Philadelphia’s principals are getting raises and, for the first time, paid parental leave.
Members of CASA — the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, Teamsters Local 502 — overwhelmingly approved the new four-year deal on Wednesday night, and the school board sealed the deal at its meeting Thursday night.
Nearly 1,000 district principals, assistant principals, climate managers, and other administrators will get 3% raises every year, plus a $1,500 bonus this year and a $1,500 bonus in 2029.
They’ll also get five weeks’ paid parental leave, a new benefit also achieved by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers earlier this year, and more: a take-home vehicle stipend and incentives for principals who work at hard-to-staff schools.
“We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we are leaving feeling heard, and we are leaving with a what we believe to be a fair contract, and it was never our goal to try to break the bank or not be fiscally responsible,” Cooper said.
Cooper had concerns going into the contract about little differentiation in the salary scale between new administrators and veteran ones. Adjustments to the salary schedule will help, she said.
Principals at the top of the pay scale now make $167,608 annually; at the end of the contract, they will be paid $187,720. The union’s lowest-paid workers, school safety supervisors, now start at $40,256 annually. In 2029, a brand-new school safety supervisor will make $45,087 per year.
School board members and district administrators were full of praise for Cooper and CASA.
“You and your team are always strong advocates for all of your members and deeply committed to improving the lives of students, families, and employees,” chief financial officer Mike Herbstman said. “We appreciate all that you and all of the CASA administrators do.”
In November, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.) said that the House Education and Workforce Committee — which he chairs — would probe “disturbing reports of Jewish students being harassed and subjected to open antisemitism in their classrooms and hallways” in three school systems: Berkeley Unified in California, Fairfax County in Virginia, and Philadelphia.
Ridgeway, who testified Thursday night, is suing the school district over alleged civil rights violations. She was suspended and ultimately disciplined after allegations of antisemitism and violations of the district’s social media policy surfaced, but is now back teaching at a district school.
“All I’ve ever wanted was to protect students in the ways that I wasn’t protected from the racism and discrimination that permeates the SDP schools,” she told the board. “While recently the district has addressed antisemitism, it has not addressed racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian discrimination with the same rigor.”
Ridgeway said the district “is at a crossroads right now, with a national spotlight looming.” She wondered whether it will “capitulate to McCarthyism tactics” or “channel the spirit of Harriet [Tubman] and Martin [Luther King Jr.] … our Black children deserve better. Our Muslim children deserve better. Our Palestinian children deserve better. Will you give it to them or will you disappoint them?”
Alex Volin Avelin, a district educator and member of Jewish Voice for Peace Philadelphia, called the congressional investigation “political theater. It’s government overreach. It is not about protecting students. It’s about intimidating and silencing teachers.”
Volin Avelin and Thomas Quinn, another district teacher, urged the district to learn from history. In the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee singled out Philadelphia teachers for alleged communist ties. Twenty-six were ultimately fired.
“Looking back, we can all see the injustice and cowardice in the district’s choice to capitulate,” Volin Avelin said. “I urge the board today to learn from this shameful history and stand up for educators teaching critical content.”
Streater and Andrews stay on in leadership positions
The board, in its final action meeting of the year, also formally reorganized, setting meeting dates for 2026 and naming leaders.
Reginald Streater and Sarah-Ashley Andrews held on to their president and vice-president positions. Every board member supported Andrews’ candidacy; Streater won 8-0, with board member Crystal Cubbage abstaining. She gave no reason for the abstention.
Streater complimented his fellow board members for their work in the past year.
“We have demonstrated that steady leadership, not reactionary swings, produces real results,” Streater said.
The board has an enormous job in front of it in the next year: the facilities master planning process, which will bring school closures that will surely be unpopular.
“The responsibility is not lost on me,” Streater said, “and I gratefully accept.”
The board unanimously approved the new contract for the principals union. A deal with the union had been struck last week after the principals spent three months working without a new contract in place.
Board approves the rest of its agenda and adjourns the meeting
And the board approved the rest of its agenda unanimously, too.
Goals and Guardrails happens this time next week, but this is the last action meeting of the year. That’s a wrap!
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:50pm
Board member Lam requests more information from the district on controls in place to prevent cost overrun with vendors
ChauWing Lam said she’ll support a $43,390 contract with Mothers in Charge for violence prevention services, but has concerns about the cost overrun and controls in place to prevent that.
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said there are controls in place, and promises more information.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:47pm
Board unanimously approves new contract for principals union
The board also approved CASA’s new contract, also with a 9 to 0 vote.
Board unanimously approves meeting schedule for 2026
Ultimately, the board decides to move forward with its schedule as written: separate action meetings and Goals and Guardrails meetings for 2026.
The vote was unanimous.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:35pm
Board moves from speakers into its agenda for voting
That’s the end of the speakers list. Now we’re onto voting.
The board is voting on its 2026 meeting schedule.
Board member ChauWing Lam has concerns about keeping the board’s “Goals and Guardrails” meetings separate from action meetings. She’d like more progress monitoring as part of the board’s action meetings.
Board member Crystal Cubbage says Goals and Guardrails should remain separate. She appreciates Goals and Guardrails happening in a space that’s separate, where she can think about them with a fresh mind.
Board member Whitney Jones concurs with Cubbage, and says perhaps it’s possible to pilot some Goals and Guardrails in one meeting.
