Students, teachers and parents packed public comment at Wednesday night’s Boston School Committee meeting to plead against closing Charlestown High School in 2028, GBH News reported, after Superintendent Mary Skipper’s Capital Planning team put three buildings on the chopping block under Cycle 4 of the Long-Term Facilities Plan.
Zoe Dennison, a Charlestown High sophomore, told the committee the school has been a “safe haven” and said, “This proposal terrifies me.” She said the plan would displace her class of 2029 for senior year. “I don’t want to start over at a new school as a senior, and I am pleading with you to not make me,” Dennison said, according to GBH.
What BPS is proposing for June 30, 2028
Skipper’s memo to the School Committee, dated Nov. 4, recommends closing Charlestown High (grades 7–12), Greater Egleston High in Roxbury and the East Boston Early Education Center effective June 30, 2028, if the committee approves. The same package relocates Boston Green Academy to the South Boston High building, moves Boston International Newcomers Academy and Boston Adult Technical Academy into the Cleveland building in Dorchester for school year 2027–28, shrinks Hurley and Kilmer to PreK–6, and explores adding grades 7–8 at Boston Arts Academy and Fenway High.
The district previously framed the same package in briefings covered by WBUR and Boston.com. Our earlier reports detail the full list of buildings: see the Nov. 3 overview of BPS plans to close three schools in 2028 and the Nov. 1 Charlestown-focused filing. The School Committee vote is scheduled for Dec. 2, with community meetings and a public feedback survey open before then, the capital-planning memo says.
By the numbers: enrollment, capacity and footprint
GBH, citing BPS data, reported Charlestown High enrollment has fallen 32% over the last three years, from 820 students to 559. The building is using 53% of its 1,046-student capacity, and students with disabilities make up 45% of enrollment — a mix district officials say makes inclusive programming harder to sustain. Nearly 80% of Charlestown High students live outside the neighborhood, WBUR reported earlier this week.
Greater Egleston enrolls about 76 students in leased space, making it the district’s smallest standalone alternative high school, Boston.com reported. Across the three closures, Boston Teachers Union President Erik Berg said 776 students and 193 educators would be affected. WBUR noted Boston had 119 schools in 2023; with past closures plus this round, the count would fall to 97 by 2028, on a path toward about 95 by 2030.
| School / metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Charlestown HS enrollment change | 820 → 559 (−32%) | GBH / BPS |
| Building capacity used | 53% of 1,046 seats | GBH / BPS |
| Students with disabilities share | 45% | GBH / WBUR |
| Greater Egleston enrollment | 76 students | Boston.com / WBUR |
| Students / educators affected (BTU) | 776 / 193 | GBH citing Berg |
| BPS schools 2023 → 2028 path | 119 → 97 | WBUR |
What the Charlestown High community told the committee
Almost all public comment focused on Charlestown, GBH reported. Senior Ryeza Harris described finding safety at the school after bullying elsewhere. Jess Madden-Fuoco, a Greater Egleston teacher and former Charlestown administrator, called both schools “amazing, nurturing, caring.” School Committee member Franklin Peralta said listening to students “fills my heart” and flagged that “we keep closing schools that are majority Latino and Black students, and that is a problem.”
Berg argued there was no transparent, evidence-based community conversation before the announcements and urged mergers over closures. BPS Deputy Superintendent Simone Wright said advanced-coursework access and career pathways have not increased over three years at Charlestown; Skipper replied that advanced coursework has been added over time with a recent dip in students earning credit, GBH reported.
What happens next for families
Officials say another high school would move into the renovated Charlestown building for 2028–29 so the campus is not left empty. Students in closing schools would get assignment priority; the capital-planning memo says 13 students in Cycle 4 schools were previously hit by a closure and will get personalized transition support. Follow ongoing Boston school news and the Boston Public Schools calendar as Dec. 2 approaches. The vote — not Wednesday’s testimony — will decide whether Charlestown High’s class of 2029 finishes where it started.
Sources
- GBH News: ‘This proposal terrifies me’ — Charlestown High community rails against closure
- WBUR: City leaders plan to close three Boston schools in 2028
- Boston.com: BPS proposes closing 3 schools and overhauling 7 others
- BPS Capital Planning memo: LTFP Cycle 4 recommendations (PDF)
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