001Good evening everyone. Welcome to the West School Committee. Um if you can please stand for the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem. United States of America stand by the dawn early. What so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming whose bright stripes and bright stars through the peril the spot or the ramparts we watch were so gallently Dream the bombs in g. Oh, say does that star spangled yet? For the land of the free and the home of the brave. Good. That was Yavon Roberts, grade 12 code high school. >> Ro call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Member Biania here. Member Bernendo >> here. >> Member Guardiola >> here. >> Member Johnson >> here. >> Member Mailman >> here. >> Vice Chair McCulla >> here. >> Member Roy >> here. Mayor Petty >> here.
002Okay, we have an open meeting vote. Pursuing the actions taken executive session is moved to ratify the memory between the school committee and the team's local union 170 on behalf of the city whistle public schools transportation mechanics the period July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2027 to authorizes execution of the collective buying agreement for the period of July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2027. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez >> here. Member Bianceria, >> yes. >> Member Vernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Petty, >> yes. Uh, we have the consent agenda. It's item E. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Member Vancaria. >> Yes. >> Member Venenda? >> Yes.
003>> Member Guardiola? >> Yes. Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny, >> yes. >> Uh, we have recognitions. First recognition from um member McCulla, congratulate the Worcester Tech North High 4 by 200 relay team for winning the MIAA Division 3 state championships. I just wanted to say congratulations and acknowledge you and your coaches for all your hard work and your success. And we're so proud of all of you and so happy that you're here this evening and your coach should come out too. >> Coach, how you doing? Congratulations. Okay, we have some certificates to give out. Um, in honor of certificate recognition, the West Tech North High relay team winning the MIA Division 3 state championship. signed by myself,
004the superintendent, and the members of the school committee. First one up is Emanuel. Is it Mira? I got it right. Good. I'll get >> Noah Jones. Congratulations. Good job. Wellington Freeman. Congratulations and uh Kayen Gray. >> Congratulations. Nice shot. >> Good job everyone. >> You guys want to get a group picture? >> Yeah, >> coach. You're more than welcome to get in the picture. >> So, how fast you guys go? How many relays? Three relays in this. Four. >> Yeah. >> Oh. Okay, >> next up do we have recognize the uh senior student school committee representatives? Um, member McCulla. >> Thank you through the chair. I wanted to acknowledge we have two se Well, did Ivon leave? Where'd she go? She was here. Ivonne is one of our seniors as well. Oh, there you are,
005Ivon. Come on. Yeah. So, we have two of our seniors graduating this year who are here who have been student representatives and I believe that the mayor has some certificates for you and I just wanted to say congratulations to both of you. We have Gerald Cramer Center, right, and Burn Code High School. So, congratulations to both of you and thank you so much for all your work. Mik Lee was it keys Santiago? Congratulations. I give you a certificate. >> Congratulations. Great job. I should read it. Okay. >> In recognition of the uh participation of student advisory committee to the world school committee to the Worester school committee. Thank you for representing your school on the committee 4. So I'm myself the superintendent in the in the school committee. Congratulations. Yvon, great job singing tonight and
006congratulations. And here's your certificate. Congratulations. A picture. We'll do a picture. Come down. Oh, we got more. Right. Next up, we have to recognize the Wista County Superintendent Associate Scholars recipients. Um, Makulla. So, this is just an acknowledgement of the scholarship recipients that I believe Mr. Allen was part of the Massachusetts School Superintendent Association, if I'm saying that acronym correctly, scholarship recipients and we are recognizing them this evening as well. So, I don't know if Mr. Allen wanted to. So, as we're uh maybe assembling the students uh for their recognition, I had the great honor to attend the ceremony that was held at Holy Cross with um either principal, school representative, and these students and just to hear uh their amazing accomplishments um representing our schools. Uh it was truly a great afternoon to celebrate
007uh the success successes of our students uh with them as part of the Worester County Superintendent Association lunchon. So, um, want our students to come up. >> Yeah, we have, uh, yeah, have the students come in. We have Burn code high school, Yvon Roberts. Again, Devon, >> there you go. So, in recognition, Yvon of 2026 uh, superintendent associate and scholars recognition. Your achievement academic excellence, leadership, commitment to community service, and the meaningful impacts on your school and community have not gone unnoticed. So, congratulations. and representing Burn Cold High School. And we have Claremont Academy. Are they here tonight, too? Yep. What's that? Claremont is Nikki Perro and Carol Somers Felz. >> Congratulations. Good job. Uh, so Nikki's not here. So we have Dory Memorial Elena Elena Mila and Clearary Mora. Congratulations. Good job. Congratulations. Nice
008job. North High Tammy Doe and Meen Nova Novio. Yep. Congratulations. Congratulations. Okay, we have South High Community School. We have Jordan Dennett. Caleb S >> and Kristen Dome. >> Good morning. >> Caleb and Kristen. Okay, we have univers University Park campus redeem high school. Katie Lamb and Nelson Tete. Congratulations. >> Give my hand everyone. >> Oh, sorry. Snapping a quick [ __ ] M Mr. Superintendent >> just connected to that I just want to recognize uh the principles that came out to support their students um and all the support they do of their schools. So uh thank you principles. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we're going to go now to public comment. Any member of the public may address the committee regarding NM before the committee for two minutes. So there's your name, city or residence and
009item number. You have two minutes. What your name? Go ahead. You're clear. Uh, friend Nathan Worcester. Uh, so GB4-69. Uh, the issue of the turf at Darity High School. So, I've been led to believe that they're paying more for this turf and but that down the road is supposed to save money on a maintenance. However, do we really have the money to waste to spend more money to save money down the road? artificial turf by its definition is artificial. I think most people, the young kids would rather play on natural grass. So, I hope they recon I hope you reconsider and have them play on on natural gl uh natural grass because I think the uh the artificial turf uh there are too many ways that they can get injured and the city of Worcester
010does not want to be responsible for any more people getting injured. It's bad enough that people get injured uh driving down the road and and hit a a giant crater of a pothole. um GB- uh 57 um 75B. Um uh they're talking about cutting out the all alternative schools. At some point in time, the city needs to manage its money better or maybe spend the money more wisely. If you're going to do away with the alternative schools, there will be a price uh that will be paid. And I hope no one gets hurt because it's alternative for a reason. These are troubled kids. >> Thank you. She names your residence item number. >> Hello, my name is Gary Hunter. I live on the district five for the city council and I'm talking about the same
011uh issue Pre just talked about. There's so many plastics around. People are breathing it in every day and you want to put this on the fields of where our kids are are playing football and soccer. I there was um the NFL I think has banned a lot of the uh turf because the players get low body injuries because the the turf does not give. It is dangerous for our children. It is again not very ecologically sound. Put real grass and um and hopefully you can do that at uh Dy if it's not too late any other field please. Turf is more expensive at the beginning, but in the long run, you can put on your budget just to take care of the grass. I would also like now to bring up a story that's in
012the U Telegram Gazette. >> Is that on the agenda tonight? >> It's alter the um budget that we there's a $1 billion budget. >> It's Gary. It's not on the agenda tonight. >> Well, we need to $650 billion and they're cutting the three alternative. Gary, it's not on the agenda tonight. So, I can't let you talk about it. >> What's that? >> So, you just you're not going to be on the agenda here. >> We need >> um Mr. Mayor, I respect you, but >> it will be on one of the next two meetings. >> It's everything is just gets put off and put off and nothing ever gets done. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> It's on the agenda. No. >> How come Fred talked on it and now you're telling me I couldn't
