Agenda Preview: December 4 School Committee Meeting
Quadrant teams, WPD operating agreement, bus monitors.
Happy snow day! Here’s an overview of the agenda for the next school committee meeting.
December 4 School Committee Meeting.
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 4. Executive session starts at 5 p.m. and the regular meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. The actual start time depends on how long the executive session takes. See the agenda here. You can watch it via zoom or Youtube Live. Spanish translation is available on zoom.
Here’s what’s on the agenda:
Executive Session.
Lots of contract conversations on the docket with different bargaining units. Currently a third of the committee has an immediate family member working for the district (Binienda, McCullough, and Roy). At least in some instances, based on whether they are sitting outside during the executive session, it has come into question as to whether those members are recusing themselves for these conversations to avoid a conflict of interest. I have not been able to confirm that they are or not, because executive session minutes by the school committee have not been released in almost two years and a November 4 email to the school committee clerk about executive session recusals and executive session minutes has gone unanswered. It is clear from previous school committee executive session minutes that in the past, members who have had family working for the district (cousins) have recused themselves from contract negotiations that impact those family members. I have not been able to determine the last time a school committee member had an immediate family member working in the district. Will keep you posted on this.
Report of the Superintendent.
This meeting’s Report of the Superintendent is on the Quadrant Teams (referred to as Q-teams). WPS is divided into four district quadrants, named after the high school in each quadrant: North, South, Doherty and Burncoat. The teams were first introduced at the start of the 2023-2024 school year, so this is the third school year of implementation. Q-teams are a comprehensive group of skilled individuals from multiple departments whose goal is to provide efficient and consistent support to students and schools. The cross-department Q-team members rotate through the schools in their quadrant, and provide coaching, modeling, mentoring and guidance. Initially, the majority of people on the Q-teams were already working in the district (which meant minimal fiscal impact on implementing this model), but were separated in individual department silos. Key here is how the theoretical framework is playing out in action, and what tweaks can be made to improve.
WPS and WPD Operating Agreement.
The district provided a copy of the operating agreement between the schools and the police department for the 2025-2026 school year. Due to staffing restraints, the WPD pulled out of the Student Liaison Officer (SLO) model that had been in use for the previous three years. This also means that the city can no longer use those officers salaries (about $700k) as part of their net school spending requirement.
Preschool in the District.
Here’s a list of preschools in the district. I’ve always wondered why Head Start is separated out from WPS preschool. I understand it’s funded differently, and Head Start has income requirements, but integration would be ideal. If anyone knows what the barriers are to that let me know!
Bus Monitors.
The district provided a response to the request to look into bus monitors or culture and climate specialists for the buses. (Does this scream written by AI to anyone else?)
Other items:
A request from Kathi Roy (district E) for an update on programs that “that include online harm through cyber bullying and social media.”
Another request from Roy to “consider reviewing and improving a long range plan for preventing dropouts in the Worcester Public Schools”
A proposed revision to the Report of the superintendent schedule, to change the December 18 report from a communications update to a discipline data report.
That’s it. Have a good week! If you have feedback you can always get in touch: aislinn.doyle@me.com
Another great article, Aislinn, and one that again shows your behind-the-scenes diligence – your 11/4 email, which should have been responded to within 10 days. Worcester’s School Committee can’t sit on executive-session minutes for two years. Massachusetts law requires minutes to be maintained, reviewed, and released once secrecy is no longer justified. Ignoring public requests only deepens concerns. When a third of the Committee has immediate family employed by the district, clear documentation of recusals isn’t optional; it’s the only way to maintain trust. Penalties can go beyond an order to release the minutes, could even (though I’m reading only rarely in egregious cases) result in nullification of some actions taken during the sessions. Here’s a complaint form you could file with the AG under the MA Open Meeting Law.https://www.mass.gov/doc/oml-complaint-form-2025/download?