--------- hi everyone we're back um okay before we had to um step away and come back we were talking about the before school program increase and there was a question by member and Tapa
about the rates um looking like they were reversed um for the 3-day option is that correct is that what you were looking at i believe it's been Yeah it's not it's so it's
not at In before care program school year 2025 2026 the 3% increase for monthly 3 days should read 122.57 not one2.57 i'm just noting that I understand that but I'm just noting that
so if this infograph is sent out that we correct that similar to the one that was mentioned for me okay and the um the presentation has been updated with the corrected rates so if you all um can take a look at those the screens rather
than your handout um that's probably the most accurate picture at this moment um could I ask Will to just enlarge Dr cushing's screen in his absence just to make it a little bit larger for the community in case people
are watching thank you thank you chair uh member Russo um I I think there's still some problems with these numbers but I think uh the motion that I would make is that we
would uh accept the rate card with a 3% increase over whatever it is right now thank you there's a motion to accept a 3% increase for the beforeare program uh over current rates and obviously that
these um charts will be updated accurately before they're posted on the website by member Rousel is there a second same question I had was the Oh what is the history of
increases here sure i'm going to ask Um so director Megan Filicary is on the call so she's unmuted just to give us a little bit more of a um history here
hi everybody um we have in the last two to three years um certainly two years we've um only increased very modestly to um account for increases to staff pay but before that we went several years
without increasing before school pay so it's only to keep up with the increase in staff pay for before school megan could you also speak to after school care as well certainly um yeah after school is the same uh we two years and three years ago or
maybe it was four years ago right after COVID uh we did a considerable jump to rightsize our tuition rates to meet um tuition and staff rates to to uh better reflect what our neighbors were doing um but since then it's only been a very
modest increase and it is only to keep up with increasing wages yes uh and then I was also wondering how this matches up with some of the right sizing we've been doing on our budget over the last couple years with our revolving accounts i don't know if that's a question for our budget analyst
Jerry McHugh but that is my question around this um I think what we're I I would probably defer to him for a more detailed you know accurate answer but I think for the purposes here for us what we're looking
at is yes a modest increase to some of the wages but it's also to increase some of that staffing capability and also for the increases that we've seen in um some of the supplies and the materials
so I I mean I can get you some like Sorry I should have asked for this when I got my packet on Friday and I apologize no no no that's okay but I can get that to you i can get that to you more specifically in terms of what you're talking about with the I'm
curious what I know that was one of the accounts that has had a lot of movement over the years and member Einfeld I do know that last year I believe last year was the first year that we started um doing chargeback
to certain revolving accounts and this was one of them this was one of the accounts that already has sort of ingested a chargeback model so yeah and for that point kids corner is as well terrific thank you
uh member Russo oh I made the motion for the 3% for the before program i'd also make a motion for 3% for the afterchool program and if they're even separate programs but uh member Pad
okay okay so we have a motion on the floor to increase before and after school program tuition by 3% for the 2526 school year by member Rouso seconded by member Olady there any other
questions i'm not seeing any okay can you call the role please i'll call it twice um member Graham this is for before school member Graham yes member Inappa member Olady yes member Rinfeld yes
member Russo yes mayor Langokarn yes six in the affirmative one absent motion passes before school increase is 3% and for the after school after school member Graham yes member Intapa yes member Olady yes member Ryanfeld yes
member yes mayor Langokarn yes six in the affirmative one absent um the afterchool program rate increase is 3% thank you everyone thank you thank you thank you Miss Fitler Carrie thanks
okay we are done with the rate card um item number four recommendation to approve budget transfers um Mr noel Vez director of finance am I on all right sorry about that i'm just as excited as you are Paul i love
budget transfers um so what you have in front of you is a proposal um from the business office as a whole and the superintendent regarding uh $138,431.25 for budget transfers um what I did with this budget transfer I wanted
to keep it quarterly i like to keep things um fiscally responsible and my goal was to keep everything within their um aotted um I think we call them either codes or program codes so I wanted to keep everything I wanted to keep
everybody within their program codes regarding how they can properly spend their funding but in some areas they may have overspent in one line but they had extra money in other lines so we kind of use those funds to cover it and then um in one of the pages you'll see I give a just a small brief description of what
each budget transfer refers to and what and what these principles and what these directors um have done with their finances and this also gives them a better opportunity um as we're as we're coming towards the end of the fiscal year to see how much they have in each line and really um spend accordingly and
be fiscally responsible questions member Rouso I don't have any questions because they're all answered and I appreciate that but I'll make a motion to approve the budget transfers there's a motion to approve budget transfers by member Rouso um seconded by
member Inappa are there questions seeing no questions can you call the role please member Graham yes member Intapa yes member Olady yes member Rinfeld yes member Russo yes mayor Langokarn yes
six in the affirmative one absent motion passes thank you everyone um we do not have any presentations of the public today but we do have um some continued business so we have the second reading of policy IKF as
amended at the April 7th um regular meeting so these are requirements for graduation um and as we discussed um last week there were a few a handful of clarifications made to the um previously
