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Dear School District of Philadelphia Families,

You are invited to participate in the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Priorities Survey which opens today, and closes on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 11:59 pm. This comprehensive survey focuses on three essential priority areas: Budget Management, Facilities Planning, and our Parent & Family University.

The collective efforts of the School District of Philadelphia staff and the support of concerned families and citizens have led to the District experiencing relative financial stability over the last few years. Our responsible use of the $1.8 billion of federal funding received during the pandemic and post-pandemic years helped lead to lower levels of student learning loss than other large urban districts, balanced budgets, and our highest bond ratings in decades.

Additionally, over the past two years, we’ve seen remarkable improvements across the board: more than 3,500 students improved their regular attendance, our four-year graduation rate increased by 6.3 percentage points, and we reduced the number of student dropouts by over 1,400. We’re particularly excited that our district’s enrollment increased by 1,841 students – our first enrollment growth in a decade. While the federal COVID funding concluded in September 2024, we used it well and together we are Accelerating Philly! I am proud of what we’ve accomplished as a community, as it represents the collective dedication of the Board of Education, our staff, parents, students, elected officials, unions, and philanthropic partners!

As the budget development process continues, we will keep you updated. So, in alignment with Accelerate Philly Strategic Action 5.8, we are starting the conversations around the budget now, earlier than we have in the past, to limit the impact on students and schools. Your feedback is critical to this conversation! By completing the survey, you are providing us with valuable information about how we can create a budget that is reflective of the things students and families – the communities we serve – find important.

The survey is available now, in numerous languages, here or by visiting www.philasd.org. Completing it should take no longer than 10 minutes. The survey is just one of a number of ways we will be engaging members of our School District community in our budget conversation. We look forward to sharing more details about upcoming engagement opportunities as soon as they are available.

Thank you for participating in the survey. We will overcome these challenges together as we continue on our journey to become the fastest-improving large urban district in the nation.

In partnership,

Tony B. Watlington Sr., Ed.D.
Superintendent
The School District of Philadelphia