By John Ruch and Peter Shanley/Gazette Staff
Local students will always have access to the Mission Hill K-8 School in Jamaica Plain, no matter which school assignment plan the Boston Public Schools adopts, thanks to the advocacy of local City Councilor Mike Ross.
The internationally known pilot school was founded on Alleghany Street in 1997, but BPS controversially moved it to JP last year amid opposition from Ross and many parents.
“You know my efforts related to the preservation of that school, which were unsuccessful but heartfelt and hard-fought,” Ross told the Gazette. The least he could do now, he said, was ensure continued local access to the school.
He said BPS has told him that “Mission Hill neighborhood accommodation has been made for the Mission Hill School.” That means that Mission Hill students will be treated as “local” to the school in any assignment scheme.