001Recording in progress. >> Uh good evening everyone. Welcome to the Wister School Committee. Um call the meeting to order. If you can please stand for the pledge of allegiance followed by the national anthem which will be sung by Giovanni uh Dutumble from DHY High, a sophomore at DHY High School. Ice to the flag of the United States of America and to the standy and justice for all. Oh, say by the dawn early light was so proud we held at the twilight last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight for The ramparts we watch were so gallently streaming. And the rockets red glare. The bombs burst in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled ber yet wave. Oh, the land of
002the free and the home of the brave. [Applause] Javanni, nice job. Thank you. >> Yes. remember. Okay. >> Okay. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez >> present. >> Member Bianceria >> here. >> Member Benendo >> here. >> Member Guardiola >> here. Vice Chair Johnson >> here. >> Member Mailman >> here. >> Member McCulla >> here. Member Roy >> here. >> Mayor Penny. >> All right. Here we have the student advisory committee items. Uh we have introductions tonight. Maybe we'll start over here on my left. Um member McCulla. Maybe you want to introduce yourselves and what school you're from. Is your name and you are? >> Um my name is Annayia Ortiz and I am a junior at DH Memorial High School. >> Oh, welcome. Thank you. My name is Carl Mara Carlos and I'm a junior
003at University Park Campus School. >> Thank you. >> My name is Arson Marson. I'm from Worcester Technical High School. I'm currently a junior. >> Thank you. >> My name is Jonathan Reyes and I am a student at Claremont Academy. I am also a senior. >> Okay. Welcome. Look forward to work. >> Oh, we have one online. Okay. Are they on? >> Hello. >> Yes. Go ahead, Glattus. >> Um, my name is Glattus Er. I'm a senior at South High Community School. >> Oh, welcome, Glattus, and thank you for uh volunteering for this. So, uh much appreciated. Look forward to working with everybody over the next uh school year. So, thank you everyone. Okay, we have the consent agenda. The motion is to approve. Roll call. >> Member Alvarez. >> Yes. >> Member Bianceria. >> Yes.
004>> Member Bernenda. >> Yes. >> Member Guadiola. >> Yes. >> Vice Chair Johnson? >> Yes. >> Member Mailman? >> Yes. >> Member McCulla? >> Yes. >> Member Roy? >> Yes. >> Mayor Petty? >> Uh, yes. Okay. We are on recognitions. uh recognize common Rosado, family and community engagement liaison from the Latino education institute after school program for 25 years of service. >> Vanessa, I mean remember Alvarez, >> do I do I stay here? >> No, stay there. Then you get the certificate. >> So good afternoon everyone. The Latino Education Institute of Wester State University provides a range of programs dedicated to supporting Worers's Lat Latin X youth and their families, ensuring their success in both school and the broader community. I wanted to include this recognition on tonight's agenda after having the privilege of visiting
005one of LEI's many outstanding afterchool programs. The program I'm referring to is called ESLA, which stands for innovative services for LionX achievers. This afterchool program specifically supports Wester public school scholars in grades 1 through six by providing targeted literacy and math tutoring. One of the most inspiring aspects of Isla is its dual focus on both students and parents. While children receive tutoring and homework help in one room, their parents are in another room with Miss Carmen Rosado learning about civic engagements and ways to support the their children's educational success. Miss Rosado kindly invited me to visit Isla one day and during that visit I had the opportunity to speak with parents and share more about my role as a school committee member. This was such a heartfelt moment for me because I witnessed firsthand the
006power of community con community connection. The way families, educators, and leaders came together to support our students's growth and future programs like are a are a testament to the impact of culturally responsive community-based education. I wanted to extend my deepest appreciation for the Latino Education Institute, Miss Carmen Rosado, and all of those involved in creating such a nurturing and empower empowering environment for our students and their families. Let's take a moment to acknowledge Isla's 10year anniversary. >> So, I guess we have a couple of celebrations in common. Congratulations and for 10 years 10 years of uh innovative service or Tino achievers for the after school program. Does everybody want to come together and take a picture maybe? Thank you. Congratulations and common is also a 30-year employee of the West public schools. So I at
007South High Community School. Thank you. Next up, I'm sorry. Next up, we have uh public comment. Any member of the public may address the committee regard an item that is on the agenda for uh up to two minutes. Anybody want to speak? Seeing nobody. Okay, we have something online. Okay, >> Dena. >> Hi, good evening. My name is Dena Tedeski. I'm a Worester resident and the proud parent of a Wester public school graduate and a current eighth grader. First, I'd like to thank Mr. Allen and his dedicated team for all the great work of the strategic plan and the vision to action. The community and caregivers are feeling the changes and that includes the warm, welcoming, and resourceful know your school nights. I was honored to table at a number of them at in various
008capacities and seeing parents and caregivers connect with the wraparound coordinators benefit benefit from local resources and groups. Plus to see children proud and excited to show off their school was amazing. This is an excellent way for families to feel welcome and less intimidated by their child's school and staff. And these connections help lead to engagement which is essential for all involved. Everyone benefits when that happens. And this leads me to comment on ROS5-13 on slide 11, AIM2, regarding ensuring scholars can exercise agency in determining their educational path. I look forward to seeing the data points improved improve on this. It's not surprising that when children are included in their conversations about their education, they're more likely to be invested and have a higher likelihood of commitment to their own education. Regarding slide 12, we need
009to see the school site councils re revived. I know this is on the plan and in the process. It's an excellent opportunity for partnerships and multi-level investment to our schools and it's critical. Regarding slide 13, from what I'm hearing, the restorative practices are having a welcome impact and it shows we as a district continue to be committed to our scholars, all of them. And then regarding slide 16, I want to stress the importance of our scholars mental health and well-being. Kids are dealing with so much. We have to ensure that this time and resources are available to address them. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll wrap up this part of the program. We'll go on to uh uh next is a report of the superintendent vision to action strategic plan status update. Uh Mr.
010Superintendent >> uh thank you uh for the chair the clear consensus so the school committee the community and the administration uh is to complete the aims identified in the strategic plan this evening administration is pleased to present a status um of the progress made so far on our strategic plan. Dr. Lampy is here to join us from the office of research and accountability and will provide a look on how the district is tracking each key performance indicator, our strategic plan dashboard, and how the information is publicly accessible and updated. With that, I'll turn it over to Dr. Lampy. >> Dr. Linky, >> uh, excuse me. Good evening and thank you to Superintendent Allen for the introduction. Um, if you can go to the next slide, please. My goal for this presentation is to help the
011school committee gain a better understanding of the work that has gone on behind the scenes to develop a plan for measuring and tracking our strategic plan. So to that end, I will speak about how we developed the systems for collecting and sharing the data points from the strategic plan and I will then follow up on that by showing where the district currently stands across the priority areas outlined in the plan through the end of school year 25. Next slide. Before I describe the behind-the-scenes work that went on though, I'd like to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to the organization of the plan and the terms I'll be using. Next slide, please. So, first I will reorient you to the organization of the strategic plan. The plan has a hierarchical
012structure where priority areas, which I will go over on the next slide, have several guiding aims organized underneath them. Under these aims, there are promises to the community that outline what is to be accomplished by the end of the strategic plan in 2028. And then finally, each promise has multiple data points associated with it which are used to track progress towards fulfilling the promises made. Next slide. So as I mentioned before, all of these aims, promises, and corresponding data points are organized under six key priority areas which are outlined on the slide here. They include equitable resources and educational programs, family and community engagement, culture and climate, acquire and retain talent, health and wellness, and modernized and safe facilities. Next slide. Now, understanding the organization of the strategic plan, I'll give you an idea of
013the timeline of the work we've done so far. The strategic plan was approved by the school committee in winter of the 2023 2024 school year. And when it was passed, the data points associated with each promise were included in the strategic plan, but there was no definition for how those data points would be calculated, and there was no standardized system for reporting on that data. Creating those definitions and data systems comprised the work for the remainder of the SY24 school year. Then in SY25, the work shifted to troubleshooting those systems we developed the year prior. We spent the year making adjustments in reporting schedules, methods for reporting data, where the data were to be sourced from, etc. And as this data continued to come in, we were also able to start reporting on the progress
014being made relative to these data points. Next slide. As a result of this work, we concluded SY25 with a robust data collection system. Of those 58 data points identified in the strategic plan, there are standardized definitions and data systems for 57 of them. The remaining data point continues to be under development because because there are prerequisite activities that will determine the data definition and collection system and those have not yet concluded. Next slide please. So next I'd like to briefly share a little bit about what we are doing with the data we are collecting. What you see here is a master spreadsheet our office makes available to district leaders that shows the baseline data and historical progress on each of the data points in the strategic plan. We also include a timeline for each of
015the data points that lets leaders see how often those data are collected and when they can reasonably expect the next data point to be provided. And what this spreadsheet does is it allows for a really in-depth look at individual data points and it also serves as the basis for our other means of providing information and interpretations to district leaders. Next slide. Of course, having the individual data points is important and useful, but it is difficult to see the broader picture when looking over 58 data points, each with their own nuances. So, our office has developed the dashboard that you see here that summarizes the progress made in each of the six priority areas by summarizing across data points. Essentially, what we do is we take all of the data points associated with a given aim
016and calculate the proportion of them that are either improving or maintaining pre-established gains. And we refresh this dashboard at the end of each academic quarter, which is the most frequent of the three reporting schedules used in the strategic plan. And what this allows for is a high-level summary that helps district leaders to see if there are any key priority areas or subsets of priority areas that require additional attention. Next slide. So all of that background is necessary to understand the data I'll show you now uh which is the progress we've made in each of the six priority areas starting on the next slide. And what I'll do is I'll show you the data in the same way it's summarized in the dashboard I just showcased. So data points will be summarized under aims and I
017will report the percentage of data points that are either improving or holding steady. To begin, we'll start with equitable resources and educational programs. This priority area focuses on making sure all students in the district have access to the same opportunities. And some of the data points we track here are the number of advanced coursework seats available, the percent of students from different groups who meet or exceed expectations in reading and math, or the percent of students who report receiving rigorous instruction. And as you can see here, a substantial majority of the data points for aims one and three are making progress or maintaining gains, while for aim two, 40% of associated data points are progressing. And what this means is that overall in this priority area, a majority of associated data points are improving. Next
018slide, please. Next, we have family and community engagement. This priority area includes things such as parents perceptions of school safety, how often parents and caregivers attend school-based events, and utilization of communication tools like parent square. We see that twothirds of data points for AIM one are improving as are 100% of data points for AIM 2. For AIM three, community partnerships are something which we have established a more robust tracking system, but one that currently has only one data point. As such, we uh currently do not have enough information to say whether data are improving or not, but we will have more data points by the end of this year. Overall, as with priority area one, a a majority of associated data points are improving or maintaining gains. Next slide, please. Next, we have culture and
019climate. The data points associated with this priority area include things like student sense of belonging, how often students are receiving disciplinary interventions, and the in implementation of culturally responsive practices. Similarly to the previous two priority areas, two of the three aims have a substantial proportion of data points that are improving or maintaining gains, whereas the third is somewhat smaller. But even still, half of all data points associated with AIM3 are improving or maintaining gains. This means that as with the other priority areas, a majority of all data points associated with the culture and climate priority area are improving or maintaining. Next slide. The acquire and retain talent priority area focuses on recruiting staff members who are representative of the students they serve while also building pipeline systems as Superintendent Allen spoke about two meetings prior.
