Penn’s $100M pledge to Philadelphia public schools is helping to remediate environmental hazards

Significant progress has been made in the four years since Penn pledged $100 million to the School District of Philadelphia to remediate environmental hazards, including asbestos and lead, in hundreds of school buildings throughout the city.

Penn’s contribution of $10 million annually for 10 years is enabling a dramatic acceleration in the ongoing work by the city and the district in Philadelphia’s school buildings, which average 75 years old. It represents the largest private contribution to the district in its history and an unprecedented commitment by Penn to the city and its public schoolchildren.

Tony B. Watlington, school district superintendent, provided an update in August to Penn leaders on how the University’s contribution has been put to work, just as the fourth of the installments had been released.

“This $10 million per year is a vital supplement to our district’s budget. This is an ongoing process,” Watlington said. “Our environmental budget has grown significantly over the past three years, in part because of your generous contribution and in part because we are reallocating resources to address this challenge in earnest.”

The historic financial commitment was the vision of Penn President Emerita Amy Gutmann. “Nothing is more important than the health and welfare of our children, and few things are more crucial to a community than the safety and quality of its public schools,” she said at the time. The pledge was designed to assure that Penn’s support extends beyond West Philadelphia and to impact students and schools throughout the city.

“It is gratifying to see how this partnership with the School District,” said Craig Carnaroli, senior executive vice president and one of the architects of the contribution, “is helping enhance K–12 students’ well-being and growth, as part of Penn’s long-term commitment and strategic investment in our city and community. The environmental impact, aligned with the University’s goals on sustainability, will also continue to be felt for generations to come.”

The support is in line with Penn’s In Principle and Practice strategic vision as an anchored, interwoven, inventive, and engaged university.

“At GSE, we are a deeply committed partner to the School District of Philadelphia in its crucial work to provide a safe, healthy, secure, and inviting learning environment for effective learning,” said Penn Graduate School of Education Dean Katharine Strunk.

“I am impressed with Dr. Watlington’s data-driven approach to all that he does,” Strunk said. “It’s clear that the district is benefitting from the systems he is putting into place to create substantive and measurable change—from curriculum based on what really works to creating a proactive approach to school environmental safety.”

For years, the city and school district have been testing for and remediating environmental hazards; 296 buildings are in an increasingly robust asbestos management program developed under Watlington. The superintendent said that, including Penn’s funding, the district’s environmental department has spent $55 million in fiscal 2024 and has budgeted $61 million in fiscal year 2025. The district must integrate environmental needs into maintenance and capital investments, along with investments in the teaching and learning in those classrooms, he said.

“We’re conducting some 600 inspections a year, visiting every school in the district twice annually,” Watlington said, noting that the district has increased staff, including experts in environmental remediation. “We want to do this work and do it well.”

The school district is gathering and sharing increasing amounts of information. “Decisions will be data-driven,” Watlington said. “Every year we’re more prepared to execute larger and larger projects.”

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Watlington gave examples of the impact of Penn’s contribution to tackle the environmental challenges in schools throughout the city:

● Roxborough High School, $1.43 million, and Mitchell Elementary School, $634,500, for removal and abatement of asbestos, as well as new ceilings, lighting, and painting.

● Southwark School, $760,000 for abatement of asbestos discovered in the attic during an assessment of the heating system, as well as assessment and stabilization of lead paint.

● Frankford High School, $451,700 for a comprehensive inspection of the 100-year-old building to assessment options and help implement a $20 million remediation and improvement project approved this year.

● Bartram High School library, $244,000 for emergency repairs and asbestos abatement, and also new paint, insulation, flooring, ceiling tiles, and lighting.

Penn’s commitment to environmental remediation is one of many contributions that the University is making to provide support to public education in Philadelphia. Led by Penn GSE, the University’s other 11 schools, as well as Penn centers including the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, Penn Museum and Penn Libraries, operate hundreds of activities in schools in every catchment area. An updated heat map offers a snapshot of GSE’s enormous commitment to community engagement, marking the hundreds of activities where faculty and students are at work on issues facing communities and schools across Philadelphia.

For more than 20 years Penn has invested in the top-performing K-8th grade Penn Alexander School in West Philadelphia, providing land for the school, funding for construction, and nearly $1 million in annual contributions for operations. Since 2013, the University has been deepening its commitment to the nearby Henry C. Lea Elementary School and in 2022 signed a memorandum of understanding for an expanded partnership.

“It is wonderful to have such a strong partner in the School District of Philadelphia,” Strunk said. “A core piece of Penn GSE’s Strategic Vision is to collaborate closely with our local community so we can work together to meet the needs of learners across our city. Whether we are working with the district on research to help inform practice in our local schools or collaborating on programming to meet the needs of the district’s educators and students, GSE stands at the ready to support Superintendent Watlington and his team.”

Both relatively new to Philadelphia—Watlington in 2022 and Strunk in 2023—the two leaders have struck up a collaborative friendship and have been building upon the partnership between Penn and the school district.

“The $100 million speaks to this partnership, working together, telling the story, and utilizing the talent, time, and treasure of this very fine institution to benefit some of the poorest children in our city and in the country,” Watlington said. “It inspires me.”