Category: school closings

Nobody Wants This, They Don’t Care

Board of Education Action Meeting: February 26, 2026

by Lisa Haver

Robeson High School teacher Andrew Saltz testifies at February action meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

“Passing this facilities plan would be an egregious breach of trust by the board.”
West Philadelphia Community Member Leah Clouden

Not for the first time, Philadelphia students put the adults in charge to shame. They came with facts and data that disproved the district’s misinformation. They came with well-reasoned arguments about why closing their school makes no sense. They came with charts and maps that clearly illustrate their position that their schools should remain open. They presented data that showed that Black students would be harmed most by losing their schools. This in contrast to Superintendent Tony Watlington, whose rambling, tangent-filled 31-minute speech was one of the reasons this meeting did not adjourn until early Friday morning. Parents, educators, and community members packed the meeting. They were joined by elected officials including City Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier, Jeffery Young, Quetcy Lozada and Cindy Bass, along with State Senators Anthony Williams and Sharif Street and State Representative Daresha Parker. All spoke against the plan and any school closings. The board, for the second month in a row, violated its own by-laws by marking present one board member, Chou-Wing Lam, despite the fact that she was seen by the public on screen for less than half an hour total during the 8-hour-plus meeting. She was not present for the public testimony, yet she was allowed to cast a vote for all action items. APPS did score one victory: after repeated emails to the board, they restored to the auditorium the almost 100 seats they had removed last year.

Read more about February Board of Education meeting here.

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.

Board of Education Stonewalls Community on School Closings

by Lisa Haver

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Distract staff preset data packets for community members at Bluford Elementary. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

At its September 2024 Action Meeting, the Board of Education, by unanimous vote, approved contracts with two consulting companies totaling $4,880,918. The board approved a one-year  $430,000 contract with Brownstone PR and Insight Education Group, LLC for “Community Engagement and Facilitation Support”. Purpose: “For support in community engagement and the facilitation of advisory groups and a working group related to the Facilities Planning Process”. They also hired DLR Group Inc. for “Facilities Planning Services” for $4,450,918; one-year contract for “development of a comprehensive Facilities  including Facility Condition Assessments, Educational Suitability Assessments, updated enrollment projections, and stakeholder engagement. 

One year later, at its August 2025 Action Meeting, the board unanimously ratified a $404,626 contract extension with Aramark, Inc. for “Facilities Assessment for Phase III”. According to meeting agenda attachments: “The facilities planning data warehouse has been completed and is currently hosted by Aramark.” 

Continue reading here