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Dear School District of Philadelphia community,
In January, we released the initial set of School District of Philadelphia Facilities Master Plan (FMP) recommendations. Today, we are launching in full, Accelerating Opportunity: The School District of Philadelphia Facilities Master Plan along with the recommendations dashboard that details the investments and recommendations for every school, including which will be modernized, repurposed, or maintained in their current state. You can access the dashboard here: www.philasd.org/fpp.
From the launch of the Facilities Planning Process, the District has remained steadfast in its commitment to produce a plan that centers educational equity and opportunity over all else. We must increase access to high-quality academic and extra-curricular programs across neighborhoods. More students must have access to the best that the District has to offer. Accelerating Opportunity is a step in that direction, and its potential and profound impact cannot be understated.
This Plan represents a significant investment in the future of public education in Philadelphia, to the tune of $2.8 billion over the course of 10 years. Proposed investments, which you can learn more about on the Facilities Master Plan website, include:
- Reassigning 100% of impacted students to schools with comparable or better academic outcomes and/or comparable or better building conditions
- Modernizing 159 school buildings
- Completing Americans with Disabilities Act improvement projects 56 schools
- Providing every middle school student with access to Algebra I
- Doubling the number of incoming students will have access to PreKindergarten
- Increasing the number of students with access to Career and Technical Education programming
- Reducing the number of buildings that are rated as being in “poor” or “unsatisfactory” condition from 85 to zero
Should the Board of Education adopt these recommendations, the District will commit $1 billion of its own resources and seek an additional $1.8 billion in public and philanthropic funding to fully realize this vision. Neither is a foregone conclusion. However we believe that we have presented a plan that demonstrates an unyielding commitment to both improving outcomes for more students across the city and being good stewards with the resources at our disposal. Both are beneficial to not just the School District of Philadelphia, but to the city, state, and nation at large.
The success of this effort will require strategic, targeted and vocal support from all District stakeholders. Specifically, we ask that you be an advocate for the Plan with your network and encourage others to do so as well.
I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the difficulty of some of the decisions we need to make in order to realize this Plan. If schools are community anchors, as we strive for them to be, then closing them is devastating. And it is with all sincerity that I say that I hear the sadness and the frustration – it is why the District rooted this process in community engagement and transparency. It is why even now, District leaders are engaging directly with the communitiesmost impacted by the Plan, listening to stories and considering feedback. We are taking the time to listen to our families, and if we have missed anything or if there’s something that we need to go back and reconsider, we are absolutely open to doing that.
This is also why the $2.8 billion investment is intentionally distributed across the city’s neighborhoods. Within Accelerating Opportunity there is a correlation between the City Council districts that are most impacted by school closures, and those receiving the largest financial investments.
I want to be clear – these recommendations were not made at the expense of small schools, magnet schools, or programs that don’t fit the public school mold. They were made with the intention of scaling those models so that they work for more students. It is ambitious and challenging, but it is possible. And we are pursuing it for the sake of all 198,000 public school children in this city. As a District we understand and truly appreciate the uniqueness of all of our schools, some of which we have recommended for closure. However, maintaining the status quo cannot come at the expense of equity and improving student opportunity.
By working together boldly, and not being shy about making hard decisions, we can lift as we climb. We can scale up the incredible and unique programs that we already offer, and expand the opportunity for more students and families to benefit from them. We can become the fastest-improving, large urban public school district in the nation.
In partnership,
Tony B. Watlington Sr., Ed.D.
Superintendent
The School District of Philadelphia