Brookline School Committee Unanimously Delays Scholarship Policy That Would Have Ended Program

BROOKLINE -- June 29, 2026, Brookline School Committee votes unanimously to halt scholarship policy hours before its July 1 effective date. The committee voted 6-0 at a special June 29 meeting to postpone for one year the implementation of policies D15 and D15.1, adopted in March, which members said would have effectively ended the Brookline High School scholarship program by stopping acceptance of new donations and directing future donors to the Brookline Community Foundation, an organization that, according to Chair Betsy DeWitt, lacks the capacity to manage the program. The scholarship program distributes between $500,000 and $600,000 annually to an estimated 150 to 160 graduating seniors. DeWitt said high school staff, including administrators Anthony Meyer and Hal Mason, were "completely blindsided" by the policy, and that John Hodgman, described as the founder of the scholarship fund at the Brookline Community Foundation, was "blindsided and outraged." Member Donald Haddad called it "stunning" that a policy was proposed "to just decimate something that's absolutely spectacular."