Thank you, Councilmember. The investments will be prioritized to ensure that schools where there is a recommendation and an impact through a closure or through a co-location, that investments get made in those schools that would be receiving schools to make sure that all of -- all of what we are saying is true about making sure that students are going to schools with better facilities. Those will be where you see investments made first, prioritizing any school that's impacted by the plan. And then -- I think that's -- I think that's the most important first.
And to -- and to add to that Councilmember Squilla, the reason why we didn't just pull up and say, Okay, with 2.8 billion we'll do all these projects, with only 1 billion we'll do these projects, is because we believe that $2.8 billion is a responsible number in the -- in a city that's the sixth largest city, and in a state that is the fifth largest state in the nation based on population. Surely, we can find $2.8 billion to invest in public education in the nation's sixth largest city. Fantastic birthplace of democracy.
Nobody's arguing that we need $2.8 billion as part of the plan. But when you put a whole plan process out there together and then people are reaching out, we see that certain schools are going to get maybe added facilities, expanded school rooms, a new gym, a new lunchroom. And then we have some schools that are falling apart now that need immediate care. How do we know that the schools that aren't being touched, the ones who aren't being either changed from middle school to a grade school. How do we know that they're going to be addressed, too? Because we're going to end up in the same position that we're in now, trying to fix all the schools that aren't getting any attention. You're addressing the schools that I think are changing, which may make some of those changes easier, even though it isn't from what we hear. But we also need these schools to be addressed now that have big needs. So I don't see where that is in the plan where those schools, you have a capital improvement done now and then you have -- all right, say you don't get 2.8 billion, you get 2 billion. So we -- are you doing half of everything in every school. I mean, I don't know what that plan is. It's just a -- it makes it difficult for us to tell. Our constituents are saying, we don't see anything getting done to our school. And I say, well, it says if we get more money, you're getting this.
Thank you. What you're asking is very clear. I'd like to ask Colonel -- Deputy Superintendent Hill to speak to both of those questions. COLONEL HILL: Thank you very much for the question, sir. Since 2017, since that's kind of a benchmark in terms of what the needs of our facilities were at that time, we have continued to make investments in our schools with our scheduled maintenance, preventive maintenance. And as part of this facility's planning process, going back to 2024, we have dispatch or deployed a team that has been to each and every one of our schools to inform the current facility condition status of the schools. And based on that, along with the schools that are most impacted, that senior advisor Landau mentioned, we are able to prioritize where we make those investments first based on the current information that we have. Additionally, as we go through this process, we have aligned our CIP, our Capital Improvement Program investments with the proposals, and we will continue our ongoing maintenance investments as required to keep these facilities warm and welcoming.
Could -- is it possible for us to get a list of what's going to be done now in the immediate schools, and then how you're prioritizing the schools? You're saying we all want $2.8 billion, I get it, but how are you prioritizing the schools if $2.8 million don't come for some reason? And we need to know that in the sense that everybody's looking at a plan and they're saying, all right, you're going to do all these things in these schools, but then you don't get the resources, and we push them back and then we also push back deferred maintenance on other things. To me that's the biggest challenge beside the changes that we all spoke about and we heard the concerns for and that we spoke about privately. But we need to know how that money is going to be disseminated. If you get the 2.8, everything's getting done, right? From far as you say. But if you don't get the 2.8, we need to know what's -- what -- how you're prioritizing those schools that get done. And then we need to know -- make sure that the capital improvements that are every day work, that some schools don't have heat, right? We have a furnace that's just had a major issue. We have Southwark that has major issues. We need to know that that work's still getting done now with the resources that you currently have, no matter how much additional dollars you get. COLONEL HILL: Yes, sir. We will be able to provide that information.
Can you provide that to the Chair -- to Council President. It would be appreciated. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilmember Squilla. We will now take a break. We will now take a break from questions, and we'll return with questions from Councilmember Ahmad. We'll take a 10-minute recess. Thank you.
I am going to start off with Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore- Richardson. Because you haven't been in any rounds. And so -- and then I'll go to Member Lozada, and then we'll wrap up with Dr. Nina Ahmad. If -- I know I changed things around. It's okay. If -- we don't see Councilmember Squilla. If you could hear me, Councilmember Squilla, come on. Because you're queued up. And so Majority Leader Gilmore-Richardson, the floor is yours. The Chair recognizes Majority Leader, Gilmore-Richardson. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Okay. Thank you, Council President. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'll quickly begin first in thanking my colleagues for all of your work this morning and today, and appreciate all of the comments that have been made, but really want to uplift the young people who are here. I just had the opportunity to meet some dynamic freshmen and sophomore students from Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School. And they were excellent. And I know that -- I heard Councilmember Young talk about the catchment areas, and I know that we had a conversation about this. And I just want to thank the district for your more thoughtful approach to this process this time versus years ago relative to community engagement. But I think we have to make sure that in all that we do we get it right this time around. And the big part of that is listening to and taking the feedback of not only our young people but of the students and the administrators and everyone impacted by this plan. You all know, and I don't have to repeat this, that all of my children are in public school across the city now. We're not in campus anymore. I'm not going to mention the new schools, but I have children at two different schools in the School District of Philadelphia currently. So even back to when Dr. Heit was here, I was talking to the district about the catchment areas and the boundaries that currently route families to School District of Philadelphia schools. And as a part of this conversation, I know you all have talked about this, you said that you are committed to researching best practices nationwide and sharing findings around research for your analysis of the new catchment areas. My concern with the catchment piece is, how do we effectively know that we are enrolling the proper young people in our schools currently if we know the catchment zones are wrong? And knowing that information has informed this process, like how are we making up for that as a part of this new catchment boundary zone that will be released? And when will the new catchment zones be released? Will that be a part of this process? Will it be afterward? If you could just address that quickly. And then I also wanted to mention the 2026-2027 school year. You talked about schools that will close or co-locate, and they will enroll students -- new students starting next year. Can you talk about exactly which schools will be impacted next year based on the plan that you all have presented? And then based on all the town halls that you all are having, how are you incorporating the feedback to make strategic changes to the plan?
Thank you, Majority leader -- Madam Majority Leader. In terms of impacted schools for the 2026/27 school year, that's pretty much a planning year. So it'd be a planning year, although we are looking at how to staff up a true year round school experience at the K-8 level in 26/27. But that's a pure option for parents to consider. But as far as these changes we're talking about today, none of those in the -- over the next school year. It would be not until school year 27/28 that you'll begin seeing some of those changes. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: So what's the one school that will be impacted next year? Because the plan states that there's only one school that will be impacted next school year.
It's a to be determined year-round K-8 school. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Okay.
That has not been formally presented or created just yet. More information to come. It's still in some planning and partnership with a number of partners, kind of pattern after the Harlem Children's Zone. More to come on that in North Philadelphia. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Okay.
More to come on that. Number two, relative to the catchment areas, as we shared with Councilmember Young, we absolutely welcome parent feedback around catchment areas. Unlike the U.S. Census that's done every 8 years to -- because the population 9 shifts, to figure out how to draw 10 the lines, we are not trying to draw the -- trying to draw the lines just based on population. We are thinking about how do we best push in the most-high quality academic and extracurricular resources across all areas of the city, every zip code in every neighborhood, and how might catchment areas best match up with that considering all the feedback we've heard from parents so far? VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Okay. Can you all commit to working with Google Maps this time? Because a part of the challenge you all stated previously, even when I worked on this issue back to Dr. Heit, was that there was an issue with Google Maps. So as an example, when you go to Philasd.org website and you type in your address to find your local schools, it's powered by the Google mapping service. So as a part of the redrawing of the catchment zones, can you work with Google Maps to ensure that it lines up correctly? As an example, if I type in my address today, we're routed to Gompers, which is a K through 8 school, but also routed to Blankenburg for middle school.
