School Committee — 2023-10-24

School Committee Regular Meeting

This meeting starts at 0:02 in a recording that covers several meetings.

Agenda

Minutes

CITY OF MELROSE MELROSE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES● OCTOBER 24, 2023 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Regular Meeting 7:00 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176

(ID # 11276) Executive Session To approve executive session minutes of August 29, 2023 No Action Taken

(ID # 11274) Executive Session To discuss strategy with respect to litigation involving a grievance filed by the MEA Unit A as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the School Committee and the chair so declares No Action Taken

(ID # 11262) Consent MHS Field Trip Request - Spanish Exchange Adopted

(ID # 11249) Consent Cafeteria Report Adopted

(ID # 11260) Consent MVMMS Field Trip Request - Quebec City

(ID # 11264) Educational Programs and Personnel MHS Athletic Dept Waiver (5 minutes) vote required Passed

(ID # 11251) Educational Programs and Personnel METCO Update (15 minutes) No Action Taken

(ID # 11252) Educational Programs and Personnel Enrollment Report (15 minutes) No Action Taken

(ID # 11263) Educational Programs and Personnel Special Municipal Employees (10 minutes) vote required Passed City of Melrose Page 1 Updated 10/31/2023 10:30 AM Minutes Melrose School Committee October 24, 2023

(ID # 11257) Policy and Planning Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan (15 minutes) vote required Passed

(ID # 11255) Policy and Planning Annual Review of Policy IJND: Access to Digital Resources and Policy IJNDB: Acceptable Use Policy for Information Technology (5 minutes) vote required Passed

(ID # 11254) Finance and Facilities Student Activity Accounts: Audit Information, Account Listings/Notes (10 minutes)

(ID # 11253) Finance and Facilities Warrants (5 minutes) vote required Passed

(ID # 11261) Announcements - Chair Superintendent Goals Update (10 minutes) No Action Taken

(ID # 11258) Announcements - Chair Update on Superintendent Search (5 minutes) No Action Taken

(ID # 11256) Announcements - Chair Outreach Reports (5 minutes) No Action Taken Note: The listed agenda items are those that are reasonably anticipated by the Chair to be discussed at the meeting. Not all items, in fact, may be discussed, and other items not listed also may be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. City of Melrose Page 2 Updated 10/31/2023 10:30 AM

Transcript

▶ 0:02 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Good evening and welcome to the Melrose School Committee meeting of October 24th, 2023. Uh, this meeting, um, for your information is being recorded by our friends at MMTV and is being live streamed on a variety of channels, depending on your service provider. Uh, Mrs. Hogan, would you kindly call the role Mr. O'Connell? Here. Mayor Broder. Here. Mr. Ozzie Thomas. Here. Mr. sel. Here. Ms. Mickey. Andrew. Here. Mr. Driscoll Here. And, uh, with six, uh, present and one absent. We do have a quorum, therefore, I'll invite you to rise as you are able and we will say the pledge. I pledge. Alle Pledge of Allegiance to supply of the United States. United States of America. And to the republic. To the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, nation, under God,

▶ 0:52 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: indivisible, with liberty and justice. All This evening, we do have need for an executive session to approve executive session minutes of August 29th, 2023, and to discuss strategy with respect to litigation involving a grievance filed by the MEA unit A as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the litigating position of the school committee and the chair. So declares d waive of a motion to enter executive session made by Mr. O'Connell, seconded by Ms. Razzi Thomas. Uh, any discussion? And that motion? Seeing none. Mrs. Hogan, would you kindly call the role Mr. O'Connell? Yes. Mayor Broder. Yes. Ms. Ozzie Thomas? Yes. Mr. sel? Yes. Ms. mc. Andrew? Yes. Ms. Driscoll? Yes. Uh, and that motion carries unanimously with one absent.

▶ 1:47 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: We will be returning two public session. Following our executive session. We are hereby adjourned to executive session. We have now returned, uh, to, uh, to public session from executive session. Excuse me. Next on our agenda is the report of the student representatives. Our students are unable to be with us this evening, so we will move on to public comment. Um, at this time, I will open without objection, public comment. Is there anyone, uh, who would like to speak this evening? Seeing none. Then without objection, I will close public comment. Next, we have the announcements of the Superintendent of schools. Thank You, Madam Chair. Um, tonight I just wanted to inform everybody that tonight we did meet with,

▶ 2:34 uh, parents of grade six. Group D. Uh, that was a very good meaning. Uh, we discussed quite a few items, uh, and, um, I felt that it was a nice exchange. And, um, very pleased. In two weeks, I'll be meeting with the entire sixth grade team of parents. Uh, we'll meet in the high school common area, and that's just the start as I look to start to meet with our parents of each grade level, um, down the road. So the rest of my information is throughout the, the agenda. Thank you. Very good. Um, next on our agenda is the consent agenda, which includes the following items this evening, the school committee regular meeting, minutes of October 10th, 2023. The M-V-M-M-S field trip request to Quebec City,

▶ 3:25 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: the MHS field trip request, Spanish exchange, and the cafeteria report. Would anyone like to remove anything from the consent agenda? Ms. Re Uh, Can we please remove the Quebec City trip? The Quebec city trip will go on the policy and planning subcommittee. Anyone else? Seeing none. Do I have a motion to approve the three items left on the consent agenda made by Mr. O'Connell? Seconded by Ms. Rosie Thomas. All in favor? All opposed? That motion carries unanimously with one absent. Uh, next we move on to our subcommittees, beginning with the educational programs and personnel subcommittee. Ms. Der. Thank you, chair Driscoll. Uh, good evening everyone. Welcome to EPNP. We have four agenda items to tonight. Um, we have,

▶ 4:31 Jennifer McAndrew: just to preview them, we have athletic waiver requests before us. We have an update on the METCO program. We have our monthly enrollment report, and we have a request pertaining to, uh, filling difficult positions through special min municipal employee status. Um, we'll go right through then in order starting with the athletic department waivers. Thank you. Madam Chair. We have Mr. Fogarty here. Who would? Athletic Director Fogarty is with us. Thank you. And He will walk through the, the changes the requests. Good evening tonight. Um, we're requesting four different waivers for high school athletics. First one being for freshman girls basketball. It's a program that we haven't had in a few years,

▶ 5:21 and we feel it's a good time to, uh, create more opportunity, more participation. Uh, the numbers have been low and we're hoping that with eighth grade, with eighth grade support and players, we'd be able to reestablish this team. Boys Ice Hockey. We're looking for a junior varsity waiver. We currently will have 26 students in the program. It'd be very difficult to run a varsity and a JV team with only 26 people Gymnastics. We have eight students returning to the team, and that would be a challenge to fill a lineup with the rotations in the various sports. And then girls ice hockey, we have 11 students returning, and that would be a challenge to put out a competitive team without an eighth grade waiver.

