Agenda Preview: January 16 School Committee Meetings
Dual Language Program Update, Bus Cameras, Student Advisory Items.
Aislinn’s working overtime folks! Make sure you check out part one of her big feature on literacy that went up this morning—“Worcester's Literacy ‘Crisis’ (Part 1)”—and thank you to everyone who already read it and the many who said nice things. Proud to have edited and published that one.
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Now, back to regular WPS In Brief business.
—Bill
January 16 School Committee Meeting
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for January 16 at 5:30 p.m. There is no executive session. See the full agenda here. You can watch it via zoom or Youtube Live. Spanish translation is available on zoom.
Since there was a meeting last Thursday, there’s just a few items on the agenda for this Thursday. Two of which are topics I personally care very much about.
Report of the Superintendent.
This meeting’s report is a “Dual Language Program Status Update.” Worcester has an English/Spanish two-way dual language immersion program that teaches students in both languages so students who are fluent in Spanish and fluent in English maintain those languages, but also learn the other (there are some families that have a different home language who also enroll their children in the program—in that case students learn two new languages). Research has solidly shown over and over and over again that two-way dual language programs are the only model that closes the gap between ELs and monolingual students. And longitudinal research over decades has shown that dual language programs have an “astounding effectiveness” for ALL students, especially students with disabilities and monolingual students of low socioeconomic status, not just English learners. Spoiler alert: If you’ve read part one of my new feature, "Worcester's literacy 'crisis'", released earlier today, one of the solutions I touch on in part two is dual language programs. As a dual language graduate, I’m really looking forward to this report.
Cameras on School Buses.
Governor Healey recently signed a bill into law that allows districts and municipalities to put cameras on buses and write tickets for drivers who drive through school bus stop signs. There is an item on the agenda for a report that includes the district’s next steps and costs to implement it. It was my understanding that the district could use the cameras already mounted on the front of the buses for this purpose, but it sounds like that might not be the case.
Despite the fact that I knew a 12-year-old had been hit by a landscape van while getting off the bus in 2021, I was still shocked at how many drivers I witnessed go through stop signs while my kid and I waited for his bus on Pleasant St. when he started kindergarten. I have been advocating for this legislation for a few years now and it’s one of those small wins that remind me that parent advocacy can make a difference.
Student Advisory items.
The student advisory has three items on the agenda:
promoting awareness of available opportunities and academic excellence awards across all institutions
asking for a review of content restrictions within the district as certain educational videos are being restricted under the school Wi-Fi
to ensure all students have access to halal food options at lunch
That’s it. Have a good week! If you have feedback you can always get in touch: aislinn.doyle@me.com
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