City Council - City Services Committee Hearing on Docket #0112

Thank you.

Good afternoon. For the record, I'm City Councillor Ed Flynn, District 2, Chair of the City Council Committee on City Services. Today is February 12th, 2026. The exact time is 2.04. This hearing is being recorded. It is being livestreamed at boston.gov slash citycouncil dash tv. and broadcast on Xfinity, Channel 8, RCN, Channel 82, Fios, Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.org. CSIT at boston.gov and will be part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of the hearing. Individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up and will have two minutes to testify.

If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber. If you are looking to testify virtually, please email our central staff liaison, shanepac at shane.pac, P-A-C at boston.gov for the link. And your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on docket 0112, order for hearing regarding parking access for traveling Boston public school employees. This matter was sponsored by Councilor Aaron Murphy and we refer it to the committee on January 5th, February 5th, 2026. Today I am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival.

Councilor Murphy, Councilor Culpepper, Councilor Louijeune. I have a letter of absence from City Council Henry Santana. I will provide all City Councils the opportunity to give an opening statement. I will give my City Council colleagues the opportunity to go first and I will go last. So having said that, Council Murphy, if you would like to give an opening statement, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Now let's see the microphone for me. Good afternoon. Thank you Johnny for being here. As a former educator, someone who knows how It is often a struggle to find a parking spot to get to work, but obviously is a privilege. I've worked at schools that have more than one parking lots. I've worked at schools where it's only on street parking and Limited at best. So for me, when I filed this hearing order last year and we refiled it because it was one of the last meetings of the year to make sure We bring up this concern that we hear from teachers and we know the union has been advocating for a small percentage of teachers.

Happy that we're here today to discuss this and was hoping that we were going to have administration here to answer some of the questions that we need answers to. Unfortunately, The first hearing of the year. The administration has not shown up, so that's discouraging. For me, this hearing is about fairness, workforce support, and basic operational common sense. Across Boston, many Boston Public Schools employees travel between multiple school sites each day. These include special education teachers, related service providers, OT, physical therapists, social workers, other specialists to ensure students receive mandated services. These employees are not choosing to drive for convenience. They are traveling because their job requires them to serve students in multiple buildings. We have heard from staff who have incurred parking fines while performing their official duties.

We've heard from employees who do not have access to a parking pass, even though there are roles required daily travel. And we have heard concerns about a system that lacks transparency and consistency. If we expect educators and specialists to move efficiently across neighborhoods to serve students, we must ensure they are not personally penalized for doing so. This issue is especially important as we continue to face staffing shortages in critical service areas like special ed and student support. Supporting travel Being educators with equitable access to parking is not a luxury, it is a part of a building system that respects professionals and removes unnecessary barriers to serving students. Today we are here to better understand the current policies, how parking passes are distributed, and whether the supply meets demand and what solutions may exist.

So before I finish, I do just want to reiterate that my last sentence is exactly why myself as the lead sponsor and Councilor Flynn as the chair of this committee Specifically chose Nick Gove, who is the acting interim of the streets department, also the commissioner of the transportation department, and Amelia Capone, who is the director of parking and curbside management, who was in charge I am aware she's in charge of giving out parking passes so I was really hoping to get a better understanding about what are the current policies and I know that it's not just city employees we give passes to Flynn.

Thank you, Councillor Murphy. We were also joined by Councillor Louijeune, Councillor Fitzgerald, Councillor Durkan. I do want to acknowledge and thank Johnny McGinnis from The Boston Teachers Union for being here. He will be introduced formally and given the opportunity to provide opening comments. I do want to get through my city council colleagues and then we'll go to Johnny, but I want to say thank you to Johnny for being here and for your advocacy representing your members of the Boston Teachers Union exceptionally well. So I do want to acknowledge that, Johnny. Let me go to City Councilor Culpepper, if you'd like to offer any opening statements.

Mr. Chair, if I may, please move on to several of the other Councillors. You can come back to me. Let me finish reading a few notes here, and I'll be happy to provide remarks.

Not a problem, Councillor Culpepper. Councillor Louijeune.

Thank you. It's important that we ensure that our teachers have access to parking and whatever that we can do on the council to help advocate for that. I'm happy to do so. Happy to see you here, Johnny. And thank you for all you do for our teachers as part of the Boston Teachers Union and whatever we can do again in partnership. Happy to do that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Louijeune. Councilor Fitzgerald.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to Councilor Murphy for bringing this forward. I think we are both probably familiar with the several individuals. Some of them are constituents of mine that have brought this issue up. of the need for basically paying to work, right? And not something that we advocate for. It's not something that attracts the best talent either. And so just want to make sure with the services provided through these teachers, as well as making sure we continue to attract and retain the best, this seems to be an issue that's been brought up and so happy to continue to talk about it and how we can best resolve it. Johnny, thank you for being here so much, and thank you, Councilor Murphy, for bringing this forward.

Thanks, Chair. Thank you, Councilor Fitzgerald. Councilor Durkan.

Thank you so much, Chair Flynn. I represent areas where parking is very difficult and neighborhood amenities could often step forward and stand in the gap for some of these teachers who are looking for an easier way to get to work. I think conversations particularly in my neighborhoods need to happen in the neighborhoods and I know that, thank you Johnny for being here, I know that Boston Arts Academy is a specific example where there's Not a ton of great infrastructure over there because it's right next to Fenway Park. There's a lot of conversations that need to take place. But I just wanted to acknowledge your advocacy to my office and also just that. teachers that are traveling throughout the city. We have some teachers that will be reassigned given that there are some closures and mergers taking place. So it's really important that There might be teachers that are walking to work right now who now will need to drive to work. There's lots of nuanced conversations that I think could happen about this issue.

