This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
With the District often chided for making information public at the 11th hour, SRC Chair Marjorie Neff recently promised more transparency for School Reform Commission meetings – or at least better service.
And after Neff’s announcement that voting items for monthly SRC meetings would be available three weeks ahead of time, the District posted the draft of upcoming meeting resolutions on May 1, 20 days in advance of the May 21 meeting. This change gives more opportunity for the public to comment to the SRC in advance.
The resolution list now includes a note inviting questions or comments to be emailed to SRC@philasd.org "no later than 4:30 p.m. on May 7, 2015. Please reference the Resolution Number and include your name and email address."
Among the 40-plus proposed resolutions listed for the May 21 meeting, the District will vote to accept $3.3 million in "school transformation" grant money from the William Penn Foundation and a yet-to-be-named source to remake three elementary schools: Tanner G. Duckrey, Edward Gideon, and Mary McLeod Bethune.
The District is also proposing the sale of former Thomas FitzSimons School building to charter operator KIPP and will be accepting a $245,000 grant from the Lenfest Foundation for Mt. Airy USA, a neighborhood coalition, to use toward boosting literacy at five neighborhood schools in Northwest Philadelphia.