Education Stations Scholarships (5 minutes)

Transcript (~26 min @ 48:56)

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▶ 49:07 Speaker 1: have a larger conversation here one of the ongoing concerns we have and it often comes up during budget season particularly around athletic fees quite honestly is those members of our community who are struggling financially and cannot reasonably access many of the things we have to offer so as you all know whether it's music fees athletic fees field trips those type of things we have always found his way as a district to quietly help families what we are

▶ 49:44 Speaker 1: beginning to see and you know this because I shared enrollment figures with you a couple of weeks ago is we have members of our community who are struggling a little bit more seriously we're up to about two dozen homeless children I think when we do our free and reduced lunch those numbers will have seen an increase our ELL population is up to about 160 many of them are new to this country very new to this country some of them are refugees and increasingly as you know to live in a community like Melrose many of our families are have both parents working and so ed station fills an important void for many of our families it provides the childcare that they need we've had requests for scholarships and for over a year now and miss Farrell dr. Josephson and I have struggled with this topic and I that's why I think it's part

▶ 50:56 Speaker 1: of a larger conversation in any situation where we find we need to help families more than underwriting a field trip or something on a lower level lower level of need but something with significant need or significant cost associated to it we're struggling with how do you be fear and objective and apply a criteria that is not cannot be seen as favoritism in anybody's case so

▶ 51:33 Speaker 1: one of the things I had suggested to dr. Josephson was to talk to the permanent scholarship committee in the city because they belong been long established and they run our very very successful scholarship program for our high school seniors in which we give tens of thousands of dollars and it's all done very objectively it's done blindly people's information is protected nobody within the schools is privy to it all these things come to my

▶ 52:06 Speaker 1: mind people's privacies their pride so Heather went to speak to them and based on her conversation with them she came forth with a proposal and we brought

▶ 52:17 Speaker 1: this proposal forth to you tonight i will tell you right now we have a handful of families who need to have children in daycare of some sort and cannot pay or are struggling to pay i will also explain to all of you we do not take early education and child care vouchers that is a department within the state we don't take it for a very simple reason there is a level of inspection and compliance involved that i don't believe that we need to be

▶ 52:54 Speaker 1: held to we already are held to a number of inspections and compliance issues as a public school system you all know i can't even open our doors in august until i pass numerous inspections we are nacy certified at our early childhood and in all our case and to be eec qualified for the vouchers it's another whole level of inspections and qualifications so we're coming

▶ 53:25 Speaker 1: forth with this dilemma to you but while it is about ed stations in tonight's packet it's a larger dilemma that we need to resolve I think Mary Ann told you in last year's budget that we underwrote and she can correct me $40,000 worth of activities fees for students who could not pay the activities fees we know that we have some exceedingly generous and kind families that when they pay their instrumental music fee pay twice and say to mr. Rappucci help somebody else we

▶ 54:10 Speaker 1: have quietly put one or two children into ECC who we feel that if we don't give them early education the impact on those children two three years later when they come to K will be very costly to the district because they will not come ready to learn so there's a number of things we've done quietly but I think we're at a crossroads where we have to think about how do we do this in a more

▶ 54:45 Speaker 1: thoughtful yet I'm going to use the word ethical way so that people who come to what need feel that they've been fairly heard fairly treated and confidentiality

▶ 55:03 Speaker 1: will be maintained so that's what's in front of you today thank you very much

▶ 55:07 Jessica Dugan: for studying the the table there is their discussion I'm mr. school yeah

▶ 55:14 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: thank you I think we need even yeah I understand the childcare situation but But we are not in the daycare business. We are in the education business and I think what I hear you fundamentally saying is these are students who would benefit greatly by the early childhood learning that they would receive in our building. Is that correct?

▶ 55:34 Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. Okay. But that's ECC.

