Honoring Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet School and standing in solidarity with Lankenau and other schools slated for closure because of the proposed School District of Philadelphia's Facilities Plan.

WHEREAS, Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School is Philadelphia’s only environmental science career technical education institution, providing students with the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources curriculum pathway they need to pursue environmental science careers and grow into outstanding stewards of our planet; and

WHEREAS, Lankenau has consistently provided a welcoming community for all students, including students with disabilities, since the 1990s; and

WHEREAS, Lankenau has a 100% graduation rate, and Lankenau students excel at leveraging the school’s unique environment to advance their studies of lotic and lentic ecology, succession theory, endangered species, pollinator dynamics, hydrogeology, wildlife pathology, ecotone studies, and Geographic Information Systems; and

WHEREAS, Lankenau is also a deeply rooted part of the community, and embraces partnerships that strengthen its educational identity, including with institutions such as the Schuylkill Center, Manatawna Farms, True Love Seeds, The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society; and

WHEREAS, The Lankenau campus naturally lends itself to the study of environmental science, and consists of multiple watersheds, rivers, and streams, old and new growth forests, state-endangered plants, beehives and pollinator gardens, rain gardens, natural filtration systems, and intermediary ecology zones between grasslands, forests, and marshes; and

WHEREAS, Lankenau is a vibrant, one-of-a-kind addition to Philadelphia’s schools, offering something truly unique and worth preserving; and

WHEREAS, Unfortunately, Lankenau is one of the 17 schools slated to close because of the School District of Philadelphia’s Facilities Plan; and

WHEREAS, The School District has proposed merging Lankenau with Walter B. Saul High School, despite Saul not being designed to teach Lankenau’s distinct program, not offering the same infrastructure and curricular support for students with disabilities, and the Lankenau building being newer and in better overall condition per the district’s own rating; and

WHEREAS, Despite these circumstances, the Lankenau School community has continued to show extraordinary resilience, and has come together to support one another while advocating at every possible opportunity for their school’s removal from the closure list; and

WHEREAS, We stand in solidarity with Lankenau teachers, students, staff, and parents, as they continue the fight to save their school, and share the belief that this decision for closure was ill-advised and needs correction as soon as possible; and

WHEREAS, We also stand in solidarity with the 17 other Philadelphia schools slated for closure and further insist that the School District come back to the table and engage in good faith conversation and negotiation with these communities. now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby honoring the incredible impact of Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet School in cultivating the environmental stewards of tomorrow, commending the school’s resilience in the face of proposed closure, and standing in solidarity as the fight to save Lankenau and 17 other schools slated for closure continues.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this Resolution be presented to Lankenau Principal Jessica Mcatamney and Staff in recognition of Lankenau’s Citywide impact and incredible resilience.

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