Tag Archive for: Massachusetts Advocates for Children

Director of Finance and Operations – MAC

Deadline: March 25, 2026

About Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC)

Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) is a non-profit legal aid organization working to remove barriers to education for low-income students, children with disabilities, immigrant children, and Black and Brown youth. During a time when civil rights in education are under political attack, MAC is a key leader in fighting to maintain and enforce longstanding education protections for these children in Massachusetts and achieve education equity.
Our work is multi-level and is driven by a community-informed, ground-up advocacy model. We use a combination of direct legal advocacy for families, strategic litigation, legislative change, coalition leadership, community training, and a multilingual helpline that serves thousands each year. Our longstanding organizational commitment to racial equity guides both our internal practices and external advocacy, aligning our work with equity, justice, and inclusion and equipping us to identify structural racism internally and externally.

To learn more about our mission and work, please visit MAC’s website or view a video about who we are.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Executive Director and serving on the MAC leadership team, the Director of Finance and Operations is a newly created senior leadership role that powers the systems, practices, and culture behind our mission. This position brings together financial stewardship and operational leadership, and serving as MAC’s internal anchor for both day-to-day organizational health and longer-term sustainability planning.
You will be the Executive Director’s primary thought partner on finance and operations, managing the relationship with MAC’s outsourced accounting firm, leading the annual budget process, and ensuring that our technology, facilities, HR administration, and internal systems all run with clarity and care. MAC is at an exciting moment of growth, having just moved to a new office with a strong, diverse, and motivated team deeply committed to our mission.
We are looking for someone who has done this work before and is ready to step in and lead. If you are a seasoned finance and operations professional who is mission-aligned, digitally savvy, and energized by building equitable, well-run organizations, we want to hear from you.

Leadership Scope

●Serve on the leadership team, partnering closely with the Executive Director on planning and priorities related to finance and operations.
●Act as MAC’s internal thought partner on organizational sustainability including mapping long-term financial scenarios, surfacing risks and opportunities, and supporting multi-year planning.
●Supervise the experienced Office Manager and lead organization-wide operational initiatives.
●Serve as the internal change manager including facilitating and championing adoption of new tools, processes, and norms with accessibility, equity, and staff wellbeing at the center.
●Prepare and present operational and financial insights to staff, leadership, and the Board, including in partnership with the Board Finance Committee.
●Hold budget responsibility for core operations and vendor contracts in line with organizational policies and with oversight of the Executive Director.

Key Responsibilities and Impact Areas

1) Financial Operations & Organizational Sustainability

●Manage the day-to-day relationship with MAC’s outsourced accounting firm, including responsibility for GL coding, review, accuracy; grant compliance; and identifying opportunities to optimize the partnership with firm.
●Lead the annual budgeting process in close collaboration with the Executive Director and accounting firm; partner with accounting firm in development of monthly and quarterly financial reports and narrative insights to be provided to the Board.
●Partner with the Executive Director and the Board’s Finance Committee on organizational sustainability planning.
●Strengthen staff understanding of financial stewardship through clear guides and internal training.

2) Operations Leadership

●Oversee and manage day-to-day organizational operations to ensure efficiency, alignment, and smooth functioning of the overall organization.
●Develop, implement, and refine internal policies, procedures, and systems to support productivity and organizational health.
●Partner with the Executive Director to support organizational planning and priority setting as related to operations.

3) Technology, Data, & Security

●With support and in collaboration with MAC’s IT vendor and providers, oversee a reliable, secure technology environment (hardware, software, licenses, access, and backups) that supports hybrid work.
●Improve systems for collaboration and knowledge management. Champion user-friendly tools and training, with thoughtful, accessible rollout across a diverse team.
●Uphold data privacy and security practices aligned with legal and ethical standards — MAC’s work requires a high standard of care for the families and communities we serve.
●Evaluate and implement technology improvements (including AI tools where appropriate) with the maturity to bring a diverse staff along at the right pace and in the right way.

4) Office, Facilities, & Safety

●Lead and steward the relationship and communications with building management.
●Take measures to support a safe, welcoming, accessible, and productive office environment that fosters wellbeing.
●Oversee facilities, vendors, and supplies with support from Office Manager.
●Maintain clear protocols for safety, and incident response.

