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Good evening, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to ask Ms. Evelyn Sample-Oats to provide information to our guests about the proceedings of this meeting. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

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At every school reform commission meeting, a representative from the Deaf Hearing Communication Center is here to provide sign language interpretation of these proceedings. Representatives from the office, family and community engagement are stationed in the lobby.

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to help with interpretation services as well.

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The proceedings of this SRC meeting tonight

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are being streamed live on the internet at www.phillaSD.org

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backslash live.

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It can be seen on PSTB's Comcast channel 52

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and Verizon Fios channel 20.

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The proceedings are also being recorded

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by the school district of Philadelphia.

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The school district recordings are protected by the copyright laws of the United States and may not be used in any manner without the express written consent of the school district.

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By participating in tonight's meeting, members of the public acknowledge that the school district may use its recordings for any purpose without obtaining permission or paying any compensation.

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Thank you for your attention, and thank you for attending tonight's SRC meeting.

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Madam Chair.

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Ms. Rauch, would you please make an announcement about the executive session held today and then call the roll?

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Yes, thank you Chair Richmond.

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I would like to announce that the school reform commission met an executive session on May 7th and this afternoon to discuss the following.

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Purchase or lease of real property, information or strategy in connection with litigation, and I'll go back to that.

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Yeah, quasi-judicial proceedings and privileged or confidential matters.

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And the litigation discussed in executive session includes the following.

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LR versus School District of Philadelphia, United States District Court for the District

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District of Pennsylvania, number 14, 71787, civil rights issues following release of a child

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to an unidentified individual.

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The next is Brewington versus School District of Philadelphia.

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Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 23EP, 2017.

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This case regards immunity under the Torts Claims Act for a personal injury claim.

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Pagan versus School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Court of Common, please.

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April term 2018, number 2104, involving lead poisoning in a school at personal injury claim.

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The next are three cases, Schulman, Jones, and Perkins versus School District of Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia, Court of Common, please.

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Docket numbers 1, 6, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 8, 7, same numbers ending in 2, 4, 1, and 2, 4, 2.

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These were three actions claiming detrimental reliance based on employees who had retired

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coming back to work and impact on their pension benefits.

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The last is excellent schools versus school district of Philadelphia.

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Philadelphia Court of Common, please. April term 2018. Number 01579. This case challenges portions of policy 406, which is the Charter School Amendment policy.

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Now for the roll call. Commissioner Burns. Here. Commissioner Neff. Here. Chair Richmond. Here. Thank you. Mr. Green is absent. Thank you.

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I would like to make a few announcements before we move to the next part of our agenda.

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In honor of Teacher Appreciation Month, I would like to recognize the hard work and dedication

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of all the teachers in our schools in Philadelphia.

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Each day, you bring new ideas and ways to engage your students in meaningful learning opportunities

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that differentiate for the needs of students of each child and lesson.

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You work with your colleagues and school leadership to build relationships with students,

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their families and communities to provide a cohesive and safe school environment.

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Please join me in taking a moment to recognize each and every one of our teachers and the

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work they do.

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Thank you.

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Next, I'd like to bring to your attention to resolution A24, which has been added to the agenda in the last 48 hours.

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At this time, I would like to ask Danielle Floyd, chief operating officer to please come forward and share information on this resolution.

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Good evening, Danielle Floyd, chief operating officer for the school district.

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Resolution 824 is a capital award resolution that we are asking for the SRC to approve this evening.

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You may remember that the school district last year started an effort to modernize classrooms and grades pre-K through two.

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This year we did seven classrooms and wanted to see how the improvements were being

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and have an opportunity to evaluate them.

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The improvements were well received and in January as a team, we decided to expand the program to 13 schools.

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Our goal with this resolution is to have those improvements begin at the conclusion of the school year and

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have them completed prior to when students come back in August.

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The reason that it's a welcome resolution is that our planning work on this begin in January after we had an opportunity

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We need to evaluate how these improvements were working in the first seven schools.

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We significantly truncated our design schedule in order to allow for the improvements instruction to start the summer and be ready when teachers return to their classrooms in August.

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We are looking, we have started planning for the next two years of improvement so that we would not be introducing walk on resolutions moving forward.

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We're meeting as a leadership team to identify the next set of schools over the next two years and go back to our regular design schedule.

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And just for the purposes of the public, the value of the award tonight is $12.9 million to do improvements at 13 schools.

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Madam Chair, Maya.

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Danielle, so let me be clear about this.

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The period from September to January was a period of evaluating what impact the

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The renovations had on classroom practice, is that correct?

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Yes, that is correct.

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And typically, if you wanted to have this resolution not be a walk on resolution,

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can you say when you would have had to have started the process?

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We would have wanted to start, we would have had to start this in October.

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Okay, all right.

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Thank you, thank you.

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So it's clearly that you wanted to expand plus expedite.

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Correct, where it's the walk on.

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That's correct.

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We're doing 13 schools, 160 plus classrooms to have, and we expanded to pre K to grace three in wanting to get this done for the start of school.

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Just an additional kind of question comment in terms of public betting with the your development of the capital program and bringing that before the school reform commission.

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Was this project part of the capital program that was approved publicly and planned?

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Yes, one of the things that we did as part of the approved FY 2018 capital budget was to put money aside

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It was referred to as early it was a academic improvement investments

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So we put a placeholder aside in the capital budget to support

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Whether was this work or our work with SGS we did set aside money to make these investments

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Other questions. Thank you

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Thank you

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Thank you.

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If you wish to speak on the topic of resolution 824, please register with our staff person sitting in the way of your hand, please.

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Who is standing in the back of the room?

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As a reminder, pursuant to policy 006 and 903, speakers will be limited to four speakers for each side, four, and against of the resolution, and will be added to the end of the speakers list.

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Finally, we were scheduled for two presentations from the charter school office this evening.

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Those presentations were scheduled for resolutions SRC-5, which is the revised application for Philadelphia Hebrew Public Charter School and SRC-6, which is an application for renewal for charter laboratory charter school.

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The SRC requested and was approved an extension to continue its review of the revised application for a Philadelphia Hebrew charter school until May 24th, 2018.

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We have decided to withdraw resolutions SRC 5 and SRC 6 from tonight's agenda and will consider them at our next meeting on May 24th.

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Both related staff presentations will also be pushed to our meeting next week.

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The minutes of the March 15, 2018 and March 22, 2018 meetings were provided to all commissioners in advance of tonight's meeting. Commissioners, are there any corrections to these meetings minutes? No.

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Hearing none, the minutes for March 15 and March 22, 2018 meeting stand approved. Dr. Hyde, please give your opening remarks. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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and good afternoon everyone. May is, as we have already heard, National Teacher Appreciation Month,

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and as you can see by the slide on the screen behind me, we are proud to celebrate and honor all

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of the outstanding teachers we have throughout our public schools. Teachers work ethic, commitment,

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and care go above and beyond to ensure our students receive the learning experiences they deserve.

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They are our students, biggest fans, always encouraging and supporting students as they work to

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to achieve more than anyone ever thought possible.

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They were required to gain students trust

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and serve as role models both inside

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and outside of the classrooms.

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I'm proud to work alongside our teachers

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as they prepare our students to be confident,

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we'll round it, thoughtful citizens.

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Thank you again to all of our teachers for your commitment

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and I encourage everyone to take the time

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to hashtag thank a teacher.

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Earlier this month, the school district of Philadelphia also hosted its 2018 National College

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signing day.

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It was an event with our keynote speaker, former first lady, or who I refer to as forever

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first lady, Michelle Obama.

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This annual event celebrates high school seniors choosing to pursue higher education at a professional

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training program, a community college, a four-year college, or university, or the military.

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The Energy at the Leacora Center at Temple University was electric as we all celebrated

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the limitless potential of the 8,000 students in attendance.

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These students had a rare experience of having Mrs. Obama challenge them to work hard, dream

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big, and ignore anyone who told them they weren't good enough.

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She also brought along several celebrity friends to help celebrate, including Nick Cannon,

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Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Zendaya, Kelly Rowlan, Janelle Monet, and numbers of professional

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athletes and other entertainers.

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This event was the perfect way to welcome graduation season as we get ready to cheer on our seniors

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as they enter this next exciting phase of their lives.

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I'd like to thank our Office of College Inquiry Readiness and in particular Tia Radow for

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making this day so memorable for all of our students.

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This month we also celebrated kindergarten open house week where schools across the city

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opened their doors so that prospective students and families could visit and get acquainted

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with the neighborhood schools.

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Parents and caregivers were also able to register their children for school.

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Enrollment in kindergarten ensures the students are able to grow socially, emotionally,

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academically, and when students are registered by the end of May, teachers can better prepare

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to welcome students on the first day of school.

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Please remember that any child who is 5 years old by September 1, 2018 is eligible for kindergarten.

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And this year, kindergarteners will start school the same day as all of the other students

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on August 27, 2018.

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For more information about kindergarten registration, please visit our website at fillerst.org-kregistration.

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Madam Chair, this evening, you and the fellow commissioners will vote on an amendment to

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a policy around student suspensions.

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Under policy 233, kindergarten, first, and second grade students will not be suspended from school,

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beginning in the 2018-2019 school year,

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unless their actions result in serious bodily injury.

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We know how detrimental out of school suspensions can be,

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taking away valuable instructional time

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and learning opportunities from students who need them.

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Over the last several years,

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we have focused on improving climates

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and implementing restorative practices,

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and this is part of that work.

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Changing culture around suspensions in our schools

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takes time, supports, and training,

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and we are proud to be able to take this important step today.

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So this is a continuation, as you know,

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with discontinued suspensions of kindergartners,

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now we're expanding it to first and second graders

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for next year.

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Dr. Hype, they're waving at me that while we want to do that,

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it's been postponed the next week for the next year.

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It's a review, so it's not.

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So tonight is just the review.

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Let me correct that for the record.

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And we will vote on that at the next public meeting, right?

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Great.

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Last week I also had the opportunity to address members of City Council doing our annual budget hearing as we discussed the need for sufficient funding for our schools.

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We're seeing what happens when we do not give our schools or our students the resources they need.

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A building's age, we have to lay off teachers, we don't have money for new materials and supplies.

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And we know we cannot go back to this way of under supporting education.

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That is why we are making significant investments in our schools, including working with 32BJ to clearly communicate standards for cleaning, of our school buildings, to all employees, school administrators, staff and stakeholders.

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The plan we are unveiling will provide clear expectations and guidelines around classrooms, restrooms, offices, cafeterias, and other spaces, in order to provide all of our students with a safe, healthy and welcoming school environment.

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We've also worked hard and made significant progress around academic achievement.

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We've set clear goals around college and career readiness, early literacy and fiscal stability.

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And we're seeing the positive outcomes of these efforts.

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And we have plans to expand our work so more students across the city are able to achieve.

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We know this work comes at a price, but we also know the investment is worth it.

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We look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council to ensure our students and

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their schools get the funding that they deserve.

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Madam Chair, this concludes my remarks, this afternoon.

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Thank you, Dr. Height.

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We're excited to recognize this month's student and teacher of the month.

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Dr. Height, would you please introduce this month's seniors followed by our teacher of the month?

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Madam Chair, it is my pleasure to announce the office, depot, seniors and teacher of the month.

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And our first senior of the month is Dante Diggs.

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He's a student at William Bodine High School for International Affairs.

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Dante attends Bodine High School for International Affairs and was nominated by his counselor, Sidney Bassman.

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Dante is enrolled in the most challenging program at Bodine as a full diploma candidate in the international baccalaureate program.

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He is also part of the school's first place debate team that is headed to a national competition

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in Washington, D.C. at the end of the month.

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Dante is an excellent bo-deen ambassador, hosting groups of prospective students, families,

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and other guests to promote his school.

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He was nominated as a sophomore to participate in the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Program,

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and also serves as president of the Philadelphia Regions Youth Volunteer Corps.

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Next year, Dante plans to study business with the ultimate goal of giving back to his community.

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Dante, could you please come forward to receive your award?

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Oh, you did it right now. You did not today.

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What's your name?

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Dante will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.

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So, Dante, congratulations.

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Please

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have a Dante's teacher here, the principal or his family members are here if you

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could come forward so we can take a picture with our superintendent and commissioners.

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Let's give Dante another round of applause and a very good chance to be there.

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Congratulations.

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Our next senior of the year is Victor Ginsburg who is a senior at the workshop school and

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was nominated by teacher Michael Clapper.

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Victor thrives in his project-based school and never backs away from a challenge.

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And he stays busy doing his junior year victimated video for the C-SPAN student

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contest on climate change, won a regional playwriting competition,

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and completed a unit plan for teachers at project-based schools

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throughout the city to help them integrate math into the curriculum.

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As a senior, he won third prize for C-SPAN's national video contest, developed a tutoring

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business, and helped design an escape room.

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Victor has also completed five math courses at Drexel University this year, and has taken

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English, Psychology, and Economic courses at the University of Pennsylvania.

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He is headed to Schreier Honors College at Penn State University this fall.

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Victor, could you please come forward?

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We can have Victor's teachers here and his family members and commissioners in our superintendent.

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Come forward for a picture.

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Good Victor, on the round of applause.

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Congratulations.

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And finally, it is my pleasure to introduce our office depot, Teacher of the Month.

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A teacher of the month is Deborah Matthews, who is a teacher at the workshop school and was nominated by principal Simon Hogger.

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Mrs. Matthews is in her fourth year at the workshop school and is in her 30th and final year teaching in the district.

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Principal Hogger says that as a math teacher, Mrs. Matthews took an exciting risk near the end of her career to teach at a school focused on project-based learning.

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Ms. Matthews, driving worth ethic and unwavering commitment to her students, enable her to create

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strong and lasting relationships, and push students beyond what they thought they could achieve.

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Victor is proof of that. She is driven by passion and dedication. She's a lifelong learner, and she puts

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young people first. So we know that Ms. Matthews was unable to join us this evening, but accepting

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on her behalf is her colleague, Michael Klaffer.

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Thank you.

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Give her a congratulations.

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Thank you.

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Congratulations, Dante and Victor and additionally congratulations to Miss Matthews.

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Given the changes to our agenda, we now only have one scheduled staff presentation this evening.

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As a reminder, we have rescheduled a charter presentations for tonight to the agenda of our meeting next week.

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I'd like to invite again, Danielle Florida to come forward and make a presentation on the energy performance contract with Norezka.

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Before Danielle begins her presentation, I'd like to point out that there's no action this evening on this matter.

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This is an informational presentation.

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The matter will be before us for a vote next week's SRC meeting.

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Good evening again, I just wanted to make sure I correct a record.

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It's 11 schools for A24, I said 13 earlier.

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It's 11, I apologize, I wanted to make sure for the record we accounted for the right number of schools.

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That's what's on the resolution.

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Thank you, we'll make sure that correction is added to our minutes.

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Thank you.

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So good afternoon, members of the School Reform Commission, Dr. Hyatt, and members of the public.

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I said before I'm Daniel Floyd, I'm the Chief Operating Officer for the School District.

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And I'm here this evening to provide information about a resolution that will be presented to the SRC at the May 24th public action meeting.

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Tonight, I wanted to provide an update for you on the School District's energy performance pilot program.

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What I want is a cover tonight will be a little bit of information about what the Guaranteed Energy Savings Act is, what our project timeline is, the duration of the construction for this project, if it's approved, the total project cost, what our Guaranteed Savings have been modeled on the work that we plan to do this summer, and also what our next steps will be.

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So, just as background, the Guaranteed Energy Savings Act also referred to as a Giza is

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a program that allows public institutions to reduce-

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This is the state's energy cost by you cost in usage by completing building renovations and replacing building systems with more energy, efficient systems. The savings from these projects will be reinvested to address the district's growing deferred maintenance backlog.

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In the spring of 2016, the school district adopted its five-year sustainability plan called Green Futures. The plan listed over 60 action items, one of which was to launch an

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energy performance pilot program.

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So why did we decide to do this?

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One of our outcomes was to use the information

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and lessons learned from this pilot program to work to a larger,

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to work to expand this project to a larger group of schools.

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It was also to apply the savings from the project

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to make native repairs in other schools in our portfolio.

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If you will remember a year, two years ago,

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we provided information from our Facilities Condition Assessment Report

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in 2016 that outlined our growing deferred maintenance backlog of over $4 billion.

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It was for us to install new energy, efficient equipment and systems in our buildings that will use less energy.

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And finally, and most importantly, to improve the quality of the classroom environment for our students and for our staff.

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We've been working on the development of this pilot for over a year.

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This work began when we selected the ECG group, a woman on consulting firm, to serve as consultants with us as we developed our pilot program.

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ECG assisted us with the review of data, recommendations on the school sites included in the pilot program, and assisted us with the request for proposal process.

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In October, we released our request for proposal and to identify an ESCO firm to implement our energy savings pilot program.

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After a rigorous review process, Noresco was selected, and in March, the SRC approved a no-cost contract with Noresco that allowed us to begin work on a comprehensive energy audit.

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As part of that work, Noresco assign professional architects and engineers to survey building systems, and they also install data loggers to monitor energy usage in the three schools that have been selected for this program.

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As a result of that audit, we are ready to now submit a resolution for the SRC's consideration to approve a contract with Noresco for our energy pilot program.

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If the SRC approves a resolution on March 24, Neuresco will begin construction immediately after school

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businesses in June.

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Currently, our project assumes 18th duration of construction of 18 months.

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Most of this work will actually be done on second shift when the buildings are unoccupied.

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Neuresco and district staff will be on site daily to coordinate with principals as well as to supervise the contractors.

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And the construction schedule does assume using the summer months to get a majority of the

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improvements that are planned for the building's time.

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So we selected three schools for our pilot program, Northeast High School,

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Sal High School, and Strawberry Mansion High School.

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And the icons that I'm providing on this for the purposes of the public represent some of the improvements that we are planning to do in each one of the schools.

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We looked at a number of different criteria to identify the conservation measures that we

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would construct.

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One of the ones that was most important was energy measures that would improve the building

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appearance.

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And so as a result, all three of these schools will be getting all new LED lighting in the

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main offices and their classrooms and also in the hallways, really excited about getting

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rid of T-12 lighting and moving to LED lighting.

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We're also addressing some of the major capital needs that were identified in our condition

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assessment.

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Specifically, at Northeast High School, we will be replacing the windows which was identified

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in our condition assessment report as a high need and priority for replacement.

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And then one of our last guiding principles for criteria, selection criteria of improvements

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was providing comfort.

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And so all the schools where we're receiving improvements to their heating systems that will allow for the flow or fresh air and temperature controls and classrooms.

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The resolution that will be considered by the school reform commission next week would be to approve a contract with Noresco valued at $24.4 million.

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Noresco has presented an annual guaranteed savings of 467,000 each year, which represents approximately 2% of the project costs.

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Our project is being self-financed and paid for out of the capital budget.

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The approved FY 2018 capital budget set aside funds to account for the pilot program.

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And the proposed FY 2019 capital budget, which will also be up for your consideration next week, will represent the project cost.

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The duration of the contract is four years.

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And the goal, we established a goal, an MWB minority in women owned business participation goal of 35% for this project.

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And Noresco has exceeded that participation goal and will be providing at a minimum 41% women in minority owned business participation on the project.

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Upon completion of our construction, the next step as part of this work is to start what's called a measurement and verification phase.

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This will allow the district to track the Guaranteed Savings presented by Noresco.

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It will also provide valuable information to us on the performance of the improvements as we look to expand this program to other school buildings.

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Thank you, commissioners, for the opportunity to present on this exciting pilot program and

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happy to answer questions that you may have.

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Thank you.

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Questions, Mark?

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I just have two questions.

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One, can you explain what educational enhancement behavior modification is?

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Yes, that's a fun way of saying.

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In addition to the improvements that we're making in the building, there's also work that we're doing with school staff and students to change behaviors.

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So things like not opening the window and it's too hot, which is also why we're putting in, we're doing improvements around temperature control.

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And so this spring, we held focus groups,

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NERESCO held focus groups with principals, the leadership teams,

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students, and staff to understand what do they know about energy,

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how do they think about energy in each one of their school buildings.

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And the goal is once these improvements are done to say, hey,

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we've put these improvements in place in your building.

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Now we need your help to make sure that we're conserving.

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So it's a long way of saying we need you to change your behavior in order for

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rest of the teeth, some of the savings that we've identified in the project.

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Then my other question has to do with, and I'm sure everybody wants to know, everybody

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and we have $4 billion worth of capital improvements that need to happen in our district.

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So can you explain a little bit about how the three schools were chosen?

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Absolutely.

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We looked at data, we looked at a number along with the ECG group.

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We looked at our utility data usage.

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We also looked at the building condition, facility condition index score for each one of the schools which was derived from our condition assessment reports.

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We looked at the building square footage for us larger buildings and being able to implement these energy improvements in larger buildings allows us to achieve savings in a shorter period of time.

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We identified about 25 schools that sort of met that initial criteria, and it made sense for us as a district, given that a lot of our investments are going towards CTE and early literacy, though we wanted to make sure we were making investments in some of the large high school buildings as well, and this was a way to be able to do that.

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Thank you.

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Given that this is a pilot, I assume you're going to take that information from verification and

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expand, are you looking at doing high schools first or a mixture of schools?

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I would tell you on school visitations, the first thing you recognize in going in to visit a school is the extreme and teacher.

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Stream and temperature on different floors or in different classrooms.

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We are looking at, we are going to look at a mix of schools next year.

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One of the things that we are fortunate and lucky in Philadelphia is that we have many school buildings that were built the same way in different parts of the city.

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So there's some efficiency in terms of design that we can achieve as part of that work.

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We're looking, so we want to kind of get through this, see what we've learned, we've already learned a lot just through the RFP process and going through the selection process.

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And our plan is over the summer, actually, to start looking again at our data and begin to identify another set of schools that we would propose for this project.

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Thank you. Any other questions, Fran?

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Thank you very much, Daniel.

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Thank you very much.

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Next on our agenda is hearing from our registered speakers.

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As a reminder, pursuant to policy 006 and 903,

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Speakers will be limited to four speakers on each side, four, and against of each topic.

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In order to prioritize new voices, the topics of speakers who did not speak at our last

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regular meeting had been prioritized.

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To respect every speaker's time, we will be strictly enforcing the three minute speakers

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time limit.

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Before we hear from our first speaker, Ms. Roush, would you please share our speaker's policy?

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Thank you.

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The school reform commission thanks the public for input on school district matters and

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issues, including the proposed actions being discussed this evening.

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We ask individuals to register using their own names and to identify any organization they

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represent as a speaker.

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Individuals may speak for no more than three minutes.

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There is an electronic time prompt on the table.

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When the yellow light comes on, you will have 30 seconds to wrap up your comments.

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When the red light comes on, your time is finished.

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Written testimony submitted to the commission prior to the start of this meeting has been shared with commissioners and will be included as part of the record of tonight's meeting.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, Ms. Ruff.

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Thank

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you Madam Chair. Our first two speakers this evening are Ms. Nia Peterson, student from the youth school on sexual health education.

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If you could come forward Ms. Peterson and can I also have John Rosenberg, community member and support of the application for Philadelphia Heat Brew Charter School, please come forward.

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Ms. Peterson? Mr. Rosenberg, you're up? Yes,

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you may begin, sir.

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Hi, I'm John Rosenberg, good evening, commissioners.

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On behalf of the whole Philadelphia Hebrew public team, I'd like to thank the SRC for your consideration next week of our application to open a new school in 2019.

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We were pleased and grateful to have received such a positive evaluation report from the Charter Schools Office.

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We took feedback from the office and the SRC adjudication earlier this year very seriously.

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And we strongly believe that the revised application addressing each note from evaluators demonstrates our commitment to Philadelphia.

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We're confident that we've met the requirements of the charter school law relating to new school proposals.

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Further, we have met each of the criteria put forth in the charter school application guidelines.

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Including complying with the charter school law, demonstrating our capacity and

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capabilities to provide a comprehensive learning experience to all students,

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students, demonstrating sustainable community support, and serving as a model of innovation

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for what would be Philadelphia's first diverse by design charter school.

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We appreciate the charter school's office's prompt revision of the evaluation report so

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that it now acknowledges that our application fully meets state curriculum standards.

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The report noted some concern about the appeal of modern Hebrew to families in Philadelphia.

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We think this concern is unwarranted, given the overwhelming demonstrated interest from parents,

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including more intent to enroll forms than there are spots for eligible families in our opening years.

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Further, we continue to receive intent to enroll forms each day, including a dozen more from eligible families since our revised application submission.

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These families, I should note, represent diverse communities throughout the city, and are all interested in our model of modern Hebrew and global citizenship.

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25 elected officials, community organizations, churches, program partners, and preschool programs submitted letters detailing their support of our model.

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Their intent to partner with us and their request for the SRC to approve our school.

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Among this group are representatives Donna Bullock and Jared Solomon, both of whose nearby and diverse communities we would serve.

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teachers, parents, and center directors at Kencrest Early Childhood Education Centers express

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deep support for the school, particularly given the diverse cross-section of families

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enrolled in their head start and pre-K counts programs.

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I come from New York City, which is one of the most segregated cities in the United States.

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Despite that segregation, Hebrew public has created three schools in the city that are among

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the most racially and economically integrated in the city.

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Philadelphia is a great city that nonetheless suffers from its own severe segregation.

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We urge you to approve our creation of a diverse and integrated school here.

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This map shows both the extreme segregation in the city's neighborhoods and

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the diversity of communities from which Philadelphia Hebrew Public would draw students.

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If approved to open, we will create a school to make Philadelphia proud.

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One that will bring together teachers, students, and families from a wide array of backgrounds,

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and that will forge a community of shared values of empathy, cross-cultural communication,

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caring, and excellence.

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Thank you for your time.

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Thank you, Mr. Rosenberg.

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Thank you.

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Our next two speakers are Fernando Tadino, community member on the support of the Hebrew Charter School application,

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and delete the Thompson community member on kindergarten choices.

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Please come forward.

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You may begin, sir.

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Thank you.

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Good evening.

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My name is Fernando Trevinio, and I'm here to speak in support of Philadelphia Hebrew Public. Recently, I was honored to be one of the 45 individuals that the nominating committee presented to Mayor Kenny as candidate to become a member of the new Philadelphia Board of Education. Not as an expert on public schools or even as an expert on finance, but as an expert on language access, immigrant integration, and global citizenship. As a product of public education, I am proud to say that I am a big supporter of public education.

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public schools.

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Currently, my two kids, our students at Andrew Jackson,

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are neighborhood school in South Philadelphia.

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For the past year, I have also had the pleasure of serving

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of the Philadelphia Hebrew Public Founding Coalition

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to create Philadelphia's first diverse by design,

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public charter school, focus on global citizenship.

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As a former assistant diplomat from Mexico,

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and former deputy executive director

428
00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:57,520
of the mayor's office of immigrant

429
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:00,100
and multicultural affairs on their major micro-nord.

430
00:46:01,040 --> 00:46:04,200
I am relentlessly committed to providing our children

431
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:06,960
with a more comprehensive approach to basic education,

432
00:46:07,660 --> 00:46:10,340
and education that champions equal access for immigrants,

433
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:13,340
and education that celebrates multiculturalism,

434
00:46:13,540 --> 00:46:16,640
and yes, an education that promotes global citizenship

435
00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,580
as a tool to open our children's future to the world.

