What are we doing here, Worcester?

 I am of course posting this after the Worcester School Committee meeting at which this was discussed. This is partly because this isn't intended as anything other than my thoughts, but it's also rather been a bleak week. It's a hard week to pull together the through line to write. 

On Worcester's next superintendent

 I have the English major habit of, when I cannot find the best words myself, quoting those who put it better. 
I could not think more highly of Brian Allen, who the Worcester School Committee voted (8-1) to make the next superintendent of schools. I give you, thus, a passage from Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons about Sir Thomas More.

Margaret: In a State that was half good, you would be raised up high, not here, for what you've done already. It's not your fault the State's three-quarters bad. Then if you elect to suffer for it, you elect yourself a hero.

More: That's very neat. But look now … If we lived in a State where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us good, and greed would make us saintly. And we'd live like animals or angels in the happy land that needs no heroes. But since in fact we see that avarice, anger, envy, pride, sloth, lust and stupidity commonly profit far beyond humility, chastity, fortitude, justice and thought, and have to choose, to be human at all … why then perhaps we must stand fast a little--even at the risk of being heroes.

T&G coverage here; MassLive here; WGBH here

Letter from Dr. Monárrez

 And while the Board of Ed continues question selection, some Worcester news...

Dear Worcester Public Schools Community,

I am writing to you with mixed emotion. After deep reflection, I have accepted a Superintendent position in California and will step down as Superintendent of Worcester Public Schools at the end of June 2025. I have come from this decision taking into account the needs of my family. As many of you know, my husband, Jesus, is retired, and this next chapter in our lives will allow us to spend more time together with our family and friends in our home state of California.

Serving as your superintendent has been an incredible honor. Over the past three years, under our guiding mantra—from here, anywhere… together—we have made meaningful progress toward greater equity and opportunity for our scholars. We have strengthened specialized programming options, expanded inclusionary practices, and remained steadfast in keeping scholars in school. We have fostered a safer, more welcoming environment for both students and staff, bolstered by robust safety training and a deepened sense of belonging in part through our school-based culture and climate teams. Our youngest scholars are reading at the highest level since my arrival.

We have transformed how we engage with families and the community, ensuring that communication is clear, accessible, and inclusive. With the successful rollout of our five-year strategic plan, Our Promise to the Future, we have built a strong foundation for the district’s continued growth. Our creation of the quadrant teams have brought district staff closer to schools, strengthening connections between educators and children. We celebrated the opening of the new Doherty Memorial High School and launched the long-awaited Burncoat High School construction project. And over the past three years, we have doubled the annual funding toward facilities and school safety, from $8.2 million to $16.6 million.

Most importantly, we have lifted the voices of those we serve. The Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee, Family and Community Engagement Roundtable, and Educator Advisory Council have provided essential perspectives in shaping our work. Our collaboration with the Educational Association of Worcester has resulted in a stronger partnership and a significant reduction in staff grievances. And with the launch of Vision of a Learner, we have set a clear path for what it means to be future-ready upon graduation.

Through it all, the greatest privilege of my time here has been elevating the brilliance of our scholars. Their achievements, creativity, and resilience inspire me daily.

I have informed members of the Worcester School Committee, including Mayor Joseph M. Petty, along with my WPS Cabinet team and key stakeholders of my decision. I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition. I have made myself available to discuss the transition plan and offer my support to the School Committee in any way necessary.

I extend my deepest gratitude to the Worcester School Committee members along with many local and state elected officials, our city and state leaders, our dedicated educators and staff, our families, and our many community partners for your support and commitment to our scholars. I am confident that the momentum we have built together will carry Worcester Public Schools forward to even greater success.

As we look to the future, I encourage everyone to remain on a journey of excellence embracing this quote.  “Excellence can be obtained if you ... care more than others think is wise; ... risk more than others think is safe; . . . dream more than others think is practical; ... expect more than others think is possible.”  I want to share my deep appreciation and love for the families, staff and community members of WPS who practice this mindset each and every day. 

With appreciation,

Rachel H. Monárrez, Ph.D.

Superintendent 

Worcester Public Schools

 The T&G has coverage here. 

New Bedford Light interviews Superintendent Andrew O'Leary

 Cheering for large sections of today's New Bedford Light interview with Superintendent Andrew O'Leary: 

Soon after Trump took office this year, O’Leary got some social media and talk radio flak because he had sent out a letter to school staff informing them that the New Bedford district follows state guidelines that restrict building and information access from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.

O’Leary feels strongly about his system’s immigrant students. He spoke at a Saturday City Hall rally, objecting to a March 21 New Bedford raid where, he said, several children who attend city schools “woke up to terror” when federal agents in military fatigues broke the door to their home.  

He says the criticism hasn’t bothered him because as superintendent he’s the person who can better deal with rebukes so staff can go about their jobs educating and protecting children. He is particularly concerned, he said, about continuing the New Bedford schools’ inclusive philosophy toward marginalized populations like undocumented immigrants and transgender and nonbinary people.

“All the criticism came to me because you have seen scenarios out there, around the state and around the nation, where this individual teacher and this individual principal got targeted,” he said. His voice then grew quiet. “I would hate to see that” in New Bedford, he said.

And also: 

 Business roundtable-type organizations, he said, have incorrectly convinced the public that schools should be about producing skilled, high-earning graduates for the commercial sector.

That’s the wrong paradigm, according to the superintendent.

“I think we’ve listened to the wrong people around that, and what it does is, it diminishes what a school actually is for: its community,” he said. “It’s a place where students grow and flourish and develop as young people who can contribute to society in all sorts of ways.”

O’Leary is doing nothing less than laying down a marker that the New Bedford schools are not about business or careers or even getting into college, but rather about boosting the people of the city and how they feel about themselves.

“What concerns me the most is that these are community assets,” he said. “Schools are the hubs of neighborhoods. Schools, where our young people are, are one of the most important things that society invests in, and they belong to the community.”