5) Human Resources & Benefits Administration

●Manage vendor relationship with professional employer organization (PEO), which operates/maintains the employee benefits program. Manage annual renewals of the PEO in consultation with ED and Board.
●Support the development, implementation, and updating of HR policies, procedures, and employee handbook materials with Board Personnel Committee and Executive Director input.

6) People Support, Culture, & Equity in Operations

●Supervise, coach, and support the Office Manager to ensure smooth administrative operations.
●Design operational practices that reflect MAC’s racial equity commitments (e.g., transparent decision-making, accessible communication, inclusive procurement).
●Facilitate change thoughtfully, supporting staff through transitions in tools and processes.

Qualifications

We value a wide range of experiences and pathways. We also recognize that people from historically marginalized communities may not apply for positions if they do not have every qualification. If you believe you can thrive in this role, we encourage you to apply.
This is a senior leadership position; we anticipate qualified candidates will have built the relevant skills over a meaningful number of years in similar roles.
●Demonstrated experience in a Director of Finance and Operations, Director of Operations, or comparable senior finance/operations role in a nonprofit or similarly complex environment.
●Strong financial literacy, including leading the annual budget process internally, preparing financial dashboards, and communicating financial insights to non-finance audiences including boards.
●Experience managing or partnering with outsourced accounting or finance firms, or equivalent in a large organization.
●Strong project and change-management skills; ability to implement new systems and thoughtfully bring diverse teams along.
●Clear, proactive communicator who builds trusting relationships across roles, generations, and identities.
●Digital savviness: comfort with core IT concepts, vendor management, and knowledge management platforms (e.g., SharePoint, Microsoft 365); ability to evaluate and implement new tools with good judgment.
●Understanding of data privacy and security practices as applicable in non-profit environment.
●Demonstrated commitment to equity, inclusion, and accessibility in operational and financial design and decision-making.
●Experience supervising, coaching, and developing staff.
●Professional maturity to work effectively in an intergenerational, multiracial, multicultural, disability-inclusive workplace.

Location, Compensation & Benefits

Location: Hybrid; at least two days per week in our new Boston office located in the NonProfit Center near South Station. Because this role oversees core operational and staff-support functions, there may be times when additional in-person time is required. We plan ahead whenever possible and have historically maintained a highly flexible and family-friendly work environment.
Salary Range: $105,000–$120,000, established through market benchmarking and aligned with MAC’s racial equity-informed internal compensation framework.

Benefits:

●***Pilot 4-day workweek*** (Fridays off at full pay. Read more here)
●Health insurance with 85% employer contribution
●Employer-paid life and short-term disability insurance
●401(k) retirement plan with employer match
●Generous paid time off: 2 weeks vacation to start, 15 sick days, 11 holidays + 2 floating holidays, office closure from December 26–January 1, and 2 personal days
●Sabbatical eligibility after 7 years of service

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit their application materials to Elsa Liu at eliu@massadvocates.org with “Director of Finance and Operations Application– [candidate name]” in the subject line. Applicants must submit both a cover letter and resume. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
The hiring process includes a virtual interview, skills assessment, and in-person interview. Applications are due on March 25, 2026.
MAC is committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; bilingual and bicultural candidates; LGBTQIA+ people; and people with disabilities. We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, age, or sexual orientation.

Development Associate – MAC

About Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC)

Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) is a non-profit legal aid organization working to remove barriers to education for low-income students, children with disabilities, immigrant children, and Black and Brown youth. During a time when civil rights in education are under political attack, MAC is a key leader in fighting to maintain and enforce longstanding education protections for these children in Massachusetts and achieve education equity.
Our work is multi-level and is driven by a community-informed, ground-up advocacy model. We use a combination of direct legal advocacy for families, strategic litigation, legislative change, coalition leadership, community training, and a multilingual helpline that serves thousands each year. Our longstanding organizational commitment to racial equity guides both our internal practices and external advocacy, aligning our work with equity, justice, and inclusion and equipping us to identify structural racism internally and externally.

To learn more about our mission and work, please visit MAC’s website or view a video about who we are.

