Okay. So we don't have exactly the number of counselors per school. So some counselors are sort of, you know, doing double duty, it sounds like.
So yes, all the schools do have counseling support. Some of them may support --
But I think what Councilmember Harrity was asking is, is there a counselor on site at every school every day, and the answer to that is probably no. 12
No, because they do share and support in other schools as well.
We'll prepare a detailed breakdown of the counseling positions, as well as any vacant positions in the district at present.
That's great. If you could also just throw in everybody for me. Teachers, support staff, counselors, let's see where we're at. Okay.
And it's not -- I'm not -- I get it that we don't have employees either, you know what I'm saying? I'm just trying to get some real numbers to figure out, like, what are we doing and what can we do to help whether it's advertising. I mean, we got to start thinking outside the box. This is our kids, this is our future for sure.
And in April of 2024, Councilmember Harrity, my best reference says that we had 393 counselors and a fill rate of 95.9 percent. Fast forward, one year later, April of this year, 420 counselors and a 98.1 percent fill rate. So we increased from a 95.9 percent fill rate in April 2024 to a 98.1 percent fill rate, which is a 2.2 percentage point increase, and an increase of 27 counselors. And to Dr. Dawson's point, that's not 100 percent, because some positions apparently are vacant at the moment, but 98 percent of those positions are field to the tune of 420 counselors.
Okay. I just got confused even more because that was two different sets of numbers. He said there were 300, some schools with 200 and something counselors.
-- that you just said 393 counselors at percent and then 420 now at 98.1 percent.
There are 200 -- probably 250 district operated schools. There are a few that are programs -- programs as versus having a official school charter. Anyway, long story short, we'll put this in writing so it's very clear.
You're welcome, Member Harrity. Councilman Jamie Gauthier, Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad, Nicholas O'Rourke, and then Rue Landau. And then we'll officially be in our second round.
Thank you, Council President. Good afternoon, and thank you so much for being here. I want to start by commending both of you. Every time I hear about the progress that is being made on many, many fronts and about the national recognition that we are receiving, it makes me feel inspired and proud. And it's due to your leadership and the efforts of your team. So I wanted to thank you for that. And also I wanted to give a shout out, like my colleagues to Laurel, because she's amazing and make sure that we get our questions answered and get what we need here in Council. I do have some questions about threats to our city and school district from ICE, given the large population of immigrants in my district and across the city. And I want to get my questions on record before you answer. We all know that under the current administration, ICE has been targeting our immigrant communities with new vigor, and our children are the most vulnerable if their parent or guardian is arrested, or if ICE comes on campus. So a few questions. What do you train school staff to do in the event of an ICE interaction? What exactly does your training consist of, and is it virtual or in-person? How long is the training, and how frequently are staff required to take the training? And next, I have a question about family preparedness plans. Family preparedness plans, which set up a contingency plan for loved ones, dependents and personal property are critical for families who face a risk of targeting or a detention by ICE. What efforts has the district made to communicate the importance of creating a family preparedness plan in the event someone in the family is detained? What efforts beyond posting a link on your website has the district made to disseminate plan templates and make sure all families have access? And what guidance has been given to school counselors to help them support families who may be under additional strain in this moment?
I just want to -- I just want to start out first of to speak for the Board. That the Board has policies in place -- a resolution in place. And I'm proud to say we're one of the school districts that didn't need the current actions from the federal administration to have those. These predated that. So I'm very proud of our city and our school board for putting those into place. And our expectation is that the superintendent and Dr. -- our superintendent in the school district will implement those policies with fidelity. But we do understand that our commitment to our values and success of every student in Philadelphia is paramount. Regardless of shifts in the federal landscape, Councilmember Gauthier, the Board will continue to uphold those policies. I don't see this board taking -- doing the moonwalk so easily as it relates to our safety, academic achievement, and obviously the values that you up raised. So we do have a resolution around safe and welcoming schools that I think touches and concerns this, that directs the superintendent to do certain things, and I'm going to ask the superintendent to follow up with those -- with that response.
Absolutely, I'll just piggyback on the Board -- on the Board president. The Board had clear guidance in policy, codified in its resolution 2 as early as I believe 2021. And second, we've had multiple trainings, at least three for school leaders to include principals and key other members of their leadership teams, with me present and with Dr. Dawson present, and with the chief of special education, diverse learners, playing an important role, Dr. Nathalie Neree. Third, and as part of that training, all of our schools have been well coached on how, if there's any issue whatsoever, any visit, we've had none of those visits to date, but should they occur that they are to immediately contact the Office of General Counsel, the School District's Attorney's office, and they have clear guidance about the next steps. Number three, in addition to that, three, we develop an online training for everybody who works in a school and require everybody, including myself to take that training. It takes about 30 minutes, if you're pretty good on a computer. If you're not, it might take you a little bit longer. And then finally, we also created a website of community resources so that we can not bear all the brunt of this, but can partner with community organizations that do everything from helping parents know their rights, knowing how to understand these events and how to protect their children, and we've made the schools available for any of these set groups who want to use them for trainings and parent and community support.
Quick -- super quick follow up, Council President?
Okay. When was your last training for your staff on this? When -- and when is your next training? And do you feel compelled to do something more on family preparedness than put something on your website?
I think that I don't remember the date of the last staff -- the trainings -- in-person trainings have been with the school administrators, not -- I want to be really clear, school staffs, we've not done in-person trainings with 19,000 employees, because the 19,000 employees would not be the people who would be responsible for facilitating any kind of visit from any kind of federal entity. We focused on school administrators because we expect them to be the port of contact, and we want teachers to be in the classroom teaching, going on with their core business. But because this is so important, we wanted everybody to know their roles. That's an online training for staff. In-person, three, for principals and school leaders. And I can follow up and get you the date of the last training. I was there, I just don't remember the date. And we can never do enough. We should, yes, continue to be diligent in this area, yes.
