And the meeting is being recorded. Meeting can be viewed live on the Medford Public Schools YouTube channel through Medford Community Media on your local cable channel, Comcast Jill 98 or22 and Verizon channel 43,45 or 47. Participants can log or call in by using
the following Zoom link and the meeting ID is 91864528392. Members, if you don't mind calling the role, please. There it is. Uh, member Branley >> here. >> Member Graham >> here. >> Member Intapa >> here. >> Member Olady
>> here. >> Member Rinfeld >> here. >> Member Russo here. Mayor Lynch >> present. Seven present, zero absent. I don't believe any student reps are on the call just yet, so we'll let you know. And if we all may rise to salute the flag, please
to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> We have executive session pursuant to general law chapter 30A, section A3. The
Memphis School Committee will convene an executive session to discuss collective bargaining with Medford Teachers Association, MTA, regarding a grievance stated September 16th, 2025. And the chair so declares. Is there a motion to enter executive session?
>> By member in Tapa, seconded by >> member Lai. Roll call, please. Member Brley, >> yes. >> Member Graham, >> yes. >> Member Entapa, >> yes. >> Member Olady, >> yes. >> Member Rinfeld, >> yes. >> Member Russo, yes. Mayor Lindern, >> yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero the
negative. Motion to enter executive session has been approved. We will be back as close to six as possible. Thank you. John, welcome everybody. We have um just finished executive
session. Sorry for the delay. Um to the members, I don't know if anybody has any under good of the order. Hearing and seeing none, I'll go on to the consent agenda. We have approval of bills and payrolls, approval of capital purchases, approval
of donations, approval of grants, approval of field trips, and approval of the regular meeting minutes from November 17th, 2020 25. Is there a motion on the floor? Motion >> by member, seconded by member Branley. All those in favor? All those opposed?
Consent agenda is approved. There's no reports of subcommittees and there are three reports from our superintendent. First up is our students. So I'll turn over to you Dr. Galooi for Mustang moment. >> Thank you very much. Good evening. I'm
so excited um for this Mustang moment. So I'm going to ask uh we have four I believe Robert's uh writers here and they're going to talk to us about the school newspaper. Uh, we have teacher and I think adviser Jen um Develin and
we have Principal Cabraw, excuse me, Principal Croll. Sorry about that. It's been a long day. But I'm going to ask for um Principal Croll and Miss Develin to come and just tee us up so that we
can listen to the students. Great. Thank you for having us here tonight um to showcase the work of our young scholars and educators at the Robert School. This past June, Owen Jetty Walsh submitted a proposal to
start a studentrun newspaper called the Robert's Rampage. Owen shared with me all of the reasons why we needed a student newspaper. He said, quote, "It will teach us to write better, edit and publish our work,
develop leadership skills, share school news, strengthen community ties, and build school spirit." He even spoke with Miss Develin to help with supervision and guidance. He had it all covered. Reporters from the Robert Rampage are
here tonight to highlight their work and share with you their first edition. So speaking tonight, I have our publisher and editor Owen Jetty Walsh, Mary Massa, Karen Nonire, Naima Ashure. We also have Ruby Gearhart
in Hayden Richards, which are newspaper staff, but they will not be speaking tonight. I would like to introduce you to Jen Develin, who is their adviser. Thank you. Welcome, Miss Evelyn. Hi there. Thank you so much for having us tonight. Um Owen, I've had the pleasure
of having Owen my class in second grade and in third grade. And literally the last week in third grade, he said, "Can I hang up this piece of paper in the back of the classroom for a sign up?" And I said, "Sure, what's it for?" And he said, "I want to start a school newspaper." And I was like, "Wow, that
is an amazing idea. I would love to help you with that with that." So, we wrote a proposal as Mrs. Kroll said and um we met actually at towards the end of the summer together just Owen and I we generated some ideas. We worked together for a few days in September and we put
together a first special edition which I believe that you have a copy of and um we've gone through the process of inviting fourth and fifth graders to be part of the staff. Um, we have layout and design team, we have a special features team, we have writers, we have illustrators, and so we're really
excited. Our first uh, edition should be coming out any week now. So, I'm going to turn it over now to Owen who's going to come up, the editor-inchief, and he's going to come up and share a little bit. Hello everyone. I am Owen Jenny Walsh
and I am the editor and chief of the new Robin Lampage School paper. Thank you for having me. I started thinking about the lamp page last year and I was in third grade because I read a lot of books where schools had student learn papers. I studed the paper in this step this
year in fourth grade and I think it is a fun way for kids to know what's going on in school. When the face edition came out it felt kind of corn and I started the face newspaper and I feel lucky that I missed everyone to help me. I'm
looking forward to seeing it grow time. I'm hoping other schools do this as well. Again, thank you for having me. >> Hi, my name is Mary Massa. I am a fourth grader at the Roberts. I joined the Roberts Rampage because I enjoy writing.
I like my job more because I'm writing for kids. I am able to write about fun stuff that I like too. For the upcoming issue, I am writing about the student council food drive. I got to interview students and teachers and took photos to go along with my article. This is a
really fun experience for me. My name is Kira Nakonire. I work for the Robert's Rampage. My job is special features editor. I wanted to be this job because I thought a jokes and riddles page would bring laughter to the school newspaper. It would be a hundred times
better. This way it would show information too. This would bring the school together with information and laughter. Thank you for having me. >> Nice. Good job. My name is Na. I am in fifth grade at the Roberts Elementary School. One
reason I joined the newspaper, the Rampage, is to make other students at the school feel like they can do hard things. Even though writing is hard for me, I submitted an application to be part of the paper. I love art, so I put in the application to be on the layout
and design team. Miss Develin then also asked me if I wanted to be in charge of the Ramdram. The Ram is a session in which teachers show something positive that has been happening in their classes.
