Philly parents and school employees voice concerns about bathroom breaks, shortage of essential staff

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More than 40 parents, staff and community members showed up to the Philadelphia school board meeting on Thursday to share grievances over the district’s wellness policy, school closings and the scarcity of librarians and speech therapists.

Here’s a look at some of the major points of discussion.

Parents push for guaranteed bathroom, water breaks

For years, parents and advocates from the grassroots group Lift Every Voice have pushed for guaranteed bathroom and water breaks and at least 20 minutes of lunch time for students. While the district previously approved policies ensuring recess and banning collective punishment, it stopped short of codifying them. Parents report that inconsistent policies have led to distressing situations, including students wearing diapers or having accidents due to denied bathroom access.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, children are not being given adequate access to bathrooms. They have to skip water breaks, rush through meals, miss recess because of scheduling or staffing, and families feel and see the impact every single day,” said parent Amy Faulring. “Kids are tired, they’re hungry, they’re distracted and anxious, not because they don’t want to learn, but because their basic needs aren’t being met and consistent in humane ways.”

At the end of the meeting, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington echoed concerns but cautioned parents to review all evidence.

“I’m confident that we can reach an appropriate thinking, collectively, about issues related to recess, bathroom breaks and water,” he said. “We must empower teachers to be the people in charge of these classrooms. And people who can’t, who won’t do that, we deal with them appropriately. But I’m telling you, I see very few cases that come across my desk. And I have yet, in three and a half years, in our schools to see any child in a diaper because they can’t go to the bathroom. Just be careful that we don’t say things that we don’t have evidence to support.”

Watlington also said that children should be treated with respect and that, if they need bathroom breaks, they should have them.

“When they need to go to the bathroom, they need to be able to go,” he said. “When they’re thirsty, they need to get water. And despite the fact that some of our schools are in very compacted areas, there needs to be an outlet for young people to get energy out.”

Philly schools face shortage of librarians, speech therapists

Parents and staff also continued to advocate for more school librarians.

“Right now, two out of three children in the city cannot read on grade level by fourth grade, making them six times more likely to drop out of school,” said Gregory Vogler, a Philadelphia resident and suburban Philadelphia school librarian.

Vogler cited research that found that students in schools with full-time certified librarians score significantly higher on reading assessments than those without. He said that the School District of Philadelphia had 176 librarians for 259 schools in 1991.

“Today, there are five full-time librarians serving 218 schools and over 18,000 students, a ratio of one librarian for every 23,000 students,” he said. “This is an embarrassment. We would never accept that ratio for counselors, nurses or teachers. So why should we accept it for librarians?”

Many district staff members raised similar concerns about the lack of staffing for critical speech therapy programs.

Amy Eckert, a school speech-language pathologist, shared that students were not receiving speech services because no speech-language pathologist had been assigned to their school. She said the issue reflects a district-wide problem, with at least 20 unfilled SLP positions, many covering multiple schools, amid a 90% increase in early intervention students entering kindergarten.

While 151 new special education teachers were hired to meet growing needs, no additional SLPs were added. Community members urged the district to prioritize recruiting and hiring enough SLPs, possibly through offering a critical shortage bonus, to ensure students with disabilities receive essential speech and language support.

Transparency over school closures

On Thursday night, discussion continued over the district’s process for reviewing facilities and recommending school closures. Officials announced this week that the district is launching a districtwide survey, with results expected next month, delaying the school board vote on which buildings to close.

Board President Reginald L. Streater reminded the audience that Pennsylvania still does not have a state budget.

“The Board of Education had to borrow $1.5 billion to keep the lights on, to continue making the payments we have to make under the law,” he said.”And if we draw down completely on that, that’s $30 million, right? Again, this is not an excuse.”

Other school concerns

Parents Giselle Arthur and Tarin Williams said staff at Martin Luther King High School falsified credits and grades, then disrespected parents when confronted. They said Spanish classes were removed from the roster, and although Arabic was added, there is still no teacher for the subject.

Despite this, students are expected to receive grades and credits for both Arabic 1 and Arabic 2 without completing a full year of instruction. Parents also said the teachers report inadequate support and unsafe classroom environments, leading some students to skip classes out of fear for their safety.

Superintendent Watlington said these issues would be investigated.