Councilmember O'Rourke, and then Councilmember Rue Landau, then we are officially in our second round.
Thank you, Council President, and thank you to all of you for giving us an update. Just to echo what my colleague Jamie Gauthier said, it is really heartwarming to see the progress. However the devil is in the details, and I wanted to ask a question particularly about the three things you mentioned for success. Teachers -- supporting teachers, qualified principals, and the curriculum, and how that is reflected in that facilities plan that you beautifully laid out in terms of making progress in those goals. I appreciate the fact that you said just doing a facilities upgrade is not enough to turn a school around in terms of proficiency. So on , you have the facilities planning program process, and I would like to know those three things you mentioned, how that is fed into this plan that after improving the actual physical facilities, how these other things are rolled into it, including the three things that make a school successful for students.
Doctor -- Councilmember Dr. Ahmad, I just want to start off by saying that's an excellent and amazing question. And I think that ties right into the Board's theory of change that we decided to do as it relates to this facility planning process. This facility planning process isn't something that is done in isolation, it is based upon seven other steps and phases that seeks to direct and drive the superintendent to not just close schools, or repurpose schools, or reimagine schools, or this, that and the other, or different grade bands for grade band's sake, is so that we don't do what we did before when we had to reimagine our facilities, where the children, from my understanding, based upon a University of Pennsylvania study, the children who were relocate or relocated actually didn't improve in their student achievement, and actually declined in -- and actually, the schools that received those children, actually declined in their student achievement as well. So I think that that alone has driven the Board of Education to think differently about facilities and to ensure that we think about the academic programming. That's why goals and guardrails Accelerate Philly are the foundations of what the superintendent, and the team and the project team are looking at to ensure it's not just about a facility, it's also ensuring that the facility is aligned with a world-class education, and that the conditions inside the building can exist, and with the help of City Council, the conditions outside of the building can exist for students to achieve as well. So -- and that's some people were saying, why didn't the Board just trigger a facilities planning process and just kind of do it quickly because we understood you got to go slow to go fast, and the one thing we did learn from the harsh reality of last time we had to think about our facilities is the student achievement actually got worse. Dr. Watlington.
Well said. I'll just take seconds just to 20 say that I don't want to overstate this, Dr. Ahmad -- Councilmember Ahmad, but certainly, a school where the heat works in the winter, where the air condition works in the summer months, where there's not raining in the classroom, where the toilets work well, and where it is aesthetically pleasing, where the appropriate light and a functioning gymnasium, and maybe some outdoor areas that kids can benefit from, they can have a positive impact on teacher and leader retention. However, I don't want to overstate that. It can have a positive impact on how kids think about themselves, and the extent to which they matter, the extent to which they believe their community cares about them. But even in old buildings, and it's one of the reasons why if you go to some of the non industrialized worlds, where people don't always have the best amenities, and sometimes outscore our young people, when you look at these international tests, that's one way to think about it. Thank you.
Yes. So I come from a place like that, where facilities did not determine the outcome, and so that's why I wanted to understand what is the approach that the school district is doing while it's making all these improvements, and how are we measuring that? Like, you've fixed the place, you've got all the facilities running, have you looked at all the other, you know, variables that would make student achievement improve? And are you grading yourself on it from the time that you had this new school -- you know, the school upgraded? So I just wanted to kind of tie it all in to see we need a report card on what it actually looks like to have proficiency go up while we are taking care of all these variables that produce that.
Okay. And I'll reserve my question for the second round.
Thank you. I just had a real brief question. So for the district as a whole, what is the theme of the culture of the district as a whole? To give you an example. When I go to Mastery Charter School, right, when I walk inside the school, their culture is around going to college, right? So in some classrooms on the top, you see Morehouse, you see Spelman, you see Hampton, you see Temple. I'm a first-generation college graduate, right? My dad is a laborer, mom, a homemaker. And so I was -- I was introduced to the thought process of going to college through my career counselor, Ms. Consortium at Edward Bok High School, right? What is the culture of academic achievement? Because, yes, I know I talked about what you just said. Even if you make a Taj Mahal, that still doesn't mean that you going to have academic achievement, right? I do believe that it still makes a young person feel loved and supported when you walk into a school and you don't have a classroom closed, because it's asbestos, right? You're shifting from one school to another school, that's why we always compare ourselves as young people growing up in Philly to schools, unlike Laura and Marion, but also recognize particularly in the African American culture, our best and brightest, right, leaders of the world, right, and our most door-provoking contributors have come from a time where we pretty much didn't have smart boards. We pretty much didn't have laptops, right? So you had to Mary McLeod Bethune, you had the Charles Drew, right? All them individuals that we all know about are contributed, particularly the African American community, didn't come from, well, finance backgrounds in terms of when it comes to education. But I did want to get an idea, one of the most powerful things that we can do that's more than money is believe in the child when they walk inside the school and have a level of high expectations that they can do anything. Just want to get an idea, what is the district theme just in general for every school across the Board?
Council President, I wanted to lead off here. I think that's another great amazing question. Understanding that one of our -- I think you and I share Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, who passed away this year. Became an -- this week, became an ancestor as well, from my understanding. But I think for the Board of Education, and I just want to speak to every student under our jurisdiction, our vision is very inclusive, right? It is to prepare students to imagine and realize any future they desire, right? So I think what we are not interested in doing is allocating resources that make -- and putting forth an educational experience that directs a student into one place in America -- into a society versus another, but to give them all the tools they need. And that's where the goals and guardrails come in, right? It's about -- it's about math, it is about Science, and it is about reading. You need those tools, but kind of surrounding and hugging those things are our guardrails, such as anti-racist practices, safe and welcoming schools. We consider those the conditions for success in addition to things like attendance that students have to have in order to be successful.
But in a kid -- you just gave me a whole lot, which is cool.
