"America's Mayor," Mayor Rendell, has dubbed you "America's School Superintendent," and that's an appraisal I would share. You still remain thoroughly interested, thoroughly dedicated to the job. I have to imagine that you must have been down to your knees at various times, but you have a resiliency that I think bodes well for the school system. Having said those nice words, I'll go on to ask other kinds of questions. (Laughter.)
Tell me, when in this 12-year span of time would you expect that the graduates would be able to do what Councilwoman Miller referred to, pass, say, the sheet metal test, or go to college without having to spend six months to a year in remedial 2189 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. education? When would that come in? 'Cause that didn't exist now, does it with respect to the 48 percent who graduate? I'm sure some of them do, but would have any estimate as to what part of that 48 percent that graduates -- or the 52 percent that graduates --
(Conferring off mike with staff members.) What proportion of the 11th-graders, if somebody will give me that answer, score at the basic level or above? I have no compunction about saying to you that whatever that proportion is, that proportion could go to college, a regular four-year college, without taking remedial courses and be successful. What proportion of the 11th grade. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It's over 30 percent in reading. It's over -- it differs by subject. In reading, it's over 30 percent.
And it's up from what? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: And it's up from about 25 percent when we started. 2190 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
All right, so 1996, in reading, about percent were able to -- 4
Well, 25 percent of the 7 11th-graders were able to score at the basic level 8 or above. In '98, a little over 30 percent were 9 able to score at the basic level or above. 10 Now, going to your question 11 specifically, in 2002, as we introduce the tougher 12 graduation requirements, that will be the year 13 when a student is not permitted to graduate unless 14 he meets that standard. At this point, that. 15
It's a goal, not an 17 absolute. But the Board, when they passed the new 18 graduation promotion requirements, established 19 2002 at the basic level as the gate that kids 20 needed to meet. 21
All right. Well, I 22 think that's very promising. We're going to hold 23 you to it. Come the year 2002, it will be 24 inscribed in our minutes of this meeting. 25 And I wanted to congratulate Mr. 2191 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Alston's statement that was the statement about an auditing company recommending that we eliminate school health services and that the school system determined not to do that. I think that's an absolutely proper decision. It's one of many we're going to have to make in these days when so-called welfare reform -- actually the removal of all safety-net legislation, as I see it, comes into effect.
And on that question, I raise the question of school tokens. We had SEPTA here the other day, and some of us gave them a little difficult time because they charge the School District something for these school tokens, and the School District in turn charges pupils. In your statement, you say it's $9 a week on average per child for those -- and there are thousands of them -- who have to use school tokens. In these coming days, with the March 3rd deadline here, many, many of those youngsters are not going to have any money available.
That's correct. 2192 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Because cash assistance is the first thing that goes under this Welfare Reform Act. I don't know how anybody manages today to send their kids, and I expect that often, the vacancy rate is, you know, impacted by the inability to provide funds. And I think it's an absolute disgrace at this time, one year before the millennium begins, to have kids not able to go to school because they can't afford car fare. It seems to me, Madam President, that we've got to get SEPTA, the School District, and the City together. (Applause.)
And I think all kids ought to go to school. And I just --
I believe Councilman Kenney wants to be recognized for a point of information.
Thanks. Point of information for the Councilman. We're going to be introducing a resolution on Thursday to ask the Legislative Oversight Committee to put those groups together 2193 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. -- SEPTA, the School District, and any other interested people -- to try to figure out a way that we can get where we all want to be with the transportation of our children.
Well, that's fine. I think that's a very sound, forward step. Because I don't think Philadelphia wants to be known as the place where you can only go even to public school if you can afford to pay tokens in the event you have to go to school.
I'm sorry, I was just going to say, in light of that, I'll ask my staff to get to you some comparisons as it relates also to other cities. There are other cities in the United States where there is some payment that takes place, but if my memory serves me correctly, our kids have to pay about twice as much as the next highest one that is in this survey that we did.
My goal would be to have that payment zero. 2194 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
'Cause I think education -- you know, we're just spending extra money later on by not making it possible for kids to get to school. So it's not an economy worth achieving.
Your time's up, I'm sorry, your time has been up.
