SRC schedules special meeting ‘for general purposes’ on Monday morning

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

A special School Reform Commission meeting will be held Monday morning at 9:30.

A small legal notice appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday edition, but the meeting was not otherwise announced. It is not on the District’s website (which on Sunday night said that the next SRC meeting is Oct. 16). The newspaper ad said the meeting was for "general purposes."

Spokesman Fernando Gallard would not elaborate on what actions the SRC plans to take, or why it was not made public earlier.

"The only comment I have is it is a special meeting for general purposes," he said. The ad said that speakers could register by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, but Gallard said no one had done so.

"We posted the notice and followed what is required under the law," Gallard said.

On Sept. 23, after the passage of the cigarette tax, SRC Chairman Bill Green told the Inquirer that the District was preparing proposals for additional savings, adding, "I can’t discuss those plans at the moment."

Green and Superintendent William Hite have repeatedly maintained that they need substantial savings from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, with which it has been negotiating for nearly two years without an agreement.

The Notebook will cover the meeting.

[Update | Monday, 7:45 a.m] The District issued its first press release announcing the meeting Monday morning, but it contained no new information. The meeting and its agenda were still not posted on the District website. PFT president Jerry Jordan said he did not know about the meeting.

The meeting will be livestreamed.