Also, congratulations to Dr. Monárrez on being one of Worcester Magazine's "20 Women to Watch" for 2023! January 1 will of course be sixth months of her being in the position.
On a much less happy note, the Mass School Building Authority has again not accepted Burncoat High School into their core program for a major renovation or rebuild. Earlier this month, the district was notified by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges that the school will remain on warning status with regard to Learning Resources (which is the building), with NEASC requesting a progress report on that by October 2023. Given the discussion at MSBA's Board meeting on Wednesday's meeting, and the Board's vote to raise the reimbursement rate for buildings from October acceptance forward, the state's capped resources for school building are being strained beyond what currently is provided for. While I've no doubt we'll apply again by the April 2023 deadline, this is going to take more than reapplications. Stay tuned.
On a brighter facilities note, all the ESSER contracts for facilities work are now in place; expect that update on the January 23 Finance and Operation meeting agenda. (That's not only HVAC and repairs; it's bottle filling stations!)
A few admin notes: As was announced at our later November meeting, Annie Azarloza is the new Chief Academic Support Officer; this is the position that was created to oversee (as it says) all the academic supports (special education, nursing, athletics, all of the social emotional supports, and the alternative programs), while Marie Morse oversees all academics. As she's been evaluating, the district has found some urgent attention needed for our homeless students, so Maura Morrison, who has been the Manager of Social Emotional Learning, is going to be working directly on that. Also, Jennifer Boulais, who was the Human Resources Director, has stepped down from that position, and Yeu Kue, who most recently was the principal at Quinsigamond Elementary, is in the position as Acting Director. I'm adding a link to the WPS org chart to "Helpful Links" on the left margin for anyone like me wanting to be sure they're clear on where the lines are.
And finally, congratulations to our Adult Learning Center for being awarded $731,719 for their programming! One of my favorite places in the district!
There are a few things here that are current topics of conversation, as well as some that I know we're going to be coming back to, so some notes to share:
Annual audit: When I was doing my review of the agenda ahead of this meeting, I said to a friend that the opening letter of an auditor's report is an excellent illustration of the "in this paper I will" piece of writing, though it's more "in this audit I won't"! We tend, I think, to think of the word 'audit' as meaning something very sweeping, but that isn't what this is. This is an audit that is done due to the amount of money we get from the federal government, and it very specifically tests compliance with internal controls and general acceptable accounting principles. There were no findings for the Worcester Public Schools; that's a clean bill of health here. Interesting point raised by Mr. Hunt: the federal COVID funding is something the federal government is, for the purpose of auditing, regarding as "high risk" meaning it needs to be looked at.
We did file a few items that either we've dealt with or we're managing in other ways: the FY22 grants; sustainable funding on technology (we have a report coming from Harvard on IT); and the two mile radius for transportation for secondary schools (the question of what we're doing with transportation is ongoing).
Provision of menstrual supplies: Dr. Deb McGovern, who heads our nursing department, will be speaking to this, but wasn't able to be with us. We did, though, take the item in order to address the related issue of bathroom access: our larger secondary schools regularly have bathrooms that are locked during the day, and are limited to a very small number of bathrooms. The explanation given has been that we lack provision for monitoring this. The request from the subcommittee is that the bathrooms get opened at the secondary schools; we're interested in supporting making that happen. This item will be back on the November agenda for further and more specific discussion.
On transportation: You can see the drivers being trained (hang on! They're coming!), and the turnover between buses that are rented into buses that are owned. Two things for those who use the app to know: first, if you're an Android user that had the app delete on a recent update, there is a workaround while Tyler Technology figures out how to get it back. Second, if you've had a bus that seems to have disappeared from the app, we had a discussion about the way that new buses (with geotags) are apparently being overruled by running with iPads (that also geolocate) that are supposed to forget that overnight but aren't. Tyler has never seen this before, and they're going to be coming in to work on it.