So I want to thank the lead sponsors for bringing this forward and look forward to the conversation.

Thank you, Councillor Durkan. Councillor Webber.

Okay, thank you very much. And yeah, thank you for filing this. I've heard about this in my district at the BTU school, teachers getting parking tickets just for being at work and there being resident parking You know, only that's what's available around the school and, you know, what we can do as a district to make sure we support our teachers, make sure they don't have to pay just to go to work and educate our kids. I thank you for this filing and I look forward to the conversation. Thanks.

Thank you, Council Weber. Councilor Culpepper.

Mr. Chair, I thank you for this hearing. The issues that we sometimes ignore and think are minor issues become major issues. And I think it's important that the traveling educators not be put in a predicament where they have to pay to do the traveling on their own. It's interesting that it's been mentioned that they've been incurred Significant parking fines doing their job. And here's what's really interesting in terms of them incurring significant parking fines. When I was at a meeting last week, I drove to the meeting. couldn't find a place to park. It was Councilor Murphy who informed me that I could be reimbursed

When I get a parking ticket while I'm out doing council duties. And I say that the employees, the Boston public school employees that are traveling, that have gotten tickets, then they should be reimbursed too. I think it's only fair. I also think it's important that we look at how we can make parking for the Boston Public Schools educators These passes how we can make it so that they all have the passes to get their work done without having to pay a parking fine or without having to park distances away from where they are going to be working. So I support 100% trying to make parking passes more equitable to the Boston public

Traveling educators that are moving around the city to help improve the system for all of our students.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Councilor Culpepper.

Thank you, Councilor Murphy, for filing this. for your steadfast advocacy for our BPS teachers. I also appreciate the dedication that the traveling teachers put into our youth, especially special education teachers, music, I recognize the hardship for them trying to find a parking spot at a particular school, as many of our streets around them are reserved for residents. We also see in dense neighborhoods like Chinatown, on street parking is already scarce with residents circling blocks day and night just to find a legal space near their home. For households without driveways or garages, These spaces are not a convenience, they're necessary.

When additional spots are reserved for non-resident use, even in small numbers, it can have a ripple effect that makes parking difficult for the people who live there and that want to work there as well. Over time, this compounds daily frustration, increases traffic congestion from cars searching for spaces. and Rhodes overall quality of life. In communities where space is already at a premium, every parking spot matters. At this time, it's critical that we find a careful balance to making Sure, our teachers are treated fair in supporting our residents as well. I think that we can find common ground. And when we build new schools, I also think it's critical that we provide parking to our educators and staff within plans so that we don't run into these types of situations down the road between our school community and residents.

I think the last thing we want is Disagreements, arguments between residents and teachers. We want to bring people together. That's what we're all about here and there has to be some compromise. At this time, I do want to Acknowledge and recognize Johnny McGinnis who I announced earlier, but I do want to give Johnny an opportunity to provide an opening statement and give my colleagues Murphy noted Nick Gove, who's the Commissioner of Boston Transportation Department, was invited, along with Amelia Capone, the Director of Parking and Curbside Management.

City of Boston was also invited if they are watching or if someone from their team is watching maybe someone can come down and provide some testimony and That would help us a lot to have an idea where the city of Boston is on this particular issue. But I would like to respectfully ask someone from the city administration to come down and to testify. Having said that, Johnny, would you like to offer an opening statement, please?

Yes, thank you, Chairs Murphy and Flynn for this hearing today. and thank you for city councilors that are present today. Parking has been an issue for our educators in Boston for the past several years, decades. We've offered resolutions. We look for support to resolve this issue because as those educators are inside the school buildings teaching students, they should not have to worry about Thank you. Thank you. that are teaching students have to leave their classroom, find someone to cover their class while they go and move their vehicle. Because the way the parking scenarios have been updated in Boston,

is that it's not a matter of going to pay your meter again. You have to physically move your vehicle After that meter expires or you will receive a ticket. I understand it brings in revenue for the city and our educators know that, you know, they should not park if they don't have a handicap plate, they shouldn't park in a handicapped space. If there's street cleaning, they're not going to park there. They understand that part. And currently, with the weather we've had, with the snow banks and so forth, it has become more difficult. Everyone is experiencing that, so there's no way around that. We understand. But for those educators that are teaching students, they're in the middle of a lesson. The time has expired. They need to go move their vehicle because the parking department, reason why we're here, they are doing their job. They're doing their due diligence to find individuals who

have parked in the wrong area or they parked for too long. What we did this past contract negotiating session We were able to talk with the city about an accommodation for Educators, teachers that travel from school to school. They're not at school all day, but they travel from multiple schools, two or three schools in a day, servicing students because they are Making sure they follow the law, number one, and also accommodations that are designated for specific students. And that's why it's important for them to be at one school and work with whether it be a student or a group of students, then they have to go to another school. That's the way the schedule works throughout the day. And the classroom teacher who was there, it's not as simple as, okay, I'm in the middle of my,

This particular lesson, now I have to let Thank you. Thank you. That teacher comes in and pulls them out or either comes into the classroom to give that student extra support, whether it be for their IEP, whatever accommodations that they specifically have. And when they're doing that, They're outside the school building. I've heard of members that are circling around the school, circling around the area, trying to find a parking spot so that they can be inside the building to accommodate Thank you.

Thank you. which is unfortunate because that's a compliance issue that they're trying to do their due diligence and make sure they're doing their job to support the student but There is no parking. And so in this past negotiating session, we were able to work with the city for an accommodation It's a pilot program, whereas a group of teachers receive a code to park at a meter. and parking at that meter allows them maybe three, four hours to park there before they go to their next school. It's not given to everyone, it's only given to those Teachers that are moving for more than one school and one school day. They can't share that code with anyone else. The code is specific to them.

