BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- The budget for Boston Public Schools next year sits at a shade over $1.1 billion--the largest in the city's history, and $48 million more than last year.
Mayor Marty Walsh announced that his proposed city budget would include a new $2.4 million investment in an additional 8 nurses along with 12 additional psychologists and social workers for students--something Walsh said many school principals, teachers, and parents have been asking about.
"As we reviewed this year’s overall City budget, we found additional cost savings thanks to our commitment to strong fiscal management over recent years, and we are pleased to redirect those savings back into Boston’s largest and most important investment--our kids,” Mayor Walsh said in a statement. "Providing students with resources to help foster their physical, emotional, and mental health goes a long way on putting them, and keeping them, on a path to success."
He said the money will help kids with illnesses as well as those dealing with challenges--and can also help to connect with young people who could pose a threat, making sure the schools are not spreading their people too thin.
At his January inauguration speech, Walsh stressed the importance of helping all students in the city.
"We're going to continue to strengthen the academic pathways through every single grade by turning education into opportunity," Walsh said in that speech. "It goes well beyond the school walls."
The budget will be presented to the City Council later this week.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports