From the Office of the Executive Secretary to the School Committee
School Committee - Regular Meeting
August 3, 2021 | 5PM
Held in and broadcast from the Dr. Henrietta S. Attles Meeting Room, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, Cambridge. To sign up to call in using the ZOOM app on your computer or mobile device:
click here.
Regular Meetings will be live-streamed at www.cpsd.us and broadcast on Cambridge Educational Access TV (CEATV) Channel 98/99, as usual.
A G E N D A
1. Public Comment (3 Minutes):
2. Student School Committee Report:
3. Presentation of the Records for Approval:
June 1, 2021 Regular Meeting
June 15, 2021 Regular Meeting
June 25, 2021 Special Meeting
4. Reconsiderations: None
5. Unfinished Business/Calendar: None
6. Awaiting Reports: None
7. Superintendent’s Agenda:
7a. Presentations:
Superintendent's Update on School Reopening & ESSER Planning ………………
Victoria L. Greer, Interim Superintendent of Schools
Carolyn L. Turk, Deputy Superintendent
Dr. Michelle Madera, Assistant Supt. Of Elementary Education
Nicole Gittens, Assistant Supt. Of Secondary Education
James Maloney, Chief Operating Officer
7b. CPS District Plan:
7c. Consent Agenda:
#21-227 Recommendation: Approval of Changes to Section A-Items A1 & A4 through A12 and Section B-Item B1 of the Cambridge Public Schools COVID-19 Safety & Facilities Procedures Manual
#21-228 Recommendation: Approval of the Tentative Agreement between the Cambridge School Committee & the Cambridge Liaisons Invested in Families & Education AFSCME/AFL-CIO for a Successor Collective Bargaining Agreement for The Period of September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2024
#21-229 Recommendation: The School Committee Retain Law Firm of Morgan Brown & Joy for Labor & Employment Matters
#21-230 Recommendation: Approval of the Memorandum of Agreement Regarding A Stipulated Arbitration Award
#21-231 Recommendation: Approval of the Agreement between Cambridge Professional Safety Specialists Association and the City of Cambridge Regarding Clarification To the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024
#21-232 Recommendation: Approval of the Agreement between the City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Education Association, Units A & B
#21-233 Recommendation: Day & Residential Program Services not Available From the Cambridge School Department
#21-234 Recommendation: Contract Award: BB&N Summer Camp: Student Tuition
#21-235 Recommendation: Contract Award: East End House: Student Tuition
#21-236 Recommendation: Contract Award: Cambridge Community Center: Student Tuition
#21-237 Recommendation: Contract Award: Bunker Hill Community College: Student Tuition
#21-238 Recommendation: Contract Award: Cambridge Housing Authority: Educational Services
#21-239 Recommendation: Contract Award: City Sprouts: Educational Services
#21-240 Recommendation: Contract Award: Cambridge School Volunteers: Educational Services
#21-241 Recommendation: Contract Award: Enroot: Educational Services
#21-242 Recommendation: Contract Award: Cambridge Public Health: Nursing Services
#21-243 Recommendation: Contract Award: Norton Staffing & Recruiting: Temporary Medical Services
#21-244 Recommendation: Contract Award: Public Consulting Group: Medicaid Reimbursement Claiming Services
#21-245 Recommendation: Contract Award: Soliant Health: Special Education Staffing Services
#21-246 Recommendation: Contract Award: PJ Systems d/b/a HiQ Computers: Computer Hardware
#21-247 Recommendation: Contract Award: New England Real Estate: Lease of Office Space
#21-248 Recommendation: Gifts & Miscellaneous Receipts
#21-249 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 ESSER II (SC2200)
#21-250 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 Title IV Student Support & Academic Enrichment (SC22732)
#21-251 Recommendation: Grant Award: Fy22 Title IIA Educator Quality (SC22731)
#21-252 Recommendation: Grant Award: Center for Artistry & Scholarship/CCF- Equity Design (SC21171)
#21-253 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 Cambridge in Motion/Cambridge Health Alliance (SC22128)
#21-254 Recommendation: Grant Award: Fy22 Biogen Foundation STAR Data Grant (SC22159)
