Ten rising ninth-grade students with autism have been assigned to Fenway High School without any consultation with Fenway staff or any help for the staff to include these students in their new high school’s program, the president of the Fenway Board of Trustees told the School Committee last week. (Fenway is a pilot school, supposedly with broad autonomy.)
In a later interview, Board President Gary Bailey said the school learned of the central office’s decision after the school was notified on December 17 that their budget had been raised $167,000 to cover an additional teacher and two paraprofessionals. He said Fenway head of school Geoffrey Walker called the central office to ask why they were getting more staff and was told that the 10 students would be coming there in the fall.
The school did get a hint of what might happen when central office staff told the School Committee on December 5 about plans for moving specialized programs from the West Roxbury Education Complex and mentioned that Fenway had room.