But let's just break this down in layman terms. If a parent or a child walk away from a school, any school in the city of Philadelphia, what is that common theme you think that parent or that child would just say, and I use Mastery as an example in terms of individuals that want to go to college, but I come from a trade school, so everybody that say don't want to go to college. But what is that one common theme in terms of -- in terms of academic achievement you think students walk away from when they leave -- when they leave any school in the city of Philadelphia?
It's to be -- it is to be in an environment that's conducive for learning, where they have all the tools to be whatever they want to be when they grow up, and for their future to not be dictated because we've decided to educate in one kind of unique way as opposed to a bigger and inclusive one, but Dr. Watlington can definitely add to the --
And I think that, at least going back to even before I came to the district, the district outside of the district had a reputation for driving hard on goals and guardrails. I can tell you that nationally, there's this -- the district is known for its -- the Board's goals and guardrails, saying we're going to make academic achievement the number one thing, and we're going to spend most of our time in our board meetings kind of talking about how that's going. So when I think about the culture around academic achievement coupled with being the fastest improving, I don't know if it's always lands as the most personal -- personable, the sexiest, but you're giving us something to think about there from a parent's perspective. Now, what do I want from my own kids? I'll be honest with you, first, what I want is I want my kids to be -- I want them to first feel affirmed in who they are and their culture, and I want them to feel validated, and I want them to be healthy and well, first. And that's a guardrail around that. So I think we could probably package that a bit more, but academic achievement is the North Star. We're pushing hard and I hear it when I'm in schools, schools are pushing hard. You'll see academic achievement up on the Boards, attendance as a condition to get there. But I think it could be more customized and more personal to families, absolutely.
Okay. Thank you very much. The Chair recognizes Councilmember Nicholas O'Rourke then Councilman Rue Landau. Then we're officially in our second round.
Thank you, Mr. President. Superintendent Watlington, President Streater, the Reverend Vice President Andrews. Thank you all for joining us today. We are long in the tube, so Let me try to keep it tight. I want to start by asking a few questions about the school facilities planning process and school closures. Organizers in the education space, like minority leader Kendra Brooks, have fought hard against school closures for many years. So I'm interested in hearing more about how the decisions are being made during this cycle. And we've got four questions on this particular issue. Once the district identifies potential school's foreclosure or consolidation, what is the specific process for involving the individual school communities affected? Will there be guaranteed school specific public meetings before any final decisions are made? How will the district ensure that affected students, families, and staff have a real opportunity to influence the outcome, not just provide feedback on a decision that's already been settled, but really shape it. And how was the district prioritizing urgent health and safety repairs for schools that are not slated for closure to prevent unsafe conditions from persisting for years? Can you speak to any proactive measures to that end?
I'll just, again, from the Board's perspective as it relates to the resolution, I wouldn't call this a school closure plan at all, because the resolution 14 sets forth things that don't have nothing to do with closing schools such as pre-K, kindergarten in every school making sure there's algebra in every school, things like that. There's some discussions about repurposing and things like that, but also there could be other things like co-locations and things like that. So I would -- I understand the energy and I appreciate the question, but I don't think that this is a school closure programming, but obviously we're not going to hide the ball that this could lead to some school closures. But I did want to give that -- put that information out into the atmosphere and also want to put on the atmosphere that, you know, I don't foresee there being a plan day 1 to completely have a plan that's done in two or three years, right? I would -- I would assume, and this is just me putting on my lawyer hat, that this is likely going to be a phased approach as well. And I believe that the Board and the district will be very thoughtful about engaging the population in our community. Also, when you close a school, there's also state law that mandates how it's done, right? So I -- so there is a whole process after the process that will be considered by the Board of Education as well. But again, I just want to also just bring it back to, it's not about closing schools. It's about better utilizing our resources so that we can best deliver the educational experience that our children deserve, which could include some school closure. But --
President Streater, I want to be clear. Thank you, sir. I want to be clear. I don't -- I'm not trying to double down on the idea that there is a school closure program afoot. I am wanting to get clear on when you have come to a decision to close or consolidate a school, if there is a specific process for involving the school communities that are actually affected, whether or not there's a program or not on that is less the point. When you get to that point, is there a specific process? Will there be guaranteed school specific public meetings before any final decisions are made? How will the district actually ensure that effective students, families, and staff, have real opportunity to influence the outcome and not just provide feedback on the back end?
Absolutely. We're still early in the process, Councilmember O'Rourke. But to answer your question straight away and in tandem with what president Streater said about this isn't limited to a school closure plan. To answer your question straight away, yes, we'll be very transparent, very public in this process. We've got a little bit more work to do, but we'll be coming back to the Board of Education over the next few months with a clear -crystal, crystal clear framework and methodology for decision making about how would a team arrive at a conclusion about which school ought to be co-located, schools ought to be located, what's the methodology and the framework for decision making about which schools ought to be rebuilt or renovated, which ought to be repurposed for some other community use, and which, in some cases, ought to be closed. And we're taking our time to not repeat the pitfalls of the past. In 2012, we know when schools closed, kids got worse. Their academics went down, their chronic absenteeism went up, and the schools where kids will move to, those kids experienced negative outcomes as well. So we're not quite there yet, but we will publicly be able to share that through the Board of Education when we bring that to the Board. And folks will have an ample opportunity in the timeline of events for the Board. We'll do that in a timely manner, so the Board has the opportunity -- should it be the Board's pleasure to -- I'm certainly the Board will want to have public engagement once we bring them recommendations because ultimately these will be board decisions.
Thank you, Superintendent. Thank you, President Streater. I heard the bell, so I'll let you ride. Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Member O'Rourke. The Chair recognizes Councilman Rue landau, and then Councilmember Chair of Education, Isaiah Thomas, will lead us into the second round.
