Board of Education Action Meeting: March 28, 2024
by Lisa Haver
Over the years, we have seen people come before this board, and before that to the School Reform Commission, in order to advocate for better public schools. West Philadelphia community members showed up for months, asking that the board provide funds for pools so that children could learn to swim. Parents have come demanding that the board do everything in its power to remove the lead and asbestos and to make schools less toxic. Students have come to ask for mental health services, as many are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic lockdown. Just last month, PFT members led a rally before the action meeting, then in their testimony asked for an end to the oppressive and unfair practice that punishes them for taking their contractually allotted sick days. Parents, students, educators and community members all come in the hope that the members of the board will hear them, respond to them, and do something to improve education for the city’s children.
Outgoing Board Member Mallory Fix Lopez, however, sees them not as advocates but as impediments. Fix Lopez, during a presentation on the district’s lump sum budget, launched into a diatribe against “protestors” whom she blamed for the state’s underfunding of the city’s schools. She claimed that when she attends “high-level” government meetings in Harrisburg, legislators cite news stories about the district as proof that the board and the district are “incompetent” and don’t deserve more funding. According to Fix Lopez, people who may be “well-intentioned” neither understand the issues nor know who they should be talking to about them. She said that when people “ask for things”–like pools, libraries, schools, better technology, the end of leveling, more art and music, better ventilation in classrooms–they are actually doing it “with the intentional intent” to make the board look incompetent.
Fix Lopez’s tirade against education activists was met with silence from other board members. None of them took issue with her accusations that people who speak out do so only to embarrass her and the other members of the board. Rather than take responsibility for the board’s failure to make schools clean and healthy, to lower class size, to restore school librarians, to retain and recruit teachers and principals, or to hold public hearings on charter renewals, Fix Lopez ended her term on the board blaming others–the parents, students, and educators who want a better educational experience for Philadelphia’s children.
Later, departing from her prepared testimony, Lisa Haver reminded the board that as members of a free and democratic society, it is our right and our duty to speak out on issues that affect our city and our children. She told the board that it is not a good look for any member of the board to vilify those who advocate for better public schools. Public advocacy should not be construed as a personal insult against any board member. Haver reminded the board that Philadelphians are disenfranchised when it comes to choosing who sits on the board. But even an appointed board must respect the rights of their constituents to be heard.
Deborah Grill, Lynda Rubin and Barbara Dowdall contributed to this report.
Community Questions District Commitment to Girls’ High
Several members of the Girls High community, including parents and alumnae, testified about the administrative limbo the school has found itself in. Last year, the school made headlines when one graduating student decided to do a dance on the stage when she received her diploma. The school has a long tradition of honoring all graduates at once; students are told that individual displays are not permitted. APPS member and Girls’ HIgh grad Barbara Dowdall pointed out that despite the absence of board district leadership at that ceremony, a decision was made to remove the principal without hearing from students, parents, faculty or alumnae. The school remains without a principal, and no one in the school community can get answers, even as the principal assignments for next year have commenced. Deandra McCants, President of the Parent Teacher Daughter Association, told the board that they are dismayed at the lack of transparency from the district since the one and only meeting on the issue in November 2023. “We are left to wonder,” Dowdall testified, “how deep the district’s commitment is…to the future of our beloved alma mater”.
Board Renews Another Substandard Charter
Deep Roots Charter was established in 2018-19 by the School Reform Commission. The school failed to meet standards in its first five years. Board Member Chau Wing Lam asked why the Charter School Office was recommending only a 1-year approval rather than five years–were there any “sticking points”? Do the board members read the CSO evaluations before they vote on renewals? Because the fact that they were renewing for one year rather than five indicates numerous sticking points. APPS member Lynda Rubin pointed out in her testimony that less than 3% of students attended 95% of school days last year, compared to the district rate of 37%, and that the school again failed to meet academic standards. CSO Director Peng Chao told the board that renewal was only for one year because of the lack of data. But that doesn’t explain why most of the other schools in this cohort were granted 5-year renewals with the same amount of data. Chao also said that the renewal was retroactive and that Deep Roots would be placed in next year’s renewal cohort. The board does not hold public renewal hearings, so all of this was negotiated in private meetings with the school’s administrators. APPS again objected to the board taking a secret vote and withholding terms of the agreement from the public.
Board Approves Spending Over $62 Million in One Vote
The board approved spending of over $62 million in one roll-call vote of Items 1 through 30. The board did not disclose the projected cost of the Deep Roots charter renewal; Item 31 was approved in a separate vote. BM Leticia Egea-Hinton was absent.
Items 1-4, 6-10, 12, 13,16, 17, 20-25,27-30 passed unanimously.
Items 11, 14, 16, 18, 19, and 26 passed 7–1, with BM Cecelia Thompson dissenting.
Item 5 passed 7-0-1, with BM Sara-Ashley Andrews abstaining.
President Reginald Streater announced that the April 18 meeting of the Policy Committee has been canceled. He did not give another date.
Next Goals and Guardrails meeting: April 4, 2024 at 4 PM.
Board budget hearing: April 25, 2024 at 4 PM.
Next Board Action Meeting: April 25, 2024 after budget hearing.
The meeting adjourned at 7:05 PM.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 