The excitement around kicking off the 30th anniversary of the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center likely won’t ensure better access for Boston Public School (BPS) students – an ongoing point of contention as city students continue to get squeezed by the growing number of suburban schools competing for access to one of the best indoor facilities in the country.

Last month, as officials at the Reggie announced the kick-off for the 30th anniversary of the facility and noted new partnerships to help make improvements, the news regarding BPS access wasn’t an improvement on what has been the case.

“We’re a state-run facility that is supported through state funds,” he said during the anniversary announcement on Oct. 24. “Once track season starts [Dec. 2 this year], our job is to put on track meets for high school. We are trying to accommodate everybody. What our job is is to put on track meets for all high schools…The very first track meet starts Dec. 10 – that squeezes the whole practice time for everybody. So, we have to provide the space and time to get the track meets in and make sure they get home at a proper hour.”

Last fall, The Reporter highlighted that practice times, typically 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and meet times, typically 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., have been squeezed down, with schools like Dorchester’s Tech Boston Academy (TBA) completely blocked out from practices. As more suburban schools seek to use the Reggie due to increased indoor track participation statewide, and with few facilities in the suburbs to lean on, long-time BPS schedules have become compressed, and Reggie Executive Director Michael Turner said it likely won’t.

Turner said the issue lies with BPS’s differing release bell schedules. So, while schools close to the Reggie, like the abutting John D. O’Bryant High School, get out at 1:45 p.m. and can utilize the facility, schools like TBA get out at 2:30 p.m. and they cannot make it there in time for useful practices.

“BPS has four different release times, and because of the change of their release times, that is what affects the practice schedule,” he said. “From the Reggie’s inception, practice has always been from 2-5 p.m. That has never changed. What has changed is the BPS release times. We have to house all state high school track and field, which is more than 100 meets at this point in time, that makes it very, very tight for us to push around the schedule. We’re doing our job by providing the space for all Massachusetts state high school track and field.”

BPS Athletic Director Avery Esdaile said when he took over his position 10 years ago, there were already certain things in place at the Reggie that compressed practice time for BPS. He said Turner and staff have a tough job to make sure everyone statewide can use the Reggie, and maybe expecting practice time from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. every day is too much.

“From our seat, we have to continue to work and make sure when there’s time and space, we can be in there to practice and make sure we take full advantage of that opportunity but knowing that whether [that’s being prevented by] other schools or our dismissal times, you can still have a successful track program and a quality experience without being [at the Reggie] for practice every day,” he said. “We have to continue to work at it from that angle. Obviously, the staff wants to be as accessible as possible, but it’s still got to be used at a high rate.”

Metro West public schools and schools from the Catholic Central League are frequent users, with some meets last season starting at 3 or 3:30 p.m. In April 1993, according to a Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) secured by The Reporter, the city sold the land for the Reggie to the state for $800,000. In the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) memorandum within the LDA, access to city schools is promised, noting, “The Facility will be available for community use as well as available to the students of the adjacent Hubert Humphrey Occupational Resource Center and Madison Park High School.”

TBA conducts its indoor practices in the hallways and stairways of its 100-year-old school. Madison Park no longer has an indoor track team, and the Hubert Humphrey is defunct.

City Councillor at-Large Erin Murphy, who filed a hearing on access to the Reggie last spring, said she remains frustrated with the situation – particularly because BPS hasn’t answered her questions.

“This is disappointing all over again,” she said. “In fairness to the Reggie and anyone who has to deal with BPS, they’re their own worst enemy and not a good partner. Who loses out on this always? It’s the students and the athletics.”

State Rep. Russell Holmes, a recognized advocate for the Reggie, added that the suburban coaches and parents are a powerful lobby, and the center is a statewide facility.

“That is a concern I have heard from my constituents,” he said. “I do believe the priority should be BPS students…I have heard the complaint that many feel the facility seems to be more heavily used by folks not from Boston and we don’t have enough access for our own kids.”

A solution often discussed as a concept is putting a temporary, three-season “bubble” over the English High School track in Jamaica Plain that could be used by city track programs. The bubble would be removed in warmer months. “That’s certainly an ongoing conversation; that’s the best way to put it,” said Esdaile.