Hello, Burlington!

Just gonna get right into today’s note. Enjoy!

School Committee Recap

I attended the entire SC meeting last night, during which my toddler may or may not have repeatedly unmuted me without my knowledge (sorry!) but didn’t have a computer in front of me. So these notes are very brief. I probably didn’t catch everything so feel free to watch back. I found the student testimony at the beginning to be particularly moving.

• Students advocated for keeping the Italian program at the middle school.
• Students on the equity committee spoke about their experiences and the necessity of doing more to educate our students on issues of race, LGBTQ+ issues, the history of race relations in our country, and more.
• We’re piloting Restorative Justice circles this year in the hopes of adopting them next year.
• A handful of students were awarded a Seal of Biliteracy, which is super cool and will go on their diploma. More about that, hopefully, in a separate story.
• The MSMS and BHS handbooks are adopted.
• English Learner education audit by the state found we need more staff and we have many teachers without an SEI (Sheltered English Immersion) endorsement (a special endorsement on a teaching certificate that qualifies a teacher to provide specialized instruction students who are learning English) - so we are adding an assessment coordinator and ensuring only teachers with SEI endorsements teach EL students. (If I seem a little too fluent with that language, it’s because I’m a teacher with an SEI endorsement who has taught EL students for 2 decades - and now you know even more trivia about me.)
• Unified basketball team, which combines students with and without intellectual disabilities, played and won recently - they’ll play again at Hoopapalooza in Wakefield at 3:30 today.
• Monday evening we put on our second public health clinic at MSMS in conjunction with the City of Woburn and medical students from Tufts.
• Safe Routes to School survey on BPS website, closes next Friday 6/3.

Today in Burlington

There’s lots going on, but somehow it still feels like a quiet day.

• 9:00 AM - Housing Authority - Special Meeting to award a contract for converting to barrier-free showers at 15 Birchcrest Street.
• 3:30 PM - Flag Placement at Veterans' Graves - every veteran whose body rests at Chestnut Hill and Pine Haven Cemeteries will have a flag placed at their grave today in honor of next week’s Memorial Day holiday.
• 4:00 PM - Board of Assessors has their regular meeting - motor vehicle abatements and real estate exemptions will be discussed.
• 5:30 PM - Community Dinner at the Burlington Presbyterian Church. All are welcome.
• 6:00 PM - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee of the Select Board meets for some updates regarding a Select Board + DEIC Leadership Program, the Rules & Regulations and union contracts, and a discussion about executive leaders of our town Boards and Commissions. (Join via Webex)
• 7:00 PM - Stormwater Bylaw Subcommittee of the General Bylaw Review Committee meets to continue working on those proposed bylaw changes. (Join via Webex)

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow!

Nicci