School Committee Votes to Cap Virtual School Percentages
The Winchendon Public Schools School Committee discussed the current legal statute and current percentages of Winchendon students attending the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Virtual High Schools (CMVS), and considered limiting the percentage of Winchendon School District students attending those schools.
Superintendent of Schools Thad King provided the Committee with a packet including guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Education regarding the CMVS. King explained there are currently two, the Greater Commonwealth Virtual School, located in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and the Commonwealth Virtual Connections School, or TEC Connections Academy.
King said that the maximum enrollment is based on a state-wide 2 percent cap of all students in Massachusetts. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) annually informs districts when they exceed 1 percent of their total student population attending the virtual schools, which the WPSD currently exceeds, and advises districts they can put a cap on the number of students attending those schools. "We currently have 1.38 percent of our student population attending the virtual schools, primarily at the CMVS, and based of our district's 1,238 students, we currently have 17 students attending these two virtual schools combined," King stated.
King explained there are currently some students attending due to either anxiety over COVID-19, or with health issues regarding the current public health crisis, and then there are the students who have been there all along. King added, "As we have exceeded that 1 percent, we have the ability to vote as to whether or not to cap that attendance, and if the answer is yes, to next vote on what that cap would be. If we were to vote to cap it at 1 percent, it would currently stay at the 1.38 we are currently at and it flows for those students into next year, and no other students would be allowed to attend the virtual schools. However there is a caveat, they can accept them, they just won't get reimbursed for them. That cost per student is currently $8,788 dollars each to attend the virtual schools. You could pick any other number above 1 percent, and you could pick all the way up to the 2 percent as an example, which would bring our district up to roughly 24 students allowed to attend those virtual schools."
Committee member Greg Vine stated he was happy to hear that if the committee voted to cap attendance at 1 percent, the students attending would be able to continue, if they are doing it out of concern over the virus "I wouldn't want to take that opportunity away from them," Vine added, "since the one percent seems to cover everybody who is attending right now, that seems to answer my concerns."
Committee member Ryan Forsthye said, "The important discussion is 'Why would we support the cap as there are strong opinions about the virtual schools. Those opinions range from they siphon resources from districts, to support opposed to a municipal or regional high school. Concerns about if it is or not a rigorous education. If we have a good reason for those concerns, then I am very comfortable about setting a cap, but I am curious if we have a unified opinion on if we have a reason we would go with a cap."
Committee Chair Lawrence Murphy said there are several reasons. "One is that you can see the number of seats available. Kids may be denied simply because of the numbers. Families from around the state may look into this and may want to be a part of this, and they are not going to have enough seats. I want to make sure that the kids who do want to go, are going to get in. Secondly, are the children who attend a virtual high school, going to be getting an equitable education compared to the kid that goes in person. Then there is the financial question. If one percent times almost $9,000 per kid, and at two percent you're talking encroaching on $200,000." Murphy also cited current school choice options such as charter schools along with the Montachusetts Regional Vocational Technical School District with those funds already leaving the district.
Committee member Karen Kast-McBride informed Murphy that at the current 17 students attending virtual schools, the district was already out $149,396. Murphy responded, "It's difficult to run our own school resources here if we keep sending kids everywhere else. At some point there has to be a limit, because it ends up taking away resources from the kids that attend school here. We can't keep siphoning off resources if we are going to keep the Winchendon Public School District open, we've got to have enough kids to fill the seats." Murphy then added his thoughts were to keep it at the 1 percent.
Kast-McBride added, "I think it's kind of ironic that we are talking about a cap on virtual schools, when we are told we can't close down our own schools and go remote to save our staff and students. I am also all for school choice and options for parents, but we are also taking the money out of the pockets of our public schools. We keep taking the money and not necessarily are giving it away to the students that need the most help, and our district is still handling all the students who need the most help, and we are still losing the funds to other places."
Vine asked, "I would like to know how the virtual school experiences compare to what our district did when we had to go virtual, because if it's the same my concern is we are all hearing what the virtual learning did to our students last year, so are we allowing our students to go and get a subpar education?" King replied that the Commonwealth Virtual School uses the program "Ingenuity so it's not what we experienced last year, which is a type of online learning platform. We use it for other purposes in our own district."
After further discussion, a motion was made by Vine to set a cap on the percentage of Winchendon students who can attend Massachusetts Virtual Schools, which received a second from Kast-McBride. The vote to set a cap passed unanimously, 4-0. Next a motion was made by Vine to cap the Virtual School attendance limit at 1 percent of the Winchendon student population. The motion received a second from Forsthye. The vote passed 4-0, with all members present in favor. Those already enrolled in the current 1.38 percent will still be enrolled flowing in to the forthcoming 2022-2023 academic year.
School Committee Discusses Current District Employee Vaccination Levels
At its meeting on Thursday, January 6, the Winchendon Public Schools School Committee discussed current staff and student vaccination percentages, as well as the differences between recommending and mandating vaccinations depending on future options and evaluations.
The Committee asked Superintendent of Schools Thad King what the current percentage of fully vaccinated staff is in the Winchendon Public School District. King said that he was pleased to inform them that the district had over 90 percent of all staff and employees fully vaccinated. School Committee member Greg Vine stated that ideally, he would personally like to see the number at 100 percent, and he realized that for some, it's just become too political at this time.
