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Half days are over in Philadelphia schools and bathroom breaks are now guaranteed.
At the bitter end of a more than eight-hour school board meeting on Thursday night, Board of Education members approved plans to amend the district calendar for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years to end half days for students during staff professional development time.
Superintendent Tony Watlington said district data shows student attendance has cratered on scheduled half days. Going forward, he said he wants the district to “eliminate and sunset half days from our school calendars for now and forevermore.”
The board also approved a new district wellness policy that codifies access to recess and bathroom breaks for all students that cannot be restricted as disciplinary action. The policy also guarantees movement breaks every 90 minutes of seat time for elementary school students.
Thursday’s vote was a win for Lift Every Voice parent advocates who have spent the last 18 months urging board members to adopt these changes and more as part of their “joy campaign.”
The advocates said the policy was necessary because some educators and school leaders had restricted kids’ bathroom breaks, recess, lunch periods, and water breaks as punishment for bad behavior.
The board also approved several contracts that will tie in to the proposed plan to close 18 Philly schools and renovate others, including:
- A resolution authorizing the district to apply for up to $20 million from Pennsylvania’s Public School Facility Improvement Grant program for school building improvements.
- Adding $17.5 million to an existing $7 million contract with Keystone Realty and Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law, PC, to identify school district buildings that are significantly undervalued and appeal those valuations.
- Adding $3.3 million to an existing $5.3 million contract for InProcess Consulting, LLC, for the software behind several district apps and dashboards, including the facilities planning process data dashboard.
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
