CITY OF SOMERVILLE, SOMERVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS LEAD REGIONAL SCHOOL ‘STATNET’ PILOT PROGRAM

Since 2012,

the CIC program has provided over $6.25 million to 47 unique projects that

involve 82% of all municipalities in the Commonwealth.  CIC funds provide municipalities with one

time start up and transition costs to develop new innovative ideas that will

allow municipalities to deliver core services as efficiently as possible, given

our new fiscal reality.

School StatNet is being modeled after a successful Municipal StatNet program,

which Somerville helped found in 2008 with Springfield and Amesbury.  In 2012, the Patrick-Murray Administration,

through the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (A&F) provided

the City of Lowell with funding to continue to develop and strengthen the

Municipal StatNet program.   Municipal

StatNet brings together New England municipalities to discuss data and share

best practices, and has grown to include the participation of more than 64

Massachusetts communities, and 10 more in other New England states.   Funding from A&F allows all 351 cities

and towns across the Commonwealth to participate in Municipal StatNet for no

cost.

"While

Somerville has been using our own data to make decisions and improve operations

for almost a decade, the municipal StatNet program has helped us take the next

step - to measure what we do not just over time, but against the performance of

other cities," Mayor Curtatone said. "At municipal StatNet meetings, we always

learn that no one community has resolved every municipal challenge and every

community has some innovative practice to share. We expect the same lessons

learned to come out of School StatNet."

"The Patrick-Murray Administration is

committed to providing additional resources and tools for our cities and towns to

deliver high-quality services even more efficiently," said Secretary of

Administration and Finance Glen Shor. "Through regionalization of services, we

are creating innovative opportunities for neighboring communities to leverage

shared expertise and resources to expand best practices."

School

StatNet will bring together school districts from throughout the Commonwealth

to examine data on school operations and student achievement, and to discuss

operational strategies on a variety of topics. Examples of topics that may be

discussed include how districts are using extended learning time to improve

student achievement, or how they are implementing the new educator evaluation

system.  A State-level advisory board

will help shape the direction of School StatNet so that it complements related

initiatives at the State level, such as the release of Edwin, the State's new

teaching and learning data management program.

"School

Districts have a lot of data and data-related initiatives, and we spend a lot

of time reviewing and discussing data during internal meetings as teachers, principals, and administrators," noted Somerville

Public Schools Superintendent, Tony Pierantozzi.  "However, we do not have

as many opportunities to talk about data in a substantive way with other

districts.  We believe these School StatNet discussions will yield the

exchange of good ideas and strategies regarding common challenges.  This

will ultimately lead to stronger shared practices across the region that will

result in improved learning for our students."

"The

StatNet Pilot Program is a worthy attempt at regionalizing benefits that could

smooth the flow of information while offering the chance of saving duplicating

expenditures," said Revere Public Schools Superintendent Paul Dakin.

School

StatNet will hold its pilot meeting on Tuesday, May 21^st at

Massachusetts International Academy in Marlborough, and will discuss systems of

support and intervention that school districts can implement, and an overview

of all participating districts.  If you

are interested in attending, please RSVP by contacting Stephanie Hirsch at SHirsch@somervillema.gov.