020And here you'll see that aims one and two both of which have to do with recruiting and maintaining staff have a majority of data points that are improving andor maintaining gains. Aim three which deals with the pipeline programs does not have enough historical data for us to draw conclusions from and this means that overall for the data points for which we can draw conclusions from a majority are again improving. Next slide please. Next the modernized and safe facilities priority area deals with our physical spaces across the district including renovations, repairs and the creation of new spaces. Some of the associated data points include response times for building repair requests or safety related building improvements. Note though that there are some data points that are used to track the district's progress towards meeting promises, but the
021data is from a source out of the district's control. For example, one data point deals with the federal and state monies allocated to WPs annually. And so for the sake of consistency, we still report these data points as either improving or not, but they are at times reflective of things out of the district's control. Regardless, we see that for the Ames where there is more than one data point available, a majority of those data points are either improving or maintaining gains, meaning that the district is making progress towards promises related to its physical spaces. Next slide, please. And finally, we conclude with the health and wellness priority area. The efforts contained here focusing focus on things like providing evidence-based counseling services to students, increasing the number of opportunities for mental and physical health, and creating
022opportunities for students to benefit from outside agencies. as well. As with our other priority areas, the status of this priority area is that a majority of the associated data points are either improving or maintaining gains, reflecting the efforts of WPS staff to promote the general well-being of the WPS community. Next slide. So, fully two years into our strategic plan, where does this leave us? We've engaged in substantial preliminary work in creating robust data systems that help district leaders guide efforts relating to the strategic plan. And these data systems have allowed us to document that thus far the district is making progress towards fulfilling the promises made to the community. Moving forward, in addition to the work related to individual initiatives occurring throughout the district, our office will engage with others in the administration to continue
023collecting data points with a particular focus on some of our newest data points. We will continue to refine our data collection systems as well to meet the needs of those reporting the data as well as those receiving it. And we will continue to explore new ways of making data available to district leaders as well as creating publicly accessible trackers of our progress. And so to that end, I'll close by highlighting our most recent update. Within the past two weeks, we've been able to make available a publicly accessible version of the master spreadsheet I showed earlier in the presentation, and that is the one that documents the progress made for each individual data point. Members of the public can find this document by navigating to the strategic plan web page on the WPs website. And the
024goal is to soon make other meaningful and interpretable products available to the public that document the work going on regarding the strategic plan in the spirit of institutional transparency. So with that, I'll close the summary of the current status of the WPS strategic plan and turn it back over to Superintendent Allen. Thank you. >> Thank you. And thank you Dr. Lampy. I think of all the strategic plans that we've done, the biggest difference in this strategic plan has been the behind-the-scenes work of Dr. Lampy, the building of that framework, as you saw, to capture the progress made on the key performance indicators in a meaningful way for the district to monitor progress of the work. So, thank you Dr. Lampy and the O staff for the work that you do. The strategic plan, our promise
025to the future, continues to guide the work of the district as evidenced through resource allocation goals and priority focus areas. We're pleased to answer uh any questions you have on the progress to date. >> Thank you. Any questions, >> member mailman? >> Thank you. >> Really cool stuff, but I haven't looked at that big report that is part of what you sent us. Um so if I'm on the website right now and I'm at home trying to look at your big spreadsheet, tell me how to find it. >> Oh, sure. >> Through the chair. Oh, sorry. through the chair. >> Uh through the chair. So under the so when you navigate to the list public schools websit's homepage. Yeah. >> There is drop- down menus for the different departments. I believe there is a drop-own
026menu specifically for the strategic plan. If not, it's also navigable by going to the superintendent page. And then from there, there is a strategic a link to the strategic plan page. Once you're on the strategic plan page, there are hyperlinks to take you to different parts of the strategic plan itself. The very bottom of that page, there's a progress monitoring section that has a link to the >> Okay. Is there any way Thank you for that description. I'll go repeat this thing and follow it through later on. But um is there is there a way to make that more accessible because I think that is the meat of what we're doing here through the chair and I would appreciate being able to see that kind of front and center. like I don't it doesn't come
027up strategic plan right away or since this is our work superintendent through the chair I I just would encourage us to think of a way to better um put that back up out front for us >> through the chair as Dr. Lampy mentioned. So this is the what's currently publicly facing is the detailed sheet, but we're going to work on more graphical uh dashboard like you saw that the administration can see uh that the public can see too and we can make that uh very forward facing um and prominent on the website. >> The dashboard but would but did I misunderstand is the is the big spreadsheet available publicly? the big spreadsheet, sorry, through the chair. The the big spreadsheet is publicly available at the moment. Okay. >> Part of the issue with it is
028it's just for those who aren't immersed in data. We understand that it can be an overwhelming thing to look at. >> Yes, dashboards are awesome, but normally to the dashboard, it would be here's the details. So, just something that makes it right >> intuitive that would be appreciated. And do you know I'm not sure you will on off the top of your head on the health and wellness aim >> do we have any are we measuring any um drug use drug um is that part of our health and wellness at all >> drug knowledge drug education drug whatever >> uh through the chair there's no aim that specifically calls out drug education under the health and wellness priority area there are aims about schools providing evidence-based counseling services or other um health opportunities, whether that
