KIPP isn't buying N. Phila. school, district says

A charter-school operator has decided against buying the long-closed Rudolph Walton Elementary School in North Philadelphia, a Philadelphia School District spokesman said Friday.

KIPP Philadelphia "informed us last month that they decided not to pursue the school building," said Fernando Gallard. In November, the School Reform Commission voted to sell the 69,000-square-foot property at 28th and Huntingdon Streets to KIPP for $320,000.

"The district will be putting this property back up for sale," Gallard said. A representative of KIPP, which runs several charter schools in the city, could not be reached for comment. Walton was built in 1900 and closed in 2003. - Robert Moran