[00:00:02]
GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE.UH, WITH THE QUORUM BEING PRESENT, I WANTED TO CALL THIS AFTERNOON'S MARCH 4TH JOINT ROUND TABLE MEETING OF THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE TO ORDER.
THE PURPOSE OF TODAY'S MEETING IS TO DISCUSS THE FY 27 CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOL BUDGET PRIORITIES.
[ROLL CALL]
OF BUSINESS IS A ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS PRESENT FROM THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.CLERK OF COMMITTEES, IRWIN COUNCILOR ZU.
PRESENT, PRESENT, VICE ABSENT.
THAT'S SIX MEMBERS PRESENT, AND THREE RECORDED AS ABSENT.
AND FOUR, THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
PRESENT, PRESENT, MEMBER SIDIKI.
RECORDED AS ABSENT PER CHAPTER TWO OF THE ACTS OF 2025.
ADOPTED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL COURT, APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR.
THE CITY'S AUTHORIZED TO USE REMOTE PARTICIPATION IN MEETINGS OF THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
YOU CAN ALSO VIEW THE MEETING VIA THE CITY'S OPEN MEETING PORTAL OR ON THE CITY'S CABLE CHANNEL 22.
THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC COMMENT TODAY.
IF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT ANY WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS, THEY CAN EMAIL THEM TO CITY CLERK@CAMBRIDGEMA.GOV.
[COMMUNICATIONS FROM OTHER CITY OFFICERS]
GREAT.UM, WE HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM, UM, OUR SCHOOL, UH, FOLKS TODAY.
AND SO WE'LL GO AHEAD, UH, WITH THAT.
THEY'LL BE HOPEFULLY GETTING THROUGH IT, UH, FAIRLY QUICKLY.
UH, AND THEN WE'LL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS FROM THE, UH, CITY COUNCIL.
AND THEN OF COURSE, THE, OUR SCHOOL COMMITTEE CAN ALSO, UH, WEIGH IN.
WE'VE, WE'VE BEEN MORE FAMILIAR WITH THIS, UM, THAN THE, UH, CITY COUNCIL.
UH, BUT YEAH, I'LL PASS IT TO, UM, SUPERINTENDENT MURPHY AND THEN, UM, CFO WASHINGTON.
UH, WELL, UH, BEFORE I DO THAT, MY BUDGET CO-CHAIR, UH, CHAIR WEINSTEIN.
DO YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING? UH, THANK YOU, MAYOR.
I JUST WANTED TO VERY BRIEFLY NOTE THAT, UM, MAYOR SIDIKI AND I ARE SERVING AS, UH, BUDGET CO-CHAIRS.
UM, THIS IS A BUDGET CYCLE THAT SPANS, YOU KNOW, TWO SCHOOL COMMITTEES AND OBVIOUSLY TWO, UH, CITY COUNCILS AS WELL.
AND, UH, WHILE I, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO, UM, YOU KNOW, GET TOGETHER AND LOOK AT THIS BUDGET, UM, PLANNING PROCESS AT THIS STAGE.
UH, THANK YOU TO SUPERINTENDENT MURPHY AND CFO WASHINGTON, UH, FOR THE WORK YOU'RE DOING AND FOR THIS IN ADVANCE FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND LAST TIME THAT WE MET, UH, TOGETHER SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND CITY COUNCIL, UM, ALL OF THE MEMBERS, SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS ELECT, UM, JOINED US, UH, WHICH WAS REALLY APPRECIATED, VERY VALUABLE.
AND BECAUSE THEY HAD NOT YET BEEN SWORN IN, WE'RE NOT ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT CONVERSATION.
SO IT'S, YOU KNOW, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TOGETHER.
UM, SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THAT, I'M, I'LL HAND IT OVER, UM, BACK TO THE MAYOR.
UH, BUT I, AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR ALL, FOR BEING HERE.
I LOOK FORWARD TO THE CONVERSATION.
AND COUNCILOR MCGOVERN IS PRESENT, PRESENT, PRESENT, SUPERINTENDENT, UH, THANK YOU MAYOR, AND MESSAGE RECEIVED ON, UH, MOVING EFFICIENTLY THROUGH THIS PRESENTATION.
SO, UM, I WANNA THANK THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR JOINING US, AND OF COURSE, UM, A WELCOME BACK TO, UH, THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE WHO I FEEL LIKE WE, WE JUST LEFT HERE JUST A SHORT TIME AGO.
UM, SO TONIGHT, UH, THIS IS THE RESCHEDULED ROUND TABLE ON THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGET.
UM, I THINK MS. WASHINGTON, ARE YOU CONTROLLING THE SLIDES? I AM NOT.
WHOEVER IS, FEEL FREE TO, UM, MOVE, UH, TO THE NEXT ONE.
UM, SO AGAIN, TONIGHT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, THE, THE, OUR BUDGET PROCESS, UM, UH, SPECIFYING AND EXTENDING OUR GRATITUDE TO, UH, THE CITY ADMINISTRATION, UH, AND THE CITY GOVERNMENT FOR THE, UH, BUDGETARY INCREASE THAT WE'LL BE SEEING.
MS. WASHINGTON WILL WALK US THROUGH SOME OF THE BACKGROUND, SORT OF STRUCTURAL PIECES OF OUR BUDGET THAT ARE REALLY IMPORTANT FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW OUR BUDGET COMES TOGETHER, UM, THROUGH A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS, UH, WITH THE, THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
UM, I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR, UM, THE, THE PRIORITIES AND HOW WE ARE ENVISIONING, UM,
[00:05:01]
THIS, UH, NEXT ROUND OF INVESTMENT BY THIS COMMUNITY IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.AND THEN, OF COURSE, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING YOUR QUESTIONS, UH, AND HEARING YOUR COMMENTS.
SO AGAIN, THIS IS THE TIMELINE.
UM, WE TRY TO HAVE A VERY INCLUSIVE BUDGET PROCESS, UM, AS PART OF, UH, THE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGET.
NOT, NOT JUST BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET INPUT, BUT BECAUSE IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO ARTICULATE THE GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND PRIORITIES THAT WILL GUIDE US THROUGH THIS FISCAL YEAR.
UH, AND CERTAINLY WE'LL BE HELPING TO INFORM OUR UPCOMING STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS.
UM, SO, UH, PROCEEDING THE DATES THAT ARE IN FRONT OF YOU.
UM, AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE STARTING FROM, FROM, UH, TODAY.
UM, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS, HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH A LOT OF CAREGIVERS AS WELL AS STAFF, UH, AND HAD A, WE'VE HAD A SERIES OF UPDATES, UH, TO THE, UM, BOTH THE PROCEEDING SCHOOL COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE COMMITTEE THAT TOOK OFFICE IN JANUARY TALKING ABOUT HOW, UM, WE'RE FORMULATING, UH, PRIORITIES IN WAYS THAT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON STUDENTS AND MAKING GOOD ON THE CITY'S INVESTMENT IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
WE CAN, UH, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UH, THESE ARE THE AFOREMENTIONED, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS, SO WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, AND SO HERE, UM, THIS ESSENTIALLY, UH, TALKS ABOUT, UM, HOW THE BUDGET IS CONSTRUCTED.
UM, YOU CAN, UH, SORT OF SEE HERE THAT, UH, BASED ON THE INCREASES, UM, THERE, THERE'S A NUMBER OF ESTABLISHED COSTS AND FIXED COSTS THAT ARE INCREASING AS THEY ARE, UM, IN ALL SCHOOL SYSTEMS. UM, THERE ARE CERTAIN BUDGETARY PRESSURE POINTS THAT ARE HIGHLIGHTED HERE.
YOU CAN SEE OUR SPECIAL EDUCATION TUITION, UM, IS GOING UP.
UM, THAT IS A, A FACT OF LIFE IN SCHOOL SYSTEMS AND SOMETHING THAT, UM, OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM AND ALL OTHERS ARE GRAPPLING WITH.
IT'S ALSO SOMETHING THAT, UM, BECAUSE OF BEING AS WELL RESOURCED AS WE ARE, WE'RE RELATIVELY WELL POSITIONED TO TRY TO ADDRESS AS BEST WE CAN TO TRY TO, AGAIN, FIRST AND FOREMOST DO RIGHT BY OUR STUDENTS, BUT ALSO, UM, PUT US ON A, A PATH TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY, UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE HAVING THE TYPE OF, UH, INTERNAL PROGRAM, PROGRAMMATIC DEVELOPMENT THAT, UH, CAN, CAN CONTROL FOR THOSE POTENTIAL, UH, ESCALATORS, UH, MOVING FORWARD.
SO, UM, MOST OF THESE ARE, ARE RELATIVELY TYPICAL, UH, INCREASES.
THE FACILITIES INCREASE, CERTAINLY STANDS OUT, UM, THAT IS ATTRIBUTABLE IN PART TO, UM, THE NEW FACILITIES THAT ARE COMING ONLINE, UH, AND ARE, UM, UH, I, IN MY VIEW, OUTSTANDING INVESTMENTS ON THE PART OF THE COMMUNITY AND, AND CREATING THE TYPE OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS WE WANT FOR OUR STUDENTS.
BUT THERE ARE ADDITIONAL COSTS THAT COME WITH THAT, AT LEAST IN THE SHORT TERM, AND THAT'S, UM, REFLECTED IN THESE INCREASES.
I KNOW I, I FULLY EXPECT THERE'LL BE SOME QUESTIONS ON THIS, BUT TO THE MAYOR'S POINT EARLIER, I'M GONNA TRY TO MOVE ON, UH, AS QUICKLY AS I CAN THROUGH THIS PRESENTATION SO THAT WE CAN FOCUS, UH, THE DISCUSSION ON, UM, AREAS THAT ARE OF INTEREST TO MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OR THE COMMITTEE.
SO WE, MADAM MAYOR AND THE SUPERINTENDENT, IF IT'S OKAY TO JUST MENTION TWO QUICK THINGS.
FOR THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO HAVE SEEN THIS SLIDE, A NUMBER OF TIMES, THE NUMBERS THAT ARE DIFFERENT ON HERE FROM THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS, THE FACILITIES NUMBER IS SLIGHTLY HIGHER, AND THE SPECIAL EDUCATION TUITION NUMBER IS HIGHER.
UM, AND FOR THE CITY COUNCILORS, THANK YOU FOR HAVING US.
UM, THE LAST LINE, UM, MIGHT BE OF INTEREST TO THE FOLKS ON CITY COUNCIL WHO MAY REMEMBER THAT CITY COUNCIL VOTED A FEW YEARS BACK, 2022 TO, UM, TO FUND M-B-T-A-A PASSES FOR OUR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
THAT MONEY IS NOT NECESSARILY, IN ADDITION, IT'S TRANSFERRING FROM THE CITY BUDGET, OPERATIONS BUDGET TO THE SCHOOL'S OPERATION BUDGET, BUT IT'S NOT ACTUALLY A CHANGE IN, IN PRACTICE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO LET FOLKS KNOW ABOUT THOSE TWO QUICK THINGS.
UM, AGAIN, WE, WE CAN COME BACK TO AREAS WHERE PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS, BUT WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
I THINK THIS IS JUST THE SORT OF BACKGROUND AS TO HOW THE BUDGET COMES TOGETHER.
AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, THIS, IN THIS COMMUNITY, UM, WE ARE NOT OVERLY DEPENDENT ON, UH, THE CHAPTER 70 FUNDING, UM, FROM THE STATE.
UH, WE HAVE A, A, A LARGE SORT OF LOCAL BASE IN WHICH, UM, THAT MAKES UP THE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR INVESTMENT.
BUT YOU CAN ALSO SEE THIS CORRESPONDING INCREASES HERE, UM, AND HOW, YOU KNOW, THE, THE VARIOUS, UH, FUNDING SOURCES IN WHICH WE'RE, WE'RE RELIANT.
THEN WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE.
SO THIS JUST REFLECTS THIS, AGAIN, THE, THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND, AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT FOLLOWED THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF THIS DATA PREVIOUSLY.
UM, WHAT THIS SLIDE REFLECTS IS THE SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC EDUCATION THAT THIS CITY HAS MADE OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, AND HOW THAT, IN, HOW THAT INVESTMENT HAS INCREASED, UH, UH, TO, TO A SIGNIFICANT ORDER OF MAGNITUDE IN RECENT YEARS.
UM, THIS IS OUR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW WITH, UM, A, AN INCREASE IN, IN THE 4.5 TO 4.7 RANGE.
UM, WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE EXTENT TO WHICH THERE, THAT OUR COMMUNITY PRIORITIZES PUBLIC EDUCATION.
[00:10:01]
I THINK THERE, THERE'S VERY FEW, UH, WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN SORT OF CAPTURE THE EXTENT OF THAT PRIORITIZATION, UM, AS EFFECTIVELY AS WE DO IN THIS SLIDE.UM, AND AS YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S BEEN SOME SIGNIFICANT, UM, SPECIFIC INITIATIVES, UH, INCLUDING THE LENGTHENING OF THE SCHOOL DAY.
THAT IS A BIG PART OF HOW AND WHY THAT INVESTMENT HAS INCREASED.
UM, BUT I'LL JUST SAY HERE, WHAT I SAY TO OUR TEAM FREQUENTLY, WHICH IS THAT IN LIGHT OF THIS INVESTMENT, UM, THERE'S A RESPONSIBILITY ON OUR PART IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO HOLD OURSELVES TO A HIGHER STANDARD TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAXIMIZING, UH, THE, THE, THE IMPACT ON STUDENTS THAT THIS INVESTMENT REPRESENTS.
UH, THE ONE THING THAT'S TRUE FOR ALL SCHOOL SYSTEMS, THIS ONE, UH, INCLUDED, UM, WE ARE A LARGELY, WE ARE A PERSONNEL INVESTMENT, UM, THAT IS THE NATURE OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
THE INVESTMENT IS ABOUT DEVELOPING, UH, UH, PEOPLE THROUGH THE USE OF, UH, HUMAN CAPITAL.
UM, AND, UH, IT'S THE, THE DRIVER OF OUR BUDGET AND EVERY OTHER BUDGET ARE, UH, THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS THAT, UM, UH, ENCOMPASS THE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR, OF OUR PERSONNEL.
UM, BUT IT ALSO, I THINK, SPEAKS TO THE SORT OF RELATIVELY MARGINAL, UM, UH, IMPACT THAT OTHER, UH, TYPES OF EITHER REDUCTIONS OR EFFICIENCIES, UH, CAN REPRESENT.
IF, IF THERE WAS A WIDGET BUDGET THAT WE COULD DECREASE IN ORDER TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON MAXIMIZING, UH, QUALITY INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS, WE WOULD, WE WOULD DO THAT.
BUT, UM, WE DO, WE DO NOT MAKE WIDGETS.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S NO BUDGET TO REDUCE IN THAT SENSE.
BUT I THINK WE CAN KEEP GOING.
UH, MS. WASHINGTON, DO YOU WANNA SPEAK TO THE, UH, BIRTH RATE PIECE? SURE, ABSOLUTELY.
SO THIS SLIDE, WE, WE DO EACH YEAR.
IT WAS NEW LAST YEAR, BUT WE THOUGHT, UM, FOLKS FOUND IT HELPFUL TO SEE BOTH THE BIRTH RATE IN CAMBRIDGE, UM, AS WELL AS, UM, HOW THAT TRANSLATES INTO KINDERGARTNERS FIVE YEARS LATER.
SO THAT'S THE TWO DIFFERENT SCALES THAT YOU'RE SEEING ON THIS CHART.
UM, AND AS YOU CAN SEE THERE, THERE WAS A, A BIG SHIFT IN 2008, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE, UM, WHERE THE COVID PANDEMIC HAD AN IMPACT.
BUT YOU CAN ALSO SEE THAT THERE'S NOT NECESSARILY A, A FULL DOWNWARD TREND, WHICH WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT A COUPLE YEARS AGO.
SO WHEN WE SAW 20, 20, 21, 22, 23, THAT THAT DECLINE STRAIGHT DOWN, WE WERE WORRIED IT MIGHT CONTINUE IN THAT WAY, BUT WE'VE BOUNCED BACK A LITTLE IN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
AND SO WE'RE HOPING THAT MEANS WE'VE SORT OF LEVELED OFF, WHICH IS HELPFUL FOR US IN TERMS OF PLANNING AND SORT OF, UM, THINKING ABOUT ENROLLMENT AND, AND HAVING, UM, SOME UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE THAT'S GOING GOING FORWARD.
WE ARE SEEING IN GENERAL, A, A SLIGHT DECLINE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE PROJECTING IN THE LONG TERM.
UM, AND SO THIS SLIDE, UM, IS A LITTLE BIT SHOWING THAT AS WELL.
UM, BUT IN TERMS OF, UM, THE CITY INFORMATION IS REALLY HELPFUL.
