##VIDEO ID:kgJb8ZwdaF0## po of subcommittee um chair Graham would you like to report out yet or do you want to also table that okay member Graham thank you um a couple of quick um notes for everyone we had our first um strategic Capital planning meeting around this Capital plan specifically last week um we have another meeting scheduled for November 19th to finish the draft of the capital plan um and uh after that in December we will have a committee of the whole scheduled um all of those meetings are Zoom only and um we in December will have a capital plan for this group to to work through um ask questions about and prioritize so that uh we can give direction to the district about um any CPC funding we want to direct the district to to apply for to the mayor and the council about the immediate Capital needs and the up coming Capital needs um Etc so there uh we had a good productive discussion um it started with the input of the building principles across the district to identify um some of those projects that were maybe not otherwise listed um so we've updated the list there are a number of capital projects in process so those um those are noted as well um and there's a huge number of upcoming Capital needs not the least of which is the HVAC um project at mlen and Andrews but but all of that is being sort of packaged up as part of the policy that we passed last year and um we will be ready to share in a committee of the whole in December so right on schedule with our um with our timeline so that that does not interfere with our typical budgeting process um whether that interferes with other supplemental appropriation budgets is sort of a one-time thing for us to consider maybe this year but um generally speaking I think we're on a good track to not overlap the budget season great thank you member Graham we have our reports of superintendent first up is Dr Edward Vincent's updates and con and comments thank you good evening everyone welcome to tonight's school committee meeting since we last spoke our students have contined to shine and thrive in our Medford community and I'm excited to share their recent accompl Ms as well as upcoming events in the district thank you to all our students staff community members and elected officials who joined us at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new universally accessible playground at mlin elementary we couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate the new space for our students and community members our health assisting CTE students and staff members have been busy supporting flu and covid vaccine clinics held in our schools for all students and staff these clinics are scheduled for Wednesdays at each of our schools through early November our national art Honor Society members recently joined the grand opening of the city's new Clippers ship popup Park students volunteered to paint the cement markers at the new outdoor play area alongside other community members their terrific artwork will further enhance the enjoyment of the new park switching over to Athletics all of our fall Middle School sports teams captured Greater Boston League conference championships last week congratulations to our baseball team our softball team our middle boys and girls cross country teams on fantastic Seasons I'd also like to highlight our boys high school golf team who also earned a GBL Championship since we last gathered well done to all of our student athletes while we eagerly await seeing how the rest of the Fall Sports season plays out it's not too early to think about our winter sports registration for our winter sports is now open and can be done at Medford athletics.com the deadline to register for our winter sports is November 18th as a reminder all athletes must complete the online registration and provide an upto-date physical within 13 months to the nurse's office before tryouts our schools once again will be busy this week outside of normal classroom instruction with events happening to support the futures of our Mustang students on Wednesday October 23rd Medford High School will host our College and Career night our annual college fair for all middle and high school students and families will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Medford High School gymnasium over 75 colleges and programs will be in attendance including four-year universities community colleges military programs and others beginning at 5:30 on Wednesday the same day Medford High School will also be hosting a college information session for students with IEPs and 504 accommodation plans attendees will be able to hear from our Special Education team and college support experts about a variety of topics including the college application process and the difference in services offered between high school and college on Thursday October 24th grade 8 and transfer students in families are invited to attend the Medford High School openhouse from 6 to 7:30 p.m. students can meet building teachers administrators and current students to learn what it's like to be a Medford High School Mustang attendees will also have opportunities to receive further information about our vocational programs Athletics and extracurricular programs we look forward to welcoming the future class of 2029 lastly I would like to wish our Medford community and all of those who celebrate an early happy Halloween or happy Harvest Festival time be on the lookout for safety reminders and other upcoming Halloween programming in this week's Friday memo tonight we will have two reports from our administrative team first we will hear on the water testing recently conducted across all of our schools and we have uh UMass Amhurst representatives and D Representatives that will be joining us this evening on Zoom I will also be joined by Dr Cushing for that presentation later we will provide a report on our districtwide transportation busing Dr Cushing Miss Megan fidler carry our director of family community engagement and the representatives from Eastern bus company Eastern bus company our partner we have Mr Chuck whiter winitzer with us Miss Jessica Guadalupe and his son Mr winitzer is it David David David winitzer thank you thank you Dr Edward Vinson we have report on water testing Dr Edward Vincent superintendent Dr Peter kushang assistant superintendent of enrichment Innovation and operations and Department of Environmental Protection Representatives Alex smithlin project manager UMass Amherst Hannah paren project manager UMass Amherst juette deiza Pro program director and Jessica sarusi environmental analyst Marian barosi technical assistant provider UMass Amhurst and Kate Gallagher technical assistance provider UMass Amhurst welcome I'm going to just turn on your microphone thank you thank you good afternoon Madame mayor and members of the committee all right sorry red means go now um thank you for this opportunity to present and to have the team from UMass uh on with us as well um they will be presenting a slide deck uh momentarily to talk through um but one of the reasons why we uh initially started this water testing um was is to be able to participate in what is known as The Swig Grant Swig stands for school water Improvement Grant um one statistic that I saw was that over 82% of Massachusetts schools have some type of lead in their water so in 2016 the governor authorized uh funds to be able to um test water in schools and then also provide um some funds for replacing drinking and bottle fing stations in schools so in order for us to be eligible for that and to also have concern and the utmost uh focus on um the best drinking water possible for our staff and students uh we began testing the water um Madam superintendent would you like to say anything before we move on to uh the team from UMass yes I would just like I would like to thank um the team from UMass and D for part partnering with Medford um I've had the opportunity to um speak on several occasions with Miss Marian bergwitz um Mr Alex Smith Linn and Miss IET depa um just with them sharing their expertise and the work that it is that they do um I look forward from to hearing from the members of the team this evening um and they are prepared to talk about their programming and answer any questions that um may come up so without um further Ado I believe all of you have been made co-hosts so um Alex the document is shared with you I think you should be able to do it right now I just want do you want us to uh present or did you want to present it and then we kind of go through it okay um I'm willing to let you you I'll I'll pull the slide deck up then no no problem thank you okay hi everyone I'm Hannah Parson um I'm joined today in this presentation my colleague Alex Smith Linn we are both program managers on the mass DP UMass Amhurst water smart program we also have with us today Vette deiza who is the director of the mass DP drinking water program Jessica sairi who is the um Le and copper lead in the masty P drinking water program and to two of our