#21-255 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 Fletcher Maynard Academy PTO Memorial Donation (SC22172)
#21-256 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 Summer School Expansion & Engagement Matching Grant (SC22206)
#21-257 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 Civics Teaching & Learning Grant (SC22207)
#21-258 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 Expanded Learning Time (SC22829)
#21-259 Recommendation: Grant Award: FY22 Accelerating Math/Mind Research
8. Non-Consent Agenda:
9. School Committee Agenda (Policy Matters/Notifications/Requests for Information):
#21-260 Joint Motion by Member Weinstein, Mayor Siddiqui and Member Fantini
Whereas the health and safety of the children of Cambridge is of the utmost importance to the Cambridge School Committee, as is the well-being of children throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and
Whereas many Massachusetts schools and child care centers permit the use of toxic pesticides on outdoor grounds, including glyphosate and 2,4-D, potentially endangering children’s health, and
Whereas children absorb more pesticides relative to their body weight than adults, and children’s organ systems are still developing and are less able to detoxify
harmful chemicals, and in 2012 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) called for governments to
reduce children’s exposure to pesticides, writing that scientific evidence
“demonstrates associations between early life exposure to pesticides and pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive function, and behavioral problems.” and
Whereas a bill currently proposed at the Massachusetts State Legislature, H.926, “An Act relative to improving pesticide protections for Massachusetts schoolchildren”, would allow only pesticides considered minimum risk by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and those permitted for organic use to be used near schools and child care centers in Massachusetts, except in the case of a health emergency when school officials could apply for a waiver, similar to laws passed by the State of New York in 2010 and by the State of Connecticut in 2015, and
Whereas this bill, filed by Representative Carmen Gentile, is cosponsored by every member of the Cambridge Delegation to the State House of Representatives, Rep. Mike Connolly, Rep. Marjorie Decker, Rep. Jay Livingstone, Rep. Steve Owens, and Rep. Dave Rogers, together with many other legislators, and
Whereas this bill is endorsed by a growing coalition of environmental, health and community advocacy organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Climate Action Now Western Massachusetts, the Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts Forest Watch, the Massachusetts Sierra Club, MASSPIRG, Mothers Out Front Massachusetts, the Northeast Organic Farming Association, and the Sustainable Business Network of Massachusetts, therefore be it
Resolved that the Cambridge School Committee supports H.926, “An Act relative to improving pesticide protections for Massachusetts schoolchildren” and will send a copy of this motion to the State Delegation and Governor Baker.
#21-261 Report of the July 26, 2021 Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee
10. Resolutions (letters of congratulations, letters of condolence):
# 21-262 Joint Motion by Mayor Siddiqui, Member Wilson, and Member Fantini
Whereas Robert R. “LB” Favreau, III, passed away on July 14th, 2021 in an act of violence in Somerville, at the age of twenty-two; and
Whereas LB, the beloved son of Deborah and Robert R. “Hank” Favreau, Jr., was a Learning Community C graduate of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Class of 2017; and
Whereas LB was a great football player who loved to cook and will be remembered by his loved ones for his positivity, ability to make everyone laugh, and his love for his family and friends; and
Whereas LB is survived by his mother Deborah, his sisters Haley and Kaitlyn, and many loving friends; now therefore be it
Resolved that the Cambridge School Committee and Superintendent go on record recognizing the loss of Robert Favreau; and be it further
Resolved that a formal copy of this Resolution be prepared by the Executive Secretary to the School Committee and forwarded to his family.
