Recommended read: Amici brief in Foote v. Ludlow

 

I just want to offer a strong recommendation that if you're around school districts, you give the amici brief filed by sixteen Attorneys General yesterday (including AG Campbell of Massachusetts) a read. It does a really nice job of outlining the public interest in public education, the purview school districts have to make policies for their educational systems, and the interest schools have in protecting and supporting trans students.

June Board of Ed: Commissioner evaluation

 Hills: "in the interest of time, and because everyone already has the material"
which I guess is here
each member was asked about the year, strengths and accomplishments, focus going forward, key priorities going forward
Hills wrote a summary of the Committee's view
two key takeaways: a year of a range of really significant accomplishments including in teaching and learning
need a clear roadmap on goals that are addressing the outcomes that we want, with check ins over the year
Hills that suggests a timeline for creation of goals and periodic check in on them over the year
"universal respect and appreciation for the Commissioner"
"very strong feeling that Jeff is exactly the leader we need, not simply coming out of the pandemic...but from where we were ten years ago"
"it's a collaborative thing and we're all going to own it"
Stewart: feel entirely separated from strategic plan
"do need a renaissance in teaching and learning
tension over relevance of Board
Hills: we need to own key goals that we have approved; key overall goals, not micro goals
"should have virtual no involvement with anything having to do with internal management of the department"
maybe they want to reconsider their subcommittees, then
Lombos: a retreat: understand role, understand goals
Mohammed: helpful exercise you're laying out
interesting to get perspective on what the Commissioner has learned for the year and what he might change of what he might do
Riley: thanks to team, "noting short of incredible"
"have done ed reform for 25 years...know it worked...have been flatlined"
look at data dispassionately; it is time to change
flat regardless of COVID
"need to move away from ed reform and move towards an education renaissance and figure out what's next and what's best for our children"
Craven says it was the legislature that created ed reform
wild how this always leaves out the McDuffy suit
"we've had a lot of discussion of the mechanism, the test"
the test isn't the end, it's the measurement

Hills moves acceptance of the evaluation which passes

June Board of Ed: State Student Advisory Council

 report of the State Student Advisory Council so this one is over to Eric Plankey
And I don't have this report, so I have no links as yet
state council of 50 members, then 5 regional councils which produce reports for the larger council
changes in student advocacy this year, too
first year of meeting back in person: moved the meetings from Malden to Worcester to increase access

student reps: opportunities for youth involvement in every district
should have two students from every high school in Massachusetts
how do student voices get represented across the state
student government; affinity groups; advocacy groups
handbook for student government, focused on policy change

financial literacy: bundle of resources for districts
life after graduation, paying for college
documented past work to build off of
lesson plans series
presentations from guidance departments on paying for college

health and wellness: youth risk behavior survey
consistent feeling of sadness/hopelessness: 50.1% of girls; 26.6% of boys
only 20.4% of students getting more than 8 hours of sleep
40-50% of LGBTQ+ students had seriously considered suicide
bullying down; alcohol use down
peer on peer support groups
up to date occupational advisors
make sure students aren't overloaded with work; stay balanced

now reviewing regional work: 
Greater Boston: list of recommendations for updating health curriculum; building codes and sustainability
Northeast: guidance on religious holidays
Central Mass: wellness week
Southeast: brochure for school spirit; initiatives on BIPOC history
Western: outreach for representation

Stewart: where can see report? need space on website

"got students thinking about what was happening in their districts"

Mass Association of Student Representatives:
student reps to school committees: every district required to have student rep, have student advisory to school committee
"there isn't a lot of compliance with it"
help spread best practices of students getting involved in their local districts
proposed amendment for student reps voting rights

Student Union of Massachusetts:
coalition of local youth groups from across the state 
local reform efforts to improve student voice
facilitate student gov reform
create template policies for local implementation

three levels of decision making now has a dedicated student advocacy to that level
"creating something special in MA"

Lombos: sees parallels between student organizing and work organizing
excited to see if can bake in continuity

Plankey plans to connect incoming student rep with Board and Department members
"state should be prepared to engage with students as partners"
suggests DESE solidify of SSAC as a partner with the Department: "one stop spot as student voice" for Department

Ella Gardner, Wellesley High School will be incoming rep for next year

June Board of Ed: budget update

 Bell: "our meeting schedule is always not quite where the Legislature is in their version"
conference committee is working to produce a budget
Driscoll signed an interim budget, provides spending authority until the general appropriation is finalized
"I think we're going to have a pretty good handle on the things we're going to see"
Third year of SOA: $6.7B of chapter 70
increases in circuit breaker, transportation accounts between 90-100% of need
increases in early college, career and tech ed
in the middle of federal spending
80% of ESSER II claimed; have until September of this year to spend
a little over 30% of ESSER III; a little over billion on this to go before September of 2024
released funding for federal entitlement grants 
Moriarty: packet for Board had information on Reading Recovery, does legislature get that?
Bell: not that I know of
Tutwiler: "this is a big blip on our radar" and not letting it go

June Board of Ed: amendment to educator licensure

 proposed for passage today: which you can find some things on here

over 350 comments received from a variety of people 

1) Proposed amendments to allow Initial and Professional license holders to obtain a Provisional license in special education areas and in English as a Second Language. 

2) Proposed amendments to create a new grade span, PreK-2, for two licenses: Teacher of Students with Moderate Disabilities and Teacher of Students with Severe Disabilities.

3) Proposed amendments to permit Provisional licensure applicants to meet a requirement through a demonstration of knowledge, as an alternative to meeting the requirement by taking a course or seminar. 

4) Proposed amendment to create a new Provisional license for school nurses. 

