What it’s like at Philly’s Lincoln High, where overcrowding has significant consequences

Next December, the Philadelphia School District should have a facilities master plan imagining the future of what the nation’s eighth-largest school system should look like: which schools will close, which will move into other buildings, which will need new ones built.

But in some schools — particularly in the overcrowded Northeast — the needs are so acute staffers say they can’t wait 13 months for answers.

Principals at several Northeast elementary schools publicly asked for help at a meeting last week, citing students learning in hallways and retrofitted closets, and teachers without designated space pushing materials on carts all day between classrooms.

» READ MORE: Overcrowding in the Northeast puts schools in ‘crisis mode,’ staff says

Lincoln High, also in the Northeast, fits into that category — and some staff say there are significant impacts to safety. Lincoln was designed to fit 1,500 students; it currently educates about 1,000 more than that.

Several Lincoln staffers, most of whom declined to be publicly identified for fear of reprisal, detailed alarming conditions of the swelling population.

“The crowding is insane,” said one teacher. “I do not know how this situation is allowed to continue.”

But district officials indicated that immediate fixes are limited.

Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said the district’s long-range planning process is the answer “to address over-enrollment not only at Lincoln High School but across all affected schools. Based on resources available, this plan may include potential expansions, new construction, and boundary adjustments to balance student populations effectively.”

Three teachers have been hired to ease some oversized classes, officials said — one has already started and two are in the onboarding process.

At Lincoln, the overcrowded conditions don’t just affect classrooms.

There aren’t enough lockers for every student, so many have to carry belongings with them all day.

To make sure everyone has a lunch break, some students are rostered to eat at 9 a.m.

Some teachers sit in their cars during prep periods to find a quiet place to call parents. Dozens of classes are crowded beyond the district maximum of 33 students. (District officials have notified families of students in oversize classes. Principal Jack Nelson, in a letter shared with The Inquirer, wrote to parents that “we are diligently working to address class sizes on an ongoing basis. Our commitment lies in providing students with a high-quality education in an optimal learning environment.”)

With three minutes between classes, it’s nearly impossible for students to get to class on time with so many people in the hallways, resulting in less time for instruction and more interruptions for teachers.

Lincoln has always been a large comprehensive high school, but when a new building was constructed on Ryan Avenue in Mayfair for the population in 2009, it was built for 1,500 students.

Student demand soon outstripped that amount; in 2023, the school board spent $400,000 carving up the school’s library into makeshift classrooms. In other spaces, larger classrooms were divided.

But those classrooms are far from ideal.

“There’s no noise control, and the walls fall down,” the teacher said. “They’re not real classrooms with real walls and real doors.”

It’s not a new problem. Lincoln staff told The Inquirer last year about similar issues; nothing has changed this year, they said — except for an increase in students.

Sarah Caswell, a science teacher, teaches classes of 30 teenagers in what used to be a closet of a large science lab.

“I’m supposed to teach chemistry, and I don’t even have a sink,” Caswell said. “I can’t even do kitchen chemistry, because I don’t have the capacity to flush a kid’s eye if they got dish soap in it.”

Overcrowding has fostered behavioral problems, too. There are fights and crowds of students hanging out in the hallway by the school’s entrance, Caswell said.

» READ MORE: Expect a preliminary list of Philly school closings next fall. But some of those buildings might get new life as community hubs.

Students arrive late to school, check in, then walk out of the building — even hanging outside the school smoking marijuana with no consequences, staff said.

“These kids are not getting what they deserve,” Caswell said. “It’s untenable — there’s too many kids and no rules. They get detention, they don’t go, and nothing happens. It’s mayhem. It’s not OK.”

The teacher who termed the crowding “insane” is also frustrated by the school’s climate.

“We have students who are known hall-walkers,” the teacher said. “We don’t have enough climate staff to keep them from walking the halls, and there are always students in the stairwells. You clear one, and then they go to another one.”

The safety repercussions are frightening to consider, that teacher said.

“When we have fire drills, students walk away to go home,” the teacher said. “If there were an actual fire, it would be a catastrophe.”

Academically, the teacher worries about the effect of the crowding on all students, but especially on Lincoln’s English-language learners.

“We’re getting new students all the time, and we don’t have enough supports for them,” the teacher said. Because the school is so full, students who speak very little English are sometimes placed in classes inappropriate for their newcomer status.

Lincoln still has robust sports and other extracurriculars. But the conditions are making things tense, some said.

“Kids want structure, they want consistency, they want somewhere safe to be, and they’re frustrated with the way things are,” said another teacher.

Outside Lincoln on a recent school day, students agreed that the school’s overpopulation is an issue.

“Sometimes, teachers have to let us out early just so we can get to class on time because it’s crowded,” said one student, a 10th grader.

Caswell said she was frustrated that administrators keep allowing enrollment at Lincoln.

“Yes, I get underfunding, but I don’t get cramming 2,500 kids into a space that’s built for half that,” she said.

Another teacher noted some schools in the district are half-empty.

“Why are all these kids being sent here?” the teacher said. “It’s going to take something really terrible happening for them to listen.”