On city finances and planning

 At the April 9 meeting of the City Council: 

Toomey makes request under suspension for a five point plan on school building finances needs and renovations.

— Marco Cartolano (@marco_cartolano) April 10, 2024

While it appears to be deleted, Councilor Toomey later clarified on Twitter that she was speaking of amending the city's five point financial plan. 

Open questions in Worcester

Since we have a moment this early dismissal day, here's a few things I'm wondering about the Worcester Public Schools:

• It's March. Weren't we supposed to have a strategic plan in February? 
• And speaking of plans, whatever happened to the facilities master plan?
• Does North High have a principal yet? 
• As a district that is majority children whose first language isn't English: do we have a new ELL director yet? I haven't seen one. 
• Relatedly, are we going to talk at all about the MAJOR demographic shift that's happened in our majority Latino school district's leadership, or are we going to ignore that we have shifted to a reeeeeeally white (and female) central leadership? 
• Have we had any discussion of the failed model the Worcester Public Schools are following on active shooters? 
• For Doherty to be accepted into Feasibility, there must be a building committee. Who's on it? When are they meeting? 
• About three years ago, WPS spent a boatload of money on getting everyone to Office 365. Now all of a sudden we're switching over to a Google universe. I don't have strong opinions in either direction, but can we at least acknowledge that we seem to have burned a bunch of money and then changed our minds? 
• And finally because I JUST found this online: are we ever going to talk about the Comprehensive District Review from last January? This is basically DESE coming in and checking on what's up. That would seem pretty crucial.

UPDATE: I no sooner posted this than Scott O'Connell, the T&G education reporter, tweeted back: 

I've had the same questions. What I've been told this week: strategic plan likely in April, same for facilities plan. No change to North High situation - Maureen Binienda still temporary principal, Dyer status to return still a ?

— Scott O'Connell (@ScottOConnellTG) March 21, 2018

As for ELL manager, I've got a story coming out tomorrow. But screw it, nothing yet there, either (although maybe an announcement soon?)

— Scott O'Connell (@ScottOConnellTG) March 21, 2018

So: read Scott tomorrow on the ELL director. And we'll see if his questions get answers on the outstanding ones.

UPDATE #2: Here's the article to which Scott was referring. I'll put some thoughts on that in an additional post.

Don't miss how unusual this is: state speaks up on North High

I tweeted this out over the holiday, but I thought it should have a more permanent residence: don't miss what's happening in this article from the 25th on North High. It is very, very unusual for the state to speak up, outside the release of new results, about a specific school. For DESE to break its silence, something's up.
And of course, Russell Johnston chooses his words with care (like anyone from the state who knows he's going to be quoted). So look at what he says:

the department’s interest this year in seeing improvements at North High School was not an abrupt decision, but rather based on relatively long-standing concerns about the school’s under-performance.

We don't, in other words, have a new emergency; we have the ongoing concern the state has had for years. That Johnston would feel the need to clarify that is very telling.
And about Superintendent Binienda's remarks that the school was in danger of being Level 4 next spring?

(Johnston) dispelled the notion that North High is in imminent danger of being downgraded by the state, however, saying it’s “not automatic” the state would take action even if the school continues to struggle.

So, no, the "fear the state" line isn't accurate. And note, in part, why:

Complicating the matter is that the state is still revising accountability standards for schools.

You, of course, already knew that because you read the updates from the Board of Ed: the state's reasons for declaring underperformance are shifting and growing more broad:

The new underperforming designation is most likely what North High could fall into in subsequent years if it continues to lag, Mr. Johnston said, although he added such a downgrade would be made “at the discretion of the (state’s education) commissioner,” and not triggered by low test scores. The new accountability system is supposed to take into account more than just how students perform on the MCAS.

That "supposed to" is probably a little weak; we're already tied to that due to the state's federal ESSA plan, which has already been accepted.
Which makes the superintendent's closing remark:

“The big thing is really getting those scores up,” she said.

...all the more head-scratching.
I also want to flag this Q&A in Worcester Magazine from a few weeks back, because there is a LOT going on there. 

Let's talk about North High

I posted a thread on this yesterday on Twitter, but I've done a smidge more digging and I think I know where this is coming from now. 
I missed the initial article from earlier this month announcing that Superintendent Binienda had moved into North High School while Principal Lisa Dyer was out on medical leave and did not intend to appoint an acting principal in the meantime. Offhand, it's not clear to me that it's legal to fail to have a principal; the relevant MGL is Ch. 71, Sec. 59B:

The superintendent of a school district shall appoint principals for each public school within the district at levels of compensation determined in accordance with policies established by the school committee. Principals employed under this section shall be the educational administrators and managers of their schools and shall supervise the operation and management of their schools and school property, subject to the supervision and direction of the superintendent.

The section then goes on to enumerate the quite extensive list of responsibilities and powers of the principal under the Mass General Laws. Those are specific, distinct, and discrete from the powers and responsibilities of the superintendent.The union president being okay with it isn't what we're looking for here; I'd be interested in a legal opinion, preferably one from the state.