Hills: a comment, not a question
really little evidence that shortages are going to disappear in short to medium term
if there are changes that might help address some of those staff shortages, I'd be open to hearing them

passes

June Board of Ed: proposed technical amendment to student discipline regs

 sent to public comment

June Board of Ed: student data trend analysis

 Thomas Kane from Harvard University
he's an economist
"in the education policy debate, I have observed that there is one common storyline...that the folks on the reform side...will marshal statistics that things are terrible...that the status quo is unsustainable...those on the other side...are often arguing similar points...and will point to prior...policy for why"
"over time it's corrosive"

provide some history
nationally, achievement as measured by NAEP rose from 1990-2013
"have made quite a bit of progress"
I am not going to try to reproduce numbers here
notes decline in 2019-22, which started pre-pandemic
in Massachusetts increase was larger, but recent losses are larger
"a year's worth of growth is about 10.4 points"
(this always feel very made up to me)
quotes Mann on education being "the balance wheel of the social machinery"
"but the balance wheel has been under strain"
Increased economic stratification 
main countervailing force has been policy: school accountability and school finance
"merged each of the schools back to neighborhood" in NAEP results
He is presuming that the schools draw from their neighborhood in this analysis--not all do
and then looked at neighborhood income
Larger increases for lower income families, by this analysis
reading improved for low and middle income families
in MA, high poverty districts improved the most
looked at states that saw big increases in the NAEP, then looked at income over time of those born in those states; states with large NAEP growth were also places were those born those had larger income growth
["What do changes in state test scores imply for later life outcomes" Dec. 2022 NBER working paper]
"I just can't help myself; I'm an economist." on next set of data
what has the increase in achievement been worth?
for one cohort of 8th graders in 2013, he calculates at $6.4B
"Education reform did not fail."

Current challenges: respond to pandemic losses; resume progress in MA education
"would encourage us to be bold" in current challenges

"pandemic losses increased inequality in MA"
IMPORTANT POINT: THIS WAS NOT THE CONCLUSION DRAWN BY DESE IN THEIR OWN PRESENTATIONS. If you recall, during the goal setting conversation, the Department was quite clear that it was not the traditionally lowest performing districts in which those losses were concentrated
Would recommend policy changes that focus on these traditionally underperforming districts

"what are some of the processes that we could create that would help accelerate improvement?"
process by which improvement could be scaled up: MA state innovation fund

Characterize this as a pep talk
"can make progress, have made progress...we currently have some major challenges"
consider what is possible in the coming years

Craven: some people voted against 1993 education
"people argue that nothing but money matters"
you said policy matters; what do you mean by that?
Kane: "there is research...looked at what happened to NAEP scores" in schools like MA pre-NCLB accountability
which is also when we put money in, so this is not holding money aside
They found large positive effects, especially in math
"more narrowing in schools that did school finance reform in the states that didn't"
"I don't think the data enables us to show which was more important, but that both were important"
Moriarty: steps one through three; I think steps 4 and 5 are extremely problematic
(this is on his slide of "resuming improvement")
Kane: I don't think any state does 4 and 5 well (that's "share" and "scale)
thinks the best way to convince people that their peer districts had compelling outcomes
"as a persuasion scaling exercise"
Hills: when you see declining gaps reverse themselves, would be curious what items you want to highlight
Kane: very few things we understand in education research, but the turnaround in math "was related to school closures"
high poverty, high minority districts "stayed closed longer"
Newton students had more resources outside of school
both Kane and Hills live in Newton
Hills: ten years ago to five years ago, how did trends reverse themselves?
Kane: resource, incentives, but also persuasion; "my hypothesis--I can't prove it!--is we'd start to see improvement again"
Plankey: was there a tapering off in other states over this time, too? "Does ed reform just sort of expire?"
Kane: "pattern of rising and then flattening is pretty universal"
Plankey: are there any states that implemented a change and reversed?
Kane: "I hope that Massachusetts would be the first."
Have to acknowledge large losses in places like Lynn
"we'll learn a lot when MCAS results come back this summer"
hopes that Massachusetts has turned it around, but don't expect it
Tutwiler: what do you mean by spread?
Kane: districts voluntarily adopting effective practices, ideally
"but state also has levels" that it can pull 
"imagine if the state held like an annual meeting" on what is going to be tested this year and what will be tested this next year
"some of the things that get tried won't work...I wouldn't be surprised if even most of them don't work"
"by identifying that 20% that worked and spreading them"
Tutwiler: appreciate naming the differences between different communities
lived in Andover, worked in Lynn and saw those differences
there are elements that exclude the control factor "there could be wisdom in those control factors..in things for us to think about"
schools that had long-term subs, or positions that they never filled, or chronic absenteeism rates that are much higher
Kane: have research on what works in chronic absenteeism, for example
start systematically sharing what works
Stewart: strikes me that when Commissioner was new was a conference sharing what works
districts to share their successes
can target a few initiatives, but don't think the state needs to share the work and be excited about it
Kane: the role the state could play is set up the things to try, and then let the folks who did it be the ones to try and then share
"and for the state to invest substantially in it...even setting aside 1% of that" for experimentation
Mohammed: thinking about experience in health care: preventable medical errors
"it wasn't until hospitals really started to work on this using many of the processes you're describing"
might be things to learn from different industries, storytelling, measurement of outcomes was key to changing trajectory of things

Plankey: catalogue of learning supports
will catalogue be updated yearly as things change? (Riley nods)

June Board of Ed: updated health and PE framework

 some things here

and they didn't put the names of the panel on the slides...sigh
panel reviewing included students, parents, educators, higher ed, collaboratives, medical professionals, non-profit reps, advocacy orgs, educational associations, state commissions

curriculum framework: knowledge and skills along with how to reach them
curricula are selected locally
panel of nearly 45 engaged, plus two dozen on topics covered
support students to be healthy and well
whole child model in a safe and healthy environment
inclusive, medically accurate, developmentally and age appropriate
in name and in substance: recognizes physical education
builds on national standards
"I just want to note: this is a comprehensive document"
"sex education is component, a small but important one"
state does have a parental opt-out
example: decision making and problem solving, for example, applied to nutrition and healthy eating in grade 2

Joe Baeta, Superintendent of the Norton Public Schools
"quite awhile that this document has been sitting dormant"
skills connect to district Portrait of a Graduate
substance abuse, personal abuse
"time for the Commonwealth to lead, as it has with all other" frameworks and best practices
"at no time is this more critical for schools" than now
provides guidance and best practices

Next steps would be 60 days of public comment, summarized, revise, present for adoption

Stewart: not only for health educators to implement at local level, but a resource for families
believe that the social media component, would like to see it beefed up and improved upon
Moriarty: looking forward to public comment
want to highlight: don't plan to rest
9th of 9 curriculum frameworks
recommends frameworks as "forever in need" of improvement and pitches starting ELA again next
notes his, Stewart, Craven's name on all nine framework
thinks Board will have done its job if they get them off again in a timely fashion
Hills: fairly extraordinary effort involving many people
thanks for the time
Craven: law requires Board to put out standards and frameworks and not curricula
urge parents to be deeply involved in local curricula choice

VOTE UNANIMOUS TO GO OUT TO PUBLIC COMMENT

five minute break

June 2023 Board of Ed: opening comments

The Board is introducing a new member about whom you can read a bit here!

