What's in the proposed FY25 Worcester Public Schools budget: just the facts

 Ahead of Monday's public hearing on the proposed FY25 budget for the Worcester Public Schools, here's a brief look at what is in the document. I'm going to attempt to leave aside opining here on the administration's recommendations (not that I don't have plenty) but stick to an overview. As always, all of this is offered in my capacity as someone who lives here and cares, not in any official capacity at all. 

First up, revenue: 

This budget is projected not meet the city's legal obligation to fund schools for the fourth year in a row:

chart from page 113 of the FY25 WPS budget document

Notes from the October 12 Finance and Operations meeting

 You can find the agenda here; you can find the video here. 

There are a few things here that are current topics of conversation, as well as some that I know we're going to be coming back to, so some notes to share:

Annual audit: When I was doing my review of the agenda ahead of this meeting, I said to a friend that the opening letter of an auditor's report is an excellent illustration of the "in this paper I will" piece of writing, though it's more "in this audit I won't"! We tend, I think, to think of the word 'audit' as meaning something very sweeping, but that isn't what this is. This is an audit that is done due to the amount of money we get from the federal government, and it very specifically tests compliance with internal controls and general acceptable accounting principles.
There were no findings for the Worcester Public Schools; that's a clean bill of health here.
Interesting point raised by Mr. Hunt: the federal COVID funding is something the federal government is, for the purpose of auditing, regarding as "high risk" meaning it needs to be looked at.

We did file a few items that either we've dealt with or we're managing in other ways: the FY22 grants; sustainable funding on technology (we have a report coming from Harvard on IT); and the two mile radius for transportation for secondary schools (the question of what we're doing with transportation is ongoing).

Provision of menstrual supplies: Dr. Deb McGovern, who heads our nursing department, will be speaking to this, but wasn't able to be with us. We did, though, take the item in order to address the related issue of bathroom access: our larger secondary schools regularly have bathrooms that are locked during the day, and are limited to a very small number of bathrooms. The explanation given has been that we lack provision for monitoring this. The request from the subcommittee is that the bathrooms get opened at the secondary schools; we're interested in supporting making that happen. 
This item will be back on the November agenda for further and more specific discussion.

On transportation: You can see the drivers being trained (hang on! They're coming!), and the turnover between buses that are rented into buses that are owned. 
Two things for those who use the app to know: first, if you're an Android user that had the app delete on a recent update, there is a workaround while Tyler Technology figures out how to get it back. Second, if you've had a bus that seems to have disappeared from the app, we had a discussion about the way that new buses (with geotags) are apparently being overruled by running with iPads (that also geolocate) that are supposed to forget that overnight but aren't. Tyler has never seen this before, and they're going to be coming in to work on it.  

Facilities quarterly update: As a side note, I really appreciate these in keeping an eye on not only the day-to-day things, but also the larger longer term projects! Check out the pictures here! 
This always opens custodial and maintenance, and this is another one where staffing continues to be an issue. This means that our custodial staff is beyond stretched as they work to cover the same number of schools (and a growing amount of square footage!) with a smaller number of people. We did have a bit of a discussion about this, as one of our strengths (this isn't just me saying this, though it's my opinion, too) is that our custodians work for the district directly, and they take a great deal of pride in "their" buildings. How we support that while also ensuring that the buildings get cleaned is an ongoing discussion. On a bit of a different note, maintenance is an evolving area, as what positions are best done by in house staff, and what specializations (think elevators, for example, but also some of the newer HVAC, possibly) are something that needs to be contracted out, even as we ensure that administration is supported in ensuring the work on the buildings gets done. We've asked, on that last, to add to this report the balance of what work is done in house versus what we're going out to contract.
Water filling stations are popular every time they come up; I shared the list of the SWIG grant (clever acronym, isn't it?) recipients earlier, which have to be done by the end of this year. Mr. Bedard noted in his report to us that using ESSER funding to add bottle filling stations elsewhere is the next step. These are not unrelated to the water testing, but in part a response to it. As with much else, there are supply chain issues here.
And speaking of ESSER and COVID: the schools are still running the equipment we have already had in buildings (both that which is internal to the HVAC systems, and the separate units that are plugged in elsewhere). There is upgrades of what we are able to do in the HVAC systems (can we upgrade filters? motors?); that scope of work has been put together and is in purchasing. There is also a round of final field work being done from Honeywell for further work; within a month or so, that work also should be out to bid. Note that this is scheduled to be funded by ESSER III funding, and we probably want to be part of the push for extensions from US DoE, only due to supply lines. 
Boilers, boilers, boilers...winter is coming, and we're going to need the heat, so note the updates on Belmont Street, Chandler Magnet, City View, Goddard, and Vernon Hill on boilers (Vernon Hill's is more complicated and taking longer). Note that not all of these were planned, and that means we're making compromises on our annual $4M capital budget. Life safety, fire alarms, heat...these are the things that are always going to go first. 

