School Committee — 2026-06-09
Agenda
- CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE
- ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
- Recognition of Retirees
- EXECUTIVE SESSION
- To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with MEU Units A, B, and C, as an open discussion may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the School Committee.
- RETURN FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION
- PUBLIC COMMENT
- CONSENT AGENDA
- Warrants FY26 School - S26088 - $1,056,753.47 FY26 Refunds/Officials - S26089 - $12,600.60 FY26 May High School Student Activity Wire - S26090 - $72,429.42 FY26 May MVMMS Student Activity Wire - S26091 - $18,766.50 FY26 May Meals Tax - S26092 - $36.32 FY26 June Debit Card - S26093 - $1625.00
- MHS Quebec Field Trip
- MVMMS 8th Grade DC Field Trip
- Donation: Horace Mann Bike Racks
- Surplus Memo: Weeded Library Materials
- Surplus Memo: Pre K - 12 Curriculum Materials
- SUBCOMMITTEES (COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE)
- Finance and Facilities - Margaret Driscoll/Melissa Holleran
- Monthly Budget Summary/Revolving Accounts
- Report: Food Service Audit Closeout
- Policy and Planning - Matt Hartman/Margaret Driscoll
- Educational Programs and Personnel - Jen Razi-Thomas/Sheri Leo
- Vote: Secondary Code of Conduct and Handbook
- Vote: MHS Program of Studies
- ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE CHAIR
- Report: Rolling Agenda
- Report: Outreach
- ADJOURN
Minutes
Melrose School Committee Regular Meeting Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 7:00 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Margaret Raymond Driscoll Member Present Mayor Grigoraitis Mayor Present Matt Hartman Vice Chair Present Melissa Holleran Member Present Seamus Kelley Chair Present Sheri Leo Member Present Jen Razi-Thomas Member Present Cari Berman Superintendent Present Ken Kelley Deputy Superintendent Present With a roll call vote with seven (7) present, the meeting convened at 7:00 PM. 2. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT Superintendent Berman reported that the Kindergarten registration process was complete, with placement letters sent to families on May 29th. Current district-wide enrollment stands at 250 students across 14 classrooms, with an average class size of 18 students. In terms of school selection, 95% of families were placed in their first-choice school, 2% in their second choice, and 3% in their third choice. Superintendent Berman noted that a waitlist and hardship process were available for families who did not receive their top preference. 1. Recognition of Retirees Superintendent Berman extended the district's gratitude to seven retiring staff members, thanking them for their dedicated years of service to students and families. Although five honorees were unable to attend the meeting, the Superintendent shared special highlights celebrating Paraprofessional Ann McCarthy, School Nurse Robin Adams, and Administrative Assistants Melissa Aveni, Nancy Arrington, and Jacqui Bernardi. Superintendent Berman then shared career highlights for the two retiring teachers who were present, Susan Herrick and Scott Celli. The Committee also thanked the retirees and presented gifts. 3. EXECUTIVE SESSION 1 Chair Kelley sited the need for an Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with MEU Units A, B, and C, as an open discussion may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the School Committee. MOTION: To adjourn to Executive Session RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Matt Hartman SECONDER: Melissa Holleran AYES: Jennifer Razi-Thomas, Jennifer Grigoraitis, Seamus Kelley, Margaret Raymond Driscoll, Matt Hartman, Melissa Holleran, Sheri Leo The Committee adjourned to Executive Session at 7:10 PM and will return to Public Session. 1. To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with MEU Units A, B, and C, as an open discussion may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the School Committee. 4. RETURN FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION School Committee Chair Seamus Kelley announced that during Executive Session, the School Committee unanimously approved three collective bargaining agreements ratified by the Melrose Education Union (MEU) earlier that day: a three-year contract for Unit A, a one-year contract for Unit B, and a three-year contract for Unit C. Chair Kelley credited the successful negotiations to the voters who passed the recent override funds. He noted that these sustainable contracts invest in educators through salary increases, paid holidays, and professional development, while also establishing paid parental leave for members with at least one year of service. Additionally, the agreements introduce frameworks for staff feedback on school safety and facilities. Chair Kelley concluded by thanking School Committee members Ms. Driscoll and Ms. Razi-Thomas, Superintendent Berman, Deputy Superintendent Ken Kelley, Attorney Lindquist, and the Union leadership for their collaborative efforts. 5. PUBLIC COMMENT No members of the public requested to speak, either in person or remotely. 6. CONSENT AGENDA Ms. Holleran requested the removal of the DC Field Trip from the Consent Agenda which will be moved to the Announcements of the Chair. All other Consent Agenda items were approved as presented. MOTION: To approve the Consent Agenda RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Margaret Raymond Driscoll SECONDER: Matt Hartman 2 AYES: Jennifer Razi-Thomas, Jennifer Grigoraitis, Seamus Kelley, Margaret Raymond Driscoll, Matt Hartman, Melissa Holleran, Sheri Leo 1. Warrants FY26 School - S26088 - $1,056,753.47 FY26 Refunds/Officials - S26089 - $12,600.60 FY26 May High School Student Activity Wire - S26090 - $72,429.42 FY26 May MVMMS Student Activity Wire - S26091 - $18,766.50 FY26 May Meals Tax - S26092 - $36.32 FY26 June Debit Card - S26093 - $1625.00 2. MHS Quebec Field Trip 3. MVMMS 8th Grade DC Field Trip 4. Donation: Horace Mann Bike Racks 5. Surplus Memo: Weeded Library Materials 6. Surplus Memo: Pre K - 12 Curriculum Materials 7. SUBCOMMITTEES (COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE) 1. Finance and Facilities - Margaret Driscoll/Melissa Holleran A Monthly Budget Summary/Revolving Accounts Deputy Superintendent Kelley presented the Year-to-Date Budget Report and Offset Projections, noting that the supplemental budget has been incorporated as the district approaches the end of the fiscal year. He reported that the Business Office recently processed approximately six payrolls within a 10-day span to accommodate June balloon payments for Unit A. Mr. Kelley concluded by thanking Business Office staff members Claudine Sweeney, Kim Candilieri, Peggy Sorrentino, and Bonnie Tanner for their hard work in processing payroll and closing out FY26 purchase orders. MOTION: To approve the Year to Date Budget Report and Offset Projections RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Seamus Kelley SECONDER: Jennifer Razi-Thomas AYES: Jennifer Razi-Thomas, Jennifer Grigoraitis, Seamus Kelley, Margaret Raymond Driscoll, Matt Hartman, Melissa Holleran, Sheri Leo B Report: Food Service Audit Closeout Deputy Superintendent Kelley shared that Melrose participated in a two-part Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) food service audit this year, covering both administrative operations and procurement. He noted that undergoing both audits simultaneously required significant effort from the Business Office and Food Service Director Christian Molle. Following onsite visits, DESE representatives reported that the 3 district's food service program is in very good shape, with compliance metrics falling well within acceptable bounds. Mr. Kelley noted that minor procedural findings were already being addressed through corrective actions implemented by Mr. Molle, and he expressed gratitude to the DESE partners for a smooth process. Discussion included: the difference between the administrative side and procurement. 