PUBLIC COMMENT

Transcript (~14 min @ 0:48)

▶ 0:54 If anybody would like to comment before the school committee, please use that sign-up form, and you are welcome to address us for up to three minutes, and we will not respond. Okay, first up we have Paula Terenzi Byrne. You're welcome to address the school committee for three minutes. Thank you. So, good evening, members of the school committee. My name is Paula Terenzi Byrne. I am the director of the Dance Complex and a longtime renter of the Melrose Middle School Auditorium. I've rented this beautiful space for my dance recitals for my students, many which are Melrose residents. I'm here tonight because I'm deeply concerned about the decision to close the auditorium to outside rentals from April 1st through June 30th.

▶ 1:54 Despite reaching out to multiple departments and officials, I still haven't received a clear explanation. I also want to raise another concern that has added to the confusion. I have been told that the school committee is not in charge of the auditorium. If this is true, then I have to ask, do you have any interest in the revenue that is being lost? Right now, no one seems to know who is making the decisions. I have had to book through the DPW. The DPW told me the decision comes from the school department. The school theater department told me they have nothing to do with it. And after speaking with Mr. Ken Kelley, he tells me that there is opportunity for rental. So I requested four June dates, only to be told the school has reserved all of

▶ 2:40 them, and that I could rent any time before April 1st or after June 30th. Every weekend for three months. Really? Yet no one could show me a calendar demonstrating that every weekend is booked. So who actually makes the decisions? Who is responsible for closing the auditorium to outside renters for three months? My question is simple: why? Why close the auditorium during one of the busiest rental seasons and give up potentially tens of thousands of dollars in revenue, especially while Melrose is facing financial challenges and passing it on to the residents? We absolutely respect that school events come first. That has never been its question. Rental revenue also helps support the building in

▶ 3:26 unexpected costs, like the air condition failure during my recital last June. Is it fixed? And if not, where is the money coming from now that rental revenue is going to be eliminated? I thank you for your time and your service and your willingness to listen to me, and I truly hope that we can find a solution that supports both the school and the community it serves. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much. Next up we have Phil Wallace. And you are welcome to address this with me for up to three minutes. Thank you. Appreciate it. How you doing? My name is Phil Wallace. Me and my wife, we run the Step Up the Dance competition, and we've had the pleasure and the privilege of renting Melrose High School Auditorium for the last

▶ 4:18 20 years. In that time, over those 20 years, we have paid $387,000 for the rental fees. Okay. We've hired, trained, and paid hundreds of Melrose students to work our events through the years, making signs, placing signs in the auditorium, seating the people that come in and out, staffing the auditorium doors, opening up the award boxes, everything from putting the trophies on stage, decorating the stage, papering the cafeteria windows, running video cable wires, counting students award pins, entering criteria into their laptops, making announcements, assisting with playing the music, just to name a few. We have also run fundraisers for the middle school and high school during our time of rental, and it's been a pleasure, by the way.

▶ 5:28 Also, we've hosted bake sales for the town, and our Melrose customers will not travel out of the city to come to our events. So would you please consider renting the auditorium this coming year and then so on? Thank you very much. I'm going to leave this now. I know I have a little over here. I guess in case we have what I said already. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you for your help. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, next up we have Madison. You're welcome to address the committee for three minutes. Hi, everybody. My name is Madison Agiba, and I'm a junior at Melrose High School. For some of us, a stage is more than just a place to perform. It becomes a place that feels like home. For me, this stage has been that place.

▶ 6:20 For the past four years, this beautiful theater has been where I have had incredible opportunities to dance, sing in chorus concerts, and perform in theater productions. I've grown up on this stage, and tonight I am here because I hope other young dancers can continue to experience what this stage has meant to me. As a junior in high school, I realize just how lucky I have been for a theater like this. It is more than just a beautiful space. It is a place filled with memories of excitement, nervousness, laughter, hard work, friendships, and moments that I know that I'll carry with me long after high school. Being able to dance, sing, and act here over the past four years has been an amazing honor. And although I know there will be many stages in my future, I

▶ 7:06 also know that there will only ever be one that feels like home. That is why I'm asking you to reconsider allowing dance studios to continue using the stage for their recitals. I know firsthand how meaningful it is to have the opportunity to perform here, and I believe other young dancers deserve the chance to create those same memories. We are incredibly fortunate to have this theater right here in our community. Let's not limit the memories that can be made here. Let's continue to open these doors, share the stage, and give young dancers the opportunity to experience the same sense of pride, confidence, and belonging that I've experienced. So tonight, I'm asking you to keep the stage open for our dance

▶ 7:47 community, give these dancers the opportunity to perform here, to create memories here, and to one day look back and say, just as I can, "This was my home stage." Please reconsider. Let's keep the curtains open for them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next up we have Ms. Downing. You're welcome to address the committee for three minutes. Hello. My name's Jessie Downing. I've been a Melrose resident since 2021. I've shared my concern with Mr. Kelley previously, and I wanted to share it with the entire committee. My oldest child started kindergarten in Melrose Public Schools last week. I'd like to bring your attention to the issue that on-time education stations registrations are not currently honored in the elementary school

