A few dozen Building 21 students showed up to Strawberry Mansion for class, but there was no live instruction

Few Building 21 students showed up for in-person instruction at Strawberry Mansion High School Monday, the first day the Philadelphia School District had asked families to relocate their children to a new building after damaged asbestos forced extensive remediation at the West Oak Lane high school.

Empty SEPTA shuttle buses along 65th Street near Limekiln Pike waited for Building 21 students to be shuttled to Mansion, at 31st and Ridge about six miles away. Of the school’s 366 students, only 22 boarded one of the buses, six more made their own way to Mansion, and an additional 126 stayed home and completed work online.

At a contentious meeting Sunday, frustrated parents had told Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. and others they did not want their children relocating to Mansion because of safety fears.

“My son is not allowed in North Philly,” parent Melvinia Hall said at Sunday’s meeting, fighting tears. “He will not be here Monday, he will not be here Tuesday. He is not coming to this school.”

Hall’s older son was shot and killed not far from Mansion.

Since the district announced Friday that they were moving Building 21 to Mansion, parents pleaded with the district to come up with an alternative — another building, or virtual instruction, which took place Thursday and Friday after the school dismissed early Wednesday.

» READ MORE: Asbestos is forcing Philly students to switch buildings. 200 parents showed up to tell the district ‘no way.’

Watlington and other district officials had initially said the state would not allow them to continue virtual learning because Building 21 had used its five allotted virtual days, but on Sunday night, Tomás Hanna, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, changed course, saying the meeting had made clear what families were feeling.

“As a result, parents whose children do not feel safe traveling to Strawberry Mansion High School for in-person learning will be marked as excused,” Hanna wrote in a letter to families. “Families will need to provide the administration with a written excusal demonstrating their concern. Students must still complete the classroom assignments.”

Hanna, who recently left the Pennsylvania Department of Education as chief talent officer, said the district will work with the state to “explore the potential for virtual instruction until the building work is completed.”

“We will continue to provide you with updates,” Hanna wrote. “Again, we thank you for your cooperation as we work to provide healthy and safe learning environments for our students.”

Though Building 21 staff were on hand at Mansion, the low number of students attending meant that they did not receive live instruction. Instead, staff said, they split the 28 students into small groups in classrooms where they completed assignments posted online. Educators were in contact with every parent or guardian.

The students who did not show up at Mansion but who accessed remote coursework were considered having an excused absence, district spokesperson Monique Braxton said.

Shuttle buses took students back to Building 21 Monday and will repeat the trips on Tuesday, Braxton said. Provided transportation later in the week is not guaranteed.

Braxton said the district was “just trying to be mindful of what parents want, their safety concerns, and the fact that you already have families living here in Strawberry Mansion, too. So you can’t slam the community. That’s not being empathetic.”

Mansion students said they welcomed the Building 21 community, but were wary of all the negative talk of their school.

“I really think we can combine our schools,” said Minister Smith, a Mansion junior. “I just really don’t like the rumors going out about our school, I really don’t like that.”

Jabar Fox, another Mansion junior, said that “deep down, our community is beautiful. Uptown and North Philly is like the same area. Gun violence and all of that.”

Smith said he thinks Building 21 parents should come to Mansion themselves.

”Don’t judge a book by its cover,” said Smith. “They heard stuff from years back, it’s not like that this year. It’s slow, it’s cool, it’s calm around here.”

Building 21 teachers said the Strawberry Mansion community, including outside community groups that showed up Monday, was welcoming and the day went as well as can be expected, but the situation still felt very unsettled: It’s still not clear how long the remediation will take, or whether students can return there at all this year.

“I think there’s a lot of uncertainty today,” one teacher said.

Much of the day was spent just supporting students and families, and continuing to seek answers, another teacher said.

“Even something as basic as what the district expects for attendance and excused absences has shifted so much in the last 24 hours,” the second teacher said.

Cassandra Small kept her son at home Monday. He completed his assignments virtually, and everything went smoothly, she said.

But “he is worried he will miss the rest of the school year,” Small said. “As a senior, it’s affecting his entire spirit.”