Worcester School Committee Meeting - 04-02-26

001Recording in progress. Uh good evening everyone. Welcome to the Worcester School Committee meeting and if you can um please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. The National Anthem is going to be sung by All State All State singers Natasha Aqua, K R Emmons, and Nev Leach, and Geralis Lopez. Is that everybody? Oh, we have uh Stacy Domingo. Of so first four from um Burncoat High School and Stacy is from South High School, correct? Yes. Okay. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Oh say can [singing] you see by the dawn's early [singing] light what so proudly we >> [singing] >> hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes [singing]

002and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we [singing] watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in >> [singing] >> air gave proof through the night >> [singing] >> that our flag was still there. Oh [singing] say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the [singing] home of the brave? >> [applause] [applause] >> Nice job. Uh could you remain standing for one minute for the have a moment silence for a student who passed this past week in the Worcester Public Schools? Thank you. Roll call. Member Alvarez? Present. Member Biancheria? Here. Member Banenda? Here. Member Guardiola? Here. Vice Chair Johnson? Here. Member Johnson, excuse me. Member Mailman? Here. Vice Chair McCullough? Here. Member Roy? Here. Mayor Petty? Here. Okay. We have the

003consent agenda. Motion is to approve. Roll call. Member Alvarez? Yes. Member Biancheria? Yes. Member Banenda? Yes. Member Guardiola? Yes. Member Johnson? [snorts] Yes. Member Mailman? Yes. Vice Chair McCullough? Yes. Member Roy? Yes. Mayor Petty? Yes. Okay, we have some uh recognitions. Uh is Linda McSweeney here? Right there. Hi Linda. Okay. And uh we have Siana Sa- Saraha who wants to say a few words. Just say your your name and uh what town you're from. Good evening everyone. Uh respected mayor, superintendent of Worcester Public Schools, members of the School Committee, and everyone joining us today. They say a great teacher can change everything. For me and for 40 years of students in Worcester, that teacher is Ms. Linda McSweeney. >> [applause] >> Hi everyone. I am Siana Sam, a seventh grader who lives in South Grafton

004right now. Even though I am no longer her student, Ms. McSweeney has always taught with heart, showing what truly matters is not just a student's grades, but who they become. She hopes that every student who leaves her classroom would leave with a sense of respect and sense of community for each other. She also believes that science isn't just something found in a book. It's something we live every day. She has always taught us to keep stay curious, never lose our sense of wonder, and keep observing the world. Whether it was looking up at the moon, studying tiny molecules, or using lab equipment, she made learning feel fun, meaningful, and exciting. Ms. McSweeney has dedicated over four decades of her life to education. And even now, I'm sure she still brings the same energy, kindness, and

005passion into her classroom. Interviewing her made me realize her journey over the years, starting from textbooks in the library to computers and AI. Her story is truly an inspirational and motivating one for upcoming teachers. What we often forget is that teachers are the invisible architects of our community. They don't just help kids find great careers, they help them find who they are, their character. As Barack Obama once said, "Invest in our teachers and our children will succeed." This occasion also reminds us that there are people just like Ms. McSweeney who deserve the same amount of appreciation and recognition as she's receiving today. Today, Ms. McSweeney is receiving a citation from the governor of Massachusetts, as well as one from the mayor of Worcester. These recognitions are not just for her 40 years of dedication to

006education, but for her 40 years of dedication passion, and unwavering belief she poured into every student who walked through her doors. A good teacher talks. A better teacher explains. But a great teacher like Ms. McSweeney inspires. So, thank you for inspiring in us, believing in us, and helping us grow, not just as students, but as human beings. I want to end this off by saying a tiny story. The story is about a boy named Teddy and a teacher named Ms. Thompson. So, Ms. Thompson is right off the boat. She's a fourth grade teacher who just finished teacher training and got into her first school. As soon as she started school, she noticed this one student, Teddy. Teddy was always this one student who never paid attention in class, was really quiet, and didn't have many

007friends. One time when she had to give the progress report to the principal for him to sign, the principal asked um Ms. Thompson why Teddy's failing all his classes. Ms. Thompson's like she he doesn't play pay attention at all in class, which is not me, I pay attention. You know that. So, the principal asked his assistant to bring um Teddy's past records. It shows that in second grade, Teddy was a completely great student. But in third grade, she was starting struggling because his mother passed away due to cancer. To um Ms. Thompson actually realizes what's going on with Teddy and wants to make a difference. So, starting tomorrow, she starts being the most supportive teacher ever, paying attention to Teddy, helping Teddy's uh confidence grow little by little by asking him questions that she knows

008that he knows for sure. And by the end of the year, he's one of the top students in class. And then at the end of the year, all the students have to give Ms. Thompson a gift. All of the students bring gifts in neatly wrapped um neatly wrapped colors and really cool colors. While Teddy brings his gift in a brown crumpled paper bag. Ms. Thompson asks why is he not neat, and he just holds open it. When he she opens to discover a a half-used perfume bottle and a teddy and a broken bracelet. And she was like, "Why'd you give me this old stuff?" And Teddy replied, "That's where the stuff that my mom wore before she died." After class Ms. Thompson cried for a long time. And for years after that, Teddy still wrote

009letters back to Ms. Thompson saying, "You're the best teacher I had and how I'm doing in school." So, Teddy goes farther, gets his college degree. After that, he goes a little bit farther and gets his MD and becomes Dr. Teddy. And now, he's got a wedding to do. He's all grown up now. And he writes his final he writes his letter to Miss Thompson saying if she could come to his wedding as a place for his mother. after the wedding when she was in when Teddy was introducing his newlywed wife to Miss Thompson he was like "This is a teacher who made me who I am now. This is the teacher who changed my life forever." And but Miss Thompson disagreed. She told Teddy that she's the real that he's the real reason why she's

010actually a teacher. So probably all of you are right now are thinking of your favorite teacher back then. But now, I want all the teachers to think. What what is that one Teddy in your class? What can you do to help him or her to make to uplift them? That might be hard, but I want you to remember there's always that one Teddy in your classroom. So you're the only people that can actually change your lives. No one else in the world can do that. And that's the power of being a teacher. So thank you for having me up here. Thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Even though I said thank you, I think I forgot to give this to her. This is a citation. >> [laughter] >> So um Here you go, Miss McSweeney.

011>> [applause] [applause] >> So I did a nice job. What grade are you in? I'm in seventh grade. You did a real good job and better than what I can do probably, but uh but I do have a We'd like to have you back in the Worcester Public Schools. >> [snorts] >> Then uh I do we have a couple certificates of recognition. Uh first one with probably presented to Linda McSweeney for years of service and dedication to the field of education whose legacy lives on with students and educators she inspired throughout her career. Signed by myself, the superintendent, and the Worcester School Committee. We also have a special mayor's recognition. Whereas it is a rare encounter an educator whose impact deepens with time, whose curiosity continues to expand, and whose dedication to children remains as

012vibrant as ever. Linda McSweeney is that rare educator. Now in her 70s, Linda has never stood still. She has grown in and evolved alongside her students fostering wonder, a love of literature, and most notably a deep and during passion for science. She teaches children not just to read and observe, but to ask questions, make predictions, and sees the world as something worth exploring. Linda herself is a keen observer. She studies the habits of her students, notices their learning patterns and thoughtfully adjusts her practice to meet them where they are. The quiet expertise is a mark of a master teacher one who who listens first then acts with intention. The past decade has brought extraordinary challenges to the profession rapid technological change, hybrid learning, and unprecedented demands of teaching through a pandemic tested even the most

013seasoned educators. Linda met each challenge with grace, resilience, and unwavering commitment to what is best for her students. Her focus never wavered from the heart of teaching, human connection, curiosity, and care. In Linda's classroom, learning is valued, risk-taking is encouraged, predictions are celebrated, and kindness is non-negotiable. It is a space where students feel safe to think deeply try boldly and course and care sincerely for one another. Erin McMahon, principal says the following Linda's legacy is not only found in the countless students she has taught, but in the in the colleagues she has shaped and inspired. Her influence will continue to ripple outward through classrooms, conversations, and communities for years to come. Our community owes you, Linda, a debt of gratitude. On a personal level, Linda has challenged me to become a better educator and a

014better person. She has taught me the value of reflection, the importance of savoring moments to see the world through a child's eyes, and the power of a thoughtful disagreement grounded in absolute respect something we need much more in this world today. Now therefore, I Mayor Joseph M. Petty of City of Worcester hereby submit this ode to Linda McSweeney written by Erin McMahon as our community's recognition of Linda McSweeney's extraordinary educator. Thank you, Linda. >> [applause] [applause] >> You all set? Yep. You want to say something? I'm the next one. Oh, okay. Okay. Let's see here. To To recognize the Belmont Street School staff for the quality response to a recent fire. Yes. Um before I speak about Belmont Street, I just want to say how much of a wonderful presentation that was from Sai and

015Mrs. McSweeney. Um as the executive director of the North Quadrant, I've been in Linda's classroom on a variety of occasions. Um and everything that was stated by this young man is completely accurate. Um and just for the record she's not going anywhere. Okay. Okay. We She still has a lot more work to do, so she'll be at Lake View next year as well. But on In November a fire occurred in the classroom at Belmont Street Community School which threatened the safety of our students, faculty, and staff and administrators. Although this was an extremely unfortunate incident, the preparation and timely response of the Belmont Street community was crucial in ensuring the safety of those in the school. Tonight, we have Principal Jennifer Keedy who will come up as well as multiple members of the Belmont Street

016staff whose actions were vital in ensuring the well-being of students, faculty, staff, and administrators. Next, we have Assistant Principal Michael Dumphey and Wrap-Around Coordinator Alea Oreol who worked to extinguish the fire. One of our folks instructional coaches, Carrie Plant, assisted in extinguishing the fire by filling up 5-gallon buckets of water and carrying them to Assistant Principal Dumphey. Um our grade five team provided support in multiple ways. We have Meena Kannan who contacted the main office to alert individuals about the fire. We have Kate Birkbeck who who called 911, initiated the evacuation from an alternate exit route and alerted the grade one team. We have Alexa Van Wagner who pulled the fire alarm and alerted the fourth grade team to evacuate. And we have Nicole Belanger who was a special education paraprofessional who assisted in the