Public schools have traditionally been thought of as something for the whole group, not for one individual, he said.

“Eroding a community asset is something we should raise concern about,” O’Leary said.

Yes, indeed! More of this, please!  

January meeting of the Board of Ed: opening comments

 The agenda is here; the livestream is here.

Public comment 
usual comment on department setting low standards
MBAE being dissatisifed by SOA reporting from districts
MTA Vice President Deb McCarthy discussing impact of "not being a good test taker"
MTA Noah Berger who is talking about Tom Birmingham to testify on how inflation is calculated (!!) and recommending that it be actual

English teacher from Codman Academy charter school speaking in favor of the dual path target plan
"I dream of a Massachusetts that leads with a holistic view of student achievement"
focusing only on a single point leaves all the other types of recovery out

MASS panel: Revere, Salem, Billerica, and Everett
Dianne Kelly, Revere: understand that there has been criticism of the proposal
notes that the Secretary was testifying as a superintendent nine months ago
represent superintendents from across the Commonwealth, and notes that a number are there in support
"not hear to condemn accountability"
need accountability that is "not only aggressive but achievable and compassionate"
Steve Zrike who was the receiver in Holyoke and now superintendent in Salem
significant inflection point in public education
"in Salem alone unhoused students has grown by 30% this year alone"
cannot disregard the larger challenges of our multilingual learners
notes that after a "love affair" with educators at the beginning of the pandemic, atmosphere now toxic
teachers leaving profession
Priya Tahiliani, Everett: notes levels of instructional interruptions and aftershocks
must overcome the mammoth opportunity gaps that have also widened
notes SOA was opportunity and support from the beginning
notes bringing students back, adding night school
"unfortunately these successes will not be captured in our accountability"
trainings to support physical and mental wellness; mediation
"I have every confidence that these successes will lead to long term gains, but unfortunately, they will not be captured in next year's accountability"
Tim Piwowar, Billerica (and MASS president): "it was with great dismay that I heard" the Board's discussion of the accountability system
"equally if not further behind in social and emotional development"
Grave concern with setting higher targets in MCAS
Urge Board to consider:
"the reality on the ground is all about accountability and the only incentive is to avoid them"
ask Board to demonstrate the same compassion we demonstrate each day to our students
Mary Bourque: ask to support Board's plan

Jason DeFalco, superintendent Blackstone-Millville: speaking as former co-chair of the AAAC
very concerning that the target setting shared was deemed not aggressive enough
believes Board should take feedback of AAAC
last thing districts need are goals there are set that are unattainable

Craven talks about Tom Birmingham

Secretary Pat Tutwiler: says it's day twelve "maybe" in his role
drive each day: "equity"
Says he "has hit the ground learning"

Commissioner introduces new early college person
read with concern about "teachers not being paid on time"
(That isn't what the article said at all)
Craven: is there an opportunity to amend the MOU?
will be talking to legal counsel

Commissioner

"If Not You, Who Else?": a year end post of thanks

I'll do my usual year end "most read" wrap-up in the next few days, but given the year it has been--and it has been a year!--I wanted to do a post of thanks.

Sixth floor (you read that right!) windows of the
Durkin Administration Building, 20 Irving Street.
This is the top of the tower.

First, on a personal note, the support I got from the educational community, both here in Worcester and across the state, when my mom died in February was something I still keenly appreciate. Thank you for that.

Worcester got a 50% turnover in their school committee this year, and gosh, what a change! We're ensuring public process happens; we changed our rules to ensure it (and thanks to the Research Bureau for noting the rules change and the focus). We're sticking to actual district governance (and filing items that stray offline!). When something is already in subcommittee, we don't file it again! When we don't agree--and we don't, always--it's much more often over principle. Subcommittees are sticking to their work and getting their work done.
I cannot tell you of what a night and day difference working with this committee has been (and this is to give due respect to some good colleagues have had in the past). Trusting that work is going to get done, that discussion is going to stay on topic, that disagreement isn't going to be because of who brought something up, that we're going to focus on goals and policy and budget and the superintendent...it's an enormous, enormous change. I am profoundly, both as a member and as someone who lives in Worcester, grateful for that.

...which brings me to the other big change, which is the superintendent. Let me first back up and say again, though, what I said in May: the superintendent search--a thorough, national, thoughtful, professional, standards-based search--was the work of many, many people. The prior committee committed to the national search and hired the firm. The new committee kept that commitment. The community committed, as well. The search committee was thorough, thoughtful, professional, and stringent. The full committee did their due diligence--including those district visits!--and carried through a careful process. Worcester wanted this, at bottom, and, as someone who runs searches as part of my job, having my hometown want a real search that did a thorough job is still something for which I am so very grateful. And still a little amazed. And Bill Shaner is right: it felt a little miraculous, but really, it was about people insisting on a culture of professional excellence.
And we can have that! I'm really thankful that this carried through.

And so to Dr. Monárrez. In re-reading what I said that night in April (eight months ago today, in fact!), and I have only seen confirmed what I brought back. She's gone out and listened (and listened and listened) to people across the district (and the city) as her very first priority. She's also set up systems to keep that going forward. And they're doing real work (ask the student advisory!)! She's reorganized the administration to ensure the actual work of the district--students learning--is supported appropriately. She's also cleaned up outstanding issues--the MOU with the police department, the strange situation of the grants department not having fiscal oversight, the backlog of questions from the committee, the lacks of relationships with the unions and with community agencies, and on and on--that were left by those who went before. And in many cases, there are systems and processes being put into place, so things that come up have places to go, which they absolutely did not before. 
In short, we're acknowledging what's broken and we're working to fix it, in ways that building on strengths and bring in new supports where we're weak. 
And I want to note: that includes acknowledging strengths we have had right along in some administrative spots, and her recognition of that only makes me more confident in her leadership.
From a committee member perspective, I know who to ask questions of. I know I'll get answers back (and quickly! And accurately!). I know when we go into a meeting, the report of the superintendent is going to be relevant to the work of the district, that our questions will be answered or followed up on, and it will be productive. I'm also so many times better informed as to what is going on in the district now.
I am so profoundly grateful for all of these changes.
Also, if you haven't yet met her, she's genuinely great. We're very lucky.

