Residents Protest Boston Latin Academy Move

The Boston Public School Committee meeting on Monday night drew a standing room only crowd.

Dozens of city residents showed up to officially address the committee, most especially in regards to the proposed Boston Latin Academy move to Hyde Park.

Superintendent Dr. Carol Johnson has made it clear: She'd like to see Academy relocate from its current home in Dorchester to vacant Hyde Park Education Complex.

But scores of people in the audience came wearing stickers that said “205," referring to the current address of the Academy, 205 Townsend St. Those who oppose the move mainly cited transportation, lack of space and disruption to the academic mission as their chief concerns. 

Johnson said that she hoped to have a formal recommendation on the proposed move for the school committee at its Oct. 12 meeting.

The District/Charter Compact

The controversial District/Charter Compact was passed by a 5-to-2 vote by the School Committee. The compact offers a rough outline of how Boston schools and charter schools can explore ways the two can collaborate to improve education for all students in the city.

Despite serious concerns about transportation and how students with special needs will be handled, Chairperson Rev. Dr. Gregory Groover said, “The spirit of this compact is extraordinary.”

Boston is now one of 12 cities to have signed similar compacts, which makes it eligible for a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundation.  There are approximately 56,000 students enrolled in Boston Public Schools and roughly 6,000 students in the charter schools. 

Having approved the compact’s spirit of collaboration, Johnson said plainly, “I will do everything that I possibly can to ensure that children in the City of Boston choose the Boston Public Schools.” 

Then, to emphasize the point, she said it again.

In other news:

• Superintendent Johnson reported that that her office received more than 3,000 calls to the hotline regarding issues of transportation since the beginning of the school year. Parents with transportation concerns are urged to email her office at the new address created specifically for transportation concerns schoolbus@bostonpublicschools.org.
• Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month which will be recognized and celebrated in schools throughout the month.
• Over $2.1 million in grants were approved.
• Boston’s 2011 MCAS data from the Commonwealth was late but is expected soon. It is expected to be available online soon and will be discussed at the Oct. 5 meeting.
• Suprerintendent Johnson reported that Boston Public Schools have more than $500 million worth of deferred building maintenance needs. The jobs bill being considered by the U.S. Senate, if passed in its current form, would deliver $92 million to the BPS and go a long way toward improving its facilities.