PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — At a public hearing on its budget Thursday night, parents urged the Philadelphia School Board to find money to restore school libraries and improve poorly maintained buildings.
The Philadelphia School District has only five certified librarians, and the federal government just canceled a grant that would have helped to reopen many Philly school libraries. At the budget hearing, parents urged the district to find money for libraries.
Jennifer Morgan told the school board about how her third-grader at Shawmont Elementary in Roxborough values his school’s library.
“He comes home using words like ‘foreshadowing,’ a concept he told me he learned from Ms. White, the librarian,” she said.
“If you want to see literacy rates increase, if you want to see kids fall in love with books, school libraries need to be restored and books need to be accessible,” added parent Lauren Popp.
The board also heard from Academy at Palumbo students, who voiced the need to fix some school restrooms. They described bathrooms without soap or toilet paper and inoperable sinks.
“Sinks covered in plastic bags and labeled ‘out of order,’” said senior Gretta Rogan, “and most notably, a consistent mysterious liquid covering the floor of my third-floor girls’ bathroom that I’ve had to step in all four years in my time at Palumbo.”
Senior My Le said that after her spinal surgery, she was half an hour late for her class on the fifth floor because the building’s elevators were out of order. She said she dreaded going to school and even attempted suicide. She urged the board to do more.
“Fight for more funding. Not just for the egregious state of our bathrooms and buildings, but for our mental health too,” she said. “Help us fight for schools that motivate us to wake up in the morning.”
Board President Reginald Streater thanked the students and told them, “We understand that we have some challenges ahead.”