Parents told Dorchester Academy closing in June

Community members are questioning the direction of Boston Public Schools on the heels of an announcement to close Dorchester Academy at the end of this school year, arguing that the district is setting schools, particularly in neighborhoods of color, up for failure.

“Children in alternative ed programs — those are our most needy young people in terms of needing support from the district,” Barbara Fields, a community activist told the Herald. “It seems we are intentionally closing the door to them. What is behind this practice of putting schools in a position in which they are then closed? ... It is a travesty.”

The announcement that Dorchester Academy, an alternative high school program, will be phased out at the end of this school year with remaining students being sent to Excel High School in South Boston reflects a pattern of a lack of community engagement and input into the future of BPS’ 125 schools, Fields said.

Superintendent Tommy Chang will present his proposal to close the school, announced in a letter to the school community on Friday, to the School Committee on Wednesday.

The remaining students and staff would move to Excel to continue in an alternative program.

The potential closure comes after the school was labeled underperforming by the state four years ago.

BPS brought in Action for Boston Community Development, a nonprofit that serves people in poverty, to help turn the school around. That partnership ended last summer.

Lincoln Larmond, a board member of ABCD, said the Dorchester school was never given the resources or leadership needed to survive.

“The challenges of Dorchester Academy were so huge and not enough resources were available to ABCD to do things necessary to turn the school around,” Larmond said.

“This is a pattern,” he said. “These schools that are closing are predominately in communities of color. That is problematic. It speaks so much to a larger problem within the BPS system. These schools are set up for failure.”