City Services

BPS Families Receiving Free Admission to Boston’s Cultural Institutions Thanks to City Pilot Program

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As part of Mayor Michelle Wu's State of the City address on Tuesday, she announced a new pilot program partnership between cultural institutions that will allow Boston Public School students and their family free access to the Children's Museum, Museum of Science and more. In an experimental pilot program, starting in February 2024, on the first and second Sundays of each month, every BPS student and up to three family members will get free admission to the Boston Children’s Museum, the Franklin Park Zoo, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Science, and the New England Aquarium. Families will show a BPS school ID or an electronic pass to gain admission, said Wu. The city and institutions will track attendance and also develop plans to extend the pilot. "We are thrilled to partner with the city and our colleagues to bring free cultural experiences to BPS students and their families,” said Tim Ritchie, president of the Museum of Science.

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City Services

City & Boston Schools Discussing ‘A Reimagined White Stadium’ in July 13 Virtual Meeting

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City officials are hosting a meeting to discuss revitalizing Franklin Park's White Stadium to be the "centerpiece of Boston Public Schools athletics" on July 13. White Stadium was constructed in 1945 in the Playstead area of Franklin Park, and since then it has held many sporting events -- football games, track meets, and a lot more. Sadly, the stadium is in disrepair, isn't up to code and doesn't meet accessibility requirements, said the city. But the city is planning a signifiant investment in the stadium and athletics facilities. After a recent assessment, desired improvements will include an expanded staff office, a modern press box, improved locker rooms, and an 8-lane track, according to the city's website.

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Schools

Free Meals for Kids and Teens This Summer

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The Boston Public Schools is offering free summer meals to all young people 18 years old and younger at more than 100 locations across the city. Free meals will be available in Jamaica Plain in the following locations:

Curtis Hall Community Center (20 South St.) with breakfast at 8 am and lunch at 12 pm
English High School (144 McBride St.) with breakfast 8-9 am and lunch 11 am to 1 pm
Curley K-8 School (40 Pershing Road) with breakfast 8-9:30 am and lunch 11 am to 1 pm
City on a Hill Church (445 Arborway) on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday with lunch at 11:30 am
Hyde Square Task Force (30 Sunnyside St.) with lunch at 12 pm

Locations will offer breakfast and/or lunch services to students, and no identification or pre-registration is required. This year's free meal program began on July 6, and will be offered through late August. Locations aren't just in Boston, they are available throughout the state. Learn more about the program and find a meal site by visiting projectbread.org/summereats or by calling 1-800-645-8333.

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Government

Boston Celebrates First Electric School Buses

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Forty-two different schools have been selected to have some of their students ride the first electric schools buses in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) school bus fleet. Mayor Michelle Wu and other city personnel celebrated the arrival of the first two electric school buses on Feb. 6. Eighteen more buses will be coming to Boston in the coming weeks and are expected to be used following the February school vacation, according to a press release. “I’m grateful to the many people who have been instrumental in getting Boston to this point and helping us demonstrate the many overlapping benefits of moving to a green economy and ensuring that our kids and our workforce are at the center of that transition,” said Wu.

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Coronavirus

BPS Asks Students and Staff to Please Wear Masks for Eight Days

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Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper sent a letter to the BPS community asking staff and students to wear masks to limit spreading COVID, RSV, and other illnesses, for the first eight days of school in January. "This is our ask and expectation of students and staff, not a mandate—which will be in effect during the school day on school premises and school buses," wrote Skipper. She emphasized that no one will be disciplined or sent home if they refuse to wear a mask. Skipper said the hope is to "maximize our ability to keep students healthy and minimize staff absences during this high-risk period," and that it's a temporary ask for students from Jan. 4 to Jan.

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Boston Public Schools

Superintendent Recommends Closing Mission Hill K-8 School After Investigations

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The Mission Hill K-8 School allowed students to be sexually and physically abused, harassed, and bullied for years, as school staff ignored repeated parental allegations, according to a 189-page external investigation. In a letter to the Boston Public Schools community, Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said she called for multiple investigations last fall after receiving additional complaints last summer. Cassellius is recommending that the School Committee vote in a special session next week to close the school at the end of the school year. Cassellius said that a change of leadership at the school would not change the culture of the school due to, "...lack of accountability shown by school leadership leaves no hope that simple changes in leadership or governance structure would address the pervasive, underlying issues that contributed to the unsafe conditions at the school." Shortly before this school year began, BPS removed the school's two leaders.

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Schools

Iron Workers Union Distributes School Supply Donations to Boston Teachers and Families

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It's no secret that many teachers spend their own money on supplies to help students succeed. With that in mind, Iron Workers Local 7 recently donated supplies to hundreds of Boston teachers and families. Iron Workers Local 7 NEXT Committee host its 2nd Annual Mid-Year School Supply Drive on Feb. 26 to replenish school supplies for Boston students and teachers. Hundreds of Local 7 families and Boston area students and teachers stopped by the union hall in South Boston to pick up new supplies.

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Boston Public Schools

Boston Public Schools Superintendent to Resign at End of School Year

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Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius submitted her resignation on Monday to transition out of her role at the end of school year. "When I arrived in Boston in July 2019, I couldn’t have predicted that eight months later the world as we knew it would change. Since then we’ve confronted a global pandemic, reckoned with escalating racial division and civil unrest, and worked to repair community relationships that had eroded trust in our schools and confidence in our city," wrote Cassellius in her letter. "It is nothing short of remarkable that in the midst of it all we also developed a community-wide vision for equitable and excellent schools in every neighborhood of Boston; made historic steps forward in expanding access to our nation-leading exam schools; implemented a rigorous set of high graduation standards for every high school in the district with adoption of the MassCore; and put in place more just and transparent attendance, code of conduct, student privacy and grading policies." Cassellius thanked former Mayor Marty Walsh for hiring her, acting mayor Kim Kaney, and Wu in her letter.

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Schools

Curley School Families and Community Not Happy with State’s Decision

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State Education Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley said the state will not accept all remote learning days as official days that Curley K-8 School will take while facing a COVID-19 outbreak. It's fair to say that the Curley School community and the general public is incensed by Riley and Boston Public School leaders. Curley School parent Jocelyn Stanton created a change.org petition to honor all of the remote learning days. The Twittersphere has been packed with opinions about Riley, BPS leadership, Curley School teachers, science, math, and more. People are really not happy with Riley.

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Coronavirus

COVID-19 Outbreaks at Two Jamaica Plain Elementary Schools

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The Curley K-8 School and the Joseph P. Manning Elementary School have both had outbreaks of COVID-19 this week. The Curley K-8 community received an email around 5:30 pm today saying "that 24 members of the Curley K-8 community recently accessed the building and tested positive for COVID-19." The email said school officials are working closely with the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), and due to the advice of the BPHC "one or more individuals are now in quarantine and have been provided with specific next steps according to their situation..." The email did not provide information about whether those who tested positive are students, faculty, or staff. This news comes on top of the Manning School having 16 confirmed cases in a school of 175 students, according to WBUR.

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