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell.
Thank you, Madam President. Certainly, I agree with all that Councilman Cohen said with regard to tokens and would like to work with Councilman Kenney on this committee. When we talk about -- on December 8th, we held a committee hearing -- the Education 2195 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Committee held a hearing on charter schools, and one of their issues was transportation. And in fact, I some of the transcript, I pulled some of the transcript that states that the School District, in fact, determines its own policy for transportation. And, in fact, I'll read it exactly. And this is a quote: That the most troubling situation to me is the fact that if a parent chooses to send their children to a private school, they would get busing from the Philadelphia school system. If a parent chooses to send their children to a Catholic school, they will get busing from the Philadelphia school system. And more recently, if parents choose to send their children to Bucks County, to the Mosaic School, they will get busing from the Philadelphia school system. But if parents choose to send children to a charter school in Philadelphia, the buses run right by them. At 54th and Wynnefield, there are a number of private and Catholic schools right around there, and our children watch as the buses ride by. That's a quote from during our charter 2196 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. hearings. And, Councilman Cohen, I thought, I would start there because that was an issue that wasn't resolved. In fact, we learned at the hearing that there are a really, really serious unresolved issues. And, hopefully -- it's been a few months since then, we're now in March and that was December 8th. I think we have a little more clarity with regard to this issue. It was said finally that our children get less resources and are put in a dangerous situation of trying to find their way to and from school. Where are we on the status of this whole issue of busing and charter schools?
We continue to implement the State law, both as it relates to charter schools and private schools and Catholic schools, and would expect to continue to do that. And charter schools, under State law, do not -- are not provided transportation, not because of a policy decision that was made by the Board, but a policy decision that was made by the State legislature.
When? 2197 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
So are you saying that a charter school is a private school?
No, I'm saying the charter school is a charter school for which the State law does not provide for transportation.
So you're telling me the State law dictates that we don't have to provide busing for charter schools?
That is what we believe the State law says. There are those that wish it didn't say that.
And this is a part of the school charter school legislation?
It's absolutely very puzzling that a charter school is a public school, but yet they can't take advantage of services that public schools get.
Well, of course, most public school students don't get transportation either. 2198 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
So the charter school kids get the same amount of transportation that most public school students get -- that is none.
In other words, the ten miles beyond the point of the school, do they get that? Or charter schools get absolutely no busing?
That's provided to non-public schools, and charter schools are not non-public schools; charter schools are public schools.
Well, if they're public schools, then they should get what public schools get, but they don't get that, either?
So you're saying legislation does not call for that in the charter school legislation. Let me ask another question with regard to charter schools. They mention -- they mention that they get less money. I asked you this, I 2199 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. know, before, and you answered it, but I don't remember your answer. In fact, I know that can't be my beeper; I only asked one question. It can't be for me. I believe they said they get something like -- I'll tell you exactly in a minute. They get something like, like 5200 when other schools were getting 6800. I'll tell you the exact numbers in a. Would you explain that difference again to us?
Yes, I'd be glad to. The State law provides specifically what is to be included and what is not to be included in the calculation of cost-per-child for a school district. For example, the $6800 to which you refer includes debt service on our buildings and federal funds and transportation. And the State law provides that before you calculate the per-pupil amount of money, you take those kinds of things out, and then you divide the total number of kids in, because we end up having -- For example, no charter school needs to 2200 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. bus non-public schools kids ten miles beyond its border, so this there be no reason to put money in the calculation to do something that they don't do.
Because kids at charter schools come from -- most of them take children from everywhere, am I correct? Anywhere in the City.
The State law governs all of this. I, frankly, on lots points, I would write a different State law. I would not, for example, charge our school's children with $40 million next year. And our kids, our 213,000 kids lose $40 million next year because of the way the State law is drawn. So I'm not quarreling with disagreements over the State law; I'm simply saying to you that these various issues arise 2201 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. under a State law which is, to understate it, imperfectly written.
Councilwoman, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but you really have extended your time.
But I only one got one and a half questions in, only one and a half. Okay.
