Board of Ed for April: artificial intelligence task force

 there's a memo here
Tutwiler notes that it is a K-12 specifically, not the Governor's task force
"establish a shared understanding of AI"
"just the beginning...continue to explore the topic and engage with stakeholders"

Two more to read on AI

 Two from this weekend:

• "Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that Turkish high school students who had access to ChatGPT while doing practice math problems did worse on a math test compared with students who didn’t have access to ChatGPT. Those with ChatGPT solved 48 percent more of the practice problems correctly, but they ultimately scored 17 percent worse on a test of the topic that the students were learning."
  Coverage is in The Hechinger Report, and the study itself is here.
  
  
• The New Yorker, if you can get past the paywall, has a piece from Ted Chiang entitled "Why AI isn't going to make art" which includes the following: 
  

  The task that generative AI has been most successful at is lowering our expectations, both of the things we read and of ourselves when we write anything for others to read. It is a fundamentally dehumanizing technology because it treats us as less than what we are: creators and apprehenders of meaning. It reduces the amount of intention in the world.

Some things to read this weekend

please enjoy this tree in Palmer

 I've shared much of this on either Twitter or Bluesky, but for those not on there, or who find this easier:

• I'm sneaking this in here due to her connection with the Worcester Public Schools: Senate President Karen Spilka recently asked for ideas on which woman deserves a statute in the state senate, and here is a suggestion it should be Frances Perkins (graduate of Classical High). 
  
  
• There's new research out on state takeovers of school districts, and, as EdWeek writes: 
  

  Politicians typically pitch state takeovers as efforts to help steer a sinking ship to calmer waters. But existing and emerging research offers a more mixed and less rosy view.

  And speaking of state takeovers, things are not great in Houston. 
  

• You may have heard a lot about Norwegian cell phone bans in school. Here's a blunt list of what was actually found.
  

• The bill that passed the House this week adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which classifies most anti-Zionism as antisemitic is what has been repeatedly called for in public testimony before the Mass Board of Ed; it happened at the January meeting, from the panel invited by Chair Katherine Craven, and then again in February and March. Lest you think it only happens elsewhere. 

• This opinion piece in the New York Times on college admissions spends too much time from the perspective of a wealthy student, but some of the points are useful. Sara Goldrick-Rab, meanwhile, reminds us of community colleges and decisions that need not be made in the spring.

• Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law this week new penalties for those passing a stopped school bus:
  

  Illegally passing a stopped school bus is now classified as a high and aggravated misdemeanor, resulting in a fine of no less than $1,000,12 months in jail, or both.

• A Marin County grand jury found that asking parents to provide school supplies was contrary the California education code:
  

  “Public schools in California are required to provide, at no cost to students or their families, all the supplies, materials and equipment necessary to fully participate at school,” the grand jury states in an introduction to the report. “As a result, it is improper for public schools to distribute lists of school supplies that are required or requested.”

• This piece on rules came in response to the college response to college protests this week, but I thought it applies well to how schools run, too:
  

  We spend our lives being socialized to believe that failure to follow rules is harmful to society. Less remarked upon is the equally important fact that overzealous, unthinking enforcement of the rules is just as harmful to society. Inflexible as rules are, they cannot function effectively without the ability of their enforcers to compare their text to the fluctuating exigencies of the real world. Small-minded determination to use rules as the final word on all human conduct is characteristic of goons, acting with the desperate meanness that comes from the need to have an easy club with which to beat back the imposing intricacy of life.

  And speaking of those, McSweeney's doesn't miss. 

A primer to the 2024-25 Worcester School Committee

 as requested

As I regain today what Justice Louis Brandeis referred to "the most important office,"¹ I offer here in that capacity² a primer to the 2024-25 Worcester School Committee. 

This does not pretend to be exhaustive, but to, as the title notes, present some foundational elements on which to build.

A few notes on this coming week's Worcester School Committee agenda

 You can find this Thursday's agenda here. 

A few things of note:

• You might remember that I put on the agenda and then held a proposal that we endorse the state's proposed health and PE standards. That tops the agenda this week; if you have a thought on that, please get in touch. And if you haven't weighed in yourself, please do! 
  
  
• The conversation we've already been having regarding the School Committee clerk position reporting to the Committee should be resolved to be posted this week. Please take a look at the position description draft  and see if you know anyone who would be great! 
  
  
• We have a public petition from a student, paralleled by an item from Member Kamara, requesting that we move to the observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day, effective this year. Kamara notes in the item that it would align with the city's Human Rights' calendar. 
  
  
• Dr. Monárrez is coming back to us with a draft of her goals for next year (no backup as yet).
  
  
• We're being asked to send a letter endorsing the request for a federal grant for electric school buses.
  
  
• I'm requesting that we acknowledge "the climate emergency in the priorities, policies, actions, and budgeting" of the district.
  
  
• Member McCullough is suggesting hiring 16+ aged students in the summer for custodial work and other seasonal work.
  
  
• We're being requested to raise the salaries for CNAs and LPNs.
  
  
• I compared a boatload of our policies to the state model policies, and that work is all here.
  
  
• And you can meet our new administrators via the presentation at the end. 

Summer meetings start at 4, remember, but we start with executive session for about an hour. Look for the public session around 5.

