Why do we always come here...on the FY25 WPS budget before Council

Why do we always come here

I guess we'll never know

It's like a kind of torture

To have to watch the show…
from "The Muppet Show Theme"

I had family commitments yesterday afternoon, so I was unable to make it to the Worcester City Council taking up the Worcester Public Schools' budget. Thanks to the wonder of recording, however, we can all relive it, and I think the only way I can bear this is to blog it. 

I post the above, by the way, not to call anyone a Muppet, but to note again that a) Worcester does this backwards, as school committees in Massachusetts send their requested appropriation to their appropriating authorities, and of course the Worcester School Committee hasn't yet met on the budget, b) the Worcester City Council, like any appropriating authority, has very little oversight of the Worcester Public Schools budget.
Both of that, incidentally, are per MGL Ch. 71, sec. 34:

Every city and town shall annually provide an amount of money sufficient for the support of the public schools as required by this chapter, provided however, that no city or town shall be required to provide more money for the support of the public schools than is appropriated by vote of the legislative body of the city or town. In acting on appropriations for educational costs, the city or town appropriating body shall vote on the total amount of the appropriations requested and shall not allocate appropriations among accounts or place any restriction on such appropriations. The superintendent of schools in any city or town may address the local appropriating authority prior to any action on the school budget as recommended by the school committee notwithstanding his place of residence. The city or town appropriating body may make nonbinding monetary recommendations to increase or decrease certain items allocating such appropriations.

The vote of the legislative body of a city or town shall establish the total appropriation for the support of the public schools, but may not limit the authority of the school committee to determine expenditures within the total appropriation.

And also, of course, the city charter in section 5-2 says:

 The city council may, by majority vote, make appropriations for the purposes recommended and may reduce or reject any amount recommended in the annual budget, but except on recommendation of the city manager, shall not increase any amount in or the total of the annual budget, nor add thereto any amount for a purpose not included therein, except as provided in section thirty-three of chapter forty-four of the General Laws.

There are very few questions the Council has purview to ask, and very little they can do, and that's even if they funded schools appropriately!
So when I say I don't know why we do this: I really don't know why this is what is done!
And this is not the first time I have said this.

On FY23, as of the start of the fiscal year

 ...budgets are not merely affairs of arithmetic, but in a thousand ways go to the root of the prosperity of individuals, the relation of classes, and the strength of kingdoms.

John Morely, writing in The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1

 ...which of course is just a fancier way of saying "budgets are moral documents."

This is probably the weakest year I've ever had for blogging the Worcester Public Schools budget usual warning: it's 444 pages, so that's a big document), for which you all have my abject apologies. FY23 started yesterday--yes, happy fiscal new year!--and I did want to take a look at what it is that the Worcester School Committee passed last month for this coming year. 
This is a long post, but then, the budget is long, too.

May Board of Ed: on Boston

Riley: "my assessment very briefly"
then Curtin, then back to Riley

Worcester secondary school schedule in an editable format

 (For WPS secondary students)

I asked for and received an editable version of the new schedule starting Monday, so you can fill in your classes. It's online here. 

May meeting of the Board of Education: opening remarks

You can find the agenda here. Note that we'll hear from Scituate as part of the opening this morning, as Sciutate High School is hosting today.
Also, interesting note for DESE watchers: the Commissioner is not here today, so Deputy Commissioner Wulfson is sitting in.

Congratulations to Katherine Craven who is home with a new daughter!

Welcome today to Scituate High School.
"flies under the radar, but is doing some exceptionally well things here"

On later start times in Worcester...

I just saw this, as the agenda wasn't posted ahead of time. 
Here's administration's response regarding earlier start times:

The research on the benefits of a later start time for secondary schools is clear and indisputable. For the Worcester Public Schools, a change in the starting time for the secondary schools is operationally impossible, considering the many starting tiers of our schools. In addition, consideration has been given to other important factors such as afternoon athletics training and competition, students’ after school employment needs, and taking care of siblings while parents are at work. After much consideration on this issue, the Administration recommends filing this item. 

I don't know this, but that sounds a lot like "the new superintendent doesn't want to do this." This wasn't the message that was being given the last time there was discussion of this.

The latest post on later start times for secondary school is here from EdWeek  is here. 

Open questions for Worcester on FY17

If the projected timeline holds, the Worcester Public Schools' FY17 budget should come out a week from today (here).

