Carol Johnson

Councilor: BPS could build a brand-new school with all the money it wants to spend to move several schools around

adamg — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:19:06 +0000

Jackson: Not happyA skeptical group of city councilors urged school officials today to reconsider a school-moving plan that would send a Mission Hill elementary school to Jamaica Plain. The full council could vote on the issue at its regular meeting next week.

At a hearing on the proposal today, City Councilor Tito Jackson (Roxbury) said the $19 million school BPS wants the city council to approve for loans - down from an earlier $21-million estimate - could be used to leverage additional state school construction money to simply build a brand-new school, reducing the number of students in 19th and early 20th-century buildings. State officials are currently sitting on payments for the renovation of Hyde Park High School, because BPS shut the school not long after renovating it.

"It really makes me angry that we've been given miserable choices amongst horrible options," Jackson said of the plan, in which Fenway High School would move to the Mission Hill K-8 building, the Boston Arts Academy would take over the Ipswich Street space it now shares with Fenway, the New Mission High School and Boston Community Leadership Academy would move to Hyde Park and a new Margarita Muniz Academy would move into the Agassiz School in JP along with Mission Hill.

BPS, teachers declare contract impasse

adamg — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:30:17 +0000

City and BTU negotiators last night threw up their hands and decided there's nothing more they can say to each other, so they'll be seeking state help to mediate a contract.

The declaration comes 21 months of negotiations; firefighters still hold the modern Boston record for going without a contract, at four years.

Meanwhile, BPS has decided to fight back against BTU airplanes with updates, which they declare are "not intended" for the eyes of union members (also see the BTU's contract Web page).

The Dig considers the impact of Menino's apparent attempt to WiFi John Connolly over the issue of school assignment.

School Committee approves school moves; Mike Ross decries blow to democracy

adamg — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:12:22 +0000

The Globe reports the School Committee gave its pro-forma approval last night to Superintendent Carol Johnson's school musical chairs.

Ross angrily denounced the plan to move the Mission Hill K-8 School in his district to the closed Agassiz in Jamaica Plain; according to the Globe, he uttered the ultimate Boston political insult: That moves like that mean "Boston will never be considered a world-class city."

School superintendent drops plans to move Boston Latin Academy to Hyde Park

adamg — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:26:52 +0000

But plans to move Fenway High School somewhere, the Globe reports.

Some kids now refusing to eat school lunches; BPS denies students got fed outdated food

adamg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:36:36 +0000

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson is sending letters home with students to tell parents that the food their kids get at school is "safe and healthy."

Without naming him, Johnson's letter denounces City Councilor John Connolly, who charged yesterday students at at least four schools were fed expired food from a frozen-food warehouse in Wilmington - food that would not have made them sick but which may have had reduced or no nutritive value. Johnson said that's not true; that, while, yes, the schools have wasted money on expired food, students have never been fed the stuff. She added she sent the letter after one cafeteria worker told her:

[I]n the days after the safety of our food was called into question, the number of children arriving for free breakfast at her school had dropped by 25 percent. One student refused to eat lunch because she heard it might be dangerous.

Johnson's letter to parents

Councilor: Schools kept buying meat even as frozen meat kept piling up in warehouse

adamg — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:27:48 +0000

City Councilor John Connolly launched a scathing attack on Boston Public Schools this morning, charging the school system's cafeteria system is rife with waste, poor planning and a warehouse in Wilmington full of expired frozen food.

At a hearing this morning, Connolly charged students at 48 public schools were served frozen food past its expiration dates and that school food officials have so screwed up the food requisition process they were ordering frozen chicken patties even as the federal government was giving BPS chicken patties for free.

Using BPS requisition documents, he said on Jan. 14, students at South Boston and Madison Park high schools and the Higginson and Frederick schools were offered Cargill grilled egg patties that had been sitting in the warehouse since September, 2009.

This time she really means it: School superintendent warns of 'devastating' cuts if she can't close some schools, eliminate bus routes

adamg — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 03:29:38 +0000

The Globe reports on School Superintendent Carol Johnson's report to the School Committee tonight.

