The School Committee reconvened last night after a two-week period in which Boston Public Schools has been featured prominently in the news. This includes issues regarding COVID-19 testing and outbreaks, calls for reforms to the new exam school policy, and inadequate staffing - particularly for our English Language Learners and to support the mental health of our students and staff.

Last night’s meeting took place just one night after a historic election that saw Michelle Wu as the first woman and person of color elected Mayor of Boston and a non-binding ballot question in which 80% of voters favored an elected school committee, rather than the current mayor-appointed model.

The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, which featured an unannounced update on the exam school policy and its implementation. The report left many of the key questions unanswered, and numerous public commenters expressed confusion and frustration on this topic.

The meeting began with a discussion about the persistent issues with COVID-19 testing in schools and transportation, including an announcement from the Superintendent of a new task force to address chronic transportation issues. After a public comment session that featured comments on special education services, the Mission Hill School, and the new exam school policy, the Superintendent’s team presented the first report of the evening on the district’s MCAS results.

The meeting began with the Superintendent’s report, in which she promised an update on exam school simulations at the next meeting. She also discussed the ongoing transportation issues and painted a rosy picture of the timeliness of buses, in spite of the fact that hundreds of students are still unable to get to school, hundreds more are not arriving on time, and families are still facing troubling uncertainty.

With school starting next Thursday, the Superintendent and her team presented on back-to-school and reopening updates. While the updates began on a positive note with a recap of summer programming and backpack distribution, it quickly turned to a discussion of major operational deficiencies that remain unresolved one week before school starts: a severe bus driver shortage that will impact transportation for an unidentified number of students, a food service shortage that will prevent kids from eating fresh, healthy food, and a lack of data or accountability on how many school staff have complied with the vaccine requirement.

Just before the meeting began, the public was made aware of a bombshell story, broken by the Boston Globe, that Superintendent Cassellius’ license had expired. We also learned that state officials had notified the Superintendent multiple times in the six months prior about the pending expiration, and yet the Superintendent did not take the assessment necessary for renewal.

The bulk of the meeting focused on the Superintendent’s proposal for a new Exam School entrance policy, which was different from the previous proposal presented to the School Committee at the last meeting.

The six-hour meeting began with the Superintendent preemptively framing the evening’s conversation around the recommendation from the Exam School Task Force for a new admissions policy to the three exam schools. The Superintendent also provided updates on summer learning, saying, with just a week before summer programs begin, 75% of seats are filled.

The first meeting since the resignation of two committee members, Lorna Rivera and Alexandra Oliver-Dávila, the meeting began with the election of the new chair, Jerri Robinson, with Michael O’Neill remaining as vice chair. The Superintendent provided an update on the end of the school year and summer programming, which starts in a few weeks and currently has 73% of its seats filled and a need for staffing.

Overall, the plans presented last night outlined a positive vision for BPS grounded in equity and student achievement but lacking important detail around implementation.

As the School Committee voted in a new graduation policy and shared a vision for new buildings, there were many things that were not addressed in the meeting, including attendance numbers in schools, updates on the return to full in-person learning for high school students, and detailed plans for summer learning.

Last night’s meeting also included a vote on the revised attendance policy and on an agreement between the Boston Teachers’ Union and the Boston School Committee regarding Family Liaison Classification. The meeting ended with a report on equitable policy.

There were two votes removed from the agenda on the day of the meeting; school committee goals and guardrails, and using masscore for the district’s graduation policy. Public comment featured 16 speakers, nearly all of whom advocated for suspending this year’s MCAS exam. The  Biden administration has already granted one waiver to a school district to postpone their standardized testing.

The meeting began with the Superintendent's report on returning to school including the plan to return students in K-8 to 5 days a week of in person learning beginning April 26th.

In this episode of Last Night at School Committee, Jill and Ross recap the highlights of last night’s BPS School Committee meeting. The meeting was preceded by the last budget hearing before the School Committee vote next week.

In this episode of Last Night at School Committee, Jill and Ross recap the highlights of last night’s BPS School Committee meeting. The meeting was a long one, about 6.5 hours. There were 62 residents providing public comment, who included students, parents, and community organizations, and they all had one unified message: we do not trust the district. There was a fierce vibration as students advocated for a stronger voice in decision making.

In this episode of Last Night at School Committee, Jill and Ross recap the highlights of last night’s Boston Public Schools’ School Committee meeting. During this 3-hour meeting, the Superintendent and her team unveiled a preliminary budget to the School Committee for FY2022, in addition to a report on attendance and a supportive vote on allowing the district flexibilities for graduation requirements, advanced work class admission, promotion and grading. As a group of high in-person priority students were welcomed back today, there was little discussion on re-opening efforts across the district.

In this episode of Last Night at School Committee, Jill and Ross recap the highlights of last night’s Boston Public Schools’ School Committee meeting. During this 3-hour meeting, the School Committee discussed newly announced school building reopening updates, heard from families and community members in public comment, and reviewed a proposal from the Superintendent about the readjustment of certain policies for this school year, including changes to testing and placement for the Advanced Work Class program.

In our first episode of 2021, Jill and Ross recap the highlights of last night’s Boston Public School Committee Meeting. During this 5-hour meeting, the School Committee discussed reopening updates, heard from families and community members in public comment, and heard updates on the Superintendent’s goals as well as updates from the Exam School task force and the Office of Equity. This was the first meeting since Mayor Walsh has accepted the nomination to be Labor Secretary for President-elect Joe Biden as well as hearing from Governor Baker about a plan for pooled testing for schools.