Parents and students voiced their concerns about plans to close 18 schools in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia School Board held a special town hall on Thursday, March 12 where over 100 people had signed up to express why they believe their school should remain open. <\/p>\n
“This lousy plan has gotten so much push back, I don’t know why we’re even here,” one student said.<\/p>\n
At the end of February, the district presented the board with their revised version of the Facilities Master Plan<\/a> that would close 18 schools instead of the 20 originally proposed.<\/p>\n The $2.8 billion plan also modernizes 159 schools and merges some. <\/p>\n Superintendent Tony Watlington recently told NBC10’s Lauren Mayk<\/a> that the plan is going to require some sacrifice and that the district had to make tough choices. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is my final recommendation to the board of education,\u201d Watlington said, labeling the plan good but not perfect.<\/p>\n The district says that this is an opportunity to address poor school conditions and enrollment. <\/p>\n Some parents have said that the closures are not fair, saying that it will disrupt learning and cause instability while impacting some neighborhoods worse than others. <\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudents of all ages attended Thursday’s Philadelphia School Board meeting to advocate to keep their schools open. NBC10’s Miguel Martinez-Valle reports.\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n On Thursday, March 12, students of all ages, some representing the 18 schools that are slated to close, showed up to the hours-long town hall in front of the Board of Education. <\/p>\n They carried posters and wore t-shirts advocating for education centers like Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School in Roxborough or Harding Middle School in Frankford. <\/p>\n For more details on the proposal, including information on which schools are set for closure, check out the School District of Philadelphia’s website on the plan\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If approved, changes wouldn’t happen until 2027-2028. <\/p>\n The board has not specified when they’ll vote but there is an action meeting scheduled for March 26, 2026. <\/p>\n