001Is she Do I have to mark this for this for her to say? >> Oh, sorry. >> Recording in progress. >> Uh, good evening everyone. Welcome to the Wister School Committee meeting. First meeting of the year and happy new year to everyone. And uh we are going to call the meeting to order. If you can please stand for the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem. The national anthem is going to be sung by Saria Davis, grade 11, and Emma Hardigan, grade 12, from Dory Memorial High School. I pledge allegiance flag of America for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [snorts] Oh, say can you see by the dawn early what so proudly we held at the twilight last stripes and bright stars through the perilous [singing] fight or the
002ramparts we gallops [singing] bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still [singing] there. Oh, say does that star spangle [singing] b of the free and the home of the brave. [applause] Thank you. We were excellent. Okay. Start with the roll call. >> Member Alvarez >> here. >> Member Bianio >> here. >> Member Benendo >> here. >> Member Guadiola >> here. >> Member Johnson >> here. >> Member Milmanian >> here. >> Vice Chair McCulla >> here. >> Member Roy >> here. >> Mayor Penny >> here. First item up is E. Uh, we're going to the consent agenda. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Member Bianceria. >> Yes. >> Member Bernenda. >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair Johnson. Member Johnson. >> Yes. [snorts] >> Member Mailman.
003>> Yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla. >> Yes. >> Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Petty. >> Yes. Okay. We have recognitions to recognize Robin Dion, a teacher at Burn Code High School, who saw a student in distress, immediately jumps to action, performed the himlook maneuver on the student and successfully dislodged the item. Remember McCulla? >> Thank you. And Robin Dion is here tonight. I just wanted to make sure that we recognized her. Back in October, a student was in distress during lunch and was actually choking on a grape, which if anybody but knows that's one of the scariest things to have someone choke on, and she jumped right into action, performed the Heimlick maneuver, and also ended up turning it into a teachable moment for her students and shared with them how to perform the
004Heimlick maneuver as well. So, just want to say thank you so much for that incredible response. I know that probably many of our teachers would jump into action, but truly wonderful that you were able to do that and help the student and then use it as a teachable moment as well. So congratulations. [applause] >> I don't know if Elwick wants to say anything. Uh more than wing, you can come on. Just making sure it's on. Excellent. Um since Robin joined us at Bar Coach, he's been nothing but a positive voice uh for students, a person that they can go to. And I think this is just another example of how Robin um is that person that people can go to, but they know she they can rely on her even to save their life. [laughter]
005>> Oh, thank you. I just want to say thank you so much and it was really my honor to be there for him. As you know, Molly said, anyone would have um sprung into action and me being trained for so long, it was really nice to be able to be there for him. So, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Robin, we do have a certificate for you and uh it's jumping for uh certificate of recognition, jumping into action of seeing student distress, performing a high maneuver on the student, and successfully dislodging the item signed by myself, the superintendent, and the members of the school committee. So, want to come down? We'll get into this. >> [applause] >> Thank you so much. Very good. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Our
006next item is uh to recognize the 2025 Central Mass Regional Champions 10U with the Vikings team for advancing to the national championship in Naples, Florida. Remember Johnson? You want who's want to have the Vikings come on in >> the coaches to Yeah. Well, that will squeeze everybody in. >> Yeah. [laughter] Catherine, >> Sean Sean >> you good to the chair. Thank you. Um so um wanted to recognize the 2025 Worcester Vikings tenu um football team to for winning Central Mass Championship along with a state championship and recognizing um um New England in the national championship down in Naples, Florida. Um, you know, a backstory real quick to this team is the head coach, Kirby, um, used to be an assistant with one of the assistant coaches, um, Matt Lefave, and they coached another team for
007years and had a very successful career. And Kirby last year, and they they were never able to make it to the national championship. And then Kirby this year asked Matt and some of his staff to return this year to run it back with these group of kids, these young kids to start over again. and this team in the first year were able to make it down to Florida for a national championship. And it's a testament to these kids and to these parents for showing up four or five times a week to give it their all and during a year had to overcome a tragedy within their Vikings community and their team to be able to go down and compete on a national basis against other teams. And these are kids that are Worester residents, kids
008in our schools that we should be recognizing as true student scholar athletes here in the Wester public schools. So that's our recognition for tonight. Thank you guys. [cheering] [applause] We do have certificate of recognition. Daniel coaches want to speak first though. >> You can grab one of those or this one here. [clears throat] >> Thanks. Uh I just want to say um these boys did a really good job this year. Uh this whole team, this whole program. Um we definitely, you know, had to galvanize together through, you know, through tragedy and we did really something really special. Um, and a lot to these these boys, these coaches, and the failures in Wister. I just I really appreciate and say thank you to everyone. This is a magical year, and uh long live Gus. Thank you.
009[applause] [applause] >> Okay, we have uh pass them. So, we have a certificate of recognition uh for the coaches and uh the players. It reads 2025 New England Regional Championship with the Vikings IOU football team for advancing to the 2025 American Youth Football National Championships signed by myself, the superintendent in the school committee. And our first point up is head coach Kirby Pia Lewis. [applause] Thank you, >> Coach. Good job, by the way. Great job. We have assistant coach Matt Lefra. Matt, [applause] we have coach assistant coach Reggie Devon Jr. >> Not here. Okay. Think that's the coach. Coach Michael Foley. >> [applause] >> Coach John Johnson, [applause] team mom, Christina Blake, [applause] and I think we have the uh students. Uh not the students, the players. Ryan Moa, [applause] Braden Blash, [applause] [laughter] Jeremiah
010Bernell, Penn, [applause] Eli Cohen. [applause and cheering] Hello Eli, congratulations. What's that one there? Was that This one's Eli. Make sure we gave him the right one. >> Okay. Okay. Then we have Elias Kimona. [applause] Uh Braden is eser [applause] Michael Foley Jr. [applause] Andrew Gonzalez [applause] Hassan [applause] Troy Johnson, [applause] Camden Lau, [applause] >> Ashton Mans, [applause] Colin McGawan, [applause] Mega Mendes, [applause] Shawn Mororrow, [applause] Sean Pierre Lewis, [applause] Julian Raymond, [applause] Zalen Rosel, [applause] Samuel Siorara, [applause] >> Giovanni Smith, Dela Cruz. [applause] Okay. Yanelli. Uh, is it Villanova? [applause and cheering] Yanell Yanell. Sorry about that. You know, [applause] Ashton Watson Cruz [applause] and Gus Gus Com. The fathers here, Mr. K. [cheering and applause] [applause] You guys want to come up? Everybody try. >> You want to come here? look this way.