And that's been made clear to them. It's helpful. It's helped many educators and we were happy to be able to pilot that program this school year. And we are hopeful that it is successful because we really would like to expand that further. and we've dealt with the parking issue as I mentioned for decades and we've tried different We've given different recommendations to the parking department because of the reasons I mentioned about the educators. They have to be in compliance teaching their students in the classroom. for the full day unless they're at lunch or they have their P&D and the students are not in front of them. Otherwise, the students are in front of them. They're doing their job what they're supposed to do. They shouldn't have to worry about Receiving a penalty for parking that actually cost them. I've heard from some members that have received more than one ticket in a month.

And can you imagine a paraprofessional that has had their vehicle towed or they have received more than one ticket within a month? Let's say the month of September to start with because I've sat and listened to two members talk about that but as I mentioned the traveling teacher program is a pilot and we are very thankful for the city and we really want to expand that so hopefully there's some success there and I'll give one more example. And why this is important, because of the salaries that teachers are paid. Can you imagine, you know, you have someone, an Arabic-speaking school pathologist, which isn't common. or a Haitian Creole speaking speech pathologist coming to accommodate students in that building. And so,

The city is paying them to drive around and not accommodate the students. That's why this is so important because there has to be a remedy And also I will add that there's not a lot of schools that have parking meters. Let me be clear about that as well. Most of the schools downtown have parking meters where this is an issue. Outside, the bigger issue is there's no parking meters, there's nowhere to park, and so if there was something as simple as A sticker that they could post on their windshield so that it is known that they are there teaching students, accommodating them, and they do not receive a ticket. because can you imagine the individual as well? I have to go from the teacher perspective, how frustrating it is. They're really trying hard to do their job, to be there to support their student, but yet, They weren't able to find a parking spot. And I'm not saying this happens all the time.

On rare occasions they may have to move to the next school that they were assigned to that day.

Thank you, Johnny. I'm going to give each city council, I believe, about six minutes to ask questions. And then if we have to go to a second round, we can do that. Thank you. Council Murphy, you're up.

Thank you, Mr. McGinnis, for highlighting that. I'll just start. with the sentence I said in my opening statement but these employees aren't choosing right to drive for convenience that they're traveling because their job requires them and many of them are going to two three schools a day to provide special ed services which is a federal Thank you. Thank you. Equity issue in my mind. How many BPS employees are currently designated as traveling staff?

I don't know exactly, maybe there's 80 roughly off the top of my head.

Yeah, because we're not talking thousands. No. Yeah, exactly. and just to be clear people are listening in when I filed this and as an educator in BPS for over 20 years and my daughter who drives to the north end and leaves nice and early because again a school and three buildings that does not have parking. We're not saying that we're trying to advocate that every BPS educator Yes, has parking that we're saying that those who need to travel among schools to provide many times special ed services to our students. How many of them, so about 80, and of them, We know they're required at least sometimes more than two schools a day, correct? You mentioned the pilot program because I was going to ask if there are any Passes are programs already that we're working on but like you already said most of our schools aren't near meters so what other ways can we I'm going to get creative.

Have you been keeping track at the union of how many tickets? Is it just if a teacher reaches out and complains? You have been hearing kind of like I have been? Or is there... A formal way that we're asking teachers to proactively share if they're getting parking tickets?

We have not created a system for tracking to keep that data.

Right, so I'm thinking, and it would be a perfect question for transportation, like if a ticket is issued, is there a way for them to know that this ticket is a BPS employee? And just some of these questions I may know the answer, but just want to get on the record. Does BPS reimburse our teachers? Can they go to the school secretary or administration, give them their ticket, and they take care of it for them?

There's no reimbursing.

Right, there is none, right. And if they were to, you know, what we call fight the ticket and send it back, they would have to take time off because those hearings are during the school day, correct? So teachers would then have to take a personal day, which is a cost financially, not just leaving their students to fight the ticket. Just a couple questions that I did have for the Transportation Department in my last two minutes here. because I think you could probably add some insight, but how many parking access programs does the City of Austin currently offer our city employees? And I'm also aware that we do offer I know you don't have the exact answer to that but are those the types of questions that you at the union have been talking with?

if you can kind of talk through the conversations and what are your strong points for advocacy when you're trying to have been for years now trying to advocate for this 80. 80 seems like such a small number. of city employees who are teaching our children, our most vulnerable children.

And yeah, don't quote me on the number.

Yeah, around, yeah.

I just wanted to be on record.

No, thank you, yeah.

But the... We are not aware of who specifically but the idea came from like traveling nurses or and social workers that move around the city and so that's why we advocated for that as well.

And are you aware of any other city entities that receive parking accommodations through any city policy or have you heard that other city workers do get their tickets reimbursed?

We have not heard that.

Okay, and there obviously has been coordination between BPS, or I should say the union, and transportation department. How does BPS fit into this, though, as a city department? Are they advocating as strongly as you are and the union for this?

BPS. What we have talked with them about, if there's an alternate space around the school area where members can park, then they will try to help negotiate some terms to park there, but it's really only a few parking spaces, like five or less, usually.

I mean, normally for a hearing like this, I would have ran out of time, Councilor Flynn, but seeing as the administration is not here to support and advocate our educators and ask these important questions, I guess I will. And my questioning here. Thank you. And thank you for being here.