2. Policy and Planning - Matt Hartman/Margaret Driscoll 3. Educational Programs and Personnel - Jen Razi-Thomas/Sheri Leo B Vote: MHS Program of Studies Secondary Principal Jason Merrill presented a continuation of the Melrose High School Program of Studies, noting that there were no major structural changes to the program. He highlighted minor updates, including revised course descriptions, new English department electives, a name change for U.S. History I and II, and the addition of AP Business and guitar classes. Discussion included: a review of the past year's cell phone policy alongside anticipated updates due to shifting state guidelines; the need to refresh specific links within the handbook document; internship options and scheduling solutions for those who are also enrolled in AP or music courses. Additionally, the group covered ways to integrate student voice into course planning and explored strategies for preparing students for various post-graduation pathways. MOTION: To approve the MHS Program of Studies for 2026-2027 School Year RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Seamus Kelley SECONDER: Melissa Holleran AYES: Jennifer Razi-Thomas, Jennifer Grigoraitis, Seamus Kelley, Margaret Raymond Driscoll, Matt Hartman, Melissa Holleran, Sheri Leo A Vote: Secondary Code of Conduct and Handbook Principal Merrill and Assistant Principal Sewyck presented updates to the Secondary Code of Conduct and Handbook, reworking policies to ensure effectiveness for grades 6–12. Changes included adding extended summer learning as a possible recourse for chronically absent middle school students, and updating the cell phone policy to require confiscation and parent pickup to comply with the new "bell-to-bell" state law. Additionally, the range of consequences was adjusted to be more age-appropriate for 6th through 12th graders, and consistent language was added regarding class skipping and first-block tardiness across the middle and high schools. Discussion included: how AI is being reviewed and used by students. MOTION: To approve the Secondary Code of Conduct and Handbook RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Melissa Holleran SECONDER: Matt Hartman 4 AYES: Jennifer Razi-Thomas, Jennifer Grigoraitis, Seamus Kelley, Margaret Raymond Driscoll, Matt Hartman, Melissa Holleran, Sheri Leo 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE CHAIR 1. Report: Rolling Agenda Chair Kelley announced that the Superintendent’s evaluation documents are expected to be included in the next packet, ahead of the July meeting. 2. Report: Outreach Ms. Holleran shared highlights from the recent 7th and 8th-grade orchestra performance, noting that it was an enjoyable event where they had the opportunity to ask questions, and hear firsthand what the students love about playing music. Ms. Razi-Thomas shared updates on the successful eighth-grade Civics Day focused on Melrose’s government. She thanked the organizers for putting together such a well-run and important event. Finally, Mayor Grigoraitis shared an update from Representative Lipper-Garabedian regarding the state’s upcoming Fair Share Amendment supplemental budget, which is currently awaiting the Governor's signature. 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 MOTION: To adjourn 5 RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Jennifer Razi-Thomas SECONDER: Sheri Leo AYES: Jennifer Razi-Thomas, Jennifer Grigoraitis, Seamus Kelley, Margaret Raymond Driscoll, Matt Hartman, Melissa Holleran, Sheri Leo 6
Transcript
▶ 0:01 Good evening. Welcome to the Melrose School Committee Meeting of Tuesday, June 9th, 2026. My name is Seamus Kelly. I'm the chair. I will take the roll tonight. Ms. Driscoll? Here, just in better time. Mayor Greides? Here. Mr. Hartman? Here. Ms. Holleran? Here. Me, I'm here. Ms. Leo? Here. Ms. Rosie Thomas? Here. And that makes everybody, so please join us in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. Welcome everybody. We're going to go a little bit out of the normal turn, where we're going to start tonight with announcements of the superintendent.
▶ 0:59 So, great. Thank you very much. I know we do have one agenda item. I'd also like to add something very quickly before we join in to celebrate our retirees and recognize them. I just want to give a quick update on kindergarten registration, even though it's not on our agenda. But that has been completed. Letters were sent to families on May 29th. Currently, we have 250 students registered for kindergarten across 14 classrooms. So, that means that our average kindergarten classroom has about 18 students. And just for the specifics, 95% of our families received their first choice school, 2% received their second choice school, and 3% received their third choice school. There was a lot of work that was done by Tara Durant,
▶ 1:55 our registrar. She really took care in our placement. For those families who maybe did not get their first choice, there is a process and we're following that process for a wait list, and/or if there is some type of hardship that they want to share with us. So, that is ongoing and certainly something we can continue to report out on. So, I will jump into our agenda item. And so, this year we have seven retirees to honor, and I want to thank each and every one of them for their time, education, collaboration, love of learning, and for serving the Melrose Public School District. We are so grateful for their service to our students and families. So, we have five retirees who are not present during this
▶ 2:41 evening. I just would like to highlight quickly a little bit about them before we talk about the two who are here with us. So, Anne McCarthy has worked in the district for 22 years as a paraprofessional. She has been a pillar of the Roosevelt School community, and has left a positive mark on the lives of students and staff alike. Whether navigating the needs of the general education classroom or providing intensive one-to-one support in our developmental learning classroom, she never wavered. She led with kindness, patience, and a mild-mannered grace that made every student feel safe and capable. Thank you to Ms. McCarthy. Next up is Melissa Evini. She has been the administrative assistant at the Franklin
▶ 3:23 Elementary School for the last four years. Ms. Evini is the heart of Franklin School. She always has the answers, she keeps everything running smoothly, and somehow manages to do it all with a smile and ease. Her knowledge, dedication, and constant support make a difference each and every day. The school simply wouldn't function without her, in the words of Principal Lecow. Thank you, Ms. Evini. Next up is Robin Adams, who is also retiring from the Franklin. Nurse Adams has provided the Franklin School with 17 years of service and exceptional care to our preschool and kindergarten students. Her kindness, patience, and commitment have comforted countless families and supported so many young learners throughout the years.