011So, everyone's looking in one direction. Okay. >> Okay. Ready? We're gonna I'm gonna take it on three for the district website. One, two, three. We need some more time. [applause] [cheering] >> [applause] [laughter] >> What's up? Okay. Uh, next section. >> Uh, next section is the public comment section. Any member of the public may address the school committee regarding the item that's before on the agenda. And just make an announce. I know people here from the Nelson Play School. I appreciate you all being here. and uh but the school committees do not have the personnel personnel oversight over building principles and educators in particular buildings. Concerns about a particular employee over which the school committee does not have personnel oversight are not therefore connected to the agenda item and will not be entertained at tonight's
012meeting. Such concerns are probably addressed with the superintendent of schools. We do not intend as a school committee to allow the use of public comment for the purposes not contemplated by the rules will not entertain crits of any particular employee or of Nelson Place School. Such comments will be ruled out of order and uh Mr. Superintendent. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um first and foremost, the district does appreciate the concerns raised in the ultimate intention of supporting the students at Nelson Place School. The district is fully committed to support the staff and current leadership at Nelson Place. I spoke with Melissa Verdier again today and I assured her that we will actively work with the school and the AW with a focus on creating enhanced systems and structures that best support the school. To that
013end, through the leadership of Deputy Superintendent Marie Morris and Executive Director Ellen Kelly, they will work weekly directly with the school leadership and the school staff on fostering collaboration and data-driven action steps. The district will also work immediately to facilitate and support effective labor management discussions at the school. Dr. Coup and I will continue to directly work with DAW leadership on supporting the staff and current school leadership as needed. Our shared vision is for Nelson Place to be a blue ribbon caliber school. We value and respect the voice of our educators and look forward to working with them and the school leadership through communication, collaboration, and alignment of our shared vision. Thank you. >> The show name is um >> yeah, this is quite a very different public comment, but I appreciate being here tonight
014and uh having the opportunity to speak. My name is Melissa Verdier. I am currently a resident of 37 Dixfield Road, but just recently purchased 12 Dixsfield Road. So, yeah, you'll find me. Um, I'm also the EAW president and I'm here to speak tonight on item K, report of the superintendent, the vision of a leader. As we know, the WPS vision of a leader framework outlines skills and competencies that Worester Public Schools expects of those in leadership roles, equipping leaders to inspire, navigate, and sustain change. So, in August, uh, I welcomed the newly appointed principal of Nelson Place and I tried to help with the transition of a hub school. At this meeting, we discussed the student population and the parent dynamic. I am speaking about the leader. I'm speaking about >> I'm not talking about
015the principal. >> Okay. I'm not talking about the principal. I'm going through a timeline of events that's happened. Okay. So, is this coming out of my two minutes or do I get extra time now? >> I don't even have you timed. >> Okay. Thank you. Well, I'm timing myself. So in August um I I went to meet with the new principal. I >> I asked you not to speak about the principal. >> I did not mention anybody's name. So I went to speak with the leadership at Nelson Place and I described that this was quite a different transition than had previously been seen by said person. Um I brought these things. I said that we needed to establish labor management meetings. Um in September I brought a number of issues to the to the administration.
016One of those was concerns about the segregation of the subsparate students and the general education students for morning meetings. As a special educator and as a parent of a student on the autism spectrum, this is a big issue for me. Unfortunately, this has not yet been resolved even though I was told by the district it would be. I again urged that this uh that the administration meet with their delegate and they have not done so at that point. In October, the EAW members working in in Nelson Place came together as concerns for the well-being of their students and the community as a whole. They vo voiced their concerns about how the school was being run and the impact these challenges were having on students and the staff. They also offered clear and constructive feedback, being
017visible and supportive, welcoming presence on campus, responding to emails and requests, communicating information, addressing the needs of our sale programs, and ending the separation of the sale and general education students for morning meetings. I emphasize the importance of meeting with the delegates so that they can work on resolving these issues and concerns. This has not yet happened. Um I would like to make it clear that this has happened in several other places um where the EAW has been welcomed in. All of these concerns and suggestions have been shared directly at the school level with the executive director of the quadrant with the deputy superintendent with the assistant superintendent with the superintendent and there has been no change. In the meantime, the morale at Nelson Place has continued to decline despite four months of members asking
018to meet to discuss the concerns. Acknowledge has not even been there has been no acknowledgement and the issues are affecting us. >> So, >> okay, we're going to move on. >> Say upon returning to work, the district had an opportunity to meet with parents, teachers, and they did not. It's disappointing. >> [cheering] >> OKAY. >> Good evening. Um, I'm speaking on item K, report of the superintendent, vision of a leader. Um, good evening members of the school committee, Superintendent Allen, Mayor Petty, educators, union members, and the many families I see here tonight. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. My name is Cindy Hman. I am a Worester Public Schools employee. I am currently working at May Street School where I have been employed since October. Prior to that, I was part of
019the Nelson Place community. First as a first grade teacher and for the past three years as assistant principal. I am here tonight because I truly love this work. I care deeply about our schools. And most of all, I care about the children and families who depend on us to do what's right. I want to begin by stating clearly, this moment is not about politics or personalities or any one individual. It's about our kids, their school, and the kinds of system we want public schools to be. I know firsthand that Nelson Place is the school filled with hardworking educators, devoted families, and resilient students. These children deserve a learning environment where their their teachers feel supported, heard, and trusted to speak up for what is truly best for their students. Since the beginning of the school
020year, staff and families began raising concerns, not out of conflict, but out of care. When those concerns went unresolved, the educators of Nelson Place took a step that no staff takes lightly. The EAW members at Nelson Place held a formal vote of no confidence. 90 educators voted yes. >> I'm not going to talk about the Nelson Po sis. >> I I thought this I just thought this was about the vote >> because it's not on the agenda tonight. Go ahead. That level of consensus doesn't happen because of discomfort with change or resilience to accountability. It happens when the climate the climate of a school interferes with the teaching, learning and trust. It happens when educators feel they cannot do what's best for their children, their students. Families have echoed similar concerns. Many are here tonight
021because they care deeply about Nelson Place. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> This decision you make after tonight matters. Not just for Nelson Place, but for every single school in the district watching tonight. >> Thank you. >> Your demonstrate whether transparency matters, whether educators voice matters, and whether students well-being truly comes first. Thank you for your time and considering the best interest of Nelson, please. [cheering] [screaming] >> [cheering] [cheering] >> Okay. See nobody else. We We have some people online. En three. Henry, >> what's that? >> Oh, does that Who wants to speak tonight? So, I have an idea. >> What's that? >> We're not going to talk about the principle. It's not on the agenda tonight. I know some place is not on the agenda today. >> That's okay. I
022only talk about AI and edtech. >> Okay. >> All right. My name is Katherine Holmes. I live in Worcester and I'm a parent. On the last slide of the report of the superintendent, the administration will share its intention to push more AI in schools. My question is, has student data become the price of a public education? AI's potential benefits to learning are entirely untested? What we do know is that AI companies have profit incentives that do not align with healthy child development, academic rigor, mental and emotional safety, ecological stability, or privacy rights. AI's most lucrative use is to solicit and suction up 6 billion data points per second so that it can manipulate attention and influence behavior for commodification. Regulatory laws were not built for AI. So AI is operating without governmental guardrails and almost
023no research has been conducted to examine the privacy practices of these emerg emerging tools. Data attacks on devices used for education account for over 83% of all malware incidents globally. Last year a teenager at Assumption College hacked P school, breaching the data of over 70 million teachers and students. AI's data extraction and scaling capabilities are exacerbating these already high risks. 70% of cyber attacks are happening through third-party vendors that are integrating AI technology, much like the nearly 400 third-party tech vendors that Worcester Public School holds contracts with. Contracts that never come before this committee because they are signed and renewed on a revolving three-year cycle. Chromebooks make this problem worse. Chromebooks are internet connected devices that depend on the cloud. And you can look up any research AI cloud-based services are the most vulnerable to