Chair Craven notes new member and incoming student member, as this is last meeting at which Eric Plankey will represent.

public comment:

Educate Us: applaud and recommend new health standard
"deserve a factual, compassionate, and complete education"
powerful step in that direction
some think erasing information will cause students to "similarly disappear"
"an entire generation" has waited for this update; cannot wait further
"a huge step towards ensuring the students of Massachusetts have the freedom to be themselves...no exceptions"

Partners in Sex education:
standards are incredibly important
all others have been updated
schools either base it on the 90's version "which doesn't really take account our current understand of what the science is on health" OR "they are not using standards at all, which is an absolute chaotic mess" OR "everyone is just frozen in time"
the fact that they are parallel to the national standards "is absolutely magical"

VP Planned Parenthood
"have seen how lifechanging it can be" to provide such education
"parents..want their children to receive" this education regardless of their religious and other background
access to such education "not based in fear or scare tactics" 
"long overdue and should be approved as soon as possible"
Manager of Youth Education for Planned Parenthood
was a public schoolteacher in Boston and Somerville
medically accurate, age appropriate, consent based, LGBTQ+ inclusive
1999 framework doesn't contain the word consent
teaches students to respect other's withheld consent
and teaches in middle grades: tools when they need it
young people need to know the impact of the words before they get said (on LGBTQ+)
still is explicitly stigmatizing language in the current framework
teachers need up to date and accurate frameworks to guide them

Katie Aubin, member of the Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee, not speaking on behalf of Committee
noticed that sex was more of a theme than nutrition
support for all genders and sexual orientation in ages 7 to 10
"let ages 3-5 believe in Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus"
"I will taking note of who votes for this"
"if you vote for this curriculum, you are the definition of a groomer"
Michael King from Mass Family Institute
"is neither age appropriate nor medically accurate"
he's now talking about curriculum, which DESE of course does not approve
one should also note that at least in the past, his quotes have been inaccurate
says this will only increase the number of students opting out and number of children leaving public schools

commission on racial imbalance, but not here on that
director of diversity, happy that you've done that
former Secretary of Education wrote an article "and it bothered me"
should have been written 30 years ago
"should not still be talking about educational gaps"
"this is unconscionable" 
"went back to ed reform" says that it is an emergency measure
(that was because the state lost an ed funding lawsuit)
"My charge to you is I don't want to see another report with excuses for what we haven't done"
"It's racist at its highest level, and it is irresponsible at its lowest"

"for the last 15 years, our education system has not improved"
"this Board has refused to act with urgency"
"the view is pretty and mesmerizing, but obscures an ugly reality"
no comment on the new MCAS contract
"how students are achieving and how students are growing"
"DESE balked on computer-adaptive" test during "the PARCC fiasco"
"can't depend on demographics" to remain competitive
"a competency based progression system is the future"
ask for a quarter million dollars to study a competency based system in FY25

Moriarty: meeting July 8 on early literacy
Speaker Bartley
"his name is on the Chapter 766 legislation"

Secretary Tutwiler: congratulations to students, families, and educators for this school year
thanks to Eric Plankey: "I've learned the most from students"
wishes him well at Cornell next year
thanks Canavan for service
Welcomes new student member Ella Gardner, Wellesley High School
Welcome Ericka Fisher, chair of education at the College of the Holy Cross
"thrilled to welcome her and her perspective to this Board"
expect a SCOTUS decision on race-conscious enrollment
"amply prepared" if they do not keep it
"want to be mindful of the potential chilling effect...on historically marginalized communities"
"their presence is not only welcome, it is in fact incredibly necessary"

Commissioner: also welcome to Dr. Fisher
always thought of Plankey as a member, not simply a student member
thanks Eric's parents
thanks teachers, students, parents for year
"blown away by what happened in Somerville"
Tufts stepped up "without hesitation"
update on Boston: 
series of improvement plan related action
"in general DESE remains concerned about lack of action plans"
no inclusion plan for special education
yet to ID "chief of special education"
did lay out plan for English learners, only some of which has been met
student safety: created office of emergency management; working on MOU with PD
revised timeline for bathroom facilities renovation; timeline did not align
bright spots in data: making enhancement
making progress in hiring drivers and monitors
has not yet hit 95%, though it has been better
transformation schools
"really tried to approach this year as a time to set the table"
"blindsided by plan for high schools that seems half-baked at best"
"may have merit...but hard to understand it without the financials"
Madison Park could "cost up to a billion"
plus millions more for proposed O'Bryant location
and how will students get there
"which high schools are going to be closing" to allow for a "super Madison Park"
one year ago signed a document: "at best their grade would be incomplete"
expect a new conversation in the fall; if buses aren't on time, if people aren't hired, if bathrooms aren't complete
Craven: received additional $10M: where did it go?
Riley: in the document that was signed, "I believe that we've upheld our part of the bargain"
Johnston: reviews and audits, as well as some key positions to jump start the process
Moriarty: didn't hear a word about academic achievement: is it that bad?
Riley: put those piece in place first; not sure we can get there if we don't have this first
Moriarty: "leaves me wondering what the point of the enterprise is"
Craven: "kind of a misnomer that the inclusion plan was due in November; it was due in 1972"
Johnston: dismantle some of the substantially subseparate especially for boys of color
Hills: "reserve significant amount of time on the agenda for it"
Craven asks what a transformation school is
Stewart suggests a Monday meeting for just this in the fall

Governor Healey appoints a new member of the Board of Ed

 and I have, as the kids would say, "no chill" on this one, as I know her personally. 

Professor Fisher talking with Secretary Tutwiler during a break in today's meeting

Governor Healey, on the recommendation of Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, appointed Professor Ericka Fisher of Worcester to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is starting her term today.

Professor Fisher is the chair of the education department at College of the Holy Cross. Her areas of specialization are urban education, social justice, and social emotional learning. She is a Worcester Public Schools (Doherty) graduate, a Holy Cross graduate, and the mother of two WPS alums. She is a Black woman who is also Wampanoag. She literally wrote a book on Burncoat High School. 

She replaces Tricia Canavan.

Professor Fisher served on the ad-hoc committee that I chaired looking at creating an exam school in Worcester. She is smart, savvy, thoughtful. She's a good friend, and one of the people I trust on education policy. I cannot tell you how much I think that this is an amazing choice. 

You can read Governor Healey's press release about Professor Fisher here.

