Councilor says BPS plans to move O'Bryant School to shuttered West Roxbury building officials once said was about to collapse

With all the various issues surrounding BPS between busing

- my 2 bps kids get rides to and from school everyday since the buses aren't safe or reliable and last week my son's field trip to drumlin farm was cancelled when the bus didn't show up.

Buildings are mostly falling down, my daughter's school had mold so bad in the basement a few years ago it covered the chrome books and the kids couldn't use them , and the principal told teachers to shut up and stop complaining about it.

The school had a world class drama teacher for 7 years but she didn't get along with the principal so she left and there is no longer a drama program.

My daughter's class has gym in their classroom when it's too cold to go outside due to lack of space.

There is no music program - that was eliminated a few years ago so students could take gym and God forbid both are offered. no world languages are offered. No advanced classes are offered and I believe over half the students are not proficient in math and reading.

No money in the budget exists for a grant writer to fund some classes that suburban kids get.

Both campuses have enough outdoor space but it hasn't been updated in over a decade , since Meninos grandkids went there.

The teachers that stay year after year are amazing but the administration is noticeably absent and the school team leader from central BPS does not participate at all in any thing related to the school as far as I can tell.

Councilor Arroyo lives a few blocks from the school and shows almost no interest in helping it.

The principal and vice principal spend most of their daily time in meetings with parents about behavioral issues and don't have time to focus on education.

We're so frustrated with BPS, and most families with kids in our neighborhood send their kids to non BPS schools.

We'd gladly pay 25% more in taxes if the money went to improve the school buildings and fund more educational programs. So much time and effort is spent addressing behavioral issues or non English learners since the schools are asked to deal with home issues families can't get services for from the other city programs!

The city is filled with empty and half empty schools. These buildings are empty 80% of the time while homeless people put up tents faster than we can (humanely) take them down. Your comment doesn't even point out the charter schools building new schools on new expensive land while taking our tax dollars.

The city should not be allowed to have empty buildings while real-estate is so valuable. Charters should be compelled to buy or lease existing school buildings. Empty sites should be transformed into city housing.

I agree with John Costello on this. It's a completely terrible decision.

Why are they sending kids to the periphery of the city when O'Bryant, from a transportation standpoint is smack dab in the middle of the city?

This might not be the reason, but it is inescapably the message: because they don't give a damn about the O'Bryant students.

The exam schools need to be centrally located. A high school in West Roxbury or Roslindale is a fine idea, but it should primarily serve students who live in that part of the city, not students from all over. There is one bus line that sort of serves the WREC area, but per the T's bus network redesign, that will soon no longer be the case. Unless the Orange Line is extended to VFW Parkway (it should be) or the Needham Line gets an infill stop at that location, it won't work for the vast majority of O'Bryant students.

West Roxbury High school should be renovated With guaranteed seats going to graduates of Roslindale and West Roxbury K to 8 schools. There is precedent for this as graduates of certain schools in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury are guaranteed seats at Dearborn stem Academy. The O’Bryant school should remain in a centrally located location as it attract students from all parts of the city.

Is there a facilities issue at the current location? Are they planning to expand Madison Park? I'd definitely support expanding vo-tech education, but surely there is another centrally located spot where the O'Bryant can go. What about the parcel next to Whittier Choice Housing and across the street from the Police Station?