BOSTON — Dozens of parents and students rallied outside Dever Elementary School in Dorchester Wednesday, pushing the district to keep the school open.
“Our biggest concern here is that our community could be splintered in half and that’s not what we want,” said Cheryl Buckman, a parent of a student at the Dever school.
Boston Public School leaders announced its plans to close the Dever school by the end of next school year.
It’s part of a Long-Term Facilities Plan.
“My son has done wonderful things here, he learned his passion for music,” said Anthuanet Bobato, another parent.
Parents say they’re frustrated since their children have been thriving at the school.
It’s also fully inclusive, so that students from all different backgrounds and learning abilities share every classroom.
“We’re fully inclusive and BPS was really trying to work with us we had a whole team to get out of receivership and less than a month after a last meeting with them they had announced closure, no warning, no nothing,” said Alex Orlinsky, a teacher at the Dever school.
Teachers are also disappointed about the proposal to close the school after working hard for years to turn the school around.
“We’ve had school quality review three times a year every year and they’re very in depth, thorough, under a microscope reviews, and we’ve been making incredible progress and just to be told no real explanation no clear transparency on why it’s just devastating,” said Orlinsky.
A Boston Public Schools spokesperson released the following statement Wednesday:
“We recognize that the announcement of the proposal to close the Dever School has been difficult for the school community and we continue to appreciate hearing their concerns. As we outlined at the January 22 School Committee meeting, the recommendation to close the Dever is part of a broader effort to rightsize the district to match our projected enrollment and deliver the High Quality Student Experience to all our students by 2030.”
“It’s a second home to all of our kids, it’s not just a building, it’s family, it’s a community for us and we’re here to fight for it,” said Bobato.
The district will vote on whether to close the school on March 19.
The Long-Term Facilities Plan from BPS can be viewed in full below:
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