We got an answer, and a disappointing one, yesterday, to the question if the proposed building shift would be included in the FY17 budget: no, and because the incoming superintendent nixed it. When we heard last month that it was being dropped, I had wondered if that was budget-related; from the numbers involved, clearly not. In fact, a long term investment is being dropped in favor of an ongoing expanded expense.
This does not bode well.

Questions I have at this point:

• Exactly how many of the projected 15-20 secondary teachers are going to lose their jobs, at which schools, and in which subjects? What is that going to do to the class schedules of kids next year? How many study halls are we going to have now? 
• Where are those 1900 elementary school students who are going to be in class sizes of 27 or more? Are they (as I would suspect) concentrated in higher-poverty, higher-need (more crowded) schools?
• What does "administration reorganization" mean? Are positions--I hesitate to even suggest it as it would be outrageous--being added this year, while we fire secondary teachers and send elementary class sizes up?
• Are any--any?--student support positions being added? Guidance counselors? Adjustment counselors? Given the incredible mental health needs in this district...anything?
• How exactly is the cut in special education going to be managed, given the high rate of need of the WPS population?
• Does the budget calculate in the $3M in health insurance changes that it appears the School Committee (? or administration?) want to negotiate with the teachers in the new contract? 
• What's going on with the International Baccalaureate program? I've heard rumors that there's an incoming attempt to instead retrench (which is exactly what it would be) further in AP. Will the IB position be continued next year? Will an innovation plan be put together, forwarded and approved by the School Committee, and advance to the state level? Will there be an incoming class for fall of 2017 in the proposed IB academy? 
• Is anyone planning for what happens when the dual language program kids hit middle school (happening the year after next)?
• What rate is the city going to charge on grants this coming year? City Manager Augustus lowered the rate last year and said that would continue; has it?
• Who is paying for the expanded police presence at the Worcester Public Schools? Is the city entirely covering it, or are they loading it in as a charge against net school spending?
• Is there an expanded security budget? For what, exactly?
• What does the capital budget look like this year? Is the proportion of funding still completely out-of-wack in balancing city and schools? 

And, perhaps more largely:

• is there going to be any effort to actually expand funding this year?

More as I have it

Holyoke update

Receiver Zrike updating on Holyoke (which doesn't have a backup)
Sagan points out that they don't have results yet (yeah, about that...remind me to talk about Holyoke's MCAS scores)
Zrike: goals of the plan

• build on what is working and fix what is not
• empower staff and hold them accountable
• extend time for learning
• establish pathways to career and/or college success (clear rework of secondary)
• invest in partners strategically ("and all kinds of partners: charter partners, private partners")
• repair relationships with families ("they'd walk if they could")

special education review process scheduled to begin

comprehensive strategies to address needs of ELLs: "how you can best use the first language to develop the second language"

structures around instruction of the plan: redesign secondary educational experiences: grades 6-12

"it's gotta be more than saying we have two high schools"

need multiple pathways, beyond two

climate and culture: pilot director of culture and climate (licensed social worker)

teachers feel as though they have nowhere to go beyond special ed, not all kids have special ed needs

"looking at outside partners with track records"

"create an activist parent and family engagement office"

developing leadership in the district: "just rolled out a new ed eval" model

thought previous eval "was a compliance document"

organziation "all about feedback"

"just because you get feedback doesn't mean you're going to fired"

need to hang onto people he has "need work to do to build those systems" of new leadership

see a lot of people who aren't engaging with kids, then see classes sizes of 30

"particularly as we're spending more than most urban districts" on administration

has a "chief of implementation"

alternative programs for overage and under credited
schools fully engaged in operational schedules to use time

Stewart: when is budget approved in Holyoke?
began this winter into spring
"that seems late in terms of recruting and some of what you're talking about"
"not holding back on the budget" in recruiting
Stewart: how families are being integrated into the work? Particularly at Dean and Morgan
Zrike: doing a lot of meetings in housing development
had visits to homes
"we're going to come to your home or your neighborhood"
Morgan school "really have flipped" "because of some of the relationship wth families"
"that's the beginning of the relationship"

Doherty: has been built on other successful turnaround plans
"can you cite two or three significant differences between the Holyoke" plan and Lawrence?
Zrike: secondary redesign
some of the work around family engagement "given what I've heard about the context in Holyoke very early on"
"didn't want to be solely influenced" by a single model

Willyard "have done a fantastic job in the district"
Have seen benefits of breakfast in the classroom
don't think experience around arts is as strong as it should be
"have places of it, it's not consistent enough"
"look at what those look like" especially outside of secondary
built into extended school day

