COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE City Hall, Room 400 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, April 22, 2026 10:00 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILWOMAN RUE LANDAU COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE-RICHARDSON COUNCILWOMAN QUETCY M. LOZADA COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILMAN CURTIS J. JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN NICOLAS O'ROURKE COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS HELEN LOUGHEAD, The Clerk P R O C E E D I N G S
Members, please take your seats. Always good to see Harim Ashanti, A.K.A Will -- good morning, everyone. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, members of City Council, members of the public. Thank you for being here. This is the public hearing and public meeting of the Committee of the Whole regarding Bill Nos. 260199, 260200, 260201, 260202, 260203, 260204, 260205, 260206, 260208, 260209; and Resolution 16 Numbers 260227 and 181014. Ms. Loughead, will you please take attendance.
Councilmember Phillips. Councilmember O'Neill. Councilmember Gilmore-Richardson.
Present. Thank you, Ms. Loughead. I'm calling the committee as present and this hearing is now called to order. Ms. Loughead, will you please read the title of the bills and resolutions.
Bill No. 7 260199, an ordinance adopting the operating budget for fiscal year 2027. Bill No. 260200, an ordinance to adopt a fiscal year 2027 capital budget. Bill No. 260201, an ordinance to adopt a capital program for the six fiscal years 2027 through 2032, inclusive. Bill No. 260202, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-2400 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Hotel Room Rental Tax by providing for an additional excise tax on hotel room rentals, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260203, an ordinance amending Sub-Code A, the Philadelphia Administrative Code of Title IV of the Philadelphia Code, the Building, Construction and Occupancy Code by adding and revising zoning board of adjustment fees and provisions regarding hearing scheduling, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260204, an ordinance amending Title 3 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Air Management Code to modify the amounts of license and permit fees under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260205, an ordinance amending Section 19-1806 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Authorization of Realty Use and Occupancy Tax to clarify the imposition of the tax on the use or occupancy of real estate with respect to cell towers, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260206, an ordinance amending Chapter 6-600 of the Philadelphia Code, Asbestos, by adding and revising provisions related to various fees, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260208, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-1800 of the Philadelphia Code entitled School Tax Authorization to add a new Section 19-1808 entitled Authorization of Ride Share Use Tax to authorize the Board of the School District of Philadelphia to levy a tax upon the use by a passenger of a transportation network company for a prearranged ride that originates in Philadelphia, all under certain terms and conditions. Bill No. 260209, an ordinance amending Title 19 of the Philadelphia Code entitled Finance Taxes and Collections to add a new Chapter 19-4800 entitled Retail Delivery Tax to establish a tax on orders for the delivery in Philadelphia of retail consumer and other tangible goods, all under certain terms and conditions. Resolution No. 260227, providing for the approval by the Council of the City of Philadelphia of a revised five-year financial plan for the City of Philadelphia, covering fiscal years 2027 through 2031 and incorporating revisions with respect to fiscal year 2026, which is to be submitted by the Mayor to the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority pursuant to an intergovernmental cooperation agreement by and between the city and the authority. Resolution No. 181014, calling for the Council Committee of the Whole to convene public meetings and public hearings pursuant to the educational supplement of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to review the administration, management, operation and finances of the school district and adopt plans to coordinate the activities of the Board of Education, the Mayor and the City Council for the improvement and benefit of public education in Philadelphia.
Thank you very much, Ms. Loughead. Today we hold the public hearing of the Committee of the Whole to consider the bills read by the clerk that constitute proposed operating and capital spending measures for fiscal year 2027, a capital program and a forward- looking capital plan for fiscal year 2027 through fiscal year 2032. Additionally, this meeting meets the requirement of the educational supplement of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter to review the administration, the management operations and finances of the School District of Philadelphia on a bi-annual basis. This morning we will hear testimony from the School District of Philadelphia, and in the afternoon, we will have public testimony. I'd like to also acknowledge in our presence today who will be joining us for this hearing is State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler. Thank you for joining us. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the first person to testify.
The suspense. The Chair also recognizes the presence of Councilman Dr. Anthony Phillips, as well as Councilman Mark Squilla as present. As always, Madam Mayor, welcome home. And when you are ready, state your name for the record and please begin your testimony.
Since you said welcome home, Mr. President, can I introduce myself as Cherelle Parker, former intern in the City Council of Philadelphia and former member of the City Council of Philadelphia, who has the greatest admiration and respect for this legislative body. And I want to say thank you to you, Mr. President, along with Majority Leader Gilmore-Richardson, Majority Whip in Education Committee, Chairman Thomas, and all members of Council. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to speak about a topic that is critically important to me, and I know to all of you, the 198,000 students educated in our district and charter schools. Councilmembers, I want to thank you and, historically, the City Council of Philadelphia, because with all due respect, Mr. President, this body has been the leader in funding public education in the city of Philadelphia. And the records stated, I want to, before I leave, if you will allow, Mr. President, to submit for the journal or for the stenographer comments that I made that are listed in the Pennsylvania Legislative Journal from 2013 when we first increased the sales tax enabling authority. And I want to submit this for the record as a part of my testimony, but it also encouraged me, Mr. President, to take a stroll through Philadelphia's history as it relates to our investment in public education so that residents of the city of Philadelphia don't ever forget that it has been this legislative body in the city of Philadelphia proper that has been the foundation for funding the School District of Philadelphia. Quite frankly, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania didn't get it right, it was this body that laid the groundwork. And I went back, I just got off the phone, Mr. President, with Ambassador David Cohen, and because reading up all night, going through these notes, for those of you who have been around long enough, I went back to 1994. I was a senior at Lincoln University hoping that my mentors would show up for my graduation. But I knew that they were in deep conversations and negotiations about something called the Liquor by the Drink tax. ” I remember industry coming in. I remember -- I don't know how many people, and I was thinking about this, Philadelphia, it is important for me to just share. We used to have a newspaper called the Night Scene. And the Night Scene was in neighborhood- base, bars and taverns and restaurants. It was a balance between the scoop and what we had with the Jimmy Tayoun paper. But it was very well read. And the Liquor by the Drink tax was being socialized in communities across the city. And we were told that our institutions, our restaurants and our bars, they would shut down, Mr. President, if we did not have access to that revenue. And guess what, this City Council of Philadelphia led and made sure that that Liquor by the Drink tax was passed. I wanted to get that part on the record because later on in the testimony, that's the first sort of point of reference of when the City of Philadelphia stepped up to generate revenue for the School District of Philadelphia. And I'm going to go through 2013 and 2014 in my testimony so that we can measure up our contributions to public education that were raised solely here on the backs of Philadelphians by the work that this legislative body and the executive branch would do during those years before the courts ruled in our favor. It is with that in mind, Mr. President, that I want to, again, thank you and Council for always standing up for public education and our students. And quite frankly, I don't expect anything to be any different this year because we have always done it. It has always been tough, it has always been a great deal of communication. But we've had talks in behind closed doors in public forums like this. But whenever the moment called, this legislative body and the executive branch, we have always risen to the occasion. It is with that in mind, Mr.
President, that I want to acknowledge Board President Reginald Streater, Vice President Sarah Ashley Andrews, and all members of the Board of Education. I want to wholeheartedly thank each of them for their dedicated service to Philadelphia students and for their stewardship of our district. Also preparing last night I Googled Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Mont Co. And I'm going through our four counties. And I know there's been some discussion about whether or not the city of Philadelphia should have an elected school board or an appointed school board. And for the record, I have always not been in support of an elected school board with taxing authority because I have always ruled that as a sacred -- as a sacred tool and power of this legislative body. And I wholeheartedly still do not believe that we ever need to defer taxing authority, that important tool, to any other entity, especially when it comes to education in the city of Philadelphia because of our history. I also want to thank, Mr. President, Dr. Tony Watlington and his amazing leadership team. I just read somewhere recently that one of the members of your leadership team, if you're here, Doc, has recently been poached to become the new leader of the Baltimore school district because they were so impressed, Mr. President, with the work that had been done here in the city of Philadelphia. So I want to thank you, Dr. Watlington. You came here and set an ambitious goal, and I want to get it right because I get right, Safe, Clean, and Green with economic opportunity for all. But I always screw this part up. I want to get it right. When you came here, you set an ambitious goal to make Philadelphia the fastest-improving large urban district in the country. That was Dr. Watlington's mantra in everything about his work as our school superintendent. Mr. President has affirmed that we're working to get that done. Finally, I want to acknowledge the members of our extended community, the education community, who are advocating every day, Mr. President, to ensure that our students have what they need to learn and grow. , the amount of times that they have raised taxes from 2020 up until now, solely dedicated to their public-school systems. And, you know, they have multiple districts in those counties. But when we took a look at that, I thought to myself how grateful we are to have an education community at large that is also advocating for our school district so that our students can have what they need to learn and grow. And that would be Art Steinberg from the PFT, Dr. Robin Cooper from CASA, Nicole Hunt from UNITE HERE, Bernadette Ambrose-Smith of the School Police, all of the principals, the teachers, all of our advocacy partners, and the parents and community members who care about Philadelphia schools. I am incredibly proud, Mr. President, of the progress that our Philadelphia school district -- I'm proud of the progress that it is making under this leadership. Why? Student attendance, test scores and graduation rates are increasing while dropout rates are decreasing. We are doing something right, Mr. President. Our extended day, extended year program, it is delivering real results for Philadelphia families, a true path to economic mobility. How do we know? Because 97 percent of parents report that they are satisfied with before and after school programming, that reflects real trust. Now, just as important is that 95 percent say that this free programming allows them, the parents and caregivers, to focus on work. And 92 percent say that it is ultimately helping them save money. Extended day, extended year programming, it helps students build strong connections to their schools. This year, students who attended extended day, extended year programs, just one day a week, this is just one day a week, Mr. President, they had a 78 percent attendance rate. And those who came four days a week, they had an attendance rate of 82 percent.
That's higher than the district average for all elementary schools. We are moving in the right direction and making progress, Mr. President. And let me say one more thing about this program, because I know there was some -- some were skeptical about the thought and the idea of these extended day, extended year programs at first. And when you're doing something new and different, I understand that. But what I said when we first started, it remains true. And that's why I stayed stuck last night on Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Mont Co. Our children deserve the same kinds of educational enrichment programs that kids in the suburbs get. That's a path to self- sufficiency. And I'm unapologetic about it. They're not better standardized test takers than we are. They're not smarter than our kids. But when you build in all of the assistance they get outside of the traditional school day, not just what they do during the day, but when you build in all of the academic enrichment, you say, well, wow, when I see your regions making that kind of investment in you, we now know why that investment is clearly connected to student performance. Why is this important? I want you to know that strengthening academic proficiency and performance is the foundation of it all. There is a school board member and she will beat you over the head with it if you don't listen to it. Cheryl Harper, I've known her for a very long time. She and all of the members of the board. I mean, you know, arts and culture and music, those things are extremely important. But if academic performance is not improving, nothing else matters. Why are we strengthening academics? Because it is essential. And I want you to listen to these pilot programs that are in schools. 5 Ten schools, Chairman Thomas. 6 Joyful Readers; I had never heard of 7 Joyful Readers. 8 And then, Mr. President, 9 Kumon; Kumon, Mr. President. Now, 10 for those of you who are smiling and you know Kumon, I want you to know I'm late to the party. I didn't find out about Kumon until last year or the year before, because personally, I needed access to the resource for my own child. He needed some additional support. Until I got in there for the interview. And they said, well, we're going to introduce you to some parents who have been a part of Kumon for many years so you can understand what it is like. And they had about three or four parents. I said, well, how long have you been here? Well, my child started at four, my child started at five. And I said, I'm way behind. I'm behind here. Like, I should have had him enrolled in this kind of program much earlier. But Mr. President, I never knew it existed until I saw it on Germantown Avenue. But guess what, Mr. , and so many other places, but guess where it is now, Mr. President? It is in the School District of Philadelphia. And our children get access to Kumon and their parents don't have to pay for it. Important. Another one I didn't know about, and many of you may be familiar with this one, Springboard Academy -- I mean, Springboard Collaborative. I had never heard of the Springboard Collaborative before. Now, it is actually in our School District of Philadelphia. We're also expanding enrichment. This is important. You shouldn't be confined to what is occurring in your zip code. So what else are they doing aside from those pilot programs? Strengthening academics, field trips. They've been, Mr. President, to the Marian Anderson Museum. They know who she is and they've been able to feel her and experience it. They've been to the Arden. You would be surprised how many of our children have not had access to the opportunity to participate in a live viewing of theater. They've been there. A partnership with the Arden and the Spirit of Philadelphia. I don't care how old I get, it is always going to be a super big deal to me. I remember the first time I went on the Spirit of Philadelphia. It is a tradition that is continuing now. And, Mr.
President, through the One Philly Produce Project. And we learned how important this was during the SNAP crisis that occurred. A lot of discussion here about geometric, if things ride about, if this happens, are we going to be prepared? Well, Mr. President, I am so proud that when that crisis with SNAP occurred as a result of those federal actions, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania attempted to respond and did the best it could, our One Philly Produce Project, we have distributed, Mr. President, 38,000 pounds of food to families, because supportive learning, it means supporting the whole child, our investments in public education, and that supporting families and children. So I'm proud of that. I am also pleased, Mr. President, that my administration, the school district and the board and this council, we are aligned. We are all aligned. Please don't allow people to do this divide and conquer strategy. It is great, Mr. President, when somebody is trying to get some clicks and get some likes and some views. But you can't say that my administration, this school district, this school board, and this City Council are not aligned in our commitment to public education and student success. I don't care who's selling it, I'm not buying it. We are united. People just don't want us to get together and figure it out because they benefit when there's chaos and confusion. Mr. President, Chairman Thomas, we've done some good work, Mr. Chairman, but we cannot rest. We are facing headwinds that threaten the progress, it threatens to stop that progress from moving forward. And that's just not my opinion. The data affirms what I -- what I just shared. And in essence, this reminds me of approximately 10 years ago. And this is what kept me 11 up, you know, all night, when the 12 district, the School District of Philadelphia was facing a financial crisis. And this is when I said, wait a minute, I need to go back and get a history of when we've generated additional revenue. I'm not talking about what comes to us through the Commonwealth's formula or dollars coming from the Commonwealth. I'm talking about dollars that are solely generated here in the city of Philadelphia. Our local share, just like Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Mont Co. raise taxes to support their local school district. What have we as the city of Philadelphia done? And when I started thinking about 7 years ago and that crisis, listen, 8 it was due to circumstances once 9 again, beyond its control. 10 It was the loss of both 11 state funding and federal funding. 12 And here we are, back to the future, right back at the same place. We all have been asking the question, how is the city of Philadelphia going to be prepared when we get hit by the federal government? We've been hit. We've been hit by the federal government. As soon as that $300 million in ARPA funding expired, that was the hit. We've got to respond. I've heard that from members of this body. You've asked over and over and over again, what are we going to do if the federal government does this? What are we going to do if the federal government does this? Guess what? They've already acted. And guess what? It is done. Mr. President, it has created a $300 million structural deficit in the School District of Philadelphia. To the viewing public, I want you to know, none of this has anything to do with mismanagement of funds. The School District of Philadelphia has crossed its financial T's and dotted its I's. They've made central office cuts. We are here today because that federal government stopped $300 million in revenue that our school district received in order for it to function. And now we have to figure out a way to continue. So don't let anybody say, this is not the council's fault. This is not the school board's fault. This is not Dr. Watlington's fault. We are trying to fix what the federal government has in essence, how it has impacted our school district, because that $300 million in ARPA funding is gone.
And that's why we're here right now. And so let me affirm that when we were going through this crisis, and it is eerie, the numbers are really basically the same. That's why I want my notes on the floor -- from the floor of the house to be submitted as testimony. Because it is almost the same exact message. I was chairing the Philadelphia delegation at that time, Mr. President. And then Council President Darryl Clarke was here. And you will remember we were fighting for the sales tax and then we were fighting for the cigarette tax. I see the depressor outside of -- in the Capitol where we had to ask R's and D's. I see Chairman Harris and Mayor Nutter, Leader Dermody, standing right there with us. And we were -- we were angry, Mr. President, because it was July. Bill Gray had passed away. Congressman Bill Gray. It was like the 1st of July. Everybody was standing up on the floor of the house giving speeches in honor of Congressman Gray. And I remember getting ready. We all have conversations about partisan politics. This was pre-MAGA. This was when MAGA was being born. In its infancy it was called the Tea Party. And we had to figure out how to get to yes with that constituency, and we couldn't get it all at once. So this is what they gave us. Remember, the sales tax was expiring, and we needed additional revenue. We said, give us the sales tax and we will use the first $120 million of those dollars to fund the School District of Philadelphia. We were very fortunate. We also negotiated during that time, and it was a bit of a civil war internally for those who are here who were a part of it. You will remember anything over $120 million we negotiated. And Leader Turzai, who was not the speaker -- Sam Smith was the speaker during that time, I negotiated with Leader Turzai and our chamber to have everything over $120 million directed to our unfunded liability in our municipal pension fund. Then Council President Darryl Clarke and I, we rumbled back-to-back, again, Mr. President, civil war, because you know, there were some people who didn't support it at that time, but we were able to get it done. That was 120. We couldn't get the cigarette tax. We got the cigarette tax the following year in 14, $83 million. So I want you to begin to count that up. It was -- I want you to, one, note: Liquor by the Drink. That was 1994. First tax that I can remember, like, in my lifetime, specifically generated here in the city of Philadelphia and directed to public education. In 2013 -- well, we actually got two. We had a tax fairness package, and we asked for the ability to lien properties of owners who were delinquent in paying property taxes here in the city of Philadelphia. And it was projected to generate $28 million. It was a drop in the bucket for what we needed overall. And that's when we were able to get the $120 million in sales tax revenue. The following year it was $83 million from the cigarette tax. Why do I affirm that for the record? , and taxes raised for education, public education, in their respective districts. And you will see how many times those local jurisdictions have had to step up for public education, and they have done it time and time again. My ask today is that all of us get together and do what there are some people out there are hoping that we don't do. Guess what they're hoping that we don't do? They're hoping that we don't figure out a way to get it right. They're hoping that we don't figure out a way to get the yes for public education. I'm here on the date, Mr. President, to tell you, I believe in your leadership, Mr. President. I value your leadership, Chairman Thomas, Majority Leader Gilmore-Richardson, and all members of this body. And I know we can figure out a way to do it if we just stand together. Why is all of this important to get on the record? Because when we needed to stabilize the district with new recurring revenue, we stepped up. Guess what?
It took nine years, nine years later for the Commonwealth Court to agree with the Education Law Center, the Public Interest Law Center. They had filed a lawsuit. When we passed, we did sales and we did cigarettes. After we did that revenue, they filed a lawsuit claiming that the state system of education funding was unconstitutional, after we had generated that revenue. Yeah, we were happy we were able to do it. It wasn't all that we needed, but we knew it was wrong. And our two educational legal policy centers said, we have to stand up and we need to take this to court. It is fundamentally unconstitutional. Nine years later, Commonwealth Court agreed. 25 billion. The General Assembly acknowledged that. , their property taxes are like mortgages or like second mortgages in those areas. There's no way in the world we, little old city of Philadelphia, we can't afford to increase property taxes at the rates of those other jurisdictions. Our people just can't afford it. I wouldn't support it. You wouldn't support it. We wouldn't support it because it wouldn't be fair if we did it. We are dealing with an affordability challenge, and we didn't have the same tools in the toolbox that our regional partners had. Why is that important, Mr. President? Because right now, we've got a governor named Josh Shapiro, who has led in the funding of public education throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. After the court's ruling, the Commonwealth's investment, it has been at a historic rate. I'm thinking about the Philadelphia delegation and Speaker McClinton and Appropriations Chairman Harris and our friend Leader Bradford from Mont Co. The funding that's been driven to the school district, along with that pot called the adequacy sort of pot of funding, they have been fighting to ensure that the Commonwealth is paying off the debt that is owed to Philadelphia students. And we are grateful to them for their advocacy. I'm thinking about Chairman Hughes and Leader Costa. I'm thinking about all of their work. But Mr. President, years of chronic underfunding, guess what, it has caught up with us, Mr. Chairman. It is not fuzzy math. I know we -- some folks were questioning the math. It is -- like it is not. $300 million is gone because the federal government no longer has $300 million on the table in revenue that it is generating and sending to the city of Philadelphia and our school district. We don't have that anymore. The chronic underfunding from the Commonwealth, they are working to pay off the debt owed to students. However, we are right now facing another critical tipping point. The school district and that $300 million structural deficit will result in 340 school-based cuts. Now, this is where I want to be clear: the cuts would have an enormous impact. 149 teachers, 15 counselors, 119 climate staff, plus 16 other administrative and support 17 staff, 206 schools would be 18 impacted. 19 Now, in schools across the 20 city, from North Philadelphia to 21 West Philadelphia to the Northeast, 22 students will feel the loss of these 23 trusted adults in their lives. And the impact will be felt in neighborhoods across the city. So what does it mean? And this is the part that scared me the most, and how we got here, and I'm going to walk through that, too. How we get to $1 with what's being proposed. This is what scared me, and I want to put it on the record so I'm being very transparent with all members of Council. Larger class sizes, less academic and social supports for our students, and less stability in schools that have just started to make progress that we can actually measure. That was unacceptable to me, Mr. President. And I know it is equally unacceptable to all of the members of Council. 20 to $1, if I'm here, I would question that too. You have a right to question. 20, and then about a week later, we hear that the new figure is $1. You got a right to question that. Let me tell you how we get there.
On March 12th, I submitted my proposed FY27 One Philly One Future budget to City Council for its consideration. That evening, Mr. President, we first learned that the school district was planning to eliminate 340 school-based positions, jeopardizing our students' progress. And that was to deal with the $300 million structural deficit. Unacceptable to me. 20. 20 to $1. We got there with the dollar on ride shares originating in Philadelphia because, one, when we did the math, we had to get to a number that was $50 million. I would only hope and dream that the amount could have been, Chairman Thomas, the $83 million that we got back in 2014 from the -- from the cigarette tax, or the $120 million we got from the sales tax. This didn't generate that much revenue, Mr. President. A $1 tax on ride shares originating in Philadelphia would only raise $48 million a year to help the school district step back from, listen to this number, 240 of those proposed 340. So that still wasn't enough. I listened to school union leaders and education advocates, and -- because I want to tell you about this process because some people have been asking, well, you know, I don't understand. And, Mr. President, for us to -- I mean, we -- I sat in this body. I worked in this body. I've been a part of this body. While we are going through the legislative process, we get additional information that informs our decision making on a daily basis. So for anyone to act as if getting additional information while you're going through the legislative process, that's a part of the way we make the sausage. We get additional information from stakeholders who are going to be impacted by the legislative action that we are proposing to take, and then we make adjustments where and when possible. And I want you to know that that is -- that is what we did here, Chairman Thomas. And so 200 -- eliminating or stepping back from 240 of those 340 school-based positions being eliminated, that wasn't enough. It was listening to our advocates and our labor leaders: Art Steinberg from the PFT, Robin Cooper from CASA, again UNITE HERE, Donna Cooper from Children First, Dan Ackelsberg from the Public Interest Law Center. We had a roundtable. And I'm going to tell you what they told me at the table. “You're just not listening. You just don't get it. We're talking about 340 school-based cuts. You are being able to do this and only take 240 of the 340 proposed school-based cuts off the table. Mayor, thanks, but it is not enough. ” We went back to the drawing board. Our finance director, Rob Dubow, our budget director, Sabrina Maynard, working along with the finance department and the School District of Philadelphia, they huddled, and the direction was clear. I left a meeting with those advocates and the goal has to be, if we generate this revenue, we have to make it matter and it has to result in zero school-based cuts. So the math -- somebody questioned the math mathing, they told me my math wasn't mathing, because my math would have only addressed 240 of those school-based positions, and we needed to have zero impact as it related to school- based cuts. I mean, folks have asked the question. So I wanted to be very transparent with you all so that you know how we got here, and I'm sharing with you everything that we have gone through in this process. Once we went back to the drawing board, we were able to come up with the plan so that there would be zero school-based cuts. And they did that. 4 million. Remember, Mr. President, I started by saying the number we were trying to get to was that $50 million. 4 million in annual recurring revenues. And we were able to accomplish after the school district. And we waited on pins and needles for the finance department, because you and I know, it is just like when we are putting together the budget, Mr. President, we have thoughts and ideas about things we want to get done.
You have members in this room who have things that they need to get done in their districts, and your budget team and our budget team, we get together and they get in the room and there are spreadsheets and on computers, and they start trying to make the math matter. That's how we're able to respond to members of this body who have interests and desires and issues that they want to get addressed in their respective communities. Mr. President, what we did here is no different than what we do when we're getting to yes during our budget process here in the city. Why was that important to affirm? Because this week my administration submitted formally those proposed amendments to establish the $1 ride share tax. Now, this measure combined with an adjustment to the use and occupancy tax on cell phone towers. And for most people, I haven't heard a lot of feedback about it all. We don't -- most people don't even pay attention to it unless you look up in the sky and you see all these contraptions, you know, in certain areas. And, you know, each of them usually represents a cell phone -- a different cell phone carrier in the city. 4 million in recurring revenue for the School District of Philadelphia. Just a quick pin. Somebody said, Mr. ” Now, to the member -- the several members of Council who talk about that math is not mathing, I say that math is not mathing. Mr. President, we have a regional transportation authority that's called SEPTA. And we just had to put a band aid on a gunshot wound with a quick one-time infusion of cash and no new recurring revenue source. If you're trying to systemically fix a seemingly intractable problem, you don't fix it with a one-time infusion of cash. Just like any business that you run, you have to have revenue projections about how you're going to pay the workforce. And I know we all care about that workforce. We want everybody, no matter what they do for the school district, we want them to earn a living wage, get healthcare and retirement security. So a one-time infusion is some quick cash. I know, Mr. Chairman, a time is for education. When you hear that, I can only imagine what you're thinking about, because in your mind you're saying, well, whomever is talking about a one-time infusion of cash, they ain't never had to balance a budget or make payroll. Because if they did, you know, the one-time infusion, that just buys you some breath for a little bit, but it doesn't solve the systemic crisis that we have that other school districts can count on, and that is recurring revenue. So if we don't, Mr. President and Chairman and members of Council, approve these measures, we already know what will happen. And it is what, again, will scare the daylights out of me. Academic progress will be jeopardized. Larger class sizes, less support for students and less stability in schools. There has been a great deal of discussion and quite honestly -- and I guess for the people of Philadelphia, this is more so to you, about the ride share tax that I want to share with you, and I want to get this on the record. First, City of Philadelphia ride share taxes, they are common. 51 states and localities have passed ride share taxes. You've heard it a thousand times. I just have to get it on the record, Mr. President. C. has a ride share tax. Chicago has one and so does New York. Now, San Francisco, Philadelphia -- I just want you to think about what's happening here. San Francisco, where Uber and Lyft are headquartered, has a ride share tax. And guess what, not just yesterday, Mr. President, where these billion-dollar tech companies are located in San Francisco, and I'm just talking about two, they have a local ride share tax and they've had it since 2020, 2026. They've had it where they originate, where they've decided to plant their roots and do business. They've paid a price, a local price to the local community where they are located to do business there.
Somebody said -- and I don't know, maybe I was at a meeting or something like that, and somebody said, “Yeah, well, you know, we've heard you mention New York and Chicago, but, you know, you're not talking about scale now. ” I said, “Well, okay. I'm sorry, like, does Baltimore matter? Like Baltimore is close to us. ” So if there is anyone in this city who is watching, who would believe that the city of Philadelphia would be an outlier on this issue, that would be wrong. Now, I can't stop anyone from saying it, but those are not the facts and that's not the truth. In addition to that, Mr. President, and this one got me to my core. It was like -- I was triggered by this one. If you are concerned that this tax will rest on the shoulders of low-income families, let's look at the facts. For those of you who are members of this body who were here in 2016, if you worked here, or if you were a member here, that had to sound familiar to you. Because that was the same thing that we heard when we passed the soda tax. They said, if you pass this tax, it is -- one, they said it was -- Councilmember O'Rourke, they said the soda tax was a regressive tax, because it would disproportionately impact Black and Brown and low-income communities. And I think that was my seat or either where Councilmember Harrity is, I can't remember what side now, but I remember being patient and listening, but frustrated, because the whole time they're talking about this tax disproportionately impacting low-income Black and Brown communities, the only thing they're doing is talking about Black and Brown communities as consumers. Nobody thought about the fact that the stores that are selling the sodas where the Black and Brown people go to buy, they didn't own them. Why are we just talking about this constituency as consumers, not as owners, and then not trying to figure out a way that they could benefit from the revenue being generated from the dollars that they are spending. Same issue today. So let me get the facts on the record for those people who have said that this is a regressive tax. S. Census data on Philadelphia's travel patterns. S. Census data, would you say if you can't measure it -- if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Not me. S. Census measured Philadelphia's travel patterns and only one percent of Philadelphians earning under $50,000 use ride share or taxicab services to get to work on a daily basis. Now, I'm not going to sit here and affirm that some of us don't know an outlier or two. I don't know. Somebody may have given an example about a resident who uses ride share about eight to ten times in the day to go to work, to pick up, drop off, pick up, drop off. And, you know, listen, you know, I don't know, I'm not a regular user of it. So I'm not saying that that is not accurate. I'm not challenging that at all. If that is the pattern that someone has chosen to employ in their life to get to and from, we are struggling in this city. People are trying to make ends meet and they do whatever they can with what they have to make ends meet. So if that's the story, I'm not debating that story. S. Census data says about Philadelphia's travel patterns. In addition to that, this is another one that bothered me. Somebody said -- and I'm not a lawyer, Mr. President, I was just a little old certified secondary English teacher misspelling stuff sometimes. I'm not a lawyer. But this is what I remember. This is what I remember. I remember that we won the lawsuit for the soda tax. I was up all night. And I want to go back to the basis of the lawsuit because I'm not a lawyer, but I heard the question about the language and why the language is written exactly the way it is written in the text that we are proposing. Don't forget what was challenged, you, Councilmember Driscoll, and I, we know this argument. The first one is the Sterling Act of 1932. We had to debate and keep that Sterling Act alive every year.
