School Committee

AGENDA #15 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Page 1 ​ ​ ​ CLERK OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE WORCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS 20 IRVING STREET WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS 01609 The School Committee will hold an in-person meeting with a virtual option*: on:​ Thursday, July 10, 2025 at:​ 4:00 p.m., Open Session, Esther Howland Chamber, ​ ​ ​ Worcester City Hall Virtual: ​ https://worcesterschools.zoom.us/j/82746440670?pwd=dmp4TnIxYThBd nhkZWQ1bm1hMjFFZz09 Also accessible by telephone, to dial in call: +1 301-715-8592 or +1 305-224-1968 *This meeting/hearing of the Worcester School Committee will be held in-person at the location provided on this notice. Members of the public are welcome to attend this in-person meeting. Please note that while an option for remote attendance and /or participation is being provided as a courtesy to the public, the meeting/hearing will not be suspended or terminated if technological problems interrupt the virtual broadcast, unless otherwise required by law. Members of the public with particular interest in any specific item on this agenda should make plans for in-person vs. virtual attendance accordingly. ORDER OF BUSINESS A.​ General Business Items taken in Executive Session B.​ Call to Order A.​ Pledge of Allegiance/National Anthem B.​ Roll Call​ M. ​ Student Advisory Committee Items ​ E.​ Consent Agenda i. ​ Approval of Minutes To consider approval of the minutes of the Standing Committee on Finance, Operations, and Governance meeting on June 16, 2025. To consider approval of the minutes of the School Committee meeting on June 18, 2025 (Budget Session) To consider approval of the minutes of the School Committee meeting on June 18, 2025 (Open Session) ii. ​ Approval of Donations To consider a donation in the amount of $27.90 from Box Tops to Columbus Park.  AGENDA #15 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Page 2 To consider approval of a used Titan Auto Rotisserie valued at $200 from Amazon Robotics for the Automotive Collision Repair Program at WTHS. To accept as a donation an extension for the use of warehouse space for the 2025-26 school year at 220 Barber Ave by Chacharone Properties at no cost to the district. To consider approval of a donation in the amount of $28,236 from UMass Chan Medical School as 24 mini grant awards to North Quadrant Schools. To consider approval of a donation of $16.70 from Box Tops for Lincoln Street School. To consider approval of a donation of $36.00 from Lucy Njeri for Lincoln Street School. To consider approval of a donation of $100.00 from Centro to the Worcester Dual Language School. iii. ​ Notification of Personnel Records ​ iv. ​ Initial filing of Recognition ​ v. ​ Notices of Interest to the District or to the Public F.​ Item for Reconsideration ​ G.​ Held Items ​ ​ H.​ Recognitions I. Public Comment-Any member of the public may address the Committee regarding any item before them for two (2) minutes. Those speaking will state their name, their residence, and the item on which they wish to speak for the record. Those speaking may do so in person or via remote participation. Those wishing to address the Committee in a language other than English are asked to notify the Clerk of the Committee in advance, so the Committee may be provided with an interpreter. Members of the Committee may not respond to the comments of the public at the meeting. Click to view Policy BEDH-Public Comment J. ​ Public Petition ​ c & p 5-5 (Doyle) ​ ​​ (July 10, 2025) ​ Request that the school committee update district policy to require explicit consent from parents/guardians when a third party service wants to use personal information collected from students to train or otherwise develop artificial intelligence technologies. ​ Recommendation: Refer to FOG  AGENDA #15 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Page 3 ​ c & p 5-6 (Doyle) ​ ​​ (July 10, 2025) ​ Request the school committee to update district policies to require explicit consent from parents/guardians before a third party service collects any data that could be a biometric identifier, such as audio recordings, photographs, and/or video. ​ Recommendation: Refer to FOG K.​ Report of the Superintendent ​ No report of the Superintendent ​ ​​ L.​ Reports of the Standing Committees ​ FOG, June 16, 2025 ​ gb 3-108 Administration ​ (April 5, 2023) Response from Administration Review and revise the WPS Wellness Policy. Click to view the prior action sheet for gb 3-108 ​ Results: Policy approved and item filed ​ gb 4-30 McCullough ​ ​ (March 7, 2024) ​ To work with administration and the Doherty High School community to work on naming a space in the new school after fallen WFD Firefighter, Lt. Jason J. Menard. Menard is a ​ Doherty met his wife, Tina, while they were both students at the school and even took his Firefighter exam at the current building. ​ Click to view the prior action sheet for gb 4-30 ​ Results: Item held in FOG for a period of community input ​ ​ ​ ​ c&p 4-2 Public Petition ​ ​​ (March 21, 2024) Response from Administration Anja Zhurka, Micah Abbascia, Kamdin Le, Yanielis Morales, and Alisson