Audit says closing excess Boston schools would save millions
An outside audit of Boston Public Schools commissioned by Mayor Marty Walsh last year was released Friday, revealing that the city could save millions a year by shuttering some schools and cutting back on the number of teachers it employs, according to The Boston Globe.
While the results showed that closing or merging schools could put between $1.7 million and $2.2 million back into the budget per school, Walsh stressed that was not the plan. The audit, conducted by management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., found that more than half of the city’s public schools are using less than 68 percent of their capacity.
“This isn’t a map for us on how to turn the system around,’’ Walsh said Thursday while previewing the report, according to the Globe. “This is an idea of what some of the suggestions might be from an outside, third-party, independent source.’’
In November, Walsh was harshly criticized by Esquire’s political blogger Charles P. Pierce for allegedly planning to close 36 of Boston’s 126 schools. Walsh has denied he had any such plans.
Instead, Walsh noted that the audit will be useful in long-term financial planning for the School Department.
Read the full Globe story here.
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