1. Public Comment (3 Minutes):

2. Student School Committee Report:

3. Presentation of the Records for Approval:

• March 18, 2021 Special Meeting
• March 23, 2021 Special Meeting
• March 30, 2021 Special Meeting
• April 6, 2021 Regular Meeting
• April 13, 2021 Special Meeting
• April 15, 2021 Special Meeting

4. Reconsiderations:
None

5. Unfinished Business/Calendar:
None

6. Awaiting Reports:
None

7. Superintendent’s Agenda:

7a. Superintendent's Update:
None
7b. Presentations:

COVID 19 Response Update, Dr. Kenneth N. Salim, Superintendent of Schools

7c. CPS District Plan:
None

7d. Consent Agenda:
#21-107 Recommendation: Recommendation: SY2021/2022 State School Choice Program Recommendation for Non-Participation
#21-108 Recommendation: Recommendation: Approval of the Tentative Agreement between the Cambridge School Committee and the Cambridge Professional Safety Specialists Association for a Successor Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024
#21-109 Recommendation: Recommendation: Approval of the Amendment to Memorandum of Agreement between the Cambridge Education Association Units A, B, C, D and E and the Cambridge School Committee Regarding School Reopening Dated April 5, 2021
#21-110 Recommendation: Recommendation: Approval of the Agreement between the Cambridge School Committee and the Cambridge Education Association Regarding an Adjustment to the School Calendar for the Start of the 2021/2022 School Year
#21-111 Recommendation: Recommendation: Day & Residential Program Service not Available From the Cambridge School Department
#21-112 Recommendation: Recommendation: Contract Award: Scholastic, Inc.: Instructional Materials
#21-113 Recommendation: Recommendation: Contract Award: Apple, Inc.: Computer Hardware
#21-114 Recommendation: Recommendation: Contract Award: PJ Systems d/b/a HiQ Computer Hardware
#21-115 Recommendation: Recommendation: Contract Award: Follett School Solution: Library Books
#21-116 Recommendation: Recommendation: Contract Award: CDW Government LLC: Computer Hardware & Accessories
#21-117 Recommendation: Recommendation: Contract Award: Hobart Service-a Division of ITW: Equipment Repair Service
#21-118 Recommendation: Recommendation: Gifts/Miscellaneous Receipts
#21-119 Recommendation: Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 SOA Evidence Based Programs (SC21170)
#21-120 Recommendation: Recommendation: Grant Award: FY21 SOA Evidence Based Programs (SC22170)

8. Non-Consent Agenda:
None

9. School Committee Agenda (Policy Matters/Notifications/Requests for Information):
#21-121 Joint Motion by Member Rachel, Member Wilson and Member Weinstein

Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has made many students and families anxious about being in school buildings; and

Whereas the Cambridge School Committee and Cambridge Public Schools have worked hard to create safe in-person environments and to continue vital remote learning experiences; and

Whereas, while schools will welcome back most students to learn in-person by May 10, more than 30% of our students will complete this school year learning remotely, totaling more than 15 months of being largely at home; and Whereas CPS families have requested opportunities for their children to connect with peers and school staff prior to the next school year; and

Whereas anxiety and depression amongst young people are at historically high levels nationally; and

Whereas the Cambridge School Committee and Cambridge Public Schools are committed to supporting students as they return to in-person learning this spring and in the fall; now therefore be it

Resolved that, in order to ease the return to in-person school in the fall, elementary and upper schools will invite current remote learners to gather outside with their in-person peers and their fall 2021 teacher teams at least once before June 23, 2021, and at least twice by Labor Day; and be it further

Resolved that Cambridge Rindge and Latin and the High School Extension Program will offer at least two in-person, outdoor opportunities to rising ninth graders and current remote learners by Labor Day.

