The Supreme Court endangers trans students through the shadow docket

 On Monday night, through their so-called shadow docket, in which a case isn't argued before them and they weigh in, anyway, the Supreme Court further endangered trans kids. The case is  Mirabelli v. Bonta out of California, in which parents are challenging the California law that bars school districts from outing trans kids to their parents. 

Recommended read: Amici brief in Foote v. Ludlow

 

I just want to offer a strong recommendation that if you're around school districts, you give the amici brief filed by sixteen Attorneys General yesterday (including AG Campbell of Massachusetts) a read. It does a really nice job of outlining the public interest in public education, the purview school districts have to make policies for their educational systems, and the interest schools have in protecting and supporting trans students.

Passing along from Dr. Monárrez

The Worcester School Committee, as I've mentioned in my video updates, are now getting Friday afternoon updates from Dr. Monárrez. There were a few notes in this week's that I thought others might find useful, as they update on items of concern in the community:

School Safety Audit: A Request for Proposals has been developed to conduct a safety audit of our district and school facilities. The audit will include a review of existing practices, policies and procedures. We will also be looking at ingress and regress at our schools. The audit will provide recommendations for the administration to consider. 

Development of MOU with School Liaison Officers: As shared at the School Committee meeting, administration will be meeting with the Acting City Manager and city police to review a draft MOU. The MOU language is being developed with our legal counsel. Once the MOU draft is ready we intend to ask the Safety Task Force to review and provide input. The final draft MOU will be brought to the Committee on August 18 for review. We will continue to review the appropriateness of the MOU throughout the first quarter and recommend adjustments as deemed necessary. A detailed report will be provided at the August 18 meeting. 

Comprehensive Wellness Services and Supports Plan: Under the leadership of Dr. Morse, the Office of Social Emotional Learning, Office of Equity and Human Resources will be developing a comprehensive plan for how we provide wellness support for our youth, families and staff. The development begins with an analysis of the current state of programs and services in the district. The School Committee will be updated periodically as the plan is developed.

Legal opinion regarding health authorities in the Worcester Public Schools

 We received this yesterday evening from Mayor Petty. Sharing in light of today's T&G which (sigh) gets it wrong:

Mr. Mayor,

With respect to a mask policy for the Worcester public schools, there is shared jurisdiction among the Worcester School Committee, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and the Worcester Board of Health (BOH). The interplay of such shared jurisdiction is nuanced.

A BOH regulation that imposes a masking requirement that is effective for a longer period than a policy issued by DESE or the School Committee takes precedence. Absent a BOH regulation, a DESE policy that is in effect longer than a School Committee policy would take precedence.

DESE has announced that its mask policy will be lifted on February 28, 2022. The BOH regulation is in effect until the Board rescinds it. The Board has indicated that it will consider that on March 7, 2022. The School Committee policy is likewise in effect until rescinded by the Committee.

As it stands, after the repeal of DESE’s policy the BOH regulation and the School Committee policy will each be in effect. If the BOH rescinds its regulation on March 7, or sooner, the School Committee policy would control after February 28. However, a rescission of the School Committee policy prior to rescission of the BOH regulation and/or the DESE policy would not render the BOH regulation or DESE policy moot and unenforceable.

In sum, the School Committee can maintain a mask requirement longer than either DESE or the BOH. However, rescission of the School Committee mask policy prior to the rescission of either DESE’s policy or the BOH regulation would not negate either of those entities’ policies if they were still in place.

Under the current circumstances, absent sooner action of the BOH, there is a mask requirement for Worcester schools until at least March 7.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Michael E. Traynor

City Solicitor

FY22 Worcester School Committee budget deliberation: round 1

 writing these up later for both my and your use

The budget is online here. The schedule of accounts we're using is here. My memo to my colleagues is here.

Worcester Public Schools FY20 budget round two (not a liveblog)

I came in about an hour into budget deliberations, just in time to hear a motion from Mr. O'Connell to cut $500,000--yes, half a million dollars--from the adminstration account.
That's this account:

That's also this account (at the top):

(and in that case, note that the majority of what is reported as central administrative spending under the foundation budget is spent by the city and credited as school spending.
This isn't fiscal prudence; this is just reckless disregard for good governance.

