City Hall - 455 Main Street Worcester, Massachusetts

Mayor Petty read the item and moved to adopt the item. Order adopted.

Mayor Petty read the item and recognized Councilor Rose, who moved to recuse himself from the item and left the room.

Mayor Petty recognized the Chief Financial Officer, who provided an overview of the funds provided in the Worcester Public Schools (WPS) budget.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed reviewing and repairing the physical state of Worcester East Middle School with the City Manager.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Toomey, who discussed the potential for fire hazards and repair costs at Worcester East Middle School with the Chief Financial Officer of Worcester Public Schools and the City Manager.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Bergman, who discussed the potential for additional costs being associated with repairing Worcester East Middle School if a new school is to be built in the future.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Rivera, who discussed funds being allocated to the equity of Latino/Latina persons in the WPS system with the Superintendent of Public Schools.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor King, who discussed the need for increasing school social workers as a public health measure, how decreases in student enrollment could have an effect on state funding, data available for tracking crisis interventions in the city’s schools, net school spending requirements, budget allocations aiding students with mental health, measuring the diversity of hires, wages for the lowest earning salaried employees of WPS and the diversity of individuals hired to work in the school system with the Chief Financial Officer of WPS, Superintendent of Public Schools, Chief Financial Officer and City Manager.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Haxhiaj, who discussed exploring savings in transportation costs with the Chief Financial Officer of WPS.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Colorio, who discussed why the School Department saw such a drop in enrollment during the pandemic, the amount of students requiring assistance with their mental health, increasing parental involvement and whether there have been any improvements in scores associated with standardized testing with the Chief Financial Officer of WPS and Superintendent of Public Schools.

Councilor Colorio then moved to, “Request City Manager work with the Superintendent of Public Schools to review data relative to student growth associated with standardized testing. (Colorio)”.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Mero-Carlson, who discussed whether the city had sufficient staffing levels to account for the increase in transportation vehicles with the Chief Financial Officer of WPS.

Mayor Petty moved to approve the budget. Budget approved.

Request City Manager work with the Superintendent of Public Schools to review data relative to student growth associated with standardized testing. (Colorio)

Mayor Petty read the item and recognized the Chief Financial Officer, who provided an overview of the funds provided in the Health and Human Services budget.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor King, who discussed the diversity of the staff within the department, increasing the number of social workers in the department, connecting residents with needed health-related services funding associated with aiding children with their mental health, funding sources associated with the Health and Human Services department budget and the results of an equity audit within the department with the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, City Manager, Youth Office Coordinator and Chief Financial Officer.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Rivera, who discussed the various successes of the department despite working through the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of REACH grants available nationwide, the reaccreditation process for the department and staffing levels within the department with the Director of Public Health.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Rose, who discussed wellness supports built into the department’s budget with the Commissioner of Health and Human Services and Director of Public Health.

Mayor Petty recognized the City Manager, who discussed the talent and dedication associated with the Health and Human Services Department.

Mayor Petty moved to approve the budgets associated with items #4a, #4b and #4c. Budget approved.

Budget approved (See Item #4a)

Budget approved (See Item #4a)

Mayor Petty read the item and recognized the Chief Financial Officer, who provided an overview of the funds provided in the City Auditor budget.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed the feasibility of the City Auditor providing recommendations to City Council relative to the city’s budget with the City Auditor and City Auditor.

Councilor Russell then moved to, “Request City Auditor provide City Council with a report concerning the feasibility of independently reviewing and auditing the city’s budgets against previous years as a means of providing City Council with recommendations as to ways the budget could be changed. (Russell)”.

Mayor Petty recognized Councilor King, who discussed the effect paying invoices has on the city and its vendors, as well as which city departments will be audited during FY23 with the City Auditor.

Mayor Petty moved to approve the budget. Budget approved.

Request City Auditor provide City Council with a report concerning the feasibility of independently reviewing and auditing the city’s budgets against previous years as a means of providing City Council with recommendations as to ways the budget could be changed. (Russell)

Mayor Petty read the item and moved to approve the budget. Budget approved.

Mayor Petty read the item and moved to collectively hold items #7a through #7d, #8a, #9a and #10a.

Budget Held.

Budget Held (See Item #7a)

Budget Held (See Item #7a)

Budget Held (See Item #7a)

Budget Held (See Item #7a)

Budget Held (See Item #7a)

Budget Held (See Item #7a)