Public Argues To Save Levering School

Parents and faculty implored the School Reform Commission on Saturday to reconsider the proposed shutdown of due to low enrollment.

The School District of Philadelphia vote to close Levering in 2011 and send most of the students to and elementary schools, among other options. A few speakers voiced their concern over this measure to a sparse audience at school district headquarters on 440 North Broad St.

'Little Engine That Could'

State Rep. Pam DeLissio (D-194) spoke to the board and likened Levering to the "Little Engine That Could," acknowledging its determination during poor performance and leadership troubles. The school has had nine principals since 1989, which DeLissio thinks left the school disadvantaged.

“Even the best faculty need leadership,” DeLissio said. “If that leadership isn’t there, then chaos fills the void.”

Levering’s enrollment has declined in the past decade, and the school now serves 184 students, utilizing just 32 percent of its 69,000 square feet of space, said Danielle Floyd, deputy for strategic initiatives for the school district.

Floyd recapped to the audience some past concerns voiced over the proposed closure, which include losing the school’s historical significance, as well as skepticism that Cook-Wissahickon can accommodate any more students.

The school district thinks the move will work after a few programming changes, Floyd said.

Parents Speak

Julie Melnick, a mother of two adopted sisters, one of whom goes to Levering, proposed to the SRC that Levering and Cook-Wissahickon merge at the larger Levering site.

She provided SRC members with packets of research outlining her idea, and suggested that grants from corporations and foundations could take the financial burden of such a move off the shoulders of the school district.

“People don’t like Levering because we take the bad kids,” Melnick said, quoting “bad” with her fingers. “Now, we may not be the greatest in test scores, and we may not be first, but my teachers come in every day… They get up every morning, and they take the kids that nobody else wanted.”

Carol Haslam, a parent from Cook-Wissahickon who has written for Roxborough-Manayunk Patch, agreed with Melnick.

“Our building is so overcrowded,” Haslam said. “My daughter is squished into her first grade classroom.”

Such a move, Haslam said, would likely involve moving Mt. Airy’s AMY Northwest from its location at St. Therese of the Child Jesus into Cook-Wissahickon’s space. The school district has recommended that AMY move to Levering’s building, which was discussed in a separate presentation Saturday.

SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos said the commission will discuss the idea before voting March 29 on Levering’s proposed closure. SRC member Joseph Dworetzky wondered if Cook-Wissahickon parents would accept the idea, and Ramos and Floyd both seemed unconvinced that moving the school was a viable option. 

“While it’s logical… my guess is it’s not how it works under our collective bargaining agreements with the various unions,” Ramos said. “It would have to be negotiated.”