Boston City Council Budget Hearing on BPS, April 16, 2026
Boston City Council Budget Hearing on BPS, April 16, 2026
This hearing of the Boston City Council's Ways and Means Committee focused on the FY27 Boston Public Schools budget. It covered topics including chronic absenteeism, unhoused students, student supports, athletics, alternative education, career and technical education, and early college. The panel included Superintendent Mary Skipper and other BPS officials. Public testimony was taken, and councilors raised concerns about funding, student services, and operational efficiency.
Consent Calendar
- The Boston School Committee unanimously passed the BPS budget on March 25, 2026.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Larry Siemens (President/CEO of Family Aid Boston): Described the EHIP program, a $4.3 million privately funded effort with 28 social workers and 22 partners. He noted childhood poverty in Boston is the fifth highest in the country and urged restoring Department of Opportunity Youth and eviction prevention funding.
- Ted Ehrlich (Managing Attorney, Greater Boston Legal Services): Stated the access-to-counsel program has served over 100 families with close to 100% success preventing homelessness. He expressed disappointment the program was not in the mayor's proposed budget and urged the council to include it via amendment.
- Gregory Maynard (Executive Director, Boston Policy Institute): Noted the state intervention in BPS ended in June 2025 and that BPS did not meet its goals, particularly on the long-term facilities plan, which still lacks enrollment projections and a timeline. He said this topic is not among the 21 agenda items for the three BPS budget hearings.
- Jess McCabe Johnson (written testimony, Family Housing Hardship Program Director at Boston College): Requested restoration of EHIP funding, citing research showing improved housing stability, well-being, and reduced chronic absenteeism among participating families.
Discussion Items
- Chronic Absenteeism: Chief McCarthy reported a 90% daily attendance rate and four consecutive years of declining chronic absenteeism, now around 25-26%. The district is considered a national model. Challenges include fractured trust, especially among immigrant families due to federal policies.
- Unhoused Students: The HERN (Housing Education Resource Network) provides school-based homeless liaisons. EHIP served 1,500 families, but funding is uncertain. The district is exploring state and private funding. The Department of Opportunity Youth will continue but with a reorganized structure, losing some positions.
- Athletics: Councilor Flynn requested paid assistant coaches for all teams. Chief McCarthy explained the current model does not budget for assistants across 31 schools. The district has three regional athletic coordinators, offers free physicals, and has partnerships with MGH and LaSelle College. The Huddle streaming technology is being used selectively.
- Access to Counsel: The legal program for eviction prevention has a near-100% success rate but is not in the mayor's proposed budget. Councilor Weber noted its importance and potential state funding of $400,000.
- Audit and Transparency: Superintendent Skipper clarified Chair Robinson's comment about an audit was forward-looking and about aligning resources with outcomes, not a fiscal audit. The district has commissioned audits via the Council of Great City Schools in areas like transportation, procurement, special education, and multilingual learners.
- Alternative Education: The alternative education department is losing four teaching positions due to the closure of Excel High School's AIP program. Students will transition to other schools.
- School Assignment: Superintendent Skipper stated the goal is high-quality options in every neighborhood before reassigning students to neighborhood schools. The shift to 7-12 schools aims to create larger high schools for healthier sports teams.
- Mental Health Providers: The district has 396 mental health providers (social workers, psychologists, counselors) with a ratio of about 117:1. School-based positions are preserved, but three district social worker positions are proposed for cuts, drawing concern from Councilor Flynn.
- FY27 Budget Overview: The budget is $1.73 billion. Pressures include rising health insurance, transportation, special education costs, collective bargaining, and enrollment decline. The district cut central office by $50 million over three years to protect school-based services.
- Career and Technical Education: Deputy Superintendent Dickens described "my cap" career plans from 4th grade and a goal for 100% of students to engage in career connected learning. Programs include paid internships, college credit, and trades like barbering and cosmetology.
- Access to Counsel: The program has served over 100 families with near-100% success preventing homelessness. It is not in the mayor's proposed budget; councilors expressed support for restoring it.
Key Outcomes
- The council will hold a hearing on May 27th regarding a possible supplemental budget request from BPS for FY26, pending school committee vote.
- BPS committed to providing an organizational chart with contact information for department leaders and a breakdown of central office contracted services.
- Councilors will continue to advocate for EHIP and access-to-counsel funding.
