Kensington Urban HS closure postponed

The planned closure of Kensington Urban Education Academy High School - scheduled for this week - has been pushed back a year, the Philadelphia School District told parents and students Tuesday.

Community pressure caused the shift, officials said. The school will still close, merging with Kensington International Business, Finance and Entrepreneurship High School, but the two schools will become one in September 2016.

In a letter to the school community, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said that the planning year "will provide more time to collaborate with students, staff, families and community stakeholders on the design for a new academic program at the merged school."

The School Reform Commission will vote on Thursday to proceed with the closure for the 2016-17 year.

The schools, which already share a building, will share a principal in the fall. Renato Lajara, joined by an assistant principal, will lead the transition.

Students will be able to take courses at both schools.

Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for the district, said there would be little cost impact.

People in the community - particularly students with the organizing group Youth United for Change - had pushed back sharply on the merger. Kensington Urban was opened just five years ago and, activists said, not given proper time or resources to thrive.