Sure. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: -- as an example, now under this plan, I think Blankenburg would be slated too close. And so if you could work with Google mapping services as you redraw the attachment zones, I think that would be helpful. And I wanted to mention one last thing relative to -- and I heard other colleagues bring this up; cultural differences in student populations. You all know that I had the great fortune of working at a number of schools. I started off as a substitute teacher. But my longest assignment was at Overbrook High School. And I love -- I love Overbrook High School so much, and I think their current principal is doing a fantastic job. But we know that even when I was there, there were cultural differences with, you know, Hilltop, 59th Street, over the bridge. Like how are you all taking into consideration those cultural factors, those neighborhood factors, as you make these decisions? And I know we did talk about this on the meeting, and folks know I do this, I did ask was everybody from Philadelphia? So for the understanding of the cultural and the neighborhood challenges that we face within the academic environment, which most often plays out in the behavioral challenges that we see.
Sure. There's been a number of feedback opportunities, not limited to just the virtual and in-person meetings with the 20 impacted schools. We've heard very clearly that feedback about the reluctance to move across neighborhoods. We've been doing that listening even before we got to this phase of the facilities plan. So we're paying very close attention to it. We've got a lot of survey data related to that as well, which we can make public. Madam Majority Leader, may I also say that as we look at the catchment areas and this whole plan, also, I do want to note for the record, Mr. President, also that this plan aspires when there has to be a school closure or relocation to put students in what is currently a better school facility or will be a school budget -- be a better school facility based on the investments that we've embedded in the plan. And I also want to have on the record, 90 percent of the children in the current proposed 20 school closure recommendations would be assigned to schools that have better reading and/or math performance, not worse. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Okay. I'll submit the additional questions that I have. I have about 36 other questions that I'll submit for the record, but I just wanted to -- and I apologize, but I'll submit them for a written response to our Council President and for dissemination to all members of Council. But I just wanted to put on the record that two of those questions relate to city services being co-located at school buildings that still have under-utilization scores, and also building conveyance relative not only to the city, but to others, how those sales will be negotiated, the timeline for conveyance for each of those properties, and how the proceeds will be reinvested relative to modernization of all the remaining facilities, and also the timeline for the redevelopment of those facilities. I think one important thing that's getting lost in this conversation is that we need to talk about -- and we need you all to explain to us, like in real layman's terms, where we are as a district. Like what is the overall picture? What are you all seeking to solve for, and how will you take the feedback of families, of parents, of teachers, of administrators, of all the building maintenance workers, everybody that works to make all of this work each and every day. How are you taking school bus drivers, everybody? How are you taking that feedback into consideration based on what you know you have to do. You know you have a deficit. Can you explain what that means? Can you explain where we are financially? Can you explain what you are seeking to solve for and how we best get to where we need to be so that the school district can try to be in a position -- in a circumstance where we are doing the very best for all of our young people? You got to explain where we are, in layman's terms plainly, so people can understand and take into consideration their feedback. Because I mean, some of the locations we know are being under utilized, but some of the locations we could co-locate city services there and help to bring the buildings back up to par. Other locations we have good thriving academic programs like Lankenau, what can we do for students like, you know, specialty programs, environmental science, agriculture, those type of things that we don't have on a more regular basis across the district. So I'll submit the rest of my questions for the record, but I just wanted to put all that on the record based on what I know --
I have 35 more questions she would like a response from, sir. 35. That's our majority leader. Would you like to make a brief response, sir?
Yes, sir. Very briefly, Mr. President. Madam Majority Leader -- Majority Leader, the School District of Philadelphia is making significant progress at present better than the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania average, better than any big city in the country in 8th Grade Math, except Los Angeles. However, we also know that a majority of our students still do not perform at grade level or higher in reading and math. And if we can make this much improvement, we believe that we can quadruple it if we take our limited resources and figure out how to push more high quality academic and extracurricular programming into less schools and address the under utilized and overcrowded schools at the same time. That's what we're talking for.
Chair recognizes Majority Leader, Gilmore-Richardson. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: May I just respond to that very quickly?
Absolutely. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: You know how deeply I feel about academic achievement and ensuring that our young people are on grade level in reading and in math and in all of their subjects. But what I'm talking about specifically is relative to the real financial picture of the School District of Philadelphia. That's what I mean.
Okay. Great. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: That's what I mean. Because I think that we have to have a real conversation with our families and with our community members. So academic achievement, that's for sure. That's why we're doing this, because we want to invest in our young people. But I think we have to have a real conversation, and we -- what's happening? Why are -- what are we solving for that? We must do this and that, we must go through this plan with all of these recommendations. What are you all seeking to solve for? And I get the academic achievement piece. But deficit, there's a deficit here. What are you solving for? And I think we owe families that response.
We are, A, in the School District of Philadelphia, balancing our budget annually, and we still have a structural deficit. What a structural -- we have a $300 million structural deficit that was here in 2021 -- 2022. A structural deficit means that beginning next year and thereafter our expenses will outpace the revenue that we have unless we get to constitutional level funding faster. We're being good stewards of the dollars. We have best investment grade credit rating. We have clean year over year audits. The bond markets have upgraded our credit rating every year over the past three years. They've upgraded our credit outlook from stable to positive, even though they know we have a structural deficit in the future years. Now, in order to attack that future deficit, three things have to happen. One, we have to get more funding. And it's going to take time for a historically underfunded school district for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to catch up to where we need to be. Number two, we've got to do some things to tighten our belt too, and part of that is we can no longer afford to kick the can down the road and operate schools that have a lot of space and very few children in there. We've got about a 35 percent non-utilized rate across the district. And number three, as we do this work, we've got to keep families and children right in front of us, talk to them, don't surprise them, tell them the truth, be transparent, hear their feedback, and incorporate their feedback all along the way. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you. Thank you very much.
You're welcome. VICE CHAIR RICHARDSON: Thank you, Council President. Thank you for your commitment to putting families first.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes -- and then we have to wrap up for public comment. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Young, then Councilmember Lozada, then Dr. Nina Ahmad, and that's it. Public hearing.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to -- for the record, you just mentioned that -- you said 90 percent of the schools that are closed, the feeder schools essentially, will be -- have better test scores. Can you provide us with the PSSA data of the receiving schools broken down? So for example, Ludlow is -- so those students are slated to go to four different schools: Kearney, Dunbar, Spring Garden, and I believe one more -- one other. Could you give us the PSSA data for those schools as well? All those receiving schools. I think that'd be helpful for us to really take a look at it, see if that's in fact actually true or not, right? Because I'm looking here, and from what I see, for the PSSA data from the -- you know, the schools in my district, you know, it's -- I don't know if that to be -- if 90 percent of that is actually to be accurate. So I would love if you can provide to the Chair that data, so we can make that our own assessment regarding that. And you also mentioned that no schools are slated to be closed for next year, but can you tell us what schools are going to close at the end of the 26/27 school year?
Yes. On the first question -- thank you, Councilmember Young. Yes, we will absolutely prepare, for the record, to the Council President, for the members of council, a listing of the at least currently recommended 19 schools; the receiving schools that 20 are currently recommended on the record and the test scores. And again, I want to be clear, 90 percent will have higher reading and/or math, not necessarily both. Some cases both, but reading and/or math performance. And then secondly to your question, I'll ask Senior Advisor Landau to speak to after 26/27 school year.