013talk on? >> Fred didn't talk on it. >> Oh, he did. I missed it. Okay. I'm sorry. >> Okay. >> Going try to do away with alternative schools. Where are these kids going to go? Help. >> No, I hear you, Gary. I apologize to you. I missed that. So, okay. >> Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, committee board members. Um, my name is Warren and I'm here to hopefully uh breathe some fresh air into the meeting. Um, if you're a teacher or were a teacher in this city or anywhere in the country, please raise your hand. >> Did this your city of residence and uh I assume >> Well, I just wanted to say that I thought there might be a couple teachers in here. Anyway, here your city of residence. >> Pardon me. >> Your
014city of residence? >> I was a wor resident, but I'm now a Holden resident. >> Okay. Anyway, what item number you speak? >> Pardon me. >> What item number are you? >> 654. >> Okay. Thank you. The reason that I came tonight is uh I was watching a movie called Freedom Writers, which kind of hit hit home to me. I don't know if you've ever seen the movie, but it's a really really cool movie about a really cool teacher who made a huge impact on a lot of students lives that nobody else seemed to care about. And that's why I came here tonight. I actually left school, high school, when I was in my sophomore year because of a medical issue that I had. And after continuing on with my my tutor, I decided to
015quit school because I was genius at the time. And after going through work for a year or two, I realized that I need to get my butt back to school. I didn't really know how to do that. And then I kind of researched it with my mom and she found a training program or a returnee program in the Worester public school system that was being run by a Linda Bergstrom and her her her compadre her associate was uh Cliff Sawyer. And unfortunately, I'm kind of late to the party because what I'd like to see happen is some type of plaque or something in Worcester school, uh, Burnc High School to recognize her and Cliff. But unfortunately, like I said, she's not here. But I would really like to see that happen because she was very
016instrumental in helping a lot of young kids both in North High School and Burnout come back to school, finish their education, and move on to do something with their life. And that's basically why I came here today. Uh, there is a couple other things I'd like to quickly mention. a Jeffrey Zakarian. He's a uh he's a culinary artist. He actually graduated from Burn Code as well. Uh Eddie Mecca who used to be a movie star who's no longer with us. And uh Rob Brace, who used to be a football player for the New England Patriots. Those three people also graduated from the same school I graduated with. I graduated from Burn Senior High. If you could take the time to think about doing that, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. >> Thanks for your
017time. >> Thank you. >> There's your name. Say your residence. >> Hi, my name is Heather Stanick. Uh, I live in Worcester. I have a current sixth grader and a soon to be first grader at Nelson Place. I'd like to speak on GB469. Um, I hear the talk of costbenefit analysis as far as upkeep for the field. I'd also like to talk about the costbenefit analysis for the health and well-being of scholars who are playing on the field. I'd like to talk about the fact that turf is harder than grass. Are we talking about the head injuries that could result from playing on turf? I'd like to talk about the fact that it is slicker than grass when it is wet. Are we talking about um potential fractures, breaks, sprains that could result from playing
018on that? It is also hotter than grass. And I'd like to talk about potential contact burns that could happen um when our um scholars are playing um during the summer in particular, but anytime when the um when the turf gets too hot. Um, I would also like to speak on um, sorry, I'm less prepared today than usual. Um, I'd like to speak on GB 649. Um, and I'd like to talk about, uh, what guidelines there are if a an educator or a staff member is accused of child abuse, um, has a supported 51A, and whether or not they are allowed back in schools. It is my understanding that currently it is up to the discretion of the district across the state of Massachusetts. And I'd like to know what guidelines are in place for um
019for telling us who should be allowed back in schools and who shouldn't be allowed back in schools. I think that we can all agree that the safety of our scholars should be um our utmost utmost priority. Um, and then I also wanted to talk about the report of the superintendent and just say that um, I am thrilled to see all of the early college and AP courses offered. I'd love to take some of them. They sound really interesting. Um, I just also hope that there is more talk in the presentation about career readiness for those scholars who are not going on to higher education. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, we have a couple people on the on the line. Dina Teski. >> Hi, good evening. My name is Dina Teddeski. I'm a Worcester resident
020and a parent of a Worcester public school graduate and a current eighth grader. I'd like to comment or first I'd like to make a quick mention about the library volunteer recognition at the last school committee meeting. Thank you again for this. Volunteers truly felt appreciated. Um I'd like to comment on ROS 6-9. These are excellent programs and our oldest child was able to benefit from these greatly. My question is, what are we doing for or or how are we including and considering these opportunities for our scholars in special education or specialized programs? Regarding GB4-69, is there anything actually called really safe turf material? Plastic and similar materials are still plastic exposure. As a parent, I have considerable concerns regarding this and wonder if safety and due diligence are being foregone in light of cost-saving measures.
021of the right questions being asked to ensure safety. As also a as a former soccer coach for a number of years, the kids always preferred playing on grass and often sustained injuries when impacting against the turf. And lastly, regarding G um GB6-49, I support this item wholeheartedly to keep our current and future scholars safe. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next one is Nelly Medina. >> Hi, can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. I want to speak on a few items. I want to speak on the dory um on the turf. I definitely want to uh re-evaluation of any decisions made before you decide to go with a plastic instead of grass which is healthier and safer for my ch for our children. My son is playing soccer now and I want him to be
022safe. I don't want any torn ACLs or environmental injustice issues on the field. I want to speak on GB 55 57575A. Um an update on the progress of uniform coding for discipline data. So as an advocate um I believe the district lacks transparency. Wister is not fully transparent and is withholding data. Last year I reported zero arrests to Desi despite multiple arrests headlined in newspapers. Since member McCulla is committed to the importance of uniform discipline data, we will request records from the police department to compel the release of the actual data. Um GB575 member Bianca re to receive a report on the support for alternative placements for students involved in disciplinary action including the reinstatement of student safety centers. So on the topic of disciplinary action, closing three alternative schools is not a decision that
023the school committee in a rush, careless fashion and absolutely not to be made without consultation with the city council's education committee, the teachers union and development of a plan to address the needs of these students without >> on the agenda. I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Okay, next up we have uh Cat Holmes. >> Hello. Can you hear me? Okay. Um, hi Cat Holmes. I live in Worcester. Uh, my son will be at Her Street next year. And, um, I was a high level athlete growing up. I tore my ACL twice. It's a brutal brutal um, injury to recover from. So, when speaking on I think it's 4-69, the turf item. Um, as other parents said, um, just being aware of the I think informing the parents not just of what the decision you make
024because it's cost effective. I think that's fair and it might have environmental issues related to fertilizer. I saw that with the grass. There's always pros and cons to everything, but when the decisions are made, I think it's really, really, really important to also highlight and inform about the drawbacks. So, you might have decided because of the cost, um, even though it sounds like it's more expensive upfront, um, and I don't really see the number of how much more expensive, um, in that backup, but, um, when you do make the decisions, regardless of why they were made, we should acknowledge the wellressearched and highly scientific data that's out there that ACL tears are two to three times more likely. There's actually an epidemic of ACL tears going on with student athletes right now. um just because
025they're not getting what they need in early childhood um in terms of physical activity and movement and it's setting them up for these injuries. So, we'll expect to see more of those happening. Um but yeah, just in general, if you're going to make a choice, a decision based on all the, you know, the information you have, I think explaining to people now, we are using turf. These are the risks to your children. Um, and they should be just with all of our decisions, we should be talking about the pros and the cons, not just the pros or glossing over the cons. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, so close this part of the meeting. We'll go to report of the superintendent vision to action college and career highlights early college AP nightlife and adult education.