A Republican in the house, a Republican in the Senate was going to introduce legislation to eliminate the Sterling Act. Now, somebody in here is saying, well, this is pretty boring, she's talking about acts in 1932 and after the Depression. Guess why it is important? It is the enabling authority that gives the city of Philadelphia to collect the wage tax, both the resident and the non-resident wage tax. Without the Sterling Act, we can't do that. Now, somebody's going to say that doesn't make much sense. And I thought about it, Mr. President, and I just wanted for the -- for the record, for someone who's saying that the Sterling Act of -- doesn't make much sense, when we look at the general fund revenue that we collect here in the city to run the city and the budget that we proposed, listen, Mr. 4 billion of the revenue that we use to run the City of Philadelphia, guess where it comes from? It is enabled, Chairman Thomas, through the Sterling Act. That's one. The second thing and reason or the explanation as to why the language has to be written that way -- because if you remember the basis of the beverage tax lawsuit, the next thing is my favorite thing. Again, I hate to keep picking on Councilmembers Driscoll and you, President Johnson, but it is because when you had to be on the front line fighting all of this, you know, you remember it. What do we have here that is definitely a line in the sand with the language that we use in everything that we do, and the revenue that we collect, that most of the cities in the nation don't have to contend with? It is almost like it keeps us fiscally handcuffed. We have something called the Uniformity Clause. I'm not making it up. The city of Philadelphia doesn't have the authority, the power, even if we wanted to. And look, you're talking about what would make our jobs a whole lot easier if we did have the ability like other cities do, to charge different tax rates for different classes of property. Man, I don't understand, somebody's watching, what are you saying? Most cities, they charge one rate for industrial properties. They charge another rate for commercial properties, and then they charge another rate for residential properties. That would make what we do, I think, a whole lot simpler if we could just say, we don't want to hurt our residents who are struggling with an affordability crisis. We just made historic efforts working together, no matter how difficult it was, historic $2 billion plan to create and preserve 30,000 units of housing in the city of Philadelphia. And we did that together. But guess what? We don't have the power because of the Uniformity Clause. So for the super smart people who questioned why the language was written the way it was written, and that we affirm in the legislation, very specifically, I want you to know that the finance department, the budget department, under strict guidance from the law department, the reason why it is written that way is because we would have had to stop or been finished before we started, because we would have been in violation of the Uniformity Clause and or the Uniformity Act. So when you see the language and you have a right to question it, because when you go outside, people are going to say for the people who do, that's a dollar on me. And you're accurate. It does specifically say a dollar on the rider. But we would have been challenged in court, and thank God we had this precedent of this -- of the beverage tax lawsuit, and we know how we won. So no one could say that we were in violation of Sterling Act or we were in violation of the Uniformity Clause because of the way we wrote the language. And it does say a dollar tax on -- in essence, on a rider and the consumer. But I want you to view that as our technical way of being able to introduce the legislation and generate the revenue so that we know we don't get sued and that we can generate the revenue. But let me tell you what I know is a choice.
We didn't have a choice in the language that we use in the way the amendment and the legislation is drafted. I just told you why. But let me tell you about who has a choice. Those multi- billion-dollar companies have a choice. We've got to write the legislation the way we have to write it so the city of Philadelphia doesn't get sued and we're not in violation of Sterling and/or Uniformity Clause. But if those billion-dollar corporations who benefit from doing business in our city -- this is the frustration about having been around. Mr. President, I left in January of 2016. For two and a half years we had debated TNCs, transportation networking companies, that's what we called them during that time. And our cab companies were rumbling heavily. It was a State Representative named Rosita Youngblood who fought really, really hard. Black cabs -- I think they were called Germantown Cab or Philly Cab. They were headquartered in her area, and people had spent $100,000 a year, I know I sound like a great grandmother now, buying something called the medallion. A medallion was what you needed in order to own the cab and you were regulated by the parking authority. But the cab companies were saying to us, you know, if you let these TNCs become legalized and regulated here in the Commonwealth, you're going to throw the cab -- the cab industry, we're no longer going to be, you know, in business. And I remember like feeling sorry, but I remember when the people, the Ubers, the Lyfts, the -- all of the folks were coming up and they were giving us demonstrations about what they could do. I remember like right before I was leaving, and it went -- and Governor Wolf was the governor during that time, he was the governor who got it done. I remember saying to those people, let me tell you something, you can't stop innovation in the private sector. This technology is here. Cab companies, cab industry, you all have to find a way to compete because I'm telling you this kind of personalized convenience, it matters. It is what people desire, it is helpful. And by the time we got here, I think it was that September or October, the ride share was passed in Harrisburg. Let me say this to you, Mr. President. These multi-billion- dollar companies, they don't have to make the choice to pass it on. It is no different than the beverage industry. S. Census Bureau's data. I want you to think about New York labor economist James Parrott. And I do want to get this on the record. Councilmember Driscoll and Mr. President, he comes from a place called the New School. We've worked -- I've worked with the New School and I know Councilmember O'Rourke and probably Councilmember Brooks, I know you are familiar with the New School because a great deal of what is referred to as progressive -- well, when I was in Harrisburg, they said liberal; a great deal of liberal policies have come out of the New School. Mr. President and Councilmember Driscoll, that's who did the research when we worked on the effort of retirement security. Alan Butkovitz was the controller. We were working on it here. We kept running into ERISA laws, but we called on the New School, and it was a professor there by the name of Teresa Ghilarducci, who was the person from the New School who did our research. So, Mr. President, when we get that letter from the New School and this labor economist, and he submits testimony to this body, I want to affirm that that is not the first time that the New School has ever had any kind of engagement with the City Council of Philadelphia. They guided my research and my work when I was trying to provide retirement security for the private sector. And when you listen to that testimony, guess what he said? He stated that it does not seem too much. ” Not my words, his. ” So for those multi-billion- dollar companies, Philadelphia, this is a choice and they don't have to make it.
They could choose to invest in the city where they are fortunate and have the privilege and honor of doing business in our city. They benefit from business in our city. Are they job creators here in our city? Yes, they are. And we want them. We're open for business. We want them to continue doing business, but there's also what we usually chalk up as a cost to doing business. And you talk to anybody who's successful -- Councilmember Jones, you were at PCDC, you know what that means. It is a cost to doing business. So I know how we technically -- Councilmember O'Rourke, Councilmember Young, I know how we technically had the law department say, based on the soda tax legislation and the court ruling, we wrote the -- we wrote amendment and the language the way we had to so that we complied with legal court precedent. But the choice about what you do, that's not us. That's not this Council. That's for that -- those billion-dollar companies to decide, and they can choose to make this investment in our city where they benefit from doing business. Before I leave, Mr. President, I want to discuss another major issue facing our district. And I know this one is on everyone's mind in this room. After decades of underfunding in the school district facilities, and we know that this has been an issue. I'm a product of the School District of Philadelphia. And I love every school I attended: Rowan Elementary, Austin Meehan Middle, and the Parkway Program High School. And if Ms. Gwen Ragsdale is watching, I just saw her in Fairmount Park this week, my first- grade teacher. And immediately, Mr. President, I wanted to sit at a desk and fold my hands. It was the first time I'd seen her since elementary school. Still that kind of impact and respect and reverence that you -- that you have for the teachers and the people who were a part of your personal village. And each and every one of us who grew up here in Philadelphia and went to school in the school district, I know you can remember the people who were a part of your journey. The simple fact is that when we think about those schools, we have to remember that to renovate or repair every public school, the cost -- this is the price tag that we've been given, my team has been given, was $7 billion. That's what we would need in order to renovate or rebuild every school here in the city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia school facilities are on average more than 70 years old. They lack modern equipment and layout that's needed to educate students in the 21st century global economy, because it is no longer are we competing against each other, it is a global economy. We're competing with people now all across the world, especially when you can do business sitting at a computer. The world has changed. Many of these schools are operating far below capacity with thousands of empty seats across the system. Others are severely overcrowded. And I know members of council talked about that. Wait a minute, there's some disparity. I know one region of the city in the Northeast, I've gone by, I've seen the trailers, I've had to talk to the parents too, where they're bursting from the seams. And they're saying, you know, the demand is here, why haven't you built more? And then you go to another region of the city and you walk into a building. I spoke with a former legislator earlier today and we were talking about this. He said, I can remember a day when 1,200 students were in this one particular building. 1,200 students used to be in that building. He said, you know, how many I remember in there? I said, what? He said, the last time I checked it was about 200 or 250. That part I know we all agree on. I haven't heard a member of Council -- because this is a tough issue. I haven't heard a member of Council push back on acknowledging that there was a time when our school district had a larger population. What are we at? About 198,000 students right now.
6 million people living in the city of Philadelphia, our city has changed. The makeup of the district has changed. The population has changed. And so when we are thinking about Governor Shapiro, and this is why I really wanted to raise this, and I don't want you to -- please just don't take my word. I'm hoping that somebody will ask -- call Governor Shapiro, call any of our legislative leaders on the Democratic side or the Republican side in Harrisburg. I don't care who you talk to. Every time they go sit down to have a conversation about negotiating a budget along with public education, especially when it comes to Philadelphia, Councilmembers Driscoll, President, you were there. You know what I'm affirming. Budget conversations start this way. The majority caucus now in the House, the majority caucus in the Senate, that means Leader Bradford, Speaker McClinton, Appropriations Chairman Harris. They will meet with the Republican leaders in the Senate, because on the legislative side, the two majority parties, they're the ones who begin the conversation and they work in partnership with the governor's office. Eventually the table becomes a five-seat table, the executive branch leading the table. And you have representation from each caucus and each chamber. And you figure out a way to get to yes. Guess what question they are going to have to answer. And this is why I view what we're doing here right now in every way imaginable as us finding a way to help our legislative leaders to help us. First question they're going to ask is, what is Philadelphia doing? The City of Philadelphia proper, us, what are we doing to invest in our public schools? I'm talking about the new revenue right now. Yes, we should also be proud that for the first time, and I don't know how long, we, you know, increased the portion of the millage dedicated to public education here in the city. We didn't need a campaign or anything to tell us to do that. We came in the door with that. We committed from 55 to go to 58. 5 to go. So we're already doing that part. More of our property tax is dedicated. But here with the ride share tax, now ride share tax, tower tax, when they go to the table, we will empower them with the ability to say, don't tell us Philadelphia didn't already make tough decisions to address this $300 million structural deficit in the School District of Philadelphia. Because it has already done the hard work and we've generated the revenue. That's the one question. The second question they're going to ask, and, Mr. President, you know this, what has the School District of Philadelphia done to work through right-sizing the School District of Philadelphia in accordance with the student population and with a strategic plan that will allow you to build new schools, modernize schools, co-locate schools together? I mean, I can't remember the school, but Drexel, Mr. President, now we -- you have to be creative, because $7 billion -- I don't know anybody thinks $7 billion -- our budget is -- our whole budget for the city of Philadelphia is basically $7 billion. I don't have a way to get to $7 billion, but I do want us to be able to say that we've done our homework and we haven't asked anybody to simply, you know, come and address something that we've ignored. We've contributed our fair share. This is a shared sacrifice in supporting public education, and we've done it. They're going to ask us about right-sizing and they're going to ask whether or not the School District of Philadelphia had the courage, and if we as leaders were able to work together to support them making these very, very tough decisions. And, Mr. President, I know we're not trying to build the education system for the past. We're working on our children's future. Right now, we are maintaining square footage as it crumbles instead of investing in opportunities our students actually need. Yes, this means making difficult but responsible decisions.
And that's what the district has worked through in the facilities plan. Mr. President, this is not like it was when we were going through and 14. You want me to 8 tell you how? First things first, 9 we were under the SRC, the School 10 Reform Commission. Chairman Thomas, 11 I wasn't at every meeting, but I 12 think there were about two years. 13 For two years there were discussions and activities and conversations about all of this. That didn't happen when we went through this knee-jerk reaction years ago, because I didn't like it then. I didn't think it was well coordinated. The same issues, Chairman Thomas, that you raised about making sure that we are communicating with the public. You and I, we share that sentiment. And I think we saw Dr. Watlington and the board attempt to do that. In addition, I also know this, Mr. President, nothing is more frustrating in government when somebody tries to make a decision and they draw a line in the sand and say, this is it. What do I mean? Chairman Thomas and Council President, you know that the school district now, the plan doesn't look like it did when they initially introduced it because they listened to members in this body. They've listened to parents, they've listened to legislators, and I know they are not where they started. I know we're not finished with this process and I know we're still going through it. My ask is that we not exhibit what you'll hear me refer to as reflexive opposition, but that we want -- we acknowledge the facts that I put on the record. Not my emotions, just the facts about issues that we have to deal with here in the district. I don't think any of us refute that. All we have to do as leaders is figure out a way, Mr. President, to get there, so that when our team in Harrisburg goes to the table, we answered the revenue question. We've started working on the right-size question. We've started being creative. And I'm not sure of the name of the school that's near Drexel, but Drexel has done something amazing in partnering with the school. I don't know, it's Solace? I can't remember what the name of the school is, but it is amazing. And people talk about what Drexel University has done. I thought about what would happen if we were creative enough to say, Dr. Watlington and President Streater and members of the board -- because I don't manage the school board, and I don't try to micro manage their work because they're the educational experts. But I wonder with some of our challenges, that we -- that we do acknowledge, what if the University of Pennsylvania became a potential partner in trying to help when we talk about co-location and partnership and just being creative and thinking outside of the box. What if Temple University with the amazing John Fry -- Councilmember Young, in your district, because they've been having a lot of conversations about place-based learning in the area. What if Temple was able to come up with the strategy? Members of the City Council of Philadelphia, I don't know if that is possible. I don't know if those conversations are moving as swiftly as we would like. But for me, you know, I don't think it is over until it is over, and we can't get it done. I'm -- Mr. President, I'm here giving this address. I'm doing what we would call -- Councilmember Majority Leader Gilmore-Richardson, leaning on the shield today, saying that we can't get this done alone. The School District of Philadelphia can't move without you. It is this legislative body, not that school board, that has the power to generate the revenue that the School District of Philadelphia needs. We're not like the other school districts in our region. It is this Council that's been the leader to save public education in the city of Philadelphia. And I'm the Mayor. And I acknowledge in Philadelphia, I affirm. As mayor, I can't get anything done. A budget can't get passed. The school district can't get funded.
We can't do anything to move our city forward if we are not all working together. I say it to you privately, I say it to you publicly. We have to work together in order to get it done. And I want us to figure out a way to get to yes. Why, Mr. President? Right-sizing buildings is not about abandoning communities. It is about strengthening them. If Chairman Harris takes me to that location on Broad Street, there's a recreation center, there is CHOP -- is it a library? It is a recreation center, CHOP, and the library, all co-located in one place. He says, listen, that's the model we need to be working on if we're thinking outside of the box to leverage these resources. But let us get there and let Harrisburg know that we are making real and tangible changes. Middle school students will have access to Algebra 1 instead of slightly over half students. More students will have access to art, music, and physical education. And the share of the schools offering five or more AP classes will grow from 38 percent to 58 percent. And the share of incoming kindergartners with access to pre-K will double from percent to 50 15 percent. But we have to be willing 16 to work together in order to make it 17 happen. 18 No matter what anyone says, 19 Council President and members of 20 Council, I know it is good theater 21 for people to see what they consider 22 to be our going to war, the 23 administration versus the Council, 24 the legislative branch versus the executive branch, in opposition with the school board, in opposition with the school superintendent. Let me tell you something, Councilmember Thomas, what we have on the table, we've never been here with this opportunity before. Persistently vacant properties in the School District of Philadelphia that have been vacant from three, some up to 30 years. We now have a plan to incentivize the building of affordable and workforce housing. And that's one box, and it shouldn't be -- we compartmentalize things. Because all of this stuff is not interconnected. We got a box there and we have the ability to do that. Then we've got a process to figure out how do we right-size the district. But we have to do it thoughtfully. And, Mr. President, I'm with you. It doesn't look the way it did, sir, I know when it was first introduced, but we've got to continue working through it and having conversations. And I'm asking us, sir, to please make sure that we do that. So that's facilities here. And then we've got the other bucket, let's help Governor Shapiro, Speaker McClinton, Leader Bradford, Appropriations Chairman Harris, Appropriations Chairman Hughes, Leader Costa, Senator Williams, along with Senator Picozzi in the Northeast, the lone Republican state senator representing the city of Philadelphia, along with President Pro Tempore Ward and Pittman. Let's generate the revenue that we need so that when they go to the table to negotiate that budget, shared sacrifice and One Philly and us doing the best we can with the tools we have, they know that we've tried. We couldn't deliver $300 million, but we do have the ability, Mr. 4 million. And if we come together to do it and make those billion-dollar corporations understand that there's a cost to do business in the city of Philadelphia and the dollar won't put them out of business, we can make sure we deliver for our students. Mr. President, I thank you so very much. I want you to know, we're not -- this is a unique time. This is a unique time, Mr. President. 2013, '14, 1994, Liquor by the Drink; 2013, sales; 2014, cigarette, and 28 million from the tax fairness package. We haven't delivered new revenue as a city for public education since 2014. I want you to just -- this is just me, do your own search. Type in 2014 to 2026, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Mont Co. And remember, we can't afford to increase property taxes at the rate that those counties do because we -- our people just don't have it. We don't have that kind of disposable income.
They can't carry it. And we have a Uniformity Clause. So our revenue-generating capacity, we're handcuffed. We can't do it. Please, let's help the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania help us. I want to work with you. I want to do whatever we can. Councilmember Young, Councilmember Ahmad, Councilmember Lozada, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Landau, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Driscoll, Councilmember O'Rourke, and Harrity, and Brooks, and Anthony Phillips -- not Danton or Young, Phillips, Katherine Gilmore- Richardson, Councilmember Gauthier, and Chairman Thomas, and Mr. President. I can't do it without you. Humbly, I say to each of you, I'm asking you, whatever meetings need to take place, one-on- one conversations. It won't be perfect for anybody. We can't. But everybody acknowledges that we can't keep doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome and expecting them to respond when they ask us, are we willing to do the hard work? I want to work with each of you. Please, let's find a way to get it done. And whatever homework you give me, I want to say to each of you, you all look so convinced, and you like, you really believe me, right? Give me homework. Whatever homework it is, if I can get the homework done, Mr. President, 1,001 percent I will. Thank you so very much. Thank you. And always -- were there any questions, Mr. President? Anything I should do before I leave? Anything, Mr. President? I'm sorry, I don't want to leave without --
Any questions from members of the Committee? Hearing none.
This is -- Mr. President, it is straight. It is not BS. Everything I just said on the record, Mr. President, if you just go do the homework, the facts are the facts. We haven't generated revenue since 1994 from Liquor by the Drink, 13 for sales, 14 for cigarettes, and what we did with our tax fairness package. The leader of the New School is one of the most reputable economic and research institutions of higher learning in the nation. And if you were to talk to people about their work, they would tell you again, they're liberal, not -- they're progressive, they used to -- that's what we -- that was our language. Don't -- not just me. It is not. And please don't -- please take what I just said in the spirit that I was given. Thank you so much.
We will now resume the committee of the whole. Ms. Loughead, please call the next panel.
Reginald Streater, President Philadelphia Board of Education, and Dr. Tony B. Watlington, Superintendent for the School District of Philadelphia.
Good morning. Actually, good afternoon now. Welcome back. And before you begin, just state your name officially for the record and get started.
Thank you. Council President, my name is -- I know, I was -- you know, I was told I was going to find out something yesterday, so I don't know if I should eat. Anyway, I'm joking. But my name is Reginald Streater and I'm the President of the Philadelphia Board of Education.
My name is Sarah Ashley Andrews. I'm the Vice President of the Board of Education.
Tony Watlington, Superintendent, School District of Philadelphia.
And thank you. Today I am prepared. I'm in a suit, so we get suit Reggie today. So thank you for allowing me to come back today, as well, being able to be in the room and know the temperature. So I'm going to be a little more brief than I normally am to get to City Council's questions as well. But good morning, everybody. President Johnson, to the leadership of this great esteemed house, thank you for allowing us to be in your home and we will act accordingly. Thank you for inviting the Board of Education, the School District of Philadelphia, to share some key updates on our work since the last time we were together in November. I was joined by Vice President Sarah Ashley Andrews and Board Members Joan Stern was here, and she may come back as well. We appreciate your partnership, Council President, your ongoing commitment to Philadelphia students and families. I think our mayor put it best, City Council continues to step up and take tough votes for us. And we understand that we are in a time right now where serious conversations have to be had, and we're happy to do our homework as well and do the work as well. Next slide, please.
I won't go into all of the things that we're going to discuss today, but they are on the screen. But we do have some quasi-agenda of what we would like to give updates on. Next slide, please.
Not too many for us, good brother. I think Dr. Watlington's going to also pivot as well with this presentation. So every time -- and I believe it is important to ground the conversation at this, and I believe if you can just kind of believe us that all of our work that we do is grounded in our vision and mission. I began my comments with our mission and vision. The board's vision is to prepare every student, Council President, to imagine and realize any future they desire. It speaks to the limitless potential of our young people and our responsibility to help them reach it. And as you can see in our mission, it is rooted in our belief that all sectors of public education in Philadelphia must work together to ensure every student has access to opportunities they need to achieve life outcomes. These guide our work. Next slide, please. So again, yesterday I mentioned something called goals and guardrails. And people may not believe us, but we have a board policy in our -- in our administrative procedures of our operating guidelines that directs the board to think about governing through a student outcomes lens. And we do it by way of the goals and guardrails. This framework defines clear expectations of what students should know. Board members such as Vice President Andrews, myself, Cheryl Harper, and others, once a month we engage with our superintendent and ask the question, how are the children? But we like to use data and other things to determine how they're doing in a way that supports our mission. 7 percent of students scoring proficient or advanced on the NOCTI exam in school year 2024-2025. Early literacy and math instruction are showing great improvements with a clear correlation between consistent attendance and student attendance. Students in Grades 3 through 8 who have attended school more than 90 percent of the time were more likely to be reading benchmarks. Math proficiency for students in grades through is at its highest rate in nine years. Early learners are demonstrating meaningful gains too, City Council President. Next slide, please. Leave it. One more slide. So I definitely want to discuss the Accelerating Opportunity, the school district's Facilities Master Plan. I understand there's going to be a lot of other questions on this. But I first want to acknowledge that the board fully comprehends the gravity and seriousness of this work. We have been actively listening and engaging with communities, understanding that these recommendations bring forward a range of mixed and strong emotions. We heard them here, we hear them here, we heard them in our action meetings, and we also hear them when we do school visits and individually as board members. But we know what it means to be shaped by great schools in this city. And we have lived the reality of what our schools can provide. That's why I believe for all of us, this conversation about school facilities is not just about buildings. It is about protecting a launch path for the next generation. What you have before you is the -- is a summary of the resolution of what the board will consider. And I think it is important to also communicate what actually is the board voting on, Council President. The board acts through resolution, much like City Council does as well. Our resolutions can be about an action item for a vendor, but it also could be about giving clear direction to the superintendent in a way that's transparent. So the village knows where the district and the board is headed based upon what we know now and what we think we know in the future. So I think it is important for us to understand what the resolution does and what it does not do. It adopts the recommendations that will be attached to the resolution. I know you all have your technical staffs. I would ask you all to have your staff take a look at the resolution, read it as well.
And I think you will see that there are many points in time that we will all have many more conversations about the facilities plan. And it doesn't all start and end at the day the board votes on the resolution.
-- start and end on the day that the board votes on the resolution?
Yes. The resolution is not designed to, for example, approve all capital investments, for example, right? We do that in May. What it does is it is saying, Dr. Watlington, your thinking is on point. And this is a direction that we are headed in. And it -- but it does not -- it does not displace legal obligations that also have to happen on a yearly basis publicly, that's going to require public comment, that's going to require public board deliberation and things like that. So that's what I mean by the resolution 2 itself. And I'll be brief, but I want to read three portions of the resolution just to kind of give you all exactly what I'm talking about. So there's a final whereas calls: implementation of Accelerating Opportunity will require future board actions and a sustained commitment to student achievement, financial and facilities alignment shared by the board, the district, public, and philanthropic partners and holders of the district's obligation. But these two paragraphs are very important. The board hereby adopts, if it adopts, Accelerating Opportunity, as attached to align facilities enrollment, programming, and fiscal sustainability in service to improve student outcomes. This adoption does not substitute for legally required processes or board actions related to school closures, capital project expenditures, or declarations regarding future property. Because Accelerating Opportunity represents a living plan -- a living plan based on currently available data and reasonable assumptions regarding enrollment trends, population movement, Council President, programming needs, City Council, and fiscal conditions, which will evolve based on factors over which the board and the district possess and/or lack control. The board retains the authority to require modification of sequencing, timing, scope, and prioritization of recommendations determined to be necessary after consultation with the superintendent. Just to put some meat on the bone as to what exactly is the board voting on and what that vote is designed to do. Next slide, please. So briefly, I would like to just speak about some other board updates. I think, Vice President, it is you.
Good morning again. Thank you, President Streater, and good morning to all. Next, I want to share a few updates on the board's non-voting student board representatives and our Parent and Community Advisory Council. We are excited to share that in January 2026, we appointed three new non-voting student board representatives for the 2026 term. They are Brianni Carter, an 11th Grade student at the Philadelphia High School for Girls; Ramisha Karim, an 11th Grade student at Northeast High School; and Semira Reyes, an 11th Grade student at the Creative and Performing Arts High School. These incredible young ladies have joined the board at an exciting time and have quickly engaged in our work sharing insight on the student experience, including how board policy shaped their day-to-day school experience and the perspectives of their peers. They also participate in the Superintendent's Advisory Council, ensuring that student voice is consistently present in our discussions and helping to bring student perspectives directly to the board's decision-making process. Thank you. Next slide, please. Likewise, the board's Parent and Community Advisory Council continue to actively strengthen our connection to families and neighborhoods across Philadelphia. Currently, the advisory council is composed of 5 individuals who are committed to 6 attending community meetings, 7 engaging at local events, listening 8 to residents, and evaluating 9 community voices to inform board 10 decisions and student-centered 11 decision making. We actually have 12 one of our PCAC members here today, 13 Ms. Ann Doen, if you could raise 14 your hand. Thank you. They bring feedback directly to the board, helping ensure we understand the community perspectives and incorporate -- and can incorporate that into our decision making. They have been critical in supporting us with pushing out key messages, opportunities for engagement around the facilities plan and policy review. Our advisory council serves as a vital link for the board with the community, elevating needs and ideas that guide us in making the best possible decisions for our students. Next slide, please. Throughout the year, the board has the privilege of visiting both district and charter schools across our city. These visits are among the most meaningful and exciting parts of our work, allowing us to experience firsthand the teaching, learning, and innovation happening across our schools. School visits help ground us in the work that we do and serve as a powerful -- as a powerful reminder of the important work happening every day in our classrooms. Next slide, please. As we begin our charter school update, I want to reaffirm that the Board of Education is committed to a system of public education where every public-school option in Philadelphia, district or charter, prepares students to imagine and realize any future they choose, with a continued focus on access to high-quality opportunities that help students thrive. With more than 64,000 students in our charter schools, Project RiSE reflects our shared commitment to strengthening accountability and improving outcomes -- and improving outcomes in our city. As a reminder, the Charter School Office, at the direction of the Board of Education, launched Project RiSE in 2024 to revise and reimagine the Charter School Performance Framework. Next slide, please. Okay. Through Project RiSE, we are committed to reviewing our authorizing standards and continue our commitment to transparency and accountability for all charter schools in Philadelphia. We are currently in Phase 2 of 3, where the Charter School Office, at the direction of the board, continues to work directly with school leaders, charter school board members, and colleagues throughout the city to review and update specific metrics within the framework. Importantly, the focus of RISE is no different than the Board of Education; student achievement.
In the spirit of -- in that spirit, RiSE builds on our existing framework by strengthening transparency, improving data and communication, equipping families with clearer information, all in service of improving student achievement and ensuring alignment with board goals and vision for all students across our city. I'm going to turn it back over to you, President Streater.
Next slide, please. So in closing, I had a prepared closing but I want to pivot and shift and read the room. Look, I think the Mayor said it all -- said it all. We all need each other, and I believe that we all in this room have had the ability to compromise, engage in meaningful conversations, understand the pressure points of each other, but find a pathway forward. I do want to also share something in this room as well. While some have said they believe the Mayor has been heavy-handed or maybe the hand behind the cloak of the board, one, that is not true. But what I can say is the Mayor has requested Dr. Watlington and I and the board, and strongly, you know, stated that we should do everything we can to work with Council, and understanding that the work continues post whatever vote, when that might happen. I do believe that there's enough goodwill here, evidence and moments in time and actual deliverables that show that Dr. Watlington and this board has listened. And with that being said, I understand that listening continues. So I hope that we can have a conversation today that talks about a pathway forward, but one that also honors all the hard work that we've all done. I don't think it is worth -- it is good for us to focus only on the now and not think about the past and the future. So I look forward to having a more responsive answer to questions that are going to be asked. I saw some head shakes just now, but I look forward to talking with you and continuing with this conversation. But this work is hard. And one thing I want to say which hasn't been said enough, the Board of Education empathizes with families who are right now caught in purgatory, who are waiting for us to do something. And I don't want -- I don't want that to be remiss -- to be remiss for the communities that are waiting for investments, to the communities that are like mine, who've lost schools like Germantown High School. The board is well aware of this, and I think that is what's driving us as well. So, please, I know that you all have your work to do, but we are also listening as well. So thank you.
