Last Night at School Committee – September 10, 2025

The Boston School Committee met last night for its first meeting of the school year. The meeting covered a wide range of topics, from the district's back-to-school updates to the ongoing discussion of the exam school admissions policy. Here’s a recap of what happened:

A New Member Starts Their Tenure:

The meeting kicked off with a warm welcome to the newest member of the Boston School Committee, Rachel Skerritt. Skerritt, who has previously served as Head of Boston Latin School, is joining the committee and brings a fresh perspective to the group. We are looking forward to hearing from her in the months and years ahead. 

Mayor Wu Makes a Surprise Appearance: 

Mayor Michelle Wu kicked off the meeting with a heartfelt welcome to the Boston school community. The Mayor touched upon some major areas of improvement for the district, including better transportation arrival times. The Mayor and Superintendent complimented each other for their partnership in overcoming enduring challenges across the system. 

Back-to-School Update: A Mixed Bag

Superintendent Mary Skipper began her report with a comprehensive overview of how the first days of school have been going. She highlighted some key areas and spoke to some important data points that illuminate both weaknesses and strengths throughout BPS

• Enrollment Numbers: As of the first week of school, enrollment was just over 48,000 students, with 2,400 new registrations since June. However, the district cautioned that enrollment numbers would fluctuate, especially as the district waits for students to report.

• Attendance: The first day attendance was 78.8%, a two-point increase from the previous year. By the end of the week, that number rose to 79.8%, showing steady improvement. Yet, this is still alarming as it means that 1/5 children are not showing up to their school.

• Transportation: The district touted its best-ever on-time performance for school buses. While the numbers are up, 3 out of 10 kids are still arriving late to school, which remains a significant issue, considering the $188 million spent on school transportation. For comparison, other districts like Newark, New Jersey, spend $105 million less for similar levels of service.

Public Comment: Community Voices Touch on a Range of Problems

Several public comments touched on a variety of pressing issues:

• Exam School Admissions: Some speakers questioned the fairness and impact of the current admissions policy, which continues to generate debate in the district.

• Inequality and Achievement Gaps: One speaker made a passionate appeal for a more transparent, equity-centered approach to school closures, emphasizing the need for a master facilities plan that addresses historical disparities and ensures students' needs are met.

• Support for English Language Learners: There were calls for more tailored support for English Language Learners, particularly given the increase in multilingual immigrant students in the district.

• Disability Support: One parent spoke about the district’s failure to properly support students with disabilities, sharing her own experience navigating the IEP process.

Exam School Admissions Policy: The Same Debate, Again

The committee spent a significant portion of the meeting discussing the exam school admissions policy. As we've seen in past years, the discussion is anything but straightforward. Superintendent Skipper and her team presented some background on the issue, pointing out that the goal of the policy tweak was to increase diversity at the district's prestigious exam schools. However, we do know, they want to create stability, consistency, and clarity. And, it also, may be in a reaction that the number of applications to exam schools is down and, as the chart below notes, the highest number of students leaving the district are in middle grades. 

It seems like BPS was moving away from bonus points to schools, and either changing the tiers to reflect the number of applicants or adding a 20% citywide to the exam school policy. Alas, the conversation went in a number of different directions, and it is unclear where the district will go from here. 

What’s Next?

The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for September 25, 2025. Stay tuned for another episode in a few weeks, as well as the release of a special project from the Shah Foundation team!