Boston City Council Hearing on FY27 BPS Budget – April 17, 2026
Boston City Council Hearing on FY27 BPS Budget – April 17, 2026
The Boston City Council Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Councilor Ben Weber, held a hearing on April 17, 2026, from 10:09 AM to approximately 3:00 PM, to review the FY27 budget for Boston Public Schools. The hearing focused on inclusion, multilingual learners, special education, curriculum, partnerships, summer programming, family and community outreach, and mergers and closures. Two administrative panels testified, and public testimony was heard from students and adults.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Several students from the Mendel School testified, requesting more bilingual teachers, better playgrounds, gyms, security, and multicultural food. They emphasized the need for support for students with disabilities and English learners.
- John Mudd (Cambridge resident, education advocate) criticized BPS’s approach to multilingual learners, stating that less than 10% of multilingual learners meet state standards in ELA and math, and that 5% of multilingual learners with disabilities meet standards. He called for a long-term plan to expand bilingual education.
- Kate Della Rosa (parent mentor) argued that budget cuts disproportionately harm students with disabilities and multilingual learners, noting that 134 student-facing positions were cut while $30.5 million was added to special education. She urged restoring positions and centralizing BPS health insurance.
- Cassandra Cribbs (parent mentor at Mather School) shared personal experience of her child’s progress due to special education services and stressed the need to protect funding.
- Altamise Diaz (grandmother of a student at Roger Clapp School) spoke in Spanish, asking for 1% of the city’s operating budget for schools and emphasizing the importance of inclusion for students with special needs.
- Ediana Baez (immigrant, single mother) and Natalie Damate (mother of three) also testified, with Damate highlighting her son’s full scholarship to Northeastern University as an example of what is possible with proper support.
- Dora Sandoval and David Baptiste (parent mentors) echoed concerns about budget cuts to special education.
- Dr. Karis McLaughlin (Roxbury resident) expressed outrage at low numbers of Black and Latino students exceeding expectations on MCAS, calling the district-wide performance a disgrace.
Discussion Items
- Panel 1 – Inclusion, Multilingual Learners, Special Education, Curriculum:
- Superintendent Mary Skipper and Dr. Simone Wright presented academic progress, including 4,051 high school students in career pathways, a 42% expansion of bilingual education (from 8 to 14 programs), and improvements in English proficiency and graduation rates for students with disabilities.
- Councillors questioned the net loss of special education personnel (179 FTE, including 120 paras) and the impact on students. Chief Financial Officer David Bloom explained that most reductions come from school closures and reconfigurations, not service cuts.
- Councillor Murphy pressed for measurable academic benchmarks, noting that less than 30% of students read on grade level, and that only 10% of students with disabilities do. Dr. Wright responded that every BPS curriculum is evidence-based and that the district is moving toward full implementation of high-quality instructional materials.
- Councillor Braden asked about expansion of bilingual programs; Chief Joelle Gamer reported that 4 new programs were added this year and a new TBE program will start at the Ellis next year, with a first-in-the-nation Cape Verdean Creole program at the Frederick.
- Councillor Weber raised concerns about inclusion model staffing and the challenge of meeting needs of multilingual learners and special education students simultaneously. Officials emphasized service mapping and monthly data updates.
- Panel 2 – Partnerships, Summer Programming, Family and Community Outreach, Mergers and Closures:
- Deputy Superintendent Dr. Anna Tavares and Chief Magali Sanchez detailed summer programming (over 8,300 summer learning academy seats, 16,000–20,000 total opportunities), family engagement through school site councils, and language access services (23,000 requests in 68 languages).
- Chief Delivern Stanislaus discussed the long-term facilities plan, aiming for 95 schools by 2030 (down from 105 currently, with 100 after next year). Mergers and closures saved $23 million, with 96% of students from closed schools placed in their top-choice schools.
- Councillor Flynn asked about Excel High School closure; long-term plans include a new BPS high school at the site, with community engagement and preservation of World War I memorabilia.
- Councillor Braden inquired about the Alston-Brighton elementary school study, the timeline for Boston Green Academy’s move, and UPK expansion at the Mary Lyon (adding K0 and K1).
- Councillor Warrell questioned the partnership funding page (showing zeros) and learned that partnership funding is entirely grant-funded ($7 million in school-based funds).
- Councillor Culpepper raised concerns about parent involvement, school site councils, and the Private Industry Council (PIC) partnership ($1.3 million annually for youth employment and dropout recovery).
Key Outcomes
- No official votes were taken; the hearing was informational.
- BPS committed to restore three supervisors of attendance positions following advocacy.
- Chief Bloom agreed to provide detailed clarification on page 57 of the budget book (central office staffing and spending) by end of day.