Thank you, Council president. Thank you, Superintendent, board, everybody, all the school district who's here. You know, we've been doing this for such a long time. It feels -- you have a little bit of hope that we are increasing in our numbers, and it still feels: One, scary to feel hope, and two, the pain that it's still not enough. And I know it's so hard to know how hard you all work to get these small gains. So I appreciate that so much. I think we all just want that magic wand, right, where we can just fix all this immediately. And it's so difficult. One thing I'm really appreciating is that it feels like we're no longer normalizing what was the status quo. And that felt for a long time that we forgot to question a little bit about it being outrageous that we were allowing our students to be in this situation they're in. So thank you for that. I want to do a little bit of numbers and then a little bit of policy. So for the numbers, I wanted to go back to 2013 deficit when we had teacher layoffs, class sizes increased, nurses and counselors were laid off, capital spending ground to a halt. Did those decisions create educational and capital deficits that we are still dealing with today?
I would say the impacts were longstanding. When I look at the nation's report card, we studied it carefully. The Nat data I shared earlier. From 2012, 13 or so, for a decade, we've had stagnant performance. So to get this bump in 4th grade math, I think is really significant. And it just makes the point when you have more resources, federal, state, local, plus the COVID dollars, and you have a good detailed plan to be really specific about what we're going to invest in, our kids get better. Now -- yes, longstanding impacts. I think I heard the buzzer.
I'm going to send an additional letter, too. Go ahead.
So thank you. If you could just finish that -- the answer there, and then I just have a couple of additional follow ups there.
Well, let me go to this question. Does the district, Council, Harrisburg, and The Mayor sit down to figure out a plan ever to get us out of the crisis that we're in, and if not, are you -- is that possible?
Yeah, I -- I think you, that's another magic question. Thank you, counselor. I'm saying counselor because I know we're both attorneys.
Councilmember Landau. There's so many threads that connect to this question. And I think what the Board's theory of action was during the pandemic was we invested in our facilities to the tune of five new schools, classroom modernization, but we also invested in our people to show that when you invest in public education in a way that is student centered, in a way that focuses on why we exist, you will see change. You will see our children get better. You will see the institution that was chartered to do the work do the work it was chartered to do. And right now, we do find ourself at a precipice, right? You know, understanding that the state has moved closer to adequacy, and we are so appreciative for every, every dollar, but understand that it's going to take years to get to the $1.2 billion 10 shortfall that the Commonwealth Court, flowing from the bipartisan commission on adequacy, understanding that 10 years probably is going to take too long. Also understanding that $500 million of our budget could be in jeopardy for -- to a board in a district that's actually complying with the law, that has complied with the law as it has been and complied with how the law is still being interpreted by courts every day. It's even going to touch the city of Philadelphia in the school district. We just got finished talking about facilities, but Board Member Stern would probably kick me in my ankle if I didn't mention this. Right now, the reconciliation bill, they're thinking about taking away tax exempt bonds from being -- municipal bonds from being tax exempt. That's going to hurt all of us. So I'm appreciative of the energy that I felt, I think the Board is feeling, and the superintendent is feeling that we're all in this together. And that I do think there needs to be a strategy, a coordinated strategy to stymie, so all of the work and energy that has been taken to lift us into the stratosphere. I'll just use one quick analogy. I think for School District of Philadelphia, for the city, often it takes a lot of energy to escape the gravity of the status quo, right? So, as you know, when we try to move, get something to the atmosphere, it takes a lot of energy to get it and propel it into the atmosphere. And at some point we'll be in orbit, but we're still getting into orbit. This is the worst time to defund or to lessen the amount of fuel that we need to continue with the progress. So thank you for that question.
So are you willing -- will you take the steps as the School District of Philadelphia to get the parties at the table to have these meetings that need to happen?
It is our understanding that we want to get through this school year. We are also very blessed that the Board of Education has a fund balance to stabilize an issue before it could have been -- earlier than it could have been. But I think that Dr. Watlington, the Board, we're looking to do some advocacy and some more coordinating after this school year.
Certainly, I think the Board under President Streater's leadership and our mayor are the people who are out, you know, leading the advocacy charge. As the superintendent, I feel like my job, and I've heard it said many times, is make the case. This is what we need -- these are the inputs we need to get these outputs. And we are certainly going to keep our foot on the gas doing that.
You know, briefly, also, I'll be remiss if I didn't raise up the Board members who are kind of leading the advocacy work. And I believe that's Whitney Jones, Wanda Novales, Joyce Wilkerson, and Joan Stern. So the table -- the quiet conversations are already starting to begin as well. And the foundation is being laid for us to hit the ground running when it is time to hit the ground. Actually, we've already started hitting the ground, running, to be honest, as well, going to DC and things like that. So thank you so much for raising this issue. It's a very important issue.
We have a hard stop at 1:30, so I want everybody to be direct with their questions and their response. But I will say, as a follow-up to Councilman Rue Landau, that Chairman of Education, Isaiah Thomas, will also be a part of our process in terms of the advocacy and also briefed on how we're getting the type of support that we need. So thank you. Great line of questioning. Chair recognizes Chairman Thomas.
Thank you, Council President. And along that same energy, we will be going to Harrisburg to do advocacy as well. And, of course, we'll be joining you like we've done in years past. So thank you for that. I'm going to do a quick round robin here. If I can get Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill, as well as our fiscal -- our CFO, Mike, to come on up. Quick round of round robin. I want to stay in line with the Council President's time for today. In the past, we've talked about local procurement and looking at the percentage of school district contracts that go to Philadelphia based businesses. When we started this conversation a few years ago, that number was in the single digits as it relates to the percentage of school district contracts that go to Philadelphia-based businesses. We talked about the deficit that's looming. Where are we now? What percentage of school district contracts go to Philadelphia-based businesses?
As these gentlemen are coming up -- well, I'll just let Chief -- I'll let Chief Herbstman speak. It's increased. Chief Herbstman.
Yes, sir. Currently, through the second quarter of FY25, we're at 32 percent for this year.
Where were we at when we first started this conversation?
