A quick note on Thursday's upcoming Worcester School Committee

With the agenda for Thursday's Worcester School Committee meeting now posted, it seems we may need a quick explainer on a Worcester (it's part of Plan E) process, as Member Maureen Binienda has filed for reconsideration of the motion to allow students to march in graduation who have yet to complete 2 credits or fewer, a vote which she lost at the last meeting, 8-1.
I wrote about this back in 2014, but let's walk through how this works for this upcoming meeting.

The rule in operation here is rule 21 which reads as follows: 

 No action of the School Committee shall be reconsidered unless the motion to reconsider is made within forty-eight (48) business hours of the date of the vote to be reconsidered was taken, excluding legal holidays, Saturdays, Sundays, with the Clerk of the School Committee. Any member may move or file for reconsideration. The motion can be made during the meeting at which the action to be reconsidered was taken provided that the motion is approved by two-thirds of the members of the School Committee who are present. The reason for filing reconsideration must be included as part of the backup with the caveat that the entire item would be open for discussion. An item to be reconsidered shall be the first item on the agenda for action at the next regular meeting. The motion cannot be postponed, amended, or referred to Committee. Items to be reconsidered or held concerning personnel organizational patters, or budgetary items shall be reconsidered or acted upon within two (2) weeks of the date (or the next regular meeting, whichever comes first) of the vote to be reconsidered or held was taken. No more than one (1) motion for reconsideration of any vote shall be entertained.

Lots there, right?

As I mentioned in my write-up of the last meeting, a vote for reconsideration essentially is a vote to do that vote over. Filing for reconsideration after the meeting* (and note, those familiar with other systems, that anyone, regardless of how they voted can file) is imagined as a member thinking the better of how they voted, or new information being brought to their attention. That is why the reason for filing must be included in the backup of the meeting.
That required backup is included here, but provides no argument that was not made at the meeting, save that Binienda is claiming that members need to be given "correct information" about if principals were consulted, something administration was quite clear in both subcommittee and the full committee that they were before making this policy change, which is under Committee purview. 
Yes, that is claiming that administration lied.

The vote for reconsideration is not only taken up first; it is taken up without discussion. The Mayor will read the item, and there will be a roll call. Six members--thus, one imagines, five in addition to Binienda herself--will have to vote "yes" in order for the discussion on this to be reopened.

Aside from that, the only two comments I'll make on the agenda are:

1. never miss a chance to see a Brian Allen budget presentation.
2. the Committee will again be tested on the two pressure points of this term: fearmongering and ombudsman work. 
   

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*votes for reconsideration taken during the meeting are either:

1. because someone thinks the better of their vote before the end of the meeting, as Mayor Petty did last meeting.
2. because the Committee wants to ensure no one can file for reconsideration before Monday, and wants the vote to go into effect immediately. You may have seen me in the past, for example, asking if administration would like a vote for reconsideration on a grant or on a contract; that's so it can be processed on Friday, rather than waiting for the following Tuesday as would otherwise be the case.