▶ 6:16 Thank you. Any, uh, questions from the committee? Mr. O'Connell? Uh, For purposes of discussion, I would make a motion that we approve the waivers as requested. Motion to approve the waivers made by Mr. O'Connell, seconded by Mr. Driscoll. Any questions or comments? Mr. Sound, please. Uh, thank you. Uh, Mr. Fogy. Um, with regards to the, uh, uh, women's hockey, um, with so few numbers, is there any consideration to a joint team as we've done in the past? Not for this year. We didn't explore that. We did that a few years ago with Stoneham, um, with mixed results. Um, a lot of the area is certainly going to that in the Middlesex League Freedom Division. Melrose in Burlington would be the only two programs that are standing on their

▶ 7:06 own with waiver support. Um, so it is certainly something to consider going forward. And it's a challenge because so many schools are partnering up at this point with proximity, access to rinks, things like that. So it's something that is on the horizon maybe, but, and, uh, we're considering, we've had conversations with some other districts, but this year we would like to continue with the eighth graders next door. And, and just as a follow up, if I may. Sure. Um, thank you Madam Chair. Uh, so then you are confident that with the waiver, you'll have enough participation to be able to field the full team? Yes. Last year we had a seventh and eighth grade waiver, and those seventh, eighth, seventh graders would be eighth graders coming up.

▶ 7:52 And we feel there's a sufficient number. Um, we recently opened the registration process. You know, the numbers are coming in. Not great right now 'cause it's only been a week, but we're confident we'll have a, a team that we can put on the ice and be competitive within the Middlesex League Freedom Division. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Driscoll. Thank you. Um, Mr. Fogarty, I don't recall ever seeing this many requests for waivers in one season, ever. And, um, that's curious. Can you talk a little bit about that, please? Again, speculation as to to why I, I don't have definitive answers. And ag I agree with you. This is the most I've ever asked for at a particular time. Um, freshman basketball, um,

▶ 8:43 things are changing at the middle school level with the way their programs are running. The, they're trying to move away from the recreation department and trying to establish as a, as a youth program for the community itself, which will create more opportunity for students to play. And we feel that it's a great opportunity with the new coach coming in to reestablish this team that we had in the past. But due to lower numbers, we just weren't able to fill it. So we think that will be a win-win for the community by creating the more opportunity in the middle school and then allowing that opportunity to continue at the high school level. Um, as far as boys hockey, you know, 26, you, it would be a challenge to have those two teams.

▶ 9:26 You would have six kids that would be going back and forth and they, they wouldn't be getting the same instruction. 'cause it's different coaches with the varsity and the jv. Um, so it would be a bit much and taxing on their bodies as well to compete as, as often as they would with that. So by allowing eighth graders, we hope to boost those numbers a little bit and, uh, you know, give more instruction, you know, and allow them to play in the games at the level that they should be competing at. Um, gymnastics, you know, it's, it's a funny sport where eight students, they could compete and represent Melrose High School, but if you had 12, it would make a huge difference. You know? 'cause at eight,

▶ 10:12 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: you're gonna have kids outta their comfort zone on an element that they're not maybe an expert in. So picking up a few more students would be very helpful. And then, uh, you know, girls hockey Mm-Hmm. Has been a challenge for a little while now. Yeah. And that's something that was seen regionally. Okay. So that's very helpful. Thank you. And I would just note that, um, I know you work hard and I know you're familiar or work hard to partner with, um, our youth programs and, you know, watching that pipeline and certainly, you know, invite and encourage the district to, um, continue that work and get kids excited and get them outside moving around. Certainly. Um, to me this is very appropriate because the health and safety of students comes

▶ 10:58 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: first always. So protecting those gymnasts are not overcommitting them. Hockey, all of those for, uh, sports. Certainly all of these are very physical, um, by nature. And so, um, I am in support of this. Um, I just, um, you know, wanna see our kids. I guess a happy problem is there are so many choices at Monroe High School to engage in a variety of activities and it becomes hard to choose. So thank you for what you're doing there. Yes. Tons, tons of offerings and, and a lot of different diverse interests. So, uh, we do have strong relationships with a lot of the youth programs, and many of these coaches are reaching out, constantly, running camps, clinics, and getting to know the students, getting to know the coaches at those lower levels. So, you know,

▶ 11:41 you hope that you can establish a relationship where that student moves on and has opportunity to participate at the high school level. Thank you, Mr. Azzie. Thomas, please. Sure. Just one quick question. When we had student reps here a few meetings ago, they said that there were more students participating in fall sports this year than ever before. I don't know. Just wanted to check that out with you. So we had, I know you, that wasn't on the agenda, so if you're not prepared. No, no. Uh, it's a fair question. And, and it's true. And I, I shared that with those students when they came to see me before that meeting, we had 450 students signed up competing at the, at the start of the year. And those numbers are, are backed to pre covid.

▶ 12:23 Uh, some of the largest numbers, 70 students signed up for volleyball. Coach Kelly can only keep 45 of 'em. So you can only hope that those 45 are going to go to another program. Some did, but not all. Mm-Hmm. So girls soccer, huge numbers. They, they had 60, um, you know, but you can only carry so many with. So sometimes kids do try other opportunities at that point, and, and sometimes they find a new interest as well. So there were a lot of programs that had numbers that we just haven't seen before. And, uh, currently we're, um, 360 students that are participating in fall athletics, which is a number that is very similar to what was going on before covid. Great. Thank you very much. It's really helpful.

