Philadelphia's First Nine Community Schools Present Their Plans
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After months of surveys and focus groups, the city has identified the services to be matched with the first nine "Community Schools."
There are common needs among the nine Community Schools, job training, access to healthy foods, and behavioral health services and the like.
At Tilden Middle School, the mayor's Office of Education announced the needs the schools have named. Tilden's Community School Coordinator Regina Young says parents, teachers and the community were involved.
"Everybody had a voice in identifying their areas of need," said Young.
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Some of the services are already being provided. Others are still in the works, says city Chief Education Officer Otis Hackney.
"For us to do this in a time that we can only measure in months, we've really covered a lot of ground," said Hackney. "But really this is something that should take years to develop. So we're really trying to fast-track it."
But the city says a second round of community schools is limited to only two, because of the lawsuit challenging the soda tax that funds them.
