City Councilman Mike Driscoll (D-6th dist.) is condemning the School District of Philadelphia’s decision to relocate students from Kensington High School to the vacant Austin Meehan Middle School building at 3001 Ryan Ave.
Driscoll’s statement read:
“Our students and teachers deserve to learn and work in safe, healthy environments. We are extremely concerned by what appears to be a rushed decision by the school district, especially without first engaging the communities that will bear the greatest impact. Moving students to the vacant Austin Meehan school would create a substantial hardship for students, families and staff, requiring them to travel eight miles from the Kensington High School community while raising concerns about transportation, congestion and the impact on the surrounding community.
“The School District needs to work with the affected communities to find an alternative that works for the community—one that puts public safety first while addressing congestion and transportation challenges. The safety of students, families and faculty must remain at the center of every decision. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to ensure the school district makes a decision that puts students, families and the community first.”
Kensington High School, at 2051 E. Cumberland St., will move to the Austin Meehan site until the end of the year due to an asbestos issue.
Austin Meehan closed in 2022, and was supposed to be demolished, as the school district built Propel Academy, a K-8 school that opened in 2021 at 7500 Rowland Ave., not too far from Meehan.
The area also includes an Abraham Lincoln High School building that is so overcrowded that the school district had to build a trailer for freshmen.
The school district has wasted no time changing the signs at Meehan. The sign on the front lawn and at the entrance both say, “Kensington High School.”
In recent years, Meehan has housed students from Pollock while that school was being renovated and from Thomas Holme, when that school was getting a new building.
Kensington staff will report on Monday, Aug. 17. Students report on Aug. 24. ••
