Worcester School Committee Meeting - 01-22-26

001recording. >> Good evening everyone and welcome to tonight's school committee meeting Thursday January 22nd 2026. And first I'd call the meeting to order and ask all those who are able to please stand for the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem. Ice to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty. Oh, say can you see by the dawn early light so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming whose bright stripes and bright stars through the barrelless fight or the ramparts we were so gallently streaming and the rock is red. The bombs were singing in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangle man for the land of the free and the rain. Okay, if

002the clerk could call the role, please. >> Member Alvarez >> here. >> Member Vancario >> here. >> Member Bernenda >> here. >> Member Guardiola >> here. >> Member Johnson >> here. >> Member mailman >> here. >> Vice Chair McCulla >> here. >> Member Roy >> here. >> Mayor Petty. >> Okay. The first item is um the consent agenda and I ask the clerk to call a role to approve the consent agenda. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Viania, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny. >> Okay. So, our first item this evening is a recognition. And if I if the team wants to come in and

003start walking around, you're going to make a loop. Just go right through here and around in front. So, kind of make a U in front of the members. So this item is to recognize the Worcester Cowboys 12U football team for advancing to the national championship in Naples, Florida. Member Johnson slide back. >> Yeah. Just kind of make the U that way. >> Yep. You can be in front of me too. >> You good? >> Member Johnson. Yeah. >> Thank you through the chair to everyone today. I would like to introduce the 12U West Cowboys. Um they um made it to the national championships down down in Naple, Florida. Um they placed fourth nationally. Um and and one thing I I think some of you guys may not understand that that this isn't an easy feat

004to do. Um the competition down there and the teams down there are um very good, very legit, and um I had the pleasure of being down there and seeing this team play. Um, and we have some athletes here who represent Worcester, represent our Worcester schools. Um, and I definitely think that they needed to be recognized for their hard work and dedication that they put forth all year. Um, and again, I also want to thank the parents who put forth um, the time to get these kids to practice, late nights, weather, all that other stuff. into the coaches. Um, Coach Seafford, who I have known for a while, and some of the other coaches, Coach Jeter, who I also coach with. Um, very great guys, dedicate their time with their fam from their family to give

005to these kids. And congratulations to you guys for a great season. Hopefully you guys can repeat this again next year and represent um New England down in Florida again and bring home a championship. Again, congratulations to the 12U national um tournament champions. Thank you. If the rest of you want to just try to come in, you can come all the way in even in front of the little podium so that way you can get there. We have some certificates for you. I think member Johnson is coming. Oh, there you are. Right there coming up to help present the the first one. I want to make sure I sver or cyber. Yeah. Yeah. But is it Sver or Cyber? All right. She told me something different. Siver. Yeah. Okay, that's okay. Thank you. All right. So,

006the certificates that we have that are going to be passed out to the coaches and players this evening are from the Worcester School Committee certificate of recognition on the 2025 New England Regional Championship Worcester Cowboys 12U football team for advancing to the 2025 American Youth Football National Championships. So, our first one is for head coach Tom Cybert, coach David Burus, Coach Steve Jeter, Coach Kevin Kennedy, Coach Mario Horton, Coach Jarrett Cromwell and coach Valerie Casaganda maybe team parent coach. So then for the students, the players, we have Tyler Aruo, John Brady, David Burus, Giovanni Coleman, Jarrett Cromwell III, Josil Cubo, Kate Hayden EK, Bryson Jeter, Leonardo Helmer, Dos Reon Horton, Hezekia Cababa, Camden Klene, Lewis McKenzie, Aiden Moses Stockwell, Mateo Paige, Terrence Pibbo, Connor Roach, Ethan Rose, Isa Isaiah Santana Irving, Benjamin Cybert, Zaden White,

007and then a special certificate for the team water girl, Lillian Cybert. >> Congratulations everyone. Do we want to try to take a picture with the group? So, I'll have like >> school committee up here. >> Do any of you want to get closer? >> You want to guess want to get closer at all? >> Oh, right here. Good. Say something. >> Go, >> COWBOYS. >> Now it's time for >> Congratulations again and thank you for all you do to make the city proud. >> Thank you. >> Good job, guys. Congratulations. Not there. >> You pay for the Our first item um now on the agenda tonight is public comment. Any member of the public may address the committee regarding any item before them for two minutes. Those speaking will state their name, their residence, and

008then on the item which they wish to speak. >> Do we have anyone in person? So, for public comment, you state your name, your residence, and the agenda item you're speaking on. >> Hi, my name is Michael Ricardi. I'm a grandparent of a student at Roosevelt School and I'm here to talk about issues on ROS6-2 as far as uh safety concerns. A lot of that was brought up in an article that I read like two three days before Christmas and it went it was go supposed to be going to a vote on Tuesday the day before Christmas Eve and I just thought it was kind of undermining us parents that no one knew anything about it but was wasn't enough councilman to make a vote so they had to postpone it to the following week

009which it passed for a 90-day trial. To me, a 90-day tri-day trial seems kind of excessive. Hoping that it can be reduced down to one month to see what the actual problem is, the safety issues. In the article, it mentioned kids riding their bikes to school, walking to school. Well, if you're familiar with Roosevelt, I asked the principal, is one one student in school that takes a bike to school? Other other walkers, if they're very few, they use Southernland Road. So, Grafton Street shouldn't be an issue as far as they talk about accidents. No one's showing us any statistics about any accidents going on on on Grafton Street. They just they're talking and if they could present something and I have no issue with this proposal that went through, no parking on each side. If

010there's a solution, we have no solution. Where is where is parents going to go? Where are we going to line up? I'm a parent that has to be in Auburn at 2:45 to pick my other granddaughter up. So, I'm there early. >> Thank you. >> I I forgot to put the two-minute timer on. I apologize. Though, I will say that um I'm sure that the administration is working back with the city to come up with an alternative solution. We can't respond to questions from public comment, but I'm happy to make sure that um administration does get in touch with you and work with the school back on alternative solutions. >> And I'm hoping all you've got my daughter's email. Kaylee Kaylee Fantasia. >> Thank you very much. >> Just one minute. Sorry about that. >>

011Sorry about that. You can get started. Just your name, your city of residence, and the item that you're here to speak on. >> Uh, hi. My name is Al Luis Fues. Good evening to everyone. My name is Luis Fares and a grandfather picker kid in Gron in Roser School. I live in 60 alter street and a referral number is als but not for us. It is no space over there for us. Now with this ban, what they want to do is put us in the street and then we have to have to cross the street with the kid. They make it more dangerous for for the parents and for the grandkid. For me is my grandkid but all the kid. it it will be in more danger because we had to cross the street and

012uh I feel like uh somebody had to start listening outside the box because they spend all almost two million bucks in there and we still had the same the same uh problem and uh I can see the group being improve to move the line faster but nobody want to listen We don't we was not notified or nothing about this ban and uh I don't know somebody had to start uh listen thank you just your name your city of residence and the item that you're speaking on. >> Yes. uh Fred Nathan Worcester uh GB- uh 1-5116 the item about uh Belmont school here uh here we are talking about all these different traffic issues and obviously they're all important but as much as the Grafton Street is important the Belmont Street is important too cuz you

013got crosswalks there that aren't being properly um enforced that cars come every which way. So if they need to have another beacon or whatever it is they put up there then they need to do it. And as far as the Grafton Street prom Dunkin Donuts or McDonald's between the hours of say quarter 1 to about quarter past 2 and you better stay in there cuz the likelihood of of you getting out of there safely in your car is not that great because you got all these cars and you cannot see that way or you cannot see that way. And are you waiting until someone gets killed? Is that what it's going to take someone to get killed there? Because there have been some serious accidents there. So, they do have a parking lot that they

014uh improved at the school there to add 30 more spots. If you need to take people out of waiting in front there and tell them to go park in the lot, they need a cruiser there and they need to keep people from parking there. I understand people want to get their kids, but you have the same problem at every school. At every school, parents waiting. There needs to be a way to keep the traffic flowing. Ambulances come by there. Police cars come by there. Ambulances come by there. Do the right thing. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else for inerson comment? Is there anyone online, madam cler? All right, with that being said, we're closing public comment and then moving on to the report of the superintendent ROS6-2 vision to action facilities and school safety updates

