Outreach Reports (5 minutes)

Transcript (~9 min @ 59:18)

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▶ 59:16 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Very good. Any additional questions for Mr. O'Connell? Seeing none, thank you for that. And, uh, finally we move to our outreach reports, uh, this evening. Um, Mr. O'Connell?

▶ 59:27 Speaker 6: Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I had, uh, the pleasure, uh, of attending the state board of elementary and secondary Education Board meeting this morning. Uh, actually my professional capacity with regard, uh, to the fifth anniversary of the passage of the 2018 civics law and the adoption of the, um, 2018 history and social sciences, uh, curriculum framework. Uh, and there was lots of good news on that front. I'm happy to report statewide, uh, and also notably, I, I want to take the opportunity to point out, uh, that our district, uh, really has been a model, uh, literally for other school districts, uh, in the civic education realm. So I would note that, but I also wanted to note, uh, something, uh, that I heard and witnessed, and it was Commissioner Riley's, uh, announcement of a new initiative, uh, relative to, um, school attendance. Uh, and the department's plan to provide, uh, supports and resources to school districts to address, uh, what is clearly an issue, uh, across Massachusetts and, uh, indeed across the nation, particularly in the wake of, uh, the Covid Pandemic. So I suspect we'll all be hearing more about that. I did have a chance to talk to the superintendent briefly about it, and I suspect we'll be hearing more about that, uh, in our own district as well. But just wanted to share that with the committee. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. O'Connell. Anyone else? Uh, Ms. McAndrew? Thank

▶ 1:00:59 Jennifer McAndrew: You. Um, and thank you for that report, Mr. O'Connell. That's really interesting. Um, I just wanted to mention that earlier this month, um, state rep Lipper obedient and Senator Lewis organized, um, a visit from the DCR Commissioner, um, to Melrose, along the Lin Fells Parkway, and invited, um, local, local officials as well. I was happy to attend on behalf of the school committee. Mayor Broer was there as well. Um, and, um, we made several stops along the landfills. Um, Mr. Kelly was there for part of it. We talked about, um, uh, and I, I will, if it's okay, I will send a, a link to put into the notes for the minutes for tonight's meeting, because one of the things we talked about is the work that will be happening at the corner of Melrose Street and the Lynn Fells, which will be a very big project, uh, directly impacting the safety of our students and educators. I think, um, improving safety, very much so at that corner, but it will be a long process, uh, for the construction project starting probably in the spring and going through to, um, around this time next, uh, next year. So starting this spring, so possibly going as long as April through October. Um, and the DCR has set up a webpage specifically for that project where people can see updates and schedules. And so I'll put that, um, link in the minutes, if that's okay. We also talked about, um, along the Lin Fills, um, in other areas, the issues where, uh, sidewalks stop and start, um, and where sometimes, um, there's no crosswalk connecting the sidewalk pieces. Um, and that was, um, I think of considerable interest to the commissioner. Um, we, I pointed out the running routes of the cross country team and the track teams along Fels, and that there's no crosswalk between Vinton Street and Grimsby, which is a very long stretch with no crosswalk and many, um, high school and probably some middle school runners along that route. So, um, we talked about crossing guards. We talked a lot about a lot of topics. I'm just saying all this because parents often bring these topics to our attention, and we often say this is a state road, and there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of collaboration between the local, um, the local governing authorities and the state there. But this was a real example of that, and I thought a really interesting and helpful session. Um, and so I just wanted to let the public know that that work is happening, and there's a lot of interest, particularly around the sidewalks, accessibility, bike lanes, and, um, crossing guards and the crossings. So thank you. Thank

▶ 1:03:49 Paul Brodeur: You, mayor Broder. I wanna amplify that a little bit because it is, it is all good news. DCR tended to have a little bit of a, uh, a revolving door. Um, but this is specifically at that crossing the Melrose Street, um, sway crossing. Folks should understand that this is the product somewhat frustratingly of, um, two years of advocacy and discussions, arguably more depending on how you measure. But in terms of DCR and their public engagement, which has been extensive, um, multiple, um, public sessions, as well as, uh, written input, uh, from community members. And I can tell you they took it, uh, they took it very seriously. The reason why I'm optimistic about DCR is because the new commissioner, uh, is a recently former mayor. Um, and so he is been on and the mayor of Revere, which has a ton of DCR property, including beachfront and roadway. Uh, so he gets it. He understands kind of our perspective on this, and I think we're gonna see, um, a very good, a very good process, uh, going forward. Uh, the only, uh, two other things I wanna remind folks that we have this invite here, that the middle school is doing their, um, veterans Day ceremony, to which, um, the public is invited, though it is a school assembly. It's not a particularly convenient, uh, time of the day, but they do a tremendous job with it. This year is, it is on Thursday, November 9th, beginning at nine 15. Uh, if you're considering attending, it goes for about an hour. Um, it's a very nice ceremony. And finally, to pat myself on the back in reflecting on the, um, civic education law, I do want to say I actually voted for that as a member of the legislature back in 2018, and I'm delighted to see it going so well,

▶ 1:05:52 Speaker 6: Excellent. Thank you.

▶ 1:05:54 Speaker 5: Oh, I hear one more thing.

▶ 1:05:55 Speaker 2: Yes. Motion to object.

▶ 1:05:56 Speaker 6: No, no, no, no. Not yet.

▶ 1:05:58 Speaker 2: We have no more, we have no more dots

▶ 1:05:59 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Here. I would like to add a couple of things to the outreach reports if it, if that would be all right. Oh, yeah. Oh, thank you so much. Um, so I just wanted to mention that, um, um, I believe the superintendent and Mr. O'Connell had the opportunity to attend Mystery Night Out, uh, sponsored by the Melrose Education Foundation, which is an incredible 5 0 1 c three support to teachers, to a variety of staff members, supporting students always. Um, and my understanding was a wonderful night was had by all the superintendent, did have an opportunity, I believe, to meet a number of parents and speak to them, um, a little bit and, uh, share, um, the good things that are happening in the city of Melrose. So I did thank you so much. I appreciate that because that on a Saturday night, our superintendent is, uh, basically never off the job, and we're grateful for that. So thank you. I had a

▶ 1:06:51 Speaker 3: Great chauffeur too.

▶ 1:06:52 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Yeah. Yeah. You merged. So you're here to tell the tale. So that's success. Um, and I also wanted to mention that, um, uh, as we always do, the school committee, um, was in full support on Sunday at the Melrose Alliance Against Violence, uh, vigil and walk. It's one of the most, uh, profound and impactful, um, days for our school community. There were hundreds of students in their sports teams, um, teachers, community members, um, folks from, um, out of our district who came to support the good work that is happening here. Um, and we did have, um, a young woman from Melrose who was on that list who was living in a different state. So this is particularly profound this year. And all of those there to honor her and all those who had lost their lives within the past year is important for us to reflect on and do everything that we can to prevent it happening again. So I am appreciative of all that you all did, uh, on that day. Uh, and, uh, I believe that's the last outreach report. I would like to take a moment of personal privilege to note that the,