got it. Good afternoon everyone. Uh we are here for the 13th regular meeting of the Medford School Committee. Um, we have executive session at 5:00, uh, followed by our regular meeting starting at 6. Please be advised that
there will be a meeting of the Medford School Committee held at the Howard Alden Memorial Chambers, Medford City Hall, and via remote participation. This meeting is being recorded. The meeting will 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 4345 or 47. Participants can log or call in by using the following Zoom meeting ID 920- 8788-4205. Uh member Russo, will you please call
the role? Certainly. Uh, member Bradley present. Member Graham. Yes. Here. Member Entapa is absent so far. Member Olady present. Member Rinfeld present. Member cell present. Mayor Langoker
present. Six in the affirmative, one absent. Um, our student members and student reps, our student reps aren't on yet. Um, so I'll 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. Um, item number three, we have executive session. Executive session pursuant to
master law chapter 3A section A3. The Medford School Committee will convene an executive session to discuss collective bargaining with Teamsters Local 25 and the MTA regarding teacher grievances dated 519. And the chair so declares executive session of the Medford School
Committee pursuant to master law section chapter 30 A section 21A to conduct a strategy session on the basis that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining positions of the Medford School Committee. Specifically, the Medford School Committee will be discussing ongoing
collective bargaining negotiations with the Massachusetts Nurses Association. The Medford School Committee will convene in public session immediately following the conclusion of the executive session at approximately 6:00 p.m. Is there a motion to enter executive session? Motion to enter executive session.
Motion to enter executive session by member Reinfeld, second by member Oli. Um, member Rouso, if you can call the role. Member Branley, yes. Member Graham, yes. Member, yes. Member Olady, yes.
Member Rinfeld, yes. Member say yes. Mayor Langok, yes. Six in the affirm. Seven, six, seven in the affirm. Sorry. Uh zero in the negative. Motion passes. We will uh resume after executive session. Thanks
everyone. Okay, good evening everybody. Thank you. Member Graham start the meeting. I was um on Zoom. We have um Medford School Committee will convene in public session um following the
executive session which we just had. Sorry, we're a few minutes late. So, we'll start we'll get right to it. Um we have good of the order. Is does anybody have any items that are good of the order hearing and seeing none, I'm just going to move to the consent agenda. We have
approval of bills and payrolls, approval of capital purchases, approval of grants. We have a Cummings Foundation grant of 35,000 for Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. Steve McCarthy 20,000 in memory of Ray O'Brien. We also have approval of field
trips. Approval of meeting minutes, which are two meetings, one from June 18th, 2025, which is a regular meeting, and August 13, 2025, which is a special meeting. Is there a motion on the floor? A motion to sever the CCSR. Motion to
sever CCSR. And is there approval for everything else? Motion to approve everything else. Motion to approve. Is there a second? Seconded by member Branley. All those in favor? All those opposed. Consent agenda is
approved except for the Cummings Foundation. Turn over to you, Member Rinfeld. Yes. I was just noticing the um allowing us to redirect these resources to areas of greatest need. And I'm curious what that means in terms of is that for
within the CCSR program, is that related programs? What where does this money go if it's not going to what was written in the grant? Or is it just deviation from the line items? Sorry,
member inappa. Sorry, excuse me. Um, as far as I'm concerned, the grants um, language means that it has to go to the CCSR and that it can't be put into the general rotation fund. So, this money remains to the CCSR and is usually spread over a
10-year um, 10-year allowance. Right. But I'm reading this as communicated in our May 20th email foundation is lifting restrictions on the use of grant funds and to your organization, allowing you to redirect these resources to the areas of greatest
need. I'm just I don't fully understand. Is that the greatest need within C CCSR? I think that's what the greatest need within the CCSR program has not defy. So if the motion is severed, I can find out some more information about that and
report it to this body so that you can vote on it on another date. Yeah, I don't anticipate this is going to be a problem. I just am curious what that means because this is one of the largest grants we received and one of our largest revolving accounts stipended etc all of that. So
what okay so is there a motion to table or member Graham? Yeah, as I'm reading the letter from Cummings, it sort of infers that um there are there's a a report
that we filed, an impact report, and they're asking for us to like reflect on variances. So, I think lifting restrictions is vague, and it probably means something specific that accompanied the letter in some way or
that there's some change in reporting. So I think we just want to be clear on what those changes are. So motion to table until we have table by member Rinfeld seconded by member in top. All those in favor
I all the all those opposed motion is tabled until we um find out some answers on the letter from the Cummings Foundation. Thank you, member Graham. Can I just ask one other quick question
about the um the um scholarship from Steve McCarthy? This letter doesn't say that it's an expectation that it's set up as an
endowment. So, in other words, like being sort of corded off in an interestbearing account. And I know that we've had issues with other similar um awards like this. So I just uh was hoping that uh we could just check into
and be clear on whether that needs to be established that way from the outset or if it's just a straight amount of money that will be like worked down over the course of the 10 years. So 10 times 500. I think that's what it
means. But I would just like to be clear because we have some other situations that did not appear to get set up quite as as the grant as the donation intended. Thank you. Thank you, Member Graham. We do not have
any reports of subcommittee, but we do have two reports of our superintendent. First up is Mustang Moments. We have student presentations. Um art arts update. Uh, Miss Suzanne Fee, director of fine arts, accompanied by our student body. Can I just
Yes, Dr. Lucy. Be before I invite everyone over, I just want to kind of do a little framing if that's okay for um this body. So, first of all, good evening. Um, Madame Mayor, members of the school committee, our students and caregivers uh and our central leadership
team here. Welcome back. And we welcome the school year 2526. I just want to take a little moment. This is a shift in our school committee agenda format so that we're going to be starting our meetings with the Mustang
moment so that all meetings will start with the voices of students. Um and I think it's just important for me to explain that quickly before we move on to bringing up um director fee and the students. So, the Mustang moment is going to be a student-ledd segment that will celebrate
accomplishments, shared projects, initiatives, or showcase talents. So, students are the why. They're the reason for why we do this. They're the reason that we're here. And we want this space to also be one in which we're elevating their voices and we're listening to
their perspectives. uh every time we gather as adults who are in decision making um who have the the power for to making decisions um the Mustang moment is just an intentional practice that we're going to have as a way to start the meetings. So
for this first meeting we have director fee here who's going to introduce us to some students um and talk to us about the summer studios work that happened this summer. Thank you. Thanks for inviting us. And I'm going to let the kids um explain a little bit
about what we had going on in the art world this summer and the music world. Hi, I'm Cameron Binger. I'm in ninth grade. Hi, I'm Evie O'Shea and I'm also in ninth grade.
