2 charters denied, 2025-26 calendar approved | School board roundup

The Philadelphia school board continued its seven-year streak of denying new charter applications, voting no to two charters Thursday night.

The board denied applications for Early College Charter High School, a school proposed for 784 students in grades 6-12 in Center City, and Pan American Academy Charter School – Pathways High School, which would have enrolled 800 students in Kensington.

The vote was closely watched; it was the first such decision point by the new school board appointed by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. Parker is seen as friendlier to charter schools than her predecessor.

Some board members did support Early College charter. The vote to deny it was 6-3, with Crystal Cubbage, Whitney Jones, and Wanda Novales voting in favor of approving the school, which aimed to expose every student to college coursework.

Jones credited the depth of experience among the proposed charter’s 19-member founding coalition, and encouraged “other board members to be willing to take a risk” on a promising model.

But other members questioned how the charter would raise achievement for students who may enter the school behind and unprepared for college classes; while the charter’s founding coalition has education experience — its proposed CEO, Keshema Davidson, previously led the college and career counseling team at Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School — district officials said it hadn’t identified a principal to lead the school.

And while charter schools are publicly funded, Early College would also rely on private grants. Some on the board said they were concerned about the stability of the funding source.

“I hear pledges and I hear promises, but we don’t see the actual proof,” said Sarah-Ashley Andrews, the board’s vice president. “We can’t gamble with our children on that.”

Rod Henkels, CEO of utility construction firm Henkels & McCoy, told the board he had committed to supporting the charter financially, and that his pledge was firm. “It’s clear the issue is not the design or effectiveness,” but “rather, we’re a charter,” Henkels said, noting that the board hadn’t approved a new charter since 2018.

The charter’s backers said after the vote they would continue to try to gain approval for the school.

“We are prepared for a long road ahead because of the enormity and ambiguity of the charter application process in Philadelphia,” Davidson and Anna Winter, codirectors of the Philadelphia Middle College Foundation, said in a statement. They said they “are extremely proud of our 17,000-page charter application and concluding document and confident that our application exceeds the requirements” of Pennsylvania’s charter law.

The board’s denial of Pan American — a school proposed by leaders of the existing Pan American K-8 charter school — was 8-0. (Novales, the CEO and founding principal of the original Pan American charter, abstained.)

Board members said they were concerned about the existing charter’s suspension rates. In 2022-23, 17% of the K-8 charter’s students were suspended, compared to 5% of district students; the rate was doubled for Black students, 34% of whom were suspended.

District officials cited other issues, including that the charter would need to enroll 98% of its projected 200 students in its first year to be financially viable, but that it only had 38 intent-to-enroll forms from students. The existing Pan American charter would provide $800,000 to the new charter; Chao said Pan American wants to become a K-12 school, though it hasn’t signed a charter renewal agreement, objecting to the district’s accountability requirements.

Supporters said the school would meet a need for bilingual education. “As a parent, I seek a K-12 education for my daughter that affirms both her African American and Dominican American heritages,” said Mercedes Mason de Gómez, who works at the existing Pan American charter. “Bilingualism is a super power.” (Chao noted that students at the proposed high school would take one Spanish class a year, which “may be insufficient to achieve” the school’s bilingual mission.)

Several speakers pressed the board on protections for immigrant students. “We need to know what you will do to protect us when worst comes to worst,” said Luis Ojeda, a student at the Academy of Palumbo, asking the district to do more to support immigrant students and families worried about potential actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the auditorium behind him, audience members held posters reading “Immigrant families deserve more! Enforce the sanctuary schools policy now!”

Philadelphia in 2021 declared itself a “sanctuary district,” promising to shield immigrant students from immigration enforcement actions at schools. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. and the board have affirmed that status, even amid stepped-up enforcement and changing regulations at the federal level.

» READ MORE: ‘I’m really scared’: As immigrant students worry, advocates ask Philly School District for more protections

And this week, Watlington said all district staff would be required to complete more training around district policies and procedures on the subject.

On Thursday, Watlington outlined protocols if ICE agents come to a school: Principals must immediately notify the district’s Office of General Counsel, ask the agents if they have a subpoena or warrant, and await district legal guidance.

Asked whether ICE would be admitted if documents were presented, Lynn Rauch, the district’s general counsel, said that federal law protects the privacy of student education records. “Unless there is a valid warrant or subpoena that we would look at very closely, those records would not be released,” she said.

But students, staff, and advocates called for a stronger response Thursday, saying the 30-minute required staff training was insufficient. Some said messaging from individual schools has been uneven, and that “know your rights” training by immigrant advocacy groups previously held in schools with no problem has been canceled.

“Let us take the lead on what sanctuary looks like,” said Hannah Myers, a district staff member, calling for more bilingual counseling assistants and resources to support families. “Schools are the one remaining unyielding sanctuary that our students and families have.”

In written testimony submitted to the board, Freda Anderson said that “every day that the district doesn’t have a unified and required plan with know your rights trainings and red cards being pushed out in all schools in a systemic way and for all families, rumors and inconsistency and misinformation and fear festers and creates situations where people are paranoid, distracted from learning, and feel hopeless.”

The consequences can be grave, Anderson said.

“You have the power to make things clear and unified,” said Anderson. “Get it done.”

The board formally signed off on calendars for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. Staff and students will return to school before Labor Day in both years — Aug. 25 this year, and Aug. 24 in 2026.

» READ MORE: Back to school in August for city kids: Philly schools may have a pre-Labor Day start

Officials say they built the calendars after extensive community feedback that emphasized the importance of long winter and spring breaks, regular breaks and days off, and holidays that represent myriad cultures and traditions.

The school board also voted on a resolution condemning proposed federal actions that would “reduce funding for K-12 schools and the programs that serve our most vulnerable children.”

The board asked legislators to vote no to “cuts to Medicaid that will negatively impact basic health and educational services for low-income children and students with disabilities; changes to school meal eligibility under the Child Nutrition Programs; reductions in education funding for Title I, Title II, or Title III programs; block granting of education funding.”

Board members urged the public to contact their representatives to also express their opposition. “If we don’t reach out to legislators ... we’re going to lose substantial funding,” for both district and charter schools, said Joyce Wilkerson.