UMass technical assistance providers Marian berwitz and Kate Gallagher next slide please so I'm going to start with just a brief overview of the um sources and health effects of lead just so that we're all on the same page to begin with so lead we know is a dangerous and toxic metal and although it's found in nature most lead exposure comes from human activities and use and we know that young children infants and pregnant women are the most vulnerable to the impacts of lead next slide please we know that there is no safe level of lead for children and that even low levels of lead can negatively impact a child's development these impacts can include damage to the brain and nervous system slowed growth and development as well as learning and behavior problems and hearing and speech problems and there are often no initial signs or symptoms of Le exposure so unless you test for lead you often do not know that it is present next slide please thank you uh there are many different sources of lead exposure for any particular individual a lead has been found in some consumer products in some paint um but EPA does estimate that drinking water can account for upwards of 20% of an individual's total exposure if lead is found in the drinking water next slide please when we talk about lead and drinking water it's important to understand how lead gets in drinking water so typically lead is not found in the water that comes from your public water supplier but leeches into the water through either lead surface lines or lead Plumbing or faucets or fixtures within your home or building so you can see in this graphic here there's a couple of different examples of the types of pipes or fixtures in which lead may be found and may be causing lead to be leeched into the drinking water so this could be from a service line which is the line that connects your public water system water main to the pipes that enter your home or within the pipes in the home as well or building in this case a school or Child Care Facility or actually in lead can be component of the faucets or fixtures or solder or fitting that are in your um sinks or other outlets next slide please so in Massachusetts in terms of regulations that we um have here in this state we do not have any state regulation that requires schools or Child Care Facilities to test forent however because if you don't test you don't know if it's present Mass DP does recommend that all schools and child care facilities test all of the fixtures that are used for drinking cooking or medical purposes for LED and then we recommend that you take certain remedial actions based on those results and we'll go over what some of those potential remediation actions and follow-up actions are a little later in the presentation next slide please we also wanted to make you aware of some recent Federal Regulations so just earlier this month EPA announced the letin copper rule improvements or the LCI which makes updates to requirements for public water systems around and drinking water some of these updates starting in 2027 that communities for Public Water Systems will be required to replace lead service Lines within 10 years the Action level the lead Action level has also been lowered from 15 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion this means that communities would have to notify the public and take action when they test above that 10 part per billion level and then specifically for schools and child carees starting in 2027 public water suppliers will be required to offer free testing to all the schools and child care facilities that they serve or that they provide water with again this is will not be a requirement for any testing in any school or Child Care Facility there is nothing that will regulate schools or child care as on the state or federal level to actually perform testing this is will just be a requirement that your public water supplier offers to do free testing at your school or Child Care Facility if they provide water to that facility uh so starting in 2022 Mass DP through the water smart program began a pilot program to help a number of Public Water Systems offer this testing to their schools and child carees ahead of this Federal requirement and if any school um uh any public water supplier was still interested we are still offering that opportunity through our water smart program next slide please yeah so thanks Hannah now I'm going to talk a little bit more uh about our water smart program that's what we are discussing today um obviously the goal of our program is to provide uh free technical assistance and testing for all uh Schools public and private and child care facilities throughout Massachusetts that have not previously tested Ed uh in our program D we've been running a lead testing program since 2016 uh the current phase of the program has been going since 2020 uh the first round uh included comprehensive testing of all fixtures uh used for drinking cooking and uh health reasons uh We've tested over 150 schools and 650 Child Care Facilities uh since 20120 that's in our current phase which is known as the water smart program uh this effort involves many Partners including UMass Amherst uh Department of Public Health ma Water Resources Authority uh the department of Early Education and Care as well as the department of Elementary and secondary education next slide please got a little bit cut out here um but the program processes um the first the first step this kind of goes through how we uh do the water smart program and our process uh the first step there everything seems to be cut out here so I can't see it entirely but I can pull it up uh the first step is to apply to the program uh then Mass d uh myself especially will then review and accept uh your applications like I said as long as you haven't previously tested and you're a licensed Child Care Facility or School in uh in the state you will be eligible and you will be accepted to our program uh then our technical assistance providers Maryann and Kate um among several uh will then contact the facility and design a sampling plan then uh sampling will be performed with the assistance of our technical assistance providers this uh the samples will then be collected this is step five uh will then be collected and mailed to a laboratory we have several approved Laboratories that we uh use regularly for this testing um then to step six uh we receive and uh help kind of help you understand the results um including identifying actions uh to take and to address any elevated levels of lead uh at your facilities and then finally uh step eight we distribute information uh to teachers parents students um and deliver certificates as well as brida filters uh there's also an additional step which is Step nine which I'll discuss later um which is the Swig program which we've talked about previously it's not actually run biomass D but uh we work with the Clean Water trust to implement this program and you have to go through our program um or at least have data in our EA data portal to be able to apply to that program next slide please uh so discussing uh Medford Public Schools testing why was this testing done um obviously Medford School Districts they were being really diligent um in testing their public schools for lead as mass DP recommends testing every three years this is an entirely voluntary program that we're running uh there's no mandate as we said earlier um but it's very important because you know if you don't test you don't know and Lead is especially dangerous for children as we discussed earlier uh so by performing this testing uh Medford Public Schools are now eligible to apply uh for those School water Improvement Grants uh that we discussed earlier these can provide funding uh for installation of water fill stations um and which will ensure safe drinking water and they can replace uh contaminated fixtures um in your schools uh next slide please talking about the public school testing um some more Medford already uh they applied that was back in January of this year at all of the schools I think there was eight of them uh testing was performed in May through June of this year and results were uh shared subsequently with recommendations for remediation by our Taps here um today from our understanding signage has already been posted throughout the schools um advising against drinking water from fixtures which have found lead uh fixtures with levels about 15 parts per billion have be deactivated and are no longer in servant this is are no longer in service because this is above our Action level um and in addition bottled of water uh is being provided throughout some schools until long more uh longterm rediation uh can be implemented which would be the Swig program um next slide please so so here we have a little gra uh or a little table um it shows some of the Medford School results uh these are all all the different schools as you see um there's samples that are below one part per billion from 1 to 15 parts per