Mr Allen: "The bigger question is is $4M sufficient enough to maintain the age of our buildings and the number of buildings that we have."

Elm Park gym floor watchers, and Burncoat High bleacher watchers, please note the update there. Also, the WAMS new roof got its first dousing these past weeks, and what a difference a new roof makes!
On Burncoat High: Burncoat had its periodic reaccreditation review this past year, and the report (to no one's surprise) pointed out substantial physical plant issues. The review of what exactly needs to and can be done to the current building, the replacement/major renovation of which remains the first priority with the state of both the School Committee and the City Council, is currently being done and will be coming back to us. Note what Mr. Allen said: this is going to cost the city millions of dollars to keep the building open and functioning, and how this relates to the high school's reaccreditation is something of an open and evolving question.

First quarter budget report: We've gotten through the first quarter of the FY23 budget, so it is time to see where we are at and where it now looks like where we are going. First quarter is when we see the beginning of trends. 
It is important for us to remember that our district budget received $945,067 less in state funding than the budget the Worcester School Committee passed in June. Acting City Manager Batista has committed to recommending this be made up through free cash when that is certified (which should be next month); just remember that this has not yet happened!
The Misc Ed OM change you'll see here is due to a call by DESE on how the insurance of our new buses gets classified: we'd thought "transportation" which is a non net school spending expense, but DESE has said that no, insurance is a net school spending expense (do not ask me to explain this). That's thus a shuffle of expense rather than anything new. The rental of buses needed while the new buses have come is an additional transportation expense. 
Both in transportation and elsewhere (custodial for example) there's overtime expenses that are offsetting positions that are open.
Here and elsewhere, remember that the budget office ALWAYS plans for positions to be filled. Thus you'll see we've moved money (at the standing committee level; it isn't moved until the full committee votes the transfer this week); that's money that hasn't been spent UP TO NOW. The custodial and other positions are still open, still searching, still budgeted, and we hope to fill them.

There's two things in the budget that I want to note particularly:
On utilities, there's an illustration of EXACTLY why quarterly reports are important. The report "anticipates the increase of natural gas supply and delivery charges at approximately 20% of the FY23 budget amount." It hasn't cost us that YET, but given what is known, this is anticipated and we are planning for it. At an hour and eight minutes in , Budget Director Sara Consalvo talks through how it is that projection has been calculated. Note that she says that this is a conservative projection, and also, administration recommended that we already move money (which is unusual in the first quarter). 

Discussing administration, first note that added positions usually happens during budget; the current superintendent did not, however, create the current budget, so we are making additions instead during the year. That itself is thus a function of a new administration rather than anything else.

To a larger and more telling point, though, please note Mr. Allen's point just after the hour mark: we are now in our second year of funding of the Student Opportunity Act. Whatever the Commissioner's comments, the intent of the Student Opportunity Act was to respond to specific gaps that Worcester, alongside our Gateway peers, had demonstrated again and again and again that we had*. Now we need to ensure that we are actually filling those gaps with the funding.
That includes administration. I already noted earlier this month that we underspend compared to our peers and the state average. We also, though, underspend compared to the state's calculation, spending 75% of the foundation budget and that includes city charges, which total $6.3M for FY23. That exceeds the central administration line for WPS, budgeted at $4.8M for FY23. 

