2026-09-14 - School Committee

02:39What is today?

02:42>> Good evening and welcome to the

02:45September 14th, 2026 meeting of the

02:47Somerville School Committee. Pursuant to

02:49chapter 20 of the acts of 2026, this

02:51meeting of the school committee will be

02:52conducted via hybrid participation. And

02:54we will post an audio recording, video

02:56recording, transcript, or other

02:58comprehensive record of these

02:59proceedings as soon as possible after

03:01the meeting on the city of Somerville

03:03website and local cable access

03:05government channels. Uh, superintendent,

03:08can you call the role

03:09>> through the chair?

03:11President Davis, council president

03:13Davis.

03:17>> Rep. Putone

03:18>> present.

03:19>> Rep. Lipins

03:21>> present.

03:22>> Rep. Eldridge

03:25>> present.

03:26>> Reb Green,

03:30>> Rep. Stelman

03:32>> here.

03:34>> Mayor Wilson

03:35>> present.

03:36>> School committee vice chair Bon

03:38>> here.

03:39>> And chair Dr. Aman

03:41>> here.

03:43>> With seven present, we have quorum.

03:45>> Okay, we're going to take a moment of

03:46silence and salute to the flag.

04:09Flag of the United States of America and

04:12to the republic for which it stands, one

04:15nation,

04:17indivisible, with liberty and justice.

04:23All right. Um, we are going to our

04:26school committee student advisory

04:28representatives. We're stoked to see

04:30you. Um Baba and Marley, I'm going to

04:33kick it over to you.

04:34>> Yeah. All right. Um we're excited to be

04:36here to start off the school year. Um

04:38I'm Marley Thrasher. I'm a senior. And

04:42yeah, we're just going to start by

04:43introducing our new members. Um but

04:45first, Balva.

04:47>> Yeah. Hi everyone. Good evening. My name

04:49is Bava Kalia. I'm also a senior. Me and

04:52Marley were both school committee

04:54student reps last year and we're super

04:55excited to be back and to hopefully get

04:58more involved this year. But yeah, we

05:00can start by introducing our new reps

05:02who are also very excited to be here.

05:05[snorts]

05:09[clears throat]

05:10>> Um hello, my name is Laura Van Sle. I'm

05:12a junior and last year I was part of the

05:15school improvement council and I

05:17switched to student representative

05:19because I just want to share my voice

05:21more and represent the students spec

05:23specifically the junior class and I'm

05:26just like really excited to work with

05:28all these amazing students and I'm sure

05:31it'll be fun. Yeah.

05:40Hi everyone, my name is Hannah Baxter.

05:42I'm also a current 11th grader. Um, last

05:45year I had the really great opportunity

05:47to be the sophomore vice president and

05:50I'm the current sophomore vice president

05:51for the class of 2028. And it's been a

05:53really great experience and I'm really

05:55just looking forward to this experience

05:57um, and to learn more about the policy

05:58that goes into our school.

06:06[clears throat]

06:06>> Hello everybody. My name is Aanch

06:08Shakir. I'm an 11th grader this year and

06:12this year and last year I had the

06:13opportunity um to be the president of my

06:17class and through that experience I

06:19learned a lot but one of the

06:22restrictions on that role was I wasn't

06:24actually able to get involved in policy

06:26which a lot of my peers would ask me to

06:29advocate for. So I thought I should step

06:32up to this role and I'm excited to work

06:34with all of you.

06:39Um, good evening everyone. My name is

06:41Benjamin and I am a sophomore and I've

06:46had the great opportunity to serve as my

06:48class vice president um since last year

06:52and kind of similar to a Han although I

06:54love being a class vice president. Um

06:56there's a lot of things that um are in

06:59kind of that I saw were on a higher

07:01level of SE public schools. So, I ran

07:03for um school committee representative

07:06and I'm really excited this year to kind

07:08of see the inner workings of public

07:10schools and be able to bring that

07:11information back to my classmates.

07:16>> Welcome.

07:17[applause]

07:22We are so so excited that you're here

07:23and we are thankful for your choice to

07:27serve and we look forward to working

07:29with you as you learn more about what we

07:31do. We're excited to have your voice and

07:33your perspective. Um, you have amazing

07:37role models in Babaka and Marley and we

07:39really uh look forward to getting your

07:43take on any uh any of the policies that

07:46come in front of us, any of the work

07:48that comes in front of us. If there's

07:49things you want us to be talking about,

07:52you know, please let us know because at

07:55the end of the day, we are here for

07:56students. Um,

07:58what I did put to the student reps last

08:00year, which I think they did a stellar

08:01job of and would encourage you to think

08:03about, is, you know, while you are voted

08:05from the high school, you are the

08:08student representatives. And we don't

08:09have middle-grade student

08:11representatives. We don't have second

08:12grade student representatives. So, we

08:14ask you that in in your capacity, you

08:16also keep in mind all of the students

08:18across the city. Um, and you know,

08:21you've done a great job so far. So, I I

08:23really look forward to to hearing your

08:26voices. Um, do you want to keep going?

08:29Great.

08:31>> Okay, great. Thank you. Yeah. So, just

08:33to get started on some brief updates.

08:36Um, the n 8th to 9th grade transition

08:39this year has been going really well.

08:41Um, the peer mentor and restorative

08:43justice circle program is running

08:44strong. We have a lot of new people

08:46trained um to be peer mentors. So, it

08:49was really amazing to see. And last week

08:51we actually had our first circles with

08:52our ninth grade mentees and it was such

08:54a great experience to be able to meet

08:56them and I'm looking forward to the rest

08:58of the year and hopefully helping them

09:00have that good transition um to the high

09:03school. And something that is hopefully

09:06going to help with that transition is

09:08the club fair that is coming up in the

09:10next couple of weeks. Um, we're excited

09:12to have our new students and also

09:15returning students be able to see the

09:16variety of clubs we have at the high

09:18school and to hopefully find one that

09:20they can get involved ways to help them

09:22build that community within the high

09:23school.

09:26Um, another thing that is definitely

09:27going to help with that transition is

09:29the sports seasons. Um, they started a

09:32little bit before the school year began.

09:34Um but recently we had our first

09:36football game which was a really great

09:38bonding experience for a lot of students

09:40as they were able to hang out there with

09:41their friends. Um but we also have other

09:45sports like volleyball, soccer, cross

09:47country that have been running pretty

09:49successfully. Um our senior class has

09:53been doing some organizing outside of um

09:56technically school uh the school. So,

09:59the like the principal wasn't involved.

10:02Um, but we had our senior sunrise and

10:04we're excited to have more events like

10:05that that really bolster our school

10:08spirit. Um, yeah, back over to

10:19my bad. [laughter]

10:20Yeah. Um, we've also seen the new

10:23policies that have been implemented in

10:24our school working um, pretty well. for

10:27example, the cell phone policy. We're

10:29excited to get more feedback from

10:31students regarding that. But so far,

10:33based on just our personal experiences

10:35and what we've been seeing in our

10:36classes, it seems to be working really

10:39effectively. But um we're excited to get

10:41more data and actual research behind

10:43that as well. Then back to Marley.

10:48Um yeah, so we talked about this a

10:52little bit at the end of last year, but

10:53we know that back to school night is

10:55coming up, which is um a really awesome

10:58resource for parents just wanting to see

11:00what their kid is doing at the high

11:02school. Um, we were personally

11:05interested in maybe seeing if we could

11:06help out at the school committee table

11:09and kind of like just show that we are

11:13like resources to students. Um, and kind

11:16of like a connection there. Um, so we're

11:20interested in following up

11:22with that. Um um and I know that we've

11:25already spoken to some people about

11:28this, but um we want to reiterate our

11:30interest in helping on subcommittees

11:33starting this year. Yeah.

11:38Yeah. And just to end off our updates,

11:41we want to do a little bit of reflecting

11:43and looking forward. And we know that

11:46this year we definitely want to be more

11:47organized and have more regular

11:49meetings. and we had our first like full

11:51school council meeting this morning

11:52which was great. Um, everyone was there.

11:55It's great to see that attendance and we

11:58definitely want to continue to do what

12:00we did last year was being more

12:01involved. But we also want to have more

12:04outreach to the middle school. So, we've

12:05already been planning that and we'll be

12:07starting early to make sure that we are

12:09able to represent all students across

12:11Somerville and not just the high school

12:13as we previously mentioned. And yeah,

12:15thank you. And that is it for our

12:18updates.

12:20>> Thank you so much. Uh to my colleagues,

12:22do you have questions for our student

12:24reps?

12:27>> Repone.

12:30>> Thank you, chair. Through you to you. Um

12:34what is the mechanism for us who are uh

12:38chairing subcommittees to draw from

12:41these this great talent? because I am

12:44very eager to have that representation.

12:46>> That makes a lot of sense. So, I think I

12:49pretty sure all six of you got a welcome

12:51email from me. Is that right? So, if

12:54it's okay, I will let you know what our

12:56subcommittees are when they tend to

12:59meet. Um, you know, in a similar

13:02communications fashion uh and you know,

13:06then we'll let the chairs of the

13:08subcommittees know sort of who is

13:10interested in when. You are not required

13:12to go to all meetings. Um but any input

13:16that you want to give uh is always

13:19welcome. Is that

13:23uh may I follow up? um in particular. So

13:26on rules we are pursuing a comprehensive

13:29review of all of our rules and

13:32it it takes a little bit of preparation

13:35so that we

13:38you know have read and have ideas about

13:40the rules that are in front of us in the

13:42coming meetings. Um so in particular for

13:46that subcommittee if there is someone

13:48who's interested

13:50um in advance I can share you know what

13:54I we have an a public agenda but

13:56sometimes it may take more than a day or

13:59two to review. So that's it. Thanks.

14:04>> Thank you. And that that is a good point

14:05that we you know tend to have some sense

14:07of of outlines of stuff we'll be looking

14:09at in advance and we can do our best to

14:12give you as much advanced notice as

14:14possible. All right repans and then

14:15repatone.

14:19>> Thank you through you to you chair. I

14:21heard mention of a table for school

14:23committee at back to school night. So

14:24I'm just wondering if that um is

14:26happening at this high school or maybe

14:31I'm is that something? So I think my my

14:33interpretation of that was that at the

14:35school committee table that Rep.

14:37Eldridge spearheaded

14:39for the back to school night that

14:40happened before the school year started

14:42that the students are interested in that

14:45or is that not my understanding? Or is

14:47your is your intention to at back to

14:51school night have a student a school

14:53committee student rep table?

14:56>> Something along those lines. Yes.

14:59>> Okay.

14:59>> Okay. So, you weren't referring to like

15:01the high school one coming up.

15:04>> No. Okay, never mind.

15:07>> I Yeah,

15:07>> I think you were

15:08>> because there's a back to school event

15:09in August, like back before school

15:11starts, or did you mean like the one

15:14>> the one that's the one that's coming up?

15:15Cuz I mean, in the future, it would be

15:18great if we could also participate in

15:19the one in August, but we didn't have

15:21the organizing to this for this year.

15:24So, the one coming up ideally.

15:26>> Great. All right. We'll be in touch

15:28about that as well. Thank you. Um,

15:31Repatone,

15:34>> thank you. Through you, chair. Yeah,

15:36this was a follow on to that question.

15:38Right now, I don't think we have

15:39anything planned for the high school

15:41back to school night. That's on Tuesday,

15:44September 20th. Is that correct?

15:47Um I don't know if members want to go or

15:51um informally like we might not have a

15:53table because we don't have anything put

15:54together right now. But um I was

15:57actually planning on attending and I

15:59would be happy to attend with you all

16:01and hang out with you guys and like be

16:02kind of greeters but right now we just

16:04don't have anything formally planned

16:06unless anybody else on the body has

16:09ideas of how they might want to operate

16:11at back to school night for the high

16:12school on Tuesday, September 20th,

16:14knowing it's very short notice. So, no

16:16pressure.

16:21>> Um, yes, I do think we should if we can.

16:24Well, we'll talk about it offline. Um,

16:28thank you.

16:31Anything else,

16:32Rep. Stelman?

16:34>> Thank you. And through you, um, uh, just

16:36to be clear about communication

16:38channels. So, um,

16:42uh, for example, prior to coming to a

16:45rules, uh, policy committee meeting, it

16:47would be helpful to,

16:50um, to be able to to connect, uh, and

16:53give not just like, hey, read this, but

16:56just a sense of of what what we what the

17:00goals are prior to the start of the

17:03meeting. Um and so just from a

17:05communication perspective, does this

17:07communication go through you the chair

17:10or is there a different um mechanism

17:14that you recommend?

17:15>> That's a great question. If it's okay

17:16with you, I'm going to confer with the

17:18principal of the high school and then

17:21we'll let once I've conferred with

17:23principal Kristen, I will let everyone

17:26know and then we will abide by those

17:29channels. Does that make sense?

17:31>> Yeah. Fantastic. And I'll just add on

17:33one little thing too that I think just a

17:36uh really um quick introduction to

17:40Robert's rules for um for the students

17:43who may already know them given these

17:46[laughter]

17:47given how amazing they are. But it's I

17:49think that would help understand some of

17:52the things that we do here that may seem

17:55rigid or odd but are standard. So just

17:59putting that out there as a opportunity

18:01for us.

18:03>> Love that. Thank you

18:06repaton.

18:07>> Thank you through you chair to everyone.

18:09I don't know what the date of the high

18:10school back to school night. I lied. I

18:12thought it was Tuesday September 20th

18:14and there is no Tuesday September 20th.

18:16That was an old date from an old year.

18:18So um if that information can be shared

18:21with the school committee. Um, even if

18:23we're not going to have a table like

18:25some I was if I can go I'm gonna go just

18:27to to be there and see parents and if

18:29they have any questions or comments. So,

18:30if that can be shared that would be

18:32great.

18:34>> Uh, I'm going to call on Repone.

18:37>> Thanks. I only know because I have kids

18:38there. Uh, high school back to school

18:40night is Thursday, September 24th

18:45from 5 to 7 according to my calendar.

18:51>> All right. And this is why it's

18:53beneficial to have parents uh as you

18:57know

18:59at multiple schools. Um all right,

19:03great.

19:05Any other questions? Anything else? So,

19:08I'm going to follow up with Principal

19:09Kristen just to make sure uh that we're

19:12all good with communication channels and

19:15um then we will figure out ways to get

19:18you more plugged in. All right.

19:22Um, okay. So, we are on to public

19:25comment. As it is noted on the call,

19:28public comment is by Zoom only today.

19:33Um,

19:36welcome and thank you for those who have

19:38signed up for public comment. Speakers

19:40will be allowed three minutes to present

19:42their material. Speakers should begin

19:44their comments by stating their name and

19:45address or in the case of district

19:47employees, their role within the

19:49district. The chair of the meeting,

19:51after a warning, reserves the right to

19:52terminate speech which is not

19:54constitutionally protected because it

19:55constitutes a true threat that is likely

19:58to provoke a violent reaction and cause

20:00a breach of the peace or incitement to

20:02imminent lawless conduct. Public comment

20:05is not a discussion, debate, or dialogue

20:07between the public and the committee.

20:09Members of the committee will not reply

20:11to comment to public comment in the

20:13course of the meeting, though individual

20:15members may follow up and items from

20:16public comment may be taken up in future

20:18meetings. The school committee will not

20:20hear personal complaints of school

20:22personnel nor against any member of the

20:25school community in public session.

20:27Individuals may address topics on the

20:29agenda or items within the school

20:30committee scope of responsibility such

20:32as the district budget goals and

20:34policies or the role of the

20:36superintendent. The public is encouraged

20:38to submit comments in writing for

20:40inclusion in the public record.

20:43All right, so first up we have uh

20:46Melissa Dorte.

20:48Uh,

20:50she what?

20:50>> She's not in the chat.

20:51>> She's not in the chat anymore. So,

20:53Melissa, we will save a spot for you.

20:55Uh, next is Oh, sorry. I will read the

20:58names and then so you'll know when

21:00you're on deck. Melissa, uh, there was

21:02Jeff Schwan, Theodore Fields, and Ely

21:05Best. Uh, Jeff, if you are here,

21:10Jeff is not in the chat. Theodore

21:12Fields,

21:16also not in the chat. Elise Best.

21:22Elise,

21:27when you're ready, the floor is yours.

21:31Okay. Um, I do not know if my

21:36uh comment uh follows the rules

21:39strictly. Um, it's in reference to human

21:42and disability rights. Would I still be

21:44permitted to speak?

21:46Are you a Somerville resident?

21:49>> I'm a Somerville resident. Um, I live on

21:51Ward 3. I live on Medford Street in

21:54Somerville.

