Sebelius calls for a wider role for city schools

More than 1,100 school administrators, health-care personnel, parents and community members gathered in Center City Wednesday to rally around Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius' call to utilize city school buildings as safe havens for families, even after the school bell rings.

Sebelius, the keynote speaker at the two-day Coalition of Community Schools' National Forum said school buildings should be a cornerstone of the community, housing health clinics, after-school programs, and family activities.

"These are tax-paid institutions, we need to open them up," Sebelius said. "Community schools will make it easier for families to access the service they need to succeed."

Mayor Nutter agreed, saying, "Schools need to be the anchor of this community's health."

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, will discuss the benefits of community schools today as the forum continues in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.

Weingarten will also be visiting West Philadelphia High School to talk with teachers and students about getting the community involved in the school.

West Philadelphia joins with the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships, a program developed by the University of Pennsylvania.

Martin Blank, staff director of the Coalition for Community Schools, said in order to mold schools into community dwellings people from different arenas such as health-care providers and principals have to come together.

"Unless we work together we won't get this done," Blank told the crowd. "Partnership gets results."

Sebelius said her inspiration for community schools came from her father, John Gilligan, former Ohio governor and Cincinnati school board member, who helped turn Cincinnati schools into community learning centers.

She noted one particular Cincinnati elementary school that went from having less than 35 percent of its students attend high school to having half the students go to college in six years' time.

The school was extended to 12th grade and transformed into a community center that provided health care and other services needed for learning, she said.