▶ 4:06 Her impact on our school community is deeply appreciated and will always be remembered. Moving on to the high school or the secondary, Ms. Nancy Arrington. Ms. Arrington has spent the last 10 years as the guidance secretary at Melrose High School. She has helped thousands of students and families transition into and out of Melrose High School. She is always calm and kind. More importantly, she is truly a team player and willing to help in any way that she can. Nancy is one of the many people who works with Diane Carpenter and the MHS team in order to make graduation come alive. We will always be thankful for her help and commitment to Melrose High School. You will be missed. Next up is Ms. Bernardi. Ms. Bernardi retired in September, and I
▶ 4:53 want to be sure to honor her. I've known Ms. Bernardi since I started in 2001, as we started around the same time. She has served in many administrative assistant roles at the secondary level and has spent most of her time at the middle school. She was always kind and a funny, friendly face as you walked into the school or office. In the last few years, her hellos often turned into hugs, and she was always so excited to hear about how things were going across the district and with me personally. Her dedication to the district, our students, families, and the staff is greatly appreciated. So, now I would like to turn your attention to the two retirees we have present tonight, Ms. Susan Herrick and Scott Shelley.
▶ 5:39 So, I'm going to start off with Ms. Herrick. Ms. Herrick began teaching in Melrose in 2001. I just learned tonight that came off of a prior 20 years in the banking industry. So, she really was a career changer as she joined us in Melrose. So, she has held a variety of positions in the district, including the position as a fourth-grade teacher, a third-grade teacher, a long-term sub, a paraprofessional, a computer teacher for grades four and five, and an enrichment teacher.In addition to being in the classroom, Ms. Herrick has been a lead teacher, an MEU building representative, the technology building leader, a PBIS team member, a school council member, and a building labor management participant.
▶ 6:22 Outside of the walls of Melrose, she is known as a birding expert, a "Titanic" enthusiast, and a nature lover. I've had the privilege of getting to know Sue a little bit better in her last year. I really appreciate seeing the guidance, support, and compassion that she shows to the newer teachers, the students, and the Winthrop families. It was a pleasure learning more about you, and thank you for serving our students and families of Melrose. You will be missed. All right. So next up is Mr. Celli. So Mr. Celli began teaching in Melrose in 1999, and he has spent over 30 years teaching math. Not only is he a beloved teacher by all students, he also is a state champion volleyball coach, which is something he will continue to do so beyond this
▶ 7:19 year. Mr. Celli is a great colleague and one of the kindest people one will ever meet. I personally had the opportunity and pleasure to co-teach with him in the classroom for many years. During this time, he was the math teacher, and I was the special education teacher. In all of our time, I took away a few things, all of which are still true. Mr. Celli rarely gets mad, and even when he does, he still smiles. He is always fair but firm. He rarely takes a day off, and he always trying to find a way to connect with students. Mr. Celli has been a staple of the math hallway, and it won't be the same without him greeting students at the door every day. He will be greatly missed by staff and students alike. Mr.
▶ 8:04 Celli, thank you for your service. Okay. Well, thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions for the superintendent? I just have a- Trustee Thomas ... thank you, a moment of personal privilege. I just would like to thank, in particular, the two educators that are here who came to celebrate their retirement with us. It's a huge milestone in your lives to make such a big change. I know it comes with a lot of emotion, because working in schools is-- It's not a job, it's a vocation, and it sounds like both of you gave everything that you could to the job, and you were flexible and kept changing with the times. You went through a pandemic with us and everything. So I just want to say thank you, first of all, to both of you here, but also to
▶ 8:59 the five other educators. The total accumulation of years of service is 130 with these seven educators, and that's just remarkable. So we'll always be grateful for your service to our students, and enjoy your time of open space, because that's pretty special, too. Thank you. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much. Congratulations on your retirement. Okay, so we do have a need for an executive session tonight to discuss strategy with respect to the collective bargaining with MEU Units A, B, and C as an open discussion may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the school committee. This does require a roll call vote. Would anybody like to make a motion? So moved. Okay, a motion by Mr. Hartman, seconded by Ms.
▶ 9:45 Holleran to go into executive session. I will call the roll. Ms. Driscoll? Yes. Mayor Grigoris? Yes. Mr. Hartman? Yes. Mr. Holleran? Yes. Ms. Holleran, I'm sorry. Me, yes. Ms. Leo? Yes. And Ms. Razzi-Thomas. Yes. Okay, that passes unanimously. We're going to go into executive session. We will return at the conclusion of executive session. So we will have to ask folks to leave the room. Thank you. Announce the results of the executive session. The school committee took three votes. The first vote was on the Unit A contract. That passed unanimously seven to nothing, and that is a three-year contract. The second vote was on the Unit B contract. That passed unanimously seven to zero. That's a one-year contract.
▶ 10:33 We expect to commence negotiations with that unit in the fall to complete out the contract. The third vote was Unit C. That passed unanimously with seven to zero. Just want to give a little bit of a highlight around this. So earlier today, the Melrose Educators Union ratified the contracts. So now both the union and the school committee have done that. This is really a result, I think, of the voters who were able to get us Proposition 2.5 override funds last year that had made it possible to negotiate a good contract. Couple of the things that we believe it will do to invest in our educators by funding strategic and sustainable salary increases for all Melrose teachers and paraprofessionals.
▶ 11:14 It supports our paraprofessionals by offering up new training and some paid holidays, prioritizes our families by establishing paid parental leave for all union members who have been employed in the district for at least one year, improves our learning environment by creating collaborative and responsive frameworks for school staff to provide feedback on facilities and school safety, and it fosters professional growth by creating robust opportunities for continuous professional development for both teachers and paraprofessionals. I would like to give a few thanks to fellow members of the school committee who were on the team, Ms. Driscoll and Ms. Razzi-Thomas. It was very good to work with you and to have your
▶ 11:51 perspectivesFrom being on the committee for so long. I'd also like to say a special thanks to our superintendent, Ms. Berman. Without you, I don't think we could've landed this contract so easily. Also, thanks to Ms. Lindquist, our attorney, who was extremely helpful as we worked through our language, and Ken Kelly, our deputy superintendent, who helped us with much of the finances as well as the administration of the contract. And then also, thanks to our union, who were extremely helpful, dedicated to students. We would not have been able to also close this deal without their leadership, particularly the president and the vice president, who were very helpful in communicating their priorities to us.
▶ 12:30 So, I just want to thank everybody. We now have a deal with our three units. In particular Unit A, which our teachers now have a three-year contract. So we will now move on to public comment. Is there anybody in the room who would like to address the committee? Okay, I don't see anybody in the room who wants to speak. We are launching our Zoom. Does it look like we have anybody in queue online? Yes. Okay. Don't believe so. Doesn't look like we have anybody online. We're just double-checking. There is nobody in the room. Okay. There is nobody online. So I'll motion by unanimous consent to close public comment. Public comment is now closed. Now we're going to move into our consent agenda, which consists of the warrants.