026Mr. L >> through the chair. So as uh Dan St. Louis director of early uh college and uh administrative director of college and uh career readiness I'm Leman uh get settled this presentation uh really is to u demonstrate and show our uh programs around advanced placement early college nightife and adult ed. the many partnerships that we have with our local colleges and then our involvement and achievement uh by our stu students in these programs. So with that, if ready to go, I'll turn it over to the team >> through the chair. Thank you, uh, Superintendent Allen. Good evening. Um, tonight we're reporting on some of the programmatic highlights from the Office of College and Career Readiness. I'm Emily Leman, administrative director of college and career readiness for WISH public schools. And I'm joined by my
027colleague uh Dan St. Louis, the director of early college. Um to frame our focus for this evening, we have two key objectives. First, Mr. St. Louis will update the school committee on the district's early college and AP programming. And second, I'll provide an overview and update on the district's adult education offerings that are provided through the Worcester nightlife and adult education programs. Next slide. Please. Thank you. As always, we anchor our work in our district strategic plan this evening through equitable resources and educational pro programs priority. Uh we will focus next slide please. We will focus on aim three of this priority. Grow and create equitable future ready learning environments and opportunities to ensure our scholars are prepared for the evolving world. and Dan will now present on early college and AP enrollment. Next slide,
028please. >> Good evening through the chair. Uh, thank you, Emily. My name is Dan St. Louis, director of early college and um there are some of our scholars up there from last summer. Next slide, please. So, what is early college? Um, it is not a blanket term for dual enrollment. Early College is a Desi designated program and Worcester public schools was in the first cohort of early college Massachusetts programs originally designated in 2018. Uh we are now 10% or maybe a little more of the initiative statewide. We've got three partners our Wester public schools along with Quinc Sigamin Community College and Worcester State University and we work closely together and ensure keep that we are keeping the student experience at the center of our work. Uh there is a wide variety of courses available and
029the goal is for students to earn 12 or more credits in the program to build confidence and to reduce the barriers between high school and college. Next slide, please. Here's some of our early college coursework. This is most of the classes that have been offered over the last year or two. Um, we always try to keep things fresh and bring in things occasionally, but we can fit these into six of our of our existing pathways. Business, computer science, and IT, liberal arts and humanities, healthcare, education, and STEM. Um, when a student chooses a pathway, they are not locked into these as a mini major. Um, they can they are free to change their minds. These are mass transfer credits meaning that they are guaranteed transferable into any public college or university in the state. Uh
030we have both general ed uh as as well as career connected uh courses through these six pathways and students may take classes on the Worcester State or Quinc Sigman campuses. Um certain courses uh like foundational courses like English 101 and 102 are also available on their high school campuses. Uh next slide please. So we have grown rapidly over the last few years. Um nearly doubling. We are the largest program in the state with um this spring the students taking courses right now. Our grand total of participants is nearly 1,400 students across the district this semester. Uh and DESIE is now using a a new term completers to refer to students earning 12 or more credits. Uh and that number has also doubled over the past few years. Next slide, please. And there they are. So
031both graduating seniors and total students in the program uh achieving those 12 earned credits. Uh this is becoming increasingly important as our well not our but um all of the the designations approved in the first cohort in 2018 will need to apply next year for what the state is calling full designation. Um and that that 12 credit data point will be a key feature. Uh and next slide please. I will be coming back to early college and how it intersects with advanced placement. But first, a little bit about advanced placement which we see as a complimentary program to early college not in competition and in fact uh as you'll see most students um who take one do try both programs. Next slide please. Here is our coursework. We're at uh 32 courses across across the
032district now. Um, in these departments, we have added, uh, African-American studies is a newer course which we piloted two years ago. Um, and then it was in two schools last year and next year it'll be in all of the, um, comprehensive high schools. And we've got two new courses up there that are going to be brand new across the country. uh they're being called career kickstart courses and that's business with personal finance and cyber security which will both be uh piloted in a couple of our schools next year. Next slide please. Um I'm often asked with the growth of early college if that has um affected our AP numbers or brought them down. Um and the answer is no. Quite the opposite actually. Um we've expanded greatly the number of exams taken over the past
033few years. Most of these um most of these data come from about 2022. I like to look at it sort of in the postcoid post hybrid years and sort of take it from there. Um so last year we gave 2,800 and change exams. Um and right now this week and next we are giving 3,300 exams across the city. uh our as we've expanded participation, we've also seen um the performance coming up as well. So um for what the College Board calls qualifying exams, meaning scores of three or more out of a of a total of five, um we are up to last year 51% of our students achieving qualifying scores across all subjects and all schools. Um and then within that we have something that the college board calls AP scholars and the one level
034of that is students who have achieved uh a qualifying score on three or more exams. And last year we had 301 students in that bucket. And then there are some subcategories as well. Early co um sorry not early college uh AP scholars with honor. That's an average of 3.25 25 on at least four exams and uh we had 82 scholars with distinction indicating an average score of at least 3.5 on five or more exams combined. Next slide, please. What did we do? Oh, I'm sorry. Um so this is yeah this is just the breakdown of those AP scholars um districtwide. Next slide. Thank you. In terms of the number of individuals so that previous data was the number of exams given. Of course students can take more than one exam. So this is the number
035of individual students who are taking those exam. Um so last year it was 1900 and change students taking those 2800ish exams. Next slide please. This is just a graphic of uh that same data AP students and AP exams in total. Next slide please. So again these are we think complimentary programs. um early college the the model is really to uh get students started in college now to break down that barrier. They're semester-based courses. They're actual college curriculum. Um they are guaranteed free students pay nothing. They don't pay for books. They don't pay for tuition. They don't pay for materials or anything like that. Guaranteed transferred um credits. And you know really the goal there is to is to start blending high school into college or college into high school so that students can understand that
036they are college material if they want to be. In fact they already are. Uh advanced placement um is advanced high school rigor. These are high school courses. The the um curriculum is provided by the college board. There is a standardized test one high stakes AP exam. In the end, you potential get um potentially get earned college credit um if you achieve a three, four, or five out of those exams. And it's really just an intense academic challenge um for students who are really looking for subject level mastery and to support um applications for very competitive um college admissions. Next slide, please. These are the demographic um breakdowns of students who participate in our programs. Um the majority of our students are, you know, representative of of the city as a whole, primarily low-income, primarily students
037of color, um primarily um students whose first language was not English. Next slide, please. And this is a graphic demonstrating students who um in the blue take AP only, in the more aqua color is early college only, and then the purple at the top represents students who are taking part in both programs by the time that they're a graduating senior. Um so this is the percent of graduating seniors in each high school who have participated in each of these programs combined. and I next slide please. I'll turn it back to Emily >> uh through the chair. Thank you, Mr. uh St. Louis, and thank you for the to the committee for the opportunity to share an update on two important programs within the office of college and career readiness that serve adults in the community,
038Worcester Nightlife and the Worcester Adult Learning Center. Next slide, please. Worcester nightlife, otherwise known as the third shift at Worcester Tech. Worcester nightlife is an evening program initiative that serves the Worcester community. Worcester nightlife has three functions within the community. It supports lifelong learning through community classes. It acts as a workforce development hub for local high demand careers in healthcare, diesel, technology, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical. And it also helps to maximize local resources which is the intention of the third shift through grants staffing shop use and postsecary career pathways. The most recent example of which is the um Worcester Tech CTE award from the state of 3 million7 3 million7 3.75 million. There we go. um to expand and modernize the plumbing and HVAC programs. The um nightlife program and the innovation career pathway program
039which is the afternoon program are written into that grant. Um the state likes to see when we are expanding seats for a range of individuals and that we're maximizing the resources for the community and so they were written into those grants and made us more competitive. um so helped us earn that and we're happy for Worcester Tech, we're happy for Innovation Career Pathways and we're happy for the Nightlife program for that opportunity. Uh next slide please. And finally, uh thanks to the hard work of Ruth Su Seward and her team. Uh she's the director of the Worcester nightlife program. Since uh COVID, um Miss Seard has worked tirelessly to uh return community um class classes to the nightlife program and is now offering more than 80 in-person workforce development classes annually. This past year, the
040program served 829 local adults, um, including 187 community class participants and 642 workforce development professionals. Next slide, please. Uh, that brings us to the Worcester Adult Learning Center. The Worcester Adult uh, Next slide, please. The Worcester Adult Learning Center is part of a stateup supported system that provides no cost education for adult learners. Uh our the Worcester Adult Learning Center is supported through two state grants. Uh that allows us to provide at any given time 90 high school equivalency seats. So that's our high school equivalency tests or GEDs. Um 210 seats for English language learners. Um and then we also have another grant through Mass Hire that we serve 20 CNA students that are also English language learners. and we provide priority enrollment for Worcester public schools parents. Um so there is a wait list
