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.