I think if we can provide -- we can provide a list for the record for -- of all the schools that would be -- either begin to phase out or close and --
So -- I mean, I'm asking that to be put on the record because I have here, from the school district, that in my district -- if this was provided to me I'm sure it was provided to the rest of my colleagues, that in the 5th District, Ludlow is slated to close at the end of the 26/27 school year, Robert Morris is slated to close at the end of the 26/27 school year. So I'm just asking if you could let us know, right? And Philadelphians know what schools are slated to close at the end of that school year. That information is readily available. And so I'm just asking to put that on a record for us so folks can understand, and what decisions they need to make for their -- for themselves.
I can assure you we are not trying to hide anything. Everything is -- someone said, Mr. President, they could not access our website. We'd be happy to pull that website up if -- because I look at it every single day. I promise you it's there. And we'll be happy to submit it for the record today.
Is it the website or the facilities plan on the website?
All of the components, including the record draft recommendations.
I just think that Philadelphians deserve to have that in -- on a -- on a public record so they can know what's happening, right? Everyone doesn't have access to the internet, right? And so as we have social media coverage here and other folks covering this, you're -- you know, I think to let people know today, as we are in this hearing, to let us know what schools are slated to close at the end of next year, I think would be very helpful. But I'm going to get to -- my final question is regarding my -- a district specific school in Bache- Martin. Bache-Martin is --
I have to ask the question, Dr. Watlington, the member is asking, will you actually put on a record?
These schools that are slated to close in the 26/27 year. And even if the information is provided on the website, are you willing to go on the record and list the names of the schools that he's referring to?
Absolutely. We'll ask the team to pull that together and we'll do that before we leave. Yes, absolutely.
And regarding Bache-Martin, again, Bache-Martin is one of the schools that, you know, comparatively is doing pretty well, but it's busted at the seams already, and you're closing Waring and Robert Morris, to add to Bache-Martin, and I see that there it is slated to undergo some renovations. But those populations, particularly at Waring is a homeless population, at Bache-Martin is a lot of folks that need other support there. And so the question is like, how will we handle the transportation issues, one, and also the other service issues that's necessary to keep Bache-Martin at the level that it is, because the data shows, and research shows that receiving schools -- the test scores for receiving schools tend to go down when you combine these schools. So what efforts, what commitments can you make to those parents and those families that their schools will, you know, maintain or even increase the level of service that they're getting from our school district?
And that -- I think that's what Member Gauthier is getting at as well. If you merge this magnet school, right, and a school that's non-magnet, we support all students, but it is a magnet school for a reason, right? And you put them all in one environment, how do you maintain that level of academic excellence in one environment that's commingled together? And that's a legitimate question, sir.
I would say three things, Mr. President, Councilmember Young, one, we have some really good models in the city, in the district already, where you have multiple programs in a school building that are thriving. And what's why I keep pointing to Lankenau High School, Northeast High School, and George Washington High School, it ranges from International Baccalaureate programs, which is the highest academic K-12 kind of opportunity that you could have in any -- internationally. And we have it here in Philadelphia. And it's not -- every student at Northeast does not participate. You have career technical education programs as well. Second thing, when we -- at some point when there's a final decision about students transferring to a different school, unlike 2012/13, we will not lay off people, principals, teachers, et cetera in these schools, and take the money to help with a deficit in the school district. In these schools, our commitment on the record is we won't cut -- make cuts there, and we're going to take those dollars and reinvest them in these same families and students so that they get more, not less. And the third thing I would say is we're going to start -- before I turn it to Senior Advisor Landau, to give you a bit more context, is we are going to staff up a transition office that the three of us will be -- have reporting directly to me and us, that will be a one stop shop for whatever parents and children need. If it's transportation, we're going to get it for them. We're going to wrap our arms around them. If it's social and emotional health and wellness supports, mental health supports, we're going to get it for them. If we need to do something extra and different to make sure that their individualized education plans are followed to the latter, we're going to personally oversight that among the three people you see sitting here. And with that I want to ask Senior Advisor Landau to give you some more context.
Thank you. I just wanted to share -- you had raised Bache-Martin as an example. Bache-Martin is currently -- only 55 percent of the students in Bache- Martin actually come from the Bache- Martin catchment. The majority of other students come from Morris and Waring already. So I think, you know, we are also hoping that we will build on communities that are already together. Obviously, they're more students, but in examples like that we know that these are communities where already we see a lot of these communities coming together.
And the fact that Bache-Martin has 16.7 percentage point higher English language arts performance than Waring, and 22.5 percentage point greater performance than Waring, tells us that we've got to invest in receiving kids as well as the -- make sure that we support kids and families who are already there so that performance doesn't go down, as was the case across the board in 2012/13. But we're committed to performance going up.
But my question is, what does that look like though, right? Because if you're adding more students to a school, then you're increasing class sizes. Are you -- are you -- are you going to take away their library space that's in, you know, Bache- Martin? Like, how are you -- where are you going to find the classroom space in order to keep the ratio at a level where students actually achieve.
And a point of information to Councilmember Isaiah Thomas.
The question that Councilmember Young is asking is relevant to other questions that have been asked earlier, when you talked about closing middle schools and reassigning them to elementary schools that were already filled. So I just want to make sure that in the midst of answering Councilmember Young's questions, because he gave a specific example, you're also providing context around earlier questions when we talked about middle schools opening and those students being reassigned to buildings that already don't have enough space for the people who are in the building right now. So I just wanted to make sure that that context was provided because of Councilmember Young's question. Thank you, Council President.
We will clear. In some schools, Mr. President, we will be proposing to add more space, and we built into the budget. In some places, not here. In this particular -- at Bache-Martin in particular, we'll have capacity and space to grow. Is that not right, Senior Advisor Landau?
Bache-Martin will be receiving an investment of approximately $59 million, which will include an addition, which will be specifically built both to enhance the building because there's considerable concerns at the Bache- Martin facility now. That can also --
But then also to increase the capacity for the expected additional enrollment.
And Councilmember Young, let me just also note, when we say that class sizes in the School District of Philadelphia are governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, I promise you President Steinberg would not support, nor do we, going outside of those Collective Bargaining Agreements. We're going to follow them to the letter. So that doesn't -- so we won't go above and over those class sizes as part of this work.
I mean, I just think even that bargain number is too high. I mean, that's just my personal opinion, right?
You're welcome, sir. Chair recognizes, you all going to get me, Councilmember Lozada.
Thank you, Council President. I just want to -- I want to follow up on a -- on that topic. In the community meetings, we were told that the student-teacher ratio will be about 30 to 33 students; is that -- is that correct?
That is consistent with the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. I believe there's a -- I see Dr. Dawson over there. Is that number correct? Is that our current --
1:30 in K2 through 3. And 1:33 in Grades 4 through 12. Thank you, Dr. Dawson.
Okay. In districts like mine, right, I'm not going to speak for everybody else, but districts like mine where a large number of students are having IEP, you know that those students require more hands on, you know, independent attention. And so putting the pressure on a teacher to handle 30 to 33 or 28 to 33 students is -- that's a lot to ask for a teacher for, right?
Especially when they just don't have an IEP but they have all of these other social challenges that come with them and that they bring to school that their families have. And so I just want us to kind of think about what we're asking our teachers to do in these spaces.
I will tell your, Councilmember Lozada, thank you for that feedback. I go into schools where I see class sizes that are extraordinarily small, 10, students. And we absolutely in the school district can't operate efficiently a school district where in some places the class size is just so small that I can't get a math teacher in there, I can't get a foreign language teacher in there. Some of it we are self-inflicting our own wounds here.
