🏫 Philly’s school closure calculus | Morning Newsletter
And salvaging stained glass from old churches.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning, Philly. Careful out there: Strong storms are possible today in the region in what may be a rainy week.
School’s out for summer, but for some Philadelphia public schools, a decision is coming soon on whether they’ll stay that way forever. Our top story offers a look inside the process of how the district decides which to close.
And as old churches in the city face redevelopment or demolition, here’s how stained glass and other treasures are salvaged.
Read on for more of the day’s news, including the latest on the District Council 33 strike.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
P.S. Folks in Media, Swarthmore, and Wallingford, this one’s for you: The Inquirer is launching a newsletter dedicated to all things Greater Media. Sign up to get your free weekly guide to the news, stories, and events shaping life in your community.
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The School District of Philadelphia is entering the final months of a lengthy facilities master planning process, during which it must consider how to better manage its 300 buildings — and which schools will close entirely.
🏫 How we got here: The district has a stock of “aging and unequal facilities,” some with hundreds of empty seats and some overcrowded, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said. The goal is to address “enrollment trends that have created financial and operational inefficiencies.”
🏫 On the table: School officials are evaluating each district building according to criteria such as safety, programs offered, enrollment vs. capacity, and the needs of the surrounding neighborhood. The district is likely to pitch fewer traditional middle schools, fewer configurations of grade spans, and consolidated career and technical education programs.
🏫 The timeline: Watlington is expected to submit recommendations in the fall. The school board has said it will take public feedback, then vote on schools’ fates by the end of the year. Changes would be implemented over several years.
Education reporter Kristen A. Graham has more on the district’s decision-making process.
You may remember the story of the guy who bought a collection of windows from a West Philadelphia church for $6,000, then resold two for $100,000 each after they turned out to be rare Tiffany pieces.
That was Paul Brown.
When a Philly church is set to be gutted, it’s often Brown who gets the call to rescue the building’s stained glass, rusty signs, century-old pews and the like. The Lancaster-based architectural salvager is an expert at restoring old treasures through a painstaking cleaning process.
“I guess I would be deemed a junkman,” he told The Inquirer. “But junk in an antique kind of way.”
What you should know today
As trash piles and tensions grow, contract negotiations between DC 33 and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration are expected to resume Tuesday. And it’s not just about wages: Parker and DC 33 are debating major differences over issues including healthcare, pensions, and residency.
Three young men were killed and nine people were injured in an early Monday shooting in Grays Ferry, police said. A young father who was paralyzed in a 2018 shooting was among those killed. (“I always feared this moment,” columnist Helen Ubiñas writes in a moving tribute to Azir Harris.)
The murder trial has begun for the Bucks County man who is accused of decapitating his father and sharing it on YouTube.
Immigration activists say federal agents arrested five Guatemalan men at a home in South Philadelphia on Sunday, while neighbors cursed at the officers.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris came close to picking Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for her 2024 running mate — but he had his own reservations, according to a book out today.
State Rep. Chris Rabb, a progressive Democrat, has entered the race to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.
A new bill that would repeal Pennsylvania’s Sunday hunting ban has been sent to Shapiro’s desk.
As the Club World Cup spotlight shifts to New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy says the state is ready — especially NJ Transit.
Quote of the day
Center City District’s discounted meals pilot program, Let’s Do Lunch, has us asking: Can downtown restaurants save their summer lunch business?
P.S. A dozen new restaurants are opening this July in the Philadelphia area.
🧠 Trivia time
Which Philly-native celebrity has been sued by a New York man, after being dismissed from a similar lawsuit filed by the same man last year?
A) Lil Uzi Vert
B) Tina Fey
C) Will Smith
D) Bob Saget
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🍝 Mapping: The restaurants redefining Italian cuisine at the Jersey Shore, according to Craig LaBan.
🏀 Hoping: The WNBA’s Philly entrance inspires high school girls’ basketball players.
🍩 Stopping by: These seven Shore bakeries for cream-filled doughnuts, sticky buns, and more.
☕ Visiting: The new Rittenhouse location of Fairmount’s most charming all-day cafe.
🤝 Considering: What it means that LL Cool J chose to stand in solidarity with DC 33.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Former Sixers mascot
OH PHIP
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Helen Hong, who solved Monday’s anagram: Lower Merion. Maxwell Taxi Cab Co., a recently shuttered institution of this part of the Main Line, has been acquired by a Bryn Mawr company betting people will still want to call a cab. The township is also set to become the home of at least one new location of a Miami-based Pilates chain coming to the region soon.
(Want more Lower Merion news? There’s a newsletter for that.)
Photo of the day
The game I attended on Friday had a less picture-worthy ending, alas. At least I have a new Phillies ice cream helmet (and a sunburn) to show for it.
Enjoy your Tuesday, and stay cool out there. Back at it tomorrow.
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