▶ 55:36 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: This is EdStations. This is EdStations. Okay. But there is an educational component to that which can help. I mean, I think we need to focus on our core mission and I think it's important that there be elements of there's homework time right there's there's support there's

▶ 55:57 Speaker 1: you're talking about at ed stations yes there's homework time there's support there's tutoring for kids who need tutoring they do parents do pay extra for that this socialization there's a great amount of socialization I will tell the committee that I have to think about my timelines here two years ago we were challenged legally on ed stations in regard to children with behavioral special needs and our attorneys are of the opinion that that we have a responsibility here because it is an extension of the Melrose Public Schools it does not operate separately as a non-profit it's on state on property that receives state and federal funding and so while it is not part of our original mission and our primary mission and if you know and there's nothing that says we have to do it under any of the regulations it has existed for nine years and it is very much viewed as part of what MPS offers and that's the

▶ 57:10 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: dilemma okay so I have a couple more quick questions and um this the proposal that you have before us is in compliance with DESE regulations any any

▶ 57:21 Speaker 5: regulations that are out there if there is anything there's no regulations no

▶ 57:33 Speaker 1: regulation okay so so again you know dr. Josephson the original idea was you

▶ 57:40 Speaker 1: know a scholarship fund almost like the permanent scholarship fund has where people donate and then we could use it to underwrite some underwrite some kids my concern is how do you choose those kids so but there are no regulations

▶ 57:56 Speaker 1: other than it goes through a revolving fund and as I've explained to dr. Josephson if this is a MPS revolving fund we are held to all the standards of any other revolving fund that we control and you'll be audited on that and be

▶ 58:14 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: audit on it very good has this proposal been reviewed by the attorney yes okay very good and my last question is um something that I didn't see on here I could have missed it um but the school committee is responsible for accepting all donations so if you would kindly ensure that that's included on the on the the guy the procedures please yeah thank you thank you

▶ 58:38 Speaker 1: miss Castelli what do other school districts do they obviously have the same issues that we do other school districts very few school districts have a program as large as ed stations that is the school districts program most school districts that I know bring in the Y a private organization Boys and Girls Club those type of things I know of very few school districts that have

▶ 59:10 Christine Casatelli: have an edge and it stations so I agree that there are some families who need help but I also know our budget is very tight so if the permanent scholarship fund has a good model that we can follow and we can use it for ed stations and ECC I would suggest that we go in that direction people in Melrose are very generous yes they are when they're asked to step up to help other families in need they they often do so my concern is that we don't take money from our existing budget which we need desperately to fund a program like this but instead if we could bolster up a permanent scholarship fund to help our families in need I would certainly support that Mr. Selm first a question a

▶ 1:00:04 Speaker 7: clarification what action are you looking for us to take on this tonight

▶ 1:00:11 Speaker 1: I that's a good question Mr. Selm I think whatever in the end the school committee has to approve this because it's raising money for a function of I I hate saying a function of the school an arm of the school department you know so I think that no money should be raised or signed without the approval of

▶ 1:00:40 Speaker 7: this committee so then you are looking for a vote to move forward in collecting

▶ 1:00:47 Speaker 1: funds for a scholar orange and establishing the scholarship fund first

▶ 1:00:53 Jessica Dugan: before we collect anything and I'm not sure I would expect to vote this evening

▶ 1:00:58 Speaker 1: excellent okay thank you I think there is a lot to be be thought about and worked out here I just would caution the committee about dragging this out there

▶ 1:01:16 Speaker 7: you know it's September 26 already in the entrance interest of thoroughness

▶ 1:01:24 Speaker 7: when this is presented to us for full consideration and a vote I would like to request that we are presented with multiple models by which to accept or

▶ 1:01:43 Speaker 1: grant scholarships I think I think she had what I mean I'm sorry I'm I don't

▶ 1:01:49 Speaker 7: see I see the form here I do not see any explanation I think what I think if you

▶ 1:01:52 Speaker 1: look at her proposed scholarship procedures on number six is that where

▶ 1:02:09 Speaker 1: she said I said well let me let me it's in my memory I think she said that she expects that people would be able to either target a school or target the general fund I think that's how she has it by multiple models do you mean partial full percentages is that what you're talking about by multiple models

▶ 1:02:33 Speaker 1: so can I ask me Marianne to come to the to participate in this because she's really been my partner on this sure right I am specifically looking for so I

▶ 1:02:48 Speaker 7: see the award selection committee and I apologize I'm I missed this particular

▶ 1:02:57 Speaker 7: form so obviously I didn't finish my homework bad me I still am even reading

▶ 1:03:10 Speaker 7: this quickly I am still concerned that we don't have a specific award criteria you meet X X X and X therefore if we have funds we will give them I think I

▶ 1:03:27 Speaker 1: understand what you're saying when when it comes to filling out the application and you answer a certain set of criteria we don't already have a set answer so So you have to say yes to this and no to this and yes to this in order to get that money. Right. And I think that's what you're looking for more definition on.

