West Philadelphia is number one
for closing public schools I learned during a recent meeting at Huey elementary. The residents of Samuel B. Huey expressed their
concerns during this meeting, that I was told was to create a School Advisory
Council. That was not the case, the meeting was to choose parents to interview
charter schools if the SRC decides to make the school a charter. There is no SAC at Huey and no desire
to create a SAC.
The meeting was to start at 6pm,
but district staff choose to stand around and talk to each other as if our time
meant nothing to them. 6:22pm Pam Africa told them that they need to start the
meeting. The district staff stated they were sorry and she was right. The
meeting was called to order by the community who shortly after the start broke
out into rage due to no presentation, no mics, no respect for the community
whatsoever and they had the nerve to call the police and have them stand guard.
I really felt the stress of the
parents and community members as the evening went on. Parents addressed that
they felt that funds were abused and not working for the students and families.
What we didn’t learn that evening
is that our current Superintendent Dr. Hite graduated from Eli Broad non
accredited Superintendent school and was given a blueprint for closing public
schools.
This is a guide for
school district operators considering school closures to address significant
budgetary challenges. Note that this tool was not designed to assist
with school closures as part of a periodical closing and opening of schools for
academic performance, though a subset of the strategies may still be
applicable.
Drawing on effective
practices and lessons learned from 10 large urban school districts1
that have recently closed schools, this guide provides
frameworks, timelines and recommended practices for:
• • •
Deciding whether to
close schools and which schools to close Engaging and communicating with
stakeholders Effectively executing school closures
This guide describes
first what it takes to go through the school closure process; second, the do’s
and don’ts of school closures—some major risks and mitigation strategies other
districts have identified; and finally, the detailed steps a district must take
to decide upon and conduct school closures.
Last edit date
5/20/09 For further information or referrals to personnel in districts
contributing to this guide, please e-mail: tools@broadfoundation.org.