041for the adult learning center and Worcester public schools parents receive priority on that weight list. Part of the primary state grant is to ensure that uh local parents have the opportunity to advance their own education and careers but also to become more engaged in their students education. And we uh do that through a partnership with um the Worcester public schools parent information center and our family and community engagement office. Next slide, please. These are just some of the highlights for the Worcester Adult Learning Center. Um since 2018, 105 of their students have transitioned to QCC to continue their post-secary education. They've served 49 uh8 adults this year. Um so there's seats at any given time and as the students progress through and graduate and exit the program, additional people are allowed to come in. Um
042they've 327 of their students have made measurable skill gains that are defined through the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. Um, and so that's an evidence that they're progressing and moving towards their academic and career goals. There's also the CNA program that we run in partnership with Mass Hire. Uh, this year's cohort had a 100% completion. So, 11 of the 11 students earned certificates in a variety of related um areas. Nine passed the state exams to become CNAs certified nursing assistants. and 10 of the 11 have secured jobs in healthcare in the community. 18 graduates over the past five years have also gone into QCC for healthcare and pre- N nursing. And again, this is a program specifically for um English language learners and the community. These are our CNA partner employers. This partnership has been in
043uh this program has been in uh ongoing for the past 10 years. And five of the five of the graduates actually work in West Public Schools. Um, and I want to um shout out Jen Bernell and her team for the work that they've done in the Wester um adult learning center because it's due to their hard work that we're seeing these outcomes. And then um next slide please. Uh this is just thank you very much for the opportunity to present this information to all of you. Uh and we are open to questions. Thank you. member B and Caria. >> Thank you. Good evening and certainly um informative presentation. Certainly appreciate hearing about this. Um I worked for many years uh under Worester public schools and this was weaved into uh what I worked on as
044a um school to career director. So AP had a lot to do with what we were looking at and I had a couple of questions in reference to that. One would be um when you look at the partners that we have, you mentioned QCC and Worester State University, are we no longer pursuing partners with WPI or Assumption College or did we not have anything for this particular year? So, do my question would be is there still a solid partnership with the other colleges >> uh through the chair? So, um, this report here is on early college Worcester specifically, which is not a a broad dual enrollment program. So, we have partnerships with WPI, Holy Cross, Assumption University, Clark University, all of our local universities in various ways with various programs for what's called quote unquote
045early college, this the DESIE designated program that tends to be statewide. Um, the the local public universities and things like that, they're more set up logistically to take part in a program. We did have that partnership and we did have AP courses that were at WPI a few years back and I know the president of that college has since changed so I didn't know if we could pursue that somehow because that >> with the robotics uh piece of that um certainly brought our students uh to a different table when they uh talked about it >> to the chair as Mr. St. Louis just mentioned um I've been meeting with college uh presidents and their teams over this year and so we're strengthening our relationships with Assumption with Clark with Holy Cross and I'll be scheduling
046meeting uh soon with WPI for those conversations. So >> excellent. >> Again, this presentation was just focused on um one component of our partnerships with local colleges, but it expands and will be growing over the next couple of years. So I certainly feel as though the robotics piece at WPI was extremely beneficial to our students. Um and Clark also brought different things to the table. when we look at um our other partners, you had mentioned um when I look at the nightlife program and different uh pieces of this, the American Red Cross under CNA, do we have a partnership with them any any longer with American Red Cross? they were participating in our CNA program for a number of years and uh a tiein with North and and UMass and so on, but I haven't
047heard anything about um American Red Cross and if we're working with them at all >> through the chair. So, we do work with American Red Cross in a number of different ways. This is exclusive to our nightlife and our Worcester adult learning center partnerships. Um, American Red Cross still works with our CNA programs at um, Worcester Tech, at North and to some capacity through our innovation career pathways program. They also we work with them to certify students and staff through our early childhood programs, etc. So, we still have an ongoing and robust relationship and partnership with them. It's just not um uh listed as an employer partner for our CNA program for the Worcester Adult Learning Center. We like to spread the wealth. >> I I my point would be that if we're working with
048the community and we're bringing parents in, I think that would be an excellent tie-in uh to build that relationship. So, if they are coming in the evening, they are parents of our students. um the city of Worcester residents in surrounding towns. Um not only is it beneficial for them as CNAs to know about the American Red Cross, it's beneficial to the American Red Cross to know about what we are offering so they can uh then work off of that. It's a two-way street on that that piece. Um that's that's it for my uh questions and my comment would be thank you very much. I certainly are going to pursue um some other information on this piece. >> You can. >> Thank you. Um through the chair, I did have a few questions regarding the AP
049data and I had actually put an item on that I was going to have on for the next meeting, but because it pertains to this, I just wanted to ask a few of those questions. So, I appreciate the presentation and the report, but we did recently see the pass rates drop um for the state and the pass rate that was listed in the article that I saw was a 50.9% pass rate for the AP classes. So, while I think it's wonderful that we have so many students participating and so many new classes being added, actually one of the classes that you mentioned a parent had asked me about, so I was really happy to see that on there. I was just curious through the superintendent um you know what are our expectations around that? I
050mean obviously I assume we would be hoping for a higher pass rate when it comes to those classes. What types of perform um student recommendations are required to get into AP classes? Do we have a process for that? And what type of educator training and supports are provided and supports for the students that are in those classes? So I know it's a lot of questions. I just want to make sure that with all the students that we have participating that we're, you know, really making sure the supports are in place so they can succeed and get credit for that class because I believe you need to have a three to get credit. Is that correct? All right. So, sorry that was a lot right there. One mouthful, but I think it all kind of ties
051in together. So, um through the superintendent to the administration, through the chair, >> through the chair, >> through everyone >> through the chair. Thank you, uh for all of those questions. I will do my best to remember them. Um so you know for me and and seeing seeing the rates you know climb steadily and steadily every year you know since co the participation and and the performance which you know you wouldn't necessarily expect as you expand so greatly to to keep seeing improvement as well. Um and I think all the credit goes to our our students who I think are coming back from COVID to our teachers who are working with them every day certainly their guidance counselors and principles who are supporting that every day too. Um, so you know, as far as expectations
052on passing, for me, I I like to take a look at where we are every year by every class, cut it by school and all that and and work with the principles and the coaches and the teachers to say, "All right, where where can we make some improvements? Where are the identifiable shifts we can make wins that we can get this year?" Um, so, you know, 50 51% I think, you know, is not is not the end of our story. Certainly, um, you know, work hard kids if you're watching tonight. Um they've got a mustsee TV. Um the um but as far as uh uh requirements, we do not have, you know, blanket GPA requirements or anything like that. You know, students work with their guidance counselor to determine what their trajectory is, what their
053strengths are, what they're interested in, and what's going to work in their schedule. So, we don't have, you know, one cut off for this or or anything like that. Um the teachers have um tutoring hours that are supported through the budget. We uh do work with Mass Insight still for the for the um for the subjects that they support and students have access to mock exams and other supports through through them. Um, we have uh pacing guides for the teachers to to it's a college board curriculum, but the pacing guides are tied in with all the other curriculum, too. Just to make sure everyone knows this is the the path we're on in terms of finishing the curriculum and all of that. Um we've sent 60 teachers I think which is probably twothirds of our
054teachers to official formal prof professional development through the college board or its partners just over the past year either summer institutes or or October institutes. Um they've been the teachers have been really eager to take part in that. Um we've purchased new textbooks that are aligned to new exams. The exams are always being updated. So you know it's kind of a all hands-on deck sort of sort of approach to that I think. I think you covered all of my questions and that was a mouthful that I gave. So, I do appreciate that and I know that, you know, when you see other districts, they're in very different scenarios than we are. You can't compare apples to oranges. So, I do appreciate that the 51% you can't compare to a district that might have a 95%
055passing rate. I just want to ensure that the students that we have taking these classes are supported and have that extra help that you said is available and that there's robust training going on. So, I believe you answered all of my questions. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, >> member Guardiola, followed by member Benunda. >> Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Uh, and first I want to thank the administration and staff for the presentation. Uh, the growth we're seeing in both early college and AP participation uh is impressive. Uh, especially the increase in earned college credits, AP scholars, and the workforce development participation. that's obviously clear that uh there's a strong effort to expand opportunities for students across the district. So, thank you so much for the presentation and giving us that kind of
056that viewpoint. Just uh two quick questions um you know regarding the early early college stuff. Uh you know the presentation emphasized equitable access which I truly appreciate. Can you just speak a little bit about to how uh students are identified and recruited for early college opportunities particular particularly uh students who may not traditionally see themselves as collegebound >> through the chair. >> Yes. Through the chair and and Massachusetts is um you know I kind of I think at the forefront of early colleges approaching equity as a foundational pillar of what early college Massachusetts is here to do. Massachusetts is a little bit late to the early college game actually. It it started probably 20 years ago in various states around the country. Um and it's you know only since 2018 here in Mass, but that