- The district will provide data on schools participating in the elementary sports foundation program and further details on busing costs for out-of-district students.
- Councilor Weber noted that state funding for EHIP ($400,000) is possible but uncertain.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. My name is Ben Weber. I'm the city councilor for District 6 and the chair of the Boston City Council on Ways and Means. Today is April 16th, 2026, and the exact time is uh 1010. Um this hearing is being recorded. It's also being live streamed at Boston.gov slash city-council dash TV and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, and FIOS Channel 964. The City Council's budget review process encompasses a series of public hearings beginning in April running through June. We strongly encourage residents to take a moment to engage in this process by giving testimony for the record. You can do this in several ways. One, you can attend one of our hearings and give public testimony. We will take public testimony at the end of uh each departmental hearing and also at two hearings dedicated solely to public testimony. Uh the full hearing schedules on our website at Boston.gov/slash council-budget. Our scheduled hearings uh dedicated to public testimony, which call listening sessions, are in person in City Hall on Tuesday, April 28th at 6 p.m. and in person in City Hall again on Thursday, May 26th at 6 p.m. You can give testimony in person here in the chamber or virtually via Zoom. For in-person testimony, please come to the chamber and sign up on the sheet near the entrance, which I'll just point to for anyone. And uh for virtual testimony, you can sign up using our online form on our council budget review website, or by emailing the committee at ccc.wm at Boston.gov, or by emailing Krishma Chohan, that's K-A-R-I-S-H-M-A.CHOUHAN at Boston.gov. Uh when you are called to testify, uh you can yeah, please state your name and your affiliation, your residence, and uh limit your comments to two minutes to ensure all the comments can be heard. Um email your written testimony to the committee at ccc. Or sorry, two that's one is show up in testify in person. Two, you can email your written testimony to the committee at ccc.wm at Boston.gov. That's so you can submit written testimony. Or you can, number three, you can submit a two-minute video of your testimony through the form on our website. For more information on the city council budget process and how to testify, please visit the city council's budget website at Boston.gov slash council-budget. In-person public testimony will be taken following the first round of counselor questions. Uh individuals will be called on in the order in which they have signed up and will have two minutes to testify. If you wish to sign up for public testimony, have not done so already. Please email Krishma Chohan or Central Staff Liaison. Again, her email is K-A-R-I-S-H-M-A dot C H O U H A N at Boston.gov for the zoom link and your name will be added to the list. This morning's hearing on docket number the numbers 0733 to 0740 will focus on the Boston public schools. This hearing will cover topics including chronic absenteeism, unhoused students, student supports, athletics, uh um uh uh alternative education, career and technical education, and early college. This is one of a series of hearings to review not only the uh the FY27 budget but the BPS budget. Um I want to note uh and just remind my colleagues that uh BPS central office budget is relevant to discussion at any of our BPS hearings, given the overlap of this budget with many of our specific subtopics. In the case of this particular hearing services uh that are either completely or partially central funded or are things uh we can uh expect uh our panelists should be expected to be able to address you know at certainly this hearing, I think or this afternoon's hearing, I believe tomorrow as well. Um these matters were sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and referred to the committee on April 8th uh 2026, is that right? Um I'm not sure that's when this was referred. But anyway, uh today I'm joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, uh Councillor Braden, Councilor Fitzgerald, and I received a letter of absence from Councillor Flynn. No, I'm just kidding. He's right here and he was here first. Um I have received uh a letter of absence from Councillor Culpeper. Um, based on our practice, we're we're waiving uh uh uh opening statements from counselors, which is if you have a presentation, let's hear it and you know I will give my colleagues some more time so they can make any statement they want to before they get to questions. So uh I just I'll introduce the panel. Um we're joined by superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Mary Skipper, Chief Financial Officer for Boston Public Schools, David Bloom, Chief Student Support Chief of Student Supports for Boston Public Schools, uh Corey McCarthy, senior deputy superintendent of operations, Dr. Sam Dupina, uh Deputy Superintendent of Academics, uh Dr. Simone Wright, uh welcome. Uh this is your first budget process with us, right? Um secondary uh superintendent for college career in life readiness, uh, Brett Dickens. Is that okay? Uh and um did I have all the panels? I had uh director of educational operations, Carlos Diaz on the on the list.
openpublica.com