1 The School District of Philadelphia Board of Education Public Meeting Minutes June 1, 2023 A special public meeting of the Board of Education was held in hybrid format on June 1, 2023. Some Board Members, select staff, and some registered speakers participated in-person, while others participated remotely. Members of the general public who did not attend in-person participated via Zoom meeting platform. The meeting was convened at 4:00 p.m., by Reginald L. Streater Esquire, President. President Streater reported and commented on the following: ● Acknowledgement and Congratulations to the School District of Philadelphia’s Class of 2023 ● Well wishes to educators, staff, students and families a safe and happy summer ● Expressed appreciation to members of the Board who have taken the time to visit several schools this year and who have participated in School District events and celebrations
Vice President Fix-Lopez made announcements concerning recording, copyright, participation in, and viewing of the meeting. Roll Call, Minutes, Announcements Kimberly Dutch, Deputy General Counsel, Compliance & Ethics, announced that the Board met in Executive Session today to discuss privileged, confidential quasi-judicial matters related to charter school matters. Ms. Dutch conducted Roll Call. Members Present: Ms. Andrews, Ms. Danzy, Ms. Egea-Hinton , Ms. Lam, Vice President Fix-Lopez, Ms. Salley, President Streater, Ms. Thompson (remotely), Ms. Wilkerson – 9 Members Absent: Sophia Roach, Non-Voting Student Board Representatives - 1 Attending: Tony B. Watlington, Ed.D, Superintendent The minutes from the May 25, 2023 meeting of the Board of Education were presented for approval. Yes: Ms. Andrews, Ms. Danzy, Ms. Egea-Hinton , Ms. Lam, Vice President Fix-Lopez, Ms. Salley, President Streater, Ms. Thompson (remotely), Ms. Wilkerson – 9 No: 0
2 Superintendent Remarks President Streater invited Dr. Watlington to provide remarks. Dr. Watlington reported/commented on: ● Recognition of the Jeremy Grant-Skinner, Deputy Superintendent for Talent, Strategy, and Culture ● Overview of revisions to strategic actions as it relates to the Accelerate Philly Strategic Plan. Strategic Actions highlighted includes: ○ Communications and Community Engagement Strategy ● Highlighted key Fiscal Strategic Actions within Fiscal Year 24 Dr. Watlington responded to questions raised by Board Members. Copies of presentations are included within the meeting agenda. Public Testimony and General Speakers Board Member Salley acknowledged the receipt of and summarized written testimony submitted to the Board from: ● 3 members of the Chester Arthur School Community ● Katherine Donner ● Melissa Donner ● Nicole Hart ● Jennifer Guerrero ● Horace Clouden ● Donna Sharer Complete copies of the written testimony are included within the meeting agenda.
The meeting was opened to the public for presentation of statements by registered students, elected, and general speakers. Ms. Dutch provided the applicable provisions of the speakers’ policy for the meeting. Ms. Dutch called general speakers: Lisa Haver, community member, expressed concerns regarding the Board’s decision to withdraw Action Item 8 - Adoption of Strategic Plan for The School District of Philadelphia - Updated 5.19.2023/Updated 5.24.2023/Updated 5.25.2023 [REVIEW - NO ACTION TAKEN] from the May 25, 2023 Board of Education meeting. Ms Haver also expressed concerns regarding community engagement, speaker suppression, the number of individuals allowed in the auditorium during the Board of Education meeting, and the Board’s decision to vote on action items on a consent agenda. Deborah Grill, community member, spoke about priority area 3 advocating for school library programs staffed by certified school librarians.