Two notes on the Supreme Court

•  I've been enjoying Kevin Kruse's new Substack "Campaign Trails" and his latest one is on Engel v. Vitale, a case decided in 1962 on school prayer. As Kruse notes:
  

  After explaining the details of the case, Black paused to collect himself and clutched his papers tightly. There could be “no doubt,” he read, that “the daily invocation of God’s blessings [was] a religious activity” and, as a result, no doubt that New York “adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the Establishment clause.” Black asserted that the First Amendment embodied the founders’ belief that faith was “too personal, too sacred, too holy to permit its ‘unhallowed perversion’ by a civil magistrate.” (Here, an observer noted, “his voice trembled with emotion as he paused over ‘too personal, too sacred, too holy.’”)
  In Black’s view, religion certainly deserved a place of prominence in American life, but the state could not dictate it. “It is no part of the business of government,” he read, “to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by the government.” Departing from his text, Black added an impromptu plea. “The prayer of each man from his soul must be his and his alone,” he said. “If there is anything clear in the First Amendment, it is that the right of the people to pray in their own way is not to be controlled by the election returns.” 

• There was some surprise in the online education universe this morning that the Supreme Court declined to take up Charter Day School. v. Peltier, which is a case on dress codes that hinges on if the charter school in North Carolina is a public school. The charter school in question barred girls from wearing pants to school; parents sued, saying this was sex discrimination, which public schools cannot do under Title IX. The lower court decision that will now stand agreed with the plaintiffs. As Matt Barnum wrote in Chalkbeat: 
  

  The case turned on whether Charter Day School is a private entity or a public “state actor.” This issue is also crucial for the brewing legal dispute over religious charter schools. If charter schools are state actors then they likely cannot be religious. If they are private, though, religious entities would have a stronger case for running charter schools. These debates will likely be tested in Oklahoma, which recently approved what could be the country’s first religious charter school. Ultimately, this may end up being sorted out via years of litigation — which could end up back at the Supreme Court.

  So...stay tuned. 

Note on the proposed new state health standards

Yesterday's Massachusetts education coverage was all about Governor Healey's announcement of proposed new health and physical education state frameworks, what we also refer to as state standards. You can find on them on next Tuesday's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education agenda. 

Because the passage of new curriculum frameworks isn't generally the kind of thing that most people pay attention to, a few notes on process:

• In Massachusetts, under MGL Ch. 69, sec. 1E, it is the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that sets frameworks for K-12 education in Massachusetts by curricula area. You can find them here. 
  
  
• Infamously, the health standards have not been reviewed and updated since 1999. The Department started a process of redrafting the health frameworks back in 2018, in a process that seemed to be taking an unusually long time (so no, you can't really blame the pandemic for this one).
  
  
• Note--and this is important!--this is not the creation or the adoption of a curriculum. This is "what a child is expected to learn" as a result, not how the child gets there.
  
  
• There have been ongoing attempts to pass the Healthy Youth Act by the state Legislature; the act would require that curricula in Massachusetts schools be medically accurate, age appropriate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, include tools to build healthy relationships, and teach the benefits of delaying sex as well as how to prevent STIs (sexually transmitted infections) and pregnancy. It has passed the Senate four times; it never makes it to the House floor (the standing assumption is that House leadership knows some members don't want to be put on the spot about it).
  
  
• This process, instead, leaves this under Board purview (where I, anyway, would argue it better belongs; you don't really want the Legislature sorting out what should be taught, do you?).
  
  
• On Tuesday, the Board (and the rest of us; the meeting will be livestreamed) will receive a report on the proposed update of standards.
  
  
• Their vote on Tuesday is on sending it out for public comment for 60 days. All proposed regulation and framework standards go through such a process.
  IF YOU WANT TO SEE THIS HAPPEN, THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN: There will be a dedicated email address, usually as well as an online form, allowing comments to be submitted. I'll be sure and link once that exists.
  
  
• The Department takes those comments, makes any revisions that they think are necessary in response to those comments, and brings that back to the Board for approval at a later meeting. The timeline outlined by the Commissioner says he expects them to come back later this summer (which is really cruising) or this fall.

Again, if this is important to you, yesterday's announcement is not the end, though it might be the beginning of the end. Prepare to comment on the revisions starting sometime next week. 

Hey, we have an F&O meeting tomorrow!

The Worcester School Committee Standing Committee on Finance and Operations has a meeting tomorrow at 5:30 (IN PERSON, though it will stream online), and the agenda includes not only our (last?) monthly transportation update, but a corker of a facilities update! 

Quoting just a few of the updates on projects I know to be of interest: 

• on water and heat and cooling: Belmont has a new boiler; Burncoat High and Middle have new domestic hot water heaters; Chandler Magnet has a new boiler; City View has a new boiler, Goddard Elementary has a new boiler; Vernon Hill has a new boiler; Forest Grove is getting two new chillers over the summer; and North High is getting a new chiller this summer.
  
  
• on bottle fillers: The SWIG (School Water Improvement Grant) project has started with initial demo of existing fixtures. A 3-month grant extension has been approved through the end of September. Installation of new water bottle filling stations fixtures to take place over the summer, followed by required sampling.
  
  
• on ADA accessibility: Deborah Ryan Associates studies nearly complete for the following schools: Thorndyke, Gerald Creamer Center, Harlow Challenge & Reach, Columbus Park, and Lincoln Street. Draft reports have been provided for comment, with final reports anticipated Summer 2023. Construction has started on the accessibility updates at Worcester Arts Magnet (triggered by the roof replacement).
  
  
• on Burncoat High and NEASC:  Four firms have been engaged to prepare baseline reports and potential courses of action based on the findings of the NEASC report. These studies include building envelope, accessibility, mechanical systems, and traffic analysis improvements. These studies are now complete.
  
  
• on traffic management: Mount Vernon Group Architects have done traffic and pedestrian design studies at both Burncoat Middle and High and at Roosevelt. There is insufficient funding (as we've discussed) in both cases, though Facilities is looking into options to manage some of the issues of concern. 
  
  
• on Burncoat bleachers: project now awarded to a contractor; it is anticipated this will be done for the fall opening of school. The gym floor is also being refinished as part of the same project. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• on Elm Park's gym: New wooden flooring is installed, and one coat of varnish has been applied. Roof repairs were undertaken to ensure new flooring system would not be damaged. New doors were installed at South entrance to minimize water infiltration at that location. Vendor is expected to be applying final polyurethane and markings over the next month. The gymnasium walls have also been painted, and new bleacher system installed. Anticipated completion by August 2023, ahead of the start of new school year.
  