015taken with GB5-114 to request that the safety department work with the schools, particularly those in hight traffic areas to review pickup and dropoff policies and require right turn only into and out of school driveways during specific drop off and pickup times to improve significant congestion in those areas with a particular focus on middle and high schools. So, Superintendent Allen, >> thank you uh to the chair. I'll invite uh the team to come up up that's presenting. Um as you know, uh one of our six key priorities of the strategic plan is on modernized and safe facilities. And uh we've used uh both local, state, and federal funds uh around improving school facilities, both building conditions and around school safety. We've uh made this uh an annual presentation to give an update to the school committee

016where we stand with regards to uh facility updates and school safety updates. So I'll turn over to the team uh for the presentation. >> Thank you. And if you all would just want to introduce yourselves so everyone knows who you are as you present that would be great. Thank you Dr. >> Good evening through the chair. Sarah Canavo chief financial and operations officer. through the chair direct Richard Iiken and director of facilities. >> All right, good evening. Through the chair, we are here to provide a comprehensive update on our facilities and school safety initiatives. Joining me tonight are Richard Iikman and facilities direct facilities director and Dr. Matthew Morris, our school safety director. Our objective tonight is to provide a clear assessment of our infrastructure while offering a roadmap that ensures continued modernization for our

017student staff and community. Slide please. Our work is rooted in the strategic district strategic plan which serves as our commitment to the community. This evening we are focusing on modernized and safe facilities. We believe our buildings are a fundamental component of student equity. Every student deserves a space that supports both their physical safety and their academic growth. Slide, please. The district's commitment is clear to ensure every school has the infrastructure for 21st century teaching environment. Through the STIC strategic plan, four key aims were established. increasing spending on maintenance, prioritizing renovations to support future ready learning spaces, improving responsiveness, and expanding community partnerships to allow students greater opportunities. Slide. This presentation will walk you through a summary of the physical spaces managed every day, the current state of facilities planning, and our progress towards these key

018aims. Slide, please. The district manages 1,700 classrooms and 4.6 million square feet of space. The average age of a Wister public schools building is 77 years. Nearly half of our buildings were built before 1940. Maintaining these aging structures requires a dual approach. Recognizing that while these buildings have served generations, there must be a strategic shift towards modernization that ensures our current students and staff have equitable access to 21st century learning. Slide, please. Under AIM1, the district has significantly increased spending to better maintain our buildings and grounds. Looking at the data, the district's total investment has grown by 48% since FY23. Most notably, over a thousand% increase in school safety. This demonstrates the district's commitment to prioritize the physical security of our students and staff. Dr. Morris will review these safety improvements in the next few

019slides. Slide, please. Aim 2 represents a fundamental shift from being reactive to proactive, a more thoughtful approach to how our facilities support the district's mission. We are balancing immediate physical and safety necessities like emergencies, maintenance, enhanced locks and intercoms with five-year capital planning. By coordinating our master plan with public facilities, city investments, MSBA partnerships, and our school boundary realignment goal, we will ensure every building will be utilized to full capacity for our students and staff. Slide, please. Next, I'll be handing off to Dr. Morris, who will be providing information on the district's phases of locks and intercoms, staff training, crisis response, and safety operations. Thank you. Good evening, uh, members. Through the chair, I would like to begin by discussing the work that has been completed, the work that is ongoing and the work that

020is upcoming to enhance the physical security of our buildings. In addition, I'll be sharing information about the work being done to increase the readiness of our schools and our school staff to respond and meet emergencies that may be encountered at their schools. School safety work differentiates between physical security and operational security. But let there be no confusion, both are equally essential to a district's safety planning. Physical security includes locks, intercoms, cameras, and any other hardware or materials that enhance or strengthen the physical security of our buildings. The goal is to strengthen our schools and make them more secure by updating physical security infrastructure. Operational security is what numbers three and four on the slide are about. It's about readiness and enhancing readiness through awareness of communication and response protocols that are designed to meet emergencies

021that are encountered. The goal of this work is to prepare our people by providing relevant protocols, training, and clear expectations for emergency drills to support school readiness. Next slide, please. Slide nine. As far as physical security is concerned, installation of phases one and two of locking hardware has been completed. Phases one and two were marked by the installation of new classroom and office locks and panic bar hardware or exit devices at 14 elementary schools and one middle school that had either older, out of code, obsolete or non-existent door locks. The total monetary investment in safety improvements during these phases and including the locks was 1.1 million. It is important to note that the lock hardware purchased and installed are the new standard for our district. These will be the preferred lock types that will be

022installed at all Worcester public school sites across remaining lock installation phases. The goal is one standard type of lock across all schools and sites. Also of importance is that all new lock hardware is being key to a new district keying framework organized by quadrant school and lock type. This does not mean that any or all keys are the same. Rather, this will be a primary means to meet our district's need for greater key control and key organization at the district, quadrant, and building level. And that itself will enhance our safety as a district. Next steps, um, one next step includes planning for purchase and installation for phases three and four of this lock project. This will involve a specification for locks at an additional 14 schools, including one additional middle school and 13 elementary schools.

023This will bring our total at the end of phase 4 to 31 schools or a little more than 60% of our schools with new locks on classrooms and other spaces. In addition to door locking hardware and in collaboration with our Worcester public schools facilities department, work will be occurring around school building intercom replacement. With this work, our approach will be much the same. We will contract work with an electrical engineering firm to assess current intercom conditions across the district and we will develop specifications for a model replacement system. The goal will be to create a standard replacement system for intercoms to address schools that require full replacement of systems. Once assessment is complete and specifications for a standard model system are created, we'll begin installation in phases according to building needs and levels of obsolescence.

024Next slide. Slide 10, please. Training of staff is an important aspect of operational safety and readiness. Towards the end of promoting readiness, training activities introduce protocols, reinforce the usage of protocols, in some cases do an engaging tabletop exercise. We reinforce the imperative of drills at schools all towards the uh goal of readiness. Training has been held with district leaders, principles, assistant principles, and deans on the standard response protocol and the standard reunification model, two of our primary protocols as a district. School administrators are then expected to deliver the same protocol content information to their staff, their students, and caregivers as a means to raise awareness in preparation for drills that are conducted each year. The Worcester public schools has also been involved in training with the assistants and in collaboration with the Worcester Police Department.

025Last June, a tabletop exercise conducted by West Police Department incorporated elements of our standard response protocol language in a simulation of a highstakes school emergency. All school principles participated and were required to think about their response and their communication to their staff and students in a highly realistic simulation. Last August, a dayong training was conducted by the Worester Police Department with our Worcester public schools transportation drivers and monitors that focused on a high stakes emergency on a school bus. This was a follow-up to training that was done last spring for our transportation department in collaboration with the US Transportation Security Administration. Also in August, principles were reintroduced to our protocols. uh they were reminded about how to access police support in an emergent or non-emergent situation and the location where the Worcester public schools crisis

026communication and response im information was to be found. This also included discussion of our drill expectations for the school year and a reintroduction of the form used to collect drill data. In terms of crisis response, Worester the public schools crisis communication and response for school personnel is updated regularly as new protocols are created. The document is easily accessible to principles and all school staff on team online. Communication is central to crisis response. And a new initiative, Worcester Schools Net, that is a grant-f funed collaboration between the Worcester public schools and Worcester Emergency Management Communications, is providing all of our schools with a desktop radio and an active and passive radio connection directly to emergency communications dispatchers. This system is being rolled out and radios are being installed in schools at this time. As part of

027this new radio installation, we're introducing a new protocol that provides schools with clearer guidance on the information that that is provided to 911, regardless of whether a call is made using the new radio or a telephone. In terms of inbuilding emergency messaging, a school-based emergency notification system is being piloted at one of our high schools this winter. This system will allow Worcester public schools technology devices within the school to display emergency messages including the language and symbols of our standard response protocol. Eventually following the pilot, the S system will be scaled up across all Worester public schools sites and schools. Next slide, please. It is important to note that the Worester public school safety student pedestrian program does not occur in isolation but it is involved in collaboration with a number of partners. Another place

