School closings may not ease woes
Group foresees revenue shortfall
Students left the Hyde Park Education Complex yesterday. The three high schools within the complex would be closed under a proposal from Boston’s public schools superintendent, Carol R. Johnson. (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff)As parents, students, and educators across Boston mounted campaigns yesterday to keep their schools open, a financial watchdog group warned that Superintendent Carol R. Johnson’s proposal to shutter six schools falls short of solving the district’s money troubles.
The proposal, which also calls for the merger of two other schools that share a building, would save between $7.7 million and $8.7 million annually in operational costs, school officials say.
But the reduction would do little to cover a potential $60 million revenue shortfall for the next school year, according to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a nonpartisan financial watchdog group. The $60 million reflects the increase in spending necessary next year to maintain the same level of education the district is providing this year.
Calling the proposal’s estimated savings “inadequate,’’
