Category: Community engagement

President Streater, Tear Down This Wall!

Board of Education Action Meeting: November 21, 2024

by Lisa Haver

Community members protest Board’s vote on Sixers arena TIF (Photo: Lisa Haver)

Parents, students, educators and community members came to November’s board meeting to be heard on many issues: student censorship, funding to save extra-curricular activities, school closings, renewal of substandard charter schools, restoring school librarians, and the board’s vote on tax breaks for developers of the proposed arena at Chinatown’s door. They hoped to find a board that would be open to their concerns and respond to them. They found, instead, a board that had built a wall around itself, ramped up security measures, and attempted to intimidate public speakers. Outside the auditorium they encountered a table for people to sign in and be issued an identification sticker to be worn during the meeting. Inside had been erected a barrier between the audience and the board, with security staff positioned on both sides of public speakers. Board members now enter and exit through a door on their side of the barrier. There was no opportunity for any contact between board members and their constituents. All of this was an apparent reaction by the board to the protest at the October meeting, during which the board left the meeting and re-convened in a locked room. The board’s bunker-like mentality violates its own Guardrail 2: “Every parent and guardian will be welcomed and encouraged to be partners in their child’s school community.”

Continue reading about the November board meeting here.

Board Outsources Extended Year Programs

Board of Education Action Meeting: June 27, 2024

by Lisa Haver

APPS member Lynda Rubin testifies at June 27 board meeting (Photo: Lisa Haver)

APPS members have asked the Board of Education many times, most recently at its June 13 “community hearing” at Rush middle school earlier this month, why they set up so few chairs for the public at their monthly meeting. In an auditorium that holds 240 people, there have been only 140 chairs. At this meeting, the board set up only 102 chairs. Why? The board raised the issue during the meeting of how they can improve public engagement, yet they have no explanation why room for the public shrinks with every meeting.

Board Outsources Extended Year Programs 
The board also raised the issue of public engagement when they discussed the pilot program for an extended school at 20 district schools. The district sent out emails to staff at the 20 designated schools on June 24–almost two weeks after schools closed for the summer. Many teachers found out when the email, sent by Deputy Superintendent Germaine Dawson, was reported in news stories and posted on social media. In addition, the Watlington administration has not sent emails to parents at the designated schools. On Thursday, hours before the board meeting, Mayor Cherelle Parker held a news conference to launch the pilot program for year-round school, a signature plank in her campaign platform. She was adamant, however, that reporters not refer to it as “year-round school”, saying that it was limited, at this time, to more extended day and extended year services. Parker expressed frustration that the story was “leaked”, but the fact is that her administration failed to communicate with those who would be involved, including the PFT, whose spokesperson told the Inquirer that they were “still awaiting direct communication” from the administration” about the program. The lack of coordination between the Watlington and Parker administration, and the failure of both to communicate with affected parties before the announcement, raised concerns about the success of the year-round initiative.

Read more about June 27 2024 action meeting.