I understand that. I'm just saying, let's think about that. You know, everyone -- it's no secret. I said -- I've always said that I am an advocate for education. I come from the Catholic school -- from the Catholic school world, right? My children went to private school. I'm blessed like that. Not everyone has that opportunity. And as we make these changes, we need to make sure that we are talking to those other school systems that are in place. Example, charter schools that are within a walking distance from our public schools that are closing. And, you know, I have to say that I am a little bit disappointed in the fact that when it is convenient we say charter schools are public schools, and when it's not convenient we say we don't want to lose our kids to the charter school system, right? And so let's be very cautious of that. Some of our charter schools are a better option. That's just a reality. I'm going to use Memphis as an example, who is a few blocks away from where we are looking to make changes. And no one has had a conversation with Memphis about the possibilities of children potentially -- or families choosing a local charter school to go into. And so at what point do we think it is important to connect with our Catholic schools, our private schools, and our charter schools within a walking distance of those schools where we're going -- that are going to be impacted to say we need you to care for our families and our children, and these are the possibilities.
When are we going to do that? Have we done that? And is that even being considered?
I have not -- personally a superintendent since I've been here, my number one priority has been to improve reading performance, math performance, graduation rates, and get dropout rates down in the district operated schools because that's where I have control over the budget. That's where I have control over staffing. And so I've focused on what's in my locus of control. But I do agree with you that all 200,000 children in the city are our children.
I think our overall goal needs to be better educating our children and opening up opportunities for them wherever it is that their families choose. Those children will receive the best academic journey and wherever that space is that works best for them. And so I believe, and I'm going to request that in my district -- I'm not -- I'm not going to speak for my colleagues, but in my district, I have some very responsible, very capable charter school providers and Catholic schools. I think that we should be concerned about all of our children and their education, not what system, right? If our system is not right, and until we get our system right, we need to look at the community around us to take care of our children.
Thank you, Council President. I just want to drill down a little bit on what some of my colleagues touched on, particularly Waring School, and the type of student population that goes to that school, and how we are making sure the feeder school that you're going to send them to, Bache- Martin, is ready in multitude of ways. So you're -- the population at Waring right now is a high needs population with many families experiencing homelessness. They also serve families from around the globe who come to CHOP for treatment. Many of them severely ill. And there's a significant portion of the student population who receive special education services. So given all of that, and given that you're going to feed them, what -- and this is being specific, devil is in the details, like what are we doing to make sure this population is well received, well integrated, and well taken care of? And I know this was echoed by many of my colleagues. And the second piece to that is, you know, you mentioned about performance metrics, right? When you have a population like this, you -- it's apples and oranges if you're going to compare to other schools in terms of what type of student population goes there. And if you're using that as a reason, including the low enrollment, I see that these classes here at Waring, at least one of the classes that I know about, is called under utilized, has students, and 6 then in a -- in a second grade, 22 7 students. Those are optimal numbers 8 for this type of population. 9 So I would like to know in 10 your metrics that you have set 11 severely under utilized, is it under 12 utilized for the entire school or 13 you going classroom by classroom and 14 saying, we don't have enough kids, 15 the 33 kids per classroom. Because 16 we don't want 33 kids in a 17 classroom, at least in my opinion. 18 So what are you terming 19 under utilized? I just need to understand how you are using this data and what is the broad brush you're painting a school like Waring with?
I'm going to ask Senior Advisor Landau to speak to what does under utilized really mean?
So the term under utilized is about the size of the building and the number of students. So that really could mean that you have -- you have to look at the actual number of students, right? Because you might have a small building with a very small program, but it's well utilized because of the size of the building. Or you might have a huge building that looks really under utilized but actually the program's not that small. It's just in a very large building. In the case of Waring, I do think it is important looking at classes. Waring is a K through 8 school. You see, yes, at a high they have a 7th Grade class of 27 students, but they also have a 1st Grade class of students, a 3rd Grade class of nine students, a 4th Grade class of 16 students. Those are very small numbers. And what we would propose doing to the point that you raised earlier, Bache-Martin does actually have a lot of specialized programs in it. It is a school that welcomes a lot of students with diverse needs. So for instance, when we have a small school like Waring, we will be able to go to each and every family, whether they are there because of an IEP, because of any other -- whether they opted into the school and make sure that they understand the transition and can work with them on a specific transition plan into Bache-Martin. So that will be the goal, is to make sure that each and every one of those students receives personal outreach and a personalized plan to make that transition.
Thank you. And I know the superintendent referred to this, that there's going to be a special unit --
-- for this transitional unit. Are you using behavioral health and mental health supports in that setup very specifically, particularly for a school like this, where not only the populations I mentioned, we have also asylum seekers who are at this school, right? So we have very diverse populations with very diverse needs, but every child is precious. So we need to make sure we are disaggregated in the type of services we are going to give them, whether they're in Bache-Martin or they stay here, whatever the case may be. Just wanted to make sure we are not losing people in this broad- based way of doing metrics around that. I'm concerned about that.
Thank you very much. And last member of Council, Rue Landau. You just came back. Very brief question. We have to go straight in the public comment.
I promise. I'm going to start with a comment that for some of our schools that are doing well and the students are progressing it's because they have small classes, and 33 should never ever be our standard. Thank you. The second thing is that I've gone on your facility just to make sure I wasn't wrong. I've gone on your facilities plan online.
He said he'll pull it up now. So you-all want to settle up this problem.
Okay. I play -- let's do it right now. I played on --
I played on the decision-making progress tab, and what I've seen when you look up a school is a conclusion as to what -- the conclusion of whatever metrics that you used and how you got there, but no data and no understanding of a process. So I tried. I really tried with you. I'm telling you. You bring up a school and it'll tell you that it is -- I actually looked at Conwell, and you have four different points of matrix here. And for the first two it comes up kind of medium adequate and the second two is falling behind. But some of it is class size. Okay. What are we going to do? Why are we not as a school -- and I'm -- by the way, I'm going to stop for a second. We absolutely need to invest in our facilities. I am very happy about this. I am the one person who said I want to put more money into this. I want this to happen. But when you've got a school like Conwell who might be experiencing some neighborhood disruption, we invest in it. We recruit, we get the amazing principal out there with balloons saying you got to come to this school. That's what we do. We don't close it down. That's what we do. So I'll leave that.
So just in wrapping up Dr. Watlington, and just quite sure, well one, all the questions that were asked of members who requested information just make sure you get to the Chair so we can disseminate to members of Council and we can do our due diligence on follow up. I had two small wrap up questions. One, have we taken into consideration these school closures with the more than 10,000 homeless students that are part of our district in terms of making sure they're not impacted by these closures? So have any analysis been done regarding the homeless student population?
Yes, Mr. President. In fact, the federal McKinney-Vento rules legislation requires that when a student tells us that they're experiencing homelessness or we just know it, homeless kids can enroll wherever they so choose without penalty from principals or any administrator.
Okay. And another question is around -- and I have a longer conversation about when they transfer land to the Land Bank and making sure that we address the issue of gentrification with these parcels of land. And I support the development of schools, abandoned schools, for a variety of different uses. And housing is one of them. But also taking into consideration how we balance that development with the surrounding community. And I think about the schools that have been shut down in Point Breeze, and all of them -- well, I was able to work out some level of affordable workforce housing percentage with one of them, and the other one wasn't. But I do know when I rode passed these schools today, you know, they're housing. And so we take that in consideration. And the last part, as we continue to do a deeper dive on -- one key aspect of the plan that is concerning to me is that even though it says this is the commitment to all of the 10 District Councils and with a specific amount, like the proposal is contingent upon other variables that we don't control. We talk about philanthropy, we don't control that, right? It can go either way. We talk about Harrisburg, we don't control that. It go have -- you know, other than that billion that you know for a fact that you're going to borrow on your own, is the only definite money that you have. And also it depends on how much you come in a City Council for. And we decide where we decide to provide to the district. And that's the part that I look at as -- that's one key aspect, because it seemed like 2.8 billion hinges on 1.8 billion with other individuals having to say so. And they could say, we'll give you the full 1.8 or, you know, other variables may be at play. And so I'm a wishful thinker, you know, pragmatic idealist that we can accomplish it. But in reality terms, in terms of this being definite and finite, it's just something I believe we have to pay attention to. That's all I have.