Let me also note that the changes above have left plenty of people clearing up issues, recreating systems, working to give support and oversight that has been lacking, and was a lack not of their own making. We also have acting principals and assistant principals and others stepping up into leadership to help right the ship. I'm grateful for those doing that. 

Did you hear we took on district transportation fully in house?
Did you?
Did you?
(ok, I'll stop) This is a BIG DEAL about which we've been talking for YEARS, and gosh, so much work but also heart and soul has gone into it! I stopped by district Transportation before the break, and I wish I could bottle how much "making things work" is in that building. I've said before: this is another one that was taken on as a community project, and families came alongside those working for the district in understanding that we were making a new thing fly. We've had so much good will this school year in this project, and I'm profoundly grateful for that, as well as for everyone who is making it work.
(And if you have nice things to say about your bus drivers and monitors, send it along! They share it!)

And yes, I'm chairing Finance and Operations this term, and I'm really grateful for that. 

I never wrote a separate blog post about how profoundly grateful I felt walking out of the public hearing for the proposed Worcester Cultural Academy Charter School, so let me say now, how grateful that made me. First, there was an incredibly high level of organization in the administration and with the Committee in the responses, ensuring that the various weaknesses of the proposal were covered, often by those speaking in their own area of expertise. That is absolutely not something we have experienced in quite some time. There was also a high level of coordination with the EAW (more relationship building!) on what topics were being covered, what work was being done ahead, and more. And finally, but most importantly, the outpouring of community comment--from parents, from educators, from community members--noting not only that they didn't have a need for this school, but that they did not want their district harmed was really incredible. And again, much like what we're seeing with district administration: it is not that WPS is perfect, but that it recognizes the needs to be met and is working to improve, and it's doing so with the community. As much as I would have liked to have spent all that time and energy differently, I am grateful for the community response.

And there are so many more people and areas I could talk about locally, but I tried to cover all of that in my post from Thanksgiving!

On a state level, we are going to have a new Secretary of Education, and he's been a Gateway city superintendent. And Jim Peyser, will, we hope, never cast another vote at the Board of Education. 

We're no longer going to have Governor Baker's "I underbudgeted and didn't meet basic needs, but now there is a supplemental budget, and look! One time funding!" method of funding education. And we won't have his strange implicit hostility to public education, and his lack of wanting to understand anything about city or rural or regional or anything-outside-his-personal-experience schools. 

We're moving into what I think is going to be a third year phase in of the Student Opportunity Act, which is the most profound change to the funding of Massachusetts education in a generation. 

As some of us have been saying over and over, ESSER spending, at the halfway mark, is right on time. Those who are still talking about districts "sitting on cash" don't know how federal reimbursement works and aren't keeping up with district spending. Those in districts have known this was the case; I am grateful to see the national press is SLOWLY catching up! 

The federal budget that passed last week was not a disaster for public education. Keeping grant increases up with inflation is the underlying challenge, so that's useful. 

This is absolutely one of those posts that could go on forever, but I'm going to close. Thanks.

________________________________________________ 

The post title is from Terry Pratchett's  novel Only You Can Save Mankind (and if you haven't read Pratchett, what are you waiting for?)

Welcome, Dr. Monárrez!

 Hey, Worcester: we have a new superintendent!

Banner hanging on the front of the brick Durkin Administration Building Friday:
White banner with blue lettering says Welcome, Dr. Rachel H. Monárrez!
We're looking forward to working with you!
From Here, Anywhere...Together!
The banner is watermarked with the district seal,
and the main text is surrounded by "welcome" in the district's main languages

A new fiscal year brings new administration contracts, and Dr. Monárrez's contract officially started with us on Friday. 

I appreciated that she was tweeting about it right away Friday morning:

Tweet from @Drrmonarrez says: Today is the day!
I officially start as the superintendent
of Worcester Public Schools. I am honored and thrilled to work and lead with
exceptional people providing access and opportunity
to the youth of Worcester. #LeadershipMatters #allmeansall #reamwork
(and of course the last hashtag is a typo; remember Twitter doesn't have an edit function.)

I hope you've already had a chance to view her introductory video:

You can find her entry plan (in fifteen languages) on the district website.

I suspect this is going to be part of School Committee discussion at some point, so I don't want to say too much, but that it's founded on Karin Chenoweth's Districts That Succeed is quite something; I was reading it during the superintendent search, as I told Karin herself (but hadn't mentioned to Dr. Monárrez) at the time:

You’ve already captured one of the two biggest drivers in my own view of our superintendent search on page 2: “a recognition that schools live in complex ecosystem that affect them in any number of ways from finances to personnel decisions.”

— Tracy O'Connell Novick (@TracyNovick) March 26, 2022

Something we also should expect will be early on the agenda: Deputy Superintendent Sue O’Neil also retired June 30. That means leadership academic side needs to be filled. It’s entirely possible—note, this is just my reflecting history here—that the organization chart may be reworked in the process, as both Superintendent Binienda did and as Superintendent Boone did. Central offices, particularly ones the size of Worcester, can have lots of different models. 

First meeting is July 21 at 4!  

What happened at last night's Worcester School Committee meeting: May 19, 2022 edition

 What happened at last night's Worcester School Committee meeting (agenda; video)? Here are the highlights:

First, the headline news: 

We have a contract! 

This is the final page of the contract of the 

Worcester School Committee with Dr. Rachel Monárrez;
signed by us Thursday night, in the mail to California Friday morning.

We have a contract with Dr. Rachel Monárrez for three years starting July 1. Signed, voted, voted down reconsideration. 

