Jun 29 2022 · Last Night @ School Committee Recap · Ep. 65
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 big night for Boston Public Schools, culminating in the selection of Somerville Superintendent Mary Skipper as the next Superintendent of Boston Public Schools.
The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, which included a discussion of the agreement reached earlier this week between BPS and the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to avert a takeover. The agreement includes key provisions for students and families, including a redesign of special education and ELL services, a guarantee of at least 95% on-time bus arrival, and a new data auditor appointed by the State who will have full access to BPS data. Superintendent Cassellius also discussed the report on the Mission Hill investigation, which she said would be released in the coming weeks despite a deadline of June 30, and she shared that the “Green New Deal” for BPS facilities would be beginning its 18-month development process. In response to a question about what environmental targets are being set that make this initiative “green,” the Superintendent shared that the third-party vendor the district will hire to oversee this plan will make those determinations.
After a public comment period in which dozens of community members shared their preference for who should be the next superintendent, the meeting moved on to two votes. The first vote was to appoint Dr. Drew Echelson as Acting Superintendent. Despite an objection to the 11th-hour nature of this vote – just one day before Superintendent Cassellius’ last day – Dr. Echelson was approved unanimously. The main event last night was a discussion and vote on the next permanent superintendent of BPS. Each School Committee member discussed the merits of the candidates and the reasoning behind their choice, with the ultimate result being a close 4-3 vote in favor of Mary Skipper over Dr. Tommy Welch.
The next School Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 13 at 5pm.
Here are some of the questions that we think are worth asking:
When will Mary Skipper begin her tenure as Superintendent of Boston Public Schools?
How will Acting Superintendent Echelson ensure BPS meets all the deadlines in the DESE agreement? How will the community be involved in that process?
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
Listen to our special podcast series on advice for the new superintendent. It’s seven episodes featuring exclusive interviews with Superintendent Cassellius, her five predecessors, and more than a dozen community leaders. The full series is available in your podcast feed and at BostonSuperintendent.com.