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

Commotion continues at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.

In the days since The Inquirer detailed turmoil at the magnet school — enrollment falling, teachers leaving, toxic internal politics, accusations of racism, and safety lapses, according to more than a dozen staff, parents, and teachers — more changes have followed.

They include:

» READ MORE: One of Philly’s premier high schools is in turmoil, staff, parents, and students say

Whaley is the second retired principal brought in to help calm the school; another, Ed Koch, had told faculty he would stay at least through June and possibly longer, but abruptly left recently.

In a letter to families, Anh Nguyen, the assistant superintendent responsible for CAPA, said that bringing Whaley back to CAPA was a step “being taken to continue the welcoming and safe learning environment” at the school. Still, Nguyen said, “we understand and recognize the recent concerns expressed by members of the school community.”

CAPA was set to lose multiple staff positions in the fall because of its declining enrollment — it had 744 students in 2022-23 and, according to the Philadelphia School District, projects 569 for 2025-26.

But Nguyen said in the letter that the district was adding both a climate manager and a student climate support worker at the school beginning next year, as well as halting the teaching position losses that would normally result from an enrollment drop as significant as CAPA’s.

Four teaching positions will be “held harmless,” Nguyen said. (Some of the teachers who were initially told their positions were being eliminated have already taken jobs at other schools. There are currently six teaching vacancies for next year.)

Top district officials will also help with future recruitment efforts. Nguyen said she and Jayme Banks, the district’s chief of student services, would work “closely with CAPA to support recruitment efforts that encourage students in Philadelphia who meet CAPA’s rigorous academic and artistic standards the opportunity to apply and enroll.”

CAPA provides an “exceptional educational environment,” Nguyen said. “By working together — the district, school leadership, faculty, students, families, and the wider community, we are confident that CAPA will continue to thrive and serve as a beacon of artistic and academic excellence within the district.”

Officials also said they were conducting a safety audit of the school after an unauthorized person — someone allegedly related to a student who had threatened another student — entered the building and was allowed to remain there for some time.

Dominique Medley, president of the CAPA Home and School Association, said her daughter, a senior at the school, was “verbally assaulted” by a classmate on May 14. Later the same day, a relative of the aggressor came into the school unchallenged and was escorted by Fulton to wait at a table near her daughter’s classroom, Medley said.

The unauthorized person was finally asked to leave, and did so before encountering Medley’s daughter, but Medley and other parents are rattled.

“Students are not safe,” said Medley, who has also written to City Council about her concerns about CAPA. “The administration does not make good decisions.”

Nguyen addressed the safety breach in another letter to families.

“After careful review of video footage, witness statements, and interviews, our investigation revealed that a student, who is not enrolled at CAPA, entered the building and made their way directly to the main office,” Nguyen wrote. “Shortly thereafter, the student was escorted from the office to the security workstation as the purpose for the visit was determined. After determining the reason for the student’s visit, the student was escorted out of the building without incident. Going forward, to ensure the safety of all students and staff, we will work to keep all exterior doors closed and locked.”

Nguyen said the security audit was to begin this week.

“The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority,” Nguyen wrote. “It is important that students also know that if they need help or have a concern regarding their own personal safety, they should contact a school staff member or a police officer immediately.”

There have been multiple heated meetings in recent days, too. Voices were raised at a Philadelphia Federation of Teachers meeting held last week, the day after the Inquirer story was published, with some staffers angrily accusing others of providing information for the article.

Administrators have made key staffing changes since the article ran — changes some staff members feel are retaliatory for alleged participation in the story.

And at a Home and School Association meeting Monday, parents asked Fulton to address issues raised in the Inquirer story, issues related to the safety breach, and allegations of grade changing. They asked for a town-hall meeting but were shot down, they said.

Instead of answering questions, Fulton told them he would discuss only one topic — how the school would spend Title I funds, money given by the federal government to schools that educate large numbers of students from economically disadvantaged families.

“He just kept saying, ‘We are going to do Title I in this meeting today,’” said one parent who attended, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal. “It was like a politician with talking points — he just kept repeating it.”

The parent said they have been more disappointed with CAPA every year, and if their child wasn’t going into senior year, they would consider changing schools.

“It’s a mess,” the parent said.

District officials have said that CAPA and Fulton are working to create a positive culture, but that “significant change is rarely an overnight phenomenon; rather, it unfolds gradually, often requiring persistent effort and patience.”