Really important note from Mr. Allen on other cost centers compared to foundation: Operations and Maintenance underbudgeted by $15M (58% of foundation); supplies underbudgeted by $7M (50% of foundation).

MORE ON THIS COMING FOR SECOND QUARTER!

Qustions? send them along! 

*I limited myself to three links. There could be dozens. Search 'foundation budget' in the search bar if you want posts going back for about as long as this blog has been up. This is core to why I've been doing any of this for as long as I've been doing any of this. 

Second quarter of FY20 for Worcester

Before I go back to talking about transportation, this from the FY19 second quarter report caught my eye:

Nineteen accounts are moving to the new contract rates and the price has been reduced from $0.848/therm to $.49183/therm. With the remaining 36 accounts, these will return to the Eversource default supply at a winter rate of $0.5982/therm. The previous rate on these accounts were $0.848 per therm. This reduction of contracted rates, as well as a milder heating season has resulted in significant savings.

The district is saving over half a million dollars on utilities this year!
This and the salary vacancies means that administration is recommending WPS buys textbooks! 

Worcester School Committee meetings next week

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

There is a request that the School Committee accept: 

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

There are requests for the following:

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

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

Worcester School Committee FY17 budget deliberations (round 2)

scheduled to start at 4; list of accounts is here; they should be picking up with administration; the budget itself is here, and the Table of Contents on (web) page 7 is hyperlinked to each account. Updating as we go.

Budget account by account (round 2)

Starting with school nurses and posting as we go
Monfredo motion to approve
approved


personal services
O'Connell: principal mentor program part of personal services: not here?
Boone: not in FY15 either
O'Connell: what is admin doing?
Boone: network of principal support system
make sure they're connected with professional development
security guards: level funded
O'Connell asks if it should be revisit or expanded
Allen: that is one of the items that is in the RFP for school security assessment
O'Connell then we'll get a recommendation
Novick: curious if we need the security guards at all
39% decrease in special education expenses due to coming back in house
are we required to use Teachpoint?
Rodrigues: (not exactly) cataloging goals of teachers and the PD necessary to support them
Biancheria: partnerships?
Boone: Children's Friend no longer receiving grant to provide School-aged mothers program
United Way providing services this year; waiting to hear if they have a grant for next year
Biancheria: is there a night shift of security at Creamer?
Allen: yes, thus not listed under day program costs
translation: in different areas of the budget
have we continued to work with new ideas as others across the country?
Rodrigues: yes, we have
continue to absorb more and more families whose first language is not English
all information that goes home has to be translated into seven languages
IEPs into any language that a family speaks
large database of documents reused
have been working with community on translating and communicating with families
different ways that we can provide the services while not being redundant moving forward
Biancheria: have we discussed with other districts how they're handling it?
Rodrigues: yes, the reverse: Springfield has looked to us
Boston, Springfield, us largest in the network dealing with the issue
approve

administrative clerical salaries
O'Connell: change in system administration amount
Allen: all positions in account are contractually approved increases, longevity, step increase
O'Connell: is that due to upgrade in positions in superintendent offices?
Boone: there is no upgrade in those positions
O'Connell: change in salaries structure
Allen: same salary scheduled
No change
approve

non-instructional support
Biancheria: information system, concern that we have an additional 11.5 positions under various grants
Allen: no change in the number of positions in IT position
Boone: last year you asked for a specific report for internship opportunities
internships saves us in terms of the total salary piece
grant opportunity to fill the gap
Biancheria: motion to how we complete the department
have a number of employees that are being paid under grants
Allen: report that compares this year versus last year
approved

support overtime
O'Connell: in some accounts we've increased 2%; in this one, 5%
Allen: in other accounts there is vacancy or attritition to offset; there is none here
closer to align with actual expenditures
O'Connell: do you still anticipate underspending
Allen: no, traditionally underfunded
Monfredo: appears that this item is underfunded, in need of additional clerical help
administration needs to consider going forward
approve

administrative salaries
O'Connell: motion to reduce account by $200,000
message to reduce number of central adminstration
significant number of people under other accounts...number is significantly
"would be a maximum of two people"
Monfredo: believe Mr. O'Connell's heart is the right place
281 out of 320 district
nearly all district spend more
Petty: thought we were just talking about how to support principals, now you want to take them away?
roll call: fails, 5-2
Biancheria:
approve