▶ 13:16 Jennifer McAndrew: Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none. Um, I think just looking at this in the context of the enrollment report, which is also on this committee agenda. We know the numbers at the middle school in particular. So I think personally, it's great to see you keeping these programs going in this way and also adding the team. I'm really excited that you're adding the freshman girls basketball, because we definitely have a lot of kids in the public schools coming. If, even if some of these programs, you know, need to seek waivers for eighth graders now, they may not need to in the future with these bigger numbers. So, uh, thank you for keeping all of this going, um, for us. And, uh, we have a motion and a second on the table now. Um, so, um,

▶ 14:00 Jennifer McAndrew: if there are no more comments, all in favor opposed, abstain. And that motion carries with five in favor, one abstention and one absent. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here, Mr. Fogerty. Thank you. And next up we have the, um, METCO update report, which is also, um, a detailed memo in our packet, superintendent. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll just briefly go through the detailed packet, but as you can see the enrollment for Medco students, we have a total of 115 students, uh, 27 elementary, 22 middle school, and 66 at the high school. And there's a breakdown by school, as you see, uh, in regards to we, the VETCO Director school year plan. She talked about, uh, some of the events that are going on for students. And, um,

▶ 14:55 staffing. I, I want to go over it quickly with you when I get to that next page. In regards to some of the budget changes we were able to do in the last, uh, couple of weeks when I met with the METCO director, uh, you talking about the engagement, the family engagement. One thing I'd like to mention is that, um, we did meet, uh, a team myself, Mr. Murphy, the principal of the middle school, Mr. Merrill, uh, principal of the high school, uh, miss, uh, Berman, the assistant superintendent, uh, pupil personnel. And Dr. Turner, the assistant superintendent of, uh, teaching and learning and myself, went into Boston last Thursday evening. And we met with a group of parents, our METCO families. And, um, it was well received.

▶ 15:40 It was a great meeting. Uh, one thing that, you know, it, which is good for us too, is to realize the commute that our students do every day. I know for us, when we traveled in that night, it took us an hour and a half to get to where we needed to go to. So, I mean, these are things, these are some of the obstacles that our students deal with. But overall, the meaning was very positive. And, um, we are looking forward to connecting with them again. We will be heading into Boston sometime. I think it was in more between February, January or February, maybe a little more towards March. Uh, but, um, and we got a, we got a lot of great feedback, and it was really, um, we had some great conversation. So it was very helpful on that. Uh,

▶ 16:24 you'll see that, uh, there's the reports of the Friends of Melrose metco and down now the budget as when I last had presented to you the original budget, when I had done the, the plan, uh, Ms. Hall and myself did meet, there was some concerns from our parents too, that, you know, what would happen? Could we get some more support in? So what we were able to do is we were able to reduce the classroom teacher down by 25,000. And we took, take a look at the bus. We went from 600,000. We did eliminate one of the buses, uh, to try to get us down under, and that's at 555,000 as opposed to the 600,000 it was. And we did increase, um, for a METCO instructional advisor type of position that could come in to

▶ 17:17 help Ms. Hall and to help our students. So that's what we are looking at, that would come out of the grant. We increased the before and after school in the grant because that we wanted to make sure that that money was exactly as is, so that there was no surprises on that. And we increased, uh, tutoring services in the contractual services line item. And then you'll see some other areas that we decreased. But it still comes to that total of 943,729. And that's, that's, um, important that we stay within that budget. We're also going to be measuring that as the actuals come in. So if there are changes that we may need to do this, a budget can always be amended. But I think it was really important, uh,

▶ 18:06 to make sure that our students are receiving the support that they need and also listening. And I think part of that meeting that we had on Thursday evening started a few weeks ago with the emails and, and concerns that, you know, families wanted to talk about. So we wanted to make sure that we could see, and they were pleased with the movement that we were making. But also, again, we had to explain how the budget process works and how we, you know, when I've reviewed past budgets, I've, I've also noticed that we had to make up a significant amount in that METCO deficit of overspending on that. And I explained that as well. So our goal here is to not spend anything more than the nine hundred and forty three seven two nine. So, uh,

▶ 18:57 Ms. Hall has got some great activities planned that are going to be happening over the next few weeks. I do know that on November 18th, in the afternoon at 1230, there's an event for, um, metco, um, schools. And it's over at the, uh, Reggie Lewis Center. And it's, it's a great time for Melrose to be represented and showcase all of the great work that we do along with all of the other school districts. And so I, as well as Ms. Hall, and we, we are working on having some students and some other staff members possibly attend so that we can showcase what we are and why it's important to come to Melrose. And, um, so that's, that's where we're at. I'm happy to take any questions you have on the Excellent. Thank you. Any questions on the report for the superintendent? Mr.

▶ 19:45 O'Connell? Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, first of all, a note of thanks to, to Ms. Hall for compiling this information and for the great work she's doing, uh, in stewarding this program. Um, and thank you superintendent and Dr. Turner and the rest of the leadership team for, uh, engaging with, with our METCO families in Boston. I think that's really important. I think we all share that sentiment. So that's much, much appreciated. Um, and I'd also, uh, like to take an opportunity, uh, to note, um, that Ms. Hall has been a, uh, terrific member of our superintendent search, um, screening committee. Um, um, it's wonderful to have her participation and, and to have that perspective on the committee. It's been really important and,

▶ 20:31 and valuable. So just wanna say that publicly, uh, to her and to all of us. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. O'Connell. Mr. sel. Thank you. Uh, Madam Chair. Uh, Mr. Superintendent, um, you presented this and it's fantastic and I appreciate it. Uh, but in the same sort of paragraph that you talk about, um, the commute down and back, uh, you also mentioned that you reduced a bus. So could You expand on that a little bit? Sure. So it feels like we're adding commute time, Right? So what's happened is we had a, so we have the bus that comes in the morning and the bus that goes after school when school's out. And then they had a four o'clock bus, and then they have a six o'clock bus. Currently right now,

