Ways and Means hears $2.5 million request for Ruth Batson Academy feasibility study

The Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means on Oct. 2, 2025, heard a request to appropriate $2,500,000 from the city's capital budget to hire an owner's project manager and an architect to conduct a feasibility study and schematic design for the Ruth Batson Academy, a merged Boston Public Schools campus now in the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) core program eligibility period.

Councilor Brian Worrell, District 4 and chair of the committee, convened the hearing and invited presentations from city staff and school district officials. Carlton Jones, executive director of the Public Facilities Department, said, "We're very excited, once again to partner with the Massachusetts School Building Authority," and described the request as the funding needed to bring on an OPM and architect to begin predesign work. A representative of the MSBA summarized the authority's role as a reimbursement agency funded by a penny of the state sales tax and noted the city is seeking $2,500,000 to start the feasibility process.

The request follows the MSBA's…