great newsletter for seniors that's also monthly. Um >> and that gets mailed out and like hand delivered to a bunch of places across the city and like a bunch of addresses.
So that's a really good option. I would also say for the senior center they do a lot of like inerson events there. So maybe during one of their like lunches or something like that, people could just go with a table and just kind of talk to people face to face. I think seniors would probably really appreciate that. I
I concur, Emma. Absolutely. I think uh bringing the culinary arts, bringing cookies from culinary arts or treats and having people go to them during an event or um
I think that's a very good um opportunity right on target. And I have two districts that preferred uh meatloaf lunch hour specifically to to come and talk.
>> I know the mayor's a regular there and she likes to call bingo, but um we can't let the kids gamble, but other than that um I'm sure we can find something else. Um, I can reach out to Pam and and find
out if she has any other suggestions about, you know, how to make like more consistent contact with those folks and again like invite them to be part of the the mail list so that we start like amassing a list of like the people who are interested in knowing more about the project.
Um, and then we had MHS alumni on here. Um, and I think that's a great idea. I don't have a good sense of like how to reach the MHS alumni
or if we have a way to do that. I don't know if there's necessarily like a complete network, but I can work on that one. Um, I would probably start with athletics
as well as our like guidance department >> stakeholders. >> Did I missing >> Did I miss a specific separate block for students? you did not. Um, and I'm going to add
them right now. >> Um, okay. >> So, that includes both high school students and potentially middle school andor elementary. And we might want to break it out there. Sometimes elementary is like it's great to do those events and we have done them in the past, but
as well like the the the the benefit that's going to come from that u may not be as directly tangible as talking with middle school students potentially. >> Do you do you have like eighth grade tours,
Suzanne, or or Yeah, seventh and eighth grade tours. That would be a great Yes. was seventh grade. Yes, we can embed that. That's a perfect time to Okay.
>> Yeah, we can have uh something set up for like curriculum night that happens in the in the spring. >> Perfect. Yes. Okay. Or no. just narrow the list of things that
they're interested in. I'm going to go out on a limb and say our students are less interested in project cost. >> How glorious for them. >> Yes. >> The only group, the only stakeholders
that don't care about that. >> Yeah. Um Okay. I would honestly I don't know if it's worth adding to that list um like how it would affect like their learning because I was talking to a student at who was filming the MTA concert last week and I was telling him about the project and he was asking like
oh so like that mean like we're going to have to go to pods and I was like we don't know that it's a little too early to tell. Um but that was one of the first things that he asked me about. So I would imagine that's on the top of mind for many of his peers. >> Yeah. So I think you know one question I
have is like what what is the best way for us to be reaching students right now? >> I think I'd actually like to talk to the principles about that because I do think it's going to vary from level to level. Um but I think there's multiple ways. I
think there's clearly with school counselors, there's with building leaders, and then I think there's also with clubs and activities. Um, I'm meeting with actually with all
principles on Friday and I can start to bring this up. >> Okay. Yeah, that would be great. Um, >> and there are different ways that we can participate in that also. I mean, if
there are ways that you would like of our group to engage with students, young students, and talk about the building, you know, the process, the building. Um, we can we can change it up depending on
the grade level as well. Adele, do you have suggestions on how you've done that before beyond like a table at like a curriculum night kind of thing? >> Absolutely. I mean, um, actually I can reach out because we have done at
different schools, different levels, um, gone into classrooms and had kids build things. Uh, but I can I can certainly reach out. Um, we have a couple of
people on staff who've kind of made it of a semi career to go into elementary schools to do this. So, uh, I certainly can they they've written it out. So, I I I can gather that. And,
um, and as as um, you know, depending on the older grades, it's more interesting when we get more in the design, like when we're really designing, the older kids can participate that a lot. >> Yeah.
>> Um, but with the little Do the Medford elementary schools still do that exercise where they create like a >> Medford? >> Create Medford or I forget what it was. It was like the future of Medford.
