Minutes

CPPAC Meeting
May 20th, 2025
Doherty Memorial High School

1. Introduction by Co-Chair - Eric Mendelson & Pamela Hatley:
a. Agenda for today’s meeting is:
i. Introduction of CPPAC E-Board, SEPAC, ELPAC, LGBTQIA+ Council & Family Engagement Council
ii. Dr. Monarrez & Brian Allen Presentation
iii. Question & Answers

2. Introduction of CPPAC E-Board
a. Introduction of Eric Mendelson, Pam Hatley, Kendra Cantrell, Keisha Dykes, Holly Montero

3. Presentation by Dr. Monarrez & Brian Allen
a. Flyer of Highlights from 2022-2025
i. worcesterschools.org/highlights22-25
ii. Academic Progress
iii. Focus on Multilingualism
iv. Safety, Culture, and Climate
v. Family Engagement and Communications
vi. Investments in Facilities & Transportation

b. Presentation by Dr. Monarrez
i. Objectives:
1. Learn about achievement and organizational efficiencies
2. Budget priorities aligned to the WPS Strategic Plan
ii. Systems Alignment - Steps Toward Mature Processes
1. Year One : Reacting to Problems, Siloed Central Office Staff due to COVID, etc. Not many changes in schools by the end of the first year, but the focus on operations, roadmaps for principals, etc.
2. Year 2: Early Systematic Approaches, Focused on providing guidance from district office to buildings
3. Year 3: Aligned Approaches, Thoughtful District Level Strategic Plan created to provide consistency between buildings across the district,
4. Going Forward: Integrated Approaches is where the team is going, the silos have started to come down which leads to being able to move the system faster along towards integration. Moving from schools in a district to a unified school district!
iii. Vision of a Learner Guiding Principles: Problem Solver, Curious Learner, Empowered Individual, Effective Communicator, Engaged Citizen
iv. Strategic Plan:
1. Equitable Resources & Educational Programs
2. Family and Community Engagement
3. Culture and Climate
4. Acquire & Retain Talent
5. Health & Wellness
6. Modernized & Safe Facilities
a. When Monarrez arrived, we were spending 8.4 million towards facilities for the 50+ schools. Now we are spending 16+ million to ensure that facilities are safe and moving towards modernization.
v. WPS Current State of Affairs

1. Transportation Systems Improvement
a. Routes published earlier, fully staffed transportation roles
2. Nutrition Services Improvements
a. Improved menu, cultural and ethnic food options, variability, new menu planning, improved accountability, reorganization, improved accounting, increased efficiency, etc.
3. Enrollment and Placement Services (Implementation 2025-2026)
a. Improve efficiency of systems, communication and accuracy of enrollment process, improve placement and assignment process, improve policy and procedures implementation
b. Next year, new administrator will oversee the Parent Engagement Center and enrollment challenges to monitor and improve the systems related to the enrollment of various WPS programs, etc. Priority to fix these enrollment and specialized program issues and provide oversight into the processes.
vi. Boundary and Program Assignments (Implementation 2026-2027)
1. Boundaries - create consistent elementary, middle, and high school pathways of school assignments, ensure placement and location of programs provide access to all, look at changes to school tier times, walking radius, and access to after school providers to support students and caregivers
2. Will provide balance for the schools that are bursting at the seams and ensure that students are able to remain with their cohorts during high school and middle school. Currently, some of the boundaries separate students after elementary school. Adjustments to where programs are located (which schools) and how students get access to those programs.
vii. Reading and Math Performance
1. DIBELS (Grades K - 6 Reading Skills)
a. In the second year of CKLA implementation, percentage of students at or above benchmark was 10 points higher than at the same time last year.
b. Students are learning letter sounds, word attack, etc. through CKLA. WPS is piloting an online tutorial to support students after taking an assessment to address their gaps with AI support.
2. STAR Reading (Grades 2 - 9 Reading Comprehension)
a. Percentage of students demonstrating reading comprehension that is expected or greeted than expected is 7 percentage points higher than at the beginning of SY23. This increase represents more than 1,000 students.
b. 5% increase between the middle of last year to the middle of this year. Hopeful, but there is still much work to be done.
3. STAR Math (Grades 1 - 9 Math Skills)
a. Percentage of students on grade level for their math skills (i.e. meeting or exceeding expectations) is 9 percentage points higher than at the beginning of SY23. This increase represents more than 1,400 students.
viii. Climate and Culture
1. Student Attendance: 2024
a. All students attend rate 91.6% (SY22 to SY24 = 0.4% increase)
b. All Students Chronic Rate: 28.3% (SY22 to SY24 = -1.8 points)
c. % Students on Out of School Suspensions: 2.9% (change -1.5 points)
d. #Students Disciplined (ISS, OOS, ER): change -440 students. Focus on restorative justice and keeping them in school so they are not in the community as opposed to school. ER = emergency removals, which are being used less and are typically used for safety during investigations to provide due process.
e. Training will be happening with administrators, counselors, etc. to focus on restorative justice and how to keep students engaged in school while providing appropriate discipline and accountability. Area of growth for the future to keep students in school.
2. Student Climate and Culture Results
a. Percentage Points Changed with Panorama Survey - all high school sense of belonging criteria was positive this year. Parents are also reporting that they feel more included, welcomed, and informed, s well as a favorable sense of school safety.
3. Advanced Coursework Completion
a. Students are engaged/enrolled more in AP courses and are completing the AP Courses by a staggering amount,
including disadvantaged populations. This is as a result of the new position regarding AP Programming.
ix. 2025-2026 Budget Recommendations
1. Budget Change from FY25:
a. Total Revenue Increase: 38.2 million
i. Enrollment increase, foundation budget inflation, Student Opportunity Act, Less Charter/Choice Assessment
b. Total Cost Increases: 34.4 million
i. Salary increases, health insurance and retirement increases, out of district transportation, all other accounts
c. What do schools want at the school level:
i. Strengthening Tier 1 Instruction & Professional Development
ii. Staffing for Student Support & Instructional Improvement
iii. Expanding Student Learning Opportunities & EquityBased Programming.
d. 2025-2026 Equity Budgeting Strategies:
i. Enhance collective efficacy through common planning time.
ii. Expand after school opportunities/childcare and working with community partners to increase their presence in the school. WPS will cover the cost of insurance, admin and custodial support when possible so that these partners can come into the schools.
x. Trends: Eye for the Future 2026-2027
1. Time: Enhanced common planning time, boundary realignment
2. People: increased access to educational programs: dual language, CTE, advanced learning
3. Money - New Unit A advancement opportunities, increase afterschool programming options (with Enrollment & Placement Administrator)
4. Questions & Answers:
a. Question: When students go to the challenge academies/alternative schools, are they being assessed for mental health, learning challenges, etc.? There is a concern that they are coming back to their home districts without a sense of what they may need to support them.
i. Answer: We don’t want to over-identify students for special education services, as often it may be that they had gaps in their education or other environmental factors that have impacted their learning.
b. Question: Are schools going to lose school choice with the new boundary program?
i. Answer: No. School choice will still exist.
c. Question: Why are we implementing AI for K-2 students, when the research shows that students learn best from other humans? Is this a staffing problem?
i. Answer: It’s a ten minute program that we are exploring in most of the elementary schools. Students can opt out if there is a concern, but then the parents are going to take ownership of the learning gap remediation at home. This is an extra-boost for students and is done in small groups within the classroom.
d. Question: What is happening to increase student attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism?
i. Answer: Wraparound Coordinators, Climate and Culture Team in every school who is looking at sense of belonging, attendance, and what barriers are preventing students from coming to school. Data on the Panorama indicates that students don’t want to miss school, as they are worried about missing out and they feel safe in our schools now. Case management for these unique cases is important - is it medical absences and they need more support, are there family barriers to the student attending, etc? Spirit days and other events and clubs make kids want to attend. The percentage that we are shooting for as a district is between 95%- 96% (missing around 5-6 days per year).
e. Question: What gets done with the Panorama data around climate and culture? Are you looking at trends across the district? Do we see specifically how schools are scoring individually? Where does this data go and how can it be used to improve our school experiences?
i. Answer: It sounds like schools are not letting families know the Panorama results and this is important and will be a focus of the future. This should be shared at the Site Council meetings, as well.
f. How are community partners and after school program opportunities going to be identified and schools connected to them?
i. Answer: They will be for pay or by voucher and it’s a work in progress, but there are 25 community providers that are being worked with right now to offer as many options to caregivers as possible.
g. Question: How can we focus on having libraries and librarians for our elementary schools?
i. Answer: Schools with existing libraries, we are going to focus over 1-2 years on getting a librarian to staff it. There are some schools that are going to need to continue relying on the Libby Bus as they don’t have the space for their own library. The five year library plan is still in place and the district is focusing on this implementation. We need to find ways to have libraries supported without resorting to parent volunteers.
h. Question: To Mr. Allen, what are you most proud of in regards to what you have done for the district and what is the hardest to step away from?
i. Answer: It’s going to be hard to step away from transportation and budget work. But, he’s excited to work with the students and get into the schools the most, as well as work with groups like SEPAC, CPPAC, etc.
i. Question: Are we looking into IB (International Baccalaureate)?
i. Answer: The district looked into it a few years ago and we are focused on increasing advanced coursework opportunities for all students across the district.
j. Question: Are there any gifted and talented programs for elementary schools?
i. Answer: There is a lot of work to do to think through what that would like at this level.
k. Question: What is a message to our LGBTQIA students and how do we acknowledge that these students are carrying a heavy load and are often doubly marginalized?
i. Answer: Last night, the school committee approved the core values for WPS: Belonging, Respect, Inclusivity, Collaboration, and Equity. We have to live these five core values in WPS to make sure all of our students feel safe every single day in our schools. We want to do better in the future on this point.
l. Question: How can we ensure that schools are in support of pride months/cultural heritage months around LGBTQIA identities/families without the need for individual advocacy on the part of engaged families?
i. Answer: We are working on a train the trainer model with DESE on safe and inclusive school programming to ensure that teachers feel equipped to answer questions and counselors are able to provide the support for the school community. We need to make sure that there are community stakeholders who can support schools and students in these discussions.
m. Question:What is happening with PTO’s and Site Councils? How can we keep those in the front of our minds and work with schools to have those mechanisms of partnership remain robust?
i. Answer: We didn’t get as far as we had hoped with Site Council progress, but it’s a priority.
n. Question: Is WPS partnering with MA Driver’s Education next year? Is there a cost/reduced cost associated with this partnership?
i. Answer: Yes! There will be a press release in a week with further details!
Topic Ideas for Next Year:
Literacy Meeting - Libraries, Reading Curriculum, etc.
Site Councils/PTO’s