Recommended reading

 This weekend's New York Times Sunday Magazine piece [gift link] entitled "How a sexual assault in a school bathroom became a political weapon," looking at the Loudoun County schools is a must-read for anyone involved in public education or public policy right now. 
The conclusion: 

“These are really complicated political issues, on which reasonable people can disagree.” But, he said, those fights did implicitly raise a question: “Do we care about learning, or do we care about these symbolic issues that get voters fired up?”

This was more of a zero-sum question than the combatants might wish to admit. A meeting that a school board spent debating a problematic mascot was a meeting that it did not spend on a new learning technology program. A million-dollar settlement over a textbook lawsuit was a million dollars not going to classroom instruction. The school board seats lost, superintendents fired or driven out, exhausted teacher retirements — all of that churn came at a cost, too. 

Quick note on Worcester School Committee process

 Among the items on Thursday's agenda are two on naming: 

• one that's a proposed $350K grant* for Worcester Tech's advanced manufacturing facility in return for calling it the "Gene Haas Center for Advanced Manufacturing" for 15 years
• one from Laura Clancey proposing the alternative school be named after the retiring Michael O'Neil 

In terms of process on these, note that we'll be operating under policy FF on naming**. That requires, in part:

Following the submission of a naming request, the School Committee Chair will specify a consideration period that allows for public comment, following which the Committee will deliberate and vote on the name.

We can handle this a number of ways: hold the items until the fall, considering the summer a time of public input; send it subcommittee for public input; and probably more. The main thing is that "a consideration period" is required. 

UPDATE: the first of these was removed from the agenda. The second was referred to administration, as there is working going on with the alternative programs.

_________________________________

*remember: grants are contracts. I have thoughts here but I am saving them for deliberation.
** yes, the School Committee has a naming policy. Good idea, eh?

What happened at the first April Worcester School Committee meeting?

 with apologies for this taking until now; I got to enjoy a really lovely weekend in Chicago, and am playing catch-up. As always, this is from me as a member of the Committee. 

The agenda is here; the video of the meeting can be viewed here.

I should note that the meeting started with two hours of executive session, including deliberations on the contracts with our bus drivers, our paraprofessionals, and units A & B, which are teachers and assistant principals. It's against the ground rules agreed to by both the EAW and the Worcester School Committee at the beginning of negotiations for me to say any more than that.

The Grafton Street chorus not only sang the National Anthem, but "This Land is Your Land."

Note that among the items on the consent agenda were several relating to recent athletic successes, and some generosity that has gotten the Burncoat High orchestra to Washington, D.C. this week.
(The consent agenda puts a group of items of which approve is reasonably expected, and has us take them with a single vote. Any member can pull an item off the consent agenda for separate approval with a 2/3rd approval.)

I was swamped enough that I didn't get a chance to put up a blog post to explain reconsideration, but if you search the blog, you can find earlier explanations. Both Laura Clancey and I filed for reconsideration on the Governance report, she to send the dress code back to standing committee for further discussion, me to take up the process of the strategic plan now with the report from Hanover Research (contracted to support the work) in hand. 
Reconsideration cannot be deliberated, but the member filing is required to file an explanation as to why with the request for reconsideration. In this case, both reconsiderations passed unanimously, so the dress code is not yet amended  (this is why nothing is done until it passes full committee!) and goes back to standing committee, and the process described by Dr. Monárrez for the strategic plan (let me give you a separate post on that) goes forward. 

We had also held two items (which also get to go first): the Human Resources position description, which, with a few additional edits, we approved; and Sue Mailman withdrew the bill she'd requested endorsement of on vocational school buildings.

The report of the superintendent was on social emotional learning and student mental health supports. Let me note here that we on the Committee have received emails from a number of staff members about planned reorganization of the social emotional learning department; we did hear a bit about that on Thursday in response to questions, and I am confident that we'll hear more.

The report came about 20 minutes into the meeting (if you'd like to review on the video), and included a substantial number of statistics, some of our students specifically, some national, regarding their mental health and resiliency. 

The presentation was about twenty minutes, and it was followed by at least that of questions, so I'd say there's a significant amount of Committee attention to what is being done here and what is still to come.

We approved one prior year payment and three grants, including one for a new meat slicer at Claremont Academy; one for summer work with English learners; and one to fund work with refugee families from Brazil, Central America, and Haiti (the area from which we get the largest number of people currently) in ensuring they are well connected to the school district.

You may have heard we unanimously passed a boycott of Old Sturbridge Village. I wrote about why over here. 

We sent items on the use of AirPods to administration; on vaping detectors to F&O; on signs for North High basketball to the City Council; on suspension of the voluntary uniform policy until there's a way out to Governance; on moving dance teams under athletics to administration.

Administration will be bringing forward a recommendation for a new reading curriculum to Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports subcommittee this coming week after a pilot this year. They've been collating the feedback that they have received from staff; that will go through subcommittee to the full committee. You can find what we know so far here.

We passed a description for the Physical Security Systems Technician (this was in the FY23 budget; it had just never been brought forward); this is the person who runs the "stuff" (like cameras) of our security systems. 

We did some updating on policies, something which you'll see in a number of upcoming meetings; I had noticed a few worrying things in our policies, so over February break, I did a full review of our current WPS policies compared to the state model policies. I'll be putting them on the agenda in batches. The first batch we updated ensured that we are following federal and civil rights legislation in our list of protected classes. This is a substantial list, and it also includes the note on the Crown Act, passed last year. 

