Charlestown High community protests proposed 2028 closure
Charlestown High School students, staff and parents pressed Boston Public Schools and the School Committee to keep the school open at a meeting on November 4. Superintendent Mary Skipper has proposed closing it in June 2028, along with the district’s Greater Egleston campus and its East Boston center for early learning, as part of the district’s facilities plan responding to declining enrollment.
Charlestown enrollment has fallen 32% over three years, from 820 students to 559, district data show. The school uses 53% of its 1,046-student capacity. Skipper said closure would let more than 500 students attend schools with fuller classrooms and better educational opportunities. District officials say the Charlestown building would remain in use for a different, growing school.
Students described Charlestown as a place where they found safety, belonging and supportive relationships. Sophomore Zoe Denison said the plan would disrupt students before their senior year. Staff member Kristen Cacciatore urged officials to consider a merger or expansion instead, calling those options possible. Union president Erik Berg also called for consideration of mergers and said communities should have had a transparent, evidence-based discussion before closure proposals were announced.
School Committee member Franklin Peralta said the proposed closure was especially difficult because most Charlestown students are students of color, and criticized a pattern of closing schools with majority Black and Latino enrollment. Committee members also questioned how much the community had been consulted. The district plans to gather input in the coming weeks before the committee’s December 2 vote.
Charlestown students deserve a voice before their school is closed
Boston’s plan to close Charlestown High School would uproot students who described the school as a safe, supportive community—and the district is facing questions about whether those families had a meaningful role in shaping the decision. Students, staff and parents urged officials on November 4 to reconsider the proposed June 2028 closure.
The school’s enrollment has fallen 32% in three years, to 559, and it uses 53% of its capacity. Superintendent Mary Skipper argues that closing it would give more than 500 students fuller classrooms and better educational opportunities. But a lower headcount is not the only measure of a school’s value: students testified that Charlestown gave them a sense of belonging and relationships that helped them feel safe.
The proposal also raises an equity concern. Committee member Franklin Peralta noted that most Charlestown students are students of color and said repeated closures of schools with majority Black and Latino enrollment are a problem. Union president Erik Berg said communities should have had a transparent, evidence-based conversation before closure announcements, and urged consideration of mergers. Staff member Kristen Cacciatore also proposed a merger or expansion as alternatives.
The district says it will gather input before the School Committee votes on December 2. That process must take students’ testimony and possible alternatives seriously. The building would remain in use for another school, but that does not answer what happens to the community Charlestown students say they have found there.
Boston’s closure plan must deliver on promise of better schools
Boston’s school leaders face a difficult facilities decision as enrollment declines: Charlestown High has lost 32% of its students in three years and operates at just 53% of capacity. Superintendent Mary Skipper says closing it would allow more than 500 students to learn in fuller classrooms and access better educational opportunities.
Students, staff and parents asked the School Committee on November 4 to reject or rethink the proposed June 2028 closure. They described Charlestown as a place of safety and belonging, and staff member Kristen Cacciatore urged officials to consider a merger or expansion. Those concerns deserve a serious hearing, but keeping a school open cannot be the only measure of whether students are being served well.
District officials say the Charlestown building would continue to house a growing school. They also say the closure plan is part of a wider facilities effort responding to declining enrollment. The school’s 559 students occupy a building designed for 1,046, while district officials have pointed to educational opportunities as part of the case for change.
The district plans to gather community input before the December 2 vote. Committee members have questioned how much engagement preceded the proposal, and union president Erik Berg called for transparent discussion of data and possible mergers. Officials should weigh those alternatives against the district’s stated goal: fuller classrooms and stronger opportunities for students.
Reported by CBS Boston, GBH News.