21:55>> Uh, is it on something that the body

21:57might take up at some point?

22:01>> Um, I should think so. Yes.

22:04>> Go ahead. Thank you for checking. Please

22:07state your address.

22:09>> Um, I live in public housing. Is that

22:13something that I can keep? Uh, private.

22:17>> Uh, sure.

22:19>> Okay. Thanks for that. I appreciate your

22:21sensitivity and care in that. Okay. Um,

22:25good evening. Uh, my name is Elise Best

22:28and I'm here as a Summerville resident.

22:30I'm also a human rights advocate and a

22:33disability rights advocate. I want to

22:35talk about children's rights as human

22:38rights.

22:39Um, I know the goals, there are goals

22:42established around equity, family

22:44engagement, inclusion, and making

22:45certain students have the supports and

22:48resources they need to succeed. Those

22:50are important goals. But I think we also

22:54would have to ask whether families are

22:56actually experiencing those principles

22:58in practice. I have seen concerns raised

23:01about parents not being able to meet

23:04being meaningfully included in the

23:06decisions affecting their children with

23:08disabilities.

23:09That is not just a question of

23:11communication.

23:13It can be perceived as a civil rights

23:16issue. Children with disabilities are

23:18protected under federal civil right

23:21civil rights laws, including the

23:23Individuals with Disabilities Education

23:25Act, section 504 of the Rehabilitation

23:28Act, and title two of the Americans with

23:30Disabilities Act. Now, we all know that

23:33these laws protect students with

23:35disabilities from discrimination and

23:37require public schools to provide a

23:40free, appropriate public education,

23:42supports, meaningful access. Federal

23:45guidance also recognizes that students

23:47with disabilities must have the

23:49opportunity to fully participate in

23:52their public schools.

23:55So again, in Massachusetts, these

23:57protections are reinforced by state law.

24:00As we all know,

24:02the law guarantees a free appropriate

24:05education in the least restrictive

24:07environment.

24:09Parents are required members of the IEP

24:13team. School districts must be informed

24:16with parental consent for evaluations,

24:19placements, involve parents in

24:20developing these plans, and ensure that

24:23parents receive timely information and

24:25progress reports. Uh the regulations

24:28specifically address parent involvement,

24:30the team process and the obligations to

24:33develop IEPs that meet each students

24:35unique needs so they can progress

24:39wonderfully, effectively and access the

24:42general curriculum. There's also a

24:44broader human rights framework here that

24:46I think is important for us to consider

24:48as a community. The United Nations

24:51Convention on the Rights of the Child

24:53recognizes the best interests of the

24:54child, non-discrimination, the right to

24:58education, and the right to children to

24:59have their views heard in matters

25:01affecting them. I was very happy to see

25:04I was very happy to hear that many of

25:06our um high school students here

25:08representing

25:10uh those rights. Um the convention of

25:13the rights of persons with disabilities

25:15goes even further when we look

25:17specifically at children with

25:18disabilities. It recognizes that the

25:21children with disabilities have the same

25:23human rights as other children and

25:25emphasize their best interest, their

25:27right to express their views and again

25:29their right to inclusive education and

25:32meaningful participation. I understand

25:35these are international human rights

25:37conventions and that the United States

25:39has not ratified them. Your time is up.

25:42Thank you so much.

25:47>> Okay. Um, Miss Garcia, do we have

25:51Miss Dwarte, Mr. Schwan, or Mr. Fields?

25:56Okay, that concludes public comment.

26:02All right, we are moving on to the

26:03report of the superintendent.

26:08[clears throat]

26:10Just a quick comment. Is that right?

26:12>> Through the chair, just to the body and

26:14to our new members of the student

26:16represented. Just so people understand,

26:18um, public comment is three minutes

26:20long. So that was why the clock was up

26:22there and that's why the chair chose to

26:26turn off the the mic and end that public

26:29comment. It's not that we're not

26:30interested in what people have to say,

26:31but we make it very equitable that

26:33everyone gets three minutes unless um we

26:35have a situation where there's many many

26:37people giving in common com public

26:38comment. And so the chair has a

26:40discretion to reduce reduce that to two

26:41minutes. So just want to let you know

26:44that it feels a little weird and

26:46uncomfortable, but the bottom line is

26:47we're trying to be as equitable as

26:49possible so everybody has the same

26:50ability to have a say in what goes on

26:52here.

26:55>> Thank you, Rep. Eldridge.

27:00>> Um just a quick question going forward.

27:02I don't know when the microphone

27:05situation will be resolved. If people

27:07were to attend in person, does that like

27:10not allow them the opportunity for

27:11public comment or could you just like

27:13there was a little

27:13>> My understanding is there's actually a

27:15setup in the subcommittee room that were

27:18someone wanted were someone to come here

27:22for public comment before that

27:24microphone is repaired. um they can go,

27:28you know, so they won't be able to be

27:30face tof face with us, but they can make

27:32their comment that will be via Zoom in

27:34the subcommittee room and then come back

27:36into chambers. Does that answer that

27:38question?

27:39>> I believe so. Thank you.

27:40>> Great. All right. Thank you to my

27:43colleagues.

27:44Uh now we move on to the report of the

27:46superintendent.

27:49recording in progress.

27:51>> While we let the um PowerPoint load up,

27:54um I wanted to first of all welcome

27:56everyone and also thank uh Bobby and

27:58Marley for their contribution and also

28:01our brave new um student uh reps or not

28:05reps but students who want to be part of

28:07the process. Uh as you can see this is

28:09more uh similar to a CSPAN debate. is

28:14not really that exciting in terms of

28:16what how the the the the pace of the

28:18other presentations go, but we promise

28:21we'll make it a little bit exciting. Uh

28:24and with that, I want to welcome the

28:28entire district last um on opening day

28:31when we had the um Can you do the next

28:33slide? when we had when we welcomed

28:36close to 5,000 students, we also had the

28:38secretary of education and the

28:40commissioner and they actually kick off

28:43the year not only in at the um

28:45Arnenciano but also uh statewide. So I'm

28:49going to show share a clip with you

28:51quickly.

28:53>> Happy first day guys. Nice to meet you.

28:55My name is Dr. Z. Ah mucho. Okay. Oh,

28:57that's a great outfit you got there.

28:59First day is always a lot of energy.

29:01Initially, there's butterflies, but then

29:03the excitement of seeing all your

29:04friends, coming back, seeing your

29:06teachers that you miss over the summer.

29:08There's tons of energy to be able to see

29:10the excitement on the faces of kids who

29:12know that a new chapter is starting

29:13their lives. There's nothing like it.

29:15It's going to be an outstanding school

29:16year in Massachusetts.

29:20>> Great. So, um, that's the secretary of

29:22education kind of welcoming everyone.

29:24Um, I think we feel the same. The

29:26sentiment across all our schools was

29:29that that there was a great positive um

29:32air uh and by in all the schools. Um I

29:36wanted to next slide. Um also uh make a

29:39reference to what uh Marley said at some

29:42point. The idea of collaboration also

29:44the idea of helping and being part of a

29:47larger team and larger group. I wanted

29:49to share with you that we actually have

29:52currently a partnership with the CT

29:56dental assistant students and our

29:58football students. They're actually

30:00making their mouth guards as part of an

30:02activity and part as part of the work.

30:04So I think that that's highlights the

30:06idea of collaboration and teaming in

30:09between uh between teams. So that's

30:11really exciting and also of course we

30:13want to celebrate that we have a

30:15significant increase of students

30:17participating in both the electrical and

30:19the automotive technology um programs

30:22that are being offered uh through uh a

30:25grant that we got on the the

30:27Commonwealth CTE round 11 and that grant

30:30will allow us to increase the capacity

30:32and the number of students we serve. So

30:34that's really exciting news to share. Um

30:37I also wanted to share um great news. Um

30:40we will be celebrating a art an art

30:44exhibit that will be coming up uh soon

30:46and I wanted to invite the entire

30:48community.

30:49Of course this is a really something to

30:52brag about. It's 30 years of the

30:54existence of our UNIDOS dual immersion

30:57program and I think that is something

30:59that um really symbolizes uh our true

31:03commitment to our diversity in our

31:05district. So, um it will be a

31:07photographic uh display that um everyone

31:10is welcome to and uh um it's going to be

31:14tomorrow actually around 4 or 4:30. Is

31:17that right?

31:18>> Yeah. Uh so, everyone is welcome. Um and

31:21again, this is really um the jewel of

31:25the crown when it comes to a program

31:26that f that faces that focuses on making

31:29sure that students use their ability to

31:32communicate in multiple languages. Uh so

31:34we're really excited to welcome the

31:35community and again tomorrow uh at uh

31:383:30

31:39>> Wednesday.

31:40>> Wednesday.

31:42>> I'm sorry today is Monday. So Wednesday.

31:44Yes. I'm I'm I'm ahead of my day. So

31:47Wednesday. Excellent. Great. Uh next

31:50slide.

31:52Okay. Um I know there has been a lot of

31:54conversation around data and how do we

31:57guide our our work and how do we measure

31:59our outcomes. So one of the things that

32:01I wanted to share with you is that you

32:03know the data is actually our northstar

32:06is the way in which we actually judge

32:08how we are meeting all our metrics under

32:10each of our pillars of our strategic

32:13plan. Academics equity and access

32:15wellness and joy and community and

32:17family engagement. So I wanted to walk

32:19you through that. I know sometimes I

32:21hear the question hey where is our

32:23dashboard? And so I wanted to um get you

32:26a little bit of a refresher as to how to

32:28get to that that dashboard. So it when

32:31you go to our website, if you click at

32:33the top, there's a banner and um I

32:36cannot see it from here, but it's the

32:37second one under district leadership, I

32:40believe. And um once you get to that, uh

32:43there's the uh central administration.

32:47If you click on that little um link, it

32:50will bring you to another

32:53window. Yep. That um highlights the

32:56message to our community. And then at

32:58the bottom of that section, there's a

33:00link that highlights the data dashboard.

33:04And so when you click on that, it will

33:06bring you to the next page. And here is

33:09where most of the information that you

33:11might be looking for is what it resides.

33:13So you will find information about

33:15literacy, information about our

33:18conditions for learning. Um, and so most

33:21of the metrics are measured through some

33:22of the tools that we have in the

33:24dashboard. And when you actually dig

33:28into the next either

33:31math or literacy, you will see the

33:32information about um our achievement in

33:36terms of um these bars that will

33:39basically highlight how do we do in

33:41comparison to year. Uh this case is 23

33:4424. And also in there is a little box at

33:49the bottom that allows you to select uh

33:52if you want to actually do a a greater

33:55identification of subgroups. Um so right

33:58now if you go to the next slide

34:03um if you currently go to the dashboard

34:04we actually needs to be updated. So

34:06that's one of the things that we'll be

34:08working on this year. And also we will

34:10be adding another category of data that

34:12we um discussed and collaborated with

34:15some of our community members. Um the

34:18dibbles is a data component that

34:21actually will inform our early

34:23development of of of language uh for our

34:27students in the early grades. So that's

34:29also a commitment we have made and

34:32coming the next thing is basically

34:34updating the dashboard and we are also

34:36want to get into a cadence of doing that

34:38three times a year once these data

34:41cycles come up. The intent is to make

34:44sure that both at this at the school

34:46level and at the district level we are

34:48working on that uh on the improvements

34:50needed to make sure that students um

34:52growth is accelerated.

34:54uh and of course any other infor

34:57relevant data that exists in the

34:59dashboard is also subject to

35:01improvement. Uh so that is our

35:04commitment and that's a way to actually

35:06share with um our community how we're

35:09doing in regards to specific metrics.

35:13So that is the first part of my report.

35:16Um, now I'm going to I'm really really

35:19thrilled to uh call someone to the

35:21podium, someone who has been working

35:23around um understanding the numbers. Uh

35:28enrollment is one of those things that

35:30we as a district are always paying

35:32attention to. A decline in enrollment,

35:34an increase in enrollment, all these

35:36trends always tell us something. Right

35:38now we have a slight decrease in

35:40enrollment and uh we will be getting

35:42into that information. But I am really

35:45excited to um have Simon Braga to who

35:49leads that department to share with us

35:51what are some of the uh changes that we

35:53have had in our enrollment and also some

35:55of the good news as to how we respond to

35:57any enrollment ch requests that we get

35:59throughout the city. So Simon the floor

36:02is yours.

36:03>> Thank you.

36:09>> Good good evening. I'm sorry. Good

36:11evening everyone. I'm just like trust

36:14this dry my throat. Good evening

36:16everyone. Uh I'm Simony Baraga, director

36:18of enrollment and please can you get to

36:21the next slide? Can you get to the next

36:23slide please?

36:25Thank you. And this is my team. Um I

36:30just um at this moment I just want to

36:32thank you my team for the beginning of

36:34the school year. It was a successful

36:36school year uh beginning and also I'd

36:38like to extend those thanks uh to the

36:41student service department that they've

36:43been really supportive and uh the

36:45partnership that we have it's allowed us

36:47to really do a good job. Um tonight I

36:52would just um um present the enrollment

36:56transactions of the enrollment um trends

36:58for the school year. And um I just want

37:01to uh let you know that um the data that

37:04we presented today is um the data up to

37:08September 4th. So as I always say uh

37:11enrollments is very fluid. change

37:14constantly and um you see like right now

37:18like if I can give example like the past

37:20um five weeks we have enrolled close to

37:24a 100 students so it's just like you

37:27know we have students leaving but then

37:28we also have like a lot of students

37:30coming in um and you can see the numbers

37:33that we have there um the

37:37484,897

37:40includes 99 students who are not sitting

37:43in our classrooms. They are students who

37:46are uh outside student like a a special

37:49ed students place outside or um

37:53receiving service. Um

37:57yes.

37:59Can we go to the next one please?

38:07Um so this is the enrollment threads for

38:11um across the district and I have the

38:14enrollment by schools. As I said the

38:16enrollment is very um is contin um

38:18increasing and um steady for this past

38:21five years but then we can see um here

38:24the schools um we saw increase at

38:26Teniano this year due to the um movement

38:31from the students from the AIM program.

38:33They moved from the Capuano to the in

38:35the Minty Hill into Denziano. But we

38:38also saw a little decrease for the

38:41students at the Summerville High and um

38:45East Summerville. It's just a minor

38:46ones. Um we can get to the next one.

38:55We have enrollment by grades. Um we see

39:00um that there was a little increase over

39:04the five year the three years for we

39:06noticed there was a little increase for

39:07the three years over the class of 20 29

39:12like 11% and class of 2030 there was uh

39:16a little increase of uh over um 12%.

39:20which is a curious for us for us. But um

39:23we also saw this year the prek

39:26enrollment and K enrollment. The prek

39:29cruise a little bit and K decrease a

39:33little bit which is kind of like a

39:34balance just nothing too um alarming.

39:40Um

39:41for me I think the highlighted this

39:44slide is um sorry Erica too fast.

39:48The highlight for this slide was that we

39:51had 43 new um ninth graders enjoying

39:56joining our high school which is always

39:59good to hear that. Um in those 43

40:02students we have 15 returners. So this

40:07is for me is always the highlight is we

40:09know that our students are still coming

40:11back to us. So that's very important.

40:13That means like our high school is doing

40:14good job you know keeping our students

40:16here in summer view.

40:21Can you go back to next one?

40:24Yes. Um this is the slide is for our um

40:29during our prior um assignments. So

40:31during that time I just want to point it

40:33out for kindergarten during that prior

40:36time we were able to accommodate 91% of

40:39our students in the uh by the first

40:42choice leading us 9% was still like

40:46placed by second third and some and

40:48fourth choice but by the first day of

40:52school we had 99.4% 4% of students who

40:57registered during that prior period of

40:59time sitting on their first choice of

41:01school.

41:03Um we still have just [clears throat]

41:05two students from that prior period of

41:07time. They're um um on the wait list. Um

41:12and after that per that uh prior period

41:15of time we have like 34 more students

41:18that additional student that register

41:19for kindergarten.

41:21um prek we had 100% of the students who

41:25register for prek during that time were

41:27able to sit in the prek classroom. Um we

41:32still have um 32 students from that

41:35period of time they placed on the

41:38program but in the wait list for the

41:40first choice of school and after that

41:44period time we u had 63 additional

41:48students who register after that time.

41:50Um the grade level transitions we have

41:53um capuano through grade 1. We had 38

41:57students placed. 34 were placed by first

42:00choice and we had four students who

42:02still remain on the wait list for first

42:05uh grade. And the brown we had a chance

42:09to uh have everybody um like 100%

42:12placement. Um the 27 students were

42:15placed by the first choice. So we were

42:16able to accommodate everyone.