CPPAC Meeting
March 19th, 2025
Worcester Dual Language Magnet School

Guest Speakers: Brian Allen, Deputy Superintendent, COO & CFO
Michael Freeman, Director of Transportation

Introduction by Co-Chair - Eric Mendelson:
1. Agenda for today’s meeting is:
  1. Presentation on the FY2026 Budget & Transportation
  2. Question & Answers

Brian Allen:
1. “This year, there will be NO more cuts to WPS classroom teachers for K-6 and 7-12 and WPS will be increasing staff/teachers by 40 hires.”
2. WPS will again be aligning resources to the strategic plan
3. FY26 Major Budget Themes:
  1. Enrollment increased by 1.8% (428 students) as of October 1st, 2024
    1. Driver of revenue in our district and major factor in Foundation Budget
    2. October 1st, 2024 Count = 24,778 (+428 students from last year)
    3. Three consecutive years of enrollment increase for WPS
    4. Lost 1,600 during the pandemic. Still 700 less than where we were pre-pandemic, but enrollment increases will increase our district revenue.
    5. Elementary enrollment down overall almost 6% compared to pre-pandemic. Elementary enrollment surpassed our internal estimates this year, however.
    6. Increased enrollments at Doherty HS in 9th grade (largest class since early 2000’s) - many from local private schools. Students are coming back to our schools when our new buildings open.
    7. Enrollment-Based Staffing Adjustment
      1. Annual budget adjustments based on enrollment shifts in individual schools. There are 10 shifts at the elementary school level and the rest of the shifts will be at the secondary level.
      2. Equity-Based Budget Process to be used. (NEW) Strategic investments to close opportunity gaps for students.
  2. Inflation Rate - Moderate foundation inflation rate of 1.93%
  3. Student Opportunity Act Phase-In: Fifth year of Six-Year Phase-in of SOA
    1. WPS is using some of this money to cover the inflation, but will be moving away from this.
    2. SOA - Passed in 2019, but was not funded during COVID. Started funding in FY22. Expected to increase our budget by 100 million dollars to cover:
      1. Benefits & Fixed Charges
      2. Guidance and Psychological Services
      3. SPED/ Out of District Tuition Rates
      4. Multilingual Learners
      5. Low Income (higher per pupil rate based on density of low income students)
      6. Formula Changes - Phase in of assumed in-district special education enrollment to 5% for vocational students and 4% for non-vocational students.
  4. We will have 16 million more dollars this year compared to last year due to increased enrollment and inflation rate change.

