Worcester election season round # ?

Two from this week already:

• For about as long as I've been paying attention, spring of an election year in Worcester brings the biannual City Council filing of items around schools, and while this week's item on policing wasn't the first (there were, for example, items requesting specific sports teams at specific schools), it met with a strong rebuke. Let's acknowledge, of course, that this reaction stems as much from where the item came from--Councilor Lukes--as it did anything to do with the item, as it seems councilors also took the chance to swear one by one that they would of course always support any police department request. 

• If the way this Governance meeting played out doesn't strike you as odd, brush up on your roles and responsibilities. The School Committee does policy/budget/evaluation/goals, and the administration does day to day management. Pop quiz, then: from whom should a list of specific directives on how the schools would manage heat come? 

Worcester city budget (with a sidebar on safety)

Mayor Petty just announced that the City Council will meet at 4 pm next Tuesday to begin their budget deliberations. They will meet again at 4 on the 12, the 19, and the 26; they will meet if necessary on June 2.
At some point there will be a schedule of which departments will be heard when; I'll post it once I have it.
___________________________________

Also tonight, the Council took up Councilor Bergman and Rosen's item requesting the City Manager report on the cost of medal detectors and police in schools. They heard significant public testimony tonight (nearly unanimous in opposition), then had a discussion that in part hinged on this being outside of their purview.
In a six-five vote, the motion was defeated, with Mayor Petty, and Councilors Lukes, Rushton, Rivera, Economou, and Palmieri voting against the request for such a report.
Notable quotes:

"why don't we just put bars on the windows and start the concept of a jail early in life?" Lukes #worcpoli

— Tracy Novick (@TracyNovick) May 6, 2015

"if we were concerned about safety, we would be concerned about what actually works" @Sarai4Worcester #worcpoli

— Tracy Novick (@TracyNovick) May 6, 2015

WPS budget before Council: FY15 edition

posting as we go...
awaiting a quorum...
Petty: first session is Worcester Public Schools

Council comments on transfer

O'Brien, thanks the Mayor, the Manager, Councilor Eddy "real support for public education"
First time "in four years, it may be five"
"important moment for me as we're making a real strong commitment to public education"
this is operational but "important investments in technology and school facilities, in partnership with our friends in state government...very important investments"

Eddy, echo O'Brien "this doesn't happen...happy to make this motion..working together with the superintendent"
"certainly not where we want to end"
talking to people "on the west side and on the southwest side of the city...safety, service, and schools"
middle class

Economou thanks Mayor, Manager
"the number one thing I hear going door to door"
strong education base "everything else will follow"
look forward to working further in the years to come

Rushton "this is the starting point to increase the funding of our schools"
national award winning schools
"over 500 new children came in...people are opting in not opting out of our school system"

Palmieri: "echoing my colleagues is one thing; the results are another"
"what a great education means to each  child...not only for better students, but...prime mover for economic development"
continue to help and assist schools, school department, teachers, and students
"can't think of a better place to invest at this time"

Lukes: "wonder what kind of a message we are sending...only so many dollars to go around...are we robbing Peter to pay Paul?"
free cash "very low this year"
runs numbers which appear to miss that Chapter 70 funds come through the city from the state...
"how much had you originally set aside in your plan to pay for these fixed costs?"
CM O'Brien "I'm not sure I understand the question..."thanks Mayor and Superintendent
NSS "a goal, symbolic"
move money from the contingency "one time money" to school salaries to lower class sizes
$40,000 delta that we had to achieve to get to net school spending
"stuck to that commitment to get to $172,000 'though the need was $40,000"
"we are going to have to begin to make some difficult decisions"
lists schools then public safety, parks
"a step, a symbolic step...we've got work ahead"
"I'm not being optimistic"
"had planned to put $5 million aside for OPEB..and we didn't get to a conclusion on the schools contribution and if it would count towards net school spending"
"defying the statistics across the country"
"long term strategic move now instead of in ten years"
deposits into OPEB
Lukes "likely that we're going in the same direction as other cities and not funding our OPEB and our pension liabilities, then?"
O'Brien: "just the opposite"
Lukes "when we keep taking money out and there's only so much money to go around"

Toomey "incredibly important in a community like ours to fund education"
"came from the bright side over there, in the Worcester Public Schools"
leadership, careful accounting
"incredibly important that folks don't look at this in a negative way, but as an economic vehicle"

O'Brien (for a second time): "it's a good thing (not a bad thing) that we've worked together to close that deficit"
"making smart investments in school infrastructure"

Petty: report on for Thursday night for exactly how the money is being expended

Roll call: unanimously passes

Reports requested

O'Brien: $92 million comes from local aid: 33% of school budget comes from city
new positions created by WPS, new positions created by city (including police and fire)
Lukes: retirements
report: how those state and federal grants are expended (READ THE BUDGET!)
how many private/parochial students transported by WPS?