Good afternoon, President Johnson and Majority Leader Gilmore-Richardson, Chair Thomas, and members of Council. I'll be very brief, Mr. President, as I know we're late in the afternoon and you have a hearing here as well. Next slide, please. First of all, I just want to say thank you to you, Mr. President, and to all the members of Council. As Mayor Parker noted, we very much appreciate your historic role in funding the school district. And I want to give you just some very brief updates on the results and return on investment for the dollars and the support that you're providing to the School District of Philadelphia. Slide, please. I want to begin by just giving you an update on the three major district focus areas, and if we'll go to the next slide. It is no different than last year. We are consistently focused on accelerating academic achievement, improving outcomes for all of our young people, improving customer service, which has been a hallmark for the past four years. And we're laser focused also on partnering with our families, not just as engaged adults, but as equal partners as we educate all of our young people. Slide. I won't review this in detail because the Mayor talked about it at length. Only to say in one sentence that we are pleased that enrollment is up by 783 students over the past decade. Student and teacher attendance is up. Test scores are up across a number of areas, especially on the math side of the house. Graduation rates are up and the dropout rates are down. We're pleased that we're getting better, not by kicking the least of these out of school or letting the least of these just kind of drop themselves out or just disappear from our schools. On the next slide, with regard to improving customer service, we launched a two-way communication system a few years ago, Mr. President. Just wanted to note that it is working and here's the data: Between July 1 of last year and April 15th, just last week, we've received over 66,000 inquiries from our parents, families, community, and other folks in the community. 2. We will continue to focus on improving customer service in the school district. On the next slide, the third big focus area is around partnering with our families as equal partners. This year we relaunched Parent and Family University. I want to commend our Chief of Communications and Customer Service, Alex Cop, and our Deputy Chief of Parent and Family University, Ms. Jenna Monley. We are providing free programming, resources, supports to families all over the city of Philadelphia. And we know if we want to support kids, we've got to invest in their parents and their families as well, to improve student attendance, to improve civic engagement. We're also focusing through the Parent and Family University on financial literacy. Some very fantastic work going on there, and we look forward to keeping you updated as time goes forward. Very quickly, let me just say a few words about the Facilities Master Plan on the next slide. I'm just going to sum it up, Mr. President, given the need to keep this moving, because I don't want you to have to ask me how many more slides I got. I want to be able to tell you I just got three or four more and we're going to be ready to take questions. On the next slide, I'm going to sum up the Facilities Master Plan. 8 billion. 045 billion. Originally, we told you that we would maintain 116 campuses -- I mean, 124 campuses. That number has changed to 116. Originally, we told you we would modernize -- we proposed to modernize 159 campuses or parts of campuses. That number has increased to 169. We consistently are recommending to President Streater and his Board of Education, and Vice President Andrews, that we -- and the board, that we maintain six co-locations. There are 10 close -- recommendations to close and repurpose for some kind of district use.
And then there are additional seven closures that we've recommended that -- in lieu of -- instead of recommending that these properties be conveyed to the city, we've pulled back on that recommendation at this time and just recommending that those properties remain in the school district. On the slide -- next slide. The next two slides, Mr. President, just list those major changes. I 4 won't read them to you, but they 5 range from everything from removing 6 the recommendations to close Conwell 7 and Motivation High Schools. We've 8 changed the merger recommendations 9 for Robeson and Lankenau High 10 Schools, as you'll see here. 11 Number 5, we have removed 12 Ludlow School from closure. You can see items number 6 and 7 relate to both Moffett and Hackett schools. You'll see that we are now no longer recommending that the Lankenau property, which is located adjacent to the Schuylkill Environmental Center, be conveyed. We -- those properties will now stay in the School District of Philadelphia. And we're proposing to -- that become an environmental education center for use of -- for all the children across the City of Philadelphia. You'll also see that we have pulled back on the recommendation to convey the Robeson property. And now as the Mayor mentioned in partnership with Councilmember Gauthier and others in that district to retain that property and look at how we work with the community to identify a partnership opportunity given -- including perhaps University of Pennsylvania, given how significant and close that property is to one of the greatest most significant science and innovation hubs in the United States of America, which is right here in Philadelphia. And you can see the other items. I do want to note also that we've increased the investments in Council District 3 from the February 17th briefing from $205 million to $331 million; Councilmember Gauthier's District. And we've increased planned investments in Council District 5; Councilmember Young's District.
In the 5th Councilmanic District, how is that the only Philadelphia Promise Zone in North Philly?
This is part of the -- this is a part of having developed two or reconverting two, not just extended day, extended year, but year-round schools where we want these two schools to be --
5th Councilmanic District, any way we can spread --
-- to South Philly and anyway that that same initiative can go to South Philly and Southwest?
It is the -- it is the hope of the district, certainly, that these schools, two schools, will be demonstration schools where we drive faster performance and so that they can be replicated in other parts of the city.
And we are withdrawn the recommendation again at this time to convey schools to the -- currently occupied schools to the city. We originally recommended to convey schools, even though 4 that number is down to seven we are 5 recommending to the board not move 6 in that direction to provide the 7 board with more time to consider 8 policy and legal implications. 9 Very quickly, 10 Mr. President, next slide. This is the original investments by Council -- the 10 Council districts, the original list of modernization co-locations and closure recommendations. And you can see on the far right how many closures occurred in 2012. Then if you go to the next slide, you can see the updated recommendations in investments. The reason the administration changed the -- increased the recommended investments in Council District 3 and Council District 5; Councilmember Gauthier's district and Councilmember Young's district, is because you can see on the record that those two districts had the largest number of closures and -- in 2012 2013. And so again, as the Mayor said, we have made some significant adjustments to the recommendations. And as we go to the last slide, I just want to say personally -- oh, oh, I'm sorry.
I was just looking at the 9th Councilmanic District. Okay. Please proceed, sir. That is --
That is 469? Middle neighborhood. Thank you, sir.
All right. Yes, sir. Let me find -- conclude, Mr. President, by giving you a quick update on the budget as it is being developed. Really quick, there is a $300 million structural deficit. I just want to remind you, test scores are going up, graduation rates are going up, dropout rates going down. This is not about mismanagement. We have the best investment grade credit rating that we've had in 40 years in the school district. Every year for the past three years, we've had some upgrade in that rating, either by Moody's Services or Fitch Financial Services. We're being good stewards of the budget, of the dollars. We've had clean year-over-year audits with no material witnesses by our external auditors. Want to be sure to get that in the record, please, Mr. President. 8 billion that we received in COVID funding, allocated by Congress from 2021 to 2024, all those dollars are gone; they sunsetted in September of 2024; three, rising salaries. We have got to pay -- continue to pay our employees a competitive wage, and they deserve to be paid more; four, charter payments are increasing -- charter school payments are increasing. And five, in this order, we're experiencing rising healthcare costs, just like the city, just like the private sector. What are we doing about it? Next slide. This administration is committed to bring in President Streater and Vice President Andrews and the board of recommendation a plan on the table, not just to cut our deficit, but to reduce it and to eliminate it once and for all by fiscal year 2029-2030, and after 2029-'30, we are committed to the school district operating within its annually allocated budget. And we can retire structural deficits once and for all. That is our plan, barring any strange unforeseen circumstances. How are we going to cut this -- how are we proposing to cut this $300 million structural deficit and live within our means forevermore, and to continue to advocate for constitutional funding? Number one, we're reducing central office costs by some $30 million. This includes some 130 positions. Mr. President, we have those positions ready to submit for the record per your request. Number two, we are eliminating -- and by the way, this is a very lean central office. Given that we're around the eighth largest school district in the country, we have one of the smallest leanest central offices, but we're still going to make the cuts because we've got to do it. We are going to eliminate programs and contracts that show low return on investment. By that we mean if the contract doesn't have a clear through line to improving reading and math performance, increasing graduation rates, or decreasing dropout rates, we are going to take a hard look at how we can trim back. We are enhancing our budget and planning projections. We're doing things like discontinuing to rent the Pennsylvania Convention Center during all of our principal meetings and professional development, Mr. President, in the -- at Strawberry Mansion High School, which we've turned into our professional development center. We're curtailing staff travel, including the superintendent. Instead of sending forward reading teachers to a conference, we may just send one or we may send none and bring professional developers to the City of Philadelphia. And a lot of other things that CFO Herbstman can walk you through. We are making some changes to -- at the school base level, to the $256 million. As you know, there are 340 positions that we're proposing to cut and to reassign to other schools if the $52 million does not come through to us as a result of the rideshare tax and the cell phone tower opportunity. You may ask, well, why are you cutting and moving people to other places, which is very disruptive? Some of our schools are very large and over-enrolled, and we've got just the opposite; some schools that are very small and under-enrolled. And so we've got to right-size the formula for how we push resources out to the schools.
And so that is why we continue to not maintain the FTEs, the staff positions, in all the schools at present. So we've projected the vacancies that we have. I don't want the Council to be alarmed by the fact that we can fill -- we can transfer people to the tune of 340 people through vacancies in other schools. Remember, the School District of Philadelphia has 20,000 employees, and every year there is some attrition and turnover. So we factor that in. Our goal is to have everyone who is in the house to stay in the house. And we have -- so to that $225 million in budget reductions in fiscal year '26 to '27 is reflective of that. The next slide just shows you a graphic of what our financials look like over the next five years if we do nothing. If we kick the can down the road, we don't get more revenue, we don't cut anybody. And again, this is -- and reassigned to other jobs. This is totally, absolutely 100 percent separate from the facilities plan. This is just operating budget -- operating budget for the school district over the next five years. You can see the green line represents our annual surplus or deficit, and the yellow line shows our fund balance. We're at the point where we would deplete it in the next year. And that is why I no longer recommend to President Streater and Vice President Andrews and board members to dip into the fund balance. We must get more revenue or we must make significant cuts. Even with the additional revenue, we are going to make some cuts to the district office and to contracts because we could choose to carry a structural deficit for the next 10 years. It is no secret that the district has had structural deficits going back to the days of David Hornbeck, Paul Valles, Dr. Arlene Ackerman. By '29 to 30, we're proposing to the board to completely eradicate structural deficits, hopefully never to return. On the next slide, Mr. President, you'll see this is what the fund balance line and our deficit line looks like, if we take these measures. Again, this is completely and totally separate from the facilities plan process. The facilities plan process is completely separate. And if you'll give me just one second to say, the reason I can show you that it is separate is, even if the Board of Education approves a plan to close some schools, we are not laying off the teachers and principals. We are reabsorbing all of those individuals right back in the district. That is what is different between 2012 and 2011, 2013 closures and now. Those employees will be reabsorbed back into the district. And kids who need more teachers, more administrative personnel, more safety support because -- and they're underperforming, under- resourced, we're going to push more resources into those schools. And we'll do it more efficiently because we're going to right-size these really large and really small, really over-enrolled, really under- enrolled schools. Final slide, Mr. President. Timeline, as you well know, the Board of Education, President Streater, Vice President Andrews and the board members have their meeting -- budget hearing tomorrow. And then on May 29th, we'll be expecting the Board of Education, if it be that President Streater and Vice President Andrews, will to adopt their budget. And you can see that we look forward to hearing the outcome of potential additional revenue in June based on actions the City Council and the Mayor take. We are certain -- while I'm agnostic to how we get the revenue, I feel like my job is to make the case to President Streater and Vice President Andrews to Council. Here is the revenue we need; we desperately need revenue in June. If we get it in June, the 340 positions that are on the table will not be cut and reassigned to other schools. If we do not get the revenue, we absolutely will have no 17 choice but to cut and reassign 340 hardworking employees to other places in the school district. I thank you for the opportunity to present today, Mr.
President, members of Council, happy to join President Streater and Vice President Andrews in any questions. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr., the Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore-Richardson, Jamie Gauthier, Nicholas O'Rourke.
Thank you, Mr. President. And I want to thank you and officially apologize for some of the angst yesterday. I brought you some candy to try to make up and to say to you that I should always lead with the things -- and I was glad that mayor did lead with positive things; test scores are up, dropout rates are down, truancy; we're working on. I mean, there are a lot of good things to the direction of the school board and the Superintendent's team. I appreciate what you've done for my, overall. I'm going to say it on the record that when alma mater you start to think about schools that lose attendance, it was one of them. The co-merger is helping to keep that facility alive. That does not go wasted on me. And so, for the record, you know, I appreciate it. However, and nevertheless, some of the things -- there is a difference between math adding up and decisions that kind of don't make sense to me. Lankenau has a 100 percent graduation rate. A lot of those kids go on, like other schools, to some of the finer institutions, are working on environmental things. I thank my colleagues, particularly Chairman Thomas, for coming up and leading our delegation of members to a -- to a room full of young people fraught with promise that look forward to their life. And to -- so the question becomes, what do you save towards that $300 deficit by closing Lamberton? And what does the -- what is the intended use of that facility if it is -- if it is a professional enrichment? You could do that at Lankenau, Lamberton in West Philly, because the high school part is closed. You can move right in and it won't affect anybody. But this school is located on about acres of bucolic space. 13 They have feral coyotes and deers, 14 and really have water temperature 15 tested. They're right near the 16 Schuylkill Environmental Center. 17 That doesn't add up to me. The second school is Overbrook Elementary, which has a similar graduation rate. And what I'm hearing is that those kids are going to be relocated so that you can do professional advancement. We could do that at 404. We could do that at Lamberton. There are spaces that we have that can accommodate those kinds of things. We'll find a way to get you a jacuzzi down there, but you don't need to take those facilities just for those purposes. I have -- and I take a little bit of offense to you, the 3rd District, you've accommodated, the 5th District, you've accommodated, and I'm not jealous, I'm not hating. But I was here for every one of those except for the liquor-by-the-drink tax that I voted for. My face was on milk cartons to improve, you know, preschool. I took those hits. I had to knock on doors and say, hey, I raised your taxes, millage rates, but you know, it is for the kids, right? And so those things that, you know, that I care about, not being accommodated because I took the tough votes, lets me know maybe, you know, should I have taken them? And I answer yes because it is for the kids. So I say to you that I hope that we are sincere about it is, you know, we're still communicating and still negotiating because I want to be with you. I want to continue my track record of being supportive of you and then public education. But it is difficult for me to knock on a door and say, oh, by the way, I'm raising your taxes. Although to find explanation of the percentage of people that are under $50,000 that do. But in my district, there are a lot of people who make over 50,000 that depend on that service that I have to knock on their doors and say, “By the way, I'm raising your taxes and I'm closing your kids' school.” Make that make sense for me.
I'll be very succinct. Thank you, Councilmember Jones. I hear you loud and clear. In a full spirit of this ethos that we really do care and don't want to be tone deaf at all. Certainly, the rationale behind Lankenau's merger with W.B. Saul is that at the high school level we see a need to increase school size, but not too big. We don't want to go back to the days of -- when schools like Overbrook High School had 4,000 or 5,000 young people in them.
Yes, sir. But our academic progress, we're growing faster in grades 3 through 8. We're making significantly faster improvement in 3rd through 8th grade reading and math than we are in the high school -- high school keystone test in biology, algebra, and english language arts. And part of the problem at our high schools is, when we have such small schools on one end and really large schools in the Northeast, the quality of their academic resources we can push in to improve academic performance are very disparate. And so, while we've tried to put on the table a way to improve high -- increase high school size, we also know that that Lankenau property and the 17 acres you referenced is really important. And so we no longer are recommending to part -- that the board part ways with that property, but to make it available certainly for Lankenau students who would be at Saul could still have field trip opportunities and utilize those resources as well as the other high schools and K-8 schools in the city. So we think that is a win-win. With the Overbrook Elementary School, it -- the building score is poor. It does require some significant investment in addition to a number of other schools. And so, but your point is well taken.
Mr. President, my final point is that when the fine institution of University City closed, they moved all of those students to Overbrook. Tell me whom, in your staff, made that decision and did not take into account historical neighborhood differences; gangs. And the quality of the education and environment changed because there was friction. So tell me who now is plotting, calculating those differences so that our babies are safe.
The team is -- has taken a look and can -- has continued to take -- is continuing to take a look at all the references you -- all the points you just referenced, Councilmember Jones. I want to assure you of that. The team is continuing to look at and planning about things like safety and recognizing that even folks like me who are not from Philadelphia originally and just been here four years, this phenomenon of city of neighborhoods and will be very thoughtful about how young people interact with each other. We're taking a hard look at everything from -- that includes transportation, how far children have to move or walk to get to school, and those kinds of things, for students who don't use public transportation. The fact that we've not been able to deliver a perfect solution on everything, it certainly doesn't suggest that we're not considering all those factors.
So my senator was a part of these negotiations and said, tell me what he has to raise at the state level to cover some of those deficits. Because no one has told me what you save by closing these endeavors. I haven't got -- I asked that question yesterday --
-- never got the answer. And he made a suggestion that, tell him where he has to go to raise the money to make the difference so that those babies aren't put at risk and --
-- deprived of education. When good kids get traumatized by doing the right thing, what are we -- what are we doing? And so I would like you to consider that. You asked me the question, were we -- were we -- whether we were still going to be friends? The answer is yes. But I'm a -- look, I'm going to side-eye you a bit if these things aren't -- last point, I have gone down to your -- you treat me good when I testify, me and Chairman Thomas. You let us testify upfront. You give me a nice little water and you not in the appropriate places and don't do nothing that we ask. And, you know, I feel kind -- I feel kind of abused. You know what I mean? They say thank you for coming, and we're going to do what we're going to do anyway. Just once.
Councilmember Jones, Mr. President, if you'll just lend me seconds. 8
In 2012/13, the lion's share of savings came from laying off employees; teachers, principals, climate managers. We're not doing that this time. So we don't -- we won't have significant savings because we're pushing those resources into other schools. We are reinvesting in under-resourced, underperforming parts of the city and the schools. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hope -- I please go heard, because we are begging you on behalf of those students.
Thank you very much, Member Jones. Majority Leader Kathrine Gilmore- Richardson, then Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. President. And thank you to Board Chair Streater, as well as Dr. Watlington. I wanted to give kudos also to Dr. Dawson who will be departing for Baltimore. Laurel, thank you very much for all of your coordination. I saw Laurel over here somewhere, but thank you very, very much for your work, Laurel. Also, Edwin Santana, thank you very much. Ansil --
Oh, yes. Shout out to the men of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. But thank you very, very much. And to all the members of the board as well as everyone in the school district who worked on the CTE Teacher Tuition Assistance Program, that would include Michelle Armstrong, Tim McKenna, Nick Gasis, Samuel Ewen, John Fallows, Meredith Mehra, and everyone involved from the PFT side, Commerce, and PIDC to help us get that program off the ground. So thank you very, very much for all of your work. And also want to thank Melody as well. She has just been wonderful, wonderful to work with. I wanted to go back to where I started yesterday. Yesterday I talked about the contribution starting in FY21. I want to go back today to FY18 to FY26. The City of Philadelphia has increased its annual contribution to the School District of Philadelphia, and this is '18 to '26, by $686 million. This includes increasing our direct contribution from $104.3 million in fiscal year '18 to $284 million in fiscal year '26, which is an increase of $179.7 million in eight years. Local tax revenue has increased by $480 million since FY '18. And while the state has increased this contribution by $936 million over that time period, the city has contributed more money to the district overall by a figure of $359,156,246. So I wanted to make sure I got that on the record from the charts that you all have provided to us. And in that vein, I wanted to go back, and I recognize that I did make an error yesterday in the original request because of the date. I don't even know what day it is at this point. But for the record, yesterday I was asking the district to move the vote from 4/23, which is this Thursday, this week, to Thursday, May 28th. I know that we spoke about that yesterday, so I wanted to start there. In addition to that, for the record, if you could just provide us a list of all the positions that are slated to be eliminated, if you could break it down by school, without the additional funding and also with the additional funding, because I think I have some relative confusion there. Because I have received a ton of outreach from teachers from a variety of schools asking specifically about their positions. And so if you could just provide us with the list by school if you receive -- if you do not receive the additional funding. And then also, could you provide a list of where each staff person would be moved and what role they will fill after their current position is eliminated. Now, also if you could just explain to us in writing, because this will help me as well. If you received the funding, would you have to move any teachers at all? Because that is the part that I'm just a little confused about, based on the outreach that I have received. And then I also had a question relative to the structural deficit, I need to know whether or not you all use ARPA dollars to fund any positions, because I think -- and this part was a little jarring for me, is that -- and we all knew the ARPA dollars would go away. That wasn't something that we anticipated would be backfilled or filled on the back end. So did you all use -- and I had this question already prepared in advance, I just want to be real clear about that. Did you all use ARPA dollars to fund any of the positions that we're referring to? And the question is, because we all know that the ARPA dollars would expire, that it is the same situation that we are in from a city perspective. And then also, does the school district's revised five-year plan that shows closing the structural deficit by fiscal year 30 assume the facilities plan moves forward as proposed or as you all have updated and indicated here? And does it also assume that you receive the additional public and philanthropic funds that you need to fully implement the facilities plan? And if you could just also provide a list of the $225 million in savings, the district is proposing in the revised five-year plan. And I'll start there.
Thank you, Majority Leader Gilmore-Richardson. Number one, relative to the 340 positions that we have proposed to cut and to reassign to other vacant positions for next school year, yes, we can give you the list today of all those positions. It is broken down by Council District as well, in addition to school. I may not be able to tell you just yet exactly where every person will go, partly because those are decisions that we make in partnership with the union presidents per the collective bargaining agreements with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, with President Steinberg; with CASA, with President Dr. Robin Cooper, et cetera. But we can get through that today and we can submit it for the record. Number two, the second question was about COVID or the ARPA funding --
I'm sorry, Dr. Watlington, for the interruption, but may I go back to that?
My question as well is, outside of the 340 positions, will we see any additional reductions in teaching positions or eliminating any additional teaching positions? And I'm only confused because --
-- I received outreach, and I don't understand if we're just talking about the 340 with the funding, and then there is additional positions as well where folks are going to be moved.
The superintendent is not recommending additional cuts. At the same time, some of the confusion may be that principals do have some autonomy about how to use their budgets. So it is not inconsistent that a principal might say, “In my school, I'm going to have one less teacher of this, I want to increase resources here based on student needs.” So that might be, but I will double check that. But the Superintendent is not recommending additional cuts from the district beyond those 340.
I see what you're saying. Because their budgets may change. Is this going back to the enrollment conversation?
Okay. Because I received outreach from several schools and I even saw a message in a forum for parents, I'll just say that, from my son's new school. And I said, well, wait a minute, outside of the 340, what else is happening here?
So that could be a school-based decision based on a budgeting --
One, principals have some discretion over their budgets. And number two, it could be because their annual projections are down. Let's say my school had 500 kids this year --
-- and the projections show that my numbers were dropped to 400, rather than monkey around with moving people the first 10, 20, 30 days of schools, we get that right-sized before school -- students come back.
Got you. Okay. So could you all also give us the information, relative to each school, how much their budget has changed year over year? And I know you may not be able to provide us with specific information relative to how that will impact what the principal has planned relative to the teaching and staffing positions, but can we also get a list of every school that is anticipated to have a decrease in enrollment, thus they would have a decrease in their budgeted amount for teaching and staff positions? Because I -- this week, I have been inundated with communication and emails from teachers who I'm trying to figure out, are they outside of this 340? You know what I mean?
The short answer is yes, Madam Majority Leader. I'll just remind Council that our annual budget book is on the district website through last year. So all that archival data is there. It is just this long. But we'll be glad to summarize, and we can give you -- I think the spirit of what you want to know is, how are projections and potential budgets changing this year?
The second question, and I'll be brief, was related to the COVID ARPA dollars. Did we put the short-term dollars into staff positions? The answer is yes. The industry standard across K-12 education is if you have short- term funding, whether it is from federal sources, grants, philanthropy, et cetera, the industry standard is generally don't put those dollars into long-term positions because boards of education are unable to sustain those positions over time. And it puts a strain on the budget, backs folks in the corner. And No. 2, when Congress appropriated those dollars, they were for purposes of addressing learning loss since all the schools across the country were closed. Congress also said these dollars can be used for air quality mitigation in case there was another pandemic or some kind of health-borne illness. The School District of Philadelphia was in a place, under the previous administration -- and I try not to Monday morning quarterback -- but was in a place where the district couldn't just take the dollars and do the extra stuff because we had so many holes in the budget already because of historical underfunding. So this district took the position that it would hire 127 assistant principals with these COVID dollars, which I absolutely don't -- can't recommend a cut from the school district, and some other much needed positions around climate, et cetera. We decided we wouldn't cut any of those positions over the past three years because we would ride the wave with the federal money. This was a once-in-lifetime opportunity with the $1.8 billion that we received in COVID dollars. And it shows that if you give a school district, an urban school district, more money with a strategic plan, and the districts focuses on the research, uses the data, and hold ourselves accountable, we can get better. And so I think the district, in hindsight, did the right thing.
Can I just say there? What was the plan to fund the positions once the ARPA money ran out? So meaning we knew that this money would run out, so we knew that this would be a hole that we would have to plug. And I -- we aren't Monday morning quarterbacking you all either, right? Because the city had to do the same thing and plug the holes. But you're saying 127 assistant principals, climate positions. We knew the ARPA money would run out.
We knew after that money was gone, that that was it. And so at that point, what was the plan for those 127 assistant principals and climate positions?
Once I came aboard in 2022, it was my thinking, the decision, that we would delay those cuts until we absolutely had to make them. Now when people were hired, I was not here. So I don't know exactly what conversations were or were not held with these individuals. But I can tell you they've been doing some fantastic work, and we sure want to keep every one of them.
No, no, I understand that. But you understand the question?
And, like, and I get where you are because it wasn't a decision that you made, and you weren't here. But what was the plan to ensure that we could fund those physicians after the money ran out? Meaning we knew we would be in this circumstance. I don't want it to be a situation where we thought that after the ARPA money ran out, that we were going to get some kind of additional federal infusion just for this circumstance. That was not -- never going to be the case, right?
I believe one of your questions were for me, but I want to piggyback off of this question, Majority Leader. The board had to make a decision, and I was here when Dr. Hite presented to the board and said, we have a choice here. And this was a nationwide coordinated effort with the Council for Great City schools. Where there was lobbying going on in D.C. and there was real guidance, factual guidance, bona fide guidance, that if we -- if we also invest in people and show that public education, even through the hell that the pandemic was for our babies, we can hold the line. They can get better. This is a strategy to compel D.C to increase reoccurring firms -- funds to the school district. So as opposed to the smidgen in our budget that it is now, it could be something that can help accelerate student achievement. We took that shot because we thought our babies at that time were worth it, and they're still worth it. And I'm also thinking about, yes, the -- those positions may not -- may not be reoccurring as it relates to funding, but I'm hoping that when I'm, you know, done with this role and I'm in the supermarket, and there is a child who went through the pandemic and they were able to still go to college, be where they wanted to be, that those dollars were for them. And that is what the board's thinking was. And I believe the strategy worked. As a byproduct, I think we also have to understand there are some who believe that it couldn't be done. We now have evidence, bona fide evidence, in Philadelphia, no 12 matter who the child is, where they are, we can accelerate student achievement. If you fund us, if we focus on why we exist, and we're strategic and how we do it. So I think that is kind of the context I want to give you. I know people might say, well, that is bad business sense, but you got to remember also, the board also built a massive fund balance because of the COVID dollars, which delayed this conversation for five years.
So it was -- it was a balanced and strategic and pragmatic approach. I'm willing to bet on our children every day, and I'm willing to bet on our great educators every day understanding that. So I just want to that on the record.
No, I received that. If you could just let us know how much, I'm thinking Class 100, but that is not the way you all budget, but how much it is for the 127 assistant principals and the climate positions? Just so we have a picture just for those positions.
We'll ask Chief Herbstman, absolutely, to gather that information together. I'm going to answer these last two questions you raised very quickly. Let me just say I'm so glad President Streater and the Board of Education took that position. I was one of the people who represented school districts and went to Washington years ago at the onset of the pandemic and lobby congressional leaders to put this money out. And I remember going from office to office and people telling -- and I knew which offices I would go to, and people would say, “Nope, don't even come here. We're not given school districts.” And I wasn't in a large urban school district, but I remember hearing, especially the big urban districts, because you give them more money and they get worse, and they come back and ask for more, we don't think more money will make a difference. I'm so pleased that here, those dollars were well --- were used well, to prove just the opposite; we can get better with the resources. Does the five-year plan assume any connections to the -- about the Facilities Master Plan being approved? No. The five-year plan, as we've presented it, is completely separate. So even if there were not a Facilities Master Plan, we would still be taking these steps to reduce our expenditures. And if and when the Facilities Master Plan and whatever fine iteration is approved by the Board of Education, it won't resort -- result in significant savings, compared to the last time that schools closed, because we're reinvesting those dollars back into the most under-resourced schools and most underperforming children as a strategy to improve academic performance. Final question --
Excuse me one second. I have a point of information from Member, Dr. Anthony Phillips.
I want to thank the majority leader for raising a very important question around the recurring dollars for COVID which raises my point of information. If that was -- President Streater, as you mentioned, if that was something that you wanted to essentially take a chance on, right? Knowing that the funds were -- would dry up at some point, and -- but you wanted to show the world that if you invest through staff and teachers, that we will be able to increase performance at our schools. Is there data that shows that that investment worked? If so, are -- can you please share that with us here today and also in writing, because that is important to know. Because if we're going to take another chance, again, we need to know that it is just -- it is going to work very, very well, and not just somewhat well.
Councilmember Dr. Phillips, one of the reasons, key drivers, not the only driver, but a big reason why test scores are up, graduation rates are up, and the dropout rate is down, it is not just because folks who work in the school district just came to work one day and said, "You know what? We're going to work harder.” They had a once in a lifetime opportunity to get funding that schools and classrooms desperately need. So the first set of data I would put out there is rising test scores, rising graduation rates, and declining dropout rates. And a good factoid is in the eighth -- in the nation's report card. Our students in Philadelphia had the best improvement in 8th grade math in the nation's report card than any big city in the country except Los Angeles. Better than New York, Chicago, Atlanta, you go on through the list. And the $1.8 billion investing in people as President Streater said, that is a testament to that. And since the Commonwealth Court ruling said that the district is underfunded by 1.8 billion, it is just ironic that the district got $1.8 billion from Congress. Fast forward to 2023, the Commonwealth Court says the district is underfunded by 1.8 billion. I think it is 1.8, Chief Herbstman. And it just shows, if we've got the constitutional finding, this proves that the district can be the fastest improving, and our kids can get better.