42:22um a little demographic now new

42:24registrations. So we have the top 10

42:26language other than English and um we

42:30just notice um the uh continued decline

42:33on the um Haitian Crayola speakers

42:36which was is one of our target language

42:39and we saw the mandaring speakers um

42:42among freeers have increased slightly.

42:46uh we'll continue to measure um this um

42:50trend very close.

42:52Okay.

42:56Um so the uh for the countries the top

43:00um countries of birth for the new

43:02registrations we noticed that this year

43:05we saw a 36 increase in the new

43:09registrations of students born in the

43:11United States of the 681

43:16um students US born uh 54% report a home

43:21language other than English which

43:24reflects the diverse in our community.

43:28Um the large concentration of those US

43:30born registrations are at the entry

43:33point which is our prek and K. So we had

43:3796% of the prek was US born and 90% of

43:41the prek uh US born.

43:48Um the enrollment trend by program um

43:52for the school year 26 27 enrollment

43:55trend show a 2.1 increase in students

43:58with IEP alongside a 14.3

44:02decrease in yellow students. Looking

44:05across three years the district has

44:07experienced a 15.3 um 7% decline in

44:11multil language uh learners and compared

44:13with um 13.2 to increase in the students

44:17with IP. So this is just a comparison

44:19the three years

44:24for our um summer withdrawals.

44:28Um

44:30as of um September 4th, we had 209 um

44:33transfers out of the some of the public

44:36schools of this um 115 transfer to

44:41another public school within

44:43Massachusetts.

44:44In this number, I want to point it out

44:46that um

44:48seven students went to the Prospect Hill

44:51Academy and five were transferred to uh

44:55online public schools in Massachusetts

44:59and we had 16 students moved to public

45:03private school. Um 73 will move out of

45:07the uh state or out of the country. We

45:10this year we start to track this um

45:13breakdown this. So we had 30 students

45:16move out of the state and 43 moved out

45:18of the country. It's a number that we

45:21start to track like pay attention to and

45:24students going to home school. We just

45:26had five.

45:28Um I know somebody asked me to track

45:31this last time. So there was no

45:33transfers to the Benjamin Beners to

45:36school. So far we haven't see anyone. So

45:39we keep watching.

45:45So

45:48for the additional notes since January

45:502026 we enrolled 766 students

45:55uh with uh additional 202 families

45:58choose not to enroll to attend or did

46:01not complete the registration process.

46:0414 of the uh 14% of the families request

46:07in-person assistance

46:10for uh the transfers. We approve 14

46:13introduced to transfer requests

46:16uh for grades one through eight and

46:19denied aid requests due to space

46:21limitations

46:23weight listed. We had 15 students remain

46:25on the Kate race wait list for their

46:28preference school and the prek we have

46:3151 students um who are placed in the

46:34school but they're still in a weight

46:36list for either Sria Healey Kenned or

46:41West Somerville

46:43and families of 46 pre students assigned

46:47to a school choose not to attend

46:50compared to last year it was only was

46:52about 6 to1 one and the year before was

46:54about 53.

46:58This is my presentation for tonight.

47:01Thank you for listening and let me know

47:02if you have any questions.

47:05[applause]

47:07>> Thank you, Director.

47:09Um,

47:11sorry

47:12>> to my colleagues. Uh, Mayor Wilson and

47:14Dr.

47:15>> Thanks, Chair. Uh, through you, the 202

47:17families who did not complete

47:19enrollment, is that typical? Is that a a

47:23similar number to what you see most

47:24years?

47:25>> Yes. Yes. Last year was about 199. Yeah.

47:29They go through the process and

47:30sometimes they just decide that they

47:32want to stay with the they are they want

47:35to go proceed

47:39>> Dr. Stelman and then reput.

47:42>> Great. Thank you and to the chair. Um

47:47uh thank you so much for this uh really

47:49informative um and uplifting

47:52um presentation. A few questions. Um

47:56just uh clarification. Um the 49 new

48:00high school students means that they're

48:02new new to the district or andor they

48:05have they weren't coming up from the

48:07middle school.

48:10>> It was 43 new students, new like ninth

48:12graders.

48:13>> Yep. And on those 43 15 students were

48:17returners. They were here at sometime in

48:20in public school in Somerville public

48:22schools either in middle school or when

48:24they are much younger. A lot of them

48:26were like left a middle school and came

48:29back for ninth grade.

48:30>> Um and a few a few more questions. So uh

48:33thank you for that clarification. And um

48:36uh are you do you collect or are you

48:40interested in collecting anecdotal data

48:43uh from from families who come to choose

48:47like I I would be curious to to hear

48:50some of that the decision- making

48:52process

48:54>> if for them to come or

48:56>> for for people who choose to put their

48:58students into the high school whether

49:00they're coming back or they are just

49:02brand new. It would be interesting to to

49:05hear what the poll was.

49:08>> So far, a lot of the comments are

49:11related to the CTE program. They really

49:13look into um the the courses. Um during

49:18the time of during the process of

49:20registration, the field days that they

49:22have to wait through the process is

49:24always questions and how to access the

49:27program studies. So and then I pointed

49:29out we usually pointed out like courses

49:31that they can look through so they can

49:33get familiar with the what's offered at

49:35the high school. So we see that a lot.

49:39>> Um I'm sorry to have a few more

49:42questions. Um

49:45uh

49:46>> Rep. Stillman can I should Yeah. Can we

49:49get go through the queue and then we'll

49:52>> Thank you. So we're going to go rep

49:53Betone and then Rep. Eldridge unless you

49:55have a follow-up.

49:56>> Rep. Eldridge.

49:58Okay, great. Can we go reput Aldridge?

50:00Thank you.

50:01>> Thank you, chair. Through you, uh, it's

50:02director Braa. Thank you. I always look

50:05forward to your presentation. I love the

50:07data. Um, and it's always exciting to

50:10see how wrong our projection from

50:14several years ago was of a declining

50:16enrollment. We are not doing that. We

50:19are solid. Um, our district is strong

50:23and we continue to attract families and

50:25students.

50:26Bye, reps. Thanks for coming. Um,

50:31so,

50:33uh, I do I'm going to get back in line

50:35because I have a second question, but my

50:37first question is around the 100%

50:39placement from the Brown School, the

50:42graduating class or the moving up class

50:45um, out of the Brown School uh, into

50:49other schools. So, they had 100% first

50:53>> first choice. Did we open up a new

50:55classroom in in one of the other

50:57schools? Is that does that account for

50:58it?

51:00>> Yes. Yes. Um we had 27 students at the

51:04Brown School like was a small class

51:07compared to the previous years and we

51:10were able to accommodate due to the fact

51:12that we have one extra class at the

51:14Kennedy. So the majority of the students

51:16who um leaving the Brown really request

51:18the Canada school. So we were able to

51:21accommodate the majority there. Mhm.

51:24>> So that is a like sort of a bubble a new

51:26new bubble class that we're creating at

51:28the Kennedy or continuing at the

51:30Kennedy. Is that correct to get to the

51:32administration? Great. Okay. Thank you.

51:36>> All right. Rap Eldridge.

51:39>> Thank you. Uh through the chair, I just

51:41want to express my gratitude for you

51:43being here tonight, but also taking some

51:45of the like feedback from the last time

51:47we were here together and then like

51:48really seeing it in the slides and I

51:49really appreciate you like delineating

51:51some information and really boiling it

51:52down a little bit more. So, thank you

51:53for that. Um, I'm wondering in terms of

51:56on the enrollment slide, um, it's

52:00showing like enrollments from 25 26

52:03school year, 26 27. I'm wondering if

52:05there's information on what historically

52:07like our enrollment maximums could be at

52:09these schools in comparative to where

52:11they're at. I'm just curious to

52:13understand like how much space we have

52:15at each school and like for larger term

52:17planning like what our limitations are.

52:20Might that be information that you have

52:21available?

52:22>> Yes. Yes, I can provide next time.

52:23Definitely. I'll take a note for that.

52:29>> That's a note for future.

52:31>> I'll take

52:31>> I assume you don't have that off the top

52:32of your head.

52:33>> Not from the top of my head. Definitely.

52:35I'll provide next time.

52:36>> You're you're quite impressive. I

52:37[laughter]

52:38was prepared to be blown away. Thank

52:39you. Um

52:43uh we're going back to Dr. Stallman and

52:46the reputone.

52:49>> Thank you. and through the chair. Um uh

52:51two quick questions. One is um do are

52:55these the summerville trends are they

52:57typically um representative of cities

53:01and communities in the Commonwealth or

53:04are we seeing or are do we are you

53:07noticing that there are things that are

53:09different for for our school our

53:12district? Um I haven't checked for this

53:16right now like it will be um the data

53:19will be available uh after the 1st of

53:21October when all the districts report to

53:24DSI. I'll have that number after but

53:27usually I've been comparing the past

53:29years and we are right there on um on

53:31the top like close to 5,000 students. Um

53:36so I I can get back to you with the new

53:38numbers like once we have the SIMS

53:41report.

53:43Thank you. The superintendent wanted to

53:45follow up.

53:45>> Yeah, I just wanted to contribute um

53:48some general knowledge around that

53:50challenge. I know that there are some

53:52geopolitical changes that have impacted

53:54many communities. Uh and so I know that

53:57for the most part most communities have

53:59lost the students. Um I know I was um

54:02talking to um Malden's superintendent.

54:06was very concerned about actually trying

54:08to find ways to keep the same services

54:11without with the loss of of of students.

54:14The same thing happened in Chelsea and

54:15Rivier. Um we also I see there's a dip

54:18there and probably our Haitian um

54:21community has had an impact because of

54:23that as well. Um but still our community

54:27continues to be strong in terms of

54:28enrollment. I mean there is there's a

54:30slight decline there but um I think that

54:33it is clear that both the current

54:36numbers and the projections um point to

54:39the fact that enrollment will continue

54:41to be a challenge that most communities

54:42will be facing.

54:45>> Mayor Wilson has a response. Yep.

54:47>> Thanks. Yeah, just on that point, I know

54:49from talking to my colleagues in in some

54:51of the cities that Dr. Dr. Carmona

54:52mentioned um it it's so concerning that

54:55they're they're going to the state and

54:56asking for a change to the chapter 70

54:59funding formula because otherwise

55:01they're going to see just a ridiculously

55:03dramatic decrease in that funding. So,

55:05you know, I'm I'm grateful uh that we've

55:09avoided that that same fate here in

55:10summer. I think it goes to show that the

55:12excellent work that the the uh school

55:14district and the city have done to make

55:16families feel supported here and feel

55:18like they can stay here. uh that they

55:20don't necessarily get that same feeling

55:21elsewhere.

55:25>> Thank you. All right, we're going to go

55:27reputone and then back to Dr. Salman.

55:30>> Thank you, Chair through you. I I guess

55:32building on that point, um

55:35the data on slide six

55:39uh I found to be

55:42uh enthralling

55:44um in particular because I think what

55:47it's showing if you look at the so what

55:50you're displaying there is three years

55:54of enrollment

55:56um divided by each sort of divide by

55:59married.

56:01And what I notice is that, you know,

56:06let's say two years ago we had a

56:09particularly small class in seventh

56:12grade and then last year we had a small

56:15class in 8th grade and then this year we

56:18have a small class in 9th grade. Right?

56:21This suggests that the and this is not

56:24rocket science but that the cohorts

56:27largely staying together. Right. So, we

56:30are um and if you if you track each of

56:33those bars, it kind of moves across time

56:37for each grade. Um it does appear that

56:39there's sort of a bump into 9th grade,

56:43maybe where we're getting students who

56:45are coming in from out of district, from

56:46private school or whatever, who are

56:48coming to our our public school. Um,

56:53so what I'm inferring from this is that

56:57we have a stable cohort of students from

57:00year to year

57:02>> um with maybe some additions and some

57:04losses, but um can you speak a little

57:07bit to that? Um

57:10uh do we see like do do you have

57:12statistics about what percentage of kids

57:16stay through from year to year um over

57:19the course those who start like in

57:21kindergarten how many finish through

57:2412th grade is that something that we

57:26track

57:28>> I can start starting track this um data

57:31we just start like looking to for last

57:33year um I just started last year so I

57:36don't have you know for previous years

57:38but maybe like in two years or three I

57:40can give you like you know some um

57:42numbers so we just look like last year

57:45for kindergarten now we're going to move

57:46for first grade see who you know how

57:48many students are staying is something

57:51that's in my mind like to be able to

57:53provide to you in the future

57:55>> thank you I think that would be really

57:57interesting and also may point to you

58:01know pivot points in our district when

58:03maybe there's spots where we lose more

58:06students or where we gain students

58:08um that can help us learn more about

58:10about our own district sort of from

58:12those data. So that's it. Thank you.

58:15>> Thank you. Making sure there are no

58:17other firsts. All right, Dr. Selman.

58:21>> Thank you. And through the chair, um the

58:24my line of questioning is is really

58:26based on this idea of the fact that our

58:30enrollment is why we're here, right? We

58:32we can't have a school district without

58:35students. And so it's fantastic to see

58:38this these positive trends. Um and it's

58:41exciting to see the that that you know

58:44the especially the numbers for the prek

58:47right and that we had space for everyone

58:50who wanted. So my last question is

58:53really about um advertising because

58:57based on the question the the way you

58:59answered the these these new high school

59:01students and what was their draw and CTE

59:04was clearly a part of that and I think

59:08prek is also a really big draw. Lots of

59:11families need and want prek. So my

59:15question is what is the relationship

59:17between your department and the city and

59:20how uh and the and the summer public

59:22schools and how are we thinking

59:25strategically about how to advertise the

59:28phenomenal things that we're doing just

59:31as a uh as a citizen as a resident. I

59:35don't you know I don't see it in on bus

59:37stations like you know big

59:40advertisements that have pictures of our

59:42kids doing amazing things. I don't see I

59:45don't see these advertisings where you

59:48advertisements where we you will see

59:49them in other cities. So, I just wanted

59:52to think say that we've got this

59:56phenomenal um it's not just phenomenal

59:59data, but

1:00:01we have the goods. And so I'm just

1:00:04thinking as a school committee,

1:00:06it's we should get behind

1:00:09um helping

1:00:12the the district itself in figuring out

1:00:16how to to get those messages out there

1:00:19because we can't just ride on this um

1:00:22because we don't know what's going to

1:00:23happen geopolitically and that and we

1:00:27want we want to to increase it. So that

1:00:30that was um

1:00:33it is a long question. You don't have to

1:00:35answer it. Maybe it was more like a

1:00:36saliloquy, but

1:00:38>> maybe the superintendent has a thought.

1:00:40>> Yeah. So, you know, this is a world of

1:00:42social social media. So I I think that

1:00:44uh that's one of the things that we try

1:00:46to do through our social media outlets

1:00:48and uh you know every time we have

1:00:51something to sell through CT or

1:00:52something to share through the work that

1:00:54happens on the the hockey team or the

1:00:56different celebrations that always have

1:00:59been the kind of the infrastructure of

1:01:01that outward communication. Uh are there

1:01:04different ways in which we can do it

1:01:05differently? Um probably there are ways

1:01:08out there. I think that that that

1:01:10collaboration open to that as much as

1:01:12you know any folks have any ideas. I

1:01:14think that often I think the results

1:01:18speak for themselves and so I think that

1:01:20we are working on that trajectory to

1:01:22make sure that um that's not only

1:01:25something that we advertise but it's

1:01:26something that we that we communicate

1:01:28through the the results that we have as

1:01:30a community. But I'm I'm open to any

1:01:32suggestions around how to do that

1:01:33differently.

1:01:38>> Thank you.

1:01:39My colleagues have any other questions?

1:01:43>> All right. Thank you for the data and

1:01:45thank you for the great info. We

1:01:46appreciate it. [applause]

1:01:53>> Thank you, Director Braa. And now I have

1:01:55the pleasure to uh bring uh to the front

1:01:58um our director of special education

1:02:02director Arajano and assistant director

1:02:05Marisa Macdonald. Today we will start

1:02:08the conversation about special education

1:02:10and think of this as the uh the

1:02:12enrollment data demographic of special

1:02:14education. We'll be talking about

1:02:16numbers, programs and the different ways

1:02:19in which um our district distribute the

1:02:22special ed resources throughout the

1:02:24district uh as well as our investments

1:02:26in financial uh in financial terms. So

1:02:29is is a two-part conversation today.

