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! 

But wait, there's more!

I feel as if I am back in the days when I started this blog, when there'd be the single article about the School Committee meeting, and anything else that happened, you didn't hear about. While admittedly both voting to move to fully in-house transportation and voting to start a national search for a new superintendent are news of the headline making sort, there are other things that happened at our meetings in the past two weeks. 

Here's a rundown on the highlights:

Over the past number of weeks, we've ratified contractual agreements with EAW units A&B (that's anyone classified as a teacher plus assistant principals and the like); drivers and monitors; custodians; computer technicians; 52 week administrative secretaries;  and educational secretaries. In every case, those contracts brought them at least up to date as of the close this past fiscal year OR brought them up through the end of this one (this last is the case with the teachers). As a result, the School Committee this past week voted an increase for the non-represented (non union) employees, which is everyone from administrators to crossing guards. 
I can't talk out of turn on the units that are outstanding save to say that negotiations are ongoing. 

We had an update on the dual language program at the August 26 meeting, which, among other things, noted that the state assessing our dual language learners only in English doesn't accurately assess their actual knowledge and skill in subject matters. We asked to be apprised of which districts are running dual language programs, so we might work with them on advocacy, though this obviously is larger than the dual language program.

While the report out on the August 18 Finance and Operations subcommittee meeting attracted attention largely due to the recommendation to move fully to in-house transportation, I don't want to overlook the closing of the fiscal year. Worcester had, remember, a $372M budget for FY21, after we cut $16M once we finally got a state budget. For municipal districts, anything that isn't spent--down literally to the penny--goes back to the municipality to be certified as free cash for the end of the year. That is a difficult and complex process. 
And how much did the Worcester Public Schools give back this year?

$3. 

Thus, if a dollar went to the Worcester Public Schools for education last year, that's what it was spent on. 

And so when folks ask "how can you have confidence in the projections for transportation?" the answer is this: when you have a finance office that has been doing this (and the associated budget transfers) and the back and forth with RTTT and grants that disappear during budget seasons and all the other swings that we've seen over the past more than a decade, and yet year after year, these are the results, you trust your people and their work.

At our August 26 meeting, on Mr. Monfredo's motions, we voted to send mandating vaccinations of our employees to executive sessions to take up as part of negotiations. I'd note that the EAW leadership has already been public on their agreement with this, so it's largely a matter of working out the how and when. There are negotiations going on now regarding bargaining around issues related to back to school. 

Several of us have received concerns about how lunch is being eaten in this return to school in the pandemic time, so I had filed an item at the August 26 meeting, urging outdoor as possible and creativity everywhere. While some schools are doing some very neat things, I've continued to get heightened concerns from families around what looks a lot like regular operations at some schools, however. 

I had also filed at the August 26 meeting a request for the list of outstanding contracts the superintendent has with employees; that is, the employees whose contracts are not collectively bargained but are directly with the superintendent. We have a number of them that are expired for a year or more. That report was due back at our meeting on September 2, but we did not receive it. 

At our August 26 meeting, Ms. Clancey filed an item regarding the concerns the neighborhood around Lincoln Street School has had with community homelessness impact on the school. We heard something of an update at the meeting of attendance at the community meeting regarding this, as well as work going forward. 

At our September 2 meeting, Ms. McCullough filed an item regarding parking for students at Doherty during construction, which there are a few things going on with.

Also at our September 2 meeting, the Committee on a 6-1 (Biancheria opposing) vote agreed to send a letter to our delegation requesting that the state Department of Public Health mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for students as it is permissible, and, if that does not happen, request that the Legislature do so.

We also asked the administration to look into the recently released update that districts may provide remote education to students who are ill or quarantining due to COVID. We were told, however, that the Department recently said that they'd bar districts from using remote learning for snow days. 

Next meeting of the Committee is September 23 (moved from September 16, which is Yom Kippur). 

update on Worcester projects going to MSBA

In sum, MSBA has told WPS that Burncoat cannot be submitted both for windows and for the core rebuild program. Plus, MSBA wouldn't accept Burncoat for windows, as they know that Burncoat needs a rebuild.

Administration thus will update the school committee on which schools they'll be submitting once they hear about this past year's submissions, which is to happen next week.

Thus tonight, the following were sent to MSBA:

Elm Park Community School Window Replacements
Lincoln Street School Window, Roof and Boiler Replacements
Rice Square School Window Replacement
Thorndyke Road School Window Replacement

ALL HANDS ON DECK (with shovels and rakes!)

I'm THRILLED to say that we've hammered down the Joint Use Agreement between the City of Worcester and the Worcester Public Schools on playgrounds! This means that our playgrounds will be OFFICIALLY open to kids during non-school daylight hours!

BUT, before the big announcement splash, we have some work to do: as part of the agreement, the city is paying for NEW MULCH for our playgrounds! This will roll out over the next several weeks. To make this manageable, we'll have WPS oversight, but we need some volunteer labor to get the mulch spread.

We’re looking for volunteers who could serve at one of the 5 playground sites below on Wednesday July 8, 9am-1pm. You don’t have to come for the whole time, but we’re asking that the community pitch in to this important effort by spreading the mulch with us that day. So grab a rake or a shovel and come down to a playground to help support play in Worcester’s neighborhoods!

 

Wednesday, July 8^th, 9am-1pm:

 

Flagg St Elementary School, 115 Flagg St

May St Elementary School, 265 May St

Lincoln St Elementary School, 549 Lincoln St

Norrback Elementary School, 44 Malden St

Roosevelt Elementary School, 1006 Grafton St

 

We will have opportunities at other schools on the following two Wednesdays. Please be on the look out for more information on those.

