Boston Public Schools Safety Chief Details Staggered Fall Reopening Security Plan

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6475 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

Boston's new school safety chief outlines a five-phase pandemic reopening plan for Boston Public Schools. Neva Coakley-Grice, appointed Chief of Safety Services approximately five weeks before the interview aired on Commissioner's Corner, told host Lois Leonard that all BPS students would begin remotely on September 21, with special-needs students entering buildings October 1, kindergarten through grade three phasing in through late October, grades four through eight arriving the week of November 5, and high schoolers beginning November 16. Coakley-Grice said her department's roughly 73 school police officers — certified by the Boston Police Department under Rule 400A — had spent the summer staffing 16 to 17 city food distribution sites and would redeploy to school buildings as students returned.

She said she reversed an initial plan to reshuffle officer assignments, choosing instead to keep officers at their prior-year locations to reduce anxiety during an already disruptive year. Coakley-Grice described her departmental philosophy as a pivot from enforcement toward "partnership, problem-solving, and prevention," citing partnerships with BCYF, Big Sisters, Girls Leaps, and BAM as part of that approach.

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Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6475 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.