057was an an explicit goal of the initiative when it was set up to reach out to kids who might not already be on the college track to help them see themselves as you know eligible for that pathway should they want to take it. So to that end we have in each school we have an early college coordinator and an early college counselor that is you know separate on top of you know their regular you know everyday guidance counseling work and they work every day to give presentations to students to the younger students freshman uh sophomores etc to recruit for the program to look at the data each school gets detailed data by um by year by subgroup and all that with the express intent of having the participants in each school match the the demographics
058of that school. So they intentionally, you know, hold information sessions. I and the colleges hold evening information sessions. We have um a robust earlywor.org website which has a student handbook that's in, you know, all seven of our common languages. Um and and it's really those folks on the ground, the early early college coordinators and counselors who go out and work with the students every day um to to recruit them expressly for um that equitable goal. >> No, and that's fantastic. That's great to hear because obviously there historically has been some sort of barriers for you know access to to certain students but maybe not any more than they just didn't know about it, right? or so it could be a various amount of things but I think you know being proactive and trying to get
059to uh students uh across the board is is super important. So thank you. Uh and then my last question, you know, uh just a little bit past that is do we currently track long-term outcomes for early college students such as um college persistence, graduation rates, career placement, you know, kind of help us measure the true impact of the programs and maybe hopefully success stories. >> So what we've got right through the chair. So, what we've got right now is of course what we've got right now is is primarily and this this makes sense even though it's not quite what what you would like to see um for their for their exiting information. We know where they're going to school, the race that they're going to school and and early college does bump that up. Um
060and that's true statewide as well. There are in there's going to be especially as the the new commissioner um Martinez is hoping to expand this program very very widely across the state. he's talking about 100,000 students and it's currently at 10 or 12 something like that. Um so that is a discussion at the state level around how do we best track students after they've left the K through2 space because it's it's really difficult as you can imagine >> but it's certainly in in the context and it's being tracked at a broad level. um there are articles that that indicate the post-secondary outcomes for early college and showing appreciable um benefits of students who have participated in it in high school. >> Great. No, and I think it's so important just so we can kind of
061I mean I know it's difficult. Don't don't get me wrong. I understand how difficult it can be obviously with the new class every single year and you know you're trying to keep up with that aspect but uh you know if we could somehow figure it out that'd be fantastic just so we know uh if what we're doing is a benefit or or or we do we have to change a little bit of the model but to hear that it's going to be across the board of an increase is fantastic so you know I think the presentation demonstrates you know that list public schools not only thinking about the traditional K to2 education but also building a true kind of cradle to career pipeline line for our students and families. So, as we kind of continue
062to work on this and we hope to remain focused at, you know, ensuring that all our students uh regardless of their zip code, their language, uh disability status or income levels can access and succeed in these opportunities. But I want to thank you so much for the uh the report. It was fantastic. Thank you. >> Member Bena, followed by member mailman, member Johnson, and member Alvarez. >> Hey, great. This is um actually uh my two favorite subjects to talk about um which is um advanced placement and also early college. Uh the way that you bring a whole system up is to focus on really four things, right? Innovative pathways that give students the competencies that they need, the OSHA requirements, the experience in a comprehensive that you didn't get because you didn't go to the
063voke school, expanding chapter 74 into your comprehensive high schools, and expanding your VO school slots. And then we'll add um AP in early college and then also lucky that we have an adult learning center where we're also educating our parents so they too can participate in our community and get jobs. So what I want to say about the scores is that I think the 51% of course we always want to improve but I think we have to realize that um we used to have barriers so that not every kid could get into AP and that wasn't that long ago. Uh so you couldn't get into AP unless you're you took that course uh like say if you wanted to take AP bio you had to take get an A in honors bio and you had
064to have the department head sign that you could go into that. Well, we got rid of that in the Worester public schools. And one of the things happens when you get rid of it is that it's not all your honors, your advanced placement kids, I mean your advanced kids that are taking AP. It means that it's open to every single student as long as they agree that they're going to try their hardest and if they need support, they're going to request it. So, as a result, um it's a different type of of student than than what we used to have. But what have we found is that uh at first students aren't sure. They they might might be someone that convinced them to take the course or it might be great ways of recruiting. Um
065uh when Dr. Gnus was at South High School, she was the AP coordinator. um and Khan Melendez, they took pictures of athletes and they took pictures of all the kids that would take AP classes and you would put them up against the walls and you would walk down the halls and you would hear kids say, "Wow, that kid's taking AP. I think I'll take it." So that that was uh the message and the culture of your school that everybody here can take advanced placement. Early college had not started, right? Early college came later. So, uh, what happened is that what we found out and there's a lot of research on it and it's called the power of the two. And the power of the two means that even though a kid may not get a
066three, four, or five, if they get that two, college research will show that those kids most likely will pass those freshman year classes. And I just wanted to make sure that everybody understands if you got a two, you get credit for your course. You just don't get college credit. That's that's two two separate things. So the power of the two, there's a lot written about it. Um the power of the two makes uh kids understand that there's they took a a very um high level curriculum. They certainly learn study skills when they go to college. uh inventories and uh surveys done with freshmen say that um when they let's say they took AP bio when they take bio in college they already feel like they know the information because they learn that in the AP
067class um the training is key for AP teachers we have to make sure that we continue to do the training because the AP tests uh they switch sometimes as to what what what they're asking I mean my favorite course for freshman. Uh, and that's the other point. Freshman should be able to take AP classes. Um, chemistry. We used to just teach chemistry, honest chemistry. Um, but now we take kids that take bio and get good grades, they can take AP chemistry, right, as a sophomore where we used to have that as a junior. So, the other part of it is how do we move courses up so kids have access to AP at an earlier grade. So for example, we'll go back to the question about algebra in grade 8, right? You know how that
068uh eighth grade teachers used to be able to determine who gets to take algebra in grade eight, grade eight. So in by not having more kids take algebra in grade eight, then they can't take geometry in grade nine and they don't often get unless they double up to the higher AP classes. So I think as a district like you always have to be looking at the numbers and thinking about uh which ways can we get more kids involved and then the final part of that is how do we support them? How do we support kids who have not necessarily had the rigor in their background to take more rigorous classes so that they c can be successful. Um, also now if we can look at some of the other places like you might look at
069Boston's scores and you would see that Boston scores are higher. Um, but I want you to also realize they have exam schools in Boston. So we we don't have exam schools in Worcester. You know, everybody has access to it. So when we are an exam school, you may take four, five AP tests because that's part of the exam school requirement. So if we're looking like you know we always like to say we like to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. So I would say look at Springfield schools like you know where where we're where right around that area. Um I think we do need to think about um more MLS right in AP classes and figure out um how to provide that support. Um also um how do we get some special eds
070more special ed students also in in AP classes. Now, on early college, um the fear was when we started it that we're going to lose our AP students. And interesting enough, one of the reasons why we didn't lose them is because the AP exam is a national exam. So, if you do excellent in a national exam and you're going to look to an Ivy League college or, you know, a a lot of higher level colleges, they they will um like to see the AP exam versus the early college. but yet the early college gives the kids the experience of going there. So I I think that we're lucky that we have both here that um we have teachers that are teaching those skills and um again I do want to recognize our administrators that are
071here from adult learning. I think they do an excellent job there. And um not many people know that, you know, the general person may not know we have that program that's been there for a very long time and that we do give tests so that um they can take the um the GED still right now and they can take the high set. So there are there are other ways that we can get high school diplomas for our students as well as their parents. So thank you. I hope that uh we continue to see that improvement and that we continue to realize how far ahead the Worster Public School really is in providing this diversified support and opportunities for kids. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um Member Mailman, >> thank you. um this for the first
072time tonight. I'm going to have to agree with um Fred and say that um I do hope that there's some way that we can incorporate into this report some work about our career pathways. Um college and career is not just college and it's not just adults afterwards. So, I would really like to for the district to think through the chair to the superintendent about how we might show what um how we are growing those career programs. >> Uh through the chair, I think for the um you're going to get quite a bit of data on uh CTE, ICP, and advanced coursework enrollment for the May 28th TLSS meeting. that will give you an understanding about our current state of where we are with those. >> Okay. So through the chair if that's coming through because
073that's going to be a standard I think that is a standard report in TLSS. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I still think that we're I'd like to show our families that we value the career portions of the work that we do and this report is entitled college and career. So that's just one thing. Um, nightlife, it is so cool how much that has actually grown since um I think through the chair um Brian was the CFO and Maren was the superintendent I think when we restarted Nightife and I think um we had a awesome woman in there at first and now Ruth has done it. I agree. Gives it everything she's got. So, we're really fortunate and when I look at that program and why we push to get it going again is um you know
