Public Participation

Transcript (~9 min @ 0:55)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 0:58 Peter D. Mortimer: We will now open the floor for public participation. So moved. We'll now have a motion to open the floor for public participation. So moved. Obeyed by Alderman Inferna. Second. Seconded by Alderman Lemmerman. All in favor of opening the floor for public participation, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed, hearing none, public participation is now open. Any member of the public wishing to come forward and comment or Ask any questions to be answered later on tonight's matters. Please come forward now. Good evening, Mr. Moroz.

▶ 1:33 Speaker 1: We have Mr. Moroz's address. Madam Clerk. I'll write it down for you. Okay, have that on the record.

▶ 1:39 Speaker 2: Hi, I'm Jerry Moroz, 62 Mount Vernon Street. This is the annual night when we talk about schools at the Alderman's meeting. Inevitably at these meetings, the issue of the charter school and the charter school funding comes up.

▶ 1:58 Speaker 2: And it's not on your agenda, but that's what always comes up.

▶ 2:06 Speaker 2: And I submit that if we find a different way of framing the Melrose public schools, that we would have people wanting to stay within the community, come into the schools, rather than choosing the charter school for an alternative view. We could have that same alternative for education here in Melrose.

▶ 2:27 Speaker 2: It's not within the purview of the Board of Aldermen to frame what our schools are, but you certainly decide whether or not to give the schools the money they ask for. Nobody can come here and responsibly say you shouldn't give the schools the money that they're asking for in terms of a gross amount of money, but at the same time, what that schools do with the money year after year after year is what sometimes is a problem. For a number of years, we added more staff, we added, you know, we had more classrooms

▶ 3:01 Speaker 2: than we needed at different levels and, you know, this year is an exception where maybe we need some more kindergarten classrooms. But the money that's been wasted over the years in terms of excess staff, or even in some ways, in some cases I believe excess compensation packages, is money that hasn't gone to technology. It hasn't gone to textbooks.

▶ 3:25 Speaker 2: And again, it's not your job to decide what that money goes to, but there has to be a way to send a signal to the school department, to the school committee, you got to do better. You got to think differently. Because doing the same thing year after year after year isn't really going to get us any different results. And I think even the people in the school system would like to have different results. if we do the same thoughts of funding the same types of positions grouping students in the same way we always group them there's huge savings to be made

▶ 4:00 Speaker 2: within the school department budget if we would use our resources more efficiently and I believe then they would also be more effective at what they do for our students I raised the issue of regionalization I gave a nod to the superintendent the other night that she's done a couple things but please don't believe that we've done anything but the tiniest bit of what you can think about of what regionalization could do and it comes down to the attitude of a lot of bureaucracies is it's like well show me who else is doing it and then I'll think about it well we talk about 21st century thinking we talk about you know trying to be leaders so let's lead instead of follow let's let's Let's have the school committee say why they spend an extra million dollars on administrative functions than they need to spend when they could lead with some other communities and make a real difference that way. Free up the money that we need for our students. Don't just pay another level of administrators here as they do in Wakefield and Redding and Stoneman and all around. There's a lot of redundancy in the system. And is it easy to think about a different model? No, of course not. very different than anybody's ever done but do we need to start thinking about

▶ 5:23 Speaker 2: that we do and I'm sure most of you know that I've asked the school committee to explore these issues for years and the school committee essentially laughs

▶ 5:35 Speaker 2: every year and says oh that's crazy and at some level if you believe that

▶ 5:42 Speaker 2: regionalization has potential to save money that we can then apply towards something that will work better for our students you've got to find a way to tell the schools maybe they should look into this what's the harm of meeting with four school committees from four towns and talking about what we could do together you know what's the harm and even the school committee saying to the superintendents why don't you get together and have a little public conversation about what you could do and think about it again if you don't do anything different here this year except at some level to trying to think of the

▶ 6:20 Speaker 2: proper word to feel bad about what we pay to the charter school you need to do something different because the charter school funding is what it is it's going to change to what it is you know our school committee members had their their kind of parochial say about what they thought chapter 70 should change us for them but the truth is is that we're going to get what we're going to get we have to make the best use of what we are and to whine and complain that oh well we don't get this or they do that to us we have to figure out within the constraints that we have how to do the best we can possibly do and that's what's missing here we're not trying to think

▶ 6:58 Speaker 2: about outside the box about something different and and you know it's my plea to you is try to raise an issue you know is it so bad to talk about an issue could we just you know have a conversation one time about what could we do you know you know just even say well we'll never do it but let's just dream about what could happen if we did it we don't even hear that kind of conversation we don't have a brainstorming session and and again it's not your job i understand that but at some level it is your job to tell the school committee members you know maybe they need to come back here with something else except for asking for a couple million dollars extra that they can go and spend in the same way they do now and we'll have a couple million dollars more applied without necessarily the benefit we need so i don't envy this night for you tonight because it's always a miserable night in some ways um talking about these issues um and and actually since the vocational schools here tonight i mean this this false dichotomy of vocational versus academic is also another problem that we have and you know it's another it's another challenge because

▶ 8:14 Speaker 2: every student can benefit from what the vocational school does just as every student can benefit from a college prep type thing and there's a mix of students trying one of the other out but to have to make a decision in eighth grade that I'm gonna go this route even though I don't really know what this is and not have that go-between I mean when most of us were younger I'll say there was more vocational training in the public high schools and people had an opportunity to explore things and even if it wasn't going to be vocation it developed a portion of the brain that isn't developed in a purely academic environment there's no solutions coming for me about that right now I'll say that but um you know these are the types of things that I wish we'd have a discussion about even if it's not directly your discussion tonight I'd like to ask you as a as the Board of Aldermen leading the city to help lead our school committee along to do something and look at something a little

▶ 9:12 Peter D. Mortimer: different thank you thank you mr moroz any other members of the public wishing to be heard

▶ 9:19 Peter D. Mortimer: i'm seeing none at this time second alderman lemmerman has made a motion to close public participation said motion was seconded by alderman inferna all in favor of closing public participation please say aye any opposed hearing none public participation is now closed and please Please let the record reflect that we are joined by Alderman Mary Beth McAteer-Margolis.