WE GET IT FROM THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE, UM, WHICH IS FANTASTIC.
UM, AND THEY ACTUALLY, UM, WE ALWAYS ARE LOOKING NOT ONLY AT WHAT WE'RE SEEING, UM, IN THE CAMBRIDGE PRESCHOOL PROGRAM IN CPP, IN KINDERGARTEN, AND IN OUR, UM, IN OUR GRADES AS THEY COME, BUT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT THESE TRENDS, UM, AT BIRTH TO SEE IF WE CAN PREDICT ANYTHING ABOUT CHANGES IN THE FUTURE.
CAN WE, UM, SO, UH, I, DO YOU WANNA KEEP GOING IVY, AND THEN I'LL, I'LL JUMP IN WHEN WE GET BACK TO THE PRIORITIES? UH, SURE, ABSOLUTELY.
SO, UM, WE JUST, THIS IS A REMINDER PARTICULARLY FOR THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, JUST OF HOW OUR STAFFING WORKS SINCE IT IS SUCH A HUGE PART OF OUR BUDGET.
UM, WE, UM, HAVE BASE LEVEL POSITIONS THAT ARE THE SAME AT EVERY SCHOOL.
UM, THAT'S PRINCIPAL, ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, PSYCHOLOGISTS, SOCIAL WORKER.
WE HAVE A NUMBER OF POSITIONS, MANY POSITIONS THAT ARE BASE LEVEL THAT ALL SCHOOLS HAVE.
WE THEN HAVE POSITIONS LIKE CLASSROOM TEACHERS THAT ARE DRIVEN BY THE ENROLLMENT, AND THEN WE HAVE STUDENT NEED-BASED, UM, STAFFING REQUIREMENTS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION, UM, ENGLISH LEARNERS, UM, THOSE SORTS OF FOLKS.
SO THAT IS REALLY THE, THE SORT OF TIERED APPROACH THAT WE HAVE TO STAFFING THE SCHOOLS.
UM, AND AS THE SUPERINTENDENT MENTIONED, UM, RIGHT, OUR, OUR SORT OF ALLOCATION LOOKS MUCH LIKE ALL OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR FUNDING IS GOING TOWARD, UM, OUR PERSONNEL.
AND THAT'S REALLY, UM, THE SORT OF KEY DRIVER OF BOTH OUR BUDGET AND OUR EXPENSES.
UM, AND WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THE NEXT SLIDE IS, UM, ABOUT CHARTER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT.
SO WE SHARED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT ENROLLMENT IN THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
JUST WE HAD A QUESTION FROM A, A SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER ABOUT SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CHARTER SCHOOLS.
UM, SO EVEN THOUGH THERE MAY NOT BE AS MUCH OF A DIRECT IMPACT ON THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OPERATIONAL BUDGET, IT DOES, IT DOES IMPACT IN TERMS OF THE, THE REVENUE AND THE, THE NET REVENUE OF PROPERTY TAXES COMING FROM THE CITY.
UM, AND OBVIOUSLY THEN, UM, IT DOES IMPACT THE CITY'S BUDGET.
UM, BUT YOU CAN SEE THERE'S ALSO BEEN SORT OF A DOWNWARD TREND IN, UM, CHARTER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT.
BUT, UM, WE'RE AT ABOUT 475 STUDENTS THAT ARE CAMBRIDGE STUDENTS ATTENDING CHARTER SCHOOLS.
[00:15:01]
NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE THE BREAKDOWN.THE VAST MAJORITY OF THOSE STUDENTS, THAT 4 73, ALMOST, UM, MORE THAN NINE, UH, 98.5% ARE ATTENDING BENJAMIN BANNEKER, UM, THE COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL OF CAMBRIDGE OR PROSPECT HILL ACADEMY.
UM, AND THEN THERE ARE A FEW OTHER SCHOOLS, THOSE CHANGE FROM YEAR TO YEAR.
THERE MIGHT BE ONE OR TWO STUDENTS AT THOSE.
UM, AND WHAT HAPPENS IS THEY RECEIVE THE CPS, THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOL PER PUPIL AMOUNT FOR EACH OF THOSE CAMBRIDGE STUDENTS THAT IS ATTENDING THEIR CHARTER SCHOOL.
UM, AND THAT IT WAS 18 MILLION FOR FY 25.
UM, IN THIS BUDGET, THERE'S, UM, AN ASSUMPTION THAT THAT INCREASES, UM, BY ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS.
UM, AND THEN, UM, WHEN CHARTER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT INCREASES SIGNIFICANTLY, DESI IS REIMBURSING SOME PORTION OF THAT.
SO, UM, SOMETIMES FOLKS WILL SAY, UM, DON'T YOU GET THAT MONEY BACK? BUT IT'S, IT'S REALLY ONLY A PORTION OF THE INCREASE THAT IS, UM, WHAT THE CITY GETS BACK AND FROM DESI TO TRY AND, UM, EVEN OUT THE EXPENSES THAT GO ALONG WITH, UM, THE PER CHILD AMOUNT FOR ALL OF THOSE CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENTS.
UM, AND PART OF THE REASON THAT MIGHT BE RELEVANT, UM, RIGHT NOW IS THAT RECENTLY IN 2024, BENJAMIN BANNEKER ACQUIRED THE, UM, MATIN ON CAMPUS.
AND SO WE, UM, ANTICIPATE THAT THERE MAY BE CHANGES IN TERMS OF THEIR ENROLLMENT WHEN THEY MOVE INTO THEIR BU NEW BUILDING.
I BELIEVE THEY'RE PLANNING ON MOVING IN THIS COMING SUMMER.
UM, SO WE WILL, WE'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE HOW THAT PLAYS OUT, BUT IT MAY BE THAT THEIR ENROLLMENT CHANGES AND POTENTIALLY IT COULD BE GO, COULD CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY BECAUSE THE CAMPUS IS MUCH BIGGER THAN THE SPACE THAT THEY'RE LEASING CURRENTLY.
UM, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, THIS INFORMATION WILL LOOK VERY FAMILIAR BOTH TO SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO HAVE SEEN THIS SLIDE, BUT ALSO TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO I KNOW HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF PRESENTATIONS FROM, UM, CITY STAFF AROUND, UM, WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH, UM, THE, UM, MACROECONOMIC, UM, DRIVERS IN CAMBRIDGE AND OUTSIDE.
UM, AND JUST THIS SLIDE IS, UM, JUST GIVES YOU A SENSE OF SORT OF HOW CAMBRIDGE FITS IN WITH THAT.
UM, SO WE ARE THAT ORANGE SLICE, THAT 28.3%.
UM, AND THEN WE ALSO IN THAT, UM, DEBT SECTION, THE 11% FOR DEBT AND INTEREST, UM, ON CAMBRIDGE PROPERTIES, OBVIOUSLY, UM, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF VERY LARGE, UM, SCHOOL BUILDINGS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THAT 11%.
UM, SO THAT, AND, AND I THINK THE ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN PIECE, MY GUESS IS EVERYONE HAS HEARD PLENTY OF ABOUT THAT, AND WE DON'T NEED TO, DON'T NEED TO COVER THAT AGAIN FOR THIS GROUP.
AND THEN ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WE GET BACK INTO, UM, BUDGET PLANNING AND PRIORITIES.
SO I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO THE SUPERINTENDENT.
UH, THANK YOU, MS. WASHINGTON.
AND SO, AGAIN, MS. WASHINGTON JUST SAID THAT THIS IS A, UH, UM, A GROUP THAT WE'RE PRESENTING TO TONIGHT IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH, UM, THE, THE SORT OF, UH, INCREASING LEVEL OF, OF RISK THAT COMES ALONG WITH ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY AND SOME OF THE AMBIGUITY AROUND, UH, THE MACROECONOMIC CONDITIONS.
SO AS WE GET INTO TALKING IN A MOMENT ABOUT THE PRIORITIES THAT WE'VE AS A SCHOOL DEPARTMENT SET TO TRY TO, AGAIN, MAKE GOOD ON THIS SIGNIFICANT, SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT THAT THE COMMUNITY MAKES IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UM, WE ARE, UH, DEVELOPING THOSE PRIORITIES, UM, SORT OF, UH, AMIDST LIKE THREE SIGNIFICANT VARIABLES IN TERMS OF THE, THE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.
ONE, UM, IT IS A LOWER PROJECTED BUDGET INCREASE THAN IN PAST YEARS.
YOU SAW THE SLIDE EARLIER THAT TALKED ABOUT A 26% INCREASE OVER, UM, FOUR OR FIVE YEARS.
UM, TO BE VERY CLEAR, WE RECOGNIZE THAT, UH, 4.5% PLUS IS A, IS A HEALTHY INVESTMENT, AND IT'S ONE THAT WE'RE GRATEFUL FOR AND WE INTEND TO, UM, REALLY MAXIMIZE, UH, THE IMPACT OF THE, ANOTHER VERY SIGNIFICANT VARIABLE IS THAT WE DO HAVE NINE EXPIRING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.
AND AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THAT IS THE MAJOR DRIVER BEHIND OUR BUDGET.
AND SO WITH THOSE AGREEMENTS COMING UP, THERE IS A LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY THAT THAT NEEDS TO SORT OF HELP, UH, INFLUENCE OUR, OUR PRIORITIZATION AND, AND OUR GOAL SETTING.
AND THEN, UH, THE SORT OF CONNECTED TO THOSE TWO THINGS.
AND, AND I, I THINK CONNECTED TO SORT OF, UM, WHAT I SAID EARLIER ABOUT TRYING TO HOLD OURSELVES TO A HIGHER STANDARD TO MAXIMIZE THAT INVESTMENT.
UM, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE BEING THOUGHTFUL ABOUT, UM, HOW WE, UH, STRUCTURE OUR STAFFING MODELS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE FIRST AND FOREMOST SERVING THE INTEREST OF STUDENTS, UH, WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON OUR HIGH NEED STUDENT POPULATIONS, SO THAT, UM, WE CAN CONFRONT SOME OF THE PERSISTENT, EXCUSE ME, OPPORTUNITY AND ACHIEVEMENT GAPS, UH, THAT WE KNOW THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM AND MANY OTHERS HAVE, UM, STRUGGLED TO, TO ELIMINATE, UM, OVER TIME.
UM, THAT IS ALL PART OF SORT OF THIS BUDGET PLANNING.
UH, THE SORT OF DEGREE TO WHICH EACH, EACH BUDGET IS SORT OF ITS OWN ANNUAL STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS.
AND THEN THE MORE COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS THAT, UM, WE SPOKE ABOUT AT LAST NIGHT'S SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING.
AND WE'LL BE ENGAGED IN IN THE COMING MONTHS.
WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THE STANDING PRIORITIES THAT ARE SORT OF THE CORNERSTONES OF THE GOALS THAT WE'VE HAD IN RECENT YEARS.
AND, UH, OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE CONTINUING TO DO, EDUCATOR EFFECTIVENESS.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE VARIABLE THAT IS MOST IMPACTFUL, PARTICULARLY THE ONE OF THE VARIABLES THAT WE CONTROL,
[00:20:01]
IS THE QUALITY OF THE INSTRUCTION THAT IS OUR STUDENTS ARE EXPOSED TO, AND MAKING SURE THAT, UM, WE ARE BEING THOUGHTFUL AND STRATEGIC ABOUT THE WAYS IN WHICH WE INVEST IN OUR HUMAN CAPITAL, SUPPORT OUR HUMAN CAPITAL, AND ULTIMATELY HOLD OUR HUMAN CAPITAL ACCOUNTABLE FOR HAVING AN IMPACT ON STUDENTS.THAT IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE SORT OF THE FIRST STRATEGIC LEVER THAT WE HAVE AT OUR DISPOSAL.
AN AREA THAT DEVELOPED OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST YEAR AS AN AREA THAT WE KNOW AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM, WE HAVE TO BE, WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT THAT WE HAVE TO IMPROVE UPON IS THE, UH, UH, THE FOSTERING OF STRONG PARTNERSHIPS WITH OUR FAMILIES, UM, OUR, OUR CAREGIVERS, OUR OUR CHILDREN'S FIRST TEACHER, AND THE STRONGER THE RELATIONSHIP THAT OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES ENJOY WITH THOSE PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS, THE BETTER POSITIONED, UH, THE STUDENTS ARE GOING TO BE TO LEARN.
AND THEN WE HAVE BEEN A SERIES OF PRIORITIES THAT ARE SORT OF SPECIFIC TO THIS PARTICULAR TIME PERIOD WHERE IN THE EARLY YEARS OF, UH, UH, INVESTMENT THAT THIS COMMUNITY HAS MADE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.
UH, AND WE WORK ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS WITH THE, UH, OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD UNDER THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAMS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MAXIMIZING OUR IMPACT IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD, UH, PROGRAMMING SPACE.
UH, WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT DECISION THAT WILL BE BEFORE THE COMMITTEE AT SOME POINT THIS YEAR REGARDING THE USE OF 1 58 SPRING STREET, THE FORMER KENNEDY LONGFELLOW, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE MAKING A STRATEGIC DECISION THAT MAXIMIZES THAT, UM, ASSET IN A WAY THAT IMPROVES, UH, THE CONDITIONS FOR LEARNINGS, UH, FOR ALL STUDENTS ACROSS THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.
UH, AND THEN WE'VE GOT SOME DECISIONS THAT, UM, MAY ULTIMATELY, UH, HAVE A GREATER IMPACT IN TERMS OF CHANGE IN FY 28, BUT SORT OF LOOKING AHEAD TO THAT, UM, WE HAVE OUR EXTENDED LEARNING TIME PROGRAMS AT THE FLETCHER MAIN ART ACADEMY AND THE KING SCHOOL THAT HAVE BEEN IN PLACE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME.
THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT AND IMPORTANT, AND I THINK, IMPACTFUL INVESTMENT IN ONE THAT, IN THE CASE OF THE FLETCHER MAYNARD, UH, ACADEMY, I HAVE EVERY EXPECTATION WILL CONTINUE, UM, OVER THE, CERTAINLY IN THE, IN THE LONG TERM, BUT I DO THINK THERE'S SOME STRATEGIC DECISIONS THAT WE HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF HOW WE SUPPORT ALL OF OUR INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL COMMUNITIES AND WHAT IS THE SORT OF RATIONALE ON THE BASIS FOR PARTICULAR INVESTMENTS THAT WE'RE MAKING WITH REGARD TO SPECIFIC SCHOOLS.
NOW MOVING TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT FY 27.
UH, YOU CAN SEE EDUCATOR, UH, UH, EMPOWERMENT, EVALUATION EFFECTIVENESS, UH, AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT.
THOSE ARE OUR, SORT OF OUR STANDING PRIORITIES THAT TRANSCEND SCHOOL YEAR THIS YEAR.
AGAIN, KEEP BEARING IN MIND THE, THE UNCERTAINTY AND THOSE VARIABLES THAT REQUIRE US TO SORT OF THINK STRATEGICALLY, MAYBE A LITTLE MORE STRATEGICALLY ABOUT THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE ARE ABLE TO MAKE.
IMPROVING STUDENT SUPPORTS IS A UMBRELLA TERM THAT WE USE THAT WILL UNPACK MOMENTARILY, UM, RECOGNIZING THE FACT THAT FROM A PROGRAMMATIC STANDPOINT, UM, WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT IN CERTAIN AREAS, UM, WE'RE NOT MEETING THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS AND TRYING TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN MAKE STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS THAT, UM, UH, CREATE MORE OPTIMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS, UH, FOR OUR STUDENTS, PARTICULARLY, UM, SOME IN OUR HIGH NEED CATEGORIES THAT, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO BE A LITTLE MORE CREATIVE ABOUT AND, AND, AND BE A LITTLE MORE INTENTIONAL ABOUT IF WE'RE GONNA GET TO THAT PLACE WHERE WE'RE CLOSING THE OPPORTUNITY AND ACHIEVEMENT GAPS THAT WE SPOKE, UH, AT LENGTH ABOUT DURING LAST NIGHT'S SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING.
UH, THE, I, I KNOW THE COMMITTEE IS AWARE, AND I IMAGINE THE COUNCIL IS AS WELL, THAT NEXT YEAR WE WILL BE MOVING TO A TWO-TIERED START TIME SYSTEM.
SO, CURRENTLY, THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OPERATES ON A THREE TIER SYSTEM OF 7 45, 8 15, 8 45, UH, AND WE WILL BE COLLAPSING THOSE INTO AN 8:00 AM AND AN 8:45 AM START.
THE PRIMARY DRIVER BEHIND THAT IS BECAUSE WE CAN RUN OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IN A WAY THAT WILL INCREASE OUR LIKELIHOOD OF GETTING TO STUDENTS, UH, TO SCHOOL ON TIME.
