Bullying complaints in Boston Public Schools are on the rise, with parents from East Boston to Roslindale and schools in between saying the problems are upsetting and disrupting student learning.
District data shows more than an 80% increase in complaints to 440 so far this year, compared to the 243 complaints in 2018-2019, the last full year of in-person learning.
The recent decision to close the Mission Hill K-8 School in Jamaica Plain brought public attention to bullying, which spiraled out of control there over a decade. But complaints are festering elsewhere in the district, prompting a student-led protest at the Boston Arts Academy in Dorchester and parental criticism of behavior in a third-grade class at the Manning School, also in Jamaica Plain.