Thank you, Madam President. Dr. Hornbeck, I'm very interested in my whole district, but the bottom part of my district, mainly in the barrio, we're doing a lot of building of schools. We just opened one at Third and Ontario, and there was a shortage of teachers there. This is pretty much what someone asked you before and I think I know what we're trying to do this. But I just asked Mr. Ramos, Dr. Quierra is the leader of Edison cluster. And him and I 2202 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. talked about this two years ago, and it seems that the way we're going and the way that we should be going, every school that we're going to build should be K to 8, and that seems to be what we're doing. In that barrio part of my district, the bottom, which is the Kensington and Edison cluster, a lot of Edison, we're working on Hunter School, where Pedro Ramos went to school, but when he went to Hunter School, I think he probably went there for two years and jumped around to another school, right, Pedro? And did you go to three different schools before you -- four different schools before you got to 8th grade, right? Right, something like that. He went to a lot of schools but he went to Hunter. What's going on with Hunter can? Hunter's on its way? Can someone give us where we are with Hunter and Burgos and another school that we're going to be building?
I don't have that at my fingerprints but I'll be glad to give you a report on every single school in your --
Do we have anybody 2203 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. here that can answer that? 'Cause I think it's important that as that population explosion explodes, we put the schools where the students need to be, of course, so we don't have to think about the busing and all that. And these young children in that community can go to schools that they can maybe be on the School Board some day and say, Yeah, I went to Hunter, but I went there for eight years or nine years, counting kindergarten. Hunter, where are we on Hunter on the drawing Board?.
Good morning. My name's Ted Skirski, and I'm currently the Director of Design and Construction on an acting basis with the School District of Philadelphia. The Hunter School specifically is still in the property acquisition stage. We're working with the Redevelopment Authority, and that's -- I don't have a specific number for you, but we are working on it.
But the acquisition is always a problem because we're, you know, acquiring property. As compared to where 2204 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. we're going to build Burgos at the old Quaker Light site, which is something that's being condemned, could we talk about that one?
That's definitely going to happen at Fourth and Lehigh, as far as I'm concerned.
There's no 16 individual homeowners or anything like that.
We should have the Burgos property certainly this spring, and I hopefully will have the Hunter property by this summer.
All right, because it actually -- we were dealing with one of the owners of the ground, and it became a political hot potato, so we decided to condemn instead of buying it from the person, and we could have been in that school two years earlier so --
Well, they didn't want to sell. That was their only choice, condemnation.
Okay. Now, others schools, do we have any other schools planned? I know there's some very preliminary talks about Wacco (ph.) Scaffolding site at Jean Hunting Park as Juniata Park explodes, as the Catholic price themselves out of the market, some may say, and Hopkinson becomes overcrowded, even though we built a Little Schoolhouse there. What happens there?
We're looking at an alternative use for Jean Hunting Park. Its original intention was --
So we don't have to condemn anything there, we can just put a school there possibly if --
Sure. We're also looking at a replacement for the Willard School. That's in the very early stages of site acquisition.
As the population of those census tracts explode and places that we already own, like Wacco Scaffolding, which, in my opinion, would be a great location for a school because it will get the kids in Feltonville and the kids in Juniata, and they can all go right in that spot.
Right. And the Carmac (ph.), the apartments, is two buildings into it, we have two more buildings to fill there, and they'll be public school students in there, and there's probably going to be 300 new families in the next two years. And I'm sure were going to have Hopkinson, I mean, Hopkinson already had some problems. I mean, it's an immediate problem, the overcrowding at some of these schools, especially 2207 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. the ones that I'm familiar with.
So we can definitely do something Wacco Scaffolding? Or do we have to --
We're talking to our planning committee, which there is some talk about, you know, specifically doing something for Feltonville and in that area.
Thank you, Madam President. I'll ask the other questions later.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rizzo.
Mr. Hornbeck, when SEPTA was here, we discussed an issue that I think we discussed last year during this budget process. Can you give me an idea how much we spend on transporting students throughout your system?
If you'll give just us a 2208 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. moment, I'll be very specific on that. Mr. Santilli will. . . (Dr. Hornbeck confers off-mike with staff members.)
Does that include the capital investment of the equipment, the buses? Or is that just operation?
