The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met on November 19, 2024 at Holyoke High School for their regular monthly meeting. Note that they had also met on November 15 and November 18 for special ‘study sessions’ on Career and Technical Education admissions. Video of all meetings is available via the Department’s Vimeo channel.
The agenda for all three November meetings is here.
The meeting was hosted by the Holyoke Public Schools in acknowledgment and celebration of the announcement last month that system is expected to emerge from state receivership in July of next year, the first of the three state receivership districts to do so.
Member Ericka Fisher was absent due to illness; member Farzana Mohamed participated remotely.
Public comment opened the meeting. The first speakers were a panel from the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, including a lawyer speaking on their behalf, who argued that some of the information from prior meetings was false or was “presented to provoke outrage in order to reach a specified result.” He said that it was “dishonest and it’s disrespectful to everyone involved.” Heidi Driscoll, superintendent of Minuteman Regional Vocational and Heidi Riccio, superintendent Essex North Shore Tech spoke of their own experiences with DESE outreach and with their own admissions processes. Charlie Ellis, chair of both the Nashoba Tech Regional School Committee and of MASC Division VIII, spoke in opposition to one size fits all response and in support of local districts making their own local decisions. He said “safety and the ability to show up consistently” are important for being in programs at the CTE schools, and that changes could disrupt regional agreements, adding that it is “far too premature to pursue wholesale changes.”
Will Austen of the Boston School Fund argued for a standard rigorous high school graduation standard, saying the legal standard of “mastery” requires an assessment, and that it should be criteria referenced, accurate, fair, non-discriminatory.
Both Patrick Lattuca and Salah Khelfaoui, superintendents, respectively, of TEC Connections Academy and Greater Commonwealth Virtual School spoke in support of the proposed increase in virtual school tuition from the current rate of $9727 per pupil to $13,114 for FY26.
Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson, Lynn Teachers’ Union president Shelia O’Neil, and Superintendent Evonne S. Alvarez urged the Department to reject the application of KIPP charter school as a proven provider, saying that the data is clear that they fail to meet threshold of academic success for proven provider. KIPP has applied to expand in Lynn.
Kahris McLaughlin also offered public testimony, saying “it truly doesn’t cost a lot of money to educate kids” and advocating that students need to read the U.S. Constitution and know their rights.
Chair Katherine Craven announced that she has appointed a subcommittee to work specifically on CTE admissions of Members Hills, Fisher, West, and Rocha. She said that the objection to the “adoption of standards is just chafing to me.” She also noted that MCAS is “marbled through” much of what the Board does.
Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, speaking of the outcomes of the election, said the “administration still believes deeply that it is important to have uniformity” of what it means to have a MA high school diploma and plans a “robust” process “replete with stakeholder engagement.” He also echoed Governor Maura Healey’s comments “in Massachusetts, we care about each other” and we all have a role in building the state that we want.
Acting Commissioner Russell Johnston, regarding CTE admissions, said “If it’s good for kids, it’s hard for adults,” and said they were moving forward with three understandings:
1. the state student population has continued to change.
2. CTE programs have issues with access to eighth graders
3. we have genuine concerns about access with criteria for admissions we have now
While the Department released quick MCAS guidance, the Department is developing more, particularly with regard to the class of 2025. He asked the Board if they had questions to follow up on. Both Hills and Craven asked what the authorities of the Board are. Moriarty did not have question but stated that voters were given a single option, and “I don’t think less rigor or passing people through” is the message we should take. Rocha said, “it’s about access and it’s about fairness.” Craven said, “This is the place that the lawsuits come,” as the charge on the state to “cherish” education is a Constitutional one. She said that they have an obligation to “assure that there is adequate learning and equity” and “not just social promotion.”
The Board next turned to Holyoke, first enjoying a part of a performance of Holyoke High’s just completed production “Miss Nelson is Missing.”
The Holyoke presentation was entitled “Moving Forward Together: A plan by Holyokers, with Holyokers, for Holyokers.” It opened with Superintendent Receiver Anthony Soto speaking of the development of the new district strategic plan, which collected the input of 1500 members of the community. Built on the district turnaround plan, it focuses on what is working and what needs to be improved, the plan includes a common vision, mission, and core beliefs, setting priorities of early literacy, learning experiences, inclusion, whole child, and educator development. He spoke of the increase in graduation rates and decrease in drop-out rates, while enrollment in advance coursework has not only increased but also has become more representative of student demographics. The district has seen a 20% increase in dual language, expanding to high school. 90%+ of staff have participated in equity training, and more educators of color are serving the district. The district has also moved to separate elementary and middle schools, with nearly $200M invested in physical infrastructure.