1:02:31We're starting with that. I know every

1:02:32time we talked about special education

1:02:34is really exciting. So we want to make

1:02:36sure that we do this in a way that is

1:02:37manageable. With that in mind, I'm

1:02:40thrilled to have director and assistant

1:02:42director um Marisa McDonald to share

1:02:45their knowledge and their information

1:02:48around special education.

1:02:51>> Good evening everyone. I'm Leon. I'm the

1:02:53director of special education.

1:02:56>> Hi everyone. I'm Marissa Macdonald,

1:02:57assistant director of special education.

1:03:00>> Um so tonight we're going to uh provide

1:03:03as Dr. Carmona had mentioned a brief

1:03:05overview of special education in

1:03:07Somerville, who our students are, the

1:03:09continuum of services we provide, our

1:03:12staffing, and the district's investment

1:03:14in special education. And then at our

1:03:16next meeting, we'll focus more on our

1:03:19programming, some of our initiatives um

1:03:21and other um data points as well. So

1:03:25[clears throat] currently, um, as you

1:03:27can see, we serve, uh, 1,032 students

1:03:30with individualized educational

1:03:32programs, IEPs, representing about 18%

1:03:35of our total students here in

1:03:37Somerville. And while the actual number

1:03:39of students with IEPs has remained

1:03:42relatively stable, the percentage of our

1:03:44overall enrollment has somewhat um,

1:03:46declined a bit. um special education

1:03:49services are provided in every school

1:03:50with more than 10 specialized programs

1:03:53and settings across the district. Of

1:03:55important note is that compared to the

1:03:58state, we are actually under the state

1:04:00is about 21.3 last school year um in

1:04:04terms of students with um IEPs and we're

1:04:07uh this this year we're about 17.7%.

1:04:15This is too high. Um this slide shows

1:04:17the continuum of services we provide. Uh

1:04:20every school provides specialized

1:04:22instruction and access to related

1:04:24services. Uh while our specialized

1:04:27programs provide more intensive support

1:04:29based on indiv individual student needs,

1:04:32uh the goal is always to match services

1:04:35and settings to the students IEPs while

1:04:38prioritizing the least restrictive

1:04:40environment. And we do um offer the

1:04:43continuum from fully included, partial

1:04:46inclusion and um substantially separate

1:04:49within our school district. But then

1:04:50additionally, we offer the full

1:04:52continuum at out of district placements

1:04:54as well. Um if we can go to the next

1:04:57slide.

1:05:01So who are our students? Students with

1:05:03disabilities are served throughout the

1:05:05district. You'll notice significant

1:05:07differences among schools. Much of that

1:05:11variation reflects where our specialized

1:05:13programs are located. Um, Full Circle

1:05:16and Next Wave also have a very different

1:05:19student population and enrollment sizes.

1:05:21So, just to be careful not to compare

1:05:24those percentages directly with um, our

1:05:26traditional schools

1:05:29and then we'll go to the next slide.

1:05:34Um, one important characteristic of our

1:05:36population is the intersection between

1:05:38disability and language. About onethird

1:05:41of our students with disabilities are

1:05:43also multilingual learners. Um, and so

1:05:46this requires close collaboration among

1:05:47students, special education,

1:05:49multilingual learner staff and general

1:05:51educators and families. And just

1:05:53something to note, 32.5%

1:05:56is actually quite a high number. Um,

1:05:59when we're looking at the percentage of

1:06:00students with disabilities um, who are

1:06:02multilingual learners, we would want

1:06:04that number to look closer to the actual

1:06:07percentage of students with disabilities

1:06:09across the district. So, you're looking

1:06:10at that like 17.7%.

1:06:13Um, so this is high, but something that

1:06:16we're keeping an eye on. um and making

1:06:18sure that when we are evaluating

1:06:20students who are multilingual learners,

1:06:22we're really being comprehensive about

1:06:24the evaluations that we're using and

1:06:26making sure to distinguish whether it is

1:06:28a language difference or a learning

1:06:30disability.

1:06:32Um if you want can go to the next slide.

1:06:37And then what do our students need?

1:06:38About 70% of our students with IEPs are

1:06:42served in full inclusion settings. And

1:06:45we saw this last year through the audit

1:06:47that we did or the special education

1:06:49program review that we do have um a

1:06:51really big portion of our students fully

1:06:54included which is great. Um other

1:06:56students require partial inclusion um

1:06:59and we do have some programs within the

1:07:00district that are partial inclusion

1:07:02programs and additionally substantially

1:07:05separates programming or public or

1:07:07private day which I kind of mentioned

1:07:09with that full continuum that we offer.

1:07:12Um, and this is based on students

1:07:14individual needs.

1:07:16One of our priorities is to continue to

1:07:19examine opportunities for students to

1:07:21access more inclusive environments with

1:07:24the appropriate supports and that's the

1:07:26work that we'll talk about at some of

1:07:28the next um part two. Um, so in

1:07:32disability categories, our students

1:07:34represent a broad range of disability

1:07:36categories. are two largest are specific

1:07:39learning disabilities and autism which

1:07:42together account for just over half of

1:07:44our students. Um this is similar across

1:07:47the state. Um the diversity is important

1:07:50because it drives the range of

1:07:52expertise, services and programs and the

1:07:55staffing we need across the district.

1:07:59And we can go to the next slide.

1:08:02And I really like this graphic. Um this

1:08:05is probably one of the most important

1:08:06slides of the whole deck. Um special

1:08:09education is a shared responsibility. It

1:08:12requires um every person who works with

1:08:14a student to work in tandem. Um the

1:08:17student is intentionally at the center

1:08:19surrounded by families, general

1:08:21educators, special educators, par

1:08:23profofessionals, service providers,

1:08:25psychologists, administrators, and

1:08:27support staffs. And if you look at um

1:08:29the picture, it kind of I like it. The

1:08:31cogs there really like the ones at the

1:08:34center are the the people who are

1:08:36interacting with our students the most

1:08:38and are the most vital. Um and then kind

1:08:42of around is how we support those people

1:08:45in supporting those students.

1:08:47and students with disabilities are our

1:08:50students collectively and their success

1:08:53depends on the collaboration across all

1:08:55of these um people

1:08:58and then I'll kick it off to Eldonso.

1:09:02>> Um I would like to go back to the uh

1:09:04disabilities slide two slides before

1:09:05that just because I did want to provide

1:09:07some clarification. Um, ever since we

1:09:10switched over to the new IEP, the new

1:09:13IEP has made it very clear that there is

1:09:16no longer this uh primary disability or

1:09:19secondary or tertiary as in as

1:09:22previously. Um, so this the disability

1:09:25categories are all uh written in

1:09:27[clears throat] terms of what is it that

1:09:28the student requires for support. Um,

1:09:31what's important is that the state still

1:09:33needs to be able to identify a primary

1:09:35disability. So while um these two

1:09:37categories specific learning disability

1:09:39and autism are at the top there are

1:09:41students who do have um multiple areas

1:09:44of need and that's just an important uh

1:09:47piece to note

1:09:49and um if we go to catch up on the

1:09:52slides in terms of um who does the work

1:09:57um well we already talked about that but

1:10:00but other very important people who

1:10:02actually um provide a lot of the Um, a

1:10:06lot of the supports to our students are

1:10:08our staff and we have approximately 283

1:10:11unique and amazing staff here in

1:10:14Somerville that help support our special

1:10:16education students and staffing varies

1:10:19across uh buildings based on

1:10:21enrollments, program and student needs.

1:10:24So um for example, we have the Winter

1:10:26Hill which has one of our largest

1:10:28specialized programs, 10 classrooms in

1:10:31there. So obviously their um special

1:10:33education staff is pretty high as well

1:10:35as the high school because we know the

1:10:38programming that's there as well. Um

1:10:42uh the next slide

1:10:44talks more about the um the school

1:10:47district's investment in special

1:10:49education. So special education

1:10:51represents a significant district

1:10:52investment for this school year.

1:10:54spending is approximately um just shy of

1:10:5737 million or just shy of 30% of the

1:11:00total district spending. Um and since uh

1:11:03fiscal year 2024, special education

1:11:06spending has increased about 28.6%

1:11:09compared with approximately 20% district

1:11:12uhwide. So staffing, specialized

1:11:14services, transportation, and outofd

1:11:17costs all contribute to those costs.

1:11:21Um

1:11:23and here we see as well in this slide uh

1:11:25the uh the percentage of of special

1:11:28education um services relative to the

1:11:31district's total. So this year 20 like I

1:11:34said close to 30% was spent um for

1:11:36special education. And um our focus uh

1:11:41the important question here isn't simply

1:11:42how we're spending but how we are

1:11:44ensuring that investment translate into

1:11:46strong services for our students. Our

1:11:48focus continues to be individualized

1:11:50services, least restrictive

1:11:52environments, strong IEP

1:11:53implementations, and families as

1:11:56partners.

1:11:59And so for our last slide, so um we'll

1:12:01be back um in two weeks and we'll be

1:12:04talking a little bit more about our

1:12:05inclusive practices and co-eing

1:12:07initiatives, our working group updates,

1:12:10specific program implementation and

1:12:12priorities. And I also have a few slides

1:12:14on data um in terms of where where our

1:12:17students are at relative to statewide

1:12:20assessments and some of initial um

1:12:22district-wide assessments as well. Thank

1:12:24you.

1:12:27>> [applause]

1:12:31>> Thank you so much. Um, that's also a

1:12:33great reminder that I'll remention at

1:12:35the end that our next meeting is in two

1:12:37weeks, uh, September 28th, not any other

1:12:41date. Um,

1:12:44staring at to my right, just making

1:12:46sure. Okay, great. Do other colleagues

1:12:49have

1:12:53you do replicants?

1:12:56Okay, then go ahead and then reputon.

1:13:00>> Thank you for this presentation. I I'm

1:13:03like looking forward to I almost like

1:13:04was like end, you know. Um I was waiting

1:13:07for um I can't wait to hear how this

1:13:10large investment in special education is

1:13:12going to pay off. So I'll be eagerly

1:13:14awaiting. Um my question is I know you

1:13:17mentioned about um how you have to do

1:13:20more comprehensive testing for students

1:13:21with um multilingual learners. So, I

1:13:24know that that's um something to think

1:13:26about. I was wondering if it might be

1:13:29relevant for the body to have more data

1:13:32on the percentage at the elementary,

1:13:34middle, and high school level. I And I

1:13:36wonder that just in terms of like um

1:13:39funding that we might want to consider

1:13:42at each level. I'm I'm thinking, you

1:13:45know, do we have more of an influx, you

1:13:47know, at the high school level? Is it

1:13:49elementary? Is it middle? So, um I was

1:13:51wondering about that. Thank you.

1:13:54>> I can definitely um we can definitely

1:13:55provide that information in terms of

1:13:57breaking it up. I'll I'll also include

1:13:59our prek population or um so I'll do

1:14:01prek elementary uh middle and high

1:14:04school as well.

1:14:04>> Thank you. I'd appreciate

1:14:06>> absolutely.

1:14:08>> Thank you.

1:14:09>> Thank you, chairu. Um uh to director

1:14:13Ariano and assistant director McDonald.

1:14:17Um, thank you so much for this great

1:14:19presentation. Um, I also am I'm going to

1:14:24hold most of the questions that I have

1:14:26until your second presentation,

1:14:27>> of course.

1:14:28>> And I'm really interested in hearing how

1:14:31our additional investments

1:14:33um,

1:14:35how they are translating into

1:14:39uh, measurable results. So, that's um,

1:14:43what I'm going to be thinking about just

1:14:44so you know when when you're back here.

1:14:47Um, but I did have a just numerical

1:14:50question around the 17.7%

1:14:55that we have. And

1:14:58I I don't know if maybe I'm missing

1:14:59something, but um

1:15:0317.7%

1:15:07uh

1:15:09being 1,032 students

1:15:13would translate to an enrollment of

1:15:155,800 plus students in our district. Um,

1:15:20so I'm I'm just wondering if is there I

1:15:25know we don't have an extra 800 students

1:15:27hiding at a different school somewhere.

1:15:29Um, is there can you explain that? Um,

1:15:33>> sure. The the the information that I

1:15:36take from when I'm calculating these

1:15:37numbers is through our Aspen system. So,

1:15:39it's our currently enrolled students.

1:15:41Um, and then I pull the special

1:15:43education students there. And then what

1:15:45I do is then I disegregate the data even

1:15:47more to look at the different schools to

1:15:49look at our I know that for example our

1:15:51outplace students are usually a

1:15:54combination of both our students out of

1:15:56district and our walk-in services

1:15:59students. So there is a lot of

1:16:01information to kind of go through in

1:16:03order to get to that number.

1:16:05>> Okay. So the if I may um uh so it those

1:16:10800 students approximately may represent

1:16:14the early education walk-in students um

1:16:18outplacement which I think is something

1:16:20like 60 students

1:16:21>> 60 correct yes um yeah so I guess that's

1:16:25not the majority of that 800 so I guess

1:16:27it would are we servicing that many

1:16:30early education students

1:16:33>> um I'd have to look it's not definitely

1:16:34not 800. Um, so I'd have to look into

1:16:37the the number again, but like I said,

1:16:39when I the the number does come from

1:16:40Aspen, um, our student information

1:16:43system, so I'm more than happy to go

1:16:45back and just verify the number for you.

1:16:47>> Would love to just

1:16:48>> Yeah.

1:16:48>> learn a little more about that. Thank

1:16:50you.

1:16:50>> Absolutely.

1:16:55>> Repens.

1:16:59>> Thank you. Through you, chair. um if you

1:17:01were to give us a sneak peek as to like

1:17:04the family as partners, do you can you

1:17:06share some of your you know what we

1:17:09might hear or some of the um because

1:17:11that's really exciting for for me. So

1:17:13>> So last year we started our Apple

1:17:15initiative and I know it's an acronym

1:17:17and I'm trying to remember the exact um

1:17:19what it stands for but it is a

1:17:21partnership through the federation of

1:17:23children that we did with our CPAC

1:17:25members. There was also families who

1:17:27were involved. Um so we have one of the

1:17:30things that came out of that

1:17:31collaboration was these surveys that

1:17:34we're doing after each meeting and last

1:17:36year we started uh meeting with uh the

1:17:39same Apple cohort to review the data

1:17:42kind of look for trends in terms of what

1:17:44are some of the areas of strength what

1:17:46what areas do we need to continue to

1:17:48work on um and the hope is for us to

1:17:50continue that that outreach in terms of

1:17:54um having um that that collaboration

1:17:57with the um with the group to um see

1:18:00what next what sort of next steps we

1:18:02might want to take regarding the survey

1:18:04and kind of involving um more families.

1:18:07There's our monthly meetings that we're

1:18:08still trying in the process of

1:18:09scheduling with CPAC as well which we

1:18:12remain committed to to continue to do

1:18:14and that's our special education parent

1:18:16advisory council.

1:18:22>> Thank you. Uh Rep. Pat,

1:18:27>> thank you through the chair to you.

1:18:28Thank you guys for being here. Um, I

1:18:31appreciate as complicated it is having a

1:18:34picture with all the gears really

1:18:36[laughter] is is powerful and I think

1:18:39we've continuing to

1:18:42um improve

1:18:45acknowledging that our general ed and

1:18:46our special ed work in tandem and they

1:18:48work in partnership and that can be

1:18:50sometimes challenging. Um, so I

1:18:53appreciate that you want to frame this

1:18:55as a more holistic view of the student.

1:18:57So I wanted to complement that. Um, I

1:19:00had a question and and I I know we've

1:19:03discussed it before and I apologize.

1:19:05This is more because I'm I still

1:19:07occasionally get parents asking me, you

1:19:09know, we made a pretty significant

1:19:11programmatic shift to take out some of

1:19:13the AIM classrooms out of the Winter

1:19:16Hill and into the Argento. And I just

1:19:19really wanted to have a just a better

1:19:21understanding like I couldn't answer the

1:19:23question and so I'd love to hear from

1:19:25you. Um I know it's a little bit outside

1:19:27the scope of this but if you don't mind

1:19:28speaking to that that would I mean I'm

1:19:30assuming it was for academic benefits

1:19:32for our students but it would be great

1:19:34if you could frame that for me.

1:19:36>> Absolutely. Um, so our our AIM program,

1:19:40which is our program for students with

1:19:42uh primarily autism, has has been

1:19:44growing. And when I first stepped into

1:19:46this role four years ago, that was the

1:19:48first thing that I knew that eventually

1:19:51we'd have to look at in terms of uh that

1:19:54program was going to outgrow the number

1:19:57of classrooms that would be able to

1:20:00support them at the Winter Hill School.