Accountability: school start times

Perda: I had a good time, sorry for the heavy backup, I might have gotten carried away
I had a good time learning about
history 2000-01 when the committee took this up
Professor Wolfson, formerly of Holy Cross, now in Maryland
"pretty rare that you find...something that is so heavily one sided in one way or another"
literature from educational side, biology, economics, from other school systems
"all saying we see benefits from seeing kids start school later on"
challenge for district is how to do it
complex school system with a lot of activites and bussing and after school system
"it would take a lot to change"
"from the research you've read it, it's clear: you should do it"
Biancheria: received a number of calls on
look forward to having the discussion this evening
discussion in a process: would start the conversation, not looking for a vote today
look at pilot program for one of our schools?
"significant impact on student achievement"
duration and time of day one is expected to function
"clear that we have to look at this as something we may need to change"
shifts that people work and a change of shift
wonder what EAW would have to say; look to have what we do in the best interest our students
have input of everyone
O'Connell: US Air Force Academy moved time later
"I agree with you...all of those factors runs in favor of a later start time"
"only when you start to mix in other factors"
sports, taking care of other students, jobs working longer
"would like to see us take a focus on our academic students"
"may be most pivotal for the students that we most want to reach" (as sleep is more disturbed for more economically disadvantaged students)
"cut through issues" that may hold back
work on this over the next academic year
Novick: overwhelming evidence across the board: need to move the item forward
not social but biological: student biology shifts
more sleepiness leads to greater rates of depression
association of poor sleep habits and lower socioeconomic status
later start times: less tardiness, better attendance
coaches saw students who were less tired and more alert
students were calmer
fewer referrals
parents report children who were "easier to live with"
student did less risky behavior
fewer car accidents
Novick: recommendation of committee that move forward with discussion to implementation (with speed, adds Mr. O'Connell)
Biancheria asks that discussions start with teachers and parents
O'Connell asks that backup be referred to TLSS (but that we're taking our copies with us
Item held in Accountability, but committee encourages discussion to carry on in other subcommittees for "how it would work"

Accountability meets this week

The Standing Committee on Accountability and Student Achievement has its first meeting since May of 2014 this week. On the agenda:

School accountability plans! Per Mass General Law, we do not approve school improvement plans, but we may review them. This week, in our periodic sampling, we are looking at the plans for Burncoat High School, Claremont Academy, and Forest Grove Middle School.

Secondary school start times! We have a BOATLOAD of backups on this (so just check out the link to the main agenda, above). For those following this, know that we have an item on it in EACH standing committee right now, and the idea is to review the research here first, then to move to the "how would it work/how much would it cost" in TLSS and F&O, and then (if we get there) move it to "what needs to change" in Governance.

Testing audit! It turns out that we've done some work on this: we have a report on student assessment done in house and we have the results of a WPS teacher survey on this issue.

Full confession: I have as yet looked at none of this. 

That's 5:30 on Wednesday in room 410 at DAB.

TLSS meeting: notes

agenda is here

Back to school queries UPDATED

A round up of answers to some of what I've gotten over the past two days:

• Lunch menus: The School Nutrition page is found from the bottom of the main WPS page right now. The center menu is for schools without kitchens; the link takes you to the menu for schools that do have kitchens. Yes, you can just send in your child and have them get lunch! If all your child needs is milk, that's fifty cents. Parents, did you notice? No nutrition form to fill out yesterday!
• Buses were a bit late coming home in some cases yesterday due to 7th graders and 9th graders (in particular) finding their way to them these first days (and remember, that backs up through the system due to our tier system). The same will probably be true on Monday, when we bring on our kindergartners!
• Yes, it does say on the calendars that seniors may need to make up snow days. This has always been the case; we just put in on the calendar this year. It will depend on how many we have, and that would be decided in the spring. By state regulation, seniors can only get out of school a limited number of days early. 
• Hoodies in the secondary schools: after a flood of tweets from high school students, I asked about this downtown today. From what I was told, in their meetings before school, the secondary principals agreed that the issue they've had is hoods being used to obscure who a student is (if they're in a hallway skipping class, for example). Thus the ban on hoodies (as we already have one on outdoor coats that might have hoods) has been implimented. That doesn't mean students can't wear other second layers (sweaters, sweatshirts without hoods, fleeces, etc); just no hooded gear. (And yes, I did pass along the astute observation that schools should probably stop selling them, then. Good point!)
• Homecoming games: there's been a rumor going around that the homecoming games are cancelled this fall. I checked this with Davide Shea, WPS Athletic Director, on this, and here is his reply:

More questions? Send them along!