No, that's just operation. Actually, it's $33 million for transportation of students, and that includes non-public as well as --
Do you know how much we have invested in equipment? Many school buses do we own?
I'll get the Transportation Director. (John Lombardo comes forward.)
This is John Lombardi, 2209 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. who is the Director of Transportation.
Good morning. We have approximately 650 school buses, Councilman.
New buses cost approximately $60,000, 65, depending if it's a lift bus or a straight bus, depending on the size of the bus.
-- how much out of that $37 million is -- again, I was confused. You said it was --
33 million, okay. How much of that 33 million is money that we spend on rental or other than the 650 buses that we own? 2210 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Well, I don't want anything left out, the big picture. Forgive me, maybe I don't know every term that you're going to use.
We need to make a correction. Have some transportation to be reallocated for special education as well, and I want to include that figure. We're really talking 55 million for transportation, including all public, non-public, regular ed., and special ed.
Does that increase the number of buses, then, from 650 to another number?
The 650 that we own, Councilman, we operate about 520 bus routes. There's approximately 500 additional routes that we contract out for services, and that includes buses and cabs. 2211 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Have you ever thought of -- $55 million is a lot of money.
For transportation, in my opinion. Have we talked to SEPTA at all about some joint venture in trying to reduce the need for the School District of Philadelphia owning 650 buses plus the contractual monies that are spent?
I understand that there are some obstacles in having SEPTA provide some of the service that your 650 buses provide, but I can't believe that we're not talking to try to reduce that number from $55 million -- just -- that's just the operating expenses versus the cost of 650 buses, which sounds lean to me. It's 55,000 for -- you can buy one of those buses for 65,000?
Correct. We're talking about a transit-style bus. 2212 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Would you consider some conversation, or if there's a need for some adjustments to legislation to start moving forward to do that?
Well, we have had conversations with SEPTA regarding the tokens, which were mentioned earlier. In fact, former Councilwoman Fernandez chaired a meeting with us and SEPTA regarding this matter, and there was some discussion about the cost of the tokens, maybe a new fare-collection process. As Dr. Hornbeck indicated, 9 percent of our students, public school students receive transportation, so it's a very small number of public school kids that actually get school busing. A significant number of those students are for special education purposes, which is mandated by the State and federal government. And there's approximately 12 to 13,000 non-public school students who get transportation to points within the City and up to ten miles beyond, in conjunction with State law.
SEPTA has, I think I remember, 2500 vehicles that SEPTA owns. 2213 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
You're getting to the point where you're having quite a big operation, and I just can't understand why the two of you aren't working closer to try to save some money here. (Germaine Ingram comes forward.)
Germaine Ingram, Chief of Staff for the School District of Philadelphia. I'm sitting in for the Superintendent while he stepped out briefly. Councilman Rizzo, the School District of Philadelphia has, for a number of years, attempted to look at alternative ways to deliver transportation services, and those discussions have included SEPTA from time to time. There have been discussions about the possibility of the creation of a transportation authority that would relieve the School District of the substantial burden that transportation -- that transportation creates. We are happy to hear about the proposal that there be renewed discussions under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oversight 2214 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Committee of this Council so that we can continue to see what ways we can bring down the cost of transportation for the District.
I appreciate that because I don't see any effort -- I don't see any effort from SEPTA's side or your side to really get this thing going, and $55 million is a significant amount of money, plus the capital cost of the 650 buses. I think that if the two of you got together, you could make a significant dent in the amount of money that's spent today in this process.
I would just like to piggyback on that, Miss Ingram. The School District owns 650 buses. How many buses are contracted out for transportation?
We operate approximately 520 routes with those buses, Councilwoman, and there's approximately 500 additional routes that 2215 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. we contract out for services. Our operation is over 1,050 vehicles.
Thank you. Mr. Hornbeck, I think that you are very, very familiar with the overcrowding of just about every school in Southwest Philadelphia. I attended a meeting one night last week at Penrose Elementary School. I will tell you that the parents were absolutely upset, and I could readily understand why. I understand that the school gym is not really a gym but an old closet room. I understand that they have 566 children presently enrolled at Penrose. And in the gym, which was an old storage room, I understand that the gym is adjacent to the boiler room, and they only have one entrance or exit, which I certainly would think would be a violation of the fire code. What are we doing about situations like this?