024hacks. It is undoubtedly important to teach high school students about how large language models work. But it is time to raise the standard of proof for safety and efficacy when it comes to the tools we use to teach our kids. While New York State is moving to ban AI and K through8 education, Worcester has snuck AI tutors into kindergarten classrooms and is actively denying families their right to opt out. There is more than enough reason to press pause and reassess. It's time to ask better questions, not just about AI, but about a path to creating a resilient public school system that operates in service to children, not profiteeers. Thank you. [cheering] >> Here's resources for you guys. [applause] >> Okay, we have some people on the line tonight. Uh, >> oh, anytime. Uh who's gonna
025who's going to let him in? You are >> Noelia. Did your name see your residence? >> Hello. Good evening everybody. My name is Noelia Mafoya and I am a resident of Worcester with a 5-year-old currently attending kindergarten and Worester public schools. My comments are also regarding the ROS S I'm sorry 61 report of the superintendent specifically the last slide on AI and K to2 education. So, as Desi defines it, artificial intelligence is a tool to support human decision-making, an evolving technology that requires active oversight, capable of pattern recognition and rapid content creation, and a system that can reinforce harmful bias if not carefully designed and used today as used today. Uh, today AI exists in multiple forms, including predictive, generative, and emerging agent AI that can be can act autonomously. I appreciate the district's effort
026to begin a multi-year AI strategy align with Desi guidance, especially having served myself as the innovation engine director for a top global IT company. At the same time, expanded use of AI brings expanded responsibilities, particularly around student data privacy and cyber security. These risks are not theoretical. Um, like the previous speaker mentioned, in 2024, we had a Worester College student hack power school, a K to2 software and cloud-based solution, reaching the personal data of more than 70 million students and teachers nationwide. Incidents like this underscore how vulnerable education systems have become and how longasting the consequences can be when children's data is exposed. We are at an important decision point. Innovation should strengthen what already works, not replace it. Decades of research consistently show that early literacy, handwriting, in-person instruction, and strong teacher student relationships
027are foundational to student success. These are not practices to move away from. Neither am I saying that we're we're actively moving away from it. I'm more advocating that in fact, many leaders within the technology and AI sector choose to restrict their own children's exposure to devices and artificial intelligence. Instead, prioritizing tactical learning, human interaction, and independent Noah, you can wrap up, please. >> Um, so I also want to affirm my support for the existing policy in the student in the district handbook, which states that if a caregiver wishes for their child to be removed from specific third party service, an OPA form can be provided from the district's website and return to school principal. So, I strongly encourage that we keep this policy and that we completely activate it. Thank you. Okay, >> we have
028uh next is uh Dena Tedexki. You go. >> Hi, good even my name is Deeski. I'm a Worcester resident and a parent of a Wester public school graduate and a current eighth grader. My comments tonight are regarding ROS 6-1. As much as improvements can always be made, it's encouraging to see some of the data showing improvements and kudos to the super to Superintendent Allen, his team, and the determined educators helping our students thrive and strive. Additionally, I'd like to comment on GB5-94. Bullying education needs to expand beyond just our scholars and school teams. Parents and caregivers would greatly benefit from quadrant-based training, education, and understanding to not only learn more of the scope of what bullying can and does look and sound like, but [clears throat] also how to best help and support their children
029recognize and rise up for bullying. how to work with educators and administrators on bullying concerns, especially as many caregivers might have be triggered from their own childhood experiences with bullying, and how to move the to the next steps for many of these families and students. I'd also like to express support for many of the comments, the AI related comments by shared earlier by Miss Holmes and Miss Jafoya. We need to address concerns regarding AI and student safety. We cannot leave them vulnerable and we are responsible for this aspect of their learning and growth. Caregivers also struggle with understanding what is and what is going on with AI and these potential technological leaks. And so we have an opportunity here to step up and give them some support and understanding so we can better support them
030as well as them being able to then support their children uh of course full circle through the schools. Thank you. >> Thank you. We have uh John, >> we have we finish on the online. John Brown. >> Uh yes, John Brown. Uh district 5 and I'm here to speak on uh GB5 110. I think it's now also 117. It's the student achievement file and the superintendence uh review report. I'm sorry. >> I wanted to express my concern about the uh both the reports. I was reading through them and I do support some of the comments made before about the um issues of AI and um public safety especially as it concerned students. But one of the things that >> point >> I take a particular concern with is on the both of these uh documents
031I saw they listed the overall attendance and overall graduation rates. But what's not being shown on these documents that I think is very bizarre to me as it pertains to the public schools is actually the attrition rates for the Western public schools. The thing is, if you take a look at the Massachusetts website, all the values on chronic absenteeism, uh, churn rate are actually listed in weighted averages, which is very deceiving because some of the math I did and via public records, I won't bore you too much with it, actually show doubledigit percentages for rates of attrition for the worst of public school systems. If you don't know what that is, attrition is basically what measures the budget, health, and overall capability of a school system. attrition is bad in other words and the Worester
032public schools has been having a very debilitating level of attrition for quite some time. What happens to those schools and those kids and more importantly is that those are the people that we ultimately see ending up on the streets. Those are people that we see at the uh suffering through poverty uh through substance abuse. And the problem is all the city's funding is being swallowed up by liability payouts and the Worcester Police Department. And unfortunately, as your own police chief has stated, overall crime, especially violent crime, is down. But what's happening is that the unreasonable use of force and especially the ill treatment of children in our public schools by police officers is going up. which means that money that's supposed to be used for the betterment of the kids is actually being used to
033pay cops to abuse kids and the rates of attrition therefore continue to go up. The school system continues to lose money and continues to funnel that money towards >> system could wrap up then. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, someone else still wanted to speak one more person want to speak. >> Is your name name your residence? >> Sure. My name is Heather Stanick. I'm a resident of Worcester. I am a parent of a current sixth grader at Nelson Place. Um and I am a parent of a soon to be first grader. I would like to speak specifically um about the responsib. I think saying that you can go to safe meetings when safe meetings are not uh made as public as I think they should be um is not a good way to
034say that they can find out about bullying. I think that we need to have public conversations around what the definitions of conflict and harassment and bullying are. And I think we need to talk openly about this with our educators, with our administration, with our caregivers, and with our scholars. Um, I think that putting this um, not talking about this on the floor and not talking about this in open meetings is doing a disservice to the scholars in the district as well as the educators and caregivers. um not knowing where to go to report things like this, not knowing who to speak to when they have their children have problems. It's a huge issue and it's honestly the one that I hear most about in my um when I am working with the Worester Education Justice
035Alliance as a table organizer. Um I think that we need to do more outreach around this and I think that there needs to be more discussion. Thank you. >> Thank you. So, I just want to thank everybody for coming out tonight. We're going to move on to the report of the superintendent. Um, Mr. Superintendent, it's the vision to action superintendent midcycle review. >> Uh, thank you to the chair. I'm pleased to provide an update through this midcycle review of the status of the proposed goals of the superintendent for the 2526 school year at the end of the presentation. I look forward to any feedback from the school committee on this work. There are five goals that were approved by the school committee in September. Again, you'll see that these goals span across all divisions and
036include the student learning goal, professional uh practice goal, and three district improvement goals. I'll also share updates on other highle areas of focus for the district for this year. We'll begin with the student learning goal, which has to do with student reading and math performance on the STAR assessment. Specifically, the goal is for students to improve by three percentage points in both reading and math. So, by the at the end of the school year, 36% of students will be meeting or exceeding the state benchmark on each of the STAR assessments. I'd like to note that we were actually able to process the middle of the year results in time to include in this presentation. So you'll see our most current numbers. What you see here is the percent of students in grades 2 to nine