074our our surrounding areas are actually doing good stuff. So, I feel like we are right up there and I just thank you for continuing and also to think about as a as a public institution our responsibility to this population as well and that um you know it takes resources. So my guess is we could do more with more resources in this area and I'd like us to always consider that and through the chair my last question is about um early college and about the finances of it. Um when I before I came on this board, I chaired the board of Quinc SIG and um I know there's a lot of concern at the higher ed level about paying for early college and um so through the chair to maybe the superintendent or Emily, what is
075the latest thinking? And then also I guess this also involves what we'll be talking about in the coming weeks, which is budget, right? And um so if the bottom falls out, there's a lot of warnings about next year from the state level. Um not just S SOA, but also Medicaid and all the rest of it and how that's going to impact things. And I would think early college is, you know, so does anybody have any information to share tonight about the cost of early college? Who's complaining about it loudest right now and where do we sit with that? So through the chair, I'm not sure the complaint has changed. We certainly hear from the two colleges that it is a financial pressure to them. It is funded through the a state grant program >> um
076to support it. We have some costs of transportation and so forth, but the majority of their cost is a grant essentially through uh in funding the state. But we we're hearing from the college presidents that um that it's still a pressure to their financial. Uh I think I think it's something that we should clearly there's a lot of pressure on our higher ed partners right now. So um we should keep that in mind. So thank you for the report. >> Member Johnson followed by member Alvarez. >> Thank you. I I actually just have a quick comment because actually um member Bernenda has been educating me over here on everything and then she then talked about um all the great things that um AP actually offers and whatever cuz I I didn't I honestly thought there
077there were limits on like how many AP classes you could take. I thought there were limits on that you couldn't take AP classes coming in um as a freshman. But I actually told her, I just learned that there are kids coming in from middle school next year that are going into some AP courses. My question around that, and I guess it was a concern, but she educated me on this as well, was how why wouldn't that be a recommendation, say from the middle school guidance council that this why would we just thrust them in? But I guess it kind of it kind of makes sense um in regards to that. So, I really have no other questions because she she actually um told me all about it. What I do want to say about the
078early college and um I believe early college is a awesome great program and I say that from the fact that I've worked with numerous youth that that I've been involved with that actually got into early college and high school and I could tell you it was a game changer for them. It was for kids who were not sure um whether or not they would be able to attend college or whatever, but actually getting into the early college program and taking some of those college um um courses figured out that they can do it or whatever. So, I believe it's a great opportunity for our students and hopefully we and I know they do promote it and and they do a lot of work around that and um hopefully that continues and I will just echo
079what um member um Milman said about nightife as as well. Um I remember that from a long time ago and that that program continues to grow, get bigger, stronger and we continue to do a great job throughout the district with that. Again, thank you for the report. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Member Alvarez, >> thank you for uh the presentation and it was nice to hear all my colleagues uh share a lot of information, the questions that you guys asked. It was really informative for me. Um my only comments are and questions are around some of the like the data around special education or multilingual learners and um if from our observations when putting this presentation together are there any barriers that you guys notice um on slide uh 17 I see an extremely low
080data for special education So I was just wondering what our barriers were for that >> uh through the chair. Thank you for your question. Spec specifically related to special education students. We know that those are our students with some of the most complex support needs in the district. Um I think there's there's one data point that we we would like to call out is that um typically special education enrollment declines as students progressed up to and through graduation because the goal is to exit students from special education. So actually our 9 through 12 enrollment for special education is 18% um which mirrors kind of the work that we're looking to do with these students. So it's just a a data point. That being said, I'm a special educator. I came into college and career readiness
081because I was working with special education students. We were getting them to graduation and then they were coming back and asking us what's next. And so I am deeply committed and my office is deeply committed to continuing to dig into what that looks like for Worcester public school students that are uh receiving special education services and how we can better engage with that department and better reach those students and families to make sure that they're getting the opportunity to take advantage of these programs that we offer from early college AP to all of our career offerings. uh we want to make sure that they're actively engaged, that this is included in their transition plans, and that um they are as ready for graduation as all of our other students. Thank you. And you mentioned transition
082plans. Um is that one of the ways that we're tracking this and is and are there any other ways we're tracking uh we're tracking this? So currently we're tracking student engagement in college and career pathways through the college and career pathways themselves. So we're looking at uh the diverse student populations that are engaging in these. I think we are um on the brink of a deep data dive into really looking at um we know that there are many students that are taking advantage of multiple CRO programs and opportunities and we know that there are many students that aren't accessing any of our opportunities. And so we're committed right now to diving into that data to get a better understanding of that um to ensure that we're providing more targeted outreach and support to the students
083that are not engaging in our programming. I suspect slashn know that that will involve the special education department and and looking better at um student transition plans and how we can incorporate our opportunities into those conversations within individual education planning teams and students and their families. >> Thank you. That's good to hear. um when especially when a lot of our a lot of the students in our special education program like you mentioned some of them are not accessing their opportunities. So I would love to see that work um being done especially connecting with the special education student um department and seeing how we can again like you mentioned uh how we're going to target and out outreach support um in these student transition plans. And lastly, I just wanted to just ask about our the
084slide right before that one, which I believe was 16. No, excuse me. It's one of the slides that Oh, right there. Uh 18. For slide 18, when we're talking about students in our AP courses and our participants there, I noticed that uh our GCC location isn't located and I I know that it's offered to them. Is there a reason why that GCC didn't make it on our list today? >> Uh through the chair. Uh thank you for the question. Um in terms of pulling data, those students are still tied to their home schools. So that's maybe in the in the data why it doesn't pop out that way. Um GCC does have um students in the early college program. There's um there's a handful right now. I can't tell you how many exactly it is.
085Um, I can tell you that, um, some of the GCC kids still messaged me. One messaged me on Saturday, I believe, um, who had gone through early college, had built up so many credits, um, that she had the ability to graduate early this year, but she's staying on and completing a true senior year in college to take care or to take advantage of more research opportunities to finish a concentration and everything like that. So, while um it may have not have popped up in the data, um GCC is is in the mix as well. >> Thank you for that. And yes, I know that they're included and with their home school, but is there any way we can have an alternative um way to be able to gather that just because uh the students that
086do transition to GCC um are on their own journey, right? Even though they're still part of their home schools. But I think that would be helpful to also understand how they're doing in that school >> through the chair. Yes, certainly we can include that in future reports. >> Thank you. Um those are all the comments and questions I have for today. >> Thank you. Then if there's no more comment um the motion would be to approve and file. Madame clerk. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Biania. >> Yes. >> Member Benenda. >> Yes. Member Guardiola. >> Yes. >> Member Johnson. >> Yes. >> Member Mailman. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla. >> Yes. >> Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Penny. >> Mr. Allen. >> Just um as there the team is packing up. I
087filled I meant to do this at the beginning, but um you'll notice at the beginning of the slides, uh the word acting has been removed from our administrative director's title. Um I recently appointed Emily as the administrative director of college and career planning. So congratulations. Congratulations >> through the chair. Thank you. It's an it's an honor to be a part of the team. Thank you. Wonderful. Our next item are the reports of the standing committees. The first one is TLSS. Member Guardiola. >> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Uh the standing committee on teaching, learning, and student success met on Thursday, April 30th, 2026. We had two items. Uh we had GB 5-113 and GB6-32 uh by a 30 margin on both items. They were approved and filed. That is the report of the standing committee
088on teaching, learning and student success. >> Thank you. So the motion is to approve and file those items and file that report. Uh Madame Clerk, >> member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Viania, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Penny. >> Next up, operations and governance. Member Johnson. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um we we met on um operations and governance met on Monday, May 4th. We took up I believe it was um five items. um GB2-92 which is regarding the quarterly reports regarding our building maintenance. Um that was um approved on a 3 to1 vote and it was held. Um we also had GB4-69 in regards
089to the turf fields. Um that was a 30 vote um um to approve and file. We had GB5-75A in regards to the uniform coding. Um that was a 30 um approved to file. We had GB5-75B in regards to alternative school placements um involved in disciplinary action. That was also a three to zero um vote approve and file. We also had GB6-6 to explore the costs and feasibility of resurfacing the tennis courts at Berno. That was a 300 vote um approved to uh approved and filed. And we also had GB 6-41 in regards to the 20 26 27 student handbook. There was a motion by member B and Carrier and it was approved um and filed on a 300 vote that is the report of operations and governance. >> Thank you member mailman. >> Thank you.