Misc Ed OM
Biancheria looking for $25,000 to move $25,000 from Facilities OM
was approved at last discussion
"I think that we've had a very long year...would like to see $100,000 under school safety so we can do what we can prior to having a large report from an outside company"
asks to open the item again to move the money
Foley: think we're all on the same page in terms of our buildings
we talked about building repair dollars being insufficient last time
"I don't know that we gain a whole lot by moving $25,000 from one account to the other"
safety systems like fire alarms
prefer to keep it as it is
more than $25,000 that will be used over the summertime
O'Connell: support Biancheria's motion
"modest sum"
"drop in the bucket compared to what we will need to spend"
Petty: is $75,000 enough to what's needed?
Allen: it's a 50% increase from this year
not sure if I followed the direction of the discussion correctly: if the intent is simply move money from one to the other...
Petty: the money is there if needed
Bianchera; looking to have the hundred under school safety to provide the walkie talkies that are necessary
instead of blanket hope that it will go there
Boone: can provide to School Committee a report on support provided to security
Novick: $25000 per building from this account for repair: that isn't enough to keep up already
also provides for repair of heat, plumbing, electrical already
Ramirez: should have audit performed before increased investment in safety
"that could change everything that we're investing in today"
Foley: fully expect to be back here in six or eight months with a list of things from the safety audit
probably something over several years
Petty: waited until we had a report before shifting it over
roll call to move $25,000 from repair to safety: fails 4-3
approve Misc Ed OM without F
Foley recused
F (building and parking lot rentals): Biancheria, are we anticipating overcrowding at Chandler El?
Allen: third year of contract, still significantly overcrowded
Biancheria: gym at Y rented for $40,000?
Allen: ten month contract access
Biancheria: any work towards not renting parking lots but owning parking lots?
Allen: do you have a parking lot in mind?
Boone; Gates Lane sign off on shopping center, Chatham Street have been renting for some time
Biancheria: probaby purchasing is going to be more expensive, discussion is if there are any other options of purchase
Boone: parking is a premium particuarly in our older schools
would be interested in classroom space, if we had funds, than buying parking lot
motion to look at buying Chatham St
approve

Instructional Materials
Novick: looking at testing spending through testing audit via Accountability
can we clarify with city that funding us at zero brings us below due to charter tuition
O'Connell: do we know how much we can pull out of here?
Allen: wait til state budget is passed
this account has funding for Abby Kelley's transportation, as its undercalculated by that amount
O'Connell: asks for information from admin once we have them
Biancheria: recommened to fund $68 per pupil, not a change from FY15
why wasn't B spent down?
Allen: frozen during second quarter
Biancheria: that's a drastic dollar amount
Allen: difference is that it's being level $215,000; increase is for special education classroom
Biancheria: who didn't have money to do anything?
Boone: as monitor quarterly, froze some purchases across the district
Biancheria: we only alloted $60,000 for supplies?
Boone: either IAs or supplies after 9C cuts
Biancheria: look at this in the future, difference in the dollar amount
had some concerns with that
"hardship for us"
we went up $43,000 in student support services
Boone: requirements for psychological testing are very specific assessments; we're at least 3 versions behind the current assessments; needed to update those
approved

special education tutition
Novick: breakdown on how that works per student
O'Connell: full circuit breaker?
Allen: full being 75%