>> Yes. Kindergarten. >> And is there like maybe an opportunity to like have them create a high school instead of Medford? It >> I mean is it a possibility? Yes. Do they have necessarily as kindergarteners a
frame of reference for what that might be? >> Yeah, that was what I was wondering about, too. >> Yeah. I mean, a lot of times it's when you see what they want Medford to be, it's like a giant amusement park, not >> Disney. >> There's always a zip line.
>> There are animals. There's >> a giraffe in the court. >> Yes. >> Yep. I think that could actually be really fun. I can't imagine what they would come up with for a high school. >> I'll add it to the principal conversation.
>> Um, okay. Is there anybody else like audience-wise that we're missing >> that you all can think about? >> Oh, Maria. >> Yeah. I'm It's actually not an audience uh question, but we really haven't
talked about the community media or you know the TV where people can view um maybe interviews, meet the architect, meet the designer. Um, I don't know how well used
or how well um if people are taking advantage of our our community stations, but I I I know when Suzanne's dad was the chairperson or the of the building the future, I watched that weekly show that he had that he was showing progress
and um talking to people that were involved and it wasn't question and answer. It was just, you know, information that they wanted to get out. Um and and I found it very interesting. So I I think maybe that's something we could think about too. And when when um Will and I had talked with the um with
the teachers in the uh TV area at the at the Vogue, he's very much wants to get involved and have the students involved. >> Yeah, I think that would be great. Um and we actually have a little like mini project Matt and I are working on um in
the next like week or so. So, we'll start airing airing some fun content around like some of the um space considerations that we're talking about now. >> And I don't know if it's for this
meeting, a separate meeting, this list, a different list, but what about community partners, places of business, TUS? We can add them. Oh, sorry. >> Sometimes we go to the Chamber of
Commerce meetings. Yeah. >> And um Suzanne, is you're thinking that we would want to reach them separately somehow or that they have a different like level of interest or like what are
you What are you thinking about? I I would say like yes and I think in my mind there's a lot of businesses that have like legacy holds here in Medford um or
community partnerships that do a lot to support um the schools a lot of the programs associated with the schools and I think it would some of the outreach might look different but I
think there's a lot of community partnerships and businesses that would be would be helpful to lend a hand. Yeah, >> I agree. Um the other thing is Chad has
to have two advisory meetings a year with all of his programs and th that's a great place to get to them to do a presentation. I don't know how he does it. Sometimes
it's one time is just a working event and the other is a more of a eating event. but to do a presentation for the whole group, all of the advisories together and then send them off to their
groups to talk about specifics is also a way to get um your your local businesses, the people who co-op your students, have them involved. >> Yeah.
Adele, is that um is that like a schematic design activity or is it more of a like right now activity or both? I always think that involving the advisories because from the very beginning it doesn't have
to be specific later on um next year's advisory I mean there's a fall and there's a spring one can just be we're here this is what we're doing this is where we are presentation
um with questions just to keep them invested ed and involved and feel like they're they're volunteering to be on this advisory to say you're input matters to
us. But then later it becomes more are we missing something? Have we not thought about something with your program? Have we um because these are the people in industry and say have we not considered something that you think is coming down the pike in your program?
And Suzanne, did you have other thoughts about reaching community partners? Um, I mean, I can still continue to think about that, but I I my first inkling was what Matt said about starting with the um Board of
Commerce, but I think there are a lot of groups that also sponsor or assist some of our school-based groups between clubs, activities, athletics that I think we
could maybe also generate a list >> even if it's just also to like establishing a relationship and hanging like a flyer like learn more about the Medford High School business like project like um just expanding awareness
about it as well. Is there anyone else that we're missing? Okay. Um, so I've been keeping notes of some of the to-dos and like the the details that I'll like weave into all of this as we talk. The next table, like give me just
one second. I'm going to like drop it all onto one page. Um, this next table is like our our planned community meetings coming up. um and sort of the like the I'll say the goals of each meeting in terms of like what we're trying to accomplish to give people a
better feel for like what the pathway is and I think the question that I had um and I'll go through the list is are there other things we should be doing bes like to reach the stakeholders beyond what we've already talked about
that would be like unique or different um as it relates to like getting the word out about like particular meetings or are there things that should happen before certain meetings? Are there like places where we should be adding things in? So, I'm just I'll run through the
list from top to bottom and we'll like do it in chunks. So, February's busy. Um so, on the 2nd we have a school committee meeting. That's where we're expecting the school committee to approve the educational plan so that it can be submitted um later in the month.
