PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia’s superintendent has revised his facilities closure plan, sparing two schools from probable shutdowns.
Last month, Superintendent Tony Watlington announced 20 schools would close under the district’s proposed master plan. On Thursday, Watlington removed two schools from the list: Conwell Middle and Motivation High.
Instead, Elkin Elementary would become a Conwell feeder to boost enrollment. Motivation would merge with Robeson High, operating at the Motivation site.
“We think we can put both of those school campuses at the Motivation campus because the building is good enough, pretty decent building ratings,” he explained.
Lankenau Environmental High would still close, but it would merge with Saul Agricultural High instead of joining with Roxborough.
During a month of public feedback, City Council Education Committee chair Isaiah Thomas pushed to keep Conwell open and state House Speaker Joanna McClinton advocated for Motivation, but Watlington said their voices didn’t carry any extra weight.
”We took all of that feedback together, and in tandem we landed on these recommended changes, not reflecting any one voice or sector more than the others,” he said.
Watlington, in a briefing with reporters, said the “Accelerating Opportunity” plan is designed to increase access to high-quality programs, and he didn’t want to make perfect the enemy of the good.
“The fact that we can’t make all the changes that people across this great city recommended should never mean that we don’t make some of the changes,” he said.
The cost of the 10-year, $2.8 billion facilities plan would remain the same under the revisions.
Watlington will present the plan to the school board on Thursday night. Ahead of that meeting, students from Stetson Middle School rallied outside district headquarters.