APPS Reports on the Board of Ed – Page 36 – Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools

Ears on the Board of Education, November 21, 2019

by Diane Payne

The eight APPS members in attendance, along with our supporters, stood and read in unison our legal objection to the Board’s ongoing violations of the PA Sunshine Act–this month the secret vote on the Boys Latin Charter School renewal. This Board votes on all charter school issues (and only charter school issues) without providing the text of the Action Item or reading the text of the Item into the record. This is tantamount to voting in secret because the public has no information on the details on this item at the time of the vote. President Wilkerson attempted to gavel and talk over us, thus failing to acknowledge the Board’s obligation to listen to members of the public formally objecting under Section 710(c) of the PA Sunshine Act.

About a dozen school nurses showed up to protest the mismanagement of Health Services in the District. The eloquent and comprehensive testimonies of the nurses showed once again that Philadelphia school nurses are highly professional, credentialed, and competent.

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Finance and Facilities Committee: November 14, 2019

by Lisa Haver

This Committee meeting, the second of three consecutive meetings on this day, presented a great deal of new and updated information. Committee members answered few of the questions asked by public speakers. Staff presentations were not posted prior to the meeting, nor were hard copies of Action Items provided at the meeting. In violation of the Board’s speaker policy, some speakers were granted more time than others.

Present: Co-chairs Leticia Egea-Hinton and Lee Huang, Committee members Joyce Wilkerson and Wayne Walker. Board members Julia Danzy , Mallory Fix Lopez, Angela McIver , Maria McColgan and Chris McGinley also attended. Minutes of the October 10 meeting were approved by voice vote.

First item on the Agenda: an update on construction at Benjamin Franklin High School that has necessitated the indefinite relocation of both Ben Franklin and SLA students. This brought a rare appearance by Dr. Hite, who is usually represented at Committee meetings by Chief of Staff Naomi Wyatt.

Huang opened by stating that the Board has been carefully monitoring the situation at Ben Franklin. He asked Hite to give more comprehensive report at the Action Meeting. Rather than respond to Huang’s question, Hite asked Chief Financial Officer Uri Monson to give an update on classroom leveling. Monson gave a brief report and promised more details later in the meeting.

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Ears on the Board of Education: October 17, 2019

by Diane Payne

This meeting’s agenda held two hot-button items. Two Renaissance charter schools, Aspira Olney High School and Aspira Stetson Middle School, had been recommended for non-renewal twice, in 2016 and 2019, as a result of Aspira’s failure to meet academic, financial, and organizational standards. Aspira’s admittedly improper, often fraudulent, financial practices had been well documented in the local media since 2013. APPS members had testified, written letters, and appealed to local elected officials to resolve the Aspira matter after postponements by both the SRC and the Board. The District held 16 days of legal hearings last Spring in which lawyers for Olney and Stetson failed to refute the many deficiencies exposed by the Charter School Office (CSO). Rudolph Garcia, who presided over those hearings, had presented his report to the Board last week. Garcia echoed the CSO’s recommendation for non-renewal. Aspira brought staff, parents and students to fight for continued Aspira control of the schools, touting the improved climate at the schools. But last-minute personal testimonies do not negate extensive documentation of the many flagrant deficiencies across all domains at these two charter schools.

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