To inform voters of candidates' views on local housing issues, members of Housing Medford's Elections Working Group designed this questionnaire for candidates that highlights several housing issues currently relevant to Medford.
The questionnaire was sent on Tuesday, September 19th, and candidates were invited to answer these questions and submit their answers via Google Form by midnight on Tuesday, October 3rd 2023 (Mayoral candidates by Tuesday, October 10th). All candidates except George Scarpelli confirmed receipt of the questionnaire.
Some questions were open-ended, and some had multiple-choice options where candidates could indicate their support. For the multiple-choice questions they were also given the option to explain more in a follow-up.
Housing Medford will not endorse any candidates this election cycle, but we hope this information can be useful for Medford voters. We extend our sincere thanks to all candidates who took time to complete the questionnaire!"
1. How would you use your role on the School Committee to support children and families who are experiencing housing instability or homelessness?
2. Do you have anything else you would like to highlight or add regarding housing in Medford?
1. How would you use your role on the School Committee to support children and families who are experiencing housing instability or homelessness?
We have lots of decisions to make in the coming years about district priorities. I will use my role to ensure that we properly support children and families experiencing housing instability and homelessness with resources within our school district. Our family and community engagement office is one specific part of the team that is intended to help connect families to school and other resources they might need to ensure their children are able to come to school and be healthy. This team is currently funded through pandemic Federal funding (ESSER), and it's one of my goals to ensure that the support created by this team can continue forward after the funding from the Federal government ends in the Summer of 2024. The needs of our students experiencing housing instability and homelessness won't be solved, and whatever transitions we make as a district need to preserve these services.
One of the major things on the platform is preventative mental health care. Students who are experiencing these circumstances are more susceptible to falling behind in class or health wise. By building these resources, we can do our part by not letting education add an even greater stress to the concerns outside of school. Continuing to build up resources like the BRYT program can help students continue with education after lengthened absences from school.
Another key point on the platform is building up our Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility (CCSR) program. It currently receives a majority of funding from outside grants and is deserving of better attention from our elected officials. Students are taught social responsibility and how to give back to the community. In theory, by elevating this program - students may be able to help their fellow peers by building resources of their own in our community that is more designed and directed to current events.
As the issue of housing instability is a difficult topic to discuss and understand; the way in which it affects individuals and families differs greatly, I wish to acknowledge that my support and role as a school committee member will be to better educated and understand how to support those experiencing this, as well as put forth resolutions and initiatives to combat this systemic issue. Firstly, I would raise awareness of the growing issue in Medford; educate the community, school staff, and fellow committee members about the issue and how it presents differently in children and families. I would advocate for progressive policies to promote affordable housing, tenant protections, partnerships with organizations that deal with this issue. I would aim to conduct training days for our teachers and administrators so they are better equipped to recognize the signs of homelessness and instability and be able to provide guidance emotionally and academically. Advocate for better and cost effective transportation services so students are able to commute to and from school, and other locations within the city without fear of being unable to pay.
While requirements for such support are built into the McKinney-Vento Act on the federal level and administered with the assistance of liaisons and grants on the state level, the role of a school committee member lies in ensuring that district administration is appropriately engaging with available local resources (including the Medford Health Department) and that school staff have the resources and knowledge they need to support these students and families day to day. As a community, we have a responsibility to stabilize basic needs, destigmatize diverse housing situations, and proactively provide accessible pathways for navigating adversity. As a member of the Medford School Committee, I would:
I will continue to focus on providing a free public education, which does not exist today. The impacts of the costs required to participate in our public education system are disproportionately felt by students experiencing housing instability or homelessness as these are a reflection of significant resource limitations by families. The Medford Public Schools requires at least an additional $2 million annually to provide a free public education, and while the School Committee cannot raise revenue in any way due to the structure of our government, continuing to raise this issue, and pushing back on attempts to take the approach of 'making funds available for students in need' will always be my view of how to serve our students humanely.
2. Do you have anything else you would like to highlight or add regarding housing in Medford?
Over these last few years, we’ve seen the consequences of a lack of resources in our schools. Our building maintenance deferrals over the years delayed our ability to get kids back to school during the pandemic and most recently caused the HVAC systems at nearly every one of our schools to be non-functional during a September heat wave. The high school lacks infrastructure like air conditioning and reliable internet. The state of the high school bathrooms is a well-documented source of frustration for many.
In the coming year, we’ll face the end of pandemic Federal funding. Our current budget relies on that funding for more than 30 staff positions ranging from nurses to mental health support staff to administrators. How to move forward and advocate for the district and our students will be the School Committee's central work in the coming year. These positions aren't extra in most cases, and they are especially important when we think about families who may be experiencing housing instability.
Through our next budget cycle, I’ll push to do many of the same things I’ve pushed for over the last four years. We need to create a budget process to ensure that the budget we request reflects what we see as the needs of our students and district and that it happens more promptly. This dialogue is critically important, and I’m proud of my progress this far, but there is more to do. As the Mayor and the Council determine how to create the larger city budget more openly and collaboratively, I am ready to partner with them to ensure our Schools are a top priority where the needs of our city are being discussed.
Thank you for reaching out and giving me this opportunity to share.
At this time no, but I am hoping to continue learning about this issue and how I can be better informed
This is a complex and sensitive issue—one that is closely linked to many other community needs. Like everything, it will require collaborative solutions and I look forward to learning from and working with colleagues to support these students and their families.
As you know, housing instability and homelessness impacts Medford students. McKinney-Vento, while mandating transportation, which I support, is really a failure. Students on shuttle buses from distant communities for hours each day, at a cost far greater than the cost of a very expensive single family home in Medford is astonishingly bad policy. It is far more expensive to have these students bused than BUYING a single family home, and it is terrible for students that must miss out on so many activities as they sit in traffic from distant communities.