The battle over White Stadium shifted to the Boston School Committee Wednesday, with opponents and proponents making their cases as the board considered authorizing the superintendent to enter lease negotiations with the project’s developer.
But the committee is not slated to make a decision until its next meeting on Sept. 11.
The discussion dominated a meeting that also included talk on next week’s return to school, Superintendent Mary Skipper’s annual raise, and multiple policy revisions.
The stadium project requires Skipper to negotiate a lease with Boston Unity Soccer Partners, which is seeking to make the 11,000-seat stadium the home for a women’s professional soccer team.
The facility would also be available to Boston Public School students.
Demolition of the stadium cannot move forward without a lease, according to a presentation from city officials.
White Stadium, which was built in 1945, has been deteriorating for years. Mayor Michelle Wu has argued the public-private partnership is an opportunity to build a modern facility without the city having to foot the entire bill. But opponents have raised environmental, public access, noise, and traffic concerns, and a lawsuit aimed at stopping the project is ongoing.
Boston Unity Soccer Partners has committed more than $50 million to redevelop an area that includes the west grandstand, which the proposed lease would cover. Boston Globe chief executive Linda Henry is an investor in Boston Unity Soccer Partners.
The renovation of the rest of the site, which includes the east grandstand and the track, would be funded by the city, which has budgeted $50 million. The city would not begin its renovation work until a lease is signed, according to the presentation.
Opponents to the project, including the Franklin Park Defenders, urged the committee to reject the request. Former School Committee member and civil rights activist Jean Mcguire argued that the city could afford a fully public renovation.
“It’s clear that the City of Boston is planning to use the 50 million dollars in taxpayers money it’s identified for the White Stadium to develop an overbuilt gold-plated professional soccer stadium rather than the quality high school team stadium the Boston Public Schools deserves,” McGuire said.
Proponents, including Robert Jenkins, president of the Madison Park Vocational Technical School alumni association and a local sports official, also spoke.
“The matter that is most important is that White Stadium gets renovated,” Jenkins said.
The board peppered city officials with questions about the project and public concerns, but appeared to view the project favorably.
Committee member Chantal Lima Barbosa said that as a former district athlete, she’s “super excited” about the potential of a renovated stadium, but she understands concerns about the project.
The committee also voted to confirm their “effective” rating of Skipper’s second year at the helm of the district, earning her a 2.5 percent raise, about $7,500, on her more-than-$300,000 salary.
At their Aug. 19 meeting, committee members had some criticisms for the superintendent, in particular giving her a “developing” rating in community engagement but said they trusted her efforts to change the trajectory of the state’s largest district were beginning to bear fruit.
Member Quoc Tran acknowledged public criticism of the favorable evaluation but said it was based on what he’s seen from the superintendent.
“The support is there, and the support will stay until I see otherwise,” Tran said.
Skipper opened the meeting with updates ahead of Boston’s first day of school, Sept. 5. The district has more than 50,000 students enrolled for the coming year, Skipper said, though the official Oct. 1 count is often lower than the August number.
This will be the final year of the district’s state-mandated improvement plan, featuring major milestones including the rollout in some grades of the district’s inclusion plan. Skipper also touted efforts to get the district closer to meeting a state edict on bus on-time performance.
The committee also discussed proposed policy revisals to align the district with the state and city on student information sharing and renaming facilities. The student information update would bring the written policy in line the district’s 2021 removal of school police. The revised school naming policy would let the superintendent rename rooms, but the board would need to approve a school renaming.
Editor’s note: This story and its headline have been corrected to update the School Committee’s timing to vote on proposed White Stadium lease negotiations. The Globe regrets the error.
Christopher Huffaker can be reached at christopher.huffaker@globe.com. Follow him @huffakingit.