Tag: Facilities Planning Process

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.

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Board Postpones Votes on Tax Abatements for Developers

Board of Education Action Meeting: August 21, 2025

by Lisa Haver

Photo: Lisa Haver

In his remarks at the August action meeting, Superintendent Tony Watlington warned of the impending SEPTA service cuts that are scheduled to go into effect on Monday, the first day of school for students. He promised that schools would not mark students late, at least for the first week or so. Yet Watlington presented no plan for getting to school the 52,000 district students who use SEPTA if the transit system goes through with eliminating over thirty of the city’s bus routes; no member of the board asked Watlington for any plan. He encouraged parents to carpool and to make use of the district’s $300.00 allotment for driving their children to school, but he provided no details on that program. Nor did he provide any guidance for parents and guardians who do not own cars. Many parents will walk their children to bus stops at which they will see a notice that no bus will be coming–that day or ever. Is the administration coordinating in any way with SEPTA to direct students and parents to a working bus route? Is the district planning to email parents and guardians–many of whom may not be aware of the service cuts? What’s the plan? Where is the leadership?

Ilene Poses contributed to this report.

Board Hears Only One Side on KOZ Abatements
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Principals and Community Rally to Stop “Budget Massacre”

Ears on the Board of Education: March 24, 2022

by

Diane Payne

The District principals’ union Teamsters 502 CASA, supported by the PFT, POWER, APPS and other member organizations of OCOS, held a rally on the steps of 440 to tell the Board of Education, as it convened its action meeting, that we will fight against the District’s proposed budget cuts for next school year. That same message was delivered by those who waited for hours to testify, including principals, teachers, and parents. As we have seen in the past, the administration’s budget presentation did not align with the reality of the educators whose resources will be slashed. 

It is heartening to see the increasing number of community members attending in person. There is no better way to hold our  government officials accountable than to show up to cheer, jeer, hold signs, and clap in support of our public schools.  The Board has used the pandemic to elude accountability and increase speaker suppression. Voters in 499 districts in Pennsylvania elect their school board but Philadelphians remain disenfranchised.  APPS members will continue to attend in person, and we  encourage all defenders of public education to join us. 

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