To: Mayor Thomas Menino, Superintendent Carol Johnson, BPS External Advisory Committee, and Boston School Committee
"Grandfather" siblings in any new BPS student assignment plan.
Families Belong Together.
Unless specific educational needs are the reason for siblings to attend different schools, families deserve the chance to keep brothers and sisters united. The alternative is unnecessarily complex for busy families—different start times, end times, walk paths, extracurricular programs, uniform policies, administrations, and faculty. Further, siblings are an important source of help and support to one another.
Children and School Communities Need Stability.
Without sibling grandfathering, parents must choose—use different schools or move an already-enrolled child. Moving schools impacts the individual child. History and relationships with classmates, teachers, and administration are lost. Moving schools also impacts the wider community. The cohort of classmates loses a member, whose seat is filled by another student with whom the school staff has no prior background and experience. Without sibling grandfathering, student turnover—already a challenge for many schools—becomes worse.
Parents are instrumental in improving the quality of Boston Public Schools.
They work tirelessly to build their parent communities, fundraise, write grants, lobby for school programs, host teacher appreciation events, strategize long-term school goals, establish partnerships with community organizations and businesses, and promote their schools to prospective families. In short, parents along with teachers and principals enable their schools to thrive and grow and every child benefits from it.
Not allowing siblings to attend the same schools rips school communities apart and causes unnecessary disruption to students’ lives.
Unless specific educational needs are the reason for siblings to attend different schools, families deserve the chance to keep brothers and sisters united. The alternative is unnecessarily complex for busy families—different start times, end times, walk paths, extracurricular programs, uniform policies, administrations, and faculty. Further, siblings are an important source of help and support to one another.
Children and School Communities Need Stability.
Without sibling grandfathering, parents must choose—use different schools or move an already-enrolled child. Moving schools impacts the individual child. History and relationships with classmates, teachers, and administration are lost. Moving schools also impacts the wider community. The cohort of classmates loses a member, whose seat is filled by another student with whom the school staff has no prior background and experience. Without sibling grandfathering, student turnover—already a challenge for many schools—becomes worse.
Parents are instrumental in improving the quality of Boston Public Schools.
They work tirelessly to build their parent communities, fundraise, write grants, lobby for school programs, host teacher appreciation events, strategize long-term school goals, establish partnerships with community organizations and businesses, and promote their schools to prospective families. In short, parents along with teachers and principals enable their schools to thrive and grow and every child benefits from it.
Not allowing siblings to attend the same schools rips school communities apart and causes unnecessary disruption to students’ lives.
Why is this important?
Under any new student assignment system, permit families who would like to continue an existing affiliation with a Boston Public School to do so, regardless of “zones.” Specifically, this means “grandfathering” current students and their siblings.