017evacuation of the grade five classrooms. She was also aided by literacy tutor Frank Caperso who was unable to attend this evening. So really we just wanted to acknowledge all the work that they did in ensuring that the Belmont community was safe. And we have Kathy Santoro who's the fifth grade ESL teacher whose classroom that the fire took place in who was obviously devastated by the events. Um but I was at Belmont last week and that classroom is is is looking really good. Um, so just wanted to um, acknowledge these individuals uh, for their work. Um, but in addition, I would be remiss if I didn't thank the Worcester Fire Department um, for their quick response um, to Belmont Street School. And lastly, I want to acknowledge the Belmont Street School families uh, for their support

018during this very difficult time. I know that they were naturally concerned once they received the communication um, about the fire, but the combination of their patience and their adherence to the protocols uh, that we have in place at Belmont Street Community School uh, made the the process much smoother um, than it had to be. Um, so thank you all for your great work um, at Belmont Street Community School. Thank you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Okay, we have a certificate of recognition for Belmont Street Community School staff members for their coordinate response to the recent fire signed by myself, the superintendent and the Worcester School Committee. Congratulations and thank you. Thank you for what you did. We have the certificate. Why don't we all come down and maybe we can do a want to do a

019group shot? Yeah, okay. Why don't you guys get right down in here? Yeah, go up. I can't be too tall with you. Chris Marion. All right, all right, you go, you be the child. I don't think. 1 2 3 Thank you. Mario, you want to stand up in the picture? Next time I'll be right back. Public comment. Yeah. After Was this thing on? No, no. I'm sorry. Okay, the next part of the meeting is public comment. Any member of the public may address the committee regarding any item before them for 2 minutes. Those speaking will state their name, their residence, and the item on which they speak which to speak for the record. And people can participate in person or via remote participation. So, just state your name, your city of residence, and the item.

020Okay. Good evening. My name is Melinda Martin. I'm a resident of Worcester. I'm also a Worcester Public School employee. I work at a Hub School as a paraeducator. And I'm speaking on the report of the superintendent, the Vision to Act- Action Autism Program updates. Um, I have a couple of questions about slide 17. The tiers. I'm wondering how are the tiers determined? Is there a rubric? Is there a checklist? Are parents consulted? Um, and more importantly, who does the tiering? Is it the Q team members who aren't always in the buildings, who come in during a preferred activity and make the decision? Is it the curriculum and support teacher? Is it teachers? Are the paraeducators consulted at all or asked to give input? Paraeducators are the ones that greet the students at drop-off. We take

021them into the classroom. We bring them to inclusion. We bring them to specials. We bring them to lunch. Typically, specials are times that the teachers take their preps. Lunches are the lunch time for students are the lunch time for teachers. So, I'm just wondering if when we're tiering the students, tiers 1 2 and 3, how we're doing this and if we are consulting the educators that work most of the day with the students. I know this can't be answered now, but I do hope that how the tiers are determined and who's helping to determine them are including the paraeducators, the ones that are with the students for the most part. Thank you. Thank you. Just state your name, your city of residence, and the item that you're speaking on, please. Hello, my name is Sonia

022Rodriguez. I am a Worcester resident and I am speaking on behalf of all of our special ed and children with autism. As I said, um, I live in Worcester. Um, I would like for you to to to imagine having a 6-year-old child who has been diagnosed not only with autism, but with ectodermal dysplasia. It is a condition that affects him in several ways, but the most challenging would be the inability to perspire, therefore causing his temperature to rise in any occasion. This condition requires climate control so that he is not in a room or vehicle above 70° or below 68°. This ask has been ignored several times, although his doctor has sent documentation. For over a year, it has been a challenge to meet his IEP and provide transportation that can accommodate climate control. And

023so, we are made to take him to and from school every day, although I have two jobs and one vehicle. It's sometimes an impossible task. Recently, there was a situation where my grandson arrived home from school with a traumatic bruise that required a trip to the hospital. To this day, we do not know what happened, although he has a one-on-one. Yesterday, I visited the potential school my grandson is being moved to. The thought is that he would be do he would do better in a SAIL program. I was taken aback, to say the least, at what I saw going on. It was evident that more help was needed as children were jumping off tables and running around. There were two staff members for about eight to nine children. I strongly believe that he would not

024need to be moved if he has someone in his present class that has specific training to work with children on the spectrum. At home, we are able to get him to read, do math, puzzles, and cooperate, and yet in school, it is a challenge. He would not thrive in that environment. He would actually decline. My big ask is for more funding for special education, more training for paras so they know how to work with our children on the spectrum. Not all paras understand or know how to work with children with autism cuz they don't have the training. And our children should not have to pay that price for the lack of trained professionals. I thank you for your consideration to this dire need. Thank you. Anyone else? Do we have anyone online? Just state your

025name and your city of residence and the item that you're speaking on. Oh, hold on, there's someone in person. Hold on. Hello everyone. My name is >> [clears throat] >> Nelly Medina. I live in District E, where I'm currently unrepresented. So, it has been a year since the Worcester Public Schools Worcester Public School Committee unanimously voted to acknowledge April 2nd as Autism Awareness Day and to commit to improving for students, parents, and educators. Despite this proclamation, the solidarity shown by organizations like the NAACP, the Worcester Autism Task Force, meaningful change has not yet occurred. Since last April, parents and children with autism and IEPs have struggled and have petitioned to to for virtual access to special education meetings held during work hours. Despite Governor Healey's extension of the open meeting law request for real-time access

026to vital information, the district's leadership shut us out, not once, but twice. Furthermore, there is a lack of district-wide acknowledgement of Autism Acceptance Month. Recognition largely limited to SAIL programs, leaving students like my son in other settings unacknowledged. Shame. We are also very concerned about the shortage of unqualified experts and the unmet requests from our paraeducators for more training to address the diverse needs of our autism community and to meet the high demand for IEP services. Students on the autism spectra spectrum are funneled into SAIL programs that may not meet their individual needs. And parents who advocate for their children are labeled as difficult. The Superintendent Brian Allen's administration, under his administration, there appears to be an expectation for parents and caregivers like myself to conform conform rather than collaborate with us. Our emails go

027unanswered. We will continue to advocate until the education and safety of our children are secure. Later this month, the Free Worcester Coalition will publish a report featuring data from a survey collected from 200 parents and care caregivers of Worcester Public School students on the spectrum as well as interviews with 19 special education professionals. We look forward to comparing our findings with the district's current practices to support our special needs community better. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Anybody else? We have one online. Anybody online? Yes. Dina Tedeschi. Hi, good evening. Okay. My name is Dina Tedeschi and I'm a Worcester resident and the parent parent of a Worcester Public School graduate and current eighth grader. My comments are regarding ROS 6-7. And first, I want to express deep appreciation to Dr. Murray, Ms. Creamer, and

028the entire special education team, along with the educators and paraeducators. They do extraordinary work with exceptional dedication and are willing in their willingness to engage with caregivers and scholars is appreciated. Thank you. The sale program is a wonderful and unique program, and I agree with the previous speakers regarding additional training is needed. I personally have had the opportunity to volunteer with a few of the sale classrooms at Norback during their library time, and over the years, I could see how scholars enjoyed this time and how their level of interest and engagement had changed. It was amazing, and I attribute this to their educators' hard work and kindness. In the presentation, there's mention of a plan to purchase evidence-based curriculum, which I think is great. However, I wonder what kind of curriculum are they using now,

029and will this be specialized for our scholars in sale? I'd also like to comment on CMP-6-2, and I agree with the need for adding recess back into middle schools. These children are asking for time to be active and have a more enriching break time than just lunch time. Kudos to them for this petition and their researching time time researching this. Many years ago in late March, I had chaperoned my son's middle school field trip to the EcoTarium. The kids enjoyed the exhibits and educational presentations. However, what they enjoyed most was the playground and the associated spaces. Clearly, they were craving this kind of activity, and one of the current educators on the trip, after watching the kids, stated she wished middle school children still had recess as that they needed it, and this was all

030way before the pandemic. Um and I urge the school committee to hear these scholars clearly and make action to make this more of a reality. Thank you. Thank you. State your name, state your residence, and item number. Um sure, my name is Heather Stanek. I am a resident of Worcester. I am the parent of a current sixth grade Nelson Place School, and um on the CPAC with the Worcester School Department, and um a community organizer with the Worcester Education Justice Alliance. I'd like to speak about um ROS-6-7. I'd like to say that I really appreciate um the collaborative collaboration with special ed with CPAC. I think that um we are making strides, but I think that we have a lot of um room still to cover. Um in particular, I think doing professional development with

031staff around making sure that inclusion means inclusion in um general ed classrooms. Um I think that we are not seeing that on behalf of our scholars. Uh I know that we are not at our house. Um we are put have been putting up with bullying since the second grade in the Worcester public schools, and I have had meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting and come to meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting to bring this up. Um nothing seems to change, which is incredibly frustrating, and it is the thing I hear most about from other caregivers all around the the city. Um I do want to say on um GB-5-3, yes, um I think middle school sports, great, expand them. Let's make them inclusive while we're at it. Let's not just do

032this for gen ed students. Let's not just bring in for recognitions team sports teams who win um national and statewide tournaments, which hooray, absolutely by all means praise, and they deserve that um that recognition, but so do our scholars who can't compete like that, and so do our scholars who will never get all A's or never be in National Honor Society. All scholars deserve recognition. I would like to um say how much I support CMP um almost done. You're good for a minute and a half. P-6-2, I'm so immensely impressed with the middle schoolers from Sullivan, and all students need movement. It regulates them. It makes them more able to access the curriculum when they are in class. Please, I strongly encourage you to support that. Um and also GB-6-3-4, um I would also like