So we have reliable data for this year and the last two years where we were at about percent, so 7 percent 6 increase. Prior to that, the data 7 is less reliable, but it was likely 8 within the teens. 9
So 10 we've at least doubled, but possibly 11 tripled. 12
I believe 13 that's likely correct. We don't 14 have the data to support it from 15 beyond -- to fully support it from 16 before 2023. 17
My 18 goal is to get that number above 50 19 percent. I'm looking at a lot of 20 your bigger contracts. I'm looking 21 at the Office of Athletics. I'm 22 thinking about cleaning. Cleaning 23 is my favorite contract. I'm sure 24 there's somebody in Philadelphia that can clean. What are we going to do to get some of them bigger contracts? Cleaning, substitute teaching, the food contract is another example. seconds, what's 6 your vision to get some of those 7 contracts to be Philadelphia-based 8 businesses? What's your plan and 9 how can we get that number, which 10 you've done a phenomenal job on, 11 from single digit to teens, from 12 teens to 32 percent, over 50 13 percent. What could we do? 14
I want to 15 -- I want to note, first, we're going to follow the ladder in spirit of the law, federal, state, local, procurement, and the Board's policy with a guiding principle to where we can to continue to move these numbers. Chief Herbstman.
Well, we can change the law, right? So if the law is the problem, as far as local laws, we can do what we need to do to change the laws. And let me be clear why. Because when you choose Philadelphia businesses, those dollars, as you know, goes back into the Philadelphia economy over and over again. So this is important not just for us as a legislative branch of government, but also for you with the deficit that you have looming. That's one of the things that we feel like the District can do to try to help invest in our local economy. Mike, if you can give me a quick answer because I got to move on.
Yes, sir. We continue to do everything that we have been doing in terms of reaching out to all of our vendors in various ways, working primarily with our operations team and moving into work with our academics team vendor fairs, vendor knowledge sessions, local and MWBE introductory programs that we've created, supplier office hours, trying to remove all of the barriers for small and --
So a lot of those things you said, I'm looking at council members' faces, they don't know what you're talking about. So when these events are happening, if you can make sure that my office gets them and we'll do a better job of dispersing this information, especially to the district council members so they can make sure that their local businesses in their districts are able to take care -- take advantage of these opportunities, I think that's something we can do better and I appreciate.
Mr. Chairman -- Chairman Thomas -- Councilmember Thomas, we also are working very intentionally with various chambers of Commerce, including the African American Chamber of Commerce, Latin A. Chamber, et cetera. And we recognize that school districts are usually one of the largest employers. So the spirit of what you're saying, we absolutely agree with, absolutely.
Fifty percent is -- over 50 percent is the goal. Dr. -- I'm sorry. Deputy Superintendent Hill, last time we spoke, specifically about the reassignment room, we had a number that I looked at, 87 percent backlog. For those who don't know, that means that when you are assigned -- when you are assigned to the reassignment room, your investigation should take place within 90 days. We had a large number of people who were there well beyond 90 days. And the last time we talked, you said 87 percent of those cases were clear. How are we doing with the reassignment room and where are we at with those backlog of cases?
Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman. Since our last meeting and the providing the status of 87 percent of our backlog cases being reduced, we have, since that time in the last week, reduced another 30 cases that has raised that to well above 90 percent.
Thank you. That's great work. Let's keep up the progress. In the same spirit, we're looking at issues specifically related to safety. One of the things that you promised us -- I don't know who it is, but someone promised us that we would get a written plan, so when an emergency takes place, there would be a written plan that explains what communication, what happen with all parties, including our crossing guards. Where are we at with that written plan? So when an emergency takes place, communication goes to everybody, including our crossing guards.
Thank you, sir, again, for allowing us to come back and report that we do have a communications plan that provides or disseminates information, not only throughout our school safety office, but also, it incorporates communication with the Office of Civil Affairs at PPD as well as the crossing guards leadership. That plan is nested in our Office of School Safety with the chief of Safety. And then there's also our communications cascade that compliments the notification of key stakeholders in the community to include elected officials.
Got a lot more. I'll stop, Council President. I know that we're pressed for time. I'll put the rest of it in writing. I don't know if we'll come back for a third round, but just a lot more digging to do it around a couple other things. My last shameless plug, because you can't respond. I hate the start date for school, right? Like, I hate it. I don't know why we can't start after the September holiday --
I concur. But it's like a union issue. I asked them already.
But I got to go ahead and throw my cheap shot out there. I heard somebody talking about air conditioners and heat and things in that capacity.
And you can't respond, because we got to move on to the next thing. So let me go ahead and throw my sucker punch in. And hopefully we get to the point where we can do something about the start date of school. But add me as a member of the choir to that issue.
I want to lighten around and respond, because I asked that question already. It's regarding unions --
-- and dates and so forth. But yeah, it makes no sense that we say school is going to start. We know it's going to be hot. Then you got to say it's pushed back. But that's more of a union slash how many days they get. They're allowed at X, Y, Z. So hopefully --
Oh, I'm sorry. One more request. Council President, this is a request, not a question. I'm asking that the school -- this is important. This is for you. I'm asking that the School District of Philadelphia give us a breakdown by every councilmanic district as it relates to how much money is spent in every district. I want to see if we spend more money. I was listening to Councilmember Young's questions around literacy rate. And I'm curious to know, do we spend more money in his district than other districts? And is that reflective of some of the academic concerns that he has? Sorry about that, Council President. That question came from listening to members. So before we vote, at some point, we would like to see a breakdown of how much money the district spends for every councilmanic district to see if there's a correlation between academic achievement and dollar spent. Thank you, Council President. That's the real last one.
That's the request you can provide in writing. Councilmember Young. I agree.
Really quick. So in my district, we have a lot of the special admission schools too. So it might be skewed. I got Parkway, I got FLA, I got Maso, Masterman, right? So those numbers might be a little skewed. So I would ask if you can bring it down toward just the catchment area schools as well. That'll be helpful.
We understand what's being asked for, and we'll take that as a homework assignment. Thank you.