029be mental health, socio emotional health, or physical health. >> Drug education programs that are offered through the school that are either evidence-based or that occur >> in a supplemental fashion. Um so that means outside of regular health education instruction >> would count under those, but currently we don't count them as a specific subset of the types of services offered. Okay. And through the chair to um the mayor and to Brian um the superintendent. Um I think I'm channeling Dr. Castile a little bit here because I know that has been a um was an a a concern of hers about what we're actually doing in the schools. So, I don't know how we would think about addressing that or think about adding items or I would just I would just share that I think that that
030especially in high school, right? That's that's important stuff. And so, anything that we could do on that, I think that's part of health and wellness and I don't think we're sharing that or we're measuring. I don't know what we're measuring and would be interested in that >> through the chair. So, >> um, while it may not be part of the strategic plan, it is part of the work that Mr. Tony does. And so, it's work the district is engaged in, it just didn't get captured in our strategic plan. So, >> it's not that we only do. It's in our strategic plan, but this is what the community highlighted as the priorities of the year. But in terms of what you speak to, it is work that Mr. Tony and his team do. >> Okay. And
031and would you imagine it's physical health? I think it's maybe there's a way we can incorporate something for your consideration. Thank you. Thanks for this report. >> Thank you member Rory and follow my member Benza >> through the chair. I have more of an observation. Um I just want to thank you for that very detailed and informed report and I really like that you are making this easy and transparent. um all this information for our our caregivers and their their families. And I believe that transparency is the key to a success for our students and for their families. And going back to the family and community engagement, um I really really think it's very important that we offer every bit of information and ways to help people's children and I really like everything that you're
032doing. Thank you. >> Thank you, member Mendoza. Thank you uh for this report. Um one of the things that I always wish I had was more data, right? So I'm thinking that something like this is really advantageous for principles of schools. Uh especially in the area of say let's just say attendance, right? like how are we doing for attendance at every school so that each principal and their team can then look at how they can improve it and not wait till the end of the year to see what the state gives us as you know as a mark for attendance. So are you going to be able to do that so that principles can use the data in real time so that they can make the changes that they need? >> Mr. Superintendent, >> the
033chair, the answer is yes. We're actually working with principles on a monthly basis looking at attainance data, discipline data, and so forth. So we can react in real time on identifying any high attendance issues. So the attendance teams can work with the students to see what supports may be needed. So that is something that Dr. Lampy, he's going to add to my comments that the O staff is working with in providing that uh data to the schools. uh through the chair. Just to add to that as well, we our office makes available to principles uh enrollment dashboards and attendance dashboards that refresh every morning that give um I think it's it's right before the school day starts that gives principles the most up-to-date information on how many students are in their buildings and includes things
034like what languages they speak, um demographic breakdowns and things like that. And it tracks both daily attendance as well as the percentage of students who are chronically absent as of that date. Great. Well, thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody else? Seeing nobody else. Member B and Carrier. >> Thank you. Certainly appreciate the report. Well put together. Well done. A couple of comments is on um the modernized and safe facilities monitoring continues. you have down here that you expand future ready opportunities for our students through alignment and partnership with community-based learning resources and spaces. Is it possible that we as school committee members can receive something perhaps every quarter on what we are looking at as it's considered a monitoring piece of this uh report? I think a nice update um would certainly be appreciated whether
035you put it in a Friday letter or through a school committee to the chair. So I think one of the reasons that this is a monitoring that continues um only because this was my area before sitting here um was the uh cost of a future ready school. And so while it wasn't ready for the last quarterly update, that is something that we are finalizing um through our research what uh that will be for the impact of the strategic plan. So um the next iteration of the strategic plan update will um maybe have more useful information for the school committee to look at, the community look at. >> Excellent. Thank you. The other piece of this is family and community engagement. you have down that um to grow the culture that ensures all scholars, family and
036staff feel empowered to engage. Um, are are we looking at adding in any additional activities that would bring parents on board um, guardians and family members and so on into our facilities whether it be after school or in the evening to enable them to see what we have in our schools to offer >> through the chair. Uh so the priority that we're focused on this year is increasing participation in site councils. We really feel that's where parent engagement should happen is at site councils and we know some schools have robust site councils and some may not. So we're working with schools this year. That's how we envision parent engagement happening is at the site council level. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. >> Thank you Dr. Liby. Thank you for your report. Nice job. And
037I look forward to your next report. And the motion is to approving the file. All those in favor post. So ordered. We have reports for the standing committee. We have uh fog on October 6, 2025. >> As it reads. >> Okay. Is there any financial transfers there? Member mailman. >> Thank you. Do I just um on the fog 5-73 item through the chair would like to maybe ask the chair of the committee to explain this. You know, I'm understanding we are not going to look at this one meeting platform which has been horrible on the city side through the chair. Is that correct? >> Are you asking me as the chair of the committee? >> Well, I don't whoever can answer. The update is that we'll be part of the second phase of the one
