Jeffrey Riley

On March 9, Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley fired off an email to Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius informing her his office will conduct a district review — an audit of the city’s public schools — citing late buses, the concentration of students of color in special education classrooms and other unspecified concerns.

Teachers unions, who have been pushing for school staff to receive vaccinations before students return to schools, hit back at DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley and the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker, who had rebuffed the unions’ requests.