The Opportunity

 

MAC seeks a motivated, detail-oriented, and digitally savvy Development Associate to support both fundraising and communications work. This role will join a growing development team alongside another Development Associate and report to the Director of Development and Communications, working closely with the Executive Director and staff across the organization. We welcome candidates eager to learn and support MAC during a dynamic and exciting period of growth. The Development Associate will provide creative, systematic and administrative support to all areas of MAC’s fundraising and communications work. The successful candidate will be able to manage multiple projects simultaneously and enjoy working collaboratively as well as independently with strong attention to detail. This position offers opportunities for growth as proficiency is demonstrated.

Key Responsibilities and Impact Areas

1. Development and Fundraising:
• Collaborate with the Development and Communications team to execute fundraising strategies and initiatives.
• Research and identify potential funding sources, including individual donors, foundations, and corporations.
• Support logistics of grant submissions and reports, donor appeals, and sponsorship materials to secure financial support. Support program staff to produce data for grant reports.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date donor and grant databases and records (e.g., documenting relationships and timelines) and sending timely acknowledgements for gifts.
• Support donor appeal campaigns through list development, follow-up correspondence, and tracking of gifts. 2. Communications and Marketing:
• Assist with maintaining MAC’s website, social media channels, and other digital platforms with engaging and relevant content.
• Create marketing materials consistent with MAC’s branding (e.g., brochures, newsletters, and promotional materials). 3. Event Support:
• Support the planning, coordination, and execution of fundraising events with development team.
• Assist with logistics for events, including venue coordination, guest lists and invitations, guest communications, and day-of event staffing and coordination. 4. Administrative Support:
• Provide general development and communications-related administrative support including support with maintaining deadlines in Outlook and other programs, scheduling internal and external meetings, and coordinating translation of communications materials.

Qualifications

We appreciate and value that a wide variety of life and work experiences could prepare someone for this role. We also recognize that people from historically marginalized communities may not apply for positions if they do not have every qualification. If you believe you can thrive in this role, we encourage you to apply.
• Detail-oriented and well-organized. Able to handle multiple tasks and deadlines independently.
• Previous experience in fundraising, development, or communications in a nonprofit or analogous setting is preferred but not required.
• Commitment to social justice and belief in MAC’s mission.
• Great communication skills. Ability to explain the organization’s mission and impact effectively.
• Strong digital skills: experience using Microsoft Office Suite and basic design experience (for example Canva or equivalent program) required. At ease with learning or already experienced with other platforms such as Constant Contact, Squarespace, and Little Green Light.
• Experience with social media platforms and familiarity with digital marketing strategies.
• Ability to work collaboratively within a culturally and racially diverse team.
Location, Compensation & Benefits Location: This is a full-time, exempt hybrid position requiring at least 2 days a week in our Boston office near South Station. We plan ahead whenever possible when additional in person time is required and maintain a highly flexible and a family-friendly work environment.
Salary Range: $54,000 – $60,000, established through market benchmarking and aligned with MAC’s racial equity-informed internal compensation framework.

Benefits:

●
***Pilot 4-day workweek*** (Fridays off at full pay. Read more here)
●
Health insurance with 85% employer contribution
●
Employer-paid life and short-term disability insurance
●
401(k) retirement plan with employer match
●
Generous paid time off: 2 weeks vacation to start, 15 sick days, 11 holidays + 2 floating holidays, office closure from December 26–January 1, and 2 personal days
●
Sabbatical eligibility after 7 years of service

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume to Elsa Liu at eliu@massadvocates.org with “Development Associate Application – [candidate name]” in the subject line. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
The hiring process includes a virtual interview, skills assessment, and in-person interview. Applications are due on March 25.

MAC is committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; bilingual and bicultural candidates; LGBTQIA+ people; and people with disabilities. We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, age, or sexual orientation. Note: The job description provided is a general outline and may be modified in communication with the Development Associate as needed to reflect the specific needs of Massachusetts Advocates for Children.

What Massachusetts parents should know this back-to-school season

Below is the full text of a Boston Globe article from 08/26/25.

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Full Article from the Boston Globe.

By Marcela Rodrigues

With summer days coming to a close, parents and children are prepping for the new school year, shopping for clothes and picking out backpacks. Parents across Massachusetts, particularly those whose children are going to school for the first time or who are new to a specific school or district, can be apprehensive about new schedules, required supplies, and whether their child feels confident and ready for the first day.

To make the transition smoother, school psychologists and education advocates recommend parents be proactive, involve their children in the process, and not leave preparation to the last minute.