Landaverde-Mata presented a public petition to consider adding electric car chargers to the Forest Grove Middle School parking lot, free of charge, in partnership with MassEVIP. Click to view the prior action sheet for c&p 4-2 Results: Item filed ​ ​ ​ gb 4-66 McCullough ​ ​ (July 18, 2024) ​ Draft Naming Policy ​ To review the facilities naming and dedication policy and provide clarity around the ​ process. ​ Click to view the prior action sheet for gb 4-66 ​ Results: Policy approved and item filed ​ gb 4-114 (Guardiola)  AGENDA #15 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Page 4 ​ ​ (November 21, 2024) ​ Response from Administration ​ Request the number of employees that maxed sick leave in both the 2022 and 2023 ​ years. ​ Results: Report approved and item filed ​ gb 5-3 (McCullough) ​ ​ (January 9, 2025) ​ Response from Administration ​ To explore expanding middle school sports, with high demand, into 7th and 8th grade teams in order to give more students the opportunity to participate. ​ Click to view the prior action sheet for gb 5-3 ​ Results: Item approved and filed with a motion for an update in the fall of 2025 ​ ros 5-1A (Motion from Member Biancheria) ​ ​ (January 9, 2025) ​ Response from Administration ​ To be kept up to date on the Burncoat MSBA process. ​ Click to view the prior action sheet for ros 5-1A ​ Results: Report approved and item filed ​ ​ ros 5-1B (Administration) ​ ​ (January 9, 2025) ​ Response from Administration ​ Amended Motion from Vice Chair Johnson: To receive a facilities report on efforts to ​ make the SAIL facilities safer for those high needs students. ​ Click to view the prior action sheet for ros 5-1B ​ Results: Report approved and item filed ​ c&p 4-4 Killebrew ​ ​​ (May 2, 2024) Geoffrey Killebrew from Worcester Renaissance Project is petitioning to gain School Committee Support for adding youth to street performers/street vendors/hawking work permits to enhance opportunities for young people. ​ Results: Items 1-8 on the petition were approved and filed, item #9 was referred to the administration for further consideration. ​ ​ FOG, July 8, 2025 ​ gb 5-70 (Administration) ​ ​​ (June 18, 2025) ​ To review and approve High School Mastery-Based Grading Practices ​ N.​ Approval of Grants and other Finance Items ​ To consider approval of a grant in the amount of $439,688 from Mass Life Science Center (MLSC) to be used to fund gene expression model kids, bioethics curricula, and professional development for teachers.  AGENDA #15 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Page 5 ​ To consider approval of a grant in the amount of $30,000 from Boston Scientific Foundation for students at Norrback and Clark Street School to fund hands-on science activities presented by actual scientists. ​ To consider approval of a grant in the amount of $71,271.48 from the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation for University Park to support a variety of enrichment activities for University Park students including Jumpstart programming, field trips and after school programming. ​ To consider approval of a grant in the amount of $399,996.05 from the Commonwealth Corporation to support unemployed and underemployed individuals at Massachusetts high schools with designated and aligned chapter 74 programs/N74 vocational programs. ​ ​ O.​ General Business ​ ros 5-6 B (Motion from Member Binienda) (March 20, 2025) Response from Administration To receive a report on reading and math data from year-end to year-end, instead of beginning of year to year-end, especially for non-disabled students Recommendation: Approve and File gb 5-50 (Johnson) (May 15, 2025) Response from Administration Request administration look into having Q teams rotate throughout the district/quadrant on a weekly basis to help support principals, educators, and our scholars. Recommendation: Approve and File gb 5-70 (McCullough) (July 10, 2025) Request a report from the administration on the progress made toward the Superintendent’s goals for the current academic year. Discuss and reflect on the progress made and provide feedback to inform the development of goals and objectives for incoming Superintendent Allen. Recommendation: Refer to Administration ​ gb 5-71 (Administration) ​ ​​ (July 10, 2025) ​ Request that the School Committee authorize the Superintendent to act as its representative to execute all contracts and other legally binding documents in the name and on behalf of the School Committee. ​ Recommendation: Approve and File ​ gb 5-72 (Mailman) ​ ​​ (July 10, 2025) ​ To provide highlights and lowlights of the state budget and concerns associated with  AGENDA #15 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Page 6 federal hold backs at the July 10, 2025 meeting. ​ Recommendation: Refer to Administration gb 5-73 (McCullough) ​ ​​ (July 10, 2025) ​ To explore the utilization of the OneMeeting platform for the Worcester School Committee to be in line with the shift of the Worcester City Council to this platform. ​ Recommendation: Refer to FOG P. Announcements Meeting Dates: -​ August 14, 2025, 4:00 p.m., Esther Howland Chamber, Worcester City Hall, 455 Main Street. Q.​ Adjournment Kristi Turgeon, Clerk of the School Committee