#21-263 Joint Motion by Mayor Siddiqui, Member Wilson, and Member Weinstein
WHEREAS: The School Committee was deeply saddened at learning of the death of civil rights pioneer, Robert (Bob) Moses, on Sunday, July 25, 2021; and
WHEREAS: Mr. Moses was raised in the Harlem River Houses, a public housing complex, and attended Stuyvesant High School, a selective institution with a strong emphasis on math. He played basketball and majored in philosophy and French at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., and credited his parents for fostering his love of learning, recalling trips to the public library in Harlem; and
WHEREAS: Mr. Moses earned a master’s degree in philosophy in 1957 from Harvard University, and was working toward his doctorate when he suddenly needed to leave because of the death of his mother and hospitalization of his father. He moved back to New York, where he taught math at the private Horace Mann School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx; and
WHEREAS: Mr. Moses was inspired to focus on his activism while at the Mann School after witnessing scenes of Black people sitting at lunch counters across the South; and
WHEREAS: Over the course of his adult life and advocacy work, Mr. Moses faced relentless intimidation and brutal violence to register Black voters in Mississippi in the 1960s; and
WHEREAS: As a prominent Black leader during the civil rights movement, Mr. Moses viewed himself as more of a community organizer than a leader, always putting community interests above ego and politics; and
WHEREAS: In 1960, Mr. Moses moved to Mississippi, where he organized poor, illiterate and rural Black residents, and quickly became a legend among civil rights organizers in a state known for enforcing segregation with cross burnings and lynchings; and
WHEREAS: From 1960-1965, Mr. Moses helped to register thousands of voters and trained a generation of organizers in makeshift freedom schools; and
WHEREAS: In addition to his work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, where he focused on voter registration drives across Mississippi, Mr. Moses was also a director of the Council of Federated Organizations, another civil rights group in the state, and also helped start the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, which recruited college students in the North to join Black Mississippians in voter registration campaigns across the state; and
WHEREAS: Mr. Moses and his wife, Janet, moved to Tanzania in the 1970s, where three of their four children were born. After eight years teaching in Africa, he returned to Cambridge, to continue working toward a Ph.D. in the philosophy of mathematics at Harvard University and launched the Algebra Project, a five-step philosophy of teaching that could be applied to any concept, including physical experience, pictorial representation, people talk (explain it in your own words), feature talk (put it into proper English) and symbolic representation; and
WHEREAS: By the early 1990s, the Algebra Project had an impact in cities throughout the country, won accolades from the National Science Foundation and reached 9,000 children. Mr. Moses believed math literacy to be an extension of his civil rights work in Mississippi; now therefore be i
RESOLVED: That the Cambridge School Committee and Superintendent go on record extending its deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and colleagues of Bob Moses at this time of such great loss; and be it further
RESOLVED: That a formal copy of this Resolution be prepared by the Executive Secretary to the School Committee and forwarded to his family.
#21-264 Joint Motion by Vice Chair Bowman and Mayor Siddiqui
WHEREAS: Dosha Beard, Executive Secretary to the School Committee, will be retiring effective August 31, 2021; and
WHEREAS: Dosha’s exemplary career in Cambridge has spanned the past thirty-seven years; and
WHEREAS: Dosha started her career with the City in 1984 in the rent control department and then in 1993 she went on to work for the Finance Department; and
WHEREAS: In 1997, Dosha came to the School Department in the Public Information Office and then in 2005 went to the RSTA where she served as an Accounts Receivable Clerk; and
WHEREAS: Dosha came to the School Committee in 2014 as the Confidential Secretary to the Office of the School Committee and in 2017 became the Executive Secretary to the School Committee; and
WHEREAS: Dosha has shown an unwavering work ethic: attending hundreds of meetings, taking meticulous minutes and supporting the School Committee around the clock; and
WHEREAS: Dosha loves spending time with her family, her husband Jackie Lee Beard whom she married in 1982 and their son Lee Adam Beard; and
WHEREAS: Dosha also loves knitting, spinning yarn, crocheting, reading, the beach and especially the theater and is looking forward to being on stage again and entering craft fairs; and
WHEREAS: Throughout her tenure, Dosha has been a consistent friend and mentor to fellow staff and the Cambridge community as a whole and will be truly missed by CPSD; now therefore be it
RESOLVED: That the School Committee extend its congratulations, thanks and appreciation to Dosha E. Beard for 37 years of service to the City of Cambridge and wish her a joyful retirement filled with time with her family, reading and the theater; and be it further
RESOLVED: That a formal copy of this Resolution be prepared by the Executive Secretary to the School Committee to be presented to Dosha E. Beard.
11. Announcements:
12. Late Orders:
13. Communications and Reports from City Officers:
At the conclusion of the Regular meeting, the School Committee will entertain a motion to enter into executive session for the purposes of discussing strategy for collective bargaining (CEA Units A&B) as an open meeting may have a detrimental impact on the bargaining position of the School Committee.