billion and then above the Action level uh which is 15 parts per billion at each School uh it's very important to note that in this um table here that when we did flushing samples in a lot of cases the water was uh below one part per billion that means we ran the water for approximately 30 seconds and took a second sample at um a lot of these locations and then sent those to the labs and in a lot of cases the lead was significantly decreased um in that second sample uh if you want to see these results more um in depth and look you can go onto our uh energy and environmental Affairs data portal it's the EA data portal there's a link uh that we can provide and all results from our lead and T copper testing throughout the state will be publicly available here you can uh use a lot of search parameters and change it up and you know see just elevated results or see all results from all uh schools and childcare facilities whichever you so choose next SL please um so this is kind of going over uh that previous um chart table that I had um so lead levels over 15 parts per billion that is the Action level we ask you to take them out of service immediately until the problem is addressed and sampling shows that levels are no longer elevated now and it was saying earlier that that will change to 10 parts per billion in 2027 um so this chart will still or this graph here will still be the same and you just have 10 parts per billion as opposed to 15 um lead levels between 1 and 15 parts per billion we obviously always recommend uh long-term remediation is the most important thing um but you should still be taking steps to reduce lead exposure in the meantime depending on the levels uh these can include daily Flushing I was saying earlier you can Implement flushing programs um replacing fixtures and Taps those are more long-term installing a point of use uh filter device or posting not for drinking or cooking signs which I believe have already been done at uh medord schools and like I said prioritizing long-term Solutions at the locations with the highest level is always the most important thing and then for levels one parts per billion and Below uh we say that you can continue using them um this includes no detections which means there's no lead at all um that's found can be used as normal but we still recommend resampling every 3 years next slide please uh for next steps as we uh were discussing earlier one of the the main Next Step would be obviously to apply for Swig um as I was discussing earlier I believe that you guys have already done that um in many of these schools um these can these water fill stations can replace any fixture uh that has found LED above one parts per billion it does not have to be above 15 parts per billion uh to get these filters uh signage has already been posted as we're talking about um and flushing is always advisable to reduce lead uh that is built up in stagnant water uh we also recommend that schools can set up a program to perform ongoing sampling as our current program does not sample facilities more than once um that goes back to the application process we only accept facilities that haven't been through our program previously um these instructions for setting up your own program will be provided to the Medford School District officials um and we actually have them in a later slide as well um so you can see that and of course we're always happy to continue assisting with remediation plans going forward um in any way we can next slide please um yeah and then talking more about swigs so schools that test and find uh lead are eligible to apply for school water Improvement Grants uh to purchase these uh filtered water bottle filling stations as seen on the right here uh schools have to have results in our EA data portal to be able to apply I again linked it right here um you can take a look at at all all the data there if you want to um grants can May provide up to $3,000 per station uh to replace contaminated fixtures to date um there's been over 500 grants that have been awarded to over 230 schools and child care facilities throughout the state uh family childcare programs are currently excluded from these um and the program is overseen by you know another of our partners the ma clean water trust next slide please yeah and then here's more information so uh all of this stuff we have our program page right there it's the mass.gov watersmart page there's our application page if you know anyone else who may be interested in applying for our program child care providers included um the EA data portal if want to look at your results uh feel free to use this link um and contact us at LCC at umass.edu or uh program director DWP mass.gov if you have further questions about any of this stuff next slide please and then here's the additional resources I was discussing earlier for implementing your own uh lead sampling program if you guys are interested you know in continued testing we do provide guidance uh through the lead contamination and Control Act program uh there's a web page right here we have everything from how to develop a sampling plan a comprehensive guide of doing testing uh list of certified labs and different follow-up actions uh that you guys can take so everything should be here and it can help you guys with implementing your own lcca program if you so choose next slide please and I think that is all uh we have if anyone has questions uh we're feel we're happy to answer uh we have as Hannah was saying we have AET our program director here and uh Jessica sersi and both of our technical assistance providers Maryanne and Kate if you have more technical questions about uh the sampling process thank you very much member brandley me first um so I'm just wondering if we can have a cop of that um slideshow sent to us to each of us can have that slideshow um before this testing was done was the city testing the water I know the city tests the water every week is uh the schools part of that testing no regularly not not weekly testing I think this city does one or two um locations in each School per year okay so nothing extensive like what water smart has done for us do the testing that came from this go to the water department like how do what is the follow through in collaboration with the city uh so I'm working closely Next Step The Swig Grant we applied for the Swig Grant uh it's two phases phase one is the initial verification application and then that was done on October 3rd we were notified that we were moving moved on to phase two on October 15th Maran and I will be working on that and then Mary and I will Maryanne OK Conor and I will work on a plan moving forward um these results are all shared on the State website they are also updated with all of our remediation actions um based on the recommendations in the uh Excel spreadsheets that were shared with us um so that work uh with the exception of one location that I just have to verify um of um Flushing um is every single the hundreds of locations that were done are all updated as of this past Friday night so and yes anything our water department um Mr Souza I believe received results and he forwarded them to the schools over the summer okay um so the Department of Public Health the plan moving forward can we be notified what the plan is going to be moving forward okay okay um I think that might be it thank you thank you um I don't know if this is a question for the folks on Zoom but I was curious how many filling stations we would be eligible for in Medford is it like per number of students is it based on square footage like how do you decide how many we would be eligible for under the grant so we don't directly uh deal with that that's the ma clean water trust it's like a program that we work with but we don't actually um give out those grants ourselves so we would have to ask them um I've seen over 50 in some um cases I think that was with Wester but I don't have any more knowledge about that currently yeah you're you're typically eligible for one for every fixture that tests above every eligible fixture that tests above one part per billion so you would have to look back at your which of those fixtures would specifically be eligible but there's no um limit it's it's based on which ones are would be needed to be replace wow that's fabulous thank you um and I think the other question that I had was is it is the are the results that we saw here unusual in any way like my first thought was like how do we have all this like LED in our fixtures and I just didn't know if this was unusual in some way for us or if this is pretty common based on what you see in other districts we do see a lot um of situations with similar results um typically it's in schools that are uh built prior to 1988 um because that was when they stopped using um lead in pipes um but you know it isn't in frequent to see uh LED above you know one par per billion in you know more recently uh renovated schools as well about about about 65% of the schools and child carees