Will Board of Education Act on Public Demands?

Special Hearing:  May 20, 2021

by Diane Payne

When District governance returned to the local Board of Education in 2018, the amended Philadelphia Home Rule Charter required the Board to hold at least two annual public hearings for the sole purpose of hearing public testimony. No voting on any official Item takes place. The Board has now held both even though the year is not yet half over.  All members of the Board, both student representatives, and Dr. Hite attended.  The Board changed the speaker rules again, allowing all who signed up to speak and allotting them three minutes. Next week, at the official Action Meeting, when the Board conducts official business, we expect the Board to reinstate its speaker suppression policy with a limited number of speakers, all cut off at two minutes. Technical problems that appeared to be outside the District’s control delayed the start of the meeting for almost half an hour. The Board added a zoom link to the website because the TV channels were not broadcasting and announced that via social media. Unfortunately, families that did not have the required technology were not able to observe or attend.

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Ears on the Board of Education: April 22, 2021

by Lisa Haver and Lynda Rubin

The Board continued its repressive speaker policy by excluding four APPS members from speaking at this meeting. Their topics were also excluded. The sign-up window opened at 5 PM Monday and closed just a few hours later, so it is likely that many other members of the public were not heard.  Education activists who can only speak every other month are now limited to an average of one minute per month to speak before the Board votes on items representing hundreds of millions of dollars.  

APPS did achieve some victories.  The Board voted to withdraw the Item to grant KIPP Charters several amendments including enrollment expansion.  APPS had written a letter outlining the many issues, beginning with the various names of the school on different websites, asking that the Item be withdrawn until the facts were sorted out by the CSO and presented for public scrutiny, including the reasons why the CSO was recommending that KIPP’s entire request be granted. APPS had also communicated to the Board in written testimony, letters and research reports about why they should vote to proceed with the non-renewals of Universal Bluford and Daroff charter schools. The Board voted for non-renewal.  

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APPS and Community Members Speak Before the Board of Education 4.22.2021

Transparent Budget Process Needed; Reverse Speaker Procedure; Deny Item 4 KIPP Schools

by Karel Kilimnik

Equity in Resources–Certified Teacher Librarians

by Barbara McDowell Dowdall

Nuanced Compassion of Caring Adults

by Ilene Poses

Equitable Resources and a People’s Master Facilities Plan

by Akira Drake Rodriguez

Invest in Our Children

by Molly McGlone

Will Budget Office Cherry-Pick Results to Fit Their Priorities?

by Daniel Scholnick

Do the Right Thing to Gain Back Community Trust

by Stephanie Fahringer

Policy Committee Meeting: April 15, 2021

by Lynda Rubin

The Board of Education abolished its Parent and Community Engagement Committee one year after its inception, having held only two meetings.  Last year, the Board eliminated two more, the Finance and Facilities Committee and the Student Achievement and Support Committee. Only the Policy Committee remains, meeting not monthly, but quarterly. The Board had established the four committees with the promise of more transparency and dialogue with parents, educators, students and community members about proposed action items and general issues of concern. 

President Joyce Wilkerson and Maria McColgan co-chaired this meeting. Board members Reginald Streater, Mallory Fix Lopez, Cecelia Thompson, Angela McGiver, Julia Danzy, Leticia Egea-Hinton, and Lisa Salley attended, along with Student Representative Keylisha Diaz. 

The agenda included proposed revisions of Policy 105, Curriculum Development; Policy 206, Assignment of students within the District; Policy 614, Payroll Authorization; Policy 616, Payments; and Policy 704, Maintenance. Policy 705, Workplace and Construction Project Safety, was amended. New policies are Policy 708, Environmental Management and Policy, and Policy 800, Records Management. The elimination of Policy 909, Municipal Government Relations, was also on the agenda. McColgan announced that the Board would not vote on these actions until after the third reading, this meeting being the first.

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