session to start. Are we we recording? Yes. Thank you. Will the second regular meeting of the Memphis School Committee Monday, January 26, 2026, um will come to order. We have exe executive session
at 5:15 and our regular meetings being recorded. The second regular meeting of the Memphis School Committee will come to order. Today's Monday, January 26, 2026. We have executive session at 5:15 and our regular meeting will start on or about 6
PM. The meeting is held via Zoom due to the weather and the meeting is being recorded. In the event that the Meford Public Schools is closed, which is it is um we are doing Zoom only. The meeting can be viewed live on the Meet Public
Schools YouTube channel or through Memphis Community Media on your local cable channel, Comcast channel 9, 8 or 22 and Verizon channel 43,45 or 47. Participants can log or call in by using the following Zoom link and the meeting ID is 933745945.
Member Rouso, if you could call the role, please. >> Graham here. Member Master Bony >> here. >> Member Olati >> here. >> Member Parks
>> here. >> Member Rinfeld >> here. >> Member so present. Mayor Loker >> present. Seven present zero absent. Um Dr. Galooi and not sure if there's any. Do we have any student reps? Let's see.
>> We do have our is on the call. >> Oh, great. Welcome. Thanks for joining us. If we could all please rise to salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. To the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Number three, we have executive session. Pursuant to general laws 30A section A3, the Memphis School Committee will convene an executive session to discuss
collective bargaining with the teamsters local 25 custodians regarding a grievance from September 5th, 2025. And the chair so declares exe executive session of the Metroid School Committee pursuant to general laws 30A section 21A to conduct a strategy session on the
basis that an opening meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining positions of the Medford School Committee. Specifically, the Medford School Committee will be discussing ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with multiple bargaining units and pending litigation. The Medford School Committee will reconvene
in public session immediately following the conclusion of executive session at approximately 6 p.m. >> Motion to enter. >> Motion by member Rinfeld. Seconded by second.
>> Member Lead. Roll call, please. >> Mgram. >> Yes. >> Member Master Bony. >> Yes. >> Member Olady. >> Yes. Member Parks, >> yes. >> Member Rinfeld, >> yes. >> Member Russo, yes. Mayor Lungo,
>> yes. Some of the affirmative zero in the negative. Um, we are going to go motion for executive session has been approved. Going to wait till it pops up on your screen to join the breakout room. Good evening everybody. Thank you for your patience. While we're
in executive session, I believe we have all members with us. We also invited the city council um to join us at this meeting. So, as members pop on, we will definitely
acknowledge each member. I'm gonna go back to the agenda. We have good of the order. Does anybody have anything under the good of the order before I move on to section five? other than school being cancelled again
tomorrow while we clean out the lots. DPW is working very hard but need another day. So, I want to make that announcement right off the bat. Okay, we're going to move to the consent agenda. We have approval of bills and payrolls, budget transfers, approval of capital
purchases, approval of donations, TUS University, a $1,000 donation to the Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility, National National Stuttering Association Conference, $177 donation by Elizabeth
Gomez for three speech and language pathologists. We have approval of grants. Medford Arts Council grant 3,700. Ellen McGllin and Jason Campbell. Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International COP cooperation has awarded $3,549
to Metro Public Schools Italian language program. Approval of field trips. Approval of meeting minutes from a regular meeting from January 5th, 2026. Is there a motion on the floor? Any questions? Thank you to our donors. Is there a
motion for approval? >> Uh, I'll motion to approve. >> Thank you, Member Lead. >> Second. >> Seconded by member Master Bony. Roll call, please. >> Member Graham.
>> Yes. >> Master Member Master Bony. >> Yes. >> Member Olati. >> Yes. >> Member Parks. Yes, >> member Rinfeld. >> Is that a yes? >> Yes. Sorry. >> Okay. Member Russo. Yes. Mayor Langok.
>> Yes. Seven the affirmative, zero in the negative. The consent agenda is approved. We do not have any reports of subcommittee. Um and we have three reports of our superintendent. So, I'm going to turn it over to you Dr. Glucy um for a Mustang moment, although I know
it was weather permitting. Yes, unfortunately we had um our high school best buddies um club attending for this meeting, but due to the snow and the cancellation of school, they will be joining us at the next um or
maybe we're rescheduling them so that they can join us for an in-person uh school committee meeting. So, this evening we do not have a Mustang moment, but we will make sure we have that next week. Sounds great. We look forward to it. Um, so I'll move on to number two.
It's a summary of the youth behavior risk survey spring 2025. I just saw Katherine Dingra from the city of Medford's office of prevention and outreach. Um, she's our manager join us. And Dr. Stacy Schulman, director of behavioral health and counseling for
Medford Public Schools. Thank you, Katherine. Thank you, Dr. Schulman, for being here this evening and presenting about the youth risk survey. Um, I'm just double checking that they are both able to unmute. >> Yes.
>> Perfect. Okay, I will turn it over to the both of you. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Good evening. Hi, I'm Stacy Schulman. I'm the director of school counseling and behavioral health for Medford Public Schools. And with me is Katherine Dingra. Um she is the office of prevention and outreach manager.
We're here to present data from our 2025 youth risk behavior survey. >> [clears throat] >> One big thing to note is that in 2025, Medford public schools transitioned to the youth risk behavior survey from the previous survey we had done which is
similar which was the community that cares youth survey which we had administered by annually since 2017. Um and the reason for doing so was to be able to have data which we could compare to um like communities um state and
national trends. All right. So can everyone hear me? Okay. And again, um, my name is Katherine Dingra and I work out of the city of Medford's health department and we are delighted to work so closely with the schools on understanding our, um,
students uh, health and wellness needs. And the YRBS is a nationally recognized evidence-based tool. It has anonymity, so it increases honesty among students. Questions are rigorously tested. data is
um really used for identifying um patterns and trends and the findings that we found here really do align with what schools and providers are seeing. Um in addition to that the our public health staff facilitated four focus
groups. So what we wanted to do was have some qualitative data that paired with some of the quantitative data we were seeing from the um from the surveys. So next slide. So you can see our demographics from the
middle school sample were really reflective our of our student population and the demographics of the middle school. So we really felt confident in the data that we were seeing from the middle school sample. And then our high school um was a little
different because um to align with our YRBS communications um and some challenges we were seeing from other districts, we pushed back the implementation date of the YRBS which led to having less juniors and seniors
participate in the survey. Um and where that we saw the biggest impacts of that were around substance use particularly um as we see substance use increases on um as students progress through high school. Um and then the focus group um the
demographics we had 20 22 students participate in focus groups but we really tried to work with school staff to identify different groups of students. Um and generally what we heard from the students in the focus group was that um school culture and pride
especially um tied to the new administration and supportive staff have improved. Um many students surprised um described feeling more connected through sports, clubs, teachers and some um did mention some distrust um but they were
more distress more frustrated with things like facilities and shortened lunch. Um they also noted that assemblies, advisory activities and clubs were seen as helpful um for building belonging um but students wanted more active and engaging
approaches. So those are just some of the highlight things that we learned from the the focus groups. And next slide. Um so this we're going to go into our student YRBS data. Um so in some of the following slides you're going to see
differences in outcomes across race and ethnicity or sexual orientation. It's just important to emphasize that these are not about deficits within the students. They really reflect how environment systems and access to support shape our young people's
experiences. Our focus is on using these um data points to strengthen our protective factors, which you'll hear more about and really creating more supportive environment. So really using this data to drive how we can um change the environment that our young people
are in. I turn it over to Stacy. >> Thank you, Katherine. Um, I'll talk a little bit about our student mental health data here. So, overall, um, 19% of our middle schoolers and 20% of our high schoolers reported that their mental health was not good most of the
time or always in the past 30 days. This was notably lower than the state level data, which was coming in at 31% of high schoolers reporting poor mental health. In 2023, our LGBTQ students reported significantly worse mental health
outcomes than their heterosexual peers. Um, this is again what speaking to what Katherine was just noting is highlighting some unequal experiences um for those students. This connects to what um our literature shares with us in terms of making sure that we are making
those students a priority um for mental health care in our schools. Overall, students reported um 12 month depression symptoms, so feeling sad and hopeless almost daily for two plus weeks, um are the lowest since 2017,
both for middle school and for high school students. Um you can see here that we use data from the community that cares youth survey which we had previously asked a similar question um to get that data from. So we're coming in at 25% for both high school and middle school um students which is a
notable decline um from previous years. Depression by race and ethnicity does have some discrepancies and differences um in that data. So we wanted to highlight that the experience is not the same for everyone overall and these are the strategies that we
have within Medford public schools. Um for our mental health we have individual group counseling of course our Mustang allstars Mustang way which is sort of a that tier one social emotional learning levels with our circles and advisory. the PD we have for our faculty
highlighting a sense of belonging which Katherine just spoke to was a real big highlight of our focus groups. Um we have our signs of suicide program in the secondary level which is an evidence-based curriculum focusing on educating students on the signs of suicide and how to access health. Of
course our Michigan model health curriculum for K through 12. our nexus which is our class for all elementary students focused on social emotional learning and executive functioning skills. Um and new in is we have a partnership with community uh Cambridge
Health Alliance to support our school adjustment counselors with clinical supervision. So we have a PhD psychologist who is able to talk to our school adjustment counselors to help them um with new strategies they may need. This is another big announcement which
I'll be sending out to all caregivers this week um once we have the official QR code to send out. But through our partnership with Sandy Hook Promise and their partnership with Better Help, we'll be offering three months of free mental health therapy um to all MHS
students who are 14 and up as well as all the adults within MPS. >> Okay. Um so if you go to the next slide we can see that um our top alcohol remains the most used substance by
Medford youth overall um across the country um statewide and even here in Medford. We see that youth substance use rates are declining. So that's a really good thing. But one problem that we heard in our focus groups and we'll our
health teachers are hearing is that students perceive that everyone is doing it and that's something that we're working on. Um a key takeaway from our focus groups um was [clears throat] that substance use especially vaping and marijuana marijuana is widely normalized
among students and often framed as stress management tool rather than a health risk. And we repeatedly heard about our bathrooms being a place of um high substance use. If you look at the next slide,
um this slide reflects the data point that I mentioned earlier that um the really we can take a look at that trend data for our middle school students and get a a good reflective use. We are concerned about um students vaping at
the middle school and we'll talk about some of the imple implementation strategies where we've pushed down to our middle school um because of that. Um and then our high school data we really don't have a a good per a good reliable
data source from this because of the um uh lower you uh survey rates from our juniors and seniors this year. So we just have to be cautious with this data interpretation at our high school level for substance use.
Okay. Um perceived risk of of harm impacts students use. Um as you can see smoking cigarettes and using prescription drugs is seen as very harmful to our students and we've seen that reflected in our use rates. Has that's gone up? Our use rates have gone
down um significantly. Um and then we've seen the perception of harm around marijuana um uh decline significantly in the past 10 years. And we hear it from youth that they're seeing the the normalizing of it from everything from um the from the hallways
to billboards on 93. So that's just something that our health teachers and everyone is is working hard at is increasing that risk of harm so use rates go down. And then our um students perceived ease of access. Um in general
um students were were most likely to um see that um alcohol and vapes were easy to get. And in the focus groups we asked how they get them and they said um it's you know it's seen as normalized and they're often accessed through their
social networks, parties, older peers and on Snapchat. that was a big source of um accessing um alcohol and vapes. And then the strategies and this is something
where um Medford should be really proud of the um multiple tiers of strategies around substance use prevention. um Rachel Perry and the health education team do a fabulous job of implementing the evidence-based
um Michigan model, but they've also supplemented that with catch my breath um with which is a vaping specific uh strategy. And most recently, one of our health department staff went in and did uh a training for all the health
teachers on um utilizing all the materials within Catch My Breath and making sure everyone felt appropriately um able to implement it, even pushing down into all the middle school ages. Um we've been implementing the tier 2 I
decide with um with the staff at the high school and we have now push that down to the middle school and that's for any student that's gets caught using substances or is under the influence. um instead of getting um getting uh sent to
detention or getting suspended, now they um are part of this intervention strategy facilitated by some of the school staff. Um and we've seen over 30 uh students referred to this program this year. So, we're seeing a lot of great things that come out of it. The
school has a wellness coach, um, Gavin, who is able to support students, um, whose substances are negatively impacting their lives. He's there at the the high school half time. Um, we've got peer leaders in the high school now. Um,
we have the the expert screening tool. um where ev where Medford's really doing uh the best implementation of that because they're using outside wellness coaches to screen students and we're seeing um students being really honest
in their conversations and we're able to then refer them to help. Um and then of course the vape detectors. Um that is one of the reasons why we have over um 30 referrals to the I decide program. They are working. Students talked about them a lot during the focus group um as
a strategy for um kind of having students think twice. So those are some of our um of the great strategies being implemented in Medford. >> Thanks Katherine. for students safety. Um, most of our high school students and
middle school students reported thinking their neighborhood is extremely safe or safe from crime, which was nice to hear. 97% of middle schoolers and 94 high schoolers. Um, they also talked about feeling safe at school. So, about 83% of high school students and 87% of middle
school students reported feeling very safe at school. Um, students who identified as Hispanic and Latino were more likely to report skipping school in the past 30 days due to feeling unsafe at or on the way to school. Because the survey was implemented last spring, we
are um noting that this data is likely due to ICE. So, it's pretty depressing to see some of these stats come in. Although reports of bullying declined as students transitioned from middle to high school or to high school, middle
schoolers who identified as black were most likely to report experiencing bullying online or on school property. Medford students reported similar rates of having what they the question was sexual things done to them or were forced to do sexual things they did not
want ever um to that of available state data. There's no state comparison for the middle school and high school students in 23 or middle school students in 21, but you can note here 11% of Massachusetts versus 9% um of Medford.
