School District of Philadelphia unveils new facilities plan that would close 18 schools instead of 20

The School District of Philadelphia unveiled some changes to its long-term facilities plan Thursday, including a small reduction in the number of schools it plans to close.

First, the 10-year, $2.8 billion roadmap that could reshape more than 300 school buildings across the city has a new name: Accelerating Opportunity: The School District of Philadelphia Facilities Master Plan.

The goal and cost remain the same, but two fewer schools are slated to close.

Still, some teachers and parents are not happy about the proposed cuts.

"We believe this is the best possible plan to present given our limited resources," Superintendent Tony B. Watlington said. 

At an action meeting Thursday, leaders from the school district unveiled some major changes to their plan, including reducing the number of schools being closed from 20 to 18.

"It has been a very rigorous process, painstaking process, because I don't like to have to recommend closure of any schools," Watlington said.

Under the new proposal, Russell Conwell Middle School would no longer close, and starting in 2027, students from Lewis Elkin Elementary will feed into Conwell to help stabilize enrollment. Motivation High School in West Philly would also no longer close. 

Meanwhile, Paul Robeson High School would close and merge with Motivation, forming Motivation-Robeson at the Motivation campus.

Finally, Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet School would merge with Walter B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences. Initially, the proposal called for it to be combined with Roxborough High School. 

"We don't want to grow the schools to be too big, but we also have to attack and very forthrightly address schools that are so small that we're not using our resources as efficiently as we can," Watlington said.

District officials say community engagement played a major role in the revisions, citing 90 public listening sessions and nearly 14,000 survey responses about the proposed plan.

"We wanted the public to inspect it, to beat the plan up, ask us tough questions," Watlington said.

Watlington said officials listened to the feedback they received.

The district says the 10-year plan would modernize 159 schools and eliminate all buildings currently rated poor or unsatisfactory. The proposal would also expand access to Algebra I for all middle schoolers and expand career and technical education, physical education, arts and music programs, according to the district.

But unions representing the city's educators say any school closings are unacceptable. Philadelphia City Council, which controls part of the school district's budget, also raised concerns about the plan during a hearing earlier this month.

"You're not just closing schools, you're taking away babies' neighborhood schools. You're taking away staff, staff that should be in the building to build community. So we're against the closures," Nicole Hunt, president of Unite Here Local 634, said Thursday afternoon.

This master plan is just a proposal. It was presented to the school board during a Thursday afternoon meeting, but board members did not vote on it. 

If the plan is eventually approved, these changes would not take effect until the 2027-28 school year. 

The school board plans to convene a town hall dedicated to hearing community members on the facilities planning process on March 12 at 4 p.m. The meeting will include 60 general speakers and 30 student speakers, prioritizing those from the affected schools, according to a press release from the school district. The board has also created an anonymous feedback form for students, families and community members.  

Board President Reginald L. Streater said in a statement Thursday's meeting marked "the next phase of Board review, continued community engagement, and careful deliberation." 

Streater encouraged community members to stay involved in the process and said the district needs to make changes because of structural funding issues and enrollment shifts.

"I believe the recommendations presented today are responsive and represent a once in a lifetime opportunity, a necessary step, toward realigning our footprint with our mission — ensuring that every child in the District has access to comprehensive academic offerings and the full range of opportunities they deserve," Streater said in the statement.