It’s our nineteenth meeting of the year, on the nineteenth of October! Exciting stuff, especially for those of us born, as my children like to say, in the 1900s.
Agenda | Recording | Transcript
The meeting began with the usual roll call, salute the flag, and consent agenda approval. Then, before jumping into the Mustang Moment, the superintendent made a statement about the day’s big news, a Boston Globe article about the hiring and subsequent dismissal of the district’s previous Band teacher due to allegations of inappropriate conduct with students when he taught in Florida (note: no reports of such activities here in Medford). The statement referenced the district’s response to the article (said response is available on the MPS website and will be entered into the record for this meeting) and a forthcoming “external review” of hiring practices. This was not on the posted agenda (and thus not subject to discussion) so I am going to leave it at that and move on to your regularly scheduled recap. As always, observations and opinions are entirely my own.
Our Mustang Moment was a whole roomful of Roberts Rams sharing their experience and answering questions about their in-progress cardboard chair challenge in the newly expanded after school program. I highly recommend watching the trailer; it will make you want to stand up and chair. (Sorry, did that not sit well with you?)
Their presentation segued nicely into the first update, all about the expanded after school programs in the elementary schools. Program director Kaytie Dowcett shared a summary of the timeline since she was hired in July and details about the staffing, training, enrollment, wait lists, and funding models for the program. Notable for me were the descriptions of the staff members’ responsibilities (STEAM, sports & movement, kindergarten, and inclusion along with site directors and group leaders), the expansion of the tiered model for financial aid, and the coordination with the school-day experience. The committee had a number of questions (high school aides, coordination with schools and other afterschool programs, financial sustainability, transportation, and the wait list reductions) and abundant thanks for the work done by so many to get this program to where it is today.
The next two presentations were about the HVAC/roofing projects at the elementary schools. As you may recall, Medford submitted three applications to the MSBA’s resurrected “Accelerated Repair Program” to replace the HVAC, repair the roofs, and prepare for electrification of the three elementary schools, and, somewhat unexpectedly, all three were accepted. This is both good—having been built at the same time, all three schools’ equipment are all coming to their end of their lives—and bad—all three projects will need doing within the next three years. A major driver for this is the 53.23% reimbursement from the MSBA.
Several meetings ago we authorized the Roberts work (this will be reviewed by the MSBA at the end of the month) so this meeting it was Missituk’s turn. Of note, the two projects will be about a year apart (summers 2027 and 2028 for Roberts, 2028 and 2029 for Missituk) and Brooks will soon follow.
Most of the discussion was around the tradeoffs between an Air to Water Heat Pump (AWHP) and a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP). Roberts was already approved as an AWHP, on the basis of both cost and minimizing disruption to the neighborhood if geothermal wells were to be installed up at Hickey Park (a few blocks from the Roberts, for those unfamiliar with the neighborhood). Missituk, however, was a different story, as the nearby Columbus Park provides a much closer access point for aforementioned wells. The committee ultimately voted 6-1 to direct the project team to move forward with the GSHP option. The main concern was upfront (construction) cost but in my opinion, this site presents the best opportunity to invest in geothermal and, with that investment, a higher potential to reduce ongoing operating and energy costs over the next 2-3 decades. So while the additional $1.1 million (after anticipated incentives) didn’t feel great, it *did* feel good to make a choice that looks to the future rather than just the present, as well as one that could potentially move us off the cycle of all-schools-at-once in need of emergency equipment replacement. (If you’ve been following along, you may remember that we’ve already made unanticipated replacements at all four elementary schools since I began serving on the school committee less than three years ago. The other questions, which didn’t really influence the decision, were about the solar readiness and the roof (which needs a full replacement rather than just a repair).
Less involved was the decision to hire a Construction Manager At Risk for the Roberts project. Although the costs are less assured than they would be for a fixed-cost hire, this model has built-in flexibility and, with the expectation of extending the contracted services over into the Missituk and Brooks projects, will reduce the site learning curve and duplicative work for the remaining two sites since all three buildings were built by the same company at roughly the same time. With that unanimous decision, we remain on track for MSBA Board approval and the project timelines described earlier.
The final presentation of the night was Mr. Noel Velez, sharing the first-ever quarterly fiscal update. It’s a single slide if you want to view it on YouTube. Members Ruseau and Mastrobuoni both provided feedback on additional information they’d want to have in future updates (and a light plug for the municipal finance software, Munis, that we don’t have). Questions were minimal, split between big picture understanding (spending on full-year contracts, encumbrances vs expenditures, etc.) and a few specific budgetary categories (operations & maintenance, pupil transportation). In regards to the latter, Mr. Velez indicated that the numbers most subject to uncertainty were around heating costs and special education transportation, which came as no surprise (to me at least).
That’s it except for the evening’s condolence. Our next meeting is in three weeks, on November 9. Don’t forget to vote before then, and check out the friendly neighborhood polling place bake sales on Election Day to benefit PTOs and various student groups! Heck, even if you vote early (I did!) check out a bake sale! I hear some of the sites will have non-food products for sale as well.