  
  
  
  
• on the Honeywell districtwide ESSER funded HVAC updates: $22 million investment, across majority of schools in the district. Scope includes automated controls upgrades, exhaust fan replacements, rooftop units, heating systems. Project will be completed in phases, with on-going work though the Fall of 2024.
  
  
• on the new Doherty: is now weather-tight. It's on schedule for opening Fall of 2024.
  
  
• on school moves: there are moving contracts for both the Alternative school and for La Familia; both moves starting on June 21 and will be done by June 30.
  
  

There's LOTS MORE over on the agenda, so go check it out, and maybe plan to at least watch our meeting tomorrow! 

Some mid-June Worcester Public Schools updates

•  First, there's no school Monday due to the Juneteenth holiday
• Second, the last day of school is Tuesday, which is our 180th day.
  
  
• Also on Tuesday at 5:30, there is a Finance and Operations meeting, which includes a facilities update as well as our (last?) monthly transportation update.
• On Wednesday at 5, there is a Governance meeting (they're doing the student handbook).
  
  
  
• Hey, Worcester Public Schools have summer programs! Check them out!
• Don't forget that the Worcester Public Schools requires summer reading BUT it is NOT particular books! We do give suggested lists, though, and there are projects responding.
• Don't miss the Superintendent's end of year message:
  
  
  
• The Worcester School Committee will evaluate Dr. Monárrez this summer, as we are required to do. I'll update with dates as we have them. As a reminder, that will be based on her goals, which we agreed upon in February:
  
  
• District Goal: By June 30, 2023 collaboratively develop WPS handbooks and guiding documents to improve district systems in the topics of portrait of a graduate, student support and family and community engagement with equitable fiscal resource allocation to support implementation.  
• Student Goal: By June 30, 2023 an inclusive learning environment for WPS staff, families and scholars will be established and/or strengthened through the development of district level documents.
  
• Professional Goal: By June 30, 2023 participation in New Superintendent Induction Program (NSIP) year 1 will have been completed with all required projects submitted.

On the Thrive Act

There's been some press this spring about the Thrive Act, which has been framed as both ending the use of the MCAS as a graduation requirement and ending or heavily reforming state receivership of school districts. As part of the legislative process, some school committees have been asked to endorse a resolution endorsing the Thrive Act. On Thursday, this was before the Worcester School Committee; it was approved, 6-1. I was the 'no' vote, and I have been asked why.

The resolution concludes:

Resolved that the Worcester School Committee urges the state Legislature to pass the THRIVE Act, ending the use of MCAS tests as a graduation requirement and for purposes of placing school districts or individual schools into state receivership; 

and be it Resolved that Massachusetts develop an alternative to the high-stakes MCAS tests. 

The short reason for my 'no' is that the Thrive Act doesn't do what the resolution says it does.

The Thrive Act is H. 495/S.246. It opens by amending MGL Ch. 69 sec. 1D(1). This is the section of state law that establishes the authority of the state (through DESE) to establish state standards for curricular areas and to establish a competency determination for graduation. The competency determination, since this section has been implemented coming out of 1993, is the high school MCAS. 

Here's what the law says now about that with emphasis added:

The ''competency determination'' shall be based on the academic standards and curriculum frameworks for tenth graders in the areas of mathematics, science and technology, history and social science, foreign languages, and English, and shall represent a determination that a particular student has demonstrated mastery of a common core of skills, competencies and knowledge in these areas, as measured by the assessment instruments described in section one I. Satisfaction of the requirements of the competency determination shall be a condition for high school graduation. If the particular student's assessment results for the tenth grade do not demonstrate the required level of competency, the student shall have the right to participate in the assessment program the following year or years.

(If the student doesn't pass, the law then sets up an educational assistance plan.)

And here's what the Thrive Act would amend it to, with emphasis added:

The ''competency determination'' shall be based on the academic standards and curriculum frameworks for tenth graders in the areas of mathematics, science and technology, and English, and shall represent a determination that a particular student has demonstrated mastery of a common core of skills, competencies and knowledge in these areas by satisfactorily completing coursework that has been certified by the student’s district as showing mastery of such skills, competencies and knowledge. A district also may include history and social science and foreign languages in the requirements. Satisfaction of the requirements of the competency determination shall be a condition for high school graduation. 

(The amendment then similarly sets up an educational assistance plan.)

So what are the changes here? 
First, there's a narrowing of what the competency determination covers to the three areas that are covered by the MCAS. The amendment then says that determination is "through coursework" rather than the assessment instrument described in MGL Ch. 69, section 1I, which is a "system [that] shall be designed both to measure outcomes and results regarding student performance, and to improve the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction." The Thrive Act doesn't touch the language in MGL Ch. 69, 1I, which the state has implemented through the MCAS, which requires assessments in (at least) grades 4, 8, and 10. 
So, first, it isn't clear to me that this actually removes the requirement that the MCAS be successfully passed for high school graduation. I understand that is the intent from the change in the competency determination, but tenth grade MCAS is still there, and I am not sure that this really requires that the Board change its regulation regarding this, particularly given the broad authorities the Board has in MGL Ch. 69, sec. 1B.

This also, and this is really where my issue on this is, really ignores two things about graduation in Massachusetts: 

1. It is almost entirely under the purview of local school committees. The state of Massachusetts only requires three things for high school graduation:
1. PE every year
2. U.S. history
3. Passing the high school MCAS in ELA, math, and science, as discussed above
...and that's it.
Really.
Nothing else is required by the state. 
Now, maybe you think that's totally okay. But the state constitution holds that it is the state that ultimately guarantees the right to every student in every city and town to a public education. How is the state to exercise that responsibility? 
McDuffy found that the state had to fund education, but only funding it, and requiring literally no more than gym every year and a history class is really not guaranteeing every student's constitutional right. The MCAS well may not do that, but "nothing" isn't the answer, I think, either.


2. Most students who do not graduate from high school do not graduate because they haven't met the local requirement, not because they ONLY didn't pass the state-required MCAS. While the Globe reported on this back in April, we've actually known this for some time; it came up particularly when the state talked over how to handle graduation during the time we didn't have the MCAS. Most kids pass both, and do so without much of an issue.
   It's honestly kind of weird to me--and maybe telling?--that we hear a LOT about "students not graduating" when the MCAS comes up at the state level, but that isn't really most kids or even most kids who don't graduate.

