BPS Superintendent Finalist Welch Faces Community Panel on Partnerships and Student Outcomes

Uncategorized · Meeting of July 20, 2026

Boston Public Schools superintendent finalist Dr. Tommy Welch completed a 65-minute community panel interview July 20 as part of the district's ongoing superintendent search. Welch, currently Region 1 school superintendent overseeing 15 schools and roughly 7,100 students in East Boston, Charlestown, and the North End, faced seven community panelists including Jose Maso, chief of human services for the city of Boston, Aisha Francis, president of Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology, and Marinelle Ruminier, president and CEO of EdVestors.

Questions ranged across graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, vocational education, arts, and multilingual learning. On ESSER spending, Welch said the district has received approximately $435 million across three federal pandemic relief rounds with what he estimated as more than $300 million still unspent ahead of a September 2024 deadline: "I do not want to be the school superintendent who has to return $100 million in ESSER investments back to the federal government." The other finalist, Somerville Superintendent Mary Skipper, completed her community panel the prior day; the School Committee was scheduled to interview both candidates the same evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 3,041 words

Source: the Uncategorized meeting of July 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.