Joyce Wilkerson, who was president when Goals and Guardrails was developed, said she supports keeping Goals and Guardrails separate. The board often starts its work at 9 a.m. on board days, she said, and it’s better for them to approach Goals and Guardrails with fresh eyes on a different day.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:28pm
Clouden family speaks to the board about the state of Philly schools
Horace Clouden, a retired district employee, wants to know the true number of underperforming district and charter schools.
“Families have no confidence” in district schools, Clouden said. Clouden is a proponent of traditional junior high schools, and believes that K-8 schools are leading to poor academic outcomes.
Mama Gail Clouden (who is married to Horace Clouden) said the district “needs to stop ignoring what we know is happening.”
“We have too many schools where people don’t know how to teach our children,” Mama Gail said.
Mama Gail suggests that the superintendent not just go out to schools for photo opportunities. Go into struggling schools, she said.
Leah Clouden, Mama Gail and Horace Clouden’s daughter, says the district is “warehousing students.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:22pm
Retired teacher speaks in support of Keziah Ridgeway and Ismael Jimenez
Barbara Dowdall, a retired district teacher, said her mother was denied a job as a school librarian because she was Jewish.
She asks: “What is the school district’s lesson to students” when it mistreats educators Keziah Ridgeway and Ismael Jimenez?
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:20pm
Retired teacher and activist tells board to stop renewing ‘substandard charters’
“More than half of district charter schools are underenrolled,” said Lisa Haver, a retired district teacher and founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools.
“It’s not right for this board to renew substandard charter schools” but close neighborhood public schools, Haver said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:17pm
District school psychologist asks the board to halt the facilities planning process
Paul Brown, a district school psychologist, asks for a re-examination of community engagement around the facilities planning process.
The current survey does not “truly capture the needs of Philadelphia,” Brown suggests.
“I’m asking the district to halt the process,” Brown said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:15pm
Schools need more time for student relaxation, parent says
Toya Diggs-Clay, a district parent, says schools need more time for student relaxation and movement. They need better breakfasts and lunches, hygiene bundles going home with kids, and more.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:13pm
District speech language pathologist sounds the alarm on lack of pathologists
Tamara Sepe, a district speech language pathologist and parent, sounds the alarm about a lack of speech language and pathologists in the district, and asks for more transparency around the number of SLP positions in the district.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:10pm
Teacher wants the board to ‘resist’ the congressional investigation ‘as strongly as you can’
Freda Anderson, a district teacher, said the congressional investigation “is a witch hunt” and “does nothing to protect Jewish people.”
Anderson suggests the board and district “resist as strongly as you can.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:07pm
Teacher tells the board to ‘look closely at which schools have high turnover’
Philip Belcastro, a teacher at Hill-Freedman World Academy, tells the board: “Teachers aren’t leaving students. In some cases, they’re leaving administrators.”
Belcastro: “I’m asking you again to look closely at which schools have high turnover,” and to make it publicly available.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:05pm
District educator calls the congressional investigation ‘political theater’
Volin Avelin, an observant Jew, said: “Don’t waste time complying with a redundant investigation.”
In the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee dismissed 26 teachers for alleged Communism. “Learn from this shameful history and stand up for teachers teaching critical content,” Volin Avelin said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:03pm
Schools became underenrolled because of disinvestment, parent tells the board
Melanie Silva, a district parent, tells the board: Schools became underenrolled because of your disinvestment.
Families aren’t ignoring middle schools because of transitions, Silva said, continuing: We’re ignoring them because you under-resourced them.
“We expect investment, not displacement,” Silva said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:00pm
Teacher Keziah Ridgeway tells the board: ‘You are at a crossroads right now, with a national spotlight on you’
“All I’ve ever wanted is to protect students in the ways that I wasn’t protected from the racism that permeates the SDP schools,” Ridgeway said.
“Being a teacher should be heart work,” Ridgeway said. “It’s December and I probably spent $2,000 of our own money on our babies — because they are our babies.”
“You are at a crossroads right now, with a national spotlight on you,” Ridgeway said, asking if the district will “capitulate to McCarthyism.”
Keziah Ridgeway, a district teacher, speaks to the Philadelphia School Board during meeting on Dec. 4, 2025.
Hannah Gann, a district staff member, then spoke to the district about Ridgeway and other educators: “The baseless attacks on some of Philly’s best Black teachers” is meant to distract them, Gann said.
Allegations of Islamaphobia are just as serious as antisemitism, Gann said. “The district has far more culpability to act when its staff harms students than when its employees feel uncomfortable when they see the word Palestine on a T-shirt,” Gann said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:52pm
District teacher and former teacher each testify in opposition to any school closures
Julian Prados-Frank, a district teacher, is testifying “to oppose any plan that would close schools.”
Schools represent a safe haven for students — sometimes the only place where they get nutritious meals and get social services, Prados-Frank said.
“Our students rely on their schools as a stable refuge,” Prados-Frank said. In his first period math class, many kids miss because of transportation issues. “These kids can’t miss more math,” he said.
Jess Morris-Horowitz, a former district teacher, also tells the board: “The anxiety-inducing phrase ‘school closures’ has been coming for months now.”
The district has spent millions on unnecessary changes, and let buildings languish, she said.
“I’m here to advocate for a focus on human-centered processes and decision-making,” Morris-Horowitz said. School closures will “critically disrupt” students’ and families’ lives.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:50pm
KIPP North parent speaks to the board in support of the charter
Pro bono librarian tells the board: ‘School librarians are not expendable.’