that have tested through our program have um at least one fixture that tests above one part per billion so it's very common to find lead in in facilities um thank you that is just helpful context to understand because our buildings were not generally built before 1986 so um is the typical remediation I know it's different for everybody but is the typical remediation at that point simply repl I'll say simply but simply replacing the fixtures or are there other potential things that need to happen in terms of our planning I think typically yes um like I said implementing flushing programs something that we regularly suggest as well um that's typically if the results are not above 15 parts per billion the Action level uh like I said if it's above 15 parts per billion we ask you to take those um offline immediately until they're replaced completely um but from anything from 1 to 15 we typically suggest flushing um and like I said prioritizing long-term remediation um efforts um thank you and I will just um note to the committee that we will um put this faucet replacement remediation on the capital plan as well um just so we don't lose track of it if if I may from the chair I think the slide was um I think it was a third or fourth slide it showed that you can have lead pipes outside the building you can have the lead in the pipes throughout the building it could be in the fixtures there's I think there was four different ways that lead could be coming into these schools and we don't know what the reason is um facilities and ground and grounds director from the city was notified of this probably beginning of last week the week before and immediately took action to start testing the fixtures so we've got replacement fixtures and we're going to be retesting those locations that we're going to um test out so we don't know the cause of yet of why we have lead in our in our new schools that were built far after um 1988 but we are working to get to the bottom of it thank you member reinfeld yes so this presentation was very much about remediation I am wondering while we have these folks on the line if there's anything we need to be keeping in mind for a new building that could potentially be coming to Medford in the next few years we hope I would say you know just try to do uh sign it up and probably get it tested again obviously we always recommend testing um in facilities including new facilities we have found you know situations where even new buildings will have elevated lead or copper levels um so it's important to do testing um at the end of the day there is no mandate but as we said we always recommend it so also to the we work with the um plumbing board and the plumbing inspectors so as part of a new building being constructed and you're following the local plumbing codes they are going to be checking to make sure that the piping that they're putting in is lead free and then you will be doing testing before you put that water line into service and if in fact something is identified at that point the building does not go online until they have addressed these ISS isues and that would be for electrical and any other one of the um services that would go to a building absolutely of course are there resources available to help with some of that it's not remediation if it hasn't happened yet but you mentioned grants for getting filling stations would there is that sort of thing available for new installations I know that the sampling part of it there there'd be funding if you're part of this wig program you like to um for instance when you install like a bottle water filling station that has to test out and ensure that it's meeting the standards and that testing is covered I am not that Claire on a new building but I can certainly find out and we can get back to you on that thank you so much thank you we're going to go to member in TOA thank you mayor um and thank you mayor for also the clarification on the possible the fact that we just still don't know what's going on um and I find that deeply unsettling and we got to figure that out um my questions with the data presented um do we know it's listed here meford the meford high complex is listed as one item line do we know the breakdown of faucets or fixtures I guess is the better for that are impacted um in the High School versus The Vocational buildings do we know the proportional difference between the two if one was more impacted than the other okay no that was just one question I mean I suppose I could go through and look at each location but um it was not differentiated for that it was just seen as one Medford High School okay cool no I just wanted a clarification on that and then also curious as to why looking at the numbers again why the two middle schools with the Andrews being impacted the most with um you know above 15 parts per billion with 52 fixtures affected and the you know the mlin middle school with 33 um I guess that has to go with the investigation when it comes to why it's happening and what it's happening but that is a stark number number and difference compared to the rest of our schools um so I'm not sure what that says for the data but I just wanted to make a comment about that and then in terms of turnaround with data do we know what the appropriate time is because the last number I saw was June do we know when the turnaround is for when we should be getting this like when we do testing how long does it take you to get results back we were receiving results um from June on okay depending on the building okay um sounds good um I think that's all I have but just wanted to thank Mass D for doing this great work and for helping us figure this all out um yeah that's all I have to say thank you if if I could just address the um I I can't speak to the why as Madame mayor said with you know multiple possible reasons one thing that me uh director riggy mentioned during our conversation last week was that up until I believe it was 2014 lead was still being used in both solder and um the plumbing fixtures themselves so even though I believe it was 1986 when the Clean Water Act restricted lead pipes um that was still being allowed to happen so um we're replacing as the mayor mentioned we're right now replacing two faucets at the locations in each building faucets fixtures in each building uh we will then go back and retest those to see where we are on the numbers following the protocols that were outlined here and and and I'll just point out even though it's it's concerning I think all we we all know that every faucet or any place that tested over the 15 baby per billion has a sign on the faucet now as of October 3rd Brooks was sooner um saying hand wash only me member rouso thank you um some of these fixtures um I mean we we were talking about one part per billion 15 parts per billion and you know we have a a sink at Medford High with 967 parts per billion um the thing is is that all of the really bad stuff isn't at Medford High I mean the worst two are at Medford High but 235 parts per billion at the Andrews 180 at the mcglen middle um I mean there are 176 fixtures over 15 parts per billion um and I'm obviously very interested in mitigation um but I really hope that how we are here and why we are here doesn't get any kind of um sugar coating no sugar coating I don't care this is not okay um and um I mean 967 parts per billion I bet DCF would take a kid out of a house seriously like that's like what I can't do that kind of math this hour that quickly but hundreds of times over the the maximum amount before you have to shut down equipment so I I look forward to the results of the investigation I look forward to all the very graphic detailed reports explaining what was snaked and looked at and where every fixture that does get replaced I want those fixtures saved we need to know where they came from how they were purchased how did we end up with them if it was a fixture obviously if it's not a fixture then we got to find the root cause but I don't want it to just be we replaced the 376 fixtures it cost a million dollars or whatever it cost and we throw them all in the dump uh there needs to be answers I mean for the Metford High stuff the answer is that's what it was when we built it um but for everything else I want to know who received funding to sell a piece of equipment that was not necessarily allowed at that point in time because I just can't believe that these levels are a result of purchasing the appropriate stuff and then um and putting it in front of children so um yeah and um I do have a question about whether or not it makes sense for the school committee to draft a policy on required testing one of the things that's very unclear right now is like what does it cost to test every fixture in our whole school system I mean is it $50,000 a year or is it a vastly bigger number and without that number it feels like you know in my gut test everything every single year but if you tell me it's going to cost a million dollars a year then then my gut starts