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City Council calls for more transparency from Wu administration on school closures
Frustrated families are being left in the dark about how Boston's leaders are deciding which schools need to close, councilors said.
The Boston City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to call for more transparency from the Wu administration and Boston Public Schools regarding ongoing efforts to close schools and consolidate the BPS system.
There are many allies of Mayor Michelle Wu on the City Council, and the body has occasionally faced criticism for falling in line too easily with the mayor’s agenda. Councilors are backing Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper as they push school closures, but say that confused families deserve more insight into the administration’s process.
The closures and mergers are necessary due to the decreasing enrollment in BPS and the fact that many schools need significant upgrades. With too many schools and not enough students in each of them, disparities are growing, officials say.
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The School Committee is currently weighing a proposal to close three schools, including two small high schools in Dorchester and Hyde Park. A vote is scheduled for next week.
Councilor Julia Mejia, the lead sponsor of the resolution, said that she hopes the School Committee delays its upcoming vote.
In general, Mejia said, residents have not received enough information about transition plans for students and staff when a school is recommended for closure. There needs to be a publicly-accessible master plan that outlines long-term enrollment projections, building needs, construction plans, and which schools may be slated to close, she said.
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Mejia took issue with families learning about school closures through social media or news reports, instead of directly from BPS leaders themselves.
“As a BPS graduate, a BPS mom, and a BPS agitator, I think it’s time for us to really start stepping up on behalf of the families that we serve and holding BPS accountable,” she said.
Councilor Erin Murphy pointed to a resolution she and other colleagues filed in January that called for a hearing on the financial future of the district and for an examination of how school closures and mergers are announced. She voiced frustrations that this hearing has not taken place, and said that she plans to re-file the motion soon.
Councilor Ed Flynn recalled serving on the City Council with Wu, saying that this is the type of topic that she would have been “all over,” demanding answers from BPS leaders. Flynn is also surprised that no hearing about this has occurred. The City Council, as opposed to the School Committee, is the voice for residents in this matter because its members are elected instead of appointed, he said.
“When this body remains silent, so too is the voice of the residents,” Flynn said.
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There are about a dozen students who have had their schools close twice, Councilor Brian Worrell said. He is concerned that more students could be put in a similar position, bouncing from closing school to closing school.
“Some buildings may have to go offline, but if that is where we are headed, then we owe our kids and our families and our teachers a clear vision,” Worrell said. “What families have consistently asked for is the full master plan. Not school-by-school updates every few months, but the full picture.”
Councilor Sharon Durkan, one of Wu’s most outspoken allies on the council, insisted that the administration is taking notable steps to provide transparency. She referenced a community workshop she attended recently where BPS officials anonymized schools and walked attendees through a step-by-step process of how they determine which schools should be recommended for closure.
BPS leaders have put off these hard decisions for years, Durkan said, and she praised the Wu administration for taking the necessary steps to fix the district.
“I’m proud of the mayor and I’m proud of the administration for making some tough calls,” she said. “Go to a workshop, sit with the families in your district that are trying to make sense of what these decisions mean, because BPS is doing that work, I’ve seen them doing this work in my district and across the city. But I do support transparency, I support this initiative, and I support more conversation.”
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