Thank you, Councillor Murphy. Councillor Culpepper is up next. You have the floor, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

And I would also like to thank Councilor Murphy for drafting and filing this important hearing order. Good to see you again. Mr. McGinnis, it's always good to see you. Just have a few questions and Mr. Chair, then I have to run to another meeting. In terms of the pilot program, what are the different positions that really started the pilot program? What positions are in it that started the pilot program?

because this is the first year we've done this. Those members that As I mentioned, our speech pathologists who have to support accommodations and compliance with students. Those teachers that support students with special needs. Maybe they have a physical disability and they have limitations, so they're there to provide Extra services for them during the day so that they can receive their education mainstream within the classroom and with their teacher that's in front of them. and also those teachers. It could be providing extra services, not just speech, language, physical therapy, and

I want to say, and those nurses. In some cases, a nurse may have to go to more than one school because they're accommodating more than one school.

What about counseling?

Yes, counselors as well. Social workers and counselors.

Okay. Do you know how many of the passes are allocated at this point? There's 80... Traveling Administrator or Teachers out of the different categories you gave. How many passes are allocated totally?

Yeah, it's about that many to accommodate all of those teachers.

So each one of the teachers have a parking pass?

Yeah, they would have a specific code that they use at the parking meter.

And so if there's no meter and they have to park there, They're just at the wheel of the...

Yes, whatever the guidelines are for that area, yes.

Okay, so have you thought about, other than the pass for the parking meter, How those teachers would deal with the issues where there's no parking meter other than a sticker? I heard you mention a sticker. But have you thought about passes that they could put in the window?

Yes, that's what we were hopeful for, specific to the school that is there so that they couldn't, yes, specific to that school that they're at so that people know that

So the school would have a number of passes that they would give to the person coming for that day?

Yes.

Are administrators part of the traveling program?

No, they're not. Just teachers? Yes.

And so when you look at the... The amount that the teachers have had to pay, if you had to approximate how much reimbursement there would be, do you have any idea of what it would take to reimburse all these teachers? that have had to pay for those parking tickets?

It would probably cost thousands of dollars. And as I mentioned, in some cases, those teachers, some have been told.

Can you try and get a better number Can you poll your teachers at some point to see if you can get a more exact number? Because one of the things we may need to recommend is that they be reimbursed, but we would need to know how much If we put a line item in the budget, we would need to know how much it would cost to reimburse those teachers. So it would be helpful if you could at least give us an approximate number so that we could, as we look at the budget, and you know we're now looking at the budget and talking with our BPS officials about the budget, it would be helpful to know how much it would actually cost to reimburse the teachers that have already had to pay for those tickets. The other question I had is, so you know at the Roxbury Library, there's a big parking lot there that much of it is assigned to the Boston Public Schools.

How are the parking passes or parking Determine of who gets the parking or who doesn't. Is there a way that it's fairly allocated?

It is only allocated for those individuals that teach at, I'm sorry, not teach, but work inside the bowling building. I don't know if anyone else has access to that, but specifically, For those in the bowling building.

So if someone is coming down to the bowling building, they wouldn't be able to automatically park there without some kind of special pass?

Yes, or let them know because There is a tow company assigned there also, so they would have to give their plate and acknowledge that my vehicle is there.

And you mentioned earlier, and I only have 10 seconds, you mentioned earlier that some teachers have had their cars towed. Can you get an idea of the teachers that have had their cars towed and what they had to pay and get back to us in terms of reimbursements for possible towing?

Okay.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Councilor Culpepper.

At this time, I'd like to ask Councilor Louijeune if you have any questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks again, Johnny, for being here. Did you, this is the first year of the pilot?

Yes, it is.

And what's the number of employees we're talking about? Like the, do you know?

Yes, it's about 80 because they, The city was specific in how many passes or codes they would give out?

So 80 employees and 40 passes given out.

No, I'm not sure how many have been given out, but I believe for the full amount of 80 that travel to different schools.

And what are the schools in the program, or is it all schools?

All schools where parking meters are located.

All schools where parking meters.

Yeah, for example, the Quincy School, Boston Arts Academy, was it the, it's on top of my lip. Snowden International School, those schools that are within the range of parking meters.

Okay, thank you. And can you respond again with what so far have the conversations with the administration been like in terms of trying to resolve this issue?

Right now it is active, so it is in effect because it's the first year we're piloting this, but hopefully we would like to expand at some point.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Those are my questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Louijeune. Councilor Fitzgerald, you're up next.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Johnny, thank you so much for being here today. I heard you talking about possible solutions. It's great to hear about the pilot and the meters, but I think we all can agree most schools do not have meters, right? Out in the neighborhoods are usually... Tucked into either residential neighborhoods and the like where there could be resident permit parking only or non-resident parking, open to anyone. What are some of the other potential solutions you guys have kicked around when thinking about this idea that might be more favorable to those residential neighborhoods? I know you talked about a A parking placard. Is there anything else that's been brought up by anyone else over the years and decades that this has been an issue?

I'll use the example at Excel High. over in South Boston that In the evening, the community parks in that parking lot at the school. During the day, they remove their vehicles, they go to work, and the educators come in to work in that building. They're able to park in that lot. And so that's something we also were hopeful could happen in Charlestown, at Charlestown High, because a similar scenario, they have a very small parking lot and I heard them say that they come at five in the morning just so they could get a a space in that little lot that probably you can park maybe 30 vehicles in there and it's almost like a puzzle so if you're stuck in there you have to Uh-huh, figure out how to get out or someone has to move their vehicle.

We're hopeful that something like that, that's a recommendation we've given because our educators are there during the day, on the weekdays, but in the evening the residents come back and there's parking for them. It does not hinder them from having access to go in and out of home.