We also updated the policy on school calendar (which I thought was a little bit funny); in spring of 2020, the Commissioner dropped 10 school days for the calendar for professional development (due to the pandemic). Worcester changed our policy...and never changed it back. It still said we were going 170 school days. We cannot, of course--our policy doesn't change state regulation!--so we changed it back to 180 days.

Dr. Monárrez will bring back the descriptions of the Director of Nursing and the Director of Climate and Culture positions with the budget, so we can see how they fit. 

We sent a proposed revised Wellness Policy to Governance for consideration.

We sent a proposed Unifed PE to TLSS for consideration.

A proposal from Jermoh Kamara that we endorse S.340/H.583 “An Act enabling all students to thrive: protecting a high quality, diverse educator workforce” which would remove seniority as considered in layoffs, was withdrawn.

A proposal that we endorse H.1367 "An Act to facilitate additional financial student assistance," which would require students to complete the FAFSA in order to graduate (unless they had a signed waiver), was voted down, as was the item accompanying it, to request financial assistance for implementation. 

And that was the meeting! Note that our next regular meeting is Thursday, April 27. 

Notes from November Finance and Operations

 The video is over here; the agenda is here. 

As always, these are my notes as much for me as anyone!

The looming question of having all of this one-to-one technology now has been "and then what?" as all of it has a lifespan, and the one-time funds we used to fund it all were, well, one time. Thus the item that had the longest back up for this meeting this week.

These charts always make me panic me a little, as I find them initially hard to follow, but if you take some time with it, I think you'll work it out. Here's what we have now (this is page 18, as linked above); this is (listed down) what we have now, and then the bars show when they're 'done,' so to speak:

And here's the proposed (leased) replacement cycle (this is page 19 from above): 

The dollar amounts accumulate each year at the bottom, while each individual lease runs multiple years.

Now while this is (bottom line) $750K next year, note that it then goes to $1.6M, to $2.5M, to $3.4M, until in FY28, we're at what becomes a sustained $3.8M. As these are leases, this is an operational expenditure. This thus is a long-term plan for the budget to be regularly setting aside about $4M a year in replacement technology costs by FY28. 

You might remember a bit ago we updated our transportation policies in part because they talk about a "vendor" and we don't have one anymore, but also we had some missing pieces. One piece was policy EEAG, which covers student transportation in private vehicles. This is very much one of those "not having a policy won't save you" situations; we need to have language on this. Mr. Traynor sent some legal guidance back to us, and we'll be recommending, then, a policy that includes his addition. 

And so on to our regular transportation update. This month, we passed two milestones: we now have more full-sized bus drivers than routes (only a few, and remember, the margin is for keeping those routes going!), and MOST of the buses in the district are our new buses! Mr. Allen said that the hope is that by next month, all the new buses will be on site (even if some still need registration and inspection). All permits have been received for the new fueling station on Pullman Street; it's from the same landlord, so we're amending our lease. The hope is to have that operational for February. 
The crunch we (and not just us) have seen around athletic transportation--we've been able only to transport fall athletics after 4, as the first responsibility of the district is to get all students who get buses home from school--should not be an issue for winter (events are at night) and should be alleviated by spring, as we'll then have enough drivers to run both home from school routes and athletic routes at the same time. There is ongoing work with student behavior on buses, ensuring we have appropriate responses and supports. 
And speaking of replacement cycles, there's been a bit of a change of plan for the next set of buses. The School Committee voted to authorize administration to enter into a five year lease for up to 15 buses to replace our original set of buses. The plan was for those to be propane buses, as we make steps forward towards greener technology.
There's two things that have shifted though: first, the ordering time for new buses is so long that there's concern that we wouldn't get the new buses for when this current set of 13 is coming off their lease; plus the federal government changed the electric bus grant. As of now, the thinking is that the district will buy the leased buses (as part of FY24), apply for the federal grant, and see if we can (eventually--timelines on this one are long, too!) add 15 electric buses. We don't want to be running too many kinds of technology at the same time, either. 
Planned schedule for moving trainee drivers into service (which will shift and expand routes) in next month's meeting; Mr. Allen noted that the administration may be requesting additional training staff in order to be sure that those being trained can be moved most efficiently through the process.

Translation during School Committee meetings has been happening in Spanish for two meetings now; adding our other six major languages for our remaining fifteen meetings, estimated at a cost of $57,750, will be funded through ESSER this year, and then the estimated yearly cost of  $84,700 will be added to the FY24 budget. 

We also then attempted to sort out how it is that security guards are assigned to schools--in other words, what the process is. I don't know that I'm any clearer on that process now than I was before the meeting; you can watch the last 15 minutes to see if it makes it clear to you.

This meeting will report out on Thursday; we have back-to-back Worcester School Committee meetings this month, as we pushed our usual first week meeting back a week due to the joint superintendent-school committee conference. 

and masking works

 ...go figure.

A new report released this week in the New England Journal of Medicine effectively used DESE's rescinding the mask requirement as an experiment: when that happened, many districts stopped requiring masks, but Boston and Chelsea didn't. The researchers looked at:

The final sample included 72 school districts, which comprised 294,084 students and 46,530 staff during the study period. The study period was defined as the 40 calendar weeks of the 2021–2022 school year, which ended on June 15, 2022 (the end of the last full reporting week in all districts).

