WORCESTER – As the Worcester municipal election day is creeping up, the Worcester Guardian reached out to candidates in contested races. Asking each a set of questions, the Guardian will publish these responses as voting day (Nov. 7) draws near.
Tracy O’Connell Novick is the mother of three children (two Worcester Public Schools alums, one a Burncoat High senior), a former Massachusetts public school teacher, a licensed Massachusetts school business administrator, and a longtime education advocate. Professionally, Novick is in her seventh year as a field director with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, where she works with central Massachusetts school committees, manages social media, and trains others in school finance.
Novick is running for Worcester school committee member at large as a democrat.
The following are Novick’s responses to the Guardian’s questionnaire:
What inspired you to run (again) and what makes you the right person for the job?
This election will determine the direction of the Worcester Public Schools for the next five or more years, if the badly needed reforms that have just begun by Dr. Monárrez will have the opportunity to come to fruition. Worcester needs a committee that stands foursquare behind this administration, that knows the job of the school committee, and that is focused on implementing an equity-minded strategic plan.
I was a tireless advocate and educator for the creation of the Student Opportunity Act. I ran two terms ago out of my own family’s experience with outsourced busing, and I am pleased we’ve brought that in house. Ensuring that we completed a full national search for superintendent was something for which I strongly advocated from the beginning, even when that was unpopular; the results are excellent. We now need to work to both get the Worcester Public Schools an updated facilities master plan and to get partnership with the state that provides for the needs of Gateway cities in facilities.
I am a parent of two Worcester Public Schools graduates and one current student. I am a former high school teacher. I am a licensed school business administrator. I know what the job is and I hold myself to the highest standards in doing it.
What are, or should be, the top priorities at this time for the school committee?
This is the committee that will determine if the good work begun by this administration will continue. This committee should stand foursquare behind Dr. Monárrez and the administration in their work to improve the district for our students. Implementing a strategic plan through budget, policy, and creation and evaluation of goals of the superintendent in line with that is crucial.
This is also the first committee elected on the district system, and creating and maintaining a culture in which members go through required training, act in their roles and responsibilities, and serve all students regardless of the means by which they were elected is a crucial work of the first few months.
The Worcester School Committee also must be united and vocal about the facilities’ needs of the district. Four million dollars a year is simply not enough in municipal capital funding, and it is irresponsible to pretend otherwise. Worcester also needs to partner with other Gateway cities for state advocacy, and work on federal advocacy.
Where do you think the school committee has been failing, or coming up short?
We have yet to implement fully and well MGL Ch. 71 sec 38M, which requires not only a student ex officio member, but also meetings every other month with our full elected student advisory council. I have hopes, with the work that we’ve done on this again this year, that we’ll be seeing that happen regularly.
How would you describe the Worcester Public Schools to an out-of-towner?
“One of the best decisions my family ever made.” The Worcester Public Schools have provided opportunities and experiences that my children, and our entire family, would never have had in any other district.
Who was your favorite teacher, and what made this person so inspiring to you?
Like many who have gone into education for a career, school was generally a happy place for me, so there are too many teachers to name. I remember my second grade teacher taking Gus O’Toole and me aside to learn to make apostrophes correctly, and I think about making sure you meet students’ needs. I remember my sixth grade teacher knowing every child deserves to be read to, reading to us each day before lunch, and I think about providing spaces for care.
I remember the summer school teacher who gave me my confidence back in math class in high school, and I think about ensuring learners have the confidence to learn. I remember the humor with which my senior year English teacher held us to clarity in writing, and I think about how we teach how we communicate with each other. I remember the professor in college who always had time for whatever ailed a student, and I think about making sure students know that they have someone in their corner. I remember the graduate school professor whose office I practically camped out in to get through grad school stats, and I think about ensuring additional help for those who need it. I remember the teachers for my school business officer certification who with humor taught from the assumption that all would and could understand, and I try to do the same.
What’s the best piece of advice a relative (mom, dad, grandparent, etc.) ever gave you?
My mom told me “complain to someone who can do something about it” when McDonald’s stopped serving root beer when I was about seven. While my letter garnered only gift certificates and not a change of menu, I have tried to live by my mother’s advice about whom to complain ever since.
What are you currently reading?
I am currently reading, underlining, and taking notes from “Nice Is Not Enough: Inequality and the Limits of Kindness at American High by C.J Pascoe,” which, through two years at a high school, spells out how the American educational systems emphasis on individual solutions is masking the need for systemic change. I plan to recommend it to every educational policy maker I know!
And because I also always have some fiction reading going, I have been working my way through T. Kingfisher’s works, most recently reading “Nettle and Bone”; I really enjoy her reworking of traditional fairy tale tropes.
What would you tell the 15-year-old you?
I’d give myself some version of the graduation speech I have given to eighth graders: Don’t believe anyone who tells you that high school is the best years of your life; anyone who thinks that is not to be trusted. High school can be fine or awful, but it is a stage of life that we hope is preparing you for the rest of your life, and it is important not to get stuck there.
Comments? Tips? News? Contact Charlene Arsenault at carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org
