Radio Roundtable: Worcester Snowstorm Response, Police Oversight & Affordability

By-Hank Stolz

Photo-Radio Worcester

WORCESTER, MA-Worcester Public Schools Superintendent Brian Allen joined the Radio Roundtable to discuss recently released “safe and supportive schools” data that shows an increase in incidents coded as staff assaults over the past two school years.

According to a press release from Worcester Public Schools, a closer analysis of the data shows that the large majority of those incidents occurred at the elementary school level and often involved the same students. Most incidents took place between kindergarten and third grade.

Allen suggested that one contributing factor may be that many of the youngest students are “COVID babies” who entered school without prior preschool or structured classroom experience.

Despite the overall numbers, Allen stressed that the district takes the issue seriously. “One staff assault is too many,” he said. “Learning doesn’t occur until you have that sense of feeling safe in your school. And so that’s our highest priority.”

Districtwide, fewer than half of one percent of students were involved in an incident coded as a staff assault during the 2024–25 school year. The data shows that 98 out of 24,778 students were connected to such incidents.

In response to the findings, Worcester Public Schools is planning additional steps to better support both staff and students at the elementary level. These include expanded training for teachers in de-escalation techniques and trauma-informed practices, as well as restoring and strengthening support services for younger students.

Allen noted that programs already in place at the secondary level are showing positive results. He said that “climate and culture” positions implemented in middle and high schools have coincided with a decrease in assaults, and he does not believe School Resource Officers need to be reintroduced at this time.

During the discussion, Allen also expressed significant concern about the potential impact of future federal budget cuts. He noted that federal funding currently supports approximately $54 million in programming and more than 800 staff positions across the district.

The Worcester Public Schools administration is scheduled to present a report on the updated data and planned responses to the Worcester School Committee on Thursday, December 18.