Facilities quarterly update: As a side note, I really appreciate these in keeping an eye on not only the day-to-day things, but also the larger longer term projects! Check out the pictures here! This always opens custodial and maintenance, and this is another one where staffing continues to be an issue. This means that our custodial staff is beyond stretched as they work to cover the same number of schools (and a growing amount of square footage!) with a smaller number of people. We did have a bit of a discussion about this, as one of our strengths (this isn't just me saying this, though it's my opinion, too) is that our custodians work for the district directly, and they take a great deal of pride in "their" buildings. How we support that while also ensuring that the buildings get cleaned is an ongoing discussion. On a bit of a different note, maintenance is an evolving area, as what positions are best done by in house staff, and what specializations (think elevators, for example, but also some of the newer HVAC, possibly) are something that needs to be contracted out, even as we ensure that administration is supported in ensuring the work on the buildings gets done. We've asked, on that last, to add to this report the balance of what work is done in house versus what we're going out to contract. Water filling stations are popular every time they come up; I shared the list of the SWIG grant (clever acronym, isn't it?) recipients earlier, which have to be done by the end of this year. Mr. Bedard noted in his report to us that using ESSER funding to add bottle filling stations elsewhere is the next step. These are not unrelated to the water testing, but in part a response to it. As with much else, there are supply chain issues here. And speaking of ESSER and COVID: the schools are still running the equipment we have already had in buildings (both that which is internal to the HVAC systems, and the separate units that are plugged in elsewhere). There is upgrades of what we are able to do in the HVAC systems (can we upgrade filters? motors?); that scope of work has been put together and is in purchasing. There is also a round of final field work being done from Honeywell for further work; within a month or so, that work also should be out to bid. Note that this is scheduled to be funded by ESSER III funding, and we probably want to be part of the push for extensions from US DoE, only due to supply lines. Boilers, boilers, boilers...winter is coming, and we're going to need the heat, so note the updates on Belmont Street, Chandler Magnet, City View, Goddard, and Vernon Hill on boilers (Vernon Hill's is more complicated and taking longer). Note that not all of these were planned, and that means we're making compromises on our annual $4M capital budget. Life safety, fire alarms, heat...these are the things that are always going to go first.
Mr Allen: "The bigger question is is $4M sufficient enough to maintain the age of our buildings and the number of buildings that we have."
Elm Park gym floor watchers, and Burncoat High bleacher watchers, please note the update there. Also, the WAMS new roof got its first dousing these past weeks, and what a difference a new roof makes! On Burncoat High: Burncoat had its periodic reaccreditation review this past year, and the report (to no one's surprise) pointed out substantial physical plant issues. The review of what exactly needs to and can be done to the current building, the replacement/major renovation of which remains the first priority with the state of both the School Committee and the City Council, is currently being done and will be coming back to us. Note what Mr. Allen said: this is going to cost the city millions of dollars to keep the building open and functioning, and how this relates to the high school's reaccreditation is something of an open and evolving question.
First quarter budget report: We've gotten through the first quarter of the FY23 budget, so it is time to see where we are at and where it now looks like where we are going. First quarter is when we see the beginning of trends. It is important for us to remember that our district budget received $945,067 less in state funding than the budget the Worcester School Committee passed in June. Acting City Manager Batista has committed to recommending this be made up through free cash when that is certified (which should be next month); just remember that this has not yet happened! The Misc Ed OM change you'll see here is due to a call by DESE on how the insurance of our new buses gets classified: we'd thought "transportation" which is a non net school spending expense, but DESE has said that no, insurance is a net school spending expense (do not ask me to explain this). That's thus a shuffle of expense rather than anything new. The rental of buses needed while the new buses have come is an additional transportation expense. Both in transportation and elsewhere (custodial for example) there's overtime expenses that are offsetting positions that are open. Here and elsewhere, remember that the budget office ALWAYS plans for positions to be filled. Thus you'll see we've moved money (at the standing committee level; it isn't moved until the full committee votes the transfer this week); that's money that hasn't been spent UP TO NOW. The custodial and other positions are still open, still searching, still budgeted, and we hope to fill them.
