FYI from BSF, 05.06.22
As expected, Boston School Committee voted last night to close the Mission Hill K-8 School.
We provided testimony to support this decision, and to urge the School Committee to recognize the systemic failure to detect and deter the abuse that happened at the school. You can read the testimony here.
It has been 10 days since a report outlined abuse at the Mission Hill K-8 School, indicating Mission Hill K-8 School and BPS staff members may have been negligent or may be criminally liable. City Councilor Flaherty is asking why a criminal investigation was never opened. Last night, Superintendent Cassellius indicated a second phase of the report would be public in June.
Spring Forward
MassInc released another round of valuable research on Massachusetts families and their attitudes towards school during the pandemic. Summary here, deck here. A national poll of parents was also released this week. Here are the big takeaways.
1. Academic concerns have increased, but generally families are satisfied with schools.
This makes sense to anyone who has spent time in schools. As a school-year goes on, with more content, more teacher communication, and more assessments, families and educators have greater clarity about student learning (and this hunch is backed by available data). The Massachusetts response differs somewhat from the national poll of parents, but both groups concluded that schools are doing very or somewhat well on most things.
2. Mental health continues as a concern.
Two things have changed over time. Children have resumed in-person school and nearly 50% of families report being offered mental health support.
3. Demographic divides have continued.
As appropriately summed up, this displays gaps in “risk tolerance.” The topic is new, but the divide isn’t. Divisions by race and income have had the same trend through each stage of the pandemic - remote learning, reopening, vaccination, etc.
There is another clear divide in the polling: educational attainment. This particularly piqued in Massachusetts, the most educated state in the country. You find the same divisions, and a few others.
On trust of teachers.
On the risks of infection.
On vaccine mandates for children and educators.
On vaccine status.
This divide in educational attainment is magnified through residential segregation in Massachusetts. Massachusetts’ unique commitment to 350+ independent school districts means education has long been a local matter. The pandemic has made the local differences all the more stark.
Boston had a lower positivity rate than most of its neighboring, suburban towns (Needham, Newton, etc.) through most of April, yet is the only city or town in that group with a continued mask mandate. At the same point in time, child vaccination rates in Newton and Needham were more than 95%. Boston was at 52%.
People can disagree about risk tolerances.
But one has to agree that children are getting different school experiences right now.
Reopening Boston, MA, and Beyond
School reported COVID cases rose again this week; Massachusetts is up 23%, Boston is up 20%.
Other Matters
Four separate events (at Boston Arts Academy, the Condon, Boston Latin Academy, and the Trotter) raised safety concerns in Boston schools.
Mayor Wu and Boston Public Schools recommitted to goals for college completion, partnering with Success Boston.