Foundation Budget Factors
1. Due to enrollment, increase in budget by 12.5 million dollars
2. Inflation - increase of 12.6 million dollars
3. SOA - 17.2 million dollars. Biggest increase in SOA funding has come from low-income student adjustments
4. Overall 42.3 million dollar increase due to these factors. 34 million comes from the state and the rest comes from the city (state formula).
  1. We lose 4 million for Charter School Tuition (2,000 resident students who attend charter schools), School Choice Tuition, and State Special Education Assessment.
FY 26 Budget Planning
1. 22 million in Estimated Salary Increased
2. 2.5 million Health Insurance Increase
3. 5 million City of Worcester Retirement Assessment
4. 1 million - Contracted Transportation Services
5. 1 million - All other Non-Salary Accounts
Alignment of Budget with Strategic Vision
1. Modernized and Safe Facilities
2. Average Class Size 21:1
3. Guidance Counselor: 250 students per counselor
4. School Adjustment Counselor: 250 students per counselor
5. Elementary Special Education Inclusion Teachers - 30 students per teacher
6. ESL - Elementary: 1 ESL teachers per every 50 students
7. Secondary: 1 ESL teacher per every 75 students - addressing this through minutes per service as opposed to the number of student caseload.
8. Equity Lens: Resource Equity - The allocation and use of resources - people, time, and money - and focus on eliminating resource and opportunity gaps for students by creating experiences that enable all children to reach empowering, rigorous learning outcomes, regardless of their background, socioeconomic status, or location. Next year’s SOA money will be used to address these gaps.

FY26 Budget Planning
1. Monitoring the status of Federal Grants (Head Start, USDA Food and Entitlement Grant Funding (teachers and paras through Title I, II, and III) = 52 million in Federal Money
2. Key Areas of Impact for FY26 Budget
  1. SOA & Strategic Plan
  2. Student Enrollment
  3. Enrollment Shift Adjustments
  4. District Foundational Staffing, Staffing Programs and Supports
3. Budget Timeline:
  1. March 19 - present to CPPAC
  2. March 20 - presentation to Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee
  3. March 26th Family Engagement Roundtable
  4. March 31st - Joint meeting of the Finance Operations and Governance and City Council Education Committee
  5. May 9th budget submitted to school committee and posted on district website
  6. May/June - budget hearing with the Worcester City Council
  7. June 5th and June 18th - School Committee budget hearings

Questions for Mr. Allen:
1. What about the mental health supports that were provided by outside agencies that were cut in the previous year? Answer: They were funded by ESSA, which is no longer available. WPS is working to figure out how we provide these services to students without these funds going forward.

What are we doing to address the increase in class sizes as a result of the staffing cuts last year? Answer: We are able to increase by 40 positions this year and addressing class sizes is one of the strategic visions/goals for the district. WPS is conducting reviews of adjusting boundary assignments for neighborhood schools to address the catchment areas. This will support balanced class sizes. These decisions will go to the school committee and public comment before decisions are made. For example, Chandler Elementary students can go to three different middle schools, which needs to be addressed.

What is the Site councils role in weighing in on staffing, budgets, etc. for each school? What is the timeline for this to happen? Answer: The state law uses the word “review”, but they do not get to make decisions. This would be happening in January, February, March, and April before the budget goes to the school committee.

What is happening with the Burncoat rebuild/replacement? Answer: We believe the middle school is going to be included in this project, but this needs MSBA approval. WPS is considering combining the two campuses in this rebuild and WPS feels that they are going to be accepted into the feasibility study stage of this process, which usually takes 2-3 years. We expect Burncoat to be opened in 2031. Worcester East Middle is the next priority after the Burncoat project. This summer they are getting new windows (7 million dollars) over the next two years to address the heating and cooling issues. The boilers and roof have already been addressed previously. Will most likely get addressed by 2040 due to the amount of time it takes to move through this process.

How do we address the issue of schools not having the required Site Councils? Answer: The family & community engagement department is addressing the issue of site council training internally and there is a significant focus on ensuring all schools have site councils that are following the law.

Is there a concern about some of the smaller elementary schools closing in the future, as this was on the table for discussion last year in the budget crisis? Answer: Due to enrollment increases, WPS is not foreseeing any closures to the smaller elementary schools, as the district does not want to move too hastily by closing schools when we do not know the enrollment trends going forward.

Michael Freeman, Director of Transportation
1. Historical overview of transportation changes in the past years:
  1. School Year 2022-2023 - First Year of WPS In-House Transportation
    1. New buses delayed due to covid supply chain issues
    2. Did not know how many drivers would show up from Durham School Services.
    3. Culture Change: EAW/Teamsters
      1. WPS employees/Durham Employees, Mass hire trained employees all one family
    4. Successes throughout the school year
      1. New state of the art busses
      2. Trained 40 new drivers
      3. Increased routes throughout the year as new buses arrived and new drivers were licensed. 71 routes increased to 83 routes.
  2. School Year 2023-2024
    1. Not all buses arrived, still using unreliable buses
    2. National driver shortage
    3. Culture Change Issues continued
    4. Student management on buses became issue
    5. Successes throughout the school year
      1. New buses continue to arrive
      2. MyStop App
      3. Trained 60 new drivers
      4. Increased routes throughout the year as new buses arrived and new drivers were licensed. 83 routes increased to 96 routes
      5. Creation of SPARK Team - The “why” behind what we are doing to change the culture of the transportation team. Driver team connecting with the school community to remember why they became bus drivers - their purpose!
      6. Monthly in-service trainings: Worked with SPED department on student management training and implemented PBIS Plan
      7. Other successes: Arrival Dashboard - schools check if buses are arriving on time, focus on summer pre-work to make sure buses are ready for the year, and participate in the Countdown to Kindergarten with Buster the Bus Mascot.
      8. Overall complaints dropped by 76%
  3. School Year 2024-2025
    1. Key Challenges:
      1. 7D (small capacity vans) out of district transportation - not a lot of vendors and costs have gone up per student. Bought a fleet of 39 vans in house to bring down the cost, as the cost was approaching $700 per student per day!
      2. Student Management challenges persist.
      3. Increase in request for transportation
      4. Specialized transportation: After school, Early College
      5. Successes throughout the school year:
        All new buses!
        Started the year fully staffed with 101 full size bus routes
        On time performance improved 87% to 98%
        Continued with Spark Team around culture change
        Started a safety committee, focusing on accidents, injuries, and retraining.
        Driver/monitor evaluations
        Monthly in-service trainings
        Student management specialists focused on de-escalation and included separate monitor training.
        After school transportation to YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Girls Inc….8 different afterschool places from a variety of schools
        Decrease in turnover of drivers from 35% to 12%
        New Radio System
  4. Where do we go from here?
    1. Increase in Electric Buses
    2. New parent app
    3. New routing system
    4. New maintenance software
    5. Increased capacity for students in need of transportation
    6. New safety features on buses -more than most districts (collision mitigation where busses stop if there is something in its path - only ones in MA, light up school bus signs - only ones in MA, cameras on the bus to address student management issues)
    7. Use of technology to be cloud based to increase service between routing software and buses. MyStop app is not working well because there are technical difficulties. The other challenge is that it breaks down when there are weather issues or changes in routes, which is exactly when you need the systems to communicate. Another challenge, the bus doesn’t start tracking until the first stop. We will work to start having it track when it leaves the bus yard.
    8. New system will work together and students will receive Student Ridership Cards that they need to scan when they hop on and hop off the bus. It will provide parents with those updates. Cards will also be used for library cards, student ID cards, lunch cards, etc. - all in one for students!

