By Elizabeth Stieber
Times Staff Writer
It lasted just 35 minutes.
What started out as a public meeting to inform Summerdale and Oxford Circle residents about the potential move of Samuel Fels High School turned into an emotionally charged shouting match between school district officials and frustrated residents who believe the move is a done deal and they were not part of the decision-making process.
“We’re not building at the corner of your block, you’re building at the corner of our block. We refuse to understand,” resident Raquel Fitzhugh said after the officials asked the raucous crowd to try to listen to the plans before commenting.
For the past few months, the School District of Philadelphia has been debating building a new Samuel Fels High School as part of its $1.5 billion, five-year capital improvement plan.
Fels High School would move a few blocks from its cramped, aging building at 901 Devereaux Ave. to the vacant John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital at 5500 Langdon St.
“We have an amazing opportunity to build a site you can be proud of,” Timothy Spreitzer, school district deputy chief of staff, tried to explain over shouts of disapproval.
Rumors about the possible move have circulated in the neighborhood almost as frequently as the fliers that community leaders have distributed to condemn it.
“We were told nothing about the school. Forget about what it’s going to look like, forget about that part,” said neighborhood committeeman Gary Grisafi.
At one point, the group of about 50 chanted, “No school! No school!”
“I’m tired of working hard all my life paying taxes and not having a say in anything,” said resident Ruth Rafferty.
The school district officials finally ended the debacle in the Fels High auditorium a half-hour into the scheduled 90-minute meeting, concluding that they would regroup and present the preliminary plans at a later date.
Police officers from the 2nd district were on hand as a safety presence.
Oddly, the small groups of residents and officials who chatted after the meeting were more productive than the meeting itself.
“We certainly understand the frustration from the community,” Spreitzer said.
Spreitzer explained to residents that the school district had to present some sort of plans to them, which is why officials didn’t immediately meet with them a few months ago.
“There was a lack of understanding and information about the project,” Spreitzer said. “Unfortunately, tonight was the start of that process.”
Last Wednesday, the School Reform Commission authorized the purchase of the hospital property. This does not mean the deal is final, though, school district CEO Paul Vallas said during a phone interview on Friday. He did not attend Monday’s meeting.
The sale “will not conclude until after we hold public meetings,” Vallas said.
As of Friday, the school district’s Web site already listed the “new” Fels High School address as 5500 Langdon St.
The school district has offered $3.75 million to buy the former hospital building from its current owner, District Council 33.
The new high school, which Vallas said would be a “state-of-the-art community school,” would encompass about 23 acres and sit 100 feet from the nearest neighbor’s lawn. It also is surrounded by open space and would have plenty more parking spaces, Vallas said.
The new school would be converted to a magnet school similar to the Philadelphia Creative and Performing Arts high school or the Girard Academic Music Program.
“The community needs a high school,” Vallas said. “This would give us the opportunity to build a high school that is on par with affluent suburban schools.”
The proposed high school, which Vallas estimates would cost about $40 million, would be two stories high and feature a pool, library, computer lab and a recreational facility, all of which would be open to the community, Vallas said.
The old Fels High property is six and a half acres and sits about 50 feet from residents’ lawns. It is “landlocked” by residential housing, he explained.
FELS IS BREAKING DOWN
The current building is also aging. Built in 1955, it has had a number of structural problems over the years and lacks the amenities of a typical high school, including athletic fields.
Fels High principal Jeffrey Petty said the current building is literally falling apart; the roof leaks in various parts of the school. Also, when Fels began converting to a high school over three years, starting in 1989, essential curriculum aids, such as science labs, were not added.
The building holds 1,500 students, though it was meant to accommodate 1,100, Spreitzer pointed out before the meeting abruptly ended.
“My kids deserve better than what they’ve got,” Petty said after the session.
In his opinion, the Fels High students should have “beautiful classrooms, attractive space they can feel good about that’s conducive to learning.”
Vallas estimates it would take about two years to build the new high school.
The district executive said he will hold additional public meetings with the community before the School Reform Commission agrees to the plan. He also wants to create a planning committee composed of community members.
It will take months before any final decision is made.
People who live near the current Fels site complain of problems that they say are caused by students after school. Often, the teens start fights with one another in the neighborhood and, in some cases, vandalize property, some homeowners say.
“The kids are out of control,” said resident Pat Collins. “They’re trying to sell us a school when they can’t clean up here.”
Another resident argued that the new school would be located near a part of Summerdale Avenue that sees drug activity. Officers in the 2nd district patrol the area after school.
Residents who live near the JFK Hospital building fear that the teens will just cause the same problems on their blocks.
As part of the capital improvement plan, the school district is going to expand its alternative schools, a move that would allow room for any disruptive Fels High students, Vallas explained on Friday.
The new school’s admissions requests will face stricter guidelines, too, he added.
City Councilwoman Marian Tasco (D- 9th dist.), whose district includes the current and proposed Fels sites, is concerned about the growing number of students.
The schools in Tasco’s councilmanic district that are feeder schools to Fels are growing, and the school district needs to address that, she said.
The current Fels building “does not meet the needs of the growing community,” Tasco said during a phone interview on Friday.
She also believes that the new location at JFK Hospital could provide the students with athletic fields and more space to create programs that would “dissipate negative activity” angering neighbors who live near the school.
The councilwoman has told residents in Oxford Circle and Summerdale over the past few months that she would hold public meetings with the community.
“Nothing will go on until there is a discussion with the community,” she said.
Tasco did not attend Monday’s meeting. She said she was waiting until after Tuesday’s primary elections to hold community meetings because she believes she has been “exacerbated by political activity going on in the area.”
She was referring to Grisafi, a Republican committeeman in the 35th Ward.
Grisafi wanted to run in the primary as a state House of Representatives candidate in the 202nd district, but faulty nominating petitions took him off the ballot.
As the Times went to press on the day of the elections, Grisafi was waging a campaign as a write-in candidate to hopefully get his name on November’s ballot and face state Rep. Mark Cohen (D- 202nd dist.).
In a flier Grisafi circulated in Summerdale a few weeks ago, he implored: We must stick together as a community and say NO to this project! Where is the future in Summerdale?
The Oxford Circle and Summerdale communities have been talking about the possible Fels move for months. Rumors soon circulated as community leaders had little information to offer at civic meetings.
During the Oxford Circle Civic Association meeting on April 20, Fels High School was a hot topic among residents of the community and neighboring Summerdale, who were invited to offer their opinions about it.
“You have a voice,” said civic president Nancy Hampson, who sent fliers to the Oxford Circle and Summerdale neighborhoods, asking residents to attend the meeting.
Hampson has organized a circulating petition that says the community deserves to be part of any decisions made by the school district.
Some residents heard the hospital building already had been sold; others claimed to have seen surveyors on the JFK site. No one approached to see what they were doing.
“There are a lot of rumors going about,” Hampson said.
Representatives from the offices of City Council members Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.), Rick Mariano (D- 7th dist.) and Tasco, along with a representative from the 2nd Police District, were invited to the community meeting but could not attend, much to the disappointment of the crowd.
At one point during the session, a resident stood and asked, “Is there anybody here who’s in favor of this Fels High School being moved to JFK Hospital?”
No one raised their hand.
“We don’t want it,” one woman shouted. ••
Reporter Elizabeth Stieber can be reached at 215-354-3036 or estieber@phillynews.com