BUT WE'LL ALSO BE MAKING SOME STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTS WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR SCHOOLS ARE ESSENTIALLY OPEN EARLIER, AND THAT THERE'S, UH, SOME, UH, PROGRAMMATIC OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS IN THE AM HOURS, UH, PRIOR TO THE START OF SCHOOL.
UM, WE'RE NOT OPENING AT LIKE 6:00 AM OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE ACADEMIC, UH, NUTRITIONAL, UH, SOCIAL AND RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, UH, FOR STUDENTS TO, UM, GET GROUNDED AND TO BE, UH, PREPARED TO LEARN RIGHT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL DAY.
WE HAVE SOME GREAT PRACTICES THAT ARE IN PLACE AT SOME OF OUR SCHOOLS RIGHT NOW.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SYSTEMATIZE OUR MORNING ROUTINES ACROSS SCHOOLS, IN PART BECAUSE OUR, UH, TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM HAS NOT RUN AT THE LEVEL THAT WE NEED IT TO IN ORDER TO, UM, HAVE STUDENTS RELIABLY AND CONSISTENTLY ON SCHOOL EARLY ENOUGH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE, SOME, THOSE TYPES OF OPPORTUNITIES.
SO, UH, I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE ACTION OF THE PREVIOUS SCHOOL COMMITTEE, AS WELL AS THE SUPPORT OF THE CURRENT SCHOOL COMMITTEE IN ALIGNING OUR START TIMES IN WAYS THAT, UM, WE'LL BE ABLE TO, UH, FAMILIES WILL BE ABLE TO RELY ON US, UH, I HOPE, UH, TO A MUCH GREATER EXTENT, GETTING KIDS TO SCHOOL ON TIME AND MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S APPROPRIATE, UH, EXTRACURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES, UH, DURING, DURING THAT TIME FROM A DATA INVESTMENT PERSPECTIVE.
UM, AGAIN, THIS IS A MODEST SORT OF STRATEGIC INVESTMENT.
UH, YOU'LL SEE IT NEXT WEEK IN THE, UH, BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT ESSENTIALLY IT'S A, A, UM, MODEST INVESTMENT IN PERSONNEL, UH, ON THE DATA
[00:25:01]
ANALYSIS SIDE, AS WELL AS SOME PLATFORM, UH, COMMITMENTS, TRYING TO, UM, REALLY, UH, PRIORITIZE AND CULTIVATE A DATA INQUIRY CULTURE WITHIN OUR SCHOOLS, UM, SO THAT WE CAN HAVE BETTER, UH, MORE EFFECTIVE AND SYSTEMATIZED ROUTINES AROUND DATA INQUIRY, UM, DRIVING OUR INSTRUCTION AND DRIVING OUR STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING.AND WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE WHERE I BELIEVE WE'RE GOING TO UNPACK SOME OF THOSE.
UH, SO THIS IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT I JUST SAID, UM, BUT IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT, AND FOR PEOPLE THAT LIKE IT IN A DIFFERENT FORMAT, YOU CAN REFER BACK TO THAT, BUT I THINK WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
I THINK WE'RE GONNA UNPACK OUR STUDENT SUPPORT PIECE.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THE ARROW THERE.
THIS IS, THIS REALLY IS OUR, OUR TOP PRIORITY, UH, COMING INTO FY 27 IS, UM, RECOGNIZING THAT, UM, THERE ARE AREAS IN OUR INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL COMMUNITIES WHERE WE HAVE NOT, UM, BEEN ABLE TO PROVIDE, UH, A, UH, RESPONSE TO STUDENTS THAT ARE EXPERIENCING SPECIFIC CHALLENGES IN CERTAIN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS, IN WAYS THAT ARE COMMENSURATE WITH THE LEVEL OF INVESTMENT THAT THE COMMUNITY IS MAKING.
THIS DOES NOT REPRESENT SOME TYPE OF LIKE MAMMOTH MULTIMILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT IN CHANGING THE STRUCTURE OF THOSE PROGRAMS, BUT IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK, UM, SPECIFICALLY AT HOW WE'RE SUPPORTING, UH, OUR STUDENTS BOTH AT ELEMENTARY AS WELL AS IN OUR UPPER SCHOOLS, UM, WHO MAY NEED A SLIGHT MODIFICATION OF AN ENVIRONMENT, EITHER IN A SHORT TERM OR A LONG TERM BASIS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MEETING THEIR NEEDS.
AND SO WITH SOME MA MODEST, UM, STAFFING, UH, INVESTMENTS, UM, ALONG WITH, UH, AN EMPHASIS PUT ON, UM, SOME, SOME OF THE PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US, UM, WE THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO, UM, TIGHTEN SOME OF OUR SYSTEMS AND CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO, UM, UH, TO, TO CREATE, AS I SAID, A MORE OPTIMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS.
THE OPENING OF THE DARBY VASSAL UPPER SCHOOL AND THIS, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS AVAILABLE THROUGH THAT SPACE IS ONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH, UH, WE'RE ABLE TO HAVE THAT LEVEL OF FLEXIBILITY.
AND THAT SORT OF GOES BACK TO A POINT THAT MS. WASHINGTON MADE EARLIER JUST ABOUT, UM, THE WAYS IN WHICH THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS BEEN A BENEFICIARY OF, UH, THE INVESTMENTS THAT THIS COMMUNITY HAS MADE, UH, IN PUBLIC EDUCATION.
UM, SO AGAIN, UH, FOR THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, THIS IS, THIS IS, UM, A, A A REPEAT ESSENTIALLY OF WHAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, BUT, UM, TALKING ABOUT, UM, JUST HOW WE'RE SORT OF TEASING OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SUPPORTS, UM, AGAIN, SPECIFICALLY ELEMENTARY AND UPPER SCHOOLS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S SOME PROGRAMMING, UH, MODELS THAT HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN TRIED, THAT WE ARE, UM, UH, TO SOME DEGREE SORT OF, UH, PILOTING, AT LEAST AT THE UPPER SCHOOL.
I WOULD, I THINK IT'S, IT'S PROBABLY, WE TRY TO AVOID THAT TERM BECAUSE WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT THIS TO BE SORT OF A, JUST A CERTAIN EXPERIMENTAL PHASE.
WE, WE HAVE PRETTY GOOD DATA TO SUPPORT.
UM, THERE ARE AREAS THAT WE NEED TO OPEN UP SOME ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS, BUT, UM, THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT THIS SORT OF SPELLS OUT.
UM, I THINK THAT IF YOU, UH, IF ANYONE WATCHED THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING LAST NIGHT, I THINK ONE OF THE, UM, TERMS THAT WE COME BACK TO OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT WE KNOW AS AN ORGANIZATION WE HAVE TO DO BETTER IS ESTABLISHING GREATER CONSISTENCY ACROSS OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, OUR, OUR SCHOOLS, I THINK, VERY MUCH DO RIGHT BY THIS COMMUNITY.
AND, UH, WE ARE A, A GOOD INVESTMENT FOR THIS COMMUNITY.
AND IT'S, UH, WE'RE A SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT I THINK CAREGIVERS AND CERTAINLY OUR EDUCATORS SHOULD TAKE A GREAT DEAL OF PRIDE IN BEING ASSOCIATED WITH.
BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT THERE ARE AREAS THAT, UH, WE HAVE TO IMPROVE UPON, AND WE HAVE TO IMPROVE UPON THAT WITH, WITH SIGNIFICANT URGENCY.
UH, AND SO AGAIN, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE FACT THAT THERE ARE, UM, ARE, ARE THE LEVEL, THE DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY WE HAVE, UH, IS, IS SOMEWHAT LIMITED IN THIS PARTICULAR FISCAL YEAR BECAUSE OF THOSE VARIABLES.
AND, UH, SOME OF THE UNCERTAINTIES THAT GO ALONG WITH NINE EXPIRING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS AND, UM, UH, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS THAT ARE, THAT ARE A LITTLE LESS, UM, ROSY THAN THEY, THAN PERHAPS THEY ONCE WERE, UH, FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, BUT WE STILL ARE, UH, WE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE A SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT, AS YOU ALL KNOW, IS SPENDING APPROXIMATELY $40,000 PER STUDENT THAT'S TWICE THE STATE AVERAGE.
UM, I BELIEVE FIRMLY THAT THAT'S A REFLECTION OF THE VALUES THAT THIS COMMUNITY HAS, AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU ALL HAVE PRIORITIZED, UH, PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THIS COMMUNITY.
UH, AND FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, UH, THAT MEANS THAT THAT COMES ALONG, AS I SAID EARLIER, WITH A HEIGHTENED SET OF STANDARDS AND EXPECTATIONS, UH, IN THIS, UH, BUDGET AND THE BUDGET THAT I WILL RECOMMEND TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE TOMORROW, UH, EXCUSE ME NEXT WEEK, UM, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT IS MEANT TO REFLECT OUR EFFORTS TO MEET THOSE HEIGHTENED STANDARDS.
SO, MAYOR, UM, THAT'S THE FASTEST, I THINK WE'VE DONE THAT PRESENTATION TO DATE.
UM, BUT CERTAINLY LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING YOUR QUESTIONS, AND I KNOW MS. WASHINGTON WILL JUMP IN IF THERE'S ANYTHING, ANY GLARING OMISSIONS THAT I, UH, THAT I MISSED.
I WANNA WELCOME ALL THE OTHER MEMBERS WHO'VE JOINED, UH, VICE MAYOR AZI.
UM, WE HAVE MEMBER, UM, TIM SANTOS, UH, MEMBER HUDSON, MEMBER HARDING.
[00:30:01]
YOU ALL WITH THAT.UM, SO WE CAN GO AHEAD AND I KNOW SOME FOLKS HAVE TO LEAVE.
UM, UH, SO IF YOU CAN RAISE YOUR HAND, UH, AND I WILL TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS.
WE'LL START WITH TWO QUESTIONS.
KATHY ZU, UH, COUNCILLOR SUZI, I KNOW YOU SAID YOU HAD TO LEAVE, SO DO YOU WANNA START? NO, I'D LIKE TO N NOT YET.
OKAY, WE'LL GO TO COUNSELOR NOLAN, AND THEN COUNCILLOR, SABRINA WHEELER.
THANKS FOR THIS, UH, PRESENTATION FOR RECOGNIZING, UM, OBVIOUSLY THE, THE TREMENDOUS INVESTMENT WE'VE MADE.
I DO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS, BUT I WILL JUST START WITH A COUPLE.
UM, ONE IS ON THE, I KNOW IT'S A VERY SMALL PART OF THE BUDGET, OBVIOUSLY ALL OF IT'S, UM, SALARIES, ET CETERA.
HOWEVER, THERE'S, UH, THE AREA OF FACILITIES AND ENERGY SAVINGS OVER TIME.
IT SHOULD BE THAT THAT WILL ACTUALLY EVENTUALLY GO DOWN BECAUSE WE'VE POURED A LOT OF MONEY INTO ENSURING THAT WE HAVE A FAR MORE EFFICIENT SCHOOL BUILDING.
SO I'M JUST INTERESTED IN THAT.
AND RELATED TO THAT OTHER ELEMENT IS, UH, SPECIAL EDUCATION TUITION FOR GOING UP.
I KNOW THE DISTRICT DID A LOT OF WORK TO TRY TO GET THE NUMBER OF PLACEMENTS DOWN, PARTLY BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS BETTER IF YOU CAN SERVE THE, MEET THE NEEDS OF KIDS IN HOUSE.
AND ALSO WE HAD AN INORDINATELY HIGH, UH, AMOUNT OF, UH, OUT OF DISTRICT TUITION COMPARED TO OTHER DISTRICTS.
SO I, I KNOW, AGAIN, IT'S A SMALL PART OF THE, THE SPENDING, BUT I, I HOPE THAT'S BEING PAID ATTENTION TO.
I, I THINK THE OVERALL QUESTION, KNOWING THAT THE STUDENT SUPPORTS IT, IT SOUNDS VERY FAMILIAR WITH WHAT FRANKLY THE DISTRICT HAS BEEN TRYING TO DO FOR, YOU KNOW, 2, 5, 10, 15 YEARS.
UM, ARE WE LEARNING FROM BEST PRACTICE FROM OTHER DISTRICTS WHO DON'T HAVE $40,000 A STUDENT BECAUSE WE, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S 80% OF SALARIES, AND YET OTHER DISTRICTS HAVE ABOUT THE STATE AVERAGE IS HALF OF OUR PER PUPIL SPENDING.
UH, NEARBY DISTRICTS HAVE MORE LIKE 75%.
SOMERVILLE AND BOSTON ARE, ARE ABOVE STATE AVERAGE, BUT VERY FEW ARE NEAR US.
SO, SO MY QUESTION IS, ARE WE LEARNING FROM OTHER DISTRICTS WHO MANAGE TO PROVIDE STUDENT SUPPORTS IN A WAY THAT MEETS THE STUDENTS' NEEDS, BUT IS FARM, UH, LESS COSTLY THAN WHAT WE'RE DOING? UM, SURE.
MAYOR, MAY I RESPOND? YES, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
UH, THANK YOU, UH, THROUGH MAYOR TO COUNCIL NOLAN.
UM, I, I THINK THAT MY SHORT ANSWER WOULD BE YES, I THINK THAT WE, WE DO SPEND A LOT OF TIME AT VARIOUS GRADE LEVELS MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE COLLABORATING AND OBSERVING, UH, THE PRACTICES OF OTHER SCHOOL SYSTEMS. UM, I WOULD SAY THAT, AND THERE ARE SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF THAT.
I THINK IT, THE, THE MODEL THAT, FOR THE UPPER SCHOOL SUPPORT PROGRAM THAT'S REFERENCED THERE, UM, THE BRIGHT PROGRAM, WHICH, UH, ITSELF WAS, WAS MODELED AFTER A PROGRAM THAT ORIGINATED IN BROOKLINE.
UM, AND THAT'S, THAT'S SORT OF ONE EXAMPLE, BUT I THINK THAT BEING IN CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION AND, AND CON AND, UM, CONTINUOUSLY OBSERVING, UM, WHAT OTHER SCHOOL SYSTEMS ARE DOING, I THINK IS, IS IMPORTANT.
UM, I WOULD SAY THAT THERE ARE VARIABLES THAT DISTINGUISH CAMBRIDGE FROM OTHER SCHOOL SYSTEMS. UM, THE NUMBER OF OUR SCHOOLS AND THE SIZE OF THE BUILDINGS WOULD BE JUST ONE THAT, UM, SOMETIMES IT DOES MAKE AN APPLES TO APPLES COMPARISON, UM, MORE CHALLENGING.
UM, BUT I THINK, I, I TAKE YOUR POINT, I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT THAT WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO BE, UM, CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR THOSE BEST PRACTICES, UH, TO THE SPECIFIC POINTS THAT YOU RAISED AROUND SPECIAL EDUCATION.
OUR OUT OF DISTRICT PLACEMENTS HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY STABLE.
THE COSTS THEMSELVES ARE WHAT ARE ESCALATING DRAMATICALLY, WHICH IS WHY THIS IS A PRESSURE POINT ACROSS ALL, ALL SCHOOL SYSTEMS. BUT I THINK THE POINT THAT YOU RAISED IS REALLY IMPORTANT, WHICH IS THAT IT, IT'S NOT JUST FROM A FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE.
CHILDREN HAVE A RIGHT TO GO TO SCHOOL IN THEIR HOMETOWN.
UM, AND THAT'S CERTAINLY A FAMILY CHOICE.
AND, AND, AND THAT, THAT WE WANNA, WE ALWAYS WORK TO COLLABORATE WITH FAMILIES, BUT WE FEEL A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO THE PROGRAMMATIC DEVELOPMENT NECESSARY TO GIVE CHILDREN THE OPPORTUNITY TO STAY HERE IN CAMBRIDGE AND IDEALLY HERE IN THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UM, AND HAVE THEIR EDUCATIONAL NEEDS MET AS IT HAPPENS.
THERE'S ALSO A FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE TO THAT, UM, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ALSO HAVE TO PRIORITIZE WITH RESPECT TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE.
I THINK THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE VERY EXPENSIVE BUILDINGS TO RUN, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE CERTAINLY MORE EFFICIENT AND MORE, MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY EFFICIENT, UM, OVER TIME.
WHAT EXACTLY THAT WILL MEAN WITH RESPECT TO COSTS.
UM, I THINK THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF AN OPEN QUESTION WITH REGARD TO THAT.