LGBTQ students were more likely to experience unwanted sexual contact. These are strategies that we have in Medford public schools for student safety. Um we have the get real sexual health curriculum in our health classes,
the mentors and violence um prevention lessons as well. Portal to hope which is um very well connected to Medford comes in and does presentations about domestic violence but also about healthy relationships which is really important. Of course we have our social emotional learning um to include
restorative practices and our Sandy Hook Promise um anonymous reporting system. They've been again excellent partners to us. >> All right. So, the risk factors that we just went over really help us understand where youth may be vulnerable, but it's
really the protective factors, especially trusted adults, supportive relationships that play a critical role in buffering stress and reducing them. So when we know that when young people feel connected to caring adults, they are much much more likely to seek help
and build resilience and experience positive outcomes. So one thing that's great to note that um Medford [clears throat] High School students support trusted adults and their rate of reporting that is higher than the state average. And I've been looking at trusted adult data
for um over two decades. And you know, having 81% of students um that recognize a trusted adult may seem low, but that is high for a high school. Um and we heard a lot of positive things coming out of our our um focus groups of why of what um uh the school is doing to
promote that. But as you can see by the next slide, results do vary based on um race and ethnicity um at both the middle and the high school. So that's something that we can look at. Um as we can see, black students experiencing the lowest
rate of um trusted adults at both the middle school and high school level. Um and this is why you know one of the reasons that you know if we look at trusted adults outside of the school the the partnership between the city the
health health and outreach um department and um the schools are so important because we can because we can look at um what strategies are we implementing across the city to build um trusted adults um amongst different groups and
um what support systems can we put in. So, that's something that we're taking a look at and and and the ways that people like our our liaison and our connectors can do some of that work. Um, supportive um relationships. We know
that um our um overall students have supportive relationships, but that changed significantly for our LGBTQ plus population. Um, one thing we did hear from, we did a a focus group with um a
group of LGBTQ plus uh students and they did report that they increased um they they noticed [snorts] an increased um representation of diverse staff and clubs that help um students feel seen and connected. and and they notice that
change and and recognizing that being a a positive difference that they've they've seen um and sleep something that we um want to keep an eye on. We understand that sleep is directly impacted to learning uh impacts learning and so many other um
protective factors. So knowing that um less than 50% of our um middle school students and only 30% of our um high school students are getting the sleep they need. And I I do have to say our youth action team is uh actually implementing a a
sleep up they um they were taking a look at some of the preliminary data and are implementing a sleep um positive sleep norms campaign throughout the high school. So, um we'll see what that looks like. Um and then we see sleep again, um
amongst race and ethnic ethnic groups, different outcomes. And then physical activity, something that we're looking at um difference both the middle school and the high school, highest amongst our our
um white students. And then nutrition, something that we are um looking at as well amongst the community partners and um sharing this data across
um different leaders in the district. And then um some strategies that have been um impactful for protective factors, a lot of professional development. We're working with the schools to provide resources to provide
professional development really focusing on a sense of belonging. I know the schools recently at the last um professional development day had some great trainings. Um breakfast carts, something simple as breakfast carts being available in the lobby so students that didn't have time to get breakfast,
don't have time to go to the cafeteria can grab something to eat. Daily movement breaks. Lots of athletic opportunities. I know um the high school having recess if they finish lunch has been very positive. Um we have a youth works employment program um that has
been successful working with the school to recruit um students that don't typically have work um experience at a young age and uh collaboration across the region. We are excited to launch Caregiver University this year. We'll
start out with some workshops on things like social emotional topics, substance use, and even gambling to provide caregivers with the information that they need to be able to bring uh build these protective factors and reduce risk factors for their young people.
And speaking of gambling, we've been doing some work around this because it is an emerging um something that we're taking a look at as um sports betting and online gaming have become um uh
legalized across Massachusetts. And um you can see our 2023 data from um Massachusetts, but we recently did a um survey for young adults in Medford. And what we found was really interesting. Um
and we heard from our students in the in the focus groups that online gambling and sports betting um had have gotten a lot of excitement along amongst young people with students naming platforms like DraftKings, FanDuel and Prize Picks
as being very um popular. Um students describe gambling as adding excitement to sports and um a lot of appeal and one student student openly endorsed gambling trying to convince other students in the focus group they should do it more. So
it really shocked our our staff and we really do want to do more across the city and we have a group that's focused on on um looking at gambling prevention across the city. So, we're very excited about this coalition work that we're
launching. And um I'll turn it over to Stacy for the last slide. >> Thanks, Katherine. Um so again, the youth risk behavior survey we hope to continue with um and increase our
participation which will allow us to align with comparative local data um and identify some of the challenges and strengths across Medford but also across our communities at large. Um and the biggest part of it is to inform our prevention and supportive strategies to use comparable standardized data. I'm
really grateful to obviously Katherine and the Office of Prevention and Outreach for partnering with us. Um this is a big undertaking certainly to switch into a new survey um and we look forward to um increasing data for years to come.
Thank you. Thank you um Miss Schulman and Mingra for the very detailed presentation and thank you for all the hard work you're doing on all issues facing our students. Um I'm going to turn it over to members of the committee that may have questions
believe who was first member Rinville. Okay. >> All right. Thank you so much. Um, I really appreciate the presentation, particularly the juxtaposition of the data and the strategies. Um, I thought that was a really nice way of laying
this out and I appreciate it. Um, I do have some questions about the strategies. Um, do we have any way of assessing how often they're used? Obviously, some of those things are built into the curriculum um, and how effective
students find them. So those kind of tier one type things, everyone is receiving them. Um, so how are we mapping the strategies to the to changes and trends? >> Sure, I'm happy to answer that. So we
keep data um certainly all the tier one strategies is something all students are having, right? So we're looking at this data from our secondary level. certainly the use risk behavior survey are these like elementary level um interventions potentially having an impact. That being
said, there are so many compounding factors that go into this. So, it's hard to parse out what is working in that from that large um longitudinal data level. From the secondary level, we do keep data in terms of students um who are accessing those tier 2 supports. So,
if you were talking about our um for example, our signs of suicide program, we track every year the number of students who are noting that they need help in the moment. They're um connected with a counselor and then we get them the help that they need right away. Right. So, we're looking at that over time um and tracking how many students
are connected to our wellness coach. Those are just two data points. And Catherine noted, sorry, as Katherine noted, like we're using our data from the vape detectors to connect students to those services. Um because some of these things are new in the last couple years, I think it'll take us a little while um to see the impact.
>> Absolutely. And for context, I sat in on a meeting, a joint meeting of various student councils. I think we still have one of our student reps on the call, but mental health was one of the breakout sessions that I went into and they were talking about students awareness and access and trying to get some information about what are students
aware of as far as those extra resources and do they find them effective. So this is something that I think students really want to to know as well. Um, and then I guess similar on the the strategies what what about so you showed a couple of
real discrepancies in the data and it sound and I'm curious what you have to bring those to to bring those closer to a more universal picture like you you
the vape sensors you can proactively identify what's happening there. What about those those datas? And I know like I know I've heard Dr. Galooi talk about some of the strategies happening in the administration around hiring and trusted adults. Um so I'm curious how that how
that will be playing out over the next couple of >> or like in terms of student groups. >> Yeah. Like in terms of you know what are the to make LGBTQ students feel more connected. what what kind of you know I
saw the GSA I know there have been conversations and how that target how those targeted interventions are happening based on the data without introducing stigma and feeling targeted in a negative way. >> Sure. Absolutely. I think it's just
student groups to be mindful of that they may may need support and to make sure they know what supports are available for them. >> Great. And I was really happy to see professional development top on the list of strategies there and awareness around the staff. >> Yes, absolutely. >> Um, a clarifying question on the data.
>> Member Rinfeld, could I is am I could I just like add on one quick thing before you go to your next question? I also do want to say >> um two other points about your last comment. one is I think that was also our intentional and purposeful reason
for also creating and introducing rainbow clubs at the elementary level because we want to make sure we are starting a lot of this support and education at the earlier ages so that we can hopefully see some of that um data
trend in a different way. And I would also say that some of the data um might be maybe like difficult to look at, but one of the things that we have tried to do is leverage our partnership with Cityear who this year has also put
some student teachers in our schools. And those are student teachers of color. And one of the key goals for Metro Public Schools that we do not have is a diversified workforce that looks like our students. And so in some of these data points where we want students to
feel like they have a trusted adult for them to be able to go to, I would say that part of our work is also making sure that we are doing what we can to diversify our workforce. We have City Air as one of those ways to do it and
Dr. Talbit is also working with a lot of higher educational institutions to make sure that we're able to have a workforce that represents our students. Great. Thank you. Yes, I remember that from your report last time and I appreciate putting it in the context of this. A
clarifying question on the compar on the year-to-year comparisons. when we're seeing the state data, is that YRBS data or is that the comparable survey to what we had been using previously as well? I think I'm mostly wondering what the error bars are and
how comparable it is with the new survey. How how many grains of salt do we need to be saying this 4% jump is meaningful? >> That is Y RBS data. So, we we did the state Y RBS data. They typically don't
have middle school data. um available. So, >> okay. So, we have that for this we're using that for the state, but when we're looking at our trend, we're looking at I decide and or communities that care, sorry. >> Right. Yeah. So, past 30-day use, some
some things we could could do trend data on and some things we couldn't. we had to look at how the question was um asked and we used um and one thing I did want to note too is that we recently got a um partnerships for success grant for the
um a federal grant that's uh 1.25 25 million over the next 5 years. And that is where we could bring in outside evaluators to help us put a lot of this data together. So we can look to the school committee and say what what type of data would you like to see? And they
will be um available to to put you know school culture data together and some of the other um data um going forward. So we just got that grant um starting in November. So stay tuned for more. really exciting because I know part of the
shift to Y RBS meant we were losing some of the panorama questions that we had before that were really specifically focused on school culture based on the analysis that was done before my time on the school committee but was still really um relevant. Uh quick on the
focus groups were those done in parallel with the survey or were they done as a response to the survey? Were they so were you asking the focus groups about things you saw in the survey or were you just collecting that same baseline data with the focus groups? >> We we actually met with the school
administration team and we looked at some of the preliminary data coming out of the YRBS but also wanting more contextual data around things. So um that's where we came up with a list of questions and we could provide an executive report of the um focus group
for you. >> Okay. And then when do you say students want actively engaging uh approaches? Is that referring to in classrooms, in clubs? What what does what does that mean? It was a great comment and I see it coming in our
education plan for the high school, but what where were they requesting actively engaging approaches? >> I think it went it that was in reference to some of the school cultural bu building activities. So, >> okay. And then my very last comment is
just I think there is a huge amount of information and questions on this sleep idea and I would love to explore that further. I'm not going to take the time on in this meeting because I see lots of hands up after me but that is really
important to talk about in terms of culture in terms of academic homework loads school start times scheduling of activities all of that. So, thank you for highlighting it to be continued. Thank you so much.
>> Thank you, Member Reinfeld. We have Member Rouso, Member Olade, and member Parks, and then our student reps. So, I'll turn it over to you, me member [clears throat] Rouso. >> Thank you. Um I don't have as many questions. Actually, I probably do, but
um the gambling thing is something that is uh deeply disturbing. Um and I'm wondering um what efforts are we including a lot of parent education in that? Because, you
know, I think a lot of parents, if they're not gamblers themselves, um, assume my kid can't even get a lottery ticket or a, you know, a scratch ticket. Like, they that's just not a thing cuz stores don't want to lose their
licenses. Um, and so to know that kids can gamble as if they're millionaires, frankly, with these apps. Um, I I think parents are going to be a bit shocked is my guess. I mean, I only
heard about it on the radio recently. Um, the amount of kids that are actually using apps in middle school. Um, even though all the apps say you have to be 18 or what is it, 21 even? I don't know. Um, so I just wanted to ask if we we h
is there is there an actual program and it I mean it's such a relatively new problem there may not be something we can buy off the shelf but whatever it is I just hope we can include parent education in that um because I think um that's
there's only so much we can do when it comes to kids and their phones. I'm I'm glad you said that because that is actually going to be one of our first caregiver university workshops that we're offering this spring. Um and that is something we um use some of the
gaming commission funds to do that intensive study on youth and young adult gambling in Medford. We actually have a 150page report coming out um on our findings and um we um heard from a lot of students, coaches, things that helped
drive our our strategies that we'll be rolling out. But that is something that we found out what you know the the spectrum like what you know video gaming to online betting to playing poker and and um this parent and caregiver
education will um address all of that. >> Thank you so much. Member Pare, >> thank you. Um, and thank you so much for this report. I think this is really comprehensive and going to is giving us the the committee and myself a really good idea about where we are. I had a
couple questions. Um, so I know at the towards the beginning of the presentation you did note how to interpret the data. um given the fact that there's some subjectivity to it. Um an understanding that this does not always include or you know does not always indicate um things inherently there's some some understanding that needs to be added before we can kind of
pull away any immediate expectations. One of the things I did wonder about [clears throat] was the general mental health section. So just really really early on you know it's noting that there is 19% um of middle schoolers are noting some
you know um not good u mental health and then 20% of high schoolers when we talk about generalizations like that um and again like we're we're using sample sizes. [clears throat] Was there any follow-up questions that were added to kind of clarify what not good meant or is it just the student's
interpretation of the question that you allowed to be used? That's a great question. Um, so I wrestle with this as a mental health clinician myself with all of these surveys because this is not a clinical diagnosis. It's certainly a very short question that we're asking
them, but it is left to their interpretation. And then what I, you know, we need to remind ourselves that's how they're perceiving themselves. So whether they're clinically depressed or they're clinically anxious doesn't really matter. They're feeling like themselves that they're not doing well.