Deborah Herskovitz, a district parent who acts as the pro bono librarian at Vare-Washington, which has one of a clutch of “small guerrilla libraries” around the district, wants the board to know that what she provides is not the same has having a certified school librarian. “The district only has about three of those.”
“School librarians are not expendable. They are not extras,” Herskovitz said.
Suburban schools all have school librarians, she said, and these are the schools parents are leaving Philly for.
“Our library is a signal to perspective parents — we value reading here,” Herskovitz said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:41pm
Another Mastery charter parent speaks in support of the school
Amberia Perkins, a parent at Mastery Charter Wister, said her kids love the school, and asks the board to support it.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:37pm
There is too much anti-Blackness and racism and not enough consequences, retired teacher says
Kristin Luebbert, a retired district teacher, says she witnessed many instances of racism, anti-Islamic, and anti-Palestinian behavior in the district.
“No consistent effort has been made to make white teachers interrogate their whiteness” and confront racism, Luebbert said.
“This leads to too many teachers and staff upholding racist and anti-Black attitudes,” said Luebbert, who is white.
There is too much anti-Blackness and racism, and not enough consequences, Luebbert said. The district must ensure that the staff that should be nurturing students “is not harming them instead,” she said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:35pm
Teacher shares concerns about ‘politically motivated attacks’ on educators
Thomas Quinn, a district teacher, tells the board: “Right now, Philly schools are under politically motivated attacks.”
Another parent speaks in support of Mastery schools
Shavon Almodovar, a parent with children at Mastery schools, is also praising her kids’ schools. Mastery has pushed her kids to grow, given them challenging and fun content, and has developed her kids in all areas.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:30pm
Parent urges the board to consider standing behind KIPP North, rather than nonrenew it
“Our children … [should] be in schools where teachers truly love the work, and not just show up to do the work,” Hazel said.
“If we truly believe in equity … then we have to stand behind the places that are already doing that,” Hazel said. She asks the board to keep KIPP North open. (The board has moved to nonrenew KIPP over academic concerns.)
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:27pm
Parents speak in support of two Mastery Charter schools
Yolanda Williams, a grandparent at Mastery Charter Clymer, says the school has done wonders for her granddaughter.
“Me, I don’t worry when I drop her off at school because she’s at Mastery. I know she’s fine, I know they’ll treat her right, and I know she’ll get her education,” Williams said.
Joyletta White, a parent at Mastery Charter Gratz, has had a positive experience at Gratz, where her son is thriving.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:20pm
Principals union president expresses gratitude to the board for their newly ratified contract
“It was very clear from actions over the weekend that we were heard loud and clear,” Cooper said. “Any time that men will meet with you on a Sunday — on a football Sunday — you know that a contract is in the making.”
There were no raises in the 2016 contract (though principals became 12-month employees again, as opposed to the 10-month employees they had been.) There were just bonuses.
But the board was listening this time, Cooper said. Over half of CASA’s 1,000 members voted on the contract, and 97% voted for it.
“We are partners with the district,” Cooper said. “We try to lead by example.”
“We didn’t get everything that we wanted, but we are leaving feeling heard, and we are leaving with a fair contract,” Cooper said.
Robin Cooper, president of CASA, the principals’ union, speaks to the Philadelphia school board at a meeting on Dec. 4, 2025.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:16pm
Public speakers begin
We’re onto public speakers now.
There’s lots of written testimony defending Keziah Ridgeway and Ismael Jimenez, district educators who were alluded to in an order for a congressional investigation into alleged antisemitism in the district.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews is unanimously reelected as vice president
Andrews is unanimously reelected vice president, 9-0.
Andrews thanks her fellow board members “for your continued trust and support, and the push. I really appreciate the push. Thank you for the opportunity to serve again.”
Streater also responds to his reelection: “This was not a box-checking moment,” and he appreciates that the board still has confidence in him.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews speaks at City Hall on April 2, 2024.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:04pm
Board moves on to election of vice president
Sarah-Ashley Andrews is renominated as board vice president.
Cheryl Harper speaks out for her as a hard worker and steadying force, someone who works with students and community members especially well.
Crystal Cubbage says: “She has a great sense of the city and her dedication to the residents of the city in all neighborhoods is admirable. I’d like to see her play an expanded role as our vice president if elected.”
ChauWing Lam, who joined the board at the same time as Andrews, said she admires “the proudness with which she represents this board, her hardworking nature, and the style in which she welcomes those around her, brings people in.”
Streater is now praising Andrews. “It’s been a blessing to see a young powerful Black woman show up in spaces,” he said. Streater said he sees Andrews as a future president. “I’ve seen you in action and I know you’re ready to take it to the next level,” he said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:03pm
Streater is reelected as board president
Streater is reelected 8-0.
But there was a bit of a suprise: Board member Crystal Cubbage abstained from voting.
Reginald Streater spoke at City Hall on April 2, 2024.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:57pm
Board prepares to elect its president and vice president for 2026
We’re into the board reorg now. As secretary, Watlington presides. Reginald Streater is renominated quickly.
Streater accepted the nomination “humbly,” he said. He praises the whole board for its work in the past year. “We have demonstrated that steady leadership, not reactionary swings, produces real results,” Streater said.
The board has an enormous job in front of it in the next year: the facilities master planning process, which will bring school closures that will surely be unpopular.
