Calm Before Me

  The Missing Infrastructure of Trust: Why the BPS Long-Term Facilities Plan is Failing Our Communities The structural integrity of a school building is measured in brick, mortar, and steel. But the structural integrity of a public school system is measured in trust, stability, and community. Right now, as Boston Public Schools pushes forward with its Long-Term Facilities Plan (LTFP), the district is failing on the latter. Under the banner of a "High-Quality Student Experience," the city is deploying a top-down spreadsheet strategy that treats schools as mere square footage on a ledger rather than the living, breathing heart of our neighborhoods. When you look past the glossy PDFs and the corporate-sounding "decision-making rubrics," a painful truth emerges: this plan is systematically failing our schools, our educators, our children, and our families. 1. Failing Our Children: Fracturing Pipelines and Erasing Stability The district’s current strategy relies heavily...

  The Bridge to Success: Why the Dever-Batson Campus is the Key to BPS’s Future In the world of Boston Public Schools, we hear a lot about "High-Quality Student Experiences" and "modernizing our footprint." But right now, at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Shoreham, we are about to witness a move that defies both logic and community common sense. BPS is preparing to shutter the Dever Elementary School . Meanwhile, the Ruth Batson Academy —our 7-12 powerhouse—is entering a multi-year, multi-million dollar renovation project. Look at these two buildings. They aren't just neighbors; they are physically connected by an enclosed bridge. They are a ready-made campus . Yet, the current plan is to close one and "study" the other. The Vision: One Campus, Two Houses Why are we looking for "swing space" and temporary trailers when the solution is literally behind a connecting door? The logical, "showstopper" move is simple: Create the Ruth Batson...

  All Roads Lead Through the Dever: A Legacy 70 Years in the Making As the calendar turns and we face the final 35 days of this school year, the air at the Paul A. Dever School feels a bit heavier, yet more vibrant than ever. We aren't just counting down the days to summer; we are honoring a 70-year legacy that has shaped generations of families—including my own. A Full-Circle Journey My connection to this building isn’t just professional or civic; it’s deeply personal. The Dever is where my own education began over 30 years ago. It’s where my brother walked the halls, and most recently, it’s where I’ve watched my son grow as he prepares to finish his 7th-grade year at the Ruth Batson Academy . Serving as your Parent Lead has been one of the greatest honors of my life. To give back to the institution that poured so much into me and my family is a debt of gratitude I can never fully repay. A Gift for the Ages Recently, during our Digitizing Night , I had the privilege of presenti...

  The $665 Million Question: Boston’s "Ghost" School Budget Boston is at a crossroads. As the city enters the latest round of hearings for the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Long-Term Facilities Plan (LTFP) , the numbers on the page have started to tell a story that doesn't quite add up. If you look at the latest Capital Budget, you’ll see two trends moving in opposite directions—and a massive, unexplained sum of money sitting right in the middle. 1. The Immediate Pullback At a time when our aging school buildings are in desperate need of repair, immediate spending is actually shrinking . Current spending for the upcoming year has dropped 16% compared to FY26. While the city may argue this is "fiscal discipline," for the families dealing with HVAC failures and crumbling infrastructure today, it feels like a retreat. 2. The $665 Million "Black Box" While today's spending is down, the "future" projections have exploded by 49% . This growth is...

Enough is Enough: The BPS Transportation Crisis is Stealing Our Children’s Future & Why BPS Transportation is a Documented Disaster For a decade, I’ve stood at bus stops in South Boston. What began as "first-week jitters" in K2 has devolved into a permanent, systemic breakdown. This past Tuesday, I stood before the City Council at the Emergency Hearing on BPS Transportation to testify to this reality. But I haven't just been vocal this week; I have been a persistent voice for many years, demanding that BPS stop treating our children as an afterthought. No More Broken Promises In October, during Mayor Wu’s "State of the Schools" address, the message from the city was one of progress. But for the parents on the ground, the reality is far different. No more broken promises. Our children need to be in school on time, not hours late. It is completely unacceptable that in 2026, we are still hearing the same excuses we heard in 2018. A "State of the Schools...

