Boston Council Hears School Repair Grants and Union Contracts Totaling Millions

BOSTON — November 18, 2024 — Boston City Council panel hears $1.515 million school repair request and union contracts worth $5.2 million in FY25 costs. The Committee on Ways and Means took testimony November 18 on nine dockets: a Massachusetts School Building Authority design appropriation for Kenney, O'Donnell, Adams, Chittick, Everett, Gardner Pilot Academy, Linden, and Murphy K-8 schools, and eight collective bargaining agreements covering cafeteria workers, lunch monitors, public health commission staff, and salaried city employees. Brian Ford, chief of operations for Boston Public Schools, and Carlton Jones, executive director of the Public Facilities Department, said the MSBA approved all eight schools at its October 30 board meeting; construction is targeted for the summers of 2026 and 2027. Council Member Edward M. Flynn sharply criticized the 2 percent annual base wage increases in the labor agreements, saying he recently encountered a city worker who told him she could not afford a can of soup — "those are our city workers that are struggling to pay and buy food." Council Member Erin J. Murphy separately flagged a municipal police contract already ratified but not yet submitted for council approval, pressing the administration to file it in time for a December 4 vote so officers can receive raises before year's end. No votes were taken; all nine dockets were adjourned.