028where this is very apparent is in the work that we do around uh keeping our students uh safe as as pedestrians and this work includes the Worester Department of Transportation Mobility, the Mass Department of Transportation safe routes to school program and the Worester Police Department traffic division. The ultimate goal is to keep our students safe on their walk to and from their school or bus drop off point. Our collaboration with Worcester Department of Transportation and Mobility and Massachusetts Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School program involves us in opportunities to improve our infrastructure to educate and toa engage our schools communities in the work of promoting safe walking, biking or rolling to our schools. Worcester public schools and the Worcester Department of Transportation and Mobility received statewide recognition for collaboration on a number of different

029grants and safe routs activities with an award received at the Massachusetts State House last June. We collaborate regularly, but we meet monthly to discuss this essential work of getting our students to and from school by using sidewalks and road crossings safely. Some of this work includes partnering again on infrastructure grants, promoting walk to school days, and continually working on reviewing pickup and drop off practices in high traffic areas to support safe and efficient flow of traffic. Recent work in this area includes working being done at Roosevelt at Vernon Hill School and Wikas Road School. Uh we recently received state money and are working with the Worcester Department of Transportation and Mobility to purchase install solar powered rectangular rapid flashing beacons and crossing improvements uh for five priority locations. And we have identified uh Belmont Street

030School as a suggested priority for that work. And at this time I'd like to turn things over to Mr. Iiken, director of facilities. Thank you Dr. MOS through the chair. Next slide, please. The facilities master plan is a comprehensive effort to assess this condition of the buildings across the city, including both municipal and Worcester public school facilities. In December, the designer selection board comprised of representative from multi multiple city departments reviewed proposals for this work. After evaluating each bidder, the board selected one firm to conduct the building assessments for both the city facilities in the West Public Schools. This vendor was Habib Associates. The contract is currently being finalized with legal services and the project is scheduled to begin later this year. Next slide, please. Five-year capital plan. Each year, the facilities department reviews and

031updates the five-year capital plan to ensure the district's most pressing needs are addressed. Below are the proposed projects for the 25,26 and the 26 27 school years. Funding for these initiatives comes from a combination of city capital funds, Massachusetts school building authority programs, oper allocations, and the IVAC resources. In recent years, the district has also benefited from city block grants which supported the improvements to the Roosevelt School parking lot and traffic flow project. Next slide, please. Here you will see the types of projects that are addressed on an annual basis. These change from year to year based on the needs of the district. Next slide, please. Here are pictures depicting some of the major projects have been completed or are currently underway. The picture on the left depicts a parking lot at Roosevelt, which to

032depict the parking lot and traffic patterns improvements that were completed in Q1 of of the 2526 school year at Roosevelt uh middle uh school. The middle picture shows the stairs that were renovated at Worcester Technical High School. This was just part of the parking lot parking garage improvements that took place over the summer break. The picture on the right shows the ADA improvements that are underway at Thornike Street School. This is a two-year project run by the city to make ADA improvements such as fire suppression upgrades, exterior entrance improvements, and new and a new elevator. Next slide, please. Accelerated repair projects. The MS the Massachusetts School Building Authority Accelerator prepare projects. Over the years, Worcester Public School has participated in the MSBA annual accelerator program. Through this initiative, the district has been able to address

033a range of facilities needs, including a replacement of windows, boilers, and roofs. Examples of these improvements include projects at Union Hill, Columbus Park, Worcester Middle, and Vernon Hill, just to name a few. This past year, we entered two schools, Rice Square and Belmont, for much needed improvements. The board met in October and recommended both these schools to be put forward in the process. Next slide, please. Burn code high school regarding the Massachusetts school building authority program. On this slide is an update to the Worcester public schools progress within the Burn code high school Massachusetts school building authority project. In late 2025, the city completed search for an owner's project manager selecting Doran Woodier for the role. The project now moves to the designer selection phase which will be advertised next week with bid scheduled to

034open at the end of February. After the designers is slow chosen, the feasibility study will begin a phase that can last up to two years. Next slide, please. Here is just some of the investments in the schools on the over the past 20 years, the district has benefited from these Massachusetts school building authority programs enabling construction of several schools including Nelson Place, Worester Technical High School, North High, South High, and most recently to Doherty Memorial High School. Next slide, please. I want to also provide you with an update to the goal specifically regarding AIM three. The facilities department has strive to depart to to address andor complete any work ordered within 72 hours that is deemed an emergency. I am happy to say that we continue to hit this mark. In Q2 of the 2526

035school year, there were 39 emergency work orders opened. All of them were assessed with 30 assessed. 36 of them were completed within 72 hours. The remaining three needed supplies and materials or were deemed important opposed to an emergency. As for the work orders in the same time frame, there were h 1,683 opened. 1,260 of them were either closed or canceled with the remaining 428 being open. These open work orders continue to be worked on presently. That concludes and turn back over to Miss Consalo. >> Thank you. >> Through the chair, AIM4 represents our belief that schools should be a hub for the community. Our focus is on securing the space and funding necessary to support partnerships that expand opportunities for our students and their families. By collaborating with organizations like the YMCA and the Guild

036of St. Magnus, we are expanding out of school care to provide safe and enriched environments that extend learning beyond the school day. We continue to identify community partners and funding available for this expansion. Slide, please. Looking at FY26 and beyond, we are committed to the steady implementation of safety upgrades, continued responsiveness of maintenance, and the transition of Burn code high into into schematic design and the start of construction. By finalizing our master plan and analyzing school boundaries, we are confident that our infrastructure and building utilization will ensure continued improvement for our students, staff, and community. We continue to make progress and appreciate the ongoing commitment of our facilities and operational teams through the chair. Thank you for the opportunity to present this evening and we'll be happy to take any questions. >> Thank you. Member

037Bian Carrier followed by member Guardiola and then thank you. This is an excellent report. It certainly gives us a number of updates that we're looking at. And I'm also wondering um when you talk about our schools as we look at the group, we have a lot of old buildings. I mean, let's face it, we every time we do our budget, we make the same statements that we have old buildings. So, what I'm curious on is when we look at what our buildings are presently and we look to redistrict, are any of that uh those features going to be taken into consideration as we're changing some of the locks and making some improvements in different sites because I know we were looking at um increasing enrollment in some schools uh to take off some of under

038the pressure. So, is that going to be a combination of thoughts or are we keeping it separate >> through the chair? Yes, it's a combination of thoughts. >> Correct. >> Any ideas on what we're looking at as far as what would you say um if we knew through the chair? Uh what we're looking at is there a school that would be able to accommodate more students at this time because it seems like we're really starting to bust at the seams at all of them. But what are the few schools that we're looking at to say that they're not as um full >> through the chair? We're doing analysis um currently right now. We've just connected with the vendor, but we do see Rice Square as a capac school that's over capacity along with Chandler. Those

039are our two on the list. Um but there's quite a bit. >> Okay. So those would be considered our priorities at this time. When we look at Worcester East Middle specifically, we've um added that additional grade level to the I think it's the fourth floor at the building. Um at this time, do we feel as though um we're moving into a safe area? It what would be the priorities for Worcester Middle because we are increasing to an old building enrollment, but we're also taking on students from another site. So, I'm just curious on any improvements. I know we did some over the summer, which was the windows, and that worked out really well. Um, inside any anything going on in the school as far as what we're looking at >> to the to the chair,

040if I can. So, in addition to the uh the remaining windows that will be completed next summer, we did some restroom uh renovations uh this past summer as well to accommodate that sixth grade uh that's at the school. Um, speaking with staff at the school, they're uh very happy with this sixth grade. It's going really well for those students and for the staff. It's a it's a great community um at Wise Middle and so I think something we want to look forward to continuing as long as we can. >> In terms of other repairs, I've been, as we know, Worice Middle is the next project that we've publicly identified as uh the MSBA school after Burncoat, but we know that's still a number of years away before we'd be eligible to submit that school. So,

041I uh continue to have conversations with the city manager to see if there's any interior um work that can be done. Um and he seems interested having that conversation of um what uh what funds might be available uh to support uh interior improvements at Wester Mill. I I would think so at this time because we're looking at two uh almost three uh proposals in the area that would certainly increase the number of students that would be attending any of the schools on that um in that area actually. So I it's good to hear that he's um interested in that. Thank you. Um, and lastly, I obviously when we look at the safety for our students, um, and the dollars that are being invested as the master plan is moving along, it seems to me that