Likewise, of course, having the superintendent overseeing just over a thousand students of a 27,000 student system directly is less than reassuring. Worcester needs a superintendent who's actually running the system.

Yesterday's follow-up article, revealing that the superintendent intends a turnaround plan of some kind, wasn't any more reassuring. The opening comment:

“North High’s performance on the MCAS (this past year), for the third year in a row, showed no progress”

...is simply not true. You can find North's MCAS data over time on DESE's website here. You don't have to know about CPI and PPI and the rest to tell what the lines are doing. Here's a screenshot of the charts for students scoring proficient or higher, 2013-2017.

Are those lines trending steadily downward for three years? No, they are not. They did go down this past year, but they had gone up the year before.

More to the point, look at the median student growth percentiles (from the same page):

Have they bounced down? Yes. Have they gone down for three years? No. Again, they were up before they were down.
We can't panic every time there is a year of down results. Analyze, plan, figure out what had happened, absolutely, but some classes are stronger than others (and that's why the state doesn't judge on a single year's worth of data, either).

Now, are those fantastic results? No, they aren't. And the district has been concerned and working on North in past years. There are also things that matter besides MCAS, and those things, because North High is a high school, the state even judges the school on. Here, for example, is North's dropout rate since 2012:

It was 2.4% last year; the state's rate is 1.9%.
And here's the four and five year graduation rates:

Again, none of these are my numbers; they're what the district has reported to DESE.
So let's say that I'm coming into this a bit skeptical that North High is suddenly in an emergency situation.

However, I did have a chance to poke around a bit more this afternoon, and I've come across what I think is probably driving this.
You'll remember that only high schools were assigned levels this year. That means that this exercise, where we set the schools in order by percentile, suddenly only involves high schools (save the Level 4 and 5 elementary schools). Remember that you want a higher percentile (those are better), and take a look at the list (I clicked to set them in order by percentiles and then scrolled down until I found anything, as nearly all the elementary schools don't have one):

So from the top here we have Madison Park (Boston's vocational school, which is undergoing another round of turmoil now); Holyoke's Dean Vocational (which was under state receivership before the district was); then Brighton High, New Bedford High, High School of Science and Tech in Springfield, Excel High, all of which are Level 4 schools already. The first Level 3 school we hit is North High in the third percentile, before going back to Level 4 again with West Roxbury.
Remember, though, that the Level 4s are always at the Commissioner's discretion, which is how we find this if we scroll further down:

Yes, that's Springfield's High School of Commerce, a Level 4, coming in after North (it has a higher percentile this year).
All of which is to reiterate that it is a mistake to think that this all comes down to MCAS scores. It doesn't, and it never has. What does the state look at?

District governance.

By the by, Worcester is already a Commissioner's district, so that threat won't stick. 

The rest of Worcester meetings this week

Note that the Worcester Public Schools' (bottom line) budget is before the Worcester City Council on Tuesday, May 30, at 4 pm.

The School Committee begins meeting in budget session on Thursday, June 1 at 4 pm, with an executive session at 6 pm, and a regular meeting at 7 pm. The agenda for all of that is here.

In addition to recognitions and the major request for an appointment I posted below, the School Committee is hearing a report on professional development, which largely seems to be focused on the curriculum liaisons, including at least one "to be appointment" for "college and career readiness." OCPL is apparently "Office of Curriculum and Professional Learning."

The reports out from the meeting of and budget hearing by Finance and Operations are on the agenda. As always, the hearing on the budget is being reported out after the first School Committee budget session. 

The restorative justice programs at Claremont and at North are back on the agenda (?).

The School Committee is being asked to approve a prior fiscal year payment of $1685; to accept a grant from "Project Lead the Way" at Doherty, which appears to involve classes at WPI, for $26,250, and for Worcester Tech for $15,000; to accept a grant from Lowe's for $3810 for Burncoat High; to approve a prior fiscal year payment for Education, Inc. for home tutoring services for $8,902.50; to accept a donation for Worcester Tech of $435;

Miss Biancheria is asking for monthly incident reports and for the cost and locations of graduations. She also is requesting more information about the changes in staffing around the Central Mass Collaborative.

Miss Colorio is suggesting that recognitions be consolidated to once a month.

The Administration is asking that the admission policy of Worcester Tech (largely regarding legal changes, per the notice).

The executive session is for the teachers' contract, for an HVAC worker's grievance, for worker's compensation for a teacher, and for non-represented employees, both administration and not (as they don't have a union negotiating, they haven't come through on new contracts. This probably is whatever the administration is proposing in cost of living increases.)


Also, check the front page of the website: LOTS of graduations this week! 

Pennywise and pound foolish

Last night, the Worcester City Council, on a 7-4 vote, chose to cut the FY17 budget by $3 million; they did so by cutting the North High Stabilization fund, which is paying off the debt on North High. The argument made was that the city had made plans to pay off the debt early through use of this fund, and that wasn't really necessary.

