Medford school officials push grade configuration out to 2028-29 academic year

The reconfiguration of the city’s schools will not occur during the 2027-28 academic year as first believed by the Medford School Committee.

The body last year voted to move forward with an option that would reconfigure all elementary schools to Kindergarten through fourth grade while separating the middle schools into two different grades: fifth and sixth grades at McGlynn Middle School and seventh and eighth grades at Andrews Middle School.

A districtwide survey was sent out to families, educators and students in November 2025 to gather feedback about the reconfiguration plan. During a meeting in December, Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Galusi said about 160 people responded to the survey, including 115 parents and caregivers, 44 educators and one student.

“Participants reflected strong interest in understanding how this plan supports students, families and long-term district goals,” Galusi said during that meeting. “People really want to know what this looks like for students, families and the district.”

Five major themes emerged from the survey responses, reflecting what families and staff want the task force to study for the plan: Student transitions and developmental fit; specialized education; space and capacity; logistics; and equity and community.

To address those questions, a task force made up of parents/caregivers, educators and administrators was formed in January.

On July 20, Galusi reported back to the School Committee that the Overcrowding/Grade Configuration Task Force has met through the spring and early summer to study the feasibility of making the middle school transitions.

Galusi said the group has looked at the historic and current enrollment trends at the middle schools, especially the smaller Andrews building. She said those trends show at least 300 students per grade level for the past three to five years.

A slide presentation to the School Committee shows the Andrews opened during the 2001-02 school year with 579 students. During the next school year, the Andrews hit its highest enrollment to date: 589. The new reconfiguration would put the enrollment at approximately 617 students.

What does that mean for the Andrews? That’s what the task force wanted to know.

Galusi said the group took a walkthrough of the Andrews, looking for any hidden capacity and comparing spatial data from HMFH Architects with the actual physical plant.

In order to meet the new planned grade reconfiguration, Galusi said nine non-classroom spaces will need to be repurposed and two more classroom spaces built in order to accommodate the student population.

Galusi pointed out there are additional issues to consider, such as teacher room-sharing logistics, smaller interior classroom spaces, cafeteria capacity, hallway traffic and the Andrews’ legal status as an emergency shelter for the city.

“What does that mean?” Galusi asked, of the shelter status. “Can we even reconfigure those spaces legally?”

In order to answer some of these questions, the superintendent said the task force has broken off into two separate subcommittees: the Educational Models Subcommittee and the Facilities Subcommittee.

The Educational Models Subcommittee is expected to continue exploring what other school models are out there, possible issues with teacher licensure and methods to handle student transitions, among other items.

Meanwhile, the Facilities Subcommittee will continue researching enrollment for the next five years, as well as transportation issues and capacity issues surrounding the cafeteria and gym, which are expected to take on more than 200 students at a time.

The group will also check the space layouts and square footage of each classroom at the Andrews and identify any renovations, construction, or space configuration needs.

“That’s what we’re doing during the summer months,” Galusi said. “This is the time to dig into all these areas.”

But that’s not all.

Galusi said there are other logistical issues to work out, such as the specialized classrooms. The school needs to provide separate spaces for special education and English learners. And, she added, there’s still after-school care, preserving milestone traditions like moving-on ceremonies or clap-outs that the school community looks forward to, and, of course, examining the financial impacts of bussing students to the reconfigured middle school campuses.

What’s next?

With all this work still ahead, Galusi said, the task force felt it was essential to move the reconfiguration date out to 2028-29 instead of 2027-28.

“We understand that there’s a lot of feelings and questions and hesitations around this work, and because of that, people really want to know what’s going to happen and they want swift solutions,” she said. “All of that is completely understandable, but we also want to make sure that we’re spending the time to do this the right way and the best way for Medford Public Schools and not so quickly that we’re not taking a really deep, comprehensive look at what we have in front of us.”

Galusi added the goal is not to take one school that’s over capacity and trade it off for another.

“We have to project out what will happen,” she said. “That will involve some level of construction and renovation, collaboration with the staff and work on a transition plan.”

Galusi said throughout the rest of the summer, both task force subcommittees will continue to meet, research and gather data. The goal is to bring both groups back together in the fall and, from September through December, determine the feasibility of the reconfiguration plan.

Sometime in late December to early January 2027, Galusi said, the task force expects to come back and make a recommendation for a path forward.

School Committee reactions

Erika Reinfeld, who sits on the task force, said the group has been able to access the anonymous community surveys and keep in mind what the community asked for from any reconfiguration.

She said among those responses was a concern from families about student transitions, going from one grade to another and a familiar school environment to a new building.