to feel a little less comfortable with that so I understand that this testing we weren't paying for correct yes our program entirely free so it was a grant so um I mean if we can get an estimate for what it would actually cost for us to do this on the regular um I would like to know that some of how much on the regular would depend very much on the investigation as to how we are here and why we are here um you know if we find out that this certain fixtures were purchased and they had lead in them and we replaced them then it makes sense that we don't have to test those fixtures regularly but um but those schools are 24 years old and uh I'm looking back at the data on the state's website there are a few from 2016 or 2018 but pretty much nothing ever since and um I want to make sure we're never we don't leave a future school committee and I certainly kids and staff to uh discover that they've been consuming this stuff for decades um so that's I don't know if I have a question but those are my comments thank you thank you member so member olap thank you um so a question um for for both the D team um or the assist superintendent um comment about flushing protocol I understand like every three years like the LCR rule suggest that that's in like the E EPA suggesting every three year for testing but if we go above the 15 parts per billion um it changes to a different protocol time timeline what does flushing actually mean like I keep hearing it I want understand better like what that protocol actually looks like what's the methodology that we use why is it that we do that compared to some other method of cleaning out the system um yeah um so on the fixtures that we are flushing um which are very few in comparison to the total number uh those are controlled by either kitchen or nursing staff um you know we we posted every fixture in the district regardless of result um to to make sure that we were being on the safe side when we got these results back um the reality is is that myself and director ' Conor were uncomfortable leaving flushing um in every other location um we couldn't reliably say that it would be conducted with our with if it's in a nurse's office or kitchen or a place like that we can reliably say that someone will flush it all right um and it's 30 seconds uh it's done at the beginning of the day um I think most people are actually running it for longer than 30 seconds um and uh you can also for safety sake do it multiple times during the day um and uh I believe in one of the conversations with um members of the team online to do it at 3:00 as well if the water has been sitting but uh it is done at the beginning of the day to make sure that is flushed in those limited locations right so it's not it's not a flushing of the entire water system it's just specific portions of the building correct okay um and then I guess the I actually want to agree with my um fellow Committee Member I think that there should be some explanation about how the actual costs how we're incurring those costs of the the yearly or try yearly um testing just because I think that if there is a way for us to afford it if depending on what the cost would be to having a more more consistent um process just because evidently even though we these buildings were built post the 84 rule about changing the piping that's still an issue evidently so I think there is a way for us to kind of have a conversation about testing more consistently I would like to know how to do that as well thank you um DP would also like to just um touch upon the flushing programs we actually send around notices um like after holidays and periods where um students are out of the schools we encourage um flushing because what flushing does the intent is to bring water from the street where we know that the public water supply is providing water that does not have elevated lead levels to bring that water into the school and to the tabs I I also wanted to mention that use pattern is also very important because we have noticed that when you find very elevated levels of lead when you look at the use pattern you may find out that that particular faucet is not being used and therefore the accumulation of lead or other um buildup might be why you're getting really high levels at a particular point um our experience is that in some schools we have said if you're not going to be using this faucet on a regular basis that maybe you don't need that faucet and therefore they can go to another location on the same level where there's more active use we also identified that faets within classrooms that for whatever reason don't get used tend to have higher levels so that would be something we would encourage you to look at look at your use pattern as you determine where you're going to um put your bottle water filling stations or to encourage the students to drink and to also look at our information on flushing because we have a lot of guidance on our web page on how to do that and maybe work with our TA providers as needed thank you thank you thank you Dr Cushing thank you Dr Vincent and thank you to everybody from d for being on the call to answer our questions we appreciate it um we have our report on the districtwide busing Dr Peter Cushing assistant superintendent of enrichment Innovation and operations Miss Megan Fiddler carry director of family and Community engagement and Mr Chuck winitzer owner of Eastern bus company and Miss Jessica gu Lupe Eastern bus Medford manager welcome everybody thank you for being here turn it over to you Dr kushen Madam mayor uh was just making uh Miss fedler carry uh a co-host as well um thank you for this opportunity uh so Medford uh Public Schools is in the last year of a five-year contract with Eastern bus company uh we're currently working on our procurement for the next contract we currently run 14 buses um at the Metro Public Schools one bus uh for North Medford at Medford High School uh the rest of Transportation there is relying on MBTA transportation and then we run um the buses uh combined for our middle schools all students walk from the mlin to the Andrews at the end of the day uh board the buses there and then are mov throughout the city to their bus stops um we have uh buses also for our elementary schools as you know um but we also now offer and are trying to offer more transportation for families looking for after care um specifically to rsk Ready Set kids and I believe it is called Sigma um and um at this time uh Miss fedar if you have anything else to add um that summed it up really well that um you know our contractually the state rules as you've said forgive me if I reiterate State rules say that we are obligated to transport students who live more than two miles away from the schools um and we have an even more generous uh policy in Medford where at the elementary level we've gotten our policy that we transport students who live more than a mile away from the schools um but knowing that after school care uh is a concern and a a need for our families we are doing our best to also provide transportation after in the afternoons to the private providers throughout the city um as they are getting more of them that means more students to transport so it's it's a challenge there are numbers but uh we're we're working on it and doing our best and um the after school programs are terrific partners and they're working really closely with us uh to try and perfect any um Logistics that that change or that are challenging and they're good partners I I just want to put that out there and thank them publicly right here right now I'll invite uh members of easn bus to the podium and I'll happily stand by thank you welcome well we came because um the superintendent uh has been speaking with me you know uh over the beginning of the year till now we've also uh been working with everyone we can to try and put things together it's a a difficult situation um you know I don't know if everybody knows that it is a serious driver shortage problem uh that every company is having um I know we do a bunch of districts medf being one of them we've been doing medf for a long time and since the pandemic it's it's a struggle to keep you know everything full H we try but you know we we train uh as much as we can uh as a company five years ago we bought a building up in Bera just to set up our own training course so it was approved by the state and we do all our training there so it's a big piece for us trying to stay up at this time we we are training many people um we do have people testing but um one of the issues we have is we're trying to support all the communities we have so we get one guy we move them to a place another guy usually depends on uh where they live so that's the biggest thing Medford and Malden we don't have you know the uh the most drivers coming from there most of them are coming from Dorchester Roxbury whatever so uh it's a little easier to get them in different situations but medfed has a bunch of guys that come in from Dorchester and