Two things of note:

• in order for other projects to go forward with the Mass School Building Authority, we must be able to demonstrate that we can borrow (and pay off) the debt we as a city accrue to do so.
• "the city is expecting $6 million less in reimbursements from the Massachusetts School Building Authority" next year, and thus the amount the city has to put towards paying off such debt is already less than previously.

And a question: how much was the city projected to save in interest by paying off the debt early? 

Most read in 2015

Unless I suddenly start getting a lot of traffic on a blog post I wasn't I expecting, I don't pay a lot of attention to my analytics, but here's my once-a-year look at what was most read.

As usual, the top hit is just the front page, meaning that there are a lot of you who just come by to see what's new. That's increasingly unusual these days; most blog traffic is driven by links. I appreciate--and will try to stay attentive to--the faith that I have something new and worth reading up!

1. The single post with the most hits (not surprising, given last year's weather) was this post on how snow days and the Worcester Public Schools calendar works. That was an evolving post, as I fielded questions about how the calendar works and how WPS was going to deal with the days off. With luck, we won't need that information so urgently this year!
2. Governor Baker's FY16 budget proposal and its impact on urban districts had the second highest number of hits this year. YES, YOU SHOULD BOOKMARK THIS ONE FOR THIS YEAR!
3. This one seems to be caught in a bigger search: "special education" brings you the interviews for a new special education director back in 2012. 
4. Given that the national Massachusetts education story was on testing, it makes sense that the liveblog of the Board of Ed's deliberation on that decision would make this list.
5. For a bit the only place with any public information on this was here: the proposal to make Chandler Magnet's field a parking lot for Worcester State. 
6. My notes from the March 5 update on North High at Worcester School Committee saw a lot of traffic.
7. I posted my testimony before the Board of Ed on MCAS or PARCC. 
8. Governor Baker appointed two new members to the Board of Ed in September, and Google is our friend on these.
9. Baker's inaugural a year ago had some language on education, but not much for the education of most kids. 
10. ...which was borne out a month later by his choices in midyear budget cuts. 

It's always interesting to me to see the mix of Worcester and state on these. As I said earlier, my blogging on Worcester will continue, but will be more focused on the superintendent search and the budget; the state blogging will continue...and more to come on that. 

TLSS meets Tuesday

The Teaching, Learning, and Student Support standing committee meets Tuesday at 5:30. You can find the agenda here.
To me, this looks like another cleanup agenda.

Regarding a debate league, there currently is no school interest (some are running other sorts of programs).
The "Gateway Cities Vision" parallels work that is already being done in WPS (not surprising, really, as the statewide work on these issues is tied).
The North High safety plan is...happening on an ongoing basis.
Reach Out and Read is something that is done in pediatricians offices.

a few items at North

Ramirez: academic situations speaking about
aged out youth
catching up on credits: advocate for
part of the solution, different solutions for young people to learn
innovation model
opportunity for North to become that place
rather than safety and monitoring...mediator, prevented issues from happening
items that are supporting students directly
not support of cameras connected to the police department
Petty: something happens at school, could feed to police department
Ramirez: situation that may not be an emergency could be construed as an emergency

Biancheria: police took the step for the license
are there not cameras?
Petty: there are cameras at North, they're not connected to the police department
Bianheria: have an expert explain what it actually is
Petty: awaiting for legal opinion on cameras streaming to police, and contractual issues with union
police has no interest in watching every day
Biancheria: time frame on legal opinion
Boone: going to require research by City Solicitor, not just an off the shelf opinion

O'Connell: invitation to summit information to administration as needed
or letter to School Committee

North High update

Superintendent Boone: tonight's update is to report on the common themes that have been seen through meetings with teachers, parents, and students
met with 100 students, then with entire junior class: discuss issuess North is taing, and the safety plan as it is unfolding
very clear set of themes across group of parents, teachers, students
"North is a great school and there are a lot of great things that are going on at North."
"of particular note...has been common agreement that there are students who have chosen to be disruptive"
"that is a clear challenge at the school"
"learning of what is making a difference at the school" with hall monitoring, lead teacher
fewer students out of class, bathrooms open on every floor (positive for students)
issues of consistency as it relates to application of Student Code of Conduct
"the actions associated with those is resulting in greater cooperation of students"
transitions, managing transitions better
faculty increased presense at classroom doors during passing time
police liaison presense at school being evaluated on an ongoing basis: police are there in a liaison role, "not as an occupying force"
meeting with families of students who have received a significant number of referrals to discuss impact of student on school
"the right to a public education, but the right not to interrupt everyone else's education in the process"
98% of students are in a place to learn, and that's the right place to be
small number of students who have become the disruption
what do students want to see happen at their school? Not having the 2% of the students being disruptive getting 100% of the media attention
safety and improvement team lead by lead teacher
climate and culture committee
both made by students, parents, and teachers to talk about community and culture
"greatest place for change for North High School takes place wtihin the halls of North High School"