updated document that laid out um participation and graduation activities and commencement um decisions around um around um meeting graduation requirements um in on in some cases
being subject to individualized IEP program processes um as well as um some updates to math to reflect that we are in transition in the math program um would you all like me to read this or is there a motion there's a motion to wave
the reading by member Reinfeld seconded by Seconded by Member Intapa roll call please member Graham yes member Intapa yes member Olady yes member Rinfeld yes member Rouso yes mayor Langoker yes six
in the affirmative one absent the um reading uh reading the policy is waved is there a motion there's a motion on the floor to approve um this policy the second reading by member Reinfeld seconded by
seconded by memberapa um member Rouso will you call the role member Graham yes member Intapa yes member yes member Rinfeld yes member Rouso yes mayor Langok
yes six in the affirmative one absent motion passes um we are on to um item number eight new business and we have one motion um it's
2025-12 offered by member Reinfeld whereas uneven distribution of students across the city's elementary schools has constrained Medford public schools ability to most effectively use physical spaces provide transportation and offer specialized services to students and whereas the city of Medford is
undergoing re-evaluation of zoning and residential areas be it resolved that the district administration will undertake a review of the potential solutions to alleviate issues of overcrowding and associated inequities as such the administration shall provide no later than May 5th May 19th 2025 a
summary of the challenges at hand and recommend next steps the report should include the following data enrollment in general education and specialized programs over the last three years average class size and relative proportion of students in general education classes who require specialized support services projected
student population growth within the city space and staffing constraints at each school average number of intra district approvals by school per year uh impact of sibling preferences on enrollment in space capacity general fluctuation of the above conditions from
year to year summary of associated transportation constraints and a list of potential long-term solutions for for consideration next steps may include feasibility studies for one or more long-term solutions meetings with community members and stakeholders and a proposed action plan for managing overcrowding at the elementary level for
the 2526 school year member Reinfeld uh so this is a very fancy way of saying our elementary schools are overcrowded we need to fix it uh what this began as a resolution to undertake those solutions but very quickly evolved into a report to assemble the data so we can
really understand uh the nature of the the problems and the challenges we're facing um I apologize this probably should have been submitted through as a report request by the time uh we were I was done writing this um but that we the community the principles the everyone
has come to us we know this is a challenge um and everyone has an idea of how it ought to be fixed whether that's through redistricting restructuring changing how we select students per elementary school uh and so
I would like for the district to um begin that process i know we've just had a lot of schedule changes that we've had to implement very quickly um but this is a pressing problem and there are two stages to this one is to figure out the long-term solutions based on the data
that we have but we also have a very urgent issue of potential kindergarten admissions exacerbating this problem for the upcoming school year so I'm looking for some short-term solutions as well as some long-term solutions and I think the
district has a lot of this data and can present the challenge and potential solutions before choosing one to really investigate further so that's the goal of this is to begin the process of solving our overcrowding issues
thank you Member Einfeld um Member Rouso did you have your I do yes thank you um I do have a question about the May 19th date i'm wondering if you've talked to the administration yet on that that was something they said they could do yes
okay then I'll and a motion to approve yes i'm so sorry i have like a dry tickle of course right during this um new business um I very much am this is a needed
um piece of information to look into it was an ongoing um thread and conversation at a lot of my meet and greets um at the elementary level as well as at the middle school level and so we have in earnest started a lot of some of this background information that
you have outlined here but it definitely needs to be a greater conversation so I welcome the opportunity um to gather this data with my team and come to you by May 19th with a further conversation
i'm also very interested in continuing this conversation with varied stakeholders so I'm I'm really glad to see that one of the pieces here is ongoing conversation with community members um member Reinfeld if I could um
potentially offer a friendly amendment um to this motion i think it is certainly well time to do this and we've sort of been dancing around it for a really long time um I do wonder if um bringing this data back to this
committee um will like in this sort of broader sense will um necessitate us having to like send it somewhere else anyway because there's a lot of work to do here um and our committee our subcommittees are intended to be working committees so I did have a suggestion um
if you are interested that this be referred to the strategic planning subcommittee where um some of these um community- based conversations can be had um in advance of them in advance of all this information coming back to us because we typically have a really
ambitious agenda and don't have time to dig in in those kinds of ways um on the floor here so that was just my suggestion i'm certainly open to that i am also on that committee so I'll be getting that information so I might confirm with colleagues who
um who are not I think any All right i'm seeing some unofficial signals that that that feels okay so yes um and my question to the superintendent is would we need because that's strategic planning for the long term would there
need to be looking at the elementary school for next year would that need to come to this group sooner or would that need to go to family engagement i would say just because of the timing of the year it would it may need to come here and then I think we