And what did they find?

Before the statewide masking policy was rescinded, the trends in the incidence of Covid-19 observed in the Boston and Chelsea districts were similar to the trends in school districts that later lifted masking requirements. However, after the statewide masking policy was rescinded, the trends in the incidence of Covid-19 diverged, with a substantially higher incidence observed in school districts that lifted masking requirements than in school districts that sustained masking requirements. 

Specifically: 

 Overall, the lifting of masking requirements was associated with an additional 44.9 Covid-19 cases per 1000 students and staff (95% CI, 32.6 to 57.1) during the 15 weeks after the statewide masking policy was rescinded 

An editorial accompanying the research relates this to the massively inequitable costs of COVID. You can also find coverage on WGBH, The New York Times, The Washington Post.

And from one of the Twitter education satire accounts:

Point: New Study Finds Evidence That Mask Mandates in Schools Work

Counterpoint: Masks Give Some Anti-Vax/Anti-Mask Doctors and Politicians Bad Vibes and Heebie-Jeebies https://t.co/X7DeZ6c87D

— New York Times Education Pitchbot (@GreyLadiesNYC) November 10, 2022

Board of Ed: regulations updates on competency

 John Papay from Brown University

evidence from nearly two decades of high school MCAS and how it could inform education policy

• how do MCAS score as relate to long run outcomes?
• are students scoring at different levels college/career ready?
• how do students impacted by policy fare?

1. HS MCAS predict long-term success and appear to reflect academic skills not simply SES or school characteristics
2. students scoring near cutoff don't fare as well
   
3. retesting and passing does appear to improve long term educational attainments

MCAS predicts earnings among similar students with same education level and demographics
improvement from 8th to 10th grade scores have better long term outcomes

near math passing cutoff very unlikely to go to 4 year college

raising graduation requirements can influence students in several ways: overall impact
but particular impacts: students who fall on either side of passing requirements
equity across groups? equity within groups?

despite competency determination, educational attainments have increased over time, and this is particularly true for low income students
many fewer students are failing the test on their first attempt
most who fail, go on to retake and go on to pass
few students apply for appeal; success rate is 75%

barely passing or failing does affect student outcomes; students have similar academic profiles otherwise
don't see any real disruption in trend of not going to college on either side of barely passing or failing for low income students, but there is a disruption for higher income students
don't know if it is the encouragement of passing or the discouragement of failing that makes the difference 

operates on different margins for these groups
generally same patterns on college attendance and college graduation: rates of four year college graduation are overall very low for students scoring near this line

Hills: anything you've seen about how large a change makes a difference in graduation requirements
hasn't seen it
Livingston: GPA and MCAS?
Papay: they are correlated: both seem to relate to longer-term outcomes
both seem to be predicted
Craven: we all had anti-racism training last year
"the MCAS is a diagnostic tool for curricular, it's not an IQ test"
"measurement of how effectively the curriculum is delivered to a student"
there's a correction that it's testing standards
Craven: based upon standards that are supposed to be universally adopted
students who fail are disproportionally those of color, of low income, and with disabilities
Craven notes this is all prior to the pandemic
"what conclusions can be drawn from" this disparity 
Papay: correlations that we see across the board and across the country
I think that this is reflecting those realities in society and in our school systems

Hills to West: how large a change it takes question
West a lot of context for the decision; analysis can't give us a specific number
Moriarty: thought one of the more interesting correlations is that with eighth grade
is there a remedy in thinking more deeply about different experiences?
Papay: a lot of variation in what schools were doing; some looked at 8th grade MCAS and other things and provided support prior to 10th grade
Moriarty: reach out to filed to reach out to field with it
Fernández: if we're dwindling the pool of those who would be able to pursue early college pathways, we need to get earlier in the pool

Competency determination change: Riley: multiple reasons to set a higher standards
setting it several years ahead to let schools, families, students time to know 
asking for the public weigh in

Curtin: 2026-29

vote is just to solicit public comment today
timeline of competency determination
would apply to this year's eighth graders, thus would know prior to entrance to high school
evidence heard pointed to raising CD standard beyond legacy
focus on communication of both CD and resources behind it, including implementation of the educational proficiency plan
classes of 24 and 25: can either earn a scaled score of 240 on legacy (472 on ELA and 486 for math) OR earn a scaled score of 220 on (455 for ELA and 469 for math) AND complete an educational proficiency plan
plus science of at least 220

classes of 26 to 29:
ELA and math: at least 470 AND complete an educational proficiency plan
OR
a 486 
AND science of 470

also proposing changes to educational proficiency plan regulation: improved communication to families, clarify what courses will need to be completed

have to also change regulations on Certificate of Mastery and of seal of biliteracy so they match

West supports going out for public comment; hope to learn some things from public comment
educational proficiency plan currently closer to an exercise in paperwork compliance

encouraged by sharing it with parents
what about class of 2030? why not say we're going to raise the standard and force a future board to act in relation to it
don't think we should be looking for complexity in this policy
Rouhanifard also asking about time bound
Curtin: prudent thing to do is wait to have additional data; Board will need to act for this year's fourth graders
"we're living in an unprecedented time right now"
come back to Board for further action
Fernández: want to see much more information and much more robust information
if we are to pass this, how do we pay particular attention to low income students
want to see something much more comprehensive around supports students are going to receive

Hills: asks again about date cutoff
Curtin: Board would have to act beyond 2029
Hills: in a perfect world, I'd like to see the score at 500 in 2030
"we've gone for a proposal that's reasonable and then sunset"

Livingston: test is supposed to measure a standard across the board; it's largely impersonal
once it has the stake of graduation in it, it becomes personal
I feel that an EPP also has to be personal for the child

What happened at Worcester School Committee last week

 I've been fighting the flu since Wednesday (obligatory #NoItIsNotCOVID), so I've been pretty much out of commission; I am trying to keep to reporting out, particularly as our local news continues to be more weakened. 