On the 11th, um we'll have a building committee meeting. We'll be reviewing our um space planning findings um of all the surveying work and the work that um Helen and Matt's team has been doing so
far. And we will see um a review of the cost of the tw of the 29 initial alternatives. Um on the 23rd we will have a meeting that we will uh where we will approve
the PDP submission that's due later that week um to be submitted to MSBA. And on the 25th we'll have a meeting. It's very targeted um around whether or not we pursue a construction manager at risk
model. Um, and there's a presentation that we have to hear about what those options are versus design, bid, build, an application that has to go in. Um, and then ultimately a selection committee to pick up to um, select the
CM. Um, that and that all that work would happen in um, the spring as well. Um, and that brings us to like community forum number two. I didn't have the date handy, but I think it's like the first week of March.
Um, so the idea of that community forum is to say here here is this like sort of bigger point of view of like all the options that are on the table um that are still on the table and like the like rough
costs associated with each of those to solicit some more input there. Um and then at the end of March we this the building committee will meet and what we'll be doing there is like sort of taking all the input that we have so far and saying like what is our like
decision matrix essentially. So what are the criteria that are important to us like what is the waiting and then how are we going to how are we going to like have a thoughtful approach that moves from 29 to 3 to 5. Um so that's all
happening in February and March. Um, any questions about any of those things or anything that you think is not that we should be thinking about adding in that timeline given what we have to do in meetings?
>> Um, I know the uh the the March 3rd PD day for staff um can definitely added to this list. >> Is it the fifth for the community forum? The fifth for the form and then the third for staff. >> Think I think we got a time for that too. Just we have a lot of key people on
this meeting. >> Did that already go out? Uh >> I don't think so yet but >> Okay. Okay. Um so then
uh at the end of April is where we'll be narrowing from 29 or 25 or however many we have um that we submit at the end of February to 3 to five using that decision matrix. So, um I do think
something there should be some sort of input um session before that meeting on the 27th um or some sort of like I think there will be high community interest in like the narrowing of the options. So,
I'm curious um for this group if you have thoughts about the kinds of things we should be thinking about adding to the calendar um in this space where we're going to go from like 29 to say to five. Would that be like the right time to be
doing an open house? That could also double as like here are all of the options on big pieces of paper so you can take a look at them. Um yeah, that I mean that the week before that is April break
I believe. >> Yeah. Um, so the the March the March community form is essentially like this is the this is the latest updates. These are some of the designs. March what you think about them.
>> Yeah. And then so what's what would we then need between collecting that input and then a late April when we narrow it down? >> I think it's just another touch.
>> Okay. >> Like that's a big narrowing right of of options. So just giving people another opportunity and maybe like bundling it on a day where there can be some building tours would make sense. >> So does that mean you want it during
either the April break or a Saturday? >> I definitely don't want it during April break. Um because I don't think there will be enough people around to do it. But maybe like early April. Like I think we could certainly do that in early April.
Just looking at the calendar and we could do it on a Saturday. That'd be fine. So, we can find a date for it. >> Yeah. >> Like add another date. But I think does everyone on the call think that's like a good idea or is that a horrible idea? >> I think that's a good idea.
