Category: School Board transparancy

Board Members Silent on Facilities Plan, School Closings

Board of Education Action Meeting: January 29, 2026

by Lisa Haver

Board Member Crystal Cubbage the only Board Member visible and present during public testimony of APPS Member Kristin Luebbert. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

The students showed up. So did the parents, teachers, principals, and community members who packed the auditorium at 440. Who didn’t show up? Most of the members of the Board of Education. Only President Reginald Streater and Vice-president Sarah-Ashley Andrews attended in person. Board Members Wanda Novales, Whitney Jones and Joan Stern were absent. Joyce Wilkerson, Crystal Cubbage and Chou-Wing Lam could be seen intermittently on the screen but were not fully present even virtually; Lam was visible for less than 15 minutes throughout.. Cheryl Harper never appeared; her voice could be heard occasionally. Board of Education Policy 006.1, Meetings, clearly states that members may attend remotely if they “participate in the entire meeting”. Board members “must be visible on the screen”; if they step away “they must notify the Board’s Chief of Staff or their designee.” The board violated all of these provisions. The board did not have a quorum as only the two members in the auditorium were fully present. The board must re-vote on all of the action items at a subsequent meeting. The board’s disrespect for the public, especially after the release of a potentially devastating facilities plan, is unacceptable. 

Continue to read about January 29, 2026 Action Meeting here.


Board Must Be Honest with Constituents

November 20, 2025: Board Action Meeting

by Lisa Haver

APPS member Deborah Grill testifies at November board meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

The members of the Board of Education, as the governing body of the School District of Philadelphia, must be honest with their constituents. They must direct security staff at 440 not to let some people into the auditorium before others, then lie about whether they are going to bar people who are not on the speaker list. Board President Reginald Streater must stop announcing that people “blocking” the center aisle are in violation of the fire code. APPS challenged him months ago to cite the relevant provision in the city fire code; he could not,  because there is none. The board should replace the almost 100 seats they removed from the auditorium, then they could no longer have their security claim that the room is “at capacity”. The board should stop holding long recesses during the meeting and   “tech” issues. Most important: don’t promise the public for over a year that the facilities plan will be released in November, then go back on it when that time comes. Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr. should not write in district presentations in 2024 that closing schools is not because of budget issues, then the next year imply that long-term underfunding of the district is the reason. The stakeholders of the district deserve the truth.

Continue reading here about November 20, 2025 Board of Education Meeting.

Public School Board Bars Public School Parents, Educators from Speaking and Attending

Board of Education Action Meeting: June 26, 2025

by Lisa Haver

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell, 1984

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CASA President Robin Cooper testifies at June 26 action meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

A governing body convenes an action meeting. They listen to a presentation from the director of a department they oversee. The president of the board raises each issue, and members of the board comment and question. The president then calls on each member to give their position. He tallies the responses, then directs the department chief to carry out the action that the majority of the board voted for. Except when the Philadelphian Board of Education does this, according to Board President Reginald Streater, it’s not voting. True, the terms “motion”,  “roll call” , and “vote” were not used. But the board came to decisions on the futures of six charter schools in the renewal cohort after listening to Charter Schools Chief Peng Chao and deliberating on the information presented.  Streater called on each member to state their position on whether the school would be granted a 5-year renewal, a 1-year renewal, or no renewal. He counted their responses, then directed Chao on what type of document to draw up. How is that not voting? Every time APPS members called out that the board was voting, even though none of those charter items had been placed on the agenda, Streater insisted they were not.  The dictionary definition of the word “vote”: a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or courses of action, expressed typically through a ballot or a show of hands or by voice. The public’s faith in this board continues to erode because of its lack of transparency and public engagement, along with its reluctance to hold the administration accountable. Now they want to tell people not to believe what they see and hear with their own eyes and ears. 

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Board Rigs Meeting for Special Interests

Board of Education Action Meeting: May 29, 2025

by Lisa Haver

Legal Notice on page B2 in May 28,2025 Philadelphia Inquirer

In this era of authoritarianism, the will of the people is too often subverted to the will of the wealthy and powerful. Despite polls that show a majority of Americans do not support the privatization of public schools, and the overwhelming defeat of voucher proposal referenda in several states, politicians have found a way to overrule the voters and impose anti-public school measures. And despite the growing evidence that an increasing number of the city’s parents are rejecting charter schools, including under–enrollment at over half of the city’s charters, Philadelphia’s Board of Education voted to approve a new application, one they had previously voted to deny. Their convoluted and dishonest justifications served only to underscore how much they had betrayed their constituents for the benefit of the politically connected special interests. That reason, among others, is why APPS members called on Mayor Cherelle Parker to ask for the resignations of the members of the board. 

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