A motion to cut $20,000 from rentals earlier apparently passed. I don't know who made the motion, but presumably it wasn't made in connection with any real facilities planning despite this:

Miss Biancheria made a motion to cut the $85,000 for the superintendent's secretary; that seems oddly personal.
After specifically asking about the funding level for substitute secretarial coverage and receiving the answer that the account was still underbudgeted (I believe she was told it should be $150K and was $126K; I'll check), Miss Biancheria then cut $10,000 from secretarial coverage.

This, added to the $20K cut from legal last session, then came to $50K, which was added to professional development, which you will no doubt hear about this summer.
You will probably also hear of their "no" votes from Miss Biancheria and Mr. O'Connell, as the budget passed 5-2.
That's on a budget of $364,928,023; including grants, it is $420,886,178. It is a 4.9% increase over FY20.

Worcester Public Schools FY20 budget deliberations round one

It's 4:10 and the committee is all here but the superintendent is not...the budget is here; I've stuck the account order ("recommended") here.
And it looks like they may be starting at 4:15...
Posting as they go

FY20 Worcester Public Schools budget

...appalling long document providing for every conceivable and inconceivable situation and opening up ramifications into everybody's death and remarriage, 'covered,' as Murbles observes, 'by THE WILL' (in capitals).
Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
because I think of this line every year when the budget comes out!

Let's talk about the Worcester Public Schools FY20 budget, which the School Committee will take up at 4 pm this Thursday, June 6, as well as in two weeks on June 20, also at 4 pm. Remember, if you don't want to download the whole massive thing, you can go to this page and click into the section you're interested in. It's been posted online since May 10.

IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS: DON'T PANIC!  Yes, the document and the numbers are big, but that's just because it is a big system. You can do this! I recommend starting with page 7, which is the beginning of the Executive Summary, which will walk you through what is changing in this budget, then where the money is coming from, what impacts this budget, what this budget doesn't do, and what to watch for all in the following seven pages. And if you have questions, send them along!

NSBA '19: Political officials and social media

This presentation is by Linda M. Trujillo of Walsh Gallegos Treviño Russo & Kyle P.C. and Kate I. Noble, Sante Fe Public Schools Board president. This is something I've been watching as there have been rulings in other parts of the country around the rights of the public to public officials' social media postings and to being able to interact with them thereon.

"three cases that will give you no sense of stability"
"I may even be able to confuse you even more"

Worcester School Committee deliberates FY19

What the School Committee is reviewing is the line item budget, which is online here. Personally, I'm keeping the Table of Contents, which is hyperlinked, opened and jumping from there.
The order in which it is suggested that they review accounts is here (which this year is the order in which the budget book is arranged, non-salary, then salary accounts).
Posting as we go once we start, which clearly isn't yet, as no one is here:

Worcester School Committee meetings next week

Two subcommittees and a full committee meeting!
It's not actually clear from the online postings what is going to be discussed at the subcommittee meetings; it's just everything that has been sent to that subcommittee. That's not best practice on agenda postings; here's my guess from what has backups.

Monday, there's a Finance and Operations subcommittee meeting (5pm). It looks like a lot of the items are facilities repair related (most without a backup); you can see the list of big projects done in cooperation with MSBA (costing more than $60M total since 2012)  here. In other words, the answer to "why haven't we used bonds?" is "we have."
Because cell phones are always with us, there is a report on that.
The one to watch, of course, is the quarterly budget update. It's in much better shape for second quarter (free cash transfer) with a projected ending balance of -$177, 761...still negative, but better. The report is here.
Note that legal was cut by $30,000 and now is over that amount. Workers compensation continues to be over the budgeted amount (remember when there are proposed cuts during deliberations). Special education tuition is eight new students since June (and I don't understand the last sentence in that paragraph...meaning it was more like $700K?). Translation--in two accounts--has been flagged as underfunded in the past, as well.
The good news on utilities is that the solar panels are working; the bad news is that Nelson Place is getting fewer solar panels than planned? Also, crossing guards are not an account in which one wants to see a balance! There are some account transfers on this one.


Tuesday, Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports meets at 5. There's a response to an (old; my name is on it) item on reviewing what instruction there is on coding, for which the response is this:

There's an item on wrestling teams and one on the reading curriculum. 

The amendment to the Worcester East Middle innovation school plan has no academic or instructional backup, no support from teams at the school or anything else; it just reports enrollment. As I think of all of the work that went into the innovation plan, this is pretty appalling. 

