Schools are more than just a place where students go to learn. They’re community anchors. Of course, their primary functions revolve around educational activities. Still, school buildings also house community gatherings of various sorts, community-wide celebrations, food pantries, after-school programs, community fundraisers, and open-gym nights to keep young people out of trouble.
Schools also have alumni. They have graduates who remain in the community and send their own children to the same schools they attended, sometimes learning from the same teachers they did. That’s history, and history matters.
However, schools age with time and sometimes require repairs. Some schools were built to fit a particular academic program and can no longer accommodate the needs of educators and students today. Communities also change; populations shift, and schools may be underutilized or overcrowded. Such schools, for various reasons, can drain a district’s resources.
All of these factors should be taken into consideration when district leaders consider closing a school.
Mass Schools Closures in Philly
It’s what Dr. Watlington and his team are considering as they intend to close school buildings throughout the city, with a decision on which schools will be closed by the end of the calendar year. According to reporting by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the reasons for the closures are that a significant chunk of the district’s buildings have been judged to be in poor or unsatisfactory condition or have inadequate or unsatisfactory program alignment. This means they lack adequate spaces for the programming the district wants to offer, like art, music, and physical education. Some schools fall into both categories.
While there is no single “formula or algorithm” to decide what schools close, the district has a few tools to help it decide. The district has instituted a facilities planning process that will guide school closures, prioritizing buildings that are underutilized or overcrowded. Additionally, the district will use a neighborhood vulnerability index to consider whether the community surrounding a school has withstood past closures and whether it struggles with transportation, housing, or unemployment.
Similar mass school closures occurred in 2012 and 2013, with the decision on which school to close heavily influenced by the performance of schools, and little consideration given to the impact on students and families, who faced issues such as transportation and the loss of community ties.
That round of closures decimated community trust in the city’s schools.
Unintended Consequences of Closures
Germantown High School was one such school that closed. According to the Rev. LeRoi Simmons, coordinator of the Germantown Clergy Initiative, whose group fought to keep the school open, the closure was “like a punch in the gut. It was almost a betrayal, because we had asked specifically to be included in decisions like this that will affect our children… We heard through the grapevine an unconfirmed message. It’s disrespectful. It’s uncaring.”
Just as bad as eroding community trust was the negative impact the closures had on students. The performance of displaced students declined, the performance of students attending schools where those displaced students were reassigned also declined, and student absences increased. Additionally, research has shown that school mobility—often caused by closures—strongly correlates with increased dropout rates. Mobile students are twice as likely to drop out compared to peers who stayed at the same school.
It makes sense.
Some students may be removed from a classroom where a teacher understood them, was their cheerleader, or provided an opportunity for success, when others could not.
This doesn’t mean that such an environment can’t be found in a new school, but often, strategic parental decisions are based on their own knowledge of the institution. In other words, they know the teachers and administrators, or at least the staff who can guide them in navigating the school. Building that familiarity takes time.
Starting at a new school means parents have to begin again, and at least during the first year, they often enter without a clear understanding of how to best support their child’s success.
What does all this mean?
The Aftermath of School Closures
For the school district, it means having a recovery and restoration plan ready to address the challenges posed by school closures, so that students don’t fall through the cracks. It requires a strategic plan that focuses on students and families, not just metrics, to sustain existing facilities and programs and avoid further closures whenever possible.
Naturally, district leaders are concerned about providing adequate conditions for Philadelphia’s students. However, they must remember that closing a school isn’t just about shutting down a building; it’s also displacing a community and potentially hindering students’ academic progress.
Parents should understand that school closures aren’t always arbitrary, even if they sometimes seem that way—like in 2012 and 2013. Schools often serve a purpose beyond just educating children, but resource issues caused by facility problems or underuse frequently leave districts with no choice. Parents need to be prepared to help their children adapt to the changes brought about by school closures, ensuring their academic progress continues uninterrupted.
Because here’s what we know: schools will close, and students and their families will shoulder the burdens that come along with that. Communities will be fractured, families inconvenienced, and there will be uncertainty with changes in programs and with new environments for students. This is especially true for Black and brown students who make up roughly 75% of district students.
Parents have expressed their frustrations with the lack of clarity on what the data scores are based on, the lack of answers to their questions, and the perception that the district won’t entertain keeping schools open instead of reinvesting in them, versus seemingly deciding to close some. So, parents, particularly Black parents, must think outside the box.
I do not doubt that the Philadelphia school district’s leadership desires to ensure that every child receives a quality education. But it would be foolish of parents to assume that the school district will do so. There’s a saying that many of us live with; trust but verify, and we supplement our children’s education, not solely resting on any one institution. This isn’t to say that the school district is intentionally sabotaging students. However, it is worth noting that, as has been done previously, district decisions can also cause harm. And so, parents must create educational institutions among themselves, whether formal or informal, to help offset, if not supplant, the work of the school district.
The Power of Parents and Communities
What that looks like is a Saturday community school for students who no longer attend school there. It isn’t an after-school program for young people returning to neighborhoods they had to leave due to school closures. Instead, it’s a community-led and community-driven summer camp that educates young people. One example is a Freedom School within the community, which not only offers reading and Mathematics instruction but also teaches social justice principles to our youth.
The sad truth is that parents might not be able to stop school districts from making such decisions. Honestly, some school closures are necessary due to poor school conditions. However, parents still hold power. The power belongs to parents, and to give young people, especially Black and Brown children, the education they deserve, it must come from the hearts and minds of the community.
It’s not about competing with the school district or criticizing it; it’s about providing children with what they need. What they need is community education that complements their school learning, regardless of their location. When young people are given proper instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics—rather than just rote memorization—such education should be guided by social justice teachings from scholars who address issues affecting our community.
This is how we, as parents—particularly Black and Brown parents—can counteract the harm, whether intentional or not, caused by school district decisions. We’ve always had to juggle multiple challenges. It’s a practice we must continue in a society that pushes us to our limits.