4. Questions for Mr. Freeman:

After School program equity is an issue, as there is no transportation to get these students to these programs (particularly for organizations that are down in regards to enrollment). What are we doing to keep kids engaged in schools and how are we working to use transportation to increase student access to these organizations? Answer: We are doing three tiers of transportation, so we need the buses to be going towards the after school organizations to make it work. This will be a focus going forward in the strategic plan.

Now that we have more buses, are we going to work on encouraging more families to put their children on the bus? We just awarded a contract to fix the parking lot of Roosevelt, which will include the parking area and the back up on Grafton street. Bus line will be separate from the parent drop off line and the sidewalk is being added, as well.

The App - concerns are for children who switch schools to make sure that the App transfers over, as it has not in the experience of parents. Answer: All schools will be included in the new App. Lost IT support person in budget cuts, but Mike Freeman is the IT person. Please contact him with any questions.

Are we getting cameras for the STOP Arm - program that if you pass a stop sign of a bus it will automatically give a ticket to the person who broke the law. This program will have to go through the police department, as they are the only ones who are able to give tickets. More work to be done on this going forward.
Elementary School cutoff is 1 mile - why are parents not aware of this? Answer: all based on capacity and there are some elementary schools that have no buses and everyone walks over 1 mile. The law is 2 miles, but we try to decrease it when possible.

How are bus stop changes implemented and communicated to families? Answer: This usually happens through the school, who connects with the router and either approves or denies this. We rely on the schools to share this information with families. If there are times when bus stops are changed but not communicated to families, how can we address this? This has been happening, but unfortunately there is no great system to keep everyone informed. We are working on this.

When the bus stop is on a private road, are bus stops able to drive on private roads? Answer: We do not have the right to drive on private roads, per law. This is a concern for families, as the buses are tearing up the street and neighbors are concerned, but we need kids to get picked up.

For students who qualify for McKinney-Vento due to homelessness and are now far away from the school due to their new locations, are students able to be transported if they are less than 2 miles away from their schools? Answer: There are no buses for students beyond two miles, so it’s a challenge. We stop buses at shelters that are within two miles away and we would do as much as we could to transport every student.

If we move to Student Ridership Cards, what happens if they forget their card? Answer: There will be a backup plan - the driver has every single student on their tablet and can log them in.

Are you working to increase the transportation capacity for schools without any transport? Answer: As we increase 20 buses in the fleet and increase the drivers and adjust the catchment areas, we will look to increase the number of students who can be transported.

Bus drivers come back only a few days before the school year begins. Bus drivers get to bid their routes, which is based on seniority, and then there is also PD. When they start a new route only a few days before the school year begins, it becomes difficult and slows down the initial routes. We have to make changes to routes due to the increased enrollment close to the beginning of the school year, as well. New rideshare cards will allow us to more accurately track the amount of students on each bus and balance them more effectively. The adjustments to bussing are in WooEdu - updated every night from our routing system. If there is a change, there is no notification currently, unfortunately. WPS is hoping that it will be a part of the new tech system.

CPPAC Meeting
March 19th, 2025
Worcester Dual Language Magnet School

Guest Speakers: Brian Allen, Deputy Superintendent, COO & CFO
Michael Freeman, Director of Transportation

Introduction by Co-Chair - Eric Mendelson:
1. Agenda for today’s meeting is:
  1. Presentation on the FY2026 Budget & Transportation
  2. Question & Answers

Brian Allen:
1. “This year, there will be NO more cuts to WPS classroom teachers for K-6 and 7-12 and WPS will be increasing staff/teachers by 40 hires.”
2. WPS will again be aligning resources to the strategic plan
3. FY26 Major Budget Themes:
  1. Enrollment increased by 1.8% (428 students) as of October 1st, 2024
    1. Driver of revenue in our district and major factor in Foundation Budget
    2. October 1st, 2024 Count = 24,778 (+428 students from last year)
    3. Three consecutive years of enrollment increase for WPS
    4. Lost 1,600 during the pandemic. Still 700 less than where we were pre-pandemic, but enrollment increases will increase our district revenue.
    5. Elementary enrollment down overall almost 6% compared to pre-pandemic. Elementary enrollment surpassed our internal estimates this year, however.
    6. Increased enrollments at Doherty HS in 9th grade (largest class since early 2000’s) - many from local private schools. Students are coming back to our schools when our new buildings open.
    7. Enrollment-Based Staffing Adjustment
      1. Annual budget adjustments based on enrollment shifts in individual schools. There are 10 shifts at the elementary school level and the rest of the shifts will be at the secondary level.
      2. Equity-Based Budget Process to be used. (NEW) Strategic investments to close opportunity gaps for students.
  2. Inflation Rate - Moderate foundation inflation rate of 1.93%
  3. Student Opportunity Act Phase-In: Fifth year of Six-Year Phase-in of SOA
    1. WPS is using some of this money to cover the inflation, but will be moving away from this.
    2. SOA - Passed in 2019, but was not funded during COVID. Started funding in FY22. Expected to increase our budget by 100 million dollars to cover:
      1. Benefits & Fixed Charges
      2. Guidance and Psychological Services
      3. SPED/ Out of District Tuition Rates
      4. Multilingual Learners
      5. Low Income (higher per pupil rate based on density of low income students)
      6. Formula Changes - Phase in of assumed in-district special education enrollment to 5% for vocational students and 4% for non-vocational students.
  4. We will have 16 million more dollars this year compared to last year due to increased enrollment and inflation rate change.

Foundation Budget Factors
1. Due to enrollment, increase in budget by 12.5 million dollars
2. Inflation - increase of 12.6 million dollars
3. SOA - 17.2 million dollars. Biggest increase in SOA funding has come from low-income student adjustments
4. Overall 42.3 million dollar increase due to these factors. 34 million comes from the state and the rest comes from the city (state formula).
  1. We lose 4 million for Charter School Tuition (2,000 resident students who attend charter schools), School Choice Tuition, and State Special Education Assessment.
FY 26 Budget Planning
1. 22 million in Estimated Salary Increased
2. 2.5 million Health Insurance Increase
3. 5 million City of Worcester Retirement Assessment
4. 1 million - Contracted Transportation Services
5. 1 million - All other Non-Salary Accounts
Alignment of Budget with Strategic Vision
1. Modernized and Safe Facilities
2. Average Class Size 21:1
3. Guidance Counselor: 250 students per counselor
4. School Adjustment Counselor: 250 students per counselor
5. Elementary Special Education Inclusion Teachers - 30 students per teacher
6. ESL - Elementary: 1 ESL teachers per every 50 students
7. Secondary: 1 ESL teacher per every 75 students - addressing this through minutes per service as opposed to the number of student caseload.
8. Equity Lens: Resource Equity - The allocation and use of resources - people, time, and money - and focus on eliminating resource and opportunity gaps for students by creating experiences that enable all children to reach empowering, rigorous learning outcomes, regardless of their background, socioeconomic status, or location. Next year’s SOA money will be used to address these gaps.

