Parent/Guardian Information Session Addresses Education Concerns
By Joe Stewart
On a hot Thursday evening in the middle of July, about a hundred people from Norfolk, Wrentham and surrounding communities attended a parent information session at the King Philip Middle School. The session was designed to address concerns and answer questions about the impact the new overflow shelter in Norfolk would have on the schools. Norfolk Cable posted the recording to YouTube: https://bit.ly/3WpE6JQ.
The meeting was chaired by King Philip Regional School District Superintendent Dr. Rich Drolet. Dr. Drolet was joined by Lisa Moy, KP Director of Student Services, Anne Marie Stronach from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and leadership from the Norfolk Public Schools including Superintendent Dr. Ingrid Allardi, Director of Student Services Dr. Anna Tupper, and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Victoria Saldana.
Drolet opened the meeting with a comment that the meeting is an information session and that the speakers will not engage in political discussion. Drolet then invited Dr. Allardi to speak and she first summarized the NPS communication plan. Of likely interest to readers is that both NPS and KP have dedicated Emergency Shelter web pages that serve as information hubs for parents and guardians.
Next Drolet provided an overview of Federal Law governing children experiencing homelessness, namely the McKinney-Vento Act, which requires schools to immediately enroll children. Importantly, the goal of the Act is to ensure all children have the same access to programs and services including school-related sports, clubs, and meal programs.
Drolet was followed by Dr. Tupper who provided an overview of laws and regulations relating to educating students who are English learners or multilingual learners. Following English assessments, students will be provided support aligned with their proficiency. As Saldana clarified, DESE expects districts to educate students in the least segregated manner. Norfolk currently has 23 such students and 22 former students who have achieved English proficiency. Likewise, Drolet noted KP has 19 such students and 11 who have achieved English proficiency, another 76 whose first language is not English and 118 who were once English learners. Both Saldana and Drolet expressed confidence that their teams can address language education.
Next Drolet provided an update that 41 families had arrived at the emergency shelter as of mid-July. Those families have 18 children needing schooling from Norfolk and 15 from KP. Drolet summarized the school-related logistic activities that the shelter coordinator, Heading Home, will offer, including school registration, medical and vaccination services, and help with documentation for sports and extracurriculars.
Both Norfolk and KP plan to hire 2 more English Language certified teachers as well as related paraprofessionals and a shared homeless liaison. And both are addressing anticipated busing needs.
Drolet highlighted that KP had 14 children in similar circumstances last year and that the children “enhanced our climate and culture at both the high school and the middle school.” He went on to summarize other initiatives to better integrate newly arriving students into KP including a planned orientation at the facility and a student program, KP Cares, which trains peer mentors and connects them with new students.
Likewise, Allardi summarized NPS’ plans, including language screening and a one-week camp to introduce these incoming students to the Norfolk elementary schools, expectations, and how to buy lunch in the cafeteria, topics children from other countries may be unfamiliar with.
Allardi then shifted to discussing the school’s lack of space and announced that the school has received a $250,000 state “Extraordinary Relief” grant that will be used to renovate the old Norfolk Cable studio to serve as office space for language instructors and staff, thus freeing-up other space to be used for instructional purposes.
Saldana then addressed community concerns relating to the impact that new students might have on teaching all students at a high level. Saldana noted that NPS has had a diverse population of students and that teachers are already adept at accommodating various learning needs, including multi-language learners. Saldana highlighted a joint program with KP, Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), which helps apply the best support when needed for all students.
Next Stronach, from DESE, discussed state allocated funding (enhanced through the legislature’s supplemental budget effort) including Homeless Education grants, the extraordinary needs grant, transportation reimbursement, resources provided by DESE relating to staff development and technical assistance, and the state’s per student per year funding of $18,720. Stronach also noted the Norfolk community group, Norfolk Strong, is serving as a central hub for volunteers to help incoming families.
Drolet then addressed questions that were submitted before the meeting including “Can other districts take students?” Allardi responded first with noting that Federal law requires Norfolk to educate all children and then introduced a regional effort to assess how to share resources to meet individual student needs. Stronach likewise noted the state is sponsoring similar efforts and has been negotiating with the Federal Department of Education as well.
Next up was a transportation funding question relating to students who leave the district yet continue attending NPS or KP; Stronach reiterated that the state reimburses for the related transportation costs and Drolet said that generally students attend the school where they live rather than endure the daily commute.
Another budget-related question noted that KP had budget cuts and Drolet stated that due to the increased funding from the state, KP expects to receive more money than required.
From there, questions shifted to impact on teachers. For special education, Tupper summarized that all children go through similar protocols but highlighted that language is specifically excluded from special education assessment. In response to a submitted question about teachers needing to walk around with “Google Translate,” Saldana explained that district teachers already have experience educating multi-language students and if a teacher has a need for any technology available within the district it will be offered.
Then Stronach addressed questions relating to population health, noting that Heading Home is an experienced provider familiar with health-related topics. For example, Heading Home has an onsite healthcare provider with onsite testing kits such as those used for screening including COVID tests.