Lisa Dyer, principal: North High School is a great school with an extremely hard-worker staff and wonderful students
work very hard to educate every student
many students are self-motivated, others need extra help: welcome both
"hope to set record straight"
"victim of four bomb threats this year" why people think we are the perpetrators, also, is beyond me
have fights, more than we'd like, sometimes staff get hurt in breaking up
none of conflicts are random
appropriate discipline as under state and federal law
"kid have come a long way"
love kids and want the best for them
appreciate concern students and teachers
role model respectful behavior
mentor a North High student
attend school council meetings second Wednesday at 6 pm
make informed judgment rather than judging secondhand
"come to North High to see why I have always felt safe at work"

Lead Teacher for Safety
"along with my colleagues, establishing and maintaining a school environment" where students can learn
physical environment, schoolwide protocols
crtical areas for safety in the building: hallways and lunchtime
adjustment to protocols for students and staff: assigned duties to gaps that existed
a lot more work to do, but thus far (might seem minor, but these are big things in terms of how the school flows):

• open hallways, traffic out of halls during classways: bathrooms open on all four floors (bathroom monitor also monitors hallway)
• bathroom passes are colored by floor, thus students can't wander unchecked
• bathroom swipe machine: eliminates lingering 
• hall monitors have walkie-talkies
• nurse seeing fewer visitors, as well
• more faculty on hall duty in the building; rearranging duties (plus additional IAs)
• three monitors during lunch period: students in lunch or alternative solution
• three monitors during first and last period
• students not allowed passes out first and last ten minutes of class
• protocols to see support staff 
• safer lunch: evaluated classes that were coming into lunch; lunches redistributed based on size
• additional support staff for duties: spread across cafeteria
• cell phones, hats, outerwear...students held accountable for policies; reenforced each day
• protocol and consequences for misbehavior
• reprinting IDs for students who have lost or creating for students who don't have
• phone list in every classroom for support staff
• class cuts and tardies: teachers felt strongly about; protocols pending discussion with administration
• climate and culture: students have taken charge on commitment to kindness: students and faculty valued 
• boys and girls groups still running
• academic interventions, especially for seniors

"creating a sustainable system...social-emotional growth...deserve time to thrive...appreciate support received thus far"
Boone: "if you listen to what has happened with our students on a daily basis; faculty seeing change"
not using issues to divide
incoming eighth grade parents coming to dinner on Wednesday

Priscilla, student at North High: it's not fair to a lot of students and many adults
police in building: more of a chance that students will be arrested if something happens
North is a very good school
every morning, start with quotes of kindness
groups on Wednesdays for students who struggle with anger
downsize classes
"North deserves to be appreciated instead of trashed"

Chris Robarge, ACLU
getting reports from folks we just heard from was informative and helpful
a snowball effect on how the school function
comment quickly on cameras: awaiting legal review, do not support streaming to police station
understand and appreciate comments of superintendent on police
what we do know from school-based arrests: if there are more police in the schools, there are more arrests in the schools, tend to be for public order offenses, would like to know if there have been arrests since increase in police, and what those arrests are for
informative to have
chapter 222: very important piece of state legislation, would urge caution before suggesting or proposing changes to chapter 222
don't seem problems as result of chapter 222

David Jerry: thank faculty and staff
concerned about type of officer placed in the school: gang force officer not the right person to have
don't have question if there is a gun in the school; we now know that there is
student shouldn't start his life off with a charge
happy that my son is safe, reconsider the type of officer is in there

Junior at North: never felt unsafe at North in the first place
"I knew that nothing was going to happen, that nothing was going to happen to me"
linking of cameras to police: we are innocent until proven guilty
assume hallways do not need to be monitored by criminal justice system
violation of 4th amendment: no probable cause
schools must have probably cause before searching students (citing Supreme Court decision)
will impede the learning environment at North High

Rev. Davenport: give you encouragement, parent of two graduates of South High
can successful as a city when we come together as a collective body
parents came together to work with administration of school
second minority police lieutenant is his son
stop looking and pointing fingers at one another
so many successful people who could come out of North High
work as a team

Len Zalauskas, EAW president
"there could definitely be lawyers at North High"
superintendent needs to reach out to the teachers more
different groups have met, need to be all on the same page
"many, many smart people"
"we have the best urban system in America...in the state of Massachusetts, we are, no doubt about it, number one"
"we can fix (issues), we can get there"
"again, it goes back to the budget...we have issues at that school because we don't have resources"

Rev. Talley: believe Worcester has some great people
with this thing at North High, have seen worst of some
have to learn to cooperate
have seen a lot of name calling, have seen a lot of blaming
demographics have changed, "and everything's on the up"
"there is a sense of accomplishment that has been achieved"
I want to be the voice of the one...cites letter to the editor in WoMag
"a few kids here give us an undesired reputation"
"fear is blinding the public and some teachers"
"we don't need to continue the stigma...they're all our kids"
we as adults should not be name calling
"they're not saying, but they're watching how we handle things 'as adults'"
"you don't have to like someone to work them"