090Um I'd like to um ask some questions and have about um the turf field item. Um I was um Thank you. um grateful that the response in um recommended nonpass fields um that is a seemingly common sense answer that these fields are that these that we should come to. So that and a lot of folks are talking about PASF free. What I have learned though is that that until 2027 there is no credential that will actually be able to test fields to talk about that and just because I mean many of you are probably well aware that um Senator Moore has a bill out there um for turf fields as well and it isn't just PAS it's also zinc and it's also the plasticity which again to um thanks for the folks that called in
091and um spoke here about that item. These are serious concerns that are going on in many districts across the country. So, across the n across our state right now, Monty is reconsidering um they were going to a turf field and they're going to re uh go to grass or they're considering that. Lexington has had a serious um had very expert folks, a woman from Mount Si, this is like their specialty about the hazards of the temperatures which we all are aware of in the fields. Um and I just didn't know that how much did the subcommittee really get into, you know, really looking at the data on these fields um through the chair. Mr. Allen >> through the chair just in terms of the the dates and deadlines that you had just talked about. Um
092it actually aligns with um I know there was references comments about dhy the dhy field has already been laid. Um so we don't have any more fields to be placed until after 2027. So as it relates to PAS and so forth, we do have time to allow products and testing to materialize. No pun intended. Maybe >> maybe right but so um the Burnco project in realist will be the next high school project we would be considering a field and then at some point a replacement of Foley Stadium just in terms of realistic time frames >> and through the chair what is the um what is the Foley timetable? So the the sponsorship agreement ends on 123127. We will evaluate the condition of the turf as it relates to either a new sponsorship or um you
093know what to do after that period of time. But the sponsorship agreement currently goes through 123127. >> And so how through the chair how old are those fields >> through the chair? Uh it will be a 10-year-old field at that point in time. >> And through the chair is that the standard length of >> the life? like uh for the chair. Yes, the first uh turf replacement at Foley was after 10 years and it would be expected um we'll evaluate the condition but that would be the expected time frame. >> I I wanted to point out too in terms of the infill one of the products there's a lot of talk about this product actually that was on one of the recommendations of the committee called Brockill and Brockfill is um actually wood pieces. So
094there's slivers of wood. There's all these reports about cuts. Um I did listen to my colleagues comments. Um so I think Phil is going to take the same kind of I mean I would imagine when we do burn coats field that part of the um due diligence is going to be safety. I mean that our primary job at this school committee is about safety. And there are I was I appreciated that we were trying to make some headway into trying to be more careful with our fields, but clearly I'm disappointed with the response that we came up with. I I want to know through the chair. So a few specific questions. um who were the experts that the working group reached out to in evaluating the problem and and so go ahead. >> Uh so
095through the chair the committee was made up of 12 uh members uh and one of them was our environmental health and safety coordinator as well as our assistant health and safety coordinator. So were there um were there health reports or product reports that were submitted with the along with the pro um report >> the sorry through the chair I believe we have director Iikaden online uh right now I don't know specifically uh if there were health reports on that as well I would assume so but >> Mr. Dryen >> through the chair. Uh we did not have experts report to the direct committee, but we did reach out and have um studies uh sent to us and we re reviewed those and made our decisions and our recommendations based on those types of uh documents
096>> through the chair. I'd make a motion that we um have those reports um submitted as part of the item or included in that item through the chair. Do we currently have thermometers on our fields on our turf fields? >> I'm not sure if anyone's able to answer that. Do we know >> through the chair? I do not. We I do not know of that being done. Um could we um could I make a motion that we um implement that so that we have we start to track our own kind of data here through the chair? Um is there do how much time do we spend um trying to work on are there new methods for um environmental for to keep a grass field? I mean it's interesting like the temperature so the plasticity whether
097or not pas or not these other products are plastic. So we're going to go from you know when you get up in the morning and there's dew on the grass right that is a cooling method and that is part of the natural method of how these products work so or how grass works. So, and it in at our day and age, it is stunning to me that we I so I'd like to know really how much thought did we do anything with our other colleges? Have we done thought about doing any reports with that? Maybe, you know, we could partner with one of our local colleges to see if there are improved methods of keeping um grass. I understand everybody's objective to get kids on the field fast. I understand that, but we must do
098it safely. And although I heard about divots on grass and some people, the data is overwhelming that turf fields, there are more injuries on turf fields. It's overwhelming. >> Chair, if I can just respond, we certainly can work with our local colleges as we're continuing to have conversations with them on a number of areas, but I am informed that the athletic department does do temperature check on our current turf fields. >> Okay. So, so through the chair then I'll make the motion that let's I would like to see that data um and then and then so so so although we put this recommendation forward I mean are we always going to try to do the right thing by the kids and so if there are new methods that would keep grass the safer alternative and
099be able to monitor it I mean in some ways it's jobs. It's um it's a career pathway. We have environmental programs at our vocational school. There are environmental programs at the other school. And I think this topic should not just be, oh yeah, we're going to have turf fields. These turf fields get replaced. They go in landfills. All the old ones at Foley are all PAS. So that's all going to be in a landfill somewhere. Um, and I'm just um would request some of this additional information including the experts um and the reports that you guys reached out to. And last question, I think I'll leave it here. MIAA through the chair um did the did the working group um get any information from MIA about Turfields >> through the chair? I'll ask director Iiken
100in for that >> through the chair. I I did not have a conversation with the Massachusetts instalastic athletic association. Um part of the question that you initially had was the mass association of school superintendent. Uh we did reach out to them. There was no official position. >> Okay. >> But I will follow up with the MIA m. So, with those motions and additional information and just to say that I I don't I don't think we're done with this topic. I think it's gaining momentum. Um, Senator Cmerford is a huge champion. Um, again, Mike Moore sponsored this bill. Um, so I think it's an item that's just going to be before us anyways and thank you for all the efforts we could put into keeping grass in our schools. Thanks, >> Member Johnson. Thank you um
101to the chair. Um so I believe this is a huge topic and I appreciate um um member mailman for um having this conversation and and talking about turf fields and stuff. I you know as a father who son has played sports since he was four years old on grass fields, turf fields, all types of fields um inside and outside um for a per me coaching basketball, baseball, football or whatever for the past eight or nine years. Um, I understand um some of the concerns in in in regards to turf fields versus grass field. I understand the health implications or whatever. One thing I would say is is this past year we actually utilized um Foley Stadium for our football program and our football teams. This past year, we rented out um Foley Stadium due to
102the fact is our grass field at Beaverbrook was unplayable. Divots, holes, no grass, no anything. We as adults made the decision that our kids were not safe to play on that grass field at all last year. Now, I'm done with that organization cuz my son's moving on. I have no I have no idea what decision they make moving forward um for next year. Um but we we did make that decision due to the condition conditions of the grass fields. Being a coach and being out there for all these years, what I would also tell you is is it's I mean grass fields are hard to maintain. I think everyone knows that, right? And playing at Foley Stadium as a high school student as well. and you know from the 30 to the 30 where after
103a while there was nothing but mud trying to play on a Friday night in November when it's cold that mud and that whatever turns to ice. So there are tons of issues in regards to that. So we're not maintaining and and keeping up with that or whatever. The issue is is our kids won't be able to play, right? Because we shouldn't put them out there on a playing surface that isn't safe or whatever. Now, I'm not telling you that turf fields is the safest thing to go. But again, it's it's something that people went to a long time ago. I know there's, you know, we talked about the health benefits and we could look at that and we could get the reports back and we could have all these conversations and I'm willing to have
104a have the conversations about that, but for someone who's been involved in it and seen it for 12, 13 years, um there's injuries on the grass field just as there's injuries on uh on turf fields. I would tell you that, you know, actually there was a student in my son's um middle school basketball team that actually throw his ACL playing basketball in the gym. Hardwood floor. We going to go are we going to now go replace hardwood floors with rubber floors to make it so I mean it's always there's always injuries and I I'll tell you this. I always tell my kids and I did this with my son. I think you you should play multiple sports. I think it's good for your body. It's different bones, different different things things like that. It's also
105about healthy eating, healthy training, sleep habits. There's a tons of things that go along with how injuries occur and and things like that. And then also, I I'm pretty sure the Wor Public Schools, if I'm not mistaken, when it comes to our fields and our turf fields when it's hot in the heat or whatever, there's an in there's a wel wet bulb, right? there's an index that we have to do because we can't put our kids on a field if that field reads at a certain level, right? Am I correct? Through the through the chair. >> Through the chair. Yes, you're correct. >> So, and and we we do that all around. That's state that's standard um um practice throughout. But again, I I just wanted to get up and say that I I I
106hear what everyone's saying. I think this is a great conversation to have. Um, I'm willing to continue to have it um and and move forward. Thank you. >> Thank you, member Alvarez. >> Yeah, I just wanted to add a comment. This is a very interesting conversation. Um, as member Johnson said, grass fields are very hard to maintain. However, I really think that diving into that what that would look like for our future, diving into research on how we can maintain grass fields um would really help our future because uh it's it's our priority. You know, there's so many people and talk around how we want to maintain a green Wister and how we want to invest more on being more environmentally friendly and our schools, our students, like they're my they're all of our priority
107right now. And I understand there's pros and cons to both having grs and having turf fields. Um but I when I think about long-term uh the structure of our grass fields that can be maintained um that can those holes can be filled. We can work on keeping the the grass healthy and and safe for our students. But when it comes to turfs there is no solution to like chemical exposure. Chemical exposure is chemical exposure. it the heat is um the way it attracts heat. It's that's just how it's going to stay. So, I would rather invest in a more friendlier um excuse me, I would rather invest in grass fields. So, I agree with uh member mailman. Member Mailman, can I just clarify? You want to hold the the turf item to get back all
108the information and where we can approve the other items. Is that how you see it? Yes. Okay. So, right now the motion would be to pull out that item, hold it to get the information back that member Mailman has. So, can we do the roll call on that, please? Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Vancaria. >> No. >> Member Bernenda? >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola? >> No. Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> no. >> Mayor Petty. >> All right. So then we'll take the other items collectively from the report to approve and file. Madam clerk, >> member Alvarez, >> through the chair, did that pass or fail? I'm not. >> It passed. It passed. Thank you. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Banceria.
