Mar 16 2022 · Last Night @ School Committee Recap · Ep. 51
What happens at each Boston School Committee meeting has big implications for our students and our city. In “Last Night @ School Committee,” Jill Shah and Ross Wilson recap the highlights of each meeting, provide commentary and context, and shine a light on the decisions our leaders are making.
Last night’s meeting marked two years since schools closed due to the pandemic, and it came in the face of mounting uncertainty from families across the district about the future of their students’ education. Prior to the meeting, BPS leaders announced temporary measures to assuage the concerns of the P.A. Shaw Elementary School community about the lack of promised grade expansions and of the Boston Day and Evening Academy’s BDEA 2.0 program about the future of their learning space. While a step in the right direction for these school communities, these decisions failed to provide long-term stability to families, and many of those families testified last night.
The meeting began with an updated presentation from the Superintendent on changes to her initial budget recommendation. The updates include $2.3 million in increases to the Central Office budget and additional funding for 98 schools, including funds for library expansions and additional school psychologists. There were pointed questions from the School Committee about whether this budget accounts for projected declines in enrollment and the ways in which those projections are determined. The meeting then continued with a report on several school building repair projects being submitted to the State – which the Superintendent noted was lacking a larger vision from City leaders for districtwide facility improvements – and finally a progress update from the Superintendent Search Committee.
The next School Committee meeting will take place next Wednesday, March 23 at 5pm, and it will include a vote on the final budget proposal heard last night.
Here are some of the questions that we think are worth asking:
How does enrollment for next year compare to previous years?
How does the ripple effect of the delay in exam school decisions impact overall district enrollment?
What are the School Committee’s goals and strategic vision guiding the superintendent search process?
How will the City respond to the Superintendent’s call-to-action for a budget and plan for a facilities overhaul?
Ways to Engage and Resources:
Fill out the BPS Superintendent Search Survey to share your thoughts on the qualities, vision, and experience that you would like to see in the next superintendent.
Attend public listening sessions in the coming weeks on the superintendent search to ensure your voice is heard:
Email the members of the School Committee and let them know your thoughts.
Chair Jeri Robinson: grobinson@bostonpublicschools.org
Vice Chair Michael O’Neill: moneill2@bostonpublicschools.org
Quoc Tran: qtran2@bostonpublicschools.org
Lorena Lopera: llopera@bostonpublicschools.org
Rafaela Polanco Garcia: rpolancogarcia@bostonpublicschools.org
Dr. Stephen Alkins: salkins@bostonpublicschools.org
Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, Executive Director of the Ivy Street School
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