‘More than a school to us. It’s our home’: Philadelphia students and advocates speak out against closures at town hall

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Philadelphia students and community members spoke out against proposed building closures in the school district’s Facilities Master Plan at a town hall held by the Board of Education on Thursday.

Reginald L. Streater said that, in an ideal world, the district could prioritize improving academic success while simultaneously modernizing school facilities, but that there is not enough funding to make that a reality.

“Collective action and sacrifice will be required from all of us,” Streater said. “Your voice is helping inform our understanding of how these decisions impact our communities, and they are an important part of shaping the pathway forward.”

Contradictions with community feedback

Juniper Sook Serome, a freshman at Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School in Roxborough, said the board’s decision to continue holding meetings without changing its plan contradicts the feedback it keeps hearing from the public: Don’t close schools.

Serome said no one in the room supports school closures, and she urged the board to not “actively choose ignorance” and make a costly decision that would affect all Philadelphians.

The fact that 10-year-old students are testifying to defend their schools is concerning, she said.

“No child should have to worry about what decisions the adults in their lives are making,” Serome said. “Children should not have to teach adults how to treat them right, and no child should have to feel like good education is not obtainable.”

Anaiyah Williams, a sophomore at Parkway Northwest High School in North Philadelphia, likened the experience of protesting her school’s closure to raising her hand in class and being ignored by a teacher.

She questioned why only Russell Conwell Middle School in Kensington and Motivation High School in Southwest Philadelphia were removed from the list of proposed closures. The Parkway Northwest community protested just as much as those from Conwell and Motivation, Williams said.

Parkway Northwest staged a walkout and had multiple in-person meetings with the district, Williams said, and had an equal level of political support against closure from councilmembers Quetcy Lozada and Cindy Bass.

“I am not trying to compare schools to say we are better,” Williams said. “I’m trying to figure out how they have so much of an impact that you guys actually listen and remove them from the facilities plan, and ignore us when we are protesting with just as much determination.”

More than numbers

Parkway Northwest student David Samuels said that when the district talks about closing schools, it means more than simply moving students to another building.

“It affects our lives, our routines and the community we’ve built,” Samuels said.

Samuels presented a survey of Parkway Northwest students gauging how they feel about the potential closure: 63% believe relationships will be negatively affected, 93% believe academic achievement will be affected and 78% think their mental health will be negatively affected.

“Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice means a lot to the students who go there,” Samuels said, referring to the school’s full name. “It’s more than a school to us. It’s our home.”

Ariana Colato, who joined Frankford’s Warren G. Harding Middle School in October, said that over the past several months, she has made new friends, adjusted to a new environment and worked hard to succeed academically.

She said that the $2.8 billion budget of the Facilities Master Plan should be put toward improving buildings in the district. Instead of this, Colato alleges that the district created a rubric to “shut down certain schools in certain areas.”

“The damage you will do to our neighborhoods will be irreparable,” Colato said.

Elected officials condemn lasting impact

Pennsylvania state Rep. Morgan Cephas, D-West Philadelphia, said that while the Facilities Master Plan took years to develop, the district is giving families and school staff just weeks to understand a decision that will determine their future.

Cephas said the school closures will have an effect not just this year but for generations to come.

“We have been blindsided by this process being rushed in a way that is a shock to our system, a shock to Philadelphia, a shock to our families,” Cephas said.

City Councilmember Nina Ahmad said this school closure process reminds her of what it was like growing up in Bangladesh during a war, when she had no school to attend.

Ahmad said children should not have to worry about the future of their education, and that they should not have to advocate on the front lines to keep their school open.

“These children are facing a war in their lives — we cannot do this to them,” Ahmad said. “There is trauma involved in this.”

Plans continue to evolve

In late February at its monthly action meeting, the district unveiled the decision to keep Russell Conwell Middle School and Motivation High School open.

One of the schools most vocally rallying against closure, Lankenau High School, is still recommended to shut down, but now the plan is to merge it with W. B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences in Roxborough.

These changes represent the possibility that the district’s plan could continue to evolve. Wanda Navales, vice president of the Board of Education, reiterated that nothing is final.

“We are listening, we have not made a final vote,” Navales said.

Philadelphia residents can continue to submit their questions and concerns about the facilities planning process through the district’s community comment box.

The board is currently reviewing the submissions and will summarize the recurring themes.