Brockton to drive a lot of them have been with us a long time so we are trying to get it together uh we we did get the word you know late in the spring you were looking to add and at that time we just we knew um going into the fall one of the big problems we have is uh people they you know they collect unemployment for the summer they promise that they they're coming back and then we get to September and we lose 10 12 15 people it's it's been consistent over the past five years that this has been something that happened and we um saw it coming so we prepared for it and we got 50 16 guys to start but you know they were all just you know brought in and put right into Roots we needed right away um we were able to right away get the 14 buses for medfi with the word that you know if there's any way we can add two more buses that's what they want they want to add two more buses and we told them as soon as we see the situation where we can do it um we're going to do it you know we're working hard on it uh medfit is on the top of the list uh everybody will get one first and then when we get a second one that's when we'll push the second one in you know so we are trying very hard to um get into the situation that Medford wants at this time like I said I've spoken to the mayor Jessica has spoken to uh Megan over and over about what we're trying to do we've worked as hard as we can to get any overages covered we we've done everything we can to get all the buses uh going where they have to go and getting them there on time the regular buses are running excellent you know we've worked hard to get control of the overages you know no we don't have any overages we haven't for a while but at the beginning of the year you actually you know you run into it where we don't know a bus is going to have you know 70 kids when last year only had 44 but you know it happens every year we know what we have to make for adjustments and you know with Megan and Jessica we've been able to put everything together um I know the biggest thing you're looking for is the afterschool program you know which you know what do we do do we cover a athletic or do we cover a a late a late school you know what I mean it's not really a late school but it's an after school so we do have some commitment to Athletics but we even make them wait and try and get the regular buses first even this one goes before an athletic event you know so we we did uh reach out and say whenever we have have a spear person we're going to put them over there and we're going to bring them back and you know it's been working you know not every day but it does work whenever we get a chance we do uh send a bus over to uh Robert right Brooks Brooks we send it over to Brooks to get the kids to where they got to go earlier you know at 2:30 which is I know that's what you're looking for so we are we are looking working very hard on trying to get more drivers in we like I said we're training as quick as we can uh it takes time it's it's not used to be that we could turn guys around in 3 four weeks now it's it's it's a month two months it it really is a whole different process than it was five years ago um the registry of Motor Vehicle does not work well with us you know they were doing pretty good but you know you still every driver for any reason flunks the first time so it's always a second test because you know the registry is very difficult and tight with their RS it doesn't matter what it is could be the smallest thing and they call them on it as soon as you make any mistake at all the test ends and you start again you have to go for another test and start again it it was brutal over the summer we had a brutal time and and all of the bus companies uh Stam being the major uh you know person that everybody works through it they they have an organization for all the school bus companies in the state every body filed a complaint because the registry just decided you know a year ago they weren't going to pass anybody they didn't care what it was you did three four tests for us to get somebody ped and everybody complained and they did readjust it and one of the big things you have is when they change a trooper and they changed that you know what they were doing they're going to change a little bit you know and that's when we run back into H and we just ran into that you know the last couple of weeks we had a couple of guys that didn't make it through but we have a a few tests coming up we have tests coming up this month we have tests coming up in November because the other thing is we don't get uh you know the choice it's there's you know 50 companies all trying to get tests so it's very hard to get the test it takes a few weeks for us to get a test once we have the driver in a position uh F to go to have a test so once he has his hours and once we feel comfortable with them we put them right in for a test so like I said as soon as we can turn it around you know it's it's not a bus problem it's nothing but a driver problem you know so we are you know and I've been I've been talking to everybody here um to try and uh let them know we are working on it you know and I have like I said I have every Community I have is look for extra buses it's it's across the board right now that every every city I have is requesting two buses three buses thank you um we just a few questions member Graham thank you hi I'm Jenny thank you for being here um couple questions how when you think about the people that are in the pipeline to be tested how many of them are coming to Medford and and do you have any timeline at all you know we we don't know when they're going to pass we have guys like I said you know we have uh yards all over the area and like I said it kind of goes where the guy lives we don't try and just do that but if somebody lives in Malden Medford Mel anywhere over in this area they're going to Medford you know we have drivers that come in that live up near low Bara they go to the Bara yard we have guys down in Randolph and Brockton a lot of them go to Newton or Welsley you know it just we're spread out so until we know you know where the guy is we try and work with the people if you you know if you live in Medford or this area we say we're going to we're going to move you to Medford and they're fine but if we take somebody from Brockton that has a friend to Newton and says I'd rather go to Newton we can't push him we won't get them if we take a guy and try and put him in medfit and he wants to be in Newton you know he's not going to stay with us he's going to leave on us you know so we we do have guys uh that if they pass in the next you know few weeks from the area I have a couple from Medford Cambridge some of this area that are going to be tested we can't guarantee when they pass but as soon as they do we'll move them best case scenario maybe Thanksgiving maybe three or four weeks depending on what occurs if nobody leaves because it's a fluid situation all things we're confident within the next six eight weeks we should be able to add two drivers to the City of Medford but things can change very quickly appreciate that um a couple of other things I think just strategically there's a lot of conversation in Medford about um the hu thousand kids who are not eligible for transportation to the middle and the high schools because they live between one and two miles and your bus drivers can probably tell you that traffic around Medford is a nightmare I I am shocked that anybody gets to school on time at Medford High because I live you know a few blocks away and it's like impossible to get through there even until almost 8:00 and school starts at like 7:40 or something so um I think the other thing that we're talking about is all of th all of those people who are driving their kids to school that's a hardship for them um it's bad for our roads and it would be far more efficient to to put those kids on a bus we obviously don't have the money to do that right now um but if that is to change like we I think we could be in a position that when we go out to bid we would be looking for um additional buses and I think um I would be interested to know from you all how we can help the bus driver shortage situation I'm not sure there's much we can do but if there is something we can do please let us know because it's really important that kids get to school on time and if the bus is late that's a problem if their parents can't drive them and they're walking two miles that's a problem um so I want to make sure that we're doing what we can to support you all as you think about um you know getting additional drivers here um the other um comment I did have about the after school programs um in the in the afternoons um I appreciate the like willingness to send the buses when they are available um I think that is a huge help and um the folks um whose kids are sitting and waiting for a really long time are really appreciative they obviously want that to already have happened and be done yesterday um but um I was talking