Um, and I think that's really important. Thank you. Yeah, and I I had the same question or wonder is that regardless of how, you know, we may want to interpret it, I think the students response to that question, I think is what's important to kind of be a, you know, a good indicator of kind of how we're going to move forward. Um, the second
portion is more of a recognition more than a question, but I do appreciate it being added when we move towards, I think, slide 15, the strategies for student mental health. I did really appreciate that there's recognition that how we're going to offer some additional um responses to this to these questions
is by also including the adults in the conversation. A lot of research has been done the last couple decades um from DESIE from the um department of ed for the federal government for example a lot of private organizations and in institutes have talked about the link between parent guardian support um as to
and how that how they impact student success rates um and not just parents but you know caregivers and faculty in the classrooms as well how we're linking those successes um directly um improve chronic absenteeism for example student outcomes testing scores um graduation
rates and college um pursuit. So, I did appreciate that um because I know that a lot of people are having some questions about how we're being impacted. Um to move on a little bit, um this is a question I think to for our central admin, but then I think also potentially
might be something we want to develop um going forward. If we move on to slide 30, the trusted adults section. Um, is there any uh professional development um that's been woven into um our general standard for our staff about how to I
think create and develop those relationships with students or to be to continue being sources of support um other than just being the kind of daily daily um teacher in the classroom. I don't know if the superintendent um knows at all if that's built in or if that if there's any separated um
teaching about that. >> I would probably the way I would answer that is to say specifically like separated to that exact context. um not to date what we have done for the past uh I would say two years is really
been focusing on the the global piece of that whole child by bringing in as previously stated in some of the presentations to this body bringing in uh the Gleam network and where we're focusing on our instructional practices
to make sure that students feel that sense of affirmation and engagement and meaning in their learning spaces um is is something that's been a big priority for us in these past two years. I would say that there are other
additional supports in which teachers are there and available for students. Um in terms of like the content that is um given to [clears throat] students through the advisory through nexus through health curriculum um there are
pieces of that woven into um times of the day like that. But it also could be a growth area in terms of like specifically to your point about trusted adults. Um that's an area that I can have conversations with Miss Schulman,
Dr. Tab Talbot and uh the principles and directors. >> Thank you. And I do and I do note that I think especially given right now I think there's a lot of questions about the safety of our students and faculty. Um you can see that some of the concern
about the Hispanic um and Latino population are feeling heightened concern and anxiety about safety in the schools about going to school. Um you know we don't need to get into a whole conversation about the specifics about why that may be right now. I think we all can kind of pull some expect some assumption by that but I do think that
trying to have a conversation about how we are um making sure that our staff feel like they can provide additional support to our students socially, emotionally, intellectually, what have you. um especially in kind of times of heightened concern and anxiety um I think is probably a really good thing to
kind of think about a little bit as we move forward. But I think to your point, it's kind of already built into, you know, just being a teacher in general and a staff member in our schools that is an expectation about providing that safe space. Um but obviously the questions that some students may be having and parents may
be adding some additional um questions. Um and then the last question SL point is if we move on to slide I think 38 you know the strategies for protective factors the breakfast cards I think is a phenomenal idea um just because you know
again we talk a lot about um creating the space for students to be successful and I think having having a a good meal in the morning is probably a good starting point um and obviously I'd like to see all these um populations increase especially our lower our lower population percentages um when we talk
about, you know, and there's been a lot of conversation at the state level about the cost of things and about um our universal food free meal programs um and how there's some question or concern from the state delegation if we can actually uh afford to maintain our universal free
health plan or free food plan um just because of budget cuts and things like that. Um with breakfast carts at this particular moment, I would wonder or hope that that would be covered um under the the the free plan. Um, but if we move forward and there's some change and you know, God forbid, um, I hope that we
can have a conversation about moving forward about finding other ways to source that food if we want to move forward with breakfast carts. How we do that obviously is, you know, not quite not quite there yet, but I'm just conscious of the fact that we're going to, if we want to, you know, provide that provide that, um, strategy for the
students, um, we need to be careful about what that'll look like financially if things change. Uh, that's all I got. Thank you so much. Thank you, member Pad. Um, our student rep, Elachi, and then member Rinfeld. Can >> you hear me? Just want to you hear me or
is it okay? I'm going to hope that you can hear me. Um, sorry, my voice is a bit um bit sick, but um yeah, I I just I guess I just really wanted to say like, you know, whenever we look at these the same data at the regional or the state level,
it's always really really insightful. and this is sort of my first time seeing it on the district level and so um I think that um it's really important that this data is collected. I think um like personally as uh maybe a target
of you know some of the [laughter] uh someone who's um maybe in some of those more marginalized groups that has been subject to a lot of those things that you know you uh try and target for in the survey. Um it does mean a lot. I think it means maybe more than it would otherwise. Um,
is there any effort currently to make this data accessible to students or like more accessible to students? >> Thank you. Yes, we can certainly um figure out a way to to make that accessible to our students. >> Great. Thank you so much.
>> Oh, great question. And I did want to say something now that we have the youth action teams um both at the high school and the middle school. One thing that they do or they they do a lot of um education. They do uh the Mustang news
flush. I forget what the newsletter is called, but they actually put information about they feature a trusted adult and they'll start to take some of the um the data from this and spin it in a positive way showing students that most students are making healthy choices, things like that. So
communicating um this data in ways that um is meaningful to students, but we'd love to have students look at this data and help them interpret it. >> Great. Thank you. Um member Rinfeld and
member Master Bony. >> Yes. I realized I had wanted to ask um to what extent you're studying andor exploring the nuance of in person versus digital versus online. I know the
bullying stats have bullying on school property and bullying online. Um but I'm curious what kind of data you're collecting around social media and just general digital health um both for students and also for the the um caregiver university. But that's a huge
piece of this. I imagine if I get into the data, I'll see a lot more of it. But if you could speak about that component, that is really important for how students go through the world right now. >> It's unbelievably important. And I also want to go back to your previous point
of how much it connects to sleep. Um, and how what we're finding, this is this is not in the report, but just from like a anecdotal portion of it. Um, we're finding students reporting they're not sleeping because they're up on their devices. Um, and they're either playing
games or they're trying to connect with other peers. Um, but there's a lot of device use that's happening um, during the evenings when they should be sleeping. The question around bullying did have a differential in terms of inerson and online. Um, that was a
question that highlighted that. I don't think that the survey pulls out much more information related to a differential um around that and I would have to go back to look at um if they were asking around social media use but yes this is a huge thing that we're
looking at um this is certainly impacting our youth in many ways um and it's connected to all of these factors >> yeah great because I think the interpersonal components look different I think we all know this they look different face to face than they do
online. Even as adults, we see that. >> Yes, absolutely. But one thing I will highlight about online use is that our anonymous reporting system has been immensely helpful in terms of students having a platform to either tell us about something that's going on with themselves or a peer.
>> Yes. And are there specific strategies in place? You mentioned a lot of the protective strategies and the um interventions, but to implementation and help people be aware of their digital health and what this does the
relationship with their mental health. >> Yes, my I believe it is part of the um health curriculum. you know, we recommended it when we did the health curriculum review, and I see a lot of those changes in in these lists, which is great, but I'm curious what where that shows up.
>> I would have to um defer to Rachel Perry to speak about that. >> Right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um again very very appreciative of the ser um the presentation great questions
great work. Um if nobody has any further questions we can um move on to the next agenda item but again thank you so much for all the hard work. I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Gusy interim superintendent and Dr. Dr. Kim
Talbett, assistant superintendent for academics and instruction to update us on the proposed educational plan for the Medford High School building project. Dr. >> Thank you so much. As Mr. Pipeelli works
on um screen sharing. I'm just going to take this opportunity to say good evening and thank you for this opportunity uh to share the work behind Medford High School's educational plan uh which is a core deliverable as part of the MSBA process and a crit critical
step in the PDP uh phase which we'll talk about tonight. Dr. Dr. Kim Talbett, our assistant superintendent for academics and instruction, and I are going to walk through how this plan captures our district's educational priorities and translates them into the
learning environments, student supports, program needs that are all going to help shape the design of the new high school. Tonight, we are also joined by members of Medford City Council. Thank you so much, member uh Lemming and Melany. Hope nobody else popped on since I I first
kind of scanned um for joining us for this really important meeting and conversation. We really greatly appreciate the support. Uh we also are joined by our owner's project manager left field and our design team SMMA who I'm going to introduce in just a minute.
Um and we do again just want to thank everybody for being here and and appreciate the support. So our goal this evening is to provide clarity on the educational plan, highlight those key themes that emerged from our work and show how the educational plan are going to guide the
next phases of this uh MSBA process and our decision-m. >> The Z the screen's good, right? >> Yes, I can see it. Thank you so much. Will, you can go to the next. Perfect. Um, so I spoke a little bit about this, but our agenda, we're going to talk about the
timeline and kind of how we got to the place that we're at, as well as introduce our partners. We're going to do a review of the educational plan and a discussion around that. And you can just say thank you. So this
slide really highlights those key milestones that moved Medford public schools from the beginning of the MSBBA process to establishing the project uh scope and team. So it began in April
2023 when we submitted our statement of interest for Medford High School and really began the MSBA partnership process. In December of 2023, the MSBA board of directors approved us and we
were able to move forward in this process, which is a really big major step um in advancing the project. And then April 2024, we formed the school building committee um which was created in essence to
provide oversight, transparency, and an asset in community aligned decision-making throughout this process. Module one, as you can see here, is the eligibility period. And during that time, Medford and MSBA worked on project
goals. We had to produce things around enrollment and projections. Um, really narrowed down around our enrollment. We were approved with a little back and forth for an enrollment uh of at Medford High School through
grades 9 through 12 at about 1395. And in addition to that number, we were also approved for the centralization of an early childhood center, which would be comprised of our existing and expanding MEEP, which is our preschool
programming, uh, kids corner, which is our municipal daycare, as well as Medford Family Network. As we advanced to module two, which was the forming of this team, uh the district selected left field as our
project, our owner's project management team and began working with them last summer in maybe end of spring about June of 2025 for this educational plan. and MS SMMA came on board as our design team
and really began working with us on the development of our educational plan around October um of 2025. Next slide. Thank you. So this slide um as previously stated in April the school
committee appointed a 25 member school committee excuse me school building committee which is made up of Medford's educational leaders elected and city officials as well as community members that are listed here. This committee reflects a strong cross-section of
voices and expertise and for the core areas needed in this process which is going to help guide the project. Um through the level of engagement of this team and the thoughtful dialogue and collaboration throughout this process
has been essential in moving the work forward. And even though we may have seen some people leave the committee and new members join the committee both for past members as well as present members, we are deeply appreciative of their
dedication and leadership uh that they have shown throughout this process thus far and their investment to really make sure that we are building um a flagship for the Medford community. So, thank you to the Medford Comprehensive School Building Committee.