At this time we are going to ask for any brief questions, comments, from members of Council before we call up the public, who's been waiting patiently for us all day to testify. Dr. Watlington, listen, and I communicate with you in this capacity, I communicate to you when I see you out and about. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your -- being open. You have said on several different times, I am open to listen to what members of council have to say, rather that be school, rather there be other aspects. So we do want to thank you for least coming in here with an open mind as opposed to, Hey, here's the proposal and here's my perspective and, you know, I'm going about my business. So thank you for being a gentleman as you are and your leadership. I tell you that privately, I tell you that publicly. This is just a very complex process that we all are trying to work on, which the ultimate goal is the academic achievement for all of our children all across the city of Philadelphia. So thank you for your time, sir.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jeffrey Young.
Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to see if we were going to get that information on the record about the schools that are slated to close at the end of the 26/27 school year.
We are ready, Mr. President. We are ready. And we were not going to just walk out of here either. I just wanted you to know that. We weren't just going to walk out.
All right. This is as the plan is currently drafted. Now, the schools that would either begin phasing out or closing at the end of the 26/27 school year would be Fitler, Penn Treaty, Tilden, AMY Northwest, Wagner, Harding, Stetson, all of them would begin phasing out. So they would stop accepting grades. They wouldn't close until several years later once they had -- once they had reached -- all of their students had graduated. The schools that would close would be Blankenburg, Overbrook Elementary School, Ludlow, Morris, Pennypacker, Welsh, Conwell, Robeson, Motivation, Parkway West, Lankenau and Parkway Northwest.
-- in regards to the retention is, we are also looking at incentives that -- a model for folks in schools that would have phase closures so that they have an incentive to stay with those schools until they end before they transition to another school in the District. We want to keep everyone who's in good standing in this house and not have them to go to anywhere else because we value all of these verified employees.
So, Jim Harrity, Chairman of Labor, talked about -- and it's something you're going to have to deal with, like when the parents hear these schools they're going to be closed in these types of changes, do they continue the exodus of going to an alternative school setting as opposed to staying? But I'm confident, I believe in your leadership. I don't think you stuck around just for the sake of sticking around, because you could have put School District of Philadelphia on your resume and said, you know what, new mayor come in, I'm going to go do something different. And so, looking forward to seeing, as we give you our feedback, what this looks like to try to keep as many kids in the system as possible so everybody can get a quality academic achievement education. With that being said, thank you very much, sir.
Well, Mr. Christmas, will you call the first panel during public comment, please.
Yes. Would Leshawna Coleman and Robin Cooper, please come forward. Again, Leshawna Coleman and Robin Cooper.
He didn't call you up yet, Mr. Roseman. It's still Leshawna. We didn't call you up yet.
No, we didn't. Hold on. First of all, do we have Leshawna Coleman and Robin Cooper?
Okay. Is Ms. Robin Cooper here? Ma'am, did you want to take a seat at the -- that's who we called. So we would --
Ma'am -- Ms. Leshawna Cooper, could you state your position or the -- any kind of entity?
I'm Leshawna Coleman. I'm the Chief of Staff and Chief Trustee of the Health and Welfare Fund at PFT.
Dr. Robin Cooper, President and Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 502 CASA.
Thank you very much, ma'am. And welcome. Well, Ms. Leshawna Coleman, please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
Sure. L-E-S-H-A-W-N-A C-O-L-E-M-A-N. Okay. Good morning -- excuse me. Good afternoon, Council President Johnson, Education Chair Thomas and members of the Committee of the Whole. My name is Leshawna Coleman. I'm Chief of Staff and Chief Trustee of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund. President Arthur Steinberg cannot be here today due to an AFT Executive Committee meeting. The PFT represents more than 14,000 educators who work in the School District of Philadelphia. We are the exclusive bargaining agent for Philly Public School educators and are proud to be the foremost advocates for children's education, health and wellness in the city of Philadelphia. We often remind the district that educators know the conditions of our schools facilities inside and out. As the recent snowstorm and deep freeze have demonstrated, when our members experience -- when our members experience and knowledge are ignored, students and families pay the price. No one who works for the school district knows the urgency of modernizing aging pipes, sewer systems, shoddy insulation and heating and cooling systems more acutely than PFT members. Just ask those of us who have moved heaven and earth these last several weeks to distribute extra coats and scarfs to students in 40-degree classrooms. A week ago, Stetson Middle School went virtual due to still freezing building conditions. Our members know that the ambitious plan for our facilities is overdue, but we also know that mass closures a decade ago did not result in meaningful cost savings to the district. Communities were vacant, abandoned, former schools sites sit attracting illegal dumping and crime, know that they are not better off. Our position remains our schools need fixing and funding, not closure. Following a thorough review, the PFT has concluded that the district's 10-year facilities master plan or FMP does not provide sufficient detail or data to inform binding decisions about school closures, co-location, or repurposing. We did not reach this conclusion in haste. 8 billion plan, checking assertions and claims against the experiences of our members who know these buildings best. The PFT is bravely concerned that the FMP will pervert distrust anxiety among beloved established educators and schools designed for closure. It's imperative that execution of the plan does not spark an exodus of teachers and specialists to surrounding districts and exacerbate a crisis level staffing shortness in Philly Public Schools. I am here today alongside Jerry Roseman, our environmental director, and a leading expert in the district's aging historically toxic facilities. You will hear from him more detailed concerns about data, mythology, and transparency. Our members know that every dollar put into the district, whether from the state or federal government or local governments, is hard fought and deserved. Because the PFT has been fighting for our school's fair share funding since our founding. We know that hard decisions must be made to address student overcrowding in one school and empty floors in classrooms in another school just as a few neighborhoods over. We know our students and staff facing poor and uncomfortable building conditions deserve immediate relief. But the FMP, as proposed, raises far more questions than have been answered since it's released in January. The district must do better, show their work and provide all data used to make determinations about targeted schools. Austerity and institutional discriminatory practices against black and brown communities are why we are here today. But let's be clear, it's our union of educators, our students, and our families and our neighbors who hold solutions for a better future for our schools. Our union has a saying that resonates especially in long under- resourced communities, Nothing about us without us.
For your convenience, we have transmitted our written testimony along with supplemental charts and data to the offices of every member. I'm happy to answer questions you have after Mr. Roseman shares our findings. Thank you.
Can I -- can I take a point of personal privilege real quick? Mr. Silman, come on up real quick. Did I say your name correctly?
Mr. Roseman, come on up. Only because his testimony is in consultation with.