You can find the agenda for Thursday (the 7th) here. We came late out of executive session (and if you look at the items that were posted for executive session, you can see we had a number). 

We did go back to the mask policy, which had been held from the prior meeting pending more information regarding wastewater testing; this was in relation to my motion to add language that we require a reconsideration of the policy in consultation with medical professionals if the Upper Blackstone Wastewater Treatment testing numbers rise about 300K for two testing periods in a row. We had Nick Durham of Biobot join us to discuss the testing. On Member Mailman's motion, that amendment was referred to Governance. 
Note that the levels have been above 300K for two testing periods in a row at this point; the most recent testing was this: 

Effective* virus concentration
(copies per liter of sewage)
936,582

The report of the Superintendent was on portrait of a graduate, which Superintendent Binienda said is now required by NESDEC (?). The logo/image for it is here: 

The full report starts on page 36 of the agenda. I don't really have a lot to say about this, because it isn't really connected to much of anything else that we're doing in the district. 

We had two subcommittee reports: the first was from this March 15 TLSS meeting. As this meeting took up the district's continued use of--and the administration's continued defense of the use of--Fountas and Pinnell, Member McCullough specifically noted that the next report back should include the perspective of teachers. I noted that there are major issues with our continued insistence on using this program. I think it's important to note that this puts the Committee in an awkward position: we, legally, approve curriculum after vetting and recommendation from administration, who are to be the day-to-day experts. If the administrators are continuing with something that it is clear does not work, can the Committee effectively withdraw that approval?

We also had a report out of the Ad-Hoc Search meeting at which the questions for the semi-finalist superintendent interviews were drafted and approved. I requested that we as a Committee commit to have the superintendent interviews translated; you can now plan on that.
Also, note that the finalists will be announced on April 19 at a special meeting of the Worcester School Committee; they'll be in district for visits and interviews the week of April 25. 

The student representative's report included a s/o to the Burncoat Drama Club (congratulations!). They also brought to our attention an email from the Deputy Superintendent, calling for student representative elections before April vacation, without additional information regarding those responsibilities as put together by the our Student Advisory Council themselves. A number of us regarded this with concern. We have now pushed those off. 

We voted acceptance of a $30,000 preschool grant that is supposed to be a full community needs assessment on preschool, done in partnership with Edwards Street Child Care, YWCA, and Guild of St. Agnes.

We reflected on the page and a half response (pages 104-105) on student disregulation, a report I requested in November, which didn't actually hit most of what has been asked for. This was recommitted to the administration for a full report of the superintendent at our next regular meeting. 

We then had an update on COVID. We've had several requests that we share number of cases broken down by school, which Superintendent Binienda said the health community has advised against. We are seeing an increase in cases this week, as expected, with 33 student and 24 staff cases this week, an increase of 9 and 6, respectively. The full history of WPS reporting is now here.

We received a lengthy response to an item requesting an update on the after school/additional learning time programs being run through the ESSER funding (it starts on page 110). Much of that is a building by building standard form. 
My two concerns in asking the question was first, how are we responding to student need--this gave an overview of that--and second, how are we managing the resources allocated to us. The second question is the one I drilled on in questions, as the FY22 budget set aside $8M for summer and after school programming for this fiscal year. Remember, the district is required to spend 20% of ESSER III spending on "learning loss," which for Worcester is close to $17M. I know we didn't spend anything close to that $8M this past summer--I don't think we even spent $2M--and so I was looking for some information there. The final two pages of the report gave the following: 

So that's $1.18M. 
I won't recount the full back and forth here--and there was one--but I tried to get an answer on if this figure was arrived at by asking each school what they needed, costing that out, and then allocating. I did not actually get an answer, which I am suspecting means the answer is 'no'. If that is the case, it means that the administration has severely underbudgeted the learning recovery program of the district in our first year back in buildings full time since the pandemic. 
And yes, the administration has done that, as the School Committee allocated significantly more funding than was moved forward.

I, Sarah Kyriazis, and Bob Walton gave a brief update on the work of the municipal broadband committee. The city has been in contact with both Google and SciFi, looking at two different models for municipally offered broadband service. Dr. Kyriazis updated on the FCC's Affordable Connectivity program (you can learn more 6 pm Tuesday), for which all WPS families qualify; there's district outreach going on for that, as well. Mr. Walton spoke of the district applying for a third round of federal funding for the home connectivity. 

We received an update on middle school sports, which you can find on page 175 of the agenda.

We passed BURNCOAT HIGH as our number one rebuild/renovate project to go to the City Council and to the MSBA.

