The City Council and the Worcester Public Schools budget

 This is your annual reminder of two things, as the Worcester City Council takes up the Worcester Public Schools budget in Finance Committee:

1. The Worcester City Council, as the appropriating authority for the Worcester Public Schools, has no authority on internal allocations of the budget per MGL Ch. 71, sec. 34: 
   
   In acting on appropriations for educational costs, the city or town appropriating body shall vote on the total amount of the appropriations requested and shall not allocate appropriations among accounts or place any restriction on such appropriations. 
   
   
2. The Worcester City Manager has recommended to the City Council an allocation for the Worcester Public Schools that is $14,182 over the minimum legally required. That's from page 430: 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   By my calculation, that puts Worcester at 0.003564% over their legal requirement. Yes, that decimal is in the correct location.

I'll pick up from here with live-blogging once they begin. The Mayor announced that the superintendent could not make the 4 pm time for which WPS was scheduled, so they are taking things out of order: library, health and human services...now a recess...back to regular Council

I will note this exchange in the HHS section: to Councilor King's question on how the schools' funding of Recreation Worcester works, the City Manager reviewed the history of the funding of the program, noted limited state funding for it, then said that the district $100K went to pay the site administrators, taking, he said, pressure off of local tax dollars.
The problem is that Recreation Worcester, being a community program, does not count towards net school spending. Those are not state chapter 70 dollars being allocated towards that program; those are, by necessity, also local tax dollars being allocated towards that program. (It's also $100K that could go to something that would  count but doesn't, but this is, as best as I can tell, about making a point more than anything. And that's kind of more the city's problem than it is the schools' but the city doesn't seem to get that.)

and back to finance committee...

McGourthy introducing WPS bottom line. Notes that SOA did not get funded last year; original budget got amended down. 

Colorio: expansion dual language to a school from being a program
Binienda: current programs at Woodland, Chandler Magnet, Roosevelt (and Burncoat Middle and Burncoat High)
negotiations with St. Stephen's: K coming from Chandler Mag; 8 classrooms coming from Roosevelt
have met with parents
"everybody speaks Spanish"
hope will add Portuguese to grow to 18 classrooms full of children
Colorio: other schools will not have?
Binienda: will grow at Woodland and at Chandler Magnet
go to current dual language at Burncoat Middle and High
"encourage biliteracy throughout the city"
Colorio: decrease in enrollment last year; forecast for this coming year
Binienda: do see enrollment coming back
recommending kindergarten gap year students go to first grade but reading recovery model will get intensive instruction for first six to eight weeks before moving fully into classroom
Colorio: increase in ch. 70; what was main focus in increase? Can you provide same services as in past few years
Binienda: will be able to provide more from a variety of services (yeah, FEDERAL FUNDING)
additional teachers, coaches, four SAC, instructional materials orders (but not per pupil)
still integrate technology into classrooms
early literacy training for reading recovery
mentoring for principals and for teachers
increase in special education 
culturally responsive work and diversity, equity, bias inclusion (I have no idea where that is in the budget)

Bergman: incredible challenges of past year
are there colleges listed on lawns this year?
does he not drive by high schools?

Rosen (who is participating virtually) asks if all students are going back as he's quite sure that it isn't the same virtually
Binienda: in person save the virtual school which is proposed for K-8 
but there is a survey going on right now so take it if you're interested
Rosen: dealing with mental health needs
Binienda: pushes a bunch of categories together to get to a 1: 190 ratio
district adding 4 adjustment counselors 

Rosen: asks about vaccinations
Binienda: 1400 students, 12 and up, through WPS; we don't know who got them on their own

30 sites of summer schools, will offer vaccinations

Rosen: diversity of staff
Binienda: "great steps in that area...advisory committee made up of people who are very diverse"
joined on interviews for all district interview committees
"really giving very valuable input to us"
Rosen: how many students take the bus
Allen: about half
Rosen: "I know it's very expensive...I understand there's issue with drivers...just looking at the finances..."
looking at WRTA: try to adjust WRTA routes to get students on them
clearly he has never tried to do this...here, read this blog post on it