▶ 13:36 FY26 schools S26088 in the amount of $1,056,753.47. FY26 refunds/officials S26089 in the amount of $12,600.60. FY26 May High School student activity wire S26090 in the amount of $72,429.42. FY26 May, uh, Middle School student activity wire S26091 in the amount of $18,766.50. FY27 May meals tax S26093 in the amount of $36.32. FY26 June debit card S26093 in the amount of $1,625. Then we have the Melrose High School Quebec field trip, the Melrose Middle School eighth grade DC field trip, the donation report for Horace Mann bike racks, surplus memo for weeded library materials, and a surplus memo for Pre-K to 12 curriculum materials. Would anybody like to pull anything from the consent agenda? Ms. Holleran?
▶ 14:52 Could I please pull the MV MMS eighth grade DC field trip, please? Yep. That will move to announcements of the chair. Would anybody else like to pull anything? Okay, any discussion or motions? Motion to approve. Okay, motion to approve by Ms. Driscoll, seconded by Mr. Hartman. Okay, all in favor? Any opposed? Okay, that passes unanimously. Okay, so now we move into our subcommittee work. First up is finance and facilities. Six. Thank you. I've got one. Okay. So you can go first. Thank you so much, Chair Kelley. First on our agenda this evening is the monthly budget summary and revolving accounts. Uh, and through the superintendent, if I may turn it over to Mr. Kelly, please. Sure. Thank you. Good evening. Thanks for having me.
▶ 15:56 So yeah, you have two reports tonight. You have the year-to-date budget for closing out on June five, um, and then our offset projections. So, we're getting close to the end of the year. The supplemental budget's been incorporated, so we're in the process now of doing our June payrolls, and if you're not aware, um, the Unit A has balloon payments that happen in June. So we've processed about six payrolls in the span of about 10 days. I'd like to thank the business office, Claudine Sweeney, Kim Candelari, and Peggy Sorrentino for working on that. Bonnie Tanner works daily now on closing out our purchase orders to make sure we're closing FY26 in the right fiscal year. So, busy times but, um, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have
▶ 16:42 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: on either report in the packet. Why don't we begin with the monthly budget summary? Any questions for Mr. Kelly? Seeing none. On our revolving accounts. Questions for Mr. Kelly or the superintendent? Seeing none, may I have a motion to approve? Made by Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Razi Thomas. Seeing no discussion, all in favor? Opposed? And that motion carries unanimously. Next on our agenda is a report on the food service audit closeout. Superintendent or Mr. Kelly? Mr. Kelly, please. Sure. Thank you. Yes. So, as you may be aware, in September, Melrose was notified we were going to be participating with DESE's audit. DESE food service audits are two-sided. There's an administrative side for the actual operations of the food service
▶ 17:49 program, and then they also have a procurement side. We were fortunate enough to be chosen for both this year, which is a lot of work on the business office as well as the food service director, Christian Molly. A lot of collaboration. It's every four years for administration, every five years for procurement. So we had onsite visits from DESE representatives, um Both audits went very smooth, very well, minor findings. They both independently said that our food service program is actually in very good shape. You can see in the report, they do monitor multiple rounds of serving breakfast and lunch, and if you're under $600 out of compliance with their reimbursable meals, they consider that well within bounds, and we were when they were visiting.
▶ 18:44 They did have some corrective actions that were minor procedural things that our Director Molly has already been implementing. So, they went smooth, and I'd like to thank our partners at DESE. They were very easy to work with, providing information both ways, and so it's good to-- I actually really enjoy the audits. There are a lot of work in them, but then you always learn things and how to do things better coming out of them. So I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have, but they both went smooth. Questions for Mr. Kelly? Mr. Hartman. Sure. So just to be clear, this is more of a financial audit of the practices of how we're tracking food sales- Sure ... and reimbursements and so forth.
▶ 19:25 It's two-sided. Yes, that's the administrative side about- Yeah ... how we're participating with the states and federal level reimbursable meals program, and then procurement, how are we procuring items like the food service, food orders, how we have the equipment serviced and maintained, and things like that. So it was two-sided. Okay. But it's not really a full evaluation of our food offerings, or our quality of food, or how much students are taking up or so forth like that? They do look at menus, but it's more of a compliance to make sure you're within the nutritional guidelines and things like that- Okay ... which we are, very much so. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Any other questions or comments?
▶ 20:03 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: I'd just like to add that this kind of audit, and I appreciate Mr. Kelly's attitude, I guess, is the best way to say it, in always looking for up-leveling and learning and growing as a district. Really appreciate that. These audits are not easy at all, and they are very rigorous because they have to comply with federal guidelines. So there's an additional element and watchfulness that goes into this. So, congratulations to Mr. Kelly and your amazing team, and our partners in the school nutrition area in the Melrose Public Schools, because again, this is very not easy, and doing a lot of extra work outside of their regular work that is focused directly on nutrition for students. So thank you-
▶ 20:52 Thank you ... for that. And with that, that concludes finances. Okay, moving into EP&P, Education Programs and Personnel. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to Educational Programs and Personnel. Tonight we have two items on our agenda and two wonderful visitors here to help explain them, the Secondary Code of Conduct and Handbook, as well as the Melrose High School Program of Studies. Would you like to introduce our visitors and- Sure. This evening we have Secondary Principal Jason Merrill with us and Middle School Assistant Principal Michelle Suwik. So thank you for joining us this evening. Thank you. Welcome back. Thank you very much. Thank you. Good to be here again. So if there's no particular order, we'll start with the program of
▶ 21:51 studies for the high school, because we kind of talked about that a bit as we left off with the middle school. So as we said at the last time we were here, a lot of folks have helped to shape this, including our student body at the high school, as well as our faculty and staff. Certainly, Ms. Tsoutas has played an integral role in this as the Director of Academics, and our Assistant Principal, Mr. Beaver, along with Mr. Corrigan, and our teaching staff for sure, as well as our content leads in those departments. So I would say there's no major changes to the program of studies. We've updated some course descriptions in there. I think to point out two new electives in the English department,
▶ 22:40 women's literature and dystopian literature. A name change that's pretty significant just as far as identification for students as well as colleges on transcripts in social studies is just moving back to the language of US History One and US History Two. No change really in the course itself. A new course that is filled up pretty quick, students are extremely excited about is AP Business with Personal Finance. This is an AP course from the college board that we're taking on for the first time. We've had incredible interest in the business world, personal finance, different business courses. Over the past few years, we've certainly seen an increase in the enrollment of students that compete in the DECA
▶ 23:36 competitions and students that do a lot of things on their own after school with different club aspects of DECA and business. So this was another opportunity for them to take a further course that's pretty rigorous, and will look great for students that are going into that field after high school. And then I think we kind of talked about it last time, being able to offer another level of guitar. So that's taken off and we have some kids that have just, it's a passion for them. We have some incredible guitarists in the school, and then we have some students that have learned it for the first time As 9th and 10th grade is, and taken it again, and then want to take it again. So, we're able to offer that
▶ 24:25 as a half-credit class for three different levels of students at the same time, which is great. So, happy to answer any questions if there are any, or field any comments. Thank you, Mr. Merrill. Yeah. Questions from the committee mem-- Okay, Mrs. Holleran. Go ahead. Thank you. Thank you so much, and thanks for coming back again to go over this with us. I was hoping that you could go over the cell phone policy now that it's been a full school year since the new policy was implemented, and just let us know how you think it went, if you feel like teachers and students have bought into it, if you foresee any changes. Yeah, so we'll get into that certainly with the code of conduct changes. But to touch on that, at the high school level,
▶ 25:17 we went from having a little bit looser of a policy where each classroom teacher could kind of either say they go in a phone condo, they have to be on and off and away, or you can use it with your own discretion. And we got rid of that part of the policy. So there are no cell phones in any learning areas of the high school, which would include any classroom or the learning commons. So they either have to go in a phone caddy or condo if that's what's directed in the classroom, or they have to be off and away in a bag. And they are allowed currently in hallways during passing time, and in the cafeteria, like at lunch, or if they happen to be in the cafeteria for a sub block. It's just not feasible to control that.
