Agenda Preview: January 22 School Committee Meeting
What’s not on the agenda, Facilities, New courses, and Firewalls.
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 22. 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.
First, let’s talk about what’s not on the agenda:
Public Petition.
President of the Education Association of Worcester (EAW), Melissa Verdier, confirmed with me that she filed a public petition in reference to the no confidence vote at Nelson Place, but it is not on the agenda. Verdier was told that she submitted her item too late. She submitted it at 1:30 p.m. last Wednesday, past the noon deadline. While the new school committee rules were updated last month to say noon, the policy linked on the public petition form is not updated and simply says “Any member of the public may file a petition to the Committee on any matter under the Committee’s purview by submitting such a petition in writing (on paper or electronically) by the Wednesday of the week prior to a regular meeting of the Committee.”
Handbook Policy
At last week’s Citywide Parent Planning Advisory Council (CPPAC) meeting, a caregiver referenced an item that Member Kathi Roy (District E) had submitted for the agenda, calling on the district to follow the student handbook, which states that parents may opt out of third-party services. When the agenda was released Friday, the item was not on it. I contacted Roy, who confirmed she had submitted it and was told it was rejected because a related item will be discussed in subcommittee. No such item appears on the OG, Finance, or TLSS outstanding items list. I previously wrote about the third party opt-out in June 2025, but that item was pulled from the agenda before the meeting and never discussed. It’s not clear why the district didn’t address it then. To be clear, just by “attending Worcester Public Schools, students and caregivers acknowledge and agree to abide by the policies and procedures outlined in the Student Handbook.” This matters for a simple reason: the student handbook is not a suggestion. It is school committee-adopted district policy. Families and students are told to rely on it to understand their rights and responsibilities. As a matter of governance, when the district does not follow its own handbook, it raises the question, who are they accountable to?
I emailed both the school committee clerk and vice chair Molly McCullough (district A) to inquire about these items, but since the agenda comes out late on Fridays and it’s a long weekend, I haven’t heard back. Will update here if I do.
Ok, here’s what’s on the agenda:
Executive Session.
Lots of contract conversations on the executive session agenda with different bargaining units, including teachers, whose contract expires at the end of June. As I wrote in my December 4 agenda preview, there is currently a third of the committee with an immediate family member working for the district (Binienda, McCullough, and Roy). On November 4 I had requested, and still have not received, executive session minutes to understand whether those members are recusing themselves. The update is that the school committee clerk emailed me on January 16 to let me know that the executive minutes I requested are still with the lawyer for redaction. According to the FAQs of Open Meeting Law “if, at the time of a request, the public body has not conducted a review of the minutes to determine whether continued nondisclosure is warranted, the body must perform such a review and release the minutes, if appropriate, no later than its next meeting or within 30 days, whichever occurs first. G.L. c. 30A, § 22(g)(2).”
Report of the Superintendent.
This meeting’s Report of the Superintendent is on Facilities and School Safety.
Course Additions for the 2026-2027 school year.
The school committee must approve all courses, and the proposed additions in this go around include 9 courses: AP Cybersecurity, Modern U.S. History through Media, AP Business & Personal Finance, Pre-AP English 1, Pre-AP English 2, Introduction to Clean Energy & Climate Science, Internship, Innovation Career Pathways Internship, and Cooperative Education Experience.
Firewalls on School Devices.
Member Roy has an item requesting “a report on what firewalls and precautions are in place to prevent students from connecting to internet sites that are outside the educational uses of Chromebooks/iPads.” It’s no surprise to parents and teachers that it doesn’t take long for some kids to figure out workarounds to these restrictions on their school devices. Just this weekend, I Facetimed with a WPS fifth grader who showed me how a student can access YouTube from their school chromebook. I wasn’t surprised he could do it, but it did surprise me how simple it was. So I reached out to about a dozen families whose kids attend all different elementary schools, and about two thirds of their kids (third through sixth graders) knew a work around to get onto Youtube on their school Chromebook.
Other items:
A request from Vanessa Alvarez (district B) for a report on in-school fire safety visits from the Fire Department.
Molly McCullough requested to explore the feasibility and cost of resurfacing the Burncoat High tennis courts.
Dianna Biancheria (district C) has a request to report on the feasibility and cost of upgrading the fields at North High.
That’s it. Have a good week! If you have feedback you can always get in touch: aislinn.doyle@me.com