Now, I don't know this citywide, and thank you for that response. But does every BPS school, elementary school, have some sort of a parking lot on site? I'm just trying to think most I know. True Henderson. All right, so Henderson-Loa does not. But do most have it? And I'm just trying to think of how you can set aside maybe during certain times, knowing that... Again, my wife is a teacher in Quincy as well. There's a race for the parking lot spots for sure, and you do get blocked in in the whole nine. So it's not just to Boston here. I think this is an issue throughout. But how you could designate some spot or tuck away something for those individuals that are coming on a Thank you for joining us.

A meter or a resident permit parking, but this person doesn't have the sticker, but they have a placard. I guess to the layperson, they might not pick up on that always, understanding what's going on. Just trying to Jog through possible solutions in my mind and maybe if you have any ideas why it can or cannot work, happy to find out. I guess more is to just sort of expand the options of solutions around this and maybe each school could come up with its own plan for a traveling teacher and just say could you get me something you think would work that wouldn't impact Your traditional staff as much right? And then at least that way when they pull up to a certain school they would know All right, well, I know here that they have this spot for us during this time. And so I'll try to get there during that time to this school and maybe can arrange their schedule around that. I'm not asking you to...

Verify that these ideas are not, but sometimes we use these hearings as opportunities to throw out potential solutions and allow yourself, BTU, BPS, and others to do the work on the back end to try and solve it. Just really a couple of thoughts of mine, but I understand the issue, want to continue to work with it on you, with you, I mean, and really I don't have any further questions. I appreciate the questions from my other councils as well. Thank you, Johnny.

Yeah, and I'll comment on that because with the codes for the parking meters, it's something that's consistent that this particular group uses when they're traveling to schools. As far as any other parking passes or placards that are in windows on their vehicles, We would like if that was something that the parking department could accommodate that is consistent so that they know that when they see this particular symbol that is a Boston Public Schools employee working in the school building.

That's it. I think all the traveling teachers would care about is the reliability of having a space when they show up. However, we can work on that. Thank you, Johnny, and thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Council Fitzgerald. Council Durkan, you're up next.

Thank you so much, Chair Flynn. I think that this hearing and all of our talk about curbside management and parking really does I want to sort of illuminate the fact that we really need a whole plan for all of these neighborhoods. I know I worked with former Councilor Kenzie Bock. I felt like we were working together, even though she was no longer on the Council. with the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay on some changes to make there be more residential parking. But right before that ended up and this is in the back bay but right before that ended up getting enshrined I remember asking have you talked to these three businesses on this block because essentially they're going to lose their parking and the answer was no so I actually ended up and so on. And so we're often talking about this negotiation between and conflict between residents and businesses. and many more.

Oftentimes in my district there's a conflict between people who work in the neighborhood and residents. We have a lot of hospitals in our district where there are similar conflicts to this conversation we're talking about with BPS. Real concerted effort at the city to really get all stakeholders in the room, not just on this issue, but I have one street that has 400 local businesses on it, Newbury Street. and where there's often a conversation about the residents that live above and the businesses below. So this is really my charge for the new year is and many more. I know we will be talking about curbside management so I know we will be having some conversations within my committee about planning development and I did bring up the Boston Arts Academy example, so just wanted to sort of get onto the record what you're hearing from teachers at Boston Arts Academy.

For Boston Arts Academy is very complicated because Those teachers that are in the building, they pay over $400 a month for a parking garage that is nearby. And so that's not even a part of their salary. That's not reimbursed. They pay that out of pocket. And so in situations like that and Snowden, also that is not far from there. Many of those teachers pay for parking their vehicle inside the garage. And it is a cost. you know you're trying to raise a family but you have to make sure that you have budgeted to park in the parking garage and many of them have small children so it's not as simple as

getting on public transportation, getting to and from work because they have to drop their child off at a certain time and pick them up at a certain time. So it's not that simple. And I will say that many educators do take public transportation, but many are not able to because they must be there for their family.

Yeah, thank you for that. And I know there's a lot of different and individual cases. And obviously, Boston Arts Academy is Thank you for joining us. and many more. I know educators are paying $400 a month. I know that's an expense that many families could not stomach. So I did want to, you brought up Snowden. I also wanted to bring up Fenway High and the Tobin School. You know, if you know of any particular anecdotes from teachers.

For those schools, no. They're parking in the neighborhood as well. And they're driving around looking for spaces as well. and the same thing for those traveling teachers that are coming to the building. There was a way to have some type of residential sticker for them, a consistent sticker with whatever BPS or City of Boston logo and they would be able to park without receiving a ticket.

And I should mention Boston Latin School, what's the parking situation like there?

Well, they do have a parking lot at Boston Latin School. I'm not sure if everyone is able to fit inside the parking lot, but there's probably just a few that aren't able to park, but for the majority, of the teachers in that building, they do have a parking lot.

Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate these. And I know we'll continue to talk about the issues in our districts. But for me personally, I'm not owning a car. I do need to ask you these questions because when I go visit these schools, I'm either taking the T, taking an Uber, or walking there. So I don't have the same experience Thank you, Chair Flynn. Thank you, Councilor Durkan.

Weber, you're up next.

Thank you very much. Yeah, I guess, so in terms of the BTU school, there's no meters but neighborhood parking around there. So what would your suggestion be to help the teachers there?

I used to teach at the BTU school before I was elected into this position. and so and started I'm one of the founding teachers at that school so in the beginning we were able to park in the neighborhood no problem but Three, four years into the school being there, existing, the neighborhood came together, I'm not sure if it was by the neighborhood or the city, and they required residential parking stickers. And so therefore, we weren't able, we had to park in designated places because the area there, you would receive a ticket if you didn't have a residential sticker. And so that's why I mentioned if there was a way to have a residential sticker for those teachers that teach in certain neighborhoods because they will get a ticket.

and they may have to park maybe a half mile away because I recall having to park further away from school so I had to make that adjustment for my time getting to school in the morning and being there for my students. Yeah.