FY26 Budget Planning
1. Monitoring the status of Federal Grants (Head Start, USDA Food and Entitlement Grant Funding (teachers and paras through Title I, II, and III) = 52 million in Federal Money
2. Key Areas of Impact for FY26 Budget
  1. SOA & Strategic Plan
  2. Student Enrollment
  3. Enrollment Shift Adjustments
  4. District Foundational Staffing, Staffing Programs and Supports
3. Budget Timeline:
  1. March 19 - present to CPPAC
  2. March 20 - presentation to Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee
  3. March 26th Family Engagement Roundtable
  4. March 31st - Joint meeting of the Finance Operations and Governance and City Council Education Committee
  5. May 9th budget submitted to school committee and posted on district website
  6. May/June - budget hearing with the Worcester City Council
  7. June 5th and June 18th - School Committee budget hearings

Questions for Mr. Allen:
1. What about the mental health supports that were provided by outside agencies that were cut in the previous year? Answer: They were funded by ESSA, which is no longer available. WPS is working to figure out how we provide these services to students without these funds going forward.

What are we doing to address the increase in class sizes as a result of the staffing cuts last year? Answer: We are able to increase by 40 positions this year and addressing class sizes is one of the strategic visions/goals for the district. WPS is conducting reviews of adjusting boundary assignments for neighborhood schools to address the catchment areas. This will support balanced class sizes. These decisions will go to the school committee and public comment before decisions are made. For example, Chandler Elementary students can go to three different middle schools, which needs to be addressed.

What is the Site councils role in weighing in on staffing, budgets, etc. for each school? What is the timeline for this to happen? Answer: The state law uses the word “review”, but they do not get to make decisions. This would be happening in January, February, March, and April before the budget goes to the school committee.

What is happening with the Burncoat rebuild/replacement? Answer: We believe the middle school is going to be included in this project, but this needs MSBA approval. WPS is considering combining the two campuses in this rebuild and WPS feels that they are going to be accepted into the feasibility study stage of this process, which usually takes 2-3 years. We expect Burncoat to be opened in 2031. Worcester East Middle is the next priority after the Burncoat project. This summer they are getting new windows (7 million dollars) over the next two years to address the heating and cooling issues. The boilers and roof have already been addressed previously. Will most likely get addressed by 2040 due to the amount of time it takes to move through this process.

How do we address the issue of schools not having the required Site Councils? Answer: The family & community engagement department is addressing the issue of site council training internally and there is a significant focus on ensuring all schools have site councils that are following the law.

Is there a concern about some of the smaller elementary schools closing in the future, as this was on the table for discussion last year in the budget crisis? Answer: Due to enrollment increases, WPS is not foreseeing any closures to the smaller elementary schools, as the district does not want to move too hastily by closing schools when we do not know the enrollment trends going forward.

Michael Freeman, Director of Transportation
1. Historical overview of transportation changes in the past years:
  1. School Year 2022-2023 - First Year of WPS In-House Transportation
    1. New buses delayed due to covid supply chain issues
    2. Did not know how many drivers would show up from Durham School Services.
    3. Culture Change: EAW/Teamsters
      1. WPS employees/Durham Employees, Mass hire trained employees all one family
    4. Successes throughout the school year
      1. New state of the art busses
      2. Trained 40 new drivers
      3. Increased routes throughout the year as new buses arrived and new drivers were licensed. 71 routes increased to 83 routes.
  2. School Year 2023-2024
    1. Not all buses arrived, still using unreliable buses
    2. National driver shortage
    3. Culture Change Issues continued
    4. Student management on buses became issue
    5. Successes throughout the school year
      1. New buses continue to arrive
      2. MyStop App
      3. Trained 60 new drivers
      4. Increased routes throughout the year as new buses arrived and new drivers were licensed. 83 routes increased to 96 routes
      5. Creation of SPARK Team - The “why” behind what we are doing to change the culture of the transportation team. Driver team connecting with the school community to remember why they became bus drivers - their purpose!
      6. Monthly in-service trainings: Worked with SPED department on student management training and implemented PBIS Plan
      7. Other successes: Arrival Dashboard - schools check if buses are arriving on time, focus on summer pre-work to make sure buses are ready for the year, and participate in the Countdown to Kindergarten with Buster the Bus Mascot.
      8. Overall complaints dropped by 76%
  3. School Year 2024-2025
    1. Key Challenges:
      1. 7D (small capacity vans) out of district transportation - not a lot of vendors and costs have gone up per student. Bought a fleet of 39 vans in house to bring down the cost, as the cost was approaching $700 per student per day!
      2. Student Management challenges persist.
      3. Increase in request for transportation
      4. Specialized transportation: After school, Early College
      5. Successes throughout the school year:
        All new buses!
        Started the year fully staffed with 101 full size bus routes
        On time performance improved 87% to 98%
        Continued with Spark Team around culture change
        Started a safety committee, focusing on accidents, injuries, and retraining.
        Driver/monitor evaluations
        Monthly in-service trainings
        Student management specialists focused on de-escalation and included separate monitor training.
        After school transportation to YMCA, Boys & Girls Club, Girls Inc….8 different afterschool places from a variety of schools
        Decrease in turnover of drivers from 35% to 12%
        New Radio System
  4. Where do we go from here?
    1. Increase in Electric Buses
    2. New parent app
    3. New routing system
    4. New maintenance software
    5. Increased capacity for students in need of transportation
    6. New safety features on buses -more than most districts (collision mitigation where busses stop if there is something in its path - only ones in MA, light up school bus signs - only ones in MA, cameras on the bus to address student management issues)
    7. Use of technology to be cloud based to increase service between routing software and buses. MyStop app is not working well because there are technical difficulties. The other challenge is that it breaks down when there are weather issues or changes in routes, which is exactly when you need the systems to communicate. Another challenge, the bus doesn’t start tracking until the first stop. We will work to start having it track when it leaves the bus yard.
    8. New system will work together and students will receive Student Ridership Cards that they need to scan when they hop on and hop off the bus. It will provide parents with those updates. Cards will also be used for library cards, student ID cards, lunch cards, etc. - all in one for students!

4. Questions for Mr. Freeman:

After School program equity is an issue, as there is no transportation to get these students to these programs (particularly for organizations that are down in regards to enrollment). What are we doing to keep kids engaged in schools and how are we working to use transportation to increase student access to these organizations? Answer: We are doing three tiers of transportation, so we need the buses to be going towards the after school organizations to make it work. This will be a focus going forward in the strategic plan.

Now that we have more buses, are we going to work on encouraging more families to put their children on the bus? We just awarded a contract to fix the parking lot of Roosevelt, which will include the parking area and the back up on Grafton street. Bus line will be separate from the parent drop off line and the sidewalk is being added, as well.