037who were meeting exceeding the state benchmark on start reading at each time point since the beginning of school year 22. Circled in red, you'll see our current numbers, 32% of students. I want to give some context to that figure. If you look from school year 23 to school year 25, you'll notice that there is a pattern of continuous improvement from one time point to the next. Percentages are always either tied or higher than they were before. But at the beginning of this year, we experienced our first drop in this percentage, leading us to the start of the school year at the same percentage we started the fall of 2024. In order for us to continue the pattern of of improvement, we would need to see a gain between time points that were larger than we've
038uh seen in any of the last four years. As of now, I am encouraged that the beginning of year to middle of year, we did have f in fact have an increase larger than what we observed since SY22, a 3-point jump from 29 to 32%. and our current middle-of-the-ear percentages is also the highest middle of the year percentage when compared to the prior four school years. This means that to meet our end of year goal, we'll need to increase by another four points and I'm confident that our students and staff are taking the right steps to make that possible. When you're looking at now is the comparable figures for Star Math showing the percent of students in grades one through nine who are meeting exceeding the state benchmark. You'll see in the red circle that
039our current percent is 36%. This the highest this percent has been since we've been tracking performance since school year 22 and it also happens to be the target goal for the end of the year. While we happen to be at the target goal for the end of the year, if you look at the prior years, you'll see a pattern where our percentage peaks at the middle of the year before decreasing slightly by the end of the year. We do not have a current explanation for why that's the case, but if this pattern holds, we're likely to end up below the target by one to two percentage points by the end of this year. Rest assured, we are working to break this pattern this year. I want to point out a few things that I find
040encouraging about our current performance. Right now, the 36% of students meeting or exceeding state benchmark is the highest it's been [music] over the past 14 benchmark assessments dating back to fall 2021. It's 15 percentage points higher than when we began using STAR in this manner as we are now. And the 6% point increase from beginning year to middle of year is also the largest we've observed so far. So while it's possible our percentage might decrease at the end of year across the district, our teams, staff, and students are working to achieve our endofear goal. Our key takeaways from the star reading assessment through the middle of the year is first that our performance has improved relative to the previous middleofyear windows despite deviating from historical patterns of improvement at the beginning of this year. Like
041I just mentioned, our students math performance in particular is notable because it is the highest it's been compared to the prior four years. And our students have demonstrated within year growth that's higher than we've seen since school year 22 on either star reading or math. The next goal is our professional practice goal. Here we're focusing on having PLC's, department and grade level teams and other school-based teams implement the collaborative teaming structures with fidelity. The specific goal was to improve the percent of teams using that framework to 70% by the end of the year. We developed a data system to help us measure improvement in school-based teams implementing collaborative teaming structures. Whenever a team meets, they close their meeting by having someone fill out a form where they report on how the meeting was structured, what
042they focused on, what the topics were, and what the topics were discussed. We can then view the these data within the help of dashboards, which is what you're looking at here. As you can see, staff across the districts are implementing the collaborative teaming framework with the most of the teams focusing on tier one instructional practices. We also identified a number of key structures that a meeting would need in order to be implementing the collaborative teaming framework with fidelity. You can see that an overwhelming majority of the meetings occurring in the district have been meeting of the have been many meeting many of the structures needed to align with the framework things like having agenda reviewing norms and documenting action steps to be taken before the next meeting. Areas where we're still seeing improvement though include
043having ML and sped staff at each meeting and using specific protocols to review student or teacher work. Overall, a high majority of meetings are implementing most of these structures and from the September through December, the percent of meetings incorporating all structures have steadily increased. The first district uh improvement goal is around a communication strategy. The goal is by June 2026, the district will implement a unified communication framework. This initiative will streamline staff updates, enhance family and community outreach through diverse formats, and ensure all messaging is consistent with vision to action. As of this midcycle report, an all-encompassing communications framework document is in pro progress to memorialize our communication practices currently along with a pending guide book. The framework is broken down into four large buckets. Internal communication, our staff, external communication, which means families, students,
044comm members, etc. Crisis communications in feedback and continuous improvement. Specifically, a communications framework which goes into detail about our communication strategies and the communication guide book, which will be an instructional reference document for staff on best practices and protocols when it comes to communications. are in prog progress. After engaging in some feedback sessions with staff last year, we've already taken some initial steps to improve internal communication and this year with the goal of both increasing transparency and streamlining messages. One step has been the launch of a the all staff weekly newsletter. A second newsletter which is designed for school and district leaders is sent weekly for highle information. The benefits of the newsletter format is that it reduces a high volume of one-off emails and multiple newsletters from several uh district departments with overlapping or
045inconsistent information. At times, it was overwhelming for staff members to keep up, and this has been a great step forward. When it comes to communicating with external audiences, we're continuing and enhancing the strategies and practices that have been the subject of community praise and national recognition, including a weekly newsletter, the Imperent Square, with district events listing updates and highlights, a commitment to high quality videos in photos, and writing to share the success stories of students and staff on social media with a focus on content that exemplifies our district's vision to action theme. a robust, accurate, and visually apparent website and a commitment to sharing information in dozens of language languages and uh making sure it's accessible for all. For feedback and continuous improvement, the communications department is working with the office of research and accountability
046to issue surveys to students, staff, families, and community members. The second district improvement goal focuses on the grow your own initiative and vision of a leader. The goal is to design and implement a 5-year grow your own pipeline and pathway inclusive of community partnerships and concrete pathways and to recruit its first cohort of 15 to 20 high school juniors and seniors in the first early college course for the program. Our plan is to start students with an early college program at WA State University, allowing them to fulfill up to four Wora State Education major courses by their high school graduation. Through this program, students will also gain real classroom experience be beginning with observations, then attending professional development with educators and subsequently co-eing. Through this experience, students will develop leadership through enrichment opportunities such as
047clubs, conferences, and engagement across Worester's education network. Uh even update from this slide. As of today, 32 students now at capacity are enrolled in the first early college education course starting this month. You can see the student composition on on this slide. Students in their junior year will have the opportunity to complete four education classes by graduation. Human resources is developing workshops and panels to sustain student engagement with West Public Schools uh through their college experience. I know somebody will ask for the 32 students. Six are from Bernote, three from Claremont, nine from Dherty, six from North, four from South and four from Wetitech. The third district improvement goal focuses on a school boundary and quadrant alignment. We propose the goal to be to complete and implement a re realignment of school boundaries that reduces
048overcrowding and at least 90% of schools currently over capacity and increase utilization of underenrolled schools to at least 90% of building capacity based on a comprehensive analysis of student enrollment trends, program placements, feeder patterns, and citywide magnet designations ensuring programming aligns with each building's capacity by June 2027. We know that the current school boundaries do not align with the district's actual student distribution, which is causing uh several key issues. First, we continue experience overcrowding at several elementary schools such as Belmont, Rice Square, and Chennai Elementary. We also have capacity current concerns with both Sullivan Middle and Forest Grove, which are at or exceeding physical capacity. Additionally, South High is already over capacity at the new building. As we've discussed, there are confusing pathways across some elementary, middle, and high school feeder patterns. Finally, the alignment
049will place a greater focus on quadrants and quadrant teams. The district work will include examining current space utilization across all buildings, assessing the flexibility of spaces to support v of v varied instructional models in project for project-based learning, and enabling easy room reconfiguration. Also, we'll gather feedback from teachers, students, parents, and facility staff on the functionality and comfort of the learning environments and collect and utilize it. Finally, the district is analyzing space allocation to prevent constraining programs or curriculum goals and to provide adequate appropriately designed space for student support services. The update of this work is the establishment of a working group to finalize data review of existing student addresses within school boundaries and school plans within the new uh software platforms. The team is currently meeting with principles to review individual floor plans to
