Authorizing the Philadelphia City Council Committee of the Whole to hold hearings to discuss the current state of Philadelphia school facilities, how the School District evaluates those facilities and what the educational facilities need are for the school district today and in the future.

Authorizing the Philadelphia City Council Committee of the Whole to hold hearings to discuss the current state of Philadelphia school facilities, how the School District evaluates those facilities and what the educational facilities need are for the school district today and in the future. WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia has a 300-building system spread over 140 square miles with an average building age of 73 years; and WHEREAS, Due to unconstitutionally inadequate funding as determined recently in a landmark ruling the School District has had to make impossible choices between staffing classrooms and ensuring that the classrooms themselves were in working order; and WHEREAS, As local control of the School District has been returned, and City Council and the Mayor are leading the various agencies and legal bodies responsible for the school district; and WHEREAS, The City must work to find ways to overhaul the school district’s facilities to avoid losing the progress that has been made in recent years in graduation rates and academics; and WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia has been diligently developing the first comprehensive facilities plan in more than a decade; and WHEREAS, The pandemic, changes in neighborhood demographics and numbers of children in different neighborhoods have been changing rapidly; and WHEREAS, City Council must ensure that City dollars are spent prudently and that neighbors and community groups have a full chance to understand w…