The district declares Mitchell safe for students after asbestos removal, but teachers still have much work to do

In April, asbestos closed Mitchell Elementary School in Southwest Philadelphia, forcing students to learn virtually for weeks, then crowd into a small space at another school for months to finish out their term.

And though officials promised a reopening for the 2023-24 school year, some worried that the 1915 building needed so much work that repairs might not be finished by Tuesday, students’ first day of school.

On Thursday Philadelphia School District facilities area manager Stephen Manna, who has been leading a team working day and night to get the school in shape, proclaimed: Bring on the students. Mitchell will be ready.

“It’s basically a safe, clean learning environment with brand-new lights, brand-new ceiling tiles,” Manna said.

Some Mitchell staff, however, said they felt unprepared to start the school year. While district officials invited news cameras to tour Mitchell’s first floor, where the hallway was clear and shining and classrooms were mostly ready, the school’s second and third floors were still in disarray.

By midmorning Friday, the second floor, third floor, and basement still had desks, chairs, boxes, and assorted teaching materials stacked and pushed against walls in hallways. Shaw MacQueen, a Mitchell teacher, said that “everyone’s at their wits’ end,” and the staff asked for more time to get the school ready for students, but was denied.

As part of the asbestos work on every floor of Mitchell, ceiling tiles were removed, asbestos-containing plaster was taken out, and new tiles were installed. New fiberglass insulation was applied around pipes throughout the three-story building at 55th and Kingsessing.

After the environmental work was complete and inspectors from the district and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers said the job passed muster, tradespeople came in — electricians, carpenters, painters, and insulators — to complete the extensive project. The school’s old fluorescent bulbs were replaced with LED lighting, making for brighter hallways, and the speaker system was replaced.

Mitchell was one of six district schools closed in the 2022-23 school year because of asbestos. Its damage was discovered over spring break, and it quickly became apparent that the problem was so widespread the school couldn’t safely house students and staff. District officials ordered the school closed, and students learned virtually until a school team identified McMichael, a West Philadelphia district school, as an alternate site.

Mitchell has a new principal this year, as well as four new teachers; two classroom teaching positions and one special education position remain vacant. MacQueen, the Mitchell teacher, said the principal has rightly given staff who came back this week every moment to work on righting their rooms, but as a result, there hasn’t been time to meet as a staff to go over policies and procedures.

Much work remained Friday afternoon.

Extra cleaners and other staff were brought in to work on the building, but MacQueen said the amount of work left was daunting. He and others felt blindsided by the district declaring the building ready, a statement he said “was just not accurate.”

“It’s the Friday before kids come, and there are teachers who still don’t even have a room,” MacQueen said. “We don’t have access to copiers and printers. I was writing up my parent letter, but I can’t even copy it.”

Renato Lajara, the assistant superintendent who oversees Mitchell, said the school community went through a great deal last year — closing abruptly, then learning virtually, then located inside another school.

“It was very uncomfortable to have the whole school on one floor,” said Lajara, who credited the Mitchell staff for doing whatever was necessary to make the best of a tough situation for their students.

Getting students and staff back in the building was a top priority, Lajara said.

“We didn’t want them to start the school year in another space,” he said.

“It’s still a work in progress, we’re not 100%,” Lajara said. “But this is very exciting, I’m very happy. It looks a lot better here.”