February Board of Ed: adjustment of Acting Commissioner's salary

 this actually is just aligning with decisions that get made elsewhere about those in particular state positions

and it passes

FY18 Worcester Public Schools budget: initial look

Allen: Governor's budget is first look; House budget becomes recommendation to School Committee
enrollment changes and low inflation rate
costs exceeding normal inflration
school resource needs are SIGNIFICANT AND URGENT but exceed available revenue
60 from state 12 from fed rest from city
1 of only 92 districts that are foundation aid districts; remainder hold harmless; WPS's growth is beyond that
inflation factor is still low
$63/pupil added to WPS budget on health insurance: under by $30M for WPS in health insurance, this nets under $2M
"that gap is fairly wide for Worcester"
state budget will continue underfunding charter school reimbursement and the circuit breaker ($935,000 this year; about the same for next year)
based on October 2016 enrollment
enrollment up 1.7% over last year: 7.5% over the past 10 years; almost 10% increase over 25%
exceeding 25,000 students for the first time since 2003, when there were eight more schools
contribution from city and state aid
370 student increase (includes charter and school choice both of which declined)
$9.4M increase in foundation
city contribution going up by $227K; remainder from state
level 5 ELL students becoming former ELL students: loss of 729 students; reduction of almost $5.6M
ED: 543 increase; $3M
additional health insurance funding from Governor: $1.7M
inflation factor is 1.1% this year: each 1% is $3M
budget goes up $9M
"These are just based upon a formula; these are intended to be what the numbers will be"
conversations with city still starting

on to costs...
62% of budget goes to salaries
if it were to stay the same...employee salaries expected to increase $4.6M
health insurance planned on $3.4M increase (7% increase)
tuition expected to go up by $1M
and so forth
$10.6M increase over all categories

needs for elementary class size
secondary content
adjustment counselors and psychologists
coaches and lead teachers
guidance counselors
wraparound
tutors
custodians
kindergarten IA
....$10.6M

3 classes of 31 or more in K-6 currently; with no increases, 10 classes next year

other requests: PD, textbooks, instructional materials, furniture, safety; repairs: $5.9M

total needs of $29.7M over this year; and revenue increasing $9M
$20.7M gap

"This not a spending issue; this is a revenue problem" as Worcester has a $94M gap under foundation budget

Presentation on the Foundation Budget Commission (MASC)

Foundation Budget Review Commission workshop Posting as we go
want to prepare ourselves, get prepared to give feedback to the committee
most want to know what are the issues for you on the current foundation budget; how it is not working

Opening questions:

what do we need for resources to begin planning?

should we caucus with like-thinking groups?

what do we NOT want to have happen? What are dealbreakers?

Who are the difficult people in this process? How might we identify and deal with them?

What should MASC do to gather membership feedback?

"One other thing? There are acronyms everywhere. If you don't know them, ask!"

Q: someone pointed out that the Foundation Budget salary figures are off as they're based on teachers needing a bachelor's degree, yet now they need a master's degree (or will shortly)
Take the difference in the calculation in your budget, multiply by your teachers, and there's that gap

Q: Since chapter 70 has held steady for us (in a district that gets 50% from state), but foundation budget goes up, town needs to hit an override about every five years to keep up.
Also, if there is not an override, stuck with what is had.
Difficult concept to explain to someone how the town assessment goes up by a higher percentage than the budget goes up by.

Q: We have group homes. Kids who come in midyear aren't reflected in October 1 counts. Funding doesn't reflect actual population.

And I threw in this on inflation, health insurance, and special education. Go find your numbers!
The MassBudget report "Cutting Class" is online here. 

Q: About municipal wealth calcuation; has it been changed? The answer is yes. 
Response from Senator Jehlen that commission will only talk about foundation budget calculation, not about community allocation (aka, this is out of their purview and in the purview of the Legislature)

Jehlen: difference of opinion on what the scope of the commission is; the chair thinks it's about getting kids to pass the MCAS. A broad base of education needs to be pushed if  that is to be brought forward
Comment that "we're not going to go into the details of this" to which the Senator asked how they were going to get anything done

Commission will be having listening tours, hearings, in various parts of the state
Dates as published are here

Look at what your net chapter 70 figures are once you've paid your charter assessments; some are negative (Cape Cod and the islands: definitely you!)

Q: Look at the preamble to the special education law for a description of what education should be. Also concern that some who need services and aren't getting them due to costs concerns

Q: homeless needs to be represented. "Welcome them all, have no problem taking care of them" but need assistance to do so. "I want to impress on you a sense of urgency."

Q: change the focus on what education was looked at in terms of 1993 to what it is as defined in the Constitution and what it should be for us now

Q: prison in our town, families of the prisoners are moved to town. Children are in school. Need to have an educated republic to go to the voting booth (Jefferson) and an educated workforce (Franklin). How is this Commission going to organize itself in terms of communication? How are we going to talk amongst ourselves? Can put on MASC website 

Suggestion that MASC can come up with a template of things that you can investigate in your district to start to then present to commission

Q: North Shore working group working to try to file another case; have a huge template already laid out; cost of lawsuit is the hold up. What about setting aside rainy day funds?

