Last Night At School Committee

• Boston School Committee: 4·16·25 Meeting Recap

  Last night’s meeting was a long one, lasting just over four hours. The main agenda item of the night was a recap of the new contract agreed to between the Boston Teachers’ Union (BTU) and the district. Before this recap, the Superintendent gave a lengthy update on happenings in the district, which included a note about a new transportation policy. While this was not an agenda item, the district did announce a new policy that may remove some students from routes who do not ride the bus for 10 days in a row. There were few questions about this policy and members further encouraged the district to increase the “on-time” rate of buses earlier in the year than seven months into the school year.  District leaders then presented to the School Committee on the details within the newly agreed upon BTU contract. More specifically, the Superintendent and her team outlined updates to an increase in wages for paraprofessionals as well as a new model for serving students with disabilities. The district’s explanation of the revisions to the model for special education were convoluted, at best.  Another area of concern that emerged from the district’s presentation was the financial implications of the new contract, with the Superintendent’s team stating they felt “uncomfortable” with the cost of the contract. The contract, as well as the supplemental appropriations necessary to fund the contract, passed the school committee vote unanimously.  After a short public comment period and a few votes on small grants, the meeting moved on to a discussion of transformation schools. As mandated by the Systemic Improvement Plan (SIP), these quarterly updates provide a glimpse into the progress, or lack thereof, of the district’s most underperforming schools. While two principals from these schools shed some light on some positive news, the majority of the presentation touched on many of the same points we have been hearing, mainly, continued concerns about student achievement and chronic absenteeism. School Committee members asked pointed questions about potential alternatives to transformation schools and whether we are using the best data practices to monitor their growth. Due to the district moving out of the SIP, there was uncertainty about how this information will continue to be shared moving forward, but we will continue to keep an eye out for updates on them in the future.  Finally, the meeting wrapped up with a discussion on the Massachusetts School Choice Plan for SY 2025-2026. In the past, and last night, the district has opposed having the district opt-in to school choice, which would allow students from other cities and towns to enroll in BPS. Member Cardet-Hernandez proposed to allow municipal employees, including teachers, who live outside of Boston, to enroll their kids in BPS. This potential pilot program received significant pushback from the Superintendent and her team and was shut down without any further conversation.  The School Committee will next meet at 6pm on Wednesday, May 14th. We are looking forward to hearing more from our district’s leaders.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Boston School Committee: 3·26·25 Meeting Recap

  Last night’s meeting lasted three hours, and it centered on two main topics: Boston emerging from the State Improvement Plan (SIP) and the vote on the FY26 budget. The meeting began with Chair Robinson recapping major news from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) board meeting on Tuesday. In short, DESE announced that the SIP, which expires in June, would not be renewed by the state. While state officials praised the district’s improvements and work, it was clear that the results of the SIP were a mixed bag. Nevertheless, the state is now moving the district out of the SIP, and the Superintendent spent a large portion of her report highlighting the vast improvements including bus arrival times, increased test scores, and new career pathways for BPS students. However, School Committee and DESE board members had words of caution given the urgency of necessary improvements in BPS. The oversight will officially end on June 30th, but the School Committee did note that they will look to continue internal oversight. Clearly, though, there is much work to be done in the district given the results shown below and in a recent report by the Boston Policy Institute.   After a short public comment period that hit on major pain points from the community, the meeting moved on to the vote on the FY26 budget. While there was not much suspense as to whether the budget would pass or not, School Committee members did raise certain concerns about its scope and priorities. More specifically, members questioned, once again, how the budget fits into the district’s long-term plan, the presence of school accountability measures, and the needs in the district that still need to be addressed. Though one member voted no, the budget ultimately passed, with six yea votes.   The School Committee meeting ended with a presentation on an amendment to the code of conduct. In short, due to a change in state law, the district had to adjust their use of discipline, and they are moving more towards a system of “progressive discipline.” There will be a vote at the next School Committee meeting on the amendment.  Finally, as mentioned during this week’s podcast, we will be tracking the questions and requests made by School Committee members during the meetings. As we have seen, oftentimes, inquiries about the state of affairs, data, and other relevant matters are asked, but questions are left unanswered. As part of each blog post, we will be monitoring these questions and whether they have been answered. Here are some from last night:  Can we create a task for achievement and opportunity gaps? - Dr. Stephen Alkins  In the district, how many psychologists are there per student? - Chair Jeri Robinson  Where are we now [in terms of priorities in the budget]? - Chair Jeri Robinson? The School Committee will next meet at 6pm on Wednesday, April 16th. We are looking forward to hearing from the Superintendent about the district’s new contract with teachers.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Boston School Committee: 3·20·25 Meeting Recap