Thank you, Council President. I just hope that if you also, with the -- in writing, if you can show that in correlation to the staff.
And then also what you project now, with the positions remaining, the growth to be. Because that is -- it is important for us to have that return on investment as well.
Thank you. Thank you, Council President. Just to wrap up, thank you very much. I will submit my additional questions for the record, including the amount of the debt service on the $1 billion borrowing; how much that impacts your plan as well. But if we could go back to board Streater -- Board President Streater, relative to my request regarding moving the vote from April 23rd to May 28th. They give us an opportunity to fully -- more fully deliberate.
Before I answer that question, I think sometimes the board, we live with this stuff, and I think sometimes we forget that everybody doesn't live with it the way we do. So there is a sense of urgency, I think, that could be perceived as rush, rush, rush. But for us, I have been living with this since I got on the board five years ago. And, yeah, you know, sometimes I lawyer it up, and I point that we had it here. We set it here, we set it here, resolution 11 connects to this resolution, resolution X connects to that resolution. But that doesn't change the fact that your reality might be a little different as Councilmembers as well, when you have to take tough votes as well. So with that, I'll say, again, I'm still at a space to be quite honest, where I have to take this back to the board as well. And I'm at a space now where the board has to consider other things that may not be in -- that is -- that we have to live with, such as our capital budget, such as our ability to lock in rates, such as our ability for Dr. Watlington to get to okay to start moving the ship of the School District of Philadelphia in a such large, fast way. But also so that we can get back to focusing on student achievement. So with all that being said, also downloading everything that I heard today and that I heard yesterday, I'm going to continue having that conversation where I can do that for you. But as of right now, let me just take that back to the board again, and I will get back to you.
We -- no, and I thank you Council President and I need to wrap up to respect colleagues, but tomorrow is the scheduled action meeting for the district. And the next scheduled action meeting is Thursday, May 28th. And I think, you know, we have been presented with so much new information as notated by Mayor Parker, but also new information relative to this vote even being scheduled this week. We just found out this week. So we are obviously in the middle of our process, and I know you all have to be finished before we are, right? I get that because certain things need to happen. Even when you do a borrow, when you got to go to market, you got to shop around. Things have to occur on the back end in order for you to proceed with the work that you need to do. However, we are at a convergence of this facilities plan as well as being asked to fill in a budget deficit and a budget challenge that you all are asking us to deliberate. And we will need time in order to do that with all the new information that is just being presented that we have not had an opportunity to digest. And so I'm just respectfully requesting, because we have to, you know, work together and work in partnership, and we -- and we have to carry the lion's share of this in this body to ensure that you all receive the funding necessary to move forward that if you could, before tomorrow, because we would then have to make the appropriate accommodation here. And tomorrow is our stated meeting day as well. That if you all could postpone that action meeting relative to the facilities plan until Thursday, May 28th, that would be greatly appreciated based on the work that we have to do as well.
I thought you-all was going to get together last night, come up with a game plan, come back today, so --
And I'm not even starting the drama today. I'm just saying it is complex for you-all. It is complex for us. We're trying to work as a partnership and everybody got to do a little bit of give and take. That is all --
On behalf of the students and the children of the City of Philadelphia, I just wanted to put that out there.
The Chair recognizes Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, then Councilman Nicholas O'Rourke is back. Councilmember Nicholas O'Rourke and then Councilmember Jim Harrity.
Thank you, Council President. Good afternoon, Dr. Watlington, Board President Streater and Vice Chair Andrews. Thank you for joining us today for this important conversation. Board President Streater, I appreciated your sentiments and the mayor's around Council and the administration and the school district needing each other. And your expression that you want to continue working with Council in true partnership towards the benefit of our kids. But I do want to be clear that what that looks like in practice would be Dr. Watlington moving off of the position that what has been put before us is a final, final version. And what that would look like in practice is honoring the majority leader's request that we have more time. Anything less than that standard is just kind of a pretty sentiment as opposed to a genuine effort to engage with Council around very difficult decisions. I also appreciate you all being here yesterday. And as I have said several times, I appreciate the changes that you've made to the facilities plan proposal including putting or recommending more investment for facilities in the 3rd District and keeping our school properties in school district ownership as opposed to moving them to developers for some type of non-school development. I think that those are important moral changes that brought more equity to this plan. But I also do want to be clear that the proposal that is on the table, particularly for the 3rd District, would still cause great harm to my community. And so I'm pushing for you to go further, and I hope that we can get there. And, you know, I appreciated the conversation yesterday, it was very spirited, but unfortunately, I come today with some of the same questions because as spirited as our discussions have been, I have left with few specific answers. And so today I'm going to be revisiting several of the questions that I have been asking, because I'm looking for answers that are specific and that are rooted in facts and data. Earlier this week, you amended your recommendation for Paul Robeson to keep the building and maybe, theoretically, someday create a new STEM high school. But you are still recommending that we close the existing Paul Robeson High School. If the Board of Education votes to approve this closure, you will be eliminating the last public high school in the heart of University City, a place where our kids are stone's throw away from some of the world's finest scientific and innovation institutions. And this is not something that can be replaced at Motivation or at Sayre or anywhere else that is not in University City. The community welcomes transforming Robeson to meet this moment, to maximize the advantages and opportunities that come with being surrounded by global STEM leaders. And we know that the building is in poor condition. And -- but we are willing to work with you to get a facility for Robeson to where it needs to be. But that is not the proposal that is on the table today in front of the board. And to our community, the proposal that you are putting before the board is reminiscent of one of the most shameful decisions that government has ever made in West Philly when we raise the black bottom to make way for what is now University City. And so we should be clear that if the Board of Education closes Robeson and uses their campus to possibly, maybe, one day make a new STEM school, but that school will not be called Robeson High, it will not be rooted in our community. It will not be rooted in our community's history. You'll be continuing the same shameful legacy of displacement and erasure that has happened in the past in West Philadelphia. So I'm going to repeat the questions that I still haven't received specific answers for, for the benefit of my constituents because they need to know. What does it cost to keep Paul Robeson high open? What does it cost to move Paul Robeson High?
What is the cost difference between co-locating Paul Robeson with Motivation and merging the two schools? And also, do you quantify the cost, or how do you quantify the cost of erasing black legacy in West Philadelphia? And how do you all -- how would you all feel to be the leaders to continue the legacy of institutional erasure of black people in University City? Because from my vantage point, that is what the proposal looks like.
Thank you, Councilmember Gauthier. Certainly, I want to -- I want to begin by saying that without speaking out of turn, that I'm sure both Board President Streater and myself, have great regard for our dear fraternity brother; the great Paul Robeson, the great statesman and Philadelphian --
-- and lawyer and prolific speaker. Let me say that the Paul Robeson building has a poor building score, and it is underutilized in terms of enrollment; No. 1. Two, we -- I proposed to move Paul Robeson and absolutely preserve that name. We would never ever provide a recommendation to discard that great legacy of Paul Robeson. So as we moved that -- merge -- recommend to merge that school with Motivation High School, we would go through a naming process in partnership with both communities -- I already started doing some thinking about that -- that appropriately recognizes and preserves that name. And we certainly can get you the cost of - it is outlined on our website. If not, we'll get it to you. What it would it cost if we were to have to -- we do it.
I have not seen those costs. I have asked you this question since the very start of this process. And I should say that the PFT was able to get me these costs. They think that the prospect of closing this proposed school, this beloved school in West Philadelphia, is so serious that they were able to answer my questions. And so PFT got me today information that says that the cost for essential repairs at Robeson High would be 4.3 million. The cost for all repairs at Paul Robeson High would be 9.6 million, and the cost of total replacement of the building would be 27.1 million. So thank you to the PFT for honoring this information request that I have put before the district since the beginning of this process. That is how serious the prospect of closing a school that the community loves is.
So, Councilmember Gauthier, if I may just say two things, and I certainly respect the Council member's points. Since last summer, we have placed a plethora of data on our website. I cannot run through all that in my head, but I do want to note for the record --
I just got a point of information. Just real quick, sir. What she is saying is, see, when you respond and say it is on the website, we are professionals.
I would just -- I would just prefer you to say that the experts, so I know Laurel is very competent in getting us information in our hand, as opposed to directing the member to the website or saying the information is on the website. That -- just want to -
Duly noted, Mr. President. I'll direct the team, our last Chief of Staff Galbally to make sure to get -- that we get a communication to you to fact check and verify exactly what you've heard from President Steinberg, so that you've heard from us on the record. We'll be sure to copy you, Mr. President, today. Second, may I just also say the real spirit of what we are trying to do under our five-year strategic plan; accelerate Philly, is address how to take our limited resources, invest more in children, and take the improvement that we are making in the school district, and multiply it by 20. And here is what that looks like in your district, Councilmember Gauthier; I know -- I really believe we can provide a better education at Paul Robeson. I think last year I looked at the numbers and their proficiency rate on state math Keystone testing was less than three percent.
And so we're trying to push those resources in. And the way to do it is we've got to -- we've got to drive faster improvement at the high schools. We're getting better at the K-8, but in the high schools, we've got to pull those limited resources. We've got to adjust those sizes of schools. Not too big, but we just can't quite get the --
If I could pause you for a second. I have heard your vision for the plan. So I think that I am not misunderstanding that this is your vision for the plan. I do want to get a couple specific questions answered before my time is up. My first question would be if you are going to retain the land for school district use and go through a process with the community about what should be there. And I'll say the community has expressed loudly and clearly what they want to be there; they want Robeson High to be there. It is not a mystery. So if you're going to keep the land in district hands, if you are going to add a $100 plus million more in investment, why can we not rebuild or renovate to have a new Robeson High in the same spot? Especially with these numbers that came from the great folks at PFT who thought it was a good idea to honor my information request. So if we know we're not talking about prohibitive amounts of money, why can you not do that?
In the near term, it would not be a financially appropriate investment to invest in a renovation of the school. Even --
And what are the factors that go into that decision?
It is kind of like when you total-loss of car, when it costs more to repair it than it does to replace it, the better option at Paul Robeson is to replace the building. So to replace the building, you would have to move children or young people anyway. So even if we were going to build a new school, which I think has strong merits there, we would need to --
I think that could work -- I think a temporary move could work.
We would need the children. We would need to move students for a period of time. And so when we move them, I think the other part of what you've asked me before is why not just co-locate the two schools separately versus merge them together, if I understood it correctly. And the reason is we've got to get a slightly larger high school size to be able to push more of our limited resources in to improve the academic performance.
Thank you. Very quick, in closing, I want you all to think about how my community views this, which is the continuation of the displacement of black people in University City from University City.
And I want to know if you're okay with that being your legacy. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Chair recognizes -Chair recognizes Councilmember Nicholas O'Rourke, Jim Harrity, and Councilmember Cindy Bass.
Thank you, Mr. President. Good afternoon. Testing one, two, there we go. Good afternoon to you. President Streater, Dr. Watlington, thank you for being with us this afternoon. I shared at Lankenau yesterday morning with a few of my colleagues who invited me to come up that I am not a district member and don't have the tight focus that my colleagues who do serve a particular district in the city have. But as an at-large member of this body, I have the great honor of representing the entirety of the city. And I have been invited by families and students to visit some other schools as well. So I want to lift up two schools in particular; Southwark Elementary in Member Squilla's district, as well as Moffett Elementary in Member Lozada's district. Last week, I was invited to view the conditions at Southwark Elementary. And I want to talk just for a minute about the emergency that is happening there. There are a total of just three toilets for 600 children to use on two entire floors of the school; the floors that house pre-K through 5th grade. It is not appropriate to force five-year-olds, with their little legs, to travel long distances through a school building where they regularly have to take flights of stairs just to attempt to find an open or working bathroom in the basement, which they are then forced to share with 8th graders. In some cases, they may not be able to go at all. And I heard mention yesterday morning of them -some folks having accidents on themselves as a result of having to wait to find something. If children regularly cannot use a toilet because the school does not have enough of them, or because the plumbing repeatedly fails, it begs the question, at least in my mind, how can the district be proposing a facilities plan that would not give those students new bathrooms until at least 2033? And quite possibly not even then. It begs the question how we can have in front of us a facilities master plan that does not set clear standards to ensure that all children at all schools in all neighborhoods are given the basic facility standards. Children need to learn and to learn with dignity. I think about this and I -- and I wonder, you know, is it anywhere in the plan that one could point to that demonstrates that at the end of years, every child 4 will have enough bathrooms, real 5 gyms, full playgrounds, cafeteria 6 kitchens add an HVAC system, an ADA 7 access. Do we know how many schools 8 have major floors with almost no 9 toilets or ratios like one toilet, 10 200 children, in areas that house our youngest children? And the question I think here is, will the district actually commit to auditing and remedying gross deficiencies in bathroom access?
If -- Dr. Watlington is going to answer, but I think you bring up a really good example of why I believe there is a perceived or a real sense of urgency for the Board of Education to address these issues. Understanding that Southwark, the proposal that Dr. Watlington has brought as it relates to timing, I'm not going to get into that. But the longer that we wait -- and again, this is not to say what is going to happen tomorrow or next week or what have you. But I'm hoping that we can use this as a safe space, we can understand the pressure points for both institutions. Without a supercharge of capital investment, the plan looks the way it looks, because that is our confidence in getting the level of investment we would need at the time that we would need. Two, we are also trying to address the issue of chronic underachievement, which precludes all of our babies in different parts of the city from being able to access the careers that you and I have been able to access and things like that. So for me, when I think of disparate impact, I'm not just thinking about disparate impact in the now, Councilmembers. I'm thinking about disparate impact when they become adults, when a child cannot realize any future that they can desire, because the School District of Philadelphia was unwilling to make tough decisions to reallocate resources so those children who may be in schools that they didn't agree to be in in the beginning, can still look back and say, I had the ability to be a lawyer, a bartender, a doctor, a welder, and things like that. And what I can tell you as the Board President sitting here for five years, four, as the board's president, if we continue operating the district the way we do with small schools, if we continue operating the district the way we do without reimagining our grade bands, access to more pre-K, we're going to have another problem in this city. Children who can't afford to live anywhere, who is going to be told what to do and make the political decisions that I believe some of us have -- some of our students have made -- some of -- some of us in Philadelphia have made around national elections and things like that. So it is really about student achievement for us. And if the plan wasn't responsive to Dr. -- to the resolution the board passed last year where that was the guiding post, I'll be the first one saying, Dr. Watlington, we got to start over from square one. But I do think that there is enough meat in the plan. Understand there is more work to be done that we can change -- I'm telling you-all, we can fundamentally change the lives of our children in Philadelphia. And I think the Mayor hit it on the head. I think there is enough stars in alignment in different spaces, including this room that is agreed to up our funding in historic amounts to really do that. So I do believe, though, in order to do that, there is going to be pressure and there is, there is going to be pain. And you all have agreed to that. Yes, we know there has to be closures, but it has to make sense. But what I can say is that I wanted to put that, kind of, understanding of why we're even considering these things. So I hate the fact that there are children who don't have bathrooms that operate in there because I have children in the district. It kills me that this happens. I hate the fact that we may have to tell some individuals their school might have to close. But what I would hate even more is that when I'm in the home for bewildered lawyers retired, in my 80s, that I can't say that we didn't do something to ensure that these children can learn how to fish. That is what I'm saying. And we have 85 schools that are unsatisfactory right now; pipes bursting during the winter, can't have air conditioning. I -- we have to do something about this, and I'm going to repeat what I said yesterday; if we don't do something about it, somebody is going to do it to us. Whether it is facility right sizing, or whether it is also the budget.
And we know what has happened to us before where we lost local control. That is a real concern for the Board of Education. I didn't say --
-- didn't provide anything that anyone said, Council President, but I wanted to share that so we can all understand our pain points. So as --
Mr. President Streater, if you don't mind, I don't mean to interrupt your flow. I do resonate with what you're sharing, but I did want to get the question as I asked it on the record --
Will the district commit to -- yes, sir. Yes, sir, I apologize if -- I didn't mean that --
Thank you so much, Councilmember O'Rourke. One, specific to Southwark -- Council President wants to get right away into this. Specific to Southwark, we are aware of the low ground plumbing issues; we're aware of the school design. I'm personally knowledgeable of that. And we're working closely with folks to do two things. In the capital budget, to look at how we can expedite some improvements there sooner than planned. Southwark is represented in the Facilities Master Plan to get attention at 2031, '32, I believe at present. We're looking with the capital budget, how we can expedite, because there are some significant plumbing issues there. Let me just also share with you --
Can I get a point of information real quick as you answer that question?
Just give me for the record, how many plumbers do we have working for the School District of Philadelphia?
I don't want to tell you the wrong number. Colonel Hill --
Because I know you do a lot of work with the district. And so I want to get an idea the plumbing and engineering staff.
I'll ask Colonel Hill to come to the dais. While he is coming, Councilmember O'Rourke, in this accelerate opportunity Facilities Master Plan, it calls for 60 complete bathroom renovations and 56 ADA improvements across the district. Colonel?
Oz Hill, deputy superintendent for operations School District of Philadelphia. Currently, we are authorized approximately FTE plumbing 16 positions. And at this time, we 17 have eight plumbing positions. We 18 have over 2000 restrooms throughout 19 the School District of Philadelphia. 20
21 So what is our plan to upgrade, 22 increase the level of hiring of plumbers? That is like the most basic need. We not even talking about anything else in the school that, like, the bells and the whistles, just the ability -- I hear it in this building, women say, well, half of the -- they want bathrooms in their own offices because they don't want to deal with some -- that is a different conversation. My point is, it is the most basic -- I'm not even going to call that amenity. It is just the basic right of a kid to get a chance to go to a bathroom that is clean and decent. And if you saying we have -- and I'm not saying it for the clap, see, but I'm just having a basic, just a basic conversation. If you're saying we are authorized the -- we're authorized for and we only have eight, and 22 we have a situation where I'm sure this is not the only school, this is probably one school that is organized, that has the ability to come here and advocate, but I'm sure there is other issues. I just want to know, what is the plan to increase, at a bare bones minimum, the staff, full 7 staff for plumbers? Just -- and it 8 is just a general question based 9 upon the point of information. 10
Yes, sir. We 11 recognize that having access to 12 functioning restroom facilities are 13 a human function, a human right, 14 that everyone should have, no 15 question about that. And it is a 16 priority for us, sir. To mitigate 17 the shortfall that we have in fully 18 staffed positions, we have general 19 service contractors that we use to 20 offset that challenge. 21 Additionally, as we talk 22 about Southwark in particular, we are working with the building committee to address those challenges. We are looking at deploying and employing mobile restrooms that are fully equipped and making sure that access to those restrooms are enclosed within the school structure. We are working also to address the linear infrastructure associated with the underground piping to support a higher volume --
And this is based upon, because some of the schools are old and so forth, and that is the capital investment that is needed to do the bathrooms over?
Mr. President, the bigger issue, though, is that the volume of old schools, old plumbing systems simply exceeds our resources. Let me give you an example. The only time typically that I have available for quiet time is about 5:15, when I get up to go to the gym. From 5:15 to 6:30 is my only quiet time, except when Colonel Oz Hill is calling me, or chief of Staff, Sarah Galbally is calling me to tell me we've got to close school A, B, or C today because the plumbing broke overnight, because the HVAC systems malfunctioned overnight, because the heat is no 15 longer working -- it was working when the team checked it before we -- everybody went to sleep, but about three in the morning, these old systems just caved in on us. So even if we give a 100 percent very best, we have to address, there are not adequate resources. And 35 percent of our schools are sitting vacant, and we're not using our resources efficiently in Philadelphia, as well as we can.
Understood, sir. Member Nicholas O'Rourke is going to be wrapping up his questioning and then Harrity, Bass, Dr. Nina Ahmad.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. President and President Streater, please know I respect you deeply. I just have a lot amount of time and I wanted to get my questions in. I didn't mean to cut up your flow, but respect both of you, Dr. Watlington as well, Dr. Streater, your work and your contributions to the city. Moffett Elementary was another school that invited me to join their community earlier in this planning process. Based on your most recent announcement, and thanks to their advocacy and CM Lozada's leadership in her district, I'm grateful to hear that Moffett will be kept in elementary school, not transitioned into a middle school. But your original plan allocated $8.1 million to modernized Moffett as a middle school. Will this $8.1 million still be allotted to the Moffett Elementary School for the needed updates; the bathrooms, electrical panel lighting, et cetera? And if so, what is the timeline? Will it follow the projected timeline as stated in the original plan? And after the district's original plan was announced, only 15 families accepted enrollment, out of 86 families that had applied. The original plan damaged the school's enrollment, leading to less money per student, and ultimately slashing their budget for the coming year. Can you speak to how the district will remedy that particular challenge? And that is -- those are my questions. Thank you for the time.
Councilmember O'Rourke, in the interest time, I'll just say as we've moved to transition Moffett Elementary to a K-4 school, and to -- with middle grades proposed to attend Ludlow, it requires to make some investments. I believe we've modified that to make the investments at Hackett in a -- in a -- in a multiple move, kind of, change there, if you will. This will allow us to grow the school through 8th grade, which I think is aligned with what we understand a lot of feedback to be. So we're trying to be responsive as best we can to some, if not all, of the community requests.
Councilmember Jim Harrity, then Member Bass, then Dr. Nina Ahmad, Rue Landau.
I'm just going to ask, and as a part of your statement, for the responses to be just direct summarized and direct as quickly as possible. And then I'm saying to -- for the member, you can just be direct, but also, I know add your level of commentary, but also just being direct so I can get everybody into this round.
I got you -- got you. Good morning. Being direct, all right. I was actually glad that the Mayor brought up the counties this morning. I get we can't --
Member Harrity with that big voice you have, speak into that microphone.
No, no, no. I -- come on. It has been a while, man. It has been a while. I'm in a pretty -
Thank you, though. You're right, because I am a little upset. So our mayor bought up the counties, and I get it, you know, we don't have the tax base that some of our counties have and, you know, the -- we don't tax the real estate as high. We also don't have real estate that is, you know, like they do. But $23,000 a year per student, that is the average in Del. Co., Bucks, Mont Co., and Chester County pays to educate their children. 90 percent Mont Co.; Del. Co., 90 percent; Bucks, 94 percent. That is their graduation rates. Philadelphia -- what -- remind me, what do we pay about per student to educate our kids? What is the number?
I'm going to ask Chief Herbstman to come in so we can fact check.
Yeah, I don't need a long number. It is about nine to $11,000 per student. Doesn't take much to figure out the difference in education between $23,000 per student and $11,000 per student on the higher. I have said it numerous times, if our kids got the same as the county kids, they would shock you because they have a reason to work for it. But what I'm saying is, I get it. I get that you guys are doing something, and I get that not all of you have been here when this catastrophe started. Today is Earth Day, right? Happy Earth Day, everybody, right?
Happy Earth Day. So I would like to shout out all our little environmentalists over at Lankenau, and just -- yeah, that is right. That is right. That is right, a 100 percent graduation rate at Lankenau. But yesterday I kind of tried to give you guys a little bit of a distinction between the difference between an environmental school and a farming and agricultural school. The distinction between environmental schools and agricultural schools lies primarily in the focus of curriculum and objectives. Here is that breakdown. Environmental schools' focus; environmental schools concentrate on study of ecosystems, conserve -- conservation, sustainability, and the impact of human activity on the environment. They aim to cultivate awareness, the action regarding environmental issues. Agricultural schools' focus; agricultural schools emphasize the science and practice of farming and food production. The curriculum addresses the techniques and technologies used in agriculture, livestock management, and food systems, right? Key differences: Core subjects; environmental schools focus on ecology and conservation. While agricultural schools focus on farming practices and food production. Clearly two different categories, two different kinds of teaching, two different kinds of curriculum, with definitely two different outcomes for each. I have said it yesterday, sometimes the environmental schools and the agricultural schools are on different sides of an issue. They study different things. So thinking that bringing them over to Saul because it is an environmental -- an agricultural school is going to be close or the same as where they were coming from, an environmental -- no, they were able to concentrate on the environment. When they go to Saul, they are going to have to compete with a program that is already established, that is actually studying, kind of, way different stuff. How are these kids supposed to -- I just want to know, how do you plan on not ending up phasing out Lankenau once they get the Saul? Because we all know that, you know, the precedent of the school is going to take place. Like, you said, the principals have some leniency, but how can we say that one school is -- that deals with something completely different than another school are interchangeable? Can you answer me that question.
Thank you, Councilmember Harrity. The best way I'll answer that, and I mean this in all sincerity, sir, that just like Carver Engineering and Science can deliver a strong program, even though it is not located beside the Temple College of Engineering or a major scientific hub, Bodine High School can offer a very fine international relations curriculum, even though it is not located adjacent to City Hall or the United Nations. Lankenau High School can offer a very fine program being merged onto the Saul campus. I don't think it is dependent upon being in that one location. And quite sincerely, I want to note that Lankenau students would still, under this plan, have access to do field trips and other simulations and things on that campus because --
-- campus and turn around and learn. Do you have the environment and the school. It is just perfect there. I just don't get this interchange. We got a school that has a 100 percent graduation rate. How many schools in the City of Philadelphia have a 100 percent graduation rate? And I'll end with that. Thank you, Council president.
Certainly not the lion's share, and we need to do more work to get all schools. I will say that there is some room to make some significant improvement at Lankenau on the -- on the academic.
Thank you, sir. Chair recognizes, Councilmember Cindy Bass and Dr. Nina Ahmad and -- Nina Ahmad.
Get my public -- my public school education right. It is Dr. Nina Ahmad. For everybody that calls her Ahmad, it is Ahmad. Go ahead, Member Bass.
And just for the record, there is four members of my leadership team. I think oftentimes people mention Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore- Richardson and Majority Leader Isaiah Thomas. But there is also Deputy Whip over there, Cindy Bass.
Yeah, I don't trip on titles, but thank -- I appreciate the recognition, but thank you.
So I just wanted to make a statement. I'm going to put my questions out there and if you could respond because there is a lot going on here. And let me start by saying that there is not one person on this floor who is a member of City Council that is not a strong supporter of Philadelphia public schools. So I want to -- I just want to make sure we make that plain and that we have that as the lead off for this conversation, because it is often pitted as if you don't do what we say do, then you don't support this, that, or the other thing. And nothing could be further from the truth. There is not one person on this floor that has taken a single vote against any level of funding for the School District of Philadelphia. Every member here has in one way or another, supported funding, not just said that they support, but put that support into action by taking a vote or taking some sort of action to show that support by providing funding for the School District of Philadelphia. So there should be absolutely no question that this body is in full support of public education, and we have the receipts to prove it. So as we have this debate, it is important to recognize the history over the last few years. And as the Mayor stated earlier in her comments, we have always risen to the occasion without question. And we have always met the moment, and we have always also had some of the exact same concerns while meeting that moment. And so it feels disingenuous that, you know, we have these conversations, and we get -- we almost never get the answers that we're asking. And those questions, year after year after year, are almost always the same. The concerns are the same, that Council is not included in the decision making. And yet we bear the brunt of the blame for what happens with schools in the City of Philadelphia. We are not -- I want to just make sure everybody knows, we are not included; we have not been included in these decisions that affect each and every one of us. The community has not felt included. Beyond not including Council, more importantly, the parents, the community members, and the students. I went out to Parkway Northwest, and one of the things that the young folks said is, “why are they not listening to us? Why do they not hear what we have to say? ” The other thing that we talk about year after year after year, and still never get a real explanation, is around the allocation of scarce resources. It is always questionable. We just never have a clear understanding as to how resources and decision making is happening in the school district. And yet, as I said, year after year, we support; we always come through, and we want to come through. And at the same time, it almost feels like, you know, we can't keep doing the same thing. It is the definition of insanity, of doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting a different result. And as usual, we are here asking the same questions with limited to no answers. As usual, we are talking about -- we're asking questions, we're not really getting responses that make sense or that compute. As usual, we are hearing about fiscal cliffs and the deficits that are coming. As usual, there is a defense regarding the lack of input and disguising what you all will call, so-called, engagement as real input in decision making. And as usual, you know, we talk about, you know, things that don't make sense laying off up to 3000 or 300, but we need 2000. You know, these are the kinds of confusing conversations that really lead to a lack of support and a lack of confidence, I would say, by the general public in the district. So my questions are as follows: why have we not considered other options besides closing? That would include transporting students at overpopulated schools to schools that are far under capacity. Why have we not revisited the changes to the special admit policy that was done by the district that led to these changes?
