On Oct. 27 more than 100 community members attended the third meeting about plans to transform the Jackson Mann into a new Allston-Brighton community center for Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF). Attendees heard a summary of both community surveys, and an outline of a preliminary development plan.

Although many details remain undecided, Patricia Cafferky, City of Boston deputy chief of operations, reaffirmed the commitment to replace the existing community center with one that could include other uses. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will select a plan by year’s end considering community feedback. The evening’s agenda covered Boston Public School (BPS) trends, survey findings, and a draft plan for community review.

“The priority is the community center, not a school, not housing,” said Cafferky. Gaps between the first and second survey priorities did show support for housing and a new school. BPS data, however, indicates a decline in student population.

“So, what we have seen is we are trending down, and this is like a nationwide happening, but we are trending down on the population of school-aged kids in Boston … we have seen that there is a higher demand for early childhood and pre-K seats than there is for K through 12.”

Del Stanislaus, BPS chief of capital planning, said that enrollment would continue to decline.

“BPS enrollment for Allston-Brighton residents has decreased about 5.5% at the elementary level and 4.7% at the secondary (past 10 years.) This is on par with other neighborhoods across the city. In 2025-26 in Allston-Brighton elementary schools … about 18% capacity was unused, or about one in five seats was unused in the Allston-Brighton area.”

To address vacant seats, the Boston Green Academy will move from Brighton’s Taft Building to South Boston. “That then gives Brighton High School the ability to grow, and as a district, for us to continue investing in Brighton High School.” Stanislaus added that an elementary school could also be considered for the Taft Building. Cafferky said that further review and setting timelines are intertwined. The Taft building could also be a temporary relocation for BCYF. The current Jackson Mann site could be held for childcare or a future school.

There is across-the-board support to build a new community center as soon as possible. One strategy is for a new BCYF community center with design beginning in 2027-28. To get a draft plan started, Cafferky asked for a show of hands to support a new community center that would be at 500 Cambridge St., not on the rear parcel; that the site not include a school or vacant land for a future school; that BPS would transfer the current land to BCYF immediately; that the site include affordable or mixed-income housing with community input on the design, the developer, and the housing type; and have opportunities for childcare onsite or within a retail space. Mayor Wu will announce the decision on the future of the site by the end of 2026. The process / work could start at the beginning of 2027. The proposal was supported by a show of hands.

Audience questions and comments ran close to an hour; many involved the need for more schools. “If you're not building schools, you're creating a death spiral where no students, no schools. No schools, no students,” said Scott Matalon, president of Allston Village Main Streets, said. “We have tons of development, we want people moving in this neighborhood, but with declining students, I think we should be looking at building more smaller schools that are higher quality.”

Advertisement

“Is there going to be a specific plan from BPS or from the city?” asked another attendee. “As far as, you know, dollars and time, timeline for major renovations or a new school building if there isn't one on the site …I think maybe one of the reasons that we're seeing these declining enrollments might be people seeing nicer schools in the suburbs rather than the old and deteriorating schools that they’re reading about in the local economy.”

“I am a BPS grad,” said Tony D’Isadoro. “And when you continue to use this basis of, well, the numbers are going down, so you need to stay put or actually regress. There is tons and tons of evidence that building new schools attracts students and families in time.”

Housing also attracted support.

“I think there's a tendency in Boston where we're like, ‘oh, let's combine everything, like housing and libraries, housing and whatever,’” said another attendee. “I would just say if we're doing housing … I think just separating the parcels into one, one is community center, one is housing.”

Someone else asked if the housing built onsite would be run by the city or sold to a for-profit corporation or something else. Cafferky said the housing would be developed with a nonprofit and it would be decided if it would be 100% affordable or mixed-income.

Public comments close Nov.17. To send a comment, contact Frank Mendoza-McCarthy at francis.mendozamccarthy@boston.gov or go to https://gvimes.link/jackmannproj