Due to budget cuts of over $600 million in Philadelphia schools this year, district officials plan to close nine schools due to falling enrolment.
During the past decade, the number of students enrolled in the Philadelphia School District has dropped from 500,000 to 150,000. Caused in great part by a movement to charter-school education, the Philadelphia School District student population currently functions at 67 percent capacity, significantly below the national average of 85 percent capacity.
A preliminary plan to close nine district schools, many of which are elementary schools, was recently announced due to poor enrolment. The proposal would effectively remove 14,000 unoccupied seats and save the district between $500,000 to $1 million per school each year. The schools that the district is considering closing include five elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools.
The plan would have the school district operating at 71 percent capacity, which leads many to question the overall effectiveness of this plan and future plans for consolidation. In response to such criticism, Acting Superintendent Leroy Nunery II said, “There are multiple stages to this. This is not one-and-done.”
A joint letter from Philadelphia leaders supporting the plan said, “[The] plan aims to align education programs, resources, and facilities in a way that benefits all students…Some public schools sit half-empty and are poorly positioned to provide the best education to the children who are left behind in their classrooms.”
Prior to the vote on this matter, which is set to occur early next year, both the teacher’s union and general public will be able to participate in public hearings. If enacted, these school closures would be the first large-scale closing of district schools since 1981.
The distribution of unoccupied seats varies throughout the city, with some neighborhoods having fewer unoccupied seats than others. Northeast Philadelphia schools in particular are fuller than those in other regions. The schools nominated for closure are spread throughout the city: four in North Philadelphia, two in South Philadelphia, one in the northwest, and two in the southwest region of the city. Of the schools listed, five would close in 2012, and then one school each year thereafter until 2016. The schools listed for closure: Levering Elementary, Harrison Elementary, Sheppard Elementary, Drew Elementary, E.M Stanton Elementary, Pepper Middle School, Fitzsimons High School, Sheridan West Academy, and Philadelphia High School for Business.
In addition to the plans aimed to cut empty seats in the Philadelphia School District, acting Chairman Wendell Pritchett said, “We need to do more.” District officials say reforms will not stop once the goal of cutting 35,000 empty seats by 2014 is complete.