New principals and assistant principals appointed

We've just received the new principals and assistant principals appointed by Superintendent Boone in our Friday letter.

Jessica Boss, Principal, Chandler Elementary Community School 

 Yeu Kue, Principal, City View Discovery School 

 Mary Labuski, Principal, Flagg Street School 

 Martha Dewar, Principal, Lincoln Street School 

 Caprice Kopka, Principal, Rice Square School 

 Josephine Robertson, Principal, Sullivan Middle 

 Carenza Jackson, Principal, Vernon Hill School 

 

 Michael Dunphy, Assistant Principal, Belmont Street Community School 

 Lynne-Ann Handleman, Assistant Principal, Chandler Magnet School (ACT) 

 Renee Powers, Assistant Principal, Lake View School 

 Nancy O’Coin, Assistant Principal, Quinsigamond School 

 Caryn McCrohon, Assistant Principal, Tatnuck Magnet School 

Mary Ellen Scanlon, Assistant Principal, Thorndyke Road School 

You can find out more about them at the above link. Nearly all are internal hires.

Innovation grants

You may have seen that Governor Patrick was in Worcester yesterday to announce another round of innovation school grants. You can find Governor Patrick's press release here.
Awards for Worcester are as possible:

• Goddard Scholars Academy at the Sullivan Middle School, Worcester, $30,000
• Lincoln Street School, Worcester, $30,000
• Worcester Technical High School, Worcester, $30,000
• Chandler Magnet, Worcester, $30,000

Also, did you notice that Pentucket Regional got five planning grants? The superintendent of Pentucket Regional is former Worcester Chief Academic Officer Jeff Mulqueen, who was part of Worcester's first round of innovation grants.

Principal openings

You may have caught the article in today's T&G about the principal shifts for the end of this year. As these are all openings that will be happening at the end of this year, the replacement process is already underway. This involves two panels at the school: an initial screening panel, followed by an interview panel, which then forwards finalists to the superintendent (Chandler follows a somewhat different pattern, due to its status as a Level 4 school).
The openings for next year are:

• Chandler Elementary
• City View
• Flagg Street
• Lincoln Street
• Rice Square
• Vernon Hill
• Sullivan Middle

Most of these are, as you saw, retirements, and, due to the experience of our principal staff, this is not an unusually high number.

And wishing Mr. DeFalco well on his new assignment in New Bedford!

Innovation Schools vote

Lincoln Street
Worcester East Middle
pass unanimously

Novick: motion to send back to the committee
Does not meet our requirements under the merger of the vocational school with the district school system
Bureau of Labor Statistics: a shortage of skilled labor (not college degree...and college graduates are going without jobs)
MOTION: under the voke merger, we were to revitalize the Worcester Technical Institute two year post-grad program: we didn't. Inquire into what happened

Monfredo: praises the plan, motion to move the item

O'Connell: skilled labor
"significant gap"
 STEM on every front...

Foley:
"the plan as proposed here is a sound plan..."

Innovation plans hearing

Note that this is a public hearing tonight: the School Committee will not vote tonight.
Len Zalauskas: "not happy" in the way it rolled out
He'd asked to participate, but was not allowed to
"very fine plan, and they did a fine job"
law is clear..."if you're on one of those committees, you're supposed to help write the plan"
"wanted to bring that to your attention"
 "no one bids in there, anyway..."
some issues that need to be dealt with in these plans
"let's get it right"
"the gold standard is UPCS...and that's about Worcester East Middle...the other one is much worst"

Ted Coughlin:
who knew he lived in Shrewsbury?
"embed more STEM in the Worcester Technical High School curriculum"
and we've got a STEM education video...

workforce investment board president from Northboro
gap that's twofold in the emerging workforce
soft skills: communication, teamwork, time management
hands on skills:
"evolving labor market requires more than a high school diploma"
"becoming the underpinning of most of our industry"
80% of jobs created over the next decade are estimated to require math and science skills
"Massachusetts forgotten middle skills job"
support for Tech's plan

current sophomore reviews her plans for the rest of her high school


Zalauskas: "I'm not sure any of these people actually read this plan"
should be rejected and be revised
work year and work load: union's attorney questions who voted: faculty or teachers
there's a question as to who voted on the plan
2/3 vote of the teachers required by Act Relative to the Achievement Gap  
(section 8 deals with innovation plans)
(That's here: " the applicant shall submit the innovation plan to teachers in the school that is proposed for conversion for approval by secret ballot within 30 days. A two-thirds vote of the teachers shall be required to approve the plan.")
"president and superintendent can't collude to subvert the law"
first time the plan was put forward, it was rejected
"basically solid, but is it legal?"

O'Connell requests a legal opinion on the vote at Worcester Tech prior to the School Committee vote at the end of April
also comments on collaborative nature of the planning process: people need materials well ahead of time before a vote

Worcester School Committee meeting TONIGHT!

And we're back downtown.
You can find the agenda here. The report of the Superintendent tonight is the presentation by the three proposed innovation schools: Lincoln Street, Worcester East Middle, and Worcester Technical High School.
The Standing Committee on Accountability is reporting back.
We are getting a few reports back from Administration, and we're proposing a few recognitions.
There are a number of sizable grants coming in, including some on a supplemental.
7 pm, City Hall!

Innovation school presentations

initial presentation on innovation schools: this is not the plan tonight, just an introduction
There will be a hearing once School Committee gets the plan
Sorry, just got online...posting as I go...