COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania March 25, 1998 1:22 p.m. - - - Resolution No. 970368 - Memorializing the Education Committee of the Philadelphia City Council to hold hearings to investigate the school system's response to health emergencies in Philadelphia public schools Resolution No. 970466 - Calling on Council Committee on Education to hold immediate hearings regarding possibility of requiring Department of Licenses & Inspections and Health Department to conduct two inspections per year in all public school bathrooms and food preparation and service areas. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL, Chair COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILWOMAN HAPPY FERNANDEZ COUNCILMAN FRANK DICICCO - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 2 COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION I N D E X Bill No. 970368 Germaine Ingram, Chief of Staff School District of Philadelphia. . . . . 6 Gary Ledebur, Executive Director, Family Resource Network, School District of Philadelphia. . . . . 6 Darryl Jackson, Director, Family Resource Network School District of Philadelphia. . . . . 6 Resolution No. 970466 Eric Shapiro, Administrator, Facilities Field Services. . . . . . . . 15 Paul Schmidt, Director Food Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 16 Ted Skirsky, Administrator, Design and 17 Construction, Capital Programs . . . . . 35 18 Vernard Johnson, Executive Director, Healthy Family/Healthy Life, Inc. . . . 51 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 P R O C E E D I N G S
Good afternoon. The City Council Committee on Education is now called for the purpose of hearing two resolutions. The first resolution is Resolution No. 8 970268. We will ask the clerk to please read the title of the resolution.
Resolution No. 970368 memorializing the Education Committee of the Philadelphia City Council to hold hearings to investigate the school system's response to health emergencies in Philadelphia public schools, and what, if any, Citywide approaches can be implemented to improve them.
Thank you very much. Let me say that -- to welcome everyone here this afternoon. We held hearings on this resolution, the resolution was adopted on May 15, 1997. At the public hearings on May 29th, we spoke in detail about the tragic death of a child, Khylon Tyler, who succumbed to meningococcal 4 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 meningitis. Then on June 12th, we followed up with a second hearing to get a resolution of this matter. Our resolution calls for a Citywide approach to dealing with health emergencies; that is, insofar as the School District is concerned. This is inclusive of all kinds of emergencies, from contagious diseases to victims of violence. Victims of violence are also victims of health emergencies. The information we received from the School District on May 29th detailed contagious diseases but did not respond to the specific issue. As we stated on June 12, New York faxed us a copy of their four-point program. We learned that there is a procedure that lists four specific things that they do: One, the Department of Health is notified by the treating hospital or the Department of School Health Sciences; Two, the School District nurse contacts the principal, and they draft a letter with pertinent information as to how the disease is spread, who is at risk, and typical symptoms; 5 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 Number four, this letter is then sent to parents of children that attend the school that is involved. I believe the first one was to call emergency services. This is done as soon as the Health Department is notified. And I say if these things can happen in other cities, if we can have a specific response to health emergencies in other cities, certainly we can have that here in Philadelphia. All of us even today witnessed a tragedy that happened in Arizona with school children; and, in fact, young children 9 to 11, where some children decided to start, unfortunately, for whatever reason, to start a shooting spree. Teachers and children were killed and injured. And we realize even more so that we have to have a specific response that the schools, the parents, everyone who's interested knows how to deal with health emergencies. And with that, we would certainly like to thank you all for coming. Again, as was stated, this is not the first time we've had this 6 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 hearing; it is the third from May 29 to June 12. And, hopefully, we can get this resolved quickly. I will now call on the School Board to testify. Who's here from the School District? (Members of School District panel come forward.)
Would you identify yourself for the record and please proceed.
Sure. Good afternoon. I'm Germaine Ingram. I'm Chief of Staff in the School District of Philadelphia.
I'm Gary Ledebur. I'm the Executive Director of the Family Resource Network of the School District of Philadelphia.
And I'm Darryl Jackson, Director in the Family Resource Network, School District of Philadelphia.
We don't have prepared testimony today. We're here to present a protocol as well as a set of frequently asked questions with answers with regard to how the School District deals with emergencies or communicable diseases even when they don't present emergency 7 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 situations. I'm happy to have Dr. Ledebur and Mr. Jackson give you some context for this protocol.
Let me start. And Mr. Jackson is the person in the School District who's responsible for --
Oh, excuse me one moment. Does anybody on the committee want to make an opening statement with regard to this? And may I state that we do have in detail as part of the previous transcript what happens with contagious diseases. We've had that, and that was submitted earlier. So we're not talking about contagious diseases. We're talking about any kind of health emergencies, whether there's a shooting, whether, as with McMichael School, a child dies from what is viewed as a communicable disease across the street from a public high-rise. We want a general response as something that every child can know, every parent can know, as opposed to a detailed one, detailing contagious diseases and what they are and all of that. We 8 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 certainly have that already as part of the record in one of our previous hearings.
Well, let me be brief, and I'll give you a you a quick overview, and Mr. Jackson can give you a bit more specifics as related to health and psychological services. The School District takes very seriously the illness, the death, an accident of any student that we have. We operate during the school day in loco parentis; and that means we have a parental responsibility during that day to ensure that children are safe and taken care of. The Family Resource Network, in particular, the nurses, the counselors, the psychologists, the school community coordinators in every building are trained. We have worked with them closely to support the safety of children, the health of children, and to work closely with the families. They all are familiar with the procedures that Mr. Jackson will give you an overview of. They're all familiar with the resources in their community as well as within the City to make appropriate contacts and referrals. 9 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 And we have also looked at other school districts across the country and have surveyed the kinds things they are doing. We've learned from them; and in some cases, they've learned from us. So we're quite confident that we have adequate procedures and policies to assure the health and safety of our children. Darryl, do you want to talk about the procedures?
All right. What we've brought with us today, it's the responses that we've made to the issues that you addressed in May and June of last year, which really dealt with communicable diseases and how we interacted with the City's Department of Health. And we're willing to share those with you. But, basically, I think we've addressed the points that you mentioned when you talked about the procedures that were established in New York City in which the School District and the Health Department stay in active communication with each other to ensure that information is given from one system to the other, and that the appropriate people are notified as quickly as 10 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 necessary. I don't want to necessarily talk you through the entire document, but the procedures basically list what is to be done by each office, and who is supposed to be the point of contact so that we can ensure that the schools and the communities are appropriately informed about the nature of what is occurring in a community as well as information that needs to be immediately shared with the community at large, and the procedures for ensuring that that happens. And also to make sure that the information is accurate.
