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Boston Herald
Boston Herald
20 Jun 2023
Grace Zokovitch


NextImg:O’Bryant teachers pen opposition to proposed West Roxbury move ahead of first community meeting

Two teachers at the O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science wrote an open letter outlining broad concerns with the proposal to move the school to West Roxbury announced weeks ago.

“We understand that many students, staff, and families have conflicting feelings about this proposal, but as long-time BPS teachers, we believe moving Boston’s most diverse exam school to the least T-accessible neighborhood in the city is not in the best interests of our students,” wrote history teacher Aparna Lakshmi and English teacher Robert Comeau in a letter published on Schoolyard News.

The letter comes nearly two weeks after Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper announced a proposal to move the O’Bryant to a West Roxbury Educational Complex and expand Madison Park Technical Vocational High School — two schools that currently share a campus.

Officials noted the proposal will take several years to implement. The first remote community meeting on the O’Bryant School move is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

The proposal, which Skipper said would allow the school access to new science labs, athletic facilities, STEM programming and other amenities, was met with a mixed reaction, with many families and staff concerned about the transparency of the decision and the potential accessibility of the new location.

The teachers outlined main concerns in the letter published Monday.

The West Roxbury location, they said, would change the school’s diverse demographics as students from East Boston, Charlestown and other neighborhoods face more difficulty getting to school.

The extra commute time — which the teachers estimated to be on average 75 minutes using a sample of students and the MBTA Trip Planner — the letter said, will also cause more students to be late to school and unable to stay for clubs, sports or academic support.

The teachers also expressed concern for the school’s ability to maintain current partnerships, internships, and college connections, noting specifically internships at Dana Farber and academic support and athletics at The BASE.

The BPS announcement regarding the move did address the transportation difficulty, offering extra shuttle bus support for students.

In response, the teacher’s questioned the MBTA’s difficulty hiring drivers and the district’s existing difficulty transporting students.

Skipper also emphasized at the June 7 Boston School Committee meeting that the proposal was not set and the district intends to seek feedback from stakeholders.

“We know this is a big change, and we’ll be talking to students, families and staff over the coming months about this proposal,” Skipper said at the meeting.

The teachers called on community members to share their perspective at the upcoming school community meeting Tuesday and School Committee and Boston Planning and Redevelopment Authority meetings Wednesday.

Mayor Wu announces school construction and improvements. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)

Mayor Wu announces school construction and improvements. (Chris Christo/Boston Herald)