This brings us to our owner's project manager group, Left Field. On the call with us tonight is Malino, Jen Carlson, and Linda Leaporto. I hope nobody else kind of sneaked on before I looked. Um, but you can see that they are the
project managers for this work and have been deeply involved in every phase thus far since they have joined us. um their expertise and guidance have been essential to us in helping us navigate each step of this MSBA process. Um we're
grateful for their partnership, their professionalism, their responsiveness, um and look forward to continued partnership through each phase of this work from SMMA tonight. Joining us is Matt
Rice and Rosemary Park. Um Matt Rice is a project manager and Rosemary Park is one of the um educational experts and architects. We are grateful to our design team um for their leadership and expertise in guiding us through the
design and the educational planning work that is associated with this MSBA process. And it's important work because that's the work that really reflects Medford's vision and continued work and making sure that we are building
something that meets the needs of all of our students, our staff, and our community. So, thank you SMA and left field. As we move on, if people have joined our community presentations previously, they may have seen a slide very similar to
this. Um, this shows the MSBA project a little bit like in breath. What we're doing tonight is we're really kind of drilling down to the pieces that are is highlighted here. So, this is the phase right now that we're in in the
development and the definition of the educational plan, the educational program, and what options that we have for us moving forward. This is the preliminary design program phase that we're in right now. And it is during
this phase in which the educational plan is developed. And that is what we're going to speak about tonight. It is through this plan that captures our district vision for learning and ensures that the design matches what that vision is um for our building and what we need
now and into the future. Thank you. So you can go to the next slide, Mr. Pipelli. Thank you. So this slide really talks a lot about what is the educational plan, what are those key dates that we're here to discuss
tonight. And so in summary, the key pieces of what an educational plan is throughout this MSBA process, if I were to put it simply, I would say it's our north star. So it is a document that is going to ensure that our new high school
is designed around our current and future pedigogy and instructional practices and vision for that in our schools and our student experience. It is not a generic fill-in-theblank
template. Um it is something that is targeted specifically for Medford public schools and the Medford community. This document is something that for all intents of purposes needs to be the bridge between what our vision is and what the reality is of the building. So
it clarifies the why behind our teaching practices and our learning practices and then the how of how the spaces need to support that vision. So the educational plan is the why and the how. Um the work
of the educational plan was grounded and I think this is really important to note in the voices of our students, our educators, our community members and our staff because we want and need to make sure that this plan reflects the real
needs and the real experiences within Medford public schools. So the result of the educational plan should be that we are able to create a future ready sustainable high school that functions not only as a school but
as a welcome welcoming community hub and a place built for flexibility student agency and purposeful joyful learning. Now all that said I think it's important to note that the key submission date. So right now the purpose for this meeting
is the initial submission of the educational plan. You that will be next um school committee meeting on February 2nd that allows this to go for some draft revisions and 2020 and then
February 25th, excuse me, February 25th. The final submission after those revisions as part of MSBA will be at the end of June as you see here um June 25th. So right now this is the initial
submission. You can go to the next slide. Thank you. This slide I think is really important um for you to see the intersection of how the educational plan which we are here for tonight informs the educational program and vice versa.
It really reflects the iterative process that this is in developing an educational plan. And so it really also mirrors intentionally how we approach things here too within the district which is with collaboration
with reflection and with refinement over time when we're getting stakeholder input. So you can see that the educational plan as I've previously stated the why and the how that is going to inform the educational program which
really talks about what those spaces should be and you can see how they talk to one another on this slide. Both of those documents are going to inform the overall building size and design.
Thank you. And so in this slide tonight we're here and we're going to speak about three phases um of the process. I am going to I have kind of covered the beginning phase. I'm going to speak about phase one here and then I'm going
to turn it over to Dr. Talbot to talk about phase two and phase three. So phase one of the educational plan was everything we started before SMMA came on. So you can see here with this
timeline, left field joined us [clears throat] during our administrative retreats last June 2025 and that's when they laid out what the scope of this work is. They introduced
the educational plan work to our administrative team and our directors who worked on the initial draft of compiling what instructional practices and education looks like now and what we
hope for it to be and what we are working for it to be. And so that was initi in initially done in June and then July, August and September directors worked on that with their teams and
their teachers in order to help build some of that context that is just helpful in in building and developing an educational plan. as um Left Field also helped us um
schedule, sorry, blanking on the words, schedule building tours of other newly um built high schools and we had a bunch of them scheduled throughout the summer. We had administrators. We had some teachers join us so that they were able
to tour high schools, get an understanding for what is possible and h where we can dream and what matches our current context and and where we've been working through our professional development to get.
[clears throat] All of that knowledge and work from the summer came in at the beginning of the school year. And the first uh two months of school was directors working with teachers in their specific departments
around developing this educational plan for what it is now and what we want it to be. and excuse me, all of that feedback went into the devel development of that
plan. Then around November, October, SMMA came in and we moved into phase two and phase three of the development of the educational plan. And Dr. Talbot is
going to lead us through phase two and phase three. So in phase two, we are so grateful to working with SMMA on the visioning process because they let us through a rigorous 48 hours worth of visioning
across a variety of stakeholders. Um, and we really appreciate their work. So we had 60 department program meetings. We engaged in a student shadow day. There were four educational leadership team meetings. Um there were three
building tours, two visioning days with staff and students. And I want to underscore again, you can see in some of these pictures the collaborative nature of our work together. There were students, teachers, administrators, and central office administrators working together to
imagine what the future of Medford High School could be. Um slide will. So, here are some scenes of the different kinds of ways that SMMA engaged our team in designing a Bedford High School that was going to meet the
need meet the needs of our students. We started with a shadow day in November and I have to say this for me was one of the most professionally rewarding experiences. My team followed Emily. You can see her pictured in the center picture here. and we followed her
through three periods of the day. There were multiple teams following students from arrival through their days, navigating the cafeteria for lunch to really get a sense for what education is at Medford High School currently and how
the building supports it. And we were really excited to hear about the students in our debrief about what they felt the barriers were from the building and from instruction for helping them to thrive.
SMMA also engaged our ed leadership team in school tours. We visited three schools in one day of new construction. Not all high school, but all of them were comprehensive schools. The purpose of these tools was to help tours was to
help our teams dream as to how space could really help students unlock their potential. And we saw some things that we loved and we saw some things that gave us pause. Our visioning team um met on two full
days. You can see us here pictured with Post-it notes and standing up and markers and building with blocks and and filling in squares and really elevating the voices of our students. These visioning sessions also included committee member community members,
members of the building committee and members of the school committee. It should be noted that um Marta Cabra, the principal of the high school, took great care in ensuring that all staff were invited into this process, whether
in the tours or the editioning sessions or the educational leadership sessions so that everybody's voice could be seen and elevated. Slide. So through that exhaustive work, 48
hours we counted. So through that exhaustive work um and looking at the strong foundation that the department directors had set in their initial draft of the educational plan, we came to the vision that a comprehensive integrated high school
where academics, CTE learning and accessibility flourish to support multiple pathways and identities within a school community is the future that we wanted for the city of Medford. and from Medford High School.
Through those visioning sessions, our partners at SMMA helped us to elevate these six goals here, which you will see woven throughout the uh 60page ED plan that's attached. Our goals for the future are to create a
school where every student, educator, and family feel seen, valued, and belongs. to create a welcome and accessible community hub that supports learning, engagement, and connection during and
beyond the school day. Where learning experiences that are purposeful, relevant, rigorous, joyful, and connected to the real world happen every day. To create a building that is flexible, purposeful, and human- centered with
spaces that support collaboration, movement, and multiple modes of teaching and learning. We're developing a building today that's going to last us for 30 years. And so we know we need to be flexible. Most of all, we want to create a space
that centers student voice and agency and leadership. And there was no more rewarding moments in all of those 48 hours of work together where students stand up stood up and spoke their truth. The rooms were silent, listening to what they had to say and taking to heart
their thoughtful considerations for what they wanted the students who come behind them to experience. And finally, we want a future ready building that is adaptable, sustainable, and able to evolve with the changing student needs and educational
practices. You can find, by the way, the full version of this report on the building project website under phase three. The full version of the report has all of those beautiful charts and prioritization work that we did together
is all laid out um as well as these goals. So, here's what you'll see in this version of our Medford educational plan. As a reminder, this plan serves as the reflection of current the current way of instruction and envisions a mode of
instruction that students really deserve. So, in this plan, we've imagined several enhancements to programming um over the next couple of decades um and we're focused on designing a building where
these changes are possible. So on this slide, what you see is a table of contents for the education plan. While it is not a cookie cutter mold mold, it is the format that the MSBA needs to see what our vision is,
our current practice, and future practice. So this is the table of contents of what you'll find in the report. It's lengthy, so we'll call out a few key enhancements that you might want to be on the look for as they connect with the six goals that I set on the previous
slide. You'll want to be on the lookout for key enhancements to instructional practices. Instructional shifts that elevate student collaboration and agency. This by the way um as a note to our prior um
presentation is also a way to build trust between students and adults in the building doing the work through the work working together on complex real world problems. That's the instruction that our students deserve. Other key enhancements to instructional
practices are flex flexible and intentional use of learning spaces for both students and staff. We recognize this is going to represent a change in how our community approaches teaching and learning and also the expansion of
CTE programming, something that we were all excited about in every meeting, every stakeholder in that space. You'll also notice in this document some key enhancements to instructional operations. You'll see a thoughtful integration of specialized programming
throughout the building, both in space and in concept. You'll see the integration of CTE programming when you look through the visioning report and you see grown adults stacking colored blocks to show where the adjacencies could be of CTE
programming and arts programming to elevate the experience of all of our students. I think you'll find it quite insightful. Other key enhancements to instructional operations you'll find in this document is the plan to colllocate Curtis Tus on
this campus, bringing all of our 9 through 12 students together in the same community, an expanded use and imagination of the library and media center. And as Dr. Guly pointed out earlier, a centralized space for early childhood to
grow and thrive. Thank you so much, Dr. Talbet. So, I think at this time if we're we would love to field any questions that the that anybody may have about the educational plan.
We also know it is up for discussion at the next school committee meeting and there'll be an opportunity for questions and comments at that time as well. Um, I would also like to just initially call
out um I'm glad we have our uh left field and SMMA have turned their cameras on so you can see them here and they've joined the meeting. I also do want to call out um a lot of this work in the visioning sessions was also led
by their educational consultant um Mike Perolo who worked with us really on the the uh report that Dr. Dr. Talbot spoke about that you can find on the website um under phase three was um
written and compiled by Mike and his partner and really kind of digs down into the work and the data that was revealed through all of the visioning sessions uh throughout this phase. >> Yep. And before I turn it over to member
Graham, I just want to thank you Dr. Gussy and Dr. Talbot for the presentation. um thank SMMA and Left Field for running more meetings than I could even keep up with. So, between the whole school staff and everybody that attended
those meetings, it was a lot crammed into a short amount of time because I know we really want to move this high school forward as fast as we can. And thank you again to counselors Lemming and Meline who joined us um this evening. So, thank you to everybody involved in getting this hard work done
in in such a um short amount of time. Member Graham, thank you. Um thanks for the presentation. I just had one procedural question. If people have, as they're reviewing, if they have questions and comments, do you want them to send those
questions and comments to you ahead of time? because the expectation what we need to do next week is um provide a a vote of approval that can be shared with the building committee and ultimately
with the MSBA. So I just [clears throat] wanted to sort of highlight that and and talk a little bit about how you wanted to handle questions and like any editing that's going to go on between now and then. >> No, I think that's very a very great
question. Thank you very much. I would say that people can reach out to Dr. Talbot or myself. Um, and I would probably say since this does have to be turned around for the next school committee meeting uh, next Monday, we would appreciate comments
probably by um, Thursday, which gives us ample time to respond. Okay. >> Thank you. Great. Um, member Master Bony, >> thank you and and thank you for the presentation and thanks to the whole team for putting this together. You
know, it's a it's a really big document. So, >> [clears throat] >> um, I have two questions. The first is um, is the solution to creating this ed plan building a high school or are there other things that we would want to be considering along with building a high
school to to to implement this ed plan? know their policy pieces there. Um that's that's the first question. >> That's such a great question. So our um our SMMA consultant Mike brought that up
at every single meeting. Do not wait for 2030 to implement these visionary practices that you see start right away. And that is something that we're excited to do. So thank you for that question member master. some of the um colllocation moving classrooms around
that is going to have to wait for the new building. But the instructional practices we can start right away. We heard our students loud and clear. They want agency. They want choice. They want to take leadership roles and we need to respond to that by designing instruction that fits their needs. So some yes and
some no. >> That that makes sense to me. And you know, I I think to the extent, you know, we'll be reading through this, but really highlighting that here these are the things that we're going to go forward with immediately that we've identified will be really helpful in um you know, the next year while we wait
for the school. Um the second question is it's it's a long document. Uh I'm thinking about from the perspective of a member of the public like how would you read this document? It's got 20 sections. if I've got time for a few like are there really key pieces here
that can't be missed and you're not allowed to say the whole document which I think would be fair. >> I would say I'll start first Suzanne and then maybe you could pop in to clean up. Um so I'm going to say in this very messy way that 60 pages is a lot for
anyone to read but everybody in Medford is passionate about something. So I would say approach that document with a section that you're passionate about. If you are passionate about school counseling and mental health, start there. If lunch is your thing, start there. If it really matters to you about
the arts, PE, academics, which is where I would start, that is where you should start so that you don't run out of steam on the way through. I would look for places where you can feel inspired by what the students and faculty are saying about what they'd like to see instruction look like. And I would urge
you to not get lost in the weeds of the document um because I think that could really kind of pull you under and make it not as joyful as the process was. But Dr. Gissy, what am I missing there? >> No, I think you absolutely nailed it. I was pretty much going to say the same
thing as well as just expand upon your first question. um member master bony that there there are pieces of what we're already doing now and not you know waiting for the the new high school build woven into many different departments I mean CTE is another
example so some programs are starting now some because of space constraints have to wait for the new build so I I wouldn't want to limit someone to those things we did try to highlight that above and beyond the academic components
or maybe some of the space components of this high school. There are some of the things that we're trying to do which is like colllocate Curtis Tus up here um our therapeutic uh day high school as well as creating an early childhood
center. So those are some of the two big items as well as maintain our welcome center and our parent information center for families. Um but I really think Dr. Talbot nailed the advice.