042the master plan is perhaps not ahead but right on schedule. Um do you feel as though when we are looking at our budget um we are going to have some special ideas for how we're going to be spending the money through the chair as far as safety in facilities >> through the through the chair. So I think we've committed um to continue to increase facility spending where we can to be closer to the foundation budget level of spending. So that's been our target is to be within the fun foundation budget target >> and the current allocation for school safety as noted earlier is was a,000% increase from prior. Um and I think uh that the team has developed a uh a workable phasing in of particularly locks and intercom systems uh that aren't the priority

043of the district that will continue over the next couple of years. >> That in the walk case I know when we look at um not only the intercom system and that may sound like a very simple fix but it's something that I think um we certainly need to pay attention to with the safety factor of during recess. Um and and in the morning as students are arriving and as they're exiting the communication lines certainly need to be open. >> Thank you very much and I certainly appreciate the report. >> Member Guardiola. >> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Uh just a couple things. First off, thank you so much for the report. Um a lot of good information here. It really gives us kind of a uh a you know 30,000 foot view of what's going

044on across the city with the different buildings and the different projects that are going on. So, thank you for that. Uh, just a couple comments and a question. Uh, first off, you know, the investment, the thousand% more investments from FY23 to 26 into safety is fantastic. I think that obviously the entrance and exits of the uh the schools is has to be a priority, right? It has to be something that we don't want folks coming into the buildings and making, you know, doing things that they're not supposed to be doing or not knowing who's coming into the building. So, thank you so much for really utilizing funds to to to make that investment into the safety of the schools. Um, kind of going off of that um, you know, safety, the uh, emergency notification system

045that you're piloting now, just a quick question, you know, h how is it going? What is it? What is it actually doing on a daily basis? Is it going to people's computers, teachers computers? Is it is there a sound system that alerts uh, the the students as well? I just want to get a little more information >> to the chair. through the chair. We'll do all of those things with any district-owned device. So, uh district laptops, uh teacher laptops, um phones if they're equipped in the classrooms, uh projectors, um this is a a fairly comprehensive means of getting a message out uh across a school. Um so, and also district cell phones would be part of that as well. Good way to send an alert out right across the school. >> And again, I know

046we're in the pilot time. Uh is it does it look to be a successful project? Uh so far through the chair, >> through the chair, the demonstration I have seen and our IT uh networking department's been very involved in in u the the planning for this. Um it's a very impressive uh setup. It it uh promises, I think, some streamlined communication, some good ways of getting uh the board out in an emergency. >> That's great. Well, thank you. Uh kind of on the same kind of montage here. Uh the pedestrian safety stuff, you know, uh glad to see that we're investing in these solar rectangular rapid fash uh flashing lights and beacons. Um, and obviously we've talked about Belmont on a regular basis because that is a very trafficated uh road that also is a

047very high speed coming down that hill, very dangerous. We've had some issues obviously in the past. Um, and we've seen that we've put flashing lights on other parts of the city. uh whether it's Shburg Street, wherever it may be, it has somewhat deterred I think, but really uh I don't think it's the final kind of thing that's going to make the make or break this. Uh have we had any conversations with, you know, with the police department about having cruisers there? Because to me, the biggest deterrent is when you put people in uh or hit them in their pockets. uh if if all of a sudden we start ticketing folks saying, "Hey, I think that there has to be some sort of communication there cuz uh we see it across the city and I see

048it, you know, and I I've used this analogy on regular uh different times. You know, when you have a state trooper on the highway driving in the middle of the highway at 65, nobody's passing this guy, right?" Uh so again, that deterrent will hopefully and also the fact that you're going to start ticketing folks hopefully will help kind of mitigate some of the issues we have. Again, are those conversations being had through the chair? >> Through the chair, yes, we're in constant communication uh with the Department of Transportation and Mobility and quite often uh through our work with Worcester PD, the traffic division to um you know, certainly the information I'm I'm sending along is uh problem areas that I'm seeing that are being reported to me either through uh parent uh caregiver phone calls

049or through discussion with the principal. So those conversations occur uh regularly and that collaboration is ongoing. >> Thank you. And you know just the last quick comment you know excited about the burn code project. Glad to see that's going out to bid and get a feasibility study. Uh you know obviously we're all really excited to see that this this last high school is going to get done but uh congratulations on the the timeline that we put forth and kind of sticking to that. So thank you. >> Thank you. U member Johnson followed by member Roy, member Mailman and member Benenda. >> Thank you um through the chair to administration. Thank you for the report. Um it's always good to see about all the great things that we're doing and and upgrading our facilities especially around

050um safety stuff. Um do have a few questions. I I I want to start with um what is it? Right square I think it is. So the parking lot that we spent all that money on, right? Is it Roosevelt? Roosevelt. >> Um how how is how is that go overall through the chair too? >> Administration >> through the through through the chair. So the parking lot accomplished some of what was what we talked about particularly uh the creation separation of buses from um normal traffic. So the buses now loop from Sunland Road and do not hold up traffic because once their lights are deployed uh cars can't pass them and there was only one way out. So it has streamlined the pickup process. Uh what we still are uh addressing um and need to address

051is the queueing of cars before dismissal time um and how we can um utilize uh school space uh to get some of the cars off of uh Grafton Street area. So, um, I've spoken to the city manager again today on that and we'll be working on our side to see to what extent we can cue cars on on our property to alleviate some of the traffic on Grath Street >> through the chair to an administration. So, we have this space in that pocket area to alleviate some of those cuts. Am I correct? >> Through the chair, there is space and I'm going to defer to Dr. Morris. there there's some we have some safety concern about that as well about not crossing kids through cars um because the way the cars have to loop back

052out to Grafton Street and so the the the school is still preferring to uh have the pickup outside the the exit doors versus looping the we've been working with uh safe roots I'll actually turn over to Dr. Morris for a more detailed explanation. >> Yeah. Through the uh chair. Before that parking lot opened, the new parking opened, we uh worked with Safe Routes to take a look at the current uh flow of traffic coming in off of Grafton and, you know, to take a look at how to make that as efficient and safe as possible. And safety is always at the heart of of the work that uh that they do. So, you know, I I do believe they're working with that school and they they have been working uh quite hard throughout the year.

053I've been up there a number of times to watch that uh dismissal process and it is u they're working incredibly hard but we want to uh take a look at to what extent they can loop and cue cars uh in the original lot of the school. Um will that resolve everything on Grafton Street? I don't believe so. But it will, I believe, support uh the reduction of cars out there. >> Thank you. And I guess unfortunately through the chair to administration with the new proposed 90day parking ban on Grafton Street that's going to cause some problems, right? So what is the school's plan around addressing that issue when you're now not going to be able to have cars lined up on Grassland Street? How are we going to address that problem >> through the chair?

054So it's through the queueing on school property that we need to uh figure out my understanding um in conversation with the city manager that that those signs are not supposed to be in front of the school. It's only supposed to be after the school property. So, there still might be a little bit of space in front of the school for cars to queue, but we need to figure out how to queue them onto school property uh to get them off the street. >> Okay. Um I guess I get off that topic now. Um through the chair to administration. So, I we always talked about Belmont Street. I can't remember. I we we got something I think last year in regards to Belmont Street and the traffic going down and and kids crossing. How many crossing

055dots does Belmont Street have um currently? >> Um I believe they they have four currently. >> Do we know where through the chair? Do we know where they're like located at? Like >> we do. I don't have that exact data on me, but I can tell you on there are uh uh two on Marfield and then the crossing at uh Rodney may have one right now, but we are in the process of hiring an additional and onboarding an additional crossing for that uh crossing. >> Okay. So, they have at least four to my recollection. Yeah, we're four. I don't have that data >> and Okay. actively. Can can I just get I just want to make sure we have enough crossing guards like they're working that they're employed um to to have that discussion. >>

056Um >> yeah, >> and I want to go on to the the the locks and stuff. So when when when we had the the audit that came out and we talked about kind of um going in and kind of taking a look at the most needed schools to address some of those concerns. Are we saying that phase one of here all those schools that were our priority were addressed in phase one through the chair? Just so I'm clear. >> Yes. >> Okay. So all those schools are all set. Okay. During that, I I remember, you know, there was some things, you know, we don't talk about schools, but there was some dead spots, lighting, um, camera stuff or whatever in certain schools. Were those also addressed during phase one as well, or >> I'm just