If parents are nervous about back to school, their children might get anxious, said Bob Bardwell, executive director of the Massachusetts School Counselors Association. Bardwell’s advice is to normalize the process and listen to their children if they express concerns about the new year.

In addition to gathering all necessary documents, from registration forms to transportation schedules, and being up to date on required immunizations, experts have a few more tips for anxious parents.

Make sure teachers know your child

Teachers should have important information about your child, especially challenges they might be facing, said Laura Perez of the nonprofit Massachusetts Advocates for Children.

Parents should attend an open house or contact their child’s teacher before the school year starts, Perez said. Relevant information to share with teachers include whether a child has been bullied in the past, faced any significant changes over the summer, or required medication during the school day.

If a child requires any kind of additional support, such as physical accommodations or extended time on assignments, it is important for the teacher to be informed about them.

This is especially important if a child is receiving special education services or has an individualized education program, or IEP.

“Teachers are getting to know 25 or 30 students at a time,” Perez said. “Many people think teachers have the IEP right there with them, but that’s not the case. They either have to go in the computer and search for it, or they have to go to the office where the IEP is saved.”

Perez also recommends sharing information about the child’s strengths, interests, and specific goals for the new year.

Massachusetts Advocates for Children created a sample letter parents can use when deciding what information they want to share with new teachers.

Ask about your district’s cellphone policy

Massachusetts doesn’t have a law banning students from having cellphones in school, despite recent efforts to pass legislation.

Each district has its own policies regarding electronic devices, and some individual teachers might have their own rules as well.

Brockton, Fall River, Ipswich, Methuen, and Newton have rules in place restricting student use of cellphones. In Newton, for example, public school students are not allowed to have cellphones with them throughout the school day.

In other districts, such as Boston, students are only permitted to use cellphones before and after school hours, at after school or sports activities with permission of a coach or instructor, and at evening or weekend activities in the school building.

Perez said many parents and children rely on cellphones to communicate during the school day: “‘Hey, remember the doctor’s appointment?’ or, ‘Mom, can you bring me my lunch I forgot?’”

“Some kids with social-emotional struggles use their cellphone to call mom or dad and say, ‘I’m not feeling well,’ ‘I’m anxious,’ ‘The bullies are here again’,” Perez said. “It’s going to be really hard for these students to not have that way of direct communication with their families.”

If the district has a policy preventing cellphones in schools, families should ensure they communicate ahead of time, Perez said. Her recommendation for families is to make a plan of what steps their children will take in case they’re not feeling well.

Some of these steps include communicating with teachers and other school employees, and asking them to use a school phone to call parents if necessary.

Ease your child into a new routine

Some children struggle with change. A new school year often means a new teacher, a new classroom, or even a new school.

Perez recommends parents take their children to tour the campus before school starts, if the option is available. Finding their new classroom beforehand and creating some familiarity with the building can be very helpful for some children.

She also recommends introducing children to their new schedules and routines ahead of time and minimizing the number of unfamiliar things. That includes waking up earlier in the days or weeks leading up to the first day of school, bringing back scheduled meals, and setting a bed time.

“Anything that the school offers in terms of orientation, in terms of tours, or just coming in, I would do that many times,” Bardwell said. “Come in when no one’s around because you don’t want to admit you’re scared or worried . . . That relieves, hopefully, some of the tension and anxiety they may have.”

Communicate openly with your child

Bardwell recommends normalizing the process of going back to school, while communicating with children about how they’re feeling.

“Are they excited? Are they nervous? Are they anxious? What are they saying?” Bardwell said. “Many adolescents, in particular, don’t want to interact with adults. Some parents take that as ‘I’m done. I don’t have to do this.’ In fact, I would suggest the opposite of that.“

The young people who don’t want to communicate with their family might be the ones who need it most, Bardwell said.

When parents ask about children’s feelings and check in with them, it sends a message that the parent is interested and engaged.

If the child doesn’t want to talk, parents can ask when would be a good time and schedule a time for later.

“Tell me more about why you’re nervous,” and “What are you worried about?” are good ways to approach the conversation, he said.

Bardwell advises parents to try to understand what the child’s concerns are, and then try to see if anything can be done to remediate that.

If they’re worried about who they’re going to sit with during lunch, one approach, he said, might be finding out their friends’s schedules to see if they match.

