Despite the protests of parents and educators, the Boston School Committee officially approved the closure of three schools and the merger of two others in a 5-1 vote Thursday night.
School Committee Chairperson Jeri Robinson said the vote was in students best interest.
“There are going to be a lot of people not happy with the decision,” Robinson said. “But in the long run, I think the people that we have to think most about are students … Our number one job is to improve student outcomes.”
The changes are part of a Long-Term Facilities Plan outlining how the district will shutter one-fifth of BPS schools by 2030 as the school-age population in Boston declines. School committee members said larger schools will be able to offer more to students.
Alexandra Orlinsky, a teacher at the Dever, an elementary school slated for closure, disagreed during a public comment period.
“It’s about repurposing a building, pushing paperwork, playing politics and making decisions that look good on paper but devastate real families,” Orlinsky said. “Walk zones and buildings for us do not measure the quality of a school. The learning and support happening inside of it does.”
So did Dever teacher Nicole Livingstone, who said the school has been a sanctuary for immigrant students and students dealing with homelessness.
“Our schools are a lifeline for these students, and BPS claims to stand with immigrants and their families,” Livingstone said. “Are you, as a school committee, willing to accept a plan that ostracizes them further? Raise the bar higher.”
In addition to the Dever, the committee voted to shutter Excel High School in South Boston (formerly South Boston High School), the Community Academy in Jamaica Plain, and the Mary Lyon Pilot High School in Brighton at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
The Winthrop and Clap elementary schools will also be merged into a new Lilla G. Frederick Elementary School in the fall of 2026, taking over a space in Dorchester that is now a middle school.
Parents and educators have protested the plan since it was announced in January, saying the affected schools disproportionately serve low-income and high-needs students.
But BPS administrators have said the buildings are unable to offer a complete array of student services as the district moves to a special education classroom inclusion model. According to the district, the school buildings are not large enough to provide what it calls a “high quality student experience,” and spaces that are accessible to all students.
Committee member Stephen Alkins acknowledged that closures can be painful, but said the end result would be better overall.
“When you move students to higher-quality educational opportunities, you reduce those negative outcomes,” he said.
Dever parent Cheryl Buckman, who has spent months protesting the closures, told GBH News after the vote that she was hoping more school committee members would have objected.
“But listening to them even further, it seemed like the hope of saving the school turned into shattered dreams,” Buckman said. “I lost my composure in front of the computer and had to walk away because I knew that my son had lost his support system.”
Dever parents issued a press release demanding BPS to reconsider the closure. They also called for an independent investigation into the decision-making process.
