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Councilors press BPS to preserve school-facing social workers as central-office cuts loom
Summary
Councilors warned that proposed cuts to central-office district social-worker positions and other FTES could weaken crisis response; BPS leaders said school-based mental-health staff are being prioritized and central duties will be reorganized to protect direct services.
City Council members used April 16’s hearing to press Boston Public Schools on proposed cuts to central-office student-support staff, including three district social-worker positions that councilors said are critical to crisis response and daily work with students.
Councilor Flynn emphasized that roles interacting daily with students — school social workers, psychologists and counselors — must be preserved. "We have to get those social workers in this budget," he said, saying the district’s families rely on them for crisis response and continuity.
BPS leaders said they have tried to preserve school-based mental-health providers by moving many positions onto school budgets and that their proposed cuts focus on central-office roles or functions that can be reorganized. Cory McCarthy described district social workers as part of a "second responder" team that supports school-based teams during crises and said the district will aim to minimize service disruption while restructuring oversight.
Officials acknowledged that cuts are painful and that grant-funded expansions (notably ESSER-era hires) cannot all be sustained. District witnesses said they will provide more detailed staffing breakdowns to the committee and promised to work with council members on mitigation strategies to retain as much direct student support as possible.
