Thursday, 4:30 PM
English High to become pilot school
By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff
Teachers in Boston's troubled English High agreed today to turn the school into a Commonwealth Pilot school, converting the 1,300-student facility into a smaller, college preparatory institution starting September.
Under the proposal approved by 81 percent of teachers, the school will mandate tougher graduation requirements, daily courses focused on getting students into college, and a longer school day. The school will be divided into two communities of 400 students each.
The state Board of Education in November had offered English High and three other Massachusetts schools a chance to address problems by becoming pilot schools, a model that gives teachers and principals more flexibility in budgets, schedules and curriculum.
If teachers had voted against the conversion, the state would have designated English High "chronically underperforming" and required it to follow a state-approved reform plan.
