WPS in Brief: October 2023
WPS in Brief: October 2023
strategic plan update, student performance data, childcare for WPS staff, voluntary uniform policy, budget, and buildings.
Welcome to the 10th issue of WPS in Brief. This month covers key topics from two school committee meetings and four standing committee meetings. I always appreciate feedback, questions and tips. You can email me at wpsinbrief@substack.com. Please subscribe and share!
Let’s get to it:
Election 2023.
November 7th is Election Day for the city council and school committee. You can vote early at Worcester Public Library all this week or vote on Election Day (friendly reminder there’s no school that day!) Please make a plan to vote. You can read my 2023 school committee guide over on Worcester Sucks and I Love It.
Strategic Plan 2023-2028
The strategic plan process continues and the administration provided an update to the Governance subcommittee meeting. The draft priorities include:
The full document, including priority statements, aims and goals, can be found here. You can see videos of the strategic plan workshops and other updates on the strategic plan page. Another report on the plan progress will come to the Governance subcommittee on November 28. Then a draft of the strategic plan will go to the full school committee for review on December 7, with a final vote on December 21.
Superintendent’s Report: Student Performance.
Over two school committee meetings the administration reported on student performance and school accountability results. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) accountability system is used to measure schools against other schools in the state and the system has a number of indicators. For elementary and middle schools the accountability scores are based on 60% Achievement (MCAS scores), 20% student growth, 10% English Language Proficiency and 10% chronic absenteeism. For High schools the accountability scores are based on 40% achievement (MCAS scores), 20% student growth, 20% high school completion, 10% english language proficiency, and 10% chronic absenteeism and advanced coursework. These results are the first full school accountability determination since 2019. The administration shared that chronic absenteeism rates are going down, but are still higher than before the pandemic; advanced coursework percentage is also going down; and the graduation rate is holding steady and is higher than it was before the pandemic. Here are the glows and grows according to the administration:
In the presentation Dr. Marco Andrade, the Director of the Office of Research and Accountability, broke down the data by different demographics. In terms of meeting or exceeding expectations, the percentage of Hispanic/Latino students, of students with disabilities, and of English language learners is consistently lower across all grades as compared to the district. He also pointed out that for English learners, the higher the English proficiency level, the higher percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations. Also worth noting is that English language learner progress to proficiency has been on the decline since the pandemic.
Andrade also presented a chart (see above) showing the percentage of 3rd grade students meeting or exceeding expectations on the English Language Arts MCAS as well as on the STAR assessment. He said that third grade is where “students should be transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn.” The cohort of third graders represented in the 2023 data were in Kindergarten in March of 2020. He said the district will continue to use STAR to monitor the progress of our students in reading, especially as we implement a new ELA curriculum.
Childcare for WPS Staff.
After conducting a staff survey and recognizing the need, administration gave an update that they are in the beginning planning stages for a childcare center for WPS employees. There’s still a lot to be worked out, including a funding source, and they anticipate it wouldn’t realistically open until the 2025-2026 school year.
Voluntary Uniform Policy update.
The voluntary uniform policy was updated to include a way to exit out of uniforms. A school site council must approve it and then it is brought to the school committee for a vote. Assistant Superintendent Dr. Marie Morse also suggested that it might be good practice for schools with voluntary uniforms to reassess every two to three years to keep a finger on the pulse of what schools are needing. There are seven schools with voluntary uniform policies, all elementary: Burncoat Prep, Chandler Magnet, Clark St., Jacob Hiatt, Lincoln St., Union Hill and Woodland. Some have had their policies for at least a decade and I would be interested to see if there’s any data from those schools that show what sorts of impact uniforms have on students or on learning. Schools can request a voluntary uniform policy without any specific reason, and while the policy is voluntary, it’s not clear if that is actually the practice at all seven of the schools.
Buildings.
In the quarterly building maintenance and facilities report there were 14 projects presented, all in various stages. Check out the backup of the agenda for specifics. There was also an update on HVAC upgrades known as the “Honeywell Project,” the cost of which is $22.8 million and is being funded by Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds. The project is 46% complete with a full completion date of December 2024. Here is a list of upgrades by school and the percent completed.
Budget.
In an uncommon move the finance and operations committee approved first quarter transfers based on projections done by the budget office. In early August the state budget was signed by Governor Healey, and it is providing WPS $830,550 less than the budget the school committee adopted in June. To balance the budget change the Finance and Operations subcommittee voted to transfer savings from the paraprofessional salary line due to vacancies. As of September 30 there were 95 vacant paraprofessional positions, the majority of which are in special education and multilingual disciplines. The transfers still need to be voted on by the full committee. It was also mentioned that they need more staff in building and maintenance. Current job openings for WPS are here.
Meeting Moment to Watch.
Student representatives requested the committee explore additional mental health resources for students beyond what is currently provided and to make a central location for students to be able to access those available resources.
Recommended Reads.
There was an hour of deliberation at school committee and lots of public debate about the potential naming of a shop at Worcester Tech.
Big news that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is reopening its accelerated repair program and also increased how much it will fund per square foot. These programs are critical to helping Worcester update our buildings.
Clark expands scholarships for students in Main South.
The Hanover Theatre Conservatory is piloting the first year of its Downtown Dance Program, and 31 students were selected and they represent 6 elementary schools in the Burncoat quadrant.
Peabody recorded 865 illegal school bus passing in the first month of school. A proposed bill would allow the use of school bus stop arm cameras for ticketing. Write your legislators please!
Upcoming Dates.
All school committee meetings have virtual options with Spanish translation, see the school committee site for more information.
School Committee meetings are November 2 and November 16, 6pm
Special School Committee meeting on November 13, 5pm (at Durkin)
Finance and Operations is November 13, 5:30pm
Teaching, Learning and Student Supports is November 14, 5pm
Governance and Employee Issues is November 28, 4:45pm
Also.
Make a plan to vote. Make plan to vote. Make a plan to vote. Make a plan to vote. If you aren’t eligible to vote, remind everyone around you who is to make a plan to vote!
Thanks for reading. If you’d like to support my work you can send me a tip. See you next month when we’ll know who will be representing us on school committee for next term.