Officials with the School District of Philadelphia are seeking input on a plan that could close, renovate or merge schools citywide.
The School District of Philadelphia is about to begin a series of public input sessions to create a facilities plan that could see schools closed, renovated or repurposed in an effort to improve academic achievementWith more than 300 buildings under its purview, the School District of Philadelphia is beginning the final phase -- phase eight -- of itsAnd, 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...
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.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.
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.
"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.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.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., from 6 to 7 p.m. there will be an virtual meeting focused on access to the arts, music and physical education.
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