In a decision that's shaken up communities across Boston, the Boston School Committee has thrown its weight behind a divisive plan to overhaul the city's public school landscape, voting to shutter four schools and merge two others, a bold step affecting roughly 1,300 students. As the dust settles on this landmark 5-1 vote, the fate of Excel High School in South Boston, alongside the Community Academy of Jamaica Plain, Mary Lyon Pilot High School in Allston/Brighton, and Dever Elementary School in Dorchester is sealed, with doors set to close by the end of the 2025-26 academic year, as per reports from NBC Boston.
The move is part of an efficiency drive, Boston Public Schools administrators tell us, aiming for a reduction of about one-fifth of the district's school buildings by 2030 – but parents and educators have let their discontent be known, staging protests and imploring the Committee to rethink the path laid forth and now a march that encircled district headquarters just this past Tuesday, dozens of concerned parents, educators, and staff voiced their opposition to the closures.
Merging will see Winthrop and Clap elementary schools absorbed into what will become the Lilla G. Frederick Middle School in Dorchester, according to The Boston Globe, this follows a wider strategy to phase out the district's middle schools, which is anticipated to save the district some $20 million – a sum promised to be reinvested back into classrooms and schools. Critics, however, such as School Committee member Rafaela Polanco Garcia, who cast the lone dissenting vote, argue for the preservation of these educational communities, despite the logistical rationale put forward by BPS officials.
"We recognize that school closures and mergers are never easy for communities and I am incredibly grateful to all the members of our school communities who attended community meetings and shared their observations, reactions, and additional recommendations for these proposals," Superintendent Mary Skipper conveyed in a statement obtained by NBC Boston, acknowledging the strife the decision may cause, even while it's been positioned as a means to enhance student opportunities and optimize the deployment of resources.
The anguish isn't merely a backdrop to the policy-making; it's palpable in the words of Cheryl Buckman, a Dever school parent, who told NBC Boston, "This is a devastating blow to our community," capturing a sentiment shared by many affected by the School Committee’s vote, as they grapple with the looming void where once stood pillars of their neighborhoods.