038meeting and the item was filed until we get more information from the city side. >> So it's filed. >> The item is filed but member mailman's question I think is beyond this update. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So so if so we're not through the chair. Are we utilizing one meeting platform? >> Mr. Allen >> through the chair. No not at this time. We we are planned to be part of it, but we're waiting to see what the city's next steps are or what platform they're using, what how it before we uh get adopted onto that platform. So, we're in a wait and see until the city is ready for us to come over to that platform. >> I mean, through the chair, we had some discussions about this item in terms of exploring what we
039think makes sense for the school system. So, I'm guess I'm not sure why we're holding up on what the city's doing that's not really working out so great through the chair. >> So, for the chair, we can look at other options, but there are some benefits of that platform, including the um how the minutes, video, and all are saved together in one platform. If we want that same type of features, we have to see if there's one more appropriate for schools. But we certainly can look into other versions. >> I I mean through the chair I I can I ask a question of the clerk. Through the chair. >> Yeah. >> Through the chair to the clerk. Um I was under the impression we were actually exploring our own um options for platforms. Madam court,
040>> through the chair, we had looked into several different options, but at that point, we had cut $20 million from the budget. So, um, we did not proceed with any of those options at that point due to funding. >> Through the chair, I'd make a I just Thank you. make a motion that we actually explore our own options and put forth what makes the most sense for us versus not doing anything and waiting for the city to get it done. >> Okay. Those in favor so ordered. Okay. Council on council member Johnson. So, where's that motion going to administration? >> Yes. >> Or we can send it to Fog. >> I'm just I'm just wondering. >> Okay. Member Makoa >> regarding member mailman's motion if it's simply going to administration to work on what other
041potential options are then we don't have to put it to fog that can come back to us when we have another update on the second wave from the city on one meeting because the city may say you know it's not the right fit. So that's what we're waiting to hear back from on wave two. So member mailman's request if it goes to administration I think that's appropriate and then eventually it will come to fog once the city is ready for us. >> Okay. So send that to the administration. >> Okay. But so basically the motion is to basically look at other options. Correct. and if possible, but also look at the city's option if they u meets if it meets our standards and uh because the city could be up and running and we for
042cost savings we could use that one if it's up and running to what we want to use for the school side if it meets our expectations. Correct. Okay. Member B carrier >> to make that type of a motion. Um, when you're actually not including any details I'm concerned with due to the fact that one, we're only halfway through with the city looking at what they're putting together. Um, and secondly, budget. We have um so many other things on our plate right now that we're looking at for budget that now we're asking to look at another program, but we're not through with the the view of the first one. So, I'm not quite sure if I agree with this motion as um a time frame because the city presently is working on something that they need
043to bring to us and I don't see extra funding to follow up with other companies or take the time for administration to do that. >> Yeah, I think there's no cost to look at it. It's just the uh the cost would be part of the uh report when it came back. >> So there's no co Mr. Mr. Superintendent >> to the chair. It's my understanding if we adopted the city's platform there'd be little to no cost for us. >> Other platforms will cost us money, but we can look at all of the features and as part of our report, we'll share what those cost options would be from free to whatever the options are. Okay, just seems like time. Thank you. >> Okay, member Miller >> through the chair. I mean, I think to member
044Biancaria's point, if if we were to look at some system, it probably wouldn't be through until next budget anyways. But I'm hardressed to believe that the I understand this is a pretty expensive proposition. Um, and with the work the city's going through, I'm hardressed to believe they're not going to charge us for utilization of their system. Would that be incorrect, >> Mr. Allen? Through the chair. Um, I haven't had specific conversations with either the city clerk or city manager on that. Um, but like workday and other things, there are components that we get assessed as part of our net school spending component. I assume would be similar. >> Exactly. So there is a cost. >> There would be a cost. We're not using any of their stuff right now. >> So there is no we're
045not using one meeting. >> Correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Member Johnson. >> I just have a quick question to the chair. This probably if there the city's already using some form of one meeting right now for on the city side. Is that correct? My I guess my question is it appears that member mailman is saying that there is a issue with that one me one meeting thing in regards to the city side of the agenda. Is that correct? >> Yeah, this um they have some challenges. Yeah. >> Okay. >> They're working on >> Okay. So, there are some challenges. I I don't I wasn't aware of that when this came up in in fog or whatever. I I could be wrong, but I was of the understanding that we were part of phase
046two and that it was going to automatically be something that we are taking on through the chair. You may not be able to answer that, but maybe the superintendent can or the clerk may be able to answer. That was my impression of the meeting that we had in Faulk if someone could confirm that or not. >> So, the chair, you're correct. We just don't know when phase two is now going to be until they work out those details. >> Until they work out what what the kings are, right? And what I'm gathering from member mailman through the chair to I guess member mailman might be but we probably shouldn't be asking each other questions is that we shouldn't commit to anything that that administration should work with the city that we're not committed to anything
047while we also look at another format for ourselves as well. I think that's what I'm hearing here. Right. Correct. Thank you. Just wanted to clear that up because >> some of the stuff works well and some there are some challenges to the uh so and I think this school could benefit some of the stuff that's working well. So uh but that'll be phase two which will be down the road a bit. So uh so we'll send that to the uh superintendent. Is that okay? All those in favor post award. Okay. And for L fog, meeting of October 6, 2025, roll call. >> Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Biancia, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guadiola, >> yes. >> Vice Chair Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Member McCulla,
