BPS begins planning for fewer, but larger, more modern schools

By adamg on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 9:29am

WBUR reports on a Boston Public Schools document released yesterday that could many of the city's smaller public schools closed as BPS builds out a new system of larger, more modern schools all with the space and equipment needed for a "high-quality student experience." The proposal does not name specific schools; it's meant as a starting point for more detailed discussions this spring with parents and staff.

Neighborhoods:

Boston

Topics:

Parenting

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Boston Public Schools

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Comments

Hardly can be called a

By Rwgfy on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 9:59am.

Hardly can be called a proposal with this level of detail (zero).

You must be right

By brianjdamico on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 10:03am.

There is absolutely no detail provided in that 80 page document. Definitely none at all.

Give me one,

By Rwgfy on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 10:12am.

Give me one, before the UHub police shows up.

Do your own work?

By lbb on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 10:22am.

Give me one.

Is your mother still spoon-feeding you pablum?

Huh?

By brianjdamico on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 10:33am.

You can read the document yourself.

https://media.wbur.org/wp/2024/01/BPS-Long-Term-Facilities-Plan-c.pdf

If you really want one detail contained in this document, one of the next steps in the timeline, starting this month into early March:

Conduct engagement strategies. Host webinar and
community workshops to jointly review data from rubric at
the neighborhood and district level. Gather input on school
and community assets, opportunities and desired school
programming. Distribute survey to gather additional
community input to inform proposals

So the proposal is to

By Rwgfy on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 10:34am.

So the proposal is to

Distribute survey to gather additional
community input to inform proposals

Gotcha!

You asked for it

By brianjdamico on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 10:40am.

You asked for a singular detail from an 80 page planning summary document and that is what you received.

Exactly!

By Rwgfy on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 10:40am.

Exactly!

OK, what do you spesifically propose?

By BostonDog on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 11:25am.

Like the troll you are, you've never once offered any specifics as to what you want the city to do. You show up to make generic, nonsensical criticisms of Wu and Boston in general.

If you think the Boston government sucks so much, why don't you detail exactly what you think the Mayor, Council, and BPS should do.

An idea without a plan is a dream

By Waquiot on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 8:47pm.

Were I the parent of a 4 year old, I could not get guidance from this document as to which schools will be available come elementary school, high school, or anything in between.

The actual plan, like plans to merge 2 schools in Roslindale and 2 schools in Dorchester/Mattapan, are what people are looking for in this plan. Until the schools to be closed are announced, this is nothing.

If we don't do something soon

By StillFromDorchester on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 11:53am.

Massachusetts will be running our school system. Just take a look at the report card for the schools, click on any random school and see the embarrassing grades.
I have one still in the system and she attends the Obryant, when our oldest was still in school he got assigned to Community Academy of Science and Health for high school , one of the worst schools not only in Boston but the whole state. It has AP classes which no one passes so we had to go deeper into debt to get him into private school and we were lucky we were able to get a seat.
I personally know 3 families who moved our of Boston solely because of the schools.
It's a shame,

It is something no one in Boston will try to fix

By hydeparkish on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 1:16pm.

The only reason the report was issued was to meet the states deadline.

The report actually is well written.

Except there isn't a clear conclussion of which schools are proposed to be merged and closed. They provide a very large range.

So now more community meetings and every school will push back on why they shouldn't be closed and similar to the Walsh administrations 1 billion dollar BPS building makeover that failed in 2017 the Wu 2 billion dollar building makeover will linger and the next mayor will have to deal with a three billion dollar BPS building makover.

Altough , this has created a very lucrative supply of families moving to Milton when their kids reach school age.

A brief lesson in percentages

By HarryMattison on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 3:28pm.

Whoever wrote this report needs a lesson in percentages.

Table 1 on page 11 showing enrollment changes is wrong and misleading.

If the % of Asian students decreased from 8.8% to 8.1%, the *Percent Change* is not -0.7%. That is the *Difference*.

The percent change is (-0.7 / 8.8) * 100 = 7.9%

Same goes for every other row in that chart.

What do you specifically

By Rwgfy on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 3:45pm.

What do you specifically propose? That people who write these learn math?

Additional reporting from The Globe today

By brianjdamico on Thu, 01/04/2024 - 6:51pm.

Superintendent Mary Skipper assured principals Wednesday that the most extreme scenario of a new district facilities plan that could close up to half of Boston Public Schools buildings would not come to pass.

“We as a system will not be closing half of our schools nor does the long-term facilities plan imply we should or would,” Skipper wrote to campus leaders in response to a Boston Globe story detailing the plan. “This interpretation is based neither in the reality of the plan itself nor the process with which we will make decisions about facilities in the years to come.”

I'm not going to post the entire text of the article but it's here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/04/metro/bps-facilities-plan-closure...

There is a public webinar on this on January 17th, for those with a genuine interest in this process perhaps you could learn more specific details by attending: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfeUzAokUGiRdVRGrIeL5hZlVLxdWmQ...