We had a number of requests for information, including, coming in from both Members Mailman and Johnson, the still-outstanding MOU between WPS and WPD, which we were supposed to have for the end of January. No one, it appears, has seen it as yet. The superintendent noted that we thus remain under the prior MOU, which I don't understand how that is possible, as that outlined WPD being in the buildings and now they are not. 
I also asked that we get an update on principal succession planning, as we have several principals leaving (which we haven't received notice of, incidentally).

I asked that we make sure students have appropriate provision for observing Ramadan.
I proposed that we revise for the current year our cap on 7 days of excused absences in light of the pandemic; this went to Governance. 
I also asked that we send building enrollment to F&O.
And the Mayor filed an item on the Office of the Inspector General audit on the Temporary Emergency Impact Aid, so expect to see that in F&O as well.

And that was the meeting!
While I have you here, note that there are two subcommittee meetings this week

• Finance and Operations meets tomorrow (Monday) at 6 pm for the monthly transportation report, though we're getting a tour of the new WPS transportation facility at 5; expect photos!
• Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports meets Tuesday at 6; summer reading, ethnic studies, tutoring, mental health, and libraries are on the agenda.

What passed in Worcester on masking

 There were several things that passed last night on masks in Worcester schools:

• It was an amended version of the original motion from Member Clancey that passed 5-2 (Mailman and myself opposed), which does not include a date. Thus the optional removal of masks in schools is "in line with the Board of Health," and thus no earlier than March 8, as the Board meets March 7.
  
  
• The motion on amending the policy was sent to administration, but continued for our next meeting on March 3. We do have to have a mask policy, as federal transportation regulations require them on school buses, and state guidance require them in health and nurse centers, and for all returning after five day quarantine. The motion passed with attention called by Member Mailman to the addition of medical parameters, asking the question of what happens if/when cases go back up, and our general notice of what the administration had told us earlier this week is a student vaccination rate of just 19% for two shots. We're collecting phrasing on that, so send it along if you have it.
  
  
• On the recommendation of our student rep Stacia Zoghbi, we also passed a measure directing administration to create clear communication to staff and students regarding no one being required to remove a mask, and calling particular attention to the possibility of bullying surrounding this issue. 

Lest my silence be complicit

some of this overlaps with what I posted yesterday on Facebook

I don't want my wanting to say just the right thing here turn instead into silence.
I also don't want to take up more space when my words are not those that most need to be heard.

I don't think it should escape any of us that the same week that brought us Amy Cooper weaponizing white womanhood in Central Park also brought us the death of George Floyd by the hand she was trying to invoke.

8-year-old Khalil James of Boston pic.twitter.com/geqC38RCvc

— Nick Emmons WBZ (@NickEmmonsTV) May 29, 2020

White supremacy is enforced thousands of little ways, and most are not at the point of a gun.

And just as it doesn't take a gun, it doesn't take laws, either. As Clint Smith tweeted yesterday:

Tired of people asking what’s in their hearts and not asking what’s in their policies.

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) May 29, 2020

We make and enforce policies in schools, among other places. It's also one of the places in America were the disparities in race between who enforces polices and who is expected to follow them is particularly large.
What we have in student handbooks and district policies, what we spend time on in professional development and curriculum, and what we don't say is what matters here.

Policies are also what we spend money on in our budgets.

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday

And the agenda is here, as a PDF with hyperlinks? I think this is new.
Finance and Operations will be reporting out from their Monday meeting.
The report of the Superintendent is an update on the strategic plan (no backup as yet).

There is a response on interactions with homeschooling families (the link doesn't work; it's page 28): of 158 plans in 98 families, the adminstration reports that 96 were approved within the first week, 26 within the second week, 19 before 20 days, and 17 required more than that. The report states that the 17 were all incomplete upon submission, missing "evidence of progress." They state that only 2 plans are missing. The report says a "recent court ruling supported the WPS standards for evidence" though the case is not cited by name nor is it included.

There is a list of Chapter 74 programs and the number of students enrolled, as well as the after school and evening programs and enrollment.

Mr. Monfredo and Miss Biancheria are proposing support for the Baker-Polito effort to reduce domestic and sexual violence among young people.

Mr. Foley and others note Mr. Hennessey's award of 2019 Administrator of the Year from School Bus Fleet.

There is a proposal to update policies - JB – Equal Educational Opportunities; ‑ JFABD - Homeless Students: Enrollment Rights And Services; ‑ JFABE - Educational Opportunities For Military Children; ‑ JFABF - Educational Opportunities For Children In Foster Care (it's language tweaking).

There are eleven pages of outstanding administrative items that the administration is suggesting be filed as the term comes to a close.

There is a request that the following donations be accepted:

• $400.00 from a donor to Claremont Academy to be used as a scholarship for Latino female of Latina who plans to attend college.
• $84.60 from Box Tops for Education to Canterbury Street Magnet Computer-Based School
• $225.00 from the Digital Federal Credit Union to McGrath Elementary School
• $500.00 from the District Attorney's Community Reinvestment and Crime Prevention Program to Forest Grove Middle School to assist with their bullying campaign

There is a request for information about the new vocational tracks at Doherty (which the Committee has already voted in favor of).

There is a request (without backup) to approve a prior fiscal year payment for $308.79 to Airgas ("industrial, medical, and specialty gases").

