Agenda Preview: July 18 School Committee Meeting
Superintendent evaluation, naming policy, grants
If you want these agenda previews in your inbox like the rest of the writing on Worcester Sucks, you can adjust your settings here. Don’t forget to tip your writers folks.
And please consider a paid subscription to Worcester Sucks so we can keep providing crucial local journalism like this.
July 18th School Committee Meeting
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for July 18 at 4 p.m. (there is no executive session). See the full agenda here. You can watch it via zoom or Facebook live. Spanish translation is available on zoom. Currently, there are no standing committee meetings scheduled for July.
Here’s my preview:
Superintendent’s Evaluation. The Superintendent will report on her 2023-2024 school year goals, which include:
100% completion of highest priority emergency projects identified in the safety audit
narrowing the gap between overall student and staff demographics by 10%
increasing grade 3 reading performance demonstrated by the STAR assessment
increasing the percentage of secondary (grades 7-12) students who self-report that they are engaged in school
You can read up on these goals in more detail in last September's brief. The committee will also evaluate the Superintendent, which is a requirement of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). So, parents, teachers, and community members, it’s that time of year to email your school committee members and let them know how you think Superintendent Monárrez is doing and how her superintendency has impacted your kids’ experience and/or your experience in the classroom. Please don’t take her leadership for granted.
Namings. There is a request for reconsideration–reconsideration is something school committee members can do within 48 business hours of a vote–from Member Sue Mailman (at-large) on the approval of naming the basketball court at Chandler Elementary Community School after Antonio Rossi and the gym at Doherty after Officer Manny Familia. Her reasoning, which is required as part of the request, is that there needs to be school site council and/or parent and student input as required by the naming policy and it’s not clear if that happened. There is also a separate item on the agenda from Member Molly McCullough (district A) asking that the naming policy be reviewed and to provide clarity around the process.
As a watcher of school committee meetings, and as a parent whose children’s school is going through a renaming process, I have seen a pattern over the last few years. The committee is not following the naming policy and has an inconsistent process that raises questions about why some are held to higher standards than others. Some, like the naming of the La Familia Dual Language School and the naming on the basketball court at Union Hill, were approved at the first meeting in which the item was on the agenda, with no public deliberation period despite that being required. Others like the naming of the basketball court at Chandler Elementary and the athletic complex at South High were announced before having school committee approval. And others live in limbo, like the request from a year ago from Laura Clancey to name the alternative school after Mike O’Neil. In all of them it has not been clear at all how the school community has been included in the naming process. I believe this is not intentional–I think most of the members have never read the policy, which is a pretty good one–but by not adhering to it, it can feel that those with more political power are able to name things easily, while those without are not. Naming facilities is an inherently contentious process, which is why, I’m guessing, the majority of our schools are named after the streets they’re on. Having a solid policy and following it are critical, so that all voices of our community have equal weight.
Grants up for approval.
UMass Chan Medical School is offering a donation of $36,000 to fund teacher mini-grants at north quadrant classrooms. You can see the funded projects here.
As part of the “Adopt a School Program” the Patriot’s Foundation (Kraft Sports and Entertainment) is making a donation of $25,000 to Chandler Elementary Community School, with $10,000 going to technology, $10,000 going to playground/recess equipment, and $5000 going to nutrition wellness (like their food pantry). The playground work has already been done, and as part of that the foundation asked the district to dedicate the basketball court for Antonio Rossi–the father of the developer Anthony Rossi.
ServPro is offering an in-kind donation for Chandler Elementary Community School to do work to clean up the school like remove and replace stained ceiling tiles, treat any suspected microbial growth, paint halls and classrooms, clean walls and floors, and HVAC duct cleaning.
Innovation School Annual Reports. Up for approval are the mandatory annual reports for four innovation schools: Worcester Tech, Claremont Academy, Goddard Scholars, and University Park Campus School. Claremont Academy’s innovation plan expires this year and will not be renewed.
Have a good week! If you have feedback you can always get in touch: aislinn.doyle@me.com