·        September 10, 2024, Regular Meeting 

·        September 17, 2024, Regular Meeting

 Brief comments by the Interim Superintendent regarding the first month of school, including:

·          Naming of the MLK Elementary School a National Blue Ribbon School and the Tobin Montessori Elementary School a School of Recognition by DESE, 

·          Ongoing challenges with respect to transportation services, 

·          Other matters related to ensuring a productive and successful start to the 2024 - 2025 school year    

CPS district administrators will be joined by the school leaders from the MLK & Tobin schools to highlight several points of strength and pride found in the accountability & achievement data released by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondaiy Education via the 2023 - 2024 MCAS results.

David Murphy, Interim Superintendent of Schools

Dr. Lendozia Edwards, Chief of Academics

Dr. Chad Leith, Chief of Accountability

Jaime Frost, Principal,Tobin Montessori School

Gerald Yung, Principal Martin Luther King

WHEREAS: The School Committee relies on an Executive Secretary for management of the Committee’s office, including but not limited to scheduling meetings, ensuring procedural rules are followed, responding to constituent inquiries, and documenting official business; and

WHEREAS: The Committee and administration engaged in a thorough hiring process to fill the Executive Secretary position, which was vacated in May 2024; and

WHEREAS: There was unanimous recommendation emerging from the hiring process that Ms. Katherine Christo be appointed as Executive Secretary; and

WHEREAS: Ms. Christo has an exemplary record of service as the Confidential Secretary to the School Committee, and has performed the work of both the Confidential and Executive Secretaries for many months, allowing the Committee to continue operations without any hindrance; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the Cambridge School Committee appoint Ms. Katherine Christo as Executive Secretary and thanks her for her ongoing service to our students, families, staff, and policy makers.

WHEREAS: The public comment portion of regular Cambridge School Committee meetings is an important opportunity for speakers to share their views with the School Committee in a format that is accessible to the public; and

WHEREAS: Each speaker is allotted three minutes to speak during public comment, and past practice of the Cambridge School Committee has been to allot six minutes of speaking time to the president of the Cambridge Education Association (CEA); and

WHEREAS: This practice of allotting six minutes to the president of the CEA has not been formally established in the School Committees rules or procedures; and

WHEREAS: The president of the CEA, when speaking in their capacity in that role, is representing 1,500 Cambridge Public Schools educators and is elected to serve as their representative; and

WHEREAS: Hearing the perspectives, priorities, concerns, recommendations and feedback of those educators is valuable to the work of the School Committee; now therefore be it 

RESOLVED: That the president of the CEA is allotted either six minutes of speaking time to deliver public comment at regular Cambridge School Committee meetings when the regular time limit is three minutes or they are allotted four minutes when the time limit is reduced to two minutes by the Chair based on the number of individuals signed up to speak; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the president or similar designated representative of any bargaining unit that has a contract with the Cambridge Public School District also be allotted the same minutes of speaking time as the president of the CEA to deliver public comment at regular Cambridge School Committee meetings.

WHEREAS:  The Cambridge Public School District uses Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores as one measure by which to assess school and district performance and progress; and

WHEREAS: The District has long had – and taken note of – persistent disparities in scores, between students of different family income levels (with ~ ¾ of lower income students failing to meet state standards in English and math); and

WHEREAS: Almost a quarter of the District’s students high income students – those who we presume to be in a relatively solid position to learn – also failing to meet state standards; and

WHEREAS: It’s important for us to understand whether these scores reflect the quality of the education that we’re providing, or whether they’re a reflection of the fact that we’re an urban district, with lots of movement of students into and out of our schools, and a resulting limited amount of time to make an impact; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the School Administration will break out both English and Math MCAS scores by the length of time the student has been in our District and present these data to the Committee and the Community no later than November 1, 2024.

WHEREAS: The hiring of a Superintendent is the most consequential decision the School Committee will make; and

WHEREAS: Many timelines for the search have been proposed, but none yet adopted; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the School Committee will commit to a search timeline no later than October 15, 2024; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the timeline will explicitly include interim dates by which the following milestones will have taken place: 1) Hiring of a Search Firm; 2) Stakeholder Meetings Ahead of Job Posting; 3) Job Posting Approved; 4) Job Posting Publicly Released and Advertised; 5) Application Deadline; 6) Search Firm Review of Applicants, and Proposal of Shortlist; 7) Shortlisted Candidate Interviews; 8) Offer Made; and be it further 

RESOLVED That the School Committee will make clear, in writing, who will be responsible for drafting a timeline for the Committee to consider, who will be responsible for organizing the Stakeholder meetings, and who will serve as the Hiring Committee.

