City Council wants an independent authority to take over Philly school facilities management ASAP
The move reflects both the scope of environmental and other facilities issues in a district now beset by an asbestos crisis and the district’s capacity to address the problems.
Philadelphia’s school system cannot manage the massive scale of its facilities needs, so an independent authority should bond and manage building repairs and new construction projects, City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas said Tuesday.
Thomas will call for hearings on the subject in a Council resolution to be introduced Thursday, and wants to fast-track the process to take advantage of a historic budget surplus in Harrisburg, the education committee chairman said. Thomas and others want the state to give $5 billion over five years for improvements to school buildings across Pennsylvania, with a significant chunk dedicated to Philadelphia.
“This issue is an emergency,” said Thomas.
» READ MORE: C.W. Henry Elementary is the fifth Philly school to close because of asbestos this school year
The move reflects both the scope of environmental and other facilities issues in a district now beset by an asbestos crisis and the district’s capacity to address the problems, Thomas said. It also attempts to diminish the historic distrust many state-level politicians have for Philadelphia’s school system.
“The goal is to put us in a position to try to get as many dollars and as much resources as we can from Harrisburg right now, in this moment,” Thomas said Tuesday. Between a budget surplus and a rainy-day fund, Pennsylvania has about $13 billion available.
Five Philadelphia school buildings have closed this year because of damaged asbestos. Four are presently still closed. District officials have said that they are discovering some asbestos-containing material was erroneously characterized as safe for decades, and the school system’s inspector general is investigating how that happened at Building 21, the West Oak Lane district high school that was the first building closed because of asbestos this academic year.
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. told district staff and parents to brace for more asbestos discoveries and at least temporary closures as the district reviews dozens of buildings where paint and plaster previously labeled as non-asbestos-containing could turn out to actually contain the toxin. Untouched, asbestos poses no risk; once damaged, it can release tiny toxic fibers.
Much remains uncertain about Thomas’ proposal. It comes against the backdrop of the district suing the city over a law establishing a panel that would have oversight over environmental conditions inside schools. School board president Reginald Streater has said the district alone has authority to determine whether schools are fit to open.
» READ MORE: Two Philly schools closed by asbestos have dates to return to in-person learning; another remains virtual
In March, Thomas and other Council members expressed public frustration with the district’s lack of a facilities master plan and lack of transparency, both with city officials and the public. Some threatened to withhold funding from the district if progress was not made.
Thomas signaled this week that a settlement of that lawsuit might come soon, paving the way for progress on the independent authority. He said he has had conversations with district officials about the possibility of such a body.
“There’s a lot of movement,” Thomas said, adding that “we’re confident that all stakeholders involved will be able to come to an agreement as it relates to the best means to gather as many dollars as we can.”
An entirely new authority, like the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation(PIDC) or Philadelphia Energy Authority, could be created, or an existing authority could take on responsibility for Philadelphia’s school building management, Thomas said. The agency would not have say over academics or make decisions about closing programs or combining under-enrolled schools into buildings; the district would still make those calls.
“I’m not asking the independent authority to develop a plan,” Thomas said.
And because it would be a permanent authority, the independent body would give Harrisburg confidence that no matter who the mayor, superintendent or Council members are, any funds devoted to building projects would have to go directly to those projects, and not to the district’s operating fund.
Streater said in a statement that the board last year enlisted PIDC’s help to help construct new schools as a way to help spend federal relief funds, with an outcome of “new school buildings constructed at reasonable cost, with greater efficencies, and on-time completion, which will accelerate the capital improvements that our school communities need and deserve.”
Watlington next month will introduce his academic plan, which will inform long-term facilities needs, Streater said.
The relationship with PIDC “will enable this work to move forward, strategically, while realizing the facilities master plan and better managing our aging infrastructure,” Streater said.
Though Thomas is introducing the legislation and has had preliminary conversations about what it might look like, it’s not a new idea. Former Councilmember Maria Quiñones Sánchez, the education committee chair before Thomas, had previously floated the idea. Quiñones Sánchez resigned from Council to run for mayor, but recently dropped out of the race.
Other states and municipalities have used the model, too. The New Jersey School Development Authority manages the new construction, modernization and renovation of school facilities projects in some Garden State districts, for instance.