BPS pauses new hiring amid deficit as district predicts hundreds of layoffs next year

Education

The partial hiring freeze comes as the School Committee voted to close three schools by 2027, affecting hundreds of teacher and paraprofessional roles.

Boston Public Schools have implemented a partial hiring freeze as the district faces a projected $53 million budget deficit for its current fiscal year ending in June, according to a memo obtained by The Boston Globe.

Superintendent Mary Skipper said the freeze includes “a spending pause of Central Office positions, contracts, and stipends” and a pause on “all hiring for vacant full-time positions and [contract positions], both school-based and Central Office,” she wrote in the memo, per the Globe.

Skipper told staff that it’s “typical” for the district to manage a deficit at this point in the year, but “this year’s shortfall requires immediate action and a strategic plan to address it.”

In a statement to Boston.com, Skipper said the district implemented spending reductions in the Central Office and a pause on hiring while reviewing vacancies beginning in November.

“It has since become necessary to expand this pause on spending and hiring district-wide, unless the position supports direct service to our students,” Skipper said in the statement.

Three schools closing, up to 400 educator jobs cut

The partial hiring freeze comes after the School Committee voted in December to close three schools as enrollment continues to decrease and costs continue to rise ahead of another difficult budget year, BPS financial officers told the School Committee. Hundreds of teachers and paraprofessionals could be cut next year.

The Committee voted 6-1 to close Lee Academy Pilot School in Dorchester, the Another Course to College high school, or ACC, in Hyde Park, and the Community Academy of Sciences and Health, or CASH high school in Dorchester, effective June 30, 2027.

“The city has the money,” some people attending the meeting chanted after the vote, interrupting Chair Jeri Robinson.

David Bloom, BPS chief financial officer, then told Committee members that “continued cost overruns” in the current fiscal year requires “more active management to ensure that we’re finishing the year on budget.”

Health insurance, transportation costs, out of district special education costs, and food services for students, and an increased fill rate for job positions are contributing to this year’s budget deficit, said Blair Dawkins, the deputy chief financial officer.

“Over the past few years, we’ve had to use various mitigation strategies to manage our budget,” Dawkins said. “In that regard, this year is no different, but what is different is that we no longer have a safety net by way of federal COVID relief dollars … and the significant and unexpected increase to health insurance costs.”

For the next financial year, Bloom said that as the district prepares to close three schools, between 300 and 400 teachers and paraprofessionals could lose their positions. 

“The main place we’re expecting to see (full-time) reductions are going to be in teachers and paraprofessionals who are in those homeroom or direct roles,” Bloom said.  “As enrollment’s down, we just need fewer of those rooms.”

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.