Boston City Council Education Committee Probes BPS Transfer Rules After Senior Loses Season

BOSTON — March 24, 2026 — Boston City Council grills BPS officials over student-athlete transfer rules after senior is barred from basketball. The Education Committee, chaired by Councillor Julia M. Mejia and convened on a docket sponsored by Councillor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, heard testimony from the family and teammates of Charlestown High School senior Amir Mohammed, who was denied eligibility to play basketball this season after transferring from Madison Park High School under MIAA Rule 57. Mohammed's mother, Zahra Aden, testified she was called without a translator, never given a formal meeting, and received no explanation of why her son was ruled ineligible; his attorney, Liana Lamatina, read his statement into the record. BPS Deputy Superintendent of Operations Dr. Samuel DePina acknowledged communication shortcomings — "things could have been better with communication, with interpretation" — but declined to answer case-specific questions citing FERPA protections and an ongoing internal investigation. BPS Chief of Student Support Corey McCarthy defended the district's MIAA compliance, saying eligibility rulings are "not discretionary" and cannot vary based on "public pressure, athletics, or any external advocacy." Councillor Miniard Culpepper raised a process gap: if a receiving school's principal declines to appeal a denied Form 200, the student may have no independent right of appeal, a point DePina agreed warranted further action.