436
00:46:20,620 --> 00:46:23,500
This is the kind of education that Philadelphia Hebrew public

437
00:46:23,500 --> 00:46:25,200
is planning to bring to our children.

438
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:31,680
Its priority is to educate our kids in a diverse and multicultural environment as bilingual

439
00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:37,840
global citizens who actively engage in solving problems in the local, national and global

440
00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:38,480
communities.

441
00:46:39,300 --> 00:46:44,360
Philadelphia is the first American city to earn the designation of World Heritage City.

442
00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:50,680
Every day we become a more international and globally connected city and we're not educating

443
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:52,100
our children in that fashion.

444
00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:58,960
It should be an imperative for us to provide our kids with every tool they need to succeed in a global community.

445
00:46:59,620 --> 00:47:07,220
Philadelphia Hebrew Public has identified this as a priority and has developed a curriculum and the expertise to allocate our children.

446
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:12,280
This is why I'm here respectfully, and I urge you respectfully to approve this application.

447
00:47:12,720 --> 00:47:12,960
Thank you.

448
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:13,760
Thank you.

449
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:15,040
Thank you, Mr. Tadino.

450
00:47:15,220 --> 00:47:17,520
Our next speaker, Ms. Thompson, come forward, please.

451
00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:22,720
Can I also have Monica Marcellis, parent from May Fair School on switching schools?

452
00:47:23,100 --> 00:47:25,240
If you could come forward and Ms. Marcellis,

453
00:47:28,470 --> 00:47:29,590
you may begin Ms. Thompson.

454
00:47:30,170 --> 00:47:33,570
Being the grandmother of a pre-K is a wonderful and exciting time.

455
00:47:34,010 --> 00:47:38,190
Getting ready to enter kindergarten became one of the main topics around our dinner table.

456
00:47:38,570 --> 00:47:42,790
But that excitement, student-subsided memories replaced by uncertainty.

457
00:47:43,230 --> 00:47:48,830
Since I didn't have a school-aged child, I did not know how to maneuver the Philadelphia public school system.

458
00:47:48,830 --> 00:47:53,810
I did some research and found that had to enter my granddaughter Madison into the lottery system.

459
00:47:54,030 --> 00:47:57,070
It took off work so I could be present at my first lottery.

460
00:47:57,510 --> 00:48:01,770
I was excited because my friends stated that it was like being drafted into pro sports.

461
00:48:02,290 --> 00:48:07,950
There are 200 new vacancies for kindergarteners, 200 vacancies for just one school and one neighborhood.

462
00:48:08,650 --> 00:48:13,010
Surely we would be selected, but there were over 36 hundred applicants.

463
00:48:13,410 --> 00:48:17,350
We were selected 267, my hood faded.

464
00:48:17,350 --> 00:48:22,750
I thought I was being proactive when I applied for other charter schools, but our lotteries

465
00:48:22,750 --> 00:48:24,450
results were just as abysmal.

466
00:48:25,030 --> 00:48:29,550
My mantra has been to do whatever we can just to get Madison through kindergarten and

467
00:48:29,550 --> 00:48:34,410
then off to Hebrew public charter for first grade until I learned that they were rejected

468
00:48:34,410 --> 00:48:35,930
further bid for new school.

469
00:48:36,410 --> 00:48:41,250
It was hard to hear folks fighting against this great school when they were not sitting

470
00:48:41,250 --> 00:48:44,870
in my seat panicked about what the future holds for my granddaughter.

471
00:48:44,870 --> 00:48:46,470
I was devastated.

472
00:48:46,870 --> 00:48:51,930
Our neighborhood elementary school has the lowest possible ratings for academic standings.

473
00:48:52,150 --> 00:48:56,650
This year the school prepared only 11% of students to be proficient in reading.

474
00:48:57,070 --> 00:49:00,270
None advanced and only 2% to be proficient in math.

475
00:49:00,810 --> 00:49:02,110
Again, none were advanced.

476
00:49:02,490 --> 00:49:08,530
In contrast, Hebrew Public has a proven track record of providing rigorous academics that consistently

477
00:49:08,530 --> 00:49:11,290
outperforms peer schools in the city and state.

478
00:49:11,290 --> 00:49:22,250
I'm excited that she'll learn modern Hebrew, aligners that even though we have no cultural affiliation with will benefit her growth and exposure her to new parts of the world.

479
00:49:22,690 --> 00:49:36,150
Just as importantly, I would like my granddaughter to be a part of a community of people who celebrate her collectively, no matter her socio-economic standing, her race and her gender, and who believe that everyone should be given an even playing field.

480
00:49:36,150 --> 00:49:45,890
Their mission statement is to lead a national movement of exceptional, diverse public charters to teach children of all backgrounds and prepare them to be successful global citizen.

481
00:49:46,470 --> 00:49:47,810
We choose Hebrew public.

482
00:49:48,030 --> 00:49:53,450
If Philadelphia, Hebrew public charter school doesn't come to fruition, I don't know what we'll do.

483
00:49:53,670 --> 00:49:55,310
I urge you to vote yes for Madison.

484
00:49:55,730 --> 00:49:56,170
Thank you.

485
00:49:56,830 --> 00:49:57,910
Thank you, Ms. Thompson.

486
00:49:58,590 --> 00:50:00,690
Our next speaker, Ms. Judith Robinson.

487
00:50:00,690 --> 00:50:06,330
Do you come forward, Ms. Robinson, Orlando Acosta, Mr. Acosta?

488
00:50:07,230 --> 00:50:12,410
Ms. Linda Clare-Wayman, community member on phasing out strawberry mansion, please come forward.

489
00:50:12,610 --> 00:50:19,050
And Maria Roman, parent from John F. Hartran, a discrimination against Spanish speaking families, please come forward.

490
00:50:32,030 --> 00:50:32,910
Let me begin.

491
00:50:33,090 --> 00:50:36,300
Let me breathe.

492
00:50:37,220 --> 00:50:44,660
How do you sacrifice the education and the well-being of 200 children in hopes of getting 2000?

493
00:50:45,280 --> 00:50:50,580
In March of 17, our retired from a school where children were loved and programming was in place.

494
00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:53,220
April, new leadership started.

495
00:50:54,240 --> 00:51:00,000
June of 17, the teachers grew very concerned about the new administration because of the changes being made.

496
00:51:00,580 --> 00:51:03,580
They wanted the new leadership to get support.

497
00:51:04,200 --> 00:51:08,680
They wrote an open letter to the assistant superintendent and the PFT.

498
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:13,820
There was no inquiry into the letter and no support was given to the new principal.

499
00:51:14,660 --> 00:51:22,100
July of 17, August of 17, was their oversight of the new principal, was the school opening check list submitted.

500
00:51:22,620 --> 00:51:24,820
Roaster scheduled for the upcoming school year.

501
00:51:25,140 --> 00:51:28,440
Here's where you would have noticed all the programming was removed from the schedule.

502
00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:31,680
The assistant superintendent is supposed to oversee this process.

503
00:51:32,220 --> 00:51:37,660
In September, because no investigation was done about the teachers concerns, many transferred.

504
00:51:38,240 --> 00:51:40,720
Those teachers were replaced with par teachers.

505
00:51:40,720 --> 00:51:45,420
teachers, part teachers are unsatisfactory teachers, and you can check that in the effective

506
00:51:45,420 --> 00:51:45,800
system.

507
00:51:46,360 --> 00:51:48,700
Every teacher was replaced with an unsatisfactory teacher.

508
00:51:49,340 --> 00:51:54,240
Students arrived, programming was not there, familiar teachers were not there, and there

509
00:51:54,240 --> 00:52:00,140
were a lot out of their school every day after 9 o'clock, then 830, locked out of their own

510
00:52:00,140 --> 00:52:01,440
school every day.

511
00:52:01,900 --> 00:52:05,480
Can you imagine coming back to your high school and everything is gone?

512
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,780
And then on top of everything else, you're locked out after you leave when you're late.

513
00:52:10,660 --> 00:52:16,020
October to January, students had no familiar programming, all different roles to follow.

514
00:52:16,380 --> 00:52:22,600
Many unsatisfactory teachers, no off-site experiences, sadness set in and frustration grew.

515
00:52:23,080 --> 00:52:26,600
So many students transferred, they were taught that they deserve better.

516
00:52:27,220 --> 00:52:34,600
On January 23rd, the SRC was sent to see the destruction that was allowed to happen on the day the principal was absent.

517
00:52:35,180 --> 00:52:38,200
I could only imagine what they saw, I knew what they saw.

518
00:52:38,200 --> 00:52:43,840
March 18th, March of 2018, one year after I left, closing,

519
00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:47,980
phasing out, repurposing was first mentioned, one year after.

520
00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:55,120
And the Assistant Superintendent said it was a school-based decision to eliminate everything in the school that the students were used to having.

521
00:52:57,300 --> 00:53:03,680
May, now it's May, there's no principal, a new Assistant Superintendent because the other one was gone.

522
00:53:04,060 --> 00:53:07,200
And the students, especially the seniors, have suffered through it all.

523
00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:15,900
And to put salt in the womb, the building is now being used as a district professional development center during the instructional school day.

524
00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:20,380
How could you be so cruel to already traumatize children?

525
00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:26,000
Why do you think it is logical to sacrifice 200 children in hopes of getting 2000?

526
00:53:26,540 --> 00:53:31,740
While with 2,000 children come after witnessing the treatment and the destruction of 200.

527
00:53:34,070 --> 00:53:35,070
Thank you Miss Lane, man.

528
00:53:36,370 --> 00:53:38,430
Thank you, thank you for your testimony.

529
00:53:39,610 --> 00:53:44,050
Ms. Alicia Walker, Ms. Walker, are you here?

530
00:53:44,350 --> 00:53:49,970
Yes, Ms. Parent from John Hancock on Student Academics and can I also have Randy Morgan,

531
00:53:50,790 --> 00:53:55,730
Parent from Add Prema Charter School on Relocation of Add Prema, please come forward.

532
00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:01,040
Maria Roman's not here, is that correct?

533
00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:02,880
She here?

534
00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:05,620
Yes, thank you, I did call her name earlier, thank you.

535
00:54:06,660 --> 00:54:08,360
All right, Miss Walker, you may begin.

536
00:54:08,740 --> 00:54:10,120
All right, good afternoon, everyone.

537
00:54:10,300 --> 00:54:12,680
My name is Alicia Walker, and I'm here to discuss student

538
00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:13,200
academics.

539
00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:16,080
My son Jordan Boyard attends the Giant Hancock

540
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:18,020
Demonstration School located in the Northeast.

541
00:54:18,860 --> 00:54:21,100
My son was transferred from Inquiry Charter School

542
00:54:21,100 --> 00:54:24,300
last April to Hancock due to us relocating to a new home.

543
00:54:25,240 --> 00:54:27,240
Although he was only in the first grade at that time,

544
00:54:27,380 --> 00:54:29,260
I definitely saw the progression in his work

545
00:54:29,260 --> 00:54:31,180
after only three months of attending Hancock.

546
00:54:31,680 --> 00:54:33,100
I was so pleased with the staff.

547
00:54:33,100 --> 00:54:36,120
If my son grades were great, his teacher Ms. Belts was a sweetheart.

548
00:54:36,880 --> 00:54:40,640
Fast forward to me on Jordan B and in the second grade with the new teacher Mrs. Montgomery.

549
00:54:41,780 --> 00:54:44,660
There's no communication whatsoever between the two of us.

550
00:54:45,140 --> 00:54:49,620
I have x for conferences, second and third report, second report period, the conference went okay.

551
00:54:50,300 --> 00:54:54,020
Although I have requested not only Jordan's report card, but also all of his test scores,

552
00:54:54,580 --> 00:54:57,500
class participation grades, homework assignments, et cetera.

553
00:54:58,080 --> 00:55:01,420
I wanted to see how my son reading grade went from an A to a B.

554
00:55:01,420 --> 00:55:06,800
I told her I wanted to make sure I kept Jordan on the right path with his grades and that

555
00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:07,900
I didn't want him slacking.

556
00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:13,060
She replied by saying she would follow up with me in a week via email which never happened.

557
00:55:13,520 --> 00:55:17,400
Here we are a third report and yet I've requested a second time, this time to the office.

558
00:55:17,840 --> 00:55:18,480
Still nothing.

559
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:23,560
I've tried setting up a conference this period which Mrs. Montgomery apparently has no recollection

560
00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:23,880
of.

561
00:55:24,300 --> 00:55:28,720
My son received second honors and cried because he didn't understand why he keeps

562
00:55:28,720 --> 00:55:31,560
receiving this one B, stopping him from first honors.

563
00:55:32,100 --> 00:55:32,820
I love the school.

564
00:55:33,300 --> 00:55:34,580
I'm just not sure of his teacher.

565
00:55:35,020 --> 00:55:37,240
I'm starting to feel like we're being treated unfairly.

566
00:55:37,460 --> 00:55:38,040
My son's ill.

567
00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:40,460
Like every time he does something good in class,

568
00:55:40,740 --> 00:55:41,740
he gets no recognition.

569
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:44,140
But when a few of his classmates, I'm sorry,

570
00:55:44,620 --> 00:55:46,940
does something good and Mrs. Montgomery congratulate them.

571
00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:49,760
I really don't want to take my son out of the school.

572
00:55:50,300 --> 00:55:52,080
But if we're going to continue to be ignored,

573
00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:53,680
what's left for me to do at this point?

574
00:55:54,040 --> 00:55:56,360
I've even met with one of the deans at the school

575
00:55:56,360 --> 00:55:58,180
who happened to be a substitute their day.

576
00:55:58,660 --> 00:56:00,660
And she stated that she would pass my message along,

577
00:56:00,820 --> 00:56:03,300
and that someone from the school should be calling me by Wednesday.

