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February 11, 2020

City Council & School Committee

Joint Roundtable

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FY 2021

CPS Budget Development

Agenda

Overview & Purpose

Mayor Siddiqui

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City Supports for Schools

City Manager DePasquale

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Aligning CPS Budget

with the District Plan

Vice Chair Bowman

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Overview of CPS Budget Process, District Plan & Equity Work

Superintendent Salim

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Building Equity Bridges

Building Equity Bridges Project Team

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Key Takeaways from Community & Principal Meetings

Superintendent Salim

Discussion

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CPS School Committee

Budget Co-Chairs

Manikka Bowman (Vice-Chair)

Fred Fantini

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Aligning CPS Budget with the CPS District Plan

Realizing Our Vision | CPS District Plan 2017-2020

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The CPS District Plan is our strategic roadmap

Overview of CPS Budget Process

& Equity Framework

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Funding for the FY 21 Budget was determined collaboratively with the City Manager and enables CPS to:

• Meet all fixed cost increases, including salary & benefit increases for current staff, and increases to contracts for transportation, facilities maintenance, & student services.
• Add staff in response to student need and enrollment growth.
• Continue to invest in district plan initiatives.

The FY 21 increase of $11.9 million is funded through increases in property taxes (+$10.5 million) and Ch.70 (+$1.4 million).

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FY 21 Budget Allocation:

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$213.7 Million

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+$11.9 million

+5.9%

Budgeting & Planning Timeline

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JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN

1-Budget Analysis & Planning

On-Going Planning & Improvement Activities

2-Proposed Budget

3-Review

& Adoption

New Fiscal Year Begins

Annual Budget

Development

Budget Analysis & Planning:

Gathering Data and Input

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What input do we gather from our community?�

• Family surveys
• Building Equity Bridges project focus groups and findings
• Community Budget Meeting (new for FY21)

What are our principals and educators telling us?

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• Principal meetings
• Staff surveys
• Community Budget Meeting (new for FY21)

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Aligning Resources| Funding, Staff & Time

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Developing the Budget | CPS Equity Definition

Our budget process seeks to align our resources to the District Plan and to ensure that our commitment to equity for all students guides decisions about resource allocation.

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RACIAL EQUITY

Achieving racial equity requires proactive and continuous investment in communities of color, who have endured centuries of systemic oppression. CPS is committed to dismantling structures rooted in white privilege, to hearing and elevating underrepresented voices, and recognizing and eliminating bias.

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Equity means that each student, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or socioeconomic status will have access to the opportunities, resources, and support they need �to attain their full potential.

EQUITY

Racial equity means the absence of institutional and structural barriers experienced by people based on race or color, that impede access,

opportunities, and results.

Building Equity Bridges

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Building Equity Bridges

movement support team members:

Debbie Bonilla, Tessa Bridge, Khari Milner

Building Equity Bridges

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• Joint effort between Cambridge Public Schools and Cambridge Education Association, funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation

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• Purpose: facilitate a comprehensive and transparent process to uncover the root causes of inequities in the Cambridge Public Schools.

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Core Principles

• Share power so that the stakeholders who are most impacted have agency to steer this work. We believe students, educators, and families must be engaged as “partners” in the “collective investigation of a problem” -- not simply as research subjects whose experiences will be studied by others.

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• Proactively engage students, educators, and families from marginalized groups. Their voices and expertise are particularly important for this work, since they are often “living with the failures of [our] systems… [and] creating adaptive solutions to them.”

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• Document and elevate the voices and expertise of students, educators, and families. Root causes of inequity can be found at multiple levels, from systems to schools to classrooms -- and stakeholders at any level have essential information about all levels.
• Proactively cultivate trust -- especially among people from marginalized communities -- so that students, educators, and families are willing to share their authentic lived experiences within an inequitable system.