Then there are a slew of items from Mr. Comparetto:

• Request that the Mayor consider alternative methods to electing and appointing School Committee members that includes, but is not limited to, district School Committee seats. 
• Request that the Mayor and School Committee establish Worcester Public Schools’ Safe Zones.
• Request that the Superintendent present an annual report on the status of education for Latino students.
• Request that the Administration incorporate best practices for creating a diverse workforce.
• Request that the Administration provide an update on current restorative justice practices.
• Request a moratorium on suspending K-2 students for non-violent offenses.
• Request an "equity audit" of the Worcester Public Schools in accordance to best practices.
• Request that the Administration provide an update on the efforts of the Administration to create ethnic studies programming

Miss Biancheria wants an update on the South High building project (shouldn't this be a standing item in a subcommittee somewhere?) and an update on recess (which I think Ms. McCullough has an outstanding item on already).

And there is another prior fiscal year payment in the amount of $1,484.10 to Johnson Controls Fire Protection LP for services performed at Burncoat High School (fire supression?).

And there is an executive session: for arbitration with the Mass Nurses Association; for litigation with the Estate of Suzanne F. Miville; and for collective bargaining with the computer technicians.

Yes, I am planning on being there and blogging.

"you understand you might have to shoot a student?"

This piece from the Washington Post following a small Ohio school district's decision to allow their teachers to carry guns in school is heartbreaking, and horrifying.
Also read one teacher's letter to his students on school shootings.

The Worcester School Committee meets November 1

You can find the agenda here.
There are a number of recognitions, including a request for a letter (a letter?) to congratulate Elm Park on exiting Level 4 status.

First up, the report of the superintendent is the accountability report. If you follow state reports, a lot of this will look familiar, as Worcester's doing something valuable here: more than half the presentation is explaining how the accountability system has changed. (More of this!) To do this, they've essentially swiped the DESE slides in walking through how it has shifted (this is not an easy thing to explain; I'll be interested in how it goes!) for the first half. The second half is Worcester data and (sigh...how about we don't do this) comparing Worcester results with other urbans. What I don't see here--I'll be interested to see if it comes up--is some discussion of what in particular are the areas of needed focus within the district and school by school.

The Administration is forwarding "for informational purposes" (hmph) job descriptions for two new positions: Assistant Director of Finance and Operations for Nutrition and Marketing, Communication, Initiative and Outreach Coordinator. There's no public backup.

The administration has given the Perkins grant allocation, as requested.

The ongoing saga of chasing homeschooling families around on paperwork has a response back from administration. By my read, the form doesn't appear to agree with what's said in the report, for starters. 

The administration has responded to the request that administration clarify with staff participation in the electoral process by...sending them back the committee-approved policy GBI.

Miss McCullough is seeking a possible policy on lunches (the length of them, particularly in elementary schools); a review of IT password creation and security; and a review of the recess policy "to ensure it is being adhered to districtwide" (that's school committee agenda-speak for "it isn't; let's fix that").

Mr. O'Connell is asking about possibly renting modular classrooms for Burncoat Prep (This would be additional modulars, as Burncoat Prep already has several).

There are also donations:

• $1381.09 to Worcester Arts Magnet School from the Parent Teacher Group for the purchase of a new water fountain 
• $1090.00 to Tatnuck Magnet School from various donors through fundraising efforts 
• $2500.00 to the Worcester Public Schools from DonorsChoose.org 

...and prior fiscal year items:

• in the amount of $7,724.18 to Wheelabator Millbury, Inc.
• in the amount of $238.39 to Home Depot Credit Services.
• in the amount of $241.65 to Northeast Electrical Distributors.
• in the amount of $172.50 to Signet Electronic Systems, Inc.

There is a 6pm posting for an executive session for collective bargaining with Tradesmen, Plumbers and Steamfitters, and Aides.

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday (and staff reports)

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday, August 23, the same day that staff reports; school starts Monday in Worcester.
On the agenda:
Mr. O'Connell has a motion to reconsider adding genetics, military service, mental illness, and sexual harassment to the non-discrimination policy in the handbook. Since legal non-discrimination policies are tightly managed by the state, I'm not sure where this one is going.
There are recognitions (Congratulations, Mark Brophy!) and congratulations.
There are a series of responses to budgetary motions.
There are a series of responses--names and numbers--which don't have public backups (do share!).
The strategic plan is back on; is this just a regular item now? I guess that means that anyone can show up and any meeting and address it.
Administration wants to change the Accountability subcommittee to "Standing Committee on School and Student Performance" (Is that better?)
The annual closing out the fiscal year (making account transfers) item is on, 'though the backup is not.
Miss Biancheria is asking for an update on the Facilities Master Plan and on the accelerated repair projects. I'll do a full post on this, but if the School Committee is doing its job, the city's sudden ability to borrow millions of dollars for a minor league stadium when they haven't had enough to do school maintenance ought to come up. Watch and see if it does. 
Mr. O'Connell wants JROTC to raise and lower the flag in Hope Cemetery.
Mr. Comparetto wants to add public comment to the agenda; wants to create a Public Policy Forum; and requests a report on site councils.
Administration is coming in with a proposed absentee policy which jumps right to truancy without working with parents or the community, written in language that, particularly in an immigrant community, is incredibly draconian.
There's updates on policies (coming from MASC) on JFABE - Education Opportunities for Military Children; JFABF - Education Opportunities for Children in Foster Care; KI - Add the section on Outside Agencies in Schools; and adding "pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions" to the various non-discrimination policies.
It appears the dust-up in the home schooling community over the new leadership refusing plans and threatening families with truancy has reached the School Committee level, as there's an item on that.
The Committee is being asked to approve the MAPLE grant for $47K for the three day MAPLE event (which I think already happened) and the Parent-Child Home Program) Family Child Care Quality Grant for $50K for early learning specialists to visit home child cares.

There are a series of prior fiscal year payments:

• $2,330.58 to the MTA for the printing of the Unit A Collective Bargaining Agreement.
• $29.98 for in-state travel reimbursement for a teacher.
• $189.31 for in-state travel reimbursement for the Manager of Curriculum and Professional Learning.
• $1,500.00 to the Grenier Company for services rendered in FY18.
• $22,426.60 for the LIUNA Pension Fund.
• $767.05 made payable to a teacher at Burncoat High School for a hotel reimbursement to attend the Advanced Placement Summer Institute which was held in Fairfax, VA in FY18.

There are a series of donations: 

- to support the Exhilarate Worcester Initiative at Woodland Academy: - $875.00 from various donors
- $125.00 from Flying Dreams Brewing Co, Inc.
- $250.00 from Coghlin Services Fund
- $500.00 from Cornerstone Bank
- $500.00 from Bollus Lynch, LLC.
- $120.00 from Basil & Spice, LLC
- $100.00 from Engineering Design Services, Inc.
- $500.00 from Mackintire Insurance Agency
- $500.00 from Rigali Roofing and Exteriors
- $250.00 from Seder & Chandler, LLP
- $125.00 from Smokestack Urban Barbeque and
- $250.00 from Tierney & Dalton Assoc., Inc.
- $250.00 from WEDF to Burncoat Preparatory Elementary School
- $7,684.80 from Clark University to support the purchase of Chromebooks at Claremont Academy

There is an executive session at 6 for two negotiations, two grievances, three workers' comp cases, deployment of security, and...

To discuss a potential lawsuit against the Commonwealth for the purpose of fully funding the State’s Foundation Formula Budget.

Lively Worcester School Committee agenda for July

Not a dull agenda for July!

First, note that there is a Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports meeting on Thursday immediately preceding the full School Committee meeting at 3:30 pm at City Hall; it appears as though this is only to approve the four new courses listed, 'though they persist in just listing every item that has been referred there on the agenda, which is not okay.

The full Committee meets at 4 pm (it's summer) at City Hall, but note the "now they're here, now they're not" schedule:

• 4:00 p.m. - Regular Session 
• 5:00 p.m. - Executive Session 
• 6:00 p.m. – Regular Session and Proposed Strategic Plan

Students speak up; do we listen?

I wasn't able to be part of the #MarchforOurLives today, as I had class. But I'm noticing something in the (adult) posting about the events across the country.

Young people's voices are being respected and magnified.

Listen, for example, to Naomi Wadler, age 11, speak of the too-often ignored gun deaths of black girls and women:


Or Ryan Deitsch on how we need to arm teachers and students:

"We need to arm our teachers with pencils, pens, paper, and the money they need." -@Ryan_Deitsch #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/EzRr0c578g

— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 24, 2018

Or read the eloquent students quoted more locally here in Worcester:

"I'm here to protest the gun violence because I think it is ridiculous that students are afraid of going to school, afraid that something is going to happen to them and just have meltdowns, breakdowns over just being afraid to walk out the door and go to school," Reese Lane said, adding it was important for him to attend a local rally.
 "Boston is a big place, but just one big place won't do it, we need multiple people to come together to end gun violence for good," he said.

It is amazing that millions of adults across the country gathered today to listen to children and young adults speak clearly and strongly against gun violence and for gun control.

How often do we listen?
Did you note, in the above MassLive article, its framing? The reporter went to an adult midway through and closed with the adult in the article. And that is part of what makes today unusual; we let the students lead. We let them open, we let them close, we didn't feel the need to put training wheels or bumpers or guidance around these protests.

Why was this only today?
Do we think that Naomi lacks this sort of insight around disparitiees in discipline policies? She is eleven, but that has been plenty of time for her to have a keen eye on inequities and racism. I imagine she would have some things to say about policies around discipline in a host of areas.

Do we think that Ryan lacks this sort of insight around budgets in general? Allocation of resources sounds like something he may have some thoughts about.

Do we think that Reece lacks this sort of insight around how is school functions and what school climate is like? It sounds as though he has given that some thought.

How often do we ask students big questions about the major place they spend their time? How often do we ask them how policies that are about THEM actually impact them? Do we ask if they work or not? What the consequences are? How often do we ask any students about budgeting? Do we ask what it's like to have a class of thirty in algebra? To not have books? To be told the class you'd been planning for years to sign up for is gone? Or the program or team you'd spent years practicing for won't be funded next year?

And how often, when they do tell us, do we take them seriously? When they tell us they don't get enough sleep, when they tell us mobile devices are a learning tool, when they tell us that, yes, their walkout is about guns, do we listen?
Or do we pat them on the head and tell them the grown-ups will make the decisions for them?

There are a lot of adults today who listened to children and young adults today and cheered.
There are a lot of adults tonight and this weekend who will share and magnify those voices on social media.

Was that just a good feeling on a sunny Saturday?
Or will you do the same when they have something to tell you about how the place they spend most of their time runs?