578
00:56:03,880 --> 00:56:04,760
Well, that was yesterday.

579
00:56:05,720 --> 00:56:07,500
No call, no email, no nothing.

580
00:56:07,820 --> 00:56:10,660
I'm not sure if there's any personal issues the teacher has with me,

581
00:56:10,840 --> 00:56:12,280
but please don't take it out on my child.

582
00:56:12,660 --> 00:56:16,100
He's an A average student coming from a family like mine's that's major,

583
00:56:16,260 --> 00:56:17,460
and I just want to keep it their way.

584
00:56:17,820 --> 00:56:18,780
Thank you all for your time.

585
00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:21,740
Ms. Walker, have you spoken to the principal at the school?

586
00:56:22,100 --> 00:56:23,240
I'm so waiting on the call, Ben.

587
00:56:23,240 --> 00:56:27,560
Okay, so I'm going to have Dr. Burd also talk with you as well, okay?

588
00:56:27,700 --> 00:56:28,920
He's responsible for all schools.

589
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:29,520
Okay.

590
00:56:29,740 --> 00:56:30,540
Yeah, thank you.

591
00:56:30,660 --> 00:56:31,120
Thank you.

592
00:56:31,420 --> 00:56:32,440
Thank you, Ms. Walker.

593
00:56:32,820 --> 00:56:37,440
Ms. Morgan, can I also have Donna Bell, community member?

594
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:39,200
Are we location of the ad creamer?

595
00:56:39,300 --> 00:56:39,940
Please come forward.

596
00:56:41,680 --> 00:56:42,880
You may begin, Ms. Morgan.

597
00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:43,320
Okay.

598
00:56:44,180 --> 00:56:47,600
I truly believe our teachers have the most important job ever.

599
00:56:47,840 --> 00:56:52,260
They are teaching our students to be productive members of society and our future leaders.

600
00:56:52,260 --> 00:56:57,140
And Prima believes students should tackle academic curriculum in ways that are engaging,

601
00:56:57,560 --> 00:57:01,020
meaningful, and adaptable through a variety of learning styles.

602
00:57:01,620 --> 00:57:06,560
Yet, our teachers and Prima are not being given the most important tools to accomplish

603
00:57:06,560 --> 00:57:06,960
this.

604
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:14,380
Our teachers are not being given the opportunity to teach in a way that is relevant to today's

605
00:57:14,380 --> 00:57:14,700
world.

606
00:57:15,260 --> 00:57:17,640
So our children can reach their fullest potential.

607
00:57:18,760 --> 00:57:23,600
Currently, our children are being robbed of a versatile, enjoyable school experience,

608
00:57:24,040 --> 00:57:28,880
because the current school building on Frankfurt Ave is hindering their opportunities.

609
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:33,720
Why isn't the Frankfurt Ave building enough?

610
00:57:34,950 --> 00:57:38,340
Because we need to dig deeper and reach the hearts of our students.

611
00:57:38,960 --> 00:57:44,660
We need to give our children access to amenities that will allow each child to be reached within.

612
00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:47,640
So they can show up the gifts that they have been given.

613
00:57:47,640 --> 00:57:52,620
The Frankfurt location has limitations on our child's progress

614
00:57:52,620 --> 00:57:57,780
and everyday routine because the building simply is not large enough for our growing school.

615
00:58:00,340 --> 00:58:04,480
Right now, the cafeteria is also their auditorium and their makeshift gym.

616
00:58:05,700 --> 00:58:09,060
The art teacher has to travel to each classroom just to have class and

617
00:58:09,060 --> 00:58:11,640
Spanish is being taught on the stage in the cafeteria.

618
00:58:12,300 --> 00:58:16,080
I believe the larger, more modern building at Theronab,

619
00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:22,780
We have will accompany our school needs so we can give our teachers and our students a place to excel and reach their highest potential.

620
00:58:23,700 --> 00:58:28,760
Thuron Ab will provide a healthy school experience and support the learning goals Ab Prima has in place.

621
00:58:29,400 --> 00:58:34,860
Because of the ability to incorporate more technology, offer science and computer labs,

622
00:58:35,140 --> 00:58:41,920
have access to a separate gym and auditorium as well as additional classrooms for art, music, and Spanish class.

623
00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:48,640
Our children will be able to show off all of their talents and become well-rounded students who can shine in many lights.

624
00:58:49,400 --> 00:58:59,260
Thuron Ab also gives our students and staff access to a full cafeteria, lockers, and they'll be able to teach and learn in a comfortable setting due to central heat and air conditioning.

625
00:59:00,140 --> 00:59:06,220
Morale throughout the school will be higher than it is now because our children will be proud to call the Thuron Ab Building home.

626
00:59:07,260 --> 00:59:12,520
If we are not allowed to move and we remain stagnant, we will not see the heights our future leaders can reach.

627
00:59:12,820 --> 00:59:23,740
If we say at Frankfurt Ave, low morale amongst our students is inevitable and my fear is our teachers will not remain dedicated because they don't have the tools they need to be the best version of themselves.

628
00:59:24,380 --> 00:59:30,880
If we remain stagnant, we are setting ourselves up for failure to avoid that, I'm asking for your help.

629
00:59:32,180 --> 00:59:35,940
I want the SRC and the Charter Office to walk this journey beside us.

630
00:59:36,100 --> 00:59:41,540
We are asking for you to watch us grow and become a positive example for the community and schools around us.

631
00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:44,160
We are asking you to continue to believe in us.

632
00:59:44,380 --> 00:59:46,280
We have shown our strength when we were down.

633
00:59:47,160 --> 00:59:49,860
Thank you, Ms. Morgan, for your testimony tonight.

634
00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:50,520
Thank you.

635
00:59:51,220 --> 00:59:52,560
Can I have Ms. Bell?

636
00:59:52,740 --> 00:59:53,640
You can come forward, please.

637
00:59:53,760 --> 00:59:56,360
Can I also have Teresa Edmunds, Pairing from Ed Prima.

638
00:59:56,540 --> 00:59:57,560
You can please come forward.

639
01:00:03,250 --> 01:00:33,130
You may begin Ms. Bell. Good afternoon. Hi, my name is Donna Bell, and I'm a teacher at I premium charter school. Thank you for letting me address the committee about the positive impact that the premium charter school has on the education of filled-up students. I joined the I premium family in 2005, and for one year taught in a rigorous environment that set in motion students who strive to do their best both academically and as a person. After a year, I made a decision to pursue other educational opportunities, but I never forgot my

640
01:00:47,110 --> 01:00:52,910
I'm sorry, I was extremely pleased that it was still a part of a group that is striving

641
01:00:52,910 --> 01:00:54,310
for excellence in education.

642
01:00:55,270 --> 01:00:59,550
The school took an initiative to ensure that the curriculum was rigorous and relevant

643
01:00:59,550 --> 01:01:03,330
and our building was safe and welcoming.

644
01:01:03,970 --> 01:01:07,050
At Prima did these things by making changes to the curriculum,

645
01:01:07,630 --> 01:01:09,710
not getting new materials and even new building

646
01:01:09,710 --> 01:01:10,950
for the overbroker campus.

647
01:01:11,770 --> 01:01:13,750
I'm looking forward to seeing these changes

648
01:01:14,210 --> 01:01:15,570
for our Franklin campus.

649
01:01:16,090 --> 01:01:18,570
The current Franklin campus lacks the technology

650
01:01:18,570 --> 01:01:21,750
and learning environment to provide the kind of program

651
01:01:21,750 --> 01:01:23,710
that we offer our students.

652
01:01:24,030 --> 01:01:25,990
Therefore, it is absolutely imperative

653
01:01:25,990 --> 01:01:32,270
that the Franklin campus be relocated to so students can achieve their fullest potential.

654
01:01:32,870 --> 01:01:42,250
The move to a newer and larger building that is much more technologically advanced would help the teachers fulfill their mission.

655
01:01:42,830 --> 01:01:49,930
The move to a new location will provide a clean slate for our new students who deserve the best environment that we can provide.

656
01:01:49,930 --> 01:01:56,450
Please consider all these factors when you're making your decisions to help the teachers at Ed Prima try to school.

657
01:01:56,890 --> 01:01:57,450
Thank you.

658
01:01:58,210 --> 01:01:59,230
Thank you Miss Bell.

659
01:02:00,090 --> 01:02:01,770
Miss Edmonds, you can come forward, please.

660
01:02:12,980 --> 01:02:14,040
You may begin Miss Edmonds.

661
01:02:15,440 --> 01:02:16,600
Good evening, everyone.

662
01:02:17,220 --> 01:02:20,520
With respect to the panel and everyone else in the room.

663
01:02:21,060 --> 01:02:25,740
My name is Teresa Edmonds, and I am the proud mother of two seven three Ed Prima students.

664
01:02:26,620 --> 01:02:38,760
It's an honor to represent the parents of ad-premise that are pleased about the move to the new location and the opportunity for a better educational environment for all of our children.

665
01:02:39,300 --> 01:02:48,840
I'm specifically here to ask that you grant the approval for ad-premise charter schools frame for the avenue site to relocate to 8034 through around Avenue.

666
01:02:49,360 --> 01:02:54,260
My children and I have been members of the Ed Prima family since the first day that the

667
01:02:54,260 --> 01:02:59,180
Frankfurt site opened. I have had the opportunity to see the school open on an extremely high

668
01:02:59,180 --> 01:03:05,060
level, struggle through hard times, and fight to make it to where it is today, on the right path back

669
01:03:05,060 --> 01:03:10,460
to the top. I believe that your approval for us to move to the new location would allow what

670
01:03:10,460 --> 01:03:17,200
only enhanced the school administration's plans for our children's future endeavors. The new location

671
01:03:17,200 --> 01:03:23,100
has much more space, sensual air and heating, an in-account system, personal lockers,

672
01:03:23,600 --> 01:03:29,260
newer technological resources, a lunch room and gym that are two separate entities, and

673
01:03:29,260 --> 01:03:33,980
it also has more modern capabilities that would allow the faculty and the children to

674
01:03:33,980 --> 01:03:38,240
better respond to today's unfortunate need of being able to shelter in place.

675
01:03:39,500 --> 01:03:44,720
Most, more importantly, for me personally, it's located in a safe-renable hood in general.

676
01:03:44,720 --> 01:04:04,120
This makes me feel more at ease when thinking about my children walking to the nearby track and field that added community resource alone will provide increased opportunities for the children to experience even more physical exercise as well as the chance for added extracurricular and team building activities.

677
01:04:05,020 --> 01:04:09,000
Finally, I would like to reiterate that we, the family of Add Primer Charter Schools,

678
01:04:09,220 --> 01:04:14,280
Frankfurt Avenue site, would like for your immediate approval to relocate to its future

679
01:04:14,280 --> 01:04:14,800
location.

680
01:04:15,620 --> 01:04:20,260
There's nothing but positive thoughts as to why the school could and should move to this

681
01:04:20,260 --> 01:04:20,920
new location.

682
01:04:21,560 --> 01:04:27,200
This would allow our present children and faculty to move out and move on to a new ability

683
01:04:27,200 --> 01:04:29,220
with more space and opportunities.

684
01:04:29,220 --> 01:04:45,240
It would also allow our present and future students to reap the benefits of the present administration's plan to move forward by providing enhanced skill building and curriculums so that our children can continue to move up and grow into productive and successful individuals.

685
01:04:46,060 --> 01:04:54,940
Please do not stop our children from moving out, moving on to move forward and move up in this sometimes irrational world which we presently live in.

686
01:04:55,440 --> 01:04:55,780
Thank you.

687
01:04:56,760 --> 01:04:57,980
Thank you, Ms. Evans.

688
01:04:58,360 --> 01:05:02,920
Our next speaker is Mama Gail, community member on Sarah Recreation Center.

689
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:17,500
You may begin, Mama Gail.

690
01:05:17,740 --> 01:05:18,080
Thank you.

691
01:05:18,680 --> 01:05:19,060
Greetings.

692
01:05:21,640 --> 01:05:26,900
I came to speak about Sarah Recreation Center swimming pool.

693
01:05:28,200 --> 01:05:34,440
But before I do that, I took some, these are older pictures, but those are pictures of work

694
01:05:34,440 --> 01:05:36,060
that my husband and I did.

695
01:05:36,060 --> 01:05:44,320
that he did win his case for everybody that's here against the school district to get his pay for the year he was out sick.

696
01:05:45,240 --> 01:05:54,360
And the money that he got, we put into fair, we put money from that money into fair recreation center.

697
01:05:54,640 --> 01:05:59,040
With the help of the school district, members of the school district and

698
01:05:59,040 --> 01:06:04,580
people from the community, as I keep saying, the talk is always money, money, money.

699
01:06:04,580 --> 01:06:07,120
It's not always money that's the need.

700
01:06:07,740 --> 01:06:14,380
Often times it's people and their expectations and their heart and their will to make a difference.

701
01:06:15,260 --> 01:06:23,660
In the computer room, we got computers from the school district added to computers that were given to the district by the comedian.

702
01:06:24,800 --> 01:06:32,400
We had two printers that were donated to us by the school district for my program.

703
01:06:32,400 --> 01:06:40,440
The program never took place because people that worked there didn't see what I could see or what we could see.

704
01:06:41,120 --> 01:06:45,620
And I used to talk all the time about gatekeepers, road blockers,

705
01:06:45,840 --> 01:06:49,080
opportunists and neutralizers, and that's what I found in place.

706
01:06:49,600 --> 01:06:54,000
We have a director, I think they call him recreation leader,

707
01:06:54,540 --> 01:07:00,960
who has taken the computer room and made an office out of that when there's an office on the first floor.

