PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Before issuing recommendations on which schools should be closed or merged, the School District of Philadelphia is gathering more feedback through an online survey.
Administrators said the district is seeking public input on four themes that emerged during the three-year facilities process: accessing high-quality academics at K-8 schools, improving offerings at neighborhood high schools, adjusting grade configurations, and expanding access to criteria-based fifth- through 12th-grade schools, such as Masterman or GAMP.
“We are prioritizing additional time to engage with stakeholders through the release of an emerging priorities survey,” said Oz Hill, deputy superintendent for operations. “We know that many of the district’s aging and unequal facilities are under-enrolled or over-enrolled, and this process seeks to more efficiently use our limited staff and facility resources to improve and enhance the quality of education for our students.”
The survey responses will help shape the district’s long-awaited proposal on whether to modernize, merge or close its aging school buildings.
“It’s really about previewing and being clear about where we’re going and getting input at this moment before we share our school-level recommendations,” said Claire Landau, district senior adviser for strategic planning.
Communications Chief Alex Coppadge Wright said the district plans to promote the survey through paid advertising as well as traditional methods.
“Email, text, robocalls,” she said. “We’re also planning to ship out flyers to every single school.”
After collecting feedback over the next 30 days, the district will issue the results of the survey in December. As for when communities will learn the plans for their individual schools, Wright said recommendations will be presented to the Philadelphia Board of Education this winter.
“We will not move forward without hearing from school communities first in terms of the updated draft that does ultimately go to the board,” she said.
“We plan to have an extensive engagement period,” she added. “We haven’t put a timetable on that.”