For the record, my name is Brian Warrell, District Four City Councillor.

For the record, my name is Brian Warrell, District 4 City Councilor, and I'm the vice chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Education.

And I will be conducting today's hearing in the chair's absence.

Today is September 17, 2026.

The exact time is 210 PM.

This hearing is being recorded, is also being live streamed at Boston.gov backslash city dash council dash TV and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, and files channel 964.

Rear and comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.education at Boston.gov.

It'll be made part of the record and available to all counselors.

Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing.

Individuals will be called on in order which they signed up.

We'll have two minutes to testify.

If you are in interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber.

If you're looking to testify virtually, please email our central staff, liaison megan at M E A G A N dot C O R U G E D O M A T R I N at Boston.gov for the link.

Your name will be added to the list.

Today's hearing is on docket number 0507.

Order for a hearing to discuss strategies to prevent homeless homelessness among students in the Boston public schools.

This matter was sponsored by Counselor Ben Weber, Liz Braden, and Counselor Julie Mejia.

Referred to the committee on March 11, 2026.

Today I'm joined by my council colleagues in order of arrival, Council President Braden, Council Weber, Councilor Flynn, and Councillor Kaletta Zapata.

We also have a letter absence from Councillor Mejia, Councillor Louie Gen, and Councillor Pepin.

I'll now turn it over to the original co-sponsor, original sponsor, Council Weber, then to the rest of my colleagues for opening statements.

Council Weber, the floor is yours.

Okay, thank you very much, uh Chair Warrell.

My thoughts are with uh Chair Mejia today.

Um I just I'd also like to thank counselors Braden and Mejia for for co-sponsoring this hearing.

Uh just we're gonna talk about homelessness today.

I just want to level set.

Um, you know, there's a uh a really uh informative article by the Boston College of School Social Work uh report uh that came out uh I think in the spring of 2026 called School Housing Partnership Achievement and Challenges in Boston, Massachusetts.

And they look at what we're doing and and what we're doing right and what we need to work on.

Um but it in that report they define homelessness.

So I just I I think it's important just to look at that.

They say homelessness is lacked lacking fixed regular and adequate nighttime residence and living uh uh and living in a shelter in public or private places not meant for human sleeping at motels, hotels, trailer parks, or campgrounds because no alternative, adequate alternative option exists.

And uh one version is doubling up under financial duress.

So it's we know where people are living with another family because they they can't afford to live in their in their housing.

And I think part of the reason why it's so hard to track how many students are experiencing homelessness is because we we don't really know when families are doubling up, but that practice, you know, we can talk about that.

But that is um you know part of what we're talking about.

So the the school social work lays out you know a lot of sobering statistics.

Family homelessness family homelessness is on the rise, but it's especially critical uh especially critical problem here in Massachusetts, where according to the report, roughly one in every 10 families experiencing homelessness nationwide are in Massachusetts.

Um during the 2024 to 2025 school year, the report says 5,405 students were identified as homeless, a number that's increasing every year and increasing as a percentage of the students in our in BPS every year.

Now it's more than 10% of our student body.

Uh I'm repeatedly told that that number is lower than the actual number because again, it's hard to identify everyone out there who's experiencing homelessness, uh, especially those who are who are who are doubling up due to financial distress.

Okay, so um and it's so and the data or the studies have shown that experiencing homelessness has a tangible negative impact on our students.

A study of 15-year-olds found that they have lower grades, worse test scores, higher absenteeism, and more behavioral problems in school if they've had even one episode of housing stability, housing instability by the age of nine.

And there's even the studies show that those kids who have had issues of homelessness score worse than their peers who are merely in low-income households.

So it's just that one episode of homelessness, we see the effects, you know, uh downstream.

Another bit of data from the BC report, you know, I thought is worth highlighting is who we're talking about.

So, you know, I had I had uh uh an issue in my district in West Roxbury, opening up a you know, an emergency assistant shelter, the state was uh there, and there was a lot of pushback.

And you go into these meetings and people would talk about well, they're gonna bring mass and cases to the neighborhood.

These people, they're gonna, you know, they're gonna be drug addicts, they're gonna have criminal records, and you know, from my experience, and and I recommend anyone go to Horizons for the homeless uh uh to which provides daycare and pre-K for people with kids in the shelter system.

These are single moms with young kids.

They're often, you know, work still working.

Some of you know, some have just lost their job or they've had some issue, and they just have no safety net, and so they're placed into this system.

And the data from the school social works report shows that these are primarily young moms with two to three kids.

Over 80% of them have graduated from high school, 20% close to have graduated from college.

Uh, and they're you know, they just they need some help, and they they and and you know, we I think you know have to do more to to help them.

So, and just this morning, okay.

I I I think I talked to you, Corey, I spoke to uh a woman who met that description.

She's in an EA shelter here in Boston.

Uh she's a graduate of BLS.

She's got two kindergartners, one with autism, uh, and she's a registered nurse.