FY16 budgetary priority list

School Committee members were asked to submit their own lists. The following are the items that had more than one member submitting them.

​​Class size (Petty, Biancheria, Monfredo, Ramirez)

More teachers [which may or may not be the same] (Petty, Foley, O'Connell)

Classroom supplies (Biancheria, Foley, Novick)

Advanced Academy (Petty, Foley)

More secondary classes/fewer studies (Petty, Monfredo)

Facilities (Petty, Novick)

Safety (Biancheria, Monfredo) [Foley added]

Support Personnel (Foley, Novick) [Ramirez added]

Monfredo: concern about attendance; Boone not a large budgetary impact

Foley: add onto safety for conflict resolution

Bianchera: the consolidation; understand why we would like to look at items that people are interested in

appreciate addition of Foley to safety for conflict resolution but also for supplies

asked for elimination of a particular position; concerned that in past years we have made statements on priority lists that blanketed a particular department

don't think that I could be any more clear

would like to see added to a priority list the cut of the communications position
Boone: in response to eliminating the position, "I will remind the School Committee that I did provide information last fall"
funded by Channel 11 funding; outside of School Committee purview as it is not in operational budget
Biancheria: don't recall information being sent again

Monfredo: 3rd grade reading level
Boone: part of district improvement plan; "none of that has changed"
seven point financial plan: "focus on the classroom"

Ramirez: tutoring could go under support personnel

Secondary class size report

O'Connell notes high numbers in middle school classes:
should we be doing something about it?
Allen: what you're seeing...trying to maximize number of students have
middle schools have a six period day; four classes of students (125 students over that); high schools have a seven period day
in better budgetary times, could increase number of teachers to spread out number of students per class to bring down class size
O'Connell: is there a tax on student energy though he's talking about having 140 students, which isn't indicated here
Allen: not carrying that many students unless they have chosen to
O'Connell: is that the best answer?
Allen: it is done because there is a need for that to happen at that school; up to now, teachers have been very willing to take that extra period

Here come the marathon meetings: School Committee meets June 5

The first of our two long ones is this coming Thursday, June 5.
Remember that our June meetings are effectively double-headers: budget at 4, regular session at 7.
Thus, beginning at 4pm, we will be considering the FY15 Worcester Public Schools budget, beginning with the School Committee account (for our salaries, set by city charter) and continuing on from there.
We'll break at six for our executive session, and come back at 7pm for the regular agenda.

On the agenda:

• honoring the teacher of the year and finalists (as announced last night)
• recognizing the students who are going to the international DECA conference
• The report of the Superintendent is the mid-cycle report (no back-up as yet...)
• We have a boatload of recognitions and congratulations on this agenda, so I'd recommend you take a look at them all!
• And speaking of which, we are being asked to vote acceptance of the donations from EOS for our universal school breakfast programs. 
• We're being asked to accept the $75,000 state planning grant for Claremont Academy's innovation plan.
• We're being asked to accept the $51,753 state grant for math and science (which looks like it's for professional development? But I'll ask).
• We're being asked to accept the $94,292 state grant for academic support and learning (which is for getting kids to pass MCAS? I think?).
• We have the annual request that the Superintendent be allowed the discretion to transfer funds as needed within the budget to close the fiscal year.
• Mr. O'Connell wants to review the second grade pedestrian safety training with an eye to expansion (as yet it's a pilot). 
• He's also, per the opinion received this week from the Mass Association of School Committees that this is a policy decision, suggesting that the Worcester School Committee vote to use the MCAS rather than the PARCC next spring. The early submission deadline on that is June 30.
• I have three items, all asking that we look at what it would mean to bump back secondary school start times (through the research, through the impact on teaching and learning, and through operations), all heading off to subcommittees.
• And I've asked for what the calculation would look like if the foundation budget funded actual enrollment of special education, rather than the flat percentage that it does now.

art and music and study halls

report is here
Biancheria: study halls per high school
"as we look towards our future, are we taking into consideration that there are some schools that have" so many study halls
Boone: challenges that we face with a budget of sustainability; haven't been able to drill into this the way that we would like to
part of making sure that we are able to address the increase graduation requirements that School Committee has approved
Allen: FY15 budget will have a reduction in secondary teachers: "believe it will not reduce course options" thus should not increase course options
difference between Tech and others is a scheduling issue (as Tech has week on and week off)
look at what courses students are interested in and address that with the appropriate number of staff; "not something that's going to happen in FY15, but we're looking forward to it in future years"
Biancheria: thought North was due to previous block schedule, but Doherty has similar number
"hope we can at least bring that number down"
Boone: working with principals to examine their scheduling process to ensure that we have maximized class options
Biancheria: study halls supervised with a teacher
Allen: yes. This report does not give number of kids in each study hall. Essentially five classes per period are set aside as study halls.

