WPS in Brief: August 2024
Superintendent’s evaluation, New Doherty and facilities
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Happy first week of school and welcome to the August issue of WPS in Brief. This month covers key topics from the August 15th school committee meeting.
Let’s get to it:
Superintendent’s Evaluation.
The school committee evaluated the superintendent and she received an overall rating of “proficient,” which is defined by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as “to be fully satisfactory..this is the rigorous expected level of performance. It is a demanding, but attainable level of performance.”
Evaluating the superintendent is one of the major responsibilities of a school committee and is required by state law. (The superintendent also conducted her own self-evaluation.) As part of the process each school committee member fills out a form that evaluates Dr. Monárrez on how well she achieved her goals and on the aligned “focus indicators,” as outlined in the chart below.
Mayor Joe Petty, in his role as Chairman, then takes all the evaluations and creates a summative report based on individual ratings. That summative report is what the committee voted to approve. It was not totally clear to me in Mayor Petty’s report how the ratings were weighed, as some of the individual committee member’s evaluations gave conflicting ratings (perhaps a clearer, more streamlined form for committee members could help). But based on the original evaluations posted online, the majority of the school committee rated the Superintendent between Proficient and Exemplary. Here is a breakdown in each professional standard category:
Based on the comments made both at the meeting and in the written evaluations, the majority of the committee thinks that the Superintendent has done an excellent job this year in working towards the established goals. They lauded her skillful handling of a huge budget deficit, her dedication to mutual respect and open communication, and her data-informed decision making. In their comments, the committee highlighted her connections with the community, the lack of grievances taken up in executive sessions, and her commitment to high expectations.
Still, a clear divide continues, with Member Maureen Binienda (at-large), Member Kathi Roy (district C) and Member Dianna Biancheria (district E) rating the Superintendent “Needs Improvement” overall. Some of their evaluation comments were also contradictory to actions they took on the floor. Binienda, Roy and Biancheria all questioned the lack of a Director or Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning, but they also voted during budget deliberation to slash administrative salaries. In reading the individual evaluations, Roy and Biancheria made almost the exact same points in their comments, even using the same language and the same examples as seen in the screenshots below.
Exhibit A (Biancheria on top, Roy below):
Exhibit B (Biancheria on top, Roy below):
I’ll leave it up to the teacher-experts who have experience with students copying each other to weigh in on this, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that they worked together. It definitely solidifies the sense that there continues to be a strong 6-3 divide on the committee.
The Superintendent is not naive to this, and acknowledged in her self-evaluation that there are relationship challenges, writing:
“This evaluation cycle is unique as the original goals were collaboratively established and approved by a different School Committee configuration; however, the work of WPS has remained constant… As your Superintendent, I work to understand each member as individuals while treating you as one governing body. I encourage a consideration of a retreat led by a facilitator so we can work on developing common ground and further grow into a high functioning team.”
She also mentions the importance of the monthly standing meetings she schedules with each school committee member and how it has “allowed us to learn about each other and provided you an opportunity to inquire deeper about a topic of interest. It is my hope that more of you will be able to make time for these monthly standing meetings.” It appears that some committee members do not take advantage of these one on one meetings with the Superintendent, where relationships can be built. I find that disheartening.
Meeting Moment
As is her common role on the committee, Member Sue Mailman (at-large) brings up the elephant in the room, pointing out that having a Superintendent whose contract was not renewed then be elected to a School Committee that oversees their replacement is “highly unusual” and not something that has happened statewide. She emphasizes that she feels it leads to wasted time and energy and she ends with “it frustrates the hell out of me.”
New Doherty
I had the chance to tour the new Doherty, and it is a beautiful building that was thoughtfully done. (Read more in the Patch and the Telegram). From the black box theater to the college and career space, I was in awe that our students will have a learning facility that they deserve. But mixed with the joy that comes with a gorgeous, state of the art building also comes a wave of grief that this is something the majority of students in our district do not have.
When I was in the Doherty gym, I thought back to a school committee meeting in January of 2023 when then Burncoat High representative Mia Haynes said:
“The truth is a lot of the things we see as needs like repairing cracked walls and crumbling ceilings require a lot of money. Because of this it is important to prioritize and decide where our money needs to go. Our faculty and students are constantly working to do the best we can with what we have. This is especially hard when we see the schools around us have so much. Glamorous new buildings, incredible sports facility. Ceilings that don’t leak because of a deteriorating building.”
She then goes on to ask for a “seemingly manageable” request: bleachers for the school gym. Here is a student resigned to the situation essentially saying, “I get that we have no choice but to deal with a deteriorating building, but could we at least get some bleachers so that people can come watch our games?” (The bleachers have since been installed). I think Mia’s comments are emblematic of the resignation that so many of us feel and it adds to the frustration that how we fund school buildings in Massachusetts is not an ideal way to do it. Yes, we know that Burncoat is next. AND Burncoat won’t be done until 2031- when current second graders are entering ninth grade. The earliest Worcester East Middle could be done is 2038. The incoming seventh graders for that year won't be born until 2026. This is why I especially appreciated what the Superintendent wrote in her self-evaluation:
“As we look into future budget seasons, I do believe we will be able to maintain current programming, grow options and invest in the facilities that are sorely needed. These facility improvements are not only related to safety, but quality-of-life experiences at a school. Our elementary children deserve to have playgrounds that are developmentally appropriate, even in small spaces. Elementary families are calling for libraries. Windows should be operational at our schools. All students deserve bathrooms that are functional and available throughout the school day. A substantial amount of financial investment will be needed to strengthen the quality-of-life experiences at all schools, not some.”
This is a gargantuan task and will take leadership at the school, district, and state levels. But so far the Superintendent has shown she is willing to tackle it. I hope the school committee and the community showå up to help. And in the meantime I’m glad our community has another new school for our students and educators.
Recommended Reads.
Good, local journalism is essential to a healthy city. It leads to higher voter turnout and less political polarization. So I was so sad to hear that Neal McNamara, one of the best journalists we have in the city, left the Patch. One of the last articles he wrote about the schools was on the New Doherty. Thanks for everything Neal!
Highly recommend this article on WPS transportation. Transportation is fully staffed this year (no double routes!) and is saving the district $5 million.
Tom Marino at This Week in Worcester continues to take a deeper look at some of the issues that came up during budget deliberations.
Upcoming Dates.
All school committee meetings have virtual options with Spanish translation, see the school committee site for more information.
School Committee Meeting, September 5 and September 19, 6pm.
Finance, Operations, and Governance Standing Committee Meeting, September 23, 5pm
Teaching, Learning and Student Success Standing Committee Meeting, September 26, 5pm
Also.
As we head back to school, consider supporting some teacher donation requests.
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