A few thoughts on tonight's Worcester School Committee

As always, my blog posts are from my perspective, so you can and should of course keep in mind that I'm running for one of these seats. I'd say that tonight again illustrates why. 

I never broke open a blog post, as nothing quite ever rose to that; you can find my tweeting threaded starting here:

Heading over to the Worcester School Committee meeting; periodic tweeted as warranted. My write up of the agenda is 👇🏼 https://t.co/tosKRoL3H8

— Tracy O'Connell Novick (@TracyNovick) September 5, 2019

I think what we saw again tonight was a Committee that in many ways is casting about for relevance while largely missing major concerns.

The item on Columbus Park, in which Mr. Monfredo noted that it was already being dealt with, yet filed the item asking for a report, anyway, revealed the crucial information that multiple classes of students are meeting in basement rooms because the building is so crowded.
Yet we don't have a facilites replacement plan for elementary schools.

Mr. Foley's relevant and should-have-been-expected question of where the security grant funds are going...the superintendent didn't have an answer to.
We're going to spend $80,000; it would be good if we literally had any idea of where it's going.

Mr. O'Connell, who has been on the Committee since the mid-80's, asking when the audit documents will be available.
The district runs on a fiscal calendar and the documents come at the same time every year.

An intimation as part of a larger item from Mr. O'Connell that cell phones are a health hazard.
This is, bluntly, pandering to those who reject science.

An extended speech from Mr. Monfredo and Miss Biancheria that the launch of school event at the DCU was a marvelous event.
The teachers' union for the second year is collecting information on how the time was wasted, as professional development time is in far too short supply to be squandered.

A sudden interest from Mr. O'Connell in the School Committee's legal authority around school siting. This is the third school to be built in the last ten years, but this one is Doherty.

Even this sudden interest in the School Committee having goals (their policy says they are do perform an annual self-evaluation, as well) led to a list by Mr. O'Connell of a series of things, many of which are not under the power of the School Committee.
The Committee, though, is so far afield that it isn't clear to me that it knows where its job even lies at this point.

In any case, the meeting may have been relatively short, but there was plenty there to argue that you should vote next Tuesday to make changes on this Committee.