CAPA parents sound the alarm about alleged grade fixing, other issues at the magnet school

From November through March, Tara O’Brien’s daughter, a student at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, had no instruction in math.

But somehow, O’Brien told the school board at one of its twice-yearly listening sessions Thursday night, her daughter and her classmates got made-up grades: 89s for everyone in the second marking period, 80s in the third.

O’Brien called out what she said was “educational neglect and fraudulent grading practices” in multiple classes where teachers were missing for weeks or months, there was no education, and students received letter grades every marking period.

» READ MORE: CAPA will get a retired principal back amid ongoing turmoil that includes an intruder entering the building

“That is not a mistake, that is fraud,“ said O’Brien. ”These grades were fabricated. They were assigned not to reflect academic performance, but to create the false appearance that instruction was taking place and that students were learning. That is unethical and it is a direct violation of the public trust.”

CAPA parents showed up in force to a school board listening session Thursday night, sounding an alarm about widespread issues at their school, a long-respected magnet that has had multiple administrative changes and lost 200 students over the past two years.

In the days since an Inquirer story detailed significant problems at the school, district officials said they would bring in a respected retired CAPA principal, Johnny Whaley, as a part-time mentor to current principal Alonzo Fulton.

But there’s also been an intruder in the school, an unauthorized person whose presence was initially not questioned by administrators, prompting the district to promise a school safety audit.

Multiple parents raised safety concerns but also the issue of fake grades, classes with little to no instruction, and credit given for “simply holding a pencil,” O’Brien said.

She and others called out what they said was “a complete failure of leadership and oversight by school administration.”

Matt Curtius, another CAPA parent, said his daughter, a 10th grader, has so far not dealt with fake grades or the fallout from security breaches.

But, Curtius said, he’s dismayed that two of his daughter’s best teachers are leaving CAPA because of the “toxic environment of the school.” He’s not sure what courses will be offered next year.

“My student lives in a family of artists,” Curtius said. “She loves CAPA. We love CAPA. We want to see CAPA get the leadership it deserves.”

District leaders recently said that CAPA would be “held harmless” for its enrollment losses for next year — that is, not lose teaching positions despite losing enrollment. They vowed to add climate staff and help bolster admissions for the next incoming class.

Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said he was very conscious of CAPA’s importance to the city and the contributions its students have made in the arts. (Questlove and Boyz II Men are alums, among other notables.)

Watlington said he would not discuss personnel matters, but “I am paying close attention as your superintendent to the fact that enrollment has gone down by more than 200 students.” Enrollment will rise again, he said.

The admissions process changed in the last few years from one that gave principals some latitude over admissions to a centralized, computer-based system in the name of equity. Watlington acknowledged that doesn’t always work for specialized schools like CAPA, and said that tweaks will be made.

A number of parents and community members also raised objections to the board about the district’s facilities planning process, now underway and expected to be completed by December.

Watlington has directed the formation of nine advisory panels made up of different stakeholders — parents, teachers, community leaders and more.

Akira Drake Rodriguez, a member of the community advisory panel, said she and others saw “serious shortcomings” in the process — too little information, even for committee members, a lack of meaningful public engagement, an opaque process.

Rodriguez called for a pause in the planning process, the wide release of facilities data to the public, an extended timeline, deeper community engagement, and the removal of school closures as an outcome of the process.

“We want a facilities plan, but we want one that has the community’s priorities, and not just the district’s,” Rodriguez said. She also said the district ought to be spending $250 million more a year in maintenance and operations.

“We believe that maintaining buildings needs to be the utmost priority of the district, not closures,” said Rodriguez.

Watlington said the facilities planning process had slowed some because central office staff were needed to help plan for state testing.