Why should we think we'll get these school modernizations? It reminds me of soda tax, and we took those hard votes because, again, we take hard votes down here, and we expect folks to be able to come through on what they promised. We voted for the soda tax saying that it was going to fund new rec centers, new libraries, new parks, new playgrounds. And the evidence of that is just completely underwhelming to most citizens in the City of Philadelphia. They don't feel it, they don't see it, and they don't believe it. Dr. Watlington, you said that dropping out of school was a life-or-death decision. This is a statistic that you said, you quoted, you said that if you drop out, you don't have the same life expectancy as those who graduate. Now, if we know that closures lead to -- some young people will drop out because they're not going, like Councilman Jones said earlier, University City, the Overbrook. Some kids are going to be like, you know what? I'm just not going, like, I'm not going through all that. I'm not going to get beat up. I'm not going to get -- even worse -- something happening to me. And they'll just say, you know what? I'm just not going. And they will drop out. So what I haven't heard in the conversation is knowing what we know, how are -- how are you as a district going to capture that population of students and protect them? How are we going to make sure that they don't drop out? How are we going to protect them? How are we going to reach out and keep them in the fold? And finally, I want to say that there are too many closures west of Broad Street. If you take a map of the City of Philadelphia and you draw a line straight down the middle of long Broad Street, most of the closures that have happened, whether it was years ago, 6 years ago, or now, more than the 7 fair share of those schools are on 8 the -- on the west side of Broad 9 Street. 10 And that is based on 11 population shifts, and we understand 12 that. But what happens when those neighborhoods rebound, and population -- which, you know, trends go all kinds of ways, right? So when those neighborhoods come back around with much more robust population, what happens then? When we put, you know, apartment units in those neighborhoods, in these old buildings that we've now converted to apartment units, where are those kids going to go to school? They're going to go all the way over to the east side of Broad Street too? The fact of the matter is, one half of the city will have a whole lot more educational options than the other half. There is no 6 getting around that. And I believe -- I don't believe you intended it this way, but I believe it is irresponsible planning for our city. In many areas, schools are the only evidence of tax dollars being reinvested and working in our communities, and we just can't take that away. And so there is a lot going on. Philadelphians, under this proposal, will pay more. Undoubtedly, they'll pay more. In some ways, and they'll get less in other ways. There is a lot happening with the closure of schools, the relocation of students by the thousand as proposed, the questionable renovation and remodeling of schools, taxes on deliveries, taxes on rideshares, jobs being preserved, vacancies in the mix, and somehow parking tickets and SEPTA rides are also being the responsibility of the school district. So I'm asking you --
Make it all make sense. Make it all make sense. And one last question -- one question. Pickett School investment; you had told me in January or February, Dr. Watlington, that there was going to be a $12 million investment in the Pickett pool. Is that still on the table? And also the Marcus Foster Pool, we still have -- we've been asking for years and haven't gotten a response.
All the pools being done in the third, Member Bass.
Since Council President is not going to give me a lot of time to answer this, I'm going to be really quick. I want to --
I'm going to ask Colonel Hill if he'll come back to the desk to speak to the pools at Pickett and the other pool you referenced. The other three questions, I'll answer as succinctly as I can. Number one, relative to dropouts, yes, dropping out of school is a life-or-death issue. And we are going to continue the work that we're doing in the school district right now, that in a city, in a school district that typically has about 4,000 young people who drop out between grades through 12 every year, we're going to continue the work that we're doing right now that has resulted in a reduction of 2000 -- about 2,237 or so dropouts. We're going to keep our foot on the gas in that regard. Number two, relative to the question about engagement, and are we listening to Philadelphians, you know, relative to the problem of we have a 65 percent building utilization rate across the city, which means that 35 percent of our footprint is sitting vacant or unused. We are very sensitive to any recommendations to -- around closure. At the same time, what I have said on the record, even here, if we don't want us to make this recommendation to close school X in district A, B, or C, when folks on Council say, well, take that off, I have said, please tell me which schools to put on -- put -- to put on if we take another school off. Because the only way we can address that 35 percent non-utilization rate is we've got to do some right sizing somewhere. And I don't say that in any way to be, you know --
I agree with you. I think you do have to do some right sizing, but the right sizing isn't in closing schools. The right sizing is moving students from schools that are over capacity to schools that are under capacity. This is simple. This doesn't have to be a closure conversation.
I think -- I think we've heard a huge theme across Philadelphia, and I learned that lesson the hard way. When we made a decision when one of the high schools closed and to move that -- those high school students, I believe it was Building 21, to Strawberry Mansion. And I faced a firestorm of parents on that Saturday morning and said we're not doing that, and I said, okay. But we're also sensitive to this notion about city of neighborhoods and kids having a crossover. I'm not so sure we want to go down the path of saying, okay, we're going to transfer kids from this neighborhood to other places where there is space. I think that could present some challenges as well. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying I think it presents some challenges as well.
There is way to do it. There is a way to do it, but right sizing is more than just closing schools. That is not the only way to right size. Thank you, Mr. President.
Just real quick. Point of information, Member Harrity. Brief point of information, please.
Brief. How about we just change the rules and allow the kids? That was one of the biggest complaints we got, is that the rules were changed. Well, change them back, right? The rules were changed so that the kids now don't qualify to get into certain schools. Change the rules back. And there is your problem; the kids will be there.
Thank you, sir. Chair recognizes Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad, then Councilmember Rue Landau.
Thank you, Council President. Good afternoon. It has been a long day and thank you for being here and sometimes facing our wrath, because we all care about the same thing; about our children succeeding. And to the Mayor's point, you know, she talked about us all working together. We have felt sandbagged because we got the decisions just before a vote being taken. So that's where some of our frustration is coming from. But I wanted to just piggyback on what Councilmember Harrity was talking about, celebrating Earth Day today, and really asking the question, do you value environmental science education? Number one, right? And if you do that, then this smushing together of these two schools, which Councilmember Harrity outlined to you how different they are, it compresses these different competencies, different learning environments. It is not sound educational planning and merging this does not preserve Lankenau. It would erase what makes Lankenau distinct. And we've gone over this all yesterday. So I wanted to ask you, you talk about making it an environmental center, bringing everybody there. Why can't you do that now with Lankenau still being there? Because you keep talking about, they're not using their space. So either you help them bring back enrollment, right? You can do that and give them a five- year reprieve to build back enrollment and operate under a serious turnaround and recruitment plan. Two, permit multiple sections of 33 students and establish a clear enrollment target, and then use tier one and tier two criteria to create desirability and stop losing interested families to charter, private, or parochial. We have a solution. We -- why are we not considering these solutions? Co-locate, do this, but you are like, nope, we are going to shut it. First, it was merge with Roxborough, didn't know what that meant. Then quickly, within a month you pivoted. So there is very little thought that went into it to such -- shut down a whole program. In one month, you pivoted from one to another. Second, you're talking about doing an environment, that is not a third option; environmental center. First, you're going to sell the land, then you found out you couldn't send the land, now you're like, okay, we'll make an environmental center. We already have an environmental center that has told us that not enough school district schools use it. So we could immediately solve that problem and make sure we have a relationship with the school called Center for Environmental Education and send our schools children there and preserve Lankenau. Every which way we look at it, there are roots to preserve Lankenau because it is unique. There is one environmental science magnet school in Philadelphia. One of two in the entire state. Why would you want to disrupt that when we are giving you options, giving you solutions? I really want an answer to that.
Good afternoon. Yes, certainly happy to answer the question, Councilmember Ahmad. Yes, do I value environmental science education? Absolutely, without fear of contradiction, yes, I do. As a trained historian and a non-scientist like yourself, I value environmental science education. I have been out to Lankenau more than one occasion and commend the staff and students for some very fine work occurring there. To that point, I have seen some stream work out in one of the rivers. And so I think it is really important hands- on education. I'm also trying to resolve -- thank you so much -- I'm trying to address the real crisis, and I'm not just going to say a problem, I'm going to say a crisis. I have got -- we have a crisis in this city, in the school district with 60,000 excess seats. And when we say, okay, we're going to recommend to close this school to make up the gap, to reduce those excess seats. If folks say, well, no, that is not the right one, and we say, okay, tell us what we ought to replace it with? I'm not getting that kind of feedback. Number two, I think that as we said earlier, environmental science education can continue in it. I do not believe that being located in that one building is a deal breaker. I'm not saying that I'm right, I'm just saying that is my -- how I see it.
Yeah, thank you for that. And I will refute you on this point of saying that you can do Lankenau curriculum in Saul. You cannot, because of the way Saul is constructed. You have -- first of all, you have Henry Avenue going through it, bisecting it, and then you have this built environment and animal husbandry going on. All of it is -- doesn't allow for children. This is what they're doing now; they can study migratory birds, participate in seed saving, seed collection, learn forestry, hydrology, conduct wildlife indexing, engage in sustainable crop production in this environment. You cannot do it there because it is not set up for that. You'll have to disrupt it completely and bring it back to its original form before anything was built. That is -- you cannot do -- you do not have the resources to do that. You cannot do it. We gave you a solution. We said to you, increase enrollment and these are the steps to do it. You are not answering that. I said, you can co-locate resources and have children still come from other places. I said, use SCEE more effectively. We are giving you solutions and you seem to just gloss over them because this particular school you seem to have an issue with, and I'm not understanding it. Tell us what it is that is stopping you from saying, we will look at these options. We will look at solutions. We will think about how to address this because of the unique nature. I'm not saying, you know, it is one of 20 and you're just shutting one down. You are not. It is the unique setting. This is the only place in your district that just -- that does GIS training. Only place in the state that does GIS training in high school.
You are going to take that away? So please answer --
Very briefly. I love Lankenau. Number two, a few years ago, we met with all the criteria-based school principals. We received their feedback and we worked with them and brought in an external review of our school selection process. And we said we're going to do this, we're going to continue with the school selection process, and we're going to make -- we are going to invite principals to be a part of decision making. Principals were a part of that decision making, including the Lankenau principal. They were able to review their criteria. And I want to say on the record, Mr. President, in the School District of Philadelphia, a number of the schools that are either criteria-based schools or citywide admit schools are not experiencing enrollment declines year over year singularly because of the school selection process. I want to be clear, and on the record, I have reviewed the data, and I strongly dispute this assertion that somehow a lottery, even with all its shortcomings, is the culprit for why we have declining enrollments in some of the criteria-based schools. I think it is patently false, and I'm happy to have more conversation about that, and I think schools have to be very careful about that. I have always thought that I'm -- if I'm leading a school, we're in a competitive market; district schools have to compete and not just cry about charter schools. Criteria-based schools have to compete, they have to make the case, they have to market themselves. And parents fought with their feet, and I fully respect that. So I do -- I do think we have to keep that in mind just as well. President Streater, were you going to answer that, sir?
Thank you, Council President. I will follow up with the detailed letter also refuting what you just said. I just don't want to use up the time, but I will send it to you, to the board, as I have been sending even more details with even more specific examples and actual data. Because for you not to consider doing this means you do not value environmental education and you're willing to make our children suffer and not be part of the global conversation that the Mayor just told us that we need to compete.
I'll just tell you that is what I'm hearing from you.
Thank you. Chairman recognizes Councilmember Rue Landau. Then we have to take a short break for our stenographer, but we're going to work right through this. Councilmember Rue Landau, you look like --
Thank you. Thank you, Council President, I hear it. Thank you so much for being here again. I'm going to try to go pretty quickly, but I want to just start with the follow up of how the school selection process changes that happened before you got here might -- we don't do a very good job of looking at what the unintended consequences will be to our actions, which is why we're so concerned here. The new lottery took place in 2021, and that was the first centralized lottery. And at the time, it was glaringly apparent that we didn't have algebra in all middle schools in order to enable people to the kids to get to Masterman and also to succeed in the high schools. But still now, we don't have algebra in all the schools that we need, so we're not fixing the problems. Also to -- that we're not fixing the problems that we need in order to make sure that all children have their success. The second thing to say, I think it is a little hard to imagine that you're saying that the school selection process didn't pull kids from their local schools to other schools, which is causing some of the dis-enrollment. It just did. We have to look at the consequences of our actions, and it is incredibly important as we're dealing with deferred maintenance now from years past. I want to go back to Southwark Elementary that I was at the other day as well. We have some wonderful Southwark parents and students here today. The descriptions of the bathroom issues were so outrageous, but I have -- I'm going to focus on one piece that we didn't get to yet. Many of the problems at the bathrooms were also just about locks on the doors or doors taken off of the bathroom. How hard can it be to change and to fix a lock in a bathroom that you've got that planned for 2032? Please tell me that.
Totally agree with you. When a lot needs to be changed, we ought to get to it no 22 matter what -- no matter what the other circumstances are, that ought to be done pretty quickly. I agree with you.
But when you know that, I'm sorry, we sit here, I tell you every single time we're working with facts and trust, and everybody comes in here and says, trust us, trust us. There is no question here; Southwark has been organized. They've been advocating for this. This isn't new information that you're finding out today. These are simple fixes that can happen. And they need to -- the entire process needs to be looked at to see where the problems are. Including, you said you have 18 plumbing positions available and 19 only eight that are filled. Maybe 20 we could take an opportunity now on 21 the record to talk about what other 22 skilled trades you have, what positions you have available, and maybe we could talk to some of our labor union friends and see if they want to fill the jobs.
There is some funding in the upcoming capital improvement plan to get after some of that quicker, rather than later. But not all of it. Colonel?
Thank you, sir. Yes, ma'am, we have applied for a school improvement grant. I believe the number is approximately $1.8 million. The work, in terms of addressing Southwark restroom needs will begin immediately. Again, we're working with the school community. We are not asking folks; our students, our young students to suffer through not having access to the restroom. Measures are being taken right now to relieve the tension and the frustration and unacceptable conditions regarding restrooms at Southwark. That will happen, and it will be done by the beginning -- you will see the results of it going into the next school year, not in 2032.
Thank you. This is one of so many other schools though, so we would like updates on others. Also, could you please submit to the Chair the skilled positions you have in the maintenance department? What is filled and what are vacancies? And I want to get to one other issue which is again, kind of, functions of the world that are causing a lower enrollment and which schools are being affected. So we know that ICE has been out in Philadelphia doing their violent tactics and spreading fear and terrorizing communities. Because of that, there is a -- there are many families where students are scared to go to school. We know that this is causing decreased participation in the schools right now. Not enrollment necessarily, but the kids aren't going to class. And I'm not going to name the schools that have come to me because I don't want anything to happen to them. But there are at least three schools that I know about where they are -- children are not going to school, and because of that, they are being told that they are going to have a decrease in teachers and support staff going forward. We all know with our organizing here in Philadelphia and what is happening around the country; we will get past this. We will get ICE to stop terrorizing our communities. How many schools are being harmed with a decrease in teachers and support staff right now based on ICE activity, keeping enrollment -- keeping student participation down?
Really quickly, I want to answer two questions. Your last question I didn't get to. Since the lottery has come up multiple times, I do want Council to know, Mr. President, that three-and-a-half years ago, we wanted to instill confidence in Philadelphia, that all the issues that parents and family members brought up about the audit, the lottery would get a full review. Because we wanted a -- the best review possible, we didn't ask our internal research team to do it. We didn't even ask Penn or Temple to do it. We went out to the private marketplace and wanted to get a major auditing firm to come into the School District of Philadelphia, which rarely happens in school districts. We wanted folks like KPMG, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Accenture accepted the work. And every year, subsequent to that first year, Accenture does a review of our lottery, an external review, to ask the question, are we -- is it doing what it is designed to do and what a process improvement that need to occur. So we've made great progress in implementation of the lottery, and I won't go into it for purposes of the time. Also, the decline in -- that we're seeing in school enrollments, which have turned around in the past couple of years by 783 students. But the historic 10-year decline was driven more by -- historically has been driven by declining birth rates. The fact that over a 10-year period more students left the district schools to go to charters. That seems to be balancing out and reversing in some -- in some parts of the city. We didn't see a major impact of ICE in school communities last school year because we looked at the data month over month. This year, we're continuing to look at that as things in some places seem to be ratchet up -- ratcheted up in terms of anxiety. If you would be kind enough to share with me offline, any of those schools, I'll personally take a look at it and respond back to you in writing how we will review and support them if indeed that is an impact.
Thank you. I want -- I think, you know, I'm a huge fan of the public school system. I want to do everything I possibly can, as I know all the colleagues do, to make you guys thrive. But there -- we got to look at the decisions we make now and what we see in the future. And I have now been around long enough that I have seen them. My son was a part of that first lottery class with -- you didn't do it, the racist essay and a variety of other things that got us to this place. There is no longer an essay, I just want you to know, just -- we -- they reverse that immediately. I'm going to put one question on the record and send you a couple of others, but I wanted to know that you have a one-to-one device model, which ensures all students can use Chromebooks at school and at home. Are we making good on this commitment? Is there a Chromebook available to every student? How much of the stock is nearing the end of its useful life? And do we have a plan and the funds to replace them? I don't --
Yes, we're committed to every student having a one-to-one Chromebook ratio, and we have a replacement plan. I can't remember the number of years, but we've been moving forward with the replenishment plan. I'll follow up with more details on the record.
Yes. Thank you. I wanted to talk about student SEPTA passes. As you -- as you know, I have been working on; I really want to expand these fare passes. They end at 8 o'clock at night. They are only working during -- when school is open. They don't work over the summer. They don't work on the weekends. Can you detail what students are currently eligible for SEPTA student fare cards? What is the structure used to pay for these cards? What would it cost to expand these cards to students who live within 1.5 miles of their school ensuring they have access to all Philadelphia has to offer? And we know that grades are simply not enough to get our students into quality colleges, university, and other programs. What would it cost to expand the hours the cards can be used so we can ensure students always have transportation to work, study, attend events, go to internships, et cetera?
With President's permission, I would like to ask our chief financial officer, Mike Herbstman, to speak to that. He routinely works with SEPTA and can provide the data -- those numbers.
Good afternoon. Mike Herbstman, chief financial officer for the district, for the record. So right now, we've looked at the expansion, if we were going to include all students for weekends and for the summer, if we're just looking at district operated schools, that expansion would cost approximately $79 million per year. If we also included charter students in that, that amount would raise to about $136 million. To the other parts, I would have to return in writing exactly what the current criteria is for -- which students currently receive it. Those students I know are high school students, and I think down to 5th grade if they are part of a school that goes up to 8th grade. Was there another part to it as well?
If you're under age 12, you go for free. or under, you go for free 6 anyway. It is 1.5 miles from the 7 school. It is from 5:30 a.m. to 8 8:00 p.m., and it is only on the 9 days the schools are available. 10 So maybe you and I can work 11 on some good concrete numbers of 12 what it means to expand those hours at night or weekends and weekends and holidays.
Yes. And just to clarify, the numbers that I gave were just for the students that do not have the free passes. So it would be 5th through 12th grade students that are not currently eligible for the program.
Okay. $79 million for students who are not in the 1.5 miles, but also to expand to weekends and summer?
Okay. We'll talk -- we'll tweak that a little. Thank you.
Can I get one brief point of information. Member Dr. Anthony Phillips.
Just a brief point of information on this entire topic. I just wanted to make sure that myself and the public is very clear, Dr. Watlington and Board President, Streater, if you mind just explaining what does modernization mean for most of these schools and what does renovation -- I just want further clarity on these classifications you're giving for school improvements, is it just like bathroom improvements, wall -- you know, wall improvements? Have you thought that through? Just on it.
Yes, sir. Councilmember Dr. Phillips, modernization means different things in different schools. In some schools, it can mean things like replacing bathrooms. It can mean replacing HVAC systems, heating systems that are old or that are broken down, air conditioning systems. It could mean replacing boilers that are no longer firing or working appropriately. Some are electrical infrastructure so that when they bring in air conditioning units to put in the -- in the windows, they plug them in, they actually work and don't shut off the electrical circuits. Some of it is painting, some of it is lighting. The lion's share of it is not building brand new, complete new schools. There are two or three in this plan, a lot of this is infrastructure that gets us to this outcome. It gets us to the point that we can reduce the number of buildings with unsatisfactory or poor ratings from 85 to zero. Not all of the schools would be Taj Mahals brand new, but they would not be in poor or unsatisfactory ratings, and they would look cosmetically much better. Think about Frankford High School, for example, where there was a $29 million refresh. It will give you one example. For the few new schools we built, which will not be most of them, think of T.M. Peirce, Cassidy, AMY at James Martin, et cetera. And you think of -- about schools like, is it Forrest, that got a major renovation?
Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to -- hopefully if you could share out with -- that with the schools once you do that. Because I don't want the expectation that they see themselves on a list, they're about to get this brand new school, or I think that is just very important also for communities to know too. And hopefully you can work with them to talk about what that looks like; modernization, so they get the needs that they want as well.
Thank you very much. Council hearing will be at ease until 2:45. Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla.
Yes. I know you want to go to lunch, but I appreciate --
I don't want to go to lunch, I want to make sure the stenographer gets a chance to get a break at her request.
It is rock and roll, you-all. We got to push through. We got individuals here who have to come up for public comment. Chair recognizes Councilmember Kendra Brooks, then Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, then Member Isaiah Thomas. Okay.
Then Councilmember Lozada then Member Isaiah Thomas.
Squilla is in the queue, so when he comes back -- actually, it is his turn, but he is not here now. So go ahead, Member Brooks.
All right. Thank you. So one thing I'm deeply concerned about is what transitions report is going to look like for parents. This information is a key part of any closure plan, and I have not been able to get direct answers about what this will look like. If you are planning on taking a vote to close schools, this needs to be in place and talked about with parents because they will have questions as soon as any closure is voted on. And I want to know what the portfolio of work would look like from the district? And this includes -- I have a series of questions; who within the school district will be assigned to this work? What support will be given to parents? Will the support be accessible to people who work for a living? What will the district be doing to accommodate families with children who have IEPs? And how will this team work with Councilmembers given our office will be hearing directly from communities about the impact of our constituents -- the impact from our constituents?
Just before Dr. Watlington answers, just as a reminder, whenever the resolution comes before the Board of Education, it will not be a resolution to close schools. It'll be a resolution to set off a process mandated by law where there will be school closures at some future juncture, just for information's sake. But Dr. Watlington, please answer the question.
Thank you, President Streater. And Councilmember Brooks, I would say two things, first, the district is already organized into learning networks; geographic learning networks, to push resources closer to parents and families. We did that a couple of years ago. Number two, in addition to assistant superintendents, the people who supervise schools in their -- in their respective learning networks, we are going to staff up a transition office that would report out of my office. Remember unlike 2012, '13, where schools were closed and the savings came, not so much from just closing the schools, but more of the savings came from the personnel costs; the salaries of teachers, principals, counselors, social work, climate managers, et cetera. We are taking some of those resources and moving them with children. And we're taking some of those resources to staff up a dedicated transition office that will be located right out of my office. I will personally be working with that team and the leadership in that team. Once we get some direction from the board of where to go, that staff team will be staffed up pretty quickly. What sorts will -- supports will they provide? It will be a one-stop shop for whatever parents need. They need help with tutoring, transportation, school visits, have -- get -- some get-to-know-you activities, social and emotional and anxiety support and help. Whatever is needed, we will make sure that happens, and that team will make sure that in transition, individualized education plans are followed to the letter.
Okay. So I have a follow up from that question, particularly as it relates to students with disabilities and special needs. One of the things that I feel like needs to be answered is to understand how support staff in schools will be affected by these potential closures? And what will this look like and will they be able to follow their students? And were these trade-offs part of your calculations? And can you speak to the data behind it?
By federal law, individualized education plans require that resources and supports follow a student. Councilmember Kendra Brooks has a child who leaves from school A to go to school B, and your child has speech language -- well, I won't use speech language. I -- well, I'll use speech language, speech language support three days a week for one hour, those supports would travel with you. And this team would help make sure, in addition to the very fine work that our Office of Special Education and Diverse Learners is already doing, there will be an extra layer to make sure nothing falls through the crack.
Can I get a brief point of information on that -- on that line of questioning? I'll be real brief. So the students from Lankenau, and I had no idea you had blind and deaf students that attend that school. So that was new information to me. How would there be a seamless transition to the new school, I guess, what your saw, in terms of accommodating the deaf and blind children?
I'm sorry, say that -- I didn't quite hear you, Mr. President.
I thought I was clear. Did anybody else not hear what I was saying?
There are deaf and blind students that attend Lankenau, right?
And they're going to go to Saul, right? It is the same line of questioning; I'm following up with -- in regards to Member Brooks. What has the preliminary work has been done for that seamless transition of deaf and blind students for Saul?
Number one, we've identified staff, that I will not speak to on the record yet, who will assist me specifically in that transition. Number two, we built into the calendar a full year of planning so that there are no 12 hiccups, missteps, or faux pas, if you will. And No. 3, we've been very intentional for the 17, former current 17, schools that are on 16 the current list of recommendations 17 to President Streater and his board. 18 We've mapped out what the 19 student population looks like. The 20 fact that we're not talking about it on the record, we don't want to get ahead of the process.
But I wasn't expecting regarding that conversation with that particular school in terms of children with disabilities. Briefly wrap up for us when you get a chance, Member Brooks?
Yes. Just -- because you may -- so when you talk about the -- there is a plan. So are we taking consideration, and I'm thinking about some of the districts that -- some of the -- my council colleagues who have multiple elementary schools that are closing in their district that may have special needs support or special Ed support, and some kind of plan. Are we accounting for where these children are going, so it is not an overflow or influx of certain children with various disabilities in the same classroom? Or like, is it going to be a clear transition path, like, that not to influx certain schools with additional children with special needs support that we aren't able to accommodate. And I'm thinking about children with neuro divergent issues and so many -- behavior issues and all that. I'm like, is there any consideration taken, especially, I want to think about in like, I think the 5th and the 7th District where it is like a high influx of young people, young children in those schools that will be transitioning and moving around. And do we have a plan for that? Because the staffing ratio and the class size and the staffing support is very key. And some of those children need to have the -- they don't work well with transitions. So what is it -- so it can't be an afterthought. That is what I'm saying. It can't be an afterthought when we're moving multiple kids into the same class without the adequate support. And I just don't want us to be moving quickly and then our kids will be lost and stuck.
Yes, ma'am. Your point is well taken, and you're absolutely correct. Whether it is children with neuro divergent issues, specific language -- specific learning disabled, or children with mobility issues, we are thoughtfully working through how to make sure that balls do not get dropped with children. And in addition to the learning network offices, the office that reports out of my office, has all of those issues related to specific -- specifically related to students with disabilities. We have an eye toward children who qualify for English language learner status. And we're looking in communities that are -- have very high concentrations of poverty, how to have that extra touch and not just leave things to chance for any of our -- any of our children.
Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilmember Squilla. I'm going to take a moment of personal privilege just to adjust one small part of public comment. So Member Squilla, you go ahead and you have some constituents that are going to be a part of your line of questioning. And so, Member Streater -- Mr. President, and school Superintendent Watlington, could you all -- ask your questions first and then we'll have State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler to come sit on the side of the dais with her students.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. And my questions are, and I first want to thank you for your willingness to meet with the State Rep Fiedler, myself, and Senator Saval's office on the concerns of Southwark and what it means. We have students that are here today; I believe they were sitting upstairs, oh, they are here in the back now. And hearing there's concerns, and I want to thank you for also listening and hearing there is concerns, but please give them a round of applause for coming to join us here. They have shared with us the challenges of going to school, trying to learn in the school that is probably one of the best examples of how diversity can build a great way to educate individuals. And have to feel like they have to hold in going to the bathroom until they get home, because of some of the challenges that were mentioned earlier in our hearing and testimony. And I want to thank you for your willingness to look at reassessing these schools. And I know that President Streater and Dr. Watlington, you agreed to look at the plumbing that really wasn't part of the original assessment to really show what we can do immediately to address that. And we all know that temporary bathrooms is not the answer to have that. It is great that that is a consideration in the meantime. But the other issue is, beside the agreement to reassess the criteria of what Southwark -- the needs are and need based to do, that the modernization plan that comes to 2020 -- 2032 and 33. The school is in immediate need of the bathrooms, but also the remediation and the removal of the rodent issue that is in the school. When you have young kids in the classrooms that feel uncomfortable whether eating in the cafeteria or in a classroom doing reading time, and they see a mouse or somebody run -- somebody -- something run by them it is really hard to learn. And, you know, I want to give the principal, the teachers, the staff, and everybody at that school for really doing an outstanding job to put up with these challenges and yet still be able to succeed academically. And these kids that have been -- they're brilliant minds, and they're out there now advocating for cleaner places and cleaner bathrooms and active working bathrooms so that they could learn better. What are we doing in the immediate -- and we talked about the summer coming up. What are we doing in the immediate to address the plumbing issues, the bathrooms that go down? I know that it is easier to get new fixtures and toilets, urinals, and doors for these bathrooms. And will this be completed before the beginning of the next school year?
Two things -- thank you, Councilmember Squilla. I'll say two things, one, we are exploring how quickly we can get significant improvements made at Southwark, in particular through the capital improvement budget ahead of that timeline with the facilities plan. Two, the team is looking at that 2031, 32 date to see what the options for moving that up are. And three, there is a state grant afoot related to how to do this. With the capital improvement plan, we put ourselves on an expedited timeline, not to wait for the third week in May, but somewhere -- sometime within the next week to days, we 10 should be able to have a more -- a clear answer in terms of a timeline about how soon that can be done and whether it can be -- get -- done over or by the summer. The last time I was at Southwark, I believe with principal Luka, I thought Southwark was interesting, and that you have those two big restrooms in the basement. So it is a unique, interesting design. The team has gone in and gone underground to flush out some things. But, you know, when you've got old infrastructure, you flush out one thing, you don't know what you're going to find next. And even when you clean those places really well, when you ring a thing that is just kind of stuck in the floor, you got to rip that stuff out, just like a very old house and just redo it. Please know that we will do everything we can to expedite those problems as quickly as we can. And we'll give you a more definitive timeline. I don't want to sit here and give you an artificial deadline that we've not been able to confirm that we absolutely can do it just yet. But we're moving as quick as we can. I promise you we'll follow up.
And I know you've committed to working with an advisory committee --
-- set up with the school to discuss that. And hopefully by May 20th, 22nd, there is an assessment valuation done that you had said. But also, like this summer, it is really important, and I know that we have talked, and most likely now, there is not going to be any activity within the school to do like a really full cleaning. Clean that school from top to bottom so that when the staffers come in there, they could start at a clean facility instead of trying to catch up on everything that is happening. I know you put a new fire alarm system in there, some electrical work that is going on. But these challenges that the students face, and we all agree, and nobody expects a student to have to go through these things while they're learning. So this also comes from deferred maintenance and challenges that we put off in the past. And so we want to make sure when we're talking about modernization, some of that questions that this is a modernization, this is --
-- making the school functional, right? And I know Councilmember O'Rourke, Councilmember Landau, myself along with other Councilmembers are down there with State Rep Fiedler and Senator Saval's office, so this is a united push. And we want to help, like, we're not here just to throw blame and do it, but we want to help, whether the resources, and I know rep Fiedler is going to have some -- a couple things to say. But I think it is really important to know that as they, as they advocate for this, and as the students, the teachers, the parents advocate, the frustration level is so high. So we have to -- we have to expect that when things don't go right and we don't meet these things, we have really nothing to hold the school district to, because we don't have any dates of when these are going to be done. Not yet. But we want to make sure that they have clear signals of what's going to happen from now until the next school year, and then clear signals of what is going to happen as far as modernization.
