COVID-19 impact on Philly schools: Superintendent Watlington reveals what he would have changed

PHILADELPHIA - It’s been five years since the COVID pandemic started in the United States. 

The pandemic changed day-to-day operations for the Philadelphia School District.

What they're saying:

Back in 2020, the Superintendent of Philadelphia Schools was Dr. William Hite. 

Meanwhile, current Philadelphia Superintendent Dr. Tony Watlington was working as a superintendent in North Carolina navigating the same concerns, including the closure of schools.

"I thought this will last a couple of weeks and we’ll get back in school maybe, but who knew that we would be out of school for such an indefinite amount of time. It made us think very quickly about what are we going to do to make sure that kids can learn," said Dr. Watlington. 

A challenge Dr. Watlington was tasked with twice, taking on the superintendent rolling in Philadelphia in 2022 during the heart of the pandemic. 

"There was a big question on how we were going to deliver instruction, how would we make sure our kids who depend on schools to get their breakfast and lunch, how will we make sure that somebody is doing a wellness check on our young people," said Dr. Watlington.

Questions that over the last five years, he says have been major focusing points. 

During the pandemic, the school district provided chromebooks for virtual learning, grab and go meals for students and resources to address students' mental and social health.

He says if he could change anything about the process it would be to contact health officials quicker, do a better job educating the public on masking and social distancing, and get students back to school faster. 

"At all cost we can not ever let learning stop, and the quicker we can figure out how to do so safely, get kids back in in-person learning. I would have that as my focus point," said Dr. Watlington.

With that being said he believes a combination of hard work from students, teachers, staff and 1.5 billion dollars in federal COVID funding has helped move the school district in the positive direction it is currently in. 

"This school district has used those resources well, how do I know it, student attendance is going up, third through eighth grade test scores are going up, the four-year graduation rate is going up, and the dropout rate is going down, even as we continue to recover from the learning loss that has occurred during the pandemic," said Dr. Watlington.