We also voted a three year contract renewal with Kay Seale, who is our director of special education. 

We're in contract negotiations, so I don't want to say too much, but we did have some of our WPS bus drivers speak to us. 

...which gives me a good excuse to share this photo! 
Yesterday, I got to ride a morning set of bus routes on S-29,
with driver Tina Mansfield (left) and monitor Justa Fernandez 
as part of the EAW's Walk a Day in Our Shoes initiative.

We also had--and, honestly, I can't tell you how proud I am of this--a strong showing of school psychologists and school adjustment counselors, who spoke on their petition regarding student mental health, in response to the report of the superintendent at the last meeting of the School Committee (also covered behind the paywall here). It takes courage to show up at a meeting and say, "No, it's really this way," when the dominant narrative has been otherwise. As covered in the WGBH piece linked above, our staff strongly argued, and gave data supporting, the need for additional resources and connections in our schools. Staff also used the public comment portion of our meeting--which is new this year!!--to make additional remarks on this issue.
Also Mayor Petty had an item on this agenda to set up a meeting between our mental health staff and the Mayor's Task Force on Mental Health. 

In reporting out on two subcommittees, I do want to note that there are ongoing discussions in TLSS on elementary libraries, and Governance is continuing to chug through our student handbook, as well as do some preliminary work on our revision of our strategic plan.

The COVID update was not good. The latest meeting of the medical advisors, as transmission remains high and the local hospitals are becoming concerned, yielded a "strong recommendation" that those in schools (and elsewhere inside) wear masks. The district's student vaccination rate is 35.5% double vaxxed, with another 6.74% with the third shot. That's lousy. 
This week's positives: 252 students, 84 staff.

We got a report back on principal succession planning, which didn't include which principals are leaving and being replaced--we aren't being given this information at all--but did have a bit of an outline on school-level involvement, described as follows: 

Candidates are screened by Human Resources for the appropriate DESE license. Licensed candidates are reviewed by an administrative team which selects candidates for the school-based committees to meet. The Site Council and the principal at each school identifies family and/or community members for the interview panel. Each committee consists of representatives from schools, central office administrators, the Chief Diversity Officer, members of the Superintendent's Advisory Committee, and school leaders. The committee meets the candidates, reviews resumes, asks questions and discusses the candidates responses. The Superintendent receives the interview committee's recommendations, meets with the candidates and makes the hiring decision.

After asking, we're going to receive a list of which principals are being hired.

We also filed some new items, to wit: 

• a request for a report on CORI reports on student volunteers. My colleague Sue Mailman put this one on, and, as CORIs effectively bar some parents and family members from volunteering, asking the grounds is super important.
• a request for a report on teacher shortages and substitute coverage this year (also Mailman)
• a request for a report on specialized programs by quadrant and student access to those (these from Jermoh Kamala)
• a request from me that we get a report prior to the end of the fiscal year next month on district adherence to MGL Ch. 32, sec. 90 and 91, as operational under the waiver passed during the FY22 budget process. This is hiring former employees who are now retired; there are caps on hours and pay. 
• a request from me that we look at our sexual harassment policy and its alignment with federal requirements (which are in a weird state of flux, as the rules from the Trump administration largely remain in force, but the Biden administration has said they're revising, plus Attorney General Healey has reminded us that Massachusetts has a higher standard). This one stemmed from some considerable concerns that have arisen among students on how the district handles sexual assault and harassment cases, in some cases. At the meeting, Superintendent Binienda passed out to us paper copies of a proposed revised policy in light of some of the issues that have been raised locally (which I'll share on here once we have it electronically). That goes to Governance for revision.
• A request from me that the Superintendent and her staff and the other employees of the district follow policy GBEBC and the state ethics law in refraining from using district resources, including district emails, from private fundraising, however good the cause. Enough said.
• And I'm really proud that my colleagues unanimously passed a proposed resolution for the MASC Delegate Assembly in November. If five committees across the state pass the same resolution by June 1, it automatically goes to the Delegate Assembly for consideration as part of MASC's state priorities. The resolution asks that the Legislature pass sanctuary laws like those proposed in other states for those who are trans and their relatives. It reads as follows:
  

  WHEREAS The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a long history of standing for civil rights, including advocacy for a bill of rights in the U.S. Constitution, and
   WHEREAS Massachusetts codified gender identity as a protected class in the 2011 Act Relative to Gender Identity, and
   WHEREAS All children deserve a safe environment in which to grow up, and
   WHEREAS Some state governments are now criminalizing supportive medical care for trans individuals; moving to bar families from traveling to access such care; and otherwise violating the civil rights of trans children and their families, and
   WHEREAS The defense of the civil rights of the historically marginalized is contained within the first article of the Massachusetts Constitution right of “seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness,”
   THEREFORE the Massachusetts Association of School Committees call on the Great and General Court to join with other states in the passage of so-called “sanctuary” laws to ensure such children and their families have “the power of enjoying, in safety and tranquility, their natural rights and the blessings of life,” as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Commonwealth.

A few reflections on the Worcester superintendent search

 As always, of course, everything I say here is coming just from me.

Black background of the City of Worcester seal
in rainbow shades; this is my WorcesterWares shirt. 

One thing that I have found rather heartbreaking about Worcester, especially around the schools, has been the difficulty of dreaming. We've had so little money for so long, and we've been so stuck in other ruts, that we haven't really talked about what we'd really like our schools to be. What would we do for our kids if we could? How do we want our schools to work for, yes, our students, but also for our employees and for our larger community?

We also too often don't recognize who we really are as a district now, either. If the mark of a Cockney was being born within earshot of Bow Bells, too often the mark of what makes one "Worcester" or seen by some as able to serve Worcester well, has seen similar limitations.  

Superintendent searches, done well, are about hope. 