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Sense Making Teams

Youth Participatory Action Research groups

Synthesis Retreat

Celebration & Member Check

Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR)

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Phase 1: July 2018 - June 2019

The BEB project used a variety of approaches to engage 200+ CPS youth, families, and educators to learn about their lived experiences

Focus Groups

1. Inequitable School and Classroom Experiences
2. Lack of Focus on Relationships
3. Youth are Not Centered
4. Educators of Color are not Being Valued, Centered, & Supported
5. Whiteness, Privilege, and Bias
6. Power in Decision-Making is Inequitably Distributed
7. Existing Structures and Practices Perpetuate Inequities
8. Lack of Coherence has Disproportionate and Inequitable Impacts
9. Equity Work has Lacked Commitment, Coherence, & Accountability

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Findings: Barriers to Equity in CPS

In June 2019, the BEB project published its findings from this research, including 9 “Barriers to Equity” in CPS

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Disrupting the Barriers to Equity Requires Deliberate Actions to Become an Anti-Racist District

1. A clear, written, public, and transparent course of action for investigating & responding to reports of racist behavior
2. Immediate creation & ongoing investment in healing spaces and mental health supports for community members harmed by racism
3. Mandatory professional learning for CPS staff and School Committee members
4. Comprehensive review of all school-based discipline policies and practices, including heavy investment in restorative practices.
5. Elevating and supporting direct youth power.
6. Creation & ongoing investment in councils of youth, families and educators from traditionally marginalized groups
7. A new districtwide anti-racism statement
8. Creation of an Office of Anti-Racism and Equity
9. Comprehensive and ongoing review of all School Committee, CPS, CEA, and school-based policies and practices
10. Comprehensive & ongoing review of all K-12 curriculum and assessments
11. Opportunities for families to learn, reflect, act, and build community
12. A community accountability plan for these commitments

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Recommended Commitments

In December 2019, the BEB project published a call to action for CPS to become an antiracist school district, and called on CPS, the CEA, School Committee and the City of Cambridge to invest immediately in following 12 commitments

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Longer version available online

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How might Cambridge leaders act on learnings from the Building Equity Bridges project?

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• Build knowledge about the anti-racist framework, including by reading Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Antiracist
• Use the BEB “Barriers to Equity” and “Recommended Commitments” to identify ways to disrupt racism in Cambridge
• Reflect on specific implications for School Committee’s and City Council’s work, processes, and actions, including:
• Transparency
• Participatory processes
• Shared power
• Input and feedback

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SYSTEMIC STRUCTURES

Improve district-wide systems and processes to be more transparent, inclusive, evidence-based, and equitable

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PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY

Build capacity and accountability at all levels to address systemic barriers to racial equity

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SCHOOL CLIMATE & CULTURE

Foster trust and relationships that support a positive student-centered culture

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INSTRUCTIONAL CORE

Learner

Educator

Content

Deliver culturally responsive instruction to all students

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2019-20 Priorities to Disrupt Barriers to Equity

CPS Anti-Racist Actions

in progress

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• Incident Response: Improved response system for student reports of racist and other inappropriate behavior by adult staff members
• Anti-Racism: Develop anti-racism & racial equity statement
• Staff Training: Mandatory staff training strategy on anti-racism and racial equity issues
• Office of Equity: Dedicated office focused on racial equity, reporting directly to Superintendent
• Curriculum Review: Review curriculum for cultural responsiveness, historical-accuracy, and representation

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Stay tuned for more information about other areas of work:

• Enhanced support for staff affinity groups
• Structures to engage youth, staff, and families from traditionally marginalized groups in decision-making
• Support for school-community-based discussions with family and staff
• Improvement of student discipline practices, including restorative approaches

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FY 21 Budget Process

Key Takeaways from

Principals, Educators & the Community

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• Budget presentations include more framing, context, and graphics to make budget information more accessible to all audiences

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• New meeting format for soliciting community input about budget priorities:
• Community Meeting for Educators/Staff
• Community Meeting for Families

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• Presentations & community meeting feedback posted to online CPS budget page.