048>> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny, >> yes. Approval of the grants and finance it finance items. All set. Roll call. Member Alvarez, >> yes. >> Member Biancerio, >> yes. >> Member Bernenda, >> yes. >> Member Guardiola, >> yes. >> Vice Chair Johnson, >> yes. >> Member Mailman, >> yes. >> Member McCulla, >> yes. >> Member Roy, >> yes. >> Mayor Penny, >> yes. Uh, we are in response to administration. Uh, Mr. Guardiola request that the number of employees that max six leave in both 22 and 23 school years. Recommendations to approve in the file. Uh, member Guardiola. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor, and uh, thank you to the administration for providing this detailed report on staff sick day usage from 2023 to 2025 school years. Uh, this report gives the
049committee and the public valuable insight into how staff attendance trends are developing across the district. We must recognize that consistent teacher presence is essential to students learning, classroom stability, and family confidence in our schools. Even when absences are approved, they can create a ripple effect from substitute coverages to lost instructional continuity. I'd like to thank the administration for compiling this data and ask that we continue to monitor these patterns closely, not only to ensure accountability, but also to identify where additional supports may be needed. This could mean wellness programs, workload management, or better substitute pipelines to to maintain learning quality when absences do occur. Ultimately, our shared goal is to foster a culture that values both staff wellness and student success. Regular, transparent reporting like this helps us do that. With that, Mr. Mayor, I'd
050like to make a motion uh to get an annual report that shows this detailed data on absenteeism with a breakdown by J job category. This will continue to help both the administration and the school committee build a structure of accountability, transparency, and successful student learning. Thank you >> member Nanda. >> Um oh thank you for for asking this report. I was just you know always um the number of par educators that take you know either get hurt or have a lot of absences are always like eight they went from 14.4 to 18.2%. That's, you know, that's a pretty sizable number of absences that increased. Also, cafeteria workers um from 16.5 to 22.9 and then the other large one um was was custodial. So, just looking at that, I think that I wonder if HR gets
051involved in conversations about that because there are why are people absent? are they just so tired from from their job and their responsibilities so they take the days. So I'm just wondering if you know would HR take a look at this and then would they be able to provide support to those people that take all those days off to see if there's maybe some extra why they're taking the days off. You know, obviously you're sick because you're next to kids all the time. Um that might be wide a pair of professionals, right? Um, I don't know if they're mostly elementary or secondary, but I think it's worth just looking at this document and trying to provide the support. And another thing that I that I was also wondering about that kind of fits into it
052is um because we definitely need more PAR educators, especially in the sale classes uh right now. I'm just wondering would you know if there's something like would we ever consider hiring back retired par educators part-time or if we can't find enough if that's that's a possibility too and I know that's not on this but I'm just wondering because we do need it seems more par educators and if they're especially in SEAL classrooms they're absent because they're sick or they feel worn out because because some of the work is very challenging challging if there's maybe we would have better attendance if we had more PAR educators. I just wonder if that's part of the conversation that can occur. >> Mr. Superintendent, >> the chair. So, yes, HR does work with um schools and departments on absences
053and works with employees. Um some of these may be long-term absences and so forth. So yes, HR does and with regards to sale classrooms, we agree with you and uh we're looking at funding hopefully even this fiscal year to address that. >> Thank thank you. >> Okay, so those two motions um all those in favor of postal audited for the item recommendations approving the file. All those in favor of proposal audited. Uh next is uh 5-87A and B. A request at the administration to explore the opportunity to implement an Army Junior ROC program in one of the WA public high schools. B member being carry made an amendment to explore the opening of J junior ROC to schools who used to have one. Okay, back your fault. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh and
054again, thank you to the administration for the report that outlines the challenges associated with implementing this AR army go uh junior ROTC program uh within the WIS public schools. Uh while it's disappointed to learn that the financial and staffing and enrollment barriers occur, I want to thank the administration for outlining these hurdles so we can go back to the community and inquire on the suggestions to help mitigate these challenges. Uh we know that junior ROTC programs can offer real benefits to students including leadership development, uh discipline, teamwork, civic engagement. Those outcomes, uh excuse me, those outcomes align directly with our district goals for career and and life readiness. Uh however, as this report details, the path forward is complex. These costs for specialized instructor uh instructors, equipment, uniforms, coupled with recruitment challenges for certified military
055instructors in uncertain enrollment interests present some real obstacles. Uh still, I believe it's worth continuing to keep the door open. Perhaps we keep to explore partnerships with neighborhood districts, local colleges, or veteran organizations uh to reduce costs and strengthen recruitment pipelines. It may also be worthy uh to reassess the student interest in the future years, especially as our schools expand uh the career pathways for for them. Ultimately, while this report makes it clear that implementation may not be feasible today, the values behind junior ROC leadership, service, and uh community remain deeply relevant to our mission. I appreciate the administration's diligence and looking forward to continued uh conversation as we seek creative ways to offer our students new opportunities to lead, serve, and grow. and I will continue to work with our community leaders who have
056uh really indicated that this is such an important program uh for our students and see if we can find creative ways to to uh help mitigate the cost. Thank you. >> Thank you. member Bian Carrier >> stopped at North High School the other day and I had a discussion quickly with the um couple of staff members and asked about the uh ROC. I I miss it enough. And the reason I miss it is because they were so impressive when in the community and we could call on them to come um any time that um we were having a celebration um that that included that. Also the fact that you could go during the day and um see the groups of kids outside and they were setting them, preparing themselves for being in a parade, preparing