Know your rights as a parent

Every child, regardless of immigration or disability, have the right to attend public schools.

Public schools are mandated to provide services for certain children, including English language support and special education services.

Schools must follow the individual education plans tailored for children with special needs. Non-English speaking families also have a right to an interpreter and to have the documentation translated into their native language.

“We have received a few calls from parents whose primary language is not English, and they are having a hard time registering their child because they call the office and nobody speaks their language,” Perez said.

When it comes to accessing services or supporting a child struggling, Perez suggests parents should communicate in writing with school leaders to make sure they have a record of the interaction.

Seek additional help if needed

“The time that people need that extra support, it’s now at the beginning of the year,” said Bardwell.

In addition to resources available in school districts, outside nonprofit organizations, such as St. Stephen’s Youth Programs and Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, support parents with advocacy and legal support.

Such organizations often specialize on supporting families dealing with bullying, struggling to access special education services, and navigating discipline issues.

Massachusetts Advocates for Children has a free helpline for parents who are struggling with any educational issue, from enrollment to special education services.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Newton.

Education Department quietly removes rules for teaching English learners

Below is the full text of a Boston Globe article from 08/20/25.

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Full Article from the Boston Globe.

By Laura Meckler and Justine McDaniel

The Trump administration has quietly rescinded long-standing guidance that directed schools to accommodate students who are learning English, alarming advocates who fear that schools will stop offering assistance if the federal government quits enforcing the laws that require it.

The rescission, confirmed by the Education Department on Tuesday, is one of several moves by the administration to scale back support for approximately 5 million schoolchildren not fluent in English, many of them born in the United States. It is also among the first steps in a broader push by the Trump administration to remove multilingual services from federal agencies across the board, an effort the Justice Department has ramped up in recent weeks.

The moves are an acceleration of President Trump’s March 1 order declaring English the country’s “official language,” and they come as the administration is broadly targeting immigrants through its deportation campaign and other policy changes. The Justice Department sent a memorandum to all federal agencies last month directing them to follow Trump’s executive order, including by rescinding guidance related to rules about English-language learners.

Since March, the Education Department has also laid off nearly all workers in its Office of English Language Acquisition and has asked Congress to terminate funding for the federal program that helps pay for educating English-language learners. Last week, education advocates noticed that the guidance document related to English learning had a new label indicating it was rescinded and remains online “for historical purposes only.”

On Tuesday, Education Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann said that the guidance for teaching English learners, which was originally set forth in 2015, was rescinded because it “is not in line with administration policy.”

A Justice Department spokesperson responded to questions by sending a link to the July memorandum and said he had no comment when asked whether the guidance would be replaced.

For decades, the federal government has held that failing to provide resources for people not proficient in English constitutes discrimination based on national origin under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

In rescinding the guidance, the Trump administration is signaling that it may stop enforcing the law under that long-standing interpretation. The Education and Justice departments have been responsible for enforcing the law.

In the July memorandum, Attorney General Pam Bondi cited case law that says treating people, including students, who aren’t proficient in English differently does not, on its face, amount to discrimination based on national origin.

Other guidance related to language access for people using services across the federal government is also being suspended, according to the memo, and the Justice Department will create new guidance by mid-January to “help agencies prioritize English while explaining precisely when and how multilingual assistance remains necessary.” The aim of the effort, Bondi said in a statement published alongside the memo, is to “promote assimilation over division.”

The consequences for school districts were not immediately clear, but advocates worry that rescinding the 2015 guidance could open the door for weaker instruction for English learners and upend decades of direction from the federal government to provide English-language services to students who need them.

“The Department of Education and the Department of Justice are walking away from 55 years of legal understanding and enforcement. I don’t think we can understate how important that is,” said Michael Pillera, an attorney who worked at the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights for 10 years and now directs the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

Without pressure from the federal government to comply with the law, it is possible that some school districts will drop services, Pillera said, particularly as many districts struggle with financial pressures.

“It’s going to ripple quickly,” he predicted. “Schools were doing this because the Office for Civil Rights told them they had to.”

Many districts will probably not change their services, but rescinding the guidance opens the door, said Leslie Villegas, an education policy analyst at New America, a think tank. Advocates may watch for changes in districts that previously had compliance problems or those that had open cases with the Office for Civil Rights related to English-language instruction, she noted.