708
01:07:00,960 --> 01:07:13,820
We got desks from the school district for the first floor, for them the new desk that's in the front that went from that old metal desk came from the school district that's in the front, as you see.

709
01:07:14,460 --> 01:07:20,940
Thanks to Fran and other people at the district who helped while Fran was in that position.

710
01:07:21,080 --> 01:07:25,780
We got a new kitchen put in, friends of mine donated money for the stove.

711
01:07:25,780 --> 01:07:36,340
and friends that work for the police force donated money for the refrigerator that we took from Huey's school and put over there since Huey was closed.

712
01:07:37,380 --> 01:07:47,380
I'm asking for folks to intervene, I spoke to Janie Blackwell this earlier today, and she said in two weeks there will be work done on the pool.

713
01:07:48,120 --> 01:07:54,300
This building had been neglected for a long time, just as Huey had been neglected, and I'm asking you,

714
01:07:54,300 --> 01:08:21,580
I don't want to pull my folks away from the program because we invested a lot of time, energy, and love in it, but even meeting with the Commissioner about a week and a half ago, the Deputy Commissioner and others from the Recreation Department, Matt was there for the school district, I was told I could only come, nobody else could come with me, I bought my daughter, I'm saying to you, we need an intervention, you-

715
01:08:21,580 --> 01:08:22,180
Yeah,

716
01:08:51,860 --> 01:08:56,600
Monica, thank you, and thank you for the work that you put into that center.

717
01:08:57,240 --> 01:09:04,040
In addition, I've been in contact constantly with the Councilman Blackwell on this, and

718
01:09:04,040 --> 01:09:09,680
we're working through some of the issues you described in terms of who's using the space

719
01:09:09,680 --> 01:09:11,060
and how they're using it.

720
01:09:11,360 --> 01:09:12,780
We can help you with that.

721
01:09:13,060 --> 01:09:19,260
And we will pull a team together to make sure we're working with Parks and Recreation Department

722
01:09:19,260 --> 01:09:26,640
So that they're clear guidelines about who uses what and then how do we take care of the rest of those spaces the council

723
01:09:26,640 --> 01:09:32,580
Women is also made a commitment to help us with the pool as well and so talk to her earlier today

724
01:09:32,580 --> 01:09:35,100
I think after she spoke to you. Yes

725
01:09:35,760 --> 01:09:42,140
Thank you mom again. All right. All right next speaker is Leah Cloud and community member on

726
01:09:42,140 --> 01:09:48,420
Sarah Recreation Center. Can I also have I lean poses community member on funding priorities come forward please?

727
01:09:49,700 --> 01:09:55,820
this cloud you may begin. Greetings excuse my voice. My mother pretty much said

728
01:09:55,820 --> 01:10:00,820
everything that I was going to say too. I just want to know how can we make it a

729
01:10:00,820 --> 01:10:05,740
fully functioning recreation center where both even a school district and parts

730
01:10:05,740 --> 01:10:07,880
and recreation can actually benefit from.

731
01:10:10,200 --> 01:10:12,460
I mean we've we've sat down like my

732
01:10:12,460 --> 01:10:17,420
mom said with the commissioners spoke you know talk to them about everything but it's

733
01:10:17,420 --> 01:10:24,760
It's still, I'm happy that you say you'll make a commitment to make sure that the partnership is better, or function, and better.

734
01:10:26,580 --> 01:10:32,300
In addition, I guess I'll just add there are five day care that visit that center every day.

735
01:10:32,660 --> 01:10:34,840
They walk the children over, they use the center.

736
01:10:35,140 --> 01:10:42,880
Whether it's the bathroom or the outside, like the playground that's right there, you have SLA at one time was using a swimming pool.

737
01:10:42,880 --> 01:10:48,620
You know, you have potential to do actually teach children in the school district of swim.

738
01:10:48,860 --> 01:10:52,840
Sarah High School is right there, where everybody can just walk to the back.

739
01:10:53,000 --> 01:11:00,280
It doesn't make sense that there is not a true partnership in this unique design of sharing space,

740
01:11:00,520 --> 01:11:05,140
especially with the taxes on both sides, whether taxes from education and

741
01:11:05,140 --> 01:11:09,100
the taxes from parts and rights, so, thank you.

742
01:11:09,100 --> 01:11:10,580
Thank you, Ms. Clouton.

743
01:11:10,920 --> 01:11:12,140
Ms. Postes, you can come forward.

744
01:11:12,340 --> 01:11:13,720
Please, can I also have Jason Tucker,

745
01:11:14,040 --> 01:11:16,060
a community member on Deep Roots Charter School.

746
01:11:16,520 --> 01:11:17,340
Please come forward.

747
01:11:18,280 --> 01:11:21,680
As a retired teacher who worked in the school district

748
01:11:21,680 --> 01:11:22,640
for many, many years,

749
01:11:22,940 --> 01:11:25,980
I read with interest the inquire articles

750
01:11:25,980 --> 01:11:27,440
about the state of our schools.

751
01:11:27,660 --> 01:11:28,640
Of course, I lived that.

752
01:11:29,420 --> 01:11:31,480
And I also looked at the resolutions

753
01:11:31,480 --> 01:11:32,900
and what we're spending money on,

754
01:11:32,900 --> 01:11:34,820
and it made me think of this song.

755
01:11:34,820 --> 01:11:39,260
What good is spending our public money?

756
01:11:39,980 --> 01:11:42,620
It helps all the vendors play.

757
01:11:43,520 --> 01:11:46,940
Watch how the S.R.C. spends funds

758
01:11:46,940 --> 01:11:50,280
till we are truly stunned.

759
01:11:50,880 --> 01:11:54,460
Give some to charters to TNTP,

760
01:11:55,320 --> 01:11:57,780
outsource to one right way.

761
01:11:58,800 --> 01:12:02,160
Watch how the S.R.C. spends funds

762
01:12:02,160 --> 01:12:05,560
Till we are truly stunned.

763
01:12:05,820 --> 01:12:08,940
Come pay for Giants, give to relay

764
01:12:08,940 --> 01:12:12,840
How about the Chester Virtual School?

765
01:12:13,260 --> 01:12:15,940
Write this way, it's for the taking.

766
01:12:16,540 --> 01:12:20,460
No use permitting repairs for our schools

767
01:12:20,460 --> 01:12:23,620
To take all the lead away.

768
01:12:24,500 --> 01:12:27,880
Just watch the neighborhood schools decay.

769
01:12:28,560 --> 01:12:31,940
Just watch the neighborhood schools delay.

770
01:12:31,940 --> 01:12:42,100
we decay because that is the SRC way thank you miss houses thank you thank you

771
01:12:42,100 --> 01:12:47,380
our next speaker Jason Tucker please come forward and can I also have Doug

772
01:12:47,380 --> 01:12:51,800
Black community member from the Roots Charter please come forward as well thank

773
01:12:51,800 --> 01:12:58,560
you Mr. Tucker you can begin sir good afternoon my name is Jason Tucker and I have

774
01:12:58,560 --> 01:13:01,760
been given the honor of speaking on behalf of the Board of Deep Roots Charter School

775
01:13:01,760 --> 01:13:06,380
I presently serve as board secretary and professionally I serve as vice-president of acquisitions

776
01:13:06,380 --> 01:13:09,400
and development for a local commercial real estate development company.

777
01:13:09,780 --> 01:13:13,720
Given the nature of the issue before the spotting, I feel uniquely qualified to speak on behalf

778
01:13:13,720 --> 01:13:17,800
of deep roots with respect to our request to locate our school in the building currently

779
01:13:17,800 --> 01:13:22,240
occupied by ad-premise charter school located at 3556 Frankfurt Avenue.

780
01:13:22,940 --> 01:13:27,000
Last year, the charter school office denied ad-premise requests to relocate to a different facility.

781
01:13:27,000 --> 01:13:33,620
In their 2017 relocation request, at premissated concerns about the condition of 3556 Frankfurt.

782
01:13:34,020 --> 01:13:39,180
Specifically, at premissited two examples of costly repairs, the heating system in the commercial kitchen.

783
01:13:39,580 --> 01:13:50,240
After hearing these concerns, the charter school office recommended that the school reform commission deny, at premiss relocation requests, thereby ensuring students would remain in the building during the 2017-18 school year.

784
01:13:50,240 --> 01:13:55,480
Last year, the charter school office made the determination that 3556 Frankfurt was safe for

785
01:13:55,480 --> 01:13:58,680
Ed Prima students to occupy during the 2017-18 school year.

786
01:13:59,100 --> 01:14:04,420
Despite the CSOs determination that the facility was safe, Ed Prima proactively made substantive

787
01:14:04,420 --> 01:14:08,000
updates to both the heating system and the kitchen during the school year.

788
01:14:08,640 --> 01:14:13,820
As a result of Ed Prima's facility updates, 3556 Frankfurt is in substantially better condition

789
01:14:13,820 --> 01:14:18,560
today that it was in June 2017 when the CSO determined that the building was already safe for

790
01:14:18,560 --> 01:14:19,060
occupancy.

791
01:14:19,060 --> 01:14:20,280
I want to be clear.

792
01:14:20,780 --> 01:14:24,460
In the year following a CSO determination that the building condition was fine for students,

793
01:14:24,860 --> 01:14:27,180
add prematurely improved their building.

794
01:14:27,740 --> 01:14:32,040
Deep roots is confident that 3556 Frankfurt will be an appropriate facility for students.

795
01:14:32,600 --> 01:14:38,080
Deep roots in conjunction with construction partners building hope and shift capital will upgrade the HVAC equipment,

796
01:14:38,300 --> 01:14:45,660
test and repair all life safety and electrical systems, and make non-structural changes such as new windows and paint starting June and finishing in July.

797
01:14:45,660 --> 01:14:52,100
If deep roots occupy 3556 Frankfurt in the 2018-19 school year, students will enter a building

798
01:14:52,100 --> 01:14:56,180
with significant and substantial safety and sanitary upgrades compared to the two prior

799
01:14:56,180 --> 01:14:56,720
school years.

800
01:14:57,340 --> 01:14:59,960
I have personally inspected the facility with our operations-

801
01:15:00,240 --> 01:15:26,500
And the building has tremendous potential to satisfy short-term operational needs, as well as longer-term facility requirements. Deep Roots has even begun talks to acquire neighboring properties to accommodate the school operations and growth beyond the 2020-21 school year. To specifically address concerns with the present condition of the building, deep roots, working in juxtaposition with its construction partners, has set aside an additional $200,000 in its budget for immediately facility requirements, excuse me, improvements.

802
01:15:27,240 --> 01:15:33,820
We, the Board of Deepers Charter School, agree with the CSOs 2017 determination that the building is adequate for

803
01:15:33,820 --> 01:15:38,580
operation in as is condition, but we strive to perform at a level far surpassing adequacy.

804
01:15:39,020 --> 01:15:45,920
That is why we have committed funds in our budget for the immediate short term and long term facility upgrades necessary for our educational program.

805
01:15:46,420 --> 01:15:54,580
The building can't simply go from being okay for use, undergo simple significant improvements, and then be determined unfit for occupancy.

806
01:15:54,580 --> 01:15:58,060
Such a determination would call into question the judgment of all parties involved.

807
01:16:00,620 --> 01:16:03,220
Thank you, Mr. Tucker, for your testimony tonight.

808
01:16:04,100 --> 01:16:09,780
Mr. Doug Black, if you can come forward, can I also have Denise Marie-Ramos Rivera come forward,

809
01:16:09,980 --> 01:16:11,960
community member, or deep-rooched charter school?

810
01:16:13,640 --> 01:16:14,860
You may begin, Mr. Black.

811
01:16:15,480 --> 01:16:18,260
As the members of the SRC, thank you for your time today.

812
01:16:18,820 --> 01:16:19,560
My name is Doug Black.

813
01:16:19,880 --> 01:16:23,460
My wife, children and I have lived at the corner of East Clearfield Street and

814
01:16:23,460 --> 01:16:25,120
tool of street for the past seven years.

815
01:16:25,740 --> 01:16:28,820
We believe this to be a critical juncture for our family, friends, and

816
01:16:28,820 --> 01:16:32,680
neighbors in the Port Richmond and Kensington neighborhoods, which we call home.

817
01:16:33,240 --> 01:16:36,700
One of the most powerful ways to build a strong community is through education.

818
01:16:37,360 --> 01:16:41,720
Education inspires children to become leaders, parents to engage with their communities,

819
01:16:42,020 --> 01:16:44,260
and communities to seek growth and prosperity.

820
01:16:44,840 --> 01:16:49,000
And quality education in struggling neighborhoods such as those we live in,

821
01:16:49,000 --> 01:16:53,160
help individuals and families gain the skills and the strength to break barriers.

822
01:16:53,980 --> 01:16:59,080
Deep Roots Charter School opening fall of 2018 is a new charter school with a new model that we,

823
01:16:59,360 --> 01:17:03,720
as a community, believe can bring about new opportunity for students and families.

824
01:17:04,320 --> 01:17:08,520
My wife and I have met with staff members and have explored their core values of practice,

825
01:17:08,860 --> 01:17:10,980
service, and purpose at great length.

826
01:17:11,540 --> 01:17:15,440
These are not just corporate values that have no bearing on the day-to-day operations.

827
01:17:15,440 --> 01:17:20,740
We have talked at length about plans for family engagement, high frequency teacher coaching,

828
01:17:21,220 --> 01:17:24,200
and a high level of student behavioral accountability.

829
01:17:24,740 --> 01:17:29,660
They are focused on helping individual students, along with their families, own their education

830
01:17:29,660 --> 01:17:32,720
for their long-term growth and sustainability of the community.

831
01:17:33,640 --> 01:17:38,120
Deep Roots is pursuing occupation of the property at 3556 Frankfurt Avenue.

