Worcester School Committee FY21 budget hearing

Public comment:
with my apologies for those whose names I missed, misspelled, or didn't catch correctly.

Gordon Davis: make sure there is enough money in the budget to eliminate the racial and economic disparities in the school system
to hire enough teachers, counselors, and other staff
"and every child gets a good education"
Have heard there will be a reduction in the budget because of low tax returns in the state
Foley: move towards reducing disparities, which have been even more clear over this pandemic
won't happen this year or next year, but hoping over the next few years
will hear about significant revenue reductions by the state

Maria: teacher in WPS, EAW
asking for a public statement of acknowledgement and plan for systemic changes
"words alone aren't enough"
"given the gravity of the situation, we need to find a way to make it happen, sooner rather than later"
"not just the justice system...but the education system"
"really important that we put the resources out there to expand...cultural knowledge"
"work with the community we serve"
"have to be courageous for doing so"
"safety and well-being of our students and their families in the city"

former public school teacher: appreciate this discussion
"strong need to bring in more diversity in the schools"
"help with cultural education"
taught at North High
had a school resource officer body slam a student: was an unnecessary aggressive tactic
was not school's usual SRO
made a musical about Black history "felt it wasn't the proper time to do it"
students wrote the play and it was sidelined
students who were visibly distraught one day coming from their internship class; had been told not to speak Spanish in class; no action was taking against the teacher
pushed to have students AP classes even if they were not prepared for them

Eddie Dumphy, co-chair CPPAC
pledge support of student information system
reviewing subcommittee in 2019 "we will roll it out by the fall of 2020"
implore to listen to parents
transparency of student information
only homegrown system across the state

Rep. Mary Keefe: in formal session in the House
trying to get election law passed
a number of us at the State House concerned about covering at full 14% the economically disadvantaged portion
working to find a compromise with Ways and Means 'so we're able to being that number up"
would mean $2.9M additional
hope to show some support; think Mayor will speak to that tonight
push for Worcester to pick up some restorative justice system across the board
will help with positive climate
asks how else folks can weigh in?
Foley: we finalize budget on June 18; can email all school committee or via clerk
did speak to Mayor, when we go to budget, will read letter to Committee to raise that rate to be more money for Worcester
Keefe will shuttle it over to Ways and Means when she gets a letter from us

paraprofessional in Worcester schools
extensive burden  of pandemic
feel very strong that budget must support technology for paraprofessionals
"we've been left behind as so many have"
teachers and students respect knowledge and our determination
"Without ESP, you cannot spell technology"
supplies, differentiation based on student needs
"we're consistent in their lives every day"
share weaknesses with students; kids appreciate that
ask when kids won't ask, when kids won't save face
Foley: take a look at technology part of this

instructional assistant at Burncoat High
have worked with life skills, COAST and work in STEP program
have worked with students need just emotional as well as educational support
important for students to see a familiar face
important that they don't cut any of these positions
have been in a Zoom class where the staff didn't have the technology to attend
IA's need Chromebook
students express that they don't have hotspots and devices
the virus didn't decrease the workload, it made it more difficult
made it more difficult

Chris Brennan, English teacher at Worcester Tech
value of staff interaction with teachers
important that students and teachers are included in decision making for fall
develop a plan with individual schools that give educators more of a voice
need for ESP's to have technology; incredibly valuable
with remote learning, don't understand how they can be effective and helpful
"if the remote learning continues in the fall, I think that has to be considered in the budget"
"these educators are incredibly important and that has to be considered in the budget"

Matt: to see if there is any way that we could lower the amount for police and lower it to take cops out of schools
last thing we need is for students to have a criminal record
"I know there have to be alternative strategies that keep our students safe"

Dante Comparetto: there are many things I'd like to see within the budget
great sessions earlier in the year
would like to highlight parts of those plans
specifically investing more in social workers
"would be great if we can get those school resource officers out of our schools"
need more Black and brown educators
teaching Black and brown history and ethnic studies
"now we're in this moment of history that these sorts of policies are being enacted"
"urge you to be on the right side of history"

Nancy Cadwell, music teacher
"in no way do I support online learning as a replacement" for the human interaction
"in this extreme time, students need social-emotional support"
paraeducators need, of course, a living wage in their next contract
do so much of the nitty-gritty work
"deserve respect"
"needs to be an increase" in support staff...need smaller caseloads
"let's use the guidelines from DESE as just that and not as ultimatuums"
vocational and hands on learning
no cogs...more cooperative learning, instead of competition

Bob Michel, NAACP
asks the status of restorative justice programs in the Worcester Public Schools
Foley: will ask for a report

Elise Waxman (Sp?): speak to school to prison pipeline
unjustifiable to suspend students below grade 3
Black and brown student disparities
often for non-violent, non-drug, non-criminal
"and we wonder why there" are disparities
need to remove police officers from schools
need to invest in mental health resources for schools and need restorative justice