There's two things in the budget that I want to note particularly: On utilities, there's an illustration of EXACTLY why quarterly reports are important. The report "anticipates the increase of natural gas supply and delivery charges at approximately 20% of the FY23 budget amount." It hasn't cost us that YET, but given what is known, this is anticipated and we are planning for it. At an hour and eight minutes in , Budget Director Sara Consalvo talks through how it is that projection has been calculated. Note that she says that this is a conservative projection, and also, administration recommended that we already move money (which is unusual in the first quarter).
Discussing administration, first note that added positions usually happens during budget; the current superintendent did not, however, create the current budget, so we are making additions instead during the year. That itself is thus a function of a new administration rather than anything else.
To a larger and more telling point, though, please note Mr. Allen's point just after the hour mark: we are now in our second year of funding of the Student Opportunity Act. Whatever the Commissioner's comments, the intent of the Student Opportunity Act was to respond to specific gaps that Worcester, alongside our Gateway peers, had demonstrated again and again and again that we had*. Now we need to ensure that we are actually filling those gaps with the funding. That includes administration. I already noted earlier this month that we underspend compared to our peers and the state average. We also, though, underspend compared to the state's calculation, spending 75% of the foundation budget and that includes city charges, which total $6.3M for FY23. That exceeds the central administration line for WPS, budgeted at $4.8M for FY23.
Really important note from Mr. Allen on other cost centers compared to foundation: Operations and Maintenance underbudgeted by $15M (58% of foundation); supplies underbudgeted by $7M (50% of foundation).
MORE ON THIS COMING FOR SECOND QUARTER!
Qustions? send them along!
*I limited myself to three links. There could be dozens. Search 'foundation budget' in the search bar if you want posts going back for about as long as this blog has been up. This is core to why I've been doing any of this for as long as I've been doing any of this.
F&O met on August 15 and reported out at the meeting on the 18th, but I'm still getting questions on things connected, in particular, to the Facilities report, so I'm going to write up my notes here from that. The agenda is here and the presentation we received at that meeting I've shared over here.
First up, please note: like many other sectors, the Facilities department is running short-staff (and there are openings!); as of the 15th, there were 28 custodial vacancies. As Mr. Bedard noted: Realize how this works, incidentally: we don't leave schools entirely uncovered, so this necessarily means shifts happen across the system to ensure every building gets coverage. That does mean, though, that some places don't have all they need as a result. The summer work to get schools ready for back to school has been going on, and the field prep for athletics is also ongoing. ON THIS AND EVERYTHING ELSE: supply chains supply chains supply chains...we can only get things as quickly as we can get them. That matters a lot whether we are cleaning or fixing or replacing things, so please be patient.
Regarding the environmental management of the district: water sampling for testing of lead and copper was competed in the spring, and fixtures are being turned on and off and signage is being updated. Watch for further communication updating that. Quarterly PCB inspections are scheduled for Doherty and Burncoat; the asbestos three year inspection are ongoing.
The $150,000 water bottle filling grant (!) was accepted at the August 18 meeting. That state grant provides for bottle filling stations (under very particular parameters) at the following places:
If your school isn't on here, either it's among the newer schools that may already have them OR it didn't fit the parameters of the grant. We are doing some planning for additional such stations, though, through federal funding. We have only now received the funding for this: please note that these now have to go through procurement and planning and installation (don't look for them next week; they're not there yet!).
Please join me in being unsettled by the lack of boiler in this space
(note there is one next to it)
There are boiler replacement projects at Belmont, Chandler Magnet, City View, and Goddard; a boiler replacement is in the planning stages at Vernon Hill. Note that most of our boiler replacements in recent years have been at least partly funded through MSBA (through the accelerated repair program), but we can't always wait to go through the process (boilers are a necessary thing). With fifty buildings (most of which have more than one boiler) that have had underfunded facilities needs for decades now, there's a significant amount of need.