▶ 26:13 It wasn't something that we thought was super important because it was kind of their time. So, overall, it was an incredible lift to pull off and just kind of do all at once starting in August. I think overall it's been successful. I think there's definitely been a decrease in phone usage. I think even in the cafeteria when they can use them, you've seen a decrease in phone usage. I think if you look in the stands at a volleyball or football game, you see less phones all of a sudden because they became a little bit more used to just not. I think it's very habit-forming to just pull it out and open an app, pull it out. So, I think being able to kind of control that a little bit more has helped overall with students and their cell phones.
▶ 27:07 I think there's been some students have challenged it. I wouldn't say challenged it as much as it's been a challenge for them. Students have been extremely compliant with if an assistant principal or dean has had to go to the classroom to turn it in. So students have been great about that, and teachers have been very active in the role that we've asked them to play in it. So I think it's been better. It's not perfect. It wasn't a foolproof thing. And obviously, we are thinking about what-- We're still a little up in the air of where the state of Massachusetts will end with exactly how they see the policy going. If there's a statewide policy to collect them at the beginning of the day, if they just want us to enforce-
▶ 28:02 Excuse me ... a no cell phones in school and no cell phones in learning areas. So, we're prepared to continue to improve on what we're doing, and if we have to pivot and do some kind of collection or something like that, do it. I understand an elected official for the state of Massachusetts saying, "Oh, yeah. This is great. Let's ban cell phones. Yeah. Let's make them disappear during school." School, ironically, is the only place that has any limitations on cell phone use for teenagers- ... ironically, is in school. But I think there's some challenges around if we were just to magically say they disappear as you walk in the door. We're not going to have a phone condo with 1,000 slots in it.
▶ 28:50 There's things to think about as far as kids that have different schedules and coming in late, leaving early. So there's some challenges around that, and I don't think they're going to be able to manufacture enough Yonder pouches for every student in the state. So, there'll be some challenges depending on how that goes. But we'll look to continue to tighten up what we're currently doing, if nothing else, and really hold strong to starting out the year with our new students and current students to be as strict as we can with the current policy that we have. And sorry, I got ahead of myself. No, it's okay. I went to that. I was lumping them all together. Still- It's okay. All good ... remembering each thing gets its own vote.
▶ 29:37 But thank you. I appreciate- Yeah ... you going into that a little bit more. The only other thing that I have on the program of studies, I love the new course offerings. I am excited to see how everything goes next year with those. But I did find just two links within the program of studies, one on page 12 and one on page 29, the link to MCAS and the ACTFL proficiency link. Both of them went to page not found. Okay. So would love to see those updated. Absolutely. Just so parents can get to the right spot. But otherwiseAn exciting course offering. So thank you so much. Thank you. We'll get on that. I believe that those have been updated. Updated. I spoke with- I'll double-check tomorrow ... Mr. Corrigan-
▶ 30:33 Awesome ... and I believe they're all set. Oh, wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Mr. Hartman, sorry. Go ahead. Thank you. Thank you for walking us through the course of studies. I've got a couple questions on two different areas. Just curious about the internship program. I'm really curious to learn more about that. I see the three different options that are presented, the internal, external, and the service. Do you know how many students fall into each group, and what kind of areas where they're doing work in those internships? Definitely the majority of students fall into an internal or external. So when the internship program started, it was a select small group of students. They had to have certain
▶ 31:23 grades to be able to do it. This is going back 15, 20 years. And it started growing. We started thinking, "Well, this is really good for everyone. Even if they have a C in a class, this is a great opportunity." So we started to open it up more and more, and then it really got to the point where it was hard to continue to run classes with way less than half the kids there. Mm-hmm. So now it is what quarter four is for our seniors. The tricky part is, is that we have so many students involved with AP classes, and those classes would continue to go right up until they take that exam, which is the first and second week in May. So the internship starts about April 1st, so there's some time where they're
▶ 32:13 doing both. And the same goes for the music classes. Kids would stay in the music class up until the spring concert. So for those students, they do a limited internship. So we basically say it's four hours for every class you have. So you're basically doing, if you're enrolled in six classes, you're doing 24 hours of an internship. You minus four hours for every AP class you take. So if you have to go to an AP class for four hours in a week, you do four hours less of your internship. So it's just something we work through with each student. So for the students that are going back and forth to AP classes and to a music class, a lot of those students end up doing an internal internship- Mm-hmm
▶ 32:58 ... with someone on campus at the middle school or the high school. A lot of the students that don't have those commitments might be doing something external, like within the city of Melrose or even outside. We've had students do things as we've had students that moved to Vermont and worked at a bed and breakfast- Mm-hmm ... for the whole time, for all of quarter four, came back for senior week activities. We've had some students that did things purely at night, work at a radio station, at MMTV, all after school hours. So as long as they're doing their appropriate amount of time, it's okay. And we've had students do things with the police department, within the city hall, certainly businesses,
▶ 33:46 and as well as with some staff teachers. Mr. Fogarty always has an intern. The assistant principals usually have one. So we feel like it's beneficial. We're always reflecting on it. This year we have some tweaks to how we think we want to roll it out, how we present it at the end. There's always things we want to try to fine-tune a little bit, but overall, we just think it's a worthy experience for our seniors, where I think traditionally not a lot happens in quarter four in most high schools. And we have kids and some people say, "Oh, they're doing it with their uncle's business. They don't even want to go into that field." Yeah, well, they're talking to people every day that they've never met.
▶ 34:35 They might be answering phones, trying a skill they've never learned. They might find out that they really want to be a vet. They might find out that they definitely don't want to be a vet. Mm-hmm. Or a teacher, or a nurse, or whatever the case is. So we feel like they are learning some skills, for sure, and they might be learning a little bit about themselves and what they like, don't like, want to do moving forward. So I hope that helps paint a little picture. No, it certainly does, and I couldn't agree more on the value of an internship. It goes well beyond choosing a career. So, work-based skills are really an important aspect of what you're learning. You're showing up to a clock. You're showing up to report to somebody-
▶ 35:15 Yeah ... potentially around what you're doing and- Yeah ... under supervision. And certainly do that in the school-based atmosphere, but not in the same way, I think. Yeah. You learn a lot of those skills in the school building, but it's very different atmosphere in the workplace. And so I think it's a really valuable experience to offer. I would certainly like to learn more in the future. In a future meeting, I'd love to have more of an in-depth conversation around it because I think love to be a model for the commonwealth on that, in terms of what we could offer in learnings to other communities around internships, because I think there's a real need for that career-oriented experience at the-
▶ 35:51 Yeah ... secondary level, certainly. Even if people are going to college, I think it's an important aspect of the education we can provide for them. Sure. The connection to a job in the future and what it takes to keep a job in the future is really important. Whether they're going to college immediately or into some other pathway, I think it's a very important thing to offer. So certainly encourage you to maybe report to us in the future with the superintendent, about where we could go with that program and- Yeah ... if there's earlier offerings as well. Certainly before the senior year, I think we could even be thinking about types of internships and things that career on-the-job type opportunities for students as well.
▶ 36:31 So thank youSo the other area I was going to ask about is the newer policy or perhaps brand-new policy to the document, the policy for external and supplemental coursework. I wonder if you could tell me a little bit about that. It seems to include a link to some information about the approval of supplemental coursework, potentially remote coursework. I'm just curious about that, and I'm not very familiar with where that's coming from or what the goals are and how that policy came about. Yeah. That's not something that I worked on directly, but I think we always have some students that are doing some work outside of school. And some students are taking classes that we don't offer, and we just
▶ 37:23 try to fine-tune our policy to make it fair and equitable for all students to allow it to happen, but to make sure that it's rigorous enough and comparable to what we might be doing at the high school. So I think we're just trying to always fine-tune that process a little bit with our guidance department and Ms. Tsoutas. What kind of courses end up being taken outside of the high school through that policy? Well, once in a while we'll have a class that a student gets in a different situation where they might not be able to fit a class that we may even offer. But oftentimes it could be a class, we haven't had one too recently in math, but it might be a class that a student has to take in math that
▶ 38:14 they've already accelerated through our coursework, and they might take a class in math. We have some students that would take classes over the summer if they're thinking about accelerating. We've had a student recently that graduated in three years. They made a plan to accelerate their track of graduation, and they needed to take some courses over the summer. Mm. So that's one. And then we've also had some different classes, like languages that we don't offer. Chinese has been one, but we've had Mandarin, but we've had some classes that we might not offer. It might be in world language. We've had a student take African American studies this year. It was just a class that we weren't able to offer due to numbers, and a student
▶ 39:05 took that class, and then we get it on their transcript for them. Okay. And what kind of institutions are students finding these courses at? In the summertime, we'll have students do it through a college- Mm ... often a community college. It's a little bit more on par with the rigor that you'd be asking for a high school, especially if it's like they're advancing and they're taking a math or an English class that we want to count. Like they would take the skipping junior English, for instance. We want to make sure that it's the equivalent of that. So they take that. Those are commonly at a community college. Okay. Do they take it at other high schools in the area? Not to my knowledge, no. We haven't had that.
▶ 39:57 Okay. Are there any private schools that they would attend and get credit for? We don't have any students that have taken classes at a private school- Okay ... that are enrolled with us. All right. Thank you. Good. Okay, Ms. Leo, go ahead. Great. Thank you. So first a statement, then I have sort of a general kind of question, not on a specific thing. Which is, the statement is thank you so much for the course of studies. Having a ninth grader who just went through the freshman year, it was incredibly helpful to have the administration regularly point families back to the course of studies. It is a map of options and structure that is just incredibly helpful to parents. So thank you very much.
▶ 40:44 Thank you. Including the academic support section, which I know I asked a lot of questions about in the middle school changes, that I can now see the laddering up of the supports for students with disabilities and students without disabilities into the high school space. So I see real nice alignment, middle to high school. So thank you for that. Thank you. It's all very coherent. Now to my question about the kinds of things. You had mentioned that students had a say in and participated in some of the adjustments. I would love to hear a little more about how do you get student voice into the decisions, and what does enrollment need to look like or drop below in order to see adjustments so that students and families who
▶ 41:31 are looking in one given year toward, if they're a freshman, towards senior year, for example, understand the process by which things change, because things may change. So just looking for that, I trust you, that you made the decisions you need to make. I don't have any concerns. Yeah. I think student voice comes in a few different ways. I think AP business definitely came from students knowing about it, talking about it, the teacher being like, "Yeah, I was thinking about we should do that," and having dialogue like that. I think some of it just comes from dialogue with teachers and then teachers bringing it to us. We've surveyed kids at different times, not as much this year, just overall,
▶ 42:14 but I think a lot of it's been informal. Okay. Students saying, like, "Oh, I'd love to take guitar again." Then all right, well, we can do that within the class as long as we don't go too much above 25 kids. We can keep that together. And then I think decisions have to be made around, we can't run classes of five. We don't have enough staff to do it. So we have to thinkStrategically, sometimes it's like, well, we won't run that class this year. There's a math class we're not running this year, but we've been able to give kids an equivalent opportunity, and/or we can run it the following year. So sometimes a class like forensics, for instance, that might not run every year. It might run a couple sections one year, and then the next year there's only eight
▶ 43:05 kids signed up. So we're like, "Hmm, they're all underclassmen. Let's hold off. We won't run that." But we can run it the following year, give them and others the opportunity. Because the best case scenario is we get 22 point something kids in every class or whatever the best average is of everything to keep them as low and as full as possible across the board. That's the goal. So to get there is a little tricky. But we've used 15 usually as a cutoff within in our work for the past 15 years or so, 10 years, to try to make sure there's 15. There's a few classes, obviously within the special ed world, sometimes within AP Calculus, it's hard to get up to those numbers sometimes, AP Physics, but there's a consistent 10 or 12, so we still run it.
