Board of Education Directs Superintendent Dr. Watlington to Develop and Present Recommendations on a Facilities Utilization Plan Which Shall Include Community Outreach

On September 19, 2024, during its monthly Action Meeting, the Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution directing School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington, Sr., Ed.D. to complete Phase 8 of the Facilities Plan by engaging community stakeholders in a robust process. Launching the development of a facilities plan with a Board-directed resolution is a best practice Philadelphia is adopting from other cities across the country. Dr. Watlington’s plan will result in recommendations that address the following:

• Maximize use of our school buildings and student rostering to provide more equitable:
  • Pre-kindergarten (pre-k) opportunities;
  • Rigorous academic offerings;
  • Access to high-quality Arts, Music, and Physical Education; and
  • Career and Technical Education opportunities.
• Address enrollment trends that have created financial and operational inefficiencies
• Identify District schools/buildings to be modernized, co-located, repurposed or closed.

“The Board is committed to working with urgency to provide every student with the opportunity to achieve positive life outcomes in partnership with diverse families, educators, and community members. To achieve this mission, it is necessary to kick off the next phase of a facilities planning process to review building utilization and student rostering practices across the District,” said Board President Streater. “By engaging our communities in this process, we will ensure that the voices and priorities of those most impacted are front and center.”

In December of 2020, the Board adopted its Goals and Guardrails, which guides the District’s path forward by defining what we want all of our students to know and be able to do and what conditions need to be in place in every school to provide every student with an equitable opportunity to imagine and realize any future they desire – whether that’s in college, in the military, or in a career.

On June 1, 2023, the Board approved Accelerate Philly, the District’s five-year strategic plan, which identified 62 key strategic actions to position the District to achieve the Board’s Goals and Guardrails and become the fastest improving, large urban district in the nation.

“I am pleased our team has completed six of the eight phases in the facilities planning process, and we are committed to completing the seventh, the creation of a data warehouse, and eighth phase, the launch of a facilities plan project team, by the end of this year,” said Superintendent Tony B. Watlington, Sr., Ed.D. “I appreciate the Board for giving me clear guidance and direction to move forward with the facilities planning process. My staff and I will facilitate a process with deep and transparent community engagement and will provide the Board with prioritized recommendations as requested.”

Priority Area One of Accelerate Philly commits to improving the safety and well-being  (physical, social-emotional, and environmental) for District students, staff and families. The strategic plan also identifies strategic action 1.1 which focuses on establishing a facilities master plan project team, including internal and external stakeholders, to identify a process and the investments needed to significantly improve academic achievement and to achieve Guardrails 1 and 2.

The District is composed of more than 300 buildings, and some of the District’s oldest buildings are 120 years old. More than 200 were built before 1978, with the average age of a building being 73 years old. Most of these buildings were constructed using lead-based paint and asbestos-containing materials. The facilities plan would also aim to address the challenges inherent in an aging infrastructure.

After more than a decade of difficult decisions regarding the District’s facilities, the Board of Education, School District, and City will collaborate to modernize facilities that optimize building utilization and student rostering to support academic achievement, provide more pre-kindergarten (pre-k) opportunities, provide more rigorous academic offerings, provide more access to high-quality Arts, Music, and Physical Education, and Enhance Career and Technical Education opportunities. This work will ultimately help the District achieve its vision of preparing every student to imagine and realize any future they desire.

“My administration has made significant investments in the School District to support the ambitious goals outlined in the Accelerate Philly strategic plan, ” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. “We will work with the School District and all Philadelphians to develop a workable and affordable school modernization plan that will provide our students the schools they deserve.”