A RECENT editorial in the Boston Globe (“City should grab chance to explore new tech school sites,” Feb. 7) argues that the historical significance of the century-old Dearborn School should delay the construction of a new, grades 6 to 12 science, technology, engineering, and math academy that is already approved and financed, on the Greenville Street site. The editorial mentions a number of groups that are demanding the delay, but neglects to acknowledge the hundreds of students, families, and other residents who have worked diligently for the past seven years toward the creation and funding of the $70.7-million, state-of-the-art facility.
More than 300 students, family members and residents in the Dearborn community, supported by my church, Roxbury Presbyterian, and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, believe the children who currently live in this neighborhood deserve the best we can provide, as soon as possible. Our initial plan was to renovate the existing building on Greenville Street, but the state’s experts studied the building for over a year and concluded it was in such poor condition that the cost of renovation was prohibitive.
There has been much said about saving the Dearborn’s structure, particularly in context of the school’s role in historic racial desegregation efforts. While preservation has its place for historical memory, everyone should be clear that the fight for desegregation in Boston and the nation was never about structures; it was for equal education for all children.
We believe the current project on Greenville Street will provide quality education and prepare our children for the future. The community that the Dearborn serves, not unlike the community of many years ago, represents an underserved population. Most are poor and many are immigrants struggling to find their voice and a clear path to the future. The Dearborn students were moved from the original building to the fourth floor of the Burke High School this past September, with the promise that many of them could return to a new building on Greenville Street within three years. It has been a huge sacrifice, and they have waited patiently. The funds have been secured, the proper steps have been taken. We cannot afford to delay their future one more minute.
Advertisement