Boston officials present MSBA statements of interest for Madison Park and repairs at multiple schools

Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means Chair Brian Worrell and Boston Public Schools and Public Facilities Department officials on March 3 presented statements of interest the city plans to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the core program at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and for accelerated repairs at a set of elementary and specialty schools.

City and school officials said the accelerated repair submissions cover roofs, windows, doors and, for the first time in the ARP, heat-pump conversions at schools including Boston Adult Technical Academy, Curley K–8, Mildred Avenue K–8, Mendel Elementary, Mary Lyon Pilot High School, Joyce Kilmer Lower School, Margarita Muniz, Orchard Gardens K–8 and the Trotter. Brian Ford, chief operating officer for Boston Public Schools, said ARP eligibility metrics included “roofs that are greater than 25 years old, windows that are greater than 30, and the project cost estimate is greater than 250,000.”

Del Stanislaus, chief of capital planning for Boston Public Schools, presented the city’s core-program statement of interest for Madison Park. He said cost estimates returned from the district’s design team last fall placed a new-build at “Roughly 680 to 700,000,000 for a new build or 700 to $720,000,000 for a gut renovation,” and described vocational high schools as “always the most expensive school projects” because of specialized space needs.

The presenters said the school committee already voted in favor of the ARP submissions and that the city will need separate votes by the school committee and the full city council before formal applications are filed. The ARP application is due March 21; the core-program statement of interest is due April 11. Officials said they expect the MSBA to notify applicants by the end of 2025 if a district is invited to proceed into the MSBA core-program process.

Officials described the Madison Park effort as the result of multi-year design and community engagement work. Stanislaus said the district has engaged Madison Park leadership, parents, students, alumni and community groups and will launch a community working group in March to continue that outreach. He said the district is pursuing MSBA partnership because, at the estimated price, “the only way to get the cost down to a level that [the city] could support on its own would be to significantly downsize the project,” which could cut Career and Technical Education programs; the presenters said they did not want to reduce the program mix.

Officials described options the MSBA process would require — feasibility studies that weigh “no build,” renovation and new construction alternatives — and said the MSBA typically selects an owner’s project manager and design team for projects that enter the core program. Colton Jones, described in the hearing as executive director of the Public Facilities Department, said the city hopes that previously completed design work will “jump start” any MSBA feasibility work but acknowledged the MSBA follows its own sequence and may require new consultants. Councilors on the committee pressed city and BPS staff on timeline, swing-space options, and impacts on the O’Bryant campus, which shares program space with Madison Park; staff said those questions would be part of MSBA feasibility work and ongoing capital planning.

Members of the council asked about earlier project costs and what the city has already spent: councilors were told the Perkins and Will contract for design work is $7,400,000, with roughly $2.9 million expended; staff reported total project expenditures to date of about $5.99 million on feasibility and related work. Officials said a New Madison Park project that enters MSBA eligibility would follow the MSBA schedule: if invited into eligibility in late 2025, the MSBA eligibility period would run into 2026 and design work could begin in early 2027, with construction start possible in 2029 on the current timeline.

Members of the public emphasized academics and workforce pathways during virtual testimony. Judith Baker, who identified herself as a long-time advocate, urged stronger emphasis on academic preparation for technical students and chapter 74 vocational programming, saying vocational schools require state‑certified instructors, equipment and industry advisory boards.

The presentation left open several key decisions. Officials said the city has budgeted $500 million toward Madison Park in the capital plan and that MSBA reimbursement for a core project historically covers about one-third of eligible costs; staff added that accelerated-repair projects can return a higher reimbursement percentage (staff cited roughly 60 percent for ARP projects). Officials said if MSBA partnership is not secured, the mayor and superintendent have committed to reviewing capital-budget tradeoffs to advance the project without MSBA participation.

The committee took no vote on either statement of interest at the March 3 hearing; staff described the session as a presentation and question-and-answer record for the public docket. The hearing record shows the school committee had already approved the district’s ARP submissions.