The App - concerns are for children who switch schools to make sure that the App transfers over, as it has not in the experience of parents. Answer: All schools will be included in the new App. Lost IT support person in budget cuts, but Mike Freeman is the IT person. Please contact him with any questions.

Are we getting cameras for the STOP Arm - program that if you pass a stop sign of a bus it will automatically give a ticket to the person who broke the law. This program will have to go through the police department, as they are the only ones who are able to give tickets. More work to be done on this going forward.
Elementary School cutoff is 1 mile - why are parents not aware of this? Answer: all based on capacity and there are some elementary schools that have no buses and everyone walks over 1 mile. The law is 2 miles, but we try to decrease it when possible.

How are bus stop changes implemented and communicated to families? Answer: This usually happens through the school, who connects with the router and either approves or denies this. We rely on the schools to share this information with families. If there are times when bus stops are changed but not communicated to families, how can we address this? This has been happening, but unfortunately there is no great system to keep everyone informed. We are working on this.

When the bus stop is on a private road, are bus stops able to drive on private roads? Answer: We do not have the right to drive on private roads, per law. This is a concern for families, as the buses are tearing up the street and neighbors are concerned, but we need kids to get picked up.

For students who qualify for McKinney-Vento due to homelessness and are now far away from the school due to their new locations, are students able to be transported if they are less than 2 miles away from their schools? Answer: There are no buses for students beyond two miles, so it’s a challenge. We stop buses at shelters that are within two miles away and we would do as much as we could to transport every student.

If we move to Student Ridership Cards, what happens if they forget their card? Answer: There will be a backup plan - the driver has every single student on their tablet and can log them in.

Are you working to increase the transportation capacity for schools without any transport? Answer: As we increase 20 buses in the fleet and increase the drivers and adjust the catchment areas, we will look to increase the number of students who can be transported.

Bus drivers come back only a few days before the school year begins. Bus drivers get to bid their routes, which is based on seniority, and then there is also PD. When they start a new route only a few days before the school year begins, it becomes difficult and slows down the initial routes. We have to make changes to routes due to the increased enrollment close to the beginning of the school year, as well. New rideshare cards will allow us to more accurately track the amount of students on each bus and balance them more effectively. The adjustments to bussing are in WooEdu - updated every night from our routing system. If there is a change, there is no notification currently, unfortunately. WPS is hoping that it will be a part of the new tech system.

CPPAC Meeting
December 11th, 2024
At Worcester Technical High School

Guest Speakers: Casey Starr, Co-Director of Family & Community Engagement
Chris Kursonis, Administrative Director of College & Career Readiness

Introduction by Co-Chair - Pam Hatley:
1. Agenda for today’s meeting is:
  1. Presentation by Chris and Casey on WPS Available Programs & Pathways
  2. Question & Answers

Guest Speaker: Casey Starr, Co-Director of Family & Community Engagement
1. Working hard at the district level to share more information on available programs on the website and through Parent Square
2. WPS Preschool Programs & Head Start
  1. WPS Preschool:
    1. Lottery based
    2. Available at 18 different schools ((including Tech in Childcare/Early Education Center) & South HS)
    3. Online application open between 1/2/25 - 3/15/25
    4. Families notified of lottery results by 5/2/25 and must accept placement by 5/16/25
  2. Headstart:
    1. Income-eligible federal preschool program
    2. Rolling application and not located in WPS schools
    3. Full day and half day options based on eligibility factors
3. WPS Elementary Schools & Programs
  1. Neighborhood/Home School based on residential address
  2. Three city-wide magnet schools: Worcester Art Magnets, Worcester Dual Language Magnet School, Jacob Hiatt Magnet School - a different application for all schools and you may apply to all three.
    1. WAMs - focus on arts, both magnet and neighborhood school. If you want to be maintained on a waitlist, be sure to communicate that to the school.
    2. Jacob Hiatt - STEAM focus, lottery only, collaborative instruction & real-world applications
    3. Dual Language Magnet - 80% - 20% model transitions to 50% - 50% by 3rd grade, enrollment by application and lottery (2 buckets for lottery - Spanish-speaking & English-speaking)
    1. Must apply before Kindergarten
    2. WPS is committed to keeping families together and this allows siblings of current students in the elementary magnets to have preference with the lottery.
    3. Online applications and selection is done by lottery
    4. Dual Language has a different lottery to ensure fidelity of dual language programs. Waitlists for English speaking students are saved until the first half of first grade and then they are removed due to program model and difficulty in catching up students after this much time has passed.

Guest Speaker: Chris Kursonis, Administrative Director of College & Career Readiness
1. Third year in this new position that was created.
2. Started off with 5 programs and now have 16 programs since inception of role.
3. Focus on teaching and learning, as well as specialized programs, school course addition vetting, school counseling, etc.
  1. Advanced Programs - Middle School & High School
    1. Goddard Scholars - 6th - 12th at Sullivan Middle & South High
      1. Students can apply to be a part of this in 9th grade
    2. Hanover Insurance Academy of the Arts - 7th - 12th
    3. Doherty BioMedical Program - 9th - 12th
      1. Only available to 9th graders
    4. Advanced Academy Criteria for Application (GSA Grade 6, Hanover Grade 7, and BioMed Grade 9)
      1. Option - Tier 1 - 85% or better in Reading & Math, Tier 2 - 75% or better in Reading & Math - receive invitation
      2. Optiom 2 - Students not selected to apply can apply this way (GSA Grade 9, Hanover Grade 9, and BioMed Grade 9)
        Submit an application
        Provide attendance & discipline from grades 7 and 8
        Complete an essay of interest
        Applications will be scored and placed in Tier 3 and notified later. Max of 50 students total will be accepted for 9th grade each year at DHS. GSA and Hanover fill open spots.
      3. Information regarding WPS high school programs are shared with the Worcester private schools (Abby Kelley, St. Paul’s, etc.)

College Pathway Programs
1. Advanced Placement - 33 classes
2. Dual Enrollment - Assumption, Clark, WSU
3. Bio-Med - Doherty
4. Goddard Scholars
5. Hanover Insurance Academy of the Arts
6. Burcoat Magnet Programs - application on website. Contact the principal for more information. 7th grade and 9th grade availability
7. Career Pathways - Auto, Business, Culinary, Diesel, Early Childhood, Engineering, Health Science, Manufacturing, Marketing, Social Science, Innovation Career Pathways

