Grievances & promises aired at meeting on Bartlett Place charter school

Conservatory Lab Charter School’s chair of the board of trustees, Gary Gut, looked on as Nuestra Comunidad’s David Price (right) made the case for bringing CLS to Bartlett Place.

The latest chapter of the controversy over Nuestra Comunidad’s push to plant a charter school in a Roxbury development project unfolded at a recent community meeting at the Shelburne Community Center in Roxbury.

Representatives of the Conservatory Lab Charter School made their case for why the school belongs on a parcel of land where community residents sought the development of housing and job-generating businesses.

Tensions have been rising over the proposed siting of the school at Bartlett Yard on Washington Street — something the Project Review Committee appointed by the city to oversee development efforts firmly opposes. PRC members say the school will not satisfy the economic development requirement of the Request For Proposals they helped write for the location, and that its entrance into project plans bypassed community due process. Several PRC members said they were blindsided by the introduction of CLS into plans, not even learning the idea was being considered until a newspaper reported the purchase and sales agreement.

Meanwhile, school supporters say CLS will bring economic and cultural gains that meet project demands. David Price, executive director of Nuestra Comunidad, also suggested the school may be critical to the project’s completion.

Undermined process

The prevailing view among community residents who spoke at the meeting seemed to be that stakeholder engagement had been subverted. CLS’ chair of the board of trustees, Gary Gut, argued that the school, at least, had done its best to engage with the community through actions such as conversations with residents, abutters, businesses and neighborhood organizations, newspaper ads and an open house.

Gut and several attendees called for forgiveness of any past misconduct on the project process and taking a fresh look at the current situation.

“We want to pledge to you that going forward we’re going to do everything we can on our part to be open, transparent and inclusive in the process,” Gut said. He added that erecting CLS on the site hinges on Boston Redevelopment Authority approval.

Gut and Price made their case for CLS, asserting that, along with the other entities to be located at Bartlett Place, the school completes the development project’s economic goals and helps achieve cultural and artistic wants outlined in Roxbury’s Strategic Master Plan.

Many attendees spoke of the value of such a school but the community remained divided over whether CLS was the right choice for Bartlett Place.

CLS makes its case: employment

PRC members have stated that the parcel must feature entities that generate wealth and economic development by providing opportunities for homeownership, business creation, business attraction and employment.

“We firmly believe the entire site should be anchored to economic drivers (homeownership and commerce opportunities) that will have an immediate and lasting impact on the community,” wrote Mike Miles, PRC Co-Chair, in an open letter.

Gut claims CLS can deliver sufficient economic value through a level of local hiring and spending.

To comply with 50 percent Boston Resident Employment Standards, the school would hire 151 individuals in Suffolk County for construction jobs. According to the school’s construction management team, 20 percent of its Boston hires are likely to be from the surrounding zip codes: 02119 (Dudley Square), 02120 (Roxbury Crossing) and 02121 (Grove Hall). At least nine out of 73 employees included in the school’s FY2018 budget will be hired from the neighborhood, according to the school management team.

The management team also anticipates that construction spending on items such as materials and equipment, along with construction wages, will prompt the creation of 53 further jobs in the county. School employee wages and daily staff spending are expected to generate 10 further jobs, according to a report prepared by Next Street Financial and Economic Development Research Group.

One complication: A Boston Public School teacher from Jamaica Plain contested that the lower wages provided by charters may make it difficult for CLS employees to afford to live in the neighborhood.

Spending expectations

Other offerings include paid teacher internships and a preference for hiring previous interns, Diana Lam head of CLS said. The school management team reported that it expects to appoint at least six interns from Roxbury in FY2018.

Gut envisions that the school will draw large numbers of visitors to its concerts. The Next Street/EDRG study estimates $56,000 in annual visitor spending. Additionally, the school management team predicts CLS staff will spend $10 per day.

Arts & Culture

Although the community may not have required such attractions at the facility, CLS representatives pointed to arts and cultural benefits the school could bring.

These include offering its spaces — such as gymnasium, music practice rooms and auditorium — for public use, and bolstering Roxbury’s image as an artistic and cultural center via its programming and potential partnerships with local arts organizations, representatives said.

Seventy Roxbury students attend CLS and 50 are on the waiting list, according to the school’s presentation at themeeting. Representatives said they expect bringing the school into the neighborhood will increase local enrollment.

Lam added that CLS seeks to secure a policy change that would allow it to grant preferred enrollment for local students.

“Just as we give sibling preference we would also be able to give neighborhood preference. We have taken the initial steps [for this],” she said.

For some, the question is not just CLS’ value to Roxbury or whether CLS is a quality school, but whether this geographical location is the best use of the parcel.

Several attendees, including Louis Elisa, president of the Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association, argued that the community already has enough schools, but lacks sufficient employment and economic development opportunities.

“I would love to have and to host the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Roxbury,” added City Councillor Tito Jackson. “It’s just simple that this is not the site.”

Choices: CLS or nothing?

Some wondered if Bartlett Place has other options than to accept CLS.

Price presented the school as key to letting the project happen in a timeframe where it will be impactful.

“The price [CLS] will pay for land will help us build out affordable housing and small and local business spaces on schedule,” Price said. “The school can help stave off gentrification.”

Nuestra needs to provide the affordable apartments and homes within four to five years before the residents who would have used them are forced out of the neighborhood by rising rents, Price told the Banner.

“We’re in a race against time,” he said. “If we can’t deliver [the promised jobs, business opportunities and housing] during this economic cycle, it’s a tremendous loss for the community.”

Some attendees said they simply wanted something to happen with the land and questioned if there were viable alternative businesses to go there if CLS is rejected.

“I have yet to see someone come to this mic and say, ‘I have this technological company that will come here and anchor this place.’ I hear all of this naysay but with all this time we have had, what is the alternative?” one attendee asked.

Meanwhile, Miles argued that the way land sale was handled prevented other businesses or even other charter schools from being considered.

“If there was going to be a sale of 1.5 acres of that land, it should have been open to the public,” Miles said. “We didn’t have a chance to have that economic opportunity.”

Miles admitted that looking for another anchor entity could delay completing Bartlett by several years, but said it would be worth it to ensure the project was handled well.