{"id":171613,"date":"2026-04-21T07:21:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T07:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/171613\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T07:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T07:21:15","slug":"philadelphias-school-closure-plan-will-go-to-a-vote-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/171613\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia\u2019s school closure plan will go to a vote this week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter<\/a> to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system.<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia Board of Education will vote Thursday whether to move forward with the school district\u2019s school closure proposal, according to a resolution the board published Monday.<\/p>\n

The latest version of the plan district officials released Monday would close 17 schools beginning in 2027. That\u2019s down from the initial 18 school closures Superintendent Tony Watlington presented to the board<\/a> in February. <\/p>\n

The district\u2019s updated proposal takes James R. Ludlow School off the closure list and nixes the plan to turn John Moffet Elementary into a middle school. Moffet would now become a K-4 school, with students attending Ludlow for middle school. <\/p>\n

It also increases investments in some parts of the city where members of City Council have vehemently fought the plan. And although the district still plans to close Lankenau Environmental Science High School and Paul Robeson High School, it now plans to hold onto those two school properties and eventually repurpose them for community or student use, rather than sell the buildings or convey them to the city.<\/p>\n

The plan, which includes colocating some schools and modernizing nearly 170 others, has a $3 billion price tag \u2014 up from an initial $2.8 billion. But there\u2019s no guarantee the district will be able to foot the bill. Watlington said during a press briefing Monday that the district will put $1 billion towards the upgrades and hopes to raise additional funding from government and philanthropic grants.<\/p>\n

The plans\u2019 ultimate goal, Watlington said, is to increase educational opportunities for all students. Too many students are in half-empty, crumbling buildings that are not offering them the academic opportunities they sorely deserve, Watlington has said. And district enrollment is projected to continue to decline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Board President Reginald Streater appeared supportive of the plan at the press briefing Monday, but it\u2019s still unclear how other members will vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t expect a different result doing the same thing, understanding our budget realities,\u201d Streater said. \u201cWe have to reorganize and go through this reform of how we do things in Philadelphia if we expect to provide our babies the resources they need to be who they want to be and who they can be when they grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the board approves the resolution, it will kick start another process for the district and board to complete required legal steps to close schools. One of those steps will likely be additional public engagement.<\/p>\n

We’re here to help.<\/p>\n

Every day, Chalkbeat Philadelphia reporters are answering your questions, following the money, and digging into what’s happening in the city’s public schools. Keep up with our free newsletter, delivered every Wednesday and Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Streater said the district could alter the plan again, based on enrollment or budgetary changes. But for now, this is the version the board will consider.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the final, final set of recommendations that I\u2019m presenting to President Streater and his Board of Education for consideration,\u201d Watlington said.<\/p>\n

Councilmember who fought closure plan now supports it<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s decision not to sell Paul Robeson High School seems to have swayed at least one city councilmember: Jamie Gauthier.<\/p>\n

Gauthier had previously fiercely opposed the district\u2019s plan. She had organized rallies against it and proposed rezoning the land for Robeson and other schools in her district<\/a> to prevent them from being redeveloped into commercial or residential buildings. But on Monday, she said she supported the changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis proves that you\u2019re listening. It proves that you care about equity in this plan, and I and my community are grateful,\u201d Gauthier said at the briefing Monday. <\/p>\n

The $200 million increase to the plan\u2019s price tag largely stems from bigger investments in Gauthier\u2019s district, which includes parts of West and Southwest Philadelphia. These include modernization projects at Anderson Elementary, Bryant Elementary, and Mitchell Elementary, and a pool renovation at Motivation High School.<\/p>\n

The plan increases spending in Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr.\u2019s district in North Philadelphia as well. Young had also fought the facilities plan and said he was considering his own rezoning proposal. <\/p>\n

On Monday, Young said in a statement that he welcomed the decision to remove Ludlow, which is in his district, from the closure list. But he called the move \u201cclear proof that the school facilities plan is flawed and isn\u2019t based on any sound rationale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remain firmly opposed to the Facilities Master Plan as a whole,\u201d Young said. <\/p>\n

Education Chair Isaiah Thomas calls closure vote \u2018rushed\u2019<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas immediately critiqued the district Monday for giving Philadelphians only three days notice of the vote.<\/p>\n

People had been pleading with the board for months to give them significant advance notice for any vote on the plan. On Monday, several educators told Chalkbeat they worried the tight timeframe would make it difficult for people to reorganize their week to attend the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore information needs to be communicated to our communities before a vote is taken, and the school board should not take a vote on this plan until that has happened,\u201d Thomas said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Thomas said the vote as scheduled would be \u201crushed\u201d and would \u201conly further reduce public trust and fear about this plan and its impact on our young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teachers union opposes plan, is working on alternative<\/p>\n

Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said his team did not receive prior notice of the plan\u2019s changes or the scheduled vote. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the timing is awful,\u201d Steinberg said. <\/p>\n

The City Council plans to consider a $1 per ride tax on Ubers and Lyfts on Tuesday that would funnel $48 million annually to the district and prevent some staff cuts<\/a>. With the closure vote now looming, \u201cit\u2019s going to be more difficult to get the public on board and to keep people enthused about\u201d the proposed rideshare tax, Steinberg said. <\/p>\n

Steinberg said the union cannot comment on the substance of the plan because district officials did not \u201cshow their work\u201d about how they decided which schools they planned to close. The union is working on an alternative proposal that it plans to release in the next few weeks, he said.<\/p>\n

The $3 billion price tag is also a major concern, Steinberg said. He worries the district will not have the money to make all the investments and modernizations it has promised.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy greatest fear is the closures will go ahead because they\u2019re in place and they\u2019re scheduled,\u201d said Steinberg. \u201cYou\u2019ll get three or four years down the road, and they\u2019ll say, \u2018Oh, well, we don\u2019t have the money. We\u2019re gonna have to stop here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

This story has been updated to include comments from City Council Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg, and Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system. The Philadelphia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[30212,77029,760,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-171613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-elementary-school","tag-john-moffet-school","tag-middle-school","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}