033to say how much I support. Thank you. Okay. We are State your name, state your residence, and item number. My name is Katherine Holmes. I live in Worcester. Um I'd like to support 6-3-4. I also have a couple couple other items. Um Particularly CMP-6-2 that the students are presenting. Um I was just blown away by the research and the time that they clearly put into it to explain their point of view and with verifiable information. I know this information's correct because I've res- have researched it as an occupational therapist. Um there's a book you might You know me, I like to read. Uh Spark is the name of the book. It'll tell you all about how physical activity um improves at learning, um school experience, all sorts of things. So, after school programs, unified uh

034sporting intramurals, and recess. Um I would also challenge the students and the everyone else, powers that be, to investigate what recess looks like. So, you're asking for that recess, but are you going to be on your phones? Are you going to be on your Chromebooks? Are you going to be playing like this research that you all should be doing and we all we all should be doing is getting up and moving and talking to each other. I was looking at my emails today, MassHire is putting on a training on communication, adaptability, um and empathy, because those are the skills in the age of AI that we're missing. And recess is another way to support that along with the after school unified programs. Um so, I love this. I hope it goes to TLSS. I hope

035they add to it and they explore it. I hope you engage them in the civic process and start an advisory committee, cuz those are going really well, and they should be involved in one, cuz every day choices are made about you without you, and you guys should advocate for yourselves to be in those meetings along with these students in the other middle schools. Um and maybe that'll trickle down to the elementary, they can talk about what those recesses should look like. Maybe you guys can make choices for the younger ones. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Now, we'll go to petitions. Let's see if I can get this clock to work. And so, we have a petition, the petition of the School Committee to consider adding recess back to middle schools. So, uh who

036Come up to the microphone. You can introduce yourselves. Uh Who's going to speak to the lady here? Each? Okay. Into the fray. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening, Mayor Petty and distinguished School Committee members. For our civics action project, our group explored including a dedicated recess period in the middle school daily schedule. According to our research, we found we found that even though recess is a part of elementary education, not having it in middle school may be denying students certain developmental needs. Our research consistently showed that structured breaks during the school day help to support students' physical physical health, mental well-being, and academic performance. Middle school age students in particular benefit from opportunities to move, talk with friends, and kind of reset between periods of focusing on their work. Including a short recess period could

037provide several meaningful benefits. Improved focus and classroom behavior. Students often return from breaks more attentive and ready to engage. Support for mental health. Unstructured time allows students to decompress, reducing stress and anxiety. Encouragement of physical activity. Promoting movement during the school day supports over overall health and wellness. >> [sighs] >> Social development. Recess fosters peer interaction, collaboration, and relationship building outside of structured classroom settings. We believe that adding recess to the school day wouldn't change the schedule too much. Even just 15-20 minutes could make a big difference in how students feel and perform. If each of the seven class periods were shortened by just two or three minutes, we could make time for recess without losing much learning time. This small change could actually help classes go better because students would come back more focused

038and ready to learn. Research also shows that taking short breaks during the day helps students concentrate better, remember more, and do better in school. When students get time to move around, talk with friends, and take a mental break, they can handle stress better and pay more attention in class. Without breaks, long classes can make students feel tired, unmotivated, and less productive. Recess gives students a chance to recharge, which helps them learn more effectively. Recess is also important for students' physical and mental health. There are more concerns now about stress, anxiety, and not getting enough exercise. Even a short time each day to be active can help a lot. It gets students moving, gives them a break from screens, and helps build healthy habits. It also gives students time to practice social skills like talking, working

039together, and solving problems. Skills that are important in school and in life. We've also noticed that more school more schools around the country are starting to add recess for older students, not just elementary school. Many middle and high schools that have tried that have tried, it says, it say it help Oh my gosh. It helps improve behavior, the classroom environment, and school spirit. This shows that recess can help work well for all grade levels. We understand that school schedules are important and can be hard to change, but we think this is a great opportunity to help students do better in school and feel better overall. We respectfully ask the school community committee to think more about this idea. This could include asking teachers, students, and family what they think, or even trying a test run

040of recess to see how it works. Thank you for your time and for caring about student success and well-being. >> [applause] >> Well, thank you very much, and we're going to refer this to the committee, the teaching and learning subcommittee, and you'll be notified when that's when we have a hearing on that, correct? >> Yes. Yep. You can come to the hearing, and you can present that again. Okay. Okay. Um member Guardiola. Mr. Mayor, I just ask if we could do the report to the standing committee before we get to the report of the superintendent, just because we're on >> Sure. Thank you. Okay, so the motion right now is to refer this petition to TLSS. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. We also have a vote from executive session, pursuant to action taken

041in executive session, is moved to ratify the memorandum of agreement between the Worcester School Committee, Massachusetts Laborers District Council, for and behalf of the Worcester Public Service Employees Local Union 272 of the Laborers International Union of North America AFL-CIO Unit D, computer technicians, IT professionals, for the period of July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026. Roll call. Member Alvarez. Yes. >> Member Biancheria. Yes. Member Bananda. Yes. Member Guardiola. >> Yes. Member Johnson. >> Yes. Member Mailman. Vice Chair McCullah. >> Yes. Member Roy. Yes. Mayor Petty. Yes. Okay, report to the standing committee teaching and learning and student success on March 26th, 2026. Um member Guardiola. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh the standing committee on teaching, learning, and student success met on March 26th of 2026. We had four items on that agenda. Uh the first

042being GB3-70, a request that the administration collaborate with the Worcester Public Library and our one city, one library schools to ensure that the parameters regarding the use of library space is available for school-based needs. On a roll call, the vote the the report was approved 3-0. Similarly, there was our next item GB5-45, uh the biannual report to receive a biannual update uh on the collaborative efforts between Worcester Public Library and Worcester Public Schools. Uh request that the administration provide an update on library programs and the use of librarians throughout the district. Uh new items will be put on the agenda in April for referral to TLSS, including but not limited to provide update sort of data, updates on fourth and fifth prep classes to be used for library period. Uh on roll call, that uh

043was approved 3-0. Our next item was SA5-12 propose a plan for more student business job and/or volunteer opportunities. Many jobs won't hire students simply because of their age. Also, aid students in getting job certifications such as ServeSafe, CPR, or first aid. On roll call, that was voted 3-0. And our last item was GB6-33 to authorize the administration to purchase the Reveal Elementary Math Curriculum for the Worcester Public Schools on a 6-year contract at a cost not to exceed three 3.2 million dollars. On roll call, that was approved 2-1. That is the report on teaching, learning, and student success, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. So, motion's to approve. Um member Mailman. Thank you. Just a couple of comments and questions on Reveal. Um Do through the chair, um I I don't know if um the curriculum was

044this math curriculum um looked at for dual language program? Through the chair. Ms. Farrington. Through the chair. So, we did consider dual language. We are ensuring that they have the Spanish and English versions as they have received in the past. In addition, all the activity cards come both Spanish and English, and that's true for all our schools. It will be that way. And the games, um the classroom games that kids can interact with the math, it is in both Spanish and English, also. And I am working with the ML department um as far as providing in some bridge lessons to help with the um changing between the weeks of the classes that are Spanish and English. And so, through the chair, are there um so, the current curriculum through the chair is um the same

045would apply. There's no difference in how this new curriculum will be um delivered for that particular program. Ms. Farrington. Through the chair. No, not a No, except for the fact that there are more materials that they have that are in the Spanish-English in the classroom for the more activity-based. Okay. Member Mailman. Yes, through the chair, um also I hope that we you know, it does seem like some of the crux of other things that we've talked about with the curriculum changes are you know, how much are we how much heads-up do we have? How much work? Maybe it was just unknown what was happening, but I do think, you know, I've heard from a lot of teachers and others that there was maybe not as much um discussion or input into this particular curriculum. So,

046I just think that's worthy to be listening to as we as we do other curriculums, and I hope that we'll I think often of the you know, we're not doing we're we're not going to be a district that does things to students and teachers, but does that with them. And I think that's um to the superintendent, I hope that that will continue to have that philosophy and um when we think about these curriculums. And the one other question I had through the chair, my last one, Mayor, is um I understand that there was in order to have just continued with our contract ran out with the first curriculum. And to continue that was a million dollars. Is that correct through the chair? Um Dr. Morse. Through the chair. Um so, we did look at other

047curriculum. We looked at Envision. We looked at I Am. We looked at Reveal. And when we had the extension, the 3-year extension for Envision the last round, it was a million dollars per year. When we considered just a 1-year extension, >> Yep. what we got was a quote of more than $600,000 just for the workbooks. And so, that is part of it, the price, of course. But what we really were looking at was trying to decrease the amount of extra work our teachers are are doing outside of Tier One, and looking outside of the core curriculum, and augmenting and supplementing it with additional material from outside. So, we wanted to reduce the amount of work the teachers So, when we looked at this curriculum, it seemed to have a lot of the things that we

048we thought were ideal. And that what our teachers felt were ideal. So, beyond the price, we were also looking for the need of the educators in the classroom. And while change is very hard, um the curriculum we used before we had for 9 years. And curriculum renewal is a constant thing, and we always want to stay agile, and constantly look for what's best for the district in our emerging and changing needs. So, um while the easy thing to do, I think, is uh Mrs. Farrington said the last meeting was to just extend, and pour a significant amount of money into consumables, or would we be able to then um delay this one more year, cuz ultimately the educators were still supplementing, and still looking for additional materials in order to create um their ideal learning

