October 07, 2015
SOurce/PSDTV
City Council President Darrell Clarke speaks during Wednesday afternoon's news conference attended by members of council and Dr. William Hite, front left, superintendent of the Philadelphia School District.
Members of the Philadelphia School District and City Council announced Wednesday afternoon a new agreement that will provide more fiscal oversight of city schools.
Council President Darrell Clarke and several members of city council, including Jannie Blackwell, Mark Squilla and councilman-at-large William Greenlee, joined Schools Superintendent William Hite and School Reform Commission Chair Marjorie Neff to discuss the intergovernmental cooperation agreement.
Under the agreement, the school district agreed to:
• Submit quarterly financial reports to council.
• Discuss the reports with council via the district's chief financial officer
• Make the reports available to the public on the school district's website.
The agreement would also allow council to have input on the district's five-year financial plan.
Asked about the committee after the announcement, school district spokesman Fernando Gallard said the agreement was created in response to council concerns over how the district would spend new funding.
"They wanted to make sure, with money for the schools, that they knew exactly where it was going," said Gallard.
While the school district had always worked to provide council with financial information, this would allow this information to be shared "with more structure," Gallard said.
"They wanted something with more structure," he added. "And, our position is, absolutely."
