Morning Headlines: SRC to Sell 11 Schools for $2 Million Net

And happy Park(ing) Day.

"Germantown HS Philly" by Smallbones - Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Germantown HS Philly by Smallbones via Wikimedia Commons.

The School Reform Commission approving the sale of 11 Philadelphia schools is big news this morning, punctuated with some pretty big numbers. The Daily News’s Solomon Leach has details on how the sales will break down.

The two biggest parcels are each going for $6.8 million. Germantown High, Carroll High, Fulton Elementary, Walter Smith Elementary and Abigail Vare Elementary are all going to the Concordia Group. Two of the elementary schools – Vare and Smith – are slated to become residential buildings.

The Philadelphia Housing Authority is the other big buyer, taking Communications Technology High, Pepper Middle School, John Reynolds Elementary and Walton Elementary.

All told, the SRC approved $18 million in deals that will net the district around $2 million after closing costs in four to five months.

The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation was involved with the deals at City Council’s request, and school district COO Fran Burns told Leach that the community will have input during the rezoning process on many of the projects. The community, as you probably already guessed, is not thrilled.

“You took us all incredibly by surprise, including our City Council person and state [representative], so that came as a shock [because] there has been organizing going on in the community,” said Karel Kilimnik, a retired teacher and member of Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools.

SRC approves sale of 11 school buildings [Daily News]

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Happy Park(ing) Day! [uwishunu]