After significant backlash, the city of Boston is axing their controversial plan to relocate the O'Bryant School from Roxbury to West Roxbury.
"I'm very happy with the way the school is now," said Kendra Nealon, a parent.
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"I just think it's not a good idea that it is not being moved," said student Aven Hamilton-Iammartino.
Students at John D. O'Bryant School didn't mince words Wednesday morning about their feelings on their school staying put.
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"The location is just so accessible to the students that live in this Greater Boston area," said Nealon.
In a letter sent to parents Tuesday, Wu and Boston Public Schools leaders wrote in part that "after analyzing many sites in Roxbury and other neighborhoods, we could not find an alternative location to accommodate the expansion and student experience that had been envisioned."
The letter went on to say that "we are halting those plans indefinitely."
The move is part of a long-term facilities plan to improve and upgrade many schools in the district. For O'Bryant, the plan was to move it to the vacant West Roxbury Education Complex on Veterans of Foreign Wars Parkway to give students more space, green space and state-of-the-art facilities.
"Even though the Madison shares the school with the O'Bryant they all mesh well," said Charlene, a parent.
Parents weren't thrilled with the idea. In fact, more than 1,500 signed a petition against it and even staff members expressed their discontent, with the number one issue being accessibility to transit.
"It would be really good for me since I live in West Roxbury, but there are a lot of people that it would be really hard for it to get to," said Hamilton-Iammartino.
"Being out there in West Roxbury — how would they get to school? Unless the mayor instituted new bus routes," said Nealon.
Others fear a move to West Roxbury would've changed the makeup of the school that currently is the most diverse exam school in Boston.
"Look at the students, look at the diversity, you have every walk of life just meshing. They are all best friends, and they all hang out. This is like our own little melting pot," said Charlene.
Boston Public Schools will be holding an O'Bryant community meeting at 5 p.m. on March 13 via Zoom to talk about the next steps and answer questions the community may have.
