Officials update exam school proposal ahead of vote
Boston Public Schools officials offered updates to a hotly debated exam school admissions proposal Wednesday night ahead of a school committee vote that would change the manner in which students gain access to the city’s prestigious schools for one year.
The proposal, created by the Exam School Admissions Working Group, would issue invitations to Boston’s exam schools not based on an entrance test, but rather by weighing student performance, zip code and GPA or MCAS results.
Monica Roberts, BPS chief of student, family and community advancement, shared a presentation that provided an update about zip codes, which will now be ordered from the lowest to highest family income with children under 18, instead of median household income.
A special provision presented by Roberts will place homeless students or those living in Department of Children and Families care outside Boston into the lowest income bracket, meaning they will get a higher priority.
Roberts also presented additional recommendations including continued work on expanding the exam school applicant pool, and providing opportunities and funding to prepare new students enrolled in exam schools and young students who wish to apply.
The proposal has stirred up heated community discussion since it was presented, which continued at Wednesday night’s school committee meeting as 185 people signed up for public comment, about double the typical amount.
Mayor Martin Walsh made a rare appearance during the meeting to express his support for the proposal.
“It does not meet our public health guidelines to administer a citywide exam in the middle of a pandemic. And for these reasons, I asked the committee to adopt the superintendent’s, and working group’s, proposal,” Walsh said.
Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston chapter of the NAACP, said, “This will undoubtedly be a defining moment in our city.”
She said, “Tonight we are making a historic and positive, transformative mark on our city that will help move us into the next chapter and change hopefully our city for the better.”
The presentation and comments were met with several questions from committee members. The vote was expected to take place Wednesday night, toward the conclusion of the meeting.