UM, BUT IT'S, WHAT IS DEFINITELY TRUE, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE IN FREQUENT COMMUNICATION WITH OUR PARTNERS IN THE CITY ADMINISTRATION ABOUT, IS THAT JUST LIKE THE INVESTMENT, UM, BRINGS WITH IT A HEIGHTENED RESPONSIBILITY WITH REGARD TO INSTRUCTIONAL QUALITY, THE TREMENDOUS INVESTMENT THAT YOU AS A COMMUNITY HAVE MADE IN THIS INFRASTRUCTURE MEANS THAT IT'S INCUMBENT
[00:35:01]
UPON US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE TAKING GOOD CARE OF THIS INFRASTRUCTURE AND RUNNING IT PROPERLY IN WAYS THAT WILL LAST FOR GENERATIONS.SO THAT IS DEFINITELY A COMMITMENT THAT I WANNA JUST SORT OF SPEAK TO PUBLICLY.
BUT, UM, I WILL SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, IT IS, IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT LIKE THESE, UH, HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED, ENVIRONMENTALLY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE TO RUN.
UM, AND I THINK THEY, I DO THINK THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF AN OPEN QUESTION AS TO, FROM A FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE, WHETHER OR NOT, UM, IT THEY WILL BE CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN.
I, I'M NOT SURE THAT'S A COMMITMENT I, I WOULD BE PREPARED TO MAKE AT THIS TIME.
I WILL, I GUESS HOLD OFF ON, ON OTHER QUESTIONS.
I WILL NOTE THAT WE, WE DO LIKE TO THINK WE'RE SPECIAL IN, IN REALITY, WHEN YOU LOOK, AND WE ARE IN MANY WAYS, AND YET WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE AVERAGE CLASS SIZE ACROSS THE STATE, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN BUILDINGS, WE ARE NOT ACTUALLY THAT DIFFERENT.
SO I, I, I, I WILL PUSH BACK A LITTLE BIT ON THAT TO SUGGEST THAT THAT IS THE CAUSE OF OUR EXTRA SPENDING.
WE MAY BE STAFFING OUR SCHOOLS DIFFERENTLY, WE MAY HAVE WAY MORE ADMINISTRATORS.
AND AGAIN, THAT'S FINE IF THE ACHIEVEMENT IS THERE, BUT IF THE ACHIEVEMENT'S NOT THERE, THEN WE REALLY NEED TO CONSIDER WHETHER THE STAFFING AT THOSE SCHOOLS ARE.
BUT, BUT I HAVE DONE THAT WHEN I LOOKED ACROSS THE STATE, PEOPLE THINK, OH, WELL, WE HAVE SUCH LOW CLASS SIZE, BUT THAT IS TRUE FOR MANY, MANY DISTRICTS ACROSS THE STATE WHO SPEND HALF OF WHAT WE SPEND.
AND OUR AVERAGE, UH, SCHOOL SIZE, OTHER THAN A COUPLE OF OUTLIED, UM, DISTRICTS IS ACTUALLY PRETTY MUCH IN LINE WITH A LOT OF OTHER DISTRICTS.
SO I ENCOURAGE US TO REALLY YEAH, PUSH BACK AND UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN DO BETTER WITH THE RESOURCES WE HAVE.
I DO HAVE A COUPLE OTHER QUESTIONS, MAYORS, BUT I WOULD CERTAINLY WAIT.
I CERTAINLY AGREE ON THE CLASS SIZE POINT, THE 17 SCHOOLS FOR 7,000 STUDENTS.
I, I THINK, I DO THINK THAT MIGHT BE A LITTLE, UH, LITTLE BIT OUTLIER, BUT THE CLASS SIZE DEFINITELY WE ARE, WE WE'RE CERTAINLY NOT ABOVE ANY TYPE OF AVERAGES WITH REGARD TO THAT.
AND OUR STAFFING IS MUCH HIGHER.
WE WILL GO TO COUNSELORS, ARENA WHEELER, AND THEN COUNCILOR
THANKS, MAD MAYOR THROUGH YOU.
UM, THANK YOU TO, UH, MR. MURPHY AND MS. WASHINGTON IN THIS PRESENTATION, AND FOR MY COLLEAGUES ON THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR ALL, ALL YOUR WORK ON THE BUDGET.
UM, I SAID I HAD TWO QUESTIONS.
THE FIRST WAS A, A FOLLOW UP ON THE SPECIAL EDUCATION COST, AND YOU, UH, ANSWERED PART OF MY QUESTION ALREADY, WHICH WAS THAT THIS IS NOT A UNIQUE CAMBRIDGE THING.
THE COSTS ARE GOING UP ACROSS SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
I WAS JUST HOPING YOU COULD SAY A FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT WHAT'S DRIVING THAT, UH, TREND IS THAT THERE'S BETTER SPECIAL EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY OUT THERE, AND THAT COSTS MORE WHEN WE'RE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE INVESTING.
IT IS THAT, UH, MORE STUDENTS ARE BEING DIAGNOSED AS, AS SPECIAL NEEDS BECAUSE OF THE DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA HAVE EXPANDED.
COULD YOU JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THOSE, THOSE TRENDS? YEAH, I, I, I'M GONNA, I WANNA CLARIFY WHERE I'M SPECULATING AND WHERE I'M MAKING SORT OF AN INFORMED STATEMENT.
UM, COSTS HAVE DEFINITELY, UH, GONE UP.
UH, I THINK THERE ARE A VARIETY OF REASONS FOR THAT.
PART OF IT IS JUST LIKE THE SORT OF GENERAL AFFORDABILITY ISSUES THAT ARE AFFECTING SOCIETY RIGHT NOW AND AND COSTS HAVE JUST RISEN, I THINK DISPROPORTIONATELY, UM, THERE ABSOLUTELY WAS A INCREASE AT, AT, I, I WILL SAY AT THE, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWO THOUSANDS WITH REGARD TO, UM, INCIDENTS AND THE NEED AND HIGH NEED SUPPORTS.
AND I, I, MY, MY, THE SPECULA, THE PART THAT I'LL SPECULATE ABOUT IS I THINK THAT AS WE SAW THAT DRAMATIC INCREASE, UM, IN THE STATE AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY WITH REGARD TO THE NEED FOR, UM, SUPPORTS, I THINK IT BECAME A FIELD IN WHICH THERE WAS MUCH GREATER INTEREST.
UH, AND I THINK THAT SORT OF STIMULATED THE ECONOMY OF, UH, ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES PROVIDING THOSE SUPPORTS.
AND I THINK, I THINK THAT IS THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF THAT IS A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING.
I I WILL SAY THAT I, I ALSO THINK IT'S AN AREA THAT, UM, IS NEVER GONNA BE SOLVED AT THE DISTRICT OR, OR MUNICIPAL LEVEL.
AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT I WOULD CALL UPON STATE LEADERS TO TAKE SERIOUSLY BECAUSE, UM, I THINK WE HAVE BOTH A FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY SET OF CHALLENGES THAT, UM, THE, UH, LABOR LEADERS AS WELL AS SUPERINTENDENTS HAVE BEEN, UM, ASSERTING FOR SOME TIME.
YOU, YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH THE, UH, FISCAL CRISIS LETTER, UM, SORT OF A GENERIC NAME, BUT IT'S A, IT'S A, A CAMPAIGN THAT'S BEEN GOING AROUND ACROSS SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN, UH, RECENT MONTHS.
UM, AND WHAT IT'S ESSENTIALLY SAYING IS THAT THIS, OUR CURRENT MODEL OF, UH, SUPPORTING HIGH NEEDS STUDENTS IS NOT A SUSTAINABLE 1 0 1 THAT REQUIRES, UH, REFORM AT THE STATE LEVEL.
SO, UM, IN TERMS OF OTHER CAUSES, I, I, I, I DON'T, I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE A THEORY BEYOND THAT, BUT MAYBE MS. WASHINGTON DOES.
I, I CAN SAY A FEW WORDS THROUGH YOU, MADAM MAYOR.
UM, JUST SO THAT FOR FOLKS UNDERSTANDING THE, THE PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS, WHICH ARE MOSTLY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROVIDE THE PLACEMENTS, UM, THEIR RATES, THEY SET THEM WITH THE STATE.
SO THE OPERATIONAL SERVICES DIVISION ACTUALLY TELLS THEM HOW MUCH THEIR RATE CAN INCREASE FROM YEAR TO YEAR.
SO FOR INSTANCE, IN FY 27, THE RATE THAT IS GOING UP EXACTLY 3.04%, AND THAT IS THE AMOUNT THEY GET.
THE PROBLEM THAT WE HAVE NOTICED THIS YEAR, WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN IN PRIOR YEARS, IS THAT WE HAVE FOUND TWO THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING THAT, THAT ARE UNUSUAL AND ARE IMPACTING US AND, AND AGAIN, IMPACTING ALL DISTRICTS, UM, AND ALIKE.
[00:40:01]
ONE IS THAT A NUMBER OF THOSE SCHOOLS HAVE, UM, GONE BACK TO THE STATE AND ASKED TO BE RESTRUCTURED AND CONSIDERED TO BE A DIFFERENT CATEGORY, WHICH CHANGES THEIR, THE REIMBURSEMENT RATE DRAMATICALLY MID-YEAR, RIGHT? SO IT'S NOT A COST THAT THEN WE CAN PREDICT.UM, THE OTHER PIECE IS THAT THEY HAVE, UM, ALSO STARTED ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICES THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF THAT RATE.
AND SO WE'RE SEEING INCREASES THAT, UM, IN THE PAST IT REALLY WAS DRIVEN AS, AS, UM, COUNCILOR NOLAN HAD MENTIONED REALLY WAS DRIVEN BY JUST THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS AND WHAT TYPE OF PLACEMENT, AND NOW WE HAVE THESE OTHER DRIVERS THAT ARE IMPACTING THE COSTS.
UM, THE ONLY OTHER THING I WOULD SAY IS THAT, UM, THERE IS A LOT OF VARIABILITY FROM YEAR TO YEAR, UM, IN THIS BUDGET.
WE'RE ASSUMING WITH THAT 3.04% INCREASE, WHICH I JUST SAID MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY CAPTURE THE FULL INCREASE, UM, OUR BUDGET IS ASSUMING THAT THE RESIDENTIAL STUDENTS ARE COSTING ABOUT $323,000 A YEAR, WHEREAS DAY STUDENTS, IT'S ABOUT 120.
AND SO EVEN A FEW STUDENTS BEING IN A RESIDENTIAL PLACEMENT INSTEAD OF A DAY PLACEMENT CAN MAKE, HAVE DRAMATIC IMPACTS ON THE BUDGET.
AND SO SOME OF IT IS ALSO JUST NEEDING TO BE CONSERVATIVE FOR THE, THE CONSTELLATION OF WHATEVER STUDENTS' NEEDS ARE IN A PARTICULAR YEAR.
UM, SO NONE, NONE OF THAT ANSWERS THE, THE, THE FULL QUESTION, BUT I FEEL LIKE THOSE ARE SOME OTHER PIECES THAT DRI THAT ARE DRIVERS IN TERMS OF WHAT THAT TOTAL NUMBER IS,
THANK YOU, THAT'S HELPFUL TO, TO UNDERSTAND SOME OF THOSE FACTORS.
UH, AND THEN JUST ONE OTHER QUESTION.
I FEEL LIKE THERE'S, THERE'S SO MANY THINGS WE CAN ASK ABOUT, SO IMPORTANT.
IT'S SUCH A BIG PART, BUT, UM, WE'LL JUST ASK ONE OTHER, AND THE SUPERINTENDENT SORT OF ALLUDED TO AFFORDABILITY, YOU KNOW, UH, CRISIS ACROSS A LOT OF THE US RIGHT NOW.
I WAS GONNA ASK ABOUT SORT OF ONE, ONE PART OF THAT, WHICH IS, UM, PARAPROFESSIONAL SALARIES.
YOU KNOW, WE WANT CAMBRIDGE AN EXPENSIVE PLACE TO, TO LIVE AND, UH, WORK AND, UH, WANT TO HAVE AS MANY OF OUR, OUR EMPLOYEES BE ABLE TO, TO LIVE HERE AND, UH, MAKE A LIFE HERE AS POSSIBLE FOR COMMUTES AND ALL SORTS OF REASONS.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, ON THE COUNCIL SIDE, WE'RE TRYING TO WORK ON THE COST PART, ESPECIALLY HOUSING COSTS, WHICH ARE SUCH, SUCH A BIG COST, UH, CHILDCARE AND OTHER ISSUES.
BUT ON THE SALARY SIDE, WHICH IS IS THE SCHOOL SIDE, I JUST WANTED TO ASK, UH, SORT, I THINK THERE'S BEEN ON ONGOING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PROFESSIONAL SALARIES AND WHICH ARE, ARE THE, THESE, UH, JOBS WHICH ARE, ARE SORT OF LOWER IN PAYING THAN OTHERS, AND WHERE WE'RE AT AND, AND HOW THAT FITS INTO THE COST MODEL.
SO JUST ASK, UH, THE, UH, SUPERINTENDENT COULD SPEAK A LITTLE ABOUT, ABOUT THAT.
I, I THINK THAT I WOULD START BY JUST SAYING THAT THERE'S DEFINITELY A SHARED INTEREST BETWEEN THE DISTRICT AND OUR LABOR PARTNERS WITH RESPECT TO WANTING TO MAINTAIN, UM, HIGHLY COMPETITIVE COMPENSATION FOR ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES.
BUT PARAPROFESSIONALS, GIVEN THE OUTSIZED IMPACT THAT THEY HAVE IN DETERMINING THE EXPERIENCE THAT BOTH OUR, OUR STUDENTS AND OUR FAMILIES HAVE WITHIN OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES, I, I THINK THAT'S A REAL PRIORITY AND SOMETHING THAT WE TAKE VERY SERIOUSLY.
UM, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'RE, WE'RE AT THE BARGAINING TABLE NOW, UM, WORKING TO, TO COMPLETE, UH, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS WITH THE MAJORITY OF OUR, OF OUR WORKERS.
UM, I THINK THAT, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO THINK, UH, STRATEGICALLY AROUND SORT OF, UM, HOW DO WE MAKE PRIORITY AND STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS IN WAYS THAT ADVANCE OUR CORE MISSION AND MAKING, IT'S CERTAINLY TRUE THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, OBVIOUSLY WE WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S TREATED FAIRLY, AND AS I SAID, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE PAY IS COMPETITIVE.
BUT ALSO I THINK SOMETIMES THERE ARE, THERE ARE PLACES IN WHICH, UM, THE PARAPROFESSIONAL POSITION IS, IS, UM, IT, IT'S SOMEWHAT UNIQUE IN THAT, UH, THEY, THEY SERVE BOTH AS SORT OF THE FOUNDATION OF OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS AND FAMILIES AND REALLY POSITION OUR, OUR, OUR TEACHERS AND, AND OUR ADMINISTRATORS TO BE ABLE TO DO THE WORK THAT THEY NEED TO DO IN THE CLASSROOM AND INTO LEADING BUILDINGS.
AND THERE ARE ALSO SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE BUILDING THAT SOMETIMES END UP GOING TO PARAPROFESSIONALS BY DEFAULT.
AND I THINK WE WANNA BE, UH, THOUGHTFUL AND STRATEGIC ABOUT RECOGNIZING THAT THE, THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORK THAT ARE DONE, THAT THAT DOES NOT ALWAYS NECESSARILY TRANSLATE INTO DISPROPORTIONATE ACROSS THE BOARD COMPENSATION INCREASES, FRANKLY.
BUT I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ARE THOUGHTFUL AND STRATEGIC ABOUT HOW WE MAKE INVESTMENTS THAT, UH, CAN THEN, UH, HAVE SORT OF UPSIZED IMPACT ON THE QUALITY OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES THAT STUDENTS HAVE.
SO IT'S DEFINITELY AN ONGOING SORT OF, UH, INQUIRY AND, AND, AND AREAS, PLACES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO BE CC UH, CREATIVE.
UM, BUT AGAIN, I THINK WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS THAT THEY BE ANCHORED IN HOW DO THE INVESTMENTS TRANSLATE INTO IMPROVED EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS, UM, SO THAT WE CAN POSITION THEM OBVIOUSLY FOR POST-SECONDARY SUCCESS.
WONDER COUNCILLOR ZUZI AND THE VICE MEINE.
UM, MAYOR SIDIKI, I WANTED TO PICK UP ON SOME OR SORT FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS FROM, UM, WHAT MY OTHER COLLEAGUES HAVE ASKED.
[00:45:01]
STUDENTS DO WE HAVE IN OUTSIDE SPECIAL ED PLACEMENTS? I'D LOVE TO KNOW THAT FOR HOW MANY ARE RESIDENTIAL AND HOW MANY ARE DAY, AND I GUESS LET'S START WITH THAT.AND THEN I'M EAGER TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHETHER ALL OUR SCHOOLS ARE AT CAPACITY AND SHOULD WE BE THINKING ABOUT CONSOLIDATING SCHOOLS? SHOULD WE BE CLOSING SOME SCHOOLS? UH, UM, WOULD THAT MAKE SENSE? WELL, I'LL START WITH THE SECOND PART FIRST WHILE MS. WASHINGTON GETS THE EXACT NUMBER, BUT JUST FOR, I, I THINK IT'S 125, BUT IF I'M WAY OFF, UM, YOU CAN CORRECT ME.