Okay, so yeah, so have like a parking, like a BPS staff parking sticker would be the way. The worry would be that there's teachers who take public transportation who wouldn't because they could drive and have a parking space, an increase in that traffic. and Parking and Residential Neighborhoods. How do we at the same time encourage teachers to take public transportation when they can?

As mentioned, many of them do. I don't want to speak for those educators. I'll speak from my point of view because it was the convenience of being able to get to school and leave school. Thank you. Thank you. and then leave with that. Maybe you're working on some projects. It becomes, I'm not sure I'm giving you the best answer right now, but it is a little complicated. And I can't speak for those educators that do choose to drive. That's why I speak from my perspective, because it was easier for me To get to work and leave home versus public transportation and the amount of time that is spent

So, and while I haven't heard these complaints, I'm sure, like, are there similar issues that, like, the Mendel, Hernandez, you know, the Curley, do you hear complaints from those schools also?

I not the curly I have because again there's limited parking in that area and those teachers have to drive around looking for a space so that they don't get a ticket and there's no parking lots available for them either.

Is there sufficient parking at the Arnberger? There is, yeah. I mean, there's a big parking. I just don't know if all the staff can park there, so that's okay. Okay, well, thank you very much. I'm sorry I have to run, but thank you to the chair and thank you to Councilor Murphy for filing this.

Thank you, Council Weber. I'll also give myself six minutes.

Councilor Webb, I had one more thing to add, I'm sorry, as I think about it. Because at the BTU school, there was an accommodation at the church nearby to park in that parking lot. But that went away. And the reason it went away because of just what we had, the snow emergency. And the church was not willing to pay to have the parking lot plowed. and so on before the teachers went to school that day. And so we tried to work something out with the city. Can the city of Boston pay for that so the church doesn't have to do that? That went away. It was no low accommodation. Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to make sure I had that piece.

Thank you, Council Weber. Thank you, Johnny. I'm going to stop my... Thank you, Johnny. One of the Comment I frequently heard from teachers is why they needed a vehicle to drive to school. Many teachers have told me that they needed to drop their child off at their school, whether it was grade school or kindergarten program, but also that they needed the vehicle after school to pick their child up. They could be in East Boston, but they had to drive over to West Roxbury, a high park, after school, and it was very difficult to pick your child up going from East Boston to high park at a certain time in the afternoon. But that was one of the frequent concerns I heard from teachers that this wasn't a luxury.

They needed that vehicle to get to school because they wanted to be obviously to school on time, but they also had other family obligations. Is that something you have heard also?

Yes, that's correct, because educators do not work specific to the area they live in. Right. They may have to travel to another part of the city. Okay, okay.

So I had a chance to talk to Johnny at the beginning, and what I envision is, and I think Johnny agrees, but I'll give him an opportunity to discuss this, What is the overall plan on how we go forward and make progress? We're not going to completely solve the problem, but how do we make progress in giving an opportunity to teachers to park in a particular neighborhood so that they're able to teach and be on time, care for their family as well, which is important, balancing the Balancing the Needs of the Neighborhood. But I think it's an overall strategy of how we work together and I think it's critical for the Boston Teachers Union to continue working here and for the Transportation Department Is this something that's important that we work on a long-term strategy, Johnny?

Yes, we would appreciate that if we're able to work on that. And I know my colleagues asked a lot of very good questions, informative questions. The questions were, some of the questions were geared towards the city itself. And although all the questions were fair, It would have been helpful having the city administration here answering them because I came up with a list of questions that I wanted to have the city respond to, but unfortunately, they're not here. but I do want to thank you Johnny and for your leadership and this is something I've worked on with you and the teachers union as it relates to the Josiah Quincy School which is a dense neighborhood

In Chinatown, as you know, with limited parking, teachers do need a place to park, as for the reasons I mentioned, but it's about a balance of how we support the neighborhood, but also How we support the teachers because the teachers are also an important part of our city. I can't imagine a teacher that it has to be somewhere on time Driving around because there's no parking and that teacher has a responsibility for a student with disabilities. Maybe that student is in a wheelchair and the dilemma that that teacher is facing Knowing that there's no place for her or him to park, and I understand how difficult that choice and decision is, but that seems like it's a common occurrence, especially

When you have a snowstorm like we had where it even further reduces parking in particular neighborhoods. So Johnny, I know one of my colleagues mentioned about parking tickets. So does the teachers have to pay for those tickets or do they appeal them?

In many cases they do appeal them, but I believe that's not consistent you can appeal one okay and it doesn't necessarily mean the next one you you appeal that the city will accept uh yeah because I've appealed tickets before and I might have gotten one You know, they said okay, and the other I had to pay. I'm not sure their system.

Okay, but Boston Transportation Department doesn't, there's not a unilateral system where if a teacher gets a Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

I would think under situations where a teacher especially is trying to get into the building to care for a student, a student with disability or a student in need, especially, in my opinion, that parking ticket should be waived. I would like to see how we come up with a plan like you mentioned. Maybe it's a code into a particular and many more. As the chair of this committee that actually oversees parking. So this issue is going to stay right here in the city services committee because that's where This issue belongs right here.

So I did at the beginning mention that I wanted to go through two rounds, but before I do that, I do want to ask if there's any public testimony If anyone is in this INL chamber that wants to testify, or if anyone is on Zoom that wants to testify and offer their opinion, Shane Pack, One person is on Zoom. Shane, do you know what that person's name is? Nancy. Okay, do you want to let Nancy in to testify? OK. Hi, Nancy. This is Ed Flynn, the chair of the committee. You're on with Erin Murphy and Johnny from the Boston Teachers Union.

