Phila. schools chief begins year with new emotion

On Day One of the school year, Philadelphia Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. looked out onto a crowd of teenagers and parents, and projected something unusual: optimism.

"The first day of school makes you feel like anything is possible," Hite said at a ceremonial bell-ringing at Carver High School of Engineering and Science on Tuesday, officially marking the start of the year for 134,000 Philadelphia School District students.

It was the first opening in several years unmarred by worries about whether there would be enough cash to actually start on time, which, Mayor Nutter noted, made for "a more relaxed first day."

Parent Carla Spivey brimmed with excitement.

Her daughter, Morgan, is a brand-new seventh grader, part of the first crop of middle schoolers to move into an expanded Carver, one of the city's top magnet schools.

Spivey said she was delighted to seize a new opportunity for city children, even if that meant a long commute for Morgan, from their home in Southwest Philadelphia to the school at the edge of Temple University in North Philadelphia.

"When I found out this was a possibility, I was just ecstatic," Carla Spivey said. "Immediately, I said, 'What do I need to do to get her in?' "

But there also were signs that for some - worn down by a steady diet of budget cuts and their aftershocks - glow was hard to muster, except for the sort summoned by the sweltering temperatures inside un-air-conditioned classrooms.

Some schools reported oversize classes; a few had no secretaries. District-wide, there were 99 teacher vacancies.

At midday, Sharon McGeehan, the nurse at Tilden Middle School in Southwest Philadelphia, waited by the entrance for a glimpse of two lunchtime luminaries: Hite and Nutter.

"We need help," said McGeehan, who will spend her week shuttling among five school buildings because many principals lack funds for full-time nursing services. She implored city leaders to intervene, particularly at one of her schools, Barry, where five different nurses staff the school.

"That's not good for kids," McGeehan said. She said officials told her they would look into it.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, visited Wilson Middle School in the Northeast, which unexpectedly took in nearly 400 fifth and sixth graders from Solis-Cohen Elementary, recently deemed to be structurally unsound.

The start of school was delayed for most Solis-Cohen students, who will eventually be taught in a part of the building being shored up by contractors.

It was tough to squeeze the school's older pupils into Wilson. One classroom, fashioned from what had been an office, had desks piled in so close, they nearly touched. One music teacher gives some lessons in hallways. The school's library had to be divided into classrooms.

"It's depressing to see that a school with a library has to lose it, even though the library's gone," Jordan said. He and Helen Gym, the education activist and Democratic candidate for City Council, commended the district's facilities staff for working over the long weekend to ready Wilson for the influx, and the staffs of both schools for making children feel welcome.

But Gym, who visited the school with Jordan, sounded an alarm over the district's massive facilities issues. Officials have estimated it would take $4 billion to repair the school system's aging buildings; Solis-Cohen hadn't even been flagged prior to a worker's noticing a problem.

"We need to pay attention to the fact that the infrastructure of our school system is basically crumbling," Gym said. "There's very little inspection. Many teachers have consistently complained about the physical state of school facilities."

Officials noted that Tuesday was the 69th day without a state budget, which could have disastrous consequences for Philadelphia. Without a state budget by mid-October, the district would run out of cash, officials have said.

Nutter and School Reform Commission Chairwoman Marjorie Neff called on Philadelphians to pressure Harrisburg for a budget and millions in new education funding.

The mayor - who clearly relished his final bell-ringing, his first-day cafeteria lunch (salad), and the classroom tours - said the stakes were incredibly high.

"Stick with our young people," Nutter said. "Give them the support and encouragement they need to succeed."

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