The public shared concerns with the Philly school board over potential school closings, wellness policy, and more

The Philly school board hosted one of its city charter-required public hearings on Thursday. Unlike school board action meetings, there was no limit to the number of people who could register to speak.

The board mostly took a stance of "intense listening" on Thursday, usually not responding to individual speakers, as board president Reginald Streater told the public they would at the start.

Here are a few issues that speakers brought forward:

Streater ends the meeting in Philly fashion, with a "Go Birds."

The Philly school board is expected to reconvene in two weeks, Nov. 20, for its monthly action meeting. See you then!

Illzwillz Watuz, a district parent, said of his son: "I just want to make sure that he gets the best education that he can get."

Keith Crippen, who runs a program that puts on theatrical fashion shows, asks the board to support his organization. "I guarantee you I can make a change in the Philadelphia public school district."

Jordan Holbert, a district staffer, tells the board: The promise of school closures was efficiency, but the result was fewer resources. He urges them: Keep schools open, and keep libraries open, Holbert said.

Gregory Vogler, a city resident and a librarian in a suburban district, said that "as an educator, I feel like I'm living a double life."

The district where he works has ample library resources for kids. His home district has virtually none.

"A librarian does far more than check out books," he said. In a city where two out of three kids can't read on grade level by fourth grade, we need more literacy support, not less. Philly's library ratio is 1 librarian for every 23,000 students.

Mallory Fix-Lopez, a former school board member, calls out the district for policies that limit students. To apply for Masterman, a top school, students must have algebra in eighth grade. Most K-8s don't offer algebra. "The district's own practice is limiting kids," she said.

The district has "exclusionary practices," Fix-Lopez said.

Saxon Nelson, a district parent, is speaking to support Lift Every Voice's campaign for guaranteed bathroom and water breaks. "Fighting for policies like this without a simple yes on something we all agree with, is enough to snuff the fire and dreaming" out of people.

Nelson said: "The children would be a lot better off if they had the right to pee, poop, drink water, and move their bodies," but the current policy does not allow that.

"Systems get stuck in fear-based decision-making," Nelson said, urging the board: Pass a policy that's worthy of our children.

Billy McCann, a community member who is running for an at-large City Council seat, is frustrated with "delays" and "a lack of data" around the district's master plan.

Some schools are three-quarters empty, and the district has several empty buildings. The process is poor, and the district needs an elected school board. McCann is promoting an elected board as part of his platform.

Troy Spence, a parent of district students, is upset by kids' reports of "classmates peeing on themselves" because of a lack of bathroom breaks.

More than a dozen Lift Every Voice members and supporters stand when anyone speaks about the wellness policy.

» READ MORE: Philly parents are still fighting for guaranteed bathroom, water, and 20-minute lunch breaks for city students

Lauren Popp, a parent of elementary school-aged children, is advocating for libraries and librarians: "There are so many things our kids are missing out on because the board does not make this a priority," Popp said.

Without libraries, kids "are unprepared for high school and college," Popp said. School librarians are the people who can create "a culture of reading across grade levels."

Lisa Haver, a retired district teacher and member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, tells the board: No one wants schools closed.

In her opinion, developers are in charge of the city. School buildings are "valuable real estate," Haver said. But the children are your constituents, she tells the board.

We will know you're listening, she tells the board, when "you bring back school libraries and you don't close any schools."

Former school board member Cecelia Thompson asks the board to share its school closing recommendations "sooner rather than later" and give communities time to plan and advocate, if necessary.

"Please ensure the plan makes it possible for schools to be compliant for people with mobility issues and those with disabilities," Thompson said.

Thompson congratulated board member Joyce Wilkerson on the award she recently won from the Council of Great City Schools. Wilkerson says she was only able to win the award because of the efforts of teachers, community members, students, administrators, and other board members.

Anne Dorn, a district parent, is urging the district to reconsider its school selection process, which she says was more fair when principals had say over who got admitted.

Taking the human element out of the system "makes everything worse," she said.

We have not seen the equity gains we wanted under the new system, Dorn said.

Ella Komita Moussa, a teacher of autistic support students at Olney High, tells the board that their elevators are often down. "It creates an inequitable learning environment" when elevators are down, Moussa said. "I always feel like I'm fighting for inclusion, and a broken elevator is working against us."

Another Olney autistic support teacher, shows the board the ointment she has to apply to her ankles because she's got to walk up four flights of steps when the elevator is down.

Katy Egan, a member of Stand Up for Philly Schools. "We want a facilities plan," Egan said. "But this process isn't it."

The current process seems to be about managing real estate assets, Egan said. It should be about making sure every student can attend an excellent school in their neighborhood.

A poorly-thought-out facilities process will lead the district into "a death spiral," a vicious cycle of driving kids out of public schools. "No school closures, address the overcrowding in the Northeast," address $250 million annually for building maintenance, and a better public engagement process are all needed, Egan said.

Andrea Rusli, a staffer for Councilmember Rue Landau, is speaking now.

"Our students are not robots," Rusli said. "They deserve basic dignity and care." Rusli said the district must strengthen the wellness policy that's currently drafted.

Lydia Currie, a community member, tells the board: "We need real librarians."

The district's head of libraries left, Currie said, urging the district to hire a director of volunteer services. Currie hopes that Philadelphia could "stop being a national butt of jokes" for its lack of libraries.

Next up is Sarah Apt, a 15-year veteran teacher at Olney High.

Apt presents a petition asking for the repair of elevators at the school. Her colleague speaks: "From Oct. 13 to Nov. 1, we've had everybody utilizing the stairs." Kids who need crutches or wheelchairs couldn't get to classes on the fourth floor, Apt's colleague said, and cleaning staff had to drag heavy trash bags and other items downstairs.

Leah Clouden, daughter of Mama Gail and Horace Clouden, said she and her parents visited a school recently and saw children sitting in hallways.

"You are babysitting our children," Leah Clouden said. "Closing schools that have been willfully neglected ... is your fault."

Mama Gail Clouden, animated and anguished, tells the board: "This is unbelievable. It's unacceptable," she said. She laments the lack of bathroom access, libraries, and adequate education.

Clouden said she asked a child in high school: "Are you learning anything?" He told her: "no."

"They deserve much more than you're giving," Mama Gail said of district kids. "The ancestors are not pleased."

Horace Clouden, a former district building engineer, says that junior high — schools with students in seventh, eighth, and ninth graders — need to be restored. Clouden believes that moving to a junior high model will improve education for students citywide.

Toya Diggs-Clay, a district parent, says district schools need to be more mindful of the trauma many city kids are exposed to. Schools aren't fun enough, she said. There should be more giveaway events.

"Just show them that you care," Diggs-Clay said.

Deborah Grill, a retired teacher and member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, is speaking out for school libraries and librarians.

Even schools that have managed to add libraries have not been able to add librarians, or they open less than full-time without the help of a professional, certified school librarian, she said.

"If your goal is to assure that every student is reading on grade level and college and career ready, you need to ensure" that there's a certified librarian and library in every district school, Grill said.

Jamilah Carter is reading testimony for Keisha Nicholson, a member of Lift Every Voice, who is sick. Nicholson is a parent of a child at Bryant Elementary.

Nicholson appreciates the district's work on the wellness policy, she said.

"Across the city, kids are still being told to hold it or skip water," she said. Lift Every Voice has lobbied for more than a year for the district to guarantee bathroom and water breaks for students. "We can't ask another generation to wait for something this basic," Nicholson said.

» READ MORE: Philly parents are still fighting for guaranteed bathroom, water, and 20-minute lunch breaks for city students

Kristin Luebbert, a retired district teacher, is lamenting the layers of bureaucracy in the district. She's also calling out the district's widespread problems with payroll issues over the last several months.

"The so-called facilities planning process has not been enacted in a good-faith manner," Luebbert said.

Luebbert also calls out the district for its stewardship of vacant schools, like Ada Lewis, where Kada Scott’s body was buried following her murder. "It's time for all of you — bosses, staff, and the board — to go out and assist schools," Luebbert said.

» READ MORE: Discovery of Kada Scott’s body at Germantown middle school has reignited debate over the vacant building

The first speaker from the general speakers list is Amy Eckert, a district speech language pathologist.

Earlier this fall, staff from Strawberry Mansion High said some of their neediest students have had no speech language services — despite being guaranteed them in their individualized education plans.

"Unfortunately, this situation is not unique," Eckert said. Twenty speech language pathologists jobs are unfilled district-wide, Eckert said.

Responding to student speakers and Hunt, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said: "We're here, and we're listening very intently."

Next up is Nicole Hunt, president of Local 634, the district union that represents cafeteria workers.

It's more important than ever to make sure Philly kids have joy, Hunt said.

"We should not be putting money for charter schools," Hunt said. "We should be putting money into public education. Public education should be for everybody."

The Philadelphia School Board is set to host a required public hearing on Thursday at 4 p.m., where members of the public can sign up and speak to the board about any issue concerning them.

Speakers are signed up to discuss a wide range of issues Thursday, including:

Stay tuned as we follow along live from the meeting.