BPS adds Greater Egleston and the East Boston Early Education Center to its closure list. Ten schools in all would change

Boston Public Schools now proposes closing three schools, not one. Along with Charlestown High School, the district wants to close Greater Egleston High School, a small alternative school, and the East Boston Early Education Center. Three other schools would move to new buildings and four would change the grades they serve, Boston.com reported. Superintendent Mary Skipper laid out the plan at a media briefing Monday.

The changes would reach students in Charlestown, East Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, the South End, South Boston and the Fenway. Most would take effect June 30, 2028, if approved. The plan would bring the district to 97 schools, toward a goal of about 95 by 2030, Boston 25 News reported.

The proposals

Closures

• Charlestown High School. Enrollment fell from 820 to 559 in three years. About 80% of students live outside Charlestown, and 45% have disabilities, Boston.com reported. BPS says it would bring another high school into the building as early as 2028-29.
• Greater Egleston High School. It enrolls 76 students and is the district's smallest stand-alone alternative school. BPS said its leased space can't offer athletics, career and technical education or early-college programs. Current students would get help graduating within 18 months, and others would move to another alternative school.
• East Boston Early Education Center. Elementary enrollment in East Boston fell about a quarter over a decade. Pre-K classrooms would stay in the building but become part of the adjoining McKay K-8, and current students would be guaranteed a seat at McKay, Boston 25 reported.

Moves

• Boston International High School & Newcomers Academy and the Boston Adult Technical Academy, about 535 students together, would move into the Cleveland building at 11 Charles St. in Fields Corner by September 2027, the Dorchester Reporter reported.
• Boston Green Academy would move to the renovated South Boston building at 95 G St., expected for 2028-29.

Grade changes

• The Hurley K-8 in the South End and the Joyce Kilmer K-8 would become pre-K to grade 6 schools.
• Boston Arts Academy and Fenway High School would add grades 7 and 8. BPS has not said where the added students would go.

Skipper said closures are "hard changes and recommendations to hear." In a joint statement, she and Mayor Michelle Wu said school dollars should not be "drained into half-empty or too-small school buildings," Boston.com reported. Some changes need a School Committee vote. Grade changes do not, under a 2019 policy.

What our records add

Two council items are on Wednesday's agenda. City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, who represents Charlestown and East Boston, filed for a hearing on the Charlestown closure (docket 2097). City Councilor Julia Mejia filed a resolution asking the School Committee to postpone its Dec. 2 vote on Charlestown "and any votes on any other closures, mergers, and consolidations the public has not yet been notified of" (docket 2106). Mejia filed it Nov. 1, the day before the other two closures were announced. Our Nov. 2 story has the details of both.

The council does not decide. Closures belong to the School Committee, whose members the mayor appoints. A resolution states the council's view. A hearing lets councilors question district officials on the record.

Earlier requests are still waiting. Four hearing orders on school buildings and school options have been in committee since earlier this year, as our Nov. 1 story found: Mejia's on facilities and White Stadium (docket 0188), City Councilor John FitzGerald's on school options in every neighborhood (docket 0176), City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune's on a Boston School Building Authority (docket 0294) and City Councilor Miniard Culpepper's on the O'Bryant School (docket 1421).

The spring budget debate. At an April 16 Ways and Means hearing, Louijeune asked when the district would see savings from closures and mergers. An official said the budget already reflected savings from consolidations (watch at 54:08).

What's next

• Wednesday, Nov. 4, noon: The City Council meets (agenda).
• Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m.: Skipper presents the plan to the School Committee (notice).
• Dec. 2: The School Committee is expected to vote, Boston 25 reported. BPS lists community meetings on its closures page.