1:20:02So while um the primary reason actually

1:20:05was more of a space issue, we did not

1:20:07have the space at I would I would argue

1:20:10and I wasn't here when um when the

1:20:13school was over at um I'm forgetting at

1:20:16Sycamore, but I knew eventually they had

1:20:19mentioned to me that that space would

1:20:21eventually wouldn't have been able to

1:20:22fit all the classrooms. So as enrollment

1:20:25has gone up and as you can see I mean

1:20:26half of our students here well 20 20

1:20:29something percent are students diagnosed

1:20:31with autism and we have a lot of

1:20:32specialized programming for our students

1:20:35with autism. The idea was we have to

1:20:38look at our program um and actually um

1:20:41add add more classrooms in a building

1:20:43that would have the space. And what we

1:20:46did is that we took it a step further to

1:20:48look at the program as a whole and

1:20:50figure out how are we best supporting

1:20:52our students? What are the needs of our

1:20:54students? When you're thinking about a

1:20:56spectrum of of of a disability, there's

1:21:00a lot of different ways that students

1:21:02can make progress. One of the areas that

1:21:04we looked at was the methodology of

1:21:06instruction. So, how are students

1:21:08learning? And there are some students

1:21:10even though they may look very similar

1:21:11in terms of their profile are learn

1:21:14better in a in a in a way where there's

1:21:16more ABA which is applied behavioral

1:21:18analysis methodologies or through

1:21:20discrete trial. And there's other

1:21:22students who who uh do better or or work

1:21:25or are able to learn with a more

1:21:28traditional modification of um of their

1:21:32curriculum that um we are adapting it.

1:21:35So we looked at that as sort of like how

1:21:37to differentiate the two strands. Um so

1:21:40when we were putting students in terms

1:21:42of I think the student would be better

1:21:44served because they are able to learn in

1:21:46this way um either at their g at the

1:21:49Argentaniano or at the winter hill. The

1:21:52other thing of note last year the

1:21:54program had already reached sort of

1:21:55capacity because what we ended up doing

1:21:58is actually having a kindergarten and a

1:22:00first grade cohort a few classes at the

1:22:02capawano. So that you know that

1:22:05presented its challenge of its own

1:22:07because uh CAP Buano is prek and K

1:22:10general ed and our first grade students

1:22:13who need that inclusion opportunities.

1:22:15Um you know it was something that we

1:22:17were looking at. So we actually um

1:22:20divided the classrooms up. We still

1:22:22maintain 10 classrooms at the Winter

1:22:24Hill and there's five classrooms at the

1:22:26Argentano currently. And then we have

1:22:29now our our five pre-K classrooms at the

1:22:32um Capawano as well. So if we want to

1:22:35think about it as a program, there's 20

1:22:37classrooms which is pretty significant

1:22:40and and great because the students stay

1:22:42in district and the students are able to

1:22:44to be with their general education

1:22:46peers. So it is great to have that

1:22:48programming here.

1:22:53>> Thank you, Chair. Just to follow up,

1:22:55first of all, thank you. Um the second

1:22:58followup to this is long-term,

1:23:02you know, six, seven years from now when

1:23:04the Winterheld is built out, is the

1:23:07intention to continue to maintain

1:23:10three different sites or is there an

1:23:13intention to populate all of the Winter

1:23:15Hill? Not judging, just curious.

1:23:17>> Yeah, I I I I think that that is

1:23:19something we're going to have to

1:23:20discuss. Um, again, we want to be able

1:23:23to ensure that our students are getting

1:23:25what they need. When I projected it out,

1:23:28um, over the next few years, those

1:23:31numbers at the at the Kada at the K to8

1:23:34schools would remain pretty much stable.

1:23:37Where we are going to see a pretty

1:23:38significant increase is at the high

1:23:41school. So, we have we have had very

1:23:43small cohorts of students going from 8th

1:23:46into to 9th grade. I think this year

1:23:48there was maybe one or two students and

1:23:50in previous years it's been one

1:23:52sometimes three. So those numbers have

1:23:53remained kind of small but these cohorts

1:23:56of like current eighth graders, seventh

1:23:58graders, they're going to start

1:24:00increasing. So it really is now the

1:24:01focus at the high school and building

1:24:04programming there over the next two to

1:24:06three years and I would say even uh the

1:24:08fourth year where we may need additional

1:24:11classrooms there.

1:24:14>> Absolutely.

1:24:16Thank you, Dr. Stallman.

1:24:19>> Uh, thank you through the chair. Um, I'm

1:24:22very appreciative of, uh, just how

1:24:24planful this is. It's really complex and

1:24:28these are some of our

1:24:30most vulnerable students but also just

1:24:32phenomenal minds very you know and have

1:24:36having had a a student a child who has

1:24:42gone through have IEP all sorts of um

1:24:46drama but also wonders. So I I

1:24:49appreciate the work that you're doing

1:24:50and and the thinking outside of the box.

1:24:53It's it's critical. So um this is um

1:24:59the question that I have is not

1:25:02necessarily need needs to be answered in

1:25:04this um at this time because we'll see

1:25:07you again. [laughter]

1:25:09Um but uh you know we've we've um the

1:25:13school committee hears a lot from

1:25:15constituents, right? And so there's

1:25:17clearly some concerns around um timely

1:25:22communication and I'm not definitely not

1:25:25asking any the superintendent or you

1:25:28your team to answer that right now but

1:25:31just thinking ahead given that we're

1:25:33very skilled your team is very skilled

1:25:35and many of our departments are very

1:25:37skilled in in data analysis and and

1:25:40looking at dashboards and so I'm just

1:25:42thinking what are the systems H what are

1:25:46the systems that are working and which

1:25:48systems could can what assistance can we

1:25:51give uh to your department um to assist

1:25:56in this really complex

1:25:59um this complex work?

1:26:02>> Yeah, absolutely.

1:26:03>> Thank you.

1:26:07>> Anything from the district?

1:26:10You have a response?

1:26:12Okay. Okay. I want to see if the

1:26:14district wants to respond before. Thank

1:26:15you so much.

1:26:16>> Yeah. No, thank you for bringing that

1:26:17up. I definitely the question about how

1:26:19do we respond to the community is one

1:26:21that we are always wondering. Um, you

1:26:24know, for us any question and a call for

1:26:27support is a question for how do we meet

1:26:29the needs of a student. Usually what

1:26:31happens in every classroom is like

1:26:34usually the challenges that happen in a

1:26:36classroom if they spill over then we

1:26:38know outside what happens. And so for me

1:26:40it's always what is what is missing in

1:26:42the classroom when when that's not that

1:26:44not not being responded to. Um there are

1:26:48multiple challenges that we face. I mean

1:26:50I think the number like when I was

1:26:51checking with department of ed also the

1:26:52number of PRS complaints or or or record

1:26:56requests have more than double. Uh so

1:26:58you're talking about they also actually

1:27:00have to increase the capacity. I think

1:27:02that that's that's a challenge that we

1:27:04face also in in I think in in our

1:27:06current um uh

1:27:10dynamics of of of social interaction. Um

1:27:13but I do think that any any any

1:27:15challenge that we have around meeting

1:27:17the need of a ch of a student is a

1:27:19challenge that we take seriously and we

1:27:21definitely are looking in ways into how

1:27:24do we you know communicate engage with

1:27:26families in a way that is productive.

1:27:31Thank you, uh, Rep. Eldridge.

1:27:35>> Um, thank you through the chair. I think

1:27:37might be a question maybe for Dr.

1:27:38Carmona. Um, and thank you for the

1:27:40thought of systems and how we can work

1:27:42on those items. Um, because it is really

1:27:44important to get the systems piece up

1:27:46and running and all for supporting that.

1:27:48Um, so maybe this is a question

1:27:49specifically for the district. Um, at

1:27:51our last meeting, we talked a bit about

1:27:53how early identification of disabilities

1:27:55is so important, um, and can be

1:27:57life-changing changing for our students.

1:27:59And tonight, we're learning a there's a

1:28:01little bit of a difference in how many

1:28:04students have been identified in

1:28:05Somerville versus statewide. We don't

1:28:07need to be on par with the state. I'm

1:28:08always like, let's, you know, go above

1:28:10and beyond and chart our own path. But

1:28:12there is a difference in you know it's a

1:28:15significant enough difference um in how

1:28:17many students that we have with

1:28:19disabilities versus what the states and

1:28:20I'm wondering if we've looked at that

1:28:22information and if we've considered um

1:28:25what our current processes are for early

1:28:27identification and really getting that

1:28:28intense support in before uh first grade

1:28:31especially when we look at SLD and the

1:28:33SLD category being dyslexia struggles

1:28:36with reading disgraphia struggles with

1:28:37writing dcalculia struggles with math

1:28:40and then also there's a a couple of

1:28:42other um profiles that fit under there

1:28:43as well. Um but I'm wondering how we can

1:28:45support those systems to ensure that

1:28:47we're getting in there and supporting

1:28:49our kids early. Naen Gab has said that

1:28:51if we can get in there before first

1:28:53grade, we can stave off a dyslexia

1:28:54diagnosis all together. And I'd love to

1:28:57learn more about those systems and how

1:28:59we can support them as you know a

1:29:02committee because they're wildly

1:29:03important um going forward.

1:29:10>> Go ahead. through the chair definitely I

1:29:12think uh you know any time that we can

1:29:14actually identify a challenge earlier on

1:29:16is is better I I think the question

1:29:18about is 17% a marker of a deficit or is

1:29:23that a marker of a strength like it's

1:29:25always always when I was working as a as

1:29:28a principal also there was a question if

1:29:31you have too much of a representation in

1:29:33special education there is a problem if

1:29:35you have too little there is a problem

1:29:36it's like are we actually meeting the

1:29:38needs of the students at a rate that is

1:29:40is is effective or um is that an under

1:29:46assessment of who is who has needs in

1:29:48our district. So that is a good question

1:29:50and we'll have to dig into that. I think

1:29:52that you know 17% is that a marker of

1:29:55one thing versus the other. Uh I do

1:29:57totally agree that the earlier we can

1:29:59identify those challenges the better it

1:30:01is for everyone for the kids as well as

1:30:03for the um the challenges as they become

1:30:06more complex. Um so I don't know you I

1:30:09see you're nodding so do you want to

1:30:11>> Sure.

1:30:12>> Absolutely. Thank you through the chair.

1:30:13Thank you for the question. Uh what I'll

1:30:15add to this is that we do have um an

1:30:18early education and care team that works

1:30:22on this very thing of how are we

1:30:24identifying children in our community at

1:30:26an early age. Partner very closely with

1:30:29special education. Uh we have a new

1:30:31director of early ed uh Ameilia Gorman

1:30:34who is joining us with decades of

1:30:36experience as a special educator

1:30:38principal and leader um from the Boston

1:30:41public school. So we're really excited

1:30:42about that and learning from her um and

1:30:45strengthening our systems. So when uh I

1:30:48I do believe early ed and care team is

1:30:51is also on the docket um to come up in

1:30:54very soon in school committee meetings

1:30:56as well. so we can share more about that

1:30:58team, their processes, the way they do

1:31:01MTSS throughout our city. Um, so our

1:31:04district prek and K classrooms or pre-K

1:31:07classrooms, but then also with our

1:31:08partner centers um and how they do some

1:31:11um screeners uh throughout the city. I

1:31:14don't know if you want to speak anything

1:31:15additional to that in your partnership,

1:31:17but you know, the early ed team uh works

1:31:20squarely on that. Part of our our child

1:31:22find law is that we are required to um

1:31:25to advertise and to ensure that um

1:31:27people throughout or our community um is

1:31:30aware of different screenings that we

1:31:32have um in the event that parents may

1:31:35have questions or concerns regarding

1:31:36their development of their child.

1:31:38Special education starts at the age of

1:31:40three. So as early as three, we are

1:31:42identifying students. Last year with our

1:31:45collaboration with um with the early

1:31:48childhood department, we actually ended

1:31:50up having three screening dates. The

1:31:52beginning of the year, middle, and end,

1:31:54those were advertised. Parents were able

1:31:56to come in and sign up. Um some students

1:31:59were screened. And from there, if a uh

1:32:02formal evaluation needed to happen, that

1:32:04would happen. Or right on the spot, if

1:32:06parents said, "I want an evaluation,"

1:32:08those requests were were put through. So

1:32:11there are those pieces in terms of

1:32:13helping identify any students who may

1:32:16require specialized um instruction. Um

1:32:19and then we have our own um screeners

1:32:21that we do, the dyslexia screener that

1:32:23we do at at the schools in order to help

1:32:26identify um our students as well who may

1:32:28need some additional support. If I can

1:32:31add just one more thing. When when we're

1:32:33talking here in special education with

1:32:35students with disabilities, we're

1:32:36talking about students with disabilities

1:32:38who require specialized instruction, who

1:32:40have an IEP. There are students who have

1:32:43disabilities here in Somerville who have

1:32:45a 504 and that is not captured in this

1:32:48number. In addition to that, there may

1:32:50be other students who have disabilities

1:32:52who may not qualify

1:32:54um for a 504 or even an IEP, but still

1:32:58may be getting tier 2 or tier three

1:33:00reading support. So, that's an important

1:33:02number as well that may perhaps we need

1:33:05to do a better job of capturing in order

1:33:07to have a complete picture here in

1:33:09Somerville.

1:33:13>> Can I just add in terms of what are what

1:33:15else are we doing? So I know that our

1:33:18high quality instructional materials we

1:33:20have added foundations uh in a

1:33:22systematic way. We actually have a new

1:33:24foundations model actually module that

1:33:27was introduced at the beginning of the

1:33:29school year. So that's one thing and I

1:33:31know I mentioned to some of you the the

1:33:34notion of the first year promise or

1:33:36first grade promise. We we had a

1:33:38conversation about that. Uh I know that

1:33:40there is a lot of um I guess discussion

1:33:43about making sure that students

1:33:46arrive to proficiency by the time they

1:33:48end first grade. So we are doing a pilot

1:33:51around that. Um I know that that work

1:33:53actually is spreading seems to be

1:33:55spreading around Massachusetts. We will

1:33:57be meeting with that that person who

1:33:58leads that work on the with the urban

1:34:00superintendent in the next meeting in

1:34:02the next uh round of meetings that we

1:34:04have. So I think that all in all there

1:34:07is an understanding that if we have some

1:34:10instructional materials in front of us

1:34:12and we support uh a greater detail

1:34:15around reading development that's one of

1:34:18the things also that will allow us to

1:34:20address some of the gaps that we that we

1:34:22see.

1:34:24Um, another factor I wanted to note is I

1:34:27know that you know everyone here is very

1:34:30uh supportive and in inclusive of you

1:34:34know special education supports how we

1:34:36can manage that but you know not not

1:34:39every family or every caregiver whose

1:34:42child is identified as possibly needing

1:34:43the supports consents to those supports.

1:34:46So I my understanding is you know those

1:34:48students don't make it onto the list

1:34:51unless the family the caregivers

1:34:53you know also agree that those are the

1:34:56supports the kids need and you know I

1:34:58have no idea what percentage that is of

1:35:00the population but it is a a factor to

1:35:02consider as well

1:35:06rep Eldridge reput

1:35:08>> uh just to follow up on that if we could

1:35:10get those numbers I would love to hear

1:35:11how many families aren't partaking in

1:35:14special education support Um because for

1:35:17me that means that there's another

1:35:19barrier and challenges related to trust

1:35:22also challenges related to the benefits

1:35:23of special ed and and understanding how

1:35:25you could support your child and how we

1:35:27can support them as learners. So like

1:35:30you know um the dyslexia alliance for

1:35:32black children is very clear about

1:35:35when a family refuses an evaluation it's

1:35:40not we shouldn't stop. we should be

1:35:42looking at why they're refusing and how

1:35:43we can support them and what are the

1:35:45barriers that made them feel unsafe in

1:35:47pursuing an evaluation. Um, so I hear

1:35:52you and I recognize that and I know

1:35:54there's probably fear mixed in with that

1:35:56and it's so much easier for me to stand

1:35:58here and talk about dyslexia in the body

1:36:00that I'm in. I totally understand that.

1:36:01But I also think that we really need to

1:36:03look as a body and as a community if

1:36:05families are afraid to pursue a special

1:36:07education evaluation, we really need to

1:36:09look deeply into that and why um and how

1:36:12we can support that in the future.

1:36:20>> Thank you,

1:36:22>> Rep.

1:36:24>> Thank you, chair through you. Um I want

1:36:27to thank uh Rep. Beldridge for

1:36:31saying what I wanted to say. Um

1:36:35the stigma around disability is is real.

