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Council approves first reading of $2.5 million appropriation for Ruth Babson Academy feasibility study
Summary
The Council accepted the Ways and Means committee report and read for the first time an order to appropriate $2.5 million to pay for a feasibility study and schematic design for the Ruth Babson Academy project to enter the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) process.
The Boston City Council voted to accept the Committee on Ways and Means report and read for the first time an order authorizing appropriation of $2.5 million to pay for a feasibility study and schematic design for a project for Ruth Babson Academy (formerly John W. McCormick School) in Dorchester.
City staff described the district’s work with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), noting the MSBA invited the project into the core process after a statement of interest in December 2024 and that a 270‑day eligibility period began July 1, 2025. The feasibility study will take 18 to 24 months, cover the entire Lee Basing campus (including an elementary school slated for closure) and conclude with a project scope and budget. The district expects to return to the Council for additional appropriation if and when MSBA board approval of scope and reimbursement is received.
Witnesses at the Ways and Means hearing included the Boston Public Schools chief of capital planning (Chief Stanislaus), the Public Facilities Department’s executive director Jones, and project manager McGaughton; their testimony described previous MSBA-funded projects in Boston and noted that MSBA funding is tied to state reimbursement rules.
The committee reported the feasibility work is necessary to complete MSBA preliminary requirements including an enrollment questionnaire, educational profile, maintenance plan, and to hire an owner's project manager and architect. A roll call on docket 1690 recorded 12 votes in the affirmative; the order was read for the first time and assigned for further action under the Council’s process for MSBA projects.