School Committee Chair Lawrence Murphy said that while he understood the reasoning for a 100 percent fully vaccinated district staff, he was very pleased to see the current number at 90 percent. Vine clarified, "We should keep the possibility of mandatory vaccinations in our tool kit because this pandemic has changed so many times, and guidelines have changed so often, that I don't want to see us abandon it completely, and we have to have it to fall back on if it becomes necessary." Murphy agreed, "Yes, it's a complicated issue, because we have people who for whatever medical reasons who cannot get vaccinated, so it's a complicated issue."
The Committeee discussed the advantages and disadvantages of a district employee vaccine mandate versus a strong recommendation to become fully vaccinated. Murphy said that he was satisfied at this time with the 90 percent being obtained through recommendations and not mandates, which he felt would more likely provoke in some a "You can't make us do it" position and would be counterproductive in convincing the last ten percent of district staff members to get vaccinated.
Murphy added, "I am not comfortable mandating vaccines for staff, until we get a little more support from both DESE [Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] and the medical community and the CDC that the decisions we make will really make a difference in this scourge that we face everyday." Vine replied, "I hear you, but I think most of the medical professionals have been pretty explicit that while maybe not asking for a mandate, saying every person in the country get vaccinated." Murphy said, "By making it voluntary over time, we've won people over, so reaching 90 percent of our staff, that's a great figure." Vine replied, "We have smart staff."
School Committee member Karen Kast-McBride said, "While the Board of Health has not put out a mandate, it has encouraged residents if they are medically able to safely get vaccinated and don't have any health concerns to keep them from doing so, to please get vaccinated. I don't see why we as a committee [can't] make that same plea to the community." Kast-McBride then referenced comments she has viewed online and in person by people saying what's the purpose of getting vaccinated, you're just going to get it anyway. Kast-McBride said it was known medical knowledge that those who are vaccinated and do become infected, while they can still potentially end up in a hospital, are far less likely to end up very ill or in a hospital. "If you don't want your students to be masked, get them to that 80 percent minimum vaccination rate set by DESE, where each school has to get to 80 percent vaccinated," she added.
As of Thursday, January 20, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health listed three different child and teenage age groups on its website at the following vaccinated levels for the town of Winchendon. Ages 5 to 11, 22 percent partially vaccinated, 12 percent full vaccinated. Ages 12 to 15, 43 percent partially vaccinated and 38 percent fully vaccinated. Ages 16 to 19, 50 percent partially vaccinated and 44 percent fully vaccinated.
Wrapping up the topic, Murphy said, "I would be in favor of the School Committee making some kind of statement in supporting the Board of Health in the plea for people to get vaccinated if healthy enough and emphasize it's not mandated but it's the right thing to do, as a recommendation and I would be OK with that." The Committee ended discussion on the vaccination topic by agreeing that Vine would write up the statement of support, and that both Vine and Kast-McBride would then look it over before presenting it to the School Committee at a later meeting date.
Watch the January 21, 2022 edition of Murdock Student-Produced BLUE DEVIL WEEKLY
Congratulations Mr. Andrew Collins
Winchendon Public Schools Educator of the Week
January 21, 2022
Thank you for everything you do, Mr. Collins!
Mr. Collins is in his 13th year in education and his 5th year of teaching at Murdock High School. He currently teaches Computer Science and Digital Literacy. When asked about his work, Mr. Collins stated, "Teaching is like being the captain of a sport--you have teammates, a paybook, goals to accomplish, coaches and supports. At every point in the game, you have to anticipate the play and adapt on the fly. What's awesome is knowing that the fill outcome of the hundreds of decisions I make today may not be realized for decades to come. Every morning on my way to Murdock, I remind myself that tomorrow begins today. We're in the business of creating future citizens, so everything I do during the day has an impact. It could be as simple as saying 'Good Morning' to someone or ending up on a five-minute tangent with a student about a random topic. Those moments all start their own ripple in the pond and you never know when one will grow into a tsunami later in life." Winchendon Public Schools is so lucky to have Mr. Collins! His excellent rapport with his students speaks for itself.
More than 6,800 University of Rhode Island students named to Fall 2021 Dean's List
KINGSTON, RI (01/25/2022)-- The University of Rhode Island is pleased to announce the Fall 2021 Dean's List. Students named to the Dean's List represent nearly all of Rhode Island's cities and towns, all six New England states, New York and New Jersey, and many other states and countries.
To be included on the Dean's List, full-time students must have completed 12 or more credits for letter grades which are GPA applicable during a semester and achieved at least a 3.30 quality point average. Part-time students qualify with the accumulation of 12 or more credits for letter grades which are GPA applicable earning at least a 3.30 quality point average.
To view the entire Dean's List, visit: uri.edu/academics/deans-list/
Sarah Ampuja of Phillipston
Carly Labrecque of Jaffrey
Kasey Murdoch of Winchendon
About the University of Rhode Island
Founded in 1892, the University of Rhode Island is the principal public flagship research and graduate institution in Rhode Island. Competitive and highly regarded, its 14,300 undergraduate students and more than 2,700 graduate students represent 48 states and 76 countries across the globe. With 203 academic programs, URI offers its undergraduate, graduate, and professional students distinctive educational opportunities designed to meet the global challenges of today's world and the rapidly evolving needs of tomorrow. At URI, you will find some of today's leading innovators, discoverers, and creative problem solvers. To learn more, visit: uri.edu.