could make a decision if we feel that further conversation is needed at that subcommittee okay um would it is it possible to have that conversation about elementary without having had the bigger conversation in
the subcommittee meeting i'm just I'm thinking about timing here and the May 19th meeting so I think the question is like short can you can you bring the shortterm can we bring the short term here without that larger conversation around the long
term is that the question that is the question i mean I think you know clearly the piece here um in terms of your talking about overcrowding for the next school year is for the Roberts Elementary
School um we have seen since COVID a need for a fifth kindergarten every year and so the pressure is most acutely seen there in
terms of what the needs are going to be for school year 2526 um I guess it would depend maybe on the scheduling of when we're doing this because we really in essence really have about a month left month and a half to
make a lot of these decisions um and I believe we have two school committees left so I think it would maybe depend on the timing all right then I will accept the amendment to bring it to um strategic planning but I would defer to
the superintendent and the team if this if this piece of it needs to come on the agenda sooner yeah I I would agree with that because then we can schedule that yeah according when when the data is ready we can schedule strategic planning and see how the kindergarten situation
fits into that well we've been closely monitoring everything i'm sure okay so there is um a motion on the floor as amended that this data will go to the strategic planning subcommittee by uh motion by member
Reinfeld yes is there a second by member Rouso roll call please member Graham yes member Inappa yes member Olady yes member Rinfeld yes member Yes mayor Lgo yes
six in the affirmative one absent motion passes um okay um we have two condolences this evening the members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Constants Candy Grand A
sullivan mother of Brooks Elementary teacher Camille Far Fargo Fargo and grandmother of Jared Fargo former vocational electrical teacher and the members of the Medford School Committee expressed their sincerest condolences to the family of Sophie Marie Santoro who
self selflessly served as a crossing guard with the Medford police for nearly 30 years watching out for children in our community if we could all please rise for a moment of silence um okay our next meeting is on uh our next regular meeting is on May 5th at
Alden Memorial Chambers Medford City Hall in addition to Zoom is there a motion to adjurnn motion to adjourn by member inappa seconded by member Reinfeld roll call please member Graham yes member Intapa yes
member Olady yes member Reinfeld yes member Rouso yes mayor Langoker yes six in the affirmative one absent motion passes meeting is adjourned good night Part: 2
how does this sound are we good okay good sunny afternoon the uh 7th regular meeting of the Medford School Committee will be held on April 14th 2025 with executive session at 5:15 and um a regular meeting starting on or about 6:00 p.m um please be advised that
there'll be a meeting of the Medford School Committee held at Howard Alden Memorial Chambers Medford City Hall via remote participation um that is not true we are here in Alden Memorial Chambers and via remote participation sorry about that um the 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 channel 4345 or 47 participants can call or log in by using the following uh the meeting ID is
99718651313 um item number one on our agenda is to um call the role member So will you call the role member Branley is absent member Graham here member Entapa here member Lady here member Reinfeld here member Zo here
mayor Lungoarn present we have six present one absent um if all may 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 on our agenda uh is executive session so we have executive session of the Medford School
Committee pursuant to master journal law chapter 30A section 21A to conduct strategy session on the basis that an open meeting will have a detrimental effect on the bargaining positions of the Medford School Committee specifically uh the Medford School Committee will be discussing ongoing
collective bargaining negotiations with the Medford Teachers Association and um executive session of the Medford School Committee pursuant to master law chapter 38 section 21A4 to discuss deployment of security personnel or devices or strategies with respect
there too um is there a motion to enter executive session motion to enter executive session by member inappa seconded by member Reinfeld member so you call the role member Graham yes member Intapa yes
member Leat yes member Rinfeld yes member Yes may Langok yes six in the affirmative one absent uh we will enter executive session and we expect to reconvene in public session immediately following conclusion of the
executive session at approximately 6 PM thank you everyone thank you everybody we're back sorry for the delay that took longer than expected um we do have um one vote that came out of executive session that we need to um
just vote on the floor so member So if you can read the motion for the um security contract absolutely the motion is to approve this
project and send a request to the mayor and council the three options for their consideration with a stated preference for the option with the greatest expenditure of free cash to reduce the annual payments for the district um and I can't be more specific other than to
say it's related to security um and that motion was by member Rinfeld seconded by member Rouso was it yes
um so um we do have to take that vote again on the floor so member Rouso if you can call the role please member Granley is absent member Graham yes yes member Inappa yes member Olabat yes member Einfeld yes
member so yes and Mayor Longer oh did she drop off again mayor Mayor are you on Zoom and able to unmute i don't see her on Zoom okay um five in the affirmative zero in the negative two
absent motion passes um next up we have our consent agenda so um for this evening we have approval of minutes for the regular uh meeting of April 7th uh is there a
motion to approve the consent agenda motion to approve the consent agenda by member Lady seconded by member Rinfeld all those in favor all those opposed motion passes um under the report of the
superintendent we have a recommendation to approve a ratified contract with the Medford Teachers Association um Dr suzanne Galooi good evening um thank you very much so on um Tuesday uh last Tuesday April
8th the members of the Medford Teachers Association voted to ratify um their contract proposal and we have before this body a vote of the Medford School Committee um to accept the contract
