CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Cambridge families are coming to terms with the district's decision to close the Kennedy-Longfellow School.

The Cambridge School Committee voted unanimously Tuesday night to close the elementary school, which has struggled with low test scores and falling enrollment.

Students will be reassigned at the start of the 2025-26 school year.

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In a statement, Cambridge Interim Superintendent David Murphy called the decision to close Kennedy-Longfellow a "difficult but necessary step in creating more equitable and high-quality educational opportunities for the students of the Cambridge Public Schools."

"For an extended period of time the Kennedy-Longfellow has suffered from chronic under-enrollment leading to learning conditions that are unfair to students," the statement read. "In the coming weeks and months, CPS will work with families to responsibly transition students into other school communities that are eager to welcome them and position them for future success."

WBZ NewsRadio spoke with parents picking up their kids outside the Kennedy-Longfellow Friday.

"The people who trusted our school with our children’s education also found the community a haven here, but with the reassignment of our children, this community will no longer be here," said Claire Yu, a mother of two.

Anne Coburn, a fellow parent, recalled the passionate testimony delivered by community members at Tuesday's meeting prior to the vote.

"The fourth graders, they wrote letters that one of the teachers read. They said, ‘Please keep best friends together,'" Anne Coburn said.

Some at the meeting blamed the district for ignoring Cambridge's school choice program, which is meant to give families options of which schools to apply to and ensure an equal mix of low-income students among schools.

With families largely refusing the Kennedy-Longfellow for several years, the student population has steadily declined, while the majority of those enrolled are disadvantaged.

According to Coburn, a lot of families believe the district's decisions are what led them down this path.

"20 percent of the school is unhoused," Coburn said. "The thought, or the lack of thought, about how this has affected this particular population is pretty apparent by the result."

"[The district's] inaction is what led to the situation today," Yu said.

Coburn and Yu told WBZ NewsRadio that going forward, they want more transparency and for the Cambridge school district to follow through on its promise to help families during the transition.

WBZ's Madison Rogers (@MadisonWBZ) reports.

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