June 27, 2023
Dear President Streater and Members of the Board,
We write to ask that the board end its practice of barring members of the public from attending action meetings.
In a May 10, 2023 email, we asked why the board, at your April 20 action meeting, had set up only 82 seats in an auditorium with a 240-person capacity. Members of the public, including APPS member Ilene Poses, were told by security that they could not enter the auditorium because they were not on the speaker list. Security then directed them to seats in the atrium. If people wanted just to watch the meeting, they could have stayed home and watched their own television. They came to attend in person and in many cases to support members of their own organizations who were allowed to speak.
At the May 25 action meeting, only 111 seats were set up. Lisa Haver was told by security that she could not enter the auditorium because she was not on the speaker list. The board’s speaker suppression policies are now being used to bar people from attending as well as from speaking.
While publicly claiming to be working toward better public engagement, the board has actually lessened the space for public attendance. The long staff tables push public seating back and make it difficult to see and hear the board. Although many of those seats remain empty, in May we were told that the first two rows of seats just behind the tables were also reserved for staff. Those seats were never filled.
There is a large empty space roped off on the right side of the auditorium.
Security is now telling people that they can’t sit in the row occupied by a security staff person, nor can they sit in the row behind them.
The fact is that the official capacity for the auditorium is 240 persons, not 240 seats. If the board does not, for some reason, want to provide seating for the public, that does not mean that people cannot stand.
Board action meetings must be fully public. The board must not bar any member of the community from attending.
Sincerely,
Lisa Haver
Karel Kilimnik
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 