Might I note that for the record that we have a quorum. To my left is Councilman Mariano, next is Councilwoman Happy Fernandez, Councilman David Cohen. And to my right Councilwoman Donna Miller. Let me note that we see we have a report about disease. What about a shooting?
We -- in coming here today, we thought we were addressing situations that involved the School District and the Department of Health. When -- we don't have a -- this is just 11 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 directed to that. We do have other documents that we didn't bring with us today that detail how schools are to deal with emergencies and to have their emergency plans in place in each school.
Let me say that we had a hearing May 29th and we had a hearing on June 12th. It is now March the 25th, and we still don't have a system in Philadelphia in public schools to respond to emergencies. We're not talking about communicable diseases alone; we're talking about any health emergency. It's part of the transcript, we've said it over and over at each hearing, I talked with the Superintendent who I know is out of town just yesterday and Friday. What we need is a written, point 1, point 2, whatever, that deals with emergencies. And I find it unconscionable that we have to continue to ask the same questions even we've had so much crime fortunately to the degree we've had it. Even today, after we learn of another situation in another state in this country, and still, in Philadelphia, we don't have a system 12 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 that everyone can relate to that deals with emergencies. It's got to be a communicable disease, somebody's got to get polio or meningitis or some other disease before we have a specific response. I find that unacceptable and unconscionable. Councilwoman Fernandez?
Councilwoman, maybe -- I just got this so I'm just reading it, but it says here on , How does the School District define and respond to school health emergencies? I guess, I do consider gunshot incidents are really -- they're often -- they're health and safety, but it says, "Category 1, emergencies in which immediate and proper intervention is necessary." And then an example, If a patient is not breathing --
-- or does not have a heartbeat and they need, you know, immediate and medical care, I would think the kind of situation talking about falls into that 13 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 category.
But, Councilwoman, we've had this before. Read the last -- the last sentence of that paragraph says, "Designated adult personnel at the school should be able to provide first aid." Give me a break. Provide first aid if a person -- we already had this before. This is the exact -- I mean, it's put in a neater package, a cleaner package. Come on now, you're going to tell me that whomever --
Whomever that designated person is? We know we don't have nurses in the schools, we're right back to where we were before. We don't have nurses in the schools, the principals are supposed to assign someone who's in charge of emergencies that day. What if that person's not around? We -- all of this is a matter of record. We went through all of this before in the transcript. And, apparently, the School District 14 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 still -- the School District of Philadelphia still does not have a system as to how to respond with emergencies. What if you can't find that person? What if they're in another class because it's person assigned that overall responsibility that day? What if it's a person who doesn't know what to do? What if it's -- it could be in the yard, it could be anyplace. We need a system that responds to -- this didn't doesn't even say to call 9-1-1. We need a system that responds to health emergencies. This is not a system that does that. This is some detail, this is exactly what we already have that is part of the transcript that we received at a prior hearing. I find it absolutely insulting that the School Board would come back with the same exact report we had before.
Councilwoman Blackwell, it certainly isn't our intention to insult you. We are responding based on what was our understanding of the purpose of this hearing, which relates back to the incident last year with the unfortunate 15 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 death due to meningitis. Certainly, the School District has a system, a protocol for dealing with all kinds of emergencies, not just communicable diseases; for dealing with serious incidents, whether they be gunshot wounds or other types of disruptions within the school. They're separate and apart from these procedures that refer to communicable diseases. And now that we know that the Councilwoman wishes to address those types of emergencies and situations as well as communicable diseases, we're happy to provide you with the protocols that have been in place for some years now that relate to that.
Well, I sure would like to know what the big secret is. I don't understand that if parent has a problem, if some emergency happens in their school, they can't know because -- I can't imagine giving a parent whose child is shot a booklet that talks about measles and hepatitis and infectious diseases. That's unbelievable. You can't tell me that on day one, 16 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 teachers don't say something to children. At least they did when I went to public school. I don't know where we're missing the boat. And I absolutely don't understand what's so very, very hard to understand about a resolution whose title is four and a half lines long: "Memorializing the Education Committee of the Philadelphia City Council to hold hearings to investigate the School District's response to health emergencies and public schools and what Citywide approaches can be implement to improve them." I mean, we still don't have a system, and we've said it throughout transcripts from both hearings. And it's just really unbelievable. Well, I think what we're going to have to do is -- and I find it unconscionable that we're told to vote for $1.5 billion budgets, but yet children and parents don't know a simple thing like what happens if there's an emergency in their school or what happens if there's an emergency dealing with their children.
Councilwoman, 17 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 could I just --
Of course, parents, principals, and teachers know what the protocol is.
We publish that information at the beginning of every school year and throughout the year, it's contained in handbooks that are distributed to parents at the beginning of every year. It's the topic of discussions with Parents for Partners organizations that represent parent groups. And on any occasion in which there is an emergency-type situation, there is a reaffirmation of the procedures that are necessary in each school in order to address them. Now that we know that the committee desires copies of those types of procedures, we're happy to provide them, but they are certainly in place, as they have been for years.
Well, honestly, I have no way of knowing that that is in fact true because we don't have that. 18 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268
Again, I'm not sure what should be there. But, again, looking on , it says --
If, in fact, if you prepared for the hearing, if you read the other transcripts, you would know that we went through all of this. I am ready -- certainly we will listen to the rest of your comments and then we will certainly go on to the next hearing -- the next resolution, because there is absolutely nothing else we can say on this that would not be redundant. 19 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268
Okay. I'm looking again just at what's here. Again, having had three kids --
Excuse me. It says, "To provide prompt emergency care" -- first it says that the principal needs to have a plan. Then it says, "To provide prompt emergency care, the principal is to secure medical help from the following sources: school nurse or school physician, Family Resource Network Physical Health Staff, rescue squad for life-threatening emergencies --
Councilwoman, are you going to tell me you have a nurse and doctor in a school?
I'm sorry, but 20 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 you are insulting our intelligence as well as they.