Gordon Davis: my kids went to North, coached soccer at North
there was a prejudice against these kids
weren't allowed to build a new North; tried to combine North and Voke, and Voke parents said no
"I got into fights, and I went to Catholic schools. I was never suspended..they're making our kids into something they're not"
"this school system is supposed to educate them, not put them in jail"
came the budget hearing, schools being underfunded because the kids are here
Take a look at the budget in any community around Worcester; better funded than Worcester
"our job is educate all the children, even the ones we don't like"

Bruce O'Connell, assistant principal: I look forward to going to work at North High School
tremendous kids
"not celebrated in the media, not enough"
"we could use that as a celebration moving forward"
Ellie Lupafya: 1996 graduate of North High, now assistant principal
Completely opposed to having police in the building, have now seen the other side
went to Belmont Street, Worcester East,
"we will survive any storm and come back even stronger"

Mayor Petty:
work together, buy in by teachers, parents
students should be very proud of North High
move on positively
climate report: confirm everything's on the right track
always had police liaison in school: community policing model
police chose because of the type of police officers they are
building relationships with those students
legal review about using cameras: emergency access to police
about graduations, where kids are going to school, made the playoffs
"adults should act like adults, let the children be"
information to delegation about discipline regs

O'Connell: struck me as I heard detail after detail
how much common sense underlies what you're doing
focused on key issue; maintaining a school culture
have teachers who care passionately about their schools
students who care deeply about their school
can watch students assembling to go to North at 6:30 in the morning
"they're entrusted to us"
"do we give the resources they need to success academically"
"ultimately the School Committee needs to address that in June"
comend focus on communication: need to be heard and to be part of the discussion
people of all denomination get together
step in the right direction
close communication and listening

Foley: glad we're talking about North again
time to talk about college acceptances
"don't have to worry about civics in the schools" 4th amendment comments
positive change is going to come from within
parents, teachers, students
short-term steps...longer term culture change

Monfredo: thank for coming
another report in May

Novick: pleased to hear directly from principal and assistant principals; many words put in their mouths, good to hear from them
impressed that students showing up given treatment by community; not sure I'd trust adults at this point, after name calling of community
kicking the story: point at which story feeds on itself
unless stories are going to be about college graduates, etc, reports only on all secondary schools

Bianchera: road to recovery, success stated this evening
support for principal there and continue to be there
class of 74
parents meeting? Dyer: school council meeting
making a specific recommendation about who should be at which meeting 
expert on cameras at meeting
thank WPD

Mayor's task force on youth violence
cameras

Ramirez: thank community for being here, for coming out
thorough report

Biancheria: asking for reports at School Committee
Novick: in Friday letters, enough of superintendent's reports on this
Biancheria: waited months to support North, don't want to see it swept under the rug
Boone: have to address "waiting months" comment
happened at next meeting after bomb threat
asked for support after incident four years ago:
Monfredo: asked for an update for May
Bianchera; not personal, looked for what happened at what happened was in place
should keep at forefront
can go back and forth

Petty: kids of North High are tired of being on the front page
after a series of motions, we'll be getting Friday letter updates on North, but it is not forecasted to appear on the agenda

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday

The Worcester School Committee meets Thursday; you can find the agenda here.

The report of the Superintendent is an update on North High's safety plan. I suspect that the three items Ms. Ramirez has submitted on North--requesting a mediation specialist and creating a stakeholder group as well as asking about cameras--will be taken at the same time, as well as any testimony related to that.

Finance and Operations is reporting back; notes on auditors' reports, on the second quarter (including transfers), on facilities, on transportation. They'll be three votes on this beyond accepting the report: quarterly transfers, the bus contract, and MSBA submissions.

We have some new appointments (including a librarian!).
We have a reponse back from administration on bringing the energy management back in house. Short version? It's saving us money and giving us better service.
We have a response back from administration regarding the use of WRTA bus passes.
We have a number of congratulations coming through: dancers, artists, writers, good citizens!
In honor of Sunshine Week, I'm asking the City Solicitor to give us a legal opinion on the use of personal email for public business.
Mr. O'Connell is asking about some classifications he says were stricken from SAGE on student suspension.
Mr. Monfredo is starting his annual book drive for "Worcester: The City that Reads." Collection locations to come!
In relation to articles like this, I'm asking that administration clarify the use of student information in online apps.
Mr. O'Connell is asking to review both the Elm Park report from the state (which went to the stakeholder group for them to do their work on the already-approved Level 4 turnaround plan) and the Jacob Hiatt extended learning time report.
He is further asking around opting out of PARCC.
I'm requesting an update from administration on MCAS and PARCC.
Miss Biancheria is asking the role of the chief academic officer in school suspensions.
She's further asking for the difference between an internal document and a public document.
She's also asking about summer programs.

We have no executive session tomorrow night, so starting right with regular public session at 7!

Update on North High

updating as we go (Friday note: the full meeting is now posted online)
Boone: framework and beginning of an action plan

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday, March 5

Yes, two in a row, due to the February calendar.
You can find the agenda here; we also have a supplemental, which is just sending the bus bids off to the March 16 F&O meeting for consideration.
We're recognizing our Posse Scholars this week!
We have a communication coming in from the EAW regarding the new fingerprinting law.