049conditions in the classrooms. Through the chair, I don't know if if it's could I make a motion tonight that we, um, to your point about curriculum review that happens all the time, could we create a schedule of curriculum review so the school committee had a better idea of important items like this that are coming up and, you know, that we did have some kind of input from a variety of stakeholders and perhaps it happened here, but we're hearing different things. So, um, would that be a an I'd like to make that motion through the chair. >> Do you have a motion? Thank you. Appreciate it. And, uh, so we'll take that motion along with the, uh, report of these Alex Guardiolas, teaching and learning and student success report. Take it collectively. Can Can you clar-

050I'm sorry. Point Can you just clarify the motion for me again, please? You want to repeat the motion, Member Mailman? Yes, to create a schedule, um, of curriculum review, curriculum, um, dates that they are going to be. This is a huge curriculum for our district and a significant, um, investment that we'll be making in training. And so, I think it would be helpful for us to have a better, um, insight, as I've seen other districts do that have like a schedule of upcoming review curriculum that is going to be, um, run out of time, right? The contract runs out. So, we know ahead of time that this is something that is going to be considered in the coming year because a contract is complete for a particular curriculum. So, a schedule of curriculums. I can

051if if you're the group isn't satisfied, I can put an item further, um, separately. File a different item if you'd rather. On the future? Whatever the group Whatever the group Member McCulloh? Through the chair, I think it's fine as long as it's in a Friday letter so that we can approve the report. Okay. Okay, all set, everyone? >> Thank you. Okay, roll call. Member Alvarez? Can you repeat what the roll call is for? Repeat what? Oh, we're going to be do do we're going to take the report of the TLSS along with us Member Mailman's audit collectively and the roll call. Yes. Member Biancheria? Yes. Member Banenda? Yes. Member Guardiola? Yes. Member Johnson? Yes. Member Mailman? Yes. Vice Chair McCulloh? Yes. >> Member Roy? Yes. Mayor Petty? Yes. We have the report of the Superintendent

052Vision to Action Autism Program Updates. Wait a minute. What's that? I thought we were doing all >> Oh, we were doing reports. I didn't realize >> that one. I didn't I didn't No, I don't have another report on. Yes, operations and governance. Where is that? I got responses from administrations. Okay, operations governance. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [clears throat] Um, operations and governance met on, uh, Monday, March 30th, 2026. We also had four items on the agenda. Um, first one, GB4-111, um, to consider possible revisions to the school boundary assignments and the school quadrant assignments to become effective for school year '27-'28. Um, there was a vote, three three to zero vote, um, it was an accept to, um, approve and, um, file that item. We then had GB5-3 to explore expanded middle school sports with

053a high demand into seventh and eighth grade teams in order to get more students opportunity to participate. Um, there was a motion by myself to conduct a feasibility feasibility study to expand middle school sports to surrounding towns. On a three to zero vote, that item was held. With my with my motion, wasn't that item Was it held? It was held. I'm sorry. It was held. I'm confusing them. Um, and then next we took up GB6-20 to review potential updates on the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act as published in the Worcester Public Schools Handbook. Um, I also made a motion on this to create an online FAQ section about the policy and be notified, um, of the FAQ section via Friday letter, which would also go, um, publicly and will be on our website, um, moving

054forward. Um, A mo- another motion was made to file this item on a three zero vote. Both motions passed. And then we took up GB6-21 to review updates to these mask at policies in order to update the Worcester School Committee policies. A motion was made to approve these changes and file them on a three to zero vote. Motion passed unanimously. That's the report of, um, operations and governance. Okay. Member Mailman? Thank you. Um, just to a quick comment on the sports. I appreciated the comments about, you know, making sure that when we're thinking about that that we're thinking about intramural, we're thinking about things that most a lot of kids can participate in. Um, and my comment on 6-20 through the chair is, um, I want to understand what will happen tomorrow. So, if a

055parent So, we pass this policy, if a parent wants their student's data deleted from, um, our system, what what will be the What will happen tomorrow after this policy? Um, Mr. Allen? Through the chair, I'll ask Dr. Andre to answer the question. >> Dr. Andre? Uh, so through the chair, um, if a parent reached out to have a conversation about a particular product and having their data deleted, we'd have a conversation about the product. Um, they can certainly access the data, see what's there. Uh, then we'd have to go from there to make a decision about whether or not that information be deleted. Uh, it does depend upon the tool and the way that we're using the information. So, for example, if it's an assessment type thing, we have to keep the information, uh, but

056for some things we can certainly look at it and consider how to do that. Cuz we So, some parents, I believe, have actually requested that some of the data be deleted from the system and we have I don't know if they've written a note and we made it happen or I had a conversation through the chair. Uh, happened once. Uh, there was a request. We discussed it and it was it was removed. Okay. So, through the chair, that option parents will have that ability. Dr. Andre? Through the FAQ that'll be worked on, there'll be some questions and answers about how to, uh, go about There's There's some rights around, uh, FERPA uh, that parents have to view the data, um, take a look at the record, etc. So, those things will be explained through the

057FAQ. It's going to be in the new, um, updates for the handbook. Yeah. Uh, and at this point they would just call me to have a conversation about it. >> Does it Does it through the chair then do we have the answers really or do we have to wait for these FAQs to Should we hold this item until, um, we have the answers? >> chair, these are They're kind of different things. Um, so the education record information is it exists. Um, this piece is not the piece for COPPA is not quite the same. Um, if we have a conversation and someone wants to reach out, I'd be the one they would talk to and we work out exactly what the product is and what the next steps might be. So, through the chair, this policy

058doesn't have to do with, um, parents calling in to remove their data. Their student's data. Through the chair, no. No, that's more about FERPA and education records. Okay. Yeah. Um, and is there a reason that we can't still hold the item for the actual frequently asked questions or Talk Talk to Andre. Through the chair, the, um, this reflect the change reflects practice and how we've been operating. Uh, back in 2019 we have signed up with the education cooperative. Yeah. With them we have student data privacy agreements. Uh, everything legally that we're responsible to do, uh, to be able to, um, consent on behalf of the parents, those things are outlined. Uh, we do notifications, etc. So, So, there's a number of things that we have to do that, uh, we follow along with that. So,

059the language change does reflect kind of the way things have been operating, um, in what the law says in terms of how we how we work under COPPA. Member Mailman? But I still, through the chair, hear you say that somebody calls you tomorrow and says they want the data removed, you will work with that parent to achieve that goal if that is their desire. Through the chair, yes. That's part of the, um, parent's rights for education records. Thank you. Yep. Thank you. Okay, so the roll call vote approval. Member Alvarez? Yes. Member Biancheria? Yes. Member Banenda? Yes. Member Guardiola? Yes. Member Johnson? Approved. Yes. Member Mailman? Yes. Vice Chair McCullah? >> Yes. Member Roy? Yes. Mayor Petty? Yes. Okay. You're up for the superintendent. Through the chair, as they're coming up, um I welcome uh

060Tammy Murray, Gina uh Creamer, and Brittany Lusibello. I'll have them introduce themselves again just so you know the public knows um each of them um as they begin their presentation. Okay. Who wants to introduce themselves? Hi. Um through the chair, uh my name is um Dr. Tammy Murray. And I'm joined tonight by Good evening. I'm Gina Creamer. I'm the Assistant SpEd Director. Good evening. I'm Brittany Lusibello, Special Education Supervisor. And I forgot to mention, I am the Director of Special Education. So, tonight we're going to talk to about um we have a presentation on the Autism Program Updates. We could move to the next slide. So, tonight we're going to provide the School Committee with an update on the Specialized Approaches to Individual Learning Program, or better known as our SAIL Program. The SAIL Program

061is designed to support students with a range of learning needs, including many students with IEPs identified under the primary disability category of autism. This school year, we unified the name, replacing multiple names for the same program. Our presentation objectives for tonight are as follows. We will review the enormous amount of work, the enormous amount of updates and improvement made by the SAIL Program this year. We will talk about the demographic enrollment and program data, and provide an update on staff training, professional development, and what our next steps will be. Next slide. The presentation focuses on the strategic plan priority, equitable resources and educational programs. Next slide. Next, we will provide an overview of the current state of special education within our SAIL Program. Next slide. Our SAIL Programs offer a highly structured, supportive learning environment

062that addresses students' communication, social, behavioral, needs. As of this school year, all SAIL classrooms are organized into a three-tiered system, with tier one offering the least intensive level of support, tier three providing the most intensive level level of support, and tier two offers an in-between level of support. The SAIL Program provides specialized services in grades preschool through 12. SAIL classrooms utilize the ACE, better known as the Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia, an evidence-based technology from the New England Center of Children. This system provides a structured scope and sequence, ensuring a consistent daily data collection process district-wide. By allowing staff and administrators to regularly analyze student data, the program ensures instruction remains responsive to individual academic, behavioral, and social needs. Next slide. This slide highlights enrollment for students with autism as the primary disability category on their IEPs.

