Worcester Public Schools COVID-19 FAQ

An updating post of questions, queries, and the best information I have; please also note the Massachusetts FAQ for further information

You're reading it right: Classical was a different building, and
what's now the administration building opened as English High.

The Worcester schools are closed. What now?
The schools have all been thoroughly cleaned since they were closed last week.
If you are staff, you can report to school today from 8-12 to retrieve anything you need, including class pets (!), plants, food, and your Chromebook.
If you are a student, you can report to school from 10-6 tomorrow to retrieve anything you need from school (and please take any food out of your lockers!).
If a student has medication at school, that can be picked up from the nurse from 8-12 today or from 10-6 tomorrow. Only parents can collect controlled substances, though students over 12 can get their epipens, insulin, and inhalers.

But aren't we supposed to be staying apart?
Yes, which is why we need all those coming to be FOCUSED: get in, get what you need, and get out. No stopping to catch up, as much as it is a temptation.

What if kids are sick? May they designate someone to do it for them?
Yes, please do!

What if I can't get my stuff?
The schools will be locked and it will be locked in a building with no one in it but the custodial staff.

Do I have to go?
No, if you don't need anything from school, you don't have to go. Packets will be mailed to students who don't come to their schools on Tuesday. If you don't need to come DO NOT COME! STAY HOME! PLEASE!

What then? 
The schools again will be thoroughly cleaned, and then they will be closed to all but custodial staff.

I heard that...
Okay, hold up: Worcester gossips like a small town. Please let's be very careful about what we're hearing and from whom. The City is holding daily press briefings which are being streamed online, and every elected official I know is scrambling to get as much accurate information out as possible. Please, don't pass along "I heard that" stuff on social media. Check it.

Okay, what I heard is that the Worcester Public Schools have a person associated with the schools with a positive test.
No. We are still waiting for the results of the tests of those associated with North High and Chandler Magnet as of Monday morning.
UPDATE: as announced by City Manager Ed Augustus this afternoon, those three results are back and they are NEGATIVE

What if they come back positive?
First, we'd be the third or fourth district in Massachusetts to have a positive test. Second, it would trigger a tracing of all those with whom those who tested positive have been in contact, so YES, families would be informed and given further direction.

What about learning?
Excellent question!
First, please note that Massachusetts, as a state, has no statewide provision for remote learning. There is a small, now cancelled, pilot of remote learning, mostly in Franklin County around snow days. There are also two virtual schools. But K-12 public education in Massachusetts CANNOT simply move online.
Thus whatever is given are resources for learning, not assigned work. The WPS website has a section for this, and packets are being sent home to all students, as well, as we understand not all families have online access, and it shouldn't be a priority as all else is being dealt with.

What counts?
Yesterday, principals were told that any work assigned before March 12 will count. The quarter is scheduled to end April 3, which is still true.

Do we have to make up these days?
No. The state has said that schools must go through their scheduled 185th day; as Worcester has already used five snow days, June 17th remains our last day.

Are we going to go back on April 6?
We don't know. Told you'd I'd give you the best information I have. It's important to note that the superintendent--and most superintendents who announced closures!--said "at least" April 6, and if you look at the banner on our website, it says that as well.

Are we going to go back at all?
We don't know. The CDC has now said that closures of eight weeks or more may be most effective in mitigation.

What about MCAS?
We don't know yet. The federal government is allowing states to apply for a waiver for the testing requirement under ESSA. We do not know if Massachusetts has applied, and they're not saying. If Massachusetts does apply and is granted such a waiver, the Legislature would also need to act, because our requirement is written into state law.
As the superintendent noted in the paper, however, we aren't going to be in school on March 24 for the 10th grade ELA, so something will need to change.

What about SATs? APs?
We don't know yet. Many testing locations across Massachusetts were closed Saturday, cancelling SATs. The College Board has now cancelled the May 2 SAT.
On APs, the College Board so far has offered to extend the testing dates, but it's going to depend on how long schools are closed.

Are people being paid?
All full year, school year employees of the Worcester Public Schools are being paid. This includes hourly employees and long-term subs (and yes, even crossing guards!). Per administration, "The Worcester Public Schools intend to treat these days as if school is in session and will continue to pay employees as if days are worked. Given that these are paid days, you may be expected to conduct official work, be assigned to work onsite, or complete professional development on these days."
And yes, payroll will keep working, though they're moving to some of that to being remotely done. Also, note that those who pick up checks at DAB usually are now having them mailed to their homes.

What about feeding kids?
Yes, we are! All those under 18 in Worcester can show up at any of the following sites to get a weekday breakfast and lunch:

Have further questions? Comment, email, or call! 

Worcester School meetings this week

Two meetings this week:
The Finance and Operations subcommittee meets on Tuesday at 5. The agenda is here.

The part to watch on that (and arguably the most important thing that will end up on Thursday's meeting's agenda) is the second quarter update on the FY17 (current year) budget.