1:36:40Um

1:36:43I know personally um

1:36:46and

1:36:48uh you know we had it also evoked a

1:36:51question for me um

1:36:54uh around the numerical questions that

1:36:56we had been talking about I don't know

1:36:58last year around child find and um I

1:37:02think I had asked uh what percentage of

1:37:05students who have IEPs

1:37:08are referred for um screening by their

1:37:12teachers versus by their families. And I

1:37:15actually while um this this update was

1:37:19very helpful um when we're thinking

1:37:23about the numbers, grace, this was just

1:37:24really about the the population. I think

1:37:27that would be a a really for me a really

1:37:29helpful numerical metric um around

1:37:37uh how we're coming to this um which may

1:37:41touch on stigma may touch upon some of

1:37:43the things that Rep. Eldridge um uh

1:37:47pointed to um

1:37:50and it may touch on a whole number of

1:37:53things that we haven't even talked

1:37:54about. So, um, that would be my request.

1:37:57>> No, absolutely. And that is something

1:37:59that I can definitely include as part of

1:38:00the presentation the next time. Yeah.

1:38:05>> All right. Uh, we'll see you in a couple

1:38:07weeks. I want to say thank you so much.

1:38:08>> We have our homework cut out for us.

1:38:10[applause] Thank you.

1:38:12>> All right. Uh, the superintendent has

1:38:15agreed to put a pin in his report. We

1:38:19are going to jump to Roman numeral six

1:38:21unfinished business with my apologies to

1:38:23the city staff members who uh have been

1:38:27waiting here to present to us on the

1:38:31Cummings

1:38:32uh school warming center and the MSBA

1:38:37update. Um I'm told one of you is going

1:38:41to come in front of the body.

1:38:46Lovely.

1:38:47Director Rish.

1:38:51>> Evening chair, member of the body. Uh

1:38:53for your record, Richard Rish, director

1:38:54of infrastructure and asset management

1:38:55on the MSBA front. Uh we have submitted

1:38:59uh following the uh two special meetings

1:39:02over the summer uh to the MSBA the

1:39:05preferred schematic report. Uh they did

1:39:08a review of it, had a few follow-on

1:39:10questions. We were able to turn around

1:39:12answers to those questions in about 24

1:39:13hours. And we are now scheduled to

1:39:16appear before the um the F FAS the

1:39:23facilities assessment subcommittee uh on

1:39:26September uh 30th in the morning. Uh Dr.

1:39:28Kabono will lead a um discussion on the

1:39:31educational program. Perkins Eastman

1:39:33will be there to discuss uh the

1:39:35technical components of the building. Uh

1:39:37and uh from that uh point the

1:39:41subcommittee will then make a

1:39:42recommendation. we'll move on to full

1:39:44MSBA uh board the following month. Um so

1:39:47I'm proud to say that we're continue to

1:39:49be on track on our accelerated schedule.

1:39:52Um in parallel with that, we are um

1:39:54working on uh some aspects of the of

1:39:58that preferred schematic. Uh we're

1:40:01moving forward with uh review of

1:40:03mobility uh improvements uh as well as

1:40:06the design of the building. uh

1:40:07continuing to advance some of the other

1:40:09aspects of the building design um in

1:40:12including uh parking and geothermal and

1:40:15a few other um things that require

1:40:17additional engineering support. Um so

1:40:20we're going well on that. Happy to

1:40:22answer any questions that weren't

1:40:23discussed uh last I guess it was Tuesday

1:40:26because of uh Labor Day uh with the

1:40:30jointly meeting committees.

1:40:34>> Thank you.

1:40:36Okay. Um,

1:40:39that is it for the MSBA

1:40:42update. Superintendent, do you have

1:40:43anything else?

1:40:44>> That's basically it.

1:40:47>> There we go. Yeah, I think that we're

1:40:48going from the idea of design to really

1:40:51looking into the actual building and the

1:40:54actual kind of um identifying the the

1:40:58specifics of the ideas that we have

1:41:00around the educational program and into

1:41:02what how does it translate into um the

1:41:05structural design. So that that that

1:41:07part is is is exciting but it it does

1:41:09require us to really um share our

1:41:13thinking behind our um educational

1:41:15programming to MSBA. And so looking

1:41:18forward to that uh to that meeting

1:41:20coming up soon.

1:41:23>> Thank you. Um and then we're also

1:41:27looking for

1:41:29a vote on theou around the coming school

1:41:33warming center. Um

1:41:37we

1:41:39if I remember correctly received the

1:41:41response

1:41:42uh that we look for in exchange for

1:41:44thisou and um the city supports and the

1:41:49city's plan around you know what happens

1:41:52if uh something catastrophic happens in

1:41:55another building. Don't remember which

1:41:57day we received that but I'm confident

1:42:00that we received information around

1:42:01that. Um,

1:42:05are there any other questions, thoughts,

1:42:08repens?

1:42:11Oh, sorry, Rep. Patone. Thank you.

1:42:14Through you, chair. Um,

1:42:18theou is separate from the coupe. What

1:42:20is it? The coordinated

1:42:24>> continuity of operations plan, which is

1:42:29emergency situation plan. I'm not using

1:42:31it's continuity of operations so that we

1:42:33can continue to run CL schools and that

1:42:35that there's I first of all I want to

1:42:38compliment and thank the the city for

1:42:40bringing it forward. I'm still kind of

1:42:42plotting through it but I just want to

1:42:44clarify that there's theou which is

1:42:47separate from the continuity of

1:42:48operations plan. So a what does school

1:42:51is school committee have to accept that

1:42:52at some level? I don't think we need if

1:42:54we do that's so it's a procedural

1:42:56question. I don't think we that's

1:42:58separate from theou like we can accept

1:43:00theou which references this without

1:43:02necessarily deliberating whether or not

1:43:05we need to deliberate on the continuity

1:43:07of operations plan. So is my question

1:43:11that they're two separate things.

1:43:12>> Sure. I will say my understanding is

1:43:14that it is you know since the city owns

1:43:17the buildings this is a like I'm not

1:43:19sure this is anything we can deliberate

1:43:23on. Uh

1:43:26you know, it is a memorandum of

1:43:28understanding. The city has been clear

1:43:30with what their plan is. Um,

1:43:34you know, if we have questions, I think

1:43:36we have a reasonable right to ask uh

1:43:41questions on that. And my understanding

1:43:43is, you know, the city is happy to

1:43:46answer them. again the at least I'm

1:43:49carrying this over from the previous

1:43:51administration uh Mayor Wilson said he's

1:43:53solo parenting so he had to take off

1:43:56although staff is here um is that you

1:44:00know there there are certain things that

1:44:03they didn't want to you know have

1:44:06necessarily in the public record for

1:44:08contingency planning reasons but that

1:44:11they're willing to sort of

1:44:15you know share in broad strokes Um, so

1:44:18that is to say, I don't know that like

1:44:19all of our detailed questions would

1:44:21necessarily be answered. But, you know,

1:44:23if we feel that we need that in front of

1:44:27the body, but my understanding is a

1:44:28memorandum of understanding. It doesn't

1:44:30need to be signed off on this. It's just

1:44:32or the sorry, the coupe is just them

1:44:35sharing with us. Um, you're right. And

1:44:37it is not this is not contingent on

1:44:40that. um it just has traditionally in

1:44:44previous years wound up being contingent

1:44:46on that

1:44:48>> in terms may I follow up I apologize

1:44:50through you chair so yes I think they're

1:44:52separate obviously the memorand

1:44:54memorandum references that we are

1:44:57expecting to have one and we're very

1:44:58excited to have one so that that's a

1:45:00huge evolution so from my perspective I

1:45:03think we can if whenever the body is

1:45:05ready to deliberate and vote on theou I

1:45:08don't think it's it is not contingence

1:45:10on the continuity of operations

1:45:13>> that is that is true

1:45:14>> plan. Yes.

1:45:15>> Um

1:45:16>> I do have a question about the

1:45:17continuity of operations plan but I can

1:45:18[clears throat] ask that separately.

1:45:20>> Um after we if people want to put a mo I

1:45:23guess I can put a motion forward to

1:45:25approve theou for the coming school to

1:45:27be the warming center.

1:45:29>> Second

1:45:31by repetone. Second by repetone

1:45:35>> I guess to authorize the chair and the

1:45:36superintendent to sign theou. Yes, I

1:45:39think the the motion according to what

1:45:41is on our paper is to authorize the

1:45:43superintendent to sign theou. Uh I'm

1:45:46happy to sign it though if need be. Um

1:45:49oh that was muted. Uh the motion is to

1:45:52authorize the superintendent to sign

1:45:53theou for the coming school warming

1:45:55center. Uh I have a rep I have a motion

1:45:59by rep. Pone, seconded by rep. Beton.

1:46:02Um

1:46:04do you would you like to ask your

1:46:06question now or would you prefer we

1:46:07vote? Well, I I have a question about

1:46:09the MOU [clears throat] first, so I

1:46:10think that's appropriate. Um,

1:46:14in the originalou there were questions

1:46:17around possibly using the cummings like

1:46:20as uh uh a swing space. And I know

1:46:24subsequently there was a memo that came

1:46:26to the joint building committee talking

1:46:28about the cost associated with upgrading

1:46:30the Cummings to be used as a school

1:46:33building as well as potentially using it

1:46:35as a teen center because that's

1:46:36something that came through city council

1:46:38and it's not in our packet right now. So

1:46:40we never the whole body I don't know did

1:46:42the whole body receive that memo. I

1:46:45think it just went to the joint

1:46:46committee.

1:46:48>> Yes. The whole body did not receive that

1:46:49memo.

1:46:50>> Okay. Um so I'm just telling that to the

1:46:52body that you guys haven't seen that

1:46:55memo. I don't think it necessarily for

1:46:57me it doesn't preclude me signing theou

1:47:00but it is referenced the questions

1:47:02around using that that space as

1:47:05potential classrooms is referenced

1:47:07there. So, and I don't know if you if um

1:47:10director Ra wants to talk to that.

1:47:11>> Yeah. Uh through the chair, apologies if

1:47:13it didn't get disseminated to the entire

1:47:16um school committee. It was supposed to

1:47:18have been. Um I can forward it on now so

1:47:20you have it. But the uh the upshot was

1:47:23that in you know in in response to both

1:47:25the council order uh regarding the teen

1:47:28center and the stipulation in theou uh

1:47:31capital projects uh undertook a

1:47:33comprehensive assessment of the building

1:47:36um for for two potential uses.

1:47:38Acknowledging that the um the condition

1:47:41of the school street wing uh is much

1:47:44worse than the condition of the Prescott

1:47:45Street wing. We looked at two options.

1:47:48one renovation of the entire building

1:47:49and one renovation of just the Prescott

1:47:52Street wing. Uh in round numbers, the

1:47:55full building uh rehabilitation for use,

1:47:59which could be teen center on the

1:48:00grounds uh floor or uh swing space uh as

1:48:04a school um is is around uh $28 million

1:48:10um which is a fairly high price for for

1:48:13that building. I also point out that um

1:48:16that building contains fewer classrooms

1:48:19than the Brown School does. Um it is of

1:48:22comparable square footage, but because

1:48:24it has a cafeteria area and a gym, which

1:48:28the Brown School does not, it doesn't

1:48:30actually have as many classrooms. Um so

1:48:33we're we're we are in the process of

1:48:35evaluating citywide our capital

1:48:38investment plan, which will be um

1:48:40submitted to city council for approval

1:48:42in November.

1:48:44Um, so you know, it's it's in the mix

1:48:46for evaluation, but in looking at the

1:48:49universe of needs and the city's limited

1:48:52financial resources, um, I'm sort of

1:48:54prognosticating that it will not make

1:48:57the cut for a recommendation.

1:49:03>> You have a followup?

1:49:06>> Yes, but it doesn't.

1:49:09>> It's okay. Fire away.

1:49:10>> Okay. Um something that did come up in

1:49:14the joint committee through the chair uh

1:49:17is this question that right now this

1:49:19just for this is for all of the members

1:49:21of the body. The school committee

1:49:22currently has authority over 1895 which

1:49:26is the old high school and the coming

1:49:29school. They we have not voted to

1:49:31surplus it or distribute it back to or

1:49:34distribute give it back to the city. And

1:49:36at some point that's something that the

1:49:38body may want to take because nobody

1:49:41wants um land or buildings to not be

1:49:44utilized. Some of this is going to

1:49:45depend on the city's

1:49:48uh what's the word I'm looking for? I

1:49:51basically at some point we do need to

1:49:52address this and we need to discuss it

1:49:54and make decisions on whether or not we

1:49:56want to do that. One thing that's

1:49:58pending obviously is getting funding for

1:50:00the winter hill. So unless for me

1:50:02personally unless and until the winter

1:50:04hill is funded there there's some

1:50:06advantage possibly to sustaining these

1:50:08buildings but obviously as director re

1:50:11identified it is expensive to upgrade

1:50:13the Cummings to get limited capacity and

1:50:15that was helpful because I didn't hear

1:50:16that it was less classrooms than the

1:50:18Brown and that's helpful context. Uh and

1:50:21obviously $28 million is not $280

1:50:24million to build a new building. So

1:50:26again another context.

1:50:31Thank you. Uh Rep.

1:50:34>> Thank you, chair. Um and apologies for

1:50:37not circulating that. Uh that memo first

1:50:40came to me and I um I I would have had I

1:50:44known that was the intention. So, um but

1:50:46I I did want to re relay for the um for

1:50:49the public and for my colleagues that um

1:50:53the memo did state that um the staff

1:50:57recommendation was uh was that the

1:51:02renovation of the coming school would

1:51:04not be included in the capital

1:51:06improvement plan. And uh just for

1:51:10context, that is a five-year planning

1:51:12horizon document. So the the

1:51:16recommendation if accepted would mean

1:51:19that that renovation would not occur in

1:51:22the next in the next 5 years or wouldn't

1:51:24be allocated for. Thanks. That's all I

1:51:28wanted to add.

1:51:31>> Thank you. Do we have other questions

1:51:34commentary?

1:51:38>> Uh Rev Aldridge.

1:51:40>> Uh thank you through the chair and we

1:51:41had discussed in that meeting too. think

1:51:43also important in context that um the

1:51:46the the desired need I think amongst

1:51:48everyone for a teen space and having a

1:51:50space for for teens or um for um and

1:51:55that there we were looking at other

1:51:56potential options but there didn't seem

1:51:59to be a lot of them if I could confirm

1:52:02>> through the chair much like the

1:52:04evaluation on the um on the Cummings but

1:52:07to you know sort of less technical

1:52:08extent we've also been uh investigating

1:52:11other city-owned buildings things. Um,

1:52:14every every one of the um unoccupied

1:52:18city- owned buildings like 1992 Union,

1:52:21formerly known as the Scat Building, the

1:52:23the church outside of Davis Square, 45

1:52:25College. Um, all of these building um

1:52:29the old rec center on Walnut. Um, none

1:52:32of them have essential life safety

1:52:35systems uh like sprinklers or or smokes.

1:52:38Um [clears throat] many of them uh have

1:52:42severely outdated uh electrical systems

1:52:45and HVAC systems. Some of them even have

1:52:47structural issues. Um so that is to say

1:52:51that we haven't found any easily

1:52:53renovatable space um that could serve as

1:52:56a teen center or for any of the other

1:52:58purposes that that we've been um you

1:53:00know uh investigating. So we generally

1:53:03have um you know a posity of uh of

1:53:08spaces um you know we have other avenues

1:53:11that we're um exploring um you know for

1:53:14for example uh the city is uh has

1:53:19submitted an RFP and it's been responded

1:53:21to and we're working on a contract with

1:53:23a development partner uh for um the sale

1:53:26and development of 90 Washington uh

1:53:28which is the the parcel by Cobble Hill

1:53:30which was going to be the public safety

1:53:33building, but through a number of legal

1:53:35hurdles will not be. Uh, and the city

1:53:38needs to sell that. But, um, the terms

1:53:41of selling that is that, um, you know,

1:53:44the the developer will be developing a a

1:53:47building in accordance with the

1:53:48community's needs, which is largely some

1:53:50ground floor retail and then residential

1:53:53above that. But they will also be

1:53:56handing over a core and shell space for

1:53:58us to fit out as a senior center. Um

1:54:01that is a model that we've followed for

1:54:04um you know say the the um Assembly

1:54:06Square fire station you know that's a a

1:54:09private building they've condoed off a

1:54:11portion of it and we have a fire station

1:54:13there. Um that's also the the philosophy

1:54:16once we get around to selling at the 45

1:54:19college. Um when when the West Branch

1:54:22Library was built, um there were

1:54:25limitations set on it from the neighbors

1:54:27about the size of it. Uh and and the

1:54:30community center uh the community space

1:54:33that was envisioned for the West Branch

1:54:34Library was enable to be in that

1:54:36building, but we're committed to putting

1:54:38that at 45 College. Um we're not looking

1:54:41to build that whole building ourselves.