So I just want to ask one quick question before we bring somebody else on and it is about Hackett. There is just a new decision that came out on Hackett; creating Hackett from K-5 going to K-8. This decision was just proposed Monday, and I understand it is going to be voted on on Thursday. You know, I think the reaction is, is it good or bad or indifferent? There are challenges. We don't know what the plan is. We don't know -- the facility is already full. We have a lot of classrooms that take care of people with different abilities. And we want to make sure that the school could handle this change and the challenges that go along with that. But without a plan, just an announcement without a plan, we're getting inundated with concerns. And we need to make sure that the district and the board understand that and really have to be able to give that plan. You announced it on Monday, possibly voting on the ability to do these things on Thursday, but nobody has any idea of how that would play out.
Let me just -- I want to make sure that we didn't get something wrong. You wanted -- you were supportive, you wanted us -- wanted us to make some modifications relative to Moffett that related to this? Is --
I think this was part of the desire not to have Moffett as a middle school. Did we get that part?
So as you correct something, you create another issue, right?
And as you create another issue, it may be a solution, but nobody knows what the plan is. Like you fix the one thing, but by fixing one thing and making something else, and nobody understands the process, that is a challenge. So if we could see if what that full plan is; is there money being put into Hackett? Is there going to be an extension? Is there going to -- how are they going to use the rooms that are currently used?
I want to make sure that you get an answer. If you allow me to bring either Deputy Superintendent Hill or Senior Advisor Landau to the desk, I would -- I would like to them to have at least 45 seconds to just give them a quick high-level answer to that.
A quick update, and then maybe a meeting or an understanding of a -- to -- so we could share that with our constituents that, you know, when I had -- get 50, 60 emails overnight, and we want to be able to at least give them an answer. I could say I could ask the school district, but that is not a good answer.
And for the record, that is the Appropriations Chairman for City Council.
Excuse me. We have a point of information. Member Lozada?
Councilmember Squilla, I just want to -- point of information. The Hackett, Moffett, Ludlow, conversation kind of all was going all together with the families and parents of all three of those schools. And so I know -- I make -- I want to make sure that I put that on the record because I don't -- I don't want people to think that the school district made that decision overnight on their own. It was a conversation that we have had with community parents of the three schools, because I think all three of them were impacted by the original recommendation that they made. So I just wanted to put that on the record.
Good afternoon. Claire Landau, senior advisor for Strategic Planning. Thank you for the question, Councilmember Squilla. This is, as you had said, a result of the change in the recommendation regarding Hackett and Moffett. Originally, the recommendation was to merge the catchments of the two schools so that students in the two -- in both schools would go to the Hackett building for K-4, and then Moffett for 5-8. Of course, we had heard strong concern from the Moffett community, but I think as you've seen and had seen, we had received a lot of strong support from the Hackett community. And I think the outreach is in part in, you know, the concern in a change. The recommendation, though, will mean that Hackett will grow to become K-8. We have taken the funding that would have gone for the Moffett, not -- for some portions of the Moffett facilities upgrade to facilitate its transition to a middle school. And re-allocated that to Hackett so that the Hackett facility will have the upgrades necessary to make those changes. And we will certainly be coming out to the community to have meetings and to speak with them about how this will work. It will be happening in partnership with the community. So we'll have a planning year, and then it will grow one year at a time. So it'll be a very slow phase-in that we'll do with the community. Certainly, with you -- in partnership with you --
Would this be done -- would this be done before the vote?
-- so the students -- so the people understand what the plan is, because that is part of the challenge. The plan was just released on Monday and the voting Thursday, and nobody knows. I didn't even know that the funding was being switched from Moffett to Hackett.
In full transparency, again, I think whenever there is a resolution that goes before the board things aren't going to instantaneously happen, right? There is some thought to the ability --
I wanted to put a little more meat on the bone if I could.
-- Squilla is referring to -- I'm going to let you respond. Because we deal with this on a legislative process as well. Like, we'll introduce a bill and then there is a hearing, and then we'll go through the legislative process of getting feedback and so forth and decide if we're going to vote on the initiative or not. So I'm sure you were going into that same direction, meaning just because it is introduced doesn't mean -- go ahead, sir.
Yes. So there is a resolution that gives direction from the board to the district, not just to do the plan, but that for there to be schedules and connections with proposed closures, consolidations, relocations, mergers, reconfigurations, openings, and name changes to provide ample time for what needs to happen. So I think there is -- I think -- I understand there is a feeling of we have to, you know, kind of get what we need to get in before this -- the vote before the resolution. But it -- the way this is designed is to really try to lean on the district by way of the board to ensure that these things are thought of before we -- before we move down the -- down the road. And I'm going to be honest about something else too, the Clayton Center is half the size it should be. So Senior Advisor Landau is the one who is the principal, I guess, I'm going to say implementor, around Accelerate Philly. So the longer that we have her, kind of, do this -- which is fine, we -- her ability to focus on student achievement through Accelerate Philly is fall -- so I think one of the tensions that I think as the Board President I feel comfortable saying here is, I think if we have the staff, the time and resources to come up with contingency plans for six or seven, eight iterations of a plan, we would have done it. But I think we're the type of board -- the school district where unfortunately we have to have planning years. And the superintendent needs a direction from the board that before I marshal all of these resources, I need to know what direction I'm going in, in the event that the Board of Education or there is -- or whoever else is unwilling to do it. And I think that is the -- that is the elephant in the room 5 that, you know, I'm not happy to talk about because it is a huge weakness of the school district. We've seen it in other ways, right? You know, we'll say, “Hey, we'll work on it, but where are the plans? Where are the plans?” But some of the same people, Dr. Oz -- Chief Superintendent, Oz Hill, has like 60,000 hats on his head right now, right? So often when you ask Dr. Watlington or the staff to do something, they have to, kind of, put aside the work that has to keep going as the mount of the car continues to go a million miles down the field. The best thing that we -- that I could do with this resolution, as the Board President and the board, if it was to approve it, was to put language in it that dictates the type of things that you've raised, that others have raised, to ensure that Dr. Watlington, as we continue on what is in the document, and it says it is “a living plan” is implemented with fidelity. Dr. Watlington has done it with Accelerate Philly, he has done it with other techniques. So I do have the faith and confidence that Dr. Watlington posts a vote on a resolution that triggers a process for things that are yet to occur, will be able to think this thing through.
I -- and I have faith in Dr. Watlington and the board and, and everybody in the process. It is just when a change happens and nobody knows it, then they see a vote on it, they see that it -- they don't know. And they see that it wasn't done, and they didn't take their input into consideration, right? So it is already voted on, it is already done, and we can say what we want. I mean, people don't believe politicians, to begin with, right? So we tell them things and you're telling them things for a specific reason, right? Just to get past a certain point. But I could say, “Yeah, we voted on it, but we're going to work with you, and we'll change it later.” It just doesn't sit well. I trust you, and I believe you're going to do the right thing, but it still -- this challenge is that we need to make sure that the people have the input in the process. They don't have to agree with the final result. And they don't have to agree with what you would finally decide, but they should be part of that process.
So I'm going to take a moment of personal privilege and ask for State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler to come to the podium. And whatever guest you want to bring with you, Elizabeth Fiedler. It is going to just be yourself?
It is actually the students I have who are speaking; is that okay?
All right. So if the three students could please come up. I'll just say briefly, I'm State Rep Elizabeth Fiedler. I would like to thank City Council. I feel a bit like I've been summoned to the principal's office, hearing my name, a bit of nerves. But thank you, Council President Johnson. Thank you so much to Councilman Squilla and to every member of City Council who has heard what these students have had to say about the building conditions in their school. And they are here today just to make their voices heard. So thank you so much for giving them a warm welcome in Philadelphia City Hall.
Hello. My name is Valerie Flores, and I'm a 7th grader at Southwark. I'm here today because of the conditions of our school bathrooms; they suck. Next year will be my last year there, and I have not seen much changes in the seven years I have been there. I'm not going to lie, I like the school teachers, they're nice, some classmates are cool. But what I don't -- what I don't like is that me and my school have to practically beg for better bathrooms. Before I even got here, my classmates even said, “Tell them to fix our bathrooms.” I shouldn't be here asking for -- you know, I should be here asking for more things on the school playground or things for the blacktop. But instead, I am here asking for decent bathrooms; bathrooms. I seriously have to go out of school and go all the way here for decent bathrooms. How would you feel if every day you had to worry about the toilet flooding? Having to ask a friend to keep the door closed for you because the doors won't lock? A bathroom that smells repulsive. Worrying there isn't a working soap dispenser. Like I've already said, I should have to be asking for this. You said before the school is overpopulated, so please use those funds to fix our bathrooms. I'm still upset that some things that are going to fix our school are going to come in 2032. At the -- a while ago, we had like a faculty meeting at Southwark and there was a mother with a 4-year-old dog -- with a 4-year-old kid, and they said their kid would be in my grade by the time that year comes. I have a petition that 300 students signed. Who can I give this to?
Thank you. Just say your name and please begin your testimony.
Hi. My name is Aurora and I'm a Southwark student. We, students, should be learning, not searching for a clean bathroom, nor fearing insects. I love my school; I enjoy the diversity and the activities. However, today I came to talk about a problem we have been facing; the restrooms and the insects. In one occasion, the drain became clogged and it began to let out dirty water and that section of the restroom flooded. Can you imagine what it is like to have to walk on water fearing that your shoes might get dirty, or that you might fall into the water filled with waste and bacteria? Now imagine how difficult it must be for the little children. No child should ever have to go through that. But you know what? We didn't even have to imagine it because we lived it. On another occasion, the cockroaches weren't just in the bathrooms, but also in the classrooms. To the point my classmates had to lift their feet up because a cockroach was in the classroom and was right underneath them. Today we bring together our small voices to be heard and to bring a great change into our school. Thank you.
Hi. My name is Olivia Quaresma and I'm in 5th grade. I love so many things about Southwark; our diversity, the Spanish Immersion Program, my classes, my teachers, and of course my friends. Ironically, Southwark has a really big problem and it is urgent. It has been going on for a while now. There is literal sewage coming up from the floors. We can't cover up the lack of soap, lack of paper towels, broken stall doors, the awful smell, or the amount of lost class time it takes for us to walk around the school just looking for a place to pee. Some of us choose to wait until we get home to use the bathroom. This isn't fair, and it isn't right. The pipes need to be fixed so water sewage doesn't come up from the floors. Please get us doors. Get us soap. I want you to understand that this is really serious. You want us to have good attendance, to do well on our tests, but we also need basic things like clean and working bathrooms that we don't have to walk around up and down the stairs to find. We need a solution for now, not in 2032. Thank you for your time.
You-all aren't asking these kids no questions, are you-all? But we thank you for your leadership. Thank you for being here, for speaking truth to power. Thank you very much. Chair recognizes Councilmember Isaiah -- no, I'm sorry. She pressed the button. It is Lozada, then Isaiah Thomas, then Councilmember Young. Then we are officially out of that first round.
13 Thank you, Council President. Good 14 afternoon. Thank you for being with 15 us this afternoon. At first -- 16 before I begin, I want to shout out 17 Claire Landau and Colonel Oz Hill 18 for their work through the 19 facilities plan and your consistent 20 communication with the parents of 21 all of the schools that were on the 22 closure list in the 7th Council 23 District. 24 But very specifically the Moffett parents who were very, very, very engaged, asked a lot of questions, and really showed up for their children and their community. So thank you very much for your work and for your patience with them. I just have a few questions, and my questions are really based on some of the things that I heard this morning. I guess my first question is, has the -- I understand that you guys are new, and you weren't there when the COVID relief dollars came in and had maybe very little decision making in how it was spent. But when you all arrived and when you were considering -- Dr. Watlington, I guess you, when you were considering the position, President Streater, when you were considering becoming a part of the board. Did anyone ask for, or has the school district done an independent audit of your expenditures? And if so, can you speak to what that audit says? Can you share that audit with Council? And if not, why?
We have an annual audit of all district expenditures. We do annual audits of school budgets as well. I can tell you that we've had clean audits with no opinions -- modified opinions, which is a good thing. And I believe we post some feedback relative to those -- to those audits every time we take them before the Board of Education annually. So those --
But it is an audit that is done internally, correct?
By virtue of audit, it means someone else comes in to look at the books, because we wouldn't want -- we would not want that to be an internal, although the board also has an internal audit function as well. So we have got a dual system going there. We can send, for the record, when those was publicly shared, because we do it in open session. It is a --- it is a public review of the audit annually. And we'll be sure to share that for the record.
I'll ask Chief Herbstman if he'll get that to the Council.
If you could share that, that would be awesome. Thank you.
We've actually had some commendations from the national auditing firms as well.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. We talked -- we -- you mentioned earlier the -- the 20 10 vacant buildings that the school 11 district owns or has. Do we -- are 12 they still in your inventory or have 13 you already transitioned them in a 14 disposition process after the board 15 voted? 16
The 17 board passed the resolution that 18 triggered the process for the 19 superintendent to recommend 20 conveyances of those facilities to the city. That process is ongoing.
Why -- can you tell me why we -- why we didn't consider the sale of these properties? When I looked at -- when my staff did some research, there was an estimated value of $80 million for those parcels that 5 could have created an ongoing tax 6 revenue that could have been paid to 7 the -- to the -- to the city, and 8 then in return to the school 9 district. Why did we not consider 10 the sale of those properties through 11 an RFP process? 12
There 13 is no RFP process. It is -- it is 14 recommendations contingent upon 15 Dr. Watlington doing his due 16 diligence. So right now, nothing 17 has been conveyed at this time. But 18 there is a resolution that directs 19 Dr. Watlington to do his due 20 diligence, which includes things that you just -- that you just mentioned as it relates to the, you know, the benefit to the district and other uses of that nature. So we're kind of premature in that space to -- as it relates to what's going to actually happen to them. But it is not just a clean convey. There are some things the board wanted to see first.
You guys have some vacant properties. It is -- they are -- they are not structures; they are just land. I know one is on Orkney and Dauphin, for instance, that doesn't look like it has moved anywhere. But we have had several people that have expressed interest in that parcel. Are there other spaces that don't have structures that the school district owns that you would consider to sell in order to reduce your deficit?
Staff doesn't have any additional updates on that at this time. But we're happy to take anything that you want us to look into for homework. But we don't have any new updates at this time -- any particular updates at this time.
Thank you. And then my last question is, President Streater, I know that majority leader asked you yesterday, she asked you today, and I recognize that you a -- you said you needed to go to the board. That is understandable, right? But would you support a motion to hold the vote in order for us to continue to have conversations in good faith and truly demonstrate that we are working in partnership? I asked that question not to put you on the spot, because that is not what I want to do. I asked that question because one of the first questions I was asked after this morning's session was, you know, the administration, the legislative body, and the school district all look like you're fighting against each other. This doesn't look like you are our partners here. And the word partnership and collaboration has been said multiple times throughout the day yesterday as well as in today. And I really believe that we are here to work together in the best interest of the children and families and the communities that we represent. I believe that you guys are there to do good as well, right? I believe your hearts are in the right place. But what people are seeing as they are watching us on 64 or in this space, it looks like we are at odds with each other. And my explanation to them was, this is politics, right? There has to be a give and take. This is a negotiation process. We don't really -- we don't hate each other. No one is angry with anybody in here. Are we frustrated? Absolutely. I think all of us are in our place to be frustrated, but I think that we have to demonstrate that we want to continue to negotiate in good faith. And you as the leader would have to make that decision, right? Would you support the motion to hold the vote tomorrow?
What I -- what I can say is, I heard things today that I didn't hear yesterday. I think it helps that I was able to put a suit on today and know I was going to be here today to kind of absorb, and I'm still absorbing. What I can say is I'm willing to do anything to -- for this to be as productive as it can be, while also protecting the interests and the fiduciary role that we have under law as a School District of Philadelphia and the Board of Education. So I hope that gives you some color to where I am right now. But that being said, I respect my board too much to -- in this space with something that is this raw to say that I will support. Because that can also feel like I'm pulling them along, and they don't want to be pulled along as well. I just respect my board too much. But what I can say is --
And I understand that. I don't want to -- I don't mean to cut you off, I understand that. But I think as the leader, Council President sometimes has to make decisions based on his conversations for this body. And sometimes he doesn't have the opportunity to come to each or to all of us. And while I understand you respect them and your process. You are the leader.
And 7 so we are looking to you to have to 8 make that decision in good faith, 9 right? I think that it is -- it is 10 important to those who are looking 11 in to understand that while Council 12 make -- makes the decision, the 13 final decision on this budget, 14 people have to understand that their 15 government is working for them and 16 in the best interest of them. And 17 that we're not making rash decisions. That we're not making decisions being angry or frustrated with anybody. And I think people looking in right now, see and hear frustration, they see and hear, or they think there is this misunderstanding or lack of communication. And I think as the leader, you have to -- we're looking to you and asking you to make that decision of supporting a motion that not just this legislative body is asking you for, but the public is asking you for. The families, the students are asking you for. Your staff, right? The staff of the school district is asking for you to consider.
The best I can do is I'm happy to consider, but I'm sorry, I -- in good faith, I cannot get too far ahead of my board. And there are things that we have to weigh as well. But I think we do have time. I -- we're -- the vote isn't happening right now. And I -- what I can guarantee is that I will convene my board today or soon thereafter. And we won't find out that at the day of the meeting or at the meeting. But I just have -- there is so much that we have to weigh. There's so much that we have to weigh.
I will say this just in follow up with Member Lozada then I'm going to turn over to Member Isaiah Thomas. The Mayor, who is the CEO of the City of Philadelphia, really came and gave a passionate speech as to why this partnership and this collaboration will be critically important in terms of this process, even moving forward. And there are some members and Council may say even, not moving forward, just to be quite frank with you in terms of what you are trying to accomplish. And so we understand you have a process, and we have a process, and then hopefully all of that is taken in the top -- in the -- in the context, even though you are an independent body. So -- but I hear you loud and clear. You're saying you have to check with your team and not want to jump out there too quick. So I -- we understand that. Anything else, Member Lozada?
Good afternoon, Council President. Good afternoon, Board President, Superintendent.
Member Thomas, do you mind doing it from up here?
Apologize. Good afternoon, and thank you Council President. I want to first start by saying thank you to you, Dr. Watlington, as well as you Board President Streater. For those who don't know, we meet on a monthly basis, and you all make yourself available to answer questions and to support the Education Committee. And we do appreciate the time you've spent with us in the past. I also want to take a moment to say thank you to my guy, Colonel Hill. Actually, Colonel Hill and Mike, if you guys both can come join us up here, because I'm going to ask you guys a couple questions. But I also just want to let you both know, because I work with you on a consistent basis, I appreciate you both as it relates to the work that is being done on finance as well as dealing with different operational issues as well. So Colonel Hill to you and your team, when I think about Fiesta Schools and all of the playgrounds that we've rebuilt in the City of Philadelphia and all the great work that has been done in the world of extracurricular activities and things like that, I truly appreciate it. So I wanted to start by saying thank you. Also want to say thank you to the Mayor for the Mayor's remarks earlier. The Mayor definitely showed that this is an issue that we all care about. I don't think anybody can argue there, and you've seen that within the mayor's passion. So with that being said, let me start by -- with the request of the Majority Leader Gilmore- Richardson. Majority Leader Gilmore-Richardson asked that the vote be delayed until May 20th. I'm wondering -- I don't know if there are any other school board members here, but what would you need to hear in order to be convinced that this Thursday is not the time to vote? I heard you say you heard some good stuff here today and I got some good stuff here, but I only have a little bit of time. So I want to try to dig into my magic trick of -- magic box of tricks and pull out the right thing that I think might and can convince you. So what are you weighing and what can be said today that can convince you that this vote needs to be delayed?
There are no other board members in the room right now, but what I can say is, the board is a very deliberative -- it is -- we're kind of designed to, kind of, be this way. I know it kind -- it is kind of annoying. We're not, like, not the quick pivots, you have to think about the quick pivots. And I have to honor that and I can't be up here, you know, making edicts or speaking on behalf of nine powerful --
We are -- we are trying to just convince you. So we want, like -- so this is the thing, when the Mayor comes and talks to me, or the Council President comes and talks to me, or my colleague come and talk to me, I can say, “Hey, Cali, I can tell you where I am, but I can't speak for the other members.” So none of us are asking you to speak for the other members. We're trying to convince you, the man that is in front of us right now. What can we say to you to convince you that this is not the right time? What would it that -- what it -- what would you need to hear?
I approach the role as being on the Board of Education as the president, as an attorney with their client. And sometimes you all are my client and don't know it when I'm in rooms that we all can't fit in. What I can do is I can tell you what the interests of my clients are, the Board of Education, who are my bosses, and those are the type of things that need to be considered.
All right. So that is a great comparison. So let us look at it as you are the lawyer, right?
The board members are the client, I want you to advise your clients to delay this process, right? And let me -- let me just say why. Let me just say why. I'm going to explain why. I'm going to tell you why, because you don't have the evidence to win the case. Let me tell you how I know you don't have the evidence, I'm going to just give you just a couple examples because I don't have a lot of time and I'm using your comparison. Wagner Middle School -- Wagner Middle School, I just said this to Mayor Parker, I've said it multiple times. Wagner Middle School is in my neighborhood. That is my neighborhood middle school. I'm not telling you to keep it open. I'm not telling you to close it. What I'm saying is this, Wagner Middle School, if closed, is supposed to have its students go to the neighborhood schools. One of the schools that you're asking the young people to go to is Ellwood Elementary School. I live -- when I look out my window from the top of my house, I could see Ellwood Elementary School. That is how close I live to Ellwood. And I know everybody don't know every neighborhood in the City of Philadelphia, but I can assure you East Oak Lane is one of the most active communities in the entire city. East Oak Lane has -- we're not going to get all that. So Ellwood right now, K-4 goes to the main building. When you get in fifth grade for Ellwood, you have to walk four blocks past Ellwood to the annex that we rent that we don't own. So if Ellwood right now can only hold K-4 and fifth and sixth has to go walk somewhere else, how can we make Ellwood K-8? Can you just answer that for me?
When you engage in good -- when you engage in good faith negotiations as an attorney, and if you want to play the role of attorney for the city -- for City Council, that is fine. You have to understand the interest of both parties, right? We have a $300 million deficit, $7 billion of either replacement or deferred costs. This is a resolution that doesn't close anything tomorrow or whenever it happens. This is a resolution that sets forth for process with a -- with a lot -- with an ongoing -- with mechanisms built into it, very thoughtful so that you can have multiple bites at the apple. That community can have multiple bites at the apple with the Board of Education will hold the superintendent accountable to implement with fidelity like we know he can. So again, those are the type of things you have to also kind of hit me with too, because --
Board President, you're absolutely right. Go ahead. I'm sorry.
Because for me -- for me -- you're -- you're on the -- you're -- you are not talking to me about the act of the thing that we're actually trying to solve for, right? And it is also about chronic underachievement and the ability to redistribute our resources in a way, understanding that no plan is ever going to be perfect. That no plan -- it doesn't matter. We take one school out, and we make this a fungible being kind of which is not what the board wants to do. There's always going to be concerns and things that are going to have to be worked out that will take time, that might take a planning year. So that is the things that we have to consider. And there are other things we have to consider. I'm not -- I'm not Boo Boo the Fool; I understand where we are. I understand where City Council is as well. But in good faith, I am unwilling today to tell you exactly what I am going to tell my board what to do because that is not how it works.
I recommend and we wait -- and we wait facts and we wait evidence.
So we are -- we are not -- and so do you believe that what I said about Ellwood is a fact? Or did I just make that up?
I believe it is factual, but again, you have to understand we are trying to solve for, I think, two different issues.
But Board President look, so can we just stick to the line of questioning?
It is a fact. But the point I'm trying to make is, even though it is a fact, I believe there are other ways that it could be addressed.
Don't you think we need to take some time to address it? So --
so me and you agree. Me and you -- just -- can I finish?
-- you not going to do it? Okay. Me and you agree that Ellwood is a problem in the plan, and I'm just asking you, I'm not even telling you your plan is bad. Let me take a couple steps back and offer some more compliments.
I just conceded that. I just conceded that, I said that no matter what plan we have, no -- it could be a plan that takes 30,000 years to create. There's always going to be tension and issues in the plan. Whether you put Ellwood and you put another school in there. That is the point I'm trying to make. The way this --
The way this resolution is designed is so that these things, irrespective of what the schools are, there will be a year or more to -- for this superintendent who is coming here, and I believe he has done it in other mechanisms and other ways to plan thoughtfully. And for the board to pivot as it has on leveling and as it has on other things. This board will pivot based upon actual things that we know will happen. So --
So to me, I have to take that into consideration because if we don't do this now, we could be sitting here 20, 30 years having a different conversation. So that -- so I hope you understand my client's perspective as well and understand where we're trying to head with this too. I'm not trying to be a hater here, but like, I think it is important that we understand what this is. And remember you said --
We do understand, and I'm not trying to say we don't understand. I'm identifying flaws in the plan --
Let me -- let me go back to compliments, right? I compliment you all for coming up with a plan that doesn't close any of our comprehensive neighborhood high schools. That is one of the most important parts of this plan. And it was one of the most difficult things you had to do. I was scared for Strawberry Mansion, I was scared for Overbrook, right? Oh, I'm sorry, Penn Treaty is the only one; only one. So I -- thank you, Councilmember Young. I'm not -- I'm not -- I'm not saying that the plan is completely bad, and I also recognize that at some point, someone is going to be unhappy. What I'm saying is this, right? The plan is here, it is up here and it looks good, but I've identified issues in the structure down here. I'm telling you to your face that Ellwood in your -- in your plan with Ellwood, it doesn't work. And I have more examples, but instead of listening to my example and say, “You know what, maybe we did get Ellwood wrong. Maybe we need to add some capital investment in order to do it.” You guys are basically saying, well, we'll figure that out later.
Mr. Chairman, may I jump in really quick and just say the plan does provide a $12 million investment into Ellwood. So it is in the plan, and we'll be sure that we get you that copy today. Second --
Dr. Watlington, we did 44 -- we did 43 million for Frankford. I'm telling you that Ellwood has no 18 space for fifth and sixth right now.
And you're adding seven through eight. With all due respect, right? How can 12 million do -- I've seen that. How can $12 million put us in a position to double the size of a school when we spend $43 million just on renovations at Frankford?
If you -- if you'll let me say these two things: one, we will absolutely receive that and take that as a homework assignment and report back. Second, I do want to come back to the 10,000-foot level and say to President Streater's point, here is the problem we're solving for at Wagner, because I don't want the public to get lost. Wagner has a capacity for 1030 students. Four years ago, there were 444 students. That number reduced in school year 22/23 to 366. The next year, the enrollment went down to 304 and the next year to 297. This year, the enrollment has gone down again to 294. We ought not to continue to operate as -- I think we can agree that we can't continue to operate schools with -- that are less than half filled. We are willing to go back and take an absolute look at your point. If $12 million is adequate to expand the capacity at Ellwood, we'll be glad to do that.
And if you listen to what I'm saying, Dr. Watlington, I'm not arguing with you one way or another on Wagner, what I'm trying to tell you, right? My neighbors, where I live on my block, that I'm a 100 percent sure that the capital investment for Ellwood doesn't work. It doesn't fit the plan. When Councilmember Squilla tells you, he just found out on Monday about this new version of the plan. We're -- we're not trying to go back and forth with you guys. What we're telling you is from the seat that we're sitting in, your timeline doesn't work for us. And you're telling us, we kind of got to stick with this timeline, and then in a couple weeks we're going to take a vote. And you guys are asking us to compartmentalize these different topics of discussion. And I think the problem is this, you can't have your cake and eat it too. It just doesn't work that way. So if you're telling us that we have to deal with this facilities plan, this is where we are, there will be no modifications. Just know that we're going to return that same energy. And the reality is most of us will agree we've had a good working relationship. We will -- I think most of us will also agree, we have the same -- we have a similar end goal as it relates to where we want to get to as it relates to the finish line. The problem we're having is the path to get there. And I think the difference between you guys and us is we're held accountable by a different group of people than you are. So certain things you guys could kind of take the hit and turn the other cheek. Whereas though we're not in the position to be able to do that.
So Mr. Chairman, by way of board President's and the board's resolution, President Streater and the board, through this resolution, directs the superintendent to follow processes that could indeed include some amendments and changes as we go along. That is the beauty of the resolution; it provides for some adjustments and changes. It is no 23 different than when you renovate an old house, and you establish a budget for $2,000. You get into the drywall and you found you've got some other issues, and you may have to increase that.