“The responsibility is not lost on me,” Streater said, “and I gratefully accept.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:45pm
Board members respond to superintendent’s report
Board member Cheryl Harper applauds the CASA contract. Principals, Harper said, “are the backbones pushing education in the schools…you deserve the contract, and I’m so happy that you have it.”
Lots of praise for CASA from the board, generally.
Board president Reginald Streater on district principals: “You are first in our line fighting for our babies,” he said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:43pm
The district has made improvements to the school selection process, Watlington says
An update on school selection: The superintendent says the district has made improvements to the process, changes recommended by an outside consultant including optimizing the lottery, ranking and waitlist features, and enabling schools more leeway to select criteria for their best-fit students.
This year, 21,624 students applied to criteria-based schools, up from 16,878 students last school year. There were 67,928 total applications submitted, and 17,744 career and technical education applications submitted (that number is also up).
Superintendent Tony Watlington shared this slide on progress with the district’s school selection process during a school board meeting on Dec. 4, 2025.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:37pm
5,000 people have taken the facilities planning survey so far, Watlington shares
An update, now, on the facilities planning process: 5,000 people have responded to the district’s new facilities survey.
“It’s been an honor to work with Teamsters Local 502,” Watlington said, noting principals’ key role in student learning. “We ask the board for your favorable adoption of the contract tonight.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:22pm
Two students share their love for KIPP North
Student speakers are up now.
First is Jovahni Hazel, a student at KIPP North. Jovahni said he never got help at his old school, but he gets lots of help at KIPP. His sister used to hate school, but she loves school at KIPP.
“Kids like me work hard, we try, we show up, we push through things most people never see … Please keep [KIPP] open.” (The board has moved to nonrenew KIPP over academic concerns.)
Timothy Fontaine, another KIPP North student, loves his school. Timothy loves music.
“At KIPP North, they’re really the ones who let me grow with it.”
A drummer, Timothy has had chances to lead music class. The staff has helped him in many ways.
“This school is more than a school to me. It’s my home.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:17pm
Attendance taken as the meeting begins
All nine board members are present at tonight’s meeting.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:09pm
Seniors and teacher of the month are honored
Seniors of the month are Juan Aquino of Olney High School and Andre Carter of Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice.
Teacher of the month is Cynthia Carr from Swenson Arts and Technology High School.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:06pm
Final school board meeting of the year begins
School board meeting, here we go!
The final school board meeting of 2025 is the annual re-organizational meeting, when officers will be elected for 2026.
School board president Reginald Streater kicks the meeting off.
Philly school board to host its monthly action meeting
// Timestamp 12/04/25 3:45pm
The Philadelphia school board is set to host its monthly action meeting — the last of 2025 — starting at 4 p.m.
Among the topics on the agenda is the election of the board’s president and vice president for the coming calendar year.
Quinta Brunson wants you to dig into your pocket to make free field trips possible for Philadelphia students.
The actor, writer, and comedian — along with Philadelphia School District officials and the leader of the district’s nonprofit arm — announced the “Quinta Brunson Field Trip Fund” on Tuesday.
District teachers and administrators will be able to apply for money for field trips by completing a short application subject to evaluation by an independent, internal group of educators. Field trip grants will be made twice a year.
“They opened my world, sparked my creativity, and helped me imagine a future beyond what I saw every day,” Brunson said. “Going somewhere new shows you that the world is bigger and more exciting than you believe, and it can shape what you come to see as achievable. I’m proud to support Philadelphia students with experiences that remind them their dreams are valid and their futures are bright.”
“Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson watches the Phillies play the Atlanta Braves during a taping of the show in Philadelphia in August.
Every Abbott Elementary season has featured a field trip episode, including visits toSmith Playground, the Franklin Institute, and the Philadelphia Zoo. Brunson’s fund “will remove the financial barriers that too often limit our children’s access to these enrichment opportunities,” officials for the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia said.
The GivingTuesday launch kicked off with an unspecified donation from Brunson herself.
Kathryn Epps, president and CEO of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, said getting students out of their classrooms is crucial.
“We are honored to partner with Quinta to expand these experiences for children in Philadelphia’s public schools, helping them to envision and realize any future they desire,” Epps said.
Tony B. Watlington Sr., Philadelphia School District superintendent, said he was grateful to Brunson.
“We want our students to venture out and bridge what they’re learning in the classroom to engaging, real-world learning experiences,” Watlington said. “This commitment to equitably expanding opportunities for students to have experiences outside of their classroom will help accelerate student achievement and we are becoming the fastest improving, large urban school district in the nation.”
Kateryna Sobolevska’s life is full: classes, homework, and activities at George Washington High School, managing an ambitious college search, serving as her mother’s English translator, sometimes picking her younger brother up from school.
But part of the 17-year-old’s mind is often 4,500 miles from Philadelphia — in her former home along the Stryi River in Western Ukraine, in Zhydachiv, where Sobolevska’s father and extended family still cope with the realities of a yearslong war.
She speaks to her father daily.
Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
“He’s at risk every single day,” said Sobolevska, now a 12th grader. “They keep bombing the power plant, so he doesn’t have electricity all the time. He has to do laundry at a certain time. He has difficulties with work; it’s really overwhelming. There’s sirens every day.”
Still, Sobolevska is more than managing in her new home.