Drolet wrapped up the submitted questions with those about class size. Allardi acknowledged that they expect increases in class sizes and noted that the district is fortunate that this year most class sizes are already below the class size policy limit. The Norfolk School Board voted to add another first-grade class - currently NPS has nine classes with 18.7 students each. If the district receives 18 new first grade students, then class sizes will increase to 20.7 which the district has experienced in the past.
Audience Questions
Many parents asked questions of the presenters. Following is a summary of several of the questions.
The first question from the audience asked how much was budgeted previously for translation services versus how much is expected. Drolet asked the speaker to send an email to receive KP’s budget details. Tupper explained that DESE provides translation services at no cost sharing previous experience with parent teacher conferences, preparation of field trip materials (e.g. scan the English original and receive back a fully translated document), nurses utilizing another translation service for healthcare conversations, even onsite/in-person meetings both for 1:1 conversations and group meetings. Drolet wrapped up noting that KP has staff with Portuguese and Spanish language skill, which can serve as a bridge language. KP also looks to hire a Haitian-Creole speaker.
Another audience member asked about older students (up to 21) and future overrides required to address funding shortfalls. Stronach responded that while the district has not begun budget planning for next year, they do not expect a deficit and do not plan to seek an override. Regarding older students, Drolet shared that last year KP had one student who had turned 19 and, based on current law, would likely not enroll students over 18.
Next were questions about the timing of student enrollment, how long they remain enrolled and the related funding. Tupper explained that there are different funding streams based upon enrollment date, and that the average stay for students in the overflow shelter system is 45 to 60 days, therefore these students are unlikely to be here next year.
Returning to health concerns, a Plainville resident with school-aged children, including one with special needs, asked if the shelter children will have the same vaccination requirements as her children have. Tupper explained that the law requires enrollment without delay for children in this situation who may not have a transcript, birth certificate, or vaccinations; they cannot be denied schooling. Tupper acknowledged that the law treats children in such distress differently from other children for which vaccinations are a requirement before attending school.
A Norfolk resident asked why the East Boston school did not educate the children who slept at Logan Airport. Stronach explained that the families at Logan were not there for an extended period of time so children at Logan were not enrolled in school. Instead, once placed in a shelter or an overflow shelter, children are then enrolled in the local school; if a family moving here comes from another shelter it is expected that transcripts and other documentation will accompany the child.
A Wrentham parent of a recent KP graduate and an incoming junior raised concerns about security at KP, noting that during the morning rush the main entrance and lobby doors are wide open. Drolet said he’ll follow-up with the KP Principal and Facilities Director because exterior doors are to be locked at all times.
The same parent then expressed concerns about inadequate staffing in the guidance department, noting that new incoming students will make it even harder for students to secure help from the guidance department. Drolet explained that prior experience has been that incoming students need some help understanding the courses to take which are addressed early on. Drolet then noted that the most pressing need is English assistance and for that KP has invested in more language services.
A Norfolk resident asked what proportion of the new population are existing Massachusetts residents. Allardi indicated that in the state’s shelter population as a whole it’s about 50/50, while thus far for the shelter it’s largely children who were staying at Logan.
Addressing concerns that NPS education standards would suffer, Allardi highlighted that the town’s school standards are robust, the curriculum is rigorous, that NPS teachers are highly skilled (most with master’s degrees) with deep experience (most with 10 years of experience) and that additional professional development has been provided. Allardi expressed confidence in the school’s ability to deliver as it has in the past.
Another parent asked about academic assessments, specifically if nine-year-old children will be in classes with thirteen and fourteen-year-old children, for example. Drolet explained that placement is by age so children will be with their peers. Allardi elaborated that NPS plans to do the language assessment at the shelter while other screening is performed in the fall as a routine part of assessing students. Allardi noted that in classrooms today, students have quite a wide range of needs and teachers are equipped to tailor instruction to the needs of individual students.
The parent then followed with a detailed question about updating lesson plans to meet the complex needs in upper grades where language fluency is essential. Saldana responded with experience from the past year in which initially they focused on assuring that the child felt welcome and safe in school to enable the child to make connections as a part of the school society. From there, teachers and staff do as they normally do to meet the needs of every child.
A long-time Norfolk resident noted that his family has had five generations educated by NPS and that one grandchild is at KP and another is at NPS. He asked why the state isn’t funding an expansion at NPS to address the increase in class sizes. Stronach responded that an assessment had been made and the conclusion was that all children would be best served by improvements to the existing school. Stronach went on to say that as conditions change, different decisions might be reached in the future.
Addressing concerns about counseling and services to non-English speaking students, Tupper explained the plan is to have translators join some sessions in person. Drolet added that at KP they found that students engaged their language teachers to help with communicating among teachers and counselors. Allardi explained that much of the translation-related costs are already in the budget and that the state funds the translation services that it provides at no cost to districts.