The one item that may be of most interest is the upcoming school calendars. 

On Thursday's full meeting, the report of the superintendent is her goals for the year. They are: 

• completing the new superintendents' induction program
• providing high quality learning opportunities and resources to all students: the benchmarks are around AP, linking to Khan Academy (!), and then by subject area
• developing a district technology plan...perhaps they could start with the one from five years ago. This includes "scaling computer science," redoing the website by 2018, and providing "equitable access to mobile technology."
• providing effective professional development with a list of professional development plans
• continuing to analyze district data: with measurements having to do with dual enrollment, tiered support, gifted instruction, 
• developing a positive school climate: with references to some initiatives

...

As a response to the frequent "advertise, advertise" item, the district apparently is being rebranded; beware of reports having no dollar figure attached.

There's a list of the schools that have students from Puerto Rico.

Relatedly, the $5000 came through, and Worcester is using it on a "homeless liaison."

There is a request that the School Committee accept: 

• $450 to the Art Department at Doherty Memorial High School in memory of Jeffrey Gustafson.
• $300 to the Special Education Department at Grafton Street School in memory of Elisha Inferrera.

There are requests for the following:

• Request that the Superintendent create an updated Health and Wellness Curriculum for middle and high school students. (Petty, joined by all of the committee; held from the last meeting)
• Request that the Administration provide a report on the accountability changes made by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (Monfredo)
• Request that the Administration provide a progress report on the Hanover Academy at Burncoat Middle School. (McCullough)
• To consider joining forces with the Brockton Public Schools as a plaintiff in its School Funding Lawsuit. (Comparetto)
• Request that the Administration provide a report on changes in principal leadership and its plans to hire new principals.(Comparetto)
• Request that the Administration provide a report on its efforts to attract a diverse pool of teachers and administrators in the Worcester Public Schools. (Comparetto)
•  To consider a review of a publication entitled Teaching Hard History: American Slavery from the Southern Poverty Law Center.(Comparetto)
• To support Senate Bill No. S249-An Act to involve youth in civic engagement, a new bill filed on Beacon Hill by State Senator Harriette Chandler. (Monfredo)
• Request that the Administration provide an update on the ways in which education is provided to staff and students, in light of the opioid crisis, as a result of the passage of the recently enacted Marijuana Law. (Biancheria)

There is a 6 pm executive session for three workers' comp cases and a grievance.

Massachusetts Council of School Attorneys 2017 Annual Meeting

First up: Rhoda Schneider from DESE
"change is constant in this field...there's a reason we went into public education, or for many of us, school law...there are changes in education and in law every day...that keeps our practice dynamic"

New bilingual law: LOOK act
to design and tailor work with English learners
there will be guidelines and regulations: rolling out over the course of the next six months or so
"every reason to hope this law will be a benefit"

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday, October 5

You can find the agenda here. There is also an agenda for an executive session for litigation on discipline of a teacher; the regular agenda posts three litigation items on worker's compensation and negotiations with custodians, nurses, and computer technicians.

The report of the superintendent will be "will be a summary of initiatives in process and planned in this school year" with a backup to come.

There is the usual beginning of school rounds of appointments, transfers, resignations, and retirements. The committee is also being asked to approve the appointment of a number of nurses (a power reserved to School Committees in Massachusetts).

There is an update on Ch. 74 and other career pathways at North and at South.

There are a series of responses to sharing information with students about various programs.

Mr. O'Connell is requesting the committee consider the resolutions that will be before the MASC Delegate Assembly on November 1. The committee has previously voted to make Ms. Colorio their delegate.

The administration is asking for authorization to rent space for parking school buses (this would be the buses the district owns; there's no backup).

There are a number of prior fiscal year payments (which I'll post if I get a chance).

Mr. Monfredo would like a report from the Wellness Committee, and a program on secondary allergens.

Mr. O'Connell wants to develop a process for consulting on school improvement plans.

Ms. Colorio is asking about a confidential drug hotline.
Relatedly, Miss Biancheria is asking:

Request that the Administration develop a protocol to train teachers to handle students in need of drug education and indicate how teachers can develop ways by watching, looking and listening to deal with problems of substance abuse.

...which seems a smidge...problematic.

