Letter: Mailer 'Not Factual,' School Committee Members Say

MEDFORD, MA — The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by School Committee members Paul Ruseau, Mea Quinn Mustone, Paulette Van der Kloot and Kathy Kreatz.

This is the text of a mailer received on October 30 in Medford sent from the campaign of current City Councilor and Mayoral Candidate Breanna Lungo-Koehn.

This is not merely a difference of opinion between two political opponents. The statement is not factual and it is misleading.

Here are the facts:

● Our share of the ‘new schools’ were funded by a loan and paid for out of the City budget.

● Medford is about to finish paying for our ‘new schools’ built in the early 2000s.

● The debt we assumed to pay our share of these schools is not now, nor has it ever been, in the Medford Public Schools budget.

During the debate Mayor Burke, highlighted that the debt for the ‘new schools’ was about to be paid off. This means that City revenue will then be available for other projects. Mayor Burke stated during the debate “We have some school debt that is going to be falling off our ledgers - you really have to look at what’s coming off and what’s coming on and how do we afford all of this.” You can watch this yourself at the time 29:30 at https://medford.vod.castus.tv/vod/?video=5cfe481c-a410-4518-b947-641edbbba665.

The narrative in Ms. Lungo-Koehn’s campaign literature implies that Mayor Burke has not been supportive of our schools and implies that she will be taking money away from the schools. As School Committee members we have found Mayor Burke to be supportive of our schools and we believe that the paying off of the loan should not be construed as taking money away from the schools.

As residents, voters, and School Committee members, we have opinions like anyone else about who we plan to vote for on November 5. We are committed to working for a better Medford no matter which candidate prevails.

We would be happy to discuss how our school budget works.

Respectfully,

Paul Ruseau, Mea Quinn Mustone, Paulette Van der Kloot, Kathy Kreatz