063Currently, there are 1,000 885 students who have an IEP with a primary disability category of autism, representing 19.1% of all students with disabilities in the district. This is slightly higher than the state average of 17.3%. This slide also reflects trends in the autism category from 2020 to the present time. Please note that in the year 2025-2026, the data is preliminary, as there is a second data reporting cycle that occurs following the March SIMS report. I would like to highlight, since 2020, the number of students identified with autism with the autism category has nearly doubled from 590 599 students to 1,085 students. I also want to point out that if you look at the percentage increase from students over time, the largest increase is a 19.7% in school year 22-23. We believe this may be due

064to students returning to school after COVID, and requiring more support at this time. However, we are not certain. This growth is something we closely monitor to ensure we have the appropriate services and supports in place, and programs are adjusted to meet the evolving student needs. Next slide. Overall, Worcester Public Schools services 5,672 students with disabilities, representing 22.7% of the total district enrollment of 25,007 students. This data is based on official October SIMS enrollment reporting. The demographic breakdown of students with disabilities reflects the diversity of the district. There are 43.3% Hispanic students, 19.7% African American, 26.3% white students. In the terms in terms of service delivery, 40.8% of our students with a primary disability category of autism are educated in full or partial inclusion settings. 51.3% are served in substantially separate classrooms. 7.8% attend more restrictive

065out-of-district placements, including programs such as Central Mass Collaborative and other out-of-district placements. To provide context, we compared Worcester to districts with similar demographics. In Springfield, they have 27.6% students with disabilities, and 19.4% students who have the disability category of autism. Boston Public Schools has 23.6% students with disabilities, and 20.8% students identified with autism as their primary disability category. Worcester's overall percentage of students with disabilities is lower than both districts, and our percentage of students identified with autism is lower than Boston and comparable to Springfield. Importantly, these data points reinforce the need for continued early identification and intervention. As a proactive response, the district is launching the Communication and Readiness Enhancement Preschool Program, known as the it will be known as the CARE Program next school year. This initiative is designed to provide targeted early intervention

066through structured 90-minute sessions with a goal of strengthening communication and readiness skills at the critical developmental stage. Next slide. Next, Brittany Lusibello, the South Quadrant Special Education Supervisor, will discuss the SAIL Model. Brittany is the point person on the Q team for our SAIL Program. Next slide, please. At the start of the school year, all SAIL classrooms were formally organized into a three-tiered model, tier one, tier two, and tier three. These classrooms are designed to reflect the specific needs of students within each building, and provide flexibility in how supports are delivered. Tier one represents the least intensive level of support, while tier three provides the most intensive. This tiered approach creates a clear, structured continuum that allows us to match students with the level of support they need based on their individual strengths, challenges, and

067educational goals. In some schools, you may see blended classrooms, such as a tier one, two, or a tier two, three, and this approach allows us to better align students with while also considering classroom groupings and the overall school capacity. Teams utilize a structured questionnaire, data analysis, and the overall profile of the student to place students into the classroom tiered based on their academic, communication, and social emotional needs. School and district leadership collaborate to ensure consistent data-informed placement is occurring across the district. Tier placement is reviewed at least annually, and adjusted as students progress. The administration and support teams monitor these levels to remain responsive to student growth. This model ensures that students receive appropriate support in the least restrictive environment, while maximizing their opportunities for inclusion. Next slide. Next, we will review the three tiers

068of support within the SAIL Program from inclusion to tier three. Inclusion students are those with a primary disability of cat disability category of autism, who receive their services primarily in the general education setting across the majority of their school day. Supports may be provided within their home classroom, or through targeted pull-out services, such as a speech pull-out, occupational therapy, or physical therapy session. Tier one students spend a portion of their day in a specialized classroom for targeted support, and participate in general education settings for approximately 20 to 40% of the day. Tier two students receive the most of their instruction in a specialized classroom with more limited opportunities for inclusion based on their individual needs. Tier three students receive full-day highly structured small group instruction in a specialized classroom with intensive support. Next slide. Next,

069we will review key SAIL data including program and tier locations along with the student and classroom data the special education department monitors closely. We will also highlight staffing ratios and the multi-disciplinary supports in place including cooperation among educators, therapists, and specialists. Assistant special education director Gina Creamer will review the next slides. Next slide, please. This slide provides an overview of the locations of our SAIL programs across the district. SAIL classrooms are currently housed in 14 schools throughout Worcester Public Schools across grades K through 12. There are 59 SAIL classrooms. In addition, we offer we offer 14 half-day preschool SAIL sessions. Altogether, this brings the total number of SAIL classrooms and sessions to 73. The majority of our SAIL classrooms are located in our four elementary hub schools. Nelson Place Elementary School, Gates Lane Elementary School,

070Norback Elementary School, and Roosevelt Elementary School. This hub model allows us to concentrate resources and provide consistent high-quality supports for students. At the secondary level, SAIL programming is available in three middle schools and three high schools. Across the district, we have 45 classrooms located in elementary schools, eight classrooms are located in middle schools, six classrooms are located in high schools, and 14 half-day preschool sessions are offered across eight schools. This distribution reflects both the needs of our students and our commitment to providing services in appropriate settings across all grade levels. Next slide, please. The total count of students in substantially separate SAIL classrooms is 726. Across the bottom of this slide, you will see the three tiers along with the in-between tiers, tier one two and tier two three. On the left side of the

071slide, you will find the student counts. The green circles on the slide indicate the number of students per tier. The blue bars indicate female students and the yellow bars indicate male students. Across all tiers, the population is predominantly male. Research indicates that males likely have a greater biological vulnerability while females may be both biologically more protected and under-diagnosed. Student counts are broken into the tier groups. So, our current enrollment by tier is as follows. In tier one, we have a total of 106 students. In our tier one two, we have a total of 140 students. In tier two, we have a total of 170 students. In our tier two three, we have 31 students. In our tier three, we have a total of 181 students. In our pre-K, we have 98 students. Next, Dr. Murray

072will give a breakdown of the SAIL tier distribution. Okay, if we could go to the next slide. This chart highlights the distribution of students across school levels with the majority currently enrolled at the elementary level. We have 596 students in elementary school, 71 students in middle school, 59 students in high school. Students enter our system through preschool, kindergarten, or by transferring in from other districts. Our goal is to identify students as early as possible and provide intervention in the least restrictive environment. Research consistently shows that early targeted services lead to stronger outcomes for students. With appropriate supports and interventions, many students can increase their participation in inclusive settings over time. In some cases, students require more intensive services that cannot be provided within the district and an out-of-district placement is considered. Currently, 57 students are

073enrolled at our Thrive program located at Central Mass Collaborative with a primary disability of autism with an additional 33 students placed in other private and public day programs under the same category. Next slide. This slide displays the distribution of students in substantially separate programs by grade level and SAIL tier. There are several key transition points that we monitor closely across the district that I want to point out as critical for program planning and support. As you can see from the red box well right below the red boxes, our incoming kindergarten students, we have 74 students moving up from preschool who require a SAIL placement. Our incoming seventh grade students, we have 40 students who will move up from elementary school requiring a SAIL placement. And our incoming ninth graders, we have 29 students who will

074be moving up from middle school requiring a SAIL placement. These transition years require planning to ensure consistency of services and appropriate placement. Additionally, we would like to highlight that our highest enrollment of students identified with autism as a primary disability category is currently at the first grade level. This is an This is important for future staffing, program development, and long-term planning. We are seeing similar trends in other similar districts such as Springfield where there is a continued growth in the kindergarten first grade number of students with an IEP having the primary disability category of autism. Next slide. This slide shows the distribution of SAIL classrooms across elementary, middle, and high school levels. The highest concentration is at the elementary level where we we are seeing the greatest level of student need. At the elementary level,

075there are currently 15 tier three classrooms and three blended tier two three classrooms reflecting both the intensity and growth of need in this area. Next slide. This slide highlights our staffing model and the multi-disciplinary approach used to support students in the SAIL hub schools. This has been a priority of ours to maximize staff in the SAIL classrooms. I want to remind the audience tonight that this is our first year that we have fully tiered the SAIL classrooms. This has been a huge step in the right direction. We also recognize that we need to continue improving in this area. Each hubs Each of the four hub schools is supported by a specialized curriculum support teacher who delivers ongoing coaching and professional learning to SAIL teachers and paraeducators. Recognizing the critical role of staff retention and continuous

076professional growth, these areas will remain key priorities in the coming school year. Every SAIL classroom is led by a teacher. All classrooms are supported by at least one paraeducator. Higher intensity classrooms, particularly tier three, may have two to three paraeducators and in some cases, additional support is provided to meet individual student needs. All classroom capacities align with Massachusetts special education regulations for staff to student ratios. This year, staffing has been affected by an increased level of leaves of absences including family FMLA, particularly among teachers. For example, at the elementary level, there are 11% of the 45 teachers are currently on a leave of absence. Looking ahead, our focus is to strengthen staffing at the tier three level by reducing student to staff ratios and increasing support. Each hub school is supported by a strong multi-disciplinary

077team including one to three allotted full-time BCBAs position BCBA positions and one ABA specialist position. Two to three speech and language pathologists and two to three speech and language pathology assistant positions. One occupational therapist and one occupational therapy assistant. One part-time physical therapist and one part-time physical therapy assistant. And one time one part one full-time school psychologist. Next year, BCBAs currently assigned to the positive youth development team will be reallocated back into schools to increase direct student support for students. In addition, two district-wide assistive technology specialists support hub schools by providing consultation on communication systems and devices such as iPads. Overall, we will continue to strengthen this model to maximize coordinated in-school support for students. Next slide. The next section of the presentation focuses on the efforts made this school year to improve the sale

078program. Next slide, please. Over the past year, we have strengthened and unified our autism programming across the district under a single sale framework, creating greater consistency for students, staff, and families. We implemented a clearly defined tiered system to better align supports with student needs and partnered with the New England Center for Children to ensure alignment with evidence-based practices. Across classrooms, we introduced a consistent evidence-based curriculum including modified CKLA and envisions math with additional curriculum resources being added to further support tiered instruction. We also enhanced classroom environments through targeted improvements including discrete trial cubbies in all elementary schools and small workspace renovations at Gates Lane. At hub schools, specialized curriculum support teachers provide ongoing coaching to support daily implementation and instructional quality. In addition, we made a focused investment in professional learning for administrators, teachers, and

079paraeducators including de-escalation training supported through grant funding and continued collaboration with the New England Center for Children. As a result, we are seeing greater consistency across sale programs, stronger implementation of evidence-based practices, increased support for staff, and more structured and supporting supportive learning environments for all of our students. Brittany will now share some information on our sale task force. Next slide. The sale task force was established this school year. The members include district leadership, school administration, and hub school staff. We have had excellent participation from all levels. The purpose of the task force is to increase alignment and uniformity across the district within the sale program buildings. A small subset of the task force meets weekly to discuss professional development plans, coaching targets, and areas for further growth. The whole task force meets monthly online.

