Members of the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science community fret that moving the school out of Roxbury will impact the students who already attend and decrease the diversity of the exam school’s student body.
Earlier this month, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper announced plans for the exam school to potentially move several miles away to the West Roxbury Educational Complex. Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, which is currently right next to O’Bryant, would be expanded into its current location.
The potential move has been lauded by officials but questioned by the public. At a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, family members of current O'Bryant students criticized the plan.
Mano Katsompenakis, whose son goes to O’Bryant, took issue with moving the school to a location that he believed would make it difficult for current students to access.
“And then we’re gonna become a West Roxbury high school. Which is fine, but don’t call it ‘the O’Bryant’ and don’t try to fix the O’Bryant by moving it in a location that is gonna ruin the school,” Katsompenakis said.
Wu has previously said the city will have shuttles for students from various neighborhoods to get to the new location.
Rahul Dhanda, another O’Bryant parent, had a number of grievances, including what he described as an assumption that the school needs more space and not more resources.
“You’ve heard from everybody today; 95% of what the community has told you is that this is unsatisfactory,” Dhanda said. “And while we all think Madison and the O’Bryant need something more, I don’t think being told what it is without engaging us to figure out what the best solution is gonna satisfy anybody. It’s gonna ruin the school. You’re on a path to trying to help one school and sacrificing another instead of finding a way to help both.”
One of the themes throughout the evening was the belief that moving the school to West Roxbury would negatively impact the diversity at the school, specifically among students of color.
“Has anyone actually studied West Roxbury's enrollment demographics for its existing schools?” Dhanda said. “We will probably match that, where overrepresentation of white students compared to the district — not the school — compared to the district and dramatic underrepresentation of others, especially Black and Hispanic, is the norm.”
Speaking on Boston Public Radio on Tuesday, Wu said maintaining the school’s diversity is a top concern.
“The beauty of this school community is how they embrace diversity, how it's reflective of our school populations, and how the commitment to really embracing and empowering all aspects of our students’ identities that is central to the identity of that school,” she said. “So that needs to be protected and preserved at a very minimum.”
Under the current timeline, construction and renovation at the West Roxbury complex wouldn’t begin until 2025.
