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Philadelphia students and community members spoke out against proposed building closures in the school district’s Facilities Master Plan at a town hall held by the Board of Education on Thursday.
Reginald L. Streater said that, in an ideal world, the district could prioritize improving academic success while simultaneously modernizing school facilities, but that there is not enough funding to make that a reality.
“Collective action and sacrifice will be required from all of us,” Streater said. “Your voice is helping inform our understanding of how these decisions impact our communities, and they are an important part of shaping the pathway forward.”
Contradictions with community feedback
Juniper Sook Serome, a freshman at Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School in Roxborough, said the board’s decision to continue holding meetings without changing its plan contradicts the feedback it keeps hearing from the public: Don’t close schools.
Serome said no one in the room supports school closures, and she urged the board to not “actively choose ignorance” and make a costly decision that would affect all Philadelphians.
The fact that 10-year-old students are testifying to defend their schools is concerning, she said.
“No child should have to worry about what decisions the adults in their lives are making,” Serome said. “Children should not have to teach adults how to treat them right, and no child should have to feel like good education is not obtainable.”
Anaiyah Williams, a sophomore at Parkway Northwest High School in North Philadelphia, likened the experience of protesting her school’s closure to raising her hand in class and being ignored by a teacher.
She questioned why only Russell Conwell Middle School in Kensington and Motivation High School in Southwest Philadelphia were removed from the list of proposed closures. The Parkway Northwest community protested just as much as those from Conwell and Motivation, Williams said.
Parkway Northwest staged a walkout and had multiple in-person meetings with the district, Williams said, and had an equal level of political support against closure from councilmembers Quetcy Lozada and Cindy Bass.
“I am not trying to compare schools to say we are better,” Williams said. “I’m trying to figure out how they have so much of an impact that you guys actually listen and remove them from the facilities plan, and ignore us when we are protesting with just as much determination.”