My comments on the proposed new health and PE standards

 This is a reminder that public comment on the new health and PE standards are open but close August 28th! Review and go comment! 

Good afternoon,

I submit the following comments entirely in my capacity as an individual member of the Worcester School Committee. 

I want first to note that I was overall struck by how strong the standards are. There is clearly a great deal of thought, time, and expertise invested in them. They introduce topics and skills at developmentally appropriate ages and grades, and then build on those as, again, developmentally appropriate. These standards come together as a constructed whole, as one would hope. 

With that general statement, let me then turn to a few specifics.

I was pleased to note the wide variety of experts of various kinds involved in the creation and the review of the standards. There is an enormous scope of information and skills involved in this field; casting the net wide here is wise. 

I was confused by the suggestion on page 7 that "school resource officers" might be among the staff most likely to be involved in these programs. As SROs are very much not instructional staff, why would this be suggested by the Department?

I would suggest that guiding principle 2 (page 10) should include the word "inclusive" regarding the description of the programs. It is not only the perspectives (in principle 3) that must be inclusive; the programs themselves should be.

I very much appreciate that included in grades PreK-2 is a note on weapons and on gun violence(p. 19). I'd suggest that making this more than a parenthetical would be appropriate.

Ensuring that students in grades 3-5 are being taught (under practice 6) on how to find "medically accurate" sources of information (p. 31) is invaluable, and, again, I appreciate that this carries through in later grades.

In grades 6-8, working through the complexities of human trafficking, and also acknowledging situations in which there are barriers to reporting unsafe situations (p. 35) is so very crucial for our students. 

In grades 6-8, the inclusion of food not only as a source of nutrition, but of connection, is so very thoughtful (p. 38)

Turning attention in grades 9-12 to lifetime physical activity (throughout the section) is a fit completion to this standard.

It does seem to me from the district level that this will require health class in every grade for much if not all of a year, as well as full year PE in every grade. While I know that is left to local authority (which I appreciate), it might be well to mention.

Again, I appreciate the time, thought, and attention to this overdue area.

Very sincerely yours,

Tracy Novick 

Mid-January updates from WPS administration

 largely drawn from the weekly communication of Dr. Monárrez to the Worcester School Committee

First, I failed to note her op-ed in last Sunday's Telegram:

As a district we will lead others in the commonwealth and beyond if we are willing to lean in, act courageously, ignore the noise and stay committed to our purpose for existence — educating future leaders of Worcester.

Give it a read if you haven't! 

We actually got this last week, when several of us first heard of the terms of the Old Sturbridge Village lease, but administration did confirm that no such terms are in the leases we have with the Diocese of Worcester for either the St. Casimir or La Familia buildings. 
Relatedly, our lease for St. Casimir is up this year, and this week's agenda has a request for a vote to authorize a lease of space for that program for "three years with two additional three year extensions" for wherever it is that the administration agrees to put the program. There is a similar authorization requested, though for much longer--"a ten year lease with the option of two five year extensions"--for our Transitions program, which is for students in our special education program who are supported until age 22 to prepare them to transition out of the school system, currently housed at the Fanning Building, which doesn't have enough space.

In terms of access to basketball games, which has come up at a few different schools:

High Schools sports foster a sense of community and school pride. It was brought to our attention that our facilities at some of our high schools cannot accommodate large numbers of spectators. We are working with Dave Shea to identify options that will allow for our youth to attend games and not limit access.

And relatedly, specific to Burncoat:

The bid for the new bleachers at Burncoat High School is now posted on the City of Worcester website here. The bid opening date is February 2, 2023 and it is expected the project will be complete for the beginning of the next school year. In the meantime, we are seeing if temporary bleachers are available to expand seating capacity for the remainder of this year. We will also examine any short term options for repair of the gym floor as needed until the school is accepted into the MSBA replacement pipeline.

If you review the posting of the bid, it's a big project: 

The project scope generally includes replacement of existing wood bleachers with new telescoping bleachers and other related work necessary to complete all of the Work of the respective Sections and indicated on the drawings. Construction also includes installation of a new electrical transformer and sub-panel with new feed from existing electrical room. 

And note that our resubmission of Burncoat to MSBA is on this week's agenda! Once through the School Committee, it also needs to be voted by the City Council before submission. 

DESE was in the district on Monday, meeting with the district about our nine Sustainable Improvement Schools; those are designated by where schools are in the state's accountability system, which, as federally required, specifies a lowest performing 10% of schools. Per our update:

Currently these schools are strengthening teaming structures (Instructional Leadership Teams, and Professional Learning Communities), professional development (Science of Reading, Culturally Responsive Practices), and data driven informed decision-making.

I should perhaps note that this, along with the report we had earlier this school year on data, is the first update the Worcester School Committee has received on how we are doing on such state systems in...years. Literally. 

The transition to the city's new enterprise system is starting! Procurement (purchase orders) and bill payments (non salaries) are beginning on February 6, 2023. As a result, we Friday started a limiting of transactions, along with the city. Also, administration has on Thursday's agenda a request for the School Committee to approve the position description of a Workday Implementation Specialist as this BIG (and massively overdue) shift of city systems happens over the next several years.

And note that this week's Worcester School Committee agenda is here.

Oh, and finally: CHECK YOUR BUS INFORMATION this weekend! The Great Undoubling of routes has begun, and some information (whether your route was doubled previously or not) has changed! Please check the student and parent portals for accurate information.

