Philadelphia schools wrestle with long-term plans for 300+ buildings amid falling enrollment

Following a long-term trend, Philadelphia’s public-school enrollment dropped again this year by nearly 800 students – prompting journalists to reemphasize discussions about the district’s more than 300 buildings.

“The declining student population will likely influence a long-awaited district plan to close some schools and merge and repurpose others,” writes Mike D’Onofrio for Axios Philadelphia. “The district has lost roughly 16,500 students in total at its district-led and alternative schools since the 2014-15 academic year, per district data.”

The district – which serves approximately 114,000 students after the decrease – faced outside censure from Lisa Haver, co-founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools group.

“The school board and district administration needs to do more to make people welcome and more to bring people into public schools,” she said. “Closing schools and not being honest with people isn’t doing those things.”

Haver blamed dwindling attendance on the district’s track record of school closures, failure to maintain student safety, and lack of building maintenance.

In one recent example, the United States Attorney announced criminal charges against the district, “alleging violations of legal requirements to timely inspect, remediate, and report damaged asbestos in multiple city schools.” 

“The statement of facts demonstrates a longstanding and widespread problem of asbestos contamination in Philadelphia schools that endangered students and teachers, and, in some cases, foreclosed any education at all by requiring the closure of the school,” the attorney’s office concluded in a June 26 statement. 

Approximately 70,000 empty seats 

Superintendent Tony Watlington has not yet released a formal plan regarding closures and mergers, though he has dropped hints of a “minimum student population” at schools, according to Axios Philadelphia. 

“The plan is due out in early 2026, but the district has delayed its release once already,” D’Onofrio noted, adding the district has “roughly 70,000 more seats than it needs throughout the city.” 

However, the district expressed optimism regarding the enrollment decline, with spokesperson Monique Braxton saying she doesn’t expect it to continue. 

“We definitely feel Dr. Watlington’s approach to enrollment … is working,” she added, though journalists noted she “declined to reveal what that forecast is based on.” 

As previously reported by The Lion, the beleaguered district faced a tumultuous return to school this year with ongoing labor negotiations and transportation challenges. 

“As the summer speeds by with negotiations stalled and transportation alternatives scarce, Philadelphia finds itself at an impasse where the resistance of teachers presents looming consequences for students already challenged by years of pandemic disruption and urban violence,” Shruthi Narayanan writes for Broad + Liberty. 

“This perfect storm of labor unrest and infrastructure failure threatens not just the opening days of the academic year, but the broader stability of public education in America’s sixth-largest city.”