▶ 21:19 they've eliminated the four o'clock bus. However, we are in conversations about maybe bringing that bus back as needed. So if they're, and, and maybe a couple days a week. So students of the middle school who stay after, don't have to wait till six o'clock. They can go home at four o'clock. Um, and then of course, that six o'clock is, is pivotal for anybody who's in the sports programs or other programs. Sure. So that was what currently happened. And we did have, we did have a later bus, um, up to eight o'clock for a couple of, uh, sports teams. But that is not moving forward as we move forward right now. So those, those, and that was one of the big conversations last week. I know that the middle school principal and the high school principal really

▶ 22:07 would like to see that four o'clock bus on a daily basis, but we're just trying to make sure that we balance everything. So, Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions for the superintendent, Ms. Razzie Thomas? Um, I would just love to know over the last five years how much the transportation costs have gone up. I just think that, I remember when I first came on the committee, I think it was in the 300 thousands. I just think it's ballooned like all our other transportation costs. And so what, you know, with, with some the, uh, METCO grant, we used to use it in some ways to support professional development. 'cause we, we would sometimes have like surplus. And, and so it's, it's, um, it's too bad. I think it was level funded this year too.

▶ 22:51 It, it was level funded. And I, do you know what Level funding means, right. Superintendent? That's Right. We do. But, um, I do have that information for you and we'll be able to share that with all of you. I did a four year, over the last four years of the METCO budget. And you're right, it, it goes back in that four years. We were looking at somewhere about 350, about four years ago. And, and it, and it really made the bigger jump from this past year up to 600. But I think last year those expenses were there just wasn't budgeted at that time. Yep. And so this year, Ms. Hall made sure that she put in what she thought was the proper number. But yes, you can, I, I, I'll send those to you, but it was about 350 I think that like four or five years ago.

▶ 23:37 Thank you. I just wanted us to make sure we saw it, just to explain to the Sure. To our people and out there watching riveting school committee meetings that, you know, it's not just in one line item. It's everywhere. Like, if, if there's any transportation, we're actually really fortunate in Melrose that we don't bus students across the city when there's not a need. Right. So that's correct. Because that would make it even more expensive. Right. For our city budget. So we're seeing it everywhere. And I'm sure I'd be really curious, Ms. Hall isn't here for a good reason 'cause she's gonna be serving on this other committee many nights this week. But like, is everyone seeing that in every MECO program across, you know,

▶ 24:16 this the metro area of Boston. And there was, if I may, there was conversation about that, because there are, there are a lot of districts that we are also talking to who do not, you know, they, they, they have a bus here and they have a bus at that time, and that's that. Yeah. So we're trying to be very sensitive to what those needs are. And we're also taking a look at, you know, does, does that four o'clock bus have to be from this current bus company? Or could we be creative on what we need to do for that area as well? So we're, we're having those conversations with our own transportation. Thank You for all the outreach you are doing. Um, and the willingness to meet people where they're at. It's always important.

▶ 24:56 Paul Brodeur: Thank you. Mayor Brier, Real quick, I hope, um, particularly for, for the older kids, I wouldn't suggest this for elementary and probably middle school is the MBTA an option, we're kind of uniquely situated compared to probably at least some other districts where that can be, um, an almost on demand option. And I'm gonna say something a little bit perhaps silly. It might even be faster for certain kids than a bus at rush hour going basically through the city to final destination. So I'm quite sure that we have students, especially at the high school level that do, because I know that, um, at the beginning of the year, they come and they get their bus pass. You know, the, the MT discount passes. Discount passes.

▶ 25:46 Jennifer McAndrew: And so I'm sure that they're taking the bus or the train. Mm-hmm. That can go right in. And you're absolutely right. It's a great vehicle. We're right there by the train station right around the corner, so. Awesome. That's it. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Any other questions? Um, just on the subject of transportation, as we're looking for creative solutions, working with other districts, working with other METCO programs, I'm also interested in addition to the question of cost, um, about the question of quality and just anything we can do there in terms of holding these companies accountable. I know in some ways that's, you know, we're sort of up against it because they're, the contracts are what they are.

▶ 26:28 Jennifer McAndrew: But, um, I am, I know there was an issue this week with one of the buses. Um, and you know, I'm just interested in everything we can do, not only to keep costs in line, but to make sure we hold them accountable for high quality of service for our students. Yes. One of the issues this week, the bus broke down on the way Mm-Hmm. And, um, they had to come and send a van out to get the students here. Uh, it's absolutely, I know that Ms. Hall is in constant contact with the bus company, and I do know that the parents felt the same way that when we spoke the other night, the same type of thing that they wanted to make sure. And I, I think it's important to note though, too, that our students, our METCO students are leaving.

▶ 27:10 Jennifer McAndrew: They're catching the bus at six 10 in the morning. Yeah. Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. Yeah. You know, so their day is a long, long day. Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Thank you for that. Um, okay, moving on. Um, we have the monthly enrollment report. Um, we also talked about enrollment at the last meeting because we had our annual DSI enrollment report due. But, um, any comments on the enrollment report that's in the package? So, I, I, I, I think that it's pretty self-explanatory right now at elementary, we're, we're pretty much 18 0 6, 909 students at the middle school and 962. And, um, which is giving us a total of 3,677 students. And then of course we have our out of district and then our pre-K when you add that in, our total, uh, um,

▶ 28:01 enrollment is 4,026 students. So that's where we're at currently. Great. Any questions on the enrollment report or comments from the committee? Mr. Razzi? Thomas, just A quick comment. Um, I was really curious about the added district numbers that are on the second page, the enrollment report of Aspen in terms of when students go out of district, like which grade span. And it's ki it's interesting to me that there's 13 in in grade eight, and that's a balloon in comparison to the rest of the numbers. Um, and so I, you know, I wonder if how much of that is pandemic stuff? I'm always curious about when students get on IEPs, when they get off IEPs, and then if you have an OUTTA district placement for 5, 6, 7 years,

▶ 28:48 that amounts to half a million dollars. You know? So it's just, you know, we always have a lot of incentive to try to keep students in district whenever it's feasible and appropriate. But, you know, 13 in grade eight all the way through grade 12 is massive amount of money. They just wanted to say that. Any comment? Oh, sure. Yes. So, and I, I think what would be, and I I will touch base with Ms. Berman is I'd like to know out of those larger numbers how long a they've been going out of district and when did they begin that process. Mm-Hmm. Correct. Yes. 'cause then that shows, I mean, I don't think it was all this year, but it could have been through the years and stuff. So we'll take a look at that.