080These meetings focus on providing professional development opportunities such as those we've mentioned from the New England Center for Children, sharing ideas, and supporting consistent programming across the district. Additionally, the task force conducts monthly walk-throughs at each elementary sale school. During these walk-throughs, staff use the district walk-through tool, observe specific areas identified the building for more input, and debrief together before the end of the visit. This has been a great opportunity for us to learn from one another and further increase our alignment. Next slide. The instructional structure is built around specialized staff to ensure high-quality consistent implementation throughout the sale program. The specialized curriculum support teachers are our autism leaders in hub schools. These staff serve as a key support across all classrooms in their school, providing coaching and training to both new and returning teachers.

081This is critical for strengthening the implementation of our curriculum including the autism curriculum encyclopedia and further improving the specially designed instruction for all students. Sale teachers and specialty service providers form the core delivery team. The sale teachers serve as our primary liaisons for students, to caregivers, and others throughout their buildings. Our goal is to facilitate collaboration through a multidisciplinary approach and to thoughtfully plan the curriculum to ensure consistency and high-quality programming throughout our district. Dr. Murray will now share more on our next steps. Next slide. Well, I am incredibly proud of the work our team has done and the schools have done um to prioritize and improve the sale program. We acknowledge that there is more work to be done. The last section of this presentation will focus on our next steps. Over the past

082year, we have taken significant steps to strengthen and unify our autism program across across the district. As previously discussed, these enhancements have created greater consistency and alignment across schools. Looking ahead, our next steps include purchasing additional evidence-based curriculum and providing professional development to teachers, providing resources such as de-escalation training and materials to sale classrooms through the timeout grants that we received, continue with year two of consulting with New England Center for Children and expand to the high school level, monitor and adjust and maximize practices maximize the use of the ACE by using data, refine staffing models especially in higher need classrooms, strengthen recruitment, onboarding, and staff training, and expand family supports [snorts] through the development of the sale guidebook, caregiver clinics provided by BCBAs at all hub schools, and continue to develop and strengthen our

083community uh partnerships such as our work with the CPPI grants. And that concludes our presentation tonight. Thank you. Nice job. Good work. Member McCollough, I'll buy member Benenda. Are you over? Thank you so much. I know through the chair that a lot of effort and work went into this presentation um along with all the work that you've been doing throughout the district. So, thank you for that first of all. As we know, we've continued to see an increase in enrollment for our students with um autism and those in the sale classrooms. I just have a few questions for you. So, through the chair, as far as working towards inclu- um increasing meaningful inclusion opportunities for the high the high tiers students, what are we looking at with those types of efforts? Like can you expand

084upon that a little bit? Through the chair. To administration. Ms. Murray, Dr. Murray. Yes, through the chair. So, for our um So, you mean the the uh tier one students you must be referring to. >> Sorry, yes. I apologize. Yes. >> No, no, no. That's okay. Just want to clarify. Um so, for um our tier one students, um you know, we we meet on a regular basis with our with our teams and um particularly the specialized curriculum support teachers, you know, are meeting with with the teachers on a regular basis so that um we make sure that students um are getting the right opportunities with student and we're trying to um we meet with principals particularly at the hub schools on a regular basis and in these meetings we we talk a lot about, you

085know, how can we improve inclusion inclusion practices within um the school the schools. Thank you. I know I've seen Oh, sorry. Oh, I just wanted to add that I think um the hub teachers along with Brittany's support have done a really good job at looking at the curriculum that's being utilized in those tier ones. That's where we talked about modifying the CKLA and the math, which makes the streamline easier from that tier one into the inclusion because they're being exposed to that modified curriculum. Great. Thank you. And through the chair, the I think I'll let really one other question. You mentioned the professional development opportunities and training with the New England Center for Children. And what do you believe that has been the most impactful PD that we've kind of received from them or do

086you have one that's most impactful? Dr. Murray. I mean, it's okay if you don't. If it's all impactful, that's wonderful. I just need to know if there's something specific. I I think the most impactful training that we've done has been on the de-escalation training um to really help um you know, make sure that our teachers and paraeducators are trained on how to work with students in in the different classrooms. The other um piece that I will add to that is that we've started training administrators. Um so, we found that we were doing a lot of training with with teachers and paraeducators, but um the most important people are the administrators at the building who are leading um the efforts in each of the different schools. Thank you cuz that was actually kind of another one

087of my questions. Do additional educators receive enough training and support for the inclusion? So, it sounds like we've expanded to admin, too. So, thank you so much. Through the chair, we're looking to expand that looking to expand our work with New England Center for the Children focusing on administration training and to other related service providers. Okay. Member Benenda. Oh, thank you for the report through the chair. Uh certainly the number of students that have autism have greatly increased over the years and I'm looking at I think it was slide 13 where we look at, you know, how many students in elementary, middle, and high school there are there are and what tier they're in. And, you know, if you we look at this, we see that tier three has the most number of students in

088it. And with tier three having the most number of students, that means that we need more services, right? You get less services for a tier one student than you would want for a tier three. And knowing that, also with the tier three students with autism, we need smaller number of students in classrooms and more support services. So, do we also look at it that way? Like we're looking at the numbers, but when I look at that large number, and also tier two, you got 140 there. Uh I think about the services to the students because a one is certainly different than a tier two and three. And then I wondered, where did they go? So, there's 596 um in the elementary school. It goes to in the middle school, and it goes to 59 in

089the high school. Where did all those kids go? It 596, right, in elementary to 71 in middle, they It It would be wonderful if all the tier threes moved to uh inclusion, but it doesn't show that. So, I was just wondering, where did the students go? Dr. Murray. Through the chair. So, um address your first question um about the tier three students. Um you know, you are correct if you look at this is 181 students at tier three. Um but if you also take tier one and tier in the blended tier one and two and, you know, add those together, that's 246 students. And then if you were to take tier two and in the blended tier two to three, that's 201 students. So, that is Those numbers are actually higher um at the lower

090level. Um so, I just wanted to point point that out. Um and and we're always looking for more support for our tier three um classrooms, which the superintendent has been um helpful and very supportive of us um particularly this year when we needed more support throughout the year. Um so, we're always looking for more supports. And where did the students go? That's a That's a question that comes up often. Um we try to target students as early as possible, provide intervention, and that's why we're you know, starting I we focus a lot in our preschool, kindergarten, first-grade level to provide as much supports as possible. Um and then as the students get older, they either go into inclusion, some stay in our classrooms, and then some may even go out of district depending on the

091level of need. Member Panella. Oh, through the chair. It's It's a huge number from 596 down to 71. You know, that seems like I just wondered if we could find out where did those students go to? Where did 596 students go to? By the time they got to the middle school, there's only 71 there. Through the chair, though, if you look at a period of time, the growth in the number of students that have increased um in in the autism um tiers, we're seeing a bubble, and so we've got a plan for the future that these elementary students may end up at middle school and high school, which we're going to require more classrooms at those grade levels as well. Actually, that was my next question through the chair. It is that if you look

092at these numbers in planning in the future, the high schools are going to have could have larger numbers of students with autism, also. And um the challenge for them being in one high school would um be the challenge that so many students with autism in the same high school. Although I know you like the hub model, it would seem like we'd have to spread those students uh cuz high schools are so crowded now at this particular point in time to add several classrooms to the same high school would would be very difficult. And And through the chair, I just um I really wish those BCB- BCBA's did not get uh let go um when they did. One of the biggest mistakes I think that were made was that uh they were let go because uh

093they're very The one place I think that they really belong are in these classes with autism. I know um you mentioned how many staff were out. Um quite a few of those staff were out because uh they were hurt in the classroom by by the students, not intentionally, but um because of the level of autism that the students have. And the BCBA's would be really great to have in those classrooms because they do focus on behavior and taking, you know, time samples and coming up with a plan. So, and I I guess that's something I'll through the chair um request in the budget when we look at the budget uh that we really need to look at the number of support staff that are in the SEAL classrooms as well as the number of students

094in each classroom. Uh thank you for the report. >> Member Guariello. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh thank you so much for the report. A lot of great information and data that will be useful and helpful as we go into the budget and as we continue to uh explore how we can help uh really make this the uh top level um program in our West Orange schools. But just a uh a couple questions, you know, as we're talking little forward thinking. Um you know, just looking at the data that you presented, enrollment has nearly doubled since 2020. Um what is our five three-to-five-year projections uh for enrollment and how are we planning for that type of growth? Through the chair. Dr. Murray. Through the chair. Well, this is why we wanted to provide the the information

095tonight so that you could clearly see where all of our numbers are in those growing areas particularly at that first-grade level. Um so, we are um we This is something that we monitor um throughout the year and um throughout the year. So, we're constantly looking at, you know, how can we plan for the future? Um we look at we, you know, are also, you know, thinking ahead to where these students going when they, you know, get older. Um and we also look at our collaborative and how we plan there and and what that looks like and as we look at our future planning. Thank you. And as my colleague Anna Mendez, she asked a lot of the questions that I was going to ask, so it makes it actually a little more simple. Uh maybe

096she was just looking over and seeing >> [laughter] >> Um but you know, you mentioned about capacity for services, but similarly, how are we Do we have currently enough space that's appropriate for classroom space and how are we looking at that because as we continue to grow as a uh district as a whole and those numbers of, you know, comparatively with folks on the uh with autism, how do we now start thinking about that? Classroom space is going to be a real continued issue if we we really want to get into it. Through the chair. So, Mr. Mayor. Through the chair. So, that part of our um boundary alignment process and program placement, that is one of the things we're evaluating is where we place programs and we're going to have capacity or we need

097to create capacity to add classrooms and services for students. So, that will be part of the work we're doing this spring um for kind of long-term planning down the road. Thank you. And I I appreciate that, and I think that was going to be really just my last question. But honestly, uh you know, when we talk about the realignment, and again, it was a great presentation that we had at South High recently. Um but I think this has to be part of that conversation through the chair to the administration that we need to really be mindful of the fact that we have to have space uh for this program specifically. But thank you again so much for the the presentation. I truly appreciate it. Thank you, member Mehlman. Thank you. Um your work is so

