April Board of Education Action Meeting Brief and the Board's Rules for Testimony

Meeting date: April 22, 2021

Photo Credits: UrbEd
Photo Credits: UrbEd

Link to the full agenda of the Board: Click Here

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This month, the Board of Education will consider the following action items:

  1. Extending the time to spend the William Penn Foundation’s Together Is Better grant to support the work of improving the early literacy skills of English language learners.

  2. Reviewing a policy to implement a drug and alcohol use prevention program for bus drivers.

  3. Amending policies on the Adoption of Planned Instruction, Special Education, Screenings and Evaluations for Students with Disabilities, and Real Property Management to update language and remove references to the School Reform Commission (SRC). One amendment would also lay out a process for acquiring properties and discarding them.

  4. Updating the charter of KIPP Parkside Charter School.

  5. Approving a name for a new school on Ryan Avenue.

  6. Approving a contract with Renaissance and Illuminate Education, two education consulting companies, to provide universal screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic solutions for Math, ELA, and SEL.

  7. Approving personnel hires.

  8. Approving personnel terminations.

  9. Approving retirements and resignations.

  10. Approving the District’s recommended terminations.

  11. Approving a $575,000,000 contract with Independence Blue Cross/Future Scripts to provide health care benefits for District employees.

  12. Amending a contract with Bolton Partners, a financial consulting company, to further compensate them for their consulting services.

  13. Allocating the District $8,000,000  to pay for technological equipment on an as-needed basis.

  14. Amending a contract with Windstream Services, LLC, an internet service company, to upgrade 40Gbps internet service connection, which would provide all schools and administrative facilities with additional internet bandwidth.

  15. Allocating the District $1,000,000 to purchase or repair security and surveillance equipment.

  16. Approving an aggregate of $11,293,846 to the District to pay contractors for classroom modernization projects.

  17. Approving an aggregate of $3,977,731 for the District to pay plumbers and contractors for door replacements, elevator replacements, and stadium renovations at Lincoln.

  18. Approving an aggregate of $1,615,870 for the District to pay mechanics, plumbers, and electricians for renovations for a new cafeteria at Blankenburg.

  19. Approving a contract with Mobilease Modular, Inc., a company that creates mobile classrooms, to provide three modular classrooms at Thomas Holme Elementary School and three modular classrooms at Thomas Pollock Elementary School.

  20. Approving an aggregate of $1,259,050 for the District to pay additional amounts for construction order changes.

  21. Approving an aggregate of $220,000 to pay fire extinguisher servicing companies to test, repair, and recharge fire extinguishers. 

  22. Amending a contract with Tozour Energy Systems, an HVAC contractor, to further compensate them for ventilator programming.

  23. Extending contracts with several security companies to allow for them to complete installing surveillance equipment.

  24. Approving an aggregate of $361,933,799 for contracts with several school bus companies for their transportation services and school bus attendants.

  25. Amending a contract with First Student, Inc. to further compensate them $19,468,794 for their school bus transportation and bus attendants.

  26. Approving an aggregate of $7,477,606 for additional compensation to school bus companies for bus transportation and attendants for schools who transport their own students.

  27. Approving an aggregate of $70,490,000 to compensate 47 different pre-k education providers for their programming.

  28. Approving a contract with Electric Motor Repair to provide all necessary labor and materials to service, repair, and maintain kitchen equipment and exhaust systems in CTE Culinary Arts and Bakeries program kitchens.

  29. Allocating the District an aggregate of $15,000,000 to pay several curriculum providers for K-12 Online Adaptive Interventions and Online Courses.

  30. Considering nonrenewal for the charter of the Universal Bluford Charter School.

  31. Considering nonrenewal for the charter of the Universal Daroff Charter School.

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Board of Education’s Rules For Testimony:
(Particularly important parts are bolded, but I encourage everyone to read it in-full)

The public may share spoken comments with the Board by registering to address the Board at any regularly scheduled Action Meetings and Committee Meetings. The procedures for addressing the Board are as follows:

  1. Individuals must register by submitting the speaker request form (for the meeting at which they wish to address the board) available on the Board’s website or by calling 215-400-5959 to register with Board staff. 

  2. Speaker registration will open at 5:00 p.m. on the Monday (or the first business day) of the week in which the meeting will be held.

  3. Individuals must register no later than 5:00 p.m. on the business day immediately preceding the meeting at which they would like to speak. 

  4. Individuals will be registered on a first come first served basis, subject to the following exceptions, with a limit of thirty (30) speakers per meeting. Each speaker will be given two (2) minutes to address the Board.

  5. In order to prioritize new voices, speakers who did not speak at the immediately prior public action meeting will be given the opportunity to address the Board before speakers who spoke at the Board’s last public action meeting. Accordingly, speakers who spoke at the prior meeting will speak after those who did not.

  6. No individual may register to speak more than once during a meeting. 

  7. All speakers are asked to remember that Board meetings are opportunities to engage in civil discourse. Individuals may be ruled out of order if: (i) They make any disparaging remarks of a personal nature regarding any individual, whether or not that person is present; in which case they will be directed to address their comments to the appropriate District administrator; or (ii) Use any vulgar, profane, or physically threatening language.

  8. The presiding officer may: (i) Interrupt or terminate a participant’s statement when the statement is too lengthy, personally directed, abusive, obscene, or irrelevant. (ii) Request any individual to leave the physical meeting or disconnect electronic access when that person does not observe reasonable decorum. (iii) Call a recess or adjourn to another time when the lack of public decorum interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting. (iv) Suspend or alter any of the procedures related to addressing the Board.

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