057wondering >> through the chair. So the uh the safety audit uh ranked uh each of those findings into a priority area and so we're addressing the locks in intercoms were the highest of the priority but there are some things that we can do through um just normal facilities repairs including fixing or improving lighting. Um so those can get done separate from uh our targeted approach of doing the intercoms and locks um because those were the highest priority and because of the expense we were uh we did have to phase that over a couple of years in terms of phasing that in but we did take care of the highest priority locks um in the first year. So but some of the uh smaller stuff uh we do through the work order process through facilities. >>

058Okay, perfect. That that's good to know. Um, and I didn't see this. I I don't know what the answer is. I haven't been to every school or not. I know there was talk before through the chair to administration in regards to um the front door key fobs for all at all schools or whatever. Are those all set in every school or we still working on getting that up and going for staff to enter and stuff on their own through the chair? through the chair. We are in the process of adding if if need be and and actually in the process of adding additional entry points >> and that would be all schools through the chair. I'm sorry. >> That is correct. Okay. >> Do we know how many schools that that's neat? I I just

059think that's a cool feature to have. I think that that that's >> so uh we can get a detailed report, but just on my own experience visiting schools, it's a handful of schools that still have the buzzer system versus me being able to just use my access card to get into the school. So many most I'm going to say most of the schools have the access uh control to get into u one or more doors, exterior doors. There's still a number a handful of schools that we still have to upgrade. >> Okay. No, no problem. Other than that, I I have um no other questions. Thank you guys for the report. Thanks for the work that you guys have done and the money we've put into the schools and um really appreciate it. Thank you,

060>> member Roy followed by member mailman, member Benenda, and Mayor Penny. >> Thank you. Thank you for the report. It was very well done. I just have a couple questions on page 13 where it says the five-year capital plan. Um, and I have brought this to the attention of um, facilities and to um, the superintendent. Um, the roof at Sullivan Middle School is in dire need of serious repair and I do understand that it's more extensive than it is um, originally thought. Um, but I don't see I see that interior where is it here? Interior renovations were on the list, but there's nothing on the list going into 2026 27 um in regard to exterior um as well as interior. There's nothing listed for Sullivan. Is that going to be on the list? >> Yeah.

061Through the chair. So um since last year when that 5-year capital budget was uh developed, um there was a certain assumption on the condition of the Sullivan middle roof. I think since then we've determined it to be um more extensive than a year ago. And so we're uh the facilities department um is exploring the full extent of the repair that is needed to to include potentially even submitting for a full roof replacement through MSBA um in an upcoming cycle for accelerator repair. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. And um as far as the interior repairs, I have two letters um from students in the civics action project for the civics enrichment class um and detailing and outlining some really big pro things that need to be renovated in the bathrooms that also go along

062with um safety as well as privacy issues. Um so I could I have copies if you'd like to see what the the students wrote. And that's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you, member mailman. >> Thank you. Um I'm scribbled in several places so through the chair I'm not sure where to start but let me start on page 12 which is um the facilities master plan and I couldn't hear the name of the vendor. I'm not sure who's who >> through the chair. Habib Associates. >> TBIS. H Khabib and Associates. >> Can you spell that? >> H A BB EB. >> So I know we've been working on this work u maybe to the superintendent for already for a couple of years. So what have we accomplished before we bring in the vendor? Um

063you know I heard um I think Miss Conso say Chandler and Rice Square. We've we already know those are the overcrowded buildings. So what is our starting point? >> So through the chair um so we had the um initial facilities master plan from 2017 or so >> um that gave um initial uh a very detailed uh view of uh the condition of our facilities as part of working collaboratively with the city. This is a joint facilities master's plan of school buildings and city buildings. Um, and so this is going to uh I'm going to defer to Miss Dykin for a second. We established a threshold of what we actually want them to look at. Not when we don't want to look at just the um regular maintenance items. We actually want to focus on deferred

064maintenance of things that will be part of a capital plan. This result of this facilities master plan is going to inform our five-year capital plan going forward. So, this is going to be the blueprint of our spending for capital projects once they're completed a year or so from now. Um, so was there a thresh I forget what the threshold was. >> We looked at $50,000 or more. >> 250 >> 50,000 >> 50. >> Yeah, >> it's a little threshold. >> It is. >> Yeah. And and so again, back to the question about what we've accomplished prior to, you know, in the past two years of discussions with the s city about the master plan and how much of the square footage of that the city owns is schools versus um city >> through the chair.

065The 4.6 million is our interior square footage. I don't know what the city's interior square footage is, but we have four and a half the four and a half million is ours. >> But you discussed both. I mean you're you you work on both sides. Is that correct? >> No. So the city will get their share of the facilities master plan. We'll get our share and then we'll work with the city in terms of funding it. >> Um so we've estabed those conversations um a couple of years ago in terms of >> estab planning. >> Yeah. >> So we continue to have I continue to have capital conversations in my monthly meetings with the city manager. Yeah, >> we're using this facilities master plan once completed to once that's completed, we'll rejoin the the group

066conversation about uh facility master planning as a citywide total. >> Okay. >> I guess I just as we keep talking about this because I think we will for a while, it would be useful to know like what's already been accomplished versus where we're going now. But I'll let it go for now. Um we um lock safety the lock you said something was 60% done was that the locks >> through the chair at the I think I I stated that at the conclusion of phase four we'll be at about 60% of our buildings complete >> at the conclusion of phase four >> phase for >> we'd be 60% done with >> standard if I can standardizing the lock across all buildings. So we have buildings that are fully securable, >> right? >> But it it might

067be uh still a a key method. The new lock that we're installing across the uh the city that it can be locked colorcoded um um to be locked and secured by the teacher without using a key. So the 60% is standardized on that new locking system. The other schools have lockable doors. >> Um we will upgrade those over time to be standardized across the entire city. That's that's the distinction. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, and I just want to I had a the opportunity to sit with the the grandfathers that were here speaking to us earlier a couple times at a meeting at council and um had a little time with them this morning and you know this incessant conversation about um park, you know, parking and in and out of school and after school

068and all that kind of stuff. And I feel like there's an opportunity for us as a district to really make sure that we're trying to sell bus like I asked both of them how come the kids aren't on the buses and they're concerned about safety and they're concerned about bullying and then there's concerns that are always going to be present. Well, I have to go get another kid in Auburn so they're probably not going to be able to use the bus. But I at my core believe that we could increase our bus usage by some percentage. And I and I would make a motion that we actually come up with a plan for that um by asking families by maybe or through the chair to Sarah Consalvo. Do we is there what is our plan

069to try to increase usage on our buses >> through the chair? We can certainly look at that. I wouldn't know that we have a current plan to >> to the chair if I can only from my past experience. So we did offer transportation to families even if they uh wouldn't typically be eligible. For example, there are a number of students that attend Roosevelt through um voluntary control which would not particularly from like the Rice Square neighborhood. We used that actually as an overcrowding relief for Rice Square several years ago. Yeah, >> we could offer transportation to a host of families to eliminate car traffic at the school. We've offered it before. We can certainly try to do that again. >> Yeah, I I just think it's if there's so much room to improve that and

070to increase the numbers and I would like us to see us really make that effort to alleviate this. The um member Johnson asked the question about the new lot that we built. Was that supposed to be for teacher parking or was that supposed to be for what was I thought it was supposed to be for um parents to get them off the street. Am I is that incorrect? Through the chair. >> Through the chair. So we knew from the outset that it was going to alleviate some of the issue but not completely address the issue. The the other thing I neglected to say earlier um as a part of the queueing is we do have the safety issue of the traffic on Grath Street, but we also have to be mindful of the fire department

071having access to the building as well and not clogging >> um the queuing area in case there's an emergency during the school day. So, we're trying to balance all of those factors. >> Yeah. Um we did account of the number of staff that are parking there in relation to um the the number of parking spaces and that there's really not that many available spots. >> Correct. >> Um there are a significant number that are required under ADA uh compliance that are not being utilized, but we can't use those for regular uh usage because they're uh designated for ADA. >> And I think all these questions apply to so many of the other schools, too. So I think it's still a relevant exercise even when we go through this. Um and I would a shout out

