WPS in Brief: January 2023
Key takeaways from Worcester Public School Committee meetings and standing committee meetings.
Welcome to the first post of WPS in Brief. This month covers some key topics from the two January school committee meetings and the finance and operations standing committee meeting. Before reading, it might be helpful to learn more about this newsletter. Let’s dive in:
Enrollment.
Enrollment is bouncing back and Worcester is once again the second largest school district in the state. Some good news is that elementary classes are, on average, the smallest they have been in at least 20 years, thanks in large part to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (also known as the ESSER Fund). This federal funding allowed Worcester to maintain teacher positions despite a drop in enrollment during the pandemic. The current average class size is 19 students. See the breakdown by school here.
Teachers Contract.
You may have seen some educators standing outside of schools this January to bring attention to their continued request for a fair contract and a living wage, especially for paraeducators (also known as instructional assistants). They have been without a contract since September 2020 and negotiations continue. Media coverage here and here.
Superintendent's Final Recommendations from the Listening and Learning Tour. Hopefully you heard about Superintendent Monárrez’s listening and learning tour and were able to participate in some way. She reported on her final recommendations from those sessions, with six high-level areas of focus:
Modernized and safe facilities
Acquire and Retain Talent
Student Behavior and Safety
Communication and Ongoing Engagement
Wellness and Mental Health
Equitable Resources and Educational Programs
If you have the time I recommend listening to her presentation (it starts at minute 24 and is about 40 minutes long). I think it’s the best way to understand where WPS might be headed and it’s helpful to hear it in her own words. You can also take a look at the slides or read the Superintendent's column in the Telegram about the areas of growth she identifies for WPS.
Buildings.
Most Worcester Public School buildings are in desperate need of repairs and upgrades, and that will take some serious money. Most of the funding in the past has come from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), but there isn’t enough money to go around right now. Worcester applied to the MSBA for replacement of Burncoat High last year, but was denied. The school is currently on warning status with NEASC due to the poor condition of the building. Worcester is reapplying to the MSBA again this year.
MSBA also discontinued its “Accelerated Repair Program” that helped WPS with things like boilers and roofs, etc. This means there are many school projects that are in limbo–including roofs for both Union Hill and Wawecus and windows for Worcester East Middle– as folks work on where to get the money. For a more detailed explanation around building funding read School Committee Member Tracy O’Connell Novick’s post here. What can you do? Email your state representatives and let them know you want to see more funding for the MSBA. You can figure out who your representatives are here.
Multilingual Learners.
The Multilingual Education Department reported on the current state of multilingual learners, and gave information about future plans to develop and grow. By the end of the school year they hope to complete an audit of the current programs, and then will put together a workgroup of stakeholders, prioritize recommendations, and develop an implementation plan. Here are some stats from the presentation:
One trend to note from the presentation was that the number of families with Portuguese as a home language has doubled in the last few years, with the large majority of those students coming from Brazil.
Transportation.
Bus driver hiring continues at a solid pace and they have started reducing some of the double trip routes. The goal is to eliminate all of them by the end of the year. Transportation for athletics and school-sponsored events are currently limited to after 4pm on school days and anytime on weekends, but the transportation department is optimistic that in they will have the capacity to offer transportation for spring sports in a few months.
Recommended Reads.
A quick report from the Worcester Regional Research Bureau. Helpful in understanding the governance of Worcester Public Schools.
If you are registering a kid for kindergarten, you might be interested in my post about my experience navigating WPS’s voluntary student assignment policy.
And some City Council news: Worcester eyes paying for new sidewalks near schools
Meeting Moment to Watch.
Mia Haynes, a student representative from Burncoat High, asking for an update about getting bleachers for the gym, which they have not had for years. (Since that meeting the bid for bleachers has been posted to the city website.) Of note to me is the resigned way in which Mia talks about the condition of the school and perhaps this is emblematic of how students in our older buildings feel.
Upcoming Dates:
All meetings have virtual options, see the school committee site for more information.
There is a Governance and Employee Issues Standing Committee meeting on Jan. 31 at 5:30, which I will cover in the February post.
School Committee Meetings are February 2 and February 16, both 6pm
Teaching, Learning and Student Supports is February 14 at 5:30pm
Also.
If you are feeling generous, there are currently 199 projects from Worcester teachers on DonorsChoose.
See you February.
(If you want the February update directly to your inbox, please subscribe!)