Thank you very much. So Councilmember -- actually, Councilmember Young, when you pressed that light, it went down. But Councilmember Young, Richardson, then Bass and Harrity, be quick because we're wrapping up at 1:30. Any other questions you want have to submit via writing?
So really brief, I do know it's been mentioned that you are all engaged in conversations with the union. So I want to take a point of personal privilege and give a special shout out to Bernadette Ambrose-Smith, President of SPAP, who's someone who I have known since I was eight years old, right? So I just want to put that out there in context of the type of conversations that we have, right? It's understanding what's really going on in the district. And regarding safety, as safety is the district's, you know, number one priority, improving safety, what are some things you can tell us about how -- some things you're looking forward to in this upcoming contract? I know you can't talk the details of it, but what can you tell us as Council that you're doing to improve the safety in some of the -- in these schools?
Quickly, I'll just say, I think we want to be careful about getting too deep into anything with the union negotiations, because those are underway, and we try to keep those fairly confidential. But I do think it's appropriate for the Deputy Superintendent Colonel Hill to talk about what we're looking forward to in the upcoming year, relative to school safety.
Relative to school safety, sir, and thank you very much for the question, Councilmember Young. Relative to school safety and our enhancements and improvements, we are focused on improving the facilities for our school safety officers down at the Schuylkill Garage, upgrading the facilities so that they have an acceptable environment to work in. We are looking at improving training opportunities, professional development and career enhancing opportunities, as well as their equipment issue and the fleet that our school safety officers have for patrolling.
Again, getting back on the numbers, Strawberry Mansion High School has a 2 percent 11th Grade proficiency in Algebra 1. Could you tell us what high schools -- what public traditional high schools have Algebra 1 before they get to 11th grade?
We'll prepare a report and get that to Council, yes, absolutely.
Thank you. Majority Leader Gilmore- Richardson, Councilmember Bass and Councilmember Harrity.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Council President Johnson. Quickly, I wanted to get on the record, and I have spoken with Dr. Dawson about this, my concerns regarding the enrollment system and ensuring that all families will really know and understand the process and that it's fair for our schools, particularly the special admission schools, when they have the opportunity to accept students but are unable to based on other outside competing factors that are internal to the district. And so I wanted to put that on the record relative to the enrollment process and how it really is a disadvantage as it relates to families that have siblings because of the way you have to select the school that you may be chosen for based on the rank, the ranking system in the system. It's no 24 opportunity for you to pair siblings if it's a first or second choice school, vice versa, per sibling. So I wanted to put that on the record that that needs to be really flushed out for next year. And then this is an issue that I brought up last year that I think is still important for dual enrollment students relative to their ability to receive an updated transcript prior to the college application process commencing because of the students, and I know you mentioned this in your paperwork here, that we have dual enrollment students that are at CCP, right, and that number is increasing per year. But many times because of the grading dates for CCP versus the district, it's difficult for those young people to get updated grades and GPA for the college application process. And I wanted to put that on the record. In addition to that, I have major concern regarding our career and technical education teachers. I've been hearing from a number of, and I hear the bell, of CTE teachers that have been unable to stay with the district for a number of reasons, including their inability to be reimbursed for certifications when most -- all other teachers across the Commonwealth are reimbursed for those certification costs. In addition to that, we have a different structure than a bunch of other counties here in Philadelphia relative to the CTCs. And so I think we need to look at that as an opportunity for us to get additional funding from Harrisburg as well as extend the CTE programs from three years to four. I'll submit the rest of my questions for the record for a written response. But again, I just wanted to put on the record about the Philadelphia High School for Girls. And if we can get a listing by breakdown of elementary, middle, and high school of every school that is slated to receive a decrease in teachers across the district and or secretaries and or climate staff from the FY25 to propose FY26.
Thank you very much. And we would like this information prior to us forwarding out the budget, just to be clear.
Oh, and Pres, can I just mention that I thought that the CoNSA conference was excellent, and I thought you all did a wonderful job. So we just wanted to shout out Dr. Robin Cooper and the CoNSA team. We thought you all did a wonderful job for the conference.
Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Harrity, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier and Councilmember O'Rourke.
Thank you, Mr. President. I'm going to jump right to it. So a couple of things I wanted to mention as per my -- your conversation with my colleagues. One was on the percentage of contracts that go to minority businesses. You said it was 30?
I don't know if we broke it out by -- any deeper than that, but we'll be glad to do it.
That was overall local participation, I believe. We'll be glad to break it down further if that's the request.
Yes, that is my question. If we could have a breakdown because it really makes a difference. One of the things that we talked about yesterday in our hearing was about the circulation of dollars in communities. And by far, the African American community has the lowest dollar rate circulation, which is about six hours compared to other communities. At the -- sort of like the top is the Asian community where a dollar circulates for approximately 28 days. In the white community it circulates for days. In the Jewish community for 19 days. And in the black community for six hours. And so that matters because you can't build wealth and you can't build a business if you can't get contracts. And so we hope that your numbers are reflective of, you know, what the need is for our communities. Also, I wanted to ask, as a district Councilmember, this is not necessarily related to education, to the schools, but it is kind of related. And that's about something that we hear about all the time, which is parking. Parking in the neighborhood where our schools are. Schools are located in neighborhoods. You know, folks come in, staff comes in, teachers come in, they park in the neighborhood. You know, we hear it. You know, I know I hear it. Because, you know, it may sort of clog up. I don't know what you can do about parking, but I did want to put it on the record that I heard the concerns of my constituents. But also ask that as you are making plans, as you are building new schools, that there really should be some sort of a thought process, at least, around parking for your staff and for, you know, teachers and whatnot as they come in. So that there's some dedicated parking somewhere or there's at least a plan for that. The other question was around -- I think there was a question around the listing of schools to make sure how spending was done by council district. I'd actually like a breakdown by actual school. So if you could, you know, like, not just 8th Council District, this is how much we're spending, 9th Council District, this is how much we're spending. I'd like a detailed breakdown by school as to how much we're spending. And one last thing real quick is the Marcus Foster pool and the Picket School pool. And I'd like for you all to elaborate on that so that, you know, because people think I own those pools and I don't own those pools. You all own those pools. And so what is your plan for those pools? If you could just speak very, very briefly to that.