motion to approve there's a motion to approve by member Rouso seconded by Member Lady roll call please member Graham yes member Antapa yes member Laady yes member Rinfeld yes member yes and I believe the mayor is
still absent but also couldn't vote anyways so I'll So um five in the affirmative two absent motion is approved our contract with the Medford Teachers Association is ratified for the next three years um the crowd goes wild
um here in chambers if you can't see them um I just wanted to say thank you to the bargaining team of the MTA led by President Guian and Vice President Reggano um we worked really hard to make this happen um we worked really hard to
bring um the promises of the override to life in a real way for students and that will mean things like 15 more minutes in the school day um increased um dedication to professional development with two additional professional development days a reduction of half
days um which are hard for students and families um improvements to um our grading policies uh alignment of the high school schedule to move to a sevenb block schedule um which will create opportunity for further integration
between the vocational school and the academic side um I hope my daughter never personally has to do online Spanish ever again um as I'm sure many students do and um we and a whole host of other things in terms of opening up access to academic support and electives
at the high school level creating challenge classes at the middle school level and giving our littlest learners more time with their um teachers so it's a it's a huge deal it's an important contract um and I just wanted to say thank you for all the people who um
helped us get here as quickly as we did because this was fast um and I want to thank you in advance for the work that is to come because this is just the beginning of um what will be a really big transformation um between now and the start of um the school year next year
anybody else oh yeah uh Dr yeah thank you very much um thank you for that i also want to just also say in a thank you to uh you vice chair Graham and member Rouso for your leadership in this negotiation process there was a true
partnership um for the Medford public schools as well as in our work with you on the school committee um it was a very collaborative collegial process that we had with Medford um teachers association you you spoke about all the highlights i
thank you very much um but I want to say that we do have a lot of work ahead but it is a very exciting time for the students of the Medford public schools um and we are excited to get that work done with teachers there'll be a lot to do um the rest of this school year as
well as throughout the summer to make sure that we are prepared with new schedules at all the levels um and a lot of opport increased opportunity and access for our students um we did put something out to the greater community
uh in terms of in terms of a press release for families to have a little bit more detail um they can kind of search their emails and also look at the metro public schools website for a little bit more information um if so needed but just wanted to also extend
that thank you thank you Dr thank you Dr gluci u member Reinfeld yep i echo all of the thanks and appreciation for the work that's happening and I want to extend it to the members of the community students teachers parents voters who allowed us
to have these conversations about what we can do for students and with students um rather than what we can't this was a much more encouraging budget process and negotiation that we were able to do this
quickly and that is because people in the community put their trust in our schools our administration our teachers our um just everyone involved in this so I just wanted to thank the members of the community and the voters this
couldn't have been possible without the override funds and a commitment to putting students first so thank you thank you Member Einel give me one second while I figure out who's next member Rouso you're the
next button thank you i don't want to repeat everything but um I also want to say that I'm I'm grateful for what the the override has has offered us as a community but I think also as a community it's worth noting that we will
not be like virtually every other community right now which is going through a torturous experience of there'll be strikes and there'll be cuts and this is sort of the year when the
the hammer came down on COVID and and now we're at tariffs and other things so um I feel very fortunate to be in a community where instead of having a a packed room of people screaming at us to not cut this and not cut
that we're instead giving our kids more which is uh an a wonderful experience um I do find that the negotiations were they were a lot of long nights um but I felt like I certainly also felt like I
had a lot of good relationships building up with the uh the MTA uh team as well as of course the administration and um Vice Chair Graham so I appreciate all the the work that has gone in i know that there's much more to do and um I look forward to making sure all of our
other contracts are also buttoned up nicely thank you thank you members so are there any other questions comments okay um congratulations teachers um and we're excited to get to
work so thank you all for those of you who are on joining us tonight um really exciting stuff so thank you it's it's a bit it's a really big deal what we just accomplished together um so the thing that everyone has been waiting for item
number two is the approval of the 2526 school year calendar um and before I turn it over to Dr glooy um you know the the calendar is largely governed by the teachers contract here and in most communities and there are certain things
that um never change and then there are things that are up for discussion particularly when it is a contract renewal year and the reason for the delay this year has been that there were in fact things that we were discussing um with the MTA in terms of
how to chart a different course forward for our students um that did have a material impact on the calendar and so the the noteworthy the two noteworthy items there um are the elimination of six half days um those days will now be
full days for students um and the addition of two additional professional days for staff um and so all of those things matter when you talk about what's the first day of school and how does the whole calendar look and um I will turn
it over to Dr glissy and Dr cushing at this point um but I just wanted to thank the community for their patience because I know um August is right around the corner and I know people have been very eager to sort of start planning um for their families for next year so thank