Councilor Lukes: questions

"as money has become tighter...relationship loaded with more friction...some real problem with some of the demands being put on the city"
"money is limited"
Lukes: how many new positions added?
Boone: net is 30 new position
Lukes: how many new positions on the cityside? Zidelis say that it's less than 20
Query as to if that's counting new WFD and WPD classes
Lukes is not counting new safety classes: WHICH ARE NEW HIRES IN WFD AND WPD!!
Lukes: total amount received in federal grants?
$30 M in federal grants, $5 M in state grants
Lukes: asks how much counts towards net school spending
grants don't count towards net school spending because net school spending is a measure of how much a community spends on its own school system
"we have costs that aren't included in the formula"
speaks of eyes glazing over from people at home on talk of foundation budget
administrative costs and medicaid not counting
transportation doesn't count towards net school spending: Lukes asks that DelSignore walk us through his report again
DelSignore: "getting there and schools themselves don't count towards net school spending"
Lukes asks if we could save any money by vendoring out the transportation...DelSignore says that there are experts in that (and he isn't one)
cites Grafton which charges a fee to students beyond grade 6 who are not low income
one should perhaps point out that we are 73% low income
says she does not believe that students won't come if they don't have transportation
"if we have a real problem with kids (not coming without transportation)..."not being motivated
Boone: "we never blame our children for our underperforming"
"not required to provide transportation for our 7-12" but once we have the buses for K-6, the rest of the day is taken care of already
increase in requests from charter and private schools
"biting off our nose despite our face.." to cut transportation
putting a fee on those not on free and reduced lunch "middle class tax"
Lukes motion for legal inquiry into fees fails, 1-8

Informational on net school spending: here's the discussion

Here's the discussion on the recommended allocation of the $500,000 transfer
O'Brien: leadership working with the manager and the school department, to address the capital needs of our schools
Thanks the Manager "to leverage out a few more dollars"
Councilors, textbooks and instructional materials,
"making progress towards that gap...a little behind but we're catching up"
"continue to work towards...an operational plan that we all can get behind"
Economou: echo same sentiments, Say thank you
"step in the right direction"
Eddy: "indeed a step in the right direction"
Manager "has worked tirelessly with the superintendent"
parking lot lease in Webster Square (murmurs from Lukes)
Long been aware of the issue on Holland Road, Monticello, Wentworth, "held hostage in their homes"
"at some point...thank Tom Zidelis...far too many man hours working with Brian Allen in the school department for a solution on this...expensive bandaid...speaks to...public schools have to take... responsibilities of the public schools fall beyond the walls of the schools...being a good neighbor...cannot build schools that do not have parking"
(I should perhaps point out that the City, not the schools, build schools)
Urges Mayor to bring back to schools...going on far too long
look at field behind school (which is a park)
held it waiting for a permanent solution
motion to no parking on Holland Road during school days: need to have a public hearing, says mayor
O'Brien thinks there has been a hearing
Eddy pulls motion, sends to committee
Toomey: look back at orders not completed on this, all addressed at same time
Russell: question to administration
annual salary or half the year?
The answer is half the year, but no one knows. 

sorry, no idea what Palmieri said
CM O'Brien: amazing learning environment
buffered against our fiscal condition
that's why the move was conservative to put those dollars into contingency
Mayor has a style that I respect greatly
how we can structure these dollars
wasn't a week that went by when it wasn't an agenda item

Lukes: going back to parking lot lease
and then to initial reference to the item
"if parking lots qualify for net school spending, I'd be shocked"
how many schools are going to want the same?
footprint larger for same number of students, losing parking as a result
"this issue is one that's going to plague us with any new school"
people in that neighborhood want the school built in the same location
"for that half hour at each end of the day, it's like the end of the world"
"I would suggest that we find other solutions to this problem"

O'Brien: sure that this does not set a precedent, as there are others

Economou: in light of tonight's discussion: February 25 at 5 pm, Holland Road before Traffic and Parking

Petty: no real short term solution to parking problem
thanks Allen and Zidelis for working to fix the problem

Councilors on the budget

Councilor O'Brien: "I'm just trying to follow this math here..."
Boone: "part of what we needed to do was address those PCBs..that's what's now being capitalized"
Worcester East Middle science labs? Moving forward this summer
 Economou: "Tremendous first step"

It's Groundhog Day!

And for those wondering about the sigh of relief from some in the audience when they heard Superintendent Boone's answer to the question from Councilor Lukes, we bring you this flashback from May 2008.

with apologies to Councilor Germain, whose name I only recently started spelling correctly

Councilors on the WPS budget

O'Brien: where we've come to where we need to go
"closed eight schools, laid off teachers"
federal stimulus aid, continued support from the state
"equally been a challenging time for the city side"
"beginning to stabilize, due to good decisions being made"; cites council, committee, city manager, superintendent, municipal unions
"where do we invest going forward"
"three critical areas...strong economy...public safety...and you need to have great schools"
"we voted with our feet" (well, some of them...) and sent their kids to Worcester Public Schools

Lukes: UPDATED with a link

wants to know who's going to pay for it
challenges the amount of specificity in the WPS budget in comparison with city budget: "it's going to take a position by position breakdown"

