Agenda Preview: November 21 School Committee Meeting
School boundary changes, report on climate, culture, and safety, paid leave reports.
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Busy week, with a school committee meeting and two standing committee meetings.
Here’s the preview:
November 21 School Committee Meeting.
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for November 21 at 5 p.m. There is no executive session. See the full agenda here. You can watch live via Zoom or stream it on WEA-TV’s YouTube channel. Spanish translation is available on Zoom.
Report of the Superintendent.
This meeting’s report is an update on “Sense of Belonging” and will cover climate, culture, and safety.
Boundary changes for schools.
For over a year Superintendent Monárrez and Deputy Superintendent Brian Allen have spoken at both school committee and standing committee meetings about the need for redistricting school boundaries. Finally, there is an item on the agenda requesting the school committee “consider possible revisions to school boundary assignments.” According to the district report WPS has not comprehensively reviewed boundary changes in decades and enrollment trends have changed a lot in that time. According to the proposed timeline from the district, recommendations would be made in the 2025-2026 school year to allow for public hearings, and implementation would happen in the 2026-2027 school year (when current kindergartners are starting second grade). You can see the boundaries as they currently stand using this great Worcester Regional Research Bureau tool.
We can assume there will be heated debate and a lot of emotion from the community as new boundary lines get proposed. Neighborhood schools are culturally entrenched in Worcester, and it’s a model that I don’t imagine will change anytime soon. But it exacerbates socioeconomic segregation in our city. As an example, 42 percent of WPS elementary schools have 82 percent or more low income students, with a median of 87 percent. On the other hand, just 27 percent have 60 percent or less low income students, with a median of 47 percent. Last school year the district was 71 percent low-income, well above and the statewide 42 percent. Low income status in Massachusetts is determined by the percentage of families at 185 percent of the federal poverty level, which for 2023 was $55,500 for a family of four.
Paid Leave Reports.
Alex Guardiola (district D) has requested a group of reports around employee leave.
Other bits and bobs.
Molly McCullough (district A) has an item to consider flag football as a girls varsity sport.
Up for approval are two donations to fund the new Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic at Worcester Tech: one for $500,000 from Tufts and the other for $2.5 million donation from the Alden Trust
November 18 Finance, Operations, and Governance Standing Committee.
The Finance, Operations and Governance (FOG) Standing Committee meets on November 18th at 5 p.m. at the Durkin Administration Building. Here’s the agenda. Two items worth noting:
First Quarter Budget Review.
One important role of the school committee is financial oversight, and the ins and outs of those conversations mostly happen at FOG. This meeting they’ll review the first quarter budget report. Here are some highlights:
The state budget was finalized in August, with an increase in $61,501 for Worcester. The administration is recommending that it go to the health insurance account.
Deficits, or account lines that have had more spending than was budgeted for, include administrative salaries, school nurse salaries, health insurance, paraprofessional salaries, and unemployment compensation.
Balances, or account lines that have had less spending than was budgeted for, include supplemental program salaries, maintenance salaries, and instructional materials.
In a continued trend over the last few years, requests for McKinney Vento transportation for homeless students is increasing—with 132 NEW requests this school year—and it is expensive for the district as they have to contract out for some of the drivers. Another example of how high housing costs don’t just impact individuals, but costs our city budget too.
Bus Tracking Update.
There have been district-wide complaints about the bus tracking app, MyStop, not working well since last school year (the first year of implementation in 2022-2023 it was much better!) There is an update from the district on the issues and how they are working to resolve them.
November 19 Teaching, Learning, and Student Success Standing Committee.
The Teaching, Learning, and Student Success (TLSS) standing committee meets on November 19 at 5pm at the Durkin Administration Building. There are two items on the agenda, one on the number of homeschooled students living in Worcester, and the other an update on the Doherty Biomedical program. TLSS is chaired by Alex Guardiola (district D) and other members include Vanessa Alvarex (district B), Maureen Binienda (at-large), and Sue Mailman (at-large).
Have a good week! If you have feedback you can always get in touch: aislinn.doyle@me.com
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