▶ 29:34 Jennifer McAndrew: I'm just curious 'cause it's a number that bumps up in comparison to the rest. It does. You're right. You're right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions on the enrollment report? Seeing none, we'll move on. Um, next up, um, Ms. Linquist, do you wanna join us at the table? We have a, um, memo in the packet regarding, um, special municipal employees. Um, and Ms. Linquist can, um, discuss this further just by way of background and for the community. Um, as everyone knows in Melrose and throughout the state and the country, um, we are seeing, um, employment shortages in the district, um, in education and in other fields. And, um, the superintendent, Ms. Linquist, the committee, um, the city side,

▶ 30:29 Jennifer McAndrew: are all been looking for creative ways to try to fill as many positions as we can. And so, one option before the committee for discussion tonight is to consider granting special municipal employee status to certain categories of positions. Um, particular part-time positions that might allow people to take on more than one part-time position in the district in order to fill a critical need. Um, Ms. Linguist will correct me or add to that, please. Um, so I apologize for my voice, but I'll do my best to speak. So under 2 68 A, which is a state ethics law for all that applies to all, uh, municipal and state employees, um, there is what's called special municipal employee, which allows the city council to deem certain positions. So it's not per person,

▶ 31:19 it's per position as a special municipal employee. And this makes the state ethics law less restrictive to those positions. So under the state ethics law, um, section 20, you're not allowed to hold more than one position with, um, a municipality. And there's all types of exemptions. And, um, it's less restrictive if you work for two different departments. So like a fire department employee that wanted to do a part-time position in the school department is handled differently than a school department employee that wants to do another position in the school department. So what we're finding is some of our part-time positions like crossing guards, food service, um, they, you know, a crossing guard works an hour in the morning and an hour and af in the

▶ 32:07 afternoon, and they have their middle of their day open. And they've been looking to maybe pick up and be a food service provider or even work at one of our education stations programs after school by deeming them special municipal employees will allow them to do that. We're currently, um, they can't do that under the state ethics. Um, this has to, again, has to be voted by the city council and then it can be rescinded at any time. It not only makes that section 20 less restrictive, but it also makes, um, section 17, which is a section like acting on behalf of others. So that is the risk here, um, that this will also allow them, once they're deemed that designation, they then can also come before to board a commission and act as an agent.

▶ 32:54 This, I worry about this more, um, with positions, um, with some of our boards or commissions where people have a private practice such as an architect, a real estate agent, an attorney, than I would with the positions that we're looking here to deem. And you'll see that we already have five, um, different positions that are already deemed to be special municipal in Melrose, which is a BB estate trustees, um, the licensing commission in the, in the school department. We have, um, the equipment manager and assistant varsity coach. And I'm guessing that those happened before those were part of the, um, MEA contract. And the other reason could be that, that would allow, so those positions are only in the unit a contract,

▶ 33:42 Jennifer McAndrew: but this would allow for like a unit B, a unit C, or a non-union member to do, to do those positions too. If no one from unit A applied, um, planning board member, his, his historic district commissioner. So basically we would be adding under number three these additional positions or asking the city council to vote to add those additional positions. Thank you, Ms. Linquist. And just to, in, just to name them, that would be cafeteria worker, education station, site coordinator, education station's, assistant site coordinator, education station's, instructor education station's, team lead, crossing guard, and athletic trainer. Correct. Ms. Driscoll, uh, for Purposes of discussion, I make a motion to approve. Second.

▶ 34:29 Paul Brodeur: Thank you. There's a motion to, in, just to be clear, the motion would be to request that the mayor ask the city council to temporarily grant special municipal employee status to those positions. Very good. Excellent. Right. And then I think we would recommend that this get reviewed on an annual basis about whether we wanna ask that, that be changed, um, as the staffing changes. 'cause again, it does add a little bit of liability to the district by deeming these positions. Excuse me. Thank you. Um, discussion on the motion. Mayor Broder, Uh, just a couple things. The, um, it, we shouldn't say it's temporary 'cause it's not really, it's the, the, once the city council votes, it presumably it takes mayoral signature,

▶ 35:14 Paul Brodeur: like a regular order. I assume it's a majority vote. Not a, um, not a super majority. Um, those live until they are rescinded through the same process. Mm-Hmm. And you would have, and again, so it goes to the position, not to the individual. And interestingly, um, I think, don't hold me to this, that, of the, um, special employee statuses that are on, on the city side, none of them are currently of consequence. Meaning there is no one currently currently serving that needs those. So, and yet they still exist. So that mm-Hmm. And I don't re I, I didn't do any of them. I don't remember why they're there, but I can think of very reasonable and plausible reasons, um, why that would be the case. But again, it, it's not once,

▶ 36:08 Paul Brodeur: once we do this, and this is fine, it's just as an explainer, it, it, it continues to not go to the individual meeting. If someone's being considered for the planning board and they work, um, in the city as something else, whatever it might be, it is not a situation where one could go, oh, we don't want it for that person. It goes, I mean, obviously still subject to city council approval of that individual nominee, but that's kind of, that's kind of part of the deal, um, if you will, that can stop. And what was the other thing? Oh, um, I am, um, and you know, for the next level, the office of the mayor, I'm sure would be happy to accommodate any of these requests because we do it, in my case, we do it with advice of, uh, of council.