'CAUSE EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE I QUOTE A, A DATA POINT FROM A PREVIOUS DISTRICT THAT I WAS IN, AND THEN I, I, UM, I FEEL EMBARRASSED BY THAT, BUT I THINK IT'S ALREADY IN THAT RANGE.
UM, WITH RESPECT TO, UM, THE, THE, THE IDEA OF OUR, NO, IT IS OUR SCHOOLS, SO WE MEASURE CAPACITY IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BOTH IN TERMS OF THE PROGRAMMATIC MODEL THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE IN A PARTICULAR BUILDING, AND THEN THERE'S THESE SORT OF INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY.
UM, AND SOMETIMES WE'RE IN, IN PLACES WHERE WE'RE SHARING SPACE EITHER WITH DHSP OR WITH OTHER PARTNERS SOMETIMES THAT THAT NUMBER CAN BE, UM, SOMEWHAT FUNGIBLE.
UM, HAVING SAID THAT, I THINK THE SHORT ANSWER IS NO, OUR BUILDINGS ARE NOT EACH, UH, AT CAPACITY.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ARE ALWAYS THINKING STRATEGICALLY ABOUT THE WAYS IN WHICH WE BUILD, UM, EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL SYNERGIES AMONGST PROGRAMS THAT, UH, MAKE THE, THE ENVIRONMENT, UM, A HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR ALL STUDENTS.
SO THAT MIGHT SOUND LIKE SORT OF A CONVOLUTED ANSWER TO A RELATIVELY SIMPLE QUESTION OF LIKE, DO WE HAVE THE RIGHT NUMBER OF SCHOOLS? BUT I DON'T THINK WE, I THINK THE SORT OF THE QUESTIONS AROUND WHAT IS THE RIGHT NUMBER OF SCHOOLS FOR A DISTRICT, UH, HAS TO BE SORT OF THE END POINT ANALYSIS AS OPPOSED TO THE STARTING POINT ANALYSIS, BECAUSE WE'VE GOTTA THINK ABOUT HOW DO WE CREATE ENVIRONMENTS AGAIN, THAT, THAT MAXIMIZE IMPACT ON ALL STUDENTS AND THEN FIT TOGETHER LIKE A JIGSAW PUZZLE, IF YOU WILL, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THAT, THAT WE REALLY ARE, UH, MAKING THE MOST OF THE ENTIRETY OF THE INVESTMENT, UM, THAT A COMMUNITY MAKES.
SO I, IT, IT'S SORT OF IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO, TO ANSWER.
UM, I THINK THAT A BIG PART OF OUR STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS, AND IT'S NOT NECESSARILY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, CONSOLIDATING SCHOOLS OR NOT, BUT IT'S JUST ABOUT THINKING ABOUT ALL OF THOSE PROGRAMMATIC MODELS AND THE WAYS IN WHICH WE MAXIMIZE THOSE INVESTMENTS.
AND I THINK THAT'S HOW WE CAN THEN SORT OF DEVELOP PLANS TO DETERMINE, UM, WHAT, IF ANY CHANGES NEED TO BE MADE, UH, IN THE PROGRAMMING THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE AT OUR SCHOOLS.
AM I ANYWHERE CLOSE ON THE NUMBER OF OUT DISTRICT PLACEMENTS OR? YES, YOU'RE VERY CLOSE.
UM, THROUGH, UH, YOU MADAM HERE, UM, COUNCILOR
SO IT CURRENTLY IS 118 DAY STUDENTS AND 17 RESIDENTIAL STUDENTS.
AND THEN AS OF THE, UM, LAST COUNT I GOT, THERE WERE THREE THAT ARE IN 45 DAY PLACEMENTS, WHICH IS SORT OF AN INTERIM PLACEMENT WHILE IT'S DETERMINED WHAT THE, WHAT THE CORRECT PLACEMENT IS.
SO THEY WILL END UP IN, IN SOME SORT OF PLACEMENT PROBABLY, SO THAT, UM, IS 1 38 ALTOGETHER.
UM, AND AS I NOTED, BECAUSE THERE IS, UH, VARIABILITY FROM YEAR TO YEAR WHEN WE'RE BUDGETING, WE'RE USUALLY TAKING AN AVERAGE OF A FEW YEARS AS OPPOSED TO MAKING IT MATCH EXACTLY THE PRI THE PRIOR YEAR, JUST SO THAT WE GET INTO, UM, SOME OF THOSE DIFFERENCES.
SO, SO IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT LIKE CREATING OUR OWN OUTSIDE PLACEMENT SCHOOL WITHIN, WITHIN THE CITY.
SO I THINK COUNCIL LIEUTENANT, YEAH, COUNCIL, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT IT'S A, IT'S AN ONGOING RESPONSIBILITY THAT EVERY SCHOOL SYSTEM HAS TO BE THINKING ABOUT WHAT PROGRAMMING WE HAVE AVAILABLE AND LOOKING TO, UM, CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO, UM, FOR THE CHILDREN OF A COMMUNITY TO STAY WITHIN OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
SO I DON'T THINK THAT'S, I, WE DEFINITELY, I DEFINITELY WOULDN'T CLASSIFY IT AS SORT OF LIKE A NEW INITIATIVE.
I WOULD SAY THAT IT'S JUST A, A FUNDAMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY THAT ALL SCHOOL SYSTEMS HAVE, THAT IF YOU HAVE A, A, A SET OF, IF YOU HAVE A, A, A COHORT OF STUDENTS WITH A PARTICULAR, UM, PROFILE OF NEEDS THAT YOU ARE, YOU KNOW, YEAR AFTER YEAR NEEDING TO, UH, PLACE IN AN OUTTA DISTRICT PLACEMENT.
SOMETIMES, I MEAN, SO EVERY DISTRICT HAS SOME NEED LIMITATIONS, EVEN ONE AS WELL RESOURCE AS, AS WE ARE.
UM, BUT YOU HAVE TO CONSTANTLY BE THINKING ABOUT WHAT ARE WAYS TO SERVE THOSE, THOSE STUDENTS AND, AND FAMILIES BETTER.
AND, AND PART OF THAT IS, UM, JUST SORT OF THAT THE ONGOING CONTINUOUS REVIEW, NO DISTRICT OF OUR SIDE IS GONNA HAVE NO OUT DISTRICT PLACEMENTS.
THAT'S, THAT'S NOT, I MEAN, JUST PRACTICALLY SPEAKING, THAT'S AT LEAST AS OF RIGHT NOW AND THE STATE OF EDUCATION, ANY DISTRICT WITH 7,000 STUDENTS IS GOING TO HAVE OUT OF DISTRICT, UM, PLACEMENTS.
BUT THAT IS KIND OF GOES TO WHAT I SAID EARLIER TO CONCERT OF SABRINA WHEELER ABOUT, UM, THE FACT THAT THIS IS SOMETHING FROM A STATE PERSPECTIVE, I THINK NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF THAT STATEMENT SHOULD BE TRUE IN PERPETUITY.
IT'S JUST, IT'S BEEN TRUE FOR A LONG TIME AND I DON'T, I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY PARTICULAR EFFORTS THAT WOULD LEAD ME TO BELIEVE IT'S GOING TO NOT
[00:50:01]
BE TRUE IN THE SHORT TERM.I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS TOO, BUT I WILL YIELD.
UH, THANK YOU MAYOR, MADAM MAYOR.
UM, I JUST HAD TWO QUICK CLARIFYING QUESTIONS.
UM, I HAD NOT HEARD THIS BEFORE, SO APOLOGIES IF I REPEAT IT.
NOT EXACTLY CORRECT, BUT DID YOU MENTION THAT, UM, THE NEWER BUILDINGS ACTUALLY HAVE HIGHER MAINTENANCE COSTS THAN OTHER BUILDINGS? THEY, THEY CAN HAVE HIGHER MAINTENANCE COSTS.
I MEAN, IT'S A MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATED SET OF TECHNOLOGY IN WHICH THE BUILDINGS, UM, RUN.
THEY ARE, UH, ENVIRONMENTALLY OBVIOUSLY MUCH, MUCH MORE EFFICIENT, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, TO ORDER MAGNITUDE THAT, THAT THEY'RE NOT EVEN REALLY COMPARABLE, BUT THERE ARE ADDITIONAL COSTS THAT GO ALONG WITH THOSE BUILDINGS, AND THAT'S BOTH FROM A PERSONNEL PERSPECTIVE AS WELL AS, UH, FROM A MAINTENANCE PERSPECTIVE, WHEN THERE ARE PROBLEMS IN THE NEW BUILDINGS, THEY ARE DEFINITELY MORE EXPENSIVE TO FIX.
UM, AND SO I, I THINK THAT TO BE VERY CLEAR, VERY, VERY, VERY GOOD INVESTMENT.
THEY'RE CREATING A MUCH MORE OPTIMAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.
UM, AND THERE WILL BE OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHER EFFICIENCIES, I THINK, UH, IN THE LONG TERM, BUT, UM, IT'S NOT IN THE SHORT TERM.
I WOULDN'T CONSIDER IT TO BE A, AN OBVIOUS PLACE OF LIKE COST SAVINGS.
UM, COULD YOU SAY MORE LIKE, UH, THIS IS NOVEL INFORMATION, SO IT'S JUST UPDATING MY PRIORS ON ALL OF THIS.
COULD YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE OF LIKE SPECIFIC, IS IT LIKE SPECIFIC MAINTENANCE AND TECHNOLOGY IS MORE EXPENSIVE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY STAFF? UM, LIKE, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT MY ASSUMPTION PERHAPS WRONGLY WAS THAT WE WOULD HAVE THESE NEWER BUILDINGS, BUT YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, ALL ELECTRIC OR THAT GEOTHERMAL WELLS AND ALL THIS SORTS OF STUFF, LIKE OUR UTILITY COSTS WOULD GO DOWN AND THE OVERALL COST OF RUNNING THESE BUILDINGS WOULD ACTUALLY BE LOWER THAN BEFORE.
IS THAT LIKE NOT ACCURATE? COULD YOU GIVE DETAILED EXAMPLES? WELL, ONE EXAMPLE WOULD BE IN THE DARBY VASSAL, UH, TOBIN COMPLEX, THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT DIDN'T EXIST IN THE PREVIOUS BUILDING.
SO THERE'S THE, UM, I, I REFER TO IT AS THE WATER TANK, BUT I, I'M NOT A WATER TANK EXPERT.
SO MAY THERE, THERE'S PROBABLY A MORE TECHNICAL TERM THAT MS. WASHINGTON MIGHT REMEMBER, BUT THE, UM, STORM TANK, IS THAT WHAT IT'S CALLED? THERE'S A MASSIVE STORM TANK UNDER THE BUILDING THAT ITSELF HAS, IS A NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT PART OF THE CITY'S INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, BUT AS I, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT AS PART OF THE, THIS MASSIVE PROJECT, THIS WAS, UH, THE SORT OF, UH, COMMON SENSE PLACE TO INCLUDE THIS INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT THAT ITSELF BRINGS WITH IT ADDITIONAL COSTS.
IN THE ABSENCE OF THAT STORM TANK, THERE WOULD BE CERTAINLY A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL RISK, AND PRESUMABLY THERE WOULD BE OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE ELSEWHERE THAT WOULD HAVE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
SO THAT IS ONE EXAMPLE, WHICH I, I THINK THIS AMOUNTS TO LIKE $105,000 JUST TO BE, UM, SPECIFIC THAT, UM, IT, IT WOULDN'T BE PART OF OUR BUDGET AT LEAST.
UM, I DON'T WHETHER IT WOULD BE A COST THAT EXISTS ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY.
I, I THINK I'D HAVE TO DEFER TO OTHERS ON, BUT LIKE, THAT'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF LIKE THE, THE COMPLEXITY AND THE SOPHISTICATION OF THIS INFRASTRUCTURE BRINGS WITH IT CERTAIN, ADDITIONAL, UH, COSTS, PERHAPS NECESSARY COSTS.
BUT THAT, THAT'S, THAT WOULD BE ONE EXAMPLE, BUT I DON'T KNOW.
IVY, IF YOU HAVE OTHERS, JUST TWO QUICK ONES.
I WOULD SAY, UM, ONE IS I THINK WE, WE STRUGGLE OFTEN WHERE PEOPLE ARE EXPECTING IT TO BE TO, AGAIN, A ONE-TO-ONE FROM THE BUILDING, BUILDING THAT USED TO BE TO THE NEW ONE, BUT OFTEN THE NEW BUILDING ACTUALLY IS LARGER IN TERMS OF SQUARE FOOTAGE.
SO IT'S ACTUALLY DIFFICULT TO COMPARE THE TWO.
SO THERE'S A SQUARE FOOTAGE PIECE THAT I THINK I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE NOTE THAT, RIGHT.
WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT IT PERHAPS IN TERMS OF THAT.
UM, BUT EVEN I THINK WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT PER SQUARE FOOT, UM, THE HVAC SYSTEMS I THINK ARE PROBABLY A GOOD EXAMPLE WHERE YOU MAY BE, UM, SAVING COSTS IN CERTAIN AREAS, BUT DEFINITELY SUPPLIES FOR THOSE HVAC SYSTEMS ARE EXPENSIVE AND GETTING MORE AND MORE EXPENSIVE.
AND, UM, THE MAINTENANCE ON, LIKE, IF YOU ARE CONTRACTING OUT MAINTENANCE TO, UM, GROUPS THAT DO HVAC, HVAC MAINTENANCE, THE MAINTENANCE ON THAT IS NOT ONLY MORE EXPENSIVE TO MAINTAIN, BUT ALSO IS GETTING MORE AND MORE EXPENSIVE.
AND IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IN-HOUSE HELP, THE COST OF THE EMPLOYEE AND WHAT YOU WOULD NEED TO PAY TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO'S AN HVAC EXPERT, UM, VERSUS WHO YOU COULD HAVE WORK ON THE HVAC SYSTEM IN AN OLDER BUILDING, UM, IS VERY DIFFERENT.
SO I FEEL LIKE THAT'S PROBABLY WHERE WE SEE, LIKE THE MOST CLEAR EXAMPLE.
OTHERS ARE MORE SUBTLE AND, AND, UM, MORE COMPLEX, BUT I FEEL LIKE HVAC YOU CAN REALLY LOOK AT AND SEE, UM, A REAL DIFFERENCE IN A REAL, EVERY YEAR WE'RE HAVING TO BUDGET MORE AND MORE FOR THE HVAC SYSTEMS IN THESE BRAND NEW BUILDINGS.
AND THEN I, IT IS JUST MY SECOND QUESTION AND THEN I'LL YIELD.
UM, YOU KNOW, YEARS AGO WHEN, YOU KNOW, COVID FIRST HIT, WE WERE HEARING ABOUT LIKE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE LESS LIKELY TO HAVE A KID DURING THE PANDEMIC, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE JUST NERVOUS ABOUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD.
NOW WE'RE KIND OF ENTERING THE AGE AT WHICH YOU IMAGINE THOSE KIDS WOULD START ENTERING THE SCHOOL
[00:55:01]
SYSTEM.I WAS WONDERING IF WE DO SEE A NOTICEABLE, LIKE, SIZE DIFFERENCE IN THE ENTERING CLASSES, OR WE EXPECT ONE, OR IF THAT'S JUST KIND OF BEEN WASHED OUT, LIEUTENANT, I THINK OUR ENROLLMENT IS, IS RELATIVE.
MS. WASHINGTON REFERENCED EARLIER THAT IT, WE'VE SORT OF STABILIZED THAT WE SAW THE DECLINE THAT AT LEAST I THINK WAS ANECDOTALLY ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT YOU'VE RAISED THAT HAS, UM, IT'S GONE UP, BUT IT'S ALSO SORT OF PLATEAUED IN THE PROJECTIONS RIGHT NOW THAT IT'S RELATIVELY STEADY.
UM, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IN TERMS OF COVID IMPLICATIONS, BUT I, I WOULD IMAGINE THAT COST OF LIVING IN CAMBRIDGE IS ONE VARIABLE THAT IS BEING TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN TERMS OF, UM, YOU KNOW, SEEING RELATIVELY STABLE ENROLLMENT.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW, UH, WE, WE PREDICT STABLE AND POTENTIAL FOR A VERY SLIGHT DECLINE IN COMING YEARS.
AND IT, AND IT NEVER REACHED THE, UH, ENROLLMENT LEVEL IT WAS PRIOR TO COVID.
SO WE CAME BACK UP DRAMATICALLY, BUT NEVER, IT NEVER MADE IT BACK THERE.
SORRY, I'M, I HAD TO DO THIS ON MY PHONE TODAY, SO I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO RAISE THE HAND.