832
01:17:38,600 --> 01:17:43,620
I speak for myself, my family, and a number of parents in the catchment covered by Deep Roots,

833
01:17:43,620 --> 01:17:50,800
allowing deep roots to have this property would serve our neighborhood well for the duration of the school's existence.

834
01:17:51,620 --> 01:17:55,960
Doing so as quickly as possible would allow deep roots to prepare adequately and

835
01:17:55,960 --> 01:17:59,620
expertly for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year.

836
01:18:00,220 --> 01:18:08,300
I ask the SRC to approve deep roots occupation of 3556 Frankfurt Avenue as quickly and

837
01:18:08,300 --> 01:18:12,580
expeditiously as possible, so that deep roots can be part of building a strong neighborhood

838
01:18:12,580 --> 01:18:16,400
for our current generation and the generations to come in the coming school year.

839
01:18:16,820 --> 01:18:17,140
Thank you.

840
01:18:17,740 --> 01:18:18,880
Thank you, Mr. Black.

841
01:18:20,140 --> 01:18:27,220
Ms. Ramos for there, please come forward, and Coleman poses, community member on teacher-least policies.

842
01:18:27,620 --> 01:18:30,140
Teacher-leaf policies, please come forward.

843
01:18:33,350 --> 01:18:34,570
You may begin, ma'am.

844
01:18:35,570 --> 01:18:37,090
Hello, my name is Denise Marie-Ramos.

845
01:18:37,090 --> 01:18:40,110
I've been here in Philadelphia for four years.

846
01:18:40,950 --> 01:18:45,550
For five years I've been applying for all the charter schools for my son, Abraham.

847
01:18:46,210 --> 01:18:47,490
He is in first grade now.

848
01:18:48,410 --> 01:18:53,130
I have been denied all those charter schools because of the lottery process.

849
01:18:53,970 --> 01:19:00,270
So I am very happy and excited that he is finally accepted in a charter school like Deep Roots is.

850
01:19:00,830 --> 01:19:03,870
I'll sell the location for the Frankfurt Avenue.

851
01:19:03,870 --> 01:19:07,570
For me, it would be great, it's only 11 minutes away from my house.

852
01:19:09,550 --> 01:19:15,910
Also, one of the positive things that I see here, they do have a full-time nurse.

853
01:19:16,230 --> 01:19:21,290
My son is type one diabetic, so he would need a school with a full-time nurse.

854
01:19:21,730 --> 01:19:27,830
I also try to get him into a private school and that the nutwork out either is lottery too,

855
01:19:28,150 --> 01:19:28,890
even if I was paying.

856
01:19:29,750 --> 01:19:34,790
So I am very happy that now he will be able to get a better education and

857
01:19:34,790 --> 01:19:37,730
and a better learning opportunity for him.

858
01:19:38,210 --> 01:19:38,630
Thank you.

859
01:19:39,420 --> 01:19:40,390
Thank you, Mr. Rivera.

860
01:19:41,070 --> 01:19:43,090
Mr. Postes, if you can come forward.

861
01:19:43,630 --> 01:19:46,950
Can I also have Barbara Dowdall come forward, community member?

862
01:20:03,230 --> 01:20:04,290
Good afternoon.

863
01:20:06,320 --> 01:20:09,680
Before the minstitude, a conservative education think tank,

864
01:20:10,040 --> 01:20:13,680
published a report in September making two claims.

865
01:20:14,180 --> 01:20:18,280
One, the teacher absence affects student achievement and two,

866
01:20:18,280 --> 01:20:23,320
that teachers and charters used fewer sick days than teachers in regular public schools.

867
01:20:24,040 --> 01:20:28,300
Although the report was not peer reviewed, it was evaluated by the National Education

868
01:20:28,300 --> 01:20:35,060
Policy Center at the University of Colorado and found serious methodological flaws in

869
01:20:35,060 --> 01:20:35,460
the study.

870
01:20:36,240 --> 01:20:41,860
More recently, in closer to home, the organization Excellence Schools, Pennsylvania conducted

871
01:20:41,860 --> 01:20:47,960
a study entitled The High Cost of Teacher Absenteism in Philadelphia, which claims that daily teacher

872
01:20:47,960 --> 01:20:54,900
The other absentee is and runs about 6% in Philadelphia schools as opposed to the national average of 2.8%.

873
01:20:54,900 --> 01:21:16,880
While the 6% figure comes from school district AIDO and teacher absences, the 2.8% figure comes from a category in the labor force statistics from current population survey entitled education training and library occupations, which obviously covers many more professions than just elementary and high school teachers.

874
01:21:18,100 --> 01:21:28,360
Furthermore, the school district number correlates with the National Epsom T-Rate of 6% provided in the 2014 study by the National Council on Teacher Equality.

875
01:21:29,480 --> 01:21:36,720
It appears the teacher illness is the latest fad for study by organizations interested in the privatization of education.

876
01:21:37,400 --> 01:21:45,440
The idea being that a single dubious study does not carry the same weight as an entire body of questionable work.

877
01:21:45,440 --> 01:21:57,680
These organizations believe that somehow two or more wrongs make a right, yet their research oddly neglects to address two issues closely related to teacher absenteeism.

878
01:21:58,160 --> 01:22:05,800
The first is teacher turnover, which often occurs in the middle of a school year and affects charter schools at a rate much higher than a public school.

879
01:22:07,110 --> 01:22:13,430
Don't such disruptions affect students, at least as profoundly as teacher absenteeism.

880
01:22:13,910 --> 01:22:15,210
The second is achievement.

881
01:22:15,930 --> 01:22:19,970
The Fordham study does to great lengths to explain the connection between absenteeism

882
01:22:19,970 --> 01:22:24,690
and student achievement, yet offers none of its own data to support this claim, possibly

883
01:22:24,690 --> 01:22:29,470
because the respected study, that possibly because respected studies, will for very little

884
01:22:29,470 --> 01:22:32,030
support to show the charters outperform public schools.

885
01:22:32,030 --> 01:22:39,950
Under graduates have failed Research 101 for using the methods these organizations have adopted for their respective studies.

886
01:22:40,290 --> 01:22:42,170
I hope to you agree with this assessment.

887
01:22:43,050 --> 01:22:47,570
Thank you, Mr. Poesies, and let's try this again.

888
01:22:47,870 --> 01:22:52,810
Barbara Dowdall, can I say it right, is Dowdall?

889
01:22:54,610 --> 01:22:58,370
Dowdall Dowdall is my name, teaching English was my game.

890
01:22:58,770 --> 01:23:01,670
Okay, it's actually my husband's name.

891
01:23:04,670 --> 01:23:10,310
A recent filly.com article addressed the widespread lack of information that Philadelphia

892
01:23:10,310 --> 01:23:15,010
public school students often have in regard to the names of their schools.

893
01:23:16,090 --> 01:23:20,930
I will need a consultant to consult a certified school librarian for assistance in locating

894
01:23:20,930 --> 01:23:22,150
the article on the internet.

895
01:23:23,390 --> 01:23:28,230
Though a Philip Randolph 20th century labor union and civil rights giant is unknown to the

896
01:23:28,230 --> 01:23:32,890
general public, students at his namesake school generally are both knowledgeable and proud.

897
01:23:32,890 --> 01:23:38,310
They deserve nevertheless to have a fully functioning school library where a corner could

898
01:23:38,310 --> 01:23:42,190
be devoted to the substantial number of volumes devoted to his life.

899
01:23:43,310 --> 01:23:49,250
1975, a Phil Randolph skills center opens on Henry Avenue in a repurposed factory.

900
01:23:49,970 --> 01:23:52,890
Randolph himself attended the opening ceremonies.

901
01:23:53,510 --> 01:23:56,830
Randolph skills had a library and a certified teacher librarian.

902
01:23:57,150 --> 01:24:01,430
Books stamped Randolph skills still appear mysteriously around the city.

903
01:24:02,330 --> 01:24:06,270
1993 Randolph was linked administratively to Merrill Dobbins.

904
01:24:06,890 --> 01:24:12,770
Dobbins ran off area vocational technical school, one grade school, two campuses, one

905
01:24:12,770 --> 01:24:17,150
certified teacher librarian and one library assistant shared between the two buildings.

906
01:24:18,170 --> 01:24:23,250
2004, Dobbins and Randolph are separated, except for the football team.

907
01:24:24,190 --> 01:24:27,710
Dobbins retains the CTL, Randolph retains our Lima.

908
01:24:28,610 --> 01:24:34,790
2005 Randolph library resources are severely curtailed and library assistant faces transfer.

909
01:24:35,630 --> 01:24:42,910
SRC is presented with petition signed by 140 students and staff in appeal for retention

910
01:24:42,910 --> 01:24:44,810
of LIMA, our library assistant.

911
01:24:45,470 --> 01:24:47,270
She transfers to John B. Kelly.

912
01:24:48,370 --> 01:24:55,070
2006, SRC under Paul Vales provides funds for a certified teacher librarian, support eliminated

913
01:24:55,070 --> 01:24:56,390
after two years.

914
01:24:57,650 --> 01:25:00,990
2008, Randolph Library got in.

915
01:25:01,550 --> 01:25:04,890
No professional staff, books replaced with computers,

916
01:25:05,730 --> 01:25:08,910
and the room was renamed Success Center.

917
01:25:10,430 --> 01:25:14,070
Ten years without a library, and ten years of receiving students

918
01:25:14,070 --> 01:25:17,390
whose elementary and middle schools were also more and more likely

919
01:25:17,390 --> 01:25:21,350
to lack this essential resource, SRC Legacy.

920
01:25:23,090 --> 01:25:28,690
And there are three books that I did lend to the SRC for the future Randolph Library.

921
01:25:28,910 --> 01:25:36,510
And so those three books, I think I should get back because I don't see it happening before the end of the SRC.

922
01:25:37,090 --> 01:25:41,450
And I think Dr. Hight, you have the buyer rusting that will go into that collection as well.

923
01:25:41,670 --> 01:25:42,010
Thank you.

924
01:25:42,670 --> 01:25:43,390
Thank you.

925
01:25:44,530 --> 01:25:46,850
Ms. Carol Kalimnik, if you could come forward.

926
01:25:46,850 --> 01:25:56,670
All right, community member against any new charter schools and Ms. Linda Rubin, community member on SRC's responsibility to school student and Linda's not here.

927
01:25:56,830 --> 01:25:57,290
Thank you.

928
01:25:57,730 --> 01:25:58,530
School and Nick.

929
01:25:59,370 --> 01:25:59,690
Sorry.

930
01:26:06,060 --> 01:26:06,700
Okay.

931
01:26:07,300 --> 01:26:12,980
Hopefully tonight you take my comments on Philadelphia Hebrew charter school and the consideration.

932
01:26:13,560 --> 01:26:20,120
When you vote next week, I'm hoping that next week I can commend you for doing the right thing.

933
01:26:20,120 --> 01:26:30,120
Some of you proclaim yourselves to be all about the children and others to be advocates for our children, as Parkland Survivor Emma Gonzalez said bullshit.

934
01:26:30,640 --> 01:26:42,100
You have a chance next week to step up and shed your hypocrisy and cowardice by denying Philadelphia Hebrew Charter School and tonight by voting known Resolution B15,

935
01:26:42,100 --> 01:26:47,080
pouring money into a vendor instead of into Strawberry Mansion Heights School.

936
01:26:47,550 --> 01:26:50,020
We cannot afford any more chargers.

937
01:26:50,600 --> 01:26:54,680
Every time you take this cowardly action of approving charter schools,

938
01:26:55,040 --> 01:27:02,080
using your excuse of fearing expensive lawsuits filed by charter management companies denied a contract,

939
01:27:02,540 --> 01:27:06,040
you rub district classrooms of the resources they need.

940
01:27:06,440 --> 01:27:09,760
Our schools still operate under Dr. Heights' doomsday budget.

941
01:27:09,760 --> 01:27:16,200
But the recent series on toxic schools shows how devastating some buildings are to our children's health.

942
01:27:16,520 --> 01:27:19,500
You continue to drain money by approving charters.

943
01:27:20,020 --> 01:27:24,280
There are the SRC as no problem spending millions on outside legal counsel.

944
01:27:24,740 --> 01:27:30,660
You dragged out settling the app sunshine lawsuit by hiring one of the most expensive law firms in the city.

945
01:27:31,320 --> 01:27:37,720
Step up to the plate of courage and deny this carpet bagging New York City charter management organization.

946
01:27:37,720 --> 01:27:44,900
This charter school spends four classroom hours a week teaching Hebrew, a language spoken in Israel.

947
01:27:45,400 --> 01:27:51,300
They also promote the study of Israel, a country whose government just murdered 62 unarmed

948
01:27:51,300 --> 01:27:52,100
Palestinians.

949
01:27:52,580 --> 01:27:54,720
Is this something you really want to support?

950
01:27:55,200 --> 01:27:59,100
Dr. Hyde is closing, strawberry mentioned high school despite denying it.

951
01:27:59,480 --> 01:28:02,920
He continues attempting, well, we can discuss it.

952
01:28:02,920 --> 01:28:07,580
We keep continues attempting to diffuse the strong resistance to his plans for

953
01:28:07,580 --> 01:28:09,160
a strawberry mansion complex.

954
01:28:09,660 --> 01:28:13,500
He has systematically stripped mansion of resources, staffing, and programs.

955
01:28:13,900 --> 01:28:18,380
They have over nine teacher vacancies in a school of under 300 students.

956
01:28:18,580 --> 01:28:24,360
No music teacher despite drake, gifting them with a music studio, no culinary arts teacher despite

957
01:28:24,360 --> 01:28:26,040
that having been a point of pride.

958
01:28:26,340 --> 01:28:31,520
Resolution B15 sends $13 million into a vendor's pocket for

959
01:28:31,520 --> 01:28:35,780
an accelerated program at mansion proving that there is money available.

