School Committee preview: March 21
School Committee preview: March 21
Safety centers, homeschooling, school nutrition
Hey hey! Bill here with a quick editor’s note. Aislinn’s work for Worcester Sucks is split between two sections: the monthly WPS In Brief posts (first one is up!) which go out to the entire mailing list, and these short meeting previews, which do not. You can sign up for the email version of these preview posts by going to your Worcester Sucks account page, where you’ll find this “Notifications” dashboard…
…and make that little grey button next to “School Committee previews” a green one.
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March 21 School Committee Meeting
The next school committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 21. Executive session starts at 5 p.m. and the general meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. Actual start time depends on how long the executive session lasts. See the agenda here. You can watch it via zoom or Facebook live. Spanish translation is available on zoom.(Editors note: Or you could tune into the WCT3k Twitch stream and watch it with us!)
Here’s my preview:
This month’s Report of the Superintendent is on College and Career Readiness.
School Meals and Nutrition: There is an item from Member Alex Guardiola (district D) asking for a report on school meals and nutrition. In December the Finance and Operations standing committee discussed a similar item on aligning school nutrition with student cultural and dietary needs. The nutrition department has a plan to roll out some changes, but a huge challenge is staffing. There are currently 100 unfilled positions in nutrition–or one third of the staff they need. As many people pointed out at that December meeting, it’s incredible that they have been able to maintain normal operations. And fun fact: the Assistant Director of Nutrition, Ashley Hays, was a long time executive chef who beat Bobby Flay. In her new role she is working on culinary innovation.
Safety Centers: This item about safety centers at the elementary and secondary levels was held last meeting and the administration is back with a response.
Staff Mental Health: There is a Student Advisory item requesting resources that will support educator/staff mental health.
Grants: There are a few grants up for approval, including a homeless emergency support grant for $125,000 that WPS intends to use for transportation costs for homeless students.
Homeschooling: Member Dianna Biancheria (district C) has an item requesting a report on homeschooling, including how many Worcester kids are homeschooled, and the breakdown by grades. The most recent data out of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) says that for the 2022-2023 school year Worcester had 253 homeschooled students, which is lower than the peak of 339 during the 2020-2021 school year, but still higher than the 165 students during 2019-2020 pre-pandemic school year. If this is a topic of interest for you I highly recommend the excellent piece in the New Bedford Light about that city’s high homeschooling rate. It’s where I got the graph below that helps put Worcester’s homeschooling rate in perspective:
Student Opportunity Act Three Year Plan. Administration is asking for approval of the Student Opportunity Act Plan. The Student Opportunity Act (SOA) passed in Massachusetts in 2019 and is a gradual change of the state per-pupil funding formula over six years. It increases the amount of funding based on real costs of educating low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, as well as costs for health insurance. We are currently in year three of implementation. In the plan WPS says it is looking to enhance the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) and to engage teachers in professional development.
Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust Fund: There is an item to review the annual report of the OPEB trust fund, which is an irrevocable trust for benefits (other than pensions) that employees might receive when they retire. Think health insurance, life insurance, deferred compensation. The board that manages the trust fund is required to report to the city council and school committee every year. As of June 2023 there is a $1.2 billion unfunded liability, and increasing employee contributions continues to be a point of negotiation between the city, the school district, and some unions.
March 20 Teaching, Learning, and Student Supports Standing Committee Meeting
(TLSS): There is a TLSS meeting on Wednesday at 5pm at the Durkin Administration Building. The full agenda is here. You can watch it via zoom or Facebook live. There are three things on the agenda:
Item on pre-k expansion and including “local non-profit early education and care partners.” Here’s the administrations response.
Item on gifted programs. The backup speaks to the Goddard Scholars program at Sullivan Middle School and Hanover Insurance Academy at Burncoat Middle. Acceptance to those programs goes to about 50 students each, and is based on STAR scores in reading and math that are above the 75th percentile. Read more here.
Item on the modern classrooms project.
Have a good week! If you have feedback you can always get in touch: aislinn.doyle@me.com