And finally, while the bill outlines a committee to study and come up with a replacement for state assessment, and gives a timeline for that report to be filed, there is no provision made for the other provisions the law outlines (without proposed amendment) for the use of the MCAS.

On to the receivership question: 

State receivership came in as a result of the Act Relative to the Achievement Gap in 2011, which was passed as a result of Race to the Top. Federal law--still!--requires that the state identify the lowest performing 5% of schools for intervention. Current state law then outlines a process whereby the Board can vote to put a district into receivership, which in sum removes authority from the school committee and puts authority into the hands of a state- (Commissioner-) appointed receiver. There are a number of other provisions, including ones surrounding collective bargaining.
Since that passed, three districts have been put into state receivership: Lawrence in 2011, Holyoke in 2015, and Southbridge in 2016. 

I think it's fair to say that it's been a pretty painful thing in every district, and, as has been noted, there's no evidence that this is the answer even if all you're looking at is student achievement. 

The section, both in current law and in the bill, is lengthy, but essentially the bill proposes that all districts in that lowest 5%, which would have be calculated with equal weight to growth and achievement, would have a school committee overseen process for writing a plan, which then would have (I think?) to be accepted by the Commissioner. 

Every single district in Massachusetts has to submit an improvement plan to the state, already, every three years. The parameters may be a bit different here, but it's not clear to me that this does too much different from what is already done by every district already.

To turn to the bill, first, there was a really interesting discussion at the Board back in 2018, when the Board last set the growth/achievement balance, which went into the potential issues with weighing growth more; that presentation is here. You can dislike that argument, but I know at least for me, it gave me pause in terms of just declaring that the two need to be equal. 

Next, as much as the bill frames receivership as only having been about MCAS, receivership under MGL Ch. 69, sec 1J(a) is outlined as being: 

on the basis of student performance data collected pursuant to section 1I, a school or district review performed under section 55A of chapter 15, or regulations adopted by the board of elementary and secondary education 

I may be the only person in the entire state who thinks this, but I think that the state comprehensive district reviews are among the most underrecognized useful things DESE does. They are an attempt of a top to bottom review of the work of the district. They may well not always be right, but they do give an outside view of what is happening in a district that isn't available anywhere else. 
And the thing is? The reviews were, in particular in Lawrence and Southbridge (from what I remember offhand, it was less so in Holyoke) cited as part of the reason for state receivership. 

Now, here's the deal: I don't think that having a single individual who answers to the Commissioner is a "reform" of some of the situations that were cited in the above districts. Lack of democracy is unhealthy, and clearly, it hasn't worked all that well, either. And if the governance of the district is at issue, simply removing the school committee from the playing field doesn't fix that, either. 

But "write a plan (which you already do anyway)" doesn't fix this, either. And that's what is presented here.

...all of which is a long way of saying: there are issues here. The Thrive Act doesn't fix them. And I was asked, not to endorse efforts or thoughts, but this Act. 
Thus, I am a no. 

As always, the above is my opinion alone. The things I post here are. 

Quick note on Worcester School Committee process

 Among the items on Thursday's agenda are two on naming: 

• one that's a proposed $350K grant* for Worcester Tech's advanced manufacturing facility in return for calling it the "Gene Haas Center for Advanced Manufacturing" for 15 years
• one from Laura Clancey proposing the alternative school be named after the retiring Michael O'Neil 

In terms of process on these, note that we'll be operating under policy FF on naming**. That requires, in part:

Following the submission of a naming request, the School Committee Chair will specify a consideration period that allows for public comment, following which the Committee will deliberate and vote on the name.

We can handle this a number of ways: hold the items until the fall, considering the summer a time of public input; send it subcommittee for public input; and probably more. The main thing is that "a consideration period" is required. 

UPDATE: the first of these was removed from the agenda. The second was referred to administration, as there is working going on with the alternative programs.

_________________________________

*remember: grants are contracts. I have thoughts here but I am saving them for deliberation.
** yes, the School Committee has a naming policy. Good idea, eh?

Joint Committee on Education meets Monday

 Don't miss that the Joint Committee on Education meets Monday on vocational education and a BOATLOAD of charter school bills. The hearing starts at 1. You have until Friday to sign up to offer testimony remotely. You can also send in written testimony:

Please email written testimony to House Chair Denise Garlick at Denise.Garlick@mahouse.gov and Senate Chair Jason Lewis at Jason.Lewis@masenate.gov. The Chairs request that those submitting written testimony include “EDUCATION COMMITTEE TESTIMONY” and the bill number IN THE SUBJECT LINE, and provide the committee with your name, organization, and phone number. 

If one felt, for example, that the charter authorization process needed an overhaul given what we saw in Worcester, one might wish to opine.  

What happened at the first June Worcester School Committee meeting: budget

 in two rounds...

Have I mentioned that it is budget season for Worcester? Happy budget season!

Our June sessions start at 4 with budget, run until about 6, when we break for executive session, then come back at 7 for the regular session, more or less. Here's the budget session.

As I noted earlier this week, the two documents you need to follow budget deliberations are the budget itself and proposed sequence of accounts, This has us do start with the non-salary accounts--very much the smaller part of our budget--before going through the salary accounts. You can find the video of the budget session here. 

And remember: the budget isn't done until the final bottom lines are voted. We may review an account and come back to it, if we still have questions or something new has come up.

Because we do budget over two sessions, two weeks apart, we do have the chance to ask questions that may require reports, as they can come back in the second session. As we started Thursday, I requested the following (taken straight from my notes):

• My understanding is that there are changes in recommendations from administration since the book was printed; could we have those in writing, please. 
• If we could please have the relative levels of vacancy in:

• Teaching positions
• Paraprofessional positions
• Wraparound coordinator positions
• School psychologist positions
• School adjustment counselor positions
• Custodial positions
• Maintenance service positions
  
  
• We have not yet received the report requested to be received prior to budget on the realignment of the social emotional learning department; could we please have that information.
• We’d requested updated school-by-school budgets, as those in the book do not have all expected-as-of-now assignments; if we could please have that ahead of taking the salary accounts, please.
• I’d like a report, please, on what both the intent and the perceived need is for the additional position in communications, as that is not otherwise outlined. 
• We have as yet not received any information regarding the efficacy of the climate and culture positions, including the deans. If we could please have that, as there is a proposed expansion.