Hi, I'm Jack Master Mateo. I'm in ninth grade. This summer, thanks to support from the CCSR and the Cummings Foundation, we were able to offer three free art workshops: painting, port portfolio prep, and mural making. These workshops
were open to all students entering grades 9 to 12, giving everyone the chance to participate and explore their creativity. Tonight, we're excited to share and highlight the mural project we participated in. We began by voting on the message we wanted the mural to convey as well as the overall theme and
vibe of the artwork. We also selected the color palette together. From the start, we knew we wanted something bold and vibrant, an uplifting design with a positive message that reflects not only the arts, but the spirit of entire our entire social community. From the start,
we knew we wanted something bold and vibrant, an uplifting design with a positive message that reflects not only the arts, but the spirit of our entire school community. As a group, we decided on the phrase dare to begin. We felt it reflected the courage to take risks, try new things, and embrace creativity,
whether in art, in learning, or in life at school. It reminds us that every achievement starts with the first step. From there, we brainstormed ideas and sketched out possible elements for the mural. Mrs. Fee and Mrs. Bander gathered all of our sketches and combined them
into one single design that represented contributions from everyone. Once the final layout was ready, we projected it onto the wall and made sure that every that the composition worked and the design felt visually balanced. We spent a lot of time thinking about the color
placement and scale. Our goal was to create something energetic and vibrant but not overwhelming. A mural that inspires and uplifts everyone who walks by each day. We're really proud of how it turned out and it's been so exciting to already hear such positive feedback
from students and staff across the school. Through this process, we learned a lot about what it takes to create a mural mural as a team. Collaboration was key. We had to listen to each other's ideas and make decisions together. We also learned the importance of slowing down,
taking our time, and paying attention to the details instead of rushing. And maybe most importantly, we discovered how important it is to be flexible. Sometimes what we planned didn't look the way that we imagined on the wall. So, we had to adjust, adapt, and try new approaches.
These lessons made the mural stronger and gave us the skills that we need to use that we can use far beyond this project. Our mural shows what we can do when we work together, when we are proud of it,
and we hope it inspires everyone at our school to dare to begin. Um, hello. My name is Gemma. I'm the percussion captain and I'm in 12th grade. So, good evening and thank you for giving us the chance to share some exciting updates about the marching band. Our first big event of the season
is our home show which will take place right right at Hormel Stadium. The event begins at 4 p.m. with the awards ceremony scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Fans from all across Massachusetts will be traveling here to perform. And while we're also proud to host, this will be our very first competition of the season. This is a huge event for us, so
we would love to see strong support from the community um in the stands. The home show also serves as an important fundraiser uh to help cover the costs for our staff and other expenses that go into running our program. Hello, my name is Ally. I'm the captain
of the Medford High School color guard. Um before we step onto the competition field this season, we spent two weeks at our annual band camp this summer. Um where we learned the bulk of our competition show before with both music and marching
responsibilities to bring it to life. Um it's an intense but exciting time filled with long days of practice, teamwork, and growth. We ended camp with a special preview of our show on Friday, August 22nd, where family commu family and community members were invited to see
our progress. In addition to taking this show to competitions, selections from it will be presented at um our home football games this season so the entire school community can experience all of our hard work and the energy we built. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Jonas Fertz and I'm the drum major of the Medford High School marching band. So, finally, I just want to share a little bit about the show theme um for this year. So, our program is a mashup of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall and Shastikovich's
Ballad Suite number two. So, the music and movement work together to send a message about in um evolving, breaking down barriers, and connecting with your creativity. It's both powerful and inspiring, and we can't wait to share it with our audiences throughout our
season. Thank you so very much. We appreciate listening to what you did all summer long and we're so excited to see the band competition performance coming up soon. And next time someone's in the high school, you can check out
the mural. It's in the art wing right off the main office. Gonna just have a quick little photo. And I think I think the um band show is the 20th. That date wasn't thrown out. It's the 20th at 4. And then you can also see the band and the color
guard at all the home games, I believe. Right. Football games. Yes. So that's a good way to see um everybody in action. Um, so hopefully our community go gets out and checks out the band, the football team, the color guard, and and our cheerleaders.