Miss Biancheria is also suggesting the use of in-house attorneys rather than hiring one (one should perhaps note that school committees having legal differences with their municipality is not unknown, even currently).

There are a series of donations ((coming through on a single item!).

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. 

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday, January 5

The agenda is here.
The report of the superintendent is on MCAC college application day.
There are a few resignations and appointments.
The ongoing saga of there no longer being civil service exams for custodians continues.
Administration is back with a neat little spreadsheet comparing the cost of legal services; the Worcester Public Schools' amount is average (by percent of district spending). It may be worth noting here that Worcester doesn't charge back an amount for use of the city solicitor's office for legal services. Also, I'm curious about Boston's revolving fund.
Worcester won't be submitting an application to the MSBA Information Technology Loan program, as the district has maxed out its Erate amount and so isn't eligible.
In response to Miss Biancheria's request for an update on window projects, the committee has a full update on summer/fall facilities work. 
There is a response on the evaluation of principals (not a lot of detail; mostly who does it).
Mr. O'Connell is looking for information regarding the "successor agreement," which I'm assuming is the updated settlement with the Department of Justice; I'd heard there was one, but I haven't seen it or any mention of it anywhere. 
He's also looking for updated school websites.
There are a series of recognitions (someone may want to make a call about who gets music played during committee meetings and who doesn't...?) and requests for acceptance of a series of donations.
Mr. Monfredo would like to raise substitute pay to $85 a day in the next fiscal year.

There is also an executive session on PCBs (again) and a grievance.

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

legal opinion

O'Connell: substantial discussions
concern in areas around the open meeting law in various areas
"at least get a legal opinion"
"worth at least an inquiry...series of one to one meetings"
imprimatur of meetings
"full meeting of the public to ask questions"
Boone: "I have already sought that legal opinion from the city solitctor"
having briefings with school committee members individual is appropriate
citing the open meeting law:
"There are three separate public conversations already scheduled for this session"
City Council : May 27, 4 pm
School Committee: June 5 and June 19, 4 pm
"the document has been presented...to highlight what aspects are there...the document is the document"
item filed, with a request that legal opinion be forwarded
Petty: "I know we're not in violation of that part!"

Legal counsel

O'Connell: times of Prop 2 1/2, share resources for school department by depending less on outside legal counsel
city solitictor office developing expertise in education law
sharing legal non-negotiation resources
Petty: I thought David Moore already did a lot of this for me
Boone: currently, the only outside counsel the schools use is negotiation and special education
"every member of our senior team has the law department on speed dial"
constantly working very closely with HR
"I would need some additional clarity on where we are not using them"
O'Connell: "had more of the work in combination litigation and negotiation"
"when we had more direct" role in administration
"student disciplinary matters"
Boone: I think my assessment is we are using the law department outside the areas identified
O'Connell: not using visibly using law department, areas in which we aren't using legal counsel and we should
Novick: motion to file
Foley: cover this basis very well
duplicate item, due to looking at cost savings and services
O'Connell: if item is pursued at standing committee
item withdrawn

grant fee

Monfredo: grant process fee
School Committee "possesses the exclusive authority" to set grant rates
asks that MASC give us a legal opinion
filed an item that the issue be resolved by October
"how long can we wait?"
O'Connell: "perhaps look at other options"
can bring a declaratory judgment action through Superior Court
"not adversarial, basically asking a Superior Court to make a decision"
Petty: send to City Manager as well

Finance and Operations report

Foley reporting out:
Three areas of note in shortfalls:

• personal services: higher than usual legal costs
• tuition account: third party services and tuition
• workers' compensation: continue to underfund it at budget time

F&O will have a report coming out on workers' comp in our next meeting, so we can better and more accurately budget for FY15
O'Connell notes that this year's budget had no changes made in the budget from administration's proposed budget, that FY13 had only one minor change
asks about special education and tuition
Allen: "the budget is a living, breathing document which changes every day"
number of special education students has changed since budget was passed
looking to fund workers' comp at an "appropriate" level for FY15
O'Connell: why is special ed going up?
Rodrigues: moving population, increasing need, increasing specificity
O'Connell: do we need workers' comp insurance (so they can look at what we do to see if we can bring down workers' comp)?
Allen: "work closely with the city" on workers' comp; have done analysis and work place training
O'Connell suggest revisiting the question in February and March