On back-to-school eve for 125,000 Philly students, ‘a level of excitement,’ but concerns about finances

Launching a school year fully remotely will without doubt be a challenge, Philadelphia’s schools chief said.

How will students and teachers build community? How will they overcome technology challenges? What about parents who lack child care, and kids starved for socialization and face time with educators?

But as 125,000 Philadelphia School District students prepare to return to class Wednesday, “there’s still a level of excitement and optimism” with the launch of a new term, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Tuesday.

The district will not hold in-person classes at least until mid-November, though Hite said the school system’s most vulnerable students could return earlier if building and health conditions permit.

One major question mark is the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers contract, which expired Monday with no new agreement reached.

» READ MORE: Philly teacher contract expires without a new deal; district trying to ’shake down’ teachers, union chief says

PFT president Jerry Jordan has said the district is linking teacher raises to the union’s agreeing to a school reopening plan, blasting what he called a move to make teachers “choose between a modest wage increase and their lives.”

Jordan said he is asking for a one-year contract extension in line with deals signed this spring by city police officers and municipal workers, who received pay bumps of about 2%.

Hite declined to detail specifics Tuesday, but said both sides “will continue to meet regularly in hopes of getting to some resolution.”

The superintendent did push back on the PFT narrative that the district, facing $60 million in unexpected COVID-19-related costs, has enough money to pay for raises. The district’s fund balance will carry it through the upcoming school year, but it will soon hit a wall and projects major long-term deficits without an infusion of new aid from the city and state.

Philadelphia’s school board is the only such entity in Pennsylvania that cannot raise its own revenue.

“We’re really not in a position to pay for anything,” Hite said. “The district does not have the money next year, the city does not have the money next year, and the state is probably worse than both of us combined.”

The PFT’s 13,000 teachers, counselors, nurses, secretaries and other workers on Monday night gave Jordan the authority to negotiate for two more weeks, and Hite said he was optimistic a deal would be reached in that time.

Remote instruction will look and feel differently than it did in the spring, when students were marked present if they made contact with teachers in any way, even if they did no work. Children will be expected to show up on time, turn in work, and participate in class, Hite said.

“These will be full days of lessons, where young people will be moved from one lesson to another,” Hite said. “They will have breaks, they will have time to eat lunch. But nonetheless, they will be in lessons, albeit digital, that will take the vast majority of the day.”

Hite expects students to be behind; Philadelphia pupils missed weeks of instruction in the coronavirus shift to remote learning. But the focus at first will be on community building, addressing trauma not just from COVID-19 but from the cumulative effects of gun violence and racial injustice, and on mental health.

“I wish I could say that on Day One we’re going to engage on math and English,” Hite said. “But we have to rebuild communities, because our young people have been through a lot.”

» READ MORE: Hite says as many as 18,000 Philly district students still need internet access, with days to go until the start of school

Though the goal is to connect every family that needs internet access, up to 18,000 Philadelphia students will begin the year without it, Hite said. The superintendent said district, city, and Comcast Corp. officials would work as quickly as they could to get those families online.

Hite said he was cheered by some indicators leading into the school year, including having nearly 100% of all school-based vacancies filled. In the past, the district has struggled to have classrooms fully staffed. Another plus is that for the first time, each of the district’s 200-plus schools will have its own dedicated behavioral health worker, provided through a partnership with the city.

He said he’d like to limit the impact of “leveling” — the process of reassigning teachers, usually in October, to reflect actual school enrollment. But the financial reality is that the district will have to shuffle people around, he said.

“Resource reallocation will be a consequence of who enrolls where,” said Hite.

With a few exceptions, most city schools are following the district’s lead and opening virtually, but the superintendent said he would be watching closely what happens in private and Catholic schools that are opting to reopen in person.

Once buildings are deemed safe — a public checklist of school readiness will be available in October, Hite said — the school system will begin thinking about granting the requests of some teachers who have asked to work from their classrooms or meet individually with students at school on occasion. He’d also like to bring back students with complex special needs, possibly sooner than the general population.

Hite said he’s keenly aware of the impact no face-to-face school has on students and families.

“I think it’s so important for our young people to be engaged with educators,” the superintendent said. “It’s really important for many of our families who are essential workers, who must have a place for their children to go to support their learning activities.”