Instructional assistant salaries
Monfredo: anything on IAs grants
Allen: either going to be zero or what we budgeted?
hope work of House will prevail; budgeted House amount
approve

teacher salaries:
Monfredo: two more non-teaching department heads?
Rodrigues: positions are result of restructing in Child Study
one for 504s, the other for McKinney-Vento
both department heads for evaluation of personnel
evaluate school adjustment counselors
Monfredo: wouldn't we be better off hiring school adjustment counselors?
Rodrigues: will be working with student in 504s and in homelessness
deficit in supervision and oversight
used to have a PBIS coordinator, coordinator of Child Study (which was left vacant last year)
Biancheria: elementary PE and health: how is time determined for schools
Allen: liaison juggles how to deploy staff to all the schools
Boone: we have a requirement to provide PE to our students
Monfredo: how many adjustment counselors are we hiring?
Rodrigues: hiring 3 more
Monfredo: have 4 people doing 1 person's job
Rodrigues: no, had two department chairs, were already there
two new people will be doing the 504 and the McKinney-Vento
that's one of the roles they'll assume
approve

Child Nutrition
O'Connell: Fruits and Vegetables grant; 14 schools are participating in the program
Lombardi: are requirements for the grants
do apply for schools beyond those in the budget, but they are often not awarded
O'Connell: is there a reason?
Lombardi: it's USDA funds alloted on a state by state basis
state chooses which districts and which funds
O'Connell: is it based on free and reduced numbers?
Lombardi: it's at discresion of DESE
we received one of the highest of level of funding
O'Connell: is there any reason why we're not applying for all schools that are avaible

grants:
Novick: Title I; forecast of what's up
Barnes: so much circulating around, forecast is difficult
Boone: watching ESEA closely, will advocate and share as it comes up
Biancheria: vocational director: half funded at Perkins
vocational director for district at Tech
Biancheria: teachers coming off of Chapter 74 funding, not changed on budget
Boone: funding blended between local, state, and federal
still providing bus passes for internship? Yes
O'Connell: adult education: dollars decreased in materials and supplies?
Allen: grant continues to be level-funded, but salary increases, has to come from somewhere
$95,000 is from rest of budget
O'Connell: teachers and instructional coaches increased
Allen: sustainability of Level 4 schools and those coming off into
approve

back to utilities
report came back
O'Connell had made a motion to reduce oil by $5000
motion to take $15,000 from these accounts
look at trends and directions; reflect likely prices in this area
Boone: number two fuel oil is down but have factored in change in gas
Allen: have already assumed a natural gas savings, have not yet locked in
even half a cent difference would eat up difference
after summer months will have a better idea of actual prices
O'Connell: can we hold topic in July?
Foley: small dollars, don't know that we'll know in July
quarterly reports really do look at which accounts may be move or underspent or overspent
perhaps wait til first quarter report, can see what gas pricing then?
O'Connell: could transfer into another account for beginning of school year
Petty: we don't know what it's going to cost us for safety
motion to cut $15,000 fails 4-3
Biancheria: still averaging $245,000 in electrical between South and Sullivan
there's been a change, I don't see a change
Allen: now in MSBA, we'll see a change going forward
Martin: we are in process of design for solar panels at Sullivan, will reduce draw
Boone: city is contractor for that work
Martin: panels across parking lot of Sullivan this summer
Monfredo: any other schools that we're putting solar panels in
Martin: Burncoat High and Elm Park
approve

Motion to approve entire budget
budget approved 5-2

Worcester School Committee meets on Thursday

The Worcester School Committee has its final school year meeting this Thursday, June 18. You can find the agenda here.

We meet at 4 pm for budget. The sequence of accounts is here; we'll start with school nurses salaries this week (and have to go back to utilities, as that was held last time). I would think that we could get through what remains before exec...but then one never can tell.

This week at 7, we're recognizing the Bravehearts for their support on reading, and the Worcester Tree Initiative (and supporters) for new trees at Roosevelt Elementary.
We'll also be recognizing our Teacher and Nurse of the Year (and you're invited to tomorrow night's celebration at which they'll be announced).
And, it's our final meeting with Stacey Luster, who's leaving WPS to join Worcester State.

We have the Superintendent's midcycle report on goals, as required by the state evaluation system. There won't be a particular vote associated with that; it's a midyear check-in.

We have our report back on motions from last budget session, as well as items from throughout the year that were refered to budget. These will probably actually be taken up during the budget session.