098important. And I know you're all in heavily invested in heart and mind, so thank you for that. Um I'm through the chair, I'm curious if when you listen to comments at the beginning of the meeting, which are similar to comments that have been made um over time, are there additional thoughts, you know, pres- you did your report, you pre- prepared that earlier. Are there other things that come to mind when you listen to some of the specific issues that were brought up tonight through the chair? Dr. Murray. Um through the chair. Um yes, well, you know, that they know that paraeducator that spoke, um we have done a lot of work with paraeducators um in the last few years um particularly on accommodations, on modifications, on de-escalation. We've worked really closely with New England Center

099for Children on how do we bring those resources into our school and that training. So, we've done a lot of work in that area. Um we've also, you know, we've come up with ways to um like I said, you know, couple of times tonight, that um this is the very first year that we've actually tiered all of our classrooms. So, that's a huge step. Um nothing's going to be perfect. There's not a perfect, you know, science to this as we work We'll We'll tweak things as needed. Um but we do have a way to um you know, measure how tiers are are, you know, what where students go into which tier. We have a way of you know, we notify parents, we talk about the tiers at um IEP meetings. Um so, I think that's

100all I really have to add to what was stated. >> So, so what Through the chair, I hear you might have ideas about that will be reevaluated next year and whose input might be part of tearing because this is brand new for us. Is that fair to say? Through the chair, yes, that's fair to say. Thank you. Um Is it possible to get I appreciated the um the data that you gave us about the other towns? Is there a DESE report perhaps in everybody loves Friday letters in a Friday letter if we could get um a comparison chart of the different districts. I don't know if DESE has something I imagine they probably do that shows us levels of um you know um autism and through other cities and towns. Through the chair, I'm not

101sure they show levels of autism, but like I pointed out with Springfield and Boston, on the DESE website, you can see the um you know, the different levels of um the categories of disability and the percentages. Okay. And through the chair, of our 1,100 students, um how many of those have IEPs? Dr. Murray. Through the chair, all of them. Okay. And then but 700 plus are in a SAIL program. What happens with services for those other students? Dr. Murray. Through the chair, so all of the other students are fully included into general education classrooms. So they receive services just like any other student would receive depending on their individual IEP and what the services are that are required for that student. >> Okay. Member Millman. Um just a couple of others. The elementary you made

102a point of pointing out that 11% of the elementary teachers um your in your SAIL programs, I think is what you're saying, are on FMLA. Dr. Murray. Through the chair, not necessarily on FMLA, but on a leave of absence, which makes our can make our staffing challenging at times. And is that a different percentage through the chair, maybe to the superintendent, than than our general ed? The honor. Through the chair, we'd have to get back to you with a comparison report. Okay. I'd make a motion then if we could do that. Um And through the chair, um this is this is 20% of our kid we we talked earlier about 5,000 kids in our system. And on special ed programs and this is a thousand of them. Um through the chair, is there an additional

103Actually, this is to the superintendent. Is there an additional report or to him um about the rest of the special ed program that we are going to expect to see this year? Mr. Allen. Through the chair, as a Through the reports of the superintendent, no, this is the one we chose to highlight this year as it relates to special education. So we can do other programs reports of the superintendent next school year. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> We have a member Roy. Thank you. Through the chair, I want to thank you sincerely for this wonderfully well-thought-out presentation. Um and so what my questions are my colleagues have covered pretty much of them. Um so we're seeing an increase in autism in our schools and how are we like like with member Guardiola said, are

104we going to preparing for future funding and how the the funding is going to be needed and utilized? Through the chair, so yes, we're working on the FY27 budget right now in the needs of the special education department and all the other departments we will balance um when we bring forward the budget in uh about a month. Thank you. Um another question I have is um are all our students who are going to the SAIL programs, do they require transportation? If if they're going to a school that's not in their district. Dr. Murray. Through the chair, it's individualized depending on the need of the student. Transportation is something that's discussed at every IEP meeting. Thank you. Member Roy. Um my last question is when a student comes into the classroom and the teacher sees that

105this child needs more than what that particular classroom or school can offer, what is the procedure to get them into a program that they they need to go to? Dr. Murray. Through the chair, it's a good question. Um so if the teacher has a concern, we have an evaluation team chairperson at every school building and the teacher can contact the evaluation team chair and they might need to be a progress meeting. So that would be an IEP progress meeting. Thank you very very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Member Bienkiewicz. Thank you. First of all, I want to say um this is very interesting due to the fact that this is um challenging work no matter how you look at it, how you present it. Um it's one of our biggest challenges. And um your partnership

106with New England Center for Children is what I was going to ask you about. Through the chair, it talks about your partnership with um NECC. Do we have any other partnerships or is there any other schools in Massachusetts that we could be partnering partnering with? Dr. Murray. Through Through the chair, we have had the opportunity to collaborate with Springfield who has a very robust program similar to ours to help recruit feedback and input on our SAIL program. So we do look and we also collaborated with Boston who partners with the New England Center for Children as an ACE client to get input on how we could further utilize that and improve our use of the program within our programs. Um when we're looking at talking about staff for this, um do it's so specialized are

107are we looking at how we would be able to help the existing employees we have on the who are working on this program, but also the future employees that we would like to bring into to our system. Are they at uh we'll say Worcester University or do you feel as though um there are other programs out there in Massachusetts, of course, but are we connected so we're looking at what we need to do not only for our facilities, it seems that our superintendent and administration is working towards um all of what we may need for tools, but as far as staff is concerned, do you see any roadblocks there? Through the chair, we have been actively partnering with the human resources department to help improve recruiting efforts. And then we've made efforts to help with

108retention this year. We've started a paraeducator onboarding program which provides um five days of training before they start on their own in the SAIL classroom that has a um piece of module training and then in person. We're hoping to extend that to our teachers and find a way to replicate for all existing um educators. So that would include not only recruiting um staff it that are out in the field presently. Is that correct? >> Through the chair, yes, we are looking at both recruitment and retention efforts and trying to improve both. And there this particular uh New England Center for Children it says Southborough. Well, other people were speaking, I was looking it up. So when we look at the partnership they have with Worcester Public Schools, uh how would you want to see that

109built? How would you want to see that to continue to to grow as a stronger partnership to to enable them to work with us. Through the chair, um we just met with them today actually. Um so we are working we really want to do some more work with our administrators um and do a train the trainer model and continue our work with our teachers and our and our paraeducators um and work, you know, particularly at our hub schools with our specialized We have these great positions, the specialized curriculum support teachers um who can, you know, we train them and then they can train um others. Thank you very much and certainly appreciate the report. Thank you. Member Alvarez. I appreciate the report and a lot of the things that my colleagues asked was exactly some

110of the thoughts that I had. Um so with this, you mentioned earlier this is the first year that we're piloting we have fully piloted the program. Um with that being said, what are your initial thoughts on So we have 1,085 kids with uh students with disabilities and now I'm based on the numbers that I saw, this is my own math, so correct me if I'm doing any any wrong numbers here. But out of those 1,085 students, 44.3% of those students are Hispanics. Now this kind kind one of the other um meetings that we were in when we were discussing MCAS scores and like majority of the population um within that report were Hispanic students as well. Um so, I'm just wondering what were your initial thoughts on that? I I didn't word that correctly. So,

111from that report, uh if I remember correctly, majority of the kids also that were struggling meeting um completing the test, passing the test, whatever that looks like, um or reaching a high score for MCAS were Hispanic students. So, we already know and we have known that there's a need. Uh and I know we've all had conversations about it. We've all um are trying our best to put in resources, uh allocate resources, and they're just really trying to address this like rising number. So, or 34.4% are English learners. Now, can you tell me what what that definition is like through the chair to then to you guys? Through the chair. >> Yeah. Um we've collaborated and we do every year with the um ML department. Always looking for those dually diagnosed students. Um actually just today

112our coaches, our special education coaches, presented at the Coaches Academy. And I believe that the presentation that they put together very closely aligned the presentation that the ML department had put together. Um I've been working with their department really looking at ways that we can collaborate our professional development next year. Um given that so many of the strategies that we use truly do align and that we're always trying to reach our dually diagnosed um students who have a primary disability of autism coming from, you know, the angle of how can we best support them across all settings. Right. And I I really appreciate that. What really concerns me is that we're looking at numbers that that are high with in our incoming first graders, our kindergarteners who are being diagnosed with autism, and majority of

113them fall under the Hispanic category, right? And on top of that, um I believe it was slide 13, also let us know that a lot of those numbers are are males. So, I'm thinking a large male population that are Hispanic that are under um students with disabilities, specifically autism. So, it it just like I I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is a very gray area for me. Um I'm wondering about what categorizes a Hispanic student. Is it a first generation child? Is this a sec- I mean, first generation American child who is learning Spanish for the or a different language um to begin with and then learning English in school? Or is it a kid that only learns only knows English, communicates in English, has um little Spanish, knows little Spanish,

114and there's just so many ways to categorize Hispanics, you know? So, to me, that's a very gray area and I just felt like it's very important to address that. Um especially if I'm seeing we're all seeing a rising number in our Hispanic population. It just worries me. So, can you to comfort that, what are aside from what you already stated, um are there other ways of collecting data um that we're doing to kind of smooth that out and be able to to understand who the Hispanic students are? Dr. Marier, Ms. Craven. I Well, I think we're always mindful whenever we're I think part of what Dr. Marier um has initiated with the support of the superintendent and his cabinet is really starting the supports as early as we potentially can. Um putting into place interventions,

115collaborating with you know, EI, and ensuring that as soon as we potentially can, we're providing supports for students who may need to build those foundational skills in from a behavioral communication aspect. We're always very mindful, too, when we're doing our evaluations that we're looking at, you know, the students' um cultural background, their WIDA scores. So, again, there's obviously there's things that we can improve on, but we're always looking to ensure that when we're making those diagnoses and then prescriptive, you know, rec- suggestions, that we're basing it off of data. Um I don't know if you have any more Through the chair, I just wanted to mention we mentioned this earlier, but we work really closely with the multilingual department. We meet with them on a regular basis, and these are some of the things that