  Last night’s meeting lasted around five hours, hitting on many important topics. Before the official meeting, the School Committee hosted its third and final budget hearing for the FY26 budget. The Superintendent and her team answered questions from School Committee members, including inquiries about the role of federal funding in the budget, how long-term goals are achieved in the budget, and the cuts made to community advancement programs. Questions were also asked about accelerating student performance, which was highlighted in a recent report published by the Boston Policy Institute. Following the conclusion of the budget meeting, the regular School Committee meeting began. Chair Robinson announced that the district had reached a tentative agreement with the Boston Teachers Union following months of negotiation. While main details were not discussed, the Superintendent and her team said that they would provide an update at a future meeting. Following this, the meeting moved into public comment, where nearly every speaker was a community member representing schools on the proposed closure and merger list voicing their pleas to keep their school communities open. After public comment and quick votes on grants and the renaming of the Sumner/Philbrick school, the School Committee voted on the Core Program Statement of Interest to the MSBA for Madison Park Vocational High School. Last month, during a City Council hearing, the Mayor’s team announced plans to seek MSBA funding for a new Madison Park facility, with the estimated cost rising to nearly $700 million—up from the originally earmarked $500 million. While there was not much further discussion after last meeting’s comprehensive discussion, School Committee members did question what alternative plans were in place if the district did not receive the money. Once again, the O’Bryant School was only tangentially mentioned and there was minimal discussion about what the future will hold for that community. In the end, the School Committee unanimously voted to approve the Statement of Interest. Finally, the School Committee meeting ended with a vote on the aforementioned school closures and mergers. The public comment during the evening was filled with tangible emotion from community members, and it was clear that this carried over to School Committee members as well. Multiple School Committee members harped on the difficulty of these decisions and the necessity of making hard choices for the benefit of long term district health. The Superintendent and her team responded to questions about how educators will be supported during the transition as well as the assistance BPS is offering to families that will be forced to change schools. Moreover, the Superintendent stated that no child reassigned during this process would be forced to leave their current school again. However, due to the lack of a long-term facilities plan, there is no way to track this across the district; hence, it is unclear how this process will occur. Nevertheless, their answers seemed to satisfy the School Committee as the closure and merger plan passed by a vote of five to one. The shift in facilities will take place in June 2026.  Next week, the School Committee will vote on the revised budget. The meeting will take place on March 26th at 6:30pm. Looking forward, the Superintendent noted that we will hear about the new contract with the BTU in April. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Boston School Committee: 2·26·25 Meeting Recap