▶ 37:03 Paul Brodeur: Um, I do not believe the mayor has to, but I would check, in other words, the city council can of their own volition or any individual counselor can, can make that motion. I mean, obviously it would be best to have everyone kind of on the same page going into the process. But just another thing to keep in mind, um, as we move to implement this for any particular job category. Thank you. That's very helpful. Um, so just to then rephrase the motion, we'll strike the word temporarily, if that's okay, Mr. Skoll. And the motion would be, I think here the idea would be that we would like you to make their request on our behalf. Sure. Um, the motion to request that the mayor ask the city council to grant special

▶ 37:48 Jennifer McAndrew: municipal employee status to the positions that I listed, including crossing guard education stations, cafeteria worker, and athletic trainer. Any other questions or comments on the motion? Seeing none. All in favor? And that motion carries with six in favor and one absent. Thank you Ms. Lindquist. Thank you. And that concludes e, p, and P for tonight. Thanks everybody. Thank you Ms. McAndrew. Next on our agenda is the policy and planning subcommittee. Ms. Desel. Excuse me. I can, it's not that long. I'm good. Thank you. And good evening to policy and planning portion of tonight's agenda. Uh, we have two items on the agenda plus a, uh, carryover from the consent agenda. Uh, let's take that one up first. Uh,

▶ 38:49 the Quebec City trip field, uh, uh, uh, permission slip. Um, for purposes of discussion, I'll entertain a motion at this time. Motion, no proof made by Mr. O'Connell. Second by, uh, mayor Broder discussion. This looks awesome. Fantastic. All in all in favor. All opposed And abstentions. So we have four in favor with two abstentions. Easy peasy. Moving on, uh, to our regularly scheduled programming, uh, bully Bullying Prevention and Intervention plan. Uh, this does have a vote required. Um, at this time, I believe we should invite, uh, Dr. Turner, who's already taken her place. Um, uh, Dr. Turner, uh, would you like to open up, uh, discussion on this or, uh, superintendent? I'll defer to Dr. Turner. Brilliant, please.

▶ 39:52 Sure. Thank you. Uh, so when I was last here two weeks ago, we talked about our draft bullying prevention intervention plan. We talked about how, uh, it was grossly in need of, of being revamped and looked at, and we needed to get back on the cycle that we're supposed to be on. To be reviewing this on a regular basis. I put it out to the community for feedback. We did receive a little bit of feedback, not too much. I've summarized the feedback that we got in your packet. Um, we then went back to the draft document and we made some, some slight tweaks and changes based on that feedback that we received from the community and on some feedback that you all had given when I was here last time. So,

▶ 40:29 what you have in your packet is the original draft with all of the changes that were made in red. You also have a copy of the summary of the feedback that we received. And then you have what we're calling a final draft. I will note that there was an acronym used in the final draft that we missed. It was, um, early on, I think page six, we said PBIS. I did add that definition into your final draft to state the whole word that that is positive behavioral interventions and supports. So, um, that's what we're here to, to talk about and vote on. So just for purposes of the committee, we do expect a vote on this. So, uh, for purposes of discussion, I would entertain a motion at this time, uh, made by Ms. Driscoll, second by Mr. O'Connell discussion.

▶ 41:18 Uh, Ms. Resley Thomas. I just wanna say that right. I know right now is not the time to do this, but I wanna just remind that we would love to hear, uh, about how we're doing with discipline, how we're doing with, um, with the bullying prevention and incidents of bullying. I would like to know that, I'd like to know the information that was requested on the, um, the surveys, the culture surveys. And, and I know that that's not what we're doing tonight, but I hope to hear back from you and in a few months. Absolutely. And I did promise last time, and we are, um, poised to do this when I come in, is it November or December, to give our data presentation? We have added a section in the report,

▶ 42:01 and we will also add it to the presentation, uh, to share some of the data that we've collected through our social emotional surveys. We're also going to add what we can for discipline data aggregated. Of course, we don't want to, you know, call anybody out publicly, but we will present some aggregated data to discuss, uh, during that presentation. So we will definitely include that. Uh, some of the feedback that we received also caused us to add a little bit more specificity around how we will evaluate the implementation of this bullying prevention and intervention plan. So we do plan on having a mid-year check-in with our leadership team to evaluate the implementation of the plan, and then an end of year check-in when we have all of our data from the year on

▶ 42:40 the number of reports that we received and how we followed up on each of those reports. So we're gonna be sort of beefing up that portion of our conversation as well. Thank you so much. Any further discussion from the committee? Uh, I have one follow up question. Sure. If I may. Um, you mentioned, uh, adding the ongoing assessment of implementation. Um, I, in a very careful read through noted that section two of that, um, it's on page eight for those following, um, talks about, uh, how the interventions, uh, review how the interventions address the needs of the aggressor as well as the target. I was hoping you could expand just a little bit about that phrasing. Um, specifically putting aggressor before targets there.

▶ 43:32 So, uh, when we were here, when I was here last time, there was a question that came up around, uh, is there ever a situation where somebody might, might be screened for an IEP or for a 5 0 4 based on their either involvement as the aggressor or the target. So that was my first indication that perhaps we hadn't addressed the aggressor in the situation as much as the target. And on the public feedback we did get a question about that. What are you doing to ensure that students who are accused of being the aggressor, or who are deemed to have actually been an aggressor of bullying or receiving the support that they need to not continue to, um, repeat this behavior. We felt like in a read through the document, target was pretty out there.

▶ 44:11 We talk a lot about the supports that are gonna be in place for the target, how we're going to address potential targets at an IEP meeting or a 5 0 4 meeting. But there really wasn't much language relative to the aggressor. So we felt we wanted to include that somewhere to ensure that we are absolutely concerned about kids who are involved in bullying as the aggressor because they need, they need support and help just as much as, as the kids who are the targets. Um, so that was the thought. Very good. Thank you. Um, any further discussion? Uh, Mr. O'Connell, please? Thank you, Madam Chair, very briefly. Um, thank you very much for coming back a second time on this and more importantly, uh, taking our, uh, feedback and, and,

▶ 44:50 and that of the school community and making appropriate changes in addition to the plan. We really appreciate it. Thank You. Seeing no further discussion. All those in favor, motion passes. Unanimous. Uh, thank you finally much. I'm sorry. I said thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. You, Uh, final topic on the policy and planning agenda tonight is the annual review of policy i, j, and D access to digital resources and policy IJ and DB acceptable use policy for information technology. Uh, again, there is a vote required here. This is an annual review. For purposes of discussion, I would entertain a motion at this time. Motion to approve second motion made by Ms. Driscoll. Second by Ms.

