Ep. 37, Last Night @ School Committee: 9/1 Meeting Recap

Last Night At School Committee

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In this episode of Last Night at School Committee, Jill and Ross recap the highlights of last night’s Boston School Committee meeting. With school starting next Thursday, the Superintendent and her team presented on back-to-school and reopening updates. While the updates began on a positive note with a recap of summer programming and backpack distribution, it quickly turned to a discussion of major operational deficiencies that remain unresolved one week before school starts: a severe bus driver shortage that will impact transportation for an unidentified number of students, a food service shortage that will prevent kids from eating fresh, healthy food, and a lack of data or accountability on how many school staff have complied with the vaccine requirement.

Following a public comment that featured the outcries of community members from Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers about the fact that they still have not been provided with adequate learning space, the School Committee received two presentations: one on reforms to the Boston Student Advisory Council, and another on updates regarding federal relief funding.

Given that students will be sitting in classrooms a week from today, we are left with the following questions:

• How will students get to school in one week? When will families know if they have transportation or not?
• What is the plan for ensuring students receive healthy food rather than plastic wrapped, processed food?
• How many staff have been vaccinated and / or signed on for weekly testing?
• What is the plan for the Horace Mann School for the Deaf? What is the plan for a long term strategy for the EMK?
• When will we see a simulation for the exam school admissions policy? Will it also be too late to take any action?
• How will we measure the impact of the ESSR funding to help inform round 3 of ESSR funding?
• What will happen if the Superintendent does not pass her licensure exam? This should be made available on September 10th.

The School Committee will meet again on September 22nd at 5pm.

Ways to Engage and Resources:

• Watch the Boston Mayoral Debate on September 9th at 7pm, and learn where candidates stand on Education in Boston
• And, of course, Vote for Mayor in September and November. Education should be a core issue for all elected officials and your vote matters.
• Advocate to the School Committee members to increase their accountability of the Superintendent and her team.
• Chair Jeri Robinson: [e-mail]
• Vice Chair Michael O’Neill: [e-mail]
• Dr. Hardin Coleman: [e-mail]
• Ernani DeAraujo: [e-mail]
• Quoc Tran: [e-mail]
• Meeting Presentations and Materials
• Preparing for School Year 2021-2022
• Boston Student Advisory Council (BSAC) Reform Update PowerPoint
• FY 22 Budget: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funding Update PowerPoint

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