960
01:28:36,180 --> 01:28:43,120
District lip surface of pretending to listen to students in the community supporting them has failed to stem the protests.

961
01:28:43,700 --> 01:28:47,740
Dr. Hight used similar tactics on the six priority schools earlier this year,

962
01:28:48,120 --> 01:28:53,000
ignoring the needs and demands put forth by school stakeholders and inserting outside vendors

963
01:28:53,300 --> 01:28:58,400
that no one asked for as he continues to privatize as much of our district as he can.

964
01:28:58,400 --> 01:29:02,280
Shame on all of you for allowing this to happen.

965
01:29:03,280 --> 01:29:04,700
Thank you, Ms. Kalimnik.

966
01:29:05,040 --> 01:29:07,480
Our next speaker, Lisa Haver, community member.

967
01:29:08,860 --> 01:29:13,460
SRC's responsibility to school students and Ms. Allison McDowell, please come forward.

968
01:29:14,000 --> 01:29:15,920
Community member and public private partnerships.

969
01:29:20,790 --> 01:29:22,510
Good evening, my name is Lisa Haver.

970
01:29:23,530 --> 01:29:28,630
Last week, absent an email to all SRC commissioners asking for

971
01:29:28,630 --> 01:29:33,030
explanation of the SRC's vote to approve Franklin Town Charter Middle School.

972
01:29:33,190 --> 01:29:38,650
Government officials have an obligation to explain to the public why they make the decisions they do and

973
01:29:38,650 --> 01:29:40,570
how and why they spend taxpayer funds.

974
01:29:41,190 --> 01:29:46,790
The SRC did not read the resolution in full and did not explain their reasons at the April 26 meeting.

975
01:29:47,270 --> 01:29:54,790
Nor did the SRC respond to our letter, despite the detailed news reports of the pyramid scheme that Franklin Town is perpetrating.

976
01:29:54,790 --> 01:29:58,050
despite the company's precarious financial situation,

977
01:29:58,270 --> 01:29:59,970
despite the fact that they should.

978
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:29,960
With no community support, one letter came from six flights amusement park, and others from businesses in New Jersey, despite the fact that Franklin Town basically blew off the charter school office over 30 instances, which we detailed in our letter and addendum to the letter 30 instances, in which Franklin Town failed to address concerns in the second application that were raised in the first one, the SRC voted to approve another school for Franklin Town Charter. I'd like to use

979
01:30:29,960 --> 01:30:40,080
It's a rest of my time so that the SRC can fulfill its obligation to the taxpayers and the stakeholders to explain its vote, to approve another school for Franklin Town shorter.

980
01:31:14,410 --> 01:31:17,710
Hi, I just want to be responsive to your request.

981
01:31:17,710 --> 01:31:18,730
Okay, I appreciate it.

982
01:31:18,810 --> 01:31:27,190
And my commitment is that next week at our public meeting that I will explain my vote for Franklin Town.

983
01:31:29,420 --> 01:31:32,440
I've got 55 seconds left so you can start now.

984
01:31:32,440 --> 01:31:34,140
No, that's not commitment in response.

985
01:31:41,350 --> 01:31:45,010
There must have been a reason if that's why the SRC voted that way.

986
01:31:45,470 --> 01:31:48,650
Last week, there must have been a reason at that time.

987
01:31:49,530 --> 01:31:53,910
And I'll just remind everybody that the SRC did not read the resolution in full.

988
01:31:54,030 --> 01:31:55,650
That is a violation of the Sunshine Act.

989
01:31:55,970 --> 01:32:01,390
You have to tell people what you're voting on before you vote on it, not after you vote on it.

990
01:32:04,030 --> 01:32:07,330
And we've communicated with the SRC several times about that.

991
01:32:17,220 --> 01:32:17,820
I voted no.

992
01:32:17,820 --> 01:32:23,620
I know, and I thank you and thank you Ms. Haver your time is up.

993
01:32:23,740 --> 01:32:24,820
Thank you, ma'am, for your testimony.

994
01:32:24,820 --> 01:32:30,380
Possibly that other guy could have explained, but Ms. McDowell, Ms. McDowell, thank you.

995
01:32:40,910 --> 01:32:42,330
You may begin Ms. McDowell.

996
01:32:42,710 --> 01:32:42,770
Yes.

997
01:32:43,810 --> 01:32:50,070
Rich Lane Limited Partners is a merchant bank, co-founded by former Governor Tom Ridge in Arbred Lane.

998
01:32:50,610 --> 01:32:56,610
The firm specializes in corporate strategy and venture development for private growth stage technology companies.

999
01:32:56,610 --> 01:33:04,230
Its website claims it is at the apex for public and private sectors with over 50 well-connected

1000
01:33:04,230 --> 01:33:08,850
advisors to broker corporate government deals and information technology, sustainability,

1001
01:33:09,410 --> 01:33:10,850
real estate, and education.

1002
01:33:11,970 --> 01:33:16,890
Ridge Lane has extensive ties to the military and to the Department of Homeland Security.

1003
01:33:17,530 --> 01:33:21,030
Their team includes a dozen former governors, both Democrats and Republicans.

1004
01:33:21,030 --> 01:33:27,150
It includes thought leaders who seek to channel education into competency-based workforce-aligned pipelines.

1005
01:33:27,750 --> 01:33:37,970
There can be little doubt that Ridge Lane and predatory firms of this type aim to redesign government as a public-private partnership that serves the interest of social-impact investors.

1006
01:33:38,770 --> 01:33:44,310
In education, this will happen through pay-for-success provisions embedded in the Everage Student Secrets Act.

1007
01:33:44,950 --> 01:33:51,390
Dr. Hyte, I was disbade to see you listed as a senior education advisor on Ridge Lane's website.

1008
01:33:52,220 --> 01:33:55,910
How can you, in good conscience, serve as an advisor to a consulting firm that views

1009
01:33:55,910 --> 01:33:56,410
public education?

1010
01:33:58,670 --> 01:34:02,990
Our system is far from perfect and was never intended to serve all children well, particularly

1011
01:34:02,990 --> 01:34:04,070
black and brown children.

1012
01:34:04,690 --> 01:34:09,010
But you actually believe partnerships with defense interests and hedge fund managers will create

1013
01:34:09,010 --> 01:34:12,010
authentic and powering learning experiences for Philadelphia students.

1014
01:34:12,730 --> 01:34:15,210
Clearly, your motives align with those of the elite.

1015
01:34:15,650 --> 01:34:23,090
Should we not be suspicious of plans to create an energy pilot program at Strawberry Mansion High School when Ridge Lane has its hands in sustainability ventures?

1016
01:34:23,710 --> 01:34:27,710
Shouldn't Ridge Lane's ties to real estate development give Strawberry Mansion residents pause?

1017
01:34:28,270 --> 01:34:34,250
They have legitimate concerns that proposed school transformation could result in them eventually being gentrified out of their homes.

1018
01:34:34,850 --> 01:34:39,450
If information technology should end up being proposed as workforce training at the school,

1019
01:34:39,450 --> 01:34:42,150
would parents have to second guess if you're prioritizing

1020
01:34:42,150 --> 01:34:43,730
the interests of students or investors?

1021
01:34:44,390 --> 01:34:46,950
Will the 21st century workforce programs you offer

1022
01:34:46,950 --> 01:34:48,490
end up weaving their children's futures

1023
01:34:48,490 --> 01:34:51,250
into Tom Ridges' war and security state machine?

1024
01:34:52,110 --> 01:34:54,730
As Philadelphia schools transfer to mayoral control,

1025
01:34:55,150 --> 01:34:57,590
it is our obligation to ensure that they are not being handed

1026
01:34:57,590 --> 01:35:00,570
over as points of extraction for private profit.

1027
01:35:00,930 --> 01:35:02,950
We demand public money for public schools

1028
01:35:02,950 --> 01:35:04,470
that serve the will of the people,

1029
01:35:04,870 --> 01:35:08,270
not the war machine, not private capital, not big data.

1030
01:35:08,270 --> 01:35:13,450
Yeah, tonight I stand with WAB Du Bois on the side of peace and justice and truth.

1031
01:35:13,910 --> 01:35:18,150
And I wish to confirm, if you are, in fact, serving as an education advisor to Ridge Lane,

1032
01:35:18,570 --> 01:35:23,290
and if the answer is yes, do we have a right to know what services you render and how you

1033
01:35:23,290 --> 01:35:24,070
are compensated?

1034
01:35:28,380 --> 01:35:29,740
Thank you for the question.

1035
01:35:30,100 --> 01:35:36,500
And yes, I am an advisor for Ridge Lane, and just in advisory role.

1036
01:35:36,500 --> 01:35:42,780
So, I serve, I'm on a call every other month to talk about educational issues.

1037
01:35:43,080 --> 01:35:48,560
I don't participate in any businesses associated with Ridge Lane, or anything else associated

1038
01:35:48,560 --> 01:35:50,180
with the School District of Philadelphia.

1039
01:35:50,820 --> 01:35:57,260
And I will ask that General Counsel also talk about the process we use to actually get

1040
01:35:57,260 --> 01:36:04,340
that approved and vetted so that there are absolutely no conflicts with respect to how we

1041
01:36:04,340 --> 01:36:06,080
do business and what vendors we use.

1042
01:36:06,080 --> 01:36:09,860
But it is an investment vehicle, correct?

1043
01:36:10,260 --> 01:36:13,440
I mean, I'm not advising on investment, or-

1044
01:36:13,440 --> 01:36:15,020
Well, not the nature, but just by participation.

1045
01:36:15,520 --> 01:36:21,060
That education is a legitimate business investment interest as opposed to a public.

1046
01:36:22,860 --> 01:36:25,360
Rich Lane, we're actually talking to-

1047
01:36:25,360 --> 01:36:26,160
We're actually-

1048
01:36:26,160 --> 01:36:31,020
So there are other superintendents on the advisory board as you recalled and

1049
01:36:31,020 --> 01:36:33,320
several college presidents who are there.

1050
01:36:33,780 --> 01:36:34,840
And we talk about education.

1051
01:36:34,840 --> 01:36:37,300
We talk about issues affecting education.

1052
01:36:37,440 --> 01:36:38,160
Public education.

1053
01:36:38,480 --> 01:36:41,120
We talk about education just in general.

1054
01:36:41,840 --> 01:36:42,820
As an investment.

1055
01:36:43,380 --> 01:36:45,540
I mean, it's not as an investment, no, not as an investment.

1056
01:36:45,540 --> 01:36:47,880
But it's an investing company, it's a merchant banking company.

1057
01:36:48,280 --> 01:36:52,520
This was carefully vetted, it was approved by the School Reform Commission.

1058
01:36:53,160 --> 01:36:58,320
Dr. Heitzer's in a limited role on an advisory board, one among many.

1059
01:36:58,480 --> 01:37:02,100
It's a very limited, it's not a nonprofit company, it's not a nonprofit board.

1060
01:37:02,100 --> 01:37:08,340
He has not compensated, he receives nothing in return, he spends very minimal time on this.

1061
01:37:09,020 --> 01:37:12,620
And it's a learning opportunity for us, it commits us to nothing.

1062
01:37:13,260 --> 01:37:16,740
And it is purely advisory, there's nothing else.

1063
01:37:16,960 --> 01:37:20,780
So if I were to request materials about that, I believe your time is up, Ms.

1064
01:37:20,880 --> 01:37:21,960
Nick, yeah, Madam Chair.

1065
01:37:22,040 --> 01:37:22,360
Thank you.

1066
01:37:22,720 --> 01:37:24,520
Yeah, thank you.

1067
01:37:25,060 --> 01:37:26,000
Thank you for your test.

1068
01:37:26,020 --> 01:37:31,920
Sure, if you submit an open request, the law department will respond.

1069
01:37:34,820 --> 01:37:37,280
That I don't know, you would have to deal with all.

1070
01:37:37,760 --> 01:37:39,500
Thank you for your testimony.

1071
01:37:39,880 --> 01:37:47,540
Madam Chair, that concludes all our registered testimony for tonight.

1072
01:37:48,000 --> 01:37:48,680
Thank you.

1073
01:37:49,020 --> 01:37:55,820
It is now time to discuss any votes on this month's first set of resolutions, the school reform resolutions.

1074
01:37:55,820 --> 01:38:12,220
We will begin with resolutions two, SRC two through SRC four, SRC reminder, resolution SRC one is on the agenda for review only and resolutions SRC five and SRC six had been withdrawn.

1075
01:38:13,260 --> 01:38:19,020
May I have a motion and a second to consider SRC two through four?

1076
01:38:19,020 --> 01:38:20,840
The motion?

1077
01:38:21,380 --> 01:38:21,680
Second.

1078
01:38:23,460 --> 01:38:24,420
Any questions?

1079
01:38:25,860 --> 01:38:26,020
Okay.

1080
01:38:26,960 --> 01:38:28,600
Ms. Rauch, please call the roll.

1081
01:38:28,900 --> 01:38:30,160
Yes, thank you. Ms. Burns?

1082
01:38:31,220 --> 01:38:31,380
Yes.

1083
01:38:32,000 --> 01:38:32,540
Ms. Nath?

1084
01:38:32,860 --> 01:38:33,880
Yes. Chair Richmond?

1085
01:38:34,160 --> 01:38:34,340
Yes.

1086
01:38:34,740 --> 01:38:35,160
Thank you.

1087
01:38:35,660 --> 01:38:39,140
Our next set of resolutions is for education support services.

1088
01:38:39,680 --> 01:38:44,980
Now I have a motion and a second to consider resolutions 1A1 through A24.

1089
01:38:46,860 --> 01:38:47,340
Motion.

1090
01:38:53,780 --> 01:38:58,940
Thank you, Ms. Rauch, please call the roll for resolutions A1 through A24.