Chapter 74 Programs:
1. Doherty - Engineering Technology (9th grade October 1 cut-off to join), Programming and Web Development, Construction/Craft Laborer, Marketing, Management and Finance
2. North High School - Business Technology, Health Science, Early Childhood
3. South High - Early Education, Culinary Arts, Diesel Tech/Auto
4. Worcester Tech - 984 applicants for 400 seats for 2024-2025 (lottery based)
  1. Students have one day in all 14 shops, then pick the top seven shops to spend a week in, then they rank their top choices and based on space and grades in the exploratory will determine their acceptance. Shop placement is based on performance in exploratory classes/weeks.
  2. Students will spend 2,100 hours in shop for certification (no electives - only core academics and shops) over the four years.
  3. Graduation rate at Worcester Tech is 99%.
  4. Halfway through sophomore year students can change shops and move into one that has space. About 10-15 students each year decide to move back to their home school in 9th grade at the end of the year. No one is moved off the lottery after October 1st.
  5. Tiering - Seats at WTHS will be allocated to each WPS middle school in proportion to the share each has of the overall WPS 8th grade fall enrollment (Worcester residents who are not enrolled as WPS students in 8th grade will be counted within the allotment of seats for the district middle school that corresponds to their home address. 6 different lotteries. Admission policy tiering for Chapter 74 programs:
    1. Tier 1 - no more than 26 total absences in 7th and 8th grade and no more than 20 days of suspension.
    2. Tier 2 - 27-36 total absences & 21-30 total days of suspension between 7th and 8th grade
    3. Tier 3 - 37 or more total absences in 7th and 8th grade & 31 or more total days of suspension between 7th and 8th grade
    4. Students in a technical school (Chapter 74 t0 Chapter 74) anywhere in the state can move into a program here, as long as the program has space and they live in the district.
    5. Admissions Timeline
      1. January 6th - February 14th: Applications accepted on go2CTE
      2. January 16th @ 6:00 pm - Zoom about Programs
      3. February 14th, 2025 - Application Period Closes
      4. Wednesday, March 12th - Lottery held
      5. Lottery results shared and posted on school’s websites by Friday, March 14th.

Innovation Career Pathways (ICP)
1. Collaboration between WPS comprehensive schools and WTHS to provide students with access to technical education through high quality college and career pathways.
2. Three-year extended day commitment that creates opportunities for WPS students
3. Application to apply - February 5th - March 21st, Lottery April 29th.
4. Meant for students who didn’t get into WTHS in 9th grade but want to focus on a career pathway. Must take advanced placement or early college classes as a part of this program.

Adult Education - ALC
1. 425 students, 23 classes in 8 locations throughout the city, onsite, day, night and online - family literacy, math class, 3 levels of ESOL, and 4 levels of ABE classes.
2. Offer CNA training twice per year
3. Paraprofessional testing that takes place in conjunction with HR

Night Life
1. 800 students in 40+ programs - classes designed to teach new skills
2. Tuition is paid per class

Next meeting at North High School on January 22nd, 2025 @ South High School

CPPAC Meeting
October 16th, 2024
Worcester Technical High School

Guest Speaker: Caleb Encarnacion-Rivera: Director of Equity for the Worcester Public Schools

Introduction by Co-Chair - Eric M.
1. Reintroduced the purpose of CPPAC
2. Emphasis on “citywide” and how we can unify our district through best practices, shared concerns, and communication with each other as caregivers in an advisory model.
3. Agenda for today’s meeting is:
  1. Presentation by Caleb Encarnacion-Rivera regarding Core Values
  2. Breakout Group Activity - Roses, Buds, Thorns in WPS
    1. Share out in small groups separated by elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Guest Speaker: Caleb Encarnacion-Rivera
1. Purpose of work today is to inform WPS’s strategic plan through discussions about our core values, vision of a learner, and what is important to us as caregivers of students in the district.
2. The WPS strategic plan was created through data gathering by administration, alumni, students, parents/caregivers, staff, and other stakeholders, particularly through various advisory councils. WPS is in year two of the implementation of this plan and now they are moving on to the focus on the identification and alignment of core values.
3. See, Hear, Feel Protocol to Develop Core Values for WPS
  1. Three WPS Guiding Documents
    1. Mission Statement - Provide all students the opportunity to advance their scholarships with rigorous core curriculum and high-quality instruction. This enables students to discover the expanse of their academic talents, shape the quality of their character and develop the confidence to become conscientious, reflective citizens who are empowered to better our community and our world.
    2. Our Vision for 2024 Statement - WPS will be a national leader in education, offering high-quality learning experiences, ensuring all students are prepared to thrive, and equipping them to become engaged citizens in the community.
    3. Vision of a Learner Tenet - All WPS students will be engaged to lead a meaningful and purposeful life. Our scholars will leverage a broad set of multi-literate skills to graduate as Problem Solvers, Curious Learners, Empowered Individuals, Effective Communicators and Engaged Community Members.

Example Answers from the Exercise:
1. See - Students being engaged in learning with high quality instruction (always). Inclusivity (always).
2. Hear - Students sharing what they know/don’t know in a healthy manner (always). Transparency (always).
3. Feel - Students involved in SEL activities/engagement to discuss their feelings and process things together in a peer group (always). Bonding exercises to overcome differences and highlight similarities (always).

CPPAC Breakout Group Activity: Roses, Buds, and Thorns
1. Roses: Things that are positive in the school district
2. Buds: Things that are growing and improving in the school district
3. Thorns: Things that are challenging and need support in the school district

CPPAC Meeting
September 11th, 2024
Doherty Memorial High School

Guest Speaker: Dr. Monarrez

Introduction by Co-Chairs, Eric M. and Pam. H.
1. Explained the purpose of CPPAC
2. Emphasis on “citywide” and how we can unify our district through best practices, shared concerns, and communication with each other as parent/guardians in an advisory model

Other Guest Speakers:
1. Dan O’Brien - Chief Communications Officer
2. Jessica Boss - Chief of Staff and Advancement
3. Brian Allen - Deputy Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Executive Officer

Objectives
1. Proposed Superintendent goals for the 2024-2025 School Year
2. WPS Systems Improvement Efforts
  1. Transportation
  2. Nutrition Services
  3. Enrollment and Placement Services
  4. Budget Reduction Impacts

Understanding & Respect for Roles
1. School Committee vs. Superintendent
2. School Committee Responsibilities:
  1. Governance
  2. Ends (Results)
    1. Mission & Vision, Goals, Policy, Budget
    2. What? Why? How much?
  3. Bridge between community & superintendent
  4. Authorize (vote) & Monitor
3. Superintendent
  1. Management
  2. Means (Methods)
    1. Strategies, Action Plans, Regulations, Procedures
    2. How? Who? When? Where?
  3. Bridge between staff & committee
  4. Recommend & Implement
4. Next week at the School Committee meeting, Dr. Monarrez will propose her goals and the school committee will approve, edit, or disapprove of goals.

Strategic Plan for 2023-2028
1. Equitable Resources & Educational Programs
  1. HQI that equips all students with essential skills Pre-K through Grade 12 with personalized programming that is equitable and systematic
2. Family & Community Engagement
  1. Authentic, effective, consistent, two-way communication and engagement among families, schools, and the community
3. Culture & Climate
  1. Environments in which all grow and thrive and feel valued, safe and belong
4. Acquire & Retain Talent
  1. Prioritizing, valuing and compensating our staff by creating and ensuring a culture of inclusivity and growth for all, diversifying staff
5. Health & Wellness
  1. Focus on mental and physical health and wellness of staff, students, and caregivers
6. Modernized & Safe Facilities
  1. Facilities all have infrastructure to support equitable access to a 21st century teaching and learning environment
7. These priorities were gathered from visits across the district and conversations with parents, students, and staff, as well as data gathered over the past three years.

