Board of Education Committee Meetings and Budget Hearing Will be Held April 23

The School District of Philadelphia Board of Education will hold one joint meeting for its Finance and Facilities Committee and Student Achievement and Support Committee on Thursday, April 23, beginning at 5 p.m. Prior to this meeting, a budget hearing will be held at 3 p.m.

 

To comply with public health guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, both meetings will be held remotely via Zoom Meetings, a video conferencing platform. No Board members or members of the public will attend the meeting in person. The public is invited to participate in two ways: via Zoom Meetings or through written testimony submitted in advance of the meetings that will be presented by board members.

 

The meetings will be live streamed, and the public may view them at https://www.philasd.org/schoolboard/action-meetings/live-stream or on Comcast Channel 52 and Verizon FIOS Channel 20. The meetings also will be recorded and posted later on the school district’s website.

 

Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the meetings by submitting written comments via email (schoolboard@philasd.org) or to leave a voicemail by phone, which will be transcribed, (215-400-5959) until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. All such comments will be included in the record of the budget hearing or the committee meeting.

 

During the public comment section of the meetings, a board member will read into the record a short summary of  comments, grouped by topic, and will note the number of individuals submitting comments. There will be no limit on the number of people who may submit written testimony, and the Board will prioritize obtaining answers to questions posed by community members and sharing their suggestions for ways to address the unique challenges facing public education at this time.

 

To join the meeting via Zoom, members of the public must register in advance of the meetings. A form to register to speak at the Budget hearing is here. And a form to register for the committee meeting is here. In order to hear from as many speakers as possible, each speaker will have two minutes to present. During the Budget Hearing, the Board will hear from as many speakers as possible until 4:45 p.m. During the committee meeting, the Board will hear from speakers for 30 minutes. Participants will join with audio only and will be unmuted when it is their turn to speak.

 

“Knowing how essential public participation in Board meetings is, the Board is trying out Zoom Meetings which allows us to comply with public health guidelines and to simultaneously give community members an opportunity to communicate in real time during meetings,” said Board President Joyce Wilkerson. “We appreciate the support of our families and communities, as we find new ways to conduct the essential business of the School District in these challenging times.”

 

Please note: the Board of Education may have to change the format of meetings in the future to comply with the latest public health guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The public will be notified of any changes to the meeting.

 

For more information, please visit https://www.philasd.org/schoolboard/.