May Street gym floor

If you're interested in donating for a new gym floor for May Street School, you can donate here.

Kids need more gym class

Sorry for the late posting on this one.
You may have caught some mention late last week of a recommendation for more gym class for kids in schools. It's a report from the non-partisan Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (you can read it online at that link for free).

 In this light, the IOM was asked to examine the status of physical activity and physical education efforts in schools, how physical activity and fitness affect health outcomes, and what can be done to help schools get students to become more active.

The recommendations specifically on physical education are: 

 elementary students engage in 30 minutes of physical activity in gym class daily. High school and middle school students should have 45 minutes of physical education. At least half of these classes should consist of vigorous or moderate-intensity exercise, the IOM said.

...in all cases, daily.
Students in the Worcester Public Schools, K-6, have gym class once a week. In grades 7-12, students have gym on a rotating basis; no student has gym for the full school year.

There's thus a MAJOR difference between our reality on the ground and this recommendation. Any increase here would absolutely require increased funding (and I would expect to hear a request for additional time in the day, too, though I'd rather see us to less of some of what we currently do).

The report further recommends:

children should get more exercise during recess, breaks and classroom exercises as well as in after-school sports, the report said. It advised against revoking recess privileges as a punishment for misbehavior at school.

Absolutely agreed!

A bit on my priorities for FY14

Besides the question (below) of administrative costs charged against Net School Spending, I had a few other priorities that I set out last night:

• When we talk about class size, we have to talk not only about teachers; we have to talk about space. We are out of space, and our enrollment is growing. We're projecting 6 classes of 30 or more at Chandler Elementary next fall, none of which we can currently split, because we have nowhere to put them.And that's just at one school. We have to find space, and we have to be clear to the Council and the City Manager: rental or acquisition of space does not count towards Net School Spending. We need to do it anyway.
• Facilities spending, we learned last year when we did the comparison, is 67% of where the foundation budget says it should be (and that number is probably outdated). We're holding the system together with "bubble gum and bandaids" and that only works so well. While spending money on spackle and light bulbs is not glamorous, it is absolutely necessary. Not only is it necessary for us, it is the Mass School Building Authority who asks, as part of our moving to feasibility  what we spend on facilities. If we want 80% reimbursement on new and rehabbed buildings, we have to start spending more on the buildings we already have.
• Facilities aren't just about the buildings: something that this administration (thankfully!) is recognizing as a responsibility is playgrounds. Right now, our playgrounds are undergoing a full review for safety and repair needs. Fixing them is going to cost money.
• Likewise, technology needs to be seen as not just an "extra," but viewed (as was said at the MSBA board on Wednesday) as another utility, like heat and lights. It needs a constant level of spending.
• While we are tackling MassCore for the life of the mind, the life and health of the body concerns me. We need gym class to be not a quarter here or there in high school, but something every student has year round.
• Libraries and librarians. They aren't optional. Moreover, there are districts, I am told, that are facing challenges by the state when it comes to getting their buildings through, because they don't have staffing for their libraries.
• Finally, it's shameful that we have people who work for the schools full time who have to be on public assistance to get by. Our IA's deserve to be better paid for the valuable work that they do. 

We'll be getting the budget in the next month or so (first week of May-ish). I'll do a post later today on what we know of the budget at this point.

Five extra years

If you ever wonder why some of us keep harping on recess and gym class:

 

If you want to know what you can do to tackle this, read here.

TLSS meeting report

public speaking courses and debate: options that we have
recommendation for citywide debate for secondary schools: referral to FY13 budget
use of smartphones in classes: prepare a report on recommendations to our current policy
accountability plans are going to Accountability, as is AP report
gym: sports as gym, report in July
comments on the teacher evaluation
All American City Award (on reading): application being drafted
Family Handbook being updated for 2012 school year
status report on the library plan: O'Connell asking for recommendations on expanding elementary librarians coming back at budget

Foley: debate, "could use raising the level of discourse in the city"
concern about putting into place a program at a particular school
Biancheria: that had been looking to pilot at North, would hope eighth graders at WEMS could join in
Novick: concerns around BMI as a measurement; Boone on working with the rest of the community on intergrating health
Also how accurate is it
cell phone policy recommendation coming back for this coming years policy handbook
also not commenting on things in a timely fashion
Boone suggests taking items up at the full committee level (rather than sending things off to standing committee), and voting immediately

Worcester School Committee: reconsideration

Reconsidering the item regarding gym and sports:
kids will need four years of gym (four quarters) now
can use this outside/sports options for those four semesters
Monfredo: health
O'Connell: students using it "for increased rigor"
make sure the program has standards, goals, guidelines

Mullaney: support this, support even more now that requirement is spread out over four quarters over four years

Novick: concern of how this will be handled, monitored, additional work for guidance, coaches, gym teachers
things done in house that we believe are important

Foley: limited number of students who will take this
additional rigor, coursework


Biancheria: get an update in January
forms that will be completed by those doing this: asks for them in the Friday letter so that "we aren't piecemealing"

Salmonsen: "wonderful idea...in the competitive world of valedictorian..." students who have to take PE or don't have to take PE, and how that figures into GPA
suggests morning calisthenics
 Trobaugh: question on district or state policy

on a roll call
six in favor, one opposed