The Philadelphia school district is getting $16.7 million from the state of Pennsylvania to repair and upgrade seven aging buildings, officials announced Tuesday.
Chalkbeat Philadelphia reports that the funding is part of a statewide $175 million grant program for school building upkeep.
The $16.7 million will pay for eight renovation projects in seven schools. But it represents a small fraction of the need in Philadelphia: some estimates have put the total cost to repair and upgrade schools anywhere from $5 billion to nearly $10 billion.
One of the schools to receive upgrades is Martha Washington Elementary. Several of the school’s 17 bathrooms are nonfunctioning, said Principal Lakeisha Patrick.
“This is an old building, but a gem in West Philadelphia,” she said, adding that staff and students “deserve a nice environment.”
Other grants will go to bathroom renovations at George W. Childs, window replacements at James G. Blaine, and roof replacements at Cayuga and Francis Hopkinson elementary schools. Edison High School will get nearly $900,000 to upgrade the ventilation system in the culinary section of its career and technical education program.
Nearly half the amount, $8.3 million, will be used to repair the auditorium and the roof at Overbrook High.