To contact a doctor or a nurse? I think my resolution is clear calls for. My resolution calls for, and we've stated it again in so many ways in May and in June, that we want to know specific responses to health emergencies, what happens if a child is hurt, what happens. Because we have found out, we had a big problem at McMichael School when it happened, which prompted this resolution because there was no system. We had hearings dealing with STDs, dealing with Ritalin and behavioral-altering drugs. We find that when you tell a principal that that principal has the right to make a decision as to how to respond, some principals respond well, some don't. Some may not even be there, somebody could be at a meeting. Who's running things? We've been through this. In real life situations, many, many 21 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970268 times, I will not make excuses for the School Board. It is absolutely not acceptable. Mrs. Ingram has said they will supply that information, and I suggest we leave it there.
Well, I just wanted the record to reflect this seems to make sense to me.
Well, it absolutely does not, the Chair states that. And if you want to make excuses for the lack of information -- the Board has said they don't have it. Now, if you know something that the Board doesn't know, that you have, this committee would certainly like to hear it.
No, the manual talks about the communicable diseases. It says principals can come up with systems. That's the problem now with truancy. We have all these problems with truancy because the principal can assign somebody in the school to deal with attendance. Now how in the world is 22 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 somebody in a school with 900 kids, 1400 kids, going to know who's in and who's out? How can anybody know every child in that school and have a relationship with them? We have a lot of problems with this system. We believe in the School District, we believe in the public school system of Philadelphia. But where there are problems, we have to try to right them. That is our goal, and that has been our goal. And I will not make excuses for things that are wrong and things that need to be straightened out. And with that, we will ask the clerk to read the title of the second resolution.
Resolution No. 970466, calling on the City Council Committee on Education to hold immediate hearings regarding the possibility of requiring the Department of Licenses and Inspections and the Health Department to conduct two inspections per year in all public school bathrooms and food preparation and service areas to ensure that minimum code standards are being met.
Thank you very 23 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 much. When we recessed our hearing of June 12th, Commissioner Richman graciously agreed to sit down with her Deputy Commissioner and representatives of the School District to try to come up with a, quote, tighter calendar, in some ways combining monitoring -- and these are her words -- combining monitoring with inspections that would give you more of a concrete time line based on the risks of various schools, end of quote. She agreed to come up with a tighter time line to hold herself -- this is part of her quote. Pardon me, she agreed to come up with a tighter time line to hold the Health Department and the School District accountable. Commissioner Domzalski spoke of trying to complete inspections by the end of September in order to allow the School District the summer to make repairs. Mr. Vernard Johnson, who is here again, and Deputy Commissioner spoke of health issues that affect students. He spoke of the lack of proteins and high blood pressure as well as the need for doctors and dentists. 24 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 Mr. John Campbell, who's also here, the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Manager -- last time I couldn't remember that title, we've got it today. He spoke about inspections and informed us during those hearings that the L&I inspects 259 school buildings because not all our schools are there, they have more buildings than that. He also talked about summer programs and fire code violation. This in addition to all the duties that L&I does Citywide, they do certainly for the School District. He also told us that the School District inspects every school at least once a year and that they go back for reinspections if violations are found. Certainly, we appreciated the offer from the Commissioner, Commissioner Richman, which summarizes what we were trying to do in terms of bathrooms. And we asked the School Board if they would come forward again to find out if you've agreed to take on the suggestion that was made at the hearings that called for an additional -- perhaps an additional inspection in schools that absolutely serve and prepare food on-site and if 25 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 you've developed a system for additional inspections in food areas and in bathrooms that would allow for student input, as was suggested, and just what exactly has come out of this. Certainly, we ask you if you would come forward and respond to the second resolution, the School District. We certainly spoke with the Commissioner, and I know that she's been in touch with the Board. And this, again, was last June 12th, was the most recent hearings. So certainly, we are hopeful that you would have some information. And all of you who are here, I talked with the Superintendent on Friday and again yesterday. And certainly Mr. Hornbeck said that he would have you prepare to respond to these issues. So it is not my idea to try to -- certainly the buck has to stop someplace, and we are trying to meet our responsibility, to try to deal with these issues finally so that we can move onto something else. Would you identify yourself for the record. COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466
Councilwoman Blackwell, I'm Eric Shapiro, Administrator for Facilities Field Services.
Councilwoman Blackwell, I'm Paul Schmidt, from Food Services. I'm the Director.
Our general response to the issue is that we welcome as much oversight as the City wants to offer. We treat the inspections as a positive issue, that there's things that we have to handle. And as many eyes as you can put on the scene at the schools, we welcome; we have nothing to hide. In the past year, since the hearings last year, we have had in the facilities area, we had 188 visits for inspections; and wherein we found of those schools to be totally compliant. 19 And of the remainder of the schools, 45 percent 20 were -- 21
In 21 out of 188 inspections, the schools were totally compliant. Of the remaining number of schools, we 27 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 had a 76 schools that had more serious incidents and had to be reinspected. And the remaining number of 81 schools had simple violations that were able to be rectified and remedied within a few days from the inspection, and there was no 7 need for reinspection. So over 60 percent of the visits resulted in either quick remedies or total compliance. And the remaining issues had to be dealt with in terms of scheduling workers prioritizing the issues and getting the material needed to comply with the issue.
Certainly we talked at our last hearing about prioritizing the degree of the severity of the conditions in the schools. And we would like to know where you are on that. And we would also like -- the Chair would also like a report from you on the various schools and just where they are in terms of the repairs and repairs needed. Certainly, if we have 76 schools in serious condition, that's quite a lot out of 188 and 81 with simple violations. We're glad that 28 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 you said they were simple enough to repair, so hopefully, that's done. But we really, really need a tighter, more specific response to schools. And we would like to see a statement with the schools in the City -- 213, are there? Or 287?
All right, about 260 schools. We would like to see a report or some statement listing the schools and whether or not they pass code violations and whether it's serious or, as you say, simple, and whether it's been rectified or not.
Just for your edification, priorities for repairs deals in safety and health issues first, and anything that has any of the children in jeopardy is handled immediately. The reason that there is a delay in repair work, sometimes due to fixtures being broken and plumbing needing to be repaired, sometimes parts and pipes have to be ordered. We stock a lot of the material at the Kennedy Center for inventory, but sometimes, on occasion, you 29 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 know, special things have to be done. So, usually, even the more serious incidents are finished within 30 days.
