Vivi Smilgius
Reporter at Brookline.News
education reporter @Brookline_News | words in @BostonGlobe @BostonDotCom, @BeaconUpdate, @ChestertonTrib | @ecjrn ‘24 | she/her(s) | 📥 DMs open
Articles
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1 week ago |
brookline.news | Vivi Smilgius
Six Brookline residents were displaced after an apartment fire caused by discarded smoking materials destroyed their Craig Place triple-decker, according to state and local authorities. The March 28 fire, which turned into a three-alarm blaze that injured two firefighters, was caused by “careless disposal of smoking materials,” according to Brookline Fire Chief John Sullivan, citing an investigation by the Brookline Fire Department and Massachusetts State Police.
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1 week ago |
brookline.news | Vivi Smilgius
This year’s election for the Board of Library Trustees is contested for the first time since 2017, as turmoil in Brookline’s public libraries pushes new candidates and incumbents to step up. In Brookline, the Board of Library Trustees is a 12-person elected body with four seats up for election each year. Trustees are responsible for hiring and managing the library director and overseeing the library’s budget, services and policies.
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2 weeks ago |
brookline.news | Vivi Smilgius
The School Committee continued to reduce Brookline schools’ fiscal year 2026 budget gap on Thursday, but some of the most controversial cuts were rejected or postponed. By the end of Thursday’s School Committee meeting, the district’s projected budget gap was reduced to about $1.7 million, down from roughly $8 million earlier this year.
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2 weeks ago |
brookline.news | Vivi Smilgius
This year’s race for Brookline’s School Committee is the most competitive since 2018, with six candidates, including two incumbents, running for three open seats in the May 6 election. Most new candidates cited the district’s cyclical fiscal problems as a top reason for running — particularly the $8-million budget gap for fiscal year 2026, which the School Committee is currently working to close. So far, the School Committee has made significant cuts and rejected most student-facing reductions.
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1 month ago |
brookline.news | Vivi Smilgius
A coalition of Brookline groups is raising money to fund equity-focused positions across the district that were eliminated by a divided School Committee on March 13. Jodi Fortuna, the district’s deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, announced at a School Committee meeting Thursday that the coalition, coordinated by the Brookline Community Foundation, has raised about $85,000 so far.
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A coalition of Brookline groups has raised about $85,000 of $205,000 necessary to fund equity-focused positions across the district. The fundraising comes in response to cuts made last week to Brookline's equity office and school-based equity leads. https://t.co/aoJX8J7vHg
A Brookline resident was hospitalized with serious injuries after being hit by a car on University Road on Saturday night, according to Brookline police. https://t.co/QhuG50KVle
NEW: Brookline's School Committee voted 5-4 to eliminate the district's Office of Educational Equity. It's the latest of many cuts made to address the district's $8 million budget gap for FY26. Read more: https://t.co/8M4gO8FbcB