They're a chance for a community to take stock of where they are and who they are and who they want to be. Done well, not only those who think about district direction all the time, but plenty of people who have their heads down and their shoulders to the wheel on district and community, think about where the district is going and how they're going to get there, and to talk to each other about that.

I want to give credit where it is due: it was last term's committee that not only said we needed a search, but a full, professional, national one, and that created and voted the RFP that outlined that kind of conversation in the community, with that kind of work to follow over the search.

Worcester, further energized by an election that saw change, then saw that community conversation fully inform the position description that was adopted by the Worcester School Committee. What Worcester said we needed is what the Committee said we needed, and who Greenwood Asher went to look for. 

Mayor Petty appointed a large (and I say that as a professional!) search committee that drew from all over Worcester, from all sorts of backgrounds and connections, and charged them with doing the first round screening. That, again, is a courageous thing to do: you're giving over authority, and you're doing so to a group that is not under tight reins.

Search committee work is A LOT: reviewing all the applications thoroughly, doing what homework you feel is necessary, then working with a committee on evaluating people to interview. Then attending all the interviews--we did eleven, over two full work days!--with great attention, listening carefully for what makes each applicant different and how well they answer. Then doing another round of evaluation with the committee.

And let's be blunt: those discussions, if they're going to bring the community forward, are going to involve all the questions raised in the search: who is Worcester? Who do we want to be? What are the needs of the community and how are those best met?
Those are not easy conversations. As Senator Chang-Díaz said at Monday's YWCA Stand against Racism: “If this work is comfortable…you’re not doing it right.”
I am really grateful that we had a search committee that not only were who they are and worked hard, but were courageous in their commitment to our students. 

Also, they kept confidentiality. As the Massachusetts General Law notes, it is in the interest of the district to have the first round of screening be confidential, as the quality of candidates a district receives is enormously better if it isn't public until they have a real chance. This was a lot of people, and they have kept faith with the district, which shows integrity and commitment on the part of everyone involved. 

And I'd be remiss here if I didn't get a salute to Molly McCullough who chaired the search committee, which meant everything from being an ongoing conduit to and from the search committee, to creating schedules and agendas and question series, to responding to questions and queries from all directions. She did it with patience and thoughtfulness (and hours and hours of work!). 

Superintendent searches are also one of the more difficult things for a School Committee to do. It is a very big decision to make. It is a lot of trust to put in someone. It is always going to be second-guessed by someone (who does the second guessing tells you something about the choice you made). Our Committee trusting each other enough to go visit the finalists' districts--a core piece of a professional search--and report back is really a hallmark for me of the working relationships being established among this Committee, which I'm so grateful to have as a member. 

I have sat in on many votes for superintendent. This is the first time I voted for one. I said what I said about Dr. Monárrez on Thursday, bringing nearly 30 years of my own experience in and around public education to this decision, which, as I said then is "a description of someone who met, in a myriad of ways, exactly what the Worcester School Committee, and, more importantly, the community of the city of Worcester, wants in their next superintendent."

What I heard from across the district both Thursday night and Friday morning was a level of rejoicing I don't know I've ever heard in Worcester. What is most meaningful to me is the number of places where voices that are not accustomed to being heard felt that now, finally, they were. 

I'm very excited about what the new superintendent means for the Worcester Public Schools.
I am also hopeful for the future of my city, given the sort of search that got us here.

Dr. Rachel  Monárrez is our next superintendent, Worcester.
It's up to all of us to make this work. 
Know hope. 

joy cometh in the morning...Psalm 30:5

You should watch the interview with Dr. Monárrez

Particularly if you're in Worcester, but really, if you're involved with our educational system, I'd urge you to watch this interview.

(and look, I say this as someone who sits in a LOT of superintendent interviews!)

Remarks on Dr. Rachel Monárrez, next superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools

Tonight on a unanimous vote (made unanimous on the motion of Member Mailman, who voted first for Dr. Savoy-Brooks), Dr. Rachel Monárrez was appointed the next superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools.

As I was the Committee member who went to visit her home district, I had the responsibility of reporting out on that visit. Here are the remarks I made this evening.

Turquoise whiteboard marker on glass, handwritten:
"It's all about the children and the adults that serve them" in a heart
In Dr. Monárrez's San Bernardino office

I visited San Bernardino City Unified School District for finalist Dr. Rachel Monárrez, the deputy superintendent. SBCUSD is the seventh largest district in California, with 48,000 students, 72 schools, covering 163 square miles, with a FY22 budget of $918 million. As Deputy Superintendent, per the superintendent, she runs the day to day operations of the entire school district. 

My first meeting of the day with Superintendent Dr. Harry Ervin established several themes regarding Dr. Monárrez that were repeated and confirmed over the course of the day:

She is a strategic thinker: She thinks in terms of structures and systems, how those are established, how those are working, what changes need to be made, and more than anything else, how those structures and systems impact students. When a staff member saw an upcoming operational issue that crossed silos and would be politically unpopular to raise, he took it to Dr. Monárrez, as he knew that she’d recognize the issue, that she would be prepared to plan next steps, and that she wouldn’t let the politics of the concern stop the work that needed to happen. I was given examples of this again and again over the course of the day.

Her first priority is always what is right for kids: The structural is in support of children, first, and the staff who serve them, and the community, including the families surrounding them. She continues to ensure that the systems of the school district are working to be supporting the best interests of kids and of those who serve them. In fact, on the table in her office where meetings are held, she’s written, “It’s all about the children and the adults that serve them.”

She leads with others: Dr. Monárrez actively models leadership for others; her walk-through of a classroom (which, I was told, is never for only a moment) closes not simply with the usual question ‘what did you see?’ but the follow-up ‘and what will you reflect back to that teacher to raise their work to the next level for students?’ She is actively reflective in her own practice, seeking feedback from those with whom she works. Those who report to her trust her (and I heard this phrase more than once) with “the real story,” knowing that she will not spread information with which she is trusted further. She is trusted and she is trustworthy, and she also extends trust to others. She is not a gossip. She also is known for working with those needing to solve a problem, reflecting to them their own best thinking and what will work best for their own situation. She not only, as noted above, brings structural support to challenges the district is facing; she ensures that those doing the work are themselves supported personally. One termed this “leading with grace.” One staff member summed it up as “I wanted to make her feel proud of me.”