057themselves for whatever experience um as far as through the veteran administration. and it was always impressive looking. Those those students um I've spoken to over the years that have been enrolled in the program have gone on to become very su successful adults in our community and and that's the other factor I I miss to see because um you knew that they were serious about what they were going to be doing. So, I I would like to make a motion that we contact the Veterans Administration, the gentleman, and forgive me, I cannot remember his name, but he has been at um the presentations we've had when we've had u Veterans Day and anything to do with the um congratulating and and thanking them for their service. but he's the president of the Veterans Administration and he
058is more than interested in advocating through the community and in our schools that don't have the courses right now. So, he would really like to be a part of it. I can get you his name. I'm sure you'd be able to, Superintendent. Um, and I'm sorry I don't have his card with me tonight, but he was certainly uh very open to continuing the conversation and hopefully finding not only uh some community people who may be interested in helping with the funding, but also um finding instructors instructors that were um able to fit what we uh would need. Thank you. >> Thank you Roy. Thank you. So I'm going to probably reiterate exactly things that u member Guardiola and member bean carrier has said. I know many students who went through the ROC program who've gone
059on to have very successful careers. Many of also whom have gone and have su um successful careers in military and our military branches. In talking to parents and grandparents there have door knockocking there have been questions about why we don't offer it in all the schools. I too would like to see a means to fund this program. Um, there's got to be something. There's got to be some way. And I would like to make a motion to send this back to administration to see if perhaps a grant department could maybe look for some grants that would fund ROC's programs. And there's 110 children at the south program right now with two instructors. I think it's a case of if you build it, they will come and that if we offer it, other students from other
060schools will want to be participate. Thank you. >> Thank you. So those uh all those in favor oppose. So ordered. >> No. >> What was the >> which one to administrate? >> There's a few motions. >> We we've been through the to the chair. We I believe we've been talking about this. I I know this is a huge topic. I know >> um OTC is very important. I would assume to the chair that administration would have looked at grant opportunities through the grant department because that's their job. If there was any grants or anything out there to get this going to fund this, I believe we the administration would have done so. I could be wrong, but >> Mr. Allen >> through the chair. So, the way the agreement with the RTC works is uh
061they provide 50% of the funding for one of the instructors and we provide the funding for the other instructor. that's been the long-standing funding arrangement. It's not necessarily the funding issue. It's the um the branches of the military that we've had. So, we've had the Air Force and the Marines um Navy um they can't get the instructors. So, they can't run the program without two qualified instructors per program. So that's why Burnout in North closed is because of lack of instructors, not because of now student attendance and interest had declined as well, but um they couldn't fill the position. So they had to close it by their rules. So the we consolidated the program and still operates at South. So they do have two full-time instructors there and that's why it's still running. So until
062the mil military could find the appropriate instructors, there's really nothing we can do. >> I got it. So you do if the military came back and said we have two instructors, you look at it from that. >> We can look at it. We'd have to gauge student interest again at the schools um and make a determination from there. >> Okay. So we don't need anything on the grants then. So okay. >> Yeah, that through the chair. That's fine. >> Okay. So we can So you'll take that back. Okay. Okay. No. >> Yeah. Okay. So we can uh this was the motion being carried with was you >> oh you wanted to contact the Veterans Administration. >> Yeah. >> Okay. I can't recall what his name is but he um is under the Veterans Administration >>
063and to have the superintendent at some point >> contact him. Okay. All those in favor opposed. So the motion here is to approve and to file. All those in favor oppose audited. Okay. 5- 89A request administration provide an update to details pertain to the Gerald Kramer evening program which is being relocated to the list of technical high school. Please include transportation, number of staffing, course offerings, how many students will be offered this program, time frame of courses, start date, and how is the program going to be promoted in our schools. The motion to include the nightlife information on the item. Uh, anybody? So, the motion is to approve in the file member and carrier. >> Thank you. Um, we are looking at transportation. So we're have providing transportation from what's the technical high school at
064the end of their we'll say day or evening class but we're not providing any we don't have any capability of the transportation of getting them there >> to the chair. This is the transportation model that's been consistent even when they've been on Granite Street that we provided a bus to the hub at the end of the day. But >> currently, no. Um there isn't an ability to do it at the beginning of the day because their start time um we can look at it and see where the students are coming from, but >> okay. >> This is what we we're just replicating what the model has been in the past. >> Un understand. I just was concerned because um of the capability of perhaps having buses that went to the prior location versus uh the
065buses that are going to uh Worcester Technical High School if that was the way that they were um getting to and from >> through the chair. We can look to see if there's an opportunity there. Um but we'll commit to it at least what we've done in the past. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So member mailman, >> thank you. Just I think a quick question. Um I had asked about um how this incorporates with nightife, but I guess I'm reading there is no connection. This is all of it is completely additional people that we're bringing in >> to West Tech. >> Mr. To Yes, that's correct. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. So the motion is to approve and file. All those in favor oppose. So a ordered 5-106 to vote select a delegate and alternative