>> Thanks so much. That's really helpful, I think. Thank I appreciate it. >> Thank you, member Rinfeld. >> There we go. Um I was What level of feedback questions are you looking for? uh in
terms of like I I did find a typo probably because I haven't been staring at this forever. So, do you want that kind of level? Do you the are the goals set and there's no room to tweak those? What what what level of feedback are you
wanting for the next meeting? And is that on the document itself or on the plan in general and how that will play out in this process? I so let's do the reverse Dr. Talbot.
I'll start and then you can clean up. So I would say any and all we're always open to feedback from typos to larger ideas and concepts. The only thing that I would
like be mindful of is that as stated through this presentation, it's an iterative process. This is draft one. So we do want to inform the future and soon final draft of this document. So we do want to hear your feedback. Um but also
too this was a plan that was created by various stakeholders. So we want your feedback but we also don't want to minimize the work and the input that went into the writing of this plan. If that makes sense.
>> That that makes sense. And I I will say I really appreciate uh all the work and all the people who contributed to this and I see that and I see opportunities to take a lot of this and expand it out as we do our strategic planning work which is already underway. So I am
seeing that as well but I just kind of wanted to clarify what the expectation was and how people could expect to see any feedback. >> No, I we appreciate that very much. Thank you. >> Thank you. Great. Thank you so much.
>> Thank you. >> So, next week a vote. Um much appreciate the presentation. Next, we we don't have any presentations. Um but we do have continued business.
So, I'll move on to continued business. A interim superintendent evaluation and goals feedback. Mayor, I'm gonna I'm gonna take this. Um, thank you. So, um, this is going to be a very dense conversation, but I'm
going to ask everyone to bear with me, please. Um, so we've been discussing, um, the superintendent eval for a couple weeks now. um intern superintendent Galooi submitted her self-ealuation um before the end of the calendar year. We had a um school committee meeting um
that incorporated that into our discussion. Um and then from that we were then able to put together our school committee member um eval um individually and then we were to combine them all into what we're going to be looking at tonight. Um so a couple clarifying points. Um and then we're
going to have it cast on the screen so we can kind of go each to by you know point by point. Um what is this what is the standard for um school committees in in public districts is that on an annual basis you will put together um a set of
goals that the district will be working towards. The school committee will work in tandem with the superintendent of that district and their um senior staff and their central ad administration to kind of figure out what is best um for both sides. The school committee's responsibility is to make sure that
those things um align with the state standards and then what is the general um strategic plan of the district and then superintendent is then tasked with um implementing those on a daily basis and then um quarterly. Um given the nature of um the intern superintendent's
um position, we recognized that it'd be a bit difficult to put together that annual goal setting um explicit description because um um she came in in January of 25. Um and so in October and
or in September of 25, we acknowledge that we did not put together a comprehensive description of all of those goals um at least an explicit nature. But in January at the entry point, the superintendent put together a um slide deck that um discussed what
types of things that she had been not noticing prior to her um intern position and then what she wanted to work towards going forward for the remainder of that academic year. And then the one we're in currently um in October, we had a you know, we we were able to discuss that
and she gave her finding slide deck to us and we were able to discuss that. Um I believe the meeting was October. Let me just pull this up. Um, at some point in October, I don't have the exact dates in front of me. Um, I have a bunch of notes in front of me.
So, um, please bear with me as I look at all of them as we kind of go through. Um, each goal that the superintendent discussed in September and that we then discussed further in October is considered what's called a smart goal. Um that is what DESIE recommends as best
practice when we discuss um discernable goals that uh any any person can look through and understand where the district is working towards. SMART stands for um the S is specific and strategic. M is measurable. A is actionoriented. R is rigorous, realistic and results
focused. And T is timed and tracked. So again that's what we use um in our district and what is kind of the standard according to Desi. So we understand what goals are being implemented, what's the pursuit of them, the timetable for them to be achieved, um and the review process that we'll be
using ideally to understand if they've been achieved. If they haven't been achieved, for example, is there notable or is there measurable work towards those goals. Um realistically, most goals that are set at any given time, especially district-wide goals, are not going to always be achieved in any one
academic year. Uh because they're district-wide goals. uh but we want to see those um notable goals being pursued over time and we use that smart goal framework to understand how they're being achieved over time. So um a couple
other clarifying things um the evaluation that we use um as a school committee members is again we use the general framework that DESIE recommends. So it's not vastly different. We do use Medford specific goals um and a Medford framework, but we follow the general
guidelines that Desi recommends. After the superintendent in December submitted her self-eval, I then worked um to compile all the information necessary um clarify as general as possible and explicit as possible what those goals
were going to look like. Again, being clear that we did not set explicit district-wide goals in the same in the in the same timeline that you would in an annual year when there isn't um professional shifting in the superintendent's role, but because of how our interim came in, it's a little
bit different. I then sent out self evals or evals to each member. Um they then had about 2 weeks or so to fill them out. So, a little bit post the holidays up until the uh 18th of January to fill them out.
No committee member was able to look at any other committee members evals. I was the only one that was able to see them. So, for clarifying information, um committee members were allowed to communicate with the superintendent at any given time during their evaluation period if they needed to get some
information or any slide decks. for example, um if they have clarifying questions or if they felt as though they were not informed properly on any one section or subsection of the evaluation, they were also allowed to communicate with one other school committee member
if needed. I recommended, and Desi does as well, that you try your best to not interact with other school committee members because of open meeting laws. So, I don't to my knowledge, no one has done that. um they can communicate with me about clarifying questions about the evaluation or how they're supposed to
fill it out, which happened more than once. Uh but again, no committee member to my knowledge has communicated with anybody else other than maybe the superintendent or me specifically about um the protocol. So that's the first thing. The second thing is that all the evaluations are still unavailable to
each other. I'm the only one that's seen them. Um but we're going to see what the combined school committee evals are going to look like in a moment. Um, what's happened is that after each committee member filled out their eval, I then went in, I took their reported ratings, put them into the eval, and
then took their feedback, synthesize them with everybody else's responses for that respective section or subsection. And you'll see that um on the on the the public um email in a moment. Um, it's important to note that I in no way change the wording other than
synthesizing them, but I did not um add any additional embellishment or emboldening of any one perspective. It's not going to be clear who said what with these evaluations um because they've been combined and synthesized to be a little bit more narrative driven. the
language is going to be somewhat the same because Desi recommends you do that for just general um professionalism and and posterity so it's clear um and the criteria that we're using is going to be clear for everyone so that uh the public and the school committee members as well understand that we're all using the same
criteria so the subjectivity of how you read the question is your own but everyone has the same understanding about what we're basing our ratings on does that make sense so far sweet all right I'm talking a lot we're going to keep going. Um, and a couple other really important things to
understand is that committee members were given a handful of um, links and references, PDFs for consideration so they can kind of have the most formal understanding possible. So, we had a couple things from the state department about evaluating educators and superintendent. The evaluation that the
superintendent uses is similar to what teachers and professional staff use. So, you're going to see some of that. Um we have a a general rubric that is used across the state that they were provided that um and they were also provided a general idea about what it will look like with a filled out evaluation. So
they had a general idea about how it should look. Um the other important thing to note is that committee members who decided to give a rating other than proficient. So there's two scales we use for um our superintendent. There's a scale of 1 to five and a scale of 1 to
four. In the example of the one to five scale, four is your proficient. Anything above or below that, so one through three or five, you were asked or expected to give feedback. If you give a proficient score of four on that one to
five scale, no feedback is required. It's allowed, but there's no requirement for the scale of one to four. Three is proficient. Again, one to two or four of that one to four rating. There's no you you're you're asked to fill um give feedback, but three on that scale is
proficient. Um which means you don't need to add feedback. If a member chose not to add feedback because they gave that proficient score, their consideration or their opinion was not added into that synthesized feedback section because I got no feedback from them. Again, they weren't required to do
that, but they could if they so chose. Um some members decided to add feedback, some members didn't. That's not going to be again, we don't I don't clarify who said what. So there's no um specific um expectation of that but that's important to understand that this feedback is the
combination synthesization of certain members who added feedback for those respective sections not everyone's necessarily. Um okay can we have that please on the screen and I'll kind of keep adding things as we go.
>> Thank you. Member Olat, did you clarify for anyone watching that this incorporates feedback from people who are not currently on the school committee but had >> Yes, thank you. I really appreciate that clarification. Yes, this was um member
former member John Antapa and former member Nicole Branley were asked to give their respective um evaluations. Um given the fact that our current members um member Merrone and member Parks were not participating in the district at the time, we didn't ask them to fill us out.
This is um from the former six from the previous term of school who members um were asked to fill us out. So again, we're going to see some of the clear the the feedback from those former members in the feedback form. Um and let me just pull up so I have
this so it's clear for everybody. So, as I mentioned, we're on a scale of one to five for the first section. This is the superintendent performance goals. These are the goals that generally we would as a we as a district would work together with the superintendent's office to put
together and make explicitly clear what they were. As I mentioned, given the nature of the appointment, we didn't do that. But the superintendent did set aside a handful of goals that are relatively aligned with Desi's recommendations. Um so we were able to
still put together this evaluation. The first goal is a student this this first goal in front of us is the student learning goal. Um that generally is to establish high expectations for all students that promote critical thinking and problem solving. It aligns to grade
level state standards and ensures that instruction meets to individual needs of students. I should also clarify that we use focus indicators. There's upwards of, I believe, 20 indicators um that are used to kind of form our smart goal um
framework. As I mentioned, um each district is allowed to specify what indicators they'd like to focus primarily on. Realistically, you're not going to be able to use all 20 indicators for every goal because certain goals have certain expectations.
We used six uh we we clarified in October or September, I'm sorry. In September, we clarified six to eight indicators we wanted to focus primarily on. Um six of those eight, as I just mentioned, were used for the um five
goals that are going to be listed below. Um we didn't use two of them because they didn't necessarily align as easily with the goals that are set. Um and I want to make that clear. I had a question about that. Um so the first indicator that we're using for this goal
right now is it um 1-B or instruction. Um the feedback reads, "During a period of significant transition, including several months without a full academic leadership team, the superintendent maintained consistency in student experience and instructional expectations across the district.
Educators and administrators were appropriately engaged in this work, resulting in the establishment of clear norms that supported stable and successful learning environments. Despite these changes, gaps in student outcomes were identified along with concrete steps to begin addressing them. The recent hiring of a new assistant
superintendent of curriculum and instruction has brought renewed focus, expertise, and strategic direction to the district's academic work. With consistent practices, and foundational conditions for learning now more firmly in place, and with both a full central leadership team and individual
instructional leadership teams established, the district is well po positioned to move forward. Moving ahead or going ahead, there's a clear opportunity and expectation to prioritize more intentional personalization of learning to ensure instruction is consistently aligned to grade level standards while meeting the
diverse needs of individual students. I'm going to pause for a moment. Um, the rating that's listed there is um was taken from the second tab on this sheet, which is the member ratings. They're just the aggregate of all seven members
who gave ratings. Um, again, four is what's considered proficient. If a member or members used decimal points, so 3.5 or 4.5, for example, you're going to see that um you're going to see that with the rating that's allowed. Four is what we're is the minimum is that
proficient number. Um, five is of course exemplary and what you want to work towards always. Um, but anything under four is what we have to have a conversation about NES improvement or working towards. So that's why there's a 4.07. I'm going to use the number to the left of decimal point and I'm not going
to necessarily round up or round down. I'm just going to try to use or I'm going to round up or down just for the conversation. So that's the first one. Thank you. The second goal um this is considered the professional practice goal.
It reads um enhance understanding of district operations, collaboratively identify key priorities and foster a culture of trust, transparency, and efficiency. The focus indicator that we use for this one is 2-D,
laws, ethics, and policies. And this one reads, "Throughout her tenure, the superintendent has demonstrated a strong and consistent commitment to transparent, accessible leadership. She made it a clear priority to explain district processes and policies to families and the broader
community whether the matter at hand was complex or routine. This approach reinforced the belief that transparency is not situational but foundational and helped build trust by ensuring stakeholders understood not only decisions but the reasoning behind them. In her day-to-day leadership, the superintendent was consistently
prepared, able to respond thoughtfully to questions and when necessary, able to identify where additional information could be found. She demonstrated an ability to anticipate questions and concerns, clearly communicate the context and impact of district actions, and follow through on commitments.
Importantly, she also modeled these expectations for staff, reinforcing a culture of accountability and follow-up across the organization. This emphasis on trust and belonging extended beyond students to include district staff. The superintendent received consistent positive feedback for her focus on
relationship building, ensuring staff felt heard, respected, and meaningfully included in decisions that affected their work. By fostering these conditions and engaging staff as partners, she built a leadership team capable of addressing operational challenges collaboratively and effectively. Taken together, these
practices strengthened understanding of district operations, promoted shared ownership of priorities, and advanced a culture grounded in transparency, inclusion, and operational effectiveness. So that's goal two and that's the professional practice goal. Goal three.