072to um Fiona Jatan Singh who was constantly brought up sidewalks on Sunderland Road which we still don't have. So I can understand that. And um I think member um Guadiola talked about ticketing and I thought through the chair maybe to the mayor. We're not going to ticket parents are we through the chair. or to the superintendent I guess >> are you >> public schools will not but >> the there was something approved at council the other night last night that's why I was asking the mayor but I didn't think we were going to ticket so through the chair I didn't I maybe it's to member Guadiola what were you talking about for ticketing >> I think when the mayor speaks he can speak on that he's speaking after >> okay so we don't Okay. So,

073I would just say I hope that we're not going to ticket parents and grandparents on Grafton Street. Um, and that and I think that they have done a lot of homework that we should really be seriously in con in um discussions with them about this topic of getting people off Grafton Street. Um through the chair Sarah Consello had an item about you mentioned I think two schools where we had afterchool programs that were happening. >> Uh through the chair YMCA and the Saint Guild um Guild of St. Agnes are at several of our schools. >> Okay. >> I don't have the school list in front of me. >> Okay. Was that an increase? Were you suggesting that we had had an increase in our school? >> Expanding. Correct. >> Okay. And do you know through

074the chair which um schools those will be expanded in? >> Through the chair if I can answer. So we're using we're we're working with our community partners on a hub model of uh allowing our schools to be used um for after school care program. So this is still a work in progress as part of our strategic plan. We as part of our strategic plan we'll give more updates um as these are finalized. >> Okay. So we there's no decision yet. There's no no we haven't nothing's really been identified yet. We're starting to have discussions. Is that >> through the chair starting and slightly expanding >> but not? >> Yes. So we we'll provide a more detailed report on the expansion of after school programs um in a report. >> Okay. Do we have to make

075a motion for that or >> No, we'll do it as part of our strategic plan update. >> All right. Um I think that's good. Thank you. Member Vananda. >> Perfect. Oops. Oh, great. Thank you. I just have a couple questions, too. Uh, first of all, when when we're saying the ADA upgrades, say like a challenging reach, are those sprinklers or what are those, for example? >> Through the chair. Yes. They're they're putting sprinklers in. >> So, because as soon as you get to a certain level when you're updating a building and you have to put the elevator and then you have to put the sprinklers. So on all those that's for I think there the year is 20 it says 2526 are all the sprinklers already in all those um schools that say ADA >>

076through the chair. No there the the piping may be in but it's not functional yet. This is a two-year project through the city uh at Thornike in Lincoln Street and then the next one will be at Columbus Park. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. Um, my other question was because I think these two programs I know we're looking for I don't know I think another place maybe for them but I was wondering about the transitions program in Worcester alternative because those are buildings and they obviously at this point don't meet the needs of the kids that are in there all the needs. So, I didn't know if there would be an update on those two sites. >> Through the chair, though, we are working actively on relocating Wester alt. We we've uh we are terminating the

077contract at the end of this school year. Um and so, uh we are actively looking for a more appropriate location for them. And we've been discussing a better location for transitions, as you know, for several years. I don't have an update today on those, but we'll have those as part of our recommendations in the spring. >> Perfect. Thank you. And um I I was really happy to see that we're doing something about indiccoms because uh some of the elementary schools uh let's use Grafton Street School as an example. Um they're old. I mean there's what is that building? Um is it 1895 or something like that? Somewhere around that age. Right. >> That's the newer one. Yes. >> That's the newer one. Right. Yeah. Because there were two. So, you know, I just think intercon

078are important going both ways for staff to be able to pick up a phone and call if they need help. Somebody's sick, there's an intruder and um and also um when I did night life at Burn Code High School, I had to learn to use that thing that they have there. And I think that is 1965 maybe. Right. And that's is that around that age? >> Yeah. So, has that one had any upgrades or replacement to it or are we going to wait because we're replacing the school? What's the story on that one >> through the chair? Um, that will be part of the assessment to determine what is needed there. Um, I can't speak to what's been done, uh, you know, over the years, but I do know when situations come up where the

079school is reporting or other schools report that there's a need within their building, uh, we work with facilities and their uh, work ticket system uh, to get that addressed. >> Okay. And also cameras. I think cameras are so important uh especially in high schools, middle schools, in those areas where kids can go and you can't see them under the stairs, around the corners. Uh are are we going to be I mean, look at the new schools. They have over 600 cameras in them. And again, we have some that don't have so many. So are cameras uh are they in part two or where are cameras >> through the chair? So it's part of our five-year capital plan. So the IT department um works with uh school safety and facilities on uh continually either upgrading um

080or replacing cameras throughout the school system. So that is an ongoing project that we uh continually add cameras to the school system. Thank you. And are we using Alice as the safety protocol now or are we still using I I love you guys foundation >> through the chair. Our district standard is the I love you guys foundation standard response protocol and it's built to address a multitude of issues that schools may face as opposed to a single uh type event. Yeah, I I I actually I like that I love you guy foundation protocol and I like the a lot of work they've done on the re reunification of families in case there was a crisis. It's so exact. You can get you get everything you know you get the tags, you get you get everything.

081You just have to know what they have. >> Yes. through the chair. We have done uh reunification training uh with our uh principles and with our assistant principles and deans. >> Perfect. Thank you. And the MSBA on the new burn coat high school. I mean I thought always the great idea was for the middle and the high school to both be replaced at the same time, right? And then you have a massive beautiful new burn coat with a seven through through 12 program. So I know we're moving forward on on the high school, but my my question is, you know, can we work that so that we also >> so we've been accepted into the feasibility to look at both a 7 through 12 and a 9 through 12 model. So that's still an MSBA

082driven process, but they're allowing us to look at both configurations. Yeah, which to me makes so much sense because they're so close to each other. Can't imagine. I mean, you have the land, right? So, why why not build the middle and the high school together? They have joint programs. It just seems that the MSBA um would be happy that we're getting two schools replaced. >> The MSBA recognizes the shared physical space and programmatic space of the two schools, and that's why they're allowing us to do this. >> Oh, perfect. That's so good to know. And then my last question is what about modulas? Some of these we were at we were at Herd Street School and um that modula is like falling apart from the outside in and I'm sure the inside out was probably

083not looking too good. So what do we and uh Chandler L those modulars there what do we where are they fall on the list? And I see you're going to take one down, but um what what are we going to do about the modulars >> through the chair? They have been identified in our five-year plan to take one down a year. It's roughly uh the cost that I'm looking at right now is roughly 1.4 million to replace one. >> So we have to consider that the demolition as well as replacement costs. So those are in our fiveyear plan. Is there plan for one to go be taken down next year? When we take them down, are we're replacing them at the same time or are we just taking them down >> through the chair? Yes.

084>> We're going to replace them. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> As we see need to continue that process. >> Of course. Okay. Great. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mayor Penny. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And uh one of the biggest issues we have in every neighborhood is drop off and pickup. There's no question about that. And to place this on the list police department by itself is unfair. Worster Police Department, I think we have one of the best departments in this country. They're well trained. They know how to handle neighborhood situations like this. It's not an easy issue if you think about it, right? But um I'm sure they're going to have a point. John Fazol spoke Tuesday night when we passed the 90-day. It's a trial period, so we're going to learn a lot.