you for your patience and hopefully we will approve a calendar tonight turn it over to you you literally took the words out of my mouth thank you for framing that so nicely um I'm going to turn it over to Dr cushing now that that kind of foundation has been set that's exactly
what I was going to say just to frame um he's going to walk through uh the school calendar and the work that he did in collaboration with our communications director Will Pacelli um but Dr cushing uh thank you i do want to thank the
entire community for your patience i know that the school calendar is something that the the committee has a policy to deliver in November uh that simply just was not able to happen this year i do want to thank Dr um I do want to thank Joanne Allen Lisa
Malone our two executive assistants Will Pipacelli uh and anyone else I may be forgetting uh putting the calendar together believe it or not is a significantly challenging exercise uh just because of making sure that we have 180 school days and making sure that the
various holidays professional development days half days and everything else that goes into it are carefully considered and calculated uh so I will share my screen now just one moment um and all right so we developed two
calendars this year um one of the things with adding the professional development days and the number of holidays as well as where the winter break falls around New Year's this year um posed some unique challenges um to also meeting
state statute so we proposed option square uh and option triangle and those were simply because we don't want anyone to have a preference with whatever it may be um but uh both calendars have identical dates for the first day of school the first day of school will be
on uh Wednesday August 27th uh new teachers will report the week of August 18th and all teachers will report for 2 days in advance what we call district launch day and the first professional development day on August 25th and
August 26th kindergarten students will start on September 3 which is the following Wednesday um so those are unique across the board um as are the professional development days the no
students uh for the August 25th August 26th November 4th January January 20th sorry January 20th i'm going to blame um lack of sleep and then March uh 3rd that is correct on the
calendar i'll make sure it's correct in this before we publicize it early release days um that are the same across the calendar both calendars these change for the last day of schools on the calendars but the early release days that are consistent on both calendars
are the Thanksgiving holiday and then what we've been able to do this year is add caregiver conferences for all levels uh those will take place on December 10th and February 4th uh the new year holiday will start on December 23rd with
a half day on that day and then the district is closed on the 24th uh so option square strictly adheres to policy ICA and honors all religious holidays as expected across um
the religions option Square without snow days has us releasing on June 24th schools will not close for city elections on September 16th for the last two years we have been able to operate with city elections in our buildings and
we have oper operationalized that with the city um I want to thank Nina Nazarian and members of the election commission for that and literally taking a tour of the district to go around and make sure that that would work um so per 603 CMR27
uh Massachusetts school districts must schedule 185 days of school while only being required to be in session for a minimum of 180 days this is to make sure that um if snow happens or other weather events you have scheduled the days and you won't lose them to the new fiscal
year graduation in this calendar will be held on June 11th 2026 the high school principal has requested a break from med tradition of a Wednesday graduation day to move to a Thursday graduation day uh
central leadership district leadership has has respected that because she has presented valid reasons uh in the preparation to move that uh date um so graduation per 603 CMR27.05 05
subsection 2 uh requires that um committees basically hold seniors for as long as possible however uh they say you can dismiss them tw up up to 12 days ahead of time so given the timing of the new year holiday and the placement of
religious holidays scheduling 185 days is not feasible we are able to schedule 184 days but we are missing that one day option triangle seeks relief and advice the the policy says that we are to seek
advice so we seek relief and advice from the committee um but I wanted to po we wanted to pose option triangle as this option so schools will not close for city elections again on 9:16 we will be open for those district leadership is proposing reducing one Christian Jewish
and Islamic holiday uh and those would be uh we would be in school on Roshashana students who observe that would be able to take it off under the EB provisions of the uh policy good Friday students who observe that would
be able to not be in school and then Eid alada was uh selected to um uh the other Eid represents the end of Ramadan the highest holy season in the Islamic faith so we took these three um and maintained
the highest holy days uh as seen in those face fates option triangle without snow days has school releasing on June 18th uh one be one day before another federally mandated holiday Junth um
graduation day under this calendar because of this shift would be on June 4th uh and again graduate I don't need to repeat that and this calendar allows us to fulfill desi requirements under 603 CMR27
uh I do have two policy recommendations to uh update this policy I apologize to the committee that the second one was not in the packet uh the other day uh first indigenous people's day is not listed is only listed as Columbus Day we
have for the past several years um I think at least the last five listed them both listed it both as Columbus indigenous people's day um as Columbus Day is still the federally recognized name um sadly that might not change for the next three and a half years uh the
district calendar does recognize this annually we do have indigenous people's day on the calendar uh presently also the policy states specifically this list does not include election days when school buildings must close to provide
polling places so as mentioned earlier in this presentation uh we do not have the need to close on those days presently while it is best we are able to manage it and district leadership is recommending a language adjustment to recognize that school buildings may have
to close uh for those polling paces but I would recommend either that goes to the subcommittee or um for future consideration on the floor i'm happy to share either of the two um options uh visually with the