Less than four years after arriving in the United States, Sobolevska is at the top of her class at George Washington, with an Ivy League summer program under her belt, waiting to hear from a bevy of stellar colleges — and recently named to a select list of Philadelphia School District students.
When Sobolevska arrived in the U.S. at 14, American traditions were unfamiliar — something from a story or a book. She had never celebrated Thanksgiving.
This year, she’ll be sitting down to a turkey dinner with family, a little incredulous at the recognition that is beginning to come her way.
“But,” she said, “I am very thankful.”
‘Everything is so different’
In 2022, as war closed in, Sobolevska’s parents made a quick decision: Things were too dangerous in Ukraine. Sobolevska, her mother, Oleksandra, and her brother, Oleh, had to flee.
Her father, Rostyslav, could not join them — men between the ages of 18 and 60 were forbidden from leaving the country.
“All of us hoped that it would only be a couple of months,” Sobolevska said.
The three traveled first to Prague, then to New York, then on to Philadelphia. Every move felt unsettling, Sobolevska said.
Sobolevska had been a strong student in Zhydachiv — class president three times, a member of her student government, chosen to represent her school at language competitions.
But she had to start over at age 14. She began ninth grade at George Washington High in sheltered English classes, learning the language with other newcomers.
George Washington High School on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 in Philadelphia.
With more than 1,800 students, George Washington is imposing; it felt forbidding. It was tough to navigate, and her class schedule was changed three times.
“Everything is so different here,” Sobolevska said. “In ninth grade, it was really hard to get used to the language, to expectations, to all those processes. Ninth and 10th grade were really difficult for me.”
One of her teachers flagged Sobolevska to Billy Marchio, the coordinator of George Washington’s International Baccalaureate program, a rigorous academic course of study.
“She told me, ‘She’s really bright, she’s really improved her English. Give her a shot, I think she can do it,’” said Marchio, who agreed.
Making an impression
Entering IB in her 11th-grade year was a revelation for Sobolevska.
“I was excited,” she said. “IB is more close to what is expected from students in my country. It just gives me more stability — it’s very difficult courses, and a lot of expectations.”
Sobolevska met the expectations and then some. She was one of just 14 students nationwide — chosen from a pool of hundreds — who won a place in a summer journalism program at Princeton University.
Living on a college campus and learning from top professionals and peers from around the country provided more challenges that Sobolevska slayed. She publishedtwo stories, one about her frustration with comparisons between the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, a call for global solidarity. She felt at home inthe Ivy League environment.
Senior year has been a blur — applying to a laundry list of colleges, including Harvard, a top choice, and, most recently, being honored as one of the district’s seniors of the month, singled out for her “courage, perseverance, and quiet strength” as well as for her academic skills.
Teacher Billy Marchio in his classroom on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at George Washington High School in Philadelphia.
Marchio has been wowed by Sobolevska — both as a student and as a leader, serving as an IB officer, tutoring peers in the National Honor Society.
“Through all of her anxieties and all of her stress, she produces spectacular work,” Marchio said. “She’s so critical and analytical. She makes an impression on everyone.”
Shouldering significant responsibility
Sobolevska is quiet, unassuming. When she talks about her college search, she mentions that she’s applying to schools in “Boston, Connecticut, New York,” not Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.
She grows more animated when she talks about her family: her father, who works in sales management, her mother, who works at a grocery store, and even her brother — they argue, as siblings do, but are still very close.
“We’re really close with my mom, especially since she moved here,” said Sobolevska, who has significant responsibility on her shoulders. “I’m the main translator in the family. I help her with English; all the doctor’s appointments are on me.”
When she won the district’s Senior of the Month honor, her mother bragged to relatives and coworkers. Thousands of miles away, her father “was really excited. He was just so proud. But it was weird for him, difficult to understand because I’m very far away.”
Sobolevska, who now goes by Kate, longs to be reunited with her father, the rest of her family, and the friends she left behind, but living and learning in the U.S. have changed her, she said.
Here, “I think people here are not as stressed,” Sobolevska said. “They’re just more easygoing. It’s really warming to see how people can listen to music outside or talk loudly outside, or just say hi to everyone. In Ukraine, we don’t really have that. It’s nice to see how people are really friendly here.”
Her father “doesn’t want us to go back” home now, she said. “It’s not safe; it’s really stressful.”
Looking ahead to her future, “I would like to visit” Ukraine, Sobolevska said. “I’m not sure if I would want to live there. When I grow up, I would love to travel a lot — I don’t want to stay in place.”
Sobolevska’s rise is remarkable, but that’s who she is, Marchio said.
“She’s just trying to make her father proud, to make her father’s sacrifice worth it,” Marchio said. “She’s putting a lot on her plate to make everyone happy and proud of her, and I couldn’t respect that more.”
A congressional committee is investigating allegations of antisemitism in the Philadelphia School District.
U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.) said this week that the House Education and Workforce Committee — which he chairs — would probe “disturbing reports of Jewish students being harassed and subjected to open antisemitism in their classrooms and hallways” in three school systems: Berkeley Unified in California, Fairfax County in Virginia, and Philadelphia.
Walberg and U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, a freshman Republican who represents the Lehigh Valley, informed Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. of the investigation in a letter sent Monday.
The committee, the lawmakers said, “is deeply concerned” that since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, it has “received allegations that SDP is rife with antisemitic incidents, including allegations of teachers spreading antisemitism in the classroom and SDP approving antisemitic walkouts that isolate Jewish students.”