We have a response back from administration regarding suggested policy language on homeschooling (including allow students to participate in extracurricular options). We also have the report requested by Miss Biancheria on the number of students currently being homeschooled in Worcester.

We have the held item on funding for crew travel.

Mr. O'Connell suggests honoring Hanover and others for AVID.

We also have the annual "let the administration make transfers to close the fiscal year" item (which gets reviewed in the fall by the F&O subcommittee).

Finally, we do have two items on for executive session: consideration of negotations on contracts for Chief Academic Officer and Chief Finance and Operations Officer. While the renewal of the contract of the CAO doesn't directly fall under our purview, it can be discussed with regard to allocation of resources (renewal is entirely the superintendent's decision). The CFO, per MGL ch 71, does fall under School Committee purview, jointly with the superintendent.

Worcester School Committee meets Thursday

The Worcester School Committee meets Thursday; you can find the agenda here.

The report of the Superintendent is an update on North High's safety plan. I suspect that the three items Ms. Ramirez has submitted on North--requesting a mediation specialist and creating a stakeholder group as well as asking about cameras--will be taken at the same time, as well as any testimony related to that.

Finance and Operations is reporting back; notes on auditors' reports, on the second quarter (including transfers), on facilities, on transportation. They'll be three votes on this beyond accepting the report: quarterly transfers, the bus contract, and MSBA submissions.

We have some new appointments (including a librarian!).
We have a reponse back from administration on bringing the energy management back in house. Short version? It's saving us money and giving us better service.
We have a response back from administration regarding the use of WRTA bus passes.
We have a number of congratulations coming through: dancers, artists, writers, good citizens!
In honor of Sunshine Week, I'm asking the City Solicitor to give us a legal opinion on the use of personal email for public business.
Mr. O'Connell is asking about some classifications he says were stricken from SAGE on student suspension.
Mr. Monfredo is starting his annual book drive for "Worcester: The City that Reads." Collection locations to come!
In relation to articles like this, I'm asking that administration clarify the use of student information in online apps.
Mr. O'Connell is asking to review both the Elm Park report from the state (which went to the stakeholder group for them to do their work on the already-approved Level 4 turnaround plan) and the Jacob Hiatt extended learning time report.
He is further asking around opting out of PARCC.
I'm requesting an update from administration on MCAS and PARCC.
Miss Biancheria is asking the role of the chief academic officer in school suspensions.
She's further asking for the difference between an internal document and a public document.
She's also asking about summer programs.

We have no executive session tomorrow night, so starting right with regular public session at 7!

Closing out FY14

Foley: giving back 48 cents this year
cannot overspend the budget,, but don't want to leave money behind
Allen: final report is in a different format to provide you with the adopted budget from last year, compared to final expenditures
memo is here
"really what happened from June when the School Committee approved the budget to when the fiscal year closed"
closure of Spirit of Knowledge balanced out by increase of autism services
spent more on transportation (via on McKinney-Vento), thus increasing the city's NSS gap
put that in context with the answer from the previous meeting
Novick: bring some realism to the notion that we're saving money on utilities due to ESCo, as we are not
Foley: ESCo quality of life repairs
Allen: chillers, leaking roofs; avoided having to use MSBA for those repairs
actual savings: still working with the city on how those can be quantified
can we attribute a reduction of what we would be paying otherwise?

FY15 budget passed

There were two changes made yesterday to the budget as originally proposed:

• On a motion from Mr. Monfredo, $6400 was moved from the Building Utilities account to Misc. Educational OM, to fund the Future Teachers program. 
• Per administrative recommendation, and due negotiations with new principals, $65,000 was moved from the administrative account to the teacher account. That will get us another teacher back. 

Other than that, FY15 passed as proposed.

Coverage here as well as here. 

We have a budget memo!

You can find the budget memo we received from Superintendent Boone yesterday here.
You can find last night's presentation to the City Council by City Manager Augustus here.

So, what's the story?
Bottom line is that the City Manager is recommending a WPS budget line of $305,201,911 to the Worcester City Council.
What that means for our budget is, first, that 15 elementary teaching positions that were up for a cut will not, now, be recommended to be cut. Good news.

