All Boston public schools will be closed Friday due to the Celtics championship parade, officials announced.
The decision was announced Thursday afternoon and will make Thursday the last day of school in the current school year.
Boston had planned to hold a half day and officials had already planned to close a handful of schools around the parade route.
“Every day, BPS transports 23,000 students across our City,” said Superintendent Mary Skipper in a statement near 1:30 p.m. “Given the expected crowds, road closures and detours for the parade route, and our scheduled half day coinciding with the parade times, there is no safe and reliable way to transport our students, especially our youngest learners and special education students, from their schools to their drop off sites.”
The parade is scheduled to step off outside TD Garden at 11 a.m. Friday and make its way to the area of the Hynes Convention Center on Boylston Street.
Boston police announced a series of street closures and parking restrictions related to the parade.
Set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, the parking restrictions will spread through much of downtown Boston.
Streets will close along the parade route at 9 a.m.
The parade will be Boston’s first championship celebration since 2019 after the Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl and it is expected to draw massive crowds.
“The increased traffic could mean students waiting for their bus hours after dismissal, being delayed on hot buses for hours without access to food and water or trying to commute home on the MBTA at the same time as the large anticipated crowds, posing major safety and operational concerns for our students and staff,” Skipper said.
“We hope everyone has a safe and happy summer and we want to thank everyone for their understanding in helping us to keep every one of our students safe,” she said. “We cannot wait to welcome everyone back in September.”
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
