MAYOR WU and Boston Public Schools superintendent Mary Skipper recently announced plans to close and consolidate several schools. The closures and consolidations aim to improve the educational experience, respond to declining enrollment numbers, and ultimately improve student learning outcomes.
There are 119 school buildings in operation across the district – many of which are in disrepair and/or underutilized. Maintaining this status quo comes at a significant financial and operational cost. It has been evident for over a decade that something must be done to improve students’ learning environments more efficiently and effectively. The mayor and superintendent should be commended for getting the ball rolling on these steps to rightsize the Boston Public School district.
There will be a lot of conversation about whether these particular schools should close or be consolidated, if too many or too few schools are affected, and if the process involved the right people at the right time. These questions leave little room for what comes after any decision: how closures and consolidations are implemented and what happens to students and educators in the process. Over EdVestors’ two decades of work with public schools in Boston, we have researched and observed essential lessons to draw from as the city and district move forward with plans to close, merge, and build new school communities.
There are many fast-moving changes that schools slated for closure or consolidation typically face in relatively short order, from leadership transitions to staff turnover. We have found that the number of school-wide changes and the pace at which these changes are expected to move can impact a school’s ability to meet students’ learning needs.
The timeline for the proposed closings and consolidations presented by BPS and the mayor’s office is a helpful first step to guarding against past missteps. However, district leaders should assess individual schools’ capacity to handle operational changes and carefully consider any additional initiatives the school is asked to take on.
When selecting principals for consolidated and new school communities, the district should focus on sustaining and/or building a positive, professional school culture. This includes supporting leaders to implement common practices across the building and engage teachers in school improvement efforts, cultivating a shared student-centric vision, and valuing collaboration and continuous learning for all educators.
We know that students moving to new schools from closed or merged schools can often experience academic setbacks. We cannot allow this to be true for our young people in Boston. The city and district must work with students and families to meet their individual learning and non-academic needs. Given the district’s planned approach to announcing school changes annually, ensuring students do not experience more than one transition caused by a closure during their BPS schooling is paramount.
For a long time, the only working conversation on this topic was “to close or not to close.” While the need to reconfigure the district is obvious, how it happens matters greatly.
The capacity for change must be considered at school and district levels to best serve and meet the needs of the affected students, families, and educators. Schools are delicate ecosystems; they must be tended to as such.
Any political prognosticator would say no mayor seeking to retain their office would propose closing schools in an election year. Mayor Wu and her team deserve credit for bucking this conventional wisdom. Now, we need to see it through with the needs of students, families, and educators front and center.
Marinell Rousmaniere is the president & CEO of EdVestors.
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