>> Okay, perfect. Um then um >> Oh, go ahead, Adele. No, I was going to say I mean if you could get some kids I mean either honor society kids who need some time or or some of the
any programs that really are underwhelming right now. We could have kids kids are very compelling on these tours. >> They will tell you the straight story. >> They will definitely tell you the
straight story. Okay. Then um May 4th we have a a school committee meeting where we have a plan status update. Um on May 20th we'll like again have a school building committee meeting and we'll have like a this is where we'll have a refined cost estimate
of the three to five options that we selected in April. We have a meeting on the 27th just for like additional discussion about those three to five options. wherever we're at, whatever the like back and forth is. And then the decision um of which
singular option will go forward is slated to be made on the June at the June 10th meeting. So I think the other question I have is in the like in the May June time frame. Are there other things like we we'll plan to do some
community like based events um in that time frame? It sounds like um so we'll add those to the calendar for sure. Um, but are there other like bigger events that we should be thinking about doing in that time frame? Is this is this where you want to be
weaving in some of those community events? Yeah. >> Because I mean May I think Will and I can work on that with principles as well as May is typically arts month. So, I think there'll also be a lot of performances, art shows,
um, yeah, got it. They get a whole They get the whole chart. They get a whole row. Um, so I do think that if that's our like if that's our May strategy, I think
that makes sense. And if we have done the community meeting leg work, like the bigger community meeting leg work in the leadup, we can be focused in May then on like getting out to all of these events and not trying to do both of those things at the same time. Does that make
sense to everybody? >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, what else are we missing? That seems like a question for the experts who have gone through this several times >> for Emma and Will.
This looks very comprehensive. It really does. And and as we go through this, we also may see things, see opportunities or people may bring opportunities to us. Um, >> sure.
>> You may hear about somebody say, "Oh, can you come to Yes, we will. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. And as you start the process too, you might get a better feel for >> who feels like they're
>> uh they're getting good information and and who you know they might give you ideas of oh this group is not somebody that we had thought about but now we have two people that have said oh hey I'm with this and we didn't know about this or such a thing. So I think once
you have the the starting the starting plan of reaching out, people will will also uh give you opinions on where it's missing or or where it's uh where it could be useful. I think the key is is just to make sure
that we don't give out too much information too early and that it's concise and it's the same consistent message to everyone, right? so that nobody ever feels left out or too clued in, if you will.
>> Does it make sense to have any additional touch points for Butters um on this list um later in the process? I know we talked early on about it, but um like a a special meeting um primarily for Butters, obviously public, anyone can attend, but really to let them
vocalize their concerns in a more direct way to the project team. We have two meetings on the calendar. One in March and one in May. I >> think it's May. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe we're have we have two.
>> Yeah. March sounds right now. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I think you know one of the things that's like challenging about this is like to the extent that you have like a lot of offshoot meetings you are you are then like having a lot of conversations
that everyone doesn't have the benefit of hearing right and that becomes I think that becomes could become challenging for the building committee to keep track of because they're not going to be able to be at all these meetings and things are going to be like changing or suggested based on something they didn't hear right and so I you know
I think one of the things that we've been trying to do at least so far is like funnel people to the places where those big conversations are happening which is the building committee meeting and we did have a number of people come out and I think the feedback about the
the mentter like way to interact with the presentation has been pretty positive so I think um you know for those like bigger input sessions um it is helpful to for those to stay like focused but I think there'll be like you
lots of good if we can come up with like a presentation that we take out to all of these different places um and a a way that we collect input so just so that it can be shared back with everybody I think that will be key is there anything that we didn't talk
about that we're missing Is there a vote to allow me to update this per our discussion and um submit it to the larger building committee for input? >> So moved. This is Nicole.
>> Thanks Nicole. So um a motion by Nicole. Is there a second, Maria? Thank you. >> Um, Maria, was that second? >> Yes, it is. Sorry. >> That's okay. Um, okay. I'll call the role. So, Jenny Graham, yes. Nicole Morell,
>> yes. and Maria Dorsy. >> Yes. >> And Marissa Desmond is absent. So, three uh in the affirmative, one absent. That motion is approved. Is there a motion to adjourn? >> Motion to adjurnn.
>> Secern by Maria. Second by Nicole. >> Uh roll call. Jenny Graham. Yes. Nicole Morell. >> Yes. >> Maria Dorsy. >> Yes. >> And Marissa Desmond is absent. So, three in the affirmative, one absent. Um, the meeting is adjourned. Thank you everyone.
>> Thank you. You have a good night. >> Good night. >> Good night, everyone. >> Very much everyone. >> Danny, what's the language on the on the motion? The first one, the communications plan >> um to update the plan based on our conversation and submit it to the
um building committee for input. All right. Well, I guess I'll stop sharing. Perfect. >> Have a good night. We're we're a few minutes