CALL IT THE push-me-pull-you saga of troubled Charlestown High School. 

One by one, teachers at Charlestown High spoke at a recent Boston School Committee hearing, railing against a proposal to convert the building to an “innovation school.” The proposal, submitted by a group of parents, would have tapped provisions of a 2010 state reform law to remake the school structure with greater flexibility over staffing, curriculum, and scheduling. 

Proponents wanted the school to enroll all students in “early college” programs through which they would graduate from high school with a two-year associate’s degree or career certificate. They wanted the school to adopt a more robust “inclusion” model that has special education students learning in mainstream classes staffed with two teachers – a regular education and special education instructor. The plan also called for the school to give enrollment priority to students from three area elementary schools – schools that critics said enroll white students at greater rates than the district as a whole. 

The autonomy a new school leader would have under the innovation model to retain or let go of staff clearly set off alarms among Charlestown High teachers, but the plan was troubled from the start by charges that there had been no effort to engage the school community in discussion of its elements. 

“This feels like a hostile takeover,” Cecil Carey, a Charlestown High teacher, said in testimony in December to the School Committee. “The unstated goal is to empty out a school of experienced teachers and families of color so they can use its resources,” he said, calling the proposal “an example of structural racism.” 

The innovation school proposal, which had to win approval of a three-member screening committee made up of the superintendent, the chair of the school committee, and a representative of the Boston Teachers Union, was unanimously rejected last month. 

“The plan moved forward without any engagement of the Charlestown school community,” Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said in comments prior to the 3-0 vote, adding that the plan was “vague” on the overarching principle of “equity” that must drive all district actions.

The school department may have rejected the makeover plan for the school, but it is hardly giving a stamp of approval to the status quo at Charlestown High. Just a week after the innovation school vote, Cassellius announced that she will form an “intervention team” to address problems at the chronically low performing school, which has a graduation rate of just 55 percent and where only 16 percent of students are meeting expectations on the MCAS English test and just 28 percent are doing so in math. 

“I am appointing this Intervention Team to review data on student opportunities and outcomes recognizing that we have work to do to deliver on the promise of an excellent and equitable education for all students at Charlestown HS,” Cassellius wrote in a letter last week to the school community. 

The district contract with the teachers union allows the superintendent to name a seven-member team to review all aspects of a school’s operation and performance and make recommendations for change. It includes three members appointed by the superintendent, three named by the union, and one appointment made jointly by the two sides. 

Cassellius also announced that she will name intervention teams for the McKinley K-12 School  and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. 

Some might argue that significant problems at the three schools require more sweeping change than is likely to come from the intervention reviews. The test for the district: whether these lighter-touch approaches to long struggling schools can make a difference in meaningfully moving the needle on low performance measures. 

MICHAEL JONAS

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Power grid warning: The head of the New England power grid says the system had some very close calls in January amid the unexpected loss of generating capacity and cold weather. He warns the region is flirting with rolling blackouts.

– “These are not hypotheticals, as all of these situations have occurred this winter, in the January 10 to 22 time frame,” Gordon van Welie, the CEO of ISO-New England, wrote in a letter to industry officials and state energy leaders. “Thankfully, the region did not experience extended severe weather during this timeframe and we have been able to manage through them.” 

– “When I explain to state policymakers that the region has to depend on just-in-time imported gas from Trinidad, Qatar, and sometimes Russia, they shake their heads in disbelief,” van Welie wrote. Read more.

Campbell makes it official: Former Boston city councilor Andrea Campbell formally announces her candidacy for attorney general. Read more.

Including the governor: Secretary of State William Galvin files legislation making the governor’s office subject to the state’s public records law. Galvin’s office oversees enforcement of the public records law. Read more.

Healey on board: Attorney General Maura Healey leads a coalition of prosecutors filing a legal brief in support of Mexico’s lawsuit against US gun manufacturers for allegedly marketing their weapons to drug cartels and gangs. Read more.

OPINION

Troubling trendlines: Elisabeth Jackson, the CEO of Bridge Over Troubled Waters, says the trendlines on youth mental health are alarming, particularly for those who have experienced trauma, neglect, violence, and homelessness. Read more.

 

FROM AROUND THE WEB

BEACON HILL

A bill to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses is gathering more support than in prior years, including from law enforcement, health care professionals, and business leaders. (MassLive)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

Boston elected officials of color, led by US Rep. Ayanna Pressley, condemn racists attacks on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. (Associated Press)

Wu, facing criticism over the city’s vaccine mandate for restaurant patrons and those entering other venues, said the restrictions are “not permanent,” but gave no firm timeline or data threshold for dialing back the policy. (Boston Herald) 

The Everett City Council voted to dramatically pare back the “longevity” bonus Mayor Carlo DeMaria was receiving based on what the Globe terms a “vaguely worded city ordinance.” 

Jennifer Callahan, who was appointed town administrator in Bourne in mid-January, backs out of the job for medical reasons, leaving the town in the lurch. (Cape Cod Times)

The Worcester City Council kills a petition to ban new gas stations in the city. (Telegram & Gazette)

Weymouth becomes the first town to retrofit a school bus as a mobile food pantry. (Patriot Ledger)

A New Bedford developer finds a building ordinance that addresses buildings of three stories or less and six stories or more – but accidentally leaves out four and five-story structures. (Standard-Times)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Gov. Charlie Baker releases a plan as part of his budget proposal to improve access to behavioral health care. (Salem News)

Lawrence General Hospital announces a new partnership with Steward Health Care. (Eagle-Tribune)

UMass Memorial Health finishes 2021 with a $64 million profit, but officials remain wary of 2022 citing a regional bed shortage and rising labor costs. (Telegram & Gazette)

ELECTIONS

Former ACLU lawyer Rahsaan Hall formally launches his run for Plymouth County district attorney. (Boston Globe)

Peabody Republican Robert May, an engineer who owns Techsource Thermal Solutions, will challenge US Rep. Seth Moulton. (Gloucester Daily Times)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

The MetroWest Daily News does a deep dive on MBTA multi-family zoning guidelines.

Home inspectors say business is down as more buyers are waiving their inspection contingency due to the competitive market. (Telegram & Gazette)

IMMIGRATION

Two Afghan refugees who met each other for the first time in the United States are sharing a one-room apartment in western Massachusetts as they try to acclimate to their new lives in the US and help relatives join them. (WBUR)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

The state is dramatically boosting financial incentives for customers to switch to electric heat pumps as part of the effort to move households off the use of natural gas and heating oil. (Boston Globe) 

State legislators are pushing for a bill that would ban Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from ever dumping radioactive waste into Cape Cod Bay. (Wicked Local)

MEDIA

ABC suspends Whoopi Goldberg for her comments suggesting the Holocaust was not about race. Goldberg, who identifies as Jewish, apologized for her remarks on “The View.” (New York Times)

PASSINGS

Frances Jacobson, a lifelong educator and patron of the arts and humanities in Worcester, dies at 87. (Telegram & Gazette)