City seeks to extend school day at all schools by an hour, tie teacher evaluations to student test scores

adamg — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:58:02 +0000

The Globe reports on initial contract considerations by School Superintendent Carol Johnson. The city recently won a $22-million state grant to extend the school day by an hour at ten underperforming schools - most of the money will go to pay teachers for the extra daily time.

At least it's not over drug testing

adamg — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:38:39 +0000

The Globe reports the city and the Boston Teachers Union are going to arbitration because School Superintendent Carol Johnson wants teachers at 12 underperforming schools to spend an extra hour in school - without paying them more.

Boston schools will be colder, dirtier next fall as city tries to cut $58 million

adamg — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:18:52 +0000

School Superintendent Carol Johnson yesterday called for a series of steps to meet an anticipated deficit in the school budget for next year.

Part of city answer to failing schools: Three new charter schools

adamg — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:27:41 +0000

School Superintendent Carol Johnson last night proposed opening three city-run charter schools as part of the answer to dealing with 14 failing schools across Boston - including English High, which is one of those schools and which is where the School Committee met.

Johnson, however, provided no details on the proposed new schools, such as where they would be. In addition, employees at six unnamed schools will all essentially lose their jobs and then have to reapply for them, she wants to merge two underperforming elementary schools with two better performing schools to create two new K-8 schools - and she wants to start working with existing, non-BPS charter schools on training and other ways to improve education in the city.

What Boston's new school-assignment zones would look like

adamg — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:22:24 +0000

This shows School Superintendent Carol Johnson's proposal for increasing the number of school-assignment zones for elementary and middle schools in Boston from three to five (click on it for a larger version). The goal is to save money by reducing the length of some bus routes.

I'm betting the outcome will be to increase confusion among parents. Parents in Hyde Park, who'd been studying schools in Mattapan and Dorchester, will now have to bone up on schools in West Roxbury and Roslindale. Are North End parents prepared to have their kids bused to Jamaica Plain?

Via Braving the BPS Lottery, a Roslindale mother who's already wondering what this will mean for her 2010 plans.

School superintendent: City may have to lay off teachers, close schools, reduce school choice

adamg — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:52:01 +0000

The Globe reports that School Superintendent Carol Johnson said tonight she is looking at dealing with shrinking revenue by cutting 400 teaching positions - and 500 other jobs - possibly close more schools and increase the number of school-assignment zones from three to five, which would cut busing costs but reduce the range of schools parents of elementary students could pick from.

Among those at the School Committee budget hearing tonight was mayoral candidate Kevin McCrea, who explains why he thinks the whole thing is a sham and describes the scene:

... It was a madhouse at Court Street tonight, with hundreds of teachers and parents and students there to protest the school cuts. I won't go into detail about how ridiculous the numbers are in the report, which I assume the City will put online(???) for all to see. It is pretty detailed, but the only number that is really important is the proposed budget of $786 million. Dr. Reilinger started to immediately see some of the inconsistency, as the report on one hand says that the city will eliminate 699 full time equivalent employees, but on the other hand has a higher number for health care costs for those (now nonexistent) employees.

The bottom line is that Mayor Menino is trying to drum up support for his meals tax by scaring the heck out of students and teachers and parents. Doing his best Bush/Cheney/Rove tactics to get more money to build his power base. What he is going to do is try and look like a hero, by coming in and 'responding' to the crisis by miraculously finding the money to restore to the budget. ...

Parents will get to question officials at a hearing Thursday, Feb. 5, starting at 6 p.m. at the Blackstone Elementary School, 380 Shawmut Ave. in the South End, and Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. at the McCormack Middle School, 315 Mt. Vernon St. in Dorchester.

There will be additional hearings in March in JP and downtown. The School Committee is scheduled to vote on its budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 on March 25.

BPS FY2010 budget page.

AP classes all around

adamg — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:09:18 +0000

Read the report on how few Boston public-school students are graduating college and then read what Mayor Menino and School Superintendent Carol Johnson want to do about it. Among their proposals: At least one AP or honors class for every BPS student by 2012, double the number of students taking college classes while still in high school and letting students out of school to take SAT prep classes.

A meeting with the superintendent

adamg — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:02:35 +0000

Andrew Watson reports on a meeting this morning between Boston School Superintendent Carol Johnson and Roslindale parents who want more K-8 options in the neighborhood.