City Councilor Josh Zakim hopes to facilitate opening a new public elementary school to serve the city’s downtown neighborhoods during the new legislative season.
The District 8 representative said he intends to work with Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s administration to locate a space for a K-8 school for Back Bay, Beacon Hill, West End and Fenway children during the 2016-2017 term.
Zakim anticipates findings from the Boston Public School’s Capital Needs Report, commissioned in 2014 and scheduled for release later this year, will point to the need for a downtown elementary school.
“We have lot families living downtown who are forced to make a choice to move to the suburbs, and that’s something we don’t want to see happen,” Zakim said. “It’s a matter of equity for the downtown neighbors for them to have the option of [enrolling their children in a public k-8 school], and it’s also important for the city to maintain its residents.”