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I'm Jerry Roseman. I'm the director of environmental science for the PFT. And I've been doing that job for a very -- a lot -- a number of years. I've -- that work involves me looking at the schools directly by visiting these buildings and doing kind of deep dive research about the school conditions. My experience and expertise is in environmental and building and data science related to school conditions. And I've done work for the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund looking at these conditions in the context of equity in Alabama, Louisiana, and Maryland. And I work with Philadelphia's Children's Research Center for environmental health at Penn. So I look at these conditions a lot and have been spending a lot of time looking at the Philadelphia school district situation, and was on the project planning team as part of the school district's process. That was the team that was supposed to help put the plan together. So I want to talk today a little bit about would I -- would I end up doing and understanding about how to determine what's going on in the school district condition with the school district, and how I think a plan should be developed. I think what we have right now is not really an effective plan of any type, because the underlying data and inputs that are required for such a plan don't exist. In my case, I've asked for this information and data from the school district many times, and all -- as part of the project planning team we asked many times, that information was not provided. So when I look at this, the way that I start and I think other investigators do this is to look at the needs of the Philadelphia School District. And there have been four planning processes for -- in the last maybe years, the one in 2012/13 that led to closures. One in 2015/17, an update in 2022, and now this one. They've all shown the same thing, of course, that the conditions are really very challenging and difficult in most of our schools and buildings. And I'm going to separate schools and buildings, because from the environmental science perspective the building is where the conditions that we talk about and the fixes are, the programs, the schools really relate to the children and staff and where they move. And there we're talking more about program alignment and some of the vulnerability and neighborhood issues. On the condition front, one thing I can tell you is that our district has a value. The buildings have a value of about $18 billion across these buildings. And that tells us something that's distressing and helpful here. 2 billion a year. That's what we need. 8 billion tenure plan, doesn't really help us get to where the district has been saying we're going to get to. It doesn't result in what we're looking at. You need much more money than that. Now, it's not to say that we shouldn't use this money and do this, we need to. And there is a plan, I think, that can actually improve our buildings. It's just not this one. And one thing to know is the scale of what we're facing, because that really helps in planning what to do. So we need more money than this plan comes close to giving us. When we look at the -- the information hasn't been provided in detail, but there's a lot of detail out there if you know where to look from the earlier surveys, they're on the district's website. So we collected all that information and looked at that information. And it turns out that there are about 4,000 systems, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, roof, windows, that are unsatisfactory and poor across the district buildings. Some are actually in schools that are good and schools that are considered fair. And so when I'm thinking about the -- this kind of planning, you realize that you need to account for those systems in schools too when you're -- when you're thinking about that.
In addition to the facility conditions, with the PFT, we've used a mobile application to get information from staff about the conditions in the building, the as-lived experience. So we've plugged that information in as well. We've gotten 6,000 of those reports over several years. They confirm the condition status actually in the buildings. And one of the things that we know needs to happen is all that information has to be blended together in order to come up with any kind of a plan. So I don't know -- is my time -- okay. I will -- I mean, I guess the points that I want to make is that we don't have that data for the plan. We -- that information and data has to be given.
And just clarify for the record, the members of Council, what's the specific data you were requesting while you were part of the planning committee that wasn't given to you, specifically?
Where did the score -- where did the unsatisfactory score come from, for instance.
Just one quick question for Jerry Roseman. Do you believe the data that you want exists?
Thank you both very much for your testimony. Would Ms. Judith Palmer -- Oh, okay. I forgot about her. Oh, I'm sorry. Ms. Robin Cooper.
Doctor, thank you very much for being here today. Please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
To City Council President Johnson, Majority Whip Gilmore-Richardson, Minority Whip O'Rourke, Education Chair Isaiah Thomas, and all esteemed City Councilmembers. I sit here today with no 8 joy in my heart because I truly believe in the leadership of Superintendent Watlington due to the academic improvement since his arrival four years ago. Understanding the complexities facing the superintendent and ultimately the school board, I understand about the lack of funding, because CASA has been in the fight traveling to Harrisburg to fight for fairness for vulnerable students of Philadelphia. I understand about the close bonds Philadelphians have with their schools because I am one of them, having attended Meade at 18th and Oxford, Duckrey at 16th and Diamond, Conwell at Clearfield and Jasper. And lastly, I am a member of the first graduating class of Parkway Center City at 12th and Market. My ties didn't stop there. I attended Pennsylvania State University. I attended Cheyney University for grad school, and I received my doctorate from St. Joseph's University. Why start my testimony this way is simple: I am a true-blue Philadelphia and Pennsylvania success story. I received everything that I had from public institutions. I understand the need to change, improve, revitalize. I understand the need to work in partnership with our district to do what's best for our children. I understand the complexities of this situation. What I don't understand is why eliminate all neighborhood middle schools with the exception to keeping the most privileged middle school. I don't understand that. I don't understand why move neighborhood children out of their own schools to more -- to move more privileged children into those schools complete with total renovations. I don't understand that. Why weren't the existing neighborhood students given the options around building beautiful new edifice. Neighborhood children matter. Why continue with the school selection process that truly limits those who get in? The way the system is set now you can have 300 children waiting to get into the high school of their choice and limit the school to 70 slots, thus leading to a decline in enrollment. Approximately 20 years ago, Paul Valles created a smaller high school option, hence giving parents student choice on whether to send their children to a large or small high school. This was the parent's choice. Did the parents survey say that they wanted a return to a larger environment? What exactly did the survey say? What I don't understand is the rationale of how some schools will close immediately while others will remain open for the next three to seven years or more. What I don't understand is why DEI officials did not speak loudly against the many inequities of this plan prior to allowing this plan to be released. What I don't understand is why union leaders such as CASA were informed about superficial parts of the plan, but our engagement was not sought to share historical data points on our schools. Why include only to exclude when it really matters? So what is CASA seeking? CASA is seeking -- as the president of and the principal officer of Teamsters Local 502, CASA, we just seek authentic collaboration. We want -- we want to know about the plan, the real plan. I have 33 years in this district. That is a history. I am a walking Philadelphia success story. I've been born and bred in Philadelphia. I live, breathe, cry, and die Philadelphia. So I am very disappointed that when it came time to discuss historical data, there was no say. I don't speak for other unions, but I'm almost certain that if I was excluded -- and I have a great working relationship with the school district. My question is at what point are you included at the table and at what point are you excluded? The history matters. The history of neighborhoods matter.
I am saying that if I could sit here as the first African American -- the first African American woman, and the first woman of Teamsters Local 502, and I received everything that I have in me from the School District of Philadelphia and from state schools, I should have a seat at the table. Thank you.
The Chair now recognizes Councilmember Isaiah Thomas.
Thank you, Dr. Cooper. We appreciate that. And I also want to put on the record that the Education Committee did have a number of meetings with yourself and other leaders to just get your feedback as it relates to these issues. I'm not going to ask you to -- I'm not going to ask you to provide a synopsis of those conversations, but you did -- in the midst of listening and learning from you, you raised a couple red flags around examples of things that were in the plan that you felt like were extremely problematic. I know we're running low on time and we want to hear other testimony, but can you just take 60 seconds just to highlight things that might have been in the plan that you feel like are like extremely problematic, that you feel like should be brought to all of the members of City Council attention and not just the Education Committee?
Absolutely. I just think that when you're looking -- when you're looking why close all middle schools with the exception of one? And when you are looking why move out neighborhood children to move them to more privileged schools? I just think just looking at the overall plan, the overall plan speaks to privilege. So I'm more concerned. I've been both. I was at a neighborhood school, school student, me. Don't care if I didn't have teachers. My parents were poor. They didn't have a lot of money. I had teachers who were grounded, who told my mother, Hey, this young lady, she needs to be in Conwell. So what happens when there's not a magnet school for mainly African Americans and Latino children? So what happens? So I'm well aware, and I do believe in a plan where if all of the schools can get better, that's fine. My concern is why are we eliminating? I'm really concerned with the middle school -- the middle school elimination, because the middle school, that's the meat and potatoes. So with a middle school, those children, 6th, 7th, 8th, or sometimes 5th to 8th, they receive very different foods, they receive a very different social -- social emotional aspect. In a middle school, you have a full-service kitchen. So I really think the middle school is about dollars and cents. But in those big middle schools, you are able to eat, to grow, to move about. Now, I may be in the minority. I don't like the K-8 concept, because I don't think a 7th and 8th Grader should have to eat what a kindergartner eats. I don't believe that middle school children -- I just think that it's a different -- it's a different time. Middle school students, whether we want to believe it or not, you know, they're trying to get their first little kiss. They're trying to really walk the halls. I don't like prep school -- prep classes on the same floor with a kindergarten and 8th Grader. One may be in music, the other may be in art, just because that's the way the prep schedule is made. So I really believe in middle school. I believe in junior high school, too. I just want to be really clear that when we're eliminating, we are not eliminating just for the fiscal aspect, because we won't have any middle school. And if we have one middle school that's that largely services Latino and African American, what are we saying about that? So we didn't eliminate all of the middle school; we eliminated all of them with the exception of one. And that's a privileged school. I love privileged schools. I went to a couple. But we are saying that the regular neighborhoods are not good enough, and I think we need to switch that around.
