Philly’s school board will consider transferring vacant buildings to the city at a special meeting this week
The resolution would cover about 20 buildings that are already vacant — not any that might be closed in the future. Mayor Cherelle Parker has said she wants to use vacant schools to develop housing.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has made no secret of her desire to acquire vacant school buildings to fuel her administration’s goals of building or preserving 30,000 units of housing.
The Philadelphia school board on Monday signaled its intentions to play ball: later this week, it will hold a special action meeting to vote on a resolution authorizing Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. and his team to consider handing over a portfolio of unused school buildings to the city.
Watlington, the resolution states, “recommends that, in the best interests of the district and its students, the district explore and pursue negotiations with the city to potentially convey certain vacant and surplus district property.”
The resolution would cover the district’s current stock of about 20 vacant buildings, including Ada Lewis Middle School in East Germantown — not any schools that might be closed in the upcoming facilities master planning process.
School board president Reginald Streater said that no decisions are final, and public deliberation will still happen at the special meeting at 4 p.m. on Thursday. But, he said, the move makes sense with “the board moving toward being much more willing to be intergovernmental partners” with the city.
“Many of these properties have not been used in the last decade or more, and they require a significant amount of upkeep and maintenance,” Streater said. “These properties are unused, for the most part, and unnecessary for K-12 education.”
The district is in the business of running schools, Streater said.
“I do believe that the city possesses considerably more expertise and capacity than the district does regarding property development,” said Streater. “We are an education institution. To build the capacity to do such things is out of our wheelhouse, and economic development would take us out of our lane.”
The action comes as something of a surprise, happening just a week after what was to be the final voting meeting of the year. Streater said he did not want to add it as a walk-on resolution to the December school board meeting, but wanted to give members of the public time to understand it and provide testimony, if desired.
Giving unused school buildings to the city could further academic outcomes, the school board president said.
“It’s possible,” Streater said, “that conveying these vacant and surplus properties to the city for redevelopment and revitalization could help stabilize and grow the city and district’s tax base...and consequently positively impact future revenues to the district and educational experiences for students.”
According to the language of the resolution, the district is urging Watlington to consider all angles — bond obligations, property conditions, financial protection of the district, any legal processes that would need to happen, and more.
Asked for a list of the unused buildings the resolution would cover, officials said one was not immediately available.
The resolution represent a significant shift from the board’s position of several years ago. In 2023, the board appointed by former Mayor Jim Kenney sued the city over legislation that would have given the city ultimate say in whether school buildings with environmental issues could safely house students and staff.
That suit has been settled.
This is a developing story and will be updated.