Philly school board is moving to nonrenew two charters, and agrees to revisit bathroom policy

Philadelphia’s school board is moving to nonrenew two struggling charter schools, the first step on a path to possible closure of both.

After robust board discussion, president Reginald Streater on Thursday night directed Peng Chao, the district’s chief of charter schools, to draft a notice of nonrenewal for People for People Charter School, in North Philadelphia, and KIPP North Philadelphia Charter. The move signaled that the board’s patience for charters with perpetually low academics is waning.

People for People is one of the city’s first charters, around since 2001. But it failed to meet the charter office’s bar for academics, and has had lagging achievement for years.

» READ MORE: Philly school board has concerns about 6 charters, casting doubt over their futures

“At some point, we have to say, ‘No more,’” board member Joan Stern said.

KIPP North Philadelphia is a newer school, first approved in 2018. The school is coming off a one-year charter renewal, and its already low academics worsened. Assurances from KIPP, a national charter network, were not enough to quell board members’ concerns.

Sarah-Ashley Andrews, the board vice president, said it was the board’s job to ensure all students are supported academically, socially, and emotionally. She was particularly troubled by the school’s 25% suspension rate — significantly higher than district schools’ — and by the rate at which students with disabilities are being suspended, a whopping 32%.

That raises “serious questions about how well the school is meeting the needs of the most vulnerable learners,” said Andrews, a licensed therapist.

“When this many students are being removed from their classrooms, something deeper is happening, and it needs to be addressed. High suspension rates can’t be explained away by policy alone. They are often a reflection of systems that are overwhelmed, under-resourced, or struggling to meet the students where they are.”

The non-renewals are pending approval by the board. If the board does approve them, that would trigger a lengthy process that includes a nonrenewal hearing, with copious evidence and witnesses.

Both schools would remain open through the nonrenewal process.

Streater also directed Chao to negotiate renewals for four additional charter schools: five-year renewals for Deep Roots Charter, in Kensington, and Russell Byers Charter, in Center City, and one-year renewals for KIPP Philadelphia and Mastery Charter-Frederick Douglass.

All of those charter agreements also are subject to board votes.

The actions came at a busy school board meeting where charter supporters packed the audience, speaking passionately for their schools.

Robin Cooper, president of the district’s principals union, expressed frustration at the inability of supporters of traditional public schools to get on the speakers list, which is limited to 30 members of the public — and by the board’s actions on charters.

The school board offers “renewals, renewals, renewals” to charters, Cooper said. “If the signing party fails to meet the terms of a contract, how are we renewing the contract? We’re giving away millions of dollars. Is it a bait and switch?”

The bait, she said, was charter schools’ promising innovation and dramatic improvement over traditional public schools. The switch is low performance, then charters saying they’re trying to improve, and getting renewed.

“I have no problems with charters,” Cooper said, “as long as we’re playing by the same rules.”

The board also signed off on a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a secret, sweeping five-year probe into its asbestos management practices. Federal officials said it was the first time a school district was criminally charged for failure to follow environmental law.

It also heard an update from Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. on a facilities master planning process that has been in the works for years and is expected to culminate in school closures, co-locations, renovations, and new buildings. Decisions are expected to be made by the end of the year.

Watlington said key aims of the process include allowing for strong academics and extracurricular activities in every school, and solving for significant overcapacity in some areas and some undercapacity in others.

Expect, the superintendent said, to see recommendations around reducing the number of grade configurations in the district — there are 13 current grade bands across the city, from K-5 and K-8 to 5-12 and K-2.

Also coming down the pike is a reduction in the number of middle schools, which serve students in grades six through eight. Research, Watlington says, shows that “students perform better with fewer transitions as they matriculate.”

The public’s input on facilities changes will be sought in sessions held across the city next month.

After enormous public pressure, the board at the eleventh hour decided not to vote on a student wellness policy.

» READ MORE: Parents say some Philly students wear diapers because they don’t get bathroom breaks. They’re pushing for change.

Members of Lift Every Voice Philly, a parent-led advocacy group, wanted guaranteed bathroom and water breaks guaranteed at every school. The group’s “Joy Campaign” has already won the end to silent lunches and collective punishment.

Without a formal policy and breaks written into schedules, it’s left to often overwhelmed teachers and other school staff to allow or not allow bathroom and water breaks.

While some schools give kids access to bathrooms and water when they need it, others do not, the parents said.

“We understand what happens when policy isn’t made. Kids are going to school in Depends — kids who are 10, 11, 12 years old are urinating on themselves," LaTi Spence, a parent with children at Houston Elementary, told The Inquirer.

Streater directed the wellness policy be tabled. It will go back to the policy committee, where members of the public can weigh in on it.

“We look forward to continuing this collaborative process,” said board member ChauWing Lam, head of the policy committee.