Thank you. What's that one school they're not eliminating?
What's the one school that's not being eliminated?
What is good for the geese should be good for the gander, right? Point of information, Councilman Young.
Thank you. And they're also -- they're also adding a middle school for Palumbo, right? So let's put that -- let's put that on the record as well. So they're not just taking a -- you know, there -- so there is a model where middle schools can thrive, but not in certain neighborhoods. So, thank you, Mr. President.
Well, they are connecting Palumbo with Charles Elementary School, and that part of my district is gentrifying, so it would probably be a conversation to have, but -- okay. Thank you very much, Dr. Cooper.
Thank you very much. Would Ms. Judith Palmer, Erica Green, and Lisa Haver, please come forward. Okay. Again Mr. Judith Palmer, Erica Green, and Lisa Haver. Thank you very much. Please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
Sure. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Erica Green. I'm the proud principal of Conwell Middle Magnet School, the first middle magnet school in the School District of Philadelphia. So today I'm asking -- well, first, let me honor council president, members of council, and specifically Councilmember Lozada from the councilmanic 7th District, in which we love, along with Conwell alum, educator, Councilmember Thomas. So I'm Erica Green, as you heard me say, proud principal of Conwell Middle Magnet School. Conwell represents an opportunity, history, and the belief that brilliance lives in every neighborhood, and closing it would erase a legacy that still matters. For many years, Conwell has been the cornerstone of Kensington community, a place where students flourish and leaders are born. Alumni include leaders in governments, education, law, media, public safety, and professional sports, living proof that diamonds are truly in our backyard. Conwell does not take from the community; we actually add to the community. Teachers show up more than most in our academic division. Conwell was one of three schools in our division out of five learning networks to have 100 percent of our teachers attend work 90 percent of school days. We were just awarded this at our December citywide principals' meeting. We generate and operate a food pantry. Our students give back through the National Junior Honor Society, community service and partnership with the World Affairs Council, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, Broad Street Love, and other civic organizations. Our school shows up, whether it's in neighborhood cleanups, alongside leaders, advocacy around the opioid crisis, or opening our doors to host critical city events. Conwell has served as a trusted host for swearing in a Philadelphia police commissioner and Mayor Parker and Councilmembers who came to witness firsthand the realities of Kensington community. When the city needed space, Conwell said yes and showed up. The Conwell building is celebrating 100 years. So bright and shiny does not always mean better as what is being proposed. Philly is a city that values its history and historical properties. Conwell has received substantial public and philanthropic investment, HVAC upgrades, security enhancements, modern lighting, renovated science labs, a makerspace, digital media lab, and state-of-the-art athletic facilities made possible by partners like Love Football, Fiesta School Yards, and the Pinkness, and Lindy Foundations. Partners have only visited our school once and they're impressed by the students' leadership and what they see, but also what they feel inside of Conwell in the heart of Kensington. Those investments were weighed for students in Kensington. We owe it to them to improve their neighborhood, not push them out once the neighborhood begins to thrive. Conwell's success is rooted in its people, its history and its impact. I urge the school district, along with school board members, and all of you here in City Council to do what is right, fair, and just for children in Kensington. Using the words of my favorite Dr. Constance E. Clayton, Do not let the almighty dollar drive a choice that removes a beautifully designed historic school with beautifully gifted people that can be displaced elsewhere, the essence, the prestige and impact of Conwell cannot be duplicated, replicated, or appropriated. So many partners, so many advocates, so many leaders, so many promises. I respectfully ask City Council to stand in support of Conwell Middle Magnet schools and other middle schools that are affected by this proposal. Preserve the building, preserve the culture, preserve the legacy, because history matters and Conwell matters. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your testimony. You ladies decide who wants to go first. Ms. Haver?
Thank you. My name is Lisa Haver. I am here representing the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools. We're a grassroots organization of educators and parents who came together in 2012 to fight the mass school closings carried out by the state-imposed School Reform Commission. It is a betrayal to all of us who fought to regain local control that this mayoral control board is about to carry out another round of public-school closings. Also, want to note that I'm a former district parent. One of my kids went to Conwell, and I'm a former middle school teacher. Go Harding Hawks. APPS members attended facilities meetings in North Philly, South Philly, West Philly, Chinatown, and the Northeastern 7 and 25. In the past two weeks, we 8 have attended meetings at high 9 schools, middle schools, elementary 10 schools across the city who are 11 facing elimination. Councilmembers 12 who have attended those meetings and 13 have witnessed the frustration and 14 anger from members of those school 15 communities, heard parents and 16 students at Lankenau, Conwell, 17 Robeson, Stetson, who feel that 18 their second homes are being 19 foreclosed on, and they can't get an 20 answer to the honest answer to the 21 simple question of why . They 22 dispute misinformation in the 23 deceptive language being presented 24 by district staff and the consultants who the -- whose firms the board has paid a total of over $5 million. They have talked about and documented the incorrect data that the data has included about many schools' capacities, resources, enrollment and achievement. Some of the board members were in those community meetings too, and if they really listened, they could not, in good conscience, vote to close those schools. The most important thing to understand about this plan is that no one has given a reason why. And your questions here today, I want to say thank you, have reflected that. It's not because buildings are crumbling, it can't be about under enrollment, because nearly half the charter schools who are not included in this facilities review are under- enrolled. And it is definitely not because any parent or student wants it. I'm going to skip down and say, the most obvious and shocking feature of this district's proposal -- and I -- and I say proposal because it is way too muddled and incomplete to call it a plan. The most shocking feature is its cruelty and lack of humanity. Teachers who have stayed for decades and dedicated themselves to their schools throughout the privatization, the EMOs, the over testing, the neglect, not to mention the district itself sabotaging their enrollment are now being tossed aside. Parents who managed to navigate the district's application process and found a safe and nurturing school for their children feel that they're the victims of a bait and switch. Students who worked hard to get into certain schools are now wondering why none of their work counts with the district. Alumni see part of their history raced. Community members who volunteered and worked through their friends of and home in schools feel that their work has been in vain. And when you come down to it, what all of them feel, now, is that the schools that they work to maintain, and sometimes establish like Parkway Northwest, they dedicated themselves to those schools, and they feel they no 17 longer have a choice. So APPS members thank the members of councils. Council, we will continue to stand up for public schools and we will be at the February 26th board meeting to say, do not close our public schools. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. I wanted to remind everyone, because we appreciate you being here and waiting for us all day, please try to adhere to the two-minute bell for public comment. I know we have young people here. Are you all slated to testify as well? So we want to hear from the young people also, and each and every one of you who are here. So please adhere to the time as we have a very, very long witness list, not just the folks that you see in this room. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Thank you. Thank you. And by the way, I timed myself for two minutes. I thought maybe it was longer. My name is Linda Rubin. I'm a member of APPS. I am a retired teacher for three years and counselor for 38 years. Yesterday's Inquirer included the following quote in Kristen Graham's article about the new plan. This plan is about ensuring that more students in every neighborhood have access to the high quality in academics, programs, and facilities they deserve. What Clayton said in a statement, Sounds great, except the key words have access to' are very slippery suckers. What does that mean? Students will be moved to another school where they will have access to programs that they may be interested in. Having access means that the programs may be in the new school but not who will actually be assigned to them, because now they will be competing with the students from that new school. The district's purposely vague phrasing means that not that many students will not have access to these programs if they're actually included in the curriculum. Most important, parents and students have been telling you quite loudly that the atmosphere provided by the smaller number of students and faculty helps many children overcome their shyness bit by bit, who already assume they're dumb and might as well give up and or get angry. Some students do far better in this -- in the atmosphere of smaller schools and are better able to learn in that environment. Many other students thrive in the bustle of a large school. The former group can be emotionally overwhelmed just by being in hallways filled with hundreds of loud teens and shrink into the safety of being unknown and invisible. We adults tend to forget the depth of our own past fears: automatic assumptions that others are smarter, more popular, more athletic than we are, and the dreaded being laughed at. Children's bodies and brain functions mature at very different levels in different time frames and in the vagaries of each child's academic, social, and emotional development. We educators must take all of these individual differences and fears into account. It doesn't sound like children's actual individual needs are being given with their importance in these equations. Thank you.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Would Ms. Ann Dorn, Desiree Whitfield, and Ann Park, please come forward? Again, Ann Dorn, Desiree Whitfield and Ann Park, please. Okay. And maybe Chris Sofa and Rebecca Roman could please come forward. Thank you very much, ma'am. Please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
My name is Ann Dorn. I've been a parent in the Philadelphia School District for 8 years, and I'm currently serving on 9 the Parent and Community Advisory 10 Council. The first thing I -- the 11 Parent and Community Advisory 12 Council to the school board. 13 The first thing I'd ask of 14 council is if you could please 15 confirm Joyce Wilkerson to the school board. My understanding is while she's serving without a proper confirmation, everything that happens is subject to lawsuits. We don't have money to waste on lawyers. We don't have time to waste on policies that nobody can count on because they're tied up in court. We would really appreciate it. I think it's been long enough that if there's some real issue with her, a new candidate can be found. Apparently, that's not going to happen. Can -- the children of Philadelphia please just have a school board that has the legal authority to do what they need to do. While we're on the subject of lawsuits, the school selection lottery is also a subject of a lawsuit. Dr. Watlington and the board president suggested it can't even be commented on. Because of this lawsuit, I'm sure that there's no reason why it cannot be altered that for the duration of this lawsuit, we have to have a bad policy that is causing under enrollment in a lot of lot of these schools that we'd rather close the schools than change a policy, which is so bad, it's the subject of a lawsuit. That really doesn't seem to be a very valid excuse, and I think movement needs to come on the school selection process rather than just closing these schools. There seems to be a lot of closing schools rather than solving problems in other ways. For example, the Algebra 1 issue. You don't need a specific sort of building to teach Algebra 1. You need a specific sort of teacher, you need a principal who's able to recruit teachers like that and retain them, you need an assistant superintendent that sees to it that the principal does these things. These are all people that you need. We need the people that we already have to do these things. We don't need a different building to teach Algebra in. And a lot of the school -these facilities planning process, it seems to be there's just this tremendous momentum behind it that everybody has to come up with some kind of excuse why they don't like it. But the district is not able to answer any questions. Parents have a lot of questions about how is this supposed to work. There's a lot of questions of if there's been so much community engagement, why is the finished plan not more popular? If this is what people asked for, where are the people who are happy with what they got? And, you know, we don't need to look into who answered that survey, and were the survey data properly collected, were the survey data properly analyzed, because if it had been the plan would be popular; people would be happy. The fact that there's so many unhappy people, it tells you right there, it was not properly collected, it was not properly handled. We don't need to go back and audit it; we just need to not implement a plan that is not what the community wants.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Ma'am, please state your name for the record.
Yes, it was good morning. Now it's good evening. We're all sleeping over right here.
Yeah. My name is Chris Safa, and thank you very much for your work and for letting me speak. I am a former teacher and a former member of the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Committee, and I'm a committee person in the 21st Ward where the Lankenau Environmental Science School is located. And that's what I'm here to ask you to take off the closure list. Although that is a school board thing. So we wanted to remain open because I was doing salt sampling in the Schuylkill River and a few other places this week as we're trying to see how much salt the city is dumping. Oh, I was walking on the Schuylkill River, though it was frozen solid. Of course that's illegal. Nobody do that. And now it's melting. But the point is, I don't know what you think about climate change or if you believe in it, but it is real, and we need these kids in the only environmental school in the district to be trained how to manage it, with all the challenges we're going to have. The salt line is going to come up the river, right? I mean, there's millions of things that we have trouble with. And the kids in this school are raising trout and putting them in the river to help clean it. They're going down to the water works, they're learning all about the mussels that clean the water, and they're using -- if you do me a favor, could you open your little green folder? We gave you a folder for each person, and just pull out the maps right in the front, there should be a couple maps, just to show you where the school is located. And I am very grateful to Councilmember Jones, who back in the day helped us preserve about -- well, a lot of land. No, this is good. So the school is actually located in the federal historic district that this community built piece by piece. And it's -- actually, we made a contiguous corridor of about 500 acres of open space. And the community is very alarmed that we're saying don't trade our kids for condos. Like, there's no way that the community would accept this school being closed. Oh, back in 2013, here's a map of how the community rose up and defended Lankenau School when the School Reform Commission came to try to take it over. So, basically, I won't take any more time because the kids are here to speak with you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your work. And --
And I just want to say thank you for keeping ICE out of the city, and fixing the other problems, the poly crises that we're working on.
Thank you, ma'am. Sir, please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
Are you -- you're not Rebecca, you're not -- are you Jesse Hall?
Okay. Thank you. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
All right. My name is Jesse Hall. I am a junior at Lankenau Environmental Science High School. Now, I'm here to voice my concern regarding the closure of my school. While I acknowledge that closing Lankenau seems optimal from a financial perspective, I believe that shutting down my school will not only ruin community, but also the potential future of our students. Growing up, I was always fascinated by plants and animals. Yeah, I rarely had the opportunity to truly experience nature firsthand. This was until I first found Lankenau. In my 8th-grade year, my middle school had a previous Lankenau student show us a previous -- a presentation teaching us about what they do at Lankenau. Ever since then, I've grown a much stronger interest in environmental sciences. Environmental science isn't the only thing Lankenau has to offer. There are so many opportunities and learning experiences that have access to at Lankenau that no other school has. It gives us unique learning experiences like our wildlife management class, which is only a five-minute drive away from our school. At Lankenau, we don't just learn about -- learn new things about the environment. Most of the things that would usually be taught in a classroom are taught outside, giving us a more hands-on education that not many schools in Philly have. Along with our environmental classes, Lankenau also has many academic opportunities that no other high school has, like our CTE program or GIS dual enrollment class, both of which we'll lose if we were to move schools. With all this in mind, I would like for you all to please think twice before closing my school, because I deeply appreciate Lankenau and the unique opportunities that has given me. If I never heard of Lankenau, I probably would've lost my interest in environmental science. How many other kids will lose that spark if Lankenau is gone. Lankenau is a one-in-a-million school, and I'll be very grateful if more people had the chance to join our community. Thank you for your time.