She is gifted at creating and sustaining the relationships that are a community: As one parent related to me, Dr. Monárrez’s frame is “Let’s make this a better school district for our kids.” She is skilled at working through difficult conversations, including those across race, class, and language lines. She is a skilled listener, and, while always does her research and comes prepared, if she does not know something, she will say that and then follow up with the one who asked. She has broken down barriers between and among groups in the school district, and she has cultivated key partnerships for the school district. One parent described this as “leaving headaches outside the door and bringing everyone to the table.”

I could go on at length, but in short, Mr. Chair, what I heard from the district was a description of someone who met, in a myriad of ways, exactly what the Worcester School Committee, and, more importantly, the community of the city of Worcester, wants in their next superintendent. 

As I was also told repeatedly: San Bernardino’s loss will be Worcester’s gain. 

The Worcester School Committee appoints a new superintendent this week

One of the four finalists is in the district each day, Monday through Thursday.

• Monday, Dr. Sonya Somerville Harrison
• Tuesday, Dr. Malika Savoy-Brooks
• Wednesday, Dr. Charles Grandson
• Thursday, Dr. Rachel Monárrez 

Beyond visits to schools, meetings with staff, meals with School Committee members, there are two places for public insight:

Every afternoon, there will be a public meet and greet session with the finalist in the district that day.

All of the sessions are at the Durkin Administration Building in the auditorium at 20 Irving Street; enter through the front door. The accessible entrance is off the parking lot.

All are from 3:15 to 4:15. Light refreshments will be served.

Interviews are each evening.
Monday's is at 7 pm; Tuesday through Thursday's are at 5:15 pm
All will be livestreamed on all our usual spots.

The Worcester School Committee will share feedback from their site visits after Thursday's interview. The Committee then will deliberate in public session, and vote to appoint the next superintendent, who will begin July 1. 

What happens next in the Worcester superintendent search?

Please enjoy this daffodil from my yard.

This was outlined by Molly McCullough at the meeting, but I know the main grabber was the NAMES of the finalists, so just to be clear: 

• members of the Worcester School Committee are splitting up and visiting the home districts of the candidates for the rest of this week. We cannot all get everywhere, but at least one of us (in most cases more) will spend time in the district of the candidates, speaking with those with whom they work now, and gaining perspective on their work with the community, with families, with students, with school staff.
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week (April 25-28), the Worcester Public Schools will host a finalist each day. The finalist will visit schools, will meet with central administration staff, will be available for a meet and greet, and will have a public interview with the Worcester School Committee in the evening.
• On Thursday of next week, the Worcester School Committee will deliberate and vote to select the next superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools.

There are still some details in terms of times and such that need to be confirmed in the above. I will post theme as soon as they are available. Stay tuned! 

Finalists for Superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools

The finalists selected by the Search Committee for consideration by the Worcester School Committee are, in alphabetical order:

Charles A. Grandson IV, Ed.D.
Dr. Grandson currently is the Chief Equity and Strategy Officer for the Boston Public Schools, a position he has held since 2019. He has also served as Chief Academic Officer and Deputy Chief Operating Officer for BPS. From 2016 to 2017, he served as interim superintendent of the Malden Public Schools. He has also worked for the Poughkeepsie (NY) City Schools, where he served as Deputy Superintendent, and the Springfield Public Schools, where he served as School Redesign Officer after serving as the principal of High School of Commerce. Dr. Grandson began his career in education as a history teacher at Brook Farm Academy in the Boston Public Schools.
Dr. Grandson holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership (dissertation: Turning Around Schools: A View from Superintendent/Central Office as Policy Implementers), a Master's in Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in History, all from Boston College. 

Rachel H. Monárrez, Ph.D.

Dr. Monárrez currently is the Deputy Superintendent of the San Bernardino (CA) City Unified School District, a position she has held since 2016. She has also served as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the Santa Rosa City Schools; a principal in the Pomona Unified School District; and the Senior Director of the English Learner Program in the Rialo Unified School District. Dr. Monárrez began her career in education as a bilingual/English immersion and special education teacher in the Pomona Unified School District. Dr. Monárrez is bilingual in English and in Spanish.
Dr. Monárrez holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Education with an emphasis on urban education from Claremont Graduate University (dissertation: Tales of La Lucha: Reflections of Latina Bilingual Educators), a Masters of Arts in Education also from Claremont Graduate University, and a Bachelor of Art in History from the University of California, Irvine. 

Malika Savoy-Brooks, Ed.D.
Dr. Savoy-Brooks currently is the Chief Academic Supports Officer for the School District of Philadelphia (PA), a position she has held since 2018. She has also been an Assistant Superintendent and the Director of Instructional Resources for the School District of Philadelphia, and the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Chester Upland District. She has also served as a principal, a Director of Instruction, a Prevention and Intervention Coach, a Curriculum Content Academic Coach for the Philadelphia schools, where she also began her career in education as a teacher. 
Dr. Savoy-Brooks holds a Doctorate of Educational Leadership: curriculum and instructional design from the University of Phoenix (Dissertation study: Teachers' Perception of their Pre-Service Experience in Preparation for Cultural Competence; apologies, couldn't find that online); she is part of the Urban Superintendents Academy of the American Association of School Administrators/Howard University. Dr. Savoy-Brooks also holds a Master's of Science in Educational leadership and a Master's of Science in Elementary Education from St. Joseph's University, and a Bachelor's of Science in Food Science and Management from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture. 

Sonya E. Somerville Harrison, Ed.D.