And I understand -- excuse me -- they have a room which is not even a cafeteria; it's just a vacant room. 2216 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. And I understand they have to have three shifts for children to have lunch.
I think that something has to be done. Now, I did write you a letter concerning that. Are you in a position to tell me at this point in time what you intend to do about that?
Well, I frankly I don't think there's going to be immediate relief for it. The conditions that you describe are ones that are the same in lots of schools across the School District. For example, Northeast High School, speaking of three lunch periods, they have six.
And I will tell you, out in Southwest Philadelphia -- in fact, even the cluster leader said that most of the Realtors state that families that are moving 2217 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. into the community have at least three children, which indicates to me that the problem is just going to get worse.
Oh, I think that's absolutely true. It's one of the issues for at least four years now that I've been trying to put in front of the Council, the state legislature. These aren't -- we did the first facilities audit in the history the School District and identified with great specificity those kinds of issues. I think the fact that both the physical conditions and the unfairness as it relates to the academic programs is an absolute disgrace. And, unfortunately, neither in over-large classes or the absence the pre-kindergarten programs or in the context of overcrowded school buildings, despite the fact that we have more than doubled our capital program in the last four years, it had been down and around $45 million a year back five, six, seven years ago, and because of some of the kinds of conditions that you describe, we've more than doubled it.
Well, apparently, it hasn't been doubled out in this 2218 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. area.
Well, it actually -- I'd be glad to give you the facts on the capital changes in all parts of the City. But the District -- there's no question but that what you describe is one example of the sort of shamefulness with which the School District kids have in effect labored, and there's no excuse for it.
You and I know that, but what do I tell these parents? What do I tell them?
Well, once, among other things, Mr. Kenney and I figure out what this new strategy is going to be, then presumably the parents at Penrose will play a role in that strategy. The fact is that even though we don't have the money, we, as I say, have doubled the -- have more than doubled the capital budget. I think one of things that we may have to face up to, quite apart from pre-kindergarten and from lower class size, is the need to go to an alternative schedule; that is to say, a year-round 2219 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. schedule, in which students still go to school three quarters of the time but some of them go in summer and some of the them go in the fall and some of them go in the winter.
I was going to ask you to elaborate on your statement on the alternative school calendars. Is what you were referring to in your statement?
That's one form, which I honestly believe we will end point having to do because of situations like you describe. To sort of state it simply, if you think of the school year as four quarters --
How does that respond to the fact that these youngsters do not have a gym?
They don't have a cafeteria. I don't know how having alternative school calendars is going to help with that facility.
Well, it ends up meaning that there are fewer kids in the school at any given day, so it has that impact, but it's not 2220 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. going to change the gymnasium or the character of the cafeteria. It will mean that --
You know, your response is not really a response for me. It's my understanding that some of the parochial schools in that district are closing. Have you looked into the possibility of perhaps purchasing or renting one of those schools?
The answer is yes, that we have been examining those alternatives as well.
The initial response was that the parents should not expect any relief at any time soon. And now the response is, Well, we're looking into the parochial school and leasing or purchasing. What is it? Should they expect no 23 response any time soon, or are they going to get more space as a result of the space that's being created by the demise of the parochial schools? 2221 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Unless or until we buy another parochial school, as we have done on multiple occasions, in the next four years, I don't see any relief. But just as we have taken aggressive action in the past and have put six new parochial schools into operation during the last four years, I hope something like that may be able to be possible in this instance, too.
Well, the initial answer was that they shouldn't expect any relief any time soon; and now I have four staff members jump over the rail to tell us that they are doing something about it. And how do we not know what's going on? Either they're getting relief or they're not.
I'm sorry. This gentleman wants to be recognized. Please identify yourself for the record. 2222 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Hi. My name is Tom McGlenchy. I'm the Acting Assistant Managing Director for Business Operations. There are properties that may become available from the Archdiocese in the area that the Council President identified. At this point in time, the Archdiocese's plans for those properties are not firm, and we just cannot make a statement with any certainty that we will be able to obtain any additional space. However, if it becomes available, we are certainly in a position to take advantage of it, as we have with past Archdiocesan properties.