Okay, next up we have um our superintendent's update. I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Suzanne Galooi. Superintendent, thank you. Um, what we are about to go through is just an update for the opening of schools for school year 2526.
So, first um and foremost, we have welcomed many new staff into the Medford public schools. Each individual brings unique talents, experiences, and perspectives that enrich our school community, and every role adds incredible value to our schools and
helps us create the best experience for our students and our school communities. So in total um we have we welcomed about 40 new teachers, two nurses, 12 paraprofessionals, three members of food service, two
custodians, seven coaches, athletic coaches, uh three administrative assistants, and eight administrators districtwide. Um those administrators are Dr. Kim Talbot, our new assistant superintendent for academics and instruction, who's here this evening. Uh
Mr. Ken Lord, our chief operations officer, who is also here this evening. Uh Chelsea Mcniff, our new e director. Uh Mr. Robert Olirri, the new athletic director. Ryan McGawan is a new high school house assistant principal.
Aleandro Cornelio is the new assistant principal at the Brooks Elementary. Andrew Zides is our new special education coordinator and Roario Bernaci is uh the dean of students um at Medford High School through the Mustang um
academy. I know that a memo went out, but I also do think just to note that we are also actively searching for a new uh world language director as bittersweet news. Dr. Vilma Babau is has
left Metro Public Schools. She is now uh the new director of modern languages for the Boston Boston Latin Academy. Um thank you. And then moving forward, um Mr. Pipell, you can go to the next.
So last November, some of this is a review, but I just want to cap it and review it on the road here to our opening. So last November, I shared with this committee our instructional vision that was the result of collective work
with both administrators and teachers. That vision continues to guide our daily work and our decision making. So to strengthen its impact this year, we have now branded the instructional vision with corresponding icons providing a
visual anchor uh for our efforts. So the icons allow educational leaders, they allow administrators and teachers to easily highlight and reference the specific elements of the vision that they're focusing on in their practice. You'll see to the left that the high
school team has worked collaboratively to create strive. It's our portrait of a graduate which creates a shared uh vision of what skills, mindsets, and qualities Medford Public Schools students should have before they graduate. Um it focuses on things that
are beyond just test scores and grades um for broader competencies like collaboration, adaptability, uh critical thinking, civic responsibility um which will prepare our students once they graduate from Medford public
schools in college, career uh and life. So the our instructional vision has also provided Medford public schools with our core values. These core values have been shared every time that different elements of staff has gathered throughout the summer that I will
highlight on a future slide. But our core values as reflected in both our instructional vision and our equity commitment, if we could go to the next slide, please, is that we believe all students deserve
to feel seen, heard, valued, and connected in schools where inclusive, culturally affirming practices allow them to grow, succeed, and fully engage in their learning. We believe that all students deserve opportunities,
resources, and support they need to reach their full potential. And we believe that every student's success is our shared responsibility. So our collective charge this year, as you saw reflected in my Friday, a few of
the Friday memos is on belonging. So belonging as a foundation, it's not an add-on. It's the foundation for our instructional vision. Without belonging, access alone is not enough and
expectations can feel out of reach for students and staff. Instruction cannot fully connect to our students lives if they do not feel a sense of belonging in the classroom. When students feel seen, heard, and valued, then they're more able to take
academic risks, engage more deeply in their learning, and rise to the high expectations because they know we trust them and we're going to be there for them. So, what does that look like in this school year? So, belonging is the
lens for our decision makingaking this year. And what that looks like is we are making sure that we're building inclusive and affirming spaces. We're ensuring that students see themselves reflected in the classrooms. We're maintaining those high
expectations. And if students need supports in order to access those high expectations, we are going to make sure that they have them. And we will we will be using data not just to measure progress, but also to address
inequities. that that data uncovers. We are making an a commitment to extend this sense of belonging to everyone in Metro Public Schools because we know that when the adults feel a sense of belonging, they are there and more
present to support what our students need. By fostering belonging collectively, Medford becomes a place where every student feels that they can thrive here. Next slide. To support these these
branding efforts um and our collective charge, this poster was created by a Medford High School arts student, Grace Ansalone. And the graphic arts department has printed them. every these were sent to schools so that every
educator and learning spaces um have that poster as a reminder of our of the why for this year and why we're here. So taking this collective charge and moving into all the spaces of work that
have led us to the opening of schools. The first was the administrative retreat. So for the first time we were able to take the administrative retreat off campus and through the wonderful partnership that we have with the bar
foundation they gave us their space uh in the north end and we were able to coalesce as an administrative unit. As you heard, we have a lot of new administrative staff, but we also have some veteran returning presence that we
needed to have a space off campus for us to reset and refocus on our work for the year. So, right here you can just see some pictures of the staff gathered here. Um, but we were able to really set
a strong foundation for the year so that when we're welcoming teachers back, when we're me welcoming students and families back, we are very aligned in our leadership and what that looks like for our school communities and our greater
community. From there, we had the So, the following week was the induction week where we welcome all of those new teachers and we had three days with them to not only get them situated to welcome students back
on day one, but also for them to understand what Medford Public Schools is all about, what we stand for, what our culture is. So, we knew that we wanted them to also feel a sense of belonging as they're coming into this district and get to know the greater
Medford community beyond just what their curriculum is. So you'll see here they were engaged in activities that were around what they're being taught around what our expectations are for teachers and also they had a tour of Medford and
got to spend a lunchon with which was sponsored by the teachers union. on the tour that you'll see some highlights here were Medford um public library where they were first dropped off at Colleen's treated to some ice cream and
then walked up to the library had a presentation with the library the librarians here um but also part of the tour on the bus was to make sure that they went and visited not only where all of our schools are situated but some important landmarks
um in the city of Medford. I do want to just also shout out we had three administrators that had a lot of time and organization in helping get the induction week off and set. U Mr. Mike
D. Clemente, Miss Katherine Cook, and Dr. Vilma Babau. And uh Ms. Cook will continue that work in the mentor program throughout the year. The following week, we welcomed teachers back for the first