Suggestion to start having forums in our towns about this issue

Recommendation to read this book

Q: it's a lot of money, but focus on one or two at at time

Q: issue of students that go to vocational schools outside of district; costs so much more money to spend these students to those schools, not reflected in the budget

Q: commission is opening it up for change? Going back year by year isn't possible; jam everything while the commission is active

Charge of foundation budget commission is here

"ought to be able to slip an entire elephant and two vans in under the tent" of that charge
Comment from Southern Berkshire of the need for broadband
Get what we can while we can, but we need to have an ongoing advocacy group after commission is done, both as a larger group and as School Committee
suggestion that Division chairs have this as a topic that is being discussed, thus able to fight for what our membership wants

"what if we had a wildly successful commission, what would it look like? What are the commonalities that we have?" Every district is pushed when we try to work with the most challenged students in our districts...children who are struggling the most are helped by any improvement

Q: scope of commission? "We may not get more money, but what we should push for is intellectual honesty" We may not get more money, but we should at least be honest about what we are and aren't doing.

When the costs of what we're doing aren't where they should be are brought up to where they should be, that's where the success lies.

Foundation budget calculations

Special education based on actual enrollment figures
priorities on state's reconsideration of foundation formula
Allen: state underfunded special education from the beginning
ten years in, circuit breaker for particularly expensive students
special education is the only category that uses an assumed enrollment rather than actual enrollment (as is done with others)
what would the funding model look like if the state were funding special education appropriately?
calculated the full-time equivalent of the students who receive special ed
using those numbers alone is a combined gap of $29M that the foundation budget is underfunding the number of students that are being served
BUT
the per student value of the foundation budget is also underfunded
WPS spent more than 50% more on special education together for the past several years
of that $29M is the underestimation of the number of students
plus the rate is not adequate

adding up to $35M of special education costs that are not funded

"this is not particularly unique to Worcester"
Foley: reflects the problem the state is facing
begin to pit one set of students against other sets, which is never good
Allen: particularly true in the lowest quintile districts, which are spending right AT foundation

reconsideration of the foundation formula:
Allen: timely, as the committee has just met for the first time
"important...to suggest that there really needs to be a fundamental change in the foundation budget"
doesn't mean much to communities spending 117 or 120%
others aren't looking at this level of detail
all of the urban districts need to coalese around this issue
"this is not a discussion about how much the state funds the foundation budget...this is a fundamental reconsideration of the foundation budget"
change to assumption of the formula which is urban districts

1. full time preschool funding (is not currently counted in foundation budget)
2. health insurance assumption: estimate that WPS is underfunded by $25 million (note that this is after reforms that have been made that state has pressed)
3. special education not based on assumption
4. use actual inflation; need to better capture actual cost increases: state ignored inflation factor in 1994 and 2010 (that one year put every district back; cost WPS $4M); rate used is prior year spending state and local government; catch 22
5. adjust low income increment (extended day or extended year): 
6. assumed teacher salary: assumed at $65,482; actual $71,620; with assumed growth $74,513
7. assumed class size average: particularly for preK-3; assumes 22 students to 1; should be lower, particularly at primary grade 

FINAL REPORT DUE JUNE 30 from the state

Foley: easier to see in concrete terms

$60M difference in special education and health insurance alone

"to see what's happening because of 21 years of underfunding the budget"

are you presenting this to the committee? 

Allen: if there is a hearing, certainly can be shared 

Ramirez: how close are we to other districts in these gaps?

Allen: most other urban districts are in that lower quintile

very similar numbers for their comparable size

urban school business managers: number one agenda item

Novick: should make delegation aware of other changes that will be suggested and impact on Worcestser

renumber items 2,3,4,1,5a,5b,5c
send to delegation (and meet with them) and send to commission
host commission meeting

Why do teachers quit?

New research on why successful teachers leave the classroom:

“As previous research has shown, it is not, contrary to popular opinion, students who drive teachers out of the classroom,” Dunn says.
But the negative factors—including lack of quality instruction time and low salaries—outweigh the positive aspects of teaching and lead teachers to quit... In addition, lack of support appear to play an important role. Teachers need more than professional development—they also need personal support, even if that’s a colleague or an organized group to talk to about the pressures they face, Dunn says.

At Council tonight!

Here at Council tonight for the recommended transfer of $172,000 to WPS salaries!
I'll blog any comments from Councilors, administration, or otherwise.

I'll just note here that $172,000 is about 2.5 teachers.

Contract on the new Special Education Director

We're voting tonight on the hiring of the new special education director at a salary of $137,000, with steps in January of 2014 and January of 2015 of $3000 and with NO raises otherwise.
This is coming out executive session; this is the public vote of a vote taken in executive session. 
Vote passes 5-2, Biancheria and Colorio against

This should mean that she will start in January of 2013.

...and back to our regular meeting

...with the National Anthem performed by Canterbury Street School students.
Approving prior fiscal year payments for some stipends that hadn't been appropriately placed in the system.
Some questions here from Mr. O'Connell on if we can avoid this (as per usual)
Allen comments that the advantage of having a homegrown system is that we can update the system, but that it's also a data-entry issue.
approved

Question on pay periods?

No, the superintendent did not get a raise last year, and no, she did not--in a contract amount--make more than the City Manager last year.
The school administrators who get paid semi-monthly (2x a month) got paid 23 times the year before last.
They got paid 25 times last year.
(If your paycheck comes this way, you know that the pay calendar sometimes falls this way.)
This is how a number of WPS administrators are paid; it is not how the City Manager and other cityside employees are paid.

The other difference between the City Manager and the Superintendent's contracts is that he gets a car; she gets a $6600 car allowance each year. Only one of those comes through on a paycheck.

Suggestions and questions

Could we use the statewide average in special education, rather than the (under) assumption that the state currently uses?
Is there more reform to be hand in health insurance?
The deficit in underspending on teachers: is that salaries or numbers or both?
Salaries are right in line with the assumption made. It's numbers of teachers in the classroom that is under the assumption.

Finance and Operations: after-school program payments

We're taking out-of-order the item on payment for teachers working in after-school programs. We've got a schedule of payments.