Monique Braxton, a spokesperson for the district, said she cannot comment on ongoing investigations.
The Office of Civil Rights found in December 2024 that despite “repeated, extensive notice” of acts of antisemitism and other harassment in its schools, the district did not adequately investigate the claims, take appropriate steps to respond to them, or maintain all necessary records.
Walberg and Mackenzie’s letter said that even after the Office of Civil Rights settlement, antisemitic incidents have continued unanswered.
Allegations of antisemitism against certain educators
The representatives also referred to the district’s director of social studies curriculum, who they said “has been widely condemned by Jewish advocacy groups in light of his ‘pattern of denying the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, refusing to speak about peace or coexistence, and downplaying the lived experiences of Jewish people in the face of violence.’”
Philadelphia, the letter said, failed “to exercise oversight of antisemitic materials in the classroom.” Officials also took issue with what they said was a partnership between the district and the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Philadelphia. (The organization this summer announced it was available to partner with local schools and administrations to provide religious accommodations and build inclusivity.)
Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director at CAIR-Philadelphia, said it “takes pride in offering these resources” but had no special partnership with Philadelphia’s school district. Instead, it was broadly offering its educational materials and training to any school, educator, or district, he said.
Tekelioglu dismissed the investigation as the machinations of “wild, right-wing” congresspeople.
“It’s a continuation of McCarthyism, what they are trying to do against colleges,” Tekelioglu said. “They are trying to quell and suppress academic freedom in school districts.”
What are the representatives calling for?
The committee requested documents “to assess SDP’s compliance with Title VI and determine whether legislation to specifically address antisemitism discrimination is needed.”
The district was given a deadline of Dec. 8 to produce documents including an anonymized chart of all allegations of antisemitism against students, faculty, or staff since Oct. 7, 2023; all documents and communications since that date “referring or relating to walkouts, toolkits, workshops, curricula, course materials, educational material, guest speakers, lecture series, partnerships, teacher training, or professional development, referring or relating to Jews, Judaism, Israel, Palestine, Zionism, or antisemitism, in the possession of SDP schools or offices”; and more.
Philadelphia School District principals have a contract — and raises.
The tentative, four-year deal was struck Monday night, nearly three months after an August contract deadline for the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, Teamsters Local 502.
It also came days after CASA members publicly called out district officials, accusing them of negotiating in bad faith.
Robin Cooper, president of the nearly 1,000-member union — which represents principals, assistant principals, climate managers, and other administrators — said in a statement that the contract “will provide continued stability for our administrative leaders.
The pact, Cooper said, “affirms the dedication and innovative leadership of CASA administrators, recognizing them as pivotal change agents, who drive both student and teacher success. It also represents a meaningful step toward honoring and uplifting our exceptional leaders by addressing wage compression, providing across-the-board salary increases, and including collaborative language that acknowledges administrators as vital partners in the educational process.”
Details of the contract were not immediately available; neither was the date CASA members will meet to consider ratifying the contract.
“We are pleased to have reached a tentative four-year agreement that both honors the dedication of our CASA members and upholds our commitment to strong financial stewardship,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said in the statement. “This agreement provides the stability, clarity, and momentum we need to continue our strong partnership with CASA and to advance our five-year strategic plan, Accelerate Philly.”
Last week, Cooper rallied her members publicly, appearing at a hearing on district matters before City Council and at a school board meeting to draw attention to CASA’s lack of a contract.
Cooper had said that the main sticking points in the negotiations were related to finances.
“First-year people are making what senior people make,” Cooper said.
For years, Northwood Academy Charter School was a stable Philadelphia charter — the kind of place where teachers and administrators stayed for decades, and children thrived.
But in the last few years, the school, on Castor Avenue in Frankford, has cycled through dozens of administrators and teachers and test scores have dropped. Academics have suffered, according to interviews witha number of parents and staff,who say the school feels less safe, and staffmorale is low.
The school’s five-year charter expires this year, but Northwood’s renewal is on hold, The Inquirer has confirmed, because the district’s Inspector General’s Office is reviewing information about Northwood. The exact nature of the investigation is unclear.
The Inquirer spoke to and reviewed testimony from more than a dozen parents andcurrent and former Northwood staff. Nearly everyone interviewed requested anonymity for fear of reprisal; some who spoke out at meetings havereceived cease and desist letters threatening litigation from a consultant who provides human resources services to Northwood.
“When we first got there, there was stability at the school — everyone was there since almost the beginning,” one parent said. “Now, in the last five years, we have had 20 administrators change over. The kids can’t get comfortable with the teachers, because they don’t know if they’re going to be there a long time.”
Northwood, which opened in 2005, educates 800 students in grades K through 8. As a charter, it’s independently run but publicly funded; the Philadelphia school board authorizes its funding but does notmanage its operation.
School officials say the Northwood turnover is not excessive, but rather a function of its board of trustees’ move to steer the school to better outcomes.
“Our goal here is to just move forward and help our students achieve,” said Kristine Spraga, a longtime board of trustees member who now serves as the board’s treasurer.
The board’s challenge, human resources consultant Tracee Hunt said, “is getting the person who has that strategic focus, who doesn’t necessarily operate more like a principal than a CEO. What happens is we’ve hired what we thought were great hires, and then if they decide, ‘This is a little bit too much for me, the board doesn’t have any control over that.’”
