Celebrated High School To Move Buildings
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia School District is making plans to move one of its most celebrated high schools into the same building with one of its most academically troubled.
They would be separate schools in the same building. The district plans to move the highly acclaimed Science Leadership Academy at 22nd and Arch into renovated space at the academically struggling Ben Franklin High at Broad and Spring Garden, in the fall of 2019.
"We know that there are different cultures and -- we're not merging the two programs. We're having two separate schools. And there's lots of ways you can do that when you co-locate a building," said District Chief of Schools Shawn Bird.
SLA's lease is expiring, and the district is moving away from longterm leases, in favor of space it already owns.
The district plans $20 million in improvements to the Ben Franklin building, starting with a $1.5 million contract for design and engineering work.
