Board of Education Budget Hearing, Board of Education Action Meeting: April 24, 2025
by Lisa Haver
“I am not just a statistic, and neither are my peers.”
Academy at Palumbo student to Board of Education
Parents, students, educators and community members came before the board to testify on the many issues facing our children and our schools: mental health supports for struggling students, filthy bathrooms, outdated textbooks, restoring school librarians, the need for air filters in classrooms. President Reginald Streater assured speakers, as he does at every meeting, that the board is listening. As one APPS member said in her testimony, “Students will know you are listening when they see that their bathrooms are finally clean.”
Ilene Poses contributed to this report.
Board Meetings Must Be Fully Public
Because APPS members have attended Board of Education meetings for years, we knew that the board would be holding two meetings on April 24: the monthly action meeting and the hearing on the next annual budget. But anyone who may have been attending or testifying for the first time would have seen only one meeting for 4 pm posted on the board’s website calendar. Two agendas were posted, but both gave 4 pm as the starting time. At the beginning of the meeting, President Streater said that the board would hold a 15-minute recess after the conclusion of the hearing…”perhaps”. But just after the final speaker on the budget was heard, Streater said “we are going into the action meeting” and began to narrate a slide presentation. It was unclear what was happening as the board did not vote to adjourn, nor did Streater declare the hearing adjourned. General Counsel Lynn Rauch, who serves as the board’s parliamentarian under the board’s by-laws, did not call the roll for the action meeting. When Streater took office, he promised that the board would be following Robert’s Rules of Order. After her testimony, Lisa Haver filed a formal objection to the board’s violation of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. The board did not give proper notification of the proceedings on the website or at the meeting itself. Haver pointed out that these are not legal technicalities, that the public has a right to know what the board is doing. People who are just leaving work or school often text APPS members to ask where the board is on the agenda and whether they can make it in time to testify. The board must honor the rule of law.
Students’ Pleas Met with Silence
Students from The Academy at Palumbo in South Philadelphia testified about the unacceptable condition of the facility, in particular the unsanitary and disgusting conditions of the bathrooms. Nineteen Palumbo students submitted written testimony including pictures of broken and clogged toilets and sinks. One student bravely spoke about her anxiety about attending high school and the mental health crisis that led her to attempt suicide. If she had succeeded, she said, she would have been the third of Palumbo students to die by suicide in four years. “Help us fight for schools that motivate us to wake up in the morning,” she asked the board. Not one board member responded to her or to any of the students. No one offered any words of support or asked Superintendent Watlington when he would have the bathrooms fixed. One student from Martin Luther King HS asked in her testimony how it was fair that she and her classmates, who have had a series of substitute English teachers throughout the year, would now have to take the Literature Keystone Exam. None of the board members asked Watlington to explain why the teacher’s position had not been filled or whether the district might be providing tutoring for the students.
Support for Restoring School Librarians Grows
APPS members Deborah Grill, Barbara Dowdall, Lynda Rubin, and Lisa Haver, in addition to several PARSL (Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Libraries) members, again urged the board to make reopening school libraries a budget priority. Students and parents from Shawmont Elementary returned to ask that the district not remove their librarian as she has only been in the position for one year. APPS members and allies have testified in support of restoring Certified School Librarians to district schools at virtually every meeting in recent history. Yet the number of full-time librarians remains at three–at Central, Penn Alexander and Masterman. Grill reminded the board: “School libraries staffed by a certified school librarian are joyful places. They foster a love of reading by enabling students to find books and e-books that peak their interests. Students who find joy in reading, read more. Students who read more become better readers, and isn’t that the district’s goal?”
Board Maintains Silence on Crucial Issues
Superintendent Tony Watlington, in his brief presentation, highlighted data that showed an increase in graduation rates. BM Cheryl Harper opened comments by thanking the administration and the teachers; a majority of board members had no questions or comments other than to echo Harper’s sentiments. (BM Joan Stern could not be heard; despite audience requests at every meeting, she will not speak into her microphone.) None of the board members asked the superintendent about any of the issues raised by the students or parents who had just testified. No one asked about what the administration was doing to reopen school libraries. No questions about fixing the bathrooms at Palumbo or getting new textbooks. No questions about appointing a permanent principal at the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), after several parents this month and last testified about the school having four principals in three years. No board member asked where the district was in its facilities campaign and when the public would find out which schools would be closed in which neighborhoods. Near the end of the meeting, Streater, admitting that “our board members might not have questions today”, instructed those in attendance to go to the district website and find the board’s question and answer section. Streater offered this as a way “to facilitate an efficient and timely discussion” at the public meeting. The president of the board of education is covering for the board’s dereliction of duty in staying silent on crucial issues raised by their constituents.
Board Must Provide A Safe Environment at Public Meetings
In response to peaceful protests at recent board meetings, President Streater enacted a number of crackdowns on public participation: admitting fewer people to the auditorium, issuing ID badges to speakers, surrounding speakers with security guards, erecting physical barriers between the board and the public. Philadelphia police were called in on two separate occasions to threaten with arrest those who were silently standing in the aisle holding signs. Streater has repeatedly called on people to observe “decorum”, implying that those who engage in civil disobedience are doing it simply for the sake of disruption. Yet when one member of the public, at every meeting, loudly disrupts the meeting, Streater does nothing. At this meeting, the person got up–twice–and screamed at Superintendent Watlington and the members of the board. The person accused the district of not caring about the children and of failing to educate them. They claimed to have a video of students fighting at MLK HS which turned out to be false, as it was actually a school in Atlanta. They continued to yell even after the next speaker was called up and was made to wait. Neither President Streater nor Dr. Watlington asked them to stop. Security was not called to escort them out. In fact, Streater remained silent except to thank them–three times–until they finally stopped. What kind of message is Streater sending to the students who attend these meetings? That exercising your right to protest should be met with threats of arrest but that screaming and falsely accusing people is encouraged? The board violates its own Policy 006 which mandates that meetings be conducted “in an orderly manner”. The board also violates its Goals and Guardrails that state: “Every parent and guardian will be welcomed and encouraged to be partners in their child’s school community.” Parents and students should not find themselves in a hostile environment when they come to advocate for themselves and their schools.
Unquestioning Approval for Most Items
In one roll call vote, the board voted to approve spending $82,667,631. Voting was unanimous except for Item 5 and Item 17. BM Wanda Novales voted No on the termination of one employee designated in Item 5 and Yes on the others, thus voting both Yes and No on the same item. BM Chou-Wing Lam said that she had “unresolved concerns” that the bidding process was not carried out correctly for the landscaping contract proposed in Item 17. Watlington called up CFO Mike Herbstman to explain, who said only that he had no information on the contract. Streater thanked Herbstman but did not ask Lam if that did anything to allay her concerns. The board seems to be risking legal action by not making it clear that the bidding process was carried out properly. Why did they not table the action until May? BM Joyce Wilkerson also voted No on Item 17, without comment.
The board then took one minute to vote on the remaining thirty-one items. There were no questions, comments, or deliberations on those items. Without asking whether any board member had any other business, Streater made a motion to himself to adjourn. Someone seconded, a voice vote was taken, and Streater declared the meeting adjourned at 6:49 PM.
May Board Meetings
Goals and Guardrails: Thursday, May 8 at 4 PM.
Public Hearing: Thursday, May 22 at 4 PM. (No agenda, just public testimony)
Action Meeting: Thursday, May 29 at 4 PM.
All meetings held in the 2nd floor auditorium at 440 North Broad Street.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 