The BIG project this summer is the Worcester Arts Magnet roof (which is an MSBA Accelerated repair project):
My photo of the new WAMS roof going in.
The roof will be done this summer; the ADA upgrades (triggered by the cost of the roof) will be done next summer.
There are new hot water heaters going in at Burncoat High and Middle Schools (that's abbreviated DHM for domestic hot water, which is a thing that I learned for this meeting).
Also at Burncoat High: bleachers in the gym! The bleachers were just going to be pull-out bleachers, but the company has told us that they, given the weight at the size, need to be motorized for safety. Those then are needing some more planning before replacement. Also at Burncoat High: the new window blinds are being produced!
GENERAL BURNCOAT STATEMENT: Please note that two things are true at Burncoat:
It continues to be next one being voted by the Worcester School Committee and Worcester City Council for major renovation or repair. Eleven years ago, we opened new North; last year, we opened a new South; new Doherty is under construction. We have had a very strong relationship with the Mass School Building Authority, where we have--unusually!--been able to have two major projects going at the same time. With South now open, fingers crossed on getting Burncoat in.
Burncoat High is undergoing its every-ten-year NEASC reaccreditation. As part of that process, the reaccreditation committee has come back with a report on the facilities, with their concerns. That's in the process of being reviewed and sent out for further study. Even as we plan to replace the building, it's obviously still being used as a school, and so those two things need to be held in balance.
Claremont locker repairs are being scheduled. The Elm Park gym floor is being torn up (may be completely up now!) before the layers of waterproofing and other underfloor prep happen before the new one can go in. This is going to take some time Greendale Head Start has a new parking lot. The walk-in refrigerator at Norrback is in the engineering stage. The fire alarms are being replaced at West Tatnuck (it won't be done before school starts, but the old ones weren't taken out yet, so the school has them).
Grafton Street's cafeteria ceiling work will be done before school starts.
A word on elevators: the Vernon Hill freight elevator was raised at the meeting, but I have been asked about others; we do have several elevators where the issue is beyond waiting for a part (which has been a thing, certainly), and is into questions of replacement (which is very expensive). Thus some of those are much longer term discussions.
Finally, watch for updates in the future (probably our next F&O meeting on September 8) on the Honeywell and Nault Siemens review of our HVAC systems for upgrades through ESSER funding. Because that is a capital expense, it had to be reviewed and approved by DESE.
As always, if you have questions, comment or get in touch!
Bell: "while we await the Governor's FY23 state budget proposal" (TOMORROW!) working through FY22 budget enrollment reserve: close to finalizing a recommendation on a methodology for that will go to Secretary and Governor for review before going to the Legislature (wait, it has to do what?) $55M Legislative bill passed: HVAC, Compensatory services, educator diversity initiative, 53 separate Legislative earmarks
close to $3B in federal funding being managed I missed how much of ESSER I has been drawn down; I'll ask 30% in ESSER II out 75% of applications approved for ESSER III not yet approved: a lot of construction related; have to ensure that they adhere to state and federal procurement $1.66B; approved about 3/4 of a billion of those funds out so far
looks like further Legislative action: masking and testing funding; not yet on Governor's desk
Peyser now arguing that DESE's isn't the bottleneck districts enabled "to spend money as its needed"
Moriarty asking about outreach to families on compensatory services
Bell: let's be smart about getting it out there $100M HVAC can be spent until 2027 even modest HVAC construction isn't going to happen overnight "some of these things are multi year in nature" Hills: school committee members are very focused on the cliff to a large degree "money is fungible at the local level" cliff impacts spending at local level "to a degree maybe not clear at this level" "this is an issue that more people are following, what the real cliff is, than might be apparent"
Bell: local governance are still running their local appropriations SOA: there are going to be additional funds coming "how do you thoughtfully link up" those funding DESE also managing private school federal support
Peyser: 2027 aligns with full implementation of SOA front load their investments that they might have to otherwise phase in when funds were appropriated, was concern that there would be a hole in addition to the one time COVID related expenses, a chance to front load
West: deadline to spending? or obligating? Bell: expenditure dates
Hills: SOA plans? Riley: submitted. Have been very clear to districts about this phase in pick up of SOA from federal funding
There definitely will be some discussion around buildings, timelines, and so forth
Also, it's our first look at FY22; I've posted the presentation we got yesterday here. I don't want to be a spoiler, but here's the slide that is sticking in my mind:
This is not going to be in depth, because this is not my field at all, but I've seen some online consternation from the end of last week at the report that students from Silver Lake Regional rode home on a bus with the windows open in the snow.