I think that the School District's answer should be -- and I admit that I wasn't paying close attention. I think we have to look at every opportunity to acquire suitable space, but we want to be very certain that we don't buy the kinds of buildings that we 2223 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. are walking away from, that are already in our system. There are plenty of boarded-up public school buildings that cannot be made to fit the standard. And unless and until we are offered some material, some access to schools that are better than the ones that we are closing down, I don't think we ought to offer a false hope to the Archdiocesan schools or the private schools or any other system that's got excess buildings. We should only have and take over those buildings that are located where we need them to be and are in the condition that we need them to be in or that can be reasonably adapted to meet our needs. But I don't think that we should be the dumping ground for used-up buildings.
We're not suggesting that, Councilwoman, we really are not suggesting that.
I understand that that's not what your intent is, but I'm suggesting to the School District that despite the fact that there may be a number of excess buildings by virtue of Archdiocesan schools being closed, that 2224 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. we ought to very carefully evaluate each opportunity and make sure that it is an opportunity and not just a way to be friendly to a system that is having some difficulty. I don't want to see us become the dumping ground for buildings that are no longer useful to the Archdiocesan system.
We share that commitment, and it is five schools that we've refurbished. The five Archdiocesan schools that we have bought and put into operation are --
Do you know specifically where the five are? St. Callistus, I think, was the last one.
I recall one in the West Philadelphia area. There's St. Callistus, which now houses the Overbrook education center. And there's St. -- I believe it's St. Steven's at Fifth and Cayuga, where we invested an appreciable amount of money. St. Henry and Our Lady of Pompeii. And that's four. 2225 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
But my concern specifically is about Southwest Philadelphia. And at the meeting last week, the parents of many of the children were saying that they could see no reason why an addition could not be made to the present school building because they desperately need additional classrooms, they definitely need a gymnasium, they need a cafeteria. And then I sent a member of my staff to another meeting last week which I could not attend, and it was about the much-needed repairs at the Bartram Motivation School, there's a need for a new library there. It's my understanding that the computer room has been closed for weeks because, apparently, they're doing some renovation work, they're painting. I don't know why we can't paint school buildings in the summertime. The lunchroom, again, is a disgrace. It is designed for elementary school children. All of the following schools are filled to their capacity in Southwest Philadelphia: Catharine, Morton, Patterson, and Penrose. Mr. Hornbeck I am telling you, I 2226 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. definitely want a response to both of my letters that I sent to you. And please don't tell me that this is a problem that's existing and you just don't know what we're going to do about it. Something must be done.
I will certainly respond to the letters. And as we have in the past, across the city, everything that can be done is going to be done, including continuing these conversations that -- to which Mr. McGlenchy and others relate.
Well, I think before the passage of this budget, I would like either you or someone from the School District to take a tour with me to visit some of these schools so that they could see firsthand exactly what I'm talking about.
I have a couple of questions. Is my time up? I'm being told my time is up. (Laughter.)
But you have the 2227 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. presidential prerogative.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just one comment relative to something that the Superintendent said about the development of a new strategy to deal with Harrisburg. I think that's your job. Your job is to figure out over the next two years what we did wrong and what you need to do right to get yourself back on the right track in Harrisburg. My relationship with Harrisburg for the individual that I am as a Councilman isn't bad. I think that the problems that were created or exist are something that you need to deal with. Now, if you want my advice, I'd be happy to offer it when you need it. However, you have a two-year contract to correct that situation. That's not my responsibility. It's something, if you would like me to help you with, I will, but this is not something that is outside the scope of your ability to get done if it's 2228 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. approached in a different way.
Well, it's one of those areas where I think we don't entirely agree with one another. One of the mistakes, in fact, over the last 30 years, in my judgment, is that the expectation is that somehow all of the relationships, including political relationships with Harrisburg, belong to the School District. We certainly carry a major portion of that, but I confess that I reject the notion that it belongs to the School District alone. It is the City of Philadelphia whose School District this is.