“The rescission of this guidance may create the mentality that no one’s watching,” Villegas said.

In recent months, the Justice Department notified at least three school districts — in Boston; Newark; and Worcester, Massachusetts — that the government was releasing them from government monitoring that had been in place to ensure they offered services to English-language learners.

“Unfortunately, we’re not at all surprised,” Anna Krieger, executive director of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, said of the Trump administration’s latest move. “It’s a really devastating decision.’’

In anticipation of such a shift, Krieger said in a phone interview Wednesday evening, state lawmakers recently took action to ensure ongoing protections for Massachusetts students who are learning English and those with disabilities.

“They will still have the same rights next year that they had in the last school year,” she said.

Supporters of immigration restrictions argued that relieving pressure on schools to provide these services might be helpful, especially given the costs to districts.

“If you devote all these resources to these kids coming in [to school] completely unprepared, inevitably it will diminish the quality of education others are getting,” said Ira Mehlman, spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Todd DuBois, communications director for U.S. English, a group that advocates for English as the official and common language, said some education is needed to help “bridge the gap” for students who do not speak English, but the group is concerned that multilingualism “gets in the way of teaching English literacy earlier in life.”

Tonya Alanez of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Saugus Schools No Longer Require Census Participation to Enroll New Students

Below is the full text of a The 74 article from 08/14/25.

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Full Article from The 74

By Jo Napolitano

Saugus Public Schools, located just outside Boston, will no longer require families to fill out a town census as a condition of enrollment after being sued on the grounds the practice discriminated against immigrant children and other vulnerable students.

Saugus’s policy change goes against a torrent of federal and state initiatives aimed at limiting educational access to newcomers, particularly those in the country illegally. The Trump administration has detained and deported K-12 students and recently barred undocumented preschoolers from Head Start and older students from career, technical and adult education. In many states, those federal directives have been put on hold pending a Sept. 3 hearing.

The Saugus school registration requirement was challenged in court last year by Lawyers for Civil Rights, Massachusetts Advocates for Children and Anderson & Kreiger LLP. The state attorney general’s office also aided in the effort.

“We are ecstatic,” said Erika Richmond Walton, an attorney with Lawyers for Civil Rights, who added that her group will continue to monitor school enrollment to ensure every family can register “without fear or unnecessary hurdles.”

Neither district officials nor multiple Saugus school board members responded to The 74’s requests for comment. They’ve stated previously that their enrollment procedures followed the law.

Richmond Walton said the school’s turnaround came as a shock: In a recent admissions policy directive, it omitted the census clause. The enrollment-focused document instead centered on proof of residence and the district’s desire to ferret out anyone not living within its borders.

“It did come as a surprise to me,” she said. “It was a fight we had been fighting for well over a year.”

The new development in the Saugus case coincides with the state’s recent adoption of the Protect Education Equity Bill, which affirms the educational rights of immigrant children and students with disabilities. Undocumented students’ right to attend school is already enshrined in the landmark 1982 Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe, but that ruling is under attack in some conservative states.

“This law comes at a time of rising federal threats to civil rights,” Massachusetts Advocates for Children said about the state’s initiative, which was signed by Gov. Maura Healey on Aug. 5. “While federal protections for immigrant students and students with disabilities are in jeopardy, Massachusetts has taken a bold stand to ensure that those rights remain protected here at home.”

In Saugus, Walton said the district required families to fill out a census form as part of a local headcount conducted every year. In order to comply, she said, they had to get the document from town hall. Once they did, she said, the town would initiate an inspection of their living quarters.

A family with an elementary-aged child was barred from completing the form because they were heating their home with space heaters, she said. In another case, one family was doubled up with another, and the one that sought to enroll a child was not the leaseholder, which disqualified them. Both were eventually allowed to attend school when Massachusetts Advocates for Children intervened.

Adam Strom, executive director of Boston-based Re-Imagining Migration, said the district’s reversal is critical.

“It protects something fundamental: every child’s right to attend school,” Strom said. “No student should have their education held hostage by discriminatory policies.”

Students of all ages have been targeted for deportation across the country since the start of the year. Some have been in federal detention for weeks, with limited access to family while others have been removed from the United States entirely.