Dr. Somerville Harrison currently is an Assistant Superintendent for the School District of Philadelphia (PA). She also is Network Lead for the Penn Educational Leadership Simulations at the University of Pennsylvania. She has also served as principal and assistant principal within the schools of Philadelphia. Dr. Somerville Harrison was a special education teacher for Hall-Mercer of Pennsylvania Hospital and within the New York City Public Schools, where she began her career in education. 

Dr. Somerville Harrison holds a Doctorate of Education in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania (Dissertation: The Enactment of Effective Leadership Practices During Systemic Change), a Master's of Education in Special Education from Temple University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Spelman College. 

Members of the Worcester School Committee will be visiting the home districts of candidates later this week. Next week, each candidate will spend a day in the district, with an afternoon reception for the public, followed a public interview with the School Committee; I will share the schedule once it is public later this week.

Following the final interview on Thursday, April 28, the Worcester School Committee will deliberate and selected the next superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools, who will begin on July 1. 
(more on next steps here, with more to come)

Questions that were asked of the semi-finalists for Worcester Public Schools Superintendent

 These questions were created in a public session of the Ad-hoc Committee--by Attorney General's decision, they have to be!--and so I thought there was no reason not to share them here:

Who do you consider the key stakeholders in developing a successful strategy forward? How will you prioritize student voice and involvement in your decision making?

Worcester is an immigrant city with a large population of multilingual families that have students in the Worcester Public Schools. How would you engage and build trust in the community of our diverse families? Building upon the work that is currently underway in the district, how will you work to promote multilingualism as an asset?

How would you prioritize and address disparities amongst diverse learners and educational barriers? What strategies have you found to be successful in achieving this goal? 

What evidence can you site from your professional record that indicates your commitment to racial equity, diversity, and inclusion? Please be specific in your examples.

From the pandemic, what are some lessons learned and innovative practices you want to be sustained?

How will you build a culture of respect, professionalism, and collaboration amongst school and district leadership to ensure a welcoming culture that promotes inclusiveness in all of our schools? 

Nationally, students, families, and schools are impacted with mental health challenges to ensure that schools are safe, and student’s social emotional needs are met. Please describe in your current position what work you have led to promote healthy and safe schools, and how you would meet the social emotional needs of the students in Worcester?

Please explain what level of autonomy you give to principals and district leaders.

Next steps on the WPS superintendent search

 If you're a watcher of local postings, you may have seen a flurry of postings for the Worcester School Committee for the end of the month: that means we're getting there!

Steel going up for the new Doherty:
we're building for the future in more ways than one!

Where are we now? Still in the confidential process: 

The Search Committee--the 22 (? I think?) member committee of community members plus School Committee members Jermoh Kamara, Molly McCullough (who is chairing), and me--met all day Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week to interview semi-finalists in confidential executive session.
Why executive session? The Open Meeting law exception under which we met (MGL Ch. 30A, sec. 21, a, 8) explains why: 

8. To consider or interview applicants for employment or appointment by a preliminary screening committee if the chair declares that an open meeting will have a detrimental effect in obtaining qualified applicants; provided, however, that this clause shall not apply to any meeting, including meetings of a preliminary screening committee, to consider and interview applicants who have passed a prior preliminary screening;

(emphasis mine)

The Open Meeting Law only allows exceptions to the requirements to meet in public if the interests of the public are better served by the meetings being held in private. Applying for a position when you have a job--I think we can all agree!--is fraught; will this impact your current employment? Thus a first round confidential review is allowed for such positions because it provides for people to apply without it being public, until they are among the few clearly in line for the position. It is in the best interests of the district to get the best and most qualified people possible to apply; thus, subsection 8 exists. 

Greenwood Asher and Associations, the firm with which we are working, is now conducting an extensive review of semi-finalists, as designated by the Search Committee. They will complete that by April 14, when the Search Committee has its next (and final) meeting to select finalists. 

Greenwood Asher will then confirm that those individuals wish to move forward into the public next step. 

The Worcester School Committee then meets on April 19 at 5 pm to receive the report of the Search Committee. At this point, the finalists become public.

The Committee plans then to visit the home districts of the finalists. The finalists also will visit Worcester and--cue the flurry of posting--each be interviewed in public session. (Don't take the number of postings as inside-r-y info; it's just the evenings available). That will happen over the week of the 18th and the week of the 25th.

As we have said: the plan is to have voted an appointment by the last week of April/first week of May. We're right on track as planned. 

Quick Worcester superintendent search update

Stack of rainbow colored folders; how I organized my review

Tonight the Worcester superintendent search committee met in executive session reviewed the confidential applications submitted for the position. Those selected--the semi-finalists--will be interviewed in executive session by the search committee next week. 

After a further vetting, the search committee will choose finalists the week before April vacation. Those finalists will be publicly announced, and the school committee will take the process from there. The intent is to have the new superintendent named by early May.

All of the work of the search committee--the review, the interviews, the deliberation, the names of applicants and semi-finalists--is confidential and remains so. Only the finalists will be made public once the work is complete.

So: stay tuned. 

Hey, Worcester's looking for a superintendent!

 Last night, the Worcester School Committee unanimously approved the position posting for the position of superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools. 

You can find information about it on the district website. The full position description can be found here.

December 2 meeting

What happened at our December 2 meeting:

• We once again had a thoughtful and insightful report from our student rep ex officio Stacio Zoghbi and South High rep Shelley Duodu. Our student reps are in the midst of collating data from student surveys (if you're a student and haven't yet taken it, please do!), but they did share two concerns that have come to the fore. The first is COVID, and in particular, student concerns that masking isn't being enforced at schools.
  The second was mental health, and I want to quote here part of what they said: 
  

  For those of us who do make it to graduation day, we spend 14 years of our lives in and out of school houses, growing, learning, and hopefully thriving. Yet, for a myriad of reasons and pressures, these places of learning and development are becoming places students dread arriving at. 