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• Additional time in schedule for School Committee review of adjustments to Proposed Budget

A more transparent & inclusive process

Redesign of the FY21 Budget Process in response to School Committee request

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“In your experience, what will it take for CPS to use its resources to:

1. Improve academic outcomes for all students?
2. Foster positive student-centered school cultures?
3. Ensure all students are experiencing engaging learning?
4. Improve how we partner with families to support student’s success?”

Community Meetings

More focused discussions

• Upper school and elementary mathematics
• Social and Emotional learning & mental health supports
• Fostering trust and relationships to support positive student-centered school cultures.
• Level up program at CRLS
• Summer & vacation programming
• Racial Equity

Principal Meetings

CPS designed the FY21 Budget Process to reflect our District Plan priorities and our focus on equity

Budget Analysis & Planning:

Gathering Data and Input

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What input do we gather from our community?�

• Family surveys
• Building Equity Bridges project focus groups and findings
• Community Budget Meeting

What are our principals and educators telling us?

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• Principal meetings
• Staff surveys
• Community Budget Meeting

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Discussion Themes & Takeaways

We heard:

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• Support de-tracking, including the Level-Up program, to ensure success
• Support student’s college and readiness, matriculation, and success (e.g. Increase dual enrollment)
• Design summer programming that meets the needs of our most vulnerable children, including opportunities for full day, transportation, lunch and fun

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• Improve recruitment, retention, and professional pathways for educators of color, including expanding the paraprofessional to teacher pipeline.
• Support racial equity priorities:
• Require mandatory training for educators on issues of anti-bias, anti-racism, & cultural proficiency
• Support school-based equity work
• Support recommended action from Building Equity Bridges project

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Objective 1: �Equity and Access

Discussion Themes & Takeaways

We heard:

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• Scale high-quality project-based learning experiences

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• Better identify and address reading challenges, through use of early identification tools and professional development
• Continue to support upper school enhanced math & strengthen mathematics instruction in elementary grades.

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• Review curriculum and class celebrations for cultural responsiveness, historically-accuracy, and representation

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• Support students with poor school and class attendance, particularly for chronically disengaged students in the later grades

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• Support equitable access to technology and internet to support homework at home, particularly at the upper schools

Objective 2: �Engaged Learning

Discussion Themes & Takeaways

We heard:

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Objective 3: �Whole Child

• Improve student’s social-emotional skills through social-emotional learning
• Increase school-based capacity to address students’ mental and behavioral needs
• Scale strategies that foster and support student-adult relationships (e.g. building time in schedules, mentoring)

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• Provide professional learning for restorative practices, mindfulness, and trauma-informed practices
• Formalize strategies to elevate student voice
• Professional learning on instructional practices
• Stronger structures for student councils, including in lower grades
• Improve process & staff capacity to address student reports of racial incidents and other inappropriate behavior

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Discussion Themes & Takeaways

We heard:

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Objective 4: �Family & Community Partnerships

• Improve communication with families to build awareness of current opportunities & services, including through enhanced translations capacity
• Strengthen partnerships with out-of-school time programs & DHSP to expand student access to learning & enrichment opportunities before-, during-, and after-school

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• Enhance capacity for district-wide coordination & support for family engagement
• Increase capacity of upper school family liaisons
• Build families’ knowledge and capacity around:
• Issues of anti-bias, anti-racism, and cultural proficiency
• Social-emotional learning to support students’ needs at home
• Build understanding among families of privilege about ways to support a more equitable system

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Discussion Themes & Takeaways

We heard:

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Objective 5: �Implementation & Continuous Improvement

• Prioritize resources for the students,families, and the schools with the greatest need

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• Implement system for evaluating the impact of strategies in order to improve, stop, or scale those efforts

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• Improve capacity to analyze impact of student and family participation in initiative, interventions, or programs, including those support through external partnerships or funding

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• Provide technical support for schools to use time and staff more effectively through strategic scheduling

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Discussion