Half of Boston Public Schools could close under new consolidation plan
BOSTON - A new plan from Boston Public Schools (BPS) being considered by the city could see half of all public schools closed.
According to the proposal, there are too many buildings for the amount of students. BPS has seen a steady decline in enrollment since 2006.
The proposal would replace smaller, aging school school buildings with newer facilities that can hold more students. Currently, more than half of Boston schools were built before World War II and 25 percent of the buildings are 100 years old or older.
"Shifting our physical footprint will be uncomfortable and will cause disruption," said a letter signed by Superintendent Mary Skipper. "Mergers and closures are difficult and new construction and renovation projects take longer than any of us would like."
BPS said a large portion of the schools aren't fit for high-quality student experience. Forty percent don't have full science labs, 17 percent have no art spaces and half of BPS buildings are lacking auditoriums. The new buildings would include arts and science spaces, air conditioning and better accessibility for students with special needs.
"If you've got schools that we fund through enrollment and on a per student basis, when those individual schools have less kids, it means not only do they have not updated facilities but that also means they're going to have less resources," said Will Austin, the CEO of the Boston Schools Fund.
The Boston Teachers Union (BTU) said any closures or mergers need to be justified and result in improved opportunities for communities.
"These are long overdue, needed changes and I think the struggle though is that a lot of families want to know, 'Well how is this going to impact me individually?'" said Jessica Tang, the BTU president.
The plan doesn't elaborate on which schools would close, merge or be renovated. It also doesn't say when the changes would take place.