City councillors on Wednesday narrowly voted to remove the mayor’s control of the Boston School Committee. The approved home rule petition, which would need support from mayor and State House leaders before it can become law, seeks a phased shift from a mayorally appointed panel to an elected body.

Mayor Michelle Wu has said she opposes a fully elected school committee, frustrating education activists who placed a non-binding referendum that voters overwhelmingly passed in 2021 in support of such an entity. A Wu spokesperson said the home rule petition is under review, but pointed to her comments during a Tuesday public radio interview in which she reiterated her opposition.

The home rule petition passed the council 7 to 5, with one member voting present. The “yes” votes were Councillors Ricardo Arroyo, Liz Breadon, Gabriela Coletta, Tania Fernandes Anderson, Kendra Lara, Ruthzee Louijeune, and Julia Mejia. The “no” votes included Councillors Frank Baker, Michael Flaherty, Ed Flynn, Erin Murphy and Brian Worrell. Councillor Kenzie Bok voted “present.”

Arroyo, who co-authored the proposal with Mejia, said the home rule petitions allows for an “orderly transition” over two municipal election cycles. The current system, in place since the 1990s, has failed and not led to greater engagement among parents, he said.

Under his proposal, the school committee would eventually mirror the City Council, with nine members representing the city’s districts and four at-large seats.

Baker, who represents part of Dorchester and previously pushed for a hybrid school committee, with both elected and appointed members, said the school system has seen four mayors and seven superintendents over the last ten years. "Now we want to put them through five years of elections?" Baker said.

Baker, a Wu administration critic, added: "Surprise! I'm in lockstep with the mayor on this one."

Worrell, who also represents Dorchester, said he has consistently been in favor of a hybrid model. "I support a majority elected school committee, but believe a hybrid model is critical to ensure that the school committee includes the diversity and expertise needed to serve our kids," he said in a statement after the vote.

Bok, explaining her “present” vote, said she is hesitant for councillors to pass a home rule petition that doesn’t have the support of the mayor, since Wu can block the measure from getting to the State House.

Wu, in a Tuesday appearance on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio,” said the system had seen a “tremendous amount of destabilization” and saying the focus should be on stabilizing BPS and updating facilities. Wu’s pick for superintendent, Dorchester resident and former Somerville superintendent Mary Skipper, started in her job in September.

City Council President Ed Flynn agreed, saying Wu and Skipper “deserve a chance” to right the system, which has seen enrollment declines, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. “Now is not the time to make a major change,” he said.

But At-Large Councillor Louijeune said that while a switch to an elected panel isn’t a “magic bullet,” it will add accountability that voters asked for.

Councillors voted down a proposal from Flaherty, who suggested a seven-member school committee. "We've got some bright spots,” Flaherty said of the school system. “We've made some progress...but it hasn't been a rising tide."

A separate home rule petition allowing two voting student members to join an elected school committee garnered more support. It received 11 votes in favor, with just Flynn and Baker voting “no.”