Philly city council to probe 'rubber rooms' holding teachers, staff members accused of misconduct

The School District of Philadelphia has confirmed that inside its North Broad Street headquarters there is a "dedicated room" for teachers, administrators, and staff-accused of misconduct to go to while the accusations are being investigated.

Known as the "rubber room," a district spokesperson said there are 66 staff members there right now. 

What they're saying:

City Council member Isaiah Thomas says he wants to know more. 

FOX 29's Jeff Cole asked him, "You have a sense that there had been teachers fully paid sitting in a room for three years not teaching anyone? 

"We know for a fact that there have been teachers who’ve been sitting in that room for years not teaching anyone," said Thomas.

Thomas, who heads the Education Committee, will hold a hearing to probe the so-called rubber rooms. 

He said sources inside city schools have complained to him about a "lack of communication, due process and bed bugs in the room."  

Thomas says he’ll also focus on the possible waste of money.

"We’re also looking at the system that exists that allows young people to not get a quality education," said Thomas. 

In a statement, the President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT), the teachers union, wrote "the PFT is strongly in favor of attacking bureaucratic inefficiencies within the School District of Philadelphia in order to free precious resources that could be redirected into classrooms."

The district’s Human Resources Department or even the city’s Department of Human Services conduct the investigations. DHS steps in when abuse is alleged. 

"We’re told the investigations are happening pretty rapidly so why are folks sitting there? That’s what we want to examine and why we passed the resolution," said Thomas. 

By the numbers:

In a statement sent to FOX 29 on Friday, a spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia shared updated numbers. 

The district says there has been a 21% decrease in the number of reassigned employees from January 1, 2024 when there were 84. There are now 66 as of this week. 

They also say there has been an 87% reduction in the number of backlogged investigations. Of 46 backlogged investigations, 40 have been closed, four are active, and two have moved to due process. 

Since the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, 142 employees have been removed from reassignment status, district officials say. 

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