▶ 44:07 So there's a few classes that traditionally run a little lower. So yeah, it's tricky sometimes, and we're still balancing some things out currently. Right now, we're in pretty good shape, but Mr. Corrigan does the bulk of the work on that, and does it well, to make sure we're offering as much to as many students as possible and keeping class sizes down and even across the board, balanced. And so if a student was enrolled in something that ends up getting cut, how does that work for them? Do you tell them, "Hey, we're going to try again next year"? Do they go to guidance? Yeah. We'll communicate with them, give them some new options. Okay. Sometimes it can be done over email, sometimes it's done face to face.
▶ 44:49 Sometimes it's just, "Hey, we've got to cut this. Here are the options that fit in your schedule." If they're like, "Oh, but I really wanted this as my second choice, and it's not there," then it might be a more back and forth or a conversation about moving some other things around to see if we can juggle to fit. Because some of these electives just are off at once. They're off at B block on Tuesday, Thursday. So if they already have English during B block, we have to do some more adjusting. But sometimes it works out. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. It's incredibly complicated trying- It is ... to run schedules with this level of offering. It is. So thank you very much for all you do. Yeah.
▶ 45:27 Mr. Kelly. Sure. I'd like to make a motion to approve. Second. Second. Thank you. Just a few more comments, unless anyone else wants to go before me. I'm going to just say a few things. So thank you for being here, first of all, Mr. Merrill, and I wanted to ask about, there's a mention of dual enrollment classes with languages, and also there's a big push in the state of Massachusetts to get to early college classes and to really, as Mr. Herman was saying, it's really important to prep young people to be ready to work because not everyone can afford sending their kids to college anymore, and now there's so much opportunity for free classes. So I'm just wondering, less about the program of studies, but
▶ 46:17 more thinking about it going forward, is there anything going on at the high school in terms of looking at what the Healey and Driscoll administration is recommending for reimagining high school? Not that our program of studies, there's nothing wrong with it, but the AP classes, we have a million of those now, which is fantastic, but not everyone wants to do that, and nor can everyone afford to go to college. And now- Yeah ... the community colleges are all free right now. Yeah. So how are we taking advantage of that? What are you thinking in the future? What's your team thinking? If you can kind of- Yeah. So I think we have to grow on the early college stuff. We've talked about it at our site council meeting, which has some student reps on
▶ 47:03 there as well, which is great. I think sometimes it's tougher at a traditional high school like ourselves where 75% of the kids are going to an activity after school. It's harder when it's like, "Oh, I'm going to travel at 12:00 to a community college to take a course." We're certainly green light open to it. Any student that thinks of an opportunity that's going to work for them, we're happy to make that happen. But we got to think about how we can integrate that a little bit better. One of the things that was really cool this year that we started, we had a student that took a course at the Peterson School in Woburn. So they've been doing a ton of outreach to local high schools. I have to give them a ton of credit and a shout-out.
▶ 47:57 But we had a senior this year that, upon graduation, he also had earned a certificate from the Peterson School, and he's going to potentially continue that after he graduates. So we're looking to build on that next year and having some more students take courses there simultaneously. They're doing those at night. I don't know if they have an online piece. He did it at night. He went physically there. So we're hoping to build on that a little bit. A guidance team went over there for a visit in the spring to make some connections with them. We had this student who was already enrolled over there. So Stoneham High School's also taken that on a little bit. They had a few students that would dually enroll
▶ 48:44 at the Peterson School. So some great opportunities for kids to do someMore vocational things while they're at Melrose High School still. So doors are open to that and I think we have to think a little bit more deeply about how we can get kids involved with some of the community colleges, and taking advantage of those opportunities that are available to them a little earlier. Mm-hmm. Even though it doesn't maybe fit in the schedule of all of our kids- Mm-hmm ... there are kids that it would fit. Excuse me. Peterson School? Yeah, could you explain what the Peterson School is? Peterson School is, they do electrical, maybe HVAC, I believe. Pretty much a lot of things that you could do at Northeast Metro Tech, but it's
▶ 49:34 traditionally a post-secondary, like a high school diploma, you go to Peterson School in Wuben. It's been there for a bit. And, you leave there with certifications and licenses to practice these vocations. And a lot of the programs that have a big need to fill the spots in the workforce, sometimes it's discounted tuition- Yeah ... sometimes it's free, sometimes it's grant-driven. So I think obviously there's other vocational schools, and it's not your primary job to think about that, but I think the flexibility that you're talking about in terms of offering the whole range of what- Yeah ... a public high school can offer, and building out pathways for kids who need different things- Yeah ... is really wise. Just like you have the STEM pathway.
▶ 50:23 Yeah. I just think it's really smart to do that. I would add, too, as much as we want to prepare every student to get into as many competitive colleges as possible, it's definitely not for every student. Mm-hmm. It might not be even the smartest decision that they can make, to be honest. So we've really tried to normalize and open the doors to other opportunities, and we've done that through our work with The Bridge and our career fair that we put on. Every Thursday we have multiple colleges come in to do visits throughout the school year. But we've started to include other folks that just aren't colleges- Mm-hmm ... but different schools, truck schools, Peterson School. We've had union reps come in on career
▶ 51:18 day to talk to students, and then we did something during a flex time on a Wednesday afternoon with that as well. I think we've definitely seen a little increase with some students doing alternative things after high school, which is great. They've got into college, they're ready to go if they choose, but we've had students do different things. We had eight kids upon graduation last year go right in and take the EMT course, which is a great opportunity. We've had kids that just go in to do work with electricians. So a lot of different things that students can do. We want them to be prepared for any of it. Great. Thank you so much. So I had a motion to approve by Mr. Kelly. Do I have a second?
▶ 52:10 By Ms. Halloran. Thank you. So motion to approve the Melrose High School program of studies. Let's take a vote. All in favor? Opposed? Abstain? Abstain. That is seven in favor. Thank you very much, Mr. Merrill, for that. We're going to move on now to the secondary code of conduct and handbook. And now that we are joining both schools under one campus, under one leadership crew, Wendy, you'd like to take us through the code of conduct and handbook for us? Absolutely. Thank you. So, Ms. Suek, obviously one of our assistant principals at the middle school, along with Mr. Black, Mr. Beaver from the high school, Mr. Corrigan, and myself, and I think Mr. Tucznati also was involved with updates going through and some changes. I'll let Ms. Suek drive through that.