Earlier this summer, a Massachusetts teen on his way to volleyball practice was detained by immigration agents before winning his release.

The Saugus school district served 2,462 students in 2023, up from 2,297 in 2021. Nearly 30% of the student body was identified as Hispanic or Latino two years ago, up from 20.6% in 2021.

Just under 10% were English learners in 2023, up from 6.3% two years prior.

The school superintendent’s secretary, Dianne Vargas, told The 74 a year ago that the census requirement was waived for incoming immigrant students.

But, she said then, the district did require other forms of paperwork meant to protect these students’ welfare so the district could “make sure they are with a parent or guardian — that they actually have someone who is caring for them so we don’t have doubling up and people aren’t passing children around.”

Saugus Public Schools sued by civil rights groups over admissions policy records (Boston)

 

Below is an excerpt from an article published on September 19 by Boston about two civil rights groups suing the town of Saugus. The groups claim that the school district’s admissions policy discriminates against migrant families. Massachusetts Advocates for Children’s Diana Santiago is quoted. 

Last month, two civil rights groups said that a Saugus Public Schools admissions policy violates the constitutional rights of migrant families using “overly-stringent residency and proof-of-identity requirements.” Now, those groups are suing the town in an effort to obtain public records about the policy.

The lawsuit was filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children in Essex Superior Court Wednesday against the town, the school district, and the Saugus School Committee.

The policy was approved by the Saugus School Committee just two days after Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency regarding the state’s overburdened shelter system last August. A surge in the number of migrants coming to Massachusetts filled the system and prompted Healey to implement a number of restrictions on how long people can stay within it.

Migrant families, including many Haitians fleeing the violence that has engulfed their Caribbean nation, are still heading to Massachusetts despite Healey’s declaration that the state is “full.” Earlier this week, families with young children returned to Logan Airport seeking shelter, despite rules prohibiting them from doing so.

Read more at Boston.com

Advocates ask AG’s office to investigate ‘exclusionary’ Saugus admissions policy (MassLive)

Below is an excerpt from an article published by MassLive on August 28, drawing attention to a potentially discriminatory Saugus Public Schools’ admissions policy. Massachusetts Advocates for Children is one of the advocacy groups that asked Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell’s office to launch an investigation.

A pair of advocacy groups on Wednesday asked Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell’s office to launch an investigation into the Saugus Public Schools’ admissions policy, which they claim excludes migrant students.

The letter to Campbell’s office comes less than two weeks after the groups, Lawyers for Civil Rights and Massachusetts Advocates for Children, sent a letter to the town’s School Committee asking it to amend the policy, which the body adopted in 2022.

Those groups claim the committee’s policy “includes overly-stringent residency and proof-of-identity requirements, which have a disproportionate impact on immigrant and mixed-status families.”

A spokesperson said Campbell’s office was “in touch with the Saugus School District regarding their school admissions policy.”

“Federal and state law give all students equal access to a public education, regardless of immigration status,” the spokesperson said in an email.

The statement echoes that of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or DESE, following the initial letter, where it said it was reaching out to the district to clarify its policy.

Read more at MassLive.

State finds Boston Public Schools transportation issues violated students’ right to special education services

In a March 1 article, The Boston Herald reported on an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that determined Boston Public Schools had violated students’ rights to special education services. Greater Boston Legal Services and Massachusetts Advocates for Children filed a joint complaint about the issue on behalf of several families last year. An excerpt of the article is below.

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In a letter sent to Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper on Friday, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said an investigation found the district’s transportation issues violated students’ rights to special education services.

“The findings in the preceding sections of this letter indicate that the District did comply with some of its obligations under federal and state requirements,” DESE officials wrote in the letter.

Several families issued a joint complaint with Greater Boston Legal Services and Massachusetts Advocates for Children in October, outlining incidents in which the district failed to provide students with one-on-one and specially trained bus monitors, families notification of transportation issues, or just any transportation at all — in effect denying the students their right to a free appropriate public education.

In many of these incidents, “students’ families are required to (provide transportation), causing financial and other burdens,” the letter states, and systemic failures have “deprived many students of their education due to ongoing absences and late arrivals resulting from lack of or delayed transportation.”

The state reviewed parent reports of bus issues in the last year, finding 3,469 coded “Missed Stop,” 775 “Late Bus,” 736 “Stranded Student,” 721 “Bus Monitor,” 597 “Other,” and 236 “Blown Route” or “Uncovered Route.”