Let me say that, for example, we get a lot of reports. For example, at Fitler School, and that's supposed to be one of our best schools, girls have a buddy systems to go to the rest room because the doors won't stay shut. I don't know if that, for example, has been repaired. That's a simple thing. Doors won't stay shut and girls go together. And there are so many simple things that could happen. We understand, of course, at Gratz High School where we've had violence there, when we had school violence hearings, I guess, back in '94, Gratz was one of the schools singled out for violence. And certainly I understand that even now, toilets are not in working order, as well as urinals and bathrooms are just in deplorable condition. I understand also, for example, that -- talking about kitchens, at Ben Franklin High 30 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 School, their hot water system is such that the hot water can't go from the basement to the kitchen. You have something like -- you have 120 degrees in the basement, but by the time the steam or heat gets to the kitchen, the degrees is only 90 degrees, so I don't even know if that's safe levels to even serve youngsters or anyone food in a public place. So these are just some of the reports, just some information that we happen to learn of. And, quite frankly, I am sure that if we went around from school to school, in the majority of neighbor schools, we would find big infractions. In fact, I received a call from a reporter yesterday from TV, asking me about schools that that reporter could see. But the reporter was, unfortunately, told that they couldn't get permission from principals to welcome a reporter in, that principals could not welcome that reporter in. And, in fact, I learned that the School District was, in fact, trying to get some principals to say, Great, come here look at my great school so that today we could talk about 31 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 great things. We're glad to talk about all great things. We know we have wonderful schools in the system. But we still believe that we have to try to do our best to protect all of the children in public schools and neighborhoods throughout this City. So we hope you will check into those and report those to us.
We will. And just one response an issue on Gratz. We appreciate the visibility that hearings like these bring to these kinds of issues. Gratz was a school chosen for MLK (Martin Luther King) Day of Service, and their bathrooms were specifically identified for repair. We did a fantastic job working with the community and the students of the school and did many repairs that had gone undone for quite a while. The issue that we bring to these hearings is one of vandalism and responsibility at the local level for the students and the staff and the community that use our buildings. And there is difficult times when there's so much vandalism 32 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 that does go on. And we're not making that an excuse, but it does tend to make the situation much more difficult. And that the repeat times that toilet and facilities are not in use, a lot of times is a direct relation to vandalism. Now, we have many principals working with their staff and working with the PALM Committee, which is the Philadelphia Area Labor Management group to work on this issue. And the more that we can do in bringing this issue to a head is something that will help us immensely in keeping the bathrooms clean and safe and available for everybody.
Certainly, we agree that these are hard times in communities, we realize there's a high level of vandalism. Our concern is that we have an approach to deal with it. We had hearings in May, we had hearings in June. We're in March again. And even if we had a plan as to how we deal with it, that was the whole point, to develop plans. We're not asking for easy answers, but we are saying that, as 33 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 leaders, we all have responsibility to try to come up with plans to deal with our problems. And that is why I take issue with the School Board who is not doing its part in trying to rectify, trying to ameliorate situations that exist in public schools. Councilwoman Miller.
Thank you, Madame Chair. I have one question. When you're doing inspections, is there a requirement that soap be in bathrooms in public schools?
Okay. So if there's no soap, then who made the decision, the principal, because of vandalism or whatever?
Soap should be in bathroom. There's no excuse. Even with the vandalism, it's still a requirement. It's still a safety issue and a health issue, and there should be soap in every bathroom.
Okay. Because I know of schools that do not have soap, and children are there all day, touching things, 34 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 eating lunch, and bringing home colds and flus and everything else.
We have taken an approach to look at that issue. We were using powdered soap in the District for quite a while, which was a problem because it cakes up in the dispensers and in the boxes. We're going to use liquid soap in the bathrooms, and we're recessing the dispensers so they're less likely to be vandalized. We're trying to get this instituted throughout the District as we're speaking. Because the inspections violations, a large amount of those are due to soap dispensers and lack of soap in bathrooms.
Okay. And I think that doors are very important in bathrooms. These might be children, but they still need privacy. And many times they don't want to use bathrooms for certain things. I just wanted to make that point, thank you.
Certainly you say you're working on that system? 35 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 And then we'll hear from Councilman DiCicco. But you're working on that system? When do you expect to have a full implemented system?
We're working on all the high schools, then the middle schools. It is an issue of funding and the ability to get all of these things put in place. I would think over the next six to nine months, all schools will have liquid soap dispensers, and the dispensers will be up and secured.
Do you have any idea where you are in terms of overall, in terms of -- we've been in schools where maybe you have five sinks, and one works. So before you can get to the soap, you've got to have water. And where we have those kinds of problems where, of course, there are bathrooms -- and you've heard it all before -- with no doors, even in girls' bathrooms, with no doors. And when do you expect to have -- do you have a priority list now? 36 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466
And when do you expect that you can have virtually all of the schools in working order? What does that look like from your viewpoint?
We have aggressively tried to repair make bathrooms, the repair of bathrooms, a priority. If you give me a chance, I would share with you a report on what we've done over the last six months and what we have left to do. And I will have that to you in about a week. Give me till the middle of next week, and I'll a have your report to you on all the schools.
Thank you, Madame Chair. Good afternoon. Within your authority, do you also do inspections, make recommendations for structural problems to the school, plaster falling from ceilings, and things of that nature?
We inspect -- our building engineers inspect each school every day 37 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 with visible structural integrity, things that we can view visually. Yeah, they check out plaster ceilings, acoustical tile ceilings. They walk in the bathrooms, they write up every day what went wrong from the previous day. So we do a daily inspection every day.
Do you have any knowledge that you can share with us as to the condition of that school? I was supposed to be up there this morning, but we were supposed to have a Committee of the Whole hearing, and I cancelled that site visit. One of my staff members went on my behalf this morning, and she indicated to me that literally plaster is falling from the ceilings. Some of the students are being taught in the hallways and may even be occupying bathrooms because of some of the conditions in the classrooms and the general condition of the school. And if I recall correctly, I think at 38 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 sometime, the District had some plans to either build a new school or entirely renovate that. Could you shed some light on that for me?
Mr. Armbrister is not available right now; he's with the Mayor, I believe. But Willard is a school that he is very aware of, the problems and the conditions of the school. There are a lot of -- there's a lot of movement right now for additional construction in that area, and I'm not sure exactly where that is. Ted Skirsky's (ph)'s here. Ted is in charge of design and construction. He may be able to shed some light on that for you.