So I have to move on. I have to allow Councilmember Young. We have a lot of people here for public comment. The Ellwood example that I gave you, I have about four other examples just like that. I don't have time to go through each one of them. And again, I'm not saying the plan is completely bad. You've heard us talk about Lankenau. Lankenau is a non-starter, so I'm not going to keep going back and forth about that. But Lankenau is an opinion that is Councilmember Ahmad's opinion. It is my opinion. It is Councilmember Jones' opinion, it is Councilmember O'Rourke's opinion. That is an opinion, right? Your opinion is your way. My opinion is my way. Opinions are subjective. Ellwood is a fact. I'm telling you for a fact that the plan doesn't work for the people in the East Oak Lane community. And the feedback that I'm getting is not one that I can go take back to them people. So let me just move on because --
-- I'm going keep asking about this 5/20, is we're going to keep bringing it back up. We had -- let me close out by saying this, I'm going to send a letter and if members of Council want to sign on, great. If they don't, that is fine. I'm going to send a letter to every member of the school board. And the letter to every member of the school board will be a reflective of exactly what Councilmember Gilmore-Richardson's ask was today, because everybody is not here today. And we want each individual member of the school board to know that we're personally asking for you not to take this vote on Thursday. And we want to put it in writing. And we want members of the school board to know that if you do take the vote on Thursday and you do vote in a way that is not reflective of what, not just the city legislature is asking, but the state legislature, too. We had Rep Fiedler here today. We had Rep Cephas at the press conference the other day. We had Rep Khan at the press conference the other day. And the Mayor sat here and said, give Harrisburg the tools that they need to go get us more money. I talked to Harrisburg, at least the Philly delegation, you know what they need to get us more money? To scrap this facility plan. That is what they said to us. And if you don't believe that, you could ask them yourself. Now, when I say scrap, I don't mean get rid of it completely, but if you talk to the state legislators, they'll tell you Rep Cephas screamed and hollered about Overbrook Elementary School yesterday. She did. That was her own -- that was her own words. Rep Conn, no, I'm sorry, Rep Cephas screamed and hollered about Overbook. Yeah, Overbook. Rep Conn screamed and hollered about Lankenau.
Yes, I do. I do think that there are things in your plan that makes sense, right? But I think that there are other things -- I'll give you one for example, Building 15 going into Martin Luther King High 16 School. It is not the most popular 17 thing in my neighborhood, but that 18 is something that I can turn the 19 other cheek to. And I could even 20 entertain Wagner. I could entertain 21 it, but you can't entertain it with the plan that you have in place because it doesn't work for the community. And that is what I'm saying.
May I just say two things can be true at the same time and I'll defer respectfully to the Chairman. On the one hand, we absolutely receive the feedback and we're going to go do that homework today; to take a look at Ellwood. At the same time, as a citizen and as the superintendent, I would not come to Council and ask you, what is your specific budget for filling every pothole in Philadelphia? Show me the exact plan, all the contingencies. At some point I'm going to trust the folks to do the work and hold them accountable to do it.
Dr. Watlington, I think that is a great point. And I understand exactly what you're saying. I think the biggest difference between where we are right now as it relates to the school issues and other issues where we're asking folks to trust the institutions, is that we been down this road before and I know you --
-- might not have been there. We've been down this road before and it was traumatizing, and we got it wrong, right? So when people are asking questions, it is not personal against me as the Education Chair or Councilmember Lozada running the 7th District, or even you as the Superintendent or even Board President Streater. They're asking questions because they're traumatized because we got it wrong last time. So if we had a track record of getting this right, we wouldn't be wasting our time having this conversation. We would just go ahead over there and say, well, you-all got it because you-all have done this before.
And I commend you; I commend Colonel Hill, I commend the entire team for things like modifying Conwell and your stance on Conwell. Things you've done in the 3rd District and other districts. But I'm about to pass it to Councilmember Young, because we're just saying we still have more work to do. We're not saying you're, you're evil or you're gentrifiers or anything like that. We're just saying based on where we are, well, I'm not saying that. I'm sorry. Board President Streater, I'm not calling you that. I'm just saying based on where we are, we've seen some progress, and we still have some more work to do. Let me just --
-- we have one of my biggest issues -- oh, go ahead. I'm sorry, Board President.
I just -- we got 40 people for public comment. I got to let Mr. Young go.
I'm going to be brief. I'll be brief. I'll be brief, Chair Thomas. I honestly do believe that I have to go back to the board. I am unwilling today, at this moment, put on the spot, to say something that would imperil my credibility with the board when I have to ask them to do tough things as well. So what I can tell you in good faith, as you and I know, I will definitely take this back to the board, and we will have that conversation. But I would hope that our engage -- our exchange, whatever that was, that there is an understanding that we have -- we have some really big fish to fry as well. And we have some material things that only we are accountable to as well.
You guys have the toughest volunteer position in the city of Philadelphia.
Please know, we understand that. We're not saying that that is not the case --
But that said, the point has been made. I've heard it over and over again. Whatever heat you-all need to put under me to go and do what I need to do is done.
But I am unwilling, in this moment right now, to say one way or the other. And you would knew -- you would know as soon as I can possibly get that answer for you.
So we'll send it in writing to the other board members --
-- just so folks know. And hopefully we'll hear back from you so we know before we go into Council on Thursday. And we will -- we'll be able to go from there. Before I go to Councilmember Young, Mike, procurement numbers; two years ago, local procurement numbers for the school district of Philadelphia as it relates to Philadelphia businesses was below -- was in the teens. It was 15 percent or so or below. Can you communicate where we are as it relates to what percentage of school district contracts go to Philadelphia based businesses and what direction you feel like we're going in?
Yes. Thank you for your leadership in this area as well as other members of council and the board. We have gone from the teens in 2023 to 32 percent in the current year in terms of local suppliers. And we believe that we're on the correct trajectory to continue down that path.
Let us make sure that we continue to look at those big contracts, right? The substitute teaching contract, we're going to keep pushing that. We think that there are local firms who can do that. The cleaning contract; I know that there are people in Philadelphia that can clean, and there are a few other contracts that we talked about. I just want to put that on the record and say thank you, Mike, and the entire team on the fiscal side for the School District of Philadelphia. As well as you, Dr. Watlington, for your vision as it relates to some of the decisions that you've made to put us in this position. Go ahead, Dr. Watlington.
Mr. Chairman, pursuant to Councilmember Lozada's question, would you permit CFO Herbstman to tell you, in seconds or less, 18 which national groups have provided 19 the school district with 20 commendations in its budgeting and annual year over year audits?
Yeah, please go ahead, do that. Because I think it is important, and I think this is important, while you pull it out. I think it is important because we don't want people in Harrisburg to feel like the problem that we're dealing with is a mismanagement of money or bad decisions, right? Like, that is not -- that is not at all what I'm saying. Just like you're not going to agree with every contract and every spending and everything that we've done on the Council side, or I've done in my office, I don't want to accuse you of that specifically Dr. Watlington, because I've met with you every quarter since you've been here, and I'm aware of the position, the things you've done as it relates to not hiring staff and allowing positions in 440 to be downsized. So I know sometimes we don't give out enough compliments, but part of why we're not doing that today is because of the facilities issue. And if we didn't have to spend four hours arguing about facilities, we probably could have spent another hour or two giving out compliments for the great work that is being done. Go ahead, Mike. I'm sorry.
Yes, thank you. So as Dr. Watlington said earlier, we have -- for more than a decade consecutively, we have had unmodified our clean audits on our annual financial statements as well as our federal single audit. And for the financial statements, the awards that we've won are from the Government Finance Officers Association and ASBO International or the Association of School Business Officials International.
Yeah, no, congratulations. I understand the importance of that. And it puts us in a position to be able to do some of the balling that we know we're going to need to do to be able to invest in new facilities and things of that capacity. So we truly appreciate that. Thank you for the work that you're doing. Apologize if folks are taking this personal, but we have some -- this is a legacy moment. And Board President Streater, I think more than almost anybody in the room, you understand that because you're a graduate of Germantown High School, and you know, firsthand how these decisions we make will impact schools, neighborhoods, and people. So please don't take it personal. Chair recognizes Councilmember young.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that just -- there are -- first I want to say thank you for the work that you all do. I -- it is -- as member Thomas said, it is -- it is a very, very thankless job what you do, you know, and we all -- we all care. Like, there is no one -- it is not -- it is not personal at all, but like, we all live here, we all have families, kids, everything, right? So it is, you know, we want to make sure that this gets done right, because you know, last time it wasn't, as a -- as a Councilmember alluded to. Just like -- I just want to mention between -- I want to say thank you, right, for increasing the amount of funding to the 5th Council District, right? Because you recognize the impact that these two school closings have had on that -- on our district. But just to put some numbers around it for -- in the last school -- proposed school closing, and this one facilities plan is 42 acres of land, right? As a real estate attorney, that is how I think, right? I manage that. I look at those things and look at what the impact is. 42 acres of land in the 5th Council District between the last two school closings, right? So let us think about that. That is a lot. And so our issues and our concerns are with the process, like, what went into the plan. We know that school district has to right- size; we understand that. But when we look at, you know, I just heard Dr. Watlington say that, you know, we can't keep schools that are half filled open. But then I look at a school like Strawberry Mansion, right? Who has an enrollment of what? 200 students or so. A 100 show up every day and of a capacity about 1500. That is severely underutilized. And I understand that there was, you know, a plan to try to not touch some of the comprehensive high schools, right? And that could be a reason why that, that school wasn't even thought of or looked at. But when you look at your own metrics, that one, that one fits every, you know, whatever classification that you -- that you -- that you were going by when you're deciding what facilities need to be closed or not. So let us just keep that in mind, because that is a fact, right? As the councilman alluded to that, that is a fact. That is not something that we are just making up here. When you're looking at the over utilization of schools, I look at Bache-Martin in my district that has a -- the capacity score of 158, that is severely overcrowded. But yet you want to merge -- you want to take students from two other schools and place them in a severely overcrowded school, right? Leaving that school with years of proposed renovations, where the AHERA reports already say that asbestos is rampant, right? So as you're going to -- going through the renovation process you're going to -- if you're going to find things unexpectedly, it is just what happens in construction. And so that is a fact. We -- the community has put forward a -- an alternative plan for that neighborhood where you're closing Waring to create a Masterman Middle School at Waring, where we have already a school that is severely overcrowded. We are emerging that catchment area. Why can't we just merge that -- those schools and create two separate schools? Create a separate elementary school for the community, a separate middle school for the community, right? Because Master -- we already know where and can be a middle school because you want to put Masterman Middle School there, right? So it already has the capacity to be a middle school, why can't it be a middle school for that community, right? When we already have a school that is a -- that is already overcrowded, you're going to make it even more severely overcrowded. So we're not saying that the plan, you know, things don't need to change, but some of the things that you have in the plan doesn't work for the communities. We are held accountable to the communities, like, we are. I mean, man, I know you guys are insulated from it because they don't choose you.
Only the Mayor chooses you, only the Mayor could get rid of you, right? So what we are -- we're not insulated from the community and from the people. So we're just asking you to take -- if you're -- it is a partnership -- if this is a true partnership that has been mentioned over and over again today, like it seems like you're not really taking our feedback seriously. That is -- that is what it feels like. And, you know, we just think that there is other ways to go about it when we know you need to right size. And that is -- we understand that completely, but we're just asking to be included in that process as you are right sizing what the district looks like. Because again, we know the communities, we -- they -- those people elect us to represent them. So we have a different understanding of the communities than maybe some of you all have. And we are -- we are just asking to kind of slow this process down to think about the other impacts that it -- that it has. And when it comes to, as I mentioned, just to my district specifically, you know, thank you Ludlow, right? You have listened to the community, understood that Ludlow, you -- if you remove Ludlow, you remove a school from the entire neighborhood. So that neighborhood would have no 17 school, right? So thank you for that. But you're doing that in other places as well, throughout the -- throughout the city. And we're just asking to take that step back to really take a look at what makes sense for the people that are there. We are not -- it doesn't have to make sense for the district; what makes sense for the people, because that is who you serve, right? Ultimately, that is your constituents; the students, the people, the families, right? You mentioned that they families have the opportunity to move. People are going to not choose Fairmount because their school is going to have 900 kids in the elementary school. They're going to not choose that neighborhood. What elementary schools have 900 kids Pre-K-8? Like, that is -- that is a real fact. That is a fact. So just want to put that on a record because like, if it is about community, if we -- if we understand that families have the ability to, you know, vote with their feet, like let us keep them from doing that, but this plan, certain parts of this plan will cause that. And we're asking you to take a step back to understand that and to really analyze, right? Or to really share what went into the sauce to make the plan --
Because again, there is so many contradictions just in the 5th District alone when it comes to some of the ideas and goals of the plan. So I that is it. I don't -- I am done been beating this for the past couple of months.
I want to -- I want to give the superintendent an opportunity.
Thank you, Councilmember Young. Again, I want to be really clear on the record that we are -- we've been listening for a long, long time, and we're going to continue to listen. I do want to just note for a school like Waring, I want to answer that question very factually on the record, because I think the public really needs to know what is -- what we're doing here. Waring is a school that we're not recommending to turn into a merged middle school on that site. There are 10 students in the first grade at Waring. It is not a sound -- there are -- there are -- 15
16 Dr. Watlington, before I cut you 17 off, we know the numbers at Waring. 18 That is not what we're saying. We 19 know that Waring is a underutilized 20 school. We get that. What I am 21 saying is that we can merge the 22 schools that -- the lines are 23 merging anyway; the catchments lines are emerging. So Waring students are going to go to Bache-Martin, what I am saying is create a separate elementary school K-5 and then a separate middle school where Waring is so that community can have a separate elementary school and a separate middle school, right? Because you -- we are already changing Waring into a middle school for a Masterman. That is a part of your plan. So we know the building can be a middle school. Why can't it be a middle school for that community?
Hey, Dr. Watlington, before you respond to that, let me take a step back to my 5/20 request with Board President Streater.
Let me give you a good example of why we need the delay this vote. Member Young is a very intelligent member of City Council. We -- as we've heard multiple times here today, right? And so Member Young clearly doesn't know -- he is not a member of the Education Committee -- that you all have a philosophy of moving away from the middle school model. Just listening to the example he gave, he doesn't know that. These are the type of conversations that we need to take the time to have so that you and Member Young can brainstorm, Okay, if we are going to move away from the middle school model and we don't like the recommendation that is on the board right now, how can we come together with the district council person, state legislator, community, and school leaders to figure out what is the best mechanism based on the foundation you have.
But Member Thomas, they're turning that building into a middle school.
The irony that is stark, but go ahead, Dr. Watlington.
Based on demand, but the demand in that community, specifically when you have Bache-Martin that is -- you're going to have 900 kids. The demand for that community for a school is there. The demand for a public traditional catchment school in that neighborhood is there. So that you could put Masterman on Mars and the demand that is going to be there.
No, it is not, Mr. Chairman -- Councilmember Young. That is patently not true. There are not kids in the 1st 8 grade, nine in the 3rd grade, 19 in 9 the 8th grade. 10
The demand to turn that into a neighborhood middle school is, from my review of the data, it is not there. Councilmember Young --
What -- where what community? We had to tell -- we had a meeting. We had community members there. That was a great idea to those members of that community because --
-- it keeps their community -- it keeps the class sizes and their elementary school smaller and gives them the still ability to have a neighborhood middle school where those middle schoolers can thrive and have their own space.
Dr. Watlington, have you and Colonel Hill and your team met with Member Young as it relates to these concerns?
Because I don't see how we resolve this right now. And we have a lot of people in the general public.
Just because I want to make sure we take the homework away --
I just wanted to be able to put that on the record. We're not going to be able to resolve that right now, right? I understand that, but I just wanted to put that on a record for people in those communities who've -- and I want to thank your team. Thank that came out to this -- to community meeting --
-- to hear, to talk to us about, you know, what that merger looks like and what that, you know, the facilities plan as it relates to Fairmount in Francisville and Spring Garden, what that looks like. But it doesn't get to the fact -- it doesn't answer those concerns that those people have where there's going to be 900 kids from Pre-K-8 and one -- on one block.
We've made a note -- we've made a note. May I just ask one question? Because I want to make sure that in the spirit of listening that we take the appropriate feedback. Councilmember Young --
And then -- and then after this we have to move on to public comment.
10 seconds. Councilmember Young, we are using Strawberry Mansion as a professional learning center. We've figured out different uses. Are you saying to me that you would like me to recommend a close Strawberry Mansion High School?
-- saying what -- I'm not saying you -- I'm not recommending the closure of any school. Like that is, that is your job and it is our job to have to figure out if we're going to support that or not. What I'm saying is that based on your own, I guess, numbers on what you decide to do and how would you decide to use to close a school, right? That fits the criteria. So we're just trying to figure out why do some schools fit the criteria and others don't. I think that is what we're trying to figure out. But if you want to get to that point where, you know, that is the -- it is a -- it is a, it is a school that is underutilized, severely underutilized, right? So what goes into making that decision to close one severely underutilized school, but not another severely underutilized schools? That is the question that we're trying to get to.
Trying to get me on a record to say closed sharp mansion. Like how dare you, man? Like, that is crazy.
Superintendent, what I -- what I think should happen, and I got my dates wrong, I kept saying 5/20. The date is actually 5/28. I think what we -- I think the exchange between you and Member Young just kind of shows the entire city that we're just not ready for this yet. I listened to the Mayor talk about the importance of us having a united front. So when we go to Harrisburg, we have every tool that is possible. You might have heard of a lot of emotion and a lot of frustration today, but -- and let me just ask this one last question. If we are to adopt the plan and we see the reduction in staff, there is one thing that I didn't get on the record and I know this is important. The climate staff that work in the school district right now, if they were to see a reduction in their hours, they would go from full-time to part-time and they would lose their benefits. I'm talking about the UNITE HERE folks. Is that true? Would UNITE HERE people use their -- lose their benefits?
I am not aware of any plans on the table for people to lose benefits. I think --
Can we -- can we -- can we get that back as a part of the -- as a part of our follow up when we do -- when you guys get -- answer the questions in writing?
-- the UNITE HERE workers, the people who work in our schools, what happens with their full-time, parttime benefits and things like that. But again, these are dynamics that just say we just need a little more time to cross some T's, dot some I's, modify a few things and put us in a position to be able to have something that we're all comfortable with instead of us saying, they did that, not us. That is no good. Thank you all for being here.
We truly appreciate it. Very quickly, Councilmember Ahmad.
Very quickly, I didn't get it in last time. Thank you again, all of you. I got some information and we're talking about efficiencies and carving out money here, there, and everywhere. That the Office of School Safety is currently spending over $8 million on new uniforms for the SSOs, and also that money has been allocated to re-brand district vehicles. Is that correct? And do we have other $8 million tucked away within our school district budget that would really help alleviate many of the problems we're talking about?
Thank you very much. Would -- I challenge the $8 million as a result of the most recent collective bargaining agreement, we have increased the allocation of tans and shirts for our school safety officers and for their protection --
Colonel Hill, collective bargaining agreement with who?
That is the collective bargaining agreement with the -- with SPAP?
-- Officers Association. Additionally for their wellbeing, we have also provided them with vest as a result of the hazards that they have -- that they face in their duties. I am absolutely certain that those expenditures do not amount to $8 million.
This was just -- this was reported to me, that is why I'm asking.
And I would like to verification of this; money spent on reforms --
-- and he district council vehicles. Last question, did all the board members visit the schools, and 8 now 18 schools, that are being 9 impacted by this? 10
11 Board President, do you know the 12 answer if all of the board members 13 visited the schools, that is 14 impacted? 15
20 Okay. So Board President, will you let us know whether or not things -- will you give us an update? Can that be one of the questions --
What I can say is the Board of Education sojourn to visit all of our schools, understanding that we're volunteers and there are so many schools in the school district and charter schools. I will -- I believe they've been to some, but I can't answer that question right now. But we do visit --
Would like to get an to see if you have visited the schools you're impacting.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all for being here today. I want to swiftly move into public comment because the constituents of Philadelphia have been waiting patiently. Hopefully there is representation from the admin as well as the school district who are going to sit here and listen to public comment. With that being said, Mr. Clerk, would you please call the first person for public comment?
Arthur Steinberg, Jerrett Johnson, Kimberly Nelson. Nefertiti Rainer.
Colleagues, I apologize for rushing you through, but we have over 40 people who signed up for public comment, and we want to make sure that we try to hear from as many people as possible. Mr. Steinberg, thank you for the work that you do, sir. Please state your name for the record and you may begin with your testimony. Before Mr. Steinberg begins, excuse me. Can we get everybody quiet please?
Okay. Thank you, Chair Thomas. Good afternoon to you and the members of the Committee of the Whole. As you stated, my name is Arthur Steinberg. I'm the president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 14,000 educators in the -- who work in the School District of Philadelphia. I want to thank this body for once again holding the district accountable on its plan to close 14 schools and massively disrupt school 15 communities across the city by 16 moving, merging, and co-locating 17 dozens of school programs. It is shocking, frankly, that the disrespect the district has shown to us throughout this process, on too many occasions that -- today been shown to you, one of their primary funders. We have put up with that throughout this process trying to obtain information and data and it was kind of surprising to see you treated the same way. The Board of Education, as you all have stated so far, must not vote on the Facilities Master Plan until the district clearly shows really what Councilmember Young was just asking for; how they arrived at decisions about the fates of individual schools that have failed to do so since publicizing the plan in January. Let us see if they're sufficiently motivated to do so by Thursday, May 23rd -- May 28th, if in fact they move it there. Your activism on behalf of school communities you represent helps save the Motivation High School in the 3rd Council District, Ludlow Elementary School in the 5th Council District, and Conwell Middle Magnus School in the 7th Council District. There are more schools targeted for closure for reasons that are totally obscure to those of us outside of 440 North Broad. The district can and must do far better in earning community buy-in and trust before the board holds a vote. Educators and students and communities need to know what conditions they'll be working, learning, and in -- so they can plan accordingly. For our members not having any reliable way to know where they'll be working with two or three -- within two or three years creates anxiety and stress, which they can easily escape by moving to another school system right outside the city. Because for the first time in decades, the suburbs are experiencing that shortage as well. In addition to that, this will then accelerate the departure of many of the students from the schools, which will in turn create a loss of funding. As you might recall from our union's recent contract campaign, and I'm going to get into shameless plug here, we were able to win historic raises and benefits, including paid parental leave and accelerating the ability of educators to move up the pay scale so that we can remain competitive without -- with the -- with our suburban counterparts. And we were able to do this without having to walk off the job for a couple reasons. Number one, we really did not want to impose a hardship on the community and the district then recognized the worth of our people, and they realized that -- damn well that our folks would work out if they didn't accommodate us. It is -- the City of Philadelphia cannot afford to make more missteps to drive educators and families outside the city. It is going to be difficult for us to mobilize educators at Lankenau, AMY Northwest, Parkway Northwest, Waring, and I can go on and on, to lift a finger to secure the badly needed funding from this general assembly and this Council when the district gives no justification for closing in the unique and precious learning environment they've built. Elementary school students shouldn't have to protest for lack of working toilets in their school or come to City Council to beg for plumbing to be fixed. Some of you were there in solidarity. I don't want to mention your names because I'm afraid I'll miss a few and I don't want to insult anybody.
If the district truly cared about community buy-in to its facilities plan, they would demonstrate their ability to make those urgent repairs and provide the relevant information on school closures. Now, please force them, continue to force them to show their work, disclose the why behind their proposals, and establish detailed timelines of what will be done to each affected school, and when. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Truly appreciate you, sir. I'm sure members don't have questions for Mr. Steinberg. Great. Thank you, sir. We appreciate you.
I'm sorry and I apologize for not framing this. But moving forward, when you come up to testify, you have to start by stating your name for the public record. After you state your name, you may begin with your testimony. When you hear the bell, that means we're asking you to begin to wrap your testimony up and summarize it. When you hear the second bell, that means that your time is up. Okay. You may proceed. I'm sorry. John. Please state your name for the record. Are you okay?
Okay. Go ahead. Please state your name for the record and you may begin your testimony.
Okay. Hello everyone. My name is Nefititi Rainer. Thank you for the opportunity to come up here after long, what, seven hours that we've all been here. So basically, I had a written testimony, but we've been here too long, so I'm going to try to keep it short and sweet. Basically, the problem that I see with the school district is that we don't have enough proper data analysis. It is kind of just surface level. We saying that people are graduating on time and we have less people dropping out, but that is actually not a 100 accurate. It is taking people longer to actually graduate on time. The numbers don't add up. Still one out of four children do not graduate when they're supposed to. As you can see, the children come up and they're saying that they're not -- they don't have public -- they don't have proper resources in their schools to actually feel comfortable. And this actually affects their mental health, their emotional health and how they function in schools. And I'm not far from this; I'm only years old. I graduated 8 class of 2020, so I've seen all of 9 this firsthand, experienced it, went 10 to school with bars on the windows, 11 dirty bathrooms, and all of that. 12 So it just shows how inadequate the 13 schools are and people have to 14 practically beg for hours and hours. 15 We can't come to a 16 resolution and people do not have 17 trust. The school district -- the 18 school board is being honest, but it 19 is no transparency. You're not 20 being honest about the details. We 21 need way more stuff for the 22 children, the schools, even the 23 teachers to properly teach the kids 24 of the community. Is that it?
Thank you for your testimony. And I apologize. I apologize as well. Okay.
Good afternoon. My name is Kimberly Nelson, and this is my daughter, Kennedy Nelson. I'm here to this morning -- this afternoon about the conditions of the schools that have been ignored for decades for ADA accessibility. Tier one is one of the -- tier one for special education, they receive $28,200 -- $28,200 per year for a child. A child with a disability or special needs -- FEMALE VOICE: -- per child.
They -- per child. They receive $56,400 per year per special Ed child. Tier III, they receive $85,000 and up per child. In September of 2025, my daughter was strong and healthy to go to our neighborhood catchment school, and that is Overbrook High School. My daughter passed out a few weeks ago because of the conditions of the school; the classroom was hot. She was put into the hospital because she was dehydrated and she was -- she can't use the bathroom. The bathroom is not a ADA accessible. It doesn't have any railings. It sits 15 inches from the floor. The bathroom still does not work. Inside of the learning class, the life support skill class, all of the cabinets inside of the kitchen where the deplorable and they were all falling apart inside of -- okay. All right. I just want -- the ADA accessibility inside of our schools are not in compliance. And I have put in several and sent out emails to several entities inside of our city. And it is unfair that I have to worry about my child being safe inside of a school that does not have the necessary needs to be able to educate her. And for the amount of money that they receive from our children, it is not acceptable. We should have better choice. Yes.
I want to say thank you because honestly, I'm looking around, I don't have any staff here, but if I can get one of my colleagues at large to volunteer to get staff -- this sister has been coming down to City Council saying this for some time. This isn't her first time down here. This isn't her first time testifying. It is not the first time hearing stories about her daughter and she has been polite and respectful in her advocacy and she's seen no change. I don't have staff here right now, but can we -- thank you, Councilmember Brooks. Can we connect with them -- with the sister so we can do something about this?
Ma'am, thank you for waiting six hours to come tell your story again, and I'm sorry for what you had to experience as well too. Thank you. All right. Next person, Mr. Clerk.
Thank you. Anne Dorn, Sabrina Rung, Amy Szymanski and Brianna Blackwood. Anne Dorn, Sabrina Rung, Amy Szymanski, and Brianna Blackwood.
Please state your name for the -- for the record and you may begin with your testimony.
My name is Anne Dorn. I'm a member of PCAC, the advisory council that talks to stakeholders all over the city, finds out what is important to people and then tries to put together some advice for the board. And the first thing I wanted to talk about today, President Johnson actually already brought it up, about how -- there was an article in the Inquirer September 16th, about how the district has a budget for 16 plumbers, but only eight on staff. 17 And again, this was an 18 article that appeared last 19 September. The same issue was 20 brought up today. Deputy 21 Superintendent Hill had a lot of 22 things to explain about how they're patching the broken plumbing, but these plumbers have still not been hired. And I think this really points to a larger issue with the district. There are a lot of -- there have been a lot of questions today about why is the school selection process not going well? And the person who designed the school selection process was let go two years ago. But the school selection process itself is still here. And I think this is a really a pattern with the district that when a mistake is made, a person may be held responsible, but the mistake is never fixed. And that prevents mistakes from getting fixed because nobody can ever admit that anything is wrong, because rather than fixing what is wrong, a person is blamed; a person is let go. So I would just really ask if we want to do better with plumbing or absolutely anything else, we just need a system where people who make mistakes are allowed to fix them.
Thank you for your testimony and thank you for your patience. Please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
Good afternoon, Council President Johnson, and members of City Council. My name is Brianna Blackwood and I'm a first year SSC, Student Success Coach, with City of Philadelphia. Serving at Finletter Elementary School at Councilmember Phillips' District. Today I serve with City Year because it has been meaningful -- it has been a meaningful part of my life for as long as I can remember. In middle school, I had a SSC, Ms. Jordan, who inspired me to push myself and believe in my potential. It motivated me to pursue this role so I can provide the same to encourage others. We at City Year SSC serve across 11 partner schools in Philadelphia, 12 working alongside teachers to support students academically and emotionally. At Finletter and all our partner schools, we provide targeted instructions, individualized support, and consistent progress monitoring. We also help build a positive school climate by forming strong relationships and supporting students' emotional growth. Each SSC has a focus list of 18 students who we support in small groups; individual, academic, and mentoring sessions. And that is just one part of our service year. We also support whole classrooms, contribute to school-wide attendance, and cultural initiatives and help run afterschool programs, giving students a safe structured space to learn and connect. We motivate students by setting clear goals, celebrating small wins, and making sure every student feels seen, heard, and capable of success. I'm proud to share that I'll be returning for a second year of service with City Year.
Thank you. And thank you to the folks at City Year for your service. One of my favorite special education teachers, please state your name for the record and begin with your testimony.
My name is Amy Szymanski. I am from Lankenau Environmental Science High School. I'm here speaking today on behalf of the students and parents of Lankenau High School who can't continue to leave class and leave work to speak on behalf of their school closing. I understand the advocacy that you've all done already, so I know I'm here preaching to the choir. But I do want to highlight that the most current reiteration of the plan keeps the school building open while still disrupting the education of the students who are there. The consistency that is required for students with autism and students with visual impairments will be disrupted while the school building is used for -- as an environmental science education hub for other students around the school district. While our current incoming -- our current 9th graders, our current 10th graders, and our incoming 8th graders, going to be 9th graders next year, will not be able to finish their high school career at the same school with the same level of safety and trust and consistency. That has already been established. So like everybody else, I'm hoping that they do not vote tomorrow and they continue to redraft the plan. Thank you.
