Agenda Preview: September 18 School Committee Meeting
Superintendent’s Goals, Collective Bargaining Negotiations
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September 18 School Committee Meeting.
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for September 18. Executive session starts at 5:00 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 full agenda here. You can watch it via Zoom or YouTube live. Spanish translation is available on Zoom and the YouTube recordings have translated closed captions in tons of languages. Always a good reminder that remote participation is a courtesy, and that the meeting will continue even if there are issues with the virtual broadcast. So if there’s something you really want to speak on or listen in on, in-person is always the most reliable bet.
Executive Session.
Tons of collective bargaining agreements on the docket again for executive session, with bargaining units including teachers, assistant principals, paraeducators, aides to the physically handicapped, monitors, drivers, therapy assistants, parent liaisons, ESL tutors, custodians, and educational secretaries. A strong reminder that one of the biggest issues for the next school committee term is negotiations of contracts, including the teachers’ contract. Unlike city council, the school committee negotiates directly with unions; like, school committee members actually sign the bargaining agreements.
Superintendent’s Goals for 2025-2026.
This meeting’s superintendent report is on his proposed goals for the 2025-2026 school year. The superintendent’s goals are approved by the school committee and are a significant part of his yearly evaluation. Proposed goals include:
Increase STAR scores in reading and math by 3 percentage points from the end of the year scores from last year
Increase collaborative teams
Implement a unified communication framework
Design and plan a “grow your own pipeline” to encourage WPS high school juniors and seniors to become WPS teachers
Realignment of school boundaries that reduces overcrowding (a two-year process)
This slide also previews some focus areas:
Other items:
Two items from Sue Mailmain (at-large):
to “revisit the opportunity to utilize climate and culture staff/or other staff, particularly at the beginning of the school year to help set behavioral expectations on buses that have a need.”
And to provide an update on the technology committee “including software acquisition policy and process, structure around time on devices especially, at the elementary level, and when AI use is allowed and when it is not.”
The Gene Haas naming at Worcester Tech will come to a vote for final approval.
The administration provided a report on student discipline data.
Have a good week! If you have feedback you can always get in touch: aislinn.doyle@me.com