The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved a proposal by KinderCare to expand its existing Atlantic Avenue facility into the space left vacant when the Living Room closed in 2019.
At a hearing today, KinderCare attorney William Ferullo said the expansion will let KinderCare expand its tot count from 42 to 68.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court today upheld the way MassHealth reimburses doctors for infant circumcisions, tossing a lawsuit by anti-circumcision activists who called that a waste of taxpayer money on a procedure they claim is "not medically necessary." Read more.
A Dorchester man told by police to leave the Little Saigon Cultural District's Night Market on Dorchester Avenue Saturday night for being drunk returned an hour later and grabbed a child by the shoulders and kissed the little kid, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. Read more.
WCVB reports the deal includes added investment in programs for special-needs and English-learner students - two areas the state recently said BPS particularly needs to improve on.
Mayor Wu today announced a $20 million investment to expand the number of seats available in BPS pre-K classrooms and to bolster services available to child-care providers, including "developmental and behavioral health screenings, student support interventions, culturally relevant and challenging curriculum."
The Boston School Committee today picked Mary Skipper, who worked in BPS before becoming school superintendent in Somerville, to replace Brenda Cassellius, whose tenure ends tomorrow. Read more.
A couple from Sharon who says Brigham and Women's Hospital lost their newborn's body before it could be handed over to a funeral home for burial is suing the hospital for more than $1.1 million in damages. Read more.
The Boston School Committee today announced its two finalists to replace Brenda Cassellius as Boston School Superintendent: Mary Skipper, currently Cassellius's counterpart in Somerville - and former administrator of BPS high schools - and Tommy Welch, currently the Region 1 K-12 superintendent for BPS, who oversees 15 schools in Charlestown, East Boston and the North End. Read more
There's an outburst of weed-whacking complaints in East Boston this morning. One concerned resident filed a 311 complaint about the weeds in Putnam Square on Trenton Street and urgently requested the city send over a crew with a weed whacker and a lawn mower before the plants eat the kid.
Over at Lawn Avenue (yes, Lawn Avenue) and Leverett Avenue near Belle Isle Marsh, though, several vexed citizens filed 311 complaints about DCR weed whacking at frickin' 6:45 a.m. today. Read more.
There are still three more Drag Story Times at Boston Public Library Branches this month, including tomorrow morning at the North End branch, June 21 at the Connolly branch in Jamaica Plain and June 28 at the Jamaica Plain branch.
You have to register, but looks like they have plenty of seats.
Declining Covid-19 rates means BPS will lift its in-school mask requirements for most people starting Monday - although officials say masks are still a good idea even if no longer required. Read more.
Administrators at the Kenny Elementary School on Oakton Avenue in Dorchester put the school into "safe" mode - nobody was allowed in or out - for about 20 minutes this morning after two anti-maskers showed up and demanded entry for a 9-year-old student they said didn't want to wear a mask and didn't have to. Read more.
Jason Gallagher, current principal at the Harvard-Kent Elementary School in Charlestown, will take over as new head of school at Boston Latin School, outgoing Superintendent Brenda Cassellius told the school community today. Read more.
Mom Hustle reports:
My 5 year old BPS student does "quiet drills" where the children sit in their cubbies silently. My daughter said she just snuggles her stuffies. They aren't told what it's for.
Part of a longer discussion on crazed-killer drills in Boston schools.
The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education today formally blasted Boston Public Schools, saying they need "immediate improvement," especially in the ways the system deals with special-education and ESL students and transportation and with the fact its central administration is pretty dysfunctional. Read more.
Update: South Boston description posted.
An attempt to teach eighth graders at Boston Latin School how to deal with stereotypes ended today with school officials apologizing to students, parents and school staffers from two heavily White neighborhoods. Read more.
Mejia argues against state takeover.
The City Council voted overwhelmingly today to fight to keep local control of BPS in the face of possible state receivership, saying a new mayor and a new superintendent deserve a chance to finally bring the sort of change BPS needs and that the last thing Boston - where voters strongly supported an elected school committee in the fall election - needs is an outside commissar screwing things up even more. Read more.
Negotiators for the town and the Brookline Educators Union reached a contract deal at 4:20 this morning, and school will be open first thing.
State Rep. Tommy Vitolo reports the deal runs through 2026 and "with improvements in pay and working conditions."
Teachers disregarded state law and that court order and walked off the job today. Turlach MacDonagh shows us some of the picketing action at Town Hall, including these possible music teachers jamming to encourage their fellow teachers. Read more.
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