On Thursday afternoon, public school proponents, teachers, administrators, students, city council members, parents, and community members gathered outside the Philadelphia School District Headquarters at 440 N. Broad Street prior to the monthly board meeting. A rally was organized as the final school year for seventeen Philadelphia public schools was announced just two months ago. Subsequently, thousands of students whose schools are shutting down have been assigned to their respective new schools, most of which the students know nothing about.
David, a Junior at Parkway Northwest High School, made a short but impactful speech at the rally. “For many of us, school is our second home, me especially…they are where we grew up, found our friends. They are where we discovered who we are and where we started imagining what we wanted to become…we are here today to stand for ALL of the seventeen schools closing, for every student whose future is uncertain, and every community that deserves a say in what happens. We are not asking for our voices just to be heard, we are asking for our voices to actually matter,” David said as a testament to the friends and community he has grown such deep roots with during his first two years at Parkway Northwest. David also noted that there has been no communication to students or their families about a transition plan for the 2027-2028 school year.
Kabir, a sophomore at Paul Robeson High School, reminisced on the 2024-2025 school year with pride and seemed to begin preemptively mourning his departure this coming June. “My ninth grade year I met a few teachers, they was really supportive, now my tenth grade year my school’s closing, and it’s like, ‘Dang, I gotta go to a new school again and I’m gonna be nervous’… and the new school won’t be the same…I like where I’m at.” Kabir said that he enjoys cooking class as an extracurricular activity which is certainly not offered at most public schools.
Special Admissions Deadline
Philly Plain Dealer had the pleasure of speaking to Juniper Sok Sarom, a tenth grader attending Lakenau Environmental Science High School. When asked why she came out today, Juniper easily replied, “You know, the deadline for special admissions schools is coming up and I really care about my school. I want my school to stay open, it’s a very special school and so are all these other schools [being represented] here today. Our schools provide special education and accommodations for all our students and to close down such special schools would be a mistake by the school board.” According to speakers at the rally – 24% of Lakenau’s student population have special needs, and 40% of Penn Treaty’s student population have special needs.
The special admissions application deadline for Philadelphia School District is November 24th. City Council has already called for the resignation of the president of the Philadelphia Board of Education, Reginald Streater. Without Mayor Parker getting involved, approximately 1,600 students will have to re-evaluate their own interests and goals, then re-apply to new high schools if they wish to attend one other than the default options they are being given. The school board finalized their vote to close seventeen schools in early May, behind closed doors, after kicking out all members of the public from the meeting.
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