School officials rolling out the second phase of the $1 billion BuildBPS school facilities plan reported this month that they are looking at sites for a downtown high school that would house the Josiah Quincy Upper School.
BuildBPS officials said at a public meeting this month that they are looking at sites in the Chinatown area to build a new Josiah Quincy Upper School, and should have a site chosen within the year.
“We are looking at sites right now to build a new high school for the Josiah Quincy Upper School and expect to have that site narrowed down by the end of the year,” said Nate Kudor, CFO of the BPS, during a public meeting on BuildBPS Nov. 2.
A South End and downtown meeting for BuildBPS has been scheduled for this Friday, Nov. 16, at the People’s Baptist Church, 134 Camden St., from 6-8 p.m.
The Josiah Quincy Upper School has been located on Arlington Street in Bay Village for several years and hosts grades 8-12. It has a guaranteed seat available for students at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School, only a few blocks away. That, in essence, ensures a one-transition path for students in K-12.
Kudor did not say what sites were being considered, but did identify the area of Chinatown as a location.
The idea of BuildBPS is to clean up the pathways for students and families by building new buildings, repurposing other buildings, reconfiguring existing programs and putting in a regular maintenance schedule for existing facilities. Mayor Martin Walsh has promised $1 billion will be made available to the schools over the next 10 years, with about three-fourths of that coming from the City and one-quarter from the state. It would be the first large investment in school facilities in Boston over the last 50 years, and plans for spending that money are now being pounded out in meetings such as the one this Friday, Nov. 16.
The majority of the money is going to be spent on the other side of the City, in areas like Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park and West Roxbury, but the plan will also have plenty of new things for the downtown.