And the Al-Ameen field as well. Speaking on behalf of Dr. Member Phillips. Al-Ameen field?
Yes, sir. As it applies to the Picket and Foster pools, we have completed a comprehensive facility condition assessment to determine exactly what the needs are. The cost associated with the repair, renovation of those facilities has been documented, but at this point there is not funding allocated in the capital improvement program that we can allocate to that work to be done.
And I'll just say those numbers, as I understand them, about $7.7 million for the Al-Ameen fields, 13.3 for the Marcus Foster pool, 8.1 million for Pickett. We know what it looks like. We don't have the funding for it.
Can I add briefly? I think there is -- I'm not saying that the -- this is -- I don't want to speak for the Board, how I would vote on such a thing, but there is precedent for things that we can think about to get to solutions. So I will use the Sayre pool as an example. Councilmember Gauthier was able to get additional funds. I think additional funds came from the state. And I also think the harder part is the MOU piece which is getting the city and parks and recs and all the interested parties to understand what role will they play and what role they will not play in a way that is conducive to a long-term strategy. Also, I don't want to speak too ahead of the Board right now because we still have a master facilities planning process and we're still waiting to see what comes through that. But I do think we can walk and chew gum at the same time and think of other ways to get to yes. So we're not just stuck at a dollar and cents piece, but there could be other productive ways to get to yes, if possible.
Okay. I look -- I look forward to the conversations. And, you know, our office is all in with trying to, you know, put up whatever we can obtain. But we need some funds from the School District. Thank you.
You got other swimming pools in your neighborhood as well in that area?
That some of the children can still occupy and go swim again?
Well, we do have some -- we have -- we have five public pools in the 8th District, and we're getting ready to start a swim program. Can I talk about that? No.
We're 4 getting ready to start our ready for 5 swim program where we're going to be 6 paying our young people to take swim 7 lessons over the summer months. 8
9 I think that's great because there 10 was an article in the newspaper 11 recently about, particularly, people 12 think African Americans don't swim. 13
15 And drowning amongst them. I mean, 16 yeah, they think we don't swim. 17 Well, my boys at the Y, (CHECK) they 18 go swimming on the record, but 19 there's this myth -- I call it a 20 myth. Because I know we grew up 21 swimming, but according to the 22 newspaper, they say we don't swim. 23 So, good job. 24
Of course. But we don't have access in our communities to quality swim instruction. And that's what --that's what we're bringing.
Swim instruction. I come from modest beginnings. So, they just threw me in the pool --
-- but my children go to the Y and they get -- they get lessons.
All right. Let me keep it. Let me keep it. Good job, though, Member Bass. Councilman Jim Harrity, Jamie Gauthier, Nicholas O'Rourke, and then Rue Landau will wrap us up. I'm going to do the latter two, but we got to be brief and a brief response, and then we have to wrap up.
Thank you, Council President. I don't know, I was on the swim team at Finnegan's when I was a kid, and I could tell you I got my ass whooped by quite a few, and --
Slip, slip, slip. Apologize. Yes, respect for the institution. I got beat by quite a few African Americans on that swimming pool. So, I've never actually heard that African Americans couldn't swim. But, okay. Sorry, and again, I apologize. Momentarily lost my head. You're working on the RISE project for the charter authorization. Is there any relief for schools that are in the process of contesting closures from this framework if we know there is a problem with the process? Is there any relief for the schools while they work through solutions?
What I can say is thank you for that question. I understand the energy and where it's coming from. I can't speak to any issues that are in active litigation or an active process. But I would say that the Board of Education takes this authorizing role very seriously. I would also say that the Board of Education understands, just as in all government, we have to go through policy cycles so that we can continue to ensure that what mechanisms that we have in place continue to do the role that they're going to do. With that said, there are many schools that have gone through the same process. And I believe the Board believes we will hold to our processes as they are until and if we have a new framework. And that new framework might take a couple years to even be implemented. And to do so would be a dereliction of our duty under the state law to ensure that we are the authorizers that we have to be based upon the laws, our charter school law. So that's my answer, sir.
Yeah. And part of it is that there's different laws, right? The charters are held to the standard of what was done in that law. So, I guess that's part of it too. But that's state, right?
No framework that we create will conflict with the law, right? We are not -- we're not here trying to make new law and conflict with the law as well. What we're trying to do is ensure that the framework gets a look just as anything that the School District do. For example, we had Accelerate Philly as our strategic plan. That's a policy cycle where we ensured on the district side, our traditional side, that we are continuing to move the needle on academic achievement and evolving with the times and not being stagnant. What we want to ensure is that whatever framework that we as a community buy into impacts students, right? There's better outcomes. There's more quality in the sector. And I think that's one of the questions that we're trying to seek. It's not just about some of the issues that have been raised. It's are we doing a good enough job to ensure that we're holding charter providers accountable in a respectful way that is transparent, where there is no got you moments and things like that, or perceived got you moments, into a framework that's bought in by the whole sector to ensure that we are incentivizing the type of conditions for success that charter schools and district schools have to have for there to be what the Board is aiming at, which is a quality seat as well. You may see a framework that becomes even more stringent as it relates to certain things, but also it takes a different look at other things as it relates to student achievement and the conditions for success.
Yeah, again, I apologize and I will cut it there just for time. I do have questions, but I'll submit them.
Gauthier, O'Rourke and Landau, Dr. Ahmad. Please be brief.
