Worcester Public Schools details family-engagement overhaul as parents demand clearer test notices and NAACP calls for probe of athlete harassment

Worcester — The Worcester School Committee on Tuesday heard a joint update from the district’s Family and Community Engagement director Casey Star and Chief Communications Officer Dana O’Brien outlining a new engagement framework, expanded translation capacity and districtwide communications changes aimed at boosting family participation.

Casey Star described the Family and Community Engagement framework as a “road map” to build partnerships, grow caregiver leadership and systematize supports. She said the district has placed a wraparound coordinator in every building and released a wraparound coordinator guidebook to standardize practice. Dana O’Brien said ParentSquare has been “transformative,” noting caregivers’ preference for text-based alerts and that the district’s survey generated more than 900 responses.

The presentation emphasized language access: the Translation and Interpretation Department added 19 part-time translators and interpreters this year to meet rising interpretation requests. The administration also noted partnerships with community organizations, including the Worcester Family Partnership and the YWCA, to broaden outreach.

Public commenters pressed the committee to back new transparency measures. Parent leader Nelly Medina asked the district to require written notification and consent one to two weeks before standardized tests and to publish a monthly calendar of upcoming test-prep and test dates, saying families need to know “which platforms our children are using to prepare” and how test data will be used.

The Worcester branch of the NAACP read a statement urging immediate action after reports of racist harassment and cyberbullying aimed at South High’s girls’ basketball players. Barbara Mudd, the chapter’s education chair, said the organization “demands that Worcester Public Schools leadership, the school committee, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association take immediate and decisive action to fully investigate the reported incidents.” Councilor Christian King urged a durable plan to protect student athletes and asked the district to coordinate with athletic director David Shay and local coaches.

Committee members responded by directing multiple follow-ups: members asked administration to provide lists of partner agencies, to explain ParentSquare uptake and to route some requests via the Friday letter or to relevant subcommittees. Administration described outreach strategies aimed at families who do not respond to standard messages — wraparound coordinators will use WhatsApp, text and other channels — and pointed to weekly and all-staff newsletters to improve internal communications.

The meeting did not produce a formal, districtwide testing-notification policy. Members asked staff to return with clarifications on notification timing, language access and how testing calendars and platforms will be communicated to families.

The committee referred some member requests about agency partnerships and timelier responses to Friday-letter follow-up or to the TLSS committee, leaving the district to provide details on next steps.