BOSTON – Just as a heat emergency started in Boston, students went back to school Thursday to begin the new year.
Mayor Michelle Wu declared the emergency through Friday, allowing 15 cooling centers to open in the city.
Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper visited the school bus yard in Hyde Park before classes started to greet all the drivers.
“It’s been really almost an entire year of getting ready for today,” the mayor told reporters. “Compared to one year ago, the start of school last year, we are in a really, really solid place.”
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For the first time since the pandemic, BPS said they have a fully-staffed team of more than 700 bus drivers with more currently in training. There’s also 100 more bus monitors this year compared to the start of school last year.
“Everything is looking great,” said Skipper. “We have plenty of bus drivers. Every single yard has extra drivers. Monitors are all in full force.”
Twenty school buses in the fleet are electric and BPS is applying for a grant to get more.
“Not only is it good for the environment to cut those emissions but it just makes for a much better and healthier experience,” said Wu.
At the Mildred Avenue K-8 School in Mattapan, the red carpet was literally rolled out for students heading to the first day of classes.
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“Excited about it,” said parent Lauren Merrill. “This school is great, Mildred is fantastic, the teachers have always been amazing. So we always look forward to September and starting back in the fall.”
Thanks to COVID funding, more than 70 schools now have air conditioning, to make things easier on students and staff on a day when temperatures will be in the high 90s. For the 14 schools still without air conditioning, due to old electrical systems, fans and bottled water were brought in.
“Last night, we made sure there were ample fans in the few schools that don’t have AC,” said Skipper. “Everybody else does. We have 14 schools that, right now, have the fans. We’ll monitor those, lots of water. We’re opening the windows early in the morning to get the cold air in.”
Skipper said after school activities and sports will go on Thursday afternoon. She said BPS has been in contact with coaches to ensure students can practice safely.
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Katrina Kincade
Katrina Kincade is a general assignment reporter for WBZ-TV.
On Saturday night, the Boston Celtics hosted the Atlanta Hawks in Massachusetts.
The Celtics lost by a score of 119-115 (in overtime).
Jayson Tatum finished the loss with 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals while shooting 7/21 from the field and 2/9 from the three-point range in 43 minutes of playing time.
After the game, he made an honest statement when he met with the media (h/t CLNS Media Boston Sports Network).
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Tatum: “We were playing with pace; we had the right intentions. We had the right mindset tonight. We shot 38% from the field. That’s the tough part when you’re doing things a certain way, and the results aren’t matching. How do you continue to stay positive, and keep fighting and keep going forward.”
With the loss, the Celtics dropped to 29-13 in their first 42 games, which has them as the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
They are 6-4 over their last ten games.
Via Jared Weiss of The Athletic: “Celtics had some bad execution in crunch time to fumble a win away in OT. Trae Young really took control during OT and the Hawks did a great job targeting Neemias Queta, but the Celtics just made a lot of poor decisions here late. Pretty rough loss for a team who has had a lot of them lately.”
Celtics had some bad execution in crunch time to fumble a win away in OT. Trae Young really took control during OT and the Hawks did a great job targeting Neemias Queta, but the Celtics just made a lot of poor decisions here late. Pretty rough loss for a team who has had a lot… https://t.co/0SApusUoOb
Tatum is in his eighth season playing for the Celtics.
The All-Star forward has averages of 27.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.3 steals per contest while shooting 45.9% from the field and 35.8% from the three-point range.
A huge fourth quarter by Camryn Tade helped the Army West Point Black Knights women’s basketball team rally from a deficit to defeat Boston U, 59-52, on Saturday in Boston.
The Black Knights (13-3, 5-1 Patriot) have won two straight games since they fell to Lehigh a weekend ago and dropped from the ranks of the undefeated teams in the league.
Now, Army is tied for first place with both Navy and Holy Cross at 5-1 going into next week’s games. Lehigh is a half-game back at 4-1.
The Black Knights started the fourth quarter down 46-38. Tade came to the rescue, as she scored 11 of her 18 points in the final 10 minutes.
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She got to work 40 seconds into the quarter with a 3-pointer that cut the lead to five points.
After several empty possessions, Tade struck again with another 3-pointer to push the Black Knights within two points, 46-44, with 7:30 left.
The Terriers remained in the lead as they and the Black Knights traded free throws before Army took the lead, thanks against to Tade. Her lay-up with 5:25 left put Army in the lead, 48-47.
From there, the Black Knights remained ahead. A Fiona Hastick lay-up pushed the lead to three points, followed by a 3-pointer by Tade with 3:32 left that made it 53-47 Army.
Boston (7-10, 1-5) never got any closer.
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The Terriers controlled the game in the first half, as they took a 10-9 lead after the first quarter and then pushed that lead to 25-15 at halftime. Army surged to 23 points in the third quarter, but Boston hung in there by scoring 21 points before the Black Knights outscored the Terriers, 21-6, in the final stanza.
Tade made four 3-pointers for the game, three of which came in the fourth quarter. She also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Trinity Hardy led Army with 21 points, along with eight rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
Reese Ericson hit some key free throws down the stretch, as she went 6-fot-6 from the line for the game and finished with nine points. She also had four assists.
Inés Monteagudo led Boston with 12 points, while Allison Schwertner added 11 points.
Next week is critical for Army’s Patriot League Tournament seeding as it will face Holy Cross on Wednesday and Navy on Sunday. The Black Knights already have a loss to Lehigh, so they can ill-afford a loss to either the Crusaders or their rivals, the Midshipmen.
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