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Parents, students, and community members urged Philadelphia’s Board of Education and school district officials to share more information and resources regarding the Trump administration’s threat of immigration raids and its policies targeting transgender people.
“Your required teacher training for how to engage with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is useless,” former teacher Alisha Davis told board members at its monthly meeting Thursday evening. Davis said she participated in the district’s training in 2022 but has forgotten most of the training. She said all the district’s teachers need a refresher.
In the wake of the president’s order clearing the way for immigration arrests at schools, rumors about ICE agents being spotted near various city schools have run rampant on social media and in Philadelphia parent groups.
District spokespeople said all of those reports were false. A few educators granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of their comments told Chalkbeat they are receiving messages from some of their students who say they are afraid to come to school and are asking if their absences would be excused.
On Thursday, Watlington reiterated the district’s policy that it will adhere to the 2021 sanctuary schools resolution enacted to protect students and families from arrests by ICE agents on or near school property.
“The district will comply with required laws, and school leaders have been provided guidance about how to protect our immigrant students’ rights,” Watlington said.
He said all school staff are instructed to immediately contact the district’s general counsel office, obtain the necessary subpoena or warrant documentation from ICE agents, and “await further direction.”
“DO NOT Provide any information about students, families or staff unless directed by the Office of General Counsel,” district protocol says.
Families are encouraged to update all emergency contact information for their students.
“The federal government has promised to deport some of our students and deny the humanity of others. So our schools really need to do more in their defense,” Central High School teacher Tom Quinn told board members. He was also referring to Trump administration orders targeting the rights of transgender people in schools. “The district needs to immediately retrain all employees on these policies and to give our students and families the assurance they need to send their kids into our care.”
Vaux Big Picture High School student Matias Merino told board members that students also need more mental health resources to deal with the onslaught of uncertainty. Students and teachers “want to be prepared for the worst situations in the coming years,” Merino said.
Charter school owes the district $30 million
Representatives from West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary’s school community spoke at Thursday’s meeting in defense of their school.
According to a December order from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, WPACES owes the district some $30 million for enrolling hundreds of students more than its agreed-upon cap of 400 students as written in its charter, which remains unsigned by the school. According to the latest available data, WPACES currently has 653 students enrolled.
Stacy Gill Phillips, founder and CEO of WPACES, testified Thursday that “we formally requested the additional students” and kept the district informed of their enrollment trends for years but struggled to get a meeting with district officials.
“The district ignored the request. We asked for a meeting to resolve the issue. No response,” Phillips said. “Taxpayers should not be forced to pay the school district $30 million for students it did not educate. WPACES spent those funds on the children’s education, and that should not be an issue of litigation.”
Board President Reginald Streater said Thursday that “we recognize the significance of this matter for both the charter school and the school district and remain open to discussions through the proper mechanisms in consideration of all issues at hand.”
A dangerous and unsafe field at Olney High School
Dozens of students, school staff, and parents at the meeting advocated for much-needed improvements to Olney high school’s football field and athletic complex. Student athletes told board members that the fields are riddled with holes, are unsafe, and students don’t have access to bathrooms or fresh water.
“We run on dirt instead of an actual track,” Olney student Anthony Pugh said.
Brandon Holub, football and track coach at Olney, said the lack of security around the fields has meant students are unsafe when practicing in the evenings and have had their equipment stolen.
This past football season, Holub said, he was holding a practice session when “eight grown men” approached them on the field.
“They were looking for one of my athletes. I asked them why they were there. They said they were there to beat up the student,” Holub said. “There was nothing stopping these individuals from harming our athletes and staff. No fences, no cameras.”
Drones for student safety
One of the more controversial contracts the board approved Thursday night was for $38,000 to Influential Drones LLC to purchase drones to monitor students at dismissal and special events.
The district’s Drone Patrol Program started in January 2023 at John Bartram High School. Since then, five students have become certified and received paid internships with the district’s school safety office to monitor football games, according to district reports.
According to the contract, the district’s school safety office will measure success by reporting the number of schools using the drones and any year-over-year change in “serious incidents at schools, and athletics and special events supported by the program.”
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
