Members of City Council urged the Philadelphia Board of Education last week to reconsider its plan to close multiple schools, including five in the Northwest.

Several councilmembers held a press conference at City Hall asking board members to resume discussions with City Council.

“We are here today to publicly ask the board to come back to the negotiating table, and let’s come up with a plan that we can work with,” Councilmember At-Large Isaiah Thomas said at the July 28 press conference.

The district’s 10-year Facilities Master Plan aims to close 17 schools and modernize dozens more. The schools on the chopping block include Lankenau Environmental Magnet High School in Roxborough, Parkway Northwest High School in Mt. Airy/Germantown, Samuel Pennypacker School in West Oak Lane, Fitler Academics Plus in Germantown and the Academy for the Middle Years at Northwest in Roxborough.

The Board of Education approved the plan 6-3 on April 30 at a contentious public meeting, in which councilmembers tried to block the vote and board members continued the meeting remotely. Afterwards, some members of City Council threatened to sue the board and block the reappointment of those who voted yes. City Council doesn’t have the power to veto the plan, but it controls some of the district’s funding.

District officials say the 10-year plan will address crucial issues within the district, including aging buildings and unequal enrollment, as well as expand access to high quality academic programs.

But city councilmembers and advocates at the press conference argued the planning process is rushed and the school closures are preventable. The Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, executive director of POWER Interfaith, said he understands aging buildings and systemic underfunding run deep, “but scarcity cannot be excused for backroom decision making.”

Thomas, wearing a “Don’t Sell Lankenau Environmental” shirt, held the press conference with Councilmembers Anthony Phillips, Jamie Gauthier, Curtis Jones Jr., Quetcy Lozada, Nina Ahmed and Mark Squilla. Students from Sankofa Freedom Academy also joined, though their school isn’t on the chopping block.

Jones said “we have tools in our tool belt” that he’ll use if the board refuses to return to the negotiating table. He wants Council to advance legislation that would have the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Agency supervise the school district. The agency is an independent body that helps the city government manage finances.

Thomas said suing the school district is still a possibility. Delise Williams, a community advocate and Democratic committeeperson, spoke about her current lawsuit against the district at the press conference. Her lawsuit aims to halt the district’s plan to merge Parkway Northwest High School and Martin Luther King High School. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 24.

In a statement responding to the press conference, the school board said it will move forward with its facilities plan but is open to more discussions about it.

“We understand the passion surrounding this matter, and we look forward to being collaborative partners in this process,” the statement reads. “As we begin the transition planning process, we will continue to work closely with students, families, staff, elected officials, community members and the Board of Education to ensure every transition is thoughtful, transparent and centered on student success.”

Jonathan Hoffmeier, a teacher at Lankenau, said he opposed the plan to close Philadelphia’s only environmental science high school. “We should be expanding it,” he said.

Lankenau is located across the street from the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education and partners with the center on programming. The facilities plans would close Lankenau and use the building for an environmental center.

“We don’t need to spend money in this center to do this because we have one,” said Ahmad, who called for the district to present data on why some schools were taken off the closure list, while others were not.

“I need an evidence-based plan that adds up. This does not add up,” she said.

Jones, Thomas and Ahmad have introduced legislation to change the zoning of the land on which Lankenau sits to be used for the “development and preservation of public-serving institutions.”

At a hearing in May, resident David O’Neil said a portion of the Lankenau property was once impacted by dumping of ash starting in the 1980s, after the Northwest Incinerator closed. The polluted area in Whitemarsh has been quarantined but he hasn’t seen any remediation in the Philadelphia section, he said. Jones offered to test the soil at the site and amend the legislation to address environmental concerns. As of Monday, stakeholders have met with the Planning Commission and Jones is planning the next steps to amend the bill, a spokesperson for Jones said.

Another line of defense for the Lankenau property is a 1973 legal agreement that states the neighboring Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education has the right to buy the property back if it’s used for anything other than a school. Executive Director Erin Mooney has expressed her opposition to Lankenau’s closure.

The first school closures are slated to take place in 2027. Parkway Northwest High School and Samuel Pennypacker School are set to close at end of 2026-27 school year. Fitler Academic Plus is set to begin a phased closure at the end of the 2026-27 year and the Academy for the Middle Years at Northwest is slated to begin its phased closure in the 2027-28 school year. Lankenau is set to shut its doors once the 2026-27 school year ends.