“One of the biggest concerns in the survey is when students transition to a new school and how that affects their learning,” she said. “That’s the through-line of Medford Public Schools.”

Reinfeld and Jessica Parks, who also sits on the task force, both said there’s so much work still to be done that it’s wiser to move the reconfiguration date.

However, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said she was concerned about pushing to another year any potential savings that could come with the reconfiguration plan.

“There’s a great deal of cost savings when this is done,” the mayor said. “This needs to be re-evaluated by the finance team.”

She added there’s a potential $1 million savings behind the project, which is one reason this option was picked by the School Committee.

“This needs to be evaluated,” Lungo-Koehn said. “All I ask is that this be done before we move further down this road.”

Parks said the task force plans to regroup after the summer to bring together their findings so far, and she suggested that might be the time to have the financials conversation.

“I am concerned that if we say that this could still happen next year, we are going to have some panicking teachers and caregivers and students,” Reinfeld said. “They are already anxious about people who are going to be going into fourth grade this year, what are they doing? People who are coming into the sixth-grade, are they only getting one year at the middle school? These are answers they were hoping for in the spring, and to tell them that we don’t know, that doesn’t feel good to me. It’s not realistic."

“I understand we want a swift solution and to be able to implement the plan,” Reinfeld continued. “But this doesn’t allow for planning.”

Reinfeld said the current plan doesn’t align with collective bargaining agreements with the unions and there are many details to iron out.

“I agree,” Parks said. “We could have the analysis done by December or January, but we won’t be ready to begin this next year. There’s not time to have everyone on board and ready to go.”

Mike Mastrobuoni also called the current project timeline “unrealistic” and asked the committee to push the reconfiguration plan out to the 2028-29 school year.

With Jenny Graham absent from the meeting, the committee voted 6-0 in favor of pushing the project out another year.

Odds and Ends

If you missed the July 20 meeting, here’s what else the School Committee voted on. All votes were unanimously supported in 6-0 votes, with Graham absent.

1) Tabled a motion by Paul Ruseau to submit proposed changes to the body’s rules.

2) The Curriculum and Instruction Subcommittee will meet with Assistant Superintendent for Academics and Instruction Kim Talbot no later than Oct. 15 to review Medford’s alignment with the K-12 Statewide Graduation Council’s recommendations for graduation, effective during the 2026-27 year.

3) Extend the committee’s “sincere gratitude and appreciation” to the members of the Medford state delegation (Rep. Paul Donato, Rep. Sean Garballey, Rep. Christine Barber, and Sen. Pat Jehlen) for securing $632,000 in additional funding for Medford Public Schools through the recent Fiscal Year 2027 state budget and supplemental budget.

Medford Public Schools are expected to receive the following in the supplemental budget:

● $40,000 for Medford High School theater lighting system

● $50,000 for McGlynn auditorium seating repairs and maintenance

● $180,000 for interactive whiteboards

● $12,000 for pottery wheels

● $100,000 for McGlynn auditorium’s rug maintenance

The district is also expected to receive the following in the FY27 state budget:

● $100,000 for programming at the Medford Family Network

● $50,000 for CTE Transportation

● $100,000 for Expanded Robotics Curricula

4) On June 25, the Supreme Court ruling overturned lower court rulings that blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for certain immigrant groups. The ruling allowed the Trump administration to terminate TPS protections for immigrants from Haiti and Syria.

The School Committee asked the School Department to make all students, families, and staff affected by recent TPS designation terminations aware of the following:

● Ensure that all staff have the necessary training to uphold policies ACH (Immigration Enforcement) and AC (Nondiscrimination Including Harassment and Retaliation).

● Ensure that student educational records continue to be maintained in accordance with federal and state privacy laws and district policy, and that all associated staff understand procedures governing requests for student information.

● Remain in regular contact with the Medford Connects community engagement team, to ensure coordination between families and schools, and sharing of available resources to support students and staff experiencing uncertainty about their legal status related to TPS designations, including work authorization within MPS.

● Continue to provide “Know Your Rights” information to students, staff, and families impacted by immigration policy. The information will be shared via the MPS website, Talking Points, and other relevant communication tools.

● Ensure that school and classroom libraries and curricula include stories and depictions of immigrant experiences from multiple times and places connected to Medford’s history and present-day community, as well as content where people from different cultures, countries, and backgrounds are represented in stories that do not focus on the circumstances of entry into Medford or the United States.

The School Committee will hold its next meeting on Aug. 24 at 5 p.m. The meeting will be virtual only. The body will be back in person at City Hall on Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. That meeting will also be available on Zoom or at the MPS YouTube Channel.