Philadelphia school officials defend proposed school closures at a crowded City Council meeting

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Almost a hundred Philadelphians are attending a City Council meeting Tuesday, where Philadelphia School District officials are defending their proposal to close 20 schools. Council members are grilling district officials about their plans and the impact it would have on the students.

District officials cite underutilized buildings, lack of resources as reasons for proposed closures

Reginald L. Streater, president of the Board of Education, said that the “chronic underfunding” of Philadelphia schools has led to insufficient resources and delayed student success.

“If the district were fully funded, we could prioritize our investments in improving academic success for our students while simultaneously modernizing facilities, addressing safety concerns and ensuring schools are fully staffed,” Streater said. “Instead, we must make strategic, and often painful, choices because the pie is simply not big enough.”

The average building in the district is 73 years old, Streater said. He said the schools face underenrollment, with more than one-third of families enrolling their children in charter schools, leaving 35% of buildings underutilized.

Streater reaffirmed that community engagement has been a consistent and essential part of the process. He said he attended eight community meetings hosted by the district, listening to concerns of the “village.”

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington said that when it comes to the proposed school closure plan, “we won’t make good be the enemy of perfect.”

“There is no such thing as a perfect Facilities Master Plan,” Watlington said.

No big city school district in the nation has made more progress in academic recovery post-pandemic than Philadelphia, according to Watlington. He said he wants to better allocate resources to sustain this improvement and to accelerate high-quality education.

Like his colleague, Watlington reiterated the significant role of community feedback in the planning process.

He noted that the survey has had one of the most diverse response rates since he came to the district. About a third of the family respondents were from households with English-language learners and represented every city zip code, he said.

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reduce the number of schools in our city that have poor or unsatisfactory ratings from 85 schools to zero,” Watlington said. “Once in a lifetime opportunity, I do not believe we’ll get this opportunity again.”

How did we get here?

Informed by the Facilities Planning Process, the district released its recommendations to close schools on Jan. 22, and has since faced harsh criticism from parents, educators and advocates.

The proposed plan will cost $2.8 billion, with funding from district resources and philanthropy, and closures would take effect in the 2027-28 school year.

In addition to the proposal to shutter 20 schools, there are also plans to modernize 159 schools.

In late November, the district launched a community survey to gather feedback from families and educators about the potential closures. Despite the survey, advocates have criticized the district’s opaque decision-making and the plan’s disparate impact on minority communities.

The final Facilities Plan will be presented at the district’s school board meeting Feb. 26. Until then, the district will hold community conversations.

Debora Carrera, chief education officer for the city of Philadelphia, emphasized that nothing is set in stone.

“The District has presented a draft plan with reasonable goals and a sound methodology and has provided multiple opportunities for engagement, but it is still a draft plan,” Carrera said. “The voices of the school communities deserve to be heard, and their input should be considered.”

Council members have concerns

Council President Kenyatta Johnson led City Council in addressing their concerns about the proposal. He said that the project seems rushed.

Apprehensions include transportation from old to new schools and the impact on schools with majority Black students, citing a recent article from the Inquirer.

Watlington said that because of the district’s population, which comprises nearly 50 percent Black and about a third Latino students, any decision will likely affect minority groups.

“Any changes are going to inherently affect black or brown students, no matter how you slice the pie,” Watlington said.

Johnson said he is also concerned about who will support the district’s plan. He said some legislators in Harrisburg will not approve funding for Philadelphia students.

If that happens and the district does not receive the $1.8 billion from the state, the plan will be scaled back, Watlington said.

Councilmember Cindy Bass said that the proposed closures are “a step along the way to fundamentally breaking down public education for our children in the city.”

She asked why the district is considering school closures rather than addressing and remedying the problems that currently affect students.

While Councilmember Isaiah Thomas said he agrees with some of the recommendations in the Facilities Planning Process, he warned of its lasting impactciting the district’s closure of 30 schools in 2012.

“This is a legacy vote,” Thomas said. “When you think about what happened years ago we are still impacted by those decisions today.”

Thomas also asked the district to consider population shifts in areas such as the city’s seventh district. He said it would “be a shame” to close schools there and then have to reopen them due to population growth in the neighborhoods.

Educators and advocates voice grievances

LeShawna Coleman, chief of staff of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the city’s teachers union, said that while members acknowledge the need for a plan to overhaul facilities, the organization disagrees with the district’s decision to close schools.

“Our position remains: our schools need fixing and funding — not closure,” Coleman said. “Following a thorough review, the PFT has concluded that the district’s 10-year Facilities Master Plan does not provide sufficient detail or data to inform binding decisions about school closures, co-location or repurposing.”

Coleman said the union is concerned that the proposed plan will cause anxiety and distrust among educators, leading to an exodus of teachers.

The organization requested access to the data that the district used in its decision-making. Jerry Roseman, director of Environmental Science for the union, said he doesn’t have access to all the information to understand how the scores were used to justify school closures.

“Where did the unsatisfactory score come from, for instance?” Roseman said.

Erica Green, principal of Conwell Middle Magnet School, spoke in support of her school and its role in supporting the community’s children.

“We owe it to them to improve their neighborhood, not push them out once the neighborhood begins to thrive,” she said.

The school celebrated its 100th anniversary this year.

“Conwell represents an opportunity, history and belief that brilliance lives in every neighborhood,” Green said. “Closing it would erase a legacy that still matters.”

Lisa Haver, representing the alliance of Philly Public Schools, testified that the organization’s members have attended community meetings at schools slated for closure. She said that parents have not received any answers from the district at any of these meetings.

“The most important thing to understand about this plan is that no one has given a reason why,” Haver said.

The future of the planning process

Streater said there is no firm date set for the Board of Education to vote on the final proposed Facilities Plan. He said that officials will continue to gather community feedback and the plan might evolve based on those recommendations.

Even if the plan is adopted and the resolution passes, Streater said this won’t reflect the final product.

“I think this is going to be a resolution based off of what we know now, a plan that is dynamic, that can evolve over time,” Streater said. “I don’t think you’re going to get what the board votes.”

Councilmember Jimmy Harrity, who lives in Kensington, said the kids in his neighborhood deserve the same treatment as children elsewhere. He warned that while the City Council will not have a direct vote on the proposal, they can affect the decision in other ways.

“I’m infuriated that we don’t get a say,” Harrity said. “But council president, you and I both know we do get a say, because budget’s coming.”