Good afternoon. My name is Ted Skirsky. I'm currently the Administrator Design and Construction in Capital Programs. In terms of a replacement project or school replacement at the Willard School, there is nothing currently in our capital program. Our Land Acquisition Division is trying to put something together and see if there's local property available that would give us that ability 39 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 to replace that school.
My staff person who did the visit is coming over with a note. I thought my information was that there was a meeting that took place. Regina, would you stand here and whisper in my ear what I'm forgetting. Excuse me one minute here. Do you recall, Ted, back in 1980, if there was a plan to rebuild or redo the Willard School?
Well, our information is that it was -- at the time in 1980, it had been recommended that a new school be built, so we're a little bit behind on that. I'm not blaming you for that. But the note that Regina hands me is that (inaudible) -- no auditorium, no gym?
Plaster falling in the lunchroom, paint peeling in bathrooms, etc.. 40 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 Generally, the place is in dire need of repair.
If not being rebuilt, and you agree. Well, let me ask you, then, the process. You make recommendations, I assume, based on what you see at the school, whether it is if more economically feasible to either retrofit the building or look to build a new building, I would assume. Is that how it would work.
There's basically a situation, if that was our total focus, that is the way we would normally do it, but we've probably superimposed our overcrowding problems where they would have a priority in terms of where we could find space, where we could build new buildings, and where those new are children showing up on an everyday basis, and where that critical need is to do what we can as quickly as we can. But a typical building, new construction, would probably take 30 months.
The District also, Councilman DiCicco, hired an architectural 41 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 engineering firm to do a review of all the School District buildings, an assessment of what monies it would take to bring the buildings to standard. I could share with you their findings on the Willard School so that you can see -- this was done about two years ago, it's still active, although it was a point in time -- since then, there are other things that probably have gone wrong. But on a daily basis, we handle issues like safety and health first. And anything that would present an apparent danger to staff or students or community, we would handle as we go along. And our staff is not that large, so there are some things we can't get to, but we certainly wouldn't let anyone be in jeopardy.
Well, wouldn't falling plaster be considered jeopardizing the safety of the students and teachers?
All right. When you make that finding and put in your report, where does that go next?
The Managing Director's 42 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 office, Mr. Armbrister. Although we will handle that situation internally and fix it. And I will be there tomorrow morning and I will report to you --
Well, that's where I'm getting. I don't know who's responsible, so you're taking responsibility. And my question then is: Why is it taking us so long? And you're telling me you'll be there tomorrow morning, and I appreciate that. But these are the kinds of things, I think, that lead us -- and I'm a newcomer here -- to be kind of frustrated when these conditions have existed probably as far back as 1980. And I'm wondering, I'm hoping --
But within the next 18 years, I'm hoping that we can address that, if not the 18 months. So you make the recommendation, you 43 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 make it to the Manager Director's office, Mr. Armbrister. And I assume from Mr. Armbrister, it then goes to the School District?
Well, he has to take a look at the entire District and the priorities and the monies available and make decisions based on that in conjunction with the other areas that the educators and the Superintendent have input and community has input on what's needed. But I'm sure that at Willard, there's a significant amount of work that has been done since 1980 and as recently as probably yesterday with mechanics in the buildings. I'll share with you what we have done, what we have found, and needs to be done.
My staff person is telling me they did put a new roof on but decided maybe not to waterproof it because they're considering building a new building. I don't know if that's true. And they won't plaster and paint because the water's coming, and why put money -- and I could understand that, but I guess my next question to you is that if you are going out to 44 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 make an inspection, would you please supply the Chair with a list of what your findings are and what the inspection reveals and your recommendations.
Thank you. Let me also ask -- I understand that -- in fact, I've been hearing about it since we were demonstrating for a school crossing guard at Bryant School. I understand that Barry School doesn't have a gym, an auditorium, and I think the third thing is a yard, that they are grossly out of space, and parents are really frustrated. I get this from the mothers of the children who go there. Do you have any idea what the plans are for Barry School, given that they don't have a lunchroom, they don't have an auditorium, and they don't have a gym?
Councilwoman is correct. It's a very small school and a very tight lot 45 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 situation. There are portable trailers out there or portable units in terms of they've serving for classrooms. It is very space-tight. The possibility of putting an addition on that building, it has not been explored, I don't know. We have not looked at that specific situation.
Well, let me request that we try to do something. I mean, not having a lunchroom, auditorium, or gym makes it really, really difficult, and the fact that they are complaining that the situation is now intolerable and are even suggesting that maybe some classes can be transferred to other schools in the area. Certainly, I do not recommend home school, because we would like to see something else in the community happening with home school. That has so many problems. We're not interested in that. But it was even suggested that, for example, classes be reassigned, some of the older ones to Sayre or leasing Our Lady of Rosary at 63rd, near Callowhill, as some suggestions. 46 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 Let me also ask you about a school where I started my teaching career, and that's at Lea School. I understand that they have two portable buildings there that need to be condemned. That's Lea School at 47th and Locust, L-E-A, Henry C. Lea School. Do you know what the plan is? The suggestions made were that they try to use the abandoned Acme Market at 43rd and Locust Street. That's been closed for maybe, I'd say about seven or eight years now, that they try to use that site and even that yard for parking and try again to work out something with the older children in the school. Do you have any idea of what the plans are in terms of those little buildings that are condemned?
Unfortunately, our land acquisition person is not here at the moment. But the last I heard, we were exploring 4601 Haverford as a possible purchase for some relief there. That's the only one I'm aware of. Where is the abandoned Acme?
43rd and 47 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 Locust, 4300, yes.
Thank you. And the third school that I learned about was Wilson School. That's just absolutely overcrowded as well. In fact, they've getting more attention lately. They've got a new PAL Program in there that's about a year and a half old, but they are also asking about their fifth graders, if they could be reassigned perhaps. In fact, they suggest Comegys School might be a solution for them. And I don't know what the situation is at Comegys School.
Thank you thank you. Are there any other questions? Councilwoman Miller.
Okay, I just wanted to get some information. How often do you inspect schools for asbestos, particularly the older schools?
Specifically in response 48 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 to the Adhera Act of 1984, each school within the District had to be studied and evaluated in terms of how asbestos could best be eliminated or contained, either through total removal or encapsulation, which would reduce the problem to acceptable standards, you know, issued by the government.