Where does that leave the rest of the recommended budget?
As the City Manager said last night, state funding for schools has been growing at $9 to $10 million a year, but it's down to $670,000 in growth for FY15. That doesn't at all realistically represent our children's needs.

First, the bad news:

• 23 elementary teaching positions cut
• 24 secondary teaching positions cut
• 2 central administrators cut
• 7 central administrative clerical positions cut
• 11 MCAS tutors cut
• 5 reading tutors cut
• 1 credit recovery position cut
• 3 custodial positions cut
• 2 secondary school clerical positions cut
• 3 school-based parent liaison positions cut

...overall there is a reduction of 44 teaching positions from all funding sources. There are 94 positions being reduced in total.

In other news:
19 preschool teaching positions are recommended to be transferred from grant-funded to general fund funded.

We are receiving a recommendation to add (net) 30 Instructional Assistant positions (special education, for the autism program; 55 are being added from now contracted services, 16 current IAs are being converted to teaching positions, and 10 are being transferred from the general fund to grant funded).

We are receiving a recommendation to convert 16 English Language Learning IAs to teaching positions.
We are receiving a recommendation to add 2 school adjustment counselors.
We are receiving a recommendation to add 6 ESL positions.

We are receiving a recommendation to add 2 energy management positions; currently this is privately managed (if I said that was to mixed reviews, I would be overly kind).

Athletics next year is recommended to be level-funded through school choice funds.

The following will be recommended to not be funded in FY15:

Clark Masters' Program

community schools

Future Teachers' Academy

Fast ForWord

Focus on Results

Pinpoint (from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

dual enrollment

(note that much, 'though not all, of the above were funded through Race to the Top funds)

Some more general notes:
This budget is an increase of 0.6% over last year's funding (when all funding is considered).
FY15 will have a nearly 10% reducing in central administrative staff; it will have a 2.2% decrease in teaching positions.
In all areas possible, FY14 open positions have been frozen to save money without laying people off (this doesn't, please realize, change the need for the position that's open),
This budget will see the phasing out of Race to the Top and our first round of School Redesign Grants.
AND--I've said it before, but I'll say it again--all of the above are administrative recommendations for the FY15 budget. There is no Worcester Public Schools budget until a bottom line is passed by the Worcester School Committee on June 19.

FULL BUDGET COMES OUT FRIDAY! And we'll have full details on all of the above then!

as always, much more to come!

Quarterly report

report here
Allen: bottom line has not changed
projecting about a $300,000 deficit in all accounts
not a concern that administration has
summer school starts in July so it's on next fiscal year
day by day subs in deficit
workers compensation: "no surprise...has run over in every year"
this year will budget "more closely in line with actual spending"
vehicle maintenance: $35,000 in deficit,, mostly due to price of fuel, also maintenance
utility account: new city electricity contract is a 10% increase over previous, also not seeing ESCo savings show up
Foley: do we know why we are not receiving ESCo savings?
Allen: working with the city on those; perhaps as part of future report, can give some detail on that
"we're hoping that we'll start seeing some savings on that"
Foley asks for a follow up report
"I suppose you don't want us to tinker with workers' compensation for the budget"
Ramirez: increase in autistic students? which line item?
personnel services is in district, tuition
Novick: is FY15 based on seeing ESCo savings? No.
instructional materials still frozen with $300,000 in it? to balance
principals have asked that if funds are going to frozen, freeze them up front so that it's equal

Electricity

Those of us searching for good news on FY15 may have gotten a brief glimpse of hope on news of the new electrical contract for the City (and thus the schools), but before you get too excited about possible savings on the new city electricity contract, be sure you read the whole article:

John Odell, the city's director of energy and assets, said the newly contracted electricity rate, which took effect March 1, is slightly higher (7.7 cents per kilowatt-hour versus 7.2 cents) than the contract it had with its previous supplier, Con Edison, but was below market price at the time the city signed the deal with South Jersey Energy. 