▶ 45:39 Jennifer McAndrew: Razzie Thomas. Discussion, uh, we'll begin with Ms. McAndrew, please. Thank You. Um, this is really, um, not a discussion about the policies themselves, but about how they're, um, shared to staff in particular. Um, I know a lot of these are shared or you have to sign them when you're hired. Is there a process for, um, refreshers, reminders, resharing, et cetera? Um, that's my question. That's, that's an annual annual report under the mandated report. You know what the documents that we send out at the beginning of the year, Right? And Aspen, they, to sign off on it each year, Turner puts out presentation full go through it, and it should follow up. This year. We actually made the presentation, uh, via a Google form.

▶ 46:32 Jennifer McAndrew: So there's a little bit more accountability and the fact that you have to actually go the information, come back to the form, answer some little quiz questions, and then you go to ask them to sign. Thank you. And just so for purpose of the microphone, I'm not gonna make you guys get up, but just to say that Ms. Linquist and Dr. Turner both indicated that these are shared annually and that, um, they've made changes so that they, uh, to ensure that they're read and processed, and that they have confirmation of that from employees. Thank you. Um, mayor, brother. Yeah. Thank you. Um, so there's a lot going on in there, and I'm wondering if someone that has given it a more substantial review could

▶ 47:16 Paul Brodeur: tell me in, um, plain English is, do we have something built in around, um, obligations to follow, essentially cybersecurity measures? Every once in a while, we need to establish policies and procedures, um, both to safeguard, but also now under our new, um, we now have an insurance policy around this that obligates us to do certain things. Um, uh, are we cognizant, is that built into the framework? So, um, I would defer to Mr. Macero, but I can go ahead and tell you, um, in my interactions with, uh, the technology working group over the last two years, Mm-Hmm. Uh, this was an ongoing discussion. Um, Melanie Acevedo and Susan Jones both, um, talked a lot about, uh, these policies, their implementation,

▶ 48:12 not merely with students, but with staff as well. Mm-Hmm. Um, and, uh, the very, uh, liability topics that you mentioned were brought to us by, um, our very capable IT staff here at City Hall. Terrific. Mr. Massaro, I, I think you've hit it. Okay. You've said it well on that. Any further comments or discussion? Seeing none. Uh, all in favor, motion passes unanimously. Thank you all. That concludes policy and planning this evening. Thank you, Ms. Salm. Next on our agendas, the finance Facility subcommittee. Excuse me, Ms. Razzi Thomas. Good evening and welcome to Finance and Facilities. Just two, um, two matters for us to review student activity accounts, um, and some recommendations from Mr. Kelly.

▶ 49:11 Thank you for being with us and then for warrants to review. Thanks for having me. So, um, the, every year the school committee is asked to approve the balances for, and pardon my voice, I'm battling the same thing. Uh, attorney Linquist is, um, is school committee is asked to approve the minimum balances for student activities, accounts, student activities, accounts, um, a little bit different than a revolving account. These are agency funds for the district. Um, this is really student money, things collected for field trips. Uh, the travel we just discussed, um, uh, clubs. Uh, the high school has a robust number of clubs, um, that do, um, various fundraising activities and then do things with the funds. So, um,

▶ 49:50 these are just balances to have on hand as, um, to use for the, the checking accounts at both schools. Um, so the memo is in your packet. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you so much, Mr. Kelly. Any questions from the committee? Yes, Mr. Sum? Uh, thank you, Mr. Kelly. I note that the, um, Melrose Middle School, uh, veterans Memorial Middle School, um, maximum there is $15,000. Um, just on our agenda tonight is a Quebec trip, uh, with upwards of 30 to 70 students, uh, listed. Sure. Um, won't we bump up against that maximum, uh, if you have all of the, uh, student collected fees on account at that one time? Sure. This is the checking account balance. So that would be something the,

▶ 50:38 I think believe the middle schools in mass can have up to like 35,000 total in their, their student activities accounts. So this is just to have in the checking account to be able to pay for things like, and generally these trips are fee based, so there's fees collected, and then over time they pay different elements of the travel for flights, buses, hotels, things like that. So this is so that, that we can write checks to the different vendors that might be participating with that trip. So, uh, I'd be confident at that 15,000 for the checking account balance. Very good. Thank you. Any other questions, Mr. O'Connor? Just to comment, uh, Madam Chair, I, it's, um, and Mr. Kelly, you correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's mass generalized chapter 71.

▶ 51:20 Section 47. Yes. Uh, for whatever that may be worth. Um, not having to do with, uh, athletic coaches salaries, but, uh, indeed student activity accounts. And if I miss this, I apologize. Are we, does this require an annual vote? Are we voting on this tonight? That's correct. We Are voting on it. That's Correct. Yes. So we actually, um, myself and three other members of the business office, um, well, two member, another member of the business office, and then, um, a member from the high school and, uh, middle school staff. We participated in a, um, a webinar about student activity accounts put on by Mark Abrams of the Abrams Group. Um, he's well known in mass municipal finance expert. Um, so, uh, we are looking to learn more about, um, student activity counts. And,

▶ 52:04 and, um, I think after that we do, we're in a pretty good position with how we manage our student activities. Um, but, um, we are looking for, you know, as consistency, we're looking to improve what we do. So, um, that was a good webinar. It was last Wednesday morning and we got a lot Out of it, so Thank you. Always working on best practices, right? Trying. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Kelly. Um, do we have a motion on the floor to approve these, um, maximums for the checking accounts for middle school student activity checking account and the high school student activity checking account? Motion to approve. Thank you, Ms. McAndrew. Second. Okay. Made by Ms. McAndrew. Second by mr. So, um, all in favor,

▶ 52:46 that carries six in favor and one absent. Thank you so much. And we have four warrants, um, to vote upon. I'm just gonna read them off first. Uh, so we have a fiscal year, 24 school expenses and tuitions, S 24 0 1 7 in the amount of 900, $912,361 and 91 cents. We have a fiscal year, 24 refunds and, um, sports officials, uh, warrant S 2 4 0 1 8 in the amount of $10,000 and $62. And, um, 2 cents. And then we have a October postage wire, uh, warrant, S 2 4 0 1 9 for $10,000 even. And lastly, we have a, a school instructional supplies warrant, S 2 4 0 2 0, and the amount of $28,052 and 45 cents to have a motion to approve these four warrants. Motion to approve by Ms. McAndrew. Thank you. Any Second?

