Dive Brief:
- The School District of Philadelphia’s board of education in a 6-3 vote on Thursday approved a $3 billion facilities plan that includes the closure of 17 schools beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
- The finalized 10-year facilities plan aims to align the district’s buildings with student enrollment, academic programs and budgets, the district said in a Thursday statement. Additionally, 169 school campuses will be modernized, and six other schools will be co-located.
- However, the board’s final vote did not come without pushback from the broader school community. On Thursday, the board members suddenly pivoted the meeting from in-person to virtual prior to a final vote on the facility plan as protesters began chanting over the board as members discussed their final decision.
Dive Insight:
Superintendent Tony Watlington reiterated in a Thursday statement that the purpose of Philadelphia’s school facilities plan has been to address “the challenges of aging, underutilized, and overcrowded school buildings,” while also expanding equitable access to high-quality academics and extracurricular activities.
Though the district’s overall enrollment slightly increased by 106 to a total 198,405 students between the 2024-25 to 2025-26 school years, those figures vary by the type of school, including traditional, charter, alternative, and cyber charter schools.
Last year, the district noted a 12% enrollment decline — amounting to a loss of 15,546 students — between the 2014-15 and 2024-25 school years. That dip comes as the School District of Philadelphia’s alternative school enrollment rose by 3.1%, its charter school enrollment decreased by 0.5%, and its cyber charter school enrollment jumped over 2,500%, with 13,705 more students in the same 10-year period…