050better understand existing use of space and to make corrections. A vendor has been selected to assist the district in providing community outreach and collecting feedback. This work will continue into the spring with an expanded working group, scheduling community forums, and develop recommendations to be submitted to the school committee. These five goals are not the only priority areas for the district for the year. While not part of the annual goals process, other work of the district is conducted uh with the strategic plan. We have formed workg groupoups to study the launch of culturally responsive instruction, which is currently in a pilot at two schools. Additionally, work is underway on district alignment through the reformat of district leadership meetings, the roll out of training and infor uh information around restorative practices and the role of division of
051leader initiative. Teams are also working on improvements to our missionbased programs, the use of artificial intelligence by staff and students, elementary screen time, elementary time on learning in accordance with state requirements, evening school programs for adult learners, and site council development at all schools. Teams are also working on several initiatives. The future of chapter 74 and CTE programs in the district, a 5-year elementary library plan, continue work on our equity-based budget model from last year, and the continue expansion of vision of a learner. Finally, teams are also working on refining our afterchool model and sparkmies through district resources and community partners. Some of the highlights of these areas are uh in the following slides. Work around culturally responsive instruction has been embedded in in the instructional framework. We have developed a culturally relevant uh pedigogy
052CRP empowerment tool to collect both quantitative and qualitative data through instructional rounds. We have launched the CRP learning series for all instructional coaches to deepening knowledge of CRP theory for stronger instructional coaching. There are quadrant-based PLC's to include reflection, data collection, and applied coaching practice. We have completed restorative practice training in collaboration with Suffach University with secondary deans and uh culture and climate coaches in October of 2025. The restorative framework has been shared with the staff. Restorative circles are being used at secondary schools with elementary staff to begin implementation soon. Imple implementation of a vision of a leader framework to leadership groups that meet leaders where they are and build their capacity to apply the competencies and alignment with district priorities strengthening coherence across leadership roles. 14 principles are engaged in deep integration of this
053work with district leaders. Each district leader had the opportunity to participate in a confidence mapping and awareness workshop which identified areas of need for integration into upcoming district leadership meetings. The district has continued to work to improve the emissionbased program to process their communication and data dive to develop an equitable missiondriven process for the 2728 emissions process. Every school now has a site council with meeting dates, times, and agendas posted on our website. We want to continue to strengthen and streamline parent engagement through this process in the future. For this year, we are working to create and begin a multi-year AI strategy based on the DESIE AI and education guidance focusing on district operations, teaching and learning uh with and about AI tools and apps and communications. With that, I look forward to any questions
054or feedback that you may have. >> Thank you, member McCulla, followed by member Bian Carrier. Member Johnson. >> Thank you through the chair. Um, you know, I certainly appreciate the report and I look forward to getting some more data on this down the road. But the first thing I really wanted to ask is maybe you could talk a little bit through the chair to Superintendent Allen when we talk about the um gaps and the 0 to 70% where we're trying to increase the teams for PLC's. Can you talk a little bit more about PLC's so people maybe have a little bit of an understanding about how those work and um why those are so important to helping those achievements increase through the chair. >> Mr. Superintendent >> certainly research is as we um presented uh
055as part of the goal roll out in September research is clear um that PLC work is one of the most effective ways uh for student achievement. So if we put adults together to talk about students their work and expectations that has been a significant driver uh that leads to um student achievement. We actually saw that uh during our level four days where we actually use PLC and common planning time um work uh to uh support the level four schools with great success. >> Thank you. I just wanted for people to understand how important those are and that's why we're doing so much work with those and we've seen success with those. So I think it's important for people to hear a little bit more about what the PLC's actually are. As far as the grow
056your own pipeline, I mean I've said this before, I really appreciate the work that the district is doing on it. I know even in the past we were on a committee when uh member Benettto previously as superintendent we sat on a committee at Worcester State with really trying to increase student interest and participation and becoming educators and really how do we not only make it something that's attainable but achievable right um you know desirable not just attainable sorry but desirable and want people to go into education and I really appreciate that the demographic of the student population that's participating is reflective of our student body because obviously that's something we want to do the grow your own but make sure that people feel like they're represented in their schools. Um, I look forward to hearing
057more from the data points that you've put out and that was really my only question around the PLC's. Thank you. >> Thank you, Member Buria. >> Thank you. Um, obviously this is an excellent report. Um, there's tremendous information here. I think we're moving in the correct direction. I have a few questions on it and a few comments. Um on [clears throat] page 31 you have that um you're working with 14 principles um in reference to the spark cohort and could you just elaborate if you're working with 14 principles in that portion how are we bringing other ideas to other principles >> through this year so this is our first year uh we are 14 principles are working in depth on our vision of a leader framework. We're using all of the uh work in our
058um monthly principalmies, but these 14 principles are actually kind of helping us shape the work. Uh so going forward, this will be applicable to all principles and district leaders. So this is just the initial work um using these 14 principles um as the the first year. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, let's see. On page 28, you talk about the chapter 74 and the CTE programs. Obviously, that's right up my alley. So, I was just wondering, are we looking at additional chapter 74 courses? >> Mr. Superintendent. >> So, the chair. So, I think what we're starting with is um looking at where we are with chapter 74 programs in terms of both the need of the community and what uh is available for us to support where they should be located and where there are opportunities
059to expand either chapter 74 or CTE programs and also keeping in mind um that as part of the educational plan that will be writing for burnt code high the inclusion of chapter 74 CTE programs within that plan as well. That's that's what I was wondering is if we were going to be increasing anything at Burnout also. >> So that we'll be doing that through this educational plan that we're writing um as part of the feasibility phase that we're in now >> because it's worked out so well at at Darity and North and it's has set a pace of what we're looking at. Um on page 27 you have um development recommendations to achieve better district alignment for 27 and 28 and I know that goes along with the district improvement goal three. So my concern
060for the boundaries in the realignment for the schools is um the east side has a number of properties that are going to be developed. They're not so much have been approved. It's the proposals of 400 apartments off of um Grafton Street, another 200 that are going off of Franklin. Um, so we have an abundance of apartments that will come into the neighborhood and um, that's going to affect the volume of kids that are going to be going to school. Some of them are granted single studio apartments, but also some of them are not. So, they're going to be an adult with a [snorts] child or two adults with a a child, a couple of siblings, and that it's going to affect our neighborhood. So, are we as a school system keeping track of what the
061developments are in the city, and if so, how are we doing that? >> So, the chair, so we're we work closely with the economic development team here at city hall in looking at the proposed developments. exactly which ones are only studios, which ones likely maybe could have um students attending. So, we will be continuing our work as we get into the details of this plan to continue continue work with economic development around where developments may be that may impact student enrollment at schools. >> Okay. So, what do you foresee? Is is this going to be a year project, two-year project, or what are we looking at >> through the chair? So, our expectation is to provide the school committee with recommendations this spring to allow the fall to the school committee to um to subcommittee
062or whatever to you know have community input, their own feedback sessions and so forth >> with the implementation um so we can get everything in place for the 2728 school year. >> The 2728. Okay. So, um, you feel as though in the spring of 2026, we will receive information in reference to how you're looking at this. Correct. >> Through the chair, our intention, yes, is to give the school committee a set of recommendations of which then the school committee will then be involved in finalizing, approving or not approving those recommendations, but it will be this spring. Yes. >> Okay. So, that keeps us in the loop number one. and number two in the discussion of how we're looking at this and what we think is going to be occurring >> through the chaps. >> Okay.