with some parents recently and they were talking about how their kid spends an hour on the bus from the Roberts to the square and you all made some sort of Route adjustment recently and the parent sought me out to tell me that the change was dramatic for their kids getting off at their after school program and it was the difference between it was like a 40 minute 45 minute difference so thank you for that and I am I am interested um in where else Our Roots can be optimized like that so that it kids are not sitting on the bus because the truth is they're sitting in the elementary schools for some amount of time before they even get on the bus so for kids to not be getting to an after school program till like after 4M 4:30 um it it's a very very long time to wait and parents are paying for those services that they're not getting so if there are other root optimizations that can happen I assume you use some sort of Geo software that helps map the routes but we would we would certainly be interested in anything you can do to support route optimization to get kids to their destination just a little bit faster well there's there's not a whole lot in Medford or any other City we can do with with traffic but if I see something you know if I know what day they go and I look and see what they did if they're doing something that I think they can do better about Jessica um you know we'll we'll look into it straight now we'll do the best we can but it just there are certain times you just can't move yeah it's you know anything happens on the highway and and and medf closes yeah we know we're we're on Mystic G we're on Mystic gab now I drive by all the time we we see the backups on the highway from in front of us and on the other side of mtic Gab so yeah you know and it does as soon as there's a problem on the highway everybody jumps off especially in the Square yeah and it just shuts it down because the lights you know you have too many lights and too many people trying to get through it so but we will we we will look into it if we see that it's taken too long and the person that did it you know they just didn't go the right way we'll fix it it is also that we have to take when the logistics of the transportation come in we also have to take the headcounts in that's why we do headcounts we got to look at students so it's hard to optimize Roots when you're also dealing with overcrowd right because obviously we can't go over for the little guys we can't go over 77 which is a full bust that's you know all the little ones to we pered almost impossible because you'll get common all different shapes and sizes so it's very difficult uh but that's why we're always trying to do headcounts just to update see if we can take off dead stops and stuff like that that is part of our normal protocol okay to be able to make sure buses you know we don't want buses going to stops that aren't there you know just because it's on the list and then um my last question we have had multiple incidents where um students have been let off the bus in the wrong place this year and um I fielded a call from a parent who was pretty distraught about that on a recent Friday evening and so I'm just curious from your standpoint like is there something we're doing in Medford that is exacerbating this situation where five-year-olds get off the bus and cross the square by themselves is there something we could be doing differently to assist your drivers like what how do we make sure five-year-olds are not traversing the square by themselves because they got off at the wrong stop so that's I actually know exactly what that's from the Roberts um we pulled the video we have Cameron inside and out and I sent it over to Megan and um Michael from the Roberts and that wasn't the case there was a from the YMCA there's a a a staff member that comes out the child got out went with the staff member and then all of a sudden staff memb said hey you know this is the wrong child it wasn't that you know she just you know unfortunately these these buses have like 60 kids and they're all screaming they have a tag but it was at the YMCA when there's a staff member went with the staff member and the staff member ended up calling because it was supposed to be at R the child was supposed to go to rsk so the Y ended up calling and then ended up getting back to me and I'm like we pulled a video and that wasn't the case but I I mean otherwise if they're second grade and under they need to have a tag they all have these tags my drivers know that they need to be looking today I was on a run this this after and I'm like wait a second there's a tag where's your parent so we're looking out for where the parent is with the tag If the child doesn't have a tag that's where there's a problem and so what can what can we do in Medford to make this easier on your drivers because I feel for them and when you I thought 63 was the number so I'm a little blown away that it's 77 but um obviously this is it's a really hard job for them to keep control of the bus to keep all the things from going right on the bus and I'm just curious from your standpoint like what should we be doing that would help the situation the the only thing that would help the situation is do what Cambridge does they have monitors on every bus and you know they're more responsible to controlling the kids and checking the kids and the driver is more driving and not having you know to do all all that looking back and everything else but you know it's it's it's it's a huge number to try and do that it's a big number and does Cambridge pay for those monitors P for the monitors I've been there 40 years always have yeah especially PM the am they don't care about but the PMS is what they what they uh they make sure we have for every bus we probably did half and half before the pandemic half in the morning you know 20 of them and then 40 in the afternoon now we do 40 all day but they always made sure it was afternoon monitors which because that's where all the work is there nothing in the morning you know really other than making sure the kids behaving not so much where the kids are or where they're getting off they you know that's that's day right they're all going to school yeah yeah yeah so the afternoon is when when we do day that's obviously a big Endeavor to try to do something like that today it's making sure the staff members are putting the children on the correct bus one you'd be surprised at how often kids get on the wrong boats and two that the second grade and younger have doubts this has been an issue in the past it's not just Medford but I'd be lying if I said it hasn't happened here so tags are very important in making sure kids are because we're if the kid gets on the wrong bus we're setting up the driver the field right off the top and as you said it's not easy so if we're rerouting to go back that bus is even later right I would say the last thing about that is that if there are new students that are getting on the bus and it happens all the time or going to a different bus you know for something then they really should come out and tell the driver they should let the driver know give him a note and say to him you know you have a new student this is where they're going you should keep them up front it it it's you don't know how how well that works to to do that appreciate that um thank you for that so I I think my request to the superintendent is that the principles be asked to make sure that kids are all tagged um that there is some sort of protocol for what happens when a new student gets on the bus so that we're in communication with the bus driver as as that's happening so I feel like I've seen that happen before when I've like been in sort of bus area but just to make sure that it is happening with some consistency I think would be very helpful and to try to lighten the load from a um from a bus driver perspective and then your point about bus monitors uh we've been asked that question many times obviously it's a very expensive Endeavor um and perhaps there's um some relief coming on that too so stay tuned um for more okay thank you very much for being here thank you um one more member has questions and then I think we're going to wrap up U member reinfeld thank you thank you for being here um I just wanted to ask if you are thinking about expanding the pool of drivers or what is what is the main impediment there is it salary is it the timing is it just a fixed thing and the reason I'm asking is as we look to plan for the next few years what are some things that we maybe could expect in order to get the pool of people we needed I think member Graham's questions around how we can support the people who are already there are really key but looking at expanding the pool like once people are in as drivers do they stay or are we losing people partway through the year what can we do to make sure we have more people it's it's hard to say I had drivers that I started with I started the company and they've been with me forever