Apr 7 2021 · Last Night at School Committee Meeting Recap · Ep. 29
In this episode of Last Night at School Committee, Jill and Ross recap the highlights of last night’s BPS School Committee meeting. The evening began with the Superintendent's report on returning to school, including the plan to return students in k-8 to 5 days a week of in person learning beginning April 26th. It continued on with a presentation about waiving the attendance policy and discussion about chronic absenteeism. Two other presentations - one about school committee goals and guardrails, and another about graduation policy - were on the agenda, but were removed yesterday without explanation. Public comment featured 16 speakers, nearly all of whom advocated for suspending this year’s MCAS exam, even as the Biden administration has only granted one waiver to a state to postpone their standardized testing.
We are left with the following questions in reflecting on this meeting...
We didn’t hear a summer school update. How many openings are there? Are they in person or virtual? How many students have already signed up for a summer program?
What is the update on teacher and school leader hiring to ensure an effective opening in September?
How is the district thinking about using the federal stimulus funding?
School assignments have been released for most students. What are the enrollment numbers for next year?
With pending litigation, when will assignments go out for 7th and 9th grade students and exam school applicants?
Which assessments will the district use for the end of year for both the social emotional needs and academic needs of our students?
How to Engage and Resources
Boston’s City Council approves the school department’s budget that was voted on last night. It is the biggest part of the city budget. Make sure that they know what you think about the budget and where you have questions or would like to see changes. Advocate for a clear strategy on how the influx of recovery money will be spent for long term positive change for BPS.
Attend an exam school task force committee meeting on Tuesday nights from 5-7pm
Composite Superintendent’s School Year 2019-2020 Performance Evaluation
Operational Readiness for the Return to 5 day In-person Learning on April 26
