Ahead of the first day of school on Thursday, Boston city leaders joined dozens of volunteers canvassing the city in an effort to encourage chronically absent students to return to class.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper worked with the Re-Engagement center on the canvass, and held a news conference afterwards to give an update.
"We know it's effective, we know it makes a difference, and today we got to see directly at the doors what that means for individuals students and families," Wu said. "For me this is the most important part of our work — trying to make sure everything we do in buildings like this is actually making it out to people in their homes."
The school district aimed to reach a couple of hundred homes during the outreach event.
"I felt really humbled about this, was to actually be able to talk to the young people," Skipper said. "There was a range of issues for them, some were medical, some had to do with family, some were just got off track because of the pandemic."
Skipper said all of the students she spoke with were appreciative and wanted to understand what their options were to get back involved.
"Hopefully we made a difference either in a next step with some of them, or planting a seed, knowing where they can reach out to when they're ready to reengage," Skipper said.
For Boston Public Schools, grades 1 through 12 will start on Thursday. Pre-K and kindergarten will start up on Monday.
Another topic Wu and Skipper discussed was handling the hot weather as students returned to class.
Skipper said that nearly 3,000 air conditioners have been rolled out since last year, and most buildings are covered. The 14 or so buildings that can't handle the ACs due to electrical limitations, fans are being used.
Wu chimed in to say that bigger picture planning is ongoing, as the warm months gradually stretches into both ends of the school year as the climate changes in the city, and many of the school buildings continue to exhibit their age.