two days of school. That first day was a professional development day and staff here, you can see the pictures, but they were engaged in professional development at the elementary level. Uh the staff were engaged in the safe schools presentation through the department of
education and the safe schools um coalition. They also were received a dibbles refresher um to make sure that they're ready for the progress monitoring and the unpacking of the new schedule uh to make sure that there was alignment there and
they could plan accordingly. At the secondary level, the majority of teachers were engaged in presentations from the Unbound Ed organization that we have partnered with through the Bar Foundation um in the continued work on
Gleam planning, which is having teachers make sure that their planning reflects content and associated tasks that are grade level, engaging, affirming, and meaningful. There were other trainings going on at
the secondary level um through Ms. Cook and Dr. Schulman and also Ms. Fee brought in um Erin Zapini and she is leading a year-long training called equity by design strategic and realistic
strategies to improve equity in the arts classroom. Um wh if you don't mind. Okay. Thank you. That's fine. The second day was what we call our our launch day and that's when we welcome
all staff collectively back together. It's also time where they have in their classrooms to prepare for students and it's time that they have with their principles and their directors really getting focused and engaging on the school year work ahead. The day started
with a convocation in the high school gymnasium um where I led a welcome back section, but we also brought in voices of our high school students to help lead us in welcoming back staff. So here you see a
picture of the students. We had Emily Marice, Matthew Phills, James Cluggish, Ghee Martins, and Mia Leil. and they spoke to the staff about what belonging means to them, where they find it at
Medford High School and what teachers can do to help further that feeling and that sense of belonging in the in not just their classrooms but in the greater school community. And there are some of those those quotes
there. I think the highlights is that students are finding sense of belonging both in the classroom and outside of the classroom in sports organizations uh including unified sports through teachers um and their friends
and then the first two days of school um Dr. Tab Talbot, Miss Bowen, Miss Mcniff and I, we were quite proud that we were able to hit every single exterior school on the
first day of school. We probably should have had like a Snickers bar because I think by like 1:30, 2:00, we were feeling it. But we were able to get to every single school, welcome in staff, welcome in students,
and really get a a feel for the warmth and the sense of belonging that we could see both visually um in classrooms, in hallways, on playgrounds, and it was just a really wonderful way to kick off the year. You can see a few pictures
here. Um, one to the left is the missuck where they had an intentional gathering of the school as a way to kick off the year and welcome back the entire school community. Um, and I do think it's there were lots
of moments within classrooms and in hallway displays about the sense of belonging um, that the community is feeling. The next is just a reminder. I know it's probably in principal newsletters as
well as in the it will be in the Friday memo, but this is also just a snapshot because starting this week and then continuing to next week is our back- to-school nights at all of our schools. And I think it's just a really important time to mention that this if families
are able, this is a a wonderful opportunity for them to come in and not only meet the teachers, but really start to build a relationship with their children's teachers, learn about the curriculum and the expectations and just some of those common routines
around communication, homework, uh things that might be beneficial for them to know if families and caregivers are not able to attend, I would recommend that they reach out directly to the teacher. Uh if they don't have that information, they can reach out to the
principal who can connect them in the right fashion so that they're able to get the materials and the information that are presented during that night. It's really important for us that we're able to make those individual
um connections and build those relationships for our caregivers. And then a brief um facilities and IT update. Um, so there has been we, this also was reflected in a Friday memo and is posted on our website, but for a lot
of the community, you have seen scaffolding and lots of work going on around the McGin and the Andrews complexes. So phase one is the work that was done over the summer and I believe is just kind of like buttoning up right
now. that was a work to the existing HVAC systems in both schools. Um, new filters, modifications so that we can increase heating and cooling capacity. Um, which will be able to provide a
better level of comfort for staff and students in those buildings. You also may have noticed that some work was done in um to make sure that we were ADA compliant in both of those places. So, sidewalks,
um, leveled rising ramps leading to the front door. Right now, there are still some temporary handrails in place. Those will eventually be, um, replaced with permanent structures. And then that leads us into phase two, which will be
completed next summer. And that is where you'll see like the structural steel part come in so that it can handle brand new HVAC systems that will be replaced at that time. Uh this is a link because this can eventually this slide deck will
eventually be on the website. But if you go on to the McGlin or the Andrews, there is this update here um from the owner's project manager Conigley Construction. Also exciting is some IT and security
work that has been started over the summer um and is still ongoing, but what's exciting is that this is for teless door access, which we're just so very excited for. Um and it's about time. Uh upgrade to cameras and vape
detector systems at some of our secondary schools. So in total there are 400 new cameras being added to our existing entourage of cameras. 40 keyless door access system. So all of our buildings
will now be keyless. So within teachers ID badges there will be keyless entry into the schools which will be we're working internally on what the access will look like but that will be much more streamlined and very beneficial for
our schools. And there'll be 19 new video intercom systems um and 46 vape detectors at the secondary schools. Yeah. And so that oh I have one more thing but I don't know we can come back for questions. I
know I'm giving a lot right now. The last piece is just a quick city air update. Um city air is back again. We did discuss this as part of the budget. Um but just so we're aware there are six core members at the McGlin Elementary,
four at the Misatuck and seven at the M McGlin Middle School. they are assigned by um just uh enrollment and sheer number of sections. And so additionally this year that we're also welcoming some
additional support for the missuck with five members working in the afterchool program uh to support those efforts at the Msatuck Elementary. And then I think it was um very humbling humbling and heartfelt, but they did ask
me to be their keynote speaker this past Friday at their kickoff for the core members to start the 2526 school year. And they definitely kept this a little secret but surprised me because I um
member all potty I got a red jacket. I got a red and it's monogrammed. and it's monogrammed. So, you can see me in that picture presenting to all the core members for Greater Boston and Medford Public Schools. Um,
they have asked for my speech. We'll see where that goes. I'll keep you updated. And this picture on the bottom left is the Medford team. We were able to have a nice unity circle and really kick off the year um with great spirits. and I'm next to Alyssa David who is the the
project manager for Cityear folks just in Medford. But it was a wonderful experience uh last Friday afternoon and um really really excited for them to join us this school year as well. And now I'm happy to answer any questions.
