Agenda for the October 5 Regular Meeting of the Medford School Committee

The Eighteenth Regular Meeting of the Medford School Committee

Date/Time

Monday, October 5, 2026

Regular Meeting: 6:00 p.m.

Location

Please be advised that there will be a Regular Meeting of the Medford School Committee held in the Alden Memorial Chambers at Medford City Hall and via remote participation only. This meeting is being recorded.

This meeting can be viewed live on the Medford Public Schools YouTube channel or via Medford Community Media on your local cable channel (Comcast Channel 9, 8 or 22 and Verizon Channel 43, 45 or 47). Participants can log in by using the link below.

Agenda

Agenda for the October 5, 2026 Eighteenth Regular Meeting of the Medford School Committee

Zoom Link

https://mps02155-org.zoom.us/j/94637149680?pwd=hZmjFRMy6q3BY9s5XjyJQTiZhWVw6e.1

Questions or comments can be submitted during the meeting by emailing: medfordsc@medford.k12.ma.us

Those submitting questions or comments must include the following information:

1. Your first and last name
2. Your Medford street address
3. Your question or comment

Agenda

I. Roll Call of Members and Student Representatives

II. Salute the Flag

III. Consent Agenda

• Approval of Bills and Payrolls
• Approval of Grants
  • Beth Israel Lahey Health, Inc. for City of Medford on behalf of the Medford Public Schools- $295,000.00
• Approval of Donations
  • Mobile Gas Donation to Brooks Elementary School
• Approval of Meeting Minutes
  • Regular Meeting - September 28, 2026

IV. Report of Subcommittees

V. Report of the Superintendent

1. Mustang Moment
2. Strategic Plan Update - Dr. Suzanne B. Galusi, Superintendent
   1. Results of Strategic Plan Survey

VI. Presentations of the Student Advisory Council

1. Medford High School Late Bus

Presentations of the Public (not to begin before 7:00 pm)

“Regular Meetings of the School Committee include this ‘Presentations of the Public’ agenda item to give any resident the opportunity to place a presentation before the School Committee. A resident may only present once at any meeting.

These presentations are an opportunity for the public to make a presentation to the Committee but are not opportunities for dialog with the Committee. If one or more members of the Committee wishes to have a conversation about the topic presented, a member may request that the item be added to a subsequent Regular Meeting.

The details for submitting a presentation can be found within the policy BEDH, Public Comment and Presentations of the Public”

Pursuant to policy BEDH, Public Comment and Presentations of the Public - any resident in the audience may be given permission to speak once on any item on the agenda for up to three (3) minutes. The speaker is expected to keep their comments to the item on the agenda. The speaker must begin their comments by providing their full name and full Medford street address where they reside. A welcoming, inclusive community is both a value of the School Committee and an aspirational goal. We ask for your help in achieving this goal and value your perspective. Employees of the Medford Public Schools are exempt from the residency requirement of this policy. The voice of our employees is welcomed on all matters before this body. When a non-Medford-resident employee is participating in public comment or submitting a presentation of the public they will include their home address and identify themselves as an employee of the Medford Public Schools.

A welcoming inclusive community is both a value of the School Committee and an aspirational goal. We ask for your help in achieving this goal and value your perspective.

VII. Continued Business

VIII. New Business

2026-24    Offered by Member Reinfeld

Policy JG-R - Elementary School Reassignment Policy

Medford Public Schools is committed to providing a consistent, equitable, and welcoming environment across all schools. 

MPS is a caring educational partnership of school, family, and community. Student placement across the district is designed to make best possible use of available resources to support student learning in a safe, welcoming environment.

Student Placement

The default placement of all elementary students shall be in the school to which their residence is districted, and busing shall be available for those students residing or receiving regular before- or after-school care at least one mile from the school and within the district boundaries. 

Students requiring special education or program-specific services shall be enrolled in the program that best supports their needs, regardless of residence location, and transportation shall be provided.

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, students have the right to stay in their school of origin with district-provided transportation or as decided through a Best Interest Determination meeting.

Requests for Alternative Placement (School Reassignment)

The district will consider other requests for school reassignment on a case-by-case basis. Except in circumstances where a student’s physical or emotional safety is at risk, requests will be reviewed on an annual basis between July 15 and August 15 for grades K-5. The reasons for this timeline are:

(i) the number of classrooms at each school is determined by both projected enrollment and the city budget

(ii) district-wide enrollment is subject to change throughout the summer as families move into neighborhoods

Criteria for determining the feasibility of granting the request shall be prioritized as follows:

1. When there is sufficient space in the requested school and grade level.  
   1. This is calculated by the total number of students at that grade level divided by the number of classroom teachers determined at the time of the passing of the school budget, subtracted from the contractual class limit of K = 22, first grade = 22, second grade = 24, third-fifth grade = 25). Then an additional cushion of 4 students per grade is added to maintain space for students who move in once the year has begun.
2. When it is shown that the placement is necessary for the physical or emotional safety of the student.
3. When it is a request for a continued reassignment and the original reason for the reassignment still exists. 
4. When a student has already been in the school for more than 3 years and a transfer back to the districted school will cause significant disruption to the student’s education.
5. When a student in a specialized program and their sibling(s) will receive mutual benefit from co-location within a single school. 
6. When a student is requesting a continued reassignment and their sibling will receive mutual benefit from co-location within a single school
7. When a student who has been co-located with their sibling for 3 or more years now has less than 2 years remaining in the school.