OK. My name is Nancy. I kinda wanna... you know make a response to what I've heard and add some information. I think that I'm concerned about the equitable treatment of people in Boston because you're giving priority over you know different segments of society and I don't think that I think public streets and ways have to be available to everyone and I know how important it is to be a teacher I do I have my own What I call a business project, I do teach myself. But I'm more concerned about, from an equitable standpoint, how do you decipher You know, who should get passes and who shouldn't? I think that parking is a real problem, and I think that you have to go to the root of the problem in Boston. I'm talking from experience. And I have repetitively

I've put in, I don't know, at least 18 complaints to Boston that are not resolved. Such as signs that are not correct, signs that are in conflict, one-way streets where the sign isn't there when you enter the street. And I'm still getting code. I'm still getting tickets. and I have to bring this up because it's unfair and we're not going to the root of the problem, which is the best way to stop a problem. I also wanted to bring up that I'm glad, I think it was Councilor, if I look at my notes, is it Barkin? Is that correct?

Yes, yes.

Okay. She brought up, you know, not having a car and I think using public transportation, but it took about 35 minutes into the call before public transportation was brought up. I think that you need to incent And I think the city of Boston and transportation do have a way to incent people with lower incomes to use public transportation. So transportation and using highways is a big problem. And I think that encouraging people to use public transportation should be at the top of the list of what to address. Thirdly, I live near a school. and they want us out at 6 a.m. Now if I'm studying till 2 a.m. and I have to get up at 6 a.m. to move my car when I damn well know, sorry for the use of words, Strike that. That that lot isn't really used till 7 or 8 a.m. for teachers or administrators. So I think that needs to be addressed a little bit more or in a better way. We also have in this same neighborhood,

Nancy, could you finish up in the next 10 seconds? And then I think that the snow problem is also a root of the problem for Boston to address. And I'm not sure waving tickets for some people and not others is an equitable solution. I have had to do an online appeal and also have gone in and the appeals department never follows the same rules. Thank you for your time.

Nancy, thank you for your testimony. If you need to reach out to me directly, I can give you my email. It's ed.flynn at boston.gov. I'm the chair of the committee. If you have some questions, further questions, If you want to write them down, I'll get a response to you, but thank you for your testimony. I want to go to Councilor Murphy. I want to give every councilor that is here five minutes A reduction of one minute from the previous round. Councillor Murphy, you're up.

Thank you. I want to read a letter that Amelia Capone sent to Boston public school leaders. And I'm not sure if you saw this letter that went out. And she was one of the panelists from the administration who is the Director of Parking and Curbside Management. Dear Boston Public School leaders, we at the Office of Parking Clerk, OPC, in the Boston Transportation Department BTD appreciate the very real challenges that educators face when it comes to parking. We recognize that reliable access is important, particularly given the demands placed on teachers and school staff. At the same time, our office is not able to provide exemptions to parking regulations that are designed to ensure public curbside infrastructure is shared equitably among all Boston residents, workers and visitors.

These rules must be applied consistently to balance access, safety and fairness across many competing needs citywide. For example, maintaining turnover in regulated public parking spaces, especially in and near business districts is vital to ensuring availability for residents who rely on vehicles for access to critical services and to patronage our city's small businesses. Starting on February 1st, 2026, we will no longer dismiss parking violations validly issued to vehicles of BPS or school staff. In addition, any school specific placard or historical exemptions will no longer be recognized. If you have any concerns on whether a placard you've received is valid and will be recognized by parking enforcement, please reach out to Isabel Gretchel to confirm.

All drivers must respect and park accordingly to sign curbside regulations whether they are resident parking only spaces, time-bound restrictions, or meted parking. We remain open to continuing the conversation about broader policy-aligned solutions or alternative strategies that may help educators within the existing framework and we value our ongoing partnership. Best regards, Amelia Capone. So that seems to have gone out to educate leaders, I guess, in January, is telling all, making sure they told their staff that starting February 1st, they're no longer going to be waiving fees or accommodating any teachers. And I'm not sure if you knew that or if, yeah. So it must be true that the transportation department is being told now that if any teacher is trying to, you know, Thank you.

Thank you. It seems as though the Transportation Department and the Office of the Parking Clerk and the Administration has already made a very firm opinion on this, so I just wanted to make sure I read that into the record.

Councillor Murphy, what was the effective date of that?

February 1st, 2026. And it was sent to all BPS school leaders. At least that's who, Emil, you addressed the letter to. Someone had sent that to me.

Councilor Murphy, if you want to respond, but do you know what the policy was before this announcement went out?

As we've been speaking with Johnny, there hasn't really been any policy despite advocacy, but this new code at a small number of traveling educators who may work at buildings that do have meters, They were given a code for the meter so the meter won't run out, and that is a pilot program. But other than that, I think we've established that that's a very small percentage of teachers who need to travel among many buildings to provide federally mandated special ed services to our students, who unfortunately, which I'll remind people, many of our students are failing, especially our special ed students. It's single digit. numbers of our special ed and ELL students who receive services from these educators who are so dedicated. Like you said, there's probably nothing worse than driving around the block three times and realizing that Johnny has just missed his service and you'll have to move on to your next school.

And when such a small percentage of them are reading on grade level and receiving the federally mandated services that it just seems like it should not Align with other parking programs that this is a real emergency for our students to make sure that our educators are getting to them. Thank you.

Murphy. If you want to take an extra minute because I know I interrupted you.

