City Council votes to oppose moving O'Bryant School to West Roxbury; calls on BPS to look at alternatives

The Boston City Council voted 10-2-1 today to formally oppose BPS's plans to move the O'Bryant School from its current location on Malcolm X Boulevard in Roxbury to a rebuilt West Roxbury Education Complex on VFW Parkway, saying that location, almost in Dedham, is just too far way for many students and that BPS has failed to really take into account the concerns of O'Bryant students, parents and teachers, let alone possible alternatives.

The vote came in the form of a resolution, so BPS and Mayor Wu, who say the new school would finally give the city's math-and-science exam school actual working science labs and room for more students, are free to ignore it.

But one after the other, councilors said BPS plans for shuttle buses and timetables for getting students to the isolated West Roxbury campus are completely unrealistic. Councilor Gabriela Coletta (East Boston, Charlestown, North End) all but snorted at a BPS estimate that students from East Boston could get to the other side of the city in just 48 minutes. In fact, she challenged BPS officials to ride with her on the T from Maverick Square - not even Orient Heights, she said - to the old West Roxbury High, via two subway lines and a bus, in anything under 90 minutes.

Councilors said the distance and time would prove equally insurmountable to parents trying to get to teacher conferences and sporting events, especially parents who work two or three jobs.

Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson (Roxbury), an O'Bryant alum whose sister went school in West Roxbury, said she knows from personal experience the idea of shuttle buses from Forest Hills and other transportation hubs wouldn't work - she said West Roxbury had a shuttle bus, but she sometimes wound up helping her get to school if she missed one or it didn't come.

Fernandes Anderson said it makes no sense to move the school from its current location in the heart of the city and surrounded by colleges and tech facilities that could provide valuable career pathways to a location not really near anything - with more on the way, what with the Benjamin Franklin Institute and new life-sciences labs in the pipeline for nearby Nubian Square.

In fact, she had a proposal: Move the Boston Police headquarters on Tremont Street in Roxbury to West Roxbury, where police could have their own secure facility and convert the current BPD building into the O'Bryant's new home.

Councilor Erin Murphy (at large) and Brian Worrell (Dorchester) said BPS really needs to look more closely at other possible ways to get the O'Bryant the new space and facilities it needs without making students shlep to a school not really near much except fast-food restaurants, car dealerships and a sex-toys shop - starting with the current O'Bryant location itself, where they said BPS should look at building up and adding new floors.

Several of the councilors said they were moved - and distressed - listening to O'Bryant parents at a hearing that last until 11 p.m. yesterday say they felt left out by the BPS decision process, which has included several meetings at the West Roxbury site but only one at the O'Bryant.

Councilor Julia Mejia (at large), who introduced the resolution, said it is "really dangerous" to simply throw out the West Roxbury idea and say it's the only possible alternative.

"This administration, from what I have seen, continues to fail to meet the moment when it comes to community engagement and creating opportunity for people to feel heard," she said.

Councilors Ricardo Arroyo (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan), another O'Bryant alum, and Sharon Durkan (Back Bay, Fenway, Beacon Hill, Bay Village, Mission Hill) voted against the resolution. They said that even with the transportation issues, they fell West Roxbury would, finally, give O'Bryant the classrooms and facilities it deserves.

Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune (at large), said she understands the frustration of the O'Bryant community, voted "present." She said she was not yet at the point where she's absolutely convinced the negatives of the move would outweigh its benefits and that holding another hearing on the issue would be beneficial.

Watch the discussion: