Weeks in advance of tomorrow’s (Wed., Feb. 4) announcement of the Boston Public Schools budget, schools began receiving notices of impending cuts — $1.6 million at the Curley K-8 in Jamaica Plain, eight-to-ten teaching positions at Brighton High, nine positions at the Roosevelt K-8 in Hyde Park. In total, the district could lay off as many as 400 staff, a BPS official told The Boston Globe last week.
The projected cuts have come as no surprise — the district’s budget is projected to be short by $53 million for this year – and more budget trimming could be on the way with the Trump administration expected to slash Department of Education funding and the Massachusetts budget expected to take a hit from the loss of an estimated $3.7 billion in federal funding.
Like other school districts with a large percentage of immigrant students, Boston’s, which last year announced the closure of five schools, has seen its student population shrink, with a drop of more than 1,600 last year from 2024. Teachers from two schools reached this week by The Reporter say the hits to their students will significantly impact their ability to provide adequate instruction to students with special needs.
“Any time a school loses staffing, we lose the ability to have flexible groups, small groups, and more support for students,” said Danielle West, a teacher at Brighton High School. “I don’t know whether it will be feasible to keep co-teaching in my classroom, and that is what we see benefits students the most.”
Co-teaching is the model adopted by BPS as it has shifted away from schools with high concentrations of special needs students to educating such students in what state officials refer to as “the least restrictive environment.” Under that model, educating students in general education classrooms who are learning English or who have special needs often requires that a teacher be accompanied in the classroom by a paraprofessional or another teacher licensed to work with the students.
At the Roosevelt, budget cuts will likely force the layoffs of nine positions, including special education teachers, paraprofessionals, and one reading specialist. Teacher Noah Patel says he fears the layoffs will imperil the school’s model for teaching special needs students in regular education classrooms. Currently, the school has two classrooms per grade, two general education teachers and inclusion teacher who splits time between the two classrooms and a special education paraprofessional who goes to whichever room the inclusion teacher is not it, ensuring two teaching staff in each class at all times.
“We have found it to be something that works well,” Patel said.
With fewer staff to cover classes, Patel suspects the district may attempt to revert to its previous model, where a single teacher with dual certification as a general education teacher and special education teacher covers a classroom alone.
“It would create an untenable situation, where kids aren’t getting what they need because they don’t have the full attention of the teacher whose attention is split different ways,” he said. “It’s not really fair for the students.”
In a letter to BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper and Budget Director Serena LaRocque, Patel said the cuts aimed at the Roosevelt would undo years of work the school did perfecting its model of inclusive education.
“The proposed budget for next year will effectively dismantle everything that was so carefully and thoughtfully built over nearly two decades,” he wrote. “A community which has had myriad success stories for students. Intention that has produced impact. I fear that Boston will be losing a beacon for inclusive education, at a time where so many school communities building their inclusion programs are looking for models of success to aspire to.”
A BPS spokesperson emailed a statement in response to a request for comment for this story.
“Over the last several months, Boston Public Schools has been carefully reviewing each school’s budget alongside school leaders as we plan for SY26-27,” the statement reads in part. “This process has mainly been guided by enrollment trends and the specific needs of each school community. As the district anticipates an enrollment decline of approximately 1,300 students for next school year, bringing the total to 3,000 students over two years, staffing and resources must be realigned to reflect this decrease.”
Mayor Michelle Wu last year approved a Boston Teachers Union contract that included guarantees that classrooms with students who have special needs would be staffed by more than one teacher. BTU President Erik Berg said he expects the city to keep to that contract.
“Now is not the time to pull back from the commitment for our students, particularly in classrooms that serve multilingual learners and students with disabilities,” he said.
Berg acknowledged that the district has lost students and could lose state and federal funding, but he said the district must maintain its commitment to the students.
“We as a society need to think about how we’re funding schools,” he said. “If we can fund massive tax cuts to billionaires, if we can fund Elon Musk’s and Peter Theil’s defense contracts, we as a society can also fund public schools,” he said. “We will be advocating at the district, state, and federal levels to make that happen.”
In its statement, the BPS spokesperson said the district’s commitment to its students remains unchanged.
“BPS remains committed to providing equitable access to a high-quality education that meets their needs,” the statement reads. “We are investing in the continued implementation of inclusive education, bilingual and multilingual programs, early college and career pathways, and instructional resources to support academic success.”
The school budget comes out earlier in the year than the city budget and often reflects city officials’ confidence in revenue projections for the coming fiscal year. This year, the city budget could take a hit if shortfalls at the state level affect local aid.
At-large City Councillor Julia Mejia, who heads the council’s Education Committee, said she will advocate for fully funded schools this year.
“We want to ensure that our students who need it the most and our educators have adequate staffing from paraprofessional support to mental health and that the district is not making cuts to positions that will ensure the quality of our programming,” she said in a statement. “We urge the district to center the voices of those most impacted as we continue to navigate these difficult conversations.”
