The sound of percussion rang out at the Center City headquarters of the School District of Philadelphia as the youth drumline Mad Beatz Philly opened a celebratory press conference in early March. The Black-led, parent-driven organization Lift Every Voice Philly (LEV) was celebrating a major victory: after 18 months of advocacy by parents across the city’s schools, the district passed its first comprehensive wellness policy to protect students’ basic needs.
Jamila Carter, a member of LEV, stood at a podium and called the victory “a long time coming,” as a group of children and parents stood behind her, clad in purple LEV shirts, cheering and waving pom-poms.
“We refused to accept schools where our children could not drink water freely, where daily movement and recess were denied, and where collective punishment and silent lunches were treated as normal,” Carter said. “I didn’t come to this work as a trained activist or organizer. I came to it as a mother.”
The policy, now in effect, guarantees student access to water and bathroom breaks, codifies daily recess and prohibits, “with rare exceptions,” silent lunch periods, a practice that punishes all students for the misbehavior of one or a few.
City Councilmember Kendra Brooks co-sponsored a 2024 resolution, initiated by LEV’s activism, that called for hearings to examine the prevalence of disciplinary practices that “perpetuate anti-blackness and anti-Black racism and harm students academically, socially, emotionally to the detriment of their health, well-being and future life outcomes.” She also helped pass a resolution for a hearing to explore the creation of a Chief Officer of Joy to join the school board, another leg of LEV’s campaign that was reported on in Grid #185.
Brooks has been a longstanding supporter of LEV.
“They testified, they built power, they moved Philadelphia City Council and forced the conversation open and in the public,” Brooks said at the press conference. “That’s what community power looks like.”
I didn’t come to this work as a trained activist or organizer. I came to it as a mother.”
— Jamila Carter, member of Lift Every Voice Philly
Protecting students’ dignity and ensuring justice in education across the city are key pillars of LEV’s mission. The group was formally established in 2022, but activities such as interviewing district parents and educators and developing a theory of change began the previous year, according to an email from Stephanie Barrale, LEV’s communications and member support manager.
The wellness policy illustrates “assessment methods” of its implementation and success, which include simply verifying that students are getting the appropriate breaks. There will also be an evaluation of food services by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and an analysis of feedback from staff, students and stakeholders, among other benchmarks.
While the formal assessment will occur triennially, parents and staff are encouraged to report wellness concerns to school staff. Additionally, parents can log comments onto Let’s Talk, a digital tool created for tracking wellness issues, which Superintendent Tony Watlington’s office staff will be “very intentional about paying close attention to on a daily basis,” he said at a Feb. 26 school board meeting.
A few weeks after the joyous rally at the district headquarters, LEV members visited Guion S. Bluford Elementary School in Haddington to spread the news at the first of a planned series of similar rallies. They handed out fliers that explained the new policy and the rights now protected for the students, and invited parents to LEV.
“If they’re having issues, they can join us,” says Julie Krug, a parent and steering committee member. “We want parents to work together.”
Involved in LEV for roughly three years, Krug says she is “elated” about the policy’s passage.
“We worked really hard,” she says. “We fought hard. It took 18 months of meetings and hearings, and as a team, we kept going.”