So, it is higher than we are paying now, but not as high as it would be if we were to stay with the current provider.
(Not sure I'd bill that as "savings")

Quarterly budget transfers

Consalvo: 17% expended or committed
all new FY14 positions either filled or long term sub
projected balance in custodian account: vacancy of second shift custodial supervisor, as well as others
clerical overtime: training for new SAGE
one additional wheelchair bus added
projected balance in health insurance: actual increase did not reflect city projections
personal services: special education, and legal counsel (collective bargaining now ongoing)
being paid for electronical recycling
no transfers recommended at this time

Allen: projects an almost $400,000 deficit
expect adjustments in second quarter
suggest Spirit of Knowledge closure funds may mitigate
making sure students are appropriately classified as they enter

Changes from June: special education services: in district autistic services...fully growth in number of students, was not expected (also some unanticipated out of district placements)
nurses: showing a deficit: working with their staff to appropriately cover
workers compensation "something we really need to think about...to align that closer to what expenses are"

Foley: custodial overtime balances vacancy
demand for nursing rising
special education: managing those dollars
seeing an increase in workers' compensation: ask for an analysis. Requiring physicals pre-employment?

Novick: did not increase number of nursing substitutes when we increase number of nurses? No.
support realistic funding level of workers' compensation
query on utilities: increase of 40% in energy management services: even with rebid of contract
Allen: recommendation coming back from administration for FY15 on perhaps bringing this back in house

Physical plant updates: ESCo

ESCo projects: additional solar array projects at six schools
working out details at how projects would work
solar arrays at Belmont St, Chandler Magnet, Elm Park, North, Roosevelt, and South High
(Sullivan Middle and Worcester Tech have them already)
roofs need to be resealed; extends roof warranties on these schools for 20 more years (except for South is not getting resealed)
city has some debt services on these projects
estimates that 20% of electricity will be provided by solar arrays for these schools
13 cents per kilowat
50% for supply, 50% for electricity
continuing to pay city for supply rate for the electricity which city will use to pay off bonds
rest is seen as savings to WPS on utilities cost
note here from me that this takes a capital expense and converts it to a utility expense (which counts as net school spending), that the city is essentially charging the schools for a capital project
South High is not being resealed, removal and replacement of solar panels is included in agreement
city pays for the solar panels, city retains ownership of solar panels

smart meters

...we do not have any in our schools now; they were proposed for seven schools, but demand outpaced supply. It will come up when we re-bid our contract.
Colorio wants a report on pros or cons on smart meters prior to moving forward with rebidding the contract.

Update from the superintendent, and moving along through FY14

Boone reviews the memo that went out last night. 
posting as we go all in one post

Environmental Management System report

Presentation by Brian Allen on the environmental management system

A set of management processes and procedures to help an organization identify, assess, control, and reduce the environmental impact of its activities, products, or services.

Using UMass Lowell Service program, an environmental health and safety specialist, and Triumvirate Environmental Inc.
"more of a change in management issue than a technical fix"
reducing our risk of spills and incidents; wastes and emissions; costs; energy use; liability
benefiting: increased awareness of best practices; sustainability; awareness of energy efficiency and clean energy
Chemical cleanouts at 11 school labs have been done
Next we will be looking at school-specific issues, and providing additional training
Five subcommittees:

• asbestos
• hazardous materials
• incident preparedness and response
• inspections and corrective action
• professional development and competency

20 schools constructed during the period from 1950-1978, when PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) were used; another 9 with major renovations during that time. Trivumvirate Environmental hired in Feb. 2010 to conduct a comprehensive facilities assessment regarding PCBs for all 29 buildings, along with ongoing work with EPA, throughout

Why new boilers matter

So that we don't heat with no.6 oil, as they do in some New York City schools.

ESCO projects through Honeywell

If yesterday's Telegram and Gazette coverage made you wonder what was and was not on the list, here's the WPS list. 
(note that some names are old names of buildings and programs)
Lots of controls and regulators on the list. Most urgent? Union Hill's boilers, which failed this winter. Most whizz-bang? Solar panels for Tech and Sullivan Middle.


Sorry, guys: not a lot of windows on here. We're going to have to look elsewhere for those.