Okay. What about lead paint? Well, let me tell you. Speaking of Fitler, I was there not too long ago, and they just painted down in the basement where the bathrooms are located, and already, the paint is chipping. And a couple staff people said to me that they get sick from an odor or a fume in that area right off near the girls' bathroom. And I don't know whether they were try to say maybe it's asbestos or just what is happening there to those walls. The paint's 49 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 chipping, peeling, cracking. And that's a real old building. I think it's 130 years old.
Lead paint is not an airborne contaminant. It has to be ingested in order for it to have an effect on a human being. And it's mostly affecting young children, not adults. But the Adhera Study also identifies the lead paint and where it is in the building, and we make sure that if it has to be chipped away or removed, that it's done under the proper circumstances, so it doesn't affect people.
I know we had a lot of problems at Franklin Learning Center and a lot of debate about lead paint and what happens when it's chipped. Because in that school, reportedly, it was just all over chairs. And 50 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 every place you walked, you could see just crumbs of it around, and that was a big battle. And I see Mr. Vernard Johnson who's shaking his head back there that it's not so, who is also due to testify. You're saying again that lead paint --
It's not an airborne contaminant; it doesn't travel through the air. You'd have to take one of the chips and actually ingest it in order for it to. . .
All right. Are there any other questions from members of the committee? (No further questions.)
We would like to ask if you would stand by, and we'll call on members who are here. We know Mr. Vernard Johnson, we have him next. Is there anybody else here who would like to testify? (Vernard Johnson comes forward.)
Yes, ma'am. 51 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466
Mr. Johnson has been invaluable in bringing us problems. You know, we started the Ritalin hearings back in, oh, April of '94 based on information that he was able to get from parents who were coming and complaining to him in the community at one of our schools. Namely Mitchell School was one of the schools in question about Ritalin and behavior-altering drugs. So we have been in a battle together over the years to try to improve conditions in neighborhood schools. We know our special schools and our wonderful schools and our magnet schools get attention, but so many of our neighborhoods schools are overlooked, and we feel that it's our responsibility to try to make that condition better. Would you identify yourself for the record, Mr. Johnson.
My name is Vernard Johnson. I'm the Executive Director of Healthy Family Healthy Life, Incorporated. And we're located at 1307 South Hanson Street, in the southwest section of the City. And we've around 52 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 and involved in Philadelphia public schools for about years now. 4 And I really came, Councilwoman, to 5 talk about the health care of students in and out 6 of schools. I won't do that now, but I just 7 wanted to highlight some of the areas of concern. 8 And then, hopefully, we could sit and talk about 9 how to address these areas, if that's okay. 10 I wanted to talk some about the need 11 for students and their parents to participate in 12 the Early Periodic Screening and Diagnostic 13 Testing Program the, the EPSDT, a federal Title 19 14 program as it relates to the Social Security Act. 15 And we're finding that too many 16 students are not participating in the EPSDT 17 Program and are getting their health care 18 sporadically, and we think that that there's a need to have a joint venture between the School District and the Health Department and providers in the community as well as families around that issue. So that's an area that I would hope at some point we could talk about. And then after the EPSDT exam, there's the need for proper follow-up. When we were 53 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 working at the McMichael School following the meningitis situation there, we found out that the school nurse there was concerned about -- was concerned about follow-up for students who had been screened or received some type of physical examination. And one of her major concerns was the dental needs of students. And we think that these areas that we're talking about affects the behavior and the academic achievement of students. We'd also like at some point to be able to talk about the behavior challenges that face students and their families, and especially the lack of behavioral health resources in the Southwest Philadelphia community. We've talked to the Health Commissioner about that, and she is working with us now to try to identify more behavioral health resources for the Southwest Philadelphia community, which has a small number of schools that are in the West Philadelphia Cluster, but most of them are in the Bartram Cluster. And at some point, we'd like to have a discussion about that. And fourth on our list -- and these are 54 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 in no particular order, we were just trying to get them on paper so I wouldn't forget anything today -- is lead poisoning in children. And with all due respect to the people that just testified, we have given you in your package a number of research documents about lead poisoning in children and in adults. And it is a misnomer based on this research that a child has to eat lead chips paint in order to be poisoned. Today we're more concerned, and we hold a contract with the EPA and the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program here in Philadelphia through the Health Department today. Today we're really concerned about lead dust and our children being exposed to high levels of lead dust. And, as a matter of fact, I was having a conversation with two ladies here before the hearing started. And one of the ladies, if she doesn't mind me, you know, just talking about the conversation, was talking about how she put her fan in the window in the summertime. And the track that window goes up and down on had been -- you know, paint had been 55 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 chipped. And when the fan blew, it was blowing lead dust right onto her child. And that was the problem, the baby wasn't eating lead paint, and the documentation is here to say that.
And so we'd like, at some point, to really talk about lead poisoning in children and what we believe should be a more proactive stance by the Health Department and the School District to reach children at an earlier stage in their poisoning. I believe the Health Department reaches out and inspects homes and tries to assist families whose children are suffering from 15 micrograms of lead in their body per deciliter of blood. And you have a document in front of you that talks about the developing nervous system in children and how that could be affected over the long term when there is just 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. So right away, we're in a -- we need to become more proactive around the issue of lead poisoning in children. And as you read this document -- I just didn't have enough time to make copies for 56 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 everyone. But as you read this document, you'll find that lead poisoning creates some of the behaviors that we're so concerned about in our children: not being able to sit still in their seats, short attention spans. And we'd like to work with the School District around the effort -- we were talking about that before the hearing started -- around the effort to get families and children into care earlier and to get the EPSDT exam and have them understand that the lead blood test is part of the exam. And 5 and 6 on your paper there relates to infant deaths, and we're talking about students of high school age, infant deaths, and low-birth- weight babies and multiple STDs. Our organization is represented on the Bartram Cluster Resource Board. And in working with the school nurses within the Bartram Cluster, several of them brought to our attention the concern that they have around low-birth-weight babies and some of their mothers carrying at some point during the pregnancy multiple STDs. And we're now working with Commissioner 57 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 Domzalski's office, the Environmental Service Division of the Health Department, and Greater Philadelphia Health Action around developing a program to support the school nurses in the Bartram Cluster and getting information to students about making wise sex choices and doing more around family planning than they've been doing. And I talked some about the dental care and treatment. And I'd like to say that in our effort to make the community -- at least in the Kingsessing, Pascal and the Larchwood Gardens Community out in Eastwick -- more aware around issues of public health issues. We're putting together a collaborative effort with the Health Department and the Bartram Cluster and Greater Philadelphia Health Action and our organization and several other community-based organizations, the Healthier Corners at Larchwood Garden, to actually begin this spring, it says here, but we really started, to begin this spring to do more public health outreach in those neighborhoods where Health Department statistics show that everything negative from a public health 58 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 perspective impacts those communities in Southwest Philadelphia. And on April the 21st -- it's on the other page there -- but on April the 21st, we'll be having a public press conference in some community within one of those neighborhoods to announce the effort of the Philadelphia office of the EPA and the Childhood Lead Poison Prevention Program of the Philadelphia Health Department and the Bartram Cluster, as well as a number of other community groups, will be holding a press conference to make the community aware that they should begin to look for more public health activity and information and workshops and education in their communities. And we'd certainly like to have your participation in that, Councilwoman Blackwell. Last week we met with the CEO of Mercy Hospital -- the old Misericordia Hospital by name -- and they're going to join into that effort.