Come back real quick, I'm sorry. You come on back. Please Come on back. Mr. Clerk, while I'm asking this question, can you call the next group of people to come on up. While these folks are coming up, I got a question for you.
You-all start making your way up. Question for you, and I just want the other members of Council to hear this because this is really important. How many special -- what percentage of the population at Lankenau are actually special needs children?
And 15 that is important, colleagues; 24 16 percent of the students at Lankenau 17 are special needs. And colleagues, 18 look, when we say special needs, 19 we're not talking about like just an 20 IEP, right? Can you give us an 21 example of some of the special needs 22 children you deal with? 23
About 10 24 years ago, Lankenau was designed to be the receiving school from students from Overbook Elementary -- Overbrook Education Center, I'm sorry -- in order to make sure that there was a seamless transition for students that had co-disability of intellectual disability and visual impairment and/or blindness. So those students are a large percentage of our special education population.
So tell them what type of needs are we talking about? Blind, what else?
Blind students with intellectual disability, that is your typical student who would be in a life skill support class. Similar to what the family of that mom was just talking about, I think they left.
I just wanted my colleagues to know. Thank you. We appreciate it. Please state your name for the record and you may begin with your testimony.
Should I go first? Hi. My name is Lily with Lift Every Voice Philly. I'll be reading testimony on behalf of Julie Krug, who -- a parent member, who could not stay as it got later. “My name is Julie Krug and I live in the 2nd District. I'm here today to speak on behalf of the education budget. I'm speaking as a member of Lift Every Voice Philly, a Black led parent membership organization. Currently we have members representing 18 schools across the city. I want to first thank City Council for all of your work standing up for Philly students, and also share that LEV supports delaying the vote on the school facilities plan this Thursday. Right now we are here speaking about the dreams and nightmares budget facing us and calling on you to step up. Every person on this Council has an opportunity to be a hero by protecting the children and workers in our school. We cannot accept a city with the largest fund balance in a generation while our schools face a $300 million deficit. In just a number of weeks, my daughter will be graduating. When I was a first-time kindergarten parent in 2013, our schools faced awful budget cuts. My daughter's school at the time had overcrowded classrooms and no aides. Across the river, a child who had attended a school without a nurse died after suffering an asthma attack. That was the result of the disinvestment. How could our city have let that happen? Now it is happening again. My daughter's school was devastated last year after losing three teachers. The school currently has two beloved building subs. At my son's high school this year, staff worked together to provide fights on least two occasions. Those critical moments of deescalation don't happen without enough adults in the building. We are asking you to use every tool at your disposal to reach 70 million -- $75 million to fully protect our school-based staff. While the Mayor's proposed 50 million is a welcome step, it is not enough. It leaves more than 200 positions still at risk and schools facing real disruption. Our kids cannot afford another cycle of cuts. They need to know that the adults in the city will provide for them first.” Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name for the record and you may begin with your testimony.
My name is Ben Scheinfeld and I live in the 3rd District. I'm here today as a member of Lift Every Voice Philly. We're a black led, parent membership organization, united across class, race and neighborhoods to demand action on our schools. I want to recognize the Council for making our wellness policy a reality and their support with that. Right now, we're speaking on that $300 million funding void that is looming for our schools this season. It is indefensible to let this nightmare loom while the city sits on the largest fund balance in the generation. I have a first grader at Lea, a K-8 school in West Philly. I feel incredibly fortunate that he can walk to school with his neighborhood and be part of a community that has endured for over a century. To send your child to school is an act of trust. To some extent, you're putting your trust in the institution, the facilities, the curriculum. Really though, you're putting your trust in the people who make up your school; teachers, counselors, facilities and climate staff who take care of our kids every day. At Lea, we have Ms. C. She is one of hundreds of climate staffers who are members of UNITE HERE, Local 634 and at risk of being torn away from their school communities. On paper, she is responsible for something like lunchroom management. In practice, she manages many different responsibilities every day on top of the truly critical work of getting dozens of high energy kids to actually eat lunch in a confined space. That is impressive, but that is not what makes trust or the lunchroom work. What makes it work is hearing Ms. C describe your kids' behavior, emotions, and even their eyelashes, realizing that she hasn't just learned their names, but reads their faces. Whole lunchrooms of individual kids that she truly knows. Support when they need -- boundaries when they need. Trust that makes schools work is being able to tell your tiny 6-year-old, "If you need help, find Ms. C. I trust her, and she'll have your back." There are hundreds of Ms. Cs across the district who need your action now. Often they have years of service at their schools. They make up the bedrock of trust in public education. They cannot be cut or shuffled around without eroding Philly parents' confidence that our schools can work. The Mayor's 50 million proposal is a welcome step forward, it still leaves more than 200 positions at risk. Our proposed $75 million investment would protect more than 500 essential staff members, including building subs, climate staff, and teachers --
Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to summarize because I want everybody to get an opportunity.
All right, last sentence. This is a legacy moment as you mentioned. Continue to reverse precedent. Keep rebuilding trust in schools, starting with funding these positions.
Thank you for your testimony. Thank you for your patience too. And please know your voice matters. We appreciate it. If you could call the next set of folks to testify, then you can go if that is okay.
Marissa Amos, Nikia Rosado, Eden MacDougall, David Alexander Jenkins.
Please state your name for the record. You may begin with your testimony.
My name is Judy Robbins with Lift Every Voice Philly. I am reading on behalf of our parent member Marissa Amos, who could not stay as well as many of our parent members who had to leave today. LEV also supports delaying the vote at the district. “My name is Marissa Amos, and I live in District 4, Councilman Jones' District. My child is a third grader at Powel Elementary. I'm speaking as a member of Lift Every Voice, a Black led parent membership organization. We are united across class, race and neighborhoods to demand urgent action in our schools. We see it as our duty as parents, as voters, and community leaders to push for systems' change by leading together. Currently, we have members representing 18 schools across the city. Standing behind me are our members and supporters who are resolute in our commitment to fundamentally change our schools. I want to thank City Council for standing with us on the Joy campaign and our fight for silent -- for no 3 silent lunches and guaranteed daily access to recess. In Philadelphia, we know this line, “Seen my dreams unfold, nightmares come true” Right now that contradiction is playing out in real time. The city holds over $1 billion in reserves while public schools are being forced to cut the very people and programs our kids rely on every day. While other others debate new taxes or rush to vote on closing our schools, we know the $1.2 billion in reserves is the immediate solution to keep our staff in place. We thank the Councilmembers standing up against these rush decisions, and we urge you to use that rainy day fund now to give our families the stability we deserve. And for me, this isn't just about numbers; this is personal. My child is kind, curious, courageous, but also anxious and still finding her confidence. Because of that, the people in her school building matter deeply. It matters that when her teacher is absent, Ms. Hamilton, a building substitute she has known since kindergarten, is there. Someone she trusts and feels safe with. It matters that Ms. Statin, one of only two climate support specialists, greets her with a hug in the morning. Not just my child, but so many children who need that sense of belonging to start their day. And when my daughter faced bullying in kindergarten, Ms. Statin was there for her and for me, helping us navigate that moment of care --
Ma'am, I'm sorry. I hate to do this, but I need you to summarize. Yeah.
Sure. Without full funding, schools will face real disruption, larger class sizes, fewer supports, and fewer trusted adults. A $75 million investment would protect more than 500 essential staff building substitutes, climate staff, and teachers; the people our kids rely on every day. We call on you to use every tool at your disposal to reach $75 million to fully protect school- based staff and prevent cuts across all school -- schools. As well as require the district to release preliminary budgets so that school, communities, and elected officials understand what is -- what is at stake --
We know City Council has stood with parents before, and we're ready to stand with you again to get this done. Thank you.
Is there anyone else here from Lift Every Voice that came to testify?
How many more people from Lift Every -- come on up, let them. David, I got you. Come on up. Let us get Lift Every Voice -- all the Lift Every Voice folks now. State your name for the -- state your -- state your name first then start.
My name is Aaron Spence, but I'm reading on behalf of a member Siani Bolling --
Hello. My name is Siani Bolling. I am from West Philly. A founding member of Lift Every Voice Philly, and a proud parent of a Philadelphia public school student. I'm speaking today on the budget cuts. Right now, we are facing a dreams and nightmare budget. On one side, the city is holding over a billion dollars in reserves. On the other, our schools are once again being asked to do more with even less. We thank you for your leadership to slow down the facilities plan as we work together to plug this budget hole. The threat of 17 school closures being rushed through this Thursday is a distraction we can't afford, and neither -- and neither is waiting for a new tax to pass. The solution is already in the bank. That $1.2 billion in reserves should be the first tool we use to keep our staff in place. The cuts that are being proposed directly affect essential workers such as climate staff and building substitute teachers that help keep schools running day to day. Without building substitutes when a class permanent teacher is absent, there will -- there will be no one to cover classes. That means lost learning time, larger combined classes, and more chaos in the building. Our climate staff are also -- are also essential keeping our children safe. They are the adults who make sure students can safely go to the bathroom, who supervise our hallways, lunch, and recess, and who step in to support classrooms when needed. Our schools would fall apart without these essential class -- without these essential workers. As a childcare worker, I see every day that you need enough adults in a building to safely support children so they can continue to thrive in their learning environment --
The city has the resources right now to prevent the chaos. The mayor's proposal only covers 60 percent of the school budget cuts, leaving more than 200 positions at risk. We need you to use every tool at your disposal to reach 75 million to fully protect school-based staff.
And can we give all the people from Lift Every Voice round of applause. We've truly appreciate the work you've done. We want to thank you for your advocacy around bringing joy to the school district. We appreciate you, you're an important advocacy arm, and we love what you're doing to fight for our children. So thank you all for being here, and thank you for your patience. We appreciate it. Please state your name for the record, and you are -- and you may begin with your testimony. Are you next? Excuse me, are you next? Are you on a list? Did you sign up?
Member Thomas, David Alexander Jenkins. You know, I came in and sat here for six hours because I'm a concerned citizen who lives in Rittenhouse Square, who always sees the white elephant in the room. And it said that if I want to buy a home, you guys will give me a 10-year tax abatement for which I can put marble floors down and look at a -- at a beautiful view of the park, and then take from the city almost $130 million out of the budget every single year. And while children starve, try to figure out how their parents are going to go to work, they can't get to school. I get to have a fabulous view and a wonderful martini from my bathtub while people can't be educated in Philadelphia today. So I want to thank you guys for the work that you do tirelessly because you're handed a lemon and you have to make juice out of it. But I think I would like to say, please tax me, please tax my neighbors. Please ask us who you give the benefits to, to do our job in the City of Philadelphia, to put money back into the system which pays us so that the people that we educate and graduate who then work for our companies we've actually paid for in the first place. So that is all I wanted to say.
I don't know if I could have said it better. Thank you, sir. We appreciate your testimony means a lot more coming from you than us. State your name for the record, and you may begin with your testimony.
My name is Eden MacDougall. I'm reading a comment on behalf of a family friend who works for the district. Her name is Lydia. She couldn't be here today. She is saying, “We're trying to send the message to our students that learning doesn't stop when they step off the school campus. That opportunities for growth can happen anywhere and at any time. The current student fare restrictions fly in the face of that message and further exacerbate the economic inequity that Philadelphia children are forced to live in. If your family has the means to pay for your commute, the sky is the limit for you. If not, good luck getting on your last ride by 8:00 p.m., and that is only if you happen to live past an arbitrary cutoff radius from your school.” Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. You are -- has that -- everybody here signed up?
Amazing. Please state -- let me -- before we keep going, I just want to take a moment to commend the people from the Mayor's administration who are in the back, that are still listening to all of the public comments. So know that it is not just City Council listening to everything that you're saying and are sitting here waiting. We also have members of the administration that is listening to everything that is being said. Please state your name for the record, and you may begin with your testimony.
Anna Victoria Sandoval. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for having the time to voice my opinion as well. Just like many of us in this room, I have a lot of hats that I wear, but today I'm here as a parent and an alumni from the district. And seeing the closure of the schools happening, like for example, Bache, but also the lack of movement that has been seen in the school of Southwark. I, myself, am a mother of three kids at Southwark currently, and I just want to voice that I'm also a parent from the SAC leadership today. And just as we all have seen, the crowd has gotten less and shorter because of time. All I would like to say is that we really need you guys to answer your questions and give us --
No, it is not -- that is not it. What -- I'm -- I'm sorry. Just -- we going to pause for one second. All right? Just one second. All right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. If everybody -- I know everybody is a little anxious and it is not -- it is beyond any of our control. So if we could just -- we're going to try to expedite this a little quicker than what we would normally do. All right folks? And I'm apologizing for that. All right? But we do got to expedite this a lot faster. All right. Go ahead.
I would just like to ask for the folks here today to give us actual answers instead of giving us a roundabouts on, like, what is the -- what is the time limit for when we are actually going to get a yes or no for the fixing or for Southwark to be approved to get an annex. For approving, to get the funding for fixing our bathrooms. We keep hearing you guys talking about how our future, our future, our future. Our kids' future is right now. And we want answers now. So we thank you for your time. And I'm also going to be interpreting in Spanish -- in English for one of our parents that we have from Southwark. So they can also give you their points and opinion on what's going on. And I'm sorry if I'm rambling, it is just that there's so much things that were happening today that, you know what? It gives that mind of openness of like, there is so much that needs to be fixed. And we, from Southwark, are focusing on mice. And as we saw today, there are mice here too. So like, what are we doing? What are we doing? Where's our money going? And yeah --
So I was trying not to say that on the record, but since you already said it on the record, anybody who is uncomfortable, please know that you could submit your testimony in writing to us. If you do not want to stay, if you're uncomfortable with anything that is happening, you can submit your testimony in writing. We promise you we'll read it and it will be the equivalence of if you testified here in person. So thank you for going ahead and putting it out there. The elephant in the room -- the elephant in the room. Oh, Lord. Please state your name for the record if be given your testimony. MS: LUCAS: Sorry, I am here since morning, so yeah. Good afternoon. My name is Tiana Leon Lucas, and I'm a mother of two students at Southwark Elementary School. My daughters are in sixth grade and third grade, and they're in the bilingual program. I'm here to speak out for my children. Our students deserve to have a safe and decent school where they don't have to run home just to use the bathroom and have good conditions of the bathroom. They have told me time again -- time and time again that they have to wait in long lines in the bathroom just to see if they can go to the bathroom. And in occasions, they have accidents while waiting. In reality, the situation is much worse than what I'm speaking. For example, my daughters have told me that they have had to endure the smell of dead rats in their classrooms, and also having to see running rodents from one side of the classroom to the other. And they have slipped in the bathrooms with the floor flooding of toilet water. I have a few questions. Do you think it is right for our children to have to be exposed and shamed with fear and anxiety and being humiliated with these things happening?
I'm sorry, we need you to summarize. I'm sorry.
Okay. I'm going to finish with this. We are here -- we are here demanding solutions, quick ones, and real ones. I did not think that I would have to come here and have to ask for basic necessities of sanitary here in the United States. We demand that the upcoming budget be increased for pest control, for a better future, for our kids in the city and for diversifying our bathrooms and having an annex. Thank you so much.
Thank you. I just want to acknowledge the work of City Year of Philadelphia. I'm a former member of City Year of Philadelphia. I served two years as a project manager when they first came to the City of Philadelphia, so continue to keep up the good work.
Hello. My name is Zach Strassburger. I am the parent of three children who have attended or will attend Southwark School. Southwark is a community school that stays open longer for working parents as part of the Mayor's extended day extended year program. But you've heard about our bathrooms where sewage water drips through ceiling tiles onto students. Where there's no real cafeteria or kitchen where students eat in a basement next to the largest bathroom in the building where the air smells like sewage and makes the kids sick. Where students see rodents so often, they name them Mickey and Minnie. My youngest child is supposed to start at Southwark this fall, but they have autism. They use the bathroom independently, but they aren't going to be able to wait 10 minutes for an open kindergarten stall or wander the halls looking for an open toilet. My kid won't be able to leave the building to go use the proposed modular toilet behind the school. Does this mean my child can't attend Southwark because of the bathrooms? Where in the IEP do I say, improve skills at recognizing unsafe bathrooms as measured by sewage coming out of the floor. These problems aren't new. My fourth grader doesn't understand why I'm here today because he says the conditions have been bad for so long, and he doesn't expect better. But I asked him what his little siblings should do entering kindergarten, and he said we should spend the summer teaching the youngest to avoid puddles on the floor. That is not acceptable for either kid. My fourth grader shouldn't feel that nothing will change, and he should feel worthy of working bathrooms. Please help.
Good afternoon, Council President Johnson and city Councilmembers. My name is Davia White Walton. Council President, you might know me as the Fresh Princess.
I'm a -- I'm a City Year Student success coach at Harding Middle School, which is in Councilmember Quetcy Lozada's District. I also reside in West Philly and Councilmember Gauthier's District. I support Ms. Theresa Carr's eighth grade English classroom every day. She would have loved to be here in person, but she's currently supporting in the school house during the PSSAs that reflects the kind of teacher that she is. I'm grateful to have the chance to share her words with you all. Thank you.
“My name is Theresa Carr, and I teach 8th grade English at Harding Middle School. My journey in education began when I served as a City Year Philadelphia core member at Roxborough High School in 2023. That year introduced me to this city and showed me how meaningful it is to share my love of literacy with Philadelphia's creative and thoughtful young people. This is my second year teaching at Harding, but the first year I have welcomed a City Year core member, student success coach Davi, and to my classroom. As a former core member, I knew City Year was valuable, but even I have been struck by the difference her presence makes. Coach Davi occupies a role that teachers cannot replicate. Students see her as a mentor and guide. While I lead instructions, she moves through the room helping students navigate hurdles, offering different ways to engage with the lesson, and giving encouragement that feels personal and motivating. Because of the trust she builds, her support accelerates students' learning in ways that are both immediate and lasting. At Harding and across the school district, we need all hands on deck to support student achievement. City Year members are not extra, they are essential partners in building strong and consistent relationships that help students thrive academically and emotionally. Now that I'm a teacher, I see even more clearly how City Year strengthens school communities, support students' wellbeing, and introduces young adults to the possibility of a career in education right here in Philadelphia.” That concludes my testimony from my partner teacher, and I place my Davia hat on again to say that I'm happy to announce that I will be returning to City Year for a second year, and I plan, for my long-term goal, to be a guidance counselor in Philadelphia. Thank you.
Keep up the good work. What about your rap career? You going to continue, right? Aren't you Fresh Princess? What -- you --
It is funny, my kids just found out that I rap, so they've been beating on desks and I've been following those beats, so I'm still going.
Mama Gail, are you coming up now? Is Kendra Brooks here? You know Tosha Taylor from South Philly, right? Yeah. Wilson Park. That is -- she is a nice -- I see a nice tale now out there being a super activist as she is. Yeah, he is from downtown. Oh, nice. Come on up, sir.
Swimming pools. SERGEANT AT ARMS: Okay. You have two minutes. State your name for the record.
Hi. I'm Sheree Lewis, a West Philadelphia resident. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'm just here as a resident, as a parent. I am -- I'm currently employed at the IRS and I'm also a disabled veteran. I'm saying that on the record to say that if anybody understands budget allocation and things of that sort, it would be me. With that, I had a speech here, but like, after taking in the hours that we've been sitting here, like it is kind of derailed, so I'll just, kind of, run through it. I just find it very -- I'm trying to find a word to, like, to -- I find it very hard to hear when they were asked about financial reports, and then it was just said, well, it is on the -- online. It is on the website. But not to be disrespectful, but just to talk grounded here, there were reports that 50 percent of Philadelphia -- adults in Philadelphia were functionally illiterate. So if individuals are functionally illiterate, that means they're not able to comprehend what it is they're reading. So if they're not able to just comprehend words, let alone numbers, none of that type of stuff is going to resonate with them. Also, education lies in a layered ecosystem where primary funding be from state, federal, and local. I just -- as a numbers person, it is just not making sense. I need to see the full scope, and I'm not like putting blame on anyone, I'm saying that as is -- as a -- with a numbers background, what I'm seeing doesn't add up. And it may not be a funding issue, but a structural and prioritization issue. So I'm asking that we see all, like, a full reconciliation before we make anything, what we need right here before we make any, like, new plans, new tax, any -- anything before we go forward. We need everything before we can accurately assess what we're doing. Philadelphia is no longer in the space of doing things blindly. We need to know what we are doing, how it works for us, and how we're going to move forward.
Thank you very much. Please say your name and begin your testimony. How are you doing, sir?
Thank you. My name is Horace Clouden. You know, for those who have the papers and other people who have the paper, there is a rush for this plan because the first planning year, there is a billion dollars on the table, a half a million -- 500 million for design work, and 500 million for no description of work. So that is what is on the table. That is why they want to hurry up and sign this thing. You know, we have solutions. We've been at the board for years with solutions. The solution is to move the children. You know, but we say bring back junior high school, seventh, eighth, and ninth. These K-8's are failing track schools because there's too many grades to manage, and they are in elementary schools. We say, bring back the five closed swimming pools. No need to create a new location at the tune of $70 million, what they would call the super site. Don't invest in -- don't invest $50 million for two schools over a hundred years old with low enrollment and poor test scores. There are other neighborhood schools nearby. Stop creating swing spaces because the staff doesn't want to travel to another location, at the tune of $40 million. Don't build four additions to improve capacity. K-5, 35 million; K-4, 35 million; K-8, 59 million, and K-5, 27 million. Bring back the building trade South Broad Street, Barra, Overbrook, Sayre, MLK, and Roxborough. There's a lot more to say, but I want to say, the next 10 years, they're neglecting half of the city. That is what this 10-year plan is all about. So you have the data and just think this is -- the district -- the board doesn't want to micromanage the district, but somebody has to micromanage the district. So with that --
Mama Gail. My legal name is Gail Clouden. But I'm sitting here for the ancestors because to sit here and hear what we are hearing, this is like the 60s; 1960, 1965. I am not going to talk about 1920, but to hear and know that our children can't read, write, do math, tell time, write -- sign their name in 2026? And we're talking about what? 2032? That is a problem. Strawberry Mansion High School does have other students in the building. For everybody's information, there is two other groups upstairs in the building. We have to do a better job. I want to bring the elephant in the room, and not because I'm racist, but I'm a realist and our ancestors won't let me sit here and be quiet. My husband loves doing data, and the data says that our children are doing worse than anybody else's children. I don't care what setting this is. We got to talk about the schools in the Northeast, because when we were younger, people were trying to go to the Northeast to get a better education. And so here we have everybody going, or many going over there. We've been saying for years, bring our children back home. This should be about equity at this point. This should be about equality. And it is not that. When they just built a building over a 100, what? 100 -- what was it? 129 -- 129, 000?
Excuse me, 129 million. They just built that building. They are getting ready to build another building in the Northeast. You keep saying, we got too many children in one school and not enough in the other. I mean, you-all are smart. I mean, come on, stuff doesn't make sense. Bring our children home and make sure everything is equitable. K-8 schools have not been working for our children. Our older children are slowing down. And I'll say it this way, the large students stand in lines like babies in 7th and 8th grade. They're too big for the schools that they're in. And when they get to high school, they're in the halls because they don't fit. A nine -- what is it? How many -- is it 92-minute class or 90?
A 90-minute class for some child who has been in elementary school from K-8 is too much. Please hold people accountable on every level. Please do that for us. And for the ancestors, I'm always going to speak on your behalf; heal our families, you-all. Heal our children, heal our land. We built it. But guess what? When you go up and downtown and in the neighborhoods and you see who's building, where are we? Bring back Vocational Ed so we can be part of this again. We know how to do everything. Bring people here that know how to teach us. But you don't know many of you is that many of the people that are in the class -- many of the people that are in the class are not teachers. They're not educators. They're people on certified emergency certification. If they're not teachers, how do they teach? And we see how they teach by the data. We got to get some real people in there that know how to teach. Peace and love, family.
Leah Clouden. My question to the City Council and to all of us; when do you stop being polite in a disrespect? You know, my opinion, this is the land grab and warehousing. Data have shown since 2010 or 2013, whenever they closed the schools down all the way up until now, we already saw that it was a failing system. We already know that you can't have confidence in a school district because they don't -- they are not people of their word. When they closed the schools down, they were supposed to send resources to the schools. Never happened. They phased out school. They've been in the practice of phasing out school. So if you're looking at -- if you're wondering why schools are underpopulated, more than likely they were phased out, just like Strawberry Mansion. They were supposed to send the children back into the school, but it didn't happen. Just -- I'm just tired of just the lies, the disrespect. You already know, you've already seen that they can't be trusted. You already seen that the super -- I mean, not the superintendent, but you already see that the Board President is fixed in his decision. So my thing is to City Council, what are you-all going to do about it? Because they're not going to change. You have to force their hand because this is -- this is insulting to all of us. They decimated the communities. We see the children, they can't -- they can't do basic math, read, write, you know, sign their names, just basic phonics, just all of it. We see it. We see it when we go to the stores. I'm just tired of it. And if you're talking about taxing, we got corner stores that are having many casinos in it. What are you-all doing about that? Go get the money from them. We see it in a gas station. Figure it out. Go tax them. Charge them a casino license, whatever you got to do. But you know where their money -- the money is. If you're talking about safety, even with the cars that are tinted windows, they look like little tanks. Like where's the safety in everything? Where's the accountability and everything? Enforce the laws. Then maybe you don't have to worry about the taxing the people. And also figure out a way to hold the school district accountable, if you're going to give them money. Stop just -- because they're not even holding their own people accountable.
Steven Bilski, Markia McClinton, Daniel Pioy, and Deanna Ramsey.
Since protocol has already been established, my name is Rhemar Pouncey, and I represent Overbrook Elementary School. I have been to every board member -- board meeting with the School District of Philadelphia since the inception of this facilities plan. The last time I stood before them, I produced to them an alternative to closing Overbrook Elementary School, which would have saved the school district $2.6 million. I sent the proposal to each board member, including President Streater, as well as Dr. Watlington, and did not hear back from them. I stood there in front of them and told them that my team of architects, developers, would be willing to look over the facilities plan because the math is not mathing. The school district needs to be held accountable. And I'm stating before City Council and the members that are in chambers, and I'm putting it on the record, an audit needs to occur. As Jerry Maguire would say, “Show me the money.” Because I'm not seeing where the money that we have already given them over the decades has gone. The schools have been in poor condition for the last 40 years. I mean, I'm a graduate, so, 40 years. We're still doing the same thing over and over and over again, and putting a band aid on something that can be totally fixed. Thank you.
Hello, everyone. My name is Tasha Taylor and I'm the Home and School President of Edward T. Steel Elementary School. And I sit on a lot of different organizations. I wanted to bring up a couple of things that have not been addressed tonight. Like for one, I'm a parent of 10 and I have a grandparent of 20. 35 percent of grandparents are raising the school age children that we are speaking about. But no one is putting them on the forefront. Where is the budget for parent involvement? Why is there only one percent of Title-1 funding going into parent involvement, and the school makes a decision on the part of the budget that the parents should be speaking to. So we have to look at that. We also have to look at the special education. Special education needs to be at the forefront of a lot of what is going on and happening in the schools. They are right now, not talking about it, but I've been in some of the meetings for the year where they are phasing out. A lot of you don't know, they're phasing out emotional support. They are integrating those students into regular classrooms. And you haven't heard about it. I know because I'm there and I'm in the schools, which goes against mandates. Also, when we speak to the bathrooms, we need to speak about staff bathrooms as well. I'm in a school now that toilet hasn't flushed in two months, okay? So we need to look at the whole dynamic. And also bring the parents to the table. I'm hearing everyone speak, but I don't hear no one bringing us parents to the table. Everyone is lying about bringing the parents to the table. Bring us to the table. We are talking about our children and everyone with children in here who has a child, has a niece, has a nephew. Let us talk about all the children and bring the parents to the table. Stop making these decisions without us. Everyone, stop making these decisions without us. The school district, stop making these decisions without us because these are our children. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Darryl Bundrige. I would like to begin by thanking you all City Councilmembers for your continued support of City Year, our students, and our communities. Especially for today -- like today, we're particularly grateful also for Council President Johnson being an ardent supporter. And City Year has been in Philadelphia for the past 28 years as a partner, helping our students succeed and strengthening our pipeline of educators, civic leaders. I want to be clear, we see ourselves as well aligned with the priorities for the One Philly One Future One Plan. And we address that in the space of public safety and education and workforce development. We are providing mentorship, academic support, keeping our students connected to schools, increasing engagement, and saving learning environments. We know this because of the 120 students we have serving 7,500 students and 12 schools. 56 percent of those maintain 90 percent attendance or better. 70 percent of those showed improvement in grade or math assessments and literacy and math. 88 percent of our students believe City Year -- or our staff believe City Year has positively improved the environment. This, of course, we are doing with diverse support. However, our federal dollars, as you heard about last year, still are not keeping up pace with our level of support. So we're asking for your continued support in investing in us through our million dollars that you have provided for us to close the gap, stay in our schools, and continue to provide teachers to the pipeline and civically engaged professionals. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your testimony. I'm sure if Council President Johnson were here, he would say, shout out to City Year. So thank you very, very much. Is there anyone else here to testify whose name has not been called? Okay. Seeing none, the Chair now recognizes our Education Chair, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, for a motion that the public hearing and meeting on the bills and resolution 3 before the Committee today stand in recess until Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 400 City Hall.
Madam Leader, I move that the Committee of the Whole stand adjourned until Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. COUNCILMEMBERS: Second.
It has been moved and properly seconded that the public hearing and meeting on the bills and resolution before the Committee today stand in recess until Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 400 City Hall. All those in favor of the motion will indicate by stating, “aye.” COUNCILMEMBERS: Aye.
Those opposed? The ayes have it, and the motion carries. This Committee will stand in recess until Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, 10:00 a.m. at which time we will reconvene in room 400 City Hall. Thank you very much for being here. (Committee of the Whole meeting concluded at 5:35 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence are contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by me of the above case, and this copy is a correct transcript of the same. _______________ Samanda J. Rios