With risk of frostbite in the air, Boston schools will close Friday

The Boston Public Schools will be closed Friday due to predicted extreme cold.

BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper says the “increased risk of hypothermia and frostbite” for students coming to and from school forced the district’s first weather-related closure of 2023.

Weather reports predict the temperature will steadily drop Friday, potentially crossing below zero by Friday evening. Gusts of 25 mph could bring wind chills even lower. At least 25,000 city students do not use school buses, instead relying on parents, public transit or walking.

In her message announcing the closure, Skipper acknowledged the closure will be a challenge for district families, but described it as a way of guaranteeing students are “safe in these weather conditions.”

The closures are not unprecedented: city schools were closed due to extreme cold last January, as well as in 2011 and 2015.

On at least Friday and Saturday, the city will operate “warming centers” out of BCYF facilities. And Friday will still be a workday for the district’s food-service staff: 13 schools across the city will remain open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. to offer a cold breakfast and hot lunch for families who need them.

Those schools are: the Edison K-8 in Brighton; the Condon in South Boston; the Mario Umana Academy in East Boston; the Boston Latin School in the Fenway; the Margarita Muniz Academy in Jamaica Plain; the Orchard Gardens K-8 in Roxbury; the Lila Frederick Pilot Middle School, the Murphy K-8 and the Community Academy of Science and Health in Dorchester; the Mildred Ave. K-8 in Mattapan; Boston Community Leadership Academy in Hyde Park; the Ohrenberger School in West Roxbury; and the Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Chinatown.