And you know our struggle to get the University of Penn to the table, we'd like to have the University of Pennsylvania and the efforts of the medical system there involved in our effort in Southwest 59 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 Philadelphia to work towards getting families and children more healthy. And we don't that think this is an effort that's isolated in one part of the community or the other, so we certainly would like to have the full involvement of the School District in the effort. And the Health Commissioner was here last month, and she talked about accidents, intentional -- both intentional and unintentional. And we'd like to address that issue at some point with the School District in terms of play, more organized play in the elementary -- specifically in the elementary school playgrounds. And this whole question around disease and germ control, which the School District came here on, is an effort that we're involved in. And just recently, we had several of our students who attended the World Communications Charter School trained by the Health Department along with one or two of our adults and two of our college students trained by the Health Department. And this whole effort to teach other 60 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 people how to wash hands. We think that that is really important. And we've been convinced of that not just by, you know, our own thoughts, but by John Domzalski who was in Harrisburg, as he told us, several months ago. And all these deputy health commissioners from around the State were there, and the topic was hand-washing. And we think that children -- should be built in. There may be policy, but there needs to be the will to do this. It should be built in to the learning process in school that children get an opportunity to wash their hands before and after they eat. And so we have policy but the will to do is a whole other thing. And I'd like to say that this summer -- and we'd like to have you look at this and be a part of this, Councilwoman. This summer in the Bartram Cluster, we're going to have an intensive program around literacy, reading for children who are like leaving kindergarten and going to first grade, children who are leaving elementary school and going to middle school, and children leaving middle school and going to high school. There's 61 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 going to be an intensive literacy program for those children to focus on their reading development. And also included in that program -- and people at the Bartram Cluster were really wide open to this -- is a wellness program that will support the health care of those children going from one grade level to the other. And we're concerned that children who go from -- and students who go from one grade level to the other in the Philadelphia public schools are not getting the physicals that they should be getting, and they're not getting the -- especially children 14 years and up are not getting the necessary booster shots that they're getting. And I think that we need to make a public effort to partnership around having children again participate in the EPSDT Program. And if they participate in that program, then they'll get all the shots that they're supposed to get, they'll get tested for iron in their blood or the lack of iron in their blood. They'll tested for lead in their blood, and they'll get tested 62 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 for areas that affect their behavior. And maybe we could get on top of a child, a student doesn't have eye glasses and needs them but don't know that he needs them. And so, you know, again, we're pushing the EPSDT piece. And I'd like to have a copy of this made for you before I leave today around. It's around the Scott vs.
Snyder decision around EPSDTs and the need for students to have a physical examination and the need for those students to have physical examinations periodically beginning at one month old. And I'd just like to read this so I could get it on the record months, months, months, months, months, months, months, months, months, months, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 6 years, 8, 10. And here's where we think we begin to have some problems, and we'd like to work with the School District on this, is the 12-, the 14-, the 16-, the 18-, and the 20-year-olders who are in need of the screenings and testing and then the follow-up treatment. And we'd like to work with the School 63 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 District on a plan to develop a process where our students can come to school more healthy. And if they're not healthy, we certainly would be able to detect it early on. And I'd like to say this in closing today, Councilwoman Blackwell, and thank you for letting me do that. I'd like to say this in closing is that we work with the Red Cross around developing of disaster plans. And we would certainly like to work with the School District, if not overall, at least in the Bartram Cluster, where we're working real hard, around developing a disaster plan, not just for the local school, but for the community around the school and to make the community around the school -- make them more aware of what the disaster plan would be. About four or five years ago, at the Wilson Elementary School, in the West Philadelphia Cluster, we worked with the teachers and the students of the elementary school and the parents and the Red Cross and the School District's fire people and the City's fire people in developing a disaster service plan for the entire neighborhood; 64 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 one where, if there was a disaster in the community, how the school could be used as a disaster center. And, certainly, if there's a disaster at school, then people in the community would know what the disaster plan is. And so I think, even though there may be, as the Chief of Staff spoke about, there may be disaster plans in every one of these schools. We would like to make sure that those disaster plans include the community and the need for a disaster plan of the community. And I think that is all I wanted to say. But, again, Councilwoman, I hope that you'll look at the information we gave you around the environmental studies done in Southwest Philadelphia and the impact of what was found in the environment and the impact of that study on the community. And it's something that we're working with John Domzalski right now, as we speak, in terms of getting that information out to the community and getting feedback from the community. And I'd like to say this, Councilwoman. 65 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 You know that we agitate the system a lot, but we're also trying to find a way to work with them to move them from our position, to kind of move them ahead. And we found that Dr. Jackson is someone that has been agreeable to sitting down with us from time to time. We haven't done it in the last month or so, but we had been meeting once a month and looking at the issues around disease control and the issues of disasters in schools and just those non-teaching kinds of issues, those health issues that you and I are concerned about. And at some point -- not to speak for Mr. Jackson, but I certainly suggest that at some point, you and Dr. Jackson and Dr. Ledebur might want to sit and see exactly what it is before a hearing, see exactly what it is that they're attempting to do and how the things that we're trying to do could maybe complement with what they're attempting to do.
