Meeting Recap: 6/15/26

Medford, we are so close to the end of the school year! You’re doing great. Hang in there! Here’s my unofficial summary of the school committee’s last meeting. 

Agenda | Recording

Mustang Moment - A lovely performance by the middle school string ensemble and recognition of spring sports achievement.

Budget approval (taken out of order on the agenda) - Mr. Velez and Mr. McCue walked us through their final budget recommendation, reconciled with the final allocation from the city ($1.35 million more than the preliminary allocation, and ~$850k less than our official request). The presentation described the cost savings/reductions enacted to close the gap, including staffing adjustments and revised spending analyses, and a handful of restored items/positions since the additional $1.35m was identified. 

Roberts HVAC project - By way of reminder, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) accepted three of Medford’s elementary schools into their accelerated repair program for new HVAC systems. Roberts Elementary is up first. 

Project manager PCA360 and engineers from RFS Engineering presented three options from their feasibility study—air-to-water heat pump, ground source heat pump, air source heat pump. You can watch the full presentation to learn more about what they are, what makes this MSBA program different than the “core” program that the high school is in, how the projects fit into solar and electrification plans, and various findings/projections related to cost, energy, and disruption to the school environment.

After what I thought was a very intriguing suggestion by Member Parks to consider the installation of ground source heat pumps at Hickey Park (rather than on the school grounds), we voted to approve the air-to-water heat pump which was best aligned with the project timeline and budget. It does sound like off-site connection/collaboration with the city is something we ought to keep in mind for the future, however, particularly once we hear back from MSBA as to whether or not off-site installation would be reimbursable. 

Handbooks - As Dr. Galusi said, third time’s the charm! She confirmed the final changes to language in the recess policy (added values statement and principal approval protocol) and academic honesty panel (transparency around panel selection) and we approved them. 

MSBA update - As many know, the school building committee approved the design approach known as C.2.2A, which is a combination of building renovation and new additions. Thursday’s meeting (at the Bistro) will finalize the submission of the Preferred Schematic Report (PSR) to MSBA, which includes preservation of the existing pool and indoor athletic facilities, and (pending building committee approval) some additional space reductions. Also included was the updated educational plan, which the school committee approved unanimously. Over the summer, the city will explore adjacencies and alternative locations for non-grades-9-12 programs (see next item) and there will be various meetings to keep the project moving toward finalizing the spaces in October (including several joint school committee/city council meetings, although I haven’t seen proposed dates yet). 

Educational plan - As part of the PSR, the MSBA and the building requested updates to the educational plan, which (spoiler alert) the school committee approved unanimously. Architect SMMA’s Educational Planner Rosemary provided an overview, noting that the comments were typical compared with other high school projects and that a number of the requests were designed to clarify what is and is not reimbursable [not, I will add, to pass any sort of official judgement on the inclusion of non-reimbursable items in the project]. 

Dr. Galusi shared the details of the updates to the ed plan, which we had all received via email in advance, and walked us through the space reductions already approved by the building committee (designed to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency). Plan updates included the addition of headings to distinguish current programming from proposed programming, more detail on non-Chapter 74 activities (arts, technology, etc. that are not part of the vocational programs), and fleshing out some of the curriculum delivery and scheduling narratives. 

Resolution to Collaborate on Space Alternatives Study with the City of Medford (another out-of-order vote) - Member Parks and I presented a resolution to make explicit the procedure for navigating the sharing of information and decision-making around aforementioned space adjacencies and alternatives. In layperson’s terms, that’s the analysis of whether or not it makes sense to design and build spaces for non-reimbursable community programs in the new high school. 

New Business - I introduced formal language for our AI policy to explicitly prohibit the use of AI tools to assign grades to student work. This was approved and the second reading waived (at my request because we had already reviewed this language for the handbooks once before). My second resolution was to set a schedule for superintendent goal-setting, mid-year review, and evaluation. This passed, with an amendment from Member Olapade to build in a formal updating of goals mid-year. 

Adjournment. Our if-needed summer meetings will be July 20 and August 24, and I think there’s a strong likelihood that one or both will happen. There’s a lot going on!