The report of the Superintendent this week is the first FY16 budget estimates. Note that the Governor's budget is set to come out the day before, on March 4 (which is why there's no backup on this item as yet). If you can't make the meeting this week,  Mr. Allen will be at CPPAC on March 11 at 7 pm at Chandler Magnet with the same presentation (or a similar one).

We have a response from administration on Constitution Day activities.
We have a response from administration regarding the CSX funds.
We have a response from administration regarding the Betty Curtis Young Writers' Conference.
We have an item on the auditors' reports which we're sending off to F&O, to discuss at the same March 16 meeting.
Mr. Monfredo has asked that we congratulate the Valentine's Day contest winners.
Ms. Biancheria is asking for an update on North High.
We're being asked to accept a donation of $45.05 for Tatnuck Magnet School.
I have an item congratulating WPS on the second reception of the Meritorious Budget award!
I've asked that parents receive the specific dates their children are scheduled to take PARCC or MCAS.
I've also asked that we get some information on the impact the changes in vocational school regulations passed last week by the Board of Ed will have on admission to Worcester Tech.
Finally, administration is requesting authority to enter a 10 year lease agreement with the YMCA. Jacob Hiatt uses their gym and some parking spaces.

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday, February 25

You can find the agenda here.
There isn't much on the agenda, as the main attraction is the public hearing on the proposed academy including an IB diploma program. PLEASE ATTEND IF THIS IS OF INTEREST!

Also on the agenda: a number of recognitions, a handful of retirements, encouraging Read Across America Day, and accepting a donation from North High Alumni for the purchase of a van for the school (thank you!).

We also have an executive session at 6 "to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel, to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel."

On North

As I've already said elsewhere, I'm not going to belabor this, but: I do believe that parents should be able to talk to school administration without having the media there.

North High Action plan

Here is the handout from last night (photos; click to make them bigger):

North High (all items)

We're considering all items having to do with North at once
Lee Clarkson, senior
"have always been proud of my school"
"education been jeaporized by multiple students"
imperative that WPD should be present at all times in school hours
"let us concentrate on getting an education rather than on safety"
police officer deter
false perception are somehow a threat to them
Parents
parents need support and teachers need support
kids don't feel safe there
I don't feel safe sending them there
"bomb threats and violence going on is just getting out of hand"
"throw out children who do not want to be there"
"hundreds of kids want to be there, and they're not safe"
"School Committee needs to step up and help"
Zalauskas, EAW
"city entrusts educators with their most valuable assets, their children"
"we have to start investing in our future and that starts...with the safety there"
"have to ask the City Council to invest more money...there's not more money coming from the state"
North cut in-house suspension, used to have a hall monitor
people doing a duty, when someone could be hired to do that
"definitely mixed among the people"
"personally don't want police there all the time...beseech you to consider these things"
"reach out to your fellow city council officials and ask them to step up"
"way under the tax levy...Shrewsbury took five times to get the tax rate up"
"bond ratings aren't everything"
appreciate Mayor's support on this issue
"people need to come together and say what they need to say"

Petty: this administration has been dedicated to address the concerns of the students and staff and parents at North High

Boone: address academic and student achievement challenges at North High
"tonight I will be reporting graduation and dropout rates"
86 students who had been very close to graduating, without supports they would not have gotten there
"we were not producing dropout factories and warehouses"
"highly motivated staff, students who wanted the best for their education, and parents who wanted the same"
North High's graduation rate move to 71% in four years
"because lots of people had a focus, worked together"
safety, climate, and culture

Background:
4 bomb threats "we have some leads and we are agressively working with the Worcester PD....interuption of the instructional day are not good for students or fair to staff"
bomb threats tend to come in waves
"unfortunately those threats have continued long term over the months at North High School"
several fights, both students and staff have been injured in
most recent incident "students had planned fights to occur and had no relation to the bomb threat"
"important to put some facts here"
"the police were at North High school...not for any other reason than to respond to the bomb threat. That is standard protocol and response practice"
when students returned, the fights erupted
police went in to deescalate the situation, some students responded poorly, and there were arrests
"we all want to know what has happened with students that have violated our code of conduct; the law is very clear: I cannot talk about individual students, any more than I can talk about individual staff"
"discipline has been handed out to the maximum extent allowed to us"
"anything less than safe schools, it doesn't matter what the graduation rate looks like"
threats then circulated regarding violence at the school on Friday
principal wanted to assure parents that school would be safe on Friday and so sent a message to parents to let them know that school would be safe, with presence of police on that day
police were there for extra support needed when there were threats of violence on that day
"the number 599 has circulated in a number of places...there are numbers embedded in that
130 students may be absent on an average day
reflect students who get services elsewhere who are not in the building
380 or so students who were absent that day
radio station that broadcast information regarding threats that were not true
some parents came to pick up students, some chose to leave students in the school after learning that all was safe
there were statements made that the first line we're using is arrest rather than suspension: that is not true
suspensions have occurred and will continue to be
result of conversations had
"countless hours...using with factual knowledge for this action plan"