committee just give me one second the Zoom bar is needs to be moved on my end here oh there it is perfect uh so this is option square uh the calendars on the
reverse or page two um are fully updated and compliant with both the square and the triangle options um because there is a slight modification on uh the days as cons as contemplated so
uh this is the Medford for public schools square option that you can see gets us out on the 24th we have four days after and then um the triangle with one major removed
for uh Christianity uh Judaism and uh Islam there as well and I'm happy to take any advice the committee has member Russo thank you appreciate the
heads up this was coming um and uh when we did the policy we also had not contemplated the additional two PD days which um are new starting in this year um so when we made these changes to the policy we had played them out I believe
through 2030 or 2029 and things would work um but something else changed that I don't think we had anticipated at that time so um I have two motions um one is to send the recommendations here as well
as um a discussion about the religious holidays in the context of how many school days we actually have staff work days there are um and then the other one is a motion to
approve uh option triangle and now let me write those down thank you members so I think we have a few other questions maybe um do we want to take those before
we uh No i see a couple of mics here so let's see mic seven oh sorry that's Dr cushing never mind okay never mind oh hold on member Rinfeld
Dr kushing I'm hoping you can tell us a little bit about the consultation i know a lot of thought went into designating holidays and I'm hoping you can t talk about how communities were consulted about the possibility i had a lot of conversations
with people when we were reviewing last year's calendar um but I can speak to one religion more than others as I imagine many people here can so and um so we used I actually used past year's
consultation when in in speaking with various communities about this in past years about which holidays were considered more the holiest um interestingly enough if I were to have you know made a consideration um
unfortunately Christmas is also a state holiday but you know and I'm sure this will be open to wide debate but Good Friday in the faith is a significantly more um higher holiday i know that that's definitely open for debate and 23 years
of Catholic school uh people can argue with me but um and so in previous conversations we uh I I have spoken to faith leaders um and uh what we did was we went I went on that previous
experience as to understand which were the holidays that were for for lack of a better term um the higher holidays um I think for this district one of the most significant shifts is going to be Good
Friday um but I do believe that um it it's something that many other districts are also considering and in this unique situation i don't I don't consider that this is something that we should do every year to ask for alleviation from
the policy um but you know we still have the opportunity for staff to take these as religious holidays um we still have for students not counting against their bank correct yes and I only I only defer to the superintendent just because um I should
defer to the superintendent so I want to make sure of that but no it won't count against them y um and I think that in all honesty um the professional development days are going to help our district grow uh and in the future these these holidays we're
not requesting that they are removed uh you know there'll be a larger policy discussion but this is a this at this point right now this is a one-time request hence the motion to discuss further i' I'd be interest I also support triangle
and I'd be interested to see how that goes to inform future i'll defer to colleagues member thank you um in both cases like in the examples of students that do take these holidays off as that is their faith
practice is there an expectation that them or their families have to denote that somewhere that this is a holiday they do recognize or is that just scouts honor i mean it should be uh scouts honor we should not be probing into uh
students personal lives uh on this it should be their own uh personal faith-based decision uh what I would say though is that we as a district and many other districts probably have to do a better job of reminding all of our staff that uh on these holidays major assignments should not be assigned or
due per the policy um and to also um make sure that we're we're continually communicating that out that if a student observes these holidays uh it's not a lark it is or a staff member is something that is important to them and for lack of you know speaks to their
soul as to who they are definitely thank you so much y member Rinfeld yep i was just going to say I know that we in our schools do need to really make sure that those that assign major
assignments and tests are not happening um and to be aware of the burden that can be on students to notify teachers that this is a holiday for me um it is sometimes challenging for students
um not all students but those students who are not comfortable putting themselves out there in this way i certainly hear from people that having teachers be ready and aware and not making it a big deal will be really
important as well as the the other student acceptance of marginalized religions in particular and I think in terms of choosing which holiday the other piece here is what actually happens during the observance right the observance of Yamapour is a
fast basing holiday it's very different than rashashana So I appreciate that consideration in this decision or this request member in Tapa sure uh I just have a motion to sever the motion into two separate motions one for the
approval to send it to discussion and then the other one to approve they are two already okay cool i couldn't hear that well thank you i resend okay okay so member Russo do you want to read your first motion first motion is to approve the triangle
option uh okay so motion to approve the triangle option calendar by member Rouso seconded by second member Leady is there anybody on Zoom who wishes to speak
no okay roll call roll call if I may um from through the chair before the role is called um I I too think option um triangle option is is best i just want to make sure that our superintendent just plans accordingly in case um we
have a great number of teachers who take off on Good Friday i know that's happened in um a local community near ours and I so I just want to make sure we can still have class for for the students that want to you know are able to come to school
