BPS proposes closing Charlestown High in 2028. Council hearing requests on school buildings have waited since January

Boston Public Schools said Saturday it is considering closing Charlestown High School. If the plan is approved, the school would close on June 30, 2028, CBS Boston reported. Families with students now in the building, and anyone who expected their child to enroll there, have a stake in what happens next.

What the district says

• Enrollment. The school had 820 students in 2023 and 559 this year, BPS spokesperson Sujata Wycoff told CBS Boston. The district expects the drop to continue as smaller classes move up: there are 207 students in 12th grade and 48 in 7th grade, according to the station.
• Students. Students now in 11th and 12th grade could graduate from Charlestown High on schedule. Students in other grades would get priority to enroll at other schools the following year, CBS reported. The district has not named those schools.
• The building. Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper said the city and BPS would work with neighbors and families to bring another high school into the building, possibly as early as the 2028-29 school year. In a joint statement they called closing a school "one of the hardest decisions we have to make as a district," according to CBS.
• The vote. The Boston School Committee is expected to take up the proposal on Dec. 2, CBS reported.

What councilors have said

City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, who represents Charlestown, wrote that the community deserves a meaningful voice in the school's future, CBS reported. In a letter she posted on Instagram, she raised questions about funding, academics and the long-term future of neighborhood secondary schools, and asked for a hearing on Dec. 2, Boston 25 News reported.

City Councilor Erin Murphy (at-large) asked what priority placement would mean in practice and which schools could take affected students. "Families need more than a promise of priority placement," she said, according to CBS. Both councilors have filed for a council hearing, the station reported. Those orders do not yet appear in the council's records.

What our records add

The enrollment drop was discussed at City Hall in the spring. At the council's April 16 Ways and Means hearing on the school budget, a BPS official said Charlestown High "is supposed to have about 800 kids" but had around 500, and that staffing had been cut to match the smaller student body (watch at 52:03). At the same hearing day, Skipper described a "historic enrollment decline" that she attributed in large part to federal immigration policy and lower birth rates (watch at 18:18).

City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune (at-large) asked then when the district would see savings from school closures and mergers. A BPS official answered that the budget already reflected significant savings from mergers and consolidations (watch at 54:08).

When the council voted on the school budget June 3, Coletta Zapata said her district had seen enrollment fall, "especially in my district at Charlestown High School," which she tied to rising housing costs and fear in immigrant communities. She said the district was planning for about 3,000 fewer students than two years earlier (watch at 2:28:44).

Council orders on school buildings and options have not moved. Four hearing requests that touch on where BPS students go to school remain in committee:

• Docket 0188, City Councilor Julia Mejia's order for a hearing on BPS facilities, public assets and White Stadium, referred Jan. 28, 277 days ago.
• Docket 0176, City Councilor John FitzGerald's order on access to high-quality school options in every neighborhood, also referred Jan. 28.
• Docket 0294, Louijeune's order on creating a Boston School Building Authority, referred Feb. 4.
• Docket 1421, City Councilor Miniard Culpepper's order on the future of the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, referred July 22.

None has been reported out of committee, according to our records. The council does not vote on school closures; that decision belongs to the appointed School Committee. A council hearing lets councilors question district officials on the record.

What's next

• Nov. 4: The City Council meets at noon. Its agenda has not been posted (notice). New hearing orders are usually introduced and referred to a committee at a regular meeting.
• Nov. 9: The Education Committee has a hearing scheduled on how BPS staff cuts affect students with disabilities (docket 1333).
• Dec. 2: The School Committee is expected to consider the proposal.