  Last night’s meeting was a jam packed meeting covering many important topics. The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where she provided an extremely brief update on transformation schools. This update is a requirement as part of the district’s Systemic Improvement Plan with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and usually provides insights and data about some of the lowest performing schools in the district. However, the Superintendent’s team did not provide these data points and insights. The Superintendent also highlighted acceleration academies that took place during February vacation, but did not discuss the impact of this strategy on student performance. School Committee members raised concerns about the lack of data presented, as well as highlighting the need for better procedures to ensure that data requested to the School Committee is actually presented in a timely fashion.   Following a public comment period that raised issues regarding topics such as facilities and exam schools, and quick votes on grants and approval of the accelerated repair project submissions to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), the School Committee voted on the competency determination requirement for the class of 2025. As the state continues to lack a revised, temporary policy for the state’s competency determination, schools districts across the state are creating their own revised policy. The Superintendent and her team proposed a policy that requires current seniors to earn a passing grade from a list of coursework if they did not previously pass the MCAS. Last night’s vote was preceded by conversation about the usage of the MCAS as a graduation requirement, which the district is allowed to utilize. While the School Committee engaged in a conversation that explored this and how the competency determination connects to its graduation requirements, the conversation was cut short after the Superintendent’s team noted they needed to act on only the competency determination, and the School Committee voted in favor of the policy unanimously. The committee then heard two quick reports on an update from the Boston Student Advisory Council and the naming of the Sumner/Philbrick school to the Sarah Roberts Elementary School.   The final discussion focused on a Core Program Statement of Interest to the MSBA for Madison Park Vocational High School. Last month, during a City Council hearing, the Mayor’s team announced plans to seek MSBA funding for a new Madison Park facility, with the estimated cost rising to nearly $700 million—up from the originally earmarked $500 million. Committee members raised concerns about the absence of the O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, which shares the same building, in the proposal. They also questioned the city’s backup plan if MSBA funding is not secured and how the district plans to increase Madison Park’s enrollment by 1,000 students. As these concerns remain unresolved, a vote is scheduled for the next meeting on March 20.   Over the next several weeks, the School Committee will hold several public budget hearings (March 5th @ 5:30pm, March 19th @ 5:30pm) and will vote on the final budget on March 26th. The next School Committee meeting will be on March 20th at 6:30pm on Zoom, which will be preceded by a budget hearing at 5:30pm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Boston School Committee: 2·5·25 Meeting Recap

  Last night’s meeting was full of reports and initiated the kickoff to the FY26 budget process. After a short Superintendent’s report and lengthy public comment period, the committee voted for a minor revision on the revised exam school admissions policy, which reduces the number of tiers from eight to four, with each tier receiving an equal allocation of invitations. The School Committee has voted on numerous adjustments to the policy year after year and School Committee members continued to raise questions about the distribution of bonus points via schools rather than individuals, a solution that supports the core intent of the policy, before ultimately approving the policy.   The School Committee heard three reports last night. The first report was a proposal for accelerated repair funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). While the district typically presents proposals every year for funding from the MSBA, School Committee members raised major concerns about funding these projects without a long-term facilities plan to guide the work. Missing from the report was the news that the City would be seeking funding from the MSBA to renovate Madison Park, which is a reversal from the City’s promise last year to fund a renovation of Madison Park quickly using funds from the City of Boston.   The second report of the night was an update on the competency determination– or graduation requirement– for the Class of 2025. Following the passage of Question 2 on the November ballot to remove the MCAS as a graduation requirement, the district and state have yet to come up with updated graduation requirements. Last night, the district announced that students who did not pass the MCAS would need to pass certain approved courses in English, Math, and Science. There was much discussion over the lack of guidance and support from the state in defining graduation standards. The School Committee did not discuss the implications of the district’s alignment to MassCore as their graduation requirement starting next year when only 51% of students completed the requirement last year.   The final report of the evening was the Superintendent’s FY26 preliminary budget. This report kicked off the FY26 budget process, which will culminate in a final proposal that will be voted on in March. This year’s budget is $1.58 billion, which is a $53 million increase from last year. While the report discussed investments in certain areas, School Committee members raised major concerns over the goals and impact of these investments. These concerns were compounded by the recent release of NAEP results, which show that only 31% of 4th graders scored proficient in reading, and only 26% of 8th graders scored proficient. As the results show widening achievement gaps and increased spending, there was no discussion as to how the budget would address these gaps.   Over the next several weeks, the School Committee will hold several public budget hearings (February 13th @ 5:30pm, March 5th @ 5:30pm, March 19th @ 5:30pm) and will vote on the final budget on March 26th. The next School Committee meeting will be on February 26th at 5:30pm on Zoom.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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