066delegate to res the W school committee at the MASC MASS joint conference November 12th to the 14th 2025. Member McCulla. >> I nominate Sue Mailman. How about the uh alternative? Okay, so the first one is Sue mailman. All those in favor post. So ordered. Okay, we need an alternative. Anybody else want to go? Just in case one year we want everybody wanted to go. Yeah, it is a three days at best. So >> if it me >> if it helps everybody, I kind of have to go because I'm the chair of the urban. So there's an unlikely thing unless I got very sick that I wouldn't be there. So I don't know that you have to worry >> through the chair. I would if if um Suman can't go because she is sick, which I
067hope she won't be. Um I don't mind just going down that day. Friday is the vote. So I just go for the day that you will be alternative. >> Um member Guarda. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I nominate uh member Benenda for our alternative. >> Okay. All those in favor? Oppose? So ordered. Okay. 5-107 to discuss funding for the Gear Up program at North High School. Member Bernenda. >> Yeah. A as it reads, I I hope that we can do something for those um they like guidance counselors have been laid off. um the big article was really explaining it in the newspaper th this week because of the DEI part that was included in the application and so the funding um had been cut from that and I really think North High needs that extra
068support and so I was hoping that we could find another way to fund and bring back at least some of those people that got laid off. >> Okay, I'll refer that to FOG. All those in favor? Oppose. So ordered to approve the proposed changes to career technical education admissions policy for 2526. Motion is to uh refer to fog. Those in favor oppose. So ordered. Okay. To approve the middle school pathway uh exploration policy. Motion refer to fog. Those in favor opposed. So audited. request the administration by the school committee with the detailed report on the district's plan to address student achievement in way of the newly released MCCAST results. Member Guardiola. >> Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um the newly released MCCAST results show us a complex picture, one that includes area of growth, but
069also clear signals that we have significant work ahead of us to ensure that every Wista public school student is meeting their full academic potential. While it's encouraging to see the statewide scores are approaching prepandemic levels, our obligation is to look deeper, school by school, grade by grade, subgroup by subgroup to understand where students are thriving and where they are not. We need to see what's working, what's not, and how the district intends to close those gaps in a measurable, strategic, and equitable way. That's why tonight, uh, Mr. Mayor, I'm requesting the administration provide the school committee with a detailed report on the district's plan to address student achievement in light of these new MCCAST scores. I I'm sure that uh the superintendent and his team are working diligently to to put together something already make
070a plan in place because I I have the full uh you know belief that they would already be proactive on that. Uh but this report should go on beyond service level numbers. It should include school level data showing performance and trends and growth especially among English learners, students with disabilities and other higher needs populations. Uh it should include specific instructional strategies being implemented to accelerate uh accelerate learning, literacy, math and science. Uh professional development for uh efforts for teachers and staff directly connected to these areas that need and identify uh you know the results. Um intervention and tutoring program, what's offered and how many students are being served and how success is measured. Uh, and finally, a clear, measurable goals with timelines and accountability checkpoints so we can monitor progress throughout the year, not just
071next year's test results when they arrive. Uh, it's not about assigning blame. It's about transparency, alignment, urgency. Our families and educators deserve to know how we're addressing the data. Our students deserve a system that uses the data to improve instruction, allocate resources wisely, and support every learner. We have the opportunity right now to make datadriven decisions that strengthen teaching and learning across Worester. But to do that, we need a clear roadmap from the administration. One that outlines not only the what and the why, but the how and the when. So again, I'm asking for this report so we can continue to grow and thrive as a district because our responsibility is not just to react to data, but act on it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Super Mr. Allen. >> Thank you to the
072chair, member Guardiola. Thank you uh for that request and opportunity to provide some detailed information regarding MCCAST. So at the next school committee meeting on the 23rd, the administration as part of the report of the superintendent will provide a detailed review of the district's MCCAST performance trends and comparisons. And while we know as you just said that we have a long way to go, we are pleased that the accountability data showed we are making moderate progress towards our targets um with improvements in chronic absenteeism, graduation rates and English learner language profic proficiency. 19 schools improved their overall accountability classification and 42 schools made significant or moderate progress towards their targets. So we'll provide more details of that data at the next school committee meeting. And at to your last point, we all know that MCCAST
073is one but one of several assessments used by the W public schools. We use a star dibbles and our our course common assessments to gain better real time uh understanding the progress and needs of our students. And so we remain committed to not chasing accountability ratings but on focusing on vision to action which aims to strengthen tier one instruction uh especially for uh multilingual learners and students with disabilities. So our success around this focus will yield the student performance results over time. So we look forward to getting into that at the next quick committee meeting. >> Okay. >> Thank you be carrier. >> Thank you superintendent for the details of what we'll get on October 23rd. I would like to make a motion that included in that presentation is a list of the other testing
074that we look at as we accumulate what we think is a successful student. So that would be one of the questions because this is not a graduation mark any longer. But it would be advantageous to for that evening or prior to to receive a list of the different um activities and tests and so on that we include in what we consider ready to graduate. Thank you. >> Okay. On that motion off the we're going to refer this item to the administration. We'll have the motions and all those in favor oppose. So audit and that brings us to the end of the meeting. The motion is to adjourn. All those in favor oppose awarded.