The Boston School Committee heard the district’s proposal to close three schools and reconfigure three more, as some in the schools’ communities kicked off an impassioned campaign to keep them open.
“I wanted to start tonight’s conversation by acknowledging that conversations about school closures are never easy,” said BPS Chief of Capital Planning Delavern Stanislaus at Wednesday’s session.
“They reach far beyond buildings and budgets. They touch our students’ daily lives, our staff’s sense of stability, and the identity and history of neighborhoods they serve,” Stanislaus said. “I know that many who have joined us in person in this room and virtually tonight are worried, frustrated or grieving the possibility of losing a place that has meant so much to them. Those feelings are real and they matter.”
BPS officials presented the latest round of school closure and reconfiguration recommendations to the School Committee during the nearly five hour long meeting late into Wednesday night. The presentation follows the district’s announcement on Monday of a proposal to close Lee Academy and the Community Academy of Science and Health (CASH) in Dorchester and the Another Course to College (ACC) pilot school in Hyde Park.
If approved by the School Committee, the three schools would close for the 2027-28 year. The closures fit into the third cycle of BPS’s long-term facilities plan to drop down to 95 schools by 2030, losing a total of 17 schools over five years through closures and mergers.
On Monday, BPS also announced plans to reconfigure the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School into one pre-K-8 school, drop grades 7 and 8 from Tobin Elementary School, and add grade 6 to the William E. Russell School.
The School Committee is scheduled to vote on all the recommendations in December.
Numerous parents, teachers and students from the affected schools showed up to speak out on the plans Wednesday, emphasizing the value of small community schools and their personal impact on their lives and critiquing the district’s engagement process.
“When my children transitioned from daycare to elementary school, I searched for a place where I would know that they would feel safe and truly seen,” said Lee Academy parent and staff member Esther Jean. “The search led me to the Lee Academy pilot school, a hidden treasure in Dorchester, a small hands-on school where children are known by name. Learning is personalized, and families feel belonged.”
Jean called the notice 48 hours before “abrupt,” and said community members “deserve clarity, respect and a real voice in the process.” She and others noted the “wait list” at Lee Academy and asked for other options rather than closure.
Several speakers called for more time to work through the proposals with school communities, noting the School Committee vote is only a month away and during the holidays.
“Any decisions about our school buildings must put the voices of educators, students and families at the center,” said Boston Teachers Union political director Johnny McInnis, calling for the vote to be postponed to next year. “Furthermore, to hold a vote of the School Committee less than a month after the recommendation is submitted, in the midst of the holiday season, is no way to allow for school communities to respond to the devastating news of their closure.”
Teachers and community members from each school brought up many merits of their programs. Many ACC teachers emphasized points like the strong multilingual learner community, the requirement that all students gain acceptance to college “even while taking on more and more students with high needs,” and in-depth “exceptional” program offerings.
“I understand that you’re looking at these future projections,” said ACC visual arts teacher Naomi Pillai, “but the reality of ACC is a success.”
The closures for high schools, including CASH, Another Course to College and the Henderson Upper School, are planned to allow 11th and 12th graders to graduate from the current school while phasing out lower grades. BPS officials have stated their will be support for students and staff in seeking new placements at other schools.
School Committee members questioned officials on several points of the process, including student supports like detailing academic offerings at school transfer options, making sure students aren’t subjected to multiple closures and more.
“I do want to say it what it does feel like a real improvement from the last two cycles and how we’re communicating and the timeline adjustments that we made,” said member Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, before launching into “a bunch of questions.”
The latest round of closure proposals come as BPS enrollment has taken a hard hit in the current school year, Superintendent Mary Skipper shared Wednesday.
“As of mid October, our enrollment is 46,824 students, which reflects a decline of approximately 1,700 students compared to the same snapshot last year,” Skipper said. “This is mainly driven by a decrease in international immigration to the district. In addition, fewer children are being born in Boston, a trend that we have been experiencing in Boston for many years and that is also true across the nation.”
The dip comes after “several years of enrollment leveling off” as thousands of multilingual learners have joined the district, the superintendent said, noting that last year was the first in “recent memory” that the district saw an uptick in enrollment.
The district is “not hopeful” the numbers will bounce back right away, she added, and lasting enrollment changes could mean more adjustments to facilities planning in the long run.
“We have a 2030 goal, which we’ve never had, … which aims at about 95 buildings or schools,” said Skipper. “I think the issue here is that this could be a three year-more issue, this could be a longer issue. We don’t know. Part of why we only did five years out and did 2025 to 2030 was because the further you go, the less clear it becomes.”
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