Boston Public Schools presented a long‑term facilities plan at the school committee meeting on Nov. 19 that proposes closing three schools and reconfiguring others to align the district’s building footprint with falling enrollment and facility constraints. The committee heard the presentation, took public testimony for more than an hour, and the district said it will bring the recommendations to a vote on Dec. 17.

Superintendent Mary Stifel and Chief Del Stanislaus told the committee the plan responds to a roughly 1,700‑student decline in mid‑October enrollment and decades of deferred maintenance. Chief Stanislaus said the district’s blueprint aims to reduce the number of BPS buildings to roughly 95 by 2030 and to prioritize “high quality” student experiences in safe, accessible buildings. He added that not all schools will be asked to meet every metric but that the plan uses building experience scores, utilization rates, and capacity to serve students with disabilities and multilingual learners when recommending changes.

The cycle‑3 package announced Nov. 19 includes recommendations to close: Lee Academy Pilot School (pre‑K–3), Another Course to College (ACC, 9–12), and the Community Academy of Science and Health (CASH, 9–12) at the end of the 2026–27 school year. The district said reasons vary by school: Lee Academy’s building cannot accommodate expansion beyond pre‑K–3 and lacks basic spaces and ADA upgrades; ACC’s facility was designed for elementary use and lacks essential high‑school spaces such as a gymnasium and auditorium and was operating at about 63% utilization with high student churn; CASH showed a 20% decline in general‑education enrollment and was operating around 53% utilization with high churn, the presentation said.

Stanislaus described a proposed merger and reconfiguration for the Henderson Inclusion School: the district would merge Upper and Lower campuses and reconfigure the program to K0–8, eliminating grades 9–12 and the transition program in the building while allowing current upperclassmen to graduate as planned. The district said it will not enroll incoming ninth‑grade classes at sites slated for closure and that eligible rising students will receive priority in the BPS assignment process.

District leaders emphasized transition planning. Stanislaus said the district will provide a full year to identify ‘welcoming schools,’ move programs as cohorts where possible, and work with the Office of Specialized Services and the Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Education to place students with IEPs and multilingual learners. Frances Canty, BPS chief of human resources, described curated supports for displaced staff, including drop‑in sessions, resume and interview help, licensure guidance and on‑site hours. Stanislaus said the district will summarize survey feedback and hold community meetings before the Dec. 17 vote.

Public testimony at the meeting included sustained opposition from parents, students and staff at the schools named in the plan. Marcus Brown, a teacher and athletic coordinator at ACC, said the school serves a high‑needs population and warned that “closing ACC creates the exact instability the research warns us about,” citing mobility and harms from forced transfers. Multiple parents and teachers from Lee Academy and CASH urged the committee to delay a vote, seek renovation or relocation alternatives, and preserve specialized inclusion services.

Students and teachers raised specific concerns about continuity for students with disabilities and the capacity of receiving schools. District staff repeatedly said individualized IEP counseling and priority assignment will guide placements, and that the district is working to stand up programs in other schools to receive displaced students.

The committee did not vote on the facilities recommendations on Nov. 19. District staff said the formal vote is scheduled for Dec. 17, and they encouraged communities to submit feedback via surveys, emails and community meetings. The presentation and the materials the district referenced are available on the school committee website under the Nov. 19 meeting materials.

The administration described the proposed changes as necessary to concentrate resources, reduce operational inefficiencies, and invest capital in buildings that can deliver a fuller range of academic and extracurricular opportunities. Opponents said the timeline and notice were abrupt and stressed the human cost for vulnerable students, asking the committee to prioritize alternatives that preserve small, inclusive communities.

Next steps: the package will be refined after public feedback and survey summaries that district staff plan to publish before the Dec. 17 vote. If adopted, the district said it will implement transition teams and individualized plans for students and staff during the year leading up to the school year of closure/reconfiguration.