Mayor Allots $4.7 Million in Additional BPS Funding

Boston, MA – Mayor Marty Walsh announced Monday he is filing for an additional $4.7 million to allot toward several proposed initiatives aimed at strengthening the success of the Boston Public Schools system. 

The funding brings the 2017 fiscal year budget to $1.032 billion, an $18.2 million increase from the fiscal year budget in 2016, according to a press release.

"I believe deeply in public education, and I believe our unstinting goals in public education should be to close opportunity and achievement gaps, meet the diverse needs of every kind of student, and make our district schools top choices for every family in every neighborhood," Walsh said in the release. "I am pleased to re-submit the FY17 operating budget with a nearly $5M increase for BPS, which will fund programs aimed at getting all of our children on the pathway to success."

On Friday, BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang will present his proposal for the additional investments to the School Committee to be approved. Here's a look at his plan, according to the City of Boston:

• A $1.2 million investment in the new Excellence for All program will offer 4th graders in 13 schools access to rigorous and enriched experiences, bringing the benefits of the Advanced Work Classes to a more diverse set of students and equipping them with new skills such as foreign languages and robotics.
• The Superintendent plans to use data to improve operations, performance and efficiency of the district. BPS will roll out a transportation data system to track ridership, provide information to parents and improve student safety. BPS will use the data to streamline bus routes and improve operational efficiency for student transportation, which is budgeted to save $10 million in FY17. BPS will also develop a performance meter with measures to assess college and career readiness.
• The Superintendent will use funds to plan for BPS's future with instructional and logistical support for approximately 40 schools in advance of extended learning time roll out in FY18, grants to three schools to design a financially viable dual language program, and completion of the high school redesign.
• Additional funding will help ensure that students are learning in a safe environment .The funding will provide leadership for the safety office and expansion of the CrisisGo app, a notification system to guide principals and administrators and inform staff about ongoing emergencies and incidents with BPD intervention. BPS also plans to conduct a safety audit of facilities, policies and procedures.
• Finally, these investments will continue high levels of service to our families by adding an additional $400,000 to provide translation for BPS families in multiple languages.

"I extend my gratitude to Mayor Walsh for increasing education funding for our schools," Chang said in the release. "This investment will help move us forward as a district and will support many of the activities and programming that are extremely important to our students and families. Together, as a community, we remain deeply committed to the future of our children and I look forward to a promising year ahead."

The proposals are in addition to increasing the number of pre-kindergarten seats in the BPS system by more than 200, investing in additional special education programs and increasing school based support as federal and state grants expire.

The mayor will resubmit the operating budget to the City Council next June; more funds will likely be added to the BPS budget if wages increase further through collective bargaining.