So those and again I want to um pause for a moment. So Jesse's recommendation is that you have student learning goal, you have just one general one and then you have your professional practice goal. That's again a general one. You then are allowed two to four district improvement goals.
We work to to about three or so. Again, these are the the framework that the superintendent used in her f in her entry slide back in January used that framework, but it wasn't explicitly uh communicated to the public, and we didn't work to kind of cultivate those
with um her her office. She set these um based off of what she had already been working towards um in her prior role during that academic year. So, district improvement goal number one is to continue and further the ongoing MSBA process. We just had a very nice presentation about it. So, this is
similar to what we've been talking about. The um indicator that we're using for this one is 4-e, which is shared vision. Um and it reads, "The interim superintendent has demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment in
advancing the MSBA process, recognizing it not merely as facilities project, but as a rare and transformative opportunity to reimagine the future of Metro Public Schools. She has consistently approached the work as a as a springboard for meaningful systemwide change, challenging long-standing practices and
helping the district alliance physical infrastructure with evolving educational goals. Her ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders in developing a shared vision grounded in community values and best practices has been a defining strength of this process. Throughout the MSBA journey, she has
shown unwavering dedication attending and actively participating in every MSBA meeting, arriving prepared, informed, and deeply engaged. Committee members noted the extraordinary time commitment this work has required and her remarkable capacity to balance immediate district needs, supporting staff,
students, and families while simultaneously advancing a long-term vision for a stronger, more innovative school system. Her leadership has been marked by clarity, transparency, and thoughtfulness in representing decisions, uncertainties, and next steps to both the school committee and the broader community.
Importantly, this work has already translated into tangible progress. By working proactively with her team, the interim superintendent has accelerated implementation timelines, including the launch of new vocational programming years programming years ahead of schedule. Her energy, perseverance, and collaborative spirit have been
instrumental in moving this complex process forward. And her role as a committed as a committed thought partner has helped ensure that the MSBA process serves not only as a building project, but as a catalyst for lasting educational improvement. So again, that's district improvement goal number one. Goal number two for district
improvement is contract negotiations. Engage in negotiations with bargaining units to build collaborative relationships. address the interest rates and concerns of varied employee units within the district and improve district operations and outcomes. The focus indicator that we're using for
this one is 2-B, HR, management, and development. Um, and it reads, "Dr. Gussy has demonstrated strong effective leadership in contract negotiations marked by preparation, professionalism, and a clear commitment to a collaborative labor relations over multiple
negotiation cycles, including all 10 bargaining units. I don't know why it says 10, I should say 11. That's my mistake. She's consistently brought a calm, steady presence and datadriven approach that has helped foster trust, productive dialogue, and timely outcomes. Most notably, the district successfully negotiated one of the most
significant teacher contracts in many years, introducing substantial changes to educator work while avoiding the avoiding the escalation, work actions, and public conflict that have challenged many peer districts. This represents a meaningful departure from prior negotiation cycles and reflects a healthier, more constructive labor
environment. Committee feedback reflects a healthier, more constructive labor environment. Oh, sorry. Committee feedback highlights Dr. Glucy's deep knowledge of Metro Public Schools and its contracts, as well as her integral role on the negotiating team. She approaches negotiations prepared and with an open mind, thoughtfully
considering multiple perspectives and working to reconcile competing needs in in service of the district goals. Her willingness to move beyond p past practices while remaining grounded in the princ the willingness to move beyond sorry guys while remaining grounded in the principal at supporting educators
ultimately supports students that strengthen both relationships and outcomes. Additionally, her leadership has contributed to necessary and effective adjustments in staffing structures improving clarity of roles, efficiency and teamwork across the district. Overall, Dr. Galooi approach Dr. Lucy's approach to contract negotiations has
advanced district operations while reinforcing a collaborative culture focused on student success. All right. The third district goal is the description is continued relationship development and stakeholder communication. And the focus indicator
that we're using is uh 3- C communication. Oh, there's two. 3-C is communication and then 3- is engagement. and it reads, "Over the course of this evaluation period, Dr. Gluciia has demonstrated a strong and intentional commitment to relationship building and
transparent communication across the district. Her listening sessions and on-site visits were widely viewed as successful and meaningful, helping to ensure continuity of district operations while strengthening trust with staff, families, and community members. Through regular, weekly, and ad hoc memos, as
well as the use of task forces, commit committees, and structured input opportunities, she's elevated the standard for two-way communication and stakeholder engagement. Equally notable has been Dr. Glooy's leadership across in moments of challenge. Rather than deflecting responsibility, she has consistently modeled accountability,
acknowledging when mishaps occur, and taking ownership of solutions. This willingness to accept responsibility and focus on improvement has fostered credibility and confidence in her leadership. As a district continues to grow in this area, further attention will be needed to si to situational and
time-sensitive communications, particularly in supporting school leaders and central admin in clearly communicating protocols and addressing caregiver concerns while navigating the necess necessary constraints of confidentiality. Overall, Dr. Kusi's work in this goal area reflects a thoughtful, responsive, and relationship
centered leadership style that has positively impacted the district. Okay, so I'm going to pause for a moment. Are there any questions from anyone in the committee for this moment or I'm going to I'm going to move on. Sweet. Okay. So, we're going to move along. So, again,
that's the first portion. Those are going to those are where that's the superintendent performance goals. Now, we're moving on to the superintendent performance on standards. As I mentioned that that first section is on a scale of 1 to five. Four being proficient. Going forward our
performance on standards for the superintendent. It's on a scale of 1 to four. Three is your um proficient. Four is exemplary. One and two are under that. So we want to we're aiming at minimum three but we're shooting for four. At least in my interpretation of
it. So the first also bear with me. I'm a little sick. So, if I sound a little under the weather, I apologize. And I'm actually going to do one thing. >> There's a lot of weather to be under right now. >> This is true. This is true. Let me also
grab this furry way so we're all looking the same thing. Okay. Okay. So for the superintendent performance on standards what committee members were doing is this is just the general desi guidelines. This is in no
way an interpretation um of what you know the way that the committee members were evaluating is based off their understanding of what the superintendent did. We did not have to set these goals or these standards. This is what DESSI uses as a framework. We follow suit with what DESI recommends. Um so standard one
um is instructional leadership. Um and then there's going to be subsections for each standard or you know four to fiveish substandards let's call them. Um standard one again is instructional leadership. Um it reads and this is a combination of
what everyone said for each indual individual subsection that was combined for the total standard. Um our superintendent has continued to strengthen instructional leadership across the district building on prior work to increase rigor and align instruction to standards across subject areas. Committee members recognize this
work as complex and ongoing and note clear evidence of thoughtful progress, strengthened systems, and growing momentum. Under her leadership, the district has improved instructional leadership. Oh, sorry, has improved instructional leadership structures, data systems, and the use of evidence to
guide curriculum, instruction, and assessment, increasing leadership capacity, and share accountability for student learning. She has also elevated the quality of professional learning by expanding collaborative planning time and responding directly to educators identified problems of practice including through collective bargaining.
The first year implementation of middle school challenge courses reflects heightened expectations and has been wellreceived earning state level recognition. While continued attention is needed to ensure rigor and effective practices are fully inclusive of students with disabilities and consistently translate into personalized
learning and measurable outcomes. Committee members observe positive district-wide change and a clear trajectory towards sustained instructional improvement. So that's again that's that's a general synopsis of what the um this is there's
five substandards in this standard section. That's the kind of the combination of all five substandards. Um so substandard one or one is curriculum. It reads um Dr. Galuci has continued district-wide efforts to strengthen curriculum rigor and alignment to
standards across content areas, building on work initiated during her prior role as assistant superintendent. Progress is evident through increased coherence in curriculum design and implementation of new instructional offerings, including middle school challenge courses, as mentioned prior, which has been positively received and recognized at
the state level. Committee members acknowledge that this work is ongoing and note the importance of further applying a rigor focused lens to special education programming to ensure equitable access to high standards for all students. Um subsection 2 or substandard 2 um 1.2 is instruction.
Dr. Galooi has established and supported systems that promote highquality instructional practice and shared expectations for teaching and learning through the development of instructional leadership teams and expanded opportunities for collaborative planning. She has strengthened instructional leadership capacity at the school and district level. Committee
members also note her responsive to educator identified needs and her efforts to improve the quality and relevance of professional development. Continued growth in personalized instructional practices remains an area of ongoing focus. Substandard 3 or 1.3 is assessment. It
reads uh Dr. Guzy has strengthened district structures that support the use of multiple measures of student learning to inform instructional practice. Principles and administrators are increasingly supported in facilitating data informed conversations and in using assessment results to adjust instruction when students are not meeting
expectations. While assessment practices continue to develop, the foundational systems necessary to support consistent and effective use of data are in place. Subenter 4 or 1.4 is evaluation. It reads, "Dr. Gussy has supported
effective supervision and evaluation practices aligned with state regulations and contractual requirements through clear expectations and strengthened leadership structures. She has enabled administrators to engage in evaluative in evaluate in evaluative practices that emphasize instructional quality,
professional growth and accountability. Committee members note increased consistency in evaluation practices across the district. And the final substandard for this section is 1.5 data informed decision-making. Dr. Kooi has prioritized the use of data to guide district and school level
planning and decision-making. Committee members highlight her role in strengthening data systems and establishing structures that support analysis of student learning and growth. These practices have informed goal setting, instructional improvement efforts, and organizational performance. While the full impact on student
outcomes is still emerging, the district is positioned to leverage these systems for sustained improvement. I'm going to pause for a second. Are there any questions from the committee before we continue on to the next standard? It's not a question, but I do want to note one of the instructions that or one
of the guidelines that Desi gives is that um to aim to have that proficient in every that to not put everything at level four. They recommend a sparse use of the rating of
four. >> Yeah, that's a really good thing to note. Um, I think it's important to also understand that realistically shooting for exemplary is a really hard thing to kind of rate on. It's it's entirely possible some districts, including ours,
can really do some great work and be exemplary in certain areas, but I would I would argue that we should always be working to do better. Um, and realistically, not every single student, staff member, and stakeholder is going to feel the same way that we may as individuals feel. And so, we're always
working to be better. Um, but I think member Rifle's right that um, members are supposed to be careful when using the exemplary rating or the highest rating because um, that's that's a high bar to hit, but we of course are always working towards that. Um, so we're going to move on to the
next standard. This is standard two, management operations. Again, the first section is going to be just a general synopsis of all of the I think there's five also in this. Yeah, there's five substandards. Um, so the first kind of read back is going to be just the
combination of all that stuff. Um, so it reads, "The superintendent has demonstrated strong operational leadership by stabilizing and strengthening district systems that support student safety, well-being, and daily functioning while advancing sustainable long-term improvements. She addressed long-standing operational
challenges while managing complex concurrent demands including schedule restructuring, contract negotiations, and a major building project with a small central team and a focus on thoughtful planning and stakeholder engagement. She's implemented a strategic approach to human capital management uh human capital management
by strengthening the organizational structure, building central office capacity, and maintaining fair personal practices and productive labor relationships through improved scheduling and management systems. She has enhanced the district's ability to manage time, resources, and information in support of instructional priorities.
She has also demonstrated strong legal, ethical, and fiscal stewardship, aligning resources to district goals, responsibly implementing override funds, and developing a student- centered FY26 budget in collaboration with city leadership. So, uh, substandard, the first
substandard is 2.1, which is environment. It reads, "The superintendent has demonstrated strong operational leadership in stabilizing and strengthening district systems that support student safety, well-being, and daily functioning. Upon assuming leadership, she confronted multiple long-standing operational challenges
such as limited after school capacity and systemic in inefficiencies, choosing to pursue sustainable and long-term solutions rather than short-term fixes. Despite a small social team during her initial months, she's worked diligently to improve district operations and communication while managing significant concurrent demands, including schedule
restructuring, contract negotiations, and a fast-paced high school building project. Her approach has emphasized thoughtful planning, stakeholder engagement, and system level coherence. Substandard. The next substandard is 2.2 human resources management and development. It reads, "The
superintendent has implemented a cohesive and strategic approach to human capital management. She has prioritized hiring the right leaders for the district, even when inclusive and collaborative processes increase short-term complexity. Her restructuring of the organiz organizational framework and intentional development of a strong central leadership team has
significantly increased her district's operational capacity. She's articulated clear goals for future hiring and career growth, overseas personal decisions fairly, and maintains productive, respectful relationships with staff, unions, and negotiation teams. She's reflective in her practice and open to feedback including consideration of
historical context and past practices when evaluating opportunities for improvement. Uh substandard 3 is 2.3 scheduling and management information systems through thoughtful coordination and system redesign. The superintendent has
improved the district's ability to manage time resources and information in service of teaching learning. The successful implementation of changes to the length of the school day and the alignment of operational systems reflect a commitment to minimizing disruption while supporting collaboration and instructional priorities. Her leadership
has resulted in a more effective and responsive central office structure that better supports school level staff. Subsection 4 is or subsection standard 4 is 2.4 laws, ethics, and policies. The superintendent has demonstrated a
strong understanding of and adherence to state and federal requirements, school committee policies, collective bargaining agreements, and ethical standards. She has led complex contract negotiations responsibly and collaboratively, ensuring compliance while maintaining trust and professionalism across stakeholder groups. Her leadership reflects a
transparency, ethical decision-making, and respect for governance role roles. And the last substandard for this section is 2.5 fiscal systems. The superintendent has shown fiscal stewardship and a clear commitment to
aligning resources while district priorities with district priorities. She successfully implemented override funds and developed a student- centered FY26 budget that reflects the district vision, mission, and the goals. She works collaboratively with city leadership to ensure schools are appropriately resourced while
maintaining fiscal responsibility and staying within available funding. Her approach reflects an understanding that effective financial management is a shared responsibility and that discipline planning is essential to long-term sustainability. I'm going to pause again. Are there any questions for this standard section?