I, I DO HAVE TO SAY BEFORE I MAKE SOME COMMENTS, I'M A LITTLE, I FEEL GUILTY, I'M WATCHING JUVAN BURN CALORIES ON HIS TREADMILL AND I'M EATING GIRL SCOUT COOKIES.
UM, SO ANYWAY, UM, I DON'T, HE'S GONNA COVER ABOUT FIVE MILES BY THE TIME THIS MEETING'S OVER, WE'LL GET EVERYBODY A LOCKING PAD IF YOU WANT ONE
UM, I WANNA THANK, UH, THE SUPERINTENDENT AND THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
I THINK THOSE OF US WHO'VE, COUNSELORS WHO'VE BEEN ON THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER, UH, SCHOOL COMMITTEE BEFORE, UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFICULT, UM, PUTTING THIS BUDGET TOGETHER IS AND TO BALANCE ALL THE DIFFERENT NEEDS IN OUR DISTRICT.
SO I JUST WANNA THANK YOU, UH, FOR YOUR WORK.
UM, JUST WANNA COMMENT ON A COUPLE THINGS THAT, UH, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT TODAY.
RE REAL QUICK, ON THE OUT DISTRICT, UH, SCHOOL PLACEMENT.
NOW, THAT'S WHERE I'VE SPENT HALF OF MY SOCIAL WORK CAREER.
I WAS A CLINICAL COORDINATOR AT THE UPPER SCHOOL, AT THE JUDGE BAKER CHILDREN'S CENTER, THE MANVILLE SCHOOL.
AND I WAS A CLINICAL DIRECTOR AT FIRE ACADEMY, UH, IN CAMBRIDGE.
AND, UM, THOSE SCHOOLS ARE, FIRST OF ALL, TO THE SUPERINTENDENT'S POINT.
WE WILL NEVER GET TO A POINT WHERE WE WON'T HAVE OUT OF DISTRICTS PLACEMENTS, AND WE SHOULD NEVER GET TO A POINT BECAUSE A LOT OF THOSE PLACEMENTS ARE WHAT THE CHILDREN NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
THIS IS NOT JUST A, A MONEY ISSUE.
AND I, OVER THE YEARS, ALWAYS APPRECIATED, NOT WORKED WITH SCHOOLS DISTRICTS FROM ACROSS THE STATE.
AND I WOULD GO INTO MEETINGS WITH A LOT OF OTHER DISTRICTS THAT WOULD SAY, WE KNOW THE CHILD NEEDS AN OUTTA DISTRICT PLACEMENT, BUT WE'RE NOT PAYING FOR IT.
AND WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE THAT PROBLEM WITH CAMBRIDGE.
AND IT, IT WAS ALL, IT WAS ALL IT WAS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD AND WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF FORWARDING THAT CHILD'S EDUCATION.
NOW, IN THEORY, BEING IN THE DISTRICT, I THINK EVEN AS AN AUDIT, SOMEONE WHO'S WORKING OUTTA DISTRICT PLACEMENTS, I THINK BEING IN THE DISTRICT IS, TENDS TO BE BETTER WHEN THINGS ARE MORE OR LESS EQUAL.
YOU'RE MORE PART OF THE COMMUNITY.
YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES, WHICH IS REALLY HARD AS YOU'RE GOING TO AN OUT DISTRICT PLACEMENT IN LAWRENCE AND IT TAKES YOU AN HOUR AND A HALF, YOU KNOW, TO GET BACK TO CAMBRIDGE BECAUSE OF TRAFFIC.
UM, IT IS BETTER IN A LOT OF WAYS, BUT A LOT OF TIMES OUTTA SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE BETTER AND WHAT THE CHILDREN NEED.
SO I I DON'T WANT US TO LOSE SIGHT OF THAT.
THEY'RE ALSO VERY EXPENSIVE PROGRAMS TO RUN.
I WAS IN CLASSROOMS WITH THREE TEACHERS AND SIX KIDS.
AND THESE WERE TEACHERS WHO WERE NOT UNION.
THEY WERE NOT GETTING PAID WHAT TEACHERS IN IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS GET PAID.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE BENEFITS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE DOING, THEY WOULD VISIT KIDS ON WEEKENDS, WHICH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A CONTRACT NEGOTIATION.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE, IT'S, IT'S VERY HARD TO REPLICATE WHAT AN OUT DISTRICT SCHOOL PROVIDES IN A DISTRICT.
AND IT MAY NOT BE THE SAVINGS THAT PEOPLE THINK IT'S GONNA BE IF WE'RE GOING TO DO IT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT EXPERIENCE.
UM, AND THEN I WOULD ALSO SAY ON THE, THE QUESTION ABOUT CLOSING SCHOOLS OR BUILDINGS, UM, I THINK PATTY WILL REMEMBER THAT ONE OF THE FIRST, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WHEN WE WERE ON SCHOOL COMMITTEE WAS THE QUESTION ABOUT THE LONGFELLOW SCHOOL.
AND IT WAS AFTER THE CONSOLIDATION AND, YOU KNOW, THE LONGFELLOW MERGED WITH KENNEDY, AND THAT BUILDING WAS EMPTY.
AND THE QUESTION CAME UP AS TO WHETHER THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WAS GOING TO GIVE THAT BUILDING BACK TO THE CITY.
UM, AND LOOK AT HOW USEFUL THAT BUILDING HAS BEEN AND HOW IMPORTANT THAT BUILDING HAS BEEN TO THE DISTRICT AS SWING SPACE, AS THE HIGH SCHOOL EXTENSION PROGRAM.
UM, SO I JUST WANNA CAUTION BEFORE, YES, ENROLLMENT MAY BE GOING DOWN SLIGHTLY NOW IT MAY NOT BE DOWN SLIGHTLY IN 10 YEARS OR 15 YEARS.
[01:00:01]
THOSE, IF THOSE BUILDINGS GET RETURNED TO THE CITY AND THE CITY SELLS THEM, OR THEY GET RENOVATED AS SOMETHING ELSE, YOU DON'T GET 'EM BACK.SO I JUST, I THINK, YOU KNOW, BEFORE WE START THINKING, OH, THIS IS WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE TODAY AND WHAT THE PROJECTIONS ARE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS, LET'S START GIVING AWAY BUILDINGS.
YOU MAY WANT THOSE BUILDINGS IN 10 YEARS.
SO JUST A LITTLE BIT OF EXPERIENCE, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT I JUST WANTED TO OFFER.
BUT, UM, I DO APPRECIATE THE WORK.
UM, I WANNA GIVE A BIG THUMBS UP AND APPRECIATION TO THE BRIGHT PROGRAM AT THE HIGH SCHOOL.
UM, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, AS YOU LOOK AT FUNDING THAT WE CONTINUE TO FUND, UH, PROGRAMS SUCH AS BRIGHT, UM, THAT REALLY HELP CHILDREN WHO HAVE SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, UH, CHALLENGES.
THAT'S ANOTHER WAY TO KEEP KIDS IN DISTRICT, RIGHT.
UM, IF WE CAN PROVIDE THOSE PROGRAMS. SO, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, FOR YOUR SERVICE AND FOR THE WORK YOU'RE DOING.
I YIELD THANKS COUNCILOR MCGOVERN AND THANK YOU.
WE ARE GOING TO, UM, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE THERE'S INVESTMENT AT THE UPPER SCHOOL LEVEL, UM, AS WELL.
SO WE'LL GO TO COUNSELOR ZUBE.
I REALLY JUST WANNA APPRECIATE THE, THE WORK THAT YOU'RE SHARING WITH US.
I'M TRYING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PIECE ON SLIDE 10.
I, I THINK THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTATION YOU MENTIONED TRYING TO ADDRESS NEEDS IN THE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS TO HELP ADDRESS EQUITY CONCERNS AND OUTCOMES, LIKE HOW WE CAN IMPROVE THOSE.
AND I'M, I'M CURIOUS, WHAT PERCENTAGE DOES THE BASE LEVEL PIECE CONSTITUTE OF THE EMPLOYEES HIRING PROCESS FOR A SCHOOL? AND IS IT, IS IT LIKE THE, IS IT IS THE LAST TIER THE NEEDS PIECE? I'D LOVE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THAT PROCESS.
YEAH, WE ACTUALLY, THANK YOU, COUNSELOR.
WE HAVE A, UM, A SLIDE THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT, BUT I THINK WAS IN AN EARLIER VERSION OF THIS THAT ACTUALLY, UM, IS EXACTLY ON POINT TO THAT.
IT, THE, THE, THE ROUGH ESTIMATE IS IT'S ABOUT A THIRD, A THIRD, A THIRD IN TERMS OF THE ENTIRETY OF THE BUDGET.
UM, AND SO I I I, I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS BROKEN DOWN ON A SCHOOL BY SCHOOL BASIS, BUT CERTAINLY IN SOME OF OUR SCHOOLS THAT, UH, TIER, THE, THE FIRST TIER TIER ON FAR LEFT WOULD PROBABLY, PROBABLY, UH, REPRESENT A SLIGHTLY LARGER PERCENTAGE OF THE, UM, COMPOSITION OF THAT SCHOOL ON THE BASIS OF THE PROGRAMMING THAT'S BASED AT A PARTICULAR SCHOOL.
AND THE FACT THAT SA LOT OF THE HIGH NEED PROGRAMMING IS TRANSFERRABLE ACROSS SCHOOLS.
UM, AND, AND THAT, THAT PROBABLY SHAKES OUT THAT WAY TO SOME DEGREE.
BUT IN TERMS OF THE OVERALL DISTRICT, IT IS ESSENTIALLY EACH TIER, UH, REPRESENTS ESSENTIALLY ONE THIRD OF THE, OF THE PERSONNEL INVESTMENT.
SO IT, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY TIERED UP TO DOWN, IT'S LEFT TO RIGHT WHEN NOT NECESSARILY A PRIORITY FOR ONE OVER THE OTHER.
SO IT'S ESSENTIALLY THAT, AS MS. WASHINGTON SAID, THERE ARE, THERE'S, THERE'S A CERTAIN GROUP OF POSITIONS THAT THE FACT THAT IT IS A SCHOOL, UM, NECESSITATES, UH, THE EXISTENCE OF THOSE POSITIONS.
CERTAINLY THE HIGH SCHOOL IS AN OUTLIER BECAUSE OF ITS OVERALL SIZE, BUT GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE REST, UM, EVERYONE HAS A PRINCIPAL.
EVERYONE HAS AN ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL WHERE YOU SEE MORE, UH, HEALTHY HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENTS IN CAMBRIDGE THAN YOU WOULD IN COMPARABLE DISTRICTS.
TO THE EXTENT THAT THERE ARE ANY, YOU SEE HEAVIER INVESTMENTS IN INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING.
YOU SEE, UH, HEAVIER INVESTMENTS IN PARAPROFESSIONALS, YOU SEE HEAVILY OR INVESTMENTS IN INTERVENTIONISTS.
AND I'LL, I'LL JUST SAY, BECAUSE I, I, IN RESPONSE TO THE MEETING LAST NIGHT, I, I, I MADE THIS COMMENT PUBLICLY, I'LL, I'LL SAY IT HERE.
UM, ONE OF THE STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS THAT, UM, IS NOT CALLED OUT EXPLICITLY IN THESE PRESENTATIONS AROUND, UH, STUDENT SUPPORTS THAT WILL BE RECOMMENDED AS PART OF NEXT WEEK'S RECOMMENDED BUDGET IS AN INVESTMENT IN, UH, INSTRUCTIONAL INTERVENTIONIST, UH, OR INTERVENTIONIST COMPLIMENT THAT WE ARE ESSENTIALLY MAINTAINING THE STAFFING LEVEL THAT WE HAD PRIOR TO THE, UH, CLOSURE OF ONE OF OUR SCHOOLS.
SO WE MAY BE TALKING ABOUT A HANDFUL OF POSITIONS, BUT I THINK THE REASON THAT THAT IS SIGNIFICANT AND, UM, IS IMPORTANT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE QUESTION THAT, UM, YOU'RE ASKING COUNSELOR, IS THAT, UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT A, UH, A, A A A A DISTRICT THAT IS VERY WELL STAFFED TO BEGIN WITH, AND WE'RE MAKING CERTAIN STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS THAT ARE BASED ON MAINTAINING STAFFING LEVELS, ESSENTIALLY ALTERING OUR STAFFING FORMULA TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED THROUGH A VARIETY OF ANALYSES THAT HAVE BEEN DONE AROUND OUR, OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
SO, UM, IT MAY LOOK LIKE A RELATIVELY MODEST INCREASE, BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CHANGED VARIABLES THAT WOULD'VE UNDER THE PREVIOUS FORMULAS LED TO MORE OF A STAFF REDUCTION, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE, WE'RE SORT OF CONCENTRATING THAT INVESTMENT, UH, HOPEFULLY IN RESPONSE TO OUR, OUR STUDENT
[01:05:01]
STUDENTS' NEEDS.YEAH, ITS DEFINITELY, YEAH, IT'S DEFINITELY HELPFUL TO, UH, BETTER UNDERSTAND.
I KNOW, ESPECIALLY WHEN, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU MENTIONED SOME NEEDS ARE NOT BEING MET AND MM-HMM
YOU KNOW, HOW WE EXPLORE DEFINING THE STRUCTURING PROCESS COULD BE HELPFUL IN, IN HOW WE, UH, BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC SCHOOLS AND THEIR NEEDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS IN WHICH THEY, UH, EXIST.
I, THE OTHER QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS MORE SO RELATED TO I THINK SOMETHING COUNCILOR SABRINA WHEELER BROUGHT UP, UH, JUST ACROSS THE BOARD, LIKE, WHAT ARE, ARE YOU GUYS CURRENTLY WORKING ON WAYS TO BETTER ADDRESS HOW YOU CAN TRANSLATE THE BUDGET PIECE TO SPECIFIC OUTCOMES? I KNOW YOU TALKED A LITTLE BIT IN RESPONSE ON THE PARAPROFESSIONAL PIECE TO HOW YOU'RE WORKING TO, YOU KNOW, ADDRESS LIKE THE WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING TO OUTCOMES.
UM, AND BE CURIOUS TO HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW YOU GUYS ARE DOING THAT WORK AND WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
YEAH, I MEAN, I WOULD, SO, THANK YOU, COUNSELOR.
IT'S, IT'S A REALLY, IT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
I'D SAY IT'S SORT OF THE CORE QUESTION OF EACH BUDGET, WHICH IS HOW ARE YOU, HOW IS THIS MAMMOTH INVESTMENT ON THE BEHALF OF THE TAXPAYERS OF CAMBRIDGE GONNA TURN INTO HIGHER QUALITY EXPERIENCES FOR THE CHILDREN OF CAMBRIDGE? I THINK THAT THAT ESSENTIALLY IS AT THE CORE OF YOUR QUESTION.
AND I WOULD SAY, UM, I'LL SAY TWO THINGS.
ONE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE REFER TO OURSELVES AS THE SINGULAR MISSION ORGANIZATION.
I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT WE'RE NOT IN THE WIDGET PRODUCTION BUSINESS.
OUR MISSION, OUR OBJECTIVES ARE TO IMPROVE EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS THAT WILL BE REFLECTED IMPROVED OUTCOMES.
BUT WE CERTAINLY START WITH THE QUALITY EXPERIENCES AND KNOW THAT THE OUTCOMES WILL FOLLOW.
AND ULTIMATELY, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS POSITION OUR STUDENTS FOR POST-SECONDARY SUCCESS.
THAT STARTS FROM THE DAY THEY COME IN AS A THREE OR 4-YEAR-OLD IN OUR PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS. AND THAT'S THE GOAL, UH, AS THEY GO THROUGH GRADE 12 PLUS, UM, WITH US.
SO MAKING SURE THAT WE MAINTAIN THAT SINGULAR FOCUS, I THINK IS ONE PIECE.
THE SECOND THING I WOULD SAY, AND I KNOW THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, AS, AS ALWAYS, MOST OF THE PEOPLE ON THIS CALL HAVE BEEN AFFILIATED WITH THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS LONGER THAN I HAVE.
AND I, I AM WELL AWARE OF THE FACT THAT I'M NOT THE FIRST SUPERINTENDENT TO SAY THIS, AND ALL OF YOU HAVE A, A AN AWARENESS THAT, UM, REFLECTS YOUR LONG-TERM SORT OF CONNECTION TO THE DISTRICT.
UM, WE ARE A VERY WELL-FUNDED DISTRICT.
THERE ARE SOME SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THIS STATE AND ELSEWHERE WHERE THE VARIABLE THAT IS HOLDING THEM BACK FROM REACHING THEIR FULL POTENTIAL IS A LACK OF RESOURCES.
THAT'S NOT TRUE FOR THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
WE HAVE THE RESOURCES THAT WE NEED.
WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO EXECUTE IN A MORE PRECISE FASHION, UH, SO THAT THE QUALITY OF OUR, OUR, OUR STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES ARE OF A HIGHER QUALITY AND THEIR OUTCOMES, UH, REFLECT THAT.
AND THEREFORE THEY'VE GOT MORE AND BETTER OPTIONS IN THE, THEIR POST-SECONDARY LIVES.
BUT, UM, I, I, I WANNA TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SAY THIS BECAUSE AS THE, AS THE GOVERNING BODY RESPONSIBLE FOR APPROPRIATING THIS FUNDING, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT OUR TEAM RECOGNIZES THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH THAT INVESTMENT.
AND WE, THAT WE HAVE NO BASIS, UH, TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE, THE FUNDING THAT IS AT OUR DISPOSAL.
WE JUST HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO NOW, AND TO BE VERY CLEAR, THANKS TO THE HARD WORK FOR OUR EDUCATORS, WE DO EXECUTE ON THIS MISSION WELL, AND FOR A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS, UM, WE ARE GIVING THEM THE EXPERIENCE THAT THEY NEED AND THAT THEIR FAMILIES EXPECT.
AND IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S TRUE FOR ALL STUDENTS.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
I, I THINK, UM, IN THE FUTURE, LIKE IT WOULD BE DEFINITELY HELPFUL TO JUST BETTER UNDERSTAND IF YOU GUYS ARE THINKING ABOUT THAT TRANSLATION THROUGH SPECIFIC SCHOOLS OR, UM, THINKING ABOUT IT FROM LIKE AN EXTRA INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL, LIKE THINKING BASELINE ON THE DIFFERENT POSITIONS, OR IF IT'S A COMBINATION OF BOTH.
I, I ALSO DO WANNA COMMENT THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, THE, THE DIFFERENT POSITIONS THAT PEOPLE HOLD, AND ESPECIALLY PARA-PROFESSIONAL IN PARTICULAR, HAVE, HAVE BEEN HOLDING A, A, A WEIGHT OF, OF THAT INSTRUCTION AND THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS TO HELP THAT EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENT LEARNING.
UM, SO IT, IT DEFINITELY IS INTERESTING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE TRYING TO TRANSLATE THAT, THAT PIECE WHEN, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY OF THE BUDGET IS GOING INTO INSTRUCTION AND, AND STAFF.
AND I, I DEFINITELY WANNA ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PIECE WHERE THE CITY COUNCIL CAN HELP ADDRESS AND WEIGH IN ON THESE CHALLENGES FROM, UM, TALKING ABOUT THINGS LIKE WORKPLACE HOUSING TO HOW HOMELESSNESS IMPACTS STUDENTS ENGAGEMENT OR EXPERIENCES IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.
AND SO, I, I, I SAY THIS IN, IN PART TO SAY, UM, I, I HOPE THAT YOU ALL KNOW LIKE, THAT THIS ISN'T ONLY ON YOU ALL.
LIKE I I DEFINITELY HOPE THAT WE'RE IN CONSTANT CONVERSATION WITH EACH OTHER ABOUT THE IMPACTS THAT OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT FACES AND HOW THE CITY COUNCIL PIECE CAN HELP ALSO ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE CHALLENGES TOO.
UM, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT COMPLETELY ISOLATED WITHIN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ITSELF AND, AND THE, UH, THE, THE WORK THAT YOU ALL DO.
OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE BODY, FROM ANYONE WHO HASN'T SPOKEN, UM, SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS, FEEL FREE TO CHIME IN AS WELL.
[01:10:02]
YES.UH, UM, I JUST WANTED TO ACTUALLY REALLY PIGGYBACK ON SOMETHING THAT COUNCILLOR ZUBIE JUST SAID.
SO THAT'S WHY I TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO JUMP IN WHILE OTHERS ARE, ARE, UH, THINKING ABOUT THEIR THOUGHTS AND REALLY APPRECIATE, UM, HER LIFTING UP THAT INTERRELATED NATURE REALLY OF, OF THE WORK OF, OF SUPPORTING OUR CHILDREN.
UH, THIS IS SOMETHING WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT.
I'VE BEEN VERY INVOLVED WITH WORK AROUND, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPING THIS COORDINATED CRADLE TO CAREER SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS, UH, THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, BRING OUR CHILDREN, YOU KNOW, REALLY FROM BIRTH THROUGH, YOU KNOW, LAUNCHING, UH, IN THEIR LIVES INDEPENDENTLY.
UH, AND THAT REALLY CAN'T HAPPEN BY THE SCHOOLS ALONE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE ALL THESE, WHAT I'VE STARTED TO HEAR CALLED, MAKES A LOT OF SENSE, SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS, UH, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THE SCHOOLS ARE AN IMPORTANT PART, PART OF THAT ACADEMIC WORK IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THAT.
SCHOOLS ARE ALSO A PLACE WHERE, AT LEAST FOR A PRETTY EXPANSIVE AGE RANGE, WE ARE REALLY THE ONLY PLACE OUTSIDE OF A STUDENT'S, A CHILD'S FAMILY THAT, YOU KNOW, REALLY ALWAYS HAS TO KNOW WHERE IS THIS CHILD.
UH, SO WE'RE AN IMPORTANT PIECE, PIECE OF THAT.
BUT I REALLY DO AGREE THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN AND SHOULD DO EVEN MORE TO COORDINATE WITH ALL THE RESOURCES WE HAVE TO PIGGYBACK ON SOMETHING THAT I THINK THE SUPERINTENDENT WAS SAYING, WITH ALL THOSE RESOURCES, THERE'S NO REASON ANY CHILD, UH, SHOULD NOT HAVE WHAT THEY NEED, UH, OTHER THAN WORK WE NEED TO DO TO REALLY BETTER COORDINATE AND MAKE SURE NOBODY FALLS THROUGH THE CRACKS, AND THAT WHEN THERE ARE MEETING AND SO THAT WE CAN BETTER IDENTIFY THE PLACES WHERE WE ARE MISSING SOME SUPPORT BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH EACH CHILD, AND NO, THERE ISN'T SOMETHING AVAILABLE FOR THIS PARTICULAR NEED.
SO NOW WE NEED TO FIGURE THAT OUT.
SO ANYWAY, I REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, THE COUNCIL RAISING THAT, THAT OFFER.
AND I THINK WE KNOW, I MEAN, I CAN'T SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE ENTIRE COMMITTEE, BUT I THINK BOTH THE FUNDING THAT'S BEEN PROVIDED AND THE GENERAL SUPPORT THAT'S BEEN PROVIDED, AND OTHER WORK WE'VE DONE IN COLLABORATION, LIKE LAUNCHING UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE CITY COUNCIL HAS CERTAINLY DEMONSTRATED, UM, UH, THAT COMMITMENT.
UM, SO I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THAT WORK.
UM, I YIELD, THANK YOU, UH, COUNCILOR NOLAN, DID YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS YOU HAD SAID? YEAH, AND IT ACTUALLY FOLLOWS UP ON, YOU KNOW, ALL OF US ON ULTIMATELY ARE EXACTLY WHERE WE HAVE WANTED TO BE, WHICH IS, HOW IS THIS BUDGET PRODUCING FOR STUDENTS? HOW IS IT THAT WE CAN PROVIDE THE RESOURCES IN THE FORM OF PEOPLE, PROGRAMS, SUPPORT, WHETHER IT'S FAMILY ENGAGEMENT, TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE, THESE MEASURES.
AND I THINK SOME SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ARE WHETHER WE FEEL LIKE WE HAVE THE CAPACITY WITHIN OUR DISTRICT AND OR ELSEWHERE TO ACTUALLY EFFECTIVELY MONITOR, EVALUATE, AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IS DELIVERING.
I MEAN, I KNOW FOR, I KNOW DEAN FANTINI FOR A YEAR, SO WHEN I WORKED WITH HIM, WE TALKED ABOUT STARTING THE INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS PLANS, YOU KNOW, EVERY SINGLE STUDENT HAVING THAT SUCCESS PLAN, WHICH I THINK IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS NOW IN THE PROCESS OF, OF BEING IMPLEMENTED.
IT HAD A SLOW START, BUT IT'S, IT'S BEEN DONE.
BUT OVERALL, THE REAL, THE REAL CENTRAL QUESTION.
AND I, WHEN I LOOK AT, FOR INSTANCE, I KNOW HAVING TALKED TO TEACHERS, MY, MY SON IS A TEACHER.
HE WAS AT CRS FOR A COUPLE YEARS, NOW HE'S AT ANOTHER DISTRICT.
UM, SO WE HAVE SOME FAMILY, MY SEVERAL RELATIVES, WE, WE, OR TEACHERS, IS THAT WE, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, FOR INSTANCE, CAN REALLY, REALLY HELP TEACHERS.
BUT ALSO IF IT'S NOT TIED DIRECTLY TO THE CLASSROOM, IT OFTEN IS NOT THAT EFFECTIVE.
WE AS A DISTRICT CONTINUE TO SPEND TWO TO THREE TO FOUR TIMES AS MUCH PER STUDENT ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT BASED ON THE ANALYSIS THAT DESI DOES, AND PROVIDES DISTRICT BY DISTRICT COMPARISON ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAN ANY OTHER DISTRICT IN THE ENTIRE STATE.
WE SPEND TWO TO THREE X ON INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S, ACROSS THE BOARD, THERE'S JUST SO MANY AREAS IN WHICH WE HAVE MADE INVESTMENTS.
AND THE REAL QUESTION FOR ME IS, HOW IS IT THAT THIS DISTRICT, AS YOU ALL MOVE FORWARD, HOW WILL THE BUDGET ENSURE THAT MONITORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGRAMS AND FOR INSTANCE, HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THE SUPPORTS WE'RE PROVIDING FOR TEACHERS? OR SHOULD WE HAVE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS? BECAUSE THAT GETS TO THE HEART OF HOW IT IS THAT WE CAN, AS ALL OF US HAVE BEEN SAYING, IS USE THIS AMAZING RESOURCE AND THE COMMUNITY SUPPORT THAT IS TO DIE FOR FROM OTHER DISTRICTS.
I MEAN, I REMEMBER IT'S STILL THE CASE THAT, YOU KNOW, AS, AS ALL OF US HAVE SAID, WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A LOT MORE.
SO HOW IS IT THAT WE ARE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD TO WHETHER IT'S ASSESS PROGRAMS, YOU KNOW, FOR YEARS WE USED PROGRAMS AND IT, IT TOOK A WHILE FOR SOME OF US, WHEN I WAS ON SCHOOL COMMITTEE, THERE WERE A COUPLE WE FINALLY ENDED.
AND THERE'S CERTAINLY BEEN A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT WHETHER IT'S
[01:15:01]
READING RECOVERY OR WRITER'S WORKSHOP.YOU KNOW, HOW IS IT THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE CRYSTAL FOCUSED ON EFFECTIVENESS, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION? WELL, UM, THANK YOU, COUNCIL.
I MEAN, I THINK WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT, ONE WITH REGARD TO THE, THE COST COMPARISONS, GIVEN THAT WE DO INVEST AT SUCH A HIGHER LEVEL THAN OTHER COMMUNITIES, I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT ANY BREAKDOWN FROM DSI, AND THERE ARE ALWAYS QUESTIONS ABOUT EXACTLY HOW WE'RE BREAKING THOSE DOWN, BECAUSE DISTRICTS ARE STRUCTURED DIFFERENTLY.
AND SO THE SORT OF THE DATA, THE, SOME OF THOSE PIECES, WE, I TRUST THE DSI COMPARISONS WITH REGARD TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WHEN IT COMES TO THE ACTUAL BUDGET.
THERE ARE SO MANY VARIABLES THAT DISTINGUISH HOW DISTRICTS ARE THEMSELVES STRUCTURED, UM, THAT I THINK THAT IT CAN BE A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED.
HAVING SAID THAT, WE, WE, WE SPEND SO MUCH MORE PER STUDENT THAT IN VIRTUALLY ANY CATEGORY, YOU'RE GONNA SEE A, A HIGHER INVESTMENT IN CAMBRIDGE THAN YOU'RE GONNA SEE ELSEWHERE.
I THINK THAT YOUR QUESTION REALLY GETS TO THE HEART OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND HOW DO WE DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE STRATEGIES THAT WE ARE EMPLOYING ARE PAYING DIVIDENDS FOR STUDENTS? AND I'LL SAY TWO VERY QUICK THINGS TO THAT.
I THINK IT'S ALWAYS IMPORTANT THAT WE MEASURE SUCCESS BY MULTIPLE METRICS.
I DON'T WHETHER IT'S, UH, ASSESSING AN INDIVIDUAL STUDENT OR, UH, EMPLOYEE OR A SCHOOL, I THINK YOU ALWAYS WANNA STAY AWAY FROM SINGLE VARIABLE METRICS.
THAT, IN TERMS OF DETERMINING SUCCESS, I THINK IN A, IN SUCH A DATA RICH ENVIRONMENT, I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
'CAUSE DATA CAN ALWAYS BE MANIPULATED IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, AND I THINK WE WANNA, UH, MAINTAIN THAT LENS.
HAVING SAID THAT, TO GO TO WHAT I MENTIONED, UH, TO COUNCILOR ZUBI EARLIER, UM, I THINK, I THINK IT WAS IN RESPONSE TO, UH, COUNCIL ZUBI QUESTION, BEING A SINGULAR MISSION ORGANIZATION MEANS THAT, UM, THERE IS A RELATIVELY NARROW WAY IN WHICH I THINK WE SHOULD DEFINE SUCCESS.
AND I THINK I, WE, I REFER TO IT AS SORT OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE, BECAUSE THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE ENCOMPASSES MORE THAN JUST SORT OF, YOU KNOW, STANDARDIZED TEST OUTCOMES, BUT STANDARDIZED TEST OUTCOMES WHEN NORMED APPROPRIATELY ARE REALLY IMPORTANT METRICS FOR DETERMINING THE QUALITY OF THE, OF THE, OF THE PRODUCT THAT WE AS A SCHOOL SYSTEM ARE PRODUCING, AND WHO'S BENEFITING FROM THAT.
SO THOSE OBJECTIVE DATA MEASURES, UH, FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT AS IS MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE NOT USING THEM AS, UH, SINGLE VARIABLE, UH, METRICS.
AND IN TERMS OF FROM A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PERSPECTIVE, WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND WHAT I, I GENUINELY BELIEVE HAS, HAS PAID DIVIDENDS FOR THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM IN RECENT YEARS, IS THE INVESTMENT THAT WAS INITIATED UNDER THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OF OUR ADMINISTRATORS THAT ARE STILL ON OUR TEAM NOW TO MOVE TO A MORE ALIGNED, UH, CURRICULUM APPROACH, HAS ALLOWED US TO HAVE A, A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL OF INTENTIONALITY AND CONSISTENCY WITHIN OUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
AND I THINK WHILE THAT HAS BEEN, UH, THERE HAVE BEEN GROWING PAINS TO THAT, AND THERE'S BEEN A, A, A, AN ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGE TO SOME DEGREE, AND I KNOW FOR A LOT OF OUR EDUCATORS, UM, THERE'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S BEEN A, UH, A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN PRACTICE.
AND IT'S ONE THAT WE'RE STILL GROWING AS AN ORGANIZATION.
WE'RE ONLY IN YEAR TWO IN THE, ON THE ELA FRONT.
I THINK THAT WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT IS BOTH MORE IMPACTFUL AND MORE RELEVANT TO WHAT EDUCATORS ARE CHARGED WITH DOING ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
THE DISCUSSION LAST NIGHT, IF YOU SAW LAST NIGHT'S SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING, WAS ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT THOSE IMPROVED PRACTICES EXTEND IN A CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL ORGANIZATIONAL WIDE, UH, FROM, FROM AN ORGANIZATIONAL WIDE PERSPECTIVE, TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR STAFF CHARGED WITH SUPPORTING ALL OF OUR STUDENTS, INCLUDING STUDENTS THAT QUALIFY UNDER HIGH NEED CATEGORIES, ARE BENEFITING FROM THAT IMPROVED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING.
AND I THINK, UH, TO YOUR POINT, WE HAVE TO JUST CONTINUE TO MONITOR THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS TRANSLATING INTO IMPROVED EXPERIENCES AS MEASURED IN PART BY IMPROVED OUTCOMES.
AND IT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE SEEN WORKS, RIGHT? TEACHERS WANT TO BE EFFECTIVE, STUDENTS WANT TO LEARN.
FAMILIES WANT THE SCHOOLS TO WORK FOR THEM.
THERE'S A HUGE RANGE OF STUDENTS IN OUR DISTRICT, AND YOU CAN'T ALWAYS TELL, YOU KNOW, BY LOOKING AT THEM.
