Wu appoints two new Boston school committee members

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has appointed a former assistant principal and a member of the district's English language workforce training project to the Boston school committee, announcing her two new selections just days before Monday’s deadline.

The mayor had three seats to fill following the scheduled expiration of two members’ terms and the departure of vice chair Michael O’Neill in December.

Member Stephen Alkins was reappointed to another four-year term. New members include retired Eliot School assistant principal Lydia Torres and Jamaica Plain parent and English language workforce leader Franklin Peralta.

“These three leaders embody the dedication, expertise and passion for serving our young people that will help guide our work to make Boston Public Schools the first choice for all of our families,” Wu said in a statement released Saturday.

The appointed seven-member committee is the district’s governing body, responsible for hiring and evaluating the superintendent, reviewing the annual operating budget and approving districtwide policies. The roughly 47,000-student district has faced shrinking enrollment over the past decade.

The committee recently approved closing several city schools that district officials said were under-enrolled. The board also approved changes to the admissions policy for exam schools.

For the latest vacancies, 13 candidates applied, including Alkins. Former committee colleague Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, who has pushed for more transparency, was not reappointed to a second term.

Wu chose among eight finalists selected by a nominating panel, according to The Boston Globe.

Peralta, whose children attend Sarah Greenwood K-8 School and Boston Latin Academy, oversees projects at the nonprofit English for New Bostonians, which facilities English language training for adult immigrants. In a statement, he said he’s eager to help advance opportunities for students, as “education has opened doors for me to enter places where I never dreamed I would be.”

Torres, of Roslindale, who also worked as a district literacy specialist and director of English Language Arts for grades 6-12 in the district, said in a statement she’s looking forward to “helping the district advance opportunities and outcomes for students.”

Alkins, a BPS parent who is the diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the education research nonprofit TERC, said in a statement the committee should focus on “addressing critical opportunity and achievement gaps” and added the district “must continue to engage in deep, critical discourse, transparency with families, data analysis, and accountability.”

Keo McClay, executive director of Boston Education Justice Alliance which pushed back against the recent school closures, citing concerns over their impact on low-income and underserved students, acknowledged that the new members are part of the larger fabric of Boston Public Schools. But he said he wondered whether they're willing to question the superintendent or district.

"We need to be able to have people that say 'no,' or 'not yet,' or 'let's go through a more equitable process of implementing community voice versus what we've traditionally done in the district,' " he said.

Unlike nearly every other district in Massachusetts, all Boston School Committee members are appointed by the mayor. Voters, in large part, supported a non-binding ballot question in 2021 to switch back to an elected body but Wu vetoed a City Council proposal to enact an elected school board in 2023.