WPS in Brief: What happened in April
teachers’ contract, elementary literacy curriculum, the new charter school, streaming athletic events, back to the old dress code, student mental health
Welcome to the fourth issue of WPS in Brief. This month covers key topics from two school committee meetings and six standing committee meetings. I always appreciate feedback or questions. If you are new here, it might be helpful to learn more about this newsletter.
Here we go:
Teachers Still Don’t Have a Contract.
Worcester educators held a huge rally outside City Hall last week to bring attention to the fact that they still don’t have a contract. I encourage you to listen to the interview with Melissa Verdier, President of Worcester’s educators union (EAW) to understand where things stand. They have been working on this contract for over a year.
As you may remember from my budget primer last month, Worcester contributes the bare minimum required by Massachusetts law to our public schools at 101% of net school spending. The surrounding districts contribute 120-125%. It’s key to remember that it is the city manager, Eric Batista, who determines how much gets allocated to WPS. Even the city council can only reduce or approve the budget that Batista presents, and the school committee just allocates the budget within the amount the city manager decides. The city manager said on the radio that this year’s municipal budget will be challenging. A bit foreboding for how this budget season will go.
Elementary English Language Arts Curriculum.
Based on two pilot programs this year, Amplify CKLA was the recommendation for the new elementary English Language Arts curriculum, to replace Fountas & Pinnell. In discussion at the Teaching, Learning and Student Supports (TLSS) standing committee meeting, as well as the following school committee meeting, Members Jermoh Kamara and Sue Mailman raised concerns about the cultural responsiveness of CKLA. The superintendent responded that no curriculum is perfect, and every curriculum would need to be augmented, as is the case with this one. The curriculum was voted down in the standing committee, but the full school committee voted to approve the curriculum (6-1, Kamara was opposed) and it will be implemented this fall.
Despite data going back decades that teaching methods based on the “3-cueing system,” like Fountas & Pinnell, don’t teach kids how to read, it was something the previous administration defended pretty strongly So this is a huge step forward. As someone who assumed kids were learning to read how I had (phonics), I was baffled when I listened to this podcast and learned that the majority of US children are taught through the 3-cueing model Worcester was previously using. If you have kids in your life who are learning to read, or will be soon, I highly, highly recommend you give it a listen.
Boycott of Old Sturbridge Village (OSV)
The school committee unanimously approved to stop field trips to Old Sturbridge Village, given that they have requested the state investigate the museum’s relationship with the new Worcester Cultural Academy (WCA) charter school. Incidentally, at the first meeting of the WCA Board they voted to hire OSV as their Education Management Organization (EMO) for pre-opening procedures and not one board member asked a single question about the contract, which pays OSV $12,500 a month.
Speaking of the new Charter School.
After I attended the Worcester Cultural Academy board meeting, I requested the public backup materials for the meeting, as I do for all public school meetings in Worcester. In the document I received, the whole section on the facility was redacted.
Given that there are major concerns with their lease with the Worcester Diocese for the old St. Joseph's School, and that just last month the Diocese of Worcester announced that WPS is no longer welcome to rent the building that houses the La Familia Dual Language School due to the Bishop not liking the health curriculum, this redaction definitely has me wondering. (I did ask what exemption they were using under public records law for the redaction, but am still waiting for a response.)
*Update: I just received the backup materials without the redaction. It’s a mystery to me why they redacted this:
Athletics Streaming
The administration presented a plan for WPS to stream athletic events. The proposal would grant licenses for streaming at 8 sites: the gyms at South, Burncoat, Doherty, North, Worcester Tech and Claremont, the stadium at South High and Foley Stadium. The committee asked administration to explore additional site options to include more sports. Also note that streaming would only be possible for games at these sites, so games in other cities/towns would not be included in this. Each site costs $4,000 to license, but streaming for viewers would be free. The money would come out of the Channel 11 budget, and would not come out of the general budget.
Dress Code (again).
The updated dress code that was approved at the end of March was filed for reconsideration by Member Laura Clancey, something school committee members can do within 48 hours of a vote. This means that the dress code reverts to the old policy while reconsideration takes place. Member Clancey decided to bring the policy back to the Governance and Employee Issues standing committee after the committee members heard concerns from teachers about the new policy allowing hoods to be worn. Their concerns included both safety reasons, as well for paying attention in class (like using earbuds and having the hood cover them). Allowing hoods was a suggestion that came from the superintendent's student advisory committee. The newest, hood-less version of the dress code was approved by the governance standing committee, but is not policy until it goes to full committee.
Vocational Education Chapter 74 Programs
At one of the Teaching, Learning and Student Supports meetings administration presented this chart about the vocational education programs at the comprehensive high schools, referred to as “Chapter 74.” I found it helpful in understanding the programs in a comprehensive way.
Mental Health and and Social Emotional Competencies.
The Academic Support Office reported on the current state of mental health and social emotional needs of students, and gave information about future plans to develop and grow. National data shows that kids are struggling, and Worcester is no different. Less than half of students report they can self-regulate. And only about half have self-efficacy beliefs (feel they can succeed in academic settings). Stress and anxiety are the biggest issue for Worcester high school students.
Despite engaging with local organizations to help in this area, the severe lack of clinicians has made it challenging to have mental health agencies assist WPS. As they move toward future planning, there are currently ten(!) subcommittees working on a three-year strategic plan to support students and caregivers.
Meeting Moment to Watch.
In discussion after the presentation by the Academic Support Office, school committee member Jermaine Johnson tells a story about a student who had never met her guidance counselor during middle school until she had to select her classes for high school. He brings up the worry about the students who may not be exhibiting extreme stress, but are not necessarily getting the support or information they need because of the more pressing needs of other students.
Recommended Reads.
There was a presentation at the second April school committee meeting about the “vision of a learner” and the “spark plan” on how WPS will innovate for the future. The Telegram covered it well.
Lots of people pulled papers and are collecting signatures to get on the ballot for school committee. Once we see who actually makes it on the ballot, I’ll write more about who is running and also about the new school committee districts.
Upcoming Dates:
Citywide Parent Planning Advisory Council (CPPAC) meets May 2 at 7pm at the Forest Grove Middle School Cafeteria. The guest speaker is Superintendent Dr. Rachel H. Monárrez
School Committee Meetings are May 4 and May 18, 6pm
Teaching, Learning and Student Supports is May 10, 5:30pm
WPS FY 24 Budget Released, May 12
Governance and Employee Issues is May 15, 5pm
Finance and Operations is May 22, 5:30pm
Budget Public Hearing, May 24, 6pm
Also.
Worcester educators are fundraising for graphing calculators, an easel, and a new cello, among 136 other projects on DonorsChoose.
If you missed it, here’s the March newsletter. It covers preliminary budget, homework policy, libraries, and the strategic plan, among other stuff. If you don’t want to miss a monthly update, subscribe to get WPS in Brief right into your inbox.
Thanks for reading. See you in May.