FYI from BSF, 12.13.19

Some things we have read through recently…

A Big Mess

An old adage is that if you want to understand the culture of a school building, don’t go to class.

Go to the bathroom.

Adults aren’t present in student bathrooms, but adults are responsible for them. The condition of bathrooms, therefore, tells you a lot about how students are treated and how students behave.

With over 80% of BPS bathrooms receiving bad marks from city health inspectors, anyone who didn’t know this was a problem, now does.

In response, $1.7M more is being proposed in next year’s budget. That’s about $33/per student - that would get each student a 24-pack of toilet paper and some air fresheners.

But the conditions go far beyond that. Fixtures. Plumbing. Electrical repair and lighting. Tiles. Ventilation.

Put aside the actual cleaning, the scale of repairs needed for bathrooms and the rest of the typical building is staggering.

This document, which is publicly available, but not widely circulated, sets the pricetag.

Over $3B.

Just repairs alone are over $1B, more than the entire budget of BuildBPS, almost half of which has already been spent or allocated (see page 140).

These funding pressures are further strained by decreases in enrollment.

And those appear to be accelerating, as presented at School Committee on December 4th.

Boston distributes money to schools on a per-pupil basis. That is also how state and federal dollars are allocated.

We have (1) a lot of buildings that (2) need a lot of repairs with (3) less and less kids in them each year.

Growing expenses, declining revenue.

What’s the plan?

Notes in the Margin

After completing her community tour, Dr. Cassellius presented her initial framework for her strategic plan on Wednesday night at School Committee. Last Friday, she sat for a long interview on WGBH.

Massachusetts is investing in teacher diversity.

School Matters

The annual BPS Showcase is tomorrow at BLA.

Boston Prep, one of our partner schools, released its annual report.