but since and I want to say it since the pandemic it's a different group of people were saying we always lost a few but now you know it's just a whole different thing everybody got paid for nothing for six eight months and everybody's offering basically the same money you know we have to pay them a certain rate they're not it's not cheap 3425 is the current rate right and would we be looking at that going up in the future it's going to go up every year it's going to go up we know that uh we have the newest buses in the system we pay better we pay more hours we do everything we can to keep our drivers most my drivers come word a month it's always friends it's always family it's always people they met it doesn't matter what it is uh trying to keep them there it's hard to say it's very difficult to say you never know uh what's going to happen like I say right after the pandemic um I had a lot of older drivers we lost you know in the past three years we probably lost 12 drivers that have passed away you know and it's a big you know it's a big number because a lot of these guys weren't old they were 50 between 55 and 60 we just lost another one last week sorry to hear that yeah no it just there's nothing we can do this guy's been driving with us a few years and he came in in just before the first of the year and said I've been uh you know they discovered I had you know leukemia oh six weeks he was gone oh my gosh you know but nothing you can do I've had guys you know 55 year old guy have a heart attack you know and he was gone it just there's nothing you can do to change any of that you know we do whatever we can we have a strong group of people my company is by far better than any company in the state with with drivers n just alone at Framingham there short 30 drivers Burlington they're short five here they're short they short tons of people everybody is everybody's struggling with it and like I say we bring them in hopefully we can keep them you know we do everything we can for them this it they're not even going to Boston like they were we used to because of the benefits everybody used to go to Boston once they got our license and work a couple years to go to Boston you're not doing that because the money's the same and the kids are tough like if we shifted school days that's not going to make a yeah the timing it's I mean I live right in Medford Square I traffic lots of different Avenues we really developed this program this training program and it's increased every year as we've Chuck and I have seen the decrease in the workforce that's our biggest issue and not everyone wants to be a school bus driver you know um it takes a lot of patience with a lot of children but um it can create a good opportunity so we've tried we're above prevailing wage our rates are above what the Attorney General requires for the City of Medford um we've increased our benefits but in the end some of these drivers they don't want to work over the summer some of them are not from this country so some of them have family in other places they like to go away for the summer they just don't come back sometimes it's very difficult but we have invested a lot of resources to fix this problem we're optimistic come the spring we are going to be turning over a new leaf and with what might come out with this new contract through the uh purchasing department for Medford we're optimistic we will be in good stand but the summer is a curveball we just never know yeah thank you but before we do can I say one more thing quick I just wanted to put a a big thank you to to say that um Chuck is right about the communication I want to give Jessica a huge round of applause and thank you publicly here Jessica you've been terrific with communicating with me and with the schools um as fast as you can we've got everybody on like speed dial and speed text and it's been wonderful from my perspective as far as getting us the information as fast as you can so that we can get it out to families as fast as we can and I think we're that's an ever improving process that we've got about how to inform families about up to the minute things that they need to know about the buses but I just wanted to say um it has been great whenever you can give us an early bus I really appreciate the timely and quick and short communication and uh the long phone calls that we've also had into the night trying to be like what can we do differently which is I you know I feel affirmed a lot of that what was said tonight is what we've you know gone over a couple of times in our our you know several times a month check-ins and so I really appreciate all of your help in partnership with this um thank you thank you thank you Megan member brandley so just a couple points Jessica yes I was gonna just say thank you for all that you do in Somerville I work side by side with the Somerville special education transportation department and the transportation calls Never End um and it's all year round I mean we have extended school year that's another whole project in itself um field trips day-to-day it it never end detours road closures unexpected things a car accident changes a whole route for a bus um so I just want you to know that I I do appreciate everything that you do I obviously don't work hand inand with you here in Metford um but just another Point um with the kids getting on the buses I worked in the kindergarten classroom for six years at the Brooks um dismissal is chaos especially in the kindergarten 5-year-olds don't always know where they're going they don't know what day it is all the time um it's great to say give give the bus driver a note that's great but on the dayto day in the classroom I just can see how that could just be nearly impossible at times um a child goes up to the bus at one time one week with two AIDS and maybe a teacher um they get up to the gym and then it's you're off to your bu line those people change constantly um different staff covered different weeks so I don't know how to really make it as smooth as I would love to see it or as you would love to see it or the bus driver would love to see it I give all the kudos to the bus drivers because I've been on Plenty of field trips for my own children um I wouldn't be a bus driver so I big huge kudos to the bus drivers also because they really the ones on the ground doing all the work you know day in and day out with I think we all you know anybody that has children know the chaos of having your own children in the car asking for something when you have one or two children that are asking a question let alone 60 or 70 kids that is beyond imagination to me um but I really think it's it's great that everybody has their tags I was the one that put the tags on the kids in the kindergarten it's a great system system but those tags fall off you forget your backpack one day a million things can happen so I don't know how we really make this like the smoothest process but obviously I know our staff uh would do anything you know what I mean obviously to ensure that the kids are getting in the right place and so are you so a big huge kudos to everybody that's working this constantly so thank you yes thank you so much for coming tonight and answering some of our questions and trying to train as many bus drivers as you can so one or two work progress yes thank you very much thank you Miss f lary as well Dr Cushing we do not have any public presentations of the public we have um continued business 202 24-34 offered by member Russo second reading of policy ADC tobacco products on school premises prohibited use of member Russo make a motion to wave the reading motion to wave the reading second seconded by member Graham all those in favor I all those opposed motion passes is there motion for approval of the second reading Graham seconded by member o all those in favor all those oppos second reading has been approved we have 202 24-36 offered by member Russo second reading of policy gbed tobacco use on school property by staff members is prohibited mayor member rouso like to make a motion to wave the second reading of policy gbed motion to wave the reading of the paper by member rouso seconded by member all those in favor I all those opposed um and is there a motion to approve the second reading by member reinfeld seconded by member and toer all those in favor I all those opposed second reading has been approved we do not have any new business or reports requested um we have W condolences condolence the members of the meford school committee Express their sincere condolences to the family of Edward C oganowski father of misuk educator Stephanie oganowski and retired Medford firefighter we all may rise for a moment of silence thank you we have a meeting next Monday the 28th um it is via Zoom 5:00 pm it's a policy review meeting and we also have a regular scheduled meeting our next one will be on November 4th 2024 held remotely um only to accommodate the election process so those are the two upcoming meetings is there a motion to adjourn