That was a lot of information. So I appreciate your patience. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Guzie for the presentation. Very informative. Any questions from the body? Hearing and seeing none. Um we do not have any public participation.
We do have continued business. Um first is 2023-25 offered by member Hayes, member Mclofflin, and member Mstone. Policy second reading. Whereas the Medford School Committee reaffirmed its support for the rights of LGBTQ plus member
Russo. I'd like to wave the second reading. I did message these three former members to ask if their their ears are ringing. Um that's the saying, I think. Um and they were appreciative of this getting its second reading. So I would like to make a motion to wave the second
reading. Motion by member Russo, seconded by member Graham to wave the second reading. All those in favor? All those opposed? The reading has been waved. Motion to approve.
Motion to approve by member Rouso, seconded by member inappa. All those in favor? I. All those opposed. Reading has been approved. Thank you, member Rouso.
Um, we do have new business. The f first is the recommendation to approve new voting and non- voting members to the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee, MHCSBC, offered by member Graham, voting member Kenneth Lord, MPS chief operating
officer, and non- voting member Dr. Kimberly Talbot, MPS, Assistant Superintendent of Academics and Instruction. Member Graham. Thank you. Um, these folks will replace Dr. Cushing as a voting member and um
Dr. Talbett will um take Joan Bowen's place who was previously a non- voting member and we um elevated her to a voting member when we elevated Dr. Galooi and removed Dr. Edward Vincson from the committee. So um there's one
non- voting spot which um we are asking Dr. Talbot to um to to take on. And so this committee has to vote and then we'll send that to the MSBA and they'll have to accept those changes, but that is usually pretty straightforward.
Great. Thank you, Member Graham. Um member Rinfeld, I was just going to motion to approve this round of musical chairs. Motion to approve this resolution. Motion for approval by member Rinfeld, seconded by member Branley. All those in favor?
I. All those opposed. Um motion passes. Welcome to the team over there. Yes. Um 2025-24 offered by member Rouso resolution in support of the IM bill
H534s.2491. Whereas half the world menrates and like all other basic bodily functions, menration is not a choice. Motion to motion to wave the reading by member. Anyone else needs to hear it?
Seconded by member Graham. Do you want me to at least read the resolved part? Yes. If we could just summarize. All those in favor of um waving the portion of the um resolution. All those in favor?
All those opposed. Okay. Okay. So, I'll just move right to page seven, which is be it resolved that the Metro School Committee recognizes menstrual products are essential in a long-term cost savings measure. Recognizes menstrual products are essential and should be considered public goods. Supports the
passage of the IM bill this legislative session. Directs the superintendent to transmit official copies of this resolution to the following. Governor Mara Healey, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Edward Marky, Congresswoman Kathn Clark, State Senator Pat Trisha
Jalen, State Representative Paul Donado, State Representative Sean Garbbley, and State Representative Christine Barber. Number five, directs superintendent to transmit an official copy of this resolution to the Medford City Council in accordance with Medford School Committee Rule 77. And six, directs the superintendent to
transmit official copy of this resolution to myself, Mayor Medford. This was passed um by hopefully an official vote. Is there a motion on the floor to approve by member Rinfeld, seconded by member
Olady? All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion passes. 2025-25 offered by member Russo to enhance um the policy hygiene BGI to enhance clarity and promoting compliance. The committee aims to make its policies
easier to read. While detailed language can help explain complex ideas, it often makes policies longer and harder to follow. Revity improves reli readability and when policies are easier to understand, people are more likely to follow them. To support this goal, committee policies will utilize
standardized language shortcuts throughout our policies to maintain conciseness without compromising meaning. Exceptions to the shortcuts below should apply when number one required by law. Number two, policy does not warrant
oh want to allow for the students meeting warrant right to allow for the shortcuts meeting meaning clarity is required and for the shortcut has more than one meaning in the particular policy shortcut superintendent full meaning superintendent or designate caregiver
parent guardian responsible adult or or caregiver shortcut committee Medford school committee MPS PS Medford public schools principal means principal or designate. All policies when adopted should
reference this policy as a related policy. Member Rouso. Thank you. um as I've been doing a lot of policy work as as well as contracts some of the uh there has been a question
about whether or design is um we've had some contracts where you know you'd have one paragraph where it says superintendent or designate the next one doesn't and um the question becomes then does that mean that the superintendent
is the only decision maker in that example um and I think that at least in all of the stuff I have read, there has been no examples where that actually makes any sense. It's just a matter of well cleanliness and writing the words
or designate over and over and over thousands of times in our policies. So, um I thought this made sense to sort of like draw a line in the sand and say we will stop saying our designate unless we specifically have to. Um, and the the
the related policies part there is sort of a way to keep existing policies as is until they get updated. So if a policy does not have this as a related policy, then this does not apply to that policy
yet. Um, so uh, and I'm not sure everybody knows caregiver in Massachusetts is a legal term. Um, so it's not just like something I made up. And um, it's certainly a lot easier on forms to say caregiver than parent,
guardian, responsible adult, or caregiver. If you've ever tried to create a form and for a signature. Um, so that's that's what this policy is for. And I motion to approve it. Motion for approval by member.
