(This forum conflicted with my workday so I’m running a bit late…)
Noe Medina will facilitate the conversation (I don’t think I’ve missed anything…)
Candidates: Nelly Medina, John P Reed, Kathleen Roy (not in attendance; had a scheduling conflict)
Nelly Medina: former employee of MTA (did ARPA budgeting), current WPS parent and advocate. Opened her eyes to what’s happening in buildings, not a lot of transparency in how $ is being spent. She is a mom, current stakeholder, but shouldn’t give us a budget with only two days to comment. Need to do a better job supporting students with IEPs. One team of four for 50 schools doing assessments. Unprecedented opportunity to support her district. She was plaintiff that made district seats possible. She knows how to bring people together. When waves got rough (in COVID), she brought people together, surveyed 200 families to determine how to spend rescue funds. Group of moms feeding 850 people a week. District is old gerrymandered lines, we have some of most wealthy with most disadvantaged communities. We have 11 schools, need someone who represents whole district, represents diversity and culture. Knows she can do the job and wants to do it. Compassionate person who knows what it feels like to not be part of school committee decision making. She is the person who city of Worcester calls when they want parent input. Time to shine light on other stakeholders. She is not going to get far with protest sign, now she will work on policy. Wants to support educators, should not be working 2 years without a contract. Missing 75 paraprofessionals. Sec 504 accommodations not being met. Unhealthy classrooms. Children who never leave their community after school. Employ local stakeholders in being bus drivers. A whole bunch of children not benefitting from new buses. We have a lot of languages not represented at WPS. All kids in the city should know what composting is. Supports three Rs, children should know what is happening to their bodies. Transformative Justice over SROs. Person we choose is going to bring people together.
John Reed: born and raised in Worcester, he has three students. His son has an IEP and is member of National Honor Society. Teacher in first grade asked him to come in to see son sing in front of whole class. He sung in Mechanics Hall with 100 other students. IEPs can be helpful because it identifies weaknesses in students; thinks every student should have an IEP. During my life, has tried to improve City – senior technologist in WPS, need for boots on ground in department. Started program at QCC – only two year school recognized by NSF for this program. Helped found Park Spirit, movie nights at bank in Elm Park after hours, Coes Pond Watershed founder, took on other waters, Blackstone Headwaters Coalition president. Wrote grant to move Stearns Tavern to Coes Pond. If you go to the Coes Pond park, you will never see a park more utilized. Kayaks, canoes, petitioned naming the beach after John Binienda. Seven Hills volunteer. Running for school committee because he doesn’t like what’s going on in Florida, the country has gone crazy and wants to bring a touch of sanity back. 100% support lowering teacher/student ratio. His son went to school with a very low ratio and it made the difference. We don’t have a herd – we have students. He agrees with Nelly on many things. There is a need to review things for IEPs. He’s done a lot of different projects and would use school committee to continue service.
Questions are being taken in the chat…
Q: Projects to support preschool and kindergarten transition?
Nelly Medina: advocate for Common Start Initiative. Will give more respect, salary to educators. Big fan of universal Pre-K, essential for learning. Essential for her learning what to do to prepare son. Classes are too large. Teachers need extra time for prep, attitude is that pre-k is not prioritized like K and 1st grade. Enrollments low in diverse communities. Lots of miseducation. When we enforce with 3Rs, give continuous information. Outreach – School Committee thinks they are doing a good job but organizations are not parents. Have to meet people where they are at. Issue – not vouchers for parents who are working. Received a voucher and it was helpful for her.
John Reed: discussed defining goals and objectives within grantwriting. if we set a higher standard, of course it will work. Nelly is right on. The pope wrote a paper – we should treat everyone with respect, is there any reason we can’t be kind, work with each other? Over 100 different groups that worked on Stearns Tavern. This federal funding key to longterm success for full-time pre-k. We cannot compete on global stage if needs of children are not being met.
Q: What can you say about the MCAS HS graduation requirement and the Thrive Act?
John Reed: bring shareholders and educators together to ask – how can we evaluate people without bias, in more fair way? Need to have standards. Not terribly familiar with Thrive Act. Talks about the military eval test – we should bring that test in, better idea of what they are good and what they like.
Nelly Medina: MCAS is not good eval model, eliminate MCAS, disparities between haves and have nots are too great. Another detriment to students is that they can’t pass test. You have to spend grades 11-12 just trying to pass the test. No real problem-solving techniques. At QCC, she heard people feel that they had to take prereqs because they had to spend time prepping for MCAS versus prepping for college. Needs to be translation for the test, unfair raising of passing score post-pandemic. Listen to young people on what they should be assessed on, not former educators.
Q: SROs in schools? What do you feel about comprehensive sex Ed? What are your plans for the failing school buildings? (Nelly spoke to some of this already)
Nelly Medina: has been in combat since 2015. Found program called Pa’lante, should not have cops in schools, not overdiscipline children. Trauma of suspension and kids in schools, especially in underserved schools. Transformative, not restorative, justice, is not punitive but helps kids understand the impact of their actions. A way to get everyone to the table. School is first place we learn to interact and what our place is in our society. Student says he is in a circle, no longer afraid in school and community. Learn how to relate to others.
John Reed: In world we live in, we have school shooting drills. Amount of children killed staggering. He would get most skilled people there. Police officers put own families second, others first. Police have desire to go home, we don’t punish good cops for actions of bad cops. If I was a bad kid assaulting a teacher, I should get nervous when I see cops. Education only occurs in safe, conducive environments. Bad apples can be worked with, that’s why we have wraparound officers. Kids’ safety first, likes cop summer leagues. Look at the cop who saved someone’s life drowning, they are good people. Best we have is the Worcester PD.
We are out of time – but there were a couple of Nelly M answers in the chat:
Q-Why do you feel you are the best candidate for this position? A- The district needs a representative to represent all constituency. The representative must be able to bring people, all people together, understand the CURRENT culture, and have a respect and a heart for diversity. I bring a proven record for working under pressure and have the experience working with the Education Association of Worcester to bridge the Gap between families and educators to bring ALL stakeholders together, we need solidarity. Past good performance will not make it in the future, District E need a representative immersed in the now who understand what the community has been fighting for.
Another barrier to children accessing Pre-K is early intervention for children with suspected special needs. Our Public Schools have one team of four assessing special needs which is unfair and inadequate. WPS needs support from outside organizations to reach more families so no child is falling through the cracks.
Question that John Reed was able to answer after the forum: What are your plans for the failing school buildings?
My plan would be to review all options available first, is it to remove the administrator or a certain % of staff or both. Is the state telling the district what exactly the options are or does the state dictate this will be done first, this second. One of the most helpful things professionals use as a tool is the option to bring in a retiree or other professional administrator as their experience in dealing with students over decades will lead to the helpfulness of already knowing what options work best and what options are not helpful at all. My first question would be how long has this been going on ? followed up by what has been done so far to change the trend to failing ? It has be a case by case basis to see and search of what is solutions to their specific problems.
Nicole, Worcester 