Board of Education Action Meeting: November 16, 2023
by Lisa Haver and Deborah Grill
This relatively brief action meeting was notable more for what the board did not deal with than the items on the agenda.
Earlier this month, Southwark Elementary became the latest district school to be closed indefinitely after exposed asbestos was found. Students’ lives and routines have been disrupted. Some are being bussed to South Philadelphia High, others to Childs Elementary. Yet the board said nothing about it–whether students and staff may have been exposed, how long it will take to contain the asbestos, what the cleanup will cost or when the school would reopen.
The board also maintained its silence on the impending closure of the Math, Civics and Science charter school, located directly across the street from district headquarters. MCS CEO Veronica Joyner declared last month that she was retiring and that since she alone could run the school, it would have to close. She also declared her intention to sell the school’s building, owned by Parents United for A Better Education, an organization she heads. The board of education, rather than exerting their authority as authorizer and overseer of the city’s charter schools, offered only vague promises to help MCS students find placements in district schools. .
Parents and students attended a gathering at Math Science Civics on November 2 that had been billed as a meeting of the school’s board. But there was no agenda, no roll call of the board, and no reading of official minutes. APPS members who attended heard distraught parents and students beg for the school to stay open. The school’s lawyer announced the next day that the board voted after the meeting to close the school. There is no question that this school, according to every evaluation over the past ten years, has failed to meet basic standards and that non-renewal should have been considered. But the board of education continued to renew the school’s charter rather than consider the best interests of the students. Now they seem to be ducking the issue, allowing one person to decide the future of an allegedly public school.
One thing the board did address, briefly, was Dr. Watlington’’s report on student achievement and student and teacher attendance. BM Leticia Egea-Hinton once again asked, as she has in previous meetings, whether the daily teacher attendance numbers in his presentation include those teachers who are out on maternity leave or extended leave due to serious illness or family leave. Watlington said he would look into it.
New Mayor Will Appoint A New School Board
President Reginald Streater congratulated mayor-elect Cherelle Parker on her victory, noting that her victory as an African-American woman gives encouragement to many of the city’s students. It is likely that Parker will invoke the authority granted the mayor in the city’s Home Rule Charter and appoint an entirely new school board. Unlike voters in all other districts in the state, Philadelphians remain disenfranchised; the city has never had an elected school board.
The question now is: will Parker open up the nominating process or will she shut out the public as Mayor Jim Kenney did? And will Parker, who promises to listen to her constituents, direct her board to reverse the board’s speaker suppression policies?
GLA Reapplies Again
Charter Schools Office Director Peng Chao narrated his presentation on this year’s new charter applications. Although four individuals sent letters of intent, only one–Global Leadership Academy–actually submitted an application. Although both GLA elementary schools are located in West Philadelphia, GLA proposes to open a high school at 5210 No. Broad Street in Logan. GLA was denied its request for expansion via a high school twice in recent years. The board cited several reasons for denial, including GLA’s poor performance at its Renaissance charter, Huey Elementary. GLA’s CEO is paid more to run one school than district Superintendent Tony Watlington does to oversee 217 schools The first hearing on this application will be on December 23rd and will include public testimony. The second hearing will be scheduled in late January. The board will vote early next year on whether to grant the application.
Philadelphia Police Officers Testify on Charter Non-Renewal
The meeting’s speaker list included three Philadelphia police officers, representing “Philadelphia Police Department”, who signed up to speak on the topic of “School Safety/Southwest Leadership Academy”. All three officers, in uniform, came up together; one testified on behalf of all three. (The officers confirmed to APPS members after their testimony that they were on duty.) Their message to the board was that, as police officers, they considered Southwest Leadership Academy charter a “safe school”. SWLA has been placed in non-renewal by the board after failing to meet academic and other standards. Hearings on the matter will convene in the near future, with attorneys for both sides making their case before a hearing officer. Is the Philadelphia Police Department taking an official stance in this legal matter?
Board Continues Drive-by Voting
The most important functions of a public meeting of a governing body is to hear from the public and to conduct official business in a way that the public can understand. The board fails in both these areas. They continue to cap speakers and limit those who make it onto the list to two minutes. Their voting procedure is rushed and confusing. For an agenda with numerous items, some costing millions, the board takes two or three votes. Board members cast one vote for several items, with some voting yes, some no and some abstaining. General Counsel Lynn Rauch then tallies up the votes. This is not any way to conduct public business. To make matters worse, the board issues official minutes that show individual votes on each item, which creates the false impression that that was the way the votes were cast.
The board voted on these items 1-2, 4-5, 7-10 and 12-17 in a “consent agenda”.
Items 3, 6 and 14 were withdrawn before the meeting.
Items 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9,12, 13, 15, and 17 passed unanimously.
Items 8, 10, 14 passed 8-1 with Thompson dissenting. She said that Item 8 lacked supporting documentation; Item 10 has the same contractor receiving contracts on two of the projects. Item 16 passed 8 to 1, with BM Salley dissenting.
Items 8, 10, 14 passed 8-1 with BM Cecelia Thompson dissenting. She said that Item 8 lacked supporting documentation; Item 10 has the same contractor receiving contracts on two of the projects. Item 16 passed 8 to 1, with BM Lisa Salley dissenting.
The meeting adjourned at 7:42 pm. The December action meeting will be held on December 7 at 4 pm.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 