Mayor Petty decided to take athletics out of order--Athletic Director Dave Shea wanted to make the Doherty boys' volleyball post-season game against Chelsea (they won)--and thus we took both the non-salary and the salary accounts for athletics first. Member McCullough asked if the operational budget is adequate for supplying what the athletic teams actually need, noting that it comes up often in the community, where we also see a decent amount of fundraising. Mr. Shea affirmed that it was. Member Mailman asked where we could find the streaming services the School Committee voted to add this year; it's coming from the cable access funding, which Mr. Allen noted is a special revenue fund, which we (the Committee) don't allocate by cost center. I asked how MIAA dues is calculated (it's the number of teams) and track rental ($3400). Member Johnson followed up on Member McCullough's item (sent to budget so we'll hear about it at the next meeting) asking about athletic trainers, which were not included in this year's proposed budget.
On athletic salaries, Member Clancey asked what sports were being added in middle schools; Mr. Shea said the schools were polled, and the middle schools all decided on flag football for both boys and girls. Volleyball, soccer, and basketball are already played in the middle school; Forest Grove does softball, baseball, and field hockey, as well, as club sports. On that last, I tried to poke a bit at this inequity, the result of parents being able to volunteer at Forest Grove (you can see this about 24 minutes in), which is a capacity lacked by most of our middle schools, and I'm not sure that I'm all that satisfied with the answers. I also asked how middle schoolers are included in high school sports teams (grades 7 and 8 at 7-12 schools can play on the teams; grade 8 can play on an associated 9-12 lowest level team IF there aren't cuts made to get them AND we get a waiver from MIAA ahead; the district applies for the waivers as a matter of course). 

On retirement, Member Mailman asked a bit about how it is put together and how those increases come about; you can find some of this on page 157 of the budget. Mr. Allen noted this account has been going up consistently at a rate higher than inflation. The state requires that the city fully fund by 2038; the city is projecting that it will be done by 2032. 

On transportation, Mayor Petty opened by commenting that it has been "very successful...you proved to be correct, Mr. Allen." This account is the non-salary side, which means many of these costs are going away, leading to my question of what is going to be left here once we've moved off stop gaps. Mr. Allen said we'll be continuing to have some out-of-district contract service, even as much of that moves in house; McKinney-Vento transportation is being moved in house, and out-of-district vocational, we are doing ourselves. The "stuff" of the final line in this account is dropping as the bus leases go away. Maintenance, fuel, and technology on the buses will continue to be here. Dr. Monárrez reminded Mayor Petty of the MASBO award just received as well: 

The @worcesterpublic was recognized tonight by @MASBONet with the Donald Johnson Operational & Cost Efficiency Award for the successful move to full district-operated student transportation this year! Award comes with a $2,500 student scholarship. pic.twitter.com/TRnV7BrVx4

— Brian E. Allen (@Brian_E_Allen) May 18, 2023

On health insurance, Mayor Petty commented that it wasn't going up that dramatically. 

On workers' comp, there were no comments or questions.

On personal services, Member Johnson asked about security guards still being included; we'd discussed that this would be discussed as part of the safety audit, which hasn't yet come back. Mr. Allen said they hoped to have an update at the next meeting; administration wants to have the report back to make a recommendation. I noted that professional development has historically been underfunded, so it is good to see it increasing. I asked what the collaboration is with UMass Med is with the North quadrant that requires payment from us; I was told that the internship for the Ch. 74 program is what is being paid for; we're also going to get further information on that. I also raised the $35,000 that we are paying WEDF for publicity and alum services; Dr. Monárrez said that this is more alum services and "ability for them to have someone to have the ability to generate the funds." I'm just weirded out by this one. Member Mailman also wanted to clarify if it was UMass Med versus the hospital back on the North pipeline.

On special education tuition, Member Mailman did some division, coming up with $35,000/student for the collaborative and $55,000 for tuition (on average). Mr. Allen noted that some programs cost more than others, that this would be the average; circuit breaker gets applied against the out-of-district costs. Ms. Seale noted that we don't, for example, have a Deaf or hard of hearing program. I asked about the lesser impact of the increase in 766 tuition on Worcester (which jumped 14% statewide this year); Mr. Allen notes that we're serving fewer students through such placements. Ms. Seale also noted that students also had aged out.

On instructional materials, in an exchange that starts here, Member Clancey reminded us that the outline of the budget was providing an expected baseline for schools, "and my question is: is $75 per pupil enough?" Dr. Monárrez offered that she'd been told by the team that it is, but looking at it, she did wonder, since we haven't done a major increase and inflation has an impact. Member Clancey asked what "behavior monitoring software" is; Ms. Azarloza said that it was the Panorama universal screener being used for social emotional surveying, saying that it drills down to which student and which social emotional competencies they are. Member Clancey asked for more information on that, leading to a back and forth on what it was that was being referenced. Member Johnson said that he had the same comment on materials, as we had talked about it, and agreed it needed to be resolved. I agreed that "behavior monitoring software" was something we needed more information on, as that sounded ominous. I also agreed that the per pupil allocation needed to be looked at. I then made a motion, acknowledging that district-operated transportation was saving us money, to move $600,000 from transportation (salaries) to instructional materials, specifically to the line A, which is the per pupil allocation, which is about $25/pupil, thus bringing the allocation to $100/pupil. Mayor Petty asked where the money would come from; Mr. Allen said it would represent savings that was realized from last year, and that there was flexibility to make the transfer. Member Mailman then asked if we had targets on funding other categories with SOA dollars; if we're 50% through.
Mr. Allen said (this matters, so you're getting a block quote):

In an ideal world, we would be closing those gaps in all areas, proportionately to the complete increase in our SOA money--that'd be the ideal world--but because of ESSER and CBRF and other monies that became available through the pandemic, a lot of money has been spent on Chromebooks and instructional materials through those other funding sources, which do not get credit in those charts, so, however, when those funds run out, we'll still then have--even though we'll have all these Chromebooks and all these textbooks--there'll still be technically a gap in relation to our SOA spending in instructional supplies and materials. So with three years remaining, we will be, through purchasing Chromebooks, through additional textbooks that may come of need, and through increases in per pupil money, those are ways that I would see us over the next three years closing that gap, whether completely or not, that will kind of pan out as we get into the FY25, '26, and '27 budgets.