Safety

• there is one liaison per quadrant: the WPD in North will be there for the beginning and end of school
• "lead teacher for school safety and accountability" for all current and future and safety intervention--new position--
• safety intervention team (on graduation model): coordinate hall monitoring, data collection, individual interventions for students
• review & revise staffing for hall monitoring
• additional IA for hall monitoring and bathroom coverage (particularly floor 2-4)
• enahse NHS electronic photo ID system: was put in place for students in hall: "early implementation was very successful" : tracks students going to bathroom, as they swipe in and out of the bathroom; also registers students reporting tardy: third device to coverage all bathrooms
• threatening and/or aggressive behavior will not be tolerated

Climate & Culture

• Teaching with Poverty faculty reading and discussion with Eric Jenson
• Superintendent & CAO  to meet with faculty to discuss: recent events, action plan, improvements in graduation/dropout
• student assemblies for students to share their thoughts in an open forum
• subjects of non-violence, impact of media, personal accountability, digital footprint
• student interaction with recent alumni through assemblies, focus groups, & mentoring
• in conjuction with You, Inc. will run social and emotional groups: one for boys and one for girls, ten weeks per session, 10 students each (40 students total)
• Superintendent & CAO to meet with Student Council, Principal's advisory council and others for discussion
• meeting with families in partnership with DA, ACE, LEI, Black Legacy, Mass Grad Coalition. Forum for families to discuss safety, voice concerns
• 12 week training program for 20 parents at Worcester Academy with bus passes, dinner, childcare, interpreters: parenting and school success, navigating a school system, child development
• Commitment to Kindness as developed by a WPS teacher: students to have a voice in promoting postive perspectives on the school 

Already happening:

restorative justice: most have been trained

Friday chat with principal

common planning time

graduation improvement meeting

pipeline collaborative externship

Gear Up trips to college

CSI : College Success Institute

(and more)

Class size and staffing

I'm not going to type out the chart, but I'll take a photo to post later. Short version is that North's average class size is highest of the four comprehensives in ELA (23.3), in science (22.1), and world language (23.5, tied with South). South has the highest class size in math (22.4), Burncoat in science (23.3). 

These students now reading their mission statement.

Boone: fewer than 2% of students at North garner 98% of the attention
those 98% need our love and attention
"let us come together and work on this"

Petty (Biancheria takes the chair)
thank the students for coming out: read it today
"The sad part of this is, the kids up there are pretty good kids...few kids causing issues up there...the kids do and what the teachers do don't get the attention"
"there's such good things happening"
"support this"
"have to come together as a community"
"we address so many issues in the Worcester Public Schools"
graduation's going up..."North High's increased dramatically"
"we'd like to know what's going on, hear what the parents have to say"
"think it's important that we support the principal, support the staff and the students"

Biancheria: "in 2011, we opened the doors to fabulous new North High School"
"very proud, and I still am...I'm a graduate, 1974"
"I know that we have fabulous kids there...I have all the faith in the world in the staff there"
"room is full of people who care and who want to see the best come out in print"
appreciate administration putting together this plan
appreciate our police working with our school safety liaison
"there will be teaching and there will be learning"
"I am standing here to say the support you need, that's the support you'll get"

Monfredo: "North High has always been an exceptional high school"
"believe action plan certainly addresses many of the issues"
was going to suggest a committee...but Boone has already put that together tonight
changes in the culture of the school, commitment to kindness
Much work to be done, can do it together

Ramirez: part of some programming that happens at school
"part of what I'm not hearing
in the dialogue is we don't have a lot for youth to do in this city"
"youth in this city are crying for help"
bomb threat is what I would like to get solution to
postive outlets needed
"Love all of our students at North...that 2% needs attention..it drips into the community and we own that"

O'Connell
action plan tonight: clear questions
"What do the students think of this plan?"
students high AP scores,
What do teachers think of this plan?
Janice Harvey's column, echoing concerns of teachers
What do parents think? Will that do the job that needs to be done?
"very much appreciate the work of the press and the media"
"the public in Worcester is much better educated than they would be"
"individuals truly need to be heard"
...we do set the budget
teachers concerned with ratios: are classes too large?
would teacher rather have a lead teacher or another teacher in a classroom?
Don't think action plan would have prevented bomb threat, fights
"would this plan create culture and feeling of safety"
"these are areas in which" we should hear from students
would like stats on alternative programs

and then I spoke

Foley: begun the listening process
"the schools really reflect the tensions throughout our community"
issues facing at all our high schools across the city
students to bring us back
"I wish fewer of them went to Holy Cross"
"not a plan, but a framework"
"bring them together,...bring their voice back into the school"
"outline by which many players working with us and the School Committee"
lot of work to be done, great commitment
"students set the culture at that school"
"I think media hurts public perception"
working groups, conversations

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday

The Worcester School Committee meets Thursday at 7. You can find the agenda here.
We have two recognitions, including the Burncoat High Quadrivium, who are singing the National Anthem(!).
The report of the Superintendent this week is the graduation and dropout report.