- BPS will share data on per-pupil spending disaggregated by health insurance and other costs, as well as demographic breakdowns of exam school admissions and MCAS performance.
- Councillor Flynn proposed a working group to explore moving BPS employee health insurance under the city’s umbrella; Superintendent Skipper expressed willingness to participate.
- BPS officials promised to follow up on specific questions about special education funding, multilingual learner staffing, and the long-term facilities plan timeline.
- The hearing was adjourned with plans to continue budget hearings the following week.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. Um, my name's Ben Weber. I am the Boston City Councilor for District Six and the chair of the Boston City Council on Ways and Means. Today is April seventeenth, two thousand twenty-six. The exact time is ten oh nine AM. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov slash city dash council dash TV and broadcast on Xfinity Channel Eight, RCN Channel Eighty Two, and File's Channel Nine Sixty Four. The council's budget review process will encompass a series of public hearings that began this week and uh run through June. We strongly encourage residents to take a moment to engage in this process by giving testimony in uh you know, for the record, which you can do in one of several ways. First, you can attend one of our hearings and give public testimony. We'll take public testimony. Uh usually at the end of our first round of questions for my colleagues. Um and you can also give public testimony at two hearings dedicated to public testimony. The full hearing schedules on our website at Boston.gov/slash council dash budget. Our scheduled hearings that are dedicated to public testimony, these are listening sessions, are both in person at City Hall. First on Tuesday, April 28th at 6 p.m. And then 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, uh come to the chamber and sign up on the sheet that's near the entrance. If for anyone in the room who plans on testifying, you haven't signed up, the sign in sheets over there. Um for virtual testimony, you can sign up using our online form on our council uh budget review website, or by emailing the committee at ccc.wm at boston.gov, or by emailing Krishma Chohan at K A R I S H M A dot C H O U H A N at Boston.gov. When you are called to testify, please state your name and affiliation and your uh your residence uh and then uh please limit your comments to a few minutes so we can ensure all comments and concerns can be heard. Email your written testimony. Um sorry, so in in lieu of showing up here and testifying in person or in Zoom, you can also email your written testimony to the committee at ccc.wm at Boston.gov. Another option is you can submit a two-minute video of your testimony through the form on our website. Uh okay, and then uh for information on the city council budget process and how to testify, you can visit the city council's budget website at Boston.gov slash council dash budget. In person public testimony uh again uh will be taken following the first round of counselor questions. Individuals will be called on in the order in which they have signed up, and we'll have two minutes to testify. Uh if you're listening online and you uh haven't signed up yet, you can sign up by emailing our director of legislative budget uh analysis, that's Chris Machouan at 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 is on docket uh dock it's number docket numbers 0733 to 0740. The focus of the of this hearing is the FY27 budget for the Boston Public Schools. This hearing will cover topics included including inclusion, multilingual learners, uh special education, curriculum, partnership, summer programming, family and community outreach, and mergers and closures. Uh this is one of a series of hearings to review the FY27 budget, and this is the third of three hearings with BPS. Uh I I want to note uh for my colleagues that the BPS Central Office budget is relevant to the discussion at at any of our BPS hearings, given the overlap of this budget with many of our specific subtopics. Uh in this case, this particular hearing uh which will touch upon mergers and closures and centrally funded offices that coordinate with schools on inclusion partnership summer programming and family and community outreach. Um given the number of topics covering we're covering today, where we're we're gonna have two administrative panels. The first panel will cover inclusion, multilingual learners, special education, and curriculum. The second panel will cover partnerships, summer programming, family and community outreach, and mergers and closures. These matters were sponsored by Michelle Wu and were referred to the committee on April 8th, 2026. Today I'm joined by my colleagues in order of arrival. No surprise, uh first counselor Flynn, then Councillor Murphy, and Madam President Braden. Uh oh, sorry, uh that we also have received a letter of absence from uh councillor Coletta Zapada. Um for our first panel, we have uh we have superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Mary Skipper, uh, we have Chief Financial Officer David Bloom, Deputy Superintendent of Academics, Simone Dr. Simone Wright, apologize, uh, uh Chief of Chief of Office of Multicultural Multilingual Education, Joelle Gamer. Am I okay, got that right? Uh, and senior advisor of specialized services, Christine Trevis Sohn. If I okay, again, apologize. Uh, and then uh just for my colleagues, we're expected to have a panel this afternoon with the chief of capital planning uh uh Delivern Stanislaus, uh Chief Financial Officer Bloom, uh Deputy Superintendent Community Family Advancement Dr. Anna Tavares, Chief of Family Advancement, Migali Sanchez, Chief of Community Engagement, Mary Amorties, and Development Officer for Strategy Partnerships and Innovation, Dr. Ann Clark.
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