#21-122 Motion by Curriculum and Achievement Sub-Committee

Whereas the Outdoor Learning Working Group of the CPSD COVID-19 Task Force has noted that research and experience tell us that providing students of all ages and abilities with opportunities to engage in learning, playing, and/or leisurely connecting with peers in outdoor spaces has many benefits for our young people, an

Whereas during the COVID-19 pandemic there are some activities that can not safely take place in the indoor spaces available in some or all of CPSD's school buildings, but may be possible outdoors due to greater ventilation and/or space for social distancing, and

Whereas CPSD buildings have been closed to after school programs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and outdoor infrastructure may make it possible safely offer space for after school opportunities (possibly in conjunction with limited use of indoor spaces, for example bathrooms), and Whereas there will be a need for continued infection control measures in summer 2021 and possibly in the 2021-22 academic year, and piloting outdoor spaces now, in the 2020-21 academic year, can help guide CPSD in how to use the outdoors even more robustly in the summer and beyond, and

Whereas the Outdoor Learning Working Group of the CPSD COVID-19 Task Force has presented the following recommendation to the Curriculum and Achievement Subcommittee; therefore be it

Resolved that May 31st, 2021 CPSD will install a minimum of four accessible temporary or permanent infrastructures (2 elementary, 1 middle, and CRLS) in different neighborhoods at or near schools to pilot outdoor learning. This may incorporate tents and other temporary or permanent infrastructure that is already in place. Use of these facilities should be available to both the school department and community partners and include outdoor storage for materials. These may include shed structures and growing sites that can benefit multiple subject matter areas. Location and design should take into consideration the potential for the infrastructure to be used by afterschool programs, and be it further

Resolved that the district will evaluate the use of these resources at the end of the academic year and consider expansion to support summer programs by July 15 2021 and to more schools by September 2021.

#21-123 Motion by Curriculum and Achievement Sub-Committee

Whereas the CPSD Safety and Facilities manual recommends that in-person students eat outdoors whenever possible for increased safety; and

Whereas there is evidence of mental health benefits to increased time outdoors; and

Whereas CPSD schools were not designed to facilitate outdoor eating, particularly for the increased number of students returning to CPSD buildings this spring and in September of 2021; and

Whereas it is probable that many students will not be eligible for vaccination prior to SY21-22; and

Whereas the Outdoor Learning Working Group of the CPSD COVID-19 Task Force has presented the following recommendation to the Curriculum and Achievement Subcommittee; therefore be it

Resolved that CPSD will ensure there are outdoor spaces for eating at each school sufficient for the number of students attending in person as soon as possible for elementary and upper schools, but no later than May 10 2021, and by May 10 2021 for high school students; and be it further

Resolved that CPSD will ensure before the start of the 2021-22 school year there are ample outdoor spaces for all students to eat outdoors in the 2021-22 school year.

#21-124 Motion by Curriculum and Achievement Sub-Committee

Whereas approximately 40 percent of CPSD students are learning remotely for the rest of the 2020-21 academic year, and

Whereas remote students may not have the opportunity to interact safely outdoors in person with other students and with CPSD staff and educators, and Whereas social interaction is important to the social and emotional learning and health of children, and

Whereas CPSD has been safely providing free lunch pickup at schools since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, thanks to the hard work of CPSD staff and the support of the CPSD administration and the City of Cambridge, and Whereas the expansion of in-person learning and the availability of COVD-19 vaccines has increased the in-person staffing at CPSD schools, making possible the consideration of programing during the school day that might not have been possible previously, and

Whereas the Outdoor Learning Working Group of the CPSD COVID-19 Task Force has presented a recommendation to the Curriculum and Achievement Subcommittee that in-person activities be offered to remote students during lunch pick-up; therefore be it

Resolved that CPSD will survey remote students and caregivers to assess interest in and need for in-person activity options for remote students during the lunch pick-up, and will report back with those findings to the School Committee at the May 18, 2021 School Committee meeting, and be it further

Resolved that if there is sufficient interest and need among remote students and caregivers, at the May 18, 2021 School Committee meeting CPSD will present a proposal for in-person activity options during lunch pick-up time to be offered during the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.

#21-125 Motion by Vice Chair Bowman

Whereas: The finalists have been chosen for the Interim Superintendent Search thus completing the work of the Ad-Hoc Superintendent Search Sub-Committee; now therefore be it

Resolved: That the Ad-Hoc Superintendent Search Sub-Committee be dissolved.

10. Resolutions:
None

11. Announcements:
None

12. Late Orders:
None

13. Communications and Reports from City Officers: None
Updated on 05/05/2021