The Boston School Committee meets Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, at 6 p.m. with $82.3 million in grants, a tentative contract for Boston Public Schools custodians and a matching $787,501 supplemental appropriation request up for votes, according to the committee’s posted agenda. Members will also hear a report on the district’s 2026 state assessment and accountability results, which the Massachusetts education department released in September.
Where and How to Watch or Testify
The hybrid meeting will be held in the School Committee Chamber on the second floor of the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, 2300 Washington St. in Roxbury. It will be streamed on Boston City TV (Xfinity Channel 24, RCN Channel 13 and Fios Channel 962) and on Zoom. Sign-up for public comment closes at 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. The agenda says the committee offers two comment periods: the first is limited to one hour, and remaining speakers are heard at the end of the meeting. Written testimony may also be emailed to the committee office for distribution to members.
$82.3 Million in Grants Up for Approval
The largest action item is a package of 13 grants totaling $82,289,934. Two account for most of the money: Title I, Parts A and D, at $40,003,608, and the state’s special education reimbursement program, known as “Circuit Breaker,” at $32,241,210. Both are listed as continuing, districtwide funding.
Other federal formula grants on the list include Title IV, Part A ($2,949,007), Title II, Part A ($2,648,641) and Title III, Part A ($2,184,267), the last managed by the Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Education for English language acquisition. The agenda also lists:
- $1,002,088 for Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps programs at East Boston High, English High, Community Academy of Science and Health, Madison Park High and the O’Bryant School of Math and Science.
- $780,000 in Intensive Assistance Grant funds for school turnaround work at Ellis Elementary, the Higginson-Lewis K-8 School and the Young Achievers School.
- $150,000 from Special Olympics Massachusetts for Unified Champion School programs at 31 schools.
- $149,863 for an Innovation Career Pathways grant serving three schools, plus smaller awards for adolescent health ($85,000), a new indoor air quality and greenhouse gas reduction program ($46,000), MA FRESH food and nutrition coordination ($42,750) and a Boston Latin School bridge program ($7,500).
The committee will also be asked to accept in-kind donations valued at $21,078.99, most of it an outdoor storage shed, tables, stools, a greenhouse kit and labor from Kensington Investments for the Higginson K-2 Inclusion School, valued by the donor at $20,828.99.
Custodians Contract and Supplemental Appropriation
The agenda lists a report and then a vote on a tentative collective bargaining agreement between the committee and Local Union 1952, Painters and Allied Trades District Council No. 35, which represents school custodians. The agreement would run from Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2027. A separate item requests an FY27 supplemental appropriation of $787,501 to support it. The agenda does not detail the contract’s wage terms. For background on the district’s spending this year, see our explainer on the Boston FY27 budget and BPS costs.
Members will also take up a governance update for the Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School, an in-district Horace Mann charter, listed as a memorandum of understanding.
2026 MCAS and Accountability Results
The closing report covers results the state released in late September. According to a BPS release published by the East Boston Times-Free Press, the state classified the district as making “Moderate Progress Toward Targets” and did not identify it as requiring assistance or intervention. BPS said eight more schools were rated as making substantial progress, and four were named Schools of Recognition: Grew Elementary, Boston Latin School, Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School and the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers.
The district reported that the share of grades 3-8 students meeting or exceeding expectations in math rose 1.4 percentage points, with gains of 3.9 points in grade 6 and 4.8 points in grade 8. Science results in grades 5 and 8 rose 2.9 points. Grade 10 results fell 7 points in English language arts and 4.3 points in math, which BPS said was similar to the state trend. The district noted that, starting with the Class of 2026, Massachusetts no longer requires a passing MCAS score to graduate, and said grade 10 trends should be read with that change in mind. Chronic absenteeism fell 2.1 points in non-high schools and 1.7 points in high schools, according to the release.
Superintendent Mary Skipper said in the release that the district met its targets for graduation and chronic absenteeism but recognized “the need to improve proficiency levels across the district.” Committee Chairperson Jeri Robinson said the committee “will remain focused on understanding where additional improvement is needed.”
Other recent district operations coverage includes the city’s search for a school bus stop-arm camera vendor.