Boston seeks state building funds for new Dorchester-Mattapan elementary school

BOSTON -- March 29, 2023, Boston City Council committee advances bid for new elementary school in southern Dorchester and Mattapan. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, held a hearing March 29 on Docket 0576, authorizing the city to file Statements of Interest with the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the P.A. Shaw and Charles H. Taylor Elementary Schools, with a full council vote expected at the next regular meeting. Delavan Stanislaus, Boston Public Schools' new chief of capital planning, told councilors that the two zip codes covering southern Dorchester and Mattapan account for 24 percent of all Boston children under 5, and that neither the Shaw nor the Taylor has a standalone auditorium, gym, cafeteria, or science lab. Brian McLaughlin of the Public Facilities Department placed the earliest possible opening date for a combined facility at 2029 or 2030, with construction not beginning until approximately 2027. The MSBA deadline to submit the two Statements of Interest is April 14, with the city designating the Shaw application as primary; a community meeting for both school communities is scheduled for April 4, and the School Committee is set to vote on a Shaw-Taylor merger proposal on May 10.