Asbestos closes Simon Gratz Mastery Charter, the second district building this month

Simon Gratz High School Mastery Charter will be closed at least through Friday because of damaged asbestos, officials said.

While the huge school on Hunting Park Avenue in North Philadelphia is run by the Mastery Charter network, the building is owned by the Philadelphia School District, which on Tuesday performed a routine asbestos inspection, required every three years by the federal government.

In a message to Gratz families, Mastery CEO Scott Gordon said the district notified Mastery on Tuesday night that it had found damaged asbestos during the inspection. After a Wednesday afternoon meeting between Mastery and district officials, Gordon announced the closure would last at least through Friday.

“While we were unaware of the existence of these conditions prior to the inspections, the safety of our students and staff is our primary concern,” Gordon wrote.

Meals will be available for Gratz families to pick up Thursday and Friday from 2 to 3 p.m. on the 18th Street side of adjacent Mastery Prep Elementary, at 1801 W. Pike St. Virtual learning resources are also being provided to students.

Gratz is a neighborhood high school that educates more than 1,000 students in Nicetown. It had been a district school for decades but was given to Mastery to operate as a charter in 2011.

Gordon said Mastery will provide its next update Friday afternoon, “and in the meantime, we thank you for your understanding and patience as we work vigilantly to ensure a safe and prompt return to school.”

» READ MORE: Philly schools knew of damaged asbestos at Building 21 for at least two years before closure

The news comes as the district is grappling with damaged asbestos at Building 21, a traditional public school in West Oak Lane. That high school building, on Limekiln Pike, shut last week after an inspection showed damaged asbestos in the auditorium and stairwells.

Initially, district officials said the damage was discovered at the routine inspection last week. On Tuesday, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said the district actually knew about the asbestos for at least two years but did nothing about it. The news angered and frightened parents and staff.

“While this happened prior to my tenure, I am absolutely committed to continuing to improve the process and transparently communicating with our Building 21 community,” Watlington wrote in a letter to parents. “I will investigate how this information was not immediately available and I will require accountability. In addition, I will align my budget recommendations to address the longstanding challenges.”

Teachers, parents, union officials, and former Councilmember Helen Gym gathered outside district headquarters Wednesday to call for action around asbestos.

Sheba Grant, whose son is a senior at Building 21, said her child’s life has been disrupted as a result of a “system that’s wrong and it’s broken.” Grant said schools attended by Black and brown children are not prioritized.

Gym, who is running for mayor, announced that she will unveil a plan to tackle hazards in schools that would increase transparency, improve relocation protocols, establish “parent councils,” and modernize district schools over 10 years.

And she slammed the district for what she described as a “robbery” of students’ ability to learn in a safe environment.

”This district has treated anyone who raised concerns as someone to be managed, or worse — as an enemy,” Gym said.

Teachers who spoke Tuesday said they were frustrated to learn that the district knew of the damaged asbestos in the school’s auditorium.

Emily Carter, an English teacher who has worked at the school for two years, said she can’t stop thinking about a student who practices drums every day in the auditorium, or the fact that the school hosted a Black History Month talent show in the auditorium last Tuesday.

» READ MORE: In a district with few libraries, this Philly school pulled off a miracle and opened its own

”They were put in jeopardy, and so were we all,” she said. “We are going to see this happen time and time again unless we act now.”

Derrick Houck, a math and music teacher at Building 21, said the episode is reflective of “managerial negligence” on the part of the district. He said that since Building 21 moved into the space in 2017, teachers worked to secure gym equipment and helped build out a library.

“Educators are tired of working so hard,” Houck said, “in the face of what feels like institutionalized disrespect.”