Closings

By Tina Richardson Last year the School District of Philadelphia closed six schools. This year it will close 23 - almost quadruple last year's level. Closing schools is only half of the challenge; the other half is relocating displaced students in new schools and ensuring that their transition is seamless, with no interruption to their learning. That means their records and the support services they depend on have to transfer with them. While we have been reassured repeatedly that services will follow the 8,500 affected students into their new schools, there is reason for concern.

First Union announced the locations yesterday of the 156 branches scheduled to close this fall, including seven in Philadelphia. The closings are the result of First Union's $16 billion purchase of CoreStates Financial. The deal announced last fall became official last month. The 156 branches, which are situated throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, are slightly fewer than the bank's earlier estimate of 172 closures. Most of the 156 branches are in areas where Charlotte, N.C.-based First Union and Philadelphia's CoreStates had operations within a few blocks of each other.

The recent decision by the Dunfey Hotel to close its complex on the Montgomery County side of City Line Avenue and lay off about 350 employees with only a three-day closing notice highlights the need for the implementation of constructive measures to protect Pennsylvania workers when businesses decide to close their plants. Most experts agree that federal plant-closing legislation would be the best way of protecting workers from closings. Under the federal approach, no state would be placed at an economic disadvantage vis-a-vis a state that does not have plant-closing legislation.

The Campbell Soup Co. closed its H.T. McDoogal restaurants in Deptford and Mount Laurel this week, at least partly because they had been losing money for nearly two years. Another reason, said a Campbell's spokesman, was that the restaurants drew most of their profits from liquor sales, which was inconsistent with the corporation's "wholesome food and wholesome product" image. The two restaurants, which had a publike atmosphere featuring ferns and antiques and were designed to appeal to a young, professional clientele, have been for sale since March 1985.

NEWARK, N.J. - The superintendent of the state's largest school district presented the final details Monday of a wide-ranging plan to overhaul its struggling schools. Newark School Superintendent Cami Anderson said the first phase of the plan would focus on the city's most consistently underperforming schools and would involve a combination of new schools, closings, and consolidations meant to ensure more high-quality public school options in the city. On Monday, she announced the district would open eight new schools by September at the sites of closed or consolidated schools.

Like many of his classmates, Eric Rutherford knew of West Catholic High's fate before administrators made an official announcement during Friday's assembly. "I could just tell," said the junior, a 6-foot, 291-pound defensive lineman on the football team. "I never saw the teachers that emotional before. You could tell it wasn't going to be good news. " As had been rumored, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Friday disclosed plans to close West Catholic, a longtime fixture at 45th and Chestnut Streets, in June.

About a dozen protesters opposed to school closings in Philly took their case to City Hall on Tuesday, linking arms and chanting outside Mayor Nutter's second-floor office. "It's important that there's a constant presence of people for him to understand that this is an urgent issue," said Helen Gym, of the group Parents United. "For many of us, we feel like this is the tipping point of where Philly public education is. " The group originally said they were going to occupy the hallway until Thursday, when the School Reform Commission votes on a Nutter-endorsed plan to close 29 city schools with low enrollment.

CHICAGO - The Chicago Board of Education voted yesterday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define - for better or worse - Mayor Rahm Emanuel's term in office. City officials say the closings are necessary because of falling school enrollment and as part of their efforts to improve the city's struggling education system. "The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children," schools chief executive Barbara Byrd-Bennett said before the board's vote.

Shouting, waving signs, and drowning out officials, hundreds of students, parents, and community members angry at plans to shut 37 Philadelphia schools lashed out Thursday night at the School Reform Commission. "I have never been more disappointed in this city as a whole," said Naeemah Felder, parent of a daughter at Pepper Middle School, one of the schools slated for closure in June. "I want to stay in my neighborhood, because McCloskey is closest to where I live," fourth grader Lamar Robinson said.

REBECCA POYOUROW, like other interested parents, attended a community meeting at Roxborough High School last spring, eager to learn about the school district's plan to close some schools and consolidate others. The mother of two soon felt that the whole event was "a charade," she said yesterday. "There was absolutely no real information and lots of expectations. . . . An outside consultant was there to facilitate the meeting, so it felt like no one from the district was there," said Poyourow, one of 1,500 participants citywide who attended 23 community meetings between November and May. "It felt like we were being handled.