A group of students and families held a protest at the Dever School in Dorchester against Boston Public Schools’ plan to close it.
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As Boston Public Schools looks to reduce the number of schools in the district and provide more complete offerings, several school communities are hurting. Among them are families from the Paul A. Dever Elementary School.
“To me it’s crazy. It shouldn’t be happening,” said Gene Matthews, a parent.
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Matthews is one of many parents frustrated with recent news of the school’s closure at the end of next school year. It is one of four in the district that will close as part of the long-term plan.
Matthews' son Ryan loves his school experience, like most of the students who spoke with NBC10 Boston Wednesday.
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“This school means education. My mom chose this school because there’s no bullies. They have a zero tolerance for bullying,” Ryan said.
The closure is to align the number of seats in the district with the number of students, and because of the physical condition of the building and how it’s being used, according to Boston Public Schools.
The BPS decision will allow this year’s sixth grade class and next year’s fifth grade class to graduate Devers, but lower grade students will be routed to other schools.
BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the plans came together with community input and based on real-time, publicly available data on the current state of the existing facilities. But some parents say it doesn't feel like they got much input.
“If BPS is insisting to close it, please give us enough time to graduate existing students and then let them do what they want. Give us 4 to 5 years, let them graduate and then they can close it,” said Haval Abdul Rahman, another Devers parent.
Community members held a rally in protest of the planned closure Wednesday afternoon.
