Ongoing confusion at a Philly charter school set to close gives students a lesson in ‘Do as I say, not as I do’

Attention: Can an adult — any functioning adult — please report to the office of Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School on North Broad Street?

That’s any grown-up, in all of Philadelphia, please report to MCSC now. Thank you!

I had hoped that after the initial confusion following founder Veronica Joyner’s announcement that she was retiring, and closing the school she started 25 years ago, there would be some clarity over the decision that has left 900 students scrambling.

That some adult somewhere in this city would step in — you know, for the children, that oft-used rallying cry so many use while doing very little for the children.

But things at 447 N. Broad St. have only gotten more chaotic since Joyner said the charter would close in June because no one could fill her shoes.

Also because how dare the Philadelphia School District’s Charter Schools Office offer MCSC a one-year renewal instead of its typical five-year renewal after the school failed to meet academic and operational standards?

Desperate to get answers to conflicting stories about the school’s upcoming closure, students organized a protest last week. It was their second.

» READ MORE: Charter school students use critical thinking skills to call out the mess of their school’s closure | Helen Ubiñas

The first, held shortly after Joyner confirmed the news on Oct. 10, was mostly met with support from the founder; they were showing love for their school, she said.

But Joyner wasn’t feeling the love the second time around, and after about 20 students walked out of school during their lunch period, others were physically barred from leaving by school employees blocking doors.

Note: One protest, good. Two? That goes on your permanent record.

“You are not to disrupt this school,” said the woman who has single-handedly disrupted the school.

When asked about the incident by my Inquirer colleagues, Joyner said, “There was nothing going on here. There were a few kids that decided to leave. We let them leave.”

In short, “Nothing to see here!”

Except two weeks after kicking everyone to the curb, there remains much to sort out at the charter school. And so far, members of the school’s board of trustees who could step in have seemingly vanished.

Missing: Lamar Waples, Ronald Johnson, Spencer Hill, Lisa Sawyer, Nyne Sellers, and Charles Witherspoon.

If found, please direct them to the many people who would love a word.

(Blink twice if you’re not allowed to speak, friends.)

For anyone not following the drama, Joyner has claimed on numerous occasions that the MCSC board voted months ago to close the school. A meeting is scheduled for Nov. 2. But the last official meeting minutes on the school’s website date back to 2020, so I guess she’d like us to take her word for it.

In fact, Joyner expects us to take her word on a lot:

That there’s a succession plan, even though closing a school isn’t a succession plan.

That she cares about nothing more than her students, despite making this decision to shut down the school just two weeks before the district’s deadline for high school applications.

That potential profit isn’t at play here, despite her plan to sell the school building, owned by an organization she controls.

That she’s not abusing her power while a bunch of adults just stand by, including the Pennsylvania lawmakers who wrote a weak sauce charter law that allows this to happen.

And if you don’t think these children, these students, aren’t seeing right through the complicity and hypocrisy, listen to what Cayla Waddington has to say.

» READ MORE: Watch this Philly teen’s reaction to getting into college. He says he’s one of many success stories deserving of viral attention. | Helen Ubiñas

Waddington, a senior and student organizer at the school, has been at MCSC since first grade. She hasn’t always agreed with Joyner’s decisions — she started a petition to overturn an antiquated school rule to allow female students to wear pants.

But she was grateful when Joyner stepped in with the $5,000 Waddington needed to attend a summer program at Yale, and she respected Joyner.

As a young Black woman who has already felt the sting of the “angry Black woman” stereotype when speaking passionately about issues she cares about, Waddington could appreciate the obstacles that Joyner often shared about being a Black woman on a mission.

But that’s only made Joyner’s behavior feel like a bigger betrayal.

”She effectively became what she fought against,” Waddington told me.

After another conversation with Joyner, where Waddington said that in addition to refusing to answer questions, she berated students for not being grateful for all she’d done for them, Waddington went home and turned to her diary.

She tried to make sense of the behavior of many of the adults around her who preach the virtues of fighting for what you believe in — until it’s inconvenient for them.

Among the things the MCSC senior wrote down:

“Never become that.”