Philly school district seeks input on plan that may close aging schools

With more than 300 buildings under its purview, the School District of Philadelphia is beginning the final phase -- phase eight -- of its facilities planning process that could see schools throughout the city shuttered, renovated, repurposed or co-mingled.

And, officials said, they now need the voices of students, families, teachers and others to make sure officials will come up with a plan that both supports communities and improves academic achievement for students throughout the district.

"We want to make sure that the plan that we bring to the Board of Education is one that they can take action on, that represents the voices of our public across the City of Philadelphia," School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington told NBC10's Neil Fischer.

Oz Hill, the district's deputy superintendent of operations, said that the upcoming meetings are intended to allow everyone across the city to have a chance to be involved in the creation of a plan that would have the students' best interests in mind.

"We are looking to engage with every stakeholder in the community in every corner of Philadelphia," Hill said.

Watlington said that the district has grown -- the district has nearly 1,900 newly enrolled students this year, he said -- and it operates facilities that could house about 180,000 students. But, the district currently has about 117,000 students at district-operated schools, he said.

Now, Watlington said, as the district works on a plan to refurbish decaying facilities, he said he wants the public to understand what could happen after the plan is delivered to the Board of Education at the end of 2025.

Overall, he said, some schools could be closed, some could be merged into, what he called, co-located facilities, some could be repurposed into other uses and some could be renovated or rebuilt.

"It's too early to say what will happen in any of these schools," Watlington said.

Watlington has said that the average age of buildings in the district is about 73-years-old and the district has some structures that are as much as 120-years-old and it's time to evaluate how the district can update buildings throughout the district to best serve students.

"By better rostering our children in their classes across the district, by better optimizing the facilities that we have and maximizing our utilization, we absolutely will be able to deliver more," said Watlington.

Upcoming Community Conversations

This month, there will be two upcoming community conversations focused on the eighth phase of the district's facilities planning process.

The first conversation will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Congresso's Education and Training Center, located at 2800 N. American Street in North Philadelphia.

This meeting is open to the public and will be held in both English and Spanish language.

There will be student-only sessions held at a the district's headquarters, at 440 N. Broad Street in the city's Spring Garden neighborhood on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Also, the district will offer a number of virtual sessions as well.

• Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, from 6 to 7 p.m. there will be an virtual meeting focused on access to the arts, music and physical education. Anyone interested in attending can register here.
• Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 and Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, there will be two meetings for staff and faculty members.
• Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, from 6 to 7 p.m., there will be a virtual meeting focused on Career & Technical Education and Career Connected Learning programs. Anyone interested in attending can register here.
• Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, from 4 to 7 p.m. there will be a virtual meeting that will only be open to students.
• Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, from 8:30 to 10 a.m., the district will host a virtual public hearing on the facilities plan. Anyone interested in attending can register here.