Proposed Goals for 2024-2025
1. Acquire & Retain Talent: ensure a district-wide system for recruitment, hiring, and retention of a talented and culturally linguistically competent workforce through a culture of belonging and authentic engagement.
  1. Measured by Key Performance Indicators:
    1. Percentage of new instructional staff from underrepresented backgrounds
    2. Percentage of new operational/non-instructional staff from underrepresented backgrounds
    3. Percentage of instructional staff retained from year to year
    4. Percentage of operational/non-instructional staff retained from year to year
2. Modernized and Safe Facilities: Scale and implement facilities improvement to include safety protocols, procedures, monitoring, and allocation of necessary fiscal resources.
  1. Measured by KPI:
    1. Maintenance and operations cost ratio to foundation budget allocation
    2. Level of funding for facilities improvements from local, state, and federal sources
    3. Work order response time
    4. Work order completion time
Student Goal: Equitable Resources & Education Programs: Lead WPS learning community to define, refine, implement and monitor culturally responsive policies and practices that acknowledge the diverse backgrounds, identities, strengths and challenges of WPS staff, caregiver and scholars.
1. KPI’s:
  1. Percentage of students reporting rigorous and culturally responsive instruction
  2. Percentage of 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade Hispanic/Latino students, English Learners, and students with disabilities will be at/above benchmark (meet/exceed) in reading and math (STAR tests)
Professional Goal: Equitable Resources & Education Programs: Collaboratively nurture and model a culture in which there is an increase of staff who are reflective about tier practice and use disaggregated student data, relevant research and theory to continuously adapt instruction and improved outcomes with intentional focus on historically underserved populations.
1. KPI’s: Same as previous goal

Systems Improvement
1. Systems Alignment - Steps toward Mature Processes
  1. Reacting to Problems - 0% - 25% (first year of Dr. Monarrez)
  2. Early Systematic Approaches - 30% - 45% (second year)
  3. Aligned Approaches - 50% - 65% (third year - will be here for awhile)
  4. Integrated Approaches - 70% - 100%

Transportation Systems
1. All bus routes posted by August 1st, fully staffed with all busses and drivers
Nutrition Services Improvement
1. Improved menu, cultural and ethnic food options, more variability, and new menu planning, improved accountability, etc.
Enrollment & Placement Services (Area for Growth) - need to improve families understanding where they are going and the boundaries making sense so families are kept together across multiple grade levels when possible.

Preliminary Student Enrollment
1. Trending higher than last year - 1969 this year, last year 1829 in Kindergarten
2. Increase in students arriving from private schools to Doherty and sprinkling in younger siblings into the lower schools

Next meeting at Worcester Tech High School

Questions from Audience:

MCAS Requirement for Graduation on ballot?
1. State through Board of Education will decide implementation timeline if ballot question approved.
What mechanisms are in place to address concerns with the school committee? Concerns about elected representatives not being responsive.
1. Facebook/Social Media account, emails listed on websites
Is money earmarked for the first two goals - facilities and acquiring/retaining talent?
1. Yes, the district planned for these costs.
When do we check in on goal progress?
1. In December, there is a school committee meeting that checks in on progress in the middle of the year. Goals are finally assessed in July 2025.
Are exit surveys being given to staff that are leaving the district?
1. Yes, and most of the people leaving the profession are leaving for family situations. The new contract is helping retain talent.
Who is using research to meet the goal of equitable resources?
1. The superintendent monitors the goals and shares out data and the principals and instructional coaches help to implement the research/data into the schools by working directly with the teachers.
How do this year’s goals relate to the previous years’ goals?
1. First year was creating guidebooks to ensure processes were documented, formalized, and consistent. Last year, the focus was on curriculum alignment and diversification of staff, but this year’s focus is going deeper into that goal. They are currently developing models of onboarding, so new hires are successful and consistent across the district. Focusing this year on implementing the 300 page audit for facilities/safety/work order systems. Discussion of boundary changes to look at very small schools and those that are bursting at the seams.
How are the schools looking at the new immigrant students being supported by the school and followed-up with as they navigate the newness of the country/schools?
1. Data shows there is a 6 month immersion stage called the quiet period where they are listening and learning quietly - it is not a disability or behavior problem - but the classroom teachers were not often aware of this.
What is the percentage of students who have a guardian logged in to the Woo-Edu platform? What is the percentage of teachers who are submitting grades every ten days? Where are the federal and state required school site councils in all of the buildings, as there is concern that site councils are not in existence everywhere and are not managed appropriately.
1. We will get the data regarding Woo Edu. In regards to Site Council, the district has a goal of ensuring all schools have active councils that follow the law.
What can we do to support the new students with material needs, i.e. clothing, coats, shoes, etc.
1. The WRAPs are paying attention to food insecurity, clothing, etc. to support these new students with their needs. The district is working on professional development and community outreach to assess the needs of the families.
Is there a plan to lessen the distance for students who have to walk and do not receive bus transportation?
1. There are talks of doing this at some point, as we now have a fleet and are able to manage the costs of the transportation as it is now in-house.
What is the process to appeal to ask for more leniency for a transportation need for students at elementary schools within a mile?
1. Requests come from the principal to add a new stop to pick up the elementary school level.
What is the plan to assist in supporting Roosevelt School’s pick up?
1. There is money to support the redesign of the pick up/drop off to increase safety and accessibility. City councilors' involvement can help to expedite the process.
Is there a district policy/plan to increase the time allotted for lunch time? 15 minutes is not enough…and the portions seem to be quite small. The pricing for a second meal can be inequitable and stigmatizing.
1. Recommends conversation with the principal to discuss concerns around lunchtimes to ensure the students have enough time to eat. Still part of conversation at district/school committee level.
Trustee Areas - where do we get this information to determine who the school committee member is for each address?
1. Link to district school committee area on city hall website - need link
Can the forms at the beginning of the school year be digitized, so they are no longer printing paper copies?
1. Yes, we are working to digitize them, including the student handbook in the future.
What do we think about the December 30th cut-off for Worcester Public Schools?
1. Pre-School cutoff is very strict - cannot apply if you are age-eligible for kindergarten. School is mandated for school at age 6.
What happened with the cap on inflation at the state level?
1. It did not pass and the inflation rate was kept the same.
Do we expect student enrollment to drop next year, due to the lower birth rates? What would be the impact on schools and the budget?
1. We are funded next year on the enrollment on THIS October 1st. We will not know if we have a dip in funding until next October based on birth rates.
What happened to instruments that are no longer offered at elementary schools?
1. They will have to look at this and determine what happened.

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Meeting Minutes