Horace Clouden, community member, expressed disappointment in his family not being recognized for their contribution to advocating for the reopening of Sayre pool. Mr. Clouden also expressed concerns regarding teacher attendance. Kristin Luebbert, district staff member, expressed concern regarding building conditions, the decision to run a pilot year round school programs and the impact that building conditions have on the District's ability to achieve the goals and visions set out in the strategic plan. Mrs. Lubbert also spoke about QTEL (Quality
3 Teaching for English Learners) noting that the professional development was one of the best she has taken in her 21 years of being a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia and urged the District to make the training available during the school year. Michael Phelts, expressed concerns regarding budget allocations being associated with areas in the Accelerate Philly strategic plan. Mr. Phelts urged the Board to not approve the strategic plan until the plan has been updated to include budget allocations. Dawn Chavous, community member, spoke about charter leaders' request for the Board to work to create and develop more equitable charter school authorizing practices. Mrs. Chavous also spoke about the ongoing investigation into allegations and concerns raised regarding charter school authorizing and the Charter Schools Office. Lauryn Jones, community member, spoke about the composition of charter school teachers and
highlighted that the majority of charter school teachers were black and brown as reported by Research For Action and Pennsylvania Department of Education. Ms. Jones also spoke about the disappearance of black owned charter schools in black and brown communities and stated that no further decisions regarding charter schools should be made by the Board of Education using the current charter school regulatory and oversight system. Dr. Naomi Booker, community member, spoke to address the Board’s decision to vote to deny the application for Global Leadership Academy International Charter High School and demanded a public hearing by the Board of Education to identify the gaps listed within the submitted application. Dr. Booker also shared that she has restructured two failing schools. Dr. Booker spoke about the improvement and growth of Global Leadership Academy at Huey and shared that Global Academies is not a management company.
Latonya Diggs-Clay, parent/guardian, expressed the need for a virtual option for Pre-K students and urged the Board and District to provide all parents with an alternative to in-person learning noting that all parents are not comfortable with their children returning to in-person learning. Lynda Rubin, community member, spoke about the emphasis being placed on student and teacher attendance over the last few Board meetings and stated that it seems to be top down monitoring pointing blame at the teachers and students. Ms. Rubin questioned the lack of oversight or search for over 3000 students who dropped out of school. Ms. Rubin also spoke the Board of Education’s speakers procedures and policy. (Mama) Gail Clouden, community member, encouraged Board Members to meet with Omar Tyree, a famous author and teacher from Philadelphia. Mama Gail also invited Board members and those in attendance to meet the great great grandson of Fredrick Douglass and the great great grandson of John
Broad at Strawberry Mansion High School on June 15, 2023. Mama Gail also spoke about her husband’s experience as a building engineer for the School District of Philadelphia. Leah Clouden, community member, expressed concern regarding teachers' effort to teach children and teacher absences and the impact that it has on children. Ms. Clouden also spoke about the lack of African American teachers in the school district and spoke about the importance of students seeing teachers who look like them in the classroom. Barbara Dowdall, alumnae, spoke about June 7, 2023 as advocacy day to urge lawmakers in Harrisburg to pass a fair budget. Ms. Dowdall also spoke in support of the upcoming proposed school file change to name a school after Marian Anderson and shared the history of Sadie Tanner Mossell.
4 Goals & Guardrails Board Member Danzy introduced and facilitated the Board’s Goals and Guardrails monitoring session to review progress on Goal 4, High School and Goal 5, Career and Technical Education. Board Member Danzy noted that the Board expects the District to tell a story with the data, presenting a clear picture of (1) where we were (2) where we are now (3) and where we’re going. Dr. Watlington invited Dr. Tonya Wolford, Chief of Evaluation, Research, and Accountability and Dr. Tomás Hanna, Associate Superintendent – Secondary to provide an overview of high schools student performance. Dr. Wolford provided an overview of Goal 4: The percentage of students who are proficient on all three state high school assessments (Algebra, Literature, and Biology) by the end of their 11th grade year.and highlighted the indicators associated with the Goal. Indicators for Goal 4 are 4.1 The percentage of students in grades 9-11 who score at or above grade-level on the District’s within-year
