'Pine Manor You Did Your School Proud': Brookline Selectman

BROOKLINE, MA — There's strong opposition to the idea of taking part of a local college's land by eminent domain as a way to potentially address the growing enrollment in Brookline Public Schools. But coming in just behind that opposition is a sturdy push to maintain urgency for finding a viable spot to put a ninth elementary school in a town where many residents are split about whether - after six years - the town really has looked under every rock to find one.

At least that was the feeling expressed Monday night in the auditorium of the Brookline High School where some 200 people came to share their views on the latest three proposals - including the possibility of taking part of Pine Manor College by eminent domain. Much of the hearing was spent focused on Pine Manor College, which town officials only recently brought to residents as a possibility.

In case you missed it, the possible seizing of about 7 acres of Pine Manor's land is a bit contentious.

"If you take this land it will cut right through the heart of our community," said Peggy Krippendorf, an attorney and a 1996 grad and a member of the Board of Trustees for Pine Manor College. She said some 1,764 petition imploring the town not to seize any of the school's land by eminent domain. Of the 55 people who took to the mic during the three hour long hearing, some 30 mentioned they did not support the taking of the land for various reasons. Eight others, mostly Baker School parents said they did.

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The rest were mixed about what approach the town should take and how to get there. Most asked for an expedited process to find a school site, already.

"We've been at this for five years if there was a genius idea it would already be here, let's get a new school built and wherever it is best done, let's do it," said Bob Miller a Town Meeting member from Precinct 8.

The School Committee expects the enrollment to continue and worry that time is running out to find a place for a ninth and eventually tenth school to accommodate children, too.

But after a years-long process, every option they've brought to the public has been met with push back.

A team winnowed a list of double digits to a handful of sites to three. The committees scrapped several after various pushback from the community members, and eventually voted on a property in South Brookline where there once was a school, the Baldwin site. After Patriots owner's son Jonathan Kraft and neighbors pushed back and the town discovered more complications with the land the boards entered into executive session and came out with the Pine Manor option.

It had previously been looked into, and the school had expressed that it was not interested in selling any more land after a recent financial turn around.

In addition to the possible taking of some of Pine Manor's front yard, the other two options town officials say are left to consider for building a new school include continuing to consider the Baldwin site as proposed, but with a land swap to address environmental complications despite some complications; or build on the northern edge of Baldwin site.

The president of Pine Manor College is pushing back. In the weeks since Brookline officials came out of an executive hearing where they decided to broach the topic with the community, the college has written letters to the Town Meeting Members and urged the community at large to encourage the leaders not to seize the school's land. A number of local colleges including Newbury College on Fisher Hill have written letters to town officials noting their disapproval for the option. The school has also filed an Open Meeting Law complaint against officials for that executive session meeting, which was private.

At the end of the hearing, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Neil Wishinsky turned to the front rows of folks wearing T-shirts that read "Pine Manor = my home" and said "Folks from Pine Manor you did your institution proud."

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If you want to submit your own feedback on the three options, written comments be submitted here or via email to sorsini@brooklinema.gov

Catch up on the October 3, 2017 presentation by Jonathan Levi Architects and other materials related to a 9th Elementary School by heading to the Public Schools of Brookline website. Since 2006 the number of K-8 in Brookline has grown from 4,059 students to 5,482.

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