Boston School Committee: 1·10·24 Meeting Recap

Last Night At School Committee

Last night’s meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where Superintendent Skipper spent the majority of her report discussing the district’s recently released long-term facilities plan. This long-term facilities plan was submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, as required by the state’s Systemic Improvement Plan, and indicated that as many as half of current buildings could close. The Superintendent clarified in her report that this would not be happening and that the School Committee will receive a list of proposed mergers and closures later this spring and each subsequent spring. However, Member Brandon Cardet-Hernandez questioned the lack of projections and details in the plan to help make decisions, and he pushed the Superintendent for a comprehensive master plan that gives members an understanding of how decisions will impact neighborhoods and other school communities.

The Superintendent also discussed the announcement of a new partnership between the Boston Community Leadership Academy, McCormack School, and UMass Boston, which was announced by Mayor Michelle Wu in her State of the City address earlier this week. The announcement lacked specificity on details or timeline, and Vice Chair Michael O’Neill reminded the Superintendent that the facility is in need of immediate repairs, including basic needs, like toilets and lockers.

The School Committee’s only action item of the evening was a vote on modifications to the exam school admissions policy. At the last meeting, the Superintendent proposed modifying the number of bonus points a student who attends a Title 1 school (40% or more students living below the poverty line) receives based on the tier they live in. Member Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, who has consistently pushed for a different remedy involving the allocation of bonus points directly to students rather than schools, continued to express his frustration at the lack of consideration of this alternative, highlighting concerns about the timing of this change in the midst of school choice season and calling for a reevaluation of the current tiers. Many parents and students echoed these concerns during public comment. The School Committee voted unanimously to approve the modifications to the policy, which will be implemented for the current enrollment cycle.

There were two other brief reports last night. The first was on a proposed merger between UP Academy Dorchester and UP Academy Boston due to a dramatic drop in enrollment in the last three years. The second was a discussion on School Committee task forces. Chair Jeri Robinson proposed that Task Forces will no longer report to the School Committee and instead will work under the purview of the Superintendent. While there was little discussion about this change, this would remove power from the School Committee and limit the public’s ability to hear from these task force leaders at Committee meetings.

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