Special Hearing: May 20, 2021
by Diane Payne
When District governance returned to the local Board of Education in 2018, the amended Philadelphia Home Rule Charter required the Board to hold at least two annual public hearings for the sole purpose of hearing public testimony. No voting on any official Item takes place. The Board has now held both even though the year is not yet half over. All members of the Board, both student representatives, and Dr. Hite attended. The Board changed the speaker rules again, allowing all who signed up to speak and allotting them three minutes. Next week, at the official Action Meeting, when the Board conducts official business, we expect the Board to reinstate its speaker suppression policy with a limited number of speakers, all cut off at two minutes. Technical problems that appeared to be outside the District’s control delayed the start of the meeting for almost half an hour. The Board added a zoom link to the website because the TV channels were not broadcasting and announced that via social media. Unfortunately, families that did not have the required technology were not able to observe or attend.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 