Allen: do work with unique transportation needs and the end of the day
Rosen: is there "substantial savings"?
Allen: not at this point, using for after school and athletic transportation
Rosen: question to CM dealing with net school spending, "minimum required"
"that seems to be an annual ritual..maybe it will work out fairly well due to federal funds"
what?
"Could we look forward in the future...to provide funding above the net school spending?"
Augustus: obviously schools are a priority
"for a number of years we did have" beyond required
and here comes the buildings..."it would be millions and millions of dollars more for the Worcester Public Schools"
"would always look to provide as much funding as possible for the Worcester Public Schools"
Rosen: those supports come with the territory and other districts provide those supports too
urges colleagues to start lobbying city manager earlier in the year next year to provide over NSS

King: would like to see a little bit more
what have we been doing from spending above the minimum amount

McGourthy: reviews history (it's on page 139)

some federal funds can count (um, depends on the conference committee budget)
King: services assessed to schools: school resource officers
McGourthy: would cut that number in half; not the number
if that number goes down, where do we ensure that we make that up elsewhere?
net school spending is done after the fact
important to note that if you don't play the line this finely, this isn't an issue

King asks WPS: Allen says a placeholder, will "all be trued up" as heading into fiscal '22
King: looks like offset by charter
Allen explains how charter funding works; it's a coincidence, there isn't a relationship there
King: asks an extended question about school adjustment counselors
Allen: notes that some of the adjustment counselors are in the districtwide (in the location budget)
Binienda: big high schools have two; elementary based on programs in schools
King: needs are not seen, not visible; not in discipline, seen in attendance, participation
asks about shortage
Binienda: some of these have BACAs, clinicians; all staff trained in tier I interventions
teachers trained in tier 1 collaborative problem solving
four schools in which complete staff with be trained
Partner schools, association schools to participate in tier 1 training
"skills not wills"
at Woodland, BRYT program piloting in one school
plan is to ramp up at Woodland next year
training in culturally responsive work: training on trauma, challenges for students and being able to help
"it's all hands on deck"
King: "if there's an ask"
hopeful that school side will continue good work they're doing on discipline
can do work quicker 
work or funding considerations towards end of teacher diversity
Binienda: two programs; IA's pipeline at Worcester State; paying MTEL
now an administrator pipeline; working as assistant principals this year
new group starting in August of 2022
Worcester Future Teachers program "for well over 30 years"
challenge has been many have gone into medicine and law
national organization for 250 students training starting in grades 7 and 8
sorry, missed a back and forth there on the diversity piece
King: looking for advancement of Black and brown administrators in the WPS
"it's important, it's impactful, and as I always say on the cityside, there's always room for improvement"

Wally asks about marketing dollars
Binienda talks about Twitter, forums with parents
Wally: how would you describe budget to parents
Binienda: increasing secondary, early college, AP

Wally: in '22, will be looking at bringing all transportation in house?
Allen: multi-year study in terms of ability of cost savings, next step, slightly delayed bringing 7D
would be a pilot of bringing services in house
"continues to be a" study
Wally: worth looking at for better decision making in the future

Russell: agree message needs to get out

asks about Roosevelt parking
Petty: "Mr. Allen, you have ten seconds"
Allen: "it's in the FY22 capital budget"

Russell asks more about this

plan for St. Stephen's school?
Binienda: working on lease of property (wait, do we still not have the dang lease done yet?)

Russell : is paint still peeling on Worcester East Middle School or will I be pleasantly surprised?
Allen: remains to be done

Russell: windows at Worcester East Middle?
Allen: has to be submitted as a core program to the state

Russell: I'm going to vote against this budget, to make a statement, as there's no reason for this (lack of attention to WEMS) to go on
yes, there is: the city has level funded our capital budget for a SIGNIFICANT number of years running. Guess whose fault that is?


Toomey makes suggestion of putting realtors on buses

asks about McK Vento
Allen notes fewer buses, less reimbursement
Toomey: more in shelters
Binienda: bringing Chromebooks over to shelters
most from Worcester
there's a long thing here about McK-Vento and homelessness I think?

Petty makes the motion to approve 
Russell asks the city administration to work with school district to address ceiling in auditorium and drafts of windows
"there's no excuse for that"
is he going to make a motion to increase of capital budget? Because otherwise, good luck with that

and approved, as is Russell's motion