We have a petition from a North High parent. I suspect that this will be taken up at the same time as the Superintendent's proposed action plan (no backup; looks like it's coming at the meeting) and Mr. O'Connell's proposed "listening session."

We have some retirements and resignations and appointments.

Ms. Ramirez would like us to consider a teacher residency program like Boston has.

Mr. O'Connell would like to recognize those that support Let's GO, WEMS.

Mr. Monfredo is announcing "February Love a Book Month."

Mr. O'Connell wants to support Chandler Elementary in pursuing a playground (?).

Mr. Monfredo wants to recognize Grace Presbyterian Church for their contributions to Chandler Magnet.

Administration wants to schedule a hearing on the IB school. They'd like to do it at our next meeting, effectively instead of our next meeting, at City Hall. Note, by the way, that we haven't gotten any additional information since our first meeting on this.

We're being asked to accept a grant for $11,512 for Creativity Innovation (Yeah, I don't know either. The backup is there and I still don't know).

We're being asked to approve a prior fiscal year payment of $360.82 (it's correcting an incorrect figure).

And, in something that we just got last night, we have the Elm Park Community School turnaround plan.

We do have an executive session scheduled for 6: to discuss the superintendent's contract and for an update on litigation relative to elevator fines (that's all I know).

North High today

This evening, the School Committee received the following information from Superitendent Boone:

 

Today has been a very busy but uneventful day!  Let me provide an update on two situations – North High School and Worcester East Middle School.

 

North High School

 

Marco emailed you on Tuesday to inform you of a bomb threat at North High School and a couple of fights that erupted after students returned to the building from the evacuation due to the bomb threat. Since that time, Marco has continued to work with Lisa Dyer and her administrative team and WPD to investigate those fights and to investigate things that have been posted on social media alleging rumors of school disruption and perhaps violence at the school today. Our investigation has determined that Tuesday’s fights were planned and not related to the bomb threat. WPD investigation deemed that the rumors or threats were not credible. As a result, we made a decision to ask WPD to have an increased presence at the school today.  Additionally, Mrs. Dyer sent a ConnectEd message to parents and staff last night informing them of the rumors/threats that were posted and that the police investigation did not deem them to be credible and that normal school operations would occur on Friday.  Additionally, she informed parents of the police presence that would be on campus today. Also this morning, one of the local radio stations was broadcasting inaccurate and inflammatory information regarding the events that were alleged to occur at the school today. As a result, some parents came to the school to pick up their children early. Today there were 599 students absent.  We anticipated some absences due to the rumors of incidents.

 

Marco and I spent the entire day today at the school and there were no incidents. He has also held hearings with students from the Tuesday fights and appropriate disciplinary action has been taken. Along with Jen Roy, we have responded to media inquiries regarding the school status and events. I want to commend Lisa Dyer, her administrative team, teachers and students for all they did to create a normal instructional environment at the school.  WPD officers on site today also commented on their professionalism and obvious existence of systems to handle school operations.

 

Worcester East Middle School

 

Just prior to dismissal today, a student reported to an assistant principal that they had received a text indicating that a shooting would occur at Worcester East Middle School. WPD was called and responded to the school.  Dismissal occurred normally and without incident. We will continue our investigation into that situation. We feel strongly that this text was related to the other activities within the North Quadrant.

 

We will continue to monitor social media and other pertinent information throughout the weekend...Dr. Rodrigues and I will also have a presence at both schools at some point during the day on Monday.

 

petition from the EAW on North High

EAW petition regarding staffing at North High
North High faculty has signed the petition to you
referral here is to budget
"largest or one of the largest population of WPS  students but of the high schools it has the second lowest or the lowest number of staff"
"more staff in the building, is more people in the halls, more staff on duty"
"North High is a great school, and there are a tremendous number of great kids in that building"
numbers haven't kept up with the numbers of students
"you can do more with less under a block schedule"
"while we appreciate and recognize that it has been worked on, it needs more to be worked on"
guidance situation, "way way out of line with what it should be"
Petty: will have this at the budget meeting
Boone: certainly appreciate the communication from North faculty
"exemplifies the difficult recommendations made to the School Committee" last year
transition from block to
76.6 to 91...added nearly 20 teachers over last four budget
North High only high school slated to receive additional teachers this past year, due to enrollment
O'Connell: supplement from enrollment report for numbers in classes when sent to budget
also let North know when the budget hearing is
numbers at have grown substantially
same issue will arise this spring
staffing that are most vital to us
Monfredo: as a former principal that the schools go through
Novick: passing along from Miss Biancheria need for promise of students in building and new building being met
budget priority setting session
Foley: reconcile numbers that are here
Hearing this Saturday at Nashoba at 11 on the foundation budget (PLEASE COME!)
special education costs are costing $35M more a year
health insurance costs more than $25M more a year
if people could make it, it would be a powerful statement to make