Boston Museum-Pass Hearing Collapses After Finance Officials Fail to Show

BOSTON — October 28, 2024 — Boston City Council education hearing on free museum-pass expansion is adjourned after city finance officials fail to appear. Committee on Education Chair Henry Santana convened the October 28 Zoom hearing on Docket No. 1351 — an order to examine extending the BPS Sundays free museum-pass program from Boston Public Schools families to all Boston schoolchildren, including charter, METCO, parochial, and private school students — but adjourned after Chief Financial Officer Ashley Grafenberger and Office of Budget Management Director James Williamson did not join the meeting. Lead sponsor Councilor Erin J. Murphy, who noted the original pilot cost more than $1 million with roughly $300,000 from city funds and the rest from philanthropic donors, called the no-show part of a recurring pattern of administration officials skipping education committee hearings. Boston Children's Museum representatives said the program has recorded 6,429 total visits through October, with 41 percent of those being first-time visitors. Mayor Wu has publicly committed to expanding the program beginning January 2025, but no fiscal plan has been presented to the council.