Aug 10 2022 · Last Night @ School Committee Recap · Ep. 67
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 was a short meeting, and it began with three unanimous votes: one to approve athletics association membership for several Boston high schools, one to approve $11 million in grants, and one to approve a contract for incoming Superintendent Mary Skipper. Superintendent Skipper’s contract includes a start date of September 26, an annual salary of $300,000, and a new clause allowing for mutual separation in light of recent turnover at the superintendent position. The details of this clause will be shared at a later date when the full contract is made public. School Committee members applauded the contract and noted that the salary is aligned with other recent prominent hires the City has made for the positions of Police Commissioner and Fire Commissioner.
Following these votes, the meeting continued with the Acting Superintendent’s Report, in which Dr. Echelson discussed preparedness efforts for the start of school in just a few weeks, the district’s work to address school transportation in light of the MBTA’s recent Orange Line closure, and COVID-19 safety protocols for the new school year. After a brief public comment period, the meeting concluded with a presentation on BPS’ work to meet the August 15 deadlines in its improvement agreement with the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), noting that it is on track to meet all nine of the process-oriented mandates required by Monday.
The next School Committee meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 31 at 5pm.
Here are some of the questions that we think are worth asking:
When will parents hear about their particular transportation plan given the MBTA announcement about closure of the orange line, and its impact on travel to school?
Is BPS on track to meet the next set of milestones in the DESE agreement?
What is the plan if BPS is not able to fill open key positions across the district?
Ways to Engage and Resources:
Reach out to members of the Boston School Committee:
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: bcardethernandez@bostonpublicschools.org
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