A few things to watch from last week's Worcester School Committee meeting

I mean, I always tell you to go watch the budget presentation, literally. It starts about 15 minutes in.

• There was some updating of minutes necessary, but the upshot is that there will be, going forward, a standing item on the Finance and Operations subcommittee agenda on transportation, a form for families and students to fill out to report late and missing buses, and reports on that weekly posted online and sent to the School Committee until we get an app and can report from that. So far, no sign of the form. 



...in the meantime, let us know...

• This was coming out of Miss McCullough's subcommittee, but, as was noted in the T&G, there's some revision going on around admission to Worcester Tech. Note that there is also a larger state effort around equity in admission that may require further revision. 
• Mrs. Clancey's item to provide social media updates in multiple languages passed for implementation, so watch for that.
• I asked for a report on all fees paid by families of Worcester Public School students for classes. When this comes back, I'd appreciate some reflection on if we've missed anything, as we are supposed to be offering a free public education.
• The dress code is back in Governance, but we've also sent this to the Student Advisory Council. This needs student and family input!
• My request that we pass a resolution, calling on the City administration to not attribute work on Duffy Field or Foley Stadium's fields stemming from Doherty's construction to the Worcester Public Schools' capital budget passed, 5-2, Monfredo and Biancheria opposing. Here's why that matters: the School Committee does not pass the schools' capital budget. As with all municipal committees, it is passed on the city side. For both North and South, we had to make allowances of various kinds to get athletes to practice space during school construction. For Doherty, it was proposed back at the December meeting that the back field at Foley and Duffy Field (which is a city park) both be astroturfed, to a cost of $5-$7M. As I noted last month, funding this work from the Worcester Public Schools' capital budget of more or less $3M a year would zero our other capital work out for most of two years if not more. We simply cannot afford to have absolutely NO capital work done in our 50 buildings, which have 86% of the delayed maintenance on 60% of the city buildings, for multiple years.
  This was a view shared by most of my colleagues. 

Federal grant audit and other audits

Foley: fewer and fewer recommendations coming forward over time as we change to fit them
Allen: these are not even all of our audits
"This year's management letter does not have any findings for the School Department; these are all city-side findings."
have in the past included student activity accounts; Sullivan and Rogers engaged to review how we do them
majority of findings resulting in the indirect cost rate legal dispute
(this is the city taking 3% when we've authorized their taking 1%)
purchase orders going through a process to be sure they aren't disbarred from doing business
"we assume the city does that check" as we pay them to do
"we will also do the check" now
Foley: "The city did not comply with allowable costs..."
notes that the city is citing HUD in how they are setting their takings

Accept and file

agreed upon accountants' report
change in how costs are reported (reflecting DESE categories)
details of which account categories go into which account
costs reported to state go into those categories: to make sure how we are spending our dollars as we are to do
"we've looked at the way you're spending the dollars and you're following the state guidelines"

administrative charges of city administration called out as not having been updated since 2007
Allen notes that we have an outstanding item on renegotiating the administration agreement; that the city and schools have already met an impasse, and seeking input from DESE
Foley: looking a cuts in Head Start, tutors, IAs...losing $900,000 a year due to the 3% rather than 1%
Allen: "those are positions"

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

Transportation

...which is here. And posting as we go...

Transporting nearly 11,000 students daily
Covering approximately 10,000 miles per day
1.8 million miles per school year

WPS School Committee Policy:
“Free transportation is granted to pupils in grades kindergarten through 12 who
reside two (2) miles or more from the school which they are entitled to attend. The
legal obligation of the School Committee in this respect is limited to provision for
transportation for elementary school children and the School Committee does have
the right, if necessary, to charge for transportation or not provide transportation at
the secondary level regardless of where the student may live.”

I'm not going to copy down all of the numbers here of buses or of how much we're spending on them...go check it out!


If we can use the midday service, it's cheaper for it to be done in house (not true of wheelchair service, which is contracted out); if there is not midday service to be used, it's cheaper for it to be contracted out.

We will need another large bus (WEMS adding 6th grade)
and adding 6 special ed buses

Economou asks why we are busing non-public ed students; Allen: various regs requiring us to do that
"The only way to get some transportation savings is to reduce transportation."
"...the only way to get transportation savings is to make very bad decisions"
Economou wants to know how to make those changes; Allen, would need to change the state law to provide those services.
O'Brien: motion to get legal clarification on what our obligations are, and is there any flexibility there?
...if we bus secondary, we have to bus all secondary (private and parochial students, as well as public students)
Rivera: "they don't conribute to the cost at all for transportation?"
Allen: and transportation doesn't count towards net school spending...could reduce transportation costs by $750,000 if we could cut those buses
Rivera comments that she's floored by this
Fuel costs? About $50,000 for price of fuel

O'Brien asks how much is fuel costs and how much is special ed increases?
Rivera asks why it goes up over the course of the year? Sometimes it's students being processed through a team through the year, but sometimes we're getting new students. Boone adds that the special ed process is a 12 month process; part of that is determining whether that requires transportation (as part of an IEP)...looked at like speech therapy, occupational therapy...

Colorio: who do parents call if they have an issue?
Hennessey: three numbers, depending on the type of transportation
508-757-1463 is Durham's dispatch for the big buses
508-755-3495 is Durham dispatch for special ed
508-799-3242 (or 3241) for special ed run by WPS 
Buses can be called directly from dispatch; Durham buses have a GPS system to determine if the bus had been where and when.

Hennessey notes that there is some leeway given to drivers as to if they can safely negotiate particular streets on slippery days.

Colorio asks if parents could pay to get on buses that are within the two miles (ugh)
Allen: fees are approved by School Committee; cautions that it's a very difficult conversation to have as well (due to free and reduced lunch-eligible students)
Boone: 73% students eligible for free and reduced lunch; we have not added fees, "create a system of the haves and the have-nots"
Colorio: there are other private schools that don't "take advantage of transportation"..why do some take advantage and some do not?

O'Brien here is referring this report to City Auditor DelSignore for review (and possible outside review); Novick says she will vote against, if it is a joint referral. Consultation with the clerk says that this is a Education subcommittee referral, so the F&O committee is not voting on this. Referral to Auditor by City Council.