A City Councilmember has a plan to save 3 West Philly schools from closing

City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier is hoping a counterproposal announced Monday would help spare three West Philadelphia schools the Philadelphia School District has slated for closure.

Gauthier — who has no authority over Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.’s $2.8 billion proposal to close 18 district schools — has voiced strong opposition to the closures in her district. So she arrived at another solution, in concert with some district principals, City Council officials said.

Under the plan, high schools Paul Robeson and Parkway West would stay open, as would Blankenburg Elementary. Robeson, a high-achieving citywide high school, would also be spared.

Gauthier, flanked by dozens of students, gathered outside Robeson Monday, calling on the school board to reject the superintendent’s plan. She wants them to consider, instead, her alternative, which would locate Parkway West, Blankenburg and Martha Washington, a West Philadelphia elementary that Watlington has said he wants to move elsewhere, into a K-12 education hub in “one of the several underutilized buildings in the area,” the Council member said.

The plan does not address any other schools listed for closure.

Gauthier also said she was “in conversation with the institutions and stakeholders that make this neighborhood thrive about a new state-of-the-art building for Robeson right in the heart of University City. They are excited about it and willing to work with us and the district to make that happen.”

She offered no specifics or price tag for her counterproposal, and had no immediate support from Council colleagues or board members. Watlington had, in public comments, made an open offer for members of the community to develop counterproposals to his plan.

District and school board officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Gauthier has made her staunch opposition to the closure of West Philadelphia schools plain since Watlington introduced his plan.

On Thursday, she proposed to City Council zoning bills that would prevent potential redevelopment of school buildings slated for closure in her district.

All of the school buildings now have zoning that permits redevelopment for residential or commercial uses; Gauthier wants to keep them limited to use for “development and preservation of public-serving institutions,” such as schools and libraries.

Under Watlington’s current plan, Robeson and Blankenburg would be given to the city for potential use as housing. Other buildings are proposed to stay in district hands as schools or swing space.

Dozens of Robeson students stood behind Gauthier holding signs that read “Don’t be a Sellout!” and “Save our School!”, amplifying the Council member’s message.

Closing a vital University City high school is unconscionable, Gauthier said.

“Closing Paul Robeson, the last high school in University City’s heart, sends a message to Black and brown students,” she said. “It sends a message to Black and brown kids that they don’t belong in neighborhoods of opportunity.”

Gauthier blasted the district as “unable or unwilling to build a plan that serves our kids,” but said it was “not too late for the Board of Education to do the right thing.”

The school board has not announced when it will vote, but action is expected sometime this spring. No closures would take effect before 2027.