1:54:43There's other things that can be done

1:54:44there. So we'd be looking for a

1:54:46development partner to to you know leave

1:54:48us a space for community space. That's a

1:54:51long way of saying that that model could

1:54:54be applied to the coming school should

1:54:57we choose to do that. There's a lot of

1:55:00development potential of that lot. And

1:55:03if if we do the RFP right, we could have

1:55:07that same sort of model where they leave

1:55:09us a space and we fit it out for

1:55:12whatever purpose we need, teen center or

1:55:14or whatever.

1:55:17>> Sure.

1:55:18>> Um I really appreciate like the clever

1:55:21thinking of how to make this work

1:55:22without because the numbers for the teen

1:55:24center at Cummings were like 28 point

1:55:26something million dollars like it's such

1:55:27a huge amount. Um, I really appreciate

1:55:30the clever thought process of bringing

1:55:32in possibly community partners. It kind

1:55:33of made me think a little bit of a

1:55:34summer Nova that being in my ward and

1:55:36how there's possibly a community benefit

1:55:38agreement that will allow for space. Um,

1:55:41so it seems like that's kind of

1:55:42something that you're y'all are

1:55:44exploring in terms of how we can also

1:55:47pursue these things without uh

1:55:49necessarily having to find 28 something.

1:55:52Well, through the chair, um I I do want

1:55:54to clarify that um we're not currently

1:55:56thinking about the Cummings in that way

1:55:58because the school committee has control

1:56:00over that. I'm simply telling the body

1:56:02this is something the body can

1:56:04deliberate on on the the disposition of

1:56:06that uh um uh property and and should

1:56:10the committee so choose to do that um we

1:56:12can partner um with with the committee

1:56:15on that.

1:56:19>> Thank you.

1:56:21All right. Um,

1:56:24with that, I have anou on the Cummings

1:56:28Warming Center to authorize the

1:56:30superintendent to sign theou for the

1:56:32Cummings Warming Center. I have a motion

1:56:35by Rep. Patone, seconded by Rep. Beton.

1:56:39Uh, is there anyone who believes we need

1:56:40a roll call vote?

1:56:44All in favor? I. All opposed. Any

1:56:48extensions?

1:56:50Thank you very much. Uh Repone.

1:56:54>> Thank you through the chair. Can I just

1:56:55do a quick followup? So we have this new

1:56:57coupe plan and there was a memo that we

1:57:01received in September from Katiana

1:57:03Ballentine that was the emergency

1:57:04displacement plan for SPS and that was

1:57:07sort of an interim is the plan that this

1:57:10coupe plan is going to supersede

1:57:12that original memo and that is going to

1:57:14become okay. So through the chair,

1:57:16William Fischer, director of emergency

1:57:18management, city of Somerville. Yes. Uh

1:57:20this plan would be the this is the plan.

1:57:22We needed to have something in place for

1:57:24the agreement last year. When I spoke

1:57:26last year, we as a city and myself as a

1:57:30director of emergency management, fairly

1:57:31new still, this was one of many projects

1:57:34I wanted to undertake. And so it was

1:57:35important to us. We needed to get some

1:57:38sort of a a brief document in place. And

1:57:40that's what that did. It just kind of

1:57:42outlined it very briefly. But as you can

1:57:44see in the the new continuity operations

1:57:46plan, it's a lot more comprehensive and

1:57:48I tried to articulate that last time.

1:57:50And I do want to take a moment to

1:57:52recognize all the work that went into

1:57:54this. It was a eight-month process and

1:57:57it involved almost every city department

1:58:00and pretty much almost every school

1:58:01department. It was uh weekly meetings

1:58:04between the school and myself and then

1:58:08working with principles, superintendent,

1:58:11uh teachers, every you know food service

1:58:13staff, special education staff and then

1:58:16once the plan was drafted we conducted a

1:58:20full-scale afteraction sorry after

1:58:21action back up for a second a full-scale

1:58:23tabletop exercise where we simulated a

1:58:25school disruption with I don't even know

1:58:28probably 30 to 35 different departments

1:58:31from schools and the city present and

1:58:34tested the plan and like a lot of things

1:58:37you find gaps. We conducted a full

1:58:40afteraction report review and report

1:58:42with everyone present. Feedback was

1:58:45taken and we made updates to the plan

1:58:47based on those findings. So again,

1:58:49eight-month process and I just want to

1:58:51make sure everyone, you know, listening

1:58:52at home and this body knows that there

1:58:56was a fully engaged participation. And I

1:58:58was actually um very impressed with the

1:59:00amount of uh willingness to participate.

1:59:03Not that I doubted it, but it was neat

1:59:04to see. And this is not stopping now.

1:59:08This will be a plan that will be

1:59:09continuously updated. It's in the plan,

1:59:11the update schedule, but it's it's never

1:59:14done. It is continuously being updated.

1:59:16And the and the goal was never a new

1:59:20location temporarily or permanently. It

1:59:23was continuing

1:59:25the services, the essential educational

1:59:29services. And as we've heard tonight

1:59:30from the the presentations we've heard,

1:59:33education is so much more than learning

1:59:35math or English. There's services that

1:59:37we have to continue. And I wanted to

1:59:39make sure that all those things are

1:59:41captured. So when we do have a

1:59:43disruption to the best of our ability,

1:59:46we continue those. And I think that's

1:59:48what made everyone so willing to come to

1:59:51the table and work through this. So I

1:59:53just wanted to recognize that

1:59:56>> rep

1:59:58to the chair to you. First of all, thank

1:59:59you. I know this has been several years.

2:00:02I mean, I know it's been an eight-month

2:00:03process, but from the perspective of the

2:00:05school committee kind of saying we have

2:00:07to have this and bringing in the talent

2:00:10to the city and making sure that this

2:00:13became a priority. I'm just really proud

2:00:15of the body. I'm proud of the work that

2:00:18you guys have all done. Anybody who

2:00:20worked on the emergency situation from

2:00:23when the Winter Hill School went down,

2:00:25which I'm sure director Ra has very fond

2:00:27memories, I hopefully he and his team

2:00:30and the district team that was involved

2:00:32with that have [clears throat] such a

2:00:34greater amount of confidence in our

2:00:36ability to be much more proactive and

2:00:39more prepared. Um, and not to minimize

2:00:42that work that happened in that

2:00:43situation because that was a dire

2:00:44emergency and it was an incredible the

2:00:47resources that came together to make

2:00:48that happen, but I just it's worth a

2:00:50pause to say, hey, kudos to the body for

2:00:53making sure we wanted this. We expected

2:00:55this, and kudos to the city and the

2:00:57district for making it happen. So, thank

2:00:59you.

2:01:00>> And I appreciate you summarizing and and

2:01:02letting everybody know how much work

2:01:04went into this. It's just really um

2:01:06instrumental.

2:01:10All right. Uh, thank you for

2:01:14There's a hand raise.

2:01:16Oh, sorry, Dr. Salman.

2:01:20Um, yes. Thank you through the chair. I

2:01:22just I I want to just say as a

2:01:24relatively new um school committee

2:01:26member, I was not expecting such a a

2:01:30great synergy between these critical

2:01:32departments. um it's not in many

2:01:37cities and other um bodies. It's it's

2:01:41just not that common. And so for people

2:01:43who are listening in um I just I want to

2:01:47second what um um my colleague Laura Pon

2:01:52said this this isn't this isn't standard

2:01:55operation and it should be and I I want

2:01:56to thank you very much for this. It's

2:01:58it's critical for our city and our

2:02:01people. Thank you.

2:02:02>> Thank you.

2:02:04All right. Thank you so much.

2:02:06>> Thank you.

2:02:07>> Um, appreciation of the grace of the

2:02:11district, we can uh for putting a pin in

2:02:14the district report. We can now go back

2:02:17to the district report.

2:02:20>> Thank you, chair. That was actually it

2:02:22was the enrollment update and the

2:02:24special education part one were the uh

2:02:26focus of the report. And as always, I

2:02:29provide my update on MSBA, but that's

2:02:31the extent of uh the superintendent's

2:02:34report.

2:02:35>> Uh wonderful. Okay, now we are moving

2:02:39right along. Um

2:02:42we're moving on to reports from

2:02:45subcommittees. Do I have a motion? I

2:02:49believe we have seen all of these

2:02:50subcommittee reports. I'm trusting in

2:02:53>> not at not at programs.

2:02:54>> Not at program. So that was the May

2:02:5629th.

2:02:58Um all right. So uh A, B, and C. Um

2:03:04>> I will move to accept the reports from

2:03:07the joint school building facilities and

2:03:09maintenance subcommittee meetings for

2:03:11March 23rd, 2026, April 30th, 2026, and

2:03:15May 21st, 2026.

2:03:17>> Second.

2:03:18>> Thank you. I'm going to for purposes of

2:03:23the record

2:03:26uh the former

2:03:30uh Kim Wells has asked that we call it

2:03:33the school committee meeting for the

2:03:35school building facilities and

2:03:37maintenance subcommittee meeting jointly

2:03:39with the city council committee on

2:03:41school building facilities and

2:03:43maintenance.

2:03:44Uh so the motion is to accept the report

2:03:48of the school building facilities and

2:03:50maintenance subcommittee which maybe we

2:03:52did already. Is that what it said?

2:03:59>> So my friendly amendment uh is for

2:04:06A, B and C

2:04:08is to call them per the request of city

2:04:10staff.

2:04:12The motion would be to accept the report

2:04:14of the school building facilities and

2:04:16maintenance subcommittee

2:04:19>> instead of the joint school buildings

2:04:21and facilities and maintenance

2:04:22subcommittee. Uh accepted.

2:04:24>> Thank you. Uh I hope our city colleagues

2:04:28see that we are hearing them.

2:04:29>> Can I just

2:04:31>> May I?

2:04:32>> Yeah.

2:04:33>> Um just as a point of

2:04:36uh I don't know if anyone cares about

2:04:37this. I'm just going to say it. Um,

2:04:40city staff prepare the um, uh, the

2:04:45summaries of the city council

2:04:48subcommittees.

2:04:50We, school committee members prepare the

2:04:53summaries of our own subcommittees.

2:04:56Um when I am preparing the reports for

2:05:01this

2:05:03school building facilities and

2:05:04maintenance subcommittee,

2:05:07the way I structure it is deliberately

2:05:10as

2:05:12encapsulating encapsulating our meeting.

2:05:15Although I may incidentally mention when

2:05:16a city councelor says something, it is

2:05:18intended to capture our meeting which is

2:05:21just so happens to be held concurrently

2:05:23with the city council's meeting. It's a

2:05:25very strange beast. Um, but that's my

2:05:28intent.

2:05:32>> Thank you for the clarification.

2:05:36>> Um,

2:05:38yeah. So, I'm pretty sure we didn't have

2:05:41a second on the motion.

2:05:42>> I'll second it.

2:05:43>> All right. Great. All right. Go for it.

2:05:45Comments.

2:05:46>> Um, yes. Through you, chair. Uh this is

2:05:50um kind of segus from what went on just

2:05:52recently where we were talking about

2:05:54school buildings um and that the city is

2:05:58working on their capital plan which is

2:06:01you know a fiveyear out. I know we're

2:06:04kind of locked with what we have right

2:06:06now in terms of being at the tab, but at

2:06:09some point it's important for the chair

2:06:11and the superintendent to engage with

2:06:12the city on capital planning because

2:06:16we're our needs are more than building

2:06:18the winter hill. You know, our needs are

2:06:20whatever we think needs to happen to the

2:06:21edgerly in the long run to support

2:06:24central office. our needs are what is

2:06:28our vision for scale and if we have a

2:06:30vision for scale being bigger and

2:06:32growing and whether or not it can do

2:06:33that at the tab building. Um and we also

2:06:36advocate for the needs of families. So

2:06:39whether as a community center or a teen

2:06:41center um again we don't have direct

2:06:43authority over those but we as a body

2:06:46can make advocacy to uh push and and try

2:06:51to prioritize those investments.

2:06:53Obviously, the city has to think about

2:06:54the all all the investments like the

2:06:55safety building and uh concerns about

2:06:58city staff and making sure they have

2:06:59enough offices. So,

2:07:02I'm not sure where it sits right now.

2:07:04Like I said, for me, one of the lynch

2:07:06pins is we need to fund the Winter Hill.

2:07:08And so, as a school committee member,

2:07:10I'm like, we got these buildings and

2:07:12spaces, but at some point, we do need to

2:07:14deliberate on what we want to do with

2:07:16them. Um, but at the same time, we also

2:07:19can and if we wish advocate if we want

2:07:22more for our district other than just

2:07:24sitting back and saying, "Thank you for

2:07:25fixing the Winter Hill. We're not going

2:07:27to ask for anything else because again,

2:07:28they're doing long range thoughts and

2:07:30and long-range planning for capital."

2:07:33So, I just wanted to flag that.

2:07:35>> Uh, thank you for bringing that up. um

2:07:39repetitone. We we engage with the city

2:07:42in a regular basis on a weekly basis to

2:07:44talk about capital investments and I

2:07:46know that this um administration has

2:07:50done that in a more consistent manner. I

2:07:53know we meet we meet as a cabinet often

2:07:55Mik joins those meetings but if there's

2:07:58anything that the committee feels that

2:08:01is a request that might not be that

2:08:04might be outside of what we discuss as

2:08:06the overall needs of the district like I

2:08:08heard you said a scale and I heard you

2:08:10say a teen at teen center those are

2:08:13usually I mean right now we're expanding

2:08:16scale where where it is at the top

2:08:18correct and so that's kind of a

2:08:20short-term need but I the long-term need

2:08:23around a scale and a tin center is one

2:08:26thing that we have discussed but not at

2:08:28the center of of like a more

2:08:30comprehensive uh plan. So if that's the

2:08:32case I think that um I would like to

2:08:35know from the from this body because

2:08:37that would be an addition of something

2:08:40that um would need to be added into in

2:08:43terms of the the multiple items that are

2:08:45in that list.

2:08:48>> Yes. um through the chair. This could be

2:08:52incorporated in long range if we wanted

2:08:54it to. It could be incorporated as a

2:08:56separate conversation on a future

2:08:59regular meeting. Uh I just wanted to

2:09:01flag it because you know what can happen

2:09:03is the city is obviously going to track

2:09:05with the priorities for the city and

2:09:07clearly the city is investing in our

2:09:09schools. There's no question about it.

2:09:10They've invested in the high school.

2:09:12They've invested in um the or planning

2:09:14on investing in the Winter Hill. Um, the

2:09:17tab at one point, not the tab, the scale

2:09:19at one point had been discussed to be at

2:09:201895, which I think we all would know

2:09:24what a lovely synergy that would be to

2:09:26have our adult ed next to our high

2:09:28school where access for students that

2:09:31are whether they're learning English or

2:09:32wanting to have job skills, being able

2:09:34to access the facility at the high

2:09:36school, which we're starting to do more

2:09:37and more, but having it all on a single

2:09:38campus could be incredibly powerful. So,

2:09:41I just wanted to raise that. And then

2:09:43that got pulled out at some point in

2:09:44planning and said, "No, no, no. It's all

2:09:46going to be city offices." So, because

2:09:48we still as a school committee have

2:09:49authority over these buildings, we also

2:09:51still have that ability to have these

2:09:52conversations and be at the table if we

2:09:55so choose as a body to be at the table

2:09:57for these things.

2:10:00>> Thank you, Repone.

2:10:03>> Thank you, Chairu. Um, compliments for

2:10:06uh queuing up this conversation.

2:10:08Repetone. Um, I I think the long range

2:10:12planning

2:10:14committee is the right place for this

2:10:16conversation. Of course, that involves

2:10:18all of us regardless. Um, if we want to

2:10:20do it at a full committee meeting, it's

2:10:22fine by me, but yeah, I I I don't think

2:10:26we want to have it at the school

2:10:28building subcommittee. It doesn't feel

2:10:31it feels like a bigger conversation. Um

2:10:34but I agree these sort of larger

2:10:36pictures should inform our work in other

2:10:39areas. So um you know and I I really

2:10:43applaud the let's have these big

2:10:45conversations. This is something that um

2:10:48I fully endorse. Thanks.

2:10:53>> All right.

2:10:55Thank you. Um All right. So for reports

2:10:57from subcommittees, we have a motion

2:11:02uh by

2:11:04I think it was by Rep. Betone, seconded

2:11:06by Rep. Patone. Uh all those in favor?