085We're going to learn a lot about it. It's in traffic and parking. We'll have a committee meeting on that. See how we can improve it. But the the idea is not to penalize parents drop off and pick up, but we need to educate them at first and uh because I'm not going to put the police in that situation or the manager is not going to put that police in the situation, but they're also going to be there to enforce what's going on because it's a public safety issue. There's no question about it. When John spoke, he spoke that the principal said she's not they're not responsible for outside on Grafton Street. He agreed and I agree too, but this people in this room is responsible. and uh to make sure we have a plan that

086we're working together on Roosevelt because it's not only a business situation that's there. It's a public safety issue because there's not graphic street is a busy street and uh it and people have to be aware when these kids are coming out of school even until graphic way set up now it's not safe just not safe but and we I remember we bought that land probably eight years ago maybe nine years ago uh to make that parking lot was the purpose of to alleviate this it's been a long process uh I think we bought that land I want to say maybe four million uh something like that a million probably less than And but it was a million something anyways over a million dollars and then we processed the re to to do the the parking

087lot over that was a partnership between the city and and the schools. So there's a lot of money invested in that parking lot to make alleviate the problem. So I we just have to stay on top of that work plan with the Wister police city manager in the neighborhood because I think we're all on the same page to make it safe for people make sure parents can pick up their kids safely uh in there. So in regards to I just want to compliment you on this plan. You know one of my priorities when I first came here in 2012 was the infrastructure was the public schools and it's been a priority of mine. We have a great partnership with the city MSBA. I was just looking at this chart you had here about 25 uh

0882025 and 25 26 27 school years. There's $22 million in that investment there. 13 million. That's not a surprise, but between the MSBA and the city, we've invested about 19 million of that. And uh so there's a lot of investment going on to make these schools bring them back to where they were. Uh well, bring them back to what's habitable. But and we probably invested since 2012 when I first became mayor was probably estimated I could be off of 1.3 count burn coat burn coat middle which is going to be done too I hopefully uh 1.3 billion dollars really think about 1.3 billion and not counting some of the stuff I'm seeing here tonight. So, um, so we're committed, city council is committed, the city managers, I know Brian Allen's always been committed to this

089and, uh, so it's important because this is people want to stay in the city of Worcester. They want to go to good schools and it's not about the building itself, but it's a big plus. And that's why we did south to make sure parents aren't leaving the district. Burn codes can be done. Neighborhood deserves that. And it's a and we have good ideas on on how we're going to do that. We're working with some businesses and there's a lot there's a lot to be done up up at that uh that property that's done. But I'm going to speak to it because you there's a slide in there that talked about the acceler program. Uh we've done 23 windows and there was boilers and roofs and this goes into the $1.3 billion and this that's done

090because we have a good relationship with the MSBA because we couldn't afford to do all this. If I had to guess and you could uh Mr. Superintendent $80 million maybe more >> through the chair. No, I think that is an accurate number. It's about 80 um plus million dollars that I shared between MSBA and city funding. Yeah, for the 23 I know just we had people packed in this room. Remember going to neighborhood meetings burn high school talking about PCBs. I remember it was a national news organization who wanted to do a story how bad Wister was addressing this. When I first became mayor, we had you did the spreadsheet. We when you 27 schools that were built in the I might be off of school here or there, but PCB time frame. Was it

091the 1950s 1960s 27 schools that's in the windows 23 schools are done right here. Burn code rice rice square might build I would think was built in that time too. So you're up to 20 26 schools you know done. That's a story. Like I bet there's a lot cities who would love have done that and couldn't do it because they couldn't afford it. But the city council supported this. You supported this, Mr. Superintendent. And through your whole career, you supported this. And that's why it's that's why it's done. And so people should be pretty proud in the city of W. This school committee should be pretty proud of what it's done in the past few years to make this happen because we have to allocate that money to This is it's your and you you

092you in the budget you had to do two million what was what do we give you two or $3 million of infrastructure a year and uh that couldn't be done on that budget and uh but that's a story that we took care of our school buildings uh because we care about our uh students here scholars here in the city of Worcester and uh so I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment it's taken time to do it and I want to thank MSBA Deb Goldberg with the treasurer because it's about relationships because why we're in this business. The state's not going to invest money in somewhere if you don't think the money is going to be spent well and they trust us. They trust you and they trust the city manager, city council, and the school committee

093to make sure this gets done right. I'm pretty proud. People pretty should be proud. Now, do we have a long way to go? Yeah, we some old schools. Burn middle gets done. We have East Middle. We're piece mealing that together. And uh but it's a neighborhood school and we talk about moving that school. I know be that would be the right decision. It won't be my decision but uh in the future because it's a neighborhood school that needs to stay there I think and and be done like almost like we did Forest Grove. So uh Forest Grove came out beautiful and uh and it's not cheap to do these buildings anymore. you're really thinking about it, you know, 200 million plus for South, 300 million plus for Doherty, Tim McGirth, talk to the CFO of

094the city of Wester, you talk to him all the time. You're talking Bernold, Bronco Mill, you're talking well over $500 million, if not six or seven. So, uh, the tax I think they're be the taxpayers, right? Uh, who pay for this stuff because this makes the city go, you talk about economic development. If you don't have a good school system, you're not going to have economic development. So, I just want to thank you this report and the stuff you're doing. The safety stuff is very important. Uh because we know what that means. We've seen it across the country. Uh but just you just got to keep on chipping away. You know, every year goes by, you invest money, you make the schools better. So, I'm pretty Mr. school commission pretty proud of some of the

095accomplishments done over the last several years. Thank you. >> So, the motion is to approve and file along with member Oh, I'm sorry, Vanessa. I apologize. member Alvarez. >> Um, something just popped up in my mind as I listen to everyone. Um, thank you for the report. It's very informative. I'm thinking about the schools, the elementary schools in my district, district B. um and what it what we're currently doing to keep uh the external um part of the school safe because I know that after school hours or whenever it is um sometimes there are people that do use the playground or like where for example at Lincoln Street or Belmont Street um and they leave trash there, inappropriate trash and I'm just wondering like what are we currently doing to address that? um and what

096we have in plan through the chair. If we're discovering as schools bring to our attention that things have been left illegally, um we do communicate with the city of Worcester quality of life team >> uh to address the issue to help us to address the issue. >> Okay? Because when I think of these things, I think about safety for the kids like um and keeping people off the property. Maybe a fence or something that can really a strong fence that can be locked and unlocked by school educators or workers. Um so I just wanted to put that out there. Thank you. >> All right. So the motion is to approve and file the report along with member mailman's motion to work to increase student bus usage. Um roll call. Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member

097Bianceria, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Petty, >> yes. >> What's that? All right. The next >> the next item on the agenda is approval of grants and other fine finance items. >> Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Member Biancia. >> Yes. >> Member Bernenda. >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola. >> Yes. >> Member Johnson. >> Yes. >> Member Mailman. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla. >> Yes. >> Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Penny. >> Yes. The next item, general business response administration to request the district explore the possibility of a centrallylo family resource center that provides centralized services for food and clothing needs

098as well as the possibility of including washers, dryers for family use and one of the school-based health centers. Member Benenda, >> I wonder if um we could do an amendment to that to keep the not only start a centlo family resource center, but also keep the schools that already have all that in them. For example, we put washers and dryers in a lot of schools. Um and I know that they're still being used. Uh they also have school-based health centers in them. They have food pantries and they also have clothing pantries. So with with that item there, I just didn't want us to move those from the schools that currently have them. Just add another centrallylo place. >> I'll let the superintendent answer that. But this this item was an old item. This is just

099a response back. So the response I'll u Mr. Superintendent if you want to comment. No, through the chair, we agree. Uh the intent was uh more to we we would enision en envision this as a new parentation and welcome center down the road to do its current functions, but also um have more services available to uh support families including training programs and so forth and things like this. So, uh this is still a down the road project, but we also agreed that uh school-based uh areas would keep their uh equipment and services >> and through the chair. You know, I just wanted to say that um a a big help for us was um UMass Medical School. Uh they were very helpful uh with Union Hill and also with North High School. Uh and I

100think it was more than medical school. That group provided a lot of washers and dryers. Us Grafton Street School got them too. So, um I do want to thank them, uh for that and the people that did donate for for washers and dryers and the food pantries and the clothing. And my concern is I love school-based health centers and I'm I'm hoping that uh they're funded uh because we really do need them uh for our students in those schools that they presently presently are. Thank you. >> Thank you. So, the motion is to file. All those in favor? Any opposed? The next item is GB6-6 to explore the cost and feasibility of reservicing the tennis courts at Brunkode High School. Uh refer to operations and governance. Next item is GB6-7. Member Alvarez to request administration

101to provide a report on which Worcester public schools received inschool safety visits from the Worcester Fire Department during the last five academic school years and any planned visits during this current year, including the grade levels, the frequency and format of the visits, and the criteria or process used to determine which schools receive visits. The report should also include any plans to expand or standardize access to ensure all students have equitable exposure to fire safety education. >> Thank you. Um, I wanted to put this on because I had watched the uh council meeting last week and it was it stood out to me especially um in the neighborhoods that uh have a high record of fires um and how one of the schools in that invi in that neighborhood got a visit. So, I just wanted