WHEREAS: In a District with a school choice system - wherein parents can select a school at any location within the city – timely, and well-orchestrated, transportation is critical; and

WHEREAS: The District has long had a focus on supporting families most in need; and

WHEREAS Buses arriving late impact both the children (who miss classroom time), and parents (who may not have the luxury of being late to work); and

WHEREAS: This issue is not new – having been communicated clearly and repeatedly by families; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the Transportation Department will establish and Service Level Agreement wherein they will commit to responding to all parent communications within 5 business days; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Transportation Department will provide a weekly update to all families on routes without a working bus tracker, stating what actions are being taken to resolve the issue, and by what dates those actions will be completed.

WHEREAS: All residents are welcome to speak during Public Comment – but some residents have been elected by large groups of residents, to speak on their behalf; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That any elected representative of a group with a membership larger than 500 individuals (living or working within the District) and all union leaders be entitled to twice the time allocated to an individual at a given meeting, not to exceed 6 minutes. 

WHEREAS: The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has recognized the Tobin Montessori School as a 2024 School of Recognition; and

WHEREAS: The designation as a School of Recognition, which is a part of DESE’s annual accountability reporting process, means that the Tobin Montessori School has demonstrated notable progress toward annual accountability targets, with an emphasis on the performance of all students in the school, and the school's lowest performing students group (where applicable); and

WHEREAS: The Tobin Montessori School achieved accreditation in 2015 from the American Montessori Society (AMS), making it the first preschool - 5 AMS-accredited public schools in the United States. The school was recently re-accredited by AMS in 2023. Teachers hold Massachusetts educator licenses as well as Montessori Certification; and

WHEREAS: The Tobin Montessori School, under the capable leadership of Principal Jamie Frost, is one of the small number of Massachusetts schools identified as 2024 DESE School of Recognition; and

WHEREAS: As Principal Frost states: “The overall success and growth of our students is achieved through teamwork, communication, and a shared vision rooted in data. We truly believe that all students can grow and thrive when students, staff, and caregivers collaborate. This prestigious honor is a true reflection of our collective work as a school community.”; and
 

WHEREAS: The honor and achievement of the Tobin Montessori School as a 2024 DESE School of Distinction reflects the dedication of its teachers, staff, students, and caregivers who have all worked tirelessly to create a positive and high-achieving learning environment, which is a testament to the incredible education our district provides and the bright future we are building together; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the entire Cambridge School Committee extends its appreciation and congratulations to the entire staff, students, and community of the Tobin Montessori School on its achievement and recognition as a 2024 DESE School of Recognition; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the Executive Secretary be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to the Tobin Montessori School on behalf of the entire Cambridge School Committee.

 

WHEREAS: The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School (NBRS), receiving acclaim for the school’s progress in closing student achievement gap; and

WHEREAS: The U.S. Department of Education recognized 356 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2024, and this recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups on assessments; and

WHEREAS: The U.S. Department of Education states, “These schools demonstrate what is possible to make an enduring, positive difference in students’ lives;” and

WHEREAS:  The U.S.  Department of Education will formally recognize the schools at an awards ceremony on November 7 and 8, 2024 in Washington, DC; and 

WHEREAS: The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, under the capable leadership of Principal Gerald Yung, is one of only nine schools in the state of Massachusetts that were recognized as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School; and

WHEREAS: The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School is one of only two public schools in the state that offers a two-way Mandarin immersion program, in which students benefit from expanded learning time, which allows for flexible pacing and intensity of instruction while offering enhanced enrichment to capture student curiosity; and

WHEREAS:  This honor and achievement is the result of collaboration, hard work, innovative programming, and a steadfast belief in every student, which has transformed the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School from one of the lowest-performing to one of the highest-achieving schools in the state; and

WHEREAS:  Dr. Gerald Yung states "This recognition is deeply meaningful to our community, reflecting both the challenges we've overcome and the bright future for our students that we are striving towards; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the entire Cambridge School Committee extends its appreciation and congratulations to the entire staff, students, and community of the Dr. Martin Luther King School on its achievement and recognition as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon School; and be it further
 

RESOLVED: That the Executive Secretary be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School on behalf of the entire Cambridge School Committee.