▶ 1:03:43 Speaker 7: If what we're looking for is clarity, I don't like using the word because it has so many connotations, but transparency about what is expected in order to be able to qualify for and receive funds, I feel we need more full documentation as to what that expectation is yeah I think that's a

▶ 1:04:09 Speaker 1: challenge when you when you think about the permanent scholarship committee and someone makes a donation they say I want this to go to somebody who's going to pursue a career in medicine so it's very specific this is somebody's who's going to donate some money and say that I want to help fund the tuition for this program what you might be looking for is to say I want it to be at the Hoover school because i'm a graduate of the hulu school and i'd like to see it to go to somebody there

▶ 1:04:39 Speaker 7: is that kind of what you're saying no i feel like we're we're talking past each other unfortunately um what i'm saying is is uh i'm not worried so much about the funds coming in my expectation is that as my colleague said uh melrose has a large quantity of generous donors I am not concerned about the donation aspect I am concerned about the clarity of who we give them on funds to in your example that you just mentioned you specified that I would like this to go to Hoover School because I'm a Hoover

▶ 1:05:25 Speaker 7: alum are you by that are we saying that that goes specifically for needy and however we define needy children at Hoover School or are we talking about are we talking about this being a discount to all applicants to ed stations at Hoover School what is the criteria by which we sell I understand

▶ 1:05:44 Speaker 1: what she's saying so right now when we go to give help for athletic fees we look at kids who receive free and reduced lunch and where they are in that qualification so you know that when you get free and reduced lunch listen to me it's free and reduced you may get free based on the government's calculation or you may get reduced based on the government's calculation so you're looking to say on to qualify for free tuition you have to be at this level to qualify for reduced tuition you have to be at this that's what you're looking

▶ 1:06:29 Speaker 7: for I'm looking for that criteria okay yes and if I may one other you mentioned a very valid point that I think is off overlooked that there are some students whom a little bit of extra help now will lead to less cost to put it in dollars and cents down the road and so what would be the criterion then for those

▶ 1:06:59 Jessica Dugan: students as well I want it I want to jump in as some chair of the sub committee just really quickly because this is very and we'll return to your questions but this seems like a this proposal is clearly a response to an urgent need of people here and now in our community however what it has brought up at that micro level is a much more macro level conversation and I think that I'm not sure that we are ready for this conversation you know quite quite frankly I would encourage us to send this proposal back to the superintendent I have concerns the permanent building the permanent scholarship fund is a separate 501 C 3 funding students to do things outside of our district after they graduate it's a completely different ballgame may have some tips we can learn from but this type of proposal would be committing this district to raising money from our community we don't have a function for that right now let alone deciding within the many needs of our low-income families for what they may have maybe asked to pay for to participate in activities our district does sponsor from ECC to ed stations which you know every one of them I don't know how we would prioritize this over forty thousand dollars of athletic fees that that we are underwriting at this moment that members of our community might generously help support if we ask that this is a to me a much more macro conversation that I think I appreciate the urgency I appreciate the potential solution by one of the departments kind of within this but I'm not quite sure that we're ready for this and we can return to questions if people want to add on to that but I actually would prefer that we send this back to the superintendent for a proposal on how to find our way through to the solution for this it's a lot of other times we've talked about it we've talked about whether there's some fund within the city for for supporting these families um i i think there's a larger conversation to be had