▶ 53:02 Sure. Most of the changes, some of it was just reworking some policies to make sure it was effective for 6 through 12. Two things that were added that I think one is that at the middle school, we have not really had any recourse for students who are chronically absent. And this year, we do have a few students who are going to the Summer Learning Academy to hopefully make up for some of that lost instruction time. So we just put it in that that may be a possibility for students who are chronically absent, with that definition of 18 or more. And then the other one in this goes, you were asking about cell phones. As of right now, we don't have full guidance from the state, but since it is now a
▶ 53:35 law that students are bell to bell without a cell phone, we have changed the policy for both buildings to say that if a student is caught with a cell phone, it will be confiscated, and a parent or guardian would need to come and get it. Those are the two biggest changes. We updated the range of consequences a little bit, again, just to make sure that it felt a little bit more appropriate for what could happen to a sixth grader as well as a 12th grader, for some of those. And some of it was just making sure that we were all on the same page of what that looks like as well. If we're saying it's parent or caregiver communication, that doesn't necessarily have to be us. That can be a teacher, that can be whatever adult addresses that
▶ 54:11 behavior. So yeah, those are the only two significant changes. And we did put in explicit language about skipping classes and first block tardies, again, to make that more uniform across both buildings. Thank you very much. Any comments, questions, concerns from the committee? Go ahead, Ms. Leo. I noticed there was a section about AI and the use of AI. I thought that was really thoughtful and well thought out. I was wondering how much that had been tested this year. Is that new? Was that in here? Just tell us a little more. That was in there last year. That was approved as part of the code of conduct last year. I can say at the middle school, I know that some of our teachers, umDefinitely really walk students through what's
▶ 55:00 appropriate for AI and what's not, and telling students, "This is an appropriate time in which AI could be helpful, and then this is you may not use it." And many of our teachers are moving away from even having access to a computer for some of their work to make sure that students are doing authentic work. But I do know that many of our teachers are trying to also show students ways in which it can be helpful. And I know that there were some lessons done in some of our classes, specifically around AI and saying, "If this is what AI spits out, how do you make it your own?" So I think at the middle school level, it is being used and followed. We still are calling it, if a student directly copies and pastes it, we're saying
▶ 55:36 that is plagiarism because although it might be some of your own thoughts, it doesn't read like a sixth, seventh, or eighth grader wrote it. So yeah, that's how that's working at the middle school. I don't know. So at the high school, there's been a lot of professional development that's been done optional for a lot of teachers that have really dug into this a little bit and then come back and presented at faculty meetings over the past two or three years. So certainly, our library media specialist, Christy Magoon, and Josh Cristiano, one of our English teachers, they've done a lot of work and worked with a lot of teachers around this. It's a constant struggle, but I think it's not going away. As much
▶ 56:23 as I'd love to make a lot of this kind of stuff disappear, you can't do that. And again, if you type something into your phone right now, it comes up with AI. No one shuts that off. But I think we've seen a biggest struggle for us at the high school is probably in our English department, for sure. And I think the answer to some of it certainly has been going to pen and paper, especially when it's some shorter pieces of writing, that they've just gone to using pen and paper and a red pen for the teacher. So it's a little different, but it's also tough for some of the teachers that have got really used to Google Docs and how they give their feedback. So, it's a challenge. It's added a way to work differently and it's a little more difficult
▶ 57:19 for teachers, for sure. But it's a constant challenge, and as an administration, we just have to be as diligent as possible with accountability in trying to teach students and redirect them in a different way. Thank you, Ms. Leah. Any other questions, comments? I just want to say, from someone who works in a high school, it was really helpful to take a look at your secondary school student attendance intervention plan checklist. I printed it off just to make sure that what we're doing is what you're doing. But I really appreciate the good stuff that we're hearing about everything going on at the middle school this year and all the hard work that both of you do every day. Any other questions for these folks?
▶ 58:07 Do I have a motion to approve the secondary code of conduct and handbook from Ms. Holleran? That's the first one. And the second from Mr. Hartman. All in favor? That passes unanimously. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you all. Good luck with the rest of the school year. Thank you. Thanks. Appreciate it. Okay. That concludes our subcommittee work. We're now going to move into announcements of the chair. For the rolling agenda, I anticipate at the next meeting, I'll be putting in a packet information of the superintendent self-reflection, which we can then utilize for our evaluations, which we'll do in July. Before we vote, do we have any outreach reports? Ms. Harmon. I went to the seventh and eighth grade orchestras
▶ 59:13 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. Great. Thank you. Ms. Rosie Thomas. 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
▶ 1:00:03 Jen Grigoraitis: 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. Great. Thank you. Okay, so we do have... Oh, the mayor. 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,
▶ 1:00:42 Jen Grigoraitis: $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. Great. Thank you.Okay, so we do have a need to vote on one item that was removed from the consent agenda, and that is the middle school eighth grade DC field trip. Is there a motion to approve made by Mr. Herp? Oh, there's questions. I have a question. Okay. Yeah. I'm just curious now that we have this open, have we done a trip like this
▶ 1:01:21 Jen Grigoraitis: before with 300 students? Is this a new trip to our agenda? Curious. So, in the past, we've done day trips that I'm aware of. We used to take the eighth graders to New York City for the day. The overnight trips at that large scale, I don't remember those, but I don't know. Okay. Grace? Through the chair, there used to be a partnership with the middle school and the Veterans Memory Project, where we brought both veterans and eighth graders to DC, so there is some precedent for a trip like this. We also used to do the Quebec trip as a middle school trip, so that was multiple nights out of the country. With this many students? It was open to French students, so I don't know the exact number- Okay
▶ 1:02:08 ... but I think we do have some history of overnight trips for middle school students. Okay. And just to be clear, it's the whole middle school, right? Or the whole eighth grade, right? Because it's 300 students, it seems like the whole eighth grade. I think they're taking all 300. It said 100 to 150. Yeah, there was a slide deck- Yeah ... that was accompanying it- Okay ... which said 100 to 150 for the pilot year. Got it. All right. Though the paperwork said potentially up to 300. Mm-hmm. But I don't think that's the plan. Thank you for that clarification. Any other questions about a trip to DC? Are there any motions? Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Ms. Driscoll, seconded by the mayor.
▶ 1:02:48 All in favor? Any abstentions? Any opposed? Okay, that passes with six in favor, one abstention. We now come to the point where we could adjourn. Would anybody like to make a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn. Okay. Made by Ms. Razi Thomas, seconded by Ms. Leo, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? We are now adjourned. Thank you all very much.