Northwood handled human resourcesin-house in its early days. When a principal left in 2018, there was some unrest among faculty after a number of teachers were shifted around.
Shortly thereafter, one board member suggested bringing in Total HR Solutions, a New Jersey-based provider that had worked with some other Philadelphia charters, to manage those services.
That was a pivot point for the school.
Hunt was charged with examining the school’s practices. She found “a lack of fair and equitable hiring practices,” she said in an interview last week, “a massive amount of nepotism,” and inadequate staff diversity — the school educates mostly Black and Latino students but itsstaff was mostly white.
“Through natural attrition, we have the opportunity to have fair and equitable hiring practices so that then you improve in your areas of diversity in just a natural way, versus feeling like you have to displace people,” said Hunt.
Some current and former staff see things differently. The earlier version of Northwood wasn’t perfect, they said, but it was cohesive, and under Total HR, that changed.
Adam Whitlach, a longtime Northwood school counselor, said Total HR “came in with the idea of ‘demolish, and re-create something from nothing.’ They were mixing it up for the sake of mixing it up. They treated it like it was a turnaround school, but it wasn’t, there was an existing community. They attempted to sell them a story that our school was failing and racist, but people didn’t believe that.”
In 2021, the school’s longtime CEO, Amy Hollister, abruptly left Northwood with no notice to the staff and families with whom she had built a strong rapport.
“It was out of the blue, and then everybody else started leaving,” another Northwood parent said. As with others, the parent asked not to be identified for fear of blowback. Parents began attending board meetings — at one, Hunt stood up, the parent said, “and began to tell us how the teachers want a more diverse school, and that’s the reason why all this upheaval was happening.”
The parent, who is a person of color, said they were not bothered by the staff’s demographic balance. “Those teachers loved our children. Everybody knew you, you didn’t have to go past security, and they welcomed every parent, every child. There weren’t a lot of discipline issues, because they had relationships with our kids,” the parent said.
More departures
Changes accelerated after Hollister left.
“Parents were grabbing me by the arm and saying, ‘Whitlach, tell me what’s going on here,’” the former counselor said. “The bullhorns came out, the security guards dressed all in black came out.”
(Whitlach was ultimately fired after 15 years at the school after, he said, he complained publicly about the school pushing staff out. Students walked out in protest of his departure.)
The departures affected academics too. A third parent said she was frustrated by “no curriculum, no books.”
Administrations came and went. Audrey Powell came to Northwood as an assistant principal in 2023, following then-CEO Eric Langston, who has since left; Langston left this summer, and Powell resigned soon after.
The reason for her departure?
“I just didn’t agree with the direction or the choices of the board,” Powell said. She repeatedly brought concerns to the board thatwere ignored, she said. In particular, she was alarmed by the board’s relationship with Total HR and Hunt’s “overreach” at Northwood, Powell said.
“I don’t think there were enough checks and balances,” Powell said. “I feel like [Total HR’s] contract incentivizes there to be turnover — she directly financially benefits from there being turnover.”
Northwood paid Total HR $1.4 million between 2020 and 2023, according to public records. That included base fees for Total HR’s services, including an HR generalist who works at Northwood but is paid by Total HR, and also per-position search fees for administrative positions and board seats.
“The constant turnover is a misuse of taxpayer dollars, and it’s a disservice to kids, to the teachers,” said Powell. “There can’t be progress when there is that much turnover. It’s two steps forward and four steps back.”
Hunt dismissed the notion that she was simply out to make money.
“We have these contracts that are negotiated,” said Hunt, whose firm works across industries. “Everything that I bring to Northwood, I bring below market rate.”
The school district’s charter chief, Peng Chao, said Northwood’s spending on human resources appears to be more than is typical.
“This level of spending is not what we usually see for this type of scope of work,” Chao said. “While we recognize the staffing challenges that schools are navigating, it is important for schools to remain mindful of fiscal constraints as we all work through an uncertain budget environment.”
Yanni, who began asNorthwood’s CEO Oct. 6, said while Total HR provides services, ultimately, hiring and firing decisions rest with the CEO.
“HR is an adviser to us, so HR doesn’t make the hiring and firing decisions, they provide the guidance from the place of compliance and the law,” said Yanni.
‘Beyond frustrated’
Staff and parent concerns about Northwood are not new. At board of trustees meetings, speakers often give impassioned testimony on the subject.
At last week’strustees’ meeting, kindergarten teacher Emily Parico told the board that “something nefarious is going on at Northwood, and you sit by, silent and complicit. Northwood used to be a learning sanctuary. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a place where students, staff, and families felt safe and loved.”
Parico is the Northwood teachers union’s vice president. Most city charter teachers are not unionized; Northwood’s voted to form a union in 2023 amid turmoil at the school.
Kim Coughlin, a fourth-grade teacher and the union president, said the school continues to be roiled.
“Every day, teachers and staff are thinking of walking away, and two just did yesterday,” said Coughlin. “And our families are beginning to look elsewhere, because they feel the shift. The school that we once knew and loved has become unrecognizable.”
Questions and threats of legal action
When Langston, the CEO prior to Yanni, left suddenly in August, dozens of families and staff asked the board for answers, but none were forthcoming, said Kevin Donley, the school’s psychologist.
“I’m beyond frustrated,” said Donley, who’s secretary of the union. “And deeply disappointed by the manner in which the board of trustees has governed our school in recent months and years.”
