Philadelphia School District Says Beeber Middle School Will Remain Open
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The School District of Philadelphia has announced plans to withdraw its recommendation to close one city school.
Dimner Beeber Middle School will remain open, officials said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes two days before the School Reform Commission was to vote on its future.
Instead, the District will propose changing the grade configuration to include only the seventh and eighth grades, and to explore the collocating of other educational programs in the Beeber school building.
District officials also said they will work with the community to determine the viability of a school-driven proposal calling for Beeber to be made into an Arts and Academics Plus Academy.
"We want to use more time to look at proposals that we received from that community and think about other options for that building and review other options for the children who attend Beeber," said Superintendent Dr. William Hite.
Were it to close, students would have relocated to Overbrook High and the district would have saved $900,000 a year.
One school's future is still uncertain. The SRC will still vote on M.H. Stanton Elementary on Thursday.
