A South Boston Community Meeting was held in the auditorium at the South Boston High School – a.k.a “Excel High”. This was the first such meeting. It was convened to open up a community discussion about the future of the High School, which will be closed in June next year, at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. This closing announcement was first put forth by the City of Boston’s Public Schools (the BPS) some months ago. Further information about the closure has been sparse since then, except for stating that the High School will be completely renovated and reopened as a so-called “anchor school”.
Last night’s meeting began just after 6 p.m. Approximately 100 South Boston residents attended. Chief of Capital Planning Del Stanislaus and Director of Communication & Community Engagement Molly Doris-Pierce explained the meeting agenda and presented a brief commentary about the closure: 311 students are at Excel now; no more new students will be accepted; Juniors and Seniors will graduate from the High School as planned; students now in Grades 9 and 10 will be carefully transferred into other Boston secondary schools. Also taking part in the meeting were Sarah King, Deputy Chief of Capital Planning, and Jake Lacey, Assistant Director of BPS Facilities.
At 6:30, questions and comments from the audience began. The first two of these set the tone for the rest of the meeting. Right away, a comment was made about the traffic jams created by school buses in South Boston every school day morning, Chief of Planning Stanislaus answered by stating that students for the renovated High School will come from all over the City and will mostly use the MBTA. Indeed an “anchor school” is a school that draws students from all parts of Boston. The second comment asked if the name “Excel” could be dropped and “South Boston High School” be reinstated, especially for school athletics. The answer was negative: There is no longer a “South Boston High School”, they replied. Further comments and questions about the heritage of the original South Boston High School drew agreement and bursts of applause from the audience.
Emphatic mention was made of the historic aspects of the High School, including references to the World War I Memorial, No Man’s Land out back, preservation of the school’s architecture, and the school’s place in the community. Mention was made of students’ contributions to South Boston after they graduate – veterans, for example. Both Stanislaus and Doris -Pierce responded that the school design and the analysis of school courses haven’t even begun yet. They suggested that the new “anchor school” could conceivably offer special courses like life sciences – certainly a good fit with the Seaport District. They ended up by admitting, “We really have no idea what the High School will look like yet.”
The Q&A period closed off shortly after 7 p.m. While it was certainly emphatic, and even vehement at times, both the BPS officials and the audience members were courteous throughout. There is still a lot of time before the High School project really begins; it’s more than a year before the current high school even closes. At many points, last night’s BPS team mentioned that many, many steps are still needed before the project is firmed up – the Superintendent’s plans, capital budget approval, designs and engineering, and so on.
We suggest that an ad hoc committee of interested South Bostonians be formed, who will meet briefly each month to keep track of the High School project from a community standpoint. Here are some leads for gaining information: Each month, the School Department will post project progress on capitalplanning@bostonpublicschools.org. Use this address to make your own comments (please don’t bother the Excel teachers or administrators).
In addition, you can log onto boston.gov/gnd-bps. This is another informative site for looking at a “Green New Deal” for Boston Public Schools.