A $375K gap is a lot of ground (yes, non-Worcester readers, even in a $300+M budget) between now and June. You can see that the City Manager's partial filling of the hole left by the Quality Kindergarten grant helps; the city's contributing $280,000. Since the Quality K grant for Worcester was $750K, though, that doesn't get us all the way there.

Also, note what else is going on on the quarterly update:

• rarely do you hear anyone in Worcester talk about special education tuition. That account, though, is now $596K over what was budgeted last June. To interpret this paragraph: "based on student fiscal responsibility" means that kids have moved districts, and we've now sorted out that Worcester has to pay for them. The "approved tuition rate increases for residential placements" means the cost went up for schools kids live at (and this has to be approved the state; it has been). "This account also represents the processing of several necessary prior year payments" means some of this is FY16;  and "as well as new student placements for the current fiscal year" means that new IEPs are still coming through. Remember that the foundation budget only recognizes 1% of the district enrollment as out-of-district special education (and not actual students or costs), and that the circuit breaker, which covers extraordinary costs, is also underfunded (for Worcester, by $294,500 for FY17). It's probably past time to start talking about this.
• because of the ongoing flat funding of the WPS capital account, the district isn't buying new buses at the rate required, so they're increasing the number leased: they're adding adding a special education route, increasing rental use for the transitions program, adding two midday routes through the end of the year, and "The district is developing contracts for the lease of 10 buses during later this fiscal year." The account is projected at $156K over at this point; watch this for FY18.
• Workers' comp. Still over.
• Personal services had some movement due to bringing special education services back to the district, but there's some things going on here besides that: an increase in legal (ok, contract negotiations year, plus the ongoing PCD-ness); translation services (underfunded in about every district serving high numbers of first-language-other-than-English speakers);  security guard contracted rates (has anyone asked why we still have them when we have cops in the schools?); and "nursing services contract rates," (?) as well as "an increase with necessary student services" (and I don't know what that is).
• A balance of over $500K is still in instructional materials; given the above, I have a sneaking suspicion that the schools aren't going to see their remaining $10/pupil.
• And hey! Money saved on utilities!

Also on the agenda: bus tracking (hey, pilot testing before the end of the year!) and running totals on how much the state has underfunded charter reimbursement from FY12 on. 

The full committee meets on Thursday; the agenda is here, and it's a long one, because there was an extra week between meetings. As a result, the following is not in agenda order, but re-sorted into one that is a little easier to follow.
The report of the superintendent is on AVID. 

There are a few appointments and a number of requests for congratulations.

There's (apparently? no backup) a report coming back on window replacements. How the district plans to deal with PCB's is also in there, so perhaps it will be dealt with at least partly in executive session. 

There's a request to approve the update of the agreement with the Collaborative.
They're also being asked to approve the innovation plan for Goddard Elementary.
They're being asked to update the policy on physical restraints (the state adopted new regulations a bit ago on this).

The committee is being asked to accept a donation to Clark Street to encourage families to visit libraries over the summer.
They're also being asked to accept a donation to Worcester Tech for their science fair.
They're being asked to accept a donation from Target to Woodland Academy for the annual Freedom Trail trip.
They're being asked to accept a donation from Fallon for SAT testing for all juniors.
They're being asked to accept accept the Secondary Transition Systemic Improvement Grant for $37,000, which is to improve how high-need kids on IEPs are transitioned out of services from the public schools.
They're being asked to accept the Biobuilder grant for $28,000, which builds on the biotechnology programs at North, Doherty, and Tech, and includes a $500 stipend for students who complete the program.
They're being asked to accept a $10,000 donation for a scholarship from DCU.
They're being asked to approve a prior fiscal year payment of $2,066.40 to a parent for transportation.
They're being asked to accept a donation of $3,000.00 from the Patterson Family Foundation & Scholastic Reading Club for Chandler Elementary.
The audit is in! But not yet attached; being sent to F&O.

Mr. O'Connell is concerned about the edge of Tatnuck Magnet's property; truck traffic from CSX; the federal budget; the update on state accountability (for which comments are due April 5).

He also would like the city to consider issuing bonds to replace schools more quickly.
He also thinks we should have a literary magazine.

Miss Biancheria would like to know which schools are using Mass Work-Based Learning Plans.
She'd like to know about the online program being offered Creamer.
And she'd like a schedule of STEM programs. And a report on the bullying conference.


Mr. Monfredo wants all teachers to read "Casey at the Bat" to students during the week of May 29th.
He would also like the committee to express its concern at the federal budget.
He also wants to celebrate "Heart Health month."
And he's accepting donations for his annual book drive.

Ms. Colorio wants to create a task force "to investigate and seek solutions to drug and alcohol problems in the schools." She's also asking for a report on the Massachusetts ESSA plan and what changes that might bring, and a report on the mathematics and ELL (I think she means ELA?) standards, both of which were voted last week.
She also would like to create "a Hotel and Restaurant within a vacant Worcester public school." Which we don't have any of.

There is also an executive session at 6 pm on negotiations with the teachers' union, two grievances, and (you guessed it!) PCB litigation. 

