Boston School Committee Approves Plan to Close 4 Schools, Merge Others
On Thursday, March 20, the Boston School Committee voted in favor of a contested plan to close and merge several Boston public schools. These changes will go into effect during the 2026-2027 school year and result in the relocation of approximately 1,300 students, more than one-third of whom are multilingual learners.
During Thursday’s meeting, the Boston School Committee voted 5-1 to merge two schools and close four others: Excel High School in South Boston, Community Academy in Jamaica Plain, Mary Lyon Pilot High School in Allston and Brighton, and Dever Elementary School in Dorchester. All will close after the 2025-2026 school year.
As part of the plan, Winthrop and Clap elementary schools will merge with Frederick Middle School students in Dorchester. Frederick Middle School is already planned for closure in June as part of a five-year strategic initiative to shutter the district’s middle school.
Boston Public Schools officials defended their strategy, saying the changes were necessary to place students in higher quality learning environments that would offer them access to enhanced educational resources. School administrators also noted they would close about one-fifth of the district’s school facilities by 2030.
Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper released a statement to media sources like NBC10 News Boston on Friday, March 21. In the statement, she expressed appreciation to the school committee for the vote and pledged to support affected school communities with the transition.
“We recognize that school closures and mergers are never easy for communities, and I am incredibly grateful to all the members of our school communities who attended community meetings and shared their observations, reactions, and additional recommendations for these proposals,” she said.
Members of schools affected, such as the Dever school community, have been fighting the school closures since they were first proposed.