AND THE, AND MANY PROGRAMS, I WILL ALSO SAY THERE'S SOME PROGRAMS JUST LIKE THERE'S SOME TEACHERS WHO, OH MY GOSH, THAT'S A FANTASTIC TEACHER.
AND THEN WELL, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME KIDS WHO MAY BE ABLE TO BETTER ACCESS THAT TEACHER, LEARN FROM IT.
AND THE WHOLE KEY IS, AND PARTICULARLY ON PROGRAMS, I DO THINK THERE IS AN EVALUATION COMPONENT THAT WE NEED TO BE, AGAIN, JUST FOCUSED ON IS THIS HELPING TEACHERS IF IT'S MEANT TO HELP TEACHERS OR, OR NOT.
SO THAT WAS, UH, I'M HAPPY TO YIELD FOR NOW, UH, MAYOR SADIKI PLEASURE OF THE, UH, CITY COUNCIL'S SCHOOL COMMITTEE ON COMMENTS, FURTHER QUESTIONS.
[01:20:01]
IT'S ABOUT 5 21 RIGHT NOW.I, I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT, UM, A FRIEND OF MINE IS, IS LEADING A NONPROFIT IN WASHINGTON CALLED, UH, BRIGHT PATHS DC, WHICH IS PROVIDING TUTORING FOR AT, AT SCHOOLS WHERE CHILDREN ARE REALLY STRUGGLING.
I KNOW THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF TUTORING OPPORTUNITIES IN CAMBRIDGE, BUT I, I JUST WANTED TO HEAR, YOU KNOW, I, I WONDER, AND, AND I, AND I KNOW, YOU KNOW, MY OWN SON, MY OWN SON HAD EXECUTIVE FUNCTION ISSUES AND WAS GETTING TUTORING THAT MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE FOR HIM IN THE WORLD.
IT, HAS THERE BEEN ANY THOUGHT AS TO, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE DIFF MANY, MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO SUPPORT CHILDREN MM-HMM
BUT, UM, WOULD FUNDING ONE-ON-ONE TUTORING FOR STUDENTS THAT ARE REALLY STRUGGLING, IN SOME CASES, BE EVEN MORE BENEFICIAL THAN FUNDING A PARAPROFESSIONAL IN A CLASS? MM-HMM.
I, I'M SURE YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT ALL OF THIS.
IT'S A REALLY GREAT QUESTION, COUNCIL.
I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU RAISING IT BECAUSE, UM, IT, WHAT IT SPEAKS TO, UH, AND I I, I, I TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS, I THINK IN RESPONSE TO COUNCIL SABRINA WHEELER ABOUT, UM, WE WANNA MAKE, WE MAKE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS IN PARAPROFESSIONAL STAFFING.
WE HAVE A, UH, MORE ROBUST PARAPROFESSIONAL COMPLIMENT THAN, UH, VIRTUALLY ANY OTHER, UH, SCHOOL SYSTEM.
AND I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING.
AND I THINK WE WANNA CONTINUE TO DO THAT.
I ALSO THINK WE WANNA CONTINUE TO BE MORE STRATEGIC, I WOULD SAY, THAN WE'VE PREVIOUSLY BEEN, WHICH MEANS IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC, UH, CLASSIFICATIONS AND TYPES OF WORK THAT WE BELIEVE WILL BE MORE IMPACTFUL.
SOMETIMES THAT'S WITHIN OUR PARAPROFESSIONAL COHORT, AND SOMETIMES IT'S OUTSIDE OF IT.
BUT I THINK MAKING SURE THAT THOSE INCREASED INVESTMENTS ARE TIED TO SPECIFIC MEASURABLE GOALS, I THINK IS, IS REALLY CRITICAL TO OUR SUCCESS.
ON THE TUTORING FRONT, WE ARE NOW IN YEAR THREE OF A TUTORING INITIATIVE INITIATIVE WITH A PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH EXCEL TUTORING.
WE HAVE SEEN ACCELERATED GROWTH, UM, MODEST, BUT ACCELERATED MODESTLY ACCELERATED GROWTH IN OUR STUDENTS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THAT HIGH IMPACT TUTORING.
YOU MENTIONED THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT TUTORING OPPORTUNITIES.
I THINK ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE, AND TO BE VERY CLEAR, I I WANNA PREFACE THIS BY SAYING THAT I'M VERY GRATEFUL TO ALL OF OUR TUTORING PARTNERSHIPS, OF WHICH THERE ARE MANY, AND I WANNA MAINTAIN THOSE BECAUSE I THINK THEY CAN YIELD DIVIDENDS FOR STUDENTS.
BUT I THINK THE REASON WE'VE SEEN SPECIFIC, MORE, SPECIFICALLY, MORE ACCELERATED GROWTH AS A RESULT OF THE EXCEL TUTORING PROGRAM IS BECAUSE THE EXCEL TUTORING PROGRAM IS DONE WITH CLOSE COORDINATION TO OUR INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES AND OUR INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP.
AND SO YOU'RE BENEFITING NOT JUST FROM THE INVESTMENT OF THE MORE OF THE, OF THE SMALL GROUP ONE-ON-ONE AT TIMES CONTACT, BUT YOU'RE BENEFITING FROM THE FACT THAT, UH, THOSE TUTORS KNOW THE, UH, SPECIFIC GAPS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THE DATA THAT WE HAVE AND THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES THAT WE HAVE AS PART OF THAT ALIGNED CURRICULUM THAT I REFERENCED EARLIER.
AND I THINK THAT WHERE WE NEED TO GO FROM THERE IN ORDER TO IMPROVE OUR PRACTICES, IS TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR TUTORING PARTNERSHIPS ARE DONE AND ARE FACILITATED IN A MORE COORDINATED FASHION.
AND I WANNA JUST, I'LL JUST SAY, BECAUSE I HAVE A TENDENCY TO, UM, SPEAK, UH, CANDIDLY IN PUBLIC FORUMS, THAT THAT WILL YIELD SOME GROWING PAINS WITHIN OUR ORGANIZATION BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT, AS AN ORGANIZATION BEEN SHORT ON WHAT I'LL DESCRIBE AS SPRAWLING AUTONOMY.
WE HAVE ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED IN MANY PLACES ACROSS OUR ORGANIZATION, INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES TO PURSUE, UH, NOBLE GOALS THAT ARE NOT ALWAYS DEVELOPED STRATEGICALLY WITH ALL OF THE DATA THAT WE HAVE AT OUR DISPOSAL.
AND I DO THINK THAT, THAT, TO SPEAK TO, I OFTEN AM ASKED BY THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OR BY THE CITY COUNCIL, WHAT IS IT THAT WE ARE GOING TO DO DIFFERENTLY TO YIELD DIFFERENT RESULTS AND BETTER COORDINATION AND A HIGHER LEVEL OF ACCOUNTABILITY TO ENFORCE THAT, THAT COORDINATION, I THINK, IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT WE AS AN ORGANIZATION, NEED TO GROW.
AND IF WE DO, I THINK YOU WILL SEE AN EVEN MORE PRONOUNCED IMPACT THROUGH THOSE TYPES OF INVESTMENTS.
UH, THAT SOUNDS LIKE VERY IMPORTANT WORK TO DO.
SO I, I, I THANK YOU FOR DOING
[01:25:01]
THAT.I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE HEARD THE PART THAT THERE'S GONNA BE SOME GROWING PAINS, AND SOME PEOPLE WILL SAY, I USED TO HAVE COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE OF WHAT I USED TO DO.
NOW THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IS SAYING, WE WANT THIS WORK TIED TO THESE GOALS.
THAT IS A GROWING PAIN FOR OUR ORGANIZATION.
AND WE ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE SO MANY PARTNERS WHO WANT TO CONTRIBUTE AND WANT TO ADVANCE THESE GOALS.
BUT UNLESS WE'RE LEVERAGING THE WHOLE OF THE ORGANIZATION, I THINK YOU WILL CONTINUE TO SEE THE SORT OF FRAGMENTED SUCCESS THAT HAS SOME, SOMETIMES BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH OUR DISTRICT.
BUT THANK YOU COUNCIL ZUI FOR THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO THAT.
CAN I ASK ONE MORE QUESTION? YEAH, GO AHEAD, COUNSELOR.
I, I WAS TALKING TO A PARENT ON MY STREET ABOUT HOW THE SCHOOLS WERE WORKING FOR HER CHILDREN.
'CAUSE MY CHILD GREW UP, UH, AND SHE WAS SAYING, UH, SHE'S WORRIED, UH, SHE SAYS THE DISTRICT IS WORKING HARD ON EQUITY, BUT TO THE DETRIMENT OF CREATIVITY, UNFORTUNATELY.
UM, BECAUSE THERE'S SUCH EMPHASIS ON MCAS SKILLS OR SCORES.
AND SHE SAYS THERE'S A PUSH TO STANDARDIZE EVERYTHING, WHICH IS MAKING SCHOOL CHOICE LESS MEANINGFUL AND SIGNIFICANT, MUCH LESS PROJECT-BASED LEARNING THAN IN THE PAST, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TIME.
CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT, PLEASE? I THANK YOU, COUNSELOR.
I, I APPRECIATE THAT QUESTION.
AND I DON'T THINK THAT, UM, YOUR NEIGHBOR IS THE ONLY ONE, UH, IN OUR COMMUNITY WHO HAS EXPRESSED THAT CONCERN.
AND I THINK IT, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO OUR TEAM, AND I KNOW IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR SCHOOL LEADERS THAT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY HEAR OUR RESPONSE TO THAT.
UM, IT IS TRUE AS I, AS I JUST ACKNOWLEDGED, THAT IN ORDER TO IMPROVE EXPERIENCES ACROSS THE BOARD, WE HAVE TO OPERATE IN A MORE CONSISTENT FASHION, IN A MORE COORDINATED FASHION.
I THINK IT WOULD BE A DISSERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY.
I THINK I WOULD BE BEING DISINGENUOUS IF I DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE EXPLICITLY THAT THAT IS AN OBJECTIVE.
AS I SAID EARLIER TONIGHT, THE GOAL IS NOT INCREASED MCA SCORES OR ANY OTHER PARTICULAR METRIC, FRANKLY, THE GOAL IS IMPROVED EXPERIENCES ACROSS THE BOARD.
AND THROUGH THOSE IMPROVED EXPERIENCES, I BELIEVE STRONGLY THAT WE WILL SEE IMPROVED OUTCOMES.
THE PART THAT I WOULD PUSH BACK ON RES RESPECTFULLY, AND NOT JUST TO YOUR NEIGHBOR, TO ANY NEIGHBOR, BECAUSE AGAIN, SHE, HE OR SHE IS NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO HAS EXPRESSED THIS CONCERN, IS THAT THIS IS NOT A ZERO SUM GAME WITH RESPECT TO EQUITY AND CREATIVITY.
OUR EDUCATORS ARE IMMENSELY TALENTED.
THIS IS A PROFESSION THAT IT HAS GOTTEN HARDER AND IT'S GOING TO CONTINUE TO GET HARDER.
BUT I BELIEVE FULLY IN OUR EDUCATORS, THAT WE CAN MAINTAIN THE JOY OF LEARNING AND THE CREATIVITY AND THE INNOVATION.
THAT IS WHY MOST OF THEM, FRANKLY, GOT INTO THE PROFESSION, WHILE ALSO CREATING A MORE EQUITABLE ENVIRONMENT.
IT WOULD BE, UH, ANTITHETICAL IN MY VIEW TO THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC EDUCATION TO SUGGEST THAT THE ONLY WAY TO ADVANCE EQUITY GOALS IS TO DIMINISH CREATIVITY, OR PERHAPS EVEN MORE SO, THAT THE ONLY WAY TO MAINTAIN AND INCREASE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IS TO SOMEHOW DEPRIORITIZE EQUITY.
I BELIEVE FULLY AND I HAVE SEEN OUR EDUCATORS, UH, IN ACTION DOING THIS, THAT THOSE TWO GOALS CAN GO HAND IN HAND.
NOW, THE REASON I THINK THAT THIS IS A, A-A-A-A-A, A LINE OF DIALOGUE THAT HAS CIRCULATED IN THIS COMMUNITY, AND AGAIN, FOR FOR GOOD REASON, THIS IS A, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE SERIOUSLY BECAUSE THIS IS AN EXPERIENCE THAT SOME OF OUR EDUCATORS AND SOME OF OUR CHARACTERS HAVE, HAVE HAD, NOT ALL, BUT SOME, UM, IS BECAUSE THROUGH THAT EFFORT TOWARD GREATER CONSISTENCY AND BUILDING OUT THE, ALL THE BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES THAT COME WITH HAVING A MORE ALLIANCE CURRICULUM, THERE IS A, THERE ARE GROWING PAINS, AGAIN, THAT GO WITH IMPLEMENTING THOSE NEW SYSTEMS. BUT THE REASON THAT WE'VE MADE THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE HAVE IS THAT OVER TIME WHEN FLUENCY IN THOSE SYSTEMS IS ACHIEVED AT A HIGHER LEVEL THAN IT HAS, BECAUSE WE'RE, AGAIN, WE'RE STILL, WE'RE IN YEAR THREE OF MATH AND YEAR TWO OF ELA, BUT BY MAINTAINING THAT STABILITY, WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE IS A GREATER FAMILIARITY AND A GREATER FLUENCY WITH THOSE PROGRAMS. AND WE'RE GOING TO SEE EDUCATORS FINDING AND DEVELOPING THE SPACE TO LEAN INTO THE CREATIVITY AND THE INNOVATION.
UM, THAT IS ABSOLUTELY AN, A CORNERSTONE OF OUR ALL EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES.
AND IN A VERY CONCRETE EXAMPLE, AND ILLUSTRATION OF THAT WILL BE A PRIORITIZATION OF, OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING.
NO ONE IS OPPOSED TO PROJECT, UH, NO ONE THAT I'M AWARE OF IS OPPOSED TO PROJECT-BASED LEARNING.
FOR MANY OF OUR STUDENTS, IT IS WHAT KEEPS THEM ENGAGED AND TRULY HELPS THEM TO
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MAXIMIZE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.BUT PROJECT-BASED LEARNING HAS TO BE A MANIFESTATION OF, AND A COMPONENT OF THE TYPE OF INSTRUCTION THAT WE ARE PRIORITIZING.
AND AS I SAID, NOWHERE IN THE PROGRAMMING THAT WE'VE INVESTED IN OR IN THE PRACTICES THAT WE ARE HELPING EDUCATORS TO DEVELOP, IS IT THE CASE THAT YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND EQUITY? THERE MAY BE MOMENTS IN THE COURSE OF INSTRUCTION WHERE THINGS HAVE TO BE, UH, BALANCED IN WAYS THAT, IN THE ABSENCE OF A PRIORITIZATION OF CONSISTENCY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO.
UM, BUT IN THE END, I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE ARE IN THE LONG RUN GOING TO BE DIMINISHING, UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE ELEMENTS OF, OF THE PROFESSION.
AND I THINK IT'S CRITICAL THAT WE DON'T, BECAUSE, AND IF WE DO AND EDUCATORS BECOME LESS ENGAGED, IT WILL HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT ON THE LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT THAT OUR STUDENTS HAVE.
SO THIS, IT'S NOT THE ENGAGEMENT, THE CREATIVITY, THE INNOVATION, THOSE ARE NOT ADD-ONS.
THOSE ARE THINGS THAT ARE CORNERSTONES TO THE INSTRUCTIONAL EXPERIENCE.
AND THAT WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE PLATE THAT WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE CASE IN THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
UM, EVEN IF THE, WHAT I REFERRED TO EARLIER AS THE SORT OF SPRAWLING AUTONOMY IS RIGHT-SIZED TO A CERTAIN DEGREE AS IT HAS BEEN IN RECENT YEARS.
THAT WAS A LONG ANSWER, BUT I APPRECIATE YOU LETTING ME GET IT ALL OUT.
'CAUSE IT'S A, IT'S A, IT'S A CRITICAL THING IN OUR ORGANIZATION RIGHT NOW.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, AND I HOPE THAT'S THE CASE.
DO, DOES ANYONE WHO HASN'T SPOKEN WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK WITH SECOND ROUND OF QUESTIONS?
UH, I WANNA THANK EVERYONE WHO COULD MAKE IT TODAY.
UH, I KNOW IT WAS SHORT NOTICE AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE MADE IT VIRTUAL, BUT, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, EVERYONE MAKING IT.
AND WE'LL BE SURE TO HAVE, UM, SOME FOLLOW UP AFTER THIS.
UH, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND DO A ROLL CALL, UH, ON A MOTION BY COUNCILOR ZI, UM, TO ADJOURN.
ABSENT COUNCILLOR MCGOVERN? YES.
ABSENT VICE CHAIR DUBY, ABSENT.
MEMBER DEPA DE SANTOS IS A YES.