When Fairhill Elementary School first opened in North Philadelphia, it was a "beautiful building," according to neighbors. 

However, the building is now vacant and has become an eyesore and a safety concern, attracting trash, rodents and even squatters.

"They're tearing the building apart," Rivera said. "They took the AC. They busted all the windows. They broke all the doors."

Longtime Fairhill resident Jennifer Barker also calls the property, which has been vacant for more than 10 years, a huge problem in the community.

"It's really an eyesore that really should be uplifting to our neighborhood," Barker said. "And it shouldn't be sitting that long because it's been sitting for a long time."

Fairhill Elementary School is one of 20 vacant school properties in Philadelphia. Over the years, the city and district have both faced mounting pressure from the community on what to do with these buildings.

The calls for change grew even louder after 23-year-old Kada Scott was found dead on the grounds of the vacant Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School.

Now, there's movement on a plan that could breathe new life into the buildings.

The Philadelphia Board of Education will vote on a resolution that would give the district the green light to hand the properties over to the city for plans to potentially turn them into affordable housing units.

"We need to put this land to its highest and best use. We need to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods by building housing to replace these old and blighted buildings," Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement to CBS News Philadelphia.

Reginald Streater, the president of Philadelphia's Board of Education, said in a statement in part: "The School District has over 300 school buildings, averaging approximately 73 years old. These properties include unused, vacant and surplus District-owned properties which require resources to maintain. As a chronically and constitutionally underfunded School District, it is our responsibility to explore all options that allow us to focus our limited resources on our core mission, to educate students."

Residents said affordable housing is an idea they can get behind, telling CBS News Philadelphia anything is better than the status quo.

"That would help a lot," Rivera said.

The Philadelphia Board of Education will vote on the resolution during a special meeting on Thursday. The public will also get a chance to comment.