▶ 8:40 hardship appeals process, and families are denied the opportunity to access safe, financially feasible after-school care in a timely manner if they pursue a hardship placement appeal. With Melrose's ranked choice system of elementary school placement, its appeals process, and the lack of lead time before EdStation's registrations, I anticipated the possibility of receiving my family's second or third choice school. In light of my family's current extenuating medical circumstances, I proactively reached out to EdStation's leadership about their policies on May 18th and May 26th prior to kindergarten placements. I inquired about contingency plans, the possibility of registering for two schools

▶ 9:20 simultaneously, the option to register on time for my first choice school while awaiting the appeal decision, or placing my daughter on the wait list as soon as our top choice school's three-hour registration period ended. I was explicitly informed that none of these alternatives were possible, and I was told that my only option was to register my daughter at her initial third choice school during its on-time three-hour registration period. I ultimately did that. It was disheartening that none of these potential solutions were taken into account. When we received our third choice school placement on May 29th, I immediately pursued the official appeals process. I wrote a letter outlining the hardship along with four physicians' letters of

▶ 10:02 supporting medical documentation to the MPS superintendent and registrar. While the appeal was ultimately successful on June 22nd, our family is now without necessary after-school care for my daughter. She was only added to the wait list on the day she was approved to enter the school, June 22nd. Her original on-time EdStation's registration was not honored. Consequently, she's number 20 on the wait list. The EdStation's leadership was unsympathetic. The superintendent did not respond to my email regarding the situation, and the registrar merely asked if I wanted to switch back to the third choice school where there was an available EdStation slot. I declined. It has been a discouraging, stressful introduction to MPS, to say the least.

▶ 10:47 I'm frustrated that preparation and timeliness on my part have been met with inflexibility by EdStation's leadership, and I'm disappointed in how MPS administration has overlooked this annually inevitable situation with no mitigation strategy. My disillusionment is intensified in light of EdStation's 3:30 PM pickup option becoming a lottery this year, with plans to eliminate it altogether next year in the name of optimizing staffing and resources. I've been in touch with EdStation's leadership repeatedly over the summer, and there has been no increased staffing nor wait list movement. I am pregnant, and I have had to begin my parental leave approximately a month early because I'm unable to work because I need to pick up my daughter at the 2:20

▶ 11:29 PM dismissal. It would be cost-prohibitive for my family to hire outside help for school pickup and in-home after-school care. My two asks of the school committee are to, one, please place my daughter at the top of the Winthrop EdStation's waiting list, and to, two, rectify this issue prior to the 2027 kindergarten and EdStation's registration. Otherwise, it will continue to burden conscientious families in need of after-school care. One potential straightforward solution would be to look at the- You're a good deal over three minutes. If you could wrap up, please. One potential straightforward solution would be to look at the average number of hardship appeals and reserve that many spaces at each EdStation site.

▶ 12:09 Alternatively, an improved schedule for kindergarten enrollment would be sending out assignments, offering a designated appeals process, and then opening Ed's registration. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to discussing further. Thank you very much. And finally, we have Ms. Comeau. You're welcome to address the committee for up to three minutes. I need a booster seat. Good evening. My name is Renee Comeau. I'm a Melrose school parent, an involved member of the Melrose community, and a very proud dance mom. Dance has been a huge part of my daughter Charlotte's life for many years, and honestly, so has this auditorium at the middle school. Charlotte has danced with Paula Tranzi Dance Complex for the past three years, but

▶ 12:57 even before that, I sat in the same auditorium watching her perform recitals with another local Melrose dance studio. I've literally watched her grow up on the stage from a little girl excited to put on her costume and dance under the lights to the beautiful dancer she is today. These dancers work toward recital all year, and being able to perform on the stage in their own community means so much to the dancers and families. And we are so lucky to have this auditorium. It is truly one of the nicest and largest venues in our area for dance recitals. It is a beautiful professional stage that can accommodate hundreds of dancers and their families, and there really aren't many comparable spaces nearby.

▶ 13:38 For years, Paula's and several other dance studios have been able to use this auditorium for their recitals. I'd really like to understand what has changed and why a three-month closure or blackout is now necessary when this has worked in previous years. And if some blackout dates are necessary, could we find a compromise instead of closing the auditorium to outside organizations for the entire spring recital season? Maybe a limited number of weekends could remain available, a lottery or application process could be used, or organizations could pay a higher rental fee if additional costs are part of the concern. I completely understand that Melrose students and school programming come first,

▶ 14:19 but I really hope we can find a way for our schools and community to continue sharing this space. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way. There are so many families at Paula's, as well as families from other local dance studios and art organizations who value having the space available for our children. I'm simply asking you not to close the door on something that has meant so much to many Melrose families. Please reconsider the three-month closure and work with the organizations affected to find a solution that allows our children to continue performing here in their own community. Thank you. Thank you very much for addressing the committee. Is there anybody else in the room who would like to take the opportunity to address