Motion for approval by member Russo. Seconded by Oh, member rifle. Yeah, sorry. So, I think probably it needs to say all policies when adopted or updated or does isn't is an amended updated
policy an adoption the same yes the same language. Uh so that was an ironic comment then that I made. Okay. And so if one wanted to make a an exception these make sense. So one would then have to say the super attend the
superintendent is the sole decider of this or so that would be that would be the way to make the exception is to add that language there. If a policy gets if a policy required that say it be specifically the superintendent or if it's a principal and it's a I don't know
a title n something and it has to go to this particular person they would either need to be named by name or say as the sole person responsible for this. No, if I um so if this policy is listed as a related
policy and it says superintendent um they would have to say correct they would have to I said no but I meant yes they would have to specify that is only the superintendent. There are so few examples other than the
the quotes that are coming out of Mass General law are probably the biggest example where that I mean that quote isn't going to be changed. That's the quote from the law. So, u those would not apply of course, but yeah. Okay, great then. And thanks for
answering my questions. I can second your approval, but I see member. Member, thank you. I was wondering if we would be able to add in the caregiver designation parent, guardian, responsible, custodian, or caregiver.
Just add that as an additional term, custodial parent or custodian. mayor. Um certainly I've not seen that word once in our policies. Um so this the the shortcut is to replace words that are in our policies.
Understand? So um I don't know that. I mean I'm fine with that. Do you custodian or custodial parent or custodial like what's the exact thing that we would be replacing? in my experience and to your point I
think that most of the time it's not being written anywhere in our previous literature I know that that's a term that is being used in other circles in education and just to describe other forms of parental guidance in the home or as people custodial parents generally are biologically related to children
while guardians tend to be point courtapp appointed guardians there is some separation between the two more often than not one of them is encompassing of the other one but there are some separations that I think some parents may benefit from having just as an important designation, but if you in your previous experience haven't seen
the word custodian or custodial guarded parent in the literature, then we may not need to add it. But it's just something that I'm conscious of. I I think it's a good point. Um especially around par we have not there's nothing that I've seen in my time on the school committee where we even reference the
difference between parents when parents have like a custodial parent and one who for instance may have no custodial rights. Um, we make no distinction anywhere, although I think school brains might have something for that to like
indicate that a parent has no rights. Um, so I mean, we've everything just says parent and I think we just kind of hope for the best in policy. Um, but it's worth noting that we probably should consider that when writing policy that when we
say parent, we don't we don't just mean parent. we mean the one with the rights, which of course isn't even necessarily parents. Um, so um I mean I'm happy to add a comma and
custodial parents that maybe we don't have to add it in because this is to this is to clean up previous language. But going forward, maybe there's an important opportunity to kind of consider other you know guardian parental custodial ship in the home or outside and how that impacts families
differently and being cognizant of people's personal live experience in relationship to their children or students. So I will retract my additive for the time being. Okay. Retract. So, no, no amendment. Um,
okay, mayor. The two the two amendments I have are uh to change want to warrant and adopted to adopted or amended. What was the second one? Sorry. Adopted change to adopted or amended in
the all policies when adopted should reference this policy. The the last line. Yeah. I mean I I adopted is an amendment is adopted but I think it is clearer to say or amended so why not? So motion for approval
um as amended. All those in favor I. All those opposed motion passes. Next up, offered by member Graham, 2025-26, the Meford School Committee resolution requesting city council adoption of
chapter 399, school bus stop, arm camera enforcement. Whereas the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted chapter 399 of the acts 2024 titled an act concerning the safety of school children embarking and disembarking school buses which
authorizes municipalities to install and operate school bus violation detection monitoring systems. And whereas this law also allows cities and towns that formally accept its provisions to use bus mounted cameras to detect and record motor
vehicles that illegally pass a stopped school bus displaying flashing red lights and deploy a deployed stop arm pursuant to Mass General laws chapter 90 section 14 and 14C. And whereas pilot programs in pe and Salem have demonstrated the
effectiveness of these systems with thousands of violations recorded in a single school year, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced enforcement tools to protect students. And whereas the law includes strict privacy protections requiring that nonviolation
recordings be destroyed within 30 days and violation related recordings within one year of final disposition. Whereas the safety of Memphis's children is a top priority in the implementation of stop armed cameras has been shown to deter illegal passing and improve compliance with school bus safety laws.