Member Mailman asked if asking for a three year, rest of the budget, would it be appropriate? Mr. Allen said that he thought it would be the administration's desired state as well, but if we're still adding special education positions greater than the SOA increase,  still seeing employee benefits and fixed charges increasing at greater than the inflation rate, and we're still spending at foundation, then we won't get there. There need to be adjustments, but that won't happen until SOA is done and the foundation budget is being reconsidered. Mailman said as a school committee member, her confusion is how this relates to longer term. Allen said, they're agreeing; by half through SOA, we'd hope to be halfway closing the gap, but we won't be due to special education and benefits and fixed charges. Mailman asked where the biggest challenges are, if he knew offhand; instructional materials, professional development, to which Allen added operations and maintenance. Member Kamara wanted to know more about the behavioral monitoring software, as well; Mayor Petty noted that a request for a report had already been done, and reminded the Committee that nothing is done until the full budget is done. Kamara also asked about the transfer, wanted to understand "the deficit being done" through money being moved. Mr. Allen said that administration did not have any hesitation or objection to the transfer request, that it could be done with no impact on transportation services. 
The transfer passed unanimously.

Miscellaneous Ed OM has many things in it, including Worcester's MASC dues, which goes to pay my salary, from which I thus need to recuse myself. I asked if we had any information about Worcester Future Teachers is creating future teachers; Ms. Perez said WPS would like to see that, but we don't necessarily know that. I then asked about rental of space, and what the process is on weighing of rental spaces; some of rented spaces and some don't. I also asked about being realistic and clear on travel costs, which support professional development in some cases. Member Mailman asked why instructional technology is less than last year; Mr. Allen said it was Chromebooks coming off of lease, as presented at F&O a few months ago. Dr. Kyriazis said that the leases are being started over time so there isn't a huge single cost, with continued replenishment of supplies. Member Mailman asked about renting space; some of the space at Northeast Cutoff is the computer techs office (Nutrition, Facilities, and Transportation is also there). Mailman asked what the longer term game plan was for leases and if the city decided to sell any of our buildings, how would that be impacted. Allen said that those are the conversations that were started with the City Manager; a long term of plan for buildings, uses of space, leases of space, uses of Becker buildings, to decide if we need to continue some leases or end them. He believes we could have a more comprehensive plan over the next year for use of buildings. Mailman also asked if all vocational programs were a member of Skills USA; Allen said he'd have to check, but the increase is that the district is covering that cost for the school rather than it coming out of per pupil funding. 

On unemployment compensation, Member Mailman asked about expected for this year versus projected; Allen said this is based on historical use, but that close attention would be paid in quarterly reports.

On building utilities, I said I hoped that I'd live to see line C, which is number two fuel oil, finally go away (we're down to JUST the building at Foley Stadium, now that we're no longer at St. Casimir!). I asked what "reallocating net metering costs" meant (that's part of how they balanced the budget). WPS, in addition to net metering credits from the solar arrays we have over our parking lots and on some rooftops, gets credits from the solar array at the former city landfill (you can see it from Route 146); Mr. Allen said it was a reallocation of some of those credits being referenced. I also asked if the city has yet gotten a new natural gas contract; the projected 35% change is reflective of the continued volatility of the market.

On facilities, Member Mailman noted the significant increase; Mr. Allen said it was a deliberate attempt "maybe not as much as we should have" to add money to facilities maintenance to fix the schools. Mailman asked for the connection with the capital budget; Allen said the cutoff was $150,000. Mailman said "this is a purposeful attempt to do better." Allen agreed. Mailman asked if we'd see greater detail in our upcoming F&O meetings. Allen said these funds are for not only doing the emergency repairs but do the repairs that are flagged ahead; to be proactive and do active maintenance. He said he thinks there are 6000 outstanding SchoolDude requests; they're prioritized by greatest need. Rich Ikonen, our new facilities director, was introduced by Dr. Monárrez, who noted that he'd stepped into a big task, and said that they had great confidence. I echoed the Mayor's comment that this was more money that had been budgeted in past, while still not coming close to what we know is necessary. I did ask about the $1.7M specific to schools, that it isn't going to lessen attention elsewhere; it's increasing school based requests, Allen said, without taking away. I said that measuring ourselves against foundation isn't necessarily going to be useful, as it doesn't take into account two decades of an underfunding capital and an underfunded maintenance budget does to actual need. Allen noted, as the superintendent had Tuesday, that just from 2019, what was deemed inoperable was $70M of repairs in our schools, so we'd have to clear that backlog, and then we'd need to be doing "way more preventative maintenance," but that isn't something we're going to approach in SOA. I said that it would only be of use in going back to the state. I then asked about the $1M in filters as ongoing as part of the upkeep of larger modern systems in our new buildings; Allen said upkeep of the modern systems was partially included here, but that the $1M in filters would need to be added to the general fund, as it is in ESSER this year.

and then we recessed to executive session. The budget gets picked up with salary accounts on June 15.

Snapshots from graduations

 

Isn't this lovely? Handiwork of a UPCS grad

A series of mental snapshots from this week of Worcester Public Schools graduations:

• A chef, graduating Monday from the Adult Learning Center with his GED, telling the faculty there how much he appreciates, even if he didn't at the time, the messages and calls that got him back to class after late nights working.
• Women who have emigrated from Afghanistan, who I can remember greeting in the fall when Rep. McGovern toured the program, beaming as they crossed the stage at Fanning to the cheers of their families to gather their English as a Second Language certificates and kiss the superintendent and I on the cheek on the way.
• The pause in the ceremony every year at the Burncoat graduation, as seniors come down from the stage to play and sing with orchestra and quadrivium one more time. 
• The seniors who have worked out a handshake or other greeting with their procession/recession partner when they meet again to walk back out.
• The murmur of appreciation when Dr. Monárrez revealed at the Alternative School graduation that the poet she'd quoted was Tupac.
• The enthusiasm with which Dr. Kareem Tatum was greeted by former students at the same event; he had been their principal earlier in their educations.
• The valedictorian of University Park Campus School thanking his parents for bringing him to the United States from Vietnam when he was ten. 
• ...and the deadpan sense of humor with which he gently teased his teachers in his speech.

We aren't done yet! This week at the DCU at 6 pm: 

Monday: North

Tuesday: Tech

Wednesday: Doherty

Friday: South

...plus the Creamer Center graduates Tuesday at the Hanover Theater at 10 am! 

Happy WPS budget deliberation day (round one)

 

The proposed FY24 WPS budget cover
isn't it pretty?

Two links for today: 

The full WPS proposed FY24 budget

The proposed sequence of accounts