Ep. 21, Last Night at School Committee Special Edition: Understanding BuildBPS 12/10

Last Night At School Committee

In this special edition of Last Night at School Committee, Ross and Jill talk to Will Austin, CEO of the Boston Schools Fund, and Latoya Gayle, founder of Boston School Finder and parent activist. As the Boston School Committee heard an update regarding the BuildBPS plan last week, Will and Latoya help to provide additional insight and thoughts about this important update.

Since 2014, the City of Boston and Boston Public Schools have been discussing BuildBPS, a Facilities Master Plan for the Boston Public schools aimed at bringing Boston’s school buildings into the 21st century.

The first BuildBPS Report and Plan was released in March of 2017, and last Wednesday’s school committee meeting featured an update regarding some of the ongoing and future projects in BuildBPS as well as important developments and changes to the plan.

BuildBPS is a ten year plan and continues to change and evolve over time. We will continue to get updates at school committee meetings and will continue to discuss the plans and their implications as they come. As the school year progresses, here are a few topics to keep an eye on:

• The challenges of decreased enrollment on BuildBPS and how enrollment changes will impact future plans
• The impact of BuildBPS on school choice and the future of school choice
• What the BuildBPS process should look like moving forward
• Next steps for the closing of the Edwards Middle School, the upcoming 7-12 models at East Boston and Charlestown High Schools, the BCLA-McCormack merger, and the future of the Horace Mann School

To read more about Boston Schools Fund’s analysis of Boston Public Schools’ 2020-2021 enrollment data, you can find it here.

The Boston School Committee will be holding a virtual retreat this Saturday, December 12th, from 9am-3pm. You can find more details about this meeting here.

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