PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia School District said most respondents to its recent facilities survey want schools in their neighborhoods renovated rather than closed.
The district said it received more than 8,000 responses to its facilities survey, as it develops recommendations on whether to modernize, merge, or close school buildings.
Many of the parents, students, and community members who answered the open-ended survey strongly supported their local schools and asked that those near them not be closed.
Superintendent Tony Watlington told KYW Newsradio that more than 70% of the respondents said the themes that emerged during the process were "very important," including reducing the number of times students have to change schools.
"We learned that we have parents who have children in K-8 schools, and when they have an opportunity to have multiple children in the same school, it's really helpful,” said Watlington. “And so we thought that this reducing transitions would be important. This survey validated that."
However, there was still significant anxiety from respondents about what comes next, as the district has yet to release its recommendations on which of its 300 school buildings should be fixed, consolidated, or closed. There was also concern in the survey that some schools were being classified as "under capacity," and that not enough attention was being paid to the benefits of small schools and small class sizes.
Watlington said a draft of a facilities plan will be presented to the school board this winter.