The schools-police agreement BPS says it signed but police have not: Flynn asks the mayor for every version

City Councilor Ed Flynn wants to see the written agreement that governs how Boston Public Schools and the Boston Police Department work together, along with any drafts and expired versions. His request under Section 17F of the city charter is on the council's agenda for Wednesday, Nov. 4 (docket 2105; text).

For families, this agreement, a memorandum of understanding (MOU), sets the ground rules for what happens when police come into a school. It covers how information moves between school safety staff and officers when there is a weapon, a threat or an arrest. The request comes after two recent incidents. A 14-year-old was arrested Oct. 28 with a loaded ghost gun at Snowden International High School, WBZ NewsRadio reported. On Oct. 27, phoned-in bomb threats emptied schools and colleges and were later found to be unfounded, Patch reported. The charges against the student are allegations, and juvenile cases are not public.

What the request asks

The order is one line long. It asks the mayor to deliver, within a week, "any drafted, existing, or expired Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), cooperation agreements or collaborative partnership" between BPS and BPD. A 17F order asks the administration for records. It does not hold a hearing or change policy.

What our records add

Flynn has asked about this agreement twice before, on the record.

At an April 16 Ways and Means hearing on the school budget, Flynn asked whether the schools-police MOU had ever been signed (watch at 32:10). A BPS official said it had been signed on behalf of the schools, and that "the ball is in" the police department's court. The official said BPS had been operating under the agreement even though police had not signed it (32:22). Flynn asked for a copy of the version BPS signed.

At an Oct. 6 Ways and Means hearing on school union contracts, he asked again (watch at 39:01). A BPS official said police had agreed to the MOU twice before, and each time BPS made changes and sent it back. The official said BPS most recently signed it in the summer of 2025 and sent it to police, and had not been told that police signed it. The official suggested concerns about the police department's report-writing system "might be the hiccup." Even without both signatures, the official said, the two agencies share information as the agreement is written (39:38). Flynn asked for a copy of the unsigned draft. He was told it would be requested, though it was not clear that an unsigned draft still under negotiation would be a public record (41:00).

A similar request has waited before. In February, City Councilors Benjamin Weber and Henry Santana refiled a 17F request for agreements between the police department and outside entities. Weber said the goal was to make sure information was not being shared with federal authorities in a way that would violate the Boston Trust Act, and that police had told them the documents were forthcoming (watch at 6:04:56). On March 18, City Councilor Erin Murphy listed that request among five 17F requests still unanswered (watch at 2:12:54). Under the charter provision, the administration is asked to answer within a week, but in practice responses often take longer. Wednesday's agenda includes a mayoral answer to a February request about White Stadium that took 250 days (our Nov. 2 story).

Related items. Flynn and Murphy's hearing order on the Oct. 27 bomb threats is also on Wednesday's agenda (docket 2101; our story). Murphy's March order for a hearing on juvenile weapons and school safety coordination, with all 13 councilors as sponsors, has not had a hearing (docket 0478; our story).

What's next

17F orders are usually adopted the day they come up unless a councilor objects. The council meets Wednesday at noon (agenda). If the order passes, the clerk sends it to the mayor, and any response is placed on a later agenda.