063Thank you. [clears throat] And um again um I know my colleague mentioned this. I would like to say I'm thrilled about grow your own pipeline. I worked on this for a number of years when I was employed with Worcester public schools for internships with um Worcester State University. now uh along with Quinn Sigman. So I didn't know is the only contact in college right now uh Worcester State University >> Mr. Allen >> through the chair. So we're using Worester State right now for the early college program that the students high school students will be um participating in later this starting this month. We're in conversations with several other colleges about their programs as well. We're meeting with Assumption College on Monday. We've had conversations how Quinc City can support our students. Um we've had conversations
064with Holy Cross already about So this is Worester State is uh where they'll be taking the early college courses where the students maybe choose to end up in the Wor area going to college is still that that's their choice. So we'll be supporting the students regardless of where they go as long as they're part of this cohort um for the Grow Your Run program. >> Okay. Well, congratulations on this and certainly um I would love to have an update in June on this. Um so I make a motion that we receive an update on the in uh in the spring in reference to um how the 32 students are doing and what other colleges are on board because I think that's very interesting. I would like to see um who has stepped up to the
065plate in what they're offering because they have um quite a hold on our city as far as colleges are concerned and I would like to see them participating not just um Worester State University and again thank you very much very informative report. >> Thank you. We have member Johnson. Thank you um to to the chair well through the chair to administration. Mr. Allen, thanks for the report. Um I just have one thing um in regard to your professional practice goal. Um, can we I I guess I will make a motion that um Superintendent Allen add um and re because he talked about the collaborative team and I just want to hear more about his professional development on the meetings that he attends and what the evidence base is around that and kind of what he's
066gained from that, what he's learned or whatever in his first year um being superintendent. So, just make a motion that he add to the professional practice goal the meetings that he he attends outside of the ones that he's doing within the district. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Member Guardola. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor, and uh thank you to the administration for the report. I really appreciate it. I think there's a lot here to unpack and uh really some goals that we uh are excited to see and uh hopeful that they kind of come to fruition [clears throat] as planned. Uh what I did have a question a couple questions on specifically on the school boundary and quadrant alignment. um you know as we kind of go through this and obviously overcrowding is an
067issue and it's not a benefit to either teachers or or educators or students uh if we have overcrowding because class sizes get bigger and as member being carrier mentioned there are going to be more people living in different parts of the city you know developments continue to happen uh as mentioned you know in grafting there will be 400 new units but as downtown redevelops we're starting to see more and more folks living downtown in the core versus the neighborhoods that we've seen in the past so uh but the question will be uh obviously it's difficult for students when they're midway through their high school or or midway through uh you know in middle school. Will there be some leeway for students who are let's say a sophomore in uh DHY to be able to stay
068there after the boundaries have been set uh and then versus somebody who's coming in as a nth grader? So that's kind of my question for that. So to to the uh superintendent to the through the mayor >> to the chair. No, thank you for that question because uh primarily what I think we're going to focus on is the elementary alignment um to align that better with the middle school and high school feeder pattern. So we don't necessarily see any impact for the by for the most part at the middle or high school level. It's mostly going to be um at the elementary level. What the one of the things we will consider absolutely strongly and I support is allowing for legacy enrollment so students do not have to have multiple transition at the elementary grades.
069So this essentially while we'll go infect in the 2728 school year to be fully realized could take up to six or seven years um that wasn't a joke um um to be fully implemented. Sorry. >> No, I thank you. Yeah, of course. Obviously, uh again, you know, the reason I asked it was because it has come up, you know, through my conversations with parents and such. Uh you know, obviously students play, they're in clubs or they're, you know, athletics sports or or whatever it may be. And those are kind of really other parts of the development of the child. So, >> so again, overall, our intention is not to disrupt any student from their current placement. >> Appreciate it. And then uh another question which I'm pretty sure I have the answer to but I
070want to just confirm and make sure that everybody else knows this won't affect the school committee districts because obviously the districts were made so there was an equal representation across the city uh like myself and member Alvarez we are in a minority majority district and we want to make sure that that representation continues in those districts and I don't believe but I would want to clarify through the chair >> um through the chair that would be my understanding again I think some of the areas where we need to focus focus on is addressing the overcrowding at particularly those three elementary schools. Maybe where we have preschool placements that may may be better aligned to uh needs of our where students are coming from and some of our other um specialized programs in terms of program
071placement. So, it's addressing overcrowding. It's addressing program placement and using space um more efficiently within our buildings. >> Great. Well, thank you very much again for the report and I look forward to the report that Carrier has requested in June. Thank you. Thank you. Me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me member Benda. >> Thank you uh for the report again. I want to um thank you for the end of year to end of year uh data because I think that's going to show our true progress but it was great to see the progress certainly uh so far. Uh one of the um important parts for me um is again about disruptions in schools and I'm happy to see that we're going to
072do some restorative practice work. I'm I'm just wondering about the other side of it like the collaborative problem solving like I know that's through a different university but I collaborative problem solving was through um mass mass general and um it is something that DESIE also holds as being an effective method. So I I was just wondering if you know uh somehow we can do some work on that also. So for people that don't know what collaborative problem solving is is that you look at a student's behavior and um you decide what skills they didn't learn and then we teach them the skills and the behavior changes. So you have large number of decrease of behavior issues uh once you learn how to be able to assess the students and the skills. We had um very
073good luck with that with some programs and then of course uh co hit and uh we weren't able to continue in in that area but I I liked it because I felt um stu it gave students more control of their behaviors and we weren't saying that you know you're not um you just behave all the time misbehave all the time. we were saying um let's see what we can teach you so you have that focus of control. So restorative justice is after you do something but I I would really like to do something prior to that so we don't have to do so much restorative justice. So I was just wondering what you thought about that >> Mr. Allen >> ch that's something we certainly can um look at again I obviously was part of
074administration when we did that pre-COVID so we can certainly talk to the team and come back with recommendation. >> Perfect. And then the other thing is that the AI goal is like a difficult goal uh simply because there's so much going on federally there's so much going on in the state about it. There's so much going on desi last year um uh MASC came out with with kind of a guideline on AI but even in their work they stated it's a very this is very difficult to come up with a with a plan. So I appreciate the goal. I also appreciate the fact that it's going to be very difficult, you know, to be all-incclusive, but we still have to go somewhere because we have to protect our students. >> Super chair. So we agree
