57 Philadelphia schools will go remote Wednesday due to heat

“Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system. School will go remote for students at 57 Philadelphia schools Wednesday due to soaring temperatures, district officials announced Tuesday evening. That’s over a quarter of the 218 district-operated schools in the city. All early childhood centers operating at those schools will also shift to virtual learning. And all in-person after-school activities, including all athletic programs scheduled for Tuesday, are canceled as well. The move comes after Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg urged the district to declare a heat emergency Monday. Steinberg said in a statement that the district’s failure to do so on Monday, when temperatures reached above 90 degrees, put students and staff “in uncomfortable and dangerously hot conditions.” Some 53 Philadelphia schools have “insufficient cooling” according to a district spokesperson’s statement from April. “District administration is directly responsible for mitigating dangerous conditions inside of school buildings,” said Steinberg. “They should declare Wednesday a virtual learning day so that families and staff can plan accordingly.” Schools were closed Tuesday due to the primary election. Schools sent students home with their Chromebooks on Monday, according to the district’s announcement. The 57 schools that will shift to remote learning on Wednesday are: AMY Northwest Bache-Martin* Blaine, James* Building 21 Catharine, Joseph* Comegys, B. Comly, Watson Cooke, J. Crossan, Kennedy Disston, Hamilton Dunbar, Paul Emlen, Eleanor* Fell, D Newlin Fitzpatrick Fox Chase Franklin, Ben HS Girard, Stephen Harding, Warren Henry, Charles Hill-Freedman Hopkinson, Francis Houston, Henry Howe, Julia Jenks, Abram Jenks, John S Lamberton* Lingelbach, Anna Loesche* Ludlow, James McCloskey, John McClure, A.* McMichael, M.* Mitchell, Weir Moore, J. Hampton Motivation MYA Olney Elementary Overbrook ES Parkway West Patterson, John* Powel Rhawnhurst* Rowen, William Roxborough HS Sayre, William SLA Middle Sharswood, George* Sheppard, Issac South Phila. HS* Spring Garden Spruance, Gilbert* Sullivan, James Tilden, William The U School Vaux Wagner, Gen. Louis Washington, Martha An asterisk designates schools that have prekindergarten or Head Start on site. Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org .

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