At least 50 people sent letters to the board of trustees expressing concern about further turmoil after Langston’s departure, Donley said. As far as he knows, not one person heard back, either in a letter or any kind of message.
Both Hunt and the board have sent letters threatening some who speak out with legal action; Hunt said she won a legal challenge against one parent who falsely said shehad been fired by a previous client. (The client, Hunt said, movedHR services in-house and did not fire her.)
“It’s not uncommon to have a few naysayers, but eventually when you start seeing the fruit of all this board’s labor, the reason I stick in here is because I watch them stay so focused on the kids,” Hunt said.
School officials told The Inquirer that the staff and parents who have spoken out represent “a very small number of people who are quite passionate,” but not representative of all staff and parents.
“I don’t see that the vast majority feel the same,” said Spraga, the board treasurer. “Otherwise, we would have those indicators in things like the engagement surveys, right?”
Spraga, Hunt, and board president Warren Young said staff and community engagement surveys do not match the sentiments expressed at board meetings.
New leadership under Yanni
The Northwood CEO job is Yanni’s first foray into the charter sector; he was previously superintendent in the Lower Merion, Upper Dublin, and New Hope-Solebury school systems. Yanni was terminated as the Central Bucks superintendent last week over allegations that he mishandled child abuse allegations in a special education classroom — a contention he denies.
Yanni said he’s thrilled to be at Northwood, where class sizes are small — 23, typically — and there’s a feeling of welcome.
“There’s passion here,” Yanni said. “And it’s not just the staff, it’s the kids too — this is their school. Kids really feel like Northwood is their home, and we have engaged families.”
Northwood is completely full, with a waitlist of 200 students per grade level, Yanni said, andapplications are already coming in for the 2026-27 school year.
In the 2018-19 school year, 64% of Northwood students met state standards in reading, and 30% in math; in the 2024-25 school year, the last year for which scores are publicly available, 31% of Northwood students hit the mark in reading and 11% in math. In 2018-19, Northwood beat Philadelphia School District scores (35% proficiency in reading, 20% in math) and in 2024-25, the district did better (34% proficiency in reading, 22% in math).
Yanni said Northwood is a school on the rise and isbeginning to implement positive behavioral supports to improve school climate. It’s also in the early days of an academic intervention process to identify and target individual students’ skill gaps.
“I think we’re going to see dramatic gains this year,” said Yanni.
Northwood “is a school that people stick with,” he said. And though the city has plenty of choices for families, “we’re going to start a strategic planning process, and really kind of blow the doors off. You hear about KIPP, and you hear about these large charter networks and then there’s little tiny Northwood. How do we make it the beacon, the flagship?”
The remainder of Cheltenham High’s football season has been canceled as officials deepen an investigation into alleged hazing by team members, which the school district said involves “inappropriate physical contact.”
Superintendent Brian Scriven told families late Sunday night in an email that officials made the call “with a deep sense of regret” as the district extends its investigation.
“We do not condone or tolerate hazing or abuse of any kind in our sports programs or in our schools,” Scriven wrote. “It is our duty and obligation to protect and prioritize student safety and well being, even when we know that our decisions may come with consequences and disappointment.”
Scriven canceled Friday’s home football game — the team was supposed to play Bristol Township’s Harry S. Truman High School at nearby Springfield High, as Cheltenham’s field was unavailable — hours before the game was to begin. At that time, he called it a temporary suspension of the season.
The decision caused shock and anger. Senior Night was scheduled, with recognition ceremonies planned for athletes and members of the cheerleading, pep band, color guard, and drum line programs.
“We are very sensitive to the emotions of those most directly impacted,” Scriven wrote.
Only one game remained on the schedule — Friday at Quakertown.
Officials learned of multiple incidents
News of the alleged hazing came three weeks ago, Scriven said, when someone reported that a student was assaulted in the football locker room.
Officials alerted ChildLine, the state’s abuse-reporting system, which they are legally mandated to notify when alleged abuse happens. They also notified Cheltenham police, which began its own investigation.
At the time, they believed the incident to be isolated, Scriven said in the letter.
But as the investigation developed, “additional information came to light indicating that hazing and/or inappropriate physical conduct may be occurring more broadly in the program. Last Friday, we received additional information, including reports indicating multiple team members engaged in hazing through physical contact.”
That’s when officials decided to temporarily suspend the season and investigate further. The district began working with an external consultant over the weekend, Scriven said, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The police investigation is alsoongoing, said Scriven, who urged anyone with information to contact Cheltenham police. He said the district is cooperating with police and has also been in touch with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
“Hazing is a very serious and significant issue in school athletic programs and can lead to criminal charges,” Scriven wrote. “We ask for continued patience and respect for our obligation to thoroughly investigate these allegations. We also ask that our school community not rush to judgment against any of our student-athletes or coaches.”
Saving Senior Night
Senior Night will be recreated in some ways, Scriven said — for those football players, cheerleaders, and members of the pep band, drum line, and color guard uninvolved in the alleged hazing.
“We will do our very best to involve students as we develop new plans to honor our seniors,” Scriven said.
“As a parent, educator, and former coach and student-athlete, I am troubled by this matter on numerous levels,” Scriven said. “This decision is not one that was made lightly. I will continue to communicate as openly as possible as we work through this in the coming days and weeks.
“We must move forward as a district and school community committed to student safety and respect, and do all we can to uphold those values.”
