Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers said there are not enough data to support shutting a single Philadelphia school, and union leaders said Tuesday they would soon propose an alternative to a now-adopted facilities plan that would close 17 schools and renovate 169<\/a>.<\/p>\n The PFT\u2019s school-by-school analysis<\/a> \u2014 a precursor to a counterproposal it says it will complete and release imminently \u2014 pokes holes in the district\u2019s rationale for all 17 closures and says those decisions have not been adequately explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThe plan that the district came up with is inherently a flawed plan,\u201d PFT president Arthur Steinberg said. \u201cIt\u2019s a half plan at best.\u201d<\/p>\n Steinberg, flanked by a clutch of state and local politicians who have previously threatened to halt closures via methods that include blocking district funding<\/a>, presented the analysis at a news conference at Overbrook<\/a> Elementary, one of the 17 schools the school board voted April 30 to close<\/a>. There was no time frame given on when the closure alternative will be released.<\/p>\n The union and political leaders spoke on Tuesday as families walked to pick up their young children and a group of students participated in the school running club. They gathered in the school\u2019s garden, adjacent to the schoolyard in which the Trust for Public Land has already invested $100,000 to transform.<\/p>\n That playground project is now on hold, a Trust for Public Land official has said, amid the uncertainty around the school\u2019s future. The board has said it wants to close Overbrook and disperse its students to four separate schools in 2027 and, by 2029, renovate and reuse the space as district offices.<\/p>\n School system officials have said they must close schools both to improve academics and extracurricular offerings citywide \u2014 the district now has about 70,000 empty seats \u2014 and because the underfunded district cannot afford to maintain its current building footprint.<\/p>\n While Overbrook, at 62nd Street and Lebanon Avenue, is a small school, with just 215 students, it is using about 85% of its building, a decent score by the district\u2019s own measure. Attendance-wise and academically, it outperforms some of the schools set to receive its students.<\/p>\n \u201cThe PFT believes the district\u2019s plan to close Overbrook Elementary School is not adequately justified on the current public record and should not move forward as written,\u201d the PFT\u2019s analysis says. \u201cFrom a practical perspective, Overbrook appears to be a candidate for an \u2018improve and keep\u2019 strategy supported by stronger maintenance and operations, improved cleaning and response systems, and targeted modernization of critical systems.\u201d<\/p>\n To justify the closures, Steinberg said, the PFT wants much more granular detail than what the district has released publicly. Both Steinberg and Jerry Roseman, the union\u2019s environmental sciences director, have asked for the data but have been stonewalled, they said.<\/p>\n According to district data released more than a decade ago, it would cost $5.3 million to complete all essential repairs at Overbrook, and $9.3 million to complete all repairs. That\u2019s \u201crelatively modest in real dollars compared to some of the receiving school needs,\u201d the union\u2019s analysis said.<\/p>\n \u2018We can\u2019t get a couple million dollars to fix this building?\u2019<\/p>\n The facilities plan as adopted by the board calls for $3 billion in fixes, including the modernization projects, but much of that money is not promised \u2014 it would have to come from state or philanthropic sources.<\/p>\n School officials have indicated that closing schools would help justify the district\u2019s case for more money to Harrisburg Republicans<\/a>, many of whom are skeptical of the need for more money for the district.<\/p>\n Neither Steinberg or Roseman would say whether they believed any closing was justified. <\/p>\n But, Steinberg said, \u201cwe believe we have come up with a way that is financially viable, and we\u2019ll be presenting a more detailed plan when we finish all the analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n Roseman, who has a deep historical knowledge of district buildings, said there could be \u201csome information that may support closing some schools, but not here\u201d at Overbrook.<\/p>\n That was welcome news to the dozens of Overbrook parents, students, staff, and community members who sat in folding chairs in the school garden.<\/p>\n Debra Joell, a longtime Overbrook teacher, has worked elsewhere but cherishes Overbrook\u2019s small-school feel: \u201cMusic in the hallways, children laughing, smiling \u2014 laughing with joy and confidence,\u201d she said. \u201cIsn\u2019t that what the school district promotes? Isn\u2019t that what the school district advertises? Isn\u2019t that what the school district promises?\u201d<\/p>\n Joell said she was furious about the idea of millions being spent on celebrating the country\u2019s 250th birthday and the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we can\u2019t get a couple million dollars to fix this building?\u201d Joell asked. \u201cAre you kidding me? Spending money on FIFA and spending money on every other thing, but throwing our citizens into the trash?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We will not stand for it\u2019<\/p>\n The elected officials on hand repeated claims they made at the extraordinarily heated meeting when the board voted to close schools, saying they would continue to push to prevent closures from happening<\/a>.<\/p>\n Councilmember Jamie Gauthier<\/a> said it didn\u2019t matter that the vote had already happened.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is decisions being made for our neighborhoods without our neighborhoods, and we will not stand for it,\u201d Gauthier said.<\/p>\n Councilmember Isaiah Thomas<\/a>, who was not present at Overbrook, has said he will sue the district over the closures. He also introduced legislation calling for hearings about potentially exploring an elected school board<\/a>.<\/p>\n