New courses being considered for next year

Three Dimensional Design

 Advanced Three Dimensional Design

 Photography

Digital Media Research

African American Studies

Financial Literacy 

Forensics

Arts Appreciation & Critique

Class Guitar

Community Arts Internship

Dance for Fitness

Introduction of Music Theory

Introduction of Music History

Introduction to Theatre

Percussion Ensemble

Songwriting

These are proposed courses; the schools then can look at their teaching staff to see if they have the expertise and staff to teach that course. 
Rodrigues comments that this is atypically late in the year for the courses to be considered; that to redraft the course description sheet
Biancheria pushing to be sure that the courses are presented to students so they know that it is available
wondering how the course enrollment will look (now a motion)

Lots going on this week!

There is a LOT going on this week in and around the Worcester Public Schools!
First up, it is GRADUATION WEEK:

• Burncoat graduates TONIGHT
• North graduates Tuesday
• Doherty graduates Wednesday
• South graduates Friday
• Tech graduates a week from tonight

All of those are at 6 pm at the DCU Center (downtown motorists, be aware!).

Tomorrow, the Worcester City Council again takes up the Worcester Public Schools budget. As both the mayor and the superintendent have to be at North's graduation at 6, that will be happening right at 4 pm tomorrow. Please join us!

On Wednesday, there are two subcommittee meetings: at 3* pm, there is a Finance and Operations meeting. You can find the agenda here.We're getting the third quarter report, along with the updates on accounts. We've got the report from the Collaborative coming in, a report coming back on the Open Space and Recreation plan (with no backup...hmmm), a claiming review of the Medicaid reimbursements, and AUDITS! Here, here, and here. We also have to consider raising the school lunch price (not that we really have a choice, as it's a federal requirement) to $1.65 for next year

The second subcommittee, meeting at 5 pm, is Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports; you can find the agenda here. There's a review of middle and high school report cards, a request for a middle school ad-hoc committee, a summer program review, a report on admission to middle school honors, and a report on summer reading.
Also, the following courses are being considered for next year:
 

-     Three Dimensional Design

-          Advanced Three Dimensional Design

-          Photography

-          Digital Media Research

-          African American Studies

-          Financial Literacy

-          Forensics

-          Arts Appreciation & Critique

-          Class Guitar

-          Community Arts Internship

-          Dance for Fitness

-          Introduction of Music Theory

-          Introduction of Music History

-          Introduction to Theatre

-          Percussion Ensemble

-          Songwriting

All of that will be carried over into Thursday's meeting of the Worcester School Committee, for which you can find the agenda here.  PLEASE NOTE: the budget hearing begins at 4 pm. We do not yet have the order of accounts (we usually get that at about 2 pm on the day; I'll post it when I have it). We will go to the REGULAR agenda at 7 pm, after executive session at 6.
On that agenda: we are recognizing the Worcester Tech robotics team for their national victory, and Eftalia Economou who was a prize winner in the statewide "My Ideal School" contest with MSBA. We're also getting all of the above subcommittee reports. We have an alleged Open Meeting Law violation.** 
We've gotten back our proposals for changes in the policy handbook. We've got a few recognitions going out. A few of my colleagues are asking that Councilor O'Brien's white paper on city schools be considered. I'm making my annual "who is at Worcester charter schools?" request. We're being asked (as we are every year) to a) set the annual grant rate and b) give the superintendent authority to allocate funds internally to close the fiscal year. There's also a boatload of things going off for consideration in various directions, including an updated policy manual, and the exam school report (yes, really! Though not up online yet). 

I'll be liveblogging most of the above (well, not the graduations!), so plenty of posts to come. As always, please consider attending the public meetings, and get in touch with comments.

*Yes, that's much earlier than usual. Due to graduations in particular, it's been nearly impossible to get a meeting scheduled. Apologies for those who can't do an afternoon.
**The doors were locked at City Hall during our last meeting. If you follow City Council agendas, you may have seen that this is an ongoing problem; we're told that it's being dealt with.

Debate

and mock trial is on here, too!
"any sufficient student-demonstrated interest in formal debate competition"

O'Connell says "clearly there is interest at Doherty"