Boston City Council Grills BPS Administrators on Safety, Special Ed, and Career Pathways

BOSTON — April 30, 2024 — Boston City Council's Ways and Means Committee pressed Boston Public Schools administrators on safety staffing, early childhood special education compliance, and career pathway expansion at an April 30 FY25 budget hearing. Committee Chair Brian Worrell convened the session, which covered dockets 0670 through 0678 — spanning annual operating appropriations and capital orders — stemming from Mayor Michelle Wu's budget submission. Chief of Safety Services Coakley-Grice described a three-layer school safety model that added 25 specialists and expanded the emergency management team from one to five, though a memorandum of understanding with the Boston Police Department remains unsigned. Chief of Teaching and Learning Leslie Ryan Miller outlined allocations including $1.8 million for 14 literacy coaches and $2.7 million for 24 reading specialists, with officials noting more than $2.2 million in instructional materials previously funded by expiring ESSER dollars now shifting to the operating budget. Councilor Erin J. Murphy put officials on notice over more than 300 pre-K students evaluated for special education eligibility since February who are still awaiting full services, warning flatly, "You can't just say, hey, can you come on Saturday."