▶ 1:09:09 Speaker 1: superintendent the um and that's where i began tonight by saying that i think this is um indicative of of a more comprehensive problem that we don't talk about out loud right um and the mayor has his emergency fund but the emergency fund is for one-time situations it's you can't pay your rent uh your car broke down you need to go to work you don't have the money to repair it um very very generous and again um melrose citizens are extremely generous to the emergency fund um this is a more of a nine month issue um but to your point about

▶ 1:09:57 Speaker 1: the athletic fees and things like that um it it's a dilemma um and whether it's a solution to be made

▶ 1:10:08 Speaker 1: by an outside group that then donates to the district i don't know um um i think to your other point though is i do have a couple of families in need right now that we need to address my concerns are for the children of course that's where my concern is mainly I never want kids going home to empty houses so I'm looking for guidance on that what would the committee be comfortable with and in the meanwhile we could take a larger proposal back to some administrators and try to

▶ 1:10:44 Speaker 1: brainstorm around it if anybody in the committee wants to help us brainstorm your help is more than welcome because again very honestly this is a new role for a superintendent this is not in you know superintendency school about these type of things but as we all know as society has evolved in the educational system has evolved we've had to take on a lot of things that we never thought were in our mission as Miss

▶ 1:11:23 Jessica Dugan: Driscoll says for the the immediate needs we're supporting this somehow already across these various programs and I guess I would ask if we are if you're able to figure that out within our current budget I don't think we're prepared to approve requesting donations from the community to support this at at this time so is it something that we can find a way to respond to as we have been

▶ 1:11:50 Speaker 1: for um last few years um I don't know if we can do that net stations quite frankly I never I haven't done the calculation I haven't looked at what the yearly cost is for ed stations recently I looked at it a few weeks ago and you're talking about a couple hundred dollars a week I'm looking at some of my parents here who maybe they know so if you're talking 40 weeks of a school year

▶ 1:12:18 Speaker 1: a couple hundred dollars a week um you know that's a lot of money for the school system to be for full

▶ 1:12:20 Speaker 4: support for full support maybe there's a discount of some sort right but then again who is eligible

▶ 1:12:29 Speaker 1: for a discount who are you going to leave it to i think ellie wants to say something oh um i was just um i had like a quick question um so you were talking about the spending that has um has been given to um ed stations so i was wondering as a student at lincoln i saw a lot of kids from the high school participating in helping kids in elementary school with ed stations so i was wondering if that was volunteer based or half and half they get they get paid ellie yeah okay good

▶ 1:13:05 Jessica Dugan: question an application now no okay good question good question uh miss castelli that was awesome

▶ 1:13:07 Christine Casatelli: keep asking questions uh just for the superintendent isn't our isn't our um default the free and reduced lunch why would we change okay why would we change from that

▶ 1:13:21 Christine Casatelli: and do we sorry and that's a government program so it's it's out of our hands someone a third party determines that so i would i would suggest just keeping all things the same and the differentiation

▶ 1:13:35 Jessica Dugan: between free and reduced and that there's some variation it's not just automatically a full and do we feel like the other organizations who are responding to these requests for any

▶ 1:13:51 Speaker 4: other fee-based programs in the school are using that criteria as well we use free and reduced

▶ 1:13:54 Speaker 1: lunch i'll let Ms. Farrell speak to it yeah one of our programs like our music program is tied to that so that is the benchmark on same thing with our athletic programs free and reduced lunch for

▶ 1:14:09 Jessica Dugan: athletics as well yeah so if there are folks who are willing to dive into this very complicated conversation please please let us know it is urgent yeah I think it's important to solve it with a broad view are there is there any other

▶ 1:14:31 Speaker 7: discussion or comment at this time mr. some I just want to ask will the guideline of free and reduced lunch satisfy the current need I won't know

▶ 1:14:39 Speaker 1: until we go back and we have a conversation she's making a face now we have a very large population on free reduce and if that percentage is the same with the people the families that use that stations I mean there's just no way that we can we can't yeah okay thank you thank you very much miss Farrell and

▶ 1:15:03 Jessica Dugan: thanks to all of you for diving into this we'll look forward to more and that concludes EP&P this evening thank you thank you thank you next on our agenda

▶ 1:15:14 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: is the policy and planning subcommittee mr. O'Connell good evening folks welcome