102to make sure that um we're not passing by anything and that we're meeting like we're able to check everything off because it's really important that um if we know there's a lot of fires going on in a certain area, then I just think it's really important that those schools also get more visits for for fire safety. Uh, in addition, I did have a question um that can stem off of this around uh one of the comments I've heard as well with the 911 calls. It was really surprising to me that majority of those calls are for medical reasons. Um, and if it is for medical reasons, like what are we doing to educate our students around like CPR trainings for them or things around that line? So, I through through the chair. So I watched

103that city council meeting as well. I that answer was in reference to uh general uh city uh use of the fire department. But in addition, we also the most use of our 911 calls are also medical calls as well. And so we do first aid and CPI training for our staff. We make that available um throughout the year. Um we do have AEDs deployed throughout all of our buildings um over saw by the nursing department. So, we do um response training for our staff to assist in medical emergencies, but there are times when we do need to use 911 to support either staff or students, right, >> uh for medical needs. >> Okay. Um can I make a a motion to receive a report on everything that is taking place in the moment and um

104any future trainings around it. So, the administration will add that to your item and get that back in that same backup. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next item is GB6-8. Member Roy to request a report on what firewalls and precautions are in place to prevent students from connecting to internet sites that are outside the educational uses of Chromebooks or iPads. Member Roy. >> Thank you. As it reads, >> thank you. Next item, GB6-9. Member Biancaria to request a report on the cost and feasibility of field upgrades at North High School. member biania. >> Thank you. Um the other day I had the pleasure of sitting with our superintendent to go over some of the things at a few of the schools, North High being one of them. And um from what our discussion uh

105came of that we have the DAO early working on um improving the field area. We're also looking at mapping out what extension we can go further down the road uh to enable us to utilize the field as best as possible. At this particular time, I'm glad it's going to operations and governance. I think we're looking at not only their improvements, um, investing into our community, into our schools repeatedly, um, as the DA office has done and Joe really has worked, uh, diligently making that connection, um, along with, uh, our city being such a good partner. So, I look forward to the improvements there because, uh, you can go by there and see this field used for a number of reasons. Um, and it's, um, always, uh, popular, whether it's uh, all four seasons, I guess,

106is how I look at it. So, I I'm looking forward to what additions we can do and uh, what games we can play there. Thank you. >> Thank you. And the final item GB6-10 to approve the proposed course additions for the 2627 school year. And the recommendation is to Oh, member Bena. Uh yes, I I really wanted to uh speak on that. I think some of the courses are really great. I I have a concern about two. Um I was on the state college board, I'm sorry, the national college board for AP. So I have a lot of knowledge of advanced placement. uh when these two courses were brought together um with all the uh representatives from the states there was a lot of talk about it's been around I want to say these courses

107have probably been offered by college board four years now and it's the preap English one and the preap English 2. Um in those meetings I had requested that why doesn't the college board push them down into um seventh and eighth grade. uh they didn't want to do that. So my concern about it is that we have open doors when you take AP. You don't have to have a 85 or above grade and you do not need a teacher recommendation. So my second concern about those two courses is that um we used to have pre-AP we used to have pre-AP US history and uh one and two and what happened is uh kids didn't take the first part because it wasn't and then they try to get into the second part. It limited kids choice. So

108I'm very concerned about um the uh having to have an 85. we took that away from all AP courses that we offer if kids want to take it and they have the support they need. So I'd be interested when that goes to um teaching and learning that you know we have some information on that because uh even a college board um there has been some conversation about it because again the same thing happened. We have a student, they took preap English one in ninth grade, preAP English two in 10th grade. Now they want to take English le uh English lang in junior year and the teacher says, "Oh, sorry, you did not take preap one or preap 2." And that happens. So I'm concerned about that. and um what guidelines I mean I understand we

109want our ninth grade students that are you know to be very do very well in literacy and we want to move more kids into the AP English classes but how do we make sure that all kids can take it and that it doesn't become uh something that's confining for juniors and seniors because that's where it goes. So when we do the teaching and learning, maybe we can have some conversation about that. And then um also the other part is we've always had internships uh at Worcester Tech where students go out and take uh classes and it was awesome. At one time all the high schools had internships and there was a staff member that went out and checked on how they were doing and then we had budget cuts and they all got cut from

110every place uh except for some of the 74 programs. Right. So my question is is there I hope with the internships there's a a person that's going to be assigned and will go and visit the the different internship areas. Will there be somebody that's Is that a new position that we'll have >> through the through the chair? Thank you. Through the chair. Um we are looking to expand our internship offerings across all of our schools. We currently have site internship at Doherty. North has kind of a combined internship and co-op process for their non uh CTE chapter 74 students and their um co-op chapter 74 students. Um work experience has been used as a credit sometimes for internships. Um and we want to standardize that process just for what you're speaking to so we can

111make sure that everyone's kind of following the same protocols and students have the staff support that they need. So, um, students used to get be able to get two credits for, uh, workplacement. It is, uh, is the credits going to be like two credits? I see one of these courses says nonredit bearing. Yep. So, the co-op, there's a difference between co-op experience for chapter 74 students and internships for non-chapter 74 students. Worcester Tech has specifically asked for a co-op course for scheduling reasons. So students receive credit for those courses through their shop classes, but for scheduling and tracking purposes, they're looking for a way to put a course in there to hold that for students to understand. Some students in a shop are out on co-op and some aren't. And so that's a way for

112them to track that. But the grade for co-op still goes through the shop teacher. Is that >> through the chair? So, well, I see what you're saying. So, because not all kids go up can get an internship. We would like that to happen. We would like that to happen. They can't. Correct. >> Therefore, they would then participate in that class where they that co-op class and be able to still get their credit even though they're not going out on that internship. >> So, yes, to an extent. So, the shop classes, all CTE and chapter 74 students are in related theory classes. And this is specifically at Wester Tech related theory classes in co-op and shop, right? Shop classes, excuse me. >> For students who are ready at the second half of their 11th grade year

113or senior year, they go out on co-op through the co-op director. They do it during their shop time. So, they're still graded. Their shop teachers are still responsible for evaluating them and those sites in conjunction with the co-op. >> Okay. oversight. Does that make sense? And so that credit is still be awarded through that class, but Worcester Tech wants a better way to track the students that are out on co-op just to make sure that that's visible to everyone um in their schedule. So, it's a placeholder and that's why there's no credit associated. >> Thought thought of that sooner, truthfully, because that's that there was that gap there for those kids that didn't have that opportunity. Oh, perfect. Well, uh thank you. That um answered those questions for me. Member Bianer followed by member Mailman.

114>> Thank you. Um since this was brought up in in such detail, I'm going to ask that we have a motion um in reference to the articulation agreements that we have um with our students and um any unions that are infrased. >> Sorry. Um I think you can make a motion for something if is it is it if specific to the core selection on here >> right into the internships along with the articulation. >> So that will go to TLSS. This is going to TLSS for full discussion but we can have that on as well. >> Correct. >> Yes. member mailman >> and through the chair. I don't um maybe when they come back it these courses that will be we talked about specific Worcester Tech but are these other courses um available to all

115high school students all high schools? >> I believe varies right >> through the chair. >> Yes. Thank you. All right. So, that's going to go to TLSS and the announcements that we have this evening. January 29th, standing committee uh TLSS 5: PM February 5th, the regular meeting, Esther Hall Chamber, Esther Holland Chamber, then Standing Committee on Operations and Governance, Standing Committee for Finance. And then don't forget BR Valentine, Worcester Historical Museum's annual Valentine contest. And at that, that is brings us to the close of our Oh, I'm sorry, Vanessa. Member Alvarez, >> I'm so sorry to interrupt you. Um I know at the beginning we did not introduce our student who has been here the whole time. So it it's it takes sometimes it's a little long and I'm just happy you stayed and I

116would like to hear your name and what school you're from. >> So my name is Ivonne Roberts and I'm a senior at Burnco High School. Thank you. All right, so that brings us to the close of the meeting. Thank you everyone.