Tag: Facilities Master Plan

Board Passes $4.9 Billion Budget, Community Questions Priorities

by Lisa Haver

Board of Education Action Meeting, May 28, 2026

APPS member Deborah Grill testifies at May 28 Board of Education meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

As a result of the Board of Education’s speaker suppression policies, over half of the 30 public speakers were representatives of charter schools, 6 from the same school. Several charter CEOs, who have daily access to the board’s Charter Schools Office, took speaker slots, including both Global Leadership Academy CEOs. Recent IRS information shows the GLA CEO making over $500,000 in annual salary/compensation/bonus; GLA Huey CEO made $378,000. Although APPS has raised these issues for years, the board says little about exorbitant administrative salaries, questionable financial practices, and failure to reach minimum academic ratings. In fact, the board exempted the entire charter sector from its $3 billion, ten-year Facilities Master Plan. 

Board Passes $4.6 Budget
The board voted 8-0 to pass the administration’s combined $4.6 billion budget for FY 2026-27 in Item 12 (BM Wanda Novales was absent). The board passed Item 15 by a vote of 7-1, approving the Amended Capital Budget for FY 2025-26, adoption of a Capital Budget for FY 2026-27, and a Capital Program for 2027-32. BM ChauWing Lam voted No on Item 15, citing some “lingering questions”. The 5-year Capital Improvement Plan includes some projects proposed in the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) passed by the board last month. Lam questioned Deputy Superintendent of Operations Oz HIll about why the budget details as presented to the board did not include construction of the new high school in the Northeast that was proposed in the FMP. Hill responded that as yet there was no funding for the school. Actually that is true of most of the projects in the FMP. APPS’ analysis of the FMP shows that at least ⅔ of the funding would come from additional revenues from the state (even though the budget presented at this meeting shows lower revenue from the state) and from unnamed philanthropic sources. BM Whitney Jones, who voted No on the FMP, remarked that the administration’s “intentions are exceeding revenues” and asked how they would fulfill the specific promises of the FMP. He asked Board President Reginald Streater to allow for regular updates on those metrics.

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Board Votes in Private Meeting to Approve Facilities Plan

Board of Education Action Meeting: April 23 and April 30, 2026

by Lisa Haver

APPS members protest at April 30 Board of Education meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

At the April 30 action meeting, board members finally addressed their constituents on the district’s proposed Facilities Master Plan. Some had attended the public meetings held over the past 18 months  as observers. They did not respond to  testimony given by students, parents, educators and community members at board meetings and town halls over the past 3 months. Not until this meeting, continued from April 23, did board members disclose their positions on the plan. Board President Reginald Streater, on the other hand, had made his position clear early in the process, before public meetings had ended, in City Council hearings and in an Inquirer op-ed.The district brought in heavy police protection, including bike cops who lined up outside the board’s first floor office. An additional metal detector was set up outside the auditorium. Philadelphia police blocked some elected officials from entering the auditorium. Some on the speaker list were able to access microphones, others were not. In the end, most board members betrayed their constituents, voting to pass a plan that had close to 100% opposition. The board of education is unelected and unaccountable. If the plan fails, there is no mechanism by which they can be held responsible.

Continue reading about April 30 board meeting here.