Yes, they had their windows open, and yes, there are districts planning on having bus windows open, and yes, we knew that. Here's why:
Air exchange can be a key piece in cutting down on virus transmission. This excellent piece from El Pais from last week does a nice job of running through the variables--space, mask wearing, loud speaking, and others--in transmission of the virus. One of those is how much air is being exchanged: how much fresh air is coming into a room, and how much stale air is leaving the room. There are ways of measuring air turnover and so forth, but the key point is that it's both fresh air coming in and the old air from the room being pushed out.
Now as the El Pais piece makes clear, this is about combinations of things that make the chances of virus transmission higher or lower. So you're trying to add things--masks, spacing, air exchange, in Worcester's case ionization--that lower chances of transmission.
When we talk about schools--and if you watched Worcester's School Committee this summer, you caught this--we talk about three kinds of systems:
Full ventilation systems (the AC in this particular case isn't the question), which both bring IN fresh air from outside AND ALSO push the old air out. Now, if you're someone who grew up in places that need indoor heating in particular seasons, you know why schools wouldn't necessarily have this: you're continually needing to heat that outside air! They do, though, in some cases, have settings that allow for particular mixtures of air so you're not having to continually heat entirely new air. However, they can be set for full exchange if that is what is wanted.
Partial ventilation, which brings IN fresh air from outside BUT doesn't have a mechanical means of getting rid of the air inside. If you're an adult of about my age from the northern piece of the U.S., there's a decent chance that your memory of a school heating capacity is from the blowers along the walls. That doesn't do anything about the air that's already inside getting pushed out.
No HVAC: many schools have just systems that just heat the air that is in the building; ventilation (the V of HVAC and thus why these buildings without that or AC don't have HVAC) isn't part of that. This is things like steam radiators.
So if you're in the situation of either of those last two, which is many school buildings and yes, also buses, what are you going to do? You're going to open windows both to bring in outside air and to expel indoor air. Thus the fans you've seen in school windows (frequently pushing air out, though sometimes they're paired to bring air in, too), and thus also why buildings were built with things like the transom windows opening onto the hallway, which allowed for cross-ventilation in buildings when they were built, if the exterior windows also are open.
An important note if you're in Worcester (or other places doing or discussing this), incidentally, is that the ionization systems are yet another layer to all of this, which are actually cleaning the air without air exchange, and so are a whole different thing.
This is how we end up with apartment buildings from the last pandemic that are designed to be overheated, so the windows will be open in the winter. From an energy efficiency standpoint, of course, this is...not. On a school bus, though, there aren't a lot of options on air exchange.
While I was on the Worcester School Committee for six years, it's this pandemic that has really brought home (no pun intended) the reality that we have over 25,000 students in over 16,000 families and 4500 employees in Worcester. That can be a lot of email. I read them all; I respond to those that aren't petition generated (aka: you wrote something yourself), though that sometimes takes awhile. Because we do have the next steps of the move towards buildings up now for a meeting this week, I found myself writing the same thing a number of times today in response to parents, so I thought I would post it here, as well.
brook crossing, Moreland Hill
Thank you very much for your email, and I appreciate your concerns for your children. For our youngest and our highest need students, I am particularly concerned.