I'm seeing none. Love it. All right, we're going to go we're going to go to substandard. We're going to go standard three, uh, which is engagement. The feedback form reads, "The superintendent demonstrates a strong commitment to family and community engagement by intentionally creating
inclusive, accessible opportunities for participation, particularly among historical underrepresented voices. Through listening sessions, surveys, and varied engagement formats, especially during major initi initiatives such as the Medford High School project, she's expanded community input and reinforced
shared responsibility in district planning and decision-making. Her communication with families and stakeholders in is proactive, respectful, and culturally responsive, supported by strengthened district-wide coordination and leadership. Families report appreciation for accessibility and responsiveness to concerns. And
while communication systems are generally effective, there is an opportunity to further normalize response protocol to ensure consistent timely follow-up during periods of high volume. So the substandard for this section reads 3.1 or engagement. The superintendent demonstrates a clear
commitment to ensuring that families are welcomed as active members of the school and district community through intentional planning inclusive engagement strategies, particularly in large-scale initiatives such as the Medford High School Project. She has prioritized reaching families and community members who are historically unrepresented in district feedback. Her
use of multiple engagement formats, including surveys and listening sessions, has expanded access to participation beyond those able to attend in person meetings, resulting in broader and more representative community input. Substandard. The second substandard is 3.2 shar responsibility.
The superintendent consistently collaborates with families and community stakeholders to support student learning and district decision-making. During her initial months, she conducted numerous listening sessions with that informed subsequent work on the strategic plan, MSBA processes, and advisory groups.
When the school committee requested additional community input before advancing decisions, she responded by creating additional avenues for engagement, reinforcing a shared responsibility model that values family and community voice as integral to district planning and improvement. 3.3 substandard
reads communication. The superintendent's communication with families and community stakeholders is pro is pro proactive, clear, and culture responsive. She maintains an open and respectful posture towards family input and feedback and has worked to strengthen district-wide communication by effectively le leveraging the
directive communications and supporting improved consistency among district leaders. Communication efforts reach a broad range of stakeholders including families, staff, and community partners. While overall communication is strong, feedback indicates an opportunity for further develop um to further develop
consistent norms and supports for situational or individualized communication, particularly in cases without established protocols and to strengthen response systems to ensure timely follow-up. The last substandard is 3.4, family concerns.
The superintendent addresses family and community concerns with professionalism, respect, and care. Families report appreciation for her responsiveness and accessibility including direct responses to calls and emails. She has articulated expectations for timely communication and follow-up and there's an opportunity for opportunity to formalize systems
such as delegate delegated support or automated acknowledgements to ensure equitable efficient responses during periods of high volume. Overall, her approach reflects a commitment to addressing concerns in a manner that is fair, thoughtful, and align with the needs of the community. All right, that's that's standard three. We're
almost home. Are there any questions? I can answer right now before I go to last standard. Sweet. All right, >> go. You do a great job. >> Thanks, guys. Thanks for letting me ramble. All right, standard four is professional culture. Um, her feedback of general feedback
reads, "Dr. Gussy has established a strong culture of high expectations grounded in collaboration, professionalism, and continuous improvement. She has earned the trust in district of district leadership, the school committee, and labor partners by strengthening systems that support effective teaching and learning while skillfully navigating labor relations,
legal requirements, and budget development. Her leadership intentionally centers cultural proficiency, belonging, and respect, and she actively seeks diverse perspectives when shaping policy and practice. Dr. Dr. Gluci communicates clearly and excessively with stakeholders and has significantly improved district-wide
communication with continued opportunity to strengthen consistency and timeliness through formalized supports. She models reflective practice and data informed decision-making, fostering a shared commitment to learning and growth. Through a collaborative yet decisive leadership style, she advances a shared vision focused on student achievement,
post-secondary readiness, and civic engagement while managing conflict with integrity and respect. The first substandard of the section is 4.1 commitment to high standards. It reads, "Dr. Gluci has established a clear and consistent culture of high expectations across the district. She
has quickly earned the trust and respect of the leadership team, the school committee, and union partners by centering her work on improving systems that enable effective teaching and learning. Her ability to navigate complex areas such as labor relations, legal requirements, and budget development has strengthened organizational stability and remove barriers that can impede the
instructional progress. She sets clear expectations, holds staff accountable, and ensures that operational effectiveness supports high quality educational outcomes for all students. Uh the next standard is 4.2, cultural proficiency. Dr. Gusy has intentionally embedded
cultural proficiency into both instructional and operational practices. She has emphasized the importance of belonging and respect for students and staff members, diverse backgrounds, identify identities, strengths, and challenges. Her leadership reflects an understanding that inclusive practices
are foundational to student achievement and staff effectiveness, and she actively seeks out and values perspectives that differ from her own when shaping policy and practice. The third substandard is 4.3, communications. Dr. Gluci demonstrates strong
interpersonal and verbal communication skills and has meaningfully improved communication across the district. She's accessible, responsive, and makes herself available to address questions, concerns, and issues raised by staff and stakeholders. Committee feedback notes uh that while communication has improved significantly, continued attention to
timeliness, particularly in written communication, will further strengthen trust and transparency. Leveraging support staff to acknowledge inquiries and provide clear timelines for followup may enhance consistency and effectiveness. Uh the next substandard is 4.4
continuous learning. Dr. Dr. Galooi consistently models reflective practices and fosters a culture in which continuous improvement is expected and supported. She encourages staff to examine their work, engage with current research and best practices, and use data to inform
instructional and operational decisions. Her own openness to feedback and willingness to adapt her practice reinforces a district-wide commitment to learning and growth. Uh, next substandard is 4.5 shared vision. Dr. Dr. Gluci has successfully
promoted a shared vision grounded in collaboration, achievement, and belonging. She engages stakeholders across the district in shaping and advancing this vision, ensuring alignment between instructional priorities and operate organizational practices. Her leadership reflects a clear focus on preparing all students
for post-secondary success and active civic participation while maintaining coherence across district initiatives. And the last substandard is 4.6, managing conflict. Dr. Dr. Galooi employs thoughtful and effective strategies to manage
disagreement and resolve conflict. Her leadership style is collaborative and inconsisoriented. Yet, she demonstrates the ability to make difficult decisions when necessary. She approaches challenging conversations with integrity, openness, and respect, fostering trust while guiding the district forward through periods of change. All right, that was a mouthful.
Um, so that's the end of all the feedback forms. Um I don't believe that we have to look at individual member ratings because that all them all the the the the coalesing all those were evident on this form. So I don't feel
like we need to do that. Um but you can um will you can you can take off this the screen share now. Thank you so much. Um are there any questions that I can answer through all that before I kind of do the next little portion of what we got talking about briefly? Remember?
>> Yeah. Just wanted to say thank you for um putting that together, member. Um we've done I've gone through this a couple of different ways over the years and one of the things that's always been missing is like a [snorts] cohesive voice that
represents what the committee thinks about um all of these various things. and your the the way that you like wo everyone's commentary together I thought was um really effective and does paint
um a really a better picture than any one person's comments could. So thank you for that. Um great job and great job to Dr. Gluci too. [laughter] >> Yes, wonderful job Dr. Galooi and thank you member Olati. Very well put
together. We appreciate all the hard work you put into that over the last few weeks. I don't see any questions. Um, other questions from the committee. Oh, member Rinfeld. >> Um, I just actually I want to give a shout out to Dr. Glucy. She had her camera on the whole time and this is
probably one of the most excruciating pieces of the job. Um, and so I really appreciate the thoughtful comments of my committee, fellow committee members. Um, I wanted to ask member Olati if there were any sections that were
where there was a large variation to reconcile particular comments. I thought the narrative was incredibly cohesive and it sounds like people were really quite aligned on the feedback. Um, and I just wondered if there were any areas where
>> yeah, >> it was particularly difficult to reconcile >> for the most part. So, that's a great question. Um, given the nature of how the interim superintendent was appointed, it's a bit of a different there is, you know, we we've only have we've only had one year. Um, and so with
that, I think adds and this is just my own personal perspective on it. Um, not necessarily what is what Desi kind of has experienced over time. You know, I I reached out to one member um of Desi to kind of have some clarifying questions answered. um with only one year um of the superintendent's tenure under under
their belt, it's a bit difficult sometimes to determine how um comprehensive people's ratings may be sometimes because you know comparably to a superintendent who's been in district for let's say a decade um many years
worth of their tenure allows for maybe a more developed understanding about what specific things we're looking for even though the district goals and student goals change every year. um based off of what the framework generally is recommended by Desi. Um if I have 10 years worth of experience with my superintendent, I'm gonna I'm going to
look for certain things that may not be as evident um with only one year of tenure. That being said, the only section that I felt as though that there was um more notable variance, but not vast variance, but slight variance was um the
standard uh standard three engagement. Um, most notably communication and family concerns. Um, the engagement in general and the share responsibility that seemed pretty consistent across the board. Um, but communication and family
concerns, that's where I think me mo not most members, but there were more members who had something to say about having conversations with families in stakeholders in the public who were concerned about X, Y, and Z. Um, and then how was the superintendent responding those concerns? um we can understand that as parents and
stakeholders in the community um when we have concerns if they're not met immediately um the anxiety of that concern can kind of continue to increase. So that's my understanding at least um sometimes and so if there is an ongoing discussion about how to improve upon a concern from a stakeholder um but
because of contract negotiations or other things that may be going on behind the scenes that we're still working towards the concerns may not be answered immediately um which I think may be why some members of the um of the committee evaluated saying that there is room for growth there um because families have
continued to communicate saying there is there is improvement in communication but we want to see are you can kind of always communicate, you can always improve communication. Um I think we all know that that was like one of the biggest things we learned. Um I know that many members went to the um our annual school committee conference and
basically the the name of the game is communication, communication, communication, right? Um and I think that that is always the case. Um but other than that substandard or that standard with the two noted substandards for the most part committee members were pretty um pretty much across the board
in agreement with either proficient um or some really notable exemplary standards. We didn't have any um not meeting expectations in any in any section um which I thought was a real good thing to note. Um and of course there's one or two places where um
growth has been noted but there's more growth to be had. Um even with the the communication substandards those were still proficient. Um they weren't massively you know there wasn't any massive denotes where someone said this isn't working and we need to start over. Um which I thought is an important clarifying question when we talk a lot
about going forward. I know we're going to talk a little bit later on the agenda about our long-term superintendent position when we as individual members are going to make a decision. It's important to note what's been done in in just one
short year's time and what we're hoping to accomplish in the next handful of years. Um, and I think that thus far, at least with the six the seven committee members who vote, who have given their rankings, it seems to be there's some cons some solid consensus that our interim superintendent has been doing a
really good job with places to grow. Uh, but nowhere where people felt as though that there was no growth. Um, and there's some concern about how that's going to be moving us forward. Does that answer your question? >> It does. Thank you. And I know it was an awkward question. This whole thing feels very awkward, but it's an
>> I do appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely. It's an awkward it's an awkward um process. This is also public, not just in this very moment, but this is now going to be public um in general. So, any member of the of the public can ask to see um see this evaluation. Um which
I think is both a transparent thing, but also a difficult thing because it's a performance review in some ways. Um but that is a part of what it means to be a school committee member. Um that was something that was declared um very explicitly when I started this process is that this is one of our main jobs. um is to do this. And so I think it's
important that we are as um uh impartial and professional as we could possibly be. And I found that's what happened with these reviews. I found when I read through everything and I took all the feedback and scoring, at no point did I was I concerned about anyone members including myself with any type of bias
um you know um that was evident in the in the feedback forms. So hopefully what I what I put together is is cohesive enough where people can kind of hold their own understanding. Um, I'm happy to answer any other questions members may have. If not, um, I should also, oh, the last thing I'll say before I before
I stop talking for a while, um, because I'm talked out is this is now going to go to DESIE. This eval is a part of their process. They they want to see these annually as well. I'll clarify to them what I've said multiple times is that we didn't have our our the typical
process to get to this point. Um, but they they're aware of that already. They'll be made aware of that again when I submit this to them for review. Um, but this is also part of the process that every time we do one of these that they get to see where we are as a district and where our superintendent's office is so that they are also
informed. Um, so we're not, you know, behind the eightball about the the new moving forward standards or protocols for the state. Um, and that we're in line with them as best we can. So that'll go to them. Um, and then we'll kind of move on with our the next step of this evaluation process. All right, I'm done. Thank you.
>> Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. Is there a motion for >> get a drink? Sorry. >> I think I think the superintendent has something to say. Actually, >> Dr. Glooki, >> I'm new at all this, but if it's if it's appropriate, um I would just like to
thank you all. Um because I know this though it might be an awkward process, it's kind of awkward all the way around. And I do really want to thank you all for your time and your thought and effort that went into this evaluation and provision of feedback. Um I do pride
myself on being a lifelong learner. So I really truly do appreciate um the cander and the feedback cuz I do need it to guide my growth. Um I do want to take an opportunity since this was a really unique year um and there were a lot of
comments uh throughout the process to just thank um the administration and the staff especially at the beginning for their collaboration and support. Medford truly is a remarkable community and the manner in which people came together to
support during that time. Um I really just wanted to acknowledge that and appreciate it. Um it really did take a village from last January to this August. Um and that was really exemplified and I just wanted to say
thank you. And then I also wanted to just acknowledge that the team um we have put in place I'm just so grateful for. Um and all the work they've acco accomplished in such a short amount of time, but the continued work that's to
come. I am really grateful for the team we are establishing and do feel that Medford's in really strong, capable, knowledgeable hands. Um, and I hear the feedback and I will work really diligently to ensure that continued
consistency, coherence, and belonging um, throughout the district. And I did note it in my self-evaluation. So, I do really appreciate the piece about communication. Um I commit to working with the team on building better systems. I don't want caregivers to feel
that they are not heard. So um that's real and that's that's important. Um as well as now that we have a team in place and those those systems are there working for the outcomes for ensuring
that we have the rigor and effective practices so that all of our students feel fully included um in a personalized manner with measurable in outcomes is is really the work. So thank you very much. Um I really do appreciate the thoughtful
feedback. Thank you, Dr. Lucy. >> Is there a motion for approval of the compiled evaluation form by member OAD? >> A motion to approve it. If I can do that. >> Absolutely. Seconded by
>> I'll second it >> by member Rouso. Um, roll call, please. Member Graham. Was that a yes? >> She said yes. >> Member Master Boni. >> Yes.
>> Member Olady. >> Yes. >> Member Parks. >> Yes. >> Uh, member Rinfeld. >> Yes. >> Member So, yes. Mayor Lgo, >> yes. Seven of the affirmatives are in the negative. Self-evaluation has been
approved. Awesome job to all all the above. Um, next up, let's see. We have um under nine continued business B, election of school committee officers.
>> Member Russo. >> Yes. Um, I um would like to say that um in light of a new charter and some less than clear understanding of when
things go into effect, I'd like to make a motion to um um elect you as the chair of the school committee. >> Second. >> Thank you, members. So appreciate it,
honored. Um seconded by member Graham. Member. So if you could call a role. >> Yes. >> Member Graham. >> Yes. >> Member Master Bony. >> Yes. >> Member.
>> Yes. >> Member Parks. >> Yes. >> Member Rinfeld. >> Yes. >> Member Russo. Yes. Marilyn Gokern >> abstain. Yes. But yes, seven confirmed negative. Thank you. I appreciate I
appreciate it. >> Um and I'm honored. Um member Master Bony. >> Uh Madam Chair, if I may, in recognition of her immense work and service to this um um this committee, I nominate Jenny
Graham for vice chair of the school committee. Member Graham has been nominated for vice chair. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second. Member Olady. If we could call the role, please
fast. [laughter] >> Member Graham. >> Yes. >> Member Master. >> Yes. >> Member Alat. >> Yes. Member Parks, >> yes. >> Member Ryan,
>> yes. >> Member So, yes. Mayor Lingo, >> yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Congratulations, Vice Chair Graham. >> Thank you. >> And is there a motion for secretary
member? >> Yeah, I'll make a motion uh that Paul Rouso is our secretary. Thank you, Member. Seconded by member Graham. Roll call, please. >> Member Graham.
>> Yes. >> Member Master Bunny. >> Yes. >> Member Olady. >> Yes. >> Member Parks. >> Yes. >> Member Rinfeld. >> Yes. >> Member Rouso. Yes. Mayor Lang Goer. >> Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in
the negative. Congratulations, Secretary Rouso. >> Thank you very much. Cheers to a continued good job. >> I don't know if we noted in the minutes that we have another student representative on the call. I'm not sure when she joined, but Christine is here.
>> Oh, thank you for acknowledging me. >> Thank you for joining us, Christine. >> Next up, we have a new business resolution offered by member Rouso 2026-2. Meford School Committee appoints Paul Rouso as the representative to the Shore
Educational Collaboratives Board of Directors. Is there a motion for approval? >> Approve. >> Second Graham. Seconded by >> Seconded by Member Rinfeld. Roll call, please. >> Member Graham.
>> Yes. >> Member Master Bony. Yes, >> member Ol. >> Yes, >> member Rinfeld. >> Yes, >> member. So, yes, Mayor Lang. >> Yes. Seven in the affirmative. Zero in
the negative. >> Call member Parks. >> No. >> Oh, I'm sorry. We didn't. I'm sorry. I'm >> I'm so used to being after member. Sorry. >> Member Parks. [snorts] >> Yes. >> Last but not least. So, seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative.
Motion passes. Thank you. Offered by member Graham. 2026-3 recommendation for the formation of the below subcommittee chairs and membership. Um strategic planning chair chair Graham members Reinfeld and Parks
facilities and capital planning chair master bony members Rouso and Parks curriculum and instruction chair Reinfeld members parks and communications and community engagement. Chair Reinfeld, members Graham and
Master Bony. DEIA Chair El Pad, members Reinfeld and Master Bony. Rules and policy, Chair Rouso, members Graham and Master Bony. Superintendent Evaluation, Chair Olady, Members Rouso and Graham. And last but not least, behavioral
health and special education. Chair Parks and members Olady and Rouso. Is there a motion on the floor for approval of committees offered by member Graham? >> Motion to approve. >> By member Rinfeld, seconded by >> Second
Master Bony. Um, roll call, please. >> Member Graham. >> Yes. >> Member Master Bony. >> Yes. >> Member Olady. >> Yes. >> Member Parks. >> Yes. >> Member Rinfeld. >> Yes.
>> Member Rouso. Yes. Mayor Lander. >> Yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero in the negative. Um, committees have been approved. Thank you everybody. A member offered by member Rinfeld 2026-4. Whereas the Medford School Committee
will soon vote on a path forward for permanent leadership within Medford public schools. And whereas the recently issued strategic planning survey includes questions about the broader MPS community's priorities for district leadership. Be it therefore resolve that the chair of the strategic planning subcommittee will compile the responses
relevant to this deliberation and share the data with the full school committee. Be it further resolve that this content be delivered to the committee no later than the February 2nd meeting and reviewed by all members prior to the forementioned vote. Member Rinfeld.
>> Sure. Hopefully this um this resolution speaks mostly for itself, but um and it builds on the resolution passed in um October that the strategic planning process include input as to district leadership to inform our appointment of
a permanent superintendent for the upcoming fiscal year. Um we've, as you saw, we've we've done the evaluation with the committee. We have been hearing from members of the administration, members of the community on kind of an
ad hoc basis. Um but we we need to make this decision soon. Um particularly as we look across the state at what is happening with um superintendent searches and um just we know that there
is a lot of data out there about people's hopes. Our job as the school committee is to match district leadership with the vision for the district. And this data exists and I think it is time for us to look at it. I don't know is there more? Does anyone have any questions about this?
>> Perfect. Perfect explanation. Thank you. Member Rinfeld. >> Motion to approve. >> If there's no questions, is there a motion to approve by member Graham? Seconded by [clears throat] >> Member Parks. Roll call, please. >> Um, could I get the item number? I lost
the agenda on my menu. >> 20264. >> Thank you so much. Yep. >> Um, right. Member Graham, >> yes. >> Member Master Body, >> yes. >> Member,
>> yes. >> Member Parks, >> yes. >> Member Rinfeld, >> yes. >> Member So, yes. Mayor Lango Kern, >> yes. Seven in the affirmative, zero the negative. Um, resolution 2026-04
passes. 2026-5 offered by member Graham. Whereas the Medford School Committee recognizes the importance of establishing a thoughtful process for deciding how to appoint a permanent superintendent on July 1st, 2026. And whereas the Medford School Committee
wishes to ensure opportunities for public input and community engagement as part of this process. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Medford School Committee will determine its approach to appointing a permanent superintendent at its public meeting on February 2nd, 2026.
And be it further resolved that the school committee invites feedback from the public during this meeting. And be it further resolved that members of the community who are unable to attend the meeting but wish to provide input may submit feedback via email to the Medford School Committee at Medford SCFford.
US member Graham. >> Thank you. Um now that we have um completed the superintendent evaluation um I I feel like it is time for us to make some decisions about how we will move forward um so that we have a
permanent leader in place by July 1st. And that's like I know today's not the day to talk about warm sun in July. Um but it will be here before we know it. Um, and the snow will melt too, I promise. But, [snorts] um, I do think it's important for the community to know
when we're going to sort of consider all of these things and, um, invite people to tell us what they're thinking. um especially given um the presentations that we've had over the last couple of weeks um via the superintendent self-ealuation
and then the compilation of the school committee evaluation um that rated the superintendent um across 29 different categories. Um and I think it's time for us at our next meeting to make some decisions
about how to move forward. So, my proposal is just simply that we're going to do that in the next meeting and that this is sort of us giving the community time um and a heads up to know that that's coming and that is what will one of the things that we will be focused on
in our February 2nd meeting. >> Thank you. Member Graham, >> member to approve. Sorry. No, if if I may, just reminding folks watching at home that that's in a week. We don't have extra time in between the meetings. So, um you know, feedback just the
timing is really really important on this. >> Yes. And from the chair, I I could point out I agree with you. I know I've received um 10 to 20 emails myself already with feedback. So, I don't know if Will will be even doing a post or
it'll be in the superintendent's um which is another awkward thing, but in the superintendent's um Friday memo just just as a additional heads up so that we know people have the opportunity to email us if they have have opinions. Um
>> yeah, I can work with Dr. Beluzi to uh strike the right tone on that wording. >> Great. And >> what number was this? 2026 Five. >> Five. >> Five. Thank you. I was going to guess, but >> Okay. So, that was by member Graham. So,
motion for approval by member Graham. Is there a second? >> Second. >> By member Rousel. Roll call, please. >> Member Graham. >> Yes. >> Member Master Bony. >> Yes. >> Member. >> Yes.
>> Member Parks. >> Yes. >> Member Rinfeld. >> Yes. >> Member Yes. Mayor Lang Goern. Yes, seven of the affirmative zero in the negative. Motion passes. We do not have any reports requested.
Um, and we do have a few condolences unfortunately. So, I'm if you don't mind, I'm going to read them. The members of the Medford School Committee expressed their sincere sincerest condolences to the family of Beverly Gresinger, Medford Public School payroll administrative assistant Jennifer Doro's
grandmother. The members of the Medford School Committee expressed their sincerest condolences to the family of Robert A. Carbone, whose Medford Public Schools career spanned over 25 years as an English teacher and assistant principal. Also, the members of the Medford School
Committee expressed their sincerest condolences to the family of Pamela Kilbride, McGlin Middle School teacher, Patricia Kilbride's mother-in-law, and lastly, the members of the Medford School Committee express their sincerest condolences to the family of Michelle A. Andrea Tola Pathier who is a graduate of
Medford High School and beloved teacher at the Medford Family Network. All may please um take a moment of silence. >> Thank you. Our next regular meeting which has been
mentioned is next Monday, February 2nd, 2026 in the Alden Memorial Chambers U Medford City Hall in addition to Zoom. And we do have a MSBA um meeting in the library this
Wednesday, the 28th at 6:30. Otherwise, is there any >> mayor? Was there move? >> Yes. >> The meeting this week is um the communications and community engagement meeting and it is on Zoom only. So it is
a subcommittee meeting. >> Thank you for letting me know. Okay. Oh, it's a subcommittee meeting on Zoom only. >> To be clear, that's the building committee subcommittee, not this body's subcommittee for similar things. >> The next building committee meeting is
February 11th. Okay, that's meeting. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Glad I brought that up. Motion to adjourn by member Rinfeld. Seconded by >> second. >> I think member Graham. Gotcha. Member
Alat. Um, roll call, please. >> Member Graham. >> Yes. >> Member Master Bonnie. >> Yes. >> Member. >> Yes. >> Member Parks. Yes, >> member Rinfeld. >> Yes,
>> member Rouso. Yes, Mayor Langokarn. >> Yes. Seven the affirmative, zero the negative. Meetings ajour and have a wonderful night everybody. Stay warm. >> Happy snow day.