  This is not okay. I asked at our last meeting for an URGENT report on student disregulation, and it seems every day we see further evidence of how far afield we are on this issue.
  

• While we did not have a formal report of the superintendent, we did have an update from Superintendent Binienda at the request of Mayor Petty on COVID. DESE met with superintendents earlier this week; they expect an increase in cases between now and the first week of January. That was all that was shared; I don't know if they left it there or have more about it.
  The Committee was asked to vote to extend test and stay to Worcester Public School students who are considered close contacts at an after school program approved by Early Childhood Ed. It is very specifically ONLY that. We did vote all approval.
  We also heard this week's COVID numbers--those are updated on the website here--which is 140 students and 28 staff.
  We requested an update on where we are with vaccinations of students; I'll share that once we get it.

• Mrs. Clancey shared the report from Governance, after which Mr. Monfredo attempted to get passed the original item that had been rejected in subcommittee, a contract that the district would require of all families that would hold them responsible for $300 for a lost or broken Chromebook, $30 for a missing cord, and so forth. This was not moved forward from subcommittee. The subcommittee report moved the financial impact question to Finance and Operations, but did not move the superintendent's recommendation on creating a contract forward, noting that it was covered by our current policies.
  We, the district, have chosen to require these devices for students; students are required to have them; families cannot refuse them, even the three-quarters of our families who are low income.
  The superintendent argued that "kids don't take care of them," and that "we have to instill in kids that they have to take care of them." She said that we were more like a 1 to 3 district; this was later in the discussion contradicted: we are short more like a thousand now, which makes us close to one to one. We also expect to have orders coming in next week.
  If you're interested in watching the discussion, the report starts about 28 minutes into the meeting and goes from there. Mr. Foley noted that talking about about "malicious destruction" is loaded language, and that we have a responsibility as a district, as a one to one district now, to figure out how to make the funding work. Ms. McCullough called attention to the part of the student handbook that includes technology; it was decided that updating that language would be discussed in Governance at the next update. Miss Biancheria strongly noted the burden this requirement would impose on families, speaking of our students getting free breakfast and lunch for a reason, and rejected this as a family's responsibility.
  During the discussion, part of what we discovered was that some--certainly not all, but some--of the Chromebook shortage is artificial; when the new South High opened with Chromebook carts, students there were told that they could simply leave their Chromebooks at home for homework, and use the new ones for schoolwork, all while at least hundreds of other students across the district didn't have Chromebooks at all. The motion which was made on this--which passed, 5-2, Biancheria and Monfredo opposed--was to distribute the resources we currently have to our students as soon as possible. 
  The report of the Governance committee was accepted as presented.
  Later note: If you read the T&G on this, and you can't make the math work from what is said, that is because the math doesn't work: 500 Chromebooks times $300 each doesn't equal a million dollars (it's $150,000), nor does $1 million equal ten teachers, as we don't pay teachers $100,000 each. 

• Annually, the district officially counts our enrollment, and you can find our report for this October 1 on pages 36 to 39 of our agenda. This was sent to Finance and Operations for further discussion, for two reasons: 
  1. this is the best look the School Committee has at how many students are where and how that is changing. This has, of course, facilities implications.
  2. our enrollment is our budget determiner! We are down 250 students from last year. That's a $3.7M loss, per Mr. Allen. Note, further, that because our enrollment did not go back up this year, the $9.7M of ESSER funding that we used as hold harmless funding last year now needs to be...something. Considered? Thus we're starting the FY23 budget deliberation--welcome to the FY23 budget deliberation, by the way!--short $13.4M.
  It's worth noting that we have students who have joined the district since the October 1 count; the Mayor asked for a report on that. As those students are ours but are not yet counted, there was also a motion to bring this to the attention of our state and federal delegation
  

• Mr. Monfredo's item on cursive was sent to Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports.

• Ms. McCullough's item on considering "the use of Fountas and Pinnell Literacy Program in light of recent data" also went to Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports.

• Ms. McCullough's two athletic items went to the respective committees: coach salaries to negotiations and the athletic budget item to budget

• And Mayor Petty announced his appointment of the superintendent search committee, which will conduct the preliminary interviews for superintendent. They are:

Kola Akindele  

Jennifer Davis Carey 

Alex Corrales  

Patty Eppinger  

Lisa Houlihan  

Jermoh Kamara – after being sworn in. 

Laura Maloney 

Roger Nugent  

Joe O’Brien 

Hilda Ramirez 

Laurie Ross, Ph.D. 

Kimberly Salmon 

Ahn Vu Sawyer 

Kay Seale 

Ivonne Perez

Fred Taylor 

Alex Zequeira 

Stacia Zoghbi

Important meeting on the superintendent search this week

 I know that much of our attention in Worcester is on Tuesday's election, but I do want to call your attention to something happening Wednesday that matters for the Worcester Public Schools.

You might remember that responses to our request for proposals for the firm to staff the superintendent search were due this past Wednesday. Those proposals were received--there were two--and the search committee is meeting this coming Wednesday the 3rd at  7 pm to deliberate regarding the proposals received and send forward a recommendation to the full School Committee, which is scheduled to meet on the 9th to make that decision. 

I'm not going to talk about my own views here--I have time for that Wednesday--but I do want to be sure folks are informed about process.

You can find the responses appended to the agenda (along with the link to the subcommittee meeting, which will be online), but I've also uploaded the proposals here separately: 

• Hazard Young Attea Associates
• Greenwood/Asher Associates

A very very important point: the School Committee is legally bound by the terms of the RFP. What that means is all the careful delineation we did in the original document now outlines how we will decide who to hire. We cannot just pick. The RFP outlines minimum requirements, and then gives a lengthy list of what we're evaluating based on. I have taken that information and put it into a rubric form for our use; it's here, if you'd like to do your own.

Do review the above if this is of interest, and plan to watch the meetings.