At the SRC . . .

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

At its May meetings, the School Reform Commission

• In a special meeting, voted unanimously to adopt a $3.2 billion budget for the 2009-10 school year after hearing a presentation by Chief Business Officer Michael Masch about the District’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 Consolidated Budget. The $314 million increase in spending in the budget relies heavily on federal stimulus money and on the allocations Gov. Ed Rendell proposed in his state budget, still awaiting adoption. Commissioners also voted to move 80 employees of the Bureau of Revision and Taxes (BRT) off the District’s payroll by fall, shifting $3.2 million of the $4.28 million budget for these workers to a separate account that the city would likely take on after September. For years the District has paid for 80 BRT patronage employees to perform a number of clerical duties.
• Voted to renew the charters of nine charter schools, but with conditions attached to all but one. The Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School was the only charter issued a five-year renewal without any conditions. Global Leadership Academy, Mariana Bracetti Academy, Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter High School, Franklin Towne Charter High School, Ad Prima, Khepera, and New Foundations were given five-year renewals provided they meet management and academic requirements. Philadelphia Montessori Charter School won a one-year renewal, giving the District more time to examine the school and the school more time to improve academic performance among its students. Benjamin Rayer, associate superintendent for charter, partnership, and new schools made a presentation about the District’s recommendations.
• The one departure from staff recommendations was for New Media Technology: a vote to renew New Media’s operating charter was postponed until June (and then again until August) pending further District investigation into allegations of academic and financial mismanagement.

At its June meetings, the School Reform Commission

• Voted unanimously to table a plan to close William Penn High School. After hearing dozens of public testimonies about the desire and need to keep William Penn open, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman withdrew the motion to shutter its doors for good, instead asking the District to repurpose the school as a career and technical academy or some other type of school. William Penn will close after June 2010 for two years to either renovate or start new construction. Chief Business Officer Michael Masch said the District would have to spend at least $5 million to overhaul just the heating and cooling system. It could cost as much as $29 million to renovate the entire building and nearly $53 million to build a new school.
• Voted unanimously to close Gillespie Middle School, with its remaining 8th graders moving to nearby Simon Gratz High School in the next school year. Chief Academic Officer Maria Pitre-Martin said those students will be housed separately from the other students.
• Over the opposition of Commissioner Heidi Ramirez, approved contracts for four education management organizations (EdisonLearning, Victory Schools, Foundations, and Universal Companies) to continue to provide services to 16 schools for one year at the current rate of $500 per student. Foundations and Victory Schools also received two-year contracts to continue work with Martin Luther King High School and E.W. Rhodes High School respectively. Recommendations were based on a presentation by Rayer in May about the performance of EMOs. The SRC had postponed its May vote to renew the contracts, with Superintendent Ackerman saying that she wanted more data before endorsing them.
• Approved contracts worth more than $45 million for alternative education and multiple pathways programs. The contracts will rehire some current providers, including Camelot Schools of Pennsylvania, Community Education Partners, and Cornell Abraxas, while also bringing on new ones to run accelerated and disciplinary schools and oasis programs. With the new contracts, the District will reduce the cost per student by $2,000, allowing it to more than double the seats in its accelerated schools program from 1,275 to 2,755 and to increase the total number of slots in alternative and disciplinary schools by 1,700 to 5,935.
• Approved a $90,000 contract to hire PlusUltre LLC, a management consulting company owned by Leroy Nunery II, (once a finalist for the superintendent’s job) to help the District craft a plan to transform 30 underperforming schools into "Renaissance Schools" by putting them under new management. The first 10 schools are slated to be identified later this year and open under new management in September 2010. The company will also provide evaluation systems and performance measurements for all District departments.
• Voted to spend $250,000 to hire Flordia-based consulting firm Gans, Gans & Associates to recruit up to 50 qualified African American teachers for the 2009-10 school year. According to the District’s Chief Talent Development Officer Estelle Matthews, the number of Black teachers decreased from 28 percent in September to 24 percent in June.
• Authorized a contract and stipends worth more than $900,000 to continue The Philadelphia Teaching Fellows program for which The New Teacher Project will continue to train an existing cohort of teachers to begin in September 2009 and recruit, select, and train a new cohort of 50-75 teachers to begin teaching in February 2010.
• Voted to spend $6.2 million to issue annual bonuses of up to $2,000 to attract certified teachers to critical needs areas for the 2009-10 school year.
• Voted to expel more than three dozen students.