1091
01:38:59,400 --> 01:39:00,360
Yes, Commissioner Burns?

1092
01:39:01,300 --> 01:39:01,580
Yes.

1093
01:39:02,380 --> 01:39:03,420
Commissioner Neff?

1094
01:39:03,600 --> 01:39:03,980
Yes.

1095
01:39:04,560 --> 01:39:05,240
Chair Richmond?

1096
01:39:05,520 --> 01:39:05,700
Yes.

1097
01:39:06,080 --> 01:39:06,440
Thank you.

1098
01:39:07,000 --> 01:39:11,280
Our next set of resolutions is for education services resolutions.

1099
01:39:11,280 --> 01:39:22,280
I have a motion and a second to consider resolutions B1 through B23 with the exception of B7 and B8, which have been withdrawn by staff.

1100
01:39:25,690 --> 01:39:26,490
Motion.

1101
01:39:27,330 --> 01:39:27,670
Second.

1102
01:39:28,130 --> 01:39:30,650
Thank you. Any other questions or discussions?

1103
01:39:32,270 --> 01:39:43,150
Yes. I have questions about B11, B12, and B13, which were all ratification.

1104
01:39:43,150 --> 01:39:49,690
questions. And Dr. Height, could we have the chief of schools come up to address them?

1105
01:39:49,690 --> 01:39:51,050
Sure, Dr. Barrett, can you come up?

1106
01:39:57,240 --> 01:39:58,860
Good evening, Commissioner Sean, very chief of schools.

1107
01:39:59,260 --> 01:40:05,480
Thank you. Let me ask my question, I know you're ready, I know we had some correspondence

1108
01:40:05,480 --> 01:40:10,500
with you about it. I just want to, I understand that you're

1109
01:40:10,500 --> 01:40:15,600
new at handling these, but I just want to restate our concern that making a ratification

1110
01:40:15,600 --> 01:40:31,780
in May for services that have already been provided puts us in a difficult position as a district because there is no way to ensure that the services were appropriate to the school in the process.

1111
01:40:32,100 --> 01:40:42,320
So I just want to make sure that there are processes in place for next year to ensure that if there's training needed, if there's a timeline needed for staff.

1112
01:40:42,320 --> 01:40:47,280
I know for many principles, it's a new process, they're not very comfortable with it.

1113
01:40:47,540 --> 01:40:49,460
You want to talk about what you all have put in place?

1114
01:40:49,800 --> 01:40:55,560
Sure, so yeah, we don't like to present ratification resolutions either.

1115
01:40:55,740 --> 01:40:58,920
So we have streamlined the process a little bit.

1116
01:40:59,380 --> 01:41:01,980
Some of these come through and they have incorrect information or

1117
01:41:02,820 --> 01:41:06,300
we've scrutinized them pretty carefully, especially as title funds or whatever.

1118
01:41:06,500 --> 01:41:10,060
So sometimes we have to send them back to schools that they actually have sent them before but

1119
01:41:10,060 --> 01:41:11,900
we have to send them back because they're not correct.

1120
01:41:11,900 --> 01:41:15,940
Most of the schools do this right, but we have noticed, especially with newer principles,

1121
01:41:16,080 --> 01:41:17,260
it's sometimes an issue.

1122
01:41:17,540 --> 01:41:23,060
So we have in place my executive assistant will be working with the network executive

1123
01:41:23,060 --> 01:41:26,940
assistants to do some training with them to make sure they look at them carefully before

1124
01:41:26,940 --> 01:41:28,680
they forward them to us for approval.

1125
01:41:29,160 --> 01:41:33,640
And then we'll also be working in the summer with our new principal academy to train the new

1126
01:41:33,640 --> 01:41:37,000
people, and then also some follow up training through network meetings to make sure that they're

1127
01:41:37,000 --> 01:41:38,700
submitting them in a timely manner.

1128
01:41:38,700 --> 01:41:39,680
Thank you.

1129
01:41:39,760 --> 01:41:44,920
And might I suggest that perhaps there could be a working session for new principles or

1130
01:41:44,920 --> 01:41:48,120
principles that are not comfortable with this process because it's something you don't

1131
01:41:48,120 --> 01:41:48,720
do that often.

1132
01:41:49,060 --> 01:41:55,980
Perhaps there could be a working session in August where people could get their LCA's moving so

1133
01:41:55,980 --> 01:41:59,340
that if they need to start something in September or October, they're ready to roll.

1134
01:41:59,580 --> 01:41:59,700
Right.

1135
01:42:00,140 --> 01:42:00,580
We will do that.

1136
01:42:00,700 --> 01:42:00,920
Thank you.

1137
01:42:00,980 --> 01:42:05,240
And it's our primary review of this at the end of the year, so it's coming now, or do you

1138
01:42:05,240 --> 01:42:06,020
catch it earlier?

1139
01:42:06,480 --> 01:42:06,860
I'm sorry.

1140
01:42:06,960 --> 01:42:07,560
Can you repeat the question?

1141
01:42:07,560 --> 01:42:14,100
Are you catching these errors late in the year, like now, or have they been caught earlier and just moving to us now?

1142
01:42:14,340 --> 01:42:19,180
So part of this is that my office just started just winning the approval queue a few months ago.

1143
01:42:19,420 --> 01:42:25,120
So somebody else was doing them before so we have just instituted another level of review.

1144
01:42:25,660 --> 01:42:33,820
So this, for example, be the one for Jones, be 13, that has actually been in the works for a few months.

1145
01:42:34,360 --> 01:42:36,740
We've sent it back for correction, they sent it back.

1146
01:42:36,740 --> 01:42:42,340
So it's just taken a little while to get through the corrections and then to be affordable.

1147
01:42:42,340 --> 01:42:45,620
I'm going to be kind of a pain about this though, when did the service take place?

1148
01:42:45,940 --> 01:42:50,960
Oh, it's, I don't know the exact base on that one, but it is after the fact.

1149
01:42:51,320 --> 01:42:53,780
Okay, all right, but you're going to correct that for next year.

1150
01:42:53,780 --> 01:42:54,400
We will correct it for next year.

1151
01:42:54,400 --> 01:42:54,700
Thank you.

1152
01:42:55,040 --> 01:42:55,300
Thank you.

1153
01:42:57,560 --> 01:43:02,500
Before we move forward, I would like to ask Christina Grant, Assistant Superintendent, to come forward and

1154
01:43:02,500 --> 01:43:07,900
And talk about resolution B-15, which is a contract amendment for alternative education programs.

1155
01:43:12,080 --> 01:43:12,920
Is it on?

1156
01:43:15,390 --> 01:43:15,630
Okay.

1157
01:43:15,750 --> 01:43:16,090
Is this on?

1158
01:43:16,250 --> 01:43:18,490
Good evening commissioners and Dr. Height.

1159
01:43:18,870 --> 01:43:22,570
Christine Agrant, again assistance superintendent for opportunity and innovation.

1160
01:43:23,090 --> 01:43:35,390
The resolution before you seeks for us to grant permission to amend the existing contract with one bright ray, which currently serves over 600 students through their alternative education program.

1161
01:43:35,390 --> 01:43:46,550
to consider extending that contract so that they would be able to serve an additional 200 day students and 200 night students that would be seeking high school diplomas from the system.

1162
01:43:48,540 --> 01:43:50,340
Do you have a waiting list for this program?

1163
01:43:50,600 --> 01:44:04,060
We do. Currently we have over 150 students who are sitting on a wait list by day and at night we have over 300 students who are awaiting access to our evening programs, which are over subscribed at Ben Franklin.

1164
01:44:04,060 --> 01:44:08,300
And so we're trying to add a fifth option for students next year.

1165
01:44:09,880 --> 01:44:17,660
And is this replacing, is this part of the programming for strawberry mansion high school, or are you co-locating in the building?

1166
01:44:17,880 --> 01:44:20,540
This is not a replacement, this would be a co-location.

1167
01:44:21,120 --> 01:44:21,480
Thank you.

1168
01:44:21,780 --> 01:44:22,100
You're welcome.

1169
01:44:23,260 --> 01:44:28,200
What is, can you have any data on outcomes from one bright right?

1170
01:44:28,640 --> 01:44:29,440
Sure, and I will follow-

1171
01:44:29,440 --> 01:44:33,840
I need like heavy numbers, but I'll follow up with all of you with respect to their

1172
01:44:33,840 --> 01:44:38,320
Our current evaluation that took place this year, they remain one of our strongest providers in the system.

1173
01:44:38,760 --> 01:44:44,920
With the graduation rate that often exceeds the district average for the cohort students that they serve.

1174
01:44:44,920 --> 01:44:50,000
Again, they're serving over age under credit at high school students who are seeking to re-engage and

1175
01:44:50,000 --> 01:44:53,080
earn their high school diploma within two years of starting the program.

1176
01:44:54,280 --> 01:44:54,980
Thank you.

1177
01:44:55,300 --> 01:44:55,720
Thank you.

1178
01:44:56,300 --> 01:44:57,600
Sorry, any other questions?

1179
01:44:57,800 --> 01:44:58,240
Yes, I'm sorry.

1180
01:44:58,680 --> 01:44:58,900
I'm sorry.

1181
01:44:58,900 --> 01:44:59,300
Could you?

1182
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:29,820
The comment, even though you don't have the data, I know you've had student testimony before the SRC through the years. And could you just describe the impact that this has on the lives? Even- Oh yeah, I mean, it's pretty transformational and we will be inviting community members to go visit into the one bright ray sites throughout the city in the coming weeks. Students re-engage for all sorts of reasons. And they have, again, the ability to earn a high school diploma from the school district.

1183
01:45:29,820 --> 01:45:32,060
within two years of starting the program.

1184
01:45:32,520 --> 01:45:38,180
It will be remarkable because we'll be able to offer a high school setting both by day and by evening.

1185
01:45:38,660 --> 01:45:42,100
Students have the complete high school experience, they have prom, they have yearbook.

1186
01:45:42,840 --> 01:45:46,420
And one bright ray has an interesting partnership with Harkham College.

1187
01:45:46,660 --> 01:45:51,040
And so dual enrollment options will be available for all the day and evening students.

1188
01:45:51,340 --> 01:45:56,040
Right now, Harkham built out their school inside of one of the run bright ray campuses.

1189
01:45:56,040 --> 01:46:01,960
So students don't have to travel to another site to engage in dual enrollment credits.

1190
01:46:02,300 --> 01:46:08,580
So some students are also graduating with their path to an associate's degree already defined for them.

1191
01:46:09,920 --> 01:46:10,700
Thank you.

1192
01:46:10,800 --> 01:46:11,480
Thank you, Christina.

1193
01:46:12,640 --> 01:46:14,260
Commissioners, are there any other questions?

1194
01:46:15,200 --> 01:46:16,460
Ms. Rush, please call the roll.

1195
01:46:17,640 --> 01:46:18,860
Oh, do you have another question?

1196
01:46:20,240 --> 01:46:20,660
Questions?

1197
01:46:20,660 --> 01:46:23,720
Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair.

1198
01:46:24,520 --> 01:46:30,480
As a reminder, you're voting on resolutions B1 through B6 and B9 through B23.

1199
01:46:31,140 --> 01:46:31,900
Commissioner Burns?

1200
01:46:33,460 --> 01:46:33,760
Yes.

1201
01:46:34,300 --> 01:46:35,320
Commissioner Neff?

1202
01:46:35,620 --> 01:46:35,800
Yes.

1203
01:46:36,320 --> 01:46:36,880
Chair Richmond?

1204
01:46:37,140 --> 01:46:37,300
Yes.

1205
01:46:37,640 --> 01:46:38,020
Thank you.

1206
01:46:39,340 --> 01:46:42,980
We have several items on the agenda for the intermediate unit this evening.

1207
01:46:43,560 --> 01:46:47,460
Commissioners, is there any other SRC business we need to take care of tonight?

1208
01:46:47,460 --> 01:46:47,540
All right.

1209
01:46:50,040 --> 01:46:56,880
Hearing none, we will adjourn the meeting of the school reform commission and convene the meeting of the Intermediate Unit. Ms. Roush, please call the roll.

1210
01:46:58,760 --> 01:46:59,520
Commissioner Burns.

1211
01:47:00,780 --> 01:47:04,060
Yes, here. Commissioner Neff, here. Chair Richmond.

1212
01:47:04,340 --> 01:47:05,220
Here. Thank you.

1213
01:47:05,600 --> 01:47:10,640
May I have a motion and a second to consider resolutions? I.U. 1 to I.U. 4.

1214
01:47:11,900 --> 01:47:12,380
Motion.

1215
01:47:13,020 --> 01:47:13,340
Second.

1216
01:47:14,500 --> 01:47:15,460
Any discussion?

1217
01:47:15,460 --> 01:47:17,700
questions. Mr. Rush, please call the roll.

1218
01:47:18,580 --> 01:47:19,360
Commissioner Burns.

1219
01:47:20,080 --> 01:47:20,460
Yes.

1220
01:47:21,020 --> 01:47:21,900
Commissioner Neff.

1221
01:47:22,160 --> 01:47:22,320
Yes.

1222
01:47:22,880 --> 01:47:23,380
Chair Richmond.

1223
01:47:23,860 --> 01:47:24,740
Yes. Thank you.

1224
01:47:25,240 --> 01:47:25,740
Thank you.

1225
01:47:26,080 --> 01:47:28,920
Commissioners, is there any other business for this evening?

1226
01:47:29,740 --> 01:47:32,980
Hearing none, the meeting of the intermediate unit is now adjourned.

1227
01:47:33,060 --> 01:47:38,180
Our next meeting will be on Thursday, May 24th for our budget adoption.

1228
01:47:38,520 --> 01:47:39,200
Thank you, everyone.