Hite Meets With Philadelphia Principals As District Waits For Money To Start School Year
By Kim Glovas and Ileana Diaz
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia school principals met Monday morning for a leadership conference that runs all week.
Philadelphia Schools' Superintendent William Hite addressed the 212 principals who gathered at Samuel Fels High School for the conference.
He said although the conference is designed to look forward, "we can't start a conference moving forward without looking at our current condition."
"We're only going to spend what we know we have," Hite continued.
That current condition is one of waiting until Friday, to see if the state or city can come up with $50 million, which the district says it needs to open on time (see related story).
Hite repeated what he said last week, that if that money was not forthcoming, it will alter the school calendar.
"I'm very confident that the money will be there and the children will come back to school on time," Principal Joann Capriotti of Abigail Vare Elementary said, "and we'll go through some rough times, but all in all I think we'll get it going."
If the money comes through, schools will open September 9th. If not, the opening date is up in the air.
The District was also asking parents to volunteer, and several people said that news didn't come as a surprise to them. They think leaders have been open and honest.
But members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers told CBS 3 off camera that they feel this is a severe blow to them. They said they're offended that the District and schools are now asking educators and even parents to help foot a bill they didn't create.
