Phila. SD wants to close 9 schools
UPDATE, 5 p.m.
Phila. SD wants to close 9 schools
Kristen Graham
UPDATE, 5 p.m.
Nine city public schools would close and dozens more would have grade and program changes if recommendations proposed by Philadelphia School District officials Wednesday are adopted.
With its population now under 150,000, the district has lost more than 50,000 students in the past decade, many to a growing charter school movement. Officials have estimated there are 70,000 empty seats citywide.
“We need to aim for a more efficient footprint reflecting the times and the demographics of the city,” Acting Superintendent Leroy Nunery said Wednesday. “We need to align our resources in a way that benefits the education of our students.”
The schools proposed for closure are: Levering, Harrison, Sheppard, Drew and E.M. Stanton elementaries; FitzSimons High, Sheridan West Academy and Philadelphia High School for Business; and Pepper Middle School. Most would close at the end of this school year.
If the recommendations are adopted by the School Reform Commission next year, these would be the first large-scale school closings in the district since 1981.
Also on the table are more than a dozen grade configuration changes that would take place over the next few years. There are currently 25 different grade configurations, and officials want to move to standardize them.
Grades would change at Clemente, Cassidy, Comegys, Cramp, Gompers, Harrington, Lawton, McClure, T.M. Peirce, Pratt, Stearne, Whittier, Alexander Wilson, and Wright elementaries and Shaw and Tilden middle schools.
Rhodes, now a 7-12 high school, would revert back to a middle school.
After a series of public meetings, the School Reform Commission will vote on the recommendations in early 2012.
Monday’s proposed changes are not the end of the district’s “rightsizing”. Officials had said that their goal was to shed 35,000 seats by 2014; the moves announced Monday would cut 14,000 seats.
“There are multiple stages to this,” Nunery said. “This is not one and done.”
Officials have not yet finished a plan for high schools and career and technical education schools – formerly called vocational schools – that will spur further changes, said Nunery. That plan will come in the “next several months.”
Though many schools are up for closures and changes, the district still faces considerable facilities challenges.
The average public school is 63 years old - one school, Francis Scott Key, was built in 1889 – and for years, the district underspent on maintenance, and many buildings are in poor shape.
There is currently $160 million allocated for capital improvements over the next five years, said Danielle Floyd, the district official managing the closing and consolidation plan.
“Is that enough to address all the needs in the school district? No,” said Floyd.
Going forward, officials will need to decide how much additional borrowing the cash-strapped school district can afford.
If adopted, closings would hit the city unevenly. Though some neighborhoods have thousands of excess seats, others are fuller, especially the Northeast.
Of the proposed closures, four schools are in North Philadelphia, two schools are in Southwest Philadelphia, one is in the Northwest section of the city, and two are in South Philadelphia.
Beginning later this month, the district will hold 17 meetings around the city to gather feedback on the planned changes.
For more information, including specific meeting dates and times, go to www.philasd.org/fmp.
EARLIER:
The Philadelphia School District has lost over 50,000 students in the last decade, and it has 70,000 empty seats. Later today, officials will announce the names on a tentative list of school closings, consolidations, grade changes and other possible moves.
The announcement is set for 5 p.m. Today's School Reform Commission begins at 3, but the school closing presentation will happen while the meeting is in progress. For the first time, the meeting will be livestreamed on the district's website. You can also watch the SRC meeting on the district's cable channel if you live in Philadelphia and subscribe to Comcast or FIOS.
Of course, I'll also be live Tweeting, so you can follow along here, too. Follow me on Twitter @newskag.
Officials stress that this is not a final list, and that the community's voice will be heard at meetings to be held through the fall and winter. The SRC will vote on the final closing list in 2012.
Read about a recent study on school closings nationally and what they mean for Philadelphia here.
More to come.
great idea we need to save money less students means less buildings the same rule should apply to libraries in this computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet age— nelson van alden
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- any chance we can shut down the whole district, besides masterman and central? the kids don't learn and the parents aren't involved
— oliver north - Comment removed.
- State control and closing of buildings while giving contracts to private providers is highly troubling in light of what has been found to be possible when public schools are given the resources and staffing they need to operate at equitable levels of performance and programming as schools in surrounding areas.
— Pluski - yea skrew edukayshun, hoo needz it?— reebzor
- Tsk, Kristen. I know you know that the 70,000 empty seats is misleading because it includes schools that are long closed. I know you know that the draft report counted schools as "underutilized" because the consultants counted SpEd, reading specialist, music/art and media lab rooms as "unused classrooms." I realize this is just the starting blurb to your coverage but perpetuating the district's spin is not the right way to begin.— annie19143
- Comment removed.
- No CleanupPhilly you are WRONG. The draft facilities report leaked to The Notebook VERY CLEARLY shows that the consultants were counting schools on both ends of the consolidation as being underutilized based on what I described above. Do more reading and less commenting. — annie19143
- Comment removed.
- Since they will be saving all of this money, I would like my 9.9%- property-tax-increase money back.— dee99999
- Well that aint happening. You'll sooner see another 9.9% increase. PSD is BROKE thanks to their own failings & the tax payers will be on the hook for it. & With charter schools & a proposed voucher plan hurting their enrollment/funding further the PSD & the Philly tax payer has more bad news coming. — Kennedy
- Comment removed.
- This just means more lay-offs and an increase in unemployment :(— teach02
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