In the fall of the 2022-23 school year, an average of 16.4% of buses were still dropping off students late or not at all, the letter states.

These wide-scale issues had an especial impact on students with disabilities, the investigation found, including the “key deficiency” of bus monitors.

“The District reported that approximately 35–40% of monitor-required routes have not had a designated monitor assigned to the route during the 2022-2023 school year,” the letter reads.

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Read more in The Boston Herald.

State launches investigation into Boston Public Schools transportation, special education (Various outlets)

The state of Massachusetts has launched an investigation into whether Boston Public Schools is violating the educational rights of students with disabilities, following a complaint filed on Oct. 14 by Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Greater Boston Legal Services, and several other organizations on behalf of the families of six students. The complaint called on BPS to address the impact of its transportation problems on students with disabilities, students of color and those who speak other languages.

Below are excerpts from the news coverage.

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The Boston Globe (Oct. 25):

Jakira Rogers, who leads the racial equity and access program at Massachusetts Advocates for Children, said she and other group representatives met Monday with Skipper and district administrators from BPS’s special education and transportation office.

“The complaint was a follow-up, really after the long systemic issue has really blown up and families are struggling with transportation,” Rogers said, emphasizing the unreliability creates barriers to special education support and services and hinders parents’ ability to maintain employment.“Transportation is just not about school buses, it’s about access to education, and access to a free and appropriate education. That’s what all students deserve, and that’s what we will continue to fight for until we get there.”

Read more in The Boston Globe.

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WCVB (Oct. 25):

Greater Boston Legal Services and Massachusetts Advocates for Children wrote in their complaint that the transportation system is continuing to fail students and their families.

“The long-standing non-compliance with DESE’s monitoring and failure to improve the transportation system continues to have widespread negative impacts on Boston students and families,” advocates wrote in the complaint. “This school year, students are not receiving appropriate or consistent transportation services. Parents are being forced to pick up and drop off their children, experiencing weeks without consistent transportation for their children. Students with disabilities, who may require door-to-door transportation, bus monitors, or other accommodations, are not receiving these special education services to address their specific needs. Buses are failing to pick students up on time, to drop them off at school on time, and to get them home on time. Parents are not receiving prompt, accurate notifications of issues with transportation services. Some families are receiving last-minute notice of changes to transportation services, not receiving notifications at all, or are not receiving any communications in the language of the home.”

Read more from WCVB.

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Boston.com (Nov. 10):

Special education students, and especially those who are not white, are disproportionately impacted by the transportation system’s failures, said Jakira Rogers, a program lead at Massachusetts Advocates for Children. The organization, along with Greater Boston Legal Services, filed the aforementioned complaint with state officials. 

“Those in power… must address the exclusion of Black and Latinx students within Boston Public Schools. When I say ‘exclusion,’ I’m referring to the multiple ways in which Black and Latinx students with disabilities are pushed out of schools and away from their education,” Rogers said. “It’s not a secret who inadequate transportation disproportionately impacts.”

The problems are larger than just buses being late, Rogers said. When students miss school time because of transportation issues, they are being denied their legal right to a free public education, and some special education students are missing hours of learning time on a regular basis, she added. 

Read more from Boston.com.

First-of-its-kind law improves college access for students with autism, intellectual disabilities

Julia Landau, director of the Disability Education Justice Initiative at Massachusetts Advocates for Children, was quoted in an Aug. 7 Boston Globe article.

Massachusetts students with autism and significant intellectual disabilities will gain unprecedented access to postsecondary education at state colleges and universities under a law signed late last month by Governor Charlie Baker, lauded by disability rights advocates as the first of its kind in the nation.

More than a decade in the making, the breakthrough legislation will require all of the state’s public college campuses to offer accommodations to young people whose severe disabilities prevent them from earning a standard high school diploma, allowing them to take classes as nondegree-seeking students and join extracurricular activities alongside their peers — experiences that can transform their lives for the better, according to experts.

“It’s truly a joyous and historic milestone, for the state and for the country, because it really will allow people with disabilities to reap the same benefits of higher education,” said Landau. “They have shown that they can exceed societal expectations when they’re given the same opportunities to learn.”

Read more in The Boston Globe.