116we look at on a regular basis. Um but you do have a good point about the male Hispanic population, um students with autism growing. Mhm. Thank you. Ms. Allen, thank you for reporting out tonight, and uh so, I appreciate it. So, the motion will be to approve and to file. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Okay, we are on N, approval of grants and other finance items. Any questions? We can do a roll call on that. Roll call. Member Alvarez? Yes. Member Biancheria? Yes. Member Benanda? Yes. Member Guardiola? Yes. Member Johnson? Yes. Member Mailman? Yes. Vice Chairwoman McCullah? Yes. Member Roy? Yes. Mayor Petty? Yes. You are on general business, response to the administration to GB5-52. Request the administration work with the city manager on internship program through the Worcester Department of Public Works

117to make it accessible to all high school students. Motion to approve and to file. Member um Johnson? Yeah, thank you um to the chair. This came up I get this came out of um watching the city council meeting I forget how how long ago when the city manager talked about talked about this. Um and I'm reading the backup and um um so, I I guess my question is is cuz my request was to work with the city manager. So, this is this the answer to this backup through the chair to administration. Is the answer to this backup working with the city manager on this and this is what he what you guys came up with for an answer? Through the chair. Ms. Allen? Through the chair, I'll ask uh Dr. Lehman to um provide a

118response. Good evening through the chair. So, we work directly with an um Thank you for your question and your concern. Um this has been an ongoing challenge for us related to working and providing internship opportunities for students, particularly students under 18 in certain settings, particularly when um there are safety concerns and when the unions are involved. So, um our immediate response was to go back to the experts, where the folks that have been trying to wrestle with this, including the folks in the DPW, to see where we're at. And it's a persistent challenge where there are liability concerns and the DPW. We can continue to work with the city manager's office to see if this is something that we can resolve, but this is where we're at at this moment. Okay, that's all I have.

119No No questions. >> Dr. Lehman. Okay, the motion is to approve and to file. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. To review and approve the high school mastery-based grading practices. Any questions on that? Motion is to approve and to file. All those in favor, opposed, so ordered. Next is request administration provide update on the programs that include I'm probably going to do it so um Member Johnson? I just have a question re- On the grading? Is that final? Ms. Allen? So, we're already doing this, right? So, you're bringing this back for for Let me just clarify. Through the chair, um right, we're responding to an outstanding motion. And this is final and adopted by the School Committee. So, we already adopted this. I missed it, then. Okay. I missed it. I didn't click on

120it. I'm sorry. Okay. I know you did. I'm sorry. [laughter] I missed it. Okay. >> that's fine. Okay. I I just want to make sure we're moving forward. I I don't want any hold ups with this. So, it if this is what it is, and we're doing it and we're implementing it, I guess we don't need any reconsideration, so this doesn't come back in 2 weeks or anything like that. Correct? Through the chair, through the chair, so this isn't the policy. You There was an outstanding motion to give an update at this time of the year, and this is just that update at this time of year. All right, I missed it. Appreciate it. Okay, so we're approving to file. All those in favor of post so ordered. Request administration provide an update on the

121programs that include online harm through cyberbullying and social media. I'm a member Roy. Thank you. Um through the chair of administration, I want to thank you for the backup that you provided. I really only have a couple quick quick quick comments. Um what are we doing to enforce that these practices are being put into place? Um I heard that in the past we used to have anti-bullying days and kids could make posters, things like that. I'm wondering if anything like that is on the the for the future. Um and also what we what are we doing for the psyche of not only the student who may feel that they're targeted, but what about the psyche for the the other student who may be targeting? Are we looking at both ends of that? Um So, I'll

122leave it up to you, Mr. Allen. Mr. Allen. Through the chair, I'll ask Mr. Tony Tifft to provide a response. Mr. Tony. Through the chair, uh member Roy, can you repeat the question again? Sorry. Okay, the the questions were um what are we doing like um as far as activities, communication with our students to say you know, this is not acceptable. Could we have an anti-bullying day where the kids can make posters, even counsel each other, um and talk about how they feel, how their feelings are. And the other part of my question was, are we identifying and taking care of the psyche of not only the student who may feel like they're being targeted, but the psyche of who they're targeted by so that we can get to the bottom and the root causes,

123see if we can what we can do. Through the chair, uh so I'll start with your second one. With that bullying intervention, that's what we work with on both sides. So, when you're talking about bullying, it's conflict and it's two sides. So, there's work that's done with the uh we'll say the bully and then the victim in this case. So, there is work that's being done on both sides. Uh for your first question, there's a variety of things that different schools do uh that can consist of uh posters or school uh awareness. Uh and we work closely with the DA's office for school presentations. Thank you. Thank you very much. So, so the motion is to approve and the file. All those in favor opposed so ordered. GB 613, request administration look at the adjustment

124of 26-27 school year calendar just for the uh Christmas break to allow for 2 weeks off. Motion is to approve and the file. We all set on that one? All those in favor opposed so ordered. The next item up is 6-34. It's request the superintendent work with the Worcester Public School Athletic Director, Worcester Public School Equity Department together to create a formal process reporting and logging of race-related complaints across all sports directed towards our students so we may understand the breadth of the issue. Additionally, to request a survey of our coaches' experience in the last few years while creating a plan to combat the racism. Motion is referred to administration. Member Mailman. Thank you. Um through the chair, um as it reads pretty much because I think this is um a data collection issue as

125probably a lot of the other things that we talked about tonight, but even since then and since filing this item, I've heard I've had three or four different people come back to me with specific issues. So, um I'll be interested in the report that comes back. Thank you. Member um Benenda. Just a question on that. So, I just question the um the athletics director. If there is any discrimination or hate speech or bias, um the district is mandated to have an investigated uh by Title Nine or Title Six investigation. And that that paperwork is all usually done by someone in HR or if there's an equity officer, that that person would do that. So, I would say that what um member Mailman has requested is already done because it's required by law to do so.

126So, I'm just wondering why we'd be doing it again and adding the athletic director. Um I'm not sure the answer, but um Mr. Allen. Through the chair, so our report can just outline what that process looks like um and so everybody's aware of when there incidents that occur, particularly with our student athletes, what the process the district follows. Okay, so we're referring members to send to administration. Member Mailman. So, through the chair, what you're anticipating is just giving us the process for what's legally what we how we legally respond as Ms. Benenda just or member Benenda just pointed out. >> No, through the chair, that will be part of the response. I think what we'll also be discussing is what efforts we'll be taking as a district going forward after I have an opportunity to

127meet with uh several groups to discuss incidents that occurred to our student athletes this year and what the district will be doing proactively going forward. Thank you. Okay, refer to administration. All those in favor opposed so ordered. Okay. All right, 6-35, request administration provide an update on exploring aviation career program including number of students enrolled, maximum enrollment, schools connected to this program, future of the program with options of expanding the program. Um member Bing Caria. Thank you. Um >> [clears throat] >> I will wait for the report, but I did want to mention um I look forward to discussions with um administration on Mass Bay with the possible opportunities to expand. I feel as though that is a huge piece of this. I know it's 30 students maximum and right now um we're at Sullivan

128and Forest Grove through the chair, is that correct? Yes, through the chair, that's correct. Okay. So, what I would be looking for is to expand at Worcester East Middle and Burncoat Middle. Um what I did want to ask is transportation provided for them to get to to and from the program or Mr. Allen. Are we looking at that? Through the chair, so we will uh as we are able to expand, we will also include transportation in that. Okay. That was one of my questions if All right, and and then you'll be able to respond back on it when you have a chance. Thank you. >> thank you. Okay, refer to administration. All those in favor opposed so ordered. Uh 6- 36, request administration provide a report on rejected students of enrollment of the 26-27 school

129year for K through six with the comparison of the 25-26 school year for any thoughts of funding issues. Uh member Roy. Thank you. Through the chair of administration, um it's been mentioned in the past that we may be looking at lower numbers for K through six in our elementary schools, obviously. Um and what I'm asking for is do we have a some sort of idea or projection for what we can anticipate for the 26-27 school year and what how would that affect um budgeting and funding? Mr. Allen. Through the chair, so um as you might know, the funding that we receive is based on a prior year enrollment. So, it's October 1 of last year will uh dictate our funding level for the next school year. So, um included in our budget book, we do

130include a three-year projection of enrollment by school um that you'll see um when we release the budget next month and that will uh be an indicator of where we think our enrollment levels will be over the next 3 years. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, refer to administration. All those in favor opposed so ordered. Uh next item is 6-37, request administration provide an update on the sale program including the number of students enrolled, the ratio of staff versus students, whether the tier program levels in reference to the needs. Member Roy. Through the chair, I'd like to request that we take GB 37 and GB 38 together. Request administration provide the number of students enrolled under the spectrum of autism and support pro provided with school sites. Member Roy. Once again, I'd really sincerely like

131to thank that amazing presentation we just received. A lot of the questions pertaining to these two items have been addressed. The only thing I would like to see for the future is to make a motion that we get an update and say around November of 2026 to see how things are progressing. Okay. >> [snorts] >> We'll send that to the administration for the update and uh right? Uh member McCollough. >> Through through the chair, just for procedural purposes, I believe member Roy would have to file a new item to do that. >> Okay, we can do that. >> Through the chair to member McCollough, I'm fine with that. I'll do that in the future. So, these two items we're filing, these items here. I'm sorry, could you repeat that? >> These two items are sent

132to the administration. Correct. Okay, all those in favor file. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Filed them. Motion is to file. All those in favor opposed so ordered. Just want to wish everybody a nice holiday weekend, Easter or Passover, and we'll see you back here in a few weeks. Thank you. Motion to adjourn. All those in favor opposed so ordered. >> Mhm.