This is the other reason I joined the newspaper to make students feel included in their community. I can also ask students what they want in the paper so we can include everyone. I'm so happy to
be part to be part of the newspaper. I know it will strengthen our school's comm community. >> Great job everybody. Wow. Impressive. That's so impressive. Thank you so much. What a wonderful
example of why it's so important to have opportunities for student voice and for the adults to really listen to what the students are saying. And it was really great to hear the different roles that you're all taking based on both what you
think your strengths are verse where you want to push yourself in areas that you know would be helpful for you. I'm so proud of the work that you're doing. I don't know if anyone has any quick questions for our professional authors
and artists. Member Inappa, >> thank you. I'll keep it brief because I usually ramble about all these things, but I'm I'm at a loss for words at just how beautiful this concept is um and the support that it has and just the
initiative of wanting to start a newspaper in elementary school and having it and be successful and having students actually say, "Yeah, I want to learn this because I want to do this when I'm older. I want to do this for the next few years to see if I want to try it out." having that space to just learn of hey if I want to do art and
graphic design layout or hey I want to do this and I want to try writing for the first time um no other word can describe that besides beautiful so thank you thank you for doing all you're doing thank you for um doing that for your peers and also for yourselves this is a really cool thing and I hope you take
advantage of keeping this going so thank you >> member Brinley I just want to give a round of applause to Miss Delin because without teachers like you, stuff like this does not happen. So, thank you for taking the time going the extra mile for these kids. >> Member Reinfeld.
>> Yeah, I just want to say thank you to all the Robert's students. Some of you know that I am a Robert's parent. This is my final year, my 10th year at the Roberts School. And one of the most wonderful things that I've seen is the connections between classes and across grades. Um I actually wrote for the
student newspaper when I was in elementary school. I did the advice column this um but I love the connections here across disciplines and across the community. And I have to give a shout
out to the Ram page because I know this school worked really hard to choose their new logo and chose the Robert Rams and I think it's a great name and I love seeing what's on the page. Um the communication is one of the things that I think we've really been working on in
Medford and at the Roberts in particular. And seeing the student voice take that on is really special and really exciting. And I'm going to try to sneak copies even after I leave the Roberts. So, thank you all and thanks for being here. >> Wonderful. Thank you. I'll make sure I
don't unsubscribe since my students just left left Roberts so I can read the newspaper. If you all want to come up, we'll take a picture and highlight the awesome job you've done. Well, I don't know. Where's
I am. Okay. Ne next next up we have the McGlin and Andrews Solar Projects presentation. I know we have Mr. Ken Lord, chief operations officer, and Miss Brenda Pike, our staff planner for the city,
climate policy, office of planning, development, and sustainability. Thank you, Brenda, for joining us. >> Thank you, Mr. Lord. I'll turn it over to you. >> Great. So, the used this topic the last time we were
here talking about the Andrews McGllin uh HVAC projects, but we have a proposal now to talk with you about. Um, and that's for a power purchase agreement for a 360 kilowatt system. Um, that
would generate about 48% of the McGllin's current electricity usage. Um, and that would be at a flat rate of about 4 and a half cents per kilowatt hour. That would be for 20 years, no escalation.
Um, and we it's projected that we'd be saving about $64,000 in year one uh from this project. And the installation will start in the fall after the HVAC project and the McGlin roof refurbishment project is done. Uh, but we do have to
sign the contract by the end of this year. in order to meet federal tax credit requirements. Um while we won't own the system, the installer would be applying for those tax credits and that's reflected in the rate that we have. Um if we didn't get those tax credits, the the rate would be about
twice as much as is shown right there. And we're going to city council later this month uh to get their approval because it's a contract longer than three years. Thank you, Miss Pike. Member Russo.
>> Um, thank you. This is very very exciting. Um, the 48% it I am Am I correct that actually I I How much electricity is the um turbine producing or is that already kind of being
deducted from the current amount? Um, I think the turbine is about when it was first installed it was about 10% of the school's usage. So, it's it's some somewhat less than that now. Probably in the 7 to 8% range. >> And is 48% of the total usage or the
minus that 10% first or whatever it is. >> So, it's 48% of the the total usage. >> Wonderful. >> Oh, wow. That's we've been over the halfway mark of >> Yeah. >> of uh usage. That's wonderful. Thank you. Um, and when we get to it, um, I don't know if there's specific language we have to approve. We often have set
language for these types of things. I'm sure the city council will have very specific language, but um, if anybody has that language when we get to the point where we make a motion. >> Sorry, members. It's hard to hear. >> Can you hear me now?
>> Yep. A little better. Yes. >> Okay. Sorry, I don't know if this was an honor. I didn't have it close enough, but I just wanted to say if there's any specific language that we have to provide approval for. Um, we should get that before the meeting's over tonight.
>> Yes. I I believe it's the December 18th meeting that we'll present this before the city council just for um a vote in favor of hopefully allowing us to go out to contract for longer than three years. So, I don't know if there's additional language the council will talk about,
but please feel free to um comment now, although I think it's pretty straightforward. Member Olady and then member Graham. >> Thank you. Um when it comes to the timeline, I know you mentioned uh fall of 26. Is there a general idea about how
long this project will take? >> Um I expect it will probably take um two to three months from start to finish. Um, and then is there going to be any, and this is we're already dealing with this a little bit with HVAC, um, in the roof refurbishing, um, generally being
somewhat during school hours and somewhat being after the fact, is there going to be any type of student impact of classes or things like that? Um, other than just general noise, >> I don't expect that it would. And if there are things that would be more impactful, like having a crane, for instance, moving things onto the roof,
we would be scheduling that outside of school hours. >> Thank you. Member Graham. Thank you. Um I just had one question about the December 31st, 2026 um timeline. So between now and December
31st, we have to vote to approve. The council has to vote to allow you to enter into a longer contract than three years. Are there other steps that have to happen between now and December 31? um we we need to to finalize the
contract and and get the signatures on it, but other than than that, that's it. Yeah. Okay. And then um we haven't talked about it too much in this forum, but we were notified by the MSBA that we got, um awarded
um our three statement of interest, statements of interest. I don't exactly know how to make that plural. um for um roof replacements or refurbishments at uh Roberts, Misatuck, and Brooks in the coming like two years essentially. And
my question is whether we should be pursuing a power purchase agreement in advance of the December 31st deadline for those three projects as well. Um because this like just the savings alone of the rate of 4 cents versus 13 cents
is huge savings and I know we couldn't do it until there's like new roofing in place but those three projects are all like heading you know down the fast path so to speak with MSBA providing partial reimbursement. Yeah, there there is an
installation time frame for those tax credits as as well as the contract time frame. Um, so I don't think with the roof refurbishment timelines as as they're going to be that it would meet the the requirements for those tax
credits, but we um we can take another look at that. Yeah, I think um we have some rough timing um of what those projects will look like, but I think we also have some like wiggle room in terms of how we sequence
those projects out. So, if there was an opportunity for us to capitalize on this too, I would just want to know that so that we can move on that quickly if we need to. Um, so maybe if you can just check and let Ken know, we can figure
out like if it if it lines up, great. Because then we can do more than one school at this reduced energy cost. >> Yeah, absolutely. We should talk about that. Yeah. >> Okay. Um, I would just on that point,
member Graham, I would just a ask the council to maybe take a B paper or a side vote that if by chance we can enter those contracts that you want us to do that versus having Miss Pike come back um around the holidays when our last
meeting is. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's fine. Totally fine. >> Yeah. So, um, and just to sort of follow up, there's no there's no specific language that you need us to vote on to be able to enact this contract. Is that
correct? >> My understanding is that we that we don't. The only real requirement is that we we have approval from from you and the the approval from the city council for the three-year contract. >> Got it. Yeah. Um, so I'd like to make a motion to approve um entering into this
agreement for the McGlin Solar and if possible um expanding the scope of this to include our three buildings that are currently in the MSBA uh roof refurbishment pipeline.
Okay. I just didn't know if we need a clean vote, but I don't think we do. So, uh, we'll move we'll call the role um on member Graham's motion and seconded by member Reinfeld. >> Who was first? I'm sorry. >> Member Graham and member Rinfeld. Thank you. I have a lot of
>> All those all those in favor I >> All those opposed I >> motion passes. Thank you, Miss Pike. Thank you, Mr. Ward. We need your microphone back on. Okay, go ahead. Sorry. Plug. >> One small plug. There are some differences between municipal solar and
residential solar. So, if there's anyone watching from home uh who is thinking about installing solar on their own home, we have an electrify Medford program where you can talk to one of our energy coaches one-on-one about your specific situation and get recommendations.
>> Thank you, Miss Pike. I actually my husband and I talked to you and now we have a new heating system which is environmentally friendly. So we we used your service and we got the tax credits just in time. So please call our office if you need that help. Thank you.
>> Thanks. >> Next up I'm going to turn over to um Superintendent Galooi for a community input and space utilization presentation. and I think you're going to break down some of the data from the survey that was um given a couple weeks ago. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. Yes. So, I am going to start at the previous school committee meeting. Um it was discussed by this body to open this up for community input. I'm just going to begin with a little bit of framing as to the work that's been done
so far in case there are people listening that might need a little bit of a recap. So during the November 17th meeting, we discussed part of the work that's been done with last year's resolution around overcrowding
initiatives uh at the elementary which resulted in the a space utilization study. So on this slide you will see the work that we have done so far and a recap of that meeting. So last summer,
the district worked with HMFH architects and they conducted a space utilization study of the Brooks, the Missatuck, the Roberts, the McGllin, and the Andrews. And they looked at the way that the classrooms have been used and they
identified spaces that could possibly use another view to see how the district is using those. The criteria that they used were classrooms that based on their size, their natural light, their
accessibility to pathways um of transport within the building. They presented multiple CA capacity increasing scenarios uh with a particular focus on the Brooks and the Roberts due to the overcrowding nature of those two schools. The district in
response to this study uh conducted an internal walkthrough of um some of the schools, specifically the Andrews. Um we looked at usable spaces within the schools to see how they were identified
in the study, how they are currently being used um right now verse how they were intended to be used way back when the schools were first opened. uh in tw 2003.
Um now the recommendation that we made during this meeting uh MPS was to review option two a little bit further just to see the viability. Option two, as communicated to the community um both in
correspondence as well as in a survey was looking at the viability of having the elementary schools uh follow a K to4 model, making the McGllin middle school uh five to six model and the Andrews a
grade seven and eight model. Again, no decision has been made. It was just look con constructing a task force to look further at that option. Um the reason for the recommendation to
review option two further um was that it would meet immediate need at the elementaryaries for overcrowding and some long-term space capacity. Uh it would provide a balanced
cost-effective and operationally viable solution and it would enable at the middle school level. It would eliminate the need for a lottery for school assignment. It would address some of the demographic disparities that is happening and real
at both of the middle schools and it would ensure that specialized programming is equitable at both the MGlin and the Andrews. Um it was communicated that this
view or um in work through the task force would be to see if this was able to happen. And if it were determined to be, we're not really even looking at it until um school year 2728.
So, two weeks ago, we put out a correspondence to the community ca recapping what happened at the school committee meeting on November 17th and also attaching a survey for people to provide input. That was one way that we
were initiating some community input. To date, and I'm sure maybe since we finalized some of this, there have been more respondents, but to date, 160 people have participated in the survey. The breakdown is 115 caregivers,
parents, uh 44 educators, and one student. Uh the overall themes that emerged from the survey thus far were centered on student experience, program continuity, staffing, and just overall logistics and nuts and bolts of what
this would look like. Questions that participants uh reflected strong interest in understanding how this plan supports students, families, and long-term district goals.
All in all, um there were about five overarching themes that are represented in this uh participant breakdown. The first was student transitions and developmental fit. These were all in
response to the first question on the survey, which was, "What topics would you like the task force to focus on as they study the possibility of this plan?" We did provide some topics for people to select from and then the second question was open-ended and
people could expound upon those topics um introduce their own topics also introduce questions. So these themes came out of those two questions on the survey. So 85% of the respondents said that they would want the task force to
focus on what the transitions would look like and the developmental fit of said plan. 75% of respondents really want the task force to look at the specialized programming. So right now at the middle
school level, we have specialized programming um certain programming at the McGlin and certain programming at the Andrews. That's both uh English learner specialized programming as well as special education programming. Um and so
75% of the respondents would want us to really look at what that means for the programming. about 70% of respondents highlighted really making sure we understand what the capacity is uh of the long-term enrollment and the space.
So in actuality can both the middle school McGlin Middle School and Andrews Middle School actually handle this and what would it mean for possible inflections of enrollment?
60% of respondents really talked about the logistical pieces. So what will this mean for transportation? Will we look at the eligibility of transportation and the walk to school ratios, mileage um
capacity? Will we look at changing and staggering start times so that families if they want to be transporting their students to elementary as well as five, six, seven, eight uh and high school and then they also want to know what we would be
doing for after school care specifically for fifth grade and sixth grade. This last section was not one of the listed topic areas, but it emerged in a number of respondent um
input. So we have it here as equity, community, and ending the lottery. So 10% of respondents there was a range in terms of their responding in terms of their input, but it all fell within this category. Some examples were um
really happy about ending a lottery and the stress and anxiety that it causes students and family, but also wanting to maintain the identity of school communities and PTO organizations and making sure that we're mindful of that.
And then the equity part of resourcing both middle schools um the same because there's a feeling that right now it is not diving a little bit deeper into these five categories on the next slide. These
are just some highlights that came out of survey results. So, under student transitions and developmental fit, uh, a lot of the pieces talked about how will additional school transitions impact student belonging, their mental health,
and their learning. They want the task force to really be answering that question as well as what will fifth grade look like if we were to move it to the McGllin Middle School. What would it look like academically and socially? Uh
specifically they spoke about would it be home room based? Would it be u interdep departmental? Um that's something for the task force as well as just overall the developmentally appropriate piece of moving fifth grade from elementary to a
different um setting. And then there were a couple comments about making sure that we are looking at what are the transitional supports that will be needed for students. If we go over to special education, EL and specialized programs, specifically
the pieces that emerged that they want the task force to look at is the need to understand how the specialized programs will function in both separate models as well as the need to account for space
staffing and program continuity if a program is to exist in both schools. Um and based on enrollment, that is definitely going to be an area that the task force will need to look into.
Moving to space, capacity, and long-term enrollment. Some of the pieces that really resonated to have the task force look into are questions about whether the Andrews can actually truly house all seventh and eighth graders for the district with full programming and
influx in enrollment capacity. the desire for clear long-term enrollment projections, especially with potential new housing developments in the city of Medford. Um, we know that there are some potentially maybe coming to Wellington and that surfaced in this survey as well
as what are the staffing implications for doing something like this. uh the logistical pieces around transportation start times and afterchool uh opportunities. The specific questions were will the start times be staggered
to assist families? Um bus routes and eligibility for younger fifth and sixth graders and families having to get to two or three schools. Really looking at what the eligibility will and can be. And then will there be afterchool
options that we can provide for especially fifth and sixth graders. And then under the equity community and law ending the lottery um the specific pieces that were mentioned were opportunity to eliminate the middle
school lottery which was viewed as a stressful and socially disruptive to students and families. Stakeholders want both middle schools to be equitably resourced and demographically balanced. And then uh as previously said, desire to preserve a sense of community and the
strength of the PTO at each level. So that brings us to this opportunity um for public comment um this evening. I just recapped the findings briefly that were discussed at
the November 17th meeting, identified those key areas that the survey has yielded thus far for the task force. And just as a reminder, this task force is just going to view the viability of it
and recommend a plan if possible with a potential start of anything in the 2728 school year. And then all I did on this slide was list these were the topics that were suggested in the survey that people were responding. They could click
all that apply. And then the second question was open-ended for people to put in additional topics of interest as well as any questions that they have that they want the task force to be responding to.
So this is the part for public comment in which I'm going to be actively listening so that the information that we have from the survey around topics and questions that people would like the task force to entertain and really dig
into, I will be making note of that. Miss Allen will help me make note of that um so that we can add it to the data that we already have been compiling. >> Thank you. Um Dr. Galucy, it very good presentation. I love hearing what the
data showed. I think we had 170 respondents like you said or so, which is great. And the task force will be created in January and I'm assuming start meetings sometime in the February time time range. >> Um I don't see anybody in the audience
that is here to comment. I'm not sure if anybody's online. Um but I think this is a great start to exploring this this option. So, thank you for the presentation. If there's no comments from the school
committee members, we can move on to the agenda. >> No, not that I can see. Member Rinfeld, >> thank you for this and thanks for summarizing the data. I just wanted to add to this um that I definitely saw in
the data a request that the task force look at some case studies of other schools that have made similar transitions. I know Boston was mentioned, Arlington, um Salem and Andover, I think, were the ones that I saw or heard from people. So, making sure that that's
>> part of it. And then really looking at some of the through lines across these buckets. Uh I appreciate these buckets in the summary, but things around continuity around student development um and continuity for like the special pro the special programs. So could an
IEP team or support team move with the students across the schools to help ease that transition in the middle. So things like that. And then I would just also um encourage the task force to look at multiple sides of the coins of a lot of these questions. So an example that I
would give there, the opportunity to eliminate the lottery. I know there was some eagerness to eliminate the lottery so that um social groups would not be broken up, but I also know plenty of kids for whom breaking up the social
group was actually a chance for a fresh start and new friends. And so I think a lot of the questions that people are asking have those have both of those sides and to consider. And I know in going through data like this, it's it's a fantastic spreadsheet. I'm so grateful to everyone who responded. The questions
that people are asking are so thoughtful and so important um but to to really encourage the task force not just to gravitate to the things that confirm what they think should happen. Um so just watching out for that that confirmation bias I think
is going to be um really important. and um and these questions of you know the lottery solved a very specific problem that we had in the district and it did a great job of that but it introduced these other concerns and so
really trying to work through those you know are we passing on the overcrowding to a middle school scenario? but what new factors are being introduced um and what new opportunities and just to be doing this in parallel with the
strategic planning that's going to be happening certainly what's happening around looking at enrollment with potential new housing um any of that so that alignment I think is really important and
just looking um and I'm I'm really glad to see these buckets because there There was there was a comment that said, you know, a lot of the factors that we gave people were very very operational and those questions are really concrete and in many ways a lot easier to answer than
some of the cultural um questions. And so really making sure that we get into those and talk to students potentially older students of what's been happening and then coming back to those case studies of what's happened in districts and what were the intended and
unintended consequences of those changes. But I think this is a really great foundation to build on. I'm excited to get a report hopefully in the spring from this task force to say what could we do, what should we do because those are different questions. Just because we can do
something doesn't mean it's the thing to do. But I think there's a lot of possibility here and I am excited to hear what the task force recommends. >> Great. Thank you very much. Member Reinfeld. >> Thank you for that. Can I add on? >> Yes, Dr. Lucy,
>> so to the I'm glad you brought up the point about the research. So, thank you. Um I have already reached out to the districts that were most of them, not all of them, but the districts that were mentioned so that we make sure we have that data for when the task force does
the work. So, thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Lucy. Okay, we'll move on. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Um, we look forward to hearing more. There are no presentations of the public
and nor the council. Um, continued business. I'm going to turn over to member Graham uh for an MSBA update. Member Graham. >> Thank you. Um, I am excited to
update you all. Um, as you know, SMMA was selected via the MSBA designer selection panel process um, back in October um, to be our designer. Um, at our meeting last week, the school building
committee approved the contract with SMMA. So that and that was subsequently signed by the mayor last week. Um, we have an official kickoff meeting with MSBA uh, tomorrow. in fact um although the work has already begun um and I just
want to give you a little bit of an update on like what you can expect in the coming couple of months. So um we have uh we are in the throws of what they call educational visioning which is a process where we get to say what
should be happening in the building um and how should it happen in the building. Um that work is underway right now primarily by um educators who work at Medford High School, department heads and that kind of thing. Um there'll be
two visioning sessions upcoming in the next two weeks um where that group will expand slightly to include um folks from the community who applied um and expressed interest who work in other districts or have served on MSBA related
projects in the past. Um, so all of that will wrap up before the holiday break um in December. And uh we will also be putting out a call probably tomorrow to form what we're calling advisory teams. And these teams um will be people from
the community ideally who have specific um skill sets for example sustainability and mechanical electrical power things al together right as one group um
I will not be on the on that group um um but there's there's four so one is interior and exterior design one is site safety and security one is educational planning and the other is the mechanical, electrical, um maybe
plumbing is the other P is the P um and sustainability. So those advisory groups um the the ask is for people who have maybe particular skill sets in those areas to join us um for one meeting in December, a meeting in January, and then
a meeting to be scheduled um in March and in September. So we'll be looking for community input that way. Um there will be a building committee meeting um in December and then there will be several bu building committee meetings between January and February because our first deliverable to MSBA
um will be due at the end of February. So um during that time we will see things like a big behemoth spreadsheet that says this is how many classrooms we need of all of these different types and sorts. Um and uh we'll start to sort of
marry our educational um our educational enrollment which certified at 1395 for the high school which is about 200 students more than we have today. Um to the space programming that will happen. So that when they
start thinking about what does the building look like, they know that they need x number of classrooms and they need, you know, this many vocational spaces that look like um these particular shops and meet certain requirements. And that all helps inform things like how big is the building? Is
it bigger than it is right now? Is it smaller than it is right now? All of those things are driven out of the formulas that are created by um this like master spreadsheet. But the more exciting news is that in January we will
start to see two-dimensional ideas of what this building could look like. And um it's still coming into focus for me like what that visual thing will be. But um what they talked about is when we think about the high school property,
there's many places where a building could go on that property because there's 30 acres. So it it could be a set of like here are you know here are 15 options of how we might situate different configurations of this
building so that um then they can get feedback from the building committee from the community who attends the meetings um so that the cost estimators start to work from those like 2D sketches on like what what would these
different buildings look like from a cost estimating perspective because all that is um due by the end of February. Um there will be a meeting there will be two meetings um where we will review the educational plan here with this
committee. So the school building committee will sign off on the deliverable at the end of February. The school committee signs off on the educational plan because the school committee retains the authority over the actual educational plan that will get executed in the building. So at the end
of January um we'll see a draft of that and then at the beginning of February we'll be asked to vote on that. Um and all of that will feed the deliverable which they called the they call it the preferred preliminary design plan. preliminary
design plan, PDP. PDP, right? Um and um there's two deliverables, both that start with P, that keep tripping me up, but um the the um Thank you, Ken. Um
>> yes, thank you. PSR um comes next. So um the the idea in February is that we can paint a clear enough picture for MSBA about what the education will look like in the building and what we are pursuing um from a more in-depth um feasibility
analysis including um whether we're looking at uh what they call a code update um which is a requirement to look at under MSBA which is they'll just bring the building up to code and call it a day. Um I don't think any high school has ever
gone down that road because it would essentially not really be eligible for MSBA funding at that point anymore. Um then there's like many iterations of like Renault slash add Renault and then there's new buildings and so in January
we will start to see what those options look like um and the public is welcome to join us um as we as we start to have those conversations. So, we're deep in the throws of planning what those community engagement meetings will look like and how they fit with the strategic
planning conversations that also are happening in that same timeline. So, it's a we're trying to put the puzzle together so that people can participate in lots of things and not get exhausted by the amount of feedback that we're asking people for. Um but all of that will happen in January and and in
February um in advance of this deliverable and then between February and June. um we will take what might be many options in February and we will ultimately narrow down to one option um and that is what
will be submitted at the end of June um to MSBA and that that is the one we'll go forward with to like really dive deep go through all the um all the ins and outs really start talking about schematic design and like the real cost
estimation around that one um that one choice that we make after um in at the June deliverable um and MSBA will agree with that and then we'll move forward. So there's like a lot happening um between now and that between now and
June um many opportunities for input um and be on the lookout for the call for the advisory teams. Um, and then there'll be a series of public meetings and places where we'll be asking the the combined team to go and demonstrate,
particularly as we get closer to June, what that option looks like to collect um, input from people and feedback about what they like and what they don't like about what they're seeing. So, um, things are moving incredibly fast and I
thank the team that is working with us because, um, we've given them a really demanding charge and we are working through it together. So, um, we are we are moving like lightning fast and all these pieces are falling into place so
that we can start to give people a little bit of advanced notice. >> Great. Thank you so much, Member Graham. And I think our next meeting is MSBA. When's that? >> The 22.
>> The 22nd. 22nd. Um and that meeting will be virtual only. Um the other thing that we will do is put out some clear information about the January meetings about whether um not that we wouldn't host the a virtual
meeting in addition to an in-person meeting but whether the content being covered in those meetings really lends itself to participating virtually or if you really want to be able to see you know whatever the 9 10 15 however many options they're putting in front of us
whether that is recommended to be in person or not. So, um, a little bit more to come about like the best ways to engage in those future meetings. >> Yes, absolutely. Makes sense. Member Rinfeld. >> Thank you. Couple questions. So, the advisory teams, is that an MSBA
requirement or is that an architect? Is that an SMMA process? What >> that's an SMMA process and um it is not an MSBA requirement. Um but they um they have been working with us to um sort of
scope out what those groups would do and they they what they said is they find that it is another helpful point of input for the building committee to hear from >> um different groups of people with particular because that was definitely something that we discussed when we first approved the building committee's
creation and we're thinking about who was on it and saying there would be this opportunity for advisory. Um, so is there potentially an opportunity for for other other groups or these are you you listed four I can see right
educational planning that's a huge thing we definitely wanted to have some representation for um groups with disabilities for special needs >> that kind of accessibility >> they're um so those are the four that
they needed us to move on urgently so that their input can be part of these like 2D designs um and to help inform like where those things go. Um having said that once we get through this phase and we move into the next phase where
we're narrowing down there there certainly could be another set of advisory teams that >> we're making sure looking at on these teams because I can see that place there. And then the other question I have is when when will the community have an opportunity to learn about some
of those constraints that MSBA does put on things because I know people have questions about things like the pool and how big an auditorium can be and all of these things that we would love to have complete control over and but it will qualify or disqualify us for certain
aspects of funding. Um that's I my best guess is that that will start to unfold as we are talking about these 2D designs because people will say things like well that theater is not big enough because the whole school can't go in there and then SMMA will quickly
>> sort of educate in that moment about what the rules are which is that you cannot build a theater bigger than 1,000 student capacity in this project with MSB FBI period like it even if we were willing to pay for
it, it cannot be part of this project. >> So those are the things that I think people really need to know as we think about what can what we're asking the tax the taxpayers to fund. >> Yeah. So, I think there'll be like I think there'll be like a number of layers of information like that, but
>> um the list of rules is so long that I think it would be really hard to like make that resonate for people um until they start seeing something or having particular questions. When we view the ED plan here in January and then are
asked to vote on it in February, that's potentially another time to be asking some of those questions because there will be some there will be parameters of like how big something can be that will be informing the um that big master spreadsheet that they're um having to
create. So, um, all of that is going to like unfold over time. And then I think where it will really happen is when we start narrowing down on options where we're not talking about nine or 10 or 15 or 18 options, but we're talking about do we like option one or two or three.
That's where those conversations, I think, will be most impactful because that's where you'll be able to see something a little bit more three-dimensional um, in the process. >> Great. Thank you. I'm sure I have a million more questions, but that should do it me now.
>> I learn I'm learning something new every day. >> Great. Great. Thank you. Member in Tapa. >> Thank you. Um, sorry, memory. I thought this meant FAQ sheet. Like we need like some kind of key for like this. Not that your microphone was too hot. Um, so
thank you. So I'm really excited to hear that we're entering the iterative phase so quickly. Um, come January. the iterative phase being the 2D thumbnail sketches of um you know what's happening and for those who don't know and those who haven't you know worked in that creative iterative process behind those
15 or thousands of other thumbnail sketches that come into what this looks like and considering the plot of land we have I'm assuming the numbers in 2000 um my question is those out of those the process with those two dimensional sketches um is it 15 of a new building
or is it like 10 new building, five Reno, or is it like >> It could be any mix. So, I don't think there's no formula in that particular part. >> Um, that I'm aware of at least at the moment. >> I was just curious to see if it would be like, "All right, we have 15 completely
renovated." Because sometimes they'll do that where it's like, "All right, we've done five five. We have five completely renovation, five >> um >> bring up the code and then five, you know, Reno at destroy." So, um, if we don't know, we don't know. But still, that's great to hear that we're getting
into that phase so quickly because it takes a while. >> Yeah. And I and I should mention that um they you know, they talked about like the getting to know you phase and I think they have gotten to know us very rapidly. Um they have already completed more than 60 meetings with various
departments at the high school in like in like a few short weeks. >> Um they are they are really working quickly every department. Um I happened to see them at Yeah, I happened to see
them at the beastro and I was peppering um our lead architect with questions about a particular space and he was like right there with me. So you they they really have done their due diligence um to understand um what we do in the building and they followed students
around for a day um to understand like how students experience the building. Um and they really got a they got a lot out of that too. There's some visits to other schools happening um on Friday and then um the the visioning sessions um
start next week where all of this input that they've been collecting starts to come out in like what will what will we look like in the in this future building which is exciting. >> That's great. Thank you. Thank you.
Um, next up is our offered by member Reinfeld 2025-27, which is the second reading of the AI use of generated AI in Memphis public schools. Motion to wave the reading. And um, for all the members, the changes since the
first reading are indicated in bold. Maybe I'll just go over those changes. If you're go to page four, member Motion to wave the reading by member Rinfeld, seconded by you pick member Russo. Um all those in
favor, >> all those opposed motion to wave the reading is approved. So I'll just go over the changes. Um on the second page of the policy um parag the paragraph in bold all geni use must be linked to one
or more specific educational relevant objectives and take into account current research about the impact of such tools on critical thinking cognitive loss and the natural environment. That's a good one. Thank you. I know on the third page of the policy, all AI generated content
should be checked by both students and teachers for accuracy. I think that needs to be changed to four. Yep. For accuracy, bias, misinformation, and potentially negative content. Students should understand the limitations of AI generated information,
the importance of using trusted sources for information verification, and the impact that AI tools can have on cognitive development and critical thinking skills. Page four of the policy, all gen AI content should be critically reviewed
before use. All AI generated content should be checked by both students and teachers for accuracy, bias, misinformation, and positively potentially negative comment content. And students should also consider the impact of AI tools on the national environment. Next page,
um, teachers must allow the limited use of generated AI on entire assignments or parts of assignments. Educators should identify when and how Gen AI can be used and why and discuss the students with students the impact of AI tools on cognitive development and crit critical
thinking skills. Um and you added a sentence under ethical use educational staff should also consider the impact of AI tools on the national environment. And then the last page of the policy, in addition, MPS staff will consider the
impact on the national environment before employing AI tools. Same same in the last paragraph of the policy um where you added in the latest research into how AI tools impact student learning, cognitive development,
and the natural environment. >> Member Briinfeld. So we had a very long discussion about the policy last meeting. This is taking in this is adding in um the the requested changes from students and others about natural environment
cognitive loss um and and the checking but that it is both the students and the teachers responsibility to check this content. Uh there were there will continue to be followup with students and educators and caregivers. I
think that rollout plan is going to be kicking off next week. I think there's a meeting to discuss and then from there we'll it'll be integrated into appropriate meetings from there. So this is taking into account the requested
changes and happy to answer questions but this tried to >> Thank you. >> incorporate the feedback we got last time. >> No, we appreciate that. And I know on the in the policy it also says which is part of it and I know I didn't read the whole policy but important for me is
students should not use any generative a um gen AI tools without prior approval from educators or educational teams and students must also properly site all a generated AI generated content. Um so I just want to point that out. Member
Inappa. >> Thank you mayor. Um, I appreciate, again, I just want to reiterate, I appreciate all the work that has gone into writing this policy, all the various meetings, um, the changes. Um, but I personally still can't get behind
this. Um, we talk about, you know, I'll say it again, like I said a few weeks ago, you know, citing an AI search is the same thing as, you know, I was told going through the Medford public schools, you can't site Google. you have to do an in-depth research on Chicago MLA formatting and all this and that and
AI formatting is just your prompt and the machine learning tool gives no credit to anyone who's done any of the actual work behind the scenes. Um, and a lot of this, you know, you know, the goal is to teach processes and critical
thinking and this helps promote shortcuts that may build unhealthy habits. Um, I see, you know, the only way, and I've said this in the meeting and I said it online when I talked about it, um, and I, you know, I've spoken to people about it. The only
ethical way I see generative AI being used is to teach people how to identify it, to make sure they are not swayed with misinformation, to make sure it is not used um, in a malicious way. Um, I have never seen it used in an ethical way in the arts. Um, I refuse to admit
that. I refuse to acknowledge um, generative AI in the arts. I think that it is um not stealing like an artist in terms of the terms when we talk about you know how we take inspiration how we do things um you know not comparing this to other things you know not comparing
um to I I don't even know like microwaves taking over the culinary industry you know AI is taking people's jobs um it is a threat to my field of work um and it will always be a threat to my field of work we talked about the iterative process a moment ago and it is being
used in the iterative process in my line of study um to steal my job or to steal the job of others um and I don't you know we talk a lot about ethics we talk a lot about you know what we see in values and I don't I you know I understand that this is still giving
the power to the people you know this policy could pass and no faculty member could ever use generative AI in the classroom that's entirely possible it's entirely possible that that happens um and that's a world that I would love um and I trust that our faculty and staff
will, you know, do the right thing. But to me, this is the district promoting this tool and I don't really see that as a tool that belongs in the classroom as a part of the learning process. I don't see a way that it works. Um, I'm looking at to make sure I'm not forgetting
anything. Um, in terms of citing sources, in terms of, you know, I I'm happy to see that we're talking about the um aspect of it impacting critical thinking. Um, but the fact that it's written in the policy that says, "Hey, this, hey man, this might negatively
impact cognitive development or this might impact the environment, it's like how do we do that?" It's, you know, we just sit here and we go, okay, this is going to my search is going to negatively impact the environment, but that doesn't undo the harm that happens. And while it may be minuscule, you know,
we're talking about going to nuclear power, but right now that's we're not at nuclear power. And it may be like, "Oh, it's only half a water bottle." Or, "Hey, it's only like 10 milliliters of water." It's still using energy. And never mind the energy that it takes to generate
this. It's also using energy um to cool it. And that's the whole part that we talk about is when we talk about the negative impact, it's like how can a Google search or how can a J GBT search impact the environment? We have huge data centers that need to be cooled via water and hydration. We're talking about, you know, going to a net zero
high school. net zero. Is that the correct phrase? But we're not accounting for the fact that, you know, we're putting forward policies that kind of promote behavior that would be against it. So, um maybe
my tinfoil hat is a little too tight when it comes to generative AI. Um, it's a sensitive topic because I represent a lot of artists and designers and I went to art and design school and I um have a very and I I acknowledge my own implicit bias and an implicit bias system. Um,
but I just want my my sort of warnings and my my cautionary tale and my thoughts to be heard with the committee when we take a vote on this to become policy. Um, because while I I a lot of these things are great, AI is plagiarism. We're talking about the
academic honesty panel using it without consent. I just don't think it should be used in the classroom to begin with. So, I'll yield my time if anybody has any other questions. I don't want to drag things out and keep talking in circles like I already am, but thank you. >> You're fine. No, we appreciate your
comments. Thank you. Um, member Russo, >> thank you. Um I was going to make a motion to approve um amended with the fix from or accuracy to for accuracy to change the first adopted to December 1st 2025 last amended to NA and next
reviewed to be December 2026 but obviously there's other people who want to talk so I make that motion >> and if you could just repeat the the motion one more time approval of the second reading. Yep. Motion to approve
the policy um fixing that or accuracy to before accuracy and then the rest of it is just the metadata at the bottom the when it was adopted etc. >> Okay. And accepting all the um updates from member Reinfeld. A motion on the
floor by member Russo, seconded by member Graham. Oh >> yes, please. Oh, just give it one second. And um Thank you. >> Yeah, sorry. Um we did a secondary
review of the the policy uh last meeting, I believe. Um and one of the things that I wanted to just quickly bring up um was there was a clause uh in the uh ethical use section. Um under students it says users may not
use sorry any form of communication with or through AI tools including chat bots or virtual assistants u must adhere to the same standards of respect expected in human interactions. I think that um as these are statistical algorithms that
are going to sort of um attempt to predict future speech based off of correlation between texts that they've like observed in their training. I think that it's a harmful sentiment to um normalize the personification of these
models. I think that, you know, we've we've talked a lot about in this in this policy that um about the dangers and and and all of the the disparities between these systems and, you know, um uh real
authentic human beings. And I think that um it's problematic um at a societal level to try and um I think the personification of uh these agents can do nothing but harm to
ethical use if uh that's what we're aiming for in this um proposal. Thank you. amendment. >> Well, that students can't make amendments.
>> Is there a specific amendment requested? >> Oh, suggested, of course. >> Requested. Suggested. >> Oh, sorry. Um yeah, I think uh a lot of the others uh u content in this section
is is very helpful. We don't want, you know, um students to use AI to disseminate harmful content. We don't want um students to sort of use these platforms by proxy as it as it seems to be insinuated.
Um but I think that uh this particular uh section is harmful uh in of itself and I I don't see a lot of other utility other than uh it seems pretty singular in its intent.
>> So is that a suggestion to remove yes the whole paragraph? >> No just just that sentence. Um the other parts about dissemination of harmful content is in my opinion um aligns with the goals outlined by the proposal.
Member Reinfeld, >> not comfortable removing it, having this body do that removal simply because this was language that was given to us specifically by teachers in the working group. >> In regards to how they which AI tools
they thought students would be using or likely >> to use. However, I would like to bring that to back to the staff and the technology the head of technology who worked on this. >> Yeah.
>> Just just just wanted to raise the concern >> and I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, was that a motion to >> so well I think I think our student members can't actually formally amend things. So, I just wanted to hear what what the recommendation was or what the
suggestion was. Um, and I appreciate it and I would like to bring that to Director Leaden and the rest of the the team. But I I would like to keep this as written because this did come out of this group of educators that
specifically wanted these tools included. >> Understood. Do do you want to bring that to them and then vote for the second reading at the >> I think given that this is going to be amend this is likely to I think there are likely to be amendments after these
focus groups happen. I think doing those all together um makes sense if we're looking at a one-year review policy. So, I would I would like I would like us to vote on this tonight.
Sorry. >> Yes. I I don't think we should push this to another meeting. I think we should. >> Can I Can I ask a quick question about the um the process for the this proposal going forward? I know that you said that
you're breaking out into focus groups uh after this vote after this vote. Is that correct? That is that is the plan. That is what the so the task force. So I mentioned this when we did the first reading the task force said um that they were that this was moving this was um
moving into the handbooks which have been approved and this language the same language is in the handbooks and then that they wanted to set up focus groups with educators in department meetings. also talk to the student council partly at your recommendation or a larger group
that the student council brings together and also do conversations with caregivers and then also talking about what training is needed for educators to really bring make yes wise decisions. >> I think that the sentiment expressed is
is very valuable there. Is there I don't want to get too far into the questions cuz I know we're a little deep, but is there um particular reason why you prioritized doing these work groups uh after the draft after the approval of the proposal?
>> So this I'll just say it. I was surprised that this went into the handbook as soon as it did. >> Um so and I thought once it was in the handbook we needed to codify it >> um in a in a public forum. So, I think I
can't speak to the exact timing >> and and with that in mind, you you you still want to vote on it tonight, correct? >> Yes. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> Um, just remind me who motioned to for approval and then seconded.
Um, okay. Is all those in favor? >> All those opposed. >> I'm roll. Roll call has been requested. >> Member Brley. >> Yes. >> Member Graham. >> Yes.
>> Member Intaba. >> No. >> Second. Member Olady. >> Yes. >> Member Rinfeld. Yes. >> Member Russo. Yes. Mayor Langoker. >> Yes. Although I wish um from the chair that the students request could be
looked into before we moved approval, but um I understand we'll be reooking at that paragraph. So yes, that's six in the affirmative, one in the negative. Motion passes. We do not have any new business or reports requested, but we do have two
condolences. Unfortunately, members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Anna M. Fronte Binda, retired Medford public school teacher who started her career at the Forest Park School in Medford. And the
members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Janice Rumley Ahern, mother of Kelly Malloy, computer teacher at the Roberts Elementary School. If we all may rise for a moment of silence, please. Thank you. Um, Wednesday night is the
winter extravaganza here at city hall. All are welcome. Um, that's 4:30 to 6:30 and our next regular meeting is December 15th here in the chambers met city hall in addition to Zoom. Is there a motion to adjurnn?
by member Inappa, seconded by >> member Branley. The loudest voice I heard. All those in favor.