Now therefore, be it resolved that the Medford School Committee respectfully requests the Medford City Council formally accept the provisions of chapter 399 of the acts of 2024, thereby enabling the city of Medford to install and operate school bus violation
detection monitoring systems. We have further resolved. The member school committee recommends the establishment of a joint committee including one representative from the school committee, one representative from the city council, the chief of police, the superintendent of schools, and the mayor or designate to evaluate and recommend policies regarding the use of revenue
generated citations. He had further resolved that the school committee respect respectfully request that the mayor agree to earmark citation revenue for exclusive use as directed by the recommendations of this committee with priority given to student safety initiatives, transportation
infrastructure improvements and public awareness campaigns. Um if I may from the chair just I I know a school committee member or two m might have met with the company maybe just elaborate on um implement how long it
takes to implement and the cost of implementation and who pays um what because I do know the companies do pick up certain um fees. So if somebody could just maybe elaborate a little before there's a motion on the floor.
Do that. Thank you. Thank you. Um yes, over this summer I met with um some Medford residents. I met with um the president of the city council and some folks that are uh from organizations that provide this service.
So um the way that this whole process works is we have this the council first has to say yes we're adopting this statute and then once the council does that um under the law um then we have to
uh the superintendent can like bring a contract forward. We can approve that contract um and then it can be put in place. the law does not require the some of the steps that I have outlined that I think are important around like collaboration across city government and
with the chief of police um to think about sort of ticket revenue. But to to the question about who pays for this, um Medford is a community that's been designated by um one v one vendor in particular, but I assume by many as um a
a city where the violators will essentially fund the whole cost of the implementation. So essentially they will put these stop arm cameras on the the buses for free. um they will take a piece of um the violation revenue that
gets issued. Um and in an event where there are no violations for a month um they eat that cost. So, and it's sort of a numbers game like that's not happening in very small communities. Um, but there the sort of dynamics of Medford, the number of students, the number of buses,
the number of roads, um the size of the city, all of that makes us um a candidate for this violator funded protocol that um that they are pursuing with many communities like PED and Salem and others. So, um, over time, what
happens, the the way the process works, um, is the camera takes a picture of you in the middle of a moving violation three times, like front, middle, back or something like that. So, it's like it's you, right? So, they can tell who the
car is and what the um the light is. the this organization um will then do like a first level culling of all of the um footage and pull out anything that is like you know blurry image not you know
whatever it is so they'll pull all of those out all of that's then transmitted to the police department where they will review the footage they will issue the citations so the police department um and I know that there have been some meetings with the chief of police as well um the police department will issue the citations just like they would you
know any moving citation. This is not a citation. Like if you get a ticket, it's a fine and it could down the line prevent you from like renewing your license. Um but it is not going to be tagged as a moving violation on your insurance. Um but that ticket revenue
comes back um to the city into the general fund. So, um, part of my ask is that we sort of cordon off that funding so that we are using it to continue to improve, um, safety for our students
that are riding buses and walking, frankly, um, and think about how do we how do we leverage this this funding to hear from the community um, via all of these different players being involved to um, do some things that will improve pedestrian and bus rider safety.
Um so that is something that I'm requesting in this um but it is like separate from what is required by law. So this ask is just to say to the council that we uh agree that we want to do this so that they can adopt the statute and then it would it'll come
back to us for like execution of the of the contract. Um I do have a video I can send to all of you after the meeting which I just received. Um, but I think overall like there's a lot of um, you know, having a vendor do this. First of all, they're going to maintain the
cameras. Um, if the cameras stop working, they will replace them. If we get new buses, they will retrofit the buses. You know, they'll pull them off one bus, put them on another bus. So, and then they take a portion of the of the revenue um, for that. I I forget what the exact numbers are. Um, I don't
have them handy, but um there there is no cost to Medford um to do this, but the ticket revenue does come to Medford. Thank you, Member Graham. That's that's I remember talking to the vendor at um a conference I went to and that was my
recollection. No, they do get paid somehow, but there's no cost to the contract. So, that's correct. And yes, hopefully help with people passing buses. They did have um they did have a lot of good information um which I they're more than happy to come join us at the next
meeting um if the superintendent wants to move forward with them as a vendor. Um and they had a lot of information about sort of what happens over time, right? There's lots of moving violations and then they do sort of plateau. But he pointed out that we are, you know,
minting new drivers every single day. My daughter's in driver's ed. Um so, you know, where there's new drivers on the road all the time. Medford, um one of the things he talked a lot about was that Medford is a cut-through city for many communities. So, you can't get to the highway unless you come through Medford if you live in certain
communities. Um and those are those are those roads where it's particularly challenging for students to cross safely. So um you know I thought you know I I thought all of this there was just a lot of net positive for us and for students and if we stop having
revenue because there are no more moving violations that is also a win because that means people aren't passing school buses when they should not be and endangering students. So, um there there seems like there's only wins in this, which is exciting to be able to choose.
