City Councilor Matt O'Malley Calls for Public Hearing to Discuss What Will Happen to Closed Public School Buildings

West Roxbury District Councilor Matt O’Malley wants to know the future of the public school buildings that will close this coming fall.

While there is no school building slated to close in West Roxbury - the Agassiz School in Jamaica Plain was chosen to be closed, and O’Malley also represents Jamaica Plain.

“Thankfully, no schools in West Roxbury (will be closed), and not too many schools in the West Zone, but it will impact West Roxbury schools,” said O’Malley. The . Also the is expected to have their English Language Learner (ELL) classrooms take up to 60 more students from other schools, noted O'Malley.  

On Wednesday, O’Malley called for a public hearing to discuss the future of the school buildings across the city that will be closed. So far, the Boston School Department has not made any public comments about what they plan to do with the buildings across the city. O’Malley said he let school administrators know that he was filing the order for the hearing.

“I do want a public hearing and I want people to weigh in from the Planning and Education departments. We’re not revisiting the superintendent’s proposal to close these schools. This is a tough thing, but we recognize the tough financial constraints we’re in,” said O’Malley.

“My concern is hundreds of thousands of dollars of property sitting empty. The Agassiz is right down smack in the middle of a neighborhood. I just want to see that the city and school department has in mind. Can we rent or lease these buildings to have money go back into school department’s budget. The figure of a $63-million budget shortfall, (and they) say $10 million will be saved from shuttering buildings and not running (the schools)."

O’Malley suggested that more revenue could possibly be had by creating housing, a community enter or leasing the properties to another school.

The order was sent to the Committee on Economic Development and Planning, and   a public hearing will be scheduled, and the public will be invited to testify.

“We need to have a transparent government. We are talking about millions of dollars of property, and finding out what ‘s best for the community, and city overall,” said O’Malley.