math and reading assessment (Star) in Fall, Winter, and Spring each year and 4.2 The percentage of students who are proficient on all three state high school assessments by the end of their 10th grade year. Dr. Wolford also provided an overview of Goal 5: The percentage of Career and Technical Education (CTE) students who pass an industry standards-based competency assessment by the end of their 12th grade year highlighting the related indicators which include 5.1 The percentage of 11th grade CTE students who pass their CTE Level 2 coursework (with a grade of A or B) and 5.2 The percentage of 10th grade CTE students who pass their CTE Level 1 coursework (with a grade of A or B). Dr. Hanna provided an overview of the progress monitoring data for Goals 4 and 5 highlighting that The percent of students scoring proficient on all three Keystones (Algebra, Literature, and Biology) by 11th grade increased since 2018-19, in part due to Covid-19 exemptions issued by PDE. Likewise, Dr. Hanna
noted that at the same time, the District’s within-year screener performance decreased from last year and did not change from Fall to Winter this year. Additionally, Dr. Hanna reported that while annual NOCTI performance was increasing in the years before the pandemic, there was a decline of 11 percentage points from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Lastly, Dr. Hanna shared that the percentage of CTE students in 10th and 11th grade earning As and Bs in CTE coursework has increased over the last three years. Dr. Wolford and Dr. Hanna shared background information on Goals 4 & 5 noting the importance of college and career readiness and career and technical education. Dr. Wolford and Dr. Hanna also shared information on the number of career and technical education programs currently offered to students across the District. In alignment with the request of the Board of Education as shared by Board Member
Danzy, Dr. Wolford and Dr. Hanna provided additional information highlighting where the District has been, where the District is currently, and where the District is going as it relates to high school performance and Goals 4 & 5. This information included ways in which the District continues to support students as they pursue one of the five graduation pathways under Act 158, highlighting initiatives such as 9th grade academies, 9th Grade Success Network (partnership with PAI), Summer and Year-Long Credit Recovery, and Dual Enrollment. Following Dr. Watlington and team’s presentation, the Board engaged in a discussion as well as a question and answer period. Board Members asked clarifying questions to better understand the ways Vice President Fix-Lopez provided a summary of the presentation highlighting that progress toward goals 4 is up by 3.5 percentage points since 2018-2019 school year while progress toward Goals 5 has trended in
the opposite direction with an 11.2 percentage point decrease since the 2018-2019 school year. Vice President Fix-Lopez stated that the Board has accepted the Superintendent’s report on the progress towards Goal 4, High School and Goal 5, Career and Technical Education. Vice President Fix-Lopez shared that the current data is not in alignment with the Board’s expectations and shared that there is a need for significant improvements. Vice President Fix-Lopez shared that there are system wide efforts that are targeting the needs to help the District improvement overall but also highlighted the CTE specific strategies that are impacting the data such as student attendance, consistency in curriculum, professional
5 learning communities having protected time periods to be used to focus on the data, concerns around student access to dual enrollment and targeting student who may be interested. Vice President Fix-Lopez also shares that there's a need for clarity around how the District understands and/or defines gateways to college and asks that this information be clarified and provided. Additionally, Vice President Fix-Lopez highlighted specific strategies such as 9th grade academies noting that the data is not readily available to support that this is widely successful given that it hasn’t been studied enough yet there is some evidence that the target 9th grade school networks have potential and that the District wants to keep pushing forward with this targeted strategy. Moreover, Vice President Fix-Lopez noted that the Board should expect to see an action item connected to the 9th grade school networks for expansion of the program
and shared that it is important that the District continue to dig deep into the data to better understand where breakdowns are occurring. Consideration of Action Items President Streater described the process of how Action Items would be presented for consideration: Board Member Salley asked a clarifying question to better understand the most appropriate timeframe to check in on the progress of the strategic plan, when to expect changes to organizational structure. Dr. Watlington provided a response President Streater shared that he is encouraged by Dr. Watlington’s decision to bring forward a strategic plan to the Board of Education for a vote and thanked everyone who invested their time and passion into developing the strategic plan.
Item No. 1. Adoption of Strategic Plan for The School District of Philadelphia - Updated 5.31.2023 Yes: Ms. Andrews, Ms. Danzy, Ms. Egea-Hinton , Ms. Lam, Vice President Fix-Lopez, Ms. Salley, President Streater, Ms. Thompson,Ms. Wilkerson – 9 No: 0 Adjournment President Streater announced that the Board will hold its next public business meeting on June 29, 2023, at 4:00 p.m., via hybrid format. On motion, the meeting was adjourned at 7:27pm Reginald L. Streater, Esq., President Board of Education Tony Watlington, Ed.D. Superintendent