Thursday, October 02, 2008

"Pathways to Excellence" would strengthen and reorganize Boston schools

Superintendent Carol Johnson presented details about her ambitious "Pathways to Excellence" plan to the Boston School Committee last night. The plan calls for expanding, relocating and consolidating various schools and programs in order to advance the Superintendent's academic agenda for all Boston Public Schools.

The outcomes would include 6,000 more students served in K-8 programs, nearly 2,000 new pilot school seats, and new secondary programs to eliminate the dropout rate. Confronting challenging economic realities, Dr. Johnson estimates that the plan would reduce costs by about $13.8 million over the next five years. Families and staff will participate in a series of community forums over the next four weeks to review and comment on the proposals.

Visit the BPS website to learn more.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I can't blieve I just found this blog. Thank you for having it available.

Is there any status on the open meetings with the public/parents/teachers about the proposals? What have parents been asking and what are the responses?

Also, how does someone participate in this type of meeting? If I wanted to ask questions; is there a protocol you need to follow?

Chris Horan said...

Stephanie, thanks for posting your comments. We have held several school-based meetings and two zone-wide community forums. The West Zone community forum is tomorrow night (Thursday) at English High, 6 p.m. All are welcome to attend, and there is no set protocol for asking questions.

Questions have ranged from the very general to the very specific. We've posted answers to many of the frequently asked questions on the Pathways to Excellence page of the BPS website:
www.bostonpublicschools.org/pathways

Thanks for inquiring.

Chris Horan