The Boston School Committee took a big step forward in its plan to phase out middle schools throughout the city in favor of a K-6 and 7-12 grade model, voting Wednesday to close three Boston schools.
Washington Irving Middle School in Roslindale, the James P. Timilty School in Roxbury and the Jackson/Mann K-8 School in Allston will close permanently in June 2022. Committee members said they wanted to cut down the number of transitions that Boston families have to endure and get rid of middle schools that struggle to get students' performance up. Superintendent Brenda Cassellius affirmed they will offer support to teachers and staff at the schools that will be shuttering.
The vote was 5-0, with 2 abstentions.
Committee member Dr. Hardin Coleman voted in favor of the closings and said middle school performance is one of the district's biggest challenges.
"Our worst statistic is the number of kids who are at our high schools unprepared to finish, and that to me is a problem we have to solve," he said. "I think this proposal is one way to get at it."
Committee member Michael O'Neill said he supports the plan because it means students will only go to two schools instead of three, easing the number of adjustment years.
"We have parents struggling with the number of transitions," he said. "So the policy that we set was to become a district that ... would predominantly be K-6 and 7-12 or K-8 and 9-12. There'll be some of both in that mix."
Cassellius addressed questions about the future of the school buildings earmarked for closure, saying that they will remain BPS property. "We absolutely need these buildings. It's almost like a chess board. We lacked swing space. We lacked the ability to move our schools anywhere and so we now have the benefit of being able to move other elementary schools into these schools, potentially merging schools and then taking schools and renovating them or maybe build new ones." She said a new school most likely will occupy the Jackson/Mann property.
The difficulties that go with closing the schools did not go unnoticed with parents and school officials. Cassellius said support is available for teachers and staff who would like to transfer to other schools in the district. She added that a transition specialist is working at each school to help families decide where they'd like to send their child.
Lauren Peter is the parent of a student at the Charles Sumner School in Boston, which is one of three elementary schools that will be accepting sixth grade students next fall. She addressed the committee, urging members to keep in communication with the students, teachers and parents as the closures move forward.
"They are not just buildings, they are communities," she said.
