PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The School District of Philadelphia on Monday opened a series of neighborhood meetings to gather community input as it draws up a facilities plan that could see school buildings closed, constructed and consolidated in the coming years. The first of 32 sessions was held in Northeast Philadelphia.
The district is developing the plan because its aging buildings have the capacity for 180,000 students, and there are only 116,000 enrolled. On Monday night, a handful of parents and students gathered at the PATH Center, a behavioral health and intellectual disability nonprofit, on Cottman Avenue, to hear the priorities that residents say should be considered.
"Buildings that have asbestos and lead — that has to be dealt with immediately," said Melanie Silva, whose daughter attends Rhawnhurst Elementary.
Deputy Superintendent for Operations Oz Hill said they have identified potential swing spaces where students can continue uninterrupted in-person instruction when environmental hazards, capital projects and unforeseen situations require the district to relocate them.
Hill said that when the school district closed 30 schools during a budget crisis in 2012 and 2013, it saved $24 million a year — but the academic performance of the displaced students suffered, and attendance dropped.
"We didn't do that well the last time, and we're not going to make that same mistake going forward," Hill said.
This time around, he said, student learning would be a priority.
Silva said she hadn't considered the possible disruption.
"When I think about, okay, if they were to plan to start doing construction or tearing down the building, I hadn't thought about, well, where does my child go?" she said.
Hill said it's way too early to identify any schools slated for possible closure.
"I'm not coming to you saying that we are predisposed to any decisions about any one school at this point in time. We're not that far along in the process."
He said the district would use data and public input to develop a draft plan to submit to the Philadelphia Board of Education in October 2025.
