Ep. 77, Last Night @ School Committee: 1/11 Meeting Recap

Last Night At School Committee

Last night was the first full School Committee meeting of 2023, following last week’s annual Organizational Meeting in which the Committee approved their 2023 meeting schedule and reappointed Chair Jeri Robinson and Vice Chair Michael O’Neill to their leadership positions.

The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where Superintendent Skipper provided updates on COVID-19, school safety, and enrollment. The Superintendent also announced the formation of a new transportation advisory council and discussed updated bus performance data – a topic that dominated the remainder of the meeting.

After a public comment period focused on health and safety concerns as well as frustration from parents at the Sumner Elementary School regarding the proposed merger process, the meeting continued with a report and recommendations on transportation from the Council of Great City Schools. Transportation is an issue that has plagued BPS for decades and was highlighted as a key area for improvement mandated by the State last year. Last night’s report echoed previous reports of the past decade in providing recommendations such as implementing a three-tier bell system, improving routing methods, and improving data collection. However, School Committee members expressed concerns that BPS does not have data on how many kids actually ride the bus each day, a key data point that must precede any proposed reforms to the system. Members also noted limitations in their ability to institute change as a result of the new bus drivers contract that the Committee itself approved last year.

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