While the shape of the pandemic continues to shift, that has not changed in any way the realities of our student enrollment and our buildings and our buses. Districts that are going back full time--even those that are going back on two day a week swings--have significantly lesser concentration of students in buildings. We have noted for some years now that we have more students attending WPS than we did fifteen years ago when we closed eight school buildings. That has the results we are seeing. Likewise, having both the programs we run citywide, from WAMS to Tech, and serving the student population we do, in a city in which a significant number of our families lack private transportation, makes any transportation shifts both an equity and an access issue.
The COVID relief has gone for the technology to have our students accessing education now and does not run to rental space, and even if it did, those additional spaces, as the administration noted back in August, would need staffing (and furniture and equipment). Far from having funding for that, we instead only avoided laying off teachers this fall because we could cut the transportation budget. And I should add, that August cut was based on the projection of the state at least carrying through the inflationary increase of our budget, something less secure with no additional aid coming from Washington.
None of this is to argue, as I said, with your concerns. I know that from a parental perspective this can sound like naysaying. As someone deeply engaged with the finances of schools, though, the disparities you and your family note are the consequences of the decades-old funding disparities that brought Worcester to the verge of a lawsuit last year. The timing of the pandemic, in this year in which the state was to finally begin to implement better funding, would be ironic were it not also so deeply painful.
which is mostly on the work being done on schools before reopening; the agenda, including backup, isn't here Allen: limitations on return to instruction; used MSBA tool for measurement spacing allows for bringing students back only a single day a week district doesn't have the capacity to add more buses (due to cost, drivers, and manufacturing) limitations on spacing severely cut down on number of students can be on HVAC: use outdoor air instead of recirculated air and increase air filtration adjust settings, open windows and doors, prevent or minimize recirculation, upgrade filtration all basement classrooms "have been taken offline and will not be used as classroom spaces or other multi-purpose spaces until further notice"
"a lot of science to show that the building matters a lot" ventilation related to better test taking results, better health for those in building "over 200 scientific studies" showing link between building and student health "something like temperature" just looking at test scores on exam days 12% more likely to fail the test on a warm day "one of the factors it was a hot day and whether or not it was a comfortable environment"
"this is not something that is a new phenomenon" we've underinvested for decades "an investment in the school building is an investment in students"
you can't "just open" schools there needs to be preparation of buildings ahead of time building a culture of health and safety: masking, distance become the norm "the idea of a hybrid plan never made an sense to me" manage transition time; make lunchtime safer rethink transportation modify attendance
designing buildings with infectious disease in mind overheating old buildings to force windows to be open for air exchange "opening windows in November?" sure if it gets kids in school
most deaths related to temperature swings in shoulder swings; bodies are acclimated, buildings aren't ready what are buildings built for? What are people accustomed to?
start by getting a handle on what's working and what's not what systems are working and what are on
improvements will help with other health impacts "I know it's resources, but I think it's less about resources than about prioritization" um...it's about resources...
...which as I've listened to this, I am realizing is a major issue in his presentation and argument: saying, as he did that kids and teachers should just put on sweaters and coats and we'll open the windows is to ignore that many of our kids don't have additional layers to come to school with (and they may not have bodies adjusted for cold, either). Utterly ignoring the impacts of poverty (and institutional racism, for that matter) both of our students and their families and of our districts means we can't have a realistic conversation about these things if we don't recognize that aspect of it.
I do wonder how much this has to do with DESE's push to get students back in school.
What the School Committee is reviewing is the line item budget, which is online here. Personally, I'm keeping the Table of Contents, which is hyperlinked, opened and jumping from there.
The order in which it is suggested that they review accounts is here(which this year is the order in which the budget book is arranged, non-salary, then salary accounts). Posting as we go once we start, which clearly isn't yet, as no one is here:
Looks like a light agenda!
There is no report of the superintendent.
There are no reports of subcommittees.
There are a number of congratulations.
There is a request from Miss McCullough for a report on bus tracking; note that this has been raised before.
