$19.9M plan to get Frankford High School students back in building after asbestos closure

Frankford High School students will eventually be able to learn again in the full school building thanks to a nearly $20 million rehab to address asbestos in the century-old building. But, they need to wait another year for that to happen.

Since asbestos was found in April 2023 in the Oxford Avenue building, students at the Philadelphia high school have been displaced. First they learned online, then a plan was put in place to have 10 to 12th graders learn in a new part of the building sealed off from the rest of the building, while 9th graders attended Roberto Clemente Middle School. 

Now the whole building will be ready to go for the 2025-26 school year, the School District of Philadelphia announced Tuesday, June 12, 2024. The school district is pouring $19.9 million into the 108-year-old building to get students and staff back to an "improved learning environment."

“Frankford has been an important and historic center for learning for more than a century in Philadelphia, and we are confident this investment will enable us to safely reopen the building to students and staff,” School District Chief Operating Officer Oz Hill said. “We are grateful for the patience and cooperation of the Frankford community and are working cooperatively with school leadership and meeting every quarter to provide updates on our progress.”  

Several Philadelphia school district schools closed during the 2022-23 school year after potentially cancerous asbestos was detected in order buildings. Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals that are resistant to heat and corrosion that were used in insulation, according to the National Cancer Institute. 

What is being done to address asbestos concerns, improve Frankford High?

"The work to reopen has started with the imaging of the building, to photograph and document all of the current spaces, without disturbing materials," the district said in a news release.

"The asbestos abatement, which will involve some repair, removal, and enclosure, will begin once the current school year ends," the district said. "All asbestos abatement work will be done during the summer or after school hours when no students and staff are in the building."

The district also laid out bullet points on the improvements:

• Removal of plaster ceiling in corridor and classrooms
• Enclosure of asbestos materials, including installing laminate panels over plaster walls in corridors and classrooms. Unlike sheetrock, this material is easy to clean, and resistant to damage and was used in the District’s newest school, TM Peirce.
• Removal of vinyl asbestos tile (VAT) floor tile in the basement  

Once the asbestos is gone, the school building will get new ceilings, LED lighting and a fresh coat of paint, the district said. "Existing wood floors will be refinished and new vinyl tile flooring will replace existing tiles in the cafeteria spaces on the ground floor."

The district admits that some asbestos-containing materials will remain in the building.

"Though much of the asbestos-containing materials in Frankford will be removed or enclosed during this project, some asbestos containing material will remain in the building," the district said. "The presence of asbestos itself is not a health hazard; it is when it becomes airborne that it can be a concern.

The district said it isn't addressing the building's HVAC system "due to funding constraints." However, the "replacement remains a priority for the District."

"Frankford will undergo twice-yearly inspection to check on the condition of asbestos materials so they can be maintained in good condition."

Was demolition of Frankford High considered?

The school district considered a far more expensive option to improve Frankford High.

"A full demolition and new construction would have exceeded $300 million and taken many years, and gutting the building and rebuilding from the inside likewise would have taken years and was prohibitively expensive at more than $160 million," the district said. "The plan developed with the investment of nearly $20 million from Capital funds enables the environmental abatement and significant improvements and will allow students and staff to return to their building in the 2025-26 school year."

The school district has an asbestos FAQ posted on its website that they hope helps answer some questions.