Um so, yeah, they're happy to come. Um they offered to come tonight and I said since this is like the first time we're going to talk about this and then we have the council will have to do their thing and then we'll have to come back around um that it might be more appropriate for them to come next time. But, um they're very excited about
Medford and partnering to make our streets safer. Great. Thank you so much. member inappa. Yes, thank you. So, quick question um because this made me think of it um in you know in particular to um you said
the cutthrough city um I know that living in the Heights uh my part of the Heights is a huge cut through um and it's always been a battle seems between Medford and Malden over what what do we do? So that stems a question of um the buses on the Fel's way. Correct me if
I'm wrong, but are the issue are the tickets then issued by the state police because that is a state road. So then how does that money get back to us or are they still issued by me? Isued by Medford. Still me by Medford. Okay. Um so thank you for the clarifying point. I wasn't sure exactly how that all worked with
with state roads. Um you know this seems like something that I think it's it's funny. I was actually talking about this with an old colleague um about um at my other place of work because they had actually been looking into this because Medford tried to pilot this back in 2011. Y um and we had tried to do this and in
speaking with um former member Falco and former member Vanderloot, it seems like it never kind of especially when Vanderloot and I were talking about it seems like it never really picked up because and I don't want to misquote her about how about like how do the who owns the cameras, how does it work, how does that all
system. So, I I really appreciate seeing this um all laid out in terms of that. Um and I know that member Russo has a has microphone on, but if there are no other comments, I'll motion to approve.
Member Russo, thank you. Um I I mean the summer seems to have destroyed my memory of this conversation I know we've had. Um do you have a memory um of um I I just remember that there
were they had done some stats and there was a lot of these things happening. It's like because I feel like I I don't actually ever see it. I was kind of like how often does this happen? But it was a huge number and I didn't get excited about the money. I
just got like really angry about how often um people are willing to endanger our kids. I did bring my notebook. Um they did a three-month pilot in Peaved and there
were 977 violations and in Salem there were 942 in a three-month pilot. So those pilots are very recent because the law just passed um sort of paving the way for all of this to happen in a more cohesive way. Um but they said um you
know that there are 300 car 300 cars hit school buses last year in Massachusetts. Um they also did describe that they are actively working in many other states who already have legislation around this. So they are not a new
organization. Um there's just like new access here in Massachusetts if that makes sense. Um and then the cost that they will like extract um from the total revenue is I believe it's
$250 per bus per month. Um they did also note that they can put cameras on special education vehicles as well. Um, however, if those special education vehicles transporting students leave Medford, the cameras have the cameras
are not able to be used outside of the city limits of Medford. So, they would only be um capturing things happening yeah in district in district roads. Um, and um, it's a $250 ticket and they find
that when you get a ticket, you do not usually get a second ticket, but if there are some people who do. Um, so it's yeah, it's not um an inexpensive ticket, but they do see over time that
like in sort of year one there'll be the most tickets and then it will plateau and sort of level out to be something sort of consistent after that. member, I'm sorry, Dr. Galooi. And the only thing I would also just mention for people that are at home listening, I think you may have mentioned this,
member Grim, and I apologize if you did, but just so people are aware, like the the camera is fixed on the outside of the bus, but it does not start recording until that arm comes out, which with the stop sign on it, then it will start
recording from that moment on. And then once the arm comes back in, the recording stops, right? The camera does not record anything going on inside the bus. Not inside and not while it's, you know, riding along on the street.
Just important to note. Thank you. Member Rinfeld. Yes. I was just wondering, are there other companies that do this? I assume we have to go through city procurement. Are we going to be are what's the timeline that we can expect to see this
and is procurement going to be a challenge? um they are on an approved vendor list, so that is not a requirement, right? Um there are other companies that do portions of this. Um I've not sort of
looked into them in tons of detail, but my understanding is um part of what this organization in particular is offering is the curation, right? So, they're like maintaining the cameras, they're previewing the footage, they're
callulling out all the stuff that's junk so that when it gets to the police department here in Medford, um it's a it's an easier uh lift for Medford to go ahead and issue those citations. So, there is a level of like services that
they're providing um in addition to all the camera maintenance um all the installs. So you can buy cameras in lots with lots of different people, but then you'd have to have the manpower to do the the editing and the reviews. So their technology obviously is serving them up what is useful, right? Like if
the arm comes out and nothing happens, there's still footage and it's their technology is like weeding all of that out on our behalf. That's really helpful. And then in regards to the special education vehicles, you said it stops at the Bedford city limits. Is there any effort
now that this legislation is in place kind of AC for cross district to do some coordination and have that shared resource? Um I don't believe that's possible just yet. Um they did talk about like perhaps you could like send a warning to
you know without a an actual citation and that they were more than willing to explore all of that with us. Um but every city has its own like piece of this. Um because some cities like ours have sort
of the luxury of h having being um violator funded. Our neighboring communities probably do not um in for various reasons. So um I think some of that will maybe come together over time but probably not
right at the outset. But the implementation, they're they're eager and they're ready to go. Um, and I we did not ask about the specific timeline because we weren't sure what it was going to take to get through these steps, but they seemed um to feel good about things moving quickly. Terrific. I think this is great and I
really appreciate the earmark request as part of this as for this is really about student safety and I would love to see those funds go towards that. So, thank you. Is there a second yet? Not that I'm aware. I'm seconding. Oh, she second it. Sorry.
Member Branley seconds. Yeah, I heard Branley first. Member Branley. All those in favor? I. All those opposed? Motion passes. Exciting. Thank you. We have one condolence. The members of
the Meford School Committee express their sincere condolences to the family of Anna C. Fiorretti. Anna gave her spirit and energy to her classroom for 40 plus years as a fourth grade teacher in the metro public school system where she educated generations of children.
Quail may rise for a moment of silence, please. Thank you. Our next regularly scheduled meeting is September 22nd, 2025. That's 6 PM here in the Alden Memorial Chambers, Medford City Hall in addition
to Zoom. Um, is there a motion to adjurnn by member Rinfeld, seconded by member? All those in favor? I'll go.