There is a request that the committee accept $305.00 from the Tri State Truck Center, Inc. to the South High Community School’s Diesel Technician Training Program for the cost of a bus for a field trip.
Mayor Petty is asking about soccer for the Main South high schools.
Ms. Colorio is requesting a report on online learning.
She is also asking how many teachers were on administrative leave.
Administration is asking that the following courses be approved (note that this will go to TLSS for consideration; right now there's no information on the courses):
English Composition & Literature I
The Development of Early Civilizations
Science Engineering & Technology I
Advanced Seminar (in what?)
There is also an executive session on (you guessed it!) PCBs, negotiations with the teachers, and a grievance from an HVAC employee.
OH! And note that the WPS Facebook page has moved and is now here.
The Finance and Operations subcommittee meets tomorrow evening at 5:00 with three items on the agenda. You can find the agenda here.
The second quarter budget report for FY16 has good news! The account by account update shows an end of year balance (largely due to teacher vacancies; see the report for details), and that means real things can happen heading into the third quarter. In this case, administration has released the frozen $10 per pupil supply money for schools (hurray!) and the projected balance means that the district can buy new textbooks (!), plus security equipment, AED & CPR equipment, and HVAC and boiler replacement (can somebody ask where?).
Following on Good Harbor's safety assessment last year, the Safety Advisory Committee is reporting out. The big recommendations are creating a safety/communications administration position, with an expanded definition of safety and security; aligning the security budget (which right now comes out of multiple accounts); moving the police liaisons to resource officers and adding two more to cover elementary schools (and in the process, discontinuing the use of outsourced security); adding after school programming, and adding (long term) additional vocational programs.
Finally, there's a report on the Environmental Health Bureau of DPH discontinuing radon testing at City View School.
This list is not exhaustive and does not include MSBA projects; this is from admin responses to items involving the budget.
Jacob Hiatt roof top units (this is their HVAC system, which was already supposed to be done, that you might remembering my mentioning at our last meeting. We've had a holdup in the crediting of reimbursement)
Worcester Tech compressors (two of them)
Boiler replacements for the Taylor Building, Foley Stadium, Mill Swan (none of which are MSBA eligible because of not having students in the buildings) and West Tatnuck (where the boiler broke after this winter and must be replaced before fall).
Tatnuck Magnet wall replacement (outside)
Parent Information Center paint trim (the PIC is made of brick but has wooden gingerbread trim)
Jacob Hiatt front plaza and side stairs (stonework)
or lack thereof. The Worcester School Committee received the following from Mr. Allen this afternoon:
It is clear that the recent cold weather has had an adverse impact on some of our heating plants and we are taking the necessary steps to address these issues as soon as possible so as to minimize any impact on instructional time.
We have received the most communication regarding Doherty High School. The immediate response that we will be taking is an earlier starting time for the heating system during the colder weather. This should mitigate much of the overall building problems that has been experienced at the school. However, the school does experience significant heat loss; first when the rush of students enter during the morning (with doors being opened for extended times) and during the day due to the condition of the school’s overall building envelope. This also contributes to the variances in temperature within rooms and is not a new issue. This is the condition resulting from of the non-insulated, single paned windows that surround the entire building envelope. This is one of the reasons that we have identified Doherty High School as a project for major renovation under MSBA. We will continue to work with our HVAC and building custodial staff to address daily, localized issues at the school. We believe that turning the heat on earlier and some other steps will mitigate the problems at this school.
We have also experienced problems at other schools this week, including WTHS, McGrath, PIC, Quinsigamond, and Fanning. These were primarily related to building controls and remote communications issues and have been resolved. We’ve also had problems at North High and those issues appear to have been resolved through the construction contractor. The building needed adjustments to the building controls based on the commissioning process of the school while in full operation.
Jim Bedard is meeting with the HVAC lead tradesman each morning to review the status of all buildings and deploys necessary resources to address any issues.
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