Thank you, Council President. Last year, without warning, the district eliminated the Multilingual Assessment Center, or the MAC. The MAC was a centralized hub at the district where newcomer families could get support enrolling in school, learning about expectations in our schools, learning about services available to them in transportation. It was also a place where the district could identify the particular needs of new students and families, including language supports and interpretation. Given the fact that immigration is the main reason why our city has seen any growth over the past years, I find this concerning. And I wanted to ask you, what are the district's reasons for canceling this vital service? Where are newcomer families supposed to go to get these supports? And how much would it cost to bring back the MAC?
11 Councilmember Gauthier, I don't have 12 that -- all the details in front of 13 me. With your permission, I would 14 like to take that as a homework 15 assignment and respond on the 16 record. 17
18 It's a very important homework 19 assignment. Please. 20
Thank you. Councilmember O'Rourke, Dr. Nina Ahmad, and then Councilmember Rue Landau.
I echo -- thank you, Mr. President. I echo Member Gauthier's sentiments around the MAC and also want to know what investments the district will make to expand newcomer programming in immigrant neighborhoods in general. But I'll move on to this question kind of in the spirit of speaking about student supports and well-being. I was intrigued, as you may recall from last year's budget hearings, by the proposal from Lift Every Voice calling on the district to dedicate resources to advancing joy in our schools. With the same logic that affirms the need to make it a job if you want a particular thing done, so also, if we want to make something real, we have to name it before we can claim it. Whether or not it sounds unserious or silly, it's true that if we want more joy, we have to give a spot in our administrative structure to realize that. Has the district met with groups like Lift Every Voice recently to consider their chief of joy proposal? What are the district's reflections about the proposal? And I recall you answering positively to the concept last year, Dr. Watlington. Can you speak to where we are with that now?
Thank you, Councilmember O'Rourke. Yes, within the past three months, we've engaged with individuals who said, name it, and we ought to have a chief of joy. Given our budget situation and having to go into the fund balance, or recommending to President Streater and the Board to go into the fund balance, to balance the budget this year, which we won't have that option next year. We think that this is not the time to add new positions to the budget. Everything we've done here before has been budget neutral, but certainly I see my role as superintendent as being in part a chief of joy, and we are cascading that out through the other deputy superintendents and the chiefs, and we want that to manifest itself in kids not being denied recess. We want that to manifest itself, and we're going to follow up to make sure that it manifests itself in terms of us doing more celebration of our teachers and our students and families, i.e., the Accelerate Philly Awards celebrating our Lindback Award winners, and really being more intentional about cultivating a district where joy is manifested.
Thank you for your response. Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you. Councilmember Rue -- oh, Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad, then wrapping up is Rue Landau.
Thank you, Council President. I just have a follow-up to the question I asked earlier. One, to make sure I'm on the record asking for that data. I wasn't sure you were clear that I wanted to get that information. And two is you mentioned there was uneven growth of students in different parts of the city that makes you have difficult decisions about closures. How transparent is that process with the community? How soon do they know about if there's an imminent closure or even if it's for either for closing the school because of low enrollment or because you're going to do some repair and rebuilding? What is the process of including community in that process so they're not left scrambling last minute?
Absolutely. Thank you, Dr. -- Councilmember Ahmad. We will have a very robust community engagement process. You won't hear much in the next two or three weeks because we are just knee-deep focused North Star on testing, having the optimal testing environment with the least amount of stress. We will be communicating more about that process. And I want to say that on the record to your point to Councilmember O'Rourke. Yes. And there will be no surprises to anyone.
Okay. All right. Thank you. And I'll submit my questions in writing.
Thank you. And last, before we take a break, will be Councilman Rue Landau.
Thank you. Two subject areas. One, SEPTA fare cards, and two, Policy 252. So for the SEPTA fare cards, can you detail what students are currently -- which students are currently eligible for student fare cards? What's the structure used to pay for these cards? What days and hours do they work? What would it cost to expand these cards to students who live within 1.5 miles of their school, ensuring they have access to all Philadelphia has to offer? And we know that grades are simply not enough to get our students into quality colleges, universities, and other programs. What would it cost to expand the hours the cards can be used so we can ensure the students always have transportation to work, study, and attend events, get internships, et cetera? Next one. I want to ask about Policy 252, which is the policy -- we're seeing an unprecedented attack on LGBTQ plus community, as you know. Please detail the commitments included in Policy 252 and how the effects of this policy are felt by students, teachers, and guardians. How are we communicating this policy, which is basically our anti-discrimination inclusion policy, and these commitments to our most vulnerable LGBTQ plus students, their guardians and teachers? And are we committed to using gender-neutral language on all school forms, including the terms parent and guardian instead of mother and father? And what barriers exist to updating and distributing these new forms?
Let me reaffirm Councilmember Landau, our commitment to diversity and valuing all of our communities. With your permission, I'd like to take the balance of your question as a homework assignment and make it a top priority.
Thank you. I'm with Councilmember Gauthier. Make it a very serious homework assignment. We appreciate that. Look forward. We will also give our questions in writing to Laurel and appreciate very much your answers.
Thank you very much. We thank you for your time today. Thank you for your testimony. Council, this hearing will be at ease until 2:30. (Council at ease.)
Good afternoon, everyone. We will continue our Committee of the Whole budget hearing. Ms. Loughead, will you please call the next witness to testify.
Yes. We have Harold Epps, Board Chair, Community College of Philadelphia, Alicia Marshall, Interim President, of the college. And Jacob Epen, Vice President of Business and Finance.
Good afternoon, Mr Epps. Always a pleasure to see you. Thank you for the work that you're doing on behalf of chairing the Community College of Philadelphia thanks for the work that you're doing as the co-chair of the City Council task force on diversity, equity and inclusion and inclusion. And thank you always for and your leadership, your commitment to improving the quality of life for all the residents here in the city of Philadelphia. So with that being said, just state your name, for the record, and please begin your testimony.
Thank you. Before I begin my testimony let me introduce all three of the panelists with -- two of the panelists with me, and then I'll say a brief words. As already stated my name is Harold T. Epps, I serve as the chair of the board of Community College of Philadelphia. I'm in my second term so I am now in year seven. To my right is --