Reflecting on Dever’s Digitizing Day: A Legacy Etched in Iron The intersection of Mt. Vernon Street and it felt a little heavier—and a lot more meaningful—on March 26th. As the community gathered for Dever’s Digitizing Day , the atmosphere wasn't just about a school closing; it was about ensuring that decades of history didn’t simply vanish when the doors locked for the last time. The highlight of the event was the unveiling of the new street sign, a permanent marker for the Paul A. Dever Elementary School . For those who have walked those halls, the sign is more than a navigational tool; it is a testament to the generations of families who were shaped by the "bricks and mortar" on Columbia Point. A Voice from the Community During the ceremony, the personal weight of this milestone was captured in the dedication speech: "It’s an honor to be here for Dever’s Digitizing Day and the unveiling of the street sign. They say all roads lead through the Dever, and for my fami...

Recovery, Resilience, and the Power of Community I wanted to share an update on how things have been going since my surgery just under a week ago. For the first few days, I felt like I was on the right track, but things took a turn Friday evening. I ended up in the ER with a suspected blood clot. A Health Update I am so thankful that the clot they found was small. Interestingly, the ER focused on a chest CT rather than imaging my leg. While that ruled out a major Pulmonary Embolism (PE), the scan did show something unexpected with my 5th and 6th ribs—likely an echo from a past issue that I’ll need to keep an eye on. My blood levels were also quite a bit "off," showing that both my HE and Hemolytic Anemia are active right now. My next step is getting back in with the blood specialist to get those levels stabilized. As for the surgical site, I had my one-week post-op checkup. Most of the incisions are healing well, though two spots are being a bit stubborn—one is still bleeding...

  For decades, the ritual has been the same. Every spring, a thick binder of budget projections is laid on a mahogany table at a School Committee meeting. Numbers are crunched, “efficiencies” are identified, and “difficult choices” are lamented. But outside those meeting rooms, in the hallways of Brighton High and the classrooms of the Curley K-8, those "choices" have a different name: Loss. As we move through 2026, the Boston Public Schools (BPS) budget is once again under the knife. With a projected $53 million deficit and the looming threat of 400 staff layoffs , we are told this is a matter of "enrollment declines." But let’s be clear: Every dollar cut from our schools is a withdrawal from the potential of a Boston child. Our students, our teachers, and our communities have suffered long enough. It has to stop. The Human Cost of "Hard Decisions" When the district talks about cutting 400 positions—including over 260 classroom teachers and 160 paraprof...

  Beyond the Noise: Why My Choice to Stay is Mine Alone Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of opinions floating around about my life—specifically about who I choose to keep in it. It’s funny how people who only see a fraction of your story feel qualified to write the chapters for you. But after much reflection, I’ve realized that I don’t need a jury to validate my personal decisions. I am choosing peace, and for me, that peace includes maintaining a deep, supportive friendship with someone many expected me to leave behind. The Power of the Second Chance We live in a culture that tells us to "burn bridges" the moment things get complicated. While that works for some, I’ve learned that life isn't always black and white. Yes, mistakes happened. There were hurdles and heartaches that we both had to navigate. But I’ve also learned that growth doesn’t always mean walking away; sometimes, it means walking toward a different kind of connection. Accepting a "second chance" at fr...

  The Brave Face: A Lifetime at the Dever and the Fight for Our Future This coming week is, in a word, heavy . My calendar is a blur of City Council chambers, school hallways, and pre-op appointments. But as I look at the schedule, I realize every single one of these moments is connected by a single thread: the choice to show up, even when the weight feels impossible to carry. A Lifetime at the Dever: "All Roads Lead Through Here" This week carries a special kind of weight as I head to the Dever to go over photos for the website. This isn’t just a school to me; it is my second home. For nearly 70 years, these halls have been a sanctuary for generations. I am forever grateful for my journey here—first as a student, then as a parent, and lastly as an advocate. But the clock is ticking. On June 30th, 2026, I will take my last steps in those halls, and the final bell will ring on a place that has been a home to so many. It breaks my heart, but I know one thing for certain: no ma...