▶ 53:54 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Any second By, um, Mr. Driscoll and any discussions, concerns, questions, seeing none. All in favor, that passes six in favor and no abstentions, and one absent. And that concludes finance and facilities for this evening. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ozzy Thomas. Next on our agenda is the superintendent, uh, goals update. Uh, you will recall that on September 21st, um, superintendent ero, um, provided a memo to us relative to the superintendent's goals for 2324. Uh, and number one, goal number one, uh, was financial and identified as the first bullet. Um, by date, it's, uh, indicated that by October, 2023, payroll validation will be systematized into a predictable monthly process.

▶ 55:11 So I will invite the superintendent to speak to that, please. Sure. Thank you, Madam Chair. As you the note of the, the document that we gave you, uh, was what we've currently have been doing, and then the new processes that are in place. So the Melrose Public Schools and City Weekly payroll. So we have two payrolls. We have a weekly payroll, and we have a bi-weekly payroll. And the weekly payroll combined deals with our hourly employees, and the biweekly is with salaried employees. And so part of the new process that we have in under fiscal 24, as you'll see down, is that salaries for paraprofessionals, administrative assistants and transportation drivers are all encumbered. So we wanted to make sure that that's all set.

▶ 55:54 And then if you go over to the weekly, um, Melrose Public Schools biweekly payroll, the same thing on in regards to the assistant to the Director of finance primary role to oversee the payroll operations, which was previously in HR and a biweekly payroll was one role. Um, we have training sessions now to implement best practice with Munis in the process. Salaries for teachers and administrators are all encumbered, which is important for us so that we, there's no surprises there. Pivot table based spreadsheet proof now used to balance with the municipal proof. So we are constantly checking back on what's happening. Uh, an muni error reporting run for each payroll cycle and a biweekly now submitted to the city auditors for review prior to the treasurer's process

▶ 56:47 for payroll. And that was started actually, um, before my time. So, um, and then you'll notice that, um, the next steps on both areas. Uh, we're looking to move from paper sheets to Munis employee self-serve system that's in the future ed stations to start entering their own payroll in the near future and explore PD opportunities for payroll professionals, uh, to build best practices. And on the biweekly move from paper, again to Muni employee and explore professional development opportunities. So these things that are in place are, um, we believe are helping us move forward and better understand our budget. Very good. Any questions or comments for the superintendent? Seeing none, I think this is an ex excellent progress.

▶ 57:39 It's great to see it in writing, and it shows also, um, a thoughtful process, uh, collaborating with the city, uh, to take advantage of, uh, shared opportunities. And, and if I might add, I mean, these are my goals, but I can't accomplish these goals without Ken Kelly and the business department on the great work that they've been doing, as well as working with our city, uh, on this. So I really appreciate their work. No, INT Mr. Kelly, teamwork. Teamwork. Thank you very much. Um, next on our agendas, the update on the superintendent's search, I will invite Mr. O'Connell to share, uh, his experience. Thank You. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, interviews started last night. Um, they will continue through this week. Uh, we have a great screening committee,

▶ 58:27 uh, great diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Uh, our colleague, Ms. With's, leadership of the committee has been exemplary. We have, um, some very good candidates, likewise, great diversity of background, experiences, perspectives, and we expect to have, uh, finalists for the school committee, uh, the school committee's consideration, uh, in short order. Uh, I, I would just note, uh, by way of thanking the screening committee members, uh, we've met twice previously. Uh, we met last night. We'll be meeting two more times this week. And we've reserved next Monday as a meeting date, if and as needed. So it's a fair more than a fair amount of work, uh, for these folks. Uh,

▶ 59:09 and on behalf of the committee, I would just like to publicly, uh, thank the screening committee for this work. 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? 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,

▶ 59:59 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,

▶ 1:00:48 Jennifer McAndrew: 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 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,

▶ 1:01:37 Jennifer McAndrew: 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

▶ 1:02:23 Jennifer McAndrew: 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.

▶ 1:03:13 Jennifer McAndrew: 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 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.

▶ 1:03:58 Paul Brodeur: 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.

▶ 1:04:54 Paul Brodeur: 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,

▶ 1:05:44 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: 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, Excellent. Thank you. Oh, I hear one more thing. Yes. Motion to object. No, no, no, no. Not yet. We have no more, we have no more dots 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.

▶ 1:06:27 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: 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 Great chauffeur too. 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,

▶ 1:07:08 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: 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.

▶ 1:08:05 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: I would like to take a moment of personal privilege to note that the, um, the Mass Association of School Committees each year, um, um, honors a variety of school committee members from around the state. One from each division. It's called the Allstate School Committee. And it is, um, a great honor to receive This. It is provided in recognition of your support for children and public education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And I am very proud that Mr. SEL has been selected for division nine. Sorry, Job, take as long as you want to speak, as long as Paul would please Take back the award. Mr. Selma will be honored, uh, Thursday evening, um, at the banquet. And, uh, certainly Mr. Selma,

▶ 1:09:17 if you'd like to say a few words, you certainly are invited to do so. Hmm. Um, I would simply say that there's no, I in team, uh, some of you have been on this journey with me for four years, others eight, and, uh, student outcomes, student growth, student life has been at the fore the entirety of that time. And so thank you all and of course, thank you to the MASC. Thank you. Nicely said. Thank you. And on that happy note, an exciting note, we'll look forward to Thursday's banquet and you being honored in front of your colleagues from around the Commonwealth. Mayor Broder, do you have a motion you would like to make? I would defer to Mr. Selma. Motion to adjourn. Second. Second. Seconded by Mayor Broder. Seeing no discussion. All in favor. Opposed?

School Committee — 2023-10-24

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