NSBA Trainers conference on ESSA

I'm in Columbus, OH this week for the National School Boards Association Trainers conference. We're getting an update from the Ohio School Boards Association on the Every Child Succeeds Act. 

updating as we go...
Initial comment "This gives so much power back to the state...all that control...still needs to be developed" Important for school boards to stay involved as states develop their own plans under ESSA

SATs keeping women out of elite colleges?

Interesting study:

“It’s perplexing,” says Michael Bastedo, an associate professor of education at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a co-author of a report on the study. “You would think that women’s advantages nationally, with their higher high-school grades, would translate into larger advantages at elite colleges.”

Mr. Bastedo and his fellow researchers sought to explain why that hadn’t happened. Using nationally representative student data from the high-school senior classes of 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2004, they tested three hypotheses. One was that women had applied to the most-selective colleges at lower rates than men did. Another was that colleges had built preferences for men into their admissions processes.

But the researchers found evidence for another explanation: gender disparities in standardized measures of academic ability that colleges value highly. On average, men outperform women on the SAT. That, combined with the importance attributed to test scores in admissions offices, they wrote, creates preferences for men “that drive women’s underenrollment in these institutions.”

And incidentally, here's FairTest's list of test optional schools.

Family income = a top ten list

Everyone would like an easy answer in education.
We want an easy way to tell the good schools from the lousy ones. Thus the top ten list.
Lists give us the illusion of control over something that is complicated. They're neat, and they feed into our human wish for a narrative of winners and losers.
It is, however, an illusion, and this recent version is again based on factors that tell us very little about education in those schools.
GoLocalWorcester creates their top high school list through three factors:

• SAT scores (broken apart by math and English)
• MCAS scores (broken apart by math and English)
• per pupil spending

Let's take these backwards: per pupil spending in Massachusetts is (as I've gone over here before) at least partly determined by the foundation budget (here's Luc Schuster for a refresher, should you need it). The minimum per pupil funding required is going to average out to be higher for a community with more special education pupils, or, more tellingly, for vocational pupils. To ignore this is to ignore the heart of how education is funded in Massachusetts.
Now, clearly, every community on here is not settling for minimum funding of education, and certainly that matters. A community that chooses to fund education over what the state requires is choosing to make education a priority*
However, that does go along with two other things: first, it argues that the community, and that community's parents, prioritize education over other choices, and perhaps have the freedom to do so. A public community choice argues that private choices--around how family funds are spent, around how family free time is spent--may well also be educationally focused, and that the parents of children in that community can make those choices (are not, for example, working several jobs to make ends meet, or are adjusting to a new culture, or are not present for the child at all).
It also goes along with the communities that have resources they feel can be freed for education. A quick glance down this list bears that out. These are communities with high property values and higher family incomes.

And that brings us to the other two data points used.

Tests are numbers and people believe numbers. We have a tendency to think that numbers exist in a vacuum, swayed by nothing outside.
SAT's, however, clearly correlate with family income**. You can see here for the latest round of this analysis. This, along with other troubling correlations including race, is why a growing number of colleges have stopped using them (well, that, and they're not a great predictor of college success, either).
The MCAS suffers from the same correlations; as W. James Popham points out, it's really difficult to design a standardized test that does not (more from him here; see also Alfie Kohn).
Thus we've got three shots at family income, plus a dash of the foundation formula measuring what makes great central Massachusetts high schools.
Unfortunately, this does nothing to help us discover what those schools do with the students who walk in the door, whatever their family income or other background.
This just isn't a useful measure of education.

___________________________________________________
*I'm ignoring here the school GLW declared number one, Mass Academy of Math and Science. MAMS is unlike any other school in the state, in that it is funded directly from Boston. To be honest, I have no idea how their per pupil funding is calculated. They also are a school of only 11th and 12th graders that has strict admission standards, requires pupils to provide their own transportation, and draws from all over central Mass, so they're an outlier all around. I'd put Advanced Math and Science Academy in a similar category, except for the funding, as they, too, have control over their school population (as a charter).
**If you follow the links, you'll see there's a correlation with parent education level, as well, but it is outweighed by family income.
And yes, post hoc ergo propter hoc.

AP tests

What happens with kids who don't have the money for AP tests?
They can get help through the school; also kids eligible for free or reduced lunch have their fees waived.
They can get that help through guidance or their teachers.
Mullaney points out that multiple AP tests gets expensive (she has a kid taking four); might there be a discount for multiples (she asks in jest, but raises a good point).

SAT optional

For those of you following the SAT end of the standardized testing debate, there's this article in today's Inside Higher Ed. Following on last year's landmark report questioning the use of the SAT in admissions decisions, the National Association of College Admissions Counseling is moving to carry out some of the recommendations of the report, most notably requiring training for admissions staff in the appropriate use of standardized tests in admissions. Some staff have received training only from the testing companies themselves...something of a conflict of interest.

(hat tip: Smith NewsTracker)