109>> Yes. >> Member Bernenda. >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola. >> Yes. >> Member Johnson. >> Yes. >> Member Mailman. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair Mala. >> Yes. >> Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Petty. >> Oh. So we can do the PR copy. All right. So the next item is to approve the grant and other finance items. Madame clerk, could you call the role, please? >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Vancaria, >> yes. >> Member Benenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, member McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Petty. The next item on the agenda is um member Guardiola GB6-31 to request that the administration provide a report to the committee on the current status of special education transportation in the
110West public schools in light of the findings and recommendations contained in the mass office of the inspector general's February 2026 report. Member Guardiola. >> Uh thank you Madame Chair. um you know when this OIG report came out it was really important to to kind of get what we are uh doing here in in Worcester and where we stand. So but first I want to acknowledge the tremendous amount of work that has clearly gone into stabilizing and improving this system over the p past several years. Uh transportation is one of the most complicated operational responsibilities in any school district that we have to manage. And when we're talking about special education transportation, the stakes are that much higher. Uh for many of our students, transportation is simply not just a ride to school. It's an essential
111educational support uh service that allows students to access programs and services that they are legally entitled uh to receive. So uh what really stood out to me about the report that we received from the superintendent administration um is the efforts to move from a reactive system to a more strategic and accountable one. Uh the district's reform and procurement and vendor management appear to have generated substantial cost savings. Uh reducing transportation costs from hundreds of dollars per student per day to a more sustainable level is a significant and significant job. Uh especially at a time when school districts across the Commonwealth are facing enormous financial strain and pressures. I also want to recognize the creation of the expansion of the district operated 7D van program. developing internal capacity gives Worester public schools more control, more flexibility,
112and potentially more sustainability over the long term. The partnership with Mass Hire to create a pipeline for drivers uh is an innovative example of local workforce developing uh you know, and meeting a real community need. At the same time, we have to remember that this conversation cannot only be about dollars and pennies. Uh we must continue to ask whether students are receiving reliable, safe, and equitable transportation services every single day. You know, are rides our ride times reasonable? Are students arriving consistently on time? Are families receiving adequate communication? Are we reducing disruptions for students uh with the highest needs? Those are the questions that matter just as much as the financial uh metrics. I also want to, you know, think this report highlights a broader issue we need to continue discussing as a committee. the
113relationship between transportation cost and program availability. The more high quality ind in district programming that we can provide here in Worcester, the more opportunities we can create to keep students closer to the community, reduce excessive travel times, and potentially lower transportation cost over time. This is not a problem unique to Worcester. The statewide shortage of drivers and rising special education transportation costs are affecting districts across Massachusetts. But I do believe that Worcester is taking meaningful steps in the right direction. Uh as we move forward, I hope that we continue focusing on a few priorities. Obviously, physically responsible uh priorities, student centered services, and long-term sustainability. Uh because at the end of the day, every transportation route represents a student and a family counting on us to do the right thing. But again, I thank you
114so much. I know that I report was fun to read. I'm sure you guys had a blast just like I did. But I think I wanted I I my goal was to ensure and give us some clarity that we are trying to do what we can with the things that are in front of us and I think that Whistler is ahead of the curve. Uh so thank you so much the administration. >> Thank you. So the motion is to approve and file. Madame clerk. Member Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Member Biancia. >> Yes. >> Member Bernenda. >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola. >> Yes. >> Member Johnson. >> Yes. >> Member Mailman. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla. >> Yes. Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Penny. >> Next item. GB6-47. Member Mailman request a three to
115fiveyear analysis of students leaving the district using a template to track trends over time. Include breakdowns by special education, English learners, grade level, and other key groups. Member mailman >> as it reads. Thank you. Our next item is GB6-48 um filed by Mayor Penny to consider rescheduling the school committee meet. I'm Oh, I'm so sorry. I apologize. Yeah, I forgot. Yeah, thank you. Sorry, Madam Clerk. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Biania, >> yes. >> Member Bernanda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny. So the next item GB6-48 um filed by Mayor Petty to consider rescheduling the school committee meeting of Thursday June 18th to Wednesday June 17th. Madame
116clerk if you could call the role. >> Oh member mailman. >> Yeah. Uh clarification on that. Um at the burn coat meeting um there is a meeting in the calendar for the 16th now for um the last meeting of the visioning session. So would that conflict with our school committee meeting? >> Well, this is the 17th. >> Aren't you switching it to the 16th? >> No, from the 18th to the 17th. >> Apologies. Thank >> No problem. Okay. So, Madame Clerk, if you could call the role. >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Bianceria. >> Yes. >> Member Bernendo? >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola? >> Yes. >> Member Johnson? >> Yes. >> Member Mailman? >> Yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla? >> Yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Penny. >> Item Oh, sorry.
117Yes, we did that right. GB6-49. Member Mailman requests that the administration provide a report on the district's policies and practices regarding the documentation, retention, and storage of complaints of abuse, including allegations of sexual misconduct made by students against educators or administrative personnel, and whether such practices are in compliance with Title 9 and applicable Massachusetts state law. Member Mailman, >> thank you. um through the chair. I mean this the item is self-explanatory but I I really want to understand on the report that comes back to us what what is different now um and how the laws have changed in order to make us retain certain records. Um, I don't want us to ever be in a position 20 years from now where we're not giving a a victim that is entitled to their information, their information
118as it goes forward. And so I we have that opportunity right now because we are dealing with a situation in our city to make sure that we as are as buttoned up as possible. So, um I would just put a high priority on this report for for whatever that's worth. I know everything is a high priority, but um we we have to make sure that we are um we are maintaining proper records and that what is the difference between someone that has um had a positive police report and then how are we letting people back in the school. Again, self-explanatory, but thank you. The motion is to refer that to administration. Madame clerk, if you could call the role. >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Bianceria, >> yes. >> Member Venenda, >> yes. >>
119Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Penny. And the next item, GB6-50 from administration to approve an extension of an existing parent square contract for three years at a cost of $350,78.80. Uh the motion is to approve and file. Madame clerk, >> member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Biancia, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. Mayor Penny. >> Next item GB6-51 from administration to approve an extension of an existing custom computers infinite campus contract for three years not to exceed 1,358,13410. The motion is to approve and file. Madame
120clerk, >> member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Biania, >> yes. >> Member Benda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. Member Mailman, >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny, >> the next item, GB6-52 from administration to authorize the administration to purchase the unique learning curriculum for the Worcester public schools at a cost not to exceed $96,34944. And the motion is to refer this to TLSS. Um, Madame Clerk, could you call the role, please? >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. Member Banceria, >> yes. >> Member Benenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny, >> the next item, GB6-53 from administration to
121authorize the administration to purchase the number world's curriculum for the Worcester public schools at a cost not to exceed $450,89326. refer to TLSS. Madame Clerk, >> member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Bianceria, >> yes. >> Member Bernando, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Petty, >> and our final item for the evening, GB6-54 from Mayor Penny to consider the approval of a plaque at North High School in memory of Linda Bergstrom, a longtime Worester Public Schools teacher. Linda dedicated over 35 years to teaching in Worcester, including many years at North High School. During her tenure, she collaborated closely with pre-trial diversion district court, the neighborhood youth corps, probation departments, and child guidance
122programs. Her efforts were central to the success of the returnee program, which was recognized in a special report titled alternative schools, why, what, where, and how much. And the recommendation here is to refer this to administration. So, uh member Johnson. Yeah, I just have a question. This doesn't fall under our It does. Yeah. >> So, would that go to >> I I believe it it goes to administration first because they'll make sure they have all the correct information and then it would then go from them back to to the naming committee. So, it come back to committee and then go to the naming committee >> and then it would go to >> Yes. >> I I just want to be clear. Thanks. >> Absolutely. I appreciate the clarification. So, Madame Clerk, if you could call
123the role. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Vancaria, >> yes. >> Member Bernanda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> And Mayor Penny. >> So, that brings us to the end of our meeting, and I would ask that the clerk do roll call with the motion to adjurnn. >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Bian, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes.