The vote to fire Philip Leddy, who had been principal of Lower Gwynedd Elementary, was unanimous.
Sue Kanopka, the former Lower Gwynedd principal who had been promoted to curriculum supervisor for the school system, will return as acting principal.
Dan Strauss, a board member who is Jewish, said at the special board meeting he was pleased with the board’s swift actions around Leddy.
“This incident was something that was extremely personal for me and my family, and I witnessed you acting swiftly and decisively, leaving no room for doubt that antisemitism has no place in our district,” said Strauss, a Democrat. “I’ve also personally had a chance to speak with the parent who received the voicemail, and they’ve shared with me that even though this has been a dark moment for their family, immediate and continued response from the district has been overwhelmingly supportive.”
Officials with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia have said that in the recording, Leddy was heard saying something about “Jew money” and that “they [Jews] control the banks.”
Leddy was asked if the parent he was speaking to was a lawyer and then remarked, “the odds probably are good.”
District officials said Leddy, who could not be reached for comment, acknowledged that he made the call, thought it had disconnected, and continued speaking.
No actions were taken Tuesday against the other staff member who was present when Leddy made his comments, but who allegedly did not report them. That staffer has been placed on leave as the matter is investigated.
No members of the community spoke in support of Leddy.
One resident, Jesse Klein, called his swift firing “a public shaming and execution,” contrasting what he saw as a difference in Wissahickon’s responses to Leddy’s comments and its response to some Jewish parents’ concerns over the district’s handing of student discourse about the Israel-Hamas war and the pro-Palestinian movement.
Klein and Danielle Parmenter, a Wissahickon resident and a rabbi, said those concerns have been minimized.
“That inconsistency is deeply destabilizing, and it erodes trust,” Parmenter said.
Leddy’s firing “was necessary,” Parmenter said. “Antisemitism must never be tolerated, especially from those entrusted with the care of children.”
Carmina Taylor, another Wissahickon resident, said the Black community is “in support of the way you’ve handled the situation, and how you’re trying to have a meeting of healing for the Jewish community, but understand that the Black community is also hurting for the way we’ve been treated over the years. … We hope that you’re mindful of our concerns as well.”
Sonia Lewis endured the worst year of her life when she was a senior in high school — her mother almost died and Lewis had to step up to take care of her family.
But the principal and teachers at her Philadelphia high school lifted her up, helped her get to college, and Lewis took care of the rest — multiple advanced degrees, a thriving career, a national profile.
As Lewis racked up accomplishments, it was always in the back of her mind to return the favor to her school, somehow.
“For me, who I am today is really a huge part is Bodine High School,” she said.
Bodine High School for International Affairs senior students cheer after learning former student, Dr. Sonia Lewis, donated $16,200 to cover senior school fees on Friday, December 19, 2025. Dr. Lewis is giving back after the Northern Liberties high school helped her during a difficult time, while she was a student 20-yrs-ago.
So on a December day, Lewis walked into the auditorium of the Philadelphia School District magnet school with a surprise — the largest donation ever given to the nonprofit that supports Bodine. She gave $16,200 to cover the bulk of every senior’s class dues — funds that most students struggle to pay.
Aaliyah Bolden, a Bodine 12th grader, was jubilant after the announcement.
“I’m just so grateful,” Bolden said. “Coming from an underrepresented community and having financial hardships, this just makes a big difference to me.”
‘Can you work with me?’
Lewis was a standout student at Bodine, an international affairs high school in Northern Liberties. She was class president, active in student government, a strong student in the Class of 2005, a leader.
She was raised by her single mother and grandmother, both Philadelphia teachers, told from a very young age that she was college-bound.
But when Lewis was 16, her priorities shifted, out of necessity. Her mother was gravely ill with bacterial meningitis and other complications. Her grandmother had just beaten cancer, but it fell to Lewis to advocate for her mother, to take her to appointments, to navigate the healthcare system on her behalf. She worked three jobs to help bridge financial gaps.
School just could not be at the top of her priority list.
Dr. Sonia Lewis takes a seat before speaking to Bodine High School for International Affairs senior students on Friday, December 19, 2025. Dr. Lewis gifted $16,200 for the 2026 senior class, to cover senior school fees. Dr. Lewis is giving back after the Northern Liberties high school helped her during a difficult time, while she was a student 20-yrs-ago.
“I had to tell my high school, ‘These are my circumstances. I’m going to have to leave school to make some of these appointments,’” Lewis said. “I was just really clear with everyone at Bodine about what I needed, and I said, ‘Can you work with me?’”
They did. But some deadlines are firm, and Lewis missed the federal student-aid loan deadline because her mother had just gotten out of a coma, had cognitive issues, and was unable to gather the necessary information or complete the form.
“I had to become the mom,” Lewis said. “I would have to ask her, ‘Did you brush your teeth today?’ Nobody was thinking of the FAFSA.”
As students’ college acceptances were rolling in, Bodine’s principal noticed that there were none for Lewis. The principal asked her what was happening.
Lewis’ grandmother contemplated taking out a mortgage on her house to send her to college, but Lewis was too practical for that.
“I told the principal, ‘We don’t have any money. We missed the deadline,’” she said. “There was no money coming in from my mom. We had my grandmother’s retirement, but that wasn’t enough.”
Lewis figured she would work for a year, saving money and filling out the FAFSA form for the next cycle. But Karen P. Hill, the principal, just shook her head.
A busybody for good
The principal’s plan became evident at Bodine’s senior awards ceremony, Lewis remembers, when “they just kept calling my name” as prizes were announced.
At the end of the evening, Lewis walked off with an envelope full of checks totaling $16,000 — enough to allow her to enroll at Bloomsburg University and pay her first year’s tuition.
Once she got to Bloomsburg, Lewis continued to grind, working multiple jobs, earning scholarships, making connections. Then, after she earned her bachelor’s degree, Lewis moved on to working in higher education, spending time at Peirce College and elsewhere as an academic coach and in admissions.
She earned her master’s degree, and eventually her doctorate. Now, she’s “the Student Loan Doctor”; Lewis believes her 13-employee company is the first Black woman-owned student loan repayment firm in the United States.
Dr. Sonia Lewis stands with the Bodine High School for International Affairs mascot Amby during a a senior class assembly on Friday, December 19, 2025. Dr. Lewis gifted $16,200 for the 2026 senior class, to cover senior school fees. Dr. Lewis is giving back after the Northern Liberties high school helped her during a difficult time, while she was a student 20-yrs-ago.
Lewis coaches clients to create plans to pay off their student loan debt — through repayment, loan consolidation and forgiveness, and more. She’s a sought-after expert, quoted in national publications, offering free weekly classes, growing her business by the year. She has 150,000 followers on Instagram.
Lewis is allergic to sitting still. Her nickname in her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, was “Busybody.” She has channeled that for good — the Student Loan Doctor has now served over 50,000 clients since 2016, helping get an estimated $55 million in student loans forgiven.
The business is hard work, but a joy for Lewis, who gets to know she makes a direct impact on her clients’ lives — like the surgeon who had $997,000 in loans, including loans that were in arrears.
“He didn’t know what to do,” Lewis said. “He got his loans forgiven. He wound up paying us like $300. We’re very affordable.”
The hardest worker
A few days before winter break, Lewis entered the Bodine auditorium with a massive smile on her face.
Her gift — hatched after Lewis presented a $1,000 scholarship to a Bodine graduate in the spring, then decided to go much bigger — was a surprise for the students, who knew only that a successful alum was visiting.
David Brown, the Bodine principal, reminded the students gathered in the auditorium that the small school was a special place.
“Our leaders don’t just leave with diplomas,” Brown said. “They leave with a global perspective.”
Then Marty Moyers, a Bodine teacher and president of the Friends of Bodine, a nonprofit that raises money for the school, presented Lewis: “Her journey has been a great one, and it started right here in this building,” Moyers said.
Bodine High School for International Affairs senior students cheer after learning former student, Dr. Sonia Lewis, donated $16,200 to cover senior school fees on Friday, December 19, 2025. Dr. Lewis is giving back after the Northern Liberties high school helped her during a difficult time, while she was a student 20-yrs-ago.
When he announced Lewis’ plan, there was stunned silence at first. Then, wild applause broke out. Students’ faces were jubilant.
Remember this, Lewis told them: She didn’t have a 4.0 grade-point average. But she showed up in every way possible.
“Even in my professional life as a super-successful entrepreneur, I’m not the best, but I’m a really hard worker,” Lewis said. “You guys got that. That’s the discipline and the spirit you want to have about yourselves as you’re leaving Bodine and you’re going into college, or you’re going into the workforce or entrepreneurship.”
De’Anna Drummond, a senior, is deep into her applying-for-scholarships-and-worrying-about-paying-for-college season. Class dues were another stress to think about, but she was delighted at the news that they are mostly covered, thanks to Lewis.
“Any donation is appreciated,” Drummond said. “It all adds up — senior trip, senior brunch, yearbook, everything.”
Bolden, Drummond’s friend, nodded.
“And someday,” Bolden said, “we should also give back when we can.”
Esperanza Academy Charter School laid off 17 employees this month — a move that officials say was necessary amid a challenging financial climate.
But some Esperanza Academy veterans say the 4% reduction in the workforce — which came with no notice a few weeks before the holidays — is emblematic of troubling recentchanges at the Hunting Park charter.
Ten Esperanza Academy staffers, students, and parents spoke with The Inquirer and detailed concerns about changes at the school in the last year.
Teachers say morale is low, particularly at the high school, where staff have filed paperwork to form a union for the first time in the school’s history. Student frustration bubbled over recently, with hundreds walking out to express their anger over the loss of teachers, a counselor, an administrator, and more.
“Students are protesting,” Jarely Cruz-Ruiz, an Esperanza Academy ninth grader, wrote in a letter to the charter’s board of trustees, “because even we see the wrong being done.”
School officials declined to be interviewed, but in a statement, CEO Evelyn Nuñez said: “Like many academic institutions across the commonwealth and nation, Esperanza Academy is navigating a challenging economic environment.”
But, Nuñez said, the board and leadership team will ensure “the school will be a source of hope in this neighborhood for years to come.”
An anchor, changing
Esperanza has operated a charter school in North Philadelphia since 2000; the school has expanded to encompass grades K-12, and now serves more than 2,000 students in multiple buildings.
The charter is part of the Nueva Esperanza organization, a sprawling nonprofit “opportunity community,” as its founder, theRev. Luis Cortés Jr., has described it, a one-stop shop for neighborhood revitalization work, job training, legal services, and more.
Esperanza opened a brand-new, 73,000-square-foot elementary building on the nonprofit’s campus at the beginning of this school year. Officials, in a statement released after the student walkout, said the project was planned for many years and noted that the broader organization, not the charter school, pays for campus improvements.
The exterior of the new Esperanza Academy Charter elementary building at 201 West Hunting Park Ave.
Esperanza has long been an anchor in the neighborhood and the larger Latino community, a place with a one-big-family feel.
But Daniel Montes, who came to the school as a climate control officer in 2017 and worked his way up to be a teacher, said shifts began happening about a year ago. Montes was among those staffers laid off recently.
Nuñez came to the school from the Philadelphia School District last year to become its CEO.
“Things started to change when we got the new CEO,” Montes said. “I don’t know if it’s when you get a new broom, it sweeps clean.”
At a staff retreat just before the start of this school year, Cortes, Esperanza’s founder, alluded to coming financial difficulties, said one staffer, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.
“He said, ‘Stuff’s happening, you have to buy in or get out,’” said another staffer, who asked not to be identified because they did not want to be targeted by leaders. “He said it was politically driven [at the national level], and that funds would be tight.”
‘Three strikes’
Tensions began to simmer among high school staff.
“There are very unilateral changes being put into effect extremely quickly,” saidanother teacher, who also asked not to be named for fear or reprisal. “We’ve had major changes go into effect on a Monday after a meeting on a Friday. They said, ‘We don’t have subs and you’re going to be covering classes for free.’”
Montes and others said teachers were frustrated over new schedules, lost prep time, and the order to cover classes without compensation — Esperanza Academy had, in the past, paid teachers for covering classes.
“It was three strikes,” said Montes.
“We just did not feel heard,” a third teacher, who also asked not to be named for fear of retribution,said. “We’re out of paper towels, and staples for the printer. The printer’s broken, but they hired six-figure administrators.”
Most charter schools do not have unionized staff; in October, a majority of Esperanza Academy’s high school teachers signed union authorization cards and chose to affiliate with the American Federation of Teachers.
Layoffs came Dec. 4, a Thursday, with no warning — some of the affected staff were pulled out midclass and given notice.
Students weren’t told what was happening, but something seemed off that day, they said. And a basketball game was canceled.
Those who remained at Esperanza Academy’s high school were told they would be absorbing the job responsibilities of the laid-off workers, including classes, coverages, and special-education caseloads.
Some teachers got extra classes added to their schedules — with no extra pay. Other classes were combined, with class sizes growing.
Interventionists — those charged with working with the neediest students — were laid off, and staffers saidno plan has been articulated about who will do that work.
In every staff meeting, teachers said they are reminded that the school’s focus is increasing attendance, boosting the number of students who meet state standards, and decreasing the number of students who score at the lowest levels.
“How are we doing that if we don’t have any interventionists?” the second teacher said.
Student protest
The layoffs stunned students. They mobilized and held a walkout a few days later.
Hundreds showed up, voicing their displeasure with the cuts and their support for the lost staff. They carried homemade signs and chanted.
Nuñez acknowledged the walkout in an email to students and families the next day, saying students demonstrated “thoughtful advocacy and respect as they honored the staff members affected by the recent reductions, and we are proud of the way they used their voices to support their school community. School leadership will continue working closely with the [student government] on how we can best support our students as we move through this transition together.”
Cruz-Ruiz, the Esperanza Academy ninth grader, said the school no longer felt like a family.
“In this building,” Cruz-Ruiz wrote in her letter to the board, “data matters more than people. You named this school Esperanza. Hope. But hope doesn’t live here, scores do. Reputation does. Those graphs and percentages you stare at do.”
‘It’s affected so many of the kids’
Francesca Castro, mother of an Esperanza Academy 10th grader, said she’s been very pleased with the education her daughter has received since middle school.
But the layoffs were deeply unsettling, she said.
“It’s affected so many of the kids,” said Castro. “I’m in the corporate world — I understand sometimes you need to make cuts. But there was no preparation, and it was right around the holidays. Couldn’t we find a different way, see what else we could cut?”
Montes and other laid-offstaff were some of the most important people in the building in terms of relationships with students, Castro said.
“What worries my daughter and some of the students and parents is: If these changes were made all of a sudden, what other changes could happen?” she said. “Are the athletes going to get less? Are the after-school programs being cut? Are they going to start cutting academics?”
Officials said in a statement that the layoff decision was not made lightly, and “our priority throughout this process has been to preserve the high-quality learning environment and supportive services that our students and families rely on. We remain fully committed to ensuring that the school year continues with minimal disruption to classrooms, instruction, or student support.”
Students are aware of the larger changes at the school, said teachers, parents, and staff. They can’t understand why those closest to the students were taken away.
“We’re broke, but we have all these new administrators, and we just built a new building? Students are savvy to that stuff — they’re angry,” said the third teacher.
What’s next?
Wendy G. Coleman, president of the American Federation of Teachers-PA, sent Nuñez a letter Dec. 10 asking Esperanza to formally recognize an AFT-affiliated union at the school.
The staff wants a salary scale anda voice on working conditions and class sizes, Coleman said.
“The overwhelming majority of the staff has signed cards,” said Coleman. “That is something I hope the administration of Esperanza will voluntarily recognize so that we can collaboratively bargain their first contract.”
Esperanza Academy leaders on Friday told the AFT they will not voluntarily recognize the union; Coleman said she will soon file paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board seeking certification.
“I would hope that we can work together to do this as amicably as possible,” Coleman said. “The staff has spoken, and the likelihood of Esperanza avoiding a union coming is pretty slim.”
The trickle begins in the fall, some principals say: Students with a history of behavior or disciplinary problems or other issues show up in Philadelphia School District schools, often from city charters.
Students switch schools after the start of the school year for many reasons — and changing schools is fairly common in Philadelphia.
But at times, it seems like some students are off-loaded from charters because they’re tough to educate, according to interviews with a dozen district administrators. In district schools, administrators cannot remove students for such issues.
Advocates at the Education Law Center have noted that trend, as has the head of the district’s principals union — all of whom call it concerning, especially in a school system with large numbers of needy students and not enough resources to educate them.
“In October, in November, in December, that’s when we see the counseling out, the threats of expulsion that say, ‘We’re going to expel you, but you can go to a district school and then you won’t be expelled,’” said Margie Wakelin, a lawyer with the Philadelphia-based Education Law Center-PA.
Cassandra St. Vil, chief executive officer of a group that represents a large number of Philadelphia charters, said she is not aware of any data to support those anecdotal claims.
“For years, opponents of charter schools have tried to use this message and yet there has never been any evidence to back it up,” said St. Vil, of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence. “And conversely, we hear from charter school leaders the exact same thing, that students come to them.”
District data show that over the last three years, there has been a steady flow of charter students transferring to district schools throughout the school year. In the 2024-25 school year, for instance, 161 students transferred from brick-and-mortar charters to district schools in September. By June, it was 843 students, just a fraction of the total charter sector.
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Charters educate more than 64,000 Philadelphia students; there are about 114,000 in district schools.
“While this is not an issue across the entire charter sector, the district is looking at the data, and working with the Charter Schools Office,” Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said in a statement. “The district is working to analyze enrollment trends across all sectors.”
Robin Cooper, president of Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, Teamsters Local 502, said many district schools get a stream of students beginning in the fall, after district schools’ budgets are locked in on Oct. 1, then another in the spring, just before state testing. (Students’ scores count for the schools they attended on Oct. 1, even if they switch schools after that date.)
“They’re not sending the kids who get A’s, the good kids, they’re sending you the kids who might have problems,” said Cooper, who was a longtime district principal before assuming the union presidency. “It negatively impacts your climate, and the charter is getting the money for the student.”
One district principal, who declined to be named for fear of reprisal, said they recently stopped in a hallway to talk to a student who had just transferred to the district school from a charter.
“She said, ‘They kicked me out for fighting,’” the principal said. “Here, we can’t kick a student out for fighting. I said, ‘Welcome to our school. I’m in the business of growing children.’”
Students ‘counseled out’ of charters
Charter schools — which are publicly funded but privately managed, though authorized by local boards of education — have transformed Philadelphia’s educational landscape since they first came to Pennsylvania in 1997.
Charters are funded by per-student payments from the school district, but are paid only for the number of days enrolled.
By law, charters are open to all students, and most operate on citywide lotteries — though some are neighborhood schools.
A 2017 Education Law Center analysis of the enrollment of special education students in Pennsylvania charters found that “while a number of individual charter schools equitably serve all students, the charter school sector taken as a whole generally underserves these vulnerable student populations.”
Anecdotally,district principals say in some cases, they see students with behavior problems or learning differences accepted to some charters, but thensome of themare “counseled out.” That means they arenot officially expelled or forced to leave, but strongly encouraged or pressured to do so after a disciplinary issue crops up.
In district schools, the bar for expulsion is much higher — for incidents such as using a weapon, or threatening mass violence.
Wakelin, of the Education Law Center, said sherecently spoke to a parent whose child has a significant disability. The parent had multiple conversations with the charterschool about the child’s needs. She said the school kept telling the family: We’ll help.
“And then very recently, the charter school said, ‘You know, you might be better served in a district school that has more resources for a student with autism,’” said Wakelin, who declined to name the school in question.
‘It’s no secret’
After the start of the school year, another district principal said, comes a bump in charter transfers.
“We see an increase every year,” said the principal, who, like othercurrent and former district administrators who spoke to The Inquirer, asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal. “It’s not talked about, but in the schools, it’s no secret.”
When new students transfer in, an administrator often asks why they left their old school.
“Most of them say it’s because they were kicked out of whatever charter school they were at — they got into a fight, or whatever,” the principal said. “And most of the times, it’s things that we can’t move students for in the Philadelphia School District.”
Lawrence Jones, longtime chief executive officer of the Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School in Southwest Philadelphia, said there is “an urban myth” that charters off-load problem students to district schools and then benefit financially for doing so. (There is a common perception that charters get paid for students based on their Oct. 1 enrollment counts, and keep the money if students go elsewhere, but charters actually get paid for the number of days students are enrolled.)
“The gain that you could potentially get for dropping those kids, financially and other funding, would be less than if you held onto those students,” said Jones.
But a third district principal called the issue a particular challenge for neighborhood schools, which already typically tend to have higher concentrations of children with complicated needs. Public schools often get needy students midyear, but no additional funding. Their budgets are projected in the spring, but finalized in the fall.
“It’s just not fair,” said the third principal. “We’re not getting their best kids.”
That principal is currently experiencing what they call “the season when we get charter kids,” they said. “They send them to us for discipline issues, uniform violations.”
‘A sword that cuts both ways’
The practice engenders deep frustration, principals say.
“Public schools can’t turn kids away. It’s not like the charter world where you can say, ‘No, I’m full, have a nice day.’ In public school, you take the kid, crowded or not, and figure it out,” a fourth principal said.
St. Vil, of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, which represents 64 schools, disputes that characterization. She noted that nearly 80% of the city’s charter students are Black or Latino, and many have special needs or are English learners.
“These schools are achieving real success stories for students who too often haven’t thrived in one-size-fits-all settings,” St. Vil said.
Jones, of Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School, said that while there may be some isolated instances where a charter counsels out a student with difficulties, “it’s a sword that cuts both ways.” Students sometimes come to charters from district schools with inadequate special-education plans, he said.
Parents enrolling their children at Richard Allen have told him that they were told his school “could provide better services,” Jones said. “I asked, ‘By who?’ And they said, ‘By staff at the former school, the district school.’”
It’s school-opening season for the Philadelphia School District.
On Tuesday, officials cut the ribbon on a brand-new Thomas Holme Elementary, a K-8 school in the Northeast. That celebration came exactly a week after the district opened a new middle-school building, AMY at James Martin, in Port Richmond.
“I see a place where students will have access to a 21st century education,” Holme principal Micah Winterstein said during a ceremony attended by students, school district officials, and community members. “A place where they feel like school is where they belong, a place where they will have moments each day that inspire.”
New furniture at the new Thomas Holme Elementary School.
Unlike many other sections of the city, where the district’s enrollment is shrinking, the Northeast’s school population is booming — its schools are overcrowded.
Holme, named for Pennsylvania’s first surveyor general, outgrew its old building, which was razed to make way for the new 141,000-square-foot structure. Designed with flooding natural light, welcoming learning spaces, and flexible spaces and furniture for more conversational teaching environments, the school includes state-of-the-art music rooms, a bright new gymnasium and stage, science classrooms, an interactive media commons, and a dance studio with a real hardwood dance floor.
A dance studio at the new Thomas Holme Elementary School has a real hardwood dancefloor.
“This is the shining star of the school,” said April Tomarelli, an educational facilities planner, during a tour of the sunlit dance studio.
Smaller details, like the dragon-shaped tiles in the cafeteria to match the school mascot, offer a homey touch, said April Tomarelli, an educational facilities planner, during a tour.
“Everything was done with intention,” Tomarelli said.
A music room at the new Thomas Holme School.
Students had a hand in the design of the new building — they weighed in on the facade, the playground, and the stormwater management system.
“This school comes from you,” said architect Troy Hill, who helped design the building for Blackney Hayes, adding that the students’ input included more learning spaces, outdoor classrooms, and a space for designing murals.
The outside of Thomas Holme School in Northeast Philadelphia.
The new Holme will open as the district nears completion of its long-awaited facilities master plan, which officials have said will call for some school closings and co-locations, as well as building renovations and new construction.
The average district school building was built 73 years ago, said Reginald L. Streeter, president of the board of education.
“Most Philadelphia children walk into schools older than their grandparents,” he said.
Philadelphia School District Superintendent Tony B. Watlington speaks during opening ceremonies for the new Thomas Holme Elementary School on Tuesday.
At the ribbon cutting, Superintendent Tony B. Wallington Sr. celebrated the fact that, like AMY at James Martin, the new Thomas Holme school was completed on time — and on budget.
“You’re in a school district that’s been excellent stewards of federal, state, and local tax dollars,” he said, adding that the district has its best investment-grade credit rating in 50 years.
The school library at the new Thomas Holme Elementary School.
The state-of-the-art school represents a step towards the district’s aspiration to be the “fastest-improving, large school district in the country,” he said.
“Not for bragging rights,” he said. “But because the children of Philadelphia deserve it so.”
Mike Greco, president of Penn Academy Athletic Association, which helped shepherd the project through the community, said he has two grandchildren who will be attending the new school in January. His two children had previously graduated from the old Thomas Holme, which was built in 1950.
“We needed this,” he said. “We need good things to happen everywhere in this city.”
With snow on the ground and temperatures below freezing, Philadelphia schools will open two hours late Monday.
“The safety and well-being of our students are our top priorities,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said in a message to district families. “We are encouraging students, families and staff to travel safely tomorrow morning.”
Students who arrive late because of weather challenges won’t be marked late, and weather-related absences will be excused if a parent or guardian sends a note.
All outdoor activities are also canceled, Watlington said.
“Parents and guardians should plan for possible delays with the district’s yellow bus services and on SEPTA’s subway, trolley and bus routes,” Watlington wrote. “If you anticipate delays or have questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s principal or school.”
Archdiocesan high schools and parish and regional Catholic elementary schools in the city will also operate on a two-hour delay. (Catholic schools in suburban counties generally follow their local districts’ lead.)
Other area school districts that are opening on delayed schedules include, in Pennsylvania: Bensalem Township, Cheltenham, Coatesville Area, Downington Area, Great Valley, Lower Merion, Lower Moreland Township, Marple Newtown, Neshaminy, Norristown Area, North Penn, Pennridge, Perkiomen Valley, Pottsgrove, Southeast Delco, Souderton Area, Spring-Ford Area, Tredyffrin-Easttown, Unionville Chadds Ford, Upper Merion Area, Upper Moreland Township, Upper Perkiomen, West Chester Area, William Penn, and Wissahickon.
Area school with delays in New Jersey include: Bellmawr, Black Horse Pike Regional, City of Burlington, Burlington Township, Camden City, Clearview Regional, Clementon, Deptford Township, Eastampton, Lenape Regional High, Logan Township, Mantua Township, Medford Township, Mount Holly Township, National Park, Pemberton Township, Pitman, Rancocas Valley Regional High, Riverside Township, Shamong Township, Swedesboro-Woolwich, Washington Township, Westampton Township, and Winslow Township.
When Raheem Harvey discovered possible improprieties at his new employer, Alliance for Progress Charter School in North Philadelphia, he sounded the alarm.
Harvey, the director of business and compliance, notified officials earlier this year about what he saw as significant issues, he said: violations of state and local bidding requirements, a contract issued without board approval, and board members’ failure to disclose personal relationships with potential vendors.
He flagged a student enrollment problem and skipped payroll taxes.
Alliance for Progress’ leader and its board brushed him off, Harvey said in a recently filed whistleblower lawsuit. Ultimately, they disciplined him and, after threatening to demote him, he resigned.
School officials say Harvey’s story is untrue.
“We categorically deny all the allegations asserted by this disgruntled former employee,” Stacey Scott, CEO of Alliance for Progress, said in a statement.
Officials from the Philadelphia School District’s charter school office had no comment.
What are the allegations?
Harvey started working at Alliance for Progress, on Cecil B. Moore Avenue, in February.
By August, he began raising issues to his bosses, Harvey’s lawyers said in a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.
They included a contract issued to a vendor for services related to a school playground — worth more than $75,000 — that was awarded without competitive bidding.
Alliance for Progress, Harvey said, “directly awarded the contract to a vendor whose principal is a personal friend of one of the AFPCS board members. The board member did not recuse himself from discussions or decisions related to the contract, despite the clear conflict of interest created by his close relationship with the vendor” — a violation of ethics rules, he said.
Harvey also said the school failed to follow state rules around enrollment procedures. Alliance for Progress says it provides enrollment preference for siblings of students. But, Harvey said, the school ignored him “and failed to apply its own sibling-preference policy to the sibling of a currently enrolled student. Instead, AFPCS placed the sibling on a waitlist and later pressured the child’s parents to withdraw the enrollment application.”
Scott, Harvey said, also violated federal privacy laws by providing someone outside the organization access to a student’s educational records — including academic and disciplinary records — without parental consent.
School officials also used Alliance for Progress credit cards to purchase food and other items through their personal accounts, according to the lawsuit complaint,“allowing them to aggregate rewards points and loyalty benefits that they did not return to AFPCS.”
Alliance for Progress also paid a retired employee for work with a paper check instead of going through its payroll system, the complaint alleges.
The school “issued payments in this manner to enable the retired employee to avoid paying taxes on the wages she received,” the lawsuit said.
‘Hostile and retaliatory’
According to Harvey, once he reported the compliance problems, Scott and other officials began targeting him — suggesting he was opening packages addressed to the school without authorization and purchasing office supplies without proper authorization.
Harvey was shut out of leadership meetings, the suit said, then reprimanded for failing to show up to a meeting, entering Scott’s office without permission, and placing an unauthorized order.
“Increasingly hostile and retaliatory conduct” was directed toward him, Harvey said. He was suspended for 10 days, and had his keys to the administrative offices taken away.
In September, a human resources official told Harvey “that he should forget about the compliance issues he had raised because they had been resolved” but provided no evidence. Harvey said she told him Alliance for Progress planned to demote him.
The school’s “wholesale failure to remediate the compliance concerns” and its “refusal to implement safeguards to protect him” from retaliatory treatment ultimately caused Harvey to resign on Sept. 30,according to the lawsuit.
Harvey is demanding reinstatement, plus back pay, benefits, seniority rights, and damages.
The vote does not bind the district to hand anything over, but it certainly opens the door to transferring properties in accordance with the wishes of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who has promised her administration will build or restore 30,000 units of housing during her first term.
Exactly how many vacant buildings the district is contemplating giving to the city is not clear; the board did not vote on a list of schools, though officials have said in prior months the number of surplus schools is about 20. A school board spokesperson has said the list is still subject to internal discussion.
The resolution only covers the district’s current closed buildings, not any that might be closed in the upcoming facilities master planning process expected to wrap up before the end of the school year.
Board president Reginald Streater has said the city partnership makes sense, and would allow the district to focus on education, while relying on the city’s real estate expertise. The buildings all have carrying costs too, which the city would assume.
Six board members voted for the resolution authorizing Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. and the district’s legal department to begin talks with the city. Two board members — Crystal Cubbage and ChauWing Lam — voted no.
Lam’s hesitation came, she said at Thursday’s special action meeting, because of the district’s budget issues.
The vacant-building portfolio was recently valued at $80 million, Lam said.
The mayor’s housing goals are laudable, Lam said, but “given the district’s structural budget deficit, which includes spending nearly half of our fund balance this year to balance our budget, I encourage consideration of additional opportunities before rushing into an agreement as set forth in this resolution.”
Cubbage, too, said she worried that the resolution “limits us to exploring the conveyance of our school buildings to the city without financial compensation when we are facing a $300 million structural deficit and are constantly underresourced.”
Instead, Cubbage said, she wished the board would delve into actions that could give short- and long-term revenue and still accomplish Parker’s housing goals by selling the properties “with deep restrictions and affordability requirements.”
Board member Wanda Novalés supported the resolution, but noted that the district needs to get the whole picture — including enrollment projections and long-term capital priorities — before it moves forward.
“I support the resolution as long as it calls for a thorough business plan that clearly outlines the benefit to the School District of Philadelphia,” said Novalés.
Watlington, in a statement issued after the vote, supported the move.
“By responsibly evaluating how to put these unused properties back into productive use, the district can stay focused on educating children while supporting broader city efforts that ultimately aim to strengthen neighborhoods,” Watlington said. “This exploration aligns with our commitment to both fiscal stewardship and community partnership.”
Parker, in a statement issued earlier this week, said the transfer would mean the buildings would improve residents’ quality of life.
Officials “cannot let blighted buildings in the middle of residential neighborhoods lie vacant — many of which have been vacant for many years — from two years to over 30,” Parker said in the statement. “It’s unconscionable to me that we are in the middle of a housing crisis and we have government buildings sitting vacant for years or even decades. That cannot continue.”
Chief Deputy Mayor Vanessa Garrett Harley said in a statement that the city looks forward to working with the board on this issue.
“This action will help the city to more effectively move blighted properties to productive use, addressing a longstanding concern of neighborhood leaders and residents across the city, and contribute to the mayor’s goal of creating or preserving 30,000 units of housing,” Garrett Harley said.
A potential buyer for at least one vacant school
Several speakers suggested it was a bad move to simply give buildings to the city.
Cecilia Thompson, a former school board member, said she’s OK with selling schools to the city. But “can we sell it to the city for market value, and not a dollar or something nominal, just to say it was a sale? Just to be respectful … for the worth of the properties?”
Several members of the community made it clear that there are potential buyers.
Angela Case, a staffer at West Oak Lane Charter, indicated that the school wants to buy Ada Lewis Middle School in East Germantown.
(Lewis is a prominent part of the potential portfolio — a large building on a sprawling campus and, this fall, the site where Kada Scott’s body was discovered.)
“Our school is growing, but our current space is limited,” Case said. “Ada Lewis would give our students safe classrooms, outdoor areas and room for strong academic enrichment programs. It would also return a vacant property to a productive use, and benefit the surrounding community.”
Prior to the vote, the board heard from registered speakers, including some from West Oak Lane Charter School who want their school to be able to purchase the vacant Ada Lewis Middle School building.
The board, with some absences, then moved into the “Goals and Guardrails” portion of its meeting, where district leaders shared 2024-25 Keystone and NOCTI scores. Algebra and biology Keystone scores stayed mostly flat compared to 2023-24, while literature scores dropped 2.9%. Board members Whitney Jones and Wanda Novales each asked for more detailed data from the district.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 6:20pm
Novales adjourns the meeting
Novales summarizes what the board learned from today’s Goals and Guardrails meeting: Keystone scores remained stagnant last year, with literature scores decreasing, she said. And many CTE schools have made gains.
In future monitoring sessions, she said, the board will want to see the data broken down by various demographics, and more specific data about the percentages of schools seeing gains and decreases in Keystone scores. This data will give the board “a more complete understanding of what’s going on in the district.”
Novales then adjourned the meeting.
This is our final scheduled public school board meeting of 2025. See you in 2026!
// Timestamp 12/11/25 6:07pm
Board member Novales asks for more specific data: What percentage of schools saw gains and decreases in Keystone scores?
Board member Wanda Novales asks the district: What percentage of schools made gains in Keystone scores? And what supports are we offering our lowest-performing schools?
Watlington asks each of the individual networks of schools to be read — along with their Keystone score results and changes — with the associate and assistant superintendent of each network recognized.
Novales says she’s interested in even more specific data: What schools made gains, not just networks? What percentage of schools made gains, what percentage saw a decrease in scores, and what percentage stayed the same?
Watlington asks research chief Wolford to pull that together for a future meeting.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 6:05pm
Board member Joan Stern urges to district to think about the role creative and agricultural jobs play in the economy
Board member Joan Stern questions how the district is thinking about “the role of the creative economy in the city and in the region” in career and technical education.
“I would like to know what the focus is on developing careers in that part of the economy,” she said, highlighting the role of agriculture in particular.
Dawson says they are “intentional and methodical” about how they approach extracurriculars and nurturing students’ interests outside of the careers they may pursue.
We want to “help them to build themselves out of poverty and have an opportunity for a livable wage not only for them but their families and that can be sustained over time,” Dawson said.
Watlington adds in: “We don’t want to graduate a majority of young people that take minimum-wage jobs.”
“Our children can learn anything,” Stern said, adding in: “They should not be treated as though they are always going to be doing the pouring of the cement as opposed to the design of the airport.”
// Timestamp 12/11/25 5:55pm
Board member Lam wants to know: How do we keep literature scores from continuing to slip?
Board member ChauWing Lam asks: What is the relationship between the technical education and the core education for NOCTI at CTE schools?
Mastbaum Principal David Lon answers that the programs work together “hand in glove” and they work to prepare students for the tests they’ll need to take to graduate.
She also said she found the geographic clustering of Keystone interesting. “There’s not really a concise pattern across the three subjects in terms of what happened last year and what happened this year.” She wants to know: What is our strategy for stopping the decline of literature scores?
“We recognize that that is a concern for us,” Dawson said about the dropping ELA scores. But they did just roll out a new curriculum, he said, and teachers are still acclimating.
“We recognize as we say all the time, more work needs to be done to ensure our students are academically successful the first time they sit in that course,” he said.
Lam acknowledges that these test results are from last year. She asks: Are there any early indications yet that we’re seeing a rebound?
Tonya Wolford, the district’s research chief, says they are processing data and hope to have more information later this month or in January.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 5:46pm
Board member Whitney Jones asks district to dig deeper into the data
In responding to a question from board member Whitney Jones, Watlington says they do need to take a harder look at the data broken down by race, gender, economically disadvantaged students, English language learners, and other demographics.
“You can’t move the overall district without moving kids of color,” he said.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 5:35pm
Success isn’t linear, Watlington says: ‘No, I’m not satisfied’
Watlington says that people ask him all the time: Are you satisfied?
“No, I’m not satisfied,” he said. Far too many kids can’t read and do math on grade level, he said. But the district didn’t get here quickly, and it can’t fix it quickly. Success isn’t linear.
“The district is making significant progress,” Watlington said. We’re not blaming historical underfunding or “this political partisan nonsense.”
Deputy superintendent tells the board: ‘We have a lot of work to do in our high schools’
“We’re going to recognize that we have a lot of work to do in our high schools,” deputy superintendent Dawson said. “We see it, we own it, and we recognize it.”
How will the district improve math, ELA, and science performance? Dawson explains: more high-impact algebra tutoring, a fellowship for algebra teachers, and creating math pathways to allow more students to take Algebra 1 in eighth grade. Plus, a new science curriculum this year.
“We’re hearing great feedback from the teachers, from our students, and from principals” about the science curriculum, Dawson said.
Deputy Superintendent Jermaine Dawson speaks at the School District of Philadelphia’s New Hire Orientation on Aug. 7, 2025.
On career and technical education, Dawson said the district will increase the number of guest speakers, company tours, and job shadowing and internship opportunities; create regional events like career fairs; implement new professional development; expand the middle school CTE program; and more.
Analyzing the district’s career and technical education programs: 39% are aligned to high-wage, in-demand occupations; 32% are aligned to high-wage, in-demand industries, but not aligned to occupation; and 29% of programs are unaligned to high-wage, in-demand occupations.
There are 41 programs in the district across 11 clusters.
This may mean some programs that are currently offered in the district may go away, Dawson said. Some new programs may be launched.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 5:15pm
Mastbaum principal speaks to success with improving NOCTI scores at his school
Principal David Lon from Mastbaum High School has seen tremendous growth at his school, a career and technical education school in Kensington.
Mastbaum has deliberately moved to a NOCTI focus. There’s been pedagogical work in the area students struggle most in: the NOCTI writing portion, Lon said.
There are quarterly benchmark exams, professional learning communities to reinforce data analysis and vocabulary best practices, and more.
There’s also a focus on culture-building, Lon said. Students are taught that the NOCTI is more than just another test; it’s important to their future. There are town halls and pep rallies, and a NOCTI breakfast the morning of the test.
“Before they go into the test, they are literally surrounded by the love and support of their community,” Lon said.
“We can directly tie student performance on the test-to-life outcomes,” Lon said. Students who score advanced get free college credits; those who are competent or advanced get extra points on the city test that can lead to good-paying jobs.
Mastbaum CTE staff are stars, Lon said. Counselors play a big role. Mastbaum had 32.4% point growth in NOCTI pass rate.
Principal David Lon at Mastbaum High School in December 2022.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 5:10pm
Percentage of students passing the NOCTI has increased
For the NOCTI, a nationally-recognized career and technical education exam, the percentage of 12th grade students who passed increased to 59.7% in 2024-25 from 56.9% in 2023-24.
Students in most areas — health, construction and manufacturing, education — increased participation and pass rates on NOCTI exams.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 5:06pm
District highlights the changes to student proficiency in the three Keystone subject areas
On the algebra Keystones, students scoring proficient or advanced increased slightly, from 15.1% to 15.5%, comparing 2024-25 to 2023-24.
Biology Keystones remained flat — 22.7% of students passed.
Literature Keystone proficiency decreased to 34.9%, a 2.9 percentage point drop.
This slide was shown during the Goals and Guardrails portion of the Philadelphia school board meeting on Dec. 11, 2025.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 5:04pm
Deputy superintendent highlights the 2024-25 highlights
Jermaine Dawson, deputy superintendent, is talking about 2024-25 highlights: It was the second year of a new math curriculum, the first year of a new ELA curriculum, and they purchased a new science curriculum (which is being rolled out this year).
This slide was presented during a Goals and Guardrails meeting of the Philadelphia school board on Dec. 11, 2025.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:54pm
Special action meeting ends, and Goals and Guardrails portion begins
And here ends the special action meeting.
Now we’re into progress monitoring/Goals and Guardrails.
The board will be monitoring goals around Keystone and NOCTI (career and technical education) exams tonight. Streater and a few other board members have to leave to conduct interviews for student board representatives, they noted.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:52pm
Board passes resolution, authorizing district to explore transferring vacant school buildings to the city
The resolution passes, six to two. Crystal Cubbage and ChauWing Lam voted no.
President Streater says this is an ‘exploratory resolution’ that he supports
Reginald Streater, board president, reiterated: No properties are being given to the city with a yes vote to this resolution.
Resolutions are the most effective way to convey what might be coming, Streater said. This is an “exploratory resolution.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with exploring this, and bringing the public along in a very public way,” Streater said, adding that he would be “derelict in his duty” if he didn’t explore this.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:50pm
Board member Cubbage says she ‘cannot support this resolution in its current form,’ while board VP Andrews says she will vote yes
Board member Crystal Cubbage said she applauds the mayor’s housing initiative, but “I cannot support this resolution in its current form,” because it limits the district to giving buildings to the city without financial gain, against a backdrop of coming financial issues for the district. Other options should be explored, including selling buildings to interested parties that are not the city.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews, the board vice president, will vote yes, but said any agreement “must deliver clear benefits to our children.” Opportunities to stabilize and grow the district’s tax base would help the district.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:48pm
School board discusses the resolution around what to do with vacant school buildings
Board member ChauWing Lam says she “fully supports” the idea of working with the city and addressing what should happen with the portfolio of buildings. But, Lam said: I have a concern that in adopting such a resolution, it limits the district’s options.
The portfolio of vacant buildings was recently valued at $80 million by the city, Lam said. “Given the disrict’s structural budget deficit, I encourage consideration of additional opportunities before rushing into an agreement as set forth in this resolution.”
Board member Wanda Novales notes that these buildings belong to the district, and any agreement must benefit district students.
Board member Joan Stern underscores that this resolution does not transfer any properties to the city. It explores what to do with the properties, some of which have been vacant since 2007. “It is critical for us to know what our costs are, what our liabilities are, what our exposure” is, Stern said.
“We are trying to do this in the context of our facilities plan,” Stern said. “I would like very much for everyone to keep in mind that this is a step for us to take that will provide us with the facts and the diligence necessary to decide on the fate of these properties.”
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:42pm
Councilmember Thomas shares concerns, through aide, about the ‘lack of communication’ around resolution to transfer properties to the city
Zach McGrath, legislative aide to City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, is reading a letter from Thomas.
Thomas is concerned about “a lack of communication” around the plan to possibly transfer properties to the city.
Thomas wants a separate, independent authority to manage buildings for the city and district. He and others learned about this plan from The Inquirer, which he finds troubling.
He says: We can’t find ourselves in a situation like Germantown High. The school was closed, abandoned for some time, and then after years, developed into apartments people in the neighborhood largely can’t afford.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:45pm
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:37pm
Retired teacher questions the board’s authority to ‘just give away real estate’
Lisa Haver, retired teacher and a founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, asks the board: “Does this board have the authority to just give away real estate? That would be an abdication of the board’s responsibility of this district.”
The board is supposed to operate independently, not as an intergovernmental board, Haver said.
Haver says: Essentially, it sounds like the mayor wants the district to give her buildings, and the board is playing ball.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:35pm
Another West Oak Lane Charter School community member asks the board to allow the school to buy Ada Lewis building
Angela Case, a member of the West Oak Lane Charter School community, asks the board to allow the school to buy the Ada Lewis Middle School building.
“Our school is growing, but our current space is limited,” Case said. “Ada Lewis would give our students safe classrooms, outdoor areas,” and more. It would also mean a positive use of a vacant property, Case said. “This is an investment in our children, families and a better future for Philadelphia.”
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:32pm
The Cloudens speak to the board about student achievement and vacant buildings
Horace Clouden, a retired district worker, said there’s a “crisis in K-8,” both in public and charter schools, in student achievement.
“If you give away buildings that could be crucial to the development of the children, it could be criminal,” Clouden said.
Clouden tells the board they should repurpose closed schools to solve for student placement.
Mama Gail Clouden, who is married to Horace Clouden, said it must be difficult for the board and superintendent to hear parents discuss significant issues with their children, month after month. Leaders are getting awards “but these children that are suffering are saying something different,” Mama Gail said.
“Everybody’s making money off these children,” Mama Gail said. “The least of these are losing the most. You are in a position to fix this.”
Leah Clouden, Mama Gail and Horace Clouden’s daughter, said “the plan to warehouse students is in full effect.”
“Giving away 20 properties for housing is insane,” Leah Clouden said.
University City High was “given away for pennies on the dollar,” Leah Clouden said.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:26pm
Parent shares issues with curriculum sharing between the district and the Catholic church
Anne Dorn, a district parent, is talking about issues with curriculum shared between the district and the Catholic church.
“Fear not” the elephants in the room, Dorn said.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:22pm
West Oak Lane Charter School parent praises the school
Daniel Wideman, a parent and board member at West Oak Lane Charter School, is praising the school, which has changed his and his child’s lives.
“As a community, we have grown out of our building at West Oak Lane, and we need change,” Wideman said. The charter would like to buy Ada Lewis Middle School.
Kenderton Elementary parent says she is suing the district over her child’s IEP
Sashai Rivers, a parent of two children at Kenderton Elementary, said her son was bullied and antagonized by students and staff. She removed her kids from the school, but said her child’s IEP was ignored. “I’m currently being ignored by all parties at the school district,” Rivers said.
Rivers said she is suing the district.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:17pm
A retired educator, a student, and a charter school staff member each address the board about a variety of issues
Elijah Mahaffey, a former student at George Washington High, said he was bullied at the school. “Nobody would help me,” he said.
Deanna Lewis, of Lab Charter, is drawing attention to Black-led and Black-founded charter schools. Lab recently got a $500,000+ grant to bring computers to the community. “We’re deeply committed to our academic mission, and to support our community with care,” Lewis said.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:13pm
Former school board member wants students with special needs to be considered in school closing decisions
We’re onto speakers now.
Cecelia Thompson, a former school board member, wants to know what provisions will be made for students with special needs in school closing decisions.
And when it comes to possibly transferring closed schools to the city, she asks: Can we sell them to the city “for market value, and not $1? Just to be respectful, I guess, for the worth of the properties?”
Former Philadelphia School Board member Cecelia Thompson spoke to the board during a special action meeting on Dec. 11, 2025.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:09pm
Pre-submitted written testimony addresses Ada Lewis Middle School
Of note: One piece of written testimony submitted today concerns the closed Ada Lewis Middle School, likely to be considered in any list of vacant schools transferred to the city. A member of the West Oak Lane Charter School community suggests the Ada Lewis building be sold to West Oak Lane Charter.
Eight board members are present at today’s meeting. Joyce Wilkerson is absent.
// Timestamp 12/11/25 4:06pm
The board held an executive session earlier today
The board discussed developments in the People for People and KIPP North Philadelphia vs. Joyce Wilkerson case in executive session today, Streater said, as well as real estate matters one can assume are related to the special action item.
Board president Reginald Streater is outfitted in kelly green, and notes that he still has faith in the Eagles.
The only item on the agenda: a resolution authorizing Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. and the district’s legal team to discuss possibly transferring about 20 vacant district buildings to the city.
Philly school board to host special action meeting with Goals and Guardrails presentation
// Timestamp 12/11/25 3:50pm
The Philadelphia school board is set to host a special action meeting — its last scheduled meeting of the year — starting at 4 p.m.
Following the special action meeting, the board will hold its regularly scheduled Goals and Guardrails meeting, during which Watlington will share end-of-year Keystone and NOCTI performance for 2024-25.
A judge said this week that arguments questioning the legality of Joyce Wilkerson’s seat on the Philadelphia school board had merit, and directed the board to halt nonrenewal proceedings for two charter schools.
Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher R. Hall granted a preliminary injunction to People for People Charter School and KIPP North Philadelphia Academy on Monday, saying that a lawsuit against the school board can continue because lawyers had presented sufficient evidence.
The charters claim that board member Wilkerson — who is perceived to be anti-charter schools — tainted the votes against them this year and should not be on the board.
City Council declined to approve Wilkerson last yearas a school board member, but Mayor Cherelle L. Parker asked her to serve until she named areplacement.
People for People’s initial lawsuit complaint, filed in September, said that Wilkerson is an “illegally and unlawfully seated member of the BOE” and that her participation in the nonrenewal deliberations tainted and ultimately invalidated them.
The city and the board have said that the city’s Home Rule Charter allows Wilkerson to continue to serve — without Council approval — until a replacement is named.
Reginald Streater, the school board president, said the ruling overshadows the underlying issues.
“The board’s decision to begin the process of nonrenewal was on the merits of each board member’s independent assessment of the schools’ outcomes,” Streater said in a statement. Board members’ concerns were aired publicly over months.
Any delay slows the board’s ability to give the schools full hearings, with testimony and the ability to present evidence, he said.
“Our schools, families, and children deserve resolution,” Streater said. “We remain committed to transparency and to continuing this work in the best interest of the community.”
(Nonrenewal does not equal closure, though it is the first step on that path. It triggers an extensive nonrenewal hearing, after which an officer makes a recommendation; then the board votes again on whether to non-renew the school.)
Lawyers for the charters argued that Wilkerson essentially poisoned the votes, and the judge wrote in his order that there was enough evidence to move forward with the injunction.
“This leaves the question whether Ms. Wilkerson’s participation in the pertinent BOE meetings without color of right tainted its vote [on the charter nonrenewals]. Plaintiffs have shown it likely did,” Hall wrote.
Hall’s order means that nonrenewal hearings cannot proceed, but the board had not yet scheduled them.
What was Wilkerson’s role on the People for People and KIPP votes?
Wilkerson, Hall noted in his order, “was the first to press” to issue a nonrenewal notice to the schools at a June board meeting, and in August called for a vote on the nonrenewal notice.
The KIPP North Philadelphia nonrenewal vote passed unanimously; board member Whitney Jones was the onlyvote against the People for People non-renewal.
But Wilkerson, a former school board president and School Reform Commission chair, was not the only board member with concerns about the two charter schools.
Board member Cheryl Harper said People for People is “failing our children. How long do we allow them to keep failing our children? I have an issue with these schools not being able to succeed for our children.”
Board vice president Sarah-Ashley Andrews cited issues with KIPP North Philadelphia’s “failure to deliver for our students,” specifically calling out its academics and suspension rates.
Streater, the board president, called KIPP’s performance “unacceptable.”
What’s next?
Thecourt case will now proceed, andis likely to drag on for months.
But Hall’s legal ruling on Wilkerson’s school board seat could mean open season for other parties that are unhappy with decisions the board has made and are willing to challenge those rulings legally.
As to whether Wilkerson will remain on the board, Parker has staunchly stood by her in the past.
When the People for People suit was first filed, a member of her administration said she stood by Wilkerson as “an official member of the Philadelphia Board of Education” who “has the full support of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.”
What was the reaction?
Mark Seiberling, a lawyer for People for People, said the ruling was an important one.
“We are pleased with Judge Hall’s thoughtful and well-reasoned decision following a lengthy hearing at which multiple witnesses from the School District of Philadelphia were called to testify,” Seiberling said in a statement. “We look forward to Ms. Wilkerson’s replacement being nominated and confirmed in accordance with Philadelphia’s Home Rule Charter.”
