BPS says it won’t close half of its buildings
Skipper vows extreme end of options will not occur
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.”
The communication was sent after the Globe reported “as many as half of Boston’s public schools could close in coming years” based on the “possible future range of BPS school buildings” sketched out in the district’s new comprehensive facilities plan. Other media outlets also reported the district plan outlines BPS could close up to half of its schools.
The district has 119 schools. As previously reported, the plan states the district could have as few as 59 buildings serving students in grades pre-K through 12 and up to 104.
The BPS plan does not specify which schools could close or merge, could be renovated or rebuilt, and doesn’t provide a timeline for deciding. But, the plan envisions a future with fewer buildings, accommodating a mix of small and large schools, with multiple core classes in each grade and spaces for arts, music, gyms, and libraries. The district has 87 buildings for students in grades pre-K through 6; that number in the future could be as few as 40 or, at most, 80 buildings, the plan states. At the secondary level, there are 31 school buildings for students in grades 712; there could be as few as 19 buildings or as many as 24 under the plan.
According to Skipper’s communication, the lower end of the range, 59 total buildings, is an “extreme and very unrealistic scenario.”
“The plan outlines models of ideal school sizes and it is true that many of our school buildings are too small to house them,” she said in the letter. “HOWEVER, we have said consistently that BPS will continue to have many smaller schools, offering a range of specialized and diverse programming.”
The plan contemplates schools with as few as 356 students for the smallest pre-K-6 schools, to 1,620 students for the largest 7-12 schools. Currently, BPS has dozens of schools with fewer than
250 students.
The possible future ranges listed in the plan account for the continued existence of some smaller specialty schools. For example, the plan notes, if every BPS school building for grades 7 to 12 school fit one of the models the plan lays out, there would be just 14-19 secondary school buildings; instead, the plan states “a more realistic range for secondary schools would be 1924,” as reported in the Globe story. Likewise, for pre-K-6, the plan states the “range may be closer to 40-80,” whereas there could be as few as 37 if all schools fit the models.
“In some places, we have schools that are too small to host a range of programming and provide a continuum of services,” the plan states. “In many areas of Boston, if students cannot access a high-quality experience close to home, they may be assigned to schools across the city — particularly if they need specific programs or services.”
In the letter, Skipper said she would share more information with the school leaders in a meeting Thursday. The district will also hold a public webinar on the plan Jan. 17.
The BPS plan does not include long-term enrollment projections, specific budget proposals, or targets for how many new projects should take place each year. The only timeline in the plan is for the next 18 months, in which officials would submit new proposals each spring in time for School Committee votes and the city’s capital budget.
The proposal to consolidate into fewer, larger schools is driven by multiple considerations, including dwindling enrollment due to falling birth rates, rising charter school enrollment, the cost of raising a family in Boston, and migration to the suburbs. The district’s buildings are also overdue for major investment, with more than half built before World War II and most lacking comprehensive HVAC systems.
But the consolidation would also be geared toward creating a “high-quality student experience for every student,” which requires sufficiently large schools with full enrollment, according to the plan. The experience was defined based on community input gathered through a survey and public meetings last year.
Underenrolled schools in BPS tend to have fewer offerings, especially at the high school level, such as Advanced Placement classes and arts and music electives. Fewer students mean smaller, less efficient budgets, since BPS allocates funding based on head count and small schools don’t benefit from economies of scale.
The plan is the culmination of nearly two years of work by city and district officials, and consultants dating back to the
May 2022 launch of Mayor Michelle Wu’s Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools.
Wu launched the Green New Deal with a pledge to spend more than $2 billion overhauling school buildings, partially with an eye toward energy efficiency and climate resilience. The city spent $3 million hiring the design firm DLR Group for a districtwide planning study. The comprehensive facilities plan was required under an agreement the city made with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in June 2022 to avert a state takeover.
The district spent 18 months gathering community input and data on the condition of the city’s schools. The district conducted a comprehensive review of its infrastructure, made public in October, and held community workshops on the framework it will use to assess potential projects, both of which are paired with the new plan. The consultants also produced new design guidelines for future builds and renovations.
The first proposals for new projects under the new facilities plan are slated for March or April.