I just want to make sure we read that into the record. I think it highlights the need for the administration to be here to explain why it seems like a big shift. and maybe a change in the course that maybe the union who advocates for our educators. So, and I don't think it should be on you, Johnny or Eric to come back or our colleagues to have to reconvene, I really do wish someone from transportation and the parking clerk were here. I can't imagine what meeting could be more important than making sure our students get the services they need. So I'm at a loss to know why the administration would opt out of being here.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Murphy. I'll also give myself five minutes. So, Johnny, I just want to follow up on a comment Councilor Murphy mentioned. For students with disabilities, federally mandated services that they're required to receive, is that In hours or is that in days? You are required to receive so many hours of assistance based on your disability or is it so many days you require?

It is in hours. In hours. Because it's specific to what they need per week, per day. Okay. So it's, yeah.

So, okay. So it's in hours. And so for that example, if... That child missed the opportunity to have their say physical therapy or speech therapy or whatever it might be. Say they missed an hour, maybe it was two hours. But how would that child receive that, or how would we communicate with the parent also to let the parent know? Because the parent would really want to know that as well.

Yes, it's up to that teacher because, as mentioned, they have what is called an individual plan, individual education plan for those specific students. and they're mandated to accommodate whatever is prescribed in that you're supposed to follow that to the law and it's important so when they miss time it is somewhat complicated to make that up it's not like The teacher can come the next week and if it was two hours, give four hours of instruction or therapy. It doesn't work that way because it needs to be over a period of time so that that student is able to adjust to whatever accommodation they're receiving.

And that student needs that type of support or service in a consistent basis, whether it's twice a week, whether it's three times a week, But if you miss twice a week or once a week, it probably does have an impact on your development and growth. But then the child, if you think about it, the child goes back to the parent or the guardian Without their physical therapy or speech therapy for that day, it must be very difficult for the child but also for the parent and for the teacher. The teacher wants to be there with the child, providing that critical lesson plan and service because the teacher is really dedicated and professional and compassionate

But the teacher probably feels as bad as anybody knowing that he or she wanted to provide a critical service to a child and they just weren't able to do that. That really bothers me when I hear that type of story of a child with disabilities not able to receive a particular service based on a logistic issue. That's why I think this conversation that council Murphy brought forward is is very important because it's about it's about the students and when we when it's about the students it's also about the teachers and And we want to make sure that the teachers are given every opportunity in assistance so that they can successfully deliver critical services and teaching to a particular child, especially a child in need.

Those teachers are really unsung heroes, as far as I'm concerned, that work with children with disabilities. I know you're doing everything you possibly can, Johnny, and you're very dedicated and professional. And I want to acknowledge you and the people you work with, the teachers as well. So I don't have any further comments or questions. I'm not going to give a final closing statement, but I want to give Johnny an opportunity to give a closing statement, and then I want to give Councilor Murphy an opportunity to give a closing statement and then I'll kind of conclude the meeting. So let me start with Johnny if you'd like to give a closing statement.

Okay. Yes, thank you again, Councilor Flynn, Councilor Murphy, for holding this hearing today. I'm also at a loss of words because I'd hoped that the administration would have been here to speak. explain some of the things that they have in place and why which, like I said, our members aren't trying to break the rules or break the law. They just want to be able to be in their classroom teaching their students. Another thing, not to take us on another, But another thing that wasn't mentioned when we talk about social workers, we don't know what kind of trauma a child has gone through and their There to support that student for something that may have happened or something they're dealing with or even a behavior that they're there to accommodate that student as well. So it's important that those sessions are consistent.

And so as we move forward, yeah, we are open to working with the city on finding some accommodations. As I mentioned before, we understand there's rules that we have to follow. I mean, even teaching in the classroom, the students have to comply with certain things. and as adults we have to comply with the rules of the city and with the parking on the streets. We aren't trying to overpower those residents in the neighborhood because they live there and we deserve to be there. We understand they live there and many of our members live in those neighborhoods too and they wouldn't accept that either. But we are looking to find some type of common ground where we can accommodate

Those educators so that they don't receive such huge fines from parking tickets being told or even have to pay Thank you. Thank you. We're in the business of educating students, supporting students. The educators are held accountable for what the student learns. And when you take that time away from them, it hurts the child. I mean, we're penalizing the adults for parking, but we're also hurting children if they can't receive their services. Thank you, Johnny.

Well said. Councillor Murphy, do you have a final closing statement?

Yeah, just thank you for holding this first hearing of this new session in the Chamber. I'll reiterate, it's very I do just want to add which your members are well aware of as we move to a more fully inclusive school system where almost every classroom does have students who have IEPs and needs. that when a educator and a service provider is unable to show up for that one student, it could also, in many cases, interrupt the learning for the rest of the class also, because it's oftentimes when the gen ed teacher knows if it's like,

Tuesday at 10.15, Ms. Murphy's coming in and she's pulling the small group of kids for whatever interventions they need, and they're planning a different type of lesson for the rest of the class, so all of the students. are hurt by this, not just those who are getting the services. it's it's just a snowball effect and we have to definitely do something about it and hopefully the letter that seemed to have gone out to school leaders isn't a letter that we can't revisit and I really advocate. I know Councilor Flynn and I, and I'm hoping our colleagues also will continue to advocate for our educators. Just to also remind people, we're not talking about all of our BPS teachers. We're talking about a very small percentage of teachers who travel to more than one school during one single school day to provide services to our students. Thank you for being here and thank you, Councilor Flynn, for chairing this meeting.

Thank you, Councilor Murphy. Thank you to Johnny at the Boston Teachers Union for being here. Thank you to my colleagues that were here. I also want to say thank you to Shane Pack for working with us, organizing this hearing. So this hearing on Docket 0112 is adjourned.