Parents said they are devastated by the plan, which will close four schools and merge two others.
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A controversial plan to close and merge several Boston public schools will go into effect in the 2026-2027 school year after the city's school committee approved the proposal Thursday. That means hundreds of students will be relocated.
Thursday night, the Boston School Committee voted 5-1 to merge two schools and close four others – including Excel High School in South Boston.
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Also closing are Community Academy in Jamaica Plain, Mary Lyon Pilot High School in Allston/Brighton, and Dever Elementary School in Dorchester.
Those will all close at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
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The Winthrop and Clap elementary schools will be merged into Frederick Middle School in Dorchester.
That school is already slated to close in June, as part of the five-year plan to eliminate the district’s middle schools.
These closures and mergers affect about 1,300 students.
More than a third of those students are multilingual learners.
But Boston Public Schools officials have said this plan will put them in a position to be in learning environments with more resources, offering a higher quality education.
Administrators have said they plan to close about one-fifth of the district’s school buildings by 2030, making education more efficient and effective.
The superintendent has said the closures are not happening immediately, to give time to make the transitions go more smoothly.
Members of the Dever school community who have been fighting the proposed closure called the decision heartbreaking.
"This is a devastating blow to our community," said Cheryl Buckman, a parent. "The Paul A. Dever School is an integral part of our neighborhood, and its closure will leave a void that cannot be filled. We are heartbroken and outraged by this unjust decision."
Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper released a statement Friday morning expressing her thanks to the school committee for the vote and vowing to work with school communities on the transition.
"We recognize that school closures and mergers are never easy for communities and I am incredibly grateful to all the members of our school communities who attended community meetings and shared their observations, reactions, and additional recommendations for these proposals. We are committed to working with every family to create a smooth, seamless transition that fully supports the needs and wants of our students," the statement read in part.