Lorainne (sp?) IA at Burncoat High
"I miss my students; they're not just my students"
have worked for WPS for 13 years
sub-separate inclusion IAs
do classwork and tests they're doing
some things "I'm not the greatest at, but I'm learning it, and that's helping a great deal"
doing Zoom over a telephone, because I do not have access to a computer
everything has been done over the phone
"I am the one that they know they can come talk to when they are having emotional problems or educational problems" with take them who they need to speak to
"IAs are that link for these children"
financially, "we can survive not on the bare minimum"
live an hour away from Worcester, have to take a second job and work seven days a week
IA's are a backbone for you and everyone else in the school system

bus driver: we need cleaning supplies, we furnish these things
ration paper towels, trash bags
"it's not right, we used to have all this stuff"
"We could use tables, because the tables we have for us, they're all slanted"
"we're not asking for a lot, we're just looking to be upgraded"
Foley: will ask for folks to work to upgrade
"certainly all our sanitation efforts will need to be at the highest level"

about to start second year teaching in WPS
want to echo some of comments of funding towards police in schools
with respect to negative experience of police in schools
and particularly the violence that happened recently here in Main South
would advocate for reducing police in budget as much as possible
and support for students

work at New Beginning Wellness: looks like about a million dollars for police in the school system
"school to prison pipeline is a thing"
using force on a child only creates more of a problem
"if we want to make relationships with our students better, we need to not be manhandling our students"
"need to be better funding for technology, for supplies"
teachers should not be not receiving a liveable wage, and not receiving the supplies they need
"A million dollars is absolutely absurd to be spending on police in our schools"

working for WPS for eight years; current IA in kindergarten classroom
intervention and guided reading classes when in school
since then, teacher works with is not very good with technology
work as much as possible on a regular basis
"I have not had any help with the district at all on technology"
a lot out there don't have the technology system
"I have taught kids how to read, and I don't make enough money to live by myself, and currently I get food stamps"

Molly Case, attending WPS, graduating six years ago
to comment on
strongly urge the Worcester School Committee to ask City Council to move allocation to WPS
to end MOU with WPD
"deeply harmful to students of color"
students of color feel less safe with SRO's in schools
71% of WPS students are of color; 84% of WPS teachers are white
only 23% of WPD is not-white
every single one of my teachers was white; "that's eighteen years of schooling"
ask that Committee prioritize hiring of teachers of color
training of support staff, restorative justice
"overall students deserve to feel safe"

Jenith Charpentier, Worcester parent
"have been fighting for better budgets for a very long time"
0.17% over minimum only because of allocation for police
learning need to more inclusive of Black and brown students
"we've seen a lot of very white curriculum"
ask that the School Committee to work with City Council and not elected officials
responsibility to bring forward disparities in the budget
"overall budget basically being padded with money that should be allocated to our school children"

Brady Burton: echo much of what was said
particularly need to allocate money away from police in schools
"I know the school committee doesn't have full discretion over that funding"
could make really strong statement
"I don't think we'd seen negative consequences for spending that money elsewhere"
know that some SRO's are better than others on relating to kids
"I think it would be a great gesture to rethink the presence of resource officers"
"It's clearly something that really matters to the community"

Shirley: IA and have been for over thirty years
just wanted to say how important the IA's are
"I work in the kindergarten"
"first person the little kindergartners come in and relate to for emotional and academic support"
"hope that you can keep the IAs just as they are"
"haven't been able to see my kids and I miss them"

Sara: live in Worcester, just graduated from QCC early childhood program
importance of practice: suspension does not represent best practice for young children
urge shift of funding to restorative justice, increasing ration on adjustment counselors, clinicians

Matt Stern, UPCS, social studies
echo ending MOU with WPD
"should be no police presence in schools"
reallocate to services and personnel for betterment of our students"
"I am not alone in this; there are a lot of people who feel this way"
and Black Lives Matter


Worcester resident: funding for police should be dispersed into better uses

hope it will be considered that as a result of the protests, Clark University ended use of Worcester police

better representation throughout the faculty with all the open position

better sex education, including LGBTQ, needs more funding in the schools

calling to express disapproval for having police in schools 

"rarely saw situations that warranted the involvement of the WPD"

should be hiring more counselors and internal security

"students especially students of color often do not feel safe with police in schools"
"these are our children and the lifeblood of our city"

day by day subs don't make state minimum wage

WPS transportation: police shouldn't be in schools

School buses and how they're going to protected in the future

safety of our students "that we can transport safely and with nobody getting sick"

"I think that we can all agree that rather punative suppressing" we should raise up families

investing in our communities

spending more on public education itself

"spending money, especially education money, to parachute police into the Worcester Public Schools" is the opposite of what we should be doing

Ann, teacher in Worcester

even as things are getting tough, socio-emotional learning is important

arts are important

"we should really resist the urge to cut these positions because they are so vital to" our students

Kathleen Grey (sp?)

would like to also say we need to remove police from our schools and look into restorative justice and abolitionist education

should not be suspending students below third grade

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