Apr 11 2024 26 mins 5
The agenda for last night's meeting appeared to be rather light and straightforward, but the meeting proved to be much different.
The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where the majority of the discussion centered around the exam school admissions process. The Superintendent announced that the district had released decisions to applicants at 4:30pm and applauded the BPS team for releasing the decision earlier than last year. However, this timing was not early enough, as many families were required to put down a deposit for private schools by 12 pm the same day. Given the focus on enrollment, it was surprising BPS could not move their notification a few hours earlier.
The sole agenda item that evening was the district's quarterly report on transformation schools, as required by the state department of education. This report, while echoing the troubling patterns noted in previous updates, prompted School Committee members to voice their concerns and frustrations with the district's approach to addressing chronically underperforming schools. Members debated the ongoing support for these failing schools and questioned the timing for decisive interventions, including potential closures. The discussion underscored a deeper concern among committee members: the lack of urgency of district leadership in improving outcomes for all students.
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