And I would hope that you would join us in the same kind of meeting that we're having with John Domzalski and his staff over at the Medical Examiner's Office around this disease control and, 66 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 you know, issues in the community and how we can really get this information out to families about ways to prevent, you know, disease and germs from, you know, making them weak and sicker. And so I found that both of them -- and they're not paying me to say this, but I found of them have been really --
They should, they should. No, seriously, I found that both of them have been, you know, willing to sit and work. The real job is to get the information out into the neighborhoods, into the community about ways that the community and families can work to keep themselves more healthy. And I think that -- I'm sure the Deputy Commissioner will speak for himself, but I think that the meetings that we have had before the situation at McMichael School, these kind of hearings -- and I'm not saying that the Commissioner hasn't been sensitive but maybe has upped the sensitivity level that they're -- I believe that making every effort to look at schools closer. 67 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 They might need more staff, they might need more dollars -- I don't know -- to get around to all of those schools and to do the type of inspections and then to do the enforcement that keeps the kid from sitting on a stall without a door and going through all the troubles that they're going through. So that's all I really -- but, again, children can be lead poisoned by the dust in the -- not in the air, but once the dust settles and it settles in their toys, it settles in their pacifiers and the baby picks it up and puts in their mouth, then we've got a problem. So it's not just the eating of the chipped paint that we're concerned about.
Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson. And might I say, you've been asking me to meet with Dr. Jackson for about maybe a year and a half. And certainly, I know of your feelings for him and certainly of his work to try to be part of the solution, as they say, instead of the problem. And also with Commissioner Domzalski. He's been mentioned a lot. I couldn't spell the 68 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 name if you asked me right now, but --
But we'll have you spell it for the stenographer. But, certainly, we know that you have really been committed to trying to help us from day one with all of these issues. And, again, we do not bring these issues up because we have any issue with anyone here, whether you be from L&I, the School District or the Health Department. It is only our aim to try to meet our responsibility in trying to make schools a little better and a little safer for our children. That's our responsibility, to try to at least do that. And we just hope that we don't have to -- I think the dialogue that you gentlemen brought about schools, which is really an extension of health emergencies, but we appreciate that focus. We haven't had it before. But we are hopeful that if we -- and we want to thank Thelma Peake from Peake's Day Care here for being here today. And we're hopeful that we can have 69 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 another hearing for maybe a half hour and just go through to say that these are the specific points as to what we do if you have an emergency. Mr. Johnson and many others, I have a letter that I will be submitting for the record from Veronica Joyner, Parents United for Better Schools. And she says a lot of things about communicable diseases. And she ends her letter with -- her last paragraph or second last paragraph says, "I have surveyed elementary, middle and high school students regarding their school bathroom. Ninety-five percent of the students answered dirty, smelly, and no soap or toilet paper. Most children refuse to use their school bathrooms because they are dirty." So we know we have a problem, and it's supported by that. Certainly, your statement that out of 188 schools, 76 of them are in serious condition means that we know we have a problem. We just want to do our best to try to make that better. And let me say in conclusion that if we have a better dialogue, we're not out to get you, 70 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 and we certainly assume you're not out to get us, but we have to do something to address this issue. If I don't get answers at another hearing, I'll only call another one. I mean, we've been here May, June, here's March. I'll call another one, you know. And from the district races, I scored highest so, God willing, I will be here again, and I will continue to hold hearings to deal with these issues until we have some kind of answer that we can communicate to parents, to grandparents, to foster care providers, to neighborhood people, just something that's simple, that everybody can understand.
Councilwoman, could I close by saying one more thing, if you don't mind?
One day last week, we had at the Bartram Cluster, where there were nurses and social workers and counselors and psychiatrists, I guess, and psychologists, we had John Domzalski was there representing Environmental Services. We had a representative 71 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 of Community Behavioral Health there, we had someone from Maternal and Child Care there. We had someone from Healthy Start there. We had someone from the Whitman Avenue Health Center there and someone from the Larchwood Gardens Health Corners there. And there were probably people there that I can't remember right now. The effort was, it was to link the non-teaching people to health services in West and Southwest. The effort then would be to have someone from -- just using the school Patterson Elementary School as an example -- to say that I want John Domzalski's environmental service people, disease control people to come out here and do a workshop for our home and school and for our parents and for our teachers and for whoever could benefit from a workshop that would maybe have a focus on disease control, disease prevention. Some folks talked about the slow process of getting a student into Behavioral Health Services; it's taking two, three, months sometimes to get someone into Behavioral Health Services, at least in Southwest. Maybe that's 72 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 because we don't have the number of providers that other areas of the City have. My point is -- is that -- I was thinking that with all the conversation that was going on and with all the concern about -- that everyone was expressing about students, that our phone would have been ringing off the hook, asking to connect these services, these people to the local school and to the community. Unless their phone's been ringing, I haven't gotten one phone call. And what I'm saying to the School District is that we can bring the resources there in a preventive kind of mode. I mean, I think he was real happy -- Domzalski was happy to be there and said that in a preventive kind of mode. It wasn't a meningitis scare that took him to the school. It was our trying to be proactive. We've got to find a way to get the staff of the schools, the local schools, to give them the will or the time or whatever it is that they need to tap into resources that come out and say we want to be available to you, we want you to use this, we don't want you to wait until there's 73 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 a disaster, until there's a problem. We want to be proactive and, somehow, we've got to get that message, in my opinion, across to the people who are on the front line, the teachers and nurses at the schools. And maybe somehow find time for them to pick up the phone, make a phone call and put a program together and make sure that the people are there so that we could bring the services in. And until we do that, we can have all these -- you know, with all due respect to you and the committee, we can have all these hearings and we can have all this stuff going on and we can be meeting and we can be talking. But until we can get the information to the students and to their families and to people in the community, we're going to still have these problems, in my opinion.
Certainly we agree with you and thank you for commitment. To the community and to education and to health anyone. 74 COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - RESOLUTION NO. 970466 Is there anyone else who would like to testify? Any other statements from the committee? Seeing none, we would like to at this time recess this hearing. (Adjourned at 3:00 p.m.) - - - 75 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Wednesday, March 25, 1998 were reported and accurately by me, and that this is a correct transcript of same. RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Resolution No. 970368 Resolution No. 970466 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, RPR