The Boston Public Schools closed the West Roxbury Education Complex five years ago despite controversy and pleas from students and staff that it remain open.
Now, Mayor Michelle Wu says that the mothballed school off Veterans’ Parkway will reopen.
Speaking at a forum on Wednesday night hosted by GBH, Wu said the building should be reopened and utilized for teaching and learning.
“There were some structural concerns about the school,” Wu said. “We've been there, it's laid out as a school, there’s a full-size pool there, space for labs. … again, lots of space, which is such a luxury in Boston that we need to make sure it is firmly for education for our young people.”
The WREC was home to two high schools: the Urban Science Academy and West Roxbury Academy, both serving a majority of Black and Hispanic students and economically disadvantaged families. At the time of its closing, 120 students with autism also utilized the space.
When the facility closed in 2018, many students, teachers and parents felt heart broken.
"Change needs to happen, but not like this,” one parent told the Boston School Committee. “It's not sitting in front of all these kids basically saying that you're giving up on them, because that's exactly what closing their school, their home, says."
Then-acting Superintendent Laura Perille told GBH News in 2019 that those two high schools had long-standing enrollment declines and struggled with uneven academic performance. Those students were sent to the Irving Middle School and Jeremiah E. Burke school and the West Roxbury facility was deemed “obsolete” and slated for demolition.
But it was never demolished and has sat vacant for five years, except for a stint when it was used for police academy testing.
On Wednesday, Wu said that restoration funds have been budgeted as part of the city’s plan this year to bring more resources to all of its high schools and promote equity across the district. She said Boston high schools are “a major area of focus because we see so many of the disparities play out.”
She did not offer a timeline for reopening or offer additional information on what schools could be located there.
It’s a “gorgeous location,” Wu said, describing the way the building is surrounded by athletic fields and lush green space.
“We can’t pass that up as a chance for education to happen ... rather than that building being used for some other purpose,” Wu said.