075and we actually have uh slowed down or stepped back from using some of the platforms from last year to this year um so we can go through this process and again the ultimately we want to use AI if we're using AI in authentic and ethical way and so we've kind of paused and we're going through this process now to figure out what that might look like in the future. >> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for the report. >> Thank you. So member mailman >> I didn't see um and I think it's a priority is the work with dual language >> implementing >> through the chair. Um yes that's one of the focus areas for this year. I was only highlighting a couple of those areas. >> Okay. >> But that's still a focus area for
076the district. >> That's a long list right here. So okay. So, if it's an even longer list, we should see that, too. >> Thanks. >> Okay. So, we're going to uh you all set? Sorry. Okay. We're going to take proving the file along with the motions of uh Diane Carrier and member Johnson. Those in favor? Opposed? So, ordered. And I to go over the student comment section. If students want to speak, what is your name? You know what school you're from? >> Hi everyone, my name is Arson. I'm from Worcester Technical High School and I'm currently a junior. >> Hi, my name is Michael Keelles. I'm a senior at Gerald Kremer Center. [snorts] >> Thank you for being here tonight. >> Hi, my name is Shira. I'm a rep from North High and I'm a
077junior. >> Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Ivonne Roberts. I'm a senior and I go to Burn High School. >> Great. Great to see you all four of you tonight. Thank you. Okay, we're going to the approval of grants and other finance items. Roll call. No. Oh, you want to speak on them? Yeah. Member being cared for by member mailman. >> Thank you. Um, quick question on page give me a moment. Page 44 um, [clears throat] excuse me, 245 uh,000. So, I was just wondering when you look at the expenses on this, it literally um just has other costs. Resurfacing of gym floor, resurfacing of playground areas for two sites. And um I certainly appreciate the fact that we're using all the funds for that, but any of the uh is the prep work
078done or are we using our funds to do the prep work and then these funds will then complete the project? >> Mr. Allen >> through the chair. So these uh funds I believe cover both the prep work and the final uh restoration of the floor. the and these projects have been in our 5-year capital plan um before um we got this earmarked through the final state budget process and so um this is allowing us to do more capital work and so we've identified these projects to come out of these this air earmark funds >> so some of that prep work will go into the expenses I just was surprised that it wasn't divvied up u with more detail but I understand okay thank you >> member mailman Thank you through the chair on that same
079grant. Um so would you anticipate we'll be um applying for these fair share air marks every single year and it's going to be capital related and we're going to can can you do you [clears throat] have any insight into what's coming? So the chair [snorts] I don't have any insight other than as we work with our state delegation during the budget process um as these opportunities become available we will be ready uh to submit um an amount uh to them for consideration in in the state budget. >> So through the chair they came to us and said we have some money and we picked these projects >> uh through the chair. That's correct. They they identified the amount of money we picked the projects to fit within that dollar amount. Correct. >> Thank you. Thank
080you, member Ben. I >> I was just wondering, did we fix the schoolyard at Columbus Park? Because uh when we were there uh recently uh we put up that that nice mural was there. There was a I know that we had discussed that there was maybe some way we were going to fix that. Is that on a list anywhere? >> So, the chair um if I can I'll give an update in one of the weekly update. I'll look into it and get back to the school. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. >> Okay, so we're going to have a roll call on the uh grant. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Biancia, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >>
081yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny, >> yes. Okay, we are on general business under O 5-94 to receive report on the events actions that are deemed either bullying harassment conflict what the WA public schools is doing with regard to parent education on bullying anybody so motion is to approve and to file those in favor opposed next item is 5-110 request administration provide the school committee with a detailed report on district's plans to address the student achievement by the new release MCCAST results. Anybody on that motion? >> Oh, sorry. Member Johnson. >> I'm sorry. Through the chair that you're on me and member Guadles. >> Yes. Yep. We have two of them. I'm sorry. The next one is request administration provide a report on the school accountability
082report. and report. Please report on the four-year cohort graduation rate, extended engagement rate, chronic epis appetism, and advanced cro coursework completion and report on the plan to address the concerns regarding the accountability report. >> Thank you um to the chair. Um [clears throat] well I I don't I don't think that this report is kind of what I was looking for. I was looking for a more indepth um report than this. Um as overall I mean it looks like we are doing a decent job. Um, when you look at us compared to the state and other urban schools, I'm really just trying to focus in on us as a district and kind of where we are. Because when I look at the overall accountability reports for the district overall in each individual school, um I'm seeing
083some gaps where we are lacking and we we we haven't met certain areas and targets and there are some subgroups within those areas that um I particularly kind of want to take a look at and have a conversation about on how we're going to address that. Um, I I think individually there may be some schools that may be struggling in other certain areas and I was looking to get more of an in-depth report on just overall some of the subgroups kind of where we we are weak at in these categories and some of the schools that are struggling in certain areas in certain subgroups and to have a conversation on what is the plan um moving forward. One thing I do have a question about is in regards to the um advanced coursework. As I
084as we could see in this backup, those numbers have dipped significantly. But then in the backup, it was reported that there was um some coding issues. um appears that we're having a lot of coding issues lately in regards to implementing data. Um so I'm just wondering was there a way to correct this before we submitted this out to Desi or is there a time frame once you submit the stop and they give you the report? Is there a way to go back and correct that to because when you look at it on the website, right, the the the state website, it doesn't look good. It looks like we had a significant drop. But if there was some coding issues, was there a way that we could we would have been able to correct that prior
085to the report coming out through the through the chair to the administration? >> Mr. Allen, >> through the chair. So, in my experience, um the answer is it depends and it depends on the timing. um I don't think we had an opportunity in this case. There's been other opportunities in the past where um Desi has allowed us to make some corrections. Um and so the the following year information will obviously be um more accurate of what we're actually doing in terms of uh this area. And when you talk through the chair to administration, when we're talking about some coding errors, are we talking about individual schools kind of coding it differently or are we talking about the district gathering the information and then plug it in in and >> through the chair? I'm actually going
086to if if okay defer to uh Dr. Andre uh he can uh he's online um and we'll give an explanation. >> Uh through the chair uh the coding's on the back end so it's not coding that the school does per se. uh Bessie looks for different levels of coding by the course, course types, etc. So, uh there's a number of moving parts and um so the school's not necessarily they're not necessarily the ones who are having to do anything with the uh uh the course themselves in terms of what we submit to Desi. So, uh we've already looked into this. We've communicated with Desi. I've been working to uh resolve the issue. And to the earlier question you had asked, uh, no, once we get the information for accountability, uh, results, they're they're pretty much
087baked at that point. >> Okay. Thank you. And I guess through the chair to administration. So my motion would be to um send this back to administration and get more of an extensive um report on kind of highlighting what I think we all have seen and read on some of those areas that I would consider to be concerning in certain schools and and subgroups within the schools. um to kind of figure out what what we're doing to address that issue moving forward. Cuz when you look at the history of it, we have done very well in certain areas and we're starting to slip in certain areas or whatever where we typically do well. I think some schools are starting to slip in some areas in my eyes that we typically have done well um with
