Philly school board spends nearly $1 million on active-shooter training, other safety improvements; says city’s not doing enough

The Philadelphia school board Thursday night voted to spend nearly $1 million on school safety as city schools grapple with the ongoing effects of the city’s gun violence crisis.

Officials approved spending $295,000 in grant funds “to make significant updates to its active shooter response training program” via a contract with a company called Navigate360. “This contract and overall training project will improve and expand on established active shooter training at the school district, including making training and resources available directly to parents and guardians.”

The initiative stems in part from a request from the union that represents the Philadelphia School District’s maintenance workers, bus drivers, and tradespeople, who won assurances in their last contract that the school system would better equip them to deal with safety issues. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. also heard school safety as a top issue on community members’ minds, officials said.

Active-shooter response training lessons — in English and Spanish — will integrate with district learning management software going forward, according to board materials. Materials will be available for all district staff, as well as parents and guardians, and elementary students will be provided with access to “age appropriate books and activities.”

No further details about the curriculum were immediately available.

The school board also signed off on a $544,800 grant-funded contract to pay Philadelphia police officers to “respond to high-risk threats against school communities,” patrol areas around schools hardest hit by gun violence at arrival and dismissal times, support athletic and special events, and support active-shooter response training.

Watlington and safety chief Kevin Bethel in recent months have said they need the district to spend more on safety; the board’s vote Thursday delivers on that ask.

Bethel noted when the officers work school events under this contract, they’re working outside of their regular city duties “so that we don’t take away services from the community. They’re working for us, they’re directed by us.”

The school board met for the first time since it filed suit against the city over a new law that puts tighter controls on environmental conditions inside district schools, creating an oversight board and giving Philadelphia’s managing director final say over whether buildings can open.

Officials on the city side had expressed frustration that the district resorted to filing a lawsuit, rather than working with them as the legislation made its way through City Council.

Board president Reginald Streater rejected that statement, saying the board made “multiple attempts” to voice concerns during the legislative process and afterward.

“The lawsuit was filed because our concerns were not addressed,” said Streater. He said the school board has been in contact with city officials and would continue to be in contact.

“The door is open,” Streater said.

Still, board members pushed hard on the city — whose officials appoint school board members — at multiple points in the meeting.

Mallory Fix-Lopez, the board vice president, said she recently visited Mastbaum High, a career and technical high school in Kensington that’s making strides in academics and safety, but is hard hit by the city’s opioid and gun violence crises.

“That school could be the best CTE school in the city, and people aren’t going to send their kids there if it’s not safe,” Fix-Lopez said. Mastbaum has no building engineer; its principal and custodial assistant often must clear the front of the school of needles and human waste.

FIx-Lopez said staffing is complicated because of the things district employees must do.

Is the city doing enough to partner with the district around such issues? Fix-Lopez asked Bethel.

“No,” Bethel said. “No. In reality, it’s unacceptable what’s going on in the city, and down near our schools. Absolutely not.”

Board members also expressed frustration over district academics. Philadelphia ranks near the bottom of large urban districts for academic performance, and according to state tests, 36% of city students meet standards in reading, and 22% in math.

Love Speech, a senior at Kensington High School for Creative and Performing Arts and a student board representative, said the school system “should focus a bit more on foundational learning.”

She cried when she took the SATs, said Speech, a motivated student.

“I had made it to the 11th grade without having taken an Algebra 2 class,” said Speech.

Board member Lisa Salley called the board’s academic struggles “a crisis. It’s criminal. It’s an assassination to future generations of our family line.”

Salley said more urgency is needed.

Watlington, who became Philadelphia’s superintendent in June, is in the middle of formulating a strategic plan but said the school system is focusing closely on student attendance, teacher attendance and dropouts as a way to begin addressing the district’s lagging academics.