2:11:10>> I all opposed. Any extensions?

2:11:14Thank you. Um

2:11:18new business. The Somerville Public

2:11:20Schools continuity of operations annex

2:11:22plan. I believe we've touched on that.

2:11:26Uh does anyone need further info?

2:11:31>> I see

2:11:32>> the only question I'm sorry to the chair

2:11:34uh was that we don't have an action t to

2:11:36take. This is something that we've

2:11:38received.

2:11:38>> Yeah.

2:11:39>> And that are we going to receive revised

2:11:42versions of like what's kind of the

2:11:43process at this point?

2:11:46>> Uh approve it or

2:11:47>> director Dr. Sanon is going to come

2:11:51engage on that. Thank you.

2:11:55>> Hi. Okay. Um, yes, we will be getting

2:11:58reports. They will go primarily to the

2:12:01joint school building uh committee and

2:12:04we will do a more concerted effort to

2:12:07make sure that those reports translate

2:12:08over here. Per theou, they are required

2:12:12to report out within 3 months of theou

2:12:16being voted on and signed on. So, I

2:12:18would say probably around December,

2:12:21January, we should have an update from

2:12:22them. and um myself, Danielle and a

2:12:27handful of other DPW SPS employees are

2:12:30continuously working with them to make

2:12:32sure that it becomes live. And we also

2:12:33want to name the caveat that it is not

2:12:35an ideal plan, right? Like space is

2:12:38limited and the more we think about like

2:12:40a less than ideal situation happening

2:12:43and relocating an entire school, it is

2:12:45is stressful. We would also like to name

2:12:48that the city has been working with us

2:12:50to make repairs to the TAB building also

2:12:54in the thought process that not only are

2:12:56those repairs for our employees who work

2:12:59there, but also making sure that we have

2:13:00a backup to the backup plan in terms of

2:13:02if we ever need to use that space for

2:13:04learning.

2:13:08>> Thank you. Um,

2:13:12all right. I am moving right along to

2:13:16field trips. Motion to approve an

2:13:18October 2nd, 2026

2:13:21um trip for 15 students from Nextway

2:13:23Full Circle visiting Mount Manadnak in

2:13:26Jaffrey, New Hampshire travel via the

2:13:29Nextway Full Circle bus and cost to

2:13:31students $0.

2:13:33>> Second.

2:13:34>> I have a motion by Rep. Patone, seconded

2:13:36by Rep. Lipens. Uh, all in favor? I all

2:13:40opposed. Any abstensions? Okay, we have

2:13:44a diploma

2:13:47>> motion to approve the summer high school

2:13:49diploma for um 2026 for Lucas

2:13:55>> Gomes.

2:13:58>> All right. I have a diploma

2:14:01recommendation by Rep. Pet Pone,

2:14:03seconded by Rep. Beton. All in favor? I.

2:14:07All opposed. Any extensions?

2:14:09Congratulations, Lucas. [applause]

2:14:16All right, I'm looking for a community

2:14:18schools

2:14:20authorization.

2:14:21>> Motion to authorize the chair and the

2:14:23superintendent to sign theou with the

2:14:25UAW Community Schools Union.

2:14:29>> Second.

2:14:31>> All right. I have a motion by Rep.

2:14:32Lippen, seconded by Rep. Eldridge uh to

2:14:36authorize the chair and the

2:14:37superintendent to sign the MOA with the

2:14:39UAW Community Schools Union.

2:14:43Any discussion?

2:14:45All those in favor? I. All opposed? Any

2:14:48abstensions?

2:14:50Thank you. Um, Rep. Patone

2:14:53>> just um through the chair just to thank

2:14:55our um partners in the union for this

2:14:58collaboration and all the work that was

2:15:00done to uh update. I think it's a

2:15:03teacher evaluation program which is

2:15:05huge. It's great for the teachers and

2:15:07it's great for the district and for

2:15:09students. So, I just wanted to name that

2:15:11um appreciation. Thank you.

2:15:13>> Thank you. Couldn't agree more. Um I see

2:15:17some outstanding invoices. I know the

2:15:20chair of our finance team isn't here but

2:15:23uh or finance subcommittee but seeking a

2:15:27motion

2:15:29motion to authorize the payment of the

2:15:31following outstanding FY26 invoices.

2:15:34Learn well 4544

2:15:37for the special education department and

2:15:39the American Red Cross for $586

2:15:43for the health department.

2:15:47All right. I have a motion by Rep.

2:15:50Lipen, second by Rep. Beton. Uh, member

2:15:54Patone.

2:15:55>> Thank you through you, Chair. Uh, I I

2:15:57would just ask that in finance we just I

2:16:00don't think it's normal that we get

2:16:01these outstanding. I'm assuming that we

2:16:02got the bill too late and we couldn't

2:16:03finish them last year, but if they can

2:16:05just report out on it super quickly at

2:16:07the next finance meeting, that would be

2:16:08great to close the loop. Thank you.

2:16:12Um I will make sure that gets relayed to

2:16:15the chair of that subcommittee as well

2:16:17as to Dr. Ba. Um any other comments

2:16:23because I yes I agree that is rare. Uh

2:16:26all those in favor I all opposed any

2:16:30abstensions.

2:16:32All right thank you. uh donations.

2:16:40>> Motion for the um superintendent to with

2:16:43gratitude accept the following donation.

2:16:45Equipment materials through Huber

2:16:47Engineered Woods from Charlotte, North

2:16:49Carolina for valued at 1,700 for the

2:16:53Somerville High School CTE carpentry

2:16:56program.

2:16:59>> Do you have a second?

2:17:02>> Second.

2:17:02>> All right. I have a motion

2:17:05uh by Rep. Lipin, second by Rep.

2:17:08Eldridge.

2:17:10All those in favor? I. All oppose?

2:17:14Any abstensions? Okay, we have a big old

2:17:17acceptance of FY26 grant funds. Who's

2:17:20ready?

2:17:52Start all over again.

2:17:54>> Oh, perfect. I'm starting all over

2:17:55again. I'm going to read them all. Mass

2:17:57Cultural Council, the Argentina School,

2:17:58$5,000 for a new grant creating cozy

2:18:01communities puppet residency for the

2:18:03Mass Cultural Council Healy School.

2:18:05$5,000 new grant for creating cozy

2:18:08communities puppet residency. Mass

2:18:10Cultural Council Brown School $2,500 for

2:18:12a new grant for school chain reactions

2:18:14adventure. Mass Cultural Council

2:18:16Capawano $5,000 for a new grant creating

2:18:19cozy communities puppet residency. Mass

2:18:22Cultural Council Kennedy School $5,000 a

2:18:25new grant creating cozy communities

2:18:27puppet residency. Mass Cultural Council

2:18:29Somerville High School $5,000. New grant

2:18:32Boston Chamber Music Teaching Artists

2:18:34Mass Cultural Council Districtwide

2:18:36$5,000 new grant youth stream Minecraft

2:18:39Engineers Mass Cultural Council at

2:18:41Winter Hill School $5,000 new grant

2:18:43creating cozy communities puppeted

2:18:44residency and a federal grant for

2:18:46hopeless transportation which is

2:18:48districtwide for $9,841

2:18:51uh for operations.

2:18:53>> Second.

2:18:55>> I have a motion by Rep. Patone, second

2:18:57in by Rep. Libens. Uh, Rep. Eldridge.

2:19:02>> Uh, just a quick question. A constituent

2:19:04was wondering what the, uh, creating

2:19:06cozy communities public residency is.

2:19:08Sounds great, but just wanting more

2:19:11context.

2:19:13>> Dr. Boston,

2:19:13>> thank you through the chair. So, this is

2:19:15a long-standing um kind of partnership

2:19:18that we've had. I mean, I I actually in

2:19:19doing some research on this grant found

2:19:21a press release from um the 2023 school

2:19:25year where we actually profiled uh this

2:19:27resident who literally um shares uh does

2:19:32puppet puppetry, I believe that's the

2:19:35proper way to say it. Uh performs with

2:19:37puppets for students um and and through

2:19:41an educational way um for over a few

2:19:45course of few weeks. So, um I can find

2:19:48out I can probably share the exact

2:19:51puppet resident that's going to um there

2:19:54was a profile of the the puppet resident

2:19:56in 2023. I'm not sure if it's going to

2:19:58be the same person. Um but it it's been

2:20:02a long-standing um partnership over many

2:20:04years. So, I can find that more

2:20:05information on that and share.

2:20:09>> Thank you so much. I'd love to pass that

2:20:10information on. Thank you.

2:20:14Couldn't [laughter]

2:20:16agree more. Um, all right. Exciting. Uh,

2:20:22thank you to the Mass Cultural Council.

2:20:24Um,

2:20:26I have a motion by Rep. Pone, seconded

2:20:28by Rep Lippens. All in favor? I. All

2:20:31opposed. Any abstensions?

2:20:34Great. Okay. Uh, community or calendar

2:20:37items from committee members. I am going

2:20:39to yet again note that our next meeting

2:20:41is September 28th.

2:20:44Rep. Liippids.

2:20:46>> The Kennedy School is having their

2:20:48coffee hour tomorrow at 8:30 um a.m.

2:20:51Please join us. I believe the discussion

2:20:53will be about traffic and parking and

2:20:55some city councilors will also be in

2:20:57attendance

2:20:59as well as myself.

2:21:03>> Rep.

2:21:04>> Thank you uh through your chair. I was

2:21:06just going to comment on that to just

2:21:08let members know that there's been a lot

2:21:10of concern about the changes to parking

2:21:14due to the MB be elacin connector

2:21:16project that's added bike lanes and

2:21:18reduced parking around the Kennedy

2:21:20school. And so um w 5 counselor Naima

2:21:24Sate has been um instrumental in

2:21:27connecting with the city and discussing

2:21:29concerns around parking. Um uh and I've

2:21:32started some conversations with our

2:21:34chief of staff who's not here anymore.

2:21:36Um as well as Daniel Barry about

2:21:39concerns about supervision. So it'll be

2:21:41it's going to be really just a listening

2:21:43session, but I just wanted to let other

2:21:44colleagues know that this is going on

2:21:46and change is hard. Um, and I'm not

2:21:48implying that everything's perfect, but

2:21:51um, hopefully we'll figure out to have

2:21:52the best solution to meet um, needs of

2:21:56all parents, ones who want to drop off

2:21:58their kids and ones who have to park and

2:21:59walk in. So, thank you.

2:22:03>> Thank you.

2:22:06All right. Any other community or rep?

2:22:09>> Thank you through you. I just wanted to

2:22:12share that um the city is sponsoring a

2:22:16youth climate action fund. I don't know

2:22:18if people have heard about it. They had

2:22:20a kickoff last week that I was able to

2:22:22attend. The mayor was at it and it's an

2:22:24incredible program that's open to

2:22:26students. Don't quote me, but I think

2:22:28it's 14 to 24 that are associated with

2:22:31at least one student or two students

2:22:32that are at Somerville public schools.

2:22:34It can be like a tough student, could be

2:22:35whomever, but these are grants that are

2:22:38funded by Bloomberg and we have a total

2:22:42of $50,000.

2:22:44So, I really want to encourage students

2:22:46to consider this. It's very exciting. Uh

2:22:49I think that some of this work can also

2:22:50dovetail into students echoes or

2:22:52capstone projects. So, it doesn't

2:22:54necessarily mean that it's going to have

2:22:56to be multiple projects for kids,

2:22:58particularly seniors, but that they can

2:22:59get some money to do their work. So, um

2:23:02I don't have a URL, but if you um search

2:23:04on Somerville Youth Climate Action Fund,

2:23:07you should be able to find the

2:23:08information. But, um kudos to the city

2:23:10and for the students. We had about seven

2:23:12or eight students that signed up um or

2:23:14showed up for the initial session.

2:23:19>> Exciting. Repridge,

2:23:22>> I just wanted to share an update I

2:23:23received from the Argento PTA that will

2:23:26be at Fluff Festival on Saturday in

2:23:29Union Square. Uh they'll be selling

2:23:30chocolate chip marshmallows, have um

2:23:32AFAS swag and Union Square discount

2:23:35cards if you want to go get your fluff

2:23:37on.

2:23:40Repeat.

2:23:42>> Thank you through your chair. Um at the

2:23:44last meeting I uh overlooked and I did

2:23:47want to do a formal thank you to um

2:23:50Representative Eldridge who organized

2:23:52the school committee's representation at

2:23:54the welcome back fair. It was so well

2:23:57done. Uh it was an interactive session

2:23:59where students were able to design their

2:24:00own pencils and also engage in

2:24:02conversation about how they were feeling

2:24:05about going back to school. And I just

2:24:06really wanted to compliment and

2:24:08appreciate uh uh Representative Eldridge

2:24:11as well as um Representative um Lipins

2:24:13who came and I came as well. But um I

2:24:16just wanted to say that publicly because

2:24:17it really was work [applause]

2:24:19and it really reflects how we want a

2:24:23school committee to be in community. So

2:24:25thank you. Agreed.

2:24:30Thank you. Um, okay. We're going to move

2:24:35on to

2:24:38uh upcoming meeting. So, as we know,

2:24:41next week we get or two weeks, two weeks

2:24:43from now, 28th 28th uh special education

2:24:47part two department uh presentation and

2:24:51then some updates on assessment and

2:24:54MCCAST. Um

2:24:58would you like to say go ahead Dr. Boss

2:25:00Davis?

2:25:00>> Yes, thank you. Just uh through the

2:25:02chair just want to let you know that we

2:25:03are pushing the MCCAST and assessment

2:25:05presentation to the October 5th meeting

2:25:08because uh last year the uh MCCAST data

2:25:12was not publicly released until

2:25:13September 29th. So there's a chance that

2:25:16it's not publicly released and therefore

2:25:19we would need to push it um to the next

2:25:21following meeting.

2:25:23So, so the data that we've gotten about

2:25:25our individual children is not part of a

2:25:27public release.

2:25:31>> That is correct. So, we don't

2:25:32>> Good to know.

2:25:33>> We don't um yet share that data publicly

2:25:37um or we and we also can't get district

2:25:40comparisons to the state and official um

2:25:44information like that until it is

2:25:45publicly released.

2:25:46>> Thank you. That's very useful. Um, I

2:25:50would also like to note there was an a

2:25:52request made,

2:25:54October 5th. Is it possible to start the

2:25:58meeting at 6:30 instead of 7? Uh,

2:26:05it that is our uh celebration of those

2:26:10uh

2:26:11amazing educators who have gotten

2:26:13professional teacher status and new

2:26:15administrators. And my understanding is

2:26:17there will be over 50 people invited. Uh

2:26:21so we should be ready for a joyful long

2:26:24celebratory

2:26:26uh event and with that no uh October 5th

2:26:31the ask is that the meeting starts at

2:26:336:30 on October 5th. If I I got one

2:26:36thumbs up if I see two if I see three

2:26:40I'm four. Yep.

2:26:42The Google calendar shows the joint

2:26:44school buildings facility at at 6. Is

2:26:47that wrong? On October 5th,

2:26:50>> um the school building facilities

2:26:54maintenance meeting is scheduled for the

2:26:566th, Tuesday the 6th.

2:26:57>> Okay, great.

2:26:58>> At six o'clock.

2:26:59>> Okay. It was just on the Google, but

2:27:00that means it needs to be changed. Thank

2:27:02you. Great. Yeah, it's important. Um All

2:27:05right. Does that mean do I get a thumbs

2:27:07up? Okay. So, we have a quorum thumbs

2:27:10up. So, we will take that and uh at our

2:27:13meeting on the 28th, I will also remind

2:27:15us again that we will be starting at

2:27:176:30. Uh we'll make sure to bring two

2:27:19sheetcakes this time. Um that's a whole

2:27:23lot of celebrating. That's wonderful

2:27:24news. Um all right,

2:27:27>> clarification, chair.

2:27:28>> Yep.

2:27:28>> Uh the next meeting that we have

2:27:32September 28th,

2:27:33>> yes,

2:27:33>> we will start at a regular time of 7

2:27:36o'clock.

2:27:37>> That is correct. It is the following

2:27:38meeting on October 5th that we are

2:27:41asking to start at 6:30.

2:27:42>> Excellent. Thank you.

2:27:43>> Thank you. Yes. September 28th, 7 p.m.

2:27:46Um,

2:27:48all right.

2:27:51We have our information on upcoming

2:27:52meetings. Uh, vice chair, do we have any

2:27:55condolences?

2:27:55>> We do not.

2:27:56>> All right. With that, at 9:29 p.m., we

2:27:58are adjourned. Thank you.