Once the conditions above have been addressed, if there is still space, requests based on family hardship will be considered, such as a designated care provider being physically unable to ensure safe and timely transportation between their assigned school and off-site care location, or the student’s daily arrival or dismissal needs at the assigned school presenting a significant conflict with a caregiver’s employment or other essential responsibilities. It is the responsibility of the caregiver to justify why the requested reassignment will remove this hardship.

*Note: If another classroom is needed due to mid-year enrollment and this could be avoided by sending a student who has been granted school reassignment back to their originally districted school, the new student’s enrollment in their districted school will be prioritized before adding a classroom.

Requests will not be granted when:

• There is no remaining space at a school.
• The request is made solely for parent/guardian convenience or student/family preference
• The request is an attempt to gain enrollment to a specific school
• The request is prioritizing in-school social groups over educational need

School reassignment is granted for one year. To ensure the integrity of budgeted resources and maintain the ability to accommodate priority requests each year, families must re-apply for school reassignment each year.

Sibling placement

MPS is sensitive to the challenges that families face when students in their care enroll at different schools across the district. However, the only way that MPS can guarantee placement of all elementary aged students in a single elementary school over multiple years is if all students attend the elementary school to which they are districted. 

All families requesting school reassignment are encouraged to consider the impact of a request being denied in subsequent years or a child not yet enrolled in elementary school attending a different school than their sibling.

School capacity

All approvals are conditional upon school capacity. Capacity is defined by the enrollment of students enrolled in a particular school and collective bargaining agreements (i.e., class size). The district shall determine capacity using the following:

1. Projected enrollment at the time of the school committee’s budget request to the City of Medford; and
2. Class size maximums for each grade set by the collective bargaining agreements with Medford Teachers Association; and
3. A buffer of 4 seats per grade level
4. This is calculated by the total number students at that grade level divided by the number of classroom teachers determined at the time of the passing of the school budget, subtracted from the contractual class limit (K = 22, first grade = 22, second grade = 24, third-fifth grade = 25). Then an additional cushion of 4 students per grade is added to maintain space for students who move in once the year has begun.

Additional considerations for determining capacity at a school include:

1. Class size maximums include students in specialized programs who attend daily specials and other school day activities with their general education peers. 
2. Class sizes are set over the summer so that the addition of new students partway through the school year should not require the number of classrooms at a given grade level to change partway through the year. 
3. It is never the desire of the district, school administration, or teaching staff to push class sizes to their limit.

The Superintendent may deny requests for school reassignment if they have reasonable cause to believe that granting one or more requests will require an increase in the number of classrooms at a given grade in a particular school. 

Conditions of school reassignment

When a school reassignment request is approved, the district will not provide transportation beyond an already-existing bus route or on bus routes that are already at capacity with students who are geographically districted for that school. In these instances, the parent/guardian of the student will be responsible for transportation to and from the school. 

Students who are granted school reassignment shall not be eligible for before or after school care in the school as part of the regular MPS after school lottery system. If spaces remain in a program and no students remain on the wait list for that grade, a student may enroll in the program, but will not be eligible for automatic re-enrollment in the next school year. 

If a family’s relocation during the school year causes the student’s school assignment to change, the student will have the option to finish the year in the same school in which they started, or move to the new school. No new transportation routes will be added in either circumstance. 

If another classroom is needed due to mid-year enrollment and this could be avoided by sending a student who has been granted school reassignment back to their originally districted school, the new student’s enrollment in their districted school will be prioritized before adding a classroom.

Implementation of this policy

Requests for school reassignment begin at the Registration Office.

All requests and associated documentation will be kept confidential by the registration office and administrators reviewing the requests. 

Appeals may be made to the Superintendent.

Policy Information

First Adopted:  <TBD>

Last Amended:  N/A

Last Reviewed:  N/A

Review Frequency:  five (5) years

Next Review:  <TBD>

Date Submitted: September 20, 2026

Date Requested to be on Agenda: October 5, 2026

IX. Reports Requested

X. Condolences

XI. Next Regular Meeting

• October 19, 2026 - Alden Memorial Chambers, Medford City Hall in addition to Zoom

XII. Adjournment