Mayor Garcia said that there wasn’t already a pathway out of receivership; that was something that Holyoke has to create. Devin Sheehan then spoke of the work that the Holyoke School Committee has done in preparing to resume their authority in the district. He said it was clear that this was a priority from the beginning of Acting Commissioner Johnston’s administration; he said, with Johnston’s leadership, we “truly know that we are seen by the Commissioner, that our students are seen, that Western Mass is seen.” The Committee has gone through numerous trainings with Mass Association of School Committees, doing capacity building with Commissioner and staff since past spring. They’ve had superintendent evaluation and hiring, establishing goals for superintendent, and establishing advisory committee. That has been a transparent, culturally competent process, which is also giving advise on next steps in filling superintendent role coming back in February/March. On finance and budgeting, the receiver has been very transparent, so that was not a lift for the school committee. A finance and operations subcommittee has been reestablished, which has budget calendar and timeline; budget guidelines and priorities will be recommended. Regarding policies, Sheehan said “we get to restart…look at our policies and say ‘what are we doing from here?'”
Johnston recognized those “not in the room”: the leaders that have gone before, the administrators in Holyoke who were off doing their jobs, and the DESE staff. He also recognized the strength of a school committee where one member could step in on behalf of the committee from another.
Asked by Craven what one thing ” that you can fix that was a problem in a school committee prior,” Sheehan it was less a problem and more that they could work to create a more efficient and nimble government body, that they “have the authority, the ability, the push” to review, and they can also “push along some of our partners in city government to be more forward thinking and expeditious.” Mayor Garcia further observed that Holyoke is doing all that “within our democratic republic structure elected by the people for people” and we’re “so glad we’re able to keep the practice of elected board members.”
Moriarty, a former member of the Holyoke School Committee who is a Holyoke High alum, spoke at some length of the inability of receivership to make changes needed; as models of state interventions that work, he said, this one does not.
Garcia said, being in this role as a local government manager, if you look at districts in receivership, they are economically disadvantaged, communities of color, with issues “that we have systematically created.” Children in the districts in receivership districts have the same disparities happening in their neighborhoods, the same social determinants of health. He said, “there’s a conversation to be had…how do we support their local governments to resolve these” other issues; improving municipal services so that kids can go to school much healthier and safer, rather than simply taking over their school districts.
The Board then quickly moved through several items. Chair Craven announced that there were three public input sessions held for the Commissioner’s search, and there are so far 100 responses to the public survey, which is still open. The Board received a draft of a position description, which was not shared publicly, on which they are to give feedback. The search committee, which includes Tutwiler, Craven, Fisher, and West as members, will meet December 2; the rest of the committee has not been shared publicly, though Craven announced that the Lieutenant Governor will be participating. The Board then voted approval for the FY26 budget request shared orally, prioritizing literacy support, educator diversity, high dosage tutoring, high quality learning materials.
The Board also discussed, prior to an expected December vote, a request by the state’s two virtual schools for an increase in tuition. Tuition for virtual schools comes from sending districts’ chapter 70 aid. Per the Department’s memo to the Board:
The recommended final tuition rate of $13,144 is derived from the FY25 state average per pupil foundation budget for grades K-12 ($16,051), after subtracting vocational costs, operations and maintenance costs, and in- and out-of-district special education costs.
The Acting Commissioner presented two options for this increase rate: a phase in or a change immediately for FY26. As superintendents who’d been asked for feedback noted, the total change would be $10M statewide, a substantial loss to districts all at once. Johnston further noted that this might cause school committees to cap their sending enrollment, which they can do for anything exceeding 1% of their enrollment. Having asked why the Board might delay, Hills said, “in the absence of seeing some evidence on the unintended consequence” for simply moving ahead, he would support an immediate change. West said the changes reminded him of the legislative requirement that charter school tuition changes are reimbursed “but it doesn’t seem to me that it is something we should do on our own.”
The Board will vote next month on this item.
Finally, Acting Commissioner Johnston briefly spoke to the Board about the October “Stocktake” meeting, which discussed DESE’s theory of action for addressing chronic absenteeism; looked at high-quality learning material by grade and content; and reviewed example policies and programs to support diverse and effective educators. He also spoke again of the diverse and effective workforce, of academic support and intervention; and focusing on core functions.
Chair Craven announced the Board would next meet virtually on Monday, December 16 (continuing the recent pattern of evening meetings) before their regular Tuesday, December 17 meeting in Everett.