088certain populations that are not doing so well. Um, and I'm just trying to wrap my head around what that is. Um, is it some focal focused instructional stuff within those schools? Is it other things that we might need to work on? It could be a budget conversation that we might need to have to add some support within those schools. So, that's kind of what I'm looking for, a little more detailed and in-depth um, report moving forward. Thank you. >> Thank you, member Mend by member. Uh just one of those items I noticed uh was the advanced coursework that is um that's common in that um I I had that problem myself uh when I was superintendent is that you have to stay on that advanced coursework numbers right because DESIE decides what's going to be
089advanced course work and what isn't so what we think is advanced course work because it's a high level course sometimes they don't and so That's a really that's one area that's really easy to solve and that's one of the areas that you picked up uh in the gaps uh for high schools was the advanced course work. So I think that's just a a way of um making sure that uh schools high schools uh looking at that advanced coursework the number of kids in a AP classes um but also the um early college numbers keep those numbers up and then other courses that are considered advanced course work. So it's an easy fix. It's just something that we have to keep our eye on. >> Thank you, Member Guardiola. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [clears throat]
090And I I'll be brief because uh Member Johnson, as we took them collectively, member Johnson kind of addressed some of the things that I also wanted to uh kind of see in some of these reports, including um you know, a little more depth uh on the action steps. Uh my you know, my item was based around you know, the removal of the MCCAST as a requirement for graduation. Uh but I believe there still is some value for these MCCAST to show a benchmark of where our students are. Um one of the things that we did see was there was a significant dip in 10th grade scores in English, math, and science. I'd like to see what we're doing to address that a little more in depth. Uh again, I believe that, you know, member Johnson
091spoke about the coding issue, and I talked about this previously on the disciplinary uh data that we received. There was coding issues there. I would really like to see a little bit more in-depth uh reporting on what we're doing to rectify the coding stuff. Uh honestly, that's something that we could be fixing that will give us more uh clear information that we should be getting. So, if we can work together as a committee with the administration, especially as member Johnson mentioned, we're coming into budget season where we can allocate some of these funds or move some money one way or the other to make sure that we're addressing some of these issues. But, uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. I support uh member Johnson's uh motion. Thank you. >> Thank you. Just for clarification, Member Johnson,
092is it 5-117 we're recommitting or is it both? >> Which item are we recommitting? Both items on we have we have item 5-110 from member Guardiola and item 5-117 from yourself. >> I I think member Guardiola would like to combine them and come back with >> combine them. Okay. So recommit comb I got you. Okay. So recommit those and come back with a combined report. All those in favor oppos. Okay. Next is response from administration GB6-3 to approve a lease agreement for 30 Chattam Street for the additional parking spaces to serve employees and visitors of the Fanning Building. Roll call. >> Alvarez. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Vancaria. >> Yes. Member Bernando, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >>
093yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Petty, >> okay. Um, next item is to authorize the This is 6-4. This wants the administration to authorize the administration to purchase the National Geographic curriculum for the M multilanguage education department at the cost not to exceed $1.5 million. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> I'm sorry. Hang on one second. Um member Johnson. >> Yes. Dude, I I think I have probably a stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. So it this curriculum is this um software um app whatever we keep having these conversations about app and and AI and and and things like that. I I I want to >> Mr. Allen >> through through the chair to administration. >> I think you could go right here. >> You want to go? >> You
094can sit Yeah, you can sit right in the chair here if you want. >> Yeah. Just Mandes director of uh multilingual learners will answer this question. >> Nope. >> Through the chair, the curriculum is it has hard copy components and it does also have digital components. >> Is that was that your question? >> That is my question. >> And I guess my follow-up question is is that we did our research and everything's been cleared. It's federally and state law compliance and all that other stuff. >> We've actually had National Geographic products in the past, so this isn't a new product for us. >> Okay. All right. That's all I have. >> All set. >> Member B carrier. >> When would this start? When would this program begin? So, the hope is with the approval today
095that it gets ordered and purchased, but that takes a couple of months to happen. We're hoping to have professional development this year and have teachers be able to look at the materials while we work on curriculum maps and then go full throttle at the beginning of next year. >> So, it be 26 >> 27. >> Yeah. >> Right. Okay. >> But they'd have access to it when we purchase it this year to at least look at the materials and get professional development on it. >> Okay. Um, I I would ask that we receive an update. >> Uh, perhap you think June is is sufficient or would you prefer it to be in the summer? >> I think maybe the summer because I'm sorry through the two. Um, in the summer because we would be using
096some of the summer months to create the curriculum. >> So, I I would say perhaps in the August meeting we have an update on how we're going to be doing this, what schools uh will be participating and all set up for it. Does that sound like reasonable? >> I can answer a portion of that right now. This is actually for grades 7 through 12, >> all secondary schools >> in the ESL classrooms. >> Okay. So, I I guess what what I look forward to is hearing a little more about it. Uh for the million.5, I guess we should know a little more about it. Okay. So, that's fine. >> Motion is to I would say in August. >> Okay. >> We we get an update for us. >> So, update in August. All those in
097favor opposable audit on this item of $1.5 million. The motion is to approve and to file. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Member Biania. >> Yes. >> Member Bernenda. >> Yes. >> Member Guardiola. >> Yes. >> Member Johnson. >> Yes. >> Member Mailman. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair Mcculla. >> Yes. >> Member Roy. >> Yes. >> Mayor Penny. >> Yes. Next item is uh 6-5 to approve the recommendation that provides district with additional city onetime funding to be used during the current fiscal year that holds the district harmless from the state's reductions as well as provide an additional amount of $1.8 million. >> You're welcome. And roll call. Prior to the roll call, member mailman, >> um were there my question was and I'm not finding the right sheet. Were there considerations for
098other programs that you did not include with this funding that um we had discussed over the course of this year? >> Mr. Owen >> through the chair. I'm not recalling any specific programs. Um you can see mo 728,000 of it is towards the curriculum that was just approved. Yeah. >> Um we're restoring the graduation expenses that were cut out of uh the budget last year. So schools, high schools do not need to take that from their um um revolving funds. We we're uh establishing line for furniture for increasing of new classroom furniture for this year and we're also supporting um the increase in staff for our hub schools provide some additional supports there. So really all of those um um are using up this one time money. I I have a recollection but it might
099not be right that if there was additional funding we talked about doing something on the library side >> the chair so we're still working to identify so we're continuing to work through uh what that will look like in terms of >> um working with the west public library the coalition and so forth and see in terms of identifying what materials we will need and what that will purchase I don't think we're there yet and then we'll be looking for um some type of investment, a recommendation or something after working with our building principles for the FY uh 27 budget >> through budget. Okay, thank you. >> Okay, roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. Member Bian, >> yes. And thank you to the city. >> Member Bernando, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >>
100Member Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Vice Chair McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. Mayor Petty. >> Uh, yes. Announcements. Next meeting is on January 22nd. We also have the Martin Luther King youth breakfast on a week from Saturday and also the Martin Luther King breakfast a week from Monday. So, okay. Motion adjourned. Those in favor opposed.