uh so heard I think this will require a lot of kind of conversation and planning both with our uh teachers union and with school leaders so we will ensure that we have those conversations uh around planning
moving forward great thank you superintendent thank you thank you so I I think the other thing worth mentioning is that during negotiations the topic of the number of religious holidays that we do have in our calendar did come up and there seemed like there was broad
interest and being more dialed into like what those options might be so um we can you know when we talk about the subcommittee we can talk about inviting them but I'm hopeful that um some of the changes that are proposed in this calendar uh will be met with favor and
participation so um I'm excited about that so member Rouso if you can call the role please certainly member Graham yes member Intapa no member Olady yes member Rinfeld yes member Russo yes mayor Langokarn yes
five in the affirmative one in the negative one absent motion passes um member Rouso would you call your next motion certainly the motion is to send the calendar policy ICICA recommendations to the policy subcommittee for review and
consideration of policy changes motion by member Russo seconded by me member Rinfeld are there any questions on Zoom um member Lead
oh okay um let's see member Reinfeld um this to clarif I just seconded this I should have this is to discuss both the changes recommended by Dr cushing and the holidays in general yes yes um in
that case I would want to make sure that we invited um faith leaders and representatives from to attend this meeting explicitly inviting them not just making it known that this polic subcommittee is meeting
chair member Russo yes um you had asked uh Dr cushing earlier about this when we created this policy and we did invite all of the I watched that meeting oh okay i did watch it um so yeah we will certainly do that again u because I
think we're in a different situation now um we also didn't I don't believe we even had Junth at that time either we didn't so um I do I do think there might be a conversation to be had with our state delegation at least on the eastern part of the state where we haven't had five snow days in so long it's um
questionable whether we'll ever have five snow days again but uh that's outside the scope I think right now so shall I do that thank you um anybody else okay um member Russo will you call the role please certainly member Graham yes
member Intapa yes member Laady yes member Rinfeld yes member Russo yes mayor Langokarn yes six in the affirmative one absent motion passes okay um item number three we have our uh rate card for afterchool MEEP and Kids
Corner by Dr galooi interim superintendent thank you very much so this evening we're here for an approval request for from the Medford School Committee uh as vice chair member
Graham mentioned for the uh before and after school care the MEEP which is our preschool program and Kids Corner which is our municipal daycare program um during an annual review of all of our care programs throughout Metro Medford
Public Schools we've observed rise in expenses salaries and operational costs and so in order to maintain the quality um of the education that we pride ourselves on we're here to request a very modest adjustment to tuition in the
three programs um I'll talk through those in a brief moment this is going to allow us to strengthen our investment in staff in resources and in accessibility that is currently there which will ultimately enhance the educational programming and experience for our
students so the first one that I'd like to discuss is Kids Corner so last year the families that use Kids Corner as our municipal daycare did receive um a memo highlighting the three years of a kind
of tiered increase to the tuition um but unfortunately I don't think it went before this board in a formal manner as part of the rate increases so you will see here what the current um increase is for this school year as well as the next
two school years um this accounts for an increase in tuition and a reflection of the increase that was given to the salaries of the employees of Kids Corner um so that
we're we're giving them an increase that's more of a living wage um for what they deserve and so that was done last year through the bargaining team and the ratified contract and so we adjusted the tuition um as you see here in the
charts i don't know if you want to ask questions for each program as we go we can do that okay um are there any questions about kids corner um I just had a brief question so the 20 2425 rates are on page one and then 2526
are on page two um and also 2627 yes okay thank you and just for your the I also linked the memo that went to families for your you know reference um are there other questions about kids corner before we go
on separate we We can take motions about each one motion to approve so motion to approve Kids Corner rates for the 2526 and 2627 school year by member Reinfeld seconded
by member Wat are there any questions online no questions i'm not seeing any uh member Russo can you call the role please member Graham yes member Antapa yes member Olady yes member Rinfeld yes
member yes mayor Langokarn yes six in the affirmative one absent motion passes kids corner rates are approved for 2025 26 and 26 27 on to MEEP on to MEEP um so similar with MEEP and maybe
some of the talking points I'll I'll also be giving for um before and after school care um the consideration for MEEP uh so the increase in tuition also allow will allow us to look at our resources in terms of
staffing staffing needs that are needed for the program um at each of the schools as well as increase some access opportunities um for MEEP some of the uncertainty that's in the world today um we're it's
hard to to necessarily determine where we'll be with some of the grant funding that is also used um for for MEEP purposes so what you have here um you have the current tuition rates for 2425
this year and then for next year 2526 we have shown an increase of what a 2% tuition increase would be and what a 3% tuition increase would be we are here tonight requesting the 3% based on some of the uncertainty and the coverage that
we want to have for resource staff as well as um increasing access for families um so that would be the second number that's listed happy to answer any questions yes
uh member inappa oh member Russo thank you is there um an error in the meat tuition charts across the board um there's five days and four days for Brooks five days and four days for Roberts and then there's two five days
and a 4 day for Missuk and that second five-day one is hugely more expensive than all the other programs so I'll pro yes yes I'm going to ask our director of student services um Joan Bowen to come and answer some of the
specific questions regarding each individual school because in each of the there's three miss programs for each of the MEEPS and the there's this one fiveday one which is dramatically more expensive that's so
that's your microphone there is it working so that's our full day program that's more expensive the other programs that are four and five that are lesser money are the half day programs so students either come in the morning or in the afternoon and then there's
several programs that are full day okay i just when we send this out we might want to make sure to clarify that clarify that for anybody else reading it thank you yep um let's see member and Tapa thank you on the same aspect of Missuk uh for that
second five day uh according to this the price goes down by $2 is that the correct rate because it goes from 552 to 550 or am I just reading this wrong for meep for the second 5day matuk
for monthly is 552 yearly 5525 and then on meep 2025 to 2026 that second fiveday is 550 and then 5504 so it's less Is that the actual rate or um I'm gonna
have to double check those numbers okay i believe I think the yearly I think the yearly may be an error that we can look into because the month Yeah the monthly and yearly are both both options are less than what is 20 the 2024 and 2025 number so I'm not sure what the actual
25 and 26 number is if that is the actual number but it it's all of them go up except for that one well so the 3% is 550 which is an increase right now from what it is which is 525 oh I see what you say
i think these didn't get updated the new rates yeah that that's my it's more of a point of clarification it's what is that is the 2526 number correct or is the 2425 number correct so the 2425 number
is correct we have to adjust the 2526 number for that particular program thank you i think that's the that's the only one I've noticed so far and the and the proposal is that they your the request is that they all
increase by 3% correct across the board so those numbers would change for the fiveday full class yes okay y thank you thank you member see member so thank you um for Kids
Corner we approved the next two school years but for me we're only approving the next school year is there a reason just didn't get to it we We wanted to see what the results would be oh um and then
I mean I might be back here next year okay asking for another rate increase because it is um we have 80 spots for our community students so we wanted to see um what the increase the impact would have if people would be more apt
to sign up because it's you know half day like what the impact is going to be so we'd like to do 3% now and then increase um possibly and then have a two or threeyear plan perfect thank you yep
i also think it's important to note um that Joan u Miss Bowen and her department has also done a lot of comparison um research data and our prices for MEEP are quite affordable and
lower than the sur the surrounding preschool programs within the city of Medford member Reinfeld so you answered my first question my second one was what was the previous what have the increases been like previous what's the history so
there has not been a history of increases in probably the last three or four years okay y thank you let's see member Rouso uh motion to approve the MEEP rates at 3% for the next school year
there's a motion to approve the um meep rates at 3% for the next school year by member Rouso is there a second seconded by member Reinfeld uh are there any questions from the folks online
are we are we I can see [Music] I mean you shouldn't have to have any broadcasting to YouTube from what I understand we are broadcasting to Oh
I see okay okay so if you are listening you can join us on Zoom or on YouTube for the live action play by play play by play um okay so we have a motion on the
floor by member Rouso seconded by member Reinfeld um will you call the role please member Graham yes member Antapa yes member Olat yes member Reinfeld yes member Russo yes mayor Langokarn yes six in the affirmative one absent um
need rates for 2526 will increase by 3% and that is approved thank you next up we have the before and after school program okay so um similarly to what we've been discussing
for the other two programs um we would like to make a modest increase to the tuition for the before school and the afterchool programs um to increase the accessibility that we have and with the
uncertainty of not totally knowing we've already seen some increases in the materials and the supplies um in order to run after school and so without really knowing what's fully ahead um we're asking again similarly you will
see on these charts you will see the rates for this current year for before school and after school and then you will see for next year the what 2% looks like verse a 3% increase um you know we defer and welcome any questions of
conversation for the from the committee um I think we would like to see 3% but happy to discuss what that would look like um in order to cover the increase in cost and you know um access for our
families i do have um Megan Fidlerary on the call if there are also some specific questions for her um member inappa thank you similar point of clarification i'm
assuming it's just another clerical issue of if you're looking at the four care program the 3% increase is less than the 2% increase um it's more of an ask that I'm assuming it's my math is not awful is probably 12257 instead of
11257 um so if that could just be corrected for our families at home if they're using this as a point of reference that would be great um where what are you looking at before before care programs
school year 2025 to 2026 the number for 3% is less than the number for 2% for which on monthly for day three for the three-day option yes right yeah and it should say
122 and57 it's the inverses so what I think what what um chair sorry could we uh take a fivem minute re recess to figure out Zoom sure um let's take a fivem minute recess while we
figure out our Zoom access so people can listen in we'll be right back folks uh stand by while we're in recess what I'll do is I will stop this Zoom and go check the settings and relaunch in about two minutes for anyone who is on you'll be
able to use the same exact link all right but in approximately two minutes um I'll see if there's a setting uh it's working now it's work it's working now it looks like it just hadn't worked until now
thanks for your patience everyone we're going to disconnect this Zoom and restart it in two minutes um and everyone on the call will have to dial in our apologies or you can keep watching on YouTube um if