The Boston Public Schools blew off an important City Council hearing that was intended to weigh the potential for district athletes “reclaiming” priority use of Roxbury’s Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center from suburban students.

The hearing was set to consider a resolution filed by Councilor Erin Murphy that outlined instances of multiple BPS indoor track teams compensating for their lack of available practice time at the Reggie center by “running through hallways, up and down the stairwells and through doorways” at their respective schools.

Murphy said, however, that the lack of BPS staff representation at the Monday hearing defeated the purpose of the resolution, co-sponsored by Councilors Benjamin Weber and Tania Fernandes Anderson, who represents Roxbury where the Reggie is owned and operated by Roxbury Community College.

She and the other sponsors had invited BPS Director of Athletics Avery Esdaile and TechBoston Academy Athletic Director Courtney Leonard, but Murphy learned at the outset of the hearing from Councilor Henry Santana, who chaired the day’s committee hearing, that neither had been able to attend. No explanation was given.

“You may sense that I’m frustrated,” Murphy said. “I’m upset that BPS did not notify me as the lead sponsor.”

Addressing the invited panelists who did show from the RCC, Murphy said the hearing was “in no way supposed to be adversarial to Roxbury Community College or the great work you do at the Reggie Lewis Center,” but noted that the presence of BPS staff was crucial to the intended conversation.

She criticized the district for its comparable lack of investment in student athletics, where $35,000 is spent per pupil but only $76 per student is spent on athletics, pointing to that as a major reason for her voting down the BPS budget for the past two years when it came before the City Council.

“I know how important it is that our children in the city have access to these opportunities,” Murphy said. “I was hoping that the conversation would be with BPS athletics to talk about how we’re going to move forward and be more committed to our students.”

She declined to ask questions of the panelists who were present and said she would be filing a new hearing order for a discussion limited to BPS representatives. A district spokesperson declined to comment, when asked why BPS chose not to send representation to the hearing or if it had a position on the resolution.

Murphy made a pitch for rescheduling the hearing, but Santana opted to move forward with the day’s discussion — which turned into a Council briefing on the dilapidated state of a Reggie Lewis Center that needs $20 million in repairs and had its state funding request denied last year, and how indoor track is run there.

Related Articles

MassGOP chair slams Boston City Council for canceling hearing on free museum push for all children

Wu: City ‘will not reopen negotiations’ on BPS free museum initiative for other students

Wu-backed city councilor cancels hearing on free museum push for all Boston kids

North End restaurant worker reflects on loss of outdoor dining

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu accused of using North End outdoor dining fee funds on electric street sweeper

The crux of the issue, in terms of BPS students missing out on practice time according to Roxbury Community College representatives, is that many of the city’s public schools dismiss at a time too late to fit into the allocated practice time there, from 2-4 p.m.

“There must be a way we can accommodate those high school kids,” Ted Loska, a track and field coach with Boston United Track and Cross-Country Club, said, adding that they “have the right to access a track like everyone else.”

For those city athletes who are able to access the track, he noted that the 4 p.m. cutoff time is a bit disingenuous, since they are being kicked off 15 to 30 minutes early to accommodate track meets.

Two back-to-back indoor track meets are held each day, aside from Thursday when one is held, from 4 to 10 p.m., the center’s executive director, Michael Turner, said.

Turner said there have been discussions with BPS coaches and administrators around potentially moving the Thursday meet to the later time slot to provide additional practice time for city athletes.

He also pointed to availability of the center outside of the indoor track season, which stretches from November to March, and the practice opportunity that exists prior to the start of track meets, which was Dec. 6 this season.

The Reggie Lewis Center, while located at the Roxbury Community College, is a state facility that is required to host track and field for free for Massachusetts high schools, whereas other facilities may charge roughly $300 per hour, Turner said.

The Council, contends by way of the resolution, that when the center opened in 1995, “there was an understanding with the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the state that the Boston community would benefit first, before surrounding suburbs did.”

It further states that as the years have passed, BPS student-athlete access to optimal practice times has eroded, given that wealthy “suburban school districts have complained that their students are getting home late from practices and meets so they have been able to claim all times from 3:30 p.m. on.”

Given the restrictions, Weber asked if there had been any attempt to coordinate with other tracks to find spots for BPS athletes to practice — Harvard, Boston University and New Balance were floated as possibilities.

Roxbury Community College Interim President Jackie Jenkins-Scott said, however, that while the RCC is willing to assist, it doesn’t think it’s “our responsibility to negotiate that on behalf of Boston Public students.”

“I totally agree with you,” Weber said while referencing the absence of BPS staff. “It’d be nice to have the athletic director here.”