For the record: that would be pages 209 and following in the FY12 budget; it has been a part of the Worcester Public Schools budget since FY09.

report from administration on who is going to fund this

Auditor's reports

Lukes: asks about the 1% 3% grant issue; "these answers frankly sound like jargo"Zidelis: cites OMG as their source for authority in taking 3%, WPS in grant application cites 1%; "until this is resolved, the school department is going to cite 1% in their grant applications"
explains that until this is resolved, this will continue to turn up as a finding
Lukes says that the city is providing more oversight "which would justify these fees"
(gotta tell you...I read them...there's no change in oversight of WPS)

 

WPS FY12 budget

...at the Worcester City Council.
Boone: "This Friday, I will be releasing the second of balanced budgets in very difficult financial times..with no cut in essential services..aligning the resources to...advance student achievement."
students, principals, parents, businesses, teachers, community
Clear priorities: "high quality teaching and learning, reasonable class sizes, elective course offerings, 21st century technology and professional development..."
all course offerings are preserved
technology level funded
"Budget does NOT include any savings from a settled teachers' contract"
"very difficult choices as we close a seven million dollar stimulus cliff"
administrative savings, reduction in trades and operations
"very little expansion in services other than in cutting of other programs"


reminds Council of $26 million gap in NEED: gifted and talented, expanded voc/tech, librarians, MassCore

Grant fees legal opinion

Legal opinion on grants:
Rushton: think it's probably right. Open communication. Hoping that it continues.

Mayor O'Brien comments on the difficult times and pulling together.

Lukes: process the city has gone through at the federal level, prior to the grant even being conveyed.Hoping that this process had to be followed in all prior years. "only became an emotional one when we increased our request from 1% to 3%"
Manager: "yes"
Lukes:"did the School department have notice of this process then?"
Manager: "yes"
Lukes: amount of money, rather the process. Asks that the legal opinion that School Committee requested be forwarded to the Council as well.

Mergers

I get it.
We'd all like to save money, and we'd all like to save money in a way that doesn't change core services. Whether you're talking about the work the city does or the work the schools do, we'd all like the streets plowed, the birth certificates issued, the parks open, the trash picked up, the libraries open, and oh, yes, the children educated, all with the money we've got.
I understand where Councilor Lukes is coming from then, when she makes, as she has in the past, another suggestion around merging departments. It sure seems like it would save money, right?
It doesn't work out that way.

Grant fees: updated, revised, and with new links

The report from the outside auditor coming back to City Council tonight has a bit of news bearing on the school department: the outside auditor discussed the difference of opinion on the amount assessed by the city to the Worcester Public Schools on grants. The auditor found:

Internal controls should be implemented to ensure that original contracts or contract amendments are filed with the granting agency that specify the actual indirect cost rate used to charge the indirect costs to the grant program, and that all salaries and wages expenses charged to the grant program are supposed by by the required documentation, as prescribed in OMB Circulars A-87 and A-133.

What does that mean in English?
When the schools (or an agency) file for a grant, they have to specify how much is going to be taken in "indirect costs." In the case of the Worcester Public Schools, that's the grant assessment taken by the City.
The legal opinion given to the School Committee by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education states that the School Committee has to VOTE grant assessment (you might remember that we've been doing that?). Thus, all WPS grants say 1% will go to the City.
And then the City takes 3%.
Thus the inconsistency.
The City--and I should note here that it is the City making the response, as the school department has not been allowed to weigh in--responds that, in essence, there's a difference of opinion (or that they're taking money the School Committee hasn't voted to give them; take your pick).
Councilor Lukes is looking for a legal opinion from the City Solicitor.
The City Manager, if I'm understanding him correctly, seems to be saying that he intends to move forward with the auditor's findings. (I think? Maybe?)

Stotsky: questions from the audience

Councilor Lukes: was trained as a teacher "education courses long on puff and short on substance"
"can't teach somebody how to be a teacher...have to prove themselves in the battlefield of the classrooms"
tenure, seniority, contract provisions
"once we hire those teachers, and they prove to themselves and to us that" they can't do it
one party politics in Massachusetts, power of teachers' unions
I seem to have missed her question here, which was on the importance of actual classroom experience in evaluating teachers, and being able to get rid of those who are not doing a great job

More on schools

I left at this point, but there were more remarks made by Council on schools. (start at 8:28)

Lukes questions

assumed 25-75%?
No, it's 20-80% (but by breakdown; retirees and new hires are already at 75-25%)
asks if it's a zero salary increase? yes
Lukes cites that the cityside 25-75 breakdown (for renegotiated contracts on the city side), with zero ('though not across the board...and most had some money built in in some way)
mention of step increases, which are still happening
3 1/2--4 1/2 step increases; note that 85% of teachers are at the top of the salary schedule
the step increases for those still getting them is about 1.5 million

100 years of experience

...nearly, says the mayor, between herself, Hargrove, and Bogigian, with WPS (counting working experience and years on School Committee).
"our greatest economic asset"