June 1, 2021 Regular Meeting
June 15, 2021 Regular Meeting
June 25, 2021 Special Meeting

Superintendent's Update on School Reopening & ESSER Planning ………………
Victoria L. Greer, Interim Superintendent of Schools
Carolyn L. Turk, Deputy Superintendent
Dr. Michelle Madera, Assistant Supt. Of Elementary Education
Nicole Gittens, Assistant Supt. Of Secondary Education
James Maloney, Chief Operating Officer

Whereas the health and safety of the children of Cambridge is of the utmost importance to the Cambridge School Committee, as is the well-being of children throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and

Whereas many Massachusetts schools and child care centers permit the use of toxic pesticides on outdoor grounds, including glyphosate and 2,4-D, potentially endangering children's health, and Whereas children absorb more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults, and children's organ systems are still developing and are less able

Whereas children absorb more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults, and children’s organ systems are still developing and are less able to detoxify harmful chemicals, and in 2012 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) called for governments to reduce children’s exposure to pesticides, writing that scientific evidence “demonstrates associations between early life exposure to pesticides and pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive function, and behavioral problems." and

Whereas a bill currently proposed at the Massachusetts State Legislature, H.926, "An Act relative to improving pesticide protections for Massachusetts school children", would allow only pesticides considered minimum risk by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and those permitted for organic use to be used near schools and child care centers in Massachusetts, except in the case of a health emergency when school officials could apply for a waiver, similar to laws passed by the State of New York in 2010 and by the State of Connecticut in 2015, and

Whereas this bill, filed by Representative Carmen Gentile, is cosponsored by every member of the Cambridge Delegation to the State House of Representatives, Rep. Mike Connolly, Rep. Marjorie Decker, Rep. Jay Livingstone, Rep. Steve Owens, and Rep. Dave Rogers, together with many other legislators, and

Whereas this bill is endorsed by a growing coalition of environmental, health and community advocacy organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Climate Action Now Western Massachusetts, the Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts Forest Watch, the Massachusetts Sierra Club, MASSPIRG, Mothers Out Front Massachusetts, the Northeast Organic Farming Association, and the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, therefore be it

Resolved that the Cambridge School Committee supports H.926, "An Act relative to improving pesticide protections for Massachusetts schoolchildren" and will send a copy of this motion to the State Delegation and Governor Baker.

Report of the July 26, 2021 Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee

Whereas Robert R. “LB” Favreau, III, passed away on July 14th, 2021 in an act of violence in Somerville, at the age of twenty-two; and

Whereas LB, the beloved son of Deborah and Robert R. “Hank” Favreau, Jr., was a Learning Community C graduate of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Class of 2017; and

Whereas LB was a great football player who loved to cook and will be remembered by his loved ones for his positivity, ability to make everyone laugh, and his love for his family and friends; and

Whereas LB is survived by his mother Deborah, his sisters Haley and Kaitlyn, and many loving friends; now therefore be it

Resolved that the Cambridge School Committee and Superintendent go on record recognizing the loss of Robert Favreau; and be it further

Resolved that a formal copy of this Resolution be prepared by the Executive Secretary to the School Committee and forwarded to his family.

WHEREAS: The School Committee was deeply saddened at learning of the death of civil rights pioneer, Robert (Bob) Moses, on Sunday, July 25, 2021; and

WHEREAS: Mr. Moses was raised in the Harlem River Houses, a public housing complex, and attended Stuyvesant High School, a selective institution with a strong emphasis on math. He played basketball and majored in philosophy and French at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., and credited his parents for fostering his love of learning, recalling trips to the public library in Harlem; and

WHEREAS: Mr. Moses earned a master’s degree in philosophy in 1957 from Harvard University, and was working toward his doctorate when he suddenly needed to leave because of the death of his mother and hospitalization of his father. He moved back to New York, where he taught math at the private Horace Mann School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx; and

WHEREAS: Mr. Moses was inspired to focus on his activism while at the Mann School after witnessing scenes of Black people sitting at lunch counters across the South; and

WHEREAS: Over the course of his adult life and advocacy work, Mr. Moses faced relentless intimidation and brutal violence to register Black voters in Mississippi in the 1960s; and

WHEREAS: As a prominent Black leader during the civil rights movement, Mr. Moses viewed himself as more of a community organizer than a leader, always putting community interests above ego and politics; and

WHEREAS: In 1960, Mr. Moses moved to Mississippi, where he organized poor, illiterate and rural Black residents, and quickly became a legend among civil rights organizers in a state known for enforcing segregation with cross burnings and lynchings; and

WHEREAS: From 1960-1965, Mr. Moses helped to register thousands of voters and trained a generation of organizers in makeshift freedom schools; and

WHEREAS: In addition to his work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, where he focused on voter registration drives across Mississippi, Mr. Moses was also a director of the Council of Federated Organizations, another civil rights group in the state, and also helped start the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, which recruited college students in the North to join Black Mississippians in voter registration campaigns across the state; and

WHEREAS: Mr. Moses and his wife, Janet, moved to Tanzania in the 1970s, where three of their four children were born. After eight years teaching in Africa, he returned to Cambridge, to continue working toward a Ph.D. in the philosophy of mathematics at Harvard University and launched the Algebra Project, a five-step philosophy of teaching that could be applied to any concept, including physical experience, pictorial representation, people talk (explain it in your own words), feature talk (put it into proper English) and symbolic representation; and

WHEREAS: By the early 1990s, the Algebra Project had an impact in cities throughout the country, won accolades from the National Science Foundation and reached 9,000 children. Mr. Moses believed math literacy to be an extension of his civil rights work in Mississippi; now therefore be i

RESOLVED: That the Cambridge School Committee and Superintendent go on record extending its deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and colleagues of Bob Moses at this time of such great loss; and be it further

RESOLVED: That a formal copy of this Resolution be prepared by the Executive Secretary to the School Committee and forwarded to his family.