← School Committee · 2026-06-09 · School Committee Meeting
Report: Outreach
Agenda original PDF
Minutes original PDF
While the broad legislation impacts the entire Commonwealth, it includes $225,000 in specific earmarks for Melrose Public Schools. These funds will cover improvements to visual and performing arts spaces ($90,000), Hoover School APR renovations ($75,000), a new Horace Mann APR sound system ($40,000), and a traffic study around the Lincoln School ($20,000). The Mayor thanked the state delegation for their strong advocacy, and commended Deputy Superintendent Kelley, Superintendent Berman, and her own team for collaborating to secure these vital resources outside of the local school budget. Chair Kelley introduced the D.C. field trip which was pulled from the Consent Agenda. The committee's discussion focused primarily on whether the middle school had previously hosted trips of this kind for a large group of students. MOTION: To approve the DC Field Trip RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Margaret Raymond Driscoll SECONDER: Jennifer Grigoraitis AYES: Jennifer Razi-Thomas, Jennifer Grigoraitis, Seamus Kelley, Margaret Raymond Driscoll, Matt Hartman, Sheri Leo ABSTAIN: Melissa Holleran 9. ADJOURN MO
Transcript
▶ 58:59 Speaker 1: in July. Before we vote, do we have any outreach reports?
▶ 59:08 Speaker 4: Ms. Harmon. I went to the seventh and eighth grade orchestras today. They did a little community presentation, and I just want to say what an incredible two classes they were. They played so beautifully, and it was fun to get the chance to ask them some questions and hear about why they like doing what they do. But most of all, they did a great job presenting in front of a small group of strangers, and it was really nice to see all the hard work that they put into their music this year. So thank you for allowing us that time.
▶ 59:45 Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Ms. Rosie Thomas.
▶ 59:48 Speaker 4: Eighth grade, the Civics Engagement Day is... I'm forgetting the proper name, but it was a terrific day. It was really amazing to see that whole class walking down Main Street to go to Memorial Hall, and then they had six stations all around, learning about Melrose's government, and it was just great to be with all those young people. It was very exciting. Very well-run. So thank you to everyone who put that together.
▶ 1:00:13 Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Okay, so we do have... Oh, the mayor.
▶ 1:00:16 Jen Grigoraitis: Just on the outreach to the legislature, I think the committee received an email from Rep Libergarabedian, but just wanted to share with the public, we're currently waiting for the sup budget from the Fair Share Amendment to be signed by the governor. There's a lot in there, obviously, that impacts the whole state, but there were several earmarks for the Melrose Public Schools, including $90,000 for improvements to visual and performing art spaces, $75,000 for renovations to the APR at the Hoover Elementary School, $40,000 for a new AV system in the APR in the Horace Mann School, and then $20,000 for a traffic study of the Lincoln Elementary School area. So I want to thank the work of our delegation for advocating for that funding for us, and for Ken and the superintendent for partnering with my team to advocate for those identified needs to get them funded outside of our budget.