Boston Public Schools, the Boston School Committee, the Superintendent, and all central and school-based staff have a responsibility to communicate accurately and in a timely manner with families, students, colleagues, partners, and the community. Ongoing communication is essential to developing and sustaining effective home/school/community partnerships for improving student achievement.

The Boston School Committee affirms these principles:

• Families and citizens have a right to know what is happening in their public schools.
• All BPS employees have an obligation to ensure that the public is kept systematically and adequately informed.
• Boston Public Schools staff and families benefit from improved sharing of information—positive and negative. 
• Written and verbal communication from schools and employees should reflect the BPS commitment to supporting all children and families, focusing on student achievement through high-quality teaching and learning.
• Effective communication must be two-way: schools and the central office must find ways to listen to and garner input from families, students, and the community and respond in clear, concise language.
• All communications must reflect and be sensitive to the diversity of BPS families and staff and be free of bias concerning race, ethnicity, language, education, income, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
